“Good morning, sunshine. Rise and shine.”
Treize jumped awake, disoriented, then relaxed. Somewhat. Commander Maxwell leaned over him, in uniform already, eyes twinkling lavender and full of good humor.
“Congratulations, you got me by surprise,” he said wryly. Duo laughed.
“Oh, he’s got a sense of humor!”
Treize pulled his legs in and sat up. “I’ll rise, but I refuse to shine. Gives away position. And what is supposed to make this a good morning?”
“Jeez, what a pessimist. Then again, why should I talk? You sound like me in the morning!”
Now Treize was laughing. “How old are you, Commander?”
“Call me Duo. Commanders don’t say anything that’s not need-to-know and no politician will ever give you a straight answer. And ‘Maxwell’ makes me feel like I’m back in boot camp.”
“All right, then. How old are you, Duo?”
“Would you believe twenty-two?”
“No way!”
“I knew you wouldn’t: nobody does. Yes, way, I am twenty-four years old, feeling every minute, and people still tell me I look like nineteen!”
“I had you figured for seventeen to nineteen… is there any way to bottle that or something? Sell it, you’d be a billionaire overnight!”
“Don’t I know it! Do you know how many women out there would kill for that?!” Duo found the hairbrush again and turned to the full-length mirror.
“Would you mind it if I helped you with your hair?”
Duo hesitated so long that Treize began to wonder if he’d said something he shouldn’t have. “Fine… if you want to…” he said at last.
Treize took the brush handed to him and ran it through the long, silky fall, loving how the strands glittered in his hands and slipped over his fingertips. “What do you have to do today, Duo?”
“You could probably tell me that just as easily as I could, you know.”
“So? My sources have been known to be wrong.”
“I won’t ask. Not a lot, thank God. I, unfortunately, have to be there today for the last bit of testing on those interesting little Scorpio mobile dolls you’ve no doubt heard so much about.”
“Don’t sound overjoyed there.”
“Hah. I’m not. I hate those things. If there’s going to be a battle, at least allow the humans fight it out and lose their lives and leave those bloody machines out of it. I know that sounds cold, but otherwise there’s no honor in the soldier’s sacrifice and therefore war becomes just a game. It’s the horrors of war that make people stop fighting.”
“An interesting viewpoint. So… why involve the colonies?”
Duo sighed. “That has probably been my biggest mistake in a series of them. I started this war as a glory hound. Now… I think I understand, now, what war means. I memorized the names of every person, man, woman and child, civilian or military, who has died because an order that I gave. The responsibility of command, and something I call the Law of Unintended Consequences: every action you take will have at least three consequences you foresaw and at least one you did not. Learned that the hard way. And that’s the reason why this war has degenerated into a bloodbath so quickly. My own men call me Shinigami, the God of Death. Quietly, but I’ve heard it. You’re stubborn, up there in the colonies. I did not take that into account. Which one are you from?”
“V08744.”
“That’s a rough neighborhood even compared to where I lived.”
“Which was?”
“The Bronx, New York City.”
“The Bronx? Piece of cake.”
“For you.”
“Can I ask something of you?”
“Just did, but fire away.”
“Well…” Treize had not planned this and was fishing for a polite way of stating this request. “My home has been really poor for a long time and it’s difficult for anyone to make a decent living. If we try to draw attention to ourselves peacefully, we go ignored. But if we do it violently, all we get is an even stricter military crackdown. Is there anything you can do to help us?”
Duo was silent. “This is very important to you. When do you have to complete your mission by?”
“No later than early tomorrow.”
The commander nodded to himself. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thank you…” Treize began braiding the long hair. When he was done, Duo turned around and gave him a hug.
“No, thank you. For bringing this to my attention. I’ll ask you to stay here for the day, but feel free to go where you’d like. Just…” he smiled, “…don’t cause too much of a ruckus.”
Treize looked at Duo out of the corner of his eye. “Wait a minute. Where’s the catch? You’re giving me, a Gundam Pilot, free rein around a lightly defended chateau with security so poor I could have sneaked Epyon through?”
“Epyon. Your Gundam?”
“Yeah. 02, in OZ-speak.”
“Hm. I’d show you my own suit. Deathscythe, but he’s rather hidden right now. I have to leave in a moment: leaving the room now would get me there with just enough time to slip into the car and go, but I will be back about 2100 tonight. Until then, have fun.”
“A blast.”
“Nice choice of words.” Then Duo was gone. Treize sat quietly on the bed for a moment, close to rubbing his hands together in glee. //So… what do I rig first?//
True to his word, Duo was opening the door again at precisely nine that night. “Hey, there, stranger,” he said once the door was closed. Treize looked up from his book. “Don’t pay me any mind: I’m just your friendly neighborhood OZ general.”
“Neighborhood? Good one. I had been in Madrid and high-tailed it all the way here just to see you.”
“Sorry about that.”
“Tu regrets, mon derriere!” (1)
“There’s truth to that,” Duo agreed after a moment. It took him a second to translate the French. Unbuttoning the dark coat, he changed to casual banter. “So, what have you been up to today?”
“The usual: hacking databases, stealing secrets, rigging the building, et cetera,” Treize responded in the same joking tone.
“I see. What do you like to eat?”
“Nani?”
“I said, what do you like to eat? Even you couldn’t have gotten into the chow lines without getting caught. Officer’s chow is serving up mystery spaghetti and sausages-” he paused to let that go by Treize and grinned at the look he got, “-or if you want it there’s something they’re passing off as pizza. Personally I’d go with the spaghetti: I wouldn’t touch the pizza with a Leo. Rumor mill says the cheese is melted down daily out of old Aries engines from suits that tangled with you Gundams. And it’s radioactive. Consolation is that it’s fresher than the spaghetti, by about three years.” Treize laughed incredulously, then found himself fighting off a pair of hands that seemed intent on tickling him to within an inch of his life.
“Duo!” he half-shrieked when the older one found a spot. “What are you-”
“Tickling you, that’s what. You look like you could use it.”
They came to rest on the floor, Duo on top of Treize and using his weight to pin him in place. He finally stopped, letting the younger pilot catch his breath: somewhere in all of that his braid had come undone and his hair hung down all around them. Looking down on Treize, who lay there with his eyes closed and shell-pink lips just barely parted, chest heaving, Duo could not resist. He let his lips fall onto Treize’s softly, ever so softly, asking and not demanding an entrance that was given after one hesitating moment. When they broke, Duo found himself looking into a pair of the most beautiful sky-blue eyes he had ever seen.
“Duo?” Treize whispered.
“We can stop, you know.” Just saying the words hurt, but he could bear it if Treize didn’t want to continue. “We don’t have to go on, not unless you want to…”
“Do… do you?”
“That, I think, is clear, but I’m not going to rape you.” Duo’s voice was a little harsher now, harsher with urgency that he fought down. //Dammit, Maxwell, keep it down until you know what he wants…// He could still feel those lips on his, like the memory of a spider’s touch; he wanted more. “What do you want? Stop, or go on?”
Treize answered with a uncertain touch on Duo’s chest. He started unbuttoning the dress shirt, a little more confident with each button that came undone. Duo gently stroked the fiery red hair, so soft and baby-fine, before biting into the juncture of the younger pilot’s neck and shoulder with a little growl. Treize arched under him, calling out softly, and that gave Duo the room to pull the shirt out of where it was neatly tucked into the dark pants. He ran his hands up the slender torso below him, leaving trails of flame wherever they went. Treize had slid the dress shirt off of Duo’s shoulders and the older one got rid of the rest. The touch of a smooth golden cross Treize had not noticed before made a fascinating contrast of burning skin and icy metal.
“Koi,” Duo murmured into Treize’s shoulder, “it’s considered gauche to be overdressed and I think we’re both entirely too much so…”
“So help me out of it,” Treize returned breathily. Duo let his hips rock and grind into the other’s, drawing staggering gasps from both of them, then eased them both out of their pants. Treize moaned just a little and bucked when Duo’s mouth closed onto his erection. Their breath came only in short rapid spurts. Pleasure threatened to overwhelm the Gundam pilot. He was about to-
Sudden loss made him bite his lip. He was being picked up and carried: a moment later the softness of the bed’s coverlet was a welcome relief from the harsh chafing of coarse rug fibers and freezing tiles.
“Do you still trust me, koibito?” Duo’s hot breath fell onto his neck and ear: he pressed into the source, only to be disappointed when it left again. “Treize, koibito… do you still trust me?”
“More than ever…” His body tensed at a sudden invasion, but only a moment later the flash of discomfort was gone like dew in the afternoon sun when that cool, slick something brushed against a certain spot. His world was flooded by billions of points of brilliance when another finger brushed joined it, and another. Duo’s tongue flickered over him in a maddeningly random pattern, teeth tugging on on his earlobes, his lips, his nipples…
Then that pleasure disappeared, and the flame-haired boy whimpered at the loss. Duo gently silenced that with another deep kiss. Something, he knew what without a need to be told, nudged at his entrance and he instinctively wrapped his legs around his lover’s waist. The head of Duo’s shaft pushed past the incredibly tight ring of muscle: Duo gasped at the inferno’s blaze that engulfed and enveloped him, stroked Treize’s face to help him relax, then rolled over so that Treize was now on top and waited for him to adjust. “Sshh,” he whispered, bending up to nibble up the column of his koibito’s throat. Silently, he prayed that he could hold: he was already buried in a silken sheath that caressed every throb and waiting for the younger one to adjust was torture of the worst and sweetest kind. What his body wanted to do was pound into Treize as hard as he could, but his heart wanted to cherish this forever and take care of the other pilot. Heart won out and Duo waited, although impatiently, for the slight relaxation that would tell him his lover had adjusted.
For Treize, this was such an odd feeling, being filled so completely, and it didn’t hurt. With that realization he felt the tenseness melt from him, and his slightly cloudy blue eyes met Duo’s lavender ones squarely. He bent down and licked the salt sweat from the commander’s jaw line: he was ready.
But nothing had ever prepared him for anything close to this. Duo started it the motion off, rolling his hips a little almost teasingly. Treize bucked, showing his annoyance at this form of sweet, sweet torture and causing Duo to slide out and then back in again. They both cried out as the pace picked up. Maxwell changed the angle just slightly and the effects were obvious: Treize was almost glassy-eyed in bliss. Stars flooded his vision in a glittering haze. Duo grasped Treize’s shaft, trapped between them, and gave it the few quick pumps that were all he had time for before the fire-haired one came and coated them both with the creamy white liquid. Feeling Treize clenching in release was enough to bring Duo to the edge and over as well: with a shout that was muffled into the shoulder of the one he called for he released his own essence into his koibito.
They lay together, exhausted, in one another’s arms. Treize frowned a little at the red marks on Duo’s shoulders: his lover was going to have some rather serious bruising. Duo looked at Treize, a touch on the cheek brought Treize’s attention away from the marks and they locked eyes.
“That was… incredible…” Treize said softly, snuggling into his lover’s sculpted chest. Duo curled around him and roughly stroked his hair.
“Mm… I’ll beg to differ on that one. You were incredible. Always will be.” He caught Treize examining his shoulders and stopped him. “It doesn’t matter, love. Was that your first time?” Treize nodded. Duo lay there, memorizing the details of his lover’s face and body. //Hair like the fire that drives him from inside, eyes the blue of the skies he came from. They’ve got darker blue and sea-green flecks in them, too. His skin is silk on steel…//
“What is it, Duo?”
The OZ commander smiled softly. “You’re beautiful, you know. Don’t be embarrassed, koi. I’m serious. You really are beautiful. You didn’t know that? Nobody’s ever told you that before? Two firsts, then, in one night. Who’s the fool you’ve been hanging out with? No, don’t tell me. No matter how smart he is, he’s a fool. He let you get away.”
What Duo initially thought to be a laugh, hidden in his chest, turned out to be a sob. “What about my mission, Duo? I have to… and I’m not sure I can…”
Duo gathered Epyon’s pilot even closer. “Treize, love, your coming here was a prayer answered. Even Shinigami has to come to the end of his mission sometime. How old were you when you first saw Epyon?”
“Twelve…”
“Four years ago, then? I was eighteen and already a major power in Romefeller, then. Not to mention leader of OZ. I know the government’s structure: it’s weak. Knock off the capstone and the rest of the pyramid will crumble, but you cannot afford to leave even one rallying point. I would be honored if the one useful thing I manage to do in this life is take the first step in bringing down a tyranny with my death. It would be double if the one person I truly love could do this one favor for me.”
“Duo, I-”
“Please?” He was pleading, now; tears ran down his face, and his back was in agony. //God, no, not now…// He bit down hard on a scream of pain and drew blood from his lip.
“Duo!”
“It’s… it’s nothing, koi… I’ll be… just fine…” he wheezed. The tears streamed into the pillow, turning the red cases to a deeper shade. The worst of it passed in a little while under Treize’s soothing touch and he lay there gasping. But the problem was clear: Duo was clearly in a great deal of pain. “Damn it… I had hoped you would not have to see that…”
“Koi, what happened?” Treize was pale, almost as much as Duo. The commander took a deep breath, willing the sporadic spasms to stop. “That didn’t look or sound like ‘nothing.’ Is there anything I can do?”
In just a half an hour, Duo’s face had aged. He looked twenty-two now, no longer nineteen. “I may as well,” he said quietly. “I have MS. Do you know what it is?”
Treize shook his head. “I’ve heard of it. Nervous system?”
“Yeah. Nobody knows exactly why it starts, but basically once it does there’s no stopping it. The immune system attacks its own nerves, and while it’s rare for the kind I have to occur so young this kind will eventually lead to paralysis. I couldn’t bear to live like that! The worst part of it is, it’s not fatal. I could handle it if it was…”
//So you would have no choice but to live with it for the rest of your life. I understand now,// Treize realized.
“I’ve done a little work today, though, for you. You have an escape window and a clear shot, ten minutes, in about an hour and a half. That should be time enough to take care of business and get out. Koi, I’m begging you to do this for me. One last thing I ask, that’s all.”
“I-I-I don’t want to hurt you-”
“Merde!(2) If that’s all then let me tell you there is no possible way for you to hurt me, except by going and getting yourself killed immediately.”
“Ok…” Treize was a little calmer now, steeled by Duo’s harsh tone. “Let me go get ready…”
Duo nodded. “Sure. You do that…” Then he held Treize tightly.
The Epyon pilot showered and dressed quickly. By the time he was out, Duo had changed the bed and dressed, also, in the black sweatpants and a black t-shirt that had been neatly tucked in. He sat at the kitchen table, dripping some hot wax onto an envelope and used a thumb to seal it. Next to him was a small floppy disk. He smiled as he rose from the table, disk in hand.
“The envelope is for Une, instructions regarding your home colony. She won’t be giving you any trouble, by the way: her orders are explicit there, and if she follows any orders it’s mine and mine alone. The disk is yours: a few odds and ends I picked up on a hunt through the databases today. And there’s something I’d like you to have. I don’t expect you to wear it, but… I’ll give it to you, anyway.” He removed the golden cross from around his neck and placed it over Treize’s head. “There,” he said, smiling in a satisfied manner. He went to the bed and jumped on it a little, then reached under the pillow.
“I’m really starting to hate this thing,” Treize told him. But he took the weapon, made sure it was loaded, clicked off the safety. “I’m sorry, love…”
“It’s kitto okay, love.”
“Are you really sure about this?”
“Yeah.” Duo expected Treize to throw his arms around him: he did not expect the words that accompanied the gesture.
“I love you, koi, and I’ll miss you forever…”
“Treize… no goodbye is ever forever. I’ll stay with you. Don’t forget it.”
The commander looked up at his lover, who stood at the side of the bed, fiddling uncertainly with the handgun. He read the hesitation and whispered to the other. Then he added, as an afterthought, “And for pity’s sake, please don’t go doing something stupid, like getting yourself killed or something.”
“I’m sorry, Duo…” The black, dimly shining barrel rose.
“Nothing to be sorry for. Any time you’re ready…”
The weapon made no sound at all: only a slight recoil in Treize’s hand and a swiftly spreading darker patch on Duo’s shirt indicated that the weapon had even fired. “Thank you,” Duo breathed. “…love you… forever…”
Treize quietly closed Duo’s eyes, placed a kiss on the dead man’s brow. “I love you, too, koibito. And don’t forget it.
OWARI
Feedback? S’il vous plait? Or should I just shut up and go hide out someplace until the flames stop threatening to kill me? =) =D ;P =D =)