Title: Ashes and Cloves: Enter Nuit, Drunken Spoofs I Part Three of ???

Author: Heeroduo1x2x1

Feedback: Yes…

Disclaimer: Erm.... Regretfully, I don't own it, that is the privilege of the staff: Masashi Ikeda (director), Shukou Murase (character design), Kunio Ohkawara (mechanical design), along with other people and companies I am not remembering the names of. See, not me!!

Warnings/Rating: 12/21; PG-13 for language and shounen ai (eventually); Probably A LOT of OOCness (Shrugs It's hard to write in Heero's perspective...), and use of big words that my mother became immeasurably confused by. Grins impishly

Babble: Well, since it took so long to update this ficcy, I decided to post this chapter and another story at once. I've finally gotten back into this fic, but all my others have died out. I'm considering letting someone else write the last few chapters of "I Want to Touch the Sky" just so it'll get finished. Shrugs Anyway, I'm finally getting somewhere with this one, as I've gotten over the proverbial hump. Getting up to this point has been a real hassle, but this is the chapter where everything has been culminating to! This is one of the last few chapters! Does a little dance I have a layout! A beginning of a forth chapter! Cheers Anyway, read, review, enjoy!

Duo and I entered Café Nuit at sunset. I didn't really understand why it was called a cafe, as it was really an out of the ordinary nightclub located on the outskirts of town. But, unlike most nightclubs, it wasn't really involved in fast tempo dancing. It had only one set of strobe lights located above the main stage and that, when on, placed an eerie red strobe over the gathered crowd. The music was mostly live gigs from local bands, but according to Duo, it also served as a medium sized venue for mainstream rockers, rappers, and DJs. The night I had gone, many garage bands had been playing.

The building the Cafe Nuit was in was huge. It was an old warehouse that had been furnished with black leather couches in the corners of every room, a main stage, two smaller stages in separate rooms, a bar that served any consumable liquid ranging from coffee or Coke to vodka or grain alcohol. A very large dance floor was available for the DJ block and dancing in general, as well as a mosh-pit area for the rock concerts. Duo's favorite section, however, was the arcade. Soundproofed against the others sections of Nuit, it was the perfect place to play Dance Dance Revolution, Guitar Freak, Beatmania, and In the Groove. Duo loved to play DDR, and had downloaded every song from 5th mix onto my laptop before burning them onto a CD. I had found this humourous and genuinely enjoyed watching Duo dance around the apartment while listening and singing along to "Butterfly."

His joy at seeing DDR was infectious as he scurried happily towards it shortly after we made our way into the arcade. He immediately latched onto it, rambling happily as he put his coins in and selected a difficulty and a song. I immediately recognized it as "Paranoia Survivor Max," and I smirked against my will. He'd told me that it was the only song he'd never been able to get only perfects on, and that he would, someday, be able to do it. I watched him for a few moments, his eyes focused on the screen as his feet moved swiftly to the correct arrows. I was enthralled by his grace and speed, amazed that the two where not contradictions. I'd always thought of him as slightly clumsy, but watching him play that game made me realize he wasn't just graceful, he was practically floating.

My musing were pulled away when I noticed the small crowd that had formed around us, and sparing one more look at Duo, I pushed myself out of the arcade and towards the bar. I hadn't seen a single transvestite since entering Nuit, and feeling more secure in that knowledge, I wasn't too nervous about being alone. I was going to let Duo bask in the glory drawn in by that small crowd while I stayed away.

I tapped my fingers lightly on the counter to the rhythm of the drummer currently playing on stage. The band was pretty good, and I glanced behind me to see them. The young woman singing couldn't have been much older than 19, but her voice was amazing. I quirked an eyebrow, my mind stating that Duo's singing voice was even better, especially when he wasn't aware anyone was listening.

"Whoa, I recognize you!" I turned at the voice, my eyes focusing on the short haired bartender, a woman only a little older than myself. My eyebrow raised higher.

"Doubt it." I muttered, turning back towards the band.

"No, really! You came in with what's his name... uh, Waffle... or somethin'... shit, I can't remember his name!" the bartender persisted, her eyebrows furrowed together in concentration, "But you got so fall-off-your-ass drunk that your friends had to drag you out over Waffle-man's shoulder!"

"His name is Wufei, not Waffle." I sighed, turning to glance at the bartender. She did look vaguely familiar, but it didn't matter. Duo had just come barreling out of the arcade, his eyes wide in fear. Upon sighting me at the bar, he seemed to relax and came waltzing over. He grinned loosely at me, plopping down on a stool next to me.

"Hey, why'd you go? I was on a role! You missed it! I did PSM[1] perfectly!!" Duo rambled happily, his eyes locked on mine. The bartender had walked away.

I was silent for a moment, not really understanding his statement had included a question, "I guess I'm just not very fond of crowds."

"Oh. Okay then." He turned to the stage, his back leaning against the counter. He looked hurt, and I felt a pang in my chest. My hatred of crowds was beginning to get in the way.

"I'm sorry." I said, my entire being focused on his ethereal face, "I'm claustrophobic, and tight crowds like that make me... skittish. It's not like I wanted to go away..."

He turned towards me, a smile across his face as he waved a nonchalant hand at me, "Really, it's fine, Heero. I completely understand. It's not a big deal. Besides, we can always just go and play again, right?"

I stared at him for a moment before nodding my head, "Right."

At this point the raven haired bartender had returned, carrying in her hands two bottles of what I assumed was beer. She lightly set it down on the counter and grinned, "Hey, Duo."

"Hi, Hilde."

"Hilde?" I blinked, looking at the short haired bartender. This was the woman who had once made Duo cross dress?

Duo looked prepared to cackle, "Yep, this is Hilde, my old roommate, the evil one who kicked me out and made me wear women's clothing." He grinned wildly at her, "Hilders, this is my NEW and MUCH NICER roommate who's never made me wear women's clothing, Heero."

How does someone react to meeting the only person you trust's best friend and old roommate? I had a vague feeling that whatever that response should be, my own personal reaction definitely wasn't appropriate. Most people would have said something witty or humourous, or something remotely intelligent. However, I did none of these things. My mind was running on a simple function: Duo's best friend. That's it. He had said before that they had once lived together, along with her boyfriend. The only positive thing about that was that she and Duo hadn't been romantically involved. To my knowledge, at least. I took a long gulp of the beer before me. Yes, drown conscious thoughts behind a pleasant haze of unawareness. "Pleasure to meet you, Miss Hilde."

She beamed, "Wow, Duo. You found a nice polite one! Do you want me to invite him to my wedding?"

"Doesn't your fiancé think I'm a bad influence or something stupid like that?" Duo laughed and I took another swig of the amber liquid. Drown, drown, drown.

"Of course he does. But you're gonna go anyway! I've known you forever! You not going would be like me not going to your wedding, you moron."

Duo flinched, "Hil, we're not in Massachusetts. I couldn't get married even if I wanted to."

"Riiight. Gay marriage isn't legal here, is it?" Hilde scratched her head, and I jerked to attention. Marriage? Gay marriage? I thought I had heard her wrong, but from the way Duo laughed and nodded his head, I knew I hadn't. I hadn't really thought about whether Duo was homosexual or not. It had never crossed my mind to ask him, or to even consider that maybe he was. However, as I sat there in Cafe Nuit, my eyes staring back an forth between Duo and his friend Hilde, it dawned on me more and more that I had noticed, but that I hadn't put two and two together in order to form the whole picture. But why hadn't he told me? It seemed, that at that moment, I wasn't noticing much. I hadn't even realized I had stood until Duo's hand on my arm and his voice caused me to withdraw from my train of thought.

"N-nani?" I said in the language that came to me more naturally than English. I shook my head and blinked, trying to formulate the question in a way Duo wouldn't stare at me in confusion at,

"What?"

He looked concerned as his voice echoed through my mind, "Where're you going?"

"Nowhere. Just... standing." I didn't know where I was going, why I had bothered to stand up, so I lied, "My legs were starting to fall asleep."

"Oh. Hey, you wanna go and attack the pit for a while? The bands are starting to kick up!" His voice was grounding me. I was coming back down to Earth. He didn't tell me he was gay because he probably thought I'd already figured it out. That had to have been it.

"Uh, yeah. Sure." I rubbed my eyes, and forced a small smile.

"You sure you're all right, Hee-dude?"

"Of course. It's just this place is louder than I'm used to." I rubbed my face nonchalantly. "A lot louder."

Duo's face looked unconvinced, but he dropped it. "Okay. Well, we're free to mosh. You up to it?"

I nodded, and took an extremely long gulp of the amber liquid before me before he proceeded to drag me out into the crowd. I'll admit that I'd only consumed that much alcohol on that dreaded night, and I was beginning to feel a bit muddled. If only I'd known what that meant at the time.

A/N: cackles Yeeeessss!! I FINALLY finished part of this chapter! I'm putting it up in 2 parts, since the next part is in Duo's POV, as I have yet to write anything lately from his POV…. grins Anyway, please review! cheers and dances