The long awaited sequel! Um...yeah...or the one that took me another day to write. It's weird. I think that this is the first time I've ever started and finished writing two chapters of the SAME story in one day.
Same warnings apply here, with an addition. I just want to apologize in advance: writing In-Character may work for the first chapter, but after that, I guarantee nothing. Basically, just please forgive me if I slaughter the characterization, it's not intentional; I just suck, 'kay?
Oh yeah, one last thing. I'm having fun with the little me-made smiley faces, so I'm designating each one of the Weiss boys their own. Omi is simply o_o. Youji: ~_~. Aya 0_o. I don't actually have one for Ken, but you can pretty much find him wherever Farfie may be, and Farfello is `_0. Actually, I guess for this fic, Ken could be the @_@. Fitting, ne?
0_0 ~_~
"That was one of the best carnivals I have _ever_ been to!" Omi said excitedly, dancing in place as he waited for Youji to unlock the trunk of his car so that he could stow away the stuffed elephant that Nagi had won for him. He smiled at the memory. It had been a 'knock-down-the-cans' game, where the cans were practically glued together and only someone with superhuman strength ('or telekinetic powers,' thought Omi) could knock them down. It had taken one ball for Nagi to win, leaving the vendor slack-jawed and bug-eyed as they walked away with their prize.
The older man grunted at Omi's enthusiasm. Personally, as far as he could tell, it had been the worst trip to the carnival that he had ever taken. Of course, he couldn't remember another carnival that he'd been to, but that didn't mean that this wasn't the worse.
"Didn't you have fun, Youji-kun?" Omi asked, looking worriedly at his teammate. Youji swore at himself for dimming Omi's happiness and forced a lazy grin on his face.
"It was fun, I'm just a little disappointed that you're the only person I'm taking home with me." He winked suggestively and earned a laugh from the boy. Omi continued to swirl around with the stuffed animal in his arms, humming under his breath with his eyes closed. Youji could only imagine what Omi was picturing in his mind.
He glanced around the parking lot, frowning, searching for Aya's...Ran's Porsche or Ken's bike. It looked like Ran had already left, but Ken was still around someplace: his bike was only six spaces from Youji's car. He ran a hand through his hair in frustration. The carnival was closing shortly, and even though he knew that Ken normally enjoyed that type of thing, he wasn't the type to stay so late.
It made him uneasy. If Schuldig had found him so easy, how would he know if the rest of Schwartz hadn't shown up to goad the rest of his team? He looked at Omi and his frown deepened into a scowl as a thought came unbidden to his mind. "Omi?"
"Hmm? Yeah, Youji-kun?"
"Did you see that boy from Schwartz today?" He asked, trying to keep the suspicion from his voice. Omi's reaction was small and quick, but Youji caught it and processed it even while the boy lied and denied it.
"Of course not, Youji-kun! I would have told you if I had. We have to keep an eye on the enemy and..." He trailed off as he realized that Youji was grinning at him in amusement.
"You don't lie well, Omi-kun. Why don't you try telling me the truth?" Omi bit his lip, looking uncertainly at Youji. "If you don't tell me, you're walking home."
The boy sighed, hugging his elephant tighter. The action reminded Youji that he had yet to open the trunk, which he did without taking his gaze from Omi. "He showed up while I was playing a dart game and we...we spent the afternoon playing games and riding the rides!" The last was said all in a rush, leaving Omi breathless and blushing guiltily.
Youji took pity on him and reached out to ruffle his hair. He took the stuffed animal and put it in the trunk as Omi looked at him hopefully. "It's fine, Omi. We're not fighting them any longer, so you're not exactly sleeping with the enemy." He raised an eyebrow when Omi's flush darkened. "Omi, you're blushing!" He teased shrilly.
"Youji-kun!" Omi growled, doing his best to assume Ran's best glare. It didn't work when your face was the color of a ripe tomato. He paused and his face shifted into a small smile. "So it's okay? We can be...friends?"
"Hah! You can be lovers if you wanna, Omi," Youji couldn't help but tease. For a moment, he thought Omi would faint in shock, but the boy simply glared at him again, daring him to make another comment like that. Obviously, the boy didn't like to be teased about his love life. "Let's go, Omi. Ken should be along any minute now and we'll meet him back at the apartment."
`_0
Ken curled his arms around his knees and closed his eyes tight. He was afraid that if he opened them, he'd find Farfello still standing in front of him, one golden eye unblinking as their lips pressed together. The experience had been too unnerving: he had spent the brief span of time of their kiss waiting for the Irishman to pull out one of his knives and slice him to bits.
Not surprisingly, after the blonde had pulled away, the first thing to leave his mouth had been "That hurts God."
It had taken a good five seconds and a second short kiss before Ken's mind could even begin to formulate what was happening. When the thought clicked, he did the only thing he could think of. He brought his knee up into Farfello's groin and head-butted him at the same time.
The outcome? Ken nearly knocked himself out while Farfello simply raised an eyebrow. It was then that it registered in Ken's mind that Farfello couldn't feel pain; but Ken could. He had closed his eyes and rested on the pavement where he had landed, until he felt a cool hand touch his forehead gently.
The other man had been crouching beside him, studying Ken with a frown. "Now, now, kitty. I said that hurting you wouldn't hurt God, but you've gone and done it anyway." Ken simply groaned and wished for the earth to swallow him. "You haven't knocked yourself out, have you?"
'I could only wish,' Ken thought sadly. He jumped when Farfello's hand caressed his cheek in what could only be called a 'tender fashion'. He opened his eyes and sat up, using his hands to scoot backwards away from the blonde. "Stay away from me," he warned threateningly, though he couldn't think of one thing to threaten the blonde with.
One corner of Farfello's mouth turned up and he withdrew his hands to rest them on his knees. "You can run from me, kitty, but you can't hide."
"Really?" Ken returned, jumping to his feet. "Watch me!"
He had run in the opposite direction, pushing through people as he slowly edged his way towards the entrance to the carnival. He had almost reached it, too, when Farfello materialized right in front of him, blocking the way.
That had led to a run in the other direction with the same results. It seemed that no matter which way he turned; the blonde had anticipated his actions and was one step ahead of him. So, instead of trying to run, Ken had opted for his second choice: hiding. He was holed up in one of the food vendor buildings. It was empty and it had been a matter of seconds to pick the lock.
He was huddled in one of the darkened corners, his heart hammering in his chest at every sound. He knew that it the park was slowly clearing out and he could only hope that Farfello had gone or would go home soon. He wished for his bugnuks; even if the blonde couldn't feel the pain, the claws could gut and kill him.
The man's intentions had been clearly written in his smile and the glint in his eyes. 'The deranged maniac was going to rape me, the weirdo.' Ken rested his chin on his knees and closed his eye.
"Nah, Siberian. He wasn't going to rape you." A voice announced from the window above his head. Ken froze, wondering if he had been discovered, when recognition kicked in and he realized just who had spoken. He stood up and made his way to the door in resignation.
It opened, and he could see the boy telekinetic holding it open with one hand while he bowed low. Crawford and Schuldig completed a mini-half-circle around the door, barring his escape. He glared at them from his perch in the trailer, his eyes and senses quickly alerting him to the fact that Farfello was probably close, but not in sight.
With a sinking feeling, he stepped down to the ground and turned to look on top of the trailer. Sure enough, the blonde was sitting on the roof, sitting cross-legged with a knife twirling between his hands. He was staring at the whirling blade in rapt fascination, as if Ken was no longer a concern to him at all.
That was just fine with him, except he now had a new problem. He was alone with Schwartz. "I don't suppose that we could put off fighting until I get a chance to call the others?" He asked, his body tense as he waited for the first strike.
There was a moment of silence and then Schuldig and Nagi laughed. Even Crawford was smiling in amusement. Ken swallowed hard, his attention split between the three laughing at him and the man behind him. It might have been fun chasing him around earlier, but if Farfello didn't want to rape him, he probably intended to kill Ken and the blonde was armed to do so.
"We're not here to fight," Nagi finally replied, his face scrunched in a bright grin. The look almost reminded him of Omi, complete with innocence.
Schuldig smiled and ruffled the Nagi's hair affectionately, his gaze still fixed on Ken. "You can still call the others, though. I'm sure that we'd all like to see at least one of them again." He winked at Crawford, who nodded, his face set back in a blank expression. "In fact, better yet, take us home to visit them. I'd love to see Balinese again."
The way he said it was suggestive and there was a gleam in his eyes that spoke of other things he'd love to do. Ken raised an eyebrow. "Haven't you heard? Youji's a lady's man. Not a man's man, a lady's man. You're kind of built wrong for him."
The telepath laughed, the sound confident and assured. Ken blinked at him. 'Of course, I've always wondered about the way Youji dresses. Maybe he does have a chance?'
"Thanks for the encouragement, Siberian." The redhead wriggled his eyebrows and winked at him.
'He just winked at me. They're all crazy. The entire lot of them. I am so dead it's not funny.'
Schuldig rolled his eyes and looked at the other two. "He's clogging my brain with his paranoia. Either kill him, hand him over to Farfie, or let him go, because he's giving me a headache."
'Good.' Ken thought with a fair amount of satisfaction. That feeling was quickly replaced with fear when he felt more than heard Farfello land behind him, the air around him displaced by the sudden movement. He stared straight ahead, a catch in his breathing the only outward sign of his discomfort.
A hand touched him lightly on the back, his awareness of the gentle pressure heightened by expectancy. His teeth ground together in an effort to keep his reaction under control; if he failed to hold himself back, he'd end up turning around and hitting, rather ineffectually, at the man touching him. That would only serve to amuse his audience more and he wasn't about to give them any more satisfaction than he had to.
"Good kitty." Ken rolled his eyes as the hand moved up to his shoulder and stayed. The other hand and the presence of body heat moving close to his back soon followed it. His eyes widened in surprise as Farfello breathed on the back of his neck, making the hair there stand on end.
His final nerve snapped when a warm pair of lips caressed his hairline. He pulled away, stumbling forward a little as he broke from the blonde's grasp. He turned around, ready to throw a punch or whatever else it took to keep the blonde away from him touching him again. What he saw surprised him.
Before the Irishman had a chance to turn his face back into its maniacal mask of lunacy [1], Ken caught the unguarded tenderness. Suddenly, the day caught up with him: the emotional and physical cost of constantly dodging Farfello, the fear of a moment before, hunger from running instead of eating, and now the confusion evoked by the look in that golden eye.
For the first time in his life, at least for the first time without having sustained a serious injury first, Ken fainted. The four corners of Schwartz looked down at him, surprise clearly showing on all of their faces.
Schuldig looked up at Farfello, who was frowning down at his 'kitty'. "You know, Farfie, a talent like that could have been useful when we were still fighting them."
0_o
Ran stared out the window of his apartment, his arms crossed over his chest as his violet gaze studied the building across the way. He wouldn't have said that it was an interesting view, but he had been staring at it for the better part of an hour.
Behind him, lying on the sofa with a cloth over her eyes, Aya-chan was sleeping. She had stumbled off of the ride earlier, the one that went in circles repeatedly, walked up to her brother, and then thrown up on his shoes.
He had stared at her, before turning to glare at Crawford. The precog had shrugged, not looking the least apologetic. Shortly after, Ran had escorted Aya-chan home, giving her something for her still upset stomach before settling her on the couch for a nap. It had been early evening then and she had woken up once, long enough to take a sleeping pill that would keep her out all night.
Movement on the street drew his gaze downward and he watched as a woman carried a bag of groceries into the building that he was watching so thoroughly. A car pulled around the corner and he identified it as Youji's. He looked at his watch, surprised to find that the day was almost gone.
It was odd. He had expected some kind of veiled threat from Crawford, some kind of explanation that would be better than the one he'd been given. He had fought the man several times, had exchanged threats and blows with fervor. Though he had changed much since Aya-chan recovered, he could see no reason behind Crawford's "Courting".
'The American is a strange one, indeed,' he thought to himself. Downstairs, he heard the door shut, felt the slight tremor through the floor as Youji and Omi entered the Koneko by the front entrance.
He frowned. They normally came in the back entrance when the shop wasn't open. Since Youji had taken to parking in back, it was more logical. In a second, he was across the apartment, pulling his katana from its sheath. There was someone downstairs and he had a gut feeling that it wasn't someone that had been invited.
@_@
Well! That was interesting. Who is in the Koneko after closing? What will Schwartz do with poor Kenken? Since when does Farfie show anything other than psychotic neurosis?
More, coming up on the next episode of 'In the Company of Strangeness: What happened?'
[1] I love that! Say it three times fast!
