Afterimages

Part 8

By Mieren

Duo sauntered up to the stage, still in shock that Kurt had dared to sing 'Walking in a Winter Wonderland' with his thick German accent.  It had come out 'Valking in a Vinter Vonderland.'  Wincing slightly to himself, he walked over to where he believed the microphone to be, having to sweep his arm once to find it's exact location.  He didn't bother to introduce himself or give the crowd any warning of what was coming.  Whispering to the band behind him what to play, he launched right into his version of the song the German man had just sung.

"Lacy things, the wife is missing.  Didn't ask for her permission.  I'm wearing her clothes, her silk pantyhose.  Walking round in women's underwear."  By this time, the room had become dead silent.  Duo could sense countless sets of eyes staring at him in shock.  Smirking, he continued with the song.  "In the store, there's a teddy, with little straps like spaghetti.  It holds me so tight, like handcuffs at night.  Walking round in women's underwear."

By the time he had finished the spoof, he could almost feel the heat from Wufei's blush.  At the final notes, a deafening cheer arose from the Preventers at the party.  Technically the Chinese man couldn't say anything about his choice of songs.  He had never said not to sing any parodies.  More accurately, he had only said not to sing anything by Valby, Wufei thinking it far to perverted to even exist, much less sing at a party.  Smirking, he launched into his second song of his block singing.  He knew he would probably end up on stage again later in the night, but that didn't bother him in the slightest.  He knew a lot of weird songs.  His second selection was techno, and strange even by his standards.  The band had to quickly download his choice and play it for the first time from hurriedly printed pages.

"Rioja, Rioja, Reverend Al Green, deep blue morocco.  The water on stone, the water on concrete, the water on sand, the water on fire.  Smoke, the wind, the salt, the bride boat coming.  Dave in the water.  Old man Einstein on top of his house.  White deep blue…"

The lyrics continued in that vein for some time, making absolutely no sense in the slightest.  Despite the oddity of the song, he received another round of whistles and cheers.  For another dozen songs, he chose oddities that no one sane would have ever heard of, let alone listened to.

"We sail tonight to Singapore.  We're all as mad as hatters here…"

His hour was almost up.  By this time, he chose to assume he had given Trowa enough time to comply with his request.  After telling the band his final choice, he received a round of chuckles from the musicians.  They suspected he was up to something.  Grinning, he turned back to his audience to begin his song, the words beginning long before the music, reflecting that the band was right to be suspicious.  The introduction was fast paced and only lasted a few seconds before the music kicked in.  Duo couldn't help grinning like a madman as he entered the refrain for the first time, knowing what would happen when he did.

"Oh yes they call him the streak.  Fastest thing on two feet.  He's just as proud as he can be, of his anatomy.  He gonna give us a peek.  Oh yes they call him the streak.  He likes to show off his physique.  If there's an audience to be found, he'll be streakin' it round, inviting public critique."

That's when Duo heard the first set of gasps and shrieks.  He was hard pressed not to mess up his lines as he plowed through the song.  Several of the musicians missed a note or two behind him, distracted by the scene in the crowd.

As per Duo's request, at the first line of the refrain, Trowa charged into the room, wearing nothing more than his shoes.  Following instructions, he made a beeline for Une, circling her twice before dashing through the Preventers once more, looking for his next target.  Une's roar of "Barton!" was lost in the laughter and cacophony of catcalls.  Seeing Zechs, Trowa charged at a full sprint, briefly placing his hands on the blonde's shoulders as he hopped over him leapfrog style.  Marquise snorted his drink out his nose and sputtered indignantly when he saw the younger man's butt cheeks in front of him awarding him a full view of something he never wanted to see.

"Oh yes they call him the streak.  He likes to turn the other cheek.  He's always making the news, wearing just his tennis shoes.  Yes you could call him unique."

Only half understanding the joke, Trowa circled Noin a few times, depositing a note in her hands that read only 'It was tournament certified' and had no following explanation.  Even though Trowa didn't understand it, Noin apparently did, seeing as to how the shriek of "Barton!" followed him as he made his exit.  The cry may have been for the streaking alone, but considering the hostility in which it was said, he suspected that there was more to it.

While Duo continued on with the song, Trowa managed to find Wufei and Quatre, circling the two at a rapid pace, very aware that his face was crimson.  At the nasal sputtering, he suspected that Wufei had suffered another nosebleed, but didn't slow down to verify the fact.  He had completed the list of people to torment and was headed for the exit that lead to his clothes.  It was blocked.  Several Preventers, far too amused with the situation, had cut off his escape route.  Doubling back, Trowa ran for the nearest exit, only to find it blocked similarly.  After making a dash for every possible way out, finding each summarily obstructed, the European pilot went for the one route that could not be thwarted by the partygoers.  The vents.  Scurrying up a wall, in the process flashing all his goods to the entire crowd, he popped off the cover to a vent and disappeared from the party.  A mixture of applause and raucous laughter followed his escape.

Duo finished off the song just as Trowa's pale butt disappeared from view.  The applause was deafening and lasted for several minutes.  After basking in the cheers, he relinquished the stage to Shido Tatsuhiko.  The lavender-haired detective started immediately into a series of love songs, a vast change from the chaos Duo had been wreaking.

It took a few tries at navigating the crowds, but Duo eventually located where Wufei and Quatre were by their voices.  They were speaking in low tones not meant to carry.  Duo picked them up a little ways into their conversation.  It was clear that they hadn't noticed his approach.

"I only called him because Duo insisted!" Wufei said firmly.

"Why would he do that?" Quatre asked, sounding frustrated.  "Duo couldn't have been in his right mind when he asked you to call him.  If it weren't for Trowa…"

"Then it would have happened a week later than it did," Duo interrupted.  The previously arguing pilots went silent, at a loss for words.  Duo casually stepped up and slung one hand across Quatre's shoulders.  "Come with me.  I need to talk to you for a minute."

"Okay," the blond said reluctantly, allowing himself to be dragged.  For loss of a better private location, they ended up in Aya's office again, narrowly avoiding hearing Shido begin another love song as he openly flirted with everything female in the audience.  Duo released his near chokehold on his companion and leaned against the nearest wall.  He began speaking before the Arabian could gather his wits.

"First and foremost, it's not Trowa's fault," Duo said bluntly.  He raised one hand to silence the forthcoming protests.  "I've acted like a delinquent so often in the past that he assumed I was either pulling a prank or doing something decidedly illegal.  Again.  He didn't know."

"But you said that you were begging…"

"I was," Duo admitted, starting to sound strained.  "But he didn't know what it was about, only that Heero was involved.  He didn't know I was hurt."

"That's no reason for…"

Duo cut him off again.  "He told me to buzz off because I asked to stay there.  I'm sure you remember the last time I stayed over.  He was trying to protect you."

Quatre was silent as he contemplated the situation.  The last time Duo had stayed with them was the only time he had ever been allowed in their house.  After that, he had not returned.  Though he had known, or at least suspected, during the war that Quatre and Trowa were together, he had never had any concrete proof.  During a vacation at one of Quatre's estates, he had accidentally walked in on the two of them together.  He left the room very quickly.  The next day, being the joker he was, he made a few jokes at their expense.  He had never intended to upset Quatre so badly.  Seeing his lover upset, Trowa had thrown Duo out, barely refraining from doing so physically.

After thinking on the subject for a few minutes, the Arabian tentatively asked a question.

"You aren't upset by us being together?"

Duo snorted.  "Go hide in the corner," he said, pointing towards the back of Aya's office.  "Make sure you can't be seen.  I'll be back in a minute.  Stay hidden."

When he heard the blond doing what he said, confusion pouring from his very being so strongly that Duo could clearly sense it, the American slipped out the door and back to the party.  Wufei was almost exactly where he had been before, talking quietly with some colleague that Duo couldn't place right off.  He butted into the conversation softly.

"Sorry, man.  I have to steal Wufei for a moment," Duo said, snagging the Chinese man's shoulder and tugging gently.

"Sure thing, Duo.  I'll find him later," the mystery voice said as they left.  The tone was so cocky and arrogant that Duo finally recognized him, grinning and waving back.

"Later, Yusuke," he called over his shoulder.

"What is this about?" Wufei asked, tensing up in preparation for a fight.

"You'll see when we get where we're going," Duo said, grinning.  Sensing his good mood, Wufei allowed himself to relax.  He immediately stiffened again when the American made to pull him into Aya's office.

"I wouldn't recommend going in there," he said tersely.

"It's okay," Duo said offhandedly.  "I've been in here a couple of times tonight.  If there were any booby traps, Trowa already disabled them."

"I guess," Wufei said dubiously.  "Now why are we here?"

Duo only closed the door with a quiet snick.  Grinning, he pushed Wufei against the nearest.  Pulling the Chinese pilot's chin up while he was too startled to respond, he lowered his own mouth to the shorter man's.  He kept the kiss gentle at first, waiting a few seconds before swiping his tongue along Wufei's lower lip.  Duo heard him suck in a breath as he broke the kiss.

"What is it?" Duo asked.

"Aya," he panted.  "The man has cameras in his office."

"Lets give him a thrill then."

"I don't think that… mmph."

Whatever else he had to say was lost in Duo's mouth.  The brunette happily plundered his mouth with his tongue so thoroughly that Wufei was jealous of whoever had taught him to kiss like that.  He decided to worry about it later, focusing on the American's wandering hands, which were playing near his lower back and threatening to go lower.  Feeling bold, Wufei lowered his own hands to grab Duo's ass and pull him forward, pressing their groins together.  Duo chuckled into his mouth.

"I said to give him a thrill, not a heart attack," he said wryly.

"Are you kidding?" Wufei said, slightly out of breath.  "We couldn't freak him out easily.  He's with Wagner."

"Seriously?  Man, there has to be something in the water here," Duo murmured.  He cocked his head slightly.  "Sounds like said playboy just started a song with Shido.  White Christmas.  Perfect.  Why does Wagner keep choosing songs with W in them?"

"We should probably get back out there," Wufei said regretfully, ignoring the taller man's commentary.  He had no idea what had come over Duo, but he definitely wasn't objecting.

"Actually, could you go out and send Trowa this way for me?"

"Sure," Wufei said slowly.  "But if you got any lipstick on me, I'll get you later."

"Thanks."  Duo waited until he heard the door close behind his boyfriend before speaking again.  "You can close your mouth now, Quatre."

Quatre snapped his teeth shut, unaware that he had be staring at the two of them slack-jawed.  He grasped for the first thing that his shocked mind could handle at that moment.

"Lipstick?" he asked.  Aquamarine eyes narrowed as he raised one hand suspiciously to his cheek, drawing his fingers through the pink marks the American had left there earlier in the evening.  He couldn't help it.  He chuckled.  "Well.  That explains a lot."  His voice toned down a bit.  "You and Wufei?  When did that happen?"

"About a week ago, actually," Duo admitted.  "Anyways, time for you to get ready to make nice.  Trowa's here."

Quatre glanced at the door, frowning.  "But…"

"No buts.  You are going to make nice if I have to slip you both aphrodisiacs and lock you in the closet," Duo growled.  Quatre snorted.

"I was going to ask you how you could tell," the Arabian said.

"Oh," Duo said, grinning sheepishly.  "I can hear him.  He's just outside."

Hearing the conversation and knowing he had been caught, Trowa slipped into the room, staring at the floor.

"Duo, I…"

"No talking!" Duo interrupted.  "Now.  Horizontal Hokey Pokey.  That's an order.  If Aya doesn't have a seizure, I'm coming after both of you with fuzzy handcuffs and a whip.  Understood?"

Not waiting for a response, Duo exited the room and made his way towards the stage to temporarily take over for the length of one song.  As a deliberate reminder to a certain couple, he sang the Hokey Pokey.  In a previously private office, Trowa and Quatre laughed.

To Be Continued…

Close to finished!  One more part may or may not have it.  R&R!

Notes for this part.  The cameos are indeed Kurt Wagner from X-Men Evolution, Aya from Weiss Kruez, Shido from Nightwalker, and Yusuke from Yu Yu Hakusho.

The songs are 'Walking Round in Women's Underwear' by Twisted Christmas, 'Pearl's Girl' by Underworld, 'Singapore' by Tom Waits, and naturally 'The Streak' by Ray Stevens.

R&R!