This thing needs a title.
Wufei was a lover of books, not that you could tell by looking at him. The majority of his classmates would be shocked beyond words to discover the slim martial artist knew how to read, much less that he enjoyed it. And even if they managed to accept his literacy, they would never be able to swallow the kinds of books he preferred.
Fantasy, mostly, of the hard-work-pays-off, evil-sometimes-wins, magic-isn't-always-the-answer, sometimes-heroes-die variety, and thrillers. Not your average thrillers, either; not slicer novels, with graphic descriptions of the dead, dying, tortured, and maimed on every other page, nor pointless, plotless drivel written by someone with no imagination and an eighth grade vocabulary. No, Wufei's page-turners of choice were psychological in nature, Dean Koontz and Michael Palmer, where the heroes weren't heroes at all, the true villain remained a mystery through to the end, and the plot was intricate enough to keep even a boy of his discipline and self-control enthralled into the quietest hours of the night.
But very few of Wufei's peers knew this side of him even existed. All they would ever see was the stoic, stand-offish fighter, the aloof, pragmatic, self-sufficient survivor. They were content to remain ignorant of the sensitive, introspective scholar residing at peace with the warrior they did know.
Duo, on the other hand, was a true fan of music. He much preferred to hear a story than to read it himself. Anything sung had power to him, from traditional Irish ballads to heavy metal to Native American war songs. He believed the spoken word was Power, and he lived that philosophy to the fullest, never lying, always speaking his mind, and never hesitating to disagree with or call out a liar.
Duo was always in trouble with authority, and by the age of 16, he had twice spent the night in jail. He was constantly involved in fistfights, verbal altercations, and quite a few standoffs with the police.
Despite his record, however, Duo was a kind boy, with a giving heart and a pure soul. He just always seemed to wind up on the wrong side of an argument, more often than not. No matter how he joked about it, there was no escaping the fact that he genuinely wanted to help others; he was one of the good guys, arguments to the contrary notwithstanding. It was obvious, if you knew what to look for underneath the tough punk-rocker he showed to the world at large. Not all the tough talk and leather in the world can hide a heart that big.
Anyone will tell you that opposites attract- sadist to masochist, optimist to pessimist, loud to shy, the list goes on and on. Yet when polar opposites come together in real life, no one can believe it….
Duo Maxwell, his knee-length chestnut hair slowly but surely working its way loose from its customary braid, violet eyes burning in his deceptively childlike face, crouched with his back to the rough stone of the alley wall, eying the three thugs between him and the open street.
"You always were a coward." He commented with a cheerful smile. "Get your ass kicked by a kid, and you bring two goons with you to pay him back for the insult. How you lived to get as old as you are is a mystery to me."
The middle thug growled deep in his throat, his less-than-handsome face twisting grotesquely.
"I mean, seriously, Kev, how many idiots does it take to kick a skinny kid like me around for an hour or two?" Duo continued, subtly tensing in anticipation of an attack. "I thought your back-up was stronger than that. Besides, you've got at least a foot and 50 pounds on me; are you really so weak you need help to take me down?"
The taunting did its trick, and Kev lunged for Duo, streetlight glinting off the narrow blade in his fist.
Duo dodged easily, slipping to the side and smothering a laugh as Kev's momentum carried him headlong into the wall. The small teen took advantage of the distraction to dart between the two goons. Out of the alley, left down the street, the first right, and two blocks straight would take him into Wing territory, and even Kev wasn't stupid enough to follow him there.
He made the street and crossed it, the muscle only a step or two behind him. Being smaller and more agile than his pursuers, Duo kept and widened his lead, glancing back as he rounded the corner, just in time to see Kev stumble out of the alley looking uglier than usual, death in his eyes. Duo flipped him off.
He shouldn't have been surprised when Kev's thugs sent up the call of 'thief!', or when the concerned citizens responded. This was actually one of the better parts of town; Duo normally avoided it, but Kev and his goons had given him no choice.
He dodged a portly shopkeeper with a broom and skidded around a startled young woman pushing a baby carriage, tossing her a grin. One block to go. Half a block.
Still dodging pedestrians, Duo let loose a triumphant shout as he shot out into the street dividing this area from the one claimed by the Wings.
His elation was short-lived, however; a hand closed on the collar of his jacket and yanked him back onto the sidewalk, shoving him against the rough wall of an old apartment building.
"Not so fast, thief." His manhandler turned out to be a handsome guy in a business suit with real, honest-to-Gods ginger hair. Not red; ginger. More orange than any other color, really-
No time for that! Duo told himself sternly, shaking his head to clear it. "I'm not a thief." He said out loud.
"Oh, really?" The businessman countered, not convinced by any stretch of the imagination.
"Can't believe everything you hear. Just 'cause I'm not rich doesn't mean I feel the need to rip anybody off."
"Okay then, alleged thief," The man said as Kev arrived on the scene, goons in tow. "Why would this man accuse you of being a thief?"
"Because he wants to kill me for kicking his ass a few weeks ago." Duo explained, shrugging. "Search me; the only valuable on me are a pocket knife and a cross, and they're both worth more to me than the most generous pawnbroker in town." It was true, too; his cross was lead and plain gold plate, and the knife was wood and steel with no decorations to speak of.
"You lying little bastard!" Kev yelled, starting for him again.
"Hey!" Duo exclaimed indignantly. "You have no proof that my parents weren't married! And I never lie!"
"Come now, everyone lies." The ginger-haired man interrupted, holding up a hand to stop Kev from going for Duo.
"Not me." Duo disagreed. "Go ahead; ask me anything. I'll answer truthfully."
"What's your name?"
"People call me Duo Maxwell."
"How old are you?"
"16 years, 3 months, and 6 days, if you go by my current birthday."
"Have you ever stolen?"
"Yes."
"From whom?"
"Couldn't tell ya." Duo confessed with a shrug. "I didn't know them."
"And what's to keep us from turning you over to the police?" The businessman asked, and Duo got the feeling he was enjoying this.
"It would be a waste of time; insufficient evidence." Duo explained a bit smugly. "You don't know who I stole from, what I stole, or when I stole it. Even I'm not sure of most of them. And it was all petty larceny anyway; all's I'd get was community service, and I do that already. If anyone should get arrested here, it's the dumbass who's been chasing me all over the city with a knife.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have homework to do for school tomorrow." That said, he darted around the strange man and across the street to safety.
He made it a whole block before breaking down in a laughing fit.
"Wufei. Morning."
Chang Wufei came completely awake in an instant at the sound of his housemate's voice. After several months in the two-bedroom apartment, he was used to the gruff morning wake-up. Heero wasn't one to waste words.
The apartment's third tenant, however….
"Is he awake yet, Heero? You guys are running late, so you'd better hurry a bit today!" A cheerful voice called from the direction of the kitchen, carried on the scent of bacon and French toast. "Breakfast is almost done, so hop to it, or there'll be nothing but stale bread crusts and warm water for you!"
It was a hollow threat, of course; Quatre didn't have the heart to deny someone anything he could give them. Still, Wufei moved faster than usual in his preparations, and arrived at the table in plenty of time to properly enjoy a meal with his 'family.'
Quatre was perhaps the most feminine man Wufei had ever seen, not that he was the least bit effeminate. He just looked like a girl; he didn't act like one. He had sun-bleached blond hair that hung in a charming fringe around the kindly face of an angel and large eyes of a strange aqua color. He smiled openly and often, in direct contrast with his roommate and lover, Heero.
Heero was stoic and a born lone wolf, usually expressionless, though he was far from emotionless. His dark brown hair was always messy and forever falling into his suspicious Prussian blue eyes. He spoke little, smiled less, and never laughed in public.
Quatre was a stay-at-home boyfriend, spending the majority of his time cooking, cleaning, and painting. Heero ran a successful electronics company specializing in security and tracking equipment. He also headed a taskforce known as the Wings, which offered protection and the promise of a future to runaways and street children.
Wufei liked living with them, although he would never admit it right to their faces.
"No lingering, you." Quatre admonished sternly, trying to look threatening and failing miserably. "You've got to get to school, and the last thing I need is that miserable vice-principal calling me with more snide remarks about my sexual orientation." The blond's smile turned slightly bitter, and Wufei was gripped by the sudden urge to murder his vice-principal. For some reason, anyone who insulted or hurt Quatre was awarded a place of honor at the very top of Wufei's shitlist. It made him that angry.
"If he does, I'm reporting him." Wufei promised, standing. "Thank you for the meal; I'll see you this afternoon." He grabbed his bag and headed for the door, effectively putting an end to the conversation.
Duo woke up the same way he always did- grumpy. He was never what you'd call a morning person, and his late night with his math book didn't help much.
As usual, his alarm clock was the sound of screaming kids, yelling adults, arguing teenagers, and loud music. In the House, no one needed a clock to wake up on time.
The House was a testament to the basic goodness of mankind, founded and maintained by one Relena Peacecraft, and the only home Duo had ever known.
Relena was one of those heiresses who had tons of money, but didn't want luxury. She'd founded the House right where she lived, converting the four-story private residence into an unofficial runaway shelter/orphanage. A warm, safe haven from the streets, with the virtually endless Peacecraft fortune behind it. There were beds, food, shelter, and support available, if you were willing to stay clean, go to school, and follow the House rules. Shiftless street kids went in the House, but productive, contributing members of society went out.
With his usual questionable morning charm, Duo managed to punch, kick, or hit half a dozen other teenage boys before he made it to the hallway. It was ten to a room right now, and Duo's roommates were learning again exactly how mean he could be before his first pot of coffee.
He muttered a surly greeting best left unwritten at a group of cheerful older girls as he stumbled into the Japanese-style communal boys' bathroom. So far, this morning sucked.
As per his morning routine, Wufei arrived exactly 35 minutes before first bell and went straight to the library, where he exchanged his finished book for a new one. From there, he went to his locker, then to his first class with 20 minutes to spare.
As always, he was the first one there, aside from the teacher, and spent ten minutes in serious discussion with the instructor before his classmates began to arrive, and he retreated to his corner, pulling out his history textbook and notebook as less enthusiastic students stumbled to their seats.
With a pot of coffee inside him and his near-famous cheer restored, Duo jogged easily down his usual route to school. He could have taken the bus, but the bus wouldn't have let him stop at Beki's.
Beki was a student at the nearby university, a 20-year-old freshman by virtue of two failed years in high school. She was enthusiastic, pushy, and loud, with the attention span of a very small child and a memory like Swiss cheese. Since meeting her two years ago, Duo had made it a habit to drop by on his way to school and make sure she was awake and dressed. And not wrapped up in a book or movie or IM conversation, and especially to make sure she wasn't writing.
Beki's apartment was actually a rented room with an outside entrance via a modified fire escape on the third floor of some fancy house, and the inhabitants were used to Duo rushing up the outdoor staircase and banging on Beki's door before immediately letting himself in, so he paid no attention to the amount of noise he was making.
He found the door unlocked and went in with a sigh; now he'd have to sit her down and explain the importance of locking your door at night again.
"Hey, Beki, you awake yet?" He called into the gloom, tugging open the heavy black curtains on the room's single window.
"Oh, hey Duo." A rumpled blond head poked itself out of the private bathroom and smiled at him, blinking owlishly around the absence of her glasses. "When did you get here?"
"You left your door open again."
"Did I, really?" She asked without much interest, popping out of sight only to pop back again, running a hairbrush through her hair. "I could have sworn I checked it before I went to bed last night. Then again, I actually went to bed at about 3 this morning; I got shanghaied again."
"Well, hurry up and get ready, before we're both late." Duo ordered, shooing her off in the direction of the bookcase that served as her dresser. "I'll get your books together."
"Thanks bunches, Duo, you're a real pal!" She exclaimed cheerfully, already riffling through piles of identical jeans and functional t-shirts in search of something she hadn't worn yet that week. "I'd loose my head if you weren't around to make sure it was screwed on all the way!"
Duo ignored the obvious opening for some really good teasing in favor of getting Beki's things together for her.
"I'm so sorry I'm late!"
The wailed apology, accompanied by the sound of the classroom door opening and slamming shut, called Wufei's attention away from the interesting subject of ancient Mesopotamian civilization with an annoyed glare.
The instigator of the disturbance was one of the poorer students, a small boy with very long brown hair and violet eyes called Duo Maxwell. It was common knowledge that he hadn't been born with that name, but it was also common knowledge that even he didn't know his real name.
"What was it this time, Mr. Maxwell?" The teacher asked with a resigned sigh, pulling out the attendance sheet and picking up his pen.
"She got shanghaied." Duo explained with a grin. "Up till 3. Even forgot to lock her door."
"I don't know what she'd do without you, Mr. Maxwell. Take your seat."
Whoever 'she' was, the teacher seemed to accept the excuse and write it off as unavoidable. The mysterious woman who had delayed Duo was probably a friend or child of a friend of the teacher.
"Yes, sir!" Duo exclaimed with a mock salute before taking the only empty seat in the classroom; right next to Wufei. "Hey, I don't think I know you." He said, smiling winningly at Wufei, who did his best to ignore him as the lesson started up again. "And here I thought I knew everybody. I probably know of you, even if we've never met…. That outfit is bound to stand out in a place like this…. No, don't tell me, I'll get it in a second…."
Wufei merely sighed, trying to zone out the babbling and concentrate on his work, which was becoming increasingly difficult.
"Hmm… Last name first, right? That would mean you're from the far East, right? Anyway, last name first…. Last name first… Chang…. Chang something…. Chang Wufei! Is that right, did I get it?"
"Can you possibly shut up for five seconds in a row?" Wufei demanded, perhaps more angrily than he'd intended, for Duo shrank back slightly for a moment.
"Sure I can, but that's no fun. I like talking. My pseudo-shrink says I suffer from 'fear of silence,' whatever that is."
"I can see that." Wufei muttered under his breath as the teacher stood up.
"Okay, boys and girls, time for partner assignments on your independent study projects!" He announced, giving rise to a chorus of complains and groans. "Now, to avoid accusations of favoritism or unfairness, people in the even rows will all be paired with the person directly to your left. Everyone's here today, so no complaining, got it?"
Deaf to the scrambling for better partners that erupted at the news, Wufei could only stare to his left. This couldn't possibly be happening to him….
"Looks like it's you and me, buddy!" Duo said cheerfully, smiling his best smile at the guy he'd be working with almost nonstop for the rest of the grading period. "I'm going to assume from the look on your face that you know who I am and have had ample time to memorize every gruesome detail of my reputation. I assure you, most of the bad shit is lies. I'm straight now, in one sense of speaking."
He paused as the expression on Wufei's face changed slightly, and he wondered if maybe he'd gone a little far there. After all, not every guy would feel comfortable working with a homo day in and day out.
"Look, forget what you've heard, because it really is mostly lies." He said finally. "Teach expects us to work together, and work together we shall, because he controls our grades, okay?"
After a long, tense moment, Wufei finally nodded once, and Duo heaved a sigh of relief.
"Good; I don't like being hated very much."
Wufei stumbled into the apartment at nearly 8:00 that night, thoroughly exhausted. He'd never known research to be so tiring, but working with Duo Maxwell seemed to make it an entirely new experience.
"Oh, good, Wufei, you're home!" Quatre said, smiling, and Wufei couldn't help but contrast Quatre's gentle cheer with Duo's more exuberant glee. "I have to run to the store real quick; dinner's keeping warm in the oven. Heero's staying at the office overnight, so you can have as much as you like, okay?"
"Thank you, I will." Wufei said, stepping into the living room just as the front door closed behind Quatre.
It wasn't unusual for Heero to stay late at work. He'd once stayed on call for nearly a week, probably not eating or sleeping the entire time, while he played base commander in the search for a group of missing kids. The man was dedicated to his work, Wufei had to give him that.
And with Heero gone, that meant Wufei got the rest of whatever Quatre had made for dinner, a boon he would desperately need if tomorrow were anything like that afternoon.
"Relena, my lovely hostess, you look dead on your feet." Duo greeted the House founder, planting a friendly kiss on each cheek. "Haven't you been sleeping lately? Don't make me put sleeping pills in your dinner again."
"Duo, listening to you threaten so sincerely is enough to make up for a sleepless night any day." Relena sighed, smiling. "Could I perhaps convince you to do something for me?"
"I'm yours to command." Duo said, grinning. "Can't guarantee I'll obey any commands you give, but it never hurts to ask, right?"
"I have a package I need delivered, and it absolutely cannot wait until tomorrow. I realize it's late, and you probably have things you need to do, but there simply isn't anyone quite as reliable as you here right now."
"Well, if that's all, all I ask is that you get someone to take this stuff up to my room for me." Duo replied. "Field trip! Where'm I going?"
"Wing headquarters. Make sure Mr. Yuy gets this."
"Will do!" A long career as Relena's sometimes-errand boy meant he knew exactly where he was going, and who he was supposed to give the package to, making further instructions redundant. "See ya in a few!"
Umm… Does anyone else find this as corny as I do?
This story is being written as a present for my all-time favorite Gundam Wing RP partner, Desi Maxwell. Desi rocks! I just hope she likes the story…