Title: Exercising an Option
Author: Gina Lin Genre: Romance, Adventure Pairings: 1+2, 3+4, 13+6, 5+S Warnings: Shounen-ai, Het, Language, Minor Violence Rating: R Archived: S_E Updates(Yahoogroups) GWFF, FF.net
Chapter 18
Trieze unbuckled his fencing mask.
"Am I doing a good job of distracting you?" he asked Zechs, who was practicing a few lunges on the other side of the mat.
"If you can call beating me four times in a row distracting," grumbled Zechs. Relena, sitting to the side on the floor and watching them, snickered loudly.
"Are you still a sore loser, dear brother?" she teased. "I seem to remember some significant pouting after a lost soccer match or two."
He looked up and smirked at her. "Losing to Trieze does have its advantages," he said, giving her a sly wink that made her blush a bit.
"I see his shameless flirting has rubbed off on you," said Relena, hugging her denim-clad knees.
"Zechs has his own charms, my dear," said Trieze. "He hardly needs lessons from me."
He assumed the en guarde stance after checking the button on his foil, and went through a simple attack sequence of feint-deceive, extend and advance, parry and riposte.
Zechs watched, impressed as always. "You make me feel like a rank beginner," he said, flicking the end of his own foil absently.
"Nonsense," said Trieze. "You do beat me occasionally."
He paused only momentarily. "Come Zechs, engage me." He assumed the en guarde again, smiling wickedly and beckoning Zechs with the crooked finger of his other gloved hand.
Zechs smirked at the red-haired man. "Maybe later," he said, chuckling a little, as he also assumed the preparation stance.
Relena giggled. "You two!" she said, standing up and brushing off the seat of her jeans.
"I've got a date with a sauna," said Relena. "I'm sure you will carry on without me while I recover from a bit of jet lag."
"Oh, we will," said Zechs nonchalantly, brandishing his foil. He pushed some blond strands out of his face and tucked them behind an ear.
"En guarde," said Trieze, executing a compound of two quick feints followed seamlessly by a lunge.
"Aggressive!" exclaimed Zechs, barely turning aside the attack with a froissement. Their blades grazed by each other with a faint screech of metal on metal.
He was surprised, usually without their protective headgear, Trieze would simply perform familiar drill routines. His adrenaline rose slightly.
Zechs countered with a coupe, a feint, then in quartata, passing his blade deftly around his opponent's attack, but leaving his back unguarded.
Trieze laughingly moved in and grabbed Zechs from behind with his free arm.
"Corps-a-corps is an illegal move," said Zechs, although he was smiling. He lay his head back upon Trieze's shoulder invitingly in a pretense of a more intimate sort of surrender.
"So is this," said Trieze in his ear, reaching around for a friendly grope to his groin.
"Ah, commanding the blade," gasped Zechs, laughing.
"You did say that losing had it's advantages," whispered Trieze, nuzzling his lover below the ear, burying his nose in the scent of fresh sweat and heady cologne.
"I'm sure we can continue this 'conversation'[1] upstairs," said Zechs, closing his eyes and writhing a bit in pleasure.
"I shall be pleased to demonstrate my thrust," said Trieze, laughter rumbling in his chest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Did you bring ice cream?" asked Matt, jumping up a bit to see Duo through the car window.
"Move, buddy so I can get out," said Duo. Rusty was trying to beat him out of the door. Duo made an 'umph' as one of Rusty's feet connected with his midsection. Heero reached over and grabbed the dog's collar so Duo could open the car door.
"It's a surprise," said Duo to Matt, finally, climbing out with a package under his arm.
"Rusty!" said Matt in delight, flinging his arms around the retriever's solid neck. Rusty greeted him with a lick to one golden cheek.
"Your mom should get you a dog," said Duo, as Matt ran his hands over the dog's head and ears, earning him another lick.
"My mom said not yet," said Matt dejectedly. "Maybe when I'm bigger."
"Well, buddy, in the meantime, you can borrow Rusty anytime you want," said Duo.
"What's your name?" asked Matt, looking up briefly at Heero.
"Heero," said the Japanese man, trying to look pleasant. The few children he'd met were usually shy around him.
"Are you gonna eat with us?" demanded Matt, giving Heero a visual once over.
"Yes," said Heero. "Your mother invited us."
"Heero is my friend," explained Duo. "He lives with me."
"I bet you get to play with Rusty everyday," said Matt enviously. He thrust out a lower lip, and his dark almond eyes grazed over Heero again.
Heero smiled then. "I do," he said.
"Come on, Matty, let's put Rusty in your backyard, and then you can play with him all you want," said Duo.
Heero took the package from Duo as Matt led them to the door. Duo went to the backyard gate to let Rusty in and then came back around to the front door.
"Mo-om!" Matt bellowed. Heero winced at the sheer volume of high-pitched sound assaulting his sensitive hearing. He gave Duo an inquiring look as if to ask if all children where this loud. Duo grinned and shrugged.
Sally opened the door.
"Matt, people in Siberia must have heard that," she admonished. She looked up with a friendly smile, ushering the two men inside.
"Wufei is already here," she said, waving towards the back of the house. "You can join him out on the deck, if you like. What would you like to drink?" Matt ran past them and out the back door, yelling for Rusty.
"Beer," said Duo, and Heero nodded. Before he could open his mouth, Duo said, "Him too."
"Do you always talk for him?" teased Sally.
"Heero's shy," said Duo, smirking.
"I'm sure that's it," said Sally dryly, smiling at Heero. "It couldn't be that people have to gag you to get a word in edgewise."
"Hey!" exclaimed Duo. "I represent that!" He grinned widely.
"I wondered why your hand was always up the back of my shirt," said Heero, deadpan, as Sally laughed out loud.
Duo pretended to stagger. "He made a joke!" he said.
He threw his arm affectionately around Heero's neck and led him out to the back door. Sally followed with a tray of finger food.
Wufei looked up and smiled in greeting as they came through the French doors.
"Let me take that," he said to Sally, reaching for the tray she carried. He sat it down on the table in front of them as they all found a seat.
"How's your shoulder?" asked Duo conversationally to Wufei, after taking a long swig of his beer.
"No pain medication for over a week now," said Wufei, flexing his shoulder. "It feels much better, no pain at all unless I overextend it."
"Good," said Duo. "You're a quick healer, but you're in good shape, so I expected that. Isn't he in great shape, Sally?" asked Duo evilly.
"Wonderful," agreed Sally, who was sitting next to Wufei on the rattan love seat. He reached over and took her hand, kissing the back of it.
"Wow, PDA," said Duo. Sally gave him a dirty look.
"Sally is in good shape, too," said Wufei with a straight face. Heero raised an eyebrow at his friend, but said nothing. Duo snorted.
"Duooo!" called Matt from the lawn. "Rusty won't give me the Frisbee back!"
"Scuse me," said Duo, jumping up and walking down the few stairs off the deck onto the grass. "Come here, Rusty!"
Rusty sat with his prize between his paws and gave Duo a puzzled look.
"None of that playing dumb," growled Duo, walking over to the dog.
"Bad dog," said Duo, trying for sternness and failing. Rusty gave him a friendly dog smile, tongue lolling, but kept his paws on the Frisbee.
"Come on, Rusty, please," pleaded Duo finally. He put his hands on his hips.
Matt tugged on the Frisbee and Rusty put his paws on it more firmly.
"Rusty!" said Heero in a firm tone from his seat on the porch. "Give it!"
Rusty picked up the Frisbee in his mouth, trotted over, and dropped it at Duo's feet, looking up expectantly for praise.
Duo looked around. "I see you've been brainwashing my dog," he said to Heero.
"Its called training," said Heero. "You just didn't give the command he recognizes."
"Heero worked with dogs a little in the army," said Wufei. "Before you joined our infantry, wasn't it?"
Heero nodded. "For six months, but then I was reassigned."
"Wufei told me you met in the army," said Sally. "I was a second lieutenant, medical corps."
Heero nodded again in acknowledgment, then looked up, watching Duo play with Matt and Rusty.
Duo threw the Frisbee so that Rusty would chase it, and Matt squealed with glee when the dog jumped up and caught it midair.
"Duo has a lot of child left in him," said Sally, smiling fondly at the sight. Matt was trying to run after the dog, who was chasing the Frisbee again. Duo's throaty laugh rang out as Matt stopped and pouted, giving up the chase, his small chest heaving breathlessly.
Duo swept up Matt in his arms and swung him around to cheer him up, his long braid whipping around them furiously. Matt squealed excitedly, as he was "airplaned" in a circle a few times and then given a brief hug while he regained his equilibrium.
"Yes, he does," agreed Heero. "I find it refreshing." He gazed wistfully at the man playing with the boy and the dog.
"You should go play with them," suggested Wufei, looking at Heero's expression.
"Play?" echoed Heero, looking nonplussed.
"Yes, play," repeated Wufei. "Relaxing frivolous activity."
"I know what it means, Wufei," said Heero, taking a sip of beer.
"You do look as if you'd like to be out there," encouraged Sally.
"I'd be playing myself if not for my shoulder," Wufei said. "Sally has forbidden me to do that sort of thing yet."
"Yes, blame me," said Sally ruefully. "But, you need to rest your injury, you had a pretty strenuous workout in therapy today."
Heero looked at them as if making up his mind, then rose and went out onto the lawn.
Duo saw him and flung the Frisbee his way. "Catch!" he yelled, and threw the disc hard and high in Heero's direction.
Heero sprang up and caught it with ease. Rusty lunged for it too late, knocking Heero over onto the grass. Heero easily rolled onto his back to break the fall. Rusty sniffed him anxiously, licking him on the face as if to apologize. Heero grimaced and rubbed his cheek where the dog had licked it.
"Dog kisses, ew!" Matt laughed, folding his arms over his stomach.
He walked over to Heero, who was still lying on the grass.
"Throw it!" begged Matt, reaching down and tugging at Heero's arm.
Heero rolled gracefully to his feet, and showed Rusty the Frisbee, then threw it hard in Duo's direction. Duo ran to anticipate the throw, but Rusty put on a burst of speed and snatched it first, running back to Heero.
He dropped the Frisbee at Heero's feet and looked up expectantly.
Duo ran over. "I think I'm jealous," he pouted. "Rusty has decided he likes you better than he does me."
"He just knows what he can get away with, like most dogs," said Heero. "He's smart." He reached down and scratched Rusty's ears.
Heero flipped Duo the Frisbee. "Here, throw it for him."
Matt clapped his hands. "Throw it, Duo!" he yelled.
Duo let the brightly colored disc fly. Rusty barked, Matt laughed and they played in the late afternoon sunshine as Wufei and Sally watched them from the deck.
"I've never seen Heero like this," murmured Wufei, wrapping his arm around Sally's shoulders. "He's like a kid."
"He certainly seems more carefree than that guy in the lawyer suit that first came here," agreed Sally.
She slipped out from under his loose embrace and stood up to check the grill. "Everything's ready!" she announced.
Wufei stood up and called Matt; Duo and Heero followed and they sat outside at the picnic table.
"I'm starving!" said Duo, unnecessarily.
"You always say that, Duo," observed Matt.
"Be nice," Sally whispered.
"Well, he does, Mom."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Bored?" asked Quatre, watching Trowa watch television. Trowa pushed up his glasses a bit. Quatre was sitting cross-legged on the bed, wearing a loose pair of denim shorts.
Trowa's head was on his denim-clad thigh, and occasionally, he would shift his head a little. He had hold of one of the blond man's feet, and every so often he would absently run his thumb up and down the arch of Quatre's foot.
"Hm?" asked Trowa, watching the foreign movie. It was in French, which Quatre understood in a basic way, but he really needed the subtitles to fully appreciate the historical theme of the movie. Trowa did not, being fluent in the language.
"I asked if you're bored," repeated Quatre.
"Um, no," said Trowa finally. "But I think you are."
"No, not really," said Quatre, resting his chin on his palm. He blew upwards on his shaggy bangs. He shifted his legs, jostling Trowa's head.
"Yes, you are," said Trowa, rolling over on his back to look up into Quatre's face.
He removed his glasses. "That's a bored Quatre face," he said, putting his finger on the end of Quatre's nose.
Quatre looked cross-eyed for a moment having followed the finger, then wrinkled his nose, and blinked hard.
"Okay, maybe I'm a little bored."
"What do you want to do?" Trowa asked.
"Finish watching the movie," said Quatre, "I can wait."
"Then what?" asked Trowa.
"Oh, I don't know," said Quatre bending over and blowing Trowa's bangs away from his face. He grinned. He began to run his fingers down the side of Trowa's ribs, just applying enough pressure to tickle.
Trowa squirmed, grunted and rolled back over.
"Pest," he said grabbing Quatre's foot again. He pulled it toward him and gently bit the smallest toe.
"AHH!" Quatre nearly screamed. He jerked his foot, reaching down to rub the tortured toe.
"Holy shit, Tro," he said, "That felt weird. Well, sort of.do it again."
Trowa sniggered. "Now I KNOW you're desperate."
He looked at the flickering screen. "What was this movie about?" he asked finally.
"I dunno," said Quatre, absently, busy plotting revenge for the toe bite.
"Some slutty French noblewoman running around seducing the breeches off of everyone."
"Yeah, that's pretty much it," said Trowa, muting the sound with the remote.
"Jealous because everyone's getting some but you, eh?" he asked Quatre, smirking.
"No, I'm jealous because I don't look good in a silk corset," said Quatre sarcastically. "Otherwise I'm sure I'd have your complete attention."
"I don't know, I think you would," said Trowa thoughtfully. He narrowed his eyes as if envisioning that scene.
"I had no idea you were such a freak," said Quatre, his eyes widening a bit.
"Well, I'd have to get one for me too," said Trowa, laughing. "What do you think, do I have the figure for it?"
"You live with a guy for four years, and all of a sudden he confesses he's a closet transvestite," said Quatre dryly. "What a shock."
"Nothing I confessed would shock you," said Trowa. "Any guy who likes his toes bit is freakier than I am."
"I never said I liked my toes bit," protested Quatre.
"Let's see," said Trowa wickedly. He pounced on Quatre's nearest bare foot, grabbing it firmly and began nipping at the toes.
"Ah, shit, that tickles!" yelled Quatre, twisting to get away. "Let go, let go, you bastard!" he begged. He squirmed over the side of the bed, dragging Trowa with him to the floor.
"You do that again and I'll, I'll, well, I'll do something really nasty to you in your sleep," said Quatre, panting.
Trowa let go of the foot he was still holding and grinned. "Promise?" he asked hopefully.
"OH, you wish," said Quatre, trying to glare at him. "You'll be dating Rosy Palm and her five daughters the rest of the week if you try to bite my feet again."
"I'll let you bite mine," said Trowa, in a conciliatory tone.
Quatre laughed. "No thanks." He looked up and grinned. "I'm sorry I made you miss the end of the movie."
"It was a boring movie anyway," shrugged Trowa. "I only watch TV to have an excuse to snuggle with you." He inched closer on the floor, until their noses were almost touching.
"I know," said Quatre. "I guess I'm not used to spending so much time with you. Sometimes, it scares me how much we still don't know about each other."
"Oh, I hope I never get so boring you figure out everything about me," said Trowa. "It's so much fun finding out how ticklish your feet are, for instance."
"And I found out you want me to dress up like a French courtesan," sniggered Quatre.
"I do not," said Trowa indignantly. "That was just a joke."
"I'd do it," said Quatre, teasingly, kissing him on the end of the nose. "But only on Halloween."
"Not that desperate yet, my love," said Trowa, returning the kiss a little lower.
Quatre wound his arms around the neck below him, deepening the kiss until their began to explore each other's mouths hungrily.
Trowa broke free first. "I'm getting back on the bed," he said, pulling away.
"What's wrong?" asked Quatre, looking slightly worried.
"No way am I gonna get rug burns again," said Trowa, pushing himself off of the carpeted floor. "Especially on my ass."
Quatre laughed in relief. "Oh, right."
[1] In fencing, the back and forth play of blades is called "conversation".
Author: Gina Lin Genre: Romance, Adventure Pairings: 1+2, 3+4, 13+6, 5+S Warnings: Shounen-ai, Het, Language, Minor Violence Rating: R Archived: S_E Updates(Yahoogroups) GWFF, FF.net
Chapter 18
Trieze unbuckled his fencing mask.
"Am I doing a good job of distracting you?" he asked Zechs, who was practicing a few lunges on the other side of the mat.
"If you can call beating me four times in a row distracting," grumbled Zechs. Relena, sitting to the side on the floor and watching them, snickered loudly.
"Are you still a sore loser, dear brother?" she teased. "I seem to remember some significant pouting after a lost soccer match or two."
He looked up and smirked at her. "Losing to Trieze does have its advantages," he said, giving her a sly wink that made her blush a bit.
"I see his shameless flirting has rubbed off on you," said Relena, hugging her denim-clad knees.
"Zechs has his own charms, my dear," said Trieze. "He hardly needs lessons from me."
He assumed the en guarde stance after checking the button on his foil, and went through a simple attack sequence of feint-deceive, extend and advance, parry and riposte.
Zechs watched, impressed as always. "You make me feel like a rank beginner," he said, flicking the end of his own foil absently.
"Nonsense," said Trieze. "You do beat me occasionally."
He paused only momentarily. "Come Zechs, engage me." He assumed the en guarde again, smiling wickedly and beckoning Zechs with the crooked finger of his other gloved hand.
Zechs smirked at the red-haired man. "Maybe later," he said, chuckling a little, as he also assumed the preparation stance.
Relena giggled. "You two!" she said, standing up and brushing off the seat of her jeans.
"I've got a date with a sauna," said Relena. "I'm sure you will carry on without me while I recover from a bit of jet lag."
"Oh, we will," said Zechs nonchalantly, brandishing his foil. He pushed some blond strands out of his face and tucked them behind an ear.
"En guarde," said Trieze, executing a compound of two quick feints followed seamlessly by a lunge.
"Aggressive!" exclaimed Zechs, barely turning aside the attack with a froissement. Their blades grazed by each other with a faint screech of metal on metal.
He was surprised, usually without their protective headgear, Trieze would simply perform familiar drill routines. His adrenaline rose slightly.
Zechs countered with a coupe, a feint, then in quartata, passing his blade deftly around his opponent's attack, but leaving his back unguarded.
Trieze laughingly moved in and grabbed Zechs from behind with his free arm.
"Corps-a-corps is an illegal move," said Zechs, although he was smiling. He lay his head back upon Trieze's shoulder invitingly in a pretense of a more intimate sort of surrender.
"So is this," said Trieze in his ear, reaching around for a friendly grope to his groin.
"Ah, commanding the blade," gasped Zechs, laughing.
"You did say that losing had it's advantages," whispered Trieze, nuzzling his lover below the ear, burying his nose in the scent of fresh sweat and heady cologne.
"I'm sure we can continue this 'conversation'[1] upstairs," said Zechs, closing his eyes and writhing a bit in pleasure.
"I shall be pleased to demonstrate my thrust," said Trieze, laughter rumbling in his chest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Did you bring ice cream?" asked Matt, jumping up a bit to see Duo through the car window.
"Move, buddy so I can get out," said Duo. Rusty was trying to beat him out of the door. Duo made an 'umph' as one of Rusty's feet connected with his midsection. Heero reached over and grabbed the dog's collar so Duo could open the car door.
"It's a surprise," said Duo to Matt, finally, climbing out with a package under his arm.
"Rusty!" said Matt in delight, flinging his arms around the retriever's solid neck. Rusty greeted him with a lick to one golden cheek.
"Your mom should get you a dog," said Duo, as Matt ran his hands over the dog's head and ears, earning him another lick.
"My mom said not yet," said Matt dejectedly. "Maybe when I'm bigger."
"Well, buddy, in the meantime, you can borrow Rusty anytime you want," said Duo.
"What's your name?" asked Matt, looking up briefly at Heero.
"Heero," said the Japanese man, trying to look pleasant. The few children he'd met were usually shy around him.
"Are you gonna eat with us?" demanded Matt, giving Heero a visual once over.
"Yes," said Heero. "Your mother invited us."
"Heero is my friend," explained Duo. "He lives with me."
"I bet you get to play with Rusty everyday," said Matt enviously. He thrust out a lower lip, and his dark almond eyes grazed over Heero again.
Heero smiled then. "I do," he said.
"Come on, Matty, let's put Rusty in your backyard, and then you can play with him all you want," said Duo.
Heero took the package from Duo as Matt led them to the door. Duo went to the backyard gate to let Rusty in and then came back around to the front door.
"Mo-om!" Matt bellowed. Heero winced at the sheer volume of high-pitched sound assaulting his sensitive hearing. He gave Duo an inquiring look as if to ask if all children where this loud. Duo grinned and shrugged.
Sally opened the door.
"Matt, people in Siberia must have heard that," she admonished. She looked up with a friendly smile, ushering the two men inside.
"Wufei is already here," she said, waving towards the back of the house. "You can join him out on the deck, if you like. What would you like to drink?" Matt ran past them and out the back door, yelling for Rusty.
"Beer," said Duo, and Heero nodded. Before he could open his mouth, Duo said, "Him too."
"Do you always talk for him?" teased Sally.
"Heero's shy," said Duo, smirking.
"I'm sure that's it," said Sally dryly, smiling at Heero. "It couldn't be that people have to gag you to get a word in edgewise."
"Hey!" exclaimed Duo. "I represent that!" He grinned widely.
"I wondered why your hand was always up the back of my shirt," said Heero, deadpan, as Sally laughed out loud.
Duo pretended to stagger. "He made a joke!" he said.
He threw his arm affectionately around Heero's neck and led him out to the back door. Sally followed with a tray of finger food.
Wufei looked up and smiled in greeting as they came through the French doors.
"Let me take that," he said to Sally, reaching for the tray she carried. He sat it down on the table in front of them as they all found a seat.
"How's your shoulder?" asked Duo conversationally to Wufei, after taking a long swig of his beer.
"No pain medication for over a week now," said Wufei, flexing his shoulder. "It feels much better, no pain at all unless I overextend it."
"Good," said Duo. "You're a quick healer, but you're in good shape, so I expected that. Isn't he in great shape, Sally?" asked Duo evilly.
"Wonderful," agreed Sally, who was sitting next to Wufei on the rattan love seat. He reached over and took her hand, kissing the back of it.
"Wow, PDA," said Duo. Sally gave him a dirty look.
"Sally is in good shape, too," said Wufei with a straight face. Heero raised an eyebrow at his friend, but said nothing. Duo snorted.
"Duooo!" called Matt from the lawn. "Rusty won't give me the Frisbee back!"
"Scuse me," said Duo, jumping up and walking down the few stairs off the deck onto the grass. "Come here, Rusty!"
Rusty sat with his prize between his paws and gave Duo a puzzled look.
"None of that playing dumb," growled Duo, walking over to the dog.
"Bad dog," said Duo, trying for sternness and failing. Rusty gave him a friendly dog smile, tongue lolling, but kept his paws on the Frisbee.
"Come on, Rusty, please," pleaded Duo finally. He put his hands on his hips.
Matt tugged on the Frisbee and Rusty put his paws on it more firmly.
"Rusty!" said Heero in a firm tone from his seat on the porch. "Give it!"
Rusty picked up the Frisbee in his mouth, trotted over, and dropped it at Duo's feet, looking up expectantly for praise.
Duo looked around. "I see you've been brainwashing my dog," he said to Heero.
"Its called training," said Heero. "You just didn't give the command he recognizes."
"Heero worked with dogs a little in the army," said Wufei. "Before you joined our infantry, wasn't it?"
Heero nodded. "For six months, but then I was reassigned."
"Wufei told me you met in the army," said Sally. "I was a second lieutenant, medical corps."
Heero nodded again in acknowledgment, then looked up, watching Duo play with Matt and Rusty.
Duo threw the Frisbee so that Rusty would chase it, and Matt squealed with glee when the dog jumped up and caught it midair.
"Duo has a lot of child left in him," said Sally, smiling fondly at the sight. Matt was trying to run after the dog, who was chasing the Frisbee again. Duo's throaty laugh rang out as Matt stopped and pouted, giving up the chase, his small chest heaving breathlessly.
Duo swept up Matt in his arms and swung him around to cheer him up, his long braid whipping around them furiously. Matt squealed excitedly, as he was "airplaned" in a circle a few times and then given a brief hug while he regained his equilibrium.
"Yes, he does," agreed Heero. "I find it refreshing." He gazed wistfully at the man playing with the boy and the dog.
"You should go play with them," suggested Wufei, looking at Heero's expression.
"Play?" echoed Heero, looking nonplussed.
"Yes, play," repeated Wufei. "Relaxing frivolous activity."
"I know what it means, Wufei," said Heero, taking a sip of beer.
"You do look as if you'd like to be out there," encouraged Sally.
"I'd be playing myself if not for my shoulder," Wufei said. "Sally has forbidden me to do that sort of thing yet."
"Yes, blame me," said Sally ruefully. "But, you need to rest your injury, you had a pretty strenuous workout in therapy today."
Heero looked at them as if making up his mind, then rose and went out onto the lawn.
Duo saw him and flung the Frisbee his way. "Catch!" he yelled, and threw the disc hard and high in Heero's direction.
Heero sprang up and caught it with ease. Rusty lunged for it too late, knocking Heero over onto the grass. Heero easily rolled onto his back to break the fall. Rusty sniffed him anxiously, licking him on the face as if to apologize. Heero grimaced and rubbed his cheek where the dog had licked it.
"Dog kisses, ew!" Matt laughed, folding his arms over his stomach.
He walked over to Heero, who was still lying on the grass.
"Throw it!" begged Matt, reaching down and tugging at Heero's arm.
Heero rolled gracefully to his feet, and showed Rusty the Frisbee, then threw it hard in Duo's direction. Duo ran to anticipate the throw, but Rusty put on a burst of speed and snatched it first, running back to Heero.
He dropped the Frisbee at Heero's feet and looked up expectantly.
Duo ran over. "I think I'm jealous," he pouted. "Rusty has decided he likes you better than he does me."
"He just knows what he can get away with, like most dogs," said Heero. "He's smart." He reached down and scratched Rusty's ears.
Heero flipped Duo the Frisbee. "Here, throw it for him."
Matt clapped his hands. "Throw it, Duo!" he yelled.
Duo let the brightly colored disc fly. Rusty barked, Matt laughed and they played in the late afternoon sunshine as Wufei and Sally watched them from the deck.
"I've never seen Heero like this," murmured Wufei, wrapping his arm around Sally's shoulders. "He's like a kid."
"He certainly seems more carefree than that guy in the lawyer suit that first came here," agreed Sally.
She slipped out from under his loose embrace and stood up to check the grill. "Everything's ready!" she announced.
Wufei stood up and called Matt; Duo and Heero followed and they sat outside at the picnic table.
"I'm starving!" said Duo, unnecessarily.
"You always say that, Duo," observed Matt.
"Be nice," Sally whispered.
"Well, he does, Mom."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Bored?" asked Quatre, watching Trowa watch television. Trowa pushed up his glasses a bit. Quatre was sitting cross-legged on the bed, wearing a loose pair of denim shorts.
Trowa's head was on his denim-clad thigh, and occasionally, he would shift his head a little. He had hold of one of the blond man's feet, and every so often he would absently run his thumb up and down the arch of Quatre's foot.
"Hm?" asked Trowa, watching the foreign movie. It was in French, which Quatre understood in a basic way, but he really needed the subtitles to fully appreciate the historical theme of the movie. Trowa did not, being fluent in the language.
"I asked if you're bored," repeated Quatre.
"Um, no," said Trowa finally. "But I think you are."
"No, not really," said Quatre, resting his chin on his palm. He blew upwards on his shaggy bangs. He shifted his legs, jostling Trowa's head.
"Yes, you are," said Trowa, rolling over on his back to look up into Quatre's face.
He removed his glasses. "That's a bored Quatre face," he said, putting his finger on the end of Quatre's nose.
Quatre looked cross-eyed for a moment having followed the finger, then wrinkled his nose, and blinked hard.
"Okay, maybe I'm a little bored."
"What do you want to do?" Trowa asked.
"Finish watching the movie," said Quatre, "I can wait."
"Then what?" asked Trowa.
"Oh, I don't know," said Quatre bending over and blowing Trowa's bangs away from his face. He grinned. He began to run his fingers down the side of Trowa's ribs, just applying enough pressure to tickle.
Trowa squirmed, grunted and rolled back over.
"Pest," he said grabbing Quatre's foot again. He pulled it toward him and gently bit the smallest toe.
"AHH!" Quatre nearly screamed. He jerked his foot, reaching down to rub the tortured toe.
"Holy shit, Tro," he said, "That felt weird. Well, sort of.do it again."
Trowa sniggered. "Now I KNOW you're desperate."
He looked at the flickering screen. "What was this movie about?" he asked finally.
"I dunno," said Quatre, absently, busy plotting revenge for the toe bite.
"Some slutty French noblewoman running around seducing the breeches off of everyone."
"Yeah, that's pretty much it," said Trowa, muting the sound with the remote.
"Jealous because everyone's getting some but you, eh?" he asked Quatre, smirking.
"No, I'm jealous because I don't look good in a silk corset," said Quatre sarcastically. "Otherwise I'm sure I'd have your complete attention."
"I don't know, I think you would," said Trowa thoughtfully. He narrowed his eyes as if envisioning that scene.
"I had no idea you were such a freak," said Quatre, his eyes widening a bit.
"Well, I'd have to get one for me too," said Trowa, laughing. "What do you think, do I have the figure for it?"
"You live with a guy for four years, and all of a sudden he confesses he's a closet transvestite," said Quatre dryly. "What a shock."
"Nothing I confessed would shock you," said Trowa. "Any guy who likes his toes bit is freakier than I am."
"I never said I liked my toes bit," protested Quatre.
"Let's see," said Trowa wickedly. He pounced on Quatre's nearest bare foot, grabbing it firmly and began nipping at the toes.
"Ah, shit, that tickles!" yelled Quatre, twisting to get away. "Let go, let go, you bastard!" he begged. He squirmed over the side of the bed, dragging Trowa with him to the floor.
"You do that again and I'll, I'll, well, I'll do something really nasty to you in your sleep," said Quatre, panting.
Trowa let go of the foot he was still holding and grinned. "Promise?" he asked hopefully.
"OH, you wish," said Quatre, trying to glare at him. "You'll be dating Rosy Palm and her five daughters the rest of the week if you try to bite my feet again."
"I'll let you bite mine," said Trowa, in a conciliatory tone.
Quatre laughed. "No thanks." He looked up and grinned. "I'm sorry I made you miss the end of the movie."
"It was a boring movie anyway," shrugged Trowa. "I only watch TV to have an excuse to snuggle with you." He inched closer on the floor, until their noses were almost touching.
"I know," said Quatre. "I guess I'm not used to spending so much time with you. Sometimes, it scares me how much we still don't know about each other."
"Oh, I hope I never get so boring you figure out everything about me," said Trowa. "It's so much fun finding out how ticklish your feet are, for instance."
"And I found out you want me to dress up like a French courtesan," sniggered Quatre.
"I do not," said Trowa indignantly. "That was just a joke."
"I'd do it," said Quatre, teasingly, kissing him on the end of the nose. "But only on Halloween."
"Not that desperate yet, my love," said Trowa, returning the kiss a little lower.
Quatre wound his arms around the neck below him, deepening the kiss until their began to explore each other's mouths hungrily.
Trowa broke free first. "I'm getting back on the bed," he said, pulling away.
"What's wrong?" asked Quatre, looking slightly worried.
"No way am I gonna get rug burns again," said Trowa, pushing himself off of the carpeted floor. "Especially on my ass."
Quatre laughed in relief. "Oh, right."
[1] In fencing, the back and forth play of blades is called "conversation".