The author would just like to state here that, with regards to the argument
at the end of the previous chapter, she sides firmly with Quatre. Trowa is
hotter than both of them. ^.~
Welcome Distractions By Rapunzel
Chapter Five: Potential Rivals
Duo's roommates were very strange, Heero decided. Especially the girl, Hilde. She had seemed very... intent. It made him a little edgy, in fact. He could see how she and Duo would get along well, though. Idly, he wondered if they were a couple, but quickly shoved the idea away. For some reason, his mind shied away from the possibility that Duo was already hooked up with someone.
/He and Hilde can't be a couple,/ he reasoned. /Her parents would never let them live together if they were./
Part of his mind whispered that his reasoning was flawed; Hilde was an adult, and if she wanted to live with her boyfriend, there was little her parents could do to stop her. He ignored the little voice and clung to his argument.
"Excuse me."
Heero looked up at the speaker, a girl in an orange shirt with short, light brown hair. "Yes?"
"Is that your laundry?" she asked, pointing at a full dryer.
Belatedly, Heero realized that while he had been lost in thought, his laundry had finished and had been sitting in the dryer for about five minutes. The girl was probably waiting for a free dryer. Mumbling an apology, he quickly dumped his clothes into the bag he used to transport them and got out of her way. He was so flustered by the thought that he had been blankly staring into space for goodness only knew how long that he didn't even bother to fold his clothes before packing them. /I'll do it when I get back to my room,/ he told himself.
He hadn't anticipated how long it would take him just to get back to his room.
He had only walked a few feet away from the laundry room when he heard a little shriek and a clatter. Turning around, he beheld a vaguely familiar girl kneeling on the pavement with clothes scattered around her.
Sighing with annoyance, Heero set down his bag and went to help her pick up her clothes.
"Oh, thank you," she said, smiling shyly at him. "The door hit the edge of my basket on the way out, and my clothes just went everywhere."
Heero grunted and grabbed random articles of clothing, shoving them in the basket.
"Say," the girl said suddenly. "Don't I know you?"
Heero stopped, an piece of clothing in his hand, and stared at her. She had fairly long golden-brown hair, with a little bit of it pulled back into two small braids, and blue eyes. She _did_ look familiar, but he couldn't place her.
"I know!" she said. "You live in my building, don't you? I saw you at the orientation meetings at the beginning of the year."
Ah. That explained it. He was glad she remembered, because he sure didn't.
"My name's Relena," she said. "I live on the second floor. And you are?"
"Heero," he answered shortly.
Relena looked down and suddenly blushed. Heero stared at her; what was the matter with the girl?
"Um, Heero?" she said. "You can put that back now."
"Huh?" For a moment he was utterly confused. Then he looked down and realized that the item of clothing he'd had in his hand throughout their conversation was a bra. A pink, frilly bra.
With a sharp curse, Heero threw the thing into the basket as though casting away a venomous snake. His face went crimson, and he stood up abruptly, seized his own laundry, and took off.
He didn't get very far. Relena gathered up the rest of her clothes and followed him. When he reached his building, he noticed her behind him and politely held the door open.
"Thanks," she said, beaming at him. "It was really nice of you to help me pick up all my laundry."
Heero shrugged, not quiet knowing what to say to that. "I have to go put my stuff away," he muttered, and escaped.
"I'll see you later!" she called down the hall after him.
Shutting the door behind him, Heero set his bag down on the bed and opened it, preparing to sort his laundry. He stared down, then broke of with a string of curses, some of which were directed against Duo, some against Relena.
Every item of clothing in the bag was crumpled and wrinkled beyond recognition.
~*~*~
"Hey, Dorothy, you know that cute Asian guy on the first floor?"
Dorothy didn't even bother to look up from her government book to answer her roommate. "What about him?"
"Well, I finally got to talk to him!"
"Really? You finally managed to establish communication with one of the reclusive first floorers? How?"
Relena, who was used to Dorothy's odd choice of words, continued with enthusiasm undimmed. "He was in the laundry room. When I dropped my basket, he helped me pick up my clothes. Then he held the door open for me. Isn't he such a gentleman?"
Dorothy gave her roommate a hard look. "You didn't drop your basket deliberately, did you?"
"What? No, of course not. I was just in a hurry to get out of there, and I accidentally got hit by the door as it was closing."
Dorothy gave her a hard look, but said nothing.
Relena noticed the look. "I didn't!" she protested. "That's the sort of thing you'd do, not me."
Dorothy had no comment on that.
"He's really cute," Relena continued, dreamily, "but he's kind of shy. I think he needs some help interacting with other people."
She missed the slightly evil glint that came into Dorothy's eyes. "Well, then, we'll just have to help him."
~*~*~
"So," Duo said as he and Heero sat together in the library, "you finally have something for me to work on, huh?"
Heero made a face. "I have to write an essay on Don Quixote."
"Ooh," Duo said, wincing dramatically. "I had to read that. I hated it."
"Well, I'm hating it now," Heero muttered. "And I don't know where to start on my essay."
"Do you have a topic? Do you know what you're going to write about?"
"Yes."
"Well then, that's one step right there," Duo told him. "Now, if you're having trouble, I would suggest making an outline. Just sort of organize the main points you want to cover in each paragraph."
Heero took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and began to do just that. After a few minutes, he held up the paper for Duo to see. Taking it, Duo scanned over it.
"Not bad, not bad," he said encouragingly. "However, you seem to be saying the exact same thing in paragraph four as you did in paragraph three."
With a long suffering sigh, Heero took back the paper and began to revise it. /I'm doing revisions on a bloody outline,/ he thought. /What the hell is wrong with me?/
/Now don't get so irritated,/ he reminded himself, casting a sideways glance at Duo. /He had to suffer through days of you picking at his every little math error. It's only fair that you go through the same thing./
After looking over the outline a second time, Duo seemed much more pleased. "Good. Now, let's get to start on the opening paragraph, which in my opinion is always the hardest. You have to say what you're going to say."
"Say what I'm going to say?" Heero repeated dubiously.
"Yup. A basic outline of any essay is: say what you're going to say, say it, and then say what you said."
"Seems rather redundant," Heero muttered.
"Hey, I didn't come up with the style, buddy. I just adhere to it."
Heero nodded and bent his head to work. He had just barely touched his pen to the paper when a voice calling his name made him look up again.
"Hi, Heero!" the girl said as she set her backpack on the table and sat down across from them.
"Hi!" Duo answered her brightly. Turning to Heero he asked, "Who's this?"
Heero's mind went blank. He had met her, just the other night, and he knew she lived in his building, but what the hell was her name?
"I'm Relena," she said, holding her hand out. "I live in Heero's building."
"Duo Maxwell." Duo took her hand and shook it. "I work with Heero on English stuff, and he helps me with math."
"Oh," Relena said. "If you need help with writing stuff, Heero, I could help you. I'm an International Relations major, so I have to write a lot."
"Really," Duo said. "One of my roommates is in that major."
"Which one?" Heero asked.
"Quatre. Hilde's a science person."
"Anyway," Relena said. "Just let me know if you need any help. It'd be a lot more convenient to climb to the second floor rather than coming all the way to the library."
Duo turned to look at Heero to see what his verdict would be. Heero just nodded vaguely.
"Okay then!" Relena beamed at him. "I'll see you back at the dorms."
Heero nodded again as she left, then turned to look at Duo. The other young man was looking vaguely disappointed, but Heero wrote it off as just his imagination.
"I think that's enough for the day," Duo said. "How about you work on it overnight? You can get that girl to help you. Show it to your TA before you hand it in too; that always helps."
Heero nodded and packed his papers away in his bag. As Duo waved goodbye and left, he was filled with the vague idea that something was wrong. He couldn't quite say what or why, but something was out of place. It wasn't until he was walking down the library steps that he pinpointed it.
Duo hadn't said his usual farewell words, "See you tomorrow."
Tbc
Author's notes: Yes, I know Heero is really dense. I wrote him like that on purpose. If he were perceptive when it came to other people's emotions, he'd have figured out right away that both Duo and Relena are hitting on him, and the story would have been over a chapter ago.
They're having a highlighter fight in the hall outside, so I think I'm going to stay in my room until it's safe to come out.
Welcome Distractions By Rapunzel
Chapter Five: Potential Rivals
Duo's roommates were very strange, Heero decided. Especially the girl, Hilde. She had seemed very... intent. It made him a little edgy, in fact. He could see how she and Duo would get along well, though. Idly, he wondered if they were a couple, but quickly shoved the idea away. For some reason, his mind shied away from the possibility that Duo was already hooked up with someone.
/He and Hilde can't be a couple,/ he reasoned. /Her parents would never let them live together if they were./
Part of his mind whispered that his reasoning was flawed; Hilde was an adult, and if she wanted to live with her boyfriend, there was little her parents could do to stop her. He ignored the little voice and clung to his argument.
"Excuse me."
Heero looked up at the speaker, a girl in an orange shirt with short, light brown hair. "Yes?"
"Is that your laundry?" she asked, pointing at a full dryer.
Belatedly, Heero realized that while he had been lost in thought, his laundry had finished and had been sitting in the dryer for about five minutes. The girl was probably waiting for a free dryer. Mumbling an apology, he quickly dumped his clothes into the bag he used to transport them and got out of her way. He was so flustered by the thought that he had been blankly staring into space for goodness only knew how long that he didn't even bother to fold his clothes before packing them. /I'll do it when I get back to my room,/ he told himself.
He hadn't anticipated how long it would take him just to get back to his room.
He had only walked a few feet away from the laundry room when he heard a little shriek and a clatter. Turning around, he beheld a vaguely familiar girl kneeling on the pavement with clothes scattered around her.
Sighing with annoyance, Heero set down his bag and went to help her pick up her clothes.
"Oh, thank you," she said, smiling shyly at him. "The door hit the edge of my basket on the way out, and my clothes just went everywhere."
Heero grunted and grabbed random articles of clothing, shoving them in the basket.
"Say," the girl said suddenly. "Don't I know you?"
Heero stopped, an piece of clothing in his hand, and stared at her. She had fairly long golden-brown hair, with a little bit of it pulled back into two small braids, and blue eyes. She _did_ look familiar, but he couldn't place her.
"I know!" she said. "You live in my building, don't you? I saw you at the orientation meetings at the beginning of the year."
Ah. That explained it. He was glad she remembered, because he sure didn't.
"My name's Relena," she said. "I live on the second floor. And you are?"
"Heero," he answered shortly.
Relena looked down and suddenly blushed. Heero stared at her; what was the matter with the girl?
"Um, Heero?" she said. "You can put that back now."
"Huh?" For a moment he was utterly confused. Then he looked down and realized that the item of clothing he'd had in his hand throughout their conversation was a bra. A pink, frilly bra.
With a sharp curse, Heero threw the thing into the basket as though casting away a venomous snake. His face went crimson, and he stood up abruptly, seized his own laundry, and took off.
He didn't get very far. Relena gathered up the rest of her clothes and followed him. When he reached his building, he noticed her behind him and politely held the door open.
"Thanks," she said, beaming at him. "It was really nice of you to help me pick up all my laundry."
Heero shrugged, not quiet knowing what to say to that. "I have to go put my stuff away," he muttered, and escaped.
"I'll see you later!" she called down the hall after him.
Shutting the door behind him, Heero set his bag down on the bed and opened it, preparing to sort his laundry. He stared down, then broke of with a string of curses, some of which were directed against Duo, some against Relena.
Every item of clothing in the bag was crumpled and wrinkled beyond recognition.
~*~*~
"Hey, Dorothy, you know that cute Asian guy on the first floor?"
Dorothy didn't even bother to look up from her government book to answer her roommate. "What about him?"
"Well, I finally got to talk to him!"
"Really? You finally managed to establish communication with one of the reclusive first floorers? How?"
Relena, who was used to Dorothy's odd choice of words, continued with enthusiasm undimmed. "He was in the laundry room. When I dropped my basket, he helped me pick up my clothes. Then he held the door open for me. Isn't he such a gentleman?"
Dorothy gave her roommate a hard look. "You didn't drop your basket deliberately, did you?"
"What? No, of course not. I was just in a hurry to get out of there, and I accidentally got hit by the door as it was closing."
Dorothy gave her a hard look, but said nothing.
Relena noticed the look. "I didn't!" she protested. "That's the sort of thing you'd do, not me."
Dorothy had no comment on that.
"He's really cute," Relena continued, dreamily, "but he's kind of shy. I think he needs some help interacting with other people."
She missed the slightly evil glint that came into Dorothy's eyes. "Well, then, we'll just have to help him."
~*~*~
"So," Duo said as he and Heero sat together in the library, "you finally have something for me to work on, huh?"
Heero made a face. "I have to write an essay on Don Quixote."
"Ooh," Duo said, wincing dramatically. "I had to read that. I hated it."
"Well, I'm hating it now," Heero muttered. "And I don't know where to start on my essay."
"Do you have a topic? Do you know what you're going to write about?"
"Yes."
"Well then, that's one step right there," Duo told him. "Now, if you're having trouble, I would suggest making an outline. Just sort of organize the main points you want to cover in each paragraph."
Heero took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and began to do just that. After a few minutes, he held up the paper for Duo to see. Taking it, Duo scanned over it.
"Not bad, not bad," he said encouragingly. "However, you seem to be saying the exact same thing in paragraph four as you did in paragraph three."
With a long suffering sigh, Heero took back the paper and began to revise it. /I'm doing revisions on a bloody outline,/ he thought. /What the hell is wrong with me?/
/Now don't get so irritated,/ he reminded himself, casting a sideways glance at Duo. /He had to suffer through days of you picking at his every little math error. It's only fair that you go through the same thing./
After looking over the outline a second time, Duo seemed much more pleased. "Good. Now, let's get to start on the opening paragraph, which in my opinion is always the hardest. You have to say what you're going to say."
"Say what I'm going to say?" Heero repeated dubiously.
"Yup. A basic outline of any essay is: say what you're going to say, say it, and then say what you said."
"Seems rather redundant," Heero muttered.
"Hey, I didn't come up with the style, buddy. I just adhere to it."
Heero nodded and bent his head to work. He had just barely touched his pen to the paper when a voice calling his name made him look up again.
"Hi, Heero!" the girl said as she set her backpack on the table and sat down across from them.
"Hi!" Duo answered her brightly. Turning to Heero he asked, "Who's this?"
Heero's mind went blank. He had met her, just the other night, and he knew she lived in his building, but what the hell was her name?
"I'm Relena," she said, holding her hand out. "I live in Heero's building."
"Duo Maxwell." Duo took her hand and shook it. "I work with Heero on English stuff, and he helps me with math."
"Oh," Relena said. "If you need help with writing stuff, Heero, I could help you. I'm an International Relations major, so I have to write a lot."
"Really," Duo said. "One of my roommates is in that major."
"Which one?" Heero asked.
"Quatre. Hilde's a science person."
"Anyway," Relena said. "Just let me know if you need any help. It'd be a lot more convenient to climb to the second floor rather than coming all the way to the library."
Duo turned to look at Heero to see what his verdict would be. Heero just nodded vaguely.
"Okay then!" Relena beamed at him. "I'll see you back at the dorms."
Heero nodded again as she left, then turned to look at Duo. The other young man was looking vaguely disappointed, but Heero wrote it off as just his imagination.
"I think that's enough for the day," Duo said. "How about you work on it overnight? You can get that girl to help you. Show it to your TA before you hand it in too; that always helps."
Heero nodded and packed his papers away in his bag. As Duo waved goodbye and left, he was filled with the vague idea that something was wrong. He couldn't quite say what or why, but something was out of place. It wasn't until he was walking down the library steps that he pinpointed it.
Duo hadn't said his usual farewell words, "See you tomorrow."
Tbc
Author's notes: Yes, I know Heero is really dense. I wrote him like that on purpose. If he were perceptive when it came to other people's emotions, he'd have figured out right away that both Duo and Relena are hitting on him, and the story would have been over a chapter ago.
They're having a highlighter fight in the hall outside, so I think I'm going to stay in my room until it's safe to come out.