The Black Cross

Brad went through the familiar motions - pulling his grooming tools from their drawers and off of shelves, in precise order, laying them out in order of use. The familiar routine was calming and centering so much so that he never felt Schuldig's eyes on him.

A hug and a kiss, so simple a gesture. It was nothing really when compared to the other things they had occupied their morning with already. But still, it nearly startled him. It had been unexpected and such a casual touch was so unfamiliar that Brad wheeled around without thought, hands tight but not yet balled into fists.

He closed his eyes with a sigh. This was going to be difficult for so many reasons. While in the heat of the moment things were much different than the rest of the waking hours left between them. This just brought that realization into focus.

His eyes slowly cracked open, settling on the redhead as he reached out a hand, his thumb again tracing the purple borders just under his eye and along his cheek.

"...okay..." Brad murmured low, as he tried to find some sort of perspective.

"In the mood for breakfast?" Hopefully, the change of topic would eleviate his discomfort.

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well damn it, that was not what he had in mind. And he felt entitled to some cursing as Schuldig had been the one to teach him so. But really, schuldig sounded awake in a way that he never had before. Couldn't he make the freaking coffee?

//I can't prepare yours propperly, weren't you the one to say so? Make it your own damn self and come bring me some... Than I might be prepared to wake up...//

Nagi was about to snuggle into Farf again when a ball of fur suddenly launched itself at his belly before tumbling off and climbing back up in one fluwid motion.

''wha- Miles? Is the whole world out to keep me from sleeping in just a little or what? What time is it anyway...?''

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//I'm busy. Besides, Brad specifically asked me to ask you to make it.// Schuldig replied to Nagi, smirking a bit.

"Yeah, breakfast will be good." He replied to Brad just a split second later. "I'll be back inside when Nagi decides to get out of bed and make coffee." He said, tugging the towel tighter as he left Brad to continue his hygiene. Though speaking of which, he could probably use a shave himself. But the priority now was a cigarette or two. Stress and more stress followed by lots of sex...

He went into his own bedroom, grabbing a pack from his dresser and climbing out on the fire escape to light up.

He had a feeling things were going to get complicated.

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Brad just nodded and returned his attention to the mirror. He went through his usual morning routine on auto pilot, revisiting the vision from last night, grateful that simple memories didn't also bear the same pain as the vision.

All the details were there. As if it had all just been laid out for him. Usually his visions were third person - he just witnessed events as a neutral onlooker, only pulling details as they were presented in the pictures at hand. He didn't know what this meant as far as his talent was concerned. There was no record at Esset or Rosenkreuz of anything like this ever presenting in a precog before. And the physical damage... that was somethnig he needed to get under control fast. If it could be controlled.

Brad rinsed his razor, putting everything away exactly as he had found it, cleaning up the counter and wiping down the bowl of the sink. He left nothing to betray that he had even been there. Only the used towel in the wash basket held any evidence at all. Once satisfied that his bathroom was left as he preferred, he headed into his room to get ready for the day.

Even as he dried off and started to get dressed he could feel the familiar pressure building at the base of his skull. The morphine was losing ground quickly, the visions were returning to their usual veracity. And with it, another vision made itself known - this time Nagi and his impending mission. Brad chuckled silently to himself. Bombay was going to be ... difficult. But Brad paid it little mind. Nagi would succeed - that was all that mattered.

Brad slipped into a dress shirt and slacks without a second thought - all this - drama - had him feeling the need to regroup and refocus. He never put much thought into why he preferred the suits and ties and ostentatious business attire but it was what he was comfortable in. What declared his control without him needing to say a word. It was all programming, imbedded so deep he'd never recognise it as such. In these small ways, he'd never truly be free of his past and his subconscious knew it and accepted it.

He headed out into the kitchen, a bit peeved that Nagi hadn't begun the coffee. He began setting up the machine when a scent caught his attention. He paused with the bean grinder in hand and took an investigative sniff of the air around him. Sour, fetid... he knew that smell however faint it might be. He poured the grounds into the machine and set it aside for the moment. He followed the scent to the trash can and immediately began looking around the kitchen for the little ball of fur.

Brad hadn't seen Miles while passing through the hallway, or the living room either. With a creasing of his brow be began gingerly picking through the contents of the can sincerely hoping that Farfarello hadn't had an episode of late night boredom. His fears were waylaid as he found one of his rather sizable Kobe steaks, turning shimmering shades of metallic green as it slowly began to decompose. A small scowl accompanied a deeper creasing of his brow. He abandoned the can as is, washed his hands at the sink and continued with the coffee.

That had been half of his breakfast plans.

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//I'm busy. Besides, Brad specifically asked me to ask you to make it.//

Nagi sighed again before wiping the sleep from his eyes. If Crawford had specifically asked for him, there was nothing to it. He took a long moment to asses his current position and then carefully scooped Miles from his belly with one hand, while using the other to carefully untangle himself from Farf. At least the other man deserved his sleep, he supposed.

The cat was apparently perfectly happy to be manhandled as long as it meant he would get some attention. Rolling his eyes, Nagi made his way to his own room, throwing a passing glance at his humming computers before donning a clean shirt and pants.

Before going to bed, he'd used the cable they'd picked up the day before to fix his precious computers and set his search engines running. They were doing their job, but he guessed analyzing the results could wait. Coffee first, computers later.

Done dressing, he scooped Miles up from where the cat was chasing his own tale on the bed and made his way to the kitchen, still only half awake.

Nagi walked into the kitchen not paying attention to much else but the cat trying to get free of his grip and it was only when he heard someone moving around that he looked up.

"... Oh," he finally said, looking a bit sheepishly at Crawford, who had apparently giving up on waiting for Nagi to get his coffee and went to make it himself.

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Crawford passed Nagi a sharp glance as he finished stowing the coffee supplies back in their cabinets as the coffee maker gurgled to life. He turned to rice steamer and set it up as well.

He had wanted Nagi to get a good night's sleep. He couldn't be too cross with his late arrival. By the look of him he had slept soundly, especially if he was having trouble waking.

"Any idea why there is a steak in the trash can?"

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Nagi held his face carefully blank as he considered the question. Lying and pretending he didn't know was not an option, this was Crawford after all. Accusing Schuldig directly though... Not much of an option either. Finally, he settled for simply saying; "Ask Schuldig, he knows," and left it at that. After all, it really wasn't his business to begin with.

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Whatever Nagi knew, he wasn't committing to it. Neutral like Switzerland and just as cold. That thought sparked both a twinge of pride and the most minute bit of regret.

Crawford returned to his preparations for breakfast. It was rare but he did occassionally make the gesture to feed them all. They had lived together for much too long to not share the chores, even if the distribution of them was far from balanced.

He paused for just the briefest second as another vision slipped unimpeded into his internal sight. Again, Nagi and Balinese, this time with Bombay as well. A slight smirk creased his face as he went about cooking while simultaneously entertaining the vision. Weiss was coming looking for them. Talk about pulling the tiger's tail...

They were totally off base but they took the initiative. If this is where Schuldig's 'suggestion' had led them, then perhaps it was time to watch the assassins a bit more closely. It was a much ballsier move than Crawford had anticipated.

" Hungry? " Brad glanced just over his shoulder, his annoyance at the lack of coffee forgotten. In fact, he seemed to actually be in a good mood.

"I started rice for you..."

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Schuldig exhaled the last of the smoke and chucked the butt down into the alley before climbing back inside the window and getting dressed. There were a lot of things that could go wrong in having a more than professional relationship with Brad. But there was also a lot that could also go very right. He shook his head as he tugged his shirt down. Who knew how it would end up, well, beside Brad. Fucking precogs knowing everything.

But then her remembered that first vision.

“He knows.”

“… no… tell him I said the words… I love him. I always have.”

Despite the horrific situation and gory details, he found himself smiling slightly at those words. If he had anything to say about it, Brad would survive that night, and Schuldig could hear the words for himself. In person.

Who knew how far out that vision might be, though. If Weiss was involved and actively helping them survive... chances were it was a while away. Plenty of time to make sure it wouldn't happen.

With a smirk on his lips, he made his way down to the kitchen for breakfast, one hand stroking his stubbly chin. He would have to remember to shave later. Right now, food was more important.

"Nagi. Making the injured man cook? You heartless little shit." His smirk never wavered. "Brad, you must be so proud."

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Nagi shot Schuldig a heartfelt glare as soon as the man entered the kitchen. Most of the effectiveness was taken away by him absently petting the kitten in his hands.

//He was already cooking when I got here. You dragged me out of bed for nothing.// It was more like a statement than anything else, but in Nagi-terms it had quite a bit of heat.

"I would really like some, thank you," he told Crawford politely. Suddenly he really didn't mind the idea of being present for Crawfords interrogation over the steak.

He finally set Miles down on the floor and the cat quickly made his way to his food-bowls. Smart little thing, Nagi mused.

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Brad fixed half a glare on Schuldig. He was decided to not make a huge deal of whatever this was with his visions. Certainly not to Nagi. Confirming that he was officially injured was not the way he had planned on starting breakfast.

"I am proud of Nagi's endless patience. How he doesn't permanently fix you to the ceiling on a daily basis still amazes me."

He nonchalantly turned back to his cooking, retreiving what he needed from the refrigerator as the pan warmed up.

"So..." Brad barely glanced in Schuldig's direction, breaking eggs into a bowl. "...care to tell me why my steak is in the trash can?"

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Schuldig blinked, then settled a cocky smirk onto his lips.

"I needed something to ice my eye so it didn't swell shut." Schuldig answered casually. "I've heard steaks are good for that, so I gave it a try."

Even though his demeanor seemed calm, he was busily trying to calculate just how annoyed or possibly angry Brad was about the situation. He didn't seem too upset about it, but he also wasn't looking directly at Schuldig.

It was a minor infraction, so he wasn't worried about getting a matching set of black eyes. Brad would just be huffy with him, and probably make him go out and buy a new one. With his own money. Which would suck.

But any chance he got to ruffle Brad's feathers was worth whatever punishment he might get. Well... usually.

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Brad stopped mid stroke, whisk standing idle in the bowl, with Schuldig's explanation. He couldn't help but picture Schuldig laying on the couch with the slab of - fairy expensive - meat on his eye.

Brad gave a snort of a chuckle and resumed his chore for half a stroke. That was too funny. But before he got much further his hand paused again as he began laughing softly to himself.

The redhead knew basic first aid as well as any of them. The choice of the steak over an ice pack was deliberate. Petty revenge most likely. But still entirely too amusing.

"I'll add it to your shopping list."

Brad resumed prepping the omlette with a few stray chuckles throw in. It was rare that Brad asked Schuldig to do the shopping. You could never be sure what he would bring home. He could bring home ten bags of groceries and have little that was actually edible in any of them. Of course, what Brad thought was edible differed quite a bit from Schuldig's definition.

"And when we're done breakfast you can take the trash out too."

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Crawford was... Laughing. He was laughing at Schuldig using his precious stakes for an eye-cooler. There really had to be some truth to the idea that getting laid made one more agreeable.

He mentally chuckled at himself and made sure to shield that observation pretty well. There would be no end to the teasing and Schuldig's suggestions that he get himself laid as well if the telepath found out about that thought.

Not that Nagi preferred them fighting, of course.

He waited quietly for the coffee to brew, keeping his face neutral as he watched Miles scorch himself on his food and listened as Crawford and Schuldig exchanged verbal jabs.

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Schuldig arched an eyebrow and grinned a bit. Brad Crawford was actually laughing. At something that didn't involve killing or torture. It was... strange. But definitely a good thing. Despite everything, Brad was in a good mood.

The grin quickly stretched into a very self-satisfied smirk. Damn he was good.

He shrugged at Brad's suggestion that he would be going shopping later. He really didn't mind doing the grocery shopping. It was everyone else that tended to suffer. But was it really his fault that he loved saurkraut so much?

With a yawn, Schuldig plopped down at the table, leaning his chin on his hand. "How much longer? I'm starving."

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Brad turned to the coffee pot and poured two mugs, taking the liberty of perparing both cups the way they both preferred.

"As patient as always..." Brad smirked as he passed Schuldig his coffee.

He placed Nagi's coffee in front of him. "Will Farfarello be joining us?"

It was strange that the Irishman wasn't awake already. Then again, he had several near sleepless nights over the past few days.

Brad returned to his cooking, popping bread into the toaster before returning to his pan.

He had a good feeling about today.

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Nagi shrugged. "I don't know. He was still asleep when I left him. He might be awake and join us at any time."

Nagi hoped Farf would stay asleep for a while longer, the man had stayed up many nights, even though he had badgered Nagi into going to sleep.

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