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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 Author’s Insane Ramblings on no particular
topic: "In Plain Sight" (or “The Hardest Job Fate and Destiny Were Ever Handed”) Chapter Two: Obstinate Hearts are not to be had as a gift If Quatre thought it was hard to talk to Heero before, it was inconceivably impossible now. The Asian set new land records when it came to leaving class, and he always arrived just before the bell rang. (Quatre would not have been surprised to know that Heero had actually synchronized his watch with the school’s clock. It was the only way to explain that kind of timing.) He would talk if Quatre showed up at his work, but the blond felt bad about doing that often. He didn’t want to get the guy in trouble, after all. Friday was a cold and blustery day. Quatre tried not to feel that it was a reflection of his own mood, but the similarity was there nonetheless. There was an assembly that day as well, which only made things worse. Things just seemed to be even more depressing when you were put into a circumstance meant to be enjoyable. “Q~!” Quatre grimaced. Oh no. It was That Tone from Duo. It was only used when Duo felt he needed to be cheered up. He hadn’t been that bad, had he? Wincing, he turned a little to see if he could spot his friend in the gymnasium. The place was packed with students, the bleachers nearly filled to their full capacity, even the floor was being taken up. Duo bounced up and down so he could be spotted (tall and imposing, he was not) with both arms waving wildly in the air. “Here! This way, I’ve got seats saved!” Well, not looking for a place to sit in this madhouse was a good thing. And Quatre knew that Duo’s “I” was actually Trowa. Maybe Wufei too. He waved back an acknowledgement and started weaving his way through. As soon as he was within grabbing distance, Duo snatched his arm and towed him through the masses. “These are special seats,” Duo told him over his shoulder. The smile on his face was downright wicked. Quatre gritted his teeth. With that smile, things just turned a turn for the worst. “Oh?” “Yup.” He stopped abruptly and pulled Quatre around until he could have a clear view of the saved seats. “Heero-very-much-included-seats.” Quatre blinked, gaping. There was Trowa (smirking)…and Wufei (gloating)…and in between them was Heero (scowling). “How in hell did you pull that off?” “Trowa tackled him, Wufei pinned him in place, and I ran to get you. Now get over there before he bolts for it.” Duo was kidding…right? /I don’t want to know./ Not one to really question minor miracles, he quickly wove his way to his friends. Wufei inched over so that he could sit right next to Heero, and Duo didn’t bother with such little details as making room for himself. Trowa didn’t seem to mind being used as his boyfriend’s chair anyway. Heero’s scowl became positively murderous as soon as Quatre sat down. “I should have known it was your doing.” “I had no idea they had cornered you,” Quatre responded honestly. He spread his hands in a half-surrender. “I want to know why they bothered,” Heero gritted back. He was not reassured by Quatre’s statement. “Because Q wanted to talk to you,” Duo told him cheerfully, “and we knew he was striking out. Man, you are hard to pin down, ‘Ro.” Heero blinked at him in confusion. ‘Ro? “Maxwell calls everyone by a nickname,” Wufei informed a startled Heero. “Get used to it.” “Alrighty boys and girls, welcome to today’s assembly!” Heero scrunched in upon himself as much as possible. He was grateful the assembly had started, and the lights had been dimmed in most of the gym. It meant he didn’t have to think of anything to say, or try to justify his position among the four. He was trying very hard to ignore how close he was to Quatre. Having the blond in his personal space was really bothering him. It was kind of interesting seeing who he was friends with though. Duo was vivacious and outgoing—something he had secretly wanted to be most of his life. Trowa was quiet, and calming to be around. Heero felt the most comfortable with him. Just his manner assured Heero that he wouldn’t demand anything, or expect anything. Heero liked people who didn’t want something from him. The two of them together…was interesting. He’d never seen a gay couple so comfortable with their relationship in public before. Wufei wasn’t really comfortable to be around. When he looked at you, it felt like he was staring right into your mind. And then there was Quatre. Heero’s frown deepened as he shot a glare out of the corner of his eye. Why couldn’t the blond just leave him alone? + Fate and Destiny were once again watching their prospective couple…and scowling. “Forty-five minutes sitting practically in each other’s laps, and not one dirty thought…that’s inhuman.” Fate started rubbing at his temples irritably. He could just feel a headache starting to build. “Surely it wasn’t THAT subtle,” Destiny bit off. “Apparently it was. They completely missed it.” “Okay, time to pull out the big guns.” Fate peeked open an eye to stare at his counter-part. “I’m assuming we’re influencing Quatre?” “You want to try nudging Heero around? Be my guest.” “…no thanks. The odds are better of getting struck by a meteorite.” + There was a dance after the assembly, naturally. Heero was not given a chance to disappear. The four blocked him quite neatly and perforce moved him to the center of the gymnasium floor. As they stood there, the DJ started the music going, the bleachers were collapsed into themselves and shoved up against the walls, and teachers started to quickly get out of the way. “I don’t dance,” Heero told Quatre flatly. “I used to say the same thing,” Wufei drawled. “Just stand there and watch Duo make an idiot of himself. That’s always entertaining.” “Hey!” The music was loud, and throbbing. Quatre’s body was responding to it almost subconsciously, swaying his hips a bit to the beat. Still, he wanted Heero to enjoy himself too. “If you don’t know how I can teach you—” Heero sighed. How did he get into the situations? “Look, I don’t dance, I don’t socialize, and I’m not interested in being friends. I think I’ve said that often enough over the past two weeks. Can we drop it?” “No,” Quatre responded quietly. “No one should be alone.” “Don’t pity me,” Heero snapped back. He got a funny sensation in his chest and shrugged it off. A part of him hated that all of Quatre’s overtures of friendship had been made from pity. “I don’t!” Quatre exclaimed. “I just like you, and I don’t like seeing you alone. Is that a crime or something?” “Whoa guys, put on the brakes.” Duo intervened, stepping right into their space and forcing them to back off a little. “Getting a little too serious here, okay? Look, this is a dance. Dance equals fun. So let’s have fun and argue later.” Quatre took in a deep breath and put a lid on his frustration. Duo was right, getting mad and trying to pound some sense into Heero wouldn’t do any good. “Okay. Heero, let me teach you some basic moves.” Heero sighed, eyes rolling briefly to the heavens. Where did he get all of this patience from anyway? Heero would never have persisted this long if their roles had been reversed. He grabbed Quatre and pulled him in close, doing a quick two-step shuffle. Quatre jerked, staring at him with wide eyes, but followed his lead as he stepped through, around, and in again. Heero abruptly spun him around, and dipped him low. Quatre actually squawked a little at the abrupt move, staring up at him, astonishment scrawled over his face. He felt somewhat anxious bent in half like this, completely supported by Heero’s hold on his back and hand. Heero grinned a little at him, absurdly pleased that for once it was Quatre off-balance. “I know how to dance.” “Yeah, no kidding,” Quatre breathed. “How about you teach me some moves?” + “…we weren’t subtle were we?” Fate was staring at the two as they held that close position, wishing he had a couple of aspirin. That headache had finally arrived. “No, we were blatantly obvious.” “This is going to be harder than we thought.” “Oh yeah.” + The next week started, with only a few alterations. Heero no longer tried to completely avoid Quatre. The boy could give a bulldog lessons on tenacity. Maybe he was a sea barnacle in a previous life or something. Heero just resigned himself to the fact that Quatre would plague him until the blond lost interest, and tried to ignore him as much as possible. The problem was ignoring Quatre just wasn’t possible. And he was damn persuasive. Heero sighed to himself, wondering for the thousandth time why he was sitting on the grass eating lunch with Quatre. He didn’t remember agreeing to anything…but here he sat regardless. “…and of course Neanderthal man first created Nintendo. That’s why Stonehenge exists—it was a giant screen complex where they held championships.” Heero’s brain tried to process that statement, but failed utterly. He blinked at Quatre, puzzled. “…what did you just say?” “I didn’t think you were listening to me. Since you missed going to the movies with us last time, why don’t you come over this Friday? We have a movie night about once a month at my house and sort of a sleep over.” Quatre saw him hesitate and continued mercilessly, “If you don’t say yes, I’ll kidnap you.” “We’ll help,” Wufei added with an evil grin. Heero glared at the both of them. “No, and a thousand times again, no.” + Heero made a mental note to himself as he was dragged into Quatre’s house: apparently when these four made a threat to do something, they were deadly serious about following through with it. Watching movies with them was fun, though. Once he resigned himself to staying for the night, he was able to relax and really enjoy their company. Part of that had to do with Duo’s outrageous statements to no one in general…the other part of it was they were watching Jackie Chan movies. It was especially funny with Wufei correcting their pronunciation every other line. Quatre kept an eye on Heero as they watched the movie, delighted to see him slowly relax. He was smiling too, the slightest of expressions but it softened his whole face. Damn, but he is beautiful like that. Why is he so set against forming friendships? It’s obvious that he wants company, craves it even. So what’s holding him back? Eventually the witching hour came and passed, and eyelids started to droop with weariness. Duo and Trowa retired to one of the guest bedrooms, Wufei to the other. Quatre snagged Heero’s arm and dragged him to his bedroom. Heero took one step inside the room and knew instantly that this wasn’t a guest bedroom. “Quatre—” “I don’t bite,” Quatre said around a yawn. “And you don’t want to share a room with one of the other guys, believe me. Wufei’s in a twin size bed, and the other two…well…there probably won’t be a lot of sleeping going on, if you know what I mean.” Heero flushed a little and cleared his throat. “Right.” “Just hop in. I don’t steal covers.” Heero was watching Quatre through slitted eyes as he went through the routine of getting ready for bed. He wasn’t at all comfortable with the idea of sharing a bed with someone else—he’d never done it before, and he was a little leery of doing it with a person that had questionable motives. ‘I like you’…what was that all about? Did Quatre honestly expect him to believe that? When he was younger, he had bent over backwards trying to be likeable. At this stage in his life, he knew better than to even care. There was something about him that just turned people off. Maybe Quatre was oblivious to it now, but he was sure to recognize it soon. Quatre came to the bed, picking up his pillow and fluffing it a little. Heero tensed a little, not at all sure how to respond in this kind of situation. Dammit, he should have protested more when Quatre had charmed him into staying overnight— Without even glancing at him, Quatre put his pillow at the foot of the bed and turned down the covers so he could slip in. Heero blinked at this reversed position, slowly relaxing. Well…this was okay. If Quatre stayed like that, facing the other direction, then he could handle sharing a bed. Closing his eyes he sighed and started drifting to sleep. “Good night, Heero.” Heero smiled a little, half-asleep, but offered no response. + Fate and Destiny were watching intently, waiting for the perfect moment. “Think they’re asleep?” Fate muttered. “…we better wait a few more minutes.” Three taut minutes ticked slowly by. “Now?” “Now,” Destiny confirmed. “Let’s move Quatre. He’s easier to influence.” “Good idea.” Using their highly persuasive powers, they started coaxing Quatre to turn around. This was not exactly an arduous task—Quatre was, by nature, very much a cuddle bunny. He craved company like most people crave air, and was more than amiable about the idea of being close to his friend. In his sleep he twisted, and turned, and oonched and scroonched until he was facing the same direction that Heero was. “Okay,” Destiny murmured with satisfaction. “Now, all we have to do is nudge him the last bit toward…Heero?” In his sleep, Heero’s subconscious had registered that Quatre was now closer to him than before. He reached out, frowning slightly, until his fingertips found the person he sought. The frown eased a bit as he turned until he was wrapped around that warm body, head settled comfortably into the crook of the blond’s neck. He relaxed with a sigh, frown melting into a smile. “…did you see what I just saw?” Fate demanded incredulously. “…did you see Heero voluntarily snuggling with Quatre?” “Oh good, it wasn’t just me. For a minute I was afraid I was losing my mind.” Fate started rubbing at his temples. He could just feel a headache brewing. “I thought he didn’t trust Quatre!” “Consciously…no.” Destiny studied the sleeping pair thoughtfully. “But subconsciously…we’ve seen it before, haven’t we? When a couple that is fated to be together first meets, they usually recognize each other.” “These two didn’t,” Fate pointed out. “On the surface, no. But maybe subconsciously they did. They’re just ignoring that.” “Mm.” Fate thought that one through. Destiny did have a good point. “Does that make our job easier or harder?” “…can you imagine anything being easy with these two?” “Good point.” + Heero woke the next morning, more reluctantly than usual. Normally he was awake and up in about three seconds, but this morning he didn’t want to be awake and out of bed. Hm. That was strange. He forced his eyes open a little to see why he was so lethargic…then they flew wide. Lying comfortably wrapped up in his arms was Quatre. A very awake, and grinning, Quatre. “The truth is out now, Heero,” Quatre told him evilly. “You’re a cuddler!” Heero scowled at him and quickly sat up. His arms tingled in protest at the cool air, something he strove to ignore. “Hn.” “Yup, you are, just admit it.” “You,” Heero told him pointedly, “fell asleep facing the other direction.” “I’ve never denied being a snuggle bunny,” Quatre responded without missing a beat. “Why did you put up such a fight last night? Snuggling isn’t a bad thing, you know.” Heero shot him a dark glare and started climbing out of the bed. Quatre caught him by the waist and dragged him back down. “Uh-uh, you can’t leave! Not until you tell me why.” Heero started to pry at the arms locked around his waist, but to little avail. It took both hands to get one of Quatre’s off, and as soon as he had one arm free, and focused on the other, the once-off arm would tighten back into place. “Quatre,” he growled menacingly. “Yes?” Quatre blinked up at him innocently. “Let go.” “Nope.” “…” There was obviously only one way out of this predicament. Heero quickly spun in the blond’s grasp and pounced. Quatre was delighted as a wrestling match ensued. They tussled all over the bed, destroying the bed covers and sliding onto the floor, where they continued to try and lock each other into an unbreakable hold. He laughed and threw himself into it whole-heartedly. Even Heero was grinning as he tried to put Quatre into a headlock. (‘Try’ being the operative word.) + As cute as the scene was, Fate and Destiny couldn’t help but realize that this friendly tussle had taken place at a certain cost: namely, the realization that these two were fated to be together. Destiny glared as the two teenage boys continued rolling all over the floor. “They woke up wrapped in each other’s arms—this is supposed to be a clincher! The moment when they realize their feelings! It Wasn’t An Invitation For A Wresting Match!” “It was so obvious!” Fate growled. “I know!” “And they’re clueless!” “I KNOW!” Destiny snapped. “So what are we going to do next?!” Fate flung up his arms in the air, ready to tear his hair out. “I don’t know!” Fate froze into position, staring at his counterpart in horror. “…really? No ideas?” In a small voice Destiny mumbled, “Maybe we better go look this up in our training manual.” “Training manual?!” Fate staggered backwards in horror, both hands clutched over his heart. “We haven’t used that thing in eons!!” “You have a better idea?!” “…where do you suppose we put it?”
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