cicer

Fandom: Weiss Kreuz
Pairing: Crawford/Schuldig
Wordcount: 772
Notes: This was written for the

stagesoflove first challenge, the five stages of love. I previously posted these drabbles one by one, but I thought I should post them all together so anyone who wants to read them doesn't have to go digging through five different posts. Enjoy!

Attraction

Crawford was never sure quite how it happened. He entered Rosenkreuz, intent on finding a smart, obedient telepath to add to his team. He walked out with Schuldig. He had meant to find someone strong, but passive: someone who wouldn’t ask questions about his business or interfere with his plans. Yet somehow, he’d managed to get himself stuck with an insolent, irresponsible teenager.

Schuldig was lazy, messy, and most irritating of all, irrepressibly nosy. He went through Crawford’s things, and asked dozens of questions about topics Crawford would prefer to keep private. Not only that, he saw nothing wrong with using his telepathic abilities intrusively, and had absolutely no respect for the privacy of one’s thoughts. Crawford was aware that it would be probably be wise to send Schuldig back and find another telepath.

And yet….

Crawford studied Schuldig’s young body draped over the couch as he watched television.

Perhaps he’d give it a few more weeks.

Romance

A small drink to celebrate their first successful job together had sounded harmless enough when Schuldig had first proposed it.

Sitting on the couch, Crawford watched as Schuldig drained his glass and immediately reached for the bottle. He filled his glass again and drank, pale throat moving with each swallow.

“Don’t drink too much,” Crawford instructed. “We have another assignment tomorrow.”

“Again?” Schuldig sighed exaggeratedly. “We just finished one. Don’t we get any time to breathe?”

“Be ready at eight,” Crawford answered flatly, and rose to leave. Schuldig reached out and touched his leg.

“Wait,” he purred, “You haven’t finished your drink.”

Crawford allowed Schuldig to pull him back onto the couch.

Perhaps it was the stress, or the lingering adrenaline from the day’s work. Maybe it was simply the appeal of a warm, willing body.

Schuldig refilled Crawford’s glass.

Logically, Crawford knew that this was probably a bad idea.

…Oh, what the hell.

Passion

If only one thing could be said about the sex, it was this: it was never dull. Crawford had never considered himself an uneducated or uncreative man when it came to sexual activities, but at Schuldig’s urging, he’d been introduced to acts he was not formerly aware were physically possible. Role-playing, power games, sex in unusual (and occasionally disturbing) locations….Schuldig approached all of it with enthusiasm and a level of knowledge that Crawford found mildly alarming.

Still, though the games Schuldig like to play were occasionally strange or irritating, Crawford generally found them very enjoyable. Of course, sometimes they were just bizarre.

“Is this really necessary?” He asked in annoyance.

“Shh,” Schuldig said, adjusting the fluffy elastics holding his pigtails in place. “You’re ruining the mood.” He smoothed his plaid skirt and cleared his throat.

“Oh, Crawford-san, I just know I’m failing English. Do you think I could do some kind of extra-credit to bring my grade up?” Schuldig said suggestively.

Crawford sighed.

Intimacy

Schuldig’s face was hard and blank, and he said nothing on the drive home. For once, Crawford wished he could read minds. Schuldig remained silent as Crawford parked the car in the garage, and opened the car door before Crawford had even turned off the engine.

They walked to the door of their house and Crawford unlocked it. As Schuldig made to walk through, Crawford reached out and grabbed his arm.

“You know that I did what I had to do,” he said carefully.

“Fine,” Schuldig replied, and shook off his hand.

Schuldig spent the night in his own room.

Crawford knew he had done what was necessary. He had carefully evaluated all options and looked at every possible outcome of each choice. Allowing Takatori to expend his rage on Schuldig was the best option, and would protect his team in the long run.

He had known that this would happen. He had expected the anger and remoteness.

He hadn’t expected it to hurt so much.

Commitment

Years of precognitive abilities had left Crawford with a certain disdain for the future and a particular unusual appreciation for the past. There was a unique beauty in events that had already come to pass. The future was a glittering tangle of choices and possibilities, but the past…the past was a quiet, sturdy thing, full of familiar joys and griefs. The future was uncertain, while the past was safe.

With Schuldig, Crawford saw the future stretched out before them and the past stretched out behind. With Schuldig, the future was not something to be hated or feared, but to be patiently and contentedly waited for. The past was something to be cherished. In Schuldig, Crawford had found hopes he had not known he possessed. He had found joy in the future again.