So just what was she doing here again? Oh yeah, she was looking for...
You'd think they'd have the common courtesy to lay these places out so things could be found, she complained to herself. She brushed her recently cut hair out of her eyes, still unable to get used to the sudden, very drastic change in lengths.
With a sudden shock, she turned one more corner and found herself at exactly the place she'd been meaning to end up. About time too...
She tapped lightly on the door and winced slightly as she heard a click on the other side of it. She forced herself to stare straight forward at the peephole. "It's me," she stated softly. "I got everything."
Another click, this time one of the door unlocking. Slowly it swung in to reveal a young man a year or so older than her on the other side, a gun still in his hand, apparently just in case she wasn't as alone as she'd seemed to be. "What took you so long?" he asked, moving slightly to let her through at last.
She frowned in his general direction, already hurrying past him. "I got a little lost, okay? This place is like a maze." She paused at the bedroom door, her hand on the handle, and looked back at him. "Has there been any change?"
Dark blue eyes turned downward, and the gun finally disappeared. "Nothing at all. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing."
Privately, it amazed her to hear that much worry - that much emotion, period - in that nasal voice, to see those Prussian blue eyes so dark with raw feelings. Usually he never allowed himself to feel so much. She felt a small smile build up inside her, but she held it back from appearing on her face. The object of their mutual affection had a way of doing that to people.
"I'm sure he'll be all right, Yuy-kun," she offered gently, trying to offer a small reassuring smile that she didn't really feel. "Duo's tough, you know."
"Hai... I know... demo..."
A small frown played across her pretty face, and she set down the precious packages she'd been holding and crossed the small room to lay a hand on the Japanese young man's upper arm. "Duo would never leave you, you know that, Yuy," she stated firmly. When he finally looked up at her, she winked as playfully she could at him. "There's nothing to worry about there. Now, let's see if we can't get him better, all right?"
A smirk trying to build on his face, Heero Yuy nodded and started to step past her when a familiar voice completely froze him. "So are you two going to be friends now?"
"D -Duo?" he barely gasped out, barely able to choke the word out in his surprise.
She, on the other hand, had no such problem. "You shouldn't be out of bed, Duo Maxwell!" she scolded, her voice sounding very threatening if he didn't start acting better.
"Saa... You can't keep Shinigami down..." Even as he said the words, he yawned mightily then coughed slightly from the effort it took. Heero rolled his eyes, and she smiled at the cute picture he made. "So are you two going to make up now?"
She glanced over at Heero, in time to see him staring down at her, and shrugged. "If Yuy wants..." she finally offered.
The Japanese young man shrugged indifferently as well. "I don't care."
She sent a sly look at the Perfect Soldier and slinked back across the room to latch on Duo's arm in a manner that (sickeningly enough) reminded her faintly of what Relena would like to do to Heero if he and Duo didn't shove guns up her nose every time she tried it. "Duo, don't you we'll do anything for you?"
"Except kiss you when you're sick," Heero muttered just loud enough to be heard.
"Hidoi, Hee-chan..."
"Come on, Duo; you need to take your medicine." At the immediate grimace that hit his face, she grinned and winked. "So we can kiss you." She laughed sweetly at the faint blush that appeared on his cheeks beyond the small pink stain that was there from the fever.
"You're an evil woman, you know that, right?" the American complained as she led him back into the single bedroom in the tiny apartment. "It's no fair using that against me."
She grinned down at him as she sat him down on the bed and measured out the appropriate amount of Nyquil, trying to ignore the way Heero watched her every move closely from where he leaned in the doorway. "Whoever said we had to fight fair?" she teased.
"It's about the only way we'd win, you know, Duo."
"So you're going to gang up on me to make me take my medicine?" the American asked, wide-eyed innocent.
She winked coyly. "And maybe not just that, if you're good." She nearly giggled aloud when he flushed scarlet, and to hold it back, she held out the medicine. "Swallow."
"I hate medicine," Duo complained.
She cast a desperate look back at Heero. He pushed away from where he'd been leaning and circled around to the other side of the bed, sitting down and taking the small plastic cup from her fingers. "I've got it," he stated softly. "You look tired. Why don't you go get some sleep?"
Never one to turn down any even semi-peaceful gesture from Heero, she slowly stood and slipped back into the living room, collapsing onto the couch that had been her bed for the last few nights. She leaned her head against the back, staring up at the ceiling, her eyes closed. Gods, if you listen to us mere mortals, please let Duo be okay. That's all I ask. She frowned. And if you have any extra time, please make it so Yuy and I can get along, for Duo's sake.
"He's asleep," that familiar voice stated, startling her from her thoughts.
She opened her eyes again in time to see Heero dropping bonelessly into the arm chair he'd been occupying the last few days. Now that she really looked... "You look exhausted too, Yuy. Get some rest. How long has it been since you got any real sleep?"
He shrugged. "I'll be fine for a few more days, till Duo gets better."
She frowned half-heartedly. "That's not what I asked, Yuy."
"Were you saying what I think you were before?" he questioned instead.
She forced herself to look nonchalant. "It's probably the only way this can be worked out happily. We both love Duo, and neither of us want to admit defeat to the other, right?"
He nodded, looking faintly thoughtful. "That's true." A scowl that was much more like the Perfect Soldier they all knew touched his face. "You know, the only girl I've ever kissed was Relena, and it wasn't my choice."
She grimaced. "Relena doesn't count. She's not a girl; she's a psycho. She's an obsessed, out of her mind, wacked out, nuttier than a fruitcake, crazy stalker." Slowly, she rose again and stepped over to sit on the arm of his chair. "Do you think it would work if we tried it though, Yuy?"
"Only one way to be sure." He leaned upward just slightly and pressed his lips to hers. She blinked sharply and felt her eyes grow huge in surprise. After a few seconds, he pulled away, and she touched her lips in wonder. "Maybe not."
She smirked slightly. "That was hardly a standard for comparison, Yuy-kun. That was hardly a real kiss." She allowed a thoughtful look to appear on her face. "At least you're better than I was my first time. Demo..." She cut herself off by allowing her mouth to cover his, gently nudging his lips apart as her tongue darted inside. She had to give him credit; the Perfect Soldier was a quick study. A bit on the rough side, but by no means anything less than thorough, she mused to herself, feeling his hands lock behind her back and drag her down onto his lap. As his tongue slipped into her mouth, she groaned against his lips. Has Duo been giving him pointers or something? her mind idly put forth as she reluctantly pulled away. "Now that was a kiss," she panted. "Still don't think we could make it, even for Duo's sake?"
"I think there's a good chance we could make it work." If she hadn't known him as well as she did, (one must know one's enemy after all, and they had been competing rather fiercely for Duo's affections) she might not have noticed that he too was out of breath, that his eyes were a few shades darker than their usual Prussian blue, that his face was flushed with desire -
- that he was almost as gorgeous as Duo...
- that she wanted to kiss him again...
~ * ^ * ~ * ^ * ~
A rather groggy Duo Maxwell plodded out of his bedroom, blearily rubbing at sleepy eyes. Then pausing and rubbing his eyes again, this time in disbelief. No... he did not see what he thought he saw. Hadn't they hated each other only the day before? And now they lay all entwined on the couch, tangled in the one blanket to the point of ridiculousness. Who could ever think they were mortal enemies, seeing them sleeping together so peacefully, his arms around her, her head laying against his chest? It was just too weird.
"Should you be out of bed?" a soft, silvery voice asked, shaking him out of his reverie. With amazing dexterity, she slipped out of the blanket (he let out an only slightly thankful sigh at the sight that she was still fully clothed) and crossed the small room, touching her hand to his forehead. "Looks like the fever's gone, at least. How do you feel?"
"You... and Heero..." he barely managed instead.
"Oh," she waved a hand negligently, "we had a long... talk last night and decided to put our differences aside."
"Soo desu," a sleepy nasal voice put in from the couch. Duo looked over her shoulder to see Heero stiffly sitting up, already wild hair mussed to the point of sticking out in nearly every direction now.
"And we decided we could really get to like each other since we'll be having to put up with each other from now on," she concluded.
"'From now on'?" Duo echoed, a bewildered expression on his face.
"Simply put..." she began before Heero cut her off.
"Simply put, we both love you and neither of us want to lose you, so we were going to ask you to consider... both of us."
For a long moment the entire room was silent, nearly quiet enough to hear a pin drop, as the saying went. Finally, the Perfect Soldier found himself getting belted in the face with the pillow he'd just been sleeping on. "Yuy no baka!" she screamed. "Never just lay something like that out!"
He snatched the stuffed cloth from her hands and hit her back with it. "How else were we supposed to tell him?" he countered. "There isn't exactly a guidebook for situations like this."
"Because only people like us would get into situations like this!" she returned, trying to get her weapon back, even crawling over him when he stashed it behind his body, so that she straddled his thighs, her weight pressing down just slightly against him. Finally she pressed her lips to his cheek. A quick startled look passed over Heero's face, and she snatched the pillow back as she jumped to her feet, hitting him with it once more. "Yuy no baka!"
"Ano... " They both turned towards Duo, slowly refocusing their attention. "I... I think I'd like to give it a try, Heero," he looked at the Japanese young man, who smiled just noticeably, then at the woman in front of him, "Usagi..."
First Draft: 9 August 2001
Revisions: 14 January 2009
I just had to get this out of the way. It had been sitting in my head, you see, that I wanted to do another one-shot. I don't know how much of a one-shot it's going to end up being, because I see a lot of ways it can be continued, but it's out of the way and I can bury this plot bunny.
Anyway, I had a few personal challenges in this fic; please let me know how I did on them. The first was to not say who the woman was until the end. (Was anyone expecting it to be who it was?) Second was to totally revamp all the old stereotypes. And the final challenge was to ask for and accept no assistance with this. So blame me if something sucks.
Anyway, comments and (constructive) criticism welcome. Flames will be stored up for a huge bonfire. So anyway, please review or e-mail me!
Ja!
As for the revisions, I am in the process of converting all my stories with Gundam Wing characters over to traditional spellings. So that means all my "Hiiro"s will become "Heero"s and all my "Ririna"s will become "Relena"s. For clarity's sake.