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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 Three: Degrees of Progress
Heero was at his locker before first period, exchanging one set of books for another when he was suddenly overwhelmed with about fifteen different types of perfume. “Hi!” Feeling a little panicked, he turned slightly to see a girl standing at his elbow. She was undeniably pretty (if you preferred redheads) and smiling at him with curiosity. What truly concerned Heero were the other girls with her…it felt too much like an ambush. “Your name is Heero, right?” she continued when he didn’t say anything. “I’m Brittany. We were wondering if you were good friends with Quatre, cause we saw you hanging out with him at the dance—” Heero blanked on the rest of her words. He shifted away from them, and his back hit the lockers. He could see no way out of this sea of girls without some serious violence, but he didn’t really want to hurt them either. They shifted with him, crowding in closer. My personal bubble is shrinking…my bubble…my bubble… “Yo, ‘Ro!” Duo performed a maneuver that only a snake could imitate after a proper warm-up, sliding in and out of girls and dragging a relieved Heero clear. “How long does it take to get books, man? Q-bean is looking for you.” Heero followed Duo gratefully. He didn’t even mind the friendly arm that Duo slung around his neck. “They seriously ambushed you didn’t they?” Heero growled. “I don’t understand why.” “It’s cause of Quatre, I bet. They’ll use anyone they can to get closer to Quatre. But no worries, man, we’ll come to your rescue.” “I wouldn’t have to be rescued if Quatre would just leave me alone,” Heero pointed out. “Too late for that.” Duo winked at him. “You’re stuck with us now.” “Heero!” Quatre wiggled his way through the crowded hallway, panting a little. “I just got ambushed, a bunch of girls wanted to know about you—um. Duo, why is that funny?” “Because I just saved him from the exact same position,” Duo managed between laughs. “Oh.” Quatre smiled at Heero sheepishly. “Sorry. Come on, just stick close. We can watch each other’s backs.” “Quatre~!” “Sonia,” Quatre and Duo groaned. Heero took his cue from their fallen expressions and did the safe thing: he ducked behind Quatre. It was the blond’s fault that he was in this situation anyway, so it was up to him to get them out of it. As the blond flibberty-gibbet pounced on them, talking a mile a minute, Quatre moved subconsciously to block her view to Heero. Without either noticing their hands reached out and touched each other in reassurance for a moment, little more than a brush of fingertips. And Heero was too busy plotting an escape route to notice that he was practically pressed up against Quatre’s back, seeking protection from the girls. + “…” “…” “Do we by chance have a plan F?” “How is it that none of the clichés work on them?” “I wish I knew…” + As Heero changed out of his gym clothes in the locker room, he came to the conclusions that if girls possessed any idea what guys really thought of them, the human race probably wouldn’t have survived. “…and she’s all legs, man.” “Long legs are the best. I loved it when they’re wrapped around my hips. I really like it when they squirm a bit instead of laying there and just taking it, y’know?” Heero rolled his eyes. He was a teenage guy too, but even to him that conversation was just pathetic. “Hey Heero, you got something to say?” Heero internally winced. Damn, they must have caught his reaction. “Not a thing,” he returned neutrally, praying that they would just drop it. He hated confrontations with idiots. They didn’t of course. “Yeah, you don’t. Probably ‘cause you’ve never done it.” Heero finished tying up his shoelaces, morosely wondering if he had a trouble magnet in him somewhere. It would certainly explain a lot. Wufei had overheard this conversation (an easy thing to do in the locker room) and drifted over to come to Heero’s defense. “And what if he hasn’t? It speaks well of him—too many people have lost the meaning of true intimacy by cheapening it through overuse.” “What’s that supposed to mean, huh?” Heero thought it fairly clear, personally. Maybe Wufei had just been using words too expansive for their limited vocabulary. He finally remembered one of the idiot’s names. Brett. He couldn’t remember the other guy though, but that was no great loss. Giving them a pointed glare he put it into layman’s terms. “I’m not going to do it just to do it. When I do have sex it will be because I want to be as close to that person as possible.” Brett and his friend started laughing. “Man, I can’t believe you’re still a virgin.” “Why are you laughing?” Heero turned sharply, surprised to see Quatre standing near the door. Why was he here? Brett stopped laughing to look at the blond in confusion. Quatre inclined his head towards Heero. “I think he’s right.” “Dude, there is no way that I’m going to believe that you, Mr. Popular, is still cherry.” “It is really that surprising?” Quatre came closer to stand near Heero. He met Brett’s eyes with firm resolve and no hint of embarrassment. “That I want to wait until I’m in love with someone? That I prefer making love over having sex? Perhaps it is your opinion on this matter that needs to be revised.” “You guys are sad,” Brett told them with a crooked smile. “We’re right,” Wufei corrected. “You just aren’t mature enough to realize it yet.” “You guys have no idea what you’re missing. Go get some experience.” “I rather agree with them,” Coach Denman inputted mildly from his office door. Brett and Daniel flinched, giving him a guilty look. He gave them a pointed frown in return. “I could wish you two were as mature as they are about this. Maybe we need to have a talk about it.” They winced at the idea, but nodded in resignation. “Quatre,” the coach continued, “I assume you’re here to ask about tennis try-outs?” “Yes, I am.” “Don’t bother. I already have you on the roster. Our first practice is next Monday after school.” Quatre flashed him a thumb’s up. “Okay.” “Good. You three get out of here. Brett, Daniel, come into my office.” + Despite Coach Denman’s interference, the news still spread like wildfire that Quatre had never done it before. The girls protested their amazement (and secretly plotted to be his first) the guys laughed and shook their heads in something like pity (even those that were still virgins as well) and the teachers silently applauded him. Quatre put up with it with as much patience and grace as he could muster. Wufei was semi-grateful that he apparently wasn’t even a part of the equation. His willingness to break bones over insults might have had something to do with it. There was one side effect of this that only one person was aware of, however. Heero noticed that Quatre never leveled an accusatory finger at him. Not once did he make any comment or insinuation that this whole thing was Heero’s fault for saying something in the first place, and if he had just left it alone then Quatre wouldn’t be in this position now. He fully expected for something to be said, or for the blond to start avoiding him, but…it never happened. For the first time in his life, someone had stood up for him. And despite the cost to themselves, they weren’t demanding something in return. That was only something that a ‘friend’ would do. Heero chewed on that thought for the rest of the week. Quatre showed up Friday at Tiger Electronics just before closing, smiling sheepishly. “Hey, Heero.” He turned and nodded to him. “Want something?” Quatre blinked. Was it just his imagination, or was Heero actually thawing toward him? “Uh…yeah. My sister completely screwed up our computer again, and I have no clue how to fix it. Can I somehow bribe you into coming over?” Heero stared at him thoughtfully. Even now, Quatre didn’t refer to what happened. “…lemon chicken from the Great Wall with all the trimmings.” Quatre’s face broke out into a sunny smile. “Done.” + When Iria Winner screws up a computer, she certainly didn’t do it half-way. It took Heero a good hour of just tinkering to figure out what she had done. Somehow (he had no idea how, it wasn’t supposed to be possible) she had managed to corrupt several executive files. Quatre was at his elbow during most of the process, asking pertinent questions and picking Heero’s brain as much as possible while he worked through the problem. “So…can you fix this without tampering with the hard drive?” “Yes,” Heero answered absently. “Can you hand me my laptop?” Quatre leaned down next to the computer and picked up the required tool. Heero linked laptop to desk top and started hitting keyboard commands. “Right now I’m just repairing the .exe files she screwed up. You can do the same with the original Windows program cd, I just don’t want to dig through all your cds to find it.” The blond cast a rueful look at the stack Heero was referring to. “My sister isn’t exactly an organized person.” “Neither are you.” “It’s a family thing,” Quatre agreed blandly. “Hn.” Heero double checked to make sure he had fixed everything, then disconnected. “Okay, reboot.” They waited with baited breath, but the computer snapped back online, humming happily. Quatre gave Heero a grin. “You are the man, Heero.” “Fried rice, not white.” “…right.” + Somehow (one of these days, Heero would figure out how) Quatre had talked him into staying the night again. It had started out as just a movie as they waited for dinner to arrive, then they of course had to finish the movie after they ate dinner…and now it was too late to really go home. Heero had just given up at some point in Quatre’s persuasive coaxing and caved in. He was far more comfortable at Quatre’s house than he was at his aunt’s, so really it was no trial for him to stay. It was cozy, sharing the love sack as they were. Commercials were playing on the TV, the only light in the room. Quatre was almost asleep in the relaxed atmosphere, and was more than slightly tempted to just snuggle in next to his very attractive friend and catch twenty or forty winks. As he shifted closer, he glanced up and realized that Heero was staring at him. He froze and stared back. “Heero?” “I don’t get you, Quatre.” Quatre blinked. Um…okay. “Well, I don’t really get me either. Which part are you confused on?” Heero chose his words with deliberate care. “The part where you actually want me around. What do you see in me?” The blond sighed, struggling to put into words what he knew instinctively. “When I look at you…I see my reflection.” “I’m not anything like you,” Heero denied quietly. “Truly?” Quatre disagreed with a small shake of the head. “We’re both stubborn. We both have a wacky sense of humor. We do everything we can to be loved and accepted by the people around us. We’re competitive—we’re lonely. We share the same values and morals. Do you really think we’re that different?” Heero swallowed hard and looked away. Quatre had a definite point. “Is that why you want to be friends with me? Because we’re alike?” “It’s a true gift to meet someone that is on the same page you’re on. But I also like you because we are different. There’s no logic to this, Heero. The best things in life often defy explanation.” Heero let out a breath. Quatre was just too damn perceptive, and stubborn, and charming, and gorgeous…and Heero was very tired of fighting against him. “I suppose that if I admit we’re friends, you’ll use me as your body pillow and huggy toy.” Quatre grinned. Victory! “Yup.” Heero’s eyes were dancing, lit like cobalt fire. He felt suffused with a joy he’d never felt before, and reveled in it. “Well, at least I’ll stay warm.” + Fate and Destiny, watching in the corner, shared high-fives. “Progress!” Fate crowed, dancing around in happy circles. “We have progress!” Destiny leaned back on a puff of cosmic dust, grinning
like a cat who knew how to open the lid to the fish tank. “Next
step: Boyfriends!”
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