Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing, and I am not earning a profit from this fan fiction.
"D & Q Marketing"
By: Inazuma Akai
Scenario Eight
Winner Corp was buzzing with excitement. The science and engineering divisions would be unveiling some of its most impressive inventions at the company's annual expo. Last minute arrangements were being made for investors who would be visiting and then negotiating over inventions that piqued their interest.
Quatre's sister, Iria Winner, was helping to organize things along with his fiancée, Dorothy. He was certain things would go especially smooth with the two of them at the helm. Though both women varied in personality, their differences seemed to bring a balance and harmony to the company. To say Quatre was abundantly grateful for the outcome was an understatement.
As the investors arrived, they were welcomed to the event by Quatre and his board of directors. The progression of the day would be dedicated to allowing the investors to tour the displays. Afterwards, they would schedule times to meet with the inventors to negotiate terms of agreement, etc. Quatre did not stand in the way of his employees and their right to intellectual property. He wanted them to succeed and grow as individuals who would eventually start their own companies and partner with Winner Corp. His wisdom had allowed him to maintain not merely networking connections but friendships. He rarely acquired any adversaries in the business world. When he did, they were already well known antagonists.
Things were going extremely well. There was a substantial turn out. Trowa and Duo were even in attendance. Of course, while Trowa was there as moral support, Duo seemed to enjoy flitting about and examining all of the displays. There was one, in particular, using hamsters to demonstrate a new space station colony's layout and system. It caused no harm to the hamsters, and the 'aww' factor worked quite effectively on the female viewers. It also worked on Duo, who just had to have one of the hamsters as his very own.
Not long after Duo finished haggling with the scientists in the fondly dubbed 'ham-ham' project, Quatre saw the aforementioned Gundam pilot with a black and white teddy bear hamster perched on his head. The hamster's coat was similarly patterned to a panda, and he seemed right at home in Duo's chestnut locks. The hamster seemed especially happy to be fed morsels of food from Duo's plate as his new owner grazed at the heavy laden buffet table.
Quatre had seen many things in his 24 years of life. But a hamster riding on a man's head and stuffing its cheeks with various food stuffs was not one of them.
"Now Wufei can rub it in that Duo has an actual mascot to match his eating habits." Trowa declared, having walked up next to Quatre unnoticed.
"Should we be concerned?" Quatre resisted the urge to wring his hands. Years in a board room with opportunistic business men had taught him to correct his body language. His soft heart remained intact; it just sported a more durable casing.
"He'll be fine. I'm thinking more about Hilde and the amount of chaos he'll cause her with his new fuzzy henchman." Dorothy appeared on his other side, smoothly pecking Quatre on the cheek before returning to her professional façade.
Quatre blushed a bit before nodding in agreement. Trowa elected to ignore the public display of affection all together.
From a short distance away, a particularly infamous investor was making his way toward the trio. Quatre and Dorothy identified the man as Fuuma Hattori.
"I'll leave you all to it." Trowa said, noticing the man's approach. In other words, he gladly left them to deal with the piranhas.
Mr. Fuuma was a man in his mid-50s and was known for his dealings with the Earth's military. He openly supported the Earth Sphere Alliance during the war. Quatre had no doubt that as patriotic as Mr. Fuuma may have been, the graying business man was not above taking advantage of circumstances, war or no war. He had offers from Mr. Fuuma before regarding some of the advanced mobile suit weaponry his engineering department had devised. Dorothy took a liking to that division and frequently made her own contributions.
As the man neared, Quatre gulped. He had a sinking feeling. Though Mr. Fuuma was quite polite to those with power, he might mistake Dorothy for someone unimportant, which would be a big mistake on his part. Dorothy, whether she was in the presence of dignitaries or not, would put him in his place. Something Quatre dreaded and welcomed at the same time. Suddenly, he felt Dorothy tense.
"Mr. Winner, it is nice to see you again." Mr. Fuuma greeted as he reached out to shake Quatre's hand. He was looking Dorothy over disapprovingly, maybe even bored.
"It's nice to see you as well. This is my fiancée and business associate, Dorothy Catalonia." Quatre said, turning to Dorothy.
Dorothy only nodded at Mr. Fuuma and remained silent. Mr. Fuuma gave an uninterested looked, not even attempting to shower her with false pleasantries.
"So," Mr. Fuuma began, focusing once again on Quatre, who frowned at his disrespect towards his fiancée. Dorothy, however, said nothing. Truth be told, she looked rather amused.
"Have you taken our offer into consideration?" Mr. Fuuma asked, exuding an air of misplaced confidence.
"Well, actually, I think it'd be best if you asked her." Quatre stated, cocking his head at Dorothy. He smiled as Mr. Fuuma raised a questioning eyebrow.
"What do you mean her?" Mr. Fuuma did not look pleased with the prospect of conversing with the woman in question.
"What he means is I'm the creator of the Darlian System. I own the patent. Since Winner Corp. supplied me with the materials I needed, I asked them to market it for me. So I'm the one you should be sucking up to." She smirked at the man, who was standing there utterly speechless. Her eyes danced with mirth at his predicament...that and Quatre seemed to be bubbling over with repressed laughter. He, too, was enjoying how the man looked like a fish out of water.
Then Dorothy's smile faded, and she said in a professional manner, "I believe you had a proposal you wanted to share with me?" The man gathered his composure and was about to speak when she raised a hand to silence him.
"I must warn you though. I am not easily won over. It will take more than a few empty promises of instant wealth to convince me of your sincerity." She looked at her watch. "You have exactly 3 minutes." Dorothy paused for effect and grinned. "Make 'em count."
Mr. Fuuma paled, and Quatre let out a whole hearted laugh.
Author's Note: As always, I'd love feedback...and constructive criticism...hence 'constructive' criticism...not flames, lol. Please check out my other fics as well. –shameless plug-
And here's the 5-star system for your convenience.
Inazuma Akai's 5 Star Rating System for Fanfiction:
1 star – This fic is unreadable! Get a beta-reader stat!
2 stars – This story needs a face lift in the worst possible way…
3 stars – Not bad, but with a little more effort you can make it a really good fic.
4 stars – There are some minor errors here and there but otherwise it's a very nice fic!
5 stars – It's an exceptional work of art! More, please?
Thank you all for reading!