Wednesday. 2:15pm
He'd been doing it since early Sunday morning.
Saturday evening had been a night in, Tatsumi and Watari joining them for dinner and an impromptu movie night. Originally, they'd only planned for dinner, drinks and maybe a board game or two. But Tsuzuki had whined so annoyingly (and pitifully) when Hisoka wouldn't let him help cook dinner, that Hisoka had thrown him out of their apartment, suggesting Tsuzuki "go rent some movies or something".
"Just be back here by 8 o'clock or we're eating without you," he'd scolded.
Watari's election to follow Tsuzuki left Hisoka and Tatsumi blissfully alone in the ensuing quiet, a rarity indeed.
They'd return by 7:30 pm, carrying a bag full of movies.
"Movie night!" Watari had called, swinging the bag around gleefully. Tatsumi shook his head and I rolled my eyes.
"So, what did you get," Tatsumi had asked, reaching for the bag which then resided in my partner's hands.
"Ah, ah, ah! It's a secret," Tsuzuki had grinned. Watari joined him and the two had giggled conspiratorially. I'd decided that I didn't care and went back to finishing dinner. I should have cared. I should have never let them put that-that…thing in the DVD player. Maybe then Tsuzuki wouldn't still be doing it.
I bang my head against the desk, hoping that he won't start again, to no avail. Since that insipid movie went off, he's been singing or humming that song non-stop. Turning to face him, my head still on the desk, I pray to all the gods for a sudden bout of laryngitis for my idiot partner. The gods obviously aren't listening as he's still humming brightly.
I suppose I should be grateful. That song has brought an uncharacteristic speed and effort to Tsuzuki's completion of paperwork. In these last few days, he's gone through three-quarters of the impressive pile of over a hundred folders that had been accumulating on his desk for months. I'm happy for that, but if I have to hear that song again, I'm afraid I may just go insane.
Rising quickly, I nearly run to the snack area, grabbing a cup of coffee and sequestering myself in the lunchroom for a few minutes of peace and quiet. I know it's not my break time, but if Tatsumi asks, I'll just tell him that I left to avoid causing bodily harm to a fellow employee.
Sipping the steaming brew slowly, he recalls that night's activities. Dinner, dessert, sake, a few rounds of 'Go' and then Tsuzuki and Watari were ready for "Movie night". The first movie, Tsuzuki's pick, was pretty good, a classic in fact. He'd chosen 'Ran', one of Korosawa's masterpieces. They followed that with a horror movie about demonic children, Watari's pick, called 'Village of the Damned'.
'Which disturbed me greatly,' Hisoka muses. 'And it really upset Tsuzuki, especially the ending. We'd sat on the floor in front of the couch, me between Tsuzuki's legs and his arms around my waist. When that movie ended, he'd buried his face in my shoulder and wept lightly. Seeing Tsuzuki's distress from his space on the couch beside Tatsumi, Watari had apologized profusely. Tsuzuki eventually wiped his eyes and waved him off, saying that it wasn't Watari's fault since he'd wanted to see the movie too. He ended Watari's fretting by hopping up from behind me and putting in the next movie, a joint pick, called 'Bachelor Party', a rather silly, but entertaining American comedy.
'Despite my best efforts, I couldn't maintain my trademark scowl throughout the whole movie. Tsuzuki and Watari spent most of it rolling on the floor with laughter, causing us to have to rewind and view many scenes over. Even Tatsumi cracked a smile at the moronic and somewhat adolescent antics portrayed on the screen.
'Then came that thing. I can't help frowning at the memory. Watari popped in some American/British piece of trash called 'Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang'. He and Tsuzuki had flopped on the floor entranced, puppy ears and tails almost visible on both. Tatsumi and I left the twin five-year-olds to their glee sometime after the first thirty minutes, retreating to the kitchen for some tea and intelligent conversation. Once Tsuzuki and Watari began replaying a certain song, we switched to sake to dull the pain.'
Downing the last of my coffee, I head back to my desk, arriving just in time for Tsuzuki's humming to slide into singing.
"Truly Scrumptious, you're truly, truly scrumptious. Scrumptious, la, da, da, da, da, da, da," he croons.
It's bad enough that he keeps singing that tripe, but he doesn't even know all the words!
As I flop in my chair beside him, he grins at me sheepishly and goes back to humming. So help me, if I didn't love him so much...I resist the urge to start banging my head on the desk again.
From Tatsumi's office at the end of the hall, I hear a faint singing echoing Tsuzuki's humming. It's quickly followed by Tatsumi's bellow.
"For the love of the gods, stop singing that stupid song!"
The rest of the office starts at the outburst. I smile. I guess I'm not the only one at risk of 'doing bodily harm to a fellow co-worker'.
