Cash Only
By Misster Cackles

Chapter Three

: / / / / :

His night could have come out worse, Tyki figured while trying to see the upside of the situation. At least he now knew that Millennium Crosses allowed hourly rentals. On the television screen, the brunette threw his head back, his eyes tightly closed and mouth open. The redhead – sitting on the dark, bald man’s lap and moving his hips in a way that made Tyki extremely glad that the camera couldn’t catch all of the action – was bent over in front of the brunette, vigorously working his mouth on him.

It could have been worse, he firmly believed.

There could have been audio.

The Portuguese put a hand over his eyes and inclined in the chair which caused it to squeak and focused breathing slowly. In and out. In and out. In and… Tyki groaned hoarsely; that so was not working. He swallowed heavily, sweat trickling towards his brow, and he peeked through his fingers at the moving picture. The redhead – who Tyki was guessing was the prostitute – was sitting straight in the bald man’s lap, back arched while the brunette grinded against him directly jerkily. Thin hands grabbed Red’s face and pulled him for a desperate kiss. Spent, the young brunette collapsed back on the bed panting for breath.

Slowly lifting his unoccupied hand to his pants, Tyki shivered as he hesitantly cupped himself. The hand over his eyes dropped to his mouth and he glanced at his hidden arousal before looking back at the recording acts. Red, thrusting his hips without rhythm, was biting his lip while Baldo was repositioning them both by leaning forward and getting on his knees. The redhead’s mouth dropped open and his face showed pure pleasure when a large hand wrapped around his erection. The lips moved, but Tyki couldn’t read them.

A knock at the door made Tyki curse and pull his shirt down as far as it could go – which wasn’t very far. He roughly cleared his throat. “Who is it?”

“Let me in, Uncle Tyki~!” His niece’s muffled voice called from behind the door. "Aunt Lulu said that the regular is here!" Tyki blinked, his eyes wide.

He looked at the screen skeptically and asked slowly, "When Lulu's in here does she let you come in, too?"

There was a moment of hesitant silence before Road spoke again. "No-ooo..." she said carefully, and then hurried to say, "But Aunt Lulu isn't like Uncle Tyki because Uncle Tyki's nicer! You'll let me see him, right, favorite uncle?" In other words, she was trying to bribe him, one of those 'I'll love you even more'-things. The Portuguese man blinked again, frowning at the door.

"Road, where is Lulu?"

There was an even longer pause and Tyki was about to ask again when a giggle erupted from the girl outside the door. "Never mind~ I'll just see if I can find Lero or Eaze." Faint clacking of his niece's Mary Jane’s told him she was gone, but his frown deepened; Road paired with either of those boys was trouble in the making, though Eaze was less of a concern than Lero was. All three of them went to the same school and possibly had more records than a convict, and it was even worse off school grounds. Lero came from a high-standing family, his parents’ friends with Duke so he was often in the hotel while Eaze's father was just a regular gambler at the slots - with no babysitter, Eaze would come in and head straight to the upstairs’ game room.

Tyki didn't worry about Lulu as he turned back around in his seat because he had bigger problems to deal with, and when his eyes landed on the screen again he nearly groaned in frustration; the bedroom was empty, and having a good idea where they were, Tyki pressed the bathroom button. All three of them were in the extensive shower cleaning them selves and not at all fooling around which made the Portuguese man sigh heavily as he willed his body to calm.

It was possibly fifteen minutes more when the two older-looking men exited the room, having each paid the redhead a very nice roll of cash, but the prostitute stayed behind, shirtless, on the couch. He didn't count the money but only stared at it with - as well as Tyki could see the digitalized person - a small smile. Tyki raised an eyebrow at the redhead's expression when it changed to that of pike interest and he stood, going towards the bedroom again. Following orders, and his curiosity, Tyki switched the scene.

Red was answering his phone, a bigger smile present as he talked into it and picked his buttoned shirt from the floor. When his finger slipped from a button so did that smile from his face and he stilled. Next he was rushing around the room for his shoes and socks and belt, and hardly finished tying his laces he was out the door, lights off behind him. Slightly alarmed on this behavior, Tyki leaned forward and fiddled with the controls to follow his movement, but easily lost him from his inexperience with the dials.

Thinking fast, Tyki reached for the handset next to the control table and called the cab company that worked for Millennium Crosses to come bring a car around front to wait for a man with short red hair and take him anywhere that he needed to go. He hung up the phone right after and, since his job as security was done, left to hopefully catch up with the mysterious redheaded prostitute.

...wait.

Nearing the main doors of the hotel, Tyki slowed in his steps, golden brown eyes widening with disbelief; what the hell was he doing, what was he hoping to achieve? Why was he even trying to meet this guy after he just watched him whore himself - fuck, how would he even approach him? Tyki snorted at a mental image - "Hey, I was watching you have sex, but now you look kind of freaked - what's up?" - and calmly continued to go outside to at least catch one last glimpse of him because lord knew that was his last time in the security room - Skinn could grow an anti-bigot backbone.

If you know the shortcuts, it takes approximately three minutes and sixteen seconds to get to the front of the building from the guest rooms on the second floor - without using the elevator. Two minutes for anyone daring to take the laundry chute down to the basement, then up the elevator, but then again it wasn't always promised that a laundry crate would be there to catch your fall. The Portuguese man casually glanced at his watch and stroked a match on the side of the wall to light a cigarette; he had time before Red would be out here.

Two cigarettes, four minutes, and a cab pull up later and still no sign of the redheaded prostitute. Tyki glanced inside the hotel to the flashy casino, searching, but no avail. One minute passed and Tyki strode to driver side of the company cab.

"Sorry, Sachiko," he said in his best gentleman tone to the driver. "It seems as though your passenger had a friend come by while you were on your way; sorry for the inconvenience."

Smiling brightly, she said, "That's quite fine; can you ask for me if that family waiting there needs a lift? It looks like their ride might be late." Tyki smiled and nodded. After the stranded family was packed into the car and it went on its way, Tyki turned back to the hotel with deep perplexity. Where did Red go? Perhaps it was wrong to assume that the three of them came in the same car; customer parking and car pool was on the west exit.

He yawned, snuffing out his cigarette in an offered tray, and put a hand in his pocket to feel for his key. Going up the stairs, he passed a young, blonde haired boy. An orange cropped head ran after him and he paused only a moment to tell them not to run in the building and the game’s rooms was up another level – play there, and not hide and seek! Tyki opened his room and prepared for bed.

: / / / / :

Unknown to a lot of people, the quickest way out of the hotel was down the laundry chute, into the corridor, through the kitchens that worked for room service, and out the south doors. Of course, step one was slightly dangerous at times because it wasn’t promised that a laundry cart would be there to break your fall, which was why Lavi learned the shifts when they did the wash. Otherwise it’s safest to go arms stretched out in front of you so you could roll out.

Lavi panted as he opened the apartment door, running the full three blocks and very nearly getting ran over twice to not be late from crosswalks. He locked the door behind him, slowly walking in the dark and reached for a lamp on a nearby table. Light flooded the small room.

“Yu-baby? Allen, love?” Lavi called. He swallowed hesitantly. “Dad?”

“Kitchen, tosser!” A voice returned harshly, but Lavi ignored the insult; it wasn’t a day that rudeness came from his father, when he was around. Lavi headed on that way, kicking off his shoes since it was Kanda’s apartment and the guy liked to keep as traditional as possible. That or he didn’t want to stain the carpet. Coming around the corner, Lavi nearly tripped on a little kid who decided he wanted to sleep in the middle of the walkway.

Lavi pointed down and gave a raised brow to the three males at the table. “Who’s the kid?”

“A stupid brat the old man wanted to kidnap from what’s-her-name…” Kanda took the joy of answering since there weren’t any raised hands. Allen smirked beside him and Lavi’s father, Cross-fucking-Marian, took a swig from a dark tinted bottle, ignoring them as he studied a spreadsheet laid out on the table carefully.

“Try Klaud, dear.”

Kanda glared at Allen. “I knew it; I just didn’t feel like sayin’ the hag’s name.” Lavi could only guess where he was learning his splendid English. “Did they rip you a new one, baka usagi?” Kanda directed to him and Lavi felt touched for his concern; he enthusiastically shook his head with a smile. The early-twenties Japanese man nodded then leaned over the paper and put an X on an area with a black sharpie. Cross glanced up from his side with narrowed, perplexed eyes.

“What did you do that for? Do you remember what black is for? All of the third floor should be green, fucking idiot; that’s the game room.”

Lavi stuck in, too, still pointing at the kid. “What’s he doing here, though?” Then he pointed to his father. “And why the hell are you here early? You said your sentence was four years, not three.”

Cross ignored him with an eye roll, while Kanda snorted and threw down his marker. “You’ve got to be kidding; how old are these prints? Four or five years old? The games room is on the forth level now, fucking idiot; they torn it all out and put private rooms up here now.” The eyes narrowed even further.

“Private rooms? I thought VIP was on the seventh.”

Kanda sighed heavily and slapped a hand over his face. “Jesus Christ, geezer! They put in the private rooms right before you got locked up; you should’ve heard of it! VIP is still the seventh floor, but the fat cat installed a whole private floor when he got married about four years ago that no one can access to unless they have a card key for the elevator.”

“Why install those rooms? And what about the stairs, do they still not run up all the way to the seventh floor?” Cross asked, cigarette between his lips bouncing. Lavi sighed and made a mental note to get the most recent blue prints the next time he was out as he bent over and picked up the kid, laying him on the couch the next room over. He didn’t bother to remove the rollerblades.

Allen laid a hand on Kanda, seeing he was getting frustrated with his guardian, and explained instead. “He’s got his whole family living and working there now; the wife had money problems and didn’t have a proper home so he piled them all in the hotel on the now-private third floor, even a married son with his wife and daughter lives there.

“The stairs now are different, too; they still go all the way up, but they plastered up a wall that led off to floor three. It’s no longer accessible by stairs.”

The older redhead was quiet for a moment and it was noticeable that he was thinking; Lavi thought he’d shed a tear of happiness. “Well, that’s shit. How the hell are going to do this if the whole fucking family’s staying there twenty-four-seven? That security guard-guy is that bastard’s son, right? How many kids does this lady have?” The three younger males shrugged, having no clue. He sighed and exhaled smoke. “…forth floor used to be adult entertainment, where’s that now?”

While Allen and Kanda shrugged, Lavi pulled up the last chair and grabbed the black marker Kanda threw. “Clean sheet – ah, thanks, love,” he said to Allen.

“Save your faggoty shit, boy.”

He didn’t bother telling him that faggoty wasn’t a word because he never listened to a word about grammar. As he drew a sketch layout, Lavi shot out, “Hello, by the way. Why the hell are you out a year early?”

“Good behavior,” Cross answered, almost sounding pleased. Allen, Kanda, and Lavi all grimaced at any mental images that came to mind. The older man peered towards his son, noticing one too many lines. “The building’s got ten floors, not eleven, shithead; didn’t your mother’s father teach you to count?” Lavi only stiffened slightly at the casual mention of his mother, but continued to draw.

Now naming the floors, he explained the reason for the extra line. “From top to bottom we have the offices, VIP, adult entertainment, restaurant, games, private rooms, guest rooms, and the first floor’s the casino.” Lavi checked off each floor as he went down and darkened the main floor’s line. Kanda and Allen bent forward to see, both curious as where the extra line came in, too. “The basement, however, has changed; it’s no longer laundry/kitchen then the vault.

“The vault moved another floor down; the room that was the vault is now a dummy room to catch people who want to do what we do,” Lavi said carefully. “The only way to get to the actual vault is to have the same keycard that will get you on floor three.”

Kanda cursed in his native language before asking, “Any vents to the elevator shaft? We could stick the Moyashi in there…” Allen looked almost offended, but was looking at Lavi expectantly.

“None. The only way in and out is with a keycard; no vents whatsoever down there that Allen could fit through.”

“Tim?” Cross offered unhelpfully.

Lavi leveled him with an even stare. “We are not sending a cat in this; how would he get back up the vents?” There had been times where the golden cat was useful on a mission like so, but not one where they’d be separated more than twenty feet.

“I was kidding, you know, boy.”

“Not the time for it, old man.” Lavi picked the printing paper up by a corner and tossed it to his father. “I’ll get a blue print tomorrow on my way back to the place.” Cross raised a brow in wonderment at his son, but Allen cut him off when he opened his mouth.

Allen shook his head. “I’ll pick it up; the county office closes at seven on the weekday – there’d be nowhere to hide the plans if you went for it on the way to the hotel.” Lavi nodded and looked to Kanda. Cross’s jaw snapped closed again and Lavi, with a pleasant smile, could hear the teeth grind.

“You’ve got the recruit list, Yu-baby?”

The Japanese man snorted. “I know how to do my job – just do yours.”

As Lavi made to stand to head on to his own apartment – which was right next door while his dad lived one floor above him, making it as irritating as he could by stomping on the floor when he walked – his father caught him by the arm. “Why are you going back tomorrow? I thought you did your stupid business when someone contacted you on the spot, no reservations.”

The green eyed man grinned. “I work on floor six now whenever I want.” Cross looked back to the paper, counting the lines before making a disgusted face.

“Warn me whenever you go before I accidently watch your half-naked ass slide down a pole, tosser.” He scrunched the paper into a ball and overhand it to the trash, but missed. He mumbled before slamming his hands on the table. “Assignments! Tiedoll’s son, get the people – get that one chick…who am I thinking of…?”

Allen and Lavi shared a glance while Kanda was fuming at being called his foster father’s son. “I don’t know – why don’t you spell it out for us, dickhead?”

“Watch your failing English, Jap, when you use it to me.” Cross looked at his forced-upon foster child – that being Lavi’s fault. “Oh come on! Li’s daughter!”

All three of them raised an eyebrow. “Komui doesn’t have a daughter. He has a sister,” Allen offered. “Named Lenalee.” His eyes widened some and he looked excitedly to Kanda. “Oh, yes, put her on! She’s bloody brilliant! Not like Lavi’s brilliant, mind you, but bloody hell, she’s our contortionist!”

Cross huffed unhappily. “Could have saved me from going to the big house on the last one.”

“That’s only because you’re as graceful as an elephant,” Allen and Lavi said in unison. They blinked and laughed, high-fiving. Kanda gave a smirk and took the red sharpie and wrote Lenalee’s name on the back of his hand in Japanese characters.

The redheaded man ignored their cheer. “Bastard-son,” he said, addressing Allen, “you’ll be getting the updated plans tomorrow and helping Froi’s daughter here to get some useful people, unlike last time.” Kanda bristled at the reference and had to be restrained by Allen before he made to lunge at the older man. Last time Kanda had recommended Marie and Daisya as replacements while Lavi finished his last year of school, but while Marie was a great watch guard Daisya had security on their trail in less than an hour. To get out of one particular fix, Kanda and Daisya had to pretend that they went into some random room to make out. …Kanda played the girl.

Lavi wished he could have been there.

Cross turned to his son. “Your job will be the most difficult, but I don’t think you’ll have any trouble sleeping your way for information since you already found out about the extra room.” Lavi didn’t react, but smiled in kind; if there was a God, his father would get lung cancer.

“It was in a magazine, Dad, when the hotel resort was taking interviews.” Cross grimaced.

“Reading’s a nasty habit – another thing from your mother’s father, I suppose.”

“And writing must be the work of the devil.”

“Now, that’s my son.”

Before Lavi could come out with an ‘I wish I weren’t’ line, Allen interrupted. “As you were saying?”

Cross nodded. “You’ll be finding out how to lay your hands a keycard, from any of them with any means necessary. Kill them, if you must.”

Lavi rolled his green eyes. “Sure, I’ll just stick them in a room with you.” He scooted the chair back, yawning. “I’m out; I’ll see you all in the morning; nine is breakfast, and no one over thirty allowed.” His father snorted some, flicking his forgotten cigarette’s ashes on the floor. Kanda glared hatefully and Allen patted his arm in sympathy while using his other hand to wave goodnight to Lavi.

: / / / / :

MC: A bit of ideal-plot jumbling for this story; you see, I’ve just recently watched Ocean’s Eleven… In this, Brad Pitt is played by Tyki Mikk – no, wait, that’s not right…

x];;

Review, if you could ever be so kind, because I totally stayed up to four in the morning for this shit while school was in four hours.