Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or any of it's characters. The execs in charge at Bandai, Sunrise, Sotsu, and TV Asahi do. Yay for them.
Warnings: Mindless self-indulgence, AU, language, sap, possible OOC of certain characters.
Summary: AU, 1xH and other pairings. The cast of GW inhabit a vintage 1930's era apartment building which has fallen into disrepair. Cameos from secondary characters (like NICHOL) galore.
This is all Jilly's fault. ^_^
Dedicated to all Heero/Hilde lovers out there, but especially to Onisaur (my muse), the aforementioned Jilly (my cruel slave-master =P), and Sabacat, who made me notice this pairing in the first place. You guys rock my world.
Livin' with Louie Dog's the only way to stay sane
Let the lovin' let the lovin' come back to me
Lovin' is what I got, I said remember that
-What I Got, Sublime
207 Orchard Ridge
Chapter One
Scratch… Scratch… Scribble.
Pause.
Scratch… Scratch… Scribble.
Dark brows knitted together into a puzzled frown as a tanned hand once again wiped away an afternoon's progress. No, no. That wasn't right at all. The variable should be on the left side of the equation, not the right. Now what to do about the logarithmic integer?
"I'm not going to help you rub that calamine stuff over you if you stay in the tub much longer."
A non-committal grunt sounded as the brows sagged even more, deepening the expression to the near-scowl on his face. So much for working ahead. Sitting in the old, stained porcelain tub, he had been fast at work, using the colored bath soap to scrawl out various math equations on the wall. It was a lousy way to amuse himself while soaking away the miserable existence that was life with the chicken pox, but amazingly, it had worked so far.
"I mean it, Heero. I have to be at my audition in an hour. I don't have time to…" her voice trailed off as a shuffling with the distinct tinkle of jewelry sounded. "Damn it."
Sighing in resignation, he closed the thick book balancing on his knee - The Collected Utilitarian Essays of the Enlightenment by the title displayed proudly on the cracked binding - and reluctantly began to rise out of the lukewarm water. Mumblings of frustration could be heard faintly from the other room, sounds that he had been increasingly familiar with as of late. It seemed that the closer to audition time it grew, the crankier his girlfriend became.
Ignoring the following guttural scream, he set his book down on the toilet's septic tank and took a barely-used towel from off the wooden rack. Heero had learned a long time ago that it was best to stay out of the way when Hilde was in one of her moods. It would blow over soon enough, usually when she would finally remember that last line or guilt Catherine into giving her lift down to the theater house.
"Where could it have gone?! I left it right here on the dresser, next to my money!"
As the saying went, there is no use in crying over spilled milk.
He didn't linger in brushing the rough cotton over himself. Too much movement would prompt another inexorable itching fit to occur. For a man who had been through jungles, braved sub-artic temperatures, and crawled through a desert with a thimbleful of water all in the name of a story, a mild case of the chicken pox had reduced him to the behaviors of a three year-old. He had lost count of all the times he would have hacked off his arm with a rusty butter knife if it meant being able to scratch that itchy spot on the back of his leg until it felt better. Checking to make sure that he was dry enough to avoid breaking out into another rash, he blew a large breath through his bangs and reached to open the medicine cabinet.
Almost instantaneously, an overly purple box of the latest feminine product came tumbling out into the sink. Unblinking, he glanced down at the colorful cardboard, almost studying it a long moment before wordlessly scooping out of the basin to set it back on its designated shelf. Let no one ever say that Heero Yuy was uncomfortable with who he was.
"These things just don't VANISH INTO THIN AIR!"
Lesser men would have fainted on the spot with the volume of the roar coming from the bedroom. Surely, those who were intelligent would have fled by now for parts safer, like the Bermuda Triangle. But Heero merely remained in his spot at the sink, impassively reaching for the tube of lotion that would grant him glorious relief. A loud crash sounded, presumably from Hilde madly throwing open the dresser drawers in her search, and he didn't even flinch. No, right now, all that mattered was the cylinder in his hands, and more importantly, the line of lotion he was squeezing from it. Sighing in relief as the cold paste came in contact with his skin, he idlely set the tube down on the arm of the sink, his free hand already moving in concentric circles across his front, massaging the lotion into his skin.
"You better not be scratching yourself open again." The short, dark-haired girl frowned as she appeared in the doorway. "I told you that I've had it with constantly bandaging you up."
The corner of his lips quirked up into a small smirk as he turned just enough to let her see that he was rubbing in the calamine. "You left your script book on top of the toaster," he offered as his face softened into the normal stoic stare.
Hilde gave a small grumble, the muscles in her jaw twitching as she looked out through the bathroom window momentarily. "That'd be just great if it was my script book that I was looking for," she muttered quietly. Then, glancing up at him with a frustration behind her eyes, "Have you seen my promise ring? You know, the cheap one that Duo used to propose to me with after he'd fished it out of one of those arcade machines? I need it for my audition."
Duo. Heero grunted at the memory and the tiny protective pang that accompanied it, remembering how desperately infatuated the braided pilot had been with Hilde. Even though she had told the American numerous times that she wasn't interested, he had still proceeded to try and woo her. A small, but annoyed frown crept over his face as his brows pulled down into an intense stare. Maxwell really needed to get a clue and give up the ghost.
"I need a cheap piece of jewelry that won't matter much if it gets lost." Despite the fact that she was staring right at him, she gave no acknowledgement of his expression.
"Hn. Shouldn't the company have their own props?"
Her eyes narrowed as she gave him a murderous glare, a look that only made Heero realize too late how he had touched that old nerve. Hilde's patience had already been thin given the nature of the morning, and such a mistake would have left normal men as nothing more than a splatter of blood against the wall. "Look, if you want to get anywhere in the business, you need to show how enthusiastic you are. And one way of doing that is to come into the audition prepared. Hence, I'm bringing my own damn props. Okay?" With that, she huffed and turned to give him her back. "I want to be a serious actress, Heero."
He didn't say anything for a while, but merely watched her, his gaze unable to stop from roaming slightly south to take in the way her jeans clung to her backside in all the right places. Finally massaging the last of the lotion into his chest, he picked up the slim tube, and squeezed out another line to start working it into his arms. "I thought you gave the ring to Relena months ago."
She opened her mouth, preparing to shove another biting retort back into his direction when the sudden recollection of just how the woman's face had lit up at getting such a gift hit her. Her mind instantly backpedaled, choking her words in her throat before she had a chance to voice them. She blinked a few times at the abrupt realization before her face settled down into the scowl that was becoming her trademark look this morning. "Damn it."
Heero let his attention return to the task with his arms, his reaction stoic as per his personality. "You can use my gold chain if you need something in place of the ring," he quietly supplied in his ever-present monotone.
The scowl having lightened to a frown with his words, Hilde waved him off before running her fingers through the short bangs on her forehead - an behavioral reaction that surfaced whenever she was nervous. "No. I'll see if Une doesn't have something that I can borrow." A strong breath tickled those very bangs, lifting them into the air for a few scant seconds before Hilde bit her lip.
Instantly noting the worried expression on her face, he rubbed the remainder of the cream into his shoulder as his brows quirked in concern. Nonchalantly crossing the distance between them, another feat that would have costed an ordinary man his life, he gently laid a hand on her elbow. "I could head down to the arcade and get another ring for you." He gave a soft grunt while waiting for her to answer.
Bright translucent blue irises slid to take in the look on his face. "Don't be ridiculous," she said, her mouth twisting into an incredulous expression. "You may be almost over with them, but you've still got the chicken pox. You should be getting your butt back into bed." When he grunted, she gave him a stern look. "I know you have an iron stomach, Mr. I Set My Own Broken Bones, but even you need your rest, Heero." Her nose wrinkled up into a frown. "Besides, I don't think too many people would be happy to see you down at the arcade, playing games while you're still all broken out like that."
"Hn," he commented, his frown lingering on his face a moment longer before softening into an almost smirk. "Soccer moms can be deadly when gathered en masse," the delivery matter-of-fact.
Despite herself, Hilde let a small chuckle bubble forth. "Ja," she replied, slipping back into her mother tongue. "I'd watch my back down there if I were you." Close to smiling herself, she gave a long sigh and checked her watch. "Yikes. I've got to get going if I want to get to the theater house a little early."
He nodded once, firmly, as he started to take a few steps back to move out of her way. His girlfriend surprised him though, grabbing him by the folded-over edge of the towel and tugging him close to pull him into a strong kiss.
"Mmm," she said moments later, her tongue darting out minutely to lick along her lips. "You're lucky that I already had the chicken pox as a rugrat, mister, or I wouldn't be able to do that."
His mouth slid into a smirk as he gave a rare snort. "Assuming you'd be able to stay away for two weeks, that is."
An eyebrow quirked as her mouth puckered into a small challenging pout. "Such a mouth on you, Yuy." With that, she drew him in for another kiss, this time leaving him sufficiently too breathless to be able to reply. "When I get back, you better be fast asleep in bed. If I catch you up, I'm going to take away all your calamine and leave you to itch and scratch yourself to death." Snickering, she added, "If you start getting restless, work on your article. We could certainly use the money." Quite satisfied with herself, she gave him a once-over, smiling mischievously to herself with the action. "I should be back around three. Remember, stay in bed."
Heero watched as she pulled back and drifted out the door into the hall. Now alone in the bathroom once more, he turned back to the sink, intending to finish the task of spreading the lotion all over himself when he felt a familiar tingle around his neck. Eyes narrowing, he grunted, scowling at his reflection in the mirror as the sensation spread and intensified. His fingers twitched against the cool white porcelain of the sink.
Leave it to Hilde to create enough motion to send his chicken pox aflame with another itching attack.
Warnings: Mindless self-indulgence, AU, language, sap, possible OOC of certain characters.
Summary: AU, 1xH and other pairings. The cast of GW inhabit a vintage 1930's era apartment building which has fallen into disrepair. Cameos from secondary characters (like NICHOL) galore.
This is all Jilly's fault. ^_^
Dedicated to all Heero/Hilde lovers out there, but especially to Onisaur (my muse), the aforementioned Jilly (my cruel slave-master =P), and Sabacat, who made me notice this pairing in the first place. You guys rock my world.
Let the lovin' let the lovin' come back to me
Lovin' is what I got, I said remember that
-What I Got, Sublime
207 Orchard Ridge
Chapter One
Scratch… Scratch… Scribble.
Pause.
Scratch… Scratch… Scribble.
Dark brows knitted together into a puzzled frown as a tanned hand once again wiped away an afternoon's progress. No, no. That wasn't right at all. The variable should be on the left side of the equation, not the right. Now what to do about the logarithmic integer?
"I'm not going to help you rub that calamine stuff over you if you stay in the tub much longer."
A non-committal grunt sounded as the brows sagged even more, deepening the expression to the near-scowl on his face. So much for working ahead. Sitting in the old, stained porcelain tub, he had been fast at work, using the colored bath soap to scrawl out various math equations on the wall. It was a lousy way to amuse himself while soaking away the miserable existence that was life with the chicken pox, but amazingly, it had worked so far.
"I mean it, Heero. I have to be at my audition in an hour. I don't have time to…" her voice trailed off as a shuffling with the distinct tinkle of jewelry sounded. "Damn it."
Sighing in resignation, he closed the thick book balancing on his knee - The Collected Utilitarian Essays of the Enlightenment by the title displayed proudly on the cracked binding - and reluctantly began to rise out of the lukewarm water. Mumblings of frustration could be heard faintly from the other room, sounds that he had been increasingly familiar with as of late. It seemed that the closer to audition time it grew, the crankier his girlfriend became.
Ignoring the following guttural scream, he set his book down on the toilet's septic tank and took a barely-used towel from off the wooden rack. Heero had learned a long time ago that it was best to stay out of the way when Hilde was in one of her moods. It would blow over soon enough, usually when she would finally remember that last line or guilt Catherine into giving her lift down to the theater house.
"Where could it have gone?! I left it right here on the dresser, next to my money!"
As the saying went, there is no use in crying over spilled milk.
He didn't linger in brushing the rough cotton over himself. Too much movement would prompt another inexorable itching fit to occur. For a man who had been through jungles, braved sub-artic temperatures, and crawled through a desert with a thimbleful of water all in the name of a story, a mild case of the chicken pox had reduced him to the behaviors of a three year-old. He had lost count of all the times he would have hacked off his arm with a rusty butter knife if it meant being able to scratch that itchy spot on the back of his leg until it felt better. Checking to make sure that he was dry enough to avoid breaking out into another rash, he blew a large breath through his bangs and reached to open the medicine cabinet.
Almost instantaneously, an overly purple box of the latest feminine product came tumbling out into the sink. Unblinking, he glanced down at the colorful cardboard, almost studying it a long moment before wordlessly scooping out of the basin to set it back on its designated shelf. Let no one ever say that Heero Yuy was uncomfortable with who he was.
"These things just don't VANISH INTO THIN AIR!"
Lesser men would have fainted on the spot with the volume of the roar coming from the bedroom. Surely, those who were intelligent would have fled by now for parts safer, like the Bermuda Triangle. But Heero merely remained in his spot at the sink, impassively reaching for the tube of lotion that would grant him glorious relief. A loud crash sounded, presumably from Hilde madly throwing open the dresser drawers in her search, and he didn't even flinch. No, right now, all that mattered was the cylinder in his hands, and more importantly, the line of lotion he was squeezing from it. Sighing in relief as the cold paste came in contact with his skin, he idlely set the tube down on the arm of the sink, his free hand already moving in concentric circles across his front, massaging the lotion into his skin.
"You better not be scratching yourself open again." The short, dark-haired girl frowned as she appeared in the doorway. "I told you that I've had it with constantly bandaging you up."
The corner of his lips quirked up into a small smirk as he turned just enough to let her see that he was rubbing in the calamine. "You left your script book on top of the toaster," he offered as his face softened into the normal stoic stare.
Hilde gave a small grumble, the muscles in her jaw twitching as she looked out through the bathroom window momentarily. "That'd be just great if it was my script book that I was looking for," she muttered quietly. Then, glancing up at him with a frustration behind her eyes, "Have you seen my promise ring? You know, the cheap one that Duo used to propose to me with after he'd fished it out of one of those arcade machines? I need it for my audition."
Duo. Heero grunted at the memory and the tiny protective pang that accompanied it, remembering how desperately infatuated the braided pilot had been with Hilde. Even though she had told the American numerous times that she wasn't interested, he had still proceeded to try and woo her. A small, but annoyed frown crept over his face as his brows pulled down into an intense stare. Maxwell really needed to get a clue and give up the ghost.
"I need a cheap piece of jewelry that won't matter much if it gets lost." Despite the fact that she was staring right at him, she gave no acknowledgement of his expression.
"Hn. Shouldn't the company have their own props?"
Her eyes narrowed as she gave him a murderous glare, a look that only made Heero realize too late how he had touched that old nerve. Hilde's patience had already been thin given the nature of the morning, and such a mistake would have left normal men as nothing more than a splatter of blood against the wall. "Look, if you want to get anywhere in the business, you need to show how enthusiastic you are. And one way of doing that is to come into the audition prepared. Hence, I'm bringing my own damn props. Okay?" With that, she huffed and turned to give him her back. "I want to be a serious actress, Heero."
He didn't say anything for a while, but merely watched her, his gaze unable to stop from roaming slightly south to take in the way her jeans clung to her backside in all the right places. Finally massaging the last of the lotion into his chest, he picked up the slim tube, and squeezed out another line to start working it into his arms. "I thought you gave the ring to Relena months ago."
She opened her mouth, preparing to shove another biting retort back into his direction when the sudden recollection of just how the woman's face had lit up at getting such a gift hit her. Her mind instantly backpedaled, choking her words in her throat before she had a chance to voice them. She blinked a few times at the abrupt realization before her face settled down into the scowl that was becoming her trademark look this morning. "Damn it."
Heero let his attention return to the task with his arms, his reaction stoic as per his personality. "You can use my gold chain if you need something in place of the ring," he quietly supplied in his ever-present monotone.
The scowl having lightened to a frown with his words, Hilde waved him off before running her fingers through the short bangs on her forehead - an behavioral reaction that surfaced whenever she was nervous. "No. I'll see if Une doesn't have something that I can borrow." A strong breath tickled those very bangs, lifting them into the air for a few scant seconds before Hilde bit her lip.
Instantly noting the worried expression on her face, he rubbed the remainder of the cream into his shoulder as his brows quirked in concern. Nonchalantly crossing the distance between them, another feat that would have costed an ordinary man his life, he gently laid a hand on her elbow. "I could head down to the arcade and get another ring for you." He gave a soft grunt while waiting for her to answer.
Bright translucent blue irises slid to take in the look on his face. "Don't be ridiculous," she said, her mouth twisting into an incredulous expression. "You may be almost over with them, but you've still got the chicken pox. You should be getting your butt back into bed." When he grunted, she gave him a stern look. "I know you have an iron stomach, Mr. I Set My Own Broken Bones, but even you need your rest, Heero." Her nose wrinkled up into a frown. "Besides, I don't think too many people would be happy to see you down at the arcade, playing games while you're still all broken out like that."
"Hn," he commented, his frown lingering on his face a moment longer before softening into an almost smirk. "Soccer moms can be deadly when gathered en masse," the delivery matter-of-fact.
Despite herself, Hilde let a small chuckle bubble forth. "Ja," she replied, slipping back into her mother tongue. "I'd watch my back down there if I were you." Close to smiling herself, she gave a long sigh and checked her watch. "Yikes. I've got to get going if I want to get to the theater house a little early."
He nodded once, firmly, as he started to take a few steps back to move out of her way. His girlfriend surprised him though, grabbing him by the folded-over edge of the towel and tugging him close to pull him into a strong kiss.
"Mmm," she said moments later, her tongue darting out minutely to lick along her lips. "You're lucky that I already had the chicken pox as a rugrat, mister, or I wouldn't be able to do that."
His mouth slid into a smirk as he gave a rare snort. "Assuming you'd be able to stay away for two weeks, that is."
An eyebrow quirked as her mouth puckered into a small challenging pout. "Such a mouth on you, Yuy." With that, she drew him in for another kiss, this time leaving him sufficiently too breathless to be able to reply. "When I get back, you better be fast asleep in bed. If I catch you up, I'm going to take away all your calamine and leave you to itch and scratch yourself to death." Snickering, she added, "If you start getting restless, work on your article. We could certainly use the money." Quite satisfied with herself, she gave him a once-over, smiling mischievously to herself with the action. "I should be back around three. Remember, stay in bed."
Heero watched as she pulled back and drifted out the door into the hall. Now alone in the bathroom once more, he turned back to the sink, intending to finish the task of spreading the lotion all over himself when he felt a familiar tingle around his neck. Eyes narrowing, he grunted, scowling at his reflection in the mirror as the sensation spread and intensified. His fingers twitched against the cool white porcelain of the sink.
Leave it to Hilde to create enough motion to send his chicken pox aflame with another itching attack.