Oddyessy of the Heart

"Yes sir, I understand. I'll have my things out by five."

Kanau sighed. He'd worked at this hospital for almost three years now. This was a big event; the end of an era, if you will. There were so many things he'd never see again, so many things he'd never hear. He never wanted to leave this place, ever. He'd just been offered an amazing job at the hospital across town, which was an excellent career move. Although the title 'head nurse' didn't sound too appealing at the time, it would make it easier to get a better job later on.

He went to his locker in the staff room and took everything into his bag. He couldn't be bothered taking his time with it, so he held his bag open and pushed everything out of the locker and into it. Only one thing missed as the pile of junk fell.

Bending down, Kanau picked up a photograph of his boyfriend, Quax. Kanau smiled at the cute, startled expression on his lover's face. Neither of them liked posed photos, so he snuck up on Quax and took the picture. It was just after they'd woken up one morning, so his hair was still untidy, and part of it fell down over his eyes. Kanau lightly traced his fingers over the picture. Quax always claimed his hair colour was natural, but you could easily see the blonde roots growing out under the bright pink.

Even his name wasn't technically real. It was a nickname he picked up as a kid, and it fit so well that everyone just called him Quax.

Kanau quickly looked up as he heard someone else enter the room. He stuffed the photo into his bag and pulled the strap up over his shoulder, just as Denise walked up to her own locker.

"Hey, Kanau," she said to him over her shoulder, her voice hoarse from years of chain smoking. "Cleaning out your locker, huh?" she asked him.

"Something like that," Kanau replied, trying to avoid making eye contact with her. People around here tend to get rather blubbery when someone leaves, which is why he chose to leave immediately, rather than wait for the two weeks. Kanau just wasn't the type to enjoy the lime light, for any reason.

"Got time for a smoke before you head home, then?"

Kanau shook his head, "no, actually, I'm trying to quit."

"Fine then, suit yourself," she shrugged her shoulders and pulled a pack of cigarettes out of her locker, heading out of the room, muttering something under her breath. Kanau could make out "just 'cause your afraid of a little lung cancer". Kanau only watched as her long black and gray hair whipped around the door way. He shook his head and wondered why someone who works in a hospital would know so little of the effects of smoking.

Kanau gave one last look into his locker and closed it, heading out of the room himself. He nodded passed the people as he went. They all though he'd be back tomorrow morning. Best not to let them know otherwise, he thought as he walked out of the main doors and into the overcast afternoon light. He looked down at his watch and saw that it was just after five o'clock. Quax should be home by now.

He took his phone from out of his pocket and thumbed in their apartment number while heading over to the car park. He stopped when he reached his car, a blue soft-top convertible, and listened to the ringing. After a minute, it clicked over to the answering machine. He sighed in frustration and hopped into his car, tossing his phone onto the passenger seat and drove out into the road. As usual though, there was heavy traffic, so fifteen minutes into the ten minute drive, he was still only half way there.

As his car inched forward, he could just make out the sound of his phone ringing over the revving cars and blearing horns. He picked it up and glanced at the screen before holding it up to his ear. "Hello, Quax," he said, a small smile spreading over his face, despite his frustration at the traffic.

"Hello, good sir," came Quax's friendly, often over zealous tone. "Sorry I missed your call earlier, I was just in the shower."

"Oh, that's fair enough." Kanau thought quickly. Quax was known to be quite descriptive when it came to things happening in that room.

"I think I might be getting a rash on my butt."

Damn it, thought Kanau, not quick enough.

"Do you want me to have a look at it when I get back then?"

"Please and thank you," Quax replied. Kanau smiled to himself again, he could picture Quax and his goofy little grin. "How far away are you?"

"I should be back in about ten minutes," Kanau said. He could already see the building down the road, but at the speed he was going, it'd take about that long to actually get there.

"Okay, I'll start working on dinner then."

"Alright then," said Kanau, licking his lips. Quax was an amazing cook, which might explain why he worked as a chef at a café in the city. Kanau could feel himself smiling again as he remembered back to the time Quax cooked dinner for him on about their third date. That night was the first time they slept together.

"See you what you get here then," said Quax, breaking Kanau's train of thought.

"Yeah, see you then," Kanau said to him, dropping the phone back onto the passenger seat and slamming his hand onto the horn.

Twenty minutes later, Kanau opened the door to their apartment and walked in. It was eerily quiet inside; Quax usually sang aloud to himself while he cooked. Kanau looked around into the kitchen and, not surprisingly, he wasn’t there.

“Quax, are you here?” Kanau called out, his voice echoing off the walls. Most of their things were across town at their new apartment. Tonight was their last night there, and only their bed and some clothes for the next few days were left. Kanau flipped his hair out of his face and went to the bedroom.

He stopped in the hall. There was a sound coming out of the bathroom, like a cat being scraped across an out of tune guitar. When he got closer he could hear the sound of running water and figured that Quax must be singing in the shower again.

He knocked lightly, and pushed the door open. Lying on the ground were the clothes that Quax had been wearing that morning when he left for work. Through the steam, he could make out Quax's frame. "Quax, that you?" he called anyway.

The door to the shower stall flew open and Quax stuck his head out, smiling his big toothy grin as he always did. "Heya, Kanau!" he called, waving out through the steam, "I'll just be a minute, 'kay?"

"Alright then," answered Kanau, turning back out into the hall and down to their bedroom. He lifted a small suitcase up onto the bed and took out a change of clothes. He grunted as he took off his jacket and tossed it onto the bed, which was quickly accompanied by his shirt. He too a quick look at himself in the mirror fixed to the wardrobe door. Despite not having time to make it to the gym anymore, he still looked reasonably good. He twirled the end of his hair around his fingers, then blew it out of his face. It was starting to get a bit shaggy, so he made a mental note to get it cut back to his shoulder length again.

He sat down on the end of the bed and kicked off his shoes. He sighed. From this angle it looked like he'd gained a little weight. Perhaps he should find time to go back to the gym after all.

With his shoes now off, and his socks folded and on the end of the bed, he stood again and undid his belt, allowing his pants to fall to the floor, followed by his boxers. He stretched out his back and yawned - a tradition for whenever he got naked, and turned to start folding his clothes.

There was a sound behind him, which he ignored, He looked up a moment later when he felt a hand around his hip. He looked up and saw Quax's trademark grin. He smiled as he saw the young, thin body, still glistening with the water from the shower and only a towel tied around his waist.

Quax's smile broadened. He slowly looked down over Kanau's well defined body, making his heart beat a little faster, and his blood flow a little further. Right to his cheeks.

"You're not trying to seduce me, standing there so sexily, are you?"

Kanau put his hand over Quax's chest, feeling the warmth of his flesh, and the texture of the water. He bit his lip as he massaged his way down until his hand rested on Quax's hip. He leaned forward and flicked his tongue over Quax's ear, making him shudder. "I would be," he said, watching his chest rise and fall with each breath, "but it's just too easy these days."

"Well you're just too good at it," Quax whispered back to him. He turned his head slightly and saw Kanau looking right back into his eyes. Every time he exhaled, he could feel Kanau's breath across his back, creating waves of feeling that washed down over his back. Quax brought his lips forward and gave Kanau a kiss on the cheek. "Welcome home."

Kanau grinned and let his hand fall down, brushing quite deliberately against Quax's crotch. He gasped quite audibly. Kanau stepped away and grabbed his fresh clothes off the bed. Before Quax could react, he headed out the door. "I'll be in the shower."

Quax stared forward for a moment, then shook his head. Sometimes Kanau had that effect on him. He stepped out into the hall after Kanau, pouting. "You're such a tease, Kanau," he said, folding his arms over his chest.

"Yeah, but you love it," Kanau replied, calling back over his shoulder.

Quax grinned in spite of himself. He turned around and bounced back to their bedroom. "I'll have dinner ready when you're done!" he called out. The bathroom was quite a way from their bedroom, but he could still make out Kanau's muffled reply through the walls.

Quax took another suitcase off the floor and put it up against Kanau's, this one containing his own clothes. He searched around until he found his favourite clothes. There was a black denim skirt that came to his mid-thigh, and a tight blue, sleeveless shirt which had a ribbon attached at the back of the neck which came down around his arms and tied in a big bow on his back. The shirt came with matching arm warmers which were coloured blue, with red ribbons around the wrists.

He dropped the towel to the ground and pulled on some fresh underwear, He took a quick moment to stretch, to make sure everything was in place, the pulled the skirt on. It held loosely around his hips, so he dug through his suitcase some more and pulled out a belt to hold it up. Grabbing his shirt, he pulled it down over his head and pulled it down over his stomach, leaving an inch or two of skin showing. He took the arm warmers and pulled them on until the rested just below his elbows.

Going back to his suit case, he searched through his socks before pulling out a pair and unfolding them. They came up to his thighs, stopping roughly three inches below the bottom hem of his skirt. They were coloured straight black, except for a pink heart sitting over each knee. He put some lack leather shoes over them. They were made from black leather, only came to his ankles, and were fastened with buckles.

With everything in place, he turned to face himself in the mirror. It was needless to say he was pleased with how he looked. Quax reached forward until his hand touched over the mirror. He always liked wearing feminine clothes, it's just how he was. He smiled as he remembered when his brother would introduce him as his 'slutty little sister'. It was a fair assessment though, and Quax found it was an easy way to explain what he was like.

Quax couldn't even remember the number of guys he'd been with. It was somewhere more than thirty, but that's about as specific as he could get. His brother used to set him up with people, too. Not that he ever had any trouble finding someone on his own, it just made things a lot easier. It was a good arrangement too, because Quax wasn't looking for a relationship, and neither were they. Just some great, meaningless sex.

He looked at himself in the mirror and smiled. Kanau didn't like it when he dressed up like this when they went out, He claimed that he got too many stares from other guys, and a few girls, too. So, whenever he got the chance, he would dress himself up. Especially tonight. It was their last night in this apartment, so Quax was determined to leave a good impression about it in both of their minds.

He turned and headed out of the room. If it were anyone else, he would be cutting it a bit fine by leaving the food for this long. But luckily, it was Kanau they were waiting for. He always took a long time in the bathroom doing God knows what. He flung himself into the pantry and started tinkering away.

***

Their meal was quite simplistic. Quax didn't have as many things to play with as he would have liked, but he still managed to make something that satisfied them both. They'd eaten together at the table, and then got into the dishes. Quax was more of a 'leave it 'til the morning' type of person, but Kanau was quite adamant about doing it after they'd eaten. He didn't mind doing the dishes alone, seeing as Quax had cooked such a good meal.

After he was done, he came out to the lounge and found Quax sitting on the sofa, with his knees up against his chest. He held a book a few inches from his face and clutched an old paper bookmark between his fingers. Kanau shook his head a little and sat down beside him. Quax wasn't a very strong reader, and in the last few months he'd only gotten half way through the second chapter. He still kept a dictionary close by to help with some of the bigger words.

Kanau looked over Quax's knees and saw what he was reading.

Quax looked up when he noticed Kanau was there. He grinned and closed the book, then swore when he realised that he'd forgotten to put the bookmark in. He shrugged it off and dropped the book to the floor. There was plenty of time to read, and now that Kanau was here, something much more enjoyable would be happening soon.

He leaned against Kanau and stretched out his legs.out over the end of the couch. Kanau put his arm around Quax's shoulder. They looked into each others eyes and smiled. "How's the book coming along?" Kanau said a little quietly, lightly massaging his hand over Quax's arm.

"It's going great," Quax replied sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

"So what part are you up to?" Kanau asked, turning his head so that Quax couldn't see him grinning.

"Uh, well," said Quax slowly, stalling so he could think of a good lie. "Well, the Count just got arrested for biting a girl at a wedding."

"Ah, that's a good part," said Kanau, smirking. He decided to call Quax on his bluff. "Are you up to the part with the giant robot yet?"

"Giant robot?" Quax paused, looking a little dumb-founded. "I-I mean yeah, that's shown up" he stammered quickly, "but it hasn't done anything yet."

Kanau smiled and gave Quax a light kiss on the forehead, making him snuggle down into his arms more. Though it had been a few years since he had read it, he was ninety eight percent sure that The Count of Monte Cristo didn't have anything to do with giant robots or vampires. He closed his eyes. He could feel Quax's chest rise and fall as he breathed, and he was content just to lie there with the one he loved, in each others embrace.

Sometime later, Quax moved slightly, and Kanau opened his eyes to see what he was doing. He found Quax had leaned up close to himself and was staring back into his eyes.

"You know," he said, his voice barely over a whisper, "this is our last night in this apartment."

Kanau raised an eyebrow, the really looked at what Quax was wearing for the first time that evening. He flushed. Whenever he dressed this way, it always had a certain affect on him. It was the way the tight clothes accentuated his figure that got him, and these clothes really brought out the sparkle in his eyes.

He leaned his head down and gave him a gentle kiss. "I take it you have something in mind then?"

Quax smiled and brought his own lips up to Kanau's, and placed his hand over his chest, lightly massaging it with his palm. Kanau took the invitation and kissed Quax over and over until he opened his mouth, letting him move his tongue in. Quax looked into Kanau's eyes, and Kanau shifted on the couch and rolled over so that Quax was lying on his back, with Kanau holding his hands above his head, and they lay there, kissing over and over.