Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the following plot ideas and any original characters that might pop up sometime during the fic. Thanks to all those who have been reading and even more to those who have taken the time to review, it means a lot to me.
What Are Friends For
Noin sat at her desk typing away and could nearly feel her eyes roll back in protest at all the paperwork she'd been going through already that day. Her fingers were killing her from all the typing, she'd already had way too much coffee and it wasn't even lunch time yet for Christ sakes. Stopping for a moment Noin rubbed her bleary eyes and then pressed her fingers against her temples, rubbing there for a moment not that she really expected it to do much. Slumping back in her seat she looked over at Milliardo's desk which was empty since her sometimes partner was off on a diplomatic mission. He was on the third colony and she was more then willing to admit she'd rather be there getting bored out of her head with political drivel then where she was surrounded by all this bloody paperwork. Sorely tempted to do something childish like push all the papers off her desk, light a match and watch them all burn Noin bit back a grin at the idea and sighed. One of these days she just might do it too. Getting out of her chair Noin walked out from behind her desk and standing in the middle of their office tried to walk the kinks out while stretching out her neck and shoulders with only more pain as her reward which just figured. Rubbing the small of her back Noin decided that she was entitled to a break and walking out the door locked up then strolled down the hall, no destination really in mind other then to get away from her desk and the evilness that resided upon it. Her hands moving to slide into her pockets Noin nodded at the various people in the hallway and tried to decide exactly where it was she wanted to go exactly. There weren't a lot of places in Preventers that didn't have a lot of paperwork laying around that would remind her that she was suppose to be doing herself at this very moment. Deciding that the best place to head was outside away from said reminders Noin stopped at a vending machine to get some orange juice then headed outside planning to sit under one of the various trees and have her drink then go back inside to work for a while before breaking for lunch. Doing just that Noin headed outside and deciding upon a large oak sat under it and opening her juice leaned back against the solid trunk of the ancient tree.
Of course this break would likely lead to her having to stay up late again but there was really nothing on her schedule for the evening anyway. Which was another thing she needed to think about, the fact that she needed a hobby or something along those lines because otherwise she was in trouble. She'd come up with the theory that one of the reasons why Milliardo's treatment had hit her so hard was because outside him and work there wasn't a lot of other things she was involved in. Her schedule was always changing and varying so it wasn't like she could take a class for something and most of her friends worked in Preventers which meant their schedules were as bad as hers or even worse. What she needed was something to do on her off hours that would give her something to work at and focus on as oppose to the usual work stuff and the fact that she was doing her best to keep her defenses against getting hurt again which wasn't proving to be easy. It had been a month since she'd turned Milliardo for that date after her near break down and already she was starting to slip or seemed to be slipping. After the first shock Milliardo had brushed off her refusal as though it were no big deal and when she'd agreed to have lunch with him a week later it seemed like they were falling into their old routine again which was bad. So she needed a hobby but she had absolutely no idea what hobby to have. She wasn't the artist type so she couldn't see herself taking up painting or something along those lines plus she wasn't big on the idea of spending all her time trying to recreate something that looked fine as it was. She could maybe take an online course, after all she'd never gone to university but what classes would she take and even if she could find a class that appealed to her with her schedule who knew whether she could keep up with it. She could teach herself something, get a how to do something book and try that, it could be interesting depending on what she chose.
Looking down at her juice bottle Noin blinked when she saw she'd finished it then sighing got up and after depositing it in a recycle bin started to head back inside the building and her office. Nearly half way there Noin stopped when she heard her name called and turning around saw Sally making her way over to her at a fast walk. Smiling in greeting Noin moved out of the way of traffic and waited for Sally to catch up. "Hey, Sals. What's up?"
"Hey are you busy next Saturday and before you answer I will warn you that said activity will involve physical labor, be time consuming and requires my partners company." Sally said with a laugh as she caught up to Noin, smiling hopefully though she had a feeling that Noin wouldn't be interested even if her friend seemed to be getting along with Wufei a lot better then usual. She'd even see them say hello to each other as though it weren't just a common curtesy. But spending a whole day with the guy was likely another story.
"Well I think I can handle those conditions and no I don't have anything planned at the moment, what is it you want to do and how does it involve Wufei?" Noin asked with a chuckle, curious as to what Sally had up her sleeve. Long physical labor, well it had been a long time since she'd done anything resembling that besides hauling around a briefcase full of paperwork. She could likely use the exercise, especially if it was outdoors.
"Well you know about his new house right? Well he's been having people working on it for him for a while now but he wanted to do a lot of the easier stuff by himself to save on money." Sally said with a roll of her eyes. "Anyway the thing is it's going to take him a while if he insists on doing all the small stuff on his own so I was thinking that I'd get together a bunch of friends and we could spend next Saturday helping him out. I mean it doesn't take a rocket scientist to paint walls or tighten some screws right? Anyway I ran it by him and it took some convincing but his need to move in outweighed his extreme hatred of asking for help. So I've already got the guys of course, Hilde said she'd come too and I thought maybe you'd be interested, I remember you said you liked to work with your hands and something about liking the house."
"Yeah sure, I'm in I guess, it sounds like fun anyway." Noin said after she'd thought it over in her head, grinning at the idea which sounded like hard work but fun work as well. It would be like when she was a kid helping out her family on various housing projects. She actually kinda missed the thrill of working at something, seeing the results of a job well done which you didn't see often at Preventers since it was mostly an ongoing battle against the stupidity of the civilian race.. "I'll bring what tools I have too. Anything else I should bring?"
"Well since we're going to be there the whole day we're having a potluck dinner so bring an appetizer if you can since lord only knows what the guys will bring." Sally said with a laugh as they shared a look that said plainly they would both be bringing plenty just in case. "Wufei's going to get pizza or something for lunch as a thanks so no need to worry about that. Oh and bring a swim suit and a towel too, apparently there's a creek running through his property with a spot where it opens up into a fair size swimming area so we can cool off there since we're bound to work up a sweat."
"That sounds great, should be interesting anyway watching the guys go all idiotic and manly showing off the skills they don't possess. I doubt they're all that familiar with hammers and nails." Noin said with a snicker as she tried to imagine the sophisticated Quatre and the studious Wufei with work belts and hammering away. Laughing out loud at the idea Noin felt her headache ease a bit. "I'll be there to see that alone."
Sitting at his desk Wufei considered trying to chop his computer in half with his bare hands but he had a feeling that though it would likely make him feel better he'd only get more paperwork out of it as oppose to less. Hearing the door close Wufei looked up from his computer to see Sally walk in with the two bottles of juice she'd gone to get. Taking his when she walked over to hand it to him Wufei's eyes narrowed slightly at the hint of a grin on her face. Given the amount of paperwork they'd had dumped on them recently she had absolutely no reason to look so happy. "Why are you grinning like that?" Wufei asked as she wandered over to her own desk, opening the lid to his juice to take a sip of his orange juice while she opened her raspberry one.
"No reason, I guess I'm just looking forward to next Saturday and trying my hand at painting walls, it's been a long time since I've done it." Sally said as she leaned back in her chair, wishing she could just stay there sipping her juice and not doing anything. "The last time was when I was a teenager and painted my bedroom a really ugly shade of yellow now that I think about it. Almost as ugly as the color of your kitchen that you refuse to paint."
"What is with you onnas and criticizing the color of my kitchen?" Wufei said with a huff having had this argument several times already with Noin. The kitchen was staying the color it was and that was final. Perhaps he was keeping it that color now just to annoy Sally and Noin but that was for him to know and them to stew about. It was a kitchen after all, it really didn't matter to him what color it was since he wouldn't be spending a lot of time in the room to begin with. Petty or not he kinda enjoyed the way they got all worked up about it, especially since he prevented them from getting their way. "And if you should attempt to paint it next Saturday I'm going to use some of my vacation time I've been saving up and leave this avalanche of paperwork for you to do without me." As threats went that was certainly a doozey.
"That's just plain mean." Sally said with a laugh and mentally ditched the idea of accidentally getting paint on the kitchen walls which would have required it to be completely painted over so that it looked right. "Anyway Noin and Hilde agreed to help too so with them plus the guys and me we should get a lot done next Saturday. And before you start grumbling I'll remind you of how much faster eight people can get something done then one. Plus Noin even knows a thing or two about houses and building them so she could come in handy since I would imagine all of use are amateurs when it comes to this kind of thing."
"We'll see." Wufei said turning his attention back to his computer and tried not to think about all the chaos that could possibly arise next Saturday at his new home. Well odds were they couldn't do too much damage to his new house..right?
Next Saturday
Arriving at Wufei's house promptly at ten as designated by Sally Noin saw that Wufei was intending to do some shingling and had to raise an eyebrow at the fact that he had intended to do that by himself. At least with all of the trees it wouldn't be too bad but it was going to be very hot up there come early afternoon. Getting out of her car she decided to get the food in first and opening the back door pulled out the large wicker basket which held two foiled covered lasagnas and the fixings for a Caesar salad. Heading towards the house Noin couldn't help but admire it as she climbed up the steps and onto the porch, looking around there before ringing the doorbell. Almost immediately the door was opened by a smiling Quatre who looked quite different wearing obviously new blue jeans and a plain blue and white striped t-shirt. "Hey, Quatre."
"Hey, Noin, come on in." Quatre said holding the door open for her and giving her thanks Noin walked in and followed Quatre into the kitchen where she found Sally discussing a new bill with Heero. Saying her hellos Noin headed for the fridge and placed her items with the ones already in there and then set the basket down beside the kitchen table as she took the seat Quatre held out for her.
"Hey, Noin, so what did you bring to eat?" Duo asked as he and Wufei wandered into the room to see who had arrived. Duo was dressed in jeans and a black t-shirt though unlike Quatre's attire they were obviously well lived in. Wufei had opted for his typical slacks in black with a red t-shirt. Noin couldn't remember ever seeing him wearing jeans for that matter. She herself wore well broken in blue jeans too and an old blue t-shirt that was already slightly splattered with paint from past use. "I brought cherry jello and munchies." Duo said with a grin as he took a seat beside her.
"Lasagna and Caesar salad." Noin said with a shared look of amusement with Sally. She had no doubt that the males in the group had all gone for the quick and the simple except perhaps Quatre who likely had gotten someone to make his. "From the looks of the fridge we'll be eating well today for sure. So who else are we waiting for?"
"Hilde is going to be a bit late and so is Trowa so actually we're all here that's suppose to be here at the moment. Oh and Relena and Mariemaia might be dropping by to help too if they can get away." Quatre said as he took a seat for himself. He was actually kinda looking forward to trying his hand at this as he'd never really built anything other then small stuff as a kid and working on his Gundam occasionally. Well that and building up piles of paperwork, Quatre thought with a slight smirk. "So who's doing what?"
"Well getting the shingles done is important." Wufei said as he leaned against one of his newly installed cedar cabinets. "Besides that there's painting, replacing rotting boards on the back and front porch, putting together sheleves..there's plenty to do."
"I'll help with the shingles, I've done it before and it can get pretty frustrating and annoying if you don't know what your doing, Plus I'm really lousy when it comes to painting." Noin said with a chuckle as she remembered all the times she's attempted to paint something and only ended up making a mess.
"I'll go to work on the rotting boards, that doesn't sound too complicated." Quatre said with a smile as he sipped on the juice he'd been drinking before Noin arrived. "I think I'll leave the shingles to the more experienced unless you need the help."
"I'll stick with the painting for now, Hilde and I can manage it when she gets here I think." Sally said with a grin, glad that Quatre had spoken up before Wufei could make some come back or objection about Noin working on top of the roof since she knew he'd planned to be working up there himself.
"Well since I know Wufei called the roof already I'll help the Q man on the boards." Duo said liking the idea of replacing boards since he had some idea of what working on the roof was going to be like later when the sun was out. Oh yeah he could definitely do without being on those burning hot shingles even if it would give him an excuse not to wear a shirt but since Hilde wouldn't be there to admire him there wasn't that much appeal to it. "So, Heero. You gonna paint, board, shelve or shingle?"
"I'll help out with the shingling, at least till Trowa gets here. Apparently he's done it before as well." Heero explained with a shrug, not really caring what he did as long as it wasn't painting anything. "And Wufei if you're going to be on the roof I'd change into jeans, you'll cook up there in black and those pants wont last long."
Scowling at the idea of wearing jeans Wufei nodded his agreement and after everyone had agreed on their assigned duties and collected ice cold water bottles for later they headed out to do their jobs. After changing into jeans Wufei had come up onto the rook to find Noin explaining how to go about replacing shingles and how ever much is galed she obviously knew what she was talking about and explained it better then the book he'd read on it. Soon they were at work tearing up those that were past their prime and chucking them off the roof and onto the lawn. Soon after they started the sound of a radio blaring could be heard though it didn't quite mask the occasional swearing brought to you by Duo as he occasionally missed a nail and hit his finger instead. Even Quatre cursed here and there though not as loudly and mostly in Arabic so that no one could understand him since there were ladies present. Soon Hilde arrived and she soon joined Sally to work up a sweat painting walls and when Trowa arrived he went to work on the roof as well. It was hot work on the roof and Noin was really glad they'd brought up the sunscreen. Putting on another layer Noin handed it over to Heero who needed it the most since he'd been the first to ditch his shirt and Noin had a feeling Wufei and Trowa would be joining him shortly. Offering to do his back for him Noin took back the bottle and applied it on his back for him. Hearing Duo's voice they all looked down to see Duo waving up at them as he asked if anyone needed more water.
"We could use another bottle or two up here." Trowa called down as he rolled his shoulders to get the kinks out.
"Okay, hey Noin will you do my back too if I get a water bottle just for you?" Duo called up with a mischievous look as he raised his eyebrows up and down suggestively.
"You wish." Noin called down and with a chuckle Duo went off to get the water.
Later
Soon it was lunch time and ordering pizza they tore into that and pop with a hunger built up by hard labor and the natural appetite of men. Discussing mishaps and problems they admired each other's war wounds of the mornings activities and stories before finishing up and heading back to their various jobs. Around four when all the guys had ditched their shirts and Noin's was tied up in a knot half way up her stomach Relena and Mariemaia showed up ready to help as well with food and as yet energy to work. After getting their stuff into the fridge with the other stuff Relena took over for Sally in the painting business so that Sally and Mariemaia could go to work putting the shelves together which wasn't rocket science when you followed the instructions, something men had such a hard time with. Everyone having a great time they all had to admit that hard work or not it beat paperwork any day.