The third time he saw the boy, whose name was Heero, he had discovered while listening to a conversation between the two blonde of the Stereotypically Gay Welcoming Committee, leaving after a very boring History of Modern Psychology class, he ran up to him and tapped his shoulder.
The Japanese boy whirled around, as if expecting an attacker, then his face relaxed minutely. "Wanna go grab a bite to eat?" he offered, feeling his breath steal away under those churning eyes. "I don't have a class until 1:00..."
Heero smiled and nodded silently. They set their bookbags down at the fountain adorning the entrance of Lapelier and walked across the street to Howard's Deli. The old man, still wearing a Hawaiian print shirt and pink thong sandals, gave a sigh as Duo walked in. "You again!" he said teasingly, swatting his butt with the day's newspaper.
"What are you doing here, Howard?" he asked. "Oh wait, you still work here because you won't let anyone else touch your store, when you should be retiring in Bermuda!" Howard shrugged, not denying it. "Howard, this is Heero." The Japanese boy shook hands with him, then looked at Duo.
"I don't know your name, yet, either." The American grinned and kissed his hand, much to Heero's surprise and Howard's embarrassment.
"Kids," he muttered as he went to slice some smoked turkey.
"Duo," he said huskily, then abruptly laughed. "Let's go get some sandwiches, man, I'm starved!" Howard's laughter could be heard from the backroom.
"You? Starve? Never!"
Afterwards, they sat and chatted for a while, watching the people go by. "Look at that guy," Duo said, pointing to the little blonde walking with a taller brown-haired boy. "He's so gay it kills me." Heero shook his head.
"You can't tell if people are gay just from looking at them. How do you know he's gay?" Well, for one thing, he was staring at your ass during History of Modern Psych, he thought, but then, so was I.
"I would never have thought you were either," Heero said suddenly. Duo gave a nervous laugh; well, he *had* invited him on a semi-lunch date, what was the boy to think? "I've got to go; class in five minutes," he sighed, gathering up the remains of his sandwich and rolling them into wax paper. "Thanks for lunch," he said, leaning down so close that Duo thought he was going to start frenching him in the deli. Instead, he brushed a chaste kiss onto his cheek, and turned to walk away.
"Hey," Duo called, suddenly feeling insecure, "I wouldn't have thought you were either." Heero paused at the door.
"I'm not, really."
End Part Three
Ouch! Cruel...
Ariana
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