It was a tear. One single tear that first welled up, then trekked down the stoic mask that made me realize that he was human. Not just a killer for the names of the colonies, not just a soldier or a gundam pilot, but a human. A simple, single, frightened human. And I saw him cry. I saw Duo Maxwell's well placed mask falter, then crumble. And all it took was a tear. When he lifted his head just enough, and the light caught on the pearldrop of the saline liquid that coursed in a single line along his cheek, I heard him gasp. He wasn't expecting me to be here. He rose, slapping on that damn happy go lucky grin of his that I hate so much and turned. I saw his shoulder rise and knew immediatly that he had brushed it away.
Closing the door to the apartment, I threw the bolt, then hung my jacket on the knob that was on the wall. I understand dignity and I gave him as much time as I could to right himself. I don't know what he was expecting me to say to him, but when Duo turned around, a look of guilt was plastered just underneath that damn smile. I ignored him and could feel the tension slide from his shoulders as I walked past. We didn't speak, sometimes we don't. We don't always need to.
Duo and I ended up living together after the final war. He owns Maxwell Salvage on the outside of the city and I, well.. I haven't found my nook just yet. I've taken up odd jobs here and there to keep my mind busy. Once known as the perfect soldier, now I am just Heero. And to be honost with you, that's just fine. I came to Earth after spending a few months on L4, keeping Quatre busy I suppose. I like Earth. There's so much room. I don't like small spaces, but if I have to, I will work in one. I came to Duo and asked flat out if I could have a place to say. And to be honost, I was rather surprised to hear my voice when I asked, "Mind if sleep on your couch?" Duo never turned me down. Sometimes I wonder why there isn't a large crowd sleeping on his floor at night. Duo hates to be alone.
"Soo.." He started as I walked into the kitchen. "Good day? Bad day? Get pushed into the girls locker room?"
I snorted softly as I opened the fridge, pulling out a soda. "It was alright. The construction jobs aren't as abundant as I had hoped. If I want one, I'll have to commute."
"Well." He leaned against the doorframe of the kitchen, pushing back his bangs. "At least it's something, right? And you'll be good at it too." He let out a chuckle that could be bought in a store, it was so fake. "If you're half as good at building them up as you are tearing them down, you won't have a problem."
He was right, but I cut my eyes over to him anyway. He rolled his own at the 'look' and strolled on in. "Say, Heero. I've got a few extra bucks. Wanna go see a movie or something?"
"You don't have to spend your money on me."
"Well, that's nothing to worry about, it's just a movie, I'm not offering to pay for your brain surgery or anything."
"Alright."
"Great." He chuckled, this time sounding more real. "Anything you want to see?"
I lifted one shoulder. "It doesn't matter. Anything anymore is just a faux attempt at real entertainment and is only produced for the box office receipts."
"So... you just wanna rent one then?"
"I'll order the pizza." I lifted the phone.
Authors note: I don't own Gundam Wing. I don't own anything in this -fic-.
Sorry this first chapter was so short, getting to work on the second one right now.
No warnings. No spoilers. Just interaction between Duo and Heero. Expect to find fluff, angst and bonding between these two. Expect to find out that Duo isn't as strong or as cheerful as you would think him to be. Told 3 years after Endless waltz. Reviews would be ever so lovely. This is one of the first first person fics I've ever written, save for Unicorn that actually starts out first person. (Told in Heero's pov, just to keep confusion out)