Author's Note: Well I finally got another chapter up. I'm so sorry it took this long! I had half of it written almost a few weeks ago, but I didn't get a chance to finish it because of exams. Now that they're over, hopefully I'll be able to work more on all of my stories. Enjoy! And don't forget to review. The less reviews I get the less likely I'll get this updated sooner. I try to update the one with the most reviews first.
Disclaimer: Not mine, but I'm sure you knew that already. Yami's mine. I guess so are Kouma and Avery though, too, but they aren't actual formulated characters of mine like Yami is.
Thank you to those who have reviewed! I LOAVE YOU!!!!!
LadyDragonWolfKnight: hehe Aren't they cute? I thought they were. Yes, Jealous Heero does = scary. There will be more of that.
Petriepair2001: I updated! Although quite a bit after I said I would. Hope you can forgive me for that.
Gears: OWWWWW!!! That hurt! I don't think I like being poked by the stick! Hmph! Hehe. A threesome, eh? Hmmm... I never gave it much thought. I might just do that. *grins* Zechs will have Epyon for his gundam by the way, though I don't think it much matters.
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Note: The song Descending Angel mentioned at the end is by Misfits. It unfortunately is not mine.
-~*^*~-
The war had been over for nearly a year now. The six gundam pilots had all been staying in one of Quatre's mansions. He had insisted upon it, using the reasoning that if they didn't live together they'd never see each other again. Which was probably true and as the heir had pointed out, the rooms would just be going to waste anyway so why not. No one had been able to argue with him. He refused to take no for an answer, but a couple had tried without much luck. It was hard to deny the boy anything when it looked like he was about to cry.
Heero still had yet to approach Duo, let alone say more than five words to him at a time. But Duo caught him watching him every once in a while when the Japanese boy thought he wasn't looking. The violet eyed boy was willing to wait. He would be extremely busy soon anyway.
Zechs smiled broadly to the young Winner. He had just gotten back from a meeting in the city with Duo. They had just signed the contract for the record deal, not that Zechs had had any doubt about the brunette's talent. Duo had enough doubts for the both of them. All he wanted to do was celebrate, but Duo had insisted upon not telling the others and keeping it a secret for a while longer.
He had frowned, but had reluctantly agreed to follow Duo's wishes. After all, it was his dream and he'd tell the others when he was ready. Duo didn't want the others to know until he was sure that the band would go somewhere. The producers may have liked them, but that didn't mean the public would.
"You should hear Duo sing," the Peacecraft heir smiled mischievously, glancing at the petit blonde out of the corner of his eye. He wondered if the boy would like the music, if any of the others would like it. It would crush Duo if they didn't.
"No thanks. I already have and my ears are still recovering," Quatre winced at the memory. It had been horrible! He'd never in his life heard anything worse and since then had tried to avoid it at all costs. Which was why he stayed away from the garage. Duo liked to work on his old cars in there... and it was common knowledge that he liked to sing along with the radio.
Zechs simply chuckled heading back outside to go see what Duo was up to after stealing a few grapes from the kitchen and popping them into his mouth.
Duo Maxwell was off on his own working in the garage on a beat up old Stingray he'd picked up the month before. It would have seemed odd to the other pilots had they overheard Duo's choice in music that afternoon. Kenny Chesney, an old pre-colony country singer. Actually, they would have found quite a few of his music preferences as odd with their view of the loud American. They had only ever seen him listening to classic rock and roll from way back in the 1970s and 80s. He liked to listen to a bit of everything, picking up ideas from each genre.
He moved his body in time with the beat, softly singing along to "She thinks my tractor's sexy," replacing the 'she' with 'he'. He was careful to do so quietly, just in case one of the others walked in. He didn't want them to overhear him. He knew the owner of the footsteps was Zechs as the man walked into the barn. He'd worked hard to be able to decipher between each of his partners' footfalls since they started sharing the mansion.
Zechs shook his head amused as he watched the denim clad ass wiggle as the boy worked. The fey creature was too enticing for his own good. He moved up behind the boy, wrapping his arms around the slim waist and kissed a bare shoulder. "I think your tractor is very sexy," Zechs murmured somehow managing to keep his voice deadpan even as his eyes laughed merrily.
Duo blushed and paused in his work under the hood. "Uhm. Thanks... I think, but I don't got a tractor," Duo laughed, turning around in the strong arms to look up at Zechs.
"Mmm... maybe we should get you one, then. You could chug it up the hill and acquire a lovely farmer's tan. Just as the songs describes," he murmured, his rich laugh joining in with that of the smaller boy's as he tried to picture the scene.
"Naw. I don't think too many people'll go for that. Sorry," Duo tried to look sympathetic, but somehow just couldn't manage to pull it off.
"True enough. Don't forget that we must be at the studio tomorrow, so get a good night's sleep, songbird. It's an early morning for both of us. Don't stay out here too late," Zechs kissed Duo on the nose playfully.
Duo crinkled his nose at the contact and watched as Zechs left for the house. He was too excited to sleep yet. Besides it was only nine. He'd be in by eleven whether or not he was tired. He'd need his energy for the long day to come. They'd be in the studio from seven to noon and then again from one until eight. Duo groaned just thinking about it. Maybe he would go in before eleven. Just thinking about his schedule made him tired. He packed up his tools half an hour later, cleaning the grease from each of them in turn before he walked the distance to the mansion.
-~*^*~-
"Duo! You have to hear this!" Quatre grabbed hold of Duo's sleeve, tugging him into the living room. Quatre ran over to the stereo turning it up so Duo could hear the song playing on the radio. "Well? Well, what do you think?" The blonde looked back over his shoulder at his friend expectantly.
Duo stared at the machine as if it were an alien or some strange looking bug. "Huh? What? Oh, the stereo is nice. Haven't we always had it?" He blinked in surprise when he realized the song drifting over the speakers was his own.
"No, don't be silly!" Quatre laughed. "The song! It's by that new band, Descending Angel!"
"Mmmm. Never heard of them," Duo murmured softly while he listened and watched the blonde for his reaction. "What do you think of them?"
"Me? They're great! Are you kidding? I can't believe you of all people haven't heard of them! You're always listening to music. Anyway, I got tickets to their first concert. It's on your birthday and I was hoping you'd like to come with me," aqua eyes peered up hopefully at him.
Duo shifted his weight nervously. "Um, actually... actually, Zechs is already taking me out. I can't Q-man. I, uh, I hope you have a good time though. Sorry, but thanks for thinking of me," Dup gave a forced cheerful smile to cover up his nerves.
"But, I got all of us tickets... I thought..." Quatre stammered clearly not understanding why Duo was declining. He had always jumped at the chance to go to concerts before, especially when it was made up of cute guys. Er, Quatre thought about that for a minute looking down at the CD cover. You really didn't know if they were cute or not. All you ever saw were their digitally enhanced eyes. But with eyes like those, the rest had to be good right? Maybe not. Maybe that was why no one ever saw anything more than their eyes. They were probably disfigured from the war.
"I'm sorry, Quat. We can't. We made the plans a few months ago," Duo shifted again. He wanted nothing more than to escape to his garage and its quiet sanctuary.
"Oh, alright then. What're you doing?" Quatre smiled. He had tried, but he knew that if Duo set his mind to something there was no changing it. That seemed to be a common quality among the ex-pilots.
"I don't know. He's keeping it a surprise. Hey listen, Quat. I'm gonna go work on my car, 'kay? Let me know if you need me," he backed out of the room through the closest door and took off running. He hated lying to him, but he couldn't' tell him the truth yet either. He wasn't ready to. He'd make it up to them eventually. He hoped.
"Hmm... I don't think he likes them. Maybe that's why he was acting so strange," Quatre mused.
"It's possible," Trowa murmured from behind the blonde.
"You do, right?"
"Of course, little one. Otherwise I would not have agreed to go," the Latin reassured his small lover while nuzzling his cheek.
-~*^*~-
"ZECHS!!!! Zechs, Zechs, Zechs!!!!!!" Duo wailed as he ran into the studio later that afternoon. He threw himself at his partner and boyfriend, burying his face in the man's shirt.
Zechs wrapped his arms around the smaller boy offering whatever comfort he could. "What's wrong, songbird? Did something happen?"
"Rahre if kunin tuhduh kanserr!" Duo's voice came out muffled through the thick sweater.
The tall blonde laughed, "try that again please."
Duo drew away a couple inches to look up at the man. "Quatre's got tickets to the concert on my birthday. He's bringing the others! Knowing him, he'll be in the front row! Zechs, I can't do this. I can't!" Duo burrowed his face in the blonde's shoulder squeezing him tight.
"You can and you will. Duo you're the most amazing person I've ever met. You have a talent for this just like you do as a thief. You'll be perfect just like you always are. Now come on. We have to get ready for that interview in an hour," Zechs nudged the boy away a few inches and moved him to his side as he guided him out of the studio and towards the dressing room.
-~*^*~-
"Well, the time is almost here. Very shortly we will meet the members of the newest hit band, DESCENDING ANGEL!!!!" The interviewer, Hilde, gushed to the camera. She whirled towards the door when the sound of a doorknob being turned and the door opened. She gasped slightly as five figures entered the room, each wearing a black hooded cloak hiding their faces in shadow. "Now aren't we shy!" Hilde laughed masking her own disappointment. She'd been looking forward to finally revealing the band's identities.
"No, not shy. Descending Angel is anything but shy. Secretive yes, but never shy," Zechs murmured confidently.
"Oh, alright then. Secretive it is. And you are? I'm afraid I don't know any of your names," Hilde asked the man whose only distinguishing feature was long pale blonde hair streaked with a brilliant blue that matched what she assumed to be the eyes from the cover of the CD.
"I'm the drummer," he smirked behind the pale porcelain mask he wore.
"Oh, erm alright. Well, have a seat so we can get started!" she chirped somewhat nervously. She sat at a diagonal to them in a plush chair. She watched as they took their seats. The drummer and a smaller boy with violet streaked opted for curling up together on the small loveseat while the others took their own places in single chairs and one found a position on the floor leaning against the side of the love seat.
"Alright then, so we know the drummer will not reveal his name. Will anyone else?" Hilde asked hopefully. She wasn't looking forward to referring to each of them by their occupation within the group or by the colors streaked in their long hair for those that allowed their hair to be visible.
"I'm Kouma!" The one on the floor piped up cheerfully. "I play the keyboards! I'm also the youngest. I'm only 16," the boy shrugged. "That's Avery. He's the guitarist. And that's Yami. She's the bass guitarist and the only girl. But she acts like one of the boys a lot so she's cool. She's all for the arcade!"
"Arcade! Where?!" She immediately sat up straighter and whipped her head about, relaxing again when she realized that Kouma hadn't meant there was one around. "Dirty trick, Kouma. Just remember I'll know where you sleep when we start this tour in a few weeks," she threatened settling back into the cushions and giving Kouma what Hilde assumed to be a nasty glare.
Kouma laughed, clearly not perturbed.
"I noticed you failed to mention either of their names," she gestured to the two on the loveseat.
"Oh, um... Yeah well. They wanna keep it a secret for now. Don't really know why, but they say they have their reasons," the boy shrugged unconcernedly.
"I will assume Mr. Purple Hair is the lead singer then?"
"Sure am, Miss!" Duo nodded.
"Alright then. Now that I know about as much as I'm going to find out about your names, we'll start with the real questions. How did you meet?"
"Well, I met him in my kitchen actually," Duo snickered pointing to the man next to him. "I knew who he was before that, but we had never actually met before that. He, uh, he overheard me singing and said that when the war was over I should go for making a career out of it."
"The rest of us all met at the auditions they held. Noth'n too glamorous," Avery supplied the rest. "We all hit it off pretty well. We're pretty much like a family now. They're great to work with. They're good at making me forget it's really work. I never imagined work to be fun," the boy laughed. "I'm still havin' trouble talking Yami into goin' out with me though. I have no idea how she's been able to resist my charms for so long," he sighed shaking his head in mock disbelief.
Yami snorted. "Don't hold your breath waiting for me to accept. Wait no. Do. Then I can watch you pass out!" She giggled as the rest laughed along with her including Avery.
"Why was he in your kitchen?" Hilde asked confused once she had calmed down enough to ask.
"He was hiding from a nagging howler monkey and decided my kitchen was the last place she'd look. Actually I think he was right. She never did come looking for him there," Duo laughed manically ad Zechs shook his head at his songbird's description of his little sister apt though it was.
"So what's with the song Descending Angel? The lead singer obviously doesn't sing it," Hilde tilted her head to the side asking the question to no one in particular.
"Actually, I sing lead on that and the rest are the back up. He wrote the song for the band and the rest of us decided that it fit him quite nicely, so we will be using that as his entrance to the first concert along with a few after that," Zechs explained giving Duo's hand a reassuring squeeze.
"Yeah, it was a bitch. Wait I'm not allowed to say that on TV am I? Oops. Oh well. It's still true. It was a bitch to get him to agree to it. He says it makes him feel as if he's trying to be better than us and he'd rather just be equal," Avery expanded on the answer, smirking behind his mask.
Kouma laughed. "Yeah. He's got this weird tendency to think he sucks. To be honest. I've never heard anyone sing better. We all know we're good, but none of us would dare to try and say we were better than him."
"It just isn't possible. He's a god compared to us, although if you asked him, he'd deny it till he were blue in the face. We're not sure why, but he really feels that he isn't all that great," Yami concluded.
"Guys stop exaggerating," Duo mumbled, fidgeting slightly. He was not as good as they said he was. They were just being nice. He was a street rat and nothing good ever came from them. If they kept on like this, it was going to be one loooooong interview.
TBC...