Chapter Five

A Friendly Game

Heero found his way back to the safe house easily enough, but when he tried to retreat to his room before anyone could see him, Quatre clamped onto his arm and dragged him into the living room to play poker with the others. While poker seemed like such a childish game, Heero agreed, hoping it would take his mind off of things. Three hands in, Duo showed up and demanded he play. Three more hands and Duo and Trowa left to tuck in their children and read them a bedtime story since the children were all sharing the same room. Wufei, who had kept a constant vigil at Jun's side, finally came down after she fell asleep. Once Duo and Trowa returned from upstairs, the game began to get interesting.

Duo managed to find a bottle of wine in the cupboard and the drinks were being passed heavily. After five hands and six glasses of wine each, Duo suggested they change the game to strip poker.

"Come on, it makes since! We're all broke! We may as well use clothes now!" He slurred.

The others agreed, all too hammered to say other wise, and the game commenced. Duo lost the first three rounds leaving him shirtless and barefoot, followed by Trowa and then Quatre. The only people who weren't loosing any clothes were Heero and Wufei.

"They've gotta be cheating!" Duo shouted after loosing his fifth hand.

"You just don't want to remove your underwear." Heero mumbled as he shuffled the deck for the next round.

Duo shot him a death glare and crossed his arms over his chest. "I won't do it. You can't make me!"

Wufei and Heero glanced at each other and both smirked. Duo's face went pale and he visibly flinched. "You wouldn't!" He stared at them. "…would you?"

Heero and Wufei stood up and Duo squealed, taking off down the hall. Heero and Wufei gave chase and after ten minutes managed to wrestle Duo to the ground and remove his underwear. Heero blushed when he realized that Duo was actually hard. He looked up to Duo's face and saw the brunette laughing uncontrollably; he was far too drunk to notice.

Coming back into the living room, the three found Trowa and Quatre just finishing up another hand.

"Hey you didn't wait?" Duo protested.

Quatre smiled drunkenly, his face beat red. "What are you complaining about? You're out of clothes!" He pointed to Duo's erection.

Duo looked down and blushed, as though noticing for the first time that he was aroused. He tried to hide behind the couch but Heero and Wufei pushed him back into his chair.

"No, you have to stay till the end." Heero smirked.

"It's the rules." Wufei added and winked.

Duo, bright red hard as ever, crossed his arms over his chest and huffed. He turned to Trowa and Quatre and smirked when he realized that Quatre lost.

"Ha! Two pairs beats Three-of-a-kind! You loose Quatre! Come on, let's see that cute tooshie!" Duo cheered.

Quatre blushed and glanced over to Heero and Wufei who smiled threateningly at him. Not wanting to be chased through the house he stood up and quickly dispersed of his boxers. Duo whooped and Trowa and Wufei clapped while Heero gawked; Quatre was hard too! Suddenly feeling self conscious about himself, he reached down to his jean-covered crotch and grabbed himself. His eyes widened when he realized that this whole display was arousing him as well! He blushed and stood up, trying to hide his erection.

"I'm calling it a night." He said and turned to leave.

"Aww, no fair Heero!" Duo wined. "I was looking forward to the show down between you and Wufei after we all lost!"

Heero froze. It would have been interesting to see who the better card player in the group was, but did he dare in his current position?

"Pleeeease Heero?" Duo begged.

Heero rolled his eyes and turned back, sitting grumpily in his chair.

"Yay!" Duo cheered and pulled Quatre into the "loser's corner" as he called it.

Wufei and Heero glanced at each other and then to Trowa, who was down to his pants and socks. Trowa smiled and placed his cards on the table. "I forfeit."

Heero smirked and turned to Wufei. "It's you and me, Chang."

Wufei glared and the game was on. It was an intense battle. First Wufei would loose, then Heero, then Wufei and so on. It wasn't until 2 in the morning that both men were down to their underwear.

"Yes! The final stretch!" Duo cheer and then leaned down over the table to his friends. "Okay, here's the deal, whoever wins this round is the champ. Got it?"

The Asian men nodded. Wufei shuffled, Heero cut, and Wufei dealt. Heero smiled at his cards; Three aces. He placed his other two cards down and Wufei dealt him two new ones. Heero placed them in his hand and smirked; he found the forth ace. He looked up at the Chinese man. "Chang?"

"Dealer shows last." Wufei answered.

Heero shrugged. It didn't matter who showed first. He placed his cards down and smirked. "Four-of-a-kind."

Duo, Trowa and Quatre "ooo'ed" and "ahh'ed" and then turned to Wufei with expectant looks on their faces. Wufei's lips curled in the same twisted smile he'd given many victims. He laid his cards down and Duo actually gasped.

"A Royal Flush!"

Heero's face fell. He had lost. He looked up at Wufei who was still grinning like the Cheshire Cat. Wufei leaned back in his chair and pointed under the table.

"Off, now." He ordered.

Heero stood up, silent and removed his boxers. After all, he did play by the rules. Duo whooped and Quatre blushed. Heero was afraid to look down and see that he was still aroused so he just kept eye contact with Wufei. Trowa stood up and stretched his arms over his head.

"I'm going up to bed." He stated and began walking to the stairs.

"Wait for -hic- me!" Quatre giggled and stumbled off the couch.

Trowa managed to catch the naked blond before he tumbled against the stairs. "I'll get him to bed." He said and helped the uneasy Quatre up the stairs.

Satisfied with his victory, Wufei stood up and walked to Heero.

"Well played, Yuy." He said and offered his hand.

Heero took it, never breaking eye contact and glared. "And you, Chang."

Wufei smirked and bowed before heading up to the room he shared with Jun. Heero turned to Duo and almost laughed. The braided man was trying desperately to lick the last few drops of liquid from the wine bottle. He shook his head and took the bottle from Duo and set it on the counter.

"Time for bed." He said and lifted Duo easily into his arms.

"Wee!" Duo giggled, drunkenly and looked up to Heero. "Feeling better?"

Heero smiled, despite himself, which caused Duo to gasp. He looked down at the brunette and raised a brow. "What?"

Duo grinned cheekily. "I've never seen you smile. Not for real. It's cute."

Heero wasn't sure why, but that made him feel good. He wasn't sure why Duo's opinion mattered so much to him, but for some reason, it made him feel better. The alcohol was making his head spin and he wasn't sure he would be able to move much further. He stopped at the first bedroom he came too and stumbled through the door. He placed Duo in the bed and watched as he snuggled into the blankets quickly falling asleep. He walked around to the other side of the bed and collapsed next to him, not even bothering to cover himself, and fell asleep.