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"In Plain Sight"(or “The Hardest Job Fate and Destiny Were Ever Handed”)Written By: Honor Disclaimers: I own Gundam Wing, pigs can fly,
people can breathe underwater, and it’s perfectly safe to blow-dry
your hair while in the shower. Pairings: 1x4, existing 2x3 Rating: R. Spoilers: Nope Warnings: AU, romance, yaoi, lemon, some language, Heero panicking Summary: Heero Yuy is the new kid in school and
Quatre makes it his mission to get to know the stoic boy better; with
a little help from Fate and Destiny. Author’s Insane Ramblings on no particular
topic: "In Plain Sight" (or “The Hardest Job Fate and Destiny Were Ever Handed”) Chapter One: No Strings Attached
Quatre certainly noticed him, and made a mental note to invite him to hang out during lunch. Being new, he more than likely didn’t know anyone. Quatre hated for anyone to be stuck all by their lonesome without at least the option of having some company. Being alone sucked. With that mental note in place, he turned his attention back to the assignment. + Heero kept his eyes on his text book, his attention only wavering from it briefly to write down the answers on a separate sheet of paper. Math had never been a challenge for him. He couldn’t help but hear sounds of frustration from the girl next to him though. Or the quietly hissed “What?” “This makes no sense” or “Huh?” No matter how hard he tried to ignore it, he just couldn’t block her out completely. Kuso. The only way to shut her up is to explain it all to her. The teacher apparently is clueless. With a put upon sigh he shifted out of his desk and over to hers. The sandy-haired girl blinked up at him in confusion when he moved next to her. “You have to remember to factor first,” he instructed her quietly. “Factor?” she stared down at the text book, obviously wondering if it had told her to do that or not. “It throws everything off otherwise. Here, this is the way to do it.” Patiently he walked her through the process until it clicked. He could almost see the light go on. “Okay?” “Yeah,” she agreed slowly. Her pencil was busy scribbling as she worked through the next problem. “Is that right?” Heero glanced at it. “Yes.” She beamed up at him, pleased with her success. “Thanks.” Heero shrugged the thanks off and went back to his desk. Maybe he could now focus on his own work. + On the far side of the room Quatre took note of this private tutoring session. Hm. Apparently the new kid (Hiro? Heero?) was pretty smart. He obviously was fairly compassionate as well, to just help someone like that. He was definitely getting the guy to hang out with him during lunch. + In a corner of the room, unnoticed by the other occupants, were two watchers. They boasted a total of nine inches in height between the two of them (Fate being four inches and Destiny being five.) They sat with legs dangling over the back shelf of the class room, studying a particular blond and Asian teen with keen interest. Fate cocked his head a little, gnawing on the tip of his finger in thought. “Those are the two we have to get together?” “Yup.” “Hm…they do look good together.” “Well,” Destiny smirked, “they will once we get them together. Shall we begin?” “Oh absolutely. What shall we do first?” “Let’s try a classic approach shall we?” + Class ended. Students shuffled books, bags and backpacks as they made their way out of the room. Quatre moved faster than he usually did in order to catch up with the new kid. “Hey—wait a sec.” He paused, backpack hanging on his shoulder by one strap. Quatre sucked in his breath unconsciously as those penetrating cobalt blue eyes locked onto him. Wow. Great eyes. He felt a little flushed all of a sudden…weird. Shaking if off he forced his tongue to start moving. “Uh—I know you probably don’t know anyone here. I wanted to extend an invitation to eat lunch together, if you want.” He didn’t even blink, just turned away. “That’s not necessary.” Quatre stared at his retreating back, puzzled. ‘Not necessary’…what did that mean? + Fate and Destiny was watching as the blond made an approach, not-so-silently cheering. “Come on, come on…yes! We have eye contact!” “They’re blushing!” Fate bounced up and down, eyes fixed on the two. Both slumped when Heero abruptly turned and walked away. “Did they just completely ignore the whole thing?” “…yup. Darnit, I thought it was fool-proof as long as you have eye contact.” “Apparently not,” Destiny sighed. “But, that was pretty subtle. And they are teenage males. By definition, they’re supposed to be dense.” “So next time, let’s try something more obvious.” Fate resumed nibbling on the tip of his finger. “Now, what would work…” + “Hm…it’s not often you see Q just staring off into space. Wuffers, yeah, but—” “I,” Wufei informed Duo tartly, “do not stare off into space. I meditate. It is an entirely different thing.” “The only difference I’m seeing right now is that Q has his eyes open—you usually have yours closed. And are snoring.” “Maxwell—” Quatre blinked back into the real world to see three of his best friends sitting around him on the grass. They were in their favorite positions, Wufei sitting with crossed legs, Trowa with his back against the wall and legs stretched out in front of him, Duo comfortably ensconced in his arms. He flushed a little as they stared expectantly at him. He hadn’t even realized they were there until Duo and Wufei started arguing. “Uh…hi.” Duo grinned a little evilly. “Hi. Whatcha thinking about?” “A new student,” Quatre admitted with a sigh. “He kind of reminds me of Wufei.” “He’s Chinese?” Wufei asked in surprise. As far as he knew, he was the only one in the school. In a school of this size, he thought news would fly if another Oriental person arrived on the scene. “No…” Quatre denied slowly, bringing up a mental picture. “Part Japanese, I think. Only he has dark brown hair instead of black, and the most penetrating blue eyes.” “Doesn’t sound like Wufei,” Trowa disagreed quietly. “Where did you see the resemblance?” “It wasn’t in looks—more in attitude. I offered to eat lunch with him today but he said, and I quote, ‘That’s not necessary’. Then he just walked away.” Quatre shook his head, frowning a little. “That’s such an odd thing to say. What wasn’t necessary? Me offering? Eating lunch altogether?” “Maybe he’s used to being alone,” Wufei murmured thoughtfully. He certainly had been, until a certain blond and braided sha zi had gotten ahold of him. “Your company wasn’t necessary to him.” “That’s sad,” Duo observed. His face wrinkled a little in distaste. “I mean, who wants to be alone? That’s so boring. What’s the guy’s name?” “Heero Yuy.” Quatre had made sure to find out after that little conversation. “Sounds Japanese,” Trowa observed. “Hm. We’ll be on the lookout for him.” Duo twisted a little to look up into his boyfriend’s face. “You planning on dragging him in with us?” “Sounds like he needs it.” Trowa winked at Wufei. “Just like someone else did.” “Ha ha.” Wufei tried to glare but his heart just wasn’t in it. It was true—he was glad that these three hadn’t taken ‘no’ for an answer. His friendship with them had filled a lot of holes in his life. “Just don’t focus on him like you focused on me—he might bolt.” + Two weeks passed without any noticeable progress. Quatre made a point of talking to Heero whenever he saw him, and inviting him to various things. Heero responded civilly, but coolly. It frustrated the blond to no end. If Heero had shown any signs of making his own friends, the issue might have been dropped, but Quatre didn’t see any. Heero was just as aloof with everyone else. Unfortunately, he was the only person who had a class with him. Wufei did have gym at the same time, but they were in separate classes. Any attempts to talk to Heero outside of school failed outright. Quatre couldn’t find him at all. If he hadn’t known better, he could swear the boy was an apparition. “Cat, maybe you need to consider the fact that he really is a loner. Maybe he’s one of those cold bastards that really couldn’t give a damn.” Duo leaned against a locker as Quatre unloaded the books he didn’t need and picked up the few that he did. Homework was such a pain. “I can’t believe that, Duo. I’ve seen what he’s like when he thinks that no one is really paying attention to him. He’s so lonely it breaks my heart. And he’s unfailingly kind to other people, he just does it in such a cool way that no one really notices his help for what it is.” Quatre blew out a breath and semi-slammed his locker shut. “I just wish he’d open up to me! Even a little! Is it really such a pain to talk to me?” “Well…now that you mention it…” Duo grinned and dodged the swat that was aimed in his direction. “Chill, my uptight little friend. You getting antsy about this isn’t going to help a thing. Your friend Heero will crumble, it’ll just take time.” “Heero?” Amee (one of the few girls that could get close to these two epitomes of hotness without becoming a complete valley girl) closed her locker and drifted a little closer to them. “Are you talking about the new kid?” “Yeah,” Quatre admitted. “You know him?” “Well, I have a class with him. I saw him the other day in a computer store too—that was weird, seeing him outside of school. I think it’s the first time I ever saw him talk too.” Amee shrugged. She didn’t understand why Quatre was asking about him, really. But Quatre was like that. Everyone knew that he was a softie when it came to people. Quatre almost pounced on her. “You saw him at a computer store? Which one?” “Uh…Tiger Electronics. You know, the one on Main?” Quatre blinked at this. “Hm…I didn’t realize he liked computers.” “I’m not sure if he does or not.” Amee was staring at him in confusion. Why was Quatre so concerned about this anyway? “He works there, that’s all I know.” Duo and Quatre shared surprised glances. “Works there?” Duo parroted blankly. “As a sales clerk?” “Yeah.” Amee shrugged. “He really does know his stuff. I can see why they hired him. Why are you guys so interested anyway?” Quatre didn’t even hear the question. So Heero worked at Tiger Electronics, huh…this bore investigating. + Heero heard the door chime to the shop go off and for the twentieth time that day cursed the display that blocked his view. He shifted from behind the counter to look around it and see who had just walked in. “May I help—” Quatre Winner. What the hell was Quatre Winner of all people doing in a used computer store? “Hey.” Quatre smiled at him in an innocent hello, a bit of mischief highlighting the corners of his eyes. “What do you want?” Heero growled. He felt like just kicking the blond out and locking the door behind him. This was going to be one of THOSE conversations…he just knew it. “To buy a computer, obviously.” Heero, no dummy, didn’t buy this for a second. He Looked at Quatre, silently proclaiming his disbelief. Quatre’s smile widened. “Well, maybe I really want to talk to you. I’m willing to buy a computer if that’s the only way to get you to talk to me.” “I can’t be bought.” “Consider it a bribe, then.” Just what the hell was this baka playing at anyway? “And what do you hope to gain with this ‘bribe’?” “Your time, your company, your friendship—you hoard all three like a miser would gold.” He cocked his head slightly. “Am I demanding too much? For now, I’ll settle for your company.” It was the ‘for now’ bit that had Heero worried. “You can’t really expect me to believe that you just want to be friends with me.” “Millions, heck, billions of people form friendships everyday. Why is it so impossible for you to believe that I want one with you?” “I don’t have to explain anything to you,” Heero replied flatly. “No,” Quatre agreed quietly. His smile faded into quiet determination. “After all, I’m not your friend—yet.” “Do you prefer a Pentium or Athlon processor?” Quatre sighed. Apparently, Heero was going to make this difficult. “Pentium. Athlons overheat too easily.” Heero’s brow quirked. Apparently blondie knew something about computers. Quatre hitched his shoulders in a modest shrug. “Don’t be surprised. My sister crashes our computer on a regular basis. It’s either fix it or buy a new computer every month.” “I’m assuming an LCD monitor.” “You assume correctly. Heero, is it really going to kill you just to talk to me?” Heero released a covert sigh and shifted a bit. “If you set your mind to it, you could charm the warts off a toad. It’s safer for me to just stay away from you.” “Safer?” Quatre repeated dumbfoundedly. “I’m not dangerous!” “How much memory?” “A gig. Com’n Heero, you can’t say something like that and expect me to let it drop. How am I dangerous?” “Like I said, I don’t have to explain anything to you.” “You’re stubborn,” Quatre grumped. “Look who’s talking,” Heero shot back. He blew out a breath and strove to remain patient. “Why me? Of all people for you to home in on, why me?” “I like you,” Quatre responded simply. “…do you have a shrink you normally talk to or do I need to find one for you?” “I want my hard drive to be Western Digital,” Quatre deadpanned. God help him, but Heero was actually beginning to enjoy this odd verbal sparring. He knew spending any amount of time near Quatre was dangerous. “How big?” “120 GB. A bunch of us is going to the movies Thursday night. What time do you get off work? I’ll pick you up.” “I’m not going anywhere with you. The CPU behind you is pretty close to your specifications. All I need to do is add a bit more memory.” “Why not? Because I’m dangerous?” “It should take fifteen or twenty minutes to get it ready for you,” Heero continued blandly. “I’m going to plague you all week until you agree,” Quatre warned. Heero affected not to hear him and picked up the CPU unit to take to the counter. If Quatre thought for one minute that he could wear him down, the blond was in for a rude awakening.
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