Hey people! No stealing the kittens! Once was bad enough and now they are in the safety of Hitsu's hands! Big brother will protect his babies! So nyah! Matty boy, give it up, there is no more stealable stuff! And Gowa, eep! The threat of bishi dragons boys torturing me, gah! Okay, I'll work! Though it would be a good way to die...

Shoulder angel Quatre: About time ya bum.

Alan: Oi! I'm not a bum! I have a summer job! And I've been updating...

Quatre: You clean horse stalls... and all your "updates" have been short and sub par! The readers demand plot and lemon! Not some sorry only slightly citrus fluff.

Alan: I'll try harder sir! salutes So for my first greater effort, longer chapters!! And the gods smiled for there was angst, but only a teeny bit! And woot! Sexual tension! :D

Chapter 14

Heero was fighting a Very strong urge to hit his head against something. This was all just...too much... Normally he didn't swear that much, just when he was really stressed, such as now. "Dammit." Wandering around the kitchen like a lost man he eventually got started on food for Duo, he had to be hungry after not eating for an entire day. Glaring at a soup tin he thought bitterly, maybe I should go and get him a rabbit, something still kicking. Disgusted at his body's reverant agreement, the prickle that urged him to change, he slammed what he was holding down on the counter angrily.

No! I am not a goddamned tiger! Growling he clenched his fist, trying to make himself bleed, hoping the pain would center him. Maybe I should take another shot. They weren't as effective as they had been before, even now, a scant two weeks after his last one the instincts were leaking through to his human side despite his best efforts to smother everything cat like in himself.

Duo made it worse somehow, having the shapeshifter who was so happy with the curse near him, it seemed to encourage the other half of him. The urges in him that he for awhile thought were gone forever roared up again. Desire to run, to kill and lay his prey at Duo's feet. Almost every second around Duo he was fighting the need to bare his throat, to roll over and purr.

But I don't want to chase him off either and that's even more frustrating. With a growl he flung open the freezer and pawed through it, picking out some frozen pizza before slamming it shut. No, of course not. I want to keep him near me, to protect him and provide for him, like some damn love sick cat. Frowning he pulled out a cookie sheet and dumped the pizza on it unceremoniously.

And that kiss, there's no way he's not a virgin. He's too innocent, inexperienced, which makes how I'm acting all the worse. I shouldn't yell at him because I'm so fucked up. Quickly ruffling his hair and tugging on the bangs he sighed again. Geez. Slightly calmer he opened the oven door and slid the tray in then kicked it shut.

Something hit him and he bristled up again. Trowa! He knew and didn't say a word! Just letting me worry and get attached to Neko, never telling me! Giving the timer a brutal twist before he left he stormed out to the living room and grabbed the phone. Savagely punching the numbers to Quatre and Trowa's house he listened to it ring, each shrill tone adding to his anger. By the fourth ring and the click of someone picking up Heero was ready to explode.

"Hello?" Hearing the tired voice of Quatre Heero reined himself in a bit.

"Hey Quat. Can I speak to Trowa?" Leaning against the couch arm he waited as the blond handed him over to his bedmate.

"Yes Heero?"

There was an edge of expectancy in Trowa's voice, like he knew what this call was about and was braced for the explosion. Heero didn't dissappoint him.

"YOU KNEW!!"

"Well Heero-"

"YOU KNEW AND DIDN'T SAY A WORD!!"

"-I thought you'd-"

"ALL THIS TIME YOU LET ME GO ON WITHOUT KNOWING ABOUT DUO!!"

"-figure it out-"

"HOW COULD YOU DO THIS!!??"

"-eventually." Trowa sighed softly into the phone and covered the ear peice to try and smother the string of profanity. Man, Heero was dense sometimes, and very vocal when put out because of it. The swearing and sharp words cut off quite quickly and tentatively he uncovered the ear peice.

"Why?" The japanese man's voice was very small and Trowa sighed again. Heero needed to be on medication...

"Because it's Duo's past, it's his to tell. Besides, it was so obvious."

Trowa's right, it was. I'm an idiot. Heero tapped the phone against his forehead and grumbled.

"Heero?" Wide eyed the japanese man turned to see Duo, wearing a big baggy shirt with nothing under it standing in the bedroom doorway looking sleepy and utterly tempting. "Is that Trowa? Can I talk to him?"

Numbly Heero held out the phone and Duo took it shyly. For a moment he looked at Heero before adding, "Alone?"

Snapping out of his daze Heero directed a weak glare at his roommate. "You're supposed to be in bed."

"I will after this, please?" Caving under the puppy dog-err- kitty kat eyes Heero retreated to the kitchen. After watching the japanese man leave Duo slid bonelessly into the comfy couch cushions and greeted his cousin. "Hi Trowa."

"Hello to you too. Enjoying your full moon so far?"

Thinking about the events that had occurred since he woke up he shivered. "Kinda. Tro-kitty, can I ask you about something?" Swiftly pulling open the little drawer on the sidetable he grabbed his five silver circlets and knocked it back shut.

"What about?"

Blushing a little he slipped on the two bracelets and struggled with how to say it. As he tugged the second set of bracelets onto his ankles he decided just to be blunt. "Um, sex." He deadpanned the situation and started blushing even harder even though his cousin wasn't in sight.

"Sex." Trowa's voice was flat and Duo would swear he heard Quatre giggling in the background.

"Yeah..." Struggling against his embarrassment he finally clasped the silver choker around his neck tossing his hair in the motion. "I...think I want to have a mate..." Duo snuck a glance towards the kitchen before hiding his face against his knees. "He's so cute..."

Across the line was a deep intake of breath before he got answer. "Okay, well I'm pretty sure it's Heero so good luck, you definately have a shot. For now all I can say is stick to your guns, be straight forward and say you want him to be your mate and uh, I'll swing by later with clothes and uh, something helpful."

Without specifying what his "something helpful" was Trowa hung up and left Duo dejectedly staring at the phone. When the dial tone sounded he replaced it in the cradle and got up. Be straight forward...Yeah, great advice Trowa. Softly grumbling he snuck towards the kitchen and peeked in to watch Heero bending over to get the pizza out of the oven. His feet soundless on the linoleum Duo padded over and touched the japanese man's shoulder softly. Startled Heero jumped, burning his hand on the pan and almost losing the food.

Swearing fit to strip paint he dropped the pan on the counter and glared at Duo. "Don't do that!" Cringing a little Duo stared at the burned fingers Heero cradled to his chest.

"Sorry." Nabbing Heero's wrist he examined it, sneaking glances up at Heero's face. "I don't think it's that bad." Heero tensed when Duo kissed the damaged finger tips gently and jerked his hand away.

"It hurts."

Turning his back on Duo he swallowed a moan and turned on the cold water, running it over his fingers. Instantly remorseful Duo wrapped his arms around Heero and sighed into his shirt. "I just wanted to help..."

Slowly turning off the water Heero rotated in Duo's accommadating arms to look down at face buried in the folds of his shirt. "Duo, you're supposed to be in bed." Without a word Duo pulled back and pouted up at him, taking his breath away again. Captivated by the beautiful pools of soft amethyst that shone in the gentle sunlight Heero almost missed Duo's reluctant admission.

"I can't sleep...without you there..." A light rose blush colored Duo's cheeks and Heero smiled to see it.

"I know the feeling." Patting Duo's cheek with his non burned hand he turned away with a quick change of subject. "Hungry? I made us some pizza because you seemed to like it last time." Eagerly snagging the yummy smelling food Duo let Heero lead him to the living room and plopped down on the floor. Food was always a good distraction.

"Careful, it's hot." Barely acknowledging the warning Duo stared at his pizza round like he expected to move. After what he deemed an appropriate amount of time he pounced and dug in readily. Yelping at the scalding sauce he yerked back and glared at the vicious pizza he attacked it again.

Above him on the couch Heero shook his head and ate his pizza a lot slower not wanting to burn his tongue. So of course Duo finished long before him. Licking the sauce off his face he watched Heero mincing through his meal. "What, are you afraid it'll bite you?" Cheekily sticking out his tongue Duo smiled, a challenging look in his eye. Instantly taken by that expression Heero responded with a mock glare and bolted his pizza, almost choking in his haste. Duo clapped and cat called before noticing the bit of cheese and sauce around Heero's mouth.

Eyes narrowing predatorily he got up and went to the couch. Before Heero realized what was happening Duo had pushed the plate out of his lap and replaced it with his body. Arms automatically circling the slimer man's waist Heero stared at the face that was suddenly so close to his. "Duo?"

Not answering Duo leaned forward and calmly licked the sauce off, starting low on the chin and working slowly up until his tongue traced Heero's lips that parted in a low pant. Acting on instinct alone he slipped his tongue into Heero's mouth, pulling back with a violent shiver when he encountered Heero's. Gasping softly he considered the sensation before tentatively trying it again. Moaning into the lush mouth Heero moved a hand up to twist in Duo's loose and silky hair, still slightly damp from the shower, to keep him from pulling back. Heero quickly took the lead, tickling and guiding the exploring tongue. When the japanese man began to suck gently Duo gasped and retreated only to have Heero follow him. Expertly Heero mapped out the moist warm space before coaxing Duo's tongue into arousing dance of give and take.

Shivering and wriggling Duo clenched his hands in Heero's shirt, begging him silently to continue the soft intimate stroking. With a gentle nibble to Duo's lower lip as he pulled back Heero finally let his love get some air. Duo wriggled in his lap again and Heero groaned, dragging the pliant body into closer contact, suddenly painfully aware of how little the slim american was wearing. His thumb stroking under Duo's eye Heero slowly examined the flushed face he wanted to see every day of his life.

"He-heero..." Pleased by the sound of his name breathed through those beatifully parted lips Heero started to lay little kisses along Duo's jawline, marking a wandering path to his ear. Nuzzling the tender area he stared at the pale skin for a moment before closing his eyes to nip possesively. He's mine! When Heero started gentle suction on his neck Duo slumped bonelessly against his love's chest. Heero accepted the weight for a moment before turning and quiding Duo onto the couch cushions, never ceasing the movements of his mouth. One hand cradled Duo's head while the other was bolder and wandered over his beauty's back.

Enjoying each whimper and sound of pleasure Duo made Heero changed his tactic, biting down on the sweaty arch of his neck to leave marks of ownership. No one would take Duo away from him! When he reached the choker he growled and began nipping around it and darting his tongue under it to touch the hidden skin. Beneath him Duo moved and clutched at his shirt helplessly, ripping a button or two. Heero felt complete, felt right. It was like a dream... Eyes shooting open Heero quickly pushed away, panting and staring down at the sprawled and confused man he had been teasing. "Heero?"

Shivering Heero pulled his arm out from under Duo's back and stared at it for a moment before biting it, hard. Yeah that hurt. Pushing himself up onto his elbows Duo whimpered. "Heero, why'd you do that?"

In response Heero shook his head and moaned. "Too much like a dream, I had to be sure."

"Not a dream..." Purring quietly Duo pulled his lover's warm weight back on top of him and initiated another soul searing kiss leaving them both breathless. Content in his assertion that he this was NOT a dream Heero fervantly launched into a new assualt, trying to get more fascinating sounds out of Duo. As he rained kisses on his lover's face his hand, starting on Duo's knee, slid down to reach the edge of the loose shirt he was wearing. Duo bucked against Heero and begged him to continue.

Smirking against Duo's neck just above the choker he slid the hand up under the cotton feeling little muscle ripples under velvety skin. Heero returned to exchanging fierce kisses and Duo whimpered, feeling like he was being devoured inside and out and all too happy about it. After tracing a few lazy circles on Duo's abdomen Heero started lower only to freeze at a polite cough. Jerking away like he was being burned Heero rolled off the Duo and to his feet.

"Trowa!"

Duo laid panting on the couch arms above his head. Half closed and fogged violet eyes found the up side down form of his cousin and he softly mumbled a greeting. Embarrassed, Heero struggled with something to say before simply giving up and retreating to the bedroom to sulk.

Trowa sighed and shook his head with a good natured smile as Duo slowly sat up and straightened his clothes. "Sorry for interruppting but I have some stuff for you. Uh, I hope it helps." Blushing slightly he handed two bags to Duo that appeared to be full of clothes. Blinking sleepily Duo looked up at his cousin. "How will this help?"

Rubbing the back of his neck Trowa motioned to the bags again. "There's uh, other stuff under the clothes. I'm going to leave now, but, uh, call me if you need anything else, or have any questions..." Obviously embarrassed by the whole situation the brunette beat a hasty retreat, leaving Duo to dig through the bag curiously.

One bag had nothing but a few pairs of jeans his size and some comfortable shirts. Taking a moment he pulled on a pair then launched back into his exploration. The other had several strange items buried below two sweaters and a pair of sneakers. Curiosity throughly peaked Duo dumped out the bag and shuffled through the contents. A book, a box of condoms, some tubes of lube, and two videos. Blushing Duo glanced at the book, taking a quick peek between the covers and slamming it shut with a squeak of embarrasement. Um, he could look at that later.

Picking up the videos he turned them over in his hands, wondering what was on them. With them against his chest he got up and walked into the bedroom where Heero was. "Heero? Do you have a TV somewhere?"

Heero peeked up from where he was laying on the bed, covered by a pillow. "What, why?" His words were muffled by the pillow and Duo smiled weakly because of it. Shyly he showed Heero the cassettes before pulling them back against his chest.

"Trowa gave me some videos..."

Slowly Heero sat up and discreetly put the pillow in his lap. "What are they?"

Blinking some more Duo examined the labels. "One's made by erotic video..."

"What?" Heero snatched the movie and stared at the cover incredulously. "Why did Trowa give you this?!" Gay porn, my god...

Duo ducked his head and meekly sat down on the bed, keeping some distance between them. "I uh, asked him..." Dropping the other video in his lap he covered his face with his hands and mumbled. "about sex..."

"Oh." Peeking through his fingers at Heero's reaction Duo had to fight down nervous giggles.

"What's the other one?" Without waiting for an answer Heero grabbed the second movie and peered at it. "Animal planet big cat special? Why-oh..." Shaking his head he put both videos down carefully. "Duo? Why, uh, why are you asking Trowa about sex?"

Drawing his knees up Duo laid his forehead against them and whimpered, glad for the shielding curtain hiding his embarassed face. "My parents..never gave me the "talk." So, I, um, was curious...about, y'know, how it works..." Face flaming he wrapped his arms around his legs and tried to be as small as possible.

"I actually do have a TV and VCR... I can go dig them out of the closet if you want me to..."

"Please?" At Duo's quiet voice Heero abandoned his pillow to begin the great search for the TV. Five boxes of stuff later he had the small appliance and the VCR in his grasp. After locating a plugin he set got everything hooked up before setting them on the edge of the bed. "Do you want me to leave?"

Head down Duo nodded slightly and the embarrassed japanese man beat feet quickly. As soon as the door closed he heard Duo turn the TV on and put in one of the movies, from the music the animal planet one. Shivering he left Duo to his "education" and vaulted over the couch back to kick back and maybe take a nap. For a moment he was allowed to relax and mull things over.

The tiger definately reared it's ugly head for a minute there. He wasn't in control when he'd started biting Duo's neck, wanting nothing in the world more than to make sure everyone knew who the boy belonged to. Groaning he rolled over and stretched. All this repressed sexual tension is going to kill me...and Duo is not helping me stay in control... His eyes slowly drifted to the side and once more he froze at what he saw.

More stuff from Trowa, he thought numbly as he began to shift through the assortment of lubes and condoms. Flavored condoms? Trowa! For god's sake! His fingers bumped against the book and blankly he picked it up and started thumbing through it. Very informative. And illistrated. Fascinated he continued to oogle the glossy pictures of men enjoying themselves in...interlocking manners.

At Duo's shocked yelp he dropped the book and scrambled towards the bedroom on instinct, only stopping when his hand was on the knob. Should he? Well, at the very least he should check and make sure that yelp wasn't because of a serious problem... Cracking open the door and peeking in he didn't see Duo anywhere. "Duo? Are you okay?" Pushing it open a little more and stepping in he looked around, still missing a certain shapeshifter. Eye falling on the TV he gaped to see Duo had moved up from nature documentaries to something a little more..active. Fighting a nosebleed he turned instantly to the bathroom, first thought being another cold shower.

And that's where he found Duo, whimpering behind the bathroom door.

"Duo?" Cautiously he kneeled down next to the boy, shocked when he turned and buried his face in the soft cotton of Heero's shirt with a sob. "What's wrong?" Slightly out of his depth he patted Duo's head and tried to figure out this reaction.

"Something's wrong with me!"

Slowly Heero transferred the patting into soft strokes, trying to calm him down. "Nothing's wrong with you Duo, I'm sure. Tell me what happened."

Shifting a little Duo shyly looked up into Heero's face then back down with a blush. "I was watching the movie and uh...now I have an ache...down there..."

Groaning softly Heero shut his eyes. How could one person be this naive? With a little shiver he unwound Duo's arms and leaned down to rub noses. "You just need a shower, trust me, it'll help..."

"Shower with me?" Heero bit his lip almost to the point of blood shed at the innocent request. Yeah, Duo was going to kill him, if nothing else by blood loss through his nose.

"Okay..."

Smiling eagerly Duo jumped up and stripped down quickly, including bandages. Amazingly now that he'd gotten some protien in his system and the tranquilzer out the speed healing kicked in so the wounds were mostly gone. Heero blinked a couple of times at the absolutely delicious lickable sight in front of him and shook his head in hopes of clearing it. No such luck. In a daze he got up and turned on the water to bitingly cold before peeling off his own clothes and stepping in, dragging Duo along with him.

"Cold!" Duo whimpered and moved to make sure most of the cold water hit Heero. Chest pressed flushed against Heero's Duo snuggled in close with a happy sigh. "Thank you..." Heero shuddered at the husky purr accompanyed by a pair of arms moving up around his neck.

Self control Heero, self control. He's innocent, he has no idea he's torturing you... You will NOT tackle him and have your way with him on the bathroom floor. Idly Heero traced the puncture slightly on the left of Duo's chest, now just a reddish mark that was fading right before his eyes. Suddenly he noticed a fact that would not do at all.

"You're not even getting wet." Growling a little he gripped Duo's shoulders and ducked to the side so that he was drenched in icy water.

"Ah!" Yelping Duo tried to struggle around and get back against the warm shelter Heero offered but the japanese man held him there firmly until the cold water worked it's magic. Heero let him go them and stepped out much subdued, grabbing a fluffy white towel from under the sink and wrapping it around his waist. Duo had his best pout worked up when Heero turned back with another towel in hand but Heero was pointedly not looking at him, afraid that he would fall apart if he did. With one hand Heero turned off the water before wrapping up Duo as well, all without looking at him.

Taking one of Duo's hands in his Heero led him to the bedroom, where he unplugged the TV and moved it to the floor before pulling Duo up onto the covers. "Sleep now, okay?" Still wrapped up in his towel Heero crawled under the blanket, closely followed by Duo. Both conveniantly ignored that it was closer to noon than night and cuddled together for simple nap after all the emotional trauma they went through today.

#

Alan: Uh, yeah. Mostly it was just a long chapter of fluff though we did get to have a look at some of Heero's thoughts. Happy people? Now I must leave! The horses depend on me for breakfast and waste managment!

Shoulder angel Quatre: Sure. I can't believe you were more embarrassed by this than that lime a few chapters back.

Alan: Well...um...I was going to do a lemon here but....well...I CHICKENED OUT!! After last time, or the last lime as things would have it, I'm a bit scared to do anything too risque! Because people read this, it just now hit for some reason that people read this and judge me based on what I put here! It's scary!

Shoulder angel Quatre: Is it just me or is this a long author's note?

Alan: LONG CHAPTER LONG NOTE! MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!