Dis Aliter Visum

Chapter 65

He sat there a moment, still trying to get his bearing. He usually awoke much easier than this, but he felt extremely groggy and sluggish. It was probably due to jet lag. He yawned again and tried to decide whether he wanted a shower first, or coffee.

Kuroro's head appeared in the doorway. "I thought you had gone back to sleep," he told the blond. "I poured you a cup of coffee. It's waiting for you."

Well, that decided it for him. He grunted a wordless, acquiescent answer and pushed himself to his feet. He shuffled towards the door and Kuroro retreated. When the blond stepped out of the room, he found the older man sitting on the couch, a steaming cup of coffee in one hand. Another one was sitting on the low table in front of him, obviously for him. Kurapica made his way over and picked it up. He took a sip to see if he needed to add anything for it to be to his taste. He didn't.

He went around the table and sat on the couch next to the Spider Head. He saw the man turn towards him and squared his shoulders, not knowing what to anticipate from him. Watching him carefully from the corner of his eye, he took another sip of his coffee.

When he had Kurapica's attention, the older man smiled. "Good morning," he greeted again.

Kurapica marked a pause. "Good morning," he finally answered.

Kuroro's smile widened and if anything, he looked genuinely happy that Kurapica had greeted him. The blond filed this information away, unsure of what to do with it at the moment. He sipped his coffee slowly. He kept catching the older man looking at him, but Kuroro didn't break the silence and neither did he. Eventually, he managed to get to the bottom of his mug and he got up for a refill.

"Get me some too?" Kuroro said behind him and when the blond turned to look at him, he saw that the older man was holding his own mug up for him to take it from him. Wordlessly, Kurapica obtemperated, grabbing the cup before making his way to the counter where the coffeemaker sat. He filled both mugs and fixed his coffee before returning to the couch with the two mugs. Kuroro took his from him and took a sip as Kurapica sat down.

The blond sighed softly. The coffee felt wonderfully warm as it slid down his throat and sat in his stomach. He felt better with every sip. The silence used to be so tense between them, but it felt more and more natural – a fact that Kurapica wasn't sure what to feel about.

"So," he began, because his thoughts were starting to confuse him and he didn't want to keep thinking himself in circles, "you mentioned shopping and forging papers?"

"Yes," Kuroro emptied his mug and set it down on the coffee table. "How quickly do you think you can be ready?"

"I want to take a shower," the blond informed him as he finished his own coffee. "Give me a half hour?"

Kuroro nodded. "I'm ready to go whenever. A half hour is fine."

Kurapica got up and picked up Kuroro's mug. He went to the sink and put the cups in, after filling them with a bit of water so they wouldn't stain. Then he went to his room to retrieve some of his new, female clothing. He only had the one pair of jeans, but he had a couple of tops. No doubt Kuroro would insist that they buy more. Kurapica wasn't sure how long he'd have to keep the charade. Well, he didn't really mind. If he had to choose between male or female clothes, he'd opt for male, but he wasn't the kind of guy who would freak out at the thought of dressing as a woman.

He went into the bathroom and showered quickly, then used the hotel hair dryer before getting himself dressed. When he came out, Kuroro was still on the couch, a book in his hand. He looked up as the door opened.

"Hey," he greeted. He looked him up and down slowly. "Dark colours look good on you," he commented with a smile.

Kurapica shifted uncomfortably. "Um, thank you, I guess."