Author: Imo-chan (who has too many fics going)
Title: Caramel Baby
Disclaimers: Duo, Heero, Wu and the rest of th' gang are not mine. I want them, but they're not mine. Neither is Relena. I can't tell yet whether that's a good thing or a bad thing… ^^ we'll see...
However, the poem/song-thing *is* mine. I can't see why anyone would want it… but, really, I don't like thieves in general (unless they have three- foot braids, pretty violet eyes and a fetish for blue-eyed japanese. ^^;;)
Pairings: 5xR.
Warnings: HET (Translation: non-yaoi *gasp*), Romance, WAFF, POV
Notes: Well, SkyEye was the one who prompted me into thinking about seriously writing 5xR (or is that Rx5? ^_~) and I really don't know where this came from. The poem (under the same title as the fic) started it, I think (a lot of my fics start like that), and it was originally gonna be a *really* short 2x5... but then I changed my mind – because SkyE made me see the wonders of a little het now and then *gryn*... and it ended up like this.
SkyE-dear... this is for you. And you know it's all your fault.
1 -----------
Caramel Baby
-----------
spin spin spin spin
sugar sweet
sugar spin
talk me in circles
dizzy fizzy pepperminty swirl
leaves me gummybear-giddy
as your words
little sour-drop, lemon-drops
flavour shots
spin me
head over heels over hunny over
you
and you sugar you
make me forget, only
you
and you sweet you
could be so caramel beautiful
-- excerpt from 'Caramel Baby'
-- Part 2 --
I was tired and irritated when we arrived at the International Conference Hall.
I'm tired and irritated now, as we leave.
Humph.
I sense a pattern.
The reporters were bothersome and ignorant of the issues. The telecast was delayed forty-five minutes because the tech got lost on his way back from his "fresh-air" break. The attending delegates were disrespectful, late, and did a very poor job of hiding the fact that they were all just smug, paid-off, expensive French three-piece suits. And the food was awful.
But the fact that I'm irritated has nothing to do with you.
Oh, nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
"Get in the car – you're wasting time."
I just hate you.
I really do.
"Minister," you snap, as if you were speaking to a small child. "Get in the car."
The parking lot is empty, all I can see is you and how small and angry you make me feel.
"The door's not open," I reply, pitching my voice like I know you hear it in your head already.
Does it really make me feel better to cater to you like that? No, no. But I'm sure you thoroughly enjoy gnashing your teeth and futilely trying to conceal your exasperation. I can see right through you, Wufei Chang. You revel in being aggravated. You'd love to have a real reason to hate me, wouldn't you?
"That shouldn't change the fact that you have two hands and two feet," you snarl.
Well, you can have it.
"Heero opens the door for me. Any real gentleman would," I say, flipping my hair, turning my eyes away, raising my nose slightly. Oh, how I love this – creating a princess of myself in a place that couldn't be more dark and dank and cold – if only to rankle you until you snap.
You slam your open fist against the roof of the car. It sounds like a gunshot and I start, catching myself and lowering my lids to glare at you.
"Let's straighten this out, Minister," you snap, loudly. You look at me sideways from where your face and body are half-turned away and hunched over - your arm and palm still flattened against the car roof – a portrait of aggravation. Have I won yet?
"I. Am not. Heero. Yuy." You punctuate each word. "And I. Am not. A gentleman. I am not here to serve you tea, taste your food, polish your crown, wash your gowns, or open doors. I am here to save your life – should the occasion arise. IS that clear?"
So what, then, if the words sting just a bit? I'm going to love this.
"Oh, of course," I smile sweetly – a caramelized simper. "Now why isn't the car door open?"
You looked so close, there. Almost a crack in the repression, I'm sure. I saw that eye twitch, I saw that jaw tremble. You were close. But I must admit, you're very good. You pull the door open, stand unmoving until I am seated, and then close it with only a hint of a slam.
"Trouble, Miss Relena?" Pargan asks, gruffly.
"Oh no," I say, sounding happy and smug – even though there's something unsatisfying about the whole exchange. "Everything's fine."
* * * * * * *
"'LENA!" Duo exclaims as the vidscreen activates. "Heero! It's 'Lena!" He calls off-screen, his smile is absolutely blinding.
It's so good to hear a //friendly// voice again.
"So what's cookin', good-lookin'?" He grins, turning back to the screen.
"Oh, you know me."
"You're having a party without us, aren't you? A fucking kegger, isn't it?" He lowers his eyebrows suspiciously.
"Duo," Heero's voice cut in.
"Naw, s'alright, Heero," Duo winks at me. "A little colour in the language never hurt anyone. It spices up her life, doesn't it, 'Le?"
I beam, innocent.
He laughs raucously. "God, yer a riot. Ah well, how's stuff going?"
"Not bad. I – "
"The meeting with Mr. Gordon?" Heero asks as he slides into view, effectively knocking Duo off the bench. He falls with an unrestrained squawk.
I giggle, in spite of my self as I answer and I can hear Duo muttering obscenities from the floor. "//Not bad//. The proposal actually looks very sound; he seems to have taken care of my biggest concerns with the new development right off the bat. Although Wufei seemed to think - "
"And how //is// Chang…?" Duo pulls himself off the floor and wiggles his eyebrows at me.
The suggestive tone in his voice makes me that much more peevish. "I don't like him," I say stiffly, all too aware of how childish I must sound. "He's mean."
"You're still alive," Heero flicks Duo's fingers away from where they were tickling his neck.
"What?" I ask; completely confused as to what that has to do with the fact that you're a stuffy, frigid, stick-in-the-mud.
"That means he's doing his job. It shouldn't matter whether or not you like him, Relena."
"//I// think it matters a great deal, //Heero//," I sigh angrily. "I don't like him; it makes me uncomfortable – he doesn't like to talk much, and he looks so //angry// all the time."
Duo coughs loudly. "Remind you of anyone we //know//, Relena?" He says, pointing not-so-subtly to the back of Heero's head.
Heero glares and I can't help but laugh. "But you're different, Heero..." and he glares even harder. "I never thought you were mean... really... just a little... unsociable, I suppose. But you're my friend, now."
"Hn," Heero nods almost imperceptibly, looking away.
"Well, yasee, Princess," Duo slides in next to him. "That's the thing. I'd call Wufei my friend too – I care about him as much as I care about any of you guys, but I sincerely doubt he'd return the favour, unless he was threatened with a painful, horrible, dishonourable death..." he pauses. "And probably not even then. Lookit //him//," he jerks his thumb at Heero. "The word 'friend' makes him go as red as a schoolgirl with a crush, and he gets all silent – well, more than usual, anyway."
Duo continues on, completely oblivious to the daggers Heero's glaring at him. "It's the same thing with Wufei, only more so. Wufei doesn't //have// friends. Wufei doesn't like people in general. Well, I dunno, maybe that's not entirely true... maybe he likes people, but he finds it very hard to trust anyone enough to call them a friend. I think he'd call Trowa a friend. Maybe, he seems to not mind his company so much – yeah, him and Sally, but come on, //everyone// likes Sally. But in general, I dunno... he likes to shut people off, shut them out – I guess – and show the world that he's a //complete// independent, and that nothing you could ever say or do could hurt him." Duo shrugs, as if personality analysis was something he performed on a regular basis. "He's afraid of failure – just like every single fuckin' human being in the Earth Sphere – he just tends to deal with it in a different way."
I still feel angry. "Different as in acting like a complete… *jackass?!*"
Heero blinks and then looks pointedly at Duo who holds up his hands defensively. "What? Why're you looking at me like that? //I// didn't teach her how to swear!"
"Of course not," he deadpans.
I have to laugh. "I miss you two," I say impulsively, and I can see Duo sober slightly. "How much longer?"
Duo looks almost... upset? He glances once at Heero and then back at me. "Well, we knew it wouldn't be a cake-walk... It's hard work, setting up Une and 'Maia. I mean, Lady'd probably be fine on her own, but it's Mariemaia we've been really worried about. I basically had to sit in all her classes at the new colony school to make sure everything was okay."
He pauses.
"And goddammit, it //wasn't//! Even the //teachers// were complete //assholes// to her!" he pinches his lips together in an effort to control his anger. "I'm sorry... I shouldn't be tellin' you all the bad stuff... but..."
"There isn't anything good," Heero finishes, efficiently. "The colonists hate her."
"Some of 'em don't feel all that positive about us, either, apparently."
I don't know what to say.
"I'm sorry..." I finally manage. "Here I was, being so selfish – and it must be awful... I'm so sorry. Forget I asked. Take as much time as you need."
Duo's lip twitches in a ghost of a grin. "Thanks, 'Lena. Look, we'll try to get home as soon as possible, and you try ta keep 'Fei outta trouble, m'k?"
"All right."
"There's my girl!" He smiles.
Heero looks approving. "I will call tomorrow to run down another itinerary with Wufei. I will talk with you then."
I nod, and just before Heero cuts the connection, Duo calls out from over his shoulder:
"Try some chocolate, 'Lena! I told you, he's a sucker for the sweet stuff!"
* * * * * * * *
Even as a child, I was never afraid of the dark.
Shadows were never anything more than shadows; the underside of my bed never hid anything except dust bunnies, my closet nothing but the clothes that belonged there. Father always said I was a practical child. An intelligent child.
A strange child.
Even now, lying here, I can hear him laugh softly at my insistence that the natural dark be dark - no fairy-shaped nightlights for me – and finally close the door, leaving me to my closed eyelids.
Maybe I was strange.
But I feel unnatural now, with this tightening apprehension in my stomach. I'm lying in bed, in the dark. The covers are pulled up to my chin and I dare not open my eyes because...
Because I'm afraid.
Of what, I don't know, but I do //know// that feeling. That creeping, tingling, tight bind across my stomach and my chest and throat, and the way nothing seems clear in my head. My imagination run wild where there was nothing to let loose before.
I feel like laughing at the absurdity of it all.
I would too...
If I wasn't too frightened to move.
What could I possibly be fearing? A monster crawling out from under my bed? A vampire in through the window? Those are //childish// things, that //children// dream of. Those are creations from fairy tales, the same place where knights and princesses find eternal love.
I never believed in fairy tales. Or monsters.
I used to believe in princes.
Why am I so frightened?
* * * * * * * *
tbc...
(probably about 5 or 6 parts in total). Yes, there will be PLOT (tm) eventually. ^-^
Title: Caramel Baby
Disclaimers: Duo, Heero, Wu and the rest of th' gang are not mine. I want them, but they're not mine. Neither is Relena. I can't tell yet whether that's a good thing or a bad thing… ^^ we'll see...
However, the poem/song-thing *is* mine. I can't see why anyone would want it… but, really, I don't like thieves in general (unless they have three- foot braids, pretty violet eyes and a fetish for blue-eyed japanese. ^^;;)
Pairings: 5xR.
Warnings: HET (Translation: non-yaoi *gasp*), Romance, WAFF, POV
Notes: Well, SkyEye was the one who prompted me into thinking about seriously writing 5xR (or is that Rx5? ^_~) and I really don't know where this came from. The poem (under the same title as the fic) started it, I think (a lot of my fics start like that), and it was originally gonna be a *really* short 2x5... but then I changed my mind – because SkyE made me see the wonders of a little het now and then *gryn*... and it ended up like this.
SkyE-dear... this is for you. And you know it's all your fault.
1 -----------
Caramel Baby
-----------
spin spin spin spin
sugar sweet
sugar spin
talk me in circles
dizzy fizzy pepperminty swirl
leaves me gummybear-giddy
as your words
little sour-drop, lemon-drops
flavour shots
spin me
head over heels over hunny over
you
and you sugar you
make me forget, only
you
and you sweet you
could be so caramel beautiful
-- excerpt from 'Caramel Baby'
-- Part 2 --
I was tired and irritated when we arrived at the International Conference Hall.
I'm tired and irritated now, as we leave.
Humph.
I sense a pattern.
The reporters were bothersome and ignorant of the issues. The telecast was delayed forty-five minutes because the tech got lost on his way back from his "fresh-air" break. The attending delegates were disrespectful, late, and did a very poor job of hiding the fact that they were all just smug, paid-off, expensive French three-piece suits. And the food was awful.
But the fact that I'm irritated has nothing to do with you.
Oh, nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
"Get in the car – you're wasting time."
I just hate you.
I really do.
"Minister," you snap, as if you were speaking to a small child. "Get in the car."
The parking lot is empty, all I can see is you and how small and angry you make me feel.
"The door's not open," I reply, pitching my voice like I know you hear it in your head already.
Does it really make me feel better to cater to you like that? No, no. But I'm sure you thoroughly enjoy gnashing your teeth and futilely trying to conceal your exasperation. I can see right through you, Wufei Chang. You revel in being aggravated. You'd love to have a real reason to hate me, wouldn't you?
"That shouldn't change the fact that you have two hands and two feet," you snarl.
Well, you can have it.
"Heero opens the door for me. Any real gentleman would," I say, flipping my hair, turning my eyes away, raising my nose slightly. Oh, how I love this – creating a princess of myself in a place that couldn't be more dark and dank and cold – if only to rankle you until you snap.
You slam your open fist against the roof of the car. It sounds like a gunshot and I start, catching myself and lowering my lids to glare at you.
"Let's straighten this out, Minister," you snap, loudly. You look at me sideways from where your face and body are half-turned away and hunched over - your arm and palm still flattened against the car roof – a portrait of aggravation. Have I won yet?
"I. Am not. Heero. Yuy." You punctuate each word. "And I. Am not. A gentleman. I am not here to serve you tea, taste your food, polish your crown, wash your gowns, or open doors. I am here to save your life – should the occasion arise. IS that clear?"
So what, then, if the words sting just a bit? I'm going to love this.
"Oh, of course," I smile sweetly – a caramelized simper. "Now why isn't the car door open?"
You looked so close, there. Almost a crack in the repression, I'm sure. I saw that eye twitch, I saw that jaw tremble. You were close. But I must admit, you're very good. You pull the door open, stand unmoving until I am seated, and then close it with only a hint of a slam.
"Trouble, Miss Relena?" Pargan asks, gruffly.
"Oh no," I say, sounding happy and smug – even though there's something unsatisfying about the whole exchange. "Everything's fine."
* * * * * * *
"'LENA!" Duo exclaims as the vidscreen activates. "Heero! It's 'Lena!" He calls off-screen, his smile is absolutely blinding.
It's so good to hear a //friendly// voice again.
"So what's cookin', good-lookin'?" He grins, turning back to the screen.
"Oh, you know me."
"You're having a party without us, aren't you? A fucking kegger, isn't it?" He lowers his eyebrows suspiciously.
"Duo," Heero's voice cut in.
"Naw, s'alright, Heero," Duo winks at me. "A little colour in the language never hurt anyone. It spices up her life, doesn't it, 'Le?"
I beam, innocent.
He laughs raucously. "God, yer a riot. Ah well, how's stuff going?"
"Not bad. I – "
"The meeting with Mr. Gordon?" Heero asks as he slides into view, effectively knocking Duo off the bench. He falls with an unrestrained squawk.
I giggle, in spite of my self as I answer and I can hear Duo muttering obscenities from the floor. "//Not bad//. The proposal actually looks very sound; he seems to have taken care of my biggest concerns with the new development right off the bat. Although Wufei seemed to think - "
"And how //is// Chang…?" Duo pulls himself off the floor and wiggles his eyebrows at me.
The suggestive tone in his voice makes me that much more peevish. "I don't like him," I say stiffly, all too aware of how childish I must sound. "He's mean."
"You're still alive," Heero flicks Duo's fingers away from where they were tickling his neck.
"What?" I ask; completely confused as to what that has to do with the fact that you're a stuffy, frigid, stick-in-the-mud.
"That means he's doing his job. It shouldn't matter whether or not you like him, Relena."
"//I// think it matters a great deal, //Heero//," I sigh angrily. "I don't like him; it makes me uncomfortable – he doesn't like to talk much, and he looks so //angry// all the time."
Duo coughs loudly. "Remind you of anyone we //know//, Relena?" He says, pointing not-so-subtly to the back of Heero's head.
Heero glares and I can't help but laugh. "But you're different, Heero..." and he glares even harder. "I never thought you were mean... really... just a little... unsociable, I suppose. But you're my friend, now."
"Hn," Heero nods almost imperceptibly, looking away.
"Well, yasee, Princess," Duo slides in next to him. "That's the thing. I'd call Wufei my friend too – I care about him as much as I care about any of you guys, but I sincerely doubt he'd return the favour, unless he was threatened with a painful, horrible, dishonourable death..." he pauses. "And probably not even then. Lookit //him//," he jerks his thumb at Heero. "The word 'friend' makes him go as red as a schoolgirl with a crush, and he gets all silent – well, more than usual, anyway."
Duo continues on, completely oblivious to the daggers Heero's glaring at him. "It's the same thing with Wufei, only more so. Wufei doesn't //have// friends. Wufei doesn't like people in general. Well, I dunno, maybe that's not entirely true... maybe he likes people, but he finds it very hard to trust anyone enough to call them a friend. I think he'd call Trowa a friend. Maybe, he seems to not mind his company so much – yeah, him and Sally, but come on, //everyone// likes Sally. But in general, I dunno... he likes to shut people off, shut them out – I guess – and show the world that he's a //complete// independent, and that nothing you could ever say or do could hurt him." Duo shrugs, as if personality analysis was something he performed on a regular basis. "He's afraid of failure – just like every single fuckin' human being in the Earth Sphere – he just tends to deal with it in a different way."
I still feel angry. "Different as in acting like a complete… *jackass?!*"
Heero blinks and then looks pointedly at Duo who holds up his hands defensively. "What? Why're you looking at me like that? //I// didn't teach her how to swear!"
"Of course not," he deadpans.
I have to laugh. "I miss you two," I say impulsively, and I can see Duo sober slightly. "How much longer?"
Duo looks almost... upset? He glances once at Heero and then back at me. "Well, we knew it wouldn't be a cake-walk... It's hard work, setting up Une and 'Maia. I mean, Lady'd probably be fine on her own, but it's Mariemaia we've been really worried about. I basically had to sit in all her classes at the new colony school to make sure everything was okay."
He pauses.
"And goddammit, it //wasn't//! Even the //teachers// were complete //assholes// to her!" he pinches his lips together in an effort to control his anger. "I'm sorry... I shouldn't be tellin' you all the bad stuff... but..."
"There isn't anything good," Heero finishes, efficiently. "The colonists hate her."
"Some of 'em don't feel all that positive about us, either, apparently."
I don't know what to say.
"I'm sorry..." I finally manage. "Here I was, being so selfish – and it must be awful... I'm so sorry. Forget I asked. Take as much time as you need."
Duo's lip twitches in a ghost of a grin. "Thanks, 'Lena. Look, we'll try to get home as soon as possible, and you try ta keep 'Fei outta trouble, m'k?"
"All right."
"There's my girl!" He smiles.
Heero looks approving. "I will call tomorrow to run down another itinerary with Wufei. I will talk with you then."
I nod, and just before Heero cuts the connection, Duo calls out from over his shoulder:
"Try some chocolate, 'Lena! I told you, he's a sucker for the sweet stuff!"
* * * * * * * *
Even as a child, I was never afraid of the dark.
Shadows were never anything more than shadows; the underside of my bed never hid anything except dust bunnies, my closet nothing but the clothes that belonged there. Father always said I was a practical child. An intelligent child.
A strange child.
Even now, lying here, I can hear him laugh softly at my insistence that the natural dark be dark - no fairy-shaped nightlights for me – and finally close the door, leaving me to my closed eyelids.
Maybe I was strange.
But I feel unnatural now, with this tightening apprehension in my stomach. I'm lying in bed, in the dark. The covers are pulled up to my chin and I dare not open my eyes because...
Because I'm afraid.
Of what, I don't know, but I do //know// that feeling. That creeping, tingling, tight bind across my stomach and my chest and throat, and the way nothing seems clear in my head. My imagination run wild where there was nothing to let loose before.
I feel like laughing at the absurdity of it all.
I would too...
If I wasn't too frightened to move.
What could I possibly be fearing? A monster crawling out from under my bed? A vampire in through the window? Those are //childish// things, that //children// dream of. Those are creations from fairy tales, the same place where knights and princesses find eternal love.
I never believed in fairy tales. Or monsters.
I used to believe in princes.
Why am I so frightened?
* * * * * * * *
tbc...
(probably about 5 or 6 parts in total). Yes, there will be PLOT (tm) eventually. ^-^