Torment of Paradise
Chapter 2
The sunlight streamed in through the gaps in the blinds making the blond haired figure on the couch squint before opening his eyes to slits.
"Oh!!" he looked around; it was a bit startling to not wake up in his room. 'That's the last time I sleep on the couch.' He tried to sit up but found a gentle weight on his chest keeping him down.
He gave a gentle smile seeing Jess' face relaxed with sleep. She was lying to him, he could feel it; he always seemed able to sense people's emotion…but Jess gave off a cloudy air that was extremely difficult to read. Carefully he slid out from underneath her, leaving her on the couch; it seemed like this was the first bit of decent sleep she had gotten in a while. With a yawn, he went to the kitchen, getting himself something to eat before he sat down at the table.
"Morning Quatre!"
"Huh?" his head snapped up to see Duo come into the kitchen, fixing himself his customary cup of tea; he was forbidden to drink coffee after his last 'rampage' from a morning fix. "Oh. Morning Duo. How come you're so cheery?"
"No reason. Or maybe because I didn't have to listen to Wu-man rant about the injustices of this war last night." he chuckled as he sat down at the table. "What's up with you? You look like you were up all night."
"No not really." he offered. "Just…watched some TV…trying to beat insomnia."
"Uh huh. Do you know where Jess is? I think she borrowed my shirt and I'd like it back."
"She still asleep."
"You mean she's still in the house? Hell I thought she went out. Where is she?"
"On the couch. Don't wake her up please."
"Why'd I do that?" he gave Quatre a look. "I know she's been getting no sleep. Besides I'm not that foolish as too-" Duo was cut off by a loud yelp from the living room.
"What the hell is your problem Wufei?! Haven't you ever learned to look before you bloody well sit down?!"
"Baka onna!! You shouldn't even be asleep on the couch in the first place!! Sleep in your bed like a normal person!!"
"What? And be like you?!" a loud snort came. "Think I'll be weird thank you!!"
Quatre looked up to see a very grumpy Jess stalk into the kitchen, fixing herself a mug of hot chocolate. She mumbled a barely heard 'Good morning' before she sat, brooding into the steaming liquid.
"Wufei is one messed up guy……baka onna…me……the bloody nerve he has……idiot probably doesn't know that I know what he called me. All those friggin' rants………get to his thick head………inflated ego…" she muttered darkly before she took a sip of her drink, blinking rapidly.
"As I was saying…"Duo continued, trying not to laugh and have Jess turn on him. "I wouldn't be as foolish as too wake her up. As shown by Wu-man back there."
"Touché." Quatre agreed before turning his attention to his plate.
He absorbed himself into his meal, a voice finally breaking into his thoughts.
"Quatre. Quatre?"
"Yes Jess?" he looked up to see only her at the table; she seemed calmer now.
"I……I want…I want to thank you for last night. I know you didn't have to stay up with me…but…you did…and-"
"It's all right. You seemed like you could have used the company." he looked up at her a bit shyly; he didn't know quite why but he liked the way she looked in the morning; clothes all rumpled, ebony hair flying around all over the place, untamable almost, the slightly euphoric look on her face if she woke up by herself and-
"Quatre?"
"Hm?" he asked focusing is attention; what was getting into him? "I'm terribly sorry. Did you say something?"
"I asked if you would like some help with Sandrock. You know…any small repairs…any thing?" she looked at him questioningly.
"No, it's all right I can handle it myself. Besides you seem to be getting more missions than us lately; you should be the one taking care of Anansi shouldn't you?"
"I only have to run a systems check. No biggie." she smiled at him. "You busy later on today?"
"No…not really…why?"
"Wanna hang out or something? Go to the mall…shop…see a movie?"
"OK. Sounds like fun. Around…two good?"
"Sure. I'll probably be done by one…if I don't have to smack my laptop to get it working again. I think it likes antagonizing me you know."
"I think it's just you sometimes." he looked at her. "Remember the time when you couldn't figure out what was wrong with it? And it turned out that you didn't have in the jack properly?"
"Hey, I may be a Gundam pilot and know far too many useless facts for my own good…but that doesn't make me a genius, OK?" she laughed as she stood up from the table, taking his plate and putting it in the sink with her mug. "So two then OK? I'll meet you there?"
" All right then; two o'clock. Bye Jess." he called as she walked out of the kitchen with a wave.
Getting up he went to the sink doing the morning's breakfast dishes; there wasn't really much point. Trowa, Heero and Wufei still hadn't eaten yet, but he needed to do something to calm his mind. The mall with Jess for half a day almost…then the movie theatre…the movie theatre…he paused in mid- rinse, hands frozen in the soapy water; it got dark in a movie theatre…and he would be all alone with a girl. A very good-looking girl he had to admit.
'Great. This is just great. I've set myself up for about two hours of hell in the dark. I hope the movie requires a lot thought.' He returned to scrubbing the dishes, trying to keep his mind from running away with itself.
Quatre looked around nervously before looking up at the burly figure by his side. "You really didn't have to come you know Rashid. I can look after myself you know."
"One never knows what can happen at places Master Quatre…much less a crowded mall." he frowned, looking around. "This fellow pilot said they were meeting you here at two, right?"
"Yes. It just turned two Rashid." he said looking at his watch. "Please stop worrying. I know that-"
"Hi Quatre! Almost didn't see you behind this guy here. Come on!! Lets' hit the stores!!" she took his arm and started walking.
"Umm Jess…this is Rashid." he said, trying to not let his face go red. "Rashid…my friend Jess."
"Oh," her face went bright fire engine red as she scooted closer to Quatre's side, arm still in his. "Salaam. I didn't think…that you were with Quatre."
"That's quite all right Miss Jess." he said graciously. "I'm just here to make sure nothing happens to Master Quatre."
"But…we're at the mall." she looked at him puzzled.
"Exactly."
"OK then. I'm not letting this stop me. Where do you want to go first Quatre?" she asked as they started walking a bit ahead of Rashid for privacy's sake.
He looked at her with a smile; she seemed able to go with anything that was thrown her way, such resiliency. "Well…I do need some more clothes."
"Me too. OK, we'll go get clothes first, eat some lunch or dinner, whatever and go catch a movie. Sounds good?"
"Yeah. Let's stop in here first; they have some nice clothes." he stopped as she paused looking somewhere curiously. "Is something wrong?"
"I thought...I thought…I saw someone familiar. Must be my imagination. Come on; let's see what we can find." she said as they continued on in.
He looked at her before turning his attention to the clothing. This time he wasn't fooled for a bit; the look on her face had been clear as day. It was as if she saw a haunting ghost.