"Not bad at all."
They were watching the sun set out of the bedroom window about twenty minutes later, sitting on the rug at the foot of the huge bed that Duo and Quatre shared. Trowa could admit to himself that he loved the way the sun turned the wooden floor red and gave the room a hazy glow as if by firelight. It was the sort of room he was almost envious for, just the warmth and satisfaction it made one feel. Duo looked like he was feeling it too, a grin resting smug on his face as he leaned against the dresser and finished off his can.
"No, it ain't. Not at all. It's just too bad Quatre isn't home yet. He'd have loved to show you all this, probably coulda pointed out all the stuff I forgot to, like about what the counters are made of or the foundation. Stuff like that. I just know I like it. That's enough for me, though."
He nodded in agreement, that it should be enough, but he wished Quatre had been here too. He would have liked to hear about some of the finer things about the house that made it more than 'home' for the Arabian and more 'art'.
"You'll tell him I stopped by?"
"Yeah." Duo nodded and opened an eye, catlike as he looked over Trowa's face with a faint smile. "You're taking off, huh? Figured. It's getting late. I will tell him you came though, and if you want to come back sometime, give me a call ahead of time and maybe I can get him to take the day off or something to visit with you?"
Trowa opened his mouth to encourage the idea with an 'I'd like that', and that was when the sound of tires over the road outside came, not passing, but slowing and then pulling into the driveway. I will get to see him after all.
He glanced to Duo to gauge the redhead's reaction to having his lover return, and had to blink at the suspicion over that pale face. Duo was getting to his feet and looking at the window as though seriously perturbed. Trowa stood as well, and together, they listened to the open and shut of the door, and footsteps coming over the gravel, Trowa wondering at Duo's behavior, and Duo stock still and with that strange expression.
A knock came downstairs.
Duo jumped a little, then turned and gave Trowa a shaky smile.
"Would Quatre knock?" He had to ask, the pair of them moving together towards the stairs, a quick task once the redhead got moving.
"Not unless he had a few too many margaritas with the ladies."
By the time they got to the living room, Duo was looking a little more animate, but Trowa still thought he was too pale and drawn, and it took him a moment to figure out why. This whole thing, it probably reminds him of what happened with the cops and Heero that night. He probably thinks it's an officer behind that door, coming to tell him something's happened to Quatre and-
And Trowa shivered. That wasn't something he wanted to think of, but now that it was in mind, like most of those things, it wouldn't be dislodged. He found as Duo was reaching for the knob, his own hands were tightly clenched at his sides, his own heart thudding painfully in his chest. Would it make sense though? That as he'd been a witness for that night, he should be a witness again? Only this time, the blow would be even more personal, and maybe he'd be the one left tearing at his own hair. Him and Duo, utterly destroyed together, and in just one knock.
Duo opened the door. Trowa held his breath. And the figure on the other side looked at them both with a tight scowl before thrusting a bottle of wine at the redhead. "It took you long enough to get to the door, Maxwell. Just what was I interrupting?"
"Fei?" It was a hesitant gasp from Duo.
"Who else? Now can I come in and join your little party or do I need a written invitation?"
Trowa laughed. It was that or crying, and though neither was appealing, the first option was more tolerable. Duo was clearly having a hard time coping too. He stood there for a second like he really would turn Wufei away, then numbly moved to the side to let the brunette slip on by.
Wufei nodded to him, and Trowa managed to flap a hand in greeting, before the oriental asked - "What's wrong with you both? Trowa's laughing, and you look like you've seen a ghost, Maxwell."
While Duo stumbled with his words, he managed to get a hold of himself enough to answer. "I think we were both thinking of another night. You startled us."
The redhead quickly nodded his agreement, before a grin worked it's way onto his features. "You two set this up, didn't you? To visit like this?"
Trowa shook his head, and Wufei snorted.
"No. I told Trowa to visit, and he did, which I doubted, and while doing so I realized I should probably do the same. It's just coincidence."
"Hey… Not that I mind, Fei, I'm just surprised. I didn't have any time to really pick up, and like I told him, you both missed out on catching Kitten. He's out with his new friends."
Wufei raised an eyebrow and looked to the Latin, who nodded softly. He pointed a finger at the bottle nestled in Duo's arms. "A little late for him to be out… But that's fine. I just wanted to get to know your house, and bring that by."
"Eh." Duo shrugged, slowly closing the door. Didn't plan it my ass. The two of them are in it together. Interlopers. Wufei came to make sure I'd be distracted so that Trowa could put the moves on him. Liars. He forced his lips up into a grin, holding the bottle by the neck and waving it a little. "Hell of a gift too, Fei. Thanks."
"You're welcome." Wufei stopped by the small fireplace, eyeing it's clean stones and then the mantle, before looking back at the redhead. "I wasn't interrupting, was I?"
"Nah. I was just finishing Trowa's tour of the place and we were checking out the sunset upstairs."
"You got a tour?" He looked at Trowa, who nodded then motioned with a tip of the chin towards the kitchen and backyard.
"You ought to get him to take you out there, Wufei. It's something to see. Peaceful little garden."
Wufei looked towards Duo, a fine black eyebrow raised in inquisition. Duo looked back, thinking quickly. Sooner I get this done, sooner I can send them away. Tell em I'm tired, or drunk, or just bash them over the heads with their fucking wine, but get them gone. He smiled again and bounced a little on his feet, moving in that direction. "Hey, sure! Come on, Wufei, you gotta see this. Bet you'll like it too, just like Quat. I like the location best, all away from the rush of the city, and the bedroom, but I'd lay money on that being your favorite part too. I'll give you the whole tour I gave him, then we'll settle back for a drink or too?"
"Thank you, Maxwell." A little nod as he turned to follow the energetic redhead, who had paused at the kitchen door, looking back to Trowa.
"Hey? You coming, buddy?"
"Actually… Can I use your restroom, Duo?"
"No, I'm a bathroom nazi." A chuckle before Duo continued on, motioning with a finger for Wufei to follow. "It's the door off the kitchen. Knew I forgot to show you something. Just meet us outside when you're done."
"All right."
Duo gave him a wink, then bounded out of the kitchen door with his braid slapping on his butt like a demented wave of goodbye or perhaps just a unique way of flipping someone off. Wufei walked more calmly after him, shaking his head and muttering something Trowa only barely caught about it being 'the same old Maxwell'.
Really, he was glad to see that spring in Duo's step. After hearing him sound so strange on the phone and catching those brief visions of a more jittery and nervous American, these glances of the boy who used to be a common sight sprawled on their couch eating popcorn in his boxers were nice. Refreshing even. If they went back to living together, he was sure he'd get annoyed with those things all over again, but right now it was just familiar and as comfortable as an old pair of slippers.
Trowa watched them from behind the window's lace curtains, Duo's arms nearly tying themselves in a knot as he pointed out this plant or that rock, or maybe the bug over there, and then the swing which Duo was quickly flouncing too, and he smiled before turning and heading towards the first door. He could tell by Wufei's slow walking and the turns of his head that he was enjoying that bit of nature. That was the only thing he hadn't understood about Wufei moving to the city; how he'd get along without the peace that areas like this offered. Maybe city parks, even if that didn't seem to be the Oriental's style, or at least in Trowa's opinion.
He was still musing on that fact when he opened the door and started fumbling for a light switch, and instead managed to knock something against the wall down, something wooden by the sounds of it clattering off the floor. He jerked his hand back and that's when he felt the chain hanging down slither across the back of his hand like a long legged insect, and after another jab into the blackness, his lean fingers worked their way around the delicate length. He pulled, and blinked at the harsh glaring light that came from the bare bulb above.
Not the bathroom, unless the toilet was hidden behind shelves of canned goods and cleaning supplies and a shower over there behind the ironing board. A pantry. He looked out the door and peered around the room, picking out the other doorway that actually lay open across the tiled room and already was showing him a shower stall. Sighing, he lowered his eyes to the floor and the broom that turned out to be the fleeing noisy one from earlier.
Where's all that circus grace now?
Chuckling to himself, Trowa knelt down and hooked his fingers under the wooden stick, boosting it and preparing to turn to put it back against the wall, and then he stopped. There were lines in the floor. Cut in. And hinges.
He looked down at those dark cuts in a perfect square, the broom still resting in one hand, and blinked. This place hadn't looked like it had a basement, but it made sense. He wondered if Duo'd been down there yet. Trowa would have thought the redhead would have been bubbling and anxious to tell him about the rec room he had planned or whatever if he had known, considering how much he'd tried to convince the others to look for a house with a basement before they'd moved in with one another. Or maybe it was just a storage crawl space, and that's why nothing was said, barely enough room for someone to put a few old trunks of clothes.
He put the broom aside, back on the floor, then hooked his fingers into one of the cracks without further thought. Trowa winced his eyes against the dust that should have come when he popped the wooden square out, then blinked when none came and it moved without any effort. He put it aside, resting up against the first row of shelves, and bent over the dark shape now cut into the floor to look down.
The first few steps of a wooden ladder, the smell of something rotting down here, like cans of food had been broken and left to rot, or like a woodchuck found it's way in and died, and a lumpy looking mattress. And on that, what looked to be-
"Oh my god… Quatre…?"