Quatre sat in stunned silence as Heero practically inhaled his food. It was a good thing he hadn't given him a lot or he'd be cleaning up the floor. There were so many questions he wanted to ask but wouldn't. Presently, Heero needed time to recover, not interrogated. He decided that when Heero was up and about, which would be in a day or so at the rate he was going, he would ask.
For the first time in over a week he casually ate his meal; in the past he would have eaten as fast as Heero currently was. When he'd seen that Heero was awake, alert and recognized him, he had felt as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. There hadn't been any more incidents like the last one and those that had been injured where on the mend, though they wisely decided to stay away from Heero until he was coherent. While most of his vacation had come and gone, he was glad that Heero was alright, though one question plagued him still.
Heero had caught the thoughtful expression on his face and said, "Ask."
"What?" Quatre was caught off guard for a moment, deep in thought.
"You obviously have something to ask, so what is it?"
Heero never was the one for casual conversation.
"I was just wondering what you were doing in the desert, that's all."
Heero had not been surprised with Quatre's question, prepared would have been a better word. He didn't really want to go in depth about what had happened; he found it rather embarrassing. The question was harmless enough to merit an answer.
"I was dumped there." He replied honestly.
Several more questions sprang to mind, but Quatre held them back. He could tell that Heero didn't want to discuss it at the moment; he would wait for another time. Seeing that Heero had finished he collected the plates and took them into the kitchen. After the dishes where taken care of he collapsed onto the couch one leg hanging off the side, physically and emotionally drained. It had been almost two weeks since Heero had stumbled into his tent.
He let out a weary sigh and closed his eyes as he rubbed his temples trying to relieve the headache he could feel coming on. Ever since that night he'd been a wreck, sleepless nights filled with busy days. At least now most of Heero's bruises were gone along with the swelling. One less thing for him to worry about at night, not that it really bothered him. Heero was his friend and he would do everything he could to help him out. All the time he'd spent with him made him almost wish they were more than friends, but that would never happen, Heero wasn't the type to settle down let alone have a relationship.
The soft sound of footsteps on the carpet brought him out of his thoughts though his eyes remained closed. It was probably Rasid or Auda coming to check up on things. He was surprised when someone sat down on the other end of the couch. Opening his sleep laden eyes caused him to sit up instantly.
"Heero! What are you doing down here? You should be upstairs in bed." Quatre chastised in a motherly fashion.
"I'm tired of being in bed." Heero replied matter-of-factly. He noted the bruise on Quatre's jaw and instantly felt guilt, though he couldn't remember when or how he'd done it.
"Fine." Quatre said to weary to argue with him as he resumed his laying position on the couch. There would be plenty of room for the both of them, the thing was huge. He closed his eyes again feeling the headache get stronger.
"How long have I been here?" Heero asked.
"Almost two weeks?" Quatre yawned.
There was silence as Heero thought about Quatre's response. He couldn't remember anything of the time he'd spent in Quatre's home. He couldn't stay but it wasn't like he had anywhere else to go and he was sure that Quatre wouldn't object to him staying a little while longer.
"Quatre?"
"Hn?"
"Thank you."
Heero expected a response from Quatre and was surprised when none came. Looking over at his companion he discovered that he'd fallen asleep. The same angelic expression that Heero had woken up to twice was now in place. He wondered what had been going on while he was recovering that would exhaust Quatre so. Pulling a blanket off the back of the couch, he winced as he bent over to cover Quatre with it then sat back down on his end of the couch. He didn't mind the silence that draped over the room, with the exception of Quatre's breathing. Some how it brought him comfort to just sit in the presence of the former Sandrock pilot.
It wouldn't be long before they tracked him down and he didn't want to get Quatre mixed up in everything. He couldn't ask that of him if even he wanted too. He looked around the room noting the homey feel it had. Unlike his mansion, this house didn't seem to have all the expensive taste that lavished the other one. That probably had something to do with all the sisters he had. When this was all over, he wouldn't mind settling down. He had grown tired of the chaotic military life he had and desperately sought a change. While everyone else had settled into the peaceful life after the wars, he had not. He didn't know a life without war and thus didn't know how to live one.
He supposed age had something to do with him wanting to leave his life of war behind. It had be a few years since peace had settled between Earth and the Colonies, but he had always managed to find something to fight for or in. Now, that life held none of the appeal it once had when he was fifteen.
Getting up from the couch, he decided to look around Quatre's retreat home. He didn't know where anything was and hated being waited on hand and foot. Making his way out of the living room he went down a small hallway that lead straight into the kitchen with an island in the center of it. Taking the second set of swinging doors out he discovered that they led into a very large dinning room with a table that seats ten or more. He half expected a crystal chandelier to be hanging from the ceiling but wasn't surprise when found a very simple, yet elegant one instead.
Heading back towards the living room, he took the stairs back up to the second floor to look into the other rooms. He found three guest bedrooms, all with bathrooms, to the left of the stairs. By his standards the rooms were huge but remembering Quatre's mansion, they were small in comparison. Behind the stairs was what could be called the hall closet. Looking into the room next to his, Heero found the master bed room. While bigger than any of the other rooms it was only about the size of one of Quatre's guest rooms in his mansion, still, the thing was enormous!
Feeling that he had intruded upon Quatre's private space he returned to the living room. Upon entering he noticed a door on the far wall that he hadn't seen before. Making sure that Quatre was still sleeping, he cautiously opened to door, slipped in and closed the door behind him. He felt like he was sneaking around. The room was dark and after finding a light switch on the wall beside him he found that he was standing in a dimly lit library, which doubled as an office. There was a window directly across from him but was covered with a very dark, heavy curtain. He wondered why Quatre would keep this room so dark when the rest of the house was so brightly lit.
Heero skimmed through the endless shelves of books on the walls not really paying attention to what was printed on their bindings. He moved behind the desk to look at the books on the other side of the room when something caught his eye. Taking a closer look he discovered the desk to be littered with countless newspaper articles, all about them and the other three pilots. There were some from during the wars when they had been labeled terrorists, others from after when they were heroes. He found one from when WuFei and the Preventers had solved a very big case. There was one of Duo teaching gundam mechanics at a school in the colonies. Trowa and Catharine performing with the circus. Even an article about one of Relena's balls that he had attended as her body guard was there. Every article that had ever been printed about the former pilots must have been sitting on the desk.
He didn't understand why Quatre had collected them. Hadn't he kept in touch with everyone? It was like taking a trip into the past, a very lonely trip. He'd thought that the rest of the pilots had moved on except for him, but this was showing him that not everyone had. Quatre wasn't the depressing type, but his gut instinct was telling him that Quatre had suffered greatly after the wars. After all they had become very good friends, the five of them. Suddenly the hairs on the back of his neck began to stand on end, then, the doorbell rang.
(o)(o)(o)
island, it's a counter that's positioned in the middle of your kitchen.
So here's the next chapter, a little slow but the next chapter will pick up, I promise.
