The Book of Firsts

Fifty-Three

Kyou’s late night food run enlivened the forums over the weekend, but the general consensus was that his companion was Bran, being talked off a ledge. Fortunately, whoever had been taking photos arrived after we’d left the store, since no-one who’d seen me dashing to the Ladies would think I was Bran. Monday brought more rumours because Kyou was absent, while Bran had reappeared.

"Caught a cold," Rin told me on Tuesday.

"Damn, now I feel bad. He lent me his coat."

"It’s a stress reaction. He gets sick after competitions he cares about, too. Last week was the most stressed he’s been in his life, and now he can’t even get out of bed. He and Bran are staying in a hotel—separate rooms because Bran really doesn’t need a cold."

"They’re not planning to go back home?"

"Kyou’s too angry—not to mention liable to earn a black eye—while Bran’s curious to see if his parents will notice if he only goes home once a week to fill up his laundry basket. We’ll get a short-term rental."

"That will cause much joy for the Kyou/Bran enthusiasts. How’s Bran’s throat? I barely recognised his voice on Friday."

"No sequelae so far. He’s entertaining himself only responding to people in grunts, or so softly they can’t catch the change in his voice. He’s going to try to get to graduation without anyone noticing."

"And how are you?" I asked, as he handed me a cup of green tea. "Planning extra presents for your sisters?"

"Yes, actually. Horrible as it’s been, we’ve ended up well ahead of where we expected to be financially, and so we’re indulging ourselves. Mainly by upgrading our motion capture rooms and sound studios, but also in small things."

"Another ten guitars?"

"Only one so far. But it is a very expensive guitar." He sighed, leaning back on his café chair. "Kyou’s set aside a living expenses fund separate from the company investments, so we won’t face anything so dire again. We should have done that anyway, for accounting purposes and what-have-you. We’ll be more formal about these things from now on."

"Your taxes must be interesting."

"We throw them to an accountant. Who knows what she’ll make of them this year? Did you enjoy waking up with Kyou, Cheshire?"

"Once I’d wriggled out from underneath him. Whose idea was the sleeping bag challenge? Bran’s?"

"Bran likes to camp." He glanced at me. "And Meggan doesn’t."

"What about you and Kyou?" I asked, not willing to be drawn. "Camping?"

"We all like getting off the road and exploring. I’m not one for tents, though, so I’ll sleep in my car wherever possible."

"Sounds uncomfortable."

"I chose my car based on its ability to transport awkwardly shaped instruments, so the one thing it has is room. I’d demonstrate how well it fits sleeping bags, but the couch will have to do."

His smile had turned meaningful, so we relocated to the summer house, and spent some time indulgently stripping each other. Rin spread out a sleeping bag even larger than Kyou’s, but then paused to set an alarm on his phone.

"Tuesday is not a good day to overstay."

"Neither was Friday," I said, wriggling into the sleeping bag ahead of him. "That was too careless of me—I’m not used to falling asleep accidentally."

"Once we’d recovered our nerves, Bran and I were quite sick with jealousy," Rin said, in a tone that didn’t show any hint of green. "Did you sleep with your actor?"

I blinked up at him, then shifted a little as he ran his hand over my chest through the thickness of the sleeping bag.

"No, Kyou is officially the only person I’ve ever slept with in the literal sense—at least outside infancy, or sharing rooms with dorm mates. You can tell him that, some time you want to cheer him up." I smiled mischievously. "And you’re the only person who has ever borrowed my underwear. How does that sound?"

Rin’s response was to turn to my pile of folded clothes, and move underpants and bra to a pocket of his backpack. It was the tartan set today, and I wondered if I would get it back, but didn’t say anything as he returned, and carefully slid into the bag beside me, trapping me against the back of the couch.

Teasing Rin often results in him punishing me with enthusiasm, but today the kisses he gave me were slow and gentle. A rare mood for Rin, and I let myself fall into it, occasionally opening my eyes so I could appreciate his ridiculous lashes, and the delicate strokes of his eyebrows. For all his height, he was the most fine-boned of the three, his face an almost perfect blend of masculine and feminine.

We moved together very gradually, staying on our sides and, in the aftermath, Rin held me close with my head tucked beneath his chin. Not being sure what to say, I kept my mouth shut. I’d always felt Rin approached the challenges with a certain level of detachment, and a willingness to be entertained. It was an attitude I’d appreciated, and I hadn’t expected such an extended serving of tenderness.

The interlude was interrupted by the persistent vibration of my phone. Rin stretched a long arm back and snagged it from the coffee table, paused to glance at the screen, then handed it to me. I looked, then answered.

"Hi Christophe," I said, wondering how Christophe would react if I opened up video chat.

"Darling, did you know?" Christophe asked, without preamble. "You must have known! Why didn’t you warn me?"

"How could I be sure she’d cast you?" I responded.

"Mika. Don’t even. I still have to go in for a reading."

"Do you have the script yet?"

"I’ve been devouring it. I always said he’d come to a bitter end, but didn’t expect the twist. Such a juicy role. Darling, I’m going to owe you for the rest of my life."

"Not really. Do you know when she’s going to shoot? Is this going to impact your enthusiasm for Peru?"

"May asked about my availability from September. Thankfully I didn’t have anything firmed up. Peru should still be a go, though now I’m wondering if Millie might be able to crew on Sea of Silver. Pull some strings for me?"

"My influence on hiring decisions is precisely zero. Aren’t you the one who gets to pull the strings now?"

"Maybe! But I don’t want to put Millie under the spotlight."

"Just me?"

"Fortunately, you stay off socials. Though the ideal is to have no-one under scrutiny, just vague talk about a good friend. Are you actually running around telling people we’re together?"

"No, just that we haven’t formally broken up, and are still in touch."

"Good. I’ll stick with a similar story. There but for ten thousand miles, etcetera."

"I’m happy to be your one that got away."

"Darling. Can we at least call it catch and release?"

I snorted, said: "Talk to you closer to Peru," and hung up.

Rin’s expression was very mild. "Perhaps not as enjoyable as listening to you turn Carr down, but still intriguing. What has your ex so excited?"

"He just found out that the sequel to Sky of Diamond has his character as the protagonist," I said.

"Really? I heard there’d be a new Courtney soon, but didn’t know it was about the Margrave. Why was he thanking you?"

"My mother’s a friend of May Brunsfield. May met Christophe because I took him to gawk at the set just when she needed a sexy Brit to fill a bit part vacant at the last minute."

"Oh? So, you’re the one with all the connections? How did your mother get to know May Brunsfield?"

"Worked as her production assistant, back when I was around…four, and May was just as penny-pinched as my parents. During the filming of Sky of Diamond, May wanted to streamline her production process, so brought my mother in to consult. That’s how I ended up at a performing arts school—not to mention being an extra in the movie for one of the crowd scenes. My parents live very interesting lives, and I get juicy benefits tagging along." I paused. "Well, I did."

"Feeling left behind?"

"In a way. They’ll never automatically be there with me again—it’ll always be an arranged get-together. Is that how you’re feeling about your sisters?"

"In part. Since I’ve been swapping households for years, my idea of belonging is reasonably complicated."

"Do your sisters get along with each other?"

"Usually. Some occasional friction, but they enjoy nothing more than ganging up on me."

"Takes four of them to hold you down, huh?"

I attempted to tickle him, and he responded as I expected, which gave me plenty of enjoyment until the alarm on his phone interrupted.