02-Jan-2001
Title: Never Simple, Eh?
Author: TB
Archive: yes please at GW Addiction
Catagory: shonen-ai
Pairing: 2+3
Rating: R
Warnings: some lemon descriptions
Spoilers: one spoiler
Notes: Inspired by a night of long phone talks with a good friend, who concluded with the phrase, "Never simple, eh?" This story is not based on anything she told me, only inspired by it.
Feedback: feed me at amiboshi_flute@hotmail.com or at brother_maxwell@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing characters and universe are copyrighted; however, seeing as how I in no way intend to profit from this fiction o' mine, I trust that the Powers That Be will understand, and help the judges in court to understand too.
"Look, it'll only take like ten minutes," Duo wheedled, massaging Trowa's shoulders with just the right combination of pressure and skill. "Twenty tops. Come on. Don't be a party-pooper."
"I'm not driving you to a porn store."
"It's five miles down the road! For Christ's sake, I could walk that far!"
"Then why don't you?" Trowa asked pointedly.
Duo stopped rubbing his shoulders and walked around the chair his fellow pilot occupied so that he could shake a finger in his face. "Now you listen to me. This is going to happen. You *will* drive me. You play it tough, but do you *really* think that you can withstand an entire night with me *trying* to be annoying?"
The very prospect made the taller boy a little uneasy. "I'm not going in with you," he warned. The look of disappointment on Duo's face didn't change his mind. "And you have ten minutes, okay?"
He was rewarded for that generosity with a huge smile. "Right-o, Tro my man!"
Trowa did not, in fact, stay in the car. Duo somehow convinced him to come with him, something about how Trowa looked older and they might believe Trowa was actually of age, unlike Duo. But Trowa was a little suspicious of the way Duo seemed to be able to get him to do things he really didn't want to do. As he watched Duo sweet-talk his way past a tattooed man who probably knew the pilot's ID's were fake, he wondered about why he always ended out going along with Duo.
The shop wasn't what Trowa had expected it to be. Not that he'd ever been in a porn store, but... it was larger than their current safe-house, for one, and looked surprisingly... normal. Like any other of the millions of video stores Duo had dragged him to, just rows of videos and even books. Feeling marginally better, Trowa turned to follow Duo, who had zipped to the back.
And found himself facing a wall covered with every kind of dildo, vibrator, and sex toy imaginable.
Duo appeared out of nowhere. "Hey there, big boy," he grinned. "See anything you like?"
Trowa put his hands to his burning cheeks. "Ten minutes," he said, and turned around again.
Duo grabbed his hand. "Help me pick?"
"No!" Trowa freed his appendage. "I'll wait here."
Duo laughed. "Sure thing, friend." He clapped Trowa on the shoulder, and disappeared into the racks of videos. Good on his word, Duo was quick about his selection, and rescued Trowa from the fascinating study of his feet. He waved three videos in the taller boy's face, grinning widely. "Come on," he said. "Let's go buy these. And, uh, hey, can I borrow some cash?"
"How much?" Trowa reached for his wallet, knowing it was pointless to argue. He'd end out paying even if Duo had the money. "And what are the choices of the evening? 'Boob Camp'? 'Catholic Girls Gone Bad'? 'College Girls Bare All'?"
"Nah, I'm going for something a little classier." Duo ignored Trowa's deliberate show of skepticism, in his excitement. They reached the counter, and Duo handed them to the bored cashier. "I'll take one of those, too," he told the man, pointing over his shoulder.
"One of what?" Trowa asked, looking. He flushed when the cashier added a colourfully decorated container of "edible body butter" to Duo's basket, which seemed fuller than Trowa had remembered. "What are you planning on doing with all that stuff?"
"Have a good time, that's what." Duo took the bills that Trowa handed him, and paid, grabbing the bag before the Latino pilot could get a better look at its contents. "Come on. Let's go back. I don't suppose you want to watch?"
Trowa was a little startled when Duo held the door for him, but obediently exited the shop first. "Not really." He hurried across the parking lot to his rented car, and unlocked it. "You'll have a fine time without me," he added. "You don't need a partner for what you're planning, with those movies." Duo only smiled, and waited patiently for Trowa to get in, and lean over to unlock the passenger door.
They drove in silence for the first three blocks. Then, at a red light, Duo said, "Hey? Watch with me?"
"I don't really have an interest in pornography. What did you buy, anyway? Lesbians mate with monkeys?"
"Not exactly." Duo was quiet again, but he was fidgeting. The light turned, and Trowa drove them the rest of the way back to the safehouse. He parked in the alley behind the run-down motel, and reflexively checked the locks on all the doors before he turned off the engine.
Duo put his hand on Trowa's cheek, turned his head, and kissed him.
Trowa froze. Duo's tongue brushed his for a split second-and then Trowa pushed him away. "What are you doing?" he demanded, wiping his mouth reflexively.
Hurt spasmed over Duo's face; then the American vacated the car so quickly Trowa barely followed his progress from the vehicle up the back steps to their building.
It was nearly midnight when Trowa decided he could stop walking the streets and face Duo again. He wasn't altogether surprised to find that the lights were out, or that Duo was lying on the queen-sized bed watching the television. The porn, probably. Judging from the noises the poor sound system was belching out, it was most definitely the porn. Duo didn't seem to be enjoying it.
Trowa tossed his coat onto the broken radiator. For a moment, he stood there, watching the long- haired boy; then he crossed the small room and sat on the bed.
"Should I ask why?" he murmured.
"Look at the screen, bright boy, and you tell me."
Trowa shifted so that he could look at the television-and felt his heart skip a beat. There were men in the video, not the Catholic girls or lesbians he'd joked about earlier-men kissing, men touching each other. As he stared, a slender young man with beautiful green eyes knelt between his partner's spread legs, and tenderly began to lick the other's exposed erection with a long pink tongue. Moaning with pleasure, the other man threw his head back, long chestnut hair sticking to his sweating temples.
"They look like us," he said dumbly.
Duo smiled a little bitterly, and rolled onto his stomach, laying his head in his hands. "So sue a guy. Look, it's my problem. I thought I was getting signals. I guess I was wrong."
"Signals?" Trowa tried to look away from the screen, but gazed, oddly captivated by the sight of his own look-alike sensually using his mouth to make love to the other man. Another erotic moan came from the two on the video.
"You hang out with me. Used to be I could barely get you to look at me. You told me-you told me you cried when OZ made you destroy Deathscythe. You were crying-for me. And lately, you and me, we just seemed to be, you know, closer. You don't pull that 'privacy' thing on me anymore." Duo laughed shortly. "We're in the same bed. You don't change your clothes in the washroom anymore. And the other night, when we were watching television, you fell asleep with your head on my chest."
He looked at Duo helplessly. "I didn't mean to lead you on," he said.
"Did I accuse you of that? I just twisted what you were doing to fit my own illusions. Wouldn't be the first time. Forget it, okay?" Duo stared at the screen, but obviously saw none of the escalating action.
Trowa felt strangely powerless to fix the situation. Slowly, he reached over Duo's back and picked up the channel changer; he stopped the tape, and turned off the television. "I think... I'm sorry."
Duo sat up. He looked into Trowa's eyes, more serious than the Latino had ever seen him. "Don't waste a good apology on me," he said, and got up to go the bathroom. Only a moment later, the shower began running.
Trowa sat on the bed for a long time while Duo bathed, thinking and not-thinking. Finally, he turned on the TV again.
The moment of orgasm brought an answering thrill in Trowa. Just a tingle between his thighs, and a strong urge to touch himself. Or-Duo.
"You weren't reading into me," he whispered. "I just can't tell, yet... can't tell if I can let you in. You're too good to be true, Duo Maxwell." Too good. And he'd always been a sucker for blue eyes.
"I'm not as good as you think," a soft voice said behind him. "But I'm falling a little in love with you. And if you tell me to wait, I will. No questions asked. Or tell me I have no future with you. And I won't ask any questions about that, either."
Trowa mindlessly gazed at the two men on the screen as they shared deep kisses in post-coital bliss. "I can't ask you to wait."
"Can't, or won't?" Duo came closer. "There's a world of difference."
Trowa closed his eyes. "Won't."
He could all but feel Duo's pain and confusion. But Duo Maxwell would run, hide-and never lie. He asked no questions. And when he went back into the bathroom to finish his shower, Trowa knew that Duo would never ask him to do something as simple or sincere as going to rent a dirty movie again. They were over before they'd ever been close to beginning.
And Trowa was still alone, watching the two look-alikes on the screen reach for each other one more time, the expressions on their faces convincingly loving.
The End
(:./erin/never)
