Disclaimer: I in no way own Gundam W or AD&D. Don't sue; I'm simply an E5 in the USN, therefore I have no money. Ha.
-BEGIN FIC-
The acrobat stared at his surroundings, his emerald eyes wide with appreciation and what could only be called envy. He'd never seen so much wealth in his life.
He was in the gathering room of the magnificent household, seated upon a thickly cushioned couch crafted of the most supple leather he'd ever felt, leaning into a sea of plush feather pillows. The entire room was draped with thick tapestries woven with dark, rich colors depicting great dragons, unicorns and other fanciful creatures highlighted by golden and silver threads. The furniture that permeated the chamber complimented the colors that hung upon the walls, also being those dark and enticing reds, greens and browns. Thick carpeting, something most rare in this day and age where most households had dirt or tile floors, covered the entire ground, giving Trowa's bare feet the most delightful bath of comfort they'd felt in ages. Gold trim, tracing the walls along the ceiling and floor, caught the gently flickering light of the golden torches that were scattered almost haphazardly through the chamber.
Oh yeah, this was nice. This was really nice.
Closing his eyes, Trowa leaned further into the pillows, letting their feathery softness surround his frame. 'I could get used to this.'
"Master Trowa? Your employer will see you now."
Cracking one green eye lazily open as Jeeves' voice met his ears, the acrobat sighed. 'Always right when I get comfortable...' "Aa. Moving." With a grunt, he got off the couch and meandered towards the servant, who bowed in appreciation and proceeded down the hall, leading the way.
Trowa's eyes still roved as he walked, noting that the walls of the hallway still carried that fabulous trim. 'Wonder if that's real,' he mused to himself even as he started to take note of the portraits that lined the passageway.
All too soon (or just in time, seeing as how the acrobat's fingers were starting to itch with the longing to sample some of the extensive goods that lined the halls), they arrived before a huge oak door. Trowa crossed his arms, tucking his inquisitive fingers into the crooks of his elbows and well away from the expensive, delicate and overly available miniature crystal vases that decorated the table to the doorknob's right, watching as the servant spoke to the plane of wood announcing the arrival of 'the evening's entertainment.'
Trowa arched a brow as a delicate voice replied telling Jeeves to send him in, its tone bored and sharp and bordering so on the line of femininity and masculinity that even the acrobat's trained ears couldn't discern the sexuality of its owner.
He was broke out of his pondering as that huge door was opened and he was gently shoved through the portal into the room beyond.
It took his eyes a few moments to adjust to the darkness that permeated this one particular chamber. Looking around, his heart fell. He'd been expecting extreme extravagance to compliment what he'd seen throughout the rest of the household.
Instead what he saw was a barren chamber sparsely decorated with books, assorted weapons and a small collection of musical instruments. Very, very dull when compared to what he'd been witness to on his journey to this room.
Letting his eyes scan for a few brief moments, he took a quick inventory of the room. Simple bed more resembling a cot than the four poster he was expecting, a desk with a chair and a pile of papers atop of it, a fairly plain wardrobe, an open cabinet with a single scimitar and a few daggers dangling within its confines, a piano littered with papers, a violin laying forgotten upon the floor, a flute resting upon a chair, a lute upside-down against the remarkably undecorated wall. He shivered as the room's cold air caressed his skin and swiftly rubbed his bare arms. 'Blasted sleeveless tunic.'
"Well, are you going to stand there all evening taking inventory of my room, or are you going to do what you were hired to do? I expect to be entertained, rogue."
Trowa nearly jumped out of his skin. Swiftly turning upon his toe, he set eyes upon the person who'd addressed him. 'Damn it! Didn't even hear it approaching! What the hell...'
And he stopped his mental train of thought, staring.
He couldn't discern exactly what was standing before him.
Arching a golden brow, dark blue eyes narrowed, the thin being set a bony hand upon a hip. The moonlight that poured in through the room's solitary (albeit huge, but still solitary) window reflected off paper-white skin, causing the creature to nearly glow in the extreme black darkness of its surrounding. Trowa's gaze slowly roamed over the body before him, traveling over the highly set and perfect cheekbones, the thin lips, the huge eyes, the skinny neck, the tunic clad chest...
"Ahem."
Ripping his gaze back to the person's face, Trowa gulped and bowed. "Allow me to introduce myself. Trowa Barton."
With a light huff the being shrugged. "Fine. Lord VonWinner."
"Any first name?" Trowa asked, his lips turning upwards with a slight smile in the other person's direction. 'Well, at least now I know it's male...'
"As far as you're concerned, thief? Lord."
Trowa blinked. 'Thief...?'
"Don't think I don't know that you were calculating the net worth of my household on your way here. I could see that in those greedy eyes of yours."
Gulping, the acrobat tensed. 'Shit...'
"But I'll forgive that and let you escape this place with your life and your pay if you start doing what I hired you to do. Entertain me."
'Where to begin, where to begin...' Trowa closed his eyes, attempting to get his train of thought back on track, it having been cleanly derailed by the discomfort he was now feeling in this tiny boy's presence.
Huffing Lord VonWinner crossed his arms over his chest and walked over to his chair. Tossing the flute towards the acrobat, he plopped down into the cushions. As Trowa caught the thrown instrument, the young Lord sighed. "I like that instrument. Maybe you can play me something. Hopefully something I haven't heard before."
"Play something?"
"You CAN play the flute, can't you?"
Trowa slowly nodded.
"Then play me something."
Trowa lifted the instrument to his lips.
"And do it while balancing on one foot on this."
The acrobat nearly landed on his face as the cannon ball slammed into his foot.
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Trowa staggered into the tavern, sweat lining his brow and a heavy purse in his right hand. "Be damned if I ever go back in there... pay's hardly worth it," he grunted as he fell into a chair with a sigh upon his lips.
"Ya ho, Tro-kun!"
'Oh please, no...'
Trowa was nearly knocked right out of his chair as a bounding blur of black slapped him across his back, laughing merrily. "Evening, Duo," he grumbled as he straightened himself and scooted himself back into his comfy warm spot in his flattened cushions. 'Not as comfortable as that couch...'
"Where have you been all evening?" another voice sounded from Trowa's left, snorting quietly. "We were waiting for you by the Gates."
"Sorry. Got contracted to do something."
"Something more important than the job we were sent to do?" Prussian blue eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Ah hell, calm yourself down, Heero. It's not like our contractor showed up today, anyway. All we got was his servant saying to return in a week 'cause he needed to finish building his funds to pay us."
Trowa simply shrugged as Duo latched onto his disgruntled warrior friend and attempted to drag him away. Setting his emerald gaze on the armored boy, he sighed. "I couldn't exactly refuse the offer, Heero. It was from House VonWinner."
"Likely excuse."
"It's valid," Trowa grunted.
"What proof do you have?" Heero muttered, crossing his arms over his armored chest.
Trowa waved a waitress over. "What will you gentlemen be having?"
"Same ol' same ol'!" Duo chirped, even before Heero got the opportunity to open his mouth.
"Fine. One mug of Ol' One Eye for the magician, one Dwarven Ale for the dismal warrior over there, and a cider for me." Digging through his pouch, Trowa's thin fingers soon emerged holding a silvery coin that the waitress snatched away with greed.
As she scampered away to fill the order, Duo arched a brow. "Was that what I thought it was?"
"Yep."
Even Heero looked mildly impressed, scratching his chin. "Pray tell, what did you do to earn platinum? Usually you bring us copper and silver at best, acrobat."
"Told you. Entertained the Lord of VonWinner."
"You mean Vincent? I thought he was currently at the Castle with the rest of the high ups of this city," Heero said, arching a brow.
"Not Vincent. Looked to be his son."
Duo grinned, leaning on Trowa's chair's armrest. "Never knew Vincent VonWinner had himself a son."
"Neither did I," Heero said with a nod.
"Hell, none of this town seems to know," Trowa said as he shrugged. "Though why he'd be hidden away is beyond me."
Stopping their conversation for a few moments to accept their ordered beverages, the three adventurers sent the waitress on her way. Sipping their drinks, they resumed staring at one another.
"Anyway, all I did to earn that was entertain him for the evening."
"Kinky. I didn't know you were into same gender lovin' too, Tro-kun."
Trowa sputtered into his cider. "No!" he gasped, nearly slamming his mug into the chair's armrest and atop Duo's head. "I juggled. I played the flute. I ended up balancing on everything from cannon balls to marbles. And the biggest kick he got out of my performance was when I fell off the wine glass he had me doing handstands on and broke my nose."
"I was wondering why you had bandages across your face," Heero cackled, a grin upon his face.
"Bah."
And, with laughter at their now completely red faced friend, the warrior and the magician drank to their hearts' contents, casually beginning to plan and plot exactly what procedures they'd be using to accomplish their assignment in the dreaded City of the Dead, now scheduled to take place some time next week.
Trowa ignored them, focusing instead upon the memories of an evening in a cold room entertaining a young boy with a seemingly colder heart.
tbc...
