September 27, 2010

(Random scenario that's been in my head for a while. Added Quatre in for the hell of it.)

Dumb Blondes

Anne walked down the sidewalk towards her car. She was still in uniform, still head of Preventer, but her hair was down and her signet pin in her purse and 'Lady Une' with it. "Anne" was strictly off duty.

She wouldn't have stopped if she hadn't seen him in the window, and been positive that it couldn't possibly have been him. Same blonde hair, same blue eyes, same face handsome enough to be the envy of every plastic surgeon from Paris to L2, except that face was tilted sideways, that hair was pooled on the table, and those eyes were dimly focused on a woman across from him at the table they were sitting at. The woman at the table was not his partner.

She wouldn't have gone into the open door either, if a familiar voice hadn't called out and she looked to see the woman, who should have been sitting across from Zechs, waving from a booth inside.

"Anne" she said, when the Preventer boss walked inside.

"Lucy" was the returned greeting. "Lucy" was also strictly off duty and off record. Lucretia waved her friend to the empty part of the booth and one of the staff came over to offer a drink order.

"I didn't expect you to be here tonight."

"I had no intention to. But that," Anne gestured towards Zechs, "is not normal. Care to explain?"

Noin smiled, and pointed to another table a few feet away. "And that?"

Rum now in hand, Anne looked to see one Quatre Winner – always Quatre Winner no matter what time of day – looking fascinated while a young lady next to him appeared to be explaining something.

"Tell me there is a reason for this and that I'm not about to lose two of my best agents to what I assumed was only stereotype?"

Noin smiled again, "it's a game of sorts. How stupid can they get before people stop buying them drinks. I believe Zechs is down to using only monosyllabic words and Quatre is counting petty equations on his fingers."

Anne paused with her drink midway to her lips. "I don't know which half of the species I should be more bothered by."

"The man to the left of the bartender has been trying to flirt with Zechs for about half an hour now."

"Too dumb to pick up on the innuendo?"

"I insist he not pick up on the innuendo." Noin tipped up her own glass to flash the silver ring on her finger. Anne finished her rum. The woman across from Quatre looked like she might start dangling her car keys in front of him.

"I will still have two functional agents in the morning, I assume?"

"I can't guarantee that. That brunette there is pretty persistent."

"As long as they don't show up with stupefied faces."

"Don't worry. When the lack of intelligence starts to look genuine we call it quits."

"Haven't yet reached the threshold of stupidity?"

There was a loud 'thud' as Zechs' chair tipped backwards and he landed in a heap, lifting his long hair away from his face with one arm, and smiling.

"What do you think?"