The need to Reminisce
He walked down the sidewalk, his own thoughts drowning out the river of people around him. Hands in his pockets, braid swaying back and forth with each confident step, and a toothpick held loosely between his teeth, Duo traveled aimlessly down the city streets.
"Geez, all these people are so busy..." Duo rolled the toothpick in his mouth to the corner of his mouth. A wide amused smile played on his lips as a blonde in a tight short dress crossed his path, "I'm just glad it's my day off today..." He'd been very tempted to turn and follow the woman, but decided quickly against it after seeing the bright silver band on her left hand's ring finger... She'd caught his glance and chuckled as she wiggled her fingers in front of his eyes, seeing his amused smile melt into a mischievous smirk.
Duo had easily made friends with girls...Yes, very very good friends with them in fact. He'd never been serious with any of them though. Not many were very interesting. Most of the girls living in this city only looked for man with money, or a cute face. Duo had both, which made him a major piece of bait for the air headed women swarming around the area. Damn, thinking about women just made him depressed... Most women were nothing but trouble. Nothing but things to spend money and waste empty kisses on...at least, here in THIS city most of them were. The only bright and beautiful girls he knew around this whole city were the lady he'd just passed on the street, who'd looked quite adamant about staying faithful to her husband, Cathy, a girl at a local coffee shop he'd met when he first moved to his apartment, and Hilde...
Hilde, though... He was absolutely sure that she was worth the money and all the kisses in the world...Kisses... Duo licked his dry lips as he drifted off on a daze. When he and Hilde had lived together, he'd been so happy... She had always laughed at his corny ass jokes, always returned his mischievous smiles with cute sly smirks, and she'd always made him feel like he'd not had a crappy day in years...like he was the luckiest person on earth. But that wasn't the only thing he loved. He loved the little quirks about her, things she didn't notice about herself that he had.
He remembered the wonderful smell of her shampoo as she passed him in the kitchen early in the morning, the cute way she swayed her hips as she walked, her laugh, and those beautiful eyes... He shook himself out of his day dream. What in the world had just come over him? Was he meaning--was he meaning HE wanted to deliver those kisses he felt she deserved so much? The toothpick he had held in his mouth was now on the ground. Yeah, right... Duo and Hilde, who would think?! Duo had always loved her like a good friend and ONLY as a good friend...right? Of course, she was cute, but he decided wasn't good enough for her...so he had just made sure to block any feelings that would've been hazardous to their 'best friend' relationship. So yeah, he loved her....STILL loved her. But what good did that do him now? They were both miles apart.
He continued on his way down the sidewalk, crunching the little piece of wood beneath his boot.
Before long, he was lost in his thoughts once again...
The both of them had made a great business out of selling scraps. His attentive business partner and best friend had definitely helped him tremendously in life. Duo had been the most unorganized person before he had met her, and he'd definitely appreciated all the hard work she'd done to get the business in order. The fruits of their labor had more than been enough to send them on their separate ways. Business wasn't the only thing she helped him in though. Hilde had always brightened his mood and had always been there when he needed to get something off his chest. Their friendship was strong, but their desire to get on with their lives was obviously stronger.. T he two friends had finally decided that sharing one bed wasn't going to get them anywhere if either of them wanted a life. What they were both thinking, even Heero wouldn't know...
Despite their naiveté, or rather, their unwillingness to admit their feelings, Duo had moved to the middle of the colony in a very nice sized apartment still working on his scraping business, and Hilde was now in a bigger house on the outskirts of the city. She still worked on the scraping business with Duo, but they rarely saw each other. Digital equipment definitely did most of the selling now, but there was still a great amount of paperwork and scrap foraging to be done. Hilde had all too gladly took the paperwork, and Duo had all too gladly given it to her. He was organized now, but not THAT organized...Besides, breaking down the scraps and delivering was what he was good at. He and machinery went hand in hand.
He scratched his head as he stopped to wait for a cross walk sign to turn, "Wonder what she's doin right now." He smiled to himself. "She's probably working her tail off even though she's ahead of schedule."
The sign finally changed to 'Walk'.
Duo shook his head in amused exasperation as he began to cross the street. That girl was always working. She never took her nose out of her books and she almost always was on that computer of hers. Well, that wasn't totally true. Duo had seen her go out at least a couple of times when he lived with her, but it wasn't anything special. Usually it was only to a fast food restaurant or to visit one of the other ex-gundam pilots. He felt she should've been out more, but she had always disagreed, telling him:
"Duo, there's no sense in me going out THERE to only make a fool of myself. I'm not made for socializing with these people. I go out enough already."
Of course, Duo had always loved to argue with her. She always got the cutest look on her face when she was angry.
"Hilde, going out for groceries every other day doesn't count! If you went out to a club, I bet all the guys would be all over you, ya know."
And right after the common reply, she'd ALWAYS blushed. And he loved watching her shades of pink turn to dark red. "Duo, you have got to be kidding. Why would I want those guys?"
"Because, Hilde, you need a guy." Duo was almost never able to get that sentence out without letting his stomach do a couple flips in the process...
"Duo, you're a hopeless motivator. I don't want guys who are THAT desperate, IF you catch my drift..."
Duo hated that Hilde thought that she was too plain, too uninteresting, but he always ended the argument right there with a roll of his eyes and a tired sigh.
He felt himself repeat those same actions as he walked into a coffee shop on the corner of the street. The smell of spices and flavored coffee filled his senses opened the door, while the slight dinging of the door bell seemed to welcome him to all he wanted.
Duo spotted the long auburn haired girl behind the counter, busily working even though there were hardly any customers at this time of day. She brushed a relentless piece of hair out of her face as she bent down to pick up a small box, and growled softly when it fell back into its original place. Duo chuckled to himself when he reached the counter and looked over.
"Heyyya, Cathy-sweets. How are ya?" Duo smiled cheerily at the long auburn haired girl behind the counter who'd just stood up straight to greet the customer.
"Oh, hey Duo. I apologize for not greeting you in my usual upbeat mood, but I'm not feeling too well right now." Cathy brushed the piece of hair back out of her face once again, this time hooking it firmly behind her ear.
"Really? What's up? You haven't caught the bug that's goin around have you?" Duo leaned against the counter, flipping his braid, which had just flopped over his shoulder, back behind him.
"No, it's not that..." She shook her head as if to remind herself of something important. "Oh, Duo, I'm sorry. I didn't even ask you what you wanted. The usual? Or are you actually going to have something different today?"
Duo smirked. "You ask me that every single day I come here and what do I usually say, Cathy?"
She gave him an amused smile as she went to the back to get his order. "Fine, fine... Double scoop of vanilla with root beer. I gotcha, I gotcha..." Her voice could be heard from the back as she rose it to speak again. "Ya know, Duo...This isn't an ice cream shop! You're just lucky that we have this ice cream to make our cappuccino shakes... And I'M lucky that my boss doesn't mind it. I think you enchanted her or something when you met her that one time..."
"Yeah, I seem to have that effect on her kind..." He stopped himself from going any further on that subject as he heard Cathy coming back out.
"So..." Duo pulled up a chair at a nearby table and plopped himself down. "What's got you down if it's not the flu bug."
"Well," Cathy came out smiling half heartedly and holding a giant root beer glass filled with a mix of ice cream and soda. "I decided to blow off Todd. He and I just weren't doing too well. Lately, he had been coming to pick me up for our dates DRUNK..." She set the root beer in front of Duo and sat down in the chair across from him. "And to top it off, he wasn't JUST drunk, he had the smell of perfume on him. And not that expensive kind either." Her nose wrinkled in disgust as she explained further, " It was that cheapo junk. You know the kind that smells like a cat just pissed all over you? THAT kind." The click of her lighter filled the silence of the room as she held it up to the cigarette she'd just pulled out and stuck in between her lips.
Duo wiped his mouth as he put his glass back down onto the table. "Yeah, I definitely know what you're talking about. I pass the kind of women that wear that crap every day on the street."
"I'm just glad you aren't one of those guys who likes to go after that kind of trash." Cathy took a long puff off of the cigarette and blew the smoke out slowly.
"Well, I just wish I could find somebody...the only think I see when I turn around is trash...either that or married material." Duo downed the last of his float and set the empty glass onto the table.
"Well..." Cathy smirked as she tapped the butts off of her cigarette. "I say you are as blind as a bat, Duo."
"What?!" Duo looked over at her surprised, his eyes quickly darting away when he saw the wary yet amused glare in her eyes.
"You know what I mean! Almost every time you come in here, you start talking about your friend Hilde...Whether it was for 30 straight minutes or just a quick mention, you ALWAYS mention her!" Cathy had a huge grin on her face as she finally put out her cigarette. "Except today. This is the only day you haven't said anything about her. But I think it's only because I probably didn't give you a chance."
"I don't know what in the world you're talking about, Cathy. Hilde and I are just good friends. Besides, she's probably found someone by now. It HAS been two years...and we only have casual phone calls every few months. She's so busy, and I'm busy with my work most of the time..."
"Hey, I know love when I see it... Although, I've not seen you two together, I can see it in your eyes Duo. Every time you talk about her you get all happy and enthused. Sometimes I could swear if your eyes got any brighter than they already were when you brought her up, I'd go blind.. You definitely still have something for her. But, now that I hear that you guys only keep in touch every few MONTHS... This little thing you have for her might die down really quick."
"I won't let that happen! And it's not just a LITTLE thing... " Duo shot an angry look at Cathy making her cringe slightly in surprise and was immediately apologetic. "I'm sorry..."
"Hey, I know how it is. I'm not mad, but I can see how YOU could be." She shrugged as she pulled out another cigarette and lit it up. "I mean, knowing this girl for THAT long...living in the same house with her...and NOT realizing until now that you loved her that much."
"I just didn't want to ruin the friendship between us. I've always loved her, but I had to turn it to friendship love... She wouldn't have felt he same anyway." He sounded more casual now that he'd realized he shouldn't be mad at Cathy. It wasn't her fault that he was a 'love' coward in Hilde's presence.
"Duo," Cathy put her cigarette down into the ashtray and grabbed his hands. "you can't go on thinking that. What if she did or still does feel something for you? You are going to go around the rest of your life wondering what it would've been like to have her in your arms."
"It's not that easy Cathy...I can't just go up to her and tell her, 'Hey Hilde? You been taking care of yourself? Not been too busy lately have you? Yeah? Well, that's great, Oh yeah, almost forgot to tell you!...I've loved you since the first time I laid my eyes on you..." He sighed and shook his head.
"Duo, you are hopeless..." Cathy tapped her foot as she picked up her short-lived cigarette and put it out, blowing out the last puff of cigarette smoke. "Totally and utterly hopeless."
"I wouldn't so easily believe that if I hadn't had heard that from her mouth too, Cathy... I really wouldn't." He ran his fingers back through his bangs and then took away Cathy's lighter as she grabbed for another cigarette.
She gave a mischievous, almost devilish smile... "I'm sure she was only teasing when she said you were hopeless. But anyway, you realizing this... means...?"
"Cathy, I think it's time little ole clueless, hopeless me needs to pay a visit to a very good friend..." Duo chuckled. "and, this" he said holding up the lighter and then throwing it into a nearby trash can, "means, you stop killing yourself with those damned cancer sticks."
Cathy rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine...Just make sure that I get ALL the details when you get back. That or else you're buying me a new lighter..."
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Soft blue artificial light spilled over a milky white face. Two light blue eyes unblinkingly searched the computer screen for some sign of life. "DAMN it... When will this little fight end?"
Hilde reached for her coffee. "Why must these people be so difficult? Every time I raise the price they try to force it back down again..." Her lips grazed the cup as a few digits suddenly popped up onto the computer screen. She'd tipped the cup to gulp in a large amount of coffee before realizing what had just happened....
Almost spitting the coffee out all over her lap, but gulping it down instead, her eyes went wide as she scanned the screen. She slammed her cup down and began to run her fingers smoothly across the keyboard. "Hot damn! Wow, 5,000 smackeroos for that scrap of metal?! I thought the highest would only be 2,000!!!" She happily typed away at the keyboard signaling the end of the auction and graciously thanking the highest bidder. "Thank God, I finally sold it. Took me long enough..." Stretching her arms and pushing herself from the desk, she yawned. "I thought I'd never sell that piece of junk." The computer screen blipped off as she flipped the switch. "Hmm...that should be about 200,000 made tonight. Well, that's not too bad I guess, considering the junk that I was selling..."
She pushed back from her desk, still yawning, and got up from her swivel chair. "Geez, I'm tired... Maybe I should take a break. I am ahead of schedule on taxes and the rest of the books by a little..."
Her slippers shuffled dryly against the hardwood floor as she sleepily dragged herself to the kitchen. Chunking the coffee cup into the sink, she tried to blink off some of her sleep. It didn't work, of course. She'd been working non-stop since Monday. And what day was it now? She took a quick glance at the calendar. Riiight, it was Wednesday. "Hell yes, I'm taking the rest of this week OFF. I deserve it.." She scratched her head as she traveled off to bed. "I definitely deserve it.."
Her breathing became more shallow each time she blinked...it would be so easy to fall asleep...so much easier if she weren't thinking of him... Having an empty spot next to her in bed didn't suit her at all. She missed the warmth and comfort she felt with her dear friend near. There was only one thing she didn't like about sleeping so close to him. It seemed so silly to her that she chuckled every time she remembered the silly little suspicion...
Sometimes, when Duo would get into bed shirtless and wet from a previous shower, Hilde would get a little...nervous. She always wondered what would happen if she just rolled over and threw her arms around him, but she'd never been able to find out. Thinking about it with him RIGHT next to her had definitely increased her heartbeat a great deal. Sometimes she could've sworn he had heard it...heard her frantic heart. That's what she was afraid of. Of him realizing that her breathing had became more rapid and that her sleepy body had just run it's heart wild from it's original tired beat.
"Silly." she mumbled to herself as she drew the covers near. "Just plain...silly..."
And as Hilde's eyes slowly fluttered closed, a dark shadow silently moved across her front porch.
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End! Next chapter is already out!! ^^ So nyah! I didn't torture you this time. ^_~