On the Flipside

Contents/Warnings: Shounen Ai, some blood
Pairing: 4-2
Disclaimer: See all the others; status unchanged.

AN: Written for gw500 challenge #33 - 'distraction'.

Duo gritted his teeth as Quatre gently probed around the injured area. The battle had been pretty much over when one lucky hit from a retreating Leo hit a weak spot in Deathscythe's armor. Duo had been showered with electric sparks and tiny glass shards as a few screens went out, but that was nothing major. The sharp piece of metal that drilled into his thigh, on the other hand...

Quatre studied the fragment. It appeared to be roughly the size of two fingers, pushed inside to the second knuckle. The wound was still bleeding. The shrapnel would have to come out, that much was obvious. However, there was no time to-

Duo hissed through clenched teeth. "Just yank it out, damn it!"

Quatre nodded. "Okay. Uhm, look away and think of something else, would you?"

Duo groaned in pain again. The leg hurt, the ground was wet and hard to lie on, and the trip out of Deathscythe's cockpit hadn't been a joyride, either. "Look, I've got a freakin' chunk of sharp metal jammed into my thigh - it's a little hard to focus on something else right now!"

Quatre gave no answer to that. He merely accepted Duo's frustrations, and checked the contents of the first aid kit again. He took the pair of scissors and ribboned the affected pants leg, then cut loose one piece of fabric to use around the fragment's serrated edges. He smiled down at Duo with great sympathy, steeling himself.

"Bite my nose," Duo suddenly mumbled.

"Huh?"

Teeth clenching again. "Just do it! Bite my nose, and pull that thing out. If the noggin's hurtin', maybe I won't notice when you-" He whimpered again, refusing to cry out loud, much less cry.

Quatre took a few quick breaths to calm himself. "Okay," he all but whispered, readied his hand and leant in over Duo's head, opened his mouth-

And veered off the expected path, landing a soft kiss on Duo instead.

Duo squirmed a little, surprised, confused- The metal fragment left him at the same time Quatre's lips did, and he cried out loud at the loss. Only Quatre's quick reactions stopped him from clutching the wound in reflex. The blond pushed him back to the ground, waited for him to stop thrashing, control his breath. Duo swore.

Quatre pretended not to notice. He put the piece of shrapnel down, inspected the wound. Duo hissed at the touch, but said nothing. "Looks like that was all of it, Duo..." They were both relieved; neither felt up to field surgery. Quatre cleaned the wound up as best he could, applied a big pad and a gauze wrap.

Duo scooted up on his elbows and watched Quatre work. He touched two fingers to his lips. "Why..."

Shy smile. "You needed the distraction - but I figured a surprise would work better than more pain." He secured the wrap tight, ignoring Duo's wince.

"Thanks," Duo hissed out, trying not to show the pain.

Quatre nodded, packed the first aid kit away, got to his feet and offered Duo a hand. With some effort - and help - Duo got up on his good leg and put one arm around Quatre's shoulders. With his human crutch, he limped back towards their suits. Halfway there, he broke out in a grin, despite the pain. "Hey, Quatre."

"Yeah?"

"Next time, could we skip the pretext of a stab wound? I know a good kiss is supposed to make your legs go weak, but this is ridiculous..."

Quatre didn't respond in words. His thin smile and reddened cheeks said enough.

-end-