By the way, I know that I gave Heero and Duo different roles then Jack and Rose, but in this chapter will be the first of more scenes I stole from the movie... but of course still with my own... twist.
Unsinkable
Chapter 3
A knocking on his door, early in the morning, startled him. He sat upright in his bed immediately and stared at the door. The first thing that flashed through his mind was that it could be the marshall. Heero must have noticed the cash missing, and the fact that he gave him his coat makes him the more suspicious. He cursed himself. Again there was a persistent knock.
He swallowed, the best he could do was deny the entire story and just remain calm.
He stood and put on a bathrobe, with a small Titanic logo on the chest, and he walked to the door as confident as possible. Opening it, he was surprised not to see the harsh features of the marshal, but softer features a mere servent.
'Mister Duo Maxwell?' He asked, while fishing a piece of paper out of his pocket.
'Yes?' Maybe he was to come to the marshalls office?
The young man scraped his through and was apparently reading what the paper said out loud. 'We would like you to accompony us at breakfast in the main dinner hall. Yours faithfully, Count Po.' He folded the paper neatly and then handed it to Duo, in case he wanted to read it himself. With a polite nod he went on his merry way.
A little shocked, Duo closed the door. He knew that he had made a good connection with the count and his wealthy friends, but this good. He was a bit nervous though, what if they knew he was travelling second class? Deciding not to worry about it and just enjoy a fancy breakfast he didn't even had to pay for he rummaged through the bag in search of some neat clothing, but different then the tuxedo he wore last night. What he found were grey slacks, with a matching jacket and the choice between a black and a white button up shirt. Naturally he chose black, his favourite color, in which he felt just a tad more comfortable.
Once again the servents opened the doors for him, giving him a friendly nod and the occasional: 'Welcome sir.' And 'Goodmorning sir'
Grinning he stroded past them, giving them nothing more then a cocky nod. He enjoyed the few seconds it took to walk down the main stairway. The ultimate feeling of richness, he decided, no other place in the ship could even dream to match this. Not surprisingly, some lingered on the stairs, happy to just stand there, back against the banister while talking to 'friends' passing by.
'Goodmorning Maxwell'
He looked to the side and saw the captain, without his wife this time. He smiled at him and walked towards him.
'Captain, what a beautiful morning isn't it? Must be good for sailing.' He said, immitating the neat pose of a man standing not to far from them.
'Yes, yes! Very good. If you are interested you can stop by on the front deck. I can show you how we tame this metal beast'
Laughing, even though he didn't find it funny at all, he nodded and said, in a tone that ususally made him puke: 'I'd be delighted. If you'll excuse me, I'm supposed to meet Count Po for breakfast'
The Captain nodded and walked away, Duo did the same till he heard the Captain call after him.
'Watch your pockets, by the way. There seems to be a thief on board, numerous jewels were stolen last night'
He turned around and analysed the captains face. He was relieved to find it was not an accusing, not a suspicious look. He thanked him and left to find count Po and his daughter.
Finding them he shook hands with the count and kissed the hand of his daughter before sitting down in one of the six chairs. There were more to come?
He was grateful that during the night, when he couldn't sleep with Heero's eyes flashing before him each time he closed his eyes, he was smart enough to come up with an entire history that matched the story he told yesterday, only more detailed, so that people won't think of him as an complete fraude. He owned a large vinyard in France which he had inherited from his grandfather. The wine made at his vinyard was well known and his excuse for going to America was that an American liqueur Tycoon was interested in it and wanted to sell it in America.
They all stood as two young men arrived. He shook hands with the small blonde and the tall, unibanged brunette. They introduced themselves as Quatre Winner and Trowa Barton, friends of Count Po. His sick, perverted mind, of course immediately wondered why the old Po had so many young (boy)friends, but he pushed the thoughgt away and stamped on it. It was about to ruin his appetite.
But instead, he had something else ruin his appetite. He was delighted to see his recent object of affection walk in, especially since he looked so much sexier losing the tuxedo. However, back to ruining his appetite, he was not at all pleased when he saw the girl walking next to him, her arm hooked in his. She wore an elegant, pink, summerdress, a thin scarf wrapped once around her neck, the ends swinging arpound her body. She had the look most of the people here wore, like she owned the worl and everything in it. Her hair was in a tight bun, her bangs neatly trimmed. Occasionally she glanced sideways at Heero, with an angry look, or she would say something to him. Maybe she told him to straighten up, because that's what he did.
He decided he didn't like her one bit. Not because she seemed to be controlling Heero (okay, maybe that was half the reason) but because of the look on her face. He hated people that looked like that. He scanned the faces of the people sitting at his table. None had that look. Thank god.
The one to fill the last empty seat was an Asian man with a stern, determined look on his face.
'Wufei Chang.' He said, he squeezed Duo's hand quite hard as he shook it, but Duo kept his face straight.
'Duo Maxwell'
A strange look. Before he had the chance to ask the question many had asked Duo said: 'You don't know me, I'm from France.' They let go of each others hands and sat down.
'France huh? That explains the hair'
'And you were from...?' He immediately asked, he hated it when his hair became the main topic. They always asked the same questions: Why do you keep it so long? Isn't it a bother? Don't you think it makes you look less masculine?
Just like he had predicted most of the conversation was about him. Women flocked around their table to hear the stories about beautiful France where this charming, rich, rich man lived in his large white mansion, with a view of the blooming cherry trees.
Though he was more interested in men then in women, the girl surrounding him, in their fancy dresses, were not at all unwelcome and they giggled as he said something in French, the only few sentences he knew, never thought his French lessons from the street whore Adele would ever come in handy.
'So you'll only be in America for a short amount of time then'
'Well, not exactly, I don't plan on doing only business when there.' He gave the girls a flirtatious look, making them giggle again. None seemed bothered with his sexual innuendo. But he guessed it was okay in these ranks to talk about and dominate ladies like that. On the streets, instead of giggling, a few girl would have smacked him.
He learned that Quatre Winner had inherited something far better then his immaginary vinyard. His father left him a lot of hard cash and a million dollar company. Making him one of the richest men a board while he was only twenty-three. Trowa Barton was a friend of his, that was practically all that was told about him. Making Duo curious.
WuFei was a wealthy man from China. His father was nothing less then the best friend of the Chinese emperor. WuFei was moving to America, he was wedded out to a chinese woman that moved to America years before. He hadn't even met her yet, but when he was young, his and her parents promised each other that they will get married at the age of twenty-five, which was, apparently, pretty late by Chinese traditions.
When the luxurious breakfast was over the count also invited him for dinner, and he could not refuse, he wanted to keep them close to him so that if someone expected he was the thief, he at least had some people to stand up for him, since they only met the kind and honourable side of him.
'Ah, so you are the infamous Duo Maxwell'
He whipped his head around to find Heero and his 'lady-friend', who had spoken, standing a few feet behind him.
He forced a friendly smile on his face. 'Infamous, my lady?
'You have all the girls flocking around you, don't you? Tell me Duo, which one will you bed and which one will you wed?
She ended with an evil laugh. Well, it wasn't evil, it sounded so disgustingly sweet that he found it evil.
He cast a glance at Heero to find the young man being extremely interested in the wooden pilar next to him, pretending not to listen.
Weakling, he thought, doesn't have the guts to reprimand the witch.
'I can assure you miss'
'Relena Peacecraft, soon to be Relena Yuy.' She said with a smirk, glancing sideways at her beloved fiancé. She tugged his arm persistently, forcing him to look at her. He smiled at her. Duo wasn't sure if it was fake or not, but he did know who was in charge.
'Well, miss Peacecraft,' he emphasized her last name, 'I can assure you that I am not interested in those girls.' He shot Heero a brief, smirking look, Relena wasn't fast enough to catch it, but Heero sure did. A faint blush covered his face and he went back to adoring the pilar.
'Have a good day you two.' He bowed shortly and walked away. He was annoyed to find out the young man was engaged, but at the same time he was pleased to know that he still had a chance. That bitch was no match for him, he thought with a grin, walking up the stairs to the deck to see if there were some unguarded bags lying on the reclining chairs. He musn't forget he had a job to do.
'What are you doing'
He straightened and turned around in his place. He stood next to one of the chairs where a bag lay, a bag he had wanted to steel.
Standing behing him, hands behind his back, was Heero, looking curiously at him and then at the bag.
'I was just going to sit down.' He sat down on the chair and moved the bag over to another one. The owner noticed it and immediately grabbed it, giving Duo and angry look, before looking at Heero, nodding politely and taking of his hat as he greeted him.
Heero smiled at him and watched him leave. 'From all these empty chairs you had to sit on the one, occupied by the bag'
'Are you implying that I'm a thief?' He asked, pretending to be shocked. He knew how it looked and worse of all was that before he went stealing he had slipped back in his old, ragged clothing, brown pants and a button shirt that was two sizes too large for him.
Heero shrugged, he had taking of his jacket, now only wearing the thin white button up shirt and the black slacks, in which he looked so damn good. He sat down in the chair next to the one Duo was occupying, facing him.
They stared each other in the eye for a while and Duo smiled as he noticed the Japanese man had trouble breaking their locked gazes. But the smile enabled him and he turned to look at Duo's bag, a light hue of red covering his cheeks, ashamed of being caught staring.
'What are you carrying around'
Before Duo could answer he had grabbed the bag and Duo prayed that he went for his map with his drawing inside and not for the leather wallet that was not his.
He mentally sighed in relief as Heero took out the brown map and looked at him, asking for permission to open it.
'Go ahead'
Breaking the gaze he turned his attention to the map and opened it. With eager eyes he took in the first sketch.
Duo watched over his shoulder. The picture showed a beach and a setting sun, two people were riding horseback. The horses galloped across the beack, caught beautifully in the drawing as if it was a picture.
Heero leafed through to the next drawing. In the centre was a girl, sitting on the edge of a cliff, knees drawn up to her chest as she looked at the ocean. Her hair whipping in the wind much like her dress.
'I was traveling through england, when I came by this pub, stationed on that cliff, I stayed there in a hotel,' he lied, in reality the pub owner was kind enough to let him sleep on the floor of the pub after closing hours, 'Each and every night, this old woman would come and sit on that cliff, looking over the ocean'
'Why?' Heero dreamily asked.
'Years and years ago, her husband had left with some scientists by ship to congo... for research. The ship departed in the harbor near the pub. As you might suspect, he never came back, but still she came there evry night, waiting for him to return'
'But in the picture is a young lady and you said she was old...' Heero noticed.
'Yeah, but see...' He moved to sit next to Heero, very close, but he was so drawn into the picture he didn't even notice. He moved his arm around his shoulder and pointed at a vague spot in the ocean, far away from the cliff.
'That's the ship her husband left on'
Heero looked at him with a smile 'And you thought, while paint an old lady while I can do a young, beatiful girl'
Duo laughed 'You really think you got me all figured out, don't you'
Heero shook his head, 'Do you make any money with your drawings'
In reality, yes, a few cent per drawing, enough to buy a beer when he went to the familiar pub back in brittain to get half the share from hardy, which in itself was just enough to last him a day or two. 'No, I do it for fun'
'So, you have models coming over to your mansion or something to...' Heero fell silent as he saw the next drawing. His jaw dropped and when a man walked by he hid the drawing from view.
Flustered he looked back at the paper, that sported a naked young man, lying on the ground, his leg was drawn up so that the most private part of his body could not be seen. The eyes of the drawing looked at them with a seductive twinkle.
'Nude drawings, it's... very normal in france'
'It's...' Heero looked strangely at the drawing. Duo smiled as he noticed the boy wanted to look away but couldn't. Even though he turned his head his gaze remained plastered to the body in the drawing.
'That a boy would ever pose for another man.. like... that!' He closed the book and smiled like nothing was wrong when a family walked by.
'You'de be surprised how many are willing'
'How much did you pay them for... this'
He laughed as Heero sneaked another peek inside, only this time he was on another page, showing the same boy, sitting on the chair... with NOTHING hidden from view. 'Oh my god!' He closed the book and immediately handed it to Duo and shifted so that there was more space between them.
Duo laughed again as Heero blushed furiously.
'This is... repulsive!' He stood and looked at Duo with wide eyes. Duo just took the time to appreciate the blue shine before teasingly asking: 'Is that really what you think of it'
Shocked, Heero gasped and came closer so that no one could hear. 'You... You think... Ah, you are so annoying!' He straightened again and looked around, as if the words he was searching were writting on the cream coloured walls. 'And...' He looked back at him, a frown appearing on his face, 'And... and why are you wearing that'
Duo looked down at his shabby clothing. 'It's comfortable!' he argued with a smile on his face.
'Well, you'd better wear something fancier. A lot of things were stolen yesterday and wearing those clothes walking over the first class deck is kind of suspicious. The Marshall could arrest you'
There was something in his tone that made Duo wonder if Heero didn't want him to be falsely accused, or that he didn't want him to be accused even though had HAD stolen all those things.
'Don't worry about it, the captain knows me well enough to not make a mistake like that.' He lied. 'Was anything of you stolen?' He asked, trying his best not to sound like he already knew the answer.
A silence before Heero answered with a short: 'No'
He held back his sigh and followed Heero's gaze, looking out over the ocean.
'You should sketch a picture of the ship... with nothing but sea around it as far as the eye can see.' Heero softly said.
Duo smiled at him, he'd rather draw him, standing like he was right now, his shirt whipping around his body, showing just how lithe he was, his hair, tousled by the wind. His eyes, squinting a little bit to protect the sapphires from the wind. It was more beautiful then any boy or scenery he had ever drawn.
'You're fiancé seems nice.' He suddenly remarked.
'No she doesn't.' Just as he said that his eyes grew wide and Duo saw him fighting the urge to cover his mouth with his hand.
'I mean. Yeah, she can... she IS nice, but... not to you'
'Do you love her'
Again that wide eyed stare. He could see him wondering wether he was implying something with that question.
'It's just a question... Do you love her'
'Of course.' Heero immediately answered, rolling his eyes. 'What kind of question is that? If I didn't love her... I wouldn't marry her... right?' He sounded like he was really asking, instead of just saying.
'I met WuFei Chang this morning. He is moving all the way to America because he has to marry a woman he hasn't even met yet'
'Well, you needn't (1) worry, mister Maxwell. I know what I'm doing'
'I'm sure you do.' He said with a smirk.
'Now what is that supposed to mean!' struggling to find something to say, but soon giving up he groaned and stomped away. After a few feet he turned around, pointing at him and finally said: 'Did I mention how annoying you are!' The tone in his voice told Duo he wasn't really angry, just flustered.
'See you at dinner!' He waved teasingly. Grumbling, the Japanese boy turned and walked away.
(1) : I do believe this is correct english... but it wouldn't be the first time Im wrong
Wow... I haven't updated in a long, long time... But it was about time I did! Why I decided to update this story and not another is beyond me but i think it came out okay... Only I do have to remind myself that they should be madly in love and making love the next day... a bit difficult having sex when the ship is sinking beneath you... although... No! NO! Crimson, stick to the plan!
I thank all of you who have sacrifised their precious time to read this and hope that Readers become Reviewers!
See you soon
Yours faithfully,
Crimson Waterfall
PS: How horrendously bad was the spelling?