Look look!! Long chapter, I updated! Yay!! Sorry sorry sorry SORRY for the long wait. sniffle and thank you Ultra Rodimus for reminding me about this story with your review! hug I appreciate it! Thanks to everyone who reads this for being patient with me! Another apology, my new computer doesn't have spellcheck for some reason and my beta quit in a big way. Ah, also, sorry if Duo comes across as Bipolar. sigh So um, lotsa apologies.









The sleep of a cat is the sleep of the dead, the peacefully at rest. It is rare for a cat to dream and when they do it is simple, a chase after prey, an ageless hunt. During full moon was hell to Duo, all the dreams he didn't have fought to shove their way into his brain through the space of those three little nights when he was at his weakest. Sometimes they made sense, sometimes--like tonight-- it was just jumbled disturbed nonsense.

Panting Duo rolled over and clutched his blanket for protection. Cold, Pain, Fear, Alone. It was past the point of real dreaming, degrading simply into a whirl or terrrifying emotions. "No!" With a pained gasp he sat up, falling off the couch at the sudden movement. He landed heavily on his hands and knees, sending pain shooting up from the still tenderly bruised areas. The annoying scratching noice he had heard but didn't register stopped abrubtly making Duo's head to jerk up and look around.

"Myah?" Overly large violet eyes blinked and caught with startled prussian ones. "Heero? Wha-?" Duo flushed realizing his position and scrambled back beneath his blanket quickly to continue feeling confused there.

The human found his tongue, asking quietly, "Nightmares?" Gently he sat down the pad in his lap on the floor next to him and made a hesitant move towards Duo in an effort to comfort him. It was the wrong move. Duo bristled and recoiled violenty from the outheld hand. With a glare he continued to move back away from the human.

Heero made a small noise of acceptance and picked up the small pad again, returning to whatever it was he was doing. The annoying scratch picked up again and inspite of himself Duo felt the knaw of curiosity. What was the horribly annoying accepting passive human doing now?

Crouching low and dragging the blanket with him half draped over his back he backstepped in a small circle, trying to get behind Heero and see what he was doing without the human noticing. It was hard to maneuvuer skillfuly around the boxes that dotted his den but eventually he got where he could almost see the paper. Eagerly he crept a bit closer--only to have Heero stand and relocate to the couch.

Growling he gave up on trying to be sneaky and sat back roughly, hands in front of him on the floor and head forward--the picture of an annoyed cat. "Let me seeeee!" With a pout he shook his head making the braid flip over a shoulder before he returned to his sullen glare. He hadn't meant to whine like a spoiled child but he wanted to see!

"Suppose I don't want to show you?" Heero didn't even look up from the pad he was working on.

With a haughty sniff Duo sat back, examining one bandaged palm with over exaggerated fascination. The bleeding had stopped, in a little while he should be finished healing. "Well maybe I don't care."

"Good." His expression not changing one wit Heero closed the cover, got up, and walked out of the room.

Duo blinked a couple of times in the direction Heero took. That's not the way he was supposed to act! Frowning Duo jumped to his feet and instinctively followed the passive human. "Hey! I'm not done with you!"

"Do you have clothes at all?" Duo hissed and jumped back in surprise as a pair of jeans came flying out of the bedroom doorway. As soon as he realized what the assualt was he pounced on them and pulled them on, a welcome relief from the embarrassing bare legs. For some reason he felt almost ashamed around Heero is so little clothing as the sweater.

"I do! I just... can't find them." Flushed he pulled his braid over the left shoulder to play shyly with the tip. Peeking in the door he watched Heero, now padless, sorting through boxes marked "clothes".

"Here." Standing he shoved an armful of jeans and sweaters into Duo's hands. Eyes wide he struggled to hold all of them even as a shirt slipped to the floor. "Next time you end up naked on my bed I don't want it to be because you couldn't find clothes."

There was a moment of silence as Duo's face progressively flushed to a practically glowing red. Face blank Heero asked monotonely, "I just said that out loud, didn't I?" Rubbing the back of his neck Heero muttered something under his breath that could have been either swearing or an apology, Duo wasn't sure. Quietly Duo buried his face in the clothes, attempting to hide his fierce blush. What the hell was wrong with him?

After a moment Duo straightened and sniffed haughtily. "I'll make sure it doesn't happen again." Flipping his braided tail of hair back over his shoulder as he turned Duo beat a hasty, but dignified, retreat.

Back on the couch Duo curled up, face in his knees. The denim smelled like Heero. He felt weird, mad, but at the same time very Very confused. Whimpering softly he rubbed a cheek against the jeans breathing in the quickly becoming familiar scent.

He jumped and bristled as a hand descended on his shoulder. Above him Heero looked vaguely amused but didn't remove the offending hand. "Hungry?" Violet eyes narrowed and Duo swiftly turned his head to bite Heero's hand sharply. A slight wince tightened Heero's eyebrows for a moment and he examined the puncture marks cooly. Blood welled up slowly from the mark. "Yes then."

Duo blinked, he felt...guilty? Well, it was Heero's own dumb fault. But still.... "Sorry." Acting on instinct he grabbed the wounded hand and gave a cursory lick to the dents. It was Heero's turn to change color to something in the pink spectrum. It's actually kind of pleasant to see, Duo mused as he throughly cleansed the wound of blood. Realizing it wasn't bleeding anymore he smiled and rubbed the hand against his cheek, mock- purring. "I didn't mean to bite that hard."

Weakly Heero took his hand away and muttered, "No problem." Flushed to his roots he stepped back. As he retreated to the kitchen he called back, "You want something american for dinner? Like, pizza?"

Blinking at Heero's hasty withdrawal Duo stretched. "Isn't that italian?" A small smile tugged at his mouth before he realized he had relaxed around the japanese man. With a small gasp he shook himself. Mad, mad, I'm supposed to be mad! Not comfortable, not smiling, MAD! Pouting he hit his forehead with his palm, wincing at the sharp pain that laced through his arm suddenly. He had forgotten about that.

Growling he fumbled for the bandage edge and unraveled his right arm quickly. Flexing his hand he frowned a little. Dark purple brown bruising but that was all, no more blood. Sniffing in satisfaction he undid the other as well. Mewling softly he flexed them both, enjoying the unrestricted movement.

Now for the feet. Rolling over onto his back he pulled up the pant legs and struggled to undo the gauze on his legs. It was harder to do then he thought it would be. With little pants he wriggled to try and unwind his bandages. A small laugh of triumph escaped him when the first string of cloth fell away and in no time the second was off too. Moving to a sitting position with legs stretched in front of him Duo carefully prodded the tender areas. Yeah, he'd be fine.

"Duo?" At Heero's voice he rolled his pant legs back down and bounced to his feet. Oh it felt good to feel the carpet on his bare feet!

"What?" Curiously Duo stuck his head through the kitchen door, quickly following with the rest of his body at the good smell. "Food, is that food? Smells like good food, food?" When in doubt, think with your stomach. Still blushing faintly from the licking thing Heero offered Duo a single serving pizza which he eagerly accepted. Gracefully Duo folded himself down and began to tear into the food.

"Ah ah- howt!" Gasping and sucking in air Duo rolled the bite around in his mouth to cool it.

"Oh you...undid your bandages." Duo nodded and swallowed his mouthful before smiling up at Heero. "I didn't need em." Growling happily Duo took another bite of the pepperoni disk.

Shaking his head Heero glanced over at the nicely made table then down where Duo was sitting crosslegged chowing out. Americans. Oh well, when in rome. With a little half shrug Heero slid to the floor as well and began to politely nibble on the pizza's edge. Duo was done long before Heero and after throughly cleaning the sauce from his hands he watched the japanese man eat. Under the intense scrutiny Heero squirmed a little. "What?"

Duo blinked, locking eyes with Heero and letting a small smile slip onto his face. "Nothing." Calmly he leaned back against the age weathered cupboard door and examined his hand again. The bruise had faded to a brownish smear. Before midnight it'd be gone. Sudden loud ringing made Duo yelp and dive behind Heero. "WHAT'S THAT???!!!" Panting and whimpering he buried his face in Heero's shirt.

Very surprised the japanese man dropped his plate when Duo tightened his grip, cringing as the ringing went off again. "Duo, it's, it's just the phone." Gently disengaging Duo he got up and went into the living room. With Duo on hands and knees at his heels Heero picked up the phone, "Moshi moshi."

"Hi Heero!" Patting Duo on the head Heero smiled lightly at the cheerful bubbly voice. With a pout Duo batted the hand away and stalked off to perch on the couch cushion.

"Hello Quatre. May I help you?"

"Yeah! We're wondering, would you mind if we came over tomorrow to see your new house?"

Dark blue eyes narrowed for a moment. "By we who do you mean?"

"Um, just me and Tro. No Relena, I promise."

"Good, see you tomorrow then." Setting the phone back in it's cradle Heero turned towards the couch. "Do you, need a place to sleep tonight?"

Duo fiddled with a sleeve and glanced towards the nearest window. It had started raining again and he could just imagine the cold water biting into his skin as soon as he walked outside. Shyly he glanced back to Heero and in a small voice whispered, "If you don't mind?" Wait a sec, why the hell was he asking to stay in his own house?!

"Of course not." Heero smiled a little and Duo found himself grinning back.

"But I get the bed!" With a growl that sounded suspiciously close to a giggle Duo vaulted over the couch back and dashed to the room. Blinking in slight surprise Heero followed to find Duo burrowing under the covers already. "Um, I wouldn't do that."

"Why?" Curiously Duo sniffed at the blankets. It smelled just the same as always, if a little stale.

"You don't know who slept in that or what they did." Heero looked just a bit green.

Shrugging Duo stretched out and snuggled against one of the fluffy pillows. "Nah, you just don't know. I do, and I don't care."

Heero just sighed and shook out his sleeping bag. "Goodnight then."

"Night."











Yes, that's all for now. At least I updated, so yes! Keep bugging me people, it does get me to do stuff! Yay!