Thanks to Mistress Maxwell, shadowgoddess, and the Eliminator for actually reading my stuff. It makes me feel good to know someone likes something I do :)
I don't own crap.
Roddy couldn't deny it. This Col. Barton was about the most handsome and alluring man she'd ever laid eyes on. Jin told her that her new partner was to die for. Roddy was completely unprepared for the vision that she watched as they walked down the hallways together.
He was quiet though. Jin had warned against this too. But she'd said that when he gets to know you, Trowa could talk at least two or three sentences in a row! At the time, Roddy had thought Jin was joking, but now…
"What class next?" his low voice broke into her thoughts.
She shook her head to clear away thoughts of kissing him in the hallway and answered, "Body conditioning is the last class of the day, Col. Barton. We split up for it, though." Roddy thought she saw disappointment flash across his face, but she couldn't be sure.
"Trowa," he corrected, "and why do we split up?"
It took Roddy a moment to realize he'd asked her to call him Trowa for about the fifteenth time today. What was it that he'd asked? "Oh, because the males separate from the females during body conditioning to minimize any problems…"
"Understandable," he said softly as he held open the door to Gym 4 for her. Sally and Wufei were already inside, addressing the group of coed students sitting on the gym floor.
"…Ah, and here are your other instructors," Sally said, noticing that Trowa and Roddy had entered. "This is Colonel Trowa Barton…" a few gasps escaped from students when they heard the name of yet another former Gundam pilot at their academy "…and Lt. Col. Roddy Adelphia. Now that we're all here, I'd like the females of this group to please stand and follow Lt. Col. Adelphia and I to Gym 2, next door. That's where we'll meet from this day on," she explained.
Roddy's eyes followed Trowa as he walked to the front of the gym and bowed in Chinese greeting to Wufei. She couldn't help but gawk when he removed his shoes and socks, and then his uniform shirt and undershirt to expose his well-muscled chest. Jin was most definitely right when she said that watching Heero and Trowa with shirts off as they moved junk in the yard was one of Jin's favorite pastimes.
* * * * * * *
"Come on, clown," Wufei jeered as he planted his feet in another fighting stance. His hair was falling from its usual ponytail, and he glistened with sweat.
Trowa's strong, yet lithe body flexed like a cat's before he, too, settled into another fighting stance. His own body radiated with heat from his exertions, and sweat accentuated the definition of his muscles by reflecting the light of the gym ceiling. He was aware of the students in a semicircle around him and Wufei as they watched their instructors. He heard his own heart beating in his chest, and his slow deep breaths sounded like roars in his ears.
He heard Wufei's slight grunt as his sparing partner rushed at him. Seemingly effortlessly, Trowa catapulted into his trademark triple-twist and flip, effectively evading Wufei's intended flying kick. He was dimly aware of the applause that echoed through the gym. Instead, his senses were bombarded by the loud ringing of the bell that signaled the end of the school day.
Blushing slightly, he turned and bowed to his opponent, then to the audience. Wufei went to collect his clothes, and Trowa joined him. He looked up to watch the last of the students disappear through the gym doorway.
Jin and Sally were there, with amused looks on their faces, but Trowa didn't notice them. Trowa was only aware of the way Roddy's mouth hung slightly open as she watched him move and the way her eyes were a little wider as she looked at him. He smiled at her, breaking her from her trance. She blushed and looked down at the floor of the gym.
"Wufei," Sally scolded, "you and Trowa should know better than to scare the cadets like that on the first day!" She avoided Wufei's reach as he tried to hug her. "And don't you go getting me all sweaty. Take a shower before you touch me."
Wufei's mouth curved into a grin. "How about I touch you as I take a shower?"
Roddy glanced Trowa's way and blushed even more.
"I seem to remember a certain someone being opposed to such pubic displays of affection," Trowa reminded Wufei as he walked with his arm around Sally.
"Shut it, Barton!" was all they could hear before Wufei and Sally disappeared out the gym door.
Jin smiled at Trowa. "Showing off a tad, are we?"
"Just a little," he said, bending down to kiss her cheek. "Where's Heero?"
She rolled her eyes and gave an exasperated sigh. "That boy, I don't know what I'm going to do with him. Do you know what he's doing?" she asked as she ranted. "At this very moment he and Duo are seeing which one of them will throw up first in the G-force training module."
Trowa laughed a little. "Well, I have to go and witness this beating." He was teasing, but not really. Jin had been on edge lately and very moody. She wasn't going to take kindly to Heero acting this irresponsible.