Tapestry - Chapter 23
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I remembered Wufei's trick of 'counting the doors,' and reasoned that the walls of the ship couldn't be that thick. I trotted quietly down the main corridor, listening to the left hand side of the hallway for Wufei's muffled voice, ready to stop at the room where I thought I heard it, and praying that room was empty when I came to it.
Fortunately for me, it was. Une and her goons - who I'm now calling the 'Une-goons,' just because it amuses me - weren't around. The gods were with me, too, because THIS cabin was unoccupied.
I hadn't even thought what I'd do if it wasn't. Throw out the goon like so much dirty laundry, perhaps? Fortunately, I didn't have to find out.
Slipping into the room, I heard Wufei's tenor voice on the other side of the wall. It was coming through the vent - but I wasn't going to stand on my tiptoes the entire time I was in the room. A quick look around showed the wastepaper basket in the corner. Grabbing that, I closed the door, put the basket on its side on the bed, then stood on it and held on to the sides of the vent. NOW I could hear and see.
Much, much better this way. Hopefully, I wouldn't fall.
There was Wufei, standing in the open doorway, his ponytail blowing in the gusting wind, clothes flapping about his body.
And ... gah. I couldn't see Treize, but I could sure hear him - which meant that he was right beneath me.
Gods ... I'd better not breathe. He might hear me.
"Something you need, Wufei?" And that came from right underneath me, meaning ... he's laying ON the bed - probably lounging, sprawled in that leonine way of his, watching Wufei.
Wufei just stood there for a moment, as austere as I'd ever seen him. I realized he was probably gathering both his courage and his wits.
"Yes." He walked in and closed the door. That cut off the wind, which was good - there were no more swirling, cold gusts whipping around the room. It didn't stop the howling, though. That continued, and seemed to intensify.
In fact, the ship actually started to sway a little, to the point where I was getting nervous. My wastebasket-on-the-bed thing could be problematic if the ship really started to list from side to side. Glancing down, I bit my lip a little and told myself it wouldn't be too much longer. It looked all right.
"What is it, Wufei?"
Treize's voice brought me back to the problem of the moment. I pulled into the vent a little more and looked down at Wufei, my palms sweating a little.
"I have something to ask you."
"Indeed? Ask away. You know I will answer you to the best of my ability." Teasing slightly, Treize continued, "Saa, you look so SERIOUS, Wufei ..."
"I am serious, because this IS serious. I ask that you be honest with me, Treize."
"Of course, Wufei." Now Treize sounded serious, to match Wufei.
Wufei paused again, looking down. The overhead light cast some weird shadows on his face; the top of his head and his hair were bright, but his eyes were in shadow, masking his expression.
"Go on, Wufei." Soft and encouraging, Treize murmured, "I'm not going to bite."
Without warning, a vision of Treize with fangs flashed through my mind, a vision coupled with a feeling of security, one that I normally associated with books, and libraries ... I shivered and renewed my grip on the grate of the air duct. My mouth was bone dry and my heart was beating loud enough that I swore Wufei could probably hear it.
"There are strange things going on here."
Treize chuckled very softly, which also put my teeth on edge and made every hair on the back of my neck stand up. "Indeed, Wufei?" he purred, with just the hint of a tease. "And what has been happening here that has you so agitated?"
Lightning flashed through the porthole, illuminating Wufei's face with bluish white light. His eyes were wide, wider than they should be. I watched his chest rise and fall; that was the only indication that he was alive and not a sculpture, because otherwise he was perfectly composed, absolutely still.
Something else happened as well; the air became charged and electric, thick with potential, and not from the lightning. I don't know how I knew, but I did - this situation had just became a spontaneous test for Wufei. And I couldn't move a muscle. I had been in bad situations before, but I had never been frozen in fear in my life. Now, however, I simply. Couldn't. Move.
Wufei was speaking to Treize. I strained to hear.
" ... things that should not be - and which I would not believe, were it not for the coincidence of shared experience ..."
I stopped breathing altogether when he said that. 'Coincidence of shared experience.' Ohgods. Wufei told him. Now Treize knew I was involved for sure. Not like it was any big secret, but ... geez. I should be there, standing with Wufei, not stuck here on the air duct.
A pleasant rumble came from directly underneath me. "'Shared experience,' Wufei? Meaning ...?"
The blood had drained away from my head; it rapidly left my neck, shoulders, fingers, arms, and elbows, and pooled in my lower extremities, because - well - I had no stomach. That dropped away when I stopped breathing.
His back to the door, Wufei's chin had gone up a bit as his eyelids dropped a fraction. Calmly, he replied, "Experiences - real or not - which would be of note even if not shared."
Treize was silent; regarding Wufei, I assumed. My stance on the wastepaper basket was becoming more precarious by the moment, as the pitch and yaw of the ship became more pronounced. Praying that my fingers didn't start bleeding all over the sides of the vent or that I didn't slip and collapse in a noisy heap on top of the bed, I strained to see above the edge.
Lightning sliced across the sky again, brightening the room through the porthole, a spotlight on Wufei's face. This time I saw that his gaze was locked on a spot beneath me, presumably right on Treize. Now it was obvious he was breathing faster, his chest was rising and falling more rapidly, and he was straining to stay calm. His voice was still soft, but was slightly higher:
"What - what are you?"
You know ... when someone you've come to trust with your life - someone you know is a sober, responsible, level headed, mature individual ... looks at another individual about whom you have grave doubts and says, 'What ARE you?' ... you tend to listen to the response.
Treize's voice was just as soft as Wufei's, and was teasing - almost chiding. "Now, now, Wufei - discursiveness. Stick to your topic."
Wufei swallowed, then frowned. "Whatever you are doing to us must stop."
"Doing?" Treize purred.
"Doing." Wufei spoke, his voice a little firmer and louder. "Do NOT lie to me!"
"Tempeeeer ..." Treize murmured, soft.
"There is no ... it is ludicrous for you to lie to me."
"Is it?"
And now my feet were dancing in midair because I was dangling from the vent, clinging by the strength of my thumbs and fingers. My perfidious wastepaper basket had rolled to the opposite side of the bed, ignoring my need, deciding instead to heed the call of physics and to move with the force of the ship, following the pitch and yaw of the past several minutes.
I looked at the ceiling and closed my eyes briefly, thinking there were definitely times when it sucked to be me.
My fingers were losing their grip. Strong as they were, there was no way they were able to support my weight for any length of time. I dropped down quietly to the bed, crouching there for a moment or two, massaging my arms, then retrieved the basket. As I put it back into position, Wufei started to speak again.
"It is. You say you intend to keep me - then you say you intend to let me go."
I stuck my foot on the wastepaper basket, willing it not to move, and pulled myself up to the vent again. My hands were shaking, but it didn't make any difference; as long as I could brace myself and see Wufei, that's all that mattered.
"You say you value Sally because she represents freedom - and yet you alter who she is. You alter her very THOUGHTS! How is that freedom?"
"Mmmmmmmmm. Go on."
Okay, now I thought my knees were going to give out. Treize sounded so - so pleased with what Wufei said. Honestly, Treize just purred the last thing he said; had Wufei been doing a striptease, his reaction would have probably been the same.
Wufei was thrown off by his response; it didn't make sense to him, and he was confused. As I peered out, trying to give him some kind of nonverbal encouragement, I heard what I thought was pounding in the corridor along with some hoarse shouting.
"Down here, you idiots! Search everywhere!"
Damn. Instinctively, I let go of the vent and dropped onto the bed with a minimum of noise, scooping the basket into my arms. In one smooth motion, I was off the bed, had straightened the blanket and was behind the door, looking for some kind of weapon - just in case.
Very unsubtle stomping made its way up the corridor, obviously ignoring that bald order to 'search everywhere.' I shrugged, grinning to myself. It was good that Une's efficiency didn't extend to her goons. Usually, I could count on that.
Wufei's voice drifted over to me.
"...Stop ... LOOKING at me like that ..."
I swallowed and looked up at the vent.
Treize's voice was a little sharper. "Wufei. Subject."
Now Wufei raised his voice, something he hardly ever did anymore. "Not until you STOP -"
Treize's voice cut through the bulkhead. "Wufei."
I was ready to grab my basket and run for the vent when Une's voice sliced through my door. "Search the aft! Now! GO! GO! GO!"
Plastered against the wall I waited, hoping to hear the sound of her boots clomping away. Gads ... they're searching for ... me? Or ...?
"We have discussed this in the past." Treize's voice was low, almost stern.
"I'm not playing your game anymore," Wufei replied, just as evenly. "Not unless I know what it is. I won't talk to YOU, since you seem to find it so important. Now answer my questions!"
I glanced up at the vent and shuddered. This sounded like war.
Gruff, angry voices rang out in the corridor on the other side of the door. Heavy booted feet pounded past; soldiers looking for something, following orders, clearing the hallway. It took several minutes for them to pass, but eventually, they did ... and silence was left in their wake.
There was silence, as well, from the other side of the wall.
"Wufei. There is no 'game.'" Treize's tone sounded slightly impatient. And ... disappointed. It reminded me of the day we left Luxembourg, when he was trying to figure out why Wufei was training so much.
"Fuck you. Fuck THIS. Answer my questions, or I'm out."
Silence. And this time, the silence was ... heavy. This ... could be bad.
"Wufei ..." Treize did not sound amused at all.
"Stop SLIPPING. ANSWER me."
"WUFEI."
Courage, Sally, courage. If he needs you, you can rip the grid off, go right through the duct and land on top of that nasty bastard. Be ready to do that. I grabbed the wastepaper basket, tossed it on the bed, and hauled myself up to the vent.
Wufei looked sullen and pouty, almost - slouched. I frowned - gods, that's not normal for him at all.
Treize sounded the exact opposite of amused. "Wufei. This has all been very amusing - but do you have a POINT? This crudity is hardly worthy of you."
"Well, maybe I prefer it," Wufei snarled at Treize. He crossed his arms, the very picture of defiance. "What're you gonna do about it, huh?"
My mouth dropped open. Oh geez, Wufei, you didn't just ASK that, did you? Tell me you didn't, not really ... Now I was poised to fly right though the vent. I braced myself on the basket and started unscrewing the grate from the wall, positioning myself so that I'd get the best push from the side of the vent and sail right through to the opposite side. Given optimal conditions, I was hoping to land right on Treize's head, my hands clutching his neck; the torque of my twisting body should be able to snap it like a chicken's.
In a perfect world, of course.
In a perfect world, that nasty voice inside my head informed me, you'd be small enought to FIT through the vent.
I ground my teeth. Just shut up, please. If he needs me, I will damn well MAKE myself FIT through the fucking vent.
Gods.
"And what do you WANT me to do about it, Wufei? Coddle you? Send you home? Send you to stand in the corner, perhaps, to go with the way you seem to be acting?"
"Maybe. You've done it BEFORE."
Treize tilted his head to one side, regarding him with fresh interest. "Have I."
Wufei stared back at him, very challenging. "Yes. You HAVE. So maybe I want you to do that for ME. Maybe that's my game."
"Maybe," Treize said, very soft, "... maybe you are trying just a little too hard."
"Screw this. I'm leaving."
Wufei turned to leave, but between one breath and the next, there was a blur in the darkness. Treize, naked from the waist up, had shoved Wufei roughly against the wall of the cabin, was holding him there and was looking at him closely, eye to eye, inspecting him.
There was no way I could have prevented that, either; I didn't even see it happen. Now the only thing I could do was watch what was going to happen and hope that Wufei wasn't going to get hurt. Slumping, I felt ... strangely useless. Defeated; and I couldn't even say why.
Wufei stared back at Treize, defiant for about two seconds; then he dropped his gaze. A flash of lightning bathed everything in unearthly, blue-white light. Treize looked completely vindicated and oh, so, so smug.
"Indeed," he murmured, tilting his head, looking at Wufei. "That was a very good try, Wufei. You know ... you almost fooled me."
Wufei looked up sharply.
"Almost." Treize released him and stepped back, folded his arms across his chest and watched him, one eyebrow raised.
Wufei, on the other hand, stayed in that position against the wall, looking sullen and caught. However, the expression on his face was familiar to me - it was Wufei's sullen expression, not - not Duo's.
Duo's?
"An admirable attempt. Your acting skills have grown." Treize smiled down at him like a great cat. "Since we're being open and honest."
"Open. Honest. So ... what? You're going to tell me what you are?" Wufei scowled, not quite looking at him.
It had finally dawned on me what Wufei had been doing. He had tried to make himself as unpalatable to Treize as possible - and who was unappealing, in Treize's mind? Why, Duo was. And who was Wufei imitating? Why ... Duo. And it had almost worked. Damn, damn, damn ...
I looked at Wufei in open admiration. Wow. He was brilliant. That ploy had been absolutely ... brilliant.
"You almost fooled me."
"I thought you liked a challenge," Wufei replied bitterly.
"A challenge, yes. But not one that disgusts me."
"WHY does he disgust you?"
"For more reasons that you can understand. To be honest, I am surprised you were able to pull it off as well as you did."
"That's not an answer," he snapped, glaring at Treize.
"You don't deserve one."
Treize reached out for Wufei's face. Wufei, however, flinched back from his touch, crouching against the wall, and looked ready to bite.
"Oh, don't be such a child." Catching Wufei's chin, Treize tilted his face up and studied it. Wufei gave him an absolutely raucous look, all but baring his teeth at him. Treize still held his chin in his hand; I only saw his profile, but from that angle he looked mildly miffed when Wufei decided enough was enough. Wufei knocked Treize's arm away, hard, and glared at him.
"I am, Wufei, the opposite of your repulsive friend Duo."
"He is NOT repulsive!" Wufei snapped immediately, surging toward Treize.
"If there is anything about you that I dislike, Wufei, it is that loyalty to one who is SO far inferior to you. Why do you even bother?" Treize delivered that little speech harshly, as if his actions were extremely disappointing.
I was so angry I found myself shaking.
"Then you speak from a position of knowing nothing," Wufei said, his voice low.
The room was silent for a moment; then Treize started laughing, REALLY laughing, leaning against the wall for support. Wufei stared at him. So did I. This was yet another time when our lives turned from the bizarre into the surreal.
"Oh, good gods, Wufei ..." he chuckled when he finally caught his breath enough to speak, shaking his head. "You are SUCH a handful ..."
Wufei still scowled at him, but was clearly puzzled. I just stared from the vent and had NO idea what the hell was going on.
Treize straightened up and put his hands on his hips, shaking his head at Wufei. "There are times, Wufei, when you DO make me wonder why I am doing all this."
Wufei just stared at him. " ... eh .... ?"
"Saa ...." Treize brushed Wufei's cheek with the back of his hand, smiling. Wufei's eyes widened, but he didn't pull away. "You don't want to know what I am, Wufei. I do believe it could break your mind. Now, we've discussed this long enough. Out you go. Come along, now ..."
"Wh ... what? Wait ... what ...?"
Treize took Wufei's arm and propelled him out the door, but not before turning around to the back of the room and winking at me in the air vent.
I froze. That was - impossible. I didn't just see that happen.
"Come now, Wufei. Don't fight."
"But - what the hell did you MEAN -"
- and Treize shut the door.
There was no way in the world I was going to find out if that wink was for real or not. I pushed myself away from the vent and was off the bed in half a second if not less. One long leap, and I was out the door, closing it behind me.
Several seconds later, I was down the corridor and in my own room. Once I was finally behind the door, I leaned my forehead on it and started to relax, breathe a little easier. I was alone. Or so I thought.
Suddenly, for one hysterical moment, it felt as though Treize was behind me. I whirled around - but he wasn't there. Gods, I must have imagined it. My brain's gone haywire. That's what's wrong with me.
I took my dress from the bed and smoothed it across the dresser. Then I collapsed on the bed, throwing one arm across my eyes, hoping to catch a few moments of rest.
Soft knocking on my door that wouldn't stop woke me. I groaned and looked at the small clock next to the bed. It had been four minutes since I closed my eyes.
I slithered out of bed and answered the door. "Hi, Wufei."
He looked lost and helpless. "I have no idea what happened."
"Come on in." I opened the door all the way, inviting him into the cabin.
His expression was as close to asking for help as I had ever seen. "Here, sit down on the bed." I sat and patted the spot next to me, taking his hand to guide him. "You're freezing, Wufei."
He sank down next to me, not noticing my touch at all. I was shocked - that showed how much he had been affected by Treize. "I - I don't know what just HAPPENED," he said, completely at a loss.
I sighed. "We'll figure it out, Wufei," I said, rubbing his hand.
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I remembered Wufei's trick of 'counting the doors,' and reasoned that the walls of the ship couldn't be that thick. I trotted quietly down the main corridor, listening to the left hand side of the hallway for Wufei's muffled voice, ready to stop at the room where I thought I heard it, and praying that room was empty when I came to it.
Fortunately for me, it was. Une and her goons - who I'm now calling the 'Une-goons,' just because it amuses me - weren't around. The gods were with me, too, because THIS cabin was unoccupied.
I hadn't even thought what I'd do if it wasn't. Throw out the goon like so much dirty laundry, perhaps? Fortunately, I didn't have to find out.
Slipping into the room, I heard Wufei's tenor voice on the other side of the wall. It was coming through the vent - but I wasn't going to stand on my tiptoes the entire time I was in the room. A quick look around showed the wastepaper basket in the corner. Grabbing that, I closed the door, put the basket on its side on the bed, then stood on it and held on to the sides of the vent. NOW I could hear and see.
Much, much better this way. Hopefully, I wouldn't fall.
There was Wufei, standing in the open doorway, his ponytail blowing in the gusting wind, clothes flapping about his body.
And ... gah. I couldn't see Treize, but I could sure hear him - which meant that he was right beneath me.
Gods ... I'd better not breathe. He might hear me.
"Something you need, Wufei?" And that came from right underneath me, meaning ... he's laying ON the bed - probably lounging, sprawled in that leonine way of his, watching Wufei.
Wufei just stood there for a moment, as austere as I'd ever seen him. I realized he was probably gathering both his courage and his wits.
"Yes." He walked in and closed the door. That cut off the wind, which was good - there were no more swirling, cold gusts whipping around the room. It didn't stop the howling, though. That continued, and seemed to intensify.
In fact, the ship actually started to sway a little, to the point where I was getting nervous. My wastebasket-on-the-bed thing could be problematic if the ship really started to list from side to side. Glancing down, I bit my lip a little and told myself it wouldn't be too much longer. It looked all right.
"What is it, Wufei?"
Treize's voice brought me back to the problem of the moment. I pulled into the vent a little more and looked down at Wufei, my palms sweating a little.
"I have something to ask you."
"Indeed? Ask away. You know I will answer you to the best of my ability." Teasing slightly, Treize continued, "Saa, you look so SERIOUS, Wufei ..."
"I am serious, because this IS serious. I ask that you be honest with me, Treize."
"Of course, Wufei." Now Treize sounded serious, to match Wufei.
Wufei paused again, looking down. The overhead light cast some weird shadows on his face; the top of his head and his hair were bright, but his eyes were in shadow, masking his expression.
"Go on, Wufei." Soft and encouraging, Treize murmured, "I'm not going to bite."
Without warning, a vision of Treize with fangs flashed through my mind, a vision coupled with a feeling of security, one that I normally associated with books, and libraries ... I shivered and renewed my grip on the grate of the air duct. My mouth was bone dry and my heart was beating loud enough that I swore Wufei could probably hear it.
"There are strange things going on here."
Treize chuckled very softly, which also put my teeth on edge and made every hair on the back of my neck stand up. "Indeed, Wufei?" he purred, with just the hint of a tease. "And what has been happening here that has you so agitated?"
Lightning flashed through the porthole, illuminating Wufei's face with bluish white light. His eyes were wide, wider than they should be. I watched his chest rise and fall; that was the only indication that he was alive and not a sculpture, because otherwise he was perfectly composed, absolutely still.
Something else happened as well; the air became charged and electric, thick with potential, and not from the lightning. I don't know how I knew, but I did - this situation had just became a spontaneous test for Wufei. And I couldn't move a muscle. I had been in bad situations before, but I had never been frozen in fear in my life. Now, however, I simply. Couldn't. Move.
Wufei was speaking to Treize. I strained to hear.
" ... things that should not be - and which I would not believe, were it not for the coincidence of shared experience ..."
I stopped breathing altogether when he said that. 'Coincidence of shared experience.' Ohgods. Wufei told him. Now Treize knew I was involved for sure. Not like it was any big secret, but ... geez. I should be there, standing with Wufei, not stuck here on the air duct.
A pleasant rumble came from directly underneath me. "'Shared experience,' Wufei? Meaning ...?"
The blood had drained away from my head; it rapidly left my neck, shoulders, fingers, arms, and elbows, and pooled in my lower extremities, because - well - I had no stomach. That dropped away when I stopped breathing.
His back to the door, Wufei's chin had gone up a bit as his eyelids dropped a fraction. Calmly, he replied, "Experiences - real or not - which would be of note even if not shared."
Treize was silent; regarding Wufei, I assumed. My stance on the wastepaper basket was becoming more precarious by the moment, as the pitch and yaw of the ship became more pronounced. Praying that my fingers didn't start bleeding all over the sides of the vent or that I didn't slip and collapse in a noisy heap on top of the bed, I strained to see above the edge.
Lightning sliced across the sky again, brightening the room through the porthole, a spotlight on Wufei's face. This time I saw that his gaze was locked on a spot beneath me, presumably right on Treize. Now it was obvious he was breathing faster, his chest was rising and falling more rapidly, and he was straining to stay calm. His voice was still soft, but was slightly higher:
"What - what are you?"
You know ... when someone you've come to trust with your life - someone you know is a sober, responsible, level headed, mature individual ... looks at another individual about whom you have grave doubts and says, 'What ARE you?' ... you tend to listen to the response.
Treize's voice was just as soft as Wufei's, and was teasing - almost chiding. "Now, now, Wufei - discursiveness. Stick to your topic."
Wufei swallowed, then frowned. "Whatever you are doing to us must stop."
"Doing?" Treize purred.
"Doing." Wufei spoke, his voice a little firmer and louder. "Do NOT lie to me!"
"Tempeeeer ..." Treize murmured, soft.
"There is no ... it is ludicrous for you to lie to me."
"Is it?"
And now my feet were dancing in midair because I was dangling from the vent, clinging by the strength of my thumbs and fingers. My perfidious wastepaper basket had rolled to the opposite side of the bed, ignoring my need, deciding instead to heed the call of physics and to move with the force of the ship, following the pitch and yaw of the past several minutes.
I looked at the ceiling and closed my eyes briefly, thinking there were definitely times when it sucked to be me.
My fingers were losing their grip. Strong as they were, there was no way they were able to support my weight for any length of time. I dropped down quietly to the bed, crouching there for a moment or two, massaging my arms, then retrieved the basket. As I put it back into position, Wufei started to speak again.
"It is. You say you intend to keep me - then you say you intend to let me go."
I stuck my foot on the wastepaper basket, willing it not to move, and pulled myself up to the vent again. My hands were shaking, but it didn't make any difference; as long as I could brace myself and see Wufei, that's all that mattered.
"You say you value Sally because she represents freedom - and yet you alter who she is. You alter her very THOUGHTS! How is that freedom?"
"Mmmmmmmmm. Go on."
Okay, now I thought my knees were going to give out. Treize sounded so - so pleased with what Wufei said. Honestly, Treize just purred the last thing he said; had Wufei been doing a striptease, his reaction would have probably been the same.
Wufei was thrown off by his response; it didn't make sense to him, and he was confused. As I peered out, trying to give him some kind of nonverbal encouragement, I heard what I thought was pounding in the corridor along with some hoarse shouting.
"Down here, you idiots! Search everywhere!"
Damn. Instinctively, I let go of the vent and dropped onto the bed with a minimum of noise, scooping the basket into my arms. In one smooth motion, I was off the bed, had straightened the blanket and was behind the door, looking for some kind of weapon - just in case.
Very unsubtle stomping made its way up the corridor, obviously ignoring that bald order to 'search everywhere.' I shrugged, grinning to myself. It was good that Une's efficiency didn't extend to her goons. Usually, I could count on that.
Wufei's voice drifted over to me.
"...Stop ... LOOKING at me like that ..."
I swallowed and looked up at the vent.
Treize's voice was a little sharper. "Wufei. Subject."
Now Wufei raised his voice, something he hardly ever did anymore. "Not until you STOP -"
Treize's voice cut through the bulkhead. "Wufei."
I was ready to grab my basket and run for the vent when Une's voice sliced through my door. "Search the aft! Now! GO! GO! GO!"
Plastered against the wall I waited, hoping to hear the sound of her boots clomping away. Gads ... they're searching for ... me? Or ...?
"We have discussed this in the past." Treize's voice was low, almost stern.
"I'm not playing your game anymore," Wufei replied, just as evenly. "Not unless I know what it is. I won't talk to YOU, since you seem to find it so important. Now answer my questions!"
I glanced up at the vent and shuddered. This sounded like war.
Gruff, angry voices rang out in the corridor on the other side of the door. Heavy booted feet pounded past; soldiers looking for something, following orders, clearing the hallway. It took several minutes for them to pass, but eventually, they did ... and silence was left in their wake.
There was silence, as well, from the other side of the wall.
"Wufei. There is no 'game.'" Treize's tone sounded slightly impatient. And ... disappointed. It reminded me of the day we left Luxembourg, when he was trying to figure out why Wufei was training so much.
"Fuck you. Fuck THIS. Answer my questions, or I'm out."
Silence. And this time, the silence was ... heavy. This ... could be bad.
"Wufei ..." Treize did not sound amused at all.
"Stop SLIPPING. ANSWER me."
"WUFEI."
Courage, Sally, courage. If he needs you, you can rip the grid off, go right through the duct and land on top of that nasty bastard. Be ready to do that. I grabbed the wastepaper basket, tossed it on the bed, and hauled myself up to the vent.
Wufei looked sullen and pouty, almost - slouched. I frowned - gods, that's not normal for him at all.
Treize sounded the exact opposite of amused. "Wufei. This has all been very amusing - but do you have a POINT? This crudity is hardly worthy of you."
"Well, maybe I prefer it," Wufei snarled at Treize. He crossed his arms, the very picture of defiance. "What're you gonna do about it, huh?"
My mouth dropped open. Oh geez, Wufei, you didn't just ASK that, did you? Tell me you didn't, not really ... Now I was poised to fly right though the vent. I braced myself on the basket and started unscrewing the grate from the wall, positioning myself so that I'd get the best push from the side of the vent and sail right through to the opposite side. Given optimal conditions, I was hoping to land right on Treize's head, my hands clutching his neck; the torque of my twisting body should be able to snap it like a chicken's.
In a perfect world, of course.
In a perfect world, that nasty voice inside my head informed me, you'd be small enought to FIT through the vent.
I ground my teeth. Just shut up, please. If he needs me, I will damn well MAKE myself FIT through the fucking vent.
Gods.
"And what do you WANT me to do about it, Wufei? Coddle you? Send you home? Send you to stand in the corner, perhaps, to go with the way you seem to be acting?"
"Maybe. You've done it BEFORE."
Treize tilted his head to one side, regarding him with fresh interest. "Have I."
Wufei stared back at him, very challenging. "Yes. You HAVE. So maybe I want you to do that for ME. Maybe that's my game."
"Maybe," Treize said, very soft, "... maybe you are trying just a little too hard."
"Screw this. I'm leaving."
Wufei turned to leave, but between one breath and the next, there was a blur in the darkness. Treize, naked from the waist up, had shoved Wufei roughly against the wall of the cabin, was holding him there and was looking at him closely, eye to eye, inspecting him.
There was no way I could have prevented that, either; I didn't even see it happen. Now the only thing I could do was watch what was going to happen and hope that Wufei wasn't going to get hurt. Slumping, I felt ... strangely useless. Defeated; and I couldn't even say why.
Wufei stared back at Treize, defiant for about two seconds; then he dropped his gaze. A flash of lightning bathed everything in unearthly, blue-white light. Treize looked completely vindicated and oh, so, so smug.
"Indeed," he murmured, tilting his head, looking at Wufei. "That was a very good try, Wufei. You know ... you almost fooled me."
Wufei looked up sharply.
"Almost." Treize released him and stepped back, folded his arms across his chest and watched him, one eyebrow raised.
Wufei, on the other hand, stayed in that position against the wall, looking sullen and caught. However, the expression on his face was familiar to me - it was Wufei's sullen expression, not - not Duo's.
Duo's?
"An admirable attempt. Your acting skills have grown." Treize smiled down at him like a great cat. "Since we're being open and honest."
"Open. Honest. So ... what? You're going to tell me what you are?" Wufei scowled, not quite looking at him.
It had finally dawned on me what Wufei had been doing. He had tried to make himself as unpalatable to Treize as possible - and who was unappealing, in Treize's mind? Why, Duo was. And who was Wufei imitating? Why ... Duo. And it had almost worked. Damn, damn, damn ...
I looked at Wufei in open admiration. Wow. He was brilliant. That ploy had been absolutely ... brilliant.
"You almost fooled me."
"I thought you liked a challenge," Wufei replied bitterly.
"A challenge, yes. But not one that disgusts me."
"WHY does he disgust you?"
"For more reasons that you can understand. To be honest, I am surprised you were able to pull it off as well as you did."
"That's not an answer," he snapped, glaring at Treize.
"You don't deserve one."
Treize reached out for Wufei's face. Wufei, however, flinched back from his touch, crouching against the wall, and looked ready to bite.
"Oh, don't be such a child." Catching Wufei's chin, Treize tilted his face up and studied it. Wufei gave him an absolutely raucous look, all but baring his teeth at him. Treize still held his chin in his hand; I only saw his profile, but from that angle he looked mildly miffed when Wufei decided enough was enough. Wufei knocked Treize's arm away, hard, and glared at him.
"I am, Wufei, the opposite of your repulsive friend Duo."
"He is NOT repulsive!" Wufei snapped immediately, surging toward Treize.
"If there is anything about you that I dislike, Wufei, it is that loyalty to one who is SO far inferior to you. Why do you even bother?" Treize delivered that little speech harshly, as if his actions were extremely disappointing.
I was so angry I found myself shaking.
"Then you speak from a position of knowing nothing," Wufei said, his voice low.
The room was silent for a moment; then Treize started laughing, REALLY laughing, leaning against the wall for support. Wufei stared at him. So did I. This was yet another time when our lives turned from the bizarre into the surreal.
"Oh, good gods, Wufei ..." he chuckled when he finally caught his breath enough to speak, shaking his head. "You are SUCH a handful ..."
Wufei still scowled at him, but was clearly puzzled. I just stared from the vent and had NO idea what the hell was going on.
Treize straightened up and put his hands on his hips, shaking his head at Wufei. "There are times, Wufei, when you DO make me wonder why I am doing all this."
Wufei just stared at him. " ... eh .... ?"
"Saa ...." Treize brushed Wufei's cheek with the back of his hand, smiling. Wufei's eyes widened, but he didn't pull away. "You don't want to know what I am, Wufei. I do believe it could break your mind. Now, we've discussed this long enough. Out you go. Come along, now ..."
"Wh ... what? Wait ... what ...?"
Treize took Wufei's arm and propelled him out the door, but not before turning around to the back of the room and winking at me in the air vent.
I froze. That was - impossible. I didn't just see that happen.
"Come now, Wufei. Don't fight."
"But - what the hell did you MEAN -"
- and Treize shut the door.
There was no way in the world I was going to find out if that wink was for real or not. I pushed myself away from the vent and was off the bed in half a second if not less. One long leap, and I was out the door, closing it behind me.
Several seconds later, I was down the corridor and in my own room. Once I was finally behind the door, I leaned my forehead on it and started to relax, breathe a little easier. I was alone. Or so I thought.
Suddenly, for one hysterical moment, it felt as though Treize was behind me. I whirled around - but he wasn't there. Gods, I must have imagined it. My brain's gone haywire. That's what's wrong with me.
I took my dress from the bed and smoothed it across the dresser. Then I collapsed on the bed, throwing one arm across my eyes, hoping to catch a few moments of rest.
Soft knocking on my door that wouldn't stop woke me. I groaned and looked at the small clock next to the bed. It had been four minutes since I closed my eyes.
I slithered out of bed and answered the door. "Hi, Wufei."
He looked lost and helpless. "I have no idea what happened."
"Come on in." I opened the door all the way, inviting him into the cabin.
His expression was as close to asking for help as I had ever seen. "Here, sit down on the bed." I sat and patted the spot next to me, taking his hand to guide him. "You're freezing, Wufei."
He sank down next to me, not noticing my touch at all. I was shocked - that showed how much he had been affected by Treize. "I - I don't know what just HAPPENED," he said, completely at a loss.
I sighed. "We'll figure it out, Wufei," I said, rubbing his hand.
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