Vegas and Pete: the series

Two Tigers Catch a Mouse

POV Vegas

Pete, again. Kinn was an idiot to trust this bodyguard to tail me. I'd been able to ditch him and reroute myself at leisure when meeting people I didn't want him to know I'd met. It's not that he wasn't persistent, he just sucked. And the worst part was he knows it and still does it.

Take today for example I had a meeting planned for the late afternoon that I didn't want him to be privy too. So I decided to take a detour to a place I knew would throw him off kilter.

I'd visited this temple a few times before with Macau. The area had a nice ambiance and it was never overly crowded or deserted. If nothing else it was a place where one could think in peace. In all honesty I quite liked it. There was always far too much noise at home unless you were on the top floor and the surrounding area was alway bustling. Sometimes it was nice to find a quiet place amongst all the noise.

I tap Macau shoulder as we approach the temple entrance. "You wait here, when Pete shows up, grab him, and we'll drag him inside with us."

Macau gives me a rye smile. "You don't want to grab him yourself?"

I shake my head and think back on the last few days. Each time I'd caught Pete, he'd jumped, pulled out that smile guard, and made up some assanine excuse for why he was around. "I've already caught him a few times." I inform Macau. "You have the fun this time."

Macau nods back to me and deftly gets out of sight. I, on the other hand, walk into the temple, lean up against the wall next to the main door, and wait for my prey to arrive. It doesn't take long before I hear a shout from outside. "Oh! Hello, Khun Vegas. Er- hello, Khun Macau, I mean."

I smile outwardly as I imagine Pete's panicked look. I peer over the edge of the door to see Macau block his exit and start talking to him. "Since you're here, don't tell me that Tankhun is here too?" My brother questions him. "Where? Where's Tankhun?"

Since Macau was, in Tankhun's eyes, an extension of me. He hated him just as much. Which of course, to us two brothers, just meant we liked to mess with him more. But Tankhun was not our prey for today. That lucky person was the one and only Pete.

I smirk as I push off the wall and walk back through the entrance. Hello little mouse, I think to myself as I silently approach him and place a heavy hand on Pete's shoulder. He jumps in surprise and instinctively tries to dodge away.

"I don't think so," I say and Pete's head jerks back toward me. As soon as he sees me his body goes stiff and he darts his eyes away back to the ground. I can almost hear him cursing at me in his head or maybe he's cursing at himself. Either way the expression of dismay on his face makes me smile. Then I looked left and right as if searching for the rest of his normal crew. "I think he's here alone." I finish, walking a step closer to him and boxing him in between my brother and I.

"Right, a sinner like Tankhun, wouldn't come to a temple." My brother continues with a friendly smile and childish demeanor. "It's too hot, right?"

Macau laughs at his own joke and Pete's smile guard finally finds its way onto his face. It truly was a fascinating look. Much like last time, I feel the desire to break it as soon as I see it.

"And what brings you here today, Pete?" My brother asks.

I'm letting him guide this persuasion as Pete is more likely to bow to Macau friendly innocence. I watch with wrapped attention as his smile falls and he scrambles to come up with a lie. It was quite refreshing to watch someone who was so very bad at it.

"Oh, it's my day off today so I wanted to make merit." Is the lie he comes up with.

Unfortunately for him Macau is right on top of it. "Hey that's nice, we're going to be listening to a monk's sermon this afternoon. Pete, please come with me." my brother pleads. Pete's face falls. "I don't know what's gotten into my brother lately, he's suddenly into Dharma." Macau grabs onto Pete's forearm as he begs. "Just come along with me, na?"