CHAPTER THREE: In Which Wufei Gets Fed Up
Wufei looked up from his book to see Heero watching him steadily. "Is there a problem?"
"No."
"Then why are you staring at me?"
"I'm not. I'm observing. You're sitting very stiffly."
Wufei opened his mouth to say that his back was aching, and quickly snapped it closed. Damn it, but Duo was breaking down all his defenses! He had come very close to allowing Heero to see a blatant weakness. Soon he'd be chattering about his health to little old ladies at the supermarket.
"Is your back bothering you?"
"No," Wufei said shortly. It was true enough - it didn't really bother him anymore. Just ached on occasion. He wouldn't admit it to any of the others; they'd be sure to tell Duo and his lover would think it was all his fault.
Then Wufei would never get him to do what he wanted.
And anyway, it wasn't last night's activities that were bothering him now. He'd pushed himself too far in his katas this morning, and he was paying the price. But he'd been enjoying the solitude; Quatre wasn't watching him because he assumed Duo was, and Duo had been sleeping the sleep of the righteously exhausted.
He'd gone through his forms until his legs had wobbled; when he allowed his fierce concentration to fade, he'd realized that his spine felt like a red-hot poker. He'd immediately snuck back inside, took a quick shower, and perched on the soft, cushioned couch with a book as a prop.
He sometimes suspected Quatre had bought this couch specifically for him - its cushions were perfectly made to form themselves to his back, giving him the ultimate in support.
The fact that the last safehouse they'd been in had a couch just like it only furthered his suspicions.
"Hn..." The sound Heero made was thoughtful and Wufei eyed him warily. It wasn't a good thing when Heero got thoughtful - he could figure out things better than Quatre could with his empathy.
"Since you're not in discomfort... perhaps you'd like to spar?" Heero's voice was perfectly innocent.
Wufei thought about trying to fight Heero - even play-fighting - while his back felt like this and nearly howled. But he had to say something, or Heero would know his back really was hurting. He searched his mind desperately for a reasonable excuse -
- and was saved by a newly-awake, highly energetic American pilot.
"Hee-chan!" Duo shouted, and glomped his friend. "You're back! How was the mission? Are you guys okay? Where's Tro? Didya havta kill anybody? What are you gonna..." he shut up abruptly as Heero clapped a hand over his mouth.
"Hello, baka. We're both fine. Mission accomplished." And that was apparently all Heero was going to say.
Wufei snorted a bit in amusement and picked up his book, trying to truly lose himself in the pages before Heero asked again about sparring. He had a feeling he wasn't going to have to worry about it; Duo had dodged away from Heero's hand and his mouth was once more going a mile a minute. Heero was grumbling at him without really saying a word.
Quatre came to the door, beamed at his koi and asked if anyone was interested in lunch. Duo shouted with glee, and the blond was on the receiving end of another glomp. He just laughed, and hugged Duo in return.
"Let's eat, let's eat, let's eat!" Duo chanted, brushing past Trowa, who had appeared in the doorway. Quatre and his lovers started after him.
Wufei turned a page in his book, finally beginning to get involved in the story, when the hair started to stand up on the back of his neck.
Someone was looking at him.
And the silence in the room was very strange, not an I'm-all-alone silence at all...
He looked up and found four pairs of eyes staring straight at him. He lifted an eyebrow, questioning them without saying a word.
"Aren't you going to come and eat, Wufei?" Quatre's voice was gentle, and well on its way to mother-hen mode.
Wufei hid a wince. "I'm not hungry, Winner. Thank you, anyway."
"Wu? At least come and sit with us?" Duo pleaded, knowing from experience that if he got his lover to the table, he could get some food in him.
'Think fast!' Wufei thought, knowing if he got up while they were watching, he was in trouble. There was no way he could move smoothly when his back was aching like this. "All right. As soon as I finish this chapter." He replied, and turned his eyes back to the book.
Only to blink rapidly as someone took it out of his hands. He stared up at Heero, wide-eyed with surprise.
"Your back is hurting." It was a statement, not a question.
"I said it wasn't bothering me," Wufei replied, glaring at the other boy.
"Wufei?"
He winced. Duo's voice was worried and guilty.
Exactly what he had hoped to avoid.
"I'm fine," he grumbled, and forced himself to get smoothly to his feet, his face expressionless and his breath even.
But his brain was wailing, 'owwwwww...'
Heero's gaze didn't falter. "I say you're not."
Damn him, didn't he realize Duo was turning pale?
"You were up at 06:00 this morning; you were outside until 09:00. I say you spent too long on your exercises and now you're paying for it."
Well, at least that statement had Duo looking a lot less guilty. Unfortunately, he also looked a lot more peeved. "Wufei - did you do katas for three hours this morning?!"
"Of course not." It had only been two hours and forty-odd minutes. He'd meditated a bit first.
Duo frowned, his eyes narrowing. Wufei stared back, calm and completely unemotional.
"Just how long did you exercise, then?" a voice that was normally very sweet asked cooly.
Argh! He might have to kill Quatre... "Not much longer than usual." Usual, of course, meaning in the time before his back was injured.
They still looked suspicious. All four of them. He scowled. "Are we going to eat, or not?"
"What about your book?" Trowa asked innocently.
Wufei wasn't fooled. He saw the way the taller boy watched him when he got up. Trowa was just as ready to fuss as the other three. Ever since he'd gotten out of the hospital, they'd treated him like a crippled two-year-old. Even when he'd started going on missions again.
He was really getting tired of this. If they didn't stop pushing...
"Wufei, we're just worried about you." Quatre seemed to be picking up on his frustration.
"How many times do I have to tell you that I'm..."
"'Fei, c'mon, you know you were hurt pretty bad! We're only..."
"I was hurt. Past tense, Maxwell." He winced at the look on Duo's face when he used his last name, but he wouldn't take it back. They all needed to back off, all this attention was making him nervous.
"Chang - we are following strict orders from the Doctors and Sally; it's necessary in order to keep you mission-ready."
"Screw them, too," Wufei grumbled, borrowing a phrase from Duo, "They have my records and Sally shows up every two weeks like clockwork. She doesn't hover and act worried when she's here!"
"That's because she doesn't see you pushing yourself. You test your limits every day without giving yourself a chance to heal completely." Quatre said.
"There's nothing left to heal! If my back aches every once in a while - and I'm not saying it does - then that's perfectly normal! If you four don't quit following me around and telling me to rest and trying to shove pills and food down my throat, I'm going to go back to sleeping in Nataku!" Wufei nearly shouted.
"We won't allow that." Heero said calmly, and Wufei turned on him, rage in his eyes.
"What do you mean, 'you won't allow it?!'"
"Exactly what I said." Heero folded his arms on his chest and glared at him.
Wufei glared right back. "And how, exactly, do you plan on stopping me?"
"It wouldn't be that difficult."
"Oh, really?"
"Really," Heero said, stepping forward. Wufei dodged away, ignoring the throb in his back as best he could. Heero lunged for him, and he wasn't quick enough to avoid his hands the second time.
"Hee-chan, don't hurt him!" He heard Duo shout, and he growled. His koi thought he was this weak? He'd show him.
He aimed a blow at Heero and the other boy ducked at the last possible second. "I'm not trying to fight you!" he said sharply, confusing Wufei enough to make him stand still. Heero took quick advantage, taking hold of his arm and carefully - very carefully - skimming the softest touch of fingertips down his spine.
Wufei froze.
Stood perfectly still, fighting hard...
Stopped breathing.
Oh, shit - it wasn't going to work. He couldn't stop himself.
He whimpered.
"See?" Heero said, his voice the gentlest any of them had ever heard it. The blue-eyed boy stepped back to let Duo wrap his arms around Wufei, to let Quatre lift the back of the blue tank top and start fussing over the slight swelling around Wufei's vertebrae. Heero exchanged a glance with Trowa, and they headed for the medicine cabinet to find the anti-inflammatory pills and painkillers Sally had given them for days like this.
Wufei stayed perfectly still, afraid to move and risk another jolt of agony like that.
"And you call me a baka," Duo whispered in his ear, rubbing his shoulders since he didn't dare touch his back.
"You are a baka," Wufei whispered back, still angry but unable to resist lowering his forehead down to rest on Duo's shoulder. "I just want all of you to stop treating me like a weakling."
"We're not," Quatre put in. "We're treating you like a friend who's been hurt. And we're going to keep treating you like that until you're better."
"I know how to take care of myself."
"We know you do," Duo said, "you just don't take care of yourself, even though you know how. You don't listen to us and you don't listen to Sally. If you did, we would back off some."
"Some," Quatre agreed, his voice teasing, "but just some. It's too much fun taking care of you. You look so cute when you scowl."
"Hey, Blondie, that's my line!" Duo howled with mock anger.
"You can't expect me not to notice!"
"I can expect you not to comment! Don't you have enough hot guys hanging all over you?! Leave mine alone!"
"Oh, so you can say mine are 'hot' but I'm not allowed to compliment yours? That's a double standard if I've ever heard one!"
Heero and Trowa had come back sometime during this little spat, and both of them were smirking at Wufei when he looked up.
"Would you like to be rescued?" Trowa asked, ignoring the two boys who were now fighting over who had the cutest boyfriend - and neither was entirely in favor of their own.
"Please," Wufei replied, trying to slip out of Duo's arms without hurting his back. Duo let him go so he could step closer to Quatre, threatening to have the blond's eyes removed, 'cause if he could say that about that part of Wufei's anatomy, that meant he'd been looking at that part of Wu's anatomy.
"If we get you out of here, you have to promise to take your pills." Heero ordered.
"Deal." Wufei normally hated medication, but he'd do anything to get away from this embarrassing exchange. The other two weren't arguing now - they'd gone on to a very friendly - and loud - discussion of the shape of three specific backsides. He felt slightly ashamed of himself for retreating.
Then, as Trowa slid a careful arm around him to help him walk out, he noticed that both the other boys were blushing.
That made him feel a little better.
Actually, he felt good enough to snicker.
Heero paid him back by deciding to carry him from the room, instead.
"I am not an onna! Yuy! Put me down!"
And so the day descended into chaos...