Ghost Story
By Little Spitfire
Disclaimer: The Gravitation universe and all recognizable characters do not belong to me.
After Riku was warmed and clean, Eiri threw together something tasty for Shuichi while Riku played on the floor in the living room with a puzzle his "Mama" had brought home for him.
Shuichi had noticed the shallow scratches on Riku and immediately questioned Eiri about them. Eiri explained that he'd been scratching himself in his sleep and paused before adding that something seemed to be bothering him. Shuichi promised to talk to Riku, knowing that though Eiri had appeared aloof while discussing it, he wouldn't have said anything if he wasn't a bit worried.
Later that evening, Eiri and Shuichi napped on the couch for a while until Eiri woke up, realized he'd slept for longer than he planned to and carefully extracted himself from Shuichi's tangled legs, trying not to bump into his obviously healed but still tender ribs.
"Where are you going, Yuki?" Shuichi asked as said man stood up and began walking towards the stairs.
"I need to get some work done." Eiri answered and made his way toward his study.
Shuichi nodded and called to him, "Don't stay up all night."
The sound of the study door closing answered him. Shuichi rolled his eyes and looked back at Riku, gesturing to the toys strewn about on the floor. "How about we clean this up and order some take out?"
Riku nodded solemnly and began helping Shuichi place his toys back into their proper places.
They both started when a door upstairs slammed closed. Shuichi shrugged and went back to clearing the floor when they heard it again. And then again.
"Yuki?" Shuichi called. "You okay?"
Just as they heard, "Dammit, Shuichi! Stop slamming the damn doors!"
Riku and Shuichi stared at each other before the singer walked over to the bottom of the stairs and saw Eiri passing by the top of the stairs, walking towards their bedroom.
"Yuki?" he called, and after a spell, "Eiri?"
Not hearing an answer, he walked up the stairs and down the hall to their bedroom. A look inside and a quick glance in the adjoining washroom told him that no one was there. Frowning, he turned around to go back towards Eiri's study and almost walked into Riku, who seemed to have followed him.
Eiri's study's door was closed and Shuichi hesitated for just a moment before turning the knob and entering, Riku at his heels.
Eiri was sitting at his desk typing, and he glanced up when they entered.
"What?" he grunted at Shuichi's confused look.
"Why were you slamming the door? Are you angry or something?" Shuichi asked.
"What are you talking about?"
"…You weren't?"
"Why would I be slamming doors? Did you do something that I should be angry about?"
"No! But… Didn't you hear—"
"I haven't heard anything. If you break—"
"But I didn't. I was downstairs and we heard—and then you yelled—and—Wait! How did you get back here without me seeing you?"
"What?"
"You went into the bedroom—"
Eiri's eye twitched. "Brat, I don't have time for these games right now. I need to finish this tonight so I can stay on schedule."
"But—"
Seeing the real confusion in Shuichi's eyes, Eiri sighed. "I've been in this room the whole time since I came upstairs."
Frowning, the writer studied his lover's face before transferring his gaze to the child clutching his shirt and hiding slightly behind his legs. Riku was staring at the wall next to Eiri, unblinking. Looking over, he saw nothing there and huffed in exasperation.
"Shuichi. You probably just thought you heard something. Now get out so I can finish this before midnight."
It so happened that it was after midnight when Eiri decided he'd done enough for the day and made his way to the bathroom to take a quick shower before joining Shuichi in bed. After stripping, he began brushing his teeth when he realized the shower water was running. Funny. He didn't remember turning it on.
"Must be more tired than I thought." He muttered, turning the water back off and finishing brushing his teeth. As he was spitting, he heard the water go back on. Annoyed, he turned around to yell at Shuichi for messing with him and saw that no one was there. Poking his head into the bedroom, he saw Shuichi was dead asleep.
He was about to go looking for the brat when he saw Riku's tousled hair peeking out from under the covers next to Shuichi. He was deeply asleep as well.
Not knowing what to make of it, Eiri rationalized that the handles must have slipped or something, allowing the water to slip through. That thought firmly in mind, he quickly took his shower, pulled on a pair of boxers and slipped into bed.
He awoke three hours later to the sound of running water.
endchaptertwo.
Notes: Thoughts, comments, questions, constructive criticism are all welcome. =)
Warning: There will be a slight crossover with another fandom in this story later. (Is that even a warning?)
