Title: Catching Duo
Author: Mistress Tsunami
Warnings: AU, OOC, school-fic, angst, 1x5 LEMON in part five, limey in part six (cont. from five), drug-use, Duo-torture (no NCS or BDSM, though), yaoi, shonen-ai, het, get-together fic (is that a warning?).
Opportunity knocked. My doorman threw him out.
-Adrienne Gusoff-
Now, let it be known to all that Duo Maxwell may have been a smart, antisocial (to a point), and very very pretty boy, but he didn't have much of a home life to speak of. If given the choice at any other time, Duo would have probably preferred to stay with Heero and his gang, but his home was his home, even if it was the run-down orphanage that tended to give more than it received. The Maxwell orphanage also...wasn't in the best part of town. Not that it was in the worst, but it should be known that Sister Helen and Father Maxwell never let any of the younger children outside. It even went so far as hiring a teacher for most of the younger kids so that the teacher would come to the orphanage, and the kids wouldn't have to walk the streets to school.
Duo loved Father Maxwell. He loved the older man with all his heart, but he didn't like Sister Helen as much as he did the father. Helen was strict, and, while always there with a hug when you needed one, was also one who was quick to punish wrongs.
Duo was certain that being with Heero counted as a wrong.
There also stood the fact that Duo was pretty, and he had to walk to school. That was one reason why he never stayed out with any of the students who would have been his friends in school; he wouldn't have been able to get back home without stumbling upon a fight. The few times he had stayed out late, he had been relieved to find refuge at Quatre's, now his home away from home, and that was where his feet were taking him now even now. Yes, he would need to go home and talk to Helen, but that could be put off until tomorrow afternoon. He would need to feed Shichan, his cat, but he could ask her to that when he called. There was a number of things he would have to do to catch up on his work tomorrow just so he wouldn't get a note home telling of his absence. Right then, though, seeing Quatre's bright face was more important to him than all of that, and everything else went to the back of his mind.
Ringing the doorbell at the blonde's huge house, Duo hugged himself against the shivers that racked his body, despite the still smoldering hot day. The sun was setting, but the heat wasn't letting up. Duo remembered waking up in Heero's bed, with the owner of the bed not far away from himself, though, and the image in his mind was causing shivers to overcome him.
A smiling French maid opened the door, or rather, a smiling American in her thirties trying to pass for a French maid opened the door. "Bonjour!" she greeted in an entirely fake accent. "'ow can I 'elp you?1"
"Is Quatre home?" Duo asked patiently, now feeling comfortable in the heat since he had a distraction.
"Certainly, monsieur. Come in, please."
Duo had at one time been sick of her accent, almost after the first day of hearing it. Now, though, it just seemed to fit the older woman who was the one and only housekeeper of the Winner house, and he couldn't see her any other way. And the house did need her, Duo forgot how many sisters Quatre had that had already gone off to college, but it was a lot, and the last one had left only last year, so there was no one else to care for it. Duo sighed, though, knowing that the woman never would remember him and just send him to Quatre's room.
"Duo?" Quatre's voice called from the top of the stairs, the blonde having expected a visit from no one else.
"Yep, it's me, Q-man! Ya got an extra bed up there, 'cause I need to talk now and this could take a while."
"Sure," Quatre responded, finally appearing from behind a doorway next to the stairs. "Come on up, you know where it is. Do you need to call Helen?" Both Quatre and Trowa knew not to call the Sister Duo's mom, so they just called her Helen like Duo himself did.
"Yeah, do ya mind?"
"Not at all. Phone's down the hall. I was just doing my English homework. My class has to write a poem tonight. My guess is that you haven't done any of yours yet?" Duo shook his head. "We can do that later, then. Dad's out with the business again, so don't worry about tying up the line. You know where it is; I'll join you in your bedroom in a minute. Oh, and next time you can just walk in, you know, you're practically family anyway." Duo nodded, and headed down the hall to the small conference room that held a phone in it - the closest access to the line. Quatre always offered for him to just come in every time he came over, but Duo felt odd just walking in the house. Mr. Winner had a very profitable business, and Duo didn't think that it looked good when he just strolled in the front door. Never mind that he practically had his own room there, and, according to Quatre, the room was his, whether he liked it or not; he didn't feel like he would make a good impression with people.
Duo picked up the phone and dialed, listening to it ring in his ear. "Maxwell Church Orphanage, this is Father Maxwell, how can I help you?" a male voice answered on the other end.
Duo very nearly sighed in relief, grateful that he didn't have to deal with Helen yet. "Hi Father, it's Duo. I was just callin' to let ya know that I'm going to be over at Quat's tonight to work on some homework and that it'll probably be too late for me to come later. Is that ok?"
"Of course, Duo. Is everything all right?"
Duo smiled happily. "It is now," he whispered. "'Course it is!" he continued in a louder, more cheerful voice. "Dun worry, I didn' get detention yet! We just have some homework to do, and I kinda wanted to talk to Quat for a bit. Tell Helen I'm not in trouble yet, kay Father?"
"Of course, Duo," Father Maxwell answered, and Duo could almost hear his smile. "We'll see you tomorrow then?"
"Yep. Oh, and can you feed Shichan for me tonight?"
"I'll make sure she's fed myself. Is there anything else?"
"Nope. I'm gonna go now, but I'll see ya tomorrow. 'Night, Father."
"Good night, Duo. God bless."
Duo hung up the phone, smiling to himself and able to forget his problems, at least for the moment. Feeling a little better - he always did after talking to Father Maxwell - he made his way down the hall and into the spare bedroom that Quatre always kept ready for him. Quatre was already there, pencil and notebook in hand and scribbling away.
"How was Helen?" he asked without looking up.
Duo bounced onto the bed, flopping backwards and grabbing a pillow to hug as he rolled onto his side, facing the working blonde. The first thing he thought of was that he didn't have any books to do any of his homework; he'd have to borrow Quatre's. "Father answered," he finally said after processing the blonde's question. "I guess she's fine, though. Q-man, I got a mess that I need some help sortin' through. I dun care if ya answer or not, I just kinda need ta sort through my head, and it helps ta have someone listen in."
"Fine with me," Quatre replied as he put away his notebook and turned to lay on his stomach, socked feet waving in the air and watching Duo. "What's on your mind?"
"First off, main problem, source of all other problems: Heero Yuy. He's usin' me for target practice or somethin'. Q-man...he wants me ta be his toy this year. I dun know, it wouldn' be so bad, so long as we're not...you know." Duo blushed. "But...Helen'll flip, and, well, he's been kinda pushy about it too. I don't know what to think about THAT, either. It's like he's playin' a game or somethin', and he knows he's gonna win in the end, so the way it's played don't matter. I'm not sure if I like that.
"Not ta mention the fact that his friends are druggies. Or at least they look like it, and at least one of them is Wiccan for sure. I dun wan' the wicked witch of the west after me, but she might be after me either way, who knows?
"I think I like him, though, which is the problem, or a problem, at least. I can deal with the first part, no prob. All that, the guy's off my list, no deal, no sale, no way, no how. But I LIKE the guy I've seen so far, which puts a WHOLE different spin on the problem. Do I, or do I not, go with the hot guy that I may or may not have feelings for?
"I wanna at least give him a chance, I know that. And a chance ta stay over at your place for a few more nights might be great, if you're willing ta put up with me, too. That way I won't hafta go home ta that chaotic scene. Father's got enough shit to put up with without me around.
"I guess that's it then...I give the guy a chance and see what happens. It can' be THAT bad just ta go out with him a coupla times just ta see what he's like. No more of this skippin' classes deal, though. He's gotta understand that. And I dun lie, I dun like what he did ta get me outta class, although that little catnap DID help a bit, but he was the one ta stress me out in the first place."
"Wait, back up, nap?" Quatre asked, interrupting for the first time.
"Yeah, I kinda fell asleep when he took me to his 'partment. He told the nurse he was taking me 'home,' I didn' even realize he meant HIS home. I woke up, he gave me a sandwich and told me I had time ta think about it 'fore he started askin' again and I came here." Duo shrugged, indifferent. "By the way, got any food? I'm still hungry, but I didn' wanna take some of his food. Didn't wanna imply anythin' I wasn't sure on yet."
Quatre nodded, "Yeah, sure. It looks like the load's heavy, D," Quatre commented as he stood up, and Duo knew that this was the only thing the blonde would say on the matter. Quatre was not into messing with your business unless you asked him to. "Simple matter; hard solution. And you're the one stuck finding it. You're welcome here as long as you like, though."
"Thanks man, I owe ya."
"Actually, you owe me two." Duo's eyebrow raised in silent question, and the blonde continued. "Trowa noticed that you weren't in class, so he got your notes and book from that class - Algebra - and I got the ones for the rest of the day. You only had French and Gym. It looked like today was your worst, you might wanna thank Heero. The backpack's at the foot of the bed, and you should be able to get the homework done at a reasonable hour if you start soon."
Duo smiled. "Quatre...thanks. You're the best, man."
1 about the only thing I remember from French class - they don't pronounce the letter 'h'. I found that hard to handle, 'cause I like h's, and it was just weird. Ya know, that's kinda sad too, 'cause I just finished French 3 and I have that exam in...oh...4, 5 days. Oh well.