FireImp- Things are actually going to start getting interesting soon.
LL- It won't all be random chaos and revenge.
Chibi-muse Heero- RETRIBUTION! (starts flying around in crazy little circles)
Other chibi-muses- (cower in fear)
LL- Right. (sweatdrop)
FireImp- Yeah. Anyway, enjoy. (Llama passes out popcorn and pancakes)
On Wednesday, Re woke up early, as usual, and kicked everyone else into gear. Everyone came to the kitchen in their pajamas, which was how they usually ate breakfast. Despite the early hour, Ri was bouncy and perky (FireImp- DAMN YOU FOR YOUR PERPETUAL PERKINESS! LL- ^_^ v), while the boys and Re were barely able to function. After a few cups of coffee, they began to show signs of life. Ri and Re fixed breakfast, leaving the guys to do the dishes while the girls got dressed. The two wore denim jackets with little phrases and pictures all over them (LL- Behold the wonders FireImp works with Sharpies when she gets bored). They both were dressed all in black, which brought cheers from Duo, and they wore matching pendants and earrings (FireImp-Behold the wonders LL works with paperclips when she gets bored).
After they had all finished eating and the dishes had been done, they all piled into Trowa's minivan and headed to the Preventer's headquarters. Ri, Re and the guys rode the elevator up to the conference room. When they got there, Treize was sitting at one of the tables happily sipping a hot cup of coffee. He lifted his cup to Ri as she passed, saluting her skills with miscreant machinery. Zechs sat next to him, dozing with his feet on the table and his ankles crossed. Sally and Noin hadn't arrived yet, so the guys sat down at the table opposite from Zechs and Treize's while the two girls grinned and headed for the desk in the dark corner. Soon, the air was filled with the scent of Sharpies and they heard the now familiar sound of Ri's pliers clicking as she mutilated paperclips. There also came the sound of insane giggling from the same dark corner as the Sharpie fumes began to take their toll on the already hyper girls. Other than that, the silence of the room could have been cut with a knife.
Trowa, Heero and Wufei followed Zechs' example and fell asleep sitting up. Quatre got a cup of coffee and sat quietly sipping it, enjoying the silence. Duo was bored, so he went over to the girls and borrowed a pair of scissors. Moving very quietly, he moved behind Wufei and made a motion to Treize. Treize, holding back a grin, struck up a conversation with Wufei to keep him distracted will Duo did his work.
"I wonder what the mission is," said Treize, watching Duo slip behind Wufei.
"Whatever it is, it must be important if she's gathered all of us here, plus the two onnas," replied Wufei, not bothering to open his eyes. He remained ignorant to the fact that Duo was behind him, poised with the scissors getting ready to cut the band holding his hair back.
Quatre, who also didn't know of Duo's plan, decided to join the conversation.
"Treize, we all saw Wufei kill you. You've been back for about three months now, but you haven't told us what happened. Did you really die?"
"Yes, I did." Treize squirmed.
"How did you come back?" asked Wufei, who leaned forward in his seat. Fortunately, Duo had anticipated his movement and had managed not to cut off his ponytail. Ri and Re noticed what Duo was doing. Ri stayed on the desk, and shoved Re off the desk to help Treize keep Wufei distracted. She went over to Wufei, shot a glare at her older sister, and sat on the table in front of him, leaned back and casually let the jacket slide off her shoulder, showing the slender straps of the tight fitting black midriff shirt she wore. Wufei, honorable though he was, couldn't resist the sight of the pale flesh that was slowly being exposed before him. Blood slowly began to trickle out of his nose. Re, always trying to help her baka, pulled a tissue out of one of the many pockets of her jacket and leaned over to wipe his nose. As she did this, she placed her hand on his thigh to help her stay balanced. This caused Ri to have to fight even harder not to laugh as she watched her sister innocently drag Wufei under. This was better than the time the two of them had caught Noin and Zechs making out on the couch and recorded it for blackmail. Duo was trying to reach Wufei's ponytail without being caught while at the same time not burst out laughing at the sight of Wufei getting a nose bleed over woman letting her jacket slide down a little. The hand Re had braced in his lap slipped and she ended up falling forward into his arms. Wufei caught her, and paused as her mouth stopped a mere breath from his. Duo fell back a few feet and had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing. He recovered quickly and crept back behind Wufei.
"I really don't want to talk about it," said Treize, hiding his grin behind his coffee cup as he took a sip, "But I will say that I wasn't the only one that was brought back. There were at least seven others."
"Seven!? That many?" shouted Quatre. Duo managed to snag the rubber band holding Wufei's hair and cut it without a sound. He then ran silently back to the desk and returned the scissors to the proper drawer. He wrapped his arms around Ri, who buried her face in his shoulder to smother her laughter. Treize was also having a hard time not laughing as the severed band loosened its grip and released the midnight strands it had held. Wufei had been preparing to launch another barrage of questions at Treize when his hair fell into his eyes. He reached back to where his ponytail had been, and looked on the ground to see the severed rubber band laying on there. He looked at it for a moment, and as it was the kind of rubber band that you can't tell whether it snapped or was cut, he assumed the slim thing had simply snapped because he had wrapped it around his hair too tight that morning. He blushed a little, as he was afraid that he looked like a girl with his hair down. Quatre was shocked at the sight of the warrior with his hair down, and he could tell from the sounds coming from Duo in the corner that it hadn't been an accident. He decided to keep the peace and not say anything about it. Re, in the meantime, had gotten into a more comfortable position in Wufei's lap and had begun to run her fingers through his hair. Wufei blushed even more as the flow of blood from his nose strengthened. Re laughed softly, blushed, wiped his nose again and kissed him on the forehead. She combed his hair with her long fingers, whispering something in his ear about how she liked him better with his hair down. Duo, from his position on the desk with Ri, grew somewhat jealous. Ri and Re had played with his hair at the bar last Friday, but they had all been drunk and it wasn't anything like what Re was doing. He released a mental sigh and looked down at Ri, who had gotten out of his lap and had gone back to mutilating paperclips. Treize was about to say something when Sally and Noin came through the door.
"Sorry we're late everyone. Got in a traffic jam," said Noin as she sat down next to Zechs and opened a folder she had brought in with her.
"Good thing it was Sally with her and not Zechs. Otherwise we would be here waiting for them until the building closes," Duo whispered to Ri. Luckily, Noin was far enough away that she couldn't hear what he said, but she knew they were talking about her so she glared at them anyway. They both just grinned at her. Heero, Trowa, and Zechs woke up from their little naps. Noin pushed Zechs' feet off the table and began spreading her notes out on the table. Re got out of Wufei's lap as Duo and Ri sat down at the table closest to the coffee machine. While Noin was still getting organized, Duo got himself a cup of coffee and he made a cup of hot chocolate for Ri. Sally dropped a big white box in front of Ri and Duo.
"Since the traffic was at a complete stop, I was able to run into a grocery store and pick this up."
Ri opened the box and upon seeing the contents her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree.
"DONUTS!!"
There was flying wax paper and miniscule bites of frosting within a millisecond. The others could only stare in disbelief. In a matter of about thirty seconds, a box of fifteen donuts was completely gone, all spilt between Duo and Ri. The last one they shared, Duo biting off one half and Ri accepting the other from his lips. Re called from the safety of the back, "Get a room guys. No body wants to see that!!"
"You're one to talk, lap dancer!"
Re chuckled as she remembered poor Wufei's nosebleed. He was blushing furiously now, and Noin gave the four of them a very queer look indeed. She continued on, despite this new information about her younger sister's occupation, deciding to ask her about it later. "We have some satellite photographs of some suspicious trash carriers." She unrolled some glossy photos and spread them out before her. The whole table leaned forward to examine the evidence. Ri commented, "They're awfully big."
"Exactly. These are far too big to be normal trash carriers. We at headquarters believe these are weapon carriers or transporters for materials. We need to find out which one it is, because we need to plot out what we should do; offensive or defensive."
Duo grinned. "I hope it's offensive. I wanna blow stuff up."
Heero smiled demonically. Noin rolled her eyes. "Macho men," she muttered. "I want to send all of you to investigate. The dumps and recycling plants are here" - at this she unfurled a map of Japan, and a city only a few kilometers away - "and I want you guys to infiltrate it, gather all the necessary information and get out." She glared pointedly at Duo and Heero. "No blowing anything up."
Duo eyes got teary and his lower lip quivered adorably. Ri patted his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. "All right. The mission will commence by this Friday, no later than that. That should give you enough time to tune up your Gundams is case things get bad."
Trowa's voice rose to question Noin. "How do you expect us to infiltrate this place without being detected?"
"Leave it up to us. Hey, we got in here without too much trouble, didn't we Ri?" Re asked with an evil smile.
Her twin nodded. "We're experts at this sort of stuff."
Noin said, "I don't want you two to create too much trouble. Besides, the love struck guys you leave in your wake might try to follow you. Try something else this time, if you will?"
Ri shrugged. "Okay."
Re smiled. "I already have an idea."
The boys and girls had. ahem, borrowed uniforms from a few unwitting electricians, and waited for the call from Ri that would send them into the recycling plant. They'd slipped her in through the back, trusting her to remain unseen, with orders to fray the wires in the power box, thus sending the remainder of the group into the building without question. They were waiting for her in the building across from the recycling plant, crammed into a small storage room.
Trowa had begun to juggle ping- pong balls in his boredom, and Quatre watched in childish fascination. Heero had, yet again, decided to take a nap. Duo was wondering how he could sleep so much yet still be so grumpy all the time. Most everyone else was too nervous or too ready for action to fall asleep. Wufei was pacing, either from the tension or the tight space, and Duo watched him in mild amusement. A plan for revenge on her sister was hatching in Re's mind, but now was not the time to act on it. Revenge knows no time limits. (FireImp: Mwahahahahaha.) The telephone ringing caused everyone in the room to jump to their feet. Re pounced on it. "Everything's done?"
"The echoing, pathetic screams of the wimpy people over here haven't reached your ears yet?"
Re smiled. "Not yet. Give us twenty minutes, a half hour at most, and then we'll make our entrance."
The sound of the disconnecting line was very. final. Re hated missions like this, when she didn't quite know where Ri was, and when she'd get to see her again. Damn it all, after all they'd been through she'd better make it out alive!! Not to mention Duo would be twice the basket case he usually is if anything happened to Ri. But Re didn't have to worry about that at the moment. Currently Duo was bouncing off the walls from the donuts he'd had earlier. The myriad of dents in the walls were beginning to make the room a completely different shape than when they'd first gone in. She calmed him down the best she could and readied the rest of the group. "I have just a few requests to make. Trowa, Zechs and Duo, I need you three to hide your hair the best you can. I'm certain there will be at least a few women in this place, and they're going to drool over your hair."
Trowa queried, "Why do I have to hide my hair? It's not a fraction of the length of theirs."
Re sighed. "When your hair is like that, you emanate mystery. You'll intrigue people, or generally make them notice you, which is not our objective."
She turned on Treize then and assured him, "I love you dearly, really I do, and you may think that because you're technically dead you won't be recognized, but. you gotta do something with your eyebrows."
With a heavy sigh, the not quite-as-elegant-as-usual gentleman fixed his definitive eyebrows. Everyone stared in shock. "Wow," Duo said in awe, "he almost looks. normal."
The glare that Treize sent him was deadly enough to fell an elephant, but not certain sugar-high outspoken braided Americans.
Re thought of something else. "Quatre, try not to talk."
He looked befuddled. "Why ever not?"
"Because you're too polite. People will probably note that."
Wufei approached her and asked, "Any assignments for me?"
She grinned and patted his cheek. "Nope. Stay just the way you are. You'll repel unwanted visitors."
He studied her for a moment. "Thank you. I think."
The door burst open to reveal a black clad woman, with a ski mask slid over her features. She slammed the door shut behind her and peeled off the mask, sending her hair askew. "It's done. Now, where'd you put that uniform for me?"
"Over in the corner," Re replied.
Ri looked around. "Where are they going so I can change?"
This statement naturally set Duo to drooling. Wufei leaned over to him, handed him a paper towel and said, "Duo, you're dripping."
Re assured her, "Just slip it on over your other clothes. You'll be fine."
"Not if I sweat like a pig," she protested.
Re rolled her eyes. "You're just doing this so you can striptease for Duo."
"Am not! I've never stripped in front of a guy before and you know it! I'm not that bad."
Re called over her shoulder, "Turn and face the wall, if you will, gentlemen."
Duo pouted quite adamantly and turned around. very slowly. Everyone else had no difficulty with Ri's modesty and did as they were told. Re stood in front of her sister and glared at Duo. He would try to steal peeks at her, but was usually intercepted by Re's death glare.
They finally arrived at the front doors of the recycling plant and entered. They were greeted with sighs of relief and grumbles about their tardiness. Ri, Trowa and Quatre carried toolboxes, along with a detailed map of the place; not that it was needed, as everyone had already memorized it. Re dropped her voice by several octaves and sounded convincingly masculine. She asked a question that she already knew the answer to, but asked it to decrease suspicion. "Where can we find the power box?"
The manager, in his white hard hat and crisp white shirt pointed down the hall. "Down thataway 'til you get to this four-way intersection. You'll wanna hang a right, then you'll come to this door that says 'Personnel Only' and it's straight back. You can't miss it."
She nodded and headed that way. When the manager gave her an odd look for having a whole herd of electricians following her, she explained, "They're here in case this turns out to be a bigger problem than it appears."
He nodded and waved them away. They walked briskly to the back room, where Ri replaced the frayed wires, but left the main power line unhooked. Re went back out, only to hear more grumbling complaints about their speed. She found the manager and explained, "I'm going to have my boys check the circuits throughout the building; there appears to be a shortage elsewhere besides the power box. We'll need access to all rooms, sir."
The manager sighed and said wearily, "Go ahead. But try to hurry; I need this to be working within an hour."
Re nodded her answer. She returned to the group and murmured, "We have a time limit now; one hour. I don't suspect the manager, so don't waste time following him. If you can eavesdrop, do it." She raised her voice. "I want you three to go to the entrance dock. I'll take these two and go to the processing room and the rest of you go the loading area. I'll meet you back at the main entrance to get your appraisals. Now get to it!"
Re contemplated her groups. 'Heero will keep Duo focused and Trowa will actually look like he knows what he's doing; Zechs and Wufei at least get along and they have Ri to keep them going; and Quatre, Treize and me. get along, yet again, but we'll all get our stuff done.'
She set off with her group and went to the processing room. They walked slowly, so as to catch any conversations that sounded as though they pertained to their mission. She walked by a conversation that she'd have rather not heard, mostly consisting of one woman bitching at another woman. They also passed a small closet with very. telling sounds coming from it. Re rolled her eyes and Quatre nearly glowed in the dim light. She half- expected him to get a nosebleed. Re paused only slightly as they walked by a small group of frantically chattering workers, and listened. ".the shipment's due any day now! How can we expect to accomplish this when the fucking power's not working?"
Another calmed the outraged worker. "We will overcome the opposition. Have faith, my friend."
"The parts."
He was shushed almost as soon as he spoke. Re felt the ominous glares on her back as she breezed by them. Treize and Quatre remained emotionless. Re continued on, pretending as though she didn't understand them. The processing room was huge, loud and busy, all advantageous in their situation. Re only hoped that the others had such good fortune. She signaled for Quatre to go to the back wall and find the power box. She had Treize search along the side wall. She took another, passing by a large, securely locked door. It was enormous; it took up a third of the wall and touched the ceiling. She shouted at a passing worker, "Hey, can I get in here? I need to."
A glare and a definite and sharp 'no' cut her off. She explained, "I need to have access to all rooms because."
Again, the very rude 'no' was issued. She acted disgruntled. "Look mister, I got permission from your manager."
She stumbled a bit when he shoved her. "Get your boys and get out of here. There aren't any power boxes in here."
"I'm just trying to do my job, man."
"Get out!"
Re strutted by him and went to Quatre who had joined up with Treize and was heading for her already. She nodded for the door and they left.
Ri was having trouble acting as though she wasn't in awe of the trash carriers the size of two Gundams. But it was okay, because Wufei and Zechs had quite similar problems. Usually, trash carriers were only about eighty by thirty feet. These were about two or three times that size. She found the power box in the dock anyway and tsked and shook her head at the sight of such poorly wired machinery. She re-wired it quickly and grinned when the doors no longer seemed to be sticking. Cheers arose from many of the workers behind her. Ri smiled and shook her head. People could be so easily pleased, as long as you did the work right. Wufei glowered at her and commented under his breath, "We're not here to do technical work for them, you know."
"But we're supposed to be."
He sighed and gave up. Ri was just one of those types. Zechs was at her back, assessing the carriers, listening for anything suspicious. They were finished soon. They didn't wait long for Re's and Duo's return to the main entrance. They huddled, and Ri whispered, "You've gotta come to the dock. Those pictures make the carriers look like RC cars."
Duo didn't have much to report, and Re briefed them on the mysterious, guarded door in the processing room. Re went back to the manager and informed him, "We've narrowed it down to one of two places; either the entrance dock or the main power box. It'll only take us a few more minutes before you guys'll be up and running."
He smiled genuinely and thanked her. They all made their way to the docks and Re stopped in her tracks before she controlled her emotions. "Holy shit," she whispered.
Ri nodded. "That's what I thought."
"Hey!"
The unfamiliar voice made them all turn expectantly. The jovial man grinned and said, "You guys do great work. Those doors back there have been sticking for ages, and look at 'em now!"
Re smiled and said, "We do our best sir."
Ri pounced on the opportunity and commented casually, "Those carriers are huge! I've never seen them that big."
The man rubbed his neck. "Me neither. I heard they upgraded 'em to make the workload easier, but I don't know." He shrugged. "Guess the company finally started thinking about the workers, not just the work."
"I'll say."
"Thanks again; I gotta get back."
Re grinned and said ruefully, "Yeah, us too. Nice talking to you."
The man waved and walked away. Re grinned at her sister. "You just catch admirers everywhere you go."
They pretended to examine the box, Zechs and Treize comparing assessments of the carriers, then left the docks and fixed the main power box. They left after tipping their hats and drove like bats outta Hell to headquarters. Noin was awaiting them in the main office. She raised her eyebrows expectantly at them upon their entrance. Re and Ri nodded, affirming her unspoken question. They all huddled in the conference room, and Ri exclaimed, "I saw those carriers, Cretzy, and those photos of yours? Yeah, they make them look atom sized rather than Gundam sized."
Zechs agreed, "They seem to be approximately one hundred and eighty to two hundred meters in length and seventy to one hundred meters wide. Normal carriers are."
"Eighty by thirty; I know." She placed a hand on her forehead. "I had no idea that they were going to be so big."
"What're they going to be used for?" Heero asked.
Re added, "One of the workers said something about parts. And there's this big, mysterious room that I wasn't allowed to go into despite the fact the manager gave us access to all rooms. So I imagine the manager's not in on whatever this is."
Noin sighed. "They've already begun. We think that OZ is trying to take over the colonies. again, yes, but we're not sure how they plan to do that. My best guess is that they're trying to build up an army and some serious firepower." She turned to Re. "The parts are probably for many mobile suits."
Duo brushed his bangs back and said wearily, "Shit."
Noin asked Re, "Can you pull this off again?"
She shrugged. "Yeah. I guess we can go back in using the same disguise, saying that we're just checking up on things. Maybe the shipment will have arrived by then. They said any day now. I'd give it three to five days."
Noin nodded. "Sounds good to me. Rest up, because I don't want to hear about you in the news."
They all trudged home, weak and tired from both mental and physical exhaustion. Ri said, "I don't even have the strength to lift a beer. Though I could use one right about now."
Her sister smiled. "Don't worry, we'll make you one of those huge long straw ropes and you can use that."
"Really? Cool."
Ri rested her head on Re's shoulder and followed her up the stairs to their room. No one wanted to cook, or call for take out, so they all stripped out of their clothes and fell into their beds without even waking up for dinner.
The next morning at about eleven o'clock, they paid dearly for missing two meals the day before. Sandwiches and soups and ramen and fried meats and rice and cereals and pancakes and tea (for Quatre) and coffee and beer (FI: ~ whew! ~) were all laid out on the table and kitchen counters. By only eleven forty- five, it was all gone. Duo let out a monstrous burp. He lounged on the sofa lazily and called to Ri, "Hey. Do we have any more rice?"
Ri had been resting her head on the counter that she and Re had just cleared and moaned. "You're still hungry?"
"Well, you know, I did miss two meals. Not just one, two."
Heero pointed out from the recliner, "So did the rest of us."
Duo waved it off. "Doesn't matter; I'm a growing boy, I need my nourishment."
"Yesh, growing around the middle if you keep this 'see food' diet up," Re teased.
He looked disgruntled at that comment. "Hey now."
"We've gotta go to the grocery store again if you want more food," Ri informed him.
Quatre looked shocked. "We ate all of it?"
Ri only nodded. All the boys surrounding Duo sent him many death glares that were trying in vain to melt him into a puddle of nothing at their feet. (FI: YEEESSSS!! Puddles of nothing at my feet! YES!!) He looked around sheepishly and said, "Please don't hurt me." He tried to dazzle them with his starry eyes and big goofy grin. "Look, I'm cute!"
"I volunteer Duo to go to the store for the food," Trowa said.
"I wouldn't do that," Wufei interjected, "he might eat it all before he gets back."
"Damn it, he's right." Heero scowled. "We'll have to send someone with him."
"Oh, hell. Just go, will you? Ri and I get to stay home 'cause we cooked."
"And cleaned," came the addition from the countertop.
"Or. we could let Duo stay home, but he gets served last," Trowa suggested deviously.
Duo whimpered.
"For a week." Heero grinned evilly.
Duo began to cry loudly. "NO!!"
Re shrugged. "Sounds fair to me, but Ri, he's your man. What do ya say?"
She didn't lift her head to reply. "Okay."
Re thought for a moment. "Actually, could you go with them Ri?"
Ri looked pitiful. "Nani?"
"I'll give you dark chocolate, chocolate chip cookies if you do," Re bargained. Ri perked up slightly and nodded. "Only for the cookies."
At about twelve fifteen, they piled into Trowa's minivan and left. Duo stole the shower from Re while she made more coffee. For some reason, the sound of running water coming from the bathroom gave her an idea. Revenge was called for, she vaguely remembered; besides, it was such a beautiful and wonderful thing. The priest's collar tossed carelessly on the floor was protruding from the crack in the door. She pulled the discarded clothes from under the door and hid them where no one would think to look: in the hamper. Duo, God love him, was not a housekeeper. Actually, none of the guys were. Well, Wufei ironed his clothes, and Quatre at least kept his things up off the floor, but somehow their clothes never made it to the hamper.
Re giggled maniacally at the elaborate plan unfolding in her diabolical little mind. She waited for the water to cut off, and heard Duo calling her. She slipped the roll of duct tape into her enormous back pocket and answered, "Yes?"
"Where are my clothes?"
Re suppressed her laughter. "I don't know, Duo. Where did you put them?"
"In the floor. I always put them in the floor."
She said wryly, "I noticed."
"Look Re, either you give me back my clothes, or I'm not coming out."
"I don't know where you put them, Braid Boy, so I guess you're staying put."
She heard him mumble through the door about weird, clothes- stealing women before it quieted down again. Ri walked in not long after and dropped her bags just inside the kitchen. She announced, "I have got to get a shower. My hair is icky."
Re sat nonchalantly on the sofa, reading a book. and hiding a roll of duct tape. "It's all yours."
Ri started stripping out of her grungy clothes and retrieved a towel from the linen closet. She chucked her dirty clothes at her sister. "Put these in the hamper, will you?"
"Sure."
Ri completely missed Re's evil smile and called over her shoulder, "You left the light on in here. Poor Howard's electricity bill will be."
She hadn't thought much of Re's approach until she was shoved in the bathroom and into Duo's chest. The door slammed shut behind them, and the sound of insane giggling and duct tape unrolling filtered through the door. Oh my God, she didn't. Ri thought.
It wasn't long before she realized that Duo was still holding her, and he was naked. Well, almost naked. A hand towel was tied around his waist, but that wasn't much. And, of course, she was wearing nothing but a towel as well. She started to move away from him, but when she gently pushed against him, she slipped on a puddle of water. Duo made a valiant attempt to catch her, and he almost succeeded. until she brought him down with her. She managed to land on top of him, and she openly stared at him before she realized their compromising position. She blushed and rolled off him with a mumbled apology. But there was something in her mind that chided her, wondering whether she really wanted to move this time.
He was soaking wet, and his hair was unbraided. The charmingly wavy locks draped over his muscled shoulders and dripped down his back. Not to mention that he was built like a normally sized 'David'. Ri tried to maintain her dignity and not drool. She wanted to kill Re for doing this. but then again maybe she didn't (LL-yeah, I do, even though I'm drooling as I read what she has done to me). Duo looked pretty damn sexy when he was wet. And every other time she saw him, clothes or no clothes. This was better than she had imagined in her most erotic dreams. She thought with a grin, Somebody call Playboy; this is something they don't want to miss.
Much the same idea was running through Duo's head. Well, Ri was at least dry, but her short hair was down for once and was only wearing a bath towel. It covered her chest well enough, but it hiked up to the tops of her thighs. She had a lot of leg and a lot of muscle, making her sturdy and compactly built. (LL- That's what ya get when you take fencing lessons ^_^ v) Damn, she almost had as much muscle as he did! Her lovely face topped off her gorgeous body, and her blush hadn't quite faded from her cheeks. Her hair floated around her face, ending at about her chin, and the wispy strands made her seem ethereal. Angel of Death? Damn straight she was.
At this point, Ri was desperately searching for a way to get out of the room. Sure, she didn't mind being trapped in there with Duo, but if she stayed in there much longer, she would probably do something she would regret. The window was painted shut, several layers of ancient paint fusing it to the sill. The door wasn't an option. Knowing Re, she probably used the entire roll of duct tape on the door. They weren't getting out until she was ready to let them out. She ran a hand through her hair, then sighed in disgust. She really needed that shower. She sat down on the toilet, crossing her legs and bounced her foot in frustration. Duo, after recovering from seeing the towel hike up another inch when she sat down, noticed her frustration. The shower in this bathroom was a bathtub with a showerhead over it (a/n- you know, one of those with a little knob that turned on the shower?) He looked at the shower curtain. It was one of those ones you can't see through. He thought for a minute, considering whether his system would handle it. He decided it could.
"Hey, Ri," he said. She looked up, her arms crossed over her chest, holding up her towel. "Look, um, if you want to take your shower, go right ahead." His face turned a bright shade of red as he spoke to her. "I can't see through the curtain, and I'll even keep my back turned for you. Maybe if Re hears the shower going again, she'll think we're in it together and let us out when it turns off." Ri looked at him, thinking that he looked absolutely adorable with his hair down and embarrassed. She smiled.
"Thanks, Duo." She turned away from him and headed for the tub. Duo turned away when he saw her reach for her towel. He heard it fall to the ground, and he listened as she went in to the tub and turned on the water. He was beginning to drool. It was very tempting to take off his towel and join her, but even he had a shred of honor. Besides, who knew what Noin would do to him if she found out he had taken a shower with one of her sisters? He sat on the floor, trying to keep himself restrained. She was humming a song as she bathed, then she started to sing.
Good Heart by Starship, he thought. He had seen her listening to it earlier. She seemed to really like that song. (LL-love it, love it, love it). Re listened carefully on the other side of the door, just in case. Nothing seemed to be going wrong. well, too wrong, considering the situation. Ri was singing, so that had to mean that they weren't otherwise occupied. Which was kind of a good sign, in that Ri and Duo were practically meant for each other. And they were just so cute. They just needed a little push in the right direction. Re smiled. God, she loved her job sometimes. She wondered when she should let them out. and tell them that she didn't tape the door shut at all. Actually the wall was changing to a lovely silver color. She hoped that Howard wouldn't mind her choice in wallpaper. She decided that while she had the chance, she'd wash their clothes.
Meanwhile, the other guys were putting away the groceries. They had just finished when Re came in with her arms full of Duo and Ri's dirty clothes. "Hey, Re, where's your sister? And do you know where Duo disappeared to?" asked Wufei.
"The shower."
"Who, Duo or Ri?" asked Quatre.
"Yes."
"To which? Which one of them is in the shower?"
"Both."
"You mean that Duo and Ri are taking a shower together?" said Wufei, shocked.
"Not really. Duo got his shower while you were gone, and he's in there with Ri, who's in the shower. Duo is sitting outside of the shower somewhere."
"So what are you doing with those clothes?"
"They need to be washed. I'm going to wash them, grab them some clean clothes, then let them out of the bathroom."
"What do you mean, let them out?"
"Well, they think I duct taped the door shut, but I really only taped the wall. They haven't tried the door, so they haven't figured it out yet."
"And what do you want us to do?"
"Go along with it. If you don't mind, could you pull out some clothes for Duo? I'll take care of getting Ri's clothes."
"Okay."
Fifteen minutes later, Ri was done with her shower and was sitting on the toilet brushing her hair. Duo still sat facing away from her, trying to hide his blush and desire. He heard Ri put down the brush and he expected her to start talking to him, but what she did instead was glomp him from behind. Her small fingers ran through his long hair, trying to undo the snarls. She grabbed her brush, and slowly brushed Duo's hair. It was still wet, the humidity in the room making it impossible for it to dry. Once she had done, she started randomly running her fingers through it, winding the strands by his temples and ears around her finger, then slowly unwinding them. Getting bolder, she sat in his lap. Chocolate met grape, theirs eyes locked together. The water dripped from the tips of her hair, tiny drops sitting on her sturdy shoulders (LL- I hate my shoulders). Their lips met, locked in a passionate kiss that was rudely interrupted when Quatre opened the door. The sight of the two of them shocked the poor lad, holding each other tightly, clad only in towels, sharing such a loving gesture. He blushed fiercely, dropped the clothes he had been holding, and ran back to his room before he got a nosebleed. Duo and Ri grabbed the clothes, and noticed that not a single piece of taped was on the door, but the walls were duct-tape silver. They got dressed, backs facing each other, and started plotting together a joint revenge on Re and her unknowing co-victim.
LL-You don't want to know what I'm going to do to you. As we both know, revenge is a fun thing.
FireImp-Should I be scared?
Chibi-muse Duo- Considering how hyperactive her imagination is and the books she's been borrowing from her mom, yes, you should be screaming wildly away into the night.
Chibi-muse Quatre- (puts cotton balls in his ears so he doesn't have to listen and puts tissues up his nose to stop the blood)
Other chibi-muses- (pet the llama and eat blueberry muffins)
LL- It won't all be random chaos and revenge.
Chibi-muse Heero- RETRIBUTION! (starts flying around in crazy little circles)
Other chibi-muses- (cower in fear)
LL- Right. (sweatdrop)
FireImp- Yeah. Anyway, enjoy. (Llama passes out popcorn and pancakes)
On Wednesday, Re woke up early, as usual, and kicked everyone else into gear. Everyone came to the kitchen in their pajamas, which was how they usually ate breakfast. Despite the early hour, Ri was bouncy and perky (FireImp- DAMN YOU FOR YOUR PERPETUAL PERKINESS! LL- ^_^ v), while the boys and Re were barely able to function. After a few cups of coffee, they began to show signs of life. Ri and Re fixed breakfast, leaving the guys to do the dishes while the girls got dressed. The two wore denim jackets with little phrases and pictures all over them (LL- Behold the wonders FireImp works with Sharpies when she gets bored). They both were dressed all in black, which brought cheers from Duo, and they wore matching pendants and earrings (FireImp-Behold the wonders LL works with paperclips when she gets bored).
After they had all finished eating and the dishes had been done, they all piled into Trowa's minivan and headed to the Preventer's headquarters. Ri, Re and the guys rode the elevator up to the conference room. When they got there, Treize was sitting at one of the tables happily sipping a hot cup of coffee. He lifted his cup to Ri as she passed, saluting her skills with miscreant machinery. Zechs sat next to him, dozing with his feet on the table and his ankles crossed. Sally and Noin hadn't arrived yet, so the guys sat down at the table opposite from Zechs and Treize's while the two girls grinned and headed for the desk in the dark corner. Soon, the air was filled with the scent of Sharpies and they heard the now familiar sound of Ri's pliers clicking as she mutilated paperclips. There also came the sound of insane giggling from the same dark corner as the Sharpie fumes began to take their toll on the already hyper girls. Other than that, the silence of the room could have been cut with a knife.
Trowa, Heero and Wufei followed Zechs' example and fell asleep sitting up. Quatre got a cup of coffee and sat quietly sipping it, enjoying the silence. Duo was bored, so he went over to the girls and borrowed a pair of scissors. Moving very quietly, he moved behind Wufei and made a motion to Treize. Treize, holding back a grin, struck up a conversation with Wufei to keep him distracted will Duo did his work.
"I wonder what the mission is," said Treize, watching Duo slip behind Wufei.
"Whatever it is, it must be important if she's gathered all of us here, plus the two onnas," replied Wufei, not bothering to open his eyes. He remained ignorant to the fact that Duo was behind him, poised with the scissors getting ready to cut the band holding his hair back.
Quatre, who also didn't know of Duo's plan, decided to join the conversation.
"Treize, we all saw Wufei kill you. You've been back for about three months now, but you haven't told us what happened. Did you really die?"
"Yes, I did." Treize squirmed.
"How did you come back?" asked Wufei, who leaned forward in his seat. Fortunately, Duo had anticipated his movement and had managed not to cut off his ponytail. Ri and Re noticed what Duo was doing. Ri stayed on the desk, and shoved Re off the desk to help Treize keep Wufei distracted. She went over to Wufei, shot a glare at her older sister, and sat on the table in front of him, leaned back and casually let the jacket slide off her shoulder, showing the slender straps of the tight fitting black midriff shirt she wore. Wufei, honorable though he was, couldn't resist the sight of the pale flesh that was slowly being exposed before him. Blood slowly began to trickle out of his nose. Re, always trying to help her baka, pulled a tissue out of one of the many pockets of her jacket and leaned over to wipe his nose. As she did this, she placed her hand on his thigh to help her stay balanced. This caused Ri to have to fight even harder not to laugh as she watched her sister innocently drag Wufei under. This was better than the time the two of them had caught Noin and Zechs making out on the couch and recorded it for blackmail. Duo was trying to reach Wufei's ponytail without being caught while at the same time not burst out laughing at the sight of Wufei getting a nose bleed over woman letting her jacket slide down a little. The hand Re had braced in his lap slipped and she ended up falling forward into his arms. Wufei caught her, and paused as her mouth stopped a mere breath from his. Duo fell back a few feet and had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing. He recovered quickly and crept back behind Wufei.
"I really don't want to talk about it," said Treize, hiding his grin behind his coffee cup as he took a sip, "But I will say that I wasn't the only one that was brought back. There were at least seven others."
"Seven!? That many?" shouted Quatre. Duo managed to snag the rubber band holding Wufei's hair and cut it without a sound. He then ran silently back to the desk and returned the scissors to the proper drawer. He wrapped his arms around Ri, who buried her face in his shoulder to smother her laughter. Treize was also having a hard time not laughing as the severed band loosened its grip and released the midnight strands it had held. Wufei had been preparing to launch another barrage of questions at Treize when his hair fell into his eyes. He reached back to where his ponytail had been, and looked on the ground to see the severed rubber band laying on there. He looked at it for a moment, and as it was the kind of rubber band that you can't tell whether it snapped or was cut, he assumed the slim thing had simply snapped because he had wrapped it around his hair too tight that morning. He blushed a little, as he was afraid that he looked like a girl with his hair down. Quatre was shocked at the sight of the warrior with his hair down, and he could tell from the sounds coming from Duo in the corner that it hadn't been an accident. He decided to keep the peace and not say anything about it. Re, in the meantime, had gotten into a more comfortable position in Wufei's lap and had begun to run her fingers through his hair. Wufei blushed even more as the flow of blood from his nose strengthened. Re laughed softly, blushed, wiped his nose again and kissed him on the forehead. She combed his hair with her long fingers, whispering something in his ear about how she liked him better with his hair down. Duo, from his position on the desk with Ri, grew somewhat jealous. Ri and Re had played with his hair at the bar last Friday, but they had all been drunk and it wasn't anything like what Re was doing. He released a mental sigh and looked down at Ri, who had gotten out of his lap and had gone back to mutilating paperclips. Treize was about to say something when Sally and Noin came through the door.
"Sorry we're late everyone. Got in a traffic jam," said Noin as she sat down next to Zechs and opened a folder she had brought in with her.
"Good thing it was Sally with her and not Zechs. Otherwise we would be here waiting for them until the building closes," Duo whispered to Ri. Luckily, Noin was far enough away that she couldn't hear what he said, but she knew they were talking about her so she glared at them anyway. They both just grinned at her. Heero, Trowa, and Zechs woke up from their little naps. Noin pushed Zechs' feet off the table and began spreading her notes out on the table. Re got out of Wufei's lap as Duo and Ri sat down at the table closest to the coffee machine. While Noin was still getting organized, Duo got himself a cup of coffee and he made a cup of hot chocolate for Ri. Sally dropped a big white box in front of Ri and Duo.
"Since the traffic was at a complete stop, I was able to run into a grocery store and pick this up."
Ri opened the box and upon seeing the contents her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree.
"DONUTS!!"
There was flying wax paper and miniscule bites of frosting within a millisecond. The others could only stare in disbelief. In a matter of about thirty seconds, a box of fifteen donuts was completely gone, all spilt between Duo and Ri. The last one they shared, Duo biting off one half and Ri accepting the other from his lips. Re called from the safety of the back, "Get a room guys. No body wants to see that!!"
"You're one to talk, lap dancer!"
Re chuckled as she remembered poor Wufei's nosebleed. He was blushing furiously now, and Noin gave the four of them a very queer look indeed. She continued on, despite this new information about her younger sister's occupation, deciding to ask her about it later. "We have some satellite photographs of some suspicious trash carriers." She unrolled some glossy photos and spread them out before her. The whole table leaned forward to examine the evidence. Ri commented, "They're awfully big."
"Exactly. These are far too big to be normal trash carriers. We at headquarters believe these are weapon carriers or transporters for materials. We need to find out which one it is, because we need to plot out what we should do; offensive or defensive."
Duo grinned. "I hope it's offensive. I wanna blow stuff up."
Heero smiled demonically. Noin rolled her eyes. "Macho men," she muttered. "I want to send all of you to investigate. The dumps and recycling plants are here" - at this she unfurled a map of Japan, and a city only a few kilometers away - "and I want you guys to infiltrate it, gather all the necessary information and get out." She glared pointedly at Duo and Heero. "No blowing anything up."
Duo eyes got teary and his lower lip quivered adorably. Ri patted his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. "All right. The mission will commence by this Friday, no later than that. That should give you enough time to tune up your Gundams is case things get bad."
Trowa's voice rose to question Noin. "How do you expect us to infiltrate this place without being detected?"
"Leave it up to us. Hey, we got in here without too much trouble, didn't we Ri?" Re asked with an evil smile.
Her twin nodded. "We're experts at this sort of stuff."
Noin said, "I don't want you two to create too much trouble. Besides, the love struck guys you leave in your wake might try to follow you. Try something else this time, if you will?"
Ri shrugged. "Okay."
Re smiled. "I already have an idea."
The boys and girls had. ahem, borrowed uniforms from a few unwitting electricians, and waited for the call from Ri that would send them into the recycling plant. They'd slipped her in through the back, trusting her to remain unseen, with orders to fray the wires in the power box, thus sending the remainder of the group into the building without question. They were waiting for her in the building across from the recycling plant, crammed into a small storage room.
Trowa had begun to juggle ping- pong balls in his boredom, and Quatre watched in childish fascination. Heero had, yet again, decided to take a nap. Duo was wondering how he could sleep so much yet still be so grumpy all the time. Most everyone else was too nervous or too ready for action to fall asleep. Wufei was pacing, either from the tension or the tight space, and Duo watched him in mild amusement. A plan for revenge on her sister was hatching in Re's mind, but now was not the time to act on it. Revenge knows no time limits. (FireImp: Mwahahahahaha.) The telephone ringing caused everyone in the room to jump to their feet. Re pounced on it. "Everything's done?"
"The echoing, pathetic screams of the wimpy people over here haven't reached your ears yet?"
Re smiled. "Not yet. Give us twenty minutes, a half hour at most, and then we'll make our entrance."
The sound of the disconnecting line was very. final. Re hated missions like this, when she didn't quite know where Ri was, and when she'd get to see her again. Damn it all, after all they'd been through she'd better make it out alive!! Not to mention Duo would be twice the basket case he usually is if anything happened to Ri. But Re didn't have to worry about that at the moment. Currently Duo was bouncing off the walls from the donuts he'd had earlier. The myriad of dents in the walls were beginning to make the room a completely different shape than when they'd first gone in. She calmed him down the best she could and readied the rest of the group. "I have just a few requests to make. Trowa, Zechs and Duo, I need you three to hide your hair the best you can. I'm certain there will be at least a few women in this place, and they're going to drool over your hair."
Trowa queried, "Why do I have to hide my hair? It's not a fraction of the length of theirs."
Re sighed. "When your hair is like that, you emanate mystery. You'll intrigue people, or generally make them notice you, which is not our objective."
She turned on Treize then and assured him, "I love you dearly, really I do, and you may think that because you're technically dead you won't be recognized, but. you gotta do something with your eyebrows."
With a heavy sigh, the not quite-as-elegant-as-usual gentleman fixed his definitive eyebrows. Everyone stared in shock. "Wow," Duo said in awe, "he almost looks. normal."
The glare that Treize sent him was deadly enough to fell an elephant, but not certain sugar-high outspoken braided Americans.
Re thought of something else. "Quatre, try not to talk."
He looked befuddled. "Why ever not?"
"Because you're too polite. People will probably note that."
Wufei approached her and asked, "Any assignments for me?"
She grinned and patted his cheek. "Nope. Stay just the way you are. You'll repel unwanted visitors."
He studied her for a moment. "Thank you. I think."
The door burst open to reveal a black clad woman, with a ski mask slid over her features. She slammed the door shut behind her and peeled off the mask, sending her hair askew. "It's done. Now, where'd you put that uniform for me?"
"Over in the corner," Re replied.
Ri looked around. "Where are they going so I can change?"
This statement naturally set Duo to drooling. Wufei leaned over to him, handed him a paper towel and said, "Duo, you're dripping."
Re assured her, "Just slip it on over your other clothes. You'll be fine."
"Not if I sweat like a pig," she protested.
Re rolled her eyes. "You're just doing this so you can striptease for Duo."
"Am not! I've never stripped in front of a guy before and you know it! I'm not that bad."
Re called over her shoulder, "Turn and face the wall, if you will, gentlemen."
Duo pouted quite adamantly and turned around. very slowly. Everyone else had no difficulty with Ri's modesty and did as they were told. Re stood in front of her sister and glared at Duo. He would try to steal peeks at her, but was usually intercepted by Re's death glare.
They finally arrived at the front doors of the recycling plant and entered. They were greeted with sighs of relief and grumbles about their tardiness. Ri, Trowa and Quatre carried toolboxes, along with a detailed map of the place; not that it was needed, as everyone had already memorized it. Re dropped her voice by several octaves and sounded convincingly masculine. She asked a question that she already knew the answer to, but asked it to decrease suspicion. "Where can we find the power box?"
The manager, in his white hard hat and crisp white shirt pointed down the hall. "Down thataway 'til you get to this four-way intersection. You'll wanna hang a right, then you'll come to this door that says 'Personnel Only' and it's straight back. You can't miss it."
She nodded and headed that way. When the manager gave her an odd look for having a whole herd of electricians following her, she explained, "They're here in case this turns out to be a bigger problem than it appears."
He nodded and waved them away. They walked briskly to the back room, where Ri replaced the frayed wires, but left the main power line unhooked. Re went back out, only to hear more grumbling complaints about their speed. She found the manager and explained, "I'm going to have my boys check the circuits throughout the building; there appears to be a shortage elsewhere besides the power box. We'll need access to all rooms, sir."
The manager sighed and said wearily, "Go ahead. But try to hurry; I need this to be working within an hour."
Re nodded her answer. She returned to the group and murmured, "We have a time limit now; one hour. I don't suspect the manager, so don't waste time following him. If you can eavesdrop, do it." She raised her voice. "I want you three to go to the entrance dock. I'll take these two and go to the processing room and the rest of you go the loading area. I'll meet you back at the main entrance to get your appraisals. Now get to it!"
Re contemplated her groups. 'Heero will keep Duo focused and Trowa will actually look like he knows what he's doing; Zechs and Wufei at least get along and they have Ri to keep them going; and Quatre, Treize and me. get along, yet again, but we'll all get our stuff done.'
She set off with her group and went to the processing room. They walked slowly, so as to catch any conversations that sounded as though they pertained to their mission. She walked by a conversation that she'd have rather not heard, mostly consisting of one woman bitching at another woman. They also passed a small closet with very. telling sounds coming from it. Re rolled her eyes and Quatre nearly glowed in the dim light. She half- expected him to get a nosebleed. Re paused only slightly as they walked by a small group of frantically chattering workers, and listened. ".the shipment's due any day now! How can we expect to accomplish this when the fucking power's not working?"
Another calmed the outraged worker. "We will overcome the opposition. Have faith, my friend."
"The parts."
He was shushed almost as soon as he spoke. Re felt the ominous glares on her back as she breezed by them. Treize and Quatre remained emotionless. Re continued on, pretending as though she didn't understand them. The processing room was huge, loud and busy, all advantageous in their situation. Re only hoped that the others had such good fortune. She signaled for Quatre to go to the back wall and find the power box. She had Treize search along the side wall. She took another, passing by a large, securely locked door. It was enormous; it took up a third of the wall and touched the ceiling. She shouted at a passing worker, "Hey, can I get in here? I need to."
A glare and a definite and sharp 'no' cut her off. She explained, "I need to have access to all rooms because."
Again, the very rude 'no' was issued. She acted disgruntled. "Look mister, I got permission from your manager."
She stumbled a bit when he shoved her. "Get your boys and get out of here. There aren't any power boxes in here."
"I'm just trying to do my job, man."
"Get out!"
Re strutted by him and went to Quatre who had joined up with Treize and was heading for her already. She nodded for the door and they left.
Ri was having trouble acting as though she wasn't in awe of the trash carriers the size of two Gundams. But it was okay, because Wufei and Zechs had quite similar problems. Usually, trash carriers were only about eighty by thirty feet. These were about two or three times that size. She found the power box in the dock anyway and tsked and shook her head at the sight of such poorly wired machinery. She re-wired it quickly and grinned when the doors no longer seemed to be sticking. Cheers arose from many of the workers behind her. Ri smiled and shook her head. People could be so easily pleased, as long as you did the work right. Wufei glowered at her and commented under his breath, "We're not here to do technical work for them, you know."
"But we're supposed to be."
He sighed and gave up. Ri was just one of those types. Zechs was at her back, assessing the carriers, listening for anything suspicious. They were finished soon. They didn't wait long for Re's and Duo's return to the main entrance. They huddled, and Ri whispered, "You've gotta come to the dock. Those pictures make the carriers look like RC cars."
Duo didn't have much to report, and Re briefed them on the mysterious, guarded door in the processing room. Re went back to the manager and informed him, "We've narrowed it down to one of two places; either the entrance dock or the main power box. It'll only take us a few more minutes before you guys'll be up and running."
He smiled genuinely and thanked her. They all made their way to the docks and Re stopped in her tracks before she controlled her emotions. "Holy shit," she whispered.
Ri nodded. "That's what I thought."
"Hey!"
The unfamiliar voice made them all turn expectantly. The jovial man grinned and said, "You guys do great work. Those doors back there have been sticking for ages, and look at 'em now!"
Re smiled and said, "We do our best sir."
Ri pounced on the opportunity and commented casually, "Those carriers are huge! I've never seen them that big."
The man rubbed his neck. "Me neither. I heard they upgraded 'em to make the workload easier, but I don't know." He shrugged. "Guess the company finally started thinking about the workers, not just the work."
"I'll say."
"Thanks again; I gotta get back."
Re grinned and said ruefully, "Yeah, us too. Nice talking to you."
The man waved and walked away. Re grinned at her sister. "You just catch admirers everywhere you go."
They pretended to examine the box, Zechs and Treize comparing assessments of the carriers, then left the docks and fixed the main power box. They left after tipping their hats and drove like bats outta Hell to headquarters. Noin was awaiting them in the main office. She raised her eyebrows expectantly at them upon their entrance. Re and Ri nodded, affirming her unspoken question. They all huddled in the conference room, and Ri exclaimed, "I saw those carriers, Cretzy, and those photos of yours? Yeah, they make them look atom sized rather than Gundam sized."
Zechs agreed, "They seem to be approximately one hundred and eighty to two hundred meters in length and seventy to one hundred meters wide. Normal carriers are."
"Eighty by thirty; I know." She placed a hand on her forehead. "I had no idea that they were going to be so big."
"What're they going to be used for?" Heero asked.
Re added, "One of the workers said something about parts. And there's this big, mysterious room that I wasn't allowed to go into despite the fact the manager gave us access to all rooms. So I imagine the manager's not in on whatever this is."
Noin sighed. "They've already begun. We think that OZ is trying to take over the colonies. again, yes, but we're not sure how they plan to do that. My best guess is that they're trying to build up an army and some serious firepower." She turned to Re. "The parts are probably for many mobile suits."
Duo brushed his bangs back and said wearily, "Shit."
Noin asked Re, "Can you pull this off again?"
She shrugged. "Yeah. I guess we can go back in using the same disguise, saying that we're just checking up on things. Maybe the shipment will have arrived by then. They said any day now. I'd give it three to five days."
Noin nodded. "Sounds good to me. Rest up, because I don't want to hear about you in the news."
They all trudged home, weak and tired from both mental and physical exhaustion. Ri said, "I don't even have the strength to lift a beer. Though I could use one right about now."
Her sister smiled. "Don't worry, we'll make you one of those huge long straw ropes and you can use that."
"Really? Cool."
Ri rested her head on Re's shoulder and followed her up the stairs to their room. No one wanted to cook, or call for take out, so they all stripped out of their clothes and fell into their beds without even waking up for dinner.
The next morning at about eleven o'clock, they paid dearly for missing two meals the day before. Sandwiches and soups and ramen and fried meats and rice and cereals and pancakes and tea (for Quatre) and coffee and beer (FI: ~ whew! ~) were all laid out on the table and kitchen counters. By only eleven forty- five, it was all gone. Duo let out a monstrous burp. He lounged on the sofa lazily and called to Ri, "Hey. Do we have any more rice?"
Ri had been resting her head on the counter that she and Re had just cleared and moaned. "You're still hungry?"
"Well, you know, I did miss two meals. Not just one, two."
Heero pointed out from the recliner, "So did the rest of us."
Duo waved it off. "Doesn't matter; I'm a growing boy, I need my nourishment."
"Yesh, growing around the middle if you keep this 'see food' diet up," Re teased.
He looked disgruntled at that comment. "Hey now."
"We've gotta go to the grocery store again if you want more food," Ri informed him.
Quatre looked shocked. "We ate all of it?"
Ri only nodded. All the boys surrounding Duo sent him many death glares that were trying in vain to melt him into a puddle of nothing at their feet. (FI: YEEESSSS!! Puddles of nothing at my feet! YES!!) He looked around sheepishly and said, "Please don't hurt me." He tried to dazzle them with his starry eyes and big goofy grin. "Look, I'm cute!"
"I volunteer Duo to go to the store for the food," Trowa said.
"I wouldn't do that," Wufei interjected, "he might eat it all before he gets back."
"Damn it, he's right." Heero scowled. "We'll have to send someone with him."
"Oh, hell. Just go, will you? Ri and I get to stay home 'cause we cooked."
"And cleaned," came the addition from the countertop.
"Or. we could let Duo stay home, but he gets served last," Trowa suggested deviously.
Duo whimpered.
"For a week." Heero grinned evilly.
Duo began to cry loudly. "NO!!"
Re shrugged. "Sounds fair to me, but Ri, he's your man. What do ya say?"
She didn't lift her head to reply. "Okay."
Re thought for a moment. "Actually, could you go with them Ri?"
Ri looked pitiful. "Nani?"
"I'll give you dark chocolate, chocolate chip cookies if you do," Re bargained. Ri perked up slightly and nodded. "Only for the cookies."
At about twelve fifteen, they piled into Trowa's minivan and left. Duo stole the shower from Re while she made more coffee. For some reason, the sound of running water coming from the bathroom gave her an idea. Revenge was called for, she vaguely remembered; besides, it was such a beautiful and wonderful thing. The priest's collar tossed carelessly on the floor was protruding from the crack in the door. She pulled the discarded clothes from under the door and hid them where no one would think to look: in the hamper. Duo, God love him, was not a housekeeper. Actually, none of the guys were. Well, Wufei ironed his clothes, and Quatre at least kept his things up off the floor, but somehow their clothes never made it to the hamper.
Re giggled maniacally at the elaborate plan unfolding in her diabolical little mind. She waited for the water to cut off, and heard Duo calling her. She slipped the roll of duct tape into her enormous back pocket and answered, "Yes?"
"Where are my clothes?"
Re suppressed her laughter. "I don't know, Duo. Where did you put them?"
"In the floor. I always put them in the floor."
She said wryly, "I noticed."
"Look Re, either you give me back my clothes, or I'm not coming out."
"I don't know where you put them, Braid Boy, so I guess you're staying put."
She heard him mumble through the door about weird, clothes- stealing women before it quieted down again. Ri walked in not long after and dropped her bags just inside the kitchen. She announced, "I have got to get a shower. My hair is icky."
Re sat nonchalantly on the sofa, reading a book. and hiding a roll of duct tape. "It's all yours."
Ri started stripping out of her grungy clothes and retrieved a towel from the linen closet. She chucked her dirty clothes at her sister. "Put these in the hamper, will you?"
"Sure."
Ri completely missed Re's evil smile and called over her shoulder, "You left the light on in here. Poor Howard's electricity bill will be."
She hadn't thought much of Re's approach until she was shoved in the bathroom and into Duo's chest. The door slammed shut behind them, and the sound of insane giggling and duct tape unrolling filtered through the door. Oh my God, she didn't. Ri thought.
It wasn't long before she realized that Duo was still holding her, and he was naked. Well, almost naked. A hand towel was tied around his waist, but that wasn't much. And, of course, she was wearing nothing but a towel as well. She started to move away from him, but when she gently pushed against him, she slipped on a puddle of water. Duo made a valiant attempt to catch her, and he almost succeeded. until she brought him down with her. She managed to land on top of him, and she openly stared at him before she realized their compromising position. She blushed and rolled off him with a mumbled apology. But there was something in her mind that chided her, wondering whether she really wanted to move this time.
He was soaking wet, and his hair was unbraided. The charmingly wavy locks draped over his muscled shoulders and dripped down his back. Not to mention that he was built like a normally sized 'David'. Ri tried to maintain her dignity and not drool. She wanted to kill Re for doing this. but then again maybe she didn't (LL-yeah, I do, even though I'm drooling as I read what she has done to me). Duo looked pretty damn sexy when he was wet. And every other time she saw him, clothes or no clothes. This was better than she had imagined in her most erotic dreams. She thought with a grin, Somebody call Playboy; this is something they don't want to miss.
Much the same idea was running through Duo's head. Well, Ri was at least dry, but her short hair was down for once and was only wearing a bath towel. It covered her chest well enough, but it hiked up to the tops of her thighs. She had a lot of leg and a lot of muscle, making her sturdy and compactly built. (LL- That's what ya get when you take fencing lessons ^_^ v) Damn, she almost had as much muscle as he did! Her lovely face topped off her gorgeous body, and her blush hadn't quite faded from her cheeks. Her hair floated around her face, ending at about her chin, and the wispy strands made her seem ethereal. Angel of Death? Damn straight she was.
At this point, Ri was desperately searching for a way to get out of the room. Sure, she didn't mind being trapped in there with Duo, but if she stayed in there much longer, she would probably do something she would regret. The window was painted shut, several layers of ancient paint fusing it to the sill. The door wasn't an option. Knowing Re, she probably used the entire roll of duct tape on the door. They weren't getting out until she was ready to let them out. She ran a hand through her hair, then sighed in disgust. She really needed that shower. She sat down on the toilet, crossing her legs and bounced her foot in frustration. Duo, after recovering from seeing the towel hike up another inch when she sat down, noticed her frustration. The shower in this bathroom was a bathtub with a showerhead over it (a/n- you know, one of those with a little knob that turned on the shower?) He looked at the shower curtain. It was one of those ones you can't see through. He thought for a minute, considering whether his system would handle it. He decided it could.
"Hey, Ri," he said. She looked up, her arms crossed over her chest, holding up her towel. "Look, um, if you want to take your shower, go right ahead." His face turned a bright shade of red as he spoke to her. "I can't see through the curtain, and I'll even keep my back turned for you. Maybe if Re hears the shower going again, she'll think we're in it together and let us out when it turns off." Ri looked at him, thinking that he looked absolutely adorable with his hair down and embarrassed. She smiled.
"Thanks, Duo." She turned away from him and headed for the tub. Duo turned away when he saw her reach for her towel. He heard it fall to the ground, and he listened as she went in to the tub and turned on the water. He was beginning to drool. It was very tempting to take off his towel and join her, but even he had a shred of honor. Besides, who knew what Noin would do to him if she found out he had taken a shower with one of her sisters? He sat on the floor, trying to keep himself restrained. She was humming a song as she bathed, then she started to sing.
Good Heart by Starship, he thought. He had seen her listening to it earlier. She seemed to really like that song. (LL-love it, love it, love it). Re listened carefully on the other side of the door, just in case. Nothing seemed to be going wrong. well, too wrong, considering the situation. Ri was singing, so that had to mean that they weren't otherwise occupied. Which was kind of a good sign, in that Ri and Duo were practically meant for each other. And they were just so cute. They just needed a little push in the right direction. Re smiled. God, she loved her job sometimes. She wondered when she should let them out. and tell them that she didn't tape the door shut at all. Actually the wall was changing to a lovely silver color. She hoped that Howard wouldn't mind her choice in wallpaper. She decided that while she had the chance, she'd wash their clothes.
Meanwhile, the other guys were putting away the groceries. They had just finished when Re came in with her arms full of Duo and Ri's dirty clothes. "Hey, Re, where's your sister? And do you know where Duo disappeared to?" asked Wufei.
"The shower."
"Who, Duo or Ri?" asked Quatre.
"Yes."
"To which? Which one of them is in the shower?"
"Both."
"You mean that Duo and Ri are taking a shower together?" said Wufei, shocked.
"Not really. Duo got his shower while you were gone, and he's in there with Ri, who's in the shower. Duo is sitting outside of the shower somewhere."
"So what are you doing with those clothes?"
"They need to be washed. I'm going to wash them, grab them some clean clothes, then let them out of the bathroom."
"What do you mean, let them out?"
"Well, they think I duct taped the door shut, but I really only taped the wall. They haven't tried the door, so they haven't figured it out yet."
"And what do you want us to do?"
"Go along with it. If you don't mind, could you pull out some clothes for Duo? I'll take care of getting Ri's clothes."
"Okay."
Fifteen minutes later, Ri was done with her shower and was sitting on the toilet brushing her hair. Duo still sat facing away from her, trying to hide his blush and desire. He heard Ri put down the brush and he expected her to start talking to him, but what she did instead was glomp him from behind. Her small fingers ran through his long hair, trying to undo the snarls. She grabbed her brush, and slowly brushed Duo's hair. It was still wet, the humidity in the room making it impossible for it to dry. Once she had done, she started randomly running her fingers through it, winding the strands by his temples and ears around her finger, then slowly unwinding them. Getting bolder, she sat in his lap. Chocolate met grape, theirs eyes locked together. The water dripped from the tips of her hair, tiny drops sitting on her sturdy shoulders (LL- I hate my shoulders). Their lips met, locked in a passionate kiss that was rudely interrupted when Quatre opened the door. The sight of the two of them shocked the poor lad, holding each other tightly, clad only in towels, sharing such a loving gesture. He blushed fiercely, dropped the clothes he had been holding, and ran back to his room before he got a nosebleed. Duo and Ri grabbed the clothes, and noticed that not a single piece of taped was on the door, but the walls were duct-tape silver. They got dressed, backs facing each other, and started plotting together a joint revenge on Re and her unknowing co-victim.
LL-You don't want to know what I'm going to do to you. As we both know, revenge is a fun thing.
FireImp-Should I be scared?
Chibi-muse Duo- Considering how hyperactive her imagination is and the books she's been borrowing from her mom, yes, you should be screaming wildly away into the night.
Chibi-muse Quatre- (puts cotton balls in his ears so he doesn't have to listen and puts tissues up his nose to stop the blood)
Other chibi-muses- (pet the llama and eat blueberry muffins)