Age
The video wasn't much.
Yousei was dimly illuminated by an overhead light, his glasses reflecting white when his head was tilted at the right angle. He didn't look, sound or behave too differently, yet none of it was the same either. Everything else around him was indistinct due to the lighting and the audio was gritty.
"As you've probably already been informed, I've been tapped into your phone for some time now. Your call with Baumer pisses me off in more ways than the obvious, but primarily because I'm sick of not being able to do anything. So I sent you the two doofuses to lend a hand.
"Yes, it's not my best idea but I did what I could. They're idiots, especially the one with smashed piano keys for teeth, but they're good to use because they haven't got anything to live for aside from a paycheck. Meaning, FYI, if Dean tells you about his wife, she's actually dead. And Nelson? His family excommunicated him.
"I'm not saying to look at them as expendable, but let's be realistic: they are. That's why I sent them to you. More than that, they're good at what they do and without having any risks to take, they won't hesitate to work harder for you. And as the suspicious asshole you are, I'm going to assume that you're going to treat them like they're covered in dog shit. Good. Don't get attached to each other."
Yousei paused to pull his hair out of his mouth. It was still bleached blond and shaped around his face, but it had grown to a cumbersome length, with the shortest part stopping just short of his clavicle. The "style" looked sleek on him though it came with the misfortune of removing the shaggy harshness in his appearance. The more Anthaniel focused, the less Yousei looked like Yousei.
"I don't know if they would've told you unless you asked--and you probably did--but just in case, they're only doing this as a favor to me because I've done work for them in the past. That's the straight skinny; nothing more, nothing less." Yousei sighed and looked away momentarily, just a head of hair to the camera. "So those are the bare bones of the situation."
He paused. "I hope this video finds you well. I don't know if hearing from me helped you breathe easier but if not, at least you got this. I know that it's been a while, uh, again, so whenever you find time or if you can at all, tell everyone that I miss them and not to worry because I'm doing just fine. We're doing just fine.
So..that concludes the video. If you need anything, and by that I mean emergency-type of need, like someone died and I should know, send an email to my old address. You should remember it." Yousei paused. "Bye." The screen went black.
Anthaniel sighed and then sucked in a sharp gasp as Nelson seemingly appeared out of nowhere to place a glass on the table. "What the fuck?"
"Wow, you've been glued to your laptop for quite some time now that you've seen the video," Nelson grinned playfully. "I never got to see it. Dave say anything about me?"
"He alerted me about your crystal meth addiction and redirected me to Dean's registered sex offender profile." Anthaniel rubbed his eyes and leaned forward to peer into the glass. "What is this you're giving me?"
"Bourbon on the rocks. Dean and I thought you seemed like a whiskey-kinda guy."
"Huh." Anthaniel picked up the glass and took a sip from it, pleased. "That's pretty accurate. How'd you figure?"
"...Old people like whiskey."
"...Know what, why don't you leave me alone for another hour or two and resume fucking yourself? I think that would be nice for both of us."
"Ol' righty is tired from all the hard work."
"Just one hand, huh?"
"Whoa, Black Stallion! I ain't no sitter."
"Uh huh, yeah, sure, alright, I believe you." Anthaniel paused as his phone vibrated in his pocket, and pulled it out to take a glance.
-
Zhang knocked lightly on the door of a white house on Old Mountain Road, and when no response came, he knocked harder. He waited about a minute before turning away, and it was at that moment a young woman, either in her twenties or thirties, came to the door with a dazed baby carefully held in her arms.
The woman was a curly-headed brunette and the little infant was a blonde. Certainly neither of them were Ethan. "Ah.. Yes? Is there something you need? You don't look very familiar.."
"Oh, I'm, uh," Zhang gestured toward himself, "I'm looking for Ethan. Is he around?"
"Yes! Yes he is. Just a second, okay?" The woman nudged the door open further and padded off into a hallway to the right of the stairs as the baby girl made seagull noises. Zhang smiled to himself and turned away, fighting the urge to inspect the house.
Ethan came jogging to the door in a record amount of time, with a little boy aged four or five clinging to his back. The kid's hair was jet black, not unlike his eyes, and when Zhang smiled at him he smiled back, showing off a pair of dimples. So this was the boss' nephew. Looked more like his son.
"Hey there, Ethan," Zhang held his hand out for a shake. "You remember me?"
"Of course I do!" Ethan took Zhang's hand and shook, smiling as though he'd reunited with a best friend. "How are you, Zhang? What brings you here?"
"Your brother is worried about you, so he had me check to see if you were doing okay. Looks like everything's fine so far." Zhang bowed his head.
"Oh.. He didn't send Marty?" Ethan paused and laughed as the youngster on his back repeated Marty's name enthusiastically.
Zhang seemed confused, but smiled anyway. "No, just me. Was that your..wife who answered the door or..?"
"No!" Ethan laughed quietly, covering his mouth. "Oh, no, no. That was, um," Ethan coughed out another laugh and then forced himself into a state of calm, "That was our cousin. Kcalb's and my cousin."
"Ah, I see," Zhang nodded, acknowledging that the remaining family seemed to live here. At least, the young ones. "So the kids are hers, right?"
"Yes," Ethan bobbed his head. "Addie's the mother of Anthan here," the young boy beamed at the visitor at the mention of his name, "and Madeleine."
"Named after his uncle, huh?" Zhang smirked and held his hand out to Anthan. "Nice to meet you, little man." As soon as he said that, a quick thought passed through his mind saying, 'At least their nicknames are total opposites.'
Anthan giggled and slapped Zhang's hand.
Zhang exaggerated a pained face and yanked his hand away, gingerly rubbing it with his other. "Wow! The little man is strong, isn't he? Takes right after his namesake. Incredible."
Ethan smiled a tiny bit and reached back to ruffle Anthan's hair, eliciting a squeak from the runt. "This squirt? Maybe."
Anthan giggled again and exclaimed, "No!" and proceeded to flex.
Zhang snickered and Ethan feigned being impressed, which Anthan happily accepted. Ethan shook his head to himself and looked back at Zhang, "This isn't the last time you'll be visiting, right? Will you bring Marty with you next time?"
"Uh," Zhang placed his hand on the back of his neck, tilting his head back and looking up. "Your brother only gave me permission as of now. If this was more of a casual thing I certainly would, but Kcalb's giving out the orders."
"But he never said you couldn't bring Marty with you, right? I'm just guessing."
"No, you're right, he never said that, but I've been working with your brother for a very long time and I know better than to be dared into exploiting any loopholes."
"But..it's just Marty."
"I know, but I can't just do things without Kcalb's permission. Until he sends me word or I ask for approval, if you really want to see Marty you would have to invite him on your own time."
Ethan frowned and averted his eyes. "Oh."
Zhang paused to laugh nervously. "I know this is going to be really unprofessional but I haven't gone to the bathroom in a while, and I'm..kind of holding it in at the moment. Would you mind if I... ?"
Ethan seemed to contemplate the cliffhanger of the question and then promptly shook his head. "I'm sorry, Zhang, but we're actually working on changing the bathroom right now. It's unusable unless you're willing to wait a couple of hours, but..um, it doesn't seem like that could happen."
"Ah, really? There's no other..bathroom in your house?"
"There is, but that's the master bathroom and I'd prefer that no one except family went in there."
"Oh." Zhang scratched his ear.
"Sorry, Zhang. If this was more of a casual thing, I might have."
Zhang smiled grimly as soon as he understood the message. "No, I'm sorry to have bothered you about it. I'll try not to be so inconsiderate next time I drop by. Please, Ethan, enjoy the rest of your day."
Anthan looked confused. Ethan bowed his head and told Zhang, "You too," before shutting the door. Zhang caught the sound of muffled footsteps hurrying away before returning to his car. He got into the driver's seat and pulled the door shut, sticking the keys in the ignition and starting it up.
after he strapped his seat belt in, he took out his phone to make a call.
note: this actually happened the day after the last post. i'd written it out on time but forgot to put it up, so here it is.
Yousei was dimly illuminated by an overhead light, his glasses reflecting white when his head was tilted at the right angle. He didn't look, sound or behave too differently, yet none of it was the same either. Everything else around him was indistinct due to the lighting and the audio was gritty.
"As you've probably already been informed, I've been tapped into your phone for some time now. Your call with Baumer pisses me off in more ways than the obvious, but primarily because I'm sick of not being able to do anything. So I sent you the two doofuses to lend a hand.
"Yes, it's not my best idea but I did what I could. They're idiots, especially the one with smashed piano keys for teeth, but they're good to use because they haven't got anything to live for aside from a paycheck. Meaning, FYI, if Dean tells you about his wife, she's actually dead. And Nelson? His family excommunicated him.
"I'm not saying to look at them as expendable, but let's be realistic: they are. That's why I sent them to you. More than that, they're good at what they do and without having any risks to take, they won't hesitate to work harder for you. And as the suspicious asshole you are, I'm going to assume that you're going to treat them like they're covered in dog shit. Good. Don't get attached to each other."
Yousei paused to pull his hair out of his mouth. It was still bleached blond and shaped around his face, but it had grown to a cumbersome length, with the shortest part stopping just short of his clavicle. The "style" looked sleek on him though it came with the misfortune of removing the shaggy harshness in his appearance. The more Anthaniel focused, the less Yousei looked like Yousei.
"I don't know if they would've told you unless you asked--and you probably did--but just in case, they're only doing this as a favor to me because I've done work for them in the past. That's the straight skinny; nothing more, nothing less." Yousei sighed and looked away momentarily, just a head of hair to the camera. "So those are the bare bones of the situation."
He paused. "I hope this video finds you well. I don't know if hearing from me helped you breathe easier but if not, at least you got this. I know that it's been a while, uh, again, so whenever you find time or if you can at all, tell everyone that I miss them and not to worry because I'm doing just fine. We're doing just fine.
So..that concludes the video. If you need anything, and by that I mean emergency-type of need, like someone died and I should know, send an email to my old address. You should remember it." Yousei paused. "Bye." The screen went black.
Anthaniel sighed and then sucked in a sharp gasp as Nelson seemingly appeared out of nowhere to place a glass on the table. "What the fuck?"
"Wow, you've been glued to your laptop for quite some time now that you've seen the video," Nelson grinned playfully. "I never got to see it. Dave say anything about me?"
"He alerted me about your crystal meth addiction and redirected me to Dean's registered sex offender profile." Anthaniel rubbed his eyes and leaned forward to peer into the glass. "What is this you're giving me?"
"Bourbon on the rocks. Dean and I thought you seemed like a whiskey-kinda guy."
"Huh." Anthaniel picked up the glass and took a sip from it, pleased. "That's pretty accurate. How'd you figure?"
"...Old people like whiskey."
"...Know what, why don't you leave me alone for another hour or two and resume fucking yourself? I think that would be nice for both of us."
"Ol' righty is tired from all the hard work."
"Just one hand, huh?"
"Whoa, Black Stallion! I ain't no sitter."
"Uh huh, yeah, sure, alright, I believe you." Anthaniel paused as his phone vibrated in his pocket, and pulled it out to take a glance.
-
Zhang knocked lightly on the door of a white house on Old Mountain Road, and when no response came, he knocked harder. He waited about a minute before turning away, and it was at that moment a young woman, either in her twenties or thirties, came to the door with a dazed baby carefully held in her arms.
The woman was a curly-headed brunette and the little infant was a blonde. Certainly neither of them were Ethan. "Ah.. Yes? Is there something you need? You don't look very familiar.."
"Oh, I'm, uh," Zhang gestured toward himself, "I'm looking for Ethan. Is he around?"
"Yes! Yes he is. Just a second, okay?" The woman nudged the door open further and padded off into a hallway to the right of the stairs as the baby girl made seagull noises. Zhang smiled to himself and turned away, fighting the urge to inspect the house.
Ethan came jogging to the door in a record amount of time, with a little boy aged four or five clinging to his back. The kid's hair was jet black, not unlike his eyes, and when Zhang smiled at him he smiled back, showing off a pair of dimples. So this was the boss' nephew. Looked more like his son.
"Hey there, Ethan," Zhang held his hand out for a shake. "You remember me?"
"Of course I do!" Ethan took Zhang's hand and shook, smiling as though he'd reunited with a best friend. "How are you, Zhang? What brings you here?"
"Your brother is worried about you, so he had me check to see if you were doing okay. Looks like everything's fine so far." Zhang bowed his head.
"Oh.. He didn't send Marty?" Ethan paused and laughed as the youngster on his back repeated Marty's name enthusiastically.
Zhang seemed confused, but smiled anyway. "No, just me. Was that your..wife who answered the door or..?"
"No!" Ethan laughed quietly, covering his mouth. "Oh, no, no. That was, um," Ethan coughed out another laugh and then forced himself into a state of calm, "That was our cousin. Kcalb's and my cousin."
"Ah, I see," Zhang nodded, acknowledging that the remaining family seemed to live here. At least, the young ones. "So the kids are hers, right?"
"Yes," Ethan bobbed his head. "Addie's the mother of Anthan here," the young boy beamed at the visitor at the mention of his name, "and Madeleine."
"Named after his uncle, huh?" Zhang smirked and held his hand out to Anthan. "Nice to meet you, little man." As soon as he said that, a quick thought passed through his mind saying, 'At least their nicknames are total opposites.'
Anthan giggled and slapped Zhang's hand.
Zhang exaggerated a pained face and yanked his hand away, gingerly rubbing it with his other. "Wow! The little man is strong, isn't he? Takes right after his namesake. Incredible."
Ethan smiled a tiny bit and reached back to ruffle Anthan's hair, eliciting a squeak from the runt. "This squirt? Maybe."
Anthan giggled again and exclaimed, "No!" and proceeded to flex.
Zhang snickered and Ethan feigned being impressed, which Anthan happily accepted. Ethan shook his head to himself and looked back at Zhang, "This isn't the last time you'll be visiting, right? Will you bring Marty with you next time?"
"Uh," Zhang placed his hand on the back of his neck, tilting his head back and looking up. "Your brother only gave me permission as of now. If this was more of a casual thing I certainly would, but Kcalb's giving out the orders."
"But he never said you couldn't bring Marty with you, right? I'm just guessing."
"No, you're right, he never said that, but I've been working with your brother for a very long time and I know better than to be dared into exploiting any loopholes."
"But..it's just Marty."
"I know, but I can't just do things without Kcalb's permission. Until he sends me word or I ask for approval, if you really want to see Marty you would have to invite him on your own time."
Ethan frowned and averted his eyes. "Oh."
Zhang paused to laugh nervously. "I know this is going to be really unprofessional but I haven't gone to the bathroom in a while, and I'm..kind of holding it in at the moment. Would you mind if I... ?"
Ethan seemed to contemplate the cliffhanger of the question and then promptly shook his head. "I'm sorry, Zhang, but we're actually working on changing the bathroom right now. It's unusable unless you're willing to wait a couple of hours, but..um, it doesn't seem like that could happen."
"Ah, really? There's no other..bathroom in your house?"
"There is, but that's the master bathroom and I'd prefer that no one except family went in there."
"Oh." Zhang scratched his ear.
"Sorry, Zhang. If this was more of a casual thing, I might have."
Zhang smiled grimly as soon as he understood the message. "No, I'm sorry to have bothered you about it. I'll try not to be so inconsiderate next time I drop by. Please, Ethan, enjoy the rest of your day."
Anthan looked confused. Ethan bowed his head and told Zhang, "You too," before shutting the door. Zhang caught the sound of muffled footsteps hurrying away before returning to his car. He got into the driver's seat and pulled the door shut, sticking the keys in the ignition and starting it up.
after he strapped his seat belt in, he took out his phone to make a call.
note: this actually happened the day after the last post. i'd written it out on time but forgot to put it up, so here it is.