1998
They rode in silence for the next hour or so, taking the back roads whenever they could and the main highway only when it was unavoidable. Fortunately, at this time of night, not many vehicles were on the road. There was an unearthly quality to riding on a speeding motorcycle in the dead of the night. After a while, the sound of the engine seemed to die down to a soothing drone that mimicked a soft lullaby...
Duo's eyelids started to droop and after nearly nodding off several times, the longhaired boy violently shook his head. It would have been so easy to fall asleep against Heero's warm back, nestled into the nape of his partner. The dark locks seemed so soft, so tempting...
The motorcycle swerved violently.
"Aaaa!" Duo yelled, shocked out of his reverie by the sudden movement. Automatically, his hands reached around Heero's waist. "What happened?!?"
"Rabbit."
"WHAT?!"
"You heard me," Heero replied flatly.
"You idiot! You almost scared me to death!"
In the darkness, Heero grinned.
Oh yes, there had been a rabbit. It had hopped out across the road, but Heero had seen the animal's luminous eyes lit up by the motorcycle's headlights just in time. What the rodent had been doing in the dead of night, Heero didn't know. But it had narrowly escaped being road kill.
Oh but the results...
The strong grip around his waist had relaxed somewhat, but the arms still entwined there and the feel of them heavy against his clothed flesh seemed so right...
"Heero?"
"Yeah?"
"You wanna switch?"
"No."
"Are you sure about this? I mean, you've probably walked a long way and you're probably tired. I can take over, you know. It's no big deal."
"No, it's okay. I'll tell you when I get tired."
"Um...okay," Duo yawned. "You promise? I don't wanna end up on the side of some road somewhere 'cos you got sleepy or something," he drawled as he leaned against Heero's back. God, he was sleepy.
"I promise," Heero sighed.
He could feel Duo leaning against him. He could feel the boy's warmth pressed against his back, his hips, his thighs. He could imagine the soft cheek pressing against his shoulder, the feel of flesh against flesh. The arms around Heero's waist tightened their grip slightly but after a few moments, the grip slackened and Duo's lower arms fell over his upper thighs.
Heero could hear Duo's soft exhalations over the whooshing of the night wind and he could very well imagine the warmth of his breath.
Very much like the warmth of the hands that draped limply across his lap, strategically falling between his legs.
Duo's hands were not touching him there, but their proximity was enough to radiate enough body heat to be disturbingly arousing. Heero shifted a little uncomfortably. It was a pleasant sensation but it was strange, in a way. How could this boy behind him cause him to feel so many strange emotions? Why did he care how Duo felt?
At first, it was just because Duo was a friend. A mere friend.
When had he ceased being that?
When had Duo come to mean more to him? When he'd discovered those bruises on Duo's body? Perhaps. Heero had never remembered feeling so furious before - that someone had dared to touch Duo; that someone had left those marks on his body; that someone had hurt him so much that ...
Yes, perhaps that was when.
Before, it had been curiosity, and perhaps attraction. And he had cared before, yes. But it had been strictly platonic. And he had tried hard to keep it that way.
But he had failed.
Strangely enough, he did not feel disappointed.
In fact, Heero felt enlightened. Like someone had switched on the light in a dark room where he had been imprisoned.
And the light had shown him the way out...
"Duo! Wake up." Heero glanced over his shoulder as he switched off the motorcycle's engine. They had been on the road for several hours and dawn had broken over the horizon nearly an hour ago. It would take another few hours of hard riding to get to their base, but the unusually heavy traffic had prompted Heero to look for a place to lie low.
When you were on the run, it didn't pay to be too obvious.
And a softly snoring braided teenager falling off a speeding motorcycle would certainly be very obvious.
That was the second reason Heero had decided to stop. Duo had been asleep for the past few hours but Heero had had to make sure the longhaired boy stayed on the motorcycle. Duo had this tendency to list to the side and lose his hold on Heero's body. If the Japanese Wing pilot hadn't been so acutely aware of every slight shift of Duo's body, he had no doubt that the Shinigami pilot would have fallen off a long time ago.
"Whu..what? Wuzzit?" Duo yawned sleepily. "Why're we stopping? Where are we? Did we arrive yet?"
"Must you ask so many questions?" Heero replied tersely, but a small smile quirked at his lips at the sight of Duo giving his face a brisk rub. "Stay here. I'll get us registered," the short haired boy tossed as he disappeared into the motel's reception building.
"Registered?" Duo blinked. A grin lit up his face at the double entendre. But of course, that would have only occurred to him. Heero probably never gave a thought to what other connotation the word had.
Duo stretched languorously, enjoying the feel of his stiffened joints popping and the blood rushing into cold, deadened digits. Looking around him, he saw that Heero had chosen some secluded roadside motel; quiet and tucked away from the highway, but quite decent-looking. The bright morning sun shone brightly without any real warmth; the chill of the night ride had yet to leave his body. Nodding slightly in approval at Heero's choice of stopovers, Duo swung off the motorcycle. And winced.
"Ouch," the boy moaned. "Whatever reason Heero has for stopping, I'm not complaining, uh-uh," Duo groaned softly as he shifted his weight to his left foot. Leaning against the motorcycle, he lifted his right foot and gave it a little squeeze through his boot. His nerves complained loudly at even that slight touch, and Duo cursed at his luck.
"Come on. Our room's just around the corner."
Heero's deep voice made Duo jump, letting go of his foot as he stood away from the motorcycle reflexively. The searing bolt of pain that ran up his leg made him screw his face up involuntarily, earning a raised eyebrow from his shorthaired partner.
"That sprain still bothering you?" Heero queried, hesitating slightly. He had thought to walk over to the room, pushing the motorcycle along the way. It would have been a good way to relax stiff muscles. But...
"Get on the bike," Heero ordered as he climbed on. Duo waited until Heero had settled before scrambling up behind him, silently thankful that Heero hadn't bothered to wait for an answer.
"What do you think?" Duo alternated from peering at his swollen ankle and Heero's serious face. They had made themselves comfortable in the motel room. And after each of them had taken their turn in the bathroom, Heero had dragged a mildly-protesting Duo to the bed and appointed himself physician for the day.
"It's swollen," Heero answered blandly as he pressed a cold compress onto Duo's tender joint.
"Maa! Even I know that, Heero!" Duo rolled his eyes dramatically. "I meant - Shit! You know what I meant!" Duo sighed exasperatedly as he straightened up.
"The best thing for it is rest," Heero said quietly, his voice low and neutral. "But we can't really afford that now, ne?"
Duo raised a curious eyebrow. Heero sounded suspiciously...tender?
"So I suggest you take advantage of this stopover, baka," Heero continued.
Pop! There goes my bubble, Duo thought with a wry smile.
Heero got up and walked over to the tabletop fridge where he rummaged the freezer compartment for ice-cubes. Wrapping a few cubes in a small hand towel, the shorthaired boy returned to his 'patient'. "Here," he said, removing the first compress and pressing the new one over Duo's ankle.
Duo hissed at the sudden cold and the pressure against his skin, but the initial discomfort soon faded away as the flesh numbed beneath the towel-wrapped ice.
"That should bring the swelling down a bit," Heero's voice seemed to whisper in his ear. I must be delusional, Duo thought, holding the compress against his ankle. Belatedly, he realised that he had lowered his head again and that a pair of very blue, very warm eyes were staring him right in the face.
Waitaminute!
Warm?
Duo gulped.
Heero continued looking - nay! Staring! - at him; and if he didn't know better, Duo could have sworn that their faces were getting closer.
The feel of Heero's breath on his flesh confirmed that Duo didn't know better.
Somewhere between the loud drumming in his chest and the little screaming voice in his head, Duo heard himself gasp out a little confusedly. "H..Heero," he heard himself say. "What... what are you doing?" His voice seemed very small, very distant.
The soft butterfly-light sensation of Heero's lips brushing against his answered Duo's question. His violet eyes flew wide open.
Kissing! Heero was kissing him!
And he was leaning right into the kiss!
Duo no baka! What the hell are you doing?!?
Enjoying myself, that infuriating voice of truth chuckled back at him. Duo's eyes fluttered shut, giving in to that small voice in his head as he leaned further forward, turning the soft sensation of Heero's lips against his into a more tangible touch, more pronounced.
There was no doubt about it, Duo thought absently as he opened his mouth slightly, pushed by Heero's softly probing tongue. Heero was doing something to him that he'd only dared to dream about. And if this was another dream, another cruel trick played by his masochistic mind... Then this was a dream he had no desire to wake up from.
Heero reached up to cup Duo's face in his hands. Was this really happening? The soft feel of the pliant lips against his assured him that it was. The warm flesh under his fingers confirmed the fact. It was unexpected.
I'd never even considered this, Heero thought. It was the eyes, those brilliant, vivid violet eyes. Staring into them from so close up had left him gasping for control. But again, that control refused to materialize. Again, Duo's presence so close to him had erased any and all precaution.
Again Heero Yuy had lost control.
And now he gave in to his basest desire - his most secret of dreams - as he plundered the sweet recess of his partner's mouth.
End Part Seven
Shirin
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