tennis slash - Smart People (16)
Title: Smart People (16)
Author: Kris S.
Fandom: Tennis RPS
Players: Rafael Nadal, Richard Gasquet, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Ernests Gulbis, Marin Cilic, Robin Soderling, Andy Roddick
Rating: PG13
Disclaimer: This did not happen.
Summary: College AU. Richard and Rafael are geniuses who are roommates in a suite, though they’re different as could be. Inspired by the movie Real Genius. This chapter: Novak tries to calm down Rafa; Marin delivers the recording to Roddick; Richie stumbles on a way to get through to Andy.
Chapter 16 - Breaking Up the Suite
Rafael watches as Andy leaves the group, then glares coldly at Robin and growls out, “What the hell did you do?”
Robin lets out a loud sigh. “I did nothing but lend an ear. You assumed the rest.”
Novak jerks on Rafael’s arm and pulls him into the building. He says, “Come on. Let’s head to your room. If Richie let him near your video games, we’ll go to Ernie’s room. Until then, shut up."
Ernie rushes to catch up, realizing there will likely be a need for another mediator as Novak’s patience seems to be getting thin. Rafael has stopped just before the suite to complain so Ernie takes the opportunity to pass them both and unlock the door.
Finally, Rafael snaps, “I have no idea what we are even talking about, much less what I should be talking about with Andy so would you stop treating me like you do Marko and Djordje."
Novak shoves Rafael into the suite and shuts the door. He’s trying his hardest to keep his voice level as he states, "Don’t you understand? You crossed a line, man. You let your blind hatred of Robin ruin everything. To even ask Andy if he was throwing himself at Robin... no wonder he was so disgusted. I'm annoyed with you for even talking about him like that."
"Why would he confide in Robin? Andy told me he flirted with him the night he was drunk but later admitted he was overreacting."
Ernie looks to the couch, where Marin is squinting as he begins to wake up while Richard has put a pillow over his face to block the light, muttering, “Stop the insanity.”
Novak replies, "Well, in that case, Robin deserves to torture both of you. But...” He looks toward his own room, seeing the light under the door. Just as he suspected. Novak says in a low voice, “I've never heard Andy mention a guy he was involved with in high school."
Rafael does not notice that glance, replying dismissively, "Eddie was the star kicker on the team, had a cheerleader girlfriend, screwed Andy on the side."
Novak's jaw drops then shakes his head as he says in a hushed tone, "That's a rather cruel way of saying something that clearly still bothers him."
"Oh come on. That's the way Andy told me. Anyway, it was high school."
"Does it still bother you when you think of the guys who hung you on the locker?"
Rafael hangs his head, now feeling every bit the little brother getting reprimanded. "Well, yeah..."
"Do you think it still bothers me to think of poetry I wrote about a guy being read over the loudspeaker for all to hear?"
Rafael gives Novak an incredulous look then yelps, "You were a freshman in high school! Three years later, you would have done that yourself. Voluntarily!" He darts for his room, thankful for the door being unlocked so he can make a grand exit.
"True," Novak grins sheepishly. "But I would have told it right." He turns to Ernie. "You were welcome to add your own tragic high school tale."
Ernie shakes his head. "Sorry. Most of mine involve drunken bets and getting slapped. Although I did get sucker-punched in school once, that after I’d kissed the quarterback’s girlfriend at a party, so I guess that can count. He got suspended from the team for that." He looks to Marin, who pretends to fall back to sleep, and snaps, "Speaking of drinking, dude. Did you seriously get drunk tonight?"
Richard still has his head under the pillow as he picks up the bottle near his hand, feels it's still half full then sets it back down. He mutters, "If Marin is drunk, he's a lightweight."
Marin says, "I thought the alcohol had me imagining things when I heard a door slam loudly and saw nobody. But now I think it happened that way."
Ernie can’t help but laugh at how childlike Marin sounds when saying that. “Oh, that is precious. Nice work messing him up, Richie.”
Richard grunts in reply, causing Marin to come to his defense. “Leave him alone. He pulled a thirty eight… no, forty one hour session and had just fallen asleep.”
Novak barks out, “To those who are overhearing this conversation: Embarrassing High School Stories to Contribute. Go.” As he awaits a reply, he heads toward Rafael’s room to ask, “So are we staying in or maybe going for a drive?” He pops his head in to find Rafael already setting up to play a video game and lets out a loud sigh, then turns toward Ernie to say, “Well, at least that means he’ll calm down. I’ll join him in there, maybe work some common sense into that bullheaded boy.”
Marin offers, “I was running track in gym class, tried to avoid one student, collided into another and fell flat on my face. I managed to mess up my knee and had to wear an eye patch for weeks.”
Richard finally moves the pillow away, takes a quick glance in Marin’s direction, then replies, “School trip to an amusement park, managed to share a seat on the roller coaster with a popular cheerleader, threw up.”
Novak nods, mutters, “Thank you,” and then retreats to Rafael’s room, shutting the door.
Marin asks Ernie, “Why are we revealing stuff like this, anyway?”
“Rafa has been pushing Andy’s buttons regarding Marat all week. When Rafa saw Andy talking to Robin, he got mad and started accusing Andy of being desperate for attention. In the midst of that, Rafa finally found the detonator by bringing up some guy in high school that apparently even Novak didn’t know about.” Ernie glances toward Richard, deducing from his surprised look, “Clearly you didn’t either.”
Marin stands up, stretching out as he says, “I’m heading to bed. You okay sleeping out here?” Richard nods but Marin remembers the beginning of this evening and realizes that may be a lie. “You’d better go get some sleep. It’s not healthy staying up for so long a period of time.”
Ernie laughs at how protective Marin sounds regarding Richard. “I think he doesn’t need you to play his mother. Probably will end up down the hall anyway. Actually, since it looks like any further plans with Novak have been sufficiently wrecked, I’m going to see if Evgeny is home. Didn’t see him at the party.” He looks toward Rafael’s room, realizing Novak will be staying there, then turns to his room and gets a pillow thrown at the back of his head. Ernie yelps, “Hey!”
Richard turns to Marin and says appreciatively, “Nice shot.” Marin bows his head but he’s glad to have connected with the throw.
Ernie squints at the two of them, then shakes his head as he retreats to his room, muttering, “I don’t know if I like you two ganging up on me.”
* * * * *
Marin brings his laptop into the main room to transfer the recording to CD. Richard is asleep at the other end of the couch, having gotten a blanket from his room before Novak and Rafael’s video game war began. Marin feels helpless with all of this new information at hand but he knows he must get this to Roddick before Richard changes his mind. If Roddick was on duty when Richard came home, then he likely near the end of his shift or at least on-call now.
He heads downstairs to the RA office, which sure enough has a sign directing someone to either call or go knock on Roddick’s room. He bounds back up the stairs to the fourth floor, then heads to Roddick’s door and knocks.
It takes a few tries but Roddick eventually opens the door. He glares coldly at Marin, snapping, "Is this a building issue?"
"Um, not exactly." Marin quickly uses his foot to block Roddick from shutting the door on him. "Let me just say this, then you can do what you want. Richie is afraid of talking to you. He really does care, deeply, but he can’t seem to let his guard down enough to get the words out."
"Marin…"
"He told me about his time as a pet of Professor Federer’s. That man did a number on him, used everything against him…"
"Still does, actually," Roddick admits. "I once heard Federer talking to him and everything was… calculated. As if Federer was intentionally trying to rile him up."
"Exactly," Marin instinctively agrees, even though he’s never witnessed that. He takes the CD out, waving it in front of Roddick’s face. "He officially cashed in on the favor with me last night. He had me record everything he said."
Roddick eyes it warily, then says, "I can’t listen to this."
"Why not?"
The RA shakes his head. "I’m sorry. No. This is just more of him being manipulative in order to worm his way back…"
A door slams down the hallway, causing both of them to jolt. Roddick nudges Marin back a step then enters the hallway, hoping to spot the resident being so rude this time of night. When he sees nothing, Roddick lets out a grunt, muttering, "Almost done with this place."
"Roddick, no… at least hold onto the CD. If I return with this, you will have proved you never cared about him as a person. It will prove that Federer was right and you don’t want that." Marin notices Roddick is at least considering upon mention of the professor. "You don't have to decide now," then places the CD in the RA's hand.
As Marin begins to leave, Roddick says, "Has Richie gotten payment regarding the guys he’s tutoring?"
Marin tries to read into that question but Roddick is deep in thought, as if plotting something already. "Not sure if Evgeny attended the poetry reading with me as a favor. I know Thomaz and Leo haven’t yet. Why?"
Roddick mutters, "No reason and don’t tell him I asked about that." He slowly closes the door, which Marin supposes is an improvement from the slamming door he’d been expecting only minutes earlier.
* * * * *
Richard leans against the door, trying to keep his breathing steady. He had heard Marin leave, saw the disc was gone and had intended to stop him. But he couldn’t really say anything since that was the whole point. Opening the door to the hallway and hearing the damage caused in Roddick's voice was too much to bear.
The banter in his own room has gotten loud again, as Novak challenges Rafael to raise the stake. Since Novak isn’t that much into video games, it’s a gallant effort to block Rafael from leaving the room.
The light is still on in Novak’s room and, with everyone else busy, decides to venture to the unknown. He knocks on the door, that motion making it clear that the door isn’t locked so he could let himself in if he wished.
"Rafael, if you take one step in my room, I will punch you out."
"It’s not Rafa," Richard says, realizing it's nothing but an empty threat muffled by a pillow. When Andy says nothing further, Richard goes back to the couch for the bottle then returns to the door, pushing it open to announce, "I have some vodka left over. Sounds like you could use it."
"Who has the big mouth?"
"Three different versions. Novak is distracting Rafa with video games." Richard takes two steps in and shuts the door. Andy is lying down on his bed, baseball cap on his head and staring at the wall. Richard notices Andy’s breathing is unsteady and this is really so much worse than he’d pictured from the explanations. "Are you okay?"
"Why did you buy the bottle in the first place? You don’t like wasting your money on stuff like that." Typical of Andy to change the subject off himself.
"I was able to convince Marin to drink?" Richard says feebly.
"You blew it with Roddick, didn’t you?"
Richard says defensively, "Why do you assume it’s my fault? He’s the one who proved to be exactly what I thought he’d be!" Even without seeing Andy's face, Richard knows the reply was an eyeroll. Ignoring that, Richard sits down on the floor near Andy’s bed, holding the bottle close enough for him to grab. "You know you need the drink. We’ll stay in this room, no witnesses." When Andy finally turns his body so he can accept the bottle, Richard says, "Can I ask one question? You don’t even have to answer it."
Andy sits upright and leans against the wall, lowering the brim of the cap to cover his eyes. He takes a healthy swig from the bottle then lets out a sigh. There’s still evidence of dried-up tears but at least Andy is beginning to unwind. "Sure, why not? Just don’t make fun of me if you’ve heard about Eddie from high school."
"It… no, not that. Actually, it’s good to hear you screwed up." Andy snorts in response to that. Richard then seriously asks, "Okay, here it goes. Is the reason you don’t date the fact that you’re in love with someone you think you can’t have?"
Andy’s jaw drops and all color drains from his face. He creaks out, "What?"
Richard smiles brightly at the evidence showing he’s correct. He pats Andy’s leg as he assures, "Don’t worry. Rafa has no clue how you feel."
"What do you mean by ‘you think’?"
"Rafa had a crush on you in the beginning, before you moved into the suite. During the time you and I were roommates, I finally told him off because you simply weren’t the awesomely cool individual that he'd been talking nonstop about the previous three months. But then Rafa moved on to the telenovelas that are his fellow Spaniards when it was clear you weren’t interested. He really doesn’t like the fact that, post-makeover, he no longer has you all to himself. Your side, I don’t really know for sure since we don’t have the type of confiding relationship that you have with Rafa but you don’t generally get this worked up over… well, anything."
Andy’s mouth hangs open, absolutely stunned at that explanation. He says softly, "If you knew that all along, why have you been saying I’m a lost cause?"
Richard shrugs. "Just because Rafa has interest doesn’t mean it makes any sense to me."
"Please don’t say anything."
"I haven’t for two years. Why should I start now?"
Andy nods, then pats the bed in hopes Richard will get off the floor. Reluctantly, Richard does so, to which Andy hands him the bottle back and asks, "You haven’t told him, have you?"
Richard shakes his head. "Marin recorded me telling the truth tonight. He promised to deliver that to Roddick but it turns out he doesn’t want to hear anything from me. At the very least, Marin has been suitably convinced it’s best not to work with Professor Federer so if it helps that…"
Andy shakes his head, then snaps, "Can you stop pretending this is only about that damn professor? You need to admit, at least to yourself, why what Federer did then matters so much now regarding Roddick. You were in denial regarding dating him but you can't pretend this isn't a breakup, or at least a separation!"
Richard takes a drink from the bottle and slumps against the wall, grumbling, "Even when you’re moping, you don’t suck at the advice thing." They stay deep in thought, then Richard suddenly says, "From what Rafa said in the main room, I think you, at the very very least, need to clarify this Eddie thing to him. If it involves your feelings toward Rafa in the process, that’s a bonus, but you two have such a good friendship and it’d be a pity if it dissolves due to a stupid sitcom-style miscommunication. Not to mention the entire suite dynamic would forever be destroyed and it would be extremely uncomfortable for everyone until one of you moves out... and if it turns out to be Rafa, I'd rather get the single room I'm allowed being a grad student than break in someone new."
Andy rolls his eyes regarding the last sentence but considers the advice. Finally he admits, "I really didn’t expect him to throw the past in my face the way he did. I’ve had people I thought were my friends do that and I really thought I could trust Rafa but now I don’t see that’s possible and even Robin being an asshole is better than hearing what Rafa said…" He lowers the brim of his cap over his face but his fingers are trembling. "There’s not much he can say right now."
Richard knows he is the wrong person hearing this but he can't deal with Andy at this level. "Novak is handling Rafa. Instead of moping, let's just get drunk here tonight and not worry about any of this."
Andy’s response is a cross between a cough and a laugh. He lets go of the cap and covers his mouth with the now-empty hand. A hint of a smile forms, then Andy snatches the bottle from Richard’s hand as he announces, "Let’s see if you can deal with that."
* * * * *
Ernie figures he’s the only one to have gotten a reasonable night’s sleep, which makes no sense on the weekend. Marin had been working on a project in the main room when Ernie fell asleep and slipped in around three a.m. He supposes it’s rather cool that Marin pulled his first all-nighter and is now crashing but it is likely connected to some of the drama in the suite, not an exam.
He enters the main room just as Novak steps out of the bathroom. Novak is bleary-eyed and is trudging along, clearly haven’t slept yet. Novak forces a smile as a greeting.
Since Novak doesn’t have the energy, Ernie supplies the wry comment. "I didn’t hear anyone get slaughtered so I suppose that’s a positive."
Novak shrugs. "That’s because I’ve kept Rafa away successfully. He’s no closer to understanding what to do than he was before. I did slip back into my room hoping Andy was asleep. What I found was empty bottles, Andy at one end of his bed, Richie at the other end with his head on one of Andy’s pillows and both apparently passed out. I moved the wastebaskets over to the bed just in case. I thought Richie wasn’t drunk when we showed up so for him to, one, venture into Andy’s room and, two, Andy allowing him to venture in there tells me this is really bad news."