Crawford and Ran get their little space, to make up the lack in the last chapter. Youji is now the winking flirt ~_O and Nagi is ~_~.
0_o
"So, Crawford-San, what brings you to our humble abode so late at night?" Aya-chan asked softly. She was holding a cup of tea, as were both of the men. Ran wanted to snort at the absurdity that he was now 'entertaining' an enemy in his apartment. Entertaining without gun, sword, or heated words, to be more precise, and he wasn't happy about any of it.
His sister had her own ideas of how she wanted things and without dredging up the past few years at that very moment, he couldn't tell her that the man sitting so calmly to drink green tea with them had months before been one of the major threats to his, Ran's, life. However, that's not a conversation you had over tea; tea was reserved for polite, menial subjects such as the weather.
Aya-chan was sitting in a chair across from them, her back straight, and her posture everything a young lady could strive for. Her eyes, on the other hand, were sparkling devilishly, a look from their childhood that reminded Ran of the time she'd climbed out her window and ran away for the afternoon [1]. She was up to something and he had a sinking feeling, when he caught her looking at Crawford, what it was.
"I'm just visiting your brother, Aya-chan. And please, call me Brad." The man was as smooth as peach sorbet. Ran resisted the urge to roll his eyes as Aya-chan smiled.
"I'm pleased to meet you, Bradley-kun. Truthfully, the few times that my brother has mentioned you, I've received the impression that your relationship was...strained. I did see you at the carnival earlier, though. I'm glad that you've come around to see Ran. Besides Ken, Omi, and Youji, he doesn't seem to be very social."
She was teasing her brother, purposely goading him. He smiled at her, raising one scarlet eyebrow in a silent threat of retribution. Her smile widened and he realized that he had walked right into her little trap. He gritted his teeth and tried to figure out when his sister became so sly.
"I'm sorry that I have to leave you alone with my brother, but it's been a long afternoon and I need a nap. I'm sure you understand," she was saying before Ran's mind had caught up to the conversation again. She and Crawford stood and said their goodbyes before Aya-chan disappeared into the back of the apartment. Which meant that Ran was now alone with the American.
"Alone at last," Crawford said as he turned to look down at Ran.
"Not yet. You can leave and then I'll finally be alone." He intentionally misinterpreted the statement, his eyes daring Crawford to do…something, though Ran wasn't exactly sure what. His eyes met Crawford's gaze and he felt a flash of something -'foreboding', he decided- as the other man studied him intently.
The cushions sank into the couch when Crawford sat down, this time sitting so close that he was nearly sitting in Ran's lap. "I couldn't possibly leave before I've done what I came for."
Ran stood up, seemingly casual in the movement, and crossed to the window. He turned to face Crawford, his arms crossed over his chest. "Have you seen the outcome of this conversation?" He asked, mildly curious.
"Yes," the precog answered, nodding. He had seen flashes of what would happen, but had come anyway. He had learned a long time ago that it wasn't his place to change the future, so he accepted the visions he had and did his part in making them true. He stood up lithely and stalked towards Ran, his eyes fixed to the redhead's face.
They would fight; Ran would break a hold and reach for his katana. There was a brief period where it was blank, and then another image of Ran holding him at sword-point. The last picture he had was of himself, walking through a door. Nothing more specific than that, but it was enough.
As expected, Ran didn't retreat from the advance. He held his ground firmly; his eyes steady on Crawford's face, his own expression blank. 'At least he's not glaring,' the precog thought. Since Ran was already standing near the wall, it was a small matter for Crawford to place a hand on the wall on either side of him and lean closer, trapping him.
"If you kiss me, I will not hesitate to tear you apart," warned Ran, his voice unemotional. Crawford smiled, taking it as a challenge. He pressed forward and placed his mouth over Ran's, his lips slightly parted. Ran didn't immediately push him away; the violet-eyed man seemed frozen in place. Crawford took advantage of that and used his tongue to spread Ran's lips before plundering into the velvety moistness of the other man's mouth [2].
A second later, he was lying flat on his back while his lip bled. Ran glared down at him. "I warned you." Then he was on top of Crawford, his fists striking quickly. It took the other man a minute before he got a chance to do anything more than deflect some of the blows.
Crawford bucked his hips, pushed at Ran's chest, and then used his thigh to send the redhead sailing past his head. Ran rolled, turned, and straightened in one smooth move as Crawford jumped to his feet and spun to face him. They lunged at each other and went crashing to the floor again in a tangle of limbs. This time, they rolled from side to side, each one occasionally taking control and getting in a good punch or kick before they rolled again and the other was on top.
During one of the instances when Ran was underneath Crawford, he brought his knee up into the other man's groin, making Crawford groan. His eyes widened as he covered himself and fell to the side in pain. Ran jumped up and stalked across the living room to where he had left his katana earlier.
Crawford was climbing to his feet when he returned and he held the sword to his throat. "You saw this?"
Seeing no point in denying it, Crawford nodded. "Yes."
"And still you kissed me?" Ran drew in a breath as he waited for the other man to answer. His heart was racing from their tussle and an unusual excitement that was winding through his veins. They were evenly matched in strength and almost in skill, though he wouldn't have been able to say who was the better fighter. What he did know was that he respected the man before him, for his abilities and for his intelligence, and yet that same man had stayed around when he knew already that he wouldn't win.
"Ah, kissing you was the best part." Crawford smiled slightly, though his eyes were serious. "I can't change the future, and in this case I wouldn't have tried."
"Walk." Ran growled, pointing towards the hallway with his katana. Crawford turned and walked in that direction, his hands tucked casually into his jacket pockets. There were three doors in the hallway, one to each of the bedrooms and one that lead to the rest of the apartments where the other members of Weiss lived. Crawford walked towards the entrance, but a quick tug and push from Ran sent him into a darkened bedroom. He blinked when he realized that the walls were the same as from his vision.
He turned to Ran, who was standing in front of the now closed door, and smiled.
~_0
Youji watched out his window as Schuldig and the other two left. He lit a cigarette, but left it burning, unattended, in his hand. His green eyes were narrowed thoughtfully as he watched the three Schwartz members drive away.
When the cigarette had burned down to the filter, he stubbed it out against the windowsill and threw the butt away. His watch, the one with the wire inside, was sitting on his nightstand. He had picked it up after shoving the redhead into the hallway.
The only thing he knew at that moment was that he was confused and angry. Or, confused, angry, and turned on as all hell. If he had ever had a girl kiss him like Schuldig did, she would have been the only name in his black book, that was for sure.
o_o
After Nagi was gone, Omi went to his computer and signed onto the Internet. He wanted to be online the moment Nagi got home so that they could talk. That done, he looked around at his room; the neatly stacked books, the pictures on the wall, and his rumpled bed. He smiled and closed his eyes, remembering.
~_~
"It was a foot massage, Schu. Nothing more," Nagi said heatedly, his cheeks a bright red. The German laughed, making the boy even more uncomfortable. Farfello was watching them silently from the back seat, his eye moving between them.
Silence followed Nagi's outburst until Farfello asked, "Why would a foot massage make you blush?" This was followed by a maniacal laugh. Nagi glanced over his shoulder and saw that the Irishman was playing with one of his knives, twisting it around his fingers and watching the glint of the blade in rapture.
"Schu, are you sure that we're doing the right thing? Pushing Farfello towards Ken?"
"We're not pushing, little one. Farfie's the one that wanted the boy; we're just helping out so that the kitten doesn't end up being skinned."
"That's not a pleasant image, Schu."
"Think on the positive side; at least he wasn't interested in your Omittchi."
o_o
"Nagi," he read as he typed, "I'm sorry you had to leave so suddenly. Maybe you could spend the night here this weekend? The guys already know that we're *friends*." He paused to giggle. "So it shouldn't be a problem for you to come over."
'I'd love to, but I don't think Schu's in a good mood. Youji-kun made him kind of mad. He's trying not to let it get to him, but something that your playboy said as hit him deep.'
"Sounds interesting. I'm curious. You know, I've always thought of Youji-kun as straight, but maybe Schuldig will be lucky and Youji will have just never realized that he's really gay."
'Omi, my love, Youji is how old? And he's supposed to just suddenly realize that he has likings towards his own gender? I thought you were a genius?'
"Ha ha. You're the genius, koi. It *is* possible, you know. Or maybe he'll just discover that he's in love with Schuldig. He wouldn't have discovered that he liked men because Schuldig would be the first."
'rotfl. I love you. You're as optimistic as Farfie is insane.'
"I don't think that's a compliment."
*_*
The house was quiet. Omi and Youji had both gone back to their rooms, and Ran hadn't bothered to come out of his. Ken was sitting at the table, a bowl of instant noodles and a mug of green tea in front of him. He was only moving the food about instead of eating it, though. His mind felt kind of foggy, and he knew he -should- eat, but nothing sounded appetizing.
His bugnuks were sitting on the table in front of him, one of the blades slightly tarnished from their trip through the wall and then the refrigerator. His mind kept straying back to Farfello -'What a scary thought,' he shuddered- and the kiss that he'd been given right before the blonde had disappeared.
Ken had been kissed before. When he'd been a J-leaguer, being kissed by fans had been a daily occurrence. Even being kissed by a man once hadn't fazed him, though at the time he'd been stunned. The thing that kept coming back to him was that at the moment of contact, he hadn't felt fear, or disgust, or anything else he would have expected.
'Not that I liked it, either, I just didn't not like it as much as I think I should have.' The thought was scary, especially considering that the other person involved happened to be a certifiable albino who couldn't feel pain and wouldn't take "Bug off" as an answer.
@_@
[1] I love fan fiction. It's one of those cool places where they can do whatever the heck you want them to without having to worry about the why's too much *wink*.
[2] Gash! I hate sappy make out sessions, but I can't resist writing them. I snickered all throughout this scene, for many reasons.
Crawford and Ran did what? Nagi is blushing that hard over a foot massage? Youji is having second thoughts about being so hasty in his manner towards Schuldig? Ken is safe for a while, but will the morning bring another incident with the sanity-challenged Farfello?
More, coming next time on, 'In the Company of Strangeness: A day with Farfie.'
