Afterimages
Part 7
By Mieren
Wufei returned from work to an amazing sight. Duo was standing in the living room, radio blaring, amid shifted furniture. Seemingly oblivious to the Chinese pilot's presence, he began to navigate his way through the room at a brisk pace. Twice, he came close to walking into a piece of furniture only to sidestep it at the last possible moment.
Still ignoring his friend in the doorway, Duo continued wandering around the room, leaving his raven-haired companion to watch him in confusion, wondering if he had lost his mind. Out of nowhere, Shini ran towards the braided teen, purring loudly as she launched herself into the air. Balanced carefully on his toes, Duo pivoted in time to snag the miniature cat midair, his searching fingers only bumping the feline's forelegs gently as he caught her. Immediately, Duo placed the cat on her preferred perch on his shoulder. Spinning, she launched herself forward, meowing loudly just beyond the peak of her jump. In response, Duo lunged forward, catching her gently in mid-fall.
Setting the cat gently on the floor, Duo moved unerringly towards the radio, flicking it off as he angled his head to turn his clear violet eyes on Wufei.
"Hi, Wu!" Duo greeted enthusiastically. Wufei just stared, confused and slightly fearing the mental state of his companion.
"Duo… what…"
Duo grinned unabashedly at him, seemingly amused at his discomfort.
"Thought that I should be able to move around at the party, ya know?" Duo laughed, bouncing forward to embrace the stunned Chinese teen. He continued, sensing the shock radiating from the other boy. "I've finally learned to sense where large objects are, even with loud noises around so I don't run into them anymore. And I trained Shini to run around and make noise at varying volumes. I'm beginning to be able to catch her…"
Duo trailed off, looking uncertain. Wufei didn't give him a chance to falter further.
"Did you do all of this simply because I asked you to sing?" Wufei asked softly, purposefully returning the embrace. At the jerky nod against his shoulder, he plowed on. "Why didn't you say anything? I could have helped."
"I didn't know if I could manage it," Duo admitted softly, turning his head away and lowering his eyes. "I didn't want to disappoint you. Get your hopes up…"
Wufei's heart nearly seized at the gesture. If he hadn't known better, he would never have guessed that Duo was blind. He gripped the slender man tighter.
"Please," Wufei pleaded softly. "Tell me how to help. I don't know what to do."
Duo raised his head mere inches from where it had been pillowed on the Chinese pilot's shoulder. A few soft breaths sounded in Wufei's ear before the braided pilot was able to relay his request. Wufei balked for a moment before agreeing to the odd request. He sank to the sofa with the uncertain braided teen in his arms, resolving to do as requested once his companion had calmed down.
After several hours, the American finally dozed off. Carefully shifting the taller boy's weight to the couch, Wufei reached for the phone, carefully dialing in a few calls.
* * *
Duo squirmed almost continuously, fingers endlessly fiddling with his hair or clothes. For at least the tenth time, Wufei reached across his car to still his friend's fidgeting hands and got a sheepish smile in return.
"Relax," Wufei soothed. "Everyone will be happy to see you again. Besides, you won't be up on stage forever. We secured two other victims to sing so you could go out and mingle." Duo nodded slightly.
"Who else?"
"The scrawny little German guy from accounting, Kurt… Wagner, I think. He's about our age, if I remember correctly. You know, the guy that walks a bit strangely, like his legs aren't jointed right. The other one is the strange guy that insists on working the graveyard shift, Shido. Says he has an allergy to sunlight."
"The nightwalker himself? Isn't he the lavender haired guy that's doing the nasty with his secretary?" Duo asked, face mischievous.
"That's him," Wufei confirmed. "And we can't confirm that bit of rumor, despite the number of hickies she constantly has. We just let him stay on because he's so good at figuring out the clues on some of the odder cases that stump most of the department."
Duo nodded absently, fazing out again. Wufei sighed and wondered if he should keep pushing Duo to be cheerful or just let him fret. He decided to go with both, reaching out to hold Duo's hand, offering comfort and understanding while not pressuring him to speak.
Caught up in holding the braided teen's hand, Wufei was shocked when he realized they had arrived at the Preventers Headquarters. He shook his head ruefully at his absentmindedness.
Helping Duo out of the vehicle, Wufei placed his friend's hand on his shoulder, not knowing if the blind pilot would be comfortable with displays of public affection yet. Duo followed him complacently, his head swiveling occasionally towards sounds.
"Relax," Wufei said. "You're not even the first one to sing. At the moment, I believe they have Mr. Wagner up on stage."
"I'm almost afraid to hear him singing with his accent as heavy as it is," Duo chuckled. "I'm up after him, aren't I?"
"Correct," Wufei chuckled. "Just remember what we talked about. No Valby."
"Fine, fine," Duo consented, grinning. "No Valby."
"Good boy. I'll give you a cookie later."
Duo snorted, slipping his free hand into his pocket and pulling out something he had snuck with him into his palm. Trying to remain inconspicuous, Duo slipped behind Wufei to stand on his other side, placing his hand on the Chinese pilot's shoulder. Sensing a confused look directed at him, he shrugged.
"Arm cramp," he lied, keeping his expression innocent.
"Ah."
Duo bit the inside of his lip to keep from grinning. He knew for a fact that most of Wufei's wardrobe was white and the button down shirt he was wearing was probably no exception. In his palm, the braided pilot had a large mass of fur he had brushed out of Shini's coat. Sliding his hand across and down Wufei's back, he settled his arm around his companion's waist, hugging him, leaving a streak of black fur across the other's back. Wufei made a surprised noise in his throat, but didn't object. Later, he would rant when he knew what Duo had done.
In a final act of mayhem, Duo balled his fist around the remaining fur, coating his fingers with the silky stuff. He dropped his hand and firmly squeezed Wufei's butt cheek, leaving a hand-shaped spotting of fur on what he suspected were beige slacks.
"Lets go greet the crowds," Duo crowed before the Chinese pilot could more than gasp in shock.
Laughing, Duo bounced ahead, navigating easily into the building and to the main auditorium where the party was taking place. Wufei watched in shock as the blind young man successfully navigated around all of the other guests without running into anyone or anything. He paused a few times to exchange a quick word with some of the other employees, often assurances that he was okay. Quatre spotted and cornered him almost immediately. Wufei hurriedly joined them.
"Duo! I'm so glad you made it! I've missed you. I heard you were singing tonight. Is that true?" Quatre said all in one breath, sounding like he had consumed entirely too much caffeine.
Duo blinked in shock at the onslaught and then grinned, adopting a Southern Bell accent.
"Quatre! It is just lovely to talk to you again," Duo said, raising one hand to touch his fingertips to his collarbone and holding the other out delicately towards the blond. Still grinning mischievously, he embraced Quatre lightly and kissed him on each cheek before pulling back and giving in to the urge to laugh. Quatre shook his head and chuckled.
"Wufei, I believe you need to take the sugar out of his diet," he said ruefully, glancing at the Chinese pilot.
Wufei bit down on his tongue. Hard. Apparently, Duo was wearing lipstick and due to his antics, so was Quatre, though the blond didn't know it yet. He glanced at the grinning brunette, still unable to see the makeup. Somehow, he had found a tone the exact shade of his lips and while it didn't show up on him at all, it appeared almost fluorescent on the blonde's pale skin. Wufei leaned over to whisper in Duo's ear.
"I don't know where you got that, but you better not get any on me," he warned.
"Quatre, Wu, excuse me for a minute," Duo said. "There's something I have to do before I'm dragged onto stage in a few minutes."
"Okay," Quatre agreed, sounding confused.
Winking at them, Duo turned and began hunting, knowing where his target would be waiting for him. Slipping just out of the auditorium and towards one of the nearby offices, he tried to calm down before he got there. He concentrated on the music, hearing Kurt doing his rendition of More Human Than Human by White Zombie. He wasn't slaughtering it quite as badly as Duo thought he would. For some reason, though, it seemed strange that he was singing that particular song.
Shrugging, he entered the small office that belonged to some violent, sword-wielding, redheaded psycho named Aya. He was careful not to touch anything. It was quite possible that the weirdo had booby-trapped his office. He sensed someone was already in there.
"Hello, Trowa," he greeted.
"Hello," Trowa returned in a subdued voice. "Duo, I'm sorry…"
"Quiet," Duo ordered, sighing. He could sense the European pilot staring at his blank eyes and it bothered him. "I don't want to hear apologies. Logically, I know it wasn't your fault. I'll speak to Quatre after I get off the stage. I'm due up there in a few minutes."
"You're going to be singing?" Trowa asked incredulously, his mind already overloaded from Duo's unspoken forgiveness. He shook his head, moving back to important matters. "I know you don't want me to say it Duo, but I am sorry. If there's anything I can do…"
"Actually," Duo interrupted, smirking. "There is."
To Be Continued…
Sorry about the long delay. Lot of things happening that would bore you to death if I listed them all. For now, I'm just trying to get things all updated, even if it's not much. Sorry this section is short. The next should be longer. R&R!!!
Oh, on subject of new things going on, there is ONE thing that might interest you. I recently got a new kitten. She's off-white with a gray tail and yellow/gray ears. Named her Ryoko. Cute little thing, even if she is insane. Odd thing is that I just got her recently and she acts EXACTLY like Shini! Right down to the shoulder riding, head sitting and ear sucking! It's just creepy!
Yes, Kurt Wagner is based on the series X-Men Evolution. Shido is from Nightwalker. Aya is from Weiss Kreuz (or Knight Hunters as the dubs are called).
