Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing
A/N: Sorry it's so long. It's a lot of visual.
Quatre Winner had been back in his office for over an hour when Rashid came to escort them to the dining hall. The blond could barely keep the amused grin off of his face from the moment the larger, dark Arab announced the hour. Part of him was nervous about dinner, nearly as much as he knew Relena was, but most of him was stoked about seeing the look on his buddy's face when the former princess made her big reveal. Luckily for him and Rashid, the Maganac leader had also received a sneak peak at the blonde bombshell when he informed the women that dinner was nearly ready to be served. And so in forced silence, the two Arabs led the Japanese man down the stairs, fighting desperately not to smile or laugh aloud.
And everything is funnier when you can't laugh.
The banquet hall had been redecorated to match the theme of the party. A large family of Middle Eastern descent was throwing a celebration for their friends. The lighting was a dim gold with candle light dancing on the classy decorations. Soft music greeted the ears with ancient serenade of wordless passion. Sheer curtains of vibrant reds, greens and golds were draped in layers across the walls, over the seating and from the ceilings and lighting. The classic European wooden table and chairs had been replaced with low couches and pillows in neutral sand and sage, built out from a particularly fluffy chocolate sofa, set opposite the hall's entrance.
The Gundam pilots and Rashid settled themselves into the setting of honor, in the mocha seating area. The Maganac members scattered throughout the room finally took their seats once the master of the home was comfortable. Immediately, half a dozen women came pouring into the room. Some carried platters of fruits and cheeses. Others came with beautiful antique goblets and jugs of red wine. Still more carried bushels of flowers to lay around the guests of the dinner, as well as the host. Heero and Quatre were presented with glasses, filled with a soft potency of alcohol, which they coupled with the hors d'oeuvre, awaiting their expected female company.
After several minutes of light conversation at the table, Heero's eyes narrowed in on a Winner sister hurrying to Abdul, a trusted Maganac officer, whispering something and then hurrying out. Abdul's eyes automatically followed his thought to the head of the household behind his black spectacles, before he apologetically approached.
"Master Quatre," the man greeted. "The ladies would like a word with you in the hallway, if it's not an interruption."
Quatre gave his warm and genuine smile. "Of course not, Abdul." Without another word he rose, nodded to his companions to stay, and followed his comrade across the room into the corridor.
A dozen blond women stood whispering and giggling, dressed in similar traditional dancewear, but one stood out as the friend. Quatre went straight to Relena, Adriana and Iria to see what the concern was.
"Relena's nervous, Baby Brother," Iria said. "Trying to get her to come with us is like trying to lead a mule to—anywhere."
Quatre laughed, meeting Relena's gaze. "You look beautiful. I told you that. Do you really want more of my opinion after our last little talk?" He raised a suggestive eyebrow.
"That's the last thing I need," she mumbled blushing. "Do you think he'll notice?"
"Are you kidding?"
Relena pouted.
Quatre gently touched the delicate ink designs on her arms. "I didn't know you'd decided to do henna, Adriana," he said. "No wonder you're all late."
"She felt naked, I thought it might help," Adriana grinned.
Relena rolled her eyes, turning her back to the brother and eying him over her shoulder.
His eyes widened at the tattoo. "It's lovely, but I don't think it's the direction she wanted you to go."
His eyes met Adriana's mischievous smirk and he chuckled.
He turned back to Relena. "You look amazing, dear. Really."
"It's suggestive," she snipped.
Adriana hissed with laughter.
Quatre sighed. The design certainly led the eye directly down to one of her best assets. "So you're unsure?"
Relena looked coyly away.
Quatre chose not to respond, but popped his head out, calling for a server and sending her off with an order whispered in her ear. While he waited, he turned and scanned Relena methodically, pulling the outfit and tucking her hair, so she was flawless to the eyes. The waitress returned with a tray of golden glasses, one of which she handed to Quatre, full to the brim.
He passed the drink to Relena. She eyed the red wine nervously. "Really, I'm not—"
"Bottoms up," he pressed.
With a defeated sigh, she put the drink to her lips. As soon as she started to swallow, Quatre put his finger on the bottom, gently guiding it up, forcing her to down the entirety of the beverage at once. Once she'd finished it, she broke away, choking and laughing.
Quatre laughed, using his thumb to wipe the wine residue from the corners of her mouth. Relena's eyes were closed for the moment, while she smilingly found her breath, again. Before she knew what had happened, Quatre's fingers had slipped around the nap of her neck and pulled her to him. When his lips crashed onto hers, Relena's eyes came wide open and she squealed under the assault.
Heero and Rashid looked at each other with surprise as a roar of laughter burst out of the group of women they knew were just out sight in the hall, dying immediately back into shushing.
Quatre broke the kiss, allowing Relena very little space as he cupped her face and looked straight into her stunned, azure blue eyes. "You look beautiful. You taste good. Knock him dead, Lena."
Quatre turned on his heel and left without another word, and Iria was left to reestablish order. He met the stares of a very perplexed looking Rashid and Heero as he glided confidently back to the table. To see that his little surprise for Relena didn't get the best of him, he boldly wore the victorious smile over his own blush, casually licking his lips to remove any residue of her makeup, to prevent his dinner mates from asking.
All of the girls were now fighting to keep their noise level down, and Iria, who was closest to the guest, was in tears with her suppressed hysteria. "Ladies, ladies. Calm down," she sniggered. "We're going out there and we're not going to make any harder on Lee. Stop laughing, now. Deep breaths."
The girls began to calm and Iria turned to the politician, reapplying lip gloss. "Now are you ready?"
Relena let out a cleansing breath, feeling the warmth of the wine she's just chugged down on command. The sigh seemed to bring her flushed body temperature down at least five degrees. She reluctantly nodded.
"Just remember. Pay them no mind. You're healthier and more attractive that way." Iria held her head high and took the lead, allowing Relena to intentionally disappear into the middle of the crowd.
Heero was not surprised to see Quatre's many sisters in costume or to find that Relena was trying to duck from sight. Nonetheless, his eye zeroed in on the golden head among a whole family of sunny blondes. He could see that her hair was braided and decorated with jewelry, but because of how she'd hidden herself, that was all that he could make out from his vantage point.
Suddenly his attention was pulled to a girl pushing through the group. Adriana hurried past her sisters to the head table to make a seemingly important announcement.
"Gentlemen. Mr. Yuy," she announced, flirtatiously. "We apologize for our lack of punctuality. I'm afraid I must take the sole responsibility upon myself. It was a pleasure to dabble in my favorite hobby, and I'm afraid I went a little over time in the decorating and drying of the inks." With that she grinned like a Cheshire cat and Quatre bowed his head, eying the other pilot. "I sincerely hope you will give me your honest opinions," she continued as she straightened her back and turned from them.
"Oh, Princess," she called into the group, gesturing for Relena's attention.
Relena heard her nickname and turned to find Adriana over in the one place she did not ever want to be. Before she had time to respond, Iria took her empty glass and firmly guided her out from the crowd. Composure and dignity, Relena thought as she put one foot in front of the other, setting her poker face of steel.
Oblivious to Quatre, Iria and even Rashid's stare, Heero's eyes widened and he shifted in his seat as Relena came into view. Very slowly he straightened, placing his goblet down on the table in front of him, as his eyes narrowed, studying her appearance.
Soft, small, porcelain feet stood bare before him, tiny toes painted gold and decorated with black reeds across the nails. Slender ankles were carefully structured by the gods, smoothly angling out to the calf. The silvered cream, airy, silk cloth danced around the fine detail of her lean knees, hanging from perfect, rounded hips, hugging low on her bone with gold stitching and jeweled detail. Heero had seen her barefoot in a skirt before, but the sultry feel of the outfit carried the eyes up, further, where he found bare, pink skin, dimpled in the low center with a belly button piercing that cradled the top diamond of a small piece that dangled low on her feminine curve. Heero unconsciously swallowed, allowing himself to take in the way the delicately thin cloth barely hid the detailed shape each breast and nipple from the roaming eye, accessorized still more by the gold embroidery, fine metals and stones that hung around and atop them, smoothly leading out the pieces of sleeve that hung off of her shoulders beautiful.
That's where he finally saw the reason Relena had been dragged into his presence. Henna designs curved, twisted and branched down her nearly naked arms, decorating her skin in minute detail. Here and there the raven black ink was touched with gold paint to make her skin shimmer like it, too, was encrusted with fine stones. He scanned the designs down and back up her arms and she folded them in front of her, comparing each drawing to its sister, before looking up to her face. True to the theme, the sisters had played up Relena's face with a soft, creamy shimmer all over and a dark, golden smoky eye design over ebony lashes. Relena's honey hair, which he had already noticed, was pulled up, away from her appetizingly long neck, and braided messily into an intricate design, in which their lay still more matching metals and jewelry.
Several quiet seconds passed when Heero met Relena's gaze, again. He fought to maintain control over his statuesque feature, giving even the princess, the one person he was closest to, the impression that he was angry. Relena swallowed under the pressure of his heavy stare. She hardened her eyes, also, fighting the feeling of pure vulnerability she felt, finding herself so naked in front of him.
Finally he turned his eyes back to Adriana and nodded slightly. "Your lines seem—steady."
Adriana smiled at the compliment. "That's not even the hard part," she said.
It was the only warning Relena had before the small, cold hands gripped her shoulders and turned her 180 degrees.
The politician yelped in surprise, blushing, and Heero shifted uncomfortably, again. The black design started thin at the nap of her neck and vined its way down her spine, flaring out over her hip bone. Suddenly, Heero realized the purpose of the design as his entire consciousness was captured by the beautiful image of Relena's ass in layers of silver silk and gold stitching. It certainly wasn't the first time he'd noticed her rear, as he was very attracted to all of her, but in the skimpy outfit, he wasn't sure he could force himself to look away. He wasn't sure he wanted to.
Desperately, he forced himself to close his eyes. "It's," he started softly, before clearing his throat to gain the sound of confidence. "It's lovely, Adriana. My compliments." He characteristically followed his kind words, meeting her eyes with a threatening glare.
The Winner sister was unmoved by his attempt at intimidation. It was obvious she had won. She smirked. "Thank you," she said haughtily, bowing before she turned to leave.
Relena opted not to look back as she tried to glide back to the dance floor. In one quick, fluid motion, Heero leapt from the couch, wrapping a hand firmly around her wrist to stop her. Without waiting for her to face him, Heero whispered in her ear. "You look beautiful," he assured her.
Surprise was etched on her face as she turned back to him. His eyes were soft and genuine and the confession. Without another word, he let her go and settled onto the couch.
The compliment didn't fall on deaf ears as the blushing guest disappeared back into the group of women. She did, however, fail Iria's advice, noting his intense stare on her the rest of the night. She couldn't shake the feeling that the disease was still on his mind. Her anxiety continued to climb throughout the courses of dinner, until she'd wound herself so tight, she could barely breathe.
Finally giving in to the need to hide her anxiety attack, Relena tried to slip out, unnoticed, before dessert ever made it to the tables.