|
|
Chapter 9
Warning, most of the scenes in this chapter take place at approximately the same time just in slightly different places with different people. There's a lot of flipping back and forth and I hope this doesn't turn out too confusing ^_^;;; Also I know Brad has kind of been just a bit OOC in my opinion but I thought the entire Tylenol scene would be fun.
***** At Heather's House *****
"Get away from me or I'm sending these pills out the window!" Nicole glared at Brad as she backed into the sunroom.
"Give me a damn pill," Crawford glared at Nicole
"No, you have your own," Nicole tried to get two pills out of the bottle for herself.
"I just want one more!" Brad hissed viciously and grabbed for the bottle.
"Go away! These are mine," Nicole held the bottle behind herself.
"Enough!!" Brad roughly pulled Nicole to him and grabbed the bottle away from her.
"Give those back!" Nicole struggled fiercely and beat at Brad's chest.
"Here," Brad took a pill from the bottle and threw it across the house before turning and sitting at his desk.
"You bastard!" Nicole backhanded Brad before running to get the bottle.
"Fuck you too," Brad ignored the stinging in his cheek and flipped open his laptop. "First that bastard Fujimiya and now this..." Crawford growled as he started to work, fingers slamming down onto keys and making a horribly loud clacking noise.
"Shut-up!" Nicole yelled from the living room where she was curled up on the couch.
"If you have a problem with me leave," Crawford continued to type angrily.
"You get out, you're the one who decided to barge in and wreak havoc with our lives," Nicole glared at the floor as she didn't want to know if she could see Brad from where she was or not.
"I don't see any reason I'd want to make your life easier right now," Brad glowered at his laptop screen.
***** Field at the Park *****
"Kick it to me!" Brittany yelled to Ken as Nagi and Omi cornered him at the edge of the marked soccer field.
"Here," Ken sent the ball flying to Brittany with a kick and started running to where he could take a shot at the opposing team's goal.
"Nagi, try and get the ball away from her," Omi ran after Ken to protect his goal.
"Hai," Nagi moved towards Brittany and the ball jumped away from her feet.
"Without your powers, Nagi," Ken smiled. "Try and do it just using your feet and speed."
"Oh, alright," Nagi made the ball roll back to Brittany and ran after it.
"Thanks," Brittany grinned at Nagi and started kicking the ball down the field while trying to avoid him.
"Pass it back to me," Ken had managed to outdistance Omi.
"Right," Brittany kicked the ball as hard as she could and raced after it. Ken headed the ball to stop its forward momentum and sent it quickly into the goal.
"Alright!" Brittany grinned and hugged Ken. "Three-zero for us!"
"Yep, you're pretty good at this," Ken hugged Brittany back and lead her over to the water bottle sitting on the sidelines. "We should all have a drink now though.
"Good try Nagi," Omi grinned and patted the younger boy on the back as they followed.
"Thank you," Nagi looked at the ball lying in the goal, "but what is the point of this game?"
"Having fun," Omi beamed.
"Ah..." Nagi contemplated this for several minutes as Ken passed around the water bottle.
***** Picnic Table at the Park *****
"Don't even think about trying to get up Youji," Cara stood over him with her arms crossed and a determined expression on her face.
"You can't make me sit on my ass forever, it'll lose it's perfection!" Youji protested from where he'd been forced to sit on the bench.
"Somehow I doubt that," Cara sat beside Youji.
"Thank you," Youji grinned and tossed a playful arm around Cara's shoulders.
"Don't even think about it," Cara gave Youji a dark look and pushed his arm away.
Youji tisked. "Such a lovely young lady and she won't even let herself be appreciated. So sad," He winked roguishly at Cara.
"I'm not lovely," Cara moved a little way down the bench and away from Youji looking slightly uncomfortable.
"Oh but you are," Youji smiled and lifted the back of Cara's hand to his lips to kiss it lightly.
"I'm not," Cara pulled her hand away quickly and tried to move farther away.
"You are beautiful," Youji pulled Cara back to him and lightly caressed her face. "You just don't realize it."
"No..." Cara flinched a little from Youji's touch.
"I am experienced in critiquing beauty and I think you are very lovely," Youji leaned closer to Cara.
"You're lying," Cara turned her face away.
"I am telling the truth," Youji gently took Cara's chin in his hand and turned her back to face him.
***** Playground Unit at the Park *****
"Farfarello, don't weaken the ropes in the climbing net!" Heather sat cross-legged on the top platform of the small playground complex and flicked bits of sand at Farfarello.
"The death of children will make god cry," Farfarello stated calmly as he decided which rope would be the best to partially cut.
"No, um... If you leave this alone then the children are slacking off and not doing their chores and stuff... So playgrounds are a bad thing," Heather attempted to come up with some logic to counter Farfarello.
"Nice try," Schuldig wrapped his arms around Heather from behind. "Farf, put your knife away or you get to stay in the trunk of the car." Farfarello didn't reply but put his knife back in its sheath and went to sit on the grass.
"Let go of me," Heather tried to pull away.
"Now why on earth would I do that?" Schuldig grinned and held Heather close.
"I don't want you to touch me," Heather struggled against Schuldig.
"Oh yes you do, you're lying to yourself and you know it," Schuldig kept Heather in a secure hold.
"No, let go!" Heather struggled harder.
"Yes you are," Schuldig smirked and Heather felt her body go limp against her will. "I can hear how your body is reacting to this and it is not dislike I'm listening to."
"Stop it! Why are you doing this to me?" Heather found that she could still talk even though she couldn't move.
"My reasons are my own," Schuldig lightly nuzzled Heather's neck and kissed gently. Heather squeezed her eyes shut and tried to block him out.
***** Heather's House *****
About a half-hour after the Tylenol fight Nicole was still curled on the couch listening to Crawford type. Twenty minutes ago he had stopped trying to fracture his keyboard with each stroke he made and was now just making normal, quiet clicky sounds occasionally punctuated by a soft sigh. After about the eighth sigh she stood and quietly made her way into the sunroom.
"What do you want," Crawford tried to snap but the words came out more tired than threatening.
"Would you like a head massage, Crawford?" Nicole looked down at her feet and spoke quietly, unsure of the reaction her question would receive. Crawford sat in silence for a moment and Nicole decided that she shouldn't have bothered and turned to leave.
"That would be acceptable," Crawford didn't even look at her but his voice had softened slightly as if he was trying to conceal a hint of gratefulness.
"Alright," Nicole stood quietly behind the tall man and gently began to massage his scalp. Crawford continued to work on as if oblivious but Nicole could feel him relax slightly as she continued her ministrations.
***** Field *****
"Got you!" Brittany tackled Ken to the ground.
"Alright, you win," Ken laughed as he surrendered the soccer ball to Brittany.
"Full contact soccer is obviously not one of your strong points Ken," Omi laughed from the sidelines where he and Nagi had opted out and were engaging in some computer talk.
"Tired yet?" Brittany grinned as she stood up and offered Ken a hand.
"Not as long as you aren't yet," Ken took her hand and stood.
"Not at all," Brittany smiled up at the soccer player.
"Great, want to go another round then?" Ken started bouncing the ball into the air with his knee and forehead.
"Sure," Brittany made a grab for the ball but tripped and bumped into Ken.
"Careful there," Ken put an arm around Brittany's waist to steady her and blushed as he realized she was pressed right up against him. "Uh.... S-sorry..." He started to let her go.
"Not a problem at all," Brittany snuck in a quick kiss as she snagged the ball before running down the field with it. "Can't catch me!" Ken smiled happily and took off after her.
***** Picnic Table *****
"You don't have to stay away, why did you run so fast?" Youji grinned at Cara from across the table.
"Leave me alone," Cara looked down at the table blushing furiously.
"That would not be the courteous thing to do," Youji leaned across the table towards Cara.
"It would be the non-death causing option," Cara gave him a dirty look.
"I am sure there is more than one way to avoid death," Youji stood slowly and began to move to Cara's side of the table.
"Sit down!" Cara stood up, alarmed as Youji wobbled slightly then immediately guided him back to his previous place.
"See, I knew I could get you to return to me," Youji's joking exterior was betrayed by the slightly flush of exertion on his cheeks.
"Oh shut-up," Cara glowed at an innocent dandelion as she crushed it under her heal.
"Why don't you sit down?" Youji lightly tugged on Cara's arm and unbalanced her enough that she fell partially across his lap. She stared up at him in shock with wide eyes as she tried to get a grasp on what had just happened and he took advantage of the moment to bend his head and gently kiss her.
***** Playground *****
Heather had fallen asleep while Schuldig was forcing her into motionless and was now curled up with her head pillowed on one of his thighs. He smirked slightly as he gently pet her hair with one hand and used the other to tickle her nose with a piece of grass. She finally sneezed to try and make whatever was bothering her nose go away and startled herself into wakefulness.
"Have a good rest, Liebchen?" He spoke softly and kissed the side of her head.
"Wha...?" She looked up at him blearily and rubbed her eyes as she tried to figure out what was going on through the cloud of her post-nap drowsiness.
"You fell asleep while I was holding you earlier," Schuldig grinned at his small victory.
"I what?!" Heather realized that her head was on Schuldig's thigh, bolted upright, and scooted backwards.
"Fell asleep," He explained again slowly as if to a child and grabbed her forearm to keep her from falling off of the small platform.
"Oh..." She looked down at herself to make sure nothing was amiss and pulled gently against his grip. "You just let me sleep?"
"Would you have preferred me ravishing you while you were napping?" Schuldig chuckled and pulled Heather back towards the center of the small wooden platform.
***** Heather's house *****
Nicole was flipping through the channels on the TV looking for something to watch and waiting for the others to return when she felt gentle hands on her head. She jumped slightly and turned to look up at Brad as he began to massage her head. He was watching the news that she had flipped to out of boredom as his fingers moved gently over her scalp and did not even look down at her.
"Crawford?" She gave him a puzzled look.
"A simple return of favors," Brad stated as he absorbed the information coming from the TV.
"I am fine," Nicole pulled away gently and moved down the couch.
"I insist," Brad moved to where he could continue massaging and gently but firmly held her down as he massaged. Nicole sighed and leaned back into the couch deciding it was not worth fighting Brad over. She remained still for several minutes as his fingers roamed her scalp and then began to move down the back of her neck.
"What are you doing?" She tried to move away from Brad again but he was now massaging her shoulders and held her down to the couch.
"Trying to get you to relax," Brad leaned over the back of the couch and whispered in her ear.
"I am fine," Nicole pulled against his hands harder.
"You are very tense," Brad half smiled, half smirked as he turned Nicole's face to his and kissed her gently.
"Brad...? Nicole stared at Brad in shock as he pulled back and stood.
"You have a nice taste," Brad turned and walked back through the house to his computer.
"Why?" Nicole demanded as she pulled herself back together.
"Because," Was all the answer she received from Brad's turned back.
***** The Park *****
"Nice going Youji, she's afraid of you now," Omi glared at Youji as he escorted him back to the car.
"It would seem that Youji is not the only one having problems," Nagi watched Cara glare at Schu as Heather tried to hide behind her.
"At least he looks like he's enjoying himself," Youji looked up at the sky and stretched his injured arm. "It's probably for the best anyway."
"You're both total morons," Omi berated Youji and gave him a shove into the car.
"OW! Omi that fucking hurt!" Youji protested as he clutched his injuries.
"Maybe next time you'll remember not to scare people who are going out of their way to help us," Omi shut the door as soon as Youji was completely inside the vehicle.
"How do you know that they are not just waiting to stab us in the back," Nagi continued to watch the girls with his large navy blue eyes.
"Kenken get your ass back here with that ball!" Ken dashed past the boys kicking the soccer ball in front of him and grinning as Brittany chased him laughing.
"Do they seem like they want to stab anyone in the back, Nagi?" Omi smiled gently at Nagi and waited for an answer.
"I am not sure what they want," Nagi looked back at Omi solemnly. "But they hug me and try to make me meals that I will like and treat me better than the rest of my team and I do not know why. Others who have treated me in that way always wanted something from me in return."
"They might just want to be your friend, Nagi. Often people who want to be your friend will do things like that," Omi leaned against the car.
"Ah," Nagi considered Omi's logic. "Does that mean you are trying to become my friend too, Omi?" He stared emotionlessly across the field.
"If you would not mind," Omi smiled at Nagi.
"We will see," Nagi almost smiled back, hoping that for once his suspicions were wrong.
*****
"Schuldig, don't you dare start acting like that arrogant pig Youji!" Cara pulled Heather away from the redhead.
"Aw, and let him have all the fun to himself?" Schuldig smirked and followed. "I know you enjoyed that kiss he gave you."
"Youji kissed you?" Heather gave Cara a curious look.
"Forget it, Heather," Cara glared at Schuldig. "Go take care of Farfarello and do something useful for once in your pathetic life.
"Well if you're going to be like that..." Schuldig narrowed his eyes at Cara.
"Just go, Schuldig!" Heather winced slightly as he turned his glare on her. "I'm going to around all night anyway..."
"Ja, that's right," Schuldig grinned evilly. "I will see you again in a few short minutes then," He turned and went to find Farfarello.
"That was a stupid thing to say, baka," Cara gave Heather a look.
"I know but I didn't want him to have a temper fit..." Heather sighed.
"I'm more than a match for him, don't worry about me," Cara looked over at the car where Omi had dragged Youji off to.
"So what happened with you and Youji before you came to find me?" Heather followed Cara's gaze to the car.
"He kissed me when he knew I did not want that, I left," Cara stated simply.
"Oh," Heather blinked. "You know you should give him a chance, you're the one he flirts with most of all. Maybe that means he really likes you?"
"Yeah right," Cara snorted in disbelief.
"You never know..." Heather smiled. "Just make sure he doesn't pull that whole 'not worthy' thing on you or any shit like that, kay?"
"If he does anything like that he is one dead man," Cara glared at the car.
