Summary: Their sophomore year at Romafeller University, Duo convinces his roommate Quatre to join the gymnastics team. He meets some strange people who end up being his closest friends... especially the silent unibanged one...
Disclaimer: I don't own these wonderful characters, just the strange situations I force upon them...
Pairings: Eventual 3+4, 1+2, other various
Author's Notes: One year ago, when I'd only recently gotten into Gundam Wing, I noticed an unusual percentage of 3x4 fics going up one day (including my buddy Tori Sakana's "A Music Lesson"--go read it!). Thus, I designated April 21 "Official 3x4 Day." This year, to celebrate, I decided to put up the first part of my first multi-part 3x4 fic. Enjoy!
Oh, one additional note: Don't ask me why I decided to make the boys do gymnastics when I've never personally done it myself. I just wanted some club for them to be in, and for some reason decided Trowa should be a gymnast. So, just warning y'all, don't expect any really technical terms or anything. Apologies to any real gymnasts out there!
A Change in Routine
by ReySolo
~~~~~~~
"Please, Quat, you have to join!"
I shake my head resolutely. "I told you, Duo, I'm not a gymnast."
"Sure you are!" my best friend and roommate replies. "It'll be fun! Would I lie?"
He looks at me with big puppy dog eyes. They used to work on me, but he's manipulated me with them so many times in the past year that I've become immune. "'You may run and hide, but you never lie,'" I quote his motto back at him. "Well, maybe it is fun, for you. But I don't see myself in a leotard doing strange bendy things."
Duo sighs. "It's more than 'strange bendy things,' Quat! And you have more than the right body for it!"
I eye him suspiciously. "What are you doing checking out my body?"
He grins at me. "You can't blame me for appreciating a nice body. Come on, you're gay, I'm bi; what's the problem?"
"The problem, is that we decided long ago that we're just friends, and I don't want my relationship with my roommate weirded out like that, okay?"
Shrugging, he retorts, "What's wrong with just looking? It's not like I'm just gonna jump you in the middle of the night or something."
"Duo! That is most definitely an image I did not need."
He looks all offended, but I'm pretty sure it's in jest. "Are you saying you don't appreciate my wonderful body?" He pulls his shirt up his stomach half-way, striking what he apparently sees as a sexy pose.
I sigh, shaking my head. He grins back at me, knowing I'm not really bothered by his usual flirty antics. "If I agree to try out gymnastics for just one day, will you quit bugging me about it?"
He nods enthusiastically. "Fine. But only if you promise to seriously consider coming back if you do enjoy it."
I nod. "And you'll stop flirting with me, too?"
He grins suggestively. "Who said anything about that?"
Rolling my eyes, I turn away from him and go back to doing my homework, ignoring him entirely.
~~~~~~~
Well, it's Tuesday. The day I decided to give the gymnastics club a chance.
I'm strangely nervous for some reason. I don't know why. I think part of it is meeting the other people in the club. I've met a few of them, and Duo's told me some things about them, but... I don't know, I guess I'm just worried that Duo will spend all his time with them and I'll be the new guy standing in the corner by myself.
Of course, I haven't told Duo any of this. I just get my stuff and wait for him to throw all his stuff together last minute, then we walk across campus.
We arrive at the athletic center, then head to the room where gymnastics is held. No one else is there yet, so we just drop our stuff and head to the bathroom to change. I don't have a leotard or anything yet, so I'm just wearing a tank top and light-weight work-out pants.
As Duo comes out of his stall, I can't help but notice how his tight black leotard clings to his body. He's wearing a light pair of shorts over it, but that doesn't block the view of his muscular abdomen. I admit to myself (not actually for the first time) that he is very well-built, but I could never tell him that, or his ego would be through the roof even more than it is now. Besides, I wasn't lying when I said I really do like him just as a friend--albeit a rather good-looking friend.
When we head back out to the room, a few more bags have been left there, and two blond girls in leotards enter soon after us. One is Relena Peacecraft, who's in some of my psych classes; the other I've never seen before. She has incredibly long very pale hair and strange forked eyebrows.
"Hey, Duo, Quatre!" Relena greets us. Like all her clothes, her leotard is an alarming pink. She turns to Duo. "Finally convinced your roomie to come try this out?" She'd been asking me to join for a while, too.
Duo nods. "Took him long enough to give in, didn't he?" He grins at me. "And he's gonna enjoy it so much he's gonna keep coming back, right, Q?"
I shrug uncertainly as I glance at the other girl, who's eyeing me in a way that makes me a bit uncomfortable. "Hey, cutie," she purrs. "I'm Dorothy Catalonia, and you are Quatre...?" She puts a hand out.
"Winner," I answer warily, shaking her hand.
"You certainly are-"
"You're wasting your breath, Dorothy; the boy's queer as a three-dollar bill," Relena tells her, smiling at me.
I smile back gratefully. Most of my classmates know my sexual orientation, and if I can use it to ward off creepy females, so much the better. (Not that the excuse works to ward off Duo, but I can tell he's really only doing it to get a reaction out of me, anyway.)
Dorothy looks back at me, pouting. "It's true; all the good ones are gay or taken." Then she adds with a smile, "Well, nice to meet you anyway, Quatre."
I'm glad it seems we can comfortably be just friends. "Nice to meet you, Dorothy."
"DOROTHY!"
The shout comes from the other side of the room. I look over to see an annoyed looking redheaded girl and a brunette guy with strange bangs sticking straight forward. "What did I tell you about that hair??" the girl demands as she steps closer. I can't help but feel intimidated by her, despite her short stature.
Dorothy rolled her eyes. "Yes, Miss Barton. I was just about to put it up."
"Good," the redhead replies, dropping her bag and taking her clothes to go change. Silently the strange-banged boy beside her does the same.
Dorothy glares at the back of her head, but dutifully pulls her hair back into a ponytail at the same time. Once the door shuts, she grumbles, "Why does Cathy always pick on me? Her hair's never up."
"Your hair is a lot longer than hers," Relena pointed out.
"I think it has more to do with the fact that you were practically stalking Trowa last year," Duo added.
"Is Trowa--?" I begin.
"The funky-haired guy with her, yeah," Duo answers. "They're twins. They've been doing gymnastics since they were like two, and they run the class. Well, Cathy runs the class--Trowa will help out with demos and stuff, but he practically never talks."
"Yeah, tell me about it," Dorothy complains. "I don't know why I wasted my time on that boy; I could have a more fulfilling relationship with a brick wall."
"Fulfilling relationship?" Relena asks incredulously. "Is that what you want to have? I thought you just went around stalking every unattainable guy on campus for the pure challenge of it."
Dorothy glares at her good-naturedly. "You're the one who neglected to tell me your brother was already in a serious relationship."
I look at Relena, feeling as if I'm watching a verbal ping-pong match. I must admit, these are very interesting people...
"I would've thought that being in a club with Lu you'd have known; she only talks about him every five minutes."
"Speaking of whom..." Duo interrupts, pointing to the door.
A girl with short purplish hair and a guy with long blond hair enter hand in hand, the guy carrying a bag. He sets it down, and they kiss.
"Hey, Noin, Zechs, enough with the public displays of affection!" my roommate shouts across the room.
"Yeah, Milli! I get enough of that at home as it is!" Relena adds. "Come on, Lu!"
I look at the people who entered, then back at the people beside me. The confusion must be evident on my face, because Duo explains, "That's Lucrezia Noin and her boyfriend and Lena's brother, Milliardo Peacecraft. For some reason, Lena and her brother are the only ones allowed to call her by any form of her first name. And Milliardo somehow got the nickname Zechs from his relationship with Noin. I think Lena's the only one who calls him Milli."
I nod, though I think I'm more confused now. Milliardo/Milli/Zechs leaves after the kiss with Lucrezia/Lu/Noin, and she comes to drop off her bag.
She introduces herself to me quickly as "just Noin," then heads off to change. As she leaves, Cathy and Trowa come back into the room, soon followed by a girl I know and a Chinese boy I don't know. The two club leaders begin to set up the equipment and stuff, while the other two come over to talk to us.
"Hey, Duo! Hey, Quat!" Hilde greets us. "Took you long enough!" Hilde is a good friend of Duo's; they study together a lot. She'd been bugging me to come join almost as much as Duo and Relena had.
"Hi, Hilde," I smile.
The Chinese guy looks at me, then bows. "Chang Wufei. Am I correct in assuming that you are Maxwell's roommate, Quatre Winner?"
I blink, before bowing in turn. "Um, yes. Nice to meet you."
"It is an honor to meet you as well," he replies, bowing once more. He turns to go take his stuff and change, following Hilde.
Cathy and Trowa walk over after setting up. "I apologize for not introducing myself earlier," the redhead states. "I'm Cathy Barton, co-instructor of this club."
I feel slightly less intimidated now, and manage to introduce myself. "Quatre Winner."
The unibanged boy puts a hand out to shake. "Trowa Barton."
Returning the handshake, I hear an exaggerated gasp from Duo. "He speaks! I think he just used up his supply of words for the next week or so."
Trowa looks at my somewhat tactless roommate for a moment, his lovely green eyes unreadable. He turns back to me. "Nice to meet you."
Duo begins to fake having a heart attack on the floor. We ignore him.
Soon, Noin, Hilde, and Wufei return, and Cathy begins.
We warm up, stretch, then begin actual gymnastics. I feel like an idiot when everybody starts doing stuff automatically, and Cathy has to talk me through things. Everyone else there really looks like they know what they're doing, and I feel like the biggest klutz ever. Not that I'm ordinarily clumsy or anything; the others just make all the activities look simple and elegant, while I feel like an elephant trying to imitate a bunch of nimble monkeys.
Cathy and Trowa are particularly impressive. Duo tells me they've been doing this stuff since they were two; that explains why they're almost inhumanly flexible. Watching them is rather humbling, but it's also incredible.
I have to admit, I think I realized at least part of the reason Duo enjoys this. Even aside from their rather interesting personalities, the other members of this club offer another reason for Duo to show up. Every one of them is incredibly well built, with unusually strong muscles. Even though I'm not really attracted to the opposite sex, I have to appreciate the sleekness of these girls' bodies. And the guys... let's just say that I was having a bit of difficulty listening to Cathy's advice on proper vaulting techniques when Wufei was practicing on the parallel bars and Trowa was doing a one-handed handstand. I then realized that the somewhat stern co-instructor might not take kindly to me ignoring her and drooling over her brother, so I turned my attention back to her.
Anyway, the two hours are over almost before I realize it. Everybody stands in a circle as she makes a few announcements, then we head to our bags to go change.
As Duo and I follow behind Trowa and Wufei to the men's room, my roommate asks me, "So, what'd you think? Were the torturous stretches and the evil slave-driver Cathy--" Trowa turns to look back at him expressionlessly, but Duo grins and adds "Sorry, Tro--too horrible?"
I chuckle, shaking my head. "No, actually. I mean--I guess I'll keep coming, at least for a little while."
Duo lets out an enthusiastic "Whoop!", and I grin.
Maybe I'll even get decent at it and stop feeling so much like an idiot. Maybe I'll get to know these strange yet interesting people and have some new friends. Maybe this won't be as bad as I thought.
~~~~~~~
To Be Continued...
If y'all want me to continue, that is. I mean, I like it, but I don't know if anyone else does... Please, let me know!
Oh, and I promise there's more 3+4 coming up!