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(20)Information
Ce leaned against the wall, watching as the two sisters walked around the apartment with ease. It was hard to believe that these two were the Qiaos. While he had known they were woman, and would not be fighting machines, he had not expected them to be so lovely. Yu, as well, had been shocked into silence when they had found the girls walking around the town. The two girls together covered each side of beauty.
The oldest, Da, had the original beauty. She was elegant and refined. She was pale, with doll like features. Cherry lips and rosy cheeks, with dark almond shaped eyes. Her hair was of the darkest shade of brown, and pulled back into a bun, her dark bangs framing her face. Her outfit was elegant and showed limited skin. Yet it did not hide her curvy figure. Not an hourglass, but it was sensual nonetheless.
Xiao, on the other hand, had a more youthful look to her. While only a little younger then Da, she still held the innocence of childhood. She smiled brightly to both of them, and had chatted to them like she had known them for ages before the meeting with her father had started. Her hair was light, almost a dirty blonde rather then brown, and up in a side ponytail. Her face was as beautiful as her sisters, just as perfect, but entirely different. Her lips more pink, her skin more a peach color, her eyes green with speckles. She quietly hummed a song, bobbing a head to the rhythm nobody else except maybe Da heard. Her little jean shorts and yellow tank top seemed to fit her in most aspects.
Xiao plopped down on the couch, putting her notebook on her lap. Still humming and bobbing her head she waited for the laptop to load. Da, on the other hand, made her way into the kitchen and retrieved some drinks. Bringing out the bottles of water she handed them to the two men before taking a seat in the rocking chair. "So you two are really the Two Qiaos?" Ce asked, twisting off the cap.
"No, we're lying to you. Once you let your guard down we're going to pull out our secret frying pans from our super secret hiding spots and bash you over the heads. Then sell you for lots of ransom money," Xiao said, grinning from her laptop to him.
"Frying pans?"
"Yes. The mauve monkeys that hide in our vents will back us up if that doesn't work."
"Mauve monkeys?" Yu chuckled.
"What the hell is mauve?" Ce asked, almost choking on his water. It was Da's turn to raise her eyebrow at him. Blushing a little, Ce shut up.
"Yes. We are the Two Qiaos, Lord Ce," she said, shifting her feet to get the chair moving. "Please have a seat." The two men found a seat, Yu ending up on the couch and Ce in a recliner.
"I'm sorry, I had just expected… more I guess," Ce said, setting the water bottle on one of the costars and leaning on his elbows on his knees.
"Like what?" Xiao asked, starting to type rapidly on her computer.
"I don't know. You two are just… not what I expected. Neither is your apartment."
"Did you expect wires everywhere, with a large hi-tech computer? And me and my sister to look like two nerds with messy hair, glasses the size of our fists, and pens behind out ears, good lord?" Da asked, with a smile.
"Well… not exactly… but… something like that," Ce conceded. She simply laughed at him.
"Alright. One more time, what did you want?" Xiao asked, not looking away from the screen.
"The Yellow Turbans. They're becoming an annoyance, yet nobody seems to be able to pin point them," Ce said, straightening.
"Can you really do it?" Yu asked, raising an eyebrow at the girl. While she was cute, she did not seem like the type to mingle in the Black Market and Gangs. Nor the type to hack into systems. Honestly she seemed more like the type who would get queasy at the sight of blood and go play cheerleader at football games.
"Would you have come if you really have thought I couldn't?" she asked, giving him a side long glance with a snicker. Yu huffed and glanced over to Da. While Xiao hacked, Da was more said to be the brains. She handled the money, she handled the inside jobs, and she handled surveillance. It was why the Two Qiao's had yet to be caught. Not to mention it was said they both were pretty good with guns. Though again, looking at the two it was hard to believe. Maybe that was why they made it like they did. Nobody would ever suspect these two young ladies of any crime, except maybe breaking a man's heart.
"What do you want to know about them?" Xiao asked, still typing wildly.
"Who they are, what they're doing for the government, who's running them, what they plan. Anything you can get. Except that they wear yellow and don't like the black market. We've gotten those messages loud and clear."
"Right-o captain." The room fell silent save for the clicks of Xiao's computer. After a little bit, she started to chew on her cheek, and then gave an unladylike curse. Still typing with one hand, she reached for the pad of paper on the table and clicked the pen. She started to write, rather sloppily, as she chewed on the inside of her cheek some more.
Ce was finished with his water when she gave a yell of frustration and tossed the pen across the room and started to type frantically again. "You don't need to rush. We can come back," he said, eyeing the pen that Da was retrieving.
"Oh no. This won't take long. Just… one of the stupid government firewalls is being… annoying," Xiao said with a smile. "There's always one that's hard to break. Stupid law enforcers always like to think they're one step ahead." She leaned forward, the light of the computer giving her expression a creepy glow.
Da set the pen down on the pad of paper, smiling. "It is true. It is likely you'd leave and just pull away and she'd break in. You might as well sit around and relax. Are you hungry?" she asked, hands clasped.
"No, I'm good. How about you, Yu?"
"I am fine, thank you though Miss," he said with a bow of his head. Xiao gave him a glance then, frowning. "Is there a problem?" Yu turned to her.
"You're just… way polite."
"You could learn from him, Xiao," Da said with a small laugh.
"I'm poli-okay done talking!" she said quickly typing even more frantically. Da simply nodded and moved into the kitchen. Ce laughed as he watched her type, sticking her tongue out at one point. Yu raised an eyebrow as he watched her.
"So," Ce said quietly, moving to talk to Da.
"It is alright for us to talk. She simply will tone us out," she said, reaching for a paper plate.
"How'd you two get into this whole… illegal ordeal?" Ce asked, leaning against the counter.
"Our Father was a good, long time hacker for hire. "Xiao has a better knack for it then I do, but gained Mothers summoning ability. While I have no talent for the larger, offensive demons, I can summon things such as fairies and imps. Which is just as well. Me and my sister are informants, not mercenaries." She shrugged as she made the sandwich.
"I really was surprised to see you two though."
"Most are. If you are considered a beauty, it is hard to be accepted doing anything but standing around."
"That's not what I meant!" Ce said quickly, face flushing.
"Of course then, my lord. My apologies," Da said with a slight roll of her eyes. Ce frowned as she walked back to her rocking chair, a sexy sway in her hips. Shaking his hair, he sighed and followed to the recliner. Da had finished her sandwich and had started reading a book when Xiao gave a victorious yell.
"In your face Han Tower! I am in your network, plundering your files!" She did a small dance where she sat, before typing again.
"Very good, Xiao," Da said, placing the bookmark between the pages and setting the book down.
"So," Xiao said coyly, "do you boys want the files on a disk or a hard drive?"
"Hard drive," Yu said, eyeing her carefully.
"Did you bring one? Or are we going to have to sell you one?" Yu pulled it out of his pocket. Giddy, Xiao plugged it into the computer. "You know, I should so put a virus in their system. Like… a yellow and pink panda dancing with a mauve monkey to It's a Small World. And it never stops."
"Please don't Xiao. You know it gives them a way to link back to you."
"Oh I know. But Han so deserves it. The pompous, stuck up, idiotic, jerks." Xiao stretched.
"Just don't." Xiao nodded her head and scratched at her ponytail. "So, what were you saying Yu?"
The elegant man's eyes widened, floundering for words before giving a huff. "My apologies, Ms. Xiao. I shall not again doubt your hacking abilities."
"Yeah. It's lonely at the top, but you definitely eat better," she said with a smirk. He raised an eyebrow, but gave a smile in return.
Ce laughed, rolling his neck enjoying as it popped. "Thank you for your services girls," he said, standing when Yu got the hard drive back. Pulling out the cash, he handed it over to Da. "I'm sure we'll be seeing you two again. It's always good to have information."
"I'll be looking forward to your visit, Lord Sun Ce," Da said, taking the cash but keeping eye contact with him. She gave a small blush then and stepped back with the cash. She started counting, and after Xiao logged off her laptop, the two girls walked them out.
"Come again!" Xiao said with quick waves. Da bowed, and then the door closed.
(21) Surprise
Ce smiled in a way that made Da's heart miss a beat. It was their first moment alone since her return from Italy, and she'd be lying if she said she wasn't looking forward to it. She blushed and glanced away. "Do you want something to drink?" she asked, slipping away into the kitchen.
"Got a coke?"
"Should," she said distantly. Ce stretched as he walked down the small walkway to her couch. Plopping down, putting his arm over the top he rested his leg on the coffee table and took a deep breath. He had missed her apartment. More importantly, he had missed her. She came walking out, carrying a coke can and a glass of tea. "Pick out a movie," he said. She nodded, smacking his leg, before going to her movie collection.
She put one she was sure he would enjoy, at least more then Gone with the Wind or Titanic, and made her way back to the couch with the DVD remote. He looped his finger through her belt loop and pulled her almost into his lap. She gave a small 'eep' before settling against him. "Did you have an okay day?" she asked, skipping the previews.
"It was okay. Took forever though, since I planned on coming here."
She blushed. "It was actually kind of nice to just be at home today. Thankfully nobody called. I loved my trip to Italy, but it's getting tiresome retelling my tales to everybody. I'm only glad Xiao went to. I can send most her way."
"You're so evil," Ce said, wrapping his arm around her waist. "Now shush. Movie is starting." He whispered the last into her ear, making her give a small shiver. As the movie played, Ce slowly inched his hand under her shirt. Da ended up jumping, but it was Ce's face that twisted up in confusion and shock. His thumb, while crawling its trail up, had grazed over something smooth and round.
"Ce!" Da said, jaw dropping as he twisted around and pinned her on the couch. "What are-stop!" she hissed, her face doing a wonderful impression of a cherry. Ce ignored her, and lifted her shirt just under her bra, simply because he still remembered how modest she was. He was surprised to see a little pearl stud in her belly button. His girlfriend, Da Qiao, had gotten her bellybutton pierced. He glanced up at her, to see her blushing, lips pressed together tightly in anticipation.
"When were you going to tell me about this?" He asked, circling the piercing. Her stomach gave a lurch and she giggled. She was rather ticklish.
"Later."
"Later?"
"When I thought of a way to broach the subject," she mumbled. "Do you not like it?"
"It's shocking, but hell if I don't think it's sexy."
"It was a dare by some of the classmates. Xiao ended up picking to get a tattoo."
"A tattoo?"
"Yeah. They said we had to get a piercing or a tattoo. She got a little panda and a butterfly on her lower back. I wanted a piercing since, if I didn't like it, I could always just take it out." She was almost whispering, and chewed on her bottom lip when she finished.
"I like it. Wouldn't have ever thought you to be the one to get a bellybutton ring, but I'm not going to complain. Though…" he said, trailing off as he stared at the little pearl. Really, it was so going to ruin the moment, but he couldn't resist. He'd probably never get the opportunity again, if he though about it. Unless he wanted to ruin a real moment. Smirking evilly, he glanced up at her. "It does give me a perfect reason to do this."
"What?" Ce lowered his head and blew on her bellybutton. Da shrieked and started kicking and jerking to get away.
I realized I have been doing a lot of snippets where the characters are meeting for the first time. So, with Surprise, I decided to do them while in the relationship. Information is in the same of realm as the last two (Purple and Pet) just a little earlier in the story. That's all.
