"Solo."
One simple word, a name, but the venom which it was spoken did little to hide the fact that Duo hated whoever this person was.
It was obvious that Duo did not like this guy. And, considering his entrance earlier, the other pilots were not too trusting either.
Then, as if he weren't in enough trouble as it was, the boy looked Duo straight in the eye, and blew him a kiss. That was it, the line had been crossed. A few seconds later, a Duo had been flung against Solo and the two were fighting, Duo like a wildcat, and Solo like a professional martial arts instructor who was sparring with his student.
"Good move there kid, I know I didn't teach you that. Nice, but you should try and kick a little higher."
It was incredible, here was the God of Death, one of the most feared enemies in all of the world, and his every move was blocked by a guy who looked like he should be living in a cardboard box somewhere. Even more surprising, was that he was commenting on every move, and wasn't fighting back.
"Uhh, guys? I know none of us really wants to go near Duo when he's fighting, but either this guy is gonna start fighting back, or Duo's eventually gonna kill him. And I don't really want to try and explain this dead guy to the police."
Trowa, Heero, and Wufei all nodded in agreement and began to advance on the fighters, preparing to separate them.
Ten minutes, two black eyes, one twisted wrist, four bruised ribs, and one forearm gash later, Duo was tied in a chair by a very thick rope and elaborate knots. Solo was permitted to stand, just so long as Wufei kept his katana at his throat the entire time. As the four pilots began to get bags of ice and other first aid devices, Duo refused to give up his attempt at burning a hole through Solo's skull.
"Duo, who is this guy? And why were you attacking him?" Wufei asked.
"Duo? So, you're still Duo huh? I never did like that name. Kinda cheesy if you ask me. I always liked C-"
"Shut the hell up Solo!"
All eyes fell on Duo. The whole time he hadn't said a word, but apparently the peaceful silence was now over.
"Calm down there shorty. And to answer you're question, whoever you are, I'm an old friend of .......Duo's." Solo motioned to Wufei, answering the question intended for Duo.
The long pause before Solo said Duo's name did not go unnoticed. Heero and Trowa exchanged a quick look and nodded to each other. They didn't use their real names, it wasn't a big surprise that Duo was also a code name. 'I wonder what Duo's real name is?' Heero lost himself in thought, though from the outside he was as vigilant and ready as ever. 'It sounded like this guy Solo was about to say something with a C at the beginning. Hmm, maybe Chris?'
"Well kid, I'm really ashamed, I'd thought someone woulda taught you better manners. Here I am, coming in peace, and you attack me, then you don't even have the decency to introduce me to your friends." Solo raised an eyebrow and made a tsking noise as he shook his head at Duo.
"Fine. You want to be introduced. This is Heero, that's Trowa, the one over there with the ice pack is Quatre, and the one with the very large pointy sword is Wufei. By the way guys, I'm not going to try and kill him anymore, I promise. Now please can I get up. I can't stand being tied up. Please please please!" Not one of the warriors in the room could stand up too much of Duo's wining and quickly cut him loose. He had regained his composure and stood, rubbing his arms where the ropes had been holding him. 'I can't believe those guys tied me up, I'm they're friend. But noooo! They leave the complete stranger standing and have me tied to a chair. Rotten bunch of no good...' and so on and so on as Duo's mind rambled about the injustice's of being a teenage soldier.
"Well, it's nice to meet you all. You seem like a fun bunch of guys, plus, you managed to contain shorty there, for that you all get major props. As he already said, the name's Solo. Don't have a last name, don't have a family, don't have much come to think of it." The smile he gave was extremely unnerving for some reason. As usual, Heero picked up on it the fastest, it was definitely that same cocky grin Duo always wore. 'These two must have been really close if Duo picked up a facial expression from him.'
"So, Duo, how's the whole Gundam thing working for ya?"
Immediately, weapons were drawn and the pilots tensed, all except for Duo.
"Don't worry guys, Solo knew me back when I was training to be a pilot. And, he's probably figured out that I would find the other four pilots we didn't know about back then."
"Of course, Duo, if he hadn't figured it out by now, you just told him!" Wufei yelled at the incompetent American.
"Oops."
A few sets of eyes rolled, but Solo's stayed fixed on Duo. Their eyes met, and for a few tense moments, it seemed like they might get into another brawl. Instead, Duo calmly walked up to him, grabbed him by his leather and pulled him toward his room. As Quatre began to protest, Duo commented as he passed by, "Don't worry, not gonna hurt him, just need to talk to him, catch up and all." He sent a dangerous look at all of them, "Alone."
The door slamming stopped any of the pilots, who by now were feeling very left out and confused, from voicing their opinions. Guns were replaced to their holsters, and knives to their sheaths. Silence fell over the room, and glares abounded as the four waited, patiently, listening to the cd Duo had put on, obviously to cover up their conversation. 'I wonder what they're talking about, I don't seem to be getting the feeling that Duo really hates that guy. But then, why would he act like that. Hmm, quite the dilemma, and on the day of a mission too.' Poor Quatre thought as he strained to hear the muffled voices.
* * * * *
The two entered Duo's room, and after turning around and locking the door, Duo walked over to his cd player and put it on loud enough to drown out their conversation. 'Hey, maybe this is loud enough to keep them from hearing any noise as I strangle him.' Duo changed his mind though, knowing he couldn't break a promise, especially to Quatre. Solo, meanwhile, had been taking in the décor of the room, then turned around and looked Duo straight in the eyes, "Boy, it's been quite a while since I've been forcefully dragged to your room." A quick wink and Solo walked up to his short friend.
"Solo," Duo warned as he got into a fighting stance.
"Ha, yeah right kid." Solo launched forward, perfectly hiding his actions, and predicted that Duo would try and catch him with that same right hook to the stomach. He caught Duo's fist and then grabbed his other wrist. Using his strength and bulk, Solo slightly picked Duo up off the floor and threw him against the nearest wall, but quietly enough that the others wouldn't hear. Still holding both of Duo's arms to his sides, Solo stepped up, pressing against Duo, looking down the three or four inches that separated them. Duo tried to break free, or kick him, or anything to get away, but he was pinned fast, and Solo was stronger and faster than him. 'Argh, he was just playing with me in there, he was faking it, how could I have been so stupid. I can't believe I honestly thought I could beat him now.' Duo glared up, now that Solo had taken a slight step back, well, more like he leaned back.
"Still not good enough....shorty." Solo smiled down as he used his favorite pet name. Duo tried one more time, struggling against the strong hands, but finally gave up on escaping. Solo, pleased that his old friend was now relaxed leaned forward. Their faces came closer and closer. Solo's eyes were matched up with Duo's, violet to gold, like a predator and his prey. The smaller boy was still, somewhere between fear, and friendship. Duo could feel Solo's hot breath against his face. He leaned even farther over, till their noses were side to side, and Solo looked down, his eyes half covered by his hair. "What's wrong, you seem tense...," then he looked up, once again meeting Duo's eyes, barely an inch away, all the two could see were each other's eyes, his next word was barely a hiss, dangerous, and challenging, "...Ciaran." The surprise and hurt in Duo's eyes was almost unbearable, but Solo kept staring, until Duo closed his eyes.
Duo could almost feel his pride sliding down his throat, "Please Solo, let me up." The voice was quite, sad, and submissive. Realizing that he was overstepping his boundaries, both literally and figuratively, Solo released him and walked back to sit on his bed.
"Sorry kid, anyway, why'd ya drag me away from all your fun friends?"
"Why are you here?" Duo knew exactly why this ghost from the past was in his life once again, but he still wanted to hear it, and keep his mind off the way he'd reacted when pinned to the wall. 'No, I have a crush on Heero, I hate Solo. Keep it straight. Ha, straight, now there's a funny one, there's nothing straight about this situation.'
"Well, I have a feeling that you know as well as I do why I'm here, or did you not notice the wings growing from your back the past couple of days?" Duo was seriously beginning to hate that grin of Solo's, so confident, and annoying.
"Yeah, I guess I must have missed it." After taking a sigh, and trying his best to calm down, Duo continued. "So what are we going to do about this? You're here, whoop de do. The wings will still come even if you did arrive before they come fully, and how exactly do you propose I keep this a secret from the other guys?"
'Wow, he talks fast, and that's a lot of questions I don't have the answers to. Of course, I really shouldn't have pinned him to a wall, or stressed the name thing so much. I bet he really does hate me.' "Well shorty, we're gonna have to hide the wings. After all, no one can know about this. Ever. Don't you forget that. Plus, it shouldn't be too hard. Just wear a long coat, like mine. And since I'm already here, we shouldn't have them for too long." Solo flashed one of his smiles, a real smile, or as real as his ever got.
"Why wings? I never quite got that. It would have been so much easier if they'd given us birth marks or something. But noooo, they make us grow wings instead!" Duo gave in and laughed for a minute, just a minute, but that was enough for Solo.
"Oh no, I forgot, we have a mission today! What am I going to do! There is no way that I'm leaving you here alone, or with any of the other guys for that matter."
"And plus, that cockpit isn't going to be a comfortable place if you sprout while you're in there."
"Yeah, and I hate cleaning blood out of there."
The two shared a brief moment where neither was bent on annoying or killing one another, and then Duo decided he should go check on his poor friends in the other room. 'They probably think we were making out. Wonderful.'
* * * * *
"We should really go get those two. We need to go on this mission soon."
"Calm down Quatre. Duo's dealing with his friend." Trowa reassured their shaky leader.
The door down the hall finally opened, and down walked the two. Heero glared at Solo, and Solo gave him an arrogant look right back at him. "Uh guys, we all need to talk." Duo began as he sat on the couch next to Qautre. Solo shot him a hurt look as he realized there were no open seats next to him. 'Oh well, hehe, might as well have some fun while I'm here.'
Heero had to use all his willpower to keep from stabbing, strangling, or in any other way killing Solo for the way he kept looking at Duo. It was a miracle that when Solo walked over to stand only a few feet away from Heero that both remained civilized.
"Quatre, Solo's going to stay here for a few days. Only," Duo stressed the word, " a few days." 'Boy oh boy, am I glad that Howard let us use this place.'
The pilots needed a place to keep their gundams and themselves until the mission, and Duo had asked Howard if he had a house and hangar that they could use for a few weeks. Conveniently, he did, and it was about as close as they could get to the base without being in OZ territory and blowing their cover. The front door of the house entered into the kitchen on the left, and the living room on the right, with no real barrier between the two. Duo, Wufei, and Heero's rooms were on the first floor, with a bathroom that the three shared. The rooms were down a hall from the living room, which had two couches and a few chairs, and of course, the tv. Up the stairs were Trowa and Quatre's rooms, another bathroom, and a room which had become a gym for the boys. Instead of leading to a backyard like most do, their backdoor went straight from the kitchen to a hangar where the gundams were kept. Normally, there would be a lot of guys from Howards team staying in the house while working on mobile suits, so there was a lot of space and each boy was able to have his own room.
"Umm, Duo? What are we going to do about Solo today?"
"I don't really know, do you guys have any ideas?"
"All I know is that I am not babysitting him!"
"I feel a little insulted, I'm not a baby! And I don't need to be sat. Hey! Do you guys have guns in this house!"
"There's no way we can leave him alone, he'll kill something."
"I agree, but Wufei refuses to be left alone with him, and the rest of us are busy."
"How about we just kill him."
"Heero!"
"Quatre!"
"Heero."
"Duo?"
"Trowa..."
"Heero."
"Wufei?"
"Duo!"
"Solo." The five pilots' bickering stopped, and everyone was silent in the house. Five confused pairs of eyes fell on Solo, who had on an idiot's grin.
"What, I felt left out!"
"So you say your own name! What's wrong with you!" Duo shouted, then took a breath to calm himself down, and made a decision that he hoped he wouldn't be regretting.
"Look, what if Wufei goes on the mission instead of me, and I'll stay here and keep an eye on Solo and make sure he doesn't blow anything up."
Solo flashed a kid-who-just-got-a-new-toy-that-he-can-kill-people-with grin. Quatre could feel his heart telling him that this was a good idea. 'I don't know why, but leaving Duo with Solo seems right. Even though all they seem to do is yell and attack each other.'
"Good idea, but Wufei's leg is hurt, he can't take your position Duo." Once again, Trowa was left to point out the less noticeable problem.
"Well, how about if I go in and back Heero up, and Wufei can provide cover in my place." Quatre smiled at the others, especially Duo, who seemed relieved that they found a way of keeping him at home with Solo.
"My leg is healing well. I know I'll be fine piloting Nataku, as long as we're not forced into hand to hand."
"Thanks Wufei. I owe you one."
"Yes you do Maxwell, and I will make you pay me back."
"Ooh, kinky." Duo winked at Wufei, who he loved to antagonize. Unfortunately, he missed the brief death glare Solo gave to Wufei when Duo made the crude joke. 'If that Chinese kid comes anywhere close to Duo, I'll show him some real hand to hand.'
"We should get going. Are you sure you two will be okay?" Despite the fact that it was directed to both of them, Heero kept his eyes locked on Solo. 'I don't care what Duo or Qautre seem to think, I don't trust him. This mission better end fast.'
"Well, nice meetin you guys! I hope we can hang out some later!" Solo shouted at their backs, while casually hanging an arm around Duo's shoulders. Duo shrugged the arm off and ran after the other pilots.
"Hey guys, don't worry, I'll be fine." Trowa looked suprised that the pilot 02 had been able to tell that they were worried about leaving him.
"Blow something up for me!"
"We will Duo!" Qautre shouted from inside the cockpit of Sandrock. All four gundams took off and flew out of the hangar, leaving Duo standing in their wake, his braid being blown around him. 'Good luck you guys.'
From behind him, Duo felt an arm quickly wrap around his left side, pinning his arm down, then it reached across him, grabbing his right arm in a strong grasp. Duo snarled back at Solo and began to try and get away. Instead, he just made it worse for himself as Solo wrapped his right arm around Duo's throat. For a minute, everything froze. All Duo could think about was if he had made a mistake that would cost him and his friends their lives.
"Quiet you're struggling. I ain't gonna hurt ya shorty." Solo said, even as he made sure that his grips were tight enough so his little friend couldn't get away.
Duo made some sort of noise from his constricted throat as he began to thrash around again. Solo was forced to hang on for dear life, and continue to keep his hold on the wild child. Then, Duo slumped quietly in his arms. 'Uh oh, I hope I didn't keep him from breathing for too long!' Solo gently let his arms relax, and, before he knew what was happening, Duo had grabbed his arms and swung himself around to face his aggressive friend.
"Hey, faker!" Solo shouted even as Duo swiped his legs out from under him. As soon as he hit the floor, Duo grabbed onto his shoulders, and set his knees on either side of Solo's.
After getting over the shock of being knocked down, Solo glared up at, to his suprise, a smiling and panting Duo. He was standing on all fours, his weight and position keeping even Solo from moving. Duo couldn't believe it, he had beaten Solo in one of his own dominance/submission games. 'Woo-hoo, I won. Oh yeah, who's the man.'
Solo's mind, on the other hand, was focused on the fact that his pant's were a little tighter than usual. Then, a wicked idea struck the blonde. He made a quick jerk, bringing his and Duo's chest, then stomach, then hips grinding together. Duo's eye's shot open, and he joined the tight pants club with his friend. 'Oh man, not now, I can't believe this. Oh, as if the situation isn't bad enough.'
"Ah!"
Solo's brief yell completely caught Duo off guard.
"Wings!"
"You want chicken wings, now?" Duo asked, confused, but still pinning Solo to the ground.
"No you idiot. Our wings, now, we need to get to the bathroom!"
Duo finally got his mind off his pants and realized the tingly sensation on his back had returned.
"Oh crap!" Duo let Solo up and the two made a mad dash for the downstairs bathroom
* * * * * *
One simple word, a name, but the venom which it was spoken did little to hide the fact that Duo hated whoever this person was.
It was obvious that Duo did not like this guy. And, considering his entrance earlier, the other pilots were not too trusting either.
Then, as if he weren't in enough trouble as it was, the boy looked Duo straight in the eye, and blew him a kiss. That was it, the line had been crossed. A few seconds later, a Duo had been flung against Solo and the two were fighting, Duo like a wildcat, and Solo like a professional martial arts instructor who was sparring with his student.
"Good move there kid, I know I didn't teach you that. Nice, but you should try and kick a little higher."
It was incredible, here was the God of Death, one of the most feared enemies in all of the world, and his every move was blocked by a guy who looked like he should be living in a cardboard box somewhere. Even more surprising, was that he was commenting on every move, and wasn't fighting back.
"Uhh, guys? I know none of us really wants to go near Duo when he's fighting, but either this guy is gonna start fighting back, or Duo's eventually gonna kill him. And I don't really want to try and explain this dead guy to the police."
Trowa, Heero, and Wufei all nodded in agreement and began to advance on the fighters, preparing to separate them.
Ten minutes, two black eyes, one twisted wrist, four bruised ribs, and one forearm gash later, Duo was tied in a chair by a very thick rope and elaborate knots. Solo was permitted to stand, just so long as Wufei kept his katana at his throat the entire time. As the four pilots began to get bags of ice and other first aid devices, Duo refused to give up his attempt at burning a hole through Solo's skull.
"Duo, who is this guy? And why were you attacking him?" Wufei asked.
"Duo? So, you're still Duo huh? I never did like that name. Kinda cheesy if you ask me. I always liked C-"
"Shut the hell up Solo!"
All eyes fell on Duo. The whole time he hadn't said a word, but apparently the peaceful silence was now over.
"Calm down there shorty. And to answer you're question, whoever you are, I'm an old friend of .......Duo's." Solo motioned to Wufei, answering the question intended for Duo.
The long pause before Solo said Duo's name did not go unnoticed. Heero and Trowa exchanged a quick look and nodded to each other. They didn't use their real names, it wasn't a big surprise that Duo was also a code name. 'I wonder what Duo's real name is?' Heero lost himself in thought, though from the outside he was as vigilant and ready as ever. 'It sounded like this guy Solo was about to say something with a C at the beginning. Hmm, maybe Chris?'
"Well kid, I'm really ashamed, I'd thought someone woulda taught you better manners. Here I am, coming in peace, and you attack me, then you don't even have the decency to introduce me to your friends." Solo raised an eyebrow and made a tsking noise as he shook his head at Duo.
"Fine. You want to be introduced. This is Heero, that's Trowa, the one over there with the ice pack is Quatre, and the one with the very large pointy sword is Wufei. By the way guys, I'm not going to try and kill him anymore, I promise. Now please can I get up. I can't stand being tied up. Please please please!" Not one of the warriors in the room could stand up too much of Duo's wining and quickly cut him loose. He had regained his composure and stood, rubbing his arms where the ropes had been holding him. 'I can't believe those guys tied me up, I'm they're friend. But noooo! They leave the complete stranger standing and have me tied to a chair. Rotten bunch of no good...' and so on and so on as Duo's mind rambled about the injustice's of being a teenage soldier.
"Well, it's nice to meet you all. You seem like a fun bunch of guys, plus, you managed to contain shorty there, for that you all get major props. As he already said, the name's Solo. Don't have a last name, don't have a family, don't have much come to think of it." The smile he gave was extremely unnerving for some reason. As usual, Heero picked up on it the fastest, it was definitely that same cocky grin Duo always wore. 'These two must have been really close if Duo picked up a facial expression from him.'
"So, Duo, how's the whole Gundam thing working for ya?"
Immediately, weapons were drawn and the pilots tensed, all except for Duo.
"Don't worry guys, Solo knew me back when I was training to be a pilot. And, he's probably figured out that I would find the other four pilots we didn't know about back then."
"Of course, Duo, if he hadn't figured it out by now, you just told him!" Wufei yelled at the incompetent American.
"Oops."
A few sets of eyes rolled, but Solo's stayed fixed on Duo. Their eyes met, and for a few tense moments, it seemed like they might get into another brawl. Instead, Duo calmly walked up to him, grabbed him by his leather and pulled him toward his room. As Quatre began to protest, Duo commented as he passed by, "Don't worry, not gonna hurt him, just need to talk to him, catch up and all." He sent a dangerous look at all of them, "Alone."
The door slamming stopped any of the pilots, who by now were feeling very left out and confused, from voicing their opinions. Guns were replaced to their holsters, and knives to their sheaths. Silence fell over the room, and glares abounded as the four waited, patiently, listening to the cd Duo had put on, obviously to cover up their conversation. 'I wonder what they're talking about, I don't seem to be getting the feeling that Duo really hates that guy. But then, why would he act like that. Hmm, quite the dilemma, and on the day of a mission too.' Poor Quatre thought as he strained to hear the muffled voices.
* * * * *
The two entered Duo's room, and after turning around and locking the door, Duo walked over to his cd player and put it on loud enough to drown out their conversation. 'Hey, maybe this is loud enough to keep them from hearing any noise as I strangle him.' Duo changed his mind though, knowing he couldn't break a promise, especially to Quatre. Solo, meanwhile, had been taking in the décor of the room, then turned around and looked Duo straight in the eyes, "Boy, it's been quite a while since I've been forcefully dragged to your room." A quick wink and Solo walked up to his short friend.
"Solo," Duo warned as he got into a fighting stance.
"Ha, yeah right kid." Solo launched forward, perfectly hiding his actions, and predicted that Duo would try and catch him with that same right hook to the stomach. He caught Duo's fist and then grabbed his other wrist. Using his strength and bulk, Solo slightly picked Duo up off the floor and threw him against the nearest wall, but quietly enough that the others wouldn't hear. Still holding both of Duo's arms to his sides, Solo stepped up, pressing against Duo, looking down the three or four inches that separated them. Duo tried to break free, or kick him, or anything to get away, but he was pinned fast, and Solo was stronger and faster than him. 'Argh, he was just playing with me in there, he was faking it, how could I have been so stupid. I can't believe I honestly thought I could beat him now.' Duo glared up, now that Solo had taken a slight step back, well, more like he leaned back.
"Still not good enough....shorty." Solo smiled down as he used his favorite pet name. Duo tried one more time, struggling against the strong hands, but finally gave up on escaping. Solo, pleased that his old friend was now relaxed leaned forward. Their faces came closer and closer. Solo's eyes were matched up with Duo's, violet to gold, like a predator and his prey. The smaller boy was still, somewhere between fear, and friendship. Duo could feel Solo's hot breath against his face. He leaned even farther over, till their noses were side to side, and Solo looked down, his eyes half covered by his hair. "What's wrong, you seem tense...," then he looked up, once again meeting Duo's eyes, barely an inch away, all the two could see were each other's eyes, his next word was barely a hiss, dangerous, and challenging, "...Ciaran." The surprise and hurt in Duo's eyes was almost unbearable, but Solo kept staring, until Duo closed his eyes.
Duo could almost feel his pride sliding down his throat, "Please Solo, let me up." The voice was quite, sad, and submissive. Realizing that he was overstepping his boundaries, both literally and figuratively, Solo released him and walked back to sit on his bed.
"Sorry kid, anyway, why'd ya drag me away from all your fun friends?"
"Why are you here?" Duo knew exactly why this ghost from the past was in his life once again, but he still wanted to hear it, and keep his mind off the way he'd reacted when pinned to the wall. 'No, I have a crush on Heero, I hate Solo. Keep it straight. Ha, straight, now there's a funny one, there's nothing straight about this situation.'
"Well, I have a feeling that you know as well as I do why I'm here, or did you not notice the wings growing from your back the past couple of days?" Duo was seriously beginning to hate that grin of Solo's, so confident, and annoying.
"Yeah, I guess I must have missed it." After taking a sigh, and trying his best to calm down, Duo continued. "So what are we going to do about this? You're here, whoop de do. The wings will still come even if you did arrive before they come fully, and how exactly do you propose I keep this a secret from the other guys?"
'Wow, he talks fast, and that's a lot of questions I don't have the answers to. Of course, I really shouldn't have pinned him to a wall, or stressed the name thing so much. I bet he really does hate me.' "Well shorty, we're gonna have to hide the wings. After all, no one can know about this. Ever. Don't you forget that. Plus, it shouldn't be too hard. Just wear a long coat, like mine. And since I'm already here, we shouldn't have them for too long." Solo flashed one of his smiles, a real smile, or as real as his ever got.
"Why wings? I never quite got that. It would have been so much easier if they'd given us birth marks or something. But noooo, they make us grow wings instead!" Duo gave in and laughed for a minute, just a minute, but that was enough for Solo.
"Oh no, I forgot, we have a mission today! What am I going to do! There is no way that I'm leaving you here alone, or with any of the other guys for that matter."
"And plus, that cockpit isn't going to be a comfortable place if you sprout while you're in there."
"Yeah, and I hate cleaning blood out of there."
The two shared a brief moment where neither was bent on annoying or killing one another, and then Duo decided he should go check on his poor friends in the other room. 'They probably think we were making out. Wonderful.'
* * * * *
"We should really go get those two. We need to go on this mission soon."
"Calm down Quatre. Duo's dealing with his friend." Trowa reassured their shaky leader.
The door down the hall finally opened, and down walked the two. Heero glared at Solo, and Solo gave him an arrogant look right back at him. "Uh guys, we all need to talk." Duo began as he sat on the couch next to Qautre. Solo shot him a hurt look as he realized there were no open seats next to him. 'Oh well, hehe, might as well have some fun while I'm here.'
Heero had to use all his willpower to keep from stabbing, strangling, or in any other way killing Solo for the way he kept looking at Duo. It was a miracle that when Solo walked over to stand only a few feet away from Heero that both remained civilized.
"Quatre, Solo's going to stay here for a few days. Only," Duo stressed the word, " a few days." 'Boy oh boy, am I glad that Howard let us use this place.'
The pilots needed a place to keep their gundams and themselves until the mission, and Duo had asked Howard if he had a house and hangar that they could use for a few weeks. Conveniently, he did, and it was about as close as they could get to the base without being in OZ territory and blowing their cover. The front door of the house entered into the kitchen on the left, and the living room on the right, with no real barrier between the two. Duo, Wufei, and Heero's rooms were on the first floor, with a bathroom that the three shared. The rooms were down a hall from the living room, which had two couches and a few chairs, and of course, the tv. Up the stairs were Trowa and Quatre's rooms, another bathroom, and a room which had become a gym for the boys. Instead of leading to a backyard like most do, their backdoor went straight from the kitchen to a hangar where the gundams were kept. Normally, there would be a lot of guys from Howards team staying in the house while working on mobile suits, so there was a lot of space and each boy was able to have his own room.
"Umm, Duo? What are we going to do about Solo today?"
"I don't really know, do you guys have any ideas?"
"All I know is that I am not babysitting him!"
"I feel a little insulted, I'm not a baby! And I don't need to be sat. Hey! Do you guys have guns in this house!"
"There's no way we can leave him alone, he'll kill something."
"I agree, but Wufei refuses to be left alone with him, and the rest of us are busy."
"How about we just kill him."
"Heero!"
"Quatre!"
"Heero."
"Duo?"
"Trowa..."
"Heero."
"Wufei?"
"Duo!"
"Solo." The five pilots' bickering stopped, and everyone was silent in the house. Five confused pairs of eyes fell on Solo, who had on an idiot's grin.
"What, I felt left out!"
"So you say your own name! What's wrong with you!" Duo shouted, then took a breath to calm himself down, and made a decision that he hoped he wouldn't be regretting.
"Look, what if Wufei goes on the mission instead of me, and I'll stay here and keep an eye on Solo and make sure he doesn't blow anything up."
Solo flashed a kid-who-just-got-a-new-toy-that-he-can-kill-people-with grin. Quatre could feel his heart telling him that this was a good idea. 'I don't know why, but leaving Duo with Solo seems right. Even though all they seem to do is yell and attack each other.'
"Good idea, but Wufei's leg is hurt, he can't take your position Duo." Once again, Trowa was left to point out the less noticeable problem.
"Well, how about if I go in and back Heero up, and Wufei can provide cover in my place." Quatre smiled at the others, especially Duo, who seemed relieved that they found a way of keeping him at home with Solo.
"My leg is healing well. I know I'll be fine piloting Nataku, as long as we're not forced into hand to hand."
"Thanks Wufei. I owe you one."
"Yes you do Maxwell, and I will make you pay me back."
"Ooh, kinky." Duo winked at Wufei, who he loved to antagonize. Unfortunately, he missed the brief death glare Solo gave to Wufei when Duo made the crude joke. 'If that Chinese kid comes anywhere close to Duo, I'll show him some real hand to hand.'
"We should get going. Are you sure you two will be okay?" Despite the fact that it was directed to both of them, Heero kept his eyes locked on Solo. 'I don't care what Duo or Qautre seem to think, I don't trust him. This mission better end fast.'
"Well, nice meetin you guys! I hope we can hang out some later!" Solo shouted at their backs, while casually hanging an arm around Duo's shoulders. Duo shrugged the arm off and ran after the other pilots.
"Hey guys, don't worry, I'll be fine." Trowa looked suprised that the pilot 02 had been able to tell that they were worried about leaving him.
"Blow something up for me!"
"We will Duo!" Qautre shouted from inside the cockpit of Sandrock. All four gundams took off and flew out of the hangar, leaving Duo standing in their wake, his braid being blown around him. 'Good luck you guys.'
From behind him, Duo felt an arm quickly wrap around his left side, pinning his arm down, then it reached across him, grabbing his right arm in a strong grasp. Duo snarled back at Solo and began to try and get away. Instead, he just made it worse for himself as Solo wrapped his right arm around Duo's throat. For a minute, everything froze. All Duo could think about was if he had made a mistake that would cost him and his friends their lives.
"Quiet you're struggling. I ain't gonna hurt ya shorty." Solo said, even as he made sure that his grips were tight enough so his little friend couldn't get away.
Duo made some sort of noise from his constricted throat as he began to thrash around again. Solo was forced to hang on for dear life, and continue to keep his hold on the wild child. Then, Duo slumped quietly in his arms. 'Uh oh, I hope I didn't keep him from breathing for too long!' Solo gently let his arms relax, and, before he knew what was happening, Duo had grabbed his arms and swung himself around to face his aggressive friend.
"Hey, faker!" Solo shouted even as Duo swiped his legs out from under him. As soon as he hit the floor, Duo grabbed onto his shoulders, and set his knees on either side of Solo's.
After getting over the shock of being knocked down, Solo glared up at, to his suprise, a smiling and panting Duo. He was standing on all fours, his weight and position keeping even Solo from moving. Duo couldn't believe it, he had beaten Solo in one of his own dominance/submission games. 'Woo-hoo, I won. Oh yeah, who's the man.'
Solo's mind, on the other hand, was focused on the fact that his pant's were a little tighter than usual. Then, a wicked idea struck the blonde. He made a quick jerk, bringing his and Duo's chest, then stomach, then hips grinding together. Duo's eye's shot open, and he joined the tight pants club with his friend. 'Oh man, not now, I can't believe this. Oh, as if the situation isn't bad enough.'
"Ah!"
Solo's brief yell completely caught Duo off guard.
"Wings!"
"You want chicken wings, now?" Duo asked, confused, but still pinning Solo to the ground.
"No you idiot. Our wings, now, we need to get to the bathroom!"
Duo finally got his mind off his pants and realized the tingly sensation on his back had returned.
"Oh crap!" Duo let Solo up and the two made a mad dash for the downstairs bathroom
* * * * * *