Yao watched the dim light of the lamp glint off the edge of the sleek dagger he held. He weighed it carefully in one hand and admired the delicately etched patterns on the naked blade itself.
“Da-ge, Xiang has returned.”
The quiet feminine voice just outside his open door roused him and his fingers stopped. Yao leaned back in his chair, the smell of expensive leather permeating his senses. He shuttered his eyes for a brief moment, tapping the hilt of the dagger against the edge of the table before sheathing it and placing it next to his tea cup.
“Tell him to come in, Tai.”
Tai inclined her head in respect and went off to carry out her brother’s command. Yao stretched his legs under the heavy wooden desk and flicked through the sheaf of papers lying on top, glancing through a page here and there and making the odd notation in other places.
Xiang walked in only seconds after Tai disappeared, proving that he was either in a hurry or hovering just out of sight.
Perhaps a bit of both, Yao concluded, taking in the flushed appearance of normally pale skin and the slightly jerking gait of the younger man’s walk which could only be contributed to anger or nervousness. As he shuffled his papers and put them aside, he wondered briefly which one it was.
“Report.” The knife was again dancing in Yao’s fingers.
Xiang stopped in the middle of the room, taking a moment to gather himself before speaking, his eyes fixed on the sharp glint of the weapon edge.
“Target has been eliminated.”
There was a barely perceptible pause in the motion of the sharp object in Yao’s hands but Xiang caught it nevertheless.
“Ivan Braginsky shot him.”
This time, the pause was permanent as Xiang found Yao’s golden eyes fixed on him for the first time since he stepped into the room.
“Braginsky…” The name was drawled out, the older man almost savouring the feeling of the foreign but familiar name on his tongue.
Xiang clenched his fists and bit back the angry words he so desperately wanted to say.
“You may go.”
His head shot up at that and words came out without thinking, “What? You’re going to let this go just like that? It’s two months of work down the drain and…”
“Xiang.”
He shut up immediately at that cold tone cutting across his words and glanced up nervously at his older brother. Any warmth from before was now replaced with hard, cold ice, frozen gold watched him from beneath long, dark bangs.
Xiang bowed immediately, “I apologize, Da-ge.”
“You may go.”
There was no room to argue with that. Xiang bowed again, stiffly, and backed out of the room.
As soon as he was out of both sight and earshot he let out a flurry of curses.
Whirling around, Xiang almost reached for his weapon before he realized that he was at home and was face to face with none other than Tai.
She raised a delicate eyebrow and swept her dark brown hair over her shoulder, “So on edge tonight, Ge-ge.”
“Don’t call me that,” he snapped back and continued down the hallway towards his own study.
To his surprise, she followed, matching him step for step, expression settling into a more businesslike one, “What happened Xiang?”
His normally expressionless face twisted into a snarl, “Ivan Braginsky did.”
Tai’s serious expression grew darker, “I don’t like him.”
A snort, “Who does?”
There was a moment of silence where they each dared the other to answer that very obvious question out loud.
Xiang sighed, letting go of the tension in his shoulders, steps slowing down slightly, “He’s interfering way too much in our territory just because Da-ge is willing to turn a blind eye to everything.”
“He’s a threat.” Tai’s words were a hiss. She didn’t like the big Russian anymore than Xiang did, but their reasons for that might have been slightly different.
At that, Xiang stopped completely, glancing back at her, “You’re a threat. Don’t think I don’t know what you’ve been doing behind everyone’s back. Don’t think Da-ge doesn’t know either.”
She froze, her hazel eyes furious. He gave her a humourless upward turn of his lips, a parody of a smile, “Kiku only puts up with you because you’re useful to him.”
Tai’s eyes narrowed into angry slits, “Then you shouldn’t expect people to not know about you and that Western pirate.”
With that retort, she turned and stalked off.
Xiang stared at her rapidly vanishing back for a moment.
Perhaps none of them were to be trusted. Not even by themselves.
***
Notes: 1. Da-ge (大哥) is both ‘older brother’ (meaning the eldest) and a form of address to a Triad or gang leader in China. (I think :D;) 2. Ge-ge (哥哥) is just a simple ‘older brother’. 3. I decided that since Xiang was derived from the first character of Hong Kong, I’d follow example and let Tai be named after the first character of 台湾 (Taiwan) 4. This is running away from me. I never intended for Kiku and Arthur to be mentioned so early, but meh. Where ever this takes me I guess? So, look out for the influx of new characters soon? 5. Sorry for the A/Ns after every 'chapter'. I'll stop if need be xD;
“Da-ge, Xiang has returned.”
The quiet feminine voice just outside his open door roused him and his fingers stopped. Yao leaned back in his chair, the smell of expensive leather permeating his senses. He shuttered his eyes for a brief moment, tapping the hilt of the dagger against the edge of the table before sheathing it and placing it next to his tea cup.
“Tell him to come in, Tai.”
Tai inclined her head in respect and went off to carry out her brother’s command. Yao stretched his legs under the heavy wooden desk and flicked through the sheaf of papers lying on top, glancing through a page here and there and making the odd notation in other places.
Xiang walked in only seconds after Tai disappeared, proving that he was either in a hurry or hovering just out of sight.
Perhaps a bit of both, Yao concluded, taking in the flushed appearance of normally pale skin and the slightly jerking gait of the younger man’s walk which could only be contributed to anger or nervousness. As he shuffled his papers and put them aside, he wondered briefly which one it was.
“Report.” The knife was again dancing in Yao’s fingers.
Xiang stopped in the middle of the room, taking a moment to gather himself before speaking, his eyes fixed on the sharp glint of the weapon edge.
“Target has been eliminated.”
There was a barely perceptible pause in the motion of the sharp object in Yao’s hands but Xiang caught it nevertheless.
“Ivan Braginsky shot him.”
This time, the pause was permanent as Xiang found Yao’s golden eyes fixed on him for the first time since he stepped into the room.
“Braginsky…” The name was drawled out, the older man almost savouring the feeling of the foreign but familiar name on his tongue.
Xiang clenched his fists and bit back the angry words he so desperately wanted to say.
“You may go.”
His head shot up at that and words came out without thinking, “What? You’re going to let this go just like that? It’s two months of work down the drain and…”
“Xiang.”
He shut up immediately at that cold tone cutting across his words and glanced up nervously at his older brother. Any warmth from before was now replaced with hard, cold ice, frozen gold watched him from beneath long, dark bangs.
Xiang bowed immediately, “I apologize, Da-ge.”
“You may go.”
There was no room to argue with that. Xiang bowed again, stiffly, and backed out of the room.
As soon as he was out of both sight and earshot he let out a flurry of curses.
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Whirling around, Xiang almost reached for his weapon before he realized that he was at home and was face to face with none other than Tai.
She raised a delicate eyebrow and swept her dark brown hair over her shoulder, “So on edge tonight, Ge-ge.”
“Don’t call me that,” he snapped back and continued down the hallway towards his own study.
To his surprise, she followed, matching him step for step, expression settling into a more businesslike one, “What happened Xiang?”
His normally expressionless face twisted into a snarl, “Ivan Braginsky did.”
Tai’s serious expression grew darker, “I don’t like him.”
A snort, “Who does?”
There was a moment of silence where they each dared the other to answer that very obvious question out loud.
Xiang sighed, letting go of the tension in his shoulders, steps slowing down slightly, “He’s interfering way too much in our territory just because Da-ge is willing to turn a blind eye to everything.”
“He’s a threat.” Tai’s words were a hiss. She didn’t like the big Russian anymore than Xiang did, but their reasons for that might have been slightly different.
At that, Xiang stopped completely, glancing back at her, “You’re a threat. Don’t think I don’t know what you’ve been doing behind everyone’s back. Don’t think Da-ge doesn’t know either.”
She froze, her hazel eyes furious. He gave her a humourless upward turn of his lips, a parody of a smile, “Kiku only puts up with you because you’re useful to him.”
Tai’s eyes narrowed into angry slits, “Then you shouldn’t expect people to not know about you and that Western pirate.”
With that retort, she turned and stalked off.
Xiang stared at her rapidly vanishing back for a moment.
Perhaps none of them were to be trusted. Not even by themselves.
***
Notes:
1. Da-ge (大哥) is both ‘older brother’ (meaning the eldest) and a form of address to a Triad or gang leader in China. (I think :D;)
2. Ge-ge (哥哥) is just a simple ‘older brother’.
3. I decided that since Xiang was derived from the first character of Hong Kong, I’d follow example and let Tai be named after the first character of 台湾 (Taiwan)
4. This is running away from me. I never intended for Kiku and Arthur to be mentioned so early, but meh. Where ever this takes me I guess? So, look out for the influx of new characters soon?
5. Sorry for the A/Ns after every 'chapter'. I'll stop if need be xD;
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The A/Ns are fine, I kind of like them :3 (get to see the author behind the genius writing!)
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