Gomen nasai, minna-san, this has been a long, long time in coming, but I hope you find it worth the wait!
Non Semper Qui Vidaetor Sunt Chapter 2
"Omi, slow down," Aya said calmly. "Whatever it is, you can take the time to say it in a concise and well thought out manner."
Omi relayed what he had heard.
Aya's eyebrows climbed momentarily, then there was nothing broken in his calm look. "Omi, perhaps you misheard. Things aren't always as they seem to be. There is a reasonable explanation for everything." Aya thought for a little while, but the reasonable explanation for Ken's little speech was not swift in coming. They weren't…that was to say…he would have thought…but… He quickly dismissed the questions and potentially disturbing answers from his mind and focused on the order forms at hand.
"Well, that went well," Ken muttered as they drove home.
Yoji sighed. "I'm beginning to think you really are jinxed."
"Allergies. Of course, she'd have allergies," Ken continued. "I was prepared, I had a back up plan. She hates chocolate of course…" Ken sighed as they pulled into the back entrance of the Little Cat in the House. "Seems a shame to just put these carnations back on the shelf and I probably won't have time to take the chocolate back…" He cleared his throat. "I'll get this right, I know I will, I always do when I practice… Yoji, I would like you to accept these flowers and this chocolate as a small token of the great esteem in which I hold you."
Yoji took the chocolate and flowers. "You shouldn't have," he grinned. "Other than sounding like a language major, you're getting good, Ken."
Yoji opened the back door. Aya stood in it, looking…slightly uncomfortable. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"I- I need to speak to you- to you both, I guess," Aya said, gesturing for them to sit with him at the table. They did so. Aya began deliberately. "I'm not going to try to impose any of my personal beliefs upon either of you."
"Except 'No soccer in the house'," Ken muttered.
Aya glared at him for a moment. "But what I am really concerned about is…the…effectiveness of Weiss."
"Aren't we getting good performance reviews?" Yoji quipped.
Now it was his turn for the Aya Glare. "I am trying to be serious about a serious matter. You must know that…relationships in the same business- of any kind- but perhaps especially one like ours- can be very detrimental- that is to say- they rarely work out well under the best of circumstances and I must ask you, in the interests of Weiss," he grimaced slightly. "Do you believe you will be able to maintain or exceed your current abilities regarding our missions?"
There was a stunned silence for a long moment. A very long moment. Then Yoji slowly started to grin. Ken caught on and he grinned. It was too much for Yoji, who burst out laughing. "Aya-hahha!-you-haaha!"
Yoji's laughter was infectious. "We're-hehe!-it's all-haha!- who?" Ken dissolved into giggles.
Aya remained pokerfaced. Obviously he had not done a good job discussing the matter at hand. The two concerned in the matter were hysterical.
Finally, between gasps and laughter, Ken managed "It's not that!" before laughing again.
Slowly the two recovered enough to sit back in their chairs again.
"I was helping Ken to find a girl- and he was failing miserably, it's not humanly possible for so much to go wrong-"Yoji started to explain.
Ken glared at him. "It was as much your fault as mine!"
Aya noticed that the undercurrent of laughter still ran between them, neither really was really angry at the other and both were still vastly amused by the whole thing.
"And he was teaching me the lamest pick-up lines-"
"They only sounded lame when you said them!"
"-of course she was allergic to flowers and hates chocolate-"
"And I still can't believe that you and Omi-" Yoji laughed again. "Honestly, Ken?"
Aya gradually relaxed. Situation returned to normal.
***
"'I'll teach you an art,' you said," Nagy began grimly…
OWARI!
Evil!Aya_Muse: Review or die.
Yoji_Muse: You know you want to.
Ken_Muse: It's for a worthy cause.
Omi_Muse: Please?