Chapter 4
Duo knew it would be dangerous to try and prod Kenshin awake. So he tried calling his name, in a whisper at first, then he got louder and louder until Kenshin finally woke up, once he saw one bleary sea foam green eye, then he undid the seat belt, and picked Kenshin up out of the car.
//-Duo- man the kids eyes are the same color of Quatre's, I guess his eye color isn't as original as I thought it was. Huh he fell asleep again, man he must really trust me\\
Duo, who still was not used to Quatre's huge estates, was in awe. The mansion was four stories high; it had a slate roof and was made of stone. It looked like a castle; there was even a tower in the north west corner. The lawn was perfectly manicured, in the south east corner there was a six foot high hedge maze, which was made of old rose bushes that happened to still be in bloom this late in the season. Behind the house, Duo knew, there would be endless gardens, a few pools complete with water falls, and in a small corner there was a training course that Heero had often used during the war to cool down. The training course in question looked like one of the ones you see in the army movies, it started out with a rope climb over a slick wall made of wood, followed by a net bridge which lead to a rope swing. When you landed from the rope swing you were supposed to run and leap through a tire and then shoot 6 dummies. Next to that was a small building, to which Duo had never explored.
Duo was now walking up the rounded marble steps that formed a semi circle around the front door. The front door was a double door made of a dark, heavy wood with gold furnishings. He un-locked the magnificent doors and pulled one of them open with his free hand and walked into a lavish welcoming hall, with gold chair rails that went the entire length of the room, the walls were painted a beautiful wine colour, and instead of doors there were arches that lead to many different halls. Duo took the fourth arch on the right, to which the walls were painted navy blue, with white 4 inch wide chair rails, with a dark, maple, wood floor.
Duo took a few turns before bounding up a flight of stairs, that had black carpet and an intricately detailed mural of the Gundams fighting a battle with Earth in the background. On the next floor there was a mural of the whole crew, in the back from right to left was Treize, Zechs, Noin, Sally, Hilde, Relena, and Howard. In the middle from left to right was Duo, Heero, Trowa, Quatre, and Wu Fei. In the front from right to left was Doctor J, Professor G, Doktor S, Instructor H, and Master O. They all were showing their respected masks, however Trowa was looking a little more radiant than usual, in the background was one of Quatre's infinite gardens, and a sunny sky. On the third floor someone had started a mural of the sun with a dragon around it. Finally on the fourth, which was a floor that only Duo used, and only Duo was aloud up there was a mural of the Maxwell church after it had been bombed, complete with a dead sister Helen, and a sobbing Duo over her. That mural was the reason no one was aloud up there, even Heero feared what would happen to him.
…………………..Flashback……………………………….
Heero was walking up the stairs to see if Duo was alright, because he had been acting strange, and had not been annoying anyone for a few weeks. He got up to the halfway up point between the third and fourth floors when, all of a sudden there was a huge mass pushing him down the stairwell. It took him a while to figure out it was Duo, a very pissed off Duo at that.
Duo: Don't come up here ever again, because you will wish you had just been pushed down the stairs.
Duo had been right, Heero noticed, because Duo had gotten him on his back before he even noticed there was somebody around.
……………………………end flashback………………………….
So now Duo was carrying the unconscious lump named Kenshin up the stairs and down a hall that was painted black, with paintings of stars, the moon, and the L2 colony cluster. Halfway down the hall Duo turned into an almost invisible doorway into a bathroom. He switched on the lights, to see his bathroom was exactly as he had left it. The ceiling was light sky blue with clouds painted on it, and a sun in the left corner, by the door above the oval mirror, which was above a small white sink with antique handles. At the far end was a white bathtub that also served as a shower. The floor was a sand stone tile, that varied in size and colour. And the sky blue came about halfway down the wall, to a mural of a beach scene complete with an ocean on the right wall, which was empty, but for a small closet door which was barely noticeable.
Duo knelt down and balanced the still sleeping Kenshin on his knee, while he turned on the faucet to the bathtub. Kenshin immediately shot up and looked around wildly, he was having a momentary laps in his memory, and had no idea where he was. Then it dawned upon him, and he relaxed into Duo's arms.
Duo: Sorry buddy, I didn't know that would scare ya.
Kenshin: what is that? -totally innocent-
Duo: -smirks- it's a bathtub, I'm puttin' water in it, and the water will take the dirt off you.
Kenshin: oh okay -a little dazed-
Duo was now stopping up the tub so it would fill up.
Duo: alright buddy time to get undressed.
Kenshin flipped literally out of Duo's arms, landed on his feet and then progressed to fall over and scoot backwards into the corner of the room. Fear was visible in his eyes, and every muscle in his puny little body was tense and ready to defend himself.
Duo: I'm sorry buddy I shoulda explained better, You was yourself in here, I'll help by doing your hair, and back. I'm not going to do anything bad to you I promise.
Kenshin: how do I know your not lying
Duo: I may run and I may hide, but I never tell a lie. That's been my motto my entire life.
At those words Kenshin visibly relaxed, but stayed against the wall as he moved closer to the tub, all the while staying as far from Duo as possible. Once he was in reach with the tub he stuck his finger in the warm water and swirled it around, his reaction was priceless. It was the same awe and wonderment he had had in the car, but now there was trust forming in them too. Once satisfied that the water would not bite him, Kenshin un-dressed to reveal two very disturbing things. The first was he had more scars than cat's have fur, most of which were fresh and showed that he had taken a needle and thread, and sewn himself back together. The other disturbing thing that met Duo's eye's was the fact that his stomach protruded out.
Duo: Kenshin?
Kenshin: Huh?
Duo: When was the last time you ate?
Kenshin: -shrugs-
Duo: why haven't you eaten in a while?
Kenshin: 'cause foods been really hard to get lately, and 'cause I've been given it all to Q and Shinks.
Duo decided to shut up now because if he asked any more questions he might get even more disturbing answers. Plus the fact that Kenshin was trying to climb into the tub, which could only end in disaster. So he lifted him up and placed him in the warm water. Kenshin had the most adorable smirk on his face, it was the one of a small child who was completely content with the world. Duo then put some liquid soap on a wet sponge, and gave it to Kenshin.
Duo: You rub this all over 'till your completely white and bubbly, okay?
Kenshin:-grabs the sponge while nodding his head-
Duo:-smirks-
Now Duo reaches in to take Kenshin's hair out of the braid so he can wash it. Before he knew it the sponge hit his face, and Kenshin was leaning against the wall of the tub holding his braid protectively.
Duo:-completely exasperated- what's wrong buddy, I was just gunna wash your hair?
Kenshin: NO
Duo: so I can't wash your hair
Kenshin: you mean you weren't gunna try at cut it off?
Duo: no why would I do that?
Kenshin: 'Cause Joshie was always tryin' to cut it off.
Duo: Well I'm not this mean Joshie guy, I'm Duo and I like your hair. I promise, I will never ever try to cut your hair without your permission, and if you never give your permission than I will never cut it. Okay?
Kenshin:-nods, and scoots back over to the middle of the tub, after releasing his death grip from his braid-
Once Duo had finished washing Kenshin's hair and face he exclaimed:
Duo: alright bath times over
Kenshin:-poutsK-
Duo:-chuckles-
Duo then grabbed a big fluffy white towel out of the closet.
Duo: Alright get up buddy
Kenshin stood up and was ready to climb out of the tub when a warm fuzzy cloth was rapped around him. Duo who was getting to know what might make Kenshin tick so he left his arms on the out side of the towel. Once securely rapped Duo picked up the tiny boy and carried him back towards the stairwell and stopped halfway there, and went through another well hidden door and into his room.
Duo's room was a cool shade of metallic blue, and had a gray carpet. In the far left was a white computer desk that had its side against a window that looked down on the maze. In the other back corner was a double bed with a thick white comforter and four over stuffed pillows to which were also clad in white. On the side to which the door opened there was a white dresser with Six drawers.
Duo walked in and placed Kenshin on the bed, and walked over to the dresser, he was about to open the top drawer when he felt something warm press up against his legs. When he looked down he saw Kenshin with his long hair cascading in clumps around his naked body, hugging Duo's legs.
Duo: Hey buddy, what's the matter -while picking him up-
Kenshin:-nuzzles in deeper- Thank you, for being so nice
Duo starts to feel a small bit of water on his shoulder, where Kenshin's head was. So he started rubbing his back and cooing softly in an attempt to calm the tiny boy down. Soon Kenshin had fallen asleep again in Duo's arms. Duo proceeded to lay Kenshin under the covers, and search his top drawer for his old priest out fit from when he was about six. He decided that if he cut off the bottoms of the pants and the ends of the sleeves that the out fit might just fit Kenshin. So he put that plan into motion while Kenshin slept. And about ten minuets later Duo had an outfit he hoped would fit.
Duo knew it would be dangerous to try and prod Kenshin awake. So he tried calling his name, in a whisper at first, then he got louder and louder until Kenshin finally woke up, once he saw one bleary sea foam green eye, then he undid the seat belt, and picked Kenshin up out of the car.
//-Duo- man the kids eyes are the same color of Quatre's, I guess his eye color isn't as original as I thought it was. Huh he fell asleep again, man he must really trust me\\
Duo, who still was not used to Quatre's huge estates, was in awe. The mansion was four stories high; it had a slate roof and was made of stone. It looked like a castle; there was even a tower in the north west corner. The lawn was perfectly manicured, in the south east corner there was a six foot high hedge maze, which was made of old rose bushes that happened to still be in bloom this late in the season. Behind the house, Duo knew, there would be endless gardens, a few pools complete with water falls, and in a small corner there was a training course that Heero had often used during the war to cool down. The training course in question looked like one of the ones you see in the army movies, it started out with a rope climb over a slick wall made of wood, followed by a net bridge which lead to a rope swing. When you landed from the rope swing you were supposed to run and leap through a tire and then shoot 6 dummies. Next to that was a small building, to which Duo had never explored.
Duo was now walking up the rounded marble steps that formed a semi circle around the front door. The front door was a double door made of a dark, heavy wood with gold furnishings. He un-locked the magnificent doors and pulled one of them open with his free hand and walked into a lavish welcoming hall, with gold chair rails that went the entire length of the room, the walls were painted a beautiful wine colour, and instead of doors there were arches that lead to many different halls. Duo took the fourth arch on the right, to which the walls were painted navy blue, with white 4 inch wide chair rails, with a dark, maple, wood floor.
Duo took a few turns before bounding up a flight of stairs, that had black carpet and an intricately detailed mural of the Gundams fighting a battle with Earth in the background. On the next floor there was a mural of the whole crew, in the back from right to left was Treize, Zechs, Noin, Sally, Hilde, Relena, and Howard. In the middle from left to right was Duo, Heero, Trowa, Quatre, and Wu Fei. In the front from right to left was Doctor J, Professor G, Doktor S, Instructor H, and Master O. They all were showing their respected masks, however Trowa was looking a little more radiant than usual, in the background was one of Quatre's infinite gardens, and a sunny sky. On the third floor someone had started a mural of the sun with a dragon around it. Finally on the fourth, which was a floor that only Duo used, and only Duo was aloud up there was a mural of the Maxwell church after it had been bombed, complete with a dead sister Helen, and a sobbing Duo over her. That mural was the reason no one was aloud up there, even Heero feared what would happen to him.
…………………..Flashback……………………………….
Heero was walking up the stairs to see if Duo was alright, because he had been acting strange, and had not been annoying anyone for a few weeks. He got up to the halfway up point between the third and fourth floors when, all of a sudden there was a huge mass pushing him down the stairwell. It took him a while to figure out it was Duo, a very pissed off Duo at that.
Duo: Don't come up here ever again, because you will wish you had just been pushed down the stairs.
Duo had been right, Heero noticed, because Duo had gotten him on his back before he even noticed there was somebody around.
……………………………end flashback………………………….
So now Duo was carrying the unconscious lump named Kenshin up the stairs and down a hall that was painted black, with paintings of stars, the moon, and the L2 colony cluster. Halfway down the hall Duo turned into an almost invisible doorway into a bathroom. He switched on the lights, to see his bathroom was exactly as he had left it. The ceiling was light sky blue with clouds painted on it, and a sun in the left corner, by the door above the oval mirror, which was above a small white sink with antique handles. At the far end was a white bathtub that also served as a shower. The floor was a sand stone tile, that varied in size and colour. And the sky blue came about halfway down the wall, to a mural of a beach scene complete with an ocean on the right wall, which was empty, but for a small closet door which was barely noticeable.
Duo knelt down and balanced the still sleeping Kenshin on his knee, while he turned on the faucet to the bathtub. Kenshin immediately shot up and looked around wildly, he was having a momentary laps in his memory, and had no idea where he was. Then it dawned upon him, and he relaxed into Duo's arms.
Duo: Sorry buddy, I didn't know that would scare ya.
Kenshin: what is that? -totally innocent-
Duo: -smirks- it's a bathtub, I'm puttin' water in it, and the water will take the dirt off you.
Kenshin: oh okay -a little dazed-
Duo was now stopping up the tub so it would fill up.
Duo: alright buddy time to get undressed.
Kenshin flipped literally out of Duo's arms, landed on his feet and then progressed to fall over and scoot backwards into the corner of the room. Fear was visible in his eyes, and every muscle in his puny little body was tense and ready to defend himself.
Duo: I'm sorry buddy I shoulda explained better, You was yourself in here, I'll help by doing your hair, and back. I'm not going to do anything bad to you I promise.
Kenshin: how do I know your not lying
Duo: I may run and I may hide, but I never tell a lie. That's been my motto my entire life.
At those words Kenshin visibly relaxed, but stayed against the wall as he moved closer to the tub, all the while staying as far from Duo as possible. Once he was in reach with the tub he stuck his finger in the warm water and swirled it around, his reaction was priceless. It was the same awe and wonderment he had had in the car, but now there was trust forming in them too. Once satisfied that the water would not bite him, Kenshin un-dressed to reveal two very disturbing things. The first was he had more scars than cat's have fur, most of which were fresh and showed that he had taken a needle and thread, and sewn himself back together. The other disturbing thing that met Duo's eye's was the fact that his stomach protruded out.
Duo: Kenshin?
Kenshin: Huh?
Duo: When was the last time you ate?
Kenshin: -shrugs-
Duo: why haven't you eaten in a while?
Kenshin: 'cause foods been really hard to get lately, and 'cause I've been given it all to Q and Shinks.
Duo decided to shut up now because if he asked any more questions he might get even more disturbing answers. Plus the fact that Kenshin was trying to climb into the tub, which could only end in disaster. So he lifted him up and placed him in the warm water. Kenshin had the most adorable smirk on his face, it was the one of a small child who was completely content with the world. Duo then put some liquid soap on a wet sponge, and gave it to Kenshin.
Duo: You rub this all over 'till your completely white and bubbly, okay?
Kenshin:-grabs the sponge while nodding his head-
Duo:-smirks-
Now Duo reaches in to take Kenshin's hair out of the braid so he can wash it. Before he knew it the sponge hit his face, and Kenshin was leaning against the wall of the tub holding his braid protectively.
Duo:-completely exasperated- what's wrong buddy, I was just gunna wash your hair?
Kenshin: NO
Duo: so I can't wash your hair
Kenshin: you mean you weren't gunna try at cut it off?
Duo: no why would I do that?
Kenshin: 'Cause Joshie was always tryin' to cut it off.
Duo: Well I'm not this mean Joshie guy, I'm Duo and I like your hair. I promise, I will never ever try to cut your hair without your permission, and if you never give your permission than I will never cut it. Okay?
Kenshin:-nods, and scoots back over to the middle of the tub, after releasing his death grip from his braid-
Once Duo had finished washing Kenshin's hair and face he exclaimed:
Duo: alright bath times over
Kenshin:-poutsK-
Duo:-chuckles-
Duo then grabbed a big fluffy white towel out of the closet.
Duo: Alright get up buddy
Kenshin stood up and was ready to climb out of the tub when a warm fuzzy cloth was rapped around him. Duo who was getting to know what might make Kenshin tick so he left his arms on the out side of the towel. Once securely rapped Duo picked up the tiny boy and carried him back towards the stairwell and stopped halfway there, and went through another well hidden door and into his room.
Duo's room was a cool shade of metallic blue, and had a gray carpet. In the far left was a white computer desk that had its side against a window that looked down on the maze. In the other back corner was a double bed with a thick white comforter and four over stuffed pillows to which were also clad in white. On the side to which the door opened there was a white dresser with Six drawers.
Duo walked in and placed Kenshin on the bed, and walked over to the dresser, he was about to open the top drawer when he felt something warm press up against his legs. When he looked down he saw Kenshin with his long hair cascading in clumps around his naked body, hugging Duo's legs.
Duo: Hey buddy, what's the matter -while picking him up-
Kenshin:-nuzzles in deeper- Thank you, for being so nice
Duo starts to feel a small bit of water on his shoulder, where Kenshin's head was. So he started rubbing his back and cooing softly in an attempt to calm the tiny boy down. Soon Kenshin had fallen asleep again in Duo's arms. Duo proceeded to lay Kenshin under the covers, and search his top drawer for his old priest out fit from when he was about six. He decided that if he cut off the bottoms of the pants and the ends of the sleeves that the out fit might just fit Kenshin. So he put that plan into motion while Kenshin slept. And about ten minuets later Duo had an outfit he hoped would fit.