Author's note: Okay, I admit it - I couldn't leave this scenario alone! @.@;; So much for the "one-shot fic" vow I made.... But this isn't really a fic - just something I had to write to get out of my head. ^_^;; 'Sides, it was fun!
There will also be lemon forthcoming eventually - Zechs and Wufei's first time. But I'm not sure when. Eh-heh.
Saa.... Well, here it be!
JA~!
KnM ^_^
Duo Maxwell sighed happily as he lifted his face to the sun. A warm, late-spring day, a huge outdoor market, and an entire afternoon to himself with his lover! What more could a guy ask for?!
Well, a little spending money might be nice. And not having to watch his back every moment for fear of getting a knife stuck in it....
But, overall, things were good! Heero was off getting "something" -- Duo suspected it involved his twenty-first birthday, which was coming up in a week -- and Duo was crowd-watching while he waited; something he rather enjoyed. He'd settled himself in a hub, nearly at the center of the market, and he was wide-eyed as the constant stream of people moving about him brought him interesting faces and clothing of all sorts.
There went a young girl that sort of looked like Hilde.... He wondered how Hilde was doing. He hoped she'd found a nice soldier to settle down with. He *liked* Hilde! She was a good friend, and had never treated him weird, even after she found out he preferred boys to girls. He had been almost afraid she was crushing on him, but if she had been, she'd gotten over it easily and quickly. He wished he could go visit her, but being a hunted man made it difficult to visit people who were known to be one's friends. He was lucky Quatre had such effin' good security, so that he and Heero could go see him and Trowa on occasion!
He scowled, good mood slightly damped. He'd thought things would get easier after the war. But...
Oh well! It was well worth it to know that he was the one Heero wanted, to have Heero say so not only to Relena's face, but in front of a hell of a bunch of dignitaries and other high muckity-mucks, to know that not only did he love Heero enough to spend the rest of their lives together, but that Heero felt the same!
Definitely worth having Relena-bitch after his hide, if this was the prize. Heero was worth any sacrifice in his mind.
Too bad he had to convince his lover on a regular basis not to run off and assassinate the stupid wench so that they could lead semi-normal lives, when all he wanted to do was help him! But she was important as a figurehead, if nothing else.
Duo sighed heavily, then, attention diverted, watched an attractive young man move past. He straightened. Num!
Hey, just because he was eternally devoted to Heero, that didn't mean he couldn't look! Besides, that guy's ass had nothing on Heero's.
Distraction past, Duo cast his gaze further, toward a stall about twelve feet away. His eyes were caught by another sweet male body, young and slender, capped by a head of sleek black hair that reminded him strongly of--
Holy shit! That *was* Wufei!
Duo's eyes widened, mouth dropping open. He scrubbed his eyes and looked again, but there was no mistake. The young man looking down at a collection of fancy knives was definitely the former pilot of Shenlong! He looked a lot different -- more so than any of the other four -- but Duo was absolutely certain it was him!
Mmmmm... He allowed his eyes to trace over the lean contours of the Chinese youth once again -- this time more closely, since it wasn't purely for lascivious purposes. Not that he didn't find Wufei *very* attractive now... Duo was perfectly happy with his psychotic Japanese lover, but he had to admit, Wufei had grown up nicely!
Or, not grown up...
Well, he was a *little* taller than he had been at fifteen. He was shorter than Duo, though, and that placed him well under both Heero and Trowa in height. Duo wasn't sure, but he thought Wufei might even be shorter than Quatre now...
He squinted, estimating. Yep, definitely! Wufei was probably two or three inches shorter than the blonde Arabian -- he was just so slim in comparison to the last time Duo had seen him that this gave him the illusion of being taller.
Duo cocked his head, toying with the end of his knee-length braid. Wufei was still firmly muscled, the soft white shirt he was wearing clinging affectionately to the smooth curves of his shoulders and chest, baring his warm arms and revealing a slit of his belly over low-slung, faded jeans. But he'd lost a *lot* of weight. His limbs moved with a sinuous grace, slender torso bending smoothly as he bent to tie a shoe and in spite of the solidity of his physical form, he looked as though he might be able to unfurl bright wings and allow the warm breeze to carry him away.
Duo shook his head sharply to try to clear it of that fanciful image. Quatre was the one he had always thought angelic. And the blonde's beauty had done nothing but grow more ethereal as he moved through his late teens. Wufei looked more... more elven.
Hai, that was it! With those slanted black eyes, the waist-length, silky black hair trimmed to include wispy bangs, loosed and tumbling about his face... The smooth copper oval had slimmed, cheekbones and chin sharpening, and where Duo had always thought Wufei looked rather blunt before, a delicate beauty now graced his features.
Hn. Seemed approaching manhood had been kind to all of them. Or... well... He wondered if Wufei was so slender by choice. And he doubted the Chinese youth liked being so short... But, still, he was absolutely gorgeous, and if Duo was single and didn't know Wufei personally, he'd probably be over there hitting on him right now!
Not that Wufei would ever be interested, of course. Last time Duo and Heero had heard from him, he'd been living with Sally.
But he certainly would have been a sweet temptation, if not for--
"That's Wufei."
Duo turned to grin at his lover, eyes sparkling as they always did whenever Heero returned to him; even after an absence of only minutes. "Yep!" he replied brightly. Trust Heero to recognize the other former-Gundam pilot right off! He laughed; essentially at nothing, just delighted with life in general, and happy to have run across another of their fellow pilots by pure chance. "Let's go over and say hi!!"
Heero grunted and allowed Duo to latch onto his arm, dragging him through the crowd toward the oblivious Wufei. That was his tacit agreement, since Duo would have been unable to budge him if he'd been unwilling.
"Wonder if Sally's here too," Duo was saying, craning his neck to look around. "I don't see-- Holy shit!"
"What?" Heero came to a halt as Duo froze in his tracks, following the line of those wide violet eyes. "Hn. That's Zechs Marquis," he commented unnecessarily.
"Wow!" Duo blinked rapidly. It was indeed! Looking almost the same as he had the last time they had seen him -- when he had come to warn them about his crazy sister -- his long silvery hair pulled back loosely, sunglasses resting over his straight nose. He was wearing a light, black linen shirt and black slacks that complimented his pale hair and golden skin, prowling through the crowd with sure, steady strides. Duo glanced up at Heero and grinned. "Another one! Quite a coincidence, eh, Heero?"
"Don't be so sure."
"Huh?"
Heero merely nodded his head toward the tall blonde. Duo crinkled his brow at his lover, and turned to watch Zechs' progress. His eyes rounded as Zechs came to a stop beside Wufei, the young Chinese man glancing up at him, then smiling sweetly. Zechs pushed his sunglasses to the top of his head, face lowered to Wufei's, a returning smile curving his lips.
"What the...?" Duo breathed, staring in growing amazement.
Zechs lifted a large hand to brush a few strands of raven hair from slanted sloe eyes, and Wufei batted his fingers away, expression irritable as he snapped something. Zechs merely narrowed his eyes in an almost feline grin of amusement, pulling a battered box out of his breast pocket.
"Come on!" Duo resumed dragging Heero toward the two, face intent and focused with curiosity.
"Hn." Heero made no effort to resist, his own expression less than perfectly detached.
"I wish you'd quit smoking," Wufei was saying in a soft, husky voice as they finally got within hearing distance. The tone of the words was a mixture of exasperation and resignation, as though he had made this statement many times before and would make it many times again, never expecting capitulation.
Zechs just smirked around the cigarette clamped between his lips as he flicked his lighter on.
"I mean, the apartment reeks, your clothes stink... and your breath--!" Wufei pulled a face, then glared and waved a hand before his face as Zechs exhaled a puff of smoke in his direction. "Bakayarou!"
Zechs chuckled darkly and reached to tap Wufei's lower lip lightly with one finger. "Are you saying you'd kiss me more often if I quit smoking?"
Duo staggered against Heero's unmoving chest, nearly choking to death on that, and even the usually stolid Japanese man's face exhibited a faint expression of shock.
Two pairs of eyes swung over at the slight squeaking noise Duo had made, midnight-black growing wider, dusky-violet narrowing further.
"Yuy! Maxwell!" Wufei's features lit up joyfully as he recognized the stunned faces, his entire body seeming to sing with the emotion. "Hisashiburi yo!"
"Uh... Yo!" Do managed weakly, mind still trying to come to grips with what he'd just heard. Chang Wufei was the straightest guy he knew! ...Wasn't he? He could see Zechs being fey -- even with Noin hovering adoringly in the picture -- but Wufei...?
Sure, he looked small and delicate and pretty; heck, he was easily as pretty as Quatre; and he was wearing rather androgynous clothing, now that Duo stopped to look at it objectively, and, to be truthful, he appeared even less masculine than Zechs, who Duo had just thinking looked "that way", but...
But it was *Wufei*!
Was Wufei...?!
And to see *Zechs* and *Wufei*... Well!!
Heero left a mind-blown Duo standing where he was frozen, moving forward to clasp Wufei's hand in a brief motion that might have seemed almost impersonal to an outside observer, but which meant a lot to two young men who were violently adverse to public displays of affection. "It's good to see you looking well," Heero said, nasal voice gentle. His usual flat monotone had changed in the years after the war, and now the words held much more than their actual meaning.
Wufei lowered his head, thick black lashes fluttering down. "Aa."
"Zechs," Heero greeted, offering his hand to the taller man after only a moment's hesitation. "You never gave me a chance to thank you."
Zechs waved the cigarette broadly. "Nan demo nai. It was the least I could do."
"No. The least you could have done would have been to do nothing." Heero was still a literal bastard.
Zechs shook his silvery head. "I am partly to blame that she's in power, that she got so bad before anyone noticed. If I can't fix my mistakes, at least I can do my best to see that they do not harm innocents."
Heero snorted at that. "Who are you calling innocent?" he asked in amusement, shooting a pointed glance toward Duo, who still seemed lost in shock.
Wufei grinned broadly at that, and Zechs chuckled.
"How are you two managing?" Zechs asked, brow creasing in concern. "Has my sister sent out any more... troubles for you?"
Heero shrugged. "A few. But there are less with each year that passes. Pardan-san is doing his best to restrain her efforts; whenever she finds someone willing to accept her price, he doubles it before they can leave the kingdom. Usually they accept."
"Ah!" Zechs nodded, eyes gleaming as he took a pull on his cigarette. "Pardan-san is a good man. Just a bit too loyal for his own good."
Heero looked earnest. "Hai. He feels guilty for letting... *her*... get as bad as she did before he noticed. And now that it is impossible to remove her from power, he does the best he can to keep her from damaging anyone aside from herself."
"Nn." Zechs nodded again, face thoughtful.
Wufei sighed and ran slim fingers through his silky black hair, following the carefully worded conversation closely. "Life is never simple," he commented, husky voice soft.
"WUFEI!" It had taken a while, but Duo had finally collected his shattered wits, and now he swooped forward, clasping the slim Chinese youth in a tight embrace. "It's GREAT to see you!" he enthused.
"Maxwell, unhand me!" Wufei squawked in protest.
"Some things never change," Heero observed laconically.
"Hn." Zechs chuckled and shook his head. "And that's a good thing."
"Aa."
"Lookit you! You're so tiny now!" Duo teased, from his superior height of about four and a half inches.
"Yamatte!" Wufei yelped as Duo tousled his hair, sending the silken stuff cascading in his face, as it was no longer constrained to a tight tail. "Maxwell!"
Duo laughed in delight at the outraged howl and swept Wufei in for another tight hug. "I've missed you, dude," he whispered in Wufei's ear.
Wufei sighed and his stiff posture relaxed as he allowed himself to embrace the crazy American briefly in return. "Aa. I've missed you too." He closed his eyes and pressed his face to Duo's broad shoulder, before pushing away. "Now, let me go!" he demanded. But his eyes were suspiciously damp.
Zechs dropped his cigarette onto the pavement and crushed it out with a booted foot, then reached out a long arm to draw Wufei against his side; not touching but comfortingly close. "I try to get him to eat more, but that's a near impossible task."
Wufei shot him a dark look. "Well, if you didn't try to feed me your own cooking..."
"And it wouldn't do anything for his height," Zechs continued mercilessly, eyes dark with amusement as he planted a large hand atop Wufei's head. The young man barely reached mid-chest to him.
"Urusai yo!" Wufei snapped, cheeks flushed, eyes hard. "Aho!"
Zechs tweaked his nose.
Wufei grabbed for those fingers and missed, then glared furiously.
"Sooooo..." A devilish grin widened Duo's mouth further, his bright eyes twinkling through thick bangs. "What have you been up to since the last time I seen you, Wu-chan?"
Wufei paled, then blushed painfully, chewing on his lower lip. Zechs eyed the American with amusement evident in his golden face. Heero just endured.
"Ne, ne! Where's Sally?" Duo suddenly remembered, looking around. "I thought you and she were, like, together!" It was hard to let go of that mental image; he'd nursed it for almost five years now.
"She's away," Wufei replied huskily, after clearing his throat, his cheeks still faintly pinked. He brushed his messed hair carefully back, dark brows knitting in a frown. "She's on a... herm..." He glanced up at Zechs for help. "What did she and Noin call it?"
Zechs snorted, smirking broadly. "A sabbatical from babysitting, I believe it was."
Wufei let out a disgruntled sound, scowling. "Women!"
Duo was close to hyperventilating. Sally and... Noin?! He wondered which one was Top. If females even had to decide. Sally and Noin! Good God!
Zechs and Wufei!
No way! He had to know, for sure! "So, you two are..." he trailed off leadingly, brows wiggling behind his long bangs.
Heero stood by stolidly, expression set in stone.
"Stuck with doing our own cooking and cleaning," Zechs sighed, mock-tragically, eyes gleaming at Duo through his thick bangs.
Wufei wrapped his arms about his stomach, lids flickering down again.
"What?" Duo persisted. "What? Friends? Roommates? Boyfriends? Loooooovers?!"
"Iie!" Wufei snapped, voice raised loudly, black eyes flared open and pinning Duo with a furious gaze. "We're not!"
"Oh? You coulda fooled-- oof!" Duo grunted as Heero's elbow drove painfully into his side. "Itai! Heero, you bastard, what'd you--"
Heero just raised a brow, cobalt eyes burning into Duo's snapping violet as he nodded toward Wufei.
Duo spared a glance, and immediately felt guilty for his teasing. The young Chinese man was alternately paling and flushing, eyes cast down once more, and Duo could see that he was visibly trembling. "Anou... Sorry, Wu," he said, cocking his head. He wondered why he had gotten such a bad reaction, but he wasn't about to press the matter further. It wasn't as though he *liked* to make Wufei feel bad!
"We're just friends," Zechs replied smoothly, sliding an arm around Wufei's shoulders and drawing him closer against his side. "At the moment," he added wickedly.
Wufei glared up at Zechs, though he made no move to pull away. "What the hell's that supposed to mean?!" he demanded. He slammed a fist into Zechs' flat stomach -- not very hard, Duo noted -- cheeks vibrantly flushed. "Kisama!"
Zechs chuckled.
Duo blinked. This was just too confusing! They looked like lovers, they were acting like lovers, every word they said only solidified this, but...
"Actually, Sally and Noin got their own apartment a year ago," Zechs told he and Heero, grinning unrepentantly. "I don't think they could take any more of our masculine quirks."
"Ke!" Wufei shook his head, black bangs whispering about his bright cheeks. "It was your smoking that drove them out!"
"Again with the smoking!"
"Well, if you'd just quit..."
"Maybe if you started--"
"Iie! *I* still have some respect for my body!"
"Oh? Who is it that drinks like a horse on the weekends?"
"Baka! Who is it that matches me drink for drink?! *While* puffing away like a chimney!"
"I don't know -- who?"
Duo's eyes twinkled as he latched onto Heero's arm once more, watching the arguing men with growing amusement.
"They're such a cute couple!" he whispered in his lover's ear.
Heero snorted, lips curving unwillingly. "Aa."
"And another thing! If my cooking is so bad, why don't *you* try fixing a meal for once, brat?!"
"Bakayarou!"
"Brat!"
"ZECHS!!"
"Brat!"
(Not finished, but I don't know when I'll write more. ^.-;;)
(:./knm/shock)
