Author's note:

Waking up to 0 reviews on the new chapter is like waking up on Christmas morning and not getting any presents because your parents don't love you anymore. While you did make them a present.

So here you go, Mom, Dad. I made this for you.

[EDIT: don't skip chapter seven! Because the two updates followed eachother so closely, FF doesn't seem to note them as separate: it says the story was last updated on the fourth, but it was last updated an hour or so ago, today, on the fifth]


The Princess With The Purple Heart

Eight

They never acknowledged what happened once daylight returned and Duo was fine with that. He didn't want to think about it too much himself. Unspoken and ignored, he could pretend that it didn't mean anything and that it would have no consequences to his friendship with Heero, nor to his relationships at home.

Follander was the last guy in their unit went to go on leave, exactly according to the rotation schedule. Heero had been on a six week medical leave, which nullified his rights to a two-week RNR. The Japanese-American didn't seem to mind much; he had spent enough time Stateside during his recovery. Duo was grateful that he wouldn't have to spend more time on base without his friend.

While Follander was away, the unit was definitely more subdued. Follander had a way of riling everyone up, especially when it came to pestering Lindsey, or pulling pranks on their superiors that got them all in trouble once or twice. More than a few men were relieved to have a break from the joker.

They have the afternoon off and they spend it in the Rec Hall, which is the only building, aside from the Sergeant's offices, that benefits from some measure of air-conditioning. Duo is shooting hoops with Heero while the other men lazily lounge on the couch, cycling through the DVD's for a third time and speaking along with the dialogue.

Considering his height advantage, he should have no trouble getting the upper hand playing basketball opposite Heero, but the shorter man has a lightning fast dribble and while he is simply too short to block Duo's shots, Duo is too sluggish to stop Heero's and, more often than not, it's nothing-but-net as the ball flies through the hoop.

Heero has a serious, focused expression on his face and his tension reads in his mouth and neck as well. Heero never does anything half-assed. He's competitive as Hell and a sore loser on top of that – thankfully for him, he is rarely bested by anyone. Duo bravely keeps matching his score, but he is always working to catch up, he is never ahead in the points and Heero makes matters more hopeless for him when he scores an effortless three-pointer.

"I don't get it," Duo remarks, a little out of breath. He sways his weight from side-to-side, trying to anticipate which way Heero will try to bypass him on his way to the hoop. "You're not tall. You're not black. You should suck at this game."

The joke splinters Heero's serious façade and he cracks up laughing. However, his reflexes are too quick for Duo to be able to use the distraction to his advantage to steal the ball away from his opponent. Duo got close though and they both go: "Ooohhh" and then laugh again.

"There's something I don't get either," Heero retorts. With the way he is playing with the ball it is obvious he is taunting Duo. "You're, what? Six-one? Six-two?"

"Two-and-a-half, thankyouverymuch."

"Right. And you still can't dunk worth shit."

"Hey! I got a lot of gravity dragging me down," Duo objects to the insults. "I don't expect you to understand, midget." Heero wasn't actually that short, he just looked short in comparison to Duo and the other guys in the unit, whose height was far above average.

In spite of his laughter, the other man still manages to trick Duo. Duo moves his body left in an attempt to block him, but Heero goes the other way and dribbles the ball right by him. Duo straightens up and doesn't even bother anymore. A second later he hears the swish of the net as the ball passes through it. He notices two of the other guys had pried their attention away from the movie and were sitting backwards on the couch, watching the game with a grin. Duo shrugs and throws his hands up in defeat. When they laugh at him, he flips them off.

He is hit in the back with the ball that bounces off him and then rolls across the half-court. He spins around and mock-glares at his friend. He stalks closer to him and then reaches out his long arms. He snatches Heero by the front of his shirt and yanks him closer to him before wrestling him to the ground. Heero puts up a good fight, but gravity is on Duo's side in this instance as he lowers his full weight down onto the smaller body. They play-fight for a minute and Heero actually comes close to throwing him off him, but he can't follow through – not without actually hurting Duo. The taller man has no doubt that if Heero wasn't concerned with the well-being of his attacker, he'd use his flexibility to knee him in the groin and twist out from under him and pin his wrists to his back.

Duo literally drapes himself on top of Heero and relaxes, turning his body into a dead weight on top of the other.

"Oh, God," Heero grits, "get off."

"I'm sorry but 'off' is not the magic word."

"Fucking Hell, you're like the big brother I never wanted."

"Incorrect. Please try again," he says in a robotic voice. He knows he is being juvenile, but Heero was actually a lot like the little brother he did always want.

"Ryan Gosling! Ryan Gosling!" Heero yields, patting Duo's back to urge him to get up.

With a grunt Duo pushes himself up from the floor and helps Heero up to his feet as well.

After three tours of fourteen months each, you start to have some really weird discussions that turn heated for no good reason. Like which Ryan has the dreamiest smile: Gosling or Reynolds. And, frankly, Duo still believed it was travesty that Heero argued in favor of Reynolds, even after they all watched The Notebook and pretended not to cry at the end of the movie.

Honestly, though, Reynolds? Really?

Heero's face is red from exertion and laughter. His hair is messy and it invites Duo to run his hand through it. Heero allows the touch, although something flickers in his eyes, like he distrusts Duo's intentions. Duo smiles at him and it makes everything alright.

The unit has dinner together. On Saturdays, the Mess Hall serves pizza: honest to God American pizza, flown in frozen from the USA, courtesy of a large pizza-chain supporting the troops. Duo trades one half of his pizza for Heero's, since they both couldn't decide which kind they wanted. The other guys reenact part of the movie they watched that afternoon and then also find the time to make fun of Duo's jump shot.

After eating their full, they suit up again and head out, escorting another caravan of supplies that had arrived that morning on the base's landing strip. They take the caravan to the meeting point halfway between Sharana and Delaram, where a crew from FOB Delaram is waiting to take charge of the supplies. The men from Delaram look weathered and tired and Duo sympathizes. After a few months of being stationed at Sharana, they have gotten used to the luxuries of their new operating base and Delaram had been reduced to an unpleasant memory. They talk briefly with the other soldiers, but both teams have a long trek back, so they part ways and each crew goes back to their own base.

They walk through Sharana's gates at two in the morning and most say thanks-but-no-thanks to their shower privileges and head straight for their barracks. But Duo isn't about to pass up on the opportunity for a refreshing shower and neither is Heero.

They are the only ones in the bath house and still they pick two shower heads right next to each other. They don't say a word as they soap themselves up. Duo can't help but steal glances though and Heero catches him looking more than once, but still he doesn't say anything. The electricity that passes between them whenever they make fleeting eye-contact excites Duo and by the time he has rinsed the shampoo out of his hair, he is half-hard and he spies that Heero is in the same state.

Once they are in their beds and the light is out, they both masturbate again and the only reason Duo even bothers trying to muffle his own moans with his pillow is because he is getting so loud he is worried the guys in the barracks next to theirs might otherwise overhear.