Thanks to everyone who commented on this. I wasn't sure at first whether
it was a good idea to write it or not. On a side note, some people (i.e.
M.E. and a few others) have asked what the third floor of Clay has to do
with anything. Suffice it to say that at the moment, you all know more
than Heero does. All will be explained in time...
Welcome Distractions By Rapunzel
Chapter 3: Further Interactions
"You know, it's rude to read at the dinner table."
Heero looked up to see Wufei giving him a disapproving look. Setting his book down on the table, he poked disinterestedly at the green beans on his plate. "Eating in the dinning hall hardly constitutes a dinner table," he said.
Wufei made a disdainful noise. "Well, you're eating with someone, so it's still rude."
Heero ignored him and picked his book up again. He had work to do, and after all, it wasn't like he had asked Wufei to sit with him. He only needed to complete one more chapter, and he could stop for the night.
"Heero, my man! _Still_ working?"
Heero blinked. He recognized that voice, but here in the dinning hall was one of the last places he had ever expected to hear it. Setting the book down, he gave his addressor a confused look.
"Duo, what are you doing here?"
Duo set his tray down and plopped into the seat next to Heero. "Both of my roommates are out tonight, which means I'm on my own as far as food. And since I'm too lazy to cook for just one person, I came here. I was hoping I'd find you."
"Who's this?" Wufei asked.
Seeing that introductions were in order, Heero promptly made them. "Wufei, this is Duo, the guy I help with math. Duo, this is my roommate Wufei."
"Nice to meet you," Duo said through half a mouthful of pizza. "So you're the one who wants to be a lawyer, right?"
Wufei nodded, but didn't reply in words.
Duo didn't seem unduly put out by this lack of response. He finished off his pizza quickly and then got up to get more food. During his absence, Heero picked up his book in an attempt to read while he could. He had learned over the course of four days that trying to study when Duo wanted to socialize was an exercise in futility.
Duo was gone for only a minute or so. When he returned, he had a bowl of soup as well as rice heaped on his plate. As soon as he was back in his seat, he was talking again.
"Well, this place sure hasn't changed any since I was here. Not that you would really expect it to change much in just one year, but still, you'd think they'd at least fix some things. But no, they don't. Do you guys still have the ice dispenser that goes psychotic and spits ice at you even after your cup is full?"
"Yeah," Heero answered, giving up his book as a lost cause.
"I guess some things never change," Duo said as he began spooning rice from his plate into his soup bowl. When Wufei caught sight of this, his face shifted to an expression of mild disgust.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"Huh?" Duo said, stirring the rice into the soup and then adding more.
"To the rice," Wufei clarified.
"I'm putting it in the soup," Duo said, his tone implying that any idiot could see what he was doing with it.
"Why?"
"Because, not having grown up eating rice plain, it seems unbearably bland to me if I don't add something to it."
Wufei eyed the mixture with distaste but didn't comment further. It was as though he had decided that he didn't want to know any more about Duo's eating habits.
Duo's good cheer continued, undimmed by Wufei's obvious disapproval over the incident with the rice. He chatted amiably throughout the meal, not seeming to mind that he rarely got more than mare than a two word answer out of his companions. When Heero made a comment to the effect that he and Wufei were hardly the best of company, Duo laughed it off.
"Are you kidding?" he said. "If I'd been eating with my roommates at home, Hilde'd be kicking me under the table and telling me not to talk with my mouth full."
Wufei muttered darkly about Hilde having the right idea. Duo ignored him.
"I'm going hunting for more food," he announced, standing up.
"What do you mean, 'hunting'?" Wufei asked. "The main line is right there." He gestured towards a fairly short line against one wall.
"Was that where you got that?" Duo asked, pointing at Heero's plate, on which sat a slice of uneaten meat.
Heero nodded.
Duo gave Wufei a shrug. "That's why I said hunting. If my memory of dorm food serves me right, there's no way I'm eating that. What they claim is pork really tastes like plastic. Rule number one of dorm dinning: When in doubt, go for the pizza; it's safe." With that, he sauntered off.
Wufei snorted. "Loquacious guy."
Heero shrugged and poked at his pork chop. Maybe Duo was right... The pizza was starting to sound good.
~*~*~
"I don't think your roommate likes me very much."
Heero, who had been looking up at the lit windows of the dorm buildings they were walking by, turned to look at Duo. "What makes you say that?"
Duo snorted. "What doesn't? He doesn't seem to like my eating habits, my manners, or my morals. The guy jumped on my case just because I swiped a few ice cream bars from the dinning hall. I mean, come on! How anal can you get? Everyone swipes food from the dinning halls, and since we've already paid for it, more or less, I don't see what the problem is. Just because I don't want to eat according to their schedule doesn't make it wrong."
Heero listened to the rant in silence, wondering if the dispute over the ice cream was what had caused Wufei to leave early, leaving him to walk back to the dorm with Duo. (Duo insisted on walking back with him, saying that it was "on my way," and that he wanted to visit some old friends who had become RAs anyway.) He wasn't really paying attention to his surroundings, and so almost walked in to the hand that was waving in front of his nose.
"Hello? Heero?"
Heero stopped and gave Duo a mildly annoyed look. "I'm listening."
"Could've fooled me," Duo said.
"Wufei doesn't really like anyone," Heero said. "Don't take it personally."
"How can you not like anyone?" Duo asked. "The world is full of likable people."
Heero shrugged. "He doesn't get out much."
"Aha," Duo said. "He's a room gnome. Okay."
"A what?"
"A room gnome. You know, someone who spends all of their time studying in their room and never really talks to other people."
Heero considered that. Actually, he thought that he fit Duo's description better than Wufei did. Or at least he had fit it before he'd started going to the library almost every day to meet Duo.
Once again, it was Duo who broke into his thoughts. "Well, here's your building, so I'll just be off now. See you tomorrow."
"But tomorrow's Saturday," Heero said.
Duo just gave him a slightly mischievous smile. "Goodnight," he said.
"Goodnight," Heero said, turning towards his building. Before he entered, however, he stopped and turned to watch Duo jogging off down the path. When Duo had rounded the corner and vanished from sight, he opened the door and went inside.
tbc
Rapunzel: Holy Crap! I've got class in fifteen minutes!
Muse: Ditch it! Ditch it! Ditch it!
Rapunzel: Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! I can't ditch it. You know she always tests us on stuff she covers in lecture.
Muse: Aw, come on. You don't want to go take boring anthro notes. You want to stay here and write!
Rapunzel: ::sticks her fingers in her ears:: I'm not listening to you.
Welcome Distractions By Rapunzel
Chapter 3: Further Interactions
"You know, it's rude to read at the dinner table."
Heero looked up to see Wufei giving him a disapproving look. Setting his book down on the table, he poked disinterestedly at the green beans on his plate. "Eating in the dinning hall hardly constitutes a dinner table," he said.
Wufei made a disdainful noise. "Well, you're eating with someone, so it's still rude."
Heero ignored him and picked his book up again. He had work to do, and after all, it wasn't like he had asked Wufei to sit with him. He only needed to complete one more chapter, and he could stop for the night.
"Heero, my man! _Still_ working?"
Heero blinked. He recognized that voice, but here in the dinning hall was one of the last places he had ever expected to hear it. Setting the book down, he gave his addressor a confused look.
"Duo, what are you doing here?"
Duo set his tray down and plopped into the seat next to Heero. "Both of my roommates are out tonight, which means I'm on my own as far as food. And since I'm too lazy to cook for just one person, I came here. I was hoping I'd find you."
"Who's this?" Wufei asked.
Seeing that introductions were in order, Heero promptly made them. "Wufei, this is Duo, the guy I help with math. Duo, this is my roommate Wufei."
"Nice to meet you," Duo said through half a mouthful of pizza. "So you're the one who wants to be a lawyer, right?"
Wufei nodded, but didn't reply in words.
Duo didn't seem unduly put out by this lack of response. He finished off his pizza quickly and then got up to get more food. During his absence, Heero picked up his book in an attempt to read while he could. He had learned over the course of four days that trying to study when Duo wanted to socialize was an exercise in futility.
Duo was gone for only a minute or so. When he returned, he had a bowl of soup as well as rice heaped on his plate. As soon as he was back in his seat, he was talking again.
"Well, this place sure hasn't changed any since I was here. Not that you would really expect it to change much in just one year, but still, you'd think they'd at least fix some things. But no, they don't. Do you guys still have the ice dispenser that goes psychotic and spits ice at you even after your cup is full?"
"Yeah," Heero answered, giving up his book as a lost cause.
"I guess some things never change," Duo said as he began spooning rice from his plate into his soup bowl. When Wufei caught sight of this, his face shifted to an expression of mild disgust.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"Huh?" Duo said, stirring the rice into the soup and then adding more.
"To the rice," Wufei clarified.
"I'm putting it in the soup," Duo said, his tone implying that any idiot could see what he was doing with it.
"Why?"
"Because, not having grown up eating rice plain, it seems unbearably bland to me if I don't add something to it."
Wufei eyed the mixture with distaste but didn't comment further. It was as though he had decided that he didn't want to know any more about Duo's eating habits.
Duo's good cheer continued, undimmed by Wufei's obvious disapproval over the incident with the rice. He chatted amiably throughout the meal, not seeming to mind that he rarely got more than mare than a two word answer out of his companions. When Heero made a comment to the effect that he and Wufei were hardly the best of company, Duo laughed it off.
"Are you kidding?" he said. "If I'd been eating with my roommates at home, Hilde'd be kicking me under the table and telling me not to talk with my mouth full."
Wufei muttered darkly about Hilde having the right idea. Duo ignored him.
"I'm going hunting for more food," he announced, standing up.
"What do you mean, 'hunting'?" Wufei asked. "The main line is right there." He gestured towards a fairly short line against one wall.
"Was that where you got that?" Duo asked, pointing at Heero's plate, on which sat a slice of uneaten meat.
Heero nodded.
Duo gave Wufei a shrug. "That's why I said hunting. If my memory of dorm food serves me right, there's no way I'm eating that. What they claim is pork really tastes like plastic. Rule number one of dorm dinning: When in doubt, go for the pizza; it's safe." With that, he sauntered off.
Wufei snorted. "Loquacious guy."
Heero shrugged and poked at his pork chop. Maybe Duo was right... The pizza was starting to sound good.
~*~*~
"I don't think your roommate likes me very much."
Heero, who had been looking up at the lit windows of the dorm buildings they were walking by, turned to look at Duo. "What makes you say that?"
Duo snorted. "What doesn't? He doesn't seem to like my eating habits, my manners, or my morals. The guy jumped on my case just because I swiped a few ice cream bars from the dinning hall. I mean, come on! How anal can you get? Everyone swipes food from the dinning halls, and since we've already paid for it, more or less, I don't see what the problem is. Just because I don't want to eat according to their schedule doesn't make it wrong."
Heero listened to the rant in silence, wondering if the dispute over the ice cream was what had caused Wufei to leave early, leaving him to walk back to the dorm with Duo. (Duo insisted on walking back with him, saying that it was "on my way," and that he wanted to visit some old friends who had become RAs anyway.) He wasn't really paying attention to his surroundings, and so almost walked in to the hand that was waving in front of his nose.
"Hello? Heero?"
Heero stopped and gave Duo a mildly annoyed look. "I'm listening."
"Could've fooled me," Duo said.
"Wufei doesn't really like anyone," Heero said. "Don't take it personally."
"How can you not like anyone?" Duo asked. "The world is full of likable people."
Heero shrugged. "He doesn't get out much."
"Aha," Duo said. "He's a room gnome. Okay."
"A what?"
"A room gnome. You know, someone who spends all of their time studying in their room and never really talks to other people."
Heero considered that. Actually, he thought that he fit Duo's description better than Wufei did. Or at least he had fit it before he'd started going to the library almost every day to meet Duo.
Once again, it was Duo who broke into his thoughts. "Well, here's your building, so I'll just be off now. See you tomorrow."
"But tomorrow's Saturday," Heero said.
Duo just gave him a slightly mischievous smile. "Goodnight," he said.
"Goodnight," Heero said, turning towards his building. Before he entered, however, he stopped and turned to watch Duo jogging off down the path. When Duo had rounded the corner and vanished from sight, he opened the door and went inside.
tbc
Rapunzel: Holy Crap! I've got class in fifteen minutes!
Muse: Ditch it! Ditch it! Ditch it!
Rapunzel: Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! I can't ditch it. You know she always tests us on stuff she covers in lecture.
Muse: Aw, come on. You don't want to go take boring anthro notes. You want to stay here and write!
Rapunzel: ::sticks her fingers in her ears:: I'm not listening to you.