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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 31 It didn't take long for Duo to realize that the chlorine
fumes were indeed going to aggravate his bronchitis. 'Shit. And I
really wanted to be able to stay...' he thought unhappily. He decided
to wait until the urge to cough became too strong to resist, then
he would leave voluntarily before either Heero or Wufei forced him
to. Unless of course one of them asked him whether the fumes were
bothering him first. In which case he would have to admit it and leave... 'Dammit,' Duo silently groaned. 'I'm doing it again...'
He hadn't realized how often he *did* that kind of thing. Bent his
"no-lying" rule until it shrieked in protest. But he'd more
or less promised *not* to do that anymore... Right now though, the
feeling of the warm water and the very attractive company he was in
left him awfully tempted to not say anything. Heero stole surreptitious glances at Wufei from time
to time. Their trip down to join Duo at the hot tub had taken place
in silence. Wufei evidently felt that he had said all that he needed
to say while he himself simply didn't know *what* to say. 'I do care
about Wufei... I'd already decided that I cared about him almost as
much as I care about Duo... And he *is* very attractive...' Images
flickered through his mind of Wufei doing katas in the Preventers
gym. Of him in the locker room, one towel around his waist and another
draped around his shoulders to catch the drips from his hair. Of that
silky black hair hanging loose around his face for a few brief moments
before being dragged back into a tight tail. Of the softness and warmth
in Wufei's dark eyes as he gazed at Duo. And of the tenderness in
the way he caressed Duo's face and Heero's own previous half-formed
wish that Wufei would touch him like that. Had he already been subconsciously
thinking along those lines even then? Heero wasn't sure. 'Could I fall in love with Wufei too?' Heero wondered.
It was a tough idea to wrap his mind around. Love itself was such
a foreign concept to him and he had had so much trouble accepting
his feelings for Duo that the thought of being in love with someone
else as well was rather - overwhelming. Though not necessarily in
a *bad* way... Heero was pulled away from his thoughts by a sigh from
Duo. "The fumes are kinda bothering me," Duo admitted with
obvious reluctance. "But it's not bad enough to make me actually
cough yet... Maybe I could stay a while longer?" Wufei was drawn from his own contemplation of Heero's
possible reaction to his suggestion by Duo's words. He could certainly
understand why Duo didn't really want to go back to the room; the
hot tub felt very good. And all of them had been enjoying the - view
- so to speak. Duo openly and he and Heero a bit more surreptitiously,
particularly when eyeing up each other. But chlorine irritation would
linger for quite some time after Duo left the area; Wufei didn't really
think remaining right until he started coughing was a good idea. "How
long has it been bothering you?" he asked. "Err, more than five minutes?" Duo offered
timidly. In other words, long enough that he'd obviously considered
hiding it and changed his mind, Wufei thought. Considering that Duo
*had* confessed though, Wufei hated to insist that he immediately
leave and get out of the fumes. "But less than ten, I hope,"
he said drily. Duo winced and admitted, "Just barely." Heero sighed and suggested, "Five more minutes
then we'll all go up together?" The hot tub had done a good job
of relieving his stiff and sore muscles and although he wouldn't have
minded staying longer, he didn't really want to send Duo up without
them. He hoped that not insisting on leaving immediately would keep
Duo from feeling like they were trying to boss him around yet five
more minutes shouldn't be enough that he would end up coughing for
the next few hours. Shooting Wufei a hopeful look, Duo asked, "Fei?" Wufei nodded in agreement. "Five minutes. Unless
you think you're going to start coughing," he amended. Duo grinned, relieved that neither of them had chewed
him out for taking so long to tell them. He would get better at not
hiding things, he promised himself. But he'd been doing it for a long
time and he suspected that it was going to be a hard habit to break. *** Wufei stole another quick glance at Heero who was seated
across the table from him. Since they had all wanted something a bit
more substantial than takeout for supper, they had ended up going
out to a nearby steakhouse recommended by the hotel receptionist.
The food was excellent but Wufei was not entirely enjoying his meal.
Because despite the fact that several hours had passed since his -
conversation - with Heero, Heero had yet to respond to his earlier
actions which was starting to make Wufei a bit nervous. He *had* told
Heero to take his time and think about it but still... His thoughts
were thankfully interrupted by a question from Duo. "So when are we s'posed to fly back to Sanc?"
Duo asked curiously. "Or do we still need to get tickets for
that?" "There's a Preventer shuttle taking some new recruits
there for training tomorrow. We can all catch a ride on that flight
if none of us particularly want to spend the whole weekend here,"
Heero suggested. "I had checked into that yesterday and completely
forgot about it after everything else that happened." "Umm, yeah, that sounds good to me," Duo said,
throwing a guilty look at Wufei's cast in response to Heero's oblique
reminder of the previous day's disastrous events. Heero didn't seem
to be limping anymore, thank god, but Wufei's injuries were going
to provide a reminder of his mistakes for quite a while yet. "I'll call and confirm the departure time when
we get back to our room then," Heero said. The mention of returning
to Sanc had reminded him as well that they were going to have to figure
out living arrangements for the next few days to a week while they
house-hunted. 'Not to mention deciding whether to move in before he
returns from L2 for good or not...' If they *did* move in before Duo's
return, that would leave him sharing the house with Wufei for a month
or so unless Duo managed to help hire and train a yard manager in
less time than that. Sharing a house and - if they started out with
the rooms set up the way they intended to keep them once Duo returned
- sharing a bedroom as well. Which brought Heero back to the *other* decision he
was still putting off. How to respond to Wufei. He had pretty much
made up his mind what his answer was; he just needed to figure out
how to convey it. *** Heero threw a quick glance towards the doorway. Judging
by the faint sounds he could hear, Wufei was still getting ready for
bed. Turning to Duo, he said softly and a bit nervously, "Duo,
you're sure that you don't mind if Wufei and I end up - well, sharing
each other too?" He knew that Duo had already said it was okay
but he wanted to be absolutely *sure* before he committed himself.
Getting as far as they had already had been so difficult and there
had been so many misunderstandings that he didn't dare run the risk
of another one. "I'm sure," Duo assured him. Judging by that
question, he guessed Heero was getting ready to give Wufei his answer.
And from the sounds of things, it was the one that both he and Wufei
had been hoping for. He stepped closer to Heero and hugged him reassuringly.
"It'll make things easier in the long run for all of us. I'm
not sayin' things will ever be quite as simple as in a regular two-person
relationship; balance is always gonna be pretty critical for the three
of us. But a true three-way relationship should be a lot more stable
than just overlapping couples. And it won't leave all the responsibility
for keeping things balanced on just me; I was kinda worried about
that..." he admitted. Nodding his understanding of Duo's point, Heero hugged
him back. Seeing Wufei approaching the door, he said to Duo, "Time
for a goodnight kiss, don't you think?" Duo grinned and nodded enthusiastically. He responded
willingly to the kiss Heero pressed to his lips. Once Heero released
him, he crossed the few strides separating them from Wufei and kissed
him as well. Wufei slid his good arm around Duo, holding him close
as they kissed. He didn't think he would ever tire of these simple,
tender kisses even after their relationship progressed beyond the
stage of merely kissing and cuddling. As Duo slowly pulled away from
him, Wufei was startled by just how close Heero was standing. "My turn?" Heero asked a bit hesitantly. He
had intended to just go ahead and kiss Wufei but found that when it
came right down to it, he couldn't quite manage that. Despite Wufei's
earlier actions, he simply wasn't that sure of himself. All of this
was just too new to him and he was too afraid of making a mistake
and wrecking things. Eyes widening in surprise, Wufei managed to nod slightly
and say, "If you want it to be..." Heero stepped forward and slipped one arm around Wufei
the way he had when Wufei kissed him earlier.Cupping his other hand
around the back of Wufei's neck, he tilted his head and brought their
mouths together in a still slightly hesitant kiss. Wufei responded readily to Heero's kiss; relieved to
finally have Heero's answer. Couched in no uncertain terms too. As Wufei and Heero separated again, Duo ducked under
Heero's arm and squeezed in so that he could wrap an arm around each
of them. "Love you both," he murmured, dropping a quick
kiss on each one's nearest cheek. "Guess there's one little thing
we kinda need to talk about, 'specially now that you two have decided
to - well, explore some possibilities at least." "Why don't we get settled for the night first?"
Wufei suggested. "Okay," Duo agreed. "Uh, Heero, do you
mind taking the middle again? 'Cause I really don't think Fei's ribs
and arm need me draping myself all over them and I don't think I can
keep myself from doing that in my sleep..." "No, I don't mind," Heero responded. He would
just have to do some stretches and take a hot shower in the morning
to loosen his muscles up. The pulled muscles from yesterday weren't
really bothering him anymore but another night of acting as a pillow
would probably make them pretty stiff again. He climbed into the bed,
Duo close behind him. Watching Duo curl up and pillow his head on Heero's
shoulder, Wufei hesitated. Draping himself all over a sleeping Heero
while semi-sedated and half asleep was one thing, doing so while they
were both wide awake was rather a different story. But it *had* been
quite a comfortable position... "Aren't you coming to bed Fei?" Duo asked
curiously. Prodded into motion, Wufei got in bed and slid over
close beside Heero before hesitating again. "Umm, Heero, do you
mind if..." Heero managed not to snicker at the flush flooding Wufei's
cheeks. Of course, his own felt rather warm too... "No, go ahead..."
he managed to say. Duo waited while Wufei got himself settled, wincing
a bit at the twinges of discomfort that crossed Wufei's face as he
did so. He really had a lot to make up for... He actually felt a bit
guilty that his cough medication was doing such a good job; it seemed
as if he'd gotten off awfully lightly compared to Wufei. "What was it that you wanted to discuss Duo?"
Wufei asked, trying to ignore the fact that he was carrying on a conversation
over top of Heero's chest while lying with his head on Heero's shoulder. Keeping his voice low to avoid irritating his throat
and lungs, Duo began, "Uh, well, Fei, you mentioned something
earlier about us all needing to get to know each other better before
taking things any further. I think you're right, 'specially now that
we're talking about making things a true threesome. For one thing,
I think that me going any further with either of you should wait till
you two have figured out what you want from each other as well. Now
that I know you guys love me and want us to be together, I'm not in
a big rush." Duo hesitated, then continued, "I wasn't really
before either. During the war, I mean. Yeah, I was a horny teenager
but I was just kind of trying to find a way to get close to one of
you. I sorta thought that maybe if I could get a sexual relationship
going, I'd eventually be able to turn it into more. Probably not exactly
the brightest idea, but..." He sighed before adding, "I
was just so damn *alone*. And I hate being alone. And there was a
hell of a good chance that at least one of us would get killed before
the war ended, *if* it ended. I fell in love with Heero and the fact
that I hadn't been having much luck even turning him into a friend
didn't seem to matter; I was in love and that was all there was to
it. Trying for friendship first didn't work, or at least didn't work
fast enough for me to realize that it was going to, so I figured maybe
hormones *would*. But then they didn't either, so I backed off for
a while, watched to see if he noticed the difference - and he didn't
seem to." Duo hastily touched a finger to Heero's lips as an indrawn
breath warned him that Heero was about to protest. "I know now
that I really was rushing things too much, Heero. I'm not blaming
you; the whole mess was just as much my fault for pushing too hard
and expecting too much, too soon. But what I'd managed to find out
about your background didn't really give me any reason to understand
how new and confusing this all was for you. So I figured maybe you
were straight; the odds weren't really in my favour after all. And
the whole not-making-friends thing could have just been because we
were too damn different to ever be more than casual acquaintances." Duo removed his cautionary touch as Heero subsided with
a soft sigh. "So then - well, I already knew that I cared about
Wufei a lot and was attracted to him, and once I let myself think
about him that way..." Duo shrugged one shoulder awkwardly, "I
realized I was in love with Wufei too. And I already knew that friendship
hadn't worked 'cause I'd been trying to be friends ever since we met,
so I moved straight on to hormones and - well, it didn't take long
to realize that wasn't going to work with Fei either." Speaking
hastily to forestall any objections, Duo added, "And again, I'd
found out just enough about your background, Fei, to think I knew
a lot about you, everything I needed to know, but really I didn't
know enough to understand why you reacted to me the way you did. I
rushed things too much with both of you 'cause I always had that thought
at the back of my mind that each time we saw each other could be the
last. And for a while there, it didn't seem like the war would *ever*
end; at least not unless it was because we all got killed." Duo sighed before continuing, "Couldn't completely
forget about either of you, but I sort of shut down to being politely
friendly 'cause I just couldn't keep trying anymore. And even if neither
of you exactly responded *positively* to that, at least you didn't
respond negatively so I kind of figured that was about the best I
could hope for." "I had wondered why you seemed to be in such a
rush during the war yet were content to take things slowly now,"
Wufei admitted. He could certainly understand why the hazards of war
had added such a feeling of urgency for Duo. And now that he understood
how important simple contact with another person was to Duo, he could
also understand why Duo had felt so alone. Of their entire group,
the only one that would have been likely to be provide that sort of
casual contact would have been Quatre. And while the blond and Duo
had occasionally had missions together, Duo had been partnered with
either himself or Heero far more often. Heero offered quietly, "I think that the two of
you are correct about getting to know one another better. We all have
rather distinctly non-average pasts; undoubtedly there are other things
that need to be shared before they become the source of an accidental
misunderstanding." He hesitated, then confessed, "And taking
things slowly may help me to get past some of my issues with not knowing
how to respond to touch. I am - not sure how fast I would be comfortable
with proceeding." He was embarrassed to admit it but Heero really
wasn't sure how fast he *could* proceed. For so much of his life the
only thing that touch had meant was pain, whether from a blow causing
an injury or the rough treatment of an injury, that he was sometimes
surprised that all he did in response to unexpected touch was freeze
temporarily. On either side of Heero, two people wished again that
they had J in front of them and at their mercy. Not that mercy played
any part in what they would have liked to do to the cold-hearted bastard.
Both Duo and Wufei suspected that their contempt for J would only
continue to grow as Heero revealed more of his childhood to them. "Since we're all in agreement, slow it is,"
Duo said, careful to keep his anger out of his voice. "Now, I
don't know about you two but," he yawned widely, "I think
I'm ready for some sleep. 'Specially since we've got a pretty early
start tomorrow to catch that shuttle. G'night Heero, Wufei..." "Good night, Duo," Wufei responded. "Good
night, Heero." "Good night," Heero answered, giving in to temptation and dropping a kiss on top of the head pillowed on each shoulder. The temptation itself surprised him almost as much as his impulsive decision to give in to it. 'Maybe falling in love with Wufei won't take quite as long as I thought after all...'
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