To Nikkler- I haven't decided if I want Meiran in the story or not. I tend to avoid adding her because the only material I have involving her is in Episode Zero, which really isn't enough for me to firmly grasp her personality, and I don't want to misrepresent her. I'm glad you like Beki, though; she's something of a self-insert, and I'm fighting hard to make her realistic.
To Vwolf Youjutsu- Sorry it took so long! My creative energy was being stifled there, but now I have my own room! Yay! Except my monitor broke. Not so yay. Anyway, Lyon's Pride was awesome; I definitely recommend it. Bye!
To FantasyChick- Whose books? No, it's not; I have no idea who you're talking about there. Sorry. Anywho, glad you like the story!
"Yes!" Duo exclaimed. "I have shields again! You have no idea what crosses the minds of the dirty little people who inhabit this city."
"I'm sure I do." Beki disagreed, grinning. "Some of those dirty-minded little people often voice those nasty thoughts to me, and invite me to make them reality. Besides, I'm a writer- I make most of the stuff up myself."
"Good point."
"Think you guys have time to head back to the library, or do you wanna hang with me?" Beki asked, hauling herself off Trowa's bed.
"Do we have to help clean?" Duo all but whimpered in response.
"Nope; just talk to me. Trowa makes bad conversation while he's working. No offense, Tro."
"None taken," Trowa said smoothly. "However, I have work today, and I seriously doubt you'll be able to finish without me. You have a tendency to shove things in corners when you clean by yourself."
"Meanie." Beki accused, sticking out her tongue. "Fine; abandon me for the dull, dreary grind of office work. See if I care. Tell me where you work, and I'll bring you dinner."
"Hey!" Duo interrupted. "How come you never offer to bring me dinner?"
"Because you insulted my cooking."
"Once!"
"Once is plenty."
Sometimes, Trowa really wondered about his choice of friends. He didn't bestow the title on many, but those he deemed worthy tended to be outcasts, rejects of society, or just plain odd. Rebbekha was more than odd- she was decidedly weird. Half the time, he couldn't tell if she was dead serious or joking with all her heart, and the other half, he was positive she was still ten years old. And Duo… well, there was no word known to man that could accurately describe Duo.
With a sigh, the brunette shook his head and tried to concentrate on his work. He didn't mind office work at all, and usually enjoyed it, but tonight, his thoughts just couldn't stay focused.
The outside lobby door opened, calling Trowa back to reality before he could hare off on another mental tangent. He looked up in time to see Mr. Winner, a close associate of Zero Electronics' founder and CEO.
"Good evening, Mr. Winner." Trowa said somewhat absently, standing to greet the blond.
"And you, Mr. Barton." Mr. Winner said, smiling warmly. "Is Mr. Yuy in right now? I'd like to talk to him if he is."
"He should be in his office; I'll check." Trowa buzzed Mr. Yuy's personal secretary, watching Mr. Winner without being obvious about it. He had the sneaking suspicion that both Winner and Yuy were Talents, and he wondered what it would take to get Rebbekha to drop by and check. "Lucrezia, is Mr. Yuy in? Mr. Winner would like to see him. Yes. Alright, I will. He stepped out for a bit, Mr. Winner. You can wait in his office if you'd like."
"No, I think I'll just wait until he gets home." Mr. Winner said, still smiling.
As he turned to go, the door opened again, and Rebbekha breezed into the lobby carrying a small wicker basket, making good on her threat to fix him dinner.
"Trowa, honey-baby-darling, how are you?" She asked with a grin, depositing her load on his desk before pouncing on Mr. Winner. "Fancy meeting you here, Quatre! Does Trowa work for you? It would be awful funny if he did, 'cause you can just bet he'd be wondering if you were a Talent, and here I already know you are, and we were just talking earlier today, weren't we, Trowa?"
"Please get off Mr. Winner before you suffocate him, Rebbekha."
"Tro-wa! I've told you a million and five times to call me Beki!" Rebbekha exclaimed, pouting as she released Mr. Winner. "Not even Mom calls me Rebbekha, unless I'm in trouble up to my cute little ears."
"Do you two know each other?" Mr. Winner asked, looking back and forth with poorly-concealed amusement.
"You just bet we do." Rebbekha said, rifling through the basket she'd brought. "I'm Trowa's upstairs neighbor, and we hang a lot. We go back years. Two years, to be exact. You get off soon, right Trowa?"
"Yes." Trowa knew better than to try and lecture or scold Rebbekha at the moment; she'd just start sulking around, which was much more annoying than her constant chatter.
"Oh, goodie! Then we can go have a moonlit picnic in the park, before it gets too warm. Would you like to join us, Quatre? There's plenty of food for four or five people, at least."
"I'm kind of looking for someone." Mr. Winner apologized. "Maybe next time, okay?"
"Okay." Rebbekha agreed, matching him smile for smile.
Trowa sat there quietly while the two blonds chatted like old friends, wondering what had possessed him to tell Rebbekha where he worked.
When Quatre finally left, having given Beki his word that he would keep his weekend free for another picnic, he was feeling positively euphoric. That girl had such wonderfully honest emotions, if a bit strong at times. She was a good balance for the new night secretary, who seemed to be as quiet emotionally as he was vocally.
The blond wandered slowly in the direct of home, wondering if maybe he should introduce Beki to Heero. It wasn't hard at all for him to imagine Heero's reaction to such a hyper, enthusiastic personality, especially in as rigid an environment as an office building.
Quatre turned the corner, humming to himself, and ran right into someone.
"I'm sorry," He apologized politely. "I wasn't looking where I was going."
"A somewhat dangerous occupation in the city." The man he'd bumped into said, smiling. "A bit more caution is advisable here, Mr. Winner."
"Mr. Khushrenada, what on Earth are you doing here?" Quatre asked, smiling. "I thought you left for New York City last week!"
"I did." Mr. Khushrenada said evenly, returning Quatre's smile and handshake. "But my niece insisted we return immediately, and when it comes to Dorothy, one doesn't question when she says 'move.'"
"Has Dorothy had another vision?"
"Yes, but with only marginal detail. We now know for a fact that that son of yours is going to be involved in this, but nothing more."
"Well, every little bit is something." Quatre sighed, some of his cheer draining away. "I only wish poor Dorothy wasn't the only Foreseer we- that's it!"
"That's what, Mr. Winner?"
"Come with me; there's someone who might be able to find us another Foreseer or two, and we need to catch her before she leaves."
"All done?" Beki asked hopefully, biting absently into a chocolate chip cookie.
"All done." Trowa agreed with a sigh.
"I'm annoying you, aren't I?" She asked mournfully as Trowa packed up his things.
"Not particularly."
"Well, I did make you peanut butter and banana sandwiches, and brownies for dessert, so I hope that'll make up for it."
Trowa's replacement looked up sharply at the word 'brownies,' then blushed and tried to cover her lapse.
"Come on, Trowa," Beki urged, fishing out a brownie and leaving it for the poor secretary. "If we hurry, maybe we'll catch the moon setting, and you know you want those brownies."
It was true; Trowa's one real weakness was that he loved chocolate, and he absolutely adored her brownies. He should, too, considering how hard it was to get each batch perfect, and he usually got most of them.
As soon as she reached the door, urging Trowa to move faster so they didn't miss the moonset, someone nearly bowled her over from behind. She fumbled with the basket, suppressing the urge to yelp, but managed to keep any of the food from spilling out.
"I'm sorry, Beki, I didn't mean to run right into you like that." Quatre apologized from behind her, helping her keep her balance. "Did I make you drop anything?"
"Nope; food's all safe." Beki assured him with a relieved grin. "Did you change your mind about the picnic? Who's your incredibly handsome friend?"
"This is Mr. Khushrenada, Beki, and I think we'll join you for a bit after all." Quatre said, while Mr. Khushrenada executed a flawless courtly bow.
"I would be honored to attend you on your outing, My Lady." The ginger-haired businessman said, taking her free hand and kissing the back.
"Great." Beki said with a sigh, trying her best to hide her amusement. "I'm trapped in a cheesy medieval romance flick. At least I almost dressed the part." She gathered her heavy black skirt in her hand and grinned up at Mr. Khushrenada, just in case he couldn't tell she was joking. "All right, Noble Lord; lead on."
Duo had a habit. Once a week, without fail, he stopped at the store on his way back to the House and picked up a 3-liter of soda, a package of paper cups, and a shitload of candy. It was a peace offering to whoever shared his room that week, to make up for any punches he might have thrown of a morning. It didn't harm anyone – unless they didn't brush their teeth – and it kept everyone on good terms.
After some thought, he decided on orange soda and several mixed bags of mini candy bars, and a pack of vanilla wafers for the ones who were allergic to chocolate. The whole bundle barely cost him five dollars.
"Gentlemen, your midnight snack has arrived." Duo announced cheerfully. "And anybody who gets the bright idea of shaking the soda before they open it gets the beating of a lifetime."
A few kids that hadn't been there long thought he was joking. Everyone else knew that if somebody got soda in Duo's hair again, that somebody was going to regret it.
"Mitch, Bob, got you guys some wafers." Duo continued, tossing the box in the appropriate direction. "Mikey, here're those nasty-ass gumdrops you wanted so bad. Ames, if you even think of sticking your hand in that bag, I'll knock your lights out. Somebody start pouring, will ya? I can't do everything myself, you know."
Relena usually didn't allow food in the rooms, but Duo had gotten her to allow these little parties, if only to keep the peace. As long as Duo spent his own money to keep them happy, the other boys saw no need to start fights with him. It all worked pretty well.
"Oh, and Beki baked today, so there's cookies, and I managed to snag some brownies. Shall we begin the bidding at $.50?"
"Oh, we did make it in time!" Beki exclaimed happily as the four of them entered the park, gazing up at the moon. It just barely touched the treetops, casting its beautiful light over the park, painting everything a pale, surreal silver. "It's so easy to see why ancient tribes worshipped the moon as a deity, especially on nights like this. You can almost believe in faeries and elves right now, couldn't you?"
Oblivious to the odd look Mr. Khushrenada shot her and the exasperated one Trowa wore, she began setting up for the picnic, spreading a tattered blanket across the grass before setting out the food.
"Let's see… ham and cheese sandwiches, peanut butter and banana sandwiches – don't look at me that way, Mr. Khushrenada, they're for Trowa – apples, cookies, brownies, chips, and a nice, big thermos of Russian tea! Come on, you guys, sit!"
"Did you make all this yourself?" Quatre asked, sitting down on the blanket.
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I did." Beki told him proudly. "A store-bought meal, pumped full of additives and preservatives and completely unnecessary chemicals simply won't do, if you ask me. Homemade is best, and that's that.
"Now, much as I'd like to think you're here for the joy of my company and cooking, you've obviously got something on your mind. Spill, Winner, or no brownies for you."
"Sold! To Tim and Tony for $5.79!" Duo announced, while the twins cheered and everyone else booed them. "Have you two been saving up or something?" He asked, handing them their brownie in exchange for a five dollar bill, two quarters, two dimes, and four pennies.
"Yup." One of the twins – Duo thought it was Tony, but you never could tell with these two – said with a grin. "I dunno how you found this chick, but don't ever loose her. She makes the best brownies in the city."
"As long as you guys keep buying her brownies, she'll keep making them." Duo promised, returning the grin. "Okay, you guys, you've got your sugar, so quiet down! You know how Relena feels about food in the bedrooms; don't make her revoke our partying privilege!"
"Foreseers?" Beki repeated, blinking at Quatre. "I do know a few, but…. Tony won't do you much good; he can't see more than an hour or two ahead, and only something he can affect. Amanda's Talent seems limited to weather and natural forces, but she's pretty good at that. Eric could probably help you; he's a 2, so he can get plenty with the right trigger. And I used to know this one girl, she was level 1, but I haven't seen her in more than a year." She bit into her sandwich and chewed thoughtfully, insomuch as so automatic and unconscious an act as chewing can be thoughtful. "I can try and get in touch with her if you want, but I can't make any promises."
"Please try," Quatre said, smiling encouragingly. "We need all the help we can get."
"Well, me and Tro here know most of the Talents in the area, so you certainly came to the right place." Beki grinned. "We can probably find you more, if you give us a bit of time. You just leave it to us, okay?"
Whee. Done.
So, what do you think? Review! I shall hold the next chapter hostage until I have at least five reviews for this one!