Fleeting Inspiration 49
by Anna Sartin

Chapter 49: What's For Dinner?

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"You can have all the shit in the guest room," Eiri told his brother as they walked through the apartment. "And the bookshelves in the study as well. Seguchi got paint on them, so I'm going to buy new ones for the den at home."

"Fine by me," was Tatsuha's reply. He sure as hell wasn't picky about free stuff, and he wasn't nearly as anal retentive as his brother was about keeping things perfect. Hell, once this place was his he had no doubt Ryuichi would have the walls covered in crayon drawings, finger paintings and half-written song lyrics in no time. He smiled at the thought, before shaking his head and forcing himself to focus on the task at hand. While his brother WAS talking to him, Tatsuha hadn't quite figured out how to broach the subject they most needed to discuss.

If Aniki's still holding a grudge over something that had happened over a year ago, it's high time we clear the air so we can move on.

Unfortunately that was easier said than done. Eiri's moods were volatile as well as erratic, and he didn't know how to approach the issue without his brother either blowing up or withdrawing completely. "When are the moving people going to be here?" he asked, trying to keep the conversation going.

"Tomorrow."

When he called the moving company Eiri had been told that a truck would not be available until noon tomorrow, so he was currently in the process of trying to decide what he wanted to keep and what he wanted to leave behind. He was planning on buying new furniture for the kitchen and dining room and he was still debating with himself over whether or not to buy new furniture for the living room. "Do you want this sofa?" he asked, when they entered the living room. He knew Shuichi was fond of that particular piece of furniture, but the living room in the new house was considerably smaller than the one he was now standing in. At first he considered buying a new sofa, before deciding to put the smaller one in his study in the new living room instead.

"Can I keep him, too?" Tatsuha asked, pointing to Yoshi. He was asleep on the couch, snoring softly. "He's kind of cute."

"Don't be a moron. Do you want the sofa or not?"

"Yeah, yeah, " Tatsuha nodded, grinning lecherously. "I bet my honey would like him, too. I wonder if he's into threesomes?"

"He's not interested in men," Eiri responded, annoyed. Tatsuha mentally kicked himself for getting off-point. I'm never going to get him to talk to me if I keep pissing him off!

"And he's got a girlfriend in Europe," Shuichi piped up from behind them, causing Tatsuha to jump with surprise. "The poor guy was crying for her while he was wasted last night. He tried calling her but I guess he couldn't find the phone. I came in and found him talking into one of his shoes."

Eiri snorted. "Idiot."

Shuichi latched onto his boyfriend's waist and buried his face in his chest. "Yukiiiiiiiiii..." he whined, "I can't find Eiri-chan!"

"Who?" the author asked, pulling the pink-haired leech off of him.

"Eiri-chan!" Shuichi repeated, tugging at Eiri's shirt in his distress. "My owl! You know, the one I bought while we were on vacation!"

"Oh, that ugly thing," Eiri recalled.

"He's not ugly! You didn't throw him away, did you?"

"I haven't seen your stupid toy," the blond answered, wondering why his lover was so fond of the odd-looking plushie. "Where did you have it last?"

"Here in the living room. Come to think of it, I haven't seen it for days..."

"It probably got packed with the rest of the stuff."

"I looked. It's not in any of the boxes."

"Well, maybe it got mixed in with Tatsuha's shit," the blond said, heading for the bedroom. Shuichi followed him.

"I looked there, too."

"You checked ALL the boxes in the house?"

"Yes, every single one!"

"Maybe it's in the car then. Don't worry about it now, we've got too much shit to do already."

The sound of thunder caused both men to look out the window. Shuichi walked over to it and sighed with disappointment. "Looks like we're going to be moving in the rain."

"The movers won't be here until tomorrow," Eiri said, "It'll probably stop by then."

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It had not stopped by dinnertime and the gloomy atmosphere was affecting everyone. Eiri was annoyed, Yoshi was depressed and Shuichi and Tatsuha were currently in a heated debate over whether ramen or sushi would be better. This only added to Yoshi's gloomy demeanor. Neither food sounded appealing to him. The phone rang, breaking up the argument. It was for Yoshi.

"Hello?" Yoshi asked after Eiri handed him the phone.

"Come on, Aniki!" Tatsuha's voice wheedled. "You know you want sushi!"

"No he doesn't!" Shuichi snapped, and the argument began all over again. Eiri rolled his eyes and ignored them both. This went on for a few minutes until the sound of laughter caused everyone to look in Yoshi's direction.

"What are YOU so happy about?" Tatsuha asked.

"You know that crazy woman who fucked up my car?" Yoshi asked, as if anyone could possibly forget. "She's being deported!" He handed the phone back to Eiri. "Apparently she's been living here illegally for months. When they arrested her she told them she flew here from Ohio last summer and didn't have the money to fly back home."

"Ohayo?" Shuichi asked, confused.

"Ohio," Yoshi corrected him. "It's a state in America."

"Oh, like New York!"

"That's right. I lived in Maryland myself."

Shuichi shook his head, wishing he'd paid a bit more attention in geography class when he'd had the chance to learn all this stuff. Americans were a strange people; why would anyone name a state "good morning"? Did they have states named "Konbanwa" and "Osuminasai" as well?

"We never did decide what to have for dinner," Tatsuha pointed out, hoping to get back to the topic at hand.

"Are there any Mexican restaurants around here?" Yoshi asked, now in a cheerful mood.

"Me-xi-ca?" Shuichi asked, confused. He turned to Eiri. "Where's Mexica?"

"Mexico," Eiri corrected. "It's a country in North America. South of America."

Shuichi gave him a puzzled look. "I thought you just said it was in North America?"

"I did."

"Then how can it be south of America?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" his lover asked, feeling a headache coming on.

"How can a country be in northern America and south of America at the same time?"

"North America the continent," the writer explained, trying to be patient.

"America's a country, not a continent! Even I know that!"

Yoshi burst out laughing.

"There are TWO continents called America," Eiri explained slowly, fighting the urge to smack his boyfriend upside the head. "North America and South America. The COUNTRY America is in the continent of North America, and so is Mexico. Didn't they have geography at your school?"

"Yes, but I usually slept through it."

Yoshi laughed again and Eiri rubbed his forehead. "How in the world did you manage to GRADUATE?"

"Well, I WAS at the bottom of my class..."

"I believe it."

"Hiro graduated second in our class. I think I squeaked by copying his homework all the time."

"Your friend was salutatorian?" Yoshi asked. "He must've been really smart."

"He is," Shuichi grinned. "But he always said that there wasn't any honor in saying you were the top student at our school since everyone there was so dumb!"

"Sounds like my old school!" Yoshi laughed.

"Are we going to get something to eat or not?" Eiri asked, wanting to end the whole stupid conversation. "There aren't any Mexican restaurant around here, so what do you want?"

"What about the "Fish Hut" we passed on the way here?" Yoshi suggested.

"NO!" Eiri and Shuichi cried out in unison. The one and only time they'd eaten there they'd both gotten food poisoning. It had been on the news several times for health code violations; it was a wonder the place managed to stay in business.

"Well, I can made dinner if you'd like," Yoshi suggested.

"Oh no, we couldn't possibly make our guest serve himself, let alone cook for us!" Shuichi objected.

"Why not?" Tatsuha asked. "You make ME do it all the time."

"YOU don't count," Eiri informed his brother icily. Tatsuha pouted. He still hadn't gotten close to having a meaningful conversation with his brother, but he wasn't giving up yet.

"Since you've never heard of Mexico, I assume you've never had Mexican food before. I'd be happy to introduce you to it. My mother's enchiladas are the best, I can make them for you."

"Knock yourself out," was Eiri's reply, before heading for the kitchen. He'd had enough of this conversation.

"We'll need to buy ingredients, though," Shuichi said. "I don't know what you use to make Me-xi-cone food, but I'm pretty sure we don't have it."

"To the store, then!" Tatsuha said loudly, and the other two nodded. Eiri immediately reappeared and grabbed Shuichi by the arm.

"Not you," Eiri told his lover.

"Huh? Why not?"

"Because it's raining and I don't want you getting sick. Those two can manage on their own."

Shuichi's eyes began to water and he latched onto his lover gleefully. "Yuki loves me!"

"We'll be back, Aniki!" Tatsuha called, as he and Yoshi headed out the door.

"Um... Yuki?" Shuichi asked. "Do either of them know where the international market is?"

"Do I care?" Eiri asked, heading back to the kitchen.

Shuichi stared at the front door nervously. This could be bad...

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End chapter forty-nine