There was no one inside the room, Vaclav concluded, as he knocked on the door of William's study for the fifth time. Two or three times and no answer usually meant William was busy and not paying attention, but five? He was obviously not here.

Vaclav had just returned from a shopping expedition to a couple of bookstores in Rome, and he had found something William would be delighted to see. It was volume two of some book series; he remembered William complaining about missing that book while he had the rest of the five-book series.

The priest pondered the situation for a moment and then tried the door. It was open, so he entered the room and took a glance around. The lights were on, there was a pile of papers on the desk, and it mostly looked like William had left the room for a moment for some reason. Vaclav smiled to himself and closed the door; he could always wait a moment and see if the owner of the office would return, then. William's expression would be worth seeing once he saw the book waiting for him.

An armor standing by the door suddenly poked him hard with a wooden spear. Startled, he jumped back and then looked at the armor, not knowing if he should have been amused or horrified. Yes, William was obviously coming back since he had left his latest great invention active to "guard" his ever-important papers. Vaclav didn't want to know what William needed the thing for; it was a motion detector of some kind that attacked people if they didn't deactivate it. In his opinion, locking the door would have been a little more effective, but when it came to William, it was better not to question his logic.

The armor tried to poke at him again, but he was standing far enough away from it, and it didn't reach him. Out of curiosity, he used his invisibility skill and stepped closer. There was no reaction this time, even though he went to stand in front of the armor and waved his hand.

"Well," he mused to himself. "Need to tell William that his invention has flaws."

He shrugged and walked around the desk to take a look at the pile of documents scattered all over. The mess was typical of William, but Vaclav didn't really care. It could probably be called organized chaos; William seemed - mostly, anyway - to know where everything was. Besides, if William didn't know, there was a good chance Hugue did.

Half of the papers had some weird notes on them, and he wasn't even about to start figuring them out. Instead, he set the book he had bought down on the side of the desk and picked up a document with AX-related notes on it. William had taken notes in the last briefing; there were a lot of side notes and Vaclav read the paper, quite interested in what his colleague had written.

There was some noise outside the room, and he put the document down and turned to look at the door. The voice talking didn't sound like William, though. He couldn't hear the words clearly; apparently the speaker was surprised to see someone. He stepped away from the desk and was about to go see what was going on when the door was opened.

Hugue stepped in and turned to look at the armor. He simply turned the helmet to the side, and there was a clicking sound. Leon, who was following the blond swordsman, laughed.

"What, it's that easy?" The dark-haired man asked, grinning. "That crazy old man and his weird inventions... Oh well, where was I?"

"Here." Hugue gave the other man a slight smirk and grabbed him by the hair. Leon allowed this, and Hugue drew him closer and kissed him on the lips. Vaclav blinked, quite dumbfounded. He could only stare as the two men kissed. What on earth were those two up to? Also, why weren't they bothered by his presence in the slightest? Neither of them was the type to do something like that in front of other people.

Oh, obviously because... He thought as realized he was still invisible. Maybe it was so natural that he hadn't really paid attention to it himself.

He was about to make himself visible again when Leon and Hugue broke their kiss. Leon kicked the door shut and grabbed Hugue by the shoulders. "Really now Hugue, you could've let me know you're gonna be around. But then, if you just got back..."

"You talk too much," Hugue stated and pressed himself against the taller man. Leon pushed Hugue's hair out of the way and kissed him again, this time a little more passionately. The two moved a few steps to the side, broke the kiss and seemed to struggle a little, with Leon still holding Hugue by the shoulders. Hugue had grabbed Leon's arms at some point. Finally, Leon pressed the blond against the wall. Hugue glared at the taller man mockingly, then grabbed him by the coat and drew him close.

"Aren't we being impatient," Leon commented. Hugue's only reply was to move his hands. Vaclav couldn't really see what he was up to since Leon was in the way, but it was certainly something he wouldn't have wanted to see anyway. Leon muttered something unclear, obviously liking what the other man was doing.

Vaclav looked down and considered his options. There was no way he was going to let those two know he was here now, but there was also no way he could sneak out without Leon or Hugue noticing. In other words, he was stuck here until those two would get done with it.

Hugue gasped, and Vaclav involuntarily raised his gaze from the floor. He only caught a glimpse of Hugue's face before he turned around. He certainly didn't need to see this.

"Ah, liked that, didn't you?" Leon asked. "I'll give you more later; you seem a little too busy to get your hands on me at the moment."

There was a shuffling sound, and Vaclav was suddenly convinced he also didn't need to hear this, but that was a little hard considering the circumstances. The sound continued for a little longer, and then Leon moaned, obviously from pleasure. "Mmm, Hugue..."

When hearing that, Vaclav decided it was a great idea to try thinking about something else. Maybe assisting Lady Caterina in one of those overly boring meetings that she had to attend, with all the old cardinals fighting among themselves... Yes, that sounded good. The thought didn't help him much though as he could hear some very indecent-sounding noises from the other side of the room, and then Leon commented, "You look quite pretty like that, Hugue. Like an obedient bitch..."

"I'll show you obedient," Hugue retorted.

Leon laughed, obviously very amused by that. "Wouldn't be the first time! Ooh, that was nice. Continue that a little longer, will you?"

Vaclav closed his eyes and recited a prayer in his mind. The old saying, "wrong place at the wrong time" came to his mind. He also just happened to have the right ability to get himself in a mess like this. In a way, this was William's fault; if the professor hadn't had that stupid armor around, this wouldn't have happened. William's inventions were somewhat questionable most of the time, and this one didn't seem to be an exception either - at least in Vaclav's opinion.

Might also have something to do with the fact that I just had to try if I could fool it, the priest thought. He tried his best to ignore the sounds. Something was slammed against the wall, and he grimaced, very sure that he didn't want to know what had happened.

"Now now, Hugue, you want to get rough or something?" Leon's voice asked. "Can be arranged..."

"I don't have time for that," the swordsman replied. "Which is really too bad for you."

"Oh come on," Leon complained. "We have until later in the evening at least. They're not gonna drag me anywhere before that meeting that... Aah!"

Judging by the sounds, Hugue was doing something Vaclav really didn't want to think about. Keeping the image of Hugue touching Leon in certain places out of his mind turned out to be hard, though, and he focused on imagining something unrelated. First thing he could think of was his favorite stained glass window from one of the chapels in the Vatican. It was a true work of art and definitely didn't have anything to do with what was going on somewhere behind him.

"Ah, mm, Hugue..." Leon mumbled. "Ah-!"

"You're easy," Hugue commented. There was a sound of someone getting slapped gently, and then Leon muttered, "Well, get up. I owe you something, don't I?"

"That you do," Hugue agreed. His voice sounded like he was grinning, which was quite unusual considering who was talking. The two men apparently moved around, and there was a sound of someone working on their clothes. Hugue then murmured something Vaclav couldn't hear and evidently, considering the sound it made, placed one of his hands against the wall.

Vaclav opened his eyes and realized he was staring at the pair's reflection in the window. Leon was kneeling in front of Hugue, and the blond, with his eyes closed and his head tilted back, looked quite opposite of his usual cold self. Shocked, Vaclav quickly turned away and squeezed his eyes shut. What Leon and Hugue were doing was none of his business, but he did not want to see it.

Unfortunately, his sudden move caused a low sound. "What was that?" Leon asked and paused whatever he was doing for a moment. "That sound from the desk area... Hugue?"

Vaclav didn't dare to turn, but he turned his head just a little bit, and from the corner of his eye, tried to see what the blond swordsman was up to. Hugue didn't seem be moving, but he was looking in the direction where the invisible Vaclav was. A short moment passed and then Hugue said, "One of Professor's inventions, I would think."

"Eh, whatever," Leon commented and resumed his task - which involved him licking something. Vaclav could, unfortunately, quite well guess what. He concentrated on another prayer, doing his best to block the sounds out of his thoughts. Hugue mumbled something; it was impossible to say what. He was most likely telling Leon something - or just moaning.

Suddenly, there was a sound from outside the door. A few seconds later the door was then opened and someone stepped inside. A short moment of silence followed, and then Hugue stated matter-of-factly, "Master."

"Hugue!" William's cheerful voice then said. "Here already? I wasn't expecting you back until around midnight at the earliest! How was it? Did you... Hmm, actually, I think that can wait until later... Leon, you might want to finish that before Hugue gives me any reports."

Vaclav turned around slowly. Leon was still kneeling down in front of Hugue, but wasn't doing anything at the moment. They both were looking at William, who was standing next to the door. Leon then looked up at Hugue, and then at William again, unsure what to do. Hugue decided for him; he grabbed his partner by the hair and drew him closer.

"Oh, never mind me!" William continued. "Wait, aren't you caressing him at all? How uncivilized! You could be a little more considerate towards your partner."

"Are you patronizing me, old man?" Leon shot at him, annoyed. "I know what I'm doing!"

William tapped him on the shoulder with his walking stick. "Ah, don't give me that look, now! I have more years on me than you do, and I am certainly more experienced when it comes to what you're doing right now. I also know what Hugue likes."

Vaclav gritted his teeth. Certain parts of William's personal life weren't really his business, either. He had to admit that his friend tended to be a little frank about some things, but that didn't change the fact that what he was hearing was simply too much information.

"Oh, shut up," Leon growled. "Gah, I can't do this. Not here, anyway." He stood up. "Sorry, Hugue"

Hugue adjusted his clothes. "Master. Can I use your bedroom?"

"Oh, but of course!" William replied, smiling widely. "It might be a little messy though, but I'm sure that's not going to bother you. Off you go, then! That's going to get very uncomfortable soon unless you take care of it, after all."

Leon muttered something under his breath but was quite willing to follow Hugue out of the door. The blond stopped by the door and gave William what resembled a thankful smile before leaving and closing the door behind him. Once the two were out, silence fell into the room as William stared at the armor that was still standing by the door, lost in his thoughts.

Vaclav let out a sigh of relief, and William suddenly turned around. "But Vaclav! I didn't know you were into watching that," the professor commented, looking straight at where the still-invisible Father Havel was standing. He blinked at that, unable to reply. How did William know he was here? Maybe the professor just had an excellent hearing.

"No, wait. This all makes perfect sense," William then stated, confusing his friend even more. "So that's how you managed to get in. My guardian here should've noticed you. Unless you sneaked in after Hugue and Leon of course, which I doubt... Well unless you truly are a voyeur. No, that can't be; you're just not the type. But that means my guardian needs to be fixed, if you can fool it that easily. Well, I'm obviously going to need your help on that."

Vaclav made himself visible and glared at the other man. William opened his mouth, obviously about to remark about something or just to ramble on, but he didn't get a chance. Vaclav picked up the book from the desk, walked over to him and shoved the book into the other man's hands so hard that William almost dropped his pipe. Then he fled the room as quickly as possible.

"Vaclav?" He could hear William voice asking. "Oh my, is this-!"

That was all he heard. He ran through the corridors, scaring a couple of monks while heading out of the area where William's office was. Spending the next couple of hours hiding in one of the chapels sounded awfully good right now.

Author's notes:

Poor Vaclav... Hey, I love him, but just had to! Too good a chance to pass up, with his awesome skill and all.

- Elmina (June, 2006)