Disclaimer: yakyakyak, I don't own Vicious, Lin or Cowboy Bebop, but I did
create my female character. So what do you think of her so far? A rival
for Julia or no? Thanks for all my reviews, I hope I don't disappoint you
in future chapters with Vicious. I'm glad that you think I have his
character pretty well figured out. And thanks for saying my idea is
original, I didn't really think it was that great, but you've kept me
going.
Practice Session. Yeah, I know this chapter is kinda long but I didn't want to have to cut something off and have a really short chapter to finish it up. Hope you like. And future chaps are being worked on as we speak, sorry for the wait.
He was awake before she came into his room. The bird ruffled slightly and settled back to sleep. His eyes were open but he lay motionless as she came in and stood at the foot of his bed. Vicious waited but she didn't speak. He sat up groggily brushing his long bangs back, the covers slipping off his shoulder and laying in a wrinkled pile at his waist, exposing his bare chest. He could make out her slight figure in the moonlight that glinted through the blinds.
"I'm cold." She said. He pulled down the covers on the other side of the king sized bed.
"No." she said quietly. "I need a blanket." He stared at her, regarding her for a minute. She didn't need the lights on to know the irritated look that would be on his face. He let out an inaudible sigh and rolled over.
"Take it then." He told her, lying back down. She walked closer and gingerly pulled off the top blanket of his bed and left the room.
He listened and knew she didn't leave the apartment, because he'd only heard one door close. He lay there awake for a while.
Kahni went to the door and closed it. Something prevented her from leaving the suite. She knew he was pissed, but dammit, he could stay pissed for a while. This was not the homecoming she had wanted, not even imagine that she would receive. Yeah, okay, maybe she did go a bit overboard with the Julia comment, but he needed to let it go. That part of his life was dead now. They needed, HE needed to think about the future, not just for himself, but also for all the Red Dragons, all those that believed in him. Maybe she should go back to her room, or better yet stay with her brother. But she felt bad at the thought of leaving him. She felt as if she had hurt him, more than that simple slap. She turned her back to the door and sunk to her knees pulling the blanket up around her.
Vicious was not one to question himself. He did what he knew to be right and that was all. If you start to second guess yourself, then your men will do the same thing. It was a weakness, plain and simple. So why did he have regrets about hitting Kahni. He rolled over grabbing his pillow with one arm, pushed the thought out of his mind and went to sleep
She woke to find him squatting in front of her. She blinked at him sleepily. He was already dressed, but not in his normal attire. He wore a plain black t-shirt and a pair of slightly oversized sweatpants. He stood taking a sip from his coffee mug and said, "Go to bed. You look like hell." She stared at him curiously. It always caught her off guard to see him in his practice clothes. Like he was a regular man, anyone off the street, and not an elite officer in one of the largest syndicates on Mars. She scratched her head and yawned. "What time is it?" She mumbled. "Six." "In the morning!?" He gave her a quick glance as he disappeared into the practice room. She stood and stretched. Every muscle in her body hurt, the floor was NOT a comfortable place to spend the night. Maybe she should go to bed. Still . . . She stood in the doorway of the practice room watching him. He seemed to float. It was like watching an ancient play. The sound of the sword cutting through the air was the only sound in the room. He continued for a little while pretending to ignore her then he stopped and faced her directly. "If you are going to stay up you might as well join me." She thought about it for a moment. He could still be mad about last night, and this was the perfect opportunity to get revenge. But it had been a long 2 years in prison and she had missed their practices together. She had missed a lot in those two years. She took off her jacket and dropped it onto a chair. She crossed the room and picked up the second katana on the rack. Besides, this was always how she and he had settled matters. Vicious said he always hated how couples argued letting matters go on for days without resolve. He said it was better to get the fight over quickly. It made the relationship have better direction. She unsheathed the blade and walked to the center of the room to face him. He always let her start unsheathed. Before, it was a handicap that she had grown to despise, but now that she was so rusty, she welcomed it. She took up her stance, an almost perfect imitation of his. He smiled wryly. "Begin."
Lin walked up to the door and paused. "Again." Vicious was saying. He turned to leave until he heard the sound of swords clashing. He smiled and quietly snuck into the suite. "NO!" he heard Vicious yell. "You never block overhead. How many times have I told you that!" Lin came up just in time to see Vicious jab Kahni in the ribs with his sheath, sending her back to one knee and making her grab her side in anger. "Thrust up to parry an above attack!" Vicious was frustrated and a little more than red in the face.
"Yes." Kahni said humbly. She managed to get to her feet, albeit slowly. She was shaking visibly and her hair and shirt were drenched with sweat. Vicious was working her hard. Lin watched them go at each other a few more times, and then he knew that Vicious had grown tired of their game. He came at Kahni fast as lightning striking at her left shoulder and Lin knew that practice was over. He'd been on the receiving end of that blow himself and he knew it was Vicious final blow. Kahni went sliding across the hard wood floor.
She got up even slower this time. Vicious walked over and put his katana on the rack. Kahni was upset. "Again." She said.
"No." he replied.
"Once more." She tried to keep the pleading tone out of her voice but she didn't think it worked.
"NO! We are finished." Vicious faced her and waited. Finally Kahni seceded and bowed to him. Vicious gave a slight bow and walked out pushing past Lin who now stood just inside the doorway. Lin noticed he was sweating heavily too. He looked to his sister who was standing in the middle of the room, very pissed.
"Have a little fight?" He asked her with a grin.
"Shut up!" she told Lin, putting her katana away.
"You've gotten better." Lin said trying to break the mood.
"Yeah, sure."
"You didn't drop your sword this time. That's an improvement." Kahni glared at him and then out the doorway to where Vicious had disappeared to.
"Not that HE would notice!" she raised her voice at the end hoping he might hear but doubted it.
"Oh, I think he noticed." Lin said cheerfully.
Kahni sat on the edge of the bed, her knee bouncing nervously. Vicious walked out of the bathroom and crossed the room. He had one towel wrapped around his waste and was scrubbing at his hair with another. Kahni looked up and glanced away quickly. He moved to where she was sitting and stood in front of his bureau. This made her have to brush against him to get to the shower. She closed the bathroom door tightly.
Ugh. She thought to herself as she stripped. He was so irritating sometimes. She let the warm water flow over her washing away the sweat and all the frustrations of the previous night.
When she was dressed and came out Vicious and Lin were gone. She went into her room and booted up her computer. There was work to be done and at least for a little while she'd have some peace and quiet.
Kahni pulled on her jacket and opened the apartment door nearly crashing into Garret. She stepped around him and turned to go douwn the hall to the elevators. Garret grapped her arm stopping her forcefully.
"Where are you going?" She glared at him. "To get some dinner."
"What do you want, I'll order it." Garret said. She laughed nervously.
"I can get my own food."
"Vicious' orders. You are to remain inside." He still had not let go of her arm.
"Where is he?"
"He will be back late."
Kahni pulled her arm free and stepped up close to him. "Where is he?" she demanded.
Garret did not back down. "I was told to tell you, he will be back late."
Kahni was furious. She shoved Garret aside and walked back into the apartment.
"Wait-" Garret reached for her but she managed to evade him this time. "What about your dinner?"
"I've lost my appetite." She slammed the door behind her almost taking Garret's hand off. She wanted to scream. How she hated him sometimes. Then a thought came to her. Maybe she could call Shin. He'd be able to get her out of this place. She went into her room and picked up her cell. She pushed the speed dial for Shin.
"This number is no longer in service." A metallic, recorded voice told her. What? She dialed again but got the same message. Why would he have his number changed? Did Vicious do it? Were all of their numbers changed?
She was going to call Vicious but thought better of it. He was probably in a meeting and would be pissed if she bugged him about something this small. She called Lin.
"This is Lin. Leave a message." Was the recording she got. She didn't leave a message just hung up more confused than ever. She tried the other contacts still programmed into her phone. They were all the same. She pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at it. Why Shin? Why only his number? She was curious now.
She took a chance and called Vicious. When it started to ring her heart skipped a beat and she almost hung up.
"Hello, this is Heather, how may I direct your call?" Heather was Vicious secretary. Kahni sighed in relief. So his phone was forwarding his messages to his other office. Well, that was normal.
"Hello, this is Heather, how may I direct your call?"
"Uh, hey Heather-"
"Kahni, is that you? We are certainly glad to have you back safe."
"Uh, thanks."
"Shall I give Vicious a message for you?"
"Huh, um no. I dialed the number by mistake sorry."
"Well, I'm glad to hear your voice again." Heather said in her girlish happy voice.
"Yeah, you too, bye." Kahni hung up and tossed the phone onto the couch.
She lay on the white leather couch in the darkness. Small amounts of light from the large fishtank on the far wall cast shadows throughout the room. Her door was closed and his was open.
She didn't get up when he came home, didn't move at all when he set the bird on its stone perch by the couch. He leaned over her and kissed her temple, then her cheek.
"Where have you been?" she asked with more than a hint of disdain.
"Working." He brushed her black hair away and kissed her neck.
"And I'm just supposed to sit and wait for you?"
He kissed her shoulder and placed a hand on her back. She sat up and moved away from him. He sat down on the couch next to her and sighed. She stared at the fish tank waiting. She wanted an explanation. She wanted to know what he was so afraid of, why he kept her locked away. She wanted to know what was going on between him and Shin. He didn't say a thing. She looked over at him and away again. His head hung down and his arms were folded over his chest. He looked like he would fall asleep any second. The bird ruffled its feathers. The clock ticked tirelessly on the wall. Finally he stood up. "I'm going to bed." He walked into his suite and the bird took to flight following him.
Kahni stayed on the couch and watched the fish.
Practice Session. Yeah, I know this chapter is kinda long but I didn't want to have to cut something off and have a really short chapter to finish it up. Hope you like. And future chaps are being worked on as we speak, sorry for the wait.
He was awake before she came into his room. The bird ruffled slightly and settled back to sleep. His eyes were open but he lay motionless as she came in and stood at the foot of his bed. Vicious waited but she didn't speak. He sat up groggily brushing his long bangs back, the covers slipping off his shoulder and laying in a wrinkled pile at his waist, exposing his bare chest. He could make out her slight figure in the moonlight that glinted through the blinds.
"I'm cold." She said. He pulled down the covers on the other side of the king sized bed.
"No." she said quietly. "I need a blanket." He stared at her, regarding her for a minute. She didn't need the lights on to know the irritated look that would be on his face. He let out an inaudible sigh and rolled over.
"Take it then." He told her, lying back down. She walked closer and gingerly pulled off the top blanket of his bed and left the room.
He listened and knew she didn't leave the apartment, because he'd only heard one door close. He lay there awake for a while.
Kahni went to the door and closed it. Something prevented her from leaving the suite. She knew he was pissed, but dammit, he could stay pissed for a while. This was not the homecoming she had wanted, not even imagine that she would receive. Yeah, okay, maybe she did go a bit overboard with the Julia comment, but he needed to let it go. That part of his life was dead now. They needed, HE needed to think about the future, not just for himself, but also for all the Red Dragons, all those that believed in him. Maybe she should go back to her room, or better yet stay with her brother. But she felt bad at the thought of leaving him. She felt as if she had hurt him, more than that simple slap. She turned her back to the door and sunk to her knees pulling the blanket up around her.
Vicious was not one to question himself. He did what he knew to be right and that was all. If you start to second guess yourself, then your men will do the same thing. It was a weakness, plain and simple. So why did he have regrets about hitting Kahni. He rolled over grabbing his pillow with one arm, pushed the thought out of his mind and went to sleep
She woke to find him squatting in front of her. She blinked at him sleepily. He was already dressed, but not in his normal attire. He wore a plain black t-shirt and a pair of slightly oversized sweatpants. He stood taking a sip from his coffee mug and said, "Go to bed. You look like hell." She stared at him curiously. It always caught her off guard to see him in his practice clothes. Like he was a regular man, anyone off the street, and not an elite officer in one of the largest syndicates on Mars. She scratched her head and yawned. "What time is it?" She mumbled. "Six." "In the morning!?" He gave her a quick glance as he disappeared into the practice room. She stood and stretched. Every muscle in her body hurt, the floor was NOT a comfortable place to spend the night. Maybe she should go to bed. Still . . . She stood in the doorway of the practice room watching him. He seemed to float. It was like watching an ancient play. The sound of the sword cutting through the air was the only sound in the room. He continued for a little while pretending to ignore her then he stopped and faced her directly. "If you are going to stay up you might as well join me." She thought about it for a moment. He could still be mad about last night, and this was the perfect opportunity to get revenge. But it had been a long 2 years in prison and she had missed their practices together. She had missed a lot in those two years. She took off her jacket and dropped it onto a chair. She crossed the room and picked up the second katana on the rack. Besides, this was always how she and he had settled matters. Vicious said he always hated how couples argued letting matters go on for days without resolve. He said it was better to get the fight over quickly. It made the relationship have better direction. She unsheathed the blade and walked to the center of the room to face him. He always let her start unsheathed. Before, it was a handicap that she had grown to despise, but now that she was so rusty, she welcomed it. She took up her stance, an almost perfect imitation of his. He smiled wryly. "Begin."
Lin walked up to the door and paused. "Again." Vicious was saying. He turned to leave until he heard the sound of swords clashing. He smiled and quietly snuck into the suite. "NO!" he heard Vicious yell. "You never block overhead. How many times have I told you that!" Lin came up just in time to see Vicious jab Kahni in the ribs with his sheath, sending her back to one knee and making her grab her side in anger. "Thrust up to parry an above attack!" Vicious was frustrated and a little more than red in the face.
"Yes." Kahni said humbly. She managed to get to her feet, albeit slowly. She was shaking visibly and her hair and shirt were drenched with sweat. Vicious was working her hard. Lin watched them go at each other a few more times, and then he knew that Vicious had grown tired of their game. He came at Kahni fast as lightning striking at her left shoulder and Lin knew that practice was over. He'd been on the receiving end of that blow himself and he knew it was Vicious final blow. Kahni went sliding across the hard wood floor.
She got up even slower this time. Vicious walked over and put his katana on the rack. Kahni was upset. "Again." She said.
"No." he replied.
"Once more." She tried to keep the pleading tone out of her voice but she didn't think it worked.
"NO! We are finished." Vicious faced her and waited. Finally Kahni seceded and bowed to him. Vicious gave a slight bow and walked out pushing past Lin who now stood just inside the doorway. Lin noticed he was sweating heavily too. He looked to his sister who was standing in the middle of the room, very pissed.
"Have a little fight?" He asked her with a grin.
"Shut up!" she told Lin, putting her katana away.
"You've gotten better." Lin said trying to break the mood.
"Yeah, sure."
"You didn't drop your sword this time. That's an improvement." Kahni glared at him and then out the doorway to where Vicious had disappeared to.
"Not that HE would notice!" she raised her voice at the end hoping he might hear but doubted it.
"Oh, I think he noticed." Lin said cheerfully.
Kahni sat on the edge of the bed, her knee bouncing nervously. Vicious walked out of the bathroom and crossed the room. He had one towel wrapped around his waste and was scrubbing at his hair with another. Kahni looked up and glanced away quickly. He moved to where she was sitting and stood in front of his bureau. This made her have to brush against him to get to the shower. She closed the bathroom door tightly.
Ugh. She thought to herself as she stripped. He was so irritating sometimes. She let the warm water flow over her washing away the sweat and all the frustrations of the previous night.
When she was dressed and came out Vicious and Lin were gone. She went into her room and booted up her computer. There was work to be done and at least for a little while she'd have some peace and quiet.
Kahni pulled on her jacket and opened the apartment door nearly crashing into Garret. She stepped around him and turned to go douwn the hall to the elevators. Garret grapped her arm stopping her forcefully.
"Where are you going?" She glared at him. "To get some dinner."
"What do you want, I'll order it." Garret said. She laughed nervously.
"I can get my own food."
"Vicious' orders. You are to remain inside." He still had not let go of her arm.
"Where is he?"
"He will be back late."
Kahni pulled her arm free and stepped up close to him. "Where is he?" she demanded.
Garret did not back down. "I was told to tell you, he will be back late."
Kahni was furious. She shoved Garret aside and walked back into the apartment.
"Wait-" Garret reached for her but she managed to evade him this time. "What about your dinner?"
"I've lost my appetite." She slammed the door behind her almost taking Garret's hand off. She wanted to scream. How she hated him sometimes. Then a thought came to her. Maybe she could call Shin. He'd be able to get her out of this place. She went into her room and picked up her cell. She pushed the speed dial for Shin.
"This number is no longer in service." A metallic, recorded voice told her. What? She dialed again but got the same message. Why would he have his number changed? Did Vicious do it? Were all of their numbers changed?
She was going to call Vicious but thought better of it. He was probably in a meeting and would be pissed if she bugged him about something this small. She called Lin.
"This is Lin. Leave a message." Was the recording she got. She didn't leave a message just hung up more confused than ever. She tried the other contacts still programmed into her phone. They were all the same. She pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at it. Why Shin? Why only his number? She was curious now.
She took a chance and called Vicious. When it started to ring her heart skipped a beat and she almost hung up.
"Hello, this is Heather, how may I direct your call?" Heather was Vicious secretary. Kahni sighed in relief. So his phone was forwarding his messages to his other office. Well, that was normal.
"Hello, this is Heather, how may I direct your call?"
"Uh, hey Heather-"
"Kahni, is that you? We are certainly glad to have you back safe."
"Uh, thanks."
"Shall I give Vicious a message for you?"
"Huh, um no. I dialed the number by mistake sorry."
"Well, I'm glad to hear your voice again." Heather said in her girlish happy voice.
"Yeah, you too, bye." Kahni hung up and tossed the phone onto the couch.
She lay on the white leather couch in the darkness. Small amounts of light from the large fishtank on the far wall cast shadows throughout the room. Her door was closed and his was open.
She didn't get up when he came home, didn't move at all when he set the bird on its stone perch by the couch. He leaned over her and kissed her temple, then her cheek.
"Where have you been?" she asked with more than a hint of disdain.
"Working." He brushed her black hair away and kissed her neck.
"And I'm just supposed to sit and wait for you?"
He kissed her shoulder and placed a hand on her back. She sat up and moved away from him. He sat down on the couch next to her and sighed. She stared at the fish tank waiting. She wanted an explanation. She wanted to know what he was so afraid of, why he kept her locked away. She wanted to know what was going on between him and Shin. He didn't say a thing. She looked over at him and away again. His head hung down and his arms were folded over his chest. He looked like he would fall asleep any second. The bird ruffled its feathers. The clock ticked tirelessly on the wall. Finally he stood up. "I'm going to bed." He walked into his suite and the bird took to flight following him.
Kahni stayed on the couch and watched the fish.