A short chapter this time.Short and sweet. I'm not sure about what the proper term is. I was thinking nursery nurse or child carer or day-care teacher or… Well, it doesn't matter.
Child minder
XX
Kurogane let his eyes rove over the black and white print of a newspaper that he could hardly read. There was so much noise around him, the laughter was dimly annoying, and he was faintly aware of tiny little figures running in circles around his chair.
The children were bellowing the words to 'Three blind mice' at the top of their lungs whilst they ran around the play-area in paint-splattered clothes. Brightly coloured building blocks, rocking horses; miniature dolls with bubblegum hair were scattered across the floor, underneath tables, on top of chairs.
Kurogane was just about to tell the little brats to keep it down when Fai walked in, brushing the dust off of his hands. He took a glance around the room and smiled patiently.
"Okay, children!" he clapped his hands as he walked into the centre of the room, "remember now, it's not three blind mice, it's three visually impaired mice!" he cried. "Three visually impaired mice, three visually impaired mice! See how they run, see how they run!"
At the sound of Fai's off-key singing, Kurogane glanced over the top of his newspaper to where the children were playing.
"Are you insane?"
He flashed him a cheerful smile. "But it's politically correct. We can't have the children learning the wrong terms. Besides, I could get in trouble if we sing those songs."
Kurogane calmly folded his newspaper on his lap. "Are there any nursery rhymes that haven't been changed?" he asked, moving his head before one of the boys could squirt him with water.
Fai looked thoughtful "Not to my knowledge."
"Humpty Dumpty?" he prompted. He did not have a great deal of knowledge when it came to nursery rhymes but ever since taking on such a troublesome job, the names of many had been forced into his brain.
"All the currently reigning monarch's horses and all the currently reigning monarch's men and women," Fai stressed, "because you can't discriminate against women. They can lead a country or join the army as well."
Kurogane snorted. The bright posters and boards full of children's artwork that was spread around the walls were all approved before they could be tacked onto the walls. He did not understand the big fuss around what words one could use or could not use. If you wanted to say something, then you should say it.
"Jack and Jill?" he ventured.
"That's no longer sung. It's a bad influence."
"If I recall, it's about two kids going to fetch water."
"And then Jack cracked his head open and Jill committed suicide," Fai replied, his eyes only briefly flickering across the room to makes sure the children were in check.
"Ten little Indians?"
"Ten little southern aborigines."
"I give up!" he tossed his newspaper aside.
Fai smiled. He made some comment about 'Kuro-rin' being 'so cute,' which made Kurogane bristle, and turned towards the children. Kurogane hardly heard his inane chatter about how sweet the children were and how adorable they would be when they grew up. A child was a child. Kurogane's attention wandered here and there, from two boys playing with bricks, to a girl painting a tree, to a small group of children singing as they played some sort of clapping game.
"My boyfriend gave me an apple
My boyfriend gave me a pear!
My boyfriend gave me a kiss on the lips
And threw me down the stairs!"
Fai clapped his hands again. It had become a common action when he wanted the children to stop doing something.
The children paused their activities to stare expectantly at him. Kurogane could not help but note that they looked just like well-trained dogs.
"Okay, okay! You can't sing that, kids. Why? Because abusive relationships are wrong. What do we do to people who are abusive to their partner?"
"We kick them in the nuts!" one of the boys demonstrated as he screamed the answer.
"My kids are so smart!" Fai squealed with delight and pulled the boy into a suffocating hug.
Kurogane felt like snorting again. He sincerely hoped that Fai never, ever became a parent.
Fai must have sensed his mood for he tilted his head slightly towards him. The children were looking at them both, hesitating, unsure if they were allowed to return to their games again.
"Why don't you join in, Kuro-chan?"
He rolled his eyes. "You have to be disabled - "
"Differently-abled," Fai interjected.
" – if you expect me to join in with your retarded - "
"Mentally challenged."
" – psychopathic – "
"Socially inept."
" – politically correct songs! Stop that!" he cried and glared at him.
The children shied away, slightly scared by his temper. Breathing a sigh of exasperation, Kurogane returned to his newspaper.
"How can you be so uncooperative, Kuro-rin? You're making me do all of the work by myself!" Fai cried with a look of mock hurt.
"I just don't like kids," he muttered, too low for any of the children to hear, whilst keeping at arm's length from Fai. Insanity was contagious after all.
"But you make such a good daddy!"
"And you make such a good maniac."
"It's mentally unstable," Fai corrected him once again.
Irritated, Kurogane made some sort of indignant noise in his throat. "Don't be an idiot. If you're going to keep doin that, I'm going home," he huffed and stalked away. The children jumped aside to let him through and, outside, it began to rain.
XX
Kurogane was still slightly peeved when Fai returned home that evening. It was a pity, as Sakura had offered to make him some tea and he was beginning to relax just before Fai returned home with a bright smile and was instantly set upon teasing him for the remainder of the day.
"Ah, Kuro-chin, are you still sulking?" he made his way over to the kitchen table where Kurogane had been sipping his tea.
"I wasn't sulking," he protested and tried to turn away from the noisy distraction.
Fai smiled as if he knew better. "I'll make it up to you," he promised. Leaning over, he put his lips to Kurogane's ear, whispering things that would have made any of the kids go red.
Kurogane turned to face Fai, who was looking at him expectantly. He stood up and Fai could not hide the playful delight in his eyes.
Kurogane smiled wolfishly. "I'll make a deal with you instead," he licked his lips and drew himself closer to Fai, brushing a stray strand of blond from the man's face. "Why don't you go to the bedroom…" he whispered softly, "…and get back to me when you find the politically correct term for 'fuck you.'"
With that, he promptly turned away and walked out of the room, knowing that he was leaving Fai with a bewildered look on his face.
He grinned and shut the door behind him.
See? Fai's not the only one who can control the relationship by saying 'No sex for you!'
Thanks to everyone who reviewed and for those who helped me with Livejournal. I have an account now. http:// mizumimi. livejournal. com/ (Remove the spaces) Though there's nothing much there at the moment, you're welcome to comment, or friend me…or do whatever it is that people do with Livejournal.
