Kiss The Sky [Part Six]
It was late in the afternoon and I was having my snack break, idly watching the students pass by the corridors one by one or in groups. They were chatting on their way to their next class and seemed oblivious to my observing eyes. It had been a few hours since I left Trowa who again could not keep his hands off his assistant. It was bad enough that their daily routine was becoming the talk of the campus. Who would have known that the stuck up Dr. Barton could actually fall for another human being and a gorgeous one at that?
I was becoming quite embarrassed at their situation and I didn't know why. Perhaps it was because I was associated with him? I couldn't really tell. Aside from that, their little activities were starting to get on my nerves. I wasn't jealous. I could tell you that now. I just wanted to make sure that all was best for Trowa.
Ever since he took up the 'activity', the work we had done on his research was set aside. There were things to do and deadlines to be met. I suppose being on la-la land distracted him enough from the important matters to be dealt with. Sure I wanted him to loosen up a bit but this was getting out of hand. I had no intention of living on the streets even if he were rich in love. I'm a realist and I thought he was one too.
Trowa loved him and I knew that for sure. I had never seen him this happy in all the years I'd known him. Call me selective but I wasn't sure that Quatre was right for him. He did seem like the perfect gentleman with both good looks and a great mind. However, he had some problems and boy did he really have some problems. I thought Trowa had his problems but I guess everyone had their flaws.
Sometimes he was perfectly pleasant to be around and at other times he was a bit too touchy. He could be so sweet and difficult at the same time, leaving the common man clueless as to what was happening inside his mind. The situation left Trowa and I puzzled and clueless as to what was bothering him. If Trowa needed a break once in a while then he probably needed one too.
"I know! Those two are so hot together. I never thought Dr. B could date a human."
Well, that ended my musings and signaled me to get back to the labs to check on the two lovebirds. I wanted to make sure that they were starting on the actual experiments and not dueling with tongues again. Our deadline was coming close and being on time was always important.
I stepped into the room to find Quatre attending to a student while Trowa was in his usual posture, basking in the afterglow of another long French kissing session. It seemed that the students were more interested in getting a glimpse of the latest gossip. I didn't blame them. All of a sudden Dr. Barton went from boring to damn sexy. All it took was a little bit of Quatre.
Another few minutes and they were done with the discussion. At least there was something getting done around the workplace. The seemingly enlightened student made her way out with the rest of her friends inquiring about the abilities of Dr. Barton's assistant; their now preferred tutor if not object of their fantasies.
"It looks to me like they favor simpler explanations," Trowa said as the student closed the door. It was surprising how he transformed from dazed to focused within seconds and it was even more surprising that he didn't already know the answer to that.
"Doesn't everybody?" Quatre answered. At least he didn't point out that the answer was too obvious.
Trowa looked puzzled before voicing out his opinion.
"I always assumed that they preferred to be thought of as intellectuals. Isn't this the reason they come here - to learn from the finest? Talking down on them would be rather insulting, don't you think?"
"I don't think it's called 'talking down on them'," Quatre answered while arranging his papers and putting them inside a folder. "I like to call it talking with them rather than talking to them. Just because you use simpler terms doesn't mean they're simpletons. It's simply the process of everyday social interaction."
I didn't doubt what he said. After all, he seemed to be the epitome of social interaction while Trowa hovered around the other end of the spectrum. It was time someone explained to Trowa the importance of being around and interacting with other people as opposed to keeping to himself all the time.
"Interesting theory"
Leave it to Trowa to analyze everything as if it were a theory.
"I'd love to chat more but I have to get going," Quatre said before any further discussions could continue.
"Can't you be a few minutes late?"
I knew he didn't want Quatre to leave. It was all in his look.
"I'll see you tomorrow," Quatre said and went up to him for a quick kiss.
As soon as he closed the door, his phone started to go off, leaving Trowa to wonder how Quatre handled the demands of busy days. Before he could continue thinking any more about Quatre, his phone went off as well. It was a little unusual for Cathy to be calling at that hour but then very few people really did know that number.
"So did the boss give you any trouble today?"
"What do you want Jules?" Trowa said with a bit of annoyance in his voice. "And how did you get this number?"
"Catherine told me to check up on you. Apparently, based on the way you've been describing Mr. Winner she thinks that the cutie has claws. Now enough about your sister's worries. How was he?"
"Ask him yourself."
"Grumpy, eh? Something tells me that Mr. Winner was especially difficult today."
Trowa made no attempt to say anything but he didn't hang up the phone either.
"It's been crazy here all week," Jules continued, assuming that he'd have to do all the talk. "Are you sure he isn't turning you into a human punching bag?"
The topic was getting a little dull but Trowa was smart enough not to miss an opportunity to learn a little more about his assistant's peculiar temperament. Besides, indulging Jules in a conversation was likely to please his sister as well.
"No Jules. Quatre did not get any mood swings today. Why are you asking such irrelevant questions?"
"Since you asked nicely Trowa," Jules answered in a playful tone. "And since Cathy would kill me if I didn't make sure you were fine, Mr. Winner's been edgy lately."
"Tell me something I don't already know."
"How about this? He comes in on Monday and finds a letter on his table warning him about his impending death, finds out four days later that it was all a prank. It wasn't just any prank by some loser, mind you. Apparently, the losers included some of his 'trusted' board members. When he started to get a little pissy, the secretaries took pictures of him, saying he was the cutest baby they've ever seen. To add to that, the perpetrators commented on how a 'kid' like him shouldn't take such things too seriously."
Trowa winced although he didn't make a sound. He knew just how Quatre hated being treated like a child and especially by his co-workers.
"I tried to be pleasant today."
Trowa didn't know why he defended himself but he did anyway. It was probably because he felt a little guilty for not being more considerate. Most of the time, he couldn't care any less but then the situation was different whenever it came to Quatre.
"What was that?"
I guess even Jules didn't quite understand.
"I said I tried to be nice," Trowa said again. "If that's what you were trying to convince me to do then don't bother."
"Don't take it the wrong way Trowa," Jules answered. "I'm just trying to make proper peace and companionship between you two so Catherine could stop worrying every five minutes."
"The man is difficult Jules and I doubt that he will change soon. The only way would be to help him dig to the root of the problem and right now I have no time for it. Anything more to say Jules?"
"Take him out."
"I am not his babysitter."
"I didn't say anything about babysitting."
"Goodbye Jules. Tell Cathy to take care of herself."
Without hearing out the rest of what Catherine's boyfriend had to say, Trowa put the receiver down and the two of us sat down in companionable silence. All of a sudden, the reason for week's worth of tantrums was slowly coming into light. I didn't think it would be that simple but the clues were so obvious it was insane not to notice. Perhaps the almighty heir couldn't handle being pleasant 24/7. It was just bad luck that Trowa had the wicked opportunity to witness Quatre's true feelings when it came to handling his authority. In some twisted kind of way, he should have been flattered that Quatre was true to him but when you think about it more deeply Trowa was also at the bad end of the pole. It was certainly difficult to be in that position.
===
That night at around eleven, there was a knock on the door of our apartment and although we both looked like we were run over by a truck, Trowa opened the door. We were embarrassed, of course, to find Quatre before us wearing one provocative yet decent ensemble while we were wearing nothing but ragged shirts and boxers.
"You should always check the door before opening it," Quatre said as his first greeting.
Trowa stared, not taking in any of the words that came out of Quatre's mouth but he instead concentrated on the scene before him. I just had to run for some decent clothes to at least look presentable. Trowa had a different idea. He just stood there like an idiot and continued to stare.
"Let's go. We're going to be late."
"You're here to pick me up for what?" Trowa asked and I wondered what the special occasion was.
"Didn't Jules tell you we were going out?"
There was no way to refuse Quatre then especially when he looked too good to resist. Jules was one sneaky bastard and a good strategist at that. I didn't really know what Trowa thought about it but I was definitely going. I wasn't about to give up an opportunity to go out after being stuck in the labs for so long. I didn't care what Trowa decided to do because I was sure that I was going. I needed fresh air.
"Let's go."
Trowa stepped aside and literally ran to his room to change into more appropriate clothing. Maybe I guessed wrong. He certainly looked enthusiastic enough to go along with Jules' plan for the night. Within a few minutes he was dressed and ready to go, not looking too excited this time but indifferent like he always did.
Everything went fast that night as well. In the blink of an eye, we were in a club in a part of town I was not familiar with. Jules came with Catherine which was not a big surprise and Quatre dragged Trowa through the crowds. They stumbled through moving bodies and made their way through, eventually reaching the other two. Catherine's first greeting was to drag Trowa out of the chair he recently sat on and into the dance floor.
"Let's dance Trowa," she said while her reluctant brother made sure to plaster his feet to the ground.
"I just got here," he said and didn't budge.
"You're late. Jules and I have been dancing for the past half hour. I need a new partner."
Trowa stood his ground and looked like he wasn't going to leave even if his sister pleaded. Quatre was watching the scene and decided to save them both the trouble. With a gorgeous smile he reached out his hand to Catherine who raised and eyebrow in question.
"Don't you prefer a willing partner?" he shouted over the loud music.
With no one else willing, Catherine dragged Quatre to the dance floor and began moving. They seemed comfortable enough with each other so Trowa decided to get himself a drink. There was a little part of him that claimed jealousy but with a little effort and a rowdy conversation with Jules, his dark mood was alleviated. Every now and then, he would look at his assistant, his eyes glazed over and his mouth open as he watched him move with absolute grace.
As the night wore on, Trowa noticed something amiss. It had been a few hours and he still didn't get his chance to dance with Quatre. Sure, he looked like a stiff but he would be crazy to miss an opportunity to get that close. It seemed everyone wanted a piece of his 'date', going as far as to drag him all over the place no matter how exhausted he looked. He hadn't been given a break since he arrived. Trowa's thoughts of jealousy turned into those of pity.
It was late at night (or I should say early morning) when Quatre finally sat down next to Trowa. By that time, Catherine and Jules were rested enough to begin another round of dancing. Trowa didn't say a word and didn't attempt to bring up anything. Although he did notice suspicious characters with cameras sneaking around the place, he let it pass. From the looks of it, certain gossip columnists were watching Quatre's every move, hoping to get a hot story on the front page of their papers. Despite all that, Quatre didn't seem irate. He was smiling the same way he did all night.
"Trowa, could I ask you a favor?" he said.
Trowa nodded a yes before he was pulled all the way to the dark side of the bar. They were alone there and it was almost too dark not to see a thing. Trowa's breath caught in his throat as Quatre advanced, leaning on him. My eyes were the size of saucers as I saw what was going on. That was the last thing I would have expected from Quatre especially when there were too many people watching. Two minutes later and I found out my suspicions were wrong because instead of doing what I thought he would, Quatre latched his arms onto Trowa's neck and placed his head on his shoulder.
"Hide me," he whispered in the dark before passing out.