Chapter Six-New Age Board

When Heero came back, he found Lela, sitting on the couch and playing with Julian's toes. The apartment smelled of paint, and he could faintly hear water running in the next room. He perched on the arm of the couch beside Lela, setting down a shopping bag on the floor near their feet.

"What's that?"

"Just some stuff to play with."

"Oh, cool!" she exclaimed. She repositioned Julian so that he leaned against her chest, and grabbed the bag with one hand. Heero reached in and pulled out a rattle, shaking it over Lela's head into Julian's face. He squealed excitedly, and tried to reach out for it.

"Where's Duo?"

"He's in—" The water beside them stopped, and Lela smiled. "He just got out of the shower. HEY, DUO!"

"YEAH?" Duo's voice called back.

"HEERO'S HERE!" Lela reached into the bag again and pulled out a blue container. "Barrel O' Monkeys?" Heero nodded. "Um... I'm not totally sure that Julian has the motor skills for these, Heero."

"They're not for Julian," he replied, almost stoically. "They're for—"

"Hey, kids what's—DUDE! BARREL O' MONKEYS!!" Duo darted forward, and seized the blue plastic from Lela's hands. "I love you, Hee-chan," he added, kissing Heero on top of the head. Heero cracked a small smile.

"I know," he replied, reaching one hand behind Duo's waist to pull him closer. He was wearing a pair of slightly damp jeans, and his skin was still moist from the shower. His hair had been thrown into a half-assed ponytail (like my hair today!), and snaked down his back in slinking tendrils, with water droplets still hanging off of them. Duo slung one slightly dripping arm over Heero's shoulder, staring at the monkeys in his other. Lela rose with Julian, allowing a half-hearted sigh to pass from her lips. After she'd passed out of their sight into the kitchen, Heero asked,

"Something wrong with Lela?"

Duo shrugged. "Dunno. We went to Roz's today to pick up some of that old baby stuff."

"She seems kinda down."

"Yeah, I know. She's like that a lot, though." Duo planted a quick kiss on his lover's cheek. "I've gotta go dry off my hair. Thanks for the monkeys, babe." He turned to leave, but Heero's arm still caught him around the hips. He spun him slowly, until they were nose-to-nose and hip-to-hip.

"I don't know... I like it like this," he added, sneaking his fingers up ever so slightly to twist into the ends of Duo's long mane. Duo smirked before pressing his lips against Heero's. They held each other in this kiss for awhile, but despite all his longings when Heero's tongue reached for his lips, he had to decline.

"Dude, I've gotta go dry off." Heero's eyes understood, but seemed saddened by the prospect. "I'll be out there in a minute or two, okay?"

"Yeah..." Heero replied, letting go of Duo's hips. Duo began to walk off backwards, staring into Heero's eyes as he did. "Okay..." He sighed as Duo shut the door behind himself. There was a time when Duo would never bother shutting doors, but that time was going away now.

Heero drifted into the kitchen with an expression that only wanted to give in to life halfway. Lela had fastened Julian into the carrier, and was searching through the cabinets for some kind of unknown object.

"Hey," she began, turning to face Heero. Errant strands of black hair fell, framing her face and her green eyes. She was beautiful as she stood before Heero, wearing Duo's T-shirt which had been stretched just above the waistband of the black pants she wore to reveal pale flesh as her arm reached up into a cabinet. "Do you have any tomato sauce?"

Heero shook his head.

"Damn... what about tomatoes?"

Another head shaking.

"Well... dammit. I was hoping to make some kind of spaghetti for us to eat."

"Duo doesn't eat tomatoes," Heero replied softly, moving to the fridge. "He says they remind him of the war. They kind of freak him out." He dug around on the bottom shelf in the door for a moment until he pulled out a cold glass jar filled with creamy, white liquid. "We've got alfredo," he added, shaking the jar between his thumb and fingers. Lela made a face and shook her head.

"That's okay. It's why man invented Ramen noodles." She eyed Heero suspiciously. "Unless, of course, Duo doesn't eat those either."

"Duo," Heero retorted, snaking his way towards the bottom cabinet, "loves Ramen noodles." He grabbed three orange packages and threw them her way. "Mix it up, bitch."

Lela arched one eyebrow and smirked at him. Was it even remotely possible that this guy had just called her a 'bitch' without really meaning it? She knew that it was common language on the street, but Heero didn't seem to be the type that would even give a shit about what was going on 'on the street.' She was fairly certain, however, that at any other time Heero would have called her a 'bitch' and meant it from the bottom of his militant little heart. "Right." They moved around the kitchen together in silence, for a moment, as Heero prepared some kind of vegetable mixture that Lela didn't understand the purpose of. Finally, she got around to asking him the real question, "Hey, Heero?"

"Yeah?" He was dicing carrots at an amazing speed, and seemed to have forgotten about Lela's presence until that moment.

"Why won't Duo kiss you?"

"Duo does kiss me," he replied offhand.

"No I mean... why doesn't he... kiss you?" The emphasis on the word kiss meant only one thing, and they both knew it: tongue. The tongue-kiss universally represented some kind of greater depth, a more lustful bond between two people. It was not the kind of kiss that a mother shared with her child, but rather one that two passionate lovers embraced as their own It was a whole new level of symbolized connectedness and everyone knew it.

"Well... we don't see each other a lot, you know?"

"Yeah... I guess." She frowned then and looked at Heero. Behind that placid expression was something deeper, and she thought she knew what it was. "It's because of me, isn't it?"

"What?"

"You two don't kiss because I'm around."

"No, Lela."

"Yes, it is. Duo's embarrassed about something, or you are and—"

"You know, Lela, for once there is a possibility that what's going on in mine and Duo's relationship is not about you." Lela stared at him, wide-eyed, at the anger that he radiated towards her, before she went back to stirring the Ramen that bubbled on the stove.

"Okay."

Heero sighed. He really did not want to have to deal with this right then, and suddenly realized why it was that Wufei found women to be so weak. They were supposed to be weaker, this was true; but they also felt some sort of intrinsic, inherent need to know everything that was going on, whether or not they were even remotely involved with it. Heero knew why Duo didn't kiss him, and Duo knew why Heero didn't kiss him. They didn't want to, for reasons that did not concern Lela.

Suddenly, their archaic phone rang. Heero let it ring once or twice, and was sure that no one was going to answer it, when the ringing ceased, and he could hear Duo's muffled voice through the walls. He shrugged it off; it was probably a call meant for Duo anyway. The only times they got calls were from people who wanted to talk to Duo, though not a lot of people could do it. They didn't have a Vid-link like most other people, and didn't care enough to get one.

"Heero?" Duo's voice called. Heero glanced up from his vegetables before answering.

"Hai?"

"Change of plans." Duo's voice softened as he entered the kitchen, with braided hair, but still sans a shirt. "That was Q-man. He and Trowa are having a shindig and they want us to go."

"Dude, we just started dinner," he replied, gesturing over the Ramen and veggies. He really didn't feel like going anywhere that night, or most other nights when push came to shove.

"Um... dude. It's Ramen. It will keep, I promise." He moved closer, wrapping his arms around Heero's waistband. "C'mon, Hee-chan," he whispered, nuzzling his nose into Heero's neck as his fingers snaked around under his T-shirt. His index finger found Heero's bellybutton and pulled down gently. Heero's eyes slipped closed, and he fought down the lust. Damn that Duo, he thought to himself. How the hell does he do this stuff?

"Okay... fine. We'll go."

"Woohoo!" Duo cried. Heero felt the abrupt absence of his warmth and sighed mentally.

"Duo." The purple eyes looked back at Heero's. "You can't go transie on me."

"No sweat," he answered with a grin. "Hey, Lela. You going like that?"

Lela looked up, her green eyes filled with surprise. "I'm going?"

"Yeah, babe. You need to have some fun," he added, throwing one arm over her shoulder. She smiled at him.

"I've still got a son, you know."

"I know. Q-man says it's no big deal. So come on, let me get you all prettied up." He pulled her away from the Ramen that grasped her attention so intently. Heero sighed as he pulled the steaming pot off the stove and turned off the burner. Once again, Duo had taken charge, and his word was law. He held complete and total dominion over Lela and her appearance.

In the bathroom, Lela sat on the stool with her eyes closed while Duo smeared a shimmering purple across her eyelid. He was perched on the edge of the countertop with his legs spread across Lela's stool and his feet clinging to the supports. He had his tongue stuck out and licking the upper side of his face, obviously deep in thought. "Okay, open." Lela's eye fluttered open gently, as she looked at Duo, trying to see beyond him into the mirror. He put his long elegant fingers to her chin and tipped it up.

"Duo?"

"Hm?" he replied, suddenly looking away and fumbling to his left to find another color amid the plastic cases.

"You and Heero never kiss." Lela was trying to fight the same battle yet again. Duo came back to center, weapon of choice in hand.

"Yeah we do, babe. Close."

Lela closed her eyes again, and felt the silky smooth brush along above her eyeball. "I know you do, but you just don't seem that... romantic, I guess."

Duo sighed, moving to her other eye. "Well, y'know... we've been together for a couple of years. This kind of shit just happens after awhile. Things cool down, y'know?"

"Yeah, I get that but—"

"Open," Duo interrupted. She did so, and he watched her for a moment then began to fumble with the cases again, searching intently through a pink bag.

"I mean, you guys don't even act like it that much."

Duo sighed and let his head hang, shoulders slumped in defeat. "Okay, Lela. Did you want to accomplish something with this conversation or did you just want to bring up yet another reminder that mine and Heero's relationship is in fact going to shit?"

"Sorry," she began, placing one hand on his knee. "I just wanted to know why."

"I know," he sighed. He leaned back and stared into the incandescent light overhead. The back of his braid gently touched the mirror as he closed his large, cobalt eyes. "We've been through a lot of shit, y'know? I mean, there's all kinds of crazy history between us that you don't know about."

"Like what?"

"Like, for example, that when I fell in love with Heero, he was a vacuous lack of soul with a mind to carry out orders and a trigger finger that got its fill of exercise."

Lela sat there in shock. "Wow," was the only word she could properly muster for the occasion.

"I know. That's not even the half of it." Duo leaned forward, posing himself to finish her make-up. "But, listen, dollface, you shouldn't be concerned with our crazy shit. You've got a kid to take care of, right?"

"I guess." For a moment, Lela's mind had transcended Julian, although he always subconsciously lingered as a steady concern. Still, she searched Duo's face, and saw the traces of desperation that lingered there. She realized then that they had been there since she'd known him, but she had never seen them there before, like the first time someone realized where Waldo was hiding was the most obvious spot of all. Duo had a pale perfection about him, an almost perfect veneer, but his desperation ran so deep that it had cracked the façade and let a few bits and pieces slip through.

"Done," said the triumphant voice. Lela blinked twice. She hadn't even felt the lipstick on her lips, but it was there now; the two spongy shapes were painted a bright red. In fact, her whole face was made up, managing to avoid the circus clown look that some people got from purple eye shadow and red lipstick. Duo did good work.

"You are a master, Duo Maxwell."

"I know," Duo replied, looking in the mirror at his own creation with one elbow leaning on her shoulder. "Believe me, I know."