part 289: "Are we ever going home again?"
Previous installments are available in my Memories here. Please make sure the Memory page is set to sort by Description to get the entries in the closest-to-correct order. Or you can read it at its other home on Archive of Our Own.
"Glass Houses" part 289/?
By Viridian5
4/2003 - present
RATING: R. If m/m interaction bothers you, pass this by. AU.
SPOILERS: Glühen.
SUMMARY: After Aya's sister dies, Schwarz tries to save themselves and Aya from the mistakes of the Dramatic CDs and Glühen Schwarz tries to save him from himself--for their own reasons, of course--and neither they nor Weiß are ever the same again.
ARCHIVAL/DISTRIBUTION: No, not yet. This is a trial run of a piece of an unfinished fic.
DISCLAIMERS: All things Weiß Kreuz belong to Koyasu Takehito, Project Weiß, Polygram k.k., and Animate Film. No infringement intended.
NOTES: Thanks to rosaleendhu and red_squared for audiencing, typo-watch, and encouragement. Thanks to 'nat for "puisín," which she says probably sounds like "pu-sheen." Inspirational music includes Covenant's United States of Mind, mayatawi's V Mix the Second CD (Jane Jensen, Kidneythieves, Poe's rock version of "Hello," Kristen Barry's "Ordinary Life," Lacuna Coil), Linkin Park's Meteora, A Perfect Circle's Thirteenth Step, Pigface's Easy Listening..., Shriekback's "The Bastard Sons of Enoch," Zeromancer's Eurotrash, and Neuroticfish's Les Chansons Neurotiques.
I am not responsible for any therapy bills incurred as a result of trauma from doing research on things mentioned in this story. If you look up, say, "butter dog porn" on your own, I refuse to take the blame. I've been told that it's a bad idea to eat soup or drink while reading "Glass Houses."
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"Glass Houses" part 289
By Viridian5
========================
Yoji took his sunglasses off, as if that would really change what he looked at. “You’re kidding me. Aya and Nagi are *here*?” A cat café?
“Yup. They’re not really hiding their signatures either,” Sasha answered.
“Couldn’t that just mean they want everyone to *think* they’re here?”
He could tell that he’d surprised Sasha. “Telepaths do that sometimes but it doesn’t feel like that’s going on here, especially since Nagi isn’t that strong in it and Aya is probably picking up on his talent.”
“Unless Aya’s picking up on someone we’re not aware of.”
“Now you’re just being a pain in the ass. Besides, Aya doesn’t strike me as having been trained in that kind of thing. Some shielding, yeah. Radiating a false signature that would read as being somewhere other than he is? Hell no. Even if he did, he’d have to be nearby.”
“That’s useful to know.” Considering the way he couldn’t get away from telepaths lately. Yoji found a parking spot.
As they got out, Sasha asked, “Are we ever going home again?”
“Eventually.” Though he doubted that Elena would be more forgiving or have fewer questions the longer he stayed out.
“Just making sure.”
Once they were inside, Sasha asked softly, “Wait, this is really a place where people pay to spend time with cats?”
“Tokyo apartments are small and not very pet-friendly,” Yoji answered. Some cute chicks hung out here....
A cat café. Nagi had probably chosen it, though Aya could be oblivious to things.
He soon saw Nagi in his natural habitat, working on a computer while Aya.... Somebody should take a photo of Aya contentedly nestled in a pile of pillows napping and snuggling with cats to post to the café’s website as an example of the kind of serenity and pretty scenery that could be found here. He’d even chosen pillow colors flattering to him: shades of blue and gold. Aya being Aya, he could have chosen orange, pink, and green pillows.
Why couldn’t Aya do cute and sexy things like this in private, where he’d be less likely to fight Yoji off for reacting in the most obvious way? Weirdly, Aya didn’t like *public* displays of affection. Yoji really needed to retrain him on that.
“Good, my favorite kitty is here,” Yoji said to him then settled down onto his knees next to him so he wouldn’t have to look up at him. “I’m sorry for my role in that disaster. I kind of ended up being the bait for you.” Aya had worked himself to a calm state, which benefited Yoji, who wanted to keep him there.
“Thanks, but it’s not your fault,” Aya replied, though he looked pleased that Yoji had said it. Good.
“Sasha and I are going out to dinner. I want to invite you and Nagi to come with us.”
“I’m involved with this now?” Nagi asked as he glanced at Yoji and then up at Sasha. The kid could be prickly, which had to have been worsened by what had gone down with Schwarz earlier, and protective of himself and Aya.
“You’re my friend and teke teacher,” Yoji replied, “and you got the short end of the stick today, so yeah.” He hoped saying this would be as effective as it was true.
“I could eat now,” Aya said, bless him.
“Okay. I could do dinner too,” Nagi said. “But if Crawford shows up in a panic at some point during it, I told you so.”
“That would suck.” Yoji sighed. It would screw things up considerably if Crawford came flying at them like some dad nervous over his daughter’s virginity.
“I can’t think of any way we can make sure that wouldn’t happen,” Sasha said.
“I have something I can try,” Nagi replied. He typed something into his computer then used the mousepad to do something before he started to pack it all up. “All right, I gave it my best shot. Let’s go.”
******************************************************
Monitoring Farfarello’s mental state and making sure he didn’t run off after Aya kept Schuldig busy and unfortunately put an end to the sexy funtimes. Fully though casually dressed in a KMFDM Godlike T-shirt and old blue jeans, Schuldig lounged on the coach half-watching a Japanese game show on TV, while Brad--dressed in pants, a button-down shirt, and tie but at least not a vest and suit jacket as well--sat nearby and looked through e-mail correspondence. Too bad Schuldig couldn’t think of a safe (for him) way to make Farfarello pay for this.
Though Farfarello might be paying a *huge* price for what had gone down earlier with Aya. Although he’d mostly domesticated Aya, the redhead remained volatile and unpredictable, like an old explosive device that had sat quietly for years but could still go off if given a nudge. If Aya *really* blew up, it could affect all of Schwarz. Farf had become too complacent about Aya, and they all might pay for it. Schuldig tried not to worry about it and wondered if Brad had any emergency plans for that possibility. Brad might, since he knew full well he didn’t foresee *everything*.
Schwarz being his *family*, Schuldig might have considered giving Aya a telepathic adjustment if he thought it might work. Alas, he didn’t, Aya being too complicated and stubborn for a major intervention to stick, part of the reason why they’d *worked* to gain Aya’s loyalty instead of just imposing it to begin with.
~ Schu? ~ Nagi asked. ~ Could you help me out? ~
~ Has Aya decided that he’ll only have a threesome if it’s with you and me? ~ Happy thought, but highly doubtful.
~ Ha, no. Yoji has arrived with Sasha to take me and Aya out to eat. I know you have some telepathic trick that can baffle Crawford’s foresight a bit, so can you please use it so we can eat in peace? You know what he’ll do if he foresees Yoji near me in what might be read as a date situation. ~
All too well. Schuldig would rather Brad stay home for another attempt at sex later. Although he felt some misgivings that a frustrated Yoji might be attempting to further ingratiate himself with Aya and Nagi, Yoji tended to be so hapless and Aya so obstinate that he doubted anything could really come of it.
But Nagi had more to say too. ~ To help his distraction along, I forwarded some e-mails from Crawford’s mom to his e-mail account. She says she has news she really wants to tell him and you on the phone. Not bad news, she claims. She’s really set on it so it may be really important, and in one of the e-mails she even asks that Crawford use FaceTime for this. ~
Bradmom wanted them all to see each other during the call? What could this possibly be about? ~ How impatient is she? ~
~ Very. She e-mailed right before you and Crawford got home. I didn’t tell you then because I didn’t think anything short of a nuclear explosion could’ve stopped you from fucking, while I don’t know what you might have done to Crawford if he’d suggested putting it off to take her call. ~
~ You’re a smart kid. ~
~ Duh. I hoped to be there when you guys did the call, but a peaceful meal is worth more to me. The e-mails should be arriving in his inbox soon. Will you help? ~
~ Yeah, sure. This might be fun. Enjoy your time out, though I don’t know if even the both of us can misdirect Brad long enough to stop him from foreseeing it if you and Yoji try to have sex again. ~
~ I’ll keep that in mind, ~ Nagi answered dryly. ~ Thanks. ~
~ *Are* you going to try again? Because I’m all for it, and Yoji didn’t get any actual sex this afternoon after a ton of teasing so he’s even more open to it than usual. ~
~ I kind of doubt it. ~
~ Be more optimistic and confident about yourself! You’re hot, while he’s desperate, always a good combination. You deserve a break today! ~
~ I’m not even going to-- All right, I’m ending this conversation now. Keeping in mind that I deserve a break today, please do what I asked. ~
~ Sure, sure. Have fun storming the castle! ~
“Nagi just forwarded some e-mails from my mother,” Brad said, sounding somewhat concerned. “But that’s what you were just having a telepathic conversation about, isn’t it.” It wasn’t a question.
As long as Brad didn’t notice what else he and Nagi had talked about. Schuldig turned off the TV. “Yeah, did you read them? She wants a phone call with us to tell us something kind-of in person.”
“With FaceTime. That worries me.”
“Maybe she just wants to *see* you.”
“Schu, she’s *my* mother.”
“Right. So there’s actually a major reason and she doesn’t just want to see her baby boy. Maybe she wants another look at my hot bod?”
“Please don’t make me think about these things right before I have a talk with her, especially not when she can see my face.”
“So, are we doing this?”
“Yeah. Let me e-mail her to let her know she can call us.” Brad looked utterly unenthused.
Knowing Brad’s mother, Schuldig couldn’t blame him for feeling apprehensive.
When they picked up the call, Schuldig could see that Brad’s mother stood in the family’s living room with Brad’s father. It’d never stop feeling weird to Schuldig to be able to see and talk to people in FaceTime but not Hear them.
“Hello, Brad, Schuldig. I’m glad I could finally get a hold of you,” she said, putting some weight on the “finally.”
“Mom, what’s going on?” Brad asked. “Considering how many e-mails you sent, it must be important.” His tone implied, “It *better* be important.”
“Some unexpected guests arrived today,” she answered as Malice and Wicked came into view. What the *hell*?
“Why are you at my family’s home?” Brad growled.
“We were going to take a vacation, but we got obsessed with an idea and had to go do that first instead,” Wicked replied. “We figured that Verity should get to meet her aunt. Her *other* aunt.”
“What other--”
A very pretty, lightly tanned blonde woman maybe a bit younger than Schuldig came into view. While he didn’t need his clones there to see the strong family resemblance, having them stand near her certainly underlined it. Schuldig remembered Crawford mentioning that Emory had a sister, Ingrid, who’d also been caught by Eszett. He’d said Eszett kept her at the Argentina branch. Schuldig didn’t retain enough of Emory’s memories to remember her himself.
“*You* were the people who attacked the Argentina branch?” Brad asked.
“Yeah.” Wicked smirked. “Mission of mercy and all that. Besides, I enjoy breaking things. We didn’t exterminate them--we didn’t have enough people on our side to manage that--but we fucked them up badly enough that it’ll take a while for them to regroup. Plus, a lot of their operatives escaped, so altogether we gave them a *big* black eye.”
Ingrid said, “They told me that you call yourself Schuldig these days, and that most of... my brother was destroyed, so you probably don’t remember me on your own, but I’d really like to meet you. I’m Ingrid Disl, Icebreaker. And you must be Crawford. Verity really does resemble the two of you.”
Stunned, Schuldig didn’t know what to make of any of it and couldn’t figure out whether he wanted to meet her or not. She’d obviously been told what had happened to her brother, aside from knowing that people changed over the course of a decade or so, but she’d surely find him disappointing, even if he was the last family member she had left. But a lot of the Collective, hungry for family, inside him demanded he meet her and try to form some kind of relationship with her.
“Your team should come visit us, Brad,” Brad’s mother said. “To see your children and Ingrid.”
“That’s not happening, Mother,” Brad answered. “We only just got home after a lot of traveling, it’s been a very stressful time, and we’ve put ourselves out for hire again on the local market. It’d be a terrible idea to uproot us all again. I will come to visit you again, but not in the near future.”
Brad resisted seeing Verity as his daughter even more than Schuldig did and certainly didn’t want to be forced into a fatherly relationship with her. It managed to be funny and kind of sad simultaneously.
Although Schuldig tried not to let any of it bother him, Verity’s existence wigged him out far more than his clones’ did, though he’d be even more disturbed if she were a child instead of a teen. Her being only a little bit younger than him made it thankfully feel more unreal.
It surprised Schuldig that Bradmom hadn’t forced Verity to show up for this call, the better to guilt Brad with and force him to acknowledge his “daughter,” but perhaps Verity had fought it too hard for even Brad’s mom to win. Fortunately, Verity hadn’t seemed enthused about being and acting as their daughter. Although Schuldig couldn’t help wondering how the battles of will between Verity and Bradmom went down, he wouldn’t want to actually be there for them.
“Are you all right, Schuldig?” Brad’s mother asked.
If she could see it even on that small screen, he better pull himself together. “I’m just really surprised,” he replied. “Yeah, I’d like to meet you, Ingrid.”
“But we’re not returning to New York for it,” Brad said.
“The terrible twins and I looted the compound on the way out, so I have the money to fly to see you,” Ingrid said with a smile that Schuldig sometimes saw in the mirror. “I’d like to see Japan, and it’d be nice to do some major traveling anyway. I haven’t been out of the Americas in years.”
Of course, Brad’s mother looked really displeased. “Brad....”
“I have to take care of my team,” Brad answered. “They’re my family.” Brad could guilt his parents right back.
“We understand, son,” Brad’s dad said as he put an arm around his wife’s shoulders and gave her a *look*. “But should we expect more of Schu’s clones to show up? They were a bit of a surprise.”
“They’re not mooching off you, are they?”
“We’re staying at a nearby hotel,” Malice replied. “Besides, your mother doesn’t come across as someone easy to mooch from.”
“Dad, the broad majority of Schuldig’s clones are in Okinawa, so probably not. Hopefully not.”
“I pity the Okinawans. They’ve put up with so much,” Brad’s mom said.
“Ha, fuckin’ ha,” Schuldig answered.
“Are all their names so terrible?” she asked. “I’ve been calling these two ‘Fred’ and ‘George.’”
“‘These two’ are right here,” Wicked said.
“One of them was named ‘Evil,’ no lie,” Schuldig answered. “Some of them were just given numbers.”
She shook her head. “The people who took all of you don’t deserve to live.”
“That’s a major reason why we kill so many of them. Fred and George, I’m glad you two got Ingrid out.” As the idea settled in, Schuldig couldn’t help being curious about her. Weirdly nervous about her too, but mainly curious.
“I’m very glad to be out, although it took me some time to get used to your clones,” Ingrid said.
“I’m sure they hear that all the time,” Schuldig replied.
“Cute. Hearing stuff like that makes us not want to help you in the future,” Wicked said.
Ingrid gently elbowed him then said, “After I make the travel arrangements, I’ll e-mail... I guess Crawford the details since I’ve gotten the impression that you don’t use e-mail. I’m aiming for the soonest reasonable date available. You don’t have to worry about me, Mr. Crawford; I’m self-sufficient and I don’t latch on where I’m not wanted.”
Schuldig just barely held back a snort. Had she picked up on that just from this phone call, been told something prior to it, or figured it out based on Brad’s mother?
“I’m not worried about that,” Brad answered, the liar. “Malice, where will the two of you be off to once Ingrid is gone?”
“What, are you pushing us out of your mother’s home and into the street?” Wicked asked with a smirk.
“You might not believe this, but I’m concerned for your well-being. While we were in New York we had to fight an organization that was trying to forcibly recruit some of us.” Also, Brad no doubt wanted them out of his mother’s house and far from her bed.
“Since we’re in the US already, we were thinking of trying Vegas.”
“Though we’d have to be subtle in Vegas,” Malice told Wicked. “I don’t want unnecessary trouble.”
“I can do subtle!”
“No, you can’t. You sometimes have weird ideas about what trouble is ‘unnecessary’ too.”
“Can we talk about it later since this is not the right time, place, or company?” Wicked seemed almost embarrassed.
Obviously amused, Malice replied, “Yeah, sure.”
“Mom, I *will* visit you in the future,” Brad said, trying to take control of the call and bring it to an end. “And I’m sure that Verity and Misoji are doing well. Is there anything else?”
“Verity is out with friends,” Bradmom answered, obviously annoyed.
“I’m glad she has them,” Brad said, probably being polite. “We weren’t sure she or Misoji would be able to relate to regular American teenagers.”
The American teenagers were the ones who should be afraid.
“Misoji is with a study group right now. They both had a rough time starting out but they’re doing well these days, and your father has really bonded with Misoji.”
“Tell them we love them,” Schuldig said, mostly in the hope that Verity and Misoji would be horrified to hear that. Brad shot him a look and smirked. “Ingrid, I’m looking forward to meeting you.”
“Ditto,” she said.
“I’ll talk to you later, Mom, Dad,” Brad said. “Later” could be any time.
“We love you, Brad,” his father said, then thankfully ended the call.
“I just thought of something horrible,” Brad said. “Considering her attraction to you, I wonder if my mother propositioned Malice and Wicked.”
Schuldig had to smirk. “*Your* parents? Your father might have wanted to make it a foursome.”
“There are telepathic teens in that apartment!”
“That’s why they’d probably use the Toxic Twins’ hotel room instead of doing it at home.”
Brad actually *shuddered*. He might be a coldblooded man who killed people for pleasure and money, but it still freaked him out to think of his parents having sex, which was kind of cute.
Of course, telepaths didn’t have that luxury.
Schuldig would really enjoy telling Nagi what the call was all about, especially since once Nagi heard he’d be upset he missed it. Schuldig knew the kid had no idea since he couldn’t have sounded and felt so blasé during their telepathic conversation if he’d known. Bradmom must have wisely realized that secrets didn’t stay secret within Schwarz for long.
Schuldig would be meeting his body’s sister soon. It’d be *weird*.
“Are you all right, Schu?” Brad asked.
Aw, so sweet of him to ask, so much better than how he’d been earlier in the hotel room. “Yeah. I’m just stunned. Maybe a bit nervous too about this upcoming meeting, even though that makes no sense since she *knows* she’s not going to find any traces of the brother she knew, and I shouldn’t care about that anyway.”
“It’ll be fine, and if it’s not Schwarz has your back.”
“No matter what happens, my loyalties will always be to Schwarz first. Having a sister changes nothing for me.” Schuldig shook his head. “Strange days. In Rosenkreuz we were alone, yet these days you have family, *I* have family.... Though if one of Farfarello’s family members shows up, I’m running for the hills.”
“One of Farfarello’s? I’d join you.”
Schuldig felt so *fond* of him. Horny as hell too, and he hadn’t yet fulfilled his promise to fuck Brad today, dammit. “If not for this thing with Farfarello taking my attention, I’d pounce you right now.”
Farfarello had to *pay*.
+++
btw, this is the shirt Schuldig is wearing, while what I consider to be the T-shirt for Schuldig clones is this.
"Glass Houses" part 289/?
By Viridian5
4/2003 - present
RATING: R. If m/m interaction bothers you, pass this by. AU.
SPOILERS: Glühen.
SUMMARY: After Aya's sister dies, Schwarz tries to save themselves and Aya from the mistakes of the Dramatic CDs and Glühen Schwarz tries to save him from himself--for their own reasons, of course--and neither they nor Weiß are ever the same again.
ARCHIVAL/DISTRIBUTION: No, not yet. This is a trial run of a piece of an unfinished fic.
DISCLAIMERS: All things Weiß Kreuz belong to Koyasu Takehito, Project Weiß, Polygram k.k., and Animate Film. No infringement intended.
NOTES: Thanks to rosaleendhu and red_squared for audiencing, typo-watch, and encouragement. Thanks to 'nat for "puisín," which she says probably sounds like "pu-sheen." Inspirational music includes Covenant's United States of Mind, mayatawi's V Mix the Second CD (Jane Jensen, Kidneythieves, Poe's rock version of "Hello," Kristen Barry's "Ordinary Life," Lacuna Coil), Linkin Park's Meteora, A Perfect Circle's Thirteenth Step, Pigface's Easy Listening..., Shriekback's "The Bastard Sons of Enoch," Zeromancer's Eurotrash, and Neuroticfish's Les Chansons Neurotiques.
I am not responsible for any therapy bills incurred as a result of trauma from doing research on things mentioned in this story. If you look up, say, "butter dog porn" on your own, I refuse to take the blame. I've been told that it's a bad idea to eat soup or drink while reading "Glass Houses."
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"Glass Houses" part 289
By Viridian5
========================
Yoji took his sunglasses off, as if that would really change what he looked at. “You’re kidding me. Aya and Nagi are *here*?” A cat café?
“Yup. They’re not really hiding their signatures either,” Sasha answered.
“Couldn’t that just mean they want everyone to *think* they’re here?”
He could tell that he’d surprised Sasha. “Telepaths do that sometimes but it doesn’t feel like that’s going on here, especially since Nagi isn’t that strong in it and Aya is probably picking up on his talent.”
“Unless Aya’s picking up on someone we’re not aware of.”
“Now you’re just being a pain in the ass. Besides, Aya doesn’t strike me as having been trained in that kind of thing. Some shielding, yeah. Radiating a false signature that would read as being somewhere other than he is? Hell no. Even if he did, he’d have to be nearby.”
“That’s useful to know.” Considering the way he couldn’t get away from telepaths lately. Yoji found a parking spot.
As they got out, Sasha asked, “Are we ever going home again?”
“Eventually.” Though he doubted that Elena would be more forgiving or have fewer questions the longer he stayed out.
“Just making sure.”
Once they were inside, Sasha asked softly, “Wait, this is really a place where people pay to spend time with cats?”
“Tokyo apartments are small and not very pet-friendly,” Yoji answered. Some cute chicks hung out here....
A cat café. Nagi had probably chosen it, though Aya could be oblivious to things.
He soon saw Nagi in his natural habitat, working on a computer while Aya.... Somebody should take a photo of Aya contentedly nestled in a pile of pillows napping and snuggling with cats to post to the café’s website as an example of the kind of serenity and pretty scenery that could be found here. He’d even chosen pillow colors flattering to him: shades of blue and gold. Aya being Aya, he could have chosen orange, pink, and green pillows.
Why couldn’t Aya do cute and sexy things like this in private, where he’d be less likely to fight Yoji off for reacting in the most obvious way? Weirdly, Aya didn’t like *public* displays of affection. Yoji really needed to retrain him on that.
“Good, my favorite kitty is here,” Yoji said to him then settled down onto his knees next to him so he wouldn’t have to look up at him. “I’m sorry for my role in that disaster. I kind of ended up being the bait for you.” Aya had worked himself to a calm state, which benefited Yoji, who wanted to keep him there.
“Thanks, but it’s not your fault,” Aya replied, though he looked pleased that Yoji had said it. Good.
“Sasha and I are going out to dinner. I want to invite you and Nagi to come with us.”
“I’m involved with this now?” Nagi asked as he glanced at Yoji and then up at Sasha. The kid could be prickly, which had to have been worsened by what had gone down with Schwarz earlier, and protective of himself and Aya.
“You’re my friend and teke teacher,” Yoji replied, “and you got the short end of the stick today, so yeah.” He hoped saying this would be as effective as it was true.
“I could eat now,” Aya said, bless him.
“Okay. I could do dinner too,” Nagi said. “But if Crawford shows up in a panic at some point during it, I told you so.”
“That would suck.” Yoji sighed. It would screw things up considerably if Crawford came flying at them like some dad nervous over his daughter’s virginity.
“I can’t think of any way we can make sure that wouldn’t happen,” Sasha said.
“I have something I can try,” Nagi replied. He typed something into his computer then used the mousepad to do something before he started to pack it all up. “All right, I gave it my best shot. Let’s go.”
******************************************************
Monitoring Farfarello’s mental state and making sure he didn’t run off after Aya kept Schuldig busy and unfortunately put an end to the sexy funtimes. Fully though casually dressed in a KMFDM Godlike T-shirt and old blue jeans, Schuldig lounged on the coach half-watching a Japanese game show on TV, while Brad--dressed in pants, a button-down shirt, and tie but at least not a vest and suit jacket as well--sat nearby and looked through e-mail correspondence. Too bad Schuldig couldn’t think of a safe (for him) way to make Farfarello pay for this.
Though Farfarello might be paying a *huge* price for what had gone down earlier with Aya. Although he’d mostly domesticated Aya, the redhead remained volatile and unpredictable, like an old explosive device that had sat quietly for years but could still go off if given a nudge. If Aya *really* blew up, it could affect all of Schwarz. Farf had become too complacent about Aya, and they all might pay for it. Schuldig tried not to worry about it and wondered if Brad had any emergency plans for that possibility. Brad might, since he knew full well he didn’t foresee *everything*.
Schwarz being his *family*, Schuldig might have considered giving Aya a telepathic adjustment if he thought it might work. Alas, he didn’t, Aya being too complicated and stubborn for a major intervention to stick, part of the reason why they’d *worked* to gain Aya’s loyalty instead of just imposing it to begin with.
~ Schu? ~ Nagi asked. ~ Could you help me out? ~
~ Has Aya decided that he’ll only have a threesome if it’s with you and me? ~ Happy thought, but highly doubtful.
~ Ha, no. Yoji has arrived with Sasha to take me and Aya out to eat. I know you have some telepathic trick that can baffle Crawford’s foresight a bit, so can you please use it so we can eat in peace? You know what he’ll do if he foresees Yoji near me in what might be read as a date situation. ~
All too well. Schuldig would rather Brad stay home for another attempt at sex later. Although he felt some misgivings that a frustrated Yoji might be attempting to further ingratiate himself with Aya and Nagi, Yoji tended to be so hapless and Aya so obstinate that he doubted anything could really come of it.
But Nagi had more to say too. ~ To help his distraction along, I forwarded some e-mails from Crawford’s mom to his e-mail account. She says she has news she really wants to tell him and you on the phone. Not bad news, she claims. She’s really set on it so it may be really important, and in one of the e-mails she even asks that Crawford use FaceTime for this. ~
Bradmom wanted them all to see each other during the call? What could this possibly be about? ~ How impatient is she? ~
~ Very. She e-mailed right before you and Crawford got home. I didn’t tell you then because I didn’t think anything short of a nuclear explosion could’ve stopped you from fucking, while I don’t know what you might have done to Crawford if he’d suggested putting it off to take her call. ~
~ You’re a smart kid. ~
~ Duh. I hoped to be there when you guys did the call, but a peaceful meal is worth more to me. The e-mails should be arriving in his inbox soon. Will you help? ~
~ Yeah, sure. This might be fun. Enjoy your time out, though I don’t know if even the both of us can misdirect Brad long enough to stop him from foreseeing it if you and Yoji try to have sex again. ~
~ I’ll keep that in mind, ~ Nagi answered dryly. ~ Thanks. ~
~ *Are* you going to try again? Because I’m all for it, and Yoji didn’t get any actual sex this afternoon after a ton of teasing so he’s even more open to it than usual. ~
~ I kind of doubt it. ~
~ Be more optimistic and confident about yourself! You’re hot, while he’s desperate, always a good combination. You deserve a break today! ~
~ I’m not even going to-- All right, I’m ending this conversation now. Keeping in mind that I deserve a break today, please do what I asked. ~
~ Sure, sure. Have fun storming the castle! ~
“Nagi just forwarded some e-mails from my mother,” Brad said, sounding somewhat concerned. “But that’s what you were just having a telepathic conversation about, isn’t it.” It wasn’t a question.
As long as Brad didn’t notice what else he and Nagi had talked about. Schuldig turned off the TV. “Yeah, did you read them? She wants a phone call with us to tell us something kind-of in person.”
“With FaceTime. That worries me.”
“Maybe she just wants to *see* you.”
“Schu, she’s *my* mother.”
“Right. So there’s actually a major reason and she doesn’t just want to see her baby boy. Maybe she wants another look at my hot bod?”
“Please don’t make me think about these things right before I have a talk with her, especially not when she can see my face.”
“So, are we doing this?”
“Yeah. Let me e-mail her to let her know she can call us.” Brad looked utterly unenthused.
Knowing Brad’s mother, Schuldig couldn’t blame him for feeling apprehensive.
When they picked up the call, Schuldig could see that Brad’s mother stood in the family’s living room with Brad’s father. It’d never stop feeling weird to Schuldig to be able to see and talk to people in FaceTime but not Hear them.
“Hello, Brad, Schuldig. I’m glad I could finally get a hold of you,” she said, putting some weight on the “finally.”
“Mom, what’s going on?” Brad asked. “Considering how many e-mails you sent, it must be important.” His tone implied, “It *better* be important.”
“Some unexpected guests arrived today,” she answered as Malice and Wicked came into view. What the *hell*?
“Why are you at my family’s home?” Brad growled.
“We were going to take a vacation, but we got obsessed with an idea and had to go do that first instead,” Wicked replied. “We figured that Verity should get to meet her aunt. Her *other* aunt.”
“What other--”
A very pretty, lightly tanned blonde woman maybe a bit younger than Schuldig came into view. While he didn’t need his clones there to see the strong family resemblance, having them stand near her certainly underlined it. Schuldig remembered Crawford mentioning that Emory had a sister, Ingrid, who’d also been caught by Eszett. He’d said Eszett kept her at the Argentina branch. Schuldig didn’t retain enough of Emory’s memories to remember her himself.
“*You* were the people who attacked the Argentina branch?” Brad asked.
“Yeah.” Wicked smirked. “Mission of mercy and all that. Besides, I enjoy breaking things. We didn’t exterminate them--we didn’t have enough people on our side to manage that--but we fucked them up badly enough that it’ll take a while for them to regroup. Plus, a lot of their operatives escaped, so altogether we gave them a *big* black eye.”
Ingrid said, “They told me that you call yourself Schuldig these days, and that most of... my brother was destroyed, so you probably don’t remember me on your own, but I’d really like to meet you. I’m Ingrid Disl, Icebreaker. And you must be Crawford. Verity really does resemble the two of you.”
Stunned, Schuldig didn’t know what to make of any of it and couldn’t figure out whether he wanted to meet her or not. She’d obviously been told what had happened to her brother, aside from knowing that people changed over the course of a decade or so, but she’d surely find him disappointing, even if he was the last family member she had left. But a lot of the Collective, hungry for family, inside him demanded he meet her and try to form some kind of relationship with her.
“Your team should come visit us, Brad,” Brad’s mother said. “To see your children and Ingrid.”
“That’s not happening, Mother,” Brad answered. “We only just got home after a lot of traveling, it’s been a very stressful time, and we’ve put ourselves out for hire again on the local market. It’d be a terrible idea to uproot us all again. I will come to visit you again, but not in the near future.”
Brad resisted seeing Verity as his daughter even more than Schuldig did and certainly didn’t want to be forced into a fatherly relationship with her. It managed to be funny and kind of sad simultaneously.
Although Schuldig tried not to let any of it bother him, Verity’s existence wigged him out far more than his clones’ did, though he’d be even more disturbed if she were a child instead of a teen. Her being only a little bit younger than him made it thankfully feel more unreal.
It surprised Schuldig that Bradmom hadn’t forced Verity to show up for this call, the better to guilt Brad with and force him to acknowledge his “daughter,” but perhaps Verity had fought it too hard for even Brad’s mom to win. Fortunately, Verity hadn’t seemed enthused about being and acting as their daughter. Although Schuldig couldn’t help wondering how the battles of will between Verity and Bradmom went down, he wouldn’t want to actually be there for them.
“Are you all right, Schuldig?” Brad’s mother asked.
If she could see it even on that small screen, he better pull himself together. “I’m just really surprised,” he replied. “Yeah, I’d like to meet you, Ingrid.”
“But we’re not returning to New York for it,” Brad said.
“The terrible twins and I looted the compound on the way out, so I have the money to fly to see you,” Ingrid said with a smile that Schuldig sometimes saw in the mirror. “I’d like to see Japan, and it’d be nice to do some major traveling anyway. I haven’t been out of the Americas in years.”
Of course, Brad’s mother looked really displeased. “Brad....”
“I have to take care of my team,” Brad answered. “They’re my family.” Brad could guilt his parents right back.
“We understand, son,” Brad’s dad said as he put an arm around his wife’s shoulders and gave her a *look*. “But should we expect more of Schu’s clones to show up? They were a bit of a surprise.”
“They’re not mooching off you, are they?”
“We’re staying at a nearby hotel,” Malice replied. “Besides, your mother doesn’t come across as someone easy to mooch from.”
“Dad, the broad majority of Schuldig’s clones are in Okinawa, so probably not. Hopefully not.”
“I pity the Okinawans. They’ve put up with so much,” Brad’s mom said.
“Ha, fuckin’ ha,” Schuldig answered.
“Are all their names so terrible?” she asked. “I’ve been calling these two ‘Fred’ and ‘George.’”
“‘These two’ are right here,” Wicked said.
“One of them was named ‘Evil,’ no lie,” Schuldig answered. “Some of them were just given numbers.”
She shook her head. “The people who took all of you don’t deserve to live.”
“That’s a major reason why we kill so many of them. Fred and George, I’m glad you two got Ingrid out.” As the idea settled in, Schuldig couldn’t help being curious about her. Weirdly nervous about her too, but mainly curious.
“I’m very glad to be out, although it took me some time to get used to your clones,” Ingrid said.
“I’m sure they hear that all the time,” Schuldig replied.
“Cute. Hearing stuff like that makes us not want to help you in the future,” Wicked said.
Ingrid gently elbowed him then said, “After I make the travel arrangements, I’ll e-mail... I guess Crawford the details since I’ve gotten the impression that you don’t use e-mail. I’m aiming for the soonest reasonable date available. You don’t have to worry about me, Mr. Crawford; I’m self-sufficient and I don’t latch on where I’m not wanted.”
Schuldig just barely held back a snort. Had she picked up on that just from this phone call, been told something prior to it, or figured it out based on Brad’s mother?
“I’m not worried about that,” Brad answered, the liar. “Malice, where will the two of you be off to once Ingrid is gone?”
“What, are you pushing us out of your mother’s home and into the street?” Wicked asked with a smirk.
“You might not believe this, but I’m concerned for your well-being. While we were in New York we had to fight an organization that was trying to forcibly recruit some of us.” Also, Brad no doubt wanted them out of his mother’s house and far from her bed.
“Since we’re in the US already, we were thinking of trying Vegas.”
“Though we’d have to be subtle in Vegas,” Malice told Wicked. “I don’t want unnecessary trouble.”
“I can do subtle!”
“No, you can’t. You sometimes have weird ideas about what trouble is ‘unnecessary’ too.”
“Can we talk about it later since this is not the right time, place, or company?” Wicked seemed almost embarrassed.
Obviously amused, Malice replied, “Yeah, sure.”
“Mom, I *will* visit you in the future,” Brad said, trying to take control of the call and bring it to an end. “And I’m sure that Verity and Misoji are doing well. Is there anything else?”
“Verity is out with friends,” Bradmom answered, obviously annoyed.
“I’m glad she has them,” Brad said, probably being polite. “We weren’t sure she or Misoji would be able to relate to regular American teenagers.”
The American teenagers were the ones who should be afraid.
“Misoji is with a study group right now. They both had a rough time starting out but they’re doing well these days, and your father has really bonded with Misoji.”
“Tell them we love them,” Schuldig said, mostly in the hope that Verity and Misoji would be horrified to hear that. Brad shot him a look and smirked. “Ingrid, I’m looking forward to meeting you.”
“Ditto,” she said.
“I’ll talk to you later, Mom, Dad,” Brad said. “Later” could be any time.
“We love you, Brad,” his father said, then thankfully ended the call.
“I just thought of something horrible,” Brad said. “Considering her attraction to you, I wonder if my mother propositioned Malice and Wicked.”
Schuldig had to smirk. “*Your* parents? Your father might have wanted to make it a foursome.”
“There are telepathic teens in that apartment!”
“That’s why they’d probably use the Toxic Twins’ hotel room instead of doing it at home.”
Brad actually *shuddered*. He might be a coldblooded man who killed people for pleasure and money, but it still freaked him out to think of his parents having sex, which was kind of cute.
Of course, telepaths didn’t have that luxury.
Schuldig would really enjoy telling Nagi what the call was all about, especially since once Nagi heard he’d be upset he missed it. Schuldig knew the kid had no idea since he couldn’t have sounded and felt so blasé during their telepathic conversation if he’d known. Bradmom must have wisely realized that secrets didn’t stay secret within Schwarz for long.
Schuldig would be meeting his body’s sister soon. It’d be *weird*.
“Are you all right, Schu?” Brad asked.
Aw, so sweet of him to ask, so much better than how he’d been earlier in the hotel room. “Yeah. I’m just stunned. Maybe a bit nervous too about this upcoming meeting, even though that makes no sense since she *knows* she’s not going to find any traces of the brother she knew, and I shouldn’t care about that anyway.”
“It’ll be fine, and if it’s not Schwarz has your back.”
“No matter what happens, my loyalties will always be to Schwarz first. Having a sister changes nothing for me.” Schuldig shook his head. “Strange days. In Rosenkreuz we were alone, yet these days you have family, *I* have family.... Though if one of Farfarello’s family members shows up, I’m running for the hills.”
“One of Farfarello’s? I’d join you.”
Schuldig felt so *fond* of him. Horny as hell too, and he hadn’t yet fulfilled his promise to fuck Brad today, dammit. “If not for this thing with Farfarello taking my attention, I’d pounce you right now.”
Farfarello had to *pay*.
+++
btw, this is the shirt Schuldig is wearing, while what I consider to be the T-shirt for Schuldig clones is this.