Okay, I'm sure everyone is wondering why it has been so long since you've heard from me. Did my unending supply of cranberry juice dry up? No, that is not the case. In fact, the problem stems from my not-so-terribly-bright brother who, lacking the quality of foresight, decided he needed to know what would happen if he stuck a needle into the computer fan. The result: a fried power supply and an effectively dead computer. So I was left to bide my time until I had regular access to another computer. At this time, I'm at college, and my roommate has let me use her computer until my mother ships mine out to me. So, here's the next part of the story, brought to you by my roommate and the cranberry juice machine downstairs in the dining room.
*****
In Times of Peace
Part 2
*****
"I'm sorry about earlier, brother." Isanu grinned meekly at Quatre as the siblings made sandwiches with Driana later on that day.
"It's okay, Isanu. Duo seems better at angering women than at piloting sometimes." Quatre smiled hesitantly.
"That's true, but I don't think he means to be so obnoxious, Isanu. He isn't all that bad, I'm sure." Driana commented thoughtfully. "Although he does seem to think highly of you."
"I doubt it." Isanu's lip curled slightly. "If he thinks I'm so wonderful, why would he treat me like a common prostitute, here only to please him? Besides, I was raised better than to go for such a simple-minded jerk. I could care less what he thinks of me." But Isanu could not hide the slight flush that rose in her cheeks.
"Oh, yes, I forgot. You were holding out for a knight in white armor, correct?" Driana giggled. "Honestly, Isanu, you always play that high and mighty act. Why don't you just give the poor boy a chance? He seems decent enough, to be one of Quatre's friends."
"Thank you, Driana." Quatre blushed at the compliment, causing Driana to redden in turn.
"Oh, I just meant…" she faded off, feeling her cheeks heat under his aqua gaze. He really was a beautiful man.
"Honestly, you two." Isanu broke in irritably, "Can we just finish making this lunch without acting like shy boys and girls asking each other on a date for the first time?" That did it. Quatre and Driana made a show of seeming even more productive than before.
"Hey, did I just hear someone say lunch?" Duo strolled into the kitchen. "I was in the other room, and I could swear, I heard the sweetest voice calling me to come eat. I'm never one to refuse a beautiful lady anything, so…" he winked at Isanu, who glared at him in return. "Hey there, sweetcheeks! Are you making lunch for me because you're sorry about what you said earlier? Well that's okay, I'm really sorry too. If you'd like, you can grab my ass."
"No thanks." Isanu bit off the end of each word as she violently sliced a sandwich in half. Duo eyed the basket she placed it in.
"A picnic, huh? Mind if I tag along?" Duo asked.
"Oh, sure Duo." Quatre answered immediately, not seeing how Isanu's glare immediately turned to him. "That sounds fun."
"Let's get going, then." Driana lifted the basket and gestured toward the door.
"Oh, here, let me get that." Quatre nearly stumbled over himself to take the basket from her, "After all, you're my guest."
"Thank you Quatre. That's very sweet of you." Driana favored him with a brilliant smile, which he returned, leaving them both blushing once more. Isanu made a great show of coughing to regain their attention.
"Oh, you're welcome." Quatre replied; looking down in embarrassment as Duo nudged him and raised his eyebrows suggestively. Isanu sighed in aggravation, but she couldn't help but want to smile at how cute the two of them were being. Admittedly, she had brought Driana here, knowing full well that there were five men their age living here together. And she had thought that a boyfriend or at least a little flirtation would do her stressed out friend some good, but she hadn't planned on her brother and her best friend getting along so well. Not that it bothered her, it was simply an unforeseen development. In a way, it made sense, though. The two of them were just so…good. And together, they'd likely be a terribly cute pair. It was a good thing that Duo didn't seem interested in Driana, she thought to herself. Not that it mattered to her who that boy ogled over, but Driana could never handle a man like that. Duo needed someone with experience, someone that could tame him. Someone like me. Isanu nearly choked at the unbidden thought, but it was true. She could rise to the challenge and reign in Duo's wild behavior. It might even be fun. And Duo was by no means unattractive. His big, bright blue eyes and beguiling smile along with that amazing chestnut hair and strong build had probably won him more than a few hearts without any charm to speak of. No wonder he was so sure of himself, so sure he could have Isanu just as easily. I'll show him I'm no easy catch. The idea made her lips curl mischievously as she glanced at him.
Duo looked up to see Isanu smiling at him. She's checking me out. He realized smugly that it made no difference that she was a rich girl with a strong background in education, one of Quatre's privileged sisters. No woman could resist Shinigami when he set his sights on her. And he was sure he could have her just as he'd won so many girls before. He winked at her and smiled broadly, excited at his triumph over her fiery spirit, but when she saw his reaction to her grin, she quickly rolled her eyes and sighed in irritation. What was it with this girl? She was nothing at all like her gentle, kind-spirited brother. She was completely unpredictable, but somehow, that just made her more attractive.
Just then they stopped under a large tree with a swing hanging from one of the high, thick branches. "How can this be here?" Driana asked, suddenly noticing that she was walking through soft, green grass. "Is this an oasis?" she questioned.
"Sort of." Quatre explained, setting down his blanket. "I love the desert, but I also love all the other beauties that the Earth has to offer, so I brought them out here. The technology is very similar to what maintains the weather on the space colonies, only a lot more localized. I have this area, with grass and scattered trees, and over that way there's a forest, complete with a small river." Quatre pointed. "I'm considering adding in a tropical environment over there." He pointed in a different direction as he moved to help spread out the picnic blanket. "But first I'm waiting for my lake environment back behind the house to finish developing. I don't like putting too much stress on the system at once."
"Quatre helped develop that system, you know." Duo pointed out. "Practically came up with it all by himself." Duo wouldn't have offered that, but if he was having so much trouble with Isanu, he might as well help Quatre out with the redhead. It might even score him some points with the sister. It certainly couldn't hurt to help his friend out.
"Really?" Driana's crimson eyes widened in disbelief. "You created this?"
"I wouldn't doubt it, my baby brother's always been a smart one." Isanu smiled fondly at Quatre, who was blushing modestly.
"Well, I sort of developed this version, but all I did was slightly modify a system that was already in existence. It wasn't all that hard." Quatre admitted as he laid out food.
"Oh, don't get all modest on me now, Quatre." Duo turned to speak directly to Driana. "You should've seen how excited he was after he drew up the blueprints. He showed it to a team of engineers and they sorta scratched their heads all amazed while he explained the whole thing to them. They built it, of course, but one of them told me that our Quatre here's a regular genius, and that it's unbelievable that someone so young could help make such a broad technological advance. They even applied some of his ideas to the weather systems on the space colonies to increase the control of the system. Quatre didn't even ask for anything in return. Hell, he paid them to do all that."
"That's wonderful." Driana smiled excitedly at Quatre. "You're so kind, and you have so much responsibility. It's almost like you'd be able to understand what it's like for someone my age to rule her own country, to do so much so young."
"Quatre's very understanding." Duo added helpfully, and Isanu giggled at his obvious efforts to help her brother out.
"I don't know, I just…do what I think I should." Quatre continued to blush at all the attention he was receiving. He looked around for some distraction. "Let's eat." He suggested, and everyone agreed, finishing off the food quickly enough. After the meal, Isanu leaned in to whisper in Duo's ear.
"Thanks for helping my brother out." She breathed quietly, "You're a good friend."
"Why don't we wander off and leave these two alone?" Duo suggested quietly, and Isanu narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him.
"I knew it!" she stood up angrily, shocking Driana and Quatre with her sudden outburst. "I knew you had some other motives! You're so selfish!"
"What do you mean?" Duo feigned ignorance, widening his eyes innocently as he stood up as well.
"You know what I mean. You were trying to get me alone." Isanu huffed, crossing her arms. "Well if you think that I'd even want to spend time alone with you, you're sorely mistaken."
"You know, you're really sexy when you get angry like that." Duo shrugged suddenly. "But come on, sweetcheeks, you're practically begging me to spend some time with you. You've been hot for me since you first saw me, and it's driving you crazy."
"Why…you…" Isanu's teeth ground together before she let out a mighty howl, lunging toward Duo, who nimbly dodged her attack, laughing as she fell to the ground.
"See, look at how riled up you are." Duo chuckled. "It's understandable, of course. No woman can resist me, and you're just like the rest in the end, no matter how angry you get." Isanu growled as she pulled herself up and jumped at him, chasing him away and over the hill until they disappeared from the view of Driana and Quatre.
Isanu could feel her calves starting to burn as she pushed herself to catch up to Duo, who had a good bit of space between them. I'm not as in shape as I was during the war Isanu realized, silently berating herself for not being more sure to keep in shape. She used to be fast enough to catch someone running as fast as Duo, but she'd let that ability slide. At least Duo might be sufficient motivation for her to keep in shape. Duo turned back to laugh at her. He was toying with her! He probably wasn't even running at his top speed. Energized by indignant anger, Isanu lunged forward and caught his braid just as whipped through the air. Gasping at her sudden increase in speed, Duo attempted to speed up himself, but since she had a firm grip on his hair, he stumbled near the top of a small hill, bringing her down as well as they both rolled down the hill in a tangle of limbs. When they finally came to a stop, Duo, who had attempted to wrap himself around Isanu in an effort to protect her from harm, was resting firmly on top of her. Isanu struggled to release herself from this compromising position, flailing uselessly pinned limbs to no avail. Finally, she got one hand free and angrily slapped him as hard as she could manage.
"Oh man…" Duo blinked as his vision momentarily went white from the force of her blow. Shaking his head to clear his vision, he loosened his grip on Isanu so that she could move more freely beneath him. "You don't have to hit so hard to get your point across. Just ask, it hurts less." He rubbed his reddened cheek tenderly as Isanu suddenly giggled. "What's so funny?"
"You've got little bits of grass stuck in your hair." She explained, smiling at the sight of the green strands in his chestnut locks. Duo shook his head vigorously before looking back at Isanu.
"Better?" he asked, eyebrows raised. She carefully picked the last few pieces of grass out herself before nodding.
"How about me?" she asked. Duo swept his fingers through her hair a few times to get the grass out.
"There you go. Just as beautiful as before." Duo smiled softly as he felt his breath catch at the inviting sparkle in her glittering green eyes. Catching his breath, Duo lowered his face to catch her mouth with his.
"Mmmph!" Isanu struggled after a moment, pushing him away. Isanu slapped him again, less violently this time, but still hard enough to hurt his still smarting cheek.
"What?" Duo asked, blinking his deep blue eyes in surprise at her reaction. Isanu was pleased to see that he seemed injured.
"What was that?" she demanded.
"A…a kiss?" he replied, her tone causing him to be unsure.
"You call that a kiss?" Isanu scoffed. She grabbed Duo's head with both hands and firmly brought his face to hers as she opened her mouth slightly. She tasted his unique flavor, her fingers massaging his head gently. Duo let out a low, guttural noise as he overcame his shock and enjoyed the kiss, her sweet taste, and the feel of her body pressed beneath his. Just as Duo was getting into the kiss, Isanu broke it, shoving the young man who was still lost in her aside so that she could stand. Brushing herself off, Isanu couldn't hide a satisfied smirk inspired by the blissful look on Duo's face as he lay on the ground, eyes closed, his limbs spread out lazily. "Now that," she told him smugly, "was a kiss. And you'd do well to remember that, Duo. It'll get you a lot farther than those boxers of yours or any amount of ass-grabbing."
Duo nodded, still panting slightly and smiling as he opened his eyes slowly. "And Duo?" she stood over him, arms akimbo.
"Huh?" he replied, finally finding his voice once more.
"Don't call me those stupid names." She replied, "Especially not 'sweetcheeks.' I have a name. Use it." And with that, Isanu walked off, full of smug satisfaction at her accomplishments as Duo stumbled to his feet to chase after her.
*****
The End (Of Part 2, That Is)