Summary:
Quatre falls in love in an Alternate Universe...It's up to Heero, Duo and Wufei to help turn him punk.
Disclaimer: Don't own gundam wing. I never said i was creative. that's why i write fic. hope you're amused either way.
1.
A small boy sat in a small office suffocating, and he reached to loosen his tie a bit. This was Quatre's first day at his new school, and because he had transfered in half way thru the year he had missed the regular orientation for new students. If it hadn't been so hot in the small room, and if his new uniform shirt hadn't been so stiff, maybe the uncomfortable Quatre would have been able to give Principal Bartlett his undivided attention. However, the office was stuffy, and Quatre was having a hard time listening to the of overview major campus rules being presented to him. Quatre was no stranger to the protective environment of these prep schools since he kept transferring in and out of them. He felt a little guilty that he wasn't taking this man seriously since he was suppose to stay at this school for awhile. Quatre's father had promised not to keep uprooting him. Hoping his son could have a normal high school experience Quatre's father had sent Quatre to this boarding school (the idea being that no matter when business called Winner Sr., Winner Jr. could stay in one place). Quatre struggled to focus on what the man was telling him, but he couldn't keep his mind from wandering. What did he care about the school's disciplinary procedures? Quatre could care less, since he had never been called before a dean for so much as bending or misunderstanding a rule in any school let alone an offense.
"IT WAS ALREADY BURNING WHEN WE FOUND IT!"
Quatre was so startled by the out burst that he almost fell out of his chair. A loud American, having let himself into the principal's office with two other boys closely in tow, now launched himself into a long and involved explanation. Quatre assumed these were soon to be classmates of his because they were outfitted in the uniform clothing he had recently purchased (Which included a white button down oxford shirt, a school issue crimson blazer, a matching crimson tie, and black slacks).Quatre was surprised to see that the American boy wore his hair in an extremely unorthodox waist length braid underneath a black newsboys' cap turned backwards. Most of what the American passionately described couldn't be understood because his chinese companion was ranting at an equal volume about the injustice of these unfounded accusations. This Chinese boy wore the collar on his uniform shirt popped up and black converse sneakers with black laces. The third boy, wearing his uniform shirt sleeves rolled up short like a tightly fitting t-shirt (sans blazer), did not hesitate to approach the principal's desk and state in a calm monotone that there had been a misunderstanding (however the Principal Bartlett himself could have sworn that his child's life had just been threatened, based on the intense look he was receiving from a pair of cold blue eyes).
"Boys, please wait..I don't even have a child boys- Boys! You are not in trouble!" The principal had to shout over them, "And Mr. Maxwell, please remove that hat!"
"Oh.." The chinese boy climbed down off his proverbial soap box.
The American seemed to be at a loss for words suddenly.
Regardless of this good news, it was clear that the one thing this motley crew had in common was an intense problem with being told that they were wrong.
"Why else would you have called us here?" having removed the American boy's hat, the Japanese boy perked up almost as if awaiting orders for some kind of... mission.
Principal Bartlett continued, "Boys, this is our new student, Quatre Winner..."
The three boys noticed the foreign boy in the room for the first time. He was small with platinum blond hair and big watery blue eyes. He looked ...sensitive... shudder.
"...Quatre, meet Wufei, Duo, and Heero. They'll be helping you find your way around campus this week." Heero extended his hand to Quatre for a shake, and on his wrists he wore lots of thin rubbery black bracelets. With the Japanese boy facing him, now Quatre noticed that Heero wore his tie loose and his hair spiked up in the front with gel. There were three holes punched in the cartilage half way up his ear on one side and, if Quatre didn't know any better, he could have sworn Heero was also wearing black eyeliner, but dramatic make up was a violation of dress code. Now that he thought about it though, dress code didn't seem to be very important to any of the kids in this group. Duo wore safety pins in his uniform tie in addition to a pair of hot pink vintage sneakers. Even Wufei fought conformity by cuffing the bottom of his pants like James Dean. Taking Heero's hand in both of his own, the blond tilted his head and beamed, "I'm happy to meet you all!"
Heero arched a suspicious eyebrow, and Duo frowned as Wufei unconsciously mumbled what they were all thinking, "Oh god".
Looking at them as a group Quatre couldn't help but became painfully aware of his penny loafers and clean manicured nails. Why had he asked his mother get his uniform paints shortened for him? the cuff looked so much spiffier. Suddenly Quatre didn't want to hang out with himself either. It would be a long and painful day, without a doubt.
2.
"Did you do the homework for this last night?" Wufei asked, to no one in particular. The three boys had lead Quatre to his first class, Advanced topics in Earth and Space, and they chatted (actually Heero's not much of a chatter but Wufei and Duo could talk enough to make up for it) while they waited for class to begin.
"Fuck- We had homework?" Duo looked at the white board. Yes, an assignment for last night was written there.
"Yeah." Heero responded to Wufei.
Quatre waited in horror to witness academic dishonesty, when something radiant caught his eye. Quatre turned and beheld what he thought was probably most beautiful girl he had ever seen..
"What'd you think of it?" Wufei folded his arms and gave Heero his full attention, but Heero suddenly had a far away look on his face, "...Relena."
Quatre was trying to act like he wasn't staring, but obviously he wasn't doing a very good job masking his curiosity because Duo nodded in the direction of the door to the cute blond leading a small entourage into the class room. Leaning closer to Quatre, Duo began, "That blond one in the center, Relena... her father is richer than god."
Quatre, having a pretty rich father, seriously doubted this rivaling god business. Relena wore a perfectly matching crimson hair band to keep her soft, straight, blond hair off her face, and her school uniform was in immaculate condition. She called to Heero and gave the group of boys a flirtatious wave before flipping her hair over her shoulder and resuming a discreet conversation with a girl beside her. In response, Duo shot the group of girls a mischievous smile, and Wufei shook his head in disgust. Quatre noticed that Heero was making his way across the room toward Relena and her friends.
Wufei mused to himself, "the attention span of a small rodent."
"Left of her," Duo continued in a low voice, " is Dorothy, she's fucking scary- to the right, Hilde, uppity feminist. There will be a quiz- CAT! Over here!"
Quatre pulled away from Duo covering his ears protectively. It was amazing how loudly that boy could talk!
"Neither of you took your fucking Rydelin this morning did you?" Wufei gave Heero and Duo a disapproving look.
Catherine, spotting Duo, waved and began to make her way over to the boys. It became clear that she was holding hands with another girl and pulling her along behind as if she were afraid of losing her. Catherine was tall and thin with a sparkly star shaped barrette in her wavy brown hair, and she wore her sleeves rolled up too short like Heero. The girl Catherine was pulling along was ABSOLUTELY WITHOUT QUESTION the most beautiful creature that Quatre had ever seen in his WHOLE LIFE. She had startlingly bright green eyes, and a long graceful neck that was shown off by her short, gravity defying hair cut (which almost appeared to be one pointy bang), Quatre admired the girl's slender build, olive skin tone, and black, polished nails.
"That's Trowa." Duo explained, noticing how Quatre's jaw had dropped, "She's pretty cute, eh?"
"She's beautiful!"
Duo couldn't help but laugh, "I wouldn't have expected her to really be your type- no offense, man."
"W-Why is she coming toward us?" Panicking, Quatre turned pleading eyes to Duo. He couldn't even TRY to pretend to be cool. It was better that she not know he existed, that she have a bad impression.
"Don't worry, I'll introduce you- Good Morning ladies.."
"Hi Duo." They chorused.
"Cat, you look lovely this AM," Duo threw his arms open for a hug from Catherine. Catherine happily flung herself into the American boy's arms, but then she seemed to notice Quatre. Giving him a concerned look she addressed the blond, "Are you lost?"
Duo looked at Quatre, who appeared to be paralyzed with fear, "This is Quatre, he's the new kid we've been hearing about."
"Why doesn't he go mingle or something?" Catherine asked Duo, but it sounded more like a threat then a suggestion.
"No can do, Cat," Duo threw his arm around Quatre's shoulders, "We've got to show him the ropes for a few days."
"Basically we owe Bartlett one." Wufei clarified.
"We do? Why?" Catherine looked confused.
"Remember that little incident..." Wufei began, "with the you know what...you know where."
"Oh!" Catherine looked like she remembered now. It looked like just remembering had given her a bad taste in her mouth.
"I cant believe we're still living that down.." Duo shook his head.
"Hi." Trowa gave Quatre a small wave. O God! there were so many things to notice about Trowa now that she was up close. He noticed that she had loosened her uniform neck tie in order to show off the necklace she was wearing. It featured silver, spike-shaped charms between black beads like a delicate collar. Actually, she bore a striking resemblance to Catherine, although she wasn't quite as tall...
"Quatre, where are you from" Catherine smiled weakly.
"..." Quatre stuttered.
Catherine appeared genuinely concerned, "Does he speak English?"
Duo laughed, "last time I checked..."
"...hi" Quatre seemed to have regained some control over his face. Trowa shyly smiled. Quatre thought his heart had skipped a beat or 3!
"'sup Trow- " Heero joined the group, and gave Trowa a small kiss on the fore head, "Cat." Heero gave the second girl a nod of acknowledgment as he slipped an arm around Trowa's waist.
"Yuy." Trowa greeted the Japanese boy who brushed past Quatre, to reach her side. As he witnessed these small acts of affection, it became clear to the blond boy that no smile had been meant for him, and a little piece of Quatre died. The teacher addressed the class, "Would you all please take your seats!"
Quatre watched Heero whisper something to Trowa (or rather to Trowa's neck) and let out a sigh, "god is dead."
Throughout class he repeatedly found his attention wandering to the beautiful Trowa seated in front of him. Quatre admired every inch of her, from her perfect little ears to her perfect little feet in oversized combat boots. Quatre went on to have a long and informative day.. if you've seen any Teen movie in the last 5 years you should be all caught up on the things Quatre learned. Quatre followed Heero, Duo and Wufei around for the rest of the day, reluctant to speak and embarass himself further. In the evening Quatre went on a run to try to relax, and in order to explore the jogging trail near campus that ran over an aqueduct.
3.
Day2:
"Hi there,"
Quatre looked up from the cafeteria breakfast he was choosing to find Relena smiling cheerfuly at him, "Morning,"
"Aren't you're the new boy?"
"I guess so- Hi, i'm Quatre"
"Hi Quatre, i'm Relena."
"Yeah, i think we're in Earth and Space together"
"Really? Hey do you wanna come sit with me and my friends?"
"Uh, actually I already promised to sit with some other people."
"Oh, good for you! Maybe some other time then,"
"Yeah, okay."
"It was nice to meet you. See you in Earth and Space, right?"
"Yeah, Nice to meet you too!"
Quatre finished collecting his breakfast and made his way over to a table where Heero, Duo, Wufei, Catherine and Trowa were sitting.
"Boys, important question: How would you feel about my dying Trowa's hair black?" Catherine announced, clapping her hands in excitement. Heero shrugged, and Wufei rolled his eyes. Duo squinted, as if he were trying to picture the black hair, "...go for it!"
"I think it'd be very cute." Catherine said matter-of-factly while examining a tuft of Trowa's hair for split ends.Quatre watched with horror as the majority seemed to reach a verdict supportive of this suggestion! With those green eyes she should be thinking of red hi-lights! No one wants black hair! Asians don't even want black hair! that's why they're going brown! WHO EVER HEARD OF A GREEN EYED ASIAN?
"NO! Don't!" Quatre couldn't hold back. Startled by the outburst, everyone looked at him.
"Do we know you?" Trowa asked, giving him that concerned look (Another Catherine similarity).
"..uh..No. I'm the new kid."
"Maybe you should run along," Catherine suggested.
Duo gave Quatre a pat on the head, "The academic day hasn't started yet little buddy. Beat it." Quatre bit his quivering lip and gave gave the group a nod of understanding before making a hasty retreat. Wrapping his toast in a napkin, Quatre left the dining hall (and the majority of his breakfast). He walked directly to his first class. Slumping onto the floor Quatre sat waiting for the professor to come unlock the classroom door and eating his toast in solitude.
Quatre found his way to all of his classes that morning, finding either Heero, or Duo, or Wufei in each classroom with him. It looked like Earth and Space was the only class that they all had together, but more importantly, it was the only class Quatre had with Trowa. Unfortunately today Earth and Space didn't come until last period, but Quatre was able to survive until then. He took his seat behind Trowa again and let out a sigh of relief. The blond Arabian felt lucky to be able to look at Trowa now, with no pressure to speak coherently. Quatre didn't know a girl could actually BE that beautiful. He had always assumed that perfection like that was a myth. He envisioned the two of them on the beach somewhere watching the sun set, cuddling, and talking about poetry. Sure, he had barely been able to say hello to her, let alone ask her if she enjoyed long walks on the beach, but a guy can always dream. The bell rang, signaling the end of class and the end of the school day. Earth and Space was over too soon for his liking.
The rest of Quatre's first week of school seemed especially lonely after the kids who were showing him around made it clear that they were being forced to be polite to him, but felt no obligation to continue the charade when no classes were going on. During class the boys were civil with him, and Quatre even found that he especially like discussions in class with Wufei. Heero strived for academic excellence, which Quatre was embarrassed to admit, surprised him. He had assumed that these boys who fought conformity were delinquents of sorts, but now Quatre was ashamed as he realized how ignorant that sounded. How you dress is in no way a reflection of what kind of student you are! Quatre continued to look forward most to Earth and Space Class each day. He was still allowed to sit behind Trowa. Although they didn't speak again. The natural progression from admiring Trowa, was to compare himself to Heero, since he was clearly "her type". Hmm ..
4.
Quatre finished the first leg half of his run and stopped to rest before he headed home.Catching his breath on the conveniently placed bench, he leaned back to enjoy his surroundings and to get his strength up for the run home. Then he noticed something strange on a near by bush, when he touched it, he realized it was crimson sleeve like on the uniform blazers. There was no sign that it had been exposed to weather, maybe the sleeve had only been there for a short time. Maybe the owner was still nearby. Maybe she needed help!
Quatre plunged off the path and stumbled down the sharp incline underneath the aqueduct. he caught himself on a nearby tree to keep from sliding down any further. He quietly crept down a little further, spotting two figures under the concrete arch of the structure. One of the people turned to pick something up, and Quatre recognized Duo's long brown braid. Quatre stopped himself from calling down to them, remembering that the academic day was over and they would feel no obligation to be civil with him. Now, Duo was stuffing whatever he'd picked up down the other boy's shirt...that looked like Heero. Heero examined his shirt for a minute and suddenly made a lunge for Duo's knees. Duo fell, but scrambled up and began sprinting. Heero jumped up in pursuit. Why would two boys come out here to chase each other? Heero couldn't be thrown by Duo's dodges and fakes. Oh god they were fighting...oh god they came to be away from any dean's watchful eyes.. what if they killed one another? Oh god... Oh god... Quatre was carefully feeling his way down the hill to reach his classmates, genuinely afraid for Duo. Heero successfully pulled Duo down into the leaves by grabbing a handful of his shirt. Heero straddled Duo pinning him to the ground hard before getting off enough to roll the braided boy over and trap him again. A triumphant Heero grinned wickedly at the struggling Duo. Since his arms were pinned, it looked like Duo was trying to bite Heero as a last resort. It looked like Heero was trying to predict Duo's movements for a head but- ouch! Wait- was he trying to chew on Duo's neck? Duo continued to struggle and succeeded in freeing a hand. Immediately Duo plunged his fingers into Heero's hair. Purssian blue eyes passionately ablaze, Heero caught Duo's mouth with a hungry kiss, then reached to hold Duo's head in both of his hands. Quatre rushed toward the boys rolling in the leaves and yelling rape. A startled Heero looked around and locked eyes with Quatre.
Duo need only read the wide eyed look on Heero's face to know that they had been recognized, "aw, fuck."
A/N: reading Heero's facial expressions is an aquired skill. do not attempt at home.
No one spoke. The three boys had claimed a table at a local diner. Duo was eating pancakes (cause he could- it was one of those breakfast all day-places) while Heero and Quatre drank coffee.
"So...that was consensual?"
"what's it to you?" Heero would admit that he was a little more than defensive about his relationship with Duo!
"My bad..So you guys... are..."
"What?" Heero snapped.
"You know..."
"What?" it looked like Heero might be enjoying Quatre's embarrassment.
Quatre wasnt TRYING to piss Heero off so he chose his words carefully, "uh... together?"
Without looking up from his pancakes Duo responded, "no."
Oddly, at the same moment, Heero was glaring at Quatre saying, "yeah."
Duo began choking on his pancakes, apparently this "being together" was NEWS to him. After a gulp of water he asked the number one question on Quatre's mind, "We are! What about Trowa?"
Heero glared at the napkin dispenser, "What about Trowa?"
"What do you mean, what do i mean? TROWA, that chick you're keeping!"
"we're just friends."
"but! the public displays of affection-"
"we're close."
"Nani?" Duo sounded pissed.
Heero glared at Duo and growled in Japanese, "What did you think was going on? Did you think you were just my gay lover on the side?"
At first Quatre was confused, was Heero talking to himself now? Duo replied in flawless Japanese,"I don't know what I thought! Why else are we sneaking around if it's not an affair?"
"Are you listening to yourself? If I was sleeping with Trowa, which I'm not, do you really think she's be opposed to joining us? We wouldn't be sneaking around to protect her!"
Quatre could only guess at what was being said, but the talk seemed to be getting quite heated,"So, I take it you guys have never actually talked about this before..."
Duo transitioned easily between languages (Quatre was pretty impressed),"Do you mind?"
Heero continued as if he hadn't been interrupted, "We agreed that we weren't gonna tell anyone, why are you acting like you don't remember that?"
"Yeah, we agreed to keep it down low CAUSE OF TROWA"
"CAUSE OF IGNORANT BASTARDS"
Something Duo said seemed to remind Heero of something, he leaned across the table and beckoned Quatre closer, like he had a secret to tell him. When Quatre leaned in, Heero whispered (in english, duh!), "...if you tell anyone what you saw today.. i swear...i will do my personal best to make you wish you had never been born."
"Coffee?" The boys were interrupted by the waitress offering them a refill. Heero released Quatre's shirt. While she filled each of their cups the waitress asked,"Do you need milk or cream or anything?"
"These half and half things on the table are good enough for me, thanks." Quatre said, and Heero explained, "I like my coffee black, just like my metal,". Slightly disturbed, the waitress left.
"C'mon now," Quatre began, sitting back down, and looking from a curious Duo to a glaring Heero, "Why do you have to make it like that?" (The presence of witnesses seemed to give Quatre a false sense of security) This was the common response (denial) from kids who had just shared a moment with Heero. It was the uncommon responses that got you points in Heero's book.
Duo flashback:
A sleepy Duo thrown himself onto Heero's bed, pretending to collapse with exhaustion.
"I can't move any more."
"not even to you're fucking own side of the room?"
"nope."
"fine."
"I like how you don't even fight it anymore."
"whatever."
"Remember freshman year when you tried to get a different roommate assigned to you, cause i was driving you crazy?"
"yeah."
"It's like I broke your will or something."
"What it's like is: when you're not around, everything reminds me of you."
"faggot."
Heero stopped writing, but didn't look up, "If you do anything with that information, i swear i will drop kick your sorry ass over-"
"what if i told you" Duo whispered, "that i can't wait for you to shut me up."
End flashback.
5.
"Seems to me this is a pretty big favor I'm gonna do you- and you're practically strangers...sorta mean strangers actually..."
Heero frowned, "What do you want Winner?"
Quatre was startled, he didn't really think this attempt to gain leverage would work. Duo turned to Heero, "He wants Trowa, He can't keep his eyes off of her in class."
Quatre blushed fire engine red, "Put in a good word for me?"
Heero smirked, "You're gonna need more than a good word from us to have a shot with Trowa."
"True. Doesn't seem fair." Duo agreed.
Quatre tried to hide how hurt he was by these remarks, "Then tell me what i need to do to have "a shot"!"
"Teach you to be a bad ass?" Duo's jaw hit the table, "Quatre, you need to stop smoking so much crack."
Quatre folded his arms and leaned back with his mind made up, "I'm not smoking crack. Show me how to be Trowa's type, and your dirty little secret will never leave this dirty little pancake house."
Heero leaned an elbow on the table, put an arm around Duo's shoulders and locked eyes with Quatre, "You're not being realistic Quatre, we're punks not miracle workers."
"Aren't you two being a little narrow minded? You two weren't born twisted like you are, something changed you, and it could have changed anyone. Isn't everyone a rebel waiting to happen?"
"On the contrairy-" Duo pointed an accusing finger at Quatre.
"True." Heero said thoughtfully and apprearently ignoring Duo, "We'll help you."
"Nani?" Duo gave Heero an exasperated look.
"We'll get Trowa to give you a chance and you keep the incident in the woods today to yourself."
"What incident in the woods?" Quatre smiled smugly.
Duo resumed talking to Heero in Japanese, "We can't promise she'll like him though!"
"A couple of dates is all I want," Quatre explained, guessing Duo was probably protesting. Duo shot a glare at the blond and hissed, "Down boy."
"One date. That's fair." Heero folded his arms.
"Deal." Quatre conceded.
"Are you gonna answer my question? Duo, Stop laughing." Quatre was THIS close to hanging up on the obnoxious American.
"Okay-sorry. Heero and I are coming over, we're bring Fei. I'll explain in a minute when we get there.
"I'm not sure I'm excited about this. When are you guys coming over?"
"Actually, could you come open the door?"
Quatre took a deep breath and opened the front door of his dorm to find Duo holding a cardboard box overflowing with various supplies with Heero and Wufei in tow, both of whom looked sort of bored.
"Hi guys!"
"Shut up." Wufei sneered at the blond.
"We told Wufei we were helping you out." Duo gave Quatre a wink as he pushed past him into the dorm common room.
Quatre scratched his head, "oh. okay, "
Duo smiled, "He's gonna explain a little bit of our philosophy for you."
Wufei began, "First of all: don't act like you're happy to see anyone."
"Why not?" Quatre looked impatient.
"We live in a word filled with bad people who think your life is cheap."
Quatre was confused, "What?"
"Are you honestly happy to see us?"
"uh- well i guess I'm kinda tired, and i wish you guys had given me a 20min heads up for something."
"I'm gonna take that as a: not so much."
"i guess."
"so don't PRETEND you're happy to see us. Personally, i find it insulting."
"okay, note to self: don't say hi to Wufei." Quatre recited sarcastically.
Duo gave Quatre an annoyed look, "No. You're not listening."
Heero growled, "Sit the fuck down grasshopper. This is important." Heero took Quatre by the shoulders and sat him down on the couch. Wufei took a chair across from his "grasshopper" and pulled his legs up so he was sitting cross-legged and glared at Quatre. Duo and Heero disappeared up the stairs toward Quatre's room.
"Why did you pretend you were happy to see us?"
"just being polite i guess."
"says who? i just told you that you insulted me by lying to my face. that's not very polite."
"but obviously you're special. Most people would agree with me that greeting you cheerfully was the right thing."
Wufei looked pleased, "Think about what you just said. Do you really want to spend you're life making choices based on what you think other people think is right?"
"yeah. That's what makes society work, an unspoken understanding of how people should interact to maintain a level of civility."
"And how's that working out for you?"
"Who the fuck are you? Dr. Phil? It' works fine!"
"Don't get defensive, it's annoying. When was the last time somebody walked up to you and said: Well Mr. Winner, we've noticed that over the years you've been remarkably well mannered and we'd like to show you our appreciation."
"uh- never. that'd be creepy."
"yeah. it would. Especially because no one is watching to appreciate what an upstanding citizen you are. No one is giving you points for biting your tongue. No one is keeping track. How can you win, if no one is keeping score? you follow me?"
"okay.."
"You can't make everyone happy, can you?"
"Uh, no. prolly not."
"So why try? Why waste your time? You're gonna sleep a lot better man, when you don't spend the day running in circles and jumping thru hoops for people, in a twisted song and dance game that no one wins because nothing you do is good enough! sorry. i uh, have a lot of pent up rage about this morality shit."
"I think i get what you're talking about. But how does being mean to everyone make it better?"
"I didn't say you should be mean to everyone. What you should do is be honest. The only person inside your head everyday- is you. So- do what your intuition tells you to do... you gotta do what you feel is right, not what you thinks is right. Does that make sense? Forget everything you were told to think, because it is crap. It's not real. Social structure is not real. It's a myth. You, are real, you're thoughts are real. Do you see? Don't pretend you're happy to see me. Really be happy to see me."
"No, social structure must be real. Without it there'd be anarchy-"
Wufei leveled his gaze with Quatre and hissed, "Look around Winner, Look who takes power, money makes laws, the educated are poor and hidden. Institutions either don't work, or destroy everything around them. Could it be any more absurd? This is Anarchy. I mean, could it be worse?"
"..."
"Quatre, you wanna be friends with me right?"
"Uh-"
"Hypothetically - I'm making a point."
"Okay, yeah."
"So, you wanna be nice to me, so i'll like you."
"Right."
"See- it's your choice. you WANT to be nice to me, but you don't have to be. no one is making you."
"Ah..."
"Liberating, huh?"
"yeah."
Wufei stood and gave him pat on the head, "They're called situational ethics. Let's go see what kind of damage Maxwell and Yuy have caused."
Quatre opened the door to his room to find that now his walls were covered with posters for the Sex Pistols, Good Charlotte and Green Day.
"I guess they wanted you to be well rounded," Wufei mused.
Heero and Duo were no where in sight however.
"Kitchen?"
Wufei and Quatre found Heero and Duo in the small dorm kitchen. Duo was poking a t something in a pot. Heero was leaning against the counter, apparently supervising.
"It's Quatre" Duo grinned at him.
"Hey." Quatre replied.
"How do you feel?"
"Immoral."
" 'Fei hit you upside the head with the Tao stick, eh?"
"yeah."
"cool stuff tho, right?" Heero looked at Quatre questioningly.
"o yes." Quatre smiled.
"O Wufei, you lil Anarchist, you." Duo cooed.
"Shut up Maxwell. I don't care for your condescending tone."
Heero returned his attention to Quatre, "Do you have any piercings?"
"No."
"Ever wanted one?"
"Uh, i never really considered it."
"How about your left ear?"
"Where are you going with this?"
"I could pierce your ear for you."
Quatre hesitated for a moment unable to tear his eyes from the scarred cartilage that was Heero's ear, "okay."
Duo grinned mischievously while Heero opened the freezer and pulled out a baby chew. Heero held the chew to Quatre's ear, with his eyebrows furrowed in intense concentration. Heero reached for a cup with a needle and two studs in it, speaking to Quatre in monotone, "This is an extremely weak bleach solution to clean the jewelry. Do you trust me?"
Quatre considered this, and frankly when it came to intentional mutilation, he'd rather have it be at the hands of Heero than anyone else. Heero seemed the lease likely to accidentally kill him.
"Yes. are there two studs in there?"
"Yeah. We're doing your navel tonight too, so start cozying up to the idea." Heero informed the blond.
"No! girls do that stuff-"
"lesson two: gender spectrum.." Wufei began.
Heero removed the ice, pulled out the needle and lodged the potato firmly behind Quatre's ear.
"Aw, FUCK."
"You're a pussy Quatre."
6.
"Winner."
Oh god! Trowa had spoken to him, independent of her usual posse. They had passed in the hall. he had glared at her, and she had said his name. Reaching his locker, Quatre tried to steady his heart rate and pull himself together. He closed the door to find that she had stopped beside him. They had class together next period, so Quatre decided to show off his new found gender theory,"Walk me to class, Trowa?"
"Nice earring."
A COMPLIMENT? it sounded sincere enough, but who could blame Quatre for being apprehensive.
"Thanks. Heero did it for me."
"cool. did it hurt?"
"no." Quatre lied.
"Heero's pretty good at it."
"yeah."
"I'm impressed, i didn't know you guys had that much trust established."
"Yeah. Hey, are you doing anything after this?"
"Work, prolly."
"Feel like getting a cup of coffee later?"
Trowa smiled, "No. Thank you. I'm really busy."
"ah."
After his last class, Quatre made his way around behind the gym where he knew he could find Duo and Heero. Sure enough there they were, with their usual posse.
Wufei stood with his arms folded trying to talk to Heero. Heero happened to be sitting on the ground leaning against the gym with Trowa sitting beside him ("really busy", eh?). Duo leaned on the wall standing over Heero, sharing a cigarette with Catherine, and he waved to Quatre.
As Quatre approached he noticed that Trowa was painting Heero's nails black like her own.
"Hi guys!" Quatre greeted everyone. There was a moment of silence, during which Catherine raised an eyebrow and Wufei shot the blond the look of pity that he reserved for optimists. Quatre felt his stomach knot with embarrassment.
"Hi." Heero glared up at the blond, "What'd ya think?"
Heero held up his finished hand for Quatre to see.
"Uh, looks nice.." Quatre ventured.
"Huh, it's not really suppose to look nice," Heero looked at his hand.
"I mean hott- It looks hott, she did a nice job."
Duo snickered.
"Can we help you?" Catherine gave Quatre that concerned look again... it was really starting to get annoying.
"Q-Dog and I are working on that Physics paper together." Duo announced.
"Q-Dog?" Wufei frowned at Quatre.
"Yeah, you like? I'm trying different stuff out till i find one that sticks."
"Whatever."
Heero glared at Wufei, "Yeah, Q-Dog's okay."
"Q. Winner"
"Qwinner?"
"I like Qwinner" Duo smirked.
"I thought you were doing that paper with Yuy."
"Speaking of which, there's a small lab fee Duo may have forgotten to mention,"
Quatre looked at Heero suspiciously, "Maybe- how much?"
"$75"
"What!"
"Don't get mad at us Qwinner, we don't make the rules!"
Quatre pulled out his wallet, "... all i have is a 50."
"Close enough," Duo took the bill giving Quatre a disappointed look, "We'll cover for you this time. C'mon Hee-chan." Duo pulled Heero up.
"Whoa..." Duo pointed with disgust at Quatre's left shoe.
"What?" Quatre looked at his foot.
"Q-Man, that sucks!" Heero was getting a closer look at Quatre's left shoe now too.
"What are you looking at?" Quatre tried to look at his foot from another angle.
"It's Q-Dog," Wufei corrected, but it was too late because Heero and Duo weren't listening. In fact they were already sprinting around the corner of the far side of the gym and out of sight.
"What the F-"
"HEY" Wufei cut Quatre off, "Watch the profanity! There are ladies present."
Catherine said, "I'd go after the sons of bitches."
Trowa smiled sweetly at Quatre, "You can't do anything right can you?"
"Am I talking to myself?" Wufei demanded to know.
Letting out an exasperated sigh, Quatre took off after Duo and Heero.
"He's like a lil monkey," Catherine said to no one in particular, "He just does whatever you tell him..."
The others agreed as they watched Quatre disappear around the corner.
"He runs pretty fast though," Trowa commented.
more murmurs of agreement all around.
Later that night Quatre heard a knock at his door. When he answered it, He found Heero and Duo waiting for him wearing mischievous smirks.
Quatre did an impression of Catherine's condescendingly concerned face, "Can I help you?"
Duo smiled, "We're helping you remember?"
Quatre let them in and Heero dumped out the CVS bag he was carrying onto Quatre's bed. It was a pile of variously sized boxes and tubes.
Quatre picked up a bottle of face scrub with a look of horror on his face, "Is this what you spend my money on? I don't need help washing my face-"
"Relax. Have a little faith" Duo instructed.
"No- I have no faith. How is a pile of product from CVS gonna make me more indy?" Quatre demanded to know.
"Look," Heero explained, "You have to embrace the man a little before you can give him the finger."
"This is not gonna end well, if you keep freaking out at us," Duo scolded.
"From now on, you guys need to keep me a little more in the loop when it comes to your creative genius or whatever."
"No can do, Qwinner- s'all about the spontaneity."
"No. I'm calling the shots remember." Quatre pointed an accusing finger at Duo.
Heero pushed Quatre hand out of Duo's face and hissed, "I don't remember you mentioning that part when you named your terms."
"Okay. Sorry." Quatre took a deep breath.
Heero backed off and Duo tackled the blond onto the bed and straddled him. Heero grabbed Quatre's bedside lamp and leaned it over blinding the boy pinned to the bed.
"Yeah, closing your eyes is prolly a good idea."
"What? What are you doing?"
"Beautifying you. We heard you asked Trowa out!"
"AHHHHHHHH ARE YOU PLUCKING MY EYEBROWS?"
"Yep. Hold still- Ro! gimme one of those lil blue oil things!"
There was the sound of plastic bags rustling.
"Uh, yeah i asked her to go to for coffee."
"Yeah, but she shut you down. Duo, Clean&Clear?"
"Yeah.."
"Clean&Clear's right. And the concealer! get the concealer! So why'd you ask her out?"
"I DONT SEE-"
"LOOKS LIKE BEIGE LIPSTICK"
"HOTT! QUATRE CAN I HAVE THIS?"
"WHAT?"
"HEERO, FOCUS! QWIN, SHUT UP! I'm working here!"
Duo scrubbed Quatre's eyebrows with the little blue sheet, and then began drawing on Quatre's face with the concealer stick.
"She said hi to me, and walked me to class" Quatre explained,
"No.That traditional shit will never work Qwin," Duo said.
"Trowa wants to be pinned to a wall and groped before she'll be interested in having coffee with you."Heero stated matter-of-factly.
"Honey? What do you think?"
"More arch."
"you think?"
"yes."
"How's that?"
"more arch."
"Heero."
"more arch!"
"hows that? hott?"
"yes. very hott."
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"QWIN! STOP BEING A PUSSY!"
"AHHHHHHHHHHHH! HEERO YOU"RE A BASTARD"
"yeah Heero, why are you calling people pussies? you're next!"
"really?"
"if you're nice to me."
"I'm always nice to you."
"Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhaha."
"Duo! FOCUS!"
"okay okay," Duo wiped a tear away, "you're right Qwinie. I gotta focus."
"Q... Duo and I got stuff to do tonight other than make you presentable.. so while Duo finishes you're eyebrows I'm gonna brief you on the other stuff."
"okay Heero, sure."
"Okay. Do you know what mascara is?"
"yeah."
"We got you clear. And put a lil on your eyebrows to hold him in place. And we got you deep conditioner.. Here's the thing about deep conditioner. Put it in then comb then wait 3 minutes, then comb. Then wait 3 minutes then comb. 3 more minutes. comb. rinse. you with me?"
"uh... better run that one more time?"
"Q- conditioner in hair."
"yeah okay."
"comb. every three minutes. rinse after 10-minutes. can you handle that?"
"yeah."
"We got you hair dye too. you're gonna be blond. cause this is fic you can do both in one night. dye first. condition second. got it?"
"I am blond."
"wicked blond."
"I'm pretty blond."
Heero snickered, "Not half as blond as you're gonna be."
Duo continued where Heero left off."And air dry!"
"it's all about the layers!"
"I don't think he can layer."
"but i can layer.. why cant he?"
"Okay, he can layer."
"We also got you eye drops. two concealers. Pale one. goes on sides of nose...between eyebrows.. under eyebrows...collar bone... golden one... under eyes... sides of neck. Okay to blend. dab with your fingertips.. make circles outward. THEN powder. we got you the one with the mirror in it. then chap-stick."
"Chap-stick?"
"so it doesn't look like you tried."
"O the irony. Okay Qwinie- all done".
"Quatre opened his eyes to find Duo grinning at him, obviously proud of his work, and Heero handed him a mirror. Quatre found a cuter, more impish looking boy staring back him, "Whoa.."
"You like?"
"Yeah! thank you Duo!"
"s'all about androgyny...Duo answered his cell phone -Fei? sup?...yeah okay...yeah we're coming...we're leaving now. cya- Q we have to be on the other side of campus like now... we'll catch up with you later."
"Sure. Night guys."
"G'night"
"Hn."
A/N:
Sooooooooooooooo...
what do you think?
Any Suggestions (for future adventures and/or conflicts)?
Comments?
a lil review-action please?
Ttyl.
Jane