Strange Times
folder
Wei� Kreuz › General
Rating:
Adult
Chapters:
50
Views:
4,103
Reviews:
22
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
Wei� Kreuz › General
Rating:
Adult
Chapters:
50
Views:
4,103
Reviews:
22
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Weiß Kreuz, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
14
Aya had always thought Schuldich to be crazy.
But Aya had never thought the telepath to be dumb, not until the instant Aya watched him enter the café, toss a wink at the hostess, and saunter over to the table where Weiss was currently holding a subdued court.
Aya’s only thought, as Schuldich flashed a cocky smile and irreverent wave at the stunned assassins, was that he shouldn’t have accepted breakfast. Somehow, somewhere, Schuldich must have gotten the wrong idea. A truce with Abyssinian didn’t mean he could brazenly walk over to the assembled team and…
“You going to finish that?”
Yohji blinked, for once at a loss for words and trying to sort out whether he should be defending himself or the muffin on his plate.
Dogs were easier to train than Schuldich. A dog would have stayed put when told to. Aya entertained images of tying Schuldich to a rope in the nonexistent yard as the telepath hauled over a chair, turned it around, sat on it the wrong way…
“Hope I’m not interrupting.”
Aya would have skewered the bastard, had he not felt Schuldich’s telepathy curl through his brain like some metaphysical parody of handholding. The great Mastermind was nervous. How quaint. Too bad Aya was far too uncomfortable himself to take advantage of the novelty.
That and Omi had that reaching-for-something-small-and-very-lethal look on his face.
“Stand down, Omi. We’re in public.”
It was the most logical reason Aya could think of to not kill Schuldich where he sat. Thankfully Omi was usually the logical member of the group. And thankfully Omi had a hand on Ken’s shoulder.
“What’s going on, Aya?”
Unfortunately, Omi was the logical member of the group. He had his narrowed eyes on the proximity of Schuldich’s chair to Aya’s, the way Aya had spoke out against an efficient and ethically necessary bit of murder. Omi’s bright little mind was drawing connections Aya was studiously trying to avoid himself.
“He just took in a homeless kitten.”
Trust Schuldich not to know when the hell to keep quiet.
“Unfortunately I’m hard to housebreak.”
And to keep talking.
Aya did the first thing that came to mind. He threw a punch that was part frustration, part irritation, and a good part self preservation. Schuldich’s head snapped to the side with a satisfying sort of crack, he rocked back in his chair, and a hush fell over the café. A hush that faded back into the chatter of a half dozen different tables as Schuldich shook his head once, fingering his jaw.
Aya hated the fact he could almost feel the skittery spider brush of Schuldich’s telepathic ‘ignore me’.
“Nice hit.” Ken muttered, crossing his arms and sitting back with a heavy frown.
“Should’ve hit him harder.” Yohji grumbled.
“No, he did a pretty good job with that one. I’ll have whiplash for a week at least.”
“Schuldich. Shut. Up.” Aya’s temper was doing an excellent job at soothing any guilt he had been tempted to feel at hitting the rather unstable telepath. It was like kicking a wounded and, as a result feral, dog. Not something he was particularly proud of.
“Yessir.”
The feel of Schuldich in his brain intensified to the point of acute discomfort. ‘Let up a bit. Whatever it is you are doing.’
‘So sorry, fearless leader.’
‘I bet.’
“Omi. I’m taking responsibility for Schuldich.”
He might as well have said he was taking responsibility for the poisonous snake lurking in the darkest corner of the room. A mixture of disbelief and outrage greeted Aya’s calm words.
Disbelief, outrage, and Omi’s narrowed eyes. “What about Schwartz?”
“See, that’s the thing.” Schuldich leaned forward, rested his chin on the back of his chair, and sighed. “There is no more Schwartz.”
“You believed that creepy bastard?” Yohji laughed. “Aya, I never knew you were that easy to dick around.”
“He’s not lying, Yohji. I pulled him out when the tower went down. He was the only one.”
“I’m not lying. Why the hell would I want to hang around with morally confused little play assassins like you if Schwartz was still here?” Schuldich’s eyes were as cold, were as inhuman, as ever.
Politic Mastermind was not. But he did have a skewed sort of point, and Omi recognized it. “Fine.”
Nothing else was said. But no weapons were raised. And well, if everyone wasn’t happy about it, at least they didn’t have to ask Schuldich to wipe what would have been a rather bloody brawl out of the minds of the other patrons.
But Aya had never thought the telepath to be dumb, not until the instant Aya watched him enter the café, toss a wink at the hostess, and saunter over to the table where Weiss was currently holding a subdued court.
Aya’s only thought, as Schuldich flashed a cocky smile and irreverent wave at the stunned assassins, was that he shouldn’t have accepted breakfast. Somehow, somewhere, Schuldich must have gotten the wrong idea. A truce with Abyssinian didn’t mean he could brazenly walk over to the assembled team and…
“You going to finish that?”
Yohji blinked, for once at a loss for words and trying to sort out whether he should be defending himself or the muffin on his plate.
Dogs were easier to train than Schuldich. A dog would have stayed put when told to. Aya entertained images of tying Schuldich to a rope in the nonexistent yard as the telepath hauled over a chair, turned it around, sat on it the wrong way…
“Hope I’m not interrupting.”
Aya would have skewered the bastard, had he not felt Schuldich’s telepathy curl through his brain like some metaphysical parody of handholding. The great Mastermind was nervous. How quaint. Too bad Aya was far too uncomfortable himself to take advantage of the novelty.
That and Omi had that reaching-for-something-small-and-very-lethal look on his face.
“Stand down, Omi. We’re in public.”
It was the most logical reason Aya could think of to not kill Schuldich where he sat. Thankfully Omi was usually the logical member of the group. And thankfully Omi had a hand on Ken’s shoulder.
“What’s going on, Aya?”
Unfortunately, Omi was the logical member of the group. He had his narrowed eyes on the proximity of Schuldich’s chair to Aya’s, the way Aya had spoke out against an efficient and ethically necessary bit of murder. Omi’s bright little mind was drawing connections Aya was studiously trying to avoid himself.
“He just took in a homeless kitten.”
Trust Schuldich not to know when the hell to keep quiet.
“Unfortunately I’m hard to housebreak.”
And to keep talking.
Aya did the first thing that came to mind. He threw a punch that was part frustration, part irritation, and a good part self preservation. Schuldich’s head snapped to the side with a satisfying sort of crack, he rocked back in his chair, and a hush fell over the café. A hush that faded back into the chatter of a half dozen different tables as Schuldich shook his head once, fingering his jaw.
Aya hated the fact he could almost feel the skittery spider brush of Schuldich’s telepathic ‘ignore me’.
“Nice hit.” Ken muttered, crossing his arms and sitting back with a heavy frown.
“Should’ve hit him harder.” Yohji grumbled.
“No, he did a pretty good job with that one. I’ll have whiplash for a week at least.”
“Schuldich. Shut. Up.” Aya’s temper was doing an excellent job at soothing any guilt he had been tempted to feel at hitting the rather unstable telepath. It was like kicking a wounded and, as a result feral, dog. Not something he was particularly proud of.
“Yessir.”
The feel of Schuldich in his brain intensified to the point of acute discomfort. ‘Let up a bit. Whatever it is you are doing.’
‘So sorry, fearless leader.’
‘I bet.’
“Omi. I’m taking responsibility for Schuldich.”
He might as well have said he was taking responsibility for the poisonous snake lurking in the darkest corner of the room. A mixture of disbelief and outrage greeted Aya’s calm words.
Disbelief, outrage, and Omi’s narrowed eyes. “What about Schwartz?”
“See, that’s the thing.” Schuldich leaned forward, rested his chin on the back of his chair, and sighed. “There is no more Schwartz.”
“You believed that creepy bastard?” Yohji laughed. “Aya, I never knew you were that easy to dick around.”
“He’s not lying, Yohji. I pulled him out when the tower went down. He was the only one.”
“I’m not lying. Why the hell would I want to hang around with morally confused little play assassins like you if Schwartz was still here?” Schuldich’s eyes were as cold, were as inhuman, as ever.
Politic Mastermind was not. But he did have a skewed sort of point, and Omi recognized it. “Fine.”
Nothing else was said. But no weapons were raised. And well, if everyone wasn’t happy about it, at least they didn’t have to ask Schuldich to wipe what would have been a rather bloody brawl out of the minds of the other patrons.