Disclaimers: Don't own GW.
Warnings: Yaoi, Relena bashing.
Duo?
Chapter 8: The Purple Rose
For the rest of the day, Heero and Duo hung out together talking about random things. Duo actually made Heero laugh, not just the little chuckle here and there, but genuine, long-lasting laughing fits. It made Duo happy to hear that sound since he so rarely heard it on normal days when they spent their time doing other things. Meanwhile, Duo earned himself a few extra smiles when he talked about his life before he had died so unexpectedly.
During their talk, Duo often found his mind wandering off toward his rose idea. When he caught himself thinking about that, he discovered just how close he was to tears and ripped himself away from his depressing thoughts.
xxx
Around four in the afternoon, there was a knock on the front door. Heero glanced over the couch and sighed. He was having so much fun really talking to Duo that he didn't want to be disturbed, even by friends. He opened the door and just barely caught the disgusted sound that emitted from his throat.
Relena...
"Relena, what are you doing here?" he asked, making sure he sounded out each word as though she were stupid. Duo peered over the edge of the couch at the name and tone and arched an eyebrow.
Relena tilted her head to one side and smiled sweetly like she usually did. "Hello, Heero! I just thought I'd come by and visit, see how you're doing," she replied in a repulsively cheery voice. Heero managed to hide a shudder that was creeping up his spine as he looked her over; she had a pink tank top with writing that said "Princess" in darker pink letters. She had a pink skirt that went down to her knees and had little white flowers at the bottom. Her shoes were like high-heeled flip-flops that were also pink with darker pink straps.
His eye twitched and he saw her raise her blonde eyebrows expectantly. He tried to smile but it twisted into a half snarl and he allowed her admittance by stepping to one side and extending his arm. "Welcome to my new home," he said with disdain.
Her blue eyes sparkled as she stepped inside and looked around. Her mouth formed a small 'o' as her eyes landed on the huge chandelier above her head. She turned back and smiled at Heero who had closed the door again and was gazing anxiously into the living room.
"Heero, this is amazing!" she exclaimed and started towards the direction of Heero's intent stare. Heero's eyes widened when Duo failed to disappear as he'd hoped he would. Duo merely lay on the couch and acted as though he were real.
Heero quickly followed Relena and, again, shot an anxious look at Duo that said "Disappear!" Duo raised an eyebrow at him and got up to greet Relena, who was currently exploring the huge, heavily furnished room and hadn't noticed him
"Hello, Relena," Duo said, smiling smugly at Heero. She whirled around and smiled. Duo extended his hand. "I'm Duo."
Relena blinked once. Twice. "Hello, Duo. Um, you're Heero's friend, right?" Duo smiled and nodded. She took the offered hand and her eyes widened but she said nothing and kept her smile on her face. She withdrew her hand as quickly as she could without seeming rude and rubbed it.
Duo turned to Heero. "See ya 'round," he said and climbed the stairs to go to their room.
Heero turned back to Relena who looked an interesting shade of green. She turned her eyes to him and narrowed them suspiciously. "Who is that?" she asked.
Heero blinked.
"I mean, why is he so..." she glanced up at the stairs. "Weird?" She shuddered. Heero's eyes scanned the room and he smiled inwardly.
'Duo's in here, I can feel it,' he thought to himself.
"Heero?" Relena demanded impatiently as she rubbed her hand fiercely. "What's going on?"
"Nothing, Relena," he replied calmly.
She scowled and glanced at the stairs again. "I don't like him, he's not human..." she muttered. Heero felt Duo's ki rise a notch. "Tell me the truth, Heero, who is he? Why are these things happening when he talks to me?"
Heero gave her a confused look. "What things?" he asked.
She held up her hand. "He did something! It feels weird, I can't really explain it..." She shook her head and continued rubbing her hand. "But it got cold in my room when Duo talked to me online, and it got really dark. I have no idea why, but I do know that it had something to do with him!" She pointed at the stairs. "Tell me what's going on."
Heero shrugged and sat down on the arm of the couch. "I don't know what you're talking about," he answered, glancing around the room once again. Relena noticed that and turned to look around the room behind her.
"What are you looking for?"
Heero's eyes snapped back to hers. "Nothing." He blinked as Duo appeared behind Relena. The muscles around his mouth twitched as he tried not to laugh at Duo's evil grin. Duo's eyes flicked to Heero's and he held up a finger to his lips in a silent "Shh".
Relena was busy with her hand when Duo tapped her shoulder lightly. She spun around but he had disappeared before she could see him. Heero bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing.
Relena turned back to Heero and hissed, "What was that?"
Heero tilted his head to one side. "What?" Relena fumed, but calmed quickly. She smiled and walked over to sit on the couch. Heero turned so he was facing her. He put his socked feet on the couch and draped his arms over his knees.
She smiled at him. "I really like your house," she said sweetly.
Heero's face remained expressionless as he gazed around the room. "Hn, it's too big."
"I think it's fine; big houses are fun!" Heero glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.
"Fun to get lost in," he said bitterly. "Fun to play Hide-and-Seek in perhaps, but not fun for fo-three people to live in alone." He forgot about Duo being a ghost and not really a part of the family and almost said "four".
Relena's eyes narrowed again. "Were you going to say "four"?" she asked quietly.
Heero blinked and shook his head.
She stood up abruptly. "You're lying to me, Heero Yuy!" she hissed with a cautious glance at the staircase. She swallowed hard and sat down slowly. "Don't think I can't tell."
Heero shrugged. "Ok, whatever."
Relena glared at him, but then regained her sweet smile again. "I missed you anyway," she said softly. Duo's ki spiked, then his presence disappeared altogether. Heero raised an eyebrow. She looked down and bit her lip. She opened her mouth to say something else when she looked up and saw Duo sliding down the railing of the staircase with his hand behind his back.
Heero looked back and saw Duo. He turned around on the arm of the couch and noticed Duo's strange glare at Relena. It confused him, that wasn't a normal glare, that was more like... competitive? Heero gave him a confused look as he approached.
Relena stood up and gripped Heero's arm protectively. There went Duo's ki again.
Duo turned his eyes to Heero's and said, "I've been meaning to give you something." He brought his hand out from behind his back, gripped gently in his fingertips was a purple rose.