05-Apr-2000

Disclaimer: I don't own GW but I really enjoy using the characters.       :)
Hi hi! Here is, per Tyr, who will recall the evil seed planted innocently enough in an email, the teaser beginning to a sequel to Frills and Chills, my "excuse for Duo in a dress" fic. Feedback appreciated!

Frills And Chills by Erin Cayce

Part Two: Trowa's Revenge I

Trowa finished pleading his case, and ended on a hopeful note. "So?" he asked. "What do you think?"

Duo used a toothpick to fish out a bit of chicken from between his front teeth. "Sure."

Trowa blinked. "That's it? You don't want to--think about it?"

"Nah. Sounds fun."

Trowa tried again. "I mean, we could get ourselves into more trouble than it's worth. Quatre especially might be angry."

"Tro-man! I said it sounds fun. I'm open, dude. I'll try anything, ya know that."

Trowa finally gave in, and nodded, happier. A smile even crossed his face. "This is terrific," he told the other pilot, relieved. "I was positive you wouldn't go for it."

"It's cool. You wanna start now? It might take me a while to get in the mood, though."

"No, we can wait a while, we have hours on our hands. Duo, you're being so incredibly easy about this. Quatre told me the last time you were approached about something like this, you threw a hissy fit."

"I never! Besides, I've had some time to get used to the idea, you know? I guess I'm finally willing to experiment a little." Duo leaned forward. "Actually, and I know this may sound a little weird... it kind of... excites me."

Without realising it, Trowa leaned forward too. "Excites?"

"Yeah. Excites. Almost... arouses me. You get me?"

Trowa's one visible eye widened perceptively. "I got you," he breathed.

Duo grinned. He leaned back. "Cool."

"This is going to be terrific. Absolutely terrific."

"We should get some pictures."

"Maybe a video camera? We could replay it at parties."

Quatre, who a minute earlier had been passing by the door and been caught by the strange conversation, could contain himself no longer. "Trowa!" he exclaimed, slamming open the door and pointing an accusing finger at his lover. "I can't believe you! You're *sick*! And you, Duo, going along with this!"

Duo blinked, wide-eyed, at the flushed blonde. "You heard?"

"Of course I heard, idiot!" Quatre whirled back on Trowa. "I can't believe you're planning to cheat on me with that cheese-head! Who else have you been 'experimenting' with, you bastard? Heero? I know you look at him funny sometimes but I never would have thought--oh God, it's Heero, isn't it? What? Aren't I satisfying you? Was it the sex? If it was that bloody awful you could have talked to me, instead of sneaking around behind--"

Trowa finally found his voice. "Quatre, my love," he interrupted, rising and grabbing the weepy Arabian by the shoulders. "I'm not cheating on you!"

Duo was so interested in their exchange that he entirely ignored being called a cheese-head.

"Now you think I'm stupid, too?" Quatre sniffled. "I heard you talking with Duo! You're planning a--a rendezvous! Did you really think I wouldn't find out? Oh, Trowa," he wailed, grabbing the Heavyarms pilot by his green turtleneck and sobbing into his chest. "And I thought you loved me!"

"I do!" Trowa shook him. "I do, Quatre! Listen for a second, okay? This isn't what you think!"

"Then what the hell is it?"

Duo started laughing.

Quatre glared wetly at him.

Trowa bit his lip. "It's all a big misunderstanding," he muttered lamely.

Duo laughed harder, clutching his stomach.

"You see, remember those pictures Wufei took of me, when you made me dress up--well--" Trowa floundered, struggling to explain himself. "Well, Wufei won't give them back. And I want to sort of turn the joke on him, you know, make him see how it feels. Duo was agreeing to help me."

"Then why did it sound like he was agreeing to hop into bed with you!"

Duo finally got his calm back. "Q," he panted, wiping his eyes. "Take a pill, man. Trowa's telling the truth. See, this is the plan. He wants me to put on a dress again, get Wufei into bed, and then he's gonna take pictures."

Quatre gasped. "So now you're a voyeur?" he demanded, pulling back from Trowa as if burned.

Trowa glared at Duo. "Do me another favour," he snapped. "Don't be on my side anymore."

The little Arabian was slowly beginning to put the pieces together. "Wait a second," he ordered, removing a hanky from his khakis and dabbing at his damp cheeks. "Let me get this straight. Trowa, you want Wufei to throw away the pictures he took of you in a dress? That's what this is all about?"

"It's a little more complex than that... "

"*Why the hell didn't you just ask!*"

Trowa was already cringing. "Because I wanted to get him back?"

The look he got told him clearly that this was not the end of this particular rocky road. But Quatre got a hold of himself, and gave the matter some serious thought. Finally, he said, "Duo? You don't have a problem with this?"

"Nope. I've got my own axe to grind with Wuffie."

"You don't mind wearing a dress again?"

"Well, I guess not. I wouldn't do it for just any reason, though."

Quatre suddenly became thoughtful. "What else would you do, if you had a good reason?"

Duo looked at his friend with interest. "Depends," he said, but he was clearly intrigued.

Quatre smiled oddly. "We'll talk," he promised, patting Duo's shoulder. Then he turned and glared at Trowa. "We'll talk, too," he repeated, but coldly this time. "You two have your fun. And take those pictures. You never know when it could come in handy."

Duo laughed delightedly. "Q-man, the evil genius of the colonies!"

Trowa didn't hear. He was busy calculating how much Gundam gas he would need to get to the other side of the solar system, where an unexpected appointment had popped up.

Wufei dropped his bag on his bed and stretched. It had been a long mission. Time to relax a little, maybe read a good book, watch a little television.

He had a bootleg copy of _The Karate Kid_, and he could practise his moves once the others had gone to bed.

Cheered, Wufei shed his jacket and shoes, and headed into the apartment's kitchenette.

There was a girl in there.

She lounged back against the counter. "Hey," she said.

Wufei scowled. "What are you doing, onna?"

She smirked and absently brushed a hand over the lush curves of the satiny violet teddy she wore. "Hangin'," she reply.

Wufei looked her up and down--checking for concealed weapons, of course--not that there were many places underneath that teddy where she could have hidden *anything*--and his scowl deepened. "Who are you?"

"A... friend of Duo's." She rubbed her hand a little harder over her thigh, unknowingly hiking up the hemline of the tiny skirt a little farther up her tanned thigh. "You're Wufei? The Solitary Dragon," she added, drawing it out slowly. "Well, Dragon, you can help me with something."

Wufei crossed his arms. "What?" he demanded. "I have important business, onna. I don't have time for one of Duo's cheap--"

Her eyes--funny eyes, violet like Maxwell's, actually--flashed. "Cheap is the last thing I am," she muttered. She grinned at him and indicated a spoon that lay in a bit of discarded canned tuna on the floor. "You know Duo. Slob. He left a huge mess for me to clean up. Could you get that for me?"

"Get it yourself, onna."

She grinned even wider--as if she'd been expecting that. "Fine." She turned away from him, and bent over.

Wufei shifted slightly. Then he shifted again, and uncomfortably wondered if his pants were baggy enough to hide his rising bushido blade.

Very slowly, the woman straightened up. "My name's Malena Pacekept," she informed him huskily. She pointed the spoon at him. "You wouldn't by any chance have a free hour, would you?"

He casually crossed his hands in front of his crotch. "Why?"

"Why not?" Malena wet her lips, and looked up at him through the curtain of her loose, rose-and-chestnut hair.

He blushed furiously. "Sure," he said helplessly.

"Cool." She came toward him, and poked his chest with the spoon. "It's a little nippy out tonight, huh? The heater is broken. I was hoping... " She pursed her full lips. "Hoping you could raise the temperature for me."

Behind the kitchen door, Wufei thought he heard a stifled giggle. He frowned, and started to walk toward the door, but Malena made a hasty grab for him and whirled him away from the door. "You're not just walking away, are you?" she demanded a little too brightly. "I was just getting to know you."

"Look, onna, I just want to relax... "

"You can rest assured that we'll take care of that, my slanty-eyed friend."

"I don't think so," Wufei retorted decisively. "Now let me go. I want to see what that noise was--"

Malena threw herself at him, thrusting her tongue into his mouth and grabbing his ass simultaneously. Wufei's brain fritzed out, and he forgot about--well, pretty much everything.

After a very, very, very long time, Malena pulled back. "You were saying?" she panted.

Wufei chose not to reply verbally.

Trowa flipped through the next packet of pictures, happily chortling to himself as roll after roll of film unfolded before him. "This is so great," he repeated.

Duo spat out a mouthful of toothpaste and went back to brushing his teeth.

"Sure."

"I can't thank you enough."

"No charge. We're friends."

"Has Wufei stopped crying yet?"

"Not at last check."

Trowa snickered.

Duo carefully replaced his toothbrush in its plastic cup, then pointed to the black fabric hanging from the door handle. "Pass me my clothes?" he asked.

Trowa handed it over, then went back to his pictures, politely not watching as his friend dressed.

Finally Duo said, "I'm decent." He was brushing his long hair, and the European pilot frowned a bit, trying to figure out what was wrong with that picture. Duo's expression was dreamy as he picked up two sparkly barettes with little sequined ribbons and pinned back sections of his chestnut vanity; a tube of rose-coloured lip-gloss found its way into his hand, and he applied it with great concentration. Pink eyeliner followed.

Trowa opened his mouth, but no sound emerged.

Duo fluffed his hair one last time, squinted at his make-up and blotted his lips; then he turned to his fellow pilot. "Ready?" he asked.

Trowa gaped at Duo, slack-jawed, wide-eyed, utterly stunned.

Duo glanced down at himself. "What?" he asked. He frowned. "Does this dress make me look fat?"

Trowa croaked, "*Dress.*"

Duo whirled about girlishly, to make the lace-edged black skirt flare out. "Ya like it?"

" ... "

"Is it the tights? I had to borrow from one of Quatre's sisters. Or the shoes? I think the little bows are really cute."

"Duo," Trowa finally managed. "You--*do*--know--that you don't have to dress like a girl anymore?"

Duo smiled. "I know."

"Then--why?... "

"I like it. I think maybe I'm gonna stay this way." He stuck his hands behind his back and leaned forward until the tip of his nose brushed Trowa's. "Do you really mind?" he asked huskily.

Trowa gulped.

"Hey in there!" Quatre called from the kitchen. "Are you coming out this century?"

"Right away," Duo called back. He gave himself one last check in the mirror, then grabbed Trowa's hand and dragged him out physically. From the three young pilots sitting at the table in the kitchen, absolute silence greeted Duo's entrance.

"Hi guys," Duo chirped. He grabbed a mug from the tree and poured himself coffee, then winked at Wufei as he sat down.

Wufei groaned and buried his head in his hands.

Quatre found his voice. "My God," he said. "Trowa, you turned him into a cross-dresser!"

"Me? It was Heero's idea first!"

"Don't blame me!" Heero objected vehemently.

"Hey," Duo interrupted. "I *am* right here." He took a delicate sip of his coffee, then crossed his legs and flipped his hair over one shoulder. "Look," he said reasonably. "If this is gonna be a problem for you guys, then you're gonna hafta learn how to deal with it. Oh, and by the way, my name isn't Duo anymore." He smiled smugly. "It's Du*ette*."

You could have heard a pin drop in the silence.

Quatre applied the curling iron to another three-foot lock of hair."I think you look very pretty, Duette."

Duo grinned blissfully. "Thanks."

"I'm really glad that you agreed to do this for me."

"Hey, what you're offering, it's worth it." Duo leered.

Quatre blushed slightly. "Well. Anyway. But you're being really convincing. I think we've totally fooled them."

"Yeah. This'll teach them to try and use me for their petty little games. I'm not a pawn for *anyone's* amusement."

Quatre started to agree, then paused. The curling iron hovered over a waiting strand. "Um, Duo?"

"Yeah?"

"You don't... think that *I'm* trying to use you, do you?"

There was a very short pause, but that was plenty of time for Quatre to start having heart palpitations.

"Nah," Duo said. "You gonna finish my hair?"

Numbly, Quatre obeyed.

End Part 2

(:./erin/frills2)