Change of Plans--A Heart no Kuni no Alice FanFiction

Part 04: Meeting the Boss

The first thing that came to my mind when I saw the man was not relating to his level of attractiveness, or the size of his gun (though that last thought did briefly cross my mind).  Actually, the first thing I thought after seeing him was something along the lines of He has blonde rabbit ears.  Then my mind circled back to the size of his gun, and that thought was quickly followed by the understanding that he wasn't afraid to put a bullet through my skull.  In response to that thought, I aimed my gun directly at his chest, right where his heart was.  "Who are you, Outsider?" he growled at me.

"Sorry, but my name isn't 'Outsider'," I quipped in a sarcastic voice.  I would have rolled my eyes to add effect, but I didn't want to look away from where his finger was curled tightly against the trigger.  "You have two more guesses."  I was on high alert but kept my manner easy-going, appearing to borderline on relaxed and bored.  Alice tried to say something but I gently nudged her shin with my heel to warn her to keep quiet.

The rabbit-eared--scratch that, I meant hare-eared (they were too long to be anything but a hare's ears)--man smirked at me.  "Unless you tell me exactly who you are, your name's going to be 'Dead Meat' in a minute."  He was just as calm as I was, but I could tell that it wasn't a front.  Why would someone pretend to be at ease on their own turf with a familiar weapon in their hands?  Especially if they were comfortable using that weapon to--

I shrugged the thought aside, using the motion to communicate that I really didn't care about what he had just said.  "I've been called less creative things before," I told him.  "Like 'Roadkill', 'Swiss Cheese', and I was even called 'Saint Ron' once."  Alice groaned--she had caught the bad pun, unlike Hare-man.  I let a smirk appear on my face.  "Of course, he ended up more 'holey' than me, so he was the one promoted to sainthood in the end."

"Okay, Ron, that's enough," Alice said loudly, jumping out from behind me before I could stop her.  "You may kill him with your bad puns before either of you start shooting."  She turned to my opponent.  "Elliot, please put down your gun.  I'd really prefer if you didn't shoot my brother."

"I'd prefer it as well, thanks very much," I muttered.

Elliot frowned at her.  "I'll put mine down once he puts down his," he growled, but I saw his arms lower a few centimeters.  I hope he understands that he just opened up a target by doing that, I thought in bewilderment.  Not that I'd shoot with Alice standing in front of me, but still...  Alice looked back at me, raising an eyebrow pointedly.

"Deal," I sighed reluctantly, twirling my weapon around my finger before sticking it back in my holster.  Elliot did the same, though without the fancy trick.  "Now, I suppose that it's only fair that I tell you my name since Alice indirectly told me yours," I said, moving around my relieved friend and approaching Elliot with my hand outstretched.  "My name's Ron.  I'm Alice's brother," I fibbed.

"Elliot March," he said looking down at me warily.  As he accepted my hand it struck me just how much taller than me he was.  I was 5'8" at least--he had to be around 6'4".  He released his firm grip and looked over my shoulder at Alice.  "We should take him to Blood," he told her.  I felt my teeth trying to meet my bottom lip but refused to introduce them.  I wasn't about to show anxiety in front of the person that had just tried to shoot me mere moments ago.

Alice walked up behind me and slipped her arm through mine.  Elliot's eyes narrowed dangerously when he saw this, but Alice didn't seem to notice (or she ignored it altogether).  "Let's go," she said.  Elliot continued to glare at me, his look clearly saying that I was lucky I was Alice's 'brother' or else he wouldn't have stood for that.  Then he can take it sitting instead of standing, I thought sarcastically, tempted to whisper that to him as we passed.  However, now was not the time--I'd get him later.