22 August 2001

Mystified by Lilias

Part 2: Pilgrimage

You've been running away
From what you don't understand:
Love

Duo's euphoria didn't last long, unfortunately, and facing facts turned out to be a long, painful process. And not just for him, either; the gloom spread like a miasma until the apartment he shared with Hilde was awash in bad vibes.

"Why don't you just do it?"

Duo didn't look up. "Do what?"

Hilde waggled the cordless phone at him. "Call her."

He snorted, settling defiantly back into his chair. "Great idea, Hilde. Right up there with 'Hey, Bob! Let's fill the Hindenberg with hydrogen!'"

Hilde's eyes widened in disbelief. "Oh, please. She gave you the number for a reason, right? And it's not like you're forgetting about it, either--you've been staring into space for weeks. Call her before you space out while you're driving the 'dozer and flatten somebody!"

"Right, like it's that easy. I mean, I--"

Hilde grabbed the arms of his chair, forcing it around to face her. "You say you run and hide, but in all the time I've known you, you haven't ever walked away from anything. And now you're going to turn tail and run just because you're afraid of some girl? She's even a pacifist, for god's sake! What do you think she'll do to you if you try?"

"I am not scared of her! It's just that--dammit, Hilde, I can't see any way for this not to crash and burn. At least as things stand now, I get to have good memories, instead of filling up my head with images of myself looking terminally stupid."

Hilde snorted. "Good memories of what, exactly? A conversation? Two? You have to take risks if you want to gain something worthwhile--you taught me that." She sat back, warmed by satisfaction; surely that jab would have hit home.

But Duo only shook his head stubbornly. "Only works with calculated risks. And no matter how I run the numbers on this one, it comes up a bust every time."

"Come on. What's the worst that could happen?"

"Oh, I don't know--" One hand sketched an irritated pattern in the air, and his tone dripped with sarcasm. "She could say 'Thank you so much for stopping by, Mr.--what was your name again?--Maxwell, but even though I'm most assuredly straight and definitely not in love with Heero Yuy, I don't find you the least bit attractive, so please get off my front step before I call security.'"

"Well, if you're determined to be impossible!" Hilde dropped into the other armchair with a sigh, shaking her head as she reached for the newspaper. "But I still think you should--" Then she broke into delighted, disbelieving laughter. "Oh, this is too perfect."

Duo looked up, eyes narrowing in suspicion. "What?"

Still laughing, Hilde hopped up from her seat to drop the folded front page in his lap, then leaned over his shoulder to point at the lead story. "You don't have to call her--she's here on the colony, giving a public address at the big lecture hall in the university district. Tonight." She grinned at Duo's stunned expression, giving his braid a brisk tug. "Put on a clean shirt and brush your hair, Cinderella-boy. You've got a date with your princess."

Relena's posture would have made her dancing mistress misty-eyed with pride; straight-backed and serene, the young Minister managed to project an air of calm even while balanced on an uncomfortable chair under harsh stage lights. Relena might also have appeared to be giving her full attention to the District Governor's rambling introduction, but she was actually running over her speech inside her head; her brief remarks on the responsibilities of peace were memorized, of course, but it never hurt to test the mnemonics that would guide her through the address like a row of signposts. When the perspiring official finished, mopping his brow in relief, Relena rose without hurry and moved to the podium. The crowd broke into an excited clatter of applause, and more than one person stood to offer a welcoming ovation.

Relena both loved and hated this moment--the feeling of possibility, even power that public speaking brought with it was balanced by an agony of anticipation and the biting fear of failure. To combat that familiar terror, she reached as she always had for the confidence that eventually came to her aid--a sensation almost of distant music, rising notes that would carry her words to her listeners in all the strength of her sincerity. She tried to clear her mind, letting her eyes drift over the assembled crowd while she waited for the audience to quiet.

And then she paused, smiling in delighted recognition, as two of the upturned faces registered as familiar. Of course! This was the L-2 cluster, after all--but she'd hardly thought Duo would show up for something like this. The woman next to him was familiar, too; the short dark hair, the laughing blue eyes, all brought back memories of a brief, intense conversation aboard Peacemillion in the last days of the Eve Wars. Relena found herself beaming at them both, resisting the urge to wave--and wondering why she was also fending off a most uncharacteristic flutter of almost giddy excitement.

Hilde poked Duo in the ribs, whispering triumphantly, "See, I told you she'd be glad to see you!"

Duo rolled his eyes, declining to respond--and then Relena began to speak, so he hushed Hilde sternly and settled in to listen. As the speech went on, he leaned farther and farther forward in his chair, propping elbows on knees and gazing raptly at the stage. Next to him, Hilde shook her head in indulgent resignation: the boy was clearly a lost cause.

When the address ended, they rose and stretched with the rest of the audience, and were lingering rather uncertainly near their seats when one of Relena's aides made his way over to ask if they would like to wait for the Minister. Hilde had to put up with Duo's nervous foot- tapping for only a little while before the ambassador herself came down the polished wooden steps at the side of the stage to greet them.

"Hilde!" Relena took both of the dark-haired woman's hands, smiling, and responded enthusiastically when Hilde threw decorum to the wind and hugged her. "It's been a long time. Have things been going well for you?"

"Can't complain," Hilde answered. "Pretty busy, but then I think that's a good thing. Duo? You planning to say hello, or is she supposed to be reading your brain waves?"

He threw her a withering glance, then shook Relena's offered hand. "Good to see you." There. He'd managed to say hello without committing a single glaring faux pas, as far as he could tell.

Relena was positively beaming up at him, though, so it was hard to care about social niceties. "It was so good of you to come. I'm sure you both must have been dreadfully bored, though."

"Not at all!" Hilde insisted. "I've always been interested in politics. And anyway, it was a very rousing speech. Right, Duo?"

The floor didn't seem willing to open up and let him sink out of sight, so Duo merely glared at Hilde. /Go on, have your fun, Schbeiker. We'll see who's laughing after I short-sheet your bed for the next three weeks./ "You did a great job--it was really, um, impressive."

"Well, at least you survived." Relena laughed, but it sounded like her adrenaline rush might be ebbing.

"We shouldn't keep you," Duo began, keeping an eye open for signs of weariness.

"No, it's lovely to see you--both of you. Really. Can I steal you away for dinner? I'm afraid I'm trapped in a hotel for security reasons, but it does have excellent room service." She turned hopeful eyes from one of them to the other.

"I'm so, sorry." Hilde didn't look at all apologetic. "It's my boyfriend's birthday, actually, so I have other plans. Big dinner out--just us."

"Oh, how lovely!" Relena's face fell, if only a fraction; her polite public smile was back. "Well, I hope you two--"

Seizing the vanishing opportunity, Hilde elbowed Duo ruthlessly in the side, saying at the same time, "But Duo's not doing anything." Smiling sweetly at him, she continued, "Anyway, I need you out of the house before Serge comes over."

"I'd be delighted to keep him out of your way," Relena offered, turning back to Duo. "That is, if you'd like an excuse to escape?"

His shrug was a masterpiece of simulated nonchalance. "Sure."

"All right, then. I have at least another half-hour of hand-shaking left to do here--but that's likely to turn into an hour. Could you wait for me a little while longer?"

It was the strangest thing--it actually felt like his heart was melting. /Been waiting this long, Princess--what's another hour?/ Duo collected his thoughts enough to answer before Hilde could speak for him. "Sure. No problem."

Hilde made a sound suspiciously like a cackle. "Except that his coach turns back into a pumpkin at midnight."

Relena looked slightly bemused, but her eyes glinted with mischief. "Well. We'll try not to keep you out too late, then. Though I believe my car no longer has a tendency to revert to a giant gumball when the clock strikes twelve--hasn't that been fixed, Pargan?"

The long-suffering aide nodded with mock seriousness. "It has indeed, Minister."

"Excellent." Her demure little smile held all the sly humor of an all-out grin. "So you should be set for transportation either way."

They made their temporary farewells, and then Pargan ushered her back toward where a group of local officials was waiting; Hilde gave Duo's hand a conspiratorial squeeze before she darted off, too. And only an hour and a half later, Duo found himself holding an armload of floral tributes outside the presidential suite while Pargan, though similarly encumbered, battled with the lock.

"Try turning the keycard over," advised Relena from somewhere underneath a sheaf of peonies.

"If they'd only stuck with proper metal keys, Minister--" But the lock flashed green, and they blundered gratefully inside.

The hotel suite was bigger than any apartment Duo had ever seen-- bigger than some houses, unless he missed his guess. Its chill, expertly-decorated surfaces reflected light like so many mirrors, every polished table and heavy picture frame gleaming with self- importance. Huge double doors on either side opened onto a bedroom and a bath, respectively; the bedroom door was almost closed, allowing only glimpses of an open suitcase spilling stockings over a brocade chair.

There was proof of human occupation in the sitting room as well, though it too was tucked almost out of sight. A fireplace in one corner sported a genuine fire, crackling brightly; the sofa nearest it was piled with every pillow in the room, in an evident attempt to make its stiff lines into something more comfortable. A low table was drawn up to the sofa, its glass top covered with documents. Compared to the rest of the uninviting suite, the little nook was positively welcoming.

Relieved of her share of the flowers, Relena dropped her attachŽ case near the table with a sigh. "Would you mind terribly if I took off these shoes?"

"Hey, knock yourself out." Duo sat down gingerly on the very edge of a brocade armchair, a twin to the one in the bedroom.

Relena stepped out of the offending heels, then took off her suit jacket and arranged it over the back of a spindly-legged chair. "Will the people from the hospital be picking up the flowers here, Pargan, or should we make separate arrangements to have them sent?"

Busy trying to keep the unsteady mass of bouquets from sliding off the credenza, Pargan nonetheless answered with perfect aplomb. "Someone will be by in about half an hour, I believe. They want most of these for the long-term care wing of the geriatric ward."

"I can't possibly take them home," she explained to Duo. "And I can't bear to throw them away. Fortunately, there are always plenty of people who like getting flowers even more than I do."

"Though that's rather hard to imagine," Pargan put in.

Relena laughed. "Well, I do like flowers. But just think! The whole shuttle would be full of pollen, petals dropping everywhere --it would never do." She padded across the room in her stocking feet, and came back to hand Duo the room-service menu. "See if anything looks good--we had some kind of pasta last night, and it was quite nice."

Duo scanned the menu, his heart sinking. "How do you know how much things cost?"

"Oh." She leaned over his shoulder to look at the embossed card. "It gets charged to the room, so they don't bother including petty things like prices on the menu. You just have to assume you're about to pay twenty credits for a salad, and hope it's somehow trickling back to the local economy."

He swallowed. "So how much is a glass of water?"

"About twenty million credits," she informed him solemnly. "So you might as well have a lobster." When Duo still looked uncomfortable, she put a hand on his arm in entreaty. "Please don't even consider worrying about this--you're our guest. Besides, I get a per diem from the government to cover my own meals and Pargan's, but we never actually use it."

"Well, all right," he relented, taking up the card with renewed interest. "What is a lobster, anyway?"

She laughed with some relief. "Trust me, it's delicious. Though you wouldn't believe it, to look at the creepy things."

"The Minister thinks they resemble some sort of unreasonably large insect," Pargan explained.

Duo looked at them dubiously. "Uh, maybe I'll pass."

The three of them finally managed to select several courses, though dessert required substantial negotiations (assisted by the hospital couriers, who solemnly recommended the flan when they arrived to collect the masses of flowers). Pargan threw up his hands at the horrific wine they had chosen, and was still shaking his head as he dialed to place the order. Duo was finally persuaded to abandon the uncomfortable chair for a spot on the carpet nearer the fire, and the party became downright cozy. They had been chatting for what felt like only minutes when a discreet knock at the door heralded dinner.

The waiter gone, Relena lifted one silver cover, then another, before pausing to ask, "Pargan, where's yours? Did they forget to bring it up? I can call down again, if--"

"No, no, Minister," he replied hastily. "I had them deliver my tray to the other suite. And now that you're provided for, I believe I'll be heading over there myself."

"But we always--" Relena eyed him with some suspicion, but decided to accept his explanation at face value. "Of course, Pargan. Whatever you'd rather do."

The grey-haired man nodded a formal farewell to them both, and then made his escape--but there was a distinctly smug smile on Pargan's face as he headed out the door.

End of Part 2: Pilgrimage

(:./lilias/mystified2)