RED PARALLEL

Chapter 24: For Exceptional Things, I Open An Exception

(Owen)

Nothing was a big surprise for Owen, but right now they seemed in a brand new fancy package. Why?

Maybe because he's been under my watch twenty-four hours a day...

Traviz had a prince tag glued on his face. Definitely. He wanted everything from everywhere, every time. Okay, he lacked the finesse of a royal person. Naturally. Traviz was a prince who got kidnapped by a pack of gorillas and now, he was free. Owen would drive himself up the wall, hearing Traviz's constant babbling about what he wanted to eat, what he hated and therefore would not accept to see it in front of him, what he loved and therefore should stay around him whenever he needed, etc, etc. Owen was one-hundred-percent sure that Traviz had not behaved like that when living at The Crib. The gorillas were savagely aggressive and numerous, so the boy had probably been too curbed to act so demanding. He might have tried to set his needs, but Owen could picture the immediate negative response. Of course, The Crib had treated him well enough to make him stay under their roof, but not enough to make him pleased for real. Traviz would hear a bunch of hostile curses and bludgeons, and the little prince would sit, grumpy, and think "Ugh." Traviz's revolted and bad-tempered face was such a bliss, but Owen would rather see him the other way, so even if sometimes he wanted to kick Traviz from behind the neck, he would always end up attending the prince's wishes. Why?

Pleasing him was not some extraordinary effort. It was just a matter of talking sweet and giving him enough and likable food. To be gentle and patient, never raising the tone of voice. To give him constant attention. It would hurt him to be left alone for too long. "You can't just leave me!". Owen wouldn't struggle himself much. He was not sure of the reason why, but he had a clue.

A wild grumpy Traviz was so hard to handle. Hard to talk to, hard to do anything. Traviz would go deaf and snobbish, stupid and aggressive. Rebel. Constantly offended. Messy. Incredibly disobedient. Loud. Confronting. A happy and pleased Traviz, on the other hand, was easier to talk to. Balanced. Calmly resigned, and even obedient. Owen would convince him of simple things without the need to shed blood and patience on the floor, but more than anything: a happy and pleased Traviz was friendly. Sweet. Docile. Cute. Adorable. Irresistible.

As long as Owen gave him food, attended the majority of his wishes, reasoned with him using simple and clear arguments, complimented him now and then, gave him constant attention and care, Traviz would go so sweet that it was heart-melting. Of course, he'd never drop his stubborn attitude, and Owen actually appreciated that, since it was kind of charming.

He'd never thought pampering someone was so pleasant. At the end of the month, Owen asked himself when had he decided to do that. He had no idea. Was it in the first week? The first day? Was it even before that? It seemed nonsense, though, to try to reason it, because it felt so natural. Then, he understood. He had done something without a former plan. He had done it instinctively. It worked, and it felt great. More than anything he had ever done before. Yet, he was not proud of it.

He felt blessed.

Still, it was frightening. It wasn't fond of him. Since when did he care about people? He hated people. The fewer people in the world, the better. That's what he believed and still did. His parents were the proof of humanity's stupidity, Dr.Cass was the dead proof of the most disgusting and execrable thing that was spread like a virus inside the human gene. Dr.Cass was gone, he got rid of him, he wouldn't mind watching his parents die, too, but there were still thousands out there. Humans were made of lies, of broken promises, of empty dreams, of dead ends. The world was just a game, where the weak would perish, while the smartest and most daring would survive to see them perish. And he was not weak. He could get whatever he wanted to because he knew how to. Everything was a matter of time, of strategy, of wit. "The wittiest have the power. For better or worse", Dr.Cass had said. What a smart man he was. Taught him so much, while destroying him entirely. But it was fine now.