Chapter 7: Allemande in B Major
As Duo stepped into Dr. Gus Johnson's office, he was surprised to see that the man was leaning back in his chair with his feet up on his desk. He was chewing a pencil, and looked entirely relaxed. Upon seeing this, almost immediately he felt most of the nervous tension go out of his body. He was going to be able to handle this.
Dr. Gus Johnson's POV
The kid, Duo Maxwell, the file said, visibly relaxed on entering my office and seeing my casual disposition. Over the years, I have discovered that the casual approach works best, especially with the more timid of the kids I work with. That suits me fine, I was never one for formalities. I prefer blue jeans to dress pants. I was shaken out of my musings when the kid said something:
"You must be Dr. Johnson, then."
"Oh, please," I responded quickly, "call me Dr. Gus, my last name is far too generic, and I hope that eventually we can become good friends."
"Right."
The kid, no, Duo, I chastised myself, didn't look at all convinced. That was alright. Most of my patients don't open up right away. If they did, they wouldn't have needed my services. I began my usual introductory session.
"So, Duo, it looks as though we'll be seeing quite a lot of each other, so we might as well get to know each other. Is there anything you would like to say to me?"
"Yes, Dr Gus: I don't think I need your help."
At this he sat down and swung his legs up, so that they were stretched out in front of him on the couch.
"Don't get me wrong, I appreciate what you're trying to do for me, but I've been coping on my own since before I can remember. I don't need anyone other than myself and the others."
Duo looked completely at home on the couch in front of my desk. He was a character all right. A silly grin was pasted on his face. To anyone else, he would have looked like a perfectly normal, if somewhat saucy teenager, but my experienced eyes picked up something else. There was a kid behind that grin. A kid who was scared and vulnerable behind those strong shields. I had seen plenty of war traumatized people in my day, but I could immediately tell that Duo was going to pose a challenge. There was something just a bit off in the way he carried himself. His movements looked normal, but I thought I could detect a hint of a practiced front in the way that his grin didn't quite reach to his eyes, and the way his gaze bored into me like a laser, as though he was looking into my very soul.
"Since you feel that way, Duo, you won't mind me doing this."
With that, I got out of my leather seat and swung my way over to the red armchair diagonally across from the yellow couch where Duo was sitting. The colours of the furniture didn't match, but that was okay with me. The colours of my personality and those of my patients didn't necessarily go together either. It was a sort of beautiful chaos.
"I'm not going to be all clinical with you."
He smiled here, and laughter lines showed on his face.
"You're not a mental case, and I promise I won't treat you like one. These sessions will be one on one, man to man if you like. I expect you to talk to me, but you don't have to if you don't want to. In fact, you could sit here in silence for the whole hour and nobody on the outside would be the wiser. What is said in here stays in here."
Duo was blown away by this speech. He hadn't really expected Dr. Gus to be so down to earth. He let the Cheshire grin drop and he looked seriously at Dr. Gus for the first time.
"Sounds good to me."
Dr. Gus sat there for a few moments in contemplation. Should he make the first move, or should he wait for Duo to say something. This might sound silly, but he felt like he was writing some kind of test. If he made the wrong move now, he might lose Duo. He made a decision.
"I hate to bring this up so soon, but there has already been a complaint about your behaviour today in class. Do you know what I'm talking about?"
"Yes." Duo's tone had hardened and he was looking at Dr. Gus with smouldering eyes, just daring him to say the wrong thing.
"Do you want to tell me about it?"
Duo stretched languidly on the couch. "Not really, Doc."
"Alright then, like I said, you don't have to, but if you don't provide me with some kind of reason why you should be an exception to the dress code, I'm afraid you might have to comply. I'm only fighting for your best interests, Duo."
"You're blackmailing me!"
"No," I said mildly, not sounding in the least concerned about this outburst, "I'm just stating a fact."
"Look, no one touches my hair," he said in a threatening tone. But I detected a note of panic in his voice, a note that he was trying in vain to cover with anger and threats. It was very hard to pick out, though, and I wasn't sure if I was imagining it or not. This boy was as tough as nails. It looked as though I might be getting somewhere, however, and I instinctively knew that Duo's hair would be instrumental in unlocking the secrets of his identity, who he was, and what made him tick.
Smoothly, I responded, "Then you won't mind giving me a solid reason why nobody should touch that mane of yours, to keep it safe from wandering scissors."
Duo expelled a long breath "Look," he said, the look in his eyes changing from alarmed to impassive, "my hair is important to me. I don't understand why that's not good enough for you."
I was an experienced psychologist, and I had learned to see when my patients had reached their limits for the day. Duo had. I wouldn't get anything more from him today. To try would be most unwise judging by the menacing way he was looking at me.
"I'll tell you what, Duo. For now, I'm going to tell the admin to make an exception in the dress code for your hair. This isn't, however, by any means over. Next week we will talk about this some more, and you will eventually tell me why your hair is so important to you. Your braid is safe. For now."
There was a kind of light in Dr. Gus' eyes that Duo had never seen before, and he knew, just as Dr. Gus had known about him, that he would not get a better offer that day. He nodded, stood up, and made for the door, measuring every step. Dr. Gus would see no signs of weakness from him. As he grasped the door handle with no small measure of relief, he heard Dr. Gus saying,
"Have a good week." He was smiling slightly, and Duo couldn't help but smile back. The man was certainly likeable, but Duo sensed that he was no pushover. This was going to be very difficult indeed.
Duo took the long way back, electing to go through the library to get to the room he shared with the others. He had always liked libraries. The smell of old books was comforting to him.
Upon entering the room he shared with his friends, he took off his backpack on slung it down onto the floor. As he looked up at his friends, though they tried their level best to hide it, it was painfully obvious that they had been waiting anxiously for his return, just as they would have been if he had been on a dangerous mission. He broke into a smile.
"Nice try guys, but I know you were worried about me."
"Of course we weren't, Duo."
"Wufei, Duo said gently, that book you're so intent on reading is upside down. On top of that, Heero is staring blankly at his lap top, and is not typing, Quatre was visibly pacing, and nothing is written in the notebook in front of Trowa."
"How was it?" Quatre broke in.
"It was alright. I got some more flack about my braid, that's all, but Dr. Gus is an alright kind of guy."
The tension in the room slowly dissipated with that, and Duo walked over to Heero. "Heero, buddy, I think we have a date with Mr. Leung in approximately 30 seconds to clear up our extra-curricular activity choices."
Heero rose quickly in alarm. Forgetting this kind of thing was not like him at all, though he had been quite worried about Duo. The two took off at a jog, Duo calling behind them,
"See you in a few, guys!"
After the meeting with Mr. Leung, the two boys walked back to their room. A few girls waved shyly to Duo, and he waved enthusiastically back. The girls burst into excited giggles, blushing madly and turning away.
"Hn," Heero grunted, "You seem to have made some friends." He deadpanned this whole phrase, but if you knew him well, as Duo did, you could see that his eyes held the barest bit of amusement.
"Aw, them, they're just girls from English."
"I wouldn't let them hear you say that," said a familiar, quiet voice.
"Hey Joshua!" Duo greeted enthusiastically.
"Hi yourself," he responded.
"Where's Robbie?" Heero asked. Joshua's face darkened a bit, but soon returned to normal.
"He's a little sick right now. He's just resting. Do you mind if I visit with you guys for a while?"
"Not at all," responded Duo. "We're just headed back to our room to talk to the other guys. Do you want to come?"
"Sure. So, where did you guys just come from?"
We just came from choosing our extra-curricular activities. We're also bringing back the schedule of practices for the other guys.
"Oh yeah? What sports are you doing?"
"I'm doing hockey." There was a long, pregnant silence until Heero realized that he was expected to respond as well.
"I'm doing soccer."
"Really?" Joshua questioned, "Everyone was so sure you'd do basketball, especially after that incident with Henry."
"Everyone?" Heero was slightly disconcerted. "They know who I am?"
"You bet! You're something of a hero to the younger grades. Henry is a big bully."
Heero wasn't sure whether to be pleased or annoyed that he was being noticed in such a way.
"Yeah, well, I wanted a challenge. If Henry is your star player, I wouldn't have been able to improve. I've never done soccer before. It will be beneficial for me."
"Sheesh, Heero!" Duo was scandalized, "Lose the language! What Heero means, Joshua, is that soccer would be more fun for him, and he would be able to kick some butt against other people's expectations."
Heero cracked a faint smile at his friend's antics. "Couldn't have put it better myself, Duo."
They went back to their room, chatting amiably. When they opened the door, they found the other three pilots sprawled across Wufei's bunk, Quatre and Trowa in an unspoken agreement that they didn't want to be anywhere near their hell bunk until they absolutely had to be, looking at their English homework.
"Hey, guys. Hi Joshua." Quatre greeted warmly.
"What activities did you get?" asked Wufei.
"First things first!" Duo chirped happily. "Quatre, Trowa, you have gymnastics Monday and Wednesday starting this Wednesday from 8:00 to 10:00 at night. Whew! That's cutting it a little close to curfew, don't you think? Wufei, fencing is also twice a week from 8:00 to 10:00, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Heero, soccer is at the same times on Wednesday and Friday, and for me, hockey is on Thursday and… what? This must be wrong. It can't be. Not… Saturday morning at 8:00 am! Are they cruel on purpose?"
The next morning, everything rolled on in strict military fashion until it came time for showers. Heero had just shut the door to the bathroom when suddenly a loud thud was heard, followed by a crack and a little groan. When he came out, the other pilots were clustered worriedly around the door. Heero was seething. There was a large gash on the back of his head where it had connected firmly with the shower wall.
"Who. The hell. Dropped. This. Bar. Of. Soap?" This was said slowly and deliberately, with emphasis on every word. As he did he held the bar of soap up for everyone to see. Needless to say, no confessions were forthcoming, but Duo's eye twitched involuntarily.
"I'm going to kill you, Duo!"
"Eep!" Duo yelped in a very undignified way, and took off into the hallway. Unfortunately, Heero was expecting this and had caught him within moments. They rolled around on the ground punching and kicking each other playfully. Kids began to come out of their rooms to watch, and, unfortunately for Heero and Duo, it looked to the untrained eye as though Heero really was going to murder Duo. The administration was quickly called in.
Mr. Leung strode purposefully through the corridor. Honestly! One would think that gundam pilots would be a little more mature about resolving personal issues. And the security guards! Imagine a security guard being too scared to break up a fight between teenagers. He sped up his pace when he heard Duo's plaintive cries.
"Get off me, Heero! Heero, Heero please!"
But as Mr. Leung drew closer to the scene, he realized exactly what the pained cries were. Giggling!
"Mercy, Heero. I beg of you!"
"A gundam pilot shows no mercy Maxwell! You know that!" With that Heero stopped tickling Duo and sat resolutely on his chest. Slowly, the two of them became aware of a looming presence behind them. They turned around, once again on guard. Mr. Leung was tapping his foot furiously, his arms crossed and glaring fiercely.
"Uh oh," said Duo quietly.
"I can't believe it! You got detention on the second day of school for play fighting in the halls!" Wufei was fuming. "How juvenile." They were walking to their first classes of the day.
Electives passed smoothly, and 10:30 found Quatre and Trowa hurrying on their way to biology, for which they were late. As they entered the room, they became aware that something was not quite right. Looking around, Trowa found himself horrified to see that all students were all crouched down over small forms on their desks. A pungent odor punctuated the room, and it was only through his soldier's training that he was able to contain his disgust. They were dissecting fetal pig! He looked over at Quatre, and was surprised to see the same expression of anger of his face that Trowa wanted so badly to express himself.
"Trowa, they died a meaningless death."
As a great animal lover, Trowa too, was filled with indignation at the fact that obviously hundreds of baby pigs were slaughtered every year for the sole purpose of educating high school students about anatomy!
