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" Asking A Favor "Written By: CalicOcat Life With Heero Arc fic 17 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. Duo 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.
Asking A Favor Arc fic 17 Wrinkling his nose in distaste, Duo surveyed the piles
of neglected paperwork. He had *finally* located the missing form
for the inspector but it had taken him virtually all day yesterday.
And all these messy, disorganized piles of paper remained. Page after
page of handwritten, hastily scribbled notes about junked equipment
that needed to be entered into the computer. Forms *listing* said
equipment (particularly mobile suits) that needed to be neatly filled
out in triplicate and submitted to the government declaring the Hilde had volunteered to take on the task of clearing up this mess when they'd fired the last clerk/receptionist as the total incompetent he was, but somehow she'd never got around to actually *doing* it. *He* should have noticed the problem sooner, but - well, he'd been a bit distracted with *other* problems over the past three months and had basically been putting in the bare minimum amount of time possible at the yard and hurrying home. And now some of those myriad forms were getting very close to being not only overdue but dangerously overdue. What they needed was someone with a very methodical, organized mind, a *lot* of patience, and the ability to stick at the task until it was done. And that was quite definitely *not* him. "Hey, Hilde," he called, "come in here a minute, would ya?" "Make it quick, Duo, I've got another buyer coming
in ten minutes to look at some old mining equipment parts," Hilde
answered, entering the room. "Ugh, guess we really should do
something about this. How long "About negative two months, Hilde-babe. What happened to 'Don't worry, I'll take care of this mess'?" "Err, I got busy with other stuff and forgot?" "And I'm sure the government inspector will just *love* that answer when he comes looking for the *other* four dismantled Taurus suits that are listed somewhere in *that*," Duo said drily, pointing at one dangerously tilted stack. "Look, Hilde, I know you said there was no way you'd let Heero work here again 'cause the other staff kept tryin' to quit last time, but if he *only* worked on this stuff and went through me for any questions..." Looking around at the mess, Hilde grudgingly agreed, "Okay. But he *has* to stay away from the other workers, Duo." Flinging his arms around her in an exuberant hug and giving her a sloppy smooch on the forehead, Duo exclaimed, "Thanks, babe! You're the greatest!"
'This is entirely different. This is a short-term arrangement to get the paperwork straightened out. Heero won't have to have contact with anyone other than me. Well, and maybe Hilde on occasion.' Duo winced slightly at that thought. Hilde tended to
be a bit... well, a bit strong-willed. And sometimes a little too
blunt. Heh, no wonder she and Heero didn't get along - they had a
lot of the same characteristics. But Hilde *had* already asked him
how long Heero intended to sponge off him this time. Hopefully, she'd
honour his request not to make those kinds of remarks, but... Well,
he'd just have to make sure Hilde didn't get a chance to have *any*
contact with Heero, especially not without him there. But first, he
had to talk As they settled down in the living room for an after-supper game of chess, Duo broached the subject. "Hey, Heero, I've got a kinda big favour to ask." "Favour? What do you need?" Heero asked, looking up from his study of the board. "Well, a few months ago, we fired the guy who was
supposed to be doing all the paperwork and accounting stuff for the
yard, because well - he wasn't. Doing it, that is. I don't know what
he *was* doing except "I know you're not real big on desk jobs, but do
ya think you could maybe see if you could get it straightened out
for us?" Seeing Heero shake his head slightly and open his mouth
to speak, Duo added Looking somewhat reluctantly interested, Heero said, "As long as it's okay with Hilde..." "Uh-huh," Duo nodded. "Okay, I'll do it. But no promises - if I can't get it straightened out, you'll have to hire somebody else," Heero warned. "No problem," Duo assured him before turning his attention back to their chess game. As he waited for Heero to take his turn, Duo worried about that response. He didn't like hearing Heero imply that he might not be able to do something. All those jobs he went through in the time since the first war ended had really done a number on Heero's self-confidence. And they shouldn't have. He never lost a job due to lack of the ability to carry it out, and carry it out *well*. No, those jobs were inevitably victims of Heero's lack of social skills. Simply put, Heero didn't know how to kiss up to the boss, let alone follow the old adage of "The customer is always right". That wouldn't be a problem this time, since Heero would
be working for Duo directly, and he'd learned a long time ago to take
Heero's blunt comments as what they were - a simple statement of truth
along with a
Looking around the immaculate office and seeing paperwork neatly separated into small piles (and none of them on the floor, either), file cabinet drawers properly closed instead of half-open and sagging under their own weight, and a computer actually *visible* instead of buried under a mound of clutter, Duo was impressed. He had known - okay, more like *hoped* - Heero would be able to straighten things out. But he'd never imagined he could get even a *few* piles sorted *this* quickly, let alone have *everything* at least *looking* neat and organized. Seeing the tiny, satisfied smirk on Heero's face, Duo realized why he'd worked so fast. 'Tryin' to show me you can pull your own weight, huh buddy? Well, that's never been a condition of you stayin' with me, but I know it'll make you feel a lot better to be able to contribute your fair share towards buying groceries and paying rent.' "I've really just got things sorted out, not much actually done yet," Heero said a bit apologetically as he rose from his chair, "but it was hard to work on anything until I figured out where it all was." "Hey, you've got more done than we'd managed in the... oh, three months or more, I guess... since we fired the incompetent twit who was supposed to be doin' all this." Giving Heero a quick hug, Duo told him sincerely, "Thanks, buddy. I know this," he gestured around the office, "isn't really your kind of thing, and once you've got it straightened out it sure won't take much time to keep on top of it, but I really appreciate the assist. And Hilde does too, even if she doesn't come right out and say it." #################################################
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