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"Going the Distance"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: Angst, language, violence, sex, AU Pairings: 1x2x3 Summary: Duo Maxwell has just signed on to join Team Gundam Wing, an upstart League of Legends team looking to win the World Championships. Duo Maxwell, the first openly gay professional gamer. Duo Maxwell, the guy hated by almost all of Reddit. Duo Maxwell, the guy whose own brother hates him. Duo Maxwell, the guy who really just wants to find a team that doesn't hate him. A/N: This fic is an AU that has the boys playing
professional League of Legends. I'm going to try my best to not get
bogged down too much in game terminology or things like that, but,
well, I WILL reference the game and try to explain as much as I can,
as I go. I'm also way too lazy to make up "new" teams for
the league, so I will be using existing teams and players, with the
exceptions of Team Gundam Wing, Zodiac Gaming, and the Valkyries.
So… I will be referencing real people and real teams. "Going the Distance"
Chapter Twenty-Three The next two weeks were more or less a sleepless blur to Duo. He had never really had the best sleep schedule - being a gamer meant staying up for so long that it was morning before he went to bed most nights - but now that he was spending every night with Heero and Trowa, it had gotten even worse. Duo honestly weren't sure how they were managing to function on this little sleep. Every night they stayed up until one or two practicing and waiting for Meilin or Quatre - or anyone else still awake - to go to sleep before Duo snuck into their room and they spent the next few hours talking or watching movies or fucking until they fell into an exhausted sleep, only to get up for the eight a.m. run every morning and start the whole cycle all over again. Part of Duo had never been happier - TGW was still at the top of the leaderboards, right there with ZG and he felt like the team was slowly gelling, in a way that they simply hadn't with Wufei, and that Trowa was becoming an amazing top laner while Heero and Meilin became an almost unkillable bot lane. He was in a relationship, and while it was secret, it was still more fulfilling than his last secret relationship - with Alex - had been. Every look, every casual touch between Heero, Trowa and Duo made him feel wanted and like he was part of something in a way that he never had been before. It was also, Duo couldn't deny, amazing to be getting so much regular - and such good - sex. The three of them were still experimenting, still trying to figure out what they liked best and what positions they could try and how their bodies reacted to certain stimulus. And while Duo didn't get much sleep, the sleep that he did get was between them, Trowa's legs thrown over his, Heero's arm curled around him and scowling face against his chest. But part of Duo was exhausted. He had never been this involved with someone before, never spent this much time being part of their life and had never gone this long with this little sleep. So far, though, the numerous pros to the evolution of things far outweighed the cons in Duo's mind, even when he started waking up in the mornings with pain in his right side, likely from an elbow or a knee to his body as they all adjusted beside each other at night. He found himself dragging during their morning runs, even more so than Trowa, and Duo had seen Heero frown at him more than once for being so slow. He felt bad - felt like he should be able to keep up and do just as well as them since they were all struggling with the same lack of sleep, but his body just felt achy and exhausted all of the time. His lethargy seemed to be affecting his gameplay too. He started making stupid mistakes during their scrimmages and when playing with Trowa during Solo Q. It felt like his reflexes were shot and finally, the night before back to back games against the Valkyries and Zodiac, Duo decided he needed to get a decent night's sleep, alone. He followed Trowa upstairs after they finished their game and he even followed him into the master bedroom, but when Trowa stepped close to him and kissed him, Duo gently pushed him away. Trowa frowned at him and Heero, reclining on the bed and watching a European game on his laptop, looked over at them in curiosity. "I'm sorry. I just - I need to sleep." "Okay, we can just sleep tonight," Trowa said. He stepped back from Duo. Heero nodded. "As hard as it will be, I think we can keep our hands to ourselves for one night." Duo smiled tiredly at the pun. Heero put away his laptop and shifted over in the bed, clearly inviting them to join him. Duo scratched at the back of his neck. "Yeah, I, ah... I think I'm going to sleep in my room tonight. I just - I need space, you know?" "Space?" Trowa echoed. Duo nodded. "Yeah, don't you two ever just... need space?" Both Heero and Trowa frowned. "I thought you wanted us to be together," Trowa said, his voice careful. "No, no I do. I just - look I'm just really fucking tired and I just want to hug my pillow, you know?" It was clear, from their faces, that they didn't know. Duo sighed and was about to just take it all back - "So you don't want to sleep in here?" Heero asked, gesturing at the room. "Not tonight. I just -" "Ok. Fine." Heero interrupted him, his jaw set and Duo could see that he was hurt. Duo looked over at Trowa, but the taller man wasn't meeting his eye. "Okay..." Duo opened the door. "I'll see you guys in the morning." "Hn," was Heero's only response. So Duo went to bed, alone, in his room, and even though he stretched out, flinging his arms and legs across the width of the bed as far as he could, he wasn't able to delight in the feeling of space and freedom. It took almost two hours for him to fall asleep, and the entire time he found himself just wanting to get up and get back into bed with Heero and Trowa. He was an idiot. -o- An idiot who woke up in pain, even though he hadn't slept next to someone or been kicked or elbowed once in the few hours he managed to sleep. An idiot who slept through his alarm to go on their regular morning run. An idiot who could only stare at the cooked breakfast Pargan had made for them, who could feel his stomach recoil at the very thought of eating eggs or sausage and who just couldn't be bothered to even eat any toast. An idiot who couldn't help but notice the way Heero and Trowa sat side by side during the van ride over to the studio for their games and didn't even look at him. An idiot who found himself wincing as he got out of the van. An idiot who just couldn't get comfortable in the lounge as they waited to take the stage and play against the Valkyries. An idiot who tried pacing, tried sitting on a chair, tried laying on the floor and nothing made the bitter, burning sensation in his belly go away. An idiot who tried to get Trowa and Heero's attention so he could apologize, but who failed to distract them from their pre-game rituals - or an idiot that they just ignored and refused to be distracted by. An idiot who sat down onstage in his chair, a sullen Trowa on one side and an eager Quatre on the other and all that he could focus on was the pain in his side. An idiot who stared at the computer monitor in front of him but could only see blurry images, no matter how much he squinted or how hard he rubbed his eyes. An idiot who felt an incredibly searing pain that overwhelmed all other thoughts and feelings in his body, a pain that radiated from his gut and left him choking and clutching his side. An idiot who fell out of his chair, onstage in front of hundreds of people, tangled up in his headset cords, curled into a fetal position. An idiot who lost consciousness just as he managed to make out Trowa's face inches from his own. ~ * ~ |
