Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ New Rules, New Ruler ❯ Chapter 6

Part Six

They stared in open eyes wonderment. The apartment was huge. In unspoken agreement the split up to explore. One huge main living room, with full entertainment system; one perfectly equipped kitchen, complete with locks on the drawers to keep Farferello from getting to the knives; a padded bedroom with strengthened walls and a steel door, also for Farferello, with considerably more furniture than he was used to; a study with walls lined with empty bookshelves, a state of the art PC with all the extras and an oak desk for Crawford; a medium sized room containing a futon, also with a state of the art PC and all the add-ons, as well as the latest games consoles, a laptop, and a palm pilot, to keep Nagi happy; and a huge bedroom with king-sized bed, a large sofa, television, bookshelves, desks, everything. All of the bedrooms had ensuite bathrooms, something Nagi had wanted for ages, after almost using Schuldig's lubricant instead of toothpaste.

Schuldig wandered around for a while, feeling slightly left out. A melancholy mood settled on him and he sank into the sofa in the main room. He couldn't even summon the energy to switch on the television. The lethargy was odd, and he wondered vaguely if this was how Nagi felt when he was going through one of his depressive kicks. Oh, and it seemed Brad's fears were unfounded, judging by the boy's squeals of delight he wasn't about to sink into anything other than the futon for a while.

"Hey," Brad settled himself next to Schuldig. "What's wrong?"

Schuldig shook his head.

"No, tell me. You're the mind reader, not me." When this failed to elicit a response, brad rested his arm across Schuldig's shoulders. "So, how come you're out here rather than checking out your room?" The silence got heavier. Brad glanced around, and his mind did a quick stock take: kitchen, living room, study, Nagi's room, Farferello's room, my room… "Where's your room?" he asked slowly. Schuldig shrugged. "Oh."

They sat in silence for a while. Farferello was trying out all the manacles, shackles and various chains in his room; Nagi was logged onto his chatrooms, apparently having suffered Internet withdrawal during the flight and mission. They had the room to themselves.

"There's a futon in the study. I presume that was where they meant me to sleep," Brad said slowly, reluctant to give up the splendid master bedroom.

"You presume nothing," Schuldig said bitterly. "They weren't expecting me to come back. I guess they thought I'd stay mad, or stay in Germany at the very least."

Brad shook his head. "Schuldig, come in here," he said, leading the resisting German to the master bedroom. "Now, tell me that bed isn't a little excessive for one person. Tell me I won't get lonely in there on my own."

Light dawned on Schuldig's face. "I'm gonna say Tash. She's the one who manipulated this. No wonder she seemed so smug when Tanya announced they had an apartment for us."

"I don't doubt it. It's a … nice… gesture." Brad stared at the bed. It was large. But was it large enough?

"You're wondering if we're ready for this?" Brad glared sharply at the oblivious Schuldig. "So am I. This is rather faster than I thought we were going to take it."

"Quite. As I said, I can always sleep in my study."

"Don't be stupid. You're the team leader, you get the master bedroom. I'll sleep in the study."

"You're not sleeping in my study!" Brad grinned to take the sting out of the snapped remark. Schuldig grinned back.

"Thought not. So, I guess we're stuck with this." He sat on the bed and flopped backwards. "Woah. Come and lie down, Brad." Brad did so, and was surprised at how far he sank. "Ok, I'm having this bed. I don't care whether we're taking it too fast by moving in like this, I'm sleeping in this bed."

Brad grinned. "Moving in together? We've been living together for four years now."

"Yeah, we were living together, but we haven't been living together living together," Schuldig said, as if this made sense. "Now we're going to be sharing a bed full time. Anything I should know?" he grinned.

"We've shared a bed overnight before," Brad reminded him. "Several times while in Germany, as I recall."

"Yeah. Ok, we both snore, I move a lot at night, you're pathologically neat and fold up my clothes when I dump them on the floor before sex…"

"I don't snore!"

"You do too!" Schuldig rolled over. "Wanna fight it out?" he grinned. Brad grinned back. Ok, so it was faster than he'd planned, but perhaps that was good. They could make this relationship work. With Schuldig's telepathy and his precognitive abilities, they should be able to avoid major rows and keep off each other's toes. Of course, Schuldig would probably make a point of staying on Brad's toes, but as long as he stayed on his own Brad didn't really mind. The teasing stopped him from turning back into Marvin the Paranoid Android, as he'd once been nicknamed.

Schuldig pressed down on Brad, kissing him. Brad squirmed, not likely to be underneath. Schuldig grinned, and pinned him down, rubbing his demined crotch against the expensive wool of Brad's suit. A moan escaped from Brad's lips.

A knock on the door made them freeze, and Schuldig stared icicles at Nagi as he poked his head around the door.

"I was going to order… oh. Oh! Oooh!" Nagi beamed at them. "Oh yay!"

"yay?" Schuldig glowered at him.

"You two. Yay." Brad gave the boy an odd look. Schuldig suddenly grinned.

"Get used to it, kid."

"I already did, ages ago. It's great that you two get your won bedroom! Alone together! Yay! Oh, I was about to order Pizza. Any requests?" Nagi bounced up and down, clearly pleased that two of the pole he cared about most in his life were able to make each other happy. Schuldig felt a twinge of sadness at the family stencil the boy was trying to impose over their little household. Nagi so desperately wanted to be just a little more normal.

"Margarita," Brad told the still smiling boy.

"I want every topping they have on mine!" Schuldig said. "Now shoo! And don't come back `till the pizzas here. And knock!"

"I did!" Nagi retorted as he slipped out of the room again.

"I honestly didn't expect him to be so happy at the idea there was something going on between us. I didn't even realise he knew." Brad said softly.

"Yeah well. We had one room between the three of us. Exactly how blind deaf and dumb did we think the kid was?" Schuldig rested his head on Brad's chest, lazily listening to the older man's heartbeat. "I worry about him," he murmured. "He wants us to be a family. That's why he's over the moon. He thinks we're getting more like a family. Plus he wants us to be happy."

"Maybe we are."

"What, making each other happy? You're making me very happy, I can tell you."

"And you me. No, I meant about the family thing. We haven't just been co-workers for a long time. All four of us."

"You think of him like a son."

"Yes, sometimes. And with this new revelation it seems he's going to be the closest thing I'll ever have to one."

"So, we're turning into a family. Know something funny?"

"What?" Brad stroked Schuldig's hair.

"Weiss haven't. They're willing to risk their lives for each other, but they're not really getting any closer. Omi's everyone's friend, and ken and Yohji are, well, drinking buddies, I guess. Aya still holds himself separate."

"I thought you said he was in love with Yohji?"

"He is. You don't have to be a telepath to see that. Look at the way they fight. The sentiment's returned too. But until Weiss started caring for each other like we do, nothing's going to happen."

"I almost feel sorry for them."

"Almost." Schuldig grinned. He rolled over and pressed his lips to brad's. "Come on, they deliver those pizzas ridiculously fast." Brad laughed and relaxed into his lover's arms. Lover. Love…