The next morning I awoke to the banging of my alarm. Fumbling with my phone I silenced the deafening tone. Groaning, I sat up. Despite having slept quite peacefully, I still felt drained. There was a dull ache in the base of my abdomen. I smiled at the gentle reminder of last night's activities. Erik had been so good. I got up and stretched, the covers falling away from my naked body. Not having bothered to put on pajamas the night before, I shivered slightly as the cold air brushed against my skin.
First, I picked out some clothing from the closet. Donning a low cut, short sleeved, black shirt and comfortable jeans, I looked at myself in the mirror. The shirt was laced together with a black string, but my cleavage was still evident. Had I been in school, I would surely have been dress coded, but it was summer time. I can wear whatever I fucking want to. It's not always about you. My mother's words rang in my head. Shaking myself, I continued getting ready for the day. Before I left my room I grabbed my headphones and plugged them into my phone.
Scrolling through my list of songs, I selected one by Neon Trees. Clapping my hands three times in time with the musician, I skipped out of my room and down the hall. The lyrics started up the moment I reached the banister. As I pranced down the stairs I began to sing along. The song I had chosen was about sex, and none too subtly either. Outlining carnal desires and animalistic fornication, I tried to make my dancing reflect the essence of the music. I felt no shame in dragging my hands suggestively across my body or thrusting my pelvis against my air. The entryway became my own private stage. Eyes closed, moving on instinct, I allowed reality to melt away for one sexy, artistic moment.
The song began to fade, but not at the end of the song. Replacing the melody was an irritating ringing sound. Glaring down at my phone, white letters flashed the word "Mom" across the screen. Oh great, her. Letting out a verbal sigh, I pressed the ignore button. My moment had been disrupted. Mood sufficiently killed. The interruption had paused my music. I rolled my eyes and looked up.
The first thing I saw was James, standing in the doorway between the entrance hall and the dining hall. His mouth was slightly ajar, eyes wide and dilated. Looking around I noticed Erik standing on the second floor landing, leaning over the banister with an amused smirk on his face. Damien was half way down the stairs, just about to take another step, staring at me stunned. Displaying a matching expression was Mathew, who was standing next to Sam in front of the door. Sam had a cocky smile on his face. He was the one to speak first.
"Nice moves Mika." Sam winked at me, smirking.
"Why thank you," I spun around and bowed low while making a wide sweeping motion with one hand.
"What were you even doing?" Mathew asked.
"Dancing," Sam and I responded in unison.
"That was the strangest dancing I've ever seen," Erik commented.
I glanced up at him, still leaning over the banister on the second floor.
"Well, you've only ever been taught ballroom dancing. Dancing amongst the commoners and humans is completely different," Sam said.
I nodded, stealing a peek at James. He was still standing in the door of the dining hall, a strained look on his face. Was there something bothering him? He looked extremely uncomfortable.
"Well, that's pretty cool. Can you teach us sometime?" Mathew asked.
"I'm not really the greatest dancer. Almost anyone else would be better suited to teach you." Out of the corner of my eye I watched James. "And it's better if you know the music more… intimately."
I saw James shiver. What was wrong with him? Damien was also watching James, but his expression suggested he knew exactly what was bothering his brother.
"Is breakfast ready?" Damien asked gently.
James visually shook himself before answering. "Yes, I just finished."
"Alright!" Mathew bounded down the steps into the entrance hall and made his way into the dining hall.
The rest of us followed suit, gathering around the table to the sight of fresh eggs, bacon and warm toast. As we sat down I did not fail to notice that James sat as far away from me as he could. Damien sat next to him, patting James' shoulder and smiling kindly. Sam and Mathew kept up the conversation of music and dancing in the modern, human world. I was impressed with Sam's knowledge of the subject. We all chatted amicably while we finished eating and cleaning up the mess left behind. Then we went our separate ways for the day.
As I promised, I spent much of the day researching education for the boys. Finding drivers ed classes was easy. There were even some programs that were starting within this month that James, Sam and Erik could attend. Cooking classes were all over the place, but most didn't commence until the fall. Several local community centers were hosting seasonal cooking practice starting in September. Mathew would be thrilled about his. James had mentioned having an interest in higher education, so I looked up ways for him to attain a high school diploma as an adult. The best options seemed to be the online classes you could take geared towards both a standard high school degree and pre-college high school degree. Finding reading classes for Damien was the hardest. Most were designed for adults with dyslexia, not people who had never been taught to read in the first place. Putting him in that situation didn't seem right, so I called a few institutions until I found one or two that would work.
During lunch I presented my findings to the boys, and they all seemed rather pleased. Lunch passed quickly with some mild chatter about schooling. After lunch we all parted ways again. I wandered back up to the office to test out my computer setup. Booting up League of Legends, figuring that game would require a high enough performance to provide a reasonable test, I prepared myself for battle. Launching a player vs AI game, I dove into Summoner's Rift, the main arena. I had no problems playing through the game, so I played another. Several hours passed as I played.
Eventually, Sam wandered into the office. He watched me play for a while, occasionally asking me questions about the game. Soon after, Erik and James also checked in on me. They too became interested in my League of Legends round. Focusing on the game while being bombarded by questions was complex. When the round was over I started a new one, to show them everything from start to finish. James picked up the basic strategy rather quickly. The other two had a hard time comprehending the intricacies of item purchasing. After the round finished, with a decisive win over the artificial intelligence, I surrendered the computer over to the incubi, allowing them to try League out for themselves.
In the meantime, I decided to prepare dinner for us. I walked down the hall of the west wing towards the stairs. As I passed the gaming room, I saw Mathew and Damien sitting on the floor playing a hand of Uno. The red haired brother was clearly winning, and Mathew was pouting slightly.
"Sam's right, playing against you isn't fair," he glowered.
Damien, noticing me watching them, greeted me. "Hello Mika."
"Hello Damien. Mathew," I said, nodding to each of them.
"Hey Mika, what are you up to?" Mathew asked.
"I was just going to start making dinner," I replied.
"Oh, that sounds like fun. Can we join you?" Mathew asked, jumping up and tossing his cards to the floor.
"What about our game," Damien asked, slightly disappointed.
"Let's just agree that you won," Mathew said dismissively.
Damien nodded and stuffed the cards back into their box. Tossing them haphazardly onto the table, the boys followed me down to the kitchen.
"What were you planning on making?" Mathew asked excitedly.
"Gyudon," I responded. "It's a Japanese beef and rice dish."
"That sounds nice," Mathew said.
I explained the recipe further as I pulled ingredients out of the cabinets and fridge. We set to work quickly. This recipe usually made enough servings for four people, so I decided to double the components. Two large pans were placed on the stove to boil water and spices. Damien mixed the wet ingredients in two small mixing bowls while Mathew cut the beef into small, thin slices. I placed three cups of rice into the rice cooker to steam, and then started chopping the onions. Damien finished first, and moved to help me with the onions. Then Mathew finished, adding half the beef into each mixture of wet ingredients.
"What should I do next?" he asked happily.
"You could go tell the others that dinner will be ready in about fifteen minutes," I suggested.
He nodded and bounced out of the room.
Damien and I continued chopping the onions. Soon enough, both of us began sniffling. My eyes were irritated, and one had begun to tear up. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Damien reaching up to his face. I grabbed his hand quickly.
"Don't rub your eye with onion juice all over your hand," I said sternly.
He looked at me, and then down to his hand, realization dawning on his face. "I didn't even think…"
I smiled and handed him a towel. His eyes were bright red and tears were starting to gather around the edges. Sniffing hard, I looked down at the partially sliced onions. I wonder if we can prank Mathew when he comes back. I turned to Damien to see if he was reading my mind. He looked at me and smiled roguishly.
"What did you have in mind?" he asked.
"Just follow my lead," I said.
We paused for a moment, listening intently.
"Here he comes," Damien whispered.
I cleared my throat quietly. "It's just so horrible Damien," I wined.
Mathew pushed through the parlor door.
"So terrible, so violent," Damien sniffed, nodding his head.
"How could anyone do something so horrific to such a sweet and innocent… thing," I sobbed, tears streaming down my face.
"The injustice," Damien agreed, his voice catching in the back of his throat.
"Um… guys, what's-" Mathew started.
"MATHEW!" we shouted in unison, running towards the warry boy as he jumped from the sudden yell. I fell to my knees and wrapped my arms around his leg. Damien grasped onto his arm, burying his tear stained face in Mathew's shoulder.
"We've done something awful Mathew…" I choked out, barely able to contain my laughter. I hid my smiling face in his hip.
"We are the scum of the earth," Damien sobbed, turning his face away from Mathew's line of sight.
"What happened?" he asked, patting the top of my head lightly. Frightened concern laced into his tone.
"We- we… we murdered…" I stuttered.
"The onions," Damien finished, gesturing towards the countertop.
Science filled the room. Biting my tongue to keep from laughing I looked up into Mathew's face. He was staring blankly at the countertop, mouth slightly ajar. Mathew looked as if his brain was short circuiting. For a moment, there was no comprehension on his face. Then, realization slowly trickled into view, only to be twisted into irritation.
Damien coughed out a small chuckle. I couldn't hold it in any more, I started giggling.
"Are you serious?" Mathew grumbled, glaring at the two of us.
Letting go of Mathew's arm, Damien leaned back against the counter, laughing gently at his brother's irritation. I also released Mathew and rolled onto the floor, sides heaving in stifled laughter.
"I thought something was really wrong!" Mathew half shouted.
"You should have seen your face," I chuckled.
After a good guffaw, Damien and I returned to cooking. Mathew set the table with all the essentials, still grumbling at us. Fifteen minutes later we all sat down to eat. James, Sam and Erik had just completed a game and couldn't stop talking about it. Noticing that Mathew had only placed forks on the table, I jumped up.
"I'll be right back," I said, trotting towards the kitchen.
I shuffled around the silverware drawer until I found a set of chopsticks. Generally, I preferred to eat Asian cuisine with chopsticks instead of forks. Doing so made me feel culturally experienced. Quickly I returned to the dining hall.
"I told you we shouldn't have bought so many defensive items," Sam was saying as I re-entered the room. "That's why our attack damage was so low."
"But we kept dying," Erik countered.
"That's just because you kept picking fights when you were outnumbered," James commented.
"I couldn't get a proper flow of the game, since we kept switching back and forth," Erik complained.
"We all could play together," I interjected.
The three of them turned to look at me.
"How?" asked Sam. "There's only one computer."
"We could get you computers, that would be relatively easy," I said. Slowly, I stirred my gyudon with my chopsticks, considering what would need to be done to attain computers for the boys.
"What are you eating with?" Mathew asked, leaning over and peering into my bowl.
"Oh, these? They are called chopsticks. Many Asian cultures use them to eat instead of forks," I informed him.
"Wow that looks really cool. Can I try?" Mathew asked.
"I guess. I've got to check to see if there are more in the kitchen," I said, standing up and returning to the silverware drawer.
After hunting for a few minutes, I found five more pairs of sticks. By the time I reached the table again, talk had turned back around to League of Legends. James was doing his best to explain the game to Damien and Mathew.
"There are five positions spread across five human players. Two fight along the pathway at the top of the map, one fights in the central pathway, and two more fight along the bottom pathway," he was saying.
"Sometimes," I interrupted, handing him a pair of chopsticks. "You were playing with a lot of people who are not as familiar with typical game strategies. This shuffled around the roles pretty dramatically."
"How so?" asked Erik, taking his own set of chopsticks from me.
"Well, in bots games, player vs artificial intelligence games, the enemy usually has two champions in the top and bottom lanes each, and one in the mid lane" I explained while handing out chopsticks to the rest of the boys. "In player vs player games, there is only one in the top lane, the other person roaming around the side areas of the map, or the jungle, supporting the team in many different lanes while taking advantage of some perks only found in the jungle."
"That really changes things," James said, while examining his chopsticks.
"Also, each of the other positions have specific roles that they take on, making a fairly strict team composition," I added. "People don't generally play just any champion in any spot."
"That's fascinating and all," Sam said. "But how the HELL do you eat with these stupid things." He was jabbing a single stick into a piece of beef, only to have the meat bounce away from him.
I laughed lightly at his frustration. "It's all in how you hold them. Here, let me show you." I explained how to hold chopsticks with a small demonstration.
"Like this?" Mathew asked.
"No, not quite," I reached over and adjusted the sticks for him.
As I touched his hand I could feel him twitch slightly. Gently I guided the chopsticks into place.
"I see, thanks Mika," Mathew smiled at me gratefully.
I nodded and leaned back into my seat. Scooping more rice and onion into my mouth, I observed the boys in silence. Damien and Erik seemed to get the hang of the chopsticks rather quickly. James struggled a little at first, but then he too grew accustomed to them. Sam, was a different story.
"THAT'S IT!" Sam shouted, hurling the chopsticks, one at a time, across the room. "Damn those stupid sticks! Who would bother when a fork is so much easier?!" He grabbed his fork and began spitefully shoveling food into his mouth.
We all laughed at Sam's outburst. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Mathew nod and set his chopsticks down subtly. He then joined his brother, enjoying his food with his fork.
"You're jealous," Damien stated, closing his eyes and savoring a bite of beef.
"Stay out of my head!" Sam shouted around a mouth full of rice and onion.
We laughed again.
"Mika," James spoke next. "After dinner, would you mind showing me a player vs player game?"
"Sure," I said.
"I think I would like to see this game too," Damien added.
"Would we really all be able to play together?" Erik asked.
"If we got five more computers, yeah, probably," I confirmed. "Unfortunately, the team sizes max out at five players, but we can work around that."
Taking my last bite of gyudon, I began to consider what would be needed in order to set up five more computers in the office. All of the book shelves would have to be moved out. Hopefully there were more outlets behind the bookshelves, and not just the one behind my desk. If not, we would need extension cords and a lot of power strips. Then there was the issue of the internet. My current router would not support five more Ethernet cables. Would the internet even be able to keep connected with that many computers running at the same time?
The boys finished up their food quickly. We then cleared away the dishes, ran the dishwasher, and raced upstairs again. Launching League of Legends, I hopped into a player vs player game. I tried to get my favorite role, but ended up being stuck in mid lane instead. The boys all watched me play for the next 30 minutes. Here and there I would explain the different strategies my teammates and the enemies employed throughout the game. Regrettably, the game ended in a defeat for my team.
After the game, both Damien and Mathew wanted to try, but James insisted on playing the next one to try out some of the new strategies he saw. The other two yielded to their older brother's demands and watched as James played another game. While they played I began planning out how I was going to rearrange the room. They kept playing late into the night, switching after every game. Around 23:00 I turned in, feeling too tired to stay up any longer.