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"Lasting Impressions"Written By: Dragonmistress_7 Disclaimer: I don't own the Gundam Wing Boys.
Lasting Impressions
Lasting Impression 18 Duo woke alone to be greeted by the familiar sight of his own bunk in Heero's shuttle. His head hurt somewhat and he needed to brush his teeth, but otherwise he felt pretty good. Only when he tried to rise did he notice the device on his left arm. He knew from his medical training that it was a bone growth stimulator. As the name suggested, it would seriously reduce the amount of time it would take to recover from his injury. Finding no fault in his control of his instincts, Duo rose and left the room. The others were sitting around the table. Quatre, Hilde, and Trowa were laughing about something. Heero was so deep in conversation with Wufei that he almost didn't notice that Duo was up. Before anyone could say a word to Duo, Quatre jumped up and grabbed him in a fierce hug. "You were in such bad condition before that I didn't get a chance to thank you," he said quietly into Duo's ear. "You saved us. Trowa is my life. You saved both of our lives." In such close proximity to Quatre, Duo just had to return the embrace. "No big deal. I'm just glad that you're not secretly having doubts about me anymore." Quatre pulled away and looked abashed. "Not so secret as I've been hoping," he murmured. "I suppose you can't hide from an empath." "Not really," Duo agreed with a smile. Then he turned to Wufei. "We've got Hilde the defunct royal and Trowa, who apparently once ran a planet for fun and profit. So, what are you? A warlord, maybe? Heir to a shipping empire?" Wufei smiled. "Hardly. I'm a pharmaceutical representative. My life is so boring it hurts with it. When you're peddling Drakon technology to other races, all you have to do is show up at the local hospital and let the administration know it exists. My people are on the cutting edge of medical technology. That bone stimulator is of Drakon origin, for example." "Thank you for allowing me to borrow it," Duo smiled. "So, who's going to tell me the story? How did we get off Ansirii?" There was a moment of silence as they took a collective breath and then Hilde was laughing again while everyone else started from different points of the story. "Let me tell the first part and then you take it, Hilde," Quatre said. "After we put you out we found this perfectly awful little live entertainment show to sit through three times since it was dark in there. Remind me to tell you about it sometime. There were all these Ansirians dressed up as the most ridiculous things. I laughed harder every time I saw it." "Which made staying inconspicuous rather difficult, as it was a tragedy," Trowa added. "Anyway, I thought waiting out the day was the only reason we were there, but Heero is a genius. Between the second and third shows, he goes and talks to the actors. We had no idea why, and he wouldn't tell us. So we stayed there until it was good and dark and then snuck back up to the first level of the city. Heero did a little scouting at the space port since we didn't think that he'd be recognized immediately. He found us an empty room to catch a nap in. It had the bonus of having an unattended computer terminal." Quatre grinned over at Heero. "Miraculously, our newly-repaired shuttle's passenger list changed to include only three people, with a destination of Drakona," Heero said with a slight smile. "Then, Heero went to meet Hilde and Wufei and tell them the plan. When he comes back, Hilde and Wufei were with him, and so were about seven of those actors! Heero had paid them and told them that we were shooting a pilot for a hidden camera show to be aired on Earth. You tell the rest, Hilde," Quatre giggled. She smiled, rather smugly. "I'm so sorry you missed it, Duo. It was the role of a lifetime. By the time I was through with that spaceport, they didn't know whether they were coming or going. It was my wedding day, you see, and everything had to be perfect. I had an entourage of Ansirian friends and well-wishers, though they managed to do very little in terms of helping me, and a great deal in terms of causing even more of an uproar. Wufei did a wonderful job as the groom, holding his nose high and occasionally asking, so coolly, "That won't be a problem, will it?" I thought that shorter guy was going to piss himself." "Not that she needed the help, but I directed a bit of calamity at them in the form of very mild hallucinations, " Wufei contributed, referring to his natural racial ability. "That nice inspector we talked to yesterday was there, and he almost did piss himself. The only difference was that he was laughing." This was from Quatre. Hilde continued, "The actors ran everywhere, demanding to know what happened to my luggage and how to report it stolen and generally being as obnoxious as possible. I made such a nuisance of myself that every member of staff who wasn't doing something vital to the functioning of the spaceport was either dancing attendance to me or on their communicator trying to get me off their planet as fast as the laws of physics would allow. They were in such a hurry that they didn't even do a proper inspection of the shuttle. They missed three stowaways, after all. I also happened to overhear that they bumped up takeoff time by about twenty minutes. I can't imagine why." "It might have had something to do with the look on that poor manager's face after the third time you told him that he was trying to ruin your wedding with his tackiness," Wufei suggested. "Or the way the actors harassed the security guards by insisting that they were being harassed." "Or maybe because they assigned your group your own janitor within ten minutes of walking through the door," Heero guessed. "I think it was when I made the girl at the ticket counter cry," Hilde mused proudly. "I can't believe I missed it," Duo said, shaking his head. Suddenly, his eyes went wide and his skin paled. "Oh, no." With no further warning, he tore down the hall and into the bathroom. The others exchanged a look. "I'll check on him in a minute," Heero said. "It's getting worse. It's a good thing for him that this trip is almost over. I don't know where any of you were headed, but we're close enough now that I don't mind telling you that my final stop is Ameth." "That works out well for us," Quatre said. "We were headed there anyway." "I can easily book passage from there to Drakona," Wufei added. "It isn't far, and I know a few people. I'll be fine." "I've just been along for the ride. I don't have anywhere to be," Hilde sighed. There was for the first time a hint of loneliness to her words. "One place is as good as another." Heero frowned a little at hearing this. As he rose to check on Duo, he watched her slide over to his now-vacant seat and strike up a conversation with Wufei. There was no denying that Hilde was a good Bard and suited for her job. Still, he thought a break would do her some good. If Hilde tried a bit of stability in her life, he truly believed that she would enjoy it. ~ * ~ |
