Chapter 10
"Go wash your face."
Yazoo closed the thick glass door behind him, laying his key on the chiffonier. Kadaj already occupied the floor already, intricately pulling at his shoes. The two of them had finished their classes today earlier than their brothers and so they had been riding home together by bus. That meant that it was their turn to prepare lunch before Loz and Sephiroth arrived so they could eat all together, do homework and take care of the chores afterwards .
"My face is fine!" Kadaj objected, throwing his shoes aside. He marched up to the mirror that hung above the chiffonier and was far too high for the little guy to see himself, but Kadaj had his own methods and so he jumped up and down until he at least reached a height where he could barely see his eyes glancing back at him over the golden frame. "See?"
Yazoo just rolled his eyes at him and threateningly licked his finger as he came closer. "You want me to clean it?"
"Ewww, stay away, you´re so disgusting! Fine, I´m going!" Kadaj ducked and slipped past his brother to rush to the bathroom and escape the spit-cleaning. His mom sometimes did that, and it was really really gross!
While Kadaj cleaned away the last traces of his painting class, Yazoo went into the warm, quiet kitchen to study the note on the fridge that their mother had left there this morning. It wasn´t much, actually. She asked them to finally clean up their bath room and sweep the stairs, but otherwise Lucrecia only wished them a good day. Listlessly, Yazoo had a look through the contents of the fridge. He didn´t feel particularly hungry, but he knew Loz and Kadaj would be, so they´d get a big pot of spaghetti.
Since both their parents worked full-time, they had found a nice arrangement. They took care of some of the housework and in return their parents refrained from hiring a nanny. It left the boys with some air to breathe, without an adult constantly hovering over them, and Vincent and Lucrecia were convinced that their children learned to be independent and responsible.
The boy let go of the fridge door without touching anything, and walked up the stairs into Loz´ room. He actually liked the smell of gasoline and oil that swirled inside, drowning out all natural, complicated odors even with the window open. It was safe and comfortable in here, a cocoon; it was utterly Loz and machines. Mechanical things were controllable and predictable and not as silly and open for interpretation as stupid poems were... They either worked or they didn´t. It was only 1 or 0.
Yazoo plopped down onto Loz´ bed face first, sucked in the clean, soft sheets with every pore of his body, and closed his eyes. It was dark in here, when he pressed his face into the mattress like that, and the unique smell of Loz´ stuff drowned out every other odor, making it obsolete and carrying Yazoo into a universe that was free from worldly matters (such as poetry that had gotten him into a special homework assignment or else he would just receive a fat, ugly F).
No, everything was good here and didn´t apply to stupid rules he hadn´t made up and didn´t care about, but still had to follow or all hell would break lose. Yazoo didn´t understand all the ruckus anyway, he and Sephiroth had been like this since ever and now all of a sudden everyone was being shocked and whatnot. Things really had been easier when they had been younger; less to worry about, less responsibilities...
"A´right! I´m se prince, Loz is se monsta an' Yaz is se Princess."
In the back of the sunny garden, hidden from intruding and sober adult eyes lay the fairy kingdom that was currently built and carefully sorted by a six year old boy who wore his gray plastic knight uniform with a straight back and solemn pride. His little plastic sword was imperiously pointed at another boy who gave an affirmative grunt, too busy staring in fascination at Seph´s holey set of teeth that shone brilliantly whenever he parted those moist, rosy lips. Loz didn´t care about the look of the knight´ lips, he had his own, but recently Seph was losing his teeth like there was no tomorrow. The little holes in his mouth looked like scars of war to Loz, each of them telling another story of great heroism and painful parting. Besides, Loz didn´t mind being the monster, because he could be wild and growl and be scary and that was actually quite fun! He wouldn´t have minded being the prince every once in a while, but Seph had explained to him that this wasn´t possible because the prince had to have a sword and Loz didn´t have one. It was very plausible to the second oldest that he had to be the monster (and the sword couldn´t be shared because it was Sephiroth´s precious and god forbid that anyone even looked at it for too long!). As long as Loz didn´t have to be the princess he was content.
"Hmhm." After the knight had nodded his approval with the prompt and proper consent, he turned around, stepped over his brave and loyal hobby horse Stefan -that was especially precious because grandpa Grim had made it for them himself!- and crouched down before the 'princess'. Yazoo hadn´t listened again, because he was lost in the task of tearing flowers around him from where he sat on the grass, gingerly eating them with a concentrated look on his chubby face. Sephiroth blew some silver hair out of his face that spilled right back, briefly regretted the decision to let it grow out and then concentrated back on catching the princess' attention. He gently caught Yazoo´ fist, in which the youngest held a buttercup. "Yazoo, you´re se princess. I´m gonna save you from se monsta."
The four year old's features brightened with a happy smile that seemed to come out of nowhere when he met Sephiroth´s green gaze, and then Yazoo tilted his head to process the other´s words."I?"
"Yes, Loz is se monsta."
"'Kay."
With a smile, Sephiroth got up and reached past the plastic harness he was wearing over his blue-white striped T-shirt and short pants. It was too warm to wear the helmet as well –hence his air unnerving him because he couldn´t just stuff it in place underneath- and puffed out a breath as he searched his pocket with knitted brows. Loz curiously came closer, crawling over the lawn on his bare knees to see what awesomeness Seph´d produce now. He himself wore a red T-shirt with a ship on it and blue shorts that were quite dirty and already smudged with earth and grass.
Then he gasped out in excited veneration and slight horror as Sephiroth triumphantly summoned a wonder of sparkling rainbows and cool jewels.
"But that´s mom´s necklace." The whisper was accompanied by a nervous look back to the house that was shielded from their view, but just for good measure Loz did it anyway. At the same time he licked his lips and held his wildly pulsing belly, hitching from excitement. Leave it to Seph to come up with such a forbidden, sneaky surprise!
"She won´t notice," Sephiroth conspiratorially muttered back behind his hand. He wasn´t as confident about it as he sounded and suspected that his Mom would be less than happy to discover that her favorite choker that she had inherited from her grandma was missing to aid in their games. But every princess needed a crown, Sephiroth was profoundly convinced of that, and so they just had to make sure to put it back before Mom missed it.
Hesitantly, but finally, Loz nodded with the utmost respect for his brother´s audacity and watched as Seph knelt down to carefully grab Yazoo´s chin. "Don´t move too much, kay? It´ll fall off."
Yazoo was just about to give a devoted nod, but caught himself last minute. "Dun move."
It earned him a satisfied smile and then Sephiroth reached out again to adjust the necklace he had draped in a very complicated circle atop Yazoo´s hair and the little one kept stock still, aware of the importance of this preparation. Once he was happy with the outcome Sephiroth stood again, giving his masterpiece another critical look. Loz and Yazoo were holding their breath, until it was declared done.
Personally, Sephiroth thought that Yazoo looked very cute and that the sparkling in his hair complimented his huge, glistening eyes and rosy cheeks rather well, but he didn´t say that. He also resisted the urge to gather the tiny, fresh-faced figure against his chest, something he felt compelled to do rather often...
Instead Sephiroth turned back to Stefan to pick him up and then informed Yazoo over his shoulders, "Se monster´s gonna kidnap you now, but don´t worry, I´ll come to save you." The final air that emphasized the last part was worthy of any heroic knight that knew no doubt and fear and once again Loz was impressed, but then he remembered that this was also his cue to pick up Yazoo from the ground to 'kidnap' him.
That was easier said than done, because Yazoo indignantly pushed him away, pointing out with a little scowl "Dun move!", but eventually Loz persuaded his brother to slowly get up and they made their way behind a large three that served as the monster´s cave with tiny steps. All the way there Yazoo stiffly held his head up, almost tripping over his own feet, but Loz was there to catch him.
Once Yazoo had sat down in the cool, shadowy pattern of leaves and branches that softly rustled and chirped above him, the fight started.
Loz put up all the resistance he could muster and they rolled around in the grass for a while, abandoning all grace and elegance of the proper, supposed sword fight, because neither of them knew how to stage that with only one sword. They stuck to martial arts instead, which was just as much fun and provided enough opportunities to get dirty.
The second oldest had learned a new move a week ago, a kick that aimed at the attacker´s knee to get them off their feet and he was set on trying that one as often as he could. Of course Seph was a year ahead of him in training, but Loz was pretty strong already and that helped to even it out a bit. In the end he was defeated anyway, and he gave up when Seph had straddled his heaving chest, holding the formerly abandoned sword to his pulsing throat.
"You have been defeated, monster," the knight sternly informed his red-faced, sweaty and exhausted brother. "Now, hand over se princess."
Loz gave a grunt, feeling raw and dirty, but absolutely wonderful. The endorphins overrode the pain of several scratches and bruises and made him feel pleasantly tired; all his limbs felt heavy and the five year old wouldn´t have minded just falling asleep on the spot. Then he shuffled to his feet and led the prince to his lair.
The princess in question just missed the glorious moment of her rescue as he had found a very interesting ladybug slowly crawl over the cracked bark of a tree trunk, but Sephiroth wasn´t discouraged in the least.
Bravely he stepped into the dead monster´s stinking, terrifyingly dark den to free the damsel in distress and lead her back to his country to make her the queen so that they could live happily ever after.
The princess left the ladybug only reluctantly behind, but Sephiroth very urgently pulled at Yazoo´s hand and they only had to stop once on their way back to the castle because the princess had found a strangely-shaped piece of gravel that had to be taken with them.
Eventually when they arrived in the great and rich golden halls, Loz transformed into the king who welcomed his son and the soon-to-be queen with approval and praise, ready to leave them the throne. A great banquet would be held and songs about the prince´s brave taleswould be sung, while the royal household (consisting of several, carefully lined up plushies) would admire the princess beauty and elegance.
So far it was like always and the game was about to be over, when Seph thoughtfully announced that they should hold the wedding ceremony now.
"We gotta marry."
"Oh." Loz´ mouth formed a perfectly round O, but then he just shrugged. It sounded like fun, so why not? "How does one do that?"
"Who´s Mary?" Yazoo piped up with confused eyes, still clinging to his knight´s hand and not moving his head one inch. He was intrigued by Loz and Seph´ pompous words, even though he didn´t understand half of them. But the stripes of golden light that fell on them through the canopy made it look like it was only illuminating Sephiroth and it sparkled very prettily in his messy hair. Yazoo decided that he didn´t care who Mary was if only they could stay here for a while longer like this, Seph´s warm hand curled around Yazoo´s own. Big brother really looked like a knight just then, strong and beautiful. If one didn´t pay attention one could get lost in the swirling fireworks that constantly seemed to explode in his green irises... Only looking at him filled Yazoo with a sparkly happiness as if there was sweet lemonade rushing through his veins instead of sticky blood.
"Not Mary, stupid." Sephiroth´s snicker was light and bubbly and joined by Loz´ more earthy one. Yazoo narrowed his eyes and stuck out his lower lip.
"We´re having a wedding. It´s like... like with mom and dad. I´m dad and you´re mom and then we´re married."
It was the simplest way to explain it to Yazoo and pretty much covered all the knowledge Sephiroth had about it himself, but he liked the idea of it. Mom and Dad seemed very happy together, and he thought that it would suit Yazoo and himself just fine!
However, he hadn´t expected to meet resistance.
"I can´t be mom, I has a weewee..."
Loz face darkened as well, as he took this very valid argument into consideration.
In his childish naivety, Yazoo suggested the unthinkable, because he really wanted to marry now too and big brother looked sad and disappointed what with his figure slumped and his lower lip being sucked in (he might have bitten it if he still had had any front teeth).
"Cans't we both be daddy?"
"No." Both boys shook their heads in unison, dismissing the idea at once. Only men and women could marry, this was as much a fact of life as the tooth fairy placing little coins under Sephiroth´s pillow at night in exchange for his tiny teeth but Yazoo was still small, so he couldn't be blamed for not knowing.
"Don´t you wanna be happy with me forever?" Sephiroth tried to persuade, feeling helpless with the new development. He hadn´t anticipated this problem and it threw him off a bit.
"I wanna!" Sephiroth´s hand was squeezed with force and held tightly, as Yazoo looked up at him with conviction, even forgetting about the precious crown for a moment "'Kay, I´m mom then."
And thus Sephiroth and Yazoo got married in a quickly thought up ceremony. Big Brother was beaming happily and rearranged the princess´ crown.
"All right!" Loz importantly cleared his throat, his little form straightening up due to the importance of the moment. Somehow this seemed like a really special, momentous event, and he didn´t want to mess it up. For only a second he faltered, not knowing what to tell the two expectant boys that were facing him and his heart started racing, his hands turning wet. Quickly, Loz wiped them against his pants and took a deep breath. Mom had told him about her own wedding and even though he didn't remember the details, he had the general ceremony before his inner eye.
"You wanna marry?"
The gravely-spoken question lingered heavily between them, slowly swirling over the little clearing in the back of the garden, shadowing carelessly thrown away toys and trampled flowers. Yazoo held his breath, eyes round and unblinking. He was really focused and it was like time had stopped and everything was especially sharp and edgy.
"Yes," Sephiroth replied within a heartbeat. It sounded like "Yef", courtesy of his missing teeth. He had to give Yazoo a little nudge, so that he would answer as well and stop staring at Sephiroth´s nose.
Quickly, Yazoo nodded his consent, which caused his crown to slip over his ear, but no one noticed.
"You gotta say 'yes'."
"Yes."
The words fluttered away like butterflies and Yazoo looked after them with awe. They were a brilliant, glittering blue. Then his attention was drawn back to Loz.
"Okay... so now, you gotta exchange the rings."
That made the smallest jump a little in excitement, pulling at Sephiroth´s hand, who, in return sported a crestfallen expression again. Maybe he should have thought this through a little more thoroughly... Luckily the Goddess of Love took pity on them though and benevolently sent the startled boy an epiphany.
"It doesn´t have to be real rings," he declared with all the convinced air a 6 year old could muster. "It just gotta be something that you really like."
"Oh.." Loz was impressed again, nodded and then watched as Sephiroth took a deep breath, opened his mouth wide and stuck his slender fingers in to pull at a lose tooth that he had pushed around all day with his tongue already. He winced only slightly when the soft tissue gave way and summoned a small white splinter covered in a bit of blood. The token of love was inspected by three pairs of amazed eyes before it changed owners and was carefully put into Yazoo´s hand. Loz was almost a little bit envious, but only a little bit. He didn´t really want to marry Seph.
Yazoo held the tooth as if it was the Holy Grail, so smitten he was, but then Big Brother´s expectant tug at their joined hands reminded the smaller one that he had to give something in return. His face went blank for only a second, before the bride remembered the little heart shaped stone that was safely tucked away in his pocket. With only little regret, Yazoo fingered it out, careful not to drop his precious tooth and handed it over to the groom who took it with the necessary respect and gratitude.
"Great! Now you´re mom and dad!" Loz clasped his hands together and conveyed his joy with a bounce, before he caught himself, crunched his face a little in disgust and stuck his rosy tongue out. "You gotta kiss now, though..."
In an instant Yazoo had squeezed his eyes shut, puffed his cheeks out and pursed his lips, little arms sticking out behind his back, body leaning towards Seph. To Loz he looked like one of those horribly kitschy china figures that were painted in too bright, glistening lacquer and usually occupied the window sills of old grannies.
Sephiroth didn´t seem to mind though, because he leaned down, carefully held Yazoo´s head in place and concluded the ceremony.
And since then they had been married, for ten years now, happily and with the promise to take care of each other for the rest of their lives. That was, until two days ago...
Yazoo buried his face deeper into the pillow, when two little hands roughly shook his back.
"What are you doing?" Kadaj curiously lifted a strand of silver hair from Yazoo´s hidden face and crawled on the bed beside him. He didn´t like being left out of the fun things!
Yazoo only gave an inaudible grunt into the fluffy cushion and wasn´t to be persuaded to speak more clearly even though Kadaj shoved his tiny knuckles between his brother´s shoulder blades. So there was no other way but for the youngest to explore the mystery himself... Taking a deep breath, Kadaj blew up his cheeks like a hamster and then pressed his red, freshly scrubbed face into Loz´ bed as well.
Loz found them an hour later, curled up on the mattress. Kadaj had nestled his head against Yazoo´s chest and held on to one of his brother´s silver strands with tiny fingers. The elder had somewhat protectively curled around the small body holding on to his own and was softly drooling onto Loz´ pillow.
The second oldest grunted, still standing in the door way and not sure if he should be annoyed or admit to the warm fluttering in his stomach. He secretly was a sucker for cute things, and this sight was most adorable (save for the drool...). Besides, his growling belly reminded Loz that he was very hungry and that there was no warm meal waiting for him, like there was supposed to be!
The fine, irritated line between his brows sharpened again.
"What´s going on?"
Sephiroth frowned, peeking past his brother´s broad back that blocked the door way to his room as he followed Loz´wordlessly held up finger that pointed accusingly towards his occupied, ruffled bed. Just then, Kadaj stirred and rolled over, absently stuffing Yazoo´s hair into his mouth to suck on it in his sleep.
"That´s going on." Loz voice had dropped to a low, indecisive mutter. His eyes flickered over to the oldest, hoping that Sephiroth knew what the appropriate reaction in this situation was. The elder had already changed into more casual attire that consisted of a black band shirt with a white, indecipherable font that spiked to all sides in a rather brutal and feral manner. It was probably intended to give off that very aura. Sephiroth´s hands were casually stuffed into the pockets of some battered, formerly black pants that were littered with little holes and washed out blotches. They looked pretty used and old, but they were insanely comfortable. Bare toes curled into the soft fibers of Loz´ carpet, as Sephiroth saw no legitimate reason to wear socks or even shoes inside his estate. It was warm, and the cool stone tiles and polished wooden blankets did feel very pleasant under his soles...
"I see..." Fathomlessly, his brain processed the action of Yazoo demandingly wrapping his arm tighter around Kadaj´s belly to snuggle him closer as if the boy was a giant teddy bear, only made to satisfy Yazoo´s cuddle cravings. And he looked just so... Sephiroth´s toes curled harder, anchoring him to his spot because otherwise he would have strode over to join the party and get some snuggling of his own.
"I´m going to make spaghetti, help yourself to some of my clothes. "
Two quiet, defeated sighs swept through the warm, sleepy air and then the boys parted into opposite directions. Loz couldn´t wait to finally get out of his uniform and made a beeline to Seph´s wardrobe so he didn´t wake his brothers when he rummaged through his own things, while the latter padded down into the kitchen to get something on the stove.
A few rooms away from either of them, Yazoo´s lips twitched into a tiny smirk, before he went back to dozing and enjoying another round of daydreams.
tbc?
I might should have put a fluff warning at the beginning, but meh XD I hope you liked it anyways, and many many thanks go to alexj69 of course, for the awesome betaing! You may wonder about the lunch thing: I went with my own school experience here, and in my country school is out at 12 pm for the younger and around 1pm for the older kids^^ So we don´t have lunch at school, but usually at home. Also, I´d like to thank everyone for reviewing and subscribing (and reading *pokes lurkers in the cheeks*). Now, I have a question for you: Would you rather have regular, shorter chapters or lengthy ones (but then the updates will be fewer)?
And now on to my favorite part: REVIEW REPLIES!
Madisuzy: Yay, thank you, I´m glad you like Kadaj! I´m trying to not make him pretty, because I think he´s actually a sweet kid, if only a bit hyper sometimes and just a tiny lil bit spoiled XD And yes, he and Yuffie together...- I don´t think you can survive them without a big pack of aspirin XD Seph so should stop angsting and molest him already, I concur!
Oztan: Haha, Genesis feels luffed! Hm, I wonder how long Seph can keep trying ;) Or maybe he will find another love interest? We´ll see^^ So, I take it you don´t like incest very well? Or would you just rather see Sephiroth with someone else? *curious*
Anne Voda Hijme: I suppose Yazoo must be even worse at composing poetry, he was desperate and this is why he made a deal with Reno XD For some reason I found that image of exploding Sephy quite funny XD Thanks for the laugh XDDD
Arabella Strife: Haha, yeah, go smack her, she deserves it! ;) Hehe, well, technically I have no idea if boys feel particularly different during puberty, but I suppose they have similar symptoms (or so I hope)... Yeah, and the two of them need to talk *sigh*
Psycho Steph: Wooot, I´m glad you liked it! I think Yazoo was very desperate, that´s why he traded with Reno XD He at least had something Reno desired. And OMG! What a thought! Yeah, imagine! Poor Reno, he´d be disturbed for the rest of his life O___o (Though I´d so want a copy of this tape XD). Haha, and again you hit it XDD Genesis was pissed that Yaz hadn´t asked him, since Genesis sees himself as a poetry genious XD
natzilla: Hm, I bet your pervy mind cooked up some smutty, inappropriate interaction? :P Seph makes a very gorgeous ice queen, doesn´t he? Though you may not say that too loud, he´s still searching Norway for you, and he has little icicles hanging from his nose :P
danslalune27: Yeah, Reno is very easy to recognize XD Hm, Yazoo looks kinda dreamy and all, but I think his mind is more technical actually. He might be pretty useless to voice any of his daydreams XD Thanks for reviewing, and I´m very happy you like it, I try to focus a little bit more on details in this one^^
Soyna: Haha, you think Genesis might becoming a problem? Hehe, he´s the self-declared poetry police, he might really get someone into trouble ;) I bet Yazoo gave him crappy (not literally though __) hetero porn he had no interest in whatsoever. But at their age straight boys might be fascinated by anything with a pussy and tits XD *shudders*
Review pretty please?