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Takeo, Tao, and M-21 walked home, their arms full of shopping bags.
"I can't believe you talked me into buying that shirt," M-21 grumbled.
"It looks great on you! Really sexy!" Takeo smiled fondly, making M blush.
"You need to spend some money on yourself every now and then. You barely touch your paycheck." Tao could not understand M-21 at all.
"Guys, there's something I've been wanting to talk about." Takeo wasn't sure how to begin.
"Go ahead. We're listening." Tao was always curious.
"Well, you know I hear things, right? Like, everything that happens in the house."
"Really?" M-21 was skeptical.
"Pretty much. I hear when Rajak and Karias lock themselves into the linen closet so they can get away from Rael's prying eyes. Sometimes Seira sings a strange, sad song very softly when she's alone. And I hear Boss and his boss when they're....well, worshipping each other is the only way I can describe it. I try not to listen but sometimes I can't help it."
"You have our sympathy," M-21 didn't really want to think about it.
"It is really awkward for me, but they're so sweet together...it's funny, Boss is totally different when he's alone with his Master. It's like he just melts into a puddle and Raizel melts into a puddle too and the puddles merge and become one puddle and..."
"What?" Tao was getting lost.
"I guess I'm just trying to say that Frankenstein isn't always terrifying. In fact, he talks about us when he's with his Master, and calls us his children. We knew Raizel thought of us that way, but Boss..."
"Sometimes I thought he was going to kill me. Well, besides the first time, I mean." M-21 didn't like to think about his first encounter with Frankenstein and Raizel very much.
"Nah, if he was going to kill us he would have done it ages ago. He's had plenty of chances." Tao was more optimistic.
Takeo gulped. "He told his Master he wished we weren't so afraid of him."
"Then he shouldn't be so fucking scary!" M-21 laughed shakily, remembering Frankenstein's ferocious, glowing anger.
"I don't think he can help it." Takeo sighed.
"So what do you want us to do, call him Daddy?" Tao made a face.
Takeo laughed. "No, but I think we should try to show him we like him even though he scares us."
"How the hell do we do that?" M-21 set down his bags so he could unlock the front door.
"Well, we certainly aren't going to make him a cake!" Tao joked.
"I don't know, but we'll think of something. Now let's get you into that new shirt, M." Takeo led the way.
"That shirt suits, you, M-21," Karias beamed. "You look--I believe the new slang word is spiffy."
"Spiffy...hmm, I've never heard that before." M-21 felt a little better about the shirt.
"Karias, you're just who we need to talk to." Takeo came up behind them.
"I'm always ready to lend an ear. " Karias tried to look wise, expecting a romance problem as usual.
"How do we show Frankenstein that we like him?" Takeo asked.
Karias paled. "Oh dear, I did not foresee this. Well, Frankenstein is quite attractive in his own way...Hmm. I believe I must tell you that Frankenstein's relationship with Sir Raizel is quite exclusive and there would be no hopes of anything romantic with you three from him. I'm very sorry."
"No! Not like that!" M-21's face was red and Takeo was giggling hysterically.
"He calls us his children. We want to show him that we like him, in a way...like that, not like THAT." Tao's explanations were not always helpful but this time it seemed to work.
"Because we get so scared by him and he doesn't like that," Takeo expounded. "He doesn't know that we know that, so we have to be careful what we say. I couldn't help hearing..."
Karias's eyes widened as he remembered Takeo's ability. "What else could you not help hearing, I wonder?"
"Ah um, yes, well, you know, things." Takeo blushed deeply, as did Karias.
"You have heard us have sex," Rajak surprised them all by popping up from nowhere.
"Sorry," Takeo wanted to sink through the floor.
"It is all right." Rajak's face was completely stony as usual.
They stood around awkwardly, no one knowing what to say.
"Ahem!"
Everyone jumped. Frankenstein stood behind them, a stack of clean linens in his hands. "If the club meeting is quite over, why has it not been adjourned?" His voice was as sarcastic as always and everyone gulped.
"Sorry, we're going now," Tao babbled, grabbing his boyfriends' hands and dragging them to their room.
When the door was shut M-21 let out a whistle.
"Well, that didn't go very well. So much for showing him we like him." Takeo groaned.
"I declare today to be We Like the Boss Day," Tao announced the next morning as they got ready for the day. "We'll all go above and beyond to show him how we feel."
"I don't know, maybe we should be more, like, subtle," Takeo mused.
Both looked expectantly at M-21 who shrugged helplessly. "Don't ask me!"
"Exactly what are you planning for us to do, Tao?" Takeo buttoned up his shirt.
"Why's Boss always so tired lately?" Tao questioned back.
"The Union," Takeo and M-21 answered together.
"Well yeah," Tao conceded. "But we can hardly take out the whole Union with just the three of us. Guess again: why is Frankenstein worn out?"
M-21 thought for a moment. "From banging Raizel?" he blurted and Takeo had a laughing fit.
"Probably true, but not what I had in mind," Tao choked out between giggles. "So we're going to help him with the other thing that wears him out: paperwork."
M-21 brushed his hair hastily as always. "That makes sense," he admitted. "Hmm, what else could we do?"
Takeo snapped his fingers suddenly. "That's it! Besides Raizel, what is Frankenstein a little too crazy about?"
"Cackling like a madman?" M-21 grinned.
"No, silly, his car! I've seen him stroke it as if it were a cat." Takeo looked pleased with himself. "Why don't the three of us wash it and wax it and stuff? That's what you do with a car, right? Wax?"
"Have you ever washed a car?" Tao asked curiously. "I haven't."
"No, but it can't be that hard can it?" Takeo asked innocently.
'Can it?' M-21 worried to himself.
There was a knock at the door. "Seira says breakfast is ready," came Regis's voice.
"Thanks!" Takeo answered ands started to leave.
"No, over here, hurry!" Tao called. ''You too, M."
'What's going on?" M-21 grumped, but he joined the other two near the door.
"Put your hands in," Tao crowed excitedly. The other two rolled their eyes but their smiles were loving as they each put a hand into the middle of their little circle. "Boss Appreciation, GO!" Tao shouted. They could not help but laugh as they fluttered their hands away at the same time. Then they hurried off to a lovely breakfast.
"Pst," Tao hissed at M-21. "I fixed it with Karias. He's going to help us."
"Oh good," M-21 said though he inwardly hoped Karias would not get too carried away. As Takeo came into view the two grabbed him and gave him the update.
They tried not to giggle as Karias approached Frankenstein and gave them a conspiratorial wink. "Frankenstein, Sir Raizel and I have been discussing a concert he wishes to attend. It is today, at the amphitheatre in the park. It would be most educational, perhaps the youngsters could come as well." He pretended to look out the window. "It's a nice day so why don't we walk?"
Frankenstein looked shocked. Raizel had gone to Karias and not to him? Perhaps he had done something wrong. He looked at Raizel and saw that though his face was flushed, there was no other indicator of emotion. Strange, he thought. The bond between them was open but the only feeling from Raizel was one of awkward confusion. Very strange. Raizel's eyes lit up with an emotion that Frankenstein had never seen before. Was it because he wanted to go to the concert that badly? "Very well then, we shall go."
"We already have plans," Tao spoke up. "We have tickets and everything," he added, inspired.
Frankenstein felt like something was a little off with the trio. Why were thy looking so mysterious? But he knew they needed more privacy than they got, so he agreed, "Very well, you three have a good time."
It felt like an eternity before everyone was ready and finally out of the house. M-21 was increasingly nervous of being found out and his nerves spread to his boyfriends. Tensely they whispered and tittered to each other like a flock of anxious birds. Finally the small crowd had left, Karias throwing more and more winks as he walked away.
"The coast is clear," Takeo whispered.
"We don't have to whisper anymore," Tao whispered back, laughing.
"So what do we do first?" M-21 asked.
"That's easy," Tao grinned devilishly. "First I kiss you!" He pounced on M-21 and planted a huge kiss on his lips.
"My turn!" Takeo grabbed Tao and pushed him up against the wall. M-21 wrapped his arms around both of them and kissed their faces alternately. "Mmm, you two taste amazing," he moaned. Soon it became clear that things were going a little further than intended. "Guys, we gotta stop. Remember Boss," Takeo gasped, pulling away.
"Oh yeah," M-21 sighed vaguely. "Boss..."
Tao pouted for a few moments. Finally he smiled again. "I know where the car keys are," he gloated.
"And we will use that knowledge for good, not evil," Takeo swore solemnly.
"Come on, let's get to it. We still have paperwork to do after all." M-21 reminded them. "Actually we should do that first, before we get all soapy, don't you think?"
"Good idea M!" Takeo patted him on the shoulder. "Now how exactly are we going to do the paperwork, Tao?"
"I've been thinking about that. To begin with Boss brings all of his paperwork home and puts it in his office so it won't be hard to get to it. One of us needs to sort the papers according to whether it absolutely has to be Boss looking at them or not. One of us needs to make decisions and sign the papers that are just sort of important, and we'll need someone running papers back and forth and stacking them."
"Let me stack," M-21 suggested. Takeo volunteered to sort, so Tao found a sample of Frankenstein's handwriting and practiced his signature.
"Just as I thought," Tao said a while later. "Frankenstein is a micromanager. Most of this could easily be handled by someone else but he takes it all on himself. Look at this! A request for permission to order more napkins for the cafeteria, a report on chalk use in classrooms, and a parent complaint that the school uniforms need too much starch. And a million more like that. He's going to make himself crazy!"
"Crazier!" M-21 corrected.
"With three of us working it isn't taking long," Takeo noticed. "Maybe Boss needs an assistant. Oh, here's one that's definitely just for him to look at: plans for a new building. Tao, you're not touching that with a ten foot pole!" Tao threw his hands up to protest his innocence.
"Looks like we're almost done," M-21 observed gladly. He found office work tedious and somewhat nerve-wracking.
"Yep, just one more signature...and we did it!" Tao crowed. "High five!" he shouted so the other two came over and slapped his hands. "You know, that actually felt natural, reading reports and signing them. Maybe someday I should have a school."
"You, Tao?" M-21 laughed hard. "You running a school? This I want to see."
"You never know. Maybe there's more to me than meets the eye," Tao preened to a chorus of groans.
"Car time. Did you look up car washing on YouTube?" Takeo asked Tao.
"It's just washing. Why would we need YouTube for that?" Tao was dismissive.
"Okay then, what do we wash it with?" Takeo countered.
"Boss has a bottle of special car wash soap, " M-21 remembered. "He has some sponges too."
"See, we'll be fine." Tao would brook no arguments. He disappeared for a few minutes and returned with a keychain. "Let's do this!"
The three went to the garage and looked at their subject, Frankenstein's elegant black European car. "It looks pretty shiny already," M-21 noticed.
"Yeah, but you can't see your reflection in it," Takeo pointed out. "I think a nice polishing up will be just the thing."
Tao handed the keys to M-21. "Take it outside and park it in the driveway," he requested, falling into his usual position as leader. "I'll go get the water hose. Takeo, you get the sponges and that bucket."
"Okay. Oh, here's the bottle of soap too, and the wax," Takeo had his hands full and had to struggle not to drop everything on the way outside. "Oof," he grunted as he set it all down heavily next to the car. Tao hurried over with the water hose and M-21 carefully backed the car and parked it next to them. The car had been hot inside so he had rolled a window down. "Is summer ever going to end?" he groused as he climbed out.
"It will be fall soon," Takeo reminded him. "I'm looking forward to that too."
"Summer's fun, though," Tao argued. "There's the pool and the beach and barbecues and fireflies!"
"That's true," M-21 admitted grudgingly and Takeo had to agree.
"Hey, before we get started, let's all change." Tao had a sudden inspiration.
"What for?" M-21 asked warily.
Tao came closer so the other two could hear without him raising his voice. "You have white tee shirts, don't you?" His eyes were sparkling with mischief.
"Sure," Takeo wondered where this was going. Then his eyes got big. "You mean!"
"Wet t-shirt party!" Tao grinned.
It took only minutes for the three of them to change shirts and meet back on the driveway.
Tao immediately sprayed the other two with the hose. "Ohhhh No! Your Shirts Got Wet!" he announced exaggeratedly. "The Horror!"
"Shhhh!" M-21 looked around nervously but no one in the neighborhood was outdoors.
"Now for your turn. Ready M?" Takeo and M-21 pounced at Tao, who dropped the hose and ran before sliding down on a wet patch of grass. Takeo grabbed the hose and soaked Tao from top to bottom. "Ohhhh Dear. You're Wet Too" Takeo parroted back. "What Ever Shall We Do?"
"Oh my god, you guys look so hot!" Tao gave a maniacal grin that would have given Frankenstein a run for his money.
"You look pretty delicious yourself," Takeo murmured, blushing.
M-21 was too embarrassed to say anything but he enjoyed the view. Finally, though, he looked up at the sun high in the sky. "Come on, time to start washing."
"Sometime we should do this somewhere where we don't have to worry about an audience," Takeo said sadly and they all agreed. "All right, fill up the bucket, Tao."
So they mixed soap and water until they had a bucket full of suds. While the other two washed Tao enjoyed spraying the car a little too much. He made sure to spray from every angle, laughing and talking all the while and not paying the closest attention to where he aimed the hose.
"Cut it out!" M-21 shouted when Tao soaked him for the third time. Tao apologized, "I guess you're just so hot I have to put out the flames!"
Takeo giggled, then suddenly shouted. "Has this window been open the whole time?" He dashed over to the driver's side door and looked inside before groaning dismally. "There's a puddle of water in the floorboard!" he moaned. "We're so dead."
M-21 inspected the damage. "The seat is soaked too," he announced gravely. "It's not going to have time to dry before they get home."
"We're dead we're dead we're dead we're dead," Tao repeated over and over, trying to think of a way out at the same time he was panicking. "I know!" he finally cried. "We can blow dry it once we're finished. But first we better mop that puddle up. Takeo, get some towels!"
"On it!" Takeo sprinted away and returned with an armful of fluffy cloth. "I grabbed the hair dryer too!"
"Good thinking," Tao praised. They soon had the puddle mopped up, though the floorboard in front of the driver's seat was still a little damp.
"Now for the wax," M-21 opened it up and sniffed it. "Lemon, I think?" he tried to identify the scent. "It's not bad," he decided and handed it around so everyone could get some.
"Do we do the whole car?" Takeo wondered.
"Of course!" Tao answered decisively.
"Windows too?" M-21 wondered.
"Why not? We want them to be polished too, right?" Tao tried to sound as if he knew what he was doing.
Takeo hummed as he worked and tried to keep his hair out of the wax, a difficult task indeed due to the breeze. The three put all of their energy into polishing the car, the windows, the windshield and the wheels.
"That's weird. These hubcap things were all shiny and now they look dull," M-21 noticed.
"The wax probably has to dry first before it looks shiny," Tao invented. "Hmm now that that's done, I have another idea."
"You and your ideas," Takeo laughed. "What is it this time?"
"And how much trouble is it going to get us into?" M-21 smiled.
"Why don't we clean the inside too?" Tao suggested.
"Ooh good thinking Tao. But I've seen the way Boss cleans it. He uses a little whisk broom and a dust pan and it takes forever," Takeo hesitated.
"Why don't we use the vacuum cleaner?" M-21 spoke up. "That would be faster."
"Good idea!" Tao was pleased. "Boss will never see THIS coming!"
"What about the wax? Are we done with that?" M-21 felt something was wrong.
"Oh yeah, all we have to do is wait for it to dry."
"I hope you're right, Tao," Takeo worried. The car looked so much less sparkly now than when they had begun...
"I'll pull the car up into the garage so the cord will be long enough," M-21 volunteered, thinking that at least he didn't have to worry about getting the seat wet. They opened all of the doors and began vacuuming the car.
"It really isn't very dirty," M-21 observed. "Boss keeps this thing immaculate."
Suddenly the vacuum cleaner made a strange noise. "I think something's stuck!" Takeo examined the hose. "It's one of your lollipops, Tao!"
Tao made a guilty face. "Sorry!"
Takeo showed the hose to M-21. "I can't get it out!"
M-21 was worried by the sound the vacuum cleaner was making. "Guys, I think it might blow!"
"Relax, there's a reverse switch," Tao drawled before pressing it.
"Tao, no!" two voices chorused but it was too late. Everything the vacuum had sucked up came shooting out all over the front seats. Dirt and sand and dust and one lollipop stuck to the wet driver's seat as if it had all been glued there.
"And what exactly do we have here then?" a horribly familiar voice all but snarled. The trio froze and gulped simultaneously.
"B-b-b-b-b-boss--" M-21 stuttered as eldritch light glowed around them.
"We can explain!" Tao cried, knees knocking.
Takeo was struck speechless and every atom in his body told him to run.
There were quiet footsteps and a soft voice said, "Franken." The light died out instantly as Raizel put a hand on Frankenstein's arm. Frankenstein breathed deeply over and over. Minutes went by and the trio stood there, paralyzed with fear. The others had disappeared into the house, led by a very anxious Karias.
"I am sure," said Frankenstein finally, with terrible strain in his voice, "that there is some reason you've chosen to torture my car today. I would dearly love to hear it." He was unable to completely hold back his sarcasm.
"It's just--" Takeo began.
"You see--" Tao tried at the same time, while M-21 grew a little defiant. "If you would just--" he snapped over the top of the other two.
Raizel raised a hand just then and all fell silent. "I cannot tell a lie," he said gently. "But I allowed Karias to tell one so that you children could act on your kind impulse. Franken," he turned to his bewildered husband. "I did not wish to go to a concert today. It was a ruse."
Now Frankenstein felt a light begin to dawn. "I wondered at your manner when Karias suggested the concert. Now I see. You wanted to let these three have a chance to--" Here he stopped out of puzzlement. "To ruin my car?"
Raizel shook his head. "To show you how much they care about you," he explained.
Frankenstein was truly gobsmacked. "To show me..." his voice trailed off. He stood there in silence pondering Raizel's words as the trio fidgeted like guilty children. Slowly a smile stole over his face. It was not a maniacal smile as usual, but a smile full of surprise and joy. It was a smile no one but Raizel had ever seen before, but suddenly the trio knew everything was going to be alright. For a moment Takeo was convinced Frankenstein was holding back tears, but he dismissed the idea as impossible.
"We wanted to surprise you so we washed your car and waxed it," Tao was the first to recover his voice.
"And then we vacuumed it but that went wrong." M-21 spoke up.
"I guess it all went wrong," Takeo sighed gloomily. "We're sorry." The other two apologized humbly.
Frankenstein had nearly forgotten his anger by now. "I forgive you, but you must clean up the mess you made. The wax will have to be removed with a clay bar now because it's completely dry, and you'll have to clean all of the glass with vinegar." He sighed and tried not to look at his car as he spoke lest he become angry again. "The upholstery will need to be professionally cleaned. I will take the price of the cleaning from your paychecks."
"That's fair," M-21 decided, trying not to think about all of the extra work they now had to do.
"This is mostly my fault," Tao surprised them by announcing. "I was the leader and I didn't do any research." He sighed. "I guess I felt like I should already know, so I pretended I did."
"No one expects you to know everything, Tao. And nothing was stopping us from doing the research and we didn't so it's our faults too." Takeo reassured. "Maybe we rely on you too much sometimes..."
"Maybe you don't always have to be the leader," M-21 suggested to his boyfriend. "Maybe we could take turns sometimes so you can have a break."
"You guys would do that?" Tao raised his head and smiled. "Thanks. I guess I never realized how much pressure I feel to be...perfect, really."
Takeo and M-21 wrapped Tao in a hug before the sound of a certain someone clearing his throat brought them back to earth. "Ahem," Frankenstein cleared it again. "If that is quite all--"
M-21 broke in. "Actually it's not quite all. We have a nice surprise for you this time."
Tao and Takeo's eyes grew wide. "Of course! Come with us!"
"And exactly where am I going?" Frankenstein was very afraid now. What else had the trio done?
"To your office!" Tao grinned and led the way.
"Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no," Frankenstein moaned as he followed them.
"Have faith in the children," Raizel soothed. "I do."
When they arrived Frankenstein looked around, terrified, but everything looked the way he had left it. The only thing different, he noticed, was that certain stacks of papers were in different configurations than before. He groaned again. What had he done to deserve this? Raizel gave him one of his signature shoulder pats and Frankenstein felt a little better.
"We did your paperwork!" Tao crowed.
"You did what?" Frankenstein asked faintly.
"See? These are the papers you still need to deal with personally, but we handled the rest." Takeo could tell Frankenstein was upset and wanted to reassure him.
"Let me see." Frankenstein picked up a stack and prepared for the worst. Document after document had been signed with a signature similar to but not identical to his own. "Yes, I meant to reject that," he said aloud. "And I intended to approve that," he continued. "Yes, yes..." Dazedly he looked up. "They're all answered perfectly."
"Tao is the one you need to thank for that," M-21 explained. "I just carried papers around and Takeo sorted them. Tao was the one who decided what you would want done on each paper."
Frankenstein took deep breaths and the room stopped spinning. "You should not have done this. These papers were entrusted to me and they were my responsibility. And I cannot overlook the way my signature has been forged."
"Don't be too hard on the children. They meant well." Raizel said into the bond.
"Worry not, my dearest. I will be fair," Frankenstein promised.
"As punishment I want all three of you to write an essay about the dangers of forgery and identity theft," Frankenstein announced. Then he took a deep breath and thought about what he was about to do. Yes, it was exactly what was called for. "And Tao," he went on, "I want you to begin work as my assistant."
The trio's jaws dropped. "Your-your-your assistant?" Tao stammered.
"Yes Tao. You have proven to me today that you understand my vision and wishes for Ye Ran in a way that no one else has. What do you say?" Frankenstein smiled kindly.
"Say yes! Say yes!" Takeo and M-21 chanted.
"Okay. Yes," and the smile on Tao's face was blinding.
It was dusk before the car was finally cleaned up to Frankenstein's satisfaction. "Can you believe how much it cost to get the upholstery cleaned?" Tao groaned.
"Who cares about that? I'm so sore," M-21 moaned.
"Next time we want to tell someone how we feel, let's just say it. It's a lot less painful in the long-run," Takeo decided, and Tao and M-21 agreed.