Thursday 1.16 - Walls

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

Ran ignored Yohji leaving with irritation. He hadn't waited for a response, which meant that Ran's time was already spoken for by unspoken agreement. Whether or not he would have.

And little things like this are why the others think you're an asshole. Obligations came with letting people into your life.

Something he already knew.

Aya-chan was away at school, Yohji was out. Ran leaned a hand on the counter and stared out the window. He considered going upstairs and practicing, then remembered his leg.

Maybe he would inventory their stock. Someone needed to do that.

Ran turned and realized with surprise that Ken hadn't left with Yohji.

"I just, well, he can barely stand me as is, so I don't do something dumb."

It hadn't been that long since their fight in the kitchen on Monday, though it felt as though it had been years. [OOC: LOL.] Everything Ken had said to him had echoed back to him with what he'd just said to Yohji.

Does Ken resent me so much? It was becoming apparent that even if he hadn't payed attention to much while his sister had been in her coma, the world around him, the people around him, had been affected by him despite that. The weight of that responsibility settled uncomfortably in his gut. Or had that been stress talking?

The mission and its aftermath had been like a dam breaking in the Koneko, for Ran. Despite the injuries and pain and countless mistakes, he had felt more grounded since that release.

He realized he had been staring at the brunette and unconsciously tightened his mouth out of annoyance at himself.

Comments

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

The symbolism of the flower Schuldig was fingering didn't escape Ran's notice, and he wasn't about to consider it a coincidence with the man's ability to sift through their thoughts.Yohji's favorite flower.

It didn't matter. Schuldig was doing it purposefully, and it was only a plant.

"We're closed," Ran snapped. He almost thought of where Yohji had gone, why they were closed.

Following after me. Following after him and Yohji. Ran's mind kept trying to rehash the entire event. Yohji missing. Yohji returned. Giving in.

He deflected before thinking anything clearly by quoting in his mind a price twice the going rate for the flower Schuldig had broken.

[aki-jade.livejournal.com]

"Such customer service. I thought you Japanese people were all about honoring the customer." He shrugged, pulling out enough bills to cover the purposely overpriced flower, tossing them down onto the counter.

"But fine. I'll leave. I have bigger fish to fry, anyway." He smirked, turning to head back out the door.

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

Ran raised his eyebrows. He stared at the money, then checked back in with Ken with his eyes.

The hell had just happened.

He sensed it was a trap, or at least, it had to be. The baiting. Purposefully not antagonizing them. It sent off all sorts of alarms.

But..."bigger fish to fry"...

It might have nothing to do with them.

But why else would he have come here, if he had better things to do?

Ran's mouth moved almost of it's own accord. "Why did you come here?"

[aki-jade.livejournal.com]

"I told you. Looking for something special." Schuldig smirked, "But it apparent that you don't have it here."

He shrugged and rolled his shoulders, then picked up his damaged flower. After all, he'd paid for it.

"I've always been curious... why florists?" He suddenly asked. "Why a cover at all?"

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

"Normalcy." Ran said immediately, without thinking. It was always a mistake around Schuldig, he knew that, but the word came out anyway.

And so did the slight sneer.

He had always thought it was a joke. They were assassins. Perhaps the others could pretend to be normal, but Ran had chosen this life knowing what he was getting into.

He had just been surprised to have survived it.

He had of course been surprised to find the flowershop was relaxing. That he liked being a florist, or at least working with the plants. Tending to life, instead of continuously cutting it down. But that didn't absolve the cover of its needlessness.

Although, now that he had his sister back, he realized suddenly - it had made it easier for them all to have a real occupation as well. So perhaps Kritiker had more forethought than he gave them credit for.

And it was good for Omi too, perhaps, being so young, to have something more mundane in his life.

[plotbunnytiff.livejournal.com]

During the whole exchange, what bothered Ken the most wasn't that the redhead waltzed in so boldly, or that Ran was keeping a mostly cool head despite the fact that Schuldig was pointedly baiting him. They had no effective weapons nearby, and with two teammates gone and Ran injured, taking the mentalist on would be monumentally stupid.

What bothered Ken was that he didn't really care much. Where a bank of rage usually welled up, there was a cool sense of detatched calm, like he was watching the entire scene through a sniper scope somewhere far away.

"I'll bet you were the kind of kid," Ken said to Schuldig, his words laced with a thin sheet of ice, "who used to pull the wings off of butterflies."

*What are you doing?! Shut up! Are you trying to get us killed?!*
~Let me handle this, Hidaka.~

"Are you that bored? Hmm? What happened, broke all your other toys?" Ken leaned back against the counter, shoving his hands in his pockets (they were still starting to clench, despite his efforts).

"I guess it's no fun being a godling without an audience."

[aki-jade.livejournal.com]

Schuldig only faltered for a split second at the mention of his childhood. After all, Ken didn't know anything about him, and what he went through. None of them did, well, Yohji did to a point. But none of them cared enough to hear about it. And Schuldig didn't care enough to inform them.

"It's possible." He stated with a shrugged. "I've never liked butterflies much."

He laughed a bit as Ken mentally scolded himself. It seemed the man had a bit of a personality disorder. That would explain a lot, actually.

"Nein. I don't break my toys like you, Hidaka." He cocked his head, pulling the image of Yohji, wounded and bleeding, to the front of Ken's mind.

[plotbunnytiff.livejournal.com]

That image caused Ken to flinch visibly before he fought to keep the frosty walls intact. He should've seen that coming from a mile away, but it blindsided him all the same.

He glared at Shuldig and shoved his hands further in his pocket. "He's not a toy, dammit, not to us. Your team might be different, but *we* actually give a shit about each other."

*What's the point? You can't win. Not against him.*

~I'm not rolling over for this bastard. I won't. I can't. Don't you get tired of being a doormat?~

*Fuck you. That's not who I am.*

~Aren't you?~

Ken wished desperatly that he had his weapons. He wasn't meant for games of mental chess, he was made for action. This backtalk was just defiance, pure and simple, but it made him feel good, like he was keeping his promises and working towards something.

He lifted his chin and managed to make eye contact with Ran, a tiny smile of pride slipping through the neutral expression. *All for one, right? We'll be fine...*

At least he hoped so.

[aki-jade.livejournal.com]

"Is Ran really the one you think will back you up?" Schuldig grinned, moving to examine another arrangement. It looked like he might play for a while, and dismissing his enemies so easily would let them know just how little of a threat they were.

"All for one. Right. I bet that was what went through Yohji's mind when you turned him into a scratching post." He said, plucking a rose from the arrangement looking at it. "Did you even try to help afterward? Or just leave him to bandage himself? Because either way, the dressing was atrocious."

He waved his hand dismissively. "I supposed it doesn't matter. In the end, you're all just puppets. Maybe that's why you're so much fun to play with. You play dress up during the day and frolic in the flowers with your adoring fans... what would those fans think if they knew you were murderers?"

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

Ran narrowed his eyes. "We got through that. I don't know how you operate within yourselves, but we take care of our own here."

He tried to give Ken a reassuring look with a brief glance over his shoulder. He didn't trust him to not rise to Schuldig's bait, not after what he'd heard Ken say about Ran himself.

The idea of Schuldig having his hands anywhere near Yohji was incensive, but suppressed it as best he could. That was the whole point of the other redhead being there, and it irritated Ran almost as much to realize that they were entertaining him despite themselves.

[bloodyfarfie.livejournal.com]

The whole while Schuldig was baiting and teasing the kittens, Farfarello was waiting around outside, figuring the kittens would probably feel they could handle Schu on their own a little better. He just let them let their guard down for now.

After a while of Schuldig remaining inside without even letting Farfarello know what was going on, the Irishman walked to the front door and walked inside, face entirely blank; it was either that, or he'd start cackling and laughing - especially at their expressions. Obviously, the baiting was going rather well.. He glanced at Schu, the slightest hint of an amused smile twitching at the corners of his lips.

/Well? Having fun?/

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

[Crap! Sorry, Aki, I deleted your comment by accident when I went to use your head's up on Schu's black eye.

...Poor Schu, even his writer is helping Weiss be observant XD]

Ran narrowed his eyes. "We got through that. We take care of our own here." He pointedly raised an eyebrow at the ugly mark on Schuldig's usually pristine face. "You might operate differently within yourselves."

He tried to give Ken a reassuring look with a brief glance over his shoulder. He didn't trust him to not rise to Schuldig's bait, not after what he'd heard Ken say about Ran himself.

The idea of Schuldig having his hands anywhere near Yohji was incensive, but suppressed it as best he could. That was the whole point of the other redhead being there, and it irritated Ran almost as much to realize that they were entertaining him despite themselves.

[plotbunnytiff.livejournal.com]

Everything was going well enough.

And then he had to show up.

Ken saw the faint edge of red framing his vision when Schuldig made the jab about revealing their night jobs to the world.

*-the kids, and their parents, they would think I was a monster and they'd be right-*

But when Farfarello walked in the door, the rage flared to life, straining to get off the leash. Ken reached for the nearest object-

~A vase, Hidaka? What the hell is that supposed to do?~

-and held it out before him as an impromptu weapon.

But the only thing he could get out between his clenched teeth was "You..."

[aki-jade.livejournal.com]

Schuldig just shrugged. "A black eye isn't going to kill me. No matter how hard you wish for it." He chuckled, looking back at Farfarello with a grin.

//Oh yes. You know I always have fun with them. We should get going soon though, since Kudou isn't actually here. Seems he took off a bit ago.//

"A vase, Hidaka? Really?" He tilted his head to one side. "How have you boys survived this long?"

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

Ran found he couldn't quite argue with Schuldig's logic on that one. He gave Ken no more than a sideways glance to make sure he was holding it together.

He was not happy about the appearance of Farfarello. It completely unbalanced the meeting in Schwarz' favor, and left Ran looking for a deeper motive than just boredom for the visit.

"Why are you really here?" Ran rephrased his earlier question finally. At the very least, it would take the attention off of Ken.

[bloodyfarfie.livejournal.com]

Farfarello smirked just faintly at Ken's reaction to his entrance, but decided not to say anything to further anger the kitten - they were actually on an assignment, after all.

/Let's go then, before someone gets carried away again. I do like to try to not piss Crawford off twice in as many days./

He turned slightly, more towards the door, and looked at Schuldig with a raised eyebrow, waiting patiently, essentially giving Schuldig the chance to let out a parting shot at the two kittens. After all, he couldn't spoil all of Schu's fun... Especially since he rather enjoyed it as well.

[aki-jade.livejournal.com]

Schuldig gave a slight nod, watched Farfarello turn toward the door. /I'm not kidnapping anyone today. Too much effort, anyway./

"I've told you why I'm here." He picked up the bouquet that he'd been examining, tossing down a few more bills to cover the price, the actual price that he'd pulled from Ran's head. "You don't even need to write a card. I'm in a bit of a hurry." He flashed an eerily charming smile at Ran and Ken, then turned on his heel to follow after Farfarello.

Before he left, though, he did implant a light suggestion into Ran's mind that there must be some connection between Sato's sudden appearance and Schwarz's sudden interest in them. Maybe Omi should take a deeper look into the man's interests. Ran could easily ignore it if he chose, but he knew the other redhead was already wondering. It wasn't much of a stretch.

[Exit to Thursday 1.18]

[bloodyfarfie.livejournal.com]

Farfarello grinned and glanced at the kittens, saluting them briefly before walking out after Schuldig.

[Exit to Thursday 1.18]

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

Ran stared after the two Schwarz with surprise and irritation. He had the nagging feeling that he'd been fucked with again somehow, but couldn't quite pin it down.

He turned to look at Ken. He raised an eyebrow at the vase.

He threw a look back over his shoulder at the door. They didn't reappear.

Ran gathered the money on the counter and counted it, then distrubited it into the till. He was thoroughly pissed off, but there was absolutely no present outlet for it. He didn't waste time wondering why they'd come; he would get no answers from himself or Ken.

He locked the door and turned back to his tense teammate. "Ken."

He was checking to see if the soccer player was holding it together.