1.1 Dictionary Ficcie #1

Introit or

2 I was taught

Introit ( ĭn-trō`ĭt ) n. Ecclestical. 1. A hymn or psalm sung at the opening of a service... [Middle English, "entrance," beginning, from Old French introït, from Latin introitus from the past participle of introïre, to go in, enter, begin.]

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"Why do you keep doing that?"

There was silence as Heero pulled back and turned away from him, the air tingling like the memory of soft pressure on his lips.

"Because I felt like it."

"You felt like it. What, you always feel like kissing fellow pilots?"

"No."

"Then why the fuck do you keep doing that?"

"Because I felt like it."

Something sparked in the air, it was almost possible to hear the crack when Duo's frustration peaked.

"Stop fucking saying that!" he screeched, grabbing an uncovered pillow from the unmade bed and hurling it at the back of Heero's head. "Give me a straight answer for once, you unpredictable bastard!"

Heero turned slowly and picked up the pillow from the floor, pulling it tight against his stomach, fisting it in his hands.

"I was giving you a straight answer," he said, looking directly at Duo's face.

"The hell you were, you fuck," Duo hissed, his hands clenching the air at his sides. "I'm making the bed, just making the fucking bed - " he sing- songed the profanity, making it seem all that more trivial an activity " - and you take me by the shoulders and fucking kiss me! Why the hell do you always do that?!"

"Because - "

"Because you fucking felt like it!"

"Yes."

"That was rhetorical, Heero," Duo smirked darkly, his eyes settling on Heero's face for one bitter second. "God, that's not a straight answer. That's not any kind of an answer at all. That's you being fucking cryptic!" He jabbed a finger through the air between them.

"It's not. It's an answer," Heero insisted, placing the pillow back on the bed.

"Then why does it explain absolutely nothing to me?" Duo sneered, his eyes wild.

Heero was quiet.

"Bastard," Duo hissed. "You terribl - "

"I was taught to do what my feelings told me to. I felt like kissing you. So I did," Heero stated calmly, the words melting the anguished rage from Duo's features into a confused face of helplessness.

"Wh-what?" Duo laughed incredulously, more breath than sound.

"I was brought up on intuition. If you had a gut feeling, you went with it. The only person I could ever trust was myself... and my feelings are a part of me. I was taught to believe in them."

Duo sank to the bed, glaring darkly at Heero although his body conveyed a measure of defeat in the exhausted curl of his back, and the fine line of confusion threaded against his eyebrows.

"You were taught..."

Heero slipped around the end of the bed, perching on the edge of the mattress.

"You were taught to spontaneously kiss your mission partners at random intervals?!" Duo sputtered, shaking his head in frantic disbelief; his braid went snapping through the air.

"Duo," Heero spoke evenly. "You're not listening to me. That's not what I said."

"I know..."

"I was giving you a straight answer."

"I... know."

"Du - "

"Look, Heero," Duo's head snapped up, his face almost scared, sporting a shaky grin of confusion. "Being spontaneous and all – sure, that's fine. Fine. It can be fine, great, sure... but god, you of all people should know... some things... I dunno, some things are just better off planned."

"Feelings can't be planned. That's not what I was taught to - "

"Okay, fine. Maybe not. But yanno, preparation, in general, tends to be a good thing, and - "

"Duo."

" – just becau... what?"

There was an almost uncertain breath in the intake before the words – a split second test, a minute prototype, before it all seemed to snap into place and nurture and nature adapted. He leaned forward, slowly placing his hands on either side of Duo's hips, the tips of their noses touching briefly before he tipped his head so his lips whispered against the corner of Duo's mouth.

"I am planning to kiss you now."

And he did.

-end-