Observations and Intrigue

By Gacktosan

Disclaimer: I don't own GW, or any of its characters.

Chapter 2: The Morning After

Duo woke up around 8:30 to his alarm clock blaring in his left ear. Normally, he would have just slept in, since it was his day off, but he remembered he had a lunch date with Heero. Thinking he had a chance with Heero still came to him as somewhat of a shock. After all, he had only found out the guy was gay last night.

"You know a guy for years, and he can still come around and tell you something that will leave you with your pants down," Duo thought aloud. "Maybe I should have told him a long time ago how I felt. Oh well, better late than never."

Finished with making his bed, Duo grabbed a change of clothes from his dresser, and set off to the bathroom. He emerged forty-five minutes later, steaming, dripping, and smelling like strawberries[1]. Another fifteen minutes, and his hair was done up in his trademark braid. A quick glance at the clock showed it to be only 9:30.

'Well, too late for breakfast, but never too late for a story.' He quickly logged onto the internet and checked his favorite fanfic site. 'Hmm, read it...read it...readit...' Duo thought to himself as he scrolled through the list of stories. "Ooh, a new one. Lesse...'Duo and Heero pass each other in a subway, both doing a double take[2]. They soon find out they have the same classes. Is it fate, or love at first site? R for shounen-ai and language'" Duo said aloud, reading the description as he clicked on the link for the story.

About two hours, and three stories later, Duo was walking out of his house, keys in hand. Opening the doors to his Miata, he took the time to lower the top before setting out. Using a piece of string that appeared out of nowhere, he tied his braid to the head rest, ensuring that it didn't pose a danger to himself, itself, or passing cars. Ever since he cracked the windshield of the local church's van, he made sure the braid was secured before driving. Turning out of the driveway, he set upon the twenty minute journey to the mall.

He ended up making it in fifteen, courtesy of the alarm he had in his car. Being a Preventer definately had its perks. Finding a spot near the entrance, he put the top back up, locked the doors, and walked towards the doors of the mall. A quick glance at his watch showed it to be 12:00. 'Well, a little early, but that gives me some time to check out the stores,' he thought to himself as he walked.

A few moments later he found himself at the entrance of WaldenBooks, looking for the new Gravitation manga[3]. He bought the manga, and returned to window shopping until he was supposed to me Heero. He walked into a few more stores before heading to the food court. A quick scan of the area showed Heero to be sitting at the far edge of the food court, near the arcade and the exit.

"Hey Heero!" Duo nearly shouted as he made his way over to the brown-haired pilot. "I thought you said you would be here at 1:15."

"I figured that you would be relatively punctual today. It is, after all, your first date since the wars ended, possibly your first date ever," Heero replied, standing to greet his partner.

"Hey, that's not nice. And this is not my first date. I had one back when I was at the orphanage."

"Duo, birthday parties don't count," Heero replied teasingly.

"No fair. How come you get to start making wise cracks and I can't," the braided man asked as he pulled his friend into a bear hug.

"Nobody said you couldn't. You just haven't."

"Oh, you're right. Oh well. So, what do you wanna eat for lunch, my treat?"

"Hmm, I was thinking maybe Sbarro's or Luca Pizza[4]"

"Luca sounds fine. I don't like Sbarro's that much. What you gonna have?," he asked the Japanese man, mildly curious as to why he didn't suggest the asian restaurant.

"I guess I'll get a slice of cheese pizza, with a large Dr Pepper."

"Sounds good," Duo said, then turned to the waiter and made an order for two pieces of cheese pizza and two large Dr Peppers.

A few minutes later they made their way to a nearby table to enjoy their lunch. After they had finished with their respite, Duo asked Heero what he wanted to do next.

"Well," Heero said, somewhat slowly, "I was thinking maybe we could play some games at the arcade, and head back to my place and watch a movie or two."

"Sounds like a plan. As long as you don't try to pull the old 'Peter in the popcorn' trick on me later," Duo said, causing Heero to nearly choke on his soda.

"Why on earth do you think I would pull something like that?"

"I dunno. You seem the type."

"So, Duo, what game do you wanna play first. I'll pay for this part."

"Really, Hee-chan," Duo asked, in a sickenly-sweet voice, "any game at all?"

"Yeah, as long as it isnt something stupid, like ATV-Racer."

"Haha, I was thinking more along the lines of DDR."

"DDR? You mean to tell me they have a RAM[5] game here?" Heero asked hesitantly.

"No, silly. DDR stands for Dance Dance Revolution. It's over there in the back."

"Oh. That game where you move your feet as the arrows move on screen?"

"Yep. The one and only."

"Alright, I'm game. I haven't played before though."

"Don't worry, it's not that hard."

"Heh. Famous last words of Duo Maxwell," Heero mumbled as Duo went to get change for the twenty-dollar-bill Heero had given him.

Forty-five minutes later, the two exited the arcade, sweating profusely.

"Man, you would never have thought that two ex-Gundam pilots could get bushed from playing a video game," Duo mused as they walked towards the parking lot.

"Really. Although, I don't remember piloting to be this strenuous. But hey, at least we have an excuse."

"Oh yeah, what's that?"

"The war is over, and we don't have to work out everyday."

"Haha. That's a pretty good reason Heero. You know, I figured you'd always be the same Heero I knew during the war, but I guess people really do change. For some reason, I like this change better than when you were always going from normal to 'omae o korosu' mode."

"Really now. You know, I could always spout out a random phrase here and then, just to make you feel nostalgic. But that would require getting my laptop back."

"Oh my god! You got rid of your laptop? The source of all my woe and loss of attention?"

"Of course. That old thing wasn't fit to be used as a doorstop, let alone for planning a takedown of an Oz base. But enough of that, why don't we go to my house and watch a movie or something."

"Your house? Trying to get into my pants on the first date, eh? Not that I'd mind or anything, just as long as you ask first, and I'm sober and/or conscious."

"Duo Maxwell, how you hurt me. Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of us watching a movie or something."

"Really? Oh well, damn, guess I don't get any tonight either."

"Maybe, maybe not. Depends on the evening," Heero said, waiting for Duo to misunderstand that as a joke.

"Hey, my abstinance is nothing to joke here, buddy."

"I wasn't joking," Heero said, walking to the door of his car. "Why don't you follow me, that way your car doesnt get towed from sitting here in the parking lot."

"Ok, I'll follow, I definately don't want my baby to be towed by some big, mean, tow-truck driver named Bob."

"What about one named Mike?" Heero asked, chuckling as he did so.

"Pish tosh. Any tow-truck driver is mean," Duo replied as he walked to his car and got in. A few minutes later he was following Heero down the freeway toward's the previously monosyllabic pilot's house[6].

A/N: Didn't expect it to take me this long to get another chapter in, but work and family obligations caught up to me at last. Sad thing is, it's gonna start taking me longer to update because of work. No biggie tho, I will make sure to find time for it.

Notes on story:

1-I like Gravitation, A LOT. Shuichi Shindou's favorite flavor is strawberry, so is Yuki Eiri's, and Sakuma Ryuichi's.

2-A double take is where you look at someone, then look back at them when you realize how good looking they were.

3-Like I said, I like Gravitation.

4-I don't know where all of you guy's live, but in my local mall, they have a Luca Pizza. And it owns on Sbarro's eight days from sunday.

5-RAM is a form of memory on a computer. Since Heero has lead a particularly introverted and non-social lifestyle, he doesn't know about pop-culture things like DDR. DDR is also a form of RAM.

6-One word: "hn"

tata

Gacktosan