Chapter 3 – Inspiration

The next day dawned clear. Loz stumbled downstairs at half past eight, still rubbing sleep from his eyes. 'Mornin', 'Zoo,' he mumbled, the words barely audible around a yawn. Yazoo looked up from where he was sitting at the kitchen table reading the paper. 'Good morning. Sleep well, bro?'

Loz blinked and headed for the coffee machine. 'Yeah, I slept okay. At least it was cool last night; I can't stand the heat.' He poured himself a mug of coffee and sipped. 'Ahhh…'

Yazoo smiled and glanced back down at his paper. 'Not much of interest in the news today, I'm afraid,' he sighed after a moment, folding the paper neatly and tossing it onto the table. 'What do you want to do today?'

Loz was busy rummaging in the fridge for eggs. 'I was thinking of going to the gym. I haven't been in awhile. You?'

Yazoo sighed again. 'Taxes.'

'Damn.'

'I know.'

'How're we doing, anyway?'

Yazoo ran his fingers through his hair and paused to work out a tangle. 'Well… we're going to have to get proper jobs soon… and find a real place to live. This place is awesome but it's a rent, and we're getting to the point where we just can't afford to travel anymore. Once Tifa gets back she'll want the bar back too, so we're out of luck there.'

Loz sat down at the other end of the table, concern etched on his features. 'We're okay for awhile, though, right?'

Yazoo closed his eyes and searched his memory. '…yeah. We'll be okay until August. We'll need jobs before then.'

'Mmf… maybe I'll go job-hunting today then instead…' Loz mused, munching his eggs.

Yazoo smiled fondly at his youngest brother. 'That might be a good idea. Take Kadaj with you, if he ever gets up…'

Just then, Kadaj entered the kitchen on a beeline for the coffee machine. 'Good-morning-can't-talk-now-inspiration,' he said extremely quickly as he poured himself some coffee and bolted back upstairs.

His brothers blinked in his wake.

'Well… maybe you won't be taking him with you…'

Loz polished off his egg and grinned. 'I'll be back in a couple hours. We'll see what I can find.'

After Loz left to get dressed, Yazoo tidied up the kitchen and then went upstairs. Pausing next to Kadaj's room, he knocked lightly on the door. 'Hey 'Daj, do you want any breakfast?'

'No thanks!' came the reply. Yazoo smiled. 'Alright… just don't wear yourself out too much…' The elder sibling retreated to his room and pulled a couple of folders from the pile on his desk. 'Gar… taxes…'

It took Loz fifteen minutes to get to the business district. Traffic was light and the youngest Shinrova enjoyed the breeze that whipped through his spiky hair. It took him another ten minutes to find a decent parking spot; the roads were still rather chewed up. The roar of the motorbike died abruptly as he pulled into a clear space and parked. Dismounting, Loz popped a quarter into the only slightly mangled parking meter and set off down the sidewalk, his satchel slung casually over his shoulder. A few people passed him; the streets were not busy at this hour. Loz started to whistle a low tune, glancing left and right for 'Now Hiring' signs. Spotting one, he made to cross the street, but a rather vivacious female voice behind him caused him to pause.

'Hey! Isn't that the cute bouncer from the other night?'

An answering female voice replied with a gasp, 'I think it is! Ooh, let's go talk to him!'

Loz suddenly had the very distinct feeling that if he were in an anime, he would have sweat-dropped just now. 'Um…' Turning, he caught sight of a cluster of females coming toward him, all of them looking far too enthusiastic to be good news for him.

'Look, he's wearing leather!'

'Eee, that's so darn hot!'

Backing away nervously, Loz cast desperately about for an escape route and found none. There was nothing else for it. The young man sighed heavily. Damn, I wish I didn't have to do this…

Taking a firm grip on his satchel, Loz bolted.

'Hey! He's escaping!'

'GET HIM!'

…dammit.

It was getting close to noon before Yazoo reappeared, looking rather worn out. 'Bloody things take so long…' The eldest made his way downstairs, still muttering to himself and cursing taxes. Poking his head into the fridge, he rummaged around for any edible material whatsoever and came up with a bowl of leftover pasta. This he popped into the microwave. As he pressed the buttons, Yazoo heard a loud SLAM come from the general direction of the front door.

'What the…?'

Heading for the hall, Yazoo jumped. 'Loz! What happened… are you alright?'

His younger brother leaned with his back against the door, panting heavily. 'I… think… so… I don't… think… they followed… me…'

Fear flashed across Yazoo's face. 'Who was chasing you!'

Loz shuddered. '…I think they're called fangirls.'

Yazoo was silent for about ten seconds before he burst out laughing. Loz huffed. 'It's NOT FUNNY!' This, of course, only caused Yazoo to laugh harder.

Just then a door opened upstairs. 'CAN I GET SOME SILENCE PLEASE?' Kadaj shouted down the stairs. Still chuckling, Yazoo motioned at the kitchen. 'Come in here and we'll talk. Don't bother him right now; he's in the middle of a song. Any luck with the job-hunting?'

Loz was the picture of sheepishness. 'Um… I barely managed to escape with my life here. I didn't exactly get to the job-hunting.'

Yazoo sighed, though he still looked amused. 'Alright… we'll go later and I'll beat them off.' He winked at his younger brother, who blushed. 'I coulda handled it!'

'Obviously.'

Loz pouted. 'Well, okay, maybe not…'

Yazoo just grinned.

At that moment, the ringing of the telephone jarred both of them out of their banter. Yazoo leaned on the wall by the phone and picked it up. 'Hello, Shinrova reside-… Tifa!' A wide grin split his face. 'Hey woman, you promised to call a week ago! How're you?'

Loz beamed and ran for the other phone. The first thing he heard was a woman's voice laughing at Yazoo. 'Well, that's a fine hello! How're you, 'Zoo?'

Loz could hear the smile in Yazoo's tone. 'I'm fine. So are Loz and 'Daj. Where are you?'

'We're in Wutai, visiting an old friend,' Tifa answered. 'Cloud is here, I'll get him on…' She thankfully pulled away from the phone before bellowing, 'CLOUD! PICK UP THE OTHER LINE!' Loz laughed. 'Nice, Tifa. Deafen the poor guy so he can't hear us.'

'Oh, are you there too Loz? I'm sorry, I didn't realise. How's the bar?' Tifa asked, coming back on.

'It's doing well. Thriving, I'd say. Are you having fun?'

There was a click as he spoke, and a deeper, male voice answered his question. 'Hell yeah, we're having fun.'

Loz grinned. 'Hi niisan.'

Yazoo spoke up again. 'How's it going, brother?'

Cloud Strife chuckled into the phone. 'Oh man… I haven't had this much fun in years…'

Tifa giggled. 'We haven't even seen half our itinerary, but we've seen things that I'm sure nobody else has.'

'That's good.'

'Is Kadaj around?' Cloud asked suddenly. 'I'd have thought he'd be curious to hear this.'

Yazoo rolled his eyes fondly. 'He's in one of his modes. The writing one, you know? He says he's got inspiration again… we don't dare disturb him in case he loses something.'

'Ah. Well, that makes sense. Sorry we're a week late. Did the cheque make it alright?'

'Yes, thank you. It arrived just in time. This is taxes week.'

Cloud let out a sigh of relief. 'Oh good… I was hoping it would make it before you had to do your forms.'

'We're covered, brother. You can relax.'

'Good, good. Well, I hate to do this to you, but we've got to go. It's close to ten here and Yuffie's about ready to collapse. We kinda partied her out.' Cloud's voice changed tenor then, an affectionate quality overcoming it. 'Take care of each other, okay? I can't say when we'll be home, but we'll let you know. It should be within the next three weeks. And don't forget to make 'Daj eat if he's in his writing mode… you know how he gets, 'Zoo.'

Yazoo nodded to himself, though Cloud couldn't see it. 'Of course. Keep having fun. We expect lots of stories when you get back.'

'Naturally. Goodnight all… well, I guess it's good afternoon there…' Cloud chuckled and hung up.

Tifa giggled. 'He misses you guys, though he'd never admit it. So do I, actually. As fun as this has been, it'll be great to get home too. See you in awhile, guys. Bye.'

'Bye!' The other two chorused and hung up. Yazoo sighed, leaning his forehead against the wall. Loz came back into the kitchen, shedding his coat which he had forgotten to remove earlier. '…where's Wutai, niisan?' he asked randomly.

Yazoo stood up straight and moved toward the microwave and his forgotten pasta. 'It's on the other continent, Loz. Very far away.'

Loz pouted a little. 'Dang.'

After a moment he spoke again. 'Hey niisan?'

'Yes, Loz?'

'Is there any of that left? I'm hungry.'

'Sure. Take what you want, but leave some for 'Daj. I think I'm going to have to force feed him.'

Loz grinned. 'Can I help?'

'NO.'

'Aw, darn.'

'Remember the last time? I don't want to be cleaning potato off the ceiling again.'

Loz laughed.

/grin/ Yay for potato on the ceiling!

Review please and thanks!