Tori: Hmph.

As the evening waned, so did my focus. I can recall only in a haze now the conversations and the laughter and the burden of sleep weighing heavier and heavier on everyone until there was an almost unanimous decision to retreat to the bedrooms. The hour did not strike me as particularly late, however I could not be sure as there were few ways of telling the time in that house, none of which we available to me.

I tried my best to pad down the cramped staircase silently, not wanting to wake the pilots who had retired much earlier. Unfortunately, for all my care, I was unable to avoid waking one person. Whether it was due to the advantage my half-lidded eyes had given him, or to the general cat-like stealth nature had afforded him, Duo managed to make himself appear immediately in front of me, completely undetected until his Cheshire grin exposed a set of white teeth. I gasped and my hand went to my heart.

"Duo, Jesus…"

"Sorry, Cas… Where's Hilde?"

It dawned on me that Hilde was not behind me on the stairs. My eyes traced the path by which I had descended and he followed my gaze.

"Ah…" Duo nodded. This reaction confused me. The braided boy looked up, and for a moment his eyebrows arched. Another grin tore across his lips making his shadowed face appear almost demonic. "Sorry… Hilde probably won't be joining you tonight."

I caught his drift. "Heero and-"

"No… No. Sometimes Wu Fei, but not Heero." A flashback to Heero and Duo snuggled comfortable on the couch. No, not Heero… "If it feels good, do it. 'slong as nobody's getting hurt, it's all in good fun."

I nodded. I was used to such promiscuity at high school. Duo shrugged it off. He looked down the short hallway, then approached Heero and Wu Fei's door. "I suppose I'll be sleeping in here tonight then." He tried the knob. Locked. That's right…Heero had split from the group a earlier as the need for sleep had hit him a bit harder and he drifted off on the sofa. "Well, I guess that puts me out of a bed if Tro's in there," he frowned and kicked towards his and Duet's bedroom door. "Back to the couch!" He turned on his heel and started around the corner.

"Duo," I whispered as loudly as I could. He stopped, but didn't turn. "Just sleep in Hilde's bed."

"That's alright, I'll do fine on the couch."

I huffed in my most matronly fashion. "Now Duo, you wouldn't be inconveniencing anyone and you certainly need a good night's sleep on a proper bed after the day you've had."

Duo sighed and his shoulders sagged a bit. "Are you sure you're cool with it? There's no lock on the half-room door." He turned to face me, grinning again. "You never know… I could be some twisted pervert."

"So could I…" I shot back playfully, giving him a wink then turning my back to him and faced the door in order to prevent any further protest.

Suddenly nervous as I felt Duo's eyes on my back, I bustled in the door and found myself in absolute darkness. He stepped in behind me and, in that sightless, silent moment I heard him exhale. It sent a shiver down my spine, and I whirled as he casually flicked on the lights, catching me with a ridiculously startled expression on my face.

"Cas?" I blinked a few times, my eyes adjusting. In those few blurry flashed between the brightness of the room and the reddish shadows of my eyelids, I heard his ease the door shut. "You okay there?"

"Fine," I replied and commenced rubbing my eyes in a further attempt to both cover my foolish reaction and regain my vision. When I finished and straightened up, Duo was sitting on the corner of the bed, removing his socks. He was staring into the infinite abyss just beyond his toes and once again possessed the air of a weary man versus that of a tired adolescent.

"So…" he began, evidencing an obvious effort and unwillingness to lift his gaze and focus it on my face.

I shook myself from my own trance and glanced at the floor, then back at him. "Sorry! Sorry… Spaced for a minute there," I chuckled halfheartedly. "I'll let you get some rest." But I was fidgety and far from sleeping, and not so eager to depart Duo's company. The situation was completely unlike any I've ever been involved in, just like most of the events of the day, and I was soaking up every detail of it. I could not stop the thoughts racing through my mind and they ranged from visions of Duo calmly producing a gun and murdering me to fantasies of a stealthy night visit where his hands would slip under my blankets and he would seduce me.

In reality, I was disappointed when he replied, "Oh…No, I didn't mean to insinuate…but yeah, I'm bushed." With that, he flopped back onto the bed and childishly struggled and wiggled out of his shirt in a display obviously meant for my amusement.

"Goodnight," I smiled and padded to the door of my compartment.

"'Night!" he called after me as I slipped inside the small room and eased the door closed behind myself.

Tori: Two years later…a completely new chapter of Civilian for your reading pleasure! XD