Disclaimer: I haven’t a claim to Malice Mizer. Just my plot and the people I made up to add substance. *nods*
Mana: That’s a little rude, Gackt.
Gackt: She’s insane!
Mana: I know; but you shouldn’t insult her.
Gackt: *sighs*
Mana: *glares*
Gackt: I’m polite to her face. That counts.
Playing House
Chapter Twenty-Five
“I think we’ve ran out of magazines,” Mana said with a touch of surprise in his voice, leaning back against the black leather couch tiredly, “What do we do now?” Gackt shrugged while he rubbed at his eyes, careful not to move his contacts too much. Both of the musicians looked up at their butler, who seemed to have fallen asleep while waiting for his employers to speak to him.
“Let’s leave him there,” Gackt suggested in a tone that was supposed to sound innocent, his bright blue eyes glittering with an evil light, “He does need his rest, you know.” He grinned at the blue-haired guitarist next to him, who nodded back immediately. They quietly eased themselves off of the couch and tiptoed out of the living room, taking extra care not to make a single sound until they were safely down the hallway.
“Outside,” Mana chirped, silently opening the curtained door that led to the backyard, “He won’t look there.” Gackt nodded and they found themselves seats, selecting chairs that were safely enveloped in shade. The vocalist leaned back and let his eyes slip shut while Mana languidly let his pale fingers drift over the tips of the cool grass. He smoothed down his silk skirt and smiled up at the passing clouds overhead.
After a few moments passed, Gackt’s clear blue eyes fluttered back open. He glanced over at Mana, who was enthralled by the deliciously relaxing task of watching the white cotton balls twist in the sky, and decided to follow suit.
“It’s nice, isn’t it?” Mana asked in a whisper, as if he didn’t want to damage the soothing atmosphere that had settled over them, “To have the time to sit and stare at the clouds outside, not having to wonder how long it’ll be before somebody runs up to ask for an autograph or when we have to do the next take.” He let his head slip sideways, brushing his ringlets out of the way half-heartedly. Gackt loosely crossed his arms over his chest, took in a deep breath, and sighed peacefully.
“It’s very nice indeed. I think that, sometime soon, we should call back to Japan and thank them for sending us here,” Gackt said calmly, obviously very relaxed as he slid down in his chair. His blue eyes were half-lidded and slightly glazed over as he slipped into his comfort zone, not noticing the amused smile he was receiving from his companion.
“You know, it would be great if we could stay like this. This perfectly calm moment right now could last forever and I’d be overjoyed,” Mana stated happily, leaning forward in his chair to look around a bit more. Bright cerulean orbs danced over the heavily shaded backyard, the glittering swimming pool, the softly waving rows of flowers against the hours, and finally to the jiggling silver doorknob.
The blue-haired guitarist’s eyes immediately focused in on the door, trying to figure out the knob happened to be moving when it shouldn’t have been. He barely had three seconds to think on the subject before the glass door swung open violently to reveal an extremely distraught Adam who appeared to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown. The butler sprinted across the yard, narrowly missing the garden hose that would have tripped him into the pool, and flung himself on the ground at Mana’s feet.
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry,” Adam cried, holding onto Mana’s shoes as tightly as a drowning man holds to a life preserver, “Please forgive me. I’ll never do it again. Please, I’m begging you, forgive me.” He let go of his first victim and crawled the few feet over to Gackt’s chair, clinging pitifully to the vocalist’s arm. His employers exchanged incredulous and highly confused looks while the blonde butler stared at the ground, waiting for their response.
“I have the feeling he doesn’t know exactly what’s going on,” Gackt said in Japanese, fighting down a small grin when the butler looked up at him hopefully, “What do you think, should we say that we will forgive him?” Mana nodded quickly but shot his friend a look that screamed ‘But let me have the honors… or else’.
“We’re going to let this slip by, this time. You’d do well to be much more careful in the future. Gackt and I wouldn’t want to have to punish you,” Mana said enigmatically, smiling malevolently at the man sitting on the ground. Adam’s emerald orbs filled with relief and he nodded his head vigorously, putting enough force behind each movement that it seemed his cranium would go flying across the lawn at any second. He hurried to his feet and beamed at the pair of musicians.
“I’ll leave you two alone,” Adam chirped, trying not to stare at Mana, “I’m going to go find something useful to do.” His smile grew larger and he practically skipped back to the glass doors. He paused at the entryway and slowly turned around, his face showing signs of extreme concentration.
“Yes, Adam?” Mana called out, hoping that the butler wasn’t going to kill over in their backyard.
“I have this nagging feeling that I’ve forgotten to tell you two something important. I just can’t remember what it is,” Adam said slowly, furrowing his brow deeply as his picked his mind.
“I hope he doesn’t hurt himself,” Mana whispered to Gackt, looking slightly worried about the blonde man standing across the shady yard. He toyed with his midnight blue ringlets and kept his alert eyes trained on the butler for any signs of impending doom. After a few minutes of absolute silence, save for the occasional sigh of frustration from Adam, Gackt and Mana were becoming annoyed with the unnecessary intrusion on their relaxation time.
“Adam, it doesn’t matter at all. If it was really that important, you wouldn’t have forgotten,” Gackt lied, brushing an auburn lock of hair off his face while forcing a tense smile, “Just go back inside and find something to keep yourself busy with.” Adam nodded and rushed off, slamming the door so hard that the glass panes rattled in their black frame.
“I think we sacrificed intelligence for submissiveness,” Mana sighed, running his fingers through his bangs.
“Well, it was one or the other. I think it’s better that he’s a bit slow anyway. More fun for us,” Gackt said with laughter tinting his deep voice, smiling broadly, “Would anybody else have stood watching us for several hours while waiting for us to acknowledge them?” Mana feigned thought, lightly resting the tip of a finger on his pale chin while he tilted his head to the side.
“That’s a tough one…” Mana said slowly, scrunching his nose slightly, “But I’m going to have to say that I don’t think anybody else would have done that. Except for maybe an over eager fan waiting for an autograph.” The pair of musicians smirked at each other as they each remembered the vaguely painful fiasco that landed them their current vacation. In that situation, the fans weren’t content with an autograph; they wanted personal items from each of their idols.
The two men settled back into their chairs and made themselves extremely comfortable on the plump cushions. They were quite content to spend the rest of the afternoon lounging in the warm and very fresh air.
“Still, I can’t help but wonder what Adam forgot to tell us,” Mana said suddenly, his sapphire eyes glittering with a hinting of nervousness, “I hope that it wasn’t really something important.” Gackt opened one eye, as if to determine if his friend was truly speaking, and sighed softly.
“Mana, how important could it have been if he didn’t remember?” Gackt asked calmly, letting his eye slip back shut, “In fact, do you even think he even had to tell us anything? He was probably just going to make something up to try to explain himself.” The blue-haired guitarist nodded slowly, staring at the back doors with an apprehensive look in his eyes before he relaxed again.
“I suppose you’re right,” Mana conceded half-heartedly, patting the vocalist’s bandaged hand gently, “I’m just being paranoid…” His voice trailed off as the glass door swung open to show a tense looking Adam once again. He cautiously walked over to his employers, wringing his hands together the entire time.
“I just remembered what I forgot to tell you,” Adam said in a wispy voice, as if he were choking on his words.
“What?” Gackt asked impatiently, finally getting sick of the constant interruptions to his relaxation time. At that point, the neighbors burst out of the house loudly and waved cheerfully.
“That the neighbors were coming over and that Anthony decided to bring over his Japanese friends who are staying with him,” Adam blurted out, thinking that he was going to get into trouble for not telling them about the guests earlier. Mana and Gackt, however, were much more worried about the newest guests being Japanese as they exchanged horrified looks of pure terror.
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