The Authoress is in the HIZOUSE!
And that is why this Authoress is not (in any way, shape or form) good at being ghetto.
Anyways, thanks for the amazing amount of reviews! I mean, WOW!
And because I'm getting such awesome feedback, here's chappie numba three!
Breaking the Tie
Chapter Three: Innermost Thoughts
Eiri Yuki
My right eye was twitching with tiredness as I had the umpteenth stare down with my blank screen. Writer's block had slowly been affecting me as the evening wore on, and now I was completely stuck. I jumped a little as I heard the screen door slam from my office, and I sighed. Late for curfew again.
I glanced at my watch. No, the lucky kid was home exactly two minutes before his midnight curfew.
His footsteps became louder as he headed towards the stairs.
"Toshi?"
"It's not midnight yet, Father."
Kid after my own heart.
"That's not it, son. Come here."
Toshi sort of slouched into the office, expecting a reprimand of some sort. I sighed. Since when had I become the one who always had something to yell at him about?
"Where were you?"
"Fujisaki Sugaru's, Father. For my cables and my amp."
I eyed his empty hands. "Did he not have them?"
"Wasn't home." Toshi hid a yawn behind his hand. "He left me a message saying he'll have them for me tomorrow morning if I stop over."
I nodded, suppressing my own yawn. Toshi peered over my shoulder at the pathetically blank computer screen.
"Waiting for a masterpiece to come to mind?" Toshi gave me a small grin.
"Yes. Only it's taking its damn time coming."
"Premise?" Toshi questioned.
"A series of five short sex stories that are also mysteries." We did this a lot when I would get stuck. He had a knack for coming up with good plotlines when my muse refused to work. "I want them to be erotic and ironic, classic and surprising. This," I gestured at the blank screen, "is the fifth one, and I want it to be the best."
"Got any of the "the butler did it" storylines?" Toshi suggested.
I shook my head, waiting for him to embellish.
"Okay, the wealthy lady of the house is becoming bored with her work-addict of a husband." Toshi started, dropping to sit on the floor to continue his idea. "The family has many servants, but their butler is a fine young man in his early thirties, or late twenties. The lady begins a secret affair with the butler, and one night makes plans to, you know, do the dirty."
I smirked a little at Toshi's innocent description, but nodded for him to continue. The kid really had a gift for this, although it isn't exactly something to brag about. Hey, I can think up dirty plotlines so my father can write his smut! Yeah, definitely something to not spread around the playground. Toshi might be abject to swearing, mild mannered and completely clueless on how to use his fists, but he knew sex.
"Turns out, though, that the husband is also having an affair with the cleaning girl. He makes plans with her on the same night that the lady and the butler are planning a rendezvous."
I nodded slowly, chewing on my unlit cigarette as Toshi's idea came together in my own mind.
Toshi grinned as he saw the realization dawn on my face. "So the butler, in the dark of the night, beds a wonderful lover without really seeing her face. Only after they have finished does the butler recognize it's not his lady love-"
"But it's the serving girl." I finished. "While the husband screws the wife in the same manner, realizing afterwards who it is."
"The wife and husband's marriage is saved, and when anybody asks how," Toshi paused for dramatic effect, "they just say 'The butler did it.'"
"Bravo." I clapped softly, and pulled him into an affectionate hug.He hugged me back, then kissed my cheek and left my office, heading for his room.
Normally I would have pulled my laptop closer and started typing straight away, while the idea was fresh in my head. But tonight, I just leaned back in my chair.
How had sixteen years gone by so fast? It seemed like yesterday when I was cursing the dirty diapers and wails in the middle of the night.
Since when had I started enjoying the idea of being a father? Well, that was an easy question. Since the first time I held our little baby boy, I had forgotten the sleepless nights of worrying about parenthood. He had been so small, so weak and helpless. Shuichi had laughed and joked that finally, my fatherly instincts had kicked in. He was all too right.
Where as Aoyou was Toshi's comfort, as a mother should be, and Shuichi his friend and teacher, I had been his protector. I was always the first to give the lecture, the first to worry over grade reports, the first to get nasty when Toshi came home with a black eye.
Shuichi was the parent who was fit to bursting with pride. Aoyou and I counted on Shuichi to urge us to leave for a school recital an hour before it started, so we could have the prime seats in the first row. Shuichi would hang up the messy finger-paintings that Toshi would make on the refrigerator, would frame his straight A report cards, would polish his trophies from the school's music program. Shuichi was the one to catalogue the home videos, each carefully marked of its contents.
Toshi's first steps.
Toshi's first birthday.
Toshi's ninth music recital.
Toshi's fourth Christmas.
Shuichi kept the memories safe, treating them more precious than gold or money. Yes; he was the epitome of 'proud parent.'
Aoyou, on the other hand, loved Toshi so much, in the special way only a mother can. She was steadfast throughout the sleepless nights and endless bouts of crying, through the awkward 'tweens' years. She was the one whom Toshi confided in; she was the first to know of his crushes, his dreams, and his fright of his own shortcomings.
He's such a good kid; we all couldn't help but love the shit out of him. Maybe that's why we try so hard not to let our sexual decision effect his life.
When Toshi had turned thirteen, he got his first taste of unpleasantness, and all three of us felt terribly because of it. It was our fault.
Someone in the City of Stars was having a huge party to celebrate some sort of enterprisal achievement. They had invited just about everyone inside of our private neighborhood, and some friends from work and other family members.
We took Toshi, and we were lax about covering up that Aoyou, Shuichi and I were a threesome. Someone from the hosts' entourage heard, and marched right up to us. In no uncertain terms, she told us exactly what she thought of our 'disgusting and unholy relationship' and screamed right into poor Toshi's face that he was a disgrace.
The family hosting the party had apologized profusely, and they paid a lot of money to keep the friend quiet about the whole business. What that bitch had already done to Toshi, on the other hand, wasn't so easy to dismiss. The brave kid managed to keep afloat, even after that verbal beating. But since then, we've all been extra careful to keep him from harm.
I shelved these thoughts away as I turned back to my computer screen and began to type. If I didn't meet my deadline, Aoyou would give me that frosty glare and put me on a fuck-lacking diet that was sheer hell. Being my editor and one of my lovers, she had that kind of control.
The Lady Everith stared mournfully into the hall, eyes not really seeing. Her husband had gone abroad again, leaving her alone and very sexually frustrated. She sighed, and her eyes slowly came to focus on the young butler, Maurice. His back was to her, and through his tailored uniform she had a very pleasant view of his backside….
My fingers flew over the keys, and I went into what Shuichi calls my "Author-Zen mode." The twitch in my eye was gone; Toshi's idea had lit my muse on fire, taking all weariness away.
Gravitation
Four hours later
Yuki shoved away from his desk, wrists and fingers aching. He dearly wished he hadn't consumed the last of his cabinet-side brandy; the fiery alcohol would have made getting to sleep easier.
He had finished over half of the short story and finally decided to go to bed. It had already been a long day, and Shuichi was right; he was going to hurt himself if he pulled many more all-nighters.
Trudging up the stairs and down the hall, Yuki paused by Toshi's bedroom. The door wasn't closed all the way, and Yuki felt a rush of cold air from inside. Peering in, he saw the window partially open and letting in the cool night air. Toshi was asleep and snoring a little, curled up as tightly as a lanky teenager can get, clutching his summertime sheet up to his shoulders.
Yuki crossed the room silently, treading lightly like a cat. He twisted the crank on the window, shutting it and the cold air out. He hesitated, and then pulled up the roller chair by Toshi's desk to the edge of the bed. Taking a seat, the older man gazed at his teenage son in the awe only felt by parents.
And to think, this used to be a blubbery ball of pink skin that burped and pooped.
Yuki leaned back in the chair and let his gold eyes wander the room. From the large Bad Luck poster to the cardboard sign tacked on the wall proclaiming a book signing by romance novelist Eiri Yuki, and then to the glass case with a beautifully cared for violin.
Toshi's spent over half of his life playing that piece of wood and horsehair. Yuki mused. The kid's gotten so talented, just like Shuichi. Probably Shuichi's genes. I mean, the hair, the bubbly personality, the fondness for breaded sticks covered in artificial flavoring, the musical genius… There's no way he's my kid.
A pang of sadness struck his stomach, and for a moment, Yuki felt on the verge of tears. Then his stoic sensibility kicked in. He reminded himself that Toshi's blood didn't matter; Toshi belonged to him, Shuichi and Aoyou. And damn! Wasn't he the one who first said he didn't want the child? Didn't he go to a hotel to escape the idea when Aoyou first told them?
Yuki stood up, suddenly feeling foolish for sitting there, silent. He pushed the chair back into place, adjusted the blankets so Toshi would be more comfortable, and then leaned over to brush his lips against the teen's hair.
"G'night, little prodigy."
End Chapter
Authoress here.
Aw, what a chapter of paternal ooze! My mothering side came out in full force, so apologies for the extreme froth-on-top-of-a-tall-skinny-extra-hot-moosed-caramel-and-vanilla-latte fluff!
In regards to WHY this chapter was simply Yuki reminiscing over his fatherhood, I would like to thank the reviewer who was wondering some of the same questions that Yuki pondered this chapter. Reviews really kick MY muse into high gear, and thanks for all of the wonderful ones you readers dear have left me.
I'm loving this story! Are YOU? (basically this is where the pathetic Authoress is begging for reviews like some mangy mutt begs for a scrap of food, be it pork chop or carrot…Actually, I know a dog who LOVES carrots to the extreme, so that example isn't entirely accurate, but hey, it's midnight and I just drank two cups of coffee for work.)
(zips away on the Broom 'O' Doom)