Welcome Distractions By Rapunzel

Chapter 7: Peaceful Interludes

As the quarter wore on, the weather got steadily colder. Heero began to truly appreciate Duo's advice about getting a warm coat. Soon, the large, waterproof jacket began to feel like an extension of his body, since he was always either wearing it or toting it around. Most of the dorm residents discovered, much to their chagrin, that the heaters in the dorm rooms worked sporadically, if at all. This did not bother Wufei, who was evidently used to living in cold climates. He left the window open at all hours of the day and night, despite Heero's pointed attempts to keep it closed. He even opened it in the middle of the night, which left Heero freezing and wishing his RA would let him sleep in the lounge. The only good thing about the weather was that he now had an even more valid excuse to visit the library, which was heated.

Sitting next to Duo in the library, Heero found himself reluctant to leave, despite the fact that his essay had been proofread to perfection and Duo was almost finished with his homework. Tipping his chair back slightly, he stared blankly out the window for a moment, then swore violently.

"What's the matter?" Duo asked.

Heero pointed out the window. "It's raining."

Duo followed his gaze to the gloomy clouds outside and the sheets of water descending from the sky. "So it is," he said simply.

"You're awfully calm about this," Heero remarked, sounding rather irritated.

Duo just shrugged. "What did you expect? Winter is a comin'."

"It's coming a little too fast for me," Heero muttered.

"What's the matter, Heero? It's just a little water."

"I don't have an umbrella," Heero admitted grudgingly. "By the time I get back to the dorm, I'll be soaked and freezing, and the room will be like an icebox because the heater doesn't work and Wufei _always_ insists on leaving the window open, even though I've asked him not to."

Duo listened to this rant in silence. "Oh," was all he said when Heero was finished. He sat looking at the gray sky as he contemplated something. Then he turned to Heero and smiled. "I've got an umbrella," he said. "I can walk you back."

"Thanks," Heero said, "but I think I'll just stay here where it's warm for a while."

"That won't work," Duo protested. "They'll close the library in a few hours, and the only reading room they leave open is always freezing. Tell you what, why don't you come home with me? The heater in our apartment works just fine, and if I know Quatre, he'll have it turned up full blast. He hates the cold."

Heero barely paused to consider. Given a choice between going back to his dorm room to sit in the cold and listen to Wufei go on about whatever current injustice was being perpetrated by someone, or going with Duo where it was warm, the decision was not a hard one. "That'd be great."

"Great!" Duo beamed at him. "Let's get going then!"

~*~*~

"We're home!" Duo called as he ushered Heero into the apartment and shut the door behind him.

"We?" came the answer from somewhere within. A moment later, Hilde appeared from the hall and looked curiously at the two young men taking off their coats. "Well, hello Heero. Didn't expect to see you."

"His roommate is a penguin, apparently," Duo said. "I decided to take pity on him and offer him a warm place to hang out for the evening."

"Ah." Hilde made an understanding noise. "Well, make yourself at home, Heero." And with that, she vanished into a back room.

Heero turned to Duo, looking mildly confused. "A penguin?"

"That's what we call those people who seem to thrive in the cold. Quatre's just the opposite. He never seems comfortable unless it's at least eight- five degrees outside."

"And what's your name for people like that?"

"Well, Hilde came up with the nickname "penguin", and I don't really know if she has a nickname for their opposites. She calls Quatre Mr. 'I Freeze at Seventy-eight Degrees', but I think that's more of an individual thing."

"Seventy-three!" Quatre's voice called out from his bedroom. "It's seventy- three degrees, not seventy-eight! I'm a little more hardened than that!"

"Whatever, you're still a wuss," Hilde answered him coolly from the next room.

Duo snickered. "They've been arguing over that for months now. Look, it's even gotten to the point where they don't have to be in the same room."

"You have strange roommates," Heero said.

"Well, that just means I fit right in," Duo said with an unabashed smile. "Anyway, you're not exactly one to talk. I think Woofers might have a screw or two loose himself."

Heero chuckled at that. "Don't let him hear you call him that."

"Oh, I have no intentions of letting that happen. I'll save the really good nicknames for when I see him." Duo ushered him towards a rather beaten up couch. "Have a seat. You want anything to drink?"

"No thanks," Heero said. "What with the rain, I think I've had all the liquid I want right now."

"Suit yourself," Duo said. "I'm making hot chocolate."

"While you're up," Hilde's voice called from the back room, "make me some too, will you?"

"Yeah sure," Duo answered. "Quatre, you want any?"

"No thanks! I've already got some tea."

"Ah yes, tea. Of course," Duo said softly to himself. Seeing Heero give him a slightly quizzical gaze, he smiled and said, "It seems like that's all he ever drinks."

Soon, Duo had returned to the couch, a steaming mug in hand. "Hilde!" he called. "Your hot chocolate's on the counter!"

"I'll get it in a few minutes!" Hilde called back.

"Better not wait that long," Quatre said. "It may cease to be hot chocolate, and become cold chocolate."

"It's still chocolate!" Hilde said firmly.

"To her, that's all that matters," Duo told Heero. "So, what do you want to do for the rest of the afternoon?"

Heero shrugged. "I don't know."

"Oh, you're real helpful," Duo muttered sarcastically. "What do you usually do?"

"Homework."

"Boring!" Duo said.

"What's boring?" Quatre asked as he strolled out into the living room, slippers slapping softly against the carpet.

"Homework," Duo said.

"Ah," Quatre answered. "Lucky me then; I just finished mine. Do you guys mind if I turn up the heat a little? It's cold."

"It is not cold, Quatre! The windows are fogging up, for goodness sake!"

"Alright, alright," Quatre said, sitting in a chair facing them. "What are you two doing?"

"Trying to decide what to do," Duo answered.

"Let's play a game," Quatre suggested. "Not poker," he added hastily, seeing the look in Duo's eyes.

"What's wrong with poker?" Heero asked.

"Nothing, unless you let Duo play. He'll fleece you, since he always insists on playing for money. He always wins."

"Just like you always win at Risk?" Duo asked pointedly.

"How about a nice, neutral game like Scrabble?" Quatre suggested.

"Heero?" Duo looked at him questioningly.

"Sounds fine," Heero said. In truth, he had never really played Scrabble before.

"Great!" Duo said. "Hey, Hilde, babe, you want to play?" he called.

"Sure," Hilde said, appearing in the doorway and moving over to the table to snag herself a chair.

Quatre went and dug the game out of a closet somewhere, and Heero tried hard to figure out how the game was played as he watched them set it up. Fifteen minutes later, he thought that he had it more or less figured out. He also thought that he might have made a mistake by agreeing to play. For what Quatre had called a "neutral game", this one was turning out to be awfully cutthroat.

"Xenia is not a word!" Quatre protested.

"You're just saying that because it's on a triple word score!" Hilde countered.

"Duo, is xenia a word?" Quatre asked.

"Well, according to my classics class, yes. It's an ancient Greek custom that has to do with welcoming visitors."

"No it's not!" Hilde said. "It has to do with hybrid plants."

The three of them looked at each other for a moment, then they all cried in unison, "To the dictionary!" Soon, Hilde had an old and battered dictionary on the table before her and was leafing through it.

"I still say it's not a word," Quatre grumbled.

"I think it is, and I'm the linguistics major here," Duo countered.

"Ha!" Hilde cried triumphantly. "Found it! Gentlemen, read it and weep!" And she turned the dictionary towards them, index finger planted firmly above the entry in question.

"Damn," Quatre muttered, reading it. "Only a science major would think of that."

"Allow me to count up my points." Hilde had an incredibly smug look on her face as she gleefully marked her thirty plus points on the score sheet.

"Laugh it up while you can, babe," Duo said. "I've got a score to settle here."

And settle it he did. By the end of the game, Duo and Hilde were tied for points. Quatre seemed content to be in third place, while Heero had almost a hundred few points than any of them.

"Well, sucks to be you, Heero," Hilde said, reveling in her shared victory.

"Be nice, Hilde," Quatre scolded her. Turning to Heero, he said, "You'll do better next time."

"Next time..." Heero repeated slowly.

Duo, who had been putting letters back into the bag, paused to give Heero a rather hopeful look. "Well, you will come over to play again, won't you?"

Heero considered it for a minute. He could spend time in his drafty room with his semi-antisocial roommate, or come hang out at Duo's apartment and have fun. "Of course," he said. "But would you mind if I brought Wufei along? He needs to get out more."

"Heero, buddy, I couldn't agree with you more," Duo said cheerily. "Bring him by if you like, if he's willing to spend time among us ill-mannered heathens. I know he doesn't think very highly of me, but if he wants to come, bring him."

"He probably won't want to come anyway," Heero muttered. "He'll be too busy studying for finals."

Hilde and Quatre both gave understanding nods, and began talking about the evils of finals. Duo just looked stricken. "Finals," he repeated. "They're less than two weeks away. That means the quarter's almost over."

"I know," Heero said. "I can't wait to be finished. No more of those damned essays."

"No more math homework," Duo said, voice dull. That surprised Heero, who had thought that Duo would be more than happy to get out of his math class. Then he realized. No more math class meant no more tutoring sessions.

Almost before he knew what he was thinking, Heero heard himself say, "Hey, Duo. I signed up for an anthropology class next quarter that requires me to write a paper at the end. I know you won't have any math for me to help you with, but would you mind maybe giving me a few pointers?"

It was amazing how fast Duo could make the transition from glum to cheerful. "Sure, I would love to!"

~*~*~

"Stupid piece of junk!"

Heero ignored his cursing roommate. Wufei had been swearing at his suitcase for the better part of a half an hour, and as far as Heero could tell, it wasn't helping at all. "You've got too much stuff in there," he said, for what seemed like the hundredth time.

"I packed everything I needed, and no more," Wufei answered rather stuffily. "Why aren't you packed? You know they'll close the halls for winter break the day after tomorrow."

"I know," Heero replied. "But I've got a final tomorrow. Studying is more important than packing."

"If you have to study for your final, why aren't you studying?" Wufei demanded.

Heero let the irritation creep into his voice as he answered. "Because _somebody_ keeps making a lot of racket and swearing at his suitcase because it won't close, and I can't concentrate!"

"Try sitting on it."

Both Heero and Wufei turned to the doorway, where Duo stood, watching with mild amusement.

"How did you get in?" Wufei asked.

Duo shrugged nonchalantly. "One of the other residents let me in. I'm on my way to the train station to head home for the break, but I just stopped by to give Heero something."

"What?" Heero asked.

Duo leaned over and retrieved a rather bulky package that he had placed in the hall, transferring it to Heero. "Go on then, open it," he said, after Heero simply stared at it for a moment.

Heero opened it and found a large, downy comforter.

"So you don't freeze at night," Duo said. "Merry Christmas."

Heero was speechless for a moment. "Thank you," he finally managed.

Duo smiled at him. "You're very welcome. Have a good holiday, you two!" And with that, he was gone, braid swinging as he walked off.

"Damn," Heero muttered, staring after him. "I didn't think to get him anything."

"You didn't get anyone anything," Wufei pointed out. "Not even that girl on the second floor with the evil roommate who gave you sweets."

"That was different," Heero muttered, not really paying attention.

Wufei shook his head at his distracted roommate and went back to his suitcase. "Sit on it, huh? Let's see if it works." Closing the lid as far as he could, he sat on it. Sure enough, his weight forced the top to shut, and he was able to slide the locks into place. "Finally!" he muttered, then straightened. "Well, if I don't get going soon, I'll miss my plane. I will see you in January."

"Bye. Have a good break," Heero said, echoing the words his dorm mates had been saying to each other for days. Then Wufei was gone, and Heero was alone.

Tbc

Whew! Seven chapters, and I'm only through the first quarter! This is shaping up to be a long one.

I think this chapter is slightly longer than most of the previous ones to make up for the fact that not much happens.