Heero still feels itchy with adrenaline, doesn't like the crowded restaurant or the occasional crashes coming from the kitchen. He takes the end seat of the booth, back to the busy kitchen and watches the main points of entry. Trowa had taken the seat across from him quietly, eyes watching the kitchen commotion and side entrances. His fingers run over the knife in front of him.
Quatre is also quiet, next to Trowa. He still looks tired and Heero wonders how much sleep he'd gotten on the flight to-and-from Venus. In sharp contrast, Duo is a bundle of loosely contained chaos next to Heero. He taps his fingers against the tabletop, bounces his knees under the table, flips aimlessly through the menu, and darts his eyes around his surroundings every 25 seconds. Heero contemplates stabbing him no less than three times before their server arrives.
Their server is a few years older, most likely a university student, and (as the hostess had promised) she speaks English. She gives them a bright smile as she introduces herself as Mila and takes their drink orders. Duo flashes her a bright smile in return, winking when he gives her the order and grinning as she laughs.
"On the outs with Hilde?" Heero asks idly after the waitress has left.
"You remember Hilde?" Duo asks.
"She brought us the schematics for Libra," Heero replies.
Duo rolls his eyes, flips a page in the menu. "Of course you remember that. Hilde's cool, she's back at the salvage yard. We're cool, just friends, you know?"
"Then why are you blushing?"
"I am not; it's just hot in here." Duo looks around the table for support. Trowa has his head ducked, busy perusing his own menu. Quatre gives him a sympathetic smile. "Whatever, guys. Real helpful." He turns to Heero again. "What about you and Relena, huh?"
Heero leans back into the bench seat, feels his gun holster press against the small of his back from the angle, and watches the group of men entering the restaurant. Judging by the fall of the front one's trousers, he has a holster strapped to his ankle. The men shrug off their coats, reveal the Preventer uniform underneath. He taps his finger against the edge of the menu as Mila appears with a tray filled with their drinks and another bright smile.
"What about Relena?" he asks after Mila departs to give them a few more minutes with the menus.
"Well, she was pretty into you last year. You showed up when she got abducted. But you aren't up in her ivory tower guarding her."
They all look up as Trowa snorts into the glass he's drinking from. Duo smirks, turning back to Heero expectantly.
"She's not in a tower-"
"That's not the point-"
"And Zechs is with her. I saw her this morning."
"You did?" Quatre asks. He looks up from his menu, finger marking his place. "How is she?"
Heero shrugs. "She seems alright." They pause as Mila reappears, smile firmly in place. They give her their orders absently and she frowns a bit at the change, smile dimming when Duo doesn't return it with the same enthusiasm as earlier. "Sally cleared her last night," he adds after the waitress moves on to the Preventer table further down.
"Yeah?" Duo questions. He toys with the end of his braid until Heero glares. "Girl's about as lucky as you are, to escape without anything serious."
Heero shrugs and reaches for his glass of water. "She's stronger than most expect," he states.
"Did you see anyone else?" Quatre asks.
Heero's quiet for a moment, takes a drink. "Noin," he replies. "Wufei's still being detained for questioning."
"Did she say if they were charging him?" Quatre asks, brow furrowed in concern.
"I don't think they will, she seems to think that they'll get him to sign on," Heero replies. "But they need to put on a show for the media in the meantime."
"The media doesn't know who he is, what does that have to do with anything?" Duo questions. He kicks Trowa under the table. "You're quiet over there, what do you think?"
"You're the one that works with them," Trowa replies, "shouldn't you have a better idea?"
"Wufei, a Preventer?" Quatre muses. He sips his drink, eyebrows pulled together as he imagines it. He shakes his head after a moment. "I can't picture it. He's a good teammate, but too self-reliant."
They fall silent again as Mila appears, a tray filled with plates full of pasta and a basket of bread balanced in her hands. "You don't have to stop talking whenever I come over," she tells them brightly. She sets the bread in the middle of the table and begins to pass out the dishes. "I know it's not really my business, but are you Agents, like them?" she asks, inclining her head in the direction of the Preventers group.
Duo smiles at her. "Sure are," he replies.
"Were you involved in what happened yesterday?" Mila asks, eyes bright. She sets down the last of the dishes but doesn't immediately disappear.
"You could say that, yeah," he agrees. Heero stares at him through narrowed eyes but Duo ignores him. "Got the day off to recoup, but back at it tomorrow."
"Well, I just wanted to say thank you," Mila replies. "My father was one of the men that went in to watch. He said it was quite a sight."
Quatre shakes his head, foot connecting with Duo's shin when it looks like he's about to say something else. "We were only involved peripherally," Quatre tells her. "Really, we didn't have much to do with it at all."
"You still helped," she states, "that's what matters." She gives them another bright smile. "Eat, before it gets cold."
Trowa turns to Duo once Mila has disappeared back into the kitchen. "What happened to not drawing attention to ourselves?"
"What, it's nice to be appreciated once in a while, isn't it?"
/
"What is it?" Trowa asks quietly as they walk back to the hotel. Heero turns to him, head tilted in question. "You're on edge."
"I don't know," Heero admits. He slows slightly and Trowa matches his pace, lets Quatre and Duo pull ahead without realizing it.
"Should you see Sally again?"
"I'm not injured," Heero replies, voice sharper than he'd meant. He runs a hand through his hair and kicks at a snowdrift. Quatre and Duo cross the street but he and Trowa get stopped by the changing pedestrian light. "And I don't want Sally prescribing any drugs."
"Fair enough," Trowa agrees. They're quiet, watching the stream of traffic and the glittering holiday lights on the buildings. "You're worried," Trowa states after a moment. He leans back on his heels, looks up at the cloud covered sky. "You're second guessing this plan of yours."
"What would you have me do instead?"
"Are you sure remotely detonating Zero is the right thing to do?" The light changes and they fall into step as they cross the street. "Have you talked with Une?" Heero snorts loud enough to be heard over the idling engines. "She seems better than when we worked for her."
Heero rolls his shoulders, feels the bandage tape pull at his skin. "You worked for her, I was a prisoner of war, remember?" He catches Trowa's quiet smirk out of the corner of his eye. "Do you really think she's changed that much since the war?"
Trowa shrugs. "I never had problems balancing her quirks."
"Well, some of us aren't that talented," Heero retorts. There isn't any bite and his mouth is curling into a smile, so Trowa allows a small laugh in return.
"Pity," he replies drily. He ignores the glare Heero shoots him. "I don't think she would rebuild Zero," he says finally. They're catching up to Duo and Quatre who are waiting outside the hotel, watching them approach. He ducks his head, hides his face behind the fall of his hair so Duo can't read his lips. "She was one of the ones who wanted Wing destroyed, remember?" Heero nods. "Blowing up Zero at a disaster site could be viewed as an act of aggression."
"Or a dramatic way to announce peace," Heero counters, his own face tilted down. Trowa makes a humming noise in response.
"We waited to make sure you didn't get lost," Quatre explains as they join their fellow pilots.
"What took you guys so long?" Duo demands. "It's freezing out here."
"I told you to wear a coat," Quatre replies, voice muffled by his scarf and the high collar of his own warm coat.
"I wouldn't need a coat if these two could keep up." His words are teasing, but Heero can feel his eyes studying them both intently.
"Got caught by the traffic light," Heero replies. He returns the look Duo is giving him and Duo shrugs a shoulder.
"Yeah, okay, come on before I get frostbite."
"It's not that cold," Quatre protests, opening the lobby door.