Disclaimer: Gundam Wing is owned by people far more rich and powerful than
I am (for whatever that's saying).
Warnings: AU, shounen ai (1+2)
Author's Ramblings: Okay, when I went off to college, I started writing
these "everyday life" stories. This is sort of the culmination of them,
since it depicts what I think would happen if the guys lived "normal" lives
and met in college. I know that this idea is far from new, but hey, you
know what they say; you write what you know.
Welcome Distractions By Rapunzel
Chapter 1: Unexpected Introductions
Homework sucked.
Heero Yuy had officially reached that conclusion about a half an hour ago, when he had begun trying to write his essay. Now, thirty minutes later, he was still sitting at a back table in the library, struggling to force his first paragraph onto the paper. Under any other circumstances, he would have quit several minutes ago. The problem was that he had done just that on several other occasions, and now his English essay was due the next day.
"Virgil's work reflects some of the commonly held views about life after death at the time," Heero muttered to himself as he wrote the words on the paper. "His story is- oh hell!" he broke off violently. "It's only the first paragraph, and the to be verbs are already in there! Stupid rule!"
He crumpled the paper up and set on the growing stack of rejects. Why had he thought that taking this comparative literature class would be a good idea? So what if it gave him general education credit? He hated the class, hated all the writing they made him do. "GE be damned!" he growled. "It's not worth it!"
Still, it was too late to drop the class, so he tried to resign himself to his fate. Pulling out another piece of paper, he screwed his face up into an expression of determination. This time he would get it right. This time it would be perfect.
Two sentences later, the paper followed its predecessors into the trash pile. Heero planted his elbows firmly on the table and put his face in his hands. At this rate, he was never going to finish. In frustration, he kicked his book bag, which stood propped against the leg of the table. It gave him a little satisfaction to see it flop to the floor, but as it landed, his water bottle spun out and went rolling across the library floor.
Heero growled as he watched it retreat away from him. Great, just great. Now even his water bottle was conspiring against him. Well, let it; he was too busy to deal with such trivialities. With that thought in mind, Heero pulled out yet another sheet of paper and prepared to try again.
This time it wasn't writer's block that interrupted him, it was a sound. Or rather, a series of sounds. First came the startled yelp, followed by a thump, and then a crash and a clatter. The noise was so loud and out of place in the quiet working environment of the library that Heero jumped. Wondering what on earth had happened to cause such a commotion, he got to his feet and strode towards the place the sounds had come from.
It didn't take him long to find the source of the noise. Two rows down at the end of the line of shelves, a young man lay sprawled in an undignified manner on the tile floor. Around him were scattered a large array of heavy- looking textbooks. Obviously, the young man had fallen and the books had come down with him.
"Are you alright?" Heero asked.
A half moaned curse was his answer. The man sat up, rubbing the back of his head. Heero leaned down to try and see if there was a lump there from the fall, but it was difficult to tell, since his thick brown hair, done into a long braid, obscured that area.
"What the hell did I trip on?" the young man said, climbing slowly to his feet.
Heero looked to see, and felt a stab of chagrin. There, on the floor was the object in question: his water bottle.
His companion followed his gaze and spotted the offending bottle. "Stupid people never pick up after themselves," he grumbled, picking the bottle up and stalking over to the copier room, where there was a trash can. Pitching the bottle in more forcefully than was necessary, he dusted his hands off with an air of satisfaction.
"Hmph! Take that, evil detritus! I'll teach you-"
"That was mine," Heero interjected.
"-to trip... huh?" Wide, blue violet eyes blinked at him in surprise.
"The water bottle. It was mine. It fell out of my bag."
"Oh. Well why didn't you say so?" To Heero's astonishment, the young man reached down, stuck his arm into the trash can, and began rummaging. A moment later, with a small triumphant "Aha!", he produced it. "Here you go."
Heero eyed the thing distastefully. "That's alright. You didn't have to do that. It's dirty now."
"No it's not," the other replied cheerfully, handing Heero the bottle, which he promptly set down again. "This is a library. It's not like people can bring their lunches in here and dump the leftovers in the trash. Most of what's in there is just paper."
Heero could think of other unpleasant things one might throw away in a library aside from food, but all he said was, "How do you know what's in there? You didn't look."
The young man rolled his eyes. "I don't have to look; I empty those containers every day. It's part of my job."
"You work here?"
"Yup! Why do you think I was carrying all those books?" He gestured at the texts strews across the floor from his fall. "My job is, among other things, to put them back where they belong on the shelves."
"Fun," Heero said sarcastically.
"Eh," he shrugged. "It helps pay the bills; that's what matters. It's not like I'm going to be stacking books for the rest of my life." He grinned and stuck out his hand. "I'm Duo Maxwell, by the way. Who are you?"
"Heero Yuy." Taking the proffered hand, he shook it.
"Heero, huh? That's an interesting name." Duo moved over and began picking up the books he'd dropped.
"Yeah," Heero agreed, but didn't elaborate further. Instead, he knelt down to help Duo.
"Oh, thanks," Duo said. "You don't have to do that."
It was Heero's turn to shrug. "I was the one who made you trip in the first place. Seems only fair."
"Well, if you look at it that way..."
For the next minute, they knelt together in silence, picking up books. When they had collected them all, Duo stood up and smiled at Heero. At least, Heero thought he was smiling, although it was hard to tell, since his face was partially hidden behind the large armload of books he was now carrying.
"Thanks a bunch," Duo said. "I've got to go stack these now, but I'll see you later."
Heero doubted that he would, but he nodded politely before heading back to his table, where the stillborn attempts at an English essay still waited for him. At least Duo had provided him with a break, however short, from his work. With that thought in mind, he picked up his pen, gritted his teeth, and settled down to write.
Fifteen minutes later, he sat staring at his paper in mild astonishment. There on the paper were four complete sentences of his opening paragraph, and he didn't feel like crumpling it up. It was beginning to look like he might finish after all.
"Hey."
Heero looked up from his contemplations to see Duo standing next to him. "You forgot this," he said, plunking Heero's errant water bottle down on the table.
"Thanks," Heero said in a flat voice. He wasn't really thankful; he didn't want it back. There was no way he was drinking out of a water bottle that had been in a trash can, however "clean", and he fully intended to dump the hapless piece of plastic as soon as Duo wasn't looking.
Heero was suddenly distracted when Duo leaned down over the table. For a moment he wondered what in the world the young man was doing. Then he realized that Duo was reading his essay, or what there was of it to read.
"Not bad," Duo said. "But your thesis is kind of vague."
Heero glared at him.
"Alright, alright, don't get all pissed. I was just trying to be helpful. But I'll shut up and let you do your thing if you like. I've got work to do anyway." So saying, he sauntered off between the book shelves.
Heero sat contemplating his departure for a moment, then shook his head and directed his attention to his paper. After all, he too had work to do.
tbc
Welcome Distractions By Rapunzel
Chapter 1: Unexpected Introductions
Homework sucked.
Heero Yuy had officially reached that conclusion about a half an hour ago, when he had begun trying to write his essay. Now, thirty minutes later, he was still sitting at a back table in the library, struggling to force his first paragraph onto the paper. Under any other circumstances, he would have quit several minutes ago. The problem was that he had done just that on several other occasions, and now his English essay was due the next day.
"Virgil's work reflects some of the commonly held views about life after death at the time," Heero muttered to himself as he wrote the words on the paper. "His story is- oh hell!" he broke off violently. "It's only the first paragraph, and the to be verbs are already in there! Stupid rule!"
He crumpled the paper up and set on the growing stack of rejects. Why had he thought that taking this comparative literature class would be a good idea? So what if it gave him general education credit? He hated the class, hated all the writing they made him do. "GE be damned!" he growled. "It's not worth it!"
Still, it was too late to drop the class, so he tried to resign himself to his fate. Pulling out another piece of paper, he screwed his face up into an expression of determination. This time he would get it right. This time it would be perfect.
Two sentences later, the paper followed its predecessors into the trash pile. Heero planted his elbows firmly on the table and put his face in his hands. At this rate, he was never going to finish. In frustration, he kicked his book bag, which stood propped against the leg of the table. It gave him a little satisfaction to see it flop to the floor, but as it landed, his water bottle spun out and went rolling across the library floor.
Heero growled as he watched it retreat away from him. Great, just great. Now even his water bottle was conspiring against him. Well, let it; he was too busy to deal with such trivialities. With that thought in mind, Heero pulled out yet another sheet of paper and prepared to try again.
This time it wasn't writer's block that interrupted him, it was a sound. Or rather, a series of sounds. First came the startled yelp, followed by a thump, and then a crash and a clatter. The noise was so loud and out of place in the quiet working environment of the library that Heero jumped. Wondering what on earth had happened to cause such a commotion, he got to his feet and strode towards the place the sounds had come from.
It didn't take him long to find the source of the noise. Two rows down at the end of the line of shelves, a young man lay sprawled in an undignified manner on the tile floor. Around him were scattered a large array of heavy- looking textbooks. Obviously, the young man had fallen and the books had come down with him.
"Are you alright?" Heero asked.
A half moaned curse was his answer. The man sat up, rubbing the back of his head. Heero leaned down to try and see if there was a lump there from the fall, but it was difficult to tell, since his thick brown hair, done into a long braid, obscured that area.
"What the hell did I trip on?" the young man said, climbing slowly to his feet.
Heero looked to see, and felt a stab of chagrin. There, on the floor was the object in question: his water bottle.
His companion followed his gaze and spotted the offending bottle. "Stupid people never pick up after themselves," he grumbled, picking the bottle up and stalking over to the copier room, where there was a trash can. Pitching the bottle in more forcefully than was necessary, he dusted his hands off with an air of satisfaction.
"Hmph! Take that, evil detritus! I'll teach you-"
"That was mine," Heero interjected.
"-to trip... huh?" Wide, blue violet eyes blinked at him in surprise.
"The water bottle. It was mine. It fell out of my bag."
"Oh. Well why didn't you say so?" To Heero's astonishment, the young man reached down, stuck his arm into the trash can, and began rummaging. A moment later, with a small triumphant "Aha!", he produced it. "Here you go."
Heero eyed the thing distastefully. "That's alright. You didn't have to do that. It's dirty now."
"No it's not," the other replied cheerfully, handing Heero the bottle, which he promptly set down again. "This is a library. It's not like people can bring their lunches in here and dump the leftovers in the trash. Most of what's in there is just paper."
Heero could think of other unpleasant things one might throw away in a library aside from food, but all he said was, "How do you know what's in there? You didn't look."
The young man rolled his eyes. "I don't have to look; I empty those containers every day. It's part of my job."
"You work here?"
"Yup! Why do you think I was carrying all those books?" He gestured at the texts strews across the floor from his fall. "My job is, among other things, to put them back where they belong on the shelves."
"Fun," Heero said sarcastically.
"Eh," he shrugged. "It helps pay the bills; that's what matters. It's not like I'm going to be stacking books for the rest of my life." He grinned and stuck out his hand. "I'm Duo Maxwell, by the way. Who are you?"
"Heero Yuy." Taking the proffered hand, he shook it.
"Heero, huh? That's an interesting name." Duo moved over and began picking up the books he'd dropped.
"Yeah," Heero agreed, but didn't elaborate further. Instead, he knelt down to help Duo.
"Oh, thanks," Duo said. "You don't have to do that."
It was Heero's turn to shrug. "I was the one who made you trip in the first place. Seems only fair."
"Well, if you look at it that way..."
For the next minute, they knelt together in silence, picking up books. When they had collected them all, Duo stood up and smiled at Heero. At least, Heero thought he was smiling, although it was hard to tell, since his face was partially hidden behind the large armload of books he was now carrying.
"Thanks a bunch," Duo said. "I've got to go stack these now, but I'll see you later."
Heero doubted that he would, but he nodded politely before heading back to his table, where the stillborn attempts at an English essay still waited for him. At least Duo had provided him with a break, however short, from his work. With that thought in mind, he picked up his pen, gritted his teeth, and settled down to write.
Fifteen minutes later, he sat staring at his paper in mild astonishment. There on the paper were four complete sentences of his opening paragraph, and he didn't feel like crumpling it up. It was beginning to look like he might finish after all.
"Hey."
Heero looked up from his contemplations to see Duo standing next to him. "You forgot this," he said, plunking Heero's errant water bottle down on the table.
"Thanks," Heero said in a flat voice. He wasn't really thankful; he didn't want it back. There was no way he was drinking out of a water bottle that had been in a trash can, however "clean", and he fully intended to dump the hapless piece of plastic as soon as Duo wasn't looking.
Heero was suddenly distracted when Duo leaned down over the table. For a moment he wondered what in the world the young man was doing. Then he realized that Duo was reading his essay, or what there was of it to read.
"Not bad," Duo said. "But your thesis is kind of vague."
Heero glared at him.
"Alright, alright, don't get all pissed. I was just trying to be helpful. But I'll shut up and let you do your thing if you like. I've got work to do anyway." So saying, he sauntered off between the book shelves.
Heero sat contemplating his departure for a moment, then shook his head and directed his attention to his paper. After all, he too had work to do.
tbc