Alphabet Soup
Chapter Five
Sorry this chapter took longer than usual to get out, guys. College life has been very demanding as of late. Thanks so much for the reviews (I never thought I'd get this many!) and for reading this far! As always, Gundam Wing is not mine, nor are the television shows I mention in this chapter.
"Isn't this nice?" breathed Noin, looking at the lights of the city reflected in the ocean. Zechs, walking quietly beside her, let out a quiet sigh of appreciation as their bare feet sunk into the sand.
"Yeah," he replied. "I like walking like this with you."
Noin smiled at the response (at last, a real response!) and linked her arm through his happily. "Yeah?" she asked softly.
He nodded. "Yeah. We should do stuff like this more often."
"Mm." Noin leaned her head against her husband's shoulder contentedly. Finally, for the first time the entire evening, she was enjoying herself.
Not that their date had been bad. On the contrary, the date itself was very nice, but the company was somewhat . . . lacking.
The restaurant had been perfect, and the food was wonderful . . . but Zechs was spaced out the entire meal and barely paid her any attention. Except for the few dozen times he asked her if Heero had killed Alex yet.
The movie was good . . . but they got there ten minutes late because Zechs decided to chase an ambulance all the way to the other side of town beforehand. Oh, and there was that violent gunfight in the movie that got Zechs so riled up that he leaped out of his seat and began screaming obscenities at the top of his lungs, but at least the theater manager had escorted them out of the movie relatively quietly. Noin even got to keep her popcorn.
And now they were walking along the beach, and Zechs was actually responding in sentences that contained more than one word (other than "Has Yuy killed my son?"). Maybe there was hope for him yet.
"What are you so quiet about?" Zechs asked, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
She lifted her head to look at him. "Just thinking."
"About . . . ?"
"This evening."
He stopped suddenly, his head cocked to the side and his face very alert. Noin took that as a sign to continue.
"It's just that . . . well, you've seemed distracted. I know you're worried about Alex and Relena, but . . ."
That's when she heard it.
A siren.
Growing louder by the second.
It suddenly dawned on Noin that the look of concentration on Zechs' face was because he was listening to the siren, not to her.
She growled low in her throat.
Lights flashing, a bright red fire truck appeared on the road behind them, the siren blaring so loud Noin thought her ears would burst. Wincing at the sound as the truck passed by, she shook her head and turned to her husband.
Who was suddenly gone.
Blinking, she looked around, then scowled darkly as she caught sight of Zechs chasing the fire truck, yelling as loud as he could as he zoomed after it.
"FIRE TRUCK! FIRE TRUCK!" he bellowed, waving his arms like a lunatic. "OI! WHERE YOU GOING?"
Noin watched him with a look so icy that it could have frozen a puddle in July, but Zechs was too . . . distracted to notice.
Big freaking surprise.
Although she wasn't usually one to lose her temper, Noin clenched her fists and let out a noise like an angry cat.
"That's IT!" she shouted, stamping one bare foot into the sand. Fists clenched so tightly that her knuckles were white, she spun on heel and began stomping furiously after her husband.
"ZECHS MERQUISE!" she screamed.
Zechs froze, watching in dismay as the fire truck made its escape. However, the sound of his wife's angry shriek had filled him with such a sense of dread that his legs had seized up and refused to move. Slowly, anxiously, he turned to find her standing some ways away, her fisted hands on her hips and her glare so murderous and terrifying that Heero would have cowered at the sight.
"Y-yes?" he asked meekly.
He could see the dangerous blaze in her eyes from where he stood as she pointed to their vehicle, parked up on the bank. "Get your ass in the car now," she growled. "We're leaving."
Zechs wasn't stupid enough to disobey those orders.
ooooo
By the time Relena and Heero reached the living room, Alex was already settled happily on the floor, his bowl sitting precariously in his lap as he stared up at the television in front of him. Relena cast an apprehensive glance at the bowl in her nephew's lap as she and Heero seated themselves on the couch.
"So . . . what is this we're watching?" asked Heero, staring bewilderedly at the flickering television screen.
Relena blinked at him. "It's a cartoon."
"Cartoon . . . ?" Heero said slowly, cocking his head to the side.
"Don't tell me you don't know what a cartoon is," said Relena, eyes widening.
Heero didn't look at her; he continued staring at the TV screen and shook his head slowly.
"You've never watched cartoons, Uncle Heero?" squeaked Alex from the floor, turning to look at the man in complete shock and horror.
Heero shook his head. "I'm afraid not, Alex."
The child's mouth dropped open. How had Heero survived all these years?
"Well, you've got to watch 'em now," said Alex simply, turning to point at the screen. "'Kay?"
Heero looked doubtfully at the television screen, where a scrawny brown animal was chasing some crazy-looking bird around.
". . . Okay," he said reluctantly.
After about five minutes, Relena couldn't help but notice that Heero seemed to be enjoying himself. Oh, he was hiding it well, but she knew him enough to know that Heero was beginning to like cartoons. Especially this one in particular.
"How does this coyote character survive those falls and explosions?" asked Heero, looking impressed. "He blows himself up, then walks away like nothing happened."
"Maybe he was trained in combat at a young age so he could be used as a weapon in war," Relena said brightly. Heero's eyes darted to her, narrowing.
"Ha, ha."
She flashed him toothy smile, and he turned back to the TV, watching it seriously for a few moments.
"Okay, he just pulled an anvil from out of nowhere," Heero said, his brow furrowed in perplexity. "That makes absolutely no sense."
Relena sighed. "Heero, it's just a cartoon," she said patiently. "It's not real."
Heero didn't seem to understand. He turned to her, a look of total confusion on his face. Relena couldn't help but think that the look on his face was adorable.
"But where would he keep an anvil?" he asked, puzzled.
"Uncle Heero, maybe he keeps them in his pockets!" cried Alex from the floor, his mouth full of noodles.
Heero blinked, considering this briefly until he realized that the coyote didn't have pockets. "Uh . . . maybe, Alex."
Relena began to giggle. "Heero, I think you're looking too much into this."
But he wasn't listening.
"Where would he get anvils, anyway?" Heero asked, looking back at the TV. "You don't exactly find them lying around on the ground."
Relena shrugged. "Probably from the same place he gets all the TNT."
He nodded. "Probably. But who would he get those things from?"
"Maybe someone he knows manufactures them or something," she suggested.
"Like who?" Heero said flatly.
"His uncle?" Alex piped up.
Heero blinked. "Um, yeah, maybe, Alex."
Alex turned back to the TV, where the ending credits for the program were now rolling.
"Aunt Relena, can I change the channel now?" he asked, pointing to the TV. "The show's over!"
"Already?" asked Heero.
Relena suppressed a giggle. He actually sounded disappointed. "Sure, Alex," she replied, sending her nephew a wink. "Maybe you can find something that Uncle Heero won't take so seriously, hmm?"
Alex grinned, nodding and grabbing the remote. After flicking through the channels, the child stopped, finding a program he enjoyed, and settled himself back on the ground.
Relena cocked her head to the side. "Such a violent show?" she asked, blinking down at Alex.
"Mommy says it's not real," Alex replied readily, his eyes glued to the screen as he took a bite of his soup.
Relena sighed and looked at Heero out of the corner of an eye. She was surprised to find him watching the television, the corners of his lips twitching as if he were trying very hard not to smile.
"You find this funny, Heero?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Mildly," came the amused reply.
Relena couldn't help but look incredulous. "But it's The Three Stooges!"
"Hn . . ."
"Look, that one just hit the other in the head with a wrench, then poked his eyes!" exclaimed Relena in horror. "Alex should not be watching such shows."
"I watch 'em all the time," said Alex, sitting up and blinking at his aunt. "Daddy says as long as I know it's pretend it won't hurt me."
Heero smirked at Relena. "Relax," he said. "This is funny."
"I don't see what's so funny about people beating each other up," Relena replied, but Heero wasn't listening.
He was chuckling quietly at the TV, while Alex rolled around in laughter on the floor in front of them.
Relena sank back against the couch and sighed, fluttering her lips. Heero would find a show where the characters inflict bodily harm on one another amusing. He did spend most of his life as a soldier, after all, and he did have that weird fascination with pulling a gun on her. And blowing himself up.
The show was nearly over when Alex leaped up, his bowl clutched in his hands.
"I'm finished with my soup, Aunt Relena!" he cried.
Relena smiled. "Give the bowl here, then," she said, "and we'll put it on the coffee table."
Grinning, Alex raced over to them, but suddenly he tripped over a large chunk of Legos left over from his exploding colony. Alex stumbled forward, his bowl flying out of his hands and landing directly on Heero's shirt.
Alex froze, his eyes wide.
Relena bit her lip and quickly took the bowl from a very surprised Heero, examining the damage done to his shirt. There was not much soup left in Alex's bowl, but there was just enough liquid left in it to leave little orange splatters all across the pale yellow material of Heero's shirt.
Heero peered down at his shirt, looking bemused. "Well," he said simply, at a loss for words.
"Uncle H-Heero . . ."
Heero turned from his soup-spattered shirt to look at Alex. The child's lower lip was quivering, and his big eyes were beginning to fill with tears.
Oh, damn.
Alex sniffled.
"Alex . . ." started Heero, looking nervous.
Then the child burst into tears.
"I'm s-sorry, Uncle Heero!" he bawled. "I spilled soup on your shirt, an' I promised not to spill nothin'! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
With that, Alex ran up to Heero and threw his arms around the man's knees, sobbing into the material of his pants. Heero was frozen, his face pale and terrified.
Small, crying child hugging me . . . small, crying child hugging me . . . small, crying child hugging me . . . what do I do? Oh, damn, damn, damn, damn, damn . . . I was never trained to handle children!
Heero cast a slightly desperate look at Relena, who looking at him and making gestures toward the sobbing child that seemed as if she wanted Heero to comfort Alex.
Heero swallowed hard.
Okay, Relena. If that's what you think I should do . . .
Slowly, Heero knelt down and took the crying boy by the shoulders, staring directly into his round, tear-streaked face. He stood there for a moment before he realized . . .
Damn! I don't know how to be comforting!
Inhaling deeply, Heero readied himself.
Think mushy thoughts, think mushy thoughts, think mushy thoughts . . .
"Alex," he said quietly to the crying child, "it's okay."
Alex rubbed at his eyes, hiccuping. "B-but it got all over your shirt!" he cried in dismay. "Now it's dirty, and Mommy says you should always be clean 'cause cleanliness is next to dogliness, an' . . ."
"Godliness," corrected Relena, biting her lip to keep from smiling.
"Alex, stop crying," said Heero patiently. "I'm sure the soup will wash out, and even if it doesn't . . ." and he paused to look down at the pale yellow fabric of his shirt, ". . . well, I never really liked this shirt much to begin with."
Relena glared at the back of Heero's head. "I bought you that," she said lowly.
Heero's shoulders tensed. "Like I was saying, Alex, it's a lovely shirt that I'm very fond of, but you have nothing to worry about because I'm sure the soup will come out," he said quickly. "So don't worry about it, okay?"
"Really?" asked Alex hopefully, wiping his eyes.
Heero nodded. "Really."
And with that, he scooped Alex into his arms and stood up. Giggling in relief, Alex wrapped his chubby arms around Heero's neck and began to jabber away excitedly.
Relena felt something odd stirring in her stomach as she watched Heero gently carry the child over to the couch sit down with Alex still in his arms, and then the feeling passed, but not without making her heartbeat speed up and her cheeks grow pink. Swallowing past the tightness in her throat, she smiled and sat down beside Heero. Alex wriggled out of Heero's arms and settled himself in the small area between them, letting out a content little yawn.
Relena smiled over at Heero, who had his bowl of soup in his hands and was stirring the contents slowly. She suddenly realized that she had hardly touched her soup as well, and, hungrily, she grabbed her bowl and began to eat.
"Was that okay?" Heero asked quietly, looking over at her.
Relena blinked, her mouth full. "Mmm?"
Heero jerked his head toward Alex, nestled between them. Relena caught on and grinned.
"Yes, Heero," she replied. "You handled that like a pro."
A ghost of a smile crossed his lips, but it was gone a second later as he turned back to his soup.
Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm turning poor Heero into a great big softie! But it's so fun! And really, who doesn't love a Heero who isn't emotionally shallow? Hee, hee! Review, please?