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" Winning Duo "Written By: CalicOcat
Pairing: None yet, working towards 1x2x5; others
may be implied Rated: NC-17 Warnings: OOC, Swearing, Shifting POV 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: Starts one year after Endless Waltz. POV changes frequently. 'Thinking' "Speaking" *** Time passing or scene change Author's Notes: I usually write 1x2x1, so a 1x2x5
is a first for me (well, writing one is - I've been reading them for
quite a while now, that's the *only* threesome I actually *like*).
This fic is courtesy of Quin, my romance/humour muse. Feedback is
appreciated.
" Winning Duo" Part 23 Duo's brow wrinkled slightly in concern. He glanced from Wufei back to Heero again, wishing that they weren't in the middle of a restaurant so that maybe they could get things straightened out. 'Heero's so uncomfortable with Fei right now. And Fei's getting discouraged. He keeps trying to draw Heero into the conversation, but Heero won't even meet his eyes...' Seeing Wufei about to try again, Duo bumped his leg under the table to get his attention, then shook his head slightly. 'Better to let it go till we're back upstairs. I'll have to see if I can get Heero to tell me exactly what's wrong. Trying to draw him out now is just making things worse,' he thought. Wufei realized with relief that Duo was going to step in and help him out. He hadn't realized how much he'd come to enjoy the new, friendlier Heero until suddenly he was dealing with the old, silent Heero again. 'Only worse... *This* Heero won't even look me in the eyes,' he thought unhappily. He hadn't *meant* to push Heero away by calling him "Yuy". It had been a simple slip of the tongue; an old habit taking over in a thoughtless moment. 'But Heero obviously thought it was more than that. And after how close we all were yesterday, and particularly after how understanding and helpful he was over my mistake with Duo, it is not entirely surprising that he would be upset at what must have seemed like a deliberate snub.' Wufei mechanically finished off his French toast, wondering why every time the three of them got close to working things out, something *else* would go wrong. 'Will we ever manage to work things out?' he wondered in discouragement. Heero tensed as it appeared that Wufei was about to ask him something again, then relaxed slightly as Wufei subsided without saying anything. Between his confusion over how he felt about Wufei and why the thought that Wufei didn't at least consider him a good friend hurt so much and his confusion over exactly how Wufei *did* think of him, he just did not know how to deal with Wufei right now. The only thing keeping him from simply excusing himself and leaving was Duo's presence. Heero relaxed a bit more when a moment later Duo's hand gave his arm a gentle squeeze and he looked up to meet a quizzical smile. "Done eating Heero?" Duo asked. Glancing at the thoroughly shredded pancake still on his plate, Heero flushed slightly, then answered, "Yes." He *had* eaten one of them. He thought. Though with the state that the remaining one was in, it was sort of hard to be sure. But he definitely didn't want to eat any more. "Okay. I'm done and it looks like Fei is as well, so we might as well go back upstairs." Seeing Heero start to reach for the bill, Duo leaned over and snatched it up first. Reaching to take the bill away from Duo, Wufei said, "No, Duo, let us get it." Duo shook his head and held the bill out of reach. Firmly, he said, "I want to be a partner, not a freeloader. I'm not exactly penniless; I *can* afford to pay my share you know. " Wufei jerked his head up, eyes widening in near panic, "Duo, I didn't mean to imply that you couldn't! I just..." He couldn't seem to come up with the right words fast enough. Heero's words about L2 and his own mistake the previous evening left him floundering for a way to explain. He *liked* paying for Duo's share - or, more accurately, splitting that cost with Heero and paying half of it. It was just a normal, caring thing to do for your date. He didn't intend to imply that Duo wasn't capable of paying his own way! It took a moment for Duo to realize why his words had
upset Wufei so badly. He really hadn't meant to remind him of the
previous evening's events. He just thought it was time to get his
act together and start Reaching out, Duo laid his hand on Wufei's arm. "Fei, it's okay. I'm not upset. I know you guys have just been treating this as one long date. I understand that. What I'm saying is that dates go both ways. We can either choose to split the costs all the time or to take turns picking up the whole bill or some other arrangement that we work out. And I won't pretend that I don't have to be careful how much I spend. The salvage yard *is* starting to show a profit now, so I'm not dead broke, but I'm not exactly rich either. But paying for a few meals or trips to the movies or something won't leave me penniless. And if I *do* start running short, I promise I'll speak up. I'll admit that it's possible - I run on a pretty tight budget most of the time." Duo looked from Wufei over to Heero, who was completely silent and studying the table in front of him rather intently. Duo casually set the bill down and laid his other hand reassuringly on Heero's arm before asking, "That sound okay to you both? I'll get this bill and we can decide later how we want to handle that sort of thing?" Wufei nodded in relief, "Yes, that sounds fine to me." For a moment, he had been afraid that he had made another huge error. And at this point, he wasn't too sure he could *handle* making any more mistakes. "Okay," Heero agreed quietly. He had feared that they were about to end up with another very public scene. While he had managed to get through the previous ones, he did not feel up to handling another. He just really, *really* wanted to get out of the restaurant and back in private before that happened. "Okay! I'll go pay the bill and meet you guys out by the elevator," Duo said, sliding his chair back from the table. He was hoping that he could pick up some cough drops or something at the cash. He thought they'd had a glass case with that kind of thing in it. All that crying yesterday had left him with an awfully sore throat and he had a lot of talking to do this afternoon if he was going to tell Heero and Wufei about his past. With an effort, Duo stifled the panic that threatened to flare up at the thought. 'They said they love me and that my past won't change that,' he reminded himself. 'I have to trust them. To trust their love.' He needed to do that and he knew it. But... it was difficult. Duo shivered, suddenly chilled. 'Damn hotel air conditioning...'
"Heero, what's wrong? You seem so uncomfortable around Fei today... But yesterday, you two seemed to be getting along so well... You... you haven't changed your mind about me not having to choose, have you?" Duo asked hesitantly. 'Please, please, don't let that be the problem... Because I honest-to-god *couldn't* now that I know they both love me and want me...' He firmly silenced the little voice that reminded him that maybe he wouldn't have to worry about choosing by the time he finished telling them about his past. 'Trust them. I have to trust them,' he repeated to himself. Hearing the worry in Duo's voice, Heero suddenly felt
very guilty. He hadn't realized how his discomfort around Wufei might
affect Duo. Hadn't thought about the fact that Duo might fear he had
changed his Relieved, Duo scooted up on the bed completely so that he could get close enough to hug Heero. "Heero, I don't think Fei called you 'Yuy' on purpose. I think he just spoke without really thinking about it and said that from habit." Heero slid his arms around Duo in return, dropping his head on Duo's shoulder and relishing the closeness. He hesitated, then, remembering that Duo hadn't laughed at his braiding practice confession and trusting that he wouldn't laugh now either, he admitted, "It hurt when he called me 'Yuy', Duo. I don't have any real friends. I pushed you away and no one else has made the effort to try to get close. But Wufei and I are partners and he's probably the closest thing that I've *had* to a friend since the war even though I was always 'Yuy' and he was always 'Chang'... He's one of the only people that I can really *talk* to and feel like they understand... I don't feel the same about Wufei as I do about you, but I do trust him and respect him and care about him and I *thought* we were getting closer... I guess I must have misunderstood..." Heero's voice trailed off dispiritedly. All of a sudden, *Duo* was feeling very guilty himself. 'By cutting myself off from Heero after I gave up on a relationship with him, I left him stranded. I drew him out just enough that he'd started to think friendship might not be a bad thing, then left him on his own. I shouldn't have done that. But I didn't think I could handle just being friends when I really wanted more. And I hadn't realized that he *was* ready to try friendship. I thought maybe we really were just too different; that he would never be interested in more than a very polite friendship, something just slightly beyond merely being acquaintances. And so that was how I treated him...' Which meant that Heero had been left wanting to try
friendship but with no one to show him what being friends was all
about or to teach him how to make new friends. 'And with his background,
he wouldn't "I don't think you misunderstood, Heero. Fei told me that the two of you had been getting closer over the past few days," Duo offered. He looked up and said, "Didn't you, Fei?"
Wufei walked slowly back towards Duo's room, hoping
that Duo had managed to talk to Heero and find a way to smooth things
over between Heero and himself. 'Now that I've seen what the *real*
Heero is like, Reaching the bedroom door, Wufei was just in time to
see Heero turn into Duo's hug and hear his admission that he was hurt
by Wufei calling him "Yuy". As Heero continued to talk,
Wufei realized with a pang that he *hadn't* made an effort to get
closer to Heero before. That he had accepted his superficial reserve
and self-sufficiency at face value and hadn't bothered trying to get
past it. 'Heero is probably the closest thing that *I've* had to a
friend too... Sally Po comes close, but I still don't feel as comfortable
speaking with Wufei's breath caught at Heero's dejected tone during his final words. He hadn't realized that Heero had let him in that far. That his words or actions had the power to hurt Heero quite that deeply. 'But I should have. He looked to me for help at the aquarium when he didn't know how to comfort and reassure Duo. He agreed to share Duo with me if that was what Duo wanted. And he tried to comfort me last night when I was afraid that I had hurt Duo too badly to ever be forgiven. Those are not the actions of someone who is just a partner. They are the actions of a friend. A *close* friend...' A very close friend in fact, when he took into consideration that the "someone" in question was Heero, someone with little to no experience with real friendship. Just then, Duo looked up with a welcoming smile and asked, "Didn't you, Fei?" "Yes, I did," Wufei answered, stepping into the room. "Because we *have* been getting closer over the past few days." Heero tensed when Duo's question made it clear that Wufei had entered the room. He left his back to the door and his head on Duo's shoulder, once again unsure of exactly how long Wufei had been there and how much he had heard and not particularly willing to face him under those circumstances. Duo gave Wufei a pleading look and mouthed hopefully but silently, "Fei? Join us?" 'Join them? What...' As Duo flicked his eyes meaningfully
from Wufei to the spot on the bed behind Heero, Wufei took a guess
at what Duo meant. Sincerely hoping that Duo knew what he was doing
and that this Heero stiffened in Duo's arms as Wufei took a seat behind him on the bed. Duo started to rub his back gently, trying to get him to relax. Listening to Wufei's apology, Heero felt a bit of his hurt slip away. A slip of the tongue was understandable. But he still didn't really know where he stood with Wufei. Whether he was a friend or not. And if so, how close a friend Wufei considered him to be. Meeting Duo's expectant gaze over Heero's shoulder,
Wufei knew what he had to do. He wasn't sure that this would work.
It seemed very... presumptuous... But he didn't actually *mind* doing
it either. Drawing a deep breath, Wufei said softly, "Friends
are something that I don't have very many of either. But you, Heero,
are definitely one of them." Even as he spoke, he turned and
leaned to wrap his arms around Heero in a cautious hug, leaning his
cheek against Heero's shoulderblade and hoping all the while that
he had correctly 'I hope this works,' Duo thought worriedly. He was pretty sure that it would. Fei seemed - understandably! - hesitant but not actually reluctant. And once past the initial uncertainty, Heero seemed to respond extremely positively to touch. Duo just hoped that Wufei remembered to give Heero a few moments to adjust before deciding whether to hold on or let go. Heero froze in surprise as Wufei's arms slid around him, closing in a hug just below where Duo's arms wrapped around him. The warm pressure against his shoulderblade was almost certainly Wufei's cheek. He felt the last of the knot of hurt confusion in his chest loosen and slip away at Wufei's clear statement that he considered Heero a friend. And as it did, his surprise over Wufei's hug slipped away too, letting him relax and genuinely appreciate the comfort of being held by two people who cared about him. It was... a rather heady feeling after so many years of being alone. Wufei was almost ready to release Heero and start apologizing
for his forwardness when Heero suddenly relaxed. After a few moments,
Heero said quietly, "Apology accepted. And... I consider you
a friend too, "Thank you," Wufei said. He tightened the hug momentarily before releasing Heero, not wanting to hold the hug to the point where either of them became uncomfortable with it. Duo gave Heero a quick kiss before releasing him, then scooted past him to kneel behind Wufei. Not wanting Wufei to feel left out, he leaned over his shoulder and gave him a kiss and a hug as well. He was just thankful that things had worked out okay, at least for the moment. But he had a feeling that a change of subject was in order to keep anyone from dwelling too closely on what had just happened.
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