The Urchin: Part Ten
By Banshi
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Heero had outlined the plan of attack, going over which colony officials Duo and Trowa had already checked, and which ones were left.
Once that was done, the three of them had made dinner for the children, half of which Heero took back to the house that Quatre was loaning them. Apparently, once the last group of children had gotten the WEI logo on their ID's, they had moved into the house as a matter of course. Heero was going to keep an eye on them.
"Who would have thought Heero was such a mother hen?"
"Relena."
Duo rolled his eyes before eating another spoon full of soup. "Besides her! She's got inside info, so she doesn't count."
Trowa smiled without answering, then turned, swiping one of the younger kid's face with a napkin. She beamed at him in return.
Duo felt a pride and a twinge of deep emotion in his chest as he watched Trowa and the little girl. He felt his smile falter, and let it settle into something a little more wistful than his usual, but it fit better.
Between cleaning up the kitchen, and putting the kids to bed in the living room, Duo and Trowa didn't have much time to talk, let alone plan their next step.
Once the house was quiet, an uneasy silence grew between them as they closed up the house and got ready to sleep.
With the lights out, they lay on their futons, staring up at the ceiling and listening to each other breathe.
Soon, Duo couldn't stand the silence anymore, something in the quality of it driving him to speak. It was an urge that hadn't hit him in ages.
"Trowa?"
"Yes Duo."
"Did you mean it? After you told me you were staying."
"After...? Oh." Duo heard the confusion, then understanding in Trowa's voice. He waited for his answer, hands fisting in his blanket. "Yes Duo. I meant it."
Duo stopped the explosive sigh of relief from bursting out of him, drawing it out into something a little less dramatic.
"Good."
The silence became less tense as Duo turned on his side and went to sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Trowa smiled to himself, watching Duo out of the corner of his eye. Well, that answered one of his questions. This wasn't a "just friends" thing. Trowa knew that Duo would talk about it when he was ready, and now that the worst of his own fears had been alleviated, he could wait.
Relaxing, he turned into his pillow, letting sleep claim him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Duo was floating in a strange fog, and immediately knew that he was dreaming. He hadn't dreamt in so long that the shock of it sent him into awareness. It didn't wake him up however.
As the fog cleared he saw himself reflected in a window, and suddenly felt very self-conscious. Mostly because his hair was down, and his hair was never down for longer than it took him to dry or brush it.
He turned away from the window, not wanting to see how young he looked, wanting to ignore how vulnerable he felt.
Light fingers brushed carefully over the hair at the back of his head, and he jumped two feet forward and spun around. Nobody touched his hair! Angry indigo lifted to meet the most beautiful sight he had ever imagined.
Trowa was smiling gently down at him, those soft bangs still falling over half of his face. The effect wasn't so much concealing here, rather than a little coy. Best of all, Trowa's green eyes were shining with a silent mirth.
Even when Duo got his friend to chuckle at one of his jokes, Trowa's eyes never shone this much. Without really meaning to, Duo found himself smiling widely in response.
"A little warning next time!" Duo chided with mock anger, not sure whether he wanted to stay where he was and just look, or get closer to this new Trowa.
Imaginary Trowa. Fake Trowa. He's not real Maxwell, get a grip!
The sudden thought stole all mirth that Duo had managed to grasp, reminding him that this was a dream, which was why this Trowa was so unlike the Trowa at home.
"Alright Duo. Consider yourself warned." Trowa stated in a warm tone, then he moved across that two feet of space, and pulled a startled Duo into his arms.
Forgetting to resist, forgetting to breathe, Duo could only feel as Trowa's soft lips met his. It was just like that brief touch that he remembered so well, only more. He felt something like electricity run from that contact through his whole body, followed by a rush of heat. Without his consent, his body tried to get closer, tried to get more.
Duo gripped Trowa's shoulders, trying to steady himself, even as he did his damnedest to unbalance them both.
Idiot, you can't knock Trowa off balance.
They tumbled to the ground. Duo reacted out of instinct, taking the fall on his forearms so that he wouldn't land his whole weight on the taller man. Looking down at that beloved face, once again struck by the happy laughter shining out of those eyes, even as the lips only smiled.
Duo smiled back, and was leaning down for another kiss when something struck him, sending a chill to replace the heat.
Trowa never makes the first move. Not even to hug his own sister. Even when he kissed me for real, I did it first.
He paused just shy of touching his friend's face, and just looked at his silent partner.
"You're not real." Duo was appalled to hear tears in his voice. The dream-Trowa sighed, some of the mirth leaving, and for a moment he looked more like the real Trowa. Then he leaned up and softly brushed his lips against Duo's forehead.
Then everything disappeared with a sudden, loud buzz.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Trowa threw his pillow at the alarm clock. It clattered to the floor, with the sound of breaking plastic, then was blessedly silent.
A voice came from under Duo's pillow, "Heero had better have a damned good reason for sneaking that in here." The American sounded even more peevish than the usual pre-coffee bad mood.
"He will probably be walking through the front door in ten minutes. He did mention getting an early start." Trowa was trying to finger comb his hair when Duo sat up. The sight of his friend's face made him stop all motion.
There were dark circles under those now-dull indigo eyes, and his skin was pale. A phrase that Trowa had read somewhere came to him suddenly, and it fit the look on Duo's face perfectly.
He looked like he had seen a ghost.
"Heero can kiss my ass. I'm not doing anything until I've had a shower and at least half a pot of coffee." Duo stood, stretching, then ambled away to the first item on his list of demands. This left Trowa wondering if he had missed something important.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Seeing his friend this morning, hearing him speak in that toneless, but soft voice, had nearly broken Duo's heart.
Knowing how he felt about Trowa, but desperately wanting an aspect of the man's personality that he wasn't sure existed, was a pain that Duo was unprepared to deal with.
He stood under the hot water, wanting it to wash away this dull yearning that seeing Trowa in the dream had caused. He had never seen Trowa like that in real life. The other man showed nowhere near that much emotion, and only that one moment of interest in Duo himself.
A kiss did not a love-affair make. He had said he meant it, but not how he meant it. Not just friends, because he wasn't the casual touching type, but he knew that Duo was. Maybe it had been a gesture to prove to Duo just how serious he was. Anything else could have been misconstrued as harsh, or temporary.
Trowa was not a man of many words, and Duo was a man of too many. Neither put much stock in verbal communication.
So, where did that leave that kiss?
Duo groaned into his wet hair. "I am too fucking tired for this."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
continued in part eleven
Thanks
SilverShinigami: The sleaze-bags will get theirs, and I'm glad you like my Benjamin. He's the only worth-while character in this story that came out of my brain!
Seeress:Sorry you had to read all those chapters at once...you'll have noticed all the typos and plot holes ^_^.
Demon_Angel:The whole thing's written, but I'll post faster, promise!
Jehnihenpen:Cute was half the aim. I'm glad that I succeeded.
Caer:I'm glad that you are enjoying the story as well as the pairing. It's often a fine line, so I'm happy that the timing and such works. Thanks so much!
TasukiNoBaka:You win the prize for the most comments on this fic to date! 2x3 has been my area of inspiration lately, and I'm glad that you appreciate it, and like the story and everything! I'm getting to the mushy, fluffy, emotional yaoi stuff soon, although, this last chapter is the fluffiest for a bit. Hope you liked it
Gemini Tenshi:Hello to you too! I write tons, and tons and tons, most of which never sees the light of day. I'm glad to know the practice payes off, tell me what you think of the end too!
Aini:I hope that I'm living up to your expactations for this story. Let me know!
Flat Eric (on the off chance that he didn't flame me for the summary and is reading this): If you're going to call me a sick freak, at least respond to a chapter that actually has yaoi in it. Otherwise we know you just went down the list.
Thanks so much to all of you, and keep reading (and responding ^_~)!