Saving Face

The lights throbbed in time to an incipient headache. The crowd noise and music oppressed Brad Crawford from all sides. The booth was too tiny, too stuffy. Or maybe it was just Schuldich. The latter was pressing on to him like a leech while flirting outrageously with him. He was also chattering a mile a minute pausing only for breath or a sip at his beer. The redhead's nasal voice grated on his nerves when all he wanted was to hear the sound of a well-loved baritone. And funny, he never thought of Schuldich's hair as red more like a shade of orange. Red was the shade of roses in morning dew, of bright apples in the sunshine, of red blood dripping on the white tiles… And those eyes weren't the purple of ripened plums but glimmering cat-green in the uncertain light…

Brad was yearning for someone else' company this night. Ran Fujimiya, Abyssinian of Weiß Kreuz, in fact, the leader of their rival assassin group, a dangerous notion for someone of their line of business.

"Fancy meeting you here, Crawford. Never thought you'd be the one coming around these sort of places…"
Maybe if I keep silent long enough he'll leave me in peace…

Brad had come to the bar alone in search of some peace from his spiraling thoughts and Schuldich who could very well read them. He didn't want the telepath know about his old relationship with their rival's leader. It would be just like the opportunistic German to take advantage of the situation and report him to their superiors, God knows, the latter didn't lack for ambition. Not that there was anything current to report, it had been a month since he had last seen Ran, since they said goodbye…

Shielding from a telepath wasn't easy in the least and these thoughts often lead Brad into depression. Not an ideal state to fight mental intrusion. He often buried these feelings in work but there was none at the moment, Takatori had dismissed them for the week and Estet had been silent for some time now. Not that this was the first time he had tried to escape the latter. It was, however, the first time he had ended up in the same bar with Schuldich. He had gotten an uneasy feeling telling him not to go to this particular bar earlier but he didn't listen. Oh well, live and learn…

"Awwww, got nothing to say to me B—"
"If you call me by my first name one more time…"
"I know, I know you'll dock me for insubordination…"

Brad should've known better by now, Schuldich wasn't the type to shut up when he could be baiting him. Tired of his present company, Brad decided to skim the crowd. He lifted his eyes from his whiskey and looked out into the multi-hued dance floor where many bodies writhed in time with the fast beat. The men were dancing with other men and the few women were dancing with other women. Black leather reflected and absorbed light alternately and it was everywhere. From his vintage point, Brad noted that everybody seems to be paired up this Saturday night, there weren't any wallflowers and those that were seated on the little booths all had their respective companions. All of these little details pushed his thoughts further into gloom. It looked like he was the only one in the bar tonight that hadn't had a proper boyfriend. How depressing…

He was about to turn back to his drink when he saw it, a flash of red on the darkened foyer leading out to entrance of the bar. There it was again! Could it be?

My breast is again loudly throbbing As if he read Brad's mind, Ran walked into the glare of disco lights. Ran's short hair looked the way it did when he last saw him under moonlight streaming from the window. Gilt by the disco lights, his eyes were the deep purple Brad had remembered. The redhead was wearing skintight leather pants that delineated his legs, hips and manhood in such a way that he might as well be naked and topped by an equally skintight sleeveless tunic emphasized his muscles. Brad had been too busy drooling over his former lover that it took him thirty seconds to notice that Ran hadn't come in alone. On his arm was his teammate, the one with the bear-claws, Hidaka Ken a.k.a. Siberian. Firmly attached to his arm or was it vice versa? Brad's eyes narrowed. It was Ran who had his arm snugly around the younger man's waist. Quite an intimate gesture especially since the other Weiß was also in skintight leather. How are you, there's a different sparkle in your eye
Obviously your world right now is so happy Brad felt suddenly as if he had been dipped into hot water then drip-dried into a snow bank. He wanted to tear out of the booth and rip Siberian off of Ran's arm and take his lover out for a little chitchat on fidelity. Or drag Ran to that little motel beside the bar and kiss him senseless, caress him, touch every part of him and with every caress brand his ownership onto the errant redhead.

Not that you have the right, you gave him up remember. Live with it. Said an extremely nasty voice in Brad's mind. But it's only been a month! Wailed another part of him. He couldn't have found someone else in just a month!

Brad stiffened up and pulled away from Schuldich to narrow his eyes at the couple. He noted that the Weiß redhead was quite entranced by his current company to the point that he didn't break eye contact. His lips were quirked up in a tender smile or as much as Ran did these days. Crawford may not have seen his lover for a month and had met him only briefly then but Schwartz did have informers.

All of those agreed that Fujimiya was a cold bastard whose stone face did not change much in expression. Cold and impassive, always in control, he never smiled or did anything to hint that he was made of warmer material than ice. Yet there he was now with a bright sparkle in his eyes, with his equivalent of a goofy love-struck expression on his face, and with his arms around his teammate dancing to the slow music that was on. Did Brad mean anything to Ran at all?

Should you know that things haven't change?
Up to now darling, I still love you Ah, but who says that they've been dating for just a month… It's been three years since you reneged on your promise to return to him. Allow for a year of hope dying by the inches… I'm even surprised he had allowed you to meet with him to discuss your "relationship" after what you did at the "Human Chess" game.  Besides not coming to him like you said you would even AFTER he lost his family. On top of that you made him miss his target. Another thing, did those reports mention something else…?

Those reports have a video of them in the car… Brad remembered the video taken of the moving car as the Weiß sped towards a target. Ran had been in the back seat with Hidaka. All of the Koneko boys had called each other easily by their first names. Though that was innocent enough at some point, Brad was now suspecting that the familiarity hid something else in the case of Hidaka and Ran...

Brad had to restrain himself a bit more, jealousy nibbled at his self-control. You have no right. He kept repeating the phrase to himself over and over like a mantra in his mind. He noticed his glass was empty and ordered another almost automatically, hardly aware that he had been gulping whiskey in time to his thoughts until he noticed that Schuldich was staring at him in disbelief. He did a mental count of glasses he had consumed and slowed down somewhat. The alcohol in his system should be enough to muddle the telepath amongst other things.

Brad was feeling a little fuzzy, though at same time everything was brought sharply into focus as if being seen through the magnifying glass. Then a sudden thought came with the uncanny sharpness of perception, Brad decided to test the present situation. Besides when in for a sheep—don't make it a lamb. He knew everyone in the bar except perhaps the one who had just entered thought he was with a certain German redhead. It wasn't he had a reputation to uphold at this particular bar, thanks to the telepath's antics. He pulled himself together and listened to Schuldich.

"So are you going to do there all night or are you going to do something more ex…" Schuldich's words tapered off in surprise as Brad put his arm around the latter's waist and drew him close.

"What do you want to do?" Said Brad in his ear.
: Just play along, Schuldich. : Thought Brad loudly past his inebriation, he knew fairly well that the telepath could hear him when he did that.
: Why for? :
: It's an order. :
: Okay, but you owe me an explanation. :
None doing.
: I heard that! I'll figure it out eventually so why don't you make it painless… for both of us. :
: No means no or…:
: You'll dock me for insubordination… I know, I know, that threat's getting old. :
: Why quibble over a thing that works so well. : Dangerous sarcasm overlaid Brad's mind voice.
: Hai, o great illustrious leader. :

Having taken care of Schuldich's curiosity, Crawford proceeded to put on his smitten look. He cuddled and kissed Schuldich, making a spectacle for anyone looking in his direction. All the while sneaking glances at his former lover. A minute passed by, then two, five, half of an hour, nothing changed. Ran didn't even look up from Hidaka. They were now sitting in their little alcove gazing into each other's eyes drinks barely touched.

They must have been dating for a long time and so much in love.  Maybe that's why he hadn't been as upset about breaking up with you as you thought he would.  Brad in his current anguished contemplation ignored the fact that Ran had tried to make him stay the night.

I guess you're now truly in love
Is he at all like me as we had been together Brad felt worse than ever. He pushed Schuldich as far as he could and decided to drink some more. A few drinks later, the phrase he had been directing at himself had been, suddenly, somehow transferred to the object of his jealous ire.

You have no right, Hidaka. You have absolutely no right to Ran. He's mine. Hell, I'm Schwartz. I take what I want and damned to all comers besides he's mine in the first place. Yeah, you're no match for me anyway Weiß. I can take you on any day.

Hostility rose with every unclear thought. The two lovebirds across the way stood up and made their way across the room. Leaving for a more private place to continue their date. At that thought, Brad found himself trying to stand rather unsteadily. Damned if he was going tolerate Ran having sex with Siberian for another night now that he knew about it!

Not if I can help it!
"Fuck! Crawford, this is not the time nor place…" Schuldich hissed into his ear. He felt arms trying to restrain him.
"Let go of me, I'm going to knock him clear into the next county…"
Brad continued to try to stand up. He almost had gotten loose from Schuldich when all of a sudden the world began to darken.
: Schuldich! : Damned the German bastard for using his blasted telepathy on him when his guard was down.
: You'll thank me in the morning…Bradley… : Said Schuldich, smirking in Brad's mind before the darkness became absolute.

***

What was with Aya this evening? Thought Ken as they walked from the man's red Porsche to enter the stairwell that led to their respective apartments. The evening had been started quite normally enough, Aya and Ken had decided to go out separately. However, they decided to hit the bar together when they found out the other were also going out. Admittedly, it was rare for Aya to go out, but well, he behaved quite like the Icicle he was until they had entered the bar.

Since they used Aya's Porsche to get there, Ken offered to pay for the disco tickets. Aya had hovered impatiently in the foyer while Ken got the tickets from the receptionist. Ken had thought they would have only stuck together for a minute to arrange the time for them to get back to the shop. Instead he found himself being possessively clung on to by the redhead, smiled and stared at. And not the usual steely-eyed stares given by this particular teammate either, they were soft glances that hinted of warmth underneath that frost. This was a side of Aya Ken had never seen before and it held him dumbstruck for the whole evening.

Did the icy redhead care for him? Had a crush on him? Scary thought. Ken wasn't quite sure he'd want to go into a relationship so soon after killing Kase. Besides he had only know Aya for a few months.

Aya suddenly spun around face Ken, as they were about to climb up the stairs. Ken's heart was pounding triple time from apprehension. Here it goes…

"Aya, I…"

Aya silenced Ken with a gentle finger on the lips. The redhead gave him a tender, brotherly kiss on the forehead.

"Arigatou, Ken." Was all he said before he climbed the stairs two steps at a time and was soon lost to Ken's sight.

What was that all about?

Shaking his head, Ken made way to his own apartment. Will I ever understand him?

Oh how long that I've imagined and waited
To see you, to embrace you and to kiss-and-hug you
But now it's happened, I'm quite mute…
  ~OWARI~