Duo really did not want to leave the safety of the bedroom.

But, staying there would only prolong the inevitable- nothing ever just 'blew over' with time, when it came to Hilde.

So, being the 'brave' and 'capable' man that he was, he peeked his head around the doorframe, getting a clear view of what he was going to have to walk into.

Hilde stood at the house's entrance, hands laden with the plastic bags from the local grocery store (guess she hadn't gone visiting her friends after all), her wet umbrella tossed in the corner, and an unmistakable look of anger painted on her normally carefree features.

Duo visibly winced.

Heero, on the other hand, was now awake and still seated on the couch, cool as a cucumber as he methodically removed his laptop from a suitcase and set it on the coffee table, unrolling a small bundle of wires and hooking it up.

At least one of them wasn't intimidated by the expression on his girlfriend's face.

Stepping out into the open and feeling rather vulnerable, Duo forced himself to don a cheerful smile, though he absently rubbed the back of his neck in a nervous gesture. "Heh… You remember Heero, right, Hilde? You guys met... what... three years ago at that big Preventers ceremony for the… the, uh… induction of, uh… Wufei and the… other cadets… All that great food… and, er… music… and dancing… and, uh…" His words gradually grew softer and softer until they died out entirely.

"Hn."

"Hn," Hilde echoed a near perfect replica of the prior one's typical responses.

If Heero was at all offended by her uncouth attitude, he didn't take any notice- in fact, he seemed utterly oblivious to the tension in the room, his attention focused solely on the glowing monitor in front of him.

This only seemed to make Hilde angrier. Glowering first at Heero's suitcases, then directing her glare at Duo, she said only two words. "Kitchen. Now."

Duo had stared down the barrel of the enemy's gun more times than he'd seen a doctor during the wars.

He'd been on missions where he'd escaped by the skin of his teeth, and had scars to prove it.

Hell, he'd been the God of Death, for crying out loud.

But, when Hilde glared at him like that, gave him the sort of look that surely peeled the paint from the walls behind him, he was filled with the worse sense of anxiety.

He wasn't sure where that irrational dread came from- maybe it had something to do with his childhood… Though, the fact that Hilde had a violent inclination to throw things at his head with incredible accuracy when she was pissed, might have had something to do with it.

Swallowing hard, Duo obediently went.

Thunk.

Thunk.

Thunk-Thunk.

Duo cringed as each dry-food product was slammed into the open cupboards, the plastic bags all but shredding beneath Hilde's rough hands.

During the short breaks between Hilde's bag-tearing and food-thumping, he could distinctly hear the tapping of Heero's fingers over the keyboard in the living room.

This was not going to go well.

Not at all.

Maybe if he acted cute…

Lopsided grin in place and humming gently, Duo sauntered over to Hilde, lean arms snaking around her waist as he pressed against her from behind, plopping his chin down on her shoulder and giving her an adorable, tiny kiss on the cheek.

"I missed you while you were out, sweetie," he whined endearingly, giving her a light squeeze.

Oh yeah. Feel the fluff. No one could resist him when he was being so—

Hilde gave him a sharp elbow in the ribs for his efforts, and pulled out of his grasp.

Rubbing his sore side, Duo decided that maybe it was better to keep his hands to himself, for the time being.

"How long is he staying?" came the first, icy question.

"Oh… Who… Heero?"

Hilde slowly turned to look at Duo, that horrible glare fixed once more on her otherwise pretty face.

Playing dumb wasn't a good idea either, as it turned out.

"Just… Just a few weeks, that's all," Duo quickly amended, eyes on the ground.

Sneaking a quick peek up, and finding that Hilde still had her glare on him, Duo stared down at his feet once more. "I don't see what the big deal is—"

"The big deal? You don't see what the big deal is? Ha!" Hilde went back to putting the groceries away with as much 'zeal' as before. "What, did you forget what happened last time we kept one of your 'buddies' here, or do I have to remind you?"

There was no need for that. How could he forget what happened when Trowa came to visit 2 years ago, considering that Hilde brought it up every time she needed ammunition during an argument?

Honestly, Duo still didn't get what the big deal was about that 'incident' either. Okay, so maybe Trowa had made her uncomfortable with his occasional staring problem. The guy only had one eye out in the open; it wasn't that difficult to ignore it if it really bothered you.

Who cared if Trowa rarely responded to Hilde's attempts at a conversation? As Duo had kindly pointed out, any reaction at all was a good sign! Besides, was it really that unpleasant to fill in the silence with your own chatter? It didn't bother Trowa, and it solved the problem of awkward gaps.

Fine. Fine. So Trowa had run up their phone bill with long-distance calls to L4. C'mon, what was a few hundred dollars between friends? And, what was the point of making money in the first place, if you weren't going to spend it?

Whatever. It was a topic that would never be settled. Hilde's logic was too unlike his own.

Taking Duo's quietness as a sign that he was feeling discomfiture about his hasty decision to agree to Heero's staying without first consulting her, Hilde pressed on. "And, how do we know he's not bringing trouble with him, huh? Seriously, Duo, who knows what he's been up to all this time."

On this subject, however, Duo was firm with his words. "I doubt it, and if he was, it would be all the more reason for me to open up my home to him, Hilde. I don't abandon my buddies when they need—"

"Who are you kidding, Maxwell? You wouldn't be doing it to 'help' him. You've been looking for a good fight for ages. Do you think I forgot when you nearly attacked that customer last week for suggesting that you needed to take another look on that engine you fixed for him?"

"I used to do damn near all the work on Deathscythe, and that guy's gonna tell me that I don't know how to replace a lousy spark-plug on—" Duo started, his tone defensive.

"We're getting off topic," Hilde interrupted again, opening the fridge to put away the meat and dairy products. "My point is— Dammit, Duo!" She withdrew a milk carton, shaking it so that the minute amount of liquid remaining made a hollow sloshing sound. "How many times do I have to tell you not to put water, milk, juice, and/or soda back with one sip left? I just went shopping."

Duo opened his mouth to apologize, but Hilde kept right on going.

"All I'm saying is that Heero shows up out of the blue, after no one's heard word of him for what? 10, 11 months? This guy, who's supposedly one of your best friends, disappeared for all intents and purposes."

"He has his reasons, Hilde—"

"Which you have no clue about!" The refrigerator door swung shut with enough force to make the glass jars within clink against one another. "And what's worse," Hilde's voice lowered, "He's creepy. The way he talks, the way he looks at you, the way he moves… It's like he's not human…" She rubbed her arm, as though just thinking about the pilot in the next room made her skin crawl.

Duo's tone shifted to something like a soft growl- it took a lot to get him riled, and insulting his friends was a surefire way to get him to this state. "He can still hear you, even if you've suddenly decided that this isn't going to go on as a one-way shouting match; his 'inhuman' qualities can guarantee that. And if I was him, I'd take offense to what you said."

Hilde was unfazed. "If you were him, you wouldn't even care that I'd said it."

"Look, I put up with your friends all the time!" Duo shot back, voice elevating, irritated by her cruel, but true, logic.

"The occasional luncheon? Dinner? Half the time, you don't even bother showing up for the get-togethers, and when you do go, you're suddenly transformed into a wallflower! And I certainly don't tell you one of my friends is coming to live with us!"

"Heero's not just a friend, anyway."

"Oh, really? Then what is he?" Hilde challenged, hands on her hips.

"I don't know, okay? But he's not just some stupid, old army friend. He's more than that to me! We did missions together… We were practically partners … He knows what it was like, out there, fighting, and—"

"Oh, yes, bring up the Wars, as usual. Whenever Hilde doesn't see eye to eye with Duo the Gundam Pilot, it's because she doesn't understand 'that part' of him, and only his 'best buddies' can!"

Neither spoke- both realized that they had gone too far with their words.

Only the rhythmic tapping of Heero's fingers over his keyboard disturbed the stillness.

"I'm sorry, babe. I know I promised I'd stop bringing that up," Duo said tenderly; he knew Hilde's inability to fully grasp what the wars had been for him was a place he wasn't supposed to venture into. It wasn't fair to use that against her- he should be thankful that she couldn't understand that part of him.

Hilde didn't reply, only shaking her head slightly.

"It's not like Heero's moving in for good, right? He just needs a place to crash for awhile," he persuasively ventured, trying to smile.

"Did you even bother to ask him why he's here?"

It was Duo's turn to remain silent after her words. He hadn't thought for a moment that Heero's arriving might not be for a social visit…

Hilde sighed, shaking her head once more. "I'm going over to Jaida's. I'll be back later," she said, brushing past Duo and heading towards the front door.

"Hilde. Hilde!"

Duo flinched when the door slammed, signifying his girlfriend's departure.

Ouch.

The braided man braced his hands against the sink, shoulders slumping, head bowed. Arguing was the worst. It really was. At least in a physical fight, you left with something tangible, be it bruised knuckles or a bloodied lip.

Verbal matches though... It never made him happy to win, and it sure as hell didn't help him any when he lost.

The sound Heero's footfalls let Duo know his comrade had entered the kitchen, a consideration that Duo was grateful for- you didn't hear Heero Yuy coming unless he wanted you to.

Putting on his game face, he was grinning when he turned around to face his friend, all traces of his melancholy attitude wiped away in an instant. "Hey, Heero... I'm gonna go do some laundry, so I'll talk to you later, 'kay?"

Heero fixed a scrutinizing gaze on him, but nodded after a moment. "Understood." His eyes shifted over to the counter, where Hilde had abandoned the near-empty carton of milk. "I will go procure a suitable replacement for the milk deficiency."

Duo's grin rose crookedly at one corner as he watched the other do an about-face and start towards the door. "Make sure you take an umbrella!" he called after him, satisfied when he heard the responding grunt and the unmistakable sound of an umbrella opening just before the door closed behind the departing pilot.

Hm. The house was quiet again. It was more pronounced now than it had before, somehow.

Sighing, Duo pulled open the basement door, intent upon actually completing the chore he'd told Heero he'd wanted to do... Well, it wasn't that he really wanted to do chores (who did?), but he had alot to think about...

Especially that last bit Hilde had said about Heero.

Duo frowned faintly, sorting the laundry after he'd made it down the rickety stairs.

Maybe she was right, and he should try to figure out why Heero was here.

Where to start though... It wasn't like he could just go up to the guy and ask!

Well.. He could.. But that would only make Heero suspicious, and he doubted he'd give himan answer anyway. Besides.. Wasn't it kind of rude to accuse your friend of ulterior motives?

His brows pinched together as he thought silently, dumping a load of darks into the washing machine and adding the appropriate amount of detergent.

When it dawned on him he knew exactly who to call, he almost shut his fingers in the washer's door.

Wufei.

Heero had mentioned talking to Wufei, and it couldn't have been too long ago!

Oh yeah. He still had it. Score one for Maxwell.

Turning the knob to start the wash cycle, Duo practically bounced back up the stairs in his haste to get to his vid-phone, and give the Chinese man a call.

x

Finally updated! -does a jig-

Before any of you Hilde-lovers get upset, please understand that I'm not trying to bash her or make her into some evil woman.

I think it's important to understand that Heero is not her friend, nor does she know him as anything more than an acquaintance. And though most of us loving fans find him to be one sexable-bishounen, you've got to admit he is a bit scary if we're just considering his actions and personality.

Feedback! Please! Entertain me, since I'm entertaining you!

Love and stuff,

Zangai