I am NOT going to let myself be seduced by Duo Maxwell. I am NOT going to
let myself be seduced by Duo Maxwell. I am going to let myself be seduced
by Duo Maxwell. "Damn!" I cursed aloud as my personal mantra betrayed me.
Duo shot a look over at me and raised an eyebrow.
"Everything okay over there?" He asked, looking amused again.
"Uh, fine." I replied, dork that I was. How could I explain to him my dilemma? Seduce me, seduce me not. He nodded and pointed to a medium sized brick building that was fast approaching. My apartment building.
"Look, we're home." He said.
My thoughts suddenly went in a completely different direction: suspicion. During our brief acquaintanceship, I had never mentioned my address. And yet, not only had he successfully driven me home, he had also shown up at my apartment earlier this afternoon with no directions from me. "Hey, wait a second!" I said fixing him with a glare. "How do you know where I live?"
His smile got crafty. "I have my ways." He said, mysteriously.
I chewed on that as he pulled into the smallish parking lot behind the building and nosed into a spot by the dumpster, all the good spaces having been taken. Before I could get out, he was there, opening my car door and lending me a hand. No one had ever done that for me before and I was a little surprised. I felt a little tingle of electricity as I took his hand. I looked up at him. Had he felt it, too? His face was pleasant, but masked. He opened the front door for me, too. More points in his favor. I think my resistance to him was now solely based on the fact that I had last shaved my legs about a month ago. I've been depressed, okay?
We waited for the elevator in silence and I took the time to study him surreptitiously out of the corner of my eye. He was still decked out in all black. Black jeans, the sweater from earlier this afternoon had been replaced with a t-shirt that stretched quite nicely over his chest, black boots, black leather jacket. Good God, did he have any idea how mouth- wateringly sexy he was? I subtly checked my mouth for drool as we got onto the elevator and noticed him grinning at me. Crap! Why did I always manage to make a complete moron out of myself around him?
I was stewing on this when we got to my apartment. I fished around in my pockets until I found my keys and then opened the door. I paused, thinking of all the junk lying around. Oh sure, my oven was clean, but the rest of my apartment.
Duo was inside before I could warn him. He flicked on the lights and stood in the middle of the room, looking around. "So this is where it lives." He said, looking at me with a smile. I took off my jacket and threw it at him, he caught it deftly and draped it on the couch. He studied the framed prints on my wall before moving to my bookshelf. He ran his finger over the spines as he read the titles. I suddenly felt very exposed.
"Do you um.want something to drink?" I asked, hoping to distract him. He pulled out a book and studied the cover.
"After the Funeral." He said, reading the title and flipping through it. Of all the books.he chose that one. It was about what happened to the bodies of famous people after they died. It was quite cool, actually. But really now, I didn't need Duo Maxwell thinking I was a ghoul.
"Drink?" I asked again, almost shrilly. He looked up at me and shook his head.
"No thanks, babe." He said and turned his attention back to the book. "Cool." He muttered to himself. "I didn't know you could do that with a human head."
I ignored him and went into my small kitchen to get myself a beer. It took me a few minutes to wrestle the twist cap off, and when I came back out, he was gone. There was a suspicious rectangle of light in the vicinity of my bedroom, though. My bedroom. I nearly shrieked. There was definitely underwear on the floor in there. I ran over there and resisted the urge to tackle him and drag him out of there. Then again.Duo Maxwell, in my bedroom.
He was looking at framed photos I had on my dresser. "Is this your mom?" He asked, picking one up and looked closer at it.
I scooted up behind him and looked. "Yeah." I replied. It was a photo of my parents from their thirtieth wedding anniversary party last year. My mom was laughing so hard, tears were in her eyes and my dad was hovering in the back, smirking. I had forgotten the exact punch line of the joke he had told, but it had almost given my mom a seizure.
"You look just like her." He observed.
"So I've been told." I said, kicking a pair of underwear under my bed while his attention was diverted.
He put the picture back on the dresser, and turned to regard me curiously. "You're not what you seem to be, Hilde." He observed.
I blinked. "Huh?" I asked, stupidly.
He moved closer to me and I swear I could feel his body heat. Tiny little goose bumps broke out all over my arms.
"You act one way, sort of silly and bubbly.but then, that's not really you." He had somehow backed me up against a wall. My knees were threatening to give out on me as he hovered over me. His eyes were dark purple, intense.
"Wh.what do you mean?" I manage to ask.
A card flashed into his right hand. I looked at it. Heero Yuy's card. Oh shit.
The words came tumbling out of my mouth, fast and desperate sounding. "They came over today, before you got here. They wanted to know if you had told me anything about." I frowned, trying to remember the name. "It was a weird name.the same one they asked you about at lunch."
"Khushrenada." He supplied.
"Right. They wanted to know if you had told me anything. I said that we'd just met." I was practically babbling. I hadn't done anything wrong, but I still felt the need to explain myself. "The creepy cop, Heero, he asked me to call him if you told me anything. I asked him why and then Quatre told me that they were trying to catch this guy and that you probably knew more than they did." Duo's finger came to rest on my lips, effectively silencing me.
"What I want to know is, if you said yes." He said, leaning close to me. His breath brushed against my cheek.
I shook my head, talking was quite beyond me at the moment.
He looked at me for quite a long while, still close enough to kiss me, if he felt like it. I had the unnerving thought that those intense purple eyes were looking right through me.
Finally, he drew away. "I believe you. But next time, babe, if one of those guys tries to talk to you, tell me, okay?"
I nodded, wondering why I was compelled to choose his side over theirs. Maybe it was because he was sexier, although Heero and Quatre were no slouches in the looks department. I blinked. God, I was shallow.
Duo walked out of my bedroom and back to the living room. "Where's your TV?" he called, as though the last few minutes had never happened.
I scurried into the living room. "I had to pay the rent." I said, hands on my hips, daring him to say something.
He regarded me seriously for a moment and then shrugged. "Well, there are other things we can do to stay awake." He said, looking at me with a wicked little smile. Oh, I was going to collapse again.
"Like what?" I finally managed.
"Well." He stretched the word out, giving it all sorts of possibilities.
I waited, barely able to breathe, a knot forming in my belly.
"There's always cards. Do you know how to play Gin Rummy?"
I very nearly fell over from shock. Gin rummy? I thought the man was going to jump my bones! I glared at him and he gave me a sunny, innocent look reminiscent of Quatre. "I'll go find my deck." I muttered. Jerk.
A/N: There really is a book called 'After the Funeral'. I own it, it's a cool read, but I wouldn't recommend it to the squeamish.
"Everything okay over there?" He asked, looking amused again.
"Uh, fine." I replied, dork that I was. How could I explain to him my dilemma? Seduce me, seduce me not. He nodded and pointed to a medium sized brick building that was fast approaching. My apartment building.
"Look, we're home." He said.
My thoughts suddenly went in a completely different direction: suspicion. During our brief acquaintanceship, I had never mentioned my address. And yet, not only had he successfully driven me home, he had also shown up at my apartment earlier this afternoon with no directions from me. "Hey, wait a second!" I said fixing him with a glare. "How do you know where I live?"
His smile got crafty. "I have my ways." He said, mysteriously.
I chewed on that as he pulled into the smallish parking lot behind the building and nosed into a spot by the dumpster, all the good spaces having been taken. Before I could get out, he was there, opening my car door and lending me a hand. No one had ever done that for me before and I was a little surprised. I felt a little tingle of electricity as I took his hand. I looked up at him. Had he felt it, too? His face was pleasant, but masked. He opened the front door for me, too. More points in his favor. I think my resistance to him was now solely based on the fact that I had last shaved my legs about a month ago. I've been depressed, okay?
We waited for the elevator in silence and I took the time to study him surreptitiously out of the corner of my eye. He was still decked out in all black. Black jeans, the sweater from earlier this afternoon had been replaced with a t-shirt that stretched quite nicely over his chest, black boots, black leather jacket. Good God, did he have any idea how mouth- wateringly sexy he was? I subtly checked my mouth for drool as we got onto the elevator and noticed him grinning at me. Crap! Why did I always manage to make a complete moron out of myself around him?
I was stewing on this when we got to my apartment. I fished around in my pockets until I found my keys and then opened the door. I paused, thinking of all the junk lying around. Oh sure, my oven was clean, but the rest of my apartment.
Duo was inside before I could warn him. He flicked on the lights and stood in the middle of the room, looking around. "So this is where it lives." He said, looking at me with a smile. I took off my jacket and threw it at him, he caught it deftly and draped it on the couch. He studied the framed prints on my wall before moving to my bookshelf. He ran his finger over the spines as he read the titles. I suddenly felt very exposed.
"Do you um.want something to drink?" I asked, hoping to distract him. He pulled out a book and studied the cover.
"After the Funeral." He said, reading the title and flipping through it. Of all the books.he chose that one. It was about what happened to the bodies of famous people after they died. It was quite cool, actually. But really now, I didn't need Duo Maxwell thinking I was a ghoul.
"Drink?" I asked again, almost shrilly. He looked up at me and shook his head.
"No thanks, babe." He said and turned his attention back to the book. "Cool." He muttered to himself. "I didn't know you could do that with a human head."
I ignored him and went into my small kitchen to get myself a beer. It took me a few minutes to wrestle the twist cap off, and when I came back out, he was gone. There was a suspicious rectangle of light in the vicinity of my bedroom, though. My bedroom. I nearly shrieked. There was definitely underwear on the floor in there. I ran over there and resisted the urge to tackle him and drag him out of there. Then again.Duo Maxwell, in my bedroom.
He was looking at framed photos I had on my dresser. "Is this your mom?" He asked, picking one up and looked closer at it.
I scooted up behind him and looked. "Yeah." I replied. It was a photo of my parents from their thirtieth wedding anniversary party last year. My mom was laughing so hard, tears were in her eyes and my dad was hovering in the back, smirking. I had forgotten the exact punch line of the joke he had told, but it had almost given my mom a seizure.
"You look just like her." He observed.
"So I've been told." I said, kicking a pair of underwear under my bed while his attention was diverted.
He put the picture back on the dresser, and turned to regard me curiously. "You're not what you seem to be, Hilde." He observed.
I blinked. "Huh?" I asked, stupidly.
He moved closer to me and I swear I could feel his body heat. Tiny little goose bumps broke out all over my arms.
"You act one way, sort of silly and bubbly.but then, that's not really you." He had somehow backed me up against a wall. My knees were threatening to give out on me as he hovered over me. His eyes were dark purple, intense.
"Wh.what do you mean?" I manage to ask.
A card flashed into his right hand. I looked at it. Heero Yuy's card. Oh shit.
The words came tumbling out of my mouth, fast and desperate sounding. "They came over today, before you got here. They wanted to know if you had told me anything about." I frowned, trying to remember the name. "It was a weird name.the same one they asked you about at lunch."
"Khushrenada." He supplied.
"Right. They wanted to know if you had told me anything. I said that we'd just met." I was practically babbling. I hadn't done anything wrong, but I still felt the need to explain myself. "The creepy cop, Heero, he asked me to call him if you told me anything. I asked him why and then Quatre told me that they were trying to catch this guy and that you probably knew more than they did." Duo's finger came to rest on my lips, effectively silencing me.
"What I want to know is, if you said yes." He said, leaning close to me. His breath brushed against my cheek.
I shook my head, talking was quite beyond me at the moment.
He looked at me for quite a long while, still close enough to kiss me, if he felt like it. I had the unnerving thought that those intense purple eyes were looking right through me.
Finally, he drew away. "I believe you. But next time, babe, if one of those guys tries to talk to you, tell me, okay?"
I nodded, wondering why I was compelled to choose his side over theirs. Maybe it was because he was sexier, although Heero and Quatre were no slouches in the looks department. I blinked. God, I was shallow.
Duo walked out of my bedroom and back to the living room. "Where's your TV?" he called, as though the last few minutes had never happened.
I scurried into the living room. "I had to pay the rent." I said, hands on my hips, daring him to say something.
He regarded me seriously for a moment and then shrugged. "Well, there are other things we can do to stay awake." He said, looking at me with a wicked little smile. Oh, I was going to collapse again.
"Like what?" I finally managed.
"Well." He stretched the word out, giving it all sorts of possibilities.
I waited, barely able to breathe, a knot forming in my belly.
"There's always cards. Do you know how to play Gin Rummy?"
I very nearly fell over from shock. Gin rummy? I thought the man was going to jump my bones! I glared at him and he gave me a sunny, innocent look reminiscent of Quatre. "I'll go find my deck." I muttered. Jerk.
A/N: There really is a book called 'After the Funeral'. I own it, it's a cool read, but I wouldn't recommend it to the squeamish.