Title: Exercising an Option
Author: Gina Lin Genre: Romance, Adventure, Gundam Wing Pairing: 5+S, 3+4, 1+2, 13+6 Warnings: Citrus, Yaoi, AU, Language Rating: R Archived: S_E Updates, FF.net. GWFF
Synopsis: Wufei, a Hollywood stuntman, takes his entourage to an exclusive spa to recover from an injury. A vacation becomes a chance for romance and adventure.
"Wanna see my Pikachu?"
Wufei experienced that momentary sense of unreality that comes when waking up in an unfamiliar place.
"Wha?" he slurred, trying to orient himself. He opened his eyes and a yellow smiling thing hovered over his face. He blinked hard, trying to clear his vision.
"Matt," he finally said, trying to sit up. He'd fallen asleep on Sally's sofa. "Where is your mother?"
"She told me to wake you up. Time to eat. You make funny noises when you sleep."
Wufei blinked again, trying to assimilate all this information delivered non-sequentially. Finally he said, "I'm sure I do not."
Matt giggled at this denial. "Mom said you need to wash up. I'll show you the bathroom."
Wufei stood up, stretching out a kink in his back. Matt looked up at him curiously.
"Do you like my mom?" he asked.
Wufei stopped in mid-stretch and looked down. Bright curious eyes awaited his answer. Wufei had been around very few children, and he was amazed at how perceptive this one was. Unexpectedly, he felt a surge of something akin to protectiveness.
"We are...friends, I suppose," said Wufei carefully.
Matt's eyes lit up. A huge grin split his gamin features, showing his missing front tooth. "Cool." He grabbed Wufei's hand and began to pull him in the direction of the hallway.
"This is my room," he pointed to a door with a sign on it that said "Gonna catch-em all!" in bright crayon colors.
He pointed again. "That's mom's room."
He pointed a third time. "Bathroom." He let go of Wufei's hand. "Hurry and wash, I'm hungry!" he said, walking backwards a few steps, then turning and skipping down the hallway.
Wufei returned a few minutes later. Matt and Sally had already sat down, and were waiting for him.
"Sorry," he grunted, sitting down. "You could have woken me sooner."
Sally smiled warmly at him. "I'm sure you needed it."
"Did you like it?" blurted out Matt, reaching for a roll. Sally moved the dish closer to his hand intercepting him.
Wufei gave him a blank look. "Like?" he repeated.
"My Pikachu, remember?" asked Matt, rolling his eyes.
"Leave Wufei alone about that," said Sally. "I'm sorry, this child has a one-track mind." She gave Wufei a knowing look.
"Mom," protested Matt. "You said I could show him my Pikachu!"
"It seems Matt takes promises very literally," observed Wufei with a small grin.
" Please, tell me about Pikachu."
A half-hour of streaming chatter later, Wufei was as completely conversant with the world of Pokemon as anyone could be who'd never seen it.
"So, Team Rocket are the bad guys," said Wufei, "but they're funny, right?"
"Yeah," said Matt. "And they have a talking cat. He's the only Pokemon who can talk [1]. They're always trying to get Pikachu, because he's the best Pokemon. James is kind of a sissy. Brian says Jesse is hot."
Wufei raised his eyebrows as Sally coughed. "Matt!" she said.
"Is 'hot' bad?" asked Matt, looking from Wufei to Sally.
"No," Wufei answered first. "Hot is not bad. Your mother is just surprised that your friends talk like grown ups."
"I think I need to have a talk with Brian's mother," murmured Sally, taking a long drink of water.
"Nice catch," she said under her breath to Wufei.
"Thank you," he said with exaggerated politeness.
"I still don't know what hot means," complained Matt.
"It means attractive," said Wufei.
"Oh," said Matt. "What's attractive?"
Sally snorted. "Try something more basic," she suggested.
"It means, ah, someone who is nice to look at, pretty," said Wufei.
"Like Mom," affirmed Matt, nodding. "Okay."
"Why thank you, Matt," said Sally, snickering. "Or are you just trying to get seconds for dessert?" she teased.
"No, you're pretty," said Matt seriously.
"I think you're biased," said Sally.
"What's biased?" asked Matt.
"Try something more basic," Wufei recommended with mock seriousness, putting down his fork and sitting back, waiting. Sally resisted an urge to stick her tongue out at him.
"It means you already love me," said Sally, after thinking a moment. "And that makes you think of me in a better way than a stranger would."
"Are you biased?" Matt asked Wufei, still looking puzzled.
"Yes, I am," said Wufei. "Very." He stared intently at Sally as he said it.
Sally dropped her fork from suddenly nerveless fingers. "Matt, are you finished?" she asked to cover her reaction. She bent over to pick up the utensil. "Sorry, that was clumsy of me."
"Yeah," said Matt, looking at his plate.
"I'll get you some dessert then," said Sally, rising. "Would you like some?" she asked Wufei. He stood up with her. "Yes, I'll help you."
"Oh, that's all right," said Sally evasively. "I can get it." She went into the kitchen.
Wufei ignored that. "I'll get the plates."
"All right," Sally relented. "You know where everything is."
"Yes," he said.
She was cutting squares of coconut cake. "That looks good," he said behind her. She jumped a little and turned half way around.
He grabbed her wrist. "Careful with that," he said quietly, removing the sharp edged cake cutter from her now limp hand. "Someone might get hurt."
"Yes," she gasped. Their faces were only a few centimeters apart and she felt warm breath on her hair and intent dark eyes roamed over her eyes and mouth. She felt light-headed and reached behind her to grip the counter.
"Are you going to kiss me?" she whispered.
He quietly placed the cutter he held on the countertop behind her, and now there was no space between their bodies. "Do you want me to?"
"Oh, yes!" The words came out before she could check them. She flushed, thinking how needy it sounded in her own ears.
He lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her with unexpected gentleness.
"Mom!" said Matt. Wufei jerked his head back and took a step backwards.
Sally swallowed. "What?" she said shakily. Their eyes were still locked.
"Can I eat my cake in my room? I wanna watch Pokemon, please?"
"Okay, but be careful. I'll get you a tray," said Sally, finally looking down and away.
She turned around, trying to ignore the brush of her body against Wufei's as she did so.
Picking up the cake server, she noticed that her hand was shaking.
"Let me," said Wufei, taking the server and neatly cutting a piece of cake, then putting it on the plate. "Here, better take this to him." He stepped back so she could move away from her position against the countertop.
"There's a tray in that cupboard," she said, pointing. Her hand was steady now, she noted with relief. "Would you?"
He retrieved it for her. She sat the cake down on it and walked back out into the dining room.
"Here you go," she said cheerfully. "Want me to take this in for you?
"I can do it." Matt carefully balanced the small tray in his hands and disappeared down the hallway. Soon, the muffled sounds of a television were heard.
"I'm a bad mother," said Sally, shaking her head as Wufei came up behind her. "Television as a baby sitter is not usually my style."
"I think this time I'll forgive you," said Wufei in a low voice.
"We can have ours out on the deck if you like," said Sally feeling her insides tighten at the tone in his voice. "It's warm out tonight."
"Fine," said Wufei. He was unapologetically watching her as she got their dessert.
He followed her out onto the deck and they sat down on the rattan loveseat, which had a small table in front of it.
"Do you really want dessert?" asked Sally, turning slightly to look at him.
"No," he said. "Although I'm sure that it's as good as everything else you've made."
"So, this was just a way to get me alone?" asked Sally.
"Yes," he said, reaching over to take her hand and pull her up against him.
"Are you going to kiss me again?"
"Yes." He proceeded to suit the action to the word, kissing her first on the mouth, and then trailing a series of small kisses down to the hollow of her throat that left her panting.
"Pokemon only lasts half an hour," she gasped after a few moments of this attention. She wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed him back, lightly on the corner of his mouth.
She felt him smile against her lips. "Good to know."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Mil," said Trieze, "You hardly touched your dinner."
Zechs looked up from his writing, poised with pen in midair.
"I wasn't hungry," he said in a low voice. "And, please don't call me that."
"I think that from now on, when we're alone, I shall do just that," said Trieze, stubbornly.
He reached into the ornate cage and held out a gloved hand to the canary. It perched delicately upon his forefinger. Slowly he drew it out of the cage.
"There, you do trust me now," he cooed to the small creature, who fluttered its wings as if in response to his voice.
Zechs looked up. "Is that the new one?" he asked.
"Yes," Trieze replied. "I've named her Madeline, do you like it?"
He walked over smoothly and placed the canary on Zech's shoulder, where it perched, holding onto the fabric of his shirt with small claws.
"See, she's becoming used to be handled. It only takes patience. Infinite patience."
"So I've noticed," said Zechs wryly, keeping his voice soft so as not to startle the bird.
Trieze offered his hand again, and the bird hopped over onto his finger. He quickly surrounded it gently with the other hand and walked over to place it back in its cage[2].
"Are you suggesting that I'm 'handling' you?" asked Trieze lightly.
"We both know that you are," said Zechs, pushing back his chair from the writing desk and standing up.
Trieze chuckled. "Well, I suppose if you hadn't noticed, I'd have been disappointed."
"I don't need handling," said Zechs in a low voice.
"You've been brooding for 3 days now," said Trieze. "Do you really think I can bear to see you like this interminably?"
"Stay out of this," growled Zechs, brushing past the other man. "Let me take care of Relena."
Trieze grabbed his arm in passing. "This is intolerable!" he said, forcing the younger man to pause.
He bent forward and kissed him roughly on the mouth, grabbing a handful of long platinum hair and twisting his hand through it.
"Let me go!" cried Zechs. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"Trying to snap you out of this sulk you've been in," replied Trieze huskily. "I'm sick to death of it."
"Hurts not being the center of my attention, doesn't it?" snarled Zechs.
"What do you want me to say?" asked Trieze quietly releasing the other man and stepping back a pace. "Of course it hurts, I miss you terribly. We've been walking around here like two strange cats for days now."
"What about infinite patience?" asked Zechs in a softer tone.
Trieze raised his eyes. "I come across as quite the hypocrite, do I not?" he asked sorrowfully. "Forgive me, my dear Mil." He turned to walk away, head bowed. "I'm going to bed," he said clearly, raking a hand through his hair. "Join me or not, it's completely up to you."
Zechs looked up the staircase, watching Trieze walk slowly up.
"Wait," he said suddenly, feeling the unexpected sting of tears behind his lids.
Trieze paused and looked down from the top of the staircase. "Yes?" he asked expectantly.
"I'm coming up," said Zechs. "Wait for me."
Trieze smiled grimly. "I'd prefer to loose the battle to win the war, my love." He held out his hand.
Zechs walked up to join him, taking the offered hand. "I surrender," he whispered, wrapping his arms around the other man.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[1] I have a now 10 year old son, soon to be 11, who went through a Pokemon obsession at about Matt's age (he's almost 6), so I know way, way more about this cartoon/anime than is necessary for sanity. I was required as an attentive parent to listen to endless monologues about this show, although I have rarely watched it. I can name almost all the Pokemon and their abilities, something I am both proud of and ashamed of, for some reason. Someday, I hope to regain this brain space for more vital information. Pokemon has been discarded for Yu-Gi-Oh, recently, so now I am subjected to monologues about "Blue Eyes White Dragons" and "Attack Cards". Wufei is quite patient, isn't he? Must be all that meditating.
[2] I used to raise finches from babies, and cockateels, also. It's easy to hand train them if they're young, but difficult once they're adults.
Author: Gina Lin Genre: Romance, Adventure, Gundam Wing Pairing: 5+S, 3+4, 1+2, 13+6 Warnings: Citrus, Yaoi, AU, Language Rating: R Archived: S_E Updates, FF.net. GWFF
Synopsis: Wufei, a Hollywood stuntman, takes his entourage to an exclusive spa to recover from an injury. A vacation becomes a chance for romance and adventure.
"Wanna see my Pikachu?"
Wufei experienced that momentary sense of unreality that comes when waking up in an unfamiliar place.
"Wha?" he slurred, trying to orient himself. He opened his eyes and a yellow smiling thing hovered over his face. He blinked hard, trying to clear his vision.
"Matt," he finally said, trying to sit up. He'd fallen asleep on Sally's sofa. "Where is your mother?"
"She told me to wake you up. Time to eat. You make funny noises when you sleep."
Wufei blinked again, trying to assimilate all this information delivered non-sequentially. Finally he said, "I'm sure I do not."
Matt giggled at this denial. "Mom said you need to wash up. I'll show you the bathroom."
Wufei stood up, stretching out a kink in his back. Matt looked up at him curiously.
"Do you like my mom?" he asked.
Wufei stopped in mid-stretch and looked down. Bright curious eyes awaited his answer. Wufei had been around very few children, and he was amazed at how perceptive this one was. Unexpectedly, he felt a surge of something akin to protectiveness.
"We are...friends, I suppose," said Wufei carefully.
Matt's eyes lit up. A huge grin split his gamin features, showing his missing front tooth. "Cool." He grabbed Wufei's hand and began to pull him in the direction of the hallway.
"This is my room," he pointed to a door with a sign on it that said "Gonna catch-em all!" in bright crayon colors.
He pointed again. "That's mom's room."
He pointed a third time. "Bathroom." He let go of Wufei's hand. "Hurry and wash, I'm hungry!" he said, walking backwards a few steps, then turning and skipping down the hallway.
Wufei returned a few minutes later. Matt and Sally had already sat down, and were waiting for him.
"Sorry," he grunted, sitting down. "You could have woken me sooner."
Sally smiled warmly at him. "I'm sure you needed it."
"Did you like it?" blurted out Matt, reaching for a roll. Sally moved the dish closer to his hand intercepting him.
Wufei gave him a blank look. "Like?" he repeated.
"My Pikachu, remember?" asked Matt, rolling his eyes.
"Leave Wufei alone about that," said Sally. "I'm sorry, this child has a one-track mind." She gave Wufei a knowing look.
"Mom," protested Matt. "You said I could show him my Pikachu!"
"It seems Matt takes promises very literally," observed Wufei with a small grin.
" Please, tell me about Pikachu."
A half-hour of streaming chatter later, Wufei was as completely conversant with the world of Pokemon as anyone could be who'd never seen it.
"So, Team Rocket are the bad guys," said Wufei, "but they're funny, right?"
"Yeah," said Matt. "And they have a talking cat. He's the only Pokemon who can talk [1]. They're always trying to get Pikachu, because he's the best Pokemon. James is kind of a sissy. Brian says Jesse is hot."
Wufei raised his eyebrows as Sally coughed. "Matt!" she said.
"Is 'hot' bad?" asked Matt, looking from Wufei to Sally.
"No," Wufei answered first. "Hot is not bad. Your mother is just surprised that your friends talk like grown ups."
"I think I need to have a talk with Brian's mother," murmured Sally, taking a long drink of water.
"Nice catch," she said under her breath to Wufei.
"Thank you," he said with exaggerated politeness.
"I still don't know what hot means," complained Matt.
"It means attractive," said Wufei.
"Oh," said Matt. "What's attractive?"
Sally snorted. "Try something more basic," she suggested.
"It means, ah, someone who is nice to look at, pretty," said Wufei.
"Like Mom," affirmed Matt, nodding. "Okay."
"Why thank you, Matt," said Sally, snickering. "Or are you just trying to get seconds for dessert?" she teased.
"No, you're pretty," said Matt seriously.
"I think you're biased," said Sally.
"What's biased?" asked Matt.
"Try something more basic," Wufei recommended with mock seriousness, putting down his fork and sitting back, waiting. Sally resisted an urge to stick her tongue out at him.
"It means you already love me," said Sally, after thinking a moment. "And that makes you think of me in a better way than a stranger would."
"Are you biased?" Matt asked Wufei, still looking puzzled.
"Yes, I am," said Wufei. "Very." He stared intently at Sally as he said it.
Sally dropped her fork from suddenly nerveless fingers. "Matt, are you finished?" she asked to cover her reaction. She bent over to pick up the utensil. "Sorry, that was clumsy of me."
"Yeah," said Matt, looking at his plate.
"I'll get you some dessert then," said Sally, rising. "Would you like some?" she asked Wufei. He stood up with her. "Yes, I'll help you."
"Oh, that's all right," said Sally evasively. "I can get it." She went into the kitchen.
Wufei ignored that. "I'll get the plates."
"All right," Sally relented. "You know where everything is."
"Yes," he said.
She was cutting squares of coconut cake. "That looks good," he said behind her. She jumped a little and turned half way around.
He grabbed her wrist. "Careful with that," he said quietly, removing the sharp edged cake cutter from her now limp hand. "Someone might get hurt."
"Yes," she gasped. Their faces were only a few centimeters apart and she felt warm breath on her hair and intent dark eyes roamed over her eyes and mouth. She felt light-headed and reached behind her to grip the counter.
"Are you going to kiss me?" she whispered.
He quietly placed the cutter he held on the countertop behind her, and now there was no space between their bodies. "Do you want me to?"
"Oh, yes!" The words came out before she could check them. She flushed, thinking how needy it sounded in her own ears.
He lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her with unexpected gentleness.
"Mom!" said Matt. Wufei jerked his head back and took a step backwards.
Sally swallowed. "What?" she said shakily. Their eyes were still locked.
"Can I eat my cake in my room? I wanna watch Pokemon, please?"
"Okay, but be careful. I'll get you a tray," said Sally, finally looking down and away.
She turned around, trying to ignore the brush of her body against Wufei's as she did so.
Picking up the cake server, she noticed that her hand was shaking.
"Let me," said Wufei, taking the server and neatly cutting a piece of cake, then putting it on the plate. "Here, better take this to him." He stepped back so she could move away from her position against the countertop.
"There's a tray in that cupboard," she said, pointing. Her hand was steady now, she noted with relief. "Would you?"
He retrieved it for her. She sat the cake down on it and walked back out into the dining room.
"Here you go," she said cheerfully. "Want me to take this in for you?
"I can do it." Matt carefully balanced the small tray in his hands and disappeared down the hallway. Soon, the muffled sounds of a television were heard.
"I'm a bad mother," said Sally, shaking her head as Wufei came up behind her. "Television as a baby sitter is not usually my style."
"I think this time I'll forgive you," said Wufei in a low voice.
"We can have ours out on the deck if you like," said Sally feeling her insides tighten at the tone in his voice. "It's warm out tonight."
"Fine," said Wufei. He was unapologetically watching her as she got their dessert.
He followed her out onto the deck and they sat down on the rattan loveseat, which had a small table in front of it.
"Do you really want dessert?" asked Sally, turning slightly to look at him.
"No," he said. "Although I'm sure that it's as good as everything else you've made."
"So, this was just a way to get me alone?" asked Sally.
"Yes," he said, reaching over to take her hand and pull her up against him.
"Are you going to kiss me again?"
"Yes." He proceeded to suit the action to the word, kissing her first on the mouth, and then trailing a series of small kisses down to the hollow of her throat that left her panting.
"Pokemon only lasts half an hour," she gasped after a few moments of this attention. She wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed him back, lightly on the corner of his mouth.
She felt him smile against her lips. "Good to know."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Mil," said Trieze, "You hardly touched your dinner."
Zechs looked up from his writing, poised with pen in midair.
"I wasn't hungry," he said in a low voice. "And, please don't call me that."
"I think that from now on, when we're alone, I shall do just that," said Trieze, stubbornly.
He reached into the ornate cage and held out a gloved hand to the canary. It perched delicately upon his forefinger. Slowly he drew it out of the cage.
"There, you do trust me now," he cooed to the small creature, who fluttered its wings as if in response to his voice.
Zechs looked up. "Is that the new one?" he asked.
"Yes," Trieze replied. "I've named her Madeline, do you like it?"
He walked over smoothly and placed the canary on Zech's shoulder, where it perched, holding onto the fabric of his shirt with small claws.
"See, she's becoming used to be handled. It only takes patience. Infinite patience."
"So I've noticed," said Zechs wryly, keeping his voice soft so as not to startle the bird.
Trieze offered his hand again, and the bird hopped over onto his finger. He quickly surrounded it gently with the other hand and walked over to place it back in its cage[2].
"Are you suggesting that I'm 'handling' you?" asked Trieze lightly.
"We both know that you are," said Zechs, pushing back his chair from the writing desk and standing up.
Trieze chuckled. "Well, I suppose if you hadn't noticed, I'd have been disappointed."
"I don't need handling," said Zechs in a low voice.
"You've been brooding for 3 days now," said Trieze. "Do you really think I can bear to see you like this interminably?"
"Stay out of this," growled Zechs, brushing past the other man. "Let me take care of Relena."
Trieze grabbed his arm in passing. "This is intolerable!" he said, forcing the younger man to pause.
He bent forward and kissed him roughly on the mouth, grabbing a handful of long platinum hair and twisting his hand through it.
"Let me go!" cried Zechs. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"Trying to snap you out of this sulk you've been in," replied Trieze huskily. "I'm sick to death of it."
"Hurts not being the center of my attention, doesn't it?" snarled Zechs.
"What do you want me to say?" asked Trieze quietly releasing the other man and stepping back a pace. "Of course it hurts, I miss you terribly. We've been walking around here like two strange cats for days now."
"What about infinite patience?" asked Zechs in a softer tone.
Trieze raised his eyes. "I come across as quite the hypocrite, do I not?" he asked sorrowfully. "Forgive me, my dear Mil." He turned to walk away, head bowed. "I'm going to bed," he said clearly, raking a hand through his hair. "Join me or not, it's completely up to you."
Zechs looked up the staircase, watching Trieze walk slowly up.
"Wait," he said suddenly, feeling the unexpected sting of tears behind his lids.
Trieze paused and looked down from the top of the staircase. "Yes?" he asked expectantly.
"I'm coming up," said Zechs. "Wait for me."
Trieze smiled grimly. "I'd prefer to loose the battle to win the war, my love." He held out his hand.
Zechs walked up to join him, taking the offered hand. "I surrender," he whispered, wrapping his arms around the other man.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[1] I have a now 10 year old son, soon to be 11, who went through a Pokemon obsession at about Matt's age (he's almost 6), so I know way, way more about this cartoon/anime than is necessary for sanity. I was required as an attentive parent to listen to endless monologues about this show, although I have rarely watched it. I can name almost all the Pokemon and their abilities, something I am both proud of and ashamed of, for some reason. Someday, I hope to regain this brain space for more vital information. Pokemon has been discarded for Yu-Gi-Oh, recently, so now I am subjected to monologues about "Blue Eyes White Dragons" and "Attack Cards". Wufei is quite patient, isn't he? Must be all that meditating.
[2] I used to raise finches from babies, and cockateels, also. It's easy to hand train them if they're young, but difficult once they're adults.