Pairings: 1x5, 3x4, 2xYuu

Warnings: Yaoi, fluff, swearing, just plain ol' weirdness

Rating: PG-13

Notes: I wrote this fic many a year ago, and now I'm re-editing and re-writing it. I also plan to FINISH the sucker. So! Even if you've read it before, you should read it again. This is a chapter-by-chapter re-edit though, so hang in there. I should also warn those that this fic in general will probably be less "funny" because it will be more mature and have more of a plot.

Disclaimer: Now, since I am a poor widdle Chibi, you won't want to sue me. On top of that, I don't own Gundam Wing, nor do I claim that I do. So, you have no reason to. Yay. Me technically own this fic. No steal. If steal you be bad. Hate you forever. --

'Think'
"Talk"
time passes
flash backs

##########################################################

Wufei sat down on the tan couch. He ran his eyes over the room, looking at it with a slight nervous feel. 'Practically no escape exits at all...' he thought out of habit. He had removed his shoes at the door and let his feet brush the carpet lightly. The off-white less-than-fluffy covering wasn't entirely unpleasant, but it wasn't exactly up to his preferred caliber. 'What shit infested moron picked out the furniture?' Wufei sneered at the poorly chosen motley of chairs and sofas. 'And what whore arranged the room?' Wufei stood up and shook his head. If he was going to live here for two weeks he sure as sin wouldn't be living in this 'stupid shithole fit only for slaves and women.' Not that he was bitter or anything.

In all honesty, the room wasn't that bad. Yeah, the furniture was a little tacky and it wasn't arranged to the best utility, but come on! It was a hotel room, and a suite at that. But, even if the room had been perfect and lush, even if there had been servants ready to wait on him hand and foot, even if the hotel had been a mansion, Wufei would have still hated it with every fiber of his being. The reason, you may be asking yourself? After all, hell, you wouldn't mind a beautiful room in a mansion filled with servants ready to etc, etc, etc, right? Yeah, but if you're anything like Wufei, you would. If you hate being forced into something, then you would hate the room. And Wufei was being forced into something.

'If I wasn't actually fond of Duo in that strange way that prevents all of his friends from murdering him, Duo would be a very, very, very dead man.' Wufei thought to himself as he pushed one of the darker tan colored chairs to the side so that he could move the couch to another position.

"What are you doing Chang?"

'Shit monkey.' Wufei thought as he turned slowly to the owner of the voice. Hiro Yui stood nearly perfectly still as he watched Wufei with a questioning look in his usual dead eyes. Wufei straightened and put his hand out in a sweeping gesture. "I'm rearranging the furniture."

"I see that. Why?" Hiro asked, setting his small bad down on the floor. He didn't move, but it seemed as if he had offered to help.

"I didn't like how it was before. It was distasteful, and my honor requires me to change that which is an injustice to my status." Wufei turned back to his work. He turned his head slightly to throw over his shoulder, "If you'd just grab the other end to this couch, Yui..."

Though they were used to working together, it seemed strange to be in the hotel room rearranging the furniture together. The silence was not the usual comfortable one they were used to. If there was ever silence between them, it was because words were unnecessary, not because they couldn't find anything to say to each other. Hiro wasn't used to this strange feeling that their comradeship was being strained because of this new development. 'We were never meant to be more than friends. I do not understand Duo; I do not understand what it is he is trying to accomplish. This...this plan of his seems to have no purpose, it is like a mission with no end goal.' Hiro's muscles strained slightly as he held up the couch on his own while Wufei replaced the rug protectors under the couch legs.

"Chang," Hiro said abruptly, and Wufei glanced up. He made an affirmative grunt, and went to move the other chair to a more suitable position. "Chang," Hiro said again. This time, Wufei stopped and turned.

"Yes?"

"I want you to know that if this...this experiment or whatever Duo insists on calling it begins to intrude on our already shaky alliance, I will pull out immediately regardless of consequences." Hiro had chosen his words as carefully as possible, but at the mention of their so-called shaky alliance, Wufei had frowned. Hiro was bound by his agreement and friendship with Duo, but his first and foremost allegiance lay with The Preventers and he would not jeopardize Wufei and his partnership.

"'Shaky alliance?' What do you mean by that?" Wufei's eyes narrowed, and Hiro's eyes dimmed in response.

"I trust no one, and your trust is more of a less wary suspicion than trust. We aren't capable of more than a shaky alliance." Hiro said simply, and sat down in the newly arranged chair. Wufei stood standing for a moment, but he frowned at Hiro as if he wanted to say something.

'He thinks I don't trust him? Well, he's not exactly wrong, but he's not right either. I distrust him the least of everyone I know, and that should count for something. Perhaps that is trust though. I have nothing to compare it to, after all.' Wufei shrugged, stepped forward, and held out his hand. Hiro looked up at it from beneath his eyelashes and then tilted his head to one side slightly.

"Yes?" He asked. His voice was so incredibly neutral there was nothing more beyond that one syllable word except a question of an action.

"I say we trust each other then. I will place my trust in you, and you will put your in me. A true alliance, if you will." Wufei stared down his aristocratic nose at Hiro and his hand was held at a strangely arrogant angle. Hiro moved only his eyes to look at Wufei, but nodded his head once. He placed his hand into Wufei's and shook only once before letting go. Suddenly brisk, Wufei moved backwards to the other chair. He looked around at their work, and nodded.

"Much better, much easier to be in." Wufei commented, near to himself. Hiro's hand moved briefly in an answering gesture, but he said nothing.

"How long have you been here?" Hiro asked suddenly, and Wufei looked at his watch out of habit before he thought about it. 'I acted as if I had been ordered. Perhaps we have been working together too much lately.' Wufei thought, but kept his face clear of his thoughts.

"I arrived only 10 or so minutes before you."

"I see." There was a silence, and Wufei felt the need to say something.

"So...what do you want to do now, Yui?" Wufei asked Hiro keeping his eyes on the ground. 'This is unnaturally awkward...' Wufei thought. He could practically feel the tension in the air; the hairs on his tanned arms were sticking straight up. He wanted to tap his fingers on the arm of the chair, but resisted. He had long cured himself of the habit after one day while he was tapping out a rhythm, Hiro had reached out a slender hand and put it on top of Wufei's with the request that he stop. Wufei had been so bothered by it that he had never tapped his fingers again in Hiro's presence, but the nervous energy filled the room and he felt the old habit tugging at his fingertips.

" I do not care. Whatever you decide is fine." Hiro said evenly. He looked straight ahead blankly. 'This is not going to go well. Duo will die.' Hiro thought, not even changing his tone in his mind. The lack of inflection only strengthened the power of his words, though they never left his lips. He had to see this thing through, but he could feel that he would hate it.

"Ahem, well how about a movie?" Wufei asked politely as he toyed with the idea that if he couldn't kill Duo, perhaps he could just torture him. He wouldn't want to do any real permanent damage, but he'd have to make sure that Duo felt the pain Wufei was experiencing now. Wufei could not stand movies, let alone the people in the theater, but he could think of nothing else. What were they supposed to do in the free time they were allotted?

" I hate movies, and I thought you did as well. But, if that's what you want to do, then let us do it." Hiro said, his expression stoic and cold. He made a movement to rise, but Wufei waved him back.

" No, don't get up. You're right—I do hate movies. I was merely trying my hand at...at..." Wufei faltered. 'Damn this to all seven hells...that son-of-a-bitch Duo is going to pay for this dearly!' Wufei put his hands between his knees and stared at the ground with a scowl. He looked up, a small smirk on his face. "I'm reminded suddenly that I hate the color tan."

"It's a disgusting color." Hiro said, a scowl on his own face as he retook in his surroundings. "I'd prefer...green and black, quite honestly." He gave Wufei a quick smirk before re-schooling his features. Wufei gave him a smile, and leaned back into his chair. He twirled his hand in the air, and grinned.

"Or perhaps white, with small touches of navy blue?" Wufei asked, and Hiro gave a small grunt.

"Changing the décor still wouldn't solve our problem of having nothing to do." Hiro pointed out, his voice frigid but polite. Wufei's brows snapped down. Hiro could be so single minded sometimes, and it was damn near impossible to effectively sidetrack him for any real amount of time. Wufei sat up again and leaned forward. He cocked his head to his right, a habit he'd adopted from Yuu'utsu.

"Well, I don't know what to do Yui. And I don't see why I'm the only one who has to come up with something here." Wufei lowered his voice, and his eyelids. Hiro shut his eyes and leaned back into his own chair. He cracked his eyes open the barest bit and stole a glance at his target—Wufei. 'He looks strained, and it's obvious he's going to become angry soon.' Hiro sighed slightly to himself. 'Damn it Hiro, can't you at least ACT human for one day?' Hiro thought to himself. 'We're adults. Two, mature, 27 year-old adults who have been working together since we were 16. There must be something we can do.'

" Look, Chang. I apologize, I don't mean to be so..."

"Cold?" Wufei suggested and regretted it nearly before he finished the word. Hiro's eyes narrowed slightly, and became more closed.

"Yes," Hiro said simply. "We'll find something that we can do together to pass the time. If nothing else, we can always practice sparring. I suspect both of us need a good workout."

"Speak for yourself." Wufei placed himself gently over the arm of the chair, and leaned his head into his hand. "I see you've put on a few pounds lately, and it's certainly not muscle." Wufei joked. In all truth, Wufei was lying. 'If anything I think he's been working out extra time. He may actually be becoming more in shape than I, which is a strange thought.' Hiro fixed one of his darker stares on Wufei and blinked slowly, indicating that he knew that Wufei was lying. Wufei smirked and shrugged in response. Their body language code was one that had been culled over long years of working together off and on.

"What time is it?" Hiro asked, and again Wufei looked at his watch before he had consciously made a decision to look. 'It's strange how I seem to have gotten used to obeying his voice. I won't tell him so though; I'm not stupid, and not about to give away that he may just have the power to ordering me around.' Wufei scowled to himself. 'It's those damn unfaltering gray-blue eyes of his. They just bore into you like two round drills that are in the hands of a very precise madman.' Wufei frowned at his metaphor.

"See something you don't like?" Hiro asked softly, and Wufei shook himself out of his brief reverie.

"It's 5:20." Wufei said, ignoring Hiro's question.

"And that's a bad thing?" Hiro asked, rolling his shoulders back.

"What? No, no I was only thinking."

"I see." Hiro said, and asked nothing more. That was something that Wufei appreciated about Hiro, Hiro never asked pointless questions. If the answer would have no actual value or importance, Hiro didn't ask the question.

" Why did you want to know the time?" Wufei asked, scratching his head in slow circles to help relieve tension. Hiro and Wufei may be talking more fluidly, but the reason why they were there at all loomed over them in such a way that the conversation was tainted from the beginning.

"I wondered if it was too early to eat, and it is. That would give us something to do, would it not?" Hiro flicked a small piece of dust off the chair's arm, and Wufei readjusted his feet.

"True. Unless..."

"Yes?"

"Well, I was just going to say that if we made the food, then it would take longer and the food would be ready about the right time to eat." Wufei gave a one-shouldered shrug. He looked across the table at Hiro. "What do you say? Up to cooking?"

"Cooking?" Hiro gave a wry little smile, and shook his head. "Trust me Chang, you don't want me in that kitchen."

"That couldn't be farther from the truth Yui." Wufei stood up in a graceful curving arch of his body. "I hate cooking alone, and since I haven't had a true home cooked meal in so long, I want to make something especially good. And all good thing are elaborate, and I'll need help."

"Then you don't want me in the kitchen Chang." Hiro shook his head, and stayed seated. "Let's just say I don't cook well. The only thing that I do safely is boil water." Hiro admitted.

"That's still better than Duo." Wufei responded, clapping a hand on Hiro's shoulder. Hiro gave his rolling shrug and stood as well. Over the years it had become apparent that Wufei ruled over Hiro in height by about three inches, and Hiro still slightly resented being shorter than the other Asian man. Out of the original five Gundam pilots, only Quatre was still shorter than Hiro.

"Is that so?" Hiro moved forward and Wufei dropped his arm. "If you insist."

Hiro felt strange wandering down the aisle looking for soy sauce with the plastic basket, but Wufei had gone off to get the meat he wanted. Hiro scanned both sides of the aisle, looking for the brand that Wufei had mentioned. Hiro was supposed to go and get the oil for the wok as well, but one thing at a time. Hiro sighed. He knew that in order to cook, one needed ingredients, but he hadn't really felt like going out tonight. He was in one of his moods when he felt like either blowing up the entire world or self-destructing. He didn't feel this way often, not anymore. But sometimes he just hated the world. He wanted everyone to simply disappear. Hiro frowned. 'Well, maybe not everyone; Chang could stay. I don't mind him so much. I mind Duo, but he could stay too. And Trowa and Quatre...I hardly see them at all anymore, so they could stay too. Everyone else could just...disappear. Especially her.' Hiro grimaced at the thought. He heard the step behind him and had to restrain himself from automatically lashing out.

"Yui, I got the meat and the oil, did you get the sauce?" Wufei's soft voice was like fur over Hiro's raw nerves. It was a voice he was so used to, in dreams that had Wufei in them Hiro could hear Wufei's voice clearly. He'd woken up more than once expecting Wufei to be in his room. Hiro reached out his arm and plucked the bottle off the shelf. He was tempted with the idea of throwing it at Wufei, just to see if he would catch it, but resisted. If Wufei didn't catch it, the glass bottle would cause a mess. A mess meant attention, and attention meant people, and Hiro was hoping to avoid people for the next 24 hours or so.

"Yes."

In the kitchen, Wufei and Hiro were slowly preparing the meal. All Hiro knew about it was that it contained crabs, eel, and something about chicken. Wufei promised that it would taste good. Hiro would have preferred more actual fish, but he wasn't going to complain. He'd once had a lunch made by Wufei, and had made the mistake that everyone who had been at the picnic remembered but would never mention.

FLASH BACK

"Hey Yui, you made it." Sally Po waved Hiro over to their table, and Hiro sat down with the liquid grace that he'd gained after he'd hit 20. Hiro breathed in the recycled air and missed Earth for its clean and fresh atmosphere. At 23 Hiro was living on Earth at the main Preventer base. Duo had just left to marry Yuu'utsu, the young enigmatic female that had come into their lives 5 years ago. Apparently, Wufei would be moving in with him after Wufei returned from his current mission.

"Oh, hey, Wufei came back early. He's actually supposed to be here soon." Fenti Bellreet said, with her peculiar accent. Hiro nodded. "He sent some stuff ahead. You should try some." Hiro nodded again, not thinking too much on what Fenti had said. Fenti often made simple grammatical and syntactical errors. Hiro then saw a beautifully crafted dish at the end of the table. His mouth watered just looking at it, and he moved quickly to get some. It was so wonderfully done, Hiro almost hesitated in grabbing some, but food was meant to be eaten.

"This is incredible." Hiro remarked, and eyed the rest of the dish with an unusually eager eye. He turned to Sally Po, "I love with a burning, fiery passion whoever made this." Sally's eyes widened, and a voice spoke up with a wry twist.

"I'm glad you liked it, Yui." Hiro would have blanched if he was a normal person, but, alas, he is Hiro Yui. Wufei stood there, with his head thrown back slightly and a smirk twisting his mouth. "Your appreciation is well expressed, if not strange. So, thank you for your...enthusiastic response." Amusement was clear in his eyes, and though it seemed like soon the entire group would burst into laughter, all mirth was held in as Hiro coolly walked up to Wufei.

"You're welcome." Hiro's voice left no room for comment, and Wufei nodded slowly once, acknowledging Hiro.

FLASH FORWARD

'Hopefully this will live up to that other concoction. If Chang was a woman with a different personality, I would have married him long ago, as strange of a thought as that is.' Hiro stirred the boiling oil gently, hoping that it wouldn't spill again. Wufei was keeping one eye on what he was doing and one eye on Hiro. Hiro had warned him, but was still doing his best to keep disaster at bay.

These two weeks, and their agreement with Duo...you don't know about it? I've referred to it a few times now...ah, I see you're confused. You weren't there, and you must have just walked in. Well, then, let me explain. You see, dear reader, there was this duck...in fact, there were five...

FLASH BACK

"LOOK!" Duo yelled out, pointing at five baby ducks sitting by a pond. (See? I told you it started with ducks...) "How cute! I want them! Yuu, do you think we can just take them?" Duo asked eagerly. Yuu rolled her eyes.

" Duo, we can't take random creatures off the street." Yuu said flatly. Duo gave her his best puppy eyes. Yuu sighed and rolled her own eyes. "Don't pout, Duo, it's unattractive in a grown man." Duo sighed.

"Yuu! PWEASE! I want those ducks! They need a home!" Duo pulled at Yuu's sleeve. For the outing, Yuu had decided to wear her black T-shirt, the one with safety pins on the hems, along with her typical baggy pants that cinched at the waist and the ankles. She had left most of her belts at their home, only bringing the one with the extensive lock picks, fourteen knives (not counting the other twelve that were attached to various places on her body), two guns, one bomb, two decoding devices, and three tranquilizers. After all, it was just a picnic, no need to go overboard.

"Duo, we already have two dogs, seven cats, and an iguana. We don't need five baby ducks." Yuu said pointedly.

"But they could DIE without us!" Duo protested, grabbing Yuu's hands imploringly, but Yuu shook her head, her short hair swaying softly. Duo let go of Yuu's hands and backed away. He crossed his arms over his white T-shirt, and set his hips at a defiant angle. Now, it was not even a question as to whether or not they would have those ducks. It was a definite "yes." Yuu knew she shouldn't have let Duo wear those cargo shorts. It seemed like every time he wore them they ended up with another animal; it had become some sort of ritual with Duo. In fact, Yuu knew what the next words out of his mouth would be...

"Yuu-utsu! You either let me have those ducks, or no sex for a week!" Duo flipped his braid over his shoulder. It was always the same threat. The only reason that he always put it at a week was because even he knew that he would cave if it went for much longer.

" All right, Duo. All right. We can have the ducks." Yuu conceded. Not because she was that scared of no sex for a week, but because she knew that Duo is scary after no sex for a week. Once, the first time he had threatened her like that, she had let him. By the end of the week, Duo was practically half-crazy. Never again would Yuu let him do that. It was just too damn scary.

"Hey, Yuu?" Duo asked that night, after the evening "activities" were done. Yuu rolled over.

"Duo, I'm trying to sleep. Don't make me slap you boy."

"Yuuuuuuuuu..." Duo whined. Yuu slapped him upside the head.

" Sleeping Yuu does not like to be woken up." Yuu said and rolled over. Duo recovered from the slap, and rolled over until he was practically molded onto Yuu's back. He put his arms around her, and whispered in her ear.

" Yuu…please listen to me? I've got a great idea...I loooove you." Duo kissed Yuu's cheek, and Yuu sighed wearily. It was impossible to deter Duo for too long.

" What?" Yuu asked refusing to turn over, so in turn, Duo refused to let go.

" Well, I was thinking, you know how I always threaten you with no sex right?" Yuu raised an eyebrow. What the hell was Duo getting at?

" Yeeeah."

" Well, do you think any of the other guys are getting any at all?" Yuu sat bolt upright, carrying the attached Duo with her. "WHOA!" Duo said, but held on tight.

" WHAT?" Yuu asked, looking at Attached-Duo like he was some sort of crazy mad dog who just suddenly jumped onto a ball and began jump roping on the ball, while saying the English alphabet backwards.

"You know what I mean. Hiro, Trowa, Quatre, Wufei...do you think they're getting enough sex? I mean, the e-mails that they send back are always so boring even Quatre's. So...I was wondering if they were getting enough action." Duo said innocently, resembling a starfish in his determination to stay attached to Yuu's body.

"Duo...you are such a freak." Yuu said incredulously.

"Yeah, and?" Duo grinned.

"Gah. You weirdo." Yuu yanked on Duo's braid affectionately. Attached-Duo grinned.

"Well, look, what I was thinking was: what about I pair them up?"

"What." Yuu stated.

"I mean, make them all go out for a week or two. It would be easy. Hiro and Wufei, Quatre and Trowa. They'll get along great. Trowa and Quatre will stick to it cause you know they're interested in each other; they're both just too shy to admit it and stuff. And Hiro and Wufei will stick to it cause of that whole honor, justice, and stuff. It'll be perfect!" Yuu groaned...somehow, she got a feeling that at least two of the aforementioned boys would not agree.

Amazingly, (or perhaps not so amazingly) Duo managed to snag all four ex-Gundam pilots into his plan. He had set everything up carefully. He bought one hotel room for each "couple," and a two-week package of certain things they might need. Yuu had allowed Duo to use the money she had hacked during the war, and ahem, after it. Luckily, Duo had convinced Yuu to be the one to show the "couples" their rooms, because the rooms were honeymoon suites, with ONE king sized bed, and ONE bathroom. Duo had bribed the each of the hotels with extra money so that no cots could be brought up, and no extra rooms could be purchased. Part of the agreement was that they wouldn't try to bribe the hotel staff, but Duo wanted to be extra sure.

" Duo...are you sure about this?" Yuu asked that night.

" No. Even now I'm still debating on whether or not I should have set it up for THREE weeks..." Duo said, frowning in thought. Yuu slapped him.

" DUO!"

"YUU!" Duo mocked Yuu's tone precisely. Then, he became Attached-Duo again and latched onto Yuu.

"Duo..."

"Yeah Yuu, yeah I'm sure about this. It'll be good for them. 'Specially for 'Fei and Hiro, they both need to lighten up and learn to have some fun. So, yeah, I'm sure this is for the best." Duo finished, and like that damn starfish Milly had to dissect in CP Bio, he curled around Yuu, clamping onto to her skin firmly, and used her as a human pillow for the night. Yuu rolled her eyes to the sky, and settled down for sleep.

"That...was so good..." Hiro said, sitting back. Hiro felt pleasant and satisfied all at the same time. 'That was better than sex. Not that that's saying much,' Hiro thought to himself. 'It's not like I've had the most wonderful sex life. Three girls total, and one was a total disaster sexually.'

"I'm glad you enjoyed it." Wufei said, inclining his head. 'That had been one hell of a cooking experience. Yui was right...the only thing he can safely do is boil water…' Wufei thought, remembering the seven times that he had to save the kitchen from exploding, burning to the ground, imploding (don't even ASK), etc. "And I have to say, you do make life...interesting when you help cook." Wufei gave a small smirk, and Hiro grunted in response.

"I warned you."

"I know." Wufei picked at his teeth with a toothpick. After a few minutes of silence, Wufei leaned forward onto his elbows. "What are you thinking about?" The question took Hiro by surprise, and he jolted out of his thoughts.

"What am I thinking about?"

"That's what I asked."

"Well..." Hiro said, vaguely startled by Wufei's unexpected question. Should he tell the truth? Hiro looked over at Wufei. Wufei looked back and arched an eyebrow. Ah, what the heck. Hiro gave his rolling shrug and lifted one corner of his mouth. "I was comparing this meal to sex." Wufei chocked on his own spit.

"Excuse me?" Wufei finally gasped out, staring at Hiro with wide, unbelieving eyes.

"I was comparing the meal to sex." Hiro repeated, secretly enjoying the fact that he had caught Wufei even more off guard than he had been caught. Wufei recovered and lifted one shoulder in a lopsided shrug.

"Not something I thought I'd ever hear you say, but whatever." Wufei repositioned himself. "So, how was this like sex?"

"I was just thinking that this was more satisfying than any sex I've ever had." Hiro said calmly and evenly. Wufei resisted the urge to pinch himself. Maybe he'd gotten drunk at dinner...

"Either this was really excellent, or your love life is unbelievably poor." Wufei finally decided, nodding.

"Probably both."

"Oh?" Wufei hoped he didn't sound too interested, but the idea that Hiro Yui had a sex life and it wasn't all that great was just too much.

"Yes." Unfortunately, that tone told Wufei that he'd heard all the confessing Hiro was going to do for that night.

"I see. I was thinking about something entirely different." Wufei smiled, and rose out of his chair with a small sigh of contentment.

"What?"

"I was thinking that perhaps these two weeks might not be as bad as I had thought." Wufei said, and wondering why it felt like his face was warming. Hiro lifted his eyes.

"Perhaps. What makes you think that?"

"Just the idea that this might help us become better partners. We don't talk much, and we certainly don't work together closely enough to earn the truly difficult missions that require two people, and this...vacation, if you will, might change that. I would like to have the sort of high profile missions that we had when we were younger. You?"

"Same." Hiro rose and stretched. "I was raised to follow missions, but over the years I've come to enjoy them. I want a real challenge though. Maybe you're right. Think that's what Duo was thinking?" Hiro asked, tilting his head a little. Wufei snorted.

"Not fucking likely, but we'll see when we get The List." Wufei said, and nodded at Hiro's grimace.

"Right, The List. I can't believe—"

"—you're doing this? I know. I can't believe I'm doing it either." Wufei moved to clear the dishes, but Hiro reached out a hand.

"Leave it. You cooked and cleaned up my messes, I'll do the dishes." Hiro said, and Wufei moved his hand away. Hiro let his hand drop from Wufei's warm, soft, muscled—ahem—arm and picked up a dish in one smooth motion.

"This is boring." Wufei stated suddenly, and Hiro raised his eyebrows.

"What is?"

"This." Wufei swept his hand towards Hiro and the dishes. "Watching you do the dishes."

"You don't have to."

"What else am I supposed to do?"

"I don't know." Hiro's flat voice suggested that he really had no idea what else Wufei could possibly do. Wufei racked his brain for some sort of activity...oh! Whenever his last girlfriend had done the dishes, she'd always insisted that he read to her. He'd hated it at the time, but now he was grateful for the idea.

"I have an idea, wait here." Wufei said and grabbed the first book in his small satchel. He'd brought a few plays and a few novels.

'Where does he expect me to go?' Hiro thought dryly as he dried off another plate. The hotel suite wasn't very well thought out. It had a kitchen with stove, refrigerator, and so on, but no dishwasher. 'I don't expect that goes over very well with the guests—having to do dishes on their honeymoon.'

"I'm back." Wufei announced.

"And?"

"And I'm going to read to you." Wufei said, and held up his hand before Hiro could protest. "Just, listen. All you have to do is listen. We're both entertained that way." Hiro shrugged and turned back to his dishes. "All right...chapter one. ' It is a sin to write this. It is a sin to think words no others think and to put them down upon a paper that no others are to see. It is base and evil. It is as if we were speaking alone to no ears but our own.' "

Hiro found that he had taken much longer than normal to wash the dishes, and he realized that is was because he had been captivated by Wufei's reading voice. 'Reading material.' Hiro corrected himself sternly. The material had been the interesting part. Right.

"So, do you like it?" Wufei asked, tossing the book lightly between his hands.

"What?" Hiro asked, coming back to himself. Wufei held up the book. "Oh, that. Yes, I do. It's...interesting. It was confusing at first, but...it became clear enough. Strange, though, I can't imagine the world ever becoming like that."

"Well, people thought it might a long time ago. Pre-space colony years, of course." Wufei shrugged quickly and threw the book onto the couch. "It's so short, we'll probably finish it at this rate in these two weeks if you keep washing dishes and I keep reading."

"I see." Hiro said carefully. Wufei's eyes flashed over to his.

"Do you want me to keep reading?" Wufei asked, raising his eyebrows slightly. Hiro met Wufei's eyes neutrally.

"I like the book. Yes."

"Alright then. That's settled." Wufei yawned. "It's late, isn't it?" He looked at his watch. "It's nearly 10:00 o'clock. Time flies, hm?" Hiro nodded.

"Chang, exactly how are we going to arrange the sleeping matters?" Hiro asked flatly, gesturing towards the bedroom. It was either they shared the bed, or someone was going to have to sleep in the living room, which wasn't made for sleeping.

" I was just thinking of that." Wufei said, and instantly regretted it. 'Yeah, that didn't sound perverted or anything Chang...' Luckily, Hiro didn't think that way, and didn't take it other than the way it was intended to be.

"I was as well. Look, Chang, don't think that I am suggesting that you and I should get personal or anything, but I really think it would be best to just share. There is no point in one of us being uncomfortable all night because Duo is up to his stupid pranks again." Hiro said calmly, and Wufei couldn't help but admire his maturity.

"I agree." Wufei said, and both he and Hiro walked into the bedroom. They noticed that two sets of pajamas were laid out for them. They were, to say the least, provocative. Wufei threw his down blushing. Hiro shrugged and began to take off the dark blue shirt he had been wearing.

" What are you doing?" Wufei nearly screamed.

" I am getting ready for bed." Hiro was, of course, totally calm.

"I can see that, but, don't you realize what these are?! This is an injustice to you, as well as to me!" Wufei was barely keeping a hand on his voice, he was near shouting. "Have you no modesty?"

"I do, you know that, but I don't wish to sleep in these clothes I don't know whether or not Duo has picked out similar clothes for daily wear and so I would rather wear these at night when the only person to see them is you, than have to wear something even worse tomorrow because I wore these clothes to bed." Hiro explained, unbuttoning his pants. 'Damn it...he's right. That would be the most logical. Why the hell didn't I think of that? Here I am, getting all worked up over nothing...when did Yui get so damn mature?' Wufei sighed and frowned deeply and stripped off the white long-sleeved shirt that he had worn that day. He yanked off his pants, and pulled the sheer black short shorts that were his pajama's on with such ferocity that even Hiro raised his head. Hiro was in transparent red short shorts instead of black, and both young men were shirtless. Without looking at Hiro, Wufei stalked over to the bed and climbed in. He pulled the covers over his head, and stayed on one side of the bed.

"Goodnight." Wufei said curtly, not wanting to be too rude. The evening had been fine until the pajamas made their entrance. 'Embarrassing underwear enter stage left.' Wufei thought to himself. Wufei rolled over, tossed the covers back over, and growled. He felt annoyingly exposed. "These aren't exactly comfortable are they?"

"No."

"I hate Duo's sense of style."

"Who wouldn't?" Hiro asked, and Wufei smirked.

"Someone with a very sick mind."

"Probably that, or a girl. They don't seem to understand below the belt very well, and wouldn't understand how truly uncomfortable these are." Hiro said and Wufei made a sound of agreement.

"Tell me about it." Wufei nodded his head at Hiro. "For real this time, goodnight Yui."

"Goodnight Chang." Hiro said, and Wufei stretched himself out, giving Hiro a prime seating for a show of sheer muscle and bronzed skin. Hiro felt his pulse quicken against his will. 'Chang is so...' Hiro began to think, but the thought was cut off cruelly. 'Hiro Yui...what the hell do you think you're doing? Go to sleep moron, before you self destruct just from embarrassment.' Hiro thought calmly as he too climbed into the bed, settling into the pillows serenely.

kudos to anyone who recognized the opening to Ayn Rand's "Anthem"

After notes:

This chapter wasn't really changed, though some parts were. Mostly, I added a lot. I kept the actual actions the same; I just made it flow differently. I mean, I'm not out to completely warp the story. I just want it better. Also, re-reading it made me sad, my writing style was so immature it hurt. SO! Here's the new and improved Yaruki! Same idea, but written a bit differently.