The usual disclaimer applies: I'm poor and own no bish. Story is mine, the boys, sadly enough, aren't.
Um, I forgot to mention, Zechs is pretty hardcore OOC ;;; And many thanks to everyone who left comments, I appreciate them ! To clear up any confusion, I'm imagining Duo as being more of a small person with a few cat-like traits, such as ears, tail, and retractable claws.
Enjoy:)
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While brushing Duo's hair, the pair froze at the sound of a loud thump that came from the kitchen. They had been listening to Wufei's indignant squealing and Zech's frustrated orders for quite some time, but now all sound had died. After a moment of staring at the door, Duo and Heero could hear Wufei's squeaking start back up again, along with Zech's laughter. Finishing the braid, Heero picked up his partner and made his way to the main room and kitchen to survey the damage.
Wufei was lying on a towel on the counter, with Zechs chuckling while he drained the sink. He was dripping wet, adding more water to the puddles on the kitchen's tile floor.
"Did you give Wufei a bath or did he give you one, Zechs?" Heero asked amusedly while going for his mop.
"Both," Zechs chuckled. "He'd been trying to get away the entire time, and he finally squirmed his way out of my hands and to the floor." He stifled a laugh. "And now he's upset because his rear hurts," he said, snickering.
Wufei just lay on his side with his arms folded, glaring death at anyone who dare giggle in his direction. After being dressed and taken to the couch, he was more willing to sit, but still grimaced at the action.
Heero stood at the window with Duo in his arms, watching the snow. The young mynioka was silent and, for once, unmoving.
"Why's it cold?" he asked in a quiet voice with his eyes still on the swirling flakes. "Is wadder, jus' cold."
"That's what happens to rain when it gets cold outside," Heero answered seriously. "It turns to snow or ice. That's why Zechs can't go home yet," he said, turning to look at the other man.
"Cars can't drive very well on snow and ice," Zechs explained, pulling Wufei with him to stand by the window.
"Stay 'ere," Duo smiled, "okay?" He looked up at his partner for approval.
"Yes, Zechs and Wufei are welcome here." He turned to the blond, "Duo's right, the roads won't be clear for a while."
"But—"
"It's no trouble," Heero interjected. "There's a fold-out mattress in the couch, and I'm sure I can find you something to wear." He nodded towards Zech's damp clothing. Wufei nodded, consenting for his still stubborn partner.
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After another meal of protein drinks for the younger pair and some soup for the elder, games commenced. Zechs suggested that Wufei and Duo play tag.
Wufei, having longer legs, usually won. Heero suggested that they play hide-and-seek.
Duo, being more stealthy, usually won.
It was after the fourth game of hiding and seeking that the lights flickered and went out. Wufei, the seeker, immediately shot to his partner, slightly shaken from the sudden lack of light.
But Duo was no where to be found. Heero lit a candle for himself and his guests then called out the boy's name, only to be met by silence.
"He must think it's still a game," Zechs suggested in a quiet tone, smoothing his partner's hair comfortingly.
"Duo?" Heero tried again. The darkness was silent. "Zechs, why don't you pull out the mattress in the couch? I'll get you some blankets. It's going to get cold in here if we don't have power."
"What about Duo? Aren't you going to find him?" the blond asked.
"Yes, I'll look in the cupboard with the blankets and towels, he might be in there," Heero answered, handing Zechs another lit candle.
After searching the cupboard and making the couch into a bed, Duo had yet to be found. It was only when Heero went into the bathroom, to run some hot water for tea before the pipes cooled, that he heard a sniffle.
Setting the candle down on the sink, he peered around the bath curtain. A small, dark shape was curled under the bath faucet, shivering.
"Duo." Heero reached out and pulled the boy into an embrace. "Are you alright?"
The mynioka pressed himself as close as he could to his partner and sniffed in response.
"Why didn't you come out?" Heero asked, rubbing the boy's back.
"Couldn't. Got slipped. Dark," Duo murmured into his shirt.
"You slipped?"
"Big bath." His tiny hands clawed at the fabric as he climbed higher to press against his partner's warm neck.
"You couldn't climb out of the bathtub," Heero concluded, taking his candle with him to go to bed.
Duo nodded. "It slip."
Heero sighed, getting his candle and taking Duo to his bedroom and getting him changed into some of the strange nightclothes that were made for growing myniokas. He figured their elasticity was due to the fact that myniokas were supposed to grow during the night.
"How come is dark?" Duo asked while his partner changed into some sweats.
"Because the power went down," Heero replied, piling on a few extra blankets and climbing under them, then pulling the mynioka with him.
"How come power went down?" Duo asked, looking up at the human's face from where he sat on his chest.
"Because the storm must have disconnected a power line." He sighed.
"How come—"
"Shhh. Go to sleep." Heero rolled to his side, pulling Duo in front of him and wrapping an arm around the boy. The mynioka curled up between his chest and his arm, still wondering why the house was dark as he drifted to sleep.
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Heero woke with a chill. Upon opening his eyes, he judged the time to be mid-morning, with the room outside his blankets cold and the cloudy skies outside still snowing. He blearily blinked at his bedside table; there was a small note lying in front of his lamp. His hand ventured out from the warmth of the blankets and grabbed ahold of the paper.
"Sorry for the note, but I didn't want to wake you up. Wufei wasn't feeling well early this morning, most likely from being in the park yesterday, so we're taking the tram home. Hope you get power soon. –Zechs"
He grunted at the paper, then replaced it on the table and pulled his arm back under the blankets.
Looking down at Duo, he could see that the mynioka was inside his shirt, nearly obscured by its folds, with only his face poking out of the wadded fabric. He brushed the hair from the boy's eyes and watched his tiny nose twitch at the feeling before he curled further down into his shirt. Wrapping his arm around Duo's small form, Heero let his head drop down onto his cool pillow and fell asleep within moments.
Heero's next conscious thought was of the odd tickle on his cheek. He turned his head, and the feeling was removed and replaced on his chin; he then also noticed there was a weight on his chest. Heero opened his eyes to find Duo smiling down on him, his ears tilted forward, straddling his chest with his hands resting on his chin.
"'Morning!" he piped, giggling as he touched the tip of his tiny nose to Heero's in greeting. Sitting up, the human let the boy slide down his stomach into his lap as he still grinned up at him.
"Why are you so happy?" Heero asked, rubbing sleep out of his eyes.
"I watch your eyes open, I like." Duo smiled, gripping his nightshirt and attempting to stand on his thighs. Heero took ahold of the mynioka's elbows and steadied him as he parted his legs so the boy could stand on the bed between them.
"That makes you happy?" he asked Duo's back and fuzzed hair as he took a few wobbling steps past his knees.
"Ja!" He turned to smile at his partner, but lost balance on the lumps of the blankets and fell to his side.
"How come it's still cold?" Duo asked, crawling back to sit in the human's warm lap.
"Because they haven't gotten the power lines reconnected yet." Heero sighed before he blinked at the boy. "Your legs are longer."
Duo grinned, swishing his tail. "When you notice, I wondered."
Heero held him up under his arms. Duo's shirt rumpled as he curled his body to get more comfortable in the position, with his tail making swipes in the air below his bent legs.
"You're about two inches taller," he concluded, putting the boy back down. Duo giggled happily, rubbing his head against his partner's palm. Heero scratched absentmindedly at the fragile ear and its surrounding hair.
"There isn't much to do right now since we don't have power," he frowned, not wanting to leave the warmth of the blankets. "We could use the fireplace..."
He got up and quickly pulled a sweater and some warm socks onto Duo and a hoodie with slippers for himself. The boy immediately climbed into the pouch pocket, poking his head out one end and his tail out the other.
"Aren't you getting a little big for riding around in my shirt?" Heero complained grumpily, going to the fireplace.
"Nuh." Duo shook his head.
Sighing, the human placed the wood in the form he wanted and lit the kindling. After letting the flames grow for a few minutes, he went to the kitchen and fished out a pair of long-handled tongs and some bread. He grabbed a jar of jam, a knife, a few napkins, and a bottle of Duo's protein drink, then went to sit on the rug in front of the hearth.
The boy squirmed out of his pocket and sat by him, watching intently.
"Whatcha doin'?" he asked, sniffing at the strange-looking set of metal bread-holder-thingers.
"Making toast. Here." Heero handed the bottle of drink to the mynioka. Duo looked up at him with a hurt expression in his eyes, as if he'd just been kicked.
"Come on, it's not a choice." Heero nodded at the bottle. "You can have some toast and jam afterwards, okay?" Duo wrinkled his nose again before acquiescing.
Sighing, Heero placed a piece of bread in the tongs and carefully toasted it. He hated making Duo look like that, as if he'd hurt him. Turning the piece of bread to toast on the other side, he concluded that Duo would never hurt as long as he was around. Unlike his own life, the boy would never be left without someone to consider a good friend as long as he was around.
Placing the toast on a napkin, he reached for another piece of bread. But surely he couldn't be this close to Duo forever. No, he was his own person, not something that could be owned or kept. What would happen to him after the Preventers?
Heero blinked, turning the toast. After they were retired from the field, most Preventers were assigned to desks after age thirty-five or simply retired permanently. The field work was too difficult for anyone who wasn't in top condition…but what would happen to Duo then? These new types of partners, the myniokas and the kaloctis, were too new to have anyone become old enough to retire.
Starting on a new piece of toast, he frowned at the flames. Duo would age with him, they were linked somehow as partners…but then would Duo die with him as well? Myniokas and kaloctis were never paid; their human partners were simply given more money to take care of them…so Duo wouldn't have any money to get his own house. Would he stay here then?
Why did it matter? He glared at the toast. Duo was cute with a loving personality, why would he ever choose to stay here, with someone who even his closest colleagues called anti-social. His temper was known as well. And really, he didn't have any close friends.
He turned his glare to the burning logs. He was almost positive his co-workers made fun of him behind his back. After Duo found another fun-loving person there was no reason for him to—
"'Ro?" A voice cut into his thoughts. Duo was peering up at him worriedly, the bottle lying empty on the floor next to him. The boy crawled to his leg and rubbed his cheek against the human's bent knee placatingly. "Whas'a matter?" he asked.
"Nothing," Heero nearly growled, yanking the toast from the fire and blowing out a flaming corner.
He roughly smeared strawberry jam on the pieces, giving Duo the less-charred one. After accepting his piece, the boy squinted up at him suspiciously.
"Just eat." Heero shook his head, warding off any incoming questions by taking a large bite of his breakfast. For some reason, the idea of Duo being close to anyone made him…sad? Angry? Maybe even betrayed? No, that couldn't be it. The boy had been around less than a week…yet he couldn't imagine continuing life without him.
"'Ro," the boy interrupted again.
He blinked at the mynioka, who was tugging at his sweatpants. "Tell it."
He climbed into his partner's lap, looking up at him hopefully. Jam was smeared across his cheeks, and his well-licked fingers were still slightly sticky. Heero looked down at him for a moment before picking him up and taking him to the kitchen.
He wet a washcloth and wiped at Duo's cheeks while the boy continued to look at him. After cleaning his hands, Heero looked down at him a moment longer before pulling him into an embrace. He could feel the boy wrap his arms around his neck and press his face just below his jaw.
"S'matter, 'Ro?" Duo whispered, running his fingers through a chunk of Heero's hair at the nape of his neck, just as the human had done to him many times when he was upset.
"What's going to happen?" the human whispered, his words barely a breath. "After the Preventers…" He felt tense, and possibly angry? No, this wasn't anger. Fear, that was more accurate. He was afraid of what would happen, where the mynioka would end up, and with whom. "Where will you end up?" He frowned.
Duo shifted, sitting back in his arms to look at his face. "With you?" he asked quizzically, pulling lightly on Heero's hood strings. "Where elsewhere I could go?"
Heero studied him silently. He was still young, and it was difficult to tell who he really would be once he was grown, or a few years from now after being in the field…
He frowned, really not liking the idea of Duo disarming bombs, carrying a gun, or especially ducking for cover from bullets.
"Ro," Duo interrupted. "It bees okay," he said before climbing up to sit on his shoulder, patting his cheek, then combing his fingers through the dark hair. "It bees okay. Yanno, hair is soft more than in-front-of-fires rug."
Heero sighed, putting his troubles at the back of his mind. "Yes, I should hope it would be. That rug is an antique." He rinsed out the washcloth he'd used on Duo's face.
"Yanno! Antique spells like an-tek-kwoo-ee." The boy giggled, fuzzing all the hair he could reach the wrong way. Heero frowned, pulling Duo down and into his arms.
"Your hands are cold," he stated, covering a small hand with his own.
"Ja, house is cold," Duo agreed, poking his cool nose against his partner's warm sweater.
After sitting the giggling boy down on the couch, Heero pulled some blankets and spare pillows from the closet and piled them on the rug in front of the fireplace. Duo wiggled off the couch and joined him, burrowing under the fabric.
"When does power lines connected again?" the lump under the blanket asked, rolling closer.
"When the power company employees reconnect them," Heero replied, pulling the blanket above his head. By lying on his back and turning his head, he could see the boy under the blanket.
"When's they come?" Duo asked while crawling to his favorite spot, the crook of his partner's neck.
"I don't know," he answered, lifting the blanket above his face up. "But we can't stay under here too long."
"Why's that?" Duo was playing with his hair again.
"Because we'll use up the air under here," he replied, hoisting the blanket higher in hopes of getting some fresh air.
Duo watched him for a moment before grinning brightly and crowing, "Tent! We make into tent!" Heero watched his partner hop excitedly.
"A tent?" he asked as Duo tried to hold up a fold of fabric himself.
"Tent—no! Fort! We make fort!"
"A fort?" Heero asked, raising an eyebrow while he sat, still holding the blanket up as he listened to the boy…laugh? No, it wasn't a laugh. It was more like a cackle; a mischievous cackle.
"And we fight off evil powerline employee mens with—"
"Duo," Heero interrupted, in a slightly annoyed tone. The mynioka poked his head out from under the depths of the blanket, grinning as he looked up at his grumpy partner.
"Ja?" he asked cheerfully, evidently not caring that half of his vision was obscured by a drooping fold of fabric. Heero just sighed, extending his free hand to pull the boy to him.
"We make fort and fight bad guys, 'Ro?" he asked, still smiling as he looked up at his solemn partner, who was idly smoothing his long hair down.
Heero felt a smile tug at his lips; Duo's hair was static, sticking to everything, and his bright eyes were so eager. How could he say no? He pulled the blanket around them and leaned down slightly.
"Okay, Duo, how do you make a fort?" he asked, nearly grinning when he saw the boy's face light up.
"Ya gots blankets and stick, and ya make it open by stick." His brow wrinkled. "Or four sticks, 'cause it's 'four-t'. Maybes." Duo rubbed at his nose thoughtfully, then counted out four fingers. "Four sticks is many."
"I think we can make due with just one," Heero interrupted, the smile still on his lips. Duo grinned up at him. "Ja?"
The human nodded, then placed his partner on the blankets and went to the broom closet. After unscrewing the handle from the mop, he pulled the blanket to them again. Duo watched as he propped the stick up with a pillow, leaving a large opening near the fireplace.
"What now?" he asked the boy.
"Fight bad guys!" Duo crowed, his tail swishing behind him.
"And when are the bad guys due to arrive?" Heero asked amusedly.
"Umm." His face scrunched in thought. "They come…when…they come! We wait." He gave a curt, serious nod.
"And what shall we do while we wait?" Heero asked, becoming more and more amused.
"Uh, dunno." Duo scrunched his face again, then looked up with a grin. "What'cha wanna do?"
Heero thought for a moment, then crawled out of the blanket to return a moment later with a book. While he propped himself up with a pillow and settled on his back, Duo asked, "Whas' that about?"
"This?" his partner asked innocently, bending his knees and resting the book on them. The boy nodded enthusiastically, his eyes never leaving the book's red cover. "This book is very important. We studied out of it while I attended Sanc University," he intoned, opening the well-used pages.
Duo wiggled his way onto his partner's tilted stomach and curled up on top of the hoodie's pouch-pocket to stare up at him. Heero gave him a soft look before he began reading.
"There is a place where the sidewalk ends and before the street begins…"
Ten poems later, Heero noticed that the boy's head had sunk behind his tail, which was curled around his body, asleep. With a contented sigh, he placed the book beside him and folded his arms up to support his head. Soon, he too fell victim to the mid-day nap.
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Duo felt himself slowly sliding down. He opened his eyes and looked up at his partner, who had his head cradled in his hands and was breathing slowly in sleep. A smile sprang onto his face as he carefully climbed back up his stomach; he loved watching Heero's deep blue eyes open.
They reminded him of glass; there were a million different shards of blue if he could get close enough to see them. He also liked seeing his partner while he was sleeping because he was completely at ease. When he was awake sometimes it would look as if he were carrying an invisible bag that was strapped to his shoulders. Other times he would look tense, as if anything, even the walls around him, would attack or insult him. When he was awake he was sometimes like a thin wire stretched just a bit too far, but when he fell asleep that all seemed to melt away. Just once, Duo told himself, he wanted to see Heero fall asleep and watch his problems fade away.
Stealthily crawling up nearly to his collar, Duo studied his face. He was no kit, but he really wasn't old. In his sleep, the lines between his brows were smoothed out. With a blink, Duo realized he looked younger. Maybe, he thought, he could get him to relax more when he was awake; make him happy so those lines would go away without being asleep.
Giddy with a new goal, Duo stretched forward and touched the tip of his small nose to his partner's, mentally sealing his promise. As he leaned back, the breath that had been subtly stirring his hair changed its pace as its owner drew in a deep breath and yawned. He giggled as the dark lashes twitched and opened to reveal deep blue eyes.
Heero grunted, furrowing his brow and closing his eyes again with a tired sigh. Face lines? Duo's grin turned to a look of determination. He wasn't supposed to have more face lines. The very moment he woke up, that invisible bag seemed to fall on him again. It was time to get down to business. The mynioka flattened his ears against his head and narrowed his eyes; with his tail swishing in the air behind him he found an idea.
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"Gyaa!" The shout rang loud in the still house as the human jumped up, knocking down his makeshift tent and tumbling to the floor shouting. He emerged from the fabric a moment later panting, with several clumps of his hair sticking up, as he held his smaller companion by the back of his tiny shirt. The boy's tail swung excitedly below him, and a much-too-large grin graced his miniature face.
"Duo!" he huffed, giving his best glare.
"Ticklish, 'Ro?" the boy asked with mock innocence. If possible, Duo's grin seemed to grow wider as his tail continued to swish.
"I—yea—no. I'm not ticklish." He put the boy down and sat on the sofa, crossing his arms over his chest defensively. It still felt like there was a furry tail wreaking havoc under his shirt. "You just startled me."
"Ja?" Duo asked, looking up at him from his spot on the floor.
"Yes," he replied sternly.
"Okay, then." The mynioka took a dive toward his feet. Heero reacted just in time and caught the boy before he could complete his pounce. "Duo!" he barked, holding him at arm's length.
"Just…testing reflexes," Duo grinned, twitching his fuzzed tail at him.
"Oh really?" the human asked sarcastically as he placed the boy on his lap.
"Ja!" He grinned happily, looking up at his partner with glee. The lines between his eyebrows had now vanished, and he looked pretty happy. So far, his mission was a success.
"Why don't I…"—Heero raised his hands with a small smile creeping onto his face—"test your reflexes!" He attacked, tickling the yelping boy mercilessly. Duo managed to flee his lap and was making a dash for under a couch cushion when he was attacked again, with his arms wrapped around himself, his tail and legs flailing.
After a few minutes Heero relented, closing his eyes and lying on his side with his back against the upright couch cushions; his legs dangled off the side. Duo was panting while lying on the couch in one of his partner's curled arms.
"'Ro?" he said while catching his breath.
"Hn?" Heero hummed back, not moving.
"I'm tired." Duo yawned.
"I bet you're hungry too." He cracked open an eye as he felt his companion cling to the collar of his shirt and start to curl up in it. With a sigh he supported the boy and sat up. "You are hungry, aren't you?" he asked again.
"Mmhm," came the hummed response from where Duo pressed his face against his neck.
"Then don't fall asleep yet," he softly remarked, getting a bottle of protein drink from the kitchen. "Here." He pulled the boy away from his neck and toward his shoulder. "Drink this first, then you can go to bed."
He was met with no resistance, as his partner was already half asleep. The boy finished half of his dinner before Heero caved in and let him sleep. Holding Duo with one hand and grabbing his briefcase with the other, he went to the couch and reclined just enough to be able to use both his hands and not disturb the slumbering boy. Then he pulled a blanket over them both, lit a candle, opened his briefcase, and began to review reports.
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TBC
C&C's are loved