A/N: Glory of glories, I actually finished this chapter on TIME! I hope everyone had a great Christmas and I wish you a happy New Year as well!
Captain and Snake
The music at the club was almost overwhelming, the base pounding louder than a heartbeat in the ears of the people in the building. The smell of alcohol and company mingled into the heady scent of a party as the sounds of laughter and chatter were nearly drowned by the vibrating speakers that spewed tunes out over the room.
Menoly however, was standing at the door of her apartment, stubbornly resisting her friend Loly's attempt to drag her out. The blonde was dressed in a dark red v-neck cut shirt, a choker that she had been given by her brother hooked around her throat, her hands buried in the pockets of her baggy jeans and her bare toes wriggling as she avoided her brunette friend's hard stare.
"Come on," Loly snapped, stamping her high-heel clad foot, standing in the apartment halls in a very thin, low cut dress with an excessively short skirt despite the temperature outside, "Don't be such a bitch Menoly! You expect me to go clubbing alone? If I bring you, then at least the guys I talk to will have someone to compare me with!"
"But Loly, I… I don't really want to go, I'm expecting company…" the blonde replied uneasily, scratching her cheek just below where he eye patch settled over what she knew to be a gaping hole, "If I leave home and he comes by, then…"
"Fine," the black haired woman sniffed angrily, "I see how it is. Even though I'm your only friend you're still so cruel to me. This is why you're always alone, you're so selfish!"
"No, Loly, it's just that-!" Menoly started, her short blonde hair obscuring one side of her face as she stepped forward to stop her friend. She reached for Loly's wrist only to see the woman go stumbling across the hall as someone planted a hand in her heavily made-up face.
"Budge over short stuff," a very familiar male voice slurred ever-so-slightly as the figure Menoly had been expecting stepped into view.
"Ggio!" the blonde grinned happily, temporarily forgetting Loly as she looked at her adopted older brother; he was hardly any taller than she, and he hadn't changed since the day she left it seemed. A bit paler, yes, and he looked stressed and reeked of alcohol, but his same lilting half-smile was in place, his typical braid still there, his warm ochre gaze still welcoming her forward. She took the invitation and threw herself at him in a tight hug.
"Good to see you too Menoly," the feline man laughed a little bit breathlessly as the young woman crushed his ribs, tousling her short blonde hair. She was so reminiscent of Tesla it wasn't even funny.
"What are you doing here? Not that I don't like your visiting, but your call was so sudden that I- let me grab my tennis shoes and bag and then… Ooh, I need to call someone to feed the fish, and…" the blonde burst out before falling silent, "Sorry. I'll be right back."
"Alright," Ggio smiled gently, his eyes softening as he watched his younger sister bolt back inside.
"Hey asshole!" the brunette girl from earlier shouted, picking herself up from where she had fallen before, "Who the hell do you think you are, coming over here and pushing me out of the way?"
"Huh?" Ggio turned and looked at her, "Oh, sorry, it's just that I didn't recognize that you were a person under all that make-up."
"Excuse me?" Loly shrieked, "Listen here bastard, I don't- are you drunk?"
"Mm… yeah, maybe a bit. And you asked who I thought I was, right? Name's Ggiovanni, I'm one of Menoly's brothers," Ggio answered smoothly, "You were kind of pissing me off, pushing her around the way you were, so… I gave you a taste of your own medicine so to speak."
"Sorry," the blonde woman in question panted as she came back to the door in high tops and with a back pack slung over her shoulder, "I'm ready now."
"Fine!" Loly screamed suddenly, "I see how it is Menoly! I hope you die, bitch!"
With that, the dark haired woman flipped the pair standing in the doorway her middle finger and stomped off down the apartment stairs, almost tripping in her heels which caused Ggio to have to muffle a laugh behind his hand.
"What the hell was that?" he snorted in amusement, "I mean for fuck's sake, why are you friends with that?"
Menoly shrugged and gave a little half smile.
"Go easy on her Ggio-nii, she's getting over a bad relationship," the blonde replied.
"May God rest the poor soul who had anything to do with her," the ochre eyed man said with mock solemnity, pressing a hand over his heart, "In any case, if you're ready, let's go, yeah? Your brother has been worried sick since you left, and it's probably not helping that I left on bad terms with him."
"Do you think he can stand to wait a couple more hours?" Menoly asked, wrinkling her brow and swinging her backpack down so that it dangled from her hand rather than from her shoulder.
"Huh? Why?"
"Um… well, you're… You're a bit…. Tipsy, Ggio-nii. You know how I feel about you driving like this. Come inside and stay until you sober up a bit… I'll make coffee and you can tell me why you're coming to get me, your phone call was a bit rushed. Did you even bring a helmet?"
"Nope," Ggio answered easily, shoving his hands into his pockets.
"'Nope' what?"
"I didn't bring a helmet," the dark haired man grinned sheepishly.
"You're going to die one of these times!" Menoly began to lecture, "I know it's not a problem for you, you don't fear death, but all the same! It's dangerous to drive drunk, in the dark, without proper protection!"
"Well when you put it that way… you always were the voice of reason," Ggio sighed, "You sound so much like Tesla, how could I possibly force you to get on my bike with a drunkard?"
"Ggio..."
"Alright, alright, let me in already, it's fuckin' cold," Ggio said with good-natured irritation, "It won't kill Tesla and Soi Fon to wait for a bit, they don't even know where we are anyways…"
Menoly closed the door with a smile of her own in place as Ggio slid his boots off and stood them up on the mat.
"So tell me, Ggio-nii…. What's so urgent that I need to come home?"
….
Soi Fon knew that the exchange before Ggio left had shaken up Tesla- badly. The blonde man had walked over to one of the tables, sat down, and simply stared at his trembling fingers for a while. Now he was sitting with his face buried in his hands, and even as she watched he allowed his head to fall forward further, running his hands through his honey-blonde hair.
"He knew," the bartender said to no one in particular. Yoruichi, who had come back into the room at the sound of the slamming door as Ggio had left looked up from where she had been engaged in stacking bottles, apparently having no intention of going to bed, "Son of a bitch knew, and didn't say anything."
"Tesla, I'm sure Ggio…" Soi Fon began, but what could she say? She didn't know anything of Ggio's intentions with his withholding of the truth; however, knowing him, he… "He probably thought it was what was best for the both of you."
"Mm," Tesla agreed after a moment of relapsed silence, biting his lip, "Probably, since it would have kept Menoly out of the way of the Espada, I mean, looked what happened to Yylfordt and his group…. It's just…."
The man sighed, falling quiet again before continuing his thought.
"I shouldn't have told him about what happened to the other three so… abruptly. Now he's been gone for a while, what if he crashed, or got arrested, or maybe…."
"Cool it Captain," Yoruichi laughed almost nervously, "You're going to give yourself ulcers."
Tesla smiled weakly, looking pale and running his hand through his hair again as was his habit.
"I'm um… gonna go make a phone call. Be right back, and Ms. Yoruichi, I hope that you don't plan on using those bottles to play carnival games."
"Aha! Captain does have a sense of humor!" Yoruichi gasped theatrically before chuckling, "Don't worry about it, I'm just doing this for something to do."
After a minute or so the two women in the taproom could hear Tesla's voice drifting through the open door.
"Hey," he started, "I know you're busy and you already said you- oh, really?" his voice suddenly shifted in intonation, becoming much less stressed, "Great! See you in a few minutes then!"
Tesla reentered the room with a definite and previously absent spring in his step.
"What was that?" Soi Fon asked him, making an effort to move her tongue in the way it was supposed to go. She had no idea why she had let Ggio persuade her to drink… she shook her head a little bit blearily to try and clear the fog in her thoughts.
"Oh, just… we'll be having company in about five minutes. My girlfriend that you were all so eager to meet," he clarified upon receiving to blank, confused stares. The women exchanged glance, Soi Fon narrowing her eyes and Yoruichi starting to laugh, "What?"
"Your girlfriend is coming over, and you have two drunk women sitting in what could be considered your living room," Yoruichi pointed out.
"Ugh, the one time I drink and you invite someone over," Soi Fon grumbled, swinging her braids over her shoulder and straightening her shirt, "Nice, Tesla."
"Sorry, sorry," the blonde soothed ineffectively as he picked up empty bottles and began carrying them to the kitchen to dump into the sink for the time being, "But I figured that if Ggio ends up not coming home again I wouldn't want to subject you two to my ensuing panic-attack."
"How thoughtful," the shorter of the two women sighed, rolling her eyes; there was a knock at the door and the trio in the taproom all looked in that direction, "I thought you said we had five minutes!"
"Give or take a few," Tesla winced at Soi Fon's glare as he walked to the door.
Upon opening the door, Tesla revealed a short, slight woman of unusual beauty. Soi Fon only stared at the woman, taking in her appearance as Tesla exchanged words with her, bending down to kiss her as way of greeting. She could have been hardly more than a hundred pounds, dark, shimmering green hair cascading down nearly to her waist, her straight-cut bangs pinned with a barrette above pale eyes. Three pink spots, similar in effect to the green mark on Tesla's face, trailed below her right eye as the woman held up on hand, covered by the overlong sleeve of her hooded coat, to stifle a laugh.
"I know you said you couldn't come because of work, so I feel a bit bad about having you drive over here…" Tesla said apologetically, furrowing his eyebrows with worry.
"Not at all," the woman answered softly, "Lady Harribel had to go and get Emilou and Milarose out of a holding cell… an arrest for disorderly conduct. If they could just cease their behavior as apes and quit fighting in public, this wouldn't happen but…"
Soi Fon looked up sharply at the mention of the name Harribel… one the Espada; Tesla met her gaze and shook his head minimally, telling her to say nothing.
"Who are these?" the woman asked, looking around Tesla.
"Oh, um," the blonde looked surprised, "Sungsun, these are Ms. Yoruichi and Ms. Soi Fon, they're staying in the flat overhead for the time being…"
"Hello," the woman, Sungsun, greeted quietly, "I am Sungsun Cyan, pleased to make your acquaintance. But… is there not a man who lives here as well?"
"Oh, yeah, Ggiovanni, but… he's out right now," Tesla lied towards the end.
"Oh, I see," the woman murmured, "I would have assumed that everyone was at home, since there are three vehicles out front."
"Three?" Tesla wondered as Yoruichi sipped from a bottle she had kept, watching the exchange.
"Yes," Sungsun replied, "Your car, then a black one with quite a lot of paint missing off the side and a large blood stain in the front seat, and then a motorcycle. Is the motorcycle not yours? There were two people arguing next to it, maybe they were only lost…"
"No, no," Tesla said hurriedly, stepping back toward the door, "That black bike definitely belongs here…"
"Well, then…" the woman began, stopping as Tesla threw the door open. Sungsun looked toward Soi Fon helplessly, and the black haired woman only shrugged, ignoring Yoruichi's corresponding snicker.
"GGIO!" Tesla bellowed out the open door, obviously looking to call the dark haired man back inside but sounding decidedly less upset than before.
"Ow! For fuck's sake Tes, I'm right here! You don't need to go blowing my eardrums out!"
"Ggio?" Tesla wondered, looking directly down and to the right where the feline man had been coming around the railing to climb up the stairs to the porch.
"No, I'm the fucking Easter Bunny come six months early," the man said sarcastically, obviously still at least a little bit angry with his blonde roommate.
"You're okay! I thought for sure you'd gotten pulled over or lost or something!"
"Woulda been back a couple hours earlier, but thanks to your ingrained family habit about worrying over everything I ended up staying in Menoly's kitchen for a bit," Ggio replied, pushing past his blonde friend to get inside, his breath still hanging in a pale cloud from the chill air outside. A second person trailed along in Ggio's wake as she fixed her eye patch, a black backpack hanging from her shoulders, blonde hair windswept and face pale.
"Ggio-nii, I r-really don't think such speed was n-necessary," the young woman said, teeth chattering slightly from the cold as she came up on the porch. She halted, freezing at the sight of Tesla's midriff and looked slowly up at his face.
Soi Fon was astounded by the similarities between the two siblings; there was nearly no difference between the two faces aside from gender and the lack of tattoo across Menoly's cheek. The two were even missing eyes on the same side of their faces.
"E-evening, Tes," she whispered, looking a bit frightened as if trying to gauge his reaction. Tesla made a swift movement, and the young woman flinched only to find herself enveloped in a tight hug.
"Menoly! Thank God," Tesla choked, "Thank God, thank God…"
"Hey, come on, there's no need for this…" the girl laughed lightly despite the tears that glittered in her good eye at the display of affection.
"You did the same thing to me!" Ggio pointed out disbelievingly, throwing his hands in the air, "I swear, you two are the same person!"
"You certainly took your time," Soi Fon huffed, coming to stand at Ggio's side, "Look who stopped over while you were gone."
The dark haired woman thumbed over her shoulder at Sungsun, who waved at Ggio from where she had been partaking in small talk with Yoruichi as the two siblings by the door bantered back and forth. Ggio waved back slowly, furrowing his brow.
"Why the hell is Sungsun here?" he muttered out of the side of his mouth to Soi Fon.
"You know her?" Soi Fon asked, mildly confused; then she said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "She's Tesla's girlfriend."
Ggio whipped around with an almost comic look of shock before stalking over to the woman and drawing himself to his full and rather unimpressive height, slapping the woman on the shoulder with a wide grin.
"Cyan you little devil, why didn't you tell me you were dating Tes?"
"You are Tesla's roommate?" the woman looked just as surprised as Ggio had a moment before.
"Yup! And here I was thinking I'd have to get acclimated to some bitch hanging around here… good to know it's you and not someone else…I was gonna have a heart attack for a moment there, thought you were here on business…." The black haired man laughed, perhaps a little bit uneasily.
"Yes, well, we both know the only reason I'm still with the Espada is for Lady Harribel," Sungsun smiled slightly in return.
"Yeah, well…"
"Wait, you two know each other?" Soi Fon broke in suddenly.
"Yeah," Ggio answered in an off-hand sort of tone, "We used to work together."
"I see," Soi Fon muttered, then louder, "But if Tesla's been dating you for so long, why did the two of you never meet the other?"
"Tesla and I have to be rather careful with our meetings due to our…. Occupations," Sungsun explained, "So when we spend time together we don't often speak intimately about our lives, remaining on surface topics, unless we are someplace that we know to be safe, where someone can't tail us…. Just a precaution, but a necessary one, yes?"
Tesla walked back over to the group, wiping his face with his sleeve with Menoly clutching his other hand as if her life depended on it.
"Well," Tesla sniffed, "I suppose we should get Menoly and Ms. Yoruichi accustomed to the house, no?"
"Well, since Ggiovanni has returned," Sungsun said, "And you seem rather more at ease, I think I shall leave you to get your household in order?"
"You're not staying?" Menoly asked, looking a little bit crestfallen.
"No, no," the pale woman laughed lightly, "I must return to Lady Harribel."
"Sorry for calling you out here like this," Tesla said sheepishly, "It's just…."
"It's fine," Sungsun soothed as she opened the door, "You can call me for anything, Tesla. Good night."
There was a pause after the woman shut the door.
"You," Ggio began, looking at Tesla with what bordered on awe, "have the strangest luck of anyone I've ever met."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"How did you get someone like her? I don't understand! You're just so… so…. Tesla!" the ochre eyed man cried.
"And what is that supposed to mean?"
"Hey so, are we going to 'get our household in order' or what, boys?" Yoruichi asked amid the ruckus. There was only the slightest of pauses between the bickering men in which they glanced at the violet haired woman before Ggio began his ribbing again. Soi Fon sighed.
"I said it before," Yoruichi said, beginning to laugh, "But you sure know how to pick 'em, Soi! This place is great!"
"I'm glad you think so…" Soi Fon muttered, but she knew that saying such a thing was a betrayal of how she really felt.