Author: Hilda
Title: Solace
Warnings: shounen ai, fluffiness, annoying nervous ranting; later on, you will be treated to some nice angst, self-injury etc., etc.
Pairings: 2x4 (more so later on); 1+2 in this chapter
Disclaimer: ::holds up Gundam Wing:: You actually think I own this? You silly people... Anyways, don't sue me or poor little Quatre will cry, and then I will damn you to eternal suffering. Archive: If you *really* want it, sure - just e-mail me and tell me what the heck to do... ^_^ Author's Note: My fragile psyche doesn't appreciate flames, so if it's not **constructive** criticism, please keep it to yourself...
//blahblah// = thoughts, because I'm lazy/irregular
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
It was another 15 minutes before Trowa walked in. He was stoic as always but managed to exchange a few greetings with Quatre and Wufei before pulling out some cereal.
Heero arrived next, about 5 minutes later.
Quatre forced himself to smile brightly and offer a friendly word. "Good morning, Heero!" The perfect soldier nodded to him, which was actually more than the blonde had expected. Even Trowa coughed in the absence of Heero's normal Good Morning Glare.
After getting over this bizarre occurrence, the four pilots settled down for breakfast. The servants brought out toast, eggs, and juice to coincide with the cereal and fruit that the boys had already ferreted out. It was hardly unusual to begin the morning meal without Duo - in fact, they had all pondered at one point or another whether or not the braided pilot would even recognize an egg since he was so prone to sleeping right through breakfast.
//In fact,// Quatre thought to himself as he listened to the quiet munching of food and the rustle of newspaper sections being exchanged across the table. //In fact, breakfast is really the only "silent" meal we have...//
Quatre had never known the silence to be this uncomfortable before, but of course, the real cause of his unease was quite atypical...
The blonde sighed and furrowed his eyebrows as he squinted down, trying once more to read the document in front of him - it was, at best, a mediocre article on various political issues. Just as he was finishing the grammatical horror that was the second paragraph, a hand was informally brought down on his shoulder.
Quatre jumped and emitted a small squeak before turning around to see who had managed to sneak up on him. Eyes growing wide, he saw it was Duo.
Yes, Duo Maxwell - the comatose, you-wake-me-up-before-noon-and-I'll-shoot- you, Duo.
The braided pilot removed his hand from Quatre's shoulder, letting it fall to his black-pajama-clad side.
"Sorry Q-man - didn't mean to freak you out. Ya' just looked like you were going to burn holes in that poor newspaper with the glare you were given it..." Duo looked around at the others and was met with three more sets of amazed eyes. The braided pilot brought up his hand again, this time as if shielding himself from their penetrating stares.
"Dammit, you guys, you'd think I had a third arm sticking out of my forehead!" Quatre managed a small smile and a feeble laugh, but Shinigami was too distracted by the sight of food to notice these weak attempts at normal behavior. Striding around the good-sized table, he took the empty seat between Heero and Wufei.
The solitary dragon had regained some form of composure, summoning back his familiar icy glance to replace the highly unbecoming stunned gaze. Heero, however, continued to look uncharacteristically disturbed by Duo's presence in the living world so early in the morning. The perfect soldier's mouth was even hanging slightly ajar, betraying his shock to the room.
Duo's mouth, on the other hand, was currently occupied by an over-large bite of toast. However, that didn't stop him from placing a slightly crumb- laden kiss on Heero's cheek, followed by a seductive wink as the braided boy reached for the dish of eggs. Blushing, the perfect soldier quickly brushed off lingering evidence of toast and hid himself behind Quatre's abandoned paper.
Trowa continued on his cereal like nothing had happened, and after a none- too-discreet snort, Wufei went back to sulking and sipping tea. Quatre would've laughed at the whole exchange if he weren't so nervous.
After piling his plate high with enough food to feed three people, Duo glanced cheerfully around at the others. Another few seconds of silence passed before pilot 02 let loose an audible, slightly offended sigh. "Geez, you guys are sooo boring - no wonder I stay in bed instead of coming down here. I've had more interesting meals in the company of rocks..."
Wufei, who had been irritated ever since Duo had invaded his few precious moments of solitude, took this obnoxious comment as a direct affront of his honor [1].
"Maxwell," he hissed, turning towards the grinning, purple-eyed pilot. "Since you've been so good as to grace us with your presence on this formerly enjoyable morning, perhaps *you* should choose the topic of conversation instead of pushing this responsibility on others."
Heero coughed from behind his papers, Trowa blinked his one visible eye, Quatre went an unnatural pale color, and Wufei just continued to twitch and look disagreeable. Deathscythe's pilot smiled evilly as he faced the justice-crazed young man.
"So, 'Fei - you think it's unfair, or, *unjust* as you would say, for me to just show up and expect everyone to entertain me, is that it?"
Wufei just stared petulantly at his teacup, trying to suppress the new wave of rage that had passed through him at being called "'Fei".
Duo's devious smile widened - what he said next surprised everyone at the table in one way or another.
"OK then - I'd like to inform you all of a little something that happened last night..."
Both Trowa and Wufei were both a little taken aback by the fact that Duo made no further cracks about injustice or the dragon's honor. Pilot 04's face had gone from the sick pale color to one slightly chartreuse. Quatre had never been so scared in his life - even in the bloodiest of Gundam battles he had had more composure than he did now. The grim anticipation of what would happen next was simply unbearable.
Duo picked this moment to cram down another piece of toast, leaving the other pilots hanging - Quatre wondered if this topic was worrying Heero too.
//After all, he only knows that last night he kicked Duo out of his room, a fact that requires acknowledging the two of them had in fact been sharing a room// Of course, the stoic soldier was still hiding behind his newspaper, so there was no way for Quatre to even try to read him.
Duo swallowed and looked around, seemingly prepared to enlighten everyone of the early morning events. //Here it comes...// thought Quatre, bracing himself for the verbal impact.
"Guys - believe it or not, I met an angel last night..."
Trowa raised an eyebrow at this, but Duo, sighing with an unusually contemplative look in his eyes, continued without noticing.
"I guess it must've been a dream, but it felt so real. I was trapped in this weird black void - I think I must've been falling, because there was this horrible, sick feeling in the pit of my stomach... but anyway, this beautiful blonde angel came and held me up. Then I realized that the dark wasn't so bad anymore and, this angel, he pulled me right up close to him, and then, then he kissed me."
Wufei snorted into his tea but didn't say anything. Duo just continued in his strange trance.
"Then I did the silliest thing and actually tried to thank this being that had saved me, but then I realized that he was already gone... I don't remember what happened after that, though..."
Everyone at the table was staring at Duo again, but his distant gaze didn't notice them.
Suddenly, a feeble laugh escaped the barrier of Quatre's teeth. The blonde couldn't help it. Relief - warm, comforting relief was spreading throughout his tense body and he just couldn't keep the laughter from coming. His eyes watered slightly, but he still realized through blurred vision that everyone at the table was now shooting *him* the questionable looks, including Heero who had abandoned his paper safe house at the mention of Duo's "angel".
Shaking his head slightly, Duo focused his eyes on the shaking pilot and spoke in an odd voice to top off his strange behavior.
"You know what, my angel looked a lot like you, Quat..."
Quatre stopped laughing and, turning a bright red color, attempted to meet Duo with a level gaze. The braided pilot studied him for a second, as if trying to put together the pieces of a puzzle.
//Please, don't let him remember...// Quatre was sure he must look desperate, but he didn't care.
The brunette flashed a small smile at Quatre, and then began to laugh himself, grinning as he leaned back in his chair.
"I guess dreams are just weird like that, don't you think, Hee-chan?" Heero jumped and flushed again at this embarrassing title, then, muttering something about having reports to type, he retreated from the room. Duo cackled evilly and began to shovel down the food that had been left neglected on his plate.
Wufei promptly stood up and left as well, but only after throwing out an insult about "Maxwell's questionable masculinity" Shinigami, who had finished eating in record time, pranced out of the room after him, cooing, calling out for "Wu-chan".
"Really, it's OK that Chinese guys swing that way!" he called out in a deceptively sweet voice.
This was followed by an enraged cry of "GET YOUR TAINTED HANDS OFF OF ME, BAKA!!"
"You know you want it, 'Fei-'Fei~!!
::squeak:: "INJUSTICE"
Trowa blinked and got up to clear the table. A small smile twitched at the corners of his mouth as Quatre, letting loose another relieved sigh, spoke in an amused tone.
"It's going to be a long morning..."
TBC
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
[1] - Really, injustice so early in the morning ^_^ I love Wufei ::hugs Wufei and is greeted by thrashing arms and shouts of "NOOO - INFERIOR WOMAN, DO NOT DARE TOUCH ME":: He loves me too, really - eheheheh... I like the extremes of his character - since calm Wufei didn't really satisfy the chapter's needs, I used touchy/insane Wufei - It's also fun to piss him off, sooo, yeah.
Hilda: ^_^ ::glomp:: Wu-chan: _
~ *~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Well, that was an insanely long chapter that didn't really advance the plot much ^_^ I wrote most of it this morning, and then spent this evening typing it up - It took a hella long time, so I hope *someone* enjoys it...
Title: Solace
Warnings: shounen ai, fluffiness, annoying nervous ranting; later on, you will be treated to some nice angst, self-injury etc., etc.
Pairings: 2x4 (more so later on); 1+2 in this chapter
Disclaimer: ::holds up Gundam Wing:: You actually think I own this? You silly people... Anyways, don't sue me or poor little Quatre will cry, and then I will damn you to eternal suffering. Archive: If you *really* want it, sure - just e-mail me and tell me what the heck to do... ^_^ Author's Note: My fragile psyche doesn't appreciate flames, so if it's not **constructive** criticism, please keep it to yourself...
//blahblah// = thoughts, because I'm lazy/irregular
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
It was another 15 minutes before Trowa walked in. He was stoic as always but managed to exchange a few greetings with Quatre and Wufei before pulling out some cereal.
Heero arrived next, about 5 minutes later.
Quatre forced himself to smile brightly and offer a friendly word. "Good morning, Heero!" The perfect soldier nodded to him, which was actually more than the blonde had expected. Even Trowa coughed in the absence of Heero's normal Good Morning Glare.
After getting over this bizarre occurrence, the four pilots settled down for breakfast. The servants brought out toast, eggs, and juice to coincide with the cereal and fruit that the boys had already ferreted out. It was hardly unusual to begin the morning meal without Duo - in fact, they had all pondered at one point or another whether or not the braided pilot would even recognize an egg since he was so prone to sleeping right through breakfast.
//In fact,// Quatre thought to himself as he listened to the quiet munching of food and the rustle of newspaper sections being exchanged across the table. //In fact, breakfast is really the only "silent" meal we have...//
Quatre had never known the silence to be this uncomfortable before, but of course, the real cause of his unease was quite atypical...
The blonde sighed and furrowed his eyebrows as he squinted down, trying once more to read the document in front of him - it was, at best, a mediocre article on various political issues. Just as he was finishing the grammatical horror that was the second paragraph, a hand was informally brought down on his shoulder.
Quatre jumped and emitted a small squeak before turning around to see who had managed to sneak up on him. Eyes growing wide, he saw it was Duo.
Yes, Duo Maxwell - the comatose, you-wake-me-up-before-noon-and-I'll-shoot- you, Duo.
The braided pilot removed his hand from Quatre's shoulder, letting it fall to his black-pajama-clad side.
"Sorry Q-man - didn't mean to freak you out. Ya' just looked like you were going to burn holes in that poor newspaper with the glare you were given it..." Duo looked around at the others and was met with three more sets of amazed eyes. The braided pilot brought up his hand again, this time as if shielding himself from their penetrating stares.
"Dammit, you guys, you'd think I had a third arm sticking out of my forehead!" Quatre managed a small smile and a feeble laugh, but Shinigami was too distracted by the sight of food to notice these weak attempts at normal behavior. Striding around the good-sized table, he took the empty seat between Heero and Wufei.
The solitary dragon had regained some form of composure, summoning back his familiar icy glance to replace the highly unbecoming stunned gaze. Heero, however, continued to look uncharacteristically disturbed by Duo's presence in the living world so early in the morning. The perfect soldier's mouth was even hanging slightly ajar, betraying his shock to the room.
Duo's mouth, on the other hand, was currently occupied by an over-large bite of toast. However, that didn't stop him from placing a slightly crumb- laden kiss on Heero's cheek, followed by a seductive wink as the braided boy reached for the dish of eggs. Blushing, the perfect soldier quickly brushed off lingering evidence of toast and hid himself behind Quatre's abandoned paper.
Trowa continued on his cereal like nothing had happened, and after a none- too-discreet snort, Wufei went back to sulking and sipping tea. Quatre would've laughed at the whole exchange if he weren't so nervous.
After piling his plate high with enough food to feed three people, Duo glanced cheerfully around at the others. Another few seconds of silence passed before pilot 02 let loose an audible, slightly offended sigh. "Geez, you guys are sooo boring - no wonder I stay in bed instead of coming down here. I've had more interesting meals in the company of rocks..."
Wufei, who had been irritated ever since Duo had invaded his few precious moments of solitude, took this obnoxious comment as a direct affront of his honor [1].
"Maxwell," he hissed, turning towards the grinning, purple-eyed pilot. "Since you've been so good as to grace us with your presence on this formerly enjoyable morning, perhaps *you* should choose the topic of conversation instead of pushing this responsibility on others."
Heero coughed from behind his papers, Trowa blinked his one visible eye, Quatre went an unnatural pale color, and Wufei just continued to twitch and look disagreeable. Deathscythe's pilot smiled evilly as he faced the justice-crazed young man.
"So, 'Fei - you think it's unfair, or, *unjust* as you would say, for me to just show up and expect everyone to entertain me, is that it?"
Wufei just stared petulantly at his teacup, trying to suppress the new wave of rage that had passed through him at being called "'Fei".
Duo's devious smile widened - what he said next surprised everyone at the table in one way or another.
"OK then - I'd like to inform you all of a little something that happened last night..."
Both Trowa and Wufei were both a little taken aback by the fact that Duo made no further cracks about injustice or the dragon's honor. Pilot 04's face had gone from the sick pale color to one slightly chartreuse. Quatre had never been so scared in his life - even in the bloodiest of Gundam battles he had had more composure than he did now. The grim anticipation of what would happen next was simply unbearable.
Duo picked this moment to cram down another piece of toast, leaving the other pilots hanging - Quatre wondered if this topic was worrying Heero too.
//After all, he only knows that last night he kicked Duo out of his room, a fact that requires acknowledging the two of them had in fact been sharing a room// Of course, the stoic soldier was still hiding behind his newspaper, so there was no way for Quatre to even try to read him.
Duo swallowed and looked around, seemingly prepared to enlighten everyone of the early morning events. //Here it comes...// thought Quatre, bracing himself for the verbal impact.
"Guys - believe it or not, I met an angel last night..."
Trowa raised an eyebrow at this, but Duo, sighing with an unusually contemplative look in his eyes, continued without noticing.
"I guess it must've been a dream, but it felt so real. I was trapped in this weird black void - I think I must've been falling, because there was this horrible, sick feeling in the pit of my stomach... but anyway, this beautiful blonde angel came and held me up. Then I realized that the dark wasn't so bad anymore and, this angel, he pulled me right up close to him, and then, then he kissed me."
Wufei snorted into his tea but didn't say anything. Duo just continued in his strange trance.
"Then I did the silliest thing and actually tried to thank this being that had saved me, but then I realized that he was already gone... I don't remember what happened after that, though..."
Everyone at the table was staring at Duo again, but his distant gaze didn't notice them.
Suddenly, a feeble laugh escaped the barrier of Quatre's teeth. The blonde couldn't help it. Relief - warm, comforting relief was spreading throughout his tense body and he just couldn't keep the laughter from coming. His eyes watered slightly, but he still realized through blurred vision that everyone at the table was now shooting *him* the questionable looks, including Heero who had abandoned his paper safe house at the mention of Duo's "angel".
Shaking his head slightly, Duo focused his eyes on the shaking pilot and spoke in an odd voice to top off his strange behavior.
"You know what, my angel looked a lot like you, Quat..."
Quatre stopped laughing and, turning a bright red color, attempted to meet Duo with a level gaze. The braided pilot studied him for a second, as if trying to put together the pieces of a puzzle.
//Please, don't let him remember...// Quatre was sure he must look desperate, but he didn't care.
The brunette flashed a small smile at Quatre, and then began to laugh himself, grinning as he leaned back in his chair.
"I guess dreams are just weird like that, don't you think, Hee-chan?" Heero jumped and flushed again at this embarrassing title, then, muttering something about having reports to type, he retreated from the room. Duo cackled evilly and began to shovel down the food that had been left neglected on his plate.
Wufei promptly stood up and left as well, but only after throwing out an insult about "Maxwell's questionable masculinity" Shinigami, who had finished eating in record time, pranced out of the room after him, cooing, calling out for "Wu-chan".
"Really, it's OK that Chinese guys swing that way!" he called out in a deceptively sweet voice.
This was followed by an enraged cry of "GET YOUR TAINTED HANDS OFF OF ME, BAKA!!"
"You know you want it, 'Fei-'Fei~!!
::squeak:: "INJUSTICE"
Trowa blinked and got up to clear the table. A small smile twitched at the corners of his mouth as Quatre, letting loose another relieved sigh, spoke in an amused tone.
"It's going to be a long morning..."
TBC
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
[1] - Really, injustice so early in the morning ^_^ I love Wufei ::hugs Wufei and is greeted by thrashing arms and shouts of "NOOO - INFERIOR WOMAN, DO NOT DARE TOUCH ME":: He loves me too, really - eheheheh... I like the extremes of his character - since calm Wufei didn't really satisfy the chapter's needs, I used touchy/insane Wufei - It's also fun to piss him off, sooo, yeah.
Hilda: ^_^ ::glomp:: Wu-chan: _
~ *~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Well, that was an insanely long chapter that didn't really advance the plot much ^_^ I wrote most of it this morning, and then spent this evening typing it up - It took a hella long time, so I hope *someone* enjoys it...