Mix and Match
The sight was unmistakable, and it made Luke's blood pressure double
within seconds. Through the open door of the trailer he had a clear
sight of young Val Quentin, lounging with his slender hips against a
desk, laughing at the conversation Luke could hear fragments of. And
with a glass of champagne cradled between his fingers. As Luke watched, Val
lifted it to his lips and took a healthy swig.
The party was a meeting of sponsors and businessmen, led by Max
Ryman, Val's agent. And Max would not care how much Val drank, so
long as he charmed the socks off the money men he'd brought to be
entertained.
Much as he wanted to, Luke could not storm into the trailer and rip
the glass out of Val's hand. In fact he was stuck, hanging around the
car park of the concert hall until the party broke up and Val was
ready to be taken to their current hotel. Luke turned on his heel and
walked a little way into the darkness, making a few silent vows about
things he intended to say to young Mr. Quentin when they found
themselves alone together.
It was barely three days since he'd seen Val's light on at some
unGodly hour of the morning. Val was no early riser and his excuses
about being too hot or too wound up from the concerts were beginning
to slip. At four AM on Sunday morning, Luke went into his room and
found him near tears with a raging toothache, by then desperate
enough to confess to his bodyguard that he was in agony and had been
in pain for days. The hotel medic on call came at Luke's demand and
prescribed painkillers in sufficient quantities for Luke to get Val
back to bed and asleep, and he'd dragged the young man, protesting
bitterly, to a dentist the following morning. The verdict wasn't
unexpected. Val was run down from the months of tours, from the
strain and from the life of strange hours and crashing highs. His
nerves were thoroughly jangled and he had a simple infection. The
dentist merely prescribed a course of antibiotics, with advice to
visit a doctor if the irritable nerve continued to be painful. Luke,
relieved, made Val cash the prescription and take the tablets
regularly. With the medical advice that while taking them, he didn't
drive. And that he didn't, under any circumstances, drink.
Luke paced in the dark outside. He worried at times how Val stood up
to the touring. He was so young, and to look at, such a slight and
fragile man. It was a hard life he was leading, physically and
emotionally, and when Luke watched the energy he poured out on stage
night after night, he wondered how much longer Val would stand the
pace Ryman was bent on inflicting. Somehow over the last few months,
Luke had extended his duties to keeping tabs on Val's time and trying
to release him from rehearsals and concerts promptly before he got
dragged into the endless technicalities involved in every show. He'd
noticed Val's colour slipping days before he forced Val to tell him
about the tooth infection. Val's sheer irresponsibility infuriated
him. At twenty he was old enough to realise the effects of mixing
drugs and alcohol, old enough to have some idea of caring for
himself. And Max Ryman ought to take better care of his star
performer.
Luke lost track of how long he wandered in the dark outside,
muttering. It was nearly eleven when the visitors began to leave the
trailer and head for the gates outside. Val and Ryman were at the
back of the line, arm in arm, Ryman giggling with good nature found
in a champagne bottle. Luke followed them, falling into place behind
Val. Just outside the gates, Val glanced around for him, gave him the
sweet smile that always punched Luke in the guts, then noticed his
expression. He fell back a step, into Luke's earshot.
"Luke? What's the matter?"
"I want a word with you when we get back to the hotel." Luke said
quietly and grimly. Val's eyes went wide.
"What? I didn't do anything!"
"I saw EXACTLY what you were doing!"
There was a small crowd of fans gathered at the gate. There always
was, even at the most ridiculous hours. Luke cast an eye over them
and saw only kids, waving autograph books. Cars were filling at the
kerb with the suited visitors. Luke stepped around Val, guiding him
towards his car. The bang
took them all by surprise. Someone screamed- Ryman. From the corner
of his eyes Luke saw Ryman jump. Then reflex took over, he grabbed
Val and shoved him down on the concrete, covering the slighter body.
The small crowd of kids surged in all directions in open panic. Luke
couldn't see the
offender or the weapon, but his ears knew the sound of gunfire and he
could smell the acrid smoke left by a smoking chamber. Val was
gasping beneath him in shock and alarm. Ryman was screaming like a
banshee. There was no clear route to the car. Luke hauled Val to his
feet, making sure there was no one in their path, and pushed him
towards the back streets behind the concert hall. Once in the alleys
he gripped Val's wrist and dragged him, not at a run but at a swift
walk, keeping the boy ahead of him. He took as many turns as
possible, losing them thoroughly in the alleyways. Then and only then
did he stop, swing Val around and turn up his face.
"Val?"
"I'm okay."
Val was trembling, Luke could feel it through the thin shirt the boy
was wearing. His eyes were huge.
"Luke, Max-"
"No one making that much noise is seriously hurt." Luke said with all
the conviction he could muster. Val slumped back against the wall and
got his breath. Luke looked at him anxiously, but Val's next words
contained all his usual bounce and edge.
"So where exactly do you think you've dragged me to? Do you know how
cold it is out here?"
"Want me to warm you up?" Luke said sweetly. Val's response was
instant and muttered, accompanied by a swift look from under his
lashes. "No."
"So be quiet, Quentin." Luke pulled his jacket off and hung it around
Val's shoulders. "Now we find a main road and a taxi."
Quentin never knew when to be quiet. "So Mr. I'm always ready for
anything Bodyguard, where is your cell phone, huh? Why can't we just
call and get someone to pick us up?" Val looked up charmingly into
Luke's eyes, just daring him to say something.
Luke really wanted to stuff a sock in Val's mouth, but that comment
struck home. Luke ALWAYS felt ready for anything, yet here he was in
the back alleys of London without a means of communication on his
person. Last time that mistake would happen.
"Let's go" Luke said firmly, grasping Val's smaller hand in his own,
ignoring the comment altogether.
Luke led them down a long alleyway that dumped them out into a park.
On the other side of the park was a major road, they should be able
to find a taxi quickly. Val balked in the gateway, hanging back from
the darkness and the head-high foliage.
"Luuuuuuuuuke, I'm cold and tired. It's tooooo far. You go, and get
the taxi to come back here."
"Dream on, kid." Luke said firmly. "Walk."
"You can't make me." Val pointed out. "There is no way you can make
me do-"
Luke stood still and propped his hands on his hips. "Okay. There's a
bench over there and I've got ten minutes to spare. Do you want me to
discuss that last statement or do you want to rethink it?"
"You don't really mean discuss do you?" Val said, pouting. Luke shook
his head.
"No. Do you really mean you're not walking any further voluntarily?"
Mr. Quentin let out a heavy sigh and led the way into the park. "You
are SUCH a gorilla."
The park was deserted. Flanked by the ornate wrought iron railings
and the grey shapes of flowerbeds in the night air, it was difficult
to stay annoyed. Luke felt Val's fingers wrap a little tighter about
his as they negotiated the dark paths.
"What's the matter, Quentin? Scared of the dark?"
"No." Val said promptly. "Just of you."
Luke snorted. A little further on, Val's hand tightened on his, then
suddenly disengaged. Val spun around and Luke grabbed for him, temper
about to go through the roof- until he realised the young man was
being violently sick. He put his hand on Val's shoulders, steadying
him, feeling him
trembling all over. Val was gulping, as much with distress as
anything else. When he straightened up he turned willingly into
Luke's arms and buried his face into the much larger shoulder. Luke
rubbed his shoulders, alarmed and praying this was not a reaction to
mixing drugs and alcohol.
"Come on kitten, talk to me- Val? Are you alright?"
Although what he was about to do if Val was going to collapse out
here, he wasn't sure. Without a phone, with no sense of where they
were, he was not about to leave Val while he went for help. Luke
cursed his own thoughtlessness and tried to coax a response out of
the shuddering young man in his arms.
"Val? Come on kiddo, say something. You know where you are?"
"In the middle of nowhere." Val said muffled into his chest. Luke
manhandled him towards a bench and sat down, still holding him.
"You know what day it is?"
"I'm fine." Val disengaged himself with an effort. He was still
trembling and his arms folded tight as he let Luke go. He looked very
small, huddled up into himself and shivering with cold. Luke ran a
hand through his hair, trying to see what his temperature was.
"Val we've got to find a main road."
"I'm okay." Val said again. "Just scared. Oh God Luke, someone shot
at me...."
Two conflicting emotions rushed through Luke, one of relief, one of
distress.
"You don't know it was aimed at you." he said as offhandedly as he
could. "Half the people at that meeting of yours have got the money
and power to be magnets for attack. Could have been random. Could
have been some fan's partner looking for them and nothing to do with
anyone else at all."
"That's not true, is it?"
Luke put a hand on Val's back, rubbing soothingly. "I've been in this
game a few years, kiddo. In my experience if someone takes the risk of
making an attack meant to damage, they try a little harder than that."
"Someone took a gun-" Val said, barely hearing him. "What have I ever
done to make someone want to shoot at me?"
Luke tried to pull Val up, but he wouldn't budge. He took the tousled
head in his hands instead, raising the tear stained face up. He
didn't know what the shooter's intent was, but he couldn't let Val
think it was himself. "Kitten, love, you didn't do anything. You're
fine, you're safe with me now. You'll always be safe with me. I won't
let anyone hurt you."
"I w...was so s...scared." Val said pitifully, hiccuping and then
crying harder. He felt himself lifted up, then found himself
surrounded by the strongest arms, his face buried into the neck and
shoulder of the gorilla he pretended to hate. The tension left his
body with the tears, a feeling of peace overcoming him.
Luke had taken a seat back on the bench, Val sitting across his lap,
the head buried against his neck. He held on tight to the slight
body, whispered soothingly against the soft hair, the comforting
words doing as much for himself as they seemed to be doing for Val.
He could never let Val know how scared he was, nor how scared he
remained at the thought of something like that ever happening again.
It was not the first gunshot he'd witnessed, not the first intended
victim he'd comforted, but it was the first time he was aware of his
hands trembling as he rubbed Val's back.
"That was MY fault." he said eventually, clearly and firmly. "That
happened because I wasn't thinking. I wasn't looking. I swear to you
I won't make that mistake again."
"Maniacs are going to do this, aren't they?" Val lifted his face,
pitifully matter of fact. "This is going to happen again."
"You're an awfully public figure." Luke said gently. "It comes with
the job, kiddo. You attract the ghouls."
"Do you think Max was badly hurt?"
"Clipped if anything at all." Luke gave Val another crushing hug. "He
wasn't even on the floor."
Val slipped from his lap, got up and wandered a few paces away. "How
did I get into this?"
"I don't know." Luke said honestly, leaning on his knees after him.
"You tell me."
Val shrugged a little, thinking about it. "I don't know. Just one
thing snowballed into another. I always sang- there was a kids choir
at the base I grew up on- then I got to sing with a band, did a
little modeling which I never told anyone at home about-" Val
hesitated, thinking again. "Then one
day someone saw me and Max came along. He found the contract with
Orion- and things just got bigger and bigger."
A pretty face, a marketable voice, a well sold image and a remarkable
amount of stage presence. He'd fallen into the hands of a geared and
well oiled machine that fed him into a mould and which would spit him
out again when the time came. Luke wondered if Val realised that. He
got to his feet, not wanting to pursue it.
"You're getting cold. Come on."
"You know something really funny?" Val said lightly, not looking at
him.
"What?"
"Orion even owns the name. I'm not even Val Quentin any more. Val
Quentin's
the name they bought- it belongs to them now. They have the rights to
it."
Luke put an arm around his shoulders.
"Come on now."
They walked towards the light of the street in the distance, Luke
with his arm still around Val. It was an easy silence, both men lost
in their own private thoughts.
As the walk seemed to stretch into forever, Val's natural brattiness
began to reassert itself. He was getting rather thirsty and tired and
the effects of shock were rapidly wearing off.
"Luuuuuke. I'm thirsty. Isn't there anything to drink around here?"
Luke knew Val was getting tired, and the whine just confirmed his
suspicions. Time to tread softly here as a temper tantrum was the
last thing that Luke wanted to deal with out in the middle of the
park.
"I know you're thirsty, I am as well. Just a little farther and we
can get that taxi back to the hotel room. A nice hot cup of cocoa
sounds good right now, doesn't it?"
Val gave the older man a look of disbelief. Luke didn't smoke, he
didn't drink, he didn't seem to do much else either. This was a man
in urgent need of a little gentle corruption.
"But it's sooooo far. We've been walking forever! Lu-"
"Val" Luke said warningly "it's only a little farther. We have to get
to the street and find a taxi. I won't leave you here. Now come
along."
Val scuffed along the pavement, muttering to himself. Luke gritted
his teeth and prayed his brat would survive the distance, wherever it
was they were. They rounded a corner and Luke walked smack into Val
as he stopped.
"Luke!"
"WHAT! Give a guy some warning!"
"I know where we are! I used to go to a club round here-"
"Forget it." Luke said flatly. "We are NOT-"
"Oh come off it!" Val grabbed his hand and towed him towards the
road. "We're five minutes away from a bus route straight into
Picadilly. And just by that stop is a damn good pub."
"You're shocky." Luke objected. Val grinned.
"In need of something hot and sweet. And until I get a better offer,
a pub will do."
Luke lifted his eyebrows and followed.
Val was like a completely different person now that he knew where he
was and where he was going. He fairly sprinted down the street,
dragging Luke after him. "Come on slow poke, the buses don't run all
night around here!"
Luke sped up, uncertain as to whether a bus ride was a good thing or
not. Sometimes people didn't pay much attention to them as they never
thought a "star" would do things like ride a bus as "normal" people
did. But one never knew how people would react at any given time, and
a taxi may not make an appearance any time soon.
They barely made it to the stop as the bus pulled up. There were only
three other people riding at the time, and Val and Luke were able to
take a seat away from them, and possible trouble. As Val was dressed
in casual clothes instead of a costume or monkey suit, he blended in
a lot better.
"Where exactly is this bus going?" he demanded in Val's ear as the
bus juddered away. Val grinned.
"Straight past the hotel in the end. I used to catch this one all the
time when I was at school- Dad was based over in Battersea then."
"Can't imagine you on buses with the rest of us mortals."
"I've slummed it in my time." Val's eyes flashed back and Luke
suddenly thought how enchanting he was when he was teasing, the smile
in his eyes entirely genuine. They were quiet through the dark stops
and jerking starts of the bus route. There seemed to be a hundred
stops at twenty yard intervals. Somewhere along the line Luke saw
Val's dark head knocking a little against the window, limp and
unnoticing. He eased an arm around the boy's shoulders and drew him
gently backwards until Val's sleeping head was against his chest,
ignored the pub signs and watched for the hotel.
Val stirred at once when Luke shook him, stumbled to his feet and
followed him into the chill of the street. The hotel was within
sight. Luke steered Val ahead of him, past the doorman who stood
aside, touching his hat, and across to the reception desk. There were
two policemen waiting there and one
was already speaking into his radio at the sight of them. The hotel
manager advanced on them, his face anxious. Luke felt Val flinching
back against him and gave his shoulders a quick squeeze.
"I'll handle this. Go."
Val didn't need a second invitation. He slipped away and Luke went
forward to field anxiety, questions and open panic. It was over half
an hour before he extricated himself, left the hotel staff calmed and
the police dismissed, and went upstairs to Val's suite.
Val had been tired earlier but the sight of the police took all
thoughts of sleep from his mind. He was busy pacing and had opened
the suite's door several times, intent on finding Luke but closing
the door each time, knowing that Luke was handling everything as fast
as he could. Besides,
Val wasn't sure he wanted to find out what had happened to Max.
Luke opened the hotel door and was about knocked over when Val rushed
to him.
"Hey kiddo, I'm here now. It's okay. Everything's okay." Luke managed
to guide Val away from the open door so it could be closed.
Val looked up into Luke's eyes, the question not even needing to be
asked.
"Max is fine. The police drew a total blank- no one knows who fired
that shot or why, but it clipped a wall. Max got hit with a piece of
flying brick, he's not even bruised." Luke had a hard time trying to
control the smile that threatened to cross his face at the thought of
Max's horrific screams for a bump with a rock. "No one was injured,
no one at all."
"Really?"
"Rea- kiddo, have you had something to drink?"
Val looked immediately away from Luke and buried his face against the
strong shoulder.
"I'm so glad he's okay, that everyone's okay."
"Quentin." Luke said, trying to disengage himself from the arms
around him.
"Just a little." Val murmured against the shoulder. "No big deal."
"No big-" Luke peeled Val away from him, temper rising. "That was
exactly what I wanted a word with you over in the first place,
sunshine! Think I'd forgotten?"
"What?" Val's eyes were wide. Luke shook his head.
"Turn off that look, right now. I saw you knocking back champagne in
your trailer-"
"Not that much! Only half a glass, it didn't touch me!"
"And then you come back and drink here?"
Val glanced guiltily back at the mini bar. "Just a half glass of
wine- I saw all the hell going on downstairs and it was making me
edgy! I just wanted something to calm myself down, that's all! Don't
make a performance out of it Luke, please-"
"You remember what it is you're taking three times a day?" Luke said,
folding his arms. "Remember what the doctor told you?"
"He meant don't get drunk and I didn't-"
"He meant DON'T DRINK! What part of that don't you understand? Is
there anything we don't have to do the hard way? Is it going to take
an emergency run to hospital before you realise some rules aren't
made just to annoy you? If your veins are full of antibiotics- which
are there to kill infections you got through being run down by a life
involving too much drinking in the first place- you absorb alcohol a
lot faster. Alcohol's a poison."
Val decided the only avenue left open to him to avoid punishment
would be to tell the truth.
"I could drink today because I didn't take the antibiotics. I am
feeling fine, the mo-"
"WHAT?!? You stopped with the drugs? Is that what you just said?"
Luke's blood pressure rose several notches with that excuse.
Val blinked in surprise. He had expected an apology from.
"Yes, I'm fine now, so I stopped with the drugs. What's the big deal?"
"What's the big deal!?! The big deal young man is that those drugs
were prescribed to you to be taken for 10 days! It is a mandatory 10
day treatment! If you stop before the 10 days you risk re infection!"
"I'm SORRY, okay? I didn't know. I'll just go ta-"
"WAIT one minute mister!" Luke's warning stopped Val's steps towards
the bottle on the table. "I watched you take a tablet before the
reception tonight, didn't I?"
Val's stomach started heading towards his toes. He had pretended to
take the pill, but didn't. He knew that he should have been taking
them for the 10 days and knew that he shouldn't mix them with the
alcohol. The drink won out, and now he was found out.
"I - er-"
"You er what?" Luke said grimly. "Did you or did you not take that
tablet?"
There was no right answer to this. Val took a deep breath, feeling
like he was stood in a courtroom. "I didn't because I knew I was
going to have to drink with Max's clients-"
"In other words you knew you shouldn't mix them with alcohol." Luke
said, not interested in Val's side issues. "And therefore you knew it
was necessary to LIE to me in order to drink at that little cocktail
party! Do you know how many people are immune to antibiotics these
days from screwing around with them?"
"They were prescription Luke, you're making this sound like I was
taking acid or something!"
"Just for the record, if I ever catch you with anything BUT
prescription medication, you are dead meat." Luke said bluntly.
"ANYTHING you can't show me a doctor's note for."
"There are half a dozen leisure drugs that are semi legal," Val
argued, "You can't just-"
"Watch me."
"What about alcohol then? Cigarettes?"
"Don't side track me, kiddo. Do you remember the doctor telling you
the drugs were a ten day course?"
"I-"
"Yes or no Quentin."
"Ye-"
"And do you remember how much pain you were in with that infection?
Want that back in a form a GP won't be able to treat?"
"No." Val admitted. Luke's eyes were flinty and not moving. Val hated
that unwavering grey stare. It was like being looked at by some lean
and rangy wolf. He thought through his options and decided the best
strategy left was a nicely done air of subdued penitence.
"I'm really sorry, I didn't think about them being antibiotics- I
just knew I was going to HAVE to drink today and that I shouldn't mix
the two. I'll ring the GP in the morning and check with him, and I'll
take the tablet I missed now-"
"HAVE to drink? Where ever did you get that ridiculous notion that
you HAVE to drink? You HAVE to drink water, but you have never HAD to
drink liquor! All liquor manages to do is dull your senses, Quentin,
you don't need it. And you'll not have anymore anytime soon,
understood?"
"But Lu-"
"YES OR NO QUENTIN!?!"
"Yes, bu-"
"You are to go get ready for bed Quentin. You've got 15 minutes. Then
I want to see you in my room to finish this discussion. You are NOT
to touch those pills. Your next one isn't due until morning, and you
will remain on the rest of your schedule. Now go!" Luke said,
pointing towards Val's room.
Val stormed off, knowing what the rest of the discussion was going to
entail. He was in no hurry to get ready for bed.
"And if I hear ANY lock turning," Luke said behind him, "I'll call
the fire brigade to break the door and we'll stage a little impromptu
performance for them the moment I get my hands on you."
"You are SUCH-" Val said under his breath.
Luke didn't need to hear him. "A gorilla. I know. Thirteen minutes
forty three seconds."
As slowly as he dared, Val showered and changed. Luke- for some
reason Val couldn't get a comprehensible explanation for- seemed to
feel it was within his job description to supervise Val's wardrobe.
Out had gone the flimsy and lurid coloured silk nightwear along with
mutters about Christopher Robin lost in a brothel. Sometimes Val
wondered if Luke wouldn't be happier if
he just wore combat gear in bed and armour out of it. He chose shorts
and a t shirt in the end, unwillingly aware that whatever he chose he
was unlikely to be wearing long. Dressed and damp, Val sat on the end
of the bed and stared hard at the carpet, looking for inspiration.
Fighting Luke didn't work. The screaming abdabs that worked so well
on Max and Diane had no effect on him except to irritate him like a
flapped-at wasp. There had to be SOME way to convince the man to
lighten up and accept that sometimes rules needed to be bent a
little. For a sufficiently good reason. By important people. It
wasn't like Luke didn't have a sense of humour. Val's lips twitched a
little, thinking of Luke dragged across the road, the two of them
running for a bus and giggling like teenagers. Luke, sitting on a
bench in the darkness of the park, his eyes the only colour in a
hundred shades of grey. There had to be some key to the gorilla.
He was awakened from his reverie by the gorilla bellowing for him
"Val, in my room, now please!"
Val got up and slowly walked into the adjoining bedroom. Luke was
sitting on the end of his bed, his upper body outlined and framed
perfectly by a skin tight black t shirt. The muscles in the arms were
well defined, and the darkly tanned skin almost seemed to shimmer in
the dim light of the hotel lamps.
"What were you doing? It was very quiet in there Quentin."
"I was just.." Quentin, unsure of exactly how much he wanted to
reveal about where his thoughts were, stopped in mid sentence.
"Just what?"
"I was just thinking there had to be a way.. I mean.. I don't think I
did wrong today, Luke, really. I didn't dri-"
"Come here Quentin. We've been through this already."
Val felt his resolve crumbling, he was all too quickly getting past
the point of no return. "Luke, ple-"
"Quentin!" Luke said warningly, pointing to the floor to the right of
him.
Val walked slowly up to Luke, his mind still working overtime on a
solution OUT of this problem, but coming up with nothing.
Luke waited until Val was next to him and then slipped his hands into
the waistband of the shorts, lowering them to the knees before gently
guiding Val across his lap. He tucked a hand under Val's stomach,
anchoring him firmly against his washboard stomach.
Val grabbed a handful of the comforter on the bed and raised up on
his elbows. His legs dangled helplessly off the end of the bed.
Luke began on his normal short, intense lecture. "There are some
rules that can be bent or broken, and they may be overlooked. But
when you mess with your very life, I'll not hold back on anything. It
was an entirely stupid idea of yours to stop the drugs just so you
could have a drink, a drink
that you most definitely don't need."
Not just a gorilla. A psychic gorilla with a nasty clarity of
perception.
"I won't do it again." Val said plaintively, summoning up the best
little boy voice he could manage in this position. "It was stupid and
irresponsible-"
"Don't strain yourself." Luke's tone had changed fractionally. Still
annoyed, it held a tint of amusement that Val found himself
responding to, a split second before Luke's hand impacted on his bare
behind.
"Luuuke! Damnit-"
"I told you." Luke's hard hand punctuated one word in three. "There
are a lot of things I'll put up with from you kiddo- although you
might not think it- taking any risks with yourself is OUT. I'm in
charge of your physical safety and you'd better believe I take it
seriously."
"I believe you!" Val begged, squirming, "Luke it was one glass of
champagne-"
"One mouthful would have been enough." Luke said bluntly. Val knew
the tone, even though he was hearing the words dimly. He was reaching
the stage now of hearing very little, thinking very little except
about the blazing smart Luke was inflicting on his squirming
backside, but there was something annoyingly stable about that
sentence. Something about Luke's sheer implacability, the rules that
never changed no matter what.
"Luuuuuke! Please, I'll not drink! Drugs on schedule! Luke!"
Luke kept the hand falling like a machine, slow and steady, hitting
all parts of the bottom laid across his lap.
Val was squirming as much as Luke would allow, pulling the comforter
up into a tight ball, finally losing control and trying to block the
blows that Luke kept raining down. His hand was grabbed, almost
without interruption, and settled rather uncomfortably in the small
of his back leaving him feeling even more defenseless. He finally
broke down, sobbing into the comforter.
Luke covered the entire bottom with one more round, intent on
teaching young Quentin that playing with his life would never be
tolerated.
Finally, the only sound in the room was the sobbing and hiccuping of
one well punished Quentin. Luke let go of Val's hand, which
immediately went to rub out the sting, but which almost as soon as it
touched the hot skin let go, it was just too hot.
Luke helped Val to his feet and pointed to the corner. Val retreated
quickly, glad to be somewhere else besides over the knees of the
gorilla.
Val sobbed for 10 minutes, feeling pity for himself. When the sobbing
stopped, he still had trouble catching his breath, short, sharp
inhalations followed by a long slow exhalation.
He was left there for a full thirty minutes, Luke wanting to make
sure that Quentin had his thoughts focused solely on his throbbing
behind. Luke worked on the too numerous piles of paperwork needed for
each concert stop on the tour while Quentin calmed down. When the
clock reached 30 minutes, he called Val over to him.
Val slowly approached Luke, tired and ashamed. Luke roughly pushed
dark hair out of Val's eyes.
"Don't you ever think about mixing and matching like that again. You
understand me?"
Val's lower lip twitched warningly. Luke shook his head, knowing what
was not far away if he looked for it.
"Alright, we'll talk about it in the morning. Get to bed, kiddo,
it's late."
Val turned away, unwillingly and miserably, resisting the urge to
mutter under his breath. Luke's arm hooked around him from behind,
turned him and he found himself against Luke's chest, in a hug that
crushed the breath out of him. They held onto each other for some
time before Luke nudged up his chin and kissed his forehead.
"Bed. Now."
There was something in Val's eyes as he drew away, something very
nearly said. Luke interrupted the thought before it became words,
preventing it for both their sakes.
"Go on, Kitten. Not tonight."
Val seemed to accept that. Luke watched him move through the
connecting door, saw the light flash on in the adjoining room, then a
minute later click out. Luke sat for some time before he moved to his
own bed on the other side of that half opened door. It was better
this way. It was definitely better for both of them.