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"Lasting Impressions"Written By: Dragonmistress_7 Disclaimer: I don't own the Gundam Wing Boys.
Lasting Impressions Chapter 3
"I feel like it was my fault you got thrown out, somehow. I'm really sorry, Hilde," Duo said. He'd been quite subdued on the way back to the shuttle, and this was the first time he'd spoken directly to her. "It's okay, Duo," she smiled at him. "It's time I got off this station anyway." Duo smiled back, if a little shakily, and nodded. "Okay, then." He slipped away to make sure the book he was reading was still on his bunk. "Who is that guy, anyway?" Hilde asked Heero, when she was sure Duo was gone. He opened his mouth to give her the standard answer,
but decided she deserved better and closed it again. "No questions,
no lies. "Sounds like the best deal I've had in a long time, as long as it works both ways. It does work both ways, doesn't it?" Heero nodded. "I think you're okay, Hilde. So does
Duo, and you aren't likely to find a better judge of character. Anything
you Hilde smiled. "Okay. Now, to discuss the subject of money. How much will it cost me to-?" Heero cut her off. "If it wasn't for the fact that
you helped us, you would have a place to stay, a job, and food to
eat right now. Hilde nodded. "As you wish. I'll work it off where I can, but I'm in a bit of a crunch right now financially." "I understand. Bards don't make what they're worth, most of the time. Well, that's everything. You ready to go?"
Heero. Heero was what was wrong with him. Being anchored to the Nurturer had been suffocating, almost painful. Touching Heero had been like…flying, but with a cord tied around his neck. Heero was holding the other end of that cord. He was a paradox, this Heero Yuy. He seemed to want very different things from one moment to the next, and yet he was…steady. When his hand had closed around Heero's wrist, he felt a freedom that he hadn't known he craved. Nobody told him what to do, where to go, who to marry. He was a spacer -- independent, confident, self-assured. No, no, that was Heero. It was all Heero, wasn't it?
The intelligence, the dry humor, the determination, all of those things
were Heero's, that he was sensing through the touch, right? Then why
did they seem like his own? Why did Heero's anger stir him so? And why the hell was he angry at Heero? So mad he could
hardly see straight? He felt sharply the sting of a betrayal that,
as far as The fear. Stars, but he didn't know when he'd been so
terrified. He hadn't been in much real danger, but he nevertheless
felt as For several minutes Duo lay in his bunk, thoughts jumping around and circling back. Questions, fears, doubts, his own or Heero's, he couldn't say, swam through his head. He never wanted to touch Heero again, and yet he couldn't wait for an excuse. He'd make an excuse. He'd "accidentally" bump into him, hold on with all of his strength, and wait for that wonderful, terrible feeling to choke the life out of him. Except that he couldn't. No, no, not him. He knew from
past experience that anything he resolved to do when he was alone
melted He was an allateleion. How he hated for someone to tell
him that. Like he was hearing it for the first time. Like he wasn't
extremely He supposed he should feel grateful that it hadn't been
worse, but he didn't feel anything he wasn't told to feel, unless
trapped and "Duo," Hilde called from down the hallway, "what would you like for dinner? I'm cooking." Duo waited for something to come, automatically, out of his mouth. She was moving closer, and he could feel her presence now. The door opened, and she stood in the doorway, looking at him. He realized he hadn't said anything, and that he didn't know what to say. "Oh, um, uh, whatever you want to fix is fine. I'm not picky," he finally managed. "No preference?" she asked as Heero slid by her into the room and began looking for a clean shirt. He shook his head, so she turned to Heero. "How about you?" "How's your spaghetti?" he asked. "Delicious, if one of you has time to give me a hand," Hilde replied. "I'll be there in two minutes," Heero promised, and then they were gone. Duo still lay, exactly as he had been, on the bed, bewildered. He blinked, twice. Then he got to his feet. "Hey, guys, wait for me." - - - "Heero, it's doing it again!" Duo called.
There was a bang, and then a quiet curse. In a moment, Heero came
back into the cockpit, "Dropped the panel on my foot," he explained, sitting down in the pilot's chair. "You were putting the panel back? Don't tell me you thought you were done," Duo said wryly. "That would be too damn much to hope for,"
Heero replied, running various diagnostics and trying to figure out
just what in hell was "So now what?" Duo asked, pulling on his braid. "So now I use old shoelaces or something to hold the piece of shit together until we can make an unscheduled stop day after tomorrow and get a new one," Heero said. "I could chart it out myself, but I don't think the scanner is reliable, either. I don't think we'll be too far off by just taking our chances with what we've got, though. I'll keep the system up and double check it by charting out our course." "Do you need my help?" "I'll show you how to chart this, and then we can
check the system in shifts. We need to monitor this constantly, or
we may end up Duo felt his heart constrict with cold, irrational fear.
No, no, don't panic. Heero wouldn't let that happen. He looked at
the "No, we can't. Now, let me teach you how to do this, and then you can go pester Hilde for a music lesson." Duo adored Hilde and her kelirish almost equally. He'd asked endless questions about the instrument, until she'd finally gotten fed up and agreed to teach him to play it. They'd spent hours going over proper playing technique and notes, until he'd declared that his fingers would fall off if he so much as touched another string. She'd told him that he would get used to it, but put the instrument away until the next day. Heero showed Duo how to match the coordinates, then sent him on his way while he stayed and checked every few minutes to see that they were still where the computer thought they were. There were some minor deviations, but nothing dangerous. Feeling they were safe enough at the moment, Heero went
to make himself a sandwich. He lingered, though, when he heard Duo
Heero returned to the cockpit and again began his calculations,
only to find them wildly different. Shit. Had he been away that long?
By the time Duo came back, Heero's math and the computer's were matching up again, though Heero had a terrible headache to show for it. He went to take a nap. - - - "Heero! Heero, wake up! The computer locked me out. You're going to have to do a manual override, because we're headed way off course." What a fucking wake-up call, Heero thought sourly as he swung off his bunk. He scrubbed the sleep from his eyes and headed to the cockpit. What he found there sent him cussing a blue streak,
which may not have been helpful, but it made him feel better. The
computer had It took Heero nearly an hour to set all of the controls
to his satisfaction, while Duo, in the mean time, faithfully cranked
out As they began to turn back, however, Heero suddenly stopped. He'd almost missed it, but there, just barely showing on the scanner, was a ship, a large one. There were no signs of external damage, but it was obviously dead in the water. Heero hesitated. If they were this far out when the ship died, the passengers were probably either rescued or dead by now. Still… Heero opened a channel. "This is W1-NG01. Are you in need of assistance?" For nearly a full minute there was silence, and Heero
was just reaching up to close the channel when a breathless voice
came across "Roger, NG01. It's damn good to hear another voice. We are desperately in need of assistance."
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