Warnings: Yaoi
Duo?
Chapter 18: Beatings and Card Games
Duo peered through the side window and gasped before throwing open the door. "What happened to him!" he cried as Trowa carried a very beaten looking Heero in, supporting him by keeping one of his arms around his neck. Duo stepped to one side to allow him and Quatre inside.
Quatre stopped to speak to Duo as Trowa helped Heero to the couch in the living room. "It seems the bullies down the street decided it was time to teach the new kid who's boss..." He shook his head sadly. "Poor Heero, I feel awful."
Duo nodded and hurried to Heero's side. Heero had left early that morning just to get out of the house and now, two hours later, he was lying beaten half to death on the couch with a pained, glassy look in his eyes. They turned to Duo and he smiled weakly. Duo heard Quatre softly say his goodbyes to them and the front door opened and closed softly.
Duo cupped Heero's quickly bruising cheek in his hand and swallowed hard. "Are you alright, Heero?" he asked quietly as Heero tilted his head, leaning into Duo's palm. He closed his eyes and nodded slightly. Duo smiled. "It was rhetorical, Heero, of course you're not alright."
Heero blinked and nodded again. Duo grinned. "Show me where it hurts, lover." That got a laugh from Heero. "I'll get you some ice," Duo said and went into the kitchen. He came back a moment later with an ice bag they kept in the kitchen and handed it to Heero.
"Thanks," Heero said quietly. Duo smiled.
"I'll go get you some painkillers or something," Duo said and walked off again. Heero pressed the ice pack to his pounding head and closed his eyes, waiting patiently for his lover.
xxx
Later that day, Heero started to feel better and he and Duo were playing board games.
"Ha! I win again!" Heero said with a triumphant grin.
Duo's jaw dropped. "How did I lose!" Heero gladly pointed out his mistake and Duo pouted. "I hate you..."
Heero grinned. "No you don't," he said, planting a small kiss on Duo's cheek.
Duo glared at him and sighed. "Can we do something else... I'm tired of losing."
"You didn't lose the whole time, Duo," Heero told him, receiving another glare.
"I won twice... Out of all the games we played..." His glare turned to a suspicious gaze. "I bet you cheated!" he accused with mock seriousness.
Heero's eyes widened. "I've never even played half these games before!" He quirked an eyebrow at Duo. "Tell me how I could've cheated?"
Duo sighed dramatically. "Such a long list..." He threw up his arms in the air and fell back onto the floor. Heero smiled and shook his head.
"What should we do now?" Duo asked, folding his hands under his head and looking up at the ceiling. Heero shrugged. "You pick this time," Duo insisted, turning his gaze to Heero.
Heero blinked. "I don't know what to do... I'm not exactly capable of doing much besides this right now anyway," he responded.
Duo nodded. "You should probably be resting anyway... You still look awful. Does it hurt anymore?"
Heero shook his head. "No... Well, I'm going to be sore for a few days, but I think I'll live," he grinned.
Duo rolled his eyes. "You really don't take your injuries very seriously, do you?"
"I take them seriously when they're serious enough."
Duo quirked an eyebrow. "You don't consider getting bloodied up so bad that Trowa had to support you just to get home serious?"
Heero shrugged. "I've had worse..." he said simply.
Duo sat up. "Worse? Worse how?"
"I used to get beat on all the time," Heero said more casually than Duo considered normal.
Duo grabbed his arm, careful not to hit any bruises or scrapes. "But look at you!" He wrapped two fingers and his thumb around Heero's bicep with one hand, bending his arm at the elbow with the other. Heero chuckled and shook his head.
"That was when I was little, when I got older I got around to actually defending myself." Duo released Heero's arm and sighed.
"You've been beaten up worse than this?" he inquired quietly. Heero nodded. "How much worse?"
Heero thought for a moment. "Unconscious worse, stitches worse, hospital worse - not including broken bones. Basically whatever you can come up with, I had worse."
"Why were you picked on so much?" Duo asked, barely keeping ahold of his emotions. Unshed tears brimmed his wide violet eyes as he waited for an answer.
Heero sighed. "I'm not really sure... I guess I was just always the small one and I didn't have any other male friends that could stand up for me." He ran one of his hands through his messy hair. "The boys who picked on me weren't ever caught, though."
"Go figure," Duo said bitterly. He looked up at Heero sympathetically and moved to sit next to him. "I'm sorry that happened to you, Heero," he said, putting his arm around Heero's shoulders. "Could you have defended yourself this time? Or were there too many?"
Heero shook his head and leaned against Duo. "No... I just didn't want to fight back, I probably could've beaten the pair that came after me, but I just didn't want to..." he said quietly. He didn't want to admit it to Duo, but Heero knew exactly why he didn't fight, Duo had been in his mind throughout his beating and he couldn't get his body to respond the way he wanted it to. Wondering what Duo would think of him if he'd fought made him feel guilty about taking a swing at them.
After a few moments of silence, Heero suggested, "Why don't we play a few card games? Those are easy to win. How about it?"
A grin lit Duo's face and his eyes sparkled mischievously. "I know the perfect game."
xxx
For the rest of the afternoon, Duo and Heero played card games like Speed, Uno, and a truckload of others. They both laughed and joked and had a wonderful time, but before they knew it, it was almost nine.
Duo glanced at the clock after beating Heero for the third time in a row at Speed. "Wow, we sat here all afternoon, Heero! You should get some rest now, we wouldn't want to sleep deprive you in your condition." He grinned and rose to stretch. Heero watched in fascination. He shook his head to clear his sudden dizziness that washed over him.
Duo, having not noticed, helped Heero to his feet and stood close by in case Heero should need support. He smiled at Heero and grasped his hand, intertwining their fingers. He then led Heero to the stairs and up into their room. Duo left Heero standing alone so he could dress and sat down on the end of the bed, facing away from Heero.
Heero became lightheaded and his eyelids fluttered. "Duo..." he called softly before falling to his knees. Before he fell forward to the floor, Duo was there to catch him. He opened his eyes and Duo noticed that they were sort of shaking, as though he were looking at more than one of him.
"Heero?" he said as his eyes fluttered closed again. "Heero?" His voice was becoming more urgent. This could be bad... "Heero, answer me!"
Heero's eyes snapped open again, still shaking and he brought his hand up and pressed the heel of his palm to his forehead. He moaned quietly. He then sighed and fell silent with his hand still on his forehead. "Heero! Say something!" Duo shook him gently. Heero's eyes opened again and he brought his hand down. His shaking sapphire eyes were glassy as he smiled weakly.
"I guess it was worse than I thought," he said softly. Duo smiled down at him.
"I told you you should've rested, Heero." Heero nodded.
"I know, Duo..." He closed his eyes. "When I said I'm not capable of doing anything... I meant it."
Duo picked Heero up and set him on the bed so he was leaning against the bedstead. Heero kept his eyes closed peacefully as Duo snatched Heero's bedshirt from under his pillow. Duo pulled Heero forward and lifted his shirt up over his head and slipped it off his arms. He tried not to stare at his lover's perfect body as he put the shirt over Heero's head and put his arms through the sleeves.
He swallowed hard before he slipped Heero's jeans off. He knew that Heero wore boxers, so there was really nothing to worry about, but Duo had to bite his tongue to keep from taking advantage of Heero. Duo tossed Heero's clothes into a basket he kept next to the door and came back to Heero and got him into bed.
"Heero?" he asked softly. Heero made a low "Hm?" noise so Duo continued. "Heero, if you don't get any better by tomorrow, I'm going to have Quatre and Trowa take you to get help, ok?"
Heero nodded slowly and sighed. Duo pulled him close like he usually did and kissed his forehead. "Duo, will you sing for me?" Duo smiled.
"Of course I will," he said before he started to sing Heero to sleep with one of his favorite songs: Wild Wing Boys.