Together part 6

Paz Enai

What does Enai like? When the quarter is over! HEADACHE ABATE! (soon) Then it shall be a pause, seeing as I won a trip to disney with my family... then we shall see what the new quarter brings as I am to design Tora-con logos and doodles. ONWARD with story!

Part 6

Wufei had been sitting at the small desk for an hour and a half now and not a damned thing was getting done, he knew there was not much to do, he knew that if only he could get started that he would finish in under an hour. Of course he could, if he could. He was thinking back to the lady at the café, then to Duo at his apartment.

Why did I have to come here? Why couldn't I have waited a few more hours? Duo would have called he would have apologized, both of us would have, and everything would have been fine, really, it would have. But no, here I am, on L2 - with Duo. In the same sector - as Duo. Only two blocks away - from Duo.

Cursing himself inwardly for about the ninth time that hour he tried once again to do his work. About the last thing he wanted about now was to hear that voice. If that man was to come over or call or anything, Wufei would just burst, he really would.

"I. Am. Not. Gay. I'm not fond of gaiety, and I don't need someone, much less a guy. A woman would at least be… more, if not by much, subservient. And…" He tried to drown the thought by imagining millions of ways to kill Duo, it was fun, but it only made him realize how much more the thought was bothering him, and how much more it could be true. "Only the weak would fret over such a thing. I am not weak. Only the weak are gay. I am not gay." He pointed out to himself, though the argument was none to convincing in his eyes. He tried to pretend that it was anyway, though.

Biiiing! The sound of the hotels crap-of-a-phone rang.

"Duo, if that is you… Hang up now while you have the chance!" He yelled at the phone and glared at it the same way he had at his tea earlier.

Biiiing!

"Bao zu, Maxwell."

Biiiin-click

Staring at it in wonderment Wufei turned back to his work. The phone didn't ring again for the rest of the night.

Duo hung up the phone and stared at his hand on it for a while.

"I know you were there, Wufei. Why didn't you want to pick up? Damn…"

Duo mused out loud as he rubbed his chest. He could have sworn someone had just hurled a lance through his chest and that he had barely come out of it alive.

Turning back to the kitchenette that was behind him he wondered if he should actually try to cook something without Hilde around, he had bought some regular food and a few TV dinners, but not much. He still had the ever-present hope that Hilde would be fine the next day and come home and be able to cook meals. He knew it wouldn't happen, but he figured it was a good hope to try and hold onto, at least a little.

Rummaging through his grocery bag and put stuff where he thought Hilde had told him they belonged, she usually shopped, so he always forgot.

Staring at one of the frozen dinners he decided that he just wouldn't eat. Sure it was food, but it wasn't the same as a regular cooked meal and he'd been eating them for over two weeks now, almost. TV dinners for lunch and dinner for 2 weeks. That was too ridiculous for him to think about for long and he just put them in the freezer and walked into the sitting room, or as Hilde called it, the living room.

The TV stayed off, as it usually did when he was the only one home, and he stared at the blank screen as if it had all the answers to the questions that were radiating from his eyes, readable to anyone who cared to look hard enough to see them.

"I don't feel great... It's been a long day I guess I should try to sleep." He said and got up, not expecting much sleep to be in his near future.

Wufei finally got his report finished and closed the envelope and put it away in his briefcase. Looking at his watch, already 2 am, he decided that it would be best to wait a few hours before calling Sally to let her know he was done and try to worm an earlier flight out of her, though he knew it would not work to his liking. He desperately wanted to call now, but for some reason, even when there wasn't much work to do, the office got incredibly hectic at this time of day.

Sighing inwardly he relocated himself to the crappy bed, everything on this colony had turned crappy in his eyes since he had gotten here. Not at first, granted, just since he left Duo's place and that coffee shop. Flopping onto his back still wearing his office shirt, the tie had been removed and several more buttons undone in the course of his attempting to work, he tried to think of ways that might actually convince Sally to send him home. He couldn't think of anything she would believe though.

If that idiot thinks he can lead me by my hand I will chop it off. I can already see him plotting against me, American bastard… Wufei ranted to himself.

Without realizing it, he had nodded off and managed to have the most bazaar dream. He woke up to the phone ringing. Looking at the clock as he complained to himself that it was rude to call extremely early in the morning he realized that it was actually already 1030.

"Aa, the injustice of Jet-lag." He said to himself as he picked up the phone, his dream coming back to mind.

"Yo-" started the familiar voice, but Wufei was in his dream again, a blush crossed his face and without realizing it he shouted out.

"DAMMIT MAXWELL! I'M NOT A FUCKING WOMAN!"

The other end of the phone was silent. Wufei suddenly realizing that it was. in fact, Maxwell on the other side of the phone fell silent as well. Hoping the other thought he meant that he was not a woman in that calling at all hours was not acceptable, he tried to speak again, voice much quieter than usual, his blush now across his face and on the back of his neck he rejoiced in that at least the other couldn't see him.

"Sorry Maxwell, but I'm still suffering Jet Lag. Eh, what was it that you wanted?"

Duo made a coughing noise on the other end of the line and Wufei immediately assumed he was trying not to laugh, Wufei had never snapped like that before in front of any of the others and he was positive Duo was getting a fair kick out of it. Finally he spoke.

"Ehm, I just ah, heh, wanted to know if you wanted me to show you around the colony? I assume you need to eat sometime, right? I can show you where the grocery store is and some nice, as well as cheap, diners are. Trust me, cheep in some places gets better food than expensive."

Wufei could almost see Duo's crooked smile and cursed his ancestors under his breath, while praising the manager of the hotel for not installing vid-phones in the hotel rooms. Shortly agreeing and deciding where to meet, Duo was to come and 'pick up' Wufei at the hotel, they hung up. Wufei felt odd that Duo had used those specific words and was intensely hoping that the man was not hitting on him, even though as of yet had no proof on the other being gay.

His mind wandered back to the dream and his blush came back. Strange where your mind goes when you sleep, though Wufei was definitely a man, and he was happy that was true. His only major concern was that in this day and age men could marry men, and even though in the dream he was a woman he still feared the possibility.

Walking with more of a skip than usual Duo went to the shop briefly before walking on his way to the hotel, Wufei had given him the room number and all. Duo knew that he had only suggested to pick-up Wufei there because he wanted to know where he was staying, but Wufei seemed to not have noticed, or at least not care. Jeff met Duo as he entered and walked up to him.

"Duo, take the week off. I'll let you have half pay, but take off, trust me, you need it, too much stress isn't good and you're still young, I don't wan it to get to you too soon. But if a week is not enough I'll let you take off longer, just that I can't pay you for that time."

"Uhh, wow... I was actually going to ask for today off… but I guess that works as well… Uhm…"

"Go, have fun with your friend while he's here. I know how you feel and all about all that's been going on and I know it's a lot to deal with so try to relax at least a little while you can. And don't worry, I'm still the only one who knows." He finished concluding with a nod that meant he hadn't told a soul, not even an alley cat, what Duo had told him. Duo just nodded and then walked to Wufei's hotel.

Knocking hard on the door once he waited for the other man to open the door and waved when he saw something obscure the peek-hole. He laughed at the fact that no matter how much technology you have there is still no better way to see what was on the other side of a door than to poke a hole through it. The door opened and he looked, shockingly, at a casually dressed Wufei. Not even any of that traditional Chinese garb he had worn during the war. He had on a pair of khaki cargo pants, baggy none the less, and a faded blue tee shirt, the kind that was more tight than loose and would be sold at any big name clothes store, but the faded characters were in Chinese. He had probably gotten it at Gap-China or something. Duo liked being able to see a little more of Wufei's flesh than what his white coat had allowed back during the war, or the spacesuits. He always, well since the war, had wanted to see a Wufei in just that blue tank-top that he had once or twice seen him wear over the comm.-link in the suits. This was, however, just as nice, it fit him well. And although he made it look like he wasn't eyeing the other down, he did take in the bit of eye candy and stored it away for future reference.

"I see you're all ready!" Duo chimed as he noticed the others hair was dripping. A shower too, gee man, you gave me a lot to work from today, he chuckled inwardly. "What's the occasion man? Going on a date?"

Wufei grimaced slightly at first, but replied with a sharp grin, "I thought you said it was a date."

Duo's grin spread wider.

"Please do tell me, Duo, that there is no more to this colony than the hospital, your apartment, and my hotel?" he inquired as he raised an eyebrow as if wondering why the other was being so quiet.

"Of course not, there are far better places than any of those," he said, amazingly his smile managed to get a bit wider and Wufei wondered how it was physically possible to do so.

Wufei quickly, but intensely, took in what it was that Duo was wearing, not hiding the fact hat he had done so at all, after all, he wasn't eying Duo, merely looking at his dress. "Why all of the dark colors Duo?"

"Who me?" Duo said as he looked down to his outfit, "Suites me, don'cha think?" He said and stuffed a hand in the most-definitely Goth-Faszion black and red pants. They had black and red and chain straps crisscrossing in every which way on them. His shirt was a net shirt and was over a black and red striped tank-top.

"It's … interesting." Wufei said, not sure if he liked the look or despised it. It was one of the two. Perhaps Duo was right and it did suit him. "It looks uncomfortable… and heavy"

Once again Duo looked down, more to the pants this time, "The pants weigh like, 3 pounds or something, with all the chain and fabric, but that's why they have a belt, I guess" He said an pointed to the spiked chain that acted as a belt, Wufei quickly looked away from the belt.

DO NOT LOOK THERE, he yelled at himself. Of course Duo was the kind of idiot who would point to the part of the belt below his navel…well below his navel. Wufei had noticed that the pants were riding rather low, despite the belt. He assumed that Duo liked them there and tried to ignore it. He felt a slight blush as he recalled the dream again and scowled.

Duo, seeming to take the scowl as a sign to stop pointing before Wufei killed him, stepped back and instead used his hand to point to the stairs at the end of the hall. "Shall we go?" He said sounding somewhat worried; he must have assumed he had offended Wufei. If only he knew that Wufei was actually trying to ignore the homosexuality he wasn't sure he had, and that that was the actual reason for his blushing, and not because he was offended.

Sighing inwardly Wufei started for the stairs and Duo started walking as Wufei passed him.

"As soon as we get out side I'll show you around." Duo stated and Wufei merely nodded.

Duo was quite pleased, he had managed to show Wufei all the important places in the colony sector before noon. They had only had a quick bite earlier so Duo was par for a larger meal, seeing as he hadn't eaten last night, even though he had eaten more for his 'quick bite' than Wufei had.

Wufei seemed almost inapproachable the entire day and Duo wasn't sure what was the matter, so he decided that sitting down for lunch and talking would be a good idea, he had already told Wufei that he had been put on necessary-leave-of-work by Jeff. He wasn't sure if he understood the others reaction to that. He had seemed as aggravated as he had been pleased by the information, or at least that's what Duo thought he saw in the others dark, mysterious and enchantingly beautiful eyes.

Letting out an exaggerated sigh Duo contemplated where to eat. Deciding that it would be best for his 'guest' to decide he spun to face him mid-pace.

"Fei, what do you like to eat? I'll eat just about anything so I'll leave it up to you, since it's your first time here and all."

Wufei looked at him a moment and then responded, "What did you call me? Fe-i?"

Puzzled, and showing it on his face, Duo replied, "Yeah, Fei. Like, if you took off the 'Wu' part of your name. I mean 'Wu' sounds cool too, I guess, but... Fei, I don't know. Why?"

Wufei shrugged, "My name's not long to begin with, I've never had a nickname before."

"Really? Weird, I've had lots, and my names only three letters long!" this merited an eyebrow raise from the other man and Duo smiled "No really I have!"

"Like what, I can't imagine that there were all that many."

"Ive been called Du, Do-pronounced d oh- 'D.U.', uhmm. Well I've been addressed as 'stupid' but I don't think that counts," Duo rambled and started to walk, " I've been called 'D-U oh 3'... don't ask though, you don't want to know. I also have a bunch for my last name, but not as many. Like Max, or Mah, or whatever. Oh, I've also been called DuoM, DM…. there are a lot, amazingly. Maybe it's just an American thing, huh?" he asked to no one in particular.

Wufei just nodded.

Something about Duo rambling was intoxicating, he was talking about nothing important, but how he spoke told so much of who he was, how he behaved. While they sat across from each other at the small diner, Wufei found himself listening to the words not to hear only what it was that was being said, but to find how each action of Duo's voice, hand motions and facial expressions fit into who he was. He was an optimist, he liked having fun and, apparently, hated seeing people suffer. Wufei gathered that the war must have been harsh on him. But to be this overly optimistic when Hilde was severely ill meant that Duo had faced much worse. Wufei gathered that he must have had a terrible childhood and presumed that, in Duo's eyes, things weren't as bad as they could be.

Raising his eyebrow to something Duo had said about 'stereotypical clothes' he noted too that he was an immense rebel. No wonder he was a pilot in the biggest war known to mankind. A veteran… hard to think of it that way, being a veteran at only 15 as they all had been.

Wufei's feature change was immediately picked up by Duo. Wufei was slightly surprised by this because he had always pissed Sally off with his 'unreadable features'. That Duo could tell he'd delved into a dark memory was something that Wufei was greatly appreciative of.

So he's observant, wears dark clothes, acts rebellious, and possibly had a tough childhood. Hmm, guess it's possible that Duo was a terrorist or a thief his whole life up till the war, exact opposite of me. My hardships began with the war, though I guess you could say that Duo is still facing hardships, even if they appear, to him, as not as severe, or that he has merely gotten used to the feel of pain.

"What do you mean 'stereo typical clothes'" Wufei finally spoke up and Duo became all smiles once again.

"Well, for starts what you are wearing. Name brand shirt right?" Wufei nodded. "Stereotypical. Spend more money that you have to on a worn out shirt. I don't know about you, but if I really wanted to, and wore it enough, I could wear out a shirt in under a year, so why buy one that's already worn looking? I never got that. It's just one of those trends than keeps coming back. Like a plague, or something, heh, heh." He said and laughed wholly enjoying the irony of spending lots of money on worn clothes.

"Well what about you? Goth-Faszion is a name brand, granted of a different style. Not that I've ever been in one, but I understand that their prices are even higher than Old Navy and Gap put together." Wufei countered.

"Yeah, that's true but I didn't get these in Goth-Faszion, ha ha. Thrift store. The whole outfit was 15dollars. Fooled you didn't I? I never shop at name brands, and half the things I thrift I alter, like this, it came with the chains and that was it, I added the spikes from some clean scrap at the shop and melded them on one chain and converted it into a belt and took spare fabric from the pant legs, cause these were some DAMNED long pants, and made them into all the straps, just so happens that the inside of the pants are red, it looks really cool under black light because the red is iridescent and shines through the black. See, non-stereotypical" he said and pointed to himself with his thumb.

Wufei chuckled, "Yeah but that really doesn't matter if you look stereotypical, now does it?"

"I guess you just have to know how to look at the clothes, I have had people come up to me and say they like how I altered my clothes, whatever I may be wearing, and not all of them are 'goth' or 'punk' or whatever genre is supposed to wear clothes like this.

"That's interesting. So some people can actually tell a difference?"

"HAHA I guess you just aren't a sewer Wufei!" he laughed and leaned back into his booth chair.

"Wait, you sew!" Wufei replied a bit loudly and surprised, Wufei never knew a man who bragged about sewing, which was interesting to know.

Duo just looked at him blankly for all of ten seconds before bursting into laughter. "How th'Hell'd you think I customized the pants man? Haha yeah I sew, comes in handy when you rip seams and stuff. I don't know anything elaborate, don't get me wrong, and I'm no fag, I don't have a sewing machine or anything, I sew whatever I can do by hand, takes for-fucking-ever, but I'm really happy with it when it's done, you know? Come on, don't tell me you don't have some weird quirk or another!" Duo replied and leaned heavily in the table.

Wufei blushed and looked away.

"I'd rather not talk about it." He said as he looked out the window next to their booth. Of course this only helped to peak the other boys interest and so he pestered the Asian again… and again and again until he finally called out "ALRIGHT! I'll tell you, Stars-Almighty, Duo, you can be a pain. What do you want me from me, huh?"

"I want the truth of course!" He exclaimed, thankfully the diner was mostly vacant otherwise Duo would fear that Wufei would assassinate him for being so loud and embarrassing him. "You need to tell me what it is and why you do it, or how you learned or something! No all of it, actually!"

"You never told me how you learned how to sew" Wufei countered.

"I didn't? Well that's because I never learned so much as taught myself how to do it. I kind of had to know how to do it in case my clothes ripped or something when I was on…younger." He said and stopped dead.

Duo could see in Wufei's eyes that he really wanted to ask him what he had almost said, but they remained silent. Realizing that they'd been silent for a while, and seeing that they were the loudest ones in the diner, Duo tried to relax Wufei with a smile, granted fake. Wufei, sighed, apparently aware of its fakeness, but let Duo have his privacy.

Finally breaking the silence Wufei started, "Ah, Duo must I say it? I find it highly humiliating…"

"Hah, then why do you do it? . Hell man, remember it takes the manliest of men to wear pink, only a brave man fully aware of his masculinity can pull it off and do it right, same goes with sewing. I embrace the fact that I can do something most other men can't so should you!"

"You will laugh when I tell you."

"I promise I wont" Duo said smile broadening, from the sounds of it this was going to be good. He hoped that it was something like porn or something, not so much because he would want to see that, but mostly because he couldn't imagine Wufei doing it. Okay so he COULD imagine it, but not without pulling some strings of the actual Wufei and changing him into the fantasy Wufei. But he wasn't going to get into that now, not in a diner with the actual Wufei right before his very own Damned-to-Hell eyes.

Wufei was silent for a few more moments and then finally leaned over the table a little, he didn't need to lean over too much because Duo was practically on his side of the booth with how far he was leaning over it. Releasing a final sigh he let it come out. "I- I write poetry…" closing his eyes in resolve he leaned back down into his chair.

Duo just stared at him for a while before sinking back into his side. He took that in, then analyzed it again, then again.

Wufei was sitting there waiting for the laughter to start. He knew t would come any moment, after all, what kind of man writes poetry? Then again, perhaps it was the same type of man that sew clothes. The laughter had not yet come and Wufei opened his. Looking back into his own were two calm eyes. There was no smile, fake or otherwise and he wasn't sure what that meant at first. After some time he decided that this must be Duo's 'thinking' expression.

"Wufei?"

This must have been it, Wufei braced himself. "Yes."

"Are you fucking me?"

"No"

Silence. Wufei looked out the window. He felt Duo's inquisitive stare on him.

"You sure you're not fucking me?"

With a sigh he said "no, I'm not 'fucking' you, Duo."

"TSHH! Man, you had me all worked up for that? AUGH! I was expecting something good!" The other exclaimed and Wufei turned to face him sharply. Completely unsure of what that statement meant or how to take it Wufei stared a moment longer at the other man.

"What? Wait, Duo…?"

"Well, seriously man, that's no different than sewing or wearing pink. Tsh, I was expecting something totally different, like something that you would never in a million years do. Like, I don't know, recreational sex or something." This suggestion caused the other to laugh. Indeed that was something that was uncharacteristic of Wufei.

"Were you expecting me to do porn or something Maxwell?"

"Well, actually, yeah. That would explain all the avoidance a lot better than poetry. I mean, Wufei, I half figured you to be the type anyway, I mean, you always were a loner and stuff during the war and hid in more or less uninhabited places. It must have been beautiful, how could you not be a poet or something?"

Wufei was stunned. Duo might be the one person who understood him, well, at least a little. But even at that Wufei was stunned. Sally had tried for years to get into the boys head and understand him and then Duo, who hardly knew Wufei during the war and who only called on occasion and exchanged a few emails a month since the war, was able to get it and not find it funny, or ridiculous at all.

"You don't find it odd, that a man like me does poetry. Duo think about it."

From the look on Duo's face he did just that. "I'm sorry, I still don't see how that's odd, Wufei."

"Congratulations, you are the only one."

Paz's notes:

Bao Zu is "die suddenly" (proabably in very bad context, my appologies)

2 am L2 X1722 colony time is 6 pm on Wufei's home on Earth, if you were curious XD

Goth-Faszion is a made up clothes store, if one really exists it was not my intention to promote it, it is also not my intention to promote Gap or Old navy, I support Duo's 'thift it, baby' attitude, seeing as I am an art student and weird like that XD (it's not weird, its NORMAL!)