Friday 1.3

[ginnyvos.livejournal.com]

//Nagi. Naaaagi. Naaaaaa-kun. Wake up. Brad wants coffee, and he asked if you would make it.//

Nagi groned and burried himself in the warmth around him. After a bit, as the pestering got to be too much, he groaned again and collected his mind enough to send back //He must not really want to wake up then... Can't you make it? You're obviously very awake...//

He was tired. He was groggy and he didn't care about the world outside right now because he was also warm and comfortable and it seemed he'd survived the night without nightmares. Miracle of miracles. 

He guessed it had a lot to do with him being in Farf's room though, the older man protectively curled around them.

He tried to go to sleep once more but it was to no avail. //Damn it! If you want me to wake up than you have to give me some of your coffee...//

He cuddled into Farf a little more.

Comments

[aki-jade.livejournal.com]

Schuldig watched Brad cook with all of the interest of a cat, meaning he tried to look like he couldn't care less, while inside he was eagerly anticipating. The moment the omlettes hit the table, he was the first to grab his, claiming it by pouring ketchup all over it.

It was a trick they all learned on Rosenkreuz. The weirder and less appetizing you make your food, the less likely someone is to try and take it away. It explained his love of sauerkraut that went above and beyond his German heritage.

He didn't answer the question, since it wasn't a question that required an answer, instead he cut a large piece of omlette off and shoved it in his mouth, waiting for Brad to continue discussing things at them. Besides, he was there when the plans were hatched. He knew what was coming, but there was no need to chime in.

Brad was the planner. Schuldig was just a schemer.

[oracle-dreams.livejournal.com]

Brad sipped at his coffee and continued his breakfast with all the manners and decorum he usually employeed despite his ravenous hunger. Rosenkreuz hadn't lent him the same idiosyncracies as Schuldig. Quite the opposite, Brad distinctly did not alter his food but rather ate it slowly and deliberately, hoping someone would try and take it from him. It had only happened three times and those three who braved it ended up in the infirmary for days. It was the perfect excuse to beat someone without catching hell for it himself.

He passed a glance around the table, the second time in as many days. Schuldig felt full disclosure about his visions was necessary. He did agree that Nagi and Farfarello needed to know something but certainly not the full extent of his troubles. There was nothing any of them could do about it and Nagi, in particular, would just worry. Retreating into the mission was not just Nagi's coping mechanism.

"Nagi, I do not know what this connection is with Balinese but we will use it as long as it persists. He will come looking for you this afternoon along with Bombay..." Crawford smirked to himself as he took another sip of coffee. This was the first and only time anyone had actually taken the initiative to track down Nagi by his school uniform. It was amusing that that bit of misdirection was actually seized upon now by Weiss, of all people. "... they'll be lurking just outside the rear courtyard of Hibiya high school by last bell. You can deliver our message about the theater then. I trust that you can handle it alone."


Brad reached for some toast, smearing it with blackberry jam. "There are obviously more than a few copies of this weapon. This is going to get much more involved than I had hoped." Simply tracking down 'Johnson' was not going to be as easy or as final as Brad originally anticipated. He wasn't sure exactly what was at work behind all this but his intuition was rarely wrong. And he wasn't inclined to call up a vision on it. Not now. All he knew was that this was just the beginning of something much larger. Their vacation was over. he needed more information to work with and that meant only one thing.

"Schuldig, you will be paying a silent visit to the Koneko. Listen for what they know of Sato, and anything else of interest. Nagi, if you can coax any information out of Bombay, do it. They will be interested in asking questions, ask a few back. If they feel they are getting something in return they will talk. Quaint concept... equal exchange... That is how you will deliver the message. Let them coax the details from you. Oh... and don't forget to take a bookbag. Maintain the cover."

Usually Brad was a bit more formal in his mission briefings. They certainly never involved blackberry jam before. This was actually comfortable.

"Farfarello and I have a side project to deal with. But, in all, it will be an easy day right up until the theater tonight. Any questions?"

Brad sipped at his coffee as he looked to them all. Moreso than ever before, he was relaxed and actually looking as if he actually meant that final question as an actual question.

[bloodyfarfie.livejournal.com]

Farfarello's own 'breakfast rituals' were closer to Crawford's; he had had a few people try to take his food, and had been punished severely afterward. Of course, Rosenkreuz didn't like when their students were either killed, or maimed beyond usefulness. Farfarello hadn't really cared about the punishments; after a few times, no one had even come near him, the times he'd been allowed to eat with the general school populace.

The Irishman had been keeping an almost suspicious eye on Crawford as he started to eat, silent for now. Despite what Crawford thought about how much he and Nagi did or didn't need to know, Farfarello wanted to know everything that was happening with his leader. If something came up, if Crawford was knocked out with another vision while he was the only one around, he wanted to know what was going on.

He really didn't appreciate not being 'in the know' when it came to something as important as his team's well-being.

An eyebrow lifted slightly at the mention of him working with Crawford on a 'side project', but didn't say anything just yet, knowing that he'd hear about it later. If Crawford didn't go into details just then, there was a reason for it. Usually.

[ginnyvos.livejournal.com]

Nagi ate slowly, considering. His... Connection, with Balenese? He supposed there was one, upon closer examination. At the very least, Balinese had to have felt some sort of connection to him to follow him in the street, and their conversation afterwards... Also, the whole business when Kudou was their hostage and the simple fact that Nagi hadn't killed him on the spot the day before after the... Incident with Tot was surprising in the least. There were very few people who could've boasted on surviving something like that and it was limited to his team and Tot... And Kudou, apparently. Odd... And something to examen closely later on. Weiss was the enemy after all, had been from the start. But... Not so much, really, when you looked under the surface. After all, had they really been enemies, they would've been dead a long time ago. Or ruined. Schu and Farf would've delighted in that... Which would make them enemies. Hmmm...

In the end it came down to one thing though, Crawford had said very early on that they weren't to be killed or maimed (too badly), that they would still be useful. There were precious few who could boast antagonizing and getting in Schwarz' way so often and surviving it. In Nagi's experience, that made them almost friends.

And that didn't even touch on his and Tsukiyono's virtual hacking wars, that over the years had become almost like a game.

That brought him to the other parts of Crawford's assignment. He was to meet Kudou and Tsukiyono, who would apparently come looking for him... At the school he was supposedly going to. He tended to forget that the school uniform he wore was more than just clothing. It was simply what he often wore.

"Theater?" he finally asked, frowning. "What about a theater? And which one?"

[aki-jade.livejournal.com]

Schuldig quirked an eyebrow at Brad, but continued eating and looking otherwise completely neutral. Inside, though, he worried a bit. The vision might have done more mental damage that he first thought. He had been too concerned with the physical damage it had done.

However, he would leave the explaining to Brad, unless the man collapsed on the floor. He didn't think it would happen, but who knew right now.

He was just glad the rest of them realize how bad it was. He almost wished he could be right there with them. Ignorance is bliss and all that.

[(Anonymous)]

Brad looked at Nagi, momentarily confused by his question then looked to Schuldig.

"I assumed Schuldig had filled you in."

For Schuldig to have said nothing at all, even about the mission details, meant that he was far beyond worried. And, for once, Brad couldn't fault him for it. Brad needed to see the redhead through this, as well as Nagi and Farfarello. The key was finding a way to see himself through it as well.

It was time to break his silence.

"I had a vision last night. The weapon will be tested tonight in a movie theater. It is too big a risk for us to deal with it alone. That is why we are going to send in Weiss. We'll pick up the pieces we need after they deal with the disk. That is the message you will be delivering. Tokyu Theater, Shibuya Station - the movie starts at 8:30pm the attack will be at 8:47pm."

Brad sipped long at his coffee, draining the cup, then stood to refill it. He was stalling. His instincts told him to do as he had always done - only provide information on a need to know basis. Spelling out his weaknesses was hard for him to admit to himself more or less to his subordinates.

Subordinates.

He glanced at each of them as they ate. They were no longer his subordinates. They were no longer technically a team. They were together solely by choice now. Brad couldn't find a word in his considerable vocabulary to adequately describe what their ties to one another had evolved into. Nagi and Farfarello needed to know. If they found his damaged talent useless, or worse, a liability as Schuldig had originally suggested, they could chose to leave. Crawford had to face that possibility. He didn't free them all just to enslave them to his will.

"My visions are... changing. I didn't only see Soundwaver being put to use, I heard it. Experienced it. It was full emersion, the same as being there. We will NOT put ourselves at risk. This is Kritiker's mess and we will leave it to them to clean it up."

Brad returned to the table, focused on the plate in front of him. He didn't know what to expect in response.

[oracle-dreams.livejournal.com]

[[That was me... obviously!]]

[bloodyfarfie.livejournal.com]

Farfarello's attention focused entirely on Crawford at his mentioning the change in his visions, and he took a moment to think about that, and how it would effect everything.

If Crawford got an intense vision in the middle of a mission, he was useless; that was always true, but infinitely moreso now. Especially if he was experiencing the effects of everything in the vision. If he died in the vision, what would that mean for him then?

Farfarello looked Crawford up and down, as if assessing whether or not he was fit to even be in the field, though he figured that if Crawford thought he was useless to them that way, he'd be smart enough to pull himself out without needing them to do it for him.

Instead, the Irishman nodded once in acknowledgement, knowing that Crawford hated to admit any perceived weakness, like this.

[ginnyvos.livejournal.com]

As Nagi listened to Crawford's brief explanation, he felt something cold form in his chest. It was... Upsetting, to say the least. Crawford had said previously that project Soundwaver had the ability to kill psychics. If he experienced the effects first hand, did that mean the man had been very close to dying?

"The seizures." Nagi's voice was devoid of emotion as he made the statement. He wasn't sure if having an explanation for the seizures made the situation less or more freighting. He'd have to think on it. He already had so much to think on the last few days. It was so much. Too much had happened in too short a timespan for Nagi to have time to carefully analyze and place and it resulted in a mess of 'things to think on later' that was really too big for his usual orderly mind to process. And things kept being added.

For all appearances Nagi was simply sitting there, eating slowly, but in his mind he struggled to pull down shields that he had not needed in a while. Once upon a time, detaching himself from his emotion had been a second nature, so easy that it required thought nor effort. It just happened.
Now though, it was like trying to pull down shutters rusted from disuse.

[oracle-dreams.livejournal.com]

Brad has seen that look on Nagi's face too many times not to recognise his struggle. He had been forced to drill it into the boy's head - emotional attachments, especially to his team, were dangerous. And they still were, to a point. How could he possibly explain that to the boy when he had a tentative grip on the concept himself.

A worried Nagi was in no one's best interest, however.

"I've had seizures my whole life, Nagi. They aren't dangerous. I've learned to control them - only far ranging visions are still capable of dropping me like that now."

Brad fixed his attention on the boy, needing to see that he was hearing the words, understanding them.

"I said it was nothing to be concerned about, and it still is not. The vision I had was far ranging - possibly 25 years or more - and it will take me a long time to work out all the details that it showed. My contact with Balinese finally triggered it but it had been waiting to happen since the Tower."

Brad was leaving out some fairly large details but those WOULD worry Nagi. Hopefully, this explanation would be enough to put both his and Farfarello's minds to rest.

[bloodyfarfie.livejournal.com]

((...I just have to say; fat chance. Farf is somewhat appeased.. Still unhappy about having been left in the dark - and he knows there's more going on =P Brad can keep hoping though!))

[aki-jade.livejournal.com]

Schuldig chewed his food, listening to Brad and watching Nagi and Farfarello. The Irishman seemed calm as ever, but then, he always seemed calm unless he was actively killing someone. He was like a storm, really.

Nagi though... Nagi seemed more like an nuclear meltdown. Everything seems fine until the warnings start going off. If you heed the warnings, the meltdown can potentially be avoided. But if you ignore them, it could be catastrophic.

"Plus, you know, he's stubborn as a mule." Schuldig quipped, shoveling another bite of egg and ketchup into his mouth. "When has anyone, or anything, ever told Brad Crawford what to do?" He smirked.

"Our powers get stronger with age. He's had a power spike like this before. He learned to control it, and he can do it again." He glanced over at Brad.

"I love him. I always have." The words replayed in his mind.

"He has to."

[ginnyvos.livejournal.com]

Twenty five years in the future and Kudou had triggered it. Nagi's head latched on to that fact and started analysing it. An event so far in the future was less threatening after all.

It meant there was a large chance Crawford was still alive in twenty five years. While there were many cases known in which precogs had Seen events in the far future, further than their lifespans, they often had relevance to some offspring of theirs. The thought of Crawford having offspring was enough startle Nagi out of his funk and into a wave of amusement. He didn't think the world was ready for more than one of the man.
Also, as far as Nagi was aware, Crawford's visions were known to involve events with personal relevance to himself. Not that odd, if one took into account his personality. Twenty five years were a lot to work with.

And then there was the fact that Kudou had triggered the vision. That usually meant that the man was involved somehow. The idea that they would still be involved with weiss in twenty five years seemed so ridiculous it was almost funny. He'd be what? Forty by then? And he was the youngest among all of them.

Assassins didn't live that long usually. Especially not ones without and psychic talents to back them up. Then again, the other team were like the cockroaches his team members had sometimes accused them of being. They kept mysteriously popping up whenever anyone was convinced they had to be dead now for sure.

It could also mean that Kudou was the only one alive at that point. Even so, that would be quite a feat.

The fact that they all grew stronger as they grew older was no news to him. It had been recited to him as the reason for the early appearance of his powers. Also, he had felt them grow on many an occasion and knew that they were to grow even stronger in the future. It put some urge behind the need to master them completely. He'd never thought of Crawford's powers growing however, but now it made sense.
A natural occurrence in the man's life. He was one of the most powerful lucid Precogs known, if not the most powerful, and the fact that his powers would take him into hereto unexplored territory wasn't all that odd.

Crawford said he'd learn to master it, and Crawford was always right. He'd just have to wait for it.

Nagi gave a nod, all the while continuing to eat quietly.

[bloodyfarfie.livejournal.com]

Farfarello had been watching Nagi intently as the 'nuclear meltdown' threatened to overwhelm all of them.. He glanced at Schuldig briefly when the man spoke, then back at Nagi. A faint, relieved smile played on his lips, and Farfarello nodded his thanks to Schuldig for helping Nagi avoid that.

He didn't say anything just then, just watching and listening, taking his time to form his own opinions on everything he was hearing. Despite his bouts of insanity, he did, on occasion, take the time to think things through.

Really!

Well.. It was known to happen from time to time, anyways. But that was beside the point.