Title: Rivals
Author: Lanjelin
Notes: Shounen ai. The pairings are a bit uncertain for now... I'm open to
suggestions! And please send me any kind of C&C. I can take it!
Disclaimers: Aw, you all know who owns them, and it sure isn't me.^^ And I'm
not making any money off of this either... Yeah, right, like anyone would
pay me for this.^^;
On his way to Trowa's room, Quatre thought about what he had just witnessed. He couldn't make any sense of it! Something was clearly going on between the Wing and Shenlong pilot, and somehow it involved Duo. Although he seemed to be totally oblivious.
Quatre sighed, and knocked on the door. When he heard Trowa's voice telling him to come in, he opened it. The quiet Heavyarms pilot had been injured during a mission and was now recuperating at the safehouse. Quatre had been taking care of him, and was constantly torn between being happy about the closeness that was developing between them, and guilt for feeling happy about a situation that had only become possible because the boy he cared so deeply for was hurt.
As he entered the room, Quatre smiled at the boy in the bed.
"How are you feeling Trowa?" he asked, and felt his heart jump when the deep emerald gaze fell upon him. "Are you feeling any better?"
The brown-haired boy didn't say anything, but nodded his head once.
"Can I talk to you for a while?"
After getting a second nod, Quatre pulled up a chair and sat down next to the bed. He took a moment to gather his thoughts and find a good place to start.
That gave Trowa a chance to study the blond pilot, something he did as often as he could without the others noticing. Those were the moments when he tormented himself with thoughts of what it would be like to actually touch those golden bangs, how it would feel like to be held close and safe in his arms. But he always stopped himself there. To go further would be too much, even for him.
When Quatre finally looked up, Trowa felt his emotionless mask waver as he met the brilliant green-blue eyes of the Arabian pilot. They looked at each other for a few endless seconds before Trowa turned his gaze to his hands resting on the covers instead.
"Were you worried about something?" he asked.
Quatre blinked and quickly gathered his wits.
"Well, you see, I just briefed the others on their missions, and I was very worried", he said, wondering just how easy he was to read. If Trowa could see the concern he felt for his friends just by looking at him, maybe he could sense the much deeper feelings he held for the mysterious pilot.
"There is something wrong Trowa. There is a strange tension between Heero and Wufei, and I feel that it has something to do with Duo. Who doesn't seem to notice anything!" He folded his hands in his lap and sighed.
"So you've noticed."
"What!" Quatre exclaimed incredulously. "Do you know what's going on?" To his surprise he saw a faint gleam of amusement in the one visible green eye that met his own.
"I'm surprised you haven't noticed anything until now."
"Well we haven't exactly spent a lot of time together", he answered a bit reproachfully.
"True. And since they didn't know about each other it has been hard to spot."
"Know about each other? Trowa, could you please tell me what's going on?" Quatre begged bewildered.
Trowa's eye was now sparkling with amusement, and if you looked closely you could see a very faint smile tugging at the corner of his lips. Quatre was enchanted. He felt like smiling himself, at the wondrous sight in front of him. And he was damned curious about what had amused the Heavyarms pilot enough to make him drop his usual mask! Luckily he continued without further pushing from Quatre.
"I never thought I'd see the day.but Heero Yuy, perfect soldier and Chang WuFei, honourable warrior, have fallen in love", he said with a smirk.
To say that Quatre was surprised would have been an understatement. A really grave understatement.
"Heero and WuFei are in love with each other?"
"No. With Duo."
"What! Both of them? And they didn't know about each other. Until today, I would say."
"Oh? What happened?" Trowa asked, with mild curiosity in his voice.
"Well, they were glaring so hard at each other that I could almost see the lightning crackling between them. Not to mention the combined glares I got when Duo asked me if I was going with him on the mission."
Quatre shook his head, and completely missed the protective expression that flickered over Trowa's face.
"Did they threaten you?"
The calm question had a serious undertone that made Quatre look up into the deep green gaze of the other boy.
"Not exactly", he answered. "I got the feeling that they were more worried than angry. And they don't express that feeling very well. Or any feeling for that matter." A thought hit him. "Poor Duo."
Trowa looked at him, carefully keeping his face and voice blank of expression.
"You care about him don't you?"
Quatre smiled faintly at the underlying question, so obvious if you knew what to look for. Maybe there was more hope than he had originally thought.
"Yes I do", he answered. "He is a good friend, and I don't want to see him get hurt. In any way. Who know what those two considers courtship?" he concluded, watching Trowa carefully. He smirked inwardly at the faint traces of relief in the green-eyed boy's expression. Was it enough evidence of deeper feelings? Or merely wishful thinking? Perhaps. But what did he have to loose, really? They could both be dead within the week. And Trowa was never going to take the first step, that much was clear.
"They are both more caring and sensitive than you might think, Quatre", he said, unaware of the conclusion the blond boy had come to. "WuFei hides his feelings deep in his heart. But even so his actions speak louder than words. Despite the harshness of his words, he will do anything to protect what he cares for. As for Heero. Heero thought that his feelings had been trained away. He was wrong of course. A pair of innocent eyes once kept him from killing one of the most important politicians of our time."
"You mean Relena Darlian Peacecraft."
"Yes. He didn't even know her, and still his feelings of guilt would not let him kill another innocent. Duo has somehow gotten into his heart, and nothing could make Heero harm him now. He has a very strong protective side.
Now it was Quatre's turn to feel insecure and a bit worried, but instead of hiding it, he made sure that his feelings were visible to the other boy.
"You admire him a lot", he said, and very nearly chuckled at the surprised look he got. It was a bit strange, really. It would have to mean that Trowa didn't know about his feelings. But he was usually so perceptive. Of course, if you're insecure in love, you'd tend to explain away all those little signs. Quatre felt sad. Someone must have let Trowa down, or even hurt him. Well, Quatre wouldn't do either, he silently vowed.
"I used to think he was perfect. That he was everything I should be. Flawless. But then I saw him together with Duo. And I saw that he had absolutely no idea how to deal with his emotions. and I saw fear. He is afraid to love, just like."
There he stopped himself, but Quatre didn't need any more words to know what Trowa had almost said. 'Are you afraid, Trowa?' he thought. 'But I would never hurt you. You are much too important to me, and I'll show you that soon. But I'll take it slowly, so I don't scare you away.'
"Well," he said, pretending not to have noticed Trowa's little slip, "what about Duo? Does he have feelings for any of them?
You're the one who spends most time with him. Don't you know?" came the uninformative answer.
"Well, you see." Quatre started, and cursed his fair skin as he felt himself blush. Then he cleared his throat. "Despite appearances, Duo is a very good listener. When we talk about these things, I'm the one doing the talking. "In fact," he continued with a thoughtful expression as his blush was fading, "he always changes the subject when I ask him. And in such a way that I never even suspected anything. He is very skilled in manipulating a conversation." He sighed. "So who is it? Whom has he fallen for?"
"I don't know."
The calm answer made Quatre stare at the brown-haired boy incredulously.
"But you managed to see through both Heero and WuFei! Duo doesn't exactly hide his feelings!"
Comprehension dawned on him.
"Oh. I see."
"Yes. He hides his feelings in other feelings."
"Of course. Who can tell if he's happy to see them because he sees them as friends, or because he has deeper feelings for them? Is he sad when he sees them go because he doesn't want to loose a friend, or because he mourns a lost chance of a deepened relationship?"
"Because he is able to let part of his feelings shine through, he can prevent the actual depth of them from showing."
Quatre smiled. He had to admire the green-eyed boy's eloquence.
"What do you think will happen?" he asked. "Should we do anything?"
Trowa thought for a moment.
"No," he said at last. "I don't think we should interfere. Playing matchmaker could be a dangerous thing, and we could end up destroying something instead of helping them. And now that Heero and WuFei know about each other, things will not stay the same. Now they will have to find a way to tell Duo how they feel. Or at least try to find out how he feels."
"I agree", Quatre said with an affirmative nod. Then he began to get up. "Well, I've kept you up long enough. You need to rest now."
"Quatre?"
"Yes?"
"..."
Quatre looked down at Trowa, who had now closed his eyes, and smiled a quiet smile. Then he dimmed the lights and went back to the chair.
"I'll be here", he said, and reached out to take Trowa's hand.
There was no answer, but Quatre could feel him squeezing his hand in response before relaxing into sleep.
End Part 2
(:./lanjelin/rivals2)
