Author: Keiran
Title: Freckled 1/1
Rating: 18+.
Warnings: implied relationship between a teenager and his legal guardian, m/m.
Pairing: 1+2
Word Count: 542
Genre: drabble, romance.
Disclaimer: About as mine as Alpha Centauri. That is to say, not at all.
Notes: coughs My kinky side comes to life. Rating is only because of what the warnings say – while this ficlet is technically speaking general and completely innocent in nature, I'd rather not have kids reading it. Thank you.
Thank you Shenlong Deb for betaing, and doing it so quickly.
xxxXXXxxx
Why is it that the forbidden fruit is never unappealing, unpalatable, or just plain ugly? Why must it be so… tempting? Quatre shook his head, trying to clear it of unwanted images. Of course he could just dismiss the whole notion as the ridiculous idea it was, but he had that sinking feeling that he was not mistaken. At least, not by much.
There it was again. Heero threw a casual glance over his novel at the group of teenagers sitting in a circle on the grass, playing some variation of truth and dare. Trying to look inconspicuous, the blond followed his gaze. Sure enough, it stopped at the longhaired boy. Once again Quatre tried to force the idea out of his head. Heero was pushing forty, not that he looked it, and Duo was going on seventeen, as far as he could tell. For heaven's sake, the blue-eyed man had been the teenager's legal guardian for over ten years now!
Plenty of time for this to develop, a side of his mind piped in; the cynical, nasty side he hated to hear from and hated to know that it was usually right.
There goes that little glance again.
He had to wonder, was there anything more than those looks, which everyone would dismiss as mere checkups. Of course, not everyone had a PhD in psychology and a long, successful career as a relationship counsellor. Quatre prided himself on being able to tell whether there was anything at all between two people, or was it just duty or something equally nonsensical holding the marriage together. The look in Heero's blue optical units spoke clearly enough that this particular pair of eyes was designated only for the braided teenager.
"Oi, Heero!" both men paused and looked up. Duo was standing directly before them, a wide smile on his face. He looked for all intents and purposes as if he actually enjoyed springtime company picnics. "Two of the guys got a hold of a basketball and I bet them you and me can beat them two on two. Pretty please, can we play?" he said, fluttering his eyelashes for a dramatic effect.
"In a moment," the man answered gruffly, putting his book down.
Quatre watched as Heero smirked slightly, grabbed the youth's elbow and sat him on a bench next to himself. He watched as the man fished a tube of suntan lotion from his bag and applied it to Duo's nose carefully. The blond found that if he squinted just so, he could make out freckles on that cheerful face, but only barely.
He sat there, watching his friend spread the white lotion on his charge's face with delicate, yet precise movements, wondering all the while. It might have been that he was simply biased, having seen a little too much of relationships in various stages, but the way Heero touched Duo's face was rather unmistakable, and it was not the kind of sight he would expect in his present setting.
Quatre sighed heavily. On some level, this intimacy disturbed him – of course Duo was no child, statuary rape was out of question, but he had to wonder. Mainly whether there was anything to wonder about, besides the obvious crush on Heero's part.
END.
A few people asked for a sequel. Anyone willing?
