Author: Crary
Title: Eloquence
Chapter Four
AN: Hm, this took awhile to crank out. I'm not sure if other people are going to feel this way, but I got slightly freaked out. At first, it was Noin who disturbed me, and now Zechs did a little show of strangeness. Duo makes his appearance in this one.
She loved the curve of his collarbone. Sometimes, when his eyes were closed, his lips parted slightly and his face upraised in pleasure, she was almost blinded by his beauty. During those split seconds she suddenly felt like the man. Heavy, clumsy, dark. It pained her to imagine how they looked. All light, ethereal, marred by her darkness, her olive toned skin and her thoroughly defined features. This breathtaking golden boy she was clinging onto, the thick gleaming pelt of hair, silver in the moonlight, that she drew through her fingers, all wasted on her . . . Then he would open his eyes and kiss her and all thoughts would be lost. The way he looked at her, through his heavy-lidded eyes made her feel beautiful. As if she was something that she wasn't. When they were finally exhausted, unable to move, wrapped around each other like children afraid to fall asleep alone, she would think about two things. There was such a huge chasm of potential here. Potential for peace, for contentment, for fulfillment. And also an unending possibility for pain. She didn't understand it. Then sleep would claim her, luring her with the scent of his skin to more certain places.
Tonight, there was nothing but oppressive gloom. The steady, drawn out sound of her breathing beside him. Zechs kept one arm loosely slung around her shoulders, staring at her unblinkingly. Even asleep, she exuded this glittering edge of hardness. He could feel it. Hell, he could see it in the almost unconscious frown on her lips, in the obstinate lines of her jaw. All through their academy days, he had been almost appalled by her sense of direction. Her will was so much stronger than his. When she wanted something, there was no keeping it from her. By any means, any way, she would have it. And it frightened him because he knew first hand how unchecked ambition would end. In death. But her ambition was different. She had limits to her goals, which saved her. He supposed that one of her goals had been him. Zechs curled his hand over her shoulder, smoothing a finger over her skin.
How many times had they fought together? She would appear on his screen, bangs over her goggles, looking serious, but underneath it, he could always see this almost reckless confidence. A kind of glee at backing him up. He admitted that she was a frightening women at times. She was overpowering in her confidence. And he wanted that confidence. He had wanted it from the beginning. With her behind him, as misogynist as that was, he always felt empowered. The hell with Treize, with Noin, sometimes, he had felt drunk with power. They were an almost dangerous pair. But one day, she might leave him. When Duo grew older, when his body caught up with his build, when he put that inbred charisma to use, she might follow him instead. And where would he be?
Zechs allowed a small shudder through his body. Then he removed his arm and tucked it behind his head, concentrating on the ceiling. Even with all this want, this conscious desire for confidence, he knew that he liked her. He wasn't brave enough to face even the thought of loving such an inconstant woman. What his emotions wanted, and what his mind wanted, were separate. He could separate them and see it clearly. But he knew that she couldn't. What if she did love him and she never knew? Don't be ridiculous, he told himself, face hardening. Listen to yourself. Like some lovesick idiot. You'll make a fool of yourself, Zechs Merquise. Be more careful about the reputation, the life you've built for yourself.
~
"I think it's an Asian thing," Duo muttered. Noin glanced at him, wondering what he was talking about now. He shifted almost frighteningly huge violet eyes to her, pursing his mouth. "The hostility thing."
"Oh," Noin said simply. Duo was off on one of his psychoanalysis tangents again. She really didn't want to hear it. The first few times had been kind of interesting, but when he started to talk about genetic alterations at birth and genome crap, she was lost. Duo flipped his braid over his shoulder, continuing to type and peer at the quietly working Heero across from his desk. She was waiting for him to pull up one of the cases they had been working on together. She amused herself by watching his hands. Flying over the keyboard, creating a kind of monosyllabic music. Very nice hands. Long fingers, well kept, clear fingernails. His thumbs hit the space bar equal times, alternating. He kept his wrists off of the desk below and perfectly entered the necessary codes all while still peering at Heero. Any moment now, Heero was going to throw a mug at Duo. She knew it.
"You don't see me being so silent and inhospitable all the time," Duo shrugged. He inserted a disk and copied the files onto it for her. He spun around abruptly, tossing the disk to her. "Want to go to lunch with me? I have a coupon to McDonald's."
"A coupon?" Noin repeated, smirking.
"I'm not going to refuse a lower price just because it's McD's," Duo defended, grinning. There was this striking boyishness to him sometimes. He retained that aura of youthful indifference when he wasn't working too hard. It was something Heero never had. Trowa did sometimes. When he was with his sister, laughing, or maybe when he discovered something new. Which didn't happen very often. Quatre was too well-mannered to let peeks of boyish innocence slip through.
"I'll be ready in twenty minutes. I have to give this to Zechs," Noin said, heading towards her desk. They were at opposite ends of the open working quarters for all early Preventers. Sally was officially, 0001. Noin was 0003, Zechs was 0038 as he had joined after his disappearance. Duo was 0023. Noin made her way through the groups of four desks towards Zech's workstation. He was about twelve groups away from her. And she considered it semi-good that way because then, when she zoned off, staring, nobody could quite tell what she was staring at. The air conditioner clicked on, humming discreetly in the background. There were the sounds of hands and keyboards, shifting in seats, quiet murmuring and the clipped sound of feet on carpet. Zechs was dressed in black slacks, a white shirt with tiny embroidery that must have cost more than four weeks pay, most likely given to him by Relena. It was a subtle shirt, a blank white, stiff collared and formal, but he hadn't worn a tie. He glanced up as she walked towards him, focusing pale eyes. He had been immersed in his work, files spread out on his desk, the coffee mug discarded on the floor, a small electronic notebook in his hands as he made notes.
Noin handed him the disk, leaning on his desk.
"This is a Code 3, so we can talk about it tomorrow. This is the most urgent thing I've got going right now. Duo and I found a lot of the background, but nothing unraveled so far," Noin informed, eyes scanning lightly over the papers on his desk. Together, they had certain cases that required two partners, but they also had cases that could be done alone. Even though he had gone to work on a case with Heero, his other duties had not been suspended and now he just had to catch up on his own. In reality, a vacation as a Preventer was not worth it. When you came back, you were buried for the rest of your life. "Lunch soon?"
"What do you think, Noin? I'll be lucky to go home tonight with half of this done," Zechs sighed.
"I'll help you," she promised, feeling her heart trip as he propped his head up with his hand. The smell of orchids hit her and she extracted the urges to cup his face in her hands, bury her nose into his neck and lick the steady pulse beating there. She thought about it and decided lunch with Duo wasn't absolutely necessary. She'd just go tell him that she didn't want to spend her time at a crowded McDonald's with forty five-year olds.
With a lame mock salute she headed back towards Duo. She saw him across the room, standing, hovering over Heero with a peculiar expression on his face. Noin saw that he was reading Heero's screen, mumbling to himself, frowning. The light exploding behind his back from the windows turned his dark hair lighter, streaked with faint gold. His skin, his eyes, everything, in this particular light, had turned into shades of chocolate and caramel, an association with everything dark and sweet. Noin blinked as he moved away from Heero's desk, long legs in jeans and his Preventer jacket on. He saw her and raised an eyebrow, probably wondering why she had stopped dead in the middle of the room. She numbly showed him her keys and he nodded, moving to shut down his computer.
Title: Eloquence
Chapter Four
AN: Hm, this took awhile to crank out. I'm not sure if other people are going to feel this way, but I got slightly freaked out. At first, it was Noin who disturbed me, and now Zechs did a little show of strangeness. Duo makes his appearance in this one.
She loved the curve of his collarbone. Sometimes, when his eyes were closed, his lips parted slightly and his face upraised in pleasure, she was almost blinded by his beauty. During those split seconds she suddenly felt like the man. Heavy, clumsy, dark. It pained her to imagine how they looked. All light, ethereal, marred by her darkness, her olive toned skin and her thoroughly defined features. This breathtaking golden boy she was clinging onto, the thick gleaming pelt of hair, silver in the moonlight, that she drew through her fingers, all wasted on her . . . Then he would open his eyes and kiss her and all thoughts would be lost. The way he looked at her, through his heavy-lidded eyes made her feel beautiful. As if she was something that she wasn't. When they were finally exhausted, unable to move, wrapped around each other like children afraid to fall asleep alone, she would think about two things. There was such a huge chasm of potential here. Potential for peace, for contentment, for fulfillment. And also an unending possibility for pain. She didn't understand it. Then sleep would claim her, luring her with the scent of his skin to more certain places.
Tonight, there was nothing but oppressive gloom. The steady, drawn out sound of her breathing beside him. Zechs kept one arm loosely slung around her shoulders, staring at her unblinkingly. Even asleep, she exuded this glittering edge of hardness. He could feel it. Hell, he could see it in the almost unconscious frown on her lips, in the obstinate lines of her jaw. All through their academy days, he had been almost appalled by her sense of direction. Her will was so much stronger than his. When she wanted something, there was no keeping it from her. By any means, any way, she would have it. And it frightened him because he knew first hand how unchecked ambition would end. In death. But her ambition was different. She had limits to her goals, which saved her. He supposed that one of her goals had been him. Zechs curled his hand over her shoulder, smoothing a finger over her skin.
How many times had they fought together? She would appear on his screen, bangs over her goggles, looking serious, but underneath it, he could always see this almost reckless confidence. A kind of glee at backing him up. He admitted that she was a frightening women at times. She was overpowering in her confidence. And he wanted that confidence. He had wanted it from the beginning. With her behind him, as misogynist as that was, he always felt empowered. The hell with Treize, with Noin, sometimes, he had felt drunk with power. They were an almost dangerous pair. But one day, she might leave him. When Duo grew older, when his body caught up with his build, when he put that inbred charisma to use, she might follow him instead. And where would he be?
Zechs allowed a small shudder through his body. Then he removed his arm and tucked it behind his head, concentrating on the ceiling. Even with all this want, this conscious desire for confidence, he knew that he liked her. He wasn't brave enough to face even the thought of loving such an inconstant woman. What his emotions wanted, and what his mind wanted, were separate. He could separate them and see it clearly. But he knew that she couldn't. What if she did love him and she never knew? Don't be ridiculous, he told himself, face hardening. Listen to yourself. Like some lovesick idiot. You'll make a fool of yourself, Zechs Merquise. Be more careful about the reputation, the life you've built for yourself.
~
"I think it's an Asian thing," Duo muttered. Noin glanced at him, wondering what he was talking about now. He shifted almost frighteningly huge violet eyes to her, pursing his mouth. "The hostility thing."
"Oh," Noin said simply. Duo was off on one of his psychoanalysis tangents again. She really didn't want to hear it. The first few times had been kind of interesting, but when he started to talk about genetic alterations at birth and genome crap, she was lost. Duo flipped his braid over his shoulder, continuing to type and peer at the quietly working Heero across from his desk. She was waiting for him to pull up one of the cases they had been working on together. She amused herself by watching his hands. Flying over the keyboard, creating a kind of monosyllabic music. Very nice hands. Long fingers, well kept, clear fingernails. His thumbs hit the space bar equal times, alternating. He kept his wrists off of the desk below and perfectly entered the necessary codes all while still peering at Heero. Any moment now, Heero was going to throw a mug at Duo. She knew it.
"You don't see me being so silent and inhospitable all the time," Duo shrugged. He inserted a disk and copied the files onto it for her. He spun around abruptly, tossing the disk to her. "Want to go to lunch with me? I have a coupon to McDonald's."
"A coupon?" Noin repeated, smirking.
"I'm not going to refuse a lower price just because it's McD's," Duo defended, grinning. There was this striking boyishness to him sometimes. He retained that aura of youthful indifference when he wasn't working too hard. It was something Heero never had. Trowa did sometimes. When he was with his sister, laughing, or maybe when he discovered something new. Which didn't happen very often. Quatre was too well-mannered to let peeks of boyish innocence slip through.
"I'll be ready in twenty minutes. I have to give this to Zechs," Noin said, heading towards her desk. They were at opposite ends of the open working quarters for all early Preventers. Sally was officially, 0001. Noin was 0003, Zechs was 0038 as he had joined after his disappearance. Duo was 0023. Noin made her way through the groups of four desks towards Zech's workstation. He was about twelve groups away from her. And she considered it semi-good that way because then, when she zoned off, staring, nobody could quite tell what she was staring at. The air conditioner clicked on, humming discreetly in the background. There were the sounds of hands and keyboards, shifting in seats, quiet murmuring and the clipped sound of feet on carpet. Zechs was dressed in black slacks, a white shirt with tiny embroidery that must have cost more than four weeks pay, most likely given to him by Relena. It was a subtle shirt, a blank white, stiff collared and formal, but he hadn't worn a tie. He glanced up as she walked towards him, focusing pale eyes. He had been immersed in his work, files spread out on his desk, the coffee mug discarded on the floor, a small electronic notebook in his hands as he made notes.
Noin handed him the disk, leaning on his desk.
"This is a Code 3, so we can talk about it tomorrow. This is the most urgent thing I've got going right now. Duo and I found a lot of the background, but nothing unraveled so far," Noin informed, eyes scanning lightly over the papers on his desk. Together, they had certain cases that required two partners, but they also had cases that could be done alone. Even though he had gone to work on a case with Heero, his other duties had not been suspended and now he just had to catch up on his own. In reality, a vacation as a Preventer was not worth it. When you came back, you were buried for the rest of your life. "Lunch soon?"
"What do you think, Noin? I'll be lucky to go home tonight with half of this done," Zechs sighed.
"I'll help you," she promised, feeling her heart trip as he propped his head up with his hand. The smell of orchids hit her and she extracted the urges to cup his face in her hands, bury her nose into his neck and lick the steady pulse beating there. She thought about it and decided lunch with Duo wasn't absolutely necessary. She'd just go tell him that she didn't want to spend her time at a crowded McDonald's with forty five-year olds.
With a lame mock salute she headed back towards Duo. She saw him across the room, standing, hovering over Heero with a peculiar expression on his face. Noin saw that he was reading Heero's screen, mumbling to himself, frowning. The light exploding behind his back from the windows turned his dark hair lighter, streaked with faint gold. His skin, his eyes, everything, in this particular light, had turned into shades of chocolate and caramel, an association with everything dark and sweet. Noin blinked as he moved away from Heero's desk, long legs in jeans and his Preventer jacket on. He saw her and raised an eyebrow, probably wondering why she had stopped dead in the middle of the room. She numbly showed him her keys and he nodded, moving to shut down his computer.