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"Hey! Would you two stop gossiping about our cute rear ends and help us?" Duo yelled from the kitchen. Hilde and I laughed and picked ourselves up off the couch to lend a helping hand.
Somehow, in a way that only men are capable of, they had gotten a glass stuck in the sink drain and had, by use of logic only available to said men, decided that filling the sink with soapy water would resolve the problem.
"Does this happen often…?" I smirked and nudged Hilde with my elbow as we rolled up our sleeves.
"It's never exactly the same thing, but it's always in the same vein of ignorance," she replied. Behind her, Duo forced what he believed to be an innocent-looking smile and shrugged sheepishly, holding his palms up.
"Ain't got a clue what she's talkin' about…"
"I'm almost positive you don't, Maxwell," Wu Fei snubbed.
"Ah-ah! Normally I'd allow that, Fei, but since you're at least party responsible for this random act of idiocy, it's just not fair."
The Chinese boy opened his mouth to reply, but Hilde cut him off.
"Think, Wu Fei. If the sentence you're about to use contains the word 'woman, justice, idiot, Maxwell, or katana'…we've heard it before and there's really no sense wasting your breath."
He promptly shut his mouth, crossed his arms and "hmph!"-ed goodnaturedly.
"I'll get the glass," I volunteered and rolled up my sleeves. Before anyone could reply, I reached into the sink, grabbed the rim of the glass, and wriggled it free from the drain hole with a muffled 'thunk'. Hilde and the boys clapped.
"Happens all the time at the restaurant," I explained and placed the soapy item on the counter.
Trowa grabbed a towel and wiped up some of the water that had sloshed out of the sink during their little adventure. Duo took up the broom leaning against the refrigerator and tapped the green-eyed boy on the rear with the bristled end. "C'mon. Move out. Let Shinigami finish the chores."
"Sure thing," Trowa smirked and tossed him the dishrag. It flopped onto Duo's shoulder.
"Nice throw." The braided boy leaned his broom against the stove, snatched the towel up and began twisting it. "You all better run..." he warned with a mischievous smirk. Needless to say, we quickly cleared the kitchen, but not before Duo avenged the damp spot on his t-shirt.
After that, the evening was relatively uneventful. Quatre had disappeared somewhere, and I was willing to bet he was with Duet, but I wasn't about to make the mistake of bringing that up again. Trowa and Wu Fei had gone upstairs and every once in a while I caught the sounds of exaggerated bragging over videogames or televised sports or whatever. It amused me since they had both seemed so serious.
Around nine Hilde decided to take a shower, promising me a turn after she was done. She said the water would be much warmer after the water heater was allowed to warm up a bit, so I protested. Her riposte involved an exhausted sign, so I let it drop and thanked her instead.
I was left alone sitting on the floor in front of the TV, back against the couch,0 watching re-runs of a strangely entertaining interior decorating show with Duo and Heero. (That should have been half a hint right there.) I'd been completely absorbed in my own thoughts for a while but slowly I refocused on the show and realized Duo's conversation (I'm almost tempted to call it mindless chatter) had ceased. Without trying to be at all obvious, I sneaked a peek over my shoulder at them.
Heero had his arm around Duo's waist and his cheek rested on the top of Duo's head. They both had their eyes closed. I realized a moment later that they were sleeping.
I'm ashamed to admit that I was slightly repulsed when I saw them then. Very ashamed. I noticed how sad they both looked. They were really holding each other. Slowly, the feeling ebbed. It was a friendly thing…A brotherly thing… There was absolutely nothing sexual about it…right?
Over the hum of the television a door opened and the steady sound of the running water in the shower was amplified. The two boys started awake. Heero noticed as I quickly looked away and pulled his arm back from behind Duo.
Hilde emerged from the back hallway in a light bathrobe, toweling off her short black hair. She shimmed it down the back of her head and let is rest on her thin shoulders. "It's all yours, Cassie! C'mere and I'll show you where everything is."
I rose and followed her back to the bathroom without a single glance at the boys on the couch. I felt too guilty to look back.
The bathroom was still a little hazy from the steam. Hilde left the door wide open to let it cool down a little. She tapped the cabinet door under the sink with a bare foot. "This is where we keep the extra toilet paper and tissues and stuff. The girly stuff is in here too; tampons and razors and whatnot. There are clean towels on top of the hamper. You can just throw your dirty clothes in there as well. One of us washes everything every two days. It'd probably be a good idea to keep all your bath stuff together, too. That said… here!" Hilde grabbed a clear plastic purse off the sink counter. "It's got all the essentials…! Toothbrush, comb, loofa, soap, and some liiiiittle bottles of shampoo and conditioner. You really don't need your own of the last two, but keep in mind, you're living with the shampoo nazis now."
My thoughts immediately turned to Duo with his long plait. Then Duo and Heero on the couch. Then the shame.
"Thank you!" I beamed and accepted the bag gratefully.
"You're welcome. Heh. Usually we could use the upstairs bathroom, but it's been turned into Heero's personal workshop for the time being. When he's all cleared out we should be able to go in. We don't usually share a bathroom with the guys, and they were decent enough to give us the nice one," she explained.
I didn't really have a reply to that, so I smiled and nodded.
"Oops! Sorry! I'll go now!"
She smiled again and backed out the door, shutting it behind her. I leaned down and turned the lock, just to be safe.
As I undressed, I turned over in my mind everything she had said. She had used 'we', which I assumed to be her and Duet. If that was true, I felt a little safer. The boys really did have some respect for a girl's privacy. Everything suggested morals and ethics and spotless hygiene. I was impressed. I could name quite a few old classmates living on estates who took care of themselves less.
I stepped into the shower.
So far, these rebels had more than measured up to the average human standards of life. They had dignity and morals and positive attitudes… I think it was about then that I realized I preferred this select group of people over any other human beings outside my family.
Even Jake? Sorry, I had to ask myself. Yes, even Jake. He's become nothing more than a shadow of a memory. It hadn't even been a whole day…and I've already forgotten what life outside the group was like, I mused as I combed my fingers through my long, coarse hair, still slightly crimped for last week's cornrows.
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Tori: I feel like saying something meaningful in this space today, so I think I'll give some quick stats on Cassie! ^__^
Name: Cassie
Age: 18
Sex: Female
Ethnicity: African-American
Family: Mother (46), Father (48), Brother (20), Brother (8) on Colony L3X18734
Personality: Friendly, but a little suspicious. Unused to frequent displays of compassion, she rarely knows how to react, but she's quickly learning to trust and eventually love the radical Gundam team.
Combat Abilities: None
Military Status: Civilian Rebel