Running the Place
Chapter 4
BakaDaz
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing, Heero, Trowa, Wufei...Duo or...Quatre. Or anyone else that might make an appearance in this story.
7:25 a.m. the next day...
Quatre came back from his morning walk, tired, thirsty, and out of breathe. When he got rather close to the porch of the front of the home, he smiled. Several cats were lounging around on it, some of them meowing. Somehow they'd gotten through his gate or over a wall, but of course, for a cat that was probably easy.
Quatre slowly approached the animals, two of them running off in fear. Quatre stopped and cooed them back, but they didn't come. So, instead he went over and petted the black cat. It purred with enjoyment. Quatre reached his other hand out to a calico, and petted that one.
Soon, the other two cats, a white one and a gray, came back and rubbed against his leg, wanting him to pet them too.
Quatre laughed at their antics. "I bet you're hungry, huh?" he asked as he rubbed under the gray one's chin. "Well...I'll go get some milk if you promise not to spit it out." His answer were high-pitched 'meow's from the four cats. He smiled and shook his head. "Alright..." He pushed the door open, and closed it behind him.
He would have loved to have cats in the house, but there wasn't any room for them. At least that's what his father told him when he was 5. He had wanted a cat, a dog and a bird. What did he get for his belated birthday? A fish. And it was only one too. Mr. Winner had then explained to Quatre about animals needing lots of attention and how you couldn't work and do that at the same time.
Quatre came back out, quickly, with a little bowl of milk. He smiled and set it down for them to drink out of. All the cats gathered around it and started to lick it all up. Quatre smiled, bent down and watched them.
But this didn't last long, because soon a very loud voice asked, "What are you doing?"
Quatre sighed as the cats ran away. He stood up and looked at the owner of the voice. Mr. Benford was looking at him in narrow eyes and his arms were crossed. "What time do you get up in the morning, boy?"
Quatre looked up to one last retreating cat, climbing in-between the bars of the gate. 'Please, Mr. Benford. It's not even 8:00 yet, and you're already...' Quatre looked over toward him again. "Oh, I don't know...early." He nodded, to accompany his answer. Mr. Benford nodded back; obviously he wasn't going to tell him how early.
"So...Mr. Benford, did you have your breakfast yet?" Quatre asked as he closed the door in front of them. He turned to Mr. Benford who was looking at him strangely.
"No, I'm not! Do you want to know why?"
*Flashback to 10 minutes ago*
Mr. Benford came downstairs, not running into that maid that morning, and went directly to the dinning hall. He sat at the table and waited...and waited...and waited. He grew very impatient, until he saw the cook and Tasha come out. He stood up. "Excuse me, can I get some food around here, please?"
Cook and Tasha turned around to look at him. Then they looked at each other. Cook just went right on going, leaving the room.
"Excuse me!" Mr. Benford said very loud. "I'm hungry, how am I going to eat?"
"...Cook it yourself," Tasha replied, before she left the room.
"What?! Wait a moment! Get back here!"
*End Flashback*
Quatre looked at him surprised when he told him that story. They were now sitting at the dining room table drinking coffee. Mr. Benford took a drink of his coffee, and then put it down, looking at Quatre. "What do you think?"
"Oh..." Quatre replied. "I think I'll...talk to them?"
"I think you should fire them!"
Quatre let out a weak laugh. He sure hoped this was going to work...
3:37 p.m. that same day....
Cheryl had been walking by the front door when she heard it knock. She groaned and walked over to it. "Please don't be like this guy here now..." she whispered as she put her hand on the doorknob and turned. She turned and pulled, but it didn't open. She pulled harder. It was almost like some great force was pulling on the other side. Then, as if the great force let go, the door finally opened and she fell down onto her back.
When she opened her eyes, she saw someone standing over her, a big grin on the person's face.
"Hey babe! Thanks for opening the door for me!"
Cheryl sat up. "Oh...it's you. I should have known, who else would pull on the door when I'm trying to open it?"
The familiar Duo Maxwell chuckled at her. "I got a call, and I'm here! So where's Quatre? Where's Heero? Where's everyone?"
"You're the first one here," she replied as she picked herself up. When she looked back at him, his eyes were wide and his mouth was gaping open.
"You're kiddin'. I'm the first one here? There goes my rep. of being 'late than never'!" He kicked his foot back, hitting the door so it closed.
Cheryl sighed. "Master Quatre said to wait for him in the large living room."
Duo grinned. "Alright!" Then he pulled his arm out in fron of him and pulled his sleeve away revealing a watch. "Ok...when's food gonna be made?"
Cheryl thought for a moment. "I don't know... 4 o'clock?"
Duo grinned wider and set his timer for 4. "Thanks," he said as he walked off, waving to her.
Mr. Benford went into the small living room to watch the television. When he got in, he noticed a lump on the couch. He took a couple steps forward to see a girl lying on the couch, asleep.
Mr. Benford cleared his throat. "Excuse me." The girls didn't wake up. "Excuse me, young lady!" he shouted, and this time she woke up.
The girl opened her eyes, groggily. She noticed Mr. Benford standing above her. She sat up and looked at him. "Who are you?" she asked. Then she yawned and stretched.
"Who am I?" Mr. Benford asked surprised. "What kind of a question is that? I want to know who you are, you don't look familiar!"
The girl smiled and scratched her red hair. "You must be Mr. Benford. I'm Claire."
"Why are you here?" he demanded. He was sure she didn't look familiar.
"I've been sleeping," she answered. She dropped her feet over the side of the couch and tried to get up. It wasn't working very well. So, she put her hand on her stomache, as if to hold it up, and slowly got to her feet. But then, she let out a hiss of pain and slid back onto the couch, sighing.
Mr. Benford looked at her in surprise. "You're...you're pregnant!"
She looked up at him and nodded. "I hope it'll be a girl," she responded cheerfully.
"Why did you sleep here instead of at your house...with your husband?"
Claire closed one of her eyes, wincing in pain. "I don't have a husband."
"You don't have a...--" Mr. Benford shook his head. "I'm using the television in the larger living room." Then he turned and left. As he left, a smirk appeared on Claire's face.
Alas, when he got to the large living room, that television was being used as well. He frowned at the sight of two people beating eachother up, 'blood' coming out of them every so often. At then, when one person got knocked down, the person on the screen did something like a victory dance. But, when it happened, the person sitting in front of the television on the chair stood up and put their arms in the air.
"Oh, yeah! I rock! You loose! Sucker!" Then the person did their own version of a victory dance.
Mr. Benford decided to take a guess..."Excuse me, Miss."
The person in front of the television stopped. "I sure hope you're joking, I'm not a 'Miss'." Duo turned around glaring at Mr. Benford.
"Oh, I saw your hair and wasn't sure with your voice."
"Hm, well, if you'll excuse me, I have to fight the next guy!" and Duo turned back around, his braid flying up as he did so, and he collapsed onto the chair. Then, a couple seconds later, started hitting the buttons like crazy.
Mr. Benford walked over and watched him, his arms crossed. After a few moments when Duo didn't notice him, Mr. Benford walked in front of him. Duo then paused the game he was playing. "Excuse you, you're in my way," Duo told him.
"Do you work here?" Mr. Benford asked, annoyance in his voice.
"Nope, now move."
"Why are you here, then?"
"I'm playing a video game, duh!"
Mr. Benford's eyes narrowed. "I mean why are you in this building." He looked Duo up and down. With a black shirt, that was covered by a lighter black jacket, and the boy was even wearing black jeans! Surely not someone of any wealth...
"I came to visit my good buddy, now you're still standing in my way. I'd move if I were you."
"Your good buddy?" Mr. Benford asked curiously. Suddenly, a beeping noise interrupted him.
Duo grinned. He pushed his sleeve back and stopped his watch. "It's 4o'clock!" he got up and looked at him. "I'll be right back...but you can go away." Then, he ran out of the room. But Mr. Benford didn't have enough time to come back, because a minute later, Duo was back with three brownies layered on a napkin, and was eating one.
Duo gave him a glance, and with food in his mouth said, "You haven't left yet, huh?" But he didn't mind, because he was away from the television now. So, he collapsed back onto the chair, setting the napkin with brownies on it down on a table near him, and started playing the game again.
Mr. Benford looked at him angrily, but then that was cut short. For a boy with untamed brown hair, tense blue eyes, and… a laptop walked pass him. He glanced over to Duo who greeted him with a smile and a, "Hey Heero!" The boy replied with a grunt.
Duo pointed to the brownies next to him. "Want one?"
"No."
"Good, more for me."
Duo paused the game so Heero could walk by, and as soon as he was pass then he started playing again. Heero sat his laptop down on a table near a wall, sat in the chair in front of it, and started working on it.
'Did he just ignore me?' Mr. Benford thought. 'It was like I wasn't even here...'
He turned away trying to hold in his anger, when he was surprised again by a boy, with his brown hair over one of his eyes, sitting at the table near him reading a book. He let out a sound, but it was like he didn't hear it. Why weren't these people paying attention to him?
Outside the door, which was slightly open, Quatre and Wufei were peaking in through the crack of the door.
"Thanks for coming, Wufei," Quatre said in a low voice, so as he wouldn't be heard.
"Yeah," Wufei replied, just slightly louder than him. "Now, you're going to tell that Une woman it was all your fault I wasn't at work, right?"
Quatre smiled. "Yes Wufei."
"So, why haven't you kicked the weakling out yet?" Wufei asked turning to him. He saw Quatre's shoulders go up and down as he let out a sigh that said 'Do I really have to explain it?' Of course, knowing how kind and polite Quatre was he didn't really have to explain.
"It's just...I couldn't kick someone out. Could you..."
Wufei got the drift. He pushed the door open and walked in.
Mr. Benford crossed his arms and looked at all three boys in the room. But, he was surprised yet again by another boy who gave him a glance as he walked by. He walked over to the couch, which was right next to the chair, and sat on it 'Indian style' (you know, with you're legs crossed and stuff.)
Duo held up his last brownie. When he'd offered one to the other two, and they had declined, he'd eaten the brownies. "Wanna brownie, Wufei?" Wufei shook his head in response, and closed his eyes to meditate. Duo shrugged and ate the last one.
Mr. Benford felt like he was being ignored. He didn't like that. He was just about to start yelling about that, when Quatre decided it was a good time to come in.
Quatre opened the door and came in. He cleared his throat. "Um, so... Mr. Benford, you've met my friends?"
Mr. Benford looked over at Quatre and then back at the other four in the room. "No, I can't say that I have," he replied.
"Oh," Quatre said, "Well then..." He started off from closest to farthest. "That's Trowa..."
Trowa pulled the book he was reading down so that he could see Mr. Benford, and then without even acknowledging he was there, he lifted it back up to read again.
"That's Wufei..."
Wufei opened one eye to see Mr. Benford, and then he closed it, and went back to meditating.
"That's Duo..."
"Yo!" Duo called from his chair, and then he turned back to the video game.
"And that over there is Heero."
Heero gave a low, "Hn," and no one was sure if that was to Mr. Benford or just a random one.
"He's anti-social," Duo hissed to him.
Mr. Benford blinked confusedly for a moment. So there were four boys in the room, one actually said something to him and it wasn't even proper? This was uncalled for! He turned to Quatre. "Are these really your friends...or do they work for you?"
"Hm," Wufei opened both of his eyes this time and looked directly at Mr. Benford. "I work for The Preventers."
Mr. Benford looked shocked. He looked Wufei over. "You're joking..."
"I do too, sometimes," Duo put in. "But usually I just work at the Sweepers..."
Mr. Benford wasn't sure what to say to this. He turned to the boy reading at the table next to him. He didn't answer him. It was like he was in his own world, not paying attention.
"Uh, to get to the point Mr. Benford...they don't work for me. They're some of my closest friends."
Mr. Benford looked around again. These were his friends? Maybe while he was busy teaching Quatre how to run the house, he should also tell him how to get some classy friends...
Quatre sat down at the table while Mr. Benford looked around. "Hey Trowa," he whispered. "What are you reading?"
Trowa looked up from his book. "I don't know," he whispered back. "I couldn't think of a good way to ignore him, so I grabbed a book out of the library on my way in…"
"Oh," Quatre replied.
Mr. Benford turned, and was about to say something, so Quatre immediately stood up. "These are those...low class people you were talking about, hm?"
Quatre sighed. "If you want to call them that."
Duo heard that comment and looked over to him. "So...what's your name again? Ben?"
Mr. Benford looked over toward Duo. "Ben?! I beg your pardon! It's Benford."
"Okay, sorry about that Ben Ford..."
"It's Benford, one word. Mr. Benford to you."
Duo glanced over to him. "Sure," he said as he got up to go shut his video game off. "Whatever you say Mr. B..."
"Mr. B? How rude. You shall call me Mr. Benford."
Duo wrapped the cord around the remote. "Why?"
"Why? Because it is the polite thing to do!"
"So...you're not being polite," Duo said as he put the remote controller away. (can you tell Duo's my 2nd favorite yet?)
Mr. Benford opened his mouth to say something...but nothing came out. He couldn't think of anything to say to that. Trowa got up and closed his book, shaking his head.
Wufei got up off the couch, and as he left the room he commented to Mr. Benford, "At least he doesn't call you 'Wu-man'."
Duo gave Mr. Benford a look as he walked pass him to leave, also, Trowa behind them. Mr. Benford wanted to pursue the joker of the group, but first he stalked over to Heero.
"I say boy, who taught you your manners? You didn't even look at me when introduced."
Heero glanced at him. Even his glance was as deadly as his glare. Mr. Benford got a bit intimidated by this, but he was a wealthy man, and this was just a poor boy. So he had no reason to be intimidated by him.
To his surprised, Heero turned around in his chair to look at him. He lifted his right arm up and closed the laptop. But, nothing new to Quatre or anyone who knew Heero, he didn't say anything, and he got off his chair and walked out of the room, like the other four.
Quatre gave a pathetic laugh. "Well...just hope you don't run into them anymore today, I suppose..."
"Mr. Winner," Mr. Benford said. "You need to tame them!"
"Tame them? That sounds like something you do with animals Mr. Benford..."
"I know that! No one is rude to a person of high class! Especially poor ones who wear tasteless clothing and work at the Sweepers group!"
Quatre felt his patience get cut short. "Excuse me, Mr. Benford, but you're talking about one of my friends!" Quatre glared at him. "And that's not a very nice thing to do!" He began to storm out of the room, but when he got to the door, he turned to him. "And I don't *tame people*! It's inhumane!" And to follow him, he slammed the door after he left.
Mr. Benford looked at the door for a moment. "I think he lost his patience with one of those boys and took it out on me..." (disgusting, isn't it?)
A bit later...
"G4."
Wufei glared and stood up. "Where's your sense of justice, Maxwell?!"
Duo looked up at him. "Hm?"
"You cheat!"
"I'm not cheating," Duo insisted. "Calm down Wu-man, oh and also...G4."
Wufei glared at him for a moment before he sank down into his seat. "You sunk my carrier," he mumbled.
Duo chuckled evilly. "I know," he said as he put his last red peg up on top of his game. He peered over the side of it at Wufei who was looking really mad about losing. "Aw...don't be sore loser, Wu," Duo said.
Wufei looked at him. "I can't believe I sunk your little one... and that's it!"
"Aw come on, Wu-man. One's better than none, and it's only a game."
"Yeah, but how many losers say that?" Wufei growled.
"I'll make it up to ya, Wu-man...ya want to play pick up sticks?"
"No! That's a kid's game."
"Oh..."
Just then, Mr. Benford entered the scene. "Oh, it's you," he said when he noticed Duo's braid.
"Yep, it's me!" Duo said happily, not really knowing what Mr. Benford meant.
"I thought about what you said..." Mr. Benford said.
"Hm," Wufei mumbled as he started putting his ships away.
"...and now I know that the reason you need to be polite to me is that I am of higher class than you and so you automatically have to look up to me."
Duo raised a brow. "Uh huh...well. If I say I'm the king of... Shinigamia...will you look up to me?"
Wufei stopped what he was doing. "Shinigamia?"
"No!"
Duo frowned. "Why not?"
"Because you are no king of...whatever you just said. You are a poor person who does nothing more than collect junk."
Duo glared. "And you're a rich dude that does nothing more than criticize people."
"Yes, what makes you so high and mighty?" Wufei asked, now suddenly getting into this.
Duo leaned over to Wufei and whispered, "Here, put the game away. I wanna bug him some more." Duo gave him an evil smile as he got up and walked over to Mr. Benford. "C'mon, Mr. B," he said. "Let's go talk, hm?"
Mr. Benford gave him a look. "Oh, yes indeed...let's talk. To the kitchen."
"You know that's one of my favorite places?" Duo asked him as he led him out.
When they left, Wufei got an afterthought. Was Duo really going to go bug Mr. Benford, or did he just leave Wufei to put the game away. He decided on the second one and cursed Duo under his breath.
"So, Ben..."
"Benford."
"Right...Mr. B. Are we going to eat somethin'? Is that why we're in here?"
"Not necessarily."
Duo and Mr. Benford just entered the dining room, which was linked, to the kitchen. Mr. Benford walked over to the dining table, well surprised to see Trowa sitting there reading that same book. He must have gotten into it.
Mr. Benford ignored Trowa and sat down. "You, boy with a braid. You were rude and you owe me...I'm famished, cook me something." (sorta just made his own death wish, didn't he?)
Trowa closed his book and gave Mr. Benford a look like he was crazy.
"Huh...?" Duo was a bit baffled.
Mr. Benford pointed to the kitchen door. "Cook. Now. Hurry up."
Duo glared. "Alright..." Duo marched into the kitchen and Trowa followed him.
"Duo," Trowa said calmly. "What are you doing?"
Duo pulled out a cookbook and flipped through it. "I'm gonna fix him somethin'." Duo said slyly. He stopped at a page.
"Duo...you can't cook," Trowa said.
"Broccoli casserole...sounds disgusting. I'll make it!"
"You don't really even have to cook it all the way..."
"Why do you insist on being mean about my cooking?"
"I'm just informing you...he'll probably get charcoal either way."
"Hm…" Duo said as he searched through the cupboard. "I wonder if Quatre has any poison..."
"Quatre have poison?"
"You're right...maybe I can get some from Heero."
Trowa sighed and left the kitchen. He grabbed his book as he walked by the table in the dining room, giving Mr. Benford a glance. He walked over to the door, but he didn't have to open it. It opened for him. That was because Heero came in. They gave each other nods as they walked pass one another.
Heero walked over to the table Mr. Benford was at.
"Oh, you're here," Heero said in his monotonous voice.
Mr. Benford cleared his throat. "I'm waited for that boy with a braid to fix my food."
Heero gave him a look. "You're making Duo cook for you?"
Mr. Benford nodded his head. "Yes, and if you knew any better you'd do that also. Maybe I'll make you shine my shoes, too..."
Heero ignored his last two comments and just relied on the 'yes'. He calmly walked into the kitchen, not looking around. He walked right over to a wall and grabbed the fire extinguisher off of it. Then, he calmly walked over to Duo. At that exact moment, the bowl Duo was cooking his Broccoli Casserole in (or what he called Broccoli Casserole...) caught on fire by the fire on the stove. He jumped back in surprise, and at that moment, Heero blew the fire out using that red thing in his hand.
"Quatre's really letting you cook in his kitchen again?" Heero asked surprised, remembering the last time Duo cooked in the kitchen.
Duo shrugged. "Mr. B wanted some food...hey, by the way...you don't have any poison do you?"
Heero looked into the bowl. "Well, if he eats that he probably won't live long."
"Ohh," Duo said looking into the bowl. "Thanks for the encouragement Heero ole buddy."
It was like Trowa had said...the food was pretty charcoaled. Okay, it was burnt to a crisp...what did Duo care? He picked it up and started carrying it out of the kitchen. Heero smirked and followed him. "Tell Quatre to get a camera," Duo hissed as he pushed the swinging door open. "This'll be a kodak moment." Heero followed him out, but he didn't go over to the table. Instead, he just stood by the door.
Duo carried the bowl over to Mr. Benford and sat it down. "Here ya go, Mr. B..." he reached into his pocket. "And here's a spoon."
Mr. Benford looked inside of the bowl and made a disgusted face. He looked over toward Duo. "What is this?"
'You should ask, 'what was it?' Heero thought.
"It's...broccoli casserole. Um...yum?"
"It's repulsive! It's all black and burnt!"
"Hey, there Mr. B...I never said I was the best cook in the world."
"Why is it that a poor boy who looks like a girl cannot cook like one?"
Duo looked at him in surprise. "Are you saying I'm a girl?"
"I'm saying you look like one."
"Okay, that's it!" Duo put his fists up. "C'mon snobby, let's go..."
Heero sighed and walked over to him. He started pushing Duo toward the door. "Let's go Duo," he whispered. "We're not supposed to kill the man, we're supposed to run him out."
"And you, boy. First of all you need to learn your manners, then you need a nice haircut. And also, you need to buy some clothes, what is that shirt you are wearing?"
Heero paused and looked over at him and glared. He got a weird look in his eyes, and Duo noticed this. "Uh...Heero," he whispered.
Heero ignored him. He let go of Duo and turned toward Mr. Benford. After a moment of just glaring at him, he pulled a gun out. "Aw, screw it!" He aimed his gun at Mr. Benford and was ready to shoot. It took a second, but he realized it was a real gun and got out of his chair.
"What is this?"
All three guys turned toward the door. There at the door, in worn out pants and a ragged shirt, stood Cheryl looking into the room.
"Oh," she said suddenly. "You're going to shoot him? All right then." she turned to leave.
"Maid! Don't leave like that! Who do you think you are?!"
Cheryl stopped and turned. "Huh? Oh, I'm sorry...are you talking to me? I don't think so...because my name is Cheryl."
"...Why don't you make yourself useful?" Mr. Benford growled.
Cheryl gave him a look. She walked over to Heero. "Hey, um," she whispered. "Master Heero...could you put the gun away? You can shoot him later, I just want to be cruel to him for a bit..."
Heero thought for a minute. "Hn," he said. He put his gun back...to wherever he got it from. He turned around and walked to the door, leaving. Duo blinked and tried to decide whether to go or stay. His curiosity got the better of him, and he leaned back by the door.
"Mr. Benford," Cheryl said. "As you can see, I just saved your life." She turned to Duo and pointed out the door. Duo blinked and pushed the door open a bit, peered out and grinned. He glanced over to Cheryl who nodded. Duo grabbed something that the wall was hiding, but then he pushed it into the room.
It was a mop, broom, bucket, duster, everything else cleaner all in one, and it was on wheels. "You owe me, don't you think?" Cheryl asked.
"No! Mr. Benford yelled. "I don't think!"
Duo smirked. Mr. Benford noticed this.
"I mean I don't think that I owe you!"
"Okay...I'll just go get that guy with a gun then..."
"NO!"
"Clean for me?"
"NO! Out! OUT! Get out!"
"Just think about it..." Cheryl said, but Mr. Benford didn't want to think about it.
Mr. Benford grabbed the bowl that was once broccoli casserole, and threw it towards her, she ducked and it bounced off the wall.
Duo sniffed in a fake way, "My dinner..."
"Get out!" Mr. Benford growled.
"Okay..." Cheryl said.
Duo pushed the door open, letting Cheryl leave. He followed. "Another kodak moment," Duo said proudly.
Cheryl sighed. "Well, you all can be as hard as you want on him." She turned and walked toward the steps.
"Oh, okay!" he called as she walked.
"Hm," Wufei snorted as Duo told him and Trowa about how Mr. Benford had thrown his beloved broccoli casserole. Trowa had noticed how Duo didn't say that the contents in the bowl spilled onto the floor, but didn't say anything. Heero was still mumbling about shooting the guy.
"I think you should try to bug him next, Trowa!" Duo said cheerfully.
Trowa gave him a look.
"The only way he'll pester that man is not talking to him," Wufei said. "I'll do it."
"No," Heero said. "There's nothing to stop you from killing him."
Wufei sighed.
"Hey, I just noticed...has anyone seen Quatre? I haven't seen him since we left that living room..."
"I haven't either," Trowa said surprised.
"He must be working, he's a busy person you know." Wufei said as if it were common sense.
"Aw, he shouldn't work when we're gettin' this guy peeved!" Duo whined. Suddenly he looked at his watch. "Speaking of which...I should go see if that one chick did laundry yet, I wanna mix his whites with coloreds..." he jumped off of his chair and ran off.
"That master of pranks does it again," Trowa said as he read his book.
"Why can't we kill the weakling, again?" Wufei asked.
"A number of reason," Heero said as he pulled his laptop out. "First of all, the world and colonies are trying to become peaceful...you know that, I'm sure. Plus, we'd get in trouble by many people."
"Eh," Wufei replied. "Say, I'm hungry. Anyone care for any food?"
"Food? In front of Mr. Benford so we can get him even more angry?" Heero asked curiously.
Wufei nodded. "Exactly."
"Actually, that's a pretty good idea..." Trowa said.
"First I'm ignored, then I'm mocked, then I starve, what is wrong with these people?" Mr. Benford growled as he walked through the mansion. He seemed to like to do this, perhaps he thought of it as bored... who really knows? Suddenly he heard something in the dining room. Quickly he went over and opened the door. Inside were Wufei, Trowa, and Heero... practically feasting!
Mr. Benford stared at the food in amazement. How was it whenever he was in there, there was no food, but when anyone else was... there seemed to be some? Well he didn't know and he didn't care, but he did know he was hungry and was going to eat. So in he walked.
"Alright, I want to know which one of you people cooked this, and I want to know now!"
Wufei looked up toward him. "Don't talk to me in that manner."
"What?!" Mr. Benford yelled.
Trowa glanced at him. "Yes, show some respect."
"Excuse me?!" Mr. Benford growled.
"We're trying to eat, you're pestering us," Heero growled and went back to eating the stack upon stack of waffles in front of him.
"Excuse me, boy, but I'll have you know I can bother you if I please!"
"Excuse me," Wufei growled. "We have names, honor that."
"Well so do I! And it's not Mr. B, or Ben, or Ben Ford. It's not Snobby. And you should honor THAT."
Trowa raised an eyebrow and went back to eating his oatmeal.
"This is getting ridiculous," Mr. Benford mumbled. "I'm going to complain about this."
"Boo-hoo, Quatre they're being mean."
Mr. Benford turned around. "Who said that?!"
The other three stayed quiet, but every once in awhile would smirk and glance over to him.
Mr. Benford started to turn red with anger. "That's it!" He stormed out of the dining room, down the hall, up the many stairs, and into his room. There, in his room, was a bunch of his finest white shirts...no longer white. They were light green, a bit blue, and some were tie-dyed, but none were white.
"What happened to me clothes!"
Duo poked his head in the room. "Oh, yeah man...those people..."
"...mixed the whites with the colors," Mr. Benford finished his sentence. He picked up a shirt. "Look at this."
Duo shrugged. "Sorry man."
"I am not man."
"Oh, you're woman, then?"
"Boy, go away or I'll chop off your braid!"
Duo smiled. "Sorry man, but when a peeved Chinese guy tells ya he'll cut it off with a nice big sword he has, there's just not much more you can do after that..."
"Will you leave me alone!?" Mr. Benford yelled at him.
Duo pretended to be sad. "Aw gee, Mr. B. I never had a chance to be your friend either."
"GOOD! Now GO!"
Duo glared at him and walked away.
Mr. Benford shook his head and looked back at his clothes.
A while later Quatre was in the dining room with the other four guys, waiting for Mr. Benford. He had said he wanted to talk to all five of them. Quatre guessed it had something to do with how the other four had been treating them. He knew if anyone could be good at getting even, it would be Trowa, Duo, Wufei, and Heero.
Mr. Benford soon did come in. He came in with a suitcase. He glanced around at everyone and sat it down. "Alright, I don't know what all of this was about... but it ran along the lines of starving me half to death. I have never been with more rude, senseless, idiotic, low-classed people in my lifetime."
He nodded his head toward Quatre. "Mr. Winner, I don't understand why you are so kind to everyone. I don't understand why you have befriended," he glanced to the other four, "them. I don't think I will ever know this either."
Then, Mr. Benford looked at Duo. "You are too happy to be a real person. I don't believe anyone can be as insane as you are. You are rude, naive, and immature. Plus, it is your fault I am starving."
Duo crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. "Oh, excuse me."
Mr. Benford glared at Trowa and Heero. "You two don't speak to anyone, plus you both ignore people. I don't know which is worse but you both need common courtesy. And you--"
Heero and Trowa gave him cold looks as he turned to the last person.
He looked towards Wufei. "Being as such a low class person as you act, there is no doubt in my mind how unruly you are. When the Preventer hired people like you, I'm not sure. But they must have needed some help."
Wufei glared at him.
"So, this is my farewell. Run this place however you want. Live like however you want. It doesn't matter to me, anymore. You just see how the public eye'll treat you."
"Pardon me for talking out of line," Trowa said. "But don't you think...to the public eye... you aren't as popular as Quatre anyways?"
Mr. Benford looked at him. "What?!"
"He's right," Wufei said. "People don't look up to you because you're rich. Who really cares?"
"Kindness is what people see in others like Quatre," Heero went on. "I doubt they would see kindness in you."
"I am a wealth person. People should look up to me. That's how most of us feel."
"Wha'?" Duo said. "Quatre's richer than you and he doesn't treat us like crap."
Quatre gave Duo a look, but decided to continue this lecture himself. "Besides, Mr. Benford, they're all right. No one is going to look up to you if you're mean to them. And society doesn't really matter. Empowerment doesn't help with your social life. It only does with other rich people. Haven't you ever heard that money isn't everything, and that there are some things money can't buy?"
"Oh, really Mr. Winner?" Mr. Benford asked surprised. "Well, you tell me three things that are more important than money, and I will do myself a favor and leave."
"Trust me, you won't be just doing yourself a favor," Duo remarked.
Ignoring what Duo said, Quatre shrugged and took th1 challenge. "Alright, that's easy, Mr. Benford. Family, love, and happiness."
"Good-bye," the other four said simultaneously.
Mr. Benford glared at him. Still not believing you couldn't have anything without money, he picked up his luggage, turned on his heel and marched off. Everyone got up from where they had been sitting and followed him.
Mr. Benford reached the door, just as Cheryl came running down the hall to him.
"I heard the whole thing!" She said happily.
"How?" Mr. Benford asked her, but he didn't get an answer.
She opened the closet by the door, pulled out his coat and his hat and shoved it at him. "Good-bye, Mr. Benford. We'll try *really* hard not to miss you!" Then she quickly opened the door.
"I get it," Mr. Benford said. "I'm not welcome here, am I?" He left out the door, with an 'hm!'
The five pilots squeezed into the door frame.
"Good-bye Mr. Benford!" Quatre called.
"See ya, Mr. B! Don't come back, k?" Duo yelled after him.
"Please, don't," Wufei repeated.
They noticed a cab out by the gate. Mr. Benford must have guessed he wasn't going to be staying long. They watched him get in the cab, and it drove away. He left, leaving a bunch of happy people in the Winner mansion. They were now Mr. Benford free.
The ending of chapter 4! Yay!
