Disclaimer: Gundam Wing doesn't belong to me; if it did I certainly wouldn't be here. In no way, shape, or form am I being paid for this, it's merely for amusement.
Warning: This story includes violence, mild swearing, drunkenness and yaoi. Pairings include an established 1X4 relationship, and others to come. Don't like it? Don't read it.
Notes: Sorry for the delay, but I had to take a brief hiatus due to midterms. AND (give me a moment here while I formulate excuses) this chapter is twice as long as the others. So everyone could just pretend it's two chapters, right? Then I don't seem like such a bad person . . . Oh, and I'm also sorry for the crappy mistakes in the beginning of last chapter. I swear it wasn't my fault; ff.net is screwing with my formatting again.
Chapter 3"The songbird was a piranga olivacea, also known as a scarlet tanager." Heero began to relay information without even bothering to look up from his laptop, voice droning in the style of a really dry textbook. "Approximately seven inches in length, the scarlet tanager is native to the Americas. It spends the winter in the canopy of the northwestern South American tropical forest, and then migrates nocturnally north through Central America and across the Gulf of Mexico. The males arrive first and sing short phrases alternately high and low in pitch, characterized by a throaty burr."
Quatre could feel his mind begin to wander and his eyes begin to glaze, an uncontrollable reaction to Heero's 'monotone lecture voice.'
"The males will perform courtship displays for the females when they arrive. They'll sit on low branches and hold their wings drooped and slightly away from their body, with their necks elongated to display their red backs so that the females can see their plumage from above. Females are also known to sing, but their voice is softer than the male songbird. Despite the bright coloring of the males, they can be difficult to see, as they remain motionless for long periods of time among dense foliage as they seek out beetles, caterpillars, and bees. In the colonies, especially in a place like this; fruits, berries, and buds augment their primarily insect diet."
Quatre jerked his drooping eyelids opened, and spoke up hastily before Heero could continue with the nature lesson. "That's fascinating Heero, but its hardly relevant. Didn't we spend enough time last night grilling the poor resort employees on how it got there? I thought you were satisfied with the answer?"
Heero just grunted in response.
After finding the tiny, and very stiff, bird on their bed, they had spent a large portion of the rest of the night questioning people. Quatre would have dismissed the incident entirely, as they had left a window open, but for the uneasy feelings he had been experiencing all day. He had called the resort manager, who had explained that the island was rampant with these birds, as the designer of the Emerald Sphere Resort had been particularly fond of them. As for the shifted luggage, a member of the cleaning staff had indeed been in the room, and although he couldn't directly recall moving the bag, he admitted that chances were good that he had. Heero had grilled the man himself, and of course predictably, now the terrified man refused to go anywhere near their rooms. Quatre had spent a great deal of time smoothing over that incident.
The most logical conclusion was that the bird had simply flown in through the open window and fluttered around until it died, falling to the bed. A regrettable event to be sure, but most likely not a mob warning, as Duo had so gleefully suggested, comparing it to a scene in an old movie where a horse's head had been placed on a bed as a death threat.
Quatre was just relieved that they hadn't found a horse head. Heero was paranoid enough as it was.
The silence that both pilots had fallen into was broke abruptly by a loud thud as the front door to their room was opened with enough force to slam into the wall. Quatre winced, calculating the cost of cracked paint and broken doorknobs, as he looked up to see Duo dash excitedly into their bedroom, bouncing on his toes and eating a candy bar. Quatre was surprised he didn't choke, though he hadn't been surprised at his appearance.
No one else would dare to come in without knocking.
"You guys are bor-ring!" He sang obnoxiously, and then, after taking in their positions: "Yuy, you had better not be looking at porn again!" The braided boy leaned over Heero's shoulder to get a look at his laptop, still munching on the chocolate bar. Crumbs from the carelessly positioned candy rained down on the keyboard.
Heero's jaw clenched as he watched bits of chocolate bounce off of his fingers and lodge between the keys. He slowly turned his head and glared daggers at the other man.
Duo seemed oblivious to his impending murder. "Geez, Heero. Are you still investigating this? I thought we had officially ruled this a death by natural causes? Let the poor bird rest in peace, man."
Quatre's mouth twitched uncontrollably as Heero's glare intensified to cataclysmic levels. The blonde knew that Duo was deliberately provoking the stoic ex-soldier; and he knew just what buttons to push.
He also knew just when to quit. He was well practiced after all.
The violet-eyed man moved quickly back to door, prudently putting Quatre between him and Heero before the other ex-pilot decided to take revenge for the desecration of his beloved laptop.
"Come on guys! We're on vacation, let's go do some vacationy things," he waved his hand vaguely. "There are those great speed boats we could use. Quatre could learn how to water-ski; I swear I won't throw you off Q, at least not much. Oh! Or they've got those volleyball nets; I could totally cream Wufei at that game. Though Trowa might give me some trouble, I remember this one time . . ."
Quatre ignored Duo's chatter for the moment, as he was only using it as a useful diversionary tactic to get them to agree to whatever he wanted – and of course to distract Heero from killing him – and so the blonde turned to his boyfriend and arched a questioning eyebrow. The question was clear: well, are you going to just give in and have fun?
Heero sent a pained look at their still babbling friend, and then, with a look of resignation, gently shut his laptop. His answer was just as clear: fine, but only if it will shut the baka up.
Five days of almost glorious vacation later, Quatre trudged along the well-cleared path, pretending to admire the fragrant flowers and teeming greenery sheltering him on either side, while he shot concerned glances at the figure walking along beside him. Duo was uncharacteristically quiet. His expression, now that he thought the blonde wasn't looking, was pensive. Quatre was pretty sure he knew the cause of the moodiness, and he wasn't happy about it.
The last five days had been fun, but Trowa and Wufei's seduction plan was becoming the cause of a lot of underlying tension between all five of them. Duo was tense and confused, as neither of them had yet to do anything terribly overt, and so he wasn't sure of what exactly was going on. And although he hadn't called them on it, he was, at least subconsciously, aware of their behavior. Quatre was worried about Duo, and Heero . . . well, Heero was upset about something, as he had become even more closed mouthed then usual, a sure sign that something was on his mind.
Quatre worried his lower lip between his teeth, forgetting to admire the shrubbery as he stared at Duo anxiously. So of course, the other boy picked that moment to turn and look at the blonde. Violet eyes widened as he caught the expression on his friend's face. "What? Do I have something in my teeth?"
Quatre started and looked away nervously. "Um, no . . . so, how are things progressing with your plans for Trowa and Wufei?" The blonde winced as soon as the words left his mouth.
"Huh? Oh, they're going good. Real good. It won't be long before all of my buddies are happier than a drunk with a free case of beer!" Duo smiled, though the expression was slightly strained.
The blonde studied his falsely cheerful friend carefully, than he spoke hesitantly. "Your buddies will all be happy? And what will you be?"
Duo's smile suddenly turned frozen. "I'll be ecstatic, of course," he said through clenched teeth.
"Really?"
"Just what are you trying to get at Quatre?"
The Arabian frowned, trying to decide how to phrase it delicately. "Don't you ever think of yourself?"
"Every minute of every day, just like everybody else in the universe," he returned flippantly.
Quatre valiantly decided to ignore that. "Why did you decide to set them up together? Have you ever considered having a relationship with either one of them yourself? I know you find them attractive."
"Ha! Are you serious? Can you just imagine that? Wufei would kill me before we even left the house for our first date, and Trowa would probably feed me to one of his lions for insulting his sister."
"You know that's not true, what's the real reason?"
"Oh please, Q, you know they'd be better for each other. Besides, this way neither of them would be left out."
The blonde looked at him curiously.
"You and Heero have each other already. There are five of us, Q-man. We don't exactly have even numbers."
Quatre was quiet for a minute. Then he crossed his arms over his chest and
frowned. "So it's best that you're the
one left out?" He hesitated again, than
spoke softly, voice barely above a murmur.
"You, know, it doesn't have to be that way . . ."
"What the hell are you talking about? Q, stop being a mother hen, I'm fine. You know, just because you . . . Quatre? Hey, Q-man, are you alright?"
The blonde had suddenly turned pale and shaking. He turned slightly, staring at the plants on their right, eyes wide as he tried to burn a hole through the densely packed greenery to see what was on the other side. The wood turned dark, leaves and branches becoming dull and gray as the blonde's perception of his surroundings changed with what he was sensing. Quatre was struck by that same feeling he had sensed at the beach. Only this time the feeling was magnified by ten. Somebody was watching him, watching him, and hating him, with all of their being.
"Quatre! God damn it! Quatre, answer me!"
And just as quickly as it had happened, the feeling faded.
"Q! What's wrong? Answer me!" The blonde shivered, and abruptly realized that Duo was shaking him violently and shouting into his face. He blinked and shook, glancing around with wide eyes at the now normal feeling rainforest. "I, I'm okay," he finally whispered quietly, startled by the hoarse sound of his own voice.
"Shit Quatre, shit! What the hell just happened?" Duo pulled the still shaking boy into his arms.
"I'm not sure. I felt something."
"You felt something? What's that supposed to mean? God, I've been shouting at you for the last ten minutes! You just completely shut down!"
"It felt like someone was there, I . . . wait. Ten minutes? That's an exaggeration right?"
"Fuck! Not much of one! Oh shit, this could be a side effect of that damn red formula. I know snapping you out of that was just too easy." Duo tightened his arms around the blonde, crushing him to his chest in an unconsciously protective motion. "Okay, here's what we're going to do. We'll go back to the resort, collect the guys, and then get on the next flight to Sally. Damn, what if the flight's booked? That would be too slow. No, screw that. I'll hijack a shuttle and get us back to earth faster . . ."
"Duo!" Quatre shouted, or tried to shout as his voice was muffled against his friend's shoulder. "Damn it, Duo! You're suffocating me!"
"What? Oh, sorry." Duo let go and Quatre pulled away, taking big gulps of air, eyes widening painfully as he took in the rest of the braided boy's continued rambling. "Duo! Stop talking!"
The American shut his mouth abruptly; hearing the blonde yell was an unusual occurrence.
"I'm fine. There's no need for us to go home, and you certainly don't need to call Sally."
"You're not fine! You completely spaced out! That's not healthy behavior!"
"Duo, do you remember when I told you about my empathy during the war?"
The American frowned. "Yeah," he said slowly. "I remember when you felt Heero self-destruct, you called it something weird . . . oh yeah, your space heart. You really haven't said much about it since then."
"That's because it so rarely occurs. Sometimes if someone I know experiences something big, an intense emotion, I can feel it. It's only happened a couple of times since the war. I think that's what I'm experiencing now. Though it has never felt this strong before."
Duo stared intently at Quatre, violet eyes gleaming with worry. "Are you sure it's the same thing? What are you feeling?"
The blonde hesitated. "No, I'm not sure it's the same thing." He stared past the other boy, senses focused inward. "It's like, it feels like . . . someone was out there. Really close by . . . and hating me."
"Hating you? Who the fuck could it be?"
"I don't know. It's never been like this before, Duo. I've always been able to figure out where the feelings have been coming from, and it's certainly never been this intense before."
"Are you absolutely sure it's the same thing? Quatre, that shit that Orth injected you with, it was designed to mess up your mind."
"I know. But Lady Une was given it long before me, and she hasn't had any side effects."
Duo frowned thoughtfully. "That's true. But still . . . let's go tell Heero and the others what happened . . ."
"No!" Quatre interrupted hastily, eyes widening in alarm. "Duo, you have to promise me you won't tell Heero! Or for that matter anyone else, I don't want it to get back to him."
"Why the hell not?"
"Look, I don't want him to worry. He'd overreact even worse than you are right now."
"Fuck Quatre, if you think he'll overreact from hearing about it, what's he going to do when you go all freaky zero system on him? Or what if your feelings are right and there's some psycho out there ready to send you to meet up with dear departed Sandrock in the sky?"
"There's nothing we can do about either scenario. If there is someone bad out there all we can do is keep an eye out, because there's no trail to follow right now. But eventually whoever it is will slip up and we can take him or her down. And if it's in my head . . ." he shrugged to show that there was nothing to be done.
The frown lines between Duo's eyes got deeper. He was willing to concede that Quatre was right on the problem of their mystery enemy, if one even existed, which he doubted. But as for the far more disturbing, and likely, idea that the Arabian was suffering side effects from the drug . . ." If the Red Formula screwed up your neural pathways somehow you'll need to see doctor, someone whose damn good with the human brain, some kind of specialist. I'll bet Sally could recommend someone . . ."
The blonde's face was expressionless, as aquamarine eyes met violet soberly. "Duo, despite all the advances in medicine, no one really understands the human brain. The specialists that checked Lady Une and I out before, they couldn't really figure out what snapped us out of the drug's influence in the first place. They could barely explain what it was about our personality disorders that allowed us to keep from becoming mindless killing machines like the other test subjects." Keeping Duo's gaze, the blonde whispered gently. "Do you really think they could help me now?"
Duo stared back at his friend, face draining of all color. "So what are we supposed to do?"
"Nothing. Either I'll be fine . . . or I won't."
"That is truly the most idiotic thing I've ever heard you say. Stupid isn't a good look for you Q. I'll bet if I told Mr. Trigger-Happy about this attitude of yours he'd drag your cute little blonde butt to a doctor fast."
"Don't tell him Duo!"
"Geez, why the hell not?! Give me an actual reason! And besides, when did you two morons switch personalities? Isn't Heero the one who usually likes to withhold information?"
"Look, I don't want to completely ruin this vacation. We only have four more days left before we go home. If I promise to go see a specialist as soon as we get back will you promise to keep your mouth shut? It's just four more days, Duo."
Duo scowled threateningly, but he was obviously thinking about it. Finally, clearly against his better judgment, he nodded his head reluctantly. "Okay Q, I won't tell him. But the second we depart the shuttle I'm dragging your stubborn ass straight to a doctor."
Quatre nodded his head hastily. "First thing," he promised quickly.
Duo glared warningly. "Don't you dare make me regret this." He was already regretting using Heero's crappy, vacationless childhood to guilt Quatre into coming, even if it had been for the overworked blonde's own good. Clearly he had done to good of a job, as now it would take no less than Wing Zero's beam canon to dislodge the other boy from the Emerald Sphere Resort.
"You won't, we'll have a great time!" Quatre beamed so brightly that the setting sun flashing off of white teeth blinded Duo. "Hey, isn't there a hula show being held at the beach in half an hour? We're supposed to meet the others; we should head over there now!" He grabbed Duo's hand and started to pull him back along the path. The American recognized his own distracting tactics, this time used to keep him from changing his mind, but he still followed along without any fuss. Though he did throw a glare at the back of the blonde's head that would have done Heero Yuy proud. Nothing had better make me regret this, or the God of Death's going to have to come out and play, he promised silently.
Quatre watched in delight as the pretty raven-haired woman tossed the burning brands across the stage to the just as pretty raven-haired man. The deftly juggled red and yellow flames sparked in an intricate dance as they flew through the air.
"Q-man, I'm completely amazed that those grass skirts haven't caught on fire yet."
The blonde blinked at the after-images burned onto the back of his eyelids, and turned to stare blurrily at Duo, who had yet another umbrella capped drink in his hand. He peered suspiciously at the offered glass. "Duo, are you trying to get me drunk?"
"Blondie, by the way your slurrming, ah, smlurling . . . I mean slurring, your words I'd say the missions already been accomplished." This coming from the man who had already had twice as many as Quatre, as the blonde found out when he peered into his drink and found it quite empty. He glared reproachfully at the glass, before remembering that an inanimate object couldn't be blamed for the current state of affairs, and transferred the glare to the blurry violet eyes of his friend.
Wufei leaned over to glance at the empty cup and snorted. He leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms above his head. "Maxwell, if Quatre's tipsy your lucky to still be vertical. Wasn't there supposed to be liquid with that pink umbrella?"
Duo scratched his head and frowned, nose wrinkling with drunken concentration. "They must not have made it right at the bar . . ." He listed over and wrapped an arm around Quatre's shoulders. "Don't worry, I'll make 'em fix it!"
Now it was Heero's turn to snort from Quatre's other side. He glared at the braided ex-pilot with a bit more venom than was really warranted for the situation.
The American took a nervous step back. "I'll just go get some more drinks . . ." he stumbled as he turned to do just that, causing Trowa to get up from his chair and loop a steadying arm around the inebriated man's waist.
"Don't worry," he called back. "I'll make sure he gets there without bashing his head in." They lurched off, Duo leaning heavily on Trowa and loudly proclaiming that he wasn't drunk and was able to walk just fine on his own. Quatre watched them go, expression changing to worry for the tenth time that night as he took in the possessive grip that the green-eyed man had on the American. He was so focused on their progress that he completely missed Heero's features go suspiciously blank, though his deep blue eyes glittered with irritation.
Heero abruptly stood up from his chair, nearly knocking it over in the process. Quatre swung his head around to look at his boyfriend questioningly. "I'm going to go check in with the Preventers," he said shortly, turning and walking away, back rigid.
"Heero!" The blonde called after him, but he was already out of sight. Quatre hastily got up from his own seat, intent on heading after his errant boyfriend. He certainly wasn't drunk enough to miss that something was upsetting the Japanese man.
A tight grip on his arm suddenly stopped him from following. Quatre looked at Wufei, startled by the abrupt intrusion into his space. He had never been particularly close with the other ex-pilot, and the only time Wufei had ever touched him had been when they were sparring. "What is it? I need to go talk with Heero . . ."
"Not without knowing what's bothering him."
"What's bothering him?" Quatre furrowed his brow in annoyance, scowling at the Chinese man, having drunk just enough to make him a little belligerent. "How would you know what his problem is?"
"It's obvious Quatre." Dark eyes pinned the blonde steadily, making him squirm uncomfortably. "He's jealous of your relationship with Duo. And quite honestly, so am I."
Duo cursed as he stumbled and lost his grip on the beer bottle in his hand. He winced and shut his eyes, waiting for the inevitable crash of shattering glass. When several seconds passed and the expected noise didn't come, he opened his eyes. He looked down and chuckled when he realized why he hadn't heard anything. "Nice reflexes, Tro."
Trowa had caught the bottle mere inches from the ground. Circus-trained reflexes were a really useful thing.
Trowa straightened with a flourish and relieved Duo of the rest of his alcoholic infused burdens, setting them on the ground before sliding his arm around the American's slim waist again.
Duo stared at his sober partner reproachfully, attention concentrated completely on his face with the intent focus that all drunken people have. "I can carry those!"
Trowa raised an amused eyebrow. "Somehow I don't think that would be a very good idea. I don't feel like wearing a margarita on my head tonight."
Duo grinned cheekily. "At least it's lime-flavored. It would match your eyes perfectly."
Green eyes sparkled with amusement, seeming to become larger and larger to the intoxicated American as he stared into them. Then he blinked, aware of a warm puff of air on his lips, and realized that they were filling his vision because he had been unconsciously drifting closer. Trowa's whole body pressed flush against his, and Duo couldn't help but notice the lean muscles shifting under the tanned skin.
Those green eyes sparked again, and suddenly Duo felt something wet and soft stroke across his bottom lip. He had time to think, did Trowa just lick me? And then a mouth brushed across his.
Duo opened his eyes wide with surprise; only able to see an indistinct shape that he assumed was Trowa's face. That warm tongue was back, this time stroking coaxingly along his closed mouth. The longhaired man wasn't sure if he wanted to open up, but when one hand, elegantly muscled and dexterous, slid from his waist to cup his bottom, he let out an involuntary gasp and Trowa's tongue settled the matter for him.
Duo groaned, hands that had been hanging helplessly at his sides automatically lifted to slide up and around a well muscled back.
By the time Duo remembered that Trowa was destined for Wufei his hands were up the back of the green-eyed man's loose shirt, stroking warm skin. He gasped and disengaged hastily, nearly tearing Trowa's shirt off in the process. (He tried to convince himself that ripping off the other young man's clothes was a bad thing). He stumbled backwards, still not very steady on his feet, and was only saved, once again, by circus-trained reflexes.
This time Trowa only held on long enough to make sure Duo wasn't going to topple over. He pulled back and gathered up the drinks from the ground, and when he straightened up his face was unreadable. "We'd better get these back to the guys," he said flatly. He started to walk back along the beach, back stiff.
Duo stared after him with wide eyes. Wasn't Trowa better off with Wufei? Wasn't that what he had already decided? What the hell had just happened?
Duo started to follow after his bewildering friend, much steadier on his feet this time around as he had been shocked into near sobriety. His thoughts continued to race, but they kept coming back to one question.
Had he seen a spark of hurt in Trowa's eyes after he had pulled away?
"Jealous?" Quatre blurted out incredulously. "Of what? Duo's my best friend, and that's it."
Wufei raised an eyebrow. (Something he did entirely too much of in Quatre's opinion). "Heero doesn't seem to think so, and he's rarely irrational. I think he may know something about you two that Trowa and I don't."
Quatre fought back a blush, trying to keep his features impassive. Heero did indeed know something. He knew what had happened between his boyfriend and his best friend towards the end of the war; he had been a voyeur to the whole thing. But Heero can't still be worried about that, can he? Quatre thought unhappily. It had been a single occurrence, something that was never to happen again; a moment between two boys who could have died the next day.
Wufei was watching the blonde closely. "Something did happen, I was right." The Chinese man was more perceptive than he looked.
Quatre blew out a weary breath. "Nothing that has any bearing on the present."
"Even disregarding your secret, Yuy has plenty of reasons to be jealous."
"Like what?" And then he continued without waiting for his first question to be answered. "And what do you mean that you're jealous too?"
"You spend a lot of time together, alone. And when you are with the rest of us you two practically finish each other's sentences. You speak your own language, one that no one else on this earth could possibly hope to understand. And you're always . . . touching."
"Touching?" Quatre looked at him blankly.
"Yes, it's very automatic, very . . . comfortable. He'll sling his arms around your shoulders; you'll grab his hand and pull him off somewhere. It's all very intimate."
"It's because we're friends!"
"I consider Heero my friend and we don't touch as much as you two do."
"Look Wufei, that's just our personalities. Duo and I are a lot more . . . expressive than you guys. Emotionally and physically." Quatre glared at the other man, who just raised his eyebrow (again) skeptically. "You're being an idiot about this, and if Heero thinks the same thing, then I just need to go straighten him out." The blonde's jaw clenched in annoyance as he stood up; he looked more like he was going to go deck his impassive lover than talk about anything. But Wufei's next words stopped him.
"He probably wouldn't be so doubting if you didn't seem so jealous over my and Trowa's attention toward Duo."
Quatre jerked back around and stared at the other man, for once shocked speechless.
"Whenever you see either one of us touching or flirting with him you get this unhappy look on your face. I get the feeling you don't want us anywhere near him."
The blonde shook off his surprise. "That's not it at all! Wufei, it's just that a relationship between two people is difficult enough, one between three is incredibly problematic. I'm just worried someone's going to get hurt."
"You're worried I'll hurt Duo."
Quatre looked at him, expression sincere. "Duo's not the only one who could get hurt."
"Either way, we're adults, this isn't any of your business. Stay out of it unless you're going to stake a claim."
Quatre opened his mouth, bristling like an angry kitten. "What does that supposed to . . ."
"Hey guys! Mission accomplished! Booze for everyone!"
The blonde shut his mouth abruptly, turning to look at his two returning friends. His glance sharpened suddenly as he got a closer look at them. Duo was holding out the drinks, eyes a little too bright, even considering his drunken state. And Trowa . . . while Quatre suddenly felt himself getting more worried than usual. Trowa's features were a blank and expressionless mask. This wouldn't be a shock to most people, as the green-eyed man was usually unreadable, but Quatre knew him well enough to know that he shouldn't look completely closed off, not to his friends. The blonde hadn't seen him like this since the war.
Wufei noticed too, Quatre heard a slight, startled inhalation beside him.
"Well, I've delivered. I hope you guys don't mind, but I'm going to head off toward those people over there playing volleyball. I love that game! Oh wait, hey Q, where's Yuy? I brought his drink . . ."
The Arabian blinked and turned slightly after catching Wufei's glare. The message there was clear, he was supposed to go take care of his own lover. "I was just going to go back to the room and meet him, Duo. I'll bring it to him."
"Oh good, wouldn't want any precious drops to go to waste!" Duo smiled cheerfully, a relieved expression tinting his features. Quatre tried to suppress the hurt he felt, realizing that the other boy was relieved because he wouldn't be around to grill him on whatever had happened. This way the braided man could make a hasty retreat instead.
Quatre forced a smile, though he could feel how strained it made his features. "Well, then have fun guys!" He took the bottle from Duo and headed away, though he couldn't resist a look back. His best friend was already bolting toward the volleyball net. As for Wufei, he had stood up and was now talking quietly to Trowa, they stood close together, almost, but not quite, touching.
The blonde walked slowly back toward the room he shared with Heero. Festive torches lighted his path, keeping the darkness at bay. Quatre wished he were walking in darkness; it was more conducive to his mood. Not to mention the slower pace required to keep from falling off hidden cliffs would have given him more time to construct something reassuring to say to his lover.
But all to soon he was at their door. To his credit he only hesitated a minute before opening it and going inside.
The suite was darker than the artificial night outside. Quatre slipped off his shoes and padded toward the bedroom, where a single light was on. He moved to the doorway and peeked in. "Heero?" He called softly, voice automatically quieting to match the gloom.
The bedroom was empty. Quatre had seconds to mere seconds to register this before he felt movement from behind him, from the dark rooms he had just passed through. He moved on instinct, getting a grip on the body behind him and trying to throw whomever it was into the light.
The tables were suddenly turned on him as he felt a whoosh of displaced air, and then was himself thrown to the bed. Quatre landed with a soft thump, bounced for a minute, and then settled on the covers. He blinked up at the ceiling, not alarmed by his sudden flight as the power and speed to complete such a move could only belong to one person.
Sure enough, soon he felt the mattress dip as Heero climbed on, leaning over the blonde. "You shouldn't just walk into a dark room like that Quatre."
Quatre snorted softly. "You need a bell," he said dryly.
Heero had an inscrutable look on his face, though it quickly changed to something the blonde recognized, mostly through repetition.
Then Heero pounced, literally.
He attacked the blonde's neck first, sucking and nibbling the soft skin. Quatre gasped and moaned, his neck was really sensitive to this kind of attack, and he arched his hips helplessly into Heero's hot body. Hot temperature-wise, for some reason Heero's body temperature was almost five degrees warmer than other people's.
Quatre reached his arms around to stroke his lover's back, but before he could complete the action his wrists were grabbed and firmly cuffed above his head in a one handed-grip. Heero's other hand moved quickly down the blonde's body, unsnapping and pulling off clothes with nearly frantic haste. His mouth followed the path of the discarded clothing, and soon the blonde was reduced to a moaning mass of sensitive flesh.
Before Quatre completely lost all reason he had time to think that maybe this was what Heero needed. Maybe he didn't need to talk about their issues; maybe what he needed was to physically express his feeling. He needed to stake his claim.
And Quatre wasn't going to complain.
Duo stood in front of Trowa's door, like he had been for the past hour. He was fairly steady on his feet now; the alcohol had mostly worn off. The volleyball hadn't lasted long; he had only stayed long enough to make sure that everyone else left. He didn't want talk; he was to confused. He needed to be alone to think. And that's what he had been doing for the past two hours. Thinking. And he was officially sick of it.
He needed to talk to Trowa. He knew he did, and yet he couldn't quite bring himself to knock on the door. Mostly because he wasn't sure what he was going to say.
Trowa was probably sleeping by now anyway.
He turned to walk away, and then stopped and turned back. If he didn't talk to the green-eyed man now he'd just have to talk to him tomorrow.
But he was probably sleeping . . .
Duo took a step closer to the door and stared down at the knob. Maybe he should just peek in and see if he was asleep or not. If he was Duo could just wait until tomorrow. He was good at sneaking; he could do it without waking Trowa up.
Decision made, Duo grabbed the door handle, than stared blankly when it didn't turn.
Locked.
But when had that ever stopped him before? Shrugging, he reached into his hair and pulled out his lock picks. Within seconds he heard a soft, nearly imperceptible click as the mechanisms gave, the sweetest sound a thief could hear.
Duo gently pushed the door open and stepped into the suite. It was dark, but there was a light shining from the bedroom. Bracing himself for an uncomfortable conversation he walked softly toward it, then stopped suddenly as a faint sound was picked up be his sharp ears. Curious, he snuck to the bedroom door and looked in. Then he froze in shock.
Trowa was indeed awake.
Wufei was too.
For almost a full minute he remained frozen in the doorway, unable to look away from the entwined couple on the bed.
Then Wufei looked up. Dark, passion-clouded eyes stared uncomprehendingly at him, then widened in startled recognition. They stared at each other for a moment, then Wufei opened his mouth to speak, and Duo suddenly found his paralysis broken.
He fled.
He heard somebody shout after him, but by that time he was skidding through the doorway. He ran out of the building and headed into the trees, ignoring branches and foliage as he crashed through them.
God, what the hell is wrong with me? A nearly hysterical thought bubbled up through his head. Isn't this what you wanted? A nasty little voice spoke up. Weren't you pushing those two together? And now they definitely are, aren't you happy? A sharp twig scratched across his cheek, drawing blood. Maybe I would have been if Trowa hadn't kissed me, I mean, what the hell was that?
Did you think that meant something?
Duo laughed, the sound coming out more like a sob. He had wanted it to mean something, but it never did. All he had were stolen moments. The kiss with Trowa had been such a moment. So had that time with Quatre on the Peacemillion. Neither one of them had been his to keep.
Some people were just meant to be alone.
Duo tripped painfully over an exposed root. He lurched back to his feet and kept running.
Maybe he would run forever, or at least until his heart burst.
He stumbled again, catching himself just in time, or he would have.
Had the ground not collapsed under his feet.
Along with a rain of dirt and well-placed palm fronds Duo fell into the ground.
Down into the dark earth.
Yet More Notes: CJ and Siren Alecto: thanks for pointing out those mistakes for me. I'm not sure how I managed to do that, but now it's (hopefully) corrected.
