Welcome Distractions
By Rapunzel
Chapter 4: Inquisitive Roommates
Heero had no idea why Duo had said he'd see him the next day, since they didn't meet on weekends. He dismissed it offhand as a slip of the tongue, a customary goodbye blurted out without thought. That was why he was so surprised the next night when, upon stepping out of his dorm building at dusk, he spotted Duo sitting propped against the tree that grew in front of the building. Upon catching sight of him, Duo smiled broadly and rose gracefully to his feet, brushing dead grass off his pants as he did.
"Hey!" he hailed Heero. "You hungry?"
"Yes," Heero answered. "I was just going to dinner."
Duo moseyed up and fell into step beside him. "Mind if I join you?"
"No, of course not."
Duo grinned and immediately launched into a conversation. "So, how's your weekend going so far? Got lots of homework?"
"Yeah," Heero answered. "I've already finished some of it."
"I haven't even started mine yet, well, except for the math, but you already know about that. The rest is just a bunch of reading anyway. I'll probably do it all Sunday night."
"Procrastinator," Heero muttered.
Duo laughed. "Don't I know it. I have procrastination down to a fine art."
As Duo continued talking all the way to the dinning hall, Heero found himself gradually relaxing more and more.
~*~*~
"Where's Duo?"
Quatre looked up from the handout he was studying. "He said something about dinner and vanished. He took his ID card with him, so he's probably at the dinning hall on campus."
Hilde chewed on her bottom lip thoughtfully. "The dinning hall? Why would he want to go there?"
Quatre shrugged. "I'm not sure, but he went last night too. Said he didn't feel like cooking."
"But it's my night to cook," Hilde protested. "He can't even use laziness as an excuse. I don't understand that guy sometimes. All last year he did nothing but complain about how bad dorm food was and how he couldn't wait to get his own place so he could fix his own meals. And now we have our own place, and what does he do? He heads straight back for the dinning hall."
"Well then," Quatre said simply, "it logically follows that he's not going for the food."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Hilde asked, sitting at the table so that she was on eye level with Quatre.
"Well, he did say he was interested in a freshman guy he met in the library..."
Hilde threw up her hands. "That explains it, alright. How Duo."
"Oh, now Hilde, be nice," Quatre protested. "You know he hasn't had an actual boyfriend since high school."
"Maybe that's why he flirts all the time."
"I really think he's serious this time," Quatre said.
Hilde considered that. "You know, I think we should meet this guy. Let him know we mean to protect our roommate's honor and all that."
Quatre chuckled. "I think Duo isn't the one whose honor is going to need protecting."
"But seriously," Hilde said, "aren't you at least curious?"
"A little," Quatre admitted.
"Okay then," Hilde said. "What say we tag along with him next time, just to get a feel for what this guy is like."
Quatre smiled at her. "Sounds like a plan."
~*~*~
Someone was poking him.
Duo made an irritated noise and swatted vaguely at the offender as he rolled over. The poking finger vanished, but a moment later, a voice sounded in his ear. A high pitched, extremely irritating voice.
"The sun it is shining! How bright is the day! "Good morning! Good morning!" the little birds say."
Duo groaned.
"Actually," Hilde continued, dropping back to her normal voice, "it's more like, 'Good afternoon,' but that's a minor detail."
Duo rolled over again to look at the clock. Then he turned piteous eyes on his roommate. "Hilde," he whined, "what do you want to go waking me up for? It's only noon."
Hilde snorted. "Only! Only, he says!"
"It's Sunday," Duo said. "I'm supposed to sleep in."
"I don't sleep that late on Sundays," she said self righteously.
"You never sleep in because you were silly enough to be a science major and take all your classes in the morning."
She smacked him. "You're just lazy! Now up!"
"Why?"
"Well, if you don't hurry, we won't make it to the dinning hall in time to catch your boyfriend for lunch."
"He's not my boyfriend yet," Duo muttered.
"Yet?" Hilde looked triumphant.
Duo smacked a hand to his forehead. He really needed to learn not to open his big mouth when he was half asleep; things tended to pop out that he might not have said under ordinary circumstances.
"Oh, come off it, Duo," Hilde said, seeing his reaction. "In a living situation like this, there's no such thing as privacy. You should know that by now. I mean, the whole third floor knew it last year when Quatre started dating Trowa."
"That's because they were noisy and dorm walls are thin," Duo muttered.
"I got news for you, buddy. Apartment walls aren't any thicker. And since my room is just on the other side of the wall from yours, I have a vested interest in your love life."
So saying, she turned and headed out of his room, not bothering to close the door behind her. Duo groaned and pulled his pillow up to cover his face. There were times when he hated living with females.
"Come on!" Hilde yelled from the hall. "Up and at 'em!"
Resigning himself to the inevitable, Duo struggled up out of bed.
~*~*~
Heero paused to look around when he heard his name being shouted at top volume. It took him a moment to spot whoever was hailing him. Then he saw Duo waving frantically at him.
"Him again?" Wufei muttered.
"And not alone either," Heero observed, slowing his pace to allow Duo to catch up.
"Hey, Heero!" Duo greeted as he reached the other two. "Thought we'd join you for breakfast."
"It's lunch," Wufei said.
"It's breakfast for me," Duo said. "Anyway, this," he gestured at the blond haired young man standing at his side, "is Quatre, one of my roommates. Quatre, this is Heero, and this is Wufei. Hilde -she's the other roommate- should be along in a minute. She met an old pal of hers that works here as an RA and stopped to chat."
Heero nodded distractedly.
"There she is," Duo said, waving at a girl with short dark hair. She jogged over to join them, and the five of them entered the dinning hall.
"So," Hilde started off, "I hear you and Duo are becoming great pals." Her question wasn't clearly addressed to either Heero or Wufei, and Heero wasn't sure whether or not to answer. Fortunately, Duo saved him.
"Hey, Hilde," he said. "They have brownies today."
Hilde's nostrils flared and her eyes acquired a strange gleam. "Chocolate?" she said.
Duo quickly reached out to snag Wufei's arm, dragging him out of Hilde's path as she headed over to the bakery table, where the brownies were. "Never, ever get in between that woman and her chocolate. In fact, never get between a woman and her chocolate in general."
"Nice save, Duo," Quatre murmured. "But you know that even chocolate won't put her off for very long."
"Can't blame a guy for trying," Duo muttered back.
"Is it healthy for her to start off her meal with a brownie?" Heero asked.
Duo shrugged. "Life is short. Eat dessert first."
They went to stand in the main line for food, and after a minute or two, Hilde came to join them, happily munching on a brownie. She immediately turned to Wufei and began to ask about his classes, and how he was enjoying his first year so far. He answered her as shortly as possible at first, but gradually began to go on at more length about his reasons for trying to get into law school.
"So, Heero," Quatre said, "Duo tells me you're a computer engineering major. What are you planning on doing with that?"
Heero shrugged. "Not sure yet."
Hilde almost immediately switched her attention to him, asking him in turn about his classes and the like.
"So, are you going to take any more English classes?" she asked.
Heero snorted. "After the way this one is going? I don't think so."
"But you've got such a nice tutor now," Hilde said pointedly. Then she jerked slightly as Duo kicked her rather savagely. She turned to scowl at him.
"Behave, children," Quatre hissed.
They scowled, but acquiesced, and the rest of the meal passed more or less without incident.
~*~*~
"You were chatting up Wufei," Duo said to Hilde that evening. His tone was midway between amused and accusatory.
"I didn't know which was which at first," she snapped back. "While you so kindly gave Quatre their names, you seemed to have forgotten me."
"And you just naturally assumed it was Wufei I was interested in?"
"Well, you said he was hot. That was the only physical description I got."
"That should have been enough," Duo said. "You know what my tastes are."
"I thought that of the two of them, Wufei was the hotter."
"No way!"
"Not that Heero's not good looking, mind you, but I think you're making too big a deal about it."
"You...You..." Duo sputtered. He finally gave up on speech and just rolled his eyes, twirling his finger near his temple in a "You're crazy" symbol.
"Seriously!" Hilde said.
"Hilde, babe, you're nuts. There is no way Wufei is hotter than Heero."
"Are you two discussing men again?" Quatre asked from his accustomed spot at the table.
"Quatre, be our tie breaker," Hilde suggested. "Who do you think is hotter: Heero or Wufei?"
Quatre considered it. "Well, they're not Trowa, so I'd have to say neither."
"What?!" Hilde squawked.
"That's not an answer!" Duo protested. "Stop playing so innocent; don't you dare tell me you don't look at other guys just because you have a boyfriend."
"Yeah," Hilde added. "Even if you're on a diet, you still look at the menu!" (1)
"That's hardly an appropriate analogy," Quatre said reprovingly. "I stand by my former answer."
"Oh, Quatre, stop being such a damn diplomat!" Duo said. "Don't worry about pissing one of us off; just say what you think."
"I did say what I thought," Quatre said stubbornly.
"Quatre!"
tbc
(1) This is a favorite saying of one of my dorm mates. One of my male dorm mates, in fact. (surprise, surprise)
Author's note: For those of you who I know are thinking it, no, I am not currently planning to set Hilde and Wufei up. I don't think they'd be very compatible. However, Hilde is a fairly ordinary girl; no reason she can't appreciate beauty when she sees it. ^.~
Chapter 4: Inquisitive Roommates
Heero had no idea why Duo had said he'd see him the next day, since they didn't meet on weekends. He dismissed it offhand as a slip of the tongue, a customary goodbye blurted out without thought. That was why he was so surprised the next night when, upon stepping out of his dorm building at dusk, he spotted Duo sitting propped against the tree that grew in front of the building. Upon catching sight of him, Duo smiled broadly and rose gracefully to his feet, brushing dead grass off his pants as he did.
"Hey!" he hailed Heero. "You hungry?"
"Yes," Heero answered. "I was just going to dinner."
Duo moseyed up and fell into step beside him. "Mind if I join you?"
"No, of course not."
Duo grinned and immediately launched into a conversation. "So, how's your weekend going so far? Got lots of homework?"
"Yeah," Heero answered. "I've already finished some of it."
"I haven't even started mine yet, well, except for the math, but you already know about that. The rest is just a bunch of reading anyway. I'll probably do it all Sunday night."
"Procrastinator," Heero muttered.
Duo laughed. "Don't I know it. I have procrastination down to a fine art."
As Duo continued talking all the way to the dinning hall, Heero found himself gradually relaxing more and more.
~*~*~
"Where's Duo?"
Quatre looked up from the handout he was studying. "He said something about dinner and vanished. He took his ID card with him, so he's probably at the dinning hall on campus."
Hilde chewed on her bottom lip thoughtfully. "The dinning hall? Why would he want to go there?"
Quatre shrugged. "I'm not sure, but he went last night too. Said he didn't feel like cooking."
"But it's my night to cook," Hilde protested. "He can't even use laziness as an excuse. I don't understand that guy sometimes. All last year he did nothing but complain about how bad dorm food was and how he couldn't wait to get his own place so he could fix his own meals. And now we have our own place, and what does he do? He heads straight back for the dinning hall."
"Well then," Quatre said simply, "it logically follows that he's not going for the food."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Hilde asked, sitting at the table so that she was on eye level with Quatre.
"Well, he did say he was interested in a freshman guy he met in the library..."
Hilde threw up her hands. "That explains it, alright. How Duo."
"Oh, now Hilde, be nice," Quatre protested. "You know he hasn't had an actual boyfriend since high school."
"Maybe that's why he flirts all the time."
"I really think he's serious this time," Quatre said.
Hilde considered that. "You know, I think we should meet this guy. Let him know we mean to protect our roommate's honor and all that."
Quatre chuckled. "I think Duo isn't the one whose honor is going to need protecting."
"But seriously," Hilde said, "aren't you at least curious?"
"A little," Quatre admitted.
"Okay then," Hilde said. "What say we tag along with him next time, just to get a feel for what this guy is like."
Quatre smiled at her. "Sounds like a plan."
~*~*~
Someone was poking him.
Duo made an irritated noise and swatted vaguely at the offender as he rolled over. The poking finger vanished, but a moment later, a voice sounded in his ear. A high pitched, extremely irritating voice.
"The sun it is shining! How bright is the day! "Good morning! Good morning!" the little birds say."
Duo groaned.
"Actually," Hilde continued, dropping back to her normal voice, "it's more like, 'Good afternoon,' but that's a minor detail."
Duo rolled over again to look at the clock. Then he turned piteous eyes on his roommate. "Hilde," he whined, "what do you want to go waking me up for? It's only noon."
Hilde snorted. "Only! Only, he says!"
"It's Sunday," Duo said. "I'm supposed to sleep in."
"I don't sleep that late on Sundays," she said self righteously.
"You never sleep in because you were silly enough to be a science major and take all your classes in the morning."
She smacked him. "You're just lazy! Now up!"
"Why?"
"Well, if you don't hurry, we won't make it to the dinning hall in time to catch your boyfriend for lunch."
"He's not my boyfriend yet," Duo muttered.
"Yet?" Hilde looked triumphant.
Duo smacked a hand to his forehead. He really needed to learn not to open his big mouth when he was half asleep; things tended to pop out that he might not have said under ordinary circumstances.
"Oh, come off it, Duo," Hilde said, seeing his reaction. "In a living situation like this, there's no such thing as privacy. You should know that by now. I mean, the whole third floor knew it last year when Quatre started dating Trowa."
"That's because they were noisy and dorm walls are thin," Duo muttered.
"I got news for you, buddy. Apartment walls aren't any thicker. And since my room is just on the other side of the wall from yours, I have a vested interest in your love life."
So saying, she turned and headed out of his room, not bothering to close the door behind her. Duo groaned and pulled his pillow up to cover his face. There were times when he hated living with females.
"Come on!" Hilde yelled from the hall. "Up and at 'em!"
Resigning himself to the inevitable, Duo struggled up out of bed.
~*~*~
Heero paused to look around when he heard his name being shouted at top volume. It took him a moment to spot whoever was hailing him. Then he saw Duo waving frantically at him.
"Him again?" Wufei muttered.
"And not alone either," Heero observed, slowing his pace to allow Duo to catch up.
"Hey, Heero!" Duo greeted as he reached the other two. "Thought we'd join you for breakfast."
"It's lunch," Wufei said.
"It's breakfast for me," Duo said. "Anyway, this," he gestured at the blond haired young man standing at his side, "is Quatre, one of my roommates. Quatre, this is Heero, and this is Wufei. Hilde -she's the other roommate- should be along in a minute. She met an old pal of hers that works here as an RA and stopped to chat."
Heero nodded distractedly.
"There she is," Duo said, waving at a girl with short dark hair. She jogged over to join them, and the five of them entered the dinning hall.
"So," Hilde started off, "I hear you and Duo are becoming great pals." Her question wasn't clearly addressed to either Heero or Wufei, and Heero wasn't sure whether or not to answer. Fortunately, Duo saved him.
"Hey, Hilde," he said. "They have brownies today."
Hilde's nostrils flared and her eyes acquired a strange gleam. "Chocolate?" she said.
Duo quickly reached out to snag Wufei's arm, dragging him out of Hilde's path as she headed over to the bakery table, where the brownies were. "Never, ever get in between that woman and her chocolate. In fact, never get between a woman and her chocolate in general."
"Nice save, Duo," Quatre murmured. "But you know that even chocolate won't put her off for very long."
"Can't blame a guy for trying," Duo muttered back.
"Is it healthy for her to start off her meal with a brownie?" Heero asked.
Duo shrugged. "Life is short. Eat dessert first."
They went to stand in the main line for food, and after a minute or two, Hilde came to join them, happily munching on a brownie. She immediately turned to Wufei and began to ask about his classes, and how he was enjoying his first year so far. He answered her as shortly as possible at first, but gradually began to go on at more length about his reasons for trying to get into law school.
"So, Heero," Quatre said, "Duo tells me you're a computer engineering major. What are you planning on doing with that?"
Heero shrugged. "Not sure yet."
Hilde almost immediately switched her attention to him, asking him in turn about his classes and the like.
"So, are you going to take any more English classes?" she asked.
Heero snorted. "After the way this one is going? I don't think so."
"But you've got such a nice tutor now," Hilde said pointedly. Then she jerked slightly as Duo kicked her rather savagely. She turned to scowl at him.
"Behave, children," Quatre hissed.
They scowled, but acquiesced, and the rest of the meal passed more or less without incident.
~*~*~
"You were chatting up Wufei," Duo said to Hilde that evening. His tone was midway between amused and accusatory.
"I didn't know which was which at first," she snapped back. "While you so kindly gave Quatre their names, you seemed to have forgotten me."
"And you just naturally assumed it was Wufei I was interested in?"
"Well, you said he was hot. That was the only physical description I got."
"That should have been enough," Duo said. "You know what my tastes are."
"I thought that of the two of them, Wufei was the hotter."
"No way!"
"Not that Heero's not good looking, mind you, but I think you're making too big a deal about it."
"You...You..." Duo sputtered. He finally gave up on speech and just rolled his eyes, twirling his finger near his temple in a "You're crazy" symbol.
"Seriously!" Hilde said.
"Hilde, babe, you're nuts. There is no way Wufei is hotter than Heero."
"Are you two discussing men again?" Quatre asked from his accustomed spot at the table.
"Quatre, be our tie breaker," Hilde suggested. "Who do you think is hotter: Heero or Wufei?"
Quatre considered it. "Well, they're not Trowa, so I'd have to say neither."
"What?!" Hilde squawked.
"That's not an answer!" Duo protested. "Stop playing so innocent; don't you dare tell me you don't look at other guys just because you have a boyfriend."
"Yeah," Hilde added. "Even if you're on a diet, you still look at the menu!" (1)
"That's hardly an appropriate analogy," Quatre said reprovingly. "I stand by my former answer."
"Oh, Quatre, stop being such a damn diplomat!" Duo said. "Don't worry about pissing one of us off; just say what you think."
"I did say what I thought," Quatre said stubbornly.
"Quatre!"
tbc
(1) This is a favorite saying of one of my dorm mates. One of my male dorm mates, in fact. (surprise, surprise)
Author's note: For those of you who I know are thinking it, no, I am not currently planning to set Hilde and Wufei up. I don't think they'd be very compatible. However, Hilde is a fairly ordinary girl; no reason she can't appreciate beauty when she sees it. ^.~