"Bless you." Iria said, turning to her brother.
"Thanks." Quatre smiled.
"Someone must be thinking of you, Quatre." Sally said, glancing over her shoulder to look at the small blonde.
"Huh?" Quatre asked, confused.
"It's a silly superstition Sally's obsessed with." Wufei stated.
"It's not silly. And I'm not obsessed." Sally argued.
Wufei rolled his eyes. "It simply states that if one sneezes, he or she is being thought of."
"Oh. I guess it's nice think of it that way." Quatre replied.
The four soon found their way to their rooms located on the third deck. Iria's room was next to Quatre's while Sally and Wufei settled into the room across the hall. They arranged to have dinner together later that night, as well as participate in the dace after dinner.
In his room, Quatre plopped down onto his bed and closed his eyes. "I wonder if he's here…" Quatre mumbled to himself. He pulled off his glasses, rolled onto his stomach and smiled into his pillow. 'If Sally's superstition were true, people would think that he has a cold…' Quatre sat up and reached for his violin. He began to play Claire de Lune until he heard a knock on his door.
"Hey Cat. Don't start that now. Don't you wanna see us depart?" Iria called through the door. Quatre smiled at his sister's idea and put away his violin. He opened his door, only to have Iria grab his arm to hurry to the first deck. They made their way to the edge of the boat and looked at the sea of faces below.
* * *
On the fourth deck, Duo was knocking on Trowa's door.
"Oy! Don't you wanna see the departure?"
"No." Trowa replied, monotonously. He was already comfy on his bed, thinking about the blonde boy.
"Suit yourself! We'll come get you for dinner!"
Trowa heard Duo and Heero walk off before he sighed.
"If only I saw his eyes…then I could dream about him properly…" Trowa found himself grinning, an action he hardly ever did in public. "I hope to God that he's gay…" Trowa sighed once more. "And if he's not…" He rolled over and groaned into his pillow.
* * *
A booming horn was heard throughout the entire ship, signaling Itine's departure.
Duo waved frantically to the crowd below him with a huge grin on his face as Heero struggled to keep his boyfriend from falling overboard.
"Goodbye, England!" Duo roared. "I'll miss you! But not as much as you'll miss me!!"
As soon as the docks were out of sight, Duo calmed down.
"So what do we do now?" Heero asked.
"When's dinner?"
"Duo, it's five. Dinner won't be server until another hour or so."
"But I'm hungry." Duo pouted. "I wanna eat something."
Heero grinned mischievously. "I know something you could eat."
Knowing what his lover meant, Duo smiled back. "Oh…is that so?"
"Yes…but you'll have to catch me first." And with that, Heero dashed away from the braided boy.
Duo followed close behind, overjoyed at his love's unusual playfulness. "I'm gonna get you, Heero!"
"You wish!" Heero looked over his shoulder to flash Duo his grin. Bad idea. Heero crashed right into some unknown person. "Oh Jesus. I'm sorry. I wasn't looking…" Heero sputtered. He clambered off and sat on his knees to look at whom he collided with.
Heero's victim was propped up on one elbow, eyes shut and rubbing the back of his head. Heero simply stared.
"Owww…."
"Quatre?" Heero said, somewhat unsure if his eyes were or were not playing a trick on him.
Quatre opened his eyes and looked at his assailant. "Heero?"
The other boy simply grinned.
"Heero!" Quatre squealed, throwing his arms around his friend's neck. Heero hugged Quatre back, gently.
By this time, Duo had caught up to them, having stopped because he was laughing at Heero's mishap. The braided boy cleared his throat and patted Heero on the head. Heero and Quatre looked at Duo and stood.
"Duo, this is Quatre. Quatre, Duo." Heero introduced.
"Pleased to meet you!" Quatre smiled, sticking his hand out.
Duo slowly shook Quatre's hand, looking at the boy suspiciously. "Charmed, I'm sure…"
"Don't be an ass, Duo. Quatre's my little brother."
"Your wha? I thought you were an only child."
"Not brothers by blood. We grew up together. Neither of us have any brothers so we became each other's brother." Quatre nodded in agreement.
"Oh, hello then!" Duo exclaimed in his usual cheerful voice. "I'm Duo Maxwell, Heero's life partner."
Quatre blinked and looked at Heero. "Heero? Your life partner? You found someone?" Quatre asked eagerly.
"Mm-hmm." Heero nodded, holding Duo close.
"Wow! I'm so happy for you. For you both." Quatre smiled at his friend's luck.
"So Quatre," Duo said, placing an arm around Quatre's shoulders as they walked. "Do you have any embarrassing stories about Heero?"
"Do I?" Quatre beamed. "Heero has embarrassed himself enough times to last him a lifetime."
Duo roared with laughter. "Hey Heero, I like this kid already!"
Heero rolled his eyes. "I thought you were hungry, Duo."
"Oh yeah!" Duo said thoughtfully. "Speaking of hungry, why don't you join us for dinner, Quatre?"
"I'd love to, but I can't. Iria and I already have plans with the people we met earlier today."
"Iria's here as well?" Heero asked.
"Yeah. She'd be happy to see you, Heero."
"Who's Iria?" Duo asked, confused.
"My sister. I bet she's got more stories that I do."
"Perfect! We'll see you at the dance then, right?"
"Yeah, we'll be there." Quatre glanced at his watch. "Oh shoot. I'm supposed to meet Iria right now. Heero, it was great seeing you again. Duo, it was a pleasure meeting you. Congrats and I gotta go! Bye!" Quatre waved at the couple before heading off to meet with his sister.
"Cute kid. I like him." Duo said.
"And so does everyone else he's met. He always seems to get on everyone's good side."
"Not surprising, the charmer that he is. Too sweet to disappoint."
"And that's why I wanted to be his brother."
Duo looked at Heero, confusion written on his forehead. "Huh?"
"I never wanted to see Quatre get hurt. By anything or anyone."
"Awww. I never thought my Heero cared so much."
"Hn."
"Heero…"
"What?"
"I'm still hungry…" Duo flashed Heero an evil grin before Heero dashed away once more.
Author's Notes/Disclaimer: Boo. I don't own the GW boys. But I do own a pair of holey chucks. Heh.
The whole sneezing superstition came from Ranma 1/2 Book Number 3 (or 2 but I think it was 3). And also, I like Claire de Lune. Very calming. Nice. It was in Ocean's 11. Good movie.
I have a weird thing about Heero being protective with Quatre without being the love interest. Mainly cause I think Heero and Duo are perfect for one another. And because I like Trowa and Quatre together the most. And that's about it.