Well, I have a few notes here: 1.) Some people can see romance here( me, for example;o)), for those I should say that in this case it's shónen ai - love between two boys. BUT you can very well see it like a pure friendship and nothing more;o) 2.)If you're expecting actual plot, I guess you should search for it somewhere elseo) 3.)The reasons why this story was made are a.)unexpected cold, lot of snow and not-so-nice frost that probably froze my brain overo) and b.)lot of stories I've read in past days - I decided I could write story in which I can show everyone that you can express your feelings, the fact that you cared deeply for someone, not just by saying him "Oh, I so love you!" to what he would reply "Oh, I love you, too!" which would lead to "But I sure love you more!" and "No! I love you more!" etc. :o)
Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing that has anything to do with Gundam Wing( except few CDs with all episodes, but I'm sure no one would want to sue me because of this; I can't watch them anyway, 'cause my computer wouldn't let me... But still, you don't need to tell anyone about them, right;o))
Oh yeah, one more thing - I don't have anyone who would check my stories after me, so I'm sorry for all the mistakes quite probably included here...:o)
''Duo! Don't even think about sleeping."
"Hmm... But it's...so tempting..."
"Is freezing to cold so tempting as well?"
Duo shivered. More than before, that is. Truth to be told, he was shivering constantly; no, not because of Heero's glares or anything like that, but simply because of immense cold and biting frost he wasn't accustomed to. Weather on Earth can be more than unpleasant sometimes.
He sat there in the centre of the little clearing, surrounded by snow and snow only( well, OK, there were trees as well, it was forest after all, but you know what I mean, right;o)), with knees under his chin hugging himself tightly, trying to keep as much warmth as possible. In that task, however, he wasn't very successful so it was only natural that his body reacted like it did and shook every now and then to demonstrate how much irresponsible he was and how he should go and fetch something to warm himself up. And to top it all, he was truly awfully tired and that's not very good thing, especially in combination with cold. He knew it. Heero knew it as well; and that was exactly the reason why he was if not really talkative, then at least more vocal than usually - to keep Duo from falling asleep. For him, the cold wasn't that bad; of course it wasn't comfortable or nice and frost was really annoying but there was no way he would let it defeat him. Wheter it was due to his tough training or his stubborness we may never know, but the fact is that he was nearly unaffected( yeah, yeah, of course he had red nose and ears and lovely rosy cheeks from where that damn frost was constantly licking his skin and there were small white clouds forming right in front of his face every time he exhaled but it's just a little detail which just couldn't bother someone like him, right;o))
But Duo was not Heero. The unexpected coldness was rubbing in on him badly and he had to deal with it. In any possible way that crossed his mind. Like now.
"What are you doing, Duo?"
"Huh?" Duo lifted his weary eyes from the end of his braid; the question shattered his concentration - and he had to concentrate very much, not because of difficulty of his task but because of currently very unstable state of his consciousness - so for a few seconds he couldn't process it properly and was truly confused. Then everything clicked into place and he looked on his braid - now partially unwoven - once again, then back to Heero and with attempt to smile finally answered his question.
"Oh, that? I'm gonna let my hair down."
Heero could nothing but stare. He expected lot of things but this? "I'm gonna let my hair down"? What kind of answer it was? He wasn't stupid, for God's sake, nor blind - he did notice Duo's been freeing his hair from its usual binding, but he couldn't find a reason why, the hell, would he do this just right now!
He tried really hard to find some reason for Duo's action, at least one, he truly did. But after few minutes of useless thinking he finally called it defeat and decided to simply asked Maxwell.
"Why?"
"Huh?" Same situation like before. But this time without the clicking-in-place thing, so Heero didn't get his answer. Well, one more try.
"Why do you want to let your hair down just right now?"
"Well, I figured it can warm me up a little when down, at least it'll cover my ears if nothing more." With that said, Duo returned to his task of untangling his long hair.
Heero had no reply for this so he, once again, only stared. Hn, at least it will keep him occupied for a while and prevent him from falling asleep...
o-o-o-o-o
An hour, maybe more, passed by and not much has changed. Heero still sat there without moving, watching Duo as he stared into blank space, fighting big battle with his eyelids, trying to prevent them from closing; most of his hair was spread around him on the snow, darkened with humidity. Every now and then his body would visibly shiver and ocasionally quiet coughs could be heard.
The unusual silence was almost deafening.
"Duo, talk," asked Heero when the silence was unbearable, even for silent person like him.
Duo looked at him questioningly, big indigo orbs shimmering with confusion.
"Talk like you always do. This silence is awful..."
"I... I have nothing... to talk about, Heero," said Duo tiredly after few seconds of hesitation.
"If I remember correctly, this was never big problem for you, was it?" smirked Heero slightly.
Duo's eyelids begun to droop again. "No, Heero," he said quietly. "It wasn't. But nothing lasts forever, y'know. Right now, there's nothing on my mind except cold, frost, snow and sleep. And it wouldn't be very good idea to talk about any of these..."
Heero nodded. He understood. But still, this silence was really getting on his nerves. How could he chase it away if not with talking? How...
"Sing."
"What did you say, Heero?"
"I said: sing. You don't want to think about those things on your mind. Ok. But you need to do something to prevent yourself from falling asleep and freezing to death and I need something to defeat this godamned silence. We both need to solve those problems and singing would be good solution."
Duo stared at him for a while. Did he just say so much words? And he what? Wants me to sing? Wha?
"Why don't you sing?" he asked finally.
Instead of icy glare which Duo expected, Heero just looked down. "I don't know any song," he muttered almost inaudibly.
"Oh," was the only thing Duo managed to reply. It could have occured to him, after all, he had never heard Heero sing, not even hum anything. Besides, Heero didn't seem like someone who would 'waste his precious time with something so stupid and unnecessary like music'.
"So? Will you sing something?" asked Heero once more. Duo gave him a little smile and without further warning started to sing.
o-o-o-o-o
"Heero?"
"Hn?"
"I'm... cold. Really... cold..."
"I know, Duo." And indeed he knew. Duo's shivers were now more violent, not to mention much more frequent. From his voice, which was no longer more than hoarse whisper, Heero could very easily tell that Duo was really, really tired, as well. Heero was truly worried, yes, he was, that Duo would soon give up and, God of Death or not, leave forever. Leave Heero alone...
"Duo," he called softly. Duo lifted his weary eyes to indicate that he's listening.
"Come over here," gestured Heero and shifted in his position, making more space between his legs. "If you sit here, between my legs, we can share our bodywarmth and get rid of the coldness, at least a little."
Duo didn't answer; without single word he crawled to Heero and made himself comfortable in offered position, knees under his chin. Heero wrapped his own arms around Duo's shivering form and press him against his chest tighter. Quiet, content sigh escaped Duo's lips and told Heero that "yes, you were right, this is much better".
They sat there like that for a while, silence once again washing over them, but they didn't really register it. Well, at least not until Heero realized with a start that he'd almost fallen asleep. K'so! he sweared mentally. If this happened to him, then much more sleepy Duo was certainly in the same situation! K'so! once more!
"Duo!" he called quietly, slight panic lacing his voice.
"Yes, Heero?" Big wave of relief washed instantly over Heero. So Duo was still awake. Thanks God.
"I'm glad you're not sleeping," he breathed into Duo's hair which was tickling him on the chin.
"I know I can't... I don't... wanna die... yet..." It was comforting to hear assurance like this, after all, Duo was anything but liar, not to mention he could be very stubborn, so there was no point in not believing him.
"But still..." Duo continued, "it's really hard, y'know... damn eyelids... still trying to close... And your warmth... so lulling..."
"Yes, it is..." Heero agreed. "I guess we should do something so we won't think about things like nice, comfortable, warm, soft bed... Hrmf! It's rubbing on my mind already! We need to do something!"
"But I don't have energy... to do anything," Duo whispered.
"Not even talking?"
"Maybe... But I've already told you... I have nothing to talk about."
"It doesn't need to make sense as long as you move your lips."
"Heh, sounds funny, Heero..."
"Hn."
"Duo."
"M-hm?"
"Speak."
"But what about, Heero?"
"I don't know! I don't know... Oh my, just count or something!"
"One... two... three... four... Not working, Heero. It's automatic activity..."
"I see. You need something not just to speak about, but to think about, as well, am I right?"
"Uh-huh."
"Well then... Tell me... Tell me which colours are on Wing."
"Ok..."
"So?"
"White... dark blue... red... and gold... and a bit of green..."
o-o-o-o-o
Silence of the early night was invaded by growing roar of helicopter, strong searchlight chasing darkness away. Comunicator in Heero's pocket beeped few times, signalizing Quatre finally managed to find them. Relieved smile find its way to Heero's face.
"Quatre's here."
"Does it mean I can go to sleep now, Heero?"
"I guess..."
"Thanks, Heero. For everything..."
"Everytime, Duo, everytime. I'll be here for you whenever you need..." Heero whispered and lighty kissed Duo's head. "Whenever you need..."
/ The End /
Review:o) Or if you have any question( such as "Hey, I wanted the romance and can't find it there! So where it is?";oD), just send me an e-mail and I'll be happyhappyhappy...ehm, I mean, I will answer or explain everything you want.:o)