Hairless, bony hands traced the lettering permanently inscribed on the rough surface by the magic power of Sharpie. Ghetsis sighed as his mind drifted back to the glory days, the days spent jostling amongst the damp bodies of tall, dark strangers in a frenzied attempt to grab balls. A day when the whole world knew his name. Harmonia.

Those countless hours spent in his room, perfecting his signature, all for nothing. Who knew his name now? Ha. When I become the undisupted ruler of the universe, he told himself, everyone will want my autograph. He tried to believe it.

A bold knocking at the bedroom door snapped Ghetsis back to reality. He kicked a pile of used clothes underneath the bed, in an attempt to make the room more presentable, before sitting back down on the comfy duvet.

N, his sexy, sexy son, strode through the door. His cheeks were puffed out indignantly, and his hands placed firmly on his slender hips.

"Ghetsis, why did you take my basketball? You're terrible at sports and you should feel bad because of it," he said.

"That's a very hurtful thing to say, N," Ghetsis replied.

N flopped down onto the bed beside his father, fiddling with his bracelets so's not to meet his gaze. "I'm sorry, Ghetsis," he said, without looking up. "I don't know what came over me. I'm just so full of angst today."

Ghetsis put his arm around N's shoulders in what he thought was a fatherly way. "You know what will make you feel better, right?"

"Touching myself?"

"No - well, yes, but I was going to say basketball."

N gasped, and his eyes widened with shock. "Basketball! The forbidden game!" he hissed.

The fingers on N's shoulder began to caress him. N stared at them pointedly, but Ghetsis didn't take the hint.

"Yes, the forbidden game," Ghetsis whispered soothingly. "The secret has been passed down the Harmonia family for centuries. The time has finally come, N, for me to teach you how to play."

"But I already know how to play. Besides, you're not allowed to undertake any strenuous activities on account of your back problems." N plucked the basketball of of Ghetsis's unresisting hand. It was slightly sticky. "Thanks anyway though." He trotted out of the room, bouncing the ball as he went.

Ghetsis laid back and tried to drown his sorrows in another bottle of wine.