Antonio couldn't remember the last time he so deserved to get wasted. Technically, he'd been deserving a drink every day for the past couple of weeks, but that now all coalesced into this very night. Weeks worth of drink debt.

Usually he would seek out his favorite bars on the street, but between the ache in his hip and his shot nerves, he didn't feel like going far from home. When he got to Queen's hotel he didn't hesitate to walk straight into the bar lounge. It didn't matter that it was going to close in five minutes because he had left work THAT late, he was getting a drink if he had to kill for it.

The dim lights of the empty room were a comfort for his eyes, which by now had been straining before a screen in the dungeon of Queen's headquarters for nearly 14 straight hours. But to further help the healing process along, he closed and massaged them, tripping over an ottoman in the process, but making it to a bar stool nonetheless.

When he opened his eyes he was met by his favorite least favorite person. He looked up into the tacky bi-color get-up and big, fat nose of Swatch - the head butler of the hotel and probably the most pretentious, metrosexual dickhead in the entire city.

"Nice to see you back, Mr. Adison," he greeted smoothly. "What can I get for you?"

"Something heavy and terrible. I wanna walk upstairs and pass the fuck out," Antonio groaned.

"But I assume something that won't give you too much of a hangover? It is only Tuesday," he cocked a brow.

Antonio cocked his brow back, "Did I fuckin' stutter?"

He smiled, "I'll be sure to bring it out with a glass of water."

The salesman threw his hand back over his eyes as he heard his bartender's steps fade away. He had to actively force out the vision of his work computer screens seared into the back of his eyelids, trying to think of something far, far away from this miserable job.

But that was Tennessee, tragically. And as pleasant as TV World was in comparison to Queen's headquarters, he refused to acknowledge it as a place he at all wanted to be right now. He'd literally just escaped.

The soft thud of thick glass against wood snapped Antonio out of his trance. As he uncovered his face, he briefly took note of the clock above the bar, and realized he'd spaced out a long longer than he'd thought.

Before him were two tall glasses, but one bubbled with the familiar green electricity of the house special -- Batter Acid! (As everyone but the drink's label called it). Past those, Antonio could only stare at Swatch' silent back as he presumably cleaned a glass. The butler definitely got the assignment, even if it took him forever.

As he lazily reached to gulp down his bitter sleep medicine for the night, he missed his bartender concluding his busywork and turning around to face him. A few sips into his glass, just as it started to really burn, the butler thought to ask him, "So, what's he like?"

His heart jumped. Antonio choked and spewed his drink out of his mouth like a neon green fountain, which Swatch effortlessly dodged with a single step.

"W-What the hell are you talking about?" he gasped as he frantically searched the room for patrons and cameras.

"Your new boyfriend in Tennessee," the butler replied lightly as he leaned forward onto the dry end of the bar. I'm rather sure I saw him while he was here a week ago, but I didn't get to talk to him. I never would have assumed he was your type."

The salesman failed to respond as he stared directly into the camera behind the bar like an albino dear in headlights. God, he'd have to burn the tape somehow. And the entire surveillance system. And the whole goddamn building down.

Curiously, the butler looked at the camera and then back to his guest. He snapped his fingers in front of his eyes and smiled, "They're off, Mr. Adison. And I locked the doors while you still had your head down. It's just us in here."

"Fuuuck..." he sighed, no less relaxed as his anxiety now switched from the present room to the whole of his office building. "How many people know...!"

"Only really me, and maybe Bruno who Queen gossips with even more. But I've heard he can keep a secret." Swatch gave a sympathetic look. "I doubt it's going to spread much further than that. For the sake of public image."

"Oh Jesus..." The salesman felt his heart start to beat out of his chest and in his ears, he had to fight the urge not to pant his breaths came so short. Anyone but Queen was already too many, and God knows what 'much further' would entail...

Swatch chuckled at him like the bastard he was, "I didn't mean anything by bringing this up, by the way. I was being genuine--"

"I'm going to kill that mother fucker..." he growled through gritted teeth. completely deaf to everything but his mounting dread.

"Ah... So it's like that between you to."

Okay. Okay, he wasn't deaf to Swatch's stupid fucking one-liners anymore. "You... shut the fuck up," he snapped between managed breaths. "You are the last person... I wanna fuckin' talk to about this train-wreck of a life... I've been having... for the past month... okay?"

The butler shrugged nonchalantly, still bent over the bar, "I was just trying to lend a sympathetic ear."

"And what the fuck do you have to sympathize with... between me and that TV dirtbag...?" he hissed.

Only to be met by a dumb grun from the butler. The most pretentious, metrosexual dickhead in New York City.

Antonio sighed unevenly, "There's no fucking way..." Even though there was very much a way, and at any other moment he would have assumed it was that way.

"Now, Mr. Adison, as another man with a reputation to uphold, I assume you understand I don't want this getting around too much either..." He straightened his back and put a dandy hand over his heart. "But for the sake of conversation, I'd like to admit that I am bisexual."

The salesman could only roll his eyes as the last of his frantic breathing was forced out of his nose. "Wonderful for you, I'm going back to my drink."

"Oh come on now, don't be like that. I'm really curious as to what you had going on with Mr. Tennabaum. It really begs explanation, you know."

"You think I wann explain how that jack-off sent me to the hospital any more than I've already had to?"

The butler paused and failed utterly to hide his stifled laugh as his face momentarily screwed up trying to hold it in. "It doesn't have to be about that, honest. I really meant what I first said: What's he like?"

After a few more seconds of blank stares, Antonio sighed. It wasn't just that he wanted to be able to come here ever again without the topic being brought up (potentially in front of others if Swatch really hated him), but it also struck him that he hadn't had a chance to really talk about his antics with Tenna since they started. And he really, really needed to get some shit out of his system...

"What's he like, huh..." he began with a pained grimace. He eagerly thought back to the past month -- Tenna falling on him like an idiot, screaming at him in the hospital, threatening him not to leave with a smile every five seconds -- including barely 48 hours ago when he left for his flight back to New York. "He is... a real piece of fucking work..."

"Really?"

"He is so fucking neurotic. It's insane!" he snapped, raising one hand to the sky as he brought his drink towards him with the other. "You'd think I'm bad, but he's bad in a completely different way! Because he never actually tells you when he's about to freak the fuck out with you! He's just smiling one moment and red in the face the next. Sometime's he'll be both at the same time!"

Swatch gave an amused huff and leaned back over the counter, "Oh he's like that! I would have never assumed."

"Yeah, cause he has this wholesome, family-friendly douchebag TV persona, but he is deranged! It's not even that he's secretly an asshole backstage, cause if anything he never stops being a massive, annoying shmuck till the moment he snaps at you!"

Be brought his frantic hand up to his forehead. "And it is all because he is such a fucking control freak! A big, stupid, smiling control freak. And it's exhausting... it is so exhausting!"

"What usually sets him off?" he asked, leaning even further onto the bar.

"It's--" That was a trap. Not a deliberate one, hopefully, but a few more words and Antonio would have given up their relationship was not really romantic. "It's... it's... I don't know," he shrugged. "The small things? He always wants to hold onto every little thing, and talk about the past and... Or you push a button with him you thought was fine too many times and then he blows up! Heh," he put on a mocking tone, "Besides that it's just peaches and roses with him though!

"He uh..." Antonio suddenly furrowed his brow. Taking another survey of their relationship to miss the business stuff, he realized there was some good he was skipping over.

Even just these past weeks... Tenna's concern AFTER he busted his pelvis, him paying for everything, visiting him a bunch to NOT yell at him, and bringing him really nice food when he was in and out of the hospital. Their just... talks... sometimes... "He's not all bad though, I guess... We've just had a rough... a rough time lately, is'all."

Swatch hummed and shifted in place. "How'd you two meet? Not to be captain obvious, but you going from here to the lap of some--"

"I am not - in any way - in his lap."

The butler gave him a blank stare, before once again having to let a stifled laugh twist his face. "Y-yes -- right, right. It's probably the other way around, isn't it?"

"I THOUGHT we weren't gonna talk about THAT--!"

"I," Swatch through his hands up defensively, "Just want to know how you ended up with this old, family TV personality so far away from here."

Shit, the salesman cursed himself. He probably should've just let Swatch say whatever the hell he wanted. To spin half his own story he could have just gone along with.

Antonio had basically had to come up with every other detail of the story except that because Queen didn't care about the how, but only the why he was with Tenna.

"Uh... I... That first week vacation I took last year..." he began unsteadily. "I just went down to Tennessee cause one of my brothers was doing sales down there and wanted to go sight-seeing with me..." He didn't even know what there was to really see in that god-forsaken state, but if Swatch asked he would have to make it up on the spot too. He just prayed the butler found it as boring as it sounded.

"And while we were down there, I saw that Anthony Tennabaum, this former Hollywood guy, was doing local TV around there. So I thought it'd be worth seeing what that was about. Heh," he picked up some momentum and flashed a good old Tony Adison smile. "Y'know me, I'm a big shot, I want similar kinda company..."

His one man audience nodded. Probably a bit sarcastically, but he didn't have time to yell at him. He needed to stay focused.

"So, I find the guy working out of his little radio-shack in the sticks, and uh..." He gestured vaguely, genuinely unsure how to communicate a romantic connection he never had with Tenna, nor any other person for that matter. "We just started talking and one thing leads to another..." his voice squeaked as he shoved his glass into his lips to save face.

Past the sea of radioactive liquor however, he could see the butler shrug at him in disbelief, "And?"

Antonio shrugged back and dropped his glass. "'And?'", he parroted, five times more cattish. "Fuck you. You're such a fucking queen tonight..."

"You can't just end with 'and one thing led to another' like you and him are a typical thing," he pleaded with a raised brow. He stood back up. "What made you click? Was it a slow burn or did you two jump right into it?"

The salesman groaned, genuinely annoyed by gossip and pissed he couldn't just start getting his ass kicked by his drink by now. What the fuck did he like about Tenna besides the extra paycheck?

"It... was... slow," he shrugged again. It was probably best not to pretend they got up to more than they did as business partners. "I liked talking to him cause he's not an asshole like everyone around here, and he's into old shit... I love not having to constantly talk about tech shit, and he loves talking about his TV shit all the time. Which is kinda annoying but also fun sometimes."

"Well, isn't that sweet," Swatch cooed and tilted his head. "He's like an escape for you?"

In the middle of drawing his glass back up to his lips he flinched. "Uhm... yeah. I guess he is..." He took a sip. "he's from a different world, y'know?"

The man behind the bar gave a content hum, telling Antonio he could finally get to his drink. He cringed and shut his eyes as the liquor went down in a strong stream that really burned his throat and stomach, he'd almost forgotten how much he'd craved it. But when he opened his eyes again, he saw that a green tinted Swatch still watched him intently though the bottom of the glass.

He slammed it down. "You still wanna say something. What?"

The butler's grin grew unusually wide and asshole-ish from behind his tacky glasses. "Do you want Mr. Tenna to sweep you off your feet and take away from this place?"

The salesman's face instantly twitched in disgust, "What the fuck are you talking about?" Some of the heat from his chest rose into his face.

"I don't know... you're not saying it, but this is all just very romantic. You leaving the city and finding love with a man from a small town who reminds you of simpler times..." he gave a smug chuckle.

But before Antonio could retort he continued, "But I am just pulling your leg, I know you're not the romantic type..." He looked down and pushed his glasses up. "And I know why you're really with Mr. Tennebaum..."

A retort however, was still very much needed. "What - the fuck - are you talking about?" One tinged on the end with a realization that made his voice crack.

Swatch crossed his arms. "You are obviously, and hopelessly, attracted to power."

Antonio's nostrils flared.

"It's why you do anything. It's why you have this job, it's why you let Queen do weird stuff with you -- obviously no judgment because I let her do weird stuff with me too -- she is hot."

His jaw clenched.

"And then, on the first vacation you take since starting here, you find a former Hollywood star who is obviously loaded and stands a foot above you to have an affair with. You have a very specific drive, Mr. Adison. I'm just saying."

"I'm not--!!" Antonio screeched in fury, his face red and his heart racing. "I'm not-- fuckin'-- attracted to power!! I'm fuckin'--" he grumbled and gestured aggressively in front of his face. "I want to fucking-- fuck power!"

The very word brought so many loaded memories - infuriating and gratifying - into the salesman's mind he couldn't find his composure again if he wanted to. "I'm not in that douchebag's lap! I'm not in Queen's fuckin' lap! I want them in my fuckin' lap--! Fuck--!!

I didn't even realize I was fuckin' gay till I met that idiot! Cause all I wanted to do before was fuck Queen! I don't want-- I want to take power and fuck it in the ass!" His wild gesturing finally took the form of groping the air, the visual conjured directing his strained voice towards mischievous glee. "I want to fucking-- take power by the ass, and slam it on my cock! I want power to fuckin' bend over for me... I want power FOR me! I'm not-- some fuckin'-- power-obsessed-- sugar-baby!!"

He drew his wild eyes back towards Swatch, who only stared at him, mouth subtly agape. "Oh," he replied dumbly. "So that's how your pelvic bone got fractured."

"I'm going to kill you," he spat. His face no less red, but his anger now directed precisely at on concrete subject in his vicinity. "I'm not even drunk yet, but the amount I want to kill you right now is insane."