18-October-2001
Setting: Takes place after Skin Deep and Lay Your Hand's Gently. Both found at Stephanie's section in GWAddiction or at http://mistedmoon.prohosting.com/fics/gw.html
Disclaimer: This is a work of amateur non-profit fiction and is not intended to infringe on the rights of Sunrise, Sotsu Agency, Asahi TV, and Bandai Visuals.
Characters: Heero, Duo, Trowa
Warning: hints at Shounen-ai, 1+2, 1+3
Rating: PG
Status: Complete
Archive: Gundam Wing Addiction
Dedication: To Vasiliki, who claims to love the little critters ;)
"Not this place." Trowa looked around the hideaway and shook his head again. "No, this isn't good."
"It will do." Heero began to put his equipment down, having made the decision already. They would stay there for the night.
Trowa lightly touched his shoulder and then pointed to the corner of the ceiling. Little spider webs glimmered in the spot illuminated by the moon as it rose outside the window. "Infested," he told Heero in a voice that suggested Heero reconsider.
"Spiders," Heero shrugged. "In a place this far out and abandoned, it's to be expected."
"Did I hear somebody mention spiders?" Duo poked his head in the door and looked around the dark little shack. "God, Heero," he blanched, "could you have possibly picked a dingier place. I've slept in nicer sewers."
"This place is fine, unless you both would rather sleep in the woods." Heero knelt by his bag and took out his sleeping gear.
"It'd be a hell of a lot less damp in the woods," Duo muttered as he tossed his knapsack down besides Heero's. "I don't get why you two need to always pick these ugly ass little shanties. Quatre always finds a nice place to stay."
"Last time you stayed with Quatre you got infected with a fiery serpent," Heero said as he unrolled his sleeping bag.
"The worm, yes, well. . . that's problematic." Duo scratched his head "Look, I'm just saying that we can find a place that doesn't look like it's going to collapse in on us every once in a while.
"It's infested too," Trowa added once again. Heero looked up at him. "The webs. They're covering the ceiling."
Duo shined his flashlight on the ceiling and whistled. "Whoa man, some little arachnid's been busy. Kinda looks pretty in the moonlight though. . ."
"This bothers you, Trowa?" Heero asked him.
Trowa looked back up where Duo stilled shined the flashlight. The spiders did, in fact, bother him. By all logic and reason they shouldn't. They were just little creatures that lived out in the wild like all the rest. He certainly had to deal with them before. He was once a mercenary, after all. The jungles and deserts where he fought certainly had their share of bugs. And as a Gundam pilot, he had to cope with all sorts of strange insects and animals that would find shelter in his hidden mecha. But spiders. . . spiders he had never really gotten over. He wasn't sure why. It might be that they had one too many legs, or that they were thin and long and the joints arched up over their bodies. The way they crawled seemed so unnatural and. . . creepy.
"No," he answered. "If you want to stay here, that's fine."
Heero nodded and went about unpacking his laptop.
"I think they're kinda neat, don't you?" Duo continued to shine the light on the ceiling. "I mean, think about it. Isn't it amazing how they make those webs? You know when Quatre and I spent some time together, we found this intricate little web in the woods. It was morning and these little droplets of water were dripping down the web. The sun was rising and it was just so beautiful," Duo sighed and shook his head. "I never noticed something like that before Quatre pointed it out to me."
Trowa looked at him for a moment and then back up at the webs. He then took Duo's flashlight and set it on the floor, so it lit their immediate surroundings.
"Hey, they *do* bother you, don't they?" Duo laughed. "My God! Trowa Barton is afraid of *spiders*!" He hugged himself with his arms and gave a little shiver in light mockery.
Trowa began to unroll his own sleeping bag, refusing to look at Duo. "I'm not. . . afraid. I just don't like them."
"I'll be damned! Christ, Trowa, of all things a person like you--"
"Drop it, Duo." Heero glared at him.
"Fine, fine. . ." Duo put his hands up in a gesture of peace. "I usually get my amusement privately anyway." Heero turned back to his laptop, appeased for the time. "Like I have any choice with that computer as your main functioning appendage," he muttered to himself again as he settled his bag in between Heero and Trowa.
Trowa sat cross legged in the middle of his sleeping bag. He pulled out a book and began to read, every once in a while he stopped to slam it on an unsuspecting spider.
"You know, Trowa. . ." Duo paused from cleaning his gun and turned to him, "No one is ever going to buy back that book at a thrift store if it's covered in spider guts."
Trowa shifted uneasily and slammed the book down again.
Duo looked at the spot and back to Trowa. "There wasn't anything there, Trow!"
"Yes there was."
"No there wasn't Trowa! You're seeing things, man. I'm telling you there wasn't anything there, I was watching." He looked again to see if there was anything of it left on the floor. There wasn't.
Trowa studied the back of the book, looking for the remains. "It was small."
"You're starting to worry me, Trow. Maybe you need to cut with that headache medication. When you start seeing bugs and all. . ." Duo shook his head and made a 'tsk' sound.
Heero turned from his laptop. "I'm done. Go to sleep, we move out at dawn."
"Yeah, I'll try. Don't know with Mr. Slap Happy here and his Book of Doom, but I'll give it a whirl." Duo lied down and turned to face Heero. "Kiss goodnight?"
Heero ignored the request and shut off his laptop. He reached over Duo and took Trowa's book. "You too. Go to sleep."
Trowa sighed, but did not move to either retrieve the book or settle into his bag. He sat in the dark as Heero shut off the flashlight.
It really was completely irrational. He had no reason to be afraid. They ate the other insects. They were good when it came down to facts. They were practical. Very useful, those spiders... He though on that for a moment. Bees were probably more practical though. They gave honey and pollinated plants. They also made wax, which gave people candles to use. It was used in cooking too, Trowa was sure of it. Yes, bees were far more useful than spiders. Spiders sometimes built their webs in inconvenient places in Heavyarms, and he'd have to clean them out. Once his heater didn't work because of a spider web. Other bugs didn't do that. He never had trouble with centipedes. They were toxic, but spiders could be toxic too. The more he thought of it, spiders were more of a nuisance, they weren't practical at all.
His leg itched and he batted it, trying to get off whatever was crawling up. It continued to itch, as he felt the constant sensation of something crawling over his skin. He gave into the need for light and reached over to grab the flashlight. He turned it on, covering the lens with his hand to prevent the others from waking.
There was nothing there.
Duo was right, he was beginning to see things. .. and feel them.
He turned to Duo, who was sound asleep, and wondered what sort of fool Duo thought he was. Afraid of spiders, Trowa Barton. It was pure nonsense. He shifted his body and prepared to go to sleep. But from the corner of his eye. . .
He sat up again and shined a soft light on the back of Duo's head. Yes, he definitely saw something move. . . Something in his braid.
He moved closer to Duo, peering in with the flashlight. It was a spider crawling through the plait in his hair. He shuddered at the thought.
He looked around for something to kill it with. Real man or no, he was not going to use his hand. But there was nothing. Heero had his book next to him, Trowa would have to get up to get it and he wasn't about to let the spider out of his sight. There was only the flashlight in his hand.
He raised the light over his head and was about to slam the back of it down on the spider when someone caught his hand.
"Trowa?" the voice sounded in disbelief. "Trowa, what are you doing? Is. .. this about that kiss last week?"
Trowa looked up into Heero eyes and blinked. "What?"
"I didn't mean to. .. complicate things. But I will not allow you to hurt Duo." Heero held his wrist tightly and took the flashlight from his hand.
"Uh. . . no. . ." He looked back down at Duo's braid trying to find where the spider went. "There's. . . something in his hair. I was trying to kill it."
Heero glared at him. "Is this that spider thing?"
Trowa bit his lip and continued to look at the braid in a desperate attempt to find it. "It's in the braid."
"So what, it will crawl out again. Trowa, go to sleep." Heero turned back to his bag.
Trowa watched Heero, then turned to Duo, then back to Heero. "But. . . it's in his hair."
"Trowa. . ." Heero warned.
"Damn it!" Duo shot up, sending his braid whipping through the air. Trowa instinctively backed up. "I'm trying to sleep here!"
"There's a--" Trowa began.
"I know! It's not like I couldn't hear you people. Christ. . ." Duo pulled his braid around and studied it for a moment. "Okay, I admit, this is gross." The little spider had begun to build a web in the crevice of one of his plaits. "Okay, how do I get rid of this without killing it."
"We can cut off the braid," Heero offered.
Duo narrowed his eyes on him. "I will kill you."
"Then just pick it out and go back to bed," Heero said. He took Duo's braid and picked up the spider. He looked at it for a moment and then stood to set it on the windowsill. He sat back down and went to sleep.
Trowa continued to look at Duo, studying his hair to make sure there was nothing else in it.
"Um. . . Trowa. . .?"
"Yeah?"
"I've got a lot of hair. . . can you, um. . . go through it and make sure there isn't. . ."
Trowa nodded. "Yeah. I can do that." The alternative was to lie down, and he didn't trust his surroundings to turn the lights off again. He contented himself to unbraid Duo's hair and comb through it until dawn.
~end~
(:./stephanie/spider)
