Fanfiction cliché - Gundam wing special

Duo´s eating habits

In which Duo´s eating habits plays a large part in the story

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Duo learned early on to never trust sweets. They might taste like heaven but they always came with a price.

The first piece of candy he ever tasted was a small mint flavored pill that had filled him with awe as it melted on his tongue. He had never tasted anything like it and he was instantly hocked. When the man who gave it to him told him that he had more inside his apartment, Duo followed him without question.

It was a mistake he never made again.

The second piece was given to him by a boy who he considered to be a friend. But even friends did not offer candy to you without a price. Duo spent five days selling off all the drugs that his friends left to him in exchange. He almost got shot down by the mob who thought he was moving in on their territory.

No. Candy never came without a price, no matter who offered.

So when Wufei Chang, one of the pilots who were going through the gundam training program with him, offered him one right out of the bag he was more than a little tentative to accept it. Duo had not spoken much to the other boy during the week since he arrived on the large ship and he couldn't say that he knew much about him.

He kind of knew Heero since before, Quatre became a friend after just a few minutes and with him came Trowa who might not speak all that much but was still a nice guy to be around. But Wufei was another matter. The solemn boy seemed to mostly keep to himself and the few times that Duo had spoken to him were after he almost forced himself close to the other boy. This was actually the first time that Wufei acknowledged him voluntarily.

The two of them were standing in a narrow corridor outside the nurse's office, waiting for their turn to take their medical examination when Wufei for some reason held out the tempting bag before him.

"What?" Duo asked, eyeing the red and see-through bag in the boy's hand.

"Do you want one?" Wufei asked like it was obvious.

Duo felt his mouth starting to water. "Why are you offering one to me?" He asked, letting the 'and what do you want for it' hang silently in the air.

Wufei looked a little taken aback and his stretched out hand faltered slightly. "I guess that I'm trying to be polite, but if you don't want one." He pulled his arm back before fishing one out of the bag, making the plastic rustle.

Duo followed the movement. He wanted one, he really did. But the question was if it would be worth it to pay whatever price Wufei wanted for it.

Wufei lifted a sugar covered blue piece out of the bag before dropping it in his open mouth. Some of the sugar got stuck on his lower lip and Duo found himself wanting to lick it off just for a chance to taste that candy.

"I want one." He confessed, signing a deal with the devil. Or maybe devil was a bit too strong, because from what he had seen of the other pilot in the week since he left the Sweepers, Wufei did not appear to be a cruel person and he probably wouldn't want anything too bad. He hoped.

Wufei held out the bag again and this time Duo carefully dipped his hand down into the candy bag, taking a hold of one of the soft pieces and lifting it up. He turned it over, looking at it in fascination. It was bright green and shaped like what he assumed was an animal. He had no idea what kind it was since his knowledge about animals didn't go further then cockroaches and rats.

"So are you going to eat it or just look at it?" Wufei asked as he leaned back against the gray steal wall.

Duo for a quick second wondered if Wufei had done something to it but he dismissed the thought, he say Wufei eat from the bag with his own eyes.

Making a decision he lifted the green sweet up to his mouth. Slowly he opened his mouth and bit off a small piece of it, making it fall into his mouth. He picked it up with his tongue and rolled it around. The taste was amazing; Duo had never experienced anything like it. It was sweet, but at the same slightly sour. The contrast was mind-blowing and Duo closed his eyes as he released a low happy moan at the taste. He pushed it up against the back of his teeth and licked it, over and over again until there was nothing left.

He bit another small piece off, enjoying it to the fullest. As the second piece melted away against his tongue, his eyes meet Wufei's.

Wufei looked amused, and on his face were a small smile, the first Duo had ever seen on him.

"So are you going to nibble that all day or what?"

"Have to make it last." Duo responded. Anything else would be stupid.

"You could just have another one." Wufei offered, holding out the bag.

Fear spread in Duo's chest and he stepped back quickly. "No thank you, one is enough." He wouldn't want to owe Wufei more than necessary.

The Asian looked at him strangely, making Duo feel like he was chased into an ally with no way out. He had to get away.

"We'll take the terms later; I'll be in my cabin." Duo said sharply before escaping, ignoring that he had to take a medical examination in a few minutes.

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Well back in the metal box that was his cabin, Duo got down on his knees in front of his bed and reached in under it. He fumbled tor a moment before his fingers closed around a smooth handle. Pulling it, a large metal chest soon appeared in the light from the fluorescent lamp with a scraping noise. It was old and rusty but the large steel bolts and the combination lock on it were new.

Practiced fingers quickly pressed in the long code, releasing the heavy lock. The hinge screeched as Duo opened the lid and revealed his greatest wealth.

The chest was filled with a large amount of goods. A old banged up laptop, a small dried leaf from a dandelion -the only living plant that Duo had ever seen, a couple of keyboard keys on a string, a broken toy ship, a few pages from a bible, several small pieces of glass in different colors and many other mismatching objects.

He carefully picked up an empty jar, unscrewing it before dropping what was left of the green candy piece down into it. It made a low clacking noise as it hit the bottom. With a pleased smile he put the jar down with the rest of his treasures.

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A few days later, Wufei had still not told him what he wanted for the candy and Duo was getting worried. It wasn't that Wufei wasn't a nice guy, it was just that he hated to not know what the terms were.

But Duo did what he did best, he ignored that anything was wrong and tried to be as happy as he could. Quatre was great company and Duo found himself surprised that he could connect so well with someone who had lived such a different life from him. Trowa on the other hand was someone he could relate to. The boy didn't really know who he was or where he came from, he just tried to do the best he could with what he had. Heero… Heero was a tough one. Duo really didn't know what to think about him most of the time, but he was fun to tease, that was for sure.

Heero had not been around all that much lately. Dr J was running him through some kind of special training, but whatever it was that they made him do, it made him come back just a little bit colder and a little bit more mission focused. It was kind of scary to see.

Wufei was still more or less a mystery. He didn't know much about him, just that he seemed to detest company. It was difficult to talk to him, not only because Japanese was the only language that they spoke somewhat fluently, but because Duo didn't know what they could talk about. Wufei made no move to get to know him and Duo was feeling a bit lost. He never meet anyone who he couldn't talk to before and it was frustrating him to no end.

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It was a week since Duo accepted the green piece of candy when temptation came over him again.

He was coming down the narrow metal stairs from where he had been running around the track on the top floor hangar. Duo pried himself with being a great runner, you had to be if you wanted to survive on the streets of L2, and he made sure to keep himself in top condition. Not having to run for your life was not an excuse to slack off.

His legs were shaking from the hard run and he leaned heavily against the banister while roughly drying the sweat away his face with his free hand. His heavy steps echoed with a metallic clinking as he slowly made his way down the stairs. He might have taken his training a bit too far that day but since he had, he was going slow enough that he didn't miss the slight movement coming from under the stairs. He paused and hunched down slightly to look in between the steeps. Startled brown eyes looked back at him.

Duo blinked in surprise. "Hey."

"Hey." Wufei echoed.

Four more steps and Duo reached the bottom and walked around the metal stairs to look in under it.

Wufei looked strangely vulnerable where he was sitting against the wall with an open book in his lap and a Chinese style jacked hanging over his shoulders. An almost empty water bottle and a small plastic bag stood next to his thigh giving Duo a feeling that Wufei had been sitting there for awhile. The light from the fluorescent lights shone in between the stair steps, casting shadows and pale light over the boy. Wufei really was pretty, like he should have been made of plastic and Duo couldn't help but stare.

Wufei ducked his head slightly, making his for once lose hair hide his face.

Duo hesitated with a hand on the stair. "Can I come in?"

Wufei gave him a slight nod without lifting his eyes from his fingers that were stroking the edge of the book in a nervous gesture.

Duo didn't really know why he didn't just leave Wufei alone since it was obvious that the other boy wanted nothing else. Instead he crawled in, watching his head carefully, not wanting to ram it into the sharp edges of the stairs. He sat down next to Wufei, leaning back against the cold steel wall. There was a long heavy silence as Duo rubbed a lose bolt on the underside of the stairs, making it shift from side to side. "So why the stairs?" He asked, awkwardly as he dropped his hand down in his lap.

Wufei shrugged and pushed his hair in behind his ear. "My room is just under the kitchen, there is too much noise there during the day to read in peace."

"Oh." Duo pulled his knees up against his chest as he glanced down on the open book in Wufei's lap. He recognized a few symbols that he didn't know what they meant but he could tell that it wasn't Japanese. He wanted to ask Wufei what he was reading but he didn't dare to. His presence probably bothered Wufei enough as it was without adding stupid questions. Duo didn't know anything about books. Apart from a few chapters from the bible, Duo had never had the chance to read a real book and he had no doubt that anything he said would make him sound like an idiot. Duo leaned his temple against his raised knee, looking at the Asian in the corner of his eye. Wufei didn't seem like the type of guy who would have a lot of patience for an uneducated homeless thief.

He closed his eyes to rest for a moment. The sweat on his body was turning cold, making him shiver just a little bit. The floor was more or less freezing and he shifted in discomfort. He should leave, take a shower and get ready for the infiltration lesson later that day, but for some reason he couldn't make himself walk away.

There was a rustle of plastic and Duo opened his eyes to stare right into a candy bag. It wasn't the same one as before, he could tell. The candy in this bag was all covered in a layer of soft white powder. The sweet smell of them drifted over to him, making his mouth instantly start to water.

"Do you want one?" Wufei asked with a shadow of a smile on his lips.

Duo stared at the bag in both longing and horror. He really, really wanted one but he didn't dare to make his depth any bigger than it already was, especially since he still didn't know what Wufei wanted for them.

He just hopped that he didn't want money because he didn't have a single credit to his name, just a box of junk and the clothes on his back.

"No thank you." He forced himself to say.

"Are you sure? They are raspberry flavored."

Duo didn't know how a raspberry tasted but he sure wanted to find out. Duo found himself hesitating. One more probably wouldn't make much difference in the end. He looked over at Wufei and wondered if the other boy would tell him what he wanted for them if he asked. But no, Wufei didn't answer him the first time so he most likely wouldn't answer him the second time. Duo did not want to embarrass himself by appearing scared and insecure. It was enough that everyone here thought he was an idiot. To get a reputation of being a scared idiot was just too much for him to handle. So, as if to prove both to himself and to Wufei, that he was not afraid of whatever the other boy had in store for him, he dipped his hand down into the plastic bag.

He lifted a soft, red, sugar covered piece out of the bag.

Curious about the powder, Duo licked it. The layer melted against his tongue and he couldn't help but smile happily as the sweet taste spread in his mouth. Holding the piece between two fingers, Duo licked it again and again. He licked it until there was a small crater in the middle of the piece and his fingers were wet and sticky.

He looked over at Wufei who with wide eyes stared at the candy in his hand. The Asian startled as their eyes meet, clearly embarrassed for some reason.

Duo felt awkward and he didn't know what he had done wrong this time. This always happened. He didn't know how many cultural mistakes he had done since he left L2, but there were many of them.

"Sorry." He mumbled, not knowing what he was apologizing for, but hopping that it would be enough. "I'll leave you alone." He got to his feet as quickly as he could, barely managing not to hit his head on the underside of the stairs.

He heard Wufei start to say something, but when no words came, Duo hurried away. He steered his steps towards his cabin. He had a new treasure to put in his box.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

After living in constant worry over his dept to Wufei for almost a month, Duo finally snapped.

He found Wufei sitting at one of the orange painted aluminum tables in the food quarter. Spread across the surface was different kinds of cleaning instruments, rags and in a neat row on top of a towel were Wufei's impressive collection of handguns. Duo who would love to get his hands on one of those pretty toys ignored them in favor of glaring at their owner.

"So what do you want?"

Wufei looked up from where he was checking the pipe on the shiny gun in his hand. "Want? What, like what do I want with my life or, what I want to do today?" He asked slowly as he released the slide, making it snap back into place on top of the barrel.

"No." Duo bit off, not appreciating that he was being treated like an idiot. "I want to know what you want from me, in exchange for the candy you gave me."

Wufei gave him a strange look before turning his attention back to the gun. "I don't want anything for it." The Asian mumbled.

"God damn it, stop playing games and just tell me!" He demanded angrily before kicking the table leg, making Wufei's equipment jump.

Wufei snatched an oil tube up before it could roll off the table. Clearly annoyed, Wufei glared up at him. "For the love of the ancestors, Maxwell I don't want anything for them. It was just candy from a vendingmaskin. It's not like I gave you a kidney."

Duo looked at him in suspicion, trying to figure out what was going on. One did not give away candy just like that. Wufei must clearly have an alternate motive; the question was just what it was. Maybe it was bigger than just the candy; it might not even be about the candy at all. Maybe Wufei was planning something big, something that he needed allies for. Duo wanted to know what it was all about, but he could tell that whatever it was that Wufei were planning, he wouldn't tell him until it was time to cash in. Be as it must, but right now it was all about the candy and how he was going to get his hands on another one.

"So you don't want anything in return for them." He asked slowly, his eyes narrowed suspiciously.

Wufei rolled his eyes with a sigh. "No."

"So if I decide to take one out of the bag here…" He trailed off with a nod towards the blue plastic bag that was carelessly dropped further away from the gun parts.

"I'd tell you to go right ahead, there is only vanilla flavored pieces left and I hate those." The boy said softly as he picked up another gun piece.

Duo gave Wufei a long searching look before slowly, very slowly edging towards the wrinkled bag lying at the edge of the table. Without taking his eyes of Wufei he reached out to carefully stick his hand into the bag. Wufei who was putting his gun back together didn't spare him a glance. Quickly, he snacked a shiny white piece out of the bag before turning on his heal, making his long braid swing as he sprinted away as fast as he could.

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Duo was breathing heavily as he locked the cabin hatch behind him. Adrenaline was pumping like mad through his body making him shudder and shake. He had a strange metallic taste in his mouth, almost like he would have bitten his tongue, even thou he knew that he done no such thing.

Leaning back heavily against the hatch he slides down to the floor of his cabin with his knees up against his chest.

He could hardly believe that he had actually done it, he took one, he took one right before Wufei's eyes! The other boy didn't appear to be upset with him, in fact, it almost seemed like he encouraged Duo to take one, claiming that he didn't like them.

Faking disinterest was an old trick that even a rookie pocket picker would be able to spot but Wufei had appeared to be sincere. Duo had been suspicious but still somewhat confident that Wufei was not out to harm him. But as soon as his fingers closed around that little piece of candy, Duo had panicked.

Sinking to the floor with the cold metal behind his back, Duo opened his sweaty palm and stared down at his price.

The shiny top layer had mostly melted from the moister of his hand but the candy still looked whole and clean. Using a single finger, Duo stroke the piece, making it slide slightly across his palm. It would probably taste incredible, he just knew it. But for some reason he could not bring himself to eat it.

Crawling on his knees over the short distance to the bed he reached in under it with his free hand and dragged the worn metal box out, making a few new scratches on the floor. Unlocking the hatches and pressing in the ten number combination on the look he opened it and sat down in front of the rusty case. Sweeping his eyes over his belongings he settled on the plastic jar with the faded words 'Old Tom's rimmed beef' standing in the top right corner. Taking the jar out he used his bent knee to hold it steady while one handedly unscrewing the lid. The lid was placed on his thigh as he held the see-through jar up under his nose. The sweet smell of candy invaded his nose and Duo sniffed it happily until his nose got used to it, making it less overwhelming. The white, slightly sticky sweet was carefully lowered down in to place next to the half eaten green one and the red licked one. He arranged them in a neat row in the middle jar before respectfully fastening the lid back one. Holding it up in eye level, Duo admired his colorful treasures. And to him it really was a treasure, his very own sweets. Duo put the jar back down, making sure that it was standing properly and wouldn't tip over before closing the chest with great care, locking it in safely.

Lifting his palm up he flicked his tongue over the sticky mess on it. It was a strange taste, like nothing else he had ever tasted before. There was a sort of sting to it, like it just demanded your attention. He really liked it and decided that the white flavor was going to be his favorite from now on. He fantasist about putting the whole piece in his mouth. He would roll it around in his mouth, moving it around with his tongue, playing with it. Suck it hard. Make it melt in his mouth. Mmmm. Duo sucked a sticky finger into his mouth with a happy moan. He just knew that it would taste even better on the inside, something smooth and gooey that would spread in his mouth and trickle down his throat. Another finger joined it, making Duo close his eyes as he imagined his treat. He flicked his tongue in between them, tracking every single trace of sugar. He pushed them in deep as he fought to find more until he was probably imagining the taste more than anything.

He released his fingers with a wet pop. He stared at his damp fingers before absently lapping them, over and over again.

Duo really liked candy and he couldn't help but think about how he was going to get more of them.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Wufei must be planning something; he just had to figure out what.

He wondered if any of the other pilots knew anything about Wufei that he didn't. He set out to ask.

He talked to Quatre first but it appeared like the blond had only spoken to Wufei at one occasion and that was to ask what time the gundam flying simulation was going to be at. Quatre had given Duo a very strange look when he wanted to know if Quatre had accepted any candy from the other boy, but no, he had not.

Trowa had never spoken to Wufei and Heero was even worse because he didn't even know Wufei's first name. He just gave Duo a blank look when he asked him about him.

So it appeared like he was the only one that was being recruited. He wondered why.

He didn't have any special abilities if you didn't want to know where you could find the best drugs or the cheapest whores on L2. Duo very much doubted that Wufei was interested in that.

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Duo spent the next two weeks trying to figure Wufei out, without results.

Deciding that enough was enough he annoyed Heero until the other boy taught him how to hack into the gundam simulator. He knew he was going to get hell for it if anyone caught him, but at this point, Duo did not care.

One early morning, Duo sneaked into the control room and highjacked the main control, turning his own laptop in to a remote control. After that, he hid behind a couple of containers standing in the corner of the simulator room, waiting for his time to strike.

Two hours later, just as Wufei's training session was about to end, Duo made the last exercise loop. Master O didn't notice a thing and it didn't take long before the control room was empty and they were the only people left in the simulator room.

The loop was just about to end when Duo opened the lid of the gundam shaped simulator and climbed in. Wufei's eyes went wide as he dropped down on his lap, slamming the lid close behind him.

"Wh- What are you doing?" Wufei questioned as he leaned back as much as he could, trying to create some distance between them.

Duo in turn moved in closer, trying to avoid the control stick that was poking him in the back. "I fixed the camera and there is no one left in the control room. It's just us and they can't hear us in here, so just tell me. What are you up to? A break out? Are you a spy? Are you working for OZ?"

"What? No!" Wufei protested, looking insulted.

"So you are just a gundam trainee?" Duo asked slowly, trying to tell if the other boy was lying to him.

"Y- yes."

Wufei was shifting awkwardly underneath him and he was blushing violently but it didn't appear like he was lying. Duo put him hand down on the edge of the pilot seat and leaned closer. "Then what do you need me for?"

Wufei didn't answer him, he just looked like he wanted to die of embarrassment. That was when Duo realized that he was sitting on something hard.

"Ah, I see." Duo leaned back with a cold smirk. "Now let me make this very clear, I am not a prostitute and my ass sure as hell is worth more than some candy."

If Duo thought Wufei looked like he wanted to die before, it was nothing like he looked right now. He was stuttering out something about how he didn't mean to be disrespectful and he was really sorry while hugging himself desperately. He looked so embarrassed that it almost hurt to watch him.

Duo suddenly felt a bit sorry for him. Maybe he wasn't the only one who kept stumbling over cultural differences?

"But you can have a kiss." He offered.

Wufei looked up with wide eyes.

Duo tilted his head to the side with a smile. That Wufei was pretty was nothing new, but right now he looked eatable. "Would you like a kiss?" He purred, leaning in closer.

Wufei nodded soundlessly and Duo slowly leaned forward until their lips meet in a soft, shallow kiss.

A familiar taste surprised him.

Duo licked his lips, and then he licked Wufei's. He waited a second until Wufei's lips opened up for him before dipping his tongue into that welcoming mouth. The underlying taste in Wufei's mouth made him deepen the kiss.

He pulled back slightly. "Raspberry?" He asked without taking his eyes off Wufei's wet lips.

"Strawberry." Wufei panted and fumbled with something in his pocket. A small red paper package appeared and Duo grinned.

"Give it here." Duo urged and Wufei handed it over. He fumbled with the lid for a second before he got it open. Taking a hold of a small shiny pyramid, Duo pushed it in between Wufei's open lips before diving in to kiss the other boy deeply. After all, candy should be shared.

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AN - Can anyone tell that I've been eating to much candy this Christmas? XD