Short Stories

Duck

Summary: It was supposed to be a relaxing afternoon. Then the duck appeared in the backyard.

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Nikei hummed along quietly to the music playing in the background as he typed on his computer. He had been experimenting, and found it helped him concentrate if slow music played while he worked.

He finished up the paragraph he was working on and went onto the next. Nikei was writing an article about a boring topic, so he was trying to make it as exciting as possible.

Allowing himself to take a few deep breaths to rest, Nikei's hands were soon back to typing, occasionally glancing at his notes.

Then Mikado burst through the door. 

"Nikei! Doll! Come look outside, quickly!"

Nikei jumped, nearly causing the energy drink he had beside him to spill. He quickly steadied it and shot a glare at Mikado, though there was no real malice. "Christ, Mikado! I told you not to startle me like that!"

"My apologies, doll!" Mikado said, still smiling excitedly. "But you must come look outside!"

"What's so important that you had to scare the living daylights out of me?" Nikei asked, rolling his eyes.

"There's a duck outside!" Mikado exclaimed, his mask having sparkles in his eyes.

Nikei paused. "...A duck?"

"A duck!" Mikado affirmed. "And it's so cute! Come on, you've gotta see! It's right in the backyard!"

"...Fine." Nikei sighed, pressing pause on his music. "But then I'm going back to my articles, alright?"

"Alright! As long as you see it!" Mikado chirped happily, grabbing Nikei's arm as he stood up and dragging him to a window that showed the backyard.

Nikei glared at Mikado for a second, before glancing out the window.

Just as Mikado said, there was a duck there, minding its own business as it waddled around, poking its beak into everything. 

"Huh, that's cool. There really is a duck." Nikei commented, studying the duck.

"Yeah, see? Isn't it so amazing?" Mikado asked, eyes fixed on the duck with a happy smile on his mask.

"Yeah, sure it is." Nikei agreed half-heartedly, still looking at the duck.

"Hey, let's get it inside and we can keep it for a pet!" Mikado suggested suddenly. "Just imagine having a duck for a pet! Wouldn't that be cool?"

Nikei turned his gaze away from the duck and onto Mikado. "What? No, we can't go out and catch the duck for a pet. It's a wild animal, we can't take care of it."

"But dooolll! Please!" Mikado begged, his mask morphing into a disappointed expression.

"No, Mikado. No duck." Nikei moved away from the window. "I'm going back to my article now. See ya later."

Mikado didn't respond verbally, only giving a small nod while continuing to gaze out the window at the duck. Nikei left him alone, going back to his room.

Once back there, Nikei turned on his music again and began working peacefully, hands darting across the keyboard. However, Nikei wasn't as focused as before.

He couldn't shake the feeling that Mikado was going to do something stupid. 

But he ignored it. It couldn't be that bad. And he needed to concentrate now. He didn't have time to deal with Mikado's shenanigans.