Title: Exercising an Option
Author: Gina Lin Genre: Romance, Adventure Pairings: 1+2, 3+4, 13+6, 5+S Warnings: Language, Yaoi, AU, Citrus Rating: R Archived: S_E Updates, GWFF, FF.net
Chapter 15
Heero looked up from his typing and stared. "What are you watching?"
Duo was watching intently, occasionally sipping from a bottle of LaBlatts[1].
"Wrestling."
"That is not wrestling. It's ..I don't know what it is."
Duo slapped his leg and pointed. "I can't believe he just said that!"
Heero continued typing away, pausing occasionally. "You might as well stick your head in the microwave as watch that."
"But, look Heero, they're so gorgeous!"
"What?" Heero peered at the television.
One unbelievably ripped man with long flowing blond hair and purple boots was bending the other man, who had the face of a chiseled Adonis and the body to match in tiny red Speedo's, over the ropes of the arena in front of thousands of screaming male fans.
Duo raised an eyebrow at Heero as a look of comprehension dawned on his face.
"This is the gayest thing on TV." [2]
Duo nodded solemnly. "Never miss it, babe."
Heero closed his laptop and stared. "Pass me the popcorn."
The phone rang a few minutes later. "Dammit," said Duo, fumbling for the receiver.
"Hello?" he said, "If this is a telemarketer," he said, "I already have all the credit cards I need, and I'm not drunk or stupid enough to buy vinyl siting over the phone."
"Duo," said a familiar voice, laughing, "This is Sally. Do you always answer the phone that way?"
"Oh, hi," said Duo. "Only late at night," he said. "It's usually someone trying to sell me something or an obscene phone call. For the latter I start describing the my scab and toenail clipping collection."
Sally laughed again. "I only called because I need a big favor," she said. "Can you drive Wufei back to the inn for me? I'd do it myself, but Matt is asleep and I don't want to wake him. And I can't leave him."
"Wufei is there?" asked Duo. An eyebrow slowly crept upward along with a lascivious grin. Heero cocked his head inquiringly.
"Yes, he had dinner here and we got to talking, and I just now realized how late it is."
"Ah ha," said Duo. "And he's not staying?"
"Get your mind out of the gutter," whispered Sally, "Matt is here for God' sake!"
"I can't get my mind out of the gutter," said Duo. "It's attached to my body. No problem, I'll come get him."
"I'll do it," said Heero. Duo looked at him inquiringly.
"Heero says he'd be glad to do it," said Duo. "I'll give him your address."
"I only live 4 blocks from there," said Sally. "I'm sure he can find it. Thanks," said Sally.
"I could pretend my car is broke down," said Duo mischievously. "Then you could say, 'Oh shucky-darn, Heero can't come get you, you'll just have to spend the night.' Be sure to lick your lips, pout endearingly and simper a bit. Undo a few buttons, too."
"Duo!" said Sally. "I'm a mother!"
"Which means you know what comes next," teased Duo.
"I don't simper."
"You don't know what you're missing."
"Good-bye, Duo."
"Good-bye, Sal."
Heero had put his shoes on and held out his hand for the car keys.
"You sure you want to do this?" asked Duo, fishing them out of the pocket of his loose khaki cargo shorts.
Heero nodded. "I need to say a few things to him."
"Don't get blood on my car seats," said Duo offering his cheek, as Heero leaned down to kiss him.
"I'll try not to," said Heero, smiling faintly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Heero is coming to drive you to the inn," said Sally, coming back outside onto the deck. "Come inside, we'll wait for him."
"I had no idea it was so late," said Wufei.
"Me neither," admitted Sally. "Midnight already. I'm glad tomorrow is Sunday."
"Why is that?" asked Wufei. They had come inside and were sitting next to each other on the sofa.
"No Saturday morning cartoons to lure Matt out of bed at the crack of dawn."
Sally yawned, quickly covering her mouth with her hand. "Sorry, I usually don't stay up so late."
"I should have left hours ago," said Wufei apologetically.
"No, I'm glad you stayed," said Sally. She reached over for his hand, and this time, he did not pull away, but squeezed her hand tightly for a moment, then held it.
"I am too," he said. "You're very easy to talk to," he said.
"You needed to talk," said Sally simply, shrugging. "I was glad to be there for you."
"Heero is my oldest friend," said Wufei. "I was more upset than I realized by our disagreement."
"He knows where all the buttons are to push," said Sally, "if he knows you well at all."
"He does indeed," said Wufei. "My guilt over my wife's death is a very large, 'button', as you say."
"You'll have to tell me about her," said Sally softly, squeezing his hand. "If you loved her so much, I'm sure she was a wonderful person."
Wufei laughed quietly and shook his head. "It wasn't exactly love at first site," said Wufei. "She came to work for my stunt company in pyrotechnics. That's faking explosions for movies, you know. Quite dangerous. Her family had been in the fireworks business in Hong Kong for generations. She even majored in chemistry so she could understand the business better."
"We argued about everything," he said, looking sad and distant.
"But, it was only because she was right most of the time. She wanted so to prove to me, to everyone, really, that a woman could do well in what is essentially a man's profession. Very proud, and stubborn."
"She was like you, in other words."
Wufei shook his head slowly. "I only wish I were half the person she was."
There was a knock at the door. "That'll be Heero," said Sally, reluctantly letting go of his hand to stand up.
"I'm going to let you talk to him privately," said Sally. He stood up, not letting go of her hand.
"Thank you," he said, leaning forward and kissing her on the forehead.
"Anytime," said Sally, closing her eyes and leaning into the kiss.
She pulled away. "Go talk to your friend."
His eyes lingered after her as she disappeared down the hallway.
He exhaled, unconsciously bracing his shoulders, and went to answer the door.
"Wufei," said Heero levelly, as the door opened.
"Heero," said Wufei, in the same tone.
"Ready?" asked Heero.
"Yes."
"Come on then," said Heero. "We can talk in the car."
Wufei merely nodded, being careful to lock the door behind him as they left.
They slid into Duo's car, saying nothing for a few seconds. Finally, suprisingly, Heero spoke first.
"I should never have said that about Meilan," he said quietly. "That was uncalled for."
Wufei sighed. "Although it had an element of truth," he said. "What was that you said? A 'monument to self denial'?"
"I think I said 'a fucking monument to self-denial'," said Heero tonelessly.
"Mustn't forget the all important adjective," said Wufei wryly. "You always did have a good memory for detail."
"Thank you," said Heero gravely. "It's nice to know I'm good at something besides being a total bastard."
"You're not a bastard," said Wufei. "You just have.problems."
"No I have major problems."
"Okay, major problems."
"Thank you for agreeing with me."
"No problem."
Heero snorted. "I'm trying to work it out, give me a chance."
"Of course," said Wufei, sighing. "I only want you to be happy. You know that don't you?"
"I know."
"And I had no right to say anything about you and Maxwell," added Wufei. "That's none of my business."
"You were concerned." Heero shrugged his shoulders uncomfortably.
"You care for him?" asked Wufei, equally uncomfortable, looking out of the car window at the stars.
"Yes," said Heero. "More than anything or anyone in a long time."
"Don't fuck it up, then," said Wufei, finally looking at him.
Heero's profile was solemn in the faint light of the moon and stars.
"I'll try," he whispered. He reached forward and turned the key.
When they arrived at the inn, Wufei reached over and put a hand lightly on Heero's arm.
"You're not going back to L.A., are you?" asked Wufei softly.
"No," said Heero. "How did you know?"
"Because that would be fucking it up," said Wufei, as he turned to walk away.
He went up and got the attention of the security guard at the front door by tapping on the glass.
It was Sanderson, who scowled at him as he unlocked the door. Heero put his head outside of the car door and let Sanderson take a long look at him.
Then as he drove away, he extended a hand, middle finger raised in silent salute, out of the car window.
Wufei chuckled under his breath. Sanderson ground his teeth in silence as Wufei walked past him, still smirking.
"Yeah, laugh it up, asshole," said Sanderson when Wufei was out of earshot. He unconsciously clenched and unclenched his fists in rage.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Two hours later, Sanderson was drunk and playing pool very badly at a nearby bar called "The Mangy Moose"[3]. A jukebox played a whiny country ballad about what it's like to loose at love.
A few couples in tight blue jeans and cowboy boots swayed to the music, groping each other in beer-induced rapture.
Finally Sanderson went back to a small table to nurse the pitcher of beer he'd ordered. It was his second. He poured another glass, slopping it as the alcohol slowly affected his coordination.
"Like some company?" a female voice with a faint accent asked in his ear.
He grinned lopsidedly. "Sure, darlin," he drawled. He narrowed his eyes, trying to focus on the attractive woman wearing the expensive blue silk suit standing in front of him.
"You're not from around here," he said, predictably cliché. The woman bit her tongue to keep from laughing derisively. That would be detrimental to her act.
"No," she said. "May I sit?" she asked. "By all means," said Sanderson with the leering expansiveness of the truly inebriated.
"Whas you're name, darlin?" he slurred, leaning in with what was no doubt in his mind, a charming smile.
"You can call me Une," she said, sliding into the seat next to him and smiling seductively.
"Knew you weren't from round here," said Sanderson, nodding smugly.
"So, you work at the Green Mountain spa?" asked Une, twirling her finger on the rim of her wineglass.
"How'd you know that?" he narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
Your uniform, silly," she purred.
"Oh, yeah," he said stupidly looking down at the logo on his uniform.
"I've heard Trieze Kushrenada can be difficult to work for," she said, pausing to let the drunken man assimilate the comment.
"Bastard," said Sanderson. "Made me apologize to that uppity asshole lawyer. Little faggot hit me, you know, just doin my fuckin job."
"How unfair," mumured Une, patting him sympathetically on the arm.
"How would you like to come to work for me?" she asked, after a second. "I can promise you twice your current salary."
"What kinda job you talkin bout?" asked Sanderson, cocking his head to try to focus.
"Let's just say I have need of a man with your skills," said Une, smiling silkily.
Sanderson smiled back. "Keep talkin," he said, taking another swig of his beer.
A hour of eluding Sanderson's drunken passes later, Une slid into her nondescript dark sedan in the parking lot, and pulled down the lighted mirror, after carefully making sure the doors were locked. She shuddered before she roughly wiped the lipstick from her mouth with a pre-moistened cloth and scrubbed at the eyeshadow on her lids. Composing herself, she pulled out a cell phone from her handbag and dialed a number.
"Eleven here," she said after a few seconds. "Closing in on objective M.P., and inside contact established." she reported in a hard voice that Sanderson would have barely recognized.
She listened intently for a few moments. "Understood, and all is going according to plan." She pressed the "end" button.
She smiled in the dark interior of the car, sliding on a pair of wire rimmed glasses.
[1] This is Canadian beer. Good stuff.
[2] I say this every time my husband watches wrestling on TV. Think about it, people. The tiny tight spandex briefs barely covering the package, the groping, the oiled muscles, and the holds these guys put on each other? Half the time they have their faces in each other's crotches, the other half, they're on top of each other. Hubby agrees. He watches it anyway. /shrugs/
[3] I've actually been to a bar with that name, honest. But it's much nicer than were Sanderson went. Not mangy at all. It's in Teton Village, a ski resort in Jackson, Wyoming.(They can pay me later for the plug.)
Author: Gina Lin Genre: Romance, Adventure Pairings: 1+2, 3+4, 13+6, 5+S Warnings: Language, Yaoi, AU, Citrus Rating: R Archived: S_E Updates, GWFF, FF.net
Chapter 15
Heero looked up from his typing and stared. "What are you watching?"
Duo was watching intently, occasionally sipping from a bottle of LaBlatts[1].
"Wrestling."
"That is not wrestling. It's ..I don't know what it is."
Duo slapped his leg and pointed. "I can't believe he just said that!"
Heero continued typing away, pausing occasionally. "You might as well stick your head in the microwave as watch that."
"But, look Heero, they're so gorgeous!"
"What?" Heero peered at the television.
One unbelievably ripped man with long flowing blond hair and purple boots was bending the other man, who had the face of a chiseled Adonis and the body to match in tiny red Speedo's, over the ropes of the arena in front of thousands of screaming male fans.
Duo raised an eyebrow at Heero as a look of comprehension dawned on his face.
"This is the gayest thing on TV." [2]
Duo nodded solemnly. "Never miss it, babe."
Heero closed his laptop and stared. "Pass me the popcorn."
The phone rang a few minutes later. "Dammit," said Duo, fumbling for the receiver.
"Hello?" he said, "If this is a telemarketer," he said, "I already have all the credit cards I need, and I'm not drunk or stupid enough to buy vinyl siting over the phone."
"Duo," said a familiar voice, laughing, "This is Sally. Do you always answer the phone that way?"
"Oh, hi," said Duo. "Only late at night," he said. "It's usually someone trying to sell me something or an obscene phone call. For the latter I start describing the my scab and toenail clipping collection."
Sally laughed again. "I only called because I need a big favor," she said. "Can you drive Wufei back to the inn for me? I'd do it myself, but Matt is asleep and I don't want to wake him. And I can't leave him."
"Wufei is there?" asked Duo. An eyebrow slowly crept upward along with a lascivious grin. Heero cocked his head inquiringly.
"Yes, he had dinner here and we got to talking, and I just now realized how late it is."
"Ah ha," said Duo. "And he's not staying?"
"Get your mind out of the gutter," whispered Sally, "Matt is here for God' sake!"
"I can't get my mind out of the gutter," said Duo. "It's attached to my body. No problem, I'll come get him."
"I'll do it," said Heero. Duo looked at him inquiringly.
"Heero says he'd be glad to do it," said Duo. "I'll give him your address."
"I only live 4 blocks from there," said Sally. "I'm sure he can find it. Thanks," said Sally.
"I could pretend my car is broke down," said Duo mischievously. "Then you could say, 'Oh shucky-darn, Heero can't come get you, you'll just have to spend the night.' Be sure to lick your lips, pout endearingly and simper a bit. Undo a few buttons, too."
"Duo!" said Sally. "I'm a mother!"
"Which means you know what comes next," teased Duo.
"I don't simper."
"You don't know what you're missing."
"Good-bye, Duo."
"Good-bye, Sal."
Heero had put his shoes on and held out his hand for the car keys.
"You sure you want to do this?" asked Duo, fishing them out of the pocket of his loose khaki cargo shorts.
Heero nodded. "I need to say a few things to him."
"Don't get blood on my car seats," said Duo offering his cheek, as Heero leaned down to kiss him.
"I'll try not to," said Heero, smiling faintly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Heero is coming to drive you to the inn," said Sally, coming back outside onto the deck. "Come inside, we'll wait for him."
"I had no idea it was so late," said Wufei.
"Me neither," admitted Sally. "Midnight already. I'm glad tomorrow is Sunday."
"Why is that?" asked Wufei. They had come inside and were sitting next to each other on the sofa.
"No Saturday morning cartoons to lure Matt out of bed at the crack of dawn."
Sally yawned, quickly covering her mouth with her hand. "Sorry, I usually don't stay up so late."
"I should have left hours ago," said Wufei apologetically.
"No, I'm glad you stayed," said Sally. She reached over for his hand, and this time, he did not pull away, but squeezed her hand tightly for a moment, then held it.
"I am too," he said. "You're very easy to talk to," he said.
"You needed to talk," said Sally simply, shrugging. "I was glad to be there for you."
"Heero is my oldest friend," said Wufei. "I was more upset than I realized by our disagreement."
"He knows where all the buttons are to push," said Sally, "if he knows you well at all."
"He does indeed," said Wufei. "My guilt over my wife's death is a very large, 'button', as you say."
"You'll have to tell me about her," said Sally softly, squeezing his hand. "If you loved her so much, I'm sure she was a wonderful person."
Wufei laughed quietly and shook his head. "It wasn't exactly love at first site," said Wufei. "She came to work for my stunt company in pyrotechnics. That's faking explosions for movies, you know. Quite dangerous. Her family had been in the fireworks business in Hong Kong for generations. She even majored in chemistry so she could understand the business better."
"We argued about everything," he said, looking sad and distant.
"But, it was only because she was right most of the time. She wanted so to prove to me, to everyone, really, that a woman could do well in what is essentially a man's profession. Very proud, and stubborn."
"She was like you, in other words."
Wufei shook his head slowly. "I only wish I were half the person she was."
There was a knock at the door. "That'll be Heero," said Sally, reluctantly letting go of his hand to stand up.
"I'm going to let you talk to him privately," said Sally. He stood up, not letting go of her hand.
"Thank you," he said, leaning forward and kissing her on the forehead.
"Anytime," said Sally, closing her eyes and leaning into the kiss.
She pulled away. "Go talk to your friend."
His eyes lingered after her as she disappeared down the hallway.
He exhaled, unconsciously bracing his shoulders, and went to answer the door.
"Wufei," said Heero levelly, as the door opened.
"Heero," said Wufei, in the same tone.
"Ready?" asked Heero.
"Yes."
"Come on then," said Heero. "We can talk in the car."
Wufei merely nodded, being careful to lock the door behind him as they left.
They slid into Duo's car, saying nothing for a few seconds. Finally, suprisingly, Heero spoke first.
"I should never have said that about Meilan," he said quietly. "That was uncalled for."
Wufei sighed. "Although it had an element of truth," he said. "What was that you said? A 'monument to self denial'?"
"I think I said 'a fucking monument to self-denial'," said Heero tonelessly.
"Mustn't forget the all important adjective," said Wufei wryly. "You always did have a good memory for detail."
"Thank you," said Heero gravely. "It's nice to know I'm good at something besides being a total bastard."
"You're not a bastard," said Wufei. "You just have.problems."
"No I have major problems."
"Okay, major problems."
"Thank you for agreeing with me."
"No problem."
Heero snorted. "I'm trying to work it out, give me a chance."
"Of course," said Wufei, sighing. "I only want you to be happy. You know that don't you?"
"I know."
"And I had no right to say anything about you and Maxwell," added Wufei. "That's none of my business."
"You were concerned." Heero shrugged his shoulders uncomfortably.
"You care for him?" asked Wufei, equally uncomfortable, looking out of the car window at the stars.
"Yes," said Heero. "More than anything or anyone in a long time."
"Don't fuck it up, then," said Wufei, finally looking at him.
Heero's profile was solemn in the faint light of the moon and stars.
"I'll try," he whispered. He reached forward and turned the key.
When they arrived at the inn, Wufei reached over and put a hand lightly on Heero's arm.
"You're not going back to L.A., are you?" asked Wufei softly.
"No," said Heero. "How did you know?"
"Because that would be fucking it up," said Wufei, as he turned to walk away.
He went up and got the attention of the security guard at the front door by tapping on the glass.
It was Sanderson, who scowled at him as he unlocked the door. Heero put his head outside of the car door and let Sanderson take a long look at him.
Then as he drove away, he extended a hand, middle finger raised in silent salute, out of the car window.
Wufei chuckled under his breath. Sanderson ground his teeth in silence as Wufei walked past him, still smirking.
"Yeah, laugh it up, asshole," said Sanderson when Wufei was out of earshot. He unconsciously clenched and unclenched his fists in rage.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Two hours later, Sanderson was drunk and playing pool very badly at a nearby bar called "The Mangy Moose"[3]. A jukebox played a whiny country ballad about what it's like to loose at love.
A few couples in tight blue jeans and cowboy boots swayed to the music, groping each other in beer-induced rapture.
Finally Sanderson went back to a small table to nurse the pitcher of beer he'd ordered. It was his second. He poured another glass, slopping it as the alcohol slowly affected his coordination.
"Like some company?" a female voice with a faint accent asked in his ear.
He grinned lopsidedly. "Sure, darlin," he drawled. He narrowed his eyes, trying to focus on the attractive woman wearing the expensive blue silk suit standing in front of him.
"You're not from around here," he said, predictably cliché. The woman bit her tongue to keep from laughing derisively. That would be detrimental to her act.
"No," she said. "May I sit?" she asked. "By all means," said Sanderson with the leering expansiveness of the truly inebriated.
"Whas you're name, darlin?" he slurred, leaning in with what was no doubt in his mind, a charming smile.
"You can call me Une," she said, sliding into the seat next to him and smiling seductively.
"Knew you weren't from round here," said Sanderson, nodding smugly.
"So, you work at the Green Mountain spa?" asked Une, twirling her finger on the rim of her wineglass.
"How'd you know that?" he narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
Your uniform, silly," she purred.
"Oh, yeah," he said stupidly looking down at the logo on his uniform.
"I've heard Trieze Kushrenada can be difficult to work for," she said, pausing to let the drunken man assimilate the comment.
"Bastard," said Sanderson. "Made me apologize to that uppity asshole lawyer. Little faggot hit me, you know, just doin my fuckin job."
"How unfair," mumured Une, patting him sympathetically on the arm.
"How would you like to come to work for me?" she asked, after a second. "I can promise you twice your current salary."
"What kinda job you talkin bout?" asked Sanderson, cocking his head to try to focus.
"Let's just say I have need of a man with your skills," said Une, smiling silkily.
Sanderson smiled back. "Keep talkin," he said, taking another swig of his beer.
A hour of eluding Sanderson's drunken passes later, Une slid into her nondescript dark sedan in the parking lot, and pulled down the lighted mirror, after carefully making sure the doors were locked. She shuddered before she roughly wiped the lipstick from her mouth with a pre-moistened cloth and scrubbed at the eyeshadow on her lids. Composing herself, she pulled out a cell phone from her handbag and dialed a number.
"Eleven here," she said after a few seconds. "Closing in on objective M.P., and inside contact established." she reported in a hard voice that Sanderson would have barely recognized.
She listened intently for a few moments. "Understood, and all is going according to plan." She pressed the "end" button.
She smiled in the dark interior of the car, sliding on a pair of wire rimmed glasses.
[1] This is Canadian beer. Good stuff.
[2] I say this every time my husband watches wrestling on TV. Think about it, people. The tiny tight spandex briefs barely covering the package, the groping, the oiled muscles, and the holds these guys put on each other? Half the time they have their faces in each other's crotches, the other half, they're on top of each other. Hubby agrees. He watches it anyway. /shrugs/
[3] I've actually been to a bar with that name, honest. But it's much nicer than were Sanderson went. Not mangy at all. It's in Teton Village, a ski resort in Jackson, Wyoming.(They can pay me later for the plug.)