A Strange Pairing, Episode 1 - Shy Beginnings

[Police Girl]

What a day...

It was late, and she was exhausted. And heading to Shangri-La. If she had to make a wager, it seemed as though she had a trend of going to her aunt's restaurant while dead off her feet. This time, however, it wasn't just for a quick meal before she went home.

Weirdly enough, it was for something that felt way too close to a date.

Of course, it wasn't that. It was just a meal from one of the cooks after they had been put through hell. Besides, she wasn't even sure if she could stand being close to another person. After everything that happened, she wasn't sure if she would ever be ready to date again.

I'm going to have nightmares again. The thought flashed through her mind, but she barely noticed. Nightmares by now where an almost welcome friend. She was so used to them that she just... trudged on. She kept going, repressing it, shoving it back, ignoring it. It was just how Seras worked.

Running a hand through her short blonde hair, she paused in front of the restaurant, looking around the inside. The beat-up hovercar was resting in one of the parking spaces behind her, alarm blinking. After the events of the day, she was openly carrying her handgun at her side in a holster on her hip, though the BMF and sniper rifle remained in their capsules.

Blue eyes scanned the restaurant, seeing no one in the booths, and hearing no clatter in the kitchen. Then, her gaze settled on the man sitting on one of the stools at the bar, an open book in his hand. To her surprise, a smile touched her lips as she pushed open the door, sending the bell tinkling.

"Sorry it's so late. There was quite a bit more of work to be done then I thought." She glanced down at her watch, seeing that it was just after the dinner rush. Seras frequented the restaurant enough to know that it was probably going to be dead until the doors were locked and it opened again in the morning. "I take it Yanma already headed home?" The question was innocently asked. She was fairly certain that Hakkai didn't know her as Yanma's sister- otherwise, why would he be nice to her? She might very well be a demonizing bitch like her sister! Ha. Irony, 'demonizing'...-, which made it all the more amusing. That, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to deal with Yanma's questions, not after she had called her sister earlier in the day and asked to use her residence in West City. She really didn't want to have to explain this bloody fucking assignment to her family more then she had to.

Nor did she want to deal with Yanma making commentary. She just wanted a nice relaxing meal. And possibly some nice conversation by way of the cook, who seemed like a decent fellow.

"How.. How are you?"

Sue her, she was a bit shy.

[Cho Hakkai]

The dinner rush went as usual with the normal flood of people getting off of work or just heading to it. Hakkai had said good bye to his fellow cook who had been on for just the rush, as well as Yanma who had been the hostess and waitress for the evening. Gojyo had the day off and so that left him running the restuarant alone for the rest of the evening. He was perfectly fine with that as not many people came in after the dinner rush and he could handle cooking and serving a bottomless pit, an irrate priest, and a loud redhead. Hakkai wasn't boasting, but he could was pretty sure he could handle who ever came in.

So for the moment of quiet that settled over the place of eating he decided to utilize it to read a science novel at the bar. A small tea cup was within reach, filled with what semed to be just regular tea but his best friend had always known better. Hakkai had cleaned the dishes that had remained and wiped down the counters as well as the booths. He was a bit of a clean freak so it didn't overly bother him to do the cleaning anyway.

Everything was in their proper places, neat and tidy. He had extended an invintation before recent events to the blonde cop who had been at the temple. She was quite attractive and very polite. Not that he was looking for anyone, not after Kanan, but he wasn't about to shun the poor girl either. Hakkai lifted his head from his novel upon hearing the soft sound of the door bell, but didn't turn his head until he heard footsteps. A warm smile lifted to his mouth, an actual genuine smile for the woman rather than the smiling mask he wore.

"It's no problem at all, Miss. Seras." Hakkai motioned the stool next to him for the young woman to take. His body turned to one side in order to look at the blonde female. She looked tired and harrid, both of which he could cure with a bit of good food and liquids. "Yanma went home after the rush. Why do you ask?"

He didn't realize the two were related, seeing as they had two completely different natures and only bared the slightest of resemblence. The thought of Yanma made his mood nearly turn sour. He was generally a peaceful man, but with her constant insults towards his best friend - the man who had saved his life when his guts were spilling out - he could only handle so much before he went to murderous.

Her soft pause caused his warm smile to remain. Seras did seem like the type to be initially shy. It was almost endearing. "I am doing well. How are you today, Miss. Seras? Is there anything I can get for you?"

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[Police Girl]

It was almost a relief that the cheerful cook didn't realize her association to the spawn of all evil. A smile that was actually rather amused touched her lips as she reached one hand up, brushing her blonde hair behind one ear.

"To be completely honest.. She's my baby sister. Which is why I tend to greet our shared acquaintances with an apology." Seras gave a sheepish love, scratching her head with her hand as she stepped further in. "Our aunt owns Shangri-la. In all honesty... I was half-afraid she would be here and giving me bloody hell."

The softspoken cop made her way over to the bar, slipping onto the stool next to him. Up close, without the distraction of her job and duties keeping her mind from noticing, he was even more handsome than she had thought. There was a warmth in his smile, though something about his eyes seemed off. She shrugged it off, and just admired the strong structure of his jawline, the almost noble cast to his nose, and the way his eyes seemed to draw her in.

"I would love for some coffee, if it's no trouble." Seras gave him a warm smile, though still touched with shy as she once again pushed a strand of hair behind one ear, in what was quickly becoming apparent as a nervous habit.

"As for how I am... Tired. It's been a long couple of days. Sometimes I almost wish that I had taken a job here at the restaurant like Yanma. But... Well. The force just called to me." She turned her gaze to the bar, smiling, but it didn't reach her eyes. After a moment, she forced herself to relax, looking at him again.

"What about you?"

[Cho Hakkai]

Hakkai had only just briefly exchanged words with the young woman, but he was glad she had taken him up on his offer of dinner at the restaurant. He slid a bookmark with the Chinese character for 'fortune' between the pages to mark his place before setting the novel on the bar top. Not even a hint of a grimace crossed the man's face as Seras explained her relation. Instead his smile remained in place as he opened his mouth to tease the girl.

"You poor woman. Unfortunately we can't choose our family." His mouth quirked in an amused smile as the playful tease came through. Hakkai gave a warm, welcoming smile towards her as she sat herself at the stool he had offered for her to sit at. "Then it's a good thing she isn't."

The youkai didn't bother pretending that he wasn't looking her over. He had done his fair share of admiring her himself when they were at the temple, but that was with his best friend in need of healing and a strange woman beat within an inch of her death. Hakkai noted that her eyes weren't the amber brown he had thought them to be, but genuinely red like dark garnets. A very unique trait that he had only previously seen in albinos. Though her fair skin could possibly pass as an albino's, the rest of her contested that.

"Coffee is no trouble at all." He turned and rose from the stool to go around behind the bar. Hakkai set the pot to brew and smiled at Seras from his position. His eyes followed her fingers as they curved around her ear to tuck a strand of hair there before returning to gazing just beyond her eyes. He was one of those people that believed the eyes were the windows to one's soul, and he didn't want to scare her away by a glimpse at his.

He chuckled lightly at her explaination of her job position. "It's good to answer one's calling." Hakkai leaned the side of his hip against the bar comfortably as he waited for the coffee pot to finish brewing. "Me?" He paused only a moment, the briefest of dark looks flickering across his face before vanishing as if never having been there in the first place. "I enjoy cooking, so taking a job here seemed only natural." Hakkai smiled warmly again at her.

He had been a teacher once. Would still be one if things hadn't turned very very wrong. But that was in the past and now was the present. He was Cho Hakkai, no longer Cho Genou, and there was a very pretty woman visiting. Too bad his thoughts didn't reflect his outward apperance.

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[Police Girl]

The fact that Hakkai hadn't run screaming into the abyss at the revelation of her relationship to Yanma was a rather good sign. Actually, it was rather excellent. His comment even got a chuckle out of her as she smiled at him, eyes lightening a bit.

"Isn't that God's own truth?" Seras asked teasingly in response, but immediately regretted the use of the 'G' word as her stomache clenched up. Ever since she was seventeen, her faith had diminished so severely that she couldn't even handle the mention of the deity that well. She couldn't believe in it anymore, not after member of that supposedly esteemed faith had tried to kill her, and had killed the man she loved...

Still, she pushed it away, unaware that her eyes were still that crimson, drawn out by the negative emotions and her own tired state. Normally, her eyes were as blue as the sky above, bright and innocent. But when negative emotions were swamping her, or in the heat of battle, her eyes changed, to a blood red that was rather befitting the driven creature she was sometimes. Bitterly, she always thought it fit the monster she felt like she was sometimes. It did mean that she avoided eye contact with people, instead looking just past their eyes or something similar, uncomfortable with the idea that someone might be able to see too much in her eyes.

Seras still managed to smile as she watched him, admiring his eyes while avoiding at the same time, unaware that he was doing the same. "I can assure you that my mother wasn't exactly thrilled about my choice in occupation." She responded, chuckling softly as she drummed her fingers on the bar. Without realizing it, she was leaning in a bit, in response to his own leaning forward. "No matter how much I like my job."

Unable to help herself, she found herself discretely studying him. It had been apparent before that he wasn't one of those meathead jocks that worked out until they were all muscle. He had looked rather normal at first. But his movements were rather graceful. She was willing to bet that he did have some muscle, but lean muscle instead of bulky.

It took her a moment to realize that he was looking her over. A blush actually touched her cheeks as she dropped her eyes to her menu, once again lifting her hand to push her hair behind one ear.

Peculiarly enough, he... reminded her of Pip. So friendly, so open on the surface. Did he have secrets like Pip did? Why was she even thinking about this? Lifting her gaze, she smiled again, and opened her mouth to ask him something innocent-

"So do you have a girlfriend?"

Seras actually sat there in shock, a dumbfounded look on her face before her cheeks flamed in embarassment.

WHERE THE BLOODY FUCKING HELL DID THAT COME FROM!?

[Cho Hakkai]

It was always so interesting to hear a person interject 'God' into their sentences. He couldn't remember a time when he actually had a firm faith in something. His twin had been the believer and the one to chid him when he rolled his eyes at the gods. However, if there was such a thing as a higher power than he found the idea of a single god to be improbable. It was more likely there were multiple, merciless gods who took pleasure in pain.

But that was only his dark thoughts taking presidence.

Life had been different when he was a nursery teacher, with his twin and fiancee at his side. Happier. Some days he could still see the blood covering his hands and forearms. Yet a small seed within him prayed to the gods anyway, for a day that he could feel such a careless pleasure once more. Happy endings were possible, weren't they? Then again, he didn't often believe in happy endings.

The youkai in human form knew nothing of her eyes being naturally blue, just as he hoped she'd never know about his single eye becoming gold. Since gaining the prothestic eye he had been able to pass as having perfect vision due to the rest of his senses being hightened. Very rarely could anyone tell that his right eye was not natural.

He lowered his eyes for just a moment, and the briefest flickers of red appeared on his skin in his view. It was as if the very thought of the days he saw the blood again had provoked him to spot some. But then he blinked and it was gone. For now.

Hakkai lifted his emerald gaze as his warm smile never faltered, even if the path to his eyes did. "There are parents who are content with their children's choices, and then there are those who believe that as a parent they are always right." He chuckled, keeping his outward mood light even as he inwardly darkened. "So long as you enjoy it." His smile widened a fraction, conveying even more warmth if possible.

Then he realized she had noticed his looking her over and felt a spark of childish pleasure at seeing her blush. He hadn't purposefully taken interest in a woman in a long time, and he wasn't sure what he was looking for either. However he wasn't expecting the next question that came out of her. If he had been drinking anything he'd probably have choked a little, but instead he laughed lightly.

"Interesting question." A small light of teasing rose to his face as he noted her embarassed flush. "I don't normally have people interested in my personal life." He was just teasing her now, attempting to make her embarassment worse like the terrible person he secretly was before he soothed her. "No need to worry, Miss. Seras, I do not have a girlfriend." Hakkai plastered an innocent expression on his face then, pretending as if he hadn't been taking pleasure from her flustered reaction to her own question.

Hakkai turned away from the counter for a moment to prepare the cup of coffee she had asked for, placing small creamers and sugar packs next to the saucer after setting down said item. He looked over her features again, though more to confirm his thoughts rather than to actually 'look her over'.

Oh who was he kidding? He found her attractive. Now to tease her more.

"And you, Miss. Seras? Do you have a boyfriend?" If questioned, he would deny any such claim that he had a mischievous look on his face.