Chapter Nine: MIA

When a second Friday passed with no sign of Duo, worry started to eat at Wufei.

Approaching Une only got him enough information to know that Duo was no longer on assignment but she disclosed nothing else. The way she seemed to choose on a whim between professionalism and friendliness irritated him when she didn't give him what he wanted. Sally advised him to ease his mind and check the American's apartment to see if he was there and alive, which is how he ended up once again in front of Duo's door. It was the first time he'd returned since the day Quatre announced their missing friend was found and they'd all caught Duo trying to run and disappear.

It felt wrong to show up unannounced but he didn't have much choice. Heero spent the last week in complete denial that he missed Duo at all and the whole ordeal was insufferable. The man spent years pining away and now after a couple of weeks he was doing his best, again, to pretend he no longer cared. He wasn't doing a very good job of it, and Wufei found it hard not to fantasize about smacking him aside the head and demanding he stop being so dramatic. At one point he suggested Heero just ask Duo to join him at the Preventers holiday party next weekend, and the heartbroken man just sighed mumbled about how it was pointless to try when Duo hated him and he needed to let his feelings go.

Those words stuck out.

They sounded like Quatre, not Heero.

And that did not sit well.

He steeled himself and knocked twice, ready for more melodrama. What he didn't expect was for the door to swing open to reveal a confused Duo Maxwell, his grin exposing a missing left incisor, the eye above it red and his skin bruised with a laceration held together by steri-strips above his eyebrow.

A mischievous glint appeared in violet eyes as Duo said flirtatiously, and with an odd whistle caused by the missing tooth, "I ordered Shynese but I didn't know you were on the menu." His face shifted into joy as he watched Wufei slowly registered the words and then Duo burst out laughing, head back, eyes closed, and one hand coming up over his chest. The sound was lively and accompanied by that same odd whistle. It almost sounded like wheezing. Moving aside he gestured for his guest to enter. Wufei couldn't help but smile back.

Now that he wasn't distracted by the excitement of actually finding Duo it struck Wufei how small his living space was. Duo didn't appear to own a bed, and what he did own was minimal. Not wanting to bring up how his friend seemed to have no more possessions than he did during the wars, nor how he appeared to be renting what must be the smallest apartment in the building, Wufei walked the six paces across the living area to check out the view. This, he thought, was not only acceptable but nice. The windows faced a little more east than south and overlooked a portion of the River Tanzen that was lined with walking paths and restaurants. Coming into the building from street level he never realized the neighborhood had such charm.

"You have a good view."

"Yeah." Duo's voice was coming from the kitchen area, a tiny stamp of a layout with just a couple cabinets and very basic appliances. Wufei heard the sink turn on as Duo continued "You should shee it when it shnows. Hell, in the shpring there'sh shome treesh that you jusht can't missh. Thoushand tiny flowersh on each one." The sound of his voice almost made Wufei laugh, but it was the words that really caught his attention and caused Wufei to turn and examine his friend. Duo was still busying himself at the sink. The water was turned off and Wufei could see he was drying some cups.

When, he thought did Duo become someone who appreciates flowers in the spring?

The idea that the American could have a softer side he never notice was a bit jarring. Wufei was deeply appreciative of nature after coming to Earth. How did he miss the same trait in Duo?

As he finished with the cups Duo looked up to Wufei. That gaping hole in his smile was almost endearing. "Hey, what do you wanna drink? I got water, tea, and apple shider."

At that moment a knocking sound came from the outside hallway and Duo invited Wufei to help himself to a drink while he answered the door. He stepped around a few bags and ran after someone down the hallway before returning and scooping up the delivery. It gave Wufei enough time to pour himself a cider and move to get out of the way of the small kitchen counter. But instead of heading into the kitchen, Duo dropped the bags on his coffee table.

"Hey, pour me a tea, will ya?"

Wufei did as he was told before moving the pitchers of each beverage back into the fridge. As he handed Duo the cup a familiar scent caught him off guard.

"Is that lanzhou lamian?"

Duo smiled, pulling containers from the bag. "Yeah. Good noshe."

Wufei's interest was clearly piqued. "Where'd you order from? The Noodle Bar or La Mian Man?"

"La Mian Man. Their broth hash a deeper flavor. You want shome?"

Wufei was tempted. La Mian Man had excellent noodle soup but he didn't want to impose. When he saw multiple containers being placed onto the table he realized there was more than one order in the unassuming bag. "You were expecting company?"

In response Duo jumped up and walked around him to pull two bowls from a cabinet, then shot Wufei a look that told him his question was ridiculous. "Of courshe not. They pack their noodlesh and veg sheparate from the broth and meat. They don't overcook in transhit." His eyes glimmered at his latest mispronunciation and Wufei was glad to see Duo's juvenile humor still intact. "I alwaysh get two sho I can have it again the following day." He winked with his good eye as he continued "Shaves me from my own cooking!"

After handing Wufei a bowl, chopsticks, and a soup spoon, Duo sat down on the couch and gestured for his guest to take the only chair in his apartment. It struck Wufei as he took his seat that this arrangement was like a dining table with him at the head and duo on a bench along the length. It was, if nothing else, efficient for one person provided guests were not commonplace. Duo placed two fingers under the top of his coffee table and it lifted. The table top then shifted towards the corner between them, stopping precisely tall enough to use as a dining table. They didn't even have to lean forward while eating. It was genius. The setup was unexpectedly efficient.

He began to move noodles into his bowl and glanced up to see Duo slowly taking sips of piping hot broth. The braided man seemed to contemplate something before pouring the broth carefully over his own bowl. The noodles came to life as the liquid reheated and rehydrated them. As he loosened them, mixing everything in the bowl together to heat each item through, Duo asked casually without looking up "You gonna ashk about it, or what?"

With his bowl arranged and broth in hand Wufei replied as he poured. "I figure you'll tell me if it's important." When Duo just smiled he continued "You better eat or your noodles will be over-done."

Duo simply rolled his eyes and Wufei assumed he'd be getting none of the answers he came looking for tonight. Instead he focused on the food in front of him and how the chew of hand-pulled noodles reminded him of home.

"It'sh good, yeah?"

Wufei nodded and Duo kept talking, still not eating.

"Been on liquidsh for a couple daysh. I figure worsht cashe I'll have jusht the broth and besht cashe I can chew the noodlesh without too much problem."

Swallowing his bite Wufei watched as Duo finally and gingerly took up his utensils and began to eat. It was then he realized that his companion was purposefully letting his noodles get softer because of his missing tooth. He was undoubtedly in pain and the Chinese man felt a pang of guilt for not noticing earlier.

"When are you seeing a dentist?"

Duo let out a small laugh and spoke between tentative bites. "Already did. She told me to come back when the shwelling's gone down sho I'm going back to shee her Monday morning."

"You think you'll be recovered enough by then?"

The look Duo shot him held a hint of pride. "Yesh. You should've sheen me two daysh ago."

This attitude didn't impress Wufei. Instead, he was concerned and visibly holding back from interrogating too far, worried he might overstep a boundary. Showing how he felt was a calculated move on his part. He hoped if he didn't hide his trepidation, Duo would take pity on him and open up. It worked.

"Lishten" Duo sighed heavily "it'sh not ash bad ash it shoundsh. I just got shtuck ish all. Thingsh went shideways. A real shitshow. And thish happened." He gestured broadly at his own face and Wufei couldn't help smiling knowing Duo was using as many s-words as possible to make things seem not so serious. "And my phone'sh shomewhere in a river on another continent, and Une won't put me on any new field work cashesh for another week sho I'm kinda over everything and don't wanna get into it with you."

Wufei perked up at that. "You lost your phone?"

Recoiling back an inch at the sparkle in his companion's eyes Duo asked "Can you shound lessh enthushiashtic about that?"

"It's just that you can't be ignoring anyone if you lost your phone."

"What?"

Wufei whispered "it's nothing" and hid a smile behind the noodles he was raising to his lips.

"You're not very convinshing." Duo's words were flavored with accusation and a hint of a threat, despite the persistent whistle from the gap in his teeth. "I know you're planning shomething. That'sh your thinkin face. You plottin againsht me?"

This time Wufei let Duo see his full smile. "You're still a baka, aren't you? No, you idiot. I'm just glad you're okay. I was so worried when you stopped coming by my office without calling or texting that I was was driving Sally up the wall. She insisted I come here and check on you myself. Told me neither of us would get any rest until I did, and she was right."

Duo felt a tightening in his stomach that triggered a sense of unease. He hadn't expected anyone would notice he was gone let alone worry about him. Maybe he'd been alone too long and forgotten what it meant to invite others into his life.

It occurred to him in that moment that Wufei likely spent their years apart growing up and learning how to express emotions like worry. And he wondered, not for the first time, if the years he spent hiding did the other pilots more good than him staying would have. After all, the years he spent trying to get them to experience a life outside of fighting never seemed to amount to anything. He tried so hard to loosen them all up and nothing ever worked. But they'd all gone and managed it just fine without him.

In response he lifted the corner of his lips into a slight and lopsided grin before bringing soggy noodles to his mouth and enjoying the rest of his meal with a friend. As strange as it felt to put a label on it that's what Wufei was. The man was his friend. It was a term he didn't assign to anyone in the last 4 years and it felt equal parts wrong and right. But Duo wasn't about to say anything out loud to indicate how he felt. There was no way he'd come out and use the term "friend" with Wufei. He wasn't sure he could handle saying something like that. Not yet.

Everyone else may have spent the last few years becoming warmer and more relaxed and friendly, but Duo spent the same time alone, throwing himself into dangerous situations and living only for the thrill of cheating death. He spent that time withdrawing from and rejecting human contact. With Wufei he was slipping back into his old self more easily than he thought possible, but that didn't mean there were no challenges.

No matter how undeniably comfortable he was with the other man, he just wasn't ready to overtly express the closeness he felt lest it start to feel real. Once it felt real it could be taken from him.

What he could handle was having a meal together. And it occurred to Duo as they sat in amicable silence that this was also the first time since moving in three years ago that he'd had anyone over to share a meal with in his home. Wufei was his very first social call.

Duo couldn't stop the lopsided grin that appeared on his face.

Wufei was kind enough to simply return it, no questions asked.