Settled Into Place
Walking down a hallway together Heero Yuy and Trowa Barton were the object of more then a few wistful sighs and glances. Both dashing figures in their perfectly tailored uniforms the fact that they were gorgeous to boot just added to their appeal to the young and old females who watched them with stars in their eyes. Both former pilots were well aware of the looks and silly female reactions but neither commented nor bothered to even acknowledge the people around them since it was nothing new and there was no point in asking them to stop. It was just something girls tended to do around them and unless the female was being particularly bothersome they simply ignored her. The two pilots were on their way to their offices having come from an important meeting and they were looking forward to some peace and quiet even if they did have to do paperwork to get it. Comfortable in their mutual silence neither spoke as they strolled, neither of them the type who felt the need to talk with people about nothing important much less if it wasn't absolutely necessary. Heero's eyes wandering slightly around his surroundings his stride slowed as he caught sight of a pair that had come to interest him as of late. The pair in question, Noin and Wufei were standing a few feet away talking about something but it was their body language that interested him rather then their actual conversation. For the last couple of weeks Heero had been noticing that the two seemed to spending just a little more time together but it was the way they were together that had piqued his curiosity enough for him to use his valuable time thinking about it. It wasn't that they seemed to be vocally nicer to each other but there was an ease about them, a sense that they were use to being in each other's company and enjoyed said company. After turning that around in his brain for a while he'd come to the conclusion that something was going on between the two and that perhaps, as shocking as it seemed, Wufei might be interested in Noin even if she was currently involved with someone else. The thing was that Noin seemed to be returning the interest which made no sense to him.
"So you've noticed it as well." Trowa said with a thoughtful look as he stood at Heero's side, the two observing the pair for a moment before continuing on their way as if nothing were amiss. "I thought I was the only one."
"I would guess given the company we keep we'll be the only ones, Trowa." Heero said with a faint smirk on his face before it returned to its usual blank expression that was both his trademark and an irritant to many of his friends. "Do you think that Wufei might be wanting to give Noin's secret boyfriend a run for his money?"
"I think that Wufei has shoulder length black hair, is around Noin's height and drives a motorcycle." Trowa said with an actual grin on his face as Heero's face was the picture of shock for a good twenty seconds before his friend managed to pull himself together enough to close his mouth. "Of course it could just be a coincidence." Trowa added since he had no way of being sure without asking Wufei who wasn't libel to say anything even if it were true. Well he would say a lot but it wouldn't include an admission even if it he was right.
)
"Well damn....who'd have thought it." Heero said as he processed all this new information, comparing it with his own theories, readjusting and finding more then a few pieces fall neatly into place with surprising ease. He'd simply not made the connection between Wufei and the mystery boyfriend because the cadet would have known Wufei to see him but if it had been dark enough and from far enough away..it was not only likely but very likely she wouldn't have realized she was looking at one of the school's instructors. "I can see now why she wouldn't say anything to any of us. With the age difference a lot of people would likely look at it the wrong way, not realizing that war ages you fast and that we may be young in body but not in mind. Plus seeing as everyone is always gossiping about Noin's secret boyfriend one can only imagine what it would be like if they knew that boyfriend was Wufei. They've hidden it well."
"Yes they have." Trowa agreed with a nod, pleased that Heero agreed with him. He'd been pretty sure of himself but it helped to know that Heero was seeing the connections he was. "If it weren't for the fact that I've known them both so long I would have missed the shift in body language and manner. They're managed to portray an image of just casual friends but there's been little things that have given them away enough that I can see through it. I hadn't intended to tell anyone of my theory...I'd prefer it to stay with you. I don't want to ruin this for them."
"Same goes." Heero said, surprised that Trowa sounded so serious about it but then again he'd long ago given up on trying to understand his unusually silent friend. "If Duo or one of the girls found out everyone would know within a day even if they tried not to let it get out. Women just like to talk too damn much."
"Yeah, they do." Trowa agreed with a nod as they came to a stop in front of his office, Trowa lifting out his pass key to gain access. "Should we let them know that we now?"
"No. If they knew we'd seen through them they'd try harder to hide it from the rest and give themselves away. Even Duo and Quatre would be able to pick up the vibes then." Heero said with a shake of his head. "Though I figure Quatre will be next to figure it out, especially if the relationship continues."
"Yeah. Well see you later." Trowa said and after returning the good bye Heero headed off to his own office while Trowa went into his, both getting to work on their personal piles of paperwork and other such drivel.
)
Walking back into her own office Noin saw that Milliardo wasn't back yet and sighed before walking around her desk to take her seat. Stretching her arms above her head Noin wished she could just go home and back into bed but since that wasn't happening for a while she'd have to settle for imagining that she was with what was left of her spare time before she had to get back to work. Closing her eyes she pretended she was nice and snug in bed with the covers up to her chin and no alarm clock to go off any time soon. In other words her idea of heaven on earth, Noin thought with a smirk. Not even aware of where her mind was shifting the daydream slowly changed so that it wasn't her bed she was sleeping in, all warm and cozy....and she wasn't alone in this one either Noin realized with a start. Eyes snapping open Noin blushed pink and slapped her hands against her cheeks in embarrassment and surprise at the turn her daydream had taken. Where the hell had that come...it wasn't like she was...oh boy but that had been one appealing mental image. She'd been able to picture it so perfectly too, laying in his bed with his arms wrapped around her, snuggled against him as they slept together in his big, soft bed. And now that she had the picture in her head it wasn't going away, Noin thought with a groan as she placed her head in her hands for a moment. Well he was sorta, kinda her boyfriend so it was perfectly normal to think of him in such a way. What would Wufei be like in bed, Noin wondered absently, her imagination going to work or its own accord so that her cheeks went from pink to red and she could feel her temperature rising. Oh boy she needed to get herself in check or she wasn't going to be able to do much of anything for the rest of the day. Besides she and Wufei had only been going out for a few weeks and it was never wise to rush into these sort of things. Plus knowing Wufei he'd likely have some rather old fashioned ideas about taking a relationship to that kind of level that would be in direct opposition to hopping into bed. He might not even want to take their relationship to that level and prefer to keep it the way things were without the added entanglement of sex in case things didn't work out. But he was a healthy twenty two year old guy for Christ sakes so why hadn't he made overturns in that direction, Noin thought as it hit her that really he should have been making more moves in that area already. She'd been around guys all her life after all so she knew how hormone driven the idiots were. Sex was all they thought about other then sports and cars Then again Wufei wasn't an ordinary young man nor were any of the other Gundam pilots for that matter. Duo was the only one who seemed to go out of his way to have a girl in his life, the others seemed to be fine with single status. Would Wufei even know how to make a move if he wanted to? He'd been married yes but they'd just been kids when they'd said I dos and for that matter it had been an arranged marriage so it wasn't like they'd built a relationship together before they'd been married. In fact odds were she had a lot more experience then he did. Exactly how much experience did Wufei have anyway, Noin wondered, her eyes flashing slightly at the thought of him with someone else. With Nataku she could let that go since that had been more of a brother, sister relationship at best but anyone else... The only female he seemed close to other then herself was Sally and there was nothing there but the love of siblings or close friends..right? Right, Noin said sure that Sally would have told her otherwise. Her mind wandering back towards its earlier thoughts Noin was only aware of the office door being opened and closed in the back of her mind. Hearing someone cough in the way people do to get your attention Noin blinked then looked up to see Milliardo who was standing in front of her desk looking at her with a slightly puzzled and uncomfortable look in his eyes though it was pretty well hidden. But not good enough that she couldn't see. "Hi..I uhm..I was off in la la land." Noin admitted, smiling at him hesitantly, not quite sure what to say or do. It had never been like this and she would literally kill to get things back to where it was when they were still at the Academy together. Just best buddies. "Did you say something?"
)
"Just hello..but there are some other things I want to say too." Milliardo said as he stood there looking down at her, his icy blue eyes seeing everything and hiding what was in them just as easily. "I wanted to apologize for my behavior recently. I've..I've missed you very much, Noin. Not as a lover exactly," Milliardo said, reading her easily enough to know she was distressed and glad at the same time by what he'd said. "But I have missed you as a friend. My best friend. It seems like I've always had you in my life and this month I've realized what it would be like not to have you in my life and it was..dark and cold and lonely. I'm not asking for you to give this guy up or any guy you might meet in the future but I would like to be your friend again. If it's not too late." Milliardo finally managed to get out, his fear that he was too late so strong that there were hints of it in the blue depths of his eyes.
Looking at him Noin felt tears gathering in her eyes as she got to her feet, walked around her desk to face him, Milliardo turning so that they were standing face to face. "No one could ever replace you as my oldest and loved friend and the position of my number one platonic best friend is always available to you no matter what you do." Noin said with a watery smile before taking the two steps needed to move forward to hug him tight. Smiling against his chest when he hugged her back just as tightly Noin felt a weight that had been laying on her heart lifted. Everything was going to be okay now. "I missed you too, Zechs. I missed you lots."
"One question though. This guy of yours, the one everyone's always gossiping about..he's treating you right?" Milliardo asked when they finally let go, both smiling at each other with an ease and sense of peace they'd been missing. "I can understand why you aren't feeding the gossips but you aren't telling anyone about him, not even Sals. I asked around." Milliardo admitted with an almost sheepish look on his face. "I wanted to make sure you hadn't hooked up with someone wrong for you."
"He treats me very well, I think you two would get along great once you got to know each other a little better..eventually anyway." Noin said with a grin, thinking it best to leave Milliardo out of the loop with the rest of them for the time being even though this was the perfect time to tell him. She could trust him not to pass it along if she asked but she thought it best to talk over with Wufei first since it effected him just as much as her. It was true though since neither Milliardo nor Wufei spent much time together in business, much less in an informal setting. Odds were they'd get along once they got over the whole former boyfriend meets current one thing. "And the reason why I haven't told anyone much about him is because I'm really rather sick of listening to all the speculation and weird ideas things have been coming up with. I figured if I refused to tell anyone anything they'd give up eventually though that doesn't seem to be on the agenda any time soon. God but I wish I could make gossiping about your commanding officer an offense punishable by expulsion. Then we'd see just how interesting a topic I was to them." Noin said with a weary look, muttering the last part.
"Somehow I can't see Lady Une agreeing with that though the gossip would cut down considerably." Milliardo said dryly as he lifted a hand to brush away some stray tears from her cheeks with the pad of his thumb. "But don't worry, I won't ask about him again unless you want to tell me. I think the role as your friend and confidant has always suited me better then boyfriend and lover."
"Yeah it has..it just took me a while to realize it. And I am really sorry for the way I acted and the embarrassment all the idiot gossips have likely been generating too. I know that some of them have made you out to be the bad guy and you don't deserve that at all. Everything that happened..well I'm just as much to blame for everything that went wrong as you were. We were much better off as pals and I think that now that we realize that things are going to be that much better. Relena is going to be pissed though." Noin pointed out, both well aware that Relena had always hoped for Noin as a sister in law and would be far from pleased to have those hopes dashed.
"Well I'll just tell her that is she wants you in the family she'll just have to marry one of your nephews." Milliardo said with a small smile that grew when Noin broke out into delighted laughter at the thought. "So we're okay?"
"We're just peachy." Noin agreed with a grin.
)
"So then Milliardo tells me that he and Noin have gone back to being just friends and that's perfectly all right with her dating someone else. He even said that if I wanted her in our family so much that I should marry one of Noin's nephew s if you can believe that! Why are you laughing Duo?" Relena demanded to know in mid rant, her hands going to her hips as she glared at Duo who was trying not to laugh. Several of her friends were eating with her and none of them were agreeing with her.
"Sorry but you're acting like the one who got dumped, Relena." Duo pointed out, figuring that she couldn't kill him with so many witnesses around to see it as well as stop her. "Look I think it's great that they're friends again and I for one still say that that's the way it should stay with them. I'm all for Noin's new guy."
"How can you say that when you don't even know him?" Relena demanded to know. "For all you know he could be some cross dressing maniac with a criminal record bigger then your ego."
"Because he's obviously making her happy?" Sally suggested, deciding to put her two cents in before Relena really went into a long winded rant about the whole thing. "Look I know you're disappointed that this didn't work out Relena but what's important is that everyone is happy and getting along. This guy of Noin's is obviously making her very happy and even if she refuses to let us near him I think she must have a very good reason for it rather then a bad one. If she wants to keep quiet about him for now that's her business just as it's between Noin and Milliardo as to what kind of a relationship they want to have. Personally I think they made the right one going back to just friends and seeing other people."
"Personally I just want to see if he's as hot as everyone is making him out to be since I trust Noin's judgment not to pick a dud character wise." Hilde said with a wide grin as she leaned back into her chair. "And really if he makes her happy and treats her well then that's all that really matters."
"I suppose but still..." Relena said as she dropped into her seat looking like she'd just been told she wasn't going to get what she wanted and knew that odds were she never would. "Well I guess there's nothing left to do but hope that everything works out. Do you think we'll meet this guy any time soon? Now I want to meet him more then ever."
)
"You guys need to find something to talk about that doesn't involve Noin." Wufei said, speaking up for the first time since he'd joined them as he'd quietly listened to everyone discussing the fact that Lucrezia and Milliardo had patched things up. He was glad for them even as he tried to push back the worry that Milliardo might try to get things back to the way they had been. Even if he did try to pull something like that Wufei trusted Lucrezia and wished he could say the same for the Peacecrafts. He wouldn't put it past Relena to try and get Lucrezia back with Milliardo. "All you ever do is talk about this guy and however entertaining you girls find it we guys are sick of it."
"Actually I find it interesting." Duo said with a grin, just to be contrary.
"Well seeing as you can pass for a girl I suppose one shouldn't be surprised that you'd think like one too." Wufei said dryly, watching Duo's face go a rather interesting shade of red as the barb hit home.
"Hey watch it, WO-MAN." Duo said as his eyes narrowed dangerously even though he wasn't really that mad. It was really just the principle of the point. "Them's fighting words."