Ysak glowered at the morass of students slowly filtering their way out the main doors of the school. Ysak was sitting in the Principal's waiting area, which was just to the left of the main doors. Ysak was awaiting judgment on his "assault of a fellow student" from earlier in the day. Ysak shifted slightly and intensified his scowl. It was the kid's own fault. He shouldn't have laughed at Ysak for getting a detention from "negative attitude", whatever that was. Ysak didn't think he had a negative attitude. He just had a realistic perspective. There was nothing that Biology teacher could have conceivably taught him that Ysak hadn't learned years before. Ysak could have listed all the various bones in the human body from memory, having actually seen many of them during the war. There was no need to practice them out loud with his fellow students. And "Hell" was definetly not a swear word. Not in Ysak's experience. The teacher probably would have fainted dead away if she had met some of the mechanics that usually repaired his Duel Gundam.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" Dearka asked, sitting down next to Ysak. Ysak just glared at him, remembering last night. "Okay... stupid question. How bad is the other guy hurt?" Dearka amended.
"He lost a few teeth. That's all. Don't see why they're making such a big deal of it." Ysak grumbled. "Why are YOU here? Have you come to torment me some more?" Ysak asked nastily. Dearka snorted.
"Ysak, we're in school. That means we have to go back to playing nice with others. Especially when..." Dearka lowered his voice to a whisper. "... the others are not Coordinators." Dearka smiled and continued on in a louder voice. "As for why I'm here, well, I got detention for "not paying attention in class". I'm wounded that you would think I would come here just to torment you. Why should I? I can do it much more easily back at the living complex. I can't wait to see how those pictures turn out."
"What pictures?" a feminine voice asked from behind Ysak's chair. Someone placed a soft hand on the top of Ysak's head. Without even turning, Ysak knew who it was because of Dearka's snicker.
"Ysak-y... what's he talking about?" the other girl said, placing her hand on Ysak's shoulder. Ysak tensed, prepared to drop and roll away. Chanel and Katie noticed and each took a handful of his shirt and hair respectively.
"You two were there. You saw Dearka take those pictures of us." Ysak complained. The girls gave slight giggles.
"Oh, those pictures. We thought he was talking about something interesting." Katie said, waving the whole thing off. Dearka gaped.
"You don't consider lying with your head in a shirtless man's lap while the other one of you holds tight to his arm like a limpet interesting?" Dearka asked in surprise.
"Not to us. After all, we were there, like Ysak-y says. We hardly need pictures to remind ourselves." Chanel replied.
"Aren't you embarrassed though? I was planning on posting those pictures up all over the school." Dearka protested, his fun in danger.
"Why should we be embarrassed?" Katie wondered.
"It's not like we've done anything to be ashamed of." Chanel added.
"Be... Because..." Dearka trailed off. "I can't believe I'm having to explain to you why you should be embarrassed. Everyone else I know would be freaking out if I posted pictures of such a private moment all over the school." Dearka complained. "I mean, look at Ysak. He's turned so red that his head looks like a tomato."
"Oh, I never said we wouldn't freak out." Chanel replied.
"Yeah, we'd get really, really jealous if all the other girls at school got to look at Ysak-y's chest without our permission." Katie added.
"He's our guy, not theirs."
"Sharing only goes so far."
"If you post those pictures all over the school, we'll cry and tell Uncle Vladimir. He won't be happy." Chanel informed Dearka.
"Yeah. You wouldn't like Uncle Vladimir when he's not happy." Katie confirmed. Dearka looked at them in shock.
"Are you threatening to sic your Uncle on me if I post these picture's all over the school?" he asked. They both nodded, quite seriously. "Well then, I guess meeting your Uncle is something I'm going to be doing shortly then. I already posted the pictures, you see. Everyone who walks out those doors..." Dearka indicated the main entrance. "... Is getting quite the gander at six blown up photo's of Ysak and you two curled up on our couch." Ysak choked slightly.
"Why are you being so cruel to me? I thought we were friends!" Ysak demanded. Dearka looked hurt.
"We are friends. I'm trying to draw you out of your surly shell. I mean, take some revenge every now and then. Light hearted revenge." Dearka replied, making sure to qualify his request, not wanting to end up in a hospital. "Dude, we can relax now. We don't have to keep acting like the survival of the world hangs on our shoulders. We can have fun. Go to movies. Play practical jokes. Go ride roller coasters. All those things we couldn't do before because of the war. We can act like teenagers again. You, though, refuse to cooperate. So I'm prodding you along. It's for your own good." Dearka summed up.
"Your prodding hurts, Dearka. I wish you would stop." Ysak said seriously. Before they could get much further, the Principal came out and beckoned Ysak into his office for "a few minutes". Chanel and Katie sat down on either side of Dearka.
"You didn't actually post those pictures, did you?"
"If you did, Uncle Vladimir will probably rip your balls off and shove them down your throat. He's very protective of our happiness."
"He's waiting outside with the car to pick us up. He'll notice the crowd of people by the picture's and investigate. Then he'll come looking for us."
"As soon as we see him we're going to burst into tears and blame everything on you."
"Then, Uncle Vladimir will come to your house one night when you're sleeping."
"He'll sneak in and gag you so you can't scream."
"Then he'll slowly take you apart with his bare hands."
"He'll go slow so you don't faint too soon."
"By the next morning you'll be a sobbing mass of boy gelatin."
Dearka looked from one girl to the other as they talked in turn, trying to gauge if they were serious or not. He was starting to get a little disturbed, because, as far as he could tell, they weren't kidding. "Okay, okay, look. I was just messing with him. I didn't post the pictures and I wasn't actually going to. He is my best friend, after all. Just, don't tell him I said that. You can tell him you took the pictures down before anyone else saw them. Or whatever other excuse you can think of." he told them. They both smiled at him and then at each other.
"It works every time."
"Just like Uncle Alkire said it would."
"Guy's are weak. They always crack under our Uncle Vladimir stories."
"Even Ysak-y did."
"But we forgive him. We had him across a barrel."
"Well, not literally, but maybe sometime in the future we could try that."
The girl's gloating was broken off when Ysak came back out, his face thunderous. Dearka was called in immediately afterwards and by the time he came out, after swearing never to do wrong again, Ysak and the two girls were nowhere in sight. Dearka shrugged and headed outside. Just as he was passing one of the pillars that held up the front overhang of the school, someone dropped a very cold hand on his shoulder and stopped him short. "Don't turn around." a dry voice ordered as the hand squeezed his shoulder hard enough to cause it to go numb.
"Who are you?" Dearka asked, complying.
"The girl's told me about what you said. You had them worried for a while. I don't like it when they get worried. They have already suffered more than you can imagine. Messing with their heads isn't something I look kindly upon. Especially since they finally found a guy they both care about." the dry, almost rasping voice said.
"You're the one they called Uncle Vladimir." Dearka stated. The man behind him chuckled hoarsely.
"I am. I'm sure they told you, but I'm fiercely protective of them. We all are."
"Are you really as violent as they said you are?" Dearka asked, tensing to pull away. Before he could Vlad's grip crunched down on his shoulder hard enough to draw a hiss of pain. It felt like steel bars were digging into his flesh.
"Don't even think of it." Vlad warned, easing the pressure some. "As for your question..." the voice suddenly got much closer and Dearka could feel the man's breath rustle his hair. "You've heard of the Strangler Horrificus?"
Dearka shivered. Every Coordinator child had heard of the Strangler Horrificus. He was supposed to be a bogeyman who collected children who were bad or stayed up too late and then strangled them and took their heads for his trophy room. "He's a fairy tale." Dearka replied. Vlad chuckled in a whispery manner.
"Believe what you will, boy. Myths usually have some foundation in truth." With those words Dearka suddenly felt another very cold hand grasp him around the back of the neck. "Contrary to popular belief, a Strangler doesn't always use a rope or his bare hands. If you crush the neck of your victim, their body goes into total paralysis and they cannot breathe. That counts as a Strangle. It's really not all that hard. Only a few pounds of pressure are required. Anybody who has spent some time with hand exercises can do it. Even if the victim is a Coordinator." Vlad hinted broadly.
"How did you know I was a Coordinator?" Dearka asked, keeping very still.
"When you've done the things I have, for as long as I have, you figure out how to spot them. Your posture is much more fluid and graceful than that of a Natural. You bump into things much less frequently than a Natural. And you tend to speak more correctly as well, because of your higher intelligence potential. Though you certainly don't." Vlad answered.
"So, now what? Do you snap my neck?" Dearka asked. Vlad chuckled again.
"Of course not. I was just delivering a warning. I'm going to release you and you're going to count to sixty, slowly and without turning or moving. After you reach sixty you can do whatever you want. Hopefully, the next time we meet, we'll be able to converse more amiably."
"You're not really the Strangler Horrificus, are you?" Dearka worked up the courage to ask.
"No. I'm not. His name was Andre. Andre Forkav. He was... a former colleague. He's... gone now." Vlad said quietly. It was even true, after a sense. Andre Forkav was dead and buried, killed in a "shuttle crash" years ago, even before the war. However, it was the man called Vladimir Valkavich that had actually gone down in that shuttle, while Andre had taken his best friend's name and identity and life for his own, resolved to make up for his innumerable sins. Vladimir was not the Strangler Horrificus and never had been. Sometimes that comforted him. More often, it depressed him. "I'm releasing you now. Remember, count to sixty, slowly, before turning or moving."
"I already know what you look like. I saw you yesterday, at the airport." Dearka pointed out. "Whats with the secrecy?"
"Habit. Besides, now we look just like an older man and his son, holding a friendly but private conversation. If I was griping you by the front of throat, people would think I was hurting you."
"You ARE hurting me. My shoulder feels broken. What the hell is with your hands? They feel like ICE!" Dearka complained. He turned his head very fractionally and looked at the hand on his shoulder. It was of normal size, but completely covered in a bulky black polymer fabric glove. A loose long sleeved shirt covered the wrist and what little arm Dearka could see. The hand on his shoulder tightened again, causing Dearka to go white with keeping his scream in. His collarbone felt like it was grinding against his shoulder.
"Curious, are we? Many are. I admire your guts, kid. Maybe, I'll even start to like you, eventually. Perhaps then I'll let you in on my little secret. But for now... begin counting." Vlad said, squeezing the back of Dearka's neck just so, pinching a certain nerve bundle. Dearka tried to spin around, but collapsed to his knees instead, entire body numb and stomach roiling painfully. By the time he was finished dry heaving, Vladimir was nowhere in sight.
"Dearka! Are you okay?" Miriallia cried, kneeling next to him, placing a worried hand on his shoulder. Dearka winced as her fingers came down squarely on the deep bruises Vladimir's fingers had left on his skin.
"Yeah... just whammed my shoulder into a door. I'll be okay in a bit." Dearka replied in a slightly breathless voice, climbing to his feet with a wobble only a Coordinator would notice.
"You should be more careful. First Kira injured his hand brawling with that rude boy at lunch, and now you hurt your shoulder. Just because you were a soldier doesn't mean you're invincible." Miriallia said quietly, putting a supporting arm about his waist. Dearka looked at her with considerable surprise.
"I didn't know you cared." he commented, looking at her arm. Miriallia blushed slightly and started to retract her arm before gripping him tightly again.
"I do care." she replied very quietly. She thought back to the night before, after the girls had separated from the guys, ostensibly to look at a jewelry store. However, as soon as they were inside, Cagalli and Lacus had dragged her into the bathroom and locked the door. Mir had had no idea what was going on. "What do you want?" she had asked. Cagalli and Lacus had folded their arms and looked at her severely. "We don't like what you're doing to Dearka." Lacus replied first. "I know he was a jerk to you when you first met, but you're being far meaner to him acting like you are than he ever was to you." Cagalli had added. "I don't know what you mean." Mir had shot back. "Either tell him you don't like him and tell him to go away, or admit you have feelings for him. Don't keep switching back and forth. He won't be able to take it much longer." Cagalli said. "Coordinators are still only human too, in a lot of ways. We're much more emotionally fragile than people think." Lacus put in. "You were around Kira for most of the war, you know how hard it was on him. Back on the Eternal, he cried himself to sleep for a while after Jachin Due." Lacus continued. "Athrun is the same way. When I confronted him after he self-destructed the Aegis and believed he killed Kira, he was a wreck. He couldn't stop weeping. Now he has to struggle every day to not get depressed over his dad shooting him and then trying to destroy all Naturals." Cagalli said in turn. "Dearka isn't any stronger than Kira and Athrun in the emotional department. He just gets cheerful seeming rather than depressed." Lacus said.
"What do you know?" Mir had asked, starting to get angry. Lacus stepped forward. "About Dearka? Only what i heard from Athrun and what little i knew of him from other sources. His father, Tad Elsman, is a member of the PLANT supreme council. He lives on one of the agricultural colonies with Dearka's mom. I don't know her name, she's a very private person. Once Dearka entered the military they cut off contact with him. They never even bothered to see where he was stationed nor did they come to his graduation ceremony when he became an elite mobile suit pilot. As bad as it is to lose a father to war, like Cagalli, Athrun and I have, in many ways it is worse to know your parents are alive, but that they consider you dead and not part of their family any more." Lacus explained. "Listen, I know you're in pain over the loss of Tolle." Cagalli had begun.
"You don't know anything!" Mir had screamed. "Tolle was everything to me! We were going to get married, i know it! He was considerate and smart and very witty. He always made me feel better whenever i felt down. I can't just forget about him and move on!" she had ranted. Cagalli waited for an opening before continuing. "As i was saying, i know how you feel, sort of. Back in the desert, there was a resistance fighter named Ahmed. I didn't know it until too late, but he was very much in love with me. He was a friend and that's all i thought he was. Only after he was killed attacking a Bucue in retaliation for the attack on the town did i realize what he had meant to me. His last thought was that he wanted to wish me well. Later, i found a piece of jade he was going to carve for me. His mother gave it to me. I felt like the bottom had dropped out of the world." Cagalli said.
"But... I can't be in love with Dearka!" Mir had protested. "I mean... i mean... he's sarcastic, says hurtful things and... and..." she hesitated. "Reminds you of Tolle?" Lacus had provided. Mir had gasped before slowly nodding. "Yes. How can i love him when whenever I see him I think of Tolle and it rips into my heart like a knife?" she had asked. "You think he feels any better? Why do you think he's always so nervous around you? Every time he looks at you he remembers that horribly stupid comment he made back on the Archangel. It twists in his guts like the scalpel you tried to kill him with." Lacus said. Mir had blushed. "I tried to apologize for that." she mumbled. "That may have been your mistake." Cagalli said. Mir had looked at her questioningly. "When Dearka made his hurtful comment and saw your reaction, he knew he'd screwed up. He expected you to hate him and sort of came to terms with that. But then you saved him from being shot by Flay, and took good care of him while he was in the Archangel's prison. He started to get mixed up. He couldn't figure if you hated him or liked him. He still doesn't know. So if you really don't believe you can love him, tell him so he can move on. But if you do love him, despite what you say, then you should let him know that as well, or else he's going to collapse from confusion." Cagalli finished.
"How do you two know so much?" Mir had asked, sinking to her knees with tears in her eyes. "Both Kira and Athrun aren't what could be called emotionally stable. We have to be very careful not to inadvertently hurt them. They, and Dearka too, are like brilliant diamonds. When taken care of properly, they shine and twinkle and make everyone around them feel awed and happy. When angry there isn't anything that they can't cut through. However, for all their concentrated hardness and brilliant sparkle, they break easily. A single drop or tap in the wrong place from a hammer will crack or shatter a diamond, rendering it worthless for its previous role. Likewise, the emotional drop of not knowing if someone loves you or hates you, or the hammer blow of the self loathing and despair they all feel will break Athrun, Kira and Dearka just like a Diamond." Lacus had said in a touching analogy.
"You need to catch Dearka before he hits the ground and breaks. Even if you catch him only to give him up, its still better than letting him destroy himself because you don't know whether to dive for the diamond and look undignified and accept a change or stay true to your memories and let it break while remaining who you used to be." Lacus had admonished. Mir had started crying then. She couldn't help herself. In her minds eye she saw two diamonds. One had a picture of Tolle in it, but was on display behind a wall of impenetrable glass. It looked wonderful, but was inaccessible and useless to her. The other had a picture of Dearka in it and had just rolled off a table and was plummeting towards the ground, but there was nothing but open space between her and it. She stood halfway between the two diamonds.
"I care very much." Miriallia repeated out loud. She had caught the diamond and held it close. Almost as close as she now held Dearka himself. I'm sorry Tolle... but I just couldn't let him break. I'll always remember you. But I need more than a memory now.
-----------------------------------------
"What's this?" Kira said, holding up a bright orange envelope that had appeared in his mailbox at the living apartments. It was Friday afternoon, and after suffering a full week of school, Kira was looking forward to the weekend. The work was of course not hard, but pretending to pay attention in class was starting to get really tedious. Even in Current Events and History, which was usually filled with highly opinionated debate, was starting to get old. If Lacus hadn't been in the same class to calm him down, Kira probably would have started tearing his hair out long ago. The school people had the whole war all wrong! They discussed right and wrong and blame and all the other little things that didn't actually matter in a real war. Were the PLANTS wrong to use GENESIS to destroy the Ptolmaus Base? Just as wrong as the Earth Forces were when they nuked Boaz. Kira groaned, even now fed up with it. Who's fault was the war?
That was a very hotly debated topic. Most of the kids were Naturals, and so they believed that it had been the PLANTS who had started the war by breaking away from their parent countries. Lacus had nearly leapt out of her chair when the kid finished that presentation and Kira had had a hard time calming her down. He didn't feel so happy himself about that. It had obviously been Junius Seven which opened the war, but whether the Naturals or the Coordinators were to BLAME for it was not something he was prepared to accept as debatable. As he had so painfully learned, there was no right or wrong in war, not really. As Mr. Waltfeld had said when Kira had asked if he wanted revenge or not. "In war everyone has a reason. But no one actually does."
Kira looked at the blank orange envelope curiously. It had no name or return address on it, and from its slimness and weight, there couldn't have been more than one or two sheets of paper in it. Kira walked back inside to the common room, where Athrun, Dearka, Ysak and Sai were lounging about, sipping glasses of juice and sodas while talking about nothing in particular.
"What's that you got there?" Athrun asked him.
"I don't know. It was just in my mail." Kira responded.
"Well, open it and find out." Dearka recommended. Kira opened the letter without difficulty and took out the single folded piece of paper. He read it silently. Dearka looked at him. "C'mon, what's it say? It's not something private between you and Lacus, is it?"
"No." Kira replied absently. "You have been invited to the estate of Vanai Zunnichi for her pre-christmas costume party. Costumes may be of any type, though there will be prizes for best costume. The party will take place on this Saturday night at 5:00 pm. Please arrive a few minutes early. Food and drink will be provided. The Party will last until 1:00 am, so come rested. There will be games and other activities. P.S. Our apologies for the late notice, but Ms. Zunnichi was only recently able to get parental permission to use her estate." Kira read out loud. Everyone else was silent.
"You got invited to a party?" Athrun asked at last.
"Why didn't I get invited?" Dearka added.
"Maybe you did. I don't know about you guys, but I haven't checked my mail yet." Sai answered.
"Who's Vanai Zunnichi?" Ysak asked. The room went silent again.
"How could you not know?" Sai asked, unconsciously echoing Lacus's words to Kira on the Eternal. Ysak waited patiently. "She's the most popular girl at school. She's the be all and end all of the school social scene. I've yet to meet an unattached guy that doesn't hunger to be her boyfriend. Heck, a lot of the already involved boys would dump their girls in a heartbeat if Vanai said she would go out with them." Sai explained, blushing slightly.
"Popular... Social Scene. Now I know why Ysak doesn't know who she is." Dearka commented. "He doesn't do popular or social scenes." Ysak kicked Dearka under the table. "Ow! Hey, at least I didn't say you were unattached." Ysak kicked him harder this time. "Ahg! My leg!"
"KIIRRAA!" Lacus called, bounding into the room waving a sheet of paper and an orange envelope. She looked at them and noticed that Kira already held exactly what she was holding. "You got one too?" she asked.
"Yes. I didn't know you knew Vanai." Kira replied.
"I don't. Or I barely do. She doesn't strike me as a very nice person. How does she know you?" Lacus replied.
"I sit next to her in math class." Kira replied. Lacus arced an eyebrow.
"And...?"
"That's it. She's very untalkative. Whenever I try to talk to her, she insults me." Kira replied. Lacus frowned.
"I don't like her." Lacus decided. "I think I'm just going to rip up this invitation. I'll tell Cagalli and Miriallia to do the same with theirs."
"Woah, hold on a second there. Mir got an invitation too?" Dearka asked.
"Cagalli as well." Lacus confirmed. Dearka jumped out of his seat and raced outside. He was back within a minute, holding two invitation envelopes proudly.
"This one was in your box." Dearka said, handing Athrun one of the envelopes.
"How did you get into my mailbox?" Athrun asked suspiciously. Dearka just coughed and looked away.
"I think I'm going to go change my code." Ysak declared. Sai went with him to do the same thing.
"This is odd. I've seen her around once or twice, but she never paid me any attention and vice versa." Athrun said, reading his invitation.
"Probably because she sensed that Cagalli would claw her eyes out if she did, and yours if you did." Dearka replied. "Your girlfriend is SCARY sometimes, dude. Violent and really pushy. How do you stand it?"
"I just remind myself that she's only acting like she is because she's trying to take my mind off my problems. And that despite the fact that she has shot at me multiple times, I'm still alive and whole." Athrun replied, taking a calm sip of his drink.
"Don't rip up your invitation, Lacus." Kira said. "Vanai is only insulting to me because she thinks I'm hitting on her and doing badly at it." he continued. This, however, was not the right thing to say. Lacus gripped him by the chin.
"You'd better not be!" she warned him. Dearka couldn't resist.
"Better not be hitting on her or better not be doing a bad job of hitting on her?" he asked snidely. This time it was Athrun who kicked him under the table. "Ow... my leg. I need that... to stand and all."
"Then stop making stupid comments."
Kira was getting flustered "I'm not! To either! I just try and start a normal conversation. Even just saying "hello" or "how long have you been going to this school" sets her off. It's almost like she EXPECTS me to be hitting on her and is confused when I don't." Kira protested. Lacus stared deep into his eyes.
"I believe you. But now I really don't like her. Why do you want to keep her invitation?" Lacus asked, sitting down onto Kira's lap.
"Maybe if she sees you and me together, she'll figure out that I already have someone I love..." Kira broke off to kiss Lacus. "... and she'll realize that i'm just trying to talk to her, not make a move. I don't think my math class could get any more tense. Every guy is shooting me jealous glares while I would gladly trade places with them and Vanai freaks out every time I open my mouth. It's getting really annoying." Kira continued. "Besides, I've never been to a costume party. It sounds like a lot of fun."
"Okay. I suppose it can't hurt to give it a try. And a costume party would be fun. But if she keeps on you afterwards, I'm going to give her a piece of my mind." Lacus replied. "We should get going then. It's going to be hard to find good costumes with so little time remaining."
"Anybody else coming?" Kira asked. Athrun stood up, as did Dearka and Sai, who had come back in from his mailbox with an invitation only moments earlier. Ysak looked at his envelope as if it were a poisonous insect and sat down again.
"I'm not going." he declared. This didn't really surprise anyone.
"Entertaining a couple guests while we're gone?" Dearka asked wickedly. Ysak made as if to hurl a can of soda at him. Dearka yelped and ran out the door after everyone else. The door closed and Ysak relaxed.
"Whew! This week has been hell! Those girls won't leave me alone. And the counseling sessions are pure bullshit. I don't have anger problems!" Ysak declared to the empty room, slamming his fist down on the table hard. Ysak stood up and decided to take a nice hot shower. That would calm him down. For a wonder, he wasn't interrupted. He put on a dark blue bathrobe and went downstairs. Knowing his companions habits, he guessed he had a good six hours to himself. Their shopping trip would turn into dinner dates and then dallying. Ysak was just fixing himself a roast beef sandwich when someone knocked on the door. Ysak froze and tried not to make a sound. How did they always know when he was alone? Hopefully they'd figure he wasn't home and would go away.
No such luck. Ysak made out giggling sounds from the hallway and then the scrape of metal on metal. Slowly the doorknob turned, halting and jerking, as if being manipulated by something other than a key. With a sudden loud "Click!" the door sprang open. "Told you I could do it." Katie said, standing up straight again, a pair of lockpicks in her hand.
"I never doubted that you could do it, Sis. I just doubted whether or not you could do it before someone noticed." Chanel replied, stepping into the room. She noticed Ysak, despite him doing his best rabbit freezing so the hawks wouldn't notice act. "Hi, Ysak-y. How are you doing?"
Ysak considered the steak knife he held in one hand. No... there was no way he could get both with one throw. Besides, he had heard Dearka talk about the little warning Uncle Vladimir had given him. And seen the massive hand shaped bruise on Dearka's shoulder. No sense in provoking the disturbed man. Ysak settled for another glare. "I was doing okay. But then you two showed up."
"Ysak-y always says the sweetest things." Katie commented, putting her lockpicks away. Ysak stared at her and her tools.
"Since when can you pick locks?" he asked.
"Its a little skill Uncle Vladimir taught me. I'm pretty good at it, aren't I?" she replied. Chanel meanwhile was sitting in Ysak's chair, looking at the orange envelope with curiosity. As Ysak watched she opened it and looked at the invitation.
"EEEK! What's this? Ysak-y's been invited to a party at Bitch-queen Vanai's house!" she cried. Katie spun in disbelief.
"No... she can't take Ysak-y away from us! I won't let her."
"I'm not going to go to that party." Ysak told them. They ignored him.
"We'll have to forge invitations so we can protect our interests." Chanel decided.
"It's a costume party! That'll be perfect. We can go in disguise. She'll never figure out that we're packing real heat."
"I'm not going to go to that party." Ysak repeated.
"We'll have to stick by Ysak-y's side the entire time so she doesn't spirit him away!"
"And we'll have to bring our own food and drink so she doesn't drug him!"
"I'M NOT GOING TO THAT PARTY!" Ysak shouted. The two girls stopped and looked at him.
"Of course you are. You're taking us. How else will we get inside to protect you from her evil clutches?" Chanel asked.
"We won't let you leave us behind! It's not safe for you in there!" Katie added. Ysak rubbed his forehead and eyes with the palms of his hands.
"Arrgh!" he complained.
"By the way... that's a very nice bathrobe you have on." Chanel commented slyly.
"Can I see it? Are you wearing anything underneath?" Katie asked.
"That's not your business." Ysak informed them, backing up to the far corner of the kitchen. The two girls looked at each other and gave what Ysak thought of as chilling nods. Suddenly Chanel was pounding up the stairs to the second story.
"I'll search his room for interesting stuff!" she called.
"Meanwhile... I'll search HIM for interesting stuff." Katie called back with a smile. She started closing in on Ysak with a predatory smile.