23-May-2000
Hi hi! This is from me to all of you, delurking from my not-so-lurkful lurking-position to post the next part. The good news is, Rising is nearing the end (Duo: Finally! Sheesh!) Hee hee Well shouldn't be more than maybe three more posts ^_^;
Title: Rising p15/? (notice, no promises on brevity here)
Author: TB
Archive: yes, please, to GW Addiction (three cheers for the overworked Tyr!)
Catagory: AU, yaoi
Pairing(s): 5x2, 1+2
Rating: Um, R?
Warnings: This is the extent, more or less, of the 1x2 action that this fic is going to see. Sorry, fans. But this is really a 5x2 ^_^
Spoilers: No
Notes: Too many, really. About all I can narrow it down to is that at this point in the fic, almost every detail is significant. Notice, not ALL details. Just many.
Feedback: Thanks as always! I love to hear from people. It gives me great joy and allows me to exercise my moth-eaten Happy Dance.
Disclaimers: I do not, and unfortunately will never, own GW. In a past life I may have, but if I did, I'm not sure what I was thinking with the whole undeterminable-sexual-preference-of-nearly-every-main-character thing. -_-; (Duo: TB, just shut up.)
Anyway, here's Rising. Enjoy. ~TB
Wufei only pretended to inhale the narcotic smoke before passing it on to the almost inhumanly pierced and tattooed girl beside him. His eyes were on Duo, and he wanted to keep them there, not filled with the strange visions peculiar to the drugs his "friends" were making free use of.
Duo was smiling at Quatre as he explained what appeared to be a trig function. Their heads were bent over their homework, which sprawled across the lunch table, held down against the wind by soda cans and various items from their lunches.
When Quatre nodded and scowlingly attacked the question by himself, Duo looked up. His eyes met Wufei's, and his smile faded. For a long time they looked at each other; then Dorothy Catalonia, who had succeeded Wufei in their group, said something mocking. Duo flicked an annoyed glance in her direction, then stared down at his homework again.
Wufei had been unofficially, but unequivocally, banned from their little tight-knit band. It severely cut into the amount of time he was able to be near Duo, and even though he'd finally resorted to attending his classes just to see his friend, their relationship was strained. Perversely, it didn't seem to help that Heero no longer spent as much time with the others, either.
Duo was looking up at him again.
The braided boy was more tired than usual, and dark circles had appeared around his eyes. There was no hint of his normal smile. After a long minute, he muttered something to Quatre, and stood. Immediately Wufei abandoned his own group and followed him to the toilets.
Duo checked to be sure the stalls were empty, then turned and buried his face in Wufei's shirt, securing a death-grip around his waist. Wufei sighed, and held him just as tightly.
Then Duo stepped back, and punched him half-heartedly in the stomach. Wufei caught his wrist long before the fist touched his flesh. He used his superior strength to pull Duo sharply toward him, and kissed him hard on the mouth. Relaxing some, Duo's head tipped back, and Wufei caressed the column of his throat, nipping down the line of one collar bone and moving his palms to cup Duo's ass and tilt his pelvis against Wufei's own hips.
"I miss you," Duo whispered. "Even if I am still pissed as hell at you. Why can't you just apologise, and let it all be forgotten?"
"I didn't do anything." Wufei, annoyed, let him go and wandered over to the sinks, reaching automatically for a cigarette. Duo took it from him and put it back in his pocket, then slumped against a stall door.
"You could apologise to me," the braided teenager said.
"*You* forgave me already."
"I always do... "
"That's because you're a wimp." The joke did not earn a smile. Instead, Duo shook his head.
"Just remember, Wu-man, three strikes and you're out."
"I know, I know. Anyway, about the others--who cares what they think? Not me."
"I guess I can't make you be friends with them." Duo came to him, propped his chin on Wufei's shoulder, and gazed at the other boy in one of the dingy mirrors. "Maybe they *are* being unreasonable. But they're worried. Heero--"
"Not those 'dreams' again," Wufei snapped. "I don't buy it!"
Duo was surprised. "What's not to believe?"
"He's just pissed because you're in here hanging on me, not picking out curtains with him. He's got some dumb, romantic idea of sitting and staring into your eyes for eternity. Doesn't he get that you have to fight for what you want, and then you have to do something with it?"
"What's wrong with staring into my eyes for eternity?"
"You know what I mean."
"Yeah." Duo was quiet for a while. "Wu? I know you don't like him. But please--I *am* worried about him. He's always at home now, half afraid to get out of bed, half afraid to go back to sleep... these dreams, and I *do* think they're real, they're getting to him. I think something is seriously wrong."
"Fine. I'll accept that you're worried. But don't you go expecting me to care, not about him."
"You really hate him."
"I really hate him."
"Why?"
Wufei turned to face Duo. Smiling, he brushed his fingertips over Duo's jawline. "Because you're mine," he said.
The creases around the shadowed eyes smoothed a little. "I don't know whether to kiss you or smack you."
"Can't we do both?" This prompted a brilliant flush.
Outside, the bell rang. Duo reluctantly pulled away. "I'm going over to Heero's tonight, speaking of. I was going to ask you to come with me, but I guess maybe I shouldn't."
"Probably not a smart idea."
"Then maybe you'll go out for a drive with me afterwards?"
"A drive?" Wufei slowly repeated. "You hate driving."
Duo was surprisingly shy. "Yeah, but I hear the guys talking about this place all the time... I thought, um, that maybe we could go there. You know, like a, um, date."
A slow smile was spreading over his face. "A date? Would this place be the Boinking Bridge?"
Duo's ears were hot under Wufei's teasing fingers. "It's 'Boy Sings' Bridge... "
"Not since the college kids--re-chisled--the monument, it's not." He chuckled. "Sounds romantic."
"Yeah, that's what I thought... " Unable to bear any more, Duo leaned in for a quick, absolving kiss. "Bring extra clothes this time," he breathed, and ran.
Wufei blinked. "Extra--"
And then he laughed.
"Hi, Sally," Duo grinned up at the beautiful Chinese woman and impulsively embraced her. She smiled as she hugged back, then pulled him inside so she could shut the door.
"Long time no see, Duo." This was sarcastic, as Duo had called several times the day before, and shown up at the door a few too many times for Sally's patience.
A sheepish smile was her answer. "You won't make me leave, though, will you?"
She sighed. "No. Come on. He's in his room."
Heero rolled onto his back when he heard them coming down the hall, and rubbed his eyes. Duo hesitantly looked inside.
"What?" the boy demanded. "Don't let the light in."
"He's been like this," Sally said from behind Duo, "for too long. See if you can't get him to at least change his sheets." She patted Duo on the shoulder, and left them.
Duo slowly entered, and shut the door behind him. "Hey, man. How you feeling?"
"Terrible. Go away."
"No chance." Duo sat next to him, glancing around at the mess and wrinkling his nose silently. "You want some help with this?" he asked, trying to be cheerful.
"No."
"Oh." The American teenager listlessly picked at a snag in his jeans. "So, um, you get all your schoolwork from Quatre, right? You have any questions on the Physics stuff? I wouldn't mind going over it with you."
"Quatre did."
"Oh." Duo worried his lower lip between his teeth. "Um, do you want--"
"Just go home, Duo." Heero rolled over and pulled the quilt over his head.
That was enough for Duo. He stood up and braced himself against the far edge of the bed; he dug around until he found the hem of the bottom sheet and got a good fistful. Then he yanked with all his might.
The thump of Heero's body hitting the floor was fairly gratifying.
"What the hell?" Heero rubbed his elbow as he stared up at his best friend. "You son of a--"
"Get up," Duo ordered. He wrinkled his nose again at the stale smell of the sheets, and absently tossed them into the closet hamper as he walked to the lamp to flick it on. Heero winced as eyes accustomed to darkness teared in the sudden light. Duo whirled about, braid swinging, and planted his hands on his hips. "We're going to clean," he announced grimly. "This place is a pig sty. I'm embarrassed *for* you, since it's perfectly obvious that you couldn't care less the state of your own room. And after we clean, you're taking a shower, and you will use an entire bar of soap since it's also disgustingly obvious that you need to, and after that we are going to talk. Do you understand me, Heero?"
Heero glared at him. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to work very well. Duo only lifted his chin and glared right back.
So after a minute, he did as he was told.
Wufei glanced down at his watch. Five-thirty. In another two hours, he was due to pick Duo up for their first official date. He was jittery as hell.
For the first time in his life, Wufei was taking great care to be prepared. He had put on clean clothes. He had cleaned his teeth. He had brushed his hair, and decided on leaving it loose, since Duo seemed to like it that way. He had stared with narrowed eyes into a mirror and tried to work on his smile. When it appeared genuine, he practised keeping it that way.
After a while, he was sweating so badly that he washed again, and turned on a fan.
Wufei took a steadying breath. "Slow down," he muttered. "It's just Duo. What the hell are you scared of?"
Five-fifty-two.
He put his head in his hands. "Oh, God," he groaned.
"All right," Duo murmured, helping Heero remove his food-stained and rather ripe sleeping tee. "Into the shower. You *definitely* need it, man."
Heero was tottering on the edge of exhaustion. They had cleaned for nearly two hours, and he ached in places he hadn't known you could ache. The thought of running water was amazingly welcome, and Duo had it so hot it was steaming. His best friend politely turned his back as Heero shucked his boxers, and sat on the toilet as Heero slipped into the shower.
Heero melted against a wall almost immediately. Dreamily he picked up the soap and a wash cloth and began to attend to his cleaning. On the other side of the curtain, he heard Duo settling on the toilet. Didn't want to leave him alone? A small smile crossed his face.
"Duo," he said softly, or rather just barely loud enough to be heard over the running water.
"Yeah, Hee-kun."
"I'm lucky to have a friend like you."
There was a momentary pause. Then a husky chuckle. "Yeah, you are. What did you do to deserve me?"
///"What did I do to deserve you?" he whispered, lifting his hand to brush his knuckles over Duo's cheek.
Sleepy eyes crinkled at the edges with the lazy grin. "You were very, very bad," Duo whispered back. Suddenly he moved, head darting in to capture a deep and breath-taking kiss as he straddled Heero's hips. "Guess I'm going to have introduce you to the Justice end of my sword," he purred.///
Heero pushed back the curtain. Duo looked up at him, and smiled. "You ready for a towel?"
He said, "Please," and stepped out, dripping and tingling from the blast of water and from... wanting Duo.
So as he took the towel from his friend, he slowly dried himself, watching as the braided American resumed his seat on the toilet. When only his damp hair dripped a few recalcitrant drops down his back, Heero knelt between Duo's legs, and looked up at him.
Duo reached out, and wiped away a bit of soap along his jaw. "Please don't do what I think you're going to," he murmured, trying to smile.
"Do what?" Heero asked. He caught the hand at his cheek, and took the tip of the pointer finger past his lips, kissing its sensitive pad with his tongue. Duo's eyelashes fluttered as he blinked too rapidly.
"That?" Heero asked him, looking up at him and kissing each slender finger in turn. "Or this?" He released Duo's hand and took his mouth instead, coaxing open the stiff lips and fighting past the clenched teeth to the warmth inside. "Or this."
///He found it easier to kiss the other boy this time; the mouth was more pliant, the slippery tongue inside moving tentatively to meet his; and he grasped the hem of Duo's shirt and lifted it just enough to allow his searching hands inside, traveling up the smooth planes of muscle and the gentle bumps of ribs, upward to the supple tiny nipples.///
Duo pulled back, and breathed a shaky little exhalation that stirred the hair beside Heero's ear. "Please," he whispered. "Heero, don't. As much as I... as much as I appear to want it, I know in my heart that I don't."
"Don't lie," Heero retorted. "It's not your style." He grasped Duo by the hips and pulled him down in to his lap.
///No shyness or inexperience in his Duo, no. Oh, the token protest, that was just a game, their game, Duo's way of reminding Heero of his independence; completely unnecessary, of course. That was what Heero loved about him most--his independence, his strength. Loved, and envied. See, now Duo had given up the pretence, and his hard, slender body was pressed so close against him now, hands clenching in his hair, fumbling with his clothing: getting straight to the point, what else? 'Why walk when you can fly?' Duo whispered, another part of the game, teasing Heero.///
Duo pulled back, again; this time, his reluctance was even more visible, and his eyes were dark and almost hungry as he gazed from centimetres away at the other boy. But he shook his head.
"No," he said. He tripped three times as he stood and backed out of the bath room, but he made it to the door, and if his hand fumbled on the doorhandle, at least it got the door open. "Heero," he said, and stopped, frustrated. Then, finally, "Heero. Do you understand why not? I love you. I love you too much to do this with you. If I let us do this, I'd never forgive you, don't you see? Because I love Wufei, too. And I'm not going to cheat on him. Not with anyone, but especially not with you. I don't want to lose what *we* have by screwing it up, trying to have something else."
///"When?" was all Heero asked. He did not look up from the screen of the television, where a news report on Romafeller peace summits was being read.
Duo shoved his hands into his pockets. "It's been building," he admitted, but his chin was lifted defensively and his nervous movement betrayed him. "Started a long time ago. Then, while you were gone, we just... "
Heero lifted the remote control, and changed the channel. "Are you sleeping with him?"
"I don't think that's really your business, Heero."
He changed the channel again, looking for a headline about OZ reaction to Quatre's recent remobilization of Manguanac forces in the Middle East. "It is a danger to the mission to become physically involved with another pilot."
"Oh, really?" Duo's sarcasm was brittle. "So that's why you never fucked me! And here I thought I was just repulsive. Well, thanks for the left-handed compliment."
"Are you sleeping with him?"
"Tell you, so you can shoot us both?"
"Tell me, so I know if I have to station you in separate sectors."
"Tell you, because you're *jealous!*" Duo slammed a fist into the wall. "Why the hell can't///
"--you just admit it?" he demanded. "Damnit, don't look at me like you're seeing me for the first time! You're jealous. You had me all to yourself, and now you have to share me. I'm not a favourite toy, Heero!"
Heero stared at him. "I know," he managed.
Duo came back into the room, and crouched before him, grabbing him by the shoulders. "I love him," he repeated. "I'm telling him tonight. I don't know how he's going to react. He's not like that, I don't think he falls in love, but I want him to know how I feel, so that there's no--misunderstanding. You know? And I don't want there to be any misunderstanding between us, either, Hee-kun. You'll always be the first guy I ever loved. But we didn't move fast enough, man. It happens all the time. And now we just have to say--okay. Let's make the most out of all the terrific memories we've had and have coming, and all the interests we share, and all the--the things that best friends have together. But we gotta draw the line *there*."
Sally knocked twice on the partially open door. "You two still alive in there?"
Duo shook Heero slightly, eyes so full of emotion and unsaid words, then stood, and offered a hand to the Asian boy. "Yeah, Mrs. Yuy," he said.
"Well, then, Duo, there's a young man at the door to pick you up."
"I'll be right there." When Sally's footsteps had faded away, Duo closed the distance between them, and embraced Heero, holding him as hard as he could for a long moment. Then he was gone, wiping his eyes--or maybe just brushing his bangs out of his face. Heero couldn't tell.
End Part 15
(:./erin/rising15)
