Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing.
A/N: I struggled with this chapter. It flowed fine in the start and then BOOM writer's block struck and I finished this one just out of sheer stubbornness. So I'm sorry if you can tell the exact line where my inspiration faded TT
Posted on: 10th Nov. 2007
“My, my… someone’s a little tired today.” Came a drawling, haughty voice and Duo’s head snapped up. He hadn’t even realized he had fallen asleep on the keyboard. There stood James Derouche, leaning against the cubicle divider as if he owned the office.
“Leave me alone Derouche.” He said not even having the energy to be snappy about it. He’d gotten home a little before 5. He’d gotten barely two hours of sleep before his alarm had happily reminded him that today was a work day and he had smashed the bits out of it.
“Did someone keep you up all night?” He asked with a sneer and Duo raised an eyebrow not understanding the insinuation. Then James darted a glance at Wufei who seemed to be working on his computer listlessly, looking pretty tired as well. Oh hell no!
“He’s married you little fucker.” He hissed.
“I never said you were honorable in your conquests.” Slowly Duo opened a drawer and James watched curiously. He pulled out the Laughing Buddha paperweight and was about to swing it when his boss walked in. In mid motion, Duo let go of the Buddha and it fell to the ground unseen by the boss.
“Maxwell, a word please?” Duo nodded quickly and got up, but not before darting a murderous glance at James who blinked innocently back.
“Yes sir?” He said stifling a yawn that threatened to split his face into two once he had entered his boss’ office. His eyes fell on the small golden plaque with the name ‘Harry Butt’ written on it. He sniggered mentally… Harry Butt! Why would his parents name him that?
“There’s a matter that has been brought to my attention…” He drawled in a self-important way and Duo tried to pay attention. If only he hadn’t been feeling so damn tired… but it was worth that brilliant kiss with Heero… He wanted to make out with him again… maybe this time he’ll invite Heero over? Maybe Heero won’t mind staying over? Maybe he could convince Heero to sleep with him… just sleeping, minds out of the gutter please… although he was not averse to the other connotation of the phrase…
“Mr. Maxwell!” Duo jerked awake from his train of though and was half disappointed that he was still in Butt’s office (snigger… Butt!) and half mortified that he was in front of his boss daydreaming about kissing his boyfriend.
“Yes sir! Sorry sir!” Duo rattled off and Butt seemed to calm down.
“It seems you really are tired. I thought it strange that the office was actually silent for once.” Butt smiled in a slightly creepy way as though unused to actually cracking a joke. Duo squashed the urge to cringe and gave a fake laugh that was fooling no one. Pleased with himself Butt continued, “So as I was saying, there are rumours going around that you have been spotted with a young man and oh how should I put this…?” He huffed a little as looked to the side, furrowing the bridge of his nose as though thinking of a less insulting way to say something, “ Dating I suppose… the rumors state that you were very cozy with this young man. What do you have to say for yourself?”
Duo felt nervousness taking a hold of him. He didn’t like lying. It went against everything he remembered his parents teaching him… then again if he told the truth he’d be out of a job. Evasion is the best tactic in such cases…
“As you said, Mr. Butt, they are only rumours.” He said trying to look a little offended that he would insinuate such a thing against his manliness but he didn’t have the energy. Butt rubbed his chin thoughtfully and Duo’s attention honed in on the number of acne marks dotting his chin.
“Well said Mr. Maxwell. It would have been terrible to lose one of our best software programmers because of a couple of silly rumours! Please continue working, and if need be take an early day off, you look like death warmed over.” He said flipping his hand through the air dismissing him.
Early day off? Don’t mind if I do. He said mentally as he spoke out loud, “Thank you sir, I’ll complete the rest of the program tomorrow.”
“Take your time, take your time. You never miss a deadline and last time I checked you were way ahead of schedule. You deserve a day off. I’ll see you Monday nice and early!” He said jovially, his massive stomach vibrating.
And that’s how Duo got off work early and ended up in bed at noon.
“Mmm… Heero…” Duo mumbled as he turned in bed, burying his face in the covers.
“Hmm?” Came a reply and Duo’s eyes shot open. There he was… lying across from him on his stomach, his hair fanning on the pale blue pillow and his eyes wide open just as blue as the pillows looking at him.
“Heero?” Duo asked sitting up not believing that he was in his bed. When the covers slipped off his stomach is when he realized he was naked… completely butt naked. “What the…?” Did they… you know… do that?
“Hey babe…” Heero purred getting up to giving Duo an eyeful of his gold skin and tight stomach. “It’s too late to be shy now…” He crawled on all fours towards Duo who swallowed so loudly it almost hurt. Mouth dry he felt himself getting aroused from the sound of his seductive voice, the sight of the smooth expanse of skin shifting like liquid poured over steel-strong muscles and the mischief in Heero’s eyes as they twinkled at him.
“Oh boy…” Duo managed to squeak before Heero lunged at him and he woke up with a start at the sound of the phone ringing.
“Crap.” He groaned at the sight of the massive erection he had from the dream and decided to ignore it in favour of picking up the phone, glancing at the clock in the meantime – 7 pm. “Hey?”
“Duo…?" Heero! Duo's dream came back suddenly and he felt himself getting even harder now that he could actually hear Heero's voice. "Hi I was just umm… calling to see why you didn’t come… it’s late…” Oh shit! Heero must have been waiting for him for hours!
“Oh my god Heero I should have let you know! I’m so sorry! I got off work early and I fell asleep when I got home and I kind of lost track of time…” Duo explained quickly and he heard a quiet sigh on the other side.
“That’s all right, I was just wondering what happened. I’m sorry I disturbed you, see you later.” And he hung up.
Now Duo was left in trouble. From Heero’s tone of voice he could tell nothing. He may be angry with him for making him wait that long in the park just so he could sleep, or he could have been just simply accepting… who knew?
The uncertainty started driving Duo nuts and he quickly got dressed and ran. He needed to know if Heero was angry at him or not because otherwise he’d have no peace. He rushed across intersections almost causing a car to drive off the road and got into the subway just as the doors were closing. When the train let him out he dashed across the station and the subsequent intersection almost causing another crash and made it to Heero’s doorstep in record time.
Now that he was here, time to fix himself up. He adjusted his shirt, pulled his pants up so that they were resting on his hip instead of falling off and straightened his wayward braid. And then he rang the bell.
…
And he rang it again.
…
DAMN IT! He must still be at the park!
With that Duo went on another mad dash to the park.
He found him lying on the grass, his face turned towards the sky. Aiko was pressed against his side sleeping. Duo slowed down his steps so that he wouldn’t disturb the pair and went to them. When he was a couple of feet from them Aiko’s eyes opened and she looked at him. Seeing that it was him, she closed her eyes again and seemed to return to sleep, her tail twitching slightly.
He sat down softly next to Heero, reaching out to touch the soft skin of his midriff exposed by the shirt pulling up slightly. Heero’s hand shot out and grabbed Duo’s stopping its explorations.
“Hey Heero.” Duo said to him and Heero immediately let his hand go.
“Duo? But I just talked to you… you were asleep… how come you’re here?” Duo decided Heero looked absolutely adorable when he was confused.
“I ran.” He stated simply before lying down next to him. “You’re not mad at me right?”
“Why would I be mad?” His hand was resting on the hemline of his shirt where Duo was lightly touching his stomach. Was it his imagination or was Heero pulling the shirt slightly higher to expose more skin to him?
Duo propped himself up on his side placing his hand down squarely on Heero’s stomach he heard his breath hitch slightly. “I don’t know… I was just worried you would be mad at me.” His eyes were lingering on Heero’s belly button and he felt all his attention being drawn to it. His skin was very warm and soft under his finger tips and the very nice dream he’d had when Heero had called him started coming back to him. Bending down he placed his lips around his belly button and licked it lightly. The reaction was immediate. Heero shot up, pushed Duo’s face away, pulled his shirt down and blushed so hard that Duo worried he may have popped a couple of blood vessels. Even his neck and ears were turning red.
“Don’t do that!” He said but it was clear he had liked it way too much.
Duo smiled goofily. He loved it when Heero blushed. He loved it even more when Heero blushed because of him. “Let’s go Heero… it’s starting to get cold.” He said as he helped him up. Aiko looked up quickly when he got up and she jumped up as well, her tongue rolling out and her tail wagging excitedly. Duo patted her head fondly as she broke into a trot in front of them seemingly knowing that they were headed for home.
Duo held Heero’s hand tightly in his and led him comfortably towards his house. “So… how long were you waiting here?”
“W-waiting? I wasn’t waiting… I was walking Aiko… not waiting…” Heero stumbled and Duo let go of his hand to throw it around his shoulders and pull him close. It amazed him just how little he was afraid of someone seeing him with Heero… even after the whole fiasco with Butt that morning… he just didn’t care.
Haha! Butt! Harry Butt! GOD his parents must have hated him!
“What are you giggling about?” Heero asked and Duo stopped holding his laughter in.
“Just thinking about my boss.” He said with a grin and squeezed Heero’s shoulders. “His name is Harry Butt.” Heero didn’t say anything. “You know… Harry Butt. Hairy Butt.” He emphasized the pronunciations.
For all his efforts Heero just smiled.
“Not into making fun of people are you?” Duo sighed and Heero shrugged.
“It’s funny… I suppose…”
“So I guess I shouldn’t even bother to tell you what I think of the name Dickinson.” Duo pouted and Heero surprised him by actually laughing loudly. “Okay… so I guess you find that funny.” In response to Heero’s laughter Aiko barked playfully ahead of them and walked with a little bit more bounce. “She’s a beautiful dog.” Duo commented casually.
“Yeah… She’s seven years old. I found her when she was two months old. She’s almost a constant in my life now.” He explained.
“ Found her?”
“Yeah, I found her shredding my garbage bag to bits. She was beautiful and really tiny so I didn’t have the heart to just let her go. So I took her in, fed her and then she just never left.”
“So you haven’t always been… you know…” Duo sweated a little not knowing how his inquiries about Heero’s handicap would be taken.
“No. I lost my eyes four years ago. Long story.” Heero added quickly and Duo got the point. He didn’t want to talk about it.
“When I first saw her I thought she was your seeing-eye dog.”
“She does act like that. She seems to know what I want, where I want to go and what is good or bad. But she’s not trained… just intuitive I guess.” Heero smirked slightly. “And she’s vicious when she doesn’t like someone so she acts as a guard dog too.”
Duo gulped, noting Aiko’s size. If she decided she wanted a bite out of him, he didn’t think he’d survive. As though hearing his thoughts, Aiko looked back at Duo and gave him a playful bark, her tongue hanging out.
Nah… she was too adorable for that.
“Ah… here we are.” Duo said a little reluctantly. He always felt nervous when he walked Heero home. He wanted to stay with him… but he was afraid of looking too desperate by asking to stay… so he was left frustrated.
“Hn.” Heero grunted softly, his hand reaching out to touch the brickwork near the door. Expertly his hand found the door knob and he turned around to face Duo, his head slightly bent forward as it always was.
“So… uh… I guess I’ll be going now… It was nice seeing you Heero…” Duo mentally smacked himself after he muttered that out. It was nice seeing you? It was nice seeing you? God he sounded like a stranger who had just met Heero or something!
“Oh… but I was hoping you could stay for a little while? Quatre and Trowa would be coming over later and Quatre said he didn’t get a chance to meet you properly last time.” Duo stopped and gave a silent whoop in his head. Stay longer? Staying longer sounded just fine!
“Sure! I’ll stay!” Heero nodded and opened the door to let him in. Once in all Duo could think was…dark. Aiko got excited to finally be home and barged in after them, pushing Duo out of the way and ran straight into the basement. “Heero… why is it so dark in here?”
“Oh!” Heero quickly switched on the lights. “Sorry, I don’t need the lights and neither does Aiko so I forgot.”
“That’s cool.” Duo said distractedly as he wandered in looking at the knick knacks adorning the walls and shelves. There were a lot of pictures on the walls of Heero and Trowa… and Heero had his eyes open wide. “Blue…” They were an amazing shade of blue, bright and sparkling and gorgeous.
“What?” Heero asked form the doorway where he was taking off his shoes.
“Your eyes… they’re beautiful.” Heero reached up to touch his sunglasses as if to make sure they were still there. “No, the pictures on the wall… you have your eyes open.”
“Is that the one I’m hanging off Trowa in?” He asked with a mischievous smirk.
Looking closer he realized that yeah, he was hanging off of Trowa in a way that was completely against what he thought Heero was like. And the picture looked a little old… they both looked really young, mid teens maybe. “Yeah… you are.”
“That was taken on a beach we visited seven years ago. Trowa lived with me then so we did everything together. He met Quatre there.” Heero explained as he sat down on a couch nearby.
“And they fell in love?”
Heero smiled broadly. “He was in love the moment he saw him. Quatre was playing volleyball with a bunch of guys who looked snobby and were throwing their noses up on everyone who came near. It took me ages to get Trowa to talk to Quatre because he was afraid he’ll be rejected.”
“But he did get the nerve to ask him out?”
“Hardly. I went to Quatre introduced myself in the middle of their game, thereby disrupting it, and then told him my best friend would like to ask him out but was too much of a coward. The last bit I yelled out so that Trowa heard me.” He grinned. “Trowa flipped me the finger from the other side of the beach. And Quatre told me to tell him that he would be delighted, but only if he asked him out himself.”
“And he did?”
Heero nodded. “Trowa cornered him before he left, told him he thought he was gorgeous and that he would love to get to know him. Quatre gave him his number and they got together. They just fit so perfectly.”
Duo continued his perusal of the photographs and noticed that Heero grew older in them and that Quatre made an appearance in several of them after the beach photo. They lined up chronologically. He stopped when he saw a guy who looked a little familiar but hadn’t been there in any of the previous photos. He had dark brown hair, almost black, and piercing green eyes… why was it nagging him that he knew him? And not to mention he was hugging Heero very intimately, his hand in Heero’s hair as he pushed the smaller boy against his side and an arm around his chest holding him close. Heero had his arm around the boy too smiling in the camera as if he’d been given the world. “Who’s this?”
“Who’s who?”
“This guy with green eyes and dark hair… he’s hugging you.” Was that jealousy he noted in his own voice? How pathetic was he?
“Oh.” Duo distinctly saw Heero’s mood darken and he wondered why. He noticed that that was the last picture in the line. “He was my boyfriend.”
“What happened?” He walked up to Heero and touched his hair lightly. “If you don’t mind me asking.”
“It was four years ago.” And that’s all he said. Didn’t Heero say he lost his eyes four years ago? What happened? He leaned forward and grasped Duo’s shirt pulling him closer. Duo realized what he wanted when Heero’s hands grasped the back of his neck and pulled his face closer to his. Taking a deep breath he kissed him deeply when Heero opened his mouth to him almost immediately. Duo felt drunk on Heero’s taste and couldn’t get enough as he pushed himself closer and closer to him. They didn’t even hear the door unlocking or even when two pairs of feet entered.
They did hear the growl before Duo was ripped off of Heero and was now dangling by his collar from Trowa’s grip. “Stop molesting my best friend.” He growled at him and Duo smiled sheepishly.
“Hi Trowa.” Heero said and Duo shot him a glare. He could be more helping!
“Trowa let go of Duo this instant! He was not molesting him!” Quatre huffed and Trowa let him go reluctantly.
“Yeah listen to the blondie! He’s reasonable!” Duo said and then jumped back to dodge the punch aimed at him.
“Don’t call him blondie.” He hissed at him and Duo shivered in response.
“Oh relax.” Quatre said as he turned to Duo. “You can call me blondie if you want.” He said with a smile and Duo wondered for the hundredth time how he could end up with Cyclops over there.
“Nah, I’ll call you Q-baby. And I’ll call Heero Hee-chan. And Trowa here can be Cyclops. Coz they were vicious and no one liked them.” He giggled as he jumped out of Trowa’s reach.
“Did you know who Heero’s first kiss was?” Trowa said to Duo smiling, his one green eye twinkling madly. Uh... random? Duo frowned as he tried to follow Trowa train of thought... or at least make a connection as to why this whole thing would prompt him to bring up the subject of Heero's first kiss.
“Trowa!” Heero was blushing… why was he blushing?
“I was.” He said smugly and Duo burned.
“Heero is that true?” Duo demanded wondering if he’ll have to compete with Trowa.
“It was ages ago! And we were young and curious about what kissing felt like so Trowa suggested that we kiss each other to find out!” Everyone looked at Heero.
“You weren’t all that averse to the idea.” Duo and Quatre both looked at Trowa as he countered.
“What the hell is going on?” Quatre asked dangerously and Duo heard Trowa gulp loudly.
“This was before I met you Quatre, I would never cheat on you!” Trowa said quickly.
“Were you and Heero dating before you met Quatre?” Duo asked his eyes narrowing as he walked up to the couch and sat down on it. He then pulled Heero onto his lap and held him possessively against his chest.
“No… we were just friends.” Heero answered softly.
“Friends who kissed.” Duo added before he placed a possessive kiss on Heero’s neck.
“What exactly was the point of you telling us all this?” Quatre asked hotly, his arms crossed.
“He was calling you baby! I wanted to make him jealous!”
“Do you ever think before you speak?”
“No! That’s why I try not to talk at all.” Silence greeted his words before Duo burst out laughing.
“And here I thought he was just anti-social! Turns out the problem runs deeper!” He laughed harder and Heero chuckled along with him. Quatre’s frown turned into a smile slowly and soon he was laughing softly as well. Trowa flushed when he realized everyone was laughing at his expense.
The rest of the evening went pretty well. Quatre made them dinner and Trowa tried to help. He kept a constant eye on Duo making sure he didn’t ‘molest’ Heero again but he didn’t have much to go on considering that it was Heero who was initiating the kisses that night.
“I need to talk to you.” He said to Duo when Heero was busy chatting with Quatre as Aiko ran in circles around them. Duo nodded and followed Trowa outside the house. They came to a stop near a tree that had majority of it's leaves fallen out. They crunched as they stepped on them, reminding them that winter was coming soon.
“You don’t know anything about Heero at all. And I worry that you may hurt him.” He stated.
Duo kept staring at him.
“He likes you. It scares me that he may like you too much. Don’t make him believe in something you are unwilling to give.” He pressed and Duo frowned.
“I do want a relationship with him.”
Trowa shook his head. “You don’t understand…” He sighed and ran his hand through his bangs and for a moment Duo could see his entire face as the heavy bang was lifted. He really was a gorgeous guy but the bang gave him an air of mystery lending to his protective nature. With his entire face exposed... he looked a little like a lost child... an overgrown lost child. “Heero’s been through… things… it’s not my place to tell. He has been very suspicious of everyone until you came along and for some reason he’s placing almost complete faith in you.” He breathed in deeply, frowning. “It scares me that he’s looking for something in you that doesn’t exist or maybe… you just won’t be willing to give it to him…”
Duo scrunched up his nose as he tried to make sense of his ‘ramblings’. Trowa didn’t look so fearsome when he was sorting his own thoughts out.
“Regardless…” He exhaled calmly and then suddenly punched the nearby tree shattering the bark and leaving a sizeable depression in the trunk. Duo shuddered, mentally putting his head where the trunk had been and imagining the damage. “If you hurt him, in any way… I promise you I’ll destroy you. I never want to see Heero crying again. Ever.” He said with an intensity that made something in Duo’s heart twist.
“Heero was crying?”
For some reason Trowa smiled at the inquiry. “Once… a couple of years back… again, it’s not my place to tell.” He crossed his arms at his chest after assessing the damage he had done to the tree.
“Four years ago? When he lost his eyes and something happened to his boyfriend?” Duo ventured. Trowa’s eyes widened and he nodded slightly. “Tell me what happened?”
Trowa shook his head. “Ask Heero.”
“He seems not to want to head in that direction. I don’t want to force him. Tell me!”
He shook his head again. “Then you have to wait until he’s ready to tell you.” He chewed on his lower lip a bit and looked at the desperate face Duo was making. “Tell you what? That bastard’s name is Adam Shaw. Look it up.”
Duo nodded and just as he was heading back into the house Trowa grabbed his arm to stop him. “Don’t say his name around Heero.” He warned and Duo nodded stiffly. He let him go and the braided boy darted into the house. Trowa watched him go and after a few moments followed him in.
A/N: After this chapter I won't be updating for a while (again... sigh I know...) I've learned my lesson, taking six subjects in one semester is not something I can handle. THE MADNESS ENDS IN DECEMBER!!! I survived a whole two and half months of this! Let's see if I survive the next month.
Anywho... hope you enjoyed the chapter. More of Heero's history will be revealed later (possibly next chapter or maybe the one after it... we know Duo's a determined young man).
See u next time!
Persephone
PS: Did the name of the chapter have anything to do with the chapter? Nope.