The three men were sitting in the hotel's restaurant, nursing their drinks while they waited for their food to arrive. "Mum got us a really nice room, didn't she?"
Douglas wasn't sure it qualified as 'really nice', but the hotel itself was indeed a step above their normal accommodations. "She did. It's just a shame it sleeps three." The room wasn't necessarily large enough to sleep three grown men comfortably, but it did have three beds in it. Douglas stared at the bottom of his water glass. He would kill for some Talisker right now, but he'd spent too many years getting sober and fighting to stay that way to throw it all away on yet another failed marriage.
Arthur had begun to tell them how brilliant it was that they all had beds, but that he didn't care because he'd rather sleep on the floor. "Q," Martin interrupted. He wasn't sure he wanted to do this again, but it would keep Arthur occupied for a bit. Douglas was in a much better mood than he had been earlier, but the way he was looking at his water made Martin realise that he was longing for something harder. Martin hoped that Douglas could stay strong. He didn't want to sit by and watch helplessly as Douglas self-destructed.
"Quebec."
"That's right, Arthur!"
"Don't lie, Skip. I didn't get it right." Arthur took a sip of his water and looked down at the table. He knew Martin had to be tired of helping him. Carolyn always got frustrated with him quickly when she was helping him with new stuff, and they'd been working on the alphabet all day. He didn't know how much time he had left until Martin grew angry and gave up on him.
"No, Arthur. You did get it right. Q is 'Quebec'. A?" Douglas set his glass down and ran his finger around the rim. The glass made a soft tone as he did so. His daughter used to be impressed by that. As if missing Helena wasn't enough, he had to deal with the fact that his daughter, his only child, was growing up and pulling away. He decided right then and there that he would never be in another relationship again. They were nothing but trouble.
He wasn't sure he was going to get over his third failed marriage any time soon. He was too old to have his heart broken like a love sick teenager, and he really hated living on his own. Once he and Helena decided that she would keep the house, he had thought about asking Martin to move in with him.
He didn't ask him then because he knew Martin would think it had to do with his financial situation and dismiss the offer out of hand. It couldn't be farther from the truth. Douglas actually enjoyed his Captain's company and it was surprisingly easy to spend time with Martin, despite how frustrating he could be. Maybe now that the divorce was over, he'd actually extend the offer to Martin and let the cards fall where they may.
"A?" Arthur looked at Martin, hoping for a hint. "A is for Arthur, so A is for Alpha!"
Douglas felt his jaw drop a little bit before he caught himself. "I."
"G, E, R, T, I... India!"
Martin extended his hand for a high five. Arthur missed, which led the three of them to laugh while Arthur tried it again. "Great job, Arthur!"
Douglas smiled. He was really enjoying watching the two men. There was something about the way Martin and Arthur interacted that made him a little bit jealous, but it could just be the divorce affecting him. "Spell 'Martin'."
"M..." Arthur was drawing a blank. "M... Uh... M..."
"Mike," Martin supplied.
"Mike, Alpha, Romeo, Tango, India... N..."
"What's next month?" Douglas decided to help out, too.
"November? Mike, Alpha, Romeo, Tango, India, November. Martin!" Both men were surprised that Arthur called Martin by his real name. It didn't happen often. As a matter of fact, Martin couldn't remember the last time Arthur called him by his real name. Not that he minded; it was nice to have something special between he and Arthur.
"Very nice, Arthur!" Douglas couldn't decide who he was more proud of at that moment: Martin for figuring out how to teach the young Steward, or Arthur for finally learning the alphabet.
"Thanks, Douglas! Skip, this is much better!" Martin smiled and blushed. He had known that Arthur would figure it out if the information was presented differently. In a lot of ways, Arthur was like the little brother he'd never had, and he was rightfully proud of himself for being the one who had - finally - taught Arthur something he wanted to learn for so long.
Out of all the crew that had served on G-ERTI over the years, even before Carolyn took ownership of her, Martin was definitely Arthur's favourite. There was something about the way the young Skipper treated him that made him feel good about himself, even when Carolyn or the passengers were being shouty.
Douglas glared at his water again. Not even the Douglas Richardson charm could convince water to turn into wine, or any other type of alcohol, for that matter. He poked at his salad and found he wasn't hungry any more. This divorce had been the worse one yet. He had loved her dearly, really loved her, and they had been happy. For a while. But then, she had cheated on him and nothing they tried could get him past her betrayal.
Now, he was in a terrible mood, in a terrible restaurant, in a terrible hotel, and had Martin and Arthur trying to distract him. It wasn't as good as drowning his tears in a bottle of Talisker, but they were doing the best they could.
They ate in silence, punctuated by Arthur's outbursts of random letters. He was getting most of them right, too. As they started dessert, he calmly stated, "Douglas. Delta, Oscar, Uniform, Golf, Lima, Alpha, Sierra." He laughed again, pleased with himself.
The smile that took over Douglas' face even reached his eyes. It was truly the best he had felt since he and Helena signed the final papers at his solicitor's. He looked across the table at the two men, wondering how he might have gotten so lucky. He really didn't think he could get through this trip without them. The two of them had been a welcome distraction over dinner. They had the capability to be extremely annoying, but they had also become good friends - family, even - along the way. He wasn't going to tell them that, though.
#
Douglas excused himself to pay the bill, leaving the other two men alone. "He looks sad, Skip, but only when he thinks you can't see him."
"He does?" Martin looked at Arthur, eyes wide. "How do you know that?"
"I see things. I see lots of things. I see how his eyes are empty when he smiles. I hear how his laugh is forced. I'm not as stupid as every one thinks I am." His voice was small. He was so innocent and happy more of the time, it was easy to forget that he had other emotions, too. "It's been going on for a long time. I just didn't know why."
Martin thought back. Douglas had been taking the divorce hard throughout the entire process. He knew that Douglas was trying to keep it from them, but there wasn't much you could hide from Arthur. "Did you learn that at Ipswich?" Martin played with his spoon, eager to change the topic.
"I did!" Arthur was pleased that Martin noticed. "Mum was afraid she wasted her money, but she didn't!"
"Arthur, you're brilliant."
"I am?"
"I don't think people tell you that enough." Arthur ducked his head, pleased that Martin thought he was brilliant. Martin had been right. People didn't tell him that enough. Most people couldn't wait to tell him how stupid he was.
It didn't surprise Martin that Douglas didn't want him to catch him looking sad. Martin wouldn't have even known half of what went on in Douglas' life if it hadn't slipped out bit by bit. He had thought that all their time in the pointy end would have meant something to Douglas, but all it did was drive home the fact that Douglas would never fully let him in to his life. Ever. He might as well give up on the fact that Douglas would ever be interested in a relationship with him, romantic or otherwise.
"Skip?"
"Yes, Arthur?"
"I see the way you look at Douglas, too, when you think he can't see you."
"You, you do? W-w-w-what do you see?"
"You watch him. A lot. It's like you're trying to learn from him, without letting him know you want to."
He did make a point to spend a lot of time watching Douglas when he'd hand control to his First Officer. Sometimes, he did it to watch and learn, but more often than not, he took advantage of Douglas' distraction to let his imagination run wild. He hadn't realised he was that obvious. "I guess I do."
"It's working, you know. You're a much better pilot than you were when Mum hired you."