A/N: Hey everyone I just wanted to say a quick, big "thank you!" to everyone who has been reading so far. With the holidays I have been swamped and haven't had a chance to do much PMing but I want to let you know I appreciate all my readers and smile at every review haha! ;-P Anyway, if you are celebrating anything this week, I hope you have a great holiday as well and I'll be back Monday. =)
839 Days Until Last Communication
Champagne was never Heero's favorite. He was sensitive to the fizz of it. It made him wrinkle his nose in a way he found singularly unprofessional and yet there he was, standing with a tall flute of the stuff in one hand, staring out across the lawn distantly. But it was a fundraising party and they were supposed to be celebrating – not that Heero wasn't celebrating... he frankly just didn't care. He was far more interested in getting back to the hotel, throwing Duo down in the expensive bedding, stripping him piece by piece out of his Armani suit, and rolling between the sheets with him.
"Having fun?"
The soft voice surprised him and he turned his head to view the blond in a smart white suit standing next to him, leaning over the marbled balustrade. He blinked, confused as to why anyone was talking to him. He was only here at the behest of his boss – no one at this event was of any interest to him.
"I'm sorry," he replied cordially, hoping the blond wasn't someone he should know. "I don't attend many of these. Heero Yuy." They shook shortly.
"Quatre Winner," the blond returned with a smile. There was a slight pause. "You have no idea who I am."
The barest hint of a smile crossed Heero's lips at having been found out. "No idea."
Quatre chuckled and lifted his own champagne to his lips with a tiny tilt like a private toast before sipping. "I like that."
Heero took a sip of his own in reciprocation – nose wrinkling unbidden – and Quatre laughed again.
"What are you doing here, Heero Yuy?" he asked, eyes alight with amusement. "This doesn't seem like your typical soirée."
Heero sighed and turned so that he could lean back against the railing, his leg growing tired from supporting himself, and he twisted the flute in his hand.
"My boss – Milliardo Peacecraft," he raised an eyebrow to see if Quatre was familiar with the name, and the look of recognition told Heero that he was, "likes me to attend when I'm in town."
"Ah." Quatre tilted his head in a sympathetic gesture. "NSA then?"
Heero nodded as his eyes sought Duo out through the open French doors, hoping to catch a glimpse of him through the crowd, though he felt that was a little optimistic since he hadn't seen him for at least the last half hour. An unexpected wash of relief flooded through him when he noted Duo laughing with a group of older men through one of the floor-to-ceiling windows to the right.
Quatre hummed a response and they stood in mutual silence for a while, watching the swarm of politicians and the political elite from a distance. Duo was making his way slowly to the doors, visible now quite clearly, but he was stopping at every turn and talking to someone Heero couldn't even guess the name of as if they were old friends. Forgetting for a moment that he wasn't alone, he let himself smile at his partner's exuberant sociability.
"Someone special to you?" Quatre asked softly and startled Heero from his reverie. He turned his face to the other man, that amusement still evident on his face.
Heero gestured absently with a forefinger, champagne flute picking up the light and distorting it before his eyes. "My partner, the one with the braid."
"Hmm," Quatre murmured. "He's not Washington."
"No," Heero agreed. "He had some time off and agreed to come out here with me for the week." He couldn't help but laugh, a short, choked sound from the back of his throat. "Look at him – he's a personal trainer who runs survival training classes for fun and he fits in like he's come to a hundred of these." He shook his head while Quatre nodded thoughtfully.
"I don't know what he sees in me," he confessed quietly, unsure what it was about the blond that made him say it.
It wasn't something Heero had ever told anyone. Maybe it was just this week, a little test drive before he asked Duo to move in with him, which made him feel so uncertain. Maybe it was Quatre's honest façade that made him speak that uncertainty.
"It doesn't matter," Quatre said, a hint of a smile in his tone, and Heero eyed him curiously. "All that matters is that he sees you."
Heero turned his eyes quickly back to Duo, a faint blush coloring his face. And Duo was finally free of the crowd, eyes meeting his across the way, beaming as his long strides had him approaching quickly.
"I thought you abandoned me," Heero teased lightly as Duo walked up. Duo's hand brushed Heero's face as he leaned in for a quick kiss.
"I told you, I will always find you," he joked back, a rough thumb stroking his cheek as Duo pulled away.
Then he turned to Quatre with an embarrassed grin. "Forgive me." He held out a hand and as it was accepted it was clear he recognized the blond as his eyes widened in surprise.
"Quatre Winner?" he asked, a bit choked, and Quatre nodded.
"And you are...?" Quatre returned curiously.
"Duo Maxwell," he stuttered a bit, nervous, and it surprised Heero as he had been schmoozing his way through throngs of politicians all night. "I'm a huge fan. Really. Huge."
Quatre chuckled and tilted back his glass casually, dismissing the praise.
"Seriously. The presidential bid – you would be a fantastic candidate. I would vote for you. I can't imagine anyone who wouldn't vote for you."
Heero stared. He supposed at some point he would've realized Duo was interested in politics, but it hit him at that moment just how invested he was.
"And why would anyone do that?" Quatre asked in an unintentionally self-deprecating manner.
Duo laughed. "Because of that right there. You're real and you don't even know how real you are." Then he winked knowingly. "Plus your immigration reform proposal was fantastic and I sure don't mind your stance on gay rights..."
Quatre smiled a little but it didn't reach his eyes as he turned them to Duo, hard and cold.
"Let me give you a piece of advice Mr. Maxwell," his voice was surprisingly gentle for the gaze Quatre pinned his partner with. "All politicians at my level know exactly what they are – and if they don't, they ought to hire a better PR consultant quick."
"Well, whatever you are Mr. Winner, I like it," Duo answered with an indifferent shrug, his opinion of Quatre clearly unfazed. And then his eyes were back to Heero, taking the champagne from his hand and downing the rest of it shamelessly.
"Wanna get out of here?" he asked with a look that made a shiver run down Heero's spine as he thought once more about that bed, those sheets, and just what the man standing before him would look like folded into them.
"Sure," he agreed easily, moving forward a hesitant step, stiff and awkward from standing in one position for so long. It seemed Quatre just noticed his handicap and he called his name before he walked away.
Duo paused and turned to look back at them, eyes carefully studying Heero for any discomfort, willing to rescue him from the impending conversation if he required it. But Heero gave him no indication that was necessary.
"Were you a soldier, Heero?" Quatre asked quietly and Heero shook his head, used to the question. A missing leg on a man his age generally indicated a life of service.
"Ah." He mused a moment, glanced over at Duo and back to Heero again once more. "They like to invite soldiers sometimes – really gets the pity going and the money flowing, or so they say..." Quatre seemed legitimately disappointed by that. "I find that deceptive."
"No," Heero stated curtly, though he would be angry if that was why Milliardo had been having him attend these events as often as possible. Quatre smiled a little, almost sad, and he tilted his head in Duo's direction.
"I can tell," he said so softly Heero had to strain not to miss it. "He only has eyes for you."
Once again he felt heat rise on his cheeks but Quatre was turning away, heading back to the party as he polished off his champagne.
"What'd he say?" Duo asked as Heero approached with a bit of difficulty as his muscles loosened up. But Heero didn't answer. Instead, he pressed a hand against Duo's cheek and drew him into a long, meaningful kiss. Duo's fingers stroked against the back of his hand gently as they separated and his own fingers fell to Duo's neck.
"Will you move in with me?" he asked abruptly, feeling like the words were forcing themselves out of his mouth, as if he didn't say them right then at that very moment he never would. "You know – when our leases are up, when we can get our own place."
Duo paused, studying his eyes a moment before laughing loudly, evidently surprised. "Quatre Winner told you to say that?"
Heero's brows tilted, a bit frustrated with the lack of Duo's immediate acceptance. "No, he didn't, I – I've been wanting to ask you that for a while..."
His smile was endearing as he looped his fingers in Heero's belt to drag him a bit closer, reconnecting their lips in a chaste little kiss.
"You oughta know the answer to that 'Ro," he murmured against his mouth, the feeling of Duo's lips moving against his sending a tremor of electricity through his body. "I'd follow you anywhere."
Heero smirked, lips still on Duo's. "Right now, I only need you to follow me back to the hotel."
"Is that so?" Duo asked as he pressed into another kiss. "I don't know that I'm gonna be able to watch that ass moving in front of me without touching."
"You better," Heero replied, panting a little as he kissed him again. "Or we won't make it back to the hotel."
Duo's laughter rang out across the lawn as he smacked Heero's shoulder playfully, separating from him with a hint of longing. "It's gonna to be that kinda night, huh?"
"Damn straight," Heero replied, using one of Duo's favorite phrases with a hint of a grin, causing Duo to laugh again. "You agreed to move in with me."
Duo grabbed his hand a moment, squeezing it tightly and halting them before they breached the French doors and wandered into the glitz of the party once more.
"I love you," he said openly, an honest smile turning his lips as his blue eyes gazed affectionately into Heero's own. "And if you let me, I want to spend the rest of my life with you."
Heero stared, candid confusion flirting across his face. "Why would I ever say no to that?"
Duo's smile widened as his thumb rubbed the back of his hand roughly, comfortingly.
"Knew you weren't no fool, babe."
And he dropped his hand before they entered the mass of fanfare and revelry, shoulder to shoulder, determined to make it through more than just the daunting crowd before them together.
