GW Beach Party
Summer days have something about them that can make even the greatest warrior want to relax and forget the action of war for a while. A trip to the beach can help a lot in these instances. The war had been over for a while now and life was finally starting to return to some semblance of a normal pace. So why not spend a day at the beach?
"I can't find my bathing suit!" Heero told Duo and Releina who were standing just outside his door.
"Oh, that's okay man, I've got an extra one I can lend you," offered Duo.
"Well, um, while you two sort this out, I'll go see how the others are before we get going, okay?" Releina glanced between the two pilots, her gaze lingering on Heero for a moment. He nodded slightly. "See you guys later then," she said and went on her way toward the other side of the house.
Duo leant against the door frame and watched this exchange quizzically. When she'd gone, he went on another of his, now
infamous (at least to Heero), rants. "Why don' you just come out and tell her you like her?"
Heero stared at his friend thoughtfully. "You're crazy aren't you?" he said at length, knowing full well that he was about to get into a well worn argument.
"Me?! I'm not the one who's killed myself multiple times, tried to kill my friends almost as many times, and I'm certainly not the one who won't admit I'm in love with someone, even though I know perfectly well she's in love with me!" Duo said, looking through Heero's chest of drawers. "Where'd you see it last anyway?" he asked, varying from the lines he'd memorized from over use of the same conversation.
"Oh yes, I seem to remember a certain someone moping around the sick bay and literally never leaving just because a certain someone else was a little dented," Heero recited. He joined Duo, looking behind the bureau. "Middle drawer, don't bother, I already looked."
"A little dented?! Hilde was nearly dead!" Duo screeched, shutting the drawer. "Did you try under the bed?"
"Dead? Don't make me laugh, she was not nearly dead! I've been dead!" Heero pushed the dresser back to the wall. "No, and you shouldn't either, it's definitely not safe."
"You...," Duo paused, wondering which line to reply to first, he had a ready answer to the first one, but the second was just
plain ludicrous! "It's not safe under your bed?" he laughed.
"And another thi-...," Heero started. He paused. He backtracked and reviewed what had just been said. He thought a moment. "Yes, it's definitely not safe under there."
"You, of all people, are afraid to go under your bed?" Duo felt like he was going to burst from suppressed laughter.
"I'm not afraid to go under my bed," Heero protested, turning over the bedside table and looking behind it.
"No, I guess you're not... you're just afraid of dentists!" Duo said, no longer able to contain his glee.
"SH!" Heero clamped his hand of Duo's mouth, "You or Trowa say one word about that and I'll-"
Duo pushed Heero away, "You'll what? Kill us?" He collapsed with laughter. Heero glared at him.
"Didn't you say you had a pair I could borrow?" Heero queried, trying to change the topic of conversation as quickly as
possible.
"Uh, yeah, but...," Duo looked back toward the bed and started laughing insanely again.
There was a knock at the door and Trowa poked his head in, "Hey, you guys mind keeping it down a little?"
The first two pilots nodded and Trowa left. Heero gave Duo a look. Duo ignored him and went over to the bed, muttering, "At least then you weren't afraid to go under your bed..." He crouched and looked under the bed, then blinked. He stood up, rubbed his eyes, blinked a few more times, crouched, and looked again. "There isn't even anything down here!"
Heero watched the other pilot and almost burst into relieved laughter himself. Good, he didn't see it.
"No... wait... there's something over in the corner... if I can just reach it..." Duo was now on the floor and trying to worm his way under the bed.
Uh-oh.
Duo sneezed, backed out from under the bed, stood up, dusted himself off, and looked at the thing he held in his hand. "Is this what I think it is?"
Damn, damn, double damn!
What Duo held was a swim suit that may have been Heero's. It was blue with electric pink fishies and... and... and "Hello
Kitty?! Your bathing suit had 'Hello Kitty' printed on it?!" Duo cried, alternately horrified and greatly amused.
Heero snatched it away, crumpled it up, and threw it back under the bed. "One word," he said. Duo couldn't help but noticehow red Heero had suddenly turned.
"Uh, right," he said, thinking up ways to reveal this to everyone and get a little even. Should probly tell Trowa, he thought.
"Now, you do have on you can lend me?"
Yeah... lemme go get it." Duo turned on heel and hurried to his own room, just across the hall. Heero sighed an dropped into a chair.
Once Duo reached his room, he shut the door and leaned against it, letting out the suppressed laughter. Then he hurried over to his dresser and rummaged around until he found what he was looking for. He grabbed it and walked back to Heero's room.
"Here," he said, handing it to Heero. "Now, if you don't mind my asking, why do you have 'Hello Kitty' on you bathing suit?!"
"It was a gift," Heero mumbled, "Now, don't you think you had better go do whatever it is you need to do?"
"Uh, right," Duo said, thing, Man, now what's up?
He walked out and closed the door on Heero staring at the black suit in his hand. Duo headed across to his room, paused,
turned, and looked at the slightly open door to Trowa's room. A malevolent grin crept slowly across his face.
****
Releina looked at her watch impatiently. All five of them were taking too long and it certainly wasn't like them to be late. or at least, in her experiences with Heero and Duo it wasn't. The others were getting impatient as well. Catherine kicked at a dust ball on the porch floor. Hilde tried to ignore the bright early morning sunlight glaring away in all their faces. Noin and Sally, who had wisely decided to stand under the shade of the porch roof, idly talked about this and that. Zechs looked bored out of his mind sitting dejectedly on the steps. He wished he was somewhere else and would have been too, if it hadn't been for his little sister and Noin.
"Argh! Where are they?" Releina asked impatiently, startling everyone.
"Where are who?" asked Quatre, appearing out of nowhere.
"You and the other pilots," said Zechs tiredly.
"Oh, um... Wufei said he'd be along in a minute... Trowa and Duo were discussing something last I saw... Heero...," Quatre
scratched the back of his head, "Don't think I've seen Heero today..."
Zechs closed his eyes, wondering if his own hair reflected the sunlight the same blinding way Quatre's did of if it was just a
Winner thing.
There as a short communal silence, finally broken by Hilde's "Fine! I'll go get them!" after which she stormed into the house.
Hilde found Wufei first. She simply rounded a corner and almost walked right into him. He glared at her haughtily and told her to watch where she was going, clumsy woman. She told him to get his butt outside, everyone else was getting impatient. He didn't appear to be especially affected by her threats, but went on his way saying that that was where he'd been headed
anyway, thank-you-very-much.
She found Heero's door closed and knocked politely.
"What?" was an almost growl.
"Um, Heero? It's Hilde... Releina and the others are getting impatient."
"Fine, I'll be there in a minute."
"Okay."
She left that conversation with the usual slightly creeped out feeling. As she came upon Trowa's room, Duo and Trowa came out, each grinning insanely. While this was a normal thing with Duo, in Trowa's case it was surprising.
"All right, what are you two plotting?"
They froze, innocent smiles replaced all too happy grins. "Nothing," they said in unison sing--song voices. She looked at them suspiciously, as though trying to read their thoughts. Duo was reminded of the look Heero had given him earlier, that dark, I'd-murder-you-if-I-had-the-chance look.
"Okay, so, are we going or what?" Duo asked brightly.
"That's what I came in for, to get you guys," she replied, "Quatre's already outside with everyone else and Wufei should be there too by now. They are getting a little impatient."
"Okay the, what are we waiting for?" Duo asked.
"Heero."
"I'll get him," volunteered Trowa.
"Right! C'mon Hilde, let's go wait outside with the others," Duo said, taking her hand and making haste for the front of the beach house.
Trowa watched them go, then resignedly whet and knocked on Heero's door.
"I said I'd be there in a minute!"
"Heero-," Trowa started before the door flew open in his face.
Heero blinked. He hadn't been expecting the clown to be standing at his door.
"Let's go, according to Hilde the others are getting impatient," Trowa managed to finish his previous statement.
"Fine."
****
Zechs opened his eyes to see Duo and Hilde come running out of the house. He raised an eyebrow questioningly, but Noin
asked what he'd been thing first. "Where are Heero and Trowa?"
Duo looked back into the house, "They should be here soon...," he murmured.
As soon as the words had left his mouth, the remaining two pilots came into view. They both blinked against the sunlight.
"Can we go already?" asked Zechs, somehow finding it his duty as the oldest male to make sure everyone stuck to the schedule.
"There was a murmur or agreement from their small crowd, and most nodded. A mass grabbing of towels and last minute other stuff commenced and they finally set out toward the picturesque strip of beach just barely visible from the house.
Duo complained most of the way, having forgotten his sandals, that his feet were burning on the literally frying hot sand. Heero laughed good naturedly and pointed to his own sandals. "At least I can keep up with the important things!" he jested, the gloom and doom temperament temporarily forgotten. Duo scowled, yelped as he stepped on a particularly sharp shell and fairly danced the rest of the way to the shore.
Quatre couldn't contain his comments on how incredibly beautiful the beach and the earth in general were. Trowa amiably
agreed and pointed out this shrubbery or that bird. Wufei watched the other four and smirked, thinking his own devious little thoughts.
Releina and Hilde discussed the male mentality most of the way with little additions from Sally or Noin from time to time. Zechs pretended to be lost in his own thoughts, but kept a protective eye on his little sister.
Less than fifteen minutes later they arrived at a space of beach that was deemed worthy of their day's plans. Quatre looked
around awestruck, "You'd think places like this wouldn't exist anymore," he breathed. While looking merely picturesque from the house, up close and in person it might as well have been from a story-book dating back to the eighteenth or nineteenth century. The water was a perfect aquamarine color, just clear enough to see a school of fish darting through the salty spray. The sand was like snow almost, and the vegetation wrapped the little cove in an aura of mystique. Palm and other seemingly mythical plants lined the inlet. The sun shone brightly as ever, topping off the already breathtaking scene. And not a cloud in the sky....
Duo forgot his burnt feet and grinned broadly, "Last one in has to clean the hanger for a month!" he cried gleefully, dropping his towel and stripping off his shirt, he was in the water before anyone had gotten their shoes off. What followed was a mad dash for the water, ending in many elated shrieks at how cold it was, a beach strewn with outer clothing and Zechs dubbed as the official hanger cleaner.
Some time later, when things had calmed down a bit, Hilde proposed a game of volleyball. They played a few rounds, but most of them lost interest early on. The boys went back to the water fairly quickly, Heero and Duo were apparently competing over something. Wufei sat on the sand polishing a surfboard that was apparently his.
"Do you even know how to surf?" asked Quatre, plopping down next to Wufei.
"I'm learning," said Wufei, almost modestly.
"Oh."
****
Trowa snagged Duo out of yet another race and asked him something. Duo's gleeful look flickered out for a moment to show a crafty grin, but just as quickly returned. He nodded and they both turned to look at Heero who was unawaredly floating a few meters away. They split up, heading in opposite directions, then turned around and simultaneously dove under the water, each making a bee-line for Heero. He didn't notice them until he felt their hands tugging on his arms. Heero dropped from sight under the waves and Trowa and Duo popped up laughing. They held their victim under for a few more seconds before he managed to escape their combined grasp and came up spluttering. He glared at his fellows and looked as though he were about to start a fist fight right there and then. Quatre pointed out their antics to Wufei and laughed.
Quatre stood up and waded into the water toward the other three. He casually flicked a hand through the waves sending the spray gracefully toward them. The splash reached them and all three were subject to the torrential effects. Suddenly forgetting their rivalry, Duo, Heero, and Trowa turned to face Quatre who grinned at them and raised his hand threateningly. The battle started quickly and soon all five of them were caught in the fray.
"And there goes Wufei... ooh, wonder where Quatre learned that one?" said Hilde, like a sports announcer.
Releina shook her head, laughing at Hilde's 'battle commentary'.
****
The battle had long since ended. The boys had floated away from one another and seemed to wrapped in their own worlds.
Releina, Catherine, and Sally were building a sandcastle, Zechs had fallen asleep, and Noin was trying to tickle him awake.
Little shark, searching for prey... searching... searching... there!
"And then wha- ack!" Duo had been explaining something to Quatre when suddenly he found that someone was clinging to him from behind. Hilde grinned and tightened her grip around hm. "Hilde...," Duo choked out, "Hilde... hon... can't breath..." He looked pleadingly to Quatre, "H- help?"
Quatre shook his head, eyes raised skyward, and sighed, but Hilde had already mostly released Duo.
"Don't do that!" Duo rubbed his neck and tried to look at Hilde, but that was pretty well impossible with her on his back. Hilde grinned at Quatre and feigned a move to kiss Duo, dunking him instead. The longhaired boy came up spluttering and glared angrily at Hilde. She beamed back triumphantly and swam away as quickly as she'd come. The two pilots looked in the direction she was headed and saw the other girls collapsing in fits of laughter on the shore. "Ooh, I'm gonna get her got that one..."
"See Duo, that's why I'm not following your advise and getting a girlfriend," said Quatre, pointedly returning to their topic of discussion.
****
Trowa sat on the shore, right at the point where the water came up in a foamy spray before crashing around his feet. He
watched as Hilde attacked Duo, Wufei plotted to smash the sandcastle, and Noin managed to get a reaction out of the still
sleeping Zechs. He smiled slightly, thinking of his and Duo's plans for Heero. Where was Heero anyway? Trowa scanned the beach, then the water, not seeing the fifth boy. Oh well, Trowa shrugged and went on with his thoughts.
****
Heero floated on his back, watching the sky. Water, water, everywhere and not a drop to drink, he thought and a smirk
graced his face for a moment. Suddenly his brow furrowed in deep thought, those clouds weren't there a minute ago... were
they? Large, dark angry clouds had appeared from nowhere and looked as thought they would burst any moment. Needless to say, they did.
Moments later, the group was dashing across the shore, trying to gather up everything they'd brought before the storm really got started. Zechs had been rudely awakened by the first few drops of the downpour and didn't seem to be quite awake just yet, but he too was moving as quickly as possible to get everything together. Wufei managed to run through the already diminishing castle in a madcap effort to catch his towel. As soon as their arms were full, each person began their fast paced trek back to the house, none of them paying the slightest attention to the painful broken shells or the burning sand.
Rounding the final bend in the path between the shore and the house, the pilots raced for their end of the house, each trying to beat the other four inside.
****
Noin walked casually down the hall, wondering where everyone had gotten to. She turned a corner and found the boys, no, only four of them, sitting dejectedly outside the bathroom door and looking very bored. Heero was sitting bolt upright against the wall and staring directly ahead at nothing. Wufei was next to him, apparently asleep. Trowa was on the other side of the door, sprawled across the floor, head leant against the wall. Quatre was next to him, in much the same position, but with his legs crossed under him. Noin suppressed the urge to laugh.
Heero looked up at her and, as though reading her thoughts, told her, "Duo got to the shower first."
Ah, that explains it..., she thought, already continuing on her path.
The four boys watched her leave, sighed, and wondered how much longer Duo planned on hogging the shower.
"Now taking bets on how much of his time in there is actually spent just trying to control his hair," Heero grumbled.
Wufei opened one eye. "Ten says the whole time," he said, then shut his eye and resumed his 'nap'.
Trowa and Quatre nodded agreement and all four slumped back into resigned boredom.
****
An hour or so later, everyone had showered and they were now congregating in the living room in the very center of the house. The storm raged outside and it appeared that the sun had already sunk. Zechs, now very much awake, built a small fire in the hearth and stoked it into a comfortable blaze. Releina, Heero, Duo, and Hilde sat on the wraparound couch, watching the fire. Quatre had folded himself into a big armchair and was reading. Catherine, Sally, and Wufei were playing cards around the coffee table, seated comfortably on pillows on the floor. Noin was helping Pagan with something in the kitchen. Only Trowa was unaccounted for...
"Hey! Stop poking me!" Heero glared at Duo, who had been poking him good naturedly since he discovered that everyone had a bit of a sunburn, Heero and Wufei particularly. Duo himself hadn't burned too terribly, but he was regretting not putting any sunscreen on.
Duo looked around the room, noticing that everyone was a little pinkish... except the on you would have expected to have
burned the worst, what with his fair skin and pale complexion. "Quatre, why aren't you burnt?"
Quatre looked up from his book for a moment, smiling, and announced, "You don't spend months in the desert without learning something." He held up a bottle of SPF50 sunscreen.
"I said stop that!" cried Heero for the twentieth time.
Hilde poked Duo experimentally.
"Ow!" Okay, so maybe it was a pretty bad burn.
Releina looked over at Hilde questioningly. Hilde smiled back one of those 'they're-so-pathetic-it's-cute' smiles. Releina
nodded, also smiling.
"Heero, buddy, it might just be me, but I think they're plotting something," said Duo.
"That so?"
Hilde prevented Duo from replying by pulling the rubber band off the end of his still wet braid. "Hey, give that back!" This
resulted in the pair tumbling off the couch. Heero smirked at Duo's attempts to disentangle himself and Hilde from his hair. Duo snatched the rubber band back, helped Hilde up, and plopped back on the couch, running his fingers through his hair in a vain attempt to get it back under control.
"You know, you should let your braid out more often," quipped Hilde. Duo glared at her through his hair.
****
Trowa crept down the deserted hall toward their rooms. He carefully approached Heero's door and tried the handle. It was
unlocked. Slowly, slowly, he eased the door open and slunk into the dark room. Carefully, he moved to the bedside table and switched on the lamp. He hoped the light wouldn't shine into the hallway, it was od utmost of importance that he wasn't discovered until he had what he was looking for. He thought for a moment, remembering what Duo had told him earlier.
****
Noin balanced the tray carefully, trying not to spill the contents of the mugs. Hot cocoa was just the thing for an evening like this one. So what if she was supposed to be one of the 'responsible adults' around here. They'd had a great day and a light snack was most likely better than a full meal. Pagan followed with a tray of biscuits.
Noin turned and pushed through the double doors backwards, holding one open for Pagan, then followed him into the living room. Catherine had just beaten Wufei and Sally at yet another game and Wufei was growing more red faced with each loss. Sally looked up, her face shining with laughter from the his most recent outburst, "Oh, perfect timing, Noin, really perfect timing!"
"Yeah," Catherine laughed, "Wufei won't have to lose again!"
Wufei glowered at the two, but helped them clear the table for the trays anyway. Zechs had a momentary thought of making a bad pun concerning 'trays' and 'Treize', but dismissed it after a quick glance at all the females in the room.
Once everyone had gotten their mug and a few biscuits, they were left in something of a predicament. There was one mug left, but everyone was holding their own in various states of full or empty.
"Who's missing?" asked Sally at exactly the same time Quatre asked, "Where's Trowa?"
Everyone looked mystified for a moment, but as if on cue, Trowa entered from the door leading to the pilot's hall. "I'm right
here," he announced.
"Oh,... cocoa?" offered Catherine.
"Not yet, thanks."
"It'll get cold if you don't drink it soon," she pointed out.
"I know, it'll just be a minute," replied Trowa. He turned to face Heero, "Nitrous or cats?"
A dawning realization hit Heero like a ton of bricks and he paled considerably. Everyone else, saving Duo, looked confused.
The thunder clapped outside and was quickly followed by a crack of lightning. The rain continued beating on the roof and the fire blazed merrily in the hearth. Heero found himself in a notably uncomfortable situation. Duo had risen from his position on the couch and was now standing side by side with Trowa. They both wore equally malicious grins.
"So, Heero, why exactly was it that both you and I had to skip math class that one time... you remember that time, don't you Trowa?"
Dammit, this was going so well! thought Heero.
"Oh, yes, I think I remember," said Trowa, almost as though he and Duo were having a normal reminiscent conversation. "I had to join you two one day last year on a... what was it now?"
"Mission, I think it was," replied Duo.
Oh no, thought Heero, burying his his face in his hands. They're gonna tell them everything!
"Oh, right, a mission! But I should think that Heero would be able to handle a simple data retrieval mission on his own," said Trowa thoughtfully.
"Well, normally he would have, but there was this issue concerning a rather bad cavity and some overly effective nitrous,"
explained Duo.
"Ah, yes, now I remember! Whatever did you do with him after I left?"
No, no, no, this is not happening! thought Heero fiercely, banging his head softly into the back of the couch despairingly.
"And then I had to chase him all over the school grounds!"
"No!" said Trowa in mock shock, "Really?"
"Yup, and then..."
Heero desperately tried to think of anything else but what was happening right then. The rest of the party was hanging onto Duo and Trowa's every word in rapt silence, sometimes casting an incredulous glance in Heero's direction.
"Of course, while that's a great story," said Trowa, "it's nothing compared to this!" He reached a hand into his pocket and drew out the accursed bathing suit. Heero groaned, his face screwing up as though in pain at the sounds of laughter from the party.
Releina thought a moment, then leaned over and kissed Heero. He blinked in surprise.
"Hey Heero!" called Duo joyously, "That just your sunburn or are you blushing?"
END.
What'd ya' think? Terrible? Lame excuse for a sequel if you ever saw one? Tell me! .... pwease?
(sparrowsnest@earthlink.net)
Summer days have something about them that can make even the greatest warrior want to relax and forget the action of war for a while. A trip to the beach can help a lot in these instances. The war had been over for a while now and life was finally starting to return to some semblance of a normal pace. So why not spend a day at the beach?
"I can't find my bathing suit!" Heero told Duo and Releina who were standing just outside his door.
"Oh, that's okay man, I've got an extra one I can lend you," offered Duo.
"Well, um, while you two sort this out, I'll go see how the others are before we get going, okay?" Releina glanced between the two pilots, her gaze lingering on Heero for a moment. He nodded slightly. "See you guys later then," she said and went on her way toward the other side of the house.
Duo leant against the door frame and watched this exchange quizzically. When she'd gone, he went on another of his, now
infamous (at least to Heero), rants. "Why don' you just come out and tell her you like her?"
Heero stared at his friend thoughtfully. "You're crazy aren't you?" he said at length, knowing full well that he was about to get into a well worn argument.
"Me?! I'm not the one who's killed myself multiple times, tried to kill my friends almost as many times, and I'm certainly not the one who won't admit I'm in love with someone, even though I know perfectly well she's in love with me!" Duo said, looking through Heero's chest of drawers. "Where'd you see it last anyway?" he asked, varying from the lines he'd memorized from over use of the same conversation.
"Oh yes, I seem to remember a certain someone moping around the sick bay and literally never leaving just because a certain someone else was a little dented," Heero recited. He joined Duo, looking behind the bureau. "Middle drawer, don't bother, I already looked."
"A little dented?! Hilde was nearly dead!" Duo screeched, shutting the drawer. "Did you try under the bed?"
"Dead? Don't make me laugh, she was not nearly dead! I've been dead!" Heero pushed the dresser back to the wall. "No, and you shouldn't either, it's definitely not safe."
"You...," Duo paused, wondering which line to reply to first, he had a ready answer to the first one, but the second was just
plain ludicrous! "It's not safe under your bed?" he laughed.
"And another thi-...," Heero started. He paused. He backtracked and reviewed what had just been said. He thought a moment. "Yes, it's definitely not safe under there."
"You, of all people, are afraid to go under your bed?" Duo felt like he was going to burst from suppressed laughter.
"I'm not afraid to go under my bed," Heero protested, turning over the bedside table and looking behind it.
"No, I guess you're not... you're just afraid of dentists!" Duo said, no longer able to contain his glee.
"SH!" Heero clamped his hand of Duo's mouth, "You or Trowa say one word about that and I'll-"
Duo pushed Heero away, "You'll what? Kill us?" He collapsed with laughter. Heero glared at him.
"Didn't you say you had a pair I could borrow?" Heero queried, trying to change the topic of conversation as quickly as
possible.
"Uh, yeah, but...," Duo looked back toward the bed and started laughing insanely again.
There was a knock at the door and Trowa poked his head in, "Hey, you guys mind keeping it down a little?"
The first two pilots nodded and Trowa left. Heero gave Duo a look. Duo ignored him and went over to the bed, muttering, "At least then you weren't afraid to go under your bed..." He crouched and looked under the bed, then blinked. He stood up, rubbed his eyes, blinked a few more times, crouched, and looked again. "There isn't even anything down here!"
Heero watched the other pilot and almost burst into relieved laughter himself. Good, he didn't see it.
"No... wait... there's something over in the corner... if I can just reach it..." Duo was now on the floor and trying to worm his way under the bed.
Uh-oh.
Duo sneezed, backed out from under the bed, stood up, dusted himself off, and looked at the thing he held in his hand. "Is this what I think it is?"
Damn, damn, double damn!
What Duo held was a swim suit that may have been Heero's. It was blue with electric pink fishies and... and... and "Hello
Kitty?! Your bathing suit had 'Hello Kitty' printed on it?!" Duo cried, alternately horrified and greatly amused.
Heero snatched it away, crumpled it up, and threw it back under the bed. "One word," he said. Duo couldn't help but noticehow red Heero had suddenly turned.
"Uh, right," he said, thinking up ways to reveal this to everyone and get a little even. Should probly tell Trowa, he thought.
"Now, you do have on you can lend me?"
Yeah... lemme go get it." Duo turned on heel and hurried to his own room, just across the hall. Heero sighed an dropped into a chair.
Once Duo reached his room, he shut the door and leaned against it, letting out the suppressed laughter. Then he hurried over to his dresser and rummaged around until he found what he was looking for. He grabbed it and walked back to Heero's room.
"Here," he said, handing it to Heero. "Now, if you don't mind my asking, why do you have 'Hello Kitty' on you bathing suit?!"
"It was a gift," Heero mumbled, "Now, don't you think you had better go do whatever it is you need to do?"
"Uh, right," Duo said, thing, Man, now what's up?
He walked out and closed the door on Heero staring at the black suit in his hand. Duo headed across to his room, paused,
turned, and looked at the slightly open door to Trowa's room. A malevolent grin crept slowly across his face.
****
Releina looked at her watch impatiently. All five of them were taking too long and it certainly wasn't like them to be late. or at least, in her experiences with Heero and Duo it wasn't. The others were getting impatient as well. Catherine kicked at a dust ball on the porch floor. Hilde tried to ignore the bright early morning sunlight glaring away in all their faces. Noin and Sally, who had wisely decided to stand under the shade of the porch roof, idly talked about this and that. Zechs looked bored out of his mind sitting dejectedly on the steps. He wished he was somewhere else and would have been too, if it hadn't been for his little sister and Noin.
"Argh! Where are they?" Releina asked impatiently, startling everyone.
"Where are who?" asked Quatre, appearing out of nowhere.
"You and the other pilots," said Zechs tiredly.
"Oh, um... Wufei said he'd be along in a minute... Trowa and Duo were discussing something last I saw... Heero...," Quatre
scratched the back of his head, "Don't think I've seen Heero today..."
Zechs closed his eyes, wondering if his own hair reflected the sunlight the same blinding way Quatre's did of if it was just a
Winner thing.
There as a short communal silence, finally broken by Hilde's "Fine! I'll go get them!" after which she stormed into the house.
Hilde found Wufei first. She simply rounded a corner and almost walked right into him. He glared at her haughtily and told her to watch where she was going, clumsy woman. She told him to get his butt outside, everyone else was getting impatient. He didn't appear to be especially affected by her threats, but went on his way saying that that was where he'd been headed
anyway, thank-you-very-much.
She found Heero's door closed and knocked politely.
"What?" was an almost growl.
"Um, Heero? It's Hilde... Releina and the others are getting impatient."
"Fine, I'll be there in a minute."
"Okay."
She left that conversation with the usual slightly creeped out feeling. As she came upon Trowa's room, Duo and Trowa came out, each grinning insanely. While this was a normal thing with Duo, in Trowa's case it was surprising.
"All right, what are you two plotting?"
They froze, innocent smiles replaced all too happy grins. "Nothing," they said in unison sing--song voices. She looked at them suspiciously, as though trying to read their thoughts. Duo was reminded of the look Heero had given him earlier, that dark, I'd-murder-you-if-I-had-the-chance look.
"Okay, so, are we going or what?" Duo asked brightly.
"That's what I came in for, to get you guys," she replied, "Quatre's already outside with everyone else and Wufei should be there too by now. They are getting a little impatient."
"Okay the, what are we waiting for?" Duo asked.
"Heero."
"I'll get him," volunteered Trowa.
"Right! C'mon Hilde, let's go wait outside with the others," Duo said, taking her hand and making haste for the front of the beach house.
Trowa watched them go, then resignedly whet and knocked on Heero's door.
"I said I'd be there in a minute!"
"Heero-," Trowa started before the door flew open in his face.
Heero blinked. He hadn't been expecting the clown to be standing at his door.
"Let's go, according to Hilde the others are getting impatient," Trowa managed to finish his previous statement.
"Fine."
****
Zechs opened his eyes to see Duo and Hilde come running out of the house. He raised an eyebrow questioningly, but Noin
asked what he'd been thing first. "Where are Heero and Trowa?"
Duo looked back into the house, "They should be here soon...," he murmured.
As soon as the words had left his mouth, the remaining two pilots came into view. They both blinked against the sunlight.
"Can we go already?" asked Zechs, somehow finding it his duty as the oldest male to make sure everyone stuck to the schedule.
"There was a murmur or agreement from their small crowd, and most nodded. A mass grabbing of towels and last minute other stuff commenced and they finally set out toward the picturesque strip of beach just barely visible from the house.
Duo complained most of the way, having forgotten his sandals, that his feet were burning on the literally frying hot sand. Heero laughed good naturedly and pointed to his own sandals. "At least I can keep up with the important things!" he jested, the gloom and doom temperament temporarily forgotten. Duo scowled, yelped as he stepped on a particularly sharp shell and fairly danced the rest of the way to the shore.
Quatre couldn't contain his comments on how incredibly beautiful the beach and the earth in general were. Trowa amiably
agreed and pointed out this shrubbery or that bird. Wufei watched the other four and smirked, thinking his own devious little thoughts.
Releina and Hilde discussed the male mentality most of the way with little additions from Sally or Noin from time to time. Zechs pretended to be lost in his own thoughts, but kept a protective eye on his little sister.
Less than fifteen minutes later they arrived at a space of beach that was deemed worthy of their day's plans. Quatre looked
around awestruck, "You'd think places like this wouldn't exist anymore," he breathed. While looking merely picturesque from the house, up close and in person it might as well have been from a story-book dating back to the eighteenth or nineteenth century. The water was a perfect aquamarine color, just clear enough to see a school of fish darting through the salty spray. The sand was like snow almost, and the vegetation wrapped the little cove in an aura of mystique. Palm and other seemingly mythical plants lined the inlet. The sun shone brightly as ever, topping off the already breathtaking scene. And not a cloud in the sky....
Duo forgot his burnt feet and grinned broadly, "Last one in has to clean the hanger for a month!" he cried gleefully, dropping his towel and stripping off his shirt, he was in the water before anyone had gotten their shoes off. What followed was a mad dash for the water, ending in many elated shrieks at how cold it was, a beach strewn with outer clothing and Zechs dubbed as the official hanger cleaner.
Some time later, when things had calmed down a bit, Hilde proposed a game of volleyball. They played a few rounds, but most of them lost interest early on. The boys went back to the water fairly quickly, Heero and Duo were apparently competing over something. Wufei sat on the sand polishing a surfboard that was apparently his.
"Do you even know how to surf?" asked Quatre, plopping down next to Wufei.
"I'm learning," said Wufei, almost modestly.
"Oh."
****
Trowa snagged Duo out of yet another race and asked him something. Duo's gleeful look flickered out for a moment to show a crafty grin, but just as quickly returned. He nodded and they both turned to look at Heero who was unawaredly floating a few meters away. They split up, heading in opposite directions, then turned around and simultaneously dove under the water, each making a bee-line for Heero. He didn't notice them until he felt their hands tugging on his arms. Heero dropped from sight under the waves and Trowa and Duo popped up laughing. They held their victim under for a few more seconds before he managed to escape their combined grasp and came up spluttering. He glared at his fellows and looked as though he were about to start a fist fight right there and then. Quatre pointed out their antics to Wufei and laughed.
Quatre stood up and waded into the water toward the other three. He casually flicked a hand through the waves sending the spray gracefully toward them. The splash reached them and all three were subject to the torrential effects. Suddenly forgetting their rivalry, Duo, Heero, and Trowa turned to face Quatre who grinned at them and raised his hand threateningly. The battle started quickly and soon all five of them were caught in the fray.
"And there goes Wufei... ooh, wonder where Quatre learned that one?" said Hilde, like a sports announcer.
Releina shook her head, laughing at Hilde's 'battle commentary'.
****
The battle had long since ended. The boys had floated away from one another and seemed to wrapped in their own worlds.
Releina, Catherine, and Sally were building a sandcastle, Zechs had fallen asleep, and Noin was trying to tickle him awake.
Little shark, searching for prey... searching... searching... there!
"And then wha- ack!" Duo had been explaining something to Quatre when suddenly he found that someone was clinging to him from behind. Hilde grinned and tightened her grip around hm. "Hilde...," Duo choked out, "Hilde... hon... can't breath..." He looked pleadingly to Quatre, "H- help?"
Quatre shook his head, eyes raised skyward, and sighed, but Hilde had already mostly released Duo.
"Don't do that!" Duo rubbed his neck and tried to look at Hilde, but that was pretty well impossible with her on his back. Hilde grinned at Quatre and feigned a move to kiss Duo, dunking him instead. The longhaired boy came up spluttering and glared angrily at Hilde. She beamed back triumphantly and swam away as quickly as she'd come. The two pilots looked in the direction she was headed and saw the other girls collapsing in fits of laughter on the shore. "Ooh, I'm gonna get her got that one..."
"See Duo, that's why I'm not following your advise and getting a girlfriend," said Quatre, pointedly returning to their topic of discussion.
****
Trowa sat on the shore, right at the point where the water came up in a foamy spray before crashing around his feet. He
watched as Hilde attacked Duo, Wufei plotted to smash the sandcastle, and Noin managed to get a reaction out of the still
sleeping Zechs. He smiled slightly, thinking of his and Duo's plans for Heero. Where was Heero anyway? Trowa scanned the beach, then the water, not seeing the fifth boy. Oh well, Trowa shrugged and went on with his thoughts.
****
Heero floated on his back, watching the sky. Water, water, everywhere and not a drop to drink, he thought and a smirk
graced his face for a moment. Suddenly his brow furrowed in deep thought, those clouds weren't there a minute ago... were
they? Large, dark angry clouds had appeared from nowhere and looked as thought they would burst any moment. Needless to say, they did.
Moments later, the group was dashing across the shore, trying to gather up everything they'd brought before the storm really got started. Zechs had been rudely awakened by the first few drops of the downpour and didn't seem to be quite awake just yet, but he too was moving as quickly as possible to get everything together. Wufei managed to run through the already diminishing castle in a madcap effort to catch his towel. As soon as their arms were full, each person began their fast paced trek back to the house, none of them paying the slightest attention to the painful broken shells or the burning sand.
Rounding the final bend in the path between the shore and the house, the pilots raced for their end of the house, each trying to beat the other four inside.
****
Noin walked casually down the hall, wondering where everyone had gotten to. She turned a corner and found the boys, no, only four of them, sitting dejectedly outside the bathroom door and looking very bored. Heero was sitting bolt upright against the wall and staring directly ahead at nothing. Wufei was next to him, apparently asleep. Trowa was on the other side of the door, sprawled across the floor, head leant against the wall. Quatre was next to him, in much the same position, but with his legs crossed under him. Noin suppressed the urge to laugh.
Heero looked up at her and, as though reading her thoughts, told her, "Duo got to the shower first."
Ah, that explains it..., she thought, already continuing on her path.
The four boys watched her leave, sighed, and wondered how much longer Duo planned on hogging the shower.
"Now taking bets on how much of his time in there is actually spent just trying to control his hair," Heero grumbled.
Wufei opened one eye. "Ten says the whole time," he said, then shut his eye and resumed his 'nap'.
Trowa and Quatre nodded agreement and all four slumped back into resigned boredom.
****
An hour or so later, everyone had showered and they were now congregating in the living room in the very center of the house. The storm raged outside and it appeared that the sun had already sunk. Zechs, now very much awake, built a small fire in the hearth and stoked it into a comfortable blaze. Releina, Heero, Duo, and Hilde sat on the wraparound couch, watching the fire. Quatre had folded himself into a big armchair and was reading. Catherine, Sally, and Wufei were playing cards around the coffee table, seated comfortably on pillows on the floor. Noin was helping Pagan with something in the kitchen. Only Trowa was unaccounted for...
"Hey! Stop poking me!" Heero glared at Duo, who had been poking him good naturedly since he discovered that everyone had a bit of a sunburn, Heero and Wufei particularly. Duo himself hadn't burned too terribly, but he was regretting not putting any sunscreen on.
Duo looked around the room, noticing that everyone was a little pinkish... except the on you would have expected to have
burned the worst, what with his fair skin and pale complexion. "Quatre, why aren't you burnt?"
Quatre looked up from his book for a moment, smiling, and announced, "You don't spend months in the desert without learning something." He held up a bottle of SPF50 sunscreen.
"I said stop that!" cried Heero for the twentieth time.
Hilde poked Duo experimentally.
"Ow!" Okay, so maybe it was a pretty bad burn.
Releina looked over at Hilde questioningly. Hilde smiled back one of those 'they're-so-pathetic-it's-cute' smiles. Releina
nodded, also smiling.
"Heero, buddy, it might just be me, but I think they're plotting something," said Duo.
"That so?"
Hilde prevented Duo from replying by pulling the rubber band off the end of his still wet braid. "Hey, give that back!" This
resulted in the pair tumbling off the couch. Heero smirked at Duo's attempts to disentangle himself and Hilde from his hair. Duo snatched the rubber band back, helped Hilde up, and plopped back on the couch, running his fingers through his hair in a vain attempt to get it back under control.
"You know, you should let your braid out more often," quipped Hilde. Duo glared at her through his hair.
****
Trowa crept down the deserted hall toward their rooms. He carefully approached Heero's door and tried the handle. It was
unlocked. Slowly, slowly, he eased the door open and slunk into the dark room. Carefully, he moved to the bedside table and switched on the lamp. He hoped the light wouldn't shine into the hallway, it was od utmost of importance that he wasn't discovered until he had what he was looking for. He thought for a moment, remembering what Duo had told him earlier.
****
Noin balanced the tray carefully, trying not to spill the contents of the mugs. Hot cocoa was just the thing for an evening like this one. So what if she was supposed to be one of the 'responsible adults' around here. They'd had a great day and a light snack was most likely better than a full meal. Pagan followed with a tray of biscuits.
Noin turned and pushed through the double doors backwards, holding one open for Pagan, then followed him into the living room. Catherine had just beaten Wufei and Sally at yet another game and Wufei was growing more red faced with each loss. Sally looked up, her face shining with laughter from the his most recent outburst, "Oh, perfect timing, Noin, really perfect timing!"
"Yeah," Catherine laughed, "Wufei won't have to lose again!"
Wufei glowered at the two, but helped them clear the table for the trays anyway. Zechs had a momentary thought of making a bad pun concerning 'trays' and 'Treize', but dismissed it after a quick glance at all the females in the room.
Once everyone had gotten their mug and a few biscuits, they were left in something of a predicament. There was one mug left, but everyone was holding their own in various states of full or empty.
"Who's missing?" asked Sally at exactly the same time Quatre asked, "Where's Trowa?"
Everyone looked mystified for a moment, but as if on cue, Trowa entered from the door leading to the pilot's hall. "I'm right
here," he announced.
"Oh,... cocoa?" offered Catherine.
"Not yet, thanks."
"It'll get cold if you don't drink it soon," she pointed out.
"I know, it'll just be a minute," replied Trowa. He turned to face Heero, "Nitrous or cats?"
A dawning realization hit Heero like a ton of bricks and he paled considerably. Everyone else, saving Duo, looked confused.
The thunder clapped outside and was quickly followed by a crack of lightning. The rain continued beating on the roof and the fire blazed merrily in the hearth. Heero found himself in a notably uncomfortable situation. Duo had risen from his position on the couch and was now standing side by side with Trowa. They both wore equally malicious grins.
"So, Heero, why exactly was it that both you and I had to skip math class that one time... you remember that time, don't you Trowa?"
Dammit, this was going so well! thought Heero.
"Oh, yes, I think I remember," said Trowa, almost as though he and Duo were having a normal reminiscent conversation. "I had to join you two one day last year on a... what was it now?"
"Mission, I think it was," replied Duo.
Oh no, thought Heero, burying his his face in his hands. They're gonna tell them everything!
"Oh, right, a mission! But I should think that Heero would be able to handle a simple data retrieval mission on his own," said Trowa thoughtfully.
"Well, normally he would have, but there was this issue concerning a rather bad cavity and some overly effective nitrous,"
explained Duo.
"Ah, yes, now I remember! Whatever did you do with him after I left?"
No, no, no, this is not happening! thought Heero fiercely, banging his head softly into the back of the couch despairingly.
"And then I had to chase him all over the school grounds!"
"No!" said Trowa in mock shock, "Really?"
"Yup, and then..."
Heero desperately tried to think of anything else but what was happening right then. The rest of the party was hanging onto Duo and Trowa's every word in rapt silence, sometimes casting an incredulous glance in Heero's direction.
"Of course, while that's a great story," said Trowa, "it's nothing compared to this!" He reached a hand into his pocket and drew out the accursed bathing suit. Heero groaned, his face screwing up as though in pain at the sounds of laughter from the party.
Releina thought a moment, then leaned over and kissed Heero. He blinked in surprise.
"Hey Heero!" called Duo joyously, "That just your sunburn or are you blushing?"
END.
What'd ya' think? Terrible? Lame excuse for a sequel if you ever saw one? Tell me! .... pwease?
(sparrowsnest@earthlink.net)