Luftbild. By Mariye.
Disclaimer: I don't own Weiss or any of the Weiss characters in here. I do own Alair, Jun, and Serise though. Woo hoo. I am a poor college student. All my money goes to books and school, so suing me would be pretty pointless.
(Luftbild = Mirage)
Chapter 1:
"Why?" The woman asked. She tossed back her shoulder length layered brown hair and gazed at the woman in front of her with an eerie brown eyed gaze.
"Because you are one of the best." The woman in the fine business suit didn't miss a beat. Her magenta hair completely long and motionless behind her. "We need the best. You may have heard we have a little trouble with employment. We know you have contacts. You have a long reach."
The woman at the bar she faced shook a little, as though she had chuckled, or maybe shuddered. She looked straight down at the bar and at her empty shot glass.
"Yeah, I guess I hear things."
"So are you available?"
"Possibly." This time the young brunette did smile a little.
"Someone with your abilities should be using them properly. Not wasting your time dancing in a place like this." The redhead gestured around the small sports bar. "Especially at your age, with so much ahead of you."
"So I should be out being all I can be?" The brunette retorted as she turned for the first time to face the businesswoman.
"Are you in or not? I will not waste my, or my employer's, time here shooting the breeze with some punk." The businesswoman showed irritation. "Just standing in this place makes my skin itch."
"That would be the fleas."
"Fleas?!" The businesswoman started brushing off her arms and legs vigorously. The brunette laughed for real this time. The businesswoman gave her a dirty look. "Shut it Alair. Are we going?"
"Only if living expenses, car, and housing are a part of the bargain."
"Of course." The businesswoman smiled.
"And refill my drink?"
The businesswoman rolled her eyes. "What were you drinking? Vodka? Scotch? Tequila? Amontillado?"
"Cherry coke. Come on now. Its illegal for anyone under 21 to drink alcohol." Alair beamed a huge smile at the woman.
"Fine. From now on, you report to me."
"And you are?" Alair waited until the bartender filled her glass, and she quickly finished her soda in one gulp.
"You already know."
"Humor me."
"You can call me Panzer. Come. Lets get out and get you comfortable with your new surroundings and teammates."
---
"Nice digs..." Alair said as she wandered around the penthouse loft. The two had stopped off at the hotel Alair had been occupying to pick up her two suitcases and to the storage space where her 4 boxes of things were. "Really. Very high class. Are you sure we're on the up and up? And are you really sure it's alright that we took that hummer?"
"Positive." Panzer said as she walked Alair into the living room. "We're here. Your final member has arrived." She said to no one in particular. Alair gave her an odd look, as though she believed Panzer crazy. It wasn't long before she saw a teal haired, pigtailed girl a bit younger than her pop her head out of... a fort made out of couch cushions?
"Um... Hi?" Alair said as she bent down near the entrance of the fort. "And you are...?"
The teal hair girl gasped and hid, then peeked out again.
"Are you a friend for Tot? Or an enemy?"
Alair smiled a little and brushed back a strand of loose hair. "Friend."
"Oh..." Tot looked around to Panzer, who stood back a bit. Panzer nodded to her and Tot stepped out hesitantly, dragging a yellow and pink umbrella and a stuffed rabbit out into the open with her. "Who are you?"
"I'm Alair. And I guess I'm your new coworker." Alair beamed kindly at the girl. "And who are you? And who is your little friend?" Alair pointed at the stuffed toy.
"I'm Tot!" She said enthusiastically. "And this is Rabbie! Did Mommy bring you here to play with me? To become part of Tot's new family?"
"Mommy?" Alair looked back at Panzer, who blushed faintly.
"Yes Tot. She's here to play with you. Be your new big sister."
Tot ran over and hugged Panzer tightly. "Oh thank you Mommy! Everything can be all better now!"
Panzer pushed Tot off, using the girl's own umbrella as a makeshift crowbar.
"Yes... so where is the rest of our happy family?"
"Jun is in the library at that dumb computer... He was being mean to Tot... And Serise had a headache after playing for a while and she went to go lie down..." Tot looked at Alair. "You don't get headaches like Serise, do you? Serise never plays long without getting a headache or getting all weird..."
"No, I'm not." Alair said smiling. For some odd reason she liked the young girl, despite her... eccentric qualities. "How about you show me if there is an empty room I can stay in and arrange my stuff in? Then afterwards I promise to play with you."
Tot bounced enthusiastically and grabbed Alair's arm.
"Yeah! Come on! Hurry hurry hurry!!!"
Panzer fought to keep from laughing as the younger dragged the older one off down the hall.
"Wait! Tot! Lemme grab my stuff first! Tot!" Alair attempted to drag behind a little, but that only encouraged the girl more. Tot stopped for a second.
"Oh. Yeah. Okay." Tot closed her eyes. Alair's bags and boxes levitated in midair and then flew down the hall, inches away from Panzer's head, and flew through a door to a room at the end of the hall. Alair looked at the girl in shock.
"Neat trick, huh? I learned it from my boyfriend. Well... my old boyfriend... Nagi died protecting Tot and saving Tot a while ago... Tot woke up in rubble and Nagi was lying there and he wasn't moving and I just grabbed Rabbie and ran away and never went back... Shoen, Neu, Daddy, and Hel died there too..." Tot suddenly became sullen and withdrawn. Her eyes became all misty.
"I'm so sorry Tot..." Alair said, placing her hand on the girl's head. "I know how it feels to lose someone you love too... I'm sorry for your loss."
Tot looked up at Alair teary eyed and clenched her arms in a tight hug around the older, taller girl's waist.
"Oh Sis! Thank you Sis! I promise I'll make you proud! Tot'll be the best little sister possible! I swear!"
The ceremony ended suddenly when the door nearest them burst open. A woman with long orange hair in a pulled back ponytail glared out at the two of them.
"Some of us are trying to take a nap. Some people have a headache." She glared at Alair and Tot.
"Oh Serise! Meet Sis Alair. Sis is great." Tot smiled at Serise and grabbed Serise's visible hand. "You have to see her! She is so nice! I love her!" Serise pulled her hand away and slapped Tot.
"Bitch. Shut it."
"Hey!" Alair grabbed Serise's hand and went face to face with her. "That isn't condusive behavior!" Alair gave Serise her most evil look. "Prima Donna prom queen." She thought bitterly.
"Actually, yes. I was the prom queen back in high school. And some years before that my brother, Schuldich, was the king." Alair dropped Serise's hand and backed up.
"Serise plays dirty." Tot spat at her. "She reads minds."
Alair looked stunned and in awe at the woman in front of her. She placed her hands on her hips and shook her head. "That is cheating." Alair said.
"Oh don't be so surprised. This phases you more than Tot's little levitation act? You yourself have a little secret too, don't you? Your own little power. I bet that made dancing come much easier for you." Serise said as she shut the door and retreated back into her sanctuary.
"Who stuck the rod up her butt?" Alair asked, trying to brighten things up again.
"Rod? Do you want Tot to go find Jun and ask him to look for the missing rod?" Tot got excited at the thought of a mission. As Alair shook her head, the young girl's enthusiasm dimmed. She then remembered the first mission and resumed dragging her sis to her room.
---
Alair sat on one of her two foutons in the room. She had arranged it to look like a cozy little studio. There was a blue fold out couch/bed, a comfy black massage chair, and two navy blue foutons. a 20 in tv sat in the center, and a desk stood alone in one corner, near the window. She had set up her laptop there. She had pushed her dresser into the closet and stuffed all of her clothes into there. Her assorted statues, books, photos, and personal items littered any shelf in the area. Anime and music posters plastered the walls. She smiled and fell back and looked at the ceiling. She saw an assortment of glow in the dark stars hovering over her.
"Those are cute Tot."
"They would look nice on your ceiling!" She said enthusiastically. She noticed Alair with a somber look. "What's wrong Sis?"
"My friend used to keep things like those on our dorm room ceiling our first year of college. Then she took a job as a PI to earn money for school. She disappeared and I never heard from her again. And she had no family, so I have no clue what happened to her. She was my best friend..."
Tot crept up and sat on the floor next to her.
"What was her name?"
"Asuka. We grew up in the same small town. In the same foster home even." Alair gave a sad smile. "She was like my sister, even though we weren't related."
"Like we're gonna be?" Tot asked innocently.
"Yeah..."
"Neu once was called Asuka. The man who killed her kept calling her that. Why do people have to die?" Tot said sadly.
"I don't know... maybe because God gets jealous and wants their company up in heaven." Alair said faintly as she stared at a blue neon star floating above her head.
---
Alair stretched out on the couch until her toes touched the opposite end. "Insomnia, oh how I loathe thee..." She thought as she counted the stars on the ceiling for a fifth time. At the hotel she would count cracks in the ceiling. This place was lacking those though.
"I guess this is my punishment for living on caffiene and sugar..." She huffed as she sat straight up. She figured she should be exhausted, after playing with Tot, checking her mail, another fight with Serise, and trying out the home gym. Yet sleep still escaped her. She slowly rose to her feet and looked around. She caught her reflection in the full length mirror. She felt sad for a moment. Her twin sister and mother had looked just like her. And after she was sent to the foster home she became fast friends with the girl she was sharing a room with, Asuka. The two had taken to dressing alike. The foster mother often told them that if they had the same hair color and Alair hadn't been taller, they could have been twins.
She wore kitty pajama pants, and a tank top with a huge red paw print on the front. Her hair was pulled back in an attempted ponytail, but her hair was so short in front that strands escaped and covered her eyes and most of her face. She preferred it that way really. A sort of one way mirror in a way. She could see everything, but no one could see her. She was always oddly tall. Even now she was 5'10".
"Maybe if I eat something..." She thought as she wandered out into the hall. Her bare feet pitter pattered against the polished tiles. As she came upon the kitchen, she saw a man, over 6', standing near the fridge. He had shaggy black hair, and saphire eyes. He stared right through her.
"Are you Jun?"
The man nodded and resumed his excavation. She walked over to his side and peeked over his shoulder.
"The silent type?"
Again he nodded. He looked over his shoulder at her, almost like he was asking why she was there.
"Just looking. Sorry to bother you." She noticed a can of something on the side. "Can you pass me that can of pears please?"
He reached in and handed the small tin can back to her.
"Thanks." She perused the drawers until she found a fork and can opener, and began eating her midnight snack. "You been here long?"
He shrugged and grabbed a container of something. He met her eyes and nodded, then walked away. Alair hopped up on the counter and stabbed at a stray piece of pear.
"Nice talking to you."
Disclaimer: I don't own Weiss or any of the Weiss characters in here. I do own Alair, Jun, and Serise though. Woo hoo. I am a poor college student. All my money goes to books and school, so suing me would be pretty pointless.
(Luftbild = Mirage)
Chapter 1:
"Why?" The woman asked. She tossed back her shoulder length layered brown hair and gazed at the woman in front of her with an eerie brown eyed gaze.
"Because you are one of the best." The woman in the fine business suit didn't miss a beat. Her magenta hair completely long and motionless behind her. "We need the best. You may have heard we have a little trouble with employment. We know you have contacts. You have a long reach."
The woman at the bar she faced shook a little, as though she had chuckled, or maybe shuddered. She looked straight down at the bar and at her empty shot glass.
"Yeah, I guess I hear things."
"So are you available?"
"Possibly." This time the young brunette did smile a little.
"Someone with your abilities should be using them properly. Not wasting your time dancing in a place like this." The redhead gestured around the small sports bar. "Especially at your age, with so much ahead of you."
"So I should be out being all I can be?" The brunette retorted as she turned for the first time to face the businesswoman.
"Are you in or not? I will not waste my, or my employer's, time here shooting the breeze with some punk." The businesswoman showed irritation. "Just standing in this place makes my skin itch."
"That would be the fleas."
"Fleas?!" The businesswoman started brushing off her arms and legs vigorously. The brunette laughed for real this time. The businesswoman gave her a dirty look. "Shut it Alair. Are we going?"
"Only if living expenses, car, and housing are a part of the bargain."
"Of course." The businesswoman smiled.
"And refill my drink?"
The businesswoman rolled her eyes. "What were you drinking? Vodka? Scotch? Tequila? Amontillado?"
"Cherry coke. Come on now. Its illegal for anyone under 21 to drink alcohol." Alair beamed a huge smile at the woman.
"Fine. From now on, you report to me."
"And you are?" Alair waited until the bartender filled her glass, and she quickly finished her soda in one gulp.
"You already know."
"Humor me."
"You can call me Panzer. Come. Lets get out and get you comfortable with your new surroundings and teammates."
---
"Nice digs..." Alair said as she wandered around the penthouse loft. The two had stopped off at the hotel Alair had been occupying to pick up her two suitcases and to the storage space where her 4 boxes of things were. "Really. Very high class. Are you sure we're on the up and up? And are you really sure it's alright that we took that hummer?"
"Positive." Panzer said as she walked Alair into the living room. "We're here. Your final member has arrived." She said to no one in particular. Alair gave her an odd look, as though she believed Panzer crazy. It wasn't long before she saw a teal haired, pigtailed girl a bit younger than her pop her head out of... a fort made out of couch cushions?
"Um... Hi?" Alair said as she bent down near the entrance of the fort. "And you are...?"
The teal hair girl gasped and hid, then peeked out again.
"Are you a friend for Tot? Or an enemy?"
Alair smiled a little and brushed back a strand of loose hair. "Friend."
"Oh..." Tot looked around to Panzer, who stood back a bit. Panzer nodded to her and Tot stepped out hesitantly, dragging a yellow and pink umbrella and a stuffed rabbit out into the open with her. "Who are you?"
"I'm Alair. And I guess I'm your new coworker." Alair beamed kindly at the girl. "And who are you? And who is your little friend?" Alair pointed at the stuffed toy.
"I'm Tot!" She said enthusiastically. "And this is Rabbie! Did Mommy bring you here to play with me? To become part of Tot's new family?"
"Mommy?" Alair looked back at Panzer, who blushed faintly.
"Yes Tot. She's here to play with you. Be your new big sister."
Tot ran over and hugged Panzer tightly. "Oh thank you Mommy! Everything can be all better now!"
Panzer pushed Tot off, using the girl's own umbrella as a makeshift crowbar.
"Yes... so where is the rest of our happy family?"
"Jun is in the library at that dumb computer... He was being mean to Tot... And Serise had a headache after playing for a while and she went to go lie down..." Tot looked at Alair. "You don't get headaches like Serise, do you? Serise never plays long without getting a headache or getting all weird..."
"No, I'm not." Alair said smiling. For some odd reason she liked the young girl, despite her... eccentric qualities. "How about you show me if there is an empty room I can stay in and arrange my stuff in? Then afterwards I promise to play with you."
Tot bounced enthusiastically and grabbed Alair's arm.
"Yeah! Come on! Hurry hurry hurry!!!"
Panzer fought to keep from laughing as the younger dragged the older one off down the hall.
"Wait! Tot! Lemme grab my stuff first! Tot!" Alair attempted to drag behind a little, but that only encouraged the girl more. Tot stopped for a second.
"Oh. Yeah. Okay." Tot closed her eyes. Alair's bags and boxes levitated in midair and then flew down the hall, inches away from Panzer's head, and flew through a door to a room at the end of the hall. Alair looked at the girl in shock.
"Neat trick, huh? I learned it from my boyfriend. Well... my old boyfriend... Nagi died protecting Tot and saving Tot a while ago... Tot woke up in rubble and Nagi was lying there and he wasn't moving and I just grabbed Rabbie and ran away and never went back... Shoen, Neu, Daddy, and Hel died there too..." Tot suddenly became sullen and withdrawn. Her eyes became all misty.
"I'm so sorry Tot..." Alair said, placing her hand on the girl's head. "I know how it feels to lose someone you love too... I'm sorry for your loss."
Tot looked up at Alair teary eyed and clenched her arms in a tight hug around the older, taller girl's waist.
"Oh Sis! Thank you Sis! I promise I'll make you proud! Tot'll be the best little sister possible! I swear!"
The ceremony ended suddenly when the door nearest them burst open. A woman with long orange hair in a pulled back ponytail glared out at the two of them.
"Some of us are trying to take a nap. Some people have a headache." She glared at Alair and Tot.
"Oh Serise! Meet Sis Alair. Sis is great." Tot smiled at Serise and grabbed Serise's visible hand. "You have to see her! She is so nice! I love her!" Serise pulled her hand away and slapped Tot.
"Bitch. Shut it."
"Hey!" Alair grabbed Serise's hand and went face to face with her. "That isn't condusive behavior!" Alair gave Serise her most evil look. "Prima Donna prom queen." She thought bitterly.
"Actually, yes. I was the prom queen back in high school. And some years before that my brother, Schuldich, was the king." Alair dropped Serise's hand and backed up.
"Serise plays dirty." Tot spat at her. "She reads minds."
Alair looked stunned and in awe at the woman in front of her. She placed her hands on her hips and shook her head. "That is cheating." Alair said.
"Oh don't be so surprised. This phases you more than Tot's little levitation act? You yourself have a little secret too, don't you? Your own little power. I bet that made dancing come much easier for you." Serise said as she shut the door and retreated back into her sanctuary.
"Who stuck the rod up her butt?" Alair asked, trying to brighten things up again.
"Rod? Do you want Tot to go find Jun and ask him to look for the missing rod?" Tot got excited at the thought of a mission. As Alair shook her head, the young girl's enthusiasm dimmed. She then remembered the first mission and resumed dragging her sis to her room.
---
Alair sat on one of her two foutons in the room. She had arranged it to look like a cozy little studio. There was a blue fold out couch/bed, a comfy black massage chair, and two navy blue foutons. a 20 in tv sat in the center, and a desk stood alone in one corner, near the window. She had set up her laptop there. She had pushed her dresser into the closet and stuffed all of her clothes into there. Her assorted statues, books, photos, and personal items littered any shelf in the area. Anime and music posters plastered the walls. She smiled and fell back and looked at the ceiling. She saw an assortment of glow in the dark stars hovering over her.
"Those are cute Tot."
"They would look nice on your ceiling!" She said enthusiastically. She noticed Alair with a somber look. "What's wrong Sis?"
"My friend used to keep things like those on our dorm room ceiling our first year of college. Then she took a job as a PI to earn money for school. She disappeared and I never heard from her again. And she had no family, so I have no clue what happened to her. She was my best friend..."
Tot crept up and sat on the floor next to her.
"What was her name?"
"Asuka. We grew up in the same small town. In the same foster home even." Alair gave a sad smile. "She was like my sister, even though we weren't related."
"Like we're gonna be?" Tot asked innocently.
"Yeah..."
"Neu once was called Asuka. The man who killed her kept calling her that. Why do people have to die?" Tot said sadly.
"I don't know... maybe because God gets jealous and wants their company up in heaven." Alair said faintly as she stared at a blue neon star floating above her head.
---
Alair stretched out on the couch until her toes touched the opposite end. "Insomnia, oh how I loathe thee..." She thought as she counted the stars on the ceiling for a fifth time. At the hotel she would count cracks in the ceiling. This place was lacking those though.
"I guess this is my punishment for living on caffiene and sugar..." She huffed as she sat straight up. She figured she should be exhausted, after playing with Tot, checking her mail, another fight with Serise, and trying out the home gym. Yet sleep still escaped her. She slowly rose to her feet and looked around. She caught her reflection in the full length mirror. She felt sad for a moment. Her twin sister and mother had looked just like her. And after she was sent to the foster home she became fast friends with the girl she was sharing a room with, Asuka. The two had taken to dressing alike. The foster mother often told them that if they had the same hair color and Alair hadn't been taller, they could have been twins.
She wore kitty pajama pants, and a tank top with a huge red paw print on the front. Her hair was pulled back in an attempted ponytail, but her hair was so short in front that strands escaped and covered her eyes and most of her face. She preferred it that way really. A sort of one way mirror in a way. She could see everything, but no one could see her. She was always oddly tall. Even now she was 5'10".
"Maybe if I eat something..." She thought as she wandered out into the hall. Her bare feet pitter pattered against the polished tiles. As she came upon the kitchen, she saw a man, over 6', standing near the fridge. He had shaggy black hair, and saphire eyes. He stared right through her.
"Are you Jun?"
The man nodded and resumed his excavation. She walked over to his side and peeked over his shoulder.
"The silent type?"
Again he nodded. He looked over his shoulder at her, almost like he was asking why she was there.
"Just looking. Sorry to bother you." She noticed a can of something on the side. "Can you pass me that can of pears please?"
He reached in and handed the small tin can back to her.
"Thanks." She perused the drawers until she found a fork and can opener, and began eating her midnight snack. "You been here long?"
He shrugged and grabbed a container of something. He met her eyes and nodded, then walked away. Alair hopped up on the counter and stabbed at a stray piece of pear.
"Nice talking to you."