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 Farfarello leave, glancing at Nagi briefly before looking at Brad, raising an eyebrow slightly. He didn't think Brad trying to force a vision right now was a good idea. He'd already had two vision that were nearly fatal in two days.

"I agree with Farfarello." He said, setting his fork down and pushing his empty plate back. "You shouldn't try to force a vision. Not right now."

[oracle-dreams.livejournal.com]

Brad watched Farfarello's back as he left then snapped his gaze in Schuldig's direction as he let his opinion be known.

They were... worried. And it instantly set his nerves on edge.

Farfarello had no insight whatsoever into how his visions worked. Nor did Nagi. But Schuldig, he knew more about the inner workings of Brad's head than anyone else. Not that that was saying much.

The visions were always there, always constant. He didn't so much have to force a vision into being as much as he needed to pluck the correct visions from the maelstrom contained behind the walls he built in his mind to control them. And thanks to the morphine, his sense of control was currently fortified.

Brad's eyes lingered on Schuldig but he didn't respond. He wasn't angry - he wasn't sure what he felt - and with a glance at Nagi he was decided he would not let this escalate into an arguement.

His eyes wandered back to Schuldig as he sipped at his coffee. "Your concern is duly noted. Nagi, tell me what happened yesterday."

Brad knew that the girl was Nagi's sore spot and most definitely a sore spot between he and the boy. Brad had let that situation escalate, needed it for that very reason. But there was no need for it now. There was no need to cause Nagi any lingering pain. This had to be dealt with quickly and quietly... for Nagi's sake.

[ginnyvos.livejournal.com]

Nagi stared straight ahead of himself for a good while, ordening his thoughts on the matter. His feelings were still jumbled and he was irate to discover that his memory of the situation was incomplete and a far cry from his usual nearly perfect recording of events.

When he spoke he was still staring ahead, obviously attempting to give the most accurately factual describtion he could. ''I was walking to the shopping center. Miles broke some essential cables to my computer and I needed to finish my assigned tasks. When I was walking along Kinta street I saw Tot, She was speaking to a number of girls. I approached. When I was noticed, she ran and I followed. She disappeared into an allyway and I lost sight of her. Once there, it turns out Kudou had somehow noticed me and followed me into the alleyway.
I pinned him to the wall and we spoke for a while. He did not threaten me but seemed to be aware of my...'' for the first time he hesitated, ''History with Tot. Schuldig and Farfarello found us and we went to get the apropiate wiring we then went home.''

Nagi took a deep breah before ending his report with a nod before once again focussing on the others in the room and looking between their faces to deduce their reactions to it.

[oracle-dreams.livejournal.com]

When Nagi paused Brad looked to him slowly. He leaned back into his chair, sipping at his coffee as he watched the boy try to slip into his usual mask of indifference.

He seemed to be having trouble with that.

The flat report was what Brad had expected. He knew this was an issue - THE issue - that could see Nagi lose all control. There wasn't a waiver in Nagi's voice even though he had taken a moment to search for the apropriate words but, most importantly, there wasn't so much as a ripple in the air in the room. Nagi was obviously feeling something but he was controlling it. A small satisfied smirk crossed Brad's lips with the swell of pride he felt at this moment.

However... Brad could not see the use of Nagi being put to this sort of test unexpectedly, or repeatedly. There was no telling how she survived that night and Brad had no interest in finding out. Tot needed to be a non-issue from here forward.

Balinese had personal history on Nagi? That was a problem. Nagi had been acting strangely while the blond was in their custody but he couldn't see Nagi divulging his life's story to an antagonist adversary. It also did not escape Brad's notice that the blond's codename had been replaced with his surname. He was no longer an 'it' but a 'who'.

"He followed you - the victim was concerned for his kidnapper? He wasn't in custody long enough for Stolkholm Syndrome..." Brad looked questioningly to Schuldig. The redhead was just amusing himself with Balinese. Brad had doubted he had gone to the trouble to manipulate the blonde quite that thoroughly on a whim.

[aki-jade.livejournal.com]

"Hey, don't look at me!" Schuldig said as soon as Brad turned a questioning, if not almost accusatory glance in his direction. "Maybe Balinese has a death wish. Or maybe he's mentally impared. Because only a suicidal retard would go chasing after Nagi like that. Especially when he is aware of what Nagi could do to him.

A slight smirk curled Schuldig's lips. "Okay, it does sound like it could have been my work. But I swear he did it on his own. I was just as surprised to find him there as anyone. Alive was even more surprising."

He sighed, playing with the ketchup left on his plate with his fork. "I like messing with him, sure. He's one of the more imaginative of the bunch. But this... come on. It would be an insult to my intelligence to assume I had anything to do with this other than getting Nagi away from Yohji before one of them got hurt."

[oracle-dreams.livejournal.com]

Brad quirked a single eyebrow. This was a curious development.

He couldn't trust that Balinese's interest in Nagi was purely curiosity. If, for some reason, the blond had decided that Nagi was the weak link that he could use to get to the rest of them then he truly was suicidal.

But, more troubling, was that Schuldig was just as bad as Nagi. Balinese had a name... and they were using it. His orders had been quite clear - Balinese was not to be killed. Even with Nagi distraught, Balinese didn't have a single hope if he faced off against him. At what point did keeping the blond breathing turn into keeping him safe from harm?

"We wouldn't want Yohji getting hurt, now would we?" Brad may have deadpanned the delivery but the statement was nothing but pure sarcasm. He looked between both of his highly trained, highly skilled and, apparantly, soft-in-the-head assassins. "Maybe we can arrange a play date..." The sarcasm rarely got this thick unless something had gotten under Brad's skin. He pushed away from the table, snatching his empty plate, crossing the room to toss it into the sink with a loud clatter. "... invite the whole fucking team over for milk and cookies."

Brad turned to face them, arms posted on the counter behind him. He was annoyed. There were too many questions circling around them about that team. And Brad's visions were never wrong. This time he had hoped his talent had somehow misfired, gotten the details entirely wrong. He had been chasing down the Fujimiyas since he was 15 years old. And if he could trust his sight there were many long years ahead that included them and the rest of Weiss as well.

Balinese - Yohji - he had been most concerned and the most obviously worried about Brad in the vision. Thinking into it, Brad could feel the emotions he himself had in response. He didn't understand them but he didn't have to to know that his feelings were very fond and very strong for the blond.

He didn't want this.

"Nagi, I don't care what his angle is... assume he will use whatever it is he thinks he has on you to get what he wants. They are single minded - one mission at a time. Their only concern will be the disk. Keep that in the forefront of your mind when you meet with them this afternoon."

His eyes snapped to Schuldig. "And, being single minded, they should be obsessing nicely over their handler. The sooner you get over to the Koneko the better. They should be digging for all sorts of answers by now."

[ginnyvos.livejournal.com]

Nagi looked up at Crawford, startled. He did a quick once over of his actions but could not remember doing anything against Crawford's orders to provoke the sarcasm.

"You told us to keep him alive..." he said, voice unsure both in the light of Crawford's sarcasm and in his already mounting confusion. It wasn't his intention to provoke the man, he simply wanted clarity on his orders.

His mind turned to Crawford's warning. He had no doubt that Kudou would, eventually, use it. That was why the thought of him knowing about Tot made him so uncomfortable. He hadn't been able to keep it in the night before and that shamed him. He was a trained assassin, he needed to be in control of his emotions... But Kudou had known about them before that night. It was clear from his words and actions. He would just have to steel himself.

[aki-jade.livejournal.com]

Schuldig reached over and ruffled Nagi's hair. "Don't mind him, Nagi. The old man is cranky and needs a nap." He smirked, then looked at Brad. He hadn't missed the emphasis on Yohji's name in the mix of all that sarcasm.

//Calm the fuck down. So what if we know and use their names? I doubt they go around calling me Mastermind, or you Oracle. What's really the issue, Brad? It wouldn't have anything to do with that vision you had, would it?// He raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Alright, Slave driver." He said, not bothering to wait for an answer. "I'll be back later with your information." He got up, putting his plate into the sink before turning to leave. "Don't wait up, kids." He smirked and walked out, closing the door behind him.