The Storm Outside: The Desert Child
By Dark Blaze
Pairing: shounen-ai Warning: sap & possible spoiler (Revised 06/24/02)
The storm is raging outside.
I wake up shivering at the chill seeping into the room and tug the blanket tighter around me, careful not to wake the Greek god sleeping beside me. The lightning flashes outside, followed by the rolling thunder. For a split second the light chases the shadow to the corners of the room, and I can see that the windows are wide open, the curtains flapping almost wildly, settling briefly, then starting to dance in the wind again.
I look at my lover and can't help but smile. He must have forgotten to close the windows again before he fell asleep. Not that I can blame him, really. How can I? I was the reason he forgot.
I know I'm watching him now not just with admiration and wonder but also with pride.
The lightning flashes again.
I stiffen slightly then lie back down, briefly entertaining the idea of getting up to close the windows. It's too cold though. I don't have any clothes on at the moment, and I'm not about to brave myself into the chill air just to close the windows. I'm not about to rob my lover off our only blanket and his own comfort either. Besides, if I move too much, he might awake. He's not really a heavy sleeper, and he's still very much a soldier. All of us are; the Preventers have made sure to keep us that way.
I know I'm making excuses. But really, much as I frown at the thought of water damage, among other things, I just don't feel like getting up to close the windows.
I start to sound like Duo.
I snuggle closer to my god-like lover and wonder what my best friend is doing right now. We all know what he does at nights like this, even though I am the only one who has never seen him during his ritual. I wonder though if he will stay in bed tonight, in favor of some rest for his big day tomorrow.
Maybe not. Knowing him, I'd say he is, like Trowa once told me, at the moment sitting by the window watching the storm.
The lightning flashes, followed three seconds later by the growling thunder.
I snuggle closer to my lover.
I have never admitted it to anyone, but storms actually make me a tad anxious. It is not a phobia. Really. It's simply that I'm a desert child. I was born and raised in a land where water was a precious commodity, and lightning and thunder were not quite relevant in everyday life. Not like this anyway.
I suppose in a way I am like Duo, though our different backgrounds, not to mention personalities, result in two very different reactions toward the storm. Duo embraces it like a lover. And I, I shy away from it.
Duo once teased me that this anxiety wasn't the only reason why I much prefered snow to rain. Looking at my lover now, I can't help but wonder if there was a truth in his jest.
The thunder booms right outside the window.
I start and freeze for a split second before diving instantly for the safety of my lover's arms.
"Quatre...?" Sleep-induced green eyes blink at me lazily. "What is it, Little One?"
I try to smile despite the racing of my heart. "It's nothing, Trowa. Just the storm."
Anyone else would have laughed at me. Me, the CEO of WEI, the heir to the throne so to speak, the young man who has several times united five lone warriors into a strong force that saved Earth and the Colonies more than once. Me, Quatre Raberba Winner, ex-Gundam pilot, the Preventer's most priced strategist, afraid of the storm. They would have doubled with laughter. They really would.
Trowa simply pulls me close to him and holds me. Later, he might smile in amusement and tease me about this in private, but right now he doesn't say anything.
"Sorry I woke you up," I whisper against his bare chest, my eyes closed, my pulse still racing. I can't help but breathe in his unique scent, pines and campfire and musk. His heart beats steadily beneath my ear until my own heart answers it in the same rhythm.
"It was the thunder," he replies quietly against my hair.
The thunder roars again, right above us now, but I no longer jump.
"We didn't close the window," he murmurs absently.
I nod slightly. "I wonder if it will stop before tomorrow morning," I muse, purposefully ignoring the storm outside now in favor of my favorite object of distraction. My finger traces a little pattern only I can see on Trowa's chest. I feel more than hear the faint catch in his breathing, and my lips curve slightly. "Duo will be really disappointed if they have to cancel the outdoor ceremony."
"They both will," Trowa replies, his hand catching my wandering finger, and my smile grows.
"Mm." I watch as my hand twists slightly in Trowa's grasp so I can hold his hand back. Our fingers entwine finally, and he brings mine up to press his lips lightly against my knuckles. He doesn't pull his hand away or let mine go afterward, though. That in itself tells me everything I need to know for now. It still amazes me sometimes how much his gestures say what his voice doesn't.
"Trowa?"
"Hm?"
"Have I told you how much I love you?"
I can feel him smile this time. "Not in the last five hours or so." While we were asleep.
I chuckle softly and pull away slightly to look into his eyes. "Well, I do. So much." I bring his hand, still locked with mine, to my lips and mimic his affectionate gesture earlier. "Sometimes I wonder what I did to deserve you..."
"Are you going to give me another self-depreciating speech, Raberba?" His lips are still smiling, but there's a faint warning in the beautiful emeralds that are his eyes which meaning only I know.
I have read too much of Catherine's Harlequin romance collection.
I shake my head slightly and smile softly at him. "Nein". No.
Trowa is the only person who knows how low my self-esteem really is. He doesn't like it, and he doesn't hide his dislike. I admit that in the beginning of our encounter, I chased him like a young and spoiled school boy with a crush. I was drawn to his quiet strength, and I followed him for all the wrong reasons, despite what I kept telling myself and those around me. I wasn't really strong then. I just pretended to be strong. It's different now, though. Since meeting him, he has helped me build my true confidence, and though I appear less certain with myself now to outsiders, inside I'm becoming stronger than ever. He knows this, and he's pleased with it, though every so often his eyes still flash with a faint warning when he thinks I'm going for another relapse, which happens less and less often now.
The thunder rolls in the distance, and this time I no longer care.
His eyes soften slightly, and he kisses me gently. It speaks clearly what his voice doesn't. It's enough.
But then, to my pleasant surprise, he conveys what I know with words.
"Ich liebe dich, Quatre. Gestern, heute, und morgen." I love you. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
I smile happily and kiss him back, my breath a whisper against his lips. "I know. Love you, too."
I know the phrasing of his promise is strange, but that's my Trowa. He doesn't believe in the promise of forever. To him, forever is too vague, without any clear boundaries. Forever can end in a second, when the implied meaning no longer suits the situation. However, tomorrow has a very clear boundary. Tomorrow is the day after today, the future. "Yesterday, today, and tomorrow" is his way of saying "always have, always will, always and forever", and I love him for it. I love him, period. All of him, quietness, strength, little quirks, and all, just like he loves me for everything I am.
What can I say? I'm as much of a sap as he is. Or maybe it's him who is as much of a sap as I am. We have that effect to each other.
The thunder rolls in the far distance. The growl is faint now, almost inaudible. The storm has passed.
I close my eyes and snuggle against my Greek god again [1], relishing in the feel of his arms around me, his heartbeat strong and steady against my ear.
Outside, the rain continues to wash over Earth.
~OWARI~
[1] Generally I make Trowa an L3 native or a French. In this one, he's from Europe though not necessarily Greece or Germany; Quatre just happens to think he looks like a Greek god, and Trowa himself just happens to know German.
Pairing: shounen-ai Warning: sap & possible spoiler (Revised 06/24/02)
The storm is raging outside.
I wake up shivering at the chill seeping into the room and tug the blanket tighter around me, careful not to wake the Greek god sleeping beside me. The lightning flashes outside, followed by the rolling thunder. For a split second the light chases the shadow to the corners of the room, and I can see that the windows are wide open, the curtains flapping almost wildly, settling briefly, then starting to dance in the wind again.
I look at my lover and can't help but smile. He must have forgotten to close the windows again before he fell asleep. Not that I can blame him, really. How can I? I was the reason he forgot.
I know I'm watching him now not just with admiration and wonder but also with pride.
The lightning flashes again.
I stiffen slightly then lie back down, briefly entertaining the idea of getting up to close the windows. It's too cold though. I don't have any clothes on at the moment, and I'm not about to brave myself into the chill air just to close the windows. I'm not about to rob my lover off our only blanket and his own comfort either. Besides, if I move too much, he might awake. He's not really a heavy sleeper, and he's still very much a soldier. All of us are; the Preventers have made sure to keep us that way.
I know I'm making excuses. But really, much as I frown at the thought of water damage, among other things, I just don't feel like getting up to close the windows.
I start to sound like Duo.
I snuggle closer to my god-like lover and wonder what my best friend is doing right now. We all know what he does at nights like this, even though I am the only one who has never seen him during his ritual. I wonder though if he will stay in bed tonight, in favor of some rest for his big day tomorrow.
Maybe not. Knowing him, I'd say he is, like Trowa once told me, at the moment sitting by the window watching the storm.
The lightning flashes, followed three seconds later by the growling thunder.
I snuggle closer to my lover.
I have never admitted it to anyone, but storms actually make me a tad anxious. It is not a phobia. Really. It's simply that I'm a desert child. I was born and raised in a land where water was a precious commodity, and lightning and thunder were not quite relevant in everyday life. Not like this anyway.
I suppose in a way I am like Duo, though our different backgrounds, not to mention personalities, result in two very different reactions toward the storm. Duo embraces it like a lover. And I, I shy away from it.
Duo once teased me that this anxiety wasn't the only reason why I much prefered snow to rain. Looking at my lover now, I can't help but wonder if there was a truth in his jest.
The thunder booms right outside the window.
I start and freeze for a split second before diving instantly for the safety of my lover's arms.
"Quatre...?" Sleep-induced green eyes blink at me lazily. "What is it, Little One?"
I try to smile despite the racing of my heart. "It's nothing, Trowa. Just the storm."
Anyone else would have laughed at me. Me, the CEO of WEI, the heir to the throne so to speak, the young man who has several times united five lone warriors into a strong force that saved Earth and the Colonies more than once. Me, Quatre Raberba Winner, ex-Gundam pilot, the Preventer's most priced strategist, afraid of the storm. They would have doubled with laughter. They really would.
Trowa simply pulls me close to him and holds me. Later, he might smile in amusement and tease me about this in private, but right now he doesn't say anything.
"Sorry I woke you up," I whisper against his bare chest, my eyes closed, my pulse still racing. I can't help but breathe in his unique scent, pines and campfire and musk. His heart beats steadily beneath my ear until my own heart answers it in the same rhythm.
"It was the thunder," he replies quietly against my hair.
The thunder roars again, right above us now, but I no longer jump.
"We didn't close the window," he murmurs absently.
I nod slightly. "I wonder if it will stop before tomorrow morning," I muse, purposefully ignoring the storm outside now in favor of my favorite object of distraction. My finger traces a little pattern only I can see on Trowa's chest. I feel more than hear the faint catch in his breathing, and my lips curve slightly. "Duo will be really disappointed if they have to cancel the outdoor ceremony."
"They both will," Trowa replies, his hand catching my wandering finger, and my smile grows.
"Mm." I watch as my hand twists slightly in Trowa's grasp so I can hold his hand back. Our fingers entwine finally, and he brings mine up to press his lips lightly against my knuckles. He doesn't pull his hand away or let mine go afterward, though. That in itself tells me everything I need to know for now. It still amazes me sometimes how much his gestures say what his voice doesn't.
"Trowa?"
"Hm?"
"Have I told you how much I love you?"
I can feel him smile this time. "Not in the last five hours or so." While we were asleep.
I chuckle softly and pull away slightly to look into his eyes. "Well, I do. So much." I bring his hand, still locked with mine, to my lips and mimic his affectionate gesture earlier. "Sometimes I wonder what I did to deserve you..."
"Are you going to give me another self-depreciating speech, Raberba?" His lips are still smiling, but there's a faint warning in the beautiful emeralds that are his eyes which meaning only I know.
I have read too much of Catherine's Harlequin romance collection.
I shake my head slightly and smile softly at him. "Nein". No.
Trowa is the only person who knows how low my self-esteem really is. He doesn't like it, and he doesn't hide his dislike. I admit that in the beginning of our encounter, I chased him like a young and spoiled school boy with a crush. I was drawn to his quiet strength, and I followed him for all the wrong reasons, despite what I kept telling myself and those around me. I wasn't really strong then. I just pretended to be strong. It's different now, though. Since meeting him, he has helped me build my true confidence, and though I appear less certain with myself now to outsiders, inside I'm becoming stronger than ever. He knows this, and he's pleased with it, though every so often his eyes still flash with a faint warning when he thinks I'm going for another relapse, which happens less and less often now.
The thunder rolls in the distance, and this time I no longer care.
His eyes soften slightly, and he kisses me gently. It speaks clearly what his voice doesn't. It's enough.
But then, to my pleasant surprise, he conveys what I know with words.
"Ich liebe dich, Quatre. Gestern, heute, und morgen." I love you. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
I smile happily and kiss him back, my breath a whisper against his lips. "I know. Love you, too."
I know the phrasing of his promise is strange, but that's my Trowa. He doesn't believe in the promise of forever. To him, forever is too vague, without any clear boundaries. Forever can end in a second, when the implied meaning no longer suits the situation. However, tomorrow has a very clear boundary. Tomorrow is the day after today, the future. "Yesterday, today, and tomorrow" is his way of saying "always have, always will, always and forever", and I love him for it. I love him, period. All of him, quietness, strength, little quirks, and all, just like he loves me for everything I am.
What can I say? I'm as much of a sap as he is. Or maybe it's him who is as much of a sap as I am. We have that effect to each other.
The thunder rolls in the far distance. The growl is faint now, almost inaudible. The storm has passed.
I close my eyes and snuggle against my Greek god again [1], relishing in the feel of his arms around me, his heartbeat strong and steady against my ear.
Outside, the rain continues to wash over Earth.
~OWARI~
[1] Generally I make Trowa an L3 native or a French. In this one, he's from Europe though not necessarily Greece or Germany; Quatre just happens to think he looks like a Greek god, and Trowa himself just happens to know German.
