Hey. I'm back with another chapter!
Poe: and… your point is?
Me: nothing really. Anyway, since someone asked, this story is taking place in modern day time. Link did live in a smaller town, but is now being transferred to New York. I'm sorry if that wasn't clear. And I can understand why you would be angry with Sheik. Though really, you've only seen the tip of the iceberg. (Though I wouldn't say he's evil or anything. He's just… uncaring? A loner? Selfish? I'm afraid it's a little hard to explain.)
(start)
"Well, this is the place." Link murmured to himself as he looked up at the towering building. It was harder to find then he had thought, but then again he hadn't ever been in a city like this before. Tall skyscrapers jutted out all along the streets, scraping the sky just like their names implied. The streets were swarmed with people; casual people, dressy people, and more homeless people then he had ever seen in his life. The odd smell filled his nose, a mixture of sot and car emissions, sweet perfumes and colognes, and foods of every variety. He had been pushed and shoved and pulled. Once he even felt someone grab his ass. He wasn't sure if he was cut out for the city life.
He took a deep breath before stepping through the spinning doorway. The front lobby was large with maroon coaches lining the walls with anxious people sitting in them. Looking about, he walked on up to the cedar desk where the secretary was. She was probably in her mid forties and wore a hideous orange suit and bright blue eye shadow. He coughed, trying to catch her attention as she continued to scribble things on her paper. He tried again, this time louder, but still to no avail.
"Um, excuse me miss." He finally interjected. The woman's head shot up as she gave the young man a look over. He looked no older then twenty some, with a fair face and brilliant blue eyes. He wore a blue suit and matching pants with a lighter blue shirt underneath and a black tie wrapped around his slender neck. He wasn't extremely tall as guys went, but certainly wasn't short either. But probably the most attractive thing was his naturally blond hair and slim body. That was fairly rare nowadays. Most blonds nowadays weren't natural, and all the natural blonds colored their hair so they wouldn't get that whole "dumb blond" thing. Plus most people that slim either had an eating disorder that made their faces hallow, or they workout so much that their bodies don't have enough calories to make muscle. But the young man didn't look like any of these. He looked very healthy. Damn, the luck some people had.
"May I help you sir?" She asked, her voice slurring with a southern drawl. Fidgeting slightly, he replied, "Yes actually. My name is Link Lennings and I just transferred from another department." Nodding, the woman hit some buttons and straightened her headset.
"Hello Chief? Yeah, there's a Mr. Lennings here to see you. Uhuh. Yes sir. Alright, I'll send him up." She unplugged the headset and smiled at Link.
"Alright, the chief will see you. Take the elevator to the eleventh floor, turn left and straight down the hall. Knock on the door with 'Chief Ronalds' on it." Link grinned sheepishly and thanked her, starting towards the elevators. Before he got far though, the woman said, "Oh, and one last thing. Try not to look so worried. The chief may be a grump, but it's not like he's going to shoot you where you stand."
"Thanks." With that, the young man ran to get into the elevator before its doors closed, and luckily made it. The small space was crowded with people in suits and some in jeans and shirts. You could tell the office workers from the detectives easily, simply because of their attitudes and clothing. He probably looked like an office worker, but Link wasn't. He liked working on the streets, getting out there and catching his guy. He never liked having to sit back and deal with the paperwork.
The doors opened and closed on practically every floor, people exiting and entering. When it got to the point where Link was feeling dizzy with lack of oxygen, it finally stopped on his floor. He tumbled out and dusted himself off, trying to make himself presentable. With a deep breath and confidence boasting, he started down the hall to the door at the end on which was a golden plate that said, "Chief Ronalds, head of NYPD".
Link's hand trembled slightly as he reached towards the door handle, when suddenly he found himself on the floor and the door slammed wide open as a man yelled, "Goddamn it chief! I told you, it wasn't my damned fault!"
"Not your fault my ass! You discharged a firearm in a non lethal situation!" came the reply from inside the office.
"Non lethal? Are you blind old man!" the voice yelled again, deep and seriously pissed off.
"Rikuo would you calm down…" came a different voice, a much softer and gentler one.
"No I will not calm down!"
"Saerchi, I suggest you listen to your partner unless you want desk duty for the next two weeks."
"I…fuck. Fine, have it your way chief. Let's get out of here Yuki." A man stormed out of the office, his hands deep in his pockets and a scowl plastered on his face. He was very tall and broad with short hair so dark it was almost black. Soon after came a smaller man with a slim figure and golden blond hair. The smaller one reached to close the door and suddenly noticed Link sitting on the ground, rubbing his head gingerly.
"Oh god! I'm sorry! We didn't know you were there. Oh god, are you alright?" Link nodded, taking the man's hand to help him stand. "Yeah, I'm fine. I've had worse."
"Come on Yuki, we've got work to do." The broader man called. Sighing, the young man called back, "Rikuo! For goodness sake you knocked this poor man over. You could at least apologize."
The scowl deepened as he stomped over, giving Link a look over. Finally he said, "Watch where you're going kid."
"Rikuo!" his partner scolded before letting out a yelp as the man grabbed him by the back of the neck and dragged him away. "Rikuo, stop that! What do you think you're doing!"
'That was kind of weird…' Link thought to himself. He gave the couple an odd look before turning around and knocking cautiously on the door. He got a grunt in response and decided to take that as a "come in".
"Um, Chief Ronalds?" Link said, giving the office a look over. It was fairly big as far as offices went, but also plain. Unlike the extravagant design in the lobby, the room was white with a single picture on the wall. In the middle as a huge oak desk and a good sized computer chair, in which sat the chief. He was probably in his late forties, chubby and looked like he had a permanent frown on his face. In an aggravated voice he responded "Can I help you?"
"I'm officer Link Lennings sir. I was transferred here from…" Link started before the old man let out a hearty laugh. "Ah, so you're Link huh? I've heard all about you from your old man."
"You know my father?" he asked curiously, surprised at how friendly the chief seemed. The man nodded.
"What, he didn't tell you? We used to be partners back in LA. Not that it really matters now. You'll be working in department two. That's on the second floor. I'm expecting some good work from you." The chief said, turning his chair to look out his large window. The officer stood puzzled. "But chief, don't I need a briefing or…"
"Nope. Your cases should be on your desk. You'll be doing office work for a while I'm afraid, but only for a week or so."
"Office work? Look chief I'm not much of an office type…"
"Deal with it Lennings." Ronalds replied, his voice growing agitated again. Link swore silently to himself as he nodded and walked out. 'Damn. Office work. Ah well, I can deal with that. He said only a week. That's not too bad.' He waited for a minute before the elevator finally got to his floor, taking him back down.
He got out on the second level to find a work place not unlike the one back home. There were cubicles filling most of the space where most people worked, and then there were the nicer offices where the higher up detectives worked. Sighing, Link walked up to the secretary to be told he was staying in cubical three and that his first cases should be waiting for him. He nodded, walking down a row. Five…four…ah there it was. Number three. It had a small desk made with fake wood with a little computer set up. Next to the computer was a pile of cases about three inches high. Link grimaced at the workload ahead of him, but sat and started through the cases.
"Pick pocketing, joy riding, shoplifting, more shoplifting, more joy riding…" Link muttered to himself. This was kid stuff. What did the chief think he was, a beginner? He continued to go through the paper work when he felt a shiver run down his back. He turned nonchalantly to spot a couple of woman staring before they turned away, pretending they hadn't done anything. Well, he was the new guy so he should have expected some staring. But as the day went on, he kept noticing more and more people staring.
"What the hell are they staring at…?" he muttered bitterly.
"The new guy, who else?" Link spun around to come face to face with none other then the officer from Chief Ronalds' office. Well, the tall one at least. He gulped as he looked up at the man, noticing that this time the scowl was gone and instead replaced with a smirk.
"Rikuo? What on earth are you doing? We have work to do you know." Link turned his head to the right to see the smaller officer. As he walked up the taller one replied, "Yeah, I know. Just thought I'd introduce myself to the newbie."
"Oh, hello. Aren't you the one from earlier?" the officer asked. Link nodded. "Yeah. My name's Link, Link Lennings."
"Link? That's a peculiar name…"
"Yeah, well my dad always had weird tastes…"
"Oh, I see. Anyway, my name's Yuki Osara and this is my partner, Rikuo Saerchi." Yuki continued, giving the new officer a kind smile. Link definitely liked Yuki, though he wasn't quite so sure of Rikuo. The man had backed up some, but still stayed close to his partner. Couldn't help but make him wonder if maybe they…could they be…
"I'm also his boyfriend so you better watch yourself." Rikuo added, causing Yuki to blush. "R-Rikuo! Must you tell everyone?" the officer chuckled while snaking his arm around the other's slim middle. "Yup. I can't risk anyone taking you from me…"
"Rikuo, not now." Yuki scolded, trying to stay stern but unable to hide his smile. Link watched the two curiously. Well that had certainly answered his question. Teasingly he asked, "Jeez, would you two get a room already?"
"That sounds like a good idea. What do you say Yuki?" Rikuo purred, nipping softly at the officer's ear. Yuki squeaked and pushed the man away. "Rikuo! We have work to do, you know that."
"Fine, be that way." Rikuo groaned, untangling himself slowly. Yuki turned back to Link saying, "I'm sorry about that. I hope you don't mind…"
"No problem. I'm used to this kind of stuff." he replied while giving Yuki a reassuring smile. Rikuo gave him a curious look. "Used to it huh? Is there something you're not telling us…?"
Link flushed slightly as he shook his head stuttering, "Wha…No! No, no, no. That's not what I meant. What I meant was that back at my old office the two secretaries were lesbians, so I don't mind gays." Rikuo smirked. "Sure…"
"Whatever." He replied, turning back to his work. The man chuckled at his victory as he strolled back down the row to his and Yuki's office. The smaller man apologized one last time before saying his goodbye and hurrying after his partner, hoping to scold him without it becoming a make out session.
'What odd people…' Link thought to himself. While it was true that Riku and Rosa were gay, they had never been that open about it. Yet Rikuo and Yuki seemed to have no problem with showing their love so that others could see. Well, maybe Yuki did, but certainly not his partner. Maybe people in the city were just more out there, not caring if anyone saw.
While contemplating this thought, Link continued to work through his files. They were all fairly self-explanatory and didn't take very long. By the end of the day, he had pretty much finished the pile and what was left were the ones that need an interview or two to wrap it up cleanly. The only problem that he had was that people kept staring. Yeah he was the new guy, but it wasn't that big a deal. Besides, if all the attention was only because he was new, then why did they keep looking away and whispering to each other? Something was up and he wanted to know what.
He stood up and stretched before maneuvering his way out of the cubical and down the isle. He got more looks and stares, but he ignored them as he made his way towards the elevators. He just wanted to get home.
"Checking out?" asked a familiar voice. Link turned to see Yuki again, but this time he sat at the secretary's desk. Puzzled, he said, "Yeah, I'm done. But what are you doing? I thought you were a detective?"
"I am, but Rikuo sort of flew off the handle on our last case, so now we're stuck with check out duty."
"If he's the one who messed up, why are you the one doing it?"
"Because if I let Rikuo do it he'd just slack off and not do the job. Then I would have the chief breathing down my neck which is not fun, let me tell you." Yuki said as he filed through some papers. Link turned to leave when he stopped. "Hey Yuki? Can I ask you something?"
"Of course." He replied, looking up from his work. Link continued, saying, "Well, I know that being the new guy is going to have people noticing me, but all day I've felt like everyone is checking me out like I'm some sort of zoo exhibit. Do you know what's going on?"
Yuki set his papers down and chewed on his lip for a moment before responding. "Well…I don't suppose you've heard of the thief Dark Link?" Link furrowed his brow and shook his head. Dark Link? What on earth…
"Well, you see," Yuki continued. "Lately there have been frequent robberies from some very prestigious banks. The chief has his best men on the case, including Rikuo and myself, but even so we haven't been able to get much information on him. All we know is that he refers to himself as Dark Link and that he's about 6' or so with grey hair and well…he looks quite a bit like you actually."
"Me?" Link asked incredulously. The officer nodded. "Indeed. That is probably why people have been staring. Everyone has seen a sketch of what he looks like and have noticed that you look a lot like him. Actually to be honest, rumors are already going around that you are the thief in disguise."
"Are you kidding? I've never even shoplifted, let alone stolen from a bank." Link said defensively. He had no idea that there was a thief with his face, but that would explain the looks he had been receiving. He didn't like it though; having people even think it's possible that he was a thief.
"Chill out kid. Any good detective would know that you weren't the thief. You're too short." Commented Rikuo as he strolled over to the two. Yuki giggled quietly while Link turned on his heel. "I'm not short!"
"Hey, I never said you were. I'm just saying that the suspect is six feet tall while you're only about five foot, eight inches."
"I'll have you know I'm five nine, not five eight."
"Nope. Maybe eight and a half, but not nine." Rikuo stated as he smirked, receiving a dirty look. "Oh? How can you be so sure smartass?"
"Well, Rikuo has been the precincts best height estimator for four years now." Yuki explained. Link grimaced as he heard the taller man chuckling behind him. Defeated, he said his goodbye and crowded his way into the elevator. He knew that when he got home there would be a whole lot of messages on his new answering machine, half of which would be from his mother. He had a long evening ahead of him.
He stretched again once outside the building, taking a deep breath only to get a lung full of smog. He coughed before continuing down the street, heading towards his apartment on fifth. He was so busy going over the day in his head that he didn't notice the pair of bright ruby eyes watching him curiously.
"Hmm…he looks like quite the catch. I'll have to keep my eyes on him..."
(end)
Hehe…he'll have more on Link then that….X3
Anyway, sorry for the lack of yaoi action. There should be some in the next chapter and it should be steady from there, though I can't make any promises.
Poe: and look! She has Dark Link's eye color right!
Me: shush! Don't tell them…
Poe: like they couldn't figure it out already… but yeah, after she wrote "Four of a Kind" she suddenly realized she had his eye color wrong. Too late now though.
Me: heh heh… by the way, Rikuo's and Yuki's last names were thought up by my friend HarpyLink234 (on FAC). Thank you again Harpy!
Poe: anyway, please comment. It makes her happy.
