Author's Note: This is absolutely random, which at this point should surprise no one. And now that it's posted, I'm once again out of snippets for this particular story series, at least until the muse takes another whack at me. I was inspired by an image on the art message board of one of my favorite Japanese SaiMono fanartists, d.o.g.s. I'm also not too familiar with Ou Ki's character, so I hope I'm not too terribly off in my depiction. I kept the writing exceedingly spare partially for that reason, and partially because I just like writing that way from time to time. Seeing just how little you can get away with while still crafting a coherent story is a fun exercise. Of course the most famous example is the six-word story attributed to Hemingway-- "For sale: baby shoes, never worn." But I like to answer at least a few more questions than that when I write something. It's important for a writer to have imagination, of course, but it's also important for the writer to skillfully involve the imagination of the reader.

The story is short, the Author's Note is too long. ::amused:: Onward!

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Ou Ki had been closeted with the Emperor, the Imperial Map, and twenty-four volumes of military strategy for hours when a servant knocked on the door. His Majesty didn't even notice, which left it to Ou Ki to open the door.

The servant bowed low. "I bring excellent news. My Lord Emperor is a father."

"Yes," the Emperor said, without looking up from the markers on the map. "It's not news."

The servant opened his mouth once or twice. "That is. Er. Your Majesty has a fine new son."

"Another one?" The Emperor shifted the forces on the right flank, reinforcing their structure. "Has the infantry run drills over rough ground recently?"

"Not lately." Ou Ki took the arm of the servant and indicated the door. "His Majesty is busy at the moment."

The servant looked mildly panicked. "The Sixth Consort sent me to ask about a name for the boy."

"I don't care," said the Emperor. "Ou Ki! Give me your opinion on this."

Ou Ki hurried the servant out of the room and returned to the strategy session.

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The stack of documents at his elbow was not in any way diminished after an hour's futile attempt at concentration. Ou Ki gritted his teeth and started at the beginning of the page he was attempting to read-- for the fifth time. He made no better progress than he had before; the steady, high-pitched infant wailing from not far off was going through his head like a saw through green wood. Having an office close to the Inner Palace was a mark of status, but it seemed more like a curse-- right up there with excellent hearing.

With a growl he exited his office and his intractable pile of paperwork. It was a short walk through the gardens to the Inner Palace, and the guards saluted him smartly as he passed through the gate dividing the two. The wailing guided him to the pavilion of the Sixth Consort, and he boldly walked right inside-- no one was at the door to stop him. Indeed, the place seemed empty; even the Consort herself was gone. He found the source of his irritation squalling red-faced in a cradle, tangled in trailing purple wrappings. That color and the feathery blond hair, already a perfect match to the Emperor's, were the only indication of the child's royal parentage.

"Be quiet, can't you?" Ou Ki said to the baby, not unkindly. "Some of us have work to do, you know."

The baby took no notice-- hardly surprising, as it seemed to be putting all the force its tiny body could muster into its crying. With a sigh he picked the infant up-- which apparently shocked the child so much that its wailing slacked off immediately. It even stopped waving its little fists in the air, and started trying to look at him with bleary infant eyes of disturbing and familiar golden-brown.

"Better," Ou Ki said, "Gods. As if being ordered around by one of you wasn't enough. You're a Shi for sure."

He settled into a chair with the baby on his lap, and it spent some time attempting to catch hold of his greying beard with tiny fingers. Fortunately not a long time; worn out from the effort of its long crying, the child was soon asleep in the crook of his arm. Ou Ki stared at it, so peaceful, and thought of unimportant things-- his hatred towards his Emperor, the weather, what it was like to be a father, whether he preferred weak or strong tea, the future.

He was still sitting there when one of the palace women finally entered. She had clearly been expecting the baby and not a grown man as well, because she stood there gaping at him like a landed fish. "Take him, will you?" Ou Ki ordered irritably and softly. "I'm fairly sure that's your job and not mine."

She hurriedly did as he asked, handling the child with an utterly impersonal competence to avoid waking him. "My apologies, my lord. I was detained."

"I see. Detained. For three hours." He stood, and noticed in his joints the murmur that would someday become a full-fledged protest. "What is the Prince's name? I missed the announcement."

She gave him a flatly unfriendly look as she returned the baby to his cradle. "He has none. The Sixth Consort says it is up to His Majesty to name him."

Ou Ki stared hard at the sleeping infant, remembered its slight warm weight against his body, the pressure of the fragile head on his arm, the strange faint way his chest had ached. He had no son. "Ryuuki," he said at last. "His Majesty has decided to call him Ryuuki."

The woman's smug smile irritated him. "The Consort will be pleased," she murmured. "I'll tell her."

He turned his back on her, abruptly disgusted with the whole scene. "See that the Prince does not disturb my work again," he said.

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