The Title Will Go Here - 23. Chapter 23

- XXIII -

Stratos closed his eyes when Leon left the room and slammed the door shut. He stood still for several minutes, and then sighed, opened his eyes, and looked around. He looked at the table and noticed a cup of coffee that was almost full and a half-eaten toast on the plate next to it. He was eating right then, he realized, and started shaking again. He was eating when...

He closed his eyes once more and gritted his teeth. Yes, sending that bag of filth to hell with as much pain as possible would be something he wouldn’t mind selling his soul for; however, Leon was right – he would end up in prison, and Gemini would be alone for God knows how long. He would never let that happen.

He took a very deep breath and opened his eyes. He grabbed the short glass with liquor off the counter and walked towards the table. He drank some coffee out of the almost full cup and when it was half-empty, he brought the glass closer and dumped its contents into whatever was left of the cold by now drink.

He left the kitchen, briefly glancing at the relocated fridge and not feeling too surprised about it. Would be a hell of a lot better if this fridge dropped on Knox’s head though...

He walked into the room and headed towards the bed without looking away from the very dark golden eyes.

“Here...” he said and handed Gemini the coffee cup in his hand. “Drink this...” he sat down on the edge of the bed.

Gemini took the cup and slightly frowned.

“Coffee...” he said with doubt, and Stratos sighed.

“I poured some liquor in there,” he said, and Gemini frowned deeper. “It will help you to fall asleep,” Stratos nodded. “You need to sleep for a while right now. After you wake up, you will feel better...”

Gemini looked at the cup for several more seconds with the same doubtful expression on his face. Finally, he slowly brought the cup towards his mouth and drank some of its contents. Stratos sighed again when he immediately grimaced and moved the cup away from him.

“I know it tastes like crap,” he said. “Drink it though... In one gulp, like some nasty medicine...”

Gemini looked at him without saying anything, and then sighed, brought the cup closer once again, squeezed his eyes shut, and pressed the cup against his lips, throwing his head backwards as if he were swallowing a pill. He made a gagging sound after he swallowed the diluted coffee, and handed Stratos the empty cup, his eyes still closed.

Stratos put the cup on the nightstand by the bed and kicked off his shoes.

“Scoot,” he said quietly, and Gemini opened his eyes.

He slightly scooted to the left, and Stratos lay next to him after retrieving the blanket from underneath his body.

“Sleep,” he said after he threw that blanket over both of them and wrapped his arm around Gemini’s waist. “Sleep... When you wake up, you’ll feel better...” he said in a lower murmur, and Gemini let out a shaky sigh and pressed his face against the other man’s chest.

Five minutes later, he fell asleep. Fifteen minutes later, Stratos did the same.

When Gemini woke up, the room was darker than it was when he fell asleep. He turned his head and looked at the clock. It read 20:15. He slept for longer than three hours, he realized and looked at Stratos. The musician was still asleep, so he sighed, entwined their fingers together, and lay still, staring at the ceiling and thinking, half-noting that he did indeed feel better now.

Ten minutes later, Stratos let out a small sigh and shifted next to him.

“Gem, you awake?” he muttered and slowly opened his eyes.

“I want it off,” Gemini said calmly, and Stratos propped himself up on one elbow. Gemini turned his head and looked at him. “The Lock,” he said in the same calm manner. “I want it off...”

Stratos blinked at that and looked at him silently for a second or two.

“Are you sure?” he said finally, and Gemini sighed.

“Ever since I met you...” he started saying as calmly as before. “...I have forgotten what it felt like to be completely and utterly helpless... I’ve forgotten what it felt like to be unable to do anything, to be unable to even move... I’ve forgotten what it felt like when the only thing you wanted was to die... This afternoon, though, I remembered,” he nodded slightly without looking away from Stratos’ darkening eyes. “I remembered and I will never forget it again... I swore to myself that if I managed to survive, I would never feel so helpless again... I would never let anyone to force me into something I don’t want, something I hate... I would never just lie there, accepting humiliation, pain, and fear, not again, not ever... So yes,” he nodded again. “I am sure.”

Stratos looked at him for a few seconds without saying anything, and then he slowly nodded without looking away.

“Okay,” he said softly. “Okay... When we get back home on Monday morning, before doing anything else, I will call Katherine...”

Gemini’s expression immediately tightened when he heard that name. Stratos let out a small sigh and ran his fingers through the still messed up golden hair.

“Don’t worry,” he said in the same soft voice. “She is not going to be the one to actually do that. She can’t control those streams, but...” he paused for a second and tucked a long strand of hair behind the small ear as usual. “...she will know someone who can,” he continued. “She knows lots of people, and most of them are very useful,” he finished with a slight nod, and Gemini looked at him without smiling or saying anything.

Stratos watched his expression for several more seconds, and then let out another sigh.

“You want me to call her right now, don’t you?” he asked in a low voice, and Gemini blinked.

“No,” he shook his head a little too quickly. “No... Call her Monday... Monday is fine...”

Stratos ran his fingers through the silky hair one last time and got off the bed.

“I’ll call her right now then,” he said seriously, and Gemini stared at him without blinking.

“Stratos...” he started saying slowly, but Stratos immediately interrupted him.

“Gem,” he said as seriously as a minute ago. “You should know by now that I’d do anything for you...”

He let out a quick smile after seeing the expression on Gemini’s face, and reached for his phone. He started dialing the number and slowly walked out of the bedroom, heading towards the kitchen. Gemini watched him walk away, and when he couldn’t see him, he closed his eyes and quietly said:

“I love you...”

His eyes flew wide open when all of a sudden, he heard:

“Did you say something?”

He shook his head, hoping that he didn’t looked too panicked, and managed to squeeze out a smile without looking away from Stratos who suddenly came back into the room.

“No,” he said and created another smile. “No, I didn’t...”

“Oh...” Stratos slightly frowned without taking the phone away from his ear. “I could’ve sworn that... Oh my God!” he said suddenly, and this time, he wasn’t talking to Gemini. “You actually answered the phone?! Holy hell!”

Gemini closed his eyes after Stratos left the room once again, and lay still for a minute or so. Finally, he let out a small sigh and whispered almost without moving his lips:

“I love you...”

****

Yes, the shooting range was a much better idea than drinking himself into oblivion, Leon thought after he reloaded the gun yet again. His aim was always pretty good, but right now, it was exquisite. Every time he pulled the trigger, he’d see one of the few hateful faces in the middle of the target, and those images would immediately improve his aim to perfection.

He half-closed his right eye, stretching his arm and aiming for Knox’s face this time, hearing his satisfied laughter (“...We are kindred souls, Leon... Two of a kind, peas in a pod...”), and a freezing-hot flash of fury shot straight into his fingers.

“I...” he said through his clenched teeth as he pulled the trigger.

Shot.

“...am...”

Shot.

“...nothing...”

Shot.

“...like you...!”

Shot. Shot. Another shot.

“Your aim is flawless...!”

His hand jerked when he heard a sudden voice right next to him, and the last shot became completely opposite of ‘flawless.’ He sharply turned around, ready to unload every single shred of hatred inside him onto the head of whoever-the-hell it was that startled him. Then he slightly frowned.

“Ah... Sorry about that!” the interrupter winced. “Shouldn’t have surprised you like this... Sorry about that,” he said again, and Leon slowly pulled off the sound mufflers that he was wearing.

“Do I know you?” he asked with the same frown, even though he was positive that he did not know the guy who was talking to him, realizing it was not a range master as he thought at first. He threw a quick glance around. An actual range master was nowhere to be seen, and Leon looked at the guy again. He seemed to be in his late twenties, rather skinny even though he was the same height as Leon, his chestnut colored hair was slightly messed up, and his eyes were strikingly pale, which looked strange against his tanned skin. For some reason, Leon didn’t feel like unleashing his fury on him, even though it was his original plan.

“Uh...” the guy said. Now he looked embarrassed. “No,” he admitted. “But I... Uh... I know you,” he nodded, and his embarrassment splashed a little bit of pink underneath his skin, making him look strangely rosy.

“How do you know me?” Leon frowned deeper, and the guy sighed.

“Uh...” he said again. “I am kinda a fan,” his cheeks became slightly pinker, and Leon blinked at that. A fan...? “I go to every single of Stratos’ concerts...” the guy finished, and Leon blinked again. Ah, Stratos’ admirer, he thought gloomily. Another one.

“Sorry,” he said and grabbed another round from the counter. “He’s not around... If you want his autograph, try getting it after the performance on Saturday night.”

He reloaded the gun and was about to pull the sound mufflers back on, when the guy quickly said:

“I know that he is not here. That’s not why I came over...”

Leon left the sound mufflers alone and turned his head again.

“I just...” the guy shrugged sheepishly. “I just wanted to talk to you,” he finished and the pink glow started turning into light-red. “You are Leon Rolands, Stratos’ manager... I’ve seen your pictures, and I see you at every concert, so...” he coughed. “Uh... I just wanted to say hi...” he nodded, and Leon narrowed his eyes with slight amusement.

No shit, he thought. Someone is actually interested in him instead of Stratos for once? Never happened before. He put his gun on the counter.

“All right,” he said. “You do know me... Or at least, my name,” he shrugged. “I still have no idea who you are, however...”

“I am Max,” the guy said quickly and stretched out his hand. “Max Reimer...”

Mmmk, Leon thought and briefly shook his hand, expecting it to be sweaty. The hand, however, was completely dry, and the handshake was quite firm.

“So,” he said after breaking the handshake. “You are Stratos’ number one fan, huh?”

“Uh...” the guy (‘Max’) said – it seemed he was saying that a lot. “Uh... Not really,” he continued carefully. “I... Uh... I don’t care about classical music that much, to be honest...”

“Didn’t you just say you were a fan?” Leon frowned, and Max’s glow bloomed into a deeper shade of red.

“I did...” he nodded, and Leon was slightly amused that he didn’t utter ‘Uh...’ this time. “I did... I am a fan,” he nodded again. “Not as much Stratos’ as yours, really...”

Leon stared at him without blinking, and the glow spread itself on Max’s ears.

“I don’t play any instruments,” Leon said dumbfoundedly, and then blinked at what he just said. He is not talking to you because of any instruments, you moron, he thought. He is trying to hit on you. “Uh...” he said and almost snorted at that. “Never mind what I just said,” he nodded quickly, and Max let out a tentative smile.

“I was wondering...” he started saying very carefully. “...if you would... Uh... Agree to have coffee with me, maybe?” he finally finished, and Leon looked at him quite thoughtfully.

He was attractive, very much so, Leon’s type to a t, to be honest. It has been a long while since his last fling – he’s been hung up on Stratos to the point of obsession, and one-night-stands didn’t interest him in the slightest. This might actually be a good thing, he thought. This would definitely take his mind off Stratos and his kelari; at least, for a little while. This would also help him to unwind finally.

“Sure,” he said slowly, and then smiled. “You free now?” he asked, and Max’s smile grew a bit bigger.

“I am,” he said quietly, and for some reason, Leon found the dark-pink glow underneath his skin quite attractive.

He was surprised – he did not expect to have such a good sex-free time with some guy he just met a few hours ago. When Max said ‘coffee,’ Leon’s first interpretation was some apartment or a cheap motel room that would be designed for one purpose only. However, half an hour later, he realized that ‘coffee’ actually meant ‘coffee.’

So they got into one of the coffee shops not too far from the shooting range, and at first, Leon didn’t feel quite comfortable – he had no idea what he would talk about with this guy. Funny, he thought. When he expected nothing but sex with someone he just met, he didn’t feel awkward at all. When it came to having an actual conversation while both of them kept their clothes on, however, he started feeling just a bit uncomfortable. “You are one hell of an easy lay, Rolands,” he thought while getting his drink at the coffee shop.

They went outside, since the weather was decent, and started their small talk – something that Leon never cared about. However, some time later, he realized that they weren’t doing small talk anymore; they were actually talking for real. Some time after that, he felt like he knew Max for as long as he knew Stratos. Speaking of Stratos... It was strange but Leon only thought of him once or maybe twice the entire time he spent with Max.

That was certainly a nice change, he kept thinking later when he was on his way back to his hotel. Even though he was slightly disappointed with the fact that their clothes stayed on for the entire time they spent together (he was hoping to get laid tonight), this evening turned out to be a hell of a lot brighter than what it seemed like it would be – the day started like shit, got shittier soon enough, and promised to get shittier yet after Leon left the hotel, heading to the shooting range.

He was walking into the hotel lobby, when to his own amusement, he realized that he regretted the fact that he didn’t get Max’s phone number. They wouldn’t leave Brookland until at least Sunday morning, and that would let him see this guy maybe once or twice more, which would be a great thing. Oh, well, he sighed philosophically while walking towards his room. Probably for the best – he knew that it would be just a fling at the most, and he didn’t want to complicate things. Who knows how clingy that guy would turn out to be?

He was almost by his room when he heard some loud voices. Screaming, actually, he realized. Not just loud voices, but screaming, and it definitely came from Stratos’ room. Leon stared at the door with disbelief. “Are you bloody kidding me?” he muttered. “Again?! Where the hell is Stratos?”

He took a few steps towards the door, and then frowned and tilted his head to the right, listening more intently. It was screaming, but it did not sound terrified or painful in the slightest. In fact, it sounded more like...

“Oh, God, Stratos...! Stratos, don’t stop...! Oh, God, yes...!” he heard, and for a second, he saw nothing but red.

He stared at the door for several more seconds, and when he heard another ‘Oh, God, yes...!’ he finally blinked.

“Fuck... You...” he said slowly through his clenched teeth. “Fuck... You...”

He turned around and went back downstairs, heading to the bar that was next door to the hotel. “Fuck... You...” he muttered once again, and then snorted all of a sudden. That’s exactly what he was doing, he thought, and started laughing to himself. He laughed until he finally got to the bar, absolutely ignoring every single look and whisper that he got as the result. He didn’t care in the slightest; the only thing he cared about right now was making sure he didn’t pass out in the middle of the street tonight.