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PART THREE

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The Lightbulb

Okay. So he'd wound up sharing the bed with Carpathia again. So he'd woken up snuggled into the arms of the Antichrist.

At least he hadn't seen him naked this morning.

He'd busied himself cooking breakfast as soon as he was done with his shower, and this time he'd had clean clothes to take in with him so there were no embarrassing encounters.

When Carpathia entered the kitchen, Buck had a plate of steaming food waiting for the man. His jaw may have dropped when he saw him though. He'd never seen the young politician in jeans before. The white undershirt was uncharacteristic too. Not to mention a little damp in spots Carpathia had missed when drying off. It clung like a second skin.

Of course it would. The universe was against him, Buck was sure of it. The Something was some sort of cosmic joke, and he wasn't sure who was laughing louder at him-- the Big Guy upstairs, or the big guy downstairs. At this point, he realized he was waxing very cynical.

Carpathia gave him a slow, easy smile that smacked of something just short of laziness. "Are you sure you should not have been a chef, my friend? That food smells most heavenly."

He almost grinned at the compliment. Almost. "Nah, there's no way they'd let me. I'd do an expose on the condition of the kitchen in some highclass restaurant and my ass would be grass."

Oops. That had slipped, that little bit of his old nature. The nature that had only been his before he accepted Christ. Being around Nicolae must be drawing it back out. So now it's back to Nicolae again. I really should make up my mind. He firmly told himself it was Carpathia, not Nicolae, but his resolution was broken as soon as he saw the pleased expression on the man's face when he took his first bite of breakfast.

"Mmm..." the most inarticulate he'd ever heard Nicolae. "This is divine, Buck. What is it?"

"Basically just eggs and salsa. I add in some other stuff, but it's a pretty simple recipe." Flattery is supposed to get people nowhere. Instead I'm acting like one of his myriad mindless minions.

"You must write it down for me." When Buck nodded, Nicolae changed the subject, politely talking only between bites. "Today we will go swimming. It is a simple pleasure, but it will be very relaxing. I loved to swim when I was a little boy, and I am sure you did as well."

Actually, Buck had spent most of his freetime at the YMCA when he was a kid. That is, when he wasn't writing. But how did Nicolae know? Maybe he didn't; maybe Buck was reading too much into things.

But there's no such thing as paranoia around the Antichrist, he tried to caution himself. It didn't put him on his gaurd. He was getting to be too at ease with Nicolae. "Yeah, I used to swim all the time when I was growing up."

"Perfect."

As it turned out, they went swimming at a local place, though not a YMCA. It was crowded and noisy. Buck was through changing into his swimming trunks first, a pair that had been hastily bought at a nearby WalMart. He went through the shower area, only rinsing. That was all he really needed to do, having showered only an hour or two before. He waited for Nicolae next to the pool.

Chlorine was a familiar childhood smell, and therefore pleasant to Buck. When Nicolae finally came out, he was dripping wet, as Buck was sure he himself was. His hair was plastered to his head in dark blonde strips, and the smile on his face was rather playful.

He felt a goofy grin cross his own face, and found he could not get rid of it. Buck tackled him into the pool with no worries about injury, since they were at the deep end. They surfaced, both laughing. When Nicolae caught his breath, he said, "It is wonderful to hear you laugh again. You have been so serious during our last several meetings, and our few telephone calls."

For the time being, the facts that Nicolae was Antichrist, that he himself was Christian had slipped his mind. Nicolae was just another guy, and they were just two friends having fun. The Something welled up in him at the relief in the young politician's tone. "Guess I just needed a break."

"Now you admit that I was correct," was the teasing reply.

Buck got in touch with his inner schoolgirl a few hours lateron the way out,when he slipped on the wet floor no more than five feet from the pool. Nicolae rushed to him, frantically shouting for medical help, now, God dammit!

He sat up. "I'm fine." Or tried to. Dizzy, he fell back from about halfway up, and his head would have slammed the floor rather painfully if not for the hand behind it.

"No you are not. You are bleeding. Stop trying to get up," Nicolae ordered. He wound up having to hold Buck down with one hand (an easy feat with the injured man still dazed from the knock on his skull), and cushioning his head with the other.

Eventually a lifegaurd came with a First Aid kit, and between her and Nicolae they got Buck's head bandaged up temporarily. The woman was no nurse, but it would hold until they could get Buck's skull X-rayed.

They found that he had a slight concussion, and he had lost a little more blood than Nicolae was comfortable with, but generally Buck was okay. When he silently squealed, He cares! He cares! Buck chalked it up to the concussion.

Back at Carpathia's suite in the U.N. building, the two men sat reading on couches that faced each other. Only Buck wasn't really reading; he was lecturing himself.

Quit acting like a silly little schoolgirl. What you feel is lust, not love, Williams. Confess your sin to God be done with it.

The only problem was, he had tried that already. It didn't make The Something go away, and it didn't change what he'd finally identified it as.

You just got married. Even if you don't mind going to Hell, think about your wife. It's not fair to Chloe. "Oh, I just realized I've been in love with the Antichrist for over a year. Sorry Chlo." Yeah, that'd go over just great, he thought caustically. Ignorance really is bliss.

TBC...