No Money No Swiss

[lasvizzera-blog]

@lilianzwingli

Basch was sat in the Agency building, staring at a blank piece of paper.  He hadn’t done much today, mostly some sent some faxes.  It was all in all an average day.  Until someone dropped a pile of papers, grabbing Basch’s attention.  He wouldn’t have paid much attention normally, but the girl had short blonde hair, in the same style as Basch’s and the same green eyes.  He recognized her instantly.

“Lilli?”

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Wow! There's just so many new people for Feliciano to greet! Except, when he approached this newcomer, he had to pause, for he looked rather distressed. A concerned look on his face, he peered at the other a moment before speaking. "...Hey, are you okay?"

Basch blinked in surprise.  Had he really looked distressed enough that some stranger had come up to him.  Basch returned to his usual scowl.

“I’m fine.  Who are you?”

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engeldermusik

Obviously, it would be ill advised for Roderich to let Basch know of his leadership position, though he had no doubt that the other might have come to the conclusion himself. Markell had said he worked for him, after all, and only someone in a position of power would have faced an assassination attempt.

But still, when Basch spoke again, he couldn’t help the disappointment that shone in his eyes.

“…I see.” Roderich paused, his gaze averted to some spot in the distance. “Well, I won’t keep you if you must leave. But… thank you again. You… really did save me back there.”

Basch paused as Roderich spoke, no longer starting to walk away.  Really, he wanted to stay here with Roderich and argue with him until he stopped being an idiot and everything was fine again.  But that would go poorly in reality, so Basch simply muttered,

“Don’t mention it.  And stay out of trouble next time.”

With that, Basch walked off.

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santiphaph

 That’s how the Agency stays safe from the other organizations, Basch. Listen to Sanun.

  “Yes I do! Most ability users… aren’t seen in a good light, so I wish to help them help others! The Agency is here to help ability users learn how to use their abilities and also show normal civilians that we aren’t all horrible.”

“Hmm,” well, that was good enough for Basch.  “So, you can teach me about my ability?”

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engeldermusik

There was something about Basch’s tone of voice that had Roderich’s expression faltering. He’d never thought he’d have someone in his life who’d be disappointed to hear of his career choice. Granted, he hadn’t expected to see Basch again, either.

With a sigh, Roderich adjusted his glasses. “…I suppose at this point you deserve to know.”

“I don’t know who it was that attacked me. Obviously, they were after my life.” He’d explain why if Basch asked, but for now, moving on. “Markell has the power to heal. Perhaps you’ve heard of certain people in this world with otherworldly gift? The Guild is home to many of them.”

Basch faltered a bit at that.  Roderich knew about abilities?  He immediately thought about telling Roderich about his, but on second thought he knew it would be a bad idea.  Who knew what the Guild was up to.  Basch really only had one question in his mind, and that was why Roderich decided to turn to crime.  Yet he knew he couldn’t ask that either.

“...I have to go,” mumbled Basch.  He knew things would only get emotional and messy if he stayed much longer. 

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engeldermusik

Well, Basch was certainly blocking his escape route. And Roderich couldn’t exactly run as he was. Besides, even if he did, he’d be caught pretty much immediately. So all there was to do was face Basch and his questions.

There was a pause, during which Roderich’s expression hardened, but still he couldn’t quite bring himself to make eye contact with Basch.

“…Hmph. When you mentioned you had joined the Armed Detective’s Agency, I figured there was a chance you might figure out the truth on your own. The Guild is fairly unknown to the public, after all.”

“So you are in the Guild after all,” Basch bit his lip.

He knew they hadn’t spoken in ages, but it still felt a little harsh.  Like a childhood loss of innocence.

“But that doesn’t answer my question.  Who are they?   What just happened?  And how did he heal you?”

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engeldermusik

Roderich nodded once more. “I certainly will. It’s likely whoever made this attempt will act again. I will have to look into this as well, but I’ll be certain to lay low.”

Despite himself, Roderich returned the smile with a wry one of his own. “I’ll be sure to let the assassins know when is most convenient for them to attempt to kill me.” Standing up carefully, he adjusted his glasses. “And I’ll do my best to not be shot at in the future.” With one more nod of farewell, Roderich left, tired and in pain and definitely ready to go to sleep as soon as he got back to his room.

Unfortunately for him, as soon as he stepped out, there was Basch, just waiting.

@lasvizzera​

“Roderich,” grumbled Basch.  “You’re going to explain what just happened.”

He tapped his foot against the deck impatiently.  Basch wasn’t going to let Roderich get away from him now.  Why would Roderich get into something like organized crime?  He wasn’t hurting for money, as far as Basch knew.

He wanted this to all go away, but he couldn’t ignore it now.  “You’re part of the Guild, aren’t you?”

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engeldermusik:

Already Roderich could sense the tension in the room. This was going to be difficult to deal with. For the time being though, he decided to simply focus on his healing shoulder. The pain certainly had subsided some, but as Markell explained, it still did hurt quite a bit. He nodded in understanding.

“I’ll certainly try my best, though I doubt I can call off any assassination attempts that might happen…” He sighed.

After a pause, he finally glanced at Basch, his expression unreadable. “…Thank you again for your help, Basch. You needn’t linger if you don’t need to.”

Basch’s eyes flicked down to Roderich’s shirtless form.  God.  He had a little bit of chub, but it was oddly endearing.  He hadn’t changed that much since they were kids after all.

He almost didn’t notice the skin healing on it’s own.  If he were a less restrained man, his jaw would be on the floor.  Another ability user?  Nevermind, he could question Roderich about it.

Basch made eye contact with the doctor(?), trying to convey “if you do anything to him, you’re dead” with his eyes.  “I’ll leave you two alone,” he said, heading for the door.  He nodded, walked out, shut the door, and crossed his arms.  Roderich had some explaining to do.

[engeldermusik-blog]

nattergalfugl:

lasvizzera:

Basch looked up in surprise at the man who had opened the door. He was vaguely intimidating looking, and exactly the kind of person Basch would expect to be in a gang.

Basch felt his heart pulse a little faster when Roderich called him his friend. Were they still friends? They hadn’t seen each other in many years, but Basch had just saved his life, so he supposed that kind of made up for it. He briefly wondered what they were going to do after Roderich wasn’t bleeding to death anymore, whether they could keep being friends now. It made Basch feel a bit pained, knowing that there was so much between them now.

Basch pushed it to the back of his mind. “My name is Basch Zwingli. I knew Roderich a long time ago. Are you his friend?”

This was certainly some sight to see. His boss bleeding with some stranger that was supposedly a friend? Markell may need some more context to this whole situation. “I’m a worker for him at the least. Know him mainly from work, but I suppose I would call us friends.”

He moved out of the way to let both of them in, a worried look playing on his face. “Introductions aside, what the hell happened to you, Roderich?” Once they were both in Markell took Roderich to sit him down and take his shirt off of the injured shoulder. 

Roderich was glad to finally sit down; running and being shot had really worn him out. His expression set into a grimace, he allowed Markell to do what he needed to treat him.

“I was working, when I was suddenly shot. A sniper, I think. I suppose it might have been an attempt on my life. In fact, it was most certainly that. They had more than one person with them as well. I was lucky enough to get through, and then was when I ran into Basch.”

As he explained the situation to Markell, Roderich kept his gaze pointedly away from Basch. He had no idea how he might react to hearing this, and would most definitely demand an explanation, but Roderich would deal with that once there wasn’t a bullet in his shoulder.

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Basch slowly digested this information.  Was Roderich high up?  He couldn’t believe it.  Roderich had been so delicate as a child, physically and emotionally.  He supposed they had both changed, but at least Basch wasn’t a criminal.  He felt mad at Roderich for all of this, but at the same time oddly resigned.

“Just fix him up,” said Basch.

He glared at the man as he started to work on Roderich.  Basch didn’t trust him farther than he throw him, even if he did work with Roderich.

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engeldermusik:

The trek to Markell’s was long and draining, and Roderich had to fight to keep himself going. He wasn’t sure how much blood he’d lost, but it was certainly getting to him at this point. As Basch began to speak, Roderich had an inkling of what he was going to ask, and was relieved when he was cut off.

When Markell opened the door, he shot him a look that he hoped said “please don’t say anything about who I am,” pausing a moment to cough into his fist. Of course, now his cold had to act up.

“…A friend. I was attacked. I’ll be fine, it’s just my shoulder. I’ll find out who is responsible later, for now just– help, please.”

Basch looked up in surprise at the man who had opened the door. He was vaguely intimidating looking, and exactly the kind of person Basch would expect to be in a gang.

Basch felt his heart pulse a little faster when Roderich called him his friend. Were they still friends? They hadn't seen each other in many years, but Basch had just saved his life, so he supposed that kind of made up for it. He briefly wondered what they were going to do after Roderich wasn't bleeding to death anymore, whether they could keep being friends now. It made Basch feel a bit pained, knowing that there was so much between them now.

Basch pushed it to the back of his mind. "My name is Basch Zwingli. I knew Roderich a long time ago. Are you his friend?"

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engeldermusik

As much as Roderich tried, he was unable to mask the slight change in expression that occurred when Basch mentioned the Agency. Of course. That would be his luck, wouldn’t it? And he couldn’t tell Basch to leave now, not when he’d agreed to let him help.

“…I see. What a coincidence that we work in the same city.” He paused, falling silent for a time, his mind spinning. .He really had no idea how he was going to explain all of this to Basch, or if he even could. There was too much confidential information that he’d have to leave out, and now knowing Basch was with the Agency, there was no way he could explain who he was now. Just bringing him to the Minerva was a breach of security. But what choice did he have? He wasn’t about to kill Basch, he couldn’t possibly bring himself to do that. He was torn from his thoughts when they finally arrived. He nodded, feeling a bit of exhaustion creeping up. This wound was rather draining. “Yes, it is. The person I know is here… hopefully.”

When Roderich pointed in the right direction, Basch dragged the both of them up to the boat's deck and the door. He tried the handle at first, but it was locked. It looked like there was a passcode system. Basch knocked hard on the door, ignoring that Roderich probably knew the password.

God, of all the ways they could meet again, why did it have to be like this? Roderich had probably killed people. Somehow he couldn't imagine it. He had liked Roderich too much as a kid. Basch knew that intellectually they shouldn't be involved, but emotionally...

After the long pause, Basch spoke, "Look. I know you're probably involved with organized-" Basch was cut off by the door opening.

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engeldermusik

If Basch had just so happened to move to Port City, it would certainly be quite the coincidence. And really, it was just a grand coincidence that they’d happened to run into each other here, in this situation of all times. Roderich would later curse his own luck.

“Yes, it… it has, hasn’t it…” he replied, voice just as mumbled, though he trailed off as Basch continued, simply listening. It was interesting to hear where he’d been.

“…I see. So that’s where you were. I’m… glad to hear you were alright.” Roderich paused, debating how much information he should give. He’d have to come up with something at some point. “…I joined my parents’ profession when I was in high school. They both passed away man years ago. I’ve lived here some time now, but I still go back to Austria frequently to check in on the opera house.”

“Oh.  I see,” said Basch awkwardly.  It was rather a shock, and Basch didn’t know what to say.  He did grimace, glancing quickly at Roderich to make sure he was okay.  “I’m sorry.”

Hoping to change the subject to something less awkward, Basch continued, “I, uhh, came here for work.  I was called by a detective agency after I went home from trade school.”  He looked at Roderich’s face briefly and his breath was stolen when it seemed to mean something to him.  Basch didn’t particularly want to believe that his childhood friend had gotten involved in organized crime, but it was getting harder and harder to deny.  Still, he felt a glimmer of loyalty to Roderich.  He couldn’t leave him to rot with a good conscious.

It was then when they arrived at the dock.  Basch blinked, the ship was far bigger than he had imagined.  It would be enough to house several people.  “You sure this is the right place?” he asked.

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"I'll take two. Top bun glazed and bottom- vanilla frosting. Thanks!"

Basch was minding his own business, in a different restaurant than the two he had been to so far.  He hadn’t gotten the menu yet, but he had a glass of tap water, legally the bare minimum for him to stay in the restaurant.  He hadn’t really been paying much attention to the other people’s food until that American man bought that.

What the fuck was that.

Basch was blissfully unaware that he had said what he was thinking out loud.

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generaticn

        ‘What?’

As his donutburger was getting wrapped up, and his heart racing at the thought of it- he heard what was most likely the cruelest sentence in the cruelest context ever. His head whipped around with a vengeance. ‘Excuse me?’

       Alright. The guy definitely didn’t look like he wanted to be disturbed. Hence, Alfred found no better incentive than to disturb him.

  ‘A donutburger. God’s personal gift to me.’

Shit.  The guy had heard him.  But Basch wasn’t going to back down for the sake of his pride.

“It’s an abomination.”

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engeldermusik

“There is, I promise. Thank you…” Now all he had to do was hope that Markell didn’t say anything about Roderich’s position in the Guild.

As they walked, Roderich did his best to keep his mind anywhere but the wound on his shoulder. He’d never had a very high pain tolerance, but the desire to simply get out of this situation overrode the pain in a way. “Just… keep going this direction. Once we get on the street it’s not far from here.”

Roderich’s nerves were incredibly frazzled. Not only had he not been expecting an assassination attempt, but to see Basch again so suddenly? His mind was full of unanswered questions that he wasn’t even sure he’d have the time to ask. Perhaps once they were on board the Minerva, they’d have a chance to reconnect, but Roderich was dreading having to explain what was going on.

Basch stumbled along, taking Roderich with him.  He supposed this would take a few minutes, even though Basch was going as fast as he could.  His mind was buzzing with questions.  What was Roderich doing here?  Wasn’t he supposed to be helping with his parents’ opera house?  Perhaps this wasn’t anything suspicious.  Perhaps Basch didn’t have to worry.

“It’s been a while,” mumbled Basch.  God, this was awkward.

He looked down at the ground, hoping to avoid Roderich’s eyes.  “Me and Lili moved to Andermatt after we left.  That’s where we stayed.  My uncle is a carpenter.”  He felt like he could talk for hours to Roderich about everything that had occurred since then, so much had happened.  “Went to trade school.”

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engeldermusik

A hospital was certainly a logical place to think to take Roderich, but he was quick to shake his head, though he didn’t give a reason as to why not. While his face and name weren’t tied completely to the Guild just yet – his disguises as the Phantom helped make it hard to track him – the last thing he needed was any risk of discovery.

“I know it’s… dangerous,” he huffed, reluctantly letting Basch take some of his weight. “But there’s a healer there. On the ship, the S.S. Minerva. He knows me.” Well, only because he was his boss, but he wasn’t about to admit to being in the Guild so quickly when it seemed that Basch knew of its existence.

“Please, just… take me there, if you’re going to insist on helping me. I’ll be fine once I’m aboard. You really don’t need to help though, I’ll be fine. I know my way there.”

Basch’s brow furrowed.  “I’ll take you to the boat, but I’m making sure that there’s an actual doctor there and you’re going to explain everything afterwards.”  He didn’t yet know the name of the boat, so he had a suspicion something weird was going on, but not enough to argue about it yet.

Basch started to slowly walk, making sure Roderich wouldn’t fall again.  He realized he still didn’t know where they were.  “Which direction is it in?” he asked.

He winced as he heard the far away sound of footsteps.  He knew it was probably just a stranger, it was a city after all, but Basch tensed up anyway.  

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engeldermusik:

It was all Roderich could do to keep a grip on his precious violin and his pistol while also trying to ignore the fact that Basch was now carrying him. Any protests he had died on his lips rather quickly, the shock of the situation keeping him from worrying too much about his wounded pride.

When Basch had finally stopped running and ducked them behind the dumpster, Roderich finally became aware of the own sweat on his brow. The bullet in his shoulder hurt like hell, though the adrenaline still kept him from focusing on it too much. Before he could respond though footsteps could be heard, and Basch pressed them both against the wall. Roderich did his best to silence himself, not noticing either how close they were. At least not until the footsteps had faded away.

Then he noticed. And he did his best not to get flustered by the closeness.

“…I don’t know,” he finally answered, his voice a shaky whisper. “I–” He cut himself off. How could he explain what he was doing here? And what was Basch doing here? The only sliver of hope Roderich had was that perhaps he’d never heard of the Guild. It wasn’t as well known as say, the Mafia or Agency, after all.

“…I’ll explain the– the details later. We need to get out of here. I’m armed, so we should be fine. Do you know where the docks are? I need to get there. I can get there on my own, you needn’t involve yourself in this.”

"Roderich, you can't even walk by yourself right now. We're going to go to a hospital. You're losing blood."

After nagging Roderich a bit, he noticed how close they were and got off of Roderich, heart beating slightly too fast. He cleared his throat and took Roderich by the arm he hadn't been shot in. Basch shifted Roderich's weight so that he was leaning on Basch's shoulder and started to stand up slowly.

"Why do you want to go to the docks," grunted Basch as he tried to hold all of Roderich's weight. "That's supposed to be gang territory." Sanun had given him a very detailed lecture about where he was and was not supposed to go at night.

Basch peered out of the alley to check if they were still here. The coast seemed to be clear for now. They would have to be careful, but he could feasibly get back to the Agency, where he could get a ride to the hospital with Roderich.

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engeldermusik:

The first thought in Roderich’s mind was that he must look terrible; he was covered in blood and was holding a gun for goodness sake

The second thought was wondering why on earth he was worried about something like that. Perhaps because it was Basch, a friend from his childhood who he hadn’t seen in over a decade.

He again didn’t have much time for his thoughts because soon Basch was grabbing his wrist and tugging him forward.

Unfortunately it was the wrist connected to the shoulder where he’d been shot.

Caught off guard and already weak in the knees from all the running, Roderich yelped and tripped over his own feet, falling with a thud onto the pavement, a grunt of pain following. Just wonderful. As if things weren’t already going terribly.

"We don't h-" Before Basch could think to finish his sentence, he instinctively reached down and grabbed Roderich under his back and knees, hoisting him up and running in the opposite direction of whatever was chasing him. Could this have something to do with the detective agency, he thought. They had spoken to him about their rival illegal organizations.

Basch ran like hell, but carrying Roderich, he was quickly exhausted. As soon as he could, he ducked into an alleyway and hid them both from view on the other side of a dumpster. He panted for breath, unsure of where they would go after this. Maybe he could take Roderich back to the Agency, they could help.

"Roderich, what the hell are you doing here?" hissed Basch, switching back to German, as it was both of their native language. "Who's chasing you?"

He winced as he heard footsteps going passed the alley. Before he could think, Basch pressed both of them into the wall. In his fear, he barely noticed that they were close enough together that he could feel Roderich's shaky breath on his face.