Tweak

Shin scratched the side of his head and groaned. Clicking through his laptop, he tried not to cringe at the barrage of emails. Multiple requests for breeding contracts, pouring in from all the families, including Hawk. Toleran, they were very quickly coming to be known by the genetics. While the Meita are coming to be known as Rat.

As in the vile creature no one wanted around. One out of every three was being charged with crimes, and that was just with what the council of six had dug up in their week of investigating. Given the sudden and drastic rise in suicides amongst the Meita, a good deal more were guilty.

There was a mail from Uhwan begging Shin to take her on and save her from her ‘terrible fate.’ Shin typed the response one handed and lowered himself, doing a push up with the other. He very politely told her that he wouldn’t take her on if she was the last woman alive and that she had to stop emailing him so desperately.

As Shin pushed off the floor, someone entered his room. He ignored the person and switched hands, lowering himself with his left instead of his right.

“What do you want?” he growled.

“Your brother asked you a question,” Joral’s deep voice filled Shin’s room and startled the young man. Shin hit the floor and cringed, making an audible sound at the pain that lanced through his back as he turned to face Joral, “have you thought on it?”

“Why, what,” best to play stupid, “what question does he want the answer to?”

Joral sat on Shin’s bed, “the one where he asked you what you wanted from life,” being the head of the household, Joral had the right to come and go as he pleased into any of the rooms, “he is worried that you have not spent time considering it. That perhaps you have been distracted by other things.”

“Second growth,” Shin muttered, sitting on the floor and shifting his laptop in front of him, “all these emails, everyone, everyone. Saw me at the meeting and now I’m a popular male. Breeding contracts from every family are rolling in and because my parents have gone missing, they’re coming straight to me.”

“They should be going to Layaent,” Joral responded, “reply to the emails, reply to them as a mass email, and inform them all of that fact. It will boost the bidding, them knowing that others are wanting your genetic material.

“Now about the question?”

“I haven’t had much time,” Shin responded, “we’re all taking up the slack, who knew that the loss of a family would cause so much work for the rest of us.”

“Shin.”

“What?”

“Are you mourning the loss of your parents?” Joral asked, “it’s completely rational, to grieve for the loss of those who birthed us. I know when I lost my parents, my mother, she went first and then my father went. They had so much more emotion than I will ever have and the loss of my mother just broke my father’s heart. He died of a broken heart. Nothing physically wrong with him, but he just couldn’t live without her.”

“I’m not mourning,” Shin growled, “they allowed me to be raised by a nanny and wanted almost no part in my life whatsoever so why should I bother?”

“And they tried to kill you.”

“And they tried to-” Shin looked up at Joral, “how did you know about that?”

“Layaent and Ash. They also explained to me why you are still wearing that ring,” Joral sighed, “you, of all of the tenth generations, are the most troublesome. Did you know that, Shin? You’ve stolen a ring, the star ring no less, were used by a power user, are a power user. And a homosexual, were a runt, are over emotional. Your own parents tried to kill you, you were almost killed and were lost in the wilds for days on end and tried to adopt another tenth generation. You are the source of the information that has brought down the Meita family.

“To be honest with you, Shin, I don’t know what the hell to do with you.”

Shin looked up from his laptop, “I. I don’t know. What are your options?”

“My options are to either kill you or find out what you want,” Joral said quietly, “frankly I would very much prefer to not kill you. Your genetic material is very valuable, despite how much trouble you are. So. What do you want from life?”

“I. Don’t know.”

“Do you want a lover?”

“A.”

“A male to release sexual tension on, to couple and love, a companion through your life?”

“That sounds nice,” was all Shin could say in response, “Layaent has somehow bound Ash to me.”

Joral nodded, “he explained that to me. But just because Ash is bound to you does not mean that you two have to be lovers or are bound to be such. So do you want a lover, yes or no?”

“Yes.”

“Good, I can talk to Layaent about working that into a contract,” Joral said quickly, “do you want to move to another family estate? Or stay here where you grew up?”

“I…” Shin puzzled over the idea. Leaving the Ishteshtin estate didn’t sound like something that Shin would want. To move into another family and if they fell, get stuck with them? No. He wanted to live at the family estate. But if he was invited to live with Ash’s family? Tweakers could be openly homosexual, could use power out in the open as well, “I don’t know. Suppose it would depend on who won the contract with me. Being with a tweaker family, I might consider moving out but otherwise…”

“As in, unless Ash’s family offers a contract, you wish to stay with the family,” Joral nodded, “see, it’s easy to say what you want. How long do you want to work for?”

“How long is average?”

“It varies between the ranks and the person,” Joral said, “where do you want to live? how many children do you want?”

Shin shrugged, “I don’t know to any of those. Truth be told, I don’t even know if I want children. I haven’t thought beyond now, beyond today.”

“Do,” Joral paused for a moment then continued, “you like the way Ash looks?”

“I do, he’s a well built male.” Shin nodded.

“You don’t have an animalistic bone in your body, do you?” Joral asked, standing, “a male like that, if word got around that he wasn’t asexual the females and males and mixed genders would be throwing themselves at his feet and here you are, actually in a position to take him and ride him hard and you’re twiddling your thumbs.”

“Why would he want me?” Shin asked, “he still sees me as a runt.”

“No,” Joral shook his head, “The problem isn’t that Ash sees you as a runt, he would tumble with a runt-”

“He would what with a runt?”

“The problem is that Ash sees you, not as a runt, but as the kid brother of his companion, his only companion in these parts no less. That’s like you hitting on your best friend’s sister.”

“That’s bad?” Shin asked, standing.

Joral’s lips pressed into a thin line, “Shin,” he said finally, “do you have any friends?”

“Does Taya count?” Shin asked.

“No. Your sister doesn’t count. Nor do your parents or Meshnan.”

“Then. No.”

“So you don’t know the basic rules of social interaction?”

Shin thought about that for a moment. Joral apparently didn‘t mean the basic rules of propriety that any genetic learned in nursery. This was the rules of social interaction that happened between people when they were talking in private. When he considered the idea honesty he could only come up with one answer, “No.”

Joral grinned, “you should ask Ash to teach you. Let him even out the playing field, since you had to teach him about the contracts and such. Ask him to teach you about social interaction.”

“It sounds reasonable,” Shin muttered.

“Now,” Joral approached Shin carefully, “I’m going to show you how to begin the conversation with him, because I want you to start it properly. However.”

“However?”

“I want you to recall that I am your great-great-great uncle and what I’m about to do has absolutely no affect on our relationship. I am only showing you because I want to make absolutely certain that you start the conversation properly. Alright?”

Shin frowned, not understanding at all, “alright. I understand what you’ve said, but I’m not quite understanding why this might have an affect on our relationship…”

***

Ash finished filling out the last of his release paperwork. His family was calling him out of his duties as an officer of the law. In the field four days and he was being recalled with the option of being redeployed in five to ten years, if things went well for his family. His commanding officer had smiled politely and had offered Bri over to his service for the time that he was in the city.

All the while, holding the letter from Layaent ordering the man to do just that.

Ash gracefully accepted the release and handed in the paperwork. Bri would work at the precinct for a few days before joining Ash at the Ishteshtin estate.

In the cab ride to the estate, Ash had plenty of time to consider. Despite his family’s application to become the sixth genetic line, Layaent was insisting that Ash remain bound to Shin. Layaent had spoken to Ash’s father and made it all official, basically making Ash a fosterling to the Ishteshtin line. That way, Ash couldn’t leave or run away and by requiring Ash to step down from his position, which he paid a lot of money to be trained for, it prevented him from having anything else to bury his nose in.

Ash’s father had been oddly cooperative with Layaent, but that could have been for a variety of reasons.

As the cab stopped at the front of the estate, Ash tried to pay the driver. The man shook his head and muttered something about it being charged to account. So Ash got out of the vehicle with his one possession that had been in his desk, a coffee mug with a chipped lip.

At the top of the steps that led to the entrance of the estate, a servant bowed stiffly and offered to take the cup to Ash’s room. Ash handed it over and was stoutly told that Layaent was awaiting him. Straight down the hall, to the left and four doors in on the left hand side.

Ash got the door wrong three times before he managed to find the right study. Sliding into the room, he closed the door behind him and settled into the chair across from Layaent. The other man ignored him for several minutes, looking over papers and over the computer that was built into his desk.

Layaent finally cleared his throat and sat back, “rules are being strictly enforced. This means that if you raise a hand to a servant you will be punished, be prompt for dinner and whatever you do, do not rape anybody.”

“That’s hardly necessary,” Ash muttered.

“True, but Joral has asked that I make it clear to you that you are not to rape Shin again, don’t participate in rough sex even. I’m not saying that Shin will change his tune and claim rape, but he’s taken to walking about his room naked and people like walking into the room without announcing themselves. If one of the help spots a new bruise on him, there will be no end to the questions or to the punishment. Joral runs a tight house as it is. Being as he’s new at his position and with the Meitas falling, he’s running an even tighter shift. He has to investigate each and every accusation, can you understand what this means for you?”

“If Shin gets bruises, yes, Joral will, no doubt, order a rape kit. Then the embarrassing things going on and the evidence will, no doubt, point to me being a rapist,” Ash murmured, “I perfectly understand. Is there anything else I should know?”

“Shin does most of his work through his laptop. Normally speaking, we’d go out to an office, sit there and do our work, then return. But Shin. He’s always been a bit withdrawn from the rest of us. He knows how to interact with other genetics in public but he’s never really made any friends.”

“What?” Ash shook his head, “I find that hard to believe.”

“He was the runt of the generation, Ash, it’s always harder for runts to make friends, especially when it’s obvious that you’re a runt before you hit first growth. Shin’s just. Found ways to work without having to be face to face with people who think he. Doesn’t meet expectations,” Layaent said, riffling through a drawer, “you surely noticed how stiff he is.”

“I did, yes. And, now that you mention it, the fact that he’s never been to an after party and he didn’t really talk to anyone at the ball,” Ash murmured.

“Well, he spoke with Meshnan, used to sit at her feet and listen to all her wild stories about her lover that her father chased off east or something like that. Obsessed about the stories and always got her to repeat every little detail. But that was the extent of his interactions, until Taya got loose from the nursery, she won’t let him forget that he has family. It’ll be years before Taya gets Shin ready to face the public in an informal way.”

“What exactly are you saying to me, Layaent?”

“Be patient with Shin, you have to take your time with him. Every once in a while, yes, you’ll just want to smack him because he’s acting like such a fool,” Layaent found what he was looking for and withdrew a card from the bottom of his desk drawer, “but keep calm, keep your head on your shoulders and just explain to him what he’s done. Here.”

Ash took the card from Layaent and turned it over in his hands. It was a simple white plastic card with a swipe bar on the back of it, “what’s this?”

“It’s a card with direct access to the family income. I know I can trust you with it because you’ve been in charge of one of these cards before. I’ve spoken with Joral about it. You’ve got no job now and you’ve got no money because you’ve got no job. Until we find you a position, anything you need, anything at all, use the card.”

“Thank you, Layaent, I know you didn’t have to do that.”

“I mean it, Ash, anything you need.”

“If I need it, I will buy it,” Ash murmured, nodding.

“No, Ash,” Layaent waited until Ash looked up at him, “if you need anything, buy it.”

“… alright… what are you trying to hint at without actually saying it, Layaent? You know I’m not good at guessing games.”

“Porn.”

“Porn? Why would I need pornography?” Ash sputtered out.

“Lubrication.”

“Why would I…”

“Toys.”

“Now you’re just being cruel. There is nothing between Shin and I. It was a simple mistake and one that neither of us is going to repeat any time soon.”

“Good. That’s good to hear. Because if you hurt my brother again, I will kill you.”

“I got that already.”

“Just making certain we had an understanding,” Layaent said, turning back to his computer, “you may go, Ash.”

Ash frowned at Layaent but stood and left the study. He took two wrong turns and ended up back at the entrance hall simply because that was where pretty much all the halls on the first floor ended. The servant waiting at the door was someone else and seemed to think that Ash wanted a car to drive him somewhere. It took a good deal of convincing to get through to the servant that he had simply been lost.

It took even longer to find out where Shin’s room was. Ash’s identity had to be verified by no less than four members of the household. Ash couldn’t even name four members of the household. Once four people had vouched for his existence, one of them someone he had never even heard of before, Ash was told where Shin’s rooms were and promptly told that he was late.

Up the stairs, around three corners and finally Taya found him wandering down the nursery wing. She took his hand and went on about how the footman should have taken Ash directly to the room and she would have a conversation with him about it and Joral had dismissed Ash and Shin from dinner because they had to get settled. Then she had asked Ash if getting settled was an adult code word for coitus.

All Ash could do was bumble something about how different adults called it different things. Taya tossed her hair over her shoulder and left Ash standing outside Shin’s door.

Ash wasn’t entirely certain that he was going to survive living at the estate for very long, he decided as he knocked once and entered the room.

Shin was lazing on the bed, clicking away at his computer. The young man glanced over at Ash and immediately slid off the bed as Ash closed the door behind him.

“Hello, Layaent-” Ash didn’t get to finish, Shin had him pushed up against the door, tongue thrusting into his mouth with amateur capability and hands on his shoulders. Ash pushed Shin away and tried to register that fact, “what… are you doing?”

Shin went bright red, “Joral said-”

“Ah,” Ash said, before he frowned, “wait,” did that mean Joral, when he said he wanted them to get settled, had meant that he wanted them to get ’settled’? “I think we just got set up.”

“You think,” Shin snapped out, going redder, “I can’t believe I believed him!”

“Well, what did he say?”

“He said that I,” Shin jabbed a finger at his own chest, then over at Ash, “should do that to you and then you would teach me about social interaction.”

“… with a kiss?”

“I don’t know. I thought it was code for something!” Shin dropped back to the bed and then fell sideways, covering his face with his arm, “I can’t believe I did that.”

“Did you want to kiss me?”

“I. Don’t know.” Shin sniffed, and rubbed at his forehead, “I’ve never done that before.”

“You’ve never kissed someone before?”

“No.”

“Huh.” Ash pushed off the door and approached the bed, “look, Layaent and, this Joral fellow-”

“He’s head of the household.”

“Alright, so your brother and the head of the household both seem to want us to develop a relationship of some sort. They’re obviously aiming for a romantic relationship.”

“Why? We’d make a terrible pair.” Shin muttered, sitting up.

Ash sat beside Shin and looked at him, “we didn’t make such a terrible pair in the wilds.”

“That’s true.” Shin nodded.

“And you didn’t mind me touching you then. Does. Does this mean that you’re now upset with me? That I actually did-”

“No!” Shin snapped, “I’ve just been busy with things and.”

“And?”

Shin sighed out. “everyone expects something of us just because I implied that I might like the look of you. And I’m sorry, I don’t expect anything of you. You’re you, I’m me, we’re two different people of two different minds and I don’t expect you to care for me in the least. It’s nothing more than a mild attraction that is based on preconceived notions and it will pass.”

“So, it’s a crush.”

“A what?” Shin looked at Ash, absolutely confused.

“A crush, you like me but you don’t know if I like you so you’re telling yourself it couldn’t happen because you think I’m too good for you.”

“Sort of. I suppose. What’s that got to do with anything?”

Ash leaned over and pecked Shin’s cheek, “let’s start over, from the beginning.”

“How do we do that?”

Ash stood from the bed and held out his hand, as commoners did when introducing themselves, “Hello. My name is Ashientshisu Toleran, I’m a ninth generation tweaker.”

“Oh,” Shin murmured, standing and taking Ash’s hand in his own, “hello, my name is Ehsshushin Ishteshtin, tenth generation genetic.”

“Nice to meet you, Shin.” giving Shin’s hand a small shake, Ash let go.

“Nice to meet you, Ash.” Shin said, looking at his hand for a moment before he dropped it to his side.

“Why are you called Shin, if your name is Ehsshushin? Shouldn’t your name be Ess or Shu?” Ace asked.

“I… don’t know,” Shin said, shaking his head, “it never occurred to me before. Why. Is everyone’s public name the first syllable of their full name?”

“Besides you and Layaent… pretty much everyone, yes.”

“Oh.” Shin said, looking surprised, “I. I never really realised.”

“There’s a lot you don’t realise,” Ash murmured, stepping close to Shin, “but if you want, I can teach you about the world.”

“Please.” Shin murmured, leaning against Ash’s chest.

Not quite what Ash was going for. The head on his shoulder was an interaction that he didn’t quite see Shin doing. Ash had been hoping to sweep in and start off their relationship with a kiss and maybe something more. Layaent was right though, dealing with Shin was going to take a lot of patience. He had to bide his time.

At least that would give him plenty of time to figure out what he was getting himself into.



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