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" Lunch At Mama's "Written By: CalicOcat Life With Heero Arc fic 14 Genre: Angst, Friendship Pairings: None yet Rated: PG-13 Warnings: AU, OOC, Swearing Archives: At Mediaminer.org under Calic0cat. Anyone
with archive permission for my other fics can help themselves; anyone
else, please ask. Disclaimer: Duo and Heero and the rest of the GW gang aren't mine. This story is. Nuff said. Notes: The arc begins between one and two years after Endless Waltz. Heero POV in this story. 'Thinking' "Speaking" ************ Time passing or scene change Author's Notes: This is the first in an arc of stories. I don't know for sure how many stories there will be or how often I'll be posting them. The length of each story in the arc will vary, anywhere from ficlet to multi-part. Warnings will vary from story to story as well, as will the genre. Pairings will probably eventually make their way in, but it will be quite a while since the first half dozen or so stories are drafted out and there's no real indication of pairings in them as of yet. Feedback is appreciated.
Lunch at Mama's Arc fic 14 "Hey Heero, wanna go play a little one-on-one after I get home tonight?" Duo called over his shoulder as he went into the kitchen. "Sure," Heero answered, coming down the stairs. "I'll set an alarm so I come in from the garage early enough to be ready when you get home." Entering the kitchen behind Duo, Heero was surprised to see his friend open the fridge door then slap his forehead. "Urk, guess we can't - we're gonna have to go get groceries tonight," Duo said apologetically. "I *could* just pick up a few things to tide us over, but it'd make more sense to just get it over with." Filling his coffee cup, Heero took his seat at the table. As he ate breakfast, he thought about what Duo had said. It seemed sort of silly to waste an entire evening going after groceries. The market was a lot busier at night than it had been the one time they'd gone on a weekday morning. Maybe... "See ya tonight, Heero," Duo called as he started towards the door. Jumping to his feet, Heero hurried after him. "Umm, Duo, would it be okay if I dropped you off and kept the car today?" Duo looked a bit startled, but answered, "Sure, no problem." Heero caught the keys tossed towards him and followed Duo out the door. It was no wonder Duo had been startled by the request. He hadn't gone out on his own at all since he'd got there. Which was pretty pitiful, when he really thought about it. Maybe it was time to stop feeling sorry for himself and start *doing* something. *** Sitting in the market parking lot, Heero forced himself to release his white-knuckled grasp of the steering wheel. It was a lot easier to do this with Duo than by himself. He hadn't told Duo he intended to get the groceries on his own because he hadn't been entirely certain he could go through with it. But none of the vendors they regularly dealt with acted as if they thought he was some sort of threat anymore. They might not greet him as enthusiastically as they did Duo, but they were perfectly polite to him. And Mama Lucia always greeted them both as if they were long-lost family members. He doubted she would act any differently if he was on his own. Taking a deep breath, Heero gathered up the backpack and canvas tote that he had brought to carry everything in the hopes of avoiding extra trips to the car. 'Just remember not to glare at any small children and you'll be fine, Yuy,' he told himself firmly as he left the parking lot behind and entered the marketplace. 'Oh shit,' was Heero's first thought as he realized
that there must not be any school today, judging by the number of
children and parents swarming around. He flinched as an overladen
woman bumped into him. Threading his way through the crowd, Heero slowly made his way towards the first stop on his list. Leaving the stall a few minutes later, fruit safely tucked into the backpack, he let the satisfaction of having marked several items off the list calm him in preparation for the next stop. 'Oh shit. The meat vendor. Duo *always* dickers the price down. What the hell is the vendor's name...' Emerging from the meat stall a while later, Heero felt
a small smile tug at the corner of his mouth. 'Now I understand why
Duo always insists on going to that particular meat vendor when he
could pay "Heero! Did that naughty Duo make you come and
carry all those heavy groceries all by yourself?! Come, come, sit!
Rest! Mama will give you a nice hearty lunch to make up for all that
hard work!" Hurrying Offering Mama a small smile, Heero told her, "No, I thought I would surprise Duo by getting the groceries so we could do something else this evening. But I didn't expect such a large crowd..." Mama put her hands on her hips and shook her head in disapproval. "These schools nowadays... A day off for this and a day off for that..." Throwing her hands in the air, she demanded, "When are the children supposed to actually *learn* anything!" Not even pausing for a response, she asked, "Now, which will you have today, the spaghetti or the eggplant parmesan?" "I'll have the eggplant parmesan," Heero told
her. Watching as the motherly woman hurried off to get his lunch,
Heero remembered the first time she had dragged Duo and him into the
café. It had taken several more trips, with meals freely given
on at least half of them, but he had finally figured out what Duo
had been trying to tell him that day. Mama Lucia mothered *everyone*.
And she had decided that he and Duo were far too thin and obviously
did not feed themselves properly, so it was obviously up to her to
rectify the situation. It was rare that they escaped her stall without
a free meal or at the very least an extra portion of pasta or a loaf
of fresh-baked bread added to their purchases. He had only made the
mistake of trying to Finishing his meal, Heero rose and gathered his backpack
and tote up. After purchasing the bread and spaghetti that he had
originally came in for, he hesitated for a moment. Should he? Duo
always did... Beaming, she told him, "You're welcome, Heero." Switching to a mock-scowl, she waved her hands at him in a shooing motion, "Now, go! Get along with you! I have other customers waiting!" Grinning slightly, Heero did as he was told. ################################################# |
