Morning came too early for Kurapica. He'd spent so long thinking himself in circles that he'd only had a short few hours of sleep by the time Kuroro awoke. He felt the mattress dip and shift as the older man moved, waking him instantly. He waited, tense and silent, wondering what the Spider Head would do.
Nothing, apparently.
Minutes ticked by, second by second. The silence was oppressive, overwhelming. He knew Kuroro was awake. He was sure of it! He'd felt him awaken and move. Had he just shifted in his slumber? Perhaps he'd gone back to sleep? Kurapica strained his ears, trying to listen to Kuroro's breathing, hoping to discern from the pattern of inhales and exhales whether the older man was asleep or only pretending to be. He couldn't tell.
Finally, he couldn't take the silence anymore. Slowly, carefully so as to not awaken his bed-mate on the off chance that he was still slumbering, Kurapica turned his head to look behind him. Nearly immediately, he felt a strong arm slide around his waist and he was pulled back against a solid chest.
"Finally," Kuroro murmured, right by his ear, making the blond shiver. "I thought you'd never move. I was getting pretty bored."
"Why didn't you say something?" Kurapica asked him. "I was worried I'd wake you up if I moved. I wasn't sure if you were still sleeping or not."
"You knew I was awake," the older man contradicted him.
"I knew you'd woken up," Kurapica defended, "but not if you'd gotten back to sleep or not."
"Well I didn't," Kuroro answered him – rather unnecessarily, the blond thought.
"Obviously," he said, putting his hand over Kuroro's arm. He meant to push it away, but when he felt the warmth emanating from him, he found that he didn't mind it being there after all.
"So," the older man murmured after a moment, "an entire day to ourselves. What ever shall we do with it?"
"Didn't you want to get an idea of the man we'll be up against and the layout of his house?" Kuroro chuckled softly, his breath making the bond's hair flutter a bit and tickle his ear. He resisted the urge to rub it against his shoulder. "What's so funny?" he wanted to know.
"You're so literal, sometimes," Kuroro informed him. He squeezed him a little tighter and nuzzled the back of his neck.
Kurapica held his breath, his heart pounding. The way that the older man was nosing and trailing his lips over his skin had the blond soon trembling in spite of himself. "What are you doing?" he whispered.
"Nothing," Kuroro whispered right back.
"It tickles," the blond complained.
"Is that why you're trembling?" Kuroro wanted to know.
"I'm not trembling," Kurapica denied. "I'm trying to resist the urge to punch you because you – are – tickling – me.
The older man chuckled and suddenly pulled away. Kurapica turned onto his back to look at him. Kuroro sat on the edge of the bed, then got to his feet. Half-turning, he glanced at the blond and slowly arched his eyebrow. Kurapica shrugged and averted his eyes.
Kuroro stretched. "I'm going to go get us some food and coffee," he told the blond, already walking to his bags. He dug through them and selected a fresh change of clothes to wear for the day. Black, black and more black.
"Do you ever wear colours?" Kurapica asked him before he remembered that he wasn't supposed to be staring.
Kuroro looked at him, a small, amused smile on his lips. "Occasionally," he answered. "What about you?" He grinned. "I bet black would look great on you."
"I wear black, sometimes," Kurapica defended.
Kuroro hummed, looking him up and down. The blond pulled the blankets closer to his chest, feeling rather unnerved with the look in the older man's eyes. That only made Kuroro chuckle. "I'll be back soon," he told Kurapica. "If you're not dressed when I return, I'll take it as an invitation."
He easily avoided the pillow Kurapica sent at his head and laughed as he left the bedroom. A moment later, the door into the suite opened and closed. Kurapica sighed and racked his fingers through his hair. Another sigh and the blond shuffled over to the edge of the mattress, then pushed himself to his feet. He made his way to his luggage and he started going through them. He got a pair of dark jeans, then a black T-shirt. He got dressed; underwear, pants, then socks. He was about to put his top on, when he paused. He looked at the garment, frowning softly to himself.
Well, he should wear something underneath, in case they had to go somewhere that day and he had to change his top. He crouched by his bags and riffled through them. He found a black tank top that he quickly slid into. He as about to do the same with the T-shirt, when he again paused. He looked at it and hesitated. No, this wouldn't do. He buried it at the very bottom of one suitcase and took out a light grey, sleeveless turtleneck top instead, which he put on.
He brushed his hair, then eyed the hotel coffee machine. He could wait for Kuroro and decent coffee, but his body was calling for caffeine and he didn't know when the older man would be back. It wasn't much of a debate. He fixed himself a cup, then sat down on the loveseat, cup in one hand, book in the other.
That's how Kuroro found him when he returned, carrying a few bags and a cardboard tray with two large cups on it. Kurapica had long since finished the horrible brew from the hotel and he gratefully accepted a cup from the older man. The Spider Head set the bags down on top of the coffee table and sat next to him before taking a few sips from his coffee.
"So," he said at length, "wearing anything black?"
"No," Kurapica lied, unable to look at him. He drank some coffee in silence. Finally, he glanced at the older man. "So what's the plan for today?" he wanted to know.
"First, I need a blueprint of the professor's house, and I need to know more about the security on the premises." Kurapica nodded. So far, it sounded reasonable. Kuroro continued, "I'd like to have a look at his finances as well." He looked at the blond. "That will be your job."
"Okay," Kurapica slowly enunciated, unsure of the legality of looking into someone's bank account.
"Oh," the Spider Head said with a knowing smile, "don't worry your pretty little head; it is very much illegal. It is neither theft nor murder, at least. I'm just curious to see how a man who works at a university can afford something worth billions of zennies."
Well, that didn't seem so bad. "Okay," Kurapica repeated, more firmly this time. "How do I go about doing that?"
"Do you still have that wig you wore for the passport photo?" Kuroro asked him.
Kurapica nodded. "The brown one? Yeah, it's still in my luggage."
"All right," the older man set down his cup on top of the low table and retrieved a laptop from a bag. Kurapica didn't want to know how he'd gotten the thing. Kuroro turned it on, picked up his coffee and took a few sips while it booted up. Once the device was on, he typed on it for a minute, used the touchpad a bit, clicked on something, then turned the laptop towards him, saying, "Here."
Kurapica glanced at the screen and saw the photograph of a young woman with heavy makeup and brown hair, cut at the shoulders. His wig was a little longer, but not enough to be really noticeable. After all, hair grew fast. "I see," he told Kuroro. "I'm going to pretend to be this woman?"
The older man nodded. "Shera Porok. She's his personal secretary and, more importantly, his accountant. She usually deals with this guy." He turned the laptop back towards himself, typed a name in and clicked on a link before turning the device back towards Kurapica. It was a fat, balding man in a three-piece suit. "Vice-president of the Mir-Idlin Bank, Korak Megil. He's supposed to be off today, as is his secretary. If you see him, you walk out and abort. He knows our target and his secretary far too well. Here's who you need to deal with." He scrolled the page down to another picture. "Marin Toloque. She's seen Miss Porok enough to be vaguely familiar with her, but not to the point that she would recognize her from up-close. You'll have the paperwork you need to request a print-out of Professor Forkey's accounts as well as this month's transactions."
"Why do you need this?" Kurapica asked him, somewhat apprehensive of his motives.
Kuroro glanced at him and smiled, obviously aware of the blond's suspicions. "I want to know why he can afford the life that he leads," he reminded the blond, "and also if I can use this information to get the Eyes in an amicable manner."
Kurapica made a face. "For some reason, I doubt this second point is actually part of your goal."
Kuroro smiled. "Wouldn't it be easier to either convince Mister Forkey to part with his pair of Scarlet Eyes, or for you to steal them without suffering a massive guilt trip later, if you were to know that the good professor has gained them through disreputable means?"
The blond thought about it for some time. Kuroro observed him carefully, making it a little awkward for the younger man to focus his attention on the question at hand. "All right," Kurapica finally said. "I'll do it."
"Good." Kuroro looked very pleased. "What will work to our advantage here is that Miss Porok wears a lot of makeup, which means it'll be easier for you to fool Miss Touloque into believing you are indeed Professor Forkey's assistant."
"Are your plans always this convoluted?" Kurapica wanted to know.
"Hey, if I had my way, we'd need none of this," Kuroro protested.
Kurapica sighed, knowing full well that the only reason Kuroro didn't walk in, kill everyone, empty the entire mansion was that he'd lose some of the hard-earned, less unflattering opinion Kurapica had of him now. "Okay," he finally agreed. "I guess I should go get ready."
"Wear the skirt and blouse we got on the shopping trip," Kuroro told him.
"I know," the blond replied. "I'm not an idiot." He realized he was being unnecessary aggressive and he winced. "I'm sorry."
Kuroro didn't seem fazed. "I trust you'll do your job well. Start getting ready. I have a couple of errands to make." He checked the time on his phone. "I'll be back in about an hour."
"Okay," Kurapica said, before emptying his coffee. He set his cup on the table and got to his feet. He glanced at the older man. "So, if I had to change anyway, why had you me wear my own clothes instead of the skirt?"
"Aren't your clothes more comfortable?" was the answer he got.
"Whatever," Kurapica shrugged and made his way to the bedroom. He heard Kuroro leave the suite. He dressed quickly, then returned to the main room with a mirror and a bag of makeup. He sat in front of the laptop and pulled the picture of the girl that he was to impersonate.
He needed a lot of makeup and it was more than he'd ever had to wear. He didn't know how to do it quite like the young lady did, so he had to look up some tutorials. It took a lot of trials and errors, and when Kuroro walked into the door, he was nearly done and rather proud of himself with the result. Kuroro's eyebrows raised high on his forehead. Kurapica shifted uncomfortably.
"I'll be ready soon," he assured the older man. "I only need to apply mascara, then glue on the fake eyelashes."
"You've done amazingly well," Kuroro told him. "I nearly didn't recognize you."
Kurapica tried not to feel praised. He turned back to his mirror and curled his lashes carefully. As he applied his mascara, he could feel the older man staring at him. It was unnerving, in a way. He wasn't sure why it did, but the more Kuroro stared, the more nervous Kurapica felt.
He had to look at another tutorial to figure out how to put on the fake eyelashes and had to try a few times to get it right. He then had to fix what he'd messed up by gluing the lashes on then taking them off, and still Kuroro stared.
Finally, the blond put his things away. "Done," he said. "I'm ready to go now."
Kuroro pulled gently at the pencil skirts. "I told you that you'd look great in black," he commented.
"Did you make that comment on purpose, knowing that I would have to wear this outfit today?" Kurapica wanted to know.
The older man laughed. "Hey," he pointed out, "you started it." And so he had. Unable to deny it, the blond shrugged uncomfortably. "You look great," Kuroro told him with a smile. Kurapica wasn't sure whether to feel flattered or offended. "Come on," the Spider Head added, getting back to his feet. "I'm going to drive you to the bank."
Kurapica followed him downstairs and to the hotel parking lot. Wearing stilettos made walking ridiculously hard and it was a very good thing that he was naturally agile. Kuroro gallantly offered him his arm, which the blond refused, and led him to a sleek, black car with tinted windows. All was good, until Kurapica went to sit on the back seat. The car looked trashed inside.
"Whose car is this?" he asked suspiciously.
"Why," Kuroro said with a grin, sliding into the driver's seat, "it's the real thing, of course. I needed the cover to be absolutely flawless."
"Where's the girl?" Kurapica wanted to know.
Kuroro slid a pair of sunglasses on and grinned at him through the rear-view mirror. The blond sighed and closed the back door, figuring that he wouldn't get an answer. The car drove out of the parking lot. They were a few blocks away when Kuroro finally answered. "She's fine. Just on a little vacation. She'll be back in a few days, ready to go back to work."
Kurapica didn't know what to answer. He wasn't sure whether to believe him or not. In any case, he was determined to do his job, and do it well.
The drive to the bank took longer than it should have. Kuroro was taking detours here and there and everywhere, for reasons that the blond couldn't fathom. He caught him stealing glances at him again and again in the rear-view mirror. Eventually, he'd had enough. "I have work to do, and I can't do it if you just drive in circles again and again," he told him.
Kuroro grinned again – he looked in excellent mood, today – and the blond caught sight of a flash of white teeth. "Are you ready to do it?" he wanted to know.
"Yes," Kurapica assured him, "I can do it. Are you doubting me?"
"No," Kuroro lied. "I know you can do it. I'm not sure how willing you are to go through with it."
Hm. Maybe he wasn't lying, then.
"I'll do it," Kurapica told him. "I'm not saying I like it, but if it's necessary, then I'll do it."
Whatever the Spider Head had wanted to hear, Kurapica seemed to have said the right thing, because Kuroro's grin widened a bit. After that, he stopped dallying and drove straight to the bank. As he stopped the car in front of the imposing building, he glanced at him. "Ready?" he asked.
Kurapica met his gaze head on. "You know I am," he told him firmly.
Kuroro, half-turned in the driver's seat, smiled widely. He reached for Kurapica and pulled him into a hard, closed-mouth kiss. When he let go, Kurapica looked at him, stunned for a moment. He then snorted, amused in spite of himself. "You've got lipstick on your mouth," he told him. There was a pause where they gazed at each other. Kurapica suddenly realized that he'd been wiping Kuroro's lower lip with his thumb. He withdrew. "I, I'll be back soon," he stammered.
He blindly reached for the door handle and pulled desperately at it. He managed to get onto the sidewalk without tripping on his tall heels. He grabbed the small suitcase in which he was to put all paperwork and he slammed the car door. He couldn't see Kuroro through the dark-tinted glass and he turned away. He took a deep breath in, squared his shoulders and walked into the bank.