Kiss The Sky [Part Nine]
I don't know how we managed to do it but Trowa and I were ready by the time the scheduled meeting was due. To tell you the truth I was a little nervous. Trowa may know a lot but I wasn't sure if he would be able to execute the perfect performance he'd done just the night before. I guess all that was left to do was to wait and see if his practice paid off.
The answers did come quickly in a surprisingly pleasant manner the afternoon I feared for. Who knew that the two could actually act civilized despite their earlier conflict? Now here I was with Trowa outside one of the boardrooms, looking rather exhausted but content.
A few minutes passed before Quatre finally came out of the judgment room, as we liked to call it. He paused to look at Trowa who was sitting on the rather stiff looking chair before inviting him back in. He was lead to a seat at the other end of the table as the various members of the board looked at him.
"Congratulations Dr. Barton," Quatre's voice said in the still silence. "Your research is now in full support by Winner Enterprises."
What followed were sounds of hands clapping against each other and mounds of congratulatory remarks from the people in the room. The victorious mood was followed by questions and words of awe for the young man that had such a brilliant mind despite his lack of years.
Quatre smiled, looking at the small crowd gathering before Trowa before he cleared his throat to get back the attention of the people in the room.
"If you will excuse me, Dr. Barton," he said with all eyes now on him. "My board will discuss with you all the necessary paperwork as well as the specifications of your grant. Please feel free to ask them any questions. I apologize for leaving so soon but I have other business to attend to."
Trowa nodded in understanding while the crowd before him went back to their original seats. Papers came out of nowhere and calculators were strewn all over the place. During all of the commotion, Quatre stood and left. The atmosphere seemed less comfortable but we decided to stay put and endure the rest of the bureaucratic details. Quatre would surely be available at a latter time.
Two hours later, everything was ready. All Trowa wanted to do by then was look for Quatre, his motivation sending him right to the front of the huge oak doors that lead to his office.
"May I help you sir?" the secretary said from behind the desk. She looked troubled to see an unfamiliar face by Quatre's door. I would too if there was nobody listed for appointments at that hour.
"Is he back yet?"
It wasn't difficult to figure out who he was referring to. To this, the secretary answered immediately, hoping that Trowa would not barge in unannounced. She looked a little miffed too.
"He just got back from a long meeting. Do you have an appointment?"
"No," came the curt reply.
"Sir, you're going to have to schedule one. Mr. Winner has another meeting to attend to in an hour."
Trowa opened the door, ignoring the protests from the secretary.
"Don't worry," he said before stepping in. It seemed that the two words were all that was needed because he made it all the way in the office without being called to or stopped again. Sometimes I just loved that commanding tone.
The first thing we saw when we entered was Quatre sitting on a huge chair that looked almost too big for him. He had his elbows up on the desk with his folded hands supporting his forehead. He didn't notice Trowa come in as he lifted his head and closed his eyes. He sat back on the chair and his fingers immediately went to massage his temple.
"Is this a bad time?"
Caught unguarded, Quatre sat up as if he were expecting someone to reprimand him for slouching down on his chair. He blinked his eyes open and focused them on the person at the door.
"I'd appreciate it if you knocked," he said and proceeded to adjust his clothing. One sip of his coffee and he looked ready for anything.
"Congratulations again Dr. Barton," he said. "You've won the respect of my hard to please board members. How may I help you?"
Trowa noticed the formality in Quatre's voice and his manner of speaking despite having no one else in the room but them. He didn't seem upset with Trowa because of their recent argument but he looked detached and the room felt somewhat cold.
It was unnerving, to say the least, to see the type of reaction from the usually cheerful man. He may have had his bouts of hissy fits but overall, he was one easy-going type of person. He was kind of like a child with his bright approach. Trowa thought the change in behavior was a little odd. I thought it was downright scary.
It didn't take him much to realize that the person before him was the Quatre he wanted the man to be - a professional, a serious adult. It was unexpected and Trowa decided that it was certainly not what he wanted to see now.
He stood by the door, surprised by the sudden maturity but somewhat relieved that the other didn't seem to hold a grudge.
"I came to thank you," he finally said before closing the door behind him.
"There's no need to thank me. After all, it was you who stood there and did all the work."
There was no tension in the air but there was a stale, monotonous feel to the room. I was beginning to feel dizzy.
"Ah, but you helped me and I think it's not fair that I presented to you the same material I presented you night after night after night. That would only predispose you to agree with everything I say. Therefore, your decision won't be fair unless I show you a different perspective on what I presented earlier."
Quatre smiled and folded his hands on top of the desk. He made no move to say anything and instead eyed Trowa. If he would have wanted to protest he didn't show any sign of it.
"I've brought the materials," Trowa said before lifting his rather large bag. "Would you honor me by listening to another one of my boring brain chatter?"
"Do as you wish Dr. Barton." Quatre answered. "You do understand that this has no bearing on the earlier decision?"
"Yes."
"I'm all ears."
I took a deep breath as Trowa arranged board after board of unknown content and placed them on a threefold stand. He cleared his throat and I silently cheered him on before he started.
"I present to you the foreign body," he started, revealing the image behind the first board. "Notice the large head and the small, chubby body. Notice also the large blue green eyes that grace its head."
Quatre looked incredulous. What could I say? Was I a genius or what? Before his eyes was an adorable image of himself, drawn to the proportions of a deformed but perceptibly adorable child. He looked like he would have wanted to laugh but he was too surprised to do so.
Trowa took out the image to reveal the next board which had a profile image of Trowa's head or rather, his brain. The only noticeable signature of Trowa on the image was the long, pointy bangs that were sticking out of the head.
"The human brain is complex," he continued. "In fact, the hippocampus holds much information, more specifically; it contains one's memories, successes and accomplishments."
Quatre was watching and I was holding back a snicker. The look on his face was just priceless.
"Imagine a scenario where the foreign body invades the brain and lodges itself in the hippocampus," Trowa explained and revealed the next board. "At first the brain will reject the foreign body, it being used to its normal functioning."
I was all ears. This was what we'd been practicing all night.
"Eventually, the brain gets used to the foreign body, accepting it as part of its system. They live in symbiosis wherein one relies on the other. However, there comes a time when the foreign body decides to leave. The first reaction of the brain is to deteriorate because the departure of the now symbiotic foreign body is more dangerous than its initial appearance."
Quatre looked at him with those awfully large eyes and I had to guess that he did get the meaning behind the little analogy. It wasn't that difficult to decipher after all. It was my main point last night. Be subtle but be simple enough to follow.
Trowa smiled and I almost died. It was getting better by the moment.
"Trowa?"
It was the first time throughout the course of the day that Quatre had called him by his first name.
Leaving the board behind, Trowa approached Quatre who still looked somewhat dazed, his eyes tired from a previous engagement.
"You look tired," he said and then came closer to whisper something into his ear. "I'm sorry."
"I know," Quatre said before leaning back on his chair. "I'm sorry too."
"Let me take you out for lunch. Cathy's been pestering me about feeding you something nutritious."
"We can't go out for lunch because it's time for dinner."
"Hmm?"
"It's already seven."
"The let's go," Trowa insisted, pulling him off the chair.
"Wait. I can't go right now. I have to meet a client in a few minutes."
"I'll be waiting then."
We then left the office as quickly as we entered and prepared for our next step. By the time Trowa was dressed and ready, Quatre came into the door of the restaurant breathing heavily. The poor thing probably had to make a run for it.
"Quatre, you're late," Trowa said and Quatre's response was to look at him in question.
"What? Trowa? I though we were meeting later? I'll talk to you later. I have to attend to this one first."
"Mr. Winner, are you telling me that you're refusing your seven fifteen appointment and to think that it took me weeks to schedule this."
"What?"
Quatre was confused. Who wouldn't be? I was such a genius.
"No. Wait," he said as he fished through his pockets to retrieve his electronic organizer. "I'm here to meet a Mr.... Barton?" Quatre looked at it again to make sure that it was indeed what he read. He smacked his forehead.
Trowa chuckled but Quatre did not look pleased.
"So," he started again. "How long is this Mr. Barton going to keep you?"
Quatre looked back down on his organizer and gasped in surprise.
"A... a whole week?"
"My, my, I wonder what he intends to do with you."
"Trowa?"
"You know Quatre, the monkeys have been missing you. Their cages haven't been minty fresh for the past few days."
"What?"
The poor thing was thoroughly confused and I had to jab Trowa to make him stop. I think Quatre needed a breather after that one.
"What?" Quatre asked again. He almost looked like he was going to cry. Damn those eyes were huge and they were getting to me. Maybe I picked the wrong method. It might have been a little too cruel.
"I'm just teasing," Trowa said but he was still chuckling. "You do look more twelve-ish than usual."
Quatre finally sat down by one of the tables bug-eyed. I bet he didn't know that I had this planned all along. Of course I wouldn't just get Trowa a match-up and throw him into the mound to fight for himself. I was concerned about him after all. We only had each other and I just knew this day would come. I was always one step ahead.
"I thought," Quatre started before being cut off.
"You thought I was going to be a snob and let you go off without another word. You thought I preferred my work to you so much that I would forfeit human interaction just to be above the rest. You thought that I wouldn't grow up. You thought right but then you proved me wrong."
Quatre looked like he was taking it all in. It was a good thing Trowa stopped for a bit because he didn't look like he would be able to follow if the explanation went on and on. After all, he wasn't replenished from the day's labor.
"You taught me what it is to finally live so let me show you how I intend to live. Let me show you how much we can learn from each other."
Quatre hung his head backwards with his neck being supported by the back of the chair. I was a little worried that he didn't believe a word of what Trowa said.
"You know," he said after looking up to the ceiling and smiling. "I think I'd like you to take care of me."
Trowa proceeded directly into Quatre's line of view which was directly above his head. He must have looked even stranger upside down than he was upright with his eccentric hairstyle.
"Why not?" he said, his face still hovering above Quatre's. I thought his hair was going to poke Quatre's eyes out.
By that time, most of the people in the tables around them were looking at what was going on. The two stayed oblivious to everything else but each other.
"Deal then?" Quatre asked.
"Deal," Trowa said before giving him an upside down kiss. How he maneuvered his hair to stay out of the way remained a mystery to me.
I smiled this time with pride. My efforts were not lost in vain after all. This was what I had hoped for - something for Trowa, something that would offer us both an internal tranquility. This was heaven for me and I was sure that it was for him too.
"Whenever I'm with you I feel like I could almost kiss the sky," Trowa said.
Funny. At that moment, I thought that I could almost kiss the sky as well.