I touched him once. Just once. The lightest possible brush of my fingers across his back. He looked at me, jaw gaping, then put on a little half smile I'd never seen before. He watched me go to my laptop and commence typing faster than usual. My fingers were blurs across the keyboard, but he didn't know what I was typing. I didn't even know what I was typing until I finished.

DUODUODUODUODUODUODUODUODUODUODUODUODUO.

Over and over and over. That's it. His name. But it fit, because my fingers seemed to have picked up his energy. All the energy I was using screamed of Duo, the speed, the agility, everything I did was DUO.

DUODUODUODUODUODUODUODUODUODUODUO.

He watched my fingers, enraptured by the dance across the keyboard, a dance he easily could have mimicked. Each slightest twist and turn of my fingers was DUO, screamed of DUO, and… the Heero-ness was left behind. It may have been the same word over and over, but it was quite possibly one of the wordiest things I've ever written.

DUODUODUODUODUODUODUODUODUO.

If it wasn't Duo, and it wasn't me, what would it have been? Would it have been Quatre and Trowa, the way they tiptoe around each other? Trowa could have been the dancer, Quatre could have watched the tiniest change in his expression. But it WAS Duo, and it WAS me, and instead of tiptoeing, we sit. Sit waiting for the other to make the first move.

DUODUODUODUODUODUODUO.

All of Duo's natural ease and exuberance, even his talkativeness seemed to live in my fingers for that time. He sat across the room watching, having taken on my lethargy. If I touch him again, all this vigor may go back into him. As much as I have to say I would love to touch him again, I want to get what I have to say out first. All my thoughts flow from my fingers instead of my mouth. A quick glance shows he's still sitting. Watching me. Maybe he's waiting for the touch that will give his power back.

DUODUODUODUODUO.

If I gave him that touch, what would follow? Would I keep some of his energy, retain a little part of him in me? Would he touch me? He rested across from me, scrutinizing each press of a key as I typed, watching him out of the corner of my eye. He didn't care what I typed. I didn't care what I typed. But it turns out I did care what I typed. I never want him to see this. He may just brush it off with a smile, but it's more important than that to me. One word. His name. Time and again, in the dance of Duo on my keyboard. I will remember how his drive felt forever.

DUODUODUO.

I've misled you. I said the only thing I used his energy to type was his name. But I wasn't paying attention to what I was typing, and when I finished, I flipped to the top of the page as soon as possible. It was still his name. Always his name. Again and again till the end of the page. Except for the last one. The last one is important, more important than all the rest. Duo would have laughed at the mere thought of it. But it's him and me, so I may show him anyway, give us both a chance to laugh it off. Just three words I should never have known, much less thought or written. But his energy gave me the will, the way, and anything I need to say it. His energy, his vitality helped me say it.

ILOVEDUO.

One touch, a touch that will have to be repeated, gave me the words to say it. Duo gave me the words to say it. And it's all true. But now I have to give him the touch that will bring back my stupor, return his animation, and make everything the way it should have always been. What I have written is the last thought in my mind as I hold my hand out to him and pull him close, hoping to return things to their normal speed. I hear whispers passing by as I sag to the floor, still holding him in my arms…drifting towards the black void…



Just so we have this clear, the sudden loss of energy made him black out, like after a really heavy caffeine or sugar high.