The $64,000 Conundrum: Chapter 1
Title: The $64,000 Conundrum: Chapter 1
Authors:
fernedakki
Pairing: Daniel Agger / Fernando Torres, Steven Gerrard / Xabi Alonso, David Beckham / Iker Casillas, Gerard Pique / Cesc Fabregas
Rating: PG-13
Genre: AU / Romance
Word Count: 3,549 Words
Disclaimer: This is not real.
Summary: Do you know what love is? Why do humans fall in love? Do we all have 'soul mate' waiting for us? What does it take for one to love another? Does 'love at first sight' really exist?
David Beckham will court Victoria Adams with Iker Casillas' help. Gerard Piqué will conduct an experiment because he has this bullshit love theory about dogs. Fernando Torres loves piano and hates Daniel Agger. And Xabi Alonso has this penchant of solving every mystery in the world.
Their journeys through the teenage years will lead you to the discovery of the biggest conundrum in the universe, and back.
A/N: Hey, I'm back! With another very long series, of course, and this time many pairings as well.
To warn you, this story will have side-pairings, we'll see who's with whom as the story goes.
The series name is a bit difficult to read, but I like it, so deal with it. ;P
One other thing, I'm not a native English speaker, as I always said, so my apologies to any mistake in English and I'd be appreciate if you guys would kindly point out when you find any incorrectness, both grammar and vocabularies, in my every chapter.
That's all for now, enjoy!
The $64,000 Conundrum
Chapter 1
A: How were the Egyptian pyramids built?
B: It started with the ancient Egyptians cutting sandstone, limestone or granites using copper chisel or dolerite pounders, according to the hardness of the stone. Granite blocks might require up to 60-70 men to pound the stone out. The method is, they rammed wooden pegs into slots they’d cut at the bottom and filled them with water. The pegs would expand, splitting the stone, and the block was then slid down onto a waiting boat.
Teams of oxen or men were used to drag the stones on a prepared slipway lubricated with oil. Once the stones were at the construction site, ramps were built to get them into place on the pyramid. These ramps were made of mud brick and coated with chips of plaster to harden the surface. And if they consistently raised the ramp course by course as the teams dragged their blocks up, they could have gotten them into place fairly easily.
A: Where did humans come from?
C: By leaving the Genesis out of account and considering only Darwin's evolutionary theory, the Oparin-Haldane hypothesis suggests that the atmosphere of the early earth might have been chemically reducing in nature: composed primarily of methane, ammonia, water, hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide or monoxide, and phosphate. In such a reducing atmosphere, electrical activity can catalyze the creation of certain basic small molecules of life such as amino acids, which then leads to the formation of proteins and nucleic acids, including RNA and DNA. These three are the most important biological macromolecules where they functions in encoding, transmitting and expressing genetic information.
By further transformation, the basic molecules, or monomers, had developed into more complex organic molecules, called polymers, then protocell which can metabolize, grow, mutate, reproduce, and die. From that, single-celled microorganisms grew in the primordial soup of early earth and through the course of four billion years, substantially evolved and diverged to millions of species of animals, plants and insects. About two million years ago, Homo Gautengensis evolved in the Hominidae, aka the Great Apes family, which diverged from the Hylobatidae or the Gibbon family, which diverged from thousands of families before which was by origin derivative of the Last Universal Ancestor: the single-celled organism. Homo Gautengensis then evolved on their own in genus Homo to many species until eventually became Homo Sapiens, the modern humans, at about 250,000 years ago.
A: How was the world created?
D: There're so many theories about how the earth was created, I'll refer to the Big Bang Theory which is the most widely accepted. According to this theory, the universe began by expanding from an infinitesimal volume with extremely high density and temperature, it was initially significantly smaller than even a pore on our skin. With the Big Bang, occurred approximately 13.75 billion years ago, which is thus considered the age of the universe, the fabric of space itself began expanding like the surface of an inflating balloon, matter simply rode along the stretching space like dust on a balloon's surface. The Big Bang isn't like an explosion of matter in otherwise empty space, rather, space itself began with the Big Bang and carried matter with it as it expanded.
After the Big Bang, The first element produced was hydrogen along with traces of helium and lithium. Giant clouds of these primordial elements would coalesce through gravity to form stars and galaxies, including our world, and the heavier elements would be synthesized either within stars or during supernovae.
A: All right, last question: do you know what love is?
B, C, D: What?!
A: You heard me. What is love?
D: What kind of question is that?!
A: This is serious. Answer it like you answered previous questions. Does anybody know what love is?
The room fell silent. Nobody answered, they all looked at one another, to find blankness and question marks resembling the one on their own faces.
A: You understand how pyramids were built, where humans came from, even how the world was created. But no one understands love, what love is, why everybody needs love, why some people have even gone crazy because of love.
Everyone turned to look at one another as if to question how come no one really couldn't answer this. Then someone said uncertainly,
C: I...wanna know, too, why do humans fall in love? Does this thing called 'love' exist in the realm of animals as well as human’s?
B: I wanna know, too,
B blurted out,
B: That do we all really have a significant other called 'soul mate' awaiting for us somewhere in this world, someone who's like our missing puzzle piece that would click with us effortlessly? And there's this...could my soul mate be the same gender as me?
B's cheeks reddened.
D: Well, well, well, are you sure you're talking about 'clicking’ with you in that sense, mate?
D snickered and B was further embarrassed, but the other dropped it in no time.
D: Speaking of which, I wonder what does it take for one to love another, is it 'chemistry', or 'destiny'? Whether the things called both 'chemistry' and 'destiny' are real. Does 'love at first sight' really exist? And if it does, then is it the product of chemistry or destiny, or both?
A: Whom are you shooting those esoteric questions at?
A chuckled.
A: Of course I couldn't answer any of your questions. I don't know any correct answer of them. One shall know love once one encounters it oneself. Love is a journey, and what you discover from your journey might be unique and totally different from what I learn from mine, which I, too, have never experienced. But mark my words, with love, anything, everything is possible. Love is a gift, is a miracle, is the most beautiful thing on earth...,
...And is the universe's biggest mystery of all.
***
Iker Casillas was so energetic.
But David Beckham was so fucking bored.
It's not that he didn't know it would be THIS boring, David knew because he'd done this innumerable times: trailing along after Iker halls after halls, looking at something he would never ever decipher in this life: arts.
What's so interesting about these paintings anyway? Why do some people, like Iker, find those drawings intriguing? How could someone decode meaning of these abstract designs, if they have any significations behind at all?
And why the fuck is he here, exactly, after Iker in this kind of museums in a corner of Madrid over and over again?
He's bored, but he's not done with it yet. No. As long as there's Iker, even a long walk through hell would be bearable.
Well, not when he's hungry, anyway.
"Let's go to Las Especias," he blurted out, his stomach grumbled as he said.
Iker raised his brow. "I thought you said you had to get home early today."
"Did I say that?" It's David's turn to raise his brow.
"Never mind then," Iker dismissed and kept strolling along the hall.
"Hey, you'll go to Las Especias with me, yeah?" David wouldn't stop nagging, he'd always keep on badgering until he got what he wanted. And there's never once that the Spaniard could resist the Londoner's request, though he'd never quite figured out why.
"Sure," Iker mumbled, didn't tear his eyes away from the drawing he's scrutinizing. "Where the hell is it anyway?" Its name was in no way familiar.
"I'll show you." David smiled cheekily, suddenly enthusiastic, so contrary to a minute before. "Victoria said she always went there after school. So maybe if we're lucky, we'd find her." You could even imagine David wagging his tail zealously now.
"'We'?" Iker snorted but he’s still good-humored. "If that's all for why you wanna go there, you wouldn't need me."
"Why wouldn't I need you?" The English smirked, hooking his arm around Iker's neck. The motion seemed casual but it implicitly forced the Spaniard to walk out of the hall, and eventually the museum, with him. "Wouldn’t I look like a stalker if I just sit there and stare at her? No, no, no, I'll need some companies to pretend to be chatting with while I'm actually stalking her, dude."
***
Cesc Fàbregas was really tempted to kill Gerard Piqué.
They're at a pet shop. It's Gerard's idea that wanted a puppy as a very advanced Christmas present for himself. It's always his dream to have a Chihuahua (for Christ's sake, a Chihuahua!), and now he was badgering Cesc to do the same.
As you wish, so all he had to do was kill Gery, then his mom would definitely kill him for bringing home a mutt. That, they would be the same: both fucking dead.
"Come on, Cesc." Gerard was holding two minikin Chihuahuas in his arms, he just too-indulgently fell in love with them. They both were too energetic, the kind that leaped at one another all the time, and his asshole friend just wanted to have them both.
He needed Cesc's help because his mom only allowed him to buy one puppy. Like hell, his mom only allowed him to buy dead animals for food today, not a living one, no matter how tiny, that requires food for itself.
"Cesc, don't you pity them if they have to be apart, see?" He asked as one of them struggled in his arm to bite the other's ear. And now they're starting a mini-brawl in Gerard's embrace.
They're so cute together indeed.
But he pitied himself more.
"You just buy them both," Cesc concluded. Gerard bared his teeth.
"Mama would absolutely mince me with her cleaver."
"And my mama would grill me medium-rare and give my parts to the Chihuahua so she doesn't have to pay for its meals for a week. I always know she's quite creative when it comes to cooking. By the way, is it him or her?"
"Him." Gerard's face fell. "Both."
"That's good." Cesc's voice faded a bit. He didn't like when Gerard made that somber face.
Gerard put the two puppies down. "Okay, we'll have to decide which one to take then." Once they're put down on the floor, the two started chasing each other around. "Which one do you like, Cesc?" The taller boy asked in a sorrowful voice. "Pick one and I'll take him."
Um, Cesc pursed his lips. Pray tell why do you have to make me feel guilty? And why do you have to keep making that inconsolable face?
It breaks my heart, you fuckwit.
"I'll get that one, you get the other." Cesc sighed, pointing at a puppy who'd been chased by the other slightly bigger one. This one was the smaller of the two so he thought it suited him better.
"Okay, so I...what?!" Gerard, about to scoop the puppy up, stopped short, staring at his friend nonplussed. "What do you mean?"
"I mean that…," Cesc suppressed a smile as he detected a gleam of hope in Gerard's eyes. "I'll get that one, so you get the other."
"Cescy!" Shouting animatedly, Gerard wrapped his smaller-sized friend in his arms with all his might. "Cesc, I love you!"
Cesc suffocated. "I know, and let me go, dickhead. I can't breathe!"
***
Fernando Torres really didn't like this idea.
It would be a month that his parents would be away, to a grand tour in Egypt and the likes in North Africa for their second honeymoon trip. And there’s this adjacent residence whose were his parents' close friends, of course since they'd been living next to each other for almost twenty years. And because his mother and the mistress of that house had nothing to do rather than housework, shopping and playing cards, you could also imagine them gossiping all day long, just like in Desperate Housewives. So, yeah, they're close, in a way.
His older brother and sister were in universities so they didn't have to face this. They're sleeping comfily in their dorms somewhere in downtown Madrid, leaving their little brother all alone here. Since the point was, his parents stated that underage boy like HIM couldn't live all alone in this big house - his OWN house - for a whole month. He's already fifteen, for Christ's sake! Anyway, their best friends, the adjacent house’s owner, proposed an irresistible offer that they'd be in charge of taking care of their little boy.
So Fernando as their only underage son was kicked out of his own house to the next door. That meant he would have to stay, eat, sleep, practically live in that house whenever he's not at school. They had three children just like the Torres' family, one of them was even at the same age as Fernando. They studied at the same school, in the same class to be precise, such luck.
That boy's name was Daniel Agger.
So it's settled that Fernando was to be put in Daniel's room, since they didn't have a guestroom anyway. Daniel's room was big enough for two. He had a bunk bed so the sleeping arrangement wasn't the difficult part. And the adults thought that it's a very nice idea so that Fernando wouldn't feel lonely being left at home since he would have Daniel.
What kind of idea was that, seriously? How could they think they two would be happy living together? They didn't even ask their opinions! The room might be big enough for even four but when dwellers were Fernando and Daniel, even the whole world wasn't enough!
Yes, you've heard it correctly. Daniel and he were kinda...opposite. Their parents might be best-friends-forever but Fernando and Daniel had never thought about even BEING friends. They sat in opposite corners in class, having different group of friends who were kinda rivals. Though Fernando had never actually hassled with Daniel, he knew from the look that the Dane didn't like him a bit.
Oh yes, they're Danish, he might forget to state that. Though they'd been living here long enough to practically be Spaniards themselves, it's still another dissimilarity they had: Scandinavian versus Iberian, he could find discord even in their origins.
But that might be a prejudice, he'd never had problems with other Scandinavians except Daniel, though.
And now Fernando's sitting in a couch in his one-month bedroom, staring blankly at his new roommate who's apparently the complete owner of the room, on their first day together. His parents just caught a flight to Cairo and Fernando carried his stuff here and registered to his temporary guardian and roommate. Agger didn't pay any attention to the Spaniard, he's indulging in an electric guitar and freaking rock music which was blasting out of the stereo with deafening noise.
The voice was so loud Fernando swore his tympanic membrane was throbbing frantically because of it.
God. Damn. It! Does he have to handle this every day? He'd go crazy because of it. Seriously!
"Hey," Fernando tried to beat Muse's voice from the subwoofer. No response from Agger.
"Hey!" The blonde yelled louder. Agger still hadn't turned around, he's busily tuning his instrument.
"Hey!!" Fernando leaped out of the couch this time, riled up. Stalking forward, he stopped precisely in front of the Dane. "Couldn't you turn the volume down for a tad?!"
Agger pulled a face, definitely extremely annoyed. Whose idea was it sending this nerd into his room? For God's sake, how would he survive the next impending month?! Does he have to have dinner with him every evening, sleep in the same room with him, like practically live with him?!
Mom and dad, I hate you!
"What's your prob?!" Daniel lowered the volume but the gleam in his eyes told Fernando that he's absolutely not happy about this.
"Why do you have to turn the volume up that high?" The blonde pursed his lips, trying to be civilized. "It's deafening, and makes us impossible to hold a conversation."
Daniel snorted. "I don't have anything to converse with you,” he sneered. "And if you don't like it, you're free to get out of my room." Then the Dane turned the volume up to its highest level sending Fernando instantly pull his hands to cover his ears.
The blonde gritted his teeth. Right. If you don't want to be friends, then we don't be friends. Fine. Whatever you like.
And fuck you!
***
"David, I'm sleepy already." Iker yawned. It'd been...how many hours since they'd been sitting here watching Victoria and her friends eating and chatting and picking their teeth? How fascinating. He'd finished a paella, two tapas dishes, two hot chocolates and even a cappuccino. The feeble caffeine was completely beaten by mighty carbs so he’s drowsy by now.
"What?" David asked surprisingly like he'd just been fetched from his daydream unwillingly, but after a glance at the Spaniard for only a millisecond, his eyes automatically drifted to Victoria again.
Iker was annoyed. "I'm leaving." Slinging his bag across his shoulder, the Spaniard got up. David straightened up immediately, panic-stricken all of a sudden.
"What?!" The English hissed. He caught his friend's wrist, unnerved. "Of course you won't be leaving!" David whispered, ordering as well as pleading. Iker quirked his brow.
"But David, I'm sleepy," he murmured. "It's no point for me sitting here anyway. I don't get it, why don't you go asking her out or something? You know no one would resist a bloke like you, including Victoria Adams."
"What's a bloke like me?" David asked absentmindedly, his eyes were back to the girl again. Iker yawned.
"See?" He asked, glad that he could provide a proof. "It's already nine. I should be home by now already Dave or else my mom would make a fuss."
"All right, all right," Caving in eventually, David bent down to grab his bag up off the floor. The Spaniard raised his brow again.
"You don't have to go now, you know?" He watched as the Londoner stood up, then whispered, "go asking her out, you oaf!"
But David turned a deaf ear to the Spaniard's word, he grabbed Iker's wrist. "Let's go," he muttered, and Iker was dragged out of Las Especias with he's-quite-sure-they’re-Victoria's eyes glancing at them from behind.
"David," Iker called out when they’re slowly walking home, their houses were on the same route from here.
"Hmm?" David acknowledged his utterance without averting his eyes from the path.
"Where have all your courage gone? I don't see why she'd reject you. She even told you that you'd find her at the restaurant if you care to. It's obvious she's been waiting for you to ask her out," Iker pointed out.
The English pursed his lips, kept being lost in his thought long enough until Iker doubted whether his friend heard what he'd said.
"Will you go with me then?" Then he blurted out all of a sudden. Iker frowned.
"You mean when you ask her out? I can if you want me to, I'll stand behind you if it'd make you feel better."
"No," David replied uncertainly, "I mean when Victoria and I go out on a date." He looked at the Spaniard, earnestness gleaming in those captivating hazel eyes. "Will you go with me?"
The question almost tripped Iker over his own feet. "What?" The Spaniard couldn't believe his own ears. "Are you barmy? What would I do that for? I mean, what would you want me to do that for?"
David averted his eyes to the sidewalk. "I don't know," the Londoner murmured though he didn't even seem certain about what he himself was thinking. "I want you there because I'd be so lost without you."
***
Xabi Alonso's mobile vibrated.
Fishing it out, he glanced up at Mr. Benitez in front of the class, making sure he wasn't looking in this direction then pushing a button, opening the new message.
The sender wasn't in his contact list but that 9-digit number had ingrained in his brain until Xabi could simply recite it.
The message said:
'What does the major part of an atom consist of?'
The Spaniard smirked, he didn't even pause before typing back.
'Empty space.'
Pushing the send button, he’d waited a few more minutes before another message got in.
'Correct. ;)'
Xabi smiled, putting his mobile back in his pocket. It'd been a couple of weeks that these puzzle messages kept being sent to him by an anonymous sender. At first, Xabi was suspecting, but he replied anyway. And then they kept coming, once or twice a day, until it’s routine that he'd play this game with Mr. X.
Xabi Alonso loves riddles and mysteries, he loves seeking answers for things, it's in his habit, that's why he'd applied for several pure science - preferably physics - faculties in renowned universities around Spain for Bachelor Degree. He believes that everything happening in the universe has rational and applicable explanation, and the sender knows it.
He used enigma as a way into Xabi's heart.
Oh, yeah, he knew the right way in.
And Xabi thought he knew who Mr. Anonymous was after all. Though he tried to keep the distance in person and, frankly, they'd never spoken directly, Xabi wasn't a fool who didn't notice who in this school had eyes on him all the time.
It's Mikel Arteta.
To be continued in Chapter 2.
(1) http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080328104302.htm
(2) Thrown together from related articles in http://en.wikipedia.org/
(3) http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~yukimoon/BigBang/BigBang.htm
Comments! Pleaseeee.
.
Authors:
fernedakki
Pairing: Daniel Agger / Fernando Torres, Steven Gerrard / Xabi Alonso, David Beckham / Iker Casillas, Gerard Pique / Cesc Fabregas
Rating: PG-13
Genre: AU / Romance
Word Count: 3,549 Words
Disclaimer: This is not real.
Summary: Do you know what love is? Why do humans fall in love? Do we all have 'soul mate' waiting for us? What does it take for one to love another? Does 'love at first sight' really exist?
David Beckham will court Victoria Adams with Iker Casillas' help. Gerard Piqué will conduct an experiment because he has this bullshit love theory about dogs. Fernando Torres loves piano and hates Daniel Agger. And Xabi Alonso has this penchant of solving every mystery in the world.
Their journeys through the teenage years will lead you to the discovery of the biggest conundrum in the universe, and back.
A/N: Hey, I'm back! With another very long series, of course, and this time many pairings as well.
To warn you, this story will have side-pairings, we'll see who's with whom as the story goes.
The series name is a bit difficult to read, but I like it, so deal with it. ;P
One other thing, I'm not a native English speaker, as I always said, so my apologies to any mistake in English and I'd be appreciate if you guys would kindly point out when you find any incorrectness, both grammar and vocabularies, in my every chapter.
That's all for now, enjoy!
The $64,000 Conundrum
Chapter 1
A: How were the Egyptian pyramids built?
B: It started with the ancient Egyptians cutting sandstone, limestone or granites using copper chisel or dolerite pounders, according to the hardness of the stone. Granite blocks might require up to 60-70 men to pound the stone out. The method is, they rammed wooden pegs into slots they’d cut at the bottom and filled them with water. The pegs would expand, splitting the stone, and the block was then slid down onto a waiting boat.
Teams of oxen or men were used to drag the stones on a prepared slipway lubricated with oil. Once the stones were at the construction site, ramps were built to get them into place on the pyramid. These ramps were made of mud brick and coated with chips of plaster to harden the surface. And if they consistently raised the ramp course by course as the teams dragged their blocks up, they could have gotten them into place fairly easily.
A: Where did humans come from?
C: By leaving the Genesis out of account and considering only Darwin's evolutionary theory, the Oparin-Haldane hypothesis suggests that the atmosphere of the early earth might have been chemically reducing in nature: composed primarily of methane, ammonia, water, hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide or monoxide, and phosphate. In such a reducing atmosphere, electrical activity can catalyze the creation of certain basic small molecules of life such as amino acids, which then leads to the formation of proteins and nucleic acids, including RNA and DNA. These three are the most important biological macromolecules where they functions in encoding, transmitting and expressing genetic information.
By further transformation, the basic molecules, or monomers, had developed into more complex organic molecules, called polymers, then protocell which can metabolize, grow, mutate, reproduce, and die. From that, single-celled microorganisms grew in the primordial soup of early earth and through the course of four billion years, substantially evolved and diverged to millions of species of animals, plants and insects. About two million years ago, Homo Gautengensis evolved in the Hominidae, aka the Great Apes family, which diverged from the Hylobatidae or the Gibbon family, which diverged from thousands of families before which was by origin derivative of the Last Universal Ancestor: the single-celled organism. Homo Gautengensis then evolved on their own in genus Homo to many species until eventually became Homo Sapiens, the modern humans, at about 250,000 years ago.
A: How was the world created?
D: There're so many theories about how the earth was created, I'll refer to the Big Bang Theory which is the most widely accepted. According to this theory, the universe began by expanding from an infinitesimal volume with extremely high density and temperature, it was initially significantly smaller than even a pore on our skin. With the Big Bang, occurred approximately 13.75 billion years ago, which is thus considered the age of the universe, the fabric of space itself began expanding like the surface of an inflating balloon, matter simply rode along the stretching space like dust on a balloon's surface. The Big Bang isn't like an explosion of matter in otherwise empty space, rather, space itself began with the Big Bang and carried matter with it as it expanded.
After the Big Bang, The first element produced was hydrogen along with traces of helium and lithium. Giant clouds of these primordial elements would coalesce through gravity to form stars and galaxies, including our world, and the heavier elements would be synthesized either within stars or during supernovae.
A: All right, last question: do you know what love is?
B, C, D: What?!
A: You heard me. What is love?
D: What kind of question is that?!
A: This is serious. Answer it like you answered previous questions. Does anybody know what love is?
The room fell silent. Nobody answered, they all looked at one another, to find blankness and question marks resembling the one on their own faces.
A: You understand how pyramids were built, where humans came from, even how the world was created. But no one understands love, what love is, why everybody needs love, why some people have even gone crazy because of love.
Everyone turned to look at one another as if to question how come no one really couldn't answer this. Then someone said uncertainly,
C: I...wanna know, too, why do humans fall in love? Does this thing called 'love' exist in the realm of animals as well as human’s?
B: I wanna know, too,
B blurted out,
B: That do we all really have a significant other called 'soul mate' awaiting for us somewhere in this world, someone who's like our missing puzzle piece that would click with us effortlessly? And there's this...could my soul mate be the same gender as me?
B's cheeks reddened.
D: Well, well, well, are you sure you're talking about 'clicking’ with you in that sense, mate?
D snickered and B was further embarrassed, but the other dropped it in no time.
D: Speaking of which, I wonder what does it take for one to love another, is it 'chemistry', or 'destiny'? Whether the things called both 'chemistry' and 'destiny' are real. Does 'love at first sight' really exist? And if it does, then is it the product of chemistry or destiny, or both?
A: Whom are you shooting those esoteric questions at?
A chuckled.
A: Of course I couldn't answer any of your questions. I don't know any correct answer of them. One shall know love once one encounters it oneself. Love is a journey, and what you discover from your journey might be unique and totally different from what I learn from mine, which I, too, have never experienced. But mark my words, with love, anything, everything is possible. Love is a gift, is a miracle, is the most beautiful thing on earth...,
...And is the universe's biggest mystery of all.
***
Iker Casillas was so energetic.
But David Beckham was so fucking bored.
It's not that he didn't know it would be THIS boring, David knew because he'd done this innumerable times: trailing along after Iker halls after halls, looking at something he would never ever decipher in this life: arts.
What's so interesting about these paintings anyway? Why do some people, like Iker, find those drawings intriguing? How could someone decode meaning of these abstract designs, if they have any significations behind at all?
And why the fuck is he here, exactly, after Iker in this kind of museums in a corner of Madrid over and over again?
He's bored, but he's not done with it yet. No. As long as there's Iker, even a long walk through hell would be bearable.
Well, not when he's hungry, anyway.
"Let's go to Las Especias," he blurted out, his stomach grumbled as he said.
Iker raised his brow. "I thought you said you had to get home early today."
"Did I say that?" It's David's turn to raise his brow.
"Never mind then," Iker dismissed and kept strolling along the hall.
"Hey, you'll go to Las Especias with me, yeah?" David wouldn't stop nagging, he'd always keep on badgering until he got what he wanted. And there's never once that the Spaniard could resist the Londoner's request, though he'd never quite figured out why.
"Sure," Iker mumbled, didn't tear his eyes away from the drawing he's scrutinizing. "Where the hell is it anyway?" Its name was in no way familiar.
"I'll show you." David smiled cheekily, suddenly enthusiastic, so contrary to a minute before. "Victoria said she always went there after school. So maybe if we're lucky, we'd find her." You could even imagine David wagging his tail zealously now.
"'We'?" Iker snorted but he’s still good-humored. "If that's all for why you wanna go there, you wouldn't need me."
"Why wouldn't I need you?" The English smirked, hooking his arm around Iker's neck. The motion seemed casual but it implicitly forced the Spaniard to walk out of the hall, and eventually the museum, with him. "Wouldn’t I look like a stalker if I just sit there and stare at her? No, no, no, I'll need some companies to pretend to be chatting with while I'm actually stalking her, dude."
***
Cesc Fàbregas was really tempted to kill Gerard Piqué.
They're at a pet shop. It's Gerard's idea that wanted a puppy as a very advanced Christmas present for himself. It's always his dream to have a Chihuahua (for Christ's sake, a Chihuahua!), and now he was badgering Cesc to do the same.
As you wish, so all he had to do was kill Gery, then his mom would definitely kill him for bringing home a mutt. That, they would be the same: both fucking dead.
"Come on, Cesc." Gerard was holding two minikin Chihuahuas in his arms, he just too-indulgently fell in love with them. They both were too energetic, the kind that leaped at one another all the time, and his asshole friend just wanted to have them both.
He needed Cesc's help because his mom only allowed him to buy one puppy. Like hell, his mom only allowed him to buy dead animals for food today, not a living one, no matter how tiny, that requires food for itself.
"Cesc, don't you pity them if they have to be apart, see?" He asked as one of them struggled in his arm to bite the other's ear. And now they're starting a mini-brawl in Gerard's embrace.
They're so cute together indeed.
But he pitied himself more.
"You just buy them both," Cesc concluded. Gerard bared his teeth.
"Mama would absolutely mince me with her cleaver."
"And my mama would grill me medium-rare and give my parts to the Chihuahua so she doesn't have to pay for its meals for a week. I always know she's quite creative when it comes to cooking. By the way, is it him or her?"
"Him." Gerard's face fell. "Both."
"That's good." Cesc's voice faded a bit. He didn't like when Gerard made that somber face.
Gerard put the two puppies down. "Okay, we'll have to decide which one to take then." Once they're put down on the floor, the two started chasing each other around. "Which one do you like, Cesc?" The taller boy asked in a sorrowful voice. "Pick one and I'll take him."
Um, Cesc pursed his lips. Pray tell why do you have to make me feel guilty? And why do you have to keep making that inconsolable face?
It breaks my heart, you fuckwit.
"I'll get that one, you get the other." Cesc sighed, pointing at a puppy who'd been chased by the other slightly bigger one. This one was the smaller of the two so he thought it suited him better.
"Okay, so I...what?!" Gerard, about to scoop the puppy up, stopped short, staring at his friend nonplussed. "What do you mean?"
"I mean that…," Cesc suppressed a smile as he detected a gleam of hope in Gerard's eyes. "I'll get that one, so you get the other."
"Cescy!" Shouting animatedly, Gerard wrapped his smaller-sized friend in his arms with all his might. "Cesc, I love you!"
Cesc suffocated. "I know, and let me go, dickhead. I can't breathe!"
***
Fernando Torres really didn't like this idea.
It would be a month that his parents would be away, to a grand tour in Egypt and the likes in North Africa for their second honeymoon trip. And there’s this adjacent residence whose were his parents' close friends, of course since they'd been living next to each other for almost twenty years. And because his mother and the mistress of that house had nothing to do rather than housework, shopping and playing cards, you could also imagine them gossiping all day long, just like in Desperate Housewives. So, yeah, they're close, in a way.
His older brother and sister were in universities so they didn't have to face this. They're sleeping comfily in their dorms somewhere in downtown Madrid, leaving their little brother all alone here. Since the point was, his parents stated that underage boy like HIM couldn't live all alone in this big house - his OWN house - for a whole month. He's already fifteen, for Christ's sake! Anyway, their best friends, the adjacent house’s owner, proposed an irresistible offer that they'd be in charge of taking care of their little boy.
So Fernando as their only underage son was kicked out of his own house to the next door. That meant he would have to stay, eat, sleep, practically live in that house whenever he's not at school. They had three children just like the Torres' family, one of them was even at the same age as Fernando. They studied at the same school, in the same class to be precise, such luck.
That boy's name was Daniel Agger.
So it's settled that Fernando was to be put in Daniel's room, since they didn't have a guestroom anyway. Daniel's room was big enough for two. He had a bunk bed so the sleeping arrangement wasn't the difficult part. And the adults thought that it's a very nice idea so that Fernando wouldn't feel lonely being left at home since he would have Daniel.
What kind of idea was that, seriously? How could they think they two would be happy living together? They didn't even ask their opinions! The room might be big enough for even four but when dwellers were Fernando and Daniel, even the whole world wasn't enough!
Yes, you've heard it correctly. Daniel and he were kinda...opposite. Their parents might be best-friends-forever but Fernando and Daniel had never thought about even BEING friends. They sat in opposite corners in class, having different group of friends who were kinda rivals. Though Fernando had never actually hassled with Daniel, he knew from the look that the Dane didn't like him a bit.
Oh yes, they're Danish, he might forget to state that. Though they'd been living here long enough to practically be Spaniards themselves, it's still another dissimilarity they had: Scandinavian versus Iberian, he could find discord even in their origins.
But that might be a prejudice, he'd never had problems with other Scandinavians except Daniel, though.
And now Fernando's sitting in a couch in his one-month bedroom, staring blankly at his new roommate who's apparently the complete owner of the room, on their first day together. His parents just caught a flight to Cairo and Fernando carried his stuff here and registered to his temporary guardian and roommate. Agger didn't pay any attention to the Spaniard, he's indulging in an electric guitar and freaking rock music which was blasting out of the stereo with deafening noise.
The voice was so loud Fernando swore his tympanic membrane was throbbing frantically because of it.
God. Damn. It! Does he have to handle this every day? He'd go crazy because of it. Seriously!
"Hey," Fernando tried to beat Muse's voice from the subwoofer. No response from Agger.
"Hey!" The blonde yelled louder. Agger still hadn't turned around, he's busily tuning his instrument.
"Hey!!" Fernando leaped out of the couch this time, riled up. Stalking forward, he stopped precisely in front of the Dane. "Couldn't you turn the volume down for a tad?!"
Agger pulled a face, definitely extremely annoyed. Whose idea was it sending this nerd into his room? For God's sake, how would he survive the next impending month?! Does he have to have dinner with him every evening, sleep in the same room with him, like practically live with him?!
Mom and dad, I hate you!
"What's your prob?!" Daniel lowered the volume but the gleam in his eyes told Fernando that he's absolutely not happy about this.
"Why do you have to turn the volume up that high?" The blonde pursed his lips, trying to be civilized. "It's deafening, and makes us impossible to hold a conversation."
Daniel snorted. "I don't have anything to converse with you,” he sneered. "And if you don't like it, you're free to get out of my room." Then the Dane turned the volume up to its highest level sending Fernando instantly pull his hands to cover his ears.
The blonde gritted his teeth. Right. If you don't want to be friends, then we don't be friends. Fine. Whatever you like.
And fuck you!
***
"David, I'm sleepy already." Iker yawned. It'd been...how many hours since they'd been sitting here watching Victoria and her friends eating and chatting and picking their teeth? How fascinating. He'd finished a paella, two tapas dishes, two hot chocolates and even a cappuccino. The feeble caffeine was completely beaten by mighty carbs so he’s drowsy by now.
"What?" David asked surprisingly like he'd just been fetched from his daydream unwillingly, but after a glance at the Spaniard for only a millisecond, his eyes automatically drifted to Victoria again.
Iker was annoyed. "I'm leaving." Slinging his bag across his shoulder, the Spaniard got up. David straightened up immediately, panic-stricken all of a sudden.
"What?!" The English hissed. He caught his friend's wrist, unnerved. "Of course you won't be leaving!" David whispered, ordering as well as pleading. Iker quirked his brow.
"But David, I'm sleepy," he murmured. "It's no point for me sitting here anyway. I don't get it, why don't you go asking her out or something? You know no one would resist a bloke like you, including Victoria Adams."
"What's a bloke like me?" David asked absentmindedly, his eyes were back to the girl again. Iker yawned.
"See?" He asked, glad that he could provide a proof. "It's already nine. I should be home by now already Dave or else my mom would make a fuss."
"All right, all right," Caving in eventually, David bent down to grab his bag up off the floor. The Spaniard raised his brow again.
"You don't have to go now, you know?" He watched as the Londoner stood up, then whispered, "go asking her out, you oaf!"
But David turned a deaf ear to the Spaniard's word, he grabbed Iker's wrist. "Let's go," he muttered, and Iker was dragged out of Las Especias with he's-quite-sure-they’re-Victoria's eyes glancing at them from behind.
"David," Iker called out when they’re slowly walking home, their houses were on the same route from here.
"Hmm?" David acknowledged his utterance without averting his eyes from the path.
"Where have all your courage gone? I don't see why she'd reject you. She even told you that you'd find her at the restaurant if you care to. It's obvious she's been waiting for you to ask her out," Iker pointed out.
The English pursed his lips, kept being lost in his thought long enough until Iker doubted whether his friend heard what he'd said.
"Will you go with me then?" Then he blurted out all of a sudden. Iker frowned.
"You mean when you ask her out? I can if you want me to, I'll stand behind you if it'd make you feel better."
"No," David replied uncertainly, "I mean when Victoria and I go out on a date." He looked at the Spaniard, earnestness gleaming in those captivating hazel eyes. "Will you go with me?"
The question almost tripped Iker over his own feet. "What?" The Spaniard couldn't believe his own ears. "Are you barmy? What would I do that for? I mean, what would you want me to do that for?"
David averted his eyes to the sidewalk. "I don't know," the Londoner murmured though he didn't even seem certain about what he himself was thinking. "I want you there because I'd be so lost without you."
***
Xabi Alonso's mobile vibrated.
Fishing it out, he glanced up at Mr. Benitez in front of the class, making sure he wasn't looking in this direction then pushing a button, opening the new message.
The sender wasn't in his contact list but that 9-digit number had ingrained in his brain until Xabi could simply recite it.
The message said:
'What does the major part of an atom consist of?'
The Spaniard smirked, he didn't even pause before typing back.
'Empty space.'
Pushing the send button, he’d waited a few more minutes before another message got in.
'Correct. ;)'
Xabi smiled, putting his mobile back in his pocket. It'd been a couple of weeks that these puzzle messages kept being sent to him by an anonymous sender. At first, Xabi was suspecting, but he replied anyway. And then they kept coming, once or twice a day, until it’s routine that he'd play this game with Mr. X.
Xabi Alonso loves riddles and mysteries, he loves seeking answers for things, it's in his habit, that's why he'd applied for several pure science - preferably physics - faculties in renowned universities around Spain for Bachelor Degree. He believes that everything happening in the universe has rational and applicable explanation, and the sender knows it.
He used enigma as a way into Xabi's heart.
Oh, yeah, he knew the right way in.
And Xabi thought he knew who Mr. Anonymous was after all. Though he tried to keep the distance in person and, frankly, they'd never spoken directly, Xabi wasn't a fool who didn't notice who in this school had eyes on him all the time.
It's Mikel Arteta.
To be continued in Chapter 2.
(1) http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080328104302.htm
(2) Thrown together from related articles in http://en.wikipedia.org/
(3) http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~yukimoon/BigBang/BigBang.htm
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