93
Simplicity
Furuichi pinched the bridge of his nose. Oga, passing by in their shared apartment, curiously walked over, carting a now two year old Be'el. "What's the matter?"
"This. This is the matter!"
Furuichi's laptop was littered with sticky notes, the table piled high with thick folders of documents, and several snack wrappers laid open and empty around where the silvernette's feet had been.
"Take a break. Be'el's been fussy too."
"Is that right, Baby Be'el? I got ya. I know you don't want to be carried, but it's dirty here."
Furuichi blew raspberries into the toddler's neck until Be'el began to laugh. "I know. We'll go to the park for some fresh air, yeah? I thought you'd like that. Let's get your stuff. Wait. What's Daddy doing?"
"Look I know I probably won't understand what the- what's it called? The 'bootstrap paradox' is, but I can read. Maybe having a fresh set of eyes might help. Fuck, I need to clean this up first."
Furuichi had gone back to school to finish his masters. Oga had been nothing but supportive the entire journey. When they graduated, the two father's found good jobs and a small, yet cozy apartment closer to the countryside. Hilde, Be'el's mother, didn't like the added distance, but Aoi, Hilde's current partner, reasoned that the environment was much leaner and healthier for the growing baby.
"Thank you. I'll make sure to properly thank you when it's Hilde's turn again."
"You better," Oga grumbled. It's not that Oga didn't love his son, but Be'el could be a serious cock block sometimes.
…
"You're still reading my research?"
Be'el and Furuichi returned from their quick trip to the park to find Oga chin deep in Furuichi's notes. "Not exactly."
Intrigued, Furuichi put Be'el to bed and turned on the night lamp to portray the shadow of a monster on the wall. Furuichi still hated all the freaky contraptions Hilde gave to Be'el, but didn't have much say in the matter.
"Did you figure something out?"
"Let's just go back track a little bit. A casual loop is if a guy-"
"Or woman. Or non-binary."
"Right. Goes back in time to find out something didn't exist, until they do it."
"That's right."
"So, if I take music, Mozart for example, go back in time to meet the guy only to find he never existed, take his sheet music, and I publish it- still under Mozart's name, the question is then who published the music before my time machine was invented, right?"
"Exactly."
"But that's easy. Someone else did it."
"What?"
"I mean someone else just wrote the music. Maybe under a pseudonym or something."
"...But what about his whole family history?"
"A lot more was forged and faked in those days. C'mon, Annoyichi, how do we know any of our records are accurate anyway, unless we were there?"
The familiar tension that gathered at Furuichi's temples came back. "Oga, it can't just be that simple."
"Why are you making it so hard?"
Furuichi stared at Oga like he just descended from Heaven.
"Damn, I've never wanted to have you so bad in my life."
Oga grinned, throwing down the piles of now useless paper. They leaned into each other's kiss and then… "Papa, I'm hungry. Daddy, carry me."
The husband's rested their foreheads together, but moved to coddle their son.
"Next time."