Coffee Shop Encounters CSE-2: Venetian Brew
"You got a minute, Duo?"
The long-haired boy looked up from his reading. They had all adjourned from Roberto's to the orphanage to actually begin their homework a few hours before. Trowa's question was a welcome distraction. "Sure! What's on your mind?"
The taller boy signalled for his braided friend to follow him, and Duo complied silently, intrigued by the other's behaviour. As the kitchen door closed behind them, he could hold it back no longer. "Tell me! What's up?"
"How did you meet him?"
It took Duo a second to figure out what the other was talking about, but he smiled when he did. "Quatre? He walked in one night last week- Roberto got him in there like he got me- and we started talking. Thought you all would like him, too. Was I right?"
Trowa blushed, and Duo's grin deepened. He nudged the quiet boy gently with his elbow. "Out with it, Tro. You can tell Duo, can't you?"
Trowa pulled out a chair and sat down distractedly. "I... He's kinda cute, isn't he?"
Duo gave a quiet laugh. "Yeah, he is."
Trowa drank a long pull of orange juice straight from the carton. "I'm glad he's coming with us this weekend."
Duo rocked back in his own chair. "It's gonna be fun, alright! By the way- I approve of him completely."
Trowa shot his friend a dirty look. "Since when do I need your approval, Duo?!"
The braided boy smirked. "You don't need it, but I know you wanted it. So it's yours. He's a nice guy in need of a real life. I think you could definitely help him out there."
Trowa blushed. "Thanks, then."
Duo turned to leave, but stopped at the door. "You know, Robbie told me that Quatre usually ducks in there for a caffeine fix around noon." He smiled and walked out.
~*~
I hate being nervous, damn me! Why am I doing this? Trowa fidgeted where he sat, his face buried in one of his textbooks though his mind was anywhere but on cow anatomy. It was 11:57 AM, according to the large, copper clock over Roberto's bar.
11:58. I'm a complete idiot. Duo's probably laughing at me right now- this is probably one of his jokes, and I'm falling for it. He'll never show- Quatre's got better things to do than to hang out with me!
Roberto smirked as Trowa ordered a cup of house coffee, eyeing the tall boy's spare frame. "With cream and sugar, boy, or I'm making you a mocha, okay?"
Trowa sighed- Roberto never stopped trying to feed him and fatten him up. He'd been coming to the café for three years, and that hadn't changed.
He dutifully added cream to his coffee, and even sugar when the Cajun glared at him evilly. "Dere's no way bein' dat thin is healthy, boy! What would you say, Quatre?"
Trowa turned, startled. The blond was standing just inside the doorway, shrugging off his overcoat, and he looked up-
Their eyes met, and both boys smiled. "Hi, Trowa! I'm sorry, Roberto, what was your question?"
The man snorted. "Dis here boy is too thin, don't you tink?"
It had been a good morning for the young businessman, and seeing Trowa was only making it better. It felt good to look Trowa over very slowly and reply, "I don't know- he looks pretty good."
Roberto burst out laughing as Trowa blushed a nice shade of red.
Quatre laughed along, shrugging out of his suit jacket as he took the seat next to his friend. "I normally just grab my coffee and run, but I guess it won't hurt to take a few minutes for, me, right?"
Trowa smirked at him. "Well, you are the boss."
There was an awkward silence before both began to talk at once. Trowa blushed. "Please- go ahead!"
Quatre smiled. "I was just wondering why you're here today- I've never seen you here before at this time of day."
Trowa gulped- it was the one question he wasn't truly prepared to answer. "Well... you wouldn't have seen me here before because I haven't been here."
He came to see me- to see me. Great! He could tell how embarrassed the other was, and Quatre felt another rush straight to his toes. "Well, I'm glad you're here."
"I am, too!" Roberto interjected as he poured them coffee. "Mebbe you can get dis boy to take a breath- stop working so much!"
Trowa raised an eyebrow. "Quatre, do you eat lunch?"
The blond shook his head, drinking down a quarter of his coffee by rote. "No- unless coffee counts. It takes too long."
The green-eyed student turned back to Roberto. "We should really feed him, then."
Quatre took a peek at the heavy-looking book in Trowa's lap. "I'm not a lion, Trowa- you don't just feed me," he said with a wry smile.
Green eyes swivelled and glinted with amusement. "I do today- we have to build up your strength for the trip this weekend."
Roberto chuckled. "Don' worry- I'll take care of it." He disappeared, whistling.
Quatre turned to the other boy, who was wearing a small smile. "What's for lunch?"
"Hell if I know."
"Right." He knew that he should feel angry, but Quatre couldn't seem to wipe a smile. "So... Anything I should know before the trip?"
Trowa's eyes glinted. "Yeah- don't listen to a word Duo says about the wildlife. His heart's in the right place, but he loves his practical jokes a little too much."
Quatre's eyebrows shot up. "Really? What did he do?"
Trowa laughed at the memory. "It was two years ago- Wufei had just moved out here- he's from a rather rich family, you know, so he'd never done anything as basic as camping and eating baked beans from a can- and he couldn't stop teasing Wu. The worst- we were camped by the riverbed and, before hitting the sack, Duo told Wufei that there were scorpions that lived there, and the only way to keep them from biting you in your sleep was to dig a trench around your sleeping bag! He's got pictures somewhere- poor Wufei dug at least a foot deep into the sand all around his bag, and then wiggled so much that night that the foot of it was hanging over the edge of the trench, right in scorpion territory! Duo couldn't resist- he did one of those crawly-spider things to Wu to wake him up..." He laughed again. "Heero and I had to pull Wufei off of him when he found out it was all a joke!"
Quatre laughed along with him, mentally filing the information away. Yes- he would stick close to Trowa...
"Chili and rice for de thin boys! Eat, both of you!" They hadn't heard Roberto's approach, and both of them jumped as he put steaming bowls down in front of them.
It smelled really good, and Quatre fought off the impulse to check his watch.
He was the boss, after all.
~*~
Quatre was grinning like a guilty little boy as he walked off the elevator towards his office. He had just long enough to wink at Julia before one of the board members stood from his impatient place on a plush sofa, angrily towering over the young CEO. "Mister Winner! You're an hour late for our meeting! If we don't get these reports done..."
The blond's smile didn't falter. "If you could do them without needing me to hold your hand, they'd already be done. Now, shall we?"
Shit! Where did that come from?! I never talked to people like that before... Oh well. He held his office door open and politely waved the taller man through.
But he stopped before he closed his door. "Hey Julia, would it be possible to check out if my lunch meetings are really important?"
She cocked her head. "Sure. Any particular reason?"
He shrugged. "Eating lunch is a good thing- I enjoyed it today. Might want to do it again tomorrow, that's all."
She smirked. "Tomorrow, you're supposed to meet with Mark Furrows from PR about the new Clean Air campaign..."
Quatre rolled his eyes. "I already approved it, didn't I?" He got a nod of assent, and he smiled. "Okay, then he's stalling and doesn't really need to see me. Tell him that."
"No problem, sir." Julia smiled as the door closed. It was nice to see that the Boss was going to take some time- she had been reading the signs of burnout for quite a while now, and she hadn't liked it.
It was just the way the Company had been run- old Mr Winner had been far too happy to run everything and overpay executives for letting him do the work. Quatre, being as young as he was, was in no position to change everything from day one.
It appeared, though, that some things would finally be changing.
~*~
Roberto smirked at the blushing student in front of him as the café door swung shut behind Quatre Winner. "So what was dat?"
Trowa tried to shrug it off- "Nothing- he's just a nice guy..."
Roberto snorted. "Righ'. Do I look dat stupid?"
Trowa somehow managed to keep a straight face. "Did I say you did, or are you getting insecure about yourself again?"
Roberto cuffed him on the arm in jest. "You keep tinking like dat, boy, and EAT!"
Trowa dutifully dug into his food again. I'm grinning like an idiot. Damn!
~*~
"Yo, Sally! Helloooo?!"
A woman with curly red-blonde hair appeared around the corner and tried to glare at Duo Maxwell. The boy grinned back at her unrepetantly. "Sally, you sure you're up to this?"
She nodded her head. "No prob- you need a break sometimes, too, Duo. Get your skinny butt out of here, okay?"
Heero grunted as he came around the doorway. "I see nothing wrong with his butt..."
"I just don't get the same view that you normally have, Heero," Sally quipped back sharply.
"Hey!" a blushing Duo yelled at the both of them, only blushing darker when they smirked at him. "There are kids here, people!"
Sally laughed at him. "Yes, there are, and they're gonna start yelling for you soon if you don't leave already. I'm a doctor, I can handle it, okay?"
"Good luck, onna," Wufei replied in an amused voice, grabbing one of Duo's arms as Heero grabbed the other. They pulled him out of the building, not releasing him until Trowa had the door safely closed behind them.
Duo shrugged their hands off, glaring at Heero in particular. "If you think you're getting any after discussing my ass with Sal like that, have you got it comin!"
Heero smirked at him and turned to the others. "Isn't he cute when he's angry?"
"You..." Heero laughed as Duo glomped onto him, squeezing him so tight that he could barely breathe.
"Duo... air... please..."
A laugh. "Do you repent?"
"...air... dammit, yes... Fine! Sorry..."
Duo released him and gave him a bright smile and a kiss on the cheek. "Love you, too, Hee-chan!"
Wufei rolled his eyes, in his normal response to Duo and Heero's flirting. "Will you two just get a room or get in the car? We've got to pick Quatre up, still!"
"Um... hi?" They all turned as they heard a voice addressing them from a small distance away. Quatre stood there, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt and hiking boots, ready to go.
"Quatre! We were going to drop by your place..."
The blond shrugged. "I wanted to come down here, anyway. This is a cool place," he said, gesturing around them.
Duo cocked an eyebrow, but said nothing. And Winner Mansion is quite different, of course. Afraid you'll scare us away? "Alrighty, then! Let's load up!"
They piled into Trowa's SUV, tossing their packs into the back. "Jesus! You two take the middle seat this time, and try not to be so... Ugh!" Wufei made a face as Heero gave Duo a sloppy kiss and turned to grin at him.
Quatre slid into the passenger seat and quickly buckled his seat belt. He turned to smile at Trowa. "Are they always this bad?"
"Only when it involves teasing Wu. Ready?"
Quatre nodded, and Trowa started the car, smiling appreciatively as it hummed and purred back at him. "Here we go."
"So Quatre, there's a few things you should know about the place we're going..." Duo began.
~*~
"I need to talk to him immediately!"
Julia smirked up at the tall man. "I've already told you, Mr. Richards. Mr. Winner is away for the weekend."
Richards' was almost shaking with anger. "I told him that I needed to see him before we initiated plans for the construction of the new satellite!"
She smiled. "Oh! Was that what you wanted to see him about? He left this for you." She handed him a small folder, watching in amusement as he took it and opened it.
Richards read, "We've already discussed this, but since you brought it to my attention again, I took the liberty of going through your specs again. The plan has been approved as it appears in this folder and now on the mainframe. Don't ever try to cheat me again, Richards, or you'll lose more than just the money you were skimming from the project. Quatre."
He looked down into the figures- How did that little bastard find that! His father would never have looked... He finally noticed that Julia was staring at him and smiling.
She cocked her head. "Is everything understood, then? Mister Quatre will want a full report on the initial stages, one week from Monday, and he's requested to see the books, as well."
Richards growled, "Old Winner would never have done this..."
"Perhaps not," Julia replied, "But this is Mister Quatre's company now. Deal with it, and have a pleasant weekend."
~*~
Roberto was surprised when the five boys walked in at around 7:30 PM on Sunday night, each looking tired, yet relaxed and healthy, as he had never seen Quatre and had rarely seen Duo. He waved them up to the bar. "How was de trip?"
Quatre's eyes were bright and shiny. "Oh- it was great! And so nice- my cell phone didn't ring once!"
Heero smirked at him. "Wonder why. Here's the battery pack." He opened his hand.
Quatre's jaw flapped comically, no sound coming out for a few moments as he realised exactly what had happened. "Why you... you... Something could have happened..."
Trowa intervened smoothly, "And ruined the first break you've taken in three years, Quatre. They need a CEO, not a babysitter."
The blond settled back as he put in the battery pack and turned his phone back on. No messages. He breathed a sigh of relief. "I guess it's alright, then."
Duo threw an arm around his shoulders. "Damn straight it is! Hey, if I wasn't allowed to call home about my kids, then you've got to take a total break, too. Think of it this way- you get to go to meetings, I get to go to class, and then we both get to clean up all the problems other people couldn't handle over the weekend!"
"Sally's probably done a better job than you would, baka," Heero teased.
The long-haired boy's head flew around, braid whipping through the air as he turned to face his lover. "All distractions are your fault, Yuy!"
"And you both enjoy it, so either stop or get a room, okay?" Wufei interjected, knowing only too well where those sort of arguments led.
Roberto laughed quietly to himself as he headed back to get the five some food to go with their coffee. "Dat Wufei... don' know who he's more jealous of."
~*~
"Whoa! This place is really yours?!" Duo asked, staring up at Winner Mansion with wide eyes.
Quatre nodded, trying not to feel nervous. His friends were either going to feel terribly jealous and never speak to him again, feel overawed and never speak to him again, or take it in stride. I didn't want them to drive me home, but I'll never try to shut Duo up ever again... God- this weekend was so much fun- I hope this won't drive them away!
Trowa stared up at the house in amusement. "D'you need a roadmap to find your room?"
"Master Quatre! So glad you're home, young man!" The blond looked up to see his handler, Rashid, rushing down to meet him.
He smiled wearily. "Hi, Rashid! Nice to see you, too. Nothing catastrophic happen while I was gone?"
Rashid smiled. "Richards gave Julia some trouble, but she handled it- he didn't like your note too much."
Quatre sniggered. "Good. He'll think twice next time." He turned back to the others regretfully. "Sorry, guys. This is Rashid- he's like an older brother to me. Rashid, these are Trowa, Wufei, Heero and Duo."
Rashid bowed to them all. "Nice to meet you all. Would you care to come in for a while?"
Duo shook his head regretfully. "I've got a house full of kids to get back to, so as much as I'd love to... Hey Q- can we take a rain check?"
Quatre smiled. "I know where to find you all, so sure."
Rashid picked up Quatre's rucksack and prudently left them in peace.
The others waved as they got back into the car, but Quatre stopped Trowa with a hand on his arm. "Um, Trowa? Want to do lunch sometime?"
The green-eyed boy smiled, hoping he wasn't blushing too badly. "Yeah- sure! Sounds like fun. Roberto's?"
Quatre nodded. "I'll see you there."
Trowa grinned. "See you there, Quatre. Good night."
OWARI
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