Sorry for the relatively long wait and thank you all for the motivating comments! Special kudos go out to my beloved AlexJ69 who did an amazing job with the proofreading of this chapter! *huggles*
Enjoy!
Chapter 3
Reeve Tuesti was meeting them up in his office as they left the elevator, coming at them with an open, candid smile.
„Vincent! How have you been, old friend? And look at the boys, how much you have grown!"
„Reeve, it is good to see you again," Vincent replied, dutifully shaking the enthusiastically held out hand of his friend and adding with a sidelong glance at his two boys, „Although I wished the circumstances were more... pleasant."
Reeve followed his eyes, his smile turning a bit softer and professional. „Well, let´s talk about it in my office, shall we? I´m sorry, my desk girl is out today since I usually don´t have clients on sundays, but my coffee is pretty good too. My hot chocolate as well, don´t worry."
He winked at the boys, who forced polite smiles onto their faces as they followed the man into his office. The lavish corridors were empty at the weekends, the thick carpet muffling the noises of their footsteps, two of them rather hesitant. Vincent could sense his children´s reluctance, but he had no mercy with them at all. Sure, it wasn´t pleasant to talk about such a shameful thing with a third party, but they should have thought about the consequences before doing such hideous, detestable... things! He shouldn´t have allowed them to play these video games and see all these TV programs; he should never have let them leave the house where their innocent and easily impressionable minds got compromised and corrupted by the media and all their filthy trash...
„Orange juice?" the psychiatrist offered, as he gestured to a couch, walking into the small kitchen next to his office. Sephiroth was about to decline but after a pointed look from his father he polite replied, „... Yes, please."
They sat down in the expensive looking office, that was painted in warm, calming colours, decorated with a few abstract prints and green plants. Vincent´s gaze drifted to the high mahogany bookshelf, reading the titles and noticing with slight disappointment that there was nothing about incest. Well, he trusted Reeve to handle this. Still, he wished Lucrecia would have come here with the boys, she was much better at explaining such things, and always found the right words. It was save to assume that Vincent felt at least as uncomfortable in this situation as his sons did... However his anger and indignation drove him to push his uneasiness away and keep a dark expression. Adjusting the tie of his black suit, he shot his boys a look, warning darkly "You will behave."
After a moment Reeve was back with a tray he placed on the small table, holding two cups of coffee, as well as two green glasses with a yellow liquid. He sat down opposite the family, briefly sizing up Vincent, who had forced himself between his two sons. The boys were sitting hunched at the two poles of his sofa. Each of them were busy observing some obviously rather interesting spot on the carpet, avoiding to either look at their father nor his friend. Interesting.
„So, may I ask how I can help you?" Reeve´s questioning eyes fell on Vincent, but the man leaned back with his arms folded over his chest. Rising a brow, he stated wryly,
„Sephiroth, Yazoo. Why don´t you tell Reeve why we are here."
Obviously he was in a pretty sour mood. However, the bearded man didn´t miss the slightly nervous twitch of his friend´s foot. So Vincent was pretty uncomfortable himself about this... Well, it wasn´t very surprising actually; the fact that this usually very private and secretive man had called to ask for a professional meeting with a part of his family was quite exceptional on itself. However, the psychiatrist had no idea what the occasion could be; he didn´t meet Vincent that often since they were both pretty busy, but whenever they talked Vincent only had to report good things about his sons. He was very proud of them, Reeve had no doubt about that.
„What, now all of a sudden you are being shy?" Vincent gave a derisive snort, that sounded a bit impelled and helpless. When he didn´t get an answer from either of his sons, he just dropped the bomb himself in a grave tone,
„I caught them making out."
The psychiatrist hid his surprised expression well at this revelation, as he just softly replied „I see."
Vincent seemed almost a bit disappointed by his rather unspectacular comment, but it didn´t escape Reeve that his two sons threw each other a quick, slightly confused look.
„Vincent... would you mind giving us a moment?"
The man didn´t seem too excited about that particular idea, but eventually he got up from the sofa, and with a last, unidentifiable look at his children, closed the door behind him.
Instantly, the boys relaxed.
Good, that was what Reeve had hoped for. Vincent was biased, and, unconsciously, put them under a lot of pressure.
„Orange juice?" the psychiatrist offered again, and this time at least Yazoo nodded and took a glass from the tray, hesitantly sipping at it. Sephiroth had taken a more comfortable posture on the couch, not clinging to the edge anymore.
They really had grown a lot since he had last seen them...
„How old are you?" Reeve asked friendly to keep them going, carefully trying to make them open up to him.
„Sixteen, sir. Yazoo turned fourteen last month." Sephiroth had intertwined his fingers on his lap, dominating the sofa now. Yazoo calmly nurtured his orange juice, naturally leaving the talking to his older brother, though he didn´t look intimidated or shy, not exactly. It seemed that whereas Sephiroth had inherited the natural authority of his father, Yazoo was content with his quiet side.
„Do you want to tell me what happened?" Reeve asked, sipping at his coffee, eyes friendly and calm.
„No, but we don´t have much of a choice, do we?" It sounded slightly sardonic, but not hostile.
Reeve just threw him an understanding, encouraging look, Sephiroth didn´t really reciprocate. Instead he sighed, leaning his head against his knuckles, appearing almost tired and bored of the topic.
„Very well then."
*
Vincent paced the waiting room, looking at the clock every ten seconds. How long could it take to explain such a simple thing?! Reeve wasn´t giving them the talk about the birds and bees, was he?!
Might not have been such a bad thing to do, Vincent had to silently admit. Maybe then this wouldn´t have happened... Although now it was too late anyway, it seemed. And here he´d thought that his family life was perfect, that he could trust his kids for being responsible and well-raised... Such a thing, he could not fathom what had driven them! Especially Sephiroth, he was the elder, he should know that incest was immoral, hideous, absolutely forbidden and how dare he do this with his little brother!
But maybe, maybe there was still a chance of doing things right, if Reeve could talk some sense into them-
„There´s some magazines over there, and if you´re hungry you can make something in the kitchen, there´s cheese and bacon in the fridge for sandwiches. Ah, Vincent, can I have a moment with you?"
The man just frowned, but walked back into the office, looking suspiciously at the door after Reeve had closed it. „You think it´s a good idea to have them in a room together, alone?"
The laugh he received startled him a bit, but it was good-naturedly. „Yes, I think they will be fine. Sit, please."
„And?" Vincent did sit down, his fingers curling around his knees, knuckles turning white. He tried to be as patient as he could, but he needed to know. And both Sephiroth and Yazoo´s expressions as they left the office had been blank, giving him no clue on how the conversation developed...
„Well, you can relax. Your boys are perfectly normal. Actually, you did a great job raising them, they are very polite and quite mature for their age." Reeve finally offered, a faint smile tugging at his lips, small wrinkles of silent laughter around his eyes. As he had expected, Vincent sat up straight in surprise, stiffening, but then he drew his dark brows together in splenetic confusion.
„... Did they tell you what they did?"
Reeve put a spoonful of sugar into his empty cup, pouring some of the steaming black substance from the white, flower patterned pot over it and stirred the contents a bit so that they mixed together. „Yes, they did."
The look of confusion deepened on the handsome man´s face opposite the psychologist, and his long fingers tensed around the black fabric of his expensive suit again. „But-"
„They were just 'screwing around' Vincent. They are curious about certain things at that age, and they are close, so they just... tried it out. Don´t worry, I am quite certain that they won´t do it again. Despite the embarrassment and shock of getting caught, they did not actually enjoy what they did. Or to quote Yazoo 'it was sticky and icky and messy and I don´t think I´ll ever do something like that again'."
Vincent listened, frowning, eyes narrowing further, before he shook his head and dismissed any attempts of explaining what had driven them with one single -but nonetheless powerful- killer argument: „But they are brothers!"
Sighing, the psychologist crossed his legs and took up his coffee cup, silently wondering how long it would take him to convince his stubborn friend. He could understand Vincent too, had it been his own children being caught in such an act he probably wouldn´t have been so calm about it as he was now. However, despite all the emotional involvement and ignorance from Vincent, Reeve knew that eventually he would get through to him.
„And that is why it makes sense to share your curiosity with someone you trust and feel close to. It´s not that uncommon, Vincent."
The other man´s eyes just flared up again, as he exclaimed, moving a frustrated hand through his dark hair, „But they are only 14 and 16, they are practically still toddlers! They shouldn´t be interested in such... such... things!"
„Like gay sex?" Reeve offered, lifting a brow and taking a sip from his too sweet coffee.
„Don´t say it like that!" Vincent growled, scandalized. „They are still my boys, they are too young and innocent, and it´s all the media´s fault! I should prohibit them TV, and these video games and... internet!"
Inwardly shaking his head, Reeve sat his cup aside and put his fingertips together, his voice dropping to a lower tone „Vincent, they are teenager, it´s only natural for them to be interested in..." he cleared his throat, out of consideration sparing his friend any too graphic terms "... these things."
For a moment it seemed as if the worried father would protest again, but then his shoulders slumped and he leaned back, looking somewhat defeated with the way he closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.
„So what are we supposed to do now? We can´t just let it slide.... Can we?" His sharp, searching gaze fell onto Reeve again, seeking advice and some instruction from a professional on how to handle this, since clearly, Vincent was at his wit´s end.
„Don´t push yourself too hard, it is not your fault. Just keep your eyes open, let them know that if there is anything they are curious about they can always talk to you, that you´ll listen to them without judging them. Offer your support. They are your kids, Vincent, they love you, they want to trust you and they need you. Sanctioning them or hiding everything with sexual content will do nothing but drive them away from you, and then things like yesterday will happen."
There was a very long pause, dragging on almost five minutes, before Vincent could bring himself to finally say „Maybe you´re right, maybe we have neglected their sexual education. I will talk to Lu about it. But just to make sure... would you mind seeing them every once in a while? Maybe ... every Wednesday, 4 pm?"
Reeve gave a silent laugh behind his fist at that, finding his friend´s disconcerted face quite adorable. However that expression turned into a frown now, as the other sternly declared „Are you making fun of me? Because, in all truth, I do not find this whole matter amusing at all."
„No, no! Not at all!" the psychiatrist hurried to assure, holding his hands up in a pacifying manner.
Vincent just lifted a brow and almost sulkily sipped at his coffee, giving the silent treatment.
„You´re a great father, who would know better than I? Maybe you´re a bit... closed up, and not exactly the best-buddy kind of dad, but you are honest and concerned and you would give them everything." Reeve smiled openly, trying to placate the other. If Vincent got into one of his brooding moods it was hard to pull him out of it again... However, his words seemed to have done the trick, because Vincent´s eyes widened and he stared his friend right in the face.
„Are you saying that I am frigid?!"
Appalled by that suggestion, Reeve lifted his hands again, hurriedly assuring
„No, I´m not! Well, I don´t know, maybe Lucrecia is a more suitable person to ask that... Just, relax a bit, don´t be angry with them. They are growing up, they make mistakes, don´t hold it against them. Be there, let them know you love and support them."
The man relaxed again, shook his head to himself, but didn´t look quite as dismayed anymore. „And you´re sure they won´t do it again?"
„Yes." A warm smile graced Reeve´s features, and this was all it took to convince Vincent.
*
Meanwhile in the kitchen, Yazoo was leaning against the counter, watching Sephiroth crouching before the fridge and inspecting its contents.
„You think he bought it?"
The elder turned a box of cheese in his hand, before he threw it back inside and closed the door, getting up. He took the time to seize his brother up, before he broke into a smirk. That was the younger´s sign to come nearer and pull the elder closer, who in return grabbed Yazoo by the hips.
„You were pretty convincing. Could have fooled me..."
His hot breath brushed over Yazoo´s mouth before his lips did, and two wet tongues passionately intertwined.
„So, you´ll never do it again, hm? That sticky... messy... stuff..." Sephiroth muttered, as his hands wandered down Yazoo´s sides to teasingly squeeze his buttocks while he trailed kisses along his brother´s throat. The younger´s eyes hooded and he leaned into the touches with a pleased sigh. Nonetheless Sephiroth finally pointed out, voice low,
„We should keep a low profile for a while though. Mum and Dad seemed pretty freaked out."
Something akin to guilt flickered in the elder´s eyes as he let go with a sigh, instead holding Yazoo´s hand. Looking to the ground, long hair obscuring his youthful face a bit, Yazoo hesitantly agreed.
„Yes, you´re right. They don´t seem like they would understand..."
Sephiroth´s expression turned grim, as he pinched the bridge of his nose. „Remind me to strangle Genesis first thing when we get back. 'A Modern Interpretation of Loveless'," he snorted, asking himself how he could ever have thought it could keep their parents glued to the theatre seats for two hours. „I should have known this wouldn´t work."
Yazoo just gave him a chaste kiss on the mouth. „Let´s get back to the waiting room. They could be done every minute."
tbc?
Okay, I didn´t draw out the scene with the boys speaking to Reeve, but if there is any interest I can still do that in flashbacks. Otherwise... Well, this is all that I have written for this story so far, and it can be ended here as a mini-story. Unless you would like to read more? I´m not sure...
Review replies *suppressed squeal*
Aeriths-Rain: Yesh, Kadaj is so cute ^__^ And Vincent is scandalized XD Thanks for reading and reviewing dear!
Psycho Steph: I think Sephiroth might be putting on a facade of deviance so he doesn´t have to admit to anyone (including himself) that he did something wrong. Just like the typical teenager XD Ah, and there is some unspoken communication all right XD
IA1979: Haha, no pancakes are triggered with bad memories now XD I´m the same as you and Kadaj, yay! Let´s stay kids forever^^ You know, it´s always the quiet ones, isn´t it? ;)
natzilla: Did you read the new chapter already as well? I can´t remember *scratches head*
Soyna: Gahaha, you´re so right! Hey might seem neat and orderly, the neighbours, but when the lights are turned off they creep under their beds to secretly read smutty fanfiction XD
Madisuzy: Yesh, what a sweet idea! Vincent joining them to overcome his incest-phobia sounds like the perfect therapy XDD Thank you for reviewing dear!
Labe: Thank you so much my dear! *huggles* Okies, here´s more and we´ll see about the rest XD
deviousfairie: Wow thank you! I must admit that sometimes, I read the lat page of a book too, just to make sure that everything is going well XD And I do slip parts when I get bored... but that´s another story XD Sephiroth isn´t evil incarnated at all- he´s just a confused teenager. And we´ll see about Yazoo soon enough ;) I´m glad you like it so far!
Gismo1: It´s kind of sad, isn´t it? But it does make sense to Vincent; the shrink is a professional who was trained in dealing with stuff like that. Thanks for reading and reviewing!
Oztan: Haha, we will see about that Sephiroth/Cloud thing XD I am not quie sure how this will all play out yet myself, but I am very happy that you are enjoying it so far^^
Review please?