20-Aug-2000
Small warning for mild expletives.
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or any of it's characters, wish I did, I could use the money.
Note: This fic is one in a series of stories with the same continuing characters, The Belle of the Ball Arc, or BotB Arc for short.
It was the morning after the dance, late morning. Duo woke up and looked at the clock, 11:30 a.m., it read.
"Damn, I can't believe I slept so late, I have just enough time to get ready and go to the dining hall for lunch. I can't believe I slept through breakfast, and they were serving omlets today." Duo said, mad at himself and disappointed for having missed the omlets.
Duo got up, swung his legs over the side of the bed, put his feet to the floor and stood up. He promptly fell back on the bed.
"O-w-w," he yelped. "My feet HURT," Duo said with surprise, and started rubbing them. Looking at them, he could see they were puffy, swollen and were sore to the touch, plus he had a nice set of blisters, one on each heel.
"Blast those damned high heels," he said. "I don't know how girls wear those torture devices."
He tried rising to a standing position again, this time bracing himself for the pain, and hobbled to the bathroom to take a shower.
The warm water felt s-o-o-o good on his feet but he cut his pleasure short, he had to hurry if he wanted to make it on time while they were still serving. Duo got out of the shower and made a hasty attempt at drying off, got dressed then tried to put on his shoes. His feet refused to go into them, they were too swollen. Try as he might, he could not get those shoes on.
"Hell, now what am I going to do?" he wondered. "I can't go over there barefooted." Then an idea struck him, Heero wore a bigger size than he did, maybe they would be big enough to fit. Duo stepped gingerly to the closet and took out a pair of Heero's shoes.
Duo sat down on the side of his bed and tried them on. They were a snug fit, but they fit. "Great," he thought, "Now I can go get something to eat, I'm starved. I just hope Heero doesn't mind I 'borrowed' a pair of his shoes."
Now he had to walk to the dining hall and he almost decided it wasn't worth the pain - almost, as his stomach was telling him it was.
With the shoes adding some much needed support to his sore, aching feet, Duo was able to walk slowly to the hall wincing with every step, and an uneven gait.
He made it to the dining hall in just enough time to be served. He got his lunch, a hamburger, fries and a soda, and sat down to eat. On his third bite, Heero sat down opposite him and started eating his own lunch.
"How do you feel today?" Heero asked.
"Ok, I guess, except my feet feel like this hamburger," Duo replied with a painful smile on his face.
"I'm sorry I had to ask you to do that, but there wasn't any other way to keep Relena out of my hair," Heero said, half apologetically.
"It's ok, I guess, but you could have been honest with me about asking me to dress like a girl," Duo said with a playfully 'hurt' tone.
"I thought it would be more fun for you if you thought it was to irk Relena," Heero replied.
"Maybe so, I do love to get under her skin, but when it comes to a mission, you ought to know me well enough by now, I'll do what needs to be done," Duo said back.
"Next time I'll level with you," Heero promised.
"There won't be a NEXT time," countered Duo.
Heero just shrugged.
"Hello Heero."..."Hello Duo," Relena had just approached their table. "Nice dance last night, wasn't it?" she asked.
"It was ok," Heero replied.
"I wouldn't know," said Duo, "I was in the infirmary, getting my strained ankle taped up."
"Sorry to hear that, Duo, I hope it heals quickly," Relena offered sympathetically.
"So, Heero, where is your fiance? I looked for her today in the guest quarters but she wasn't there, in fact they told me she was never there, odd," Relena remarked.
"She had to leave early this morning for home, I saw her off on her plane this morning, and she stayed at a hotel in town, if you must know," Heero said, rather rudely.
"Too bad, I was hoping to get to know her. You know I don't even think I caught her name," Relena said.
"I never threw it," replied Heero.
Heero got up from the table, leaving his half-eaten lunch and said, "Well, gotta go, term paper to do," and made a hasty retreat.
Duo took the hint, crammed the last of the food into his mouth and said "Me too," although it was muffled by food. He hurried as fast as he could go, trying to ignore the pain.
"Those boys can be SO unfriendly," Relena sighed.
She went and sat down with a group of her friends and started eating her lunch.
"That was quick thinking, old buddy," Duo said after he got back to their dorm room. His progress had been slower than Heero's, so Heero had beat him.
"Hn," was Heero's reply.
"So, where were you really, this morning?" asked Duo.
"I had to check on the damage to the mobile suit factory I blew up, had to make sure I didn't need to go back to finish the job," Heero said.
"And..," Duo inquired.
"Leveled," said Heero.
"Oh," said Heero, "I also had to return that outfit you wore last night."
"I never did ask where you got it from, one of those clothing rental places?" Duo asked.
"No," was Heero's reply.
"So, where did you get it?" Duo's curiosity was rising.
"You don't want to know," Heero said, in a tone that said, don't push it.
"Come on Heero, don't leave me hanging, where did the outfit come from?" Duo urged.
"Well, if you must know, I borrowed it from one of Quatre's sisters, or I should say, Quatre 'borrowed' it out of one of his sisters's closets. I needed to get it back so Quatre could sneak it back in without her noticing," Heero admitted.
"That explains the pink," Duo remarked. "Hey, you didn't tell Quatre what you needed it for, did you? You promised not to say anything to anyone, especially the guys," Duo said indignantly.
"Don't worry, Quatre's not going to say anything, besides can you think of anyplace else we could have gotten an outfit so quickly?" Heero said defensively.
"I guess not," Duo admitted.
"Quatre said that was a VERY expensive dress you wore and the diamonds were real, a king's ransom in value. He says you were probably the most expensively dressed 'girl' at that dance." Heero said.
"And I looked DAMNED good," Duo bragged.
"You looked ok," was all that Heero would offer, deflating Duo's ego.
Meanwhile, Relena was finishing her lunch and chatting with her friends when an image of Heero's fiance flashed in her mind. She then thought of Duo's limp. Being a smart girl, she put two and two together and did not like the answer she got.
"No wonder 'she' looked so familiar," Relena thought, her mind filling with angry thoughts.
"Heero Yui, hell hath no fury," Relena fumed.
Let me know what you think.
KwyckSylver
Please send comments to: kwycksylver@yahoo.com