Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ To Catch a Thief ❯ Chapter Three ( Chapter 3 )

To Catch a Thief

By Llewlyn

Summary: Schuldich is a master thief in the city of Schwarz, the Capitol of the great nation, Estet. Brad Crawford is a minor, but very wealthy, nobleman whose wife died three years prior. Schuldich, Aya, Yohji, Ken, and Omi are members of a crime ring run by a mysterious man named Persia. Schuldich gets an assignment to burgle a nobleman's house...

Rating: R, I guess, for upcoming lemons and limes and crude language inappropriate for kiddies.

A/N: Damn my muses... *attacks Yohji and Schu with a broom stick in one hand and a golf club in the other* My ideas always come at two in the morning. Also, the street rats have atrocious grammar, which annoys me to write, but I gotta cause they... *points at innocently grinning muses of lust and love* are making me!

***

Farfarello came to get Schuldich exactly five minutes later. He opened the door rapidly, knocking Schuldich to the floor. Grinning, he threw the teen a set of patched clothes and commanded him to dress. Schuldich stared hatefully at the white-haired other as he caught the clothes deftly. "I ain't dressin' wid you here..." he muttered, fighting back a blush. He'd wander around the small house in the city he shared with the other boys naked as the day he was born, but he wouldn't bare himself in front of this mocking stranger. "If you don't wear those, you're going ass naked." Well, maybe he would. Schuldich changed rapidly, turning around and stripping out of the wet thieving uniform, slipping on the dry and surprisingly soft pants and tunic.

"Good boy," Farfarello said condescendingly, a superior, smug look on his tattered features. "Now... do I have to tie you again, or will you be an obedient little pet and come with me?" Schuldich growled and ran his fingers ruefully through his tangled red hair. "I come wid you. No more ropes, I ain't a pet!" Farfarello laughed disparagingly and led Schuldich through the house, pointing out rooms as they went, showing him the kitchen and introducing him to the cook, Manx. The voluptuous woman tsked over the state of Schuldich's hair and his slender body, and began displaying her skill at the art of impressively useless bustling, rummaging through cupboards and drawers. She pressed a piece of cake into his hand and ordered him to eat it. Farfarello rolled his eyes but told Schuldich to sit at the kitchen table beside Nagi, who watched him warily. The child was finishing a plate of leftovers from dinner, wrapped snugly in a blanket. Schuldich made a rude face at him, which Nagi returned. Manx scolded both of them, whisking Nagi's cleared plate away and scooping him up in her arms to take him to bed. Schuldich finished the cake quickly, and Farfarello resumed the tour of the spacious home.

Finally, they arrived at a room Schuldich recognized as Crawford's. "This is going to be your room. The master said he wasn't going to let you into his bed yet, doesn't trust you to not try to rip his throat out with your teeth, but you'll have a pallet on the floor." Schuldich was pushed inside, where he whirled and snapped viciously at the white-haired bodyguard. Crawford stopped him with a strong hand wrapped in his hair. "Oi! Lemme go, I ain't gonna hurt him!" Schuldich protested, struggling futilely against the taller man's grip. "I just gonna bite his nose off!" Crawford laughed coldly. "That sounds like you were going to try and hurt him, Schuldich. I'll be lenient tonight, since it is your first night, but if you do it again, I shall have to punish you." He released Schuldich, who held his balance this time and rubbed his scalp, turning to glare at his new and unwanted master. "Farfarello, you're excused. First thing in the morning, go down to the tailor's and bring him here. Schuldich will need clothes suited to his station." Farfarello bowed and left.

"Now. You'll be sleeping there," Crawford pointed to the straw pallet on the floor at the foot of the bed. "You will, of course, be chained in until I feel that you won't try to kill me in my sleep. Farfarello has informed me that he feels you should be locked in the cellar until you're broken and agree to my every wish and whim. However, I am of the opinion that you should be given the chance to assimilate to your new life, and as such will start from the beginning in your duties." He pushed Schuldich gently to the pallet, making him sit down. He took Schuldich's wrist and latched a shackle around it before he could protest.

"Hey... I ain't your slave. You ain't allowed to do this to me, I freeborn!" Schuldich pulled experimentally on the chain that held him to the bed. It allowed for range of motion, enough for him to sleep comfortably, but not enough for him to attack Crawford in any way. "I'm aware of that. I'm also aware that you were, not three hours ago, trying to rob me blind. In that light, the law changes. In recompense for your crime, or attempted crime, I am allowed to take you as a slave until such time as I see fit to release you, or if I sell you, your new master does. This is quite legal." Crawford lightly stroked Schuldich's hair, making him growl threateningly.

"You sound like a wild animal; desist at once." Schuldich grew louder momentarily, then stopped. His face was sore from Crawford's earlier slaps and he didn't want to merit another one. "Good. You're learning. Your hair is frightful, by the way." Crawford went to his chest of drawers and retrieved a comb. He sat on the edge of his bed and turned Schuldich so his back was to him. Carefully he began to comb out the tangles in the teen's hair. After a time of silence, the nobleman spoke.

"I used to do this for my wife. She died three years ago, which I presume you knew because you were caught just as I was supposed to be in the midst of prayer at the temple." Schuldich rolled his eyes.

"I don' care. I was tol', `rob him and don' fuck up.' You wasn't supposed ta be here."

"Ah, yes, that. I suppose you want to know why I was here instead of where I was supposed to be?" Schuldich didn't answer in the affirmative, but he didn't deny it, either. "You do. I was informed by the captain of the city watch that an informant had overheard your plans."

Schuldich started to curse, then bit his tongue. So now he was caught, because some do-gooder ratted on him. Crawford smiled benignly. "I see you aren't pleased with that person. I wonder if it was one of your street rat friends, looking for a reward." Schuldich snarled and turned to retort, "Me mates ain't like you backstabbin' rich- we sticks by each other!" Crawford patted the top of Schuldich's head patronizingly. "Apparently not. Now. Go to sleep." He put the comb on the nightstand, the wicked tangles all out of Schuldich's now soft coppery hair, and blew out the lamp. Schuldich fussed noisily for a while, doing his best to be irritating, before finally lying down and trying to sleep.

***

The next morning, Schuldich woke to a foot in his stomach. "Get up boy, the tailor's here to fit you," Farfarello said, looking down at the teen. Schuldich grumbled and sat up, tugging on the chain that bound him to the bed.