Ack!! Gomen nasai for another long gap in the chapters!! I've
actually been busy doing *gasp* homework *another melodramatic
gasp*. Yes, Hell's frozen over. ^^;;; Actually, I got in
trouble, so yeah...But here we go!! Thanks to everyone who has
been so faithfully reviewing every time!! Aw heck, to anyone
that reads this and reviews! ^^
One little warning: slight OOCness. Be prepared, the story's not going to stay this light, this is only the deep breath before the plunge. ^^
***
Wufei had let Duo snooze almost the entire day away. He didn't wake again until well past six in the evening, but the long sleep had done wonders to his previously horrendous appearance. Duo was nearly back to his normal buoyant self, but it amazingly didn't seem to aggravate Wufei as much as it usually did. If anything, he was being really unsettlingly good-tempered.
As Wufei gathered the sparse amount of things in the cabin, Duo took the time to do a careful examination on his shoulder. Unlike his refreshed mood, his shoulder was looking nastily bruised and now having ample light to see by, he could clearly distinguish an inch long, thin jagged gouge from where he had slammed the syringe out of his shoulder after he had been tackled into the computer panel. It didn't -feel- any better than it looked either. Duo couldn't rotate it any more than a couple of inches before knives of pain shot out all over and he definitely wasn't going to be lifting anything heavy any time soon.
"Damn- Wu, are you ready to go? 'Cause if you've got everything, we should start hittin' the road," Duo called loudly so he could hear it in the bedroom. Wufei came out with a worn duffel bag in hand as he grabbed his shirt from the coffee table and began to put it on.
"Maxwell-" He had stepped into his usual persona. "- Could you have at least -warned- me that you were only half dressed?"
"Hey now, who was the one sleepin' on the table with nothin' but white pants and a katana?" Duo parried amusedly, gritting his teeth as he eased his bad arm into the rolled up shirtsleeve.
Wufei muttered something inaudibly, modestly adverting his gaze as his face reddened. "I'll drive again, just as a precaution," he continued after Duo managed to get his shirt right at last, neatly tucked in at the waist.
"Are you positive? I'm fine now, honestly."
"Yes, I just want to be sure."
A few minutes later, the two were pulling off down the dirt road out of the dense forest. Duo sat uneasily in the passenger side once again, toying with the end of his braid instead of his gun this time, though Wufei actually stayed quite calm and cool. After riding a while in silence, not being able to restrain himself, Duo started questioning Wufei.
"You're not gonna mention anything about the scientist and all, are you?" he asked, staring straight ahead out of the window.
"Do we ever discuss our missions?" Wufei answered impassively.
"Not unless there somethin' important..." Duo said dully, of course he knew that, why did he have to ask? He stirred nervously again; his fidgeting was beginning to make Wufei apprehensive now.
"Why do you ask?"
"I- umm, only wonderin'. I'm gettin' tired, so I'm gonna go to sleep," Duo lied lamely, "Wake me up if you need me to drive." He turned his back to Wufei, filling the truck with quietness.
***
The remainder of the trip went on just the same as before the mission, but Duo wasn't sleeping and Wufei wasn't contemplating different ways to off the braided pilot that he could make look like 'accidents'. Both were deep in troubled meditation.
But a few distracted missed turns and many hours later, Wufei pulled up to the safe house as noiselessly as he could in his shroud of night. The clock on the dash said 3:45 AM in fluorescent green neon and he knew at least Trowa and Quatre were in bed, Heero never seemed to, he was always working on the infernal laptop of his.
After fishing around for the faded duffel from the floorboard underneath his seat, Wufei leaned over and hesitantly grasped the inside of Duo's shoulder closest to his neck, so as not to jar his injured arm. "Duo? Get up, we're here." He roused him gently.
Duo was surprised, the ride had gone a lot faster than he expected, as he faked a huge yawn and uncurled himself, stretching like a cat. His left side felt stiff under Wufei's hold from being unmoved for so long and he groaned as he kicked open the passenger side door.
"My arm's not gonna fall off, you know, so you can let go now." Duo grumbled, his train of thought had been broken and he was feeling irritable as he shook Wufei off, clambering out of the truck awkwardly. They stole silently into the house and Duo immediately vanished upstairs to his room without another word. Wufei sat in the cushiony, overstuffed armchair in the adjacent living room, not wanting to go up just yet. He knew Heero was more than likely still up, that he would never get to sleep with the sound of computer keys clicking away annoyingly, and that it wasn't very likely that the Japanese boy was out in Wing Zero working. He didn't wish to even go up and check just to make sure that he wasn't working on his Gundam because if he -was- there, he feared Heero would read his bewildered mind in spite of his impassive mask and ask what was wrong.
It was no small wonder that Wufei was so pissed all the time, he brooded so seriously about things that he spun himself up like a top, always looking for some hidden objective that didn't even exist. There were times that he had to just let his hair down (no pun intended. Okay, it was a pun, so sue me. If anything, it helped alleviate his headaches by pulling out that damned tight as hell, immaculate ponytail) and relax. And breathe. Yes, breathing was a very good thing too. Neurotic? Wufei? No... A little high-strung? Maybe only a tiny bit.
He didn't know when he nodded off, but the next thing Wufei realized was being prodded awake by someone.
"Wu-man? C'mon buddy, up and at 'em, you can't go sleeping in longer than me now. It's not right." Amusement danced in Duo's violet eyes and he had a big grin on his face.
"What time is it?" Startled, Wufei would have jumped out of the armchair if Duo wasn't in the way. "Uhh..." He looked around for a clock. "Almost twelve thirty."
"What?!"
"Yep, twelve thirty. So get up, Q's makin' lunch or brunch or whatever you're supposed to eat when you wake up past noon."
As soon as Duo came bounding cheerfully into the kitchen, and not in fear, Quatre raised an eyebrow.
"No katana hurling today?" he asked placidly, though there was some relief tinged in it. There were enough sword notches in the kitchen walls as there was without the need to add anymore.
"Surprisingly." Trowa added with a small smirk. Unbeknownst to the others, he found the morning chases between Duo and Wufei highly entertaining and was almost disappointed at the fact that the braided pilot hadn't been closely pursued by a flying katana. [1]
"You all just -want- me to get my head cut off, don't you?" Duo replied dryly, taking his seat next to Trowa at the other end of the table.
"Yes, we do." Wufei quipped as he joined the world of the living in the kitchen.
Quatre smiled pleasantly. "Of course not. Later I want to give that shoulder of yours a proper inspection, okay Duo?"
"Yes mother." As Quatre turned around though, Duo shot Wufei an anxious glance across the table, unnoticed by Trowa, who was reading the newspaper because of the lack of the morning katana chase.
***
Once the kitchen had been cleaned up, Quatre asked Duo to pull off his shirt as Trowa went off to work on Heavy Arms.
"God, I'm amazed that you haven't been complaining about this yet," Quatre said, almost afraid to even glimpse at the nasty black and blue bruise that spread from the uppermost part of his arm to the back of his neck, let alone touch it. But he had to check for any fractured bone. Wufei openly flinched, which was something. "How did you get the cut?"
Duo gulped. "Oh, nothin' special or anything, it was a sharp corner."
Quatre looked suspicious but didn't voice his skepticism. "Hm, okay. Well, at least nothing's broken, it's all just one big bruise."
"Brilliant conclusion, Doctor Spock."
Wufei began to snicker as Quatre patted Duo particularly hard on the shoulder before heading out to join Trowa, making him stifle a whimper of pain. "Owww..."
"That's what you get for being sarcastic, Maxwell," he said lightly, getting a glare in reply.
"Oh shut up," Duo muttered, turning his scowl to his shirt on the table. "Damn, I think I'm just gonna run around shirtless 'cause I don't feel like goin' through all the pain it takes to put that damn thing on."
"That was your fault too, you should have been watching your back, or at least just have shot the scientist in the first place," Wufei pointed out bluntly. "It would have saved you and me both a lot of trouble."
"Oh yes, everything's Duo's fault, isn't it?" he retorted sourly. "Yep, that's it. It's always my fault."
The pent up bitterness in his voice stabbed like a dagger in Wufei's heart as echoes from the cabin filled his mind.
It's all my fault, Sister...it's 'cause I stole the suit, isn't it? I'm sorry for leaving, I'm sorry for taking that dumb mobile suit...wake up for me, please...
Buddies 'till the end, we promised. We're the Unstoppable Duo, remember? You can't leave me alone...It was all my fault, wasn't it?
"I didn't mean it like that Duo," said Wufei quietly. "You're not to blame, I should have warned you sooner instead of watching like a fool. You were only doing your part of the mission."
Caught unawares by the sudden change, Duo's resentful attitude lost its footing and he blinked confusedly. "Are -you- feelin' okay there, Fei? Sounds like someone clocked you upside the head one too many times or something there-"
"I was being serious, Duo. I'm sorry-" Flustered, Wufei hastily exited the kitchen, leaving Duo in utter shock.
"Huh, well this has certainly become a very interesting day..." He scratched his head, still staring at the doorway.
***
[1]This is an inside joke. Trowa is always so damn quiet and even more emotionless than Heero, so I thought it would be highly amusing to have him find something like Wufei threatening to cut off Duo's braid and chase him down with a katana entertaining. But seeing how he's always so damn impassive, you'd never be able to tell. ^^;;;
One little warning: slight OOCness. Be prepared, the story's not going to stay this light, this is only the deep breath before the plunge. ^^
***
Wufei had let Duo snooze almost the entire day away. He didn't wake again until well past six in the evening, but the long sleep had done wonders to his previously horrendous appearance. Duo was nearly back to his normal buoyant self, but it amazingly didn't seem to aggravate Wufei as much as it usually did. If anything, he was being really unsettlingly good-tempered.
As Wufei gathered the sparse amount of things in the cabin, Duo took the time to do a careful examination on his shoulder. Unlike his refreshed mood, his shoulder was looking nastily bruised and now having ample light to see by, he could clearly distinguish an inch long, thin jagged gouge from where he had slammed the syringe out of his shoulder after he had been tackled into the computer panel. It didn't -feel- any better than it looked either. Duo couldn't rotate it any more than a couple of inches before knives of pain shot out all over and he definitely wasn't going to be lifting anything heavy any time soon.
"Damn- Wu, are you ready to go? 'Cause if you've got everything, we should start hittin' the road," Duo called loudly so he could hear it in the bedroom. Wufei came out with a worn duffel bag in hand as he grabbed his shirt from the coffee table and began to put it on.
"Maxwell-" He had stepped into his usual persona. "- Could you have at least -warned- me that you were only half dressed?"
"Hey now, who was the one sleepin' on the table with nothin' but white pants and a katana?" Duo parried amusedly, gritting his teeth as he eased his bad arm into the rolled up shirtsleeve.
Wufei muttered something inaudibly, modestly adverting his gaze as his face reddened. "I'll drive again, just as a precaution," he continued after Duo managed to get his shirt right at last, neatly tucked in at the waist.
"Are you positive? I'm fine now, honestly."
"Yes, I just want to be sure."
A few minutes later, the two were pulling off down the dirt road out of the dense forest. Duo sat uneasily in the passenger side once again, toying with the end of his braid instead of his gun this time, though Wufei actually stayed quite calm and cool. After riding a while in silence, not being able to restrain himself, Duo started questioning Wufei.
"You're not gonna mention anything about the scientist and all, are you?" he asked, staring straight ahead out of the window.
"Do we ever discuss our missions?" Wufei answered impassively.
"Not unless there somethin' important..." Duo said dully, of course he knew that, why did he have to ask? He stirred nervously again; his fidgeting was beginning to make Wufei apprehensive now.
"Why do you ask?"
"I- umm, only wonderin'. I'm gettin' tired, so I'm gonna go to sleep," Duo lied lamely, "Wake me up if you need me to drive." He turned his back to Wufei, filling the truck with quietness.
***
The remainder of the trip went on just the same as before the mission, but Duo wasn't sleeping and Wufei wasn't contemplating different ways to off the braided pilot that he could make look like 'accidents'. Both were deep in troubled meditation.
But a few distracted missed turns and many hours later, Wufei pulled up to the safe house as noiselessly as he could in his shroud of night. The clock on the dash said 3:45 AM in fluorescent green neon and he knew at least Trowa and Quatre were in bed, Heero never seemed to, he was always working on the infernal laptop of his.
After fishing around for the faded duffel from the floorboard underneath his seat, Wufei leaned over and hesitantly grasped the inside of Duo's shoulder closest to his neck, so as not to jar his injured arm. "Duo? Get up, we're here." He roused him gently.
Duo was surprised, the ride had gone a lot faster than he expected, as he faked a huge yawn and uncurled himself, stretching like a cat. His left side felt stiff under Wufei's hold from being unmoved for so long and he groaned as he kicked open the passenger side door.
"My arm's not gonna fall off, you know, so you can let go now." Duo grumbled, his train of thought had been broken and he was feeling irritable as he shook Wufei off, clambering out of the truck awkwardly. They stole silently into the house and Duo immediately vanished upstairs to his room without another word. Wufei sat in the cushiony, overstuffed armchair in the adjacent living room, not wanting to go up just yet. He knew Heero was more than likely still up, that he would never get to sleep with the sound of computer keys clicking away annoyingly, and that it wasn't very likely that the Japanese boy was out in Wing Zero working. He didn't wish to even go up and check just to make sure that he wasn't working on his Gundam because if he -was- there, he feared Heero would read his bewildered mind in spite of his impassive mask and ask what was wrong.
It was no small wonder that Wufei was so pissed all the time, he brooded so seriously about things that he spun himself up like a top, always looking for some hidden objective that didn't even exist. There were times that he had to just let his hair down (no pun intended. Okay, it was a pun, so sue me. If anything, it helped alleviate his headaches by pulling out that damned tight as hell, immaculate ponytail) and relax. And breathe. Yes, breathing was a very good thing too. Neurotic? Wufei? No... A little high-strung? Maybe only a tiny bit.
He didn't know when he nodded off, but the next thing Wufei realized was being prodded awake by someone.
"Wu-man? C'mon buddy, up and at 'em, you can't go sleeping in longer than me now. It's not right." Amusement danced in Duo's violet eyes and he had a big grin on his face.
"What time is it?" Startled, Wufei would have jumped out of the armchair if Duo wasn't in the way. "Uhh..." He looked around for a clock. "Almost twelve thirty."
"What?!"
"Yep, twelve thirty. So get up, Q's makin' lunch or brunch or whatever you're supposed to eat when you wake up past noon."
As soon as Duo came bounding cheerfully into the kitchen, and not in fear, Quatre raised an eyebrow.
"No katana hurling today?" he asked placidly, though there was some relief tinged in it. There were enough sword notches in the kitchen walls as there was without the need to add anymore.
"Surprisingly." Trowa added with a small smirk. Unbeknownst to the others, he found the morning chases between Duo and Wufei highly entertaining and was almost disappointed at the fact that the braided pilot hadn't been closely pursued by a flying katana. [1]
"You all just -want- me to get my head cut off, don't you?" Duo replied dryly, taking his seat next to Trowa at the other end of the table.
"Yes, we do." Wufei quipped as he joined the world of the living in the kitchen.
Quatre smiled pleasantly. "Of course not. Later I want to give that shoulder of yours a proper inspection, okay Duo?"
"Yes mother." As Quatre turned around though, Duo shot Wufei an anxious glance across the table, unnoticed by Trowa, who was reading the newspaper because of the lack of the morning katana chase.
***
Once the kitchen had been cleaned up, Quatre asked Duo to pull off his shirt as Trowa went off to work on Heavy Arms.
"God, I'm amazed that you haven't been complaining about this yet," Quatre said, almost afraid to even glimpse at the nasty black and blue bruise that spread from the uppermost part of his arm to the back of his neck, let alone touch it. But he had to check for any fractured bone. Wufei openly flinched, which was something. "How did you get the cut?"
Duo gulped. "Oh, nothin' special or anything, it was a sharp corner."
Quatre looked suspicious but didn't voice his skepticism. "Hm, okay. Well, at least nothing's broken, it's all just one big bruise."
"Brilliant conclusion, Doctor Spock."
Wufei began to snicker as Quatre patted Duo particularly hard on the shoulder before heading out to join Trowa, making him stifle a whimper of pain. "Owww..."
"That's what you get for being sarcastic, Maxwell," he said lightly, getting a glare in reply.
"Oh shut up," Duo muttered, turning his scowl to his shirt on the table. "Damn, I think I'm just gonna run around shirtless 'cause I don't feel like goin' through all the pain it takes to put that damn thing on."
"That was your fault too, you should have been watching your back, or at least just have shot the scientist in the first place," Wufei pointed out bluntly. "It would have saved you and me both a lot of trouble."
"Oh yes, everything's Duo's fault, isn't it?" he retorted sourly. "Yep, that's it. It's always my fault."
The pent up bitterness in his voice stabbed like a dagger in Wufei's heart as echoes from the cabin filled his mind.
It's all my fault, Sister...it's 'cause I stole the suit, isn't it? I'm sorry for leaving, I'm sorry for taking that dumb mobile suit...wake up for me, please...
Buddies 'till the end, we promised. We're the Unstoppable Duo, remember? You can't leave me alone...It was all my fault, wasn't it?
"I didn't mean it like that Duo," said Wufei quietly. "You're not to blame, I should have warned you sooner instead of watching like a fool. You were only doing your part of the mission."
Caught unawares by the sudden change, Duo's resentful attitude lost its footing and he blinked confusedly. "Are -you- feelin' okay there, Fei? Sounds like someone clocked you upside the head one too many times or something there-"
"I was being serious, Duo. I'm sorry-" Flustered, Wufei hastily exited the kitchen, leaving Duo in utter shock.
"Huh, well this has certainly become a very interesting day..." He scratched his head, still staring at the doorway.
***
[1]This is an inside joke. Trowa is always so damn quiet and even more emotionless than Heero, so I thought it would be highly amusing to have him find something like Wufei threatening to cut off Duo's braid and chase him down with a katana entertaining. But seeing how he's always so damn impassive, you'd never be able to tell. ^^;;;