09-Aug-2005
Title: Crossed Wires 2/3
Author: Sol 1056
Rating: MA
Pairings: 3+4, 5+R, and 1+2, with caveats...
Warnings: Angst, but mild. I hope.
Notes: This is for Merith and Klingpoo, both of whom work too hard and need their happy endings, but in short packages so finding the time to read a story isn't an impossible task.
Whoops, this was supposed to be part two of two, but looks like this will be a three-shot. Just watch, the last part will end up only two thousand words or something ridiculously short. Anyway, second part, third part should wrap it all up.
Heero got home at nearly three in the morning to find the kitchen light on, and the bathroom sparkling. He snorted at Duo's obsession, but made a point to wipe the splattered toothpaste off the sink, just to prevent any grumbling in the morning. His mind was mostly full of the conversation--and the long pauses--after the orchestra. They'd gone to dinner, wandered the streets of Sanq, then ended up at a coffee shop Thomas frequented near the hospital.
They'd stood on the front steps of Heero's building, until Thomas abruptly kissed Heero, while Heero was halfway through a word. He couldn't recall, staring at himself in the bathroom mirror, what he'd been saying, but he did recall thinking that Thomas was a good kisser. Soft lips, not too soft, slightly chapped, and he tasted of coffee and sugar.
He ran a hand through his hair, frowning slightly when it fell back into its shaggy cut with no sign of the effort he'd put into combing it before he'd left. Hopeless, Duo would say, but perhaps Thomas was proof that the broody, somewhat short, and overly intense--if rumpled--look was still in. Or at least not entirely out. He wasn't quite as cut or muscular as he'd been at fifteen, but he'd at least reached five-seven, and he could still leg-press four times his weight, and he'd bent steel a few times when forcing servers into the racks. All in all, Heero didn't think he was entirely unattractive, even if he didn't light up a room like Duo. And Thomas had seemed to like him...
That kiss. Heero ran a finger across his bottom lip, reliving the taste and sensation before deciding it had been sweet and gentle. Not what he'd expected, but then, he'd only had his own hand and his imagination for the past year, so he could hardly grade one kiss from a new friend against a year of imagining what Duo's forceful personality would be like in bed. He'd always imagined it'd be like kissing a hurricane, or a tsunami; he drowned in Duo's charisma on a daily basis, so he'd imagined sex would Duo would naturally have to be just as overwhelming.
And, he reminded himself, it was time to stop imagining such things.
He shut off the bathroom light, pausing outside Duo's bedroom to wonder why the door was open. Cautiously Heero reached in, catching the doorknob and pulling the door shut on silent hinges. He listened for a bit longer to Duo's even breathing, and rubbed at his chest in an absent-minded manner. Something at dinner hadn't seemed to agree with him, or maybe mild heartburn was another sign of growing up. He put it on his mental list of things to be pleased about, along with a note to pick up something at the grocery store to fix it, if he ended up eating such rich food on a regular basis with Thomas.
A few minutes later he was crawling into bed, and shut off the light, only to lay in the dark and stare at the ceiling. He wasn't sure if there was something there with Thomas, that something that made people want to be with a person for a long time, but it was still a step in the right direction. He couldn't spend the rest of his life fantasizing about a friend, after all.
Heero rolled over in bed and stared at his closed door. In the morning, he'd let Duo know, somehow, that he was over his crush. Somehow he'd find a way to thank his friend for being so understanding and supportive. Heero smiled to himself. Maybe Thomas had a sister; she'd naturally like Duo--everyone did, really--and then they could all do things together.
Likely story. Heero snorted at his own stupid wishes; unless the girl came with wheels on the bottom of her feet, Duo probably wouldn't look at her twice. No, Heero would have to work a little harder on finding someone that Duo would like. Maybe he'd ask Relena or Quatre. They always seemed to know so many people.
He fell asleep, fingers pressed to his lips, though he wasn't sure whether that was to hold in the memory of Thomas's kisses, or to keep out the impossible fantasy he was trying to leave behind.
Two weeks passed, then three. Duo's temper grew shorter, until one afternoon he spent ten minutes yelling at Heero about not cleaning up the bathroom. Heero scowled and apologized, but Duo had already cleaned and there was no point in Heero rushing to do the chore. And then Duo found dishes in the sink, but already Heero was out the door, coat in hand.
Duo stared down at the sink, and the single coffee cup--his, he recalled--and wondered why he was so on edge. He'd tried to enjoy having the place to himself, like when Heero had been dating Alan. He could play his own music, watch the stupid comedies that Heero hated, without having to reciprocate by putting up with Heero's indie films. He could eat dinner on the sofa with his work spread out on the table in front of him, and he even dismantled the new answering machine--and purchased a second replacement--without a word of complaint from Heero.
What the hell was Heero going to complain about, anyway? He was barely around. Apparently med students had such crazy schedules that there was no telling when Heero would answer the phone and be out the door a minute later. If Thomas had fifteen minutes for a break at the hospital, he'd call, and Heero would be on his way. It made planning anything absolutely impossible, but Duo had done his best to shrug and promise to note where he'd halted the movie so Heero could watch the rest later. He tried to ignore the fact that Heero didn't seem to be doing so, however; the movies were always returned with a shrug from Heero--no time, maybe he'd rent it later.
But the worst of it, Duo realized, as he slowly rinsed the cup and dried it, putting it away, was that he felt... no, he couldn't quite figure it out. Heero was friendly, of course, and they still talked about everything, but Heero seemed distant. Preoccupied. Duo had sat in the living room wearing only boxers, folding his clean clothes, and Heero had barely looked at him.
It was almost insulting, in a way Duo couldn't quite fathom and wasn't sure he wanted to consider. Lola still flirted with him, and he'd dated a few girls over the past year--nothing serious, but fun--and those girls were all cute. He hadn't entirely lost his touch, even if his body wasn't as slim, or his sixpack stomach quite as defined. But he'd gotten used to the glances, the smiles, the sudden flush on Heero's face if Duo caught him looking. Duo snorted at himself, and picked up the phone. Maybe Quatre was free to grab a cup of coffee or something.
An hour later, Duo was ensconced at a pastry shop halfway between his apartment and Quatre's home. Trowa had an evening meeting--common enough with the time difference to the colonies--so it was just the two of them. Duo had Quatre's favorite drink ready and waiting, along with a slice of pie.
"Perfect," Quatre said, sliding into the seat opposite Duo with a wide grin. Soft blond curls fell across his forehead, giving him a disheveled look that reminded Duo of the days they'd spent in Corsica during the war. Considerably taller now, with a square jaw and stern blue eyes, Quatre's smile always made him look younger, and relieved the lines of tension around his mouth -- and a slice of pie always caused one of those smiles. "Fork?"
"Costs extra," Duo replied, but relinquished the fork gracefully. He watched Quatre dig into the pie with gusto. "What, is Trowa starving you or something?"
"Sort of. He's saying we have to go on a diet."
"No shit."
"I'm not kidding." Quatre sighed and took another bite of pie, his expression almost rapturous. "Sitting through those lunch meetings watching everyone else eat as much as they want... it's torture."
Duo leaned over the table to glance at Quatre's midsection. "You look okay to me."
"Didn't know you were checking me out." Quatre's blue eyes gleamed, but then his gaze dropped to the coffee and he sipped it as casually as if he hadn't just said something that left Duo's mouth hanging open. Finally, Quatre set down the coffee with an air of a man ready to get down to business. "So what's up?"
"Nothing. You?"
"You're the one who called this meeting."
Duo snorted and leaned back in the booth, stretching out his legs. "It's not a meeting, it's just two friends hanging out. You go corporate on me, and I'm taking back the rest of that pie."
"Try it and you lose a finger." Quatre set down the fork, and wiped up the last of the sugary jam with one finger. "So where's Heero?"
"Out on a date."
"With Thomas, hunh." Quatre nodded approvingly. "Sounds like it's starting to get serious."
"Hell, I hope not." Duo blinked, realizing he'd muttered that loud enough for Quatre to hear. He glanced away from Quatre's suddenly bright eyes, and shrugged. "Don't mind me. Just adjusting, I guess."
"What adjustment is required? It's not like he's... " His voice trailed off, and he waved a hand at the waitress. "Another slice, please."
"Crap, Quatre, if you go home weighing ten pounds more, I don't want Trowa coming to kick my ass."
"He won't. He'll probably kick mine first." Quatre grinned, a bit impishly. "So if I'm going to be convicted, might as well make the crime worthwhile."
Duo grinned, knowing the phrase as a compliment to his corrupting influence. "So how's Trowa, anyway?"
"Don't change the subject. You're bored and lonely because Heero's gotten a life."
"I... what?" Duo rolled his eyes. "Naw. I've got a date with Elizabeth on Saturday."
"And Heero's got a date with Thomas on a Wednesday night."
"It's not a competition."
"What is it, then?" Quatre accepted the second slice of pie, giving the waitress a blinding smile. She goggled, and backed away with a nervous laugh. "You're not worried about Heero, are you? He's a grown man."
"Who still hasn't introduced me to the guy he's dating."
Quatre shrugged, brows furrowed as he licked the fork clean before taking a second bite of pie. "Perhaps he's worried you won't like Thomas."
"He tells me about him all the time. Thomas this, Thomas that, Thomas bloody fucking Jenkins and what he did at work and grocery shopping and his damn shoe size."
Quatre blinked. "Heero knows Thomas's shoe size?"
"And his mother's maiden name, too, I bet." Duo scratched the end of his nose, and frowned. "I don't know. Probably. I don't pay much attention to it, now."
"Why not?"
Duo shrugged.
"Maybe you don't want to hear it."
"Of course I want to hear it. He's my friend. I don't want him dating another prick." Duo caught Quatre's arched eyebrow, and headed off the incoming innuendo. "Jerk." He groaned as Quatre's smile got a bit more pointed. "Assho--crap, Quatre, turn off that dirty mind. Look, I don't want him with someone who'll be... y'know, unkind or something. But... there's got to be some topic of conversation other than Thomas, Thomas, Thomas."
"Like what... " Quatre glanced up at the ceiling, as if seeking inspiration from on high. "Oh, like you'd rather it be Duo, Duo, Duo?"
"Hunh? No, wait, I didn't say--"
"I think you do."
"Do what?" Duo's lip curled into a snarl, and he calmed with a bit of effort. "Don't do that armchair psychology on me."
"I don't need to do anything other than look at your face."
"Oh, yeah?"
"Yes."
Duo narrowed his eyes. "And what's it saying right now?"
"Hm." Quatre took another bite of pie, then set down the fork and shoved the plate across to Duo. "It's saying you're jealous as hell."
"Like that's news. Yeah, who wouldn't want to be seeing someone regularly." Duo's tone turned distinctly sarcastic, and he didn't care. "Especially someone as cool as Thomas the med student, the former competition cyclist, the brown-eyed--"
"No."
Duo halted, but his mouth closed slowly, suspicious.
"You're jealous because Heero's with someone else and not you."
It took a second for Duo's brain to catch up and present a reasonable explanation. "Yeah, so we got into a habit. We hung out a lot--"
"And I think you're a bit jealous that Heero's not paying attention to you anymore."
"And we would--say what?" Duo knew his ears were getting hot, and cursed his fair skin for showing a blush. He was not blushing. No.
"I'm not stupid, Duo. Don't treat me like I am." Quatre wiped his mouth with the napkin, and folded it before setting it aside. "For two years we've all watched Heero pay attention to you at every second, and the way he looks at you. Everyone knew he has--had--a crush on you. And we also weren't ignorant of the way you ate up the attention."
"So? We had an understanding, y'know, after that whole thing with--"
"Duo, are you aware of the fact that most heterosexual men would be freaked to no end to find out that their friend--and apartment-mate, I might add--uses them as fantasy material on a daily basis?"
"Plenty of straight guys have gay friends. Like--" Duo struggled to come up with a comparison. "Wufei. He's never shown any sign he's bothered by being friends with you an' Trowa."
"I don't recall ever asking Wufei if he minds me thinking about him while I jerk off in the shower, either," Quatre snapped.
"It wasn't like that! Okay, so maybe it's not the same--"
Quatre snorted. "You think?"
"Uh, maybe." Duo struggled for a second to find a response to that. "So I'm more open-minded than most." He wondered why he didn't feel a bit more smug about it.
"You're... something, all right." Quatre stood up, checking his watch. "I think I'm going to cut this evening short."
"Hunh? What for?"
"Because you need to take advantage of the quiet to figure out whether you want Heero as a friend, or whether you want to keep sulking because you're not the center of his life any more. And if you want to be the center of his life, you've got to figure out whether you're willing to give him everything you've got."
"Everything I've--"
"Shut up and listen, Duo." Quatre leaned over the table, his eyes almost flashing. Duo leaned back, feeling a bit more uneasy than he had in years around his good friend. "Because it's not fair to him to dangle yourself as the untouchable dream, but it's also not fair to jump down his throat every ten minutes because he's no longer fixated on that dream."
"I haven't--"
"I didn't say you could speak yet. I hear the two of you have argued more often than not, in the past three weeks. Heero's talking about moving out."
Duo shot to his feet. "He's what? When did he tell you that? What the--" His hands fisted hard enough to make two knuckles crack. "When I see him, I'm gonna--"
"Tell him what you really want," Quatre finished. He pointed past Duo, at the door. "Go home, but don't speak to Heero until you know what you want and you're willing to stick to it."
"I know what I want," Duo retorted, still angry that Heero had spoken of breaking up their partnership and not even told him first. What the hell? Why wouldn't Heero say anything? They were friends. They talked about everything. "I just want things to go back to the way they were."
"If you're just friends," Quatre said, placing a hand on Duo's shoulder, "you'll never again get his undivided attention for more than every now and then. Are you willing to come second?"
"No! I'm his best friend. He's mine," Duo choked out, without even thinking. He frowned and shook his head. "That didn't come out right, I mean, all you guys are--"
"I think it came out just fine," Quatre corrected him. "But if you want to be first, you need to think about what that means." He turned Duo towards the door, and shoved none-too-gently. "Get out of here."
Duo could only nod, dumbfounded, and within a few minutes found himself walking the empty streets. He tucked his hands into his pockets to keep from punching a wall as he walked, frustrated and irritated.
What was wrong with Quatre? Why did he have to make such a production out of everything? It wasn't anything that important. It was just that Heero always used to be around, and now he wasn't, and Duo missed him. He missed the way Heero would leave dishes in the sink and insist they wouldn't swarm with germs, sometimes physically holding Duo away from the kitchen; they'd wrestle until Duo broke free and pelted Heero with the kitchen sponges. He missed long debates about fixing the household appliances, or a day at a swap meet to get computer parts for Heero or spare parts for Duo's most recent mechanical victim. He missed hearing Heero complain about finding yard-long hairs in everything: the laundry, the kitchen sink, or across the laptop keyboard, claiming it was proof that Duo had been using his laptop while Heero was out. He missed dinner and after-work complaint sessions. He missed...
Damn it, he just liked having his best friend around. Right?
He made it back to the apartment in one piece, knuckles still intact, to find Heero drinking his nightly glass of water. Duo nodded, hanging up his coat, mind still churning over Quatre's words. Coming first in Heero's life meant... a lot of things. Sex. Okay. That was probably a big part of it. Everyone needs that outlet, Duo reminded himself. But it also meant... other things, things far scarier than sex. Duo realized Heero was staring, the glass lifted halfway to his mouth, and he found himself studying Heero's slightly open mouth, the tip of Heero's tongue just visible. He shook himself with a bit of effort, and focused on Heero's words.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah. Yeah," Duo replied, a bit gruffly. "Just... got a lot of things on my mind." He shrugged, and reached into the fridge to grab a soda. "So how's Thomas?"
"Fine." For once, Heero didn't elaborate, and Duo relaxed a little. "There's a swap meet this weekend. Are we still going?"
"The--" Duo hesitated, and stared down at the soda in his hand, unopened. "I, uh, figured you'd want to leave the time open in case, y'know... " He laughed, trying to brush it off. "It's cool."
"It's been marked on the calendar for four months." Heero frowned, sipping his water before pouring the rest out and putting the glass in the sink. "Why would you think I'd cancel?"
"Cause you've got more important things in your life, now," Duo replied, speaking on auto-pilot. He wondered why his stomach twisted into knots, suddenly.
"Oh." Heero seemed to consider that for a long second, then nodded, again with that preoccupied look. He glanced over Duo, gaze resting for a few heartbeats, and Duo felt it almost as a physical thing, until the moment broke when Heero backed up a step. "I'm going to bed."
"Okay. G'nite." Duo stared down at the soda and put it back in the fridge, unopened. He listened to Heero's light step across the apartment floors. Heero's door closed; only then did Duo reach into the sink and pick up the glass. Lifting it gently, he placed the rim against his lips, and wondered what it would be like to kiss his best friend.
A second or two passed, and he set the glass back down, feeling like an idiot. What was the point? Heero was seeing someone, and Duo was too--if informally--and maybe he just needed to get over it. He sighed, and went to bed.
The next few days, work took all his attention, until he ran into Heero in the hallway. They nodded in passing, then Duo paused long enough to glance behind him at Heero's retreating form. It was common to see Heero striding past with his head down over reports and proposals, but Duo had never before considered the way Heero's slacks hung off his slim hips, just tight enough to show that Heero hadn't lost a bit of that round ass. Duo's fingers gripped the paperwork in his hands, as he found himself simultaneously imagining what it'd be like to run his hands across that smooth, muscular ass--and reminding himself to stop.
Heero halted down the hallway, waiting when someone called his name, and Duo pretended to jot something down on the paper in his hand while he watched out of the corner of his eye. Heero had never lost that brusqueness, that slight frown when interrupted, but Duo knew it to be just Heero's form of intense concentration, where any distraction was an impediment but not necessarily a source of true annoyance. Heero's shoulders were broad under the neatly pressed shirt, sleeves rolled up to above his elbows, arms powerful, still a bit tanned from the previous summer. He spoke for several minutes with the two Preventers before heading on his way, and Duo stared down at the scribbles on the edge of his paperwork.
It was a drawing of someone from behind, bare-ass naked, and the slender hips leading into strong thighs left no doubt he'd just drawn a man. Duo flushed, swore under his breath, and ripped off the top sheet, shoving it into the nearest paper shredder. He'd just have to get Cindy to print him another copy, and pretend he'd spilled coffee on this one. And then maybe he'd stick his head in the shredder, too.
By Saturday, he figured he'd managed, given that Heero didn't seem so distant, and he'd even cheerfully waved Heero off to see Thomas. Come Saturday morning, they'd be up early, heading to the swap meet. It'd be like old times, and Duo picked out a sweatshirt and jeans with a light heart, doing his best to ignore the sudden ache from the phrase 'old times'. No, that was wrong. Their friendship wasn't in the past. It was very much present, and he held that thought in his gut through breakfast, then as they caught the bus to the subway, and then the subway to the hotel at the edge of the city.
When they got off the subway, Heero broke off from his explanation about the newest server administrator's incompetence, and looked across the subway platform with a startling smile that caught Duo completely off-guard. For a moment Duo started to smile as well, until he followed Heero's line of sight to where a man stood by the platform sign, with an equally wide smile. Duo frowned, and nudged Heero.
"The swap's that way."
Heero murmured something, and waved to the man, who strolled to meet them. Duo tensed, uncertain, until Heero put out his hand, and beckoned the man closer.
"Duo, this is Thomas." Heero paused, his cheeks pinking a little, and he stepped closer, just a few inches, to the man. "Thomas, this is Duo."
"Hi." Thomas grinned, shyly, and ducked his head. "Should we shake or something? I'm not used to such formality."
"Uh." Duo blinked a few times, his brain rushing to catch up, even as he registered a sudden strong flash of anger.
This wasn't supposed to be something they shared with other people. This was just he and Heero, geeking out over old mechanical parts, digging through boxes to see if they could find anything from wartime mecha. They'd never bought anything, but they liked to handle it and debate making new things from the old technology and what the hell was Thomas doing here? But just as quickly he registered the worried look on Heero's face, and Duo sighed, holding out a hand.
"Sorry, surprised me, is all. I've only had two cups of coffee so far." Duo glanced at Heero, and realized Heero was now too far away to elbow in pretend-irritation at the lack of warning. Duo squashed the action, at the same time Thomas's hand met his--a strong grip, firm, fingers a little callused, just a bit damp but that could be from nerves. It made Duo feel a little better. He grinned, lazy, shrugging his shoulders. "Someone insisted we be up and out before the sun."
"It's ten in the morning, idiot." Heero snorted, then smiled at Thomas as if to say, old joke.
Duo wanted to scowl: don't include him in our jokes, but he realized Thomas was watching him, nervously, and Heero's shoulders were hunched. He wasn't going to be a jerk and ruin this. He couldn't do that to Heero. So he laughed, and waved towards the subway exit. "Let's get out of the traffic, and grab some more caffeine on the way."
The two other men fell in line, making light conversation--mostly Heero explaining the kinds of equipment sold at swap meets, and opening the bag over his shoulder to reveal the two destroyed answering machines while Duo rolled his eyes and Thomas chuckled. At the hotel, Heero offered to get the registration while Duo got coffee for them; Duo watched the two men walk off, shoulder-to-shoulder, and took a deep breath. Thomas seemed like a nice guy, intelligent, friendly, with a great sense of humor. But his hair was only shoulder-length, Duo amended, knowing it was petty to compare his hip-length braid with Thomas' but not really caring.
So he was startled when Thomas slipped into line beside him with an abashed grin.
"What? You're out of registration already?" Duo glanced behind Thomas.
"No. I realized I might need coffee to keep up with the two of you," Thomas replied. "Heero's still in line. I'm going to get us something and rejoin him."
"I'll go with you." Duo nodded, and fell silent.
Thomas cleared his throat, paused, then shuffled forward as the line moved, before he spoke again. "Uh... I've really been looking forward to meeting you. Heero talks about you all the time."
"I don't think conversations about sixteen ways to kill your apartment-mate counts," Duo said, brushing it off despite the sudden lurching feeling in his chest.
"Oh, no! He's always talking about stuff you do together, and how you--" Thomas broke off abruptly, his cheeks coloring with embarrassment. "Nothing personal, I mean. Just about sharing the apartment, and work. I guess it's presumptuous, but I feel like I know you already even though I've just met you."
"Yeah, Heero talks a lot about you, too." Duo shrugged.
"He does?" Thomas grinned, a bit wider. "Wow. I mean, damn it, I should be cool, shouldn't I? I can't do cool," he mumbled. "I just feel mostly like an idiot right now, y'know, meeting the parents and all."
Duo nearly tripped over his own feet at that. "The what?" He couldn't help it if his voice sounded a bit strangled, he was sure.
"Just a figure of speech, y'know. You're like his family. And though I know Sally and I've met the Darlian-Changs, I'd never met you and you're definitely--" Thomas paused to give the clerk the order for himself and Heero.
Duo waited, and gave his own order, before Thomas picked back up again. Really, he had no idea what to say to Thomas. Yelling that Thomas was ruining his first all-day time with Heero in three weeks probably wouldn't be the right response, but he wasn't sure he liked being considered Heero's dad, either. That was a little freaky, really. Maybe a brother, but what kind of sibling let a brother have a crush on him--Duo gritted his teeth and put that out of his head.
They picked up their drinks; it didn't take much prompting from Duo to get Thomas talking about the hospital or his internship and the long hours. Frankly, it sounded almost as grueling as the war--twelve hour stretches of constant go-go-go, with few breaks and every single minute requiring absolute concentration. Granted, Thomas was trying to save lives, not blow them all to smithereens in a bombing mission, but it was still a sign of a dedicated individual. Duo couldn't see how such long hours were conducive to a relationship, though, but if Heero didn't mind, he couldn't exactly complain on Heero's behalf. Well, not too much.
Heero took a deep breath and settled the laptop case over his shoulder, turning towards home. He felt like he'd just run through sixteen training sessions in one hour, but worse, because the heavy ache wasn't in his muscles but in something a bit deeper. He liked Thomas. He really did, but he wasn't ready to move in with him, even if Thomas' arguments were persuasive. Alan's had been, too, but at least Thomas didn't sink to Alan's level once it was obvious Heero wasn't going to budge.
He wasn't entirely certain why he wouldn't want to move in with someone. It wasn't like he didn't know how to get along in a shared space. He'd lived with Duo for six years? Seven, maybe? Duo would recall; that was his job in the friendship, since Heero was bad with any date that wasn't directly ahead of him and requiring some kind of task assigned to it, and upon conclusion could be forgotten again until his assistant--or, at home, Duo--reminded him again.
No, Heero thought, weaving through the evening crowd, he'd just hit a limit. Even before Thomas had started pushing harder, Heero had been tiring of being at Thomas' beck-and-call. Thomas' schedule was insane, sometimes, and while Heero wanted to hang out with him, dropping everything when Thomas had more than twenty minutes free was just... he couldn't take it anymore. But Thomas had one more year of med school, and then at least four years of an internship, and the long hours would continue. Heero wanted to come home in the evening from work, and have someone waiting for him--not come home and wait around for someone else to have a few minutes to spare, before rushing off again.
At the apartment, Heero took another deep breath and tried not to think about how the phone wouldn't be ringing. At least Duo would be around; maybe he'd be free and they could catch a movie, like they used to. He opened the door to find Duo careening madly across the living room, sliding across the smooth floor on socked feet, braid trailing out behind him.
"Duo?" Heero stood in the open doorway, puzzled. "What are you--"
"I'm late!" Duo hollered, arms flailing before he got his balance and launched himself forward into his bedroom. Drawers slammed and banged, then he reappeared, hopping on one foot while he pulled on a boot. "Une's meeting ran way over and I didn't want to go out still in the monkey suit--have you seen my jacket?"
"This one?" Heero set his laptop on the kitchen counter and took Duo's beat-up Preventers jacket down from the peg. Duo made a face at it, then began putting on his other boot. Heero dug through the coats, and pulled out Duo's leather jacket. "This one?"
"Yeah!" Duo grinned, finished lacing up the boot, and took the jacket.
Despite the heavy boots, he somehow moved cat-silent across the room. Heero took a few seconds to enjoy it, and then pulled his gaze away, thinking of Thomas and Duo and the fact that now he had neither. But Duo was still talking.
"Appreciate it. Man, now I gotta find the bike keys." He rustled through the kitchen's junk drawer, muttering to himself before grinning over his shoulder. "How's your sleep-deprived med-boy?"
He's not mine anymore, Heero wanted to say, but all that came out was: "fine." He picked up his laptop, and headed into the living room, setting down the case before realizing Duo was watching him with a peculiar expression. Heero frowned.
"That doesn't sound too enthusiastic," Duo observed. "Something on your mind?"
"No." Heero shrugged. "Aren't you going to be late?"
"What the hell, might as well be late in style. Besides, those damn keys... ah, there's the fuckers." Duo slammed the drawer with one hip, tossing the keys into the air and catching them. "No, really. You seem kinda down."
"Long day." Heero waved Duo's question away, and settled down onto the sofa, pulling out his laptop. "I need to dial into the server to check on the cron-jobs, too."
"What a life of excitement you lead, old man!" Duo grinned, and shrugged into his jacket.
"So who is it this week?" Heero glanced over his shoulder at Duo, who was currently arguing silently with his braid as he tried to pull the length out to lie on top of his jacket, instead of getting caught underneath. "You still seeing that girl?"
"Uh... no. Someone else."
Was that Heero's imagination, or did Duo just turn beet-red? What was going on? Heero sat up, intrigued, but Duo grinned--although it looked a bit crooked--told him not to wait up, and was gone in a swirl of leather, braid, and black jeans.
Heero stared at the closed door for a few seconds, then sighed. Well, at least Duo's social life was back on track; he hadn't ever really doubted that it would be, though. Hilde might've done a number on Duo's heart, but Duo always bounced. Heero rubbed his chest and looked around at the empty apartment before figuring if Duo weren't around to talk--and he did want someone to tell--then maybe Relena was free.
As always, she was a good listener, but as always, she couldn't not get involved. Despite her promises to refrain from meddling, the next morning he discovered she--and Quatre--had gone ahead and decided to help him out. He stared at the list of emails in his personal inbox, and scowled. He was twenty-five and had had two boyfriends. That didn't make him such a social failure he had to be signed up for a dating service!
Heero glowered at the computer screen and picked up the phone. He didn't care if Relena was meeting with sixteen dignitaries and the reincarnation of Treize Kushrenada himself. Heero was going to give her a piece of his mind. He drummed his nails on the desk while he sat on hold as Relena's assistant attempted to track her down, and idly opened up one of the emails.
We have a match, the email crowed. Heero narrowed his eyes at the email, ready to hit delete, but halted when the assistant came back on the line, asking him if he were sure he wanted to hold a little longer. Heero listened with half his attention, his gaze held by the statistics scrolling down his screen in the email.
Age: twenty-five. Works in law enforcement. Planning on getting a Master's in Geo-political affairs. Six-foot even, slim build. Brown hair. Likes hiking. Never surfed but interested in learning.
It was mostly a list, and a few things jumped out that made Heero wonder why the computer system would match him with this person. He had no interest in dealing with water where he couldn't see the bottom; he'd had enough of crash-landing into the sea in the war for a lifetime. Nor was he sure whether an executive server administrator would have much to talk about with a cop, even if technically Preventers did count as a police force, if an international one. Maybe it was the fact that they were the same age. Heero snorted, and once again found himself hesitating to delete the email.
Oh, what the hell. He'd always believed in following his emotions, and failing any idea of what those emotions should be in the case of being set up, Heero figured he'd rely on Relena's and Quatre's choice. If it went badly, he could always blame them and perhaps get at least a week's peace from their intrusions into his private time. He hung up the phone without waiting for the assistant to get back on the line, and with a deep breath, hit reply on the email.
Carefully he typed in a short explanation about his surprise, and a request for more information on the next steps. Within a few minutes, the service had sent back a reply. He could email the person, box number 743644, directly. No names or personal information would be given by the service, other than an assurance that every participant had been vetted for truthfulness and a clean police record. Heero snorted that that; his own was only spotless because any average civilian didn't have clearance to access his record. But he could count on two hands the people who also had records like his, so he set that worry aside.
For a few minutes he contemplated the informational list from the service, then opened the service's online email, so he'd be mailing from the provided anonymous address. Fingers poised over the keyboard, he considered several different beginnings before starting with the simplest: honesty.
Hello. Several friends signed me up for this service, and while I normally wouldn't participate, I noticed on your information that...
End Part 2
(:./sol/crossed2)
