Staying With Boys
Part 2:
The Aftermath for the Optimistic
Heero sat down at the end of lunch table heavily. Duo and Quatre sat on his left, Wufei and Trowa across from them. Heero observed them all silently, resting the side of his head against his hand, his elbow propped on the table as conversation began among the rest of them.
They were all wearing Preventors' jackets, though they were not all strictly Preventors. With Lady Une in charge it didn't make any difference and when they were asked to help out, no one ever refused, not even Quatre, who had other responsibilities. Wufei, of course, was a Preventor all the time and sometimes felt their presence as an intrusion, but his respect for the other pilots generally overcame his indignation.
Duo started up with a story before any of them even had time to start open their lunches. Heero wasn't really listening, tired and troubled that morning. He was still a little annoyed with Duo for last night, and a little regretful for agreeing to invite Relena over in the first place. She didn't seem like she had that much fun, though it had been nice to see her. Oh well. It was too late to fix it now.
Everyone was opening their lunches, but Heero left his alone, not feeling very hungry for some reason. Instead he half listened to Duo's story and merely watched the scene. He woke up a little when he saw what Wufei pulled out of his brown paper bag.
What the hell was that? Wufei turned what looked like a remote controller over in his hands and stared at it in absolute bewilderment.
"What've you got there, Wufei?" Quatre asked, leaning slightly over the table to get a better view.
"Isn't that the remote control to Duo's television?" Trowa said, staring at it strangely.
Wufei didn't reply. He just reached into the bag and pulled out the strangest sandwich Heero had ever seen. There was lettuce on it... and something else.
"I think those are cheetos," Quatre said, blinking. "Are they cheetos?"
"From last night," Wufei said calmly.
"What the...?" Duo blinked, mouth agape. "What was she this morning, drunk?"
Heero stared in uncomprehending fashion, trying to grasp something he knew about Relena to have this make sense. Nothing clicked.
Wufei dug his back in the bag and withdrew a bruised tomato, plain and unwashed.
A small laugh escaped Duo's mouth.
"That's a tomato," Quatre said dumbly.
Wufei shrugged and calmly took a bite of it, like it was an apple.
"Ewe," Quatre said. "How can you do that?"
"It's a perfectly good tomato," Trowa said straight-faced, crossing his arms.
Heero hid a small smirk. Wufei was too proud not to take this like it was a feast for a king.
Wufei smiled slyly at them. "It's ripe," he said. He picked his sandwich apart and began munching on the cheetos.
Duo just shook his head. "I wonder what she has against you, man."
Wufei smiled slyly. "Somehow, Maxwell, I don't think I'm the only butt of this joke the princess has played."
Duo raised his eyebrows and the next instant everyone but Heero was pulling strange items out of their lunch bags.
"She gave me a beer," Quatre said in disbelief, setting it before him like a strange object worthy of inspection.
"Don't drink it, Quatre," Duo said a little over seriously. "It'll probably nake you drunk." He stared at it hungrily.
"Duo," Trowa warned.
"I'll trade you for a squash," Duo suggested to Quatre, holding up an entire, uncooked ellow squash like a prize. "To go with your bread."
"There's nothing on it," Quatre complained.
"I see that," Duo returned. "You want the squash?" He waved it in front of the young blonde pilot's face. Quatre grabbed for it and Duo snagged the beer out from in front of him. "Now I have a drink!" The juice carton by his elbow was apparently empty before Duo touched it.
Trowa peered at his sandwich uncertainly.
"What is it, Trowa?" Quatre asked.
Trowa shrugged and took a small, experimental bite. His eyes widened and he reached for Duo's beer.
"Hey!" Duo protested as Trowa snatched it out of his hands and took a swallow.
"She put tabasco sauce in it!" Trowa explained, handing the beer back and sucking air into his mouth. He reached for the celery stick and munched on it greedily.
Heero smiled slightly. Crazy girl, Relena, always had been. Almost as crazy as himself. He tried to imagine her making all of this and smiled wider.
Duo shrugged and picked up his own sandwich with both hands.
"Duo," Wufei said hesitantly. "That looks like a raw egg..."
Duo shugged. "There's ham on it too," he said as if that made it okay, and took a huge bite. He swallowed and took another, munching happily. They all stared at him. Heero could hear something crunching in the braided pilot's mouth.
"Uh...Duo," Trowa said slowly.
Duo looked at him. "What?"
"What else is in there?"
"Egg shells, I trink," Duo said natter-of-factly, and swallowed again. They just stared. "What?" he said, taking another bite. "I'm hungry. There's got to be something nutritious in egg shells, right?"
Nobody replied to that.
"Why did she do this?" Quatre asked. "Did we mistreat her or something?"
"We ignored her," Trowa said, leaning back again in his chair. Heero could almost see the wheels turning in his head like machinery. "She must have been pretty upset."
"Oh... yeah," Quatre said thoughtfully. Wufei nodded.
Duo frowned around his sandwich, a bit of egg white on his lip. "Well I don't get it," he complained. "Nobody was mean to her. I thought she had a good time. She didn't say anything." Quatre sighed. Wufei snorted.
Heero swallowed. He understood and felt bad, but what should he have done? Well, he probably shouldn't have invited her, or at least he should have made some plans in advance with the thought of her being there. She wasn't, after all, one of the guys.
"What did you get, Heero?" Wufei asked.
Heero pulled his lunch in front of him, curious. He opened it and blinked in surprise.
"What?" Duo asked, his mouth still full of food as he tried to peer inside his bag. "What did you get? Poison?"
Heero glared at him until he backed away and then pulled out his sandwich and set it before him. It looked...really good. He smiled in self-satisfaction and gratification. The others just stared. Wufei chuckled.
"I don't get it," Duo said. "Why's she so nice to you? Shouldn't she expect more from you or somethin' ?"
"Don't be stupid, Maxwell," Wufei said with a grunt. "She doesn't likeyou."
Heero smiled down at his sandwich and didn't feel the need to reply.
It was as if he and Relena shared a special secret. He got that she
was mad, but also that she was willing to forgive him. There was
a note in the bag to go with the sandwich she hd made. He picked
it up and opened it carefully.
Dear Heero,
Thanks for last night. Call me.
Love, Relena.
He flushed and then chuckled. Duo's hand came creeping toward his sandwhich and he smacked it without looking away from the note.
"Ow! What's your problem, Heero?" Duo whined, shaking his hand and making a fuss over it.
"She made it for me, not you," Heero replied calmly. Carefully, he placed the sandwich back in the bag and tucked the note in his left jacket pocket.
"What does it say, Heero?" Quatre asked nicely.
"Nothing," he replied, swinging his leg over the bench and standing up. "Enjoy your lunch." Smiling, he stood up and walked away just as Trowa was telling Quatre and Duo that they ought to apologize to Relena and try to make up for it. Duo still didn't seem to understand "what the princess's problem was."
"Heero, where are you going?" Trowa called out as Wufei and Quatre tried to explain it to Duo without much success.
"I'm going to call her and ask her to have lunch with me," he said simply.
All conversation stopped. Quatre smiled at him. Trowa nodded. Wufei's eyes avoided him, but his lips curved upward.
Duo laughed out loud. "Way to go, Heero!" he said. "Must have been some note," he snickered to the others.
"Good luck, Heero," Quatre said.
Heero nodded and walked away again.
He ought to have relied on his own ideas in the first place.
The end!
Thought I forgot about it didn't ya'? But I didn't. I've just been busy. Hope you liked it! Please review for me, okay?
PS: Sadly, this isn't the way it usually turns out...*sigh*. Oh well. It's the first half of the first part that's such a true story.
