06-Jun-2000
Category: Hmm. Some Angst
Warnings: Yaoi. Some Lemon. Some Lime.
Note: Kind of a prequel to my songfic, Even Deeper. Was going to put the words to The Fragile here, but it's a pretty long fic that I should break up into chapters instead.
DISCLAIMER: Don't own them (bet it would be fun). Don't sue. If you don't like male-male relationships, don't read.
Day 33.
Quatre sighed as he sat at the desk in his study, staring out the window, yet staring at nothing. //He usually contacts me earlier than this. What is going on?\\ He heard the ring of the videophone on his desk. //Let it be him. Let it be him!\\
He quickly punched the button and started to smile in hopes it would be him.
He tried to keep the smile, although it wasn't him.
"Quatre-sama, how have you been?" bellowed the deep voice of Rashid. He hated videophones so in compensation he always yelled into them.
"Rashid, I'm fine, why are you calling? Is there some problem?" Quatre said hopefully. //Maybe a project is what I need to stop thinking about ...\\
"There's no problem. It's just we miss your presence around here. Would it be okay if I came up for visit?"
"Certainly. You know you are always welcome," Quatre looked at his watch. "Rashid, I hate to cut you off, but I have a meeting to be at soon. Come visit whenever you want. Goodbye."
"Goodbye, Quatre-sama," said Rashid, with a small frown. //He does not look well at all.\\ Abdul walked over to Rashid puzzled by the worried look on his face.
"What's wrong, Rashid?" asked Abdul.
"I'm worried about Quatre-sama. He looks pale to me. He sounds sad. I want to go there to see if there's anything I can do. Why don't you come up with me? Maybe we can find a way to help him."
"Okay," Abdul agreed.
There was no meeting. Well, there was, but Quatre cancelled it. He had been cancelling lots of things.
//I've got to stop obsessing on him. I'll go insane if I keep this up. What did I do to drive him away this time?\\ That's what had been worrying Quatre. They hadn't quarreled. Quatre didn't remember forcing Trowa into doing anything out of the ordinary. This was all maddening. Now he'll have to keep up the front of everything being fine for Rashid when he arrived.
The next day, the two Maganacs arrived at the Winner estate on L4. "Rashid! Abdul! Wow, I wasn't expecting such a large crowd," smiled Quatre.
"Quatre-sama, when I told the others I was coming for a visit here, Abdul wanted to tag along. I hope you don't
mind.""Not at all. Let me get you something ..."
"That's not necessary, Quatre-sama," boomed Rashid.
"Well, I wouldn't mind a cool drink," piped Abdul.
"Okay, let's go sit out in the garden," Quatre said and they headed out to the gardens.
Abdul not feeling comfortable with the awkward silences of polite conversation thought he'd cut to the chase some. "So where's your companion, Trowa?"
Quatre had a slight hurt look on his face that he quickly recovered from. "He decided to help his sister out at the circus for a while."
"Ah, run off to join the circus again," laughed Abdul. No one else laughed. He blushed, "Sorry. I was making a joke. Apparently not a very good one."
Quatre felt bad for the man's blunder. "It's okay."
Rashid turned to Quatre after staring daggers at Abdul, "Is there anything we can do for you? We've noticed you seem a little ... umm ..."
"Depressed," finished Abdul. Both Rashid and Quatre stared at him. "What? Is truth not allowed to be spoken here?"
Quatre smiled, "I'm not depressed. I'm just a little tired that's all."
Rashid, never comfortable with matters like this, felt maybe it was time for them to take their leave. "I'm sorry if we embarrassed you, Quatre-sama. We should go. Come on, Abdul."
Abdul was staring at the boy before turning his attention to Rashid. "Sir, may I speak with you a moment, excuse us, Quatre-sama." He rose and waited for Rashid to follow.
"I'm sorry, Quatre-sama, I'll be back." He followed Abdul.
Once the men were far enough away from Quatre's hearing. Abdul said, "Sir, permission to stay here for a day or
two.""What?"
"Rashid, that boy is depressed."
"Yes, I know."
"I think I can help him," said Abdul.
"How?"
"Come on, everyone in the corp thinks of me as a clown. I'll try cheering him up. If I don't succeed, I'll call his friend with the braid. His sense of humor is almost as warped as mind. I don't feel right with leaving him alone right now."
"Abdul, he's scarcely alone, there are dozens of people who mill around the house at all times."
"Yes, but it's not like he's talking to them is he? Come on, give me a chance."
"You're serious."
"Yes, sir."
"Okay, but I think you should ask for an invite before depositing yourself in his home, don't you?"
The men returned.
"I have to get back to earth, but Abdul has other business here on the colony. Would it be possible for him to stay for a few days here?" Rashid said. Abdul glanced over to him. He wasn't expecting the big man to lie for him. Of course, with his sunglasses on, no one could really see what's going on in his eyes.
Quatre tilted his head slightly. //Wow, what a blatant lie. Ah, what's a few days?\\ "Sure. Abdul, I'll get someone to find you a room. Rashid, take care my friend."
Rashid bowed his head to Quatre then turned his gaze over to Abdul. "Be well, Quatre-sama. See you in a few days, Abdul." Then he left.
Quatre turned to Abdul, "So you're going to be my babysitter for a few days, huh?" He almost smiled.
"I won't lie to you. I'm worried about you. We all are. Whether you'll admit it or not, you're depressed. I figured I would be in good company."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I'm probably just as depressed as you are. Maybe we can help each other get out of that pit."
"YOU'RE depressed?" asked Quatre disbelievingly.
"I'm just better at hiding it."
Quatre kept staring at him. "Just what are you depressed about?"
"Same kind of things that you are depressed about. Affairs of the heart."
"Excuse me?"
"I know you don't believe me. That's fine. Like I said, I'm good at hiding my feelings. But since I'm tired of the twenty questions now, I'll be heading into town to pick up a few things. I wasn't expecting to be "babysitting" here. If you'll excuse me." He left.
//Good. I've got him curious. That's the first step out of the pit.\\ Of course, it still didn't help his situation any. He really was depressed. And he really was good at hiding it. No one in the Maganac corp knew he was suffering. But he recognized the pain in the boy's eyes.
"Duo, I'm just fine. I swear it. What? Oh that. I'm just playing a little hooky from work. It gets tiring running such a large corporation. Trowa? Oh he's fine. He's back at the circus for a while. Sure I'll tell him to call you. Oh, I've got house guests. I have to go. Goodbye." Quatre punched the videophone off.
He stopped himself from sighing for the billionth time today. He heard a noise at the door and looked up. "Nice performance, but you still haven't managed the poker face necessary to make people stop worrying about you," smiled Abdul.
"Are you going to tell me what you're depressed about?"
"Only if you tell me yours first."
"I think everyone can guess what's bothering me. I'm asking about you."
"You first, Quatre-sama."
"Look if you are going to be my babysitter, just make that Quatre."
"As you wish," bowed Abdul as he walked over to the chair across from Quatre's desk.
"I'm still waiting."
"Trowa's been gone for over a month and I haven't heard anything from him since the third day he left. Then it was only to tell me he found Catherine and was at the circus."
"You know, he's never seemed the talkative type to me."
"That's true, but in the past we would speak at least once a week or so. I knew where he'd be performing so I could come see the act and him on the road. But this time, nothing."
"Did you have a fight or something?"
"No. We left on our usual terms."
"I'm sorry."
"Your turn."
"What do you want the short version or the long one?"
"Whichever one you want to tell me," answered Quatre honestly.
"I'll give the short one then. A woman I've loved for years and dated for almost as many years refused my proposal of marriage."
"Rani?"
Abdul looked stunned. "You know about Rani?"
"Well, I like to keep up with what's going on with you guys in the corp. You've been so great to me that I feel you are family," said Quatre. "Why did she turn you down?"
"Because of my silly ways, she felt I could never be a responsible husband," said Abdul sadly. "Maybe she's right."
"Do you think she's right?" asked Quatre gently.
"No, she's not right. I think I would make a great husband and father even. But after she said no, I didn't know what to do. Do you stay with a woman who has no faith in you? So I left. She wasn't happy to see me go and trust me I wasn't happy about leaving. But you can't just pretend things in your life don't happen."
"No one else knows this has happened?"
"That we broke up? Sure they know. I made it a big joke. Told everyone I had to run for the hills because I could see the shotgun wedding in the horizon. Everyone got a great chuckle out of it."
"I'm sorry, Abdul. I didn't know."
"Stop it."
"What?"
"Feeling sorry for me. It just makes me sadder."
"I can't tell. It must be the sunglasses. Don't you ever take those off?"
"Fair enough," said Abdul. He took off his sunglasses.
Quatre was actually surprised the man took off his glasses. He could never recall a time when those glasses weren't firmly on his head. He looked into the older man's eyes. They were a beautiful shade of brown. He could see the hurt in the man's eyes and was embarrassed by it. As if he forced this man to show him his emotions.
"Why do you wear those glasses all the time?"
Abdul shrugged. "Don't know. They've always been a part of me I guess. Kind of like your friend with his braid."
//Yes, but you hide your emotions behind them.\\
Abdul got nervous with Quatre's intense stare and put the shades back on. Once the shades were firmly in place, he smiled, "Hey, why don't we go out for a night on the town? My treat!"
Quatre still amazed by the transition of the sad man to a happier one. "Okay."
The two men went to a bar on the outskirts of town.
"But I don't drink, Abdul."
"Come on, it's just to loosen you up some. It's not like I'm trying to get you drunk or anything. Besides, I hate to drink alone."
"But the teachings ..."
"Are a great guideline to life, but sometimes it's okay to stray from teachings, don't you think?" grinned Abdul.
"I guess. Okay maybe one drink."
"That's the spirit!"
Several drinks later, the owner of the establishment called a cab for the two inebriated men.
They returned to the Winner estate and staggered into the study.
"That was fun wasn't it?" asked Abdul who stumbled and flopped down on the divan.
"Sure. But I'm going to regret it in the morning right?" Quatre asked as he flopped down next to the man and practically fell into his lap.
"Maybe a little. You should go to bed. You don't look in any condition to walk, I'll help you."
"Arigato, Abdul." The two men staggered off to Quatre's room.
"Here you go. To the door service. G'night Quatre."
"Goodnight, Abdul," said Quatre as he embraced the man and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
Abdul hugged the boy back briefly and said, "See you in the morning." Then he staggered off to his room on the other side of the house.
End part 1
What do you think? Did I get my Maganac right? I wanted the one who wears the sunglasses and is a slightly comical character. I couldn't remember if his name is Abdul or Ahmed.
(:./babaca/fragile1)
