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"Coffee Shop Encounters"Written By: Ashkara Disclaimer: I sadly enough do not own them. Sigh. Rating: PG 13 Warnings: definitely an AU, Pairings: 1+2, 3+4, 5+SP, 6+IW Summary: Quatre Winner, the young CEO of Winner
Enterprises, meets and befriends four college students at Roberto's
Cafe. They turn out to be exactly what he needs to turn his life around. "Coffee Shop Encounters" CSE-8: Turkish Coffee Duo looked up peturbedly as he got yet another knock
on his door. It wasn't one of the kids- they knew that he was not
to be disturbed while he was studying unless it was very important.
But he'd had a steady string of interruptions all afternoon…
Forcing himself to smile, he called, "Come in!" His annoyance melted away, though, as the door opened
and a blonde woman walked into his office, settling into one of his
chairs with a heavy sigh. Relena Peacecraft was the sort of person
an Orphanage Administrator dreamed of working with. Sympathetic, kind-hearted,
always smiling and never giving up hope, she was a dedicated social
worker with a heart of gold who never failed to find a good family
for a needy child. Her smile was missing, though, as she sat down; she
looked tired and frustrated, and Duo immediately shoved his own worries
away as he stood and came around his desk to sit with her. "Relena!
What's the matter?" Her hands were clenched tightly in her lap. "I'm
sorry to bother you- I know this is study time…" He waved the thought away. "Don't worry about that!
I wasn't getting much done, anyway. What's eating you?" She wrung her hands and took a moment to think of something
to say. "Duo… did I ever tell you that I have a brother?"
His eyes widened. "No! Really? I can't believe
you never mentioned it…" "Well, I do," Relena continued. "He's
about five years older than me, and when Mom and Dad divorced, he
went with Dad while I stayed with Mom. We really haven't seen much
of him- and he really resented it when Mom re-married…"
Duo squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. "So what
brings him up now?" "He's coming here." Duo's eyes widened in surprise. "Coming… here?"
She nodded. "Milliardo- that's his name- he's been
in and out of a few different schools, but he gets… Well, for
lack of a better word, he gets expelled very quickly. Dad thought…
he thought that if Mil was in a place where he had family, it would
be easier for him to make friends and to stay put long enough to graduate."
Duo patted her shoulder sympathetically. "In other
words, he's being handed off to you." Her eyes flashed. "My father expects me to be a
baby-sitter for some creepy older brother I don't really know, and
I don't have any choice in it- it's already been done!" Duo grimaced, but couldn't bring himself to commiserate
with her completely. An orphan himself, he was all too aware of how
it felt to be handed around and treated as though he wasn't wanted.
And in his expert opinion- that was what this brother had to be feeling.
"Aw, come on- he could be a nice guy!" She looked up into his face. "Look, Duo, I know
you already have a lot on your plate, but… Would you help me?
If anyone can get through to him…" She bit her lip as her voice trailed off. Duo was a
specialist in hard cases, and everyone in the city knew it. There
were very few people who could resist his style, and it was possible
that even her older brother… Duo sighed. Bad timing was putting it lightly. Between
classwork, the orphanage, Heero… But Relena was a friend, and
a valued co-worker. He looked up into her face. "Look, I don't
know how much I'll be able to do personally, but I'll try and help
you out. At any rate, I can get the guys in on this, and maybe they'll
be able to do something. Will that do?" Relena smiled. "That would be great, Duo, just
great." ~*~ Wufei stared at Duo in shock. "You told her we'd
do what?" The braided young man sipped at his coffee. "I
said we'd look out for him, that's all. It can't do any harm…"
Wufei snorted. "He sounds like a real problem kid,
Duo. Who knows what he's like?" Duo wrapped his hands around the mug of coffee and shut
his eyes, clearly exhausted. "Look, I went through all those
thoughts already. I know he might just be some freak, but Relena's
a friend. I have to at least try. Now are you going to help, or not?"
Trowa put a hand on Wufei's shoulder, silently halting
anything the boy wanted to say. "We'll try, Duo. It probably
won't get us anywhere, but we'll try." Duo's eyes opened as he leaned against Heero's comfortable
bulk, at his side. "Thanks, guys- I knew you would." Duo could hear Heero's voice rumbling in his chest as
the Japanese boy asked, "When does he get in?" "Two days from now," came the answer. "Relena
will be bringing him by here for introductions at our normal coffee
hour. That work for you all?" Trowa and Heero nodded almost immediately, and Wufei
only a few seconds later, albeit with some trepidation. Trowa gave
his friend a smile. "I'll see if Quatre can join us, too. From
what I understand, Relena's dad's rich. Maybe they'll get along."
"Thanks, Tro." "And now I'm taking you home for some sleep,"
Heero whispered in Duo's ear, noticing how the boy sagged against
him. The braided boy didn't protect, and waved a sleepy goodbye
to the guys and to Roberto as he was dragged out. ~*~ Seven heads came around in anticipation as the door
to Roberto's opened and Relena walked in, followed by- Six jaws dropped open in amazement, while Roberto, himself,
merely turned away and chuckled darkly. Signalling to his assistant,
he drifted closer to the group to listen in. Something told him this
was going to be a night to remember! Relena approached her friends cautiously, almost as
if afraid of what was about to happen. They weren't helping much-
staring at her and her brother as though they had grown third eyes
in the middle of their foreheads, or something… "Evening,
guys. Hi, Sally. This is my older brother, Milliardo." She turned
to the man at her side. "Mil, there are Sally, Wufei, Trowa,
Quatre, Heero and Duo. Duo runs that Orphanage I told you about, and
these others are his friends." The group took a moment to look over the newcomer. He
was tall- taller, even, than Trowa- with long platinum blond hair,
chiselled features and gleaming, ice blue eyes. Well-dressed, you
could still tell that his clothing hid an impressive physique. In
short, Milliardo Peacecraft was gorgeous. Duo was predictably the first to recover his wits, and
he held out his hand with an easy smile. "Hi! Nice to finally
meet you." Milliardo shook his offered hand firmly. "Relena
has told me quite a lot about all of you. Nice to see that my little
sister has friends here." He shook hands with all of them, smiling
as he reached Sally and showing a dazzling flash of white teeth. Roberto walked over as the tall blond shrugged off his
coat. "Hi, I'm Roberto. Anyting to drink for ye?" Sparing the Cajun a look, Milliardo nodded. "Do
you make Turkish coffee?" Roberto's grin widened. Here was a man after his own
caffeinated heart! "Sure do! Comin' righ' up." Quatre pinned the other blond with a smile. "You'd
better be careful- he makes it extremely strong." Milliardo's smile widened a little as he darted a glance
at Sally, who was holding Wufei's hand. "Real men can take it,
Mr Winner, I assure you." Duo could have almost sworn he felt the air at the table
chill a few degrees, and he quickly spoke up before either Trowa,
Quatre, Wufei or Sally had the chance. "Relena told me you'll
be at our University. What's your major?" The blond gave him a suave smile. "Politics. And
yours?" Duo shrugged. "Linguistics. Heero's into Computer
Science, Wufei’s a Business major with a minor in Philosophy
and Trowa's training to become a vet." "Truly?" Milliardo turned his gaze on the
last two members of the group. "How about you two?" Sally responded, "I'm a doctor- I work at the orphanage,
too." He smiled at her before turning to Quatre. "And
you, if I'm not mistaken, are the Quatre Winner of Winner Enterprises,
are you not?" Quatre simply nodded, and the other blond nodded back.
"Interesting." He looked Quatre over with a frown. Relena quickly jumped into the conversation. "Milliardo,
I'm sure my friends would be happy to show you around, if you need
it. Sank University's campus is huge…" The tall blond favoured his sister with a distant smile.
"That's very kind, I'm sure." He stood, even as Roberto
hurried over with his coffee. "I have to be going- putting my
new room in order and all. Nice to meet you- I'm sure I'll be seeing
you around." He favoured Sally with another of his dazzling smiles
before walking out, straight past a bewildered Roberto. As the door closed, Relena buried her face in her hands.
"He's a beast, and you hate him- go ahead! Tell me you hate him."
Wufei was glaring at the seat the blond had occupied.
"I can't say I like him Relena…" She looked up, her eyes reflecting pure embarrassment.
"I know! I'm so sorry he was such a shit…" Heero patted her shoulder. "Maybe he'd come down
a notch or two if we just beat it out of him…" She swivelled to look at him with distressed eyes. "Heero!
I know you're good, but trust me- he's incredible! From what I've
heard, he loves to fight. That's how he's gotten kicked out of so
many places…" "I'm sure we can think of some thing to do with
him that doesn't involve violence," Quatre said, frowning at
the idea. Duo nodded his agreement. "Beating him up will
only make him worse. Sorry, Relena, but your brother's a real jerk."
She smiled painfully. "You've noticed? I don't
know what to do…" Trowa smiled in concern. "He's only been here for
a few hours. Give us some time to work on him, okay?" Relena sighed and dropped her head into her arms on
the table. "Okay." ~*~ "Hey, Milliardo! Hi!" The tall blond whipped
around to find Duo Maxwell waving at him from the steps of the McEntyre
Language Building. He offered the other student a wave back as Duo
jogged up to him, braid bouncing behind him as he moved. Duo watched the blond carefully. "You had your
first class already? Who's the prof?" Milliardo looked back down at the schedule in his hand.
"Professor Greenberg, Political Theory." The braided young man grimaced. "Yeah- I've heard
of her. The Ogress. What did you think?" Milliardo arched an eyebrow. "Ogress definitely
applies." "Look- I promised Heero I'd meet him for coffee
right about now. You wanna come along?" Duo asked, doing his
best to smile. Milliardo looked completely disinterested, as though
coffee and friends were the furthest thing from his mind, but nodded
anyway and fell into stride with the shorter young man as Duo turned
to make for Roberto's. After a few moments of walking, he gestured
to the ring on Duo's finger. "Does that mean what I think it
means?" Duo's already bright face brightened more. "Yup!
We haven't set a date, as yet, but Heero and I are getting married."
"Hn." Milliardo frowned. "So who's the
wife?" Duo stopped dead in his tracks, and the taller of the
two was surprised at the strength of the grip on his forearm that
spun him around. The smile was gone- Duo rarely ever wore such a dark
look as was on his face now, and even Milliardo knew that he had overstepped
a serious boundary as violet eyes glinted at him. "Okay, pal,
let's cut the crap. Are you always this obnoxious, or only when you're
trying to make sure no one likes you?" "Get your hands off me, Duo," Milliardo growled
back. Duo's grip tightened. "No- you're going to listen
to me first. One- your sister is trying to help you because she cares,
and you're making her look bad. Two- hitting on Sally like you did
yesterday is a real quick way to get Wufei pissed, and you don't want
to do that. Three- insulting Quatre Winner is a very dumb idea. Four-
NEVER insult Heero in my presence unless you enjoy being in a lot
of pain. D'you got that?" "And you?" Milliardo asked with an arch of
an eyebrow. Duo grinned suddenly, but it wasn't his normal look-
it was darker and less stable. "You can't possibly call me anything
someone else hasn't already said, so go ahead and be unoriginal if
you want to. I wouldn't recommend saying it in front of my friends,
though. Or Heero. Especially Heero." Releasing Milliardo, Duo
turned and walked away. But Milliardo's voice trailed after him, "Why bother
warning me?" He stopped and turned one last time. "For Relena's
sake. Do yourself a favour and don't make me warn you again."
Milliardo watched as the braided young man slipped into
Roberto's, and turned to walk back to campus. This was going to be an interesting semester! ~*~ Wufei and Trowa both groaned as the library doors opened
and Milliardo walked in, a handful of people trailing around him.
They watched him- he was so charming when he wanted to be! But frowns
darkened their faces as they listened to what he was saying- "So she introduces me to her friends- I didn't
know there were so many gay people in this town! Talk about pathetic!
Especially that Japanese guy and his girlfriend or whatever they call
it…" Trowa started from his seat, only to find that he didn't
have to. One of the blond's admirers hushed the man as quickly as
he could. "Okay- you're new here, so maybe you don't know, but
you gotta watch what you say! Duo may be gay, but he's smart, and
he's doing good work. The same goes for Heero, and talking trash about
them is a very quick way to find yourself friendless around here."
Wufei turned to Trowa with a frown. "Do you think
he's figured out you and Quatre yet?" The taller boy shrugged. "Who knows? Probably.
He's much smarter than he lets on. Relena would be humiliated if she
saw this." Wufei's eyes narrowed as he quickly whispered, "He's
coming this way." The conversation ended abruptly. Milliardo gave no greeting as he walked over. "Mind
if I sit down?" Wufei shrugged. "Why not?" The blond pretended to work for about ten minutes before
he had to break the silence. "Hey, Chang- Sally's your girlfriend,
isn't she?" The Chinese boy nodded. "She is." Blue eyes swivelled to Trowa. "And you're dating
Quatre Winner, right?" Trowa arched his visible eyebrow. "Is there a point
to this?" Milliardo smiled. "Just trying to get a feel for
the group dynamic. I could tell Quatre was gay- sorta like Duo, you
know?- but I wasn't sure about you." "You have something against gay people?" The blond shrugged. "No. Just curious." Wufei sighed- the guy obviously wasn't planning on giving
them any idea of what he was up to. "Look- just don't go there,
okay? Let it go, or at least try to, for your sister's sake."
Milliardo rolled his eyes. "Why bother? She hated
me before I even got here." Trowa glanced over at the blond distastefully. "If
she hated you, she wouldn't be trying to help you. Stop being an asshole."
"Speaking of assholes…" Wufei stood before Milliardo could finish his thought,
knowing too well where the conversation was headed, and he pulled
Trowa up with him. He stopped before leaving, though, to offer a bit
of advice tot he now smirking blond. "You want to learn this
place the hard way, go ahead. Make yourself happy. Just don't let
Heero hear you- do yourself a favour." ~*~ "Roberto," Quatre queried, leaning over the
bar a little as he handed his briefcase to the Cajun for safekeeping
on a Friday night, "what did you give Milliardo? He's shaking!"
Roberto was chuckling, his dark eyes glinting brightly
as he darted a look to the table where the usual group had gathered,
plus Milliardo and Relena. "He said he didn' tink my coffee was
strong enough. So I made it stronger!" Quatre somehow managed a critical tone, despite the
smiling of his eyes. "That wasn't particularly nice of you, now
was it?" The Cajun shrugged. "He's not bein' nice, either.
His fault." They shared a smile and a laugh before Quatre grabbed
his coffee and moved to join the group. Trowa gave him a broad smile as he scooted over to make
room for the blond next to him in an oversized armchair. He pretended
shock and looked down at his watch. "Quatre, it's only seven
o'clock! You're early!" Quatre swatted at his shoulder as Duo laughed. "I
am early for me, you jerk!" Wufei arched an eyebrow. "Did Julia chase you out
again, Winner?" "No comment." Heero spared Relena and Milliardo a look. "Quatre's
more of a workaholic than the rest of us put together. Even Trowa
can't get him out of the office sometimes." Quatre blushed a little. "Actually, my Strad is
back from the shop- I had to send it in for cleaning and minor repairs.
I've sorta been itching to get home to it since Rashid called, at
around noon." "How about a little concert, then, at your place?"
Heero asked. Quatre and Trowa shared a look, and the blond smiled
as his boyfriend gave him a firm nod. "My accompanist agrees-
sounds like fun to me!" Finishing their drinks quickly, the group piled into
cars and headed to Winner Mansion. ~*~ Even Milliardo had to admit that Trowa and Quatre were
excellent musicians. They alternated between Quatre on violin and
Trowa on piano and Trowa on flute and Quatre on piano, and the music
was just as breathtaking either way. He shot a glance, though, at
where Duo and Heero sat, side by side. A slight frown marred his features.
They were obviously the ringleaders of this little group, so secure
and happy in each other… He clapped louder than the others as the last strains
of the violin's song came to an end, melting into the air, and he
stood to walk over to where Trowa sat, at the piano. "I've rarely
heard musicians as skilled as you two, and that's saying a lot in
my circles." Neither boy was completely able to hide the slight flush
of anger at the underhanded slight. Trowa let his fingers glide over
the piano keys, as though to draw his serenity from them. "I
often tell Quatre he should give up on international business and
go into music, but he refuses." "To the loss of the world at large, I'm sure,"
Milliardo purred, his eyes drifting to the slender blond, as he conversed
with Relena, the Stradivarius cradled lovingly in his arms. His eyes narrowed, and he turned to Heero and Duo. Heero
felt his skin going cold as he caught a warning glint in Trowa's eyes.
Milliardo twitched an eyebrow as he looked down at the
couple. "So… do either of you play an instrument?"
Relena broke off what she was saying to Quatre abruptly
as she turned incredulous eyes on her brother. "Milliardo…"
Duo somehow managed to smile, rather than simply baring
his teeth at the blond. "I never had the chance to learn, unfortunately."
Milliardo nodded understandingly, with a hint of condescension
to the tilt of his head. "Yes- stupid of me to forget. Hard to
learn under certain circumstances…" He directed his gaze
to Heero. "And you?" The Japanese shook his head. "Never learned."
Milliardo shrugged. "Shame- I'm sure you would
have enjoyed it. Aren't gay people supposed to be good with their
hands?" Relena went white in shock and anger as every sound
in the room died out completely, all eyes on the smirking blond in
their midst. Before Milliardo could even blink, Heero was one his
feet, one hand fastened around the taller man's arm with a grip of
steel, tugging him after him out the door. The blond man barely had
a moment to be nervous about what was going on before he was roughly
pushed into a side room, the door slamming shut behind him. Slanted blue eyes glared into his, and Milliardo was
surprised to find himself becoming… nervous? Him? Heero glared darkly. "What the hell is your problem,
Peacecraft? You've insulted all of us over and over again, your sister,
Dr. Po… What is it with you?" "It isn't my fault if you are all over-sensitive,
though I've heard most gay people are…" A lightning fast fist grabbed him by the collar and
lifted, until he found himself dangling embarrassingly from the shorter
man's grip. "I'll tell you what your problem is. You're a stuck-up,
attention-hungry bastard. You think acting up is going to get you
the attention you want? You're worse than the kids at the orphanage-
at least they have the excuse of being too young to deal with it."
Milliardo glared down at the smaller man as Heero slowly
lowered him to his feet, and he smoothed his clothing and hair. "I
didn't ask for your friendship, Yuy." Heero glared right back. "No, but we tried to offer
it to you, anyway, for Relena's sake. You got something against your
parents, fine. Take it out on them. Not on us, and certainly not on
Relena! She's actually trying to help- when's the last time someone
game a good goddamn what happened to you really?" He turned to
leave… "What? Going back to your stupid little faggot
boyfriend?" Heero saw red. He spun quickly, and Milliardo cried
out in agony as a fist slammed into his midsection, neatly dropping
him to his knees. Heero's quiet voice sneered down at him. "Firstly,
he's my fiancé," he backhanded the blond sharply, smiling
slightly at Milliardo's yelp of pain, "and second, NEVER call
him that again." The door flew open behind him, and Heero heard Quatre's
shocked catch of breath. "Heero! What the hell happened in here?!
Rashid!" Heero stepped back from his victim. "I just gave
him what he wanted. And a lesson in manners." A hand closed on his arm, and he looked up into Duo's
worried eyes as the braided boy pulled him a few steps further back
from Milliardo. "He insulted you." Duo simply nodded, his hand tightening on Heero's arm,
eyes floating back over to where Milliardo knelt. Rashid poked his head in, his eyes widening as he saw
the man on the floor. "What the…" "Rashid, if my sister's home, please ask her to
join us," Quatre commanded, his tone showing how angry he was
at the situation. Rashid knew better than to argue with his young master,
when the boy was in one of these moods. "Of course, sir."
He disappeared. Wufei tactfully lead Relena out, followed by Duo and
Heero and, much to everyone's surprise, a few seconds later by Trowa.
As the door closed again, the smaller blond turned the
full intensity of his gaze on Milliardo. "You're a real asshole,
you know that?" "So I've been told." Quatre reached over and helped the taller man to his
feet, letting him lean on his shoulder as he slowly walked him to
a couch. The taller man gratefully sank down onto the cushions. Quatre sat next to him and winced as he looked over
the growing bruise on Milliardo's face. "That's going to be ugly."
"I'll live. Had worse before." Milliardo's
eyes slipped closed, and he leaned back into the cushions. Quatre watched him carefully, though. "If I thought
you meant any of what you said, I would have helped Heero, as no doubt
the others would, too." "Look who knows so much." Quatre scowled darkly, but anything he might have wanted to say was cut short as Iria walked in and gave a gasp of dismay. "Quatre Raberba Winner! What the hell did you do?!" Quatre looked up and shot his sister an annoyed look.
"Heero's handwork not mine. And he deserved it." He stood
and wiped his palms on his trousers before turning back to give Milliardo
a long glance-over. "If you continue to be alone, Peacecraft,
it's no one's fault but yours." He turned and left. Iria gave an irritated sigh as she flicked the light
switch for better lighting. Milliardo's bruise was even uglier in
full light, darkening to an evil, livid shade of purple. He winced
away from the light. She huffed as she sat down and gently turned his face
towards her. "Sorry this hurts, but I'll give you a painkiller
in a minute, okay?" As gentle fingers probed his face, Milliardo managed
to open an eye. Iria Winner was as blonde as her brother, but her
eyes were deep hazel, almost green, and the spark in her eyes plainly
said that she was not one to be toyed with in her present mood. "Heero
hit me." She glared into his eyes. "From what I've heard
about you, you probably provoked him into it, Mr. Peacecraft. I don't
give out sympathy to idiots who go looking for trouble." "Nice bedside manner." She `hmphed' again as she applied antiseptic to the
spot on Milliardo's cheek where Heero's engagement ring had cut into
his skin. "I should think… most people in your situation
would be happy to make new friends and get on with life." Milliardo shrugged, grimacing slightly as his pained
ribs reasserted their presence. "Don't need pity from my little
sister's associates." "Funny- it looks to me like that's precisely what
you want." Iria opened a jar and scooped a pleasant-smelling
salve onto her fingers, gently applying it to the bruised skin. "You'll
never admit to it, but all this is a scream for attention, isn't it?
No- don't bother answering that," she added quickly, as he shot
her a dark look. He sighed, relaxing slightly as the salve made the stinging
on his face go away. "You wouldn't understand how hard it has
been." "Try me." Iria wiped her hands on a handy
towel before looking up into Milliardo's face. "I see people
like you every day, desperate for attention and caring from a single
individual, and to Hell with the rest of the world. Well get over
yourself. You want to pity someone, come down to the Orphanage with
Relena tomorrow and meet some of those kids. You've had it easy, Milliardo.
You have no idea how lucky you've been." She stood quickly and rummaged in her bag for a bottle
of painkillers, pouring a few into his hand. "Take two now and
two more in the morning- it'll help for your stomach, as well."
She made to leave, but stopped and turned back to him quite suddenly.
"You've got a whole group of people here ready to take you in,
and a sister who's willing to give you a chance, even after you've
insulted and belittled all her friends repeatedly. Take my advice
and be happy with that. If your dad really wanted to be here for you,
he would be. He's not, and she is." She turned the lights off for him as she left, but Milliardo
stared at the door blankly for quite a long time. ~*~ He stared up at the brick building, trying to control
his reaction to the place. The neighbourhood… to say it was bad
was like saying Hitler disliked Jews- a massive understatement. But
the House itself… Milliardo followed his sister up the steps, not really
knowing why he was bothering, but he forced himself to walk through
that door- Sally Po met his eyes in surprise, a look that quickly
morphed into distrust. "What are you doing here?" He smiled as best he could with the bruise on his face.
"Hi, Dr. Po. A… friend of mine said I should come here to
see what it meant to have a hard life." "So she did." He turned as Iria laughed from
an adjoining doorway. "Good afternoon, Dr. Winner. Thanks for taking
care of my face." She rolled her eyes as she stepped closer to Sally and
eyed the bandage the blond had chosen to wear, rather than showing
off his bruise. "Anything that covers it up is an improvement."
The two women laughed. He managed a small smile. "I suppose I deserve
that." "He's telling a joke- he might actually make a
decent human being, after all," Sally joked, as she scooped up
a small, pig-tailed girl and stopped her from running headlong up
the stairs. "Well, as long as you're here, you might as well
make yourself useful. Come on!" He followed her in. Duo looked up in surprise as the two Doctors walked
in, followed by the tall blond. "Didn't expect you here, Milliardo.
Welcome to the Hope Home." He smiled down at the braided Administrator. "Thanks."
"Here, hold this." He automatically held his hands out as Sally shoved a large grocery bag into his arms. He gave her a look of surprise, and she smiled. "Donations. To be brought to the kitchen."
A small hand pulled on his trouser leg, and he looked
down to find a young black boy staring up at him. "Ya need me
to show ya the way?" It took a moment for it to sink in, but when it did,
Milliardo gave the boy a tiny smile. "Yes, please." ~*~ Roberto looked up in surprise as he heard a familiar
laugh at the door and saw… Duo and Milliardo Peacecraft? Sally Po and Iria Winner were deep in some private conversation
as they followed the boys in. He wasn't the only one to notice, either. Heero and
Wufei were on their feet immediately, Quatre and Trowa seconds behind
them. But all four calmed down as Duo shot them an expressive look-
He's okay, don't worry. His eyes lingered on Heero for a moment as he caressed
the ring on his finger. Heero smiled back, taking his seat. "Hi, Sally. How was brat patrol?" Wufei asked,
taking her hand in his and kissing it. She smiled at him as she settled into her place. "No
worse than usual, Fei. We had a new helper, though." Milliardo seemed to falter a little, but Iria gave him
an encouraging nod that was reflected in Duo Maxwell's smile. He faced
the others and took a deep breath. "I was… rude to you.
Really rude, and childish. I'm sorry for that, and I'd like to try
this friends thing over again, if you'll give me that chance."
Duo squeezed Heero's hand under the table. Quatre smiled as he saw his sister's eyes gleaming,
locked on the tall blond. "What brought this on?" Milliardo's eyes swung around to meet the hazel stare
directed at him. "A good bit of advice from a good doctor."
Wufei nodded gruffly, but those who knew him well could
see the approval in his dark eyes. "Well, nice to meet you. I
am Chang Wufei." He held out his hand. Milliardo smiled. "Milliardo Peacecraft, my pleasure."
Chuckling, they shook hands all around the table again. Roberto walked over, unable to contain his curiosity
a moment longer. "Alrigh', jus' what's goin' on here, now?"
Duo grinned up at him cheekily. "It's classified.
We could tell you, but we'd have to kill you." "Remin' me to leave de sugar out of his coffee," Roberto chuckled as the whole group rolled its eyes at the lame joke. He smiled over at Iria and Sally. "What can I get four you ladies tonight?"
Iria grinned right back. "Vanilla milkshake, heavy
on the Baileys." "There's no Baileys in a milkshake, sis,"
Quatre commented. "Now hush, you!" Roberto scolded lightly.
"De lady wants Baileys, she gets Baileys! How about you, Dr.
Po?" "Baileys shake sounds pretty good, actually."
Roberto grinned. "That's two. Another Turkish coffee
for you, Milliardo?" The tall blond tried not to make a face. "Thanks,
but no. It's a little too strong for me, after all. An espresso will
do nicely." As Roberto turned back to the counter, he distinctly
heard Duo making a comment about `real men' and Turkish coffee, and
he couldn't help a little laugh. He wondered if Milliardo had the
slightest clue how much he was in for, allowing this bunch to become
his friends. He hoped the blond would eventually realise how lucky
he was, too. owari |
