A/N: Another early chapter... two in one week, isn't it? . Really, I know that not everyone celebrats the 4th of July 'cause the world doesn't revolve around the USA, but I freaking love holidays so I busted out a copious amount of food and drink and had a grand time with friends- the important part being that I'm in a very good mood and totally throwing out a new chapter now. Honestly, what I had written was so long, I had to split it into two as opposed to having one ridiculous chapter when there was a perfectly good pausing point in the middle. I'll spare you awesome people the funny story about what I realized while writing this. xD Thank you to the lovely ThalieXVII for the encouraging words and for liking my wordy style (I'm glad you don't find it all boring) and a thank you for the lovely 1wngdngl for liking Kilik. To all you silent lovelies still reading this: thank you for reading my work. The pace is slow (I am sorry for that) and I will try to pick it up, but it may take a little while. I don't want to rush important moments, even if the don't seem important at the time (if that even makes sense). Less stalling, more posting! As always, please enjoy! :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur or the characters therein.

FOURTEEN

The Peaceful Meal Pt. 1

The laziness with which the car passed by the buildings of the city's center was at odds with the hectic nature of the past couple of days and Kilik couldn't help but give a bitter smile at the contrast. He wasn't sure when the sun had gone down- he made sure his office didn't get much light, so he hadn't noticed it getting darker until Siegfried blinded him with the lights- but it had happened some time before he had gotten out of the office. The lack of sun made the pale yellow light showing out from the windows of offices that were still filled with working people stand out from the few dark buildings where everyone had already gone home for the day. Everything outside looked calm and peaceful- business as usual- as brown eyes watched them go by from the passenger seat of his boss' car.

In truth, that virus would have been much more of a pain to deal with if it had been made up of better-written code, and Kilik knew very well that he could have done much, much better, but he didn't need something that would actually give him trouble. He needed something to look bad, something to get Siegfried's attention and hopefully get him alone with Kilik long enough for the two to talk without being interrupted by annoying secretaries or anything else that could happen. There was no guarantee that Kilik wouldn't have to confront the demon again, but it was a risk worth taking. Besides, he figured the thing was still weakened from its dormancy.

Things went as well as the former monk could have hoped. His boss sent everyone else home and stayed behind with him while he took care of the problem- Kilik had even been able to arrange things to make it look like he honestly needed the blonde there with him. The two hadn't fought, which was as good as it could have gotten. The virus was taken care of and things would be back to business as usual tomorrow. Kilik was more than able to take credit for that fact and knew it would score him a few points with his new boss, especially if his boss realized how much they could stand to lose by being out of business for longer than they had been. Hell, they had lost a good amount of money by being out for the shot time they were.

When it was all said and done, Kilik had asked if that day had been his last or not. He could only hope the situation he had engineered would be enough to allow him to keep his job for a while longer. Siegfried hadn't given a definite yes or no, but he did offer the former monk a ride home. It had been a surprise, but it was one the IT guy could work with, so he accepted.

The walk to the parking garage was made in a silence that was not excruciatingly awkward, but it was not especially pleasant either. Kilik had been shocked to find that his boss did not drive the kind of expensive, or showy, car that he had been expecting. Instead, Siegfried lead him to an older model that looked like it had seen more than its fair share of miles. The paint was a tired shade of green that peaked out through a layer of dust that told the story of far too many months since last being washed. The engine couldn't have been anything better than a six cylinder, but Kilik was willing to bet that even that was being generous. It probably had a four. Neither the locks nor the windows were automatic, but it had seat belts and a working radio- even if it was one of the older ones with a place for cosset tapes, but not CDs. It was oddly humble and Kilik liked his boss a little better for it.

The sound of Siegfried's voice broke Kilik from his musings about the oddly charming car, "Have you eaten today?"

"No," the monk said softly, still watching the world drift by outside the car window. He had the feeling he knew where this conversation was going to go and briefly wondered if he should be thankful for the chance to get to talk to his boss more. If there hadn't been a demon laying deep within the other man, Kilik would not have wanted to spend more time with him than he had to. There was no harbored hatred for the German, but Kilik did not consider himself a 'people person' and usually preferred to keep himself distanced. It was harder to be hurt by loss when there wasn't much of anything to lose.

In reality, Kilik had always been one of the quiet ones at the Temple. When his teacher- the only man he honestly looked up to and cared about in a way that probably should have been reserved for his parents, had they kept him- decided to give himself up to the holy blade and changed, the then young monk became even more withdrawn. Save for the time he spent with Xiba and the sibling-like bond he and Xianglin had somehow formed, Kilik attempted to maintain an aloofness towards others. In his years away from the Temple, this attitude never changed. If anything, his dislike of other people had only grown. Outside the Temple, people were rude, self-serving, unlearned, and undisciplined. He found himself having little patience towards people who had a tendency to blame their problems on any reason that took the blame off of themselves.

"Me neither." Again, Siegfried's voice drew Kilik's attention towards the present moment. If the uneasy chuckle was anything to go by, his boss was uncomfortable with the situation, but attempting to be friendly. "We should stop somewhere."

It would have been easy, almost second nature, for the former monk to refuse the suggestion- politely or not, though the former was much more likely, given the situation-, but the chance to get to know the other man better and hopefully gain some bit of trust caused a different set of words to tumble out when Kilik parted his lips to speak, "We should."

Blue eyes chanced a glance at the man sitting next to him before resettling on the road, "Alright..." He licked his lips in either a nervous gesture or out of irritation- Kilik could not tell which- before continuing, "Is there anywhere particular you would like to go?" A curious glance from the man next to him caused Siegfried to elaborate, "Having to work on that virus thing did make you miss diner and I'm not really picky about food."

Coming from a man who was not overly round- in fact, from what Kilik could tell, the German was very physically fit- it was an odd thing to hear, but it was another small stroke of luck that Siegfried didn't already have some drive-through in mind or something. A small smile curled the Asian's lips at fate for giving him so many chances and he gave a small shrug, "Anywhere that isn't fast food." Going through a drive-through wouldn't take very long and time was something he would need if he was going to get his boss to trust him. If opening up was as easy for Kilik as it was for his room mate, he might have had his boss eating out of the palm of his hand and allowing him to try to exercise the demon without question already, but that was not the case at all.

A slight frown of confusion overtook Siegfried's features for a moment before he nodded, "Alright then." He didn't know enough about the other man to be surprised by the apparent dislike of something that had been a staple of Siegfried's diet while he was in college, so he didn't really question it. Perhaps his passenger was some kind of health nut? Given the blonde's eating habits, he really hoped he wouldn't have to deal with some preachy vegan.

In a rare moment of open-ness, the former monk blurted out, "There's a small dinner not to far from here." It wasn't usually his style to suggest a place, but he wasn't sure how well Siegfried knew the area and didn't want to risk ending up somewhere that wouldn't have much for a person like him to eat. Unlike his boss, he was a bit of a picky eater. "If you don't mind."

Kilik was answered with a smile from his boss, "I don't mind. Actually, I haven't lived around here since I was a kid, so I don't really know the city like I used to."

It didn't take too long for them to navigate the quiet city streets to the dinner Kilik had suggested. The building was one Siegfried vaguely remembered from childhood and one Kilik would likely never forget from his first night in an alien city with an odd man and barely any understanding of the world he was suddenly a part of. The building was old and it seemed as though the owners of the place made no attempt to make it look anything but, aside from changing the light bulbs occasionally to keep the entire place from falling into darkness. The outside might have been white once, but time and weather had changed that to a faded shade of yellow. There were few plants between the parking lot and the building, probably due to a lack of space for them- not that it mattered, they were mostly brown and dying.

Before exiting the car, Siegfried unwrapped the bandages from his head. It had stopped throbbing hours ago and it didn't itch- besides, he didn't feel like getting any kind of questioning stares or anything. He could feel brown eyes settling on his face, taking in what had been under the wrappings. The expression he was being given from the man next to him was unreadable. Not too sure what he would find, but still wanting to know, Siegfried pulled down the sun-guard and flipped open the little mirror on it. He did not expect the reflection that greeted him, but it wasn't an entirely unwelcome surprise.

The wound looked as healed as it would likely get- all that remained from the gash in his face the day before was a neat scar going vertically down his eye. The part that surprised him was that the scare itself didn't look pink or fresh or in any way new- it looked old, as though it was from something that had happened months- years?- ago. He had always been a quick healer but this was much faster than usually. Really, though, Siegfried didn't see much point in worrying overs something that couldn't have been bad. If the wound was still bleeding, it would have been worth fussing over. This was acceptable. It was even kind of cool looking, as perfectly centered as it was in relation to his eye. Almost too perfect to have been an accident, but...

"Whatever happened yesterday," Siegfried said quietly as he turned, looking at the man next to him with both eyes, "I kind of like this. If I'm going to have a scar, it may as well be one I don't mind seeing in the mirror every morning." He didn't wait for a response before getting out of the car and heading for the building. He could hear Kilik moving behind him, hurrying to catch up.

Opening the doors assaulted the two men with strong scents of coffee and breakfast food, along with a stale smoke smell that was a staple for a place like that despite the fact that smoking had been banned from the establishment for years, thanks to a law that had been passed by people who were either paranoid of cancer or just wanted to piss off smokers for the hell of it. The walls were a pale yellow that managed not to clash with the dull brown carpet that covered the floor. The table tops were a pale tan color that did not match the bright red of the chairs and booths. Somehow, everything seemed to fit together and weave an atmosphere of calm that managed to seep into the patrons, like some kind of homey warmth that went deeper than skin. It was probably the only reason the small establishment got enough business to maintain operation.

The two strolled to a booth towards the back of the place and slid in across from each other. There were few people, so they were given the illusion of privacy and were spared from having to listen to the conversations being held by the other three occupied tables- a couple of kids who couldn't have been out of high school, an elderly couple, and a large family who seemed to be constantly whistling and beckoning for their server, respectively. Normally, Kilik wouldn't have bothered to pay attention to such things enough to be upset by them, but it looked like there was only one server on shift and he had the feeling she would be irritated. He decided to make sure not to upset her further for fear of finding something unsavory in his food as a result.

Mostly out of a habit developed from frequenting the place with his room mate, Kilik grabbed two menus from their place nestled behind the napkin dispenser and passed one across the table while keeping the other in front of himself. He flipped through it idly, barely bothering to glance at the items on the page that he had seen enough to have already memorized. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his boss actually looking the laminated thing over- blue eyes moving faster than Kilik would have expected from one item to the next.

Neither man spoke until the waitress came over and introduced herself as their server before a

asking for their drink orders. Without hesitation both men said, "Coffee, please." The waitress quirked thin eyebrow at them and gave a knowing smirk before telling them she'd be back with their drinks and turned to leave. Kilik watched her dark pony-tail bob slightly as she walked and couldn't help but feel he missed something important. Siegfried, on the other hand shook his head and went back to looking over the menu.

"I guess," Siegfried broke the silence slowly, his voice quiet as he was still somewhat distracted with the task of choosing what he wanted, "It does look kind of like that."

Brown eyebrows rose in confusion, "Like what?" Kilik was sure he had missed something important.

Siegfried set the menu down and looked the man across the table over with a quiet snort, "You know... two men come in together in the middle of the night. One looks like a normal human being and the other looks like some kind of..." He waved a hand vaguely in Kilik's direction as though struggling with what words to use, "You look like and exhausted and rumpled businessman." Normally, he would never use the word 'rumpled', but he really couldn't think of a better way to describe a man who looked like he hadn't changed since the day before and had been slapped around a bit. Not a lot for permanent damage, but enough to bring the phrase 'keep the pimp hand strong' to Siegfried's mind. He doubted the man across the table would be amused by that description, though.

For the span of a few heart beats, Kilik stared at his boss. He was by no means a fool, but his quick mind couldn't equate what them both ordering the same drink and what they looked like had to do with each other. He shrugged, venturing a guess, "So... it looks like two men who have differing opinions about what to wear both happen to drink coffee."

The German snorted, "Not quite." He shook his head and looked more amused than Kilik was comfortable with as he spoke, "If you looked worse, I would have thought she thought I was being nice to a crazy homeless man, but she probably thinks I hired you for the night. Maybe she thinks we already finished."

"Hired me?" The Asian's voice was dead-pan and it occurred to him that whatever second-wind he had caught while working had faded in the car and he was suddenly feeling much more tired than he had before. He wasn't putting two and two together like he should have been, "Technically your father hired me, but by looking at us how would she know that you're my bo-"

He was cut off by a half-amused, half-frustrated German, "Prostitute." Siegfried picked the menu up and started to glance over it again, "She probably thinks you look like a prostitute."

Silence stretched out between them as Kilik gaped at his boss, the barest of blushes giving a soft pink tint to his cheeks. He wasn't the kind of man that thought about those kinds of things and he most definitely found it unnerving when people associated him with that. Really, though, it did serve to illustrate how one-track-minded Westerners could be. It was like they could relate anything to that. The subject had been very tabboo at the Temple and Kilik had never had enough interest in it after leaving his home to treat it as anything but. It was something his room mate teased him about almost endlessly for a while after their first meeting- only coming up in conversation in recent years when the older man was willing to risk getting hit.

Blue eyes glanced over the menu at his now-sulking companion and he gave another soft snort and the barest of smirks. He didn't realize the other man would be so offended by something like that. Not many people would have been proud of being thought of as a whore, but he was acting like some kind of virgin or something. A small shake of his head and Siegfried was back to looking at the different foods printed on the page before him. Everything looked really good. Since the day before he had been hungry in a way he hadn't felt since he was going through a growth spurt as a kid. He chalked it up to stress, the same excuse he was using for a lot of things recently, and left it at that.

By the time the waitress came back, Kilik was sunken back into the cushions of the booth and almost hiding behind a menu. Siegfried could only grin at how amused she looked. She set two cups of coffee and a bowl filled with little creamer shots between them. "Are y'all ready to order?" Her accent didn't quite fit in with the rest of the city, but it did add to the quaintness of the restaurant and Siegfried had to imagine it boosted the tips she got. Whether or not the accent was real didn't much matter.

Siegfried spared a glance at the man sulking across from him and rolled his eyes at the sight. He smiled pleasantly at the waitress, "I think we are."

"What can I get you?" She had her little note book out and a blue crayon at the ready.

"Can I get the number one burger as raw as you can serve it," Siegfried would have stopped there, but his stomach gave a growl that encouraged him to add on, "And a side order of onion rings?"

"Did you want that with onion rings instead of fries or with fries and an extra order of onion rings on the side?"

"Fries with an extra order of onion rings, please." Part of him wanted to order a whole other meal, but Siegfried refrained.

"And you, Sweetie?" The waitress gave Kilik a small smile and the former monk wasn't sure if he should have been insulted or if he was just being tired and maybe a little irritable.

"A Caesar salad, please," the IT guy said quietly, busying himself with collecting more than a few sugar packets from their holder at the end of the table and dumping them into his coffee.

"With grilled or fried chicken?"

With just the barest hint of discomfort, Kilik glanced up at the waitress, "Neither, please."

"Sure thing." She gave him a knowing and somewhat sympathetic smile before turning and walking away, her pony-tail bobbing happily behind her again.

Siegfried was only able to hold back his laughter for as long as it took the waitress to walk out of ear-shot, although with how loud he was laughing, Kilik doubted she could have missed it. The Asian groaned quietly and continued to pour sugar into his coffee. Nine packets later and it was ready to drink.