Duo Maxwell - AC203 Late December
Once properly fed and after taking full advantage of the huge, marble tiled, bathroom, Duo let Hilde at her catching up and gossips with Noin and Quatre and wandered down the hall in search for old Pagan's hideout.
He wasn't planning to bother the old man this soon after arriving but saying 'hi' was always a polite thing to do. As polite as bringing some gift. First thing first, Duo snuck into the pantry and grabbed a couple of the pastries he remembered the butler favoring.
Some cinnamon flavored soft cakes, leaf shaped, Duo had never seen on sale. They probably came from some super fancy place he would never set a foot in. Not that he truly minded; he wasn't much for decorum and would chose cheap and cozy over pricey and stiff any time.
Still… those pastries were awfully good. And Pagan usually didn't mind sharing his goods.
Maybe Duo should ask Relena's staff if they had a special way to get their hands on those.
He finally found the retired butler down a deserted hall, half buried between piles of books.
_ Finally! I wouldn't have imagined ancient libraries were where the old special ops come to hide.
_ Greeting Mr. Duo." The composed man answered amicably, seemingly completely at ease in the dusty crowded room. He had worked in the palace for decades after all, it was his domain.
Duo handed his offering and relieved a chair from its pile of books to seat at the cluttered table. It smelled unusual for Duo in there, dusty, old leather and wood polish. It was oddly soothing.
_ So, I heard you're on the long vacation now?
_ I have retired, yes. Those crooked hands can't do much anymore." It didn't even sound self-pitying, there was humor in the man's voice. "Want some tea with those pastries?
Duo wasn't a tea person but Pagan had a mean supplier. Right along with the treats lying between them.
_ Your tea is the best.
The old man nodded and called out to someone further into the room. Soon a figure appeared, much smaller than he would have expected. Duo gaped at the frilly clad little thing that came out of one alley, holding a stack of books in its soft metal arms.
_ Hey, that's one of mine!" How did the man get it? Duo knew every customer, making a point in meeting them, even if only on vid-com. None was Pagan. Or anyone Duo knew to be close to the old man. "How?..." He trailed, eyeing the Doll trying to recall that particular one.
_ I needed an assistant with capable hands. And an old friend of mine had a neighbor who wanted to sell this little one.
Duo frowned, his Dolls were custom made, and weren't cheap. He hadn't though that people would want to sell them this fast.
Most of his creations were all metal, looking either like robots or like actual dolls, even if he preferred referring at them as Dolls. He sub-contracted the parts that were biscuit or silicone for head and hands when the customer wanted a 'doll-looking' Doll. This one had a silicone face, it reduced the possibilities.
He hadn't had many requests for moving faces, maybe too close to human for most people's comfort. There had been that guy once, he wanted a Doll with a big mouth, supposedly to resemble his daughter or whatever bullshit. Duo hadn't listened further and handed the man coordinates for a sex doll maker and pushed him out of his office.
There was also that woman whose daughter was bedridden and wanted 'someone' to read her stories when she couldn't. This was that Doll. It probably meant the child…
_ Lily.
_ I have heard of your business, but I didn't know she was one of yours. Or I would have called you to make the few changes I needed.
_ What changes?" Duo asked curiously as the Doll started brewing the tea. Being able to learn to answer to simple orders like handling an electric kettle were parts of the basic programming. Children loved to play tea and there were not many differences between pretend and real tea party.
_ She already knew how to read so it was easy to make her able to type under diction. I'm writing my memoires and she's helping me.
Duo nodded, took the offered tea, it was a little off but still pretty good, and started asking Pagan about his memoires. Had he already said he loved the man's stories?
They talked for a while, sharing the pastries, until Hilde found their hideout. It was already lunch time and they were waiting for him. Duo made to bid his good-byes to the retired butler when the man gave him a look. The kind of look people tended to have when they wanted to ask a favor but weren't sure how welcome they would be.
_ Hildy? I'll be right there; will you tell the others that they can start the soup without me.
He loved the Asian kind of soup with noodles and chicken, but the mixed vegetables kind, he could do very well without, thanks. He kissed her lightly, she nodded and left.
_ What is it?
The old man coughed, apparently embarrassed, and looked at the Doll. It was dutifully seated on a chest, its hands on its knees, waiting to be called.
_ Like I said earlier, I had some changes made to Lily. And you might have noticed, she no longer speaks. The hardware is still working but the processor isn't powerful enough to enable her to do... everything needed. And we didn't dare change the components. Do you think you could do something about it? Without turning her off?
Duo was pretty sure he could do something. Without turning it down would be a lot trickier. You don't just plug and unplug components of a computer while the machine was running.
_ Why not turning it off?
_ I wouldn't want her not to remember me when she wakes up.
Duo internally frowned at that. What Pagan's wizard had done to his Doll?
_ What do you mean?
Pagan shrugged, he was no IT expert, he just knew what his wizard told him: never to let the Doll's batteries run as low as zero, never shut it down. Or her whole memories would disappear, except for the original basic programming.
_ I'll think about something." Duo didn't promise, he had no idea if he could do it. And frankly, he thought the old man was getting a bit lonely if he was starting to imprint onto an animated Doll.
Retirement didn't always do good to everyone.
It was only while Duo enjoyed his last drops of wine, wrinkling his nose at the display of cheese, it occurred to him he didn't even asked about who had put their fingerprints all over his creation.
Then Quatre offered the Merquise to bring the kids to the Christmas market. Duo and Hilde joined in. They had been planning to go there anyway. The more the merrier.
_ Ho gawd, feels sooo good…
Duo was soaking in the large bath-tub, his braid coiled behind his head as cushion. The salts smelled like lavender, the water was warm. Like really warm, not just lukewarm as in the colonies, energy restriction. And Hilde, facing him from the other side of the huge tub was massaging one of his feet.
It was heaven.
Especially after a two days trek in the neighboring hills. He was no more used to Earth gravity than walking for whole days. He was sore everywhere. But it had been worth it, the landscape and viewpoints had been breathtaking.
She let go of his foot and started to pick at the hair above his ankle. Duo took one of hers and reciprocated, letting his finger trail up her calf too. Given her line of work, Hilde had kept working out and was hard muscle all over. But not usually that hard. So he went to work, loosen all this bunched up muscle.
This time it was Hilde who stretched leisurely in the water.
_ You're good at that. If your Doll business ever gets down, you know where to go next." She appreciated, purring a little.
Duo laughed it off. And have to rub fat old coot who'll try to grab his braid of pet his ass? Or the other way around. No thanks.
Really, he understood the need for any people, even the old, fat or ugly ones, to have the right to access professional massages and all. He admired the benevolence of the people who would choose this line of work, like nurses and all. But it definitely wasn't his call.
He was a Doll maker. Dolls that made people happy. Nice change from dolls that killed and destroyed.
_ Don't go too much ahead of yourself Hon, we still have dinner planed with Quatre tonight.
Duo hummed, he knew. Quatre had threatened them with two restaurant dinners. The first one had… not been the disaster Duo had feared, despite Relena's presence.
_ I know I didn't know him as much as you lot did. But I really don't get why you're all still so stuck with that guy when together. Usually, you don't ever talk about him.
Duo went back to Hilde's voice, trying to catch-up on her last bit of talking. Oh… yes, Heero. His name had come up in the conversation at the Vermillion. And as usual, that had left a sour feeling around the table.
Except for Hilde.
_ I mean. I get he was a comrade in arms, you fought together. But let's see it, he was bossy, selfish, unfriendly, reckless and left all of you without a word. Why cling onto such a jerk?
Duo was glad he was so exhausted. He would have gotten angry otherwise. Really angry. Yes, Heero had been that, all she said. But not just that. Duo had no idea how to explain. He wasn't sure she would get it even if he tried.
_ He was a paranoid bastard, I give that to you. And terribly reckless. He was a mess. But the only thing he had ever wanted was to protect people. Everyone was the least he was aiming for. But he trusted very few.
Being amongst those few was a gift, Heero was fiercely protective of those who earned his trust and friendship. Relena first but not the only one.
_ And those few let him down. We all did, Hilde, in a way or another. That's why, we can't let go. He had nothing to live for when I met him. I'm not sure with what he left.
Duo didn't know for sure, but he had a fair idea about how and when he had personally failed his friend. That morning when the young dark haired, blue eyed boy left Duo's cabin on the Peacemillion with disappointment all over his features.
He had been trusted. And he broke that trust.
Like everyone else.
Even Trowa, whom Heero had explicitly trusted multiple times when no one else would (when they ended up on either side of a heavy iron door for example, or when they found him miling with Mariemaia's little army), had asked Duo about the bossy pilot each time they met.
One way or another.
Except maybe Wufey. He had always stayed clear from any kind of drama brewing between them. Kept to himself, trying to disentangle his own personal issues. But if the man still had news from Heero, he hadn't shared with the class. And most certainly wouldn't with Duo.
It was snowing. It was evening, they were at the Christmas market (again), under a veil of tiny lights and it was snowing. It was magic.
A bit crowded maybe, Duo amended when a hurrying citizen jostled him while passing by on the walkway.
_ Rude dude!" He grumbled after the caped blue duffle. He was entitled to try catching snowflakes, dammit!
His frown subsidized, and a wide grin spread instead as he caught sigh of Hilde coming back with two steaming cups of mulled wine. Aaand… a suspiciously bulky bag hanging from her left arm.
_ Found something nice?" He asked around a cup held with both hands to keep them warm, trying not to sound too curious or interested with the package. Guess after eight years of living together, she knew him too well and laughed at his failed attempt before handing him the bag.
_ For you, it's not yet the gift day but you might want to use it now.
Interest piqued, Duo held the unfinished goblet with his teeth to free both hands and unpack. Eyebrows shot up at the sigh of an extremely comfy looking coat with a huge hood. Black, because he was Duo Maxwell. He didn't waste time slipping it on, humming in content at the warm feeling.
That deserved a hug, and a thorough kiss. At least, but it was as far as he was allowed to go on a public street. The kiss tasted like spices and it was great.
Duo hadn't really intended to give much thought about Pagan's rewritten Doll, but it was bugging him. That someone had the gall to rewrite his codes and freaking manage to make it work; the challenge posed, if he could outsmart that smartass and achieve what he could not; and what the hell Pagan meant by 'remember him'. What the hell has the wizard done to his Doll?
If Lily remembered like, everything, it was loads of data, like really loads.
Fuck! That wizard might really a genius!
…
_ This is pure madness!" He yelled in dismay, his borrowed tools spread neatly around him and his personal laptop plugged to the Doll's system.
Duo had tried, he really did. Except he had nothing to work with; the wizard's added codes were like nothing he had ever seen, unscripted, with heaps of commands that did not exist. Not in any known language.
_ Sorry old man, I have not idea how this clusterfuck works. The only way to relink speech to the core program would be by adding a new drive and a dual core. I don't have the tools necessary here. And I can't guaranty it won't fry the whole system, not if done while running.
Pagan nodded sadly. Duo felt pretty bad about it, but there was honestly not much he could do. Besides promising he'll keep looking into it while back home.
Trowa Barton - AC 195
They had left the Circus three days ago. Three days snailing their path from back road to back road, sometimes going back when he found himself stranded with no west bound asphalt large enough for the overly large truck they needed to carry Heavyarm.
The recovering pilot had been napping most of the time. Healing or boredom, he had no idea. They talked sometimes, exchanging snippets of themselves. None could be counted as a 'conversation' by most standards.
He didn't mind, he was more used to a quiet sleeping brunet head than a living moving one. Still it was troubling. He had spent four weeks tending to that body, knew all its moles and scars. Now it wasn't just a body, it was a person. Someone he barely yet intimately knew.
How did nurses handle this kind of circumstances?
It was so discomforting. He wondered if it would have been less so if the boy wasn't his age, or cute. And he hadn't had time for 'getting rid of the distraction' lately.
Another small town, another gas station they will empty to fill their enormous engine. Another grocery stop. His companion was now feeling more comfortable asking for his own stuff. More comfortable or fed up with his choices of food.
He was climbing back in the truck, expecting once again to find the other boy napping or typing on his borrowed computer. The computer had been borrowed, proof his opened state on the head board. What else had been moved was the keys. Dangling from the boy's hand.
He stared. His new companion tended to be unpredictable and a tad weird sometimes, but he had not pegged him for a player. He reached for the key to have it kept out of his reach.
_ It's been three days. You've only had catnaps ever since. You need a shower and a real bed. I need a change of dressing and warm water. There is a pension on the other side of town.
He tried to protest, they weren't far enough, they couldn't afford to waste time. To risk getting caught.
_ I can't drive. Not for long. And you're dead on your feet. We'll be of no use if we end up down a ravine.
With this, the brunet simply pushed him on the passenger seat to start the truck and head to whatever sleeping facility he had found. Definitely, more comfortable. Enough to boss him around so it seemed.
When told about a pension, he had been imagining some small place, a little outdated, maybe owned by an old lady or a mother of five. Turned out, the teen had fancy tastes. The place was a former mansion turned hotel.
Tonight, they would eat a hot homemade meal for a change. And sleep in a real bed. He wondered if the cook would be better than Catherine. The woman did put all her heart into her cooking, didn't mean she was good at it. Still better than the merc's cooking or the mining colony's mass.
He knew some basics, but they rarely had much ingredients to be creative with. He wondered from what kind of back ground his copilot was coming from. Quatre and Wufei had both come from wealth. And given the thickness of the hall carpet and the brunet (who had hid his bandages under a zip hoodie) unimpressed stroll, he really was as much at ease in posh surrounding.
_ I've made a reservation for two under the name Maxwell." The boy claimed at the front desk.
He was almost pleased to realize he was right about one thing; the desk clerk was an old lady, with knitted cardigan and spectacles. A suspicious one; despite the claim being seconded by her computer.
_ I don't remember this reservation." She looked at them from over the rim of her slim framed glasses.
He was glad he was used to keep a neutral stance no matter what. He almost yelped when the brunet slid by his side and twined their hands and arms in an amorous embrace and cutesied at the matron.
_ That's because we've been planning our escapade for ages. Ne, Hanata? Waiting for... the right time.
Worst thing was not that the 'silly girlfriend' act _blush included_ was eons away from what he knew about the boy but the matron bought it all, bait, hook, line and sinker. She even winked at them while handing the key. The following shiver was not pleasant.
_ You do that often?" There was a strange mix of amusement and something more sour rising.
_ First time as lovers. Oyaji used to make me pass for his son when we were traveling. Used so say I wasn't really good at it.
_ And with your friend?" He decided to store the piece about 'oyaji' for later examination.
_ I don't have friends.
_ The pilot you've been with." He clarified. The boy shrugged as he opened the door.
_ He has a chipmunk face, couldn't look legal even if he tried. We went to boarding schools. A cargo-ship once, his folk.
Another piece of puzzle to store.