Duo and Quatre got into their plymouth and started home. The car was quiet and tense, but before Quatre could breach the subjuct, a shot ricochetted off of the passangerside mirror, sending shards sparkling into the night air like fairy dust. Duo swerved violently to dodge the next shot.
"Shit! I knew it was too fucking easy!" Duo shouted, drifting onto a side street. The tires protested shrilly, and the noxious smell of burned rubber filled the car.
Milliseconds later a dark blue sedan drifted after them, bearing down on them like an aircraft carrier. The men inside wore light grey suits and black shirts, the offical 'colors' of Oz.
"I'll get them off of us," Quatre said, unbuckling and turning the safety off on his gun.
"Hang on," Duo said, turning into an alleyway. Their poor plymouth fought inertia on the curve and went up on two wheels, trying desperately not to roll. The sedan followed, remaining firmly on the ground. Once through the turn, it sped up again, its engine an ominous rumble.
Quatre rolled down his window, leaned out carefully and took a shot with his left hand. It buried itself in the fender. He ducked back inside as the two Oz men retaliated. The back window cracked but didn't break. Duo glanced into his rearview mirror and swore, "Bullet proof my ass, I spent five grand on that shit!"
Quatre said nothing, but took another shot at the car. This time it hit the backside of the mirror, making the man duck back inside. Quatre took the gained time to take a little more aim and he shot again, rewarded when there was a loud bang and thier front right tire disentegrated. The sedan swerved back and forth like a loose firehose before the driver lost control and they went careening into some garbage cans. The sedan nose-dived into the pavement and for a moment hung in the air as if doing a handstand. Then physics caught up with it and it fell forward and continued on on its roof. Sparks flashed out like a chinese fountain and then died in the darkness. They were out of sight in mere seconds as Duo skillfully weaved his way through the backstreets. He changed routes a few times, just to make sure there weren't any other cars, and when none showed up, he headed back to the apartment.
Inside, Duo didn't say anything but went directly for the shower, stripping out of his clothes as he went. He turned the water onto hot and just stood there, letting the water run over him, retracing the paths that Treize's fingers had blazed earlier. Duo shivered at the memory. He felt slightly dirty and he had no idea why. It wasn't like Treize was some disgusting creepo; he'd been a really attractive and charismatic guy...he was touching you in front of Quatre, a helpful voice supplied. That's ridiculous, Duo thought back, working his hair out of his braid so he could wash it. Why would that upset me? Oh gee, I don't know, maybe because you were acting so- slutty?. You were embarrassed! I was not! You were, you were embarrassed because you wanted Quatre to be the one touching you. And now you've scared him off by acting like that.
"I've scared him off?" Duo said aloud incredulously. "He's the one who went all scary evil corprate guy."
There was a knock on the door and the brunette paused, his hands tangled in his sudsy hair and looked through the glass shower door at the empty bathroom.
"Hey Duo, is spaghetti good for dinner tonight?" Quatre called in.
"Yeah sure," he called back. He waited to continue until he heard Quatre move away from the door.
Okay, this is ridiculous. End of conversation. And he managed to finish up his washing without thinking too much.
Dinner was also tense, the only sounds were silverwear clicking against the plates. Duo couldn't stand it, but he also couldn't stand to be the one to break.
Finally, "Duo, what's wrong?"
The brunette stared at his plate for a minute. "Would you have really shot him?"
Quatre sighed and put down his fork and knife to lean forward on his elbows. "Is that what this is about? My bluff?"
"It didn't sound like you were bluffing when you did it."
"That's because it was a bluff Duo. Those tend to not work so well if the other person knows that's what it is," the blonde retorted a little sharper than before.
"Bluffs don't work so well against men like Trieze, they tend to call them."
"I was trying to save your life!" Quatre took a steadying breath. "Don't you trust me?"
"That's the problem!" Duo yelled, slamming his hands down on the table. "You went all evil bastard style and I really thought you meant it and I still trusted you! I wasn't scared and frankly, that scares the shit outta me!"
A hush settled over the kitchen.
"The safety was on," Quatre said at last.
"What?" The hell had come from?
"When Trieze had your gun to your head, he had the safety on, I watched him check it. He never intended to shoot you...I think he was testing us."
"Oh." Duo chuckled lightly, but it died out quickly.
Quatre watched his friend for a moment, then stood up. "Come on, let's go to bed," he murmured, guiding the brunette up and into the bedroom. Once in bed he pulled Duo to him and the brunette curled into him gratefully, his breathing a little shakey. Nothing was said save between two hearts that gradually matched thier pace to each other.
"Q?"
"Hmm?"
"Was it...dirty of me? To do those things with Trieze tonight?"
"Why do you ask?"
Duo toyed with a fold in Quatre's shirt. "...I just don't want you to think I'm a slut or something..."
Quatre chuckled softly and nuzzled the top of Duo's head. "I know you're not a slut."
"I've had a few one night stands."
"Well, the other person knew that's what it was, right?"
Duo nodded, still not looking up at him.
"Then it's okay, as long as it's what you both wanted. I don't think I'd have the guts to do a one night stand myself."
There was a pause, then Duo asked, "what about a whole string of nights?" He turned his face up to gaze at friend.
"...is that what you want?" Quatre countered softly.
"yes, no-I don't know. I've..I've never felt this way before."
"Me either."
"Are you scared Q?"
"Terrified."
"Me too. Think we can be scared together?"
"Yes please."
Duo lifted his face once more and Quatre lowered his. They held a gaze too intense for words for a moment before closing the distance and touching lips.
When Duo woke the next morning he felt light, as if he'd just broke the surface of the water for a fresh breath of air. He turned his head to look at Quatre's sleeping face, feeling all warm and glowing from the feel of the blonde's heartbeat under his cheek.
He said yes, Duo thought and snuggled closer, resisting the urge to chuckle. Instead he sighed, the warm air making Quatre shift. Grinning, Duo blew gently again. A light, irritated tap on his forehead made him chuckle.
"Morning cutie."
Quatre yawned, then glared sleepily at him. "Cutie?"
"Beautiful? Gorgeous. Lovely, sexy, red-hot mama!" Duo enthused, nuzzling Quatre's chest. The blonde merely snorted and rolled out of bed, despite Duo's protests.
"That does it, you get to make breakfast," the blonde informed him as he headed for the shower.
"What? Why?"
"No one calls me Mama," Quatre said before dissappearing into the bathroom.
"What about Daddy? Ooh, yes Daddy! Harder! faster!" Duo called after him. The only reply was a freezing cold wash cloth flung at his face with deadly accuracy.
The next few weeks passed in a blur as the two slipped into a new routine evolving thier relationship. Then they recieved their next job.
A member of the senate complained that his wife kept sneaking off to enjoy Dorothy's Pleasure Imporium, and he wanted them to find something on her lovers to incriminate them. Quatre was reluctant to agree to the job until the senator agreed to pay them even if they found proof of innocence of the pets. They had a time limit of two months. Each managed to get non-slave jobs at the Imporium, Quatre as a receptionist and Duo as a matience man/bellboy.
It didn't take too long to locate the wife and her regular favorites. Quatre monitored thier rooms on a handheld screen; Duo had installed the cameras during a matinance check.
Quatre was sitting in an empty loby, watching something that was making his cheeks burn when a sharp chin landed on his shoulder.
"Oh wow. Hey, we should try that, though I might use a smaller butt-plug, I don't think my ass would stretch that much."
Quatre jerked away from his boyfriend, glaring at him and hiding the monitor. "Duo!"
"Hey, it's almost break-time, why don't we sneak off to a closet and have some fun of our own?" Duo suggested, nibbling at Quatre's neck. Quatre melted; having his neck bitten was like his off-switch. Then he shook it off and pulled away again.
"We can't, we're not supposed to know each other, remember?"
Duo backed off and pouted. "Pfft, whose stupid idea was that?"
"Yours," Quatre answered with a small grin.
"Yeah, well, the next time I have a brilliant idea, point out how stupid it is. C'mon, Quat this place is driving my nuts nuts! Sooo much sex and I'm not even part of it!"
Quatre found he could only dredge up partial sympathy for the brunette. "You're not the one watching them go at it day in and day out. I might end up with a permanent limp."
The grin that lit up Duo's face was one that sent the shivers Quatre liked so much to run along his spine. "Well we can't have that. Let me help you out a little." He leaned back over and ran his finger along the ridge of Quatre's hard-on teasingly. The blonde smacked the hand away, then turned around and caught Duo in a hungry kiss. After a moment, he pulled back and breathed, "That closet is beginning to sound good."
Duo's reply was cut off by a small buzzer on the desk. The two jumped apart, then glared at the offending blinking light. "Someone's on the way up," Quatre noted.
"Dammit! And I was gonna get some too! Have I ever mentioned I hate people?"
"You should get ready to take thier bags so we don't blow our cover," Quatre said, pushing on Duo's ass to hurry him from behind the desk.
"As soon as this job is over, we're having the fuckfest of the century," Duo grumbled, taking his place by the elevator door. But he had his 'I'm just bursting to serve you' smile on when the door opened. The trio that entered did not look like the Imporium's usual customers, not that there really was such a thing, but even so.
The first was a young woman with long honey colored hair, dressed in a reasonably modest sundress of pale blue and a fashionable white floppy sunhat. There were two men with her, roughly Quatre and Duo's age. One was asian in appearance, with light skin and a deadpan expression. He wore black cargo pants and a white and blue t-shirt. The other was caucasian, tall and slender. He wore tight jeans and an untucked, wine-colored button shirt with the sleeves partially rolled up.
The woman strode up to the desk and considered Quatre for a moment. "You're new, aren't you?"
"Yes ma'm," he answered.
She smiled and held out her hand. "I'm Releena Marquise. I think you'll find I have a suite in reserve for me. Oh, and could you let Dorothy-dear know that I'm here?"
Quatre smiled winningly. "Of course ma'm. " He got to work on filling out the forms, watching the new arrivals curiously out of the corner of his eye. Relena turned to the men.
"Now, Trowa, Heero, this is a vacation. That means you're going to get a room of your own and enjoy yourselves."
The shorter one narrowed his eyes at her. "We're charged with protecting you at all times."
Releena sighed. "Dorothy won't let anything happen to me, Heero, you know that. You two need some time to yourselves."
Heero opened his mouth to protest but Trowa laid a hand on his arm and he looked off to the side with a glower. Trowa smiled gently, his one, visible green eye warm. "Thank you Miss Releena. We'll enjoy ourselves to our fullest."
Startled, Quatre looked up to see Heero send a glare at the taller man, but Quatre sensed a thread of mirth in the asian's look. His curiosity rising even more, Quatre kept his eyes on the trio as he paged the top office.
"Yes?" Dorothy sounded mildly annoyed. Quatre wondered if he'd interrupted something, then decided he didn't really want to know.
"I'm sorry to disturb you Miss Catalonia, but Miss Marquise is here to see you."
"Reena-chan!" Dorothy replied, much warmer in her pleased surprise.
"Hi" Releena singsonged into the mic.
"Come on up. "
Releena giggled and headed for the elevator, followed by Heero and Trowa. Duo paused by the desk with thier luggage.
"Man, if they weren't together," he murmured wistfully.
"You'd still be with me," Quatre reminded him archfully.
Duo flashed him a grin. "And we'd all have fun together," he said impishly, dodging Quatre's swat and catching up to the elevator before the guests got annoyed.
Quatre shook his head and returned to the monitor. The wife was leaving, kissing the two slaves goodbye before she dissappeared from the camera's view. The two slaves returned to the bed, one pausing to fetch a paper-wrapped package from a dresser drawer. Quatre frowned and told the camera to focus in on it, and hit the record button. The slave set it on the bedstand and unwrapped it and Quatre tsked as the slave began to set his rows of cocaine for sniffing.
Quatre glanced around the lobby to make sure no one was there, then picked up his cell phone and called the number thier client had left them.
"You have news?" the older voice on the other end of the line asked.
"Yes senator. One of them at least has a thing for cocaine. I've only got one instance recorded, do you want more?"
"No, no that's all right." the senator sounded gleeful. "This is just what I'd hoped for."
"Then I'll send you a tape tomorrow."
"I'll deposit the payment when I get the tape."
"Understood sir."
Quatre clicked off the phone. "Well...guess Duo and I should put in our two week's notice then."