Shove Your Bow Up Your Ass [Lukas/Johann]

THE CITY OF LIGHT
Tick. Tick. Tick. Lukas' eyes could barely move from the clock.

Tick. Tick. Tick. For a second, they'd dart to the door. Baggage lined up on one side, a backpack on the couch. Tick.

And they were back. The hands almost reflected in his gaze, a blink clearing the stupor and haze. A short cough, drool almost starting to escape the man's mouth. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Ti- Wiping the edge of his impending doom, Lukas shook his head, forcing himself to stand. Popping his knees audibly, the man half walked half scuttled across his apartment; readjusting his sense of balance.

"Fuck! I can't keep waiting around like this. Another eighteen hours. That's all I need to fill. Eight. Teen." A hand dug itself into his forehead, pressure against his temples as it gripped. "Okay, okay. Do some research. See what you can prepare that you don't remember, right?"

Slipping off his face, the hand produced a phone from his pocket. The cracked screen pulled slightly on his sanrei, giving way to the ephemeral white of the internet. A mess of searches as ideas tumbled through his head, finally coming to family registries. Oldest one he could find - the Arant. A few minutes later, and Lukas was out the door, following to the man's address.

Stalking? Maybe. Nah, it'll be fine. Their families probably had some tie going way way back; or at least, that was his line of thought. What's he gonna do, fucking shoot me? Shaking his head, Lukas approached Johann Arrant's home, hands in pockets.

It wasn't often that he received visitors -- wanted or no -- at his new home in the City of Lights. It was quite the change from his estate in Stuttgart, but, he new that Emma was in safe hands. There were no shortage of workers there that assured him from the bottom of their hearts that she would be safe, and that the estate would be nothing short of pristine whenever he was to return.

So, as Johann finished filing away the paperwork he had for that day, he took a look around his office, ensuring he had his things about him, and began to return home. Thankfully, it hadn't been too far past his usual time when he was heading home. Nonetheless, it had been a long day, and Johann found himself leaning a little bit more on Ullr tonight.

But, as he approached his home, he noticed a figure approaching it. His fingers tightened slightly around his Spirit Weapon, and he promptly twisted the handle of the cane to the right, and the object quickly morphed from a cane to a small crossbow, one that could easily be held in one hand. In an instant, the old man used Hirenkyaku to silently blitz forward, unleashing an arrow at the same time.

The arrow would expand and freeze Lukas' legs and a small amount of the area around him. Johann would come up behind him, the point of another icy arrow pressed against the back of his head.

"I certainly was not expecting visitors tonight. Stalking an old man like me seems like a waste of time as well. So, what do you want? Be quick about it, too."

THE CITY OF LIGHT
Lukas' eyebrow raised at the man's reaction, not necessarily surprised, but concerned. Some immediate panic in his throat, the white hot surge of anger that followed better than any courage he could've asked for. Paranoid old man? He got dementia or something?

"Please, old man." Lukas responded in faint exasperation, left hand snapping to the back of his skull, gripping around the fellow Quincy's bolt. "If you wanted to fire a weapon, you'd do it at range," The reishi struggled underneath his touch, an attempt to rip it of its form through sheer will.

"Stalking implies I had to try. I looked in a phone book, so if you wanna calm down and talk, we can do that. Or I can tear this toy apart and punch you so hard you remember your first birthday. Really, your choice." Lukas' tone flared to the extreme, his spiritual pressure spiking in the moment. There were few things that the man took seriously as an attack, something he planned to make apparent.

"Always so fucking jumpy?"

So, the brat had some confidence. It almost reminded Johann of himself, were he about fifty years younger -- already something he didn't like. He was more than aware of the bastard of a man he was in his youth -- and to think that there were still children of the modern day that held a similar arrogance.

Already a distressing thought. Nevertheless, as he watched the young man's hand reach around to grip at the bolt of his crossbow, he scoffed. Moving the weapon away, he simply took aim at Lukas' arm, firing without a moment's hesitation.

Like his legs, the arrow would quickly and promptly freeze his arm and halt movement. The other arm would hardly be able to reach him, and Johann had little worries about his threat.

"Far from jumpy, I'm responding to an uninvited visitor late at night. There's hardly any reason to be visiting someone like me, especially not a member of the Todgestalten. So, if you're quite done threatening a superior, you can temper your bravado and answer my question. What do you want, boy?"

THE CITY OF LIGHT
"Last I checked, Sternritter don't have any authority in Todgestalten affairs, superior." Venom dripping from the words as anger racked the quincy's veins. "Besides, I'm not here on work. You're not on a list, and I'm not looking to cross anything off."

The glare could've bored itself backwards and through Lukas' skull, silver flickering in rage. "Family name is Ätherisch, ring any bells?"

"The difference in divisions does not change the fact that I am your superior, boy."

A sliver of the man he was trying to leave behind bled through, an equal amount of pride-laced venom searing his tongue. But, he took a breath, lowering his weapon, the crossbow shifting back to a simple walking cane. With a snap of his fingers, the ice dissolved, returning to the Reishi it had been before.

As Lukas told of his family, the old man's eyes widened. Of course it had to be them. He had heard his father talking about them when he was a boy. Mostly rumors floating around that he heard through eavesdropping and warnings from his father and grandfather whenever the families would interact.

But, rumors always had some semblance of truth. He had always meant to look further into the suspicions he had toward that family, but with the sudden death of the matriarch and patriarch, presumably this little upstart's parents, he had little reason left to pursue that. Now, it was reignited.

"I know of them, yes. My father and grandfather spoke of them when I was a boy, interacted with them on scarce occasions. What of them?"

THE CITY OF LIGHT
Superior to the last shit I took. Lukas took to turn towards the man, rubbing his wrist as he did. His initial glare of daggers would fade with Johann's response, sighing with some visible relief. There was always the chance that the man knew nothing, and going in blind was never a good idea.

Not on family property, anyway.

"Good. Short of it, I'm going to the old family home to look for some stuff. Don't know what all got sold at when, but they were mostly paranoid fucks who wouldn't sell outside of specific circles, such as..." His hand released from his wrist, gesturing with it towards the man before crossing them on his chest.

"I figure you won't know specifics, but everything I'm looking for would be pretty easy to notice." Artefacts of the old, sought by the new.

So, the little brat was going to his old family home to search for...well, something. Johann's eyes narrowed slightly -- given the nature of that family, he had doubts that it was anything good. But, perhaps it was potentially innocent, and he just wanted to collect some possessions that would rightfully go to him, as the survivor of the family.

He doubted it, but, there was always the potential to be wrong. It also didn't really help that the boy hadn't given him much to work with, but, he still gave it some thought. He hadn't heard much of the Atherisch in years, only hearing strict warnings to keep his distance as a boy, and even still receiving reminders from his now late mother to be on his guard around them when he was a man.

"I would need more information than this. We dealt with them on occasion, but what you're looking for and what I'm thinking of might be very different. There were times we dealt with them for particular and specialized equipment, as well as some trading of objects the other found valuable. The items are likely in storage at my estate in Stuttgart, so, it would take some time to retrieve them regardless."

THE CITY OF LIGHT
"Times not really an issue." Lukas acknowledged, pulling a disorganized list from his pocket. Squinting to read it, he muttered under his breath for several moments before deciding on what to say.

"Erleuchtete Bestrafung*, pretty big, kinda elaborate, hard to miss. Had the name on the side and everything, then there's a shield called the Seelenleugner**. Looks like a partial gauntlet, missing all of the fingers. Anything else I can't expect much of."

He'd pocket the paper, crossing his arms as he continued to address Johann. "Just'd help me not have to look for something we don't have any more."

(*as mentioned here.)
(**a defensive prototype variant of a Seel Schneider that projects in front of the user.)

While he didn't immediately recognize the first name as any sort of equipment or item that was traded between their families, he did understand it. With German as his first language, his expression turned grim as he mentally translated the name.

Whatever the device was, he doubted it was anything good. It came from that family, after all. But, he kept tight-lipped about the matter, taking a moment to think about the other item mentioned.

"I'd have to look through our storage to confirm, but I vaguely recognize those names. Something with its name on the side isn't the most to go off of, but, I think I remember Father moving something similar to that description onto the estate."

Even for him, it wasn't easy to remember such a unimportant, one-off memory from over sixty years ago. The name sounded vaguely familiar, at least.

"As for the other item, I know for certain that is in storage. Father experimented with it in his off-time before his passing, though I have yet to read through his notes on the field test."