Of Panties and Starlight 1/1
Story IV of "Chasing Down the Moon"
Rating: PG13
Series: Gundam Wing
Genre: Romance
Pairings: 1+2+1
Spoilers: ..? Not to my knowledge
Warnings: budding shounen ai, suggested violence, panty jokes
By Moon Faery
Archived: (eventually at) Moon Faery's Garden
(); FFN
(); Kiss of Death [my new site!]
(); anywhere else that
asks nicely.
Disclaimer: A statement created solely to save one's ass from
becoming lawn for the proverbial legal mower. I do not own Gundam
Wing, nor does anyone I know own it. However, this story line and
plot are MINE. (Holds fic close to her.) Grrrr....
Author Notes: Set roughly 8 weeks after "Comforting". The opening is
basically just a part written to lead into the real story.
***
The mess scattered across the darkened room was truly monumental.
Clothing was spread around, draped over the sparse furnishings and
hanging off of doorknobs. There was even a bra hanging off the
ceiling fan, which whirled around at high speed. Wufei picked his way
through the room, occasionally stepping carefully around a select
piece of female unmetionables. Duo was following closely behind him,
clucthing the back of his black tanktop and squeezing his eyes closed.
"Is it over yet?" Duo asked, opening one eye to find himself
peeking at a pink panty. He sqeaked and hid his face in Wufei's back
again. "Make 'em go away!"
"Maxwell, if you don't let go of me, you're going to find yourself
waking up naked in Victoria's Secret," Wufei threatened, twisting his
head around to glare at the other boy. "You're doing something most
men our age only dream of."
"But it's the girls' locker room!" Duo whined, reluctantly letting
go of the Chinese pilot. "And I never thought it would be this...
messy." He nudged a shirt with the toe of his shoe, jumping back as
if it were going to bite.
"That is what happens when you release the lab mice from the
science department into a large group of girls," Wufei told him
philosophically, scooting sideways around a locker that had been
tipped over.
A quick grin flashed across Duo's face. "It got them out of here."
"And created the very feminine disatster you are so afraid of,"
Wufei reminded him, kneeling down to take a quick look under a cement
bench. "I think this is it."
Duo carefully bent over to look. His braid slithered down his
shoulder to block his vision. Mutterering under his breath, he moved
it aside and finally got a good look at the small device that had
been glued to the underside of the bench. "What a place to leave
plans for a new mobile suit."
Wufei nodded. "But intelligent; who would think that OZ agents pass
information in such an undignified manner?" He pulled a pocket knife
out of his shoe and began prying at the glue. "Why are you here,
again? Your job was done with the rodents."
"Quatre's Mission Plan specifically had me here, playing decoy,"
Duo explained, sliding away from a threatening pair of pompoms. "I
think he wanted me to stage a panty-raid or something. I didn't read
it after the second mention of wigs and falsies."
Underneath the bench, something came loose with an almost inaudible
'pop!'. "I have it," Wufei announced, sitting back on his heels. He
accidentally bumped one of the leaning lockers, which swung open and
showered him with a rain of make up, panties and bras. He blinked,
picking a bra off his head and glaring at the offening garment.
"Lacy," was his only comment.
Duo snickered. "Great, oh exalted one. Now, if you can pull
yourself away from the 'silky darlings'," he drawled, "can we get
outta here before someone-" The lights flooded on.
"I KNOW I heard voices, Mary!" a contralto voice declared loudly.
"It would be JUST like those guys to put the mice in here so they can
steal our panties." The locker doors slammed closed.
Duo and Wufei found themselves frozen in place, unable to move.
They shared a single thought. 'Oh shit.'
"I'm tellin' ya, 'Manda," a higher pitched voice said. "Guys don't
really do things like that." Two girls rounded the corner, one of
them weilding a baseball bat.
"Comes..." Duo finished his sentence weakly.
Two pairs of eyes, one green, one brown, fixed on the two boys with
deadly intensity. The one with the blunt object set her jaw. "They
don't do that, huh?" she asked, not removing her blood-thirsty
emerald eyes from the offending 'panty thieves'.
The one with the brown eyes had blushed, but was now looking as
angry as her friend. "I owe you a coke," she said simply. "CHARGE!"
Duo and Wufei screamed in sheer, unadulterated terror.
***
Wufei stuck the bandage over the long claw mark on Duo's cheek. The
truck they had hitched a ride on hit a bump, making him nearly ram
face-first into the wall.
"Thanks, Wu," Duo sighed, rubbing a large bruise that spread across
his ribs in the shape of a baseball bat. Miraculously, nothing was
broken, but it wasn't for lack of effort on the parts of 'Manda and
Mary. "Look at us," he snorted ruefully, turning around to dig
himself a burrow in a tarp. "We're pathetic."
"Excuse me?" Raising an eyebrow at the quickly vanishing pilot,
Wufei considered jumping up and arguing the statement. He decided not
to, as his ankle hadn't yet recovered from being knawed upon.
"You heard me, Wu." Duo poked his chestnut head out of the miniture
cave he'd created. "Here we are, two trained assassins and members of
an elite group of freedom fighters that accepted only the absolute
best when we signed up. And we were just beaten up by a pair of
ordinary teenage girls, who were armed with only a single blunt
object." He rested his chin in his cupped hands and stared at his
partner. "We. Are. Pathetic."
"We were under restraint not to seriously injure them," the dark-
eyed Chinese teenager reminded him, though doubt flickered across his
features. "They were civilians."
"And we couldn't even get away?" Grey-blue tinged eyes regarded
Wufei sarcastically. "Sure bud, all that pleading for mercy was just
us playing 'normal teenage boys' for the crowd."
Wufei took a moment to reflect on that. "I don't think even Heero
could have gotten away from those two," he commented honestly. "He
certainly shows no... talent for handling that Peacecraft girl."
The silence stretched out. "I think it's a guy thing," Duo finally
told him. "Women look at us funny, and we either get blown over by
hormones or terrified. Usually both."
"There are plenty of men who have no problems handling women,"
Wufei felt obliged to point out, in defense of his gender.
"And how many of them aren't whipped, either by their wives or
girlfriends?"
"..."
Duo grinned suddenly. "At least we aren't alone, Wu." The attempt
to cheer up the suddenly depressed Chinese pilot fell flat. The quiet
began again, settling down like an itchy old blanket. Eventually, it
was broken.
"Duo?"
"Yes?"
"You were right on your first assessment. We're pathetic."
"I know, man. I know."
***
Heero looked up from mending a rip in the pocket of a t-shirt to
see Wufei and Duo stagger into the secluded cabin. He blinked at
their battered state. Duo had several long scratches on his face and
a horrible looking black eye. Wufei was leaning heavily on Duo and
walked with a limp. A large series of bruises and what looked like
teeth marks decorated his shoulders and arms like strange tattoos, or
war badges.
"..." seemed like the most appropriate comment to make. Inspite of
the battle marks he bore, Duo looked deliciously rumpled. The collar
of his t-shirt was torn along the shoulder seam, revealing one creamy
shoulder. Heero's mouth went dry at the sight.
Duo eyed him wearily, blinking a little at the hungry look in
Heero's eyes. 'I must be imagining things.' "Heero..?"
He hesitated. "Yes?"
"Next time, you take the 'easy' missions."
"... I see."
***
Duo laid on his bed in the room he shared with Heero, staring
blankly at the ceiling. Through the window the stars glittered down,
not even casting enough light to create a decent shadow. Thoughts
whirrled around him, making sleep impossible.
When they had told Heero of the problems they'd faced in the locker
room, he'd done the last thing either of them had expected. He'd
laughed himself silly, almost knocking over his laptop while doing so.
'He's changed,' Duo thought, smiling to himself a little and
replaying the image of Heero's laughter in his mind. His thoughts
kept returning to the way his eyes flashed, and the soft look of the
skin of his throat when Heero tipped his head back to he could laugh
louder. 'Its like he's opening up finally. I wonder why..?'
Duo turned over and snuggled deeper under the blankets, arranging
his hair carefully to prevent choking on it. His large eyes peeked
out the window from beneath the covers, watching the moon begin to
rise behind gathering clouds.
The door creaked open, and a soft footstep broke the silence. Duo
automatically went limp, waiting and watching through cracked
eyelids. Heero glided into the room, moving around carefully. He
stored his laptop on the small desk and dug around in his dresser for
a moment. His figure was outined by the window, the stars and rising
moon giving off just enough light to hint at the curve of his muscles
and the color of his eyes.
Violet eyes narrowed slightly as Duo stared, lips parted. Heero shut the dresser drawer and began to pull off his tank top. Luna chose that moment to finally let go of the horizon and the cloud cover, spilling silvery light onto the scene. Each dip and line of Heero's chest and shoulders became outlined in light, glowing a washed out shade of bronze against the darkness of the room. Unconciously, Duo groaned under his breath, licking dry lips as he stared at his partner. 'Guess I WAS oogling Heero's ass,'[1] he thought drily, nearly swallowing his tongue as Heero balanced on one leg and bent over to work his jeans off. He audibly choked as the jeans pulled down Heero's boxers enough to reveal the rounded top of one cheek.
Heero whirled around, crouching low. "Who's there?"
'Busted.' "Just me, Heero." Duo sat up in bed, fighting off the urge to hide himself in the blankets. It was cowardly. Besides, Heero would probably dig him out of them, and the thick comforter was the only thing hiding his erection besides his boxers, and somehow he didn't think they'd be much help.
"You were watching me undress?"
Duo grimaced at the faint accusation in the tone. "Um... something like that..." He fidgeted, not looking Heero in the eye.
Dark blue eyes glinted. "You're drooling." Heero watched Duo perform a full-body blush as he wiped his chin off. His lips twitched as he fought to maintain an air of diapproval. The blankets pooled around Duo's lap, and every move the slender pilot made was calculated not to change that, a fact which Heero noted.
"I was... just thinking of... getting something to eat!" Duo prevaricated, conveniently forgetting to mention what it was he wanted to eat. He grinned, swallowing against the heat that was building up in the room. Heero was staring at him intensly, something strange in his face making Duo shift around more. His erection rubbed insistently against the blankets, making his breath catch in his throat.
"Oh?" Heero asked, voice deceptively mild. "What do you want to eat?" His voice deeped to a near purr.
Duo blushed at the tone, swallowing hard. "Uh..." He gathered the comforter and dashed for the door. "I'mgoingtogogetsomethingtoeatbye!"
Heero watched as his prey left, a faintly disappointed fown curling his lips down. "Damnit. He took the blanket."
***
The blankets pooled on the wood floor as Duo stared at the ceiling again. He'd been there for at least a hour, and hadn't moved since finishing the sandwich he'd made for comfort food.
"This sucks."
"What does?" Wufei slipped into the room, sitting across from him at the kitchen table. "Something about Heero?"
Duo blinked. "How'd you guess?"
Loose black hair brushed Wufei's cheeks as he shook his head ruefully. "For the past three weeks, you haven't talked about much of anything else." He looked at the kitchen to their left, eyeing the American out of the corner of one dark eye. "You like him."
Duo opened his mouth to protest, but snapped it shut again. He watched his fingers push bread crumbs around on his plate. "It's that obvious?"
Wufei snorted, smiling slightly. "Only to someone who knows you both well."
"It's that obvious," Duo sighed to himself. "What do I do, Wu?" he asked pitifully. "I don't think he even swings that way..." His forehead thumped down unto the table. "Ow."
"Duo..." Wufei stood and walked around to kneel by his friend's chair. He pressed a light hand against one pale bare shoulder. "If you lo- like him, you should act on it."
One bright eye peered out at him, dark blue depths lightening to their normal violet. "What if he says no?"
"Seduce him," came the prompt answer. Duo choked and sputtered.
"Seduce him?" he hissed, shocked. "Wha..." He hesitated, thinking the option through. "That actually makes sense. How'd someone like you learn so much about relationships, Wu?"
A quick grin answered him. "By watching people like you fall in love," he answered softly, hints of an old pain quickly hidden behind his obsidian eyes.
"Thank you, Wufei." Duo bent down and hugged his friend. Wufei squeezed back. When they parted, he stood and pulled Duo up with him.
"Go to bed," the Chinese boy ordered gruffly, tears shining at the corners of his almond-shaped eyes.
"Sure, Wu. G'night." Duo practically floated back to his bedroom, doing a few improvised dance steps and almost tripping over his blanket.
Wufei watched with a small, sad smile, shaking his head and cleaning up the mess Duo had made.
***OWARI***
[1] At the end of Comforting, Duo stares at Heero's butt, but convinces himself that it was the the knock on the head. Pay more attention to the story! (Or better yet, read Comforting. [hint hint])
Story IV of "Chasing Down the Moon"
Rating: PG13
Series: Gundam Wing
Genre: Romance
Pairings: 1+2+1
Spoilers: ..? Not to my knowledge
Warnings: budding shounen ai, suggested violence, panty jokes
By Moon Faery
Archived: (eventually at) Moon Faery's Garden
(); FFN
(); Kiss of Death [my new site!]
(); anywhere else that
asks nicely.
Disclaimer: A statement created solely to save one's ass from
becoming lawn for the proverbial legal mower. I do not own Gundam
Wing, nor does anyone I know own it. However, this story line and
plot are MINE. (Holds fic close to her.) Grrrr....
Author Notes: Set roughly 8 weeks after "Comforting". The opening is
basically just a part written to lead into the real story.
***
The mess scattered across the darkened room was truly monumental.
Clothing was spread around, draped over the sparse furnishings and
hanging off of doorknobs. There was even a bra hanging off the
ceiling fan, which whirled around at high speed. Wufei picked his way
through the room, occasionally stepping carefully around a select
piece of female unmetionables. Duo was following closely behind him,
clucthing the back of his black tanktop and squeezing his eyes closed.
"Is it over yet?" Duo asked, opening one eye to find himself
peeking at a pink panty. He sqeaked and hid his face in Wufei's back
again. "Make 'em go away!"
"Maxwell, if you don't let go of me, you're going to find yourself
waking up naked in Victoria's Secret," Wufei threatened, twisting his
head around to glare at the other boy. "You're doing something most
men our age only dream of."
"But it's the girls' locker room!" Duo whined, reluctantly letting
go of the Chinese pilot. "And I never thought it would be this...
messy." He nudged a shirt with the toe of his shoe, jumping back as
if it were going to bite.
"That is what happens when you release the lab mice from the
science department into a large group of girls," Wufei told him
philosophically, scooting sideways around a locker that had been
tipped over.
A quick grin flashed across Duo's face. "It got them out of here."
"And created the very feminine disatster you are so afraid of,"
Wufei reminded him, kneeling down to take a quick look under a cement
bench. "I think this is it."
Duo carefully bent over to look. His braid slithered down his
shoulder to block his vision. Mutterering under his breath, he moved
it aside and finally got a good look at the small device that had
been glued to the underside of the bench. "What a place to leave
plans for a new mobile suit."
Wufei nodded. "But intelligent; who would think that OZ agents pass
information in such an undignified manner?" He pulled a pocket knife
out of his shoe and began prying at the glue. "Why are you here,
again? Your job was done with the rodents."
"Quatre's Mission Plan specifically had me here, playing decoy,"
Duo explained, sliding away from a threatening pair of pompoms. "I
think he wanted me to stage a panty-raid or something. I didn't read
it after the second mention of wigs and falsies."
Underneath the bench, something came loose with an almost inaudible
'pop!'. "I have it," Wufei announced, sitting back on his heels. He
accidentally bumped one of the leaning lockers, which swung open and
showered him with a rain of make up, panties and bras. He blinked,
picking a bra off his head and glaring at the offening garment.
"Lacy," was his only comment.
Duo snickered. "Great, oh exalted one. Now, if you can pull
yourself away from the 'silky darlings'," he drawled, "can we get
outta here before someone-" The lights flooded on.
"I KNOW I heard voices, Mary!" a contralto voice declared loudly.
"It would be JUST like those guys to put the mice in here so they can
steal our panties." The locker doors slammed closed.
Duo and Wufei found themselves frozen in place, unable to move.
They shared a single thought. 'Oh shit.'
"I'm tellin' ya, 'Manda," a higher pitched voice said. "Guys don't
really do things like that." Two girls rounded the corner, one of
them weilding a baseball bat.
"Comes..." Duo finished his sentence weakly.
Two pairs of eyes, one green, one brown, fixed on the two boys with
deadly intensity. The one with the blunt object set her jaw. "They
don't do that, huh?" she asked, not removing her blood-thirsty
emerald eyes from the offending 'panty thieves'.
The one with the brown eyes had blushed, but was now looking as
angry as her friend. "I owe you a coke," she said simply. "CHARGE!"
Duo and Wufei screamed in sheer, unadulterated terror.
***
Wufei stuck the bandage over the long claw mark on Duo's cheek. The
truck they had hitched a ride on hit a bump, making him nearly ram
face-first into the wall.
"Thanks, Wu," Duo sighed, rubbing a large bruise that spread across
his ribs in the shape of a baseball bat. Miraculously, nothing was
broken, but it wasn't for lack of effort on the parts of 'Manda and
Mary. "Look at us," he snorted ruefully, turning around to dig
himself a burrow in a tarp. "We're pathetic."
"Excuse me?" Raising an eyebrow at the quickly vanishing pilot,
Wufei considered jumping up and arguing the statement. He decided not
to, as his ankle hadn't yet recovered from being knawed upon.
"You heard me, Wu." Duo poked his chestnut head out of the miniture
cave he'd created. "Here we are, two trained assassins and members of
an elite group of freedom fighters that accepted only the absolute
best when we signed up. And we were just beaten up by a pair of
ordinary teenage girls, who were armed with only a single blunt
object." He rested his chin in his cupped hands and stared at his
partner. "We. Are. Pathetic."
"We were under restraint not to seriously injure them," the dark-
eyed Chinese teenager reminded him, though doubt flickered across his
features. "They were civilians."
"And we couldn't even get away?" Grey-blue tinged eyes regarded
Wufei sarcastically. "Sure bud, all that pleading for mercy was just
us playing 'normal teenage boys' for the crowd."
Wufei took a moment to reflect on that. "I don't think even Heero
could have gotten away from those two," he commented honestly. "He
certainly shows no... talent for handling that Peacecraft girl."
The silence stretched out. "I think it's a guy thing," Duo finally
told him. "Women look at us funny, and we either get blown over by
hormones or terrified. Usually both."
"There are plenty of men who have no problems handling women,"
Wufei felt obliged to point out, in defense of his gender.
"And how many of them aren't whipped, either by their wives or
girlfriends?"
"..."
Duo grinned suddenly. "At least we aren't alone, Wu." The attempt
to cheer up the suddenly depressed Chinese pilot fell flat. The quiet
began again, settling down like an itchy old blanket. Eventually, it
was broken.
"Duo?"
"Yes?"
"You were right on your first assessment. We're pathetic."
"I know, man. I know."
***
Heero looked up from mending a rip in the pocket of a t-shirt to
see Wufei and Duo stagger into the secluded cabin. He blinked at
their battered state. Duo had several long scratches on his face and
a horrible looking black eye. Wufei was leaning heavily on Duo and
walked with a limp. A large series of bruises and what looked like
teeth marks decorated his shoulders and arms like strange tattoos, or
war badges.
"..." seemed like the most appropriate comment to make. Inspite of
the battle marks he bore, Duo looked deliciously rumpled. The collar
of his t-shirt was torn along the shoulder seam, revealing one creamy
shoulder. Heero's mouth went dry at the sight.
Duo eyed him wearily, blinking a little at the hungry look in
Heero's eyes. 'I must be imagining things.' "Heero..?"
He hesitated. "Yes?"
"Next time, you take the 'easy' missions."
"... I see."
***
Duo laid on his bed in the room he shared with Heero, staring
blankly at the ceiling. Through the window the stars glittered down,
not even casting enough light to create a decent shadow. Thoughts
whirrled around him, making sleep impossible.
When they had told Heero of the problems they'd faced in the locker
room, he'd done the last thing either of them had expected. He'd
laughed himself silly, almost knocking over his laptop while doing so.
'He's changed,' Duo thought, smiling to himself a little and
replaying the image of Heero's laughter in his mind. His thoughts
kept returning to the way his eyes flashed, and the soft look of the
skin of his throat when Heero tipped his head back to he could laugh
louder. 'Its like he's opening up finally. I wonder why..?'
Duo turned over and snuggled deeper under the blankets, arranging
his hair carefully to prevent choking on it. His large eyes peeked
out the window from beneath the covers, watching the moon begin to
rise behind gathering clouds.
The door creaked open, and a soft footstep broke the silence. Duo
automatically went limp, waiting and watching through cracked
eyelids. Heero glided into the room, moving around carefully. He
stored his laptop on the small desk and dug around in his dresser for
a moment. His figure was outined by the window, the stars and rising
moon giving off just enough light to hint at the curve of his muscles
and the color of his eyes.
Violet eyes narrowed slightly as Duo stared, lips parted. Heero shut the dresser drawer and began to pull off his tank top. Luna chose that moment to finally let go of the horizon and the cloud cover, spilling silvery light onto the scene. Each dip and line of Heero's chest and shoulders became outlined in light, glowing a washed out shade of bronze against the darkness of the room. Unconciously, Duo groaned under his breath, licking dry lips as he stared at his partner. 'Guess I WAS oogling Heero's ass,'[1] he thought drily, nearly swallowing his tongue as Heero balanced on one leg and bent over to work his jeans off. He audibly choked as the jeans pulled down Heero's boxers enough to reveal the rounded top of one cheek.
Heero whirled around, crouching low. "Who's there?"
'Busted.' "Just me, Heero." Duo sat up in bed, fighting off the urge to hide himself in the blankets. It was cowardly. Besides, Heero would probably dig him out of them, and the thick comforter was the only thing hiding his erection besides his boxers, and somehow he didn't think they'd be much help.
"You were watching me undress?"
Duo grimaced at the faint accusation in the tone. "Um... something like that..." He fidgeted, not looking Heero in the eye.
Dark blue eyes glinted. "You're drooling." Heero watched Duo perform a full-body blush as he wiped his chin off. His lips twitched as he fought to maintain an air of diapproval. The blankets pooled around Duo's lap, and every move the slender pilot made was calculated not to change that, a fact which Heero noted.
"I was... just thinking of... getting something to eat!" Duo prevaricated, conveniently forgetting to mention what it was he wanted to eat. He grinned, swallowing against the heat that was building up in the room. Heero was staring at him intensly, something strange in his face making Duo shift around more. His erection rubbed insistently against the blankets, making his breath catch in his throat.
"Oh?" Heero asked, voice deceptively mild. "What do you want to eat?" His voice deeped to a near purr.
Duo blushed at the tone, swallowing hard. "Uh..." He gathered the comforter and dashed for the door. "I'mgoingtogogetsomethingtoeatbye!"
Heero watched as his prey left, a faintly disappointed fown curling his lips down. "Damnit. He took the blanket."
***
The blankets pooled on the wood floor as Duo stared at the ceiling again. He'd been there for at least a hour, and hadn't moved since finishing the sandwich he'd made for comfort food.
"This sucks."
"What does?" Wufei slipped into the room, sitting across from him at the kitchen table. "Something about Heero?"
Duo blinked. "How'd you guess?"
Loose black hair brushed Wufei's cheeks as he shook his head ruefully. "For the past three weeks, you haven't talked about much of anything else." He looked at the kitchen to their left, eyeing the American out of the corner of one dark eye. "You like him."
Duo opened his mouth to protest, but snapped it shut again. He watched his fingers push bread crumbs around on his plate. "It's that obvious?"
Wufei snorted, smiling slightly. "Only to someone who knows you both well."
"It's that obvious," Duo sighed to himself. "What do I do, Wu?" he asked pitifully. "I don't think he even swings that way..." His forehead thumped down unto the table. "Ow."
"Duo..." Wufei stood and walked around to kneel by his friend's chair. He pressed a light hand against one pale bare shoulder. "If you lo- like him, you should act on it."
One bright eye peered out at him, dark blue depths lightening to their normal violet. "What if he says no?"
"Seduce him," came the prompt answer. Duo choked and sputtered.
"Seduce him?" he hissed, shocked. "Wha..." He hesitated, thinking the option through. "That actually makes sense. How'd someone like you learn so much about relationships, Wu?"
A quick grin answered him. "By watching people like you fall in love," he answered softly, hints of an old pain quickly hidden behind his obsidian eyes.
"Thank you, Wufei." Duo bent down and hugged his friend. Wufei squeezed back. When they parted, he stood and pulled Duo up with him.
"Go to bed," the Chinese boy ordered gruffly, tears shining at the corners of his almond-shaped eyes.
"Sure, Wu. G'night." Duo practically floated back to his bedroom, doing a few improvised dance steps and almost tripping over his blanket.
Wufei watched with a small, sad smile, shaking his head and cleaning up the mess Duo had made.
***OWARI***
[1] At the end of Comforting, Duo stares at Heero's butt, but convinces himself that it was the the knock on the head. Pay more attention to the story! (Or better yet, read Comforting. [hint hint])
