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"Unexpected Development"Written By: Clara Barton Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing. The following
is an intellectual exercise with no intention of profit. That said,
these characterizations, words, and situations are mine. Please ask
before reprinting. Rating: NC 17 Warnings: Language, angst, sex Pairings: 1x2x3, 1x3 Summary: After a one night stand on Halloween, Duo tries to forget about his unforgettable neighbors. Continuation of the Unexpected arc. A/N : Continuing in the Unexpected arc.
"Unexpected Development" Chapter Two "Is it supposed to smell like that?" Hilde turned to Duo with an alarmed expression. "Like what?" "Like burning?" Her face turned completely white and she shoved Duo out of the way and yanked open the oven door. "It doesn't smell like burning," she insisted, sounding more than a little desperate. Duo tried to keep a straight face when she turned back to him but failed. Her eyes narrowed at his smirk and she slammed the oven door closed. "You -" "It smells great. Perfect," he assured her and held his hands up in surrender. But she continued to advance, hands on her slim hips, looking adorable and terrifying in the floral apron she had put on over her favorite red cocktail dress. "I'm going to kill you," she muttered. Duo rolled his eyes. "From boredom. Please. Let me do something." While he had not risen at two in the morning like Hilde had to start roasting the turkey, he had been up with her for the last three hours and he had been relegated to the sidelines of the kitchen as she prepared everything singlehandedly. "Duo. You yourself admitted that you don't like to cook or know how to cook." "Well, no, but -" "But I want this to be perfect. And I love you, Duo. I do. But I don't want to serve burned mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving. Again." Duo winced at the reminder of last year, when she had allowed him to be in charge of what she deemed to be the safest possible dish. "You know he's already head over heels for you," Duo had to say. Hilde gave him a look. "What? He is! You could probably just have fried chicken and mac and Quatre would think it's the perfect Thanksgiving meal." "This isn't just about him. His sister is coming over." "What?" Hilde sighed and started dicing carrots with alarming speed. "When Quatre called to cancel on his family his sister Iria was worried or something - I don't know - and insisted she would spend the day with him if he was sick or - or whatever so he invited her." "Uh huh." Duo surveyed the amount of food Hilde was preparing. The last he had heard, yesterday when he got back from Florida, was that it was going to be the three of them and he had prepared himself to be an awkward third wheel by going out again and buying a few bottles of his favorite Syrah. But this - this looked like food for more than four people. Even more than four with leftovers. "You sure it's just one sister he's bringing?" Hilde groaned. "Well - well he talked it up to her and made it sound like this big thing, like this thing you and I do every year that is so important to us and -" "But it is. Every year you make great food and we watch Star Wars. Hilde - Hilde this is the single greatest day of the year, every year." She bit her lip. Duo covered his face with his hands. "Jesus. Just tell me. Did you invite the whole building?" "Not the whole building." Duo glared at her. "Who?" "Just... Wufei and Heero and Trowa and Trowa's sister." Duo stared at her. And then he realized. "Fuck." He grabbed his coat. "What - where are you going?" "I need to get more wine. I only got enough to get myself drunk." It wasn't until he was on the street, walking on the empty sidewalk, that it really hit him. Heero and Trowa and Trowa's sister. Duo hadn't seen or spoken to either Heero or Trowa since Heero's interview, since the morning he made an ass of himself by throwing himself at Trowa and practically begging to be invited back into their bed. And now they were coming over for Thanksgiving. For hours of what Duo strongly suspected would not be watching Star Wars with Hilde while eating her delicious food. They were probably going to sit at a table. Everyone together. And he would have to look at Heero and Trowa, would have to look at them look at each other, and he would have to get incredibly drunk because he didn't like crowds to begin with, felt like an idiot around Wufei at all times to begin with, and couldn't help but look at Heero and Trowa and want to confess his undying love to begin with. He needed to numb himself, needed to probably start drinking now, and it was a good thing that there was a bar beside his favorite liquor store. -o- When he got back to the apartment, carrying as much wine as he physically could, pleasantly buzzed off of two Old Fashions at the bar, Duo immediately felt like an asshole. Hilde wasn't alone. Quatre and a blonde woman who was clearly his sister Iria, were there as well. Iria was seated at the kitchen counter, a glass of Duo's favorite Syrah in front of her, and Quatre was the one to open the door when Duo fumbled around with the keys for too long. Duo set down the wine by the refrigerator, trying to artistically cram it into the small wine rack on the floor and then giving up and stacking an additional four bottles on the counter. He sent Hilde an apologetic look, but she just regarded him with wide, pleading eyes. Right. Time to turn on the Maxwell charm. It was a very, very good thing he had stopped to have a few drinks. He smiled widely at Quatre and Iria. "Quatre! Good to see you again! And this must be your sister, Iria?" She gave him a cool smile. "And you must be Hilde's extremely attractive male roommate - the man with such good taste in wine." She saluted him with her glass. "Well, Hilde gets all of the credit for that. Before we met my palette was awful." Iria arched an eyebrow. "And how did you two meet? Quatre tells me you two have been living together for years." Duo could see Hilde looking at him with desperation and he wondered why - Oh. Extremely attractive male roommate. Duo laughed. "Well, we initially met at a party when we were freshmen at BU where she actually set me up with this really hot soccer player - what was his name, Hil?" "Matt." "Matt - Matt Yesnik. Anyway, Hilde set me up with him and we've been friends ever since." "You're gay." Iria stared at him. Duo arched an eyebrow and looked between Quatre and Iria. Quatre looked amused, looked like he was laughing silently at his sister and enjoying the hell out of himself. "Yes. I'm gay." "Oh. Well." Her smiled warmed several degrees and she looked over the dishes Hilde was finishing up in the kitchen. "It looks absolutely delicious, Hilde." "Thank you," Hilde said and mustered a genuine smile. She turned to Quatre and Duo. "Boys, why don't you set the table? I think everyone else will be arriving soon." "I'm sorry," Quatre whispered to Duo as they set the table, as Duo reflected upon the fact that this was one of the few times the long, oak dining table would be filled with people and not his or Hilde's crap. "I know you two usually do your own thing on Thanksgiving and I've made a mess of it." Duo shrugged. "No worries. You haven't made a mess of anything. And now that your sister doesn't think Hilde's sleeping with me I'm sure everything will go great." Quatre chuckled. "I tried to tell her that there was nothing going on with you two, but I didn't know... I didn't know if you were out or if you wanted strangers to know about your or..." "I appreciate your concern," Duo said, touched, "but I'm definitely out. My days of hiding who I am ended when I was in high school." Quatre offered him a wan smile and it looked like he wanted to say something, but the doorbell rang. Duo drew a deep breath and steeled himself - no matter who was on the other side of the door, he probably wasn't going to be ready to say hello to them. It turned out to be Wufei, who almost smiled at Duo but instead his face settled into a kind of grimace and he thrust a bottle of wine into Duo's hands. "Hilde mentioned you liked this wine," he said, his voice almost angry. Duo looked at the label. It was his favorite Syrah. Well. It would certainly have good company with the other eight bottles in the kitchen. He had forced himself to buy a few bottles of white, of some Pinot Grigio that had looked inoffensive, so that he didn't come home with only a dozen bottles of Syrah. "Thank you," Duo said, a little taken aback. Then again, guests were supposed to bring something over - aside from snarky attitudes. "I'm worried Brooklyn is going to run out of the 2010 Donkey & Goat," he said to Hilde as he set the bottle in the kitchen with the others. She snorted. "How was I supposed to know you were going to stock for Prohibition?" She muttered, but she seemed more at ease, happier, more herself now that Iria wasn't glaring daggers at her. "Can I get you anything?" Duo asked Wufei after an elbow prod from Hilde. "I suppose I can join..." Wufei looked at Iria. "Oh, this is my sister, Iria," Quatre said. "Iria, this is Wufei, he lives on our floor as well." Duo poured a glass of wine for Wufei and passed it over. Wufei nodded in thanks to him and he seemed... Duo couldn't put his finger on it. But there was something different about him today. He looked him over. He was dressed the same as always - dark trousers, button up shirt under a cardigan. The model of a lit professor. Wufei caught Duo staring at him at the exact moment that Duo realized what was different about him. Wufei arched an eyebrow and Duo flushed. "I - sorry. I've never seen you with your hair down." Wufei tensed, his spine so straight Duo wondered if it was painful, and his dark eyes narrowed, as though daring Duo to comment on the choice. "It's nice," Duo murmured, feeling like an idiot, like an asshole - like he always did whenever he tried to talk to Wufei. Wufei's eyes remained narrowed, and he frowned slightly. When the doorbell rang again, Duo practically sprinted for it. He paused at the door and drew in a deep breath and then forced a smile onto his face as he reached for the knob. Duo wasn't in the least surprised by the way his heart started to race when he saw Heero and Trowa, when he looked them over and catalogued what they were wearing, the way they stood close to each other, the slight smirk on Heero's face, the tilted left corner of Trowa's mouth and his intense green eyes, only one really visible under the fall of his auburn hair. And then he realized he was staring, realized they were staring right back at him, but it didn't really matter, did it? When Heero's eyes were so intense, so shamelessly looking him over and Trowa's tilted lips were curving into a full smile and fuck. He was fucked. "Ahem." All three of them started, looked away guiltily and shifted on their feet. A tall, auburn haired women stood behind Trowa and arched an eyebrow. "My sister, Catharine," Trowa said and stepped aside, allowing Catharine to step forward and shake Duo's hand. "Hi," Duo said, stupidly. "Hi," Catharine responded, smiling. She offered him a bottle of Syrah. "My brother said this was a favorite of yours?" Duo choked on a laugh but he nodded. "Yes, yes thanks." Heero and Trowa gave him curious looks, but Duo stood aside and gestured for them to enter. "Please come in, I think everything is almost ready." "I also made this," Trowa said, lingering a moment after Heero and Catharine went inside. He held aloft a golden crusted pie. "Hilde mentioned she could use a hand with dessert." "It looks great," Duo said. Trowa smirked. "It's blueberry lavender." Duo stared at him. More lavender. "Ah - do I refrigerate it or...?" Duo took it from Trowa and tried not to think about the way their fingers touched as Trowa handed over the plate. "It doesn't need to be refrigerated," Trowa assured him. Duo forced himself to turn away and go back to the kitchen, to put the pie and the wine down and remind himself that Trowa and Heero were...not the marrying kind but didn't make a habit of inviting anyone into their bed, or likely their kitchen for midnight omelets and coffee. It was one time. It was over. -o- Dinner went fine up until Catharine and Iria inexplicably decided to compare their brother's accomplishments, Catharine listing the awards Trowa had won in college, the galleries he had shown at; Iria following up with Quatre's role as an acting principal in the violin section of the New York Philharmonic, the music school for underprivileged children he had started last year. Both Trowa and Quatre looked embarrassed, shared miserable looks with each other, and finished off two glasses of wine each while the war went on between their sisters. "Well," Hilde finally interrupted when both women paused for breath and to think of more ammunition, "it's really amazing we have such talent living in our building. Trowa, Quatre - Heero, of course and Wufei - teaching at Columbia." "And Duo," Wufei added, coming to her aid. "Is a very talented photographer." "Yes, absolutely." Hilde nodded emphatically. "In fact, he has a show opening this next weekend at Art 3." Duo stared at her. Everyone else stared at him. "Really?" Trowa asked. Duo nodded slowly and tried not to feel betrayed. It was only his second show - his first had been years ago, at a small collective just after college and he his work had been spotted by a photographer with National Geographic who had invited Duo to be his assistant for the summer and that had led to him meeting other photographers, editors - his break into fashion photography. But he hadn't had a show since, hadn't sold any of his more artistic, his more personal photography, to anyone outside of a few acquaintances. The show at Art 3 was a big deal, was one of the most terrifying things Duo had done in a long time, and Hilde knew he was convinced no one would show, or that those who did would wonder where the sexy models were and ask why Art 3 had wasted the gallery space on a commercial photographer. And now she was telling everyone about it. "That's great, Duo!" Quatre said, a wide grin on his face, clearly relieved to no longer be the subject under discussion. "I'm actually free next weekend - I'll have to come with Hilde to see your work." "You should all come to support him," Hilde said, and Duo had to wonder how much she had had to drink. Heero and Trowa exchanged looks. "We would love to see your work," Heero said, and it sounded as though he was asking permission. Duo sighed. "Yeah. Great. Everyone should come." He knew he sounded angry and bitter, even without the hurt expression on Heero's face. He was angry and bitter. He didn't want them there - didn't want any of them there, except maybe Hilde, just so someone would know it had happened, but he didn't want or need any other witnesses to his spectacular failure. -o- Duo felt nothing but relief when Quatre and Iria, the last of their guests to leave, walked out of the door. Hilde tried to help him clean, but he brushed her off - insisting that she had done all of the hard work and he needed to do something at least and she should just take a nap because she had earned it - and spent the next hour furiously cleaning plates and surfaces and trying not to think about just how humiliating it was going to be to have Heero and Trowa stand in an empty gallery and see his photographs and wonder why no one else cared. He cleaned the pie plate, the silver platter that Trowa had brought over, last. He should go and return it, but of course, that would mean having to see them again. And three hours at the table, staring and then not staring, had been hell already. Duo felt a rush of anger towards himself. Grow up, he thought and yanked off Hilde's floral apron and picked up the plate. He went down to their floor and knocked on the door. It was opened a moment later by Heero. "Duo." He looked a little uneasy, a little unsure of how to take Duo's appearance at his doorstep. Duo sighed and held up the plate. "Trowa brought the pie over on this." He explained. Heero nodded and accepted it. "Thank you." They stared at each other, and Duo noticed that Heero had changed, was wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt and he looked comfortable and sexy and Duo forced himself to step back. "Right. Well - thanks for coming over," he said. "And thank Trowa again for the pie. It was delicious." Heero nodded and he hesitated, starting to close the door but then stopping. "Do you want to come in? Trowa and I were about to watch a movie and -" Duo held up his hands. "No, no but thanks." He couldn't do it. Couldn't subject himself to a movie with those two, with Heero in sweatpants and a t-shirt that clung to his shoulders and upper body and made Duo think about his Batman costume, about the way his abdominal muscles fluttered when Duo sucked his cock. "Maybe some other time?" Heero suggested. "Yeah. Some other time." Duo agreed and he walked away before he changed his mind. He felt like banging his head against the wall, but instead he dragged himself back up to his floor, taking the stairs slowly, berating himself every step of the way. Wufei was just leaving his apartment, leashed cat in tow. Duo had to smirk, as he always did, at the sight. Wufei saw him and arched an eyebrow. "Thanks for coming over today," Duo said to him. Wufei shrugged one shoulder but then he frowned. "I should apologize. I... did not mean for you to become the center of attention when I mentioned your photography." Duo stared at him. Had Wufei just apologized? And for something that really wasn't his fault? And was he... not scowling at Duo? "Um, don't worry about it," Duo assured him, scrambling for words. "It wasn't your fault and you didn't - it's fine," he assured him. "Really." "If you would rather I didn't come to your show, I understand." "No it's not..." Duo sighed. "I'm pretty sure if you do come then you're going to be one of five people there." Wufei stared at him. "I find that very hard to believe. But if I am, then I will be happy to be one of those five." He gestured to his cat. "I should take Nataku on her walk before she gets too anxious." Duo nodded and watched the two go. As he let himself back into his apartment, he couldn't help but think that this had been the weirdest Thanksgiving since the one when he came out to his parents and they kicked him out of their house. ~ * ~ |
