August 22, 2000
At last! This hasn't been beta'd or revised or anything. It's been a while since I've lasted posted anything.
ja!
~aklw
"Oi, Heero," Duo called as he raced to catch up with his date for the Autumnfest dance, black nylon backpack slung over one shoulder. "Wait up!" The Japanese boy winced, but slowed, feeling his teeth clench tightly together. Treize would be upset that he hadn't gotten to walk him home...
"Duo," Heero said, nodding towards the violet-eyed boy. He seemed somewhat hurt at the cold reception, but chose instead to giggle. Heero glanced at Duo out of the corner of his eye, then shrugged. Just as he was about to speak again, the American giggled.
"What," Heero demanded, "is so funny?"
"Oh, just imagining you in a dress," replied Duo casually. Heero nodded. They walked another twenty feet before it sank in.
"Excuse me?!"
"Well," laughed Duo nervously, resting one of his hands on the back of his neck, "I was talking with Meiran and she said she's going shopping with Wufei this afternoon to look for outfits..." Heero looked impassively at him. "Do you want to go to?"
"I..."
"It'll be lots of fun!"
"But--"
"Don't worry about a thing, I've got enough taste for both of us!"
"Hey--"
"Well then, I guess we'd better get going!"
Meiran felt her teeth grind together. No. That was bad, she reminded herself. If, after all the money her mother had paid to have her teeth capped, she ruined them somehow, there would be hell to pay.
But damn it, Wufei was definitely being teeth-grinding annoying, slinking after his friend like a spy. He even had his hands together in the shape of a gun. She resisted the urge to grab his short ponytail and pull hard. "Wufei," she groaned, "aren't we going to look for a dress for Saturday? Or are you too busy watching Duo and Heero?"
Wufei growled for her to keep quiet, finishing with some strange utterance about onnas. "There's something funny about Heero...and I'm going to find out what it is, or my name's not Nancy Drew!"
The black-haired girl simply sighed and gave in to her urge, wrapping her fingers around the sleek hair and yanking.
"ONNA!"
"Om, does this make me look fat?" Heero gazed sternly at the lovely visage Duo presented him with. A black pinstripe suit and a red silk shirt. Duo took his glare for a yes and went to change. He slammed his head against the dressing room door as he jumped, feeling Heero's hand on his lower back.
"Don't. It looks good." The American beamed.
"Thanks!" He suddenly frowned, looking pointedly at the hand that was still resting lightly on his back. Heero, face flushing, immediately jerked back. "What, you want a repeat of what happened in the woods?" he inquired huskily, drawing closer. Heero suddenly couldn't forget the fact that Duo was half-dressed and ridding himself of that final half as he walked towards him.
"Um, not now." He tugged at the collar of his shirt, gazing at the invisible clock on the ceiling. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay? I forgot, I have to study for Spanish with a friend." Duo smiled and, in a lightning fast movement too fast for even Heero to elude, stood on his tiptoes and planted a soft kiss on his cheek. The Japanese boy reached up a trembling hand, as if to touch Duo's face, then pulled away, backing into the door with wide, blue eyes.
"Yeah...see you tomorrow," Duo whispered as his date fled.
"You're letting him get to you. Remember Phase Three?" Heero nodded dully as he rested his head in Treize's warm lap, letting the other boy play absently with his hair. It felt so good to have someone fingercombing his hair. "Don't get involved, Heero. For your sake and for mine. I don't share."
*He's mine, Zechs.*
Heero smiled. "How's soccer tryouts going?" he asked, tilting his head back so he could stare into Treize's blue eyes. There was something about that particular shade, the glint in the pupil; they made him feel warm all over. "Is Zechs giving you any trouble?"
Some kind of light went out in the older boy's eyes. "No. Just being a brat, as usual." Heero saw the subtle change of expression, and sat up, twining his arms loosely around Treize's neck.
"What happened?"
"What ever happens? He tries to make me look bad and it's not working. He's getting very frustrated." He laughed out loud as an image of a blonde girl with a pink ribbon in her hair, one hand on her hip, pouting as Treize dribbled by her to score suddenly appeared in the front of his mind.
"You should be careful," Heero advised.
Treize wrinkled his nose. "Isn't that the same thing I told you? And what are you doing? Going on with some half-baked plan of revenge on someone that you're becoming attracted to?" Even as the words left his mouth, he knew that he'd hurt his small...what? Boyfriend? Lover? Friend?
"Exactly what does that mean?" There was that flash that Treize had seen years ago in that tiny, dusty gym, banked by fear and self-loathing, about to spark into a flame. Heero stared at him, face to face, their noses not an inch apart, but made no move to kiss him.
"I'm just saying, I don't know if it's healthy to--"
"Healthy? You're worried about my health?" The Japanese boy glowered at Treize skeptically. "I'll be fine! Once the Autumnfest dance is over, we can go back to just being us."
"What 'us', Heero? Are we friends?" His voice had suddenly gone very quiet; a strange coil of fear was unraveling quickly in Heero's chest. "I can't even tell you what I think without you getting defensive. Are we together? If I came up to you during lunchtime and wanted to put my arm around your waist, would you push me away?"
"No," said Heero firmly, "I wouldn't. You know it, too."
"Hai," said Treize lifelessly, using what little Japanese his... God damn it, he knew it was selfish, knew it was trivial, but he needed that label, that name, something he could call Heero to make it official. His...
"Yours," Heero said softly from his seat on the bed beside Treize, his face shadowed by his long bangs. Startled, the ginger- haired boy swallowed hard, eyes searching.
"You want to?"
"...Hai."
Wufei couldn't believe what he was hearing. It was all a big plan, he thought, ripping the earphones off angrily. It had been a simple matter to brush by Heero at the mall and drop a bug into his shopping bag... He had thought the Japanese boy would head straight home; instead, he'd detoured to someone else's house...
That someone else turned out to be Treize Khushrenada. And from the noises and the conversation, it seemed they were...
They were...
Wufei promptly suffered a massive nosebleed.
The next day, Heero felt so sore he could barely move. Grimacing as he made his way to his locker, he moaned in agony as he saw Treize, looking extremely smug and satisfied, lick his lips and mouth the words, 'Lunchtime'. It had felt good at the time, but...
He had physics first, which was both a blessing and a curse. Master Quatre didn't care whether or not he went to sleep during class, as long as he didn't make any noise that could disturb his speeches or the digestive processes of tea leaves.
At the same time, he wasn't sure if he was ready to handle the guilt that he knew would assuage him as soon as he looked into those earnest violet eyes. Strangely enough, Duo's seat was empty.
He winced as something hard connected with the back of his head. "Hey--!" It was Zechs. He wore a short red alligator skin miniskirt hemmed with leather with matching bitch boots and black gloves. "What are you doing?"
"What does it look like I'm doing?" the boy in drag replied, hurling another pencil at his ear, now more for posterity than any malice.
It was a long physics class. He didn't get more than ten minutes of sleep and when it was all over, he realized he hadn't seen Wufei in class either...
And somewhere in the Mac computer lab, Wufei, looking at files he shouldn't have been, shrieked, "I remember him!"
Duo touched his fingers gingerly to his teeth. They felt so...*weird*, not having metal wiring layered inelegantly over them. Too light; too slick and shiny. He couldn't stop staring at his vaporous reflection in the glass; he looked so different. And just in time for the Autumnfest, too! Such luck that his teeth had moved faster than expected...
He sighed, folding his long, white arms behind his head, tugging his braid so it was trailing over the edge of his bed. Man, his mouth sure felt sore.
Sighing, he was about to grab a glass of Coke when the phone rang.
"Come on, Duo, pick up--!" Wufei swore as he got a busy signal, then eeped as a dark shadow loomed over him. "I didn't know this was a faculty phone!" he squeaked, blurting out the first thing that came to mind.
Heero stared at him impassively. "It's not. Why weren't you in physics?"
The Chinese boy scowled. "I know all about your little plot. I know who you are, Heero Yuy. Geek of the week," he intoned coolly. The other boy laughed, resting his weight on one foot.
"That is who I *was*. And my little plot? I have no idea what you're talking about. You need to stop reading justice rag magazines from the supermarket checkout aisles and start paying attention to your schoolwork, young man. Duo too," he drawled in a stern administrator's tone. Heero looked at the door nervously, expecting the braided American to come waltzing in at any moment.
"I'll get you," Wufei promised, black eyes shimmering in the dim light of rows of computer screens.
Duo shivered violently in the wind, his braid flopping all over the place. He should get his hair cut... But then, smirking, he remembered the way the Japanese boy's eyes had been so transfixed on it and decided against it. The sun was almost past the horizon-- he was late, damn him, and it was so cold...
Then, abruptly out of the bushes, his visitor appeared, carrying a gray bag slung over one slender shoulder. Juvenile detention had agreed with him; where before he'd been a rather gangly, bird-like boy, his frame had filled out with muscle. Across the bridge of his sharp nose ran a faint scar, a going away present, Duo speculated, from his fellow inmates.
"Trowa," he said softly. "You sounded rushed on the phone."
"Escaping from juvenile detention can do that to you." Though Duo was used to never seeing his lips smile, it was disturbing that his eyes remained flat and dull.
"You escaped--?"
"They weren't going to let me out, Duo."
"But still." He bit his lip. "I guess you can stay with me. If you want," he added hurriedly. Trowa sighed and collapsed onto the bench next to him, his knees cracking loudly. "I mean...do you have anywhere to stay?"
Trowa nodded, his eyes suddenly lighting up. "I had help getting out," he explained softly. "Someone that works at the school. They can make me a new identity. I can start over."
Without warning, he suddenly pulled out a knife and pressed it to Duo's throat, twisting the braided boy's arm until he could barely stand the pain shooting through his shoulder. "I should kill you for letting me take the rap for everything," he hissed between clenched teeth, tongue clicking against white pearls. "Maybe later."
"Okay," whimpered Duo, gasping as Trowa gave his shoulder one last tug.
"So," said the tall boy conversationally, sticking the knife back...who knows where...and folding his hands behind his head, "you got a girlfriend?"
Duo sweatdropped.
"I..."
"Doesn't ring your dinger, huh?"
"Nope," replied the braided boy. "He's pretty..." He smiled.
"What?" Trowa demanded, annoyed at the little dreamy grin on Duo's face. "'Pretty' what?"
"Pretty," said Duo. "Real pretty. Japanese."
"Hey," said Trowa suddenly, "didn't we know someone from Japan when we were in fourth grade?"
"Yeah!" chimed in Duo, eyes going wider than a platter full of stuffed mushroom hors d'oeuvres. "I remember, we were so mean to that little runt. Wonder where he is now..."
"Hm," Trowa agreed, and they watched what was left of the sunset tatter its way across the acrid sky.
Friday dragged on, as Fridays tended to do, until Heero's first class with Duo, physics. Luckily, it was right before lunch-- then he could go hide in the bathroom so the American wouldn't jump him. He didn't look up as the braided boy brushed past him--he knew what he would see. Two brilliant amaryllis eyes, one quirky smile, and past those red lips a row of...
White shiny teeth?!?
Before he could think, his mouth took the liberty of blurting out, "Where'd your braces go?"
Duo flushed, smiling shyly as he took the seat in front of Heero. "I got them off on Wednesday, but my mouth was too sore to come in yesterday. Did I miss anything?"
"No," Zechs scowled, poking Heero in the neck with her new acryllics. "Nothing except Jap-boy here drooling all over Treize's shoes." With that, s/he turned back to their work, smirking in a very self-satisfied way.
"What did she mean by that?" Duo demanded after class. "Are you cheating on me?"
"Cheating on you?" He caught sight of Una over Duo's shoulder, growling as she grinned cheekily, her arm wrapped around a senior's, Nico's, waist. Though her hand was not in such an innocent position...
Fucking shit.
Treize frowned as he saw Heero laugh nervously, one slender, tanned hand reaching up to tangle in that dark brown mess of hair. Duo, meanwhile, looked positively enraged.
"Excuse me," he said, cutting into their angry exchange, "may I have a word with you, Heero?" The Japanese boy nodded, relieved to be rescued from such an ugly line of conversation, then squeaked as the older boy pulled him into the bathroom. Neither saw two little shadows steal inside after them... Treize shook his head in amazement. "You really are blind," whispered the ginger-haired boy, reaching out to embrace his Japanese lover, "to think that any man could sit on their ass and not be unhappy with the idea of their boyfriend going with someone else, even if it is temporary and a big lie."
Heero struggled against the warmth of his arms. He didn't *want* to be placated. "Sorry," he mumbled, giving in to the need growing inside him and resting his head on Treize's shoulder. Empty. He felt empty; revenge made him this way. And other things... He'd never truly known what it meant to be so helpless before he'd met Treize.
"Shhh..." Eyes lidded with lust, Treize leaned down and brushed his lips over the silky mop of dark brown hair that surrounded his mouth and nose. Real kisses led to other things, and those things would take a night's worth of darkness and seductive moonlight to finish.
"You should go," Treize finally said, all too aware of the tightening of his pants. "After school?"
"After school," Heero promised, releasing his boyfriend with one little peck on the cheek, his lithe body arching into Treize's.
After school! Wufei scribbled into his notepad, feet positioned neatly on the toilet seat in the stall next to Treize's. What luck, to be taking a pee when the horny little bastard pushed the ginger-haired boy into the bathroom and humped him silly. He'd barely had time to run into a stall--but it had been worth it.
He froze as a feminine face appeared under the paneling of the stall. Wufei sat completely still, horrified, then screeched.
"ONNA!"
She put a finger to her rosebud lips, blonde hair falling over ice blue eyes. "There's something we both want..." Using a series of complicated wriggling motions, she managed to move into Wufei's stall, standing in front of the toilet, hands on her leather- clad hips.
"To destroy Heero Yuy," snorted the Chinese boy.
"Yes," Zechs said seriously. Wufei gulped--he'd been joking! Reminder to self: never kid around with the onnas, he thought frantically.
"He's using Treize, Wufei. He's an evil, dirty boy that's making Treize do terrible things for his own personal pleasure." She licked heavily rouged lips with a large, pink tongue. "There's a way to get him back--through Treize, of course."
"You don't like either of them."
She snorted. "That's the understatement of the year. I want you to break into the library and steal the video camera. Meet me here during last period." Her mouth widened into a devilish grin. "Bring Duo, if you can."
Wufei nodded. "Okay."
"This is going to be good." She left, but not without a backwards glance to the quivering Chinese boy perched on the toilet, clutching a notebook in one hand and his bleeding nose in the other.
"I've got a doctor's appointment," Duo sighed as Wufei tried to pull him into the bathroom. "See you later, Wu!"
"Dammit." He stood, his backpack stuffed full of pilfered recording devices and countless tapes he'd found lying around in the library, then pushed the blue door open with his forearm. No way was an onna going to intimidate him. That was weakness, to be afraid of something weaker than himself.
He stood on the toilet again, taking care to lock the door properly, then slipped the black tape into the camcorder. He didn't know why Zechs wanted to record Heero and Treize doing the nasty in the men's bathroom, but he was sure it would destroy the evil Japanese monster that had Duo enthralled in his spell. Never had it occurred to him that Duo didn't know exactly *who* Heero was... He heard the door swing open, and then a pair of red loafer- clad feet skipped over to the stall door. "Wufei? Is that you?"
"Yeah," he whispered back.
"Do you have the camcorder?"
"Yeah."
"Good. I'm going to go get something from my locker--you just stay here and be sure to get lots of juicy footage!"
With that, he was left alone again.
Duo rushed home, his heart beating fast. Doctor's appointment, that was a good one, Duo, he congratulated himself, still a bit miffed that the Japanese boy hadn't shown up to walk him home. He walked down Anyold Street, turned a corner at Your Country Store, and found himself with a switchblade pressed to his throat.
"Trowa!" he sighed. "Put down the knife, I've got your favorite kind of food."
There was a pause, then, "What kind of cookies?" Duo edged nervously away from the sharp blade and hugged his delinquent friend tightly. "Chocolate chip?" asked the green-eyed boy hopefully.
"Ten! The lunch lady really likes me," he said, then stopped short. "Actually, now I'm not so sure it was a lady..."
"Doesn't matter," Trowa murmured, fishing around in his backpack for the cookies, which he found only after completely ransacking the bag. "What's this?" asked Trowa, pulling out a little black book.
"No, don't--!"
He winced as the Hispanic pilot began to flip through the colorful pages, eyes widening in shock. "What's this?" he demanded again, holding the book so Duo could clearly see the picture of the Japanese boy from fourth grade, the black ink from the magic marker streaked where he'd tried to wipe it away. "You kept his picture? What, is this a book of conquests--"
The American shut his eyes and prayed to God that he wasn't looking at the picture he thought he was.
"Duo, this drawing is of me."
He bit his lip. He guessed God was too busy with pressing issues like world hunger and famine.
"Naked."
"Trowa? You're not mad, are you?" Duo swallowed hard. "I mean, it was just a sixth grade passing infatuation thing." The brown-haired boy nodded.
"Whatever. But," he added, studying the picture more intently, "you're a good artist. And why is that little Japanese boy in this book? Did you have a crush on him or something?" It was said so flippantly, Trowa didn't think anything of it...until Duo flinched and his face turned redder than the leaves falling from the maple trees.
"Yeah. Maybe." He sighed, plopping down onto the sidewalk lining the pavement. "You think if he was still around, he would forgive me?"
Trowa thought a moment.
"No, not really."
Zechs smirked as he dragged Relena to the men's room. "I'm serious, little sister, this is something you won't want to miss..."
"Well, okay," she said in that bubble-brained way bimbos have, "as long as it's something I don't want to miss because I most certainly won't want to miss it if it's something I want to miss..."
And she continued babbling until Zechs pushed the door open, motioning for her to be quiet. A soft moan filled the air, punctuated by the soft rattling of the stall door. He grinned. Someone was doing something naughty...
He'd said he wanted it fast and hard, and he was getting it that way. Treize let out a little moan as he rocked his hips hard up against Heero, pinning him awkwardly to the door. He had the Japanese boy's wrists complacently above his head, arms tangled helplessly in his shirt. For a moment, he paused to wonder exactly how bad this little steamy bathroom encounter would look to a bystander...
Then coherent thought was washed away in a haze of red as he moved forward and up, his latex-covered, painfully hard erection slowly disappearing inside his dark-haired lover. It was almost surreal--he felt as if he were separated from his surroundings, just watching himself screw Heero into the next century.
It was an extreme form of exquisite torture, however short. After, they both slumped against the thin walls, panting. With some difficulty, they managed to get Heero's shirt off and back on. It took several tries; the first time, they'd gotten it on inside out, then backwards the second attempt. Dressed in their masks again, they prepared to leave the bathroom when they heard a loud 'clunk.'
'Clunk?!?!' Heero mouthed silently to Treize, pointing to the next stall over, where they could see legs splayed awkwardly, having fallen from the toilet. Growling, he slid under the stall divider, only to find Wufei, passed out on the cold tiling.
A camcorder.
He'd been recording them having sex. Cold fury filled his veins, all the way to the very tips of his toes. Sex was private; it was something you shared with the one you loved... He was almost certain, now, that he loved Treize. The very thought was making him slightly giddy; he forced a smile from his face and exited the stall.
"I think," Treize said quietly, as Heero led him wordlessly to see who had been spying on them, "Phase Three: Project Geek of the Week is going to need some revision."
"WE HAVE TO GO TO THE POLICE!" Relena cried, tears streaming down her flushed cheeks. "He...he did horrible things to Heero!" Zechs sighed and began to polish his nails a sweeping gold to go with his dress for the Autumnfest.
"I know a better way, 'Lena."
"...really?" She sniffled tearfully.
"Really. Treize won't hurt anyone ever again." He grinned. "Trust me."
"NO!" Wufei shrieked, crossing his arms firmly. They sat in Heero's living room, under the pretense of studying for a Spanish quiz. The popcorn Heero's mother had made for them sat untouched on the table. "I will not!"
"You will," said Treize calmly, one hand gently stroking Heero's thigh. "We've watched the tape. It looks, to be frank, like I'm raping him. Which I would *never* do." The Japanese boy nodded his agreement. "So you do it or I tell Meiran that you're a little gay boy that gets his kicks from watching other boys get it on in the bathroom after school."
"You wouldn't!"
They would; it was evident in their identical smirks. Wufei scowled.
"Fine! I'll do it! But you'll both pay, especially you, Yuy! Once Duo finds out about you..." Heero and Treize exchanged glances. "I know you're planning revenge!" he blurted out. "I don't know what you're going to do, but I'll stop you!"
"You don't know anything," Heero said quietly. As if to comfort him, the vile sophomore threaded an arm around his shoulders, tugging him into a quick hug. From the kitchen, Heero's mother peered around the corner curiously and nearly had a heart attack at what she saw.
That boy was touching her son's butt! And in a very familiar way... She should have known, she thought almost sadly. He was too pretty to be straight. He looked like his father...
She shouldn't be too shocked that he took after him in this respect, also...
"Did you get the footage?" Zechs demanded as Wufei looked a bit ashamed. They sat on the same side at a booth in the local hamburger and ice cream shop, looking to all the world like a normal couple. Wufei spooned a bit of mint chocolate chip into his mouth and shook his head.
"Nope," said the Chinese boy, gathering all his courage and saying a prayer to the gods above, "was too busy jacking off."
Zechs jumped. "Excuse me?"
Wufei grinned. It was easier than he'd expected! "I was too busy getting off to focus right. All you see are two blurry figures; you can't tell if they're fucking or playing patty-cake."
The blonde girl grimaced.
Then she smiled.
"You get turned on by that sort of thing?" she purred, leaning forward to lick his ear. Wufei jumped as she took his head and placed it over her jean-clad crotch. He felt himself sweating buckets. There was...! There was...
He would have screamed 'Onna!!', except he now knew this was no woman.
"So, did Wufei get the tape?" Relena asked eagerly as a very tired looking Zechs dropped onto the couch. "Well?" She poked her brother, marveling at how long the boots made his legs look.
"Wufei didn't get the tape."
Relena frowned. "So how are we going to get Treize?" Silence reigned for a long moment.
"I don't know," said Zechs at last. "Curses, foiled again!"
"So?" asked Duo, turning a full circle so Trowa could see all of him. "How do I look? This is what I'm wearing to the dance tomorrow." He gave a sorrowful little sigh.
"You really like him, though?" Trowa sounded like his excitement factor was a little less than polishing-golf-shoes-level.
Duo sighed, shrugging out of the pinstriped pants and back into his customary black jeans. "I do. But I don't know if he really likes me, or if I'm just a convenient hormonal replacement."
Trowa smirked. "Probably both. That's how life is."
Duo nodded. "You're right. It's always both."
"Are you sure this is a--"
"I'm positive! Now, keep your chin up and try not to look him in the eye, whenever you do that I can always tell exactly what you're thinking."
"Really. When did you become the expert on emotions?"
"About the same time you became the expert on cruel and unusual revenge."
There was nothing he could say to that, so he stuck his tongue out at his lover and when up to Duo's front porch. It was cluttered with various toys and newspaper cutouts, some dating back to 1979. He pressed the white plastic rectangle that was supposed to be the doorbell and waited.
And waited.
Finally, he went back to the bushes, twitching apprehensively. "Treize, I don't think he's home."
"He is! I saw him upstairs just a moment ago, now go on and don't worry, you look wonderful."
"You're worse than a mother hen." He tried the doorbell one last time, then simply let himself in. "Hello?! Is anyone home?"
Duo froze.
"Did you hear something, Trowa?" he asked, peering at the long-bodied boy that was sprawled out on his bed in only a pair of too-small black boxers. "I thought I heard someone downstairs..."'
"No," Trowa said, pausing in his rapid perusing of magazine pages to stare at a Calvin Klein underwear model. Heavy footsteps echoed out through the second floor. "Whoever that no one is, he's coming up the stairs." The door was flung open to reveal...
"Heero!"
Duo gaped.
"Duo!"
Trowa frowned. "Who the hell are you?" Then his eyes narrowed into slim green slits. "And what the fuck are you doing here, Heero Yuy?"
Duo looked confusedly from the Japanese boy to his friend. "You know each other?" The blue-eyed boy growled, and crossed his arms stubbornly over his chest.
"Hello darkness, my old friend." He looked as if it would kill him to be any less sincere.
"Glad to see your face again," Trowa smirked, reaching forward to run a long finger over those cheekbones, the full, pouting upper lip where they'd drawn him a full, black mustache. He drew him into a swift embrace, whispering softly, "I know who you are."
Heero smiled.
"That makes two of us, then," he said, then thrust the roses at Duo. Time for a change of subject... "I'm sorry," said Heero huskily, leaning from one foot to the other. "Still want to go to the Autumnfest with me tomorrow? I was being a real asshole..."
Duo smirked at Trowa.
"Hai!"
"God, this is a nightmare," breathed Treize as Heero relayed the events of his arrival and subsequent notice. "Wufei knows. Trowa knows. Are you sure Duo doesn't know?" Heero sipped at his vanilla milkshake--plain was always better--and shook his head emphatically.
"I doubt it. Trowa doesn't seem to care." He smirked. "In fact, it seems like he wants to be around to pick the pieces up."
"That's not nice," the ginger-haired boy declared. "Another Coke, please," he said, flagging down their heavy waiter. The diner was only slightly crowded, but he had been avoiding them all night, choosing instead to serve the hooligans from the next town over. "So you think Trowa has a thing for Duo?"
"Maybe." The Japanese boy stared out the window blankly, lost in his own thoughts. "I mean..."
"Maybe? I wouldn't bet on those odds. You should be careful, Hee-kun. You might just get burned." Heero looked up just in time to see Treize slowly licking his straw, wrapping his tongue around the slender plastic tube. [Oi. Hentai thoughts. *bangs head repeatedly against table*]
His eyes twinkled. "Is that a promise?"
Treize stared at him impassively, ignoring the fact that his hand was slowly rising up the length of Heero's thigh. "It just might be."
"Anything else?" Their waiter had returned with Treize's Coke.
"No," said Heero after a moment, "I think we'll go home for dessert..."
Saturday came quickly. Watching all the other kids pick up their dates in their father's cars, Heero felt just a bit better about the fact that he had to borrow his mother's car. Of course, the fact that his mother's car was in fact a black Porsche and ran like a dream was also a slight consolation.
He tripped on a roller skate walking up to Duo's house and barely managed to avoid stepping on a rusty nail. At last, avoiding the rest of the rather ominous looking lumps under an old blanket, he rang the doorbell.
He really wasn't sure why it was so hot in the middle of September, but he didn't deign to tell Mother Nature how to run her show, as long as she didn't mess around with his hormones during the dance.
(Unbidden, Treize's warning rose up from the boggy depths of his memory...
"If he fucking touches you, I'll blow his head off with the Epyon2000+." He growled. "If you touch him, I'll blow your head off too."
"Aa." Heero backed away slowly, not sure if he wanted to know how Treize was going to decapitate him with an eggbeater.)
Duo chose that moment of silent contemplation to bounce into the doorway, grinning cheekily. "Ready to go!" he announced, as if there were more than just a single irate-looking Japanese boy standing on his front porch. Although, Heero began to note, he looked lovely in that su--
Eggbeaters and a horny Treize, he reminded himself, and offered his arm in what he hoped was a perfectly gentlemanly way. "Oooooh!" sighed Duo, ignoring the proffered limb and swarming all over the hood of the car like an estranged lover. "Oh!"
"You like the car," he sighed dryly as they took off the wrong way down a one-way street. "Last Kiss" began to hum, static-y, on the radio, just as a huge Big Mac truck steered by a familiar blonde pulled out of Wufei's driveway.
"Hey!" snorted Duo. "Looks like Zechs and Wufei are going to the Autumnfest together. Kawaii!" Very kawaii, thought Heero as he saw a bound and gagged Chinese boy slamming his head against the glass of the window, presumably attempting to break it.
They arrived at the dance in record time, thanks to Heero's heavy foot and Duo's screams of, "Faster, faster!"
He was positive it had been Master Quatre that yelled from a window, "Get a room! That's not appropriate activity for a residential mmph! Harder, do it harder, my Newtonian stallion of love!"
The gym had been decorated, thanks to the efforts of Lucy and the Dance Committee. They were not an actually dance committee perse, but a band of poor kareoke artists that had taken to calling themselves 'OX', named after a video game many had been fond of in third grade.
"Let's get the party started!" she yelled, randomly tapping a large stick against the stage. Colored lights flashed around her face, making her look fat in one moment, and ghoulishly thin the next. "Let's hear it for OX!" A few people clapped. Many booed. Some giggled. One loud voice belonging to a certain Chinese boy demanded, "Where the hell's the bathroom?"
'OX' paraded out, looking extremely embarrassed to be there. Heero wolf-whistled at Treize, grinning at the cape. It definitely made him sexier. Una was also a member of OX; she wore her white leggings with honor. To his surprise, Zechs, looking quite handsome, also filed out, wearing some kind of strange dominatrix mask. Several other juniors and sophomores, looking proud in their random assortments of felt, feather boas, glitter and gold trim, stood up to be counted. For a strange moment, Heero felt a compulsion to also give in to the cult fanaticism that was OX. The name was lacking a little something, however... The first thing they sang was a lewd song about touching oneself. Heero found it amusing; the entire time, Treize's intense blue eyes were trained on him, and only him. It made him feel deliciously naked, though he was standing in a crowded room of hundreds fully dressed.
'When I think about you, I touch myself,' he lip-synched, licking one finger and trailing it down the middle of his chest. He barely felt the tug on his shoulder, didn't even hear Duo's petulant voice, cutting through his private dance.
"Hey? Aren't you going to dance with me?" he asked, feeling a little abandoned. Heero started, then a flash of annoyance passed over his handsome face before he smiled. "I like this song," Duo said, reaching out to touch his shoulders gently.
They danced a few songs, and then it was time to vote for the Autumnfest King and Queen, although, as Relena noted rather loudly, since every winning group--one couldn't say couple, a threesome had won once, since it was student voting--in the history of the Autumnfest had been all-male, it should have been King and Queer. Or at least Queen and Queen, she amended as several deadly stares fixed themselves on the red target of her backless dress. And Treize said the school wouldn't have been friendly to their relationship, thought Heero, trying not to smile.
Duo had gone to the bathroom to 'freshen up', leaving Heero by himself. OX--the name was starting to grow on him--had started a song with a loud, thumping beat that made his pulse race. He danced by himself for a few minutes, watching Treize as he moved through the crowd towards him. Soon, he thought, he would be there and they would steal one little dance for themselves...
Then he felt strong hands pull him back, into a mass of writhing, warm flesh. A very stiff erection pressed into his backside, grinding hard and fast. He pulled away violently, only to slam into Treize, who watched the entire thing with a stony look of fury. The rest of the students kept dancing, oblivious.
"Come on," Zechs coaxed. "If Treize liked riding me, why wouldn't you?" The Japanese boy could only stare, transfixed, as the ginger-haired boy advanced and slapped Zechs as hard as he could. The sound was devoured under the cape of the music.
The blonde boy spat out blood. Then, an angry fire flaring in his ice blue eyes, he grabbed Heero by the long brown locks of hair that fell thickly behind his ears and kissed him, his tongue worming around in his mouth, gagging him with the taste of blood.
From there, it all happened in a blur.
Treize, never one to stand by and watch his boyfriend be molested, whether semi-voluntarily by Duo or completely involuntarily by his ex, jumped the blonde boy and began to beat the shit out of him. Heero bent down to break them up, only to find himself entangled with an armful of Relena.
"Darling," she whispered, cupping his face tenderly, eyes shining with love, "I know what he did to you. Milliardo and I are saving your life, can't you see?"
"No, let me go--" He gasped as she dragged him away, away from his lover, his love. He saw Zechs flip him, tossing him easily to the ground, heard a moan of pain, ringing out over the bloodthirsty cries of the other people.
His love!
In perfect 20/20 clarity, he suddenly saw the meaning of the past few weeks shatter, revealing only one single message.
He had been such a fool.
Pursuing a blank dream of revenge, over something that had happened so long ago. But he had been so drunk on the emotions Treize invoked in him that he hadn't even seen what he had been telling him all along.
He had wronged so many. But he still had time. The King and Queen would be announced soon, as soon as 'Sweet Surrender' was over. Dorothy was busy crooning to an unnamed secret love, one with 'blue eyes and beuatiful bloody blonde hair'. Knowing Dorothy's past attempts at writing, Heero really doubted that it was being used as the English alternative to 'damn'.
Summoning strength from somewhere below his fluttering stomach, he wrenched free of Relena's tentacle-hold and began pushing, shoving through the circle surrounding him. Someone in the audience was humming, *ieiieieieieieie!*, shoes pounding into the ground, *ieieieieieiiieieieie*, one step closer, *ieieieieieie*...
It was all slow and distorted, slow like honey in that song, the piano banging off key in the background, her voice like velvety steel, *iiieeeieieieie*. He couldn't stop the thoughts from coming, couldn't stop the blame and the hurt. He had that leaden feeling deep in his gut, like when you've wronged someone terribly and you just can't wait for the chance to make it right.
Slow. Relena reaching out to him, her red mouth like wax candy, shaping into a lifesaver's 'oh'. His name, she was saying his name. Slow, so languid, like a lazy drift down a gentle stream. He saw the girl *ieiieeieieie*, couldn't help himself. He noticed his hand flying out, slapping her once, twice, then dropping limply to his side, a chastised pitbull.
Slower. Treize! He willed his muscles to move faster, but then there was a din, they were announcing the King and Queen. Names, broken into letters, broken into sounds; they floated hollowly over the air, over the ring of writhing human flesh to his choked ears.
And then *he* was there, a vision in silk and satin and velvet, decadent and common. Duo was walking onstage, accepting his crown, standing under the hot, wet stagelights. There was a glint-- no! No! He felt ethereal, felt intangible. I am a ghost, he thought blankly.
He had forgotten all about revenge.
I am a ghost.
Faster.
He tossed one of the cheering rabblerousers aside, making sure to knock over Relena, who was screeching.
Faster. His world progressed at normal speed again. "Treize!" he heard himself pant, pulling the unconscious boy to his lap, cradling his head. Wake up, please, wake up. Please. His chest hurt, right in the center where his ribs met. Hurt.
Treize moaned loudly, bright blue eyes blinking open. They looked around incoherently, abruptly focusing past Heero. He felt a sharp pain, then slowly turned. 'Duo!'
"...and I would like to thank our landlord and the gardener on our block for making our rose bushes look so nice..."
"NOOOOOOO!" he screamed, flinging himself on stage. Duo's eyes went comically wide as he fell backward, arms flailing like a chicken trying to flap its wings. He heaved a sigh from the floor. Duo was out of range of--
A thought occurred to him, and hesitantly, Heero looked up.
Shit.
There was no time to think as a gallon of pig's blood, the idea shamelessly stolen from Treize's second favorite movie, the first being Top Gun (^_~), came splashing down on him, soaking down to his skin.
He lay there, slick with blood, and sighed. A small portion had gotten inside his mouth; it tasted bitter, curdled, almost.
Too close to insanity for anyone's liking, he wondered absently if that was why they (who was 'they'?!) said revenge was bittersweet.
A lot of things happened at that moment.
Duo glomped into Heero and crooned, "My hero!" Relena glowered, but said nothing about her lines being shamelessly filched. Treize began to beat the shit out of the person nearest to him, who was, unfortunately, the principal's secretary. Fortunately, the woman turned out to be Una, manifesting as one of her *other* personalities.
Unfortunately, it turned out to be *Una*.
He was in traction for a week. Heero made him brownies.
"So that's why we can't go out anymore," Heero finished, feeling like a fool. Duo looked skeptically at him.
"Because your mother's father's gardener's daughter got hit by a run away Mac truck leading police on a high speed chase from Ohio after a parking violation by Treize?!" He grinned. "I get it!"
Heero wasn't sure if he should cry with relief or laughter.
"Well," said Heero cautiously, "I'll see you around?"
"Yeah," said Duo as the Japanese boy zoomed off into the distance, "see you around." A glowing heart-shaped face tilted back and stared into the bushes. "Oh Trowa...guess who's a free man?"
There was a rustle, and then, "Oh! We should go back to the house to do *that*..."
"...you're so wild, Duo..."
"...I know! Scrabble in the park..."
"...in the dark..."
"It gives me the shivers--!"
"You know?"
Heero yawned, turning over in Treize's bed so that he was draped lightly over the boy's body. "Your casts are so sexy," he sighed, pressing a kiss to the bare inch that wasn't covered in plaster.
"Heero?"
"Hm?" Sleepy eyes blinked at him, worn from hours of reading history lessons to him. Treize knew he hadn't learned anything, but he had enjoyed watching the way Heero's mouth moved around the words.
"You know, I think you've taught me a very valuable lesson." Treize couldn't help the sudden feeling of tenderness his Japanese companion brought about inside him as he stretched, clearly trying to ignore him in favor of sleep's warmth.
"Les'on 'bout what?" he mumbled.
"About geeks." He smiled into the darkness. "I think I'm a geek and I never knew it."
"Okay," sighed Heero, burying his face in Treize's hip. The feeling of that soft skin pressed against his side was causing very uncomfortable reactions. He tried to lean over to kiss him, and his ribs complained. Sitting back, he contented himself with looking.
He'd get his 'revenge' as soon as the casts came off.
He grinned. None the wiser, Heero Yuy slept on.
~owari~
Uhhh...I'm glad it's finally over...*whines*
thank god! it got a little stupid at the end. sorry.
~aklw
Ariana
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