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Earl Grey and Sweet Vermouth
Vermouth caught the apple in mid-air on her way up to the kitchen's peninsula. “You're throwing apples at me now? I guess the shotgun would clash with the apron quite a bit.”
Meandering over, it became apparent the woman fell almost two inches shy in height to the man in the apron.
Glancing up to the nearing actress, Okiya caught the overt smugness in a mildly amused smirk, which brought an infuriating dimple to the woman's cheek.
“Isn't it theatre custom to throw edibles in follow-up to an ill performance.” Okiya stated.
“Ah, so the music didn't suit your taste, Rye. I see.” Vermouth's fingertips strayed along the edge of the countertop as if still following the grand piano's dulcet sway. Before the actress settled on a bar stool vis-à-vis, one leg absently crossed over the other, a mellow hum still under her breath.
Okiya observed the woman's unusual light-hearted demeanour. This was Sweet Vermouth, not the aloof and callous one he'd been acquainted with. The infuriating woman, who didn't shy away from standing atiptoe with his koibito-san. This time, however, Gin had taken a hollow point closer to heart. Almost succeeding in killing Vermouth in the process.
“No. It did, actually. But it wasn't the first time I heard you play.”
“Not the first?” For the better it might've been, she'd opted to sit abreast the peninsula beforehand. The thought of what Rye might've witnessed on that solemn evening she'd played Chopin's Nocturne only further stoked her unease.
“Eat up. I initially throw the apple for you to actually take a bite, seeing as you're hypoglycaemic. If the migraine is the to go by. You squint your eyes markedly as the light invades, and your movements are more deliberate. I can assure you, it's neither poisoned nor rotten.”
Vermouth glowered and gave a disparaging scoff at the not quite late FBI agent but took a crunching bite of out of the fruit nonetheless.
“I might've to reconsider.” Okiya's gaze strayed over to the kitchen door and the adjacent parlour. “On the Rotten Apple front, that is.” The sly bastard, he must've ascertained whether matriarch was well out of earshot. Yukiko's late castigation ostensibly still fresh on his mind, then concluded. “A tamanegi suits you just as well.”
Vermouth, who still manducated on the honeycrisp fruit, choked awkwardly on the latest bite she'd taken.
That woman's stroke of ill luck enriched Okiya's cup of Earl Grey considerably.
“It seems words can kill you just as easily, woman. If I'd known before, it would've saved me a round of bullets.”
But contrary to his words, Okiya opted to place another cup of Earl Grey in front of Vermouth, who scowled and in a bid to quell her late conundrum deigned and took a sip, endeavouring to preserve a soupçon of dignity.
A tad more forceful than strictly necessary, the actress clinked the cup back onto its plate. “I abhor you.”
“The feeling is mutual, I can assure you.”
“So a tamanegi. Do tell. To be bested by a woman. Surely it must've made you cry, Rye?” Vermouth crooned in low contralto and cocked her head, idly resting her chin in her palm.
Okiya scoffed. “I've known your worldview to be severely compromised, but that's twisting the truth rather grotesquely. I scarred you quite well in New York, Silverhair. Whilst our shootout at the harbour parted with you fleeing with tantei-bouya. And on a final note, I could've ended you on the rooftops of the Mōri Tantei Jimusho.”
“I know. Lucky me, that you abhor our dear Gin even more. I actually felt your bullets passing.”
“I remember you meandering down from the rooftops at your own leisure. It's fortunate that my finger is not itching to put a bullet between your eyes.”
“Ah yes, I see the moral high ground yawning.” The bitterness behind her words seemed almost astringent.
“Yawning indeed. But Gin, you're not. You've got the devil's luck. You almost died at his hand this time.”
“My my, the almost part, I see. Well, I'm sorry to disappoint, Rye. The kitten told me you and him had a little spat after Angel and I fell. Is he... dead?”
There's a strange depth to the actress's voice. One that gave Okiya pause.
“No. Although he shall be licking his wounds. He played a lone hand this time. I don't suppose That person would connive even his third in command such an agenda.”