DISCLAIMER – I do not own Gundam Wing.
Chapter Eight
"Top or bottom?" Quatre asked Trowa after closing the bedroom door, shutting out the soon-to-be argument in the hallway.
Trowa rolled his eyes and glared.
"Ok, I know," Quatre said, tossing his laptop on the top bunk and setting his bag on the floor. "It's been a while since any of us have had to share rooms. Your preferences could have changed since those years ago."
Trowa was already lying shirtless and shoeless on the bottom bed, with his arms crossed behind his head.
"So how do you think it turned out?" Quatre asked, going into the bathroom to change out of his tux.
Relena's stomping could be heard as she stalked down the hall. "Judging by Relena's footsteps, I'd say that Duo fixed it so Heero and Jinx would be in the same room," Trowa answered.
"You think so?" Quatre was talking through the bathroom door.
"Mm hmm."
"So what do you think will happen?" Quatre continued with his slough of questions as he walked out of the bathroom, dressed in silk pajamas.
"Happen where?" Trowa asked in answer. "Do I think Duo will survive the night bunking with Wufei? Probably not. And I don't know what will happen between Heero and Jinx. They are both soldiers, perfectly tuned to disregard all but the objectives of the mission, which as this point is sleep. But there's a lot of sexual tension between them."
Quatre climbed to the top bunk. He pulled out his laptop and set it in his lap, ready to check on the family business before going to bed. Quatre jumped when he heard a loud popping sound from below him.
Trowa tossed the champagne cork aside and tipped back the bottle.
* * * * * * * *
"Duo Maxwell!" Wufei Chang did not wish to spend his week here at Relena's palace rooming with that girly-braided, hyperactive maniac.
Duo, with his bag in one hand and the champagne bottle he'd stolen from the party in another, just grinned at Wufei. "Come on, man. We have to give Jinx and Heero a chance to stay in the same room together…"
"Heero is nineteen years old, and old enough to take care of his own love life, Duo," Wufei chastised.
"You mean his own lack of a love life," Duo grumbled back at him. "Besides, what's the big deal? You sleep on the bottom bunk; I'll sleep on top. We never even have to talk to each other if you don't want." Duo had taken off his jacket, cummerbund, and tie. He unbuttoned a few buttons of his shirt and pulled it out of the waist of his pants. They heard the pop as Trowa opened the champagne bottle next door.
"I still don't want to room with you," Wufei pouted.
"After all these years you're still…." Duo's argument was interrupted by a soft knock at the door. "Huh?"
A female voice called through the closed door softly, "Wufei?" She opened the door to stand face to face with Duo, who burst into uncontrollable fits of laughter.
Sally turned bright red.
"Now I understand why you didn't want me to room with you!" Duo said between laughs.
"Maxwell," Wufei warned.
"It's alright," Duo said still laughing. "I can take a hint. I'm going, I'm going." He headed past Sally. "But I'm taking this with me," he said, grabbing the bottle of champagne and closing the door behind him.
At first, Duo couldn't decide whether to go into Trowa and Quatre's room or Heero and Jinx's. He stood out in the hallway for a minute, looking side to side from one doorway to the next. Finally, he decided to check and see how Heero and Jinx were doing.
He knocked on the door. Then he knocked louder. They must be inside, so he opened the door slowly, peaking around the edge.
No one was in the small room with two bunked beds. Jinx's bag was at the foot of the bottom bed, which meant Heero must have taken the top bed. But no one was in either bed. Duo set the bottle on the night table and sat on Jinx's bed, getting comfortable leaning against the headboard.
The running water of the shower turned off. Realization hit Duo square in the face. Since no one was in the room, they must be in the shower together! Not wanting to embarrass them, he made a running break for the door before they emerged.
"Duo," Heero's stern voice caused Duo to stop in mid-leap, his hand still reaching out for the doorknob. If Duo had been in here with Jinx…, Heero's mind clouded with anger as he wrapped the towel tighter around his waist.
"Hey, Heero," Duo said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand. "Sorry for coming in here without asking…" He looked around Heero into the bathroom, searching for Jinx.
"Where's Jinx?" the boys asked in unison.
"Shit," Heero mumbled, digging through his bag for a pair of shorts. He found a pair, which were a little too big for him, but at the moment, he didn't care. Disregarding underclothes, he pulled on the shorts and ran into the hall to search for Jinx.
Duo took off and ran for a few steps as if he'd assist Heero in his search but then decided to let Heero find her. He left the bottle of champagne on the table, purposefully, and made his way to Trowa and Quatre's room.
"Hey guys," Duo said, sitting between an already tipsy Trowa and Quatre on the bed. Quatre handed Duo the two-thirds empty bottle.
"Just enough for you," Quatre said, giggling.
Duo downed the rest of the bottle and leaned back against the wall. He thought he could hear Sally and Wufei in the next room. Together with Trowa and Quatre, Duo slipped into a peaceful alcohol-induced sleep.
* * * * * * * *
Heero rushed along the hall and down the stairs, with his hair still dripping wet. He had to pull his pants up a little when he reached the bottom stair. A female figure was in the receiving room, waiting for him.
He walked up slowly, and realized too late that it was Relena. She was wearing a short silk nightgown with spaghetti straps that revealed too much cleavage and way too much leg.
Relena couldn't breathe as Heero approached her. He was wearing nothing but shorts, and his body was glistening from his recent shower. Her eyes roamed from his shaggy wet hair down his muscled torso and to the shorts hanging low off his hips, showing the lines that only men with finely tuned bodies possessed.
Relena's eyes were not the only pair taking in Heero's body.
She walked closer to Heero. He took two steps back away from her. "Heero," she started, trying to get closer to him.
"What do you want?" Heero asked, the anger showing in his voice.
"I wanted to talk to you. I wanted to talk to you about…"
"I don't want to talk about it, Relena."
"But Heero," she cried, throwing herself into his arms. "I wanted to say I was sorry, Heero. I wanted to say that I still love you." She held onto him even tighter after her confesson.
Heero looked down at Relena in his arms. It was now or never, he thought. He either had to tell her he still loved her and wanted to try to reconcile what had happened between them, or…
"Relena," he said, getting her to look up at him. He untangled himself from her embrace and held her by the shoulders, looking directly into her eyes. "I do not want you."
She took off crying to her room.
Heero sighed. He didn't want to hurt her, but…what the hell? He did want to hurt her. She had hurt him after all. Shaking his head to clear it, he resumed his search for Jinx and started walking toward the kitchen.
Something was tugging on the back of his mind.
Jinx.
He looked around for her, knowing she was somewhere in the room. Jinx appeared from around a bookcase, still wearing her gown from the party. She had her head down, obviously ashamed for having listened in on his conversation.
I'm sorry, I shouldn't have stayed…her words entered his mind.
Don't worry about it, Heero insisted. All he had to do now was tell her how he felt about her…he hesitated. Are you hungry? he asked instead, motioning toward the kitchen.
She shook her head no. I just had to get out and walk alone, she explained. I didn't have much of a reason for leaving the room. She remembered the urgency she'd sensed in Heero when he entered the room earlier. I'm sorry if I worried you.
Heero pulled his pants up a little. It's alright. I just had to make sure you were ok. He felt like a timid little school-boy around her. He felt nervous about what she thought of him. Heero tried to hide it. Ready to go to bed? He walked a few steps toward the stairway.
Jinx followed, but she didn't answer him. Heero held the bedroom door open for her. She walked in silently, and simply sat on her bed. He was starting to get really worried.
Kneeling in front of her, Heero tried to look into her eyes. Are you sure you're alright?
I'm just thinking, she explained, I'm having a hard time getting my feelings straight. Oops, that was a little more than she'd planned on telling him.
If something is wrong, you can tell me, Heero offered.
Thank you, Heero. But right now I'm too tired to move, and I just want to go to bed. She sighed and dropped back on the bed.
Jinx was lying down in front of him, and she looked gorgeous in that dress. Heero closed his eyes, trying to fight the urge to crawl on top of her and kiss her.
He stood up instead, grabbing her hands to lift her to a standing position too. Heero carefully slipped the sheer shawl from around her shoulders and tossed it up onto his bed. He sensed a kind of submission from her and something else…pleasure? He wasn't sure. But she didn't object to his undressing her, so he continued to get her ready for bed.
Walking around behind her, he started unzipping her dress and trying desperately to control himself. He noticed the brand on her arm and ran his fingers over it gently. Her eyes were closed. He put one of his own t-shirt over her head, careful not to take off the dress before she was covered with the t-shirt. Just because he wanted to see her naked again didn't mean he was going to take advantage of her feeling bad now. Of course, the shirt was too big and came down to her mid-thigh, making exposure impossible. Heero was thankful for that. He squatted down, and put a hand on her ankle to help her step out of the dress pooled at her feet. Standing back up, he pressed her backwards gently, making her sit back down on her bed. Kneeling in front of her again, he slipped off her high-heeled shoes.
Gathering all of her clothing in his arms, he set the shoes down in the base of the closet and started hanging up the dress. When he'd finished and turned back around, he was startled to find that she was simply watching him as he moved about the room. She scooted closer to her pillow, and Heero pulled back the covers for her. Her legs slipped between the sheets easily, and he pulled the covers up to her stomach.
All this not talking and her watching him was unnerving to him. He turned away from her, noticing the bottle that Duo had left on the table. Taking it in his hands, he popped the cork. Heero sat on the bed with her and held the bottle out, offering her the first drink.
Duo left this for us, he explained.
Duo, she repeated. Her warm feelings for Duo wrapped around Heero like a wet blanket. Heero's hopes fell to the floor. So she did like Duo best, he thought to himself. Duo is a good friend, she said absentmindedly, running her fingers over the label of the champagne.
So, Heero began, you like Duo?
She tilted her head back and took a large swig of alcohol. Then she took another. I like all your friends. Quatre is nice, and so is Trowa. I think Wufei hides his feelings too much, but he's nice, too, deep down inside. He just doesn't want to admit it. She took another drink. Abstinence from alcohol her entire life made her more susceptible to this light amount she was imbibing. But Duo's nicest of all. A very good friend. She drank again. Her head was beginning to feel light. He's trying to get us together, you know.
Jinx handed the bottle to Heero.
Yea, I know, he admitted.
He took a few gulps and set the bottle down on the table beside her bed. When he leaned closer to her to reach the table, he thought he heard her breathing change.
Heero stood up from the bed, backing away from the look of intense desire in her eyes. She threw the covers of her bed back and stood up in front of him, walking closer. He stood unmoving in the middle of the room, and she just got closer and closer.
Soon, she was up against him, reaching up to run her hands though his still damp hair. Heero closed his eyes, unable to fathom why she would want to be so close to him. Instinctively, he ran his hands down her arms and sides, letting them set on her waist as he pulled her closer to kiss him. He broke their kiss to lift her shirt off over her head. Bending down, he lightly kissed the scars of the OZ Special Assassin brand on her arm.
* * * * * * * *
Quatre moaned and rolled over, regretting his drinking binge with Trowa last night because of the pounding hangover headache he was now plagued with. He felt someone beside him. Were Trowa and Duo still passed out in the bed from last night? Quatre opened his eyes and beheld… Relena.
"Oh Quatre," she said, brushing some of his hair out of his eyes. "You're awake now…"
"Get out of my bed, you crazy bitch!" Quatre screamed, pushing Relena. She thudded hard on the floor.
"Quatre Reberba Winner, since when do you treat women this way?"
"Since I wake up and find you here," he growled, sitting up and holding his pounding head. Her high-pitched loud voice wasn't helping the headache. "And where's Duo and Trowa?"
Relena stood up, revealing the same little silk nightgown she'd had on when she saw Heero the night before. She crossed her arms and pouted, "I don't know where your stupid friends are. They were gone this morning when I came in to wake you up. The shuttle's gone too." Relena gave her best hmph and walked out of Quatre's room.
Quatre recovered and locked the bedroom door, to prevent a reoccurrence of another Relena invasion. He took a shower, relishing how the warm water soothed his head. After getting dressed, Quatre really began to wonder about Trowa and Duo. From the way Trowa's bag looked, and the fact that Duo had brought his bag from Wufei's room into their room, Quatre could only conclude that they'd gotten up before he did and gotten dressed without him waking up. And they both left without saying where they were going. He hoped they weren't getting into trouble.