Alimentazione, O Perdita Di Esso
folder
Gravitation › General
Rating:
Adult
Chapters:
13
Views:
1,557
Reviews:
4
Recommended:
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Currently Reading:
0
Category:
Gravitation › General
Rating:
Adult
Chapters:
13
Views:
1,557
Reviews:
4
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Gravitation, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Mischievous
Riddles, riddles. Several, in varying degrees of difficulty—to see how quickly, or indeed if the Sphinx could beat its own game. He’d be asking Tohma, yes, but it was the same.
Tohma was the Sphinx; or was the Sphinx Tohma?
Either way, it didn’t matter. He couldn’t suppress his grin as he waited for the elevator to reach the top floor—he knew what he was about to do was childish, to confront his boss through the guise of games…but his reasons for doing so were far from innocent.
The soft chime as the doors opened was a welcome sound—he’d memorized all of his puzzles, and was impatient to begin the test. He strode toward the president’s office, ignoring the panicked calls of the secretary that he had requested to be left alone. The door was locked—no problem!
He fired at the handle—two shots, just in case the first hadn’t done the trick. The doors swung inward and revealed an irate blond with a pen in his hand glowering at him from the desk.
“Can I help you, K-san?” Tohma appeared to be trying to keep his anger in check—he wasn’t smiling yet, which meant he didn’t yet think manipulations or threats were in order. Good.
K planted his palms firmly on the wood, leaning forward until his face was mere inches from the smaller blond’s. To his credit, he didn’t give any indication that this occurrence was anything out of the ordinary; K smirked—the lack of surprise only increased his desire to see the other flustered. “I have a few puzzles for you.”
Tohma raised an eyebrow. “Does this have to be taken care of now?”
“Yes—you’re always busy, so doing it now is no different than if we waited until tomorrow.”
The president didn’t contest the point. “What sort of…puzzles?”
The slight pause almost made him ask what sort of puzzles the blond would like, but he kept himself on task. “Riddles.”
He stared at Tohma; he hoped the keyboardist wouldn’t refuse his challenge.
Tohma wondered what this was all about. K had decided one day, after years of their pattern of avoiding each other, to ask him riddles? There was more to this than was obvious. Unfortunately, he was clueless about what that ‘more’ could be, and he didn’t like that the American had the upper hand. He opened his mouth to refuse, but was interrupted before he’d begun.
“Before you decline, you should know that this is my price for not shooting you for all your…meddling the past several months. If you’d rather not do it…” K’s hand stroked his gun lovingly.
Sighing, Tohma gave in. Despite how it irked him to feel susceptible to the other’s threats, if it kept his office from being destroyed more than it already had been—he glanced at the door with chagrin—then he could put up with a few riddles. And besides, maybe he could get a hint of what the American’s ulterior motive was.
K grinned, blue eyes glittering at Tohma’s nod. “Okay! First one:
Forwards I am heavy,
Backwards I am not.
What am I?”
Tohma barely took a second before he blinked and replied, “Ton.”
K smirked; he hadn’t really expected anything less.
“Until I am measured,
I am not known.
Yet how you will miss me
When I have flown.
What am I?”
“Time. I’d heard that one before.” The blond was candid, his response instantaneous. Trust him to give up the opportunity to look brilliant by solving it without having to think—all for false modesty.
K shrugged and moved on down his mental list. These were slightly harder.
“The person who makes it doesn’t want it.
The person who buys it doesn’t need it.
The person who uses it doesn’t know it.
What is it?”
The president tilted his head slightly and was silent for a few moments. Then, “A coffin.”
This was too easy for him. K would ask two more, and if he got these right, K would worship his intellectual abilities. Alright, not really, but he would freely acknowledge them…which, yes, he did already, but only to himself.
“It’s more powerful than God.
It’s more evil than the Devil.
The poor have it,
The rich need it,
And if you eat it, you’ll die.
What is it?”
K sank into a chair in front of the desk as black eyes focused on fingers that played with the pen. Just as impatience threatened to overcome him—had he underestimated the other after all?—Tohma smiled slightly. The American thought he looked almost pleased.
“It’s ‘nothing’.”
Having gotten that one, K doubted he would have any trouble with the last answer; might as well ask it, or he’d have memorized it for nothing. “Last one.
“I turn polar bears white
And I will make you cry.
I make guys have to pee
And girls comb their hair.
I make celebrities look stupid
And normal people look like celebrities.
I turn pancakes brown
And make your champagne bubble.
If you squeeze me, I’ll pop.
If you look at me, you’ll pop.
Can you guess the riddle?”
Silently, the two men sat. Blue eyes found themselves fascinated by the movement of the pen through the fingers, and the way the other’s lips gave a hint of movement every once in a while as he repeated the lines to himself. The minutes ticked by until the president paused, looking up at the manager sprawled back in his chair.
“Can you guess the riddle?” His voice was speculative, his head cocked to the side. When K gave no reply, the younger smiled slightly. “Yes.”
K smiled and shook his head ruefully, laughing as he stood to leave. “Congratulations! You’ve gotten difficult riddles and one where children’s minds comprehend it better than adults’.” He turned towards the door, walking out much more quietly than he’d come in.
Once he’d disappeared into the elevator, Tohma turned in his chair to smile out the window. “Yes, hmm?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AN:
Well, here's Ch. 4! Review, tell me what you think! Two will be up in "Rainbow Dreams" (they have to catch up :P) tomorrow; Drievuldigheid might get an update as well.
BTW, all the answers to the riddles were given, yes. But if you can tell me why the last one's answer is yes, you get a cookie. I solved all these riddles myself, no cheating, but I think the why is much easier when you're given the answer; but, it may not be. I HATED that last one, though. Because, yeah, it took forever. But, 86% of kindergarteners get it, 97% of Harvard Graduates don't. So... different methods of thinking, obviously.
Anyway! Yeah, done rambling now.
Tohma was the Sphinx; or was the Sphinx Tohma?
Either way, it didn’t matter. He couldn’t suppress his grin as he waited for the elevator to reach the top floor—he knew what he was about to do was childish, to confront his boss through the guise of games…but his reasons for doing so were far from innocent.
The soft chime as the doors opened was a welcome sound—he’d memorized all of his puzzles, and was impatient to begin the test. He strode toward the president’s office, ignoring the panicked calls of the secretary that he had requested to be left alone. The door was locked—no problem!
He fired at the handle—two shots, just in case the first hadn’t done the trick. The doors swung inward and revealed an irate blond with a pen in his hand glowering at him from the desk.
“Can I help you, K-san?” Tohma appeared to be trying to keep his anger in check—he wasn’t smiling yet, which meant he didn’t yet think manipulations or threats were in order. Good.
K planted his palms firmly on the wood, leaning forward until his face was mere inches from the smaller blond’s. To his credit, he didn’t give any indication that this occurrence was anything out of the ordinary; K smirked—the lack of surprise only increased his desire to see the other flustered. “I have a few puzzles for you.”
Tohma raised an eyebrow. “Does this have to be taken care of now?”
“Yes—you’re always busy, so doing it now is no different than if we waited until tomorrow.”
The president didn’t contest the point. “What sort of…puzzles?”
The slight pause almost made him ask what sort of puzzles the blond would like, but he kept himself on task. “Riddles.”
He stared at Tohma; he hoped the keyboardist wouldn’t refuse his challenge.
Tohma wondered what this was all about. K had decided one day, after years of their pattern of avoiding each other, to ask him riddles? There was more to this than was obvious. Unfortunately, he was clueless about what that ‘more’ could be, and he didn’t like that the American had the upper hand. He opened his mouth to refuse, but was interrupted before he’d begun.
“Before you decline, you should know that this is my price for not shooting you for all your…meddling the past several months. If you’d rather not do it…” K’s hand stroked his gun lovingly.
Sighing, Tohma gave in. Despite how it irked him to feel susceptible to the other’s threats, if it kept his office from being destroyed more than it already had been—he glanced at the door with chagrin—then he could put up with a few riddles. And besides, maybe he could get a hint of what the American’s ulterior motive was.
K grinned, blue eyes glittering at Tohma’s nod. “Okay! First one:
Forwards I am heavy,
Backwards I am not.
What am I?”
Tohma barely took a second before he blinked and replied, “Ton.”
K smirked; he hadn’t really expected anything less.
“Until I am measured,
I am not known.
Yet how you will miss me
When I have flown.
What am I?”
“Time. I’d heard that one before.” The blond was candid, his response instantaneous. Trust him to give up the opportunity to look brilliant by solving it without having to think—all for false modesty.
K shrugged and moved on down his mental list. These were slightly harder.
“The person who makes it doesn’t want it.
The person who buys it doesn’t need it.
The person who uses it doesn’t know it.
What is it?”
The president tilted his head slightly and was silent for a few moments. Then, “A coffin.”
This was too easy for him. K would ask two more, and if he got these right, K would worship his intellectual abilities. Alright, not really, but he would freely acknowledge them…which, yes, he did already, but only to himself.
“It’s more powerful than God.
It’s more evil than the Devil.
The poor have it,
The rich need it,
And if you eat it, you’ll die.
What is it?”
K sank into a chair in front of the desk as black eyes focused on fingers that played with the pen. Just as impatience threatened to overcome him—had he underestimated the other after all?—Tohma smiled slightly. The American thought he looked almost pleased.
“It’s ‘nothing’.”
Having gotten that one, K doubted he would have any trouble with the last answer; might as well ask it, or he’d have memorized it for nothing. “Last one.
“I turn polar bears white
And I will make you cry.
I make guys have to pee
And girls comb their hair.
I make celebrities look stupid
And normal people look like celebrities.
I turn pancakes brown
And make your champagne bubble.
If you squeeze me, I’ll pop.
If you look at me, you’ll pop.
Can you guess the riddle?”
Silently, the two men sat. Blue eyes found themselves fascinated by the movement of the pen through the fingers, and the way the other’s lips gave a hint of movement every once in a while as he repeated the lines to himself. The minutes ticked by until the president paused, looking up at the manager sprawled back in his chair.
“Can you guess the riddle?” His voice was speculative, his head cocked to the side. When K gave no reply, the younger smiled slightly. “Yes.”
K smiled and shook his head ruefully, laughing as he stood to leave. “Congratulations! You’ve gotten difficult riddles and one where children’s minds comprehend it better than adults’.” He turned towards the door, walking out much more quietly than he’d come in.
Once he’d disappeared into the elevator, Tohma turned in his chair to smile out the window. “Yes, hmm?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AN:
Well, here's Ch. 4! Review, tell me what you think! Two will be up in "Rainbow Dreams" (they have to catch up :P) tomorrow; Drievuldigheid might get an update as well.
BTW, all the answers to the riddles were given, yes. But if you can tell me why the last one's answer is yes, you get a cookie. I solved all these riddles myself, no cheating, but I think the why is much easier when you're given the answer; but, it may not be. I HATED that last one, though. Because, yeah, it took forever. But, 86% of kindergarteners get it, 97% of Harvard Graduates don't. So... different methods of thinking, obviously.
Anyway! Yeah, done rambling now.