Freetime

by Scarlet Eve

A.C. 199

The leather football made contact with his hands, and he took several steps back, his eyes peering over the offensive line as he searched for an open receiver. Though his helmet limited his peripheral vision a bit, he still noticed the group of people sitting on the metal bleachers, watching his football practice.

A player in a yellow mesh jersey broke through the offensive line and was running straight for him, so Heero Yuy planted his feet, gripped the ball with his fingers over the laces, and launched it down field, where it landed in the hands of a receiver, who carried the ball in for a touchdown. The yellow jersey player shoved him hard, but held onto him to keep him from falling, out of "respect."

"You lost concentration," the defensive back said to him as the two lines of players from the same team converged to set up for another play. Heero nodded his head.

"That," Heero said, gesturing vaguely towards the young women watching from the bleachers. The player chuckled.

"I hear ya, man. Those babes can be very distracting," he said, and wandered off towards the other defensive players, leaving Heero to himself. He glanced towards the bleachers again, knowing it wasn't the whole group of young women that had caught him off guard. Just one.

She was sitting apart from the others, wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses. Her long blonde ponytail fell over her shoulder. She wore shorts and a ruffly top, and her long, pale legs were crossed over each other, her shoulders and back held up straight and high. Her chin was inclined ever so slightly. She held a phone in one hand, but he couldn't determine where her gaze was falling. Heero smirked and turned away.

When practice was over, about an hour later, she was still sitting in the bleachers, long after the other spectators had left. Heero emerged from the training facility locker room, his athletic bag slung over his shoulders. He could tell now that her attention was fixated on her phone, as her thumbs were skimming over the screen, probably typing an email or some thought she had while waiting for him.

He climbed the bleachers, his heavy footfalls rattling the unsteady construction. She still hadn't looked up yet, so he dropped his bag and walked down the aisle where she was sitting, and sat down beside her.

"You know, if you want to look inconspicuous, you can't carry yourself like you're the Vice Foreign Minister," Heero said. Her face was still obscured by the brim of the hat and her sunglasses, but he saw a smile spread slowly across her lips.

"I guess I need more training," she replied, turning her head slightly towards him. He guessed that she was looking at him from the corner of her eyes.

"What are you doing here?" he asked after a moment of silence had passed between them. She tilted her head back slightly, lifting her chin. He saw that a simple chain necklace was hanging around her neck, a small pendant cradled in the nook of her collarbone. He'd sent that to her on her birthday when he was unable to make it back to Earth.

"Well, apparently my assistant received a call from some meddling friend of mine, who insisted that I have free time in my schedule."

Heero smirked.

"She took my advice?" He saw an eyebrow lift up from behind her sunglasses.

"She adhered to your demands and threats, actually," Relena corrected. "She ran into my office panicking about someone named Heero Yuy, demanding that I have breaks during my days."

Heero chuckled. "I had a good reason," he said, defending himself.

"Oh?"

"I watched you on tv, and you were looking haggard. You've been pushing yourself too hard since the Second Eve War, and I wanted to make sure you didn't burn yourself out, especially while I couldn't be there to put out the fire."

He saw the muscles in her face relax, except for her lips, which remained in a smile. Slowly, she reached up and pulled her sunglasses off, her blue eyes catching the artificial light of the colony.

"Well aren't you sweet?" she said. Heero shrugged and looked away.

"Just doing what I was asked to do," he replied nonchalantly. She quirked an eyebrow.

"Who asked you?"

"Oh you know, everyone," he began, ticking names off on his fingers, "Zechs, Noin, Quatre, Sally, Une…"

"Alright, alright," Relena conceded. Heero laughed and gently bumped into her side with his shoulder.

"I'm kidding."

"Since when?" Relena asked, giving him a strange look.

"It is an acceptable social norm here," he said, gesturing towards the buildings that made up the university he was currently attending.

"Ah, learning to fit in, are you? Maybe I should ask you for lessons," Relena said, a smirk on her lips. Heero rose up and held a hand out to her.

"Let's get out of here," he said, and waited until she placed her palm in his, and he pulled her up from the bench.

"Where are we going?"

"My apartment is a short walk," Heero said. He led her down the bleachers, stopped to pick up his athletic bag, and they left the training field.

Walking side by side, Relena couldn't help but notice the angry stares she was receiving. She knew none of them recognized her, or they'd be more polite, she assumed. However, she thought it had something to do with her being a female, walking with the quarterback of the small university's football team. And no wonder they stared; Heero was relaxed, walking casually beside her, his athletic bag over his shoulders. His hand between them, she couldn't help but notice, occasionally brushed against her own.

A few of the male students called greetings to Heero, which he answered back with a nod and a smile, something that was new to Relena. It seemed that without the stress of war, Heero was easily slipping into a normal lifestyle, with friends, activities, and school. Though he still looked intense most of the time, he was somehow striking a happy balance, which was something Relena still struggled to find. At her most stressed, she wished that she could join him in school, and just forget about politics.

But no, she couldn't do that, not now. She had already invested much of her heart and soul into the projects she'd been working on, the relationships she'd formed, to quit.

"Hn."

Relena glanced over at Heero. His noise of irritation pulled her from her thoughts.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"These people are staring at you like they've never seen a woman before," Heero said, his voice grumpy. Relena held back a laugh.

"I suppose you haven't noticed the angry glares I'm receiving then?" she asked. Heero glanced around and shook his head.

"I don't understand these women. They all whisper about me behind my back, never speaking to me, and then glare at you? What's the point?"

"Ah, that's a dangerous road to try and go down, Yuy," Relena said, mimicking Duo's voice and manner of speaking. "You'll never understand women." Heero chuckled and shook his head.

"Thanks Duo," he said. "But really… you don't confuse me. Why do the others?" He was looking at her now, that look of true curiosity in his face. Relena shrugged her shoulders.

"I guess I'm a little different than most people," Relena said after a moment. Heero seemed satisfied by this answer, and he turned his head away from her. At a crosswalk, they turned right, and Heero motioned for her to stop.

"Here we are." He unlocked the front door and they stepped inside the cool entrance of the apartment building. He led her to the elevator and once inside, pressed the button for the 10th floor. They rose up in silence, Relena still entertaining the amusing thought of Heero attempting to understand women. When the bell dinged, the doors slid open and Heero guided her down the hall.

She wasn't sure what she was expecting from a college apartment building, but the floor in the hallway was carpeted with simple patterned carpet, that looked clean and relatively new. The walls and ceiling were painted a muted blue, which matched a color in the carpet. She supposed she expected holes in the walls.

Heero's apartment was at the end of the hall. He opened the door, revealing a tidy, one bedroom apartment with a small kitchen. His furnishings were simple, but functional, with a desk pressed up against one wall, a television set, couch and loveseat. He had a tall table with four bar stools around it, and a bookshelf which was crammed full of books. There was a set of double doors, which seemed to be trying to imitate french doors, that lead out to the balcony.

"I'll just take a quick shower, if you want to make yourself at home," Heero said, tossing his bag to the ground. Relena nodded and dropped her purse onto the counter in the kitchen. Only a plate, fork, and glass sat in the sink, and the rest of the area was clean. Relena heard the bathroom door close and the shower turn on. A bit of a fluttering sensation erupted in her stomach, knowing Heero was just there, showering.

Relena shook her head, her face heating up in a flush. "Get a hold of yourself," she mumbled.

As a distraction, or perhaps to get further away from the showering Heero, Relena unlocked the doors to the balcony and stepped out. It was a large balcony, and he had a table with a few chairs off to one side. Relena stepped to the railing and closed her hands around the warm metal, and looked up.

The view would give most first-time colony visitors vertigo of the worst kind. Looking up, Relena could see the colony curve up and around, the buildings and streets all held by manufactured gravity, and yet still seemed to be suspended upside down. The first time she saw this view, Relena had nearly passed out, as it was nothing like she'd ever seen before, growing up on Earth. Now, it was a familiar and comfortable view, like being on a strange, inverted ferris wheel.

Relena leaned forward, resting her chin in her hand and allowed herself to drift off into a daydream.

Heero dressed in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, after toweling off from his shower. Hair damp, he stepped from the bathroom in a cloud of steam. Though he was strictly instructed to not over-exert himself during football practice, he liked to take his hot showers to relax any and all muscles, especially the night before a game. To his coach, Heero was a miracle player, and may even bring the school a championship title before Heero graduated in a year or so. That was why he was sometimes treated like a china doll, careful to not be broken.

Heero glanced around, and noticed that Relena had stepped onto the balcony. He crossed the living room and stepped out beside her, resting a hand on her shoulder.

She jumped.

"Heero!" she cried, pressing a hand to her chest, her breath coming in quick bursts. "You scared me!" He also noticed that her cheeks were quite red.

"Sorry," he said, removing his hand from her. "Are you okay? You are flushed."

He didn't think his question would cause her face to turn redder, but it did. She turned away, trying to hide herself.

"I'm fine. Just lost in thoughts," she replied. Heero raised an eyebrow, as an expert of detecting lies spoken by Relena Darlian, but questioned no further. Instead, he guided her back inside the apartment.

"Dinner?" he asked. Relena nodded and pulled the hat off her head, threading her long ponytail through the hole in the back.

"I'd love to. Maybe not publicly," she said, casually biting the lower corner of her lip.

"Of course," he said. Heero grabbed onto the back of a chair that sat tucked under the dining table, and moved it to the counter in the kitchen. He pointed to it. "Sit."

Relena threw him a dirty look. "Oh really?" Heero smirked at her, until she finally sighed and sat down in the chair. "Are you going to put on a show?" He said nothing, but flipped the knob on the small, apartment sized stove, and set the oven to preheat.

"Depends on your idea of entertainment," he replied, pulling a few ingredients from the refrigerator. With his head still blocked by the open fridge door, he grinned to himself, stifling a laugh. He heard her huff from her place at the counter.

"Heero Yuy, I don't like your implications," she said in her haughtiest voice. Heero rose up and closed the refrigerator door, cradling several different kinds of vegetables in his arms. Relena had a grin on her face. Heero set his armload down on the counter, and without meeting her eyes, replied,

"I wasn't implying anything." She huffed again, crossing her arms over her chest, but never breaking her grin. Heero's face softened, and he turned away again, pulling a few things from the freezer. He settled into an easy rhythm with his cooking, and he noticed that Relena was watching him closely.

They made idle conversation, which mostly amounted to Relena telling Heero about her work, as Heero insisted that nothing about his schooling was worth discussing.

Halfway through dinner preparations, Relena suggested she pick up some wine, so she headed out of his apartment, taking his key, and walked to the liquor store. She picked up a nice bottle of Chardonnay, which she felt might appeal to their differing tastes in alcohol. Walking back to his apartment, Relena found herself sighing, looking up at the "sky" and feeling that warm, summery contentment that she used to feel back as a child; the days when she'd spend the long afternoons lazing in the sun, spending time with friends and enjoying good food. The blue sky would be endless and clear, and absolutely everything was perfect.

Relena realized that it wasn't all that long ago that she'd spent her summers that way. Now her summers were spent working, as were her falls, springs, and winters. But she wouldn't dwell. Here was a chance to feel that way again, and she wasn't about to spoil it by being sad about the way her life had ended up.

She let herself into the apartment building and retraced her steps up to the 10th floor, and back to Heero's apartment. She saw him out on the balcony, setting down two plates and two bowls of salad on the table. Two empty wine glasses waited patiently on the counter, next to which lay a corkscrew. Relena picked it up and swiftly pulled the cork from the wine bottle and filled the two glasses with generous pours. She carried the glasses to the balcony.

A breeze, manufactured, but still a breeze, blew gently by, ruffling their hair slightly as they both sat down at the table. Relena handed over a glass to Heero, who took it and tapped the rim lightly against Relena's glass. They grinned at each other as they took a sip.

Heero had made chicken with vegetables and rice, but somehow, it tasted better than anything Relena had eaten in a long time. Maybe it was the setting, the company, or the wine, but everything at that moment felt perfectly balanced - she hardly felt balance in her life, as she'd stuff a muffin in her mouth on her way out the door in the morning.

They talked and laughed over dinner and wine, the artificial sun setting around them, throwing long shadows over the fading orange light. Soon enough, the hologrammed view of the current star pattern outside of the colony would be projected into the sky, once the orange light had faded.

Standing beside each other, finishing off the last of the wine, they watched the nightlife crawl out into the streets. Students on their way to parties or bars, taxis cruising down the streets, looking for fare, and the Colony employees who worked the night shift, heading off to work.

Heero's skin was warm against her arm, where he was leaning slightly into her. Relena closed her eyes, letting her other sensations take over, feeling the breeze, the way her hair was fluttering against her skin.

"Relena?"

"Hmm?" Heero moved away from her, and she heard a clink, as he must have set down his wine glass. Her own was plucked from her hands, followed by a second clink. Relena opened her eyes just as Heero wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into him. Her chest pressed against his, and his other hand curled up into her hair. Heero leaned close to her ear, a distance which had grown as Heero had gotten taller.

"Stay with me tonight."

It wasn't a question, but it wasn't a command. Just a statement, and slowly, Relena nodded, accepting. Heero took her hand and pulled her back into the apartment, and into his bedroom.

Heero led her into the darkened bedroom and pulled her down onto the bed. She gave a little squeal of laughter that made him smile. Lying on top of the comforter, Heero snaked his hands beneath her blouse, feeling the smooth, familiar contours of her body. He let his hands glide lightly over her back, stomach, and hips, which caused her to shiver, and to raise goosebumps on her skin. Her bare feet entwined with his, and he pulled her closer, nuzzling into her neck, where he planted a kiss. Teasing Relena was one of Heero's favorite hobbies, though one he was hardly able to perform as often as he'd like.

Heero began to drape kisses over her body, up her neck, along her jaw, down her collarbone and on the tops of her breasts. He gathered her hair in one hand, a feat, and pulled the long strands away from her body, where they were lain over the pillows at the head of the bed. Her hairline was now visible, and Heero continued his journey up her neck and into her hair.

Her hands were roaming now, tightening in his hair and tickling his neck. She drew her fingernail down his spine, sending a shiver up his body. Her hands moved to the hem of his shirt, which she pulled up and over his head and flung across the room. Heero took his turn, pulling off her blouse, revealing her camisole and bra underneath. He removed those as well, for good measure.

As he trailed kisses down her breasts to her nipples, Heero remembered the first few times they'd locked themselves in a bedroom, to roam and experiment with each other's bodies. Those experiences were, as most are, awkward and strange; they fought with their own insecurities, and fought to open up and allow the other to see their full self. The awkwardness had tapered off after a while, leading to slow, pleasurable times spent together in bed. They both knew there was so much more to be achieved by making love, but for now, they were content with what they had. Their limited time together meant they had to make the most of every hour, of every minute.

Relena gasped, and Heero released her nipple from his mouth. He worked his hands between them and unbuttoned her shorts, sliding them down her legs, letting them land on the floor. He trailed his hand up her leg and onto her panties, which showed evidence of her arousal. But he passed that by for now, trailing kisses down her stomach, continuing to tease her, and feeling her response in fingernails against his scalp.

Relena's back arched, and she groaned, both loving and hating Heero's game. His breath was warm against her skin, against her panties, but he'd only let her revel in it for so long, before he pulled away, and continued to roam her body. Using her feet, she pushed his shorts down his legs, after motioning for him to assist her by unclasping the button. She could now see how his own body was reacting to everything, and she began her own teasing, lightly drawing her hand over him, causing him to quiver.

Sometimes during these moments, Relena would hate their distance from each other. That other than a few times a year, both slept in empty beds, reaching for the other, who was millions of miles away. Holidays, birthdays, and Relena's business trips were really the only chances they had to see each other. But after, when they laid together in each other's arms, Heero would tell her how much longer he had left of school, and when he could return to her, for good.

Relena closed her eyes and let out a breath. Heero glanced up at her, then lifted his head.

"Relena?"

"I'm okay," she said, then opened her eyes and smiled. She couldn't see his whole face, but his eyes seemed to reflect the little light in the room that there was. She could see concern there. Heero adjusted his position to lay beside her, and pulled her into his arms. Relena wrapped her legs around his, bringing their bodies closer.

"You sure?" Heero pressed.

"The usual," Relena replied, and Heero nodded once. He cupped her cheek in his hand and pressed a kiss against her lips.

"Not much longer, and I'll be back on Earth," he said.

"I know." Relena smiled sadly at him, and Heero pressed a kiss to her forehead. It only took a moment for his hands to whisk over her most sensitive spots, bringing her state of mind back to where it was before.

The shadows filtering through a crack in the curtains continued to extend across the floor, until they completely disappeared, replaced by the artificial night of the colony. The noises outside changed from daytime noises to night noises, with the occasional distant rumbling of the colony's life supporting machinery.

Heero and Relena lay together in a tangle of blankets and limbs, sweat shining on their faces, chests heaving with the after-effects of their lovemaking. Relena pushed a strand of hair from her forehead, which had stuck there when she threw her head back in passion. Heero reached out to her and pulled her against him, nuzzling his face against her skin.

"We should get some sleep," Relena whispered. Heero grunted in disagreeance.

"We should keep playing," he said, giving the skin of her shoulder a light nip. Relena squirmed until she was lying on her other side, facing him.

"You have an important game tomorrow," Relena said, poking him in the chest with a finger. "And I have a conference to attend."

"Hn. I should have told your assistant to make sure you had weekends off," Heero mumbled.

"Now that's not possible," Relena countered, giggling. Their eyes met and neither spoke for several minutes, as they delved deep into the other's inner thoughts and feelings.

Heero eventually sighed, causing Relena to bite her lip. Heero's sighs usually meant a glimpse of his insecurities. He'd done it several times before already, and now, it seemed Relena would learn of a new one. At least though, she frequently told herself, he could admit to having them.

"Are you positive you don't want to pursue someone more appropriate for your station and position?" he asked, voice low.

"You know the answer to that," Relena replied, skimming her hand through his hair and pulling him closer to her. "I don't care about anyone else the way I care for you."

"But…"

"I could ask you the same thing," Relena said. "Are you sure you don't want a girl with less media attention and fewer chances of kidnappings and assassinations?"

"This hypothetical girl would not be very interesting," Heero said.

"Neither would someone, as you say, 'more appropriate for my station and position.'"

"I guess we keep life interesting," Heero conceded.

"Yes, we do," Relena said. She reached out and pulled the blankets up around their bodies. "I care about you, and only you, and don't make me repeat myself."

A/N: Just a fun little read that I whipped up this week :-)

-Scarlet Eve