To Drown in Sand

I'm a ghost Now you see me, now you don't

His gaze is blank as he looks out upon the sea of chaos that is the foyer, chin propped lazily in one hand as the other taps slowly to an unheard rhythm against the stained wood of the railing. The grand staircase of the main entrance is once again stage to a life changing event, icy gaze tracking every movement of his father and stepmother made. The baby is coming. The baby is coming and gone is the calm and collected business that is his father. In his place a panicked, disorganized storm that flits from room to room in search of the overnight bag. Servants move sporadically about as they too hustle about the in attempts to locate the bag. Andromeda is the only calm one, gingerly walking down the stairs with the assistance of a maid with tiny laughs each time her husband stops to kiss her on the cheek and tell her to keep calm.

He's the one that needs to keep calm.

Rin ignores the overnight bag that lays at his feet, his own bags alongside it. The flight from Russia had been long, his mother having kept him up all night with the lavish birthday party she'd thrown herself. He'd tried to stay by her side as the party dragged on, his eyes growing heavy despite his efforts as the cloud of smoke that filled their home grew. Even when he'd left, the party was still in full swing, his mother only giving him a brief kiss on the head before a steward drove him to the air strip. His mother had been distracted by her own life And now, watching his father run about without having once greeted him, her words plague his thoughts.

Was he truly being replaced? Forgotten? Once this baby was here, would he be abandoned? Would he even be a memory in his father's new life?

"Well played, child..." Rin sighed as he grabbed the overnight bag and waves at a maid. He slings the bag at her with ease, the maid being knocked back slightly from the weight of the bag. "Father seems to have forgotten how to hold onto his head." The maid says nothing, knowing better than to try to correct the young master when his gaze was that of ice. With a small bow, the maid scurried down the stairs.

Rin tracks the maid, his gaze wistful as she hands the bag to his father. Andromeda wobbles as she groans, finally having made it to the doors. His father is fretting and looks tempted to carry his wife to the car himself but his hands are swatted away. Andromeda throws him a dry look, almost daring him to challenge her. A nervous grin then the two are out the door without another word. The chaos ceases. The hustle and bustle to help the unorganized couple is no longer required with the masters' of the house gone. As one, the servants resume their previous activities and Rin is left alone at the top of the staircase. He stands there, forgotten, with only his bags for company.

"Not even born yet and you've already taken my spot."

His face is unreadable as he kneels to collect his bags, stinging eyes threatening him with tears. He would not cry. His mother had warned him and this was the consequence of not listening. When father tired of her, he got a new wife. He tires of his son, and soon there will be a new child. This was just the way things ha-

"RIN!"

Icy orbs look down through the rails at the flushed face of his father. The man is panting, arms spread wide from having slammed open the doors. He looks around wildly before his gaze lands his son, fine wrinkles appearing at the corners of his eyes and lips as he smiles. "Rin." He starts but his smile falters as his son stares impassively at him. "Rin? What's wrong my little knight?"

There's a small flinch as a sharp "Tch" is directed at him, a move much too reminiscent of his ex wife. "Come back for me, have you?" The boy asked, a perfectly arched brow raised in contempt. With a sharp turn of the heel, he believes that to be the end of the conversation. His own chest stings at the dismissal, the memory of his mother doing this exact thing so many times a bitter memory. He wants nothing more than to run down to his father but there is no point. He and his mother shall soon be nothing but a memory in these walls.