The Cupid Touch

The Cupid Touch Chapter 13 - Near Light

You know when you think someone's messed something up, but you really don't want to tell them? That was how I felt walking up to the Smithsonian Institute's Observatory. I'm a geek for everything space-related, and I know that the observatory isn't the telescope a lot of people assume it is. Instead, it's the receiving station for the super-telescopes based out in the middle of the Arizona desert. It's also not accessible to the public.

I smiled a little awkwardly at Joe-Moe as he buzzed at the locked glass door. I was pretty certain we were about to get turned away. I didn't mind missing out too much: I knew I'd be likely to enjoy whatever we ended up doing. What I did mind was the idea of seeing him embarrassed. It's probably my second-biggest secret that I hate seeing people hurt or upset. It's probably the thing I hate most in the world just after getting my heart trampled all over.

Life sucks, hey?

The guy on the other end of the intercom, when he patched through to us, was clearly eating something. It was pretty hard to hear anything other than crackle, munch, "in?"

"Hi," Joe-Moe said. "It's Joseph Moritz. Is that Brandon?"

"Joseph... Oh. Yeah. Come on in."

I glanced at Joe-Moe as the door buzzed.

"Pretty well-connected for a jock."

"Pretty and well-connected," he corrected, and pulled me through the door into a small, very underwhelming lobby that looked about as space-age as my aunt Trish's living-room and which smelled like a student house.

One of the chipboard doors opened and a slim, dark-haired teen-or-something emerged, complete with the most disconcertingly beautiful blue eyes I've ever seen. Despite the side-swept fringe that hung over them and his slightly hunched shoulders and air of uncertainty, I was a little bit awestruck. Where Joe-Moe was gorgeous, this kid was beautiful. 

"Aren't you supposed to be studying?" Joe-Moe asked him, which I admit confused me a little bit.

"I got finished early for the day," the kid said. "And anyway, you can't use Brandon without getting me into the bargain." He glanced at me, a quick, curious look, and then back at Joe-Moe. "I didn't know you were bringing anyone."

"Yes, you did," Joe-Moe retorted. "This is Helena. Helena, my brother, Axel."

"Hi," I said, holding out my hand, still with that sense of awe. It reminded me of meeting the lead singer of a boy band everyone was into when I was thirteen. All I could see was that pretty face and it made me slightly awkward. And when I get awkward, I naturally resort to some kind of joking cruelty towards someone. "Woah, how come you got all the nice-looking genes? Joe-Moe, you need to complain to someone about that."

"I'll see if I can get a refund." Joe-Moe squeezed me around the shoulders while Axel gave me a small smile. 

"Brandon should be finished with his simulation thing in a sec. I'll see, if you're ok to wait."

"No problem," I said, as he vanished through the door again. 

"You're not allowed to fall in love with him instead," Joe-Moe said quietly, without seeming to be concerned at all. "Just so you know."

"But he's so pretty," I murmured, and then kissed him on the lips with a smile. Despite all the awe, and his brother's breath-taking beauty, when it came to sheer sexual magnetism, Joe-Moe might as well have been the only guy within a square kilometre.

Axel reappeared, looking relieved.

"He's all done. Come on in."

As we entered a dim room with an impressive array of screens, I found out where the student kitchen smell was coming from. Scattered around a series of desks were enough take-away food containers and empty drinks cans to have fed most of MIT.