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"Spookems"Written By: Honor Disclaimers: Not mine. My psychiatrist assures
me that they never were either, although I specifically remember creating
them… Warnings: AU, questionable and evil humor, romance
with slices of angst (which I fix!) Rating: Ah…NC-17 or thereabouts, I think Pairings: 1x4, 5x2, 3+a box of stolen Pocky Author’s Notes: Okay, so I’m sitting
here one day, in the mood for a ghost story, and can only find ones
where one of the boys is a ghost and falls in love with one of the
other boys, at which point one of three things happens. Either a)
after some hot steamy sex the ghost crosses beyond, leaving the other
one to suicide *grr* b) he somehow is given a body or c) they have
to wait until the next reincarnation. C&C appreciated. Flames will be used to defrost
my windshield. Enjoy, peeps! Dedicated to Tricksy. I’m going to miss your
antics, love. //thought// *emphasize* " Spookems"
Chapter Three: The War Days "A person who is not prepared for the use of violence against him is always weaker than the person committing the violence." -A. Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago
Quatre wasn’t feeling practical about this at all. Quatre was not a morning person. He didn’t believe in them. Mornings were made by evil people who had too much coffee for their own good and too few brain cells to consider that other people might enjoy some more sleep. These people needed either a gag or psychiatric help. Personally, he was in favor of the former option. The blond pulled the covers off, stumbling to his feet and rubbing at his eyes. They refused to cooperate and remained glued shut. By feel alone he half fell, half slid down the stairs and toward the kitchen. More by luck than design he fell into the nearest barstool, collapsing. Only his folded arms kept his head from banging against the ceramic tile. “Tea.” He croaked against the countertop. Heero—who should be elevated to sainthood, in Quatre’s humble opinion—shoved a mug of hot tea into his hands. Quatre accepted the offering, raised thanks in Allah’s name, then drowned half of it. When that hit, and he started to feel more like a living being than a badly resurrected zombie, he cracked open an eyelid. “Who said that music was a good idea?” “Wufei.” “Remind me to kill him later.” “Hn.” Quatre tilted his head to look at the clock on the kitchen wall. Eight o’clock. “Aren’t you normally at classes by now?” “Two of them were cancelled. I don’t go in until eleven today.” “Oh.” Quatre took another gulp of tea and sighed when the pleasant warmth slid right through him. His mind was chaotically bouncing from idea to idea. “Why did she latch on to you?” Heero growled. “I don’t know.” ::Heeeeerooo~!:: Heero groaned and collapsed into the stool next to Quatre. “You don’t think she was created by Uncle Jay somehow, do you?” “A lot could be explained by that.” Quatre agreed wryly. “But somehow I doubt it.” ::HEEERO! Make him stop!:: “Can’t.” ::WHY NOT?!:: If a ghost could look frazzled, then Relena was. In fact, if she could have pulled her hair out, the two sitting at the counter rather thought she was in the right mindset to try. “Nobody controls Duo.” Heero responded blandly. “Not even Duo.” Quatre agreed. Relena whimpered piteously. “You might be able to work a deal with him.” Heero offered casually. “He’d probably stop if you promised to stay quiet today.” ::I will do no such thing!:: “Your choice.” Heero’s shrug was the epitome of casual indifference. Relena disappeared with an irritated snap. Moments later they could hear yelling from the floor above them. The two exchanged glances, then moved as one toward the stairs. This should be worth seeing. Relena was standing in front of Duo, hands waving in the air and words said so quickly that they were almost incoherent. ::If you don’t stop this I’ll haunt you constantly! You won’t be able to sleep or eat or anything without me hounding you! I don’t have to breathe or rest, I can keep going forever!:: “Why, Relena.” Duo fluttered his eyelashes coyly at her. “And here I thought it was Heero that you wanted.” Relena’s voice started as a growl that went up in octave until it was a screech. ::I don’t want to have anything to do with a low-life like you! Look at you! You probably climb into bed with anything capable of movement!” The tension in the air went from taut to potentially lethal. “Relena.” Wufei moved up to stand in front of Duo. There was an edge to his features that made her instinctively back up a pace. “Cease this. You are only embarrassing yourself. Stay quiet for the rest of the day and Duo will shut off the music.” Relena rallied herself enough to snap back at him. ::You can’t promise that! No one can force that—that demon to do anything!:: “Duo.” Wufei tilted his head slightly to the side. “Will you shut off the music?” “Sure thing, Wuffers.” Wufei cocked a brow at Relena, waiting for her response. ::Very well.:: She gave one last lingering glance at Heero before disappearing. Duo laughed, bouncing forward to sling an arm around Wufei’s shoulders. “Welp, we won that battle!” “Yes.” Wufei felt his cheeks growing a little warm at the casual contact. To hide it he shrugged the arm off and walked away. “If you will excuse me, there’s some research that I want to do.” Duo rubbed the arm absently where it had touched the Asian. Why did it have to feel different with Wufei then when he played around with the other guys? This was becoming something that he couldn’t ignore. He shrugged a little and went back into his room to turn off the music. + Wufei was seated in the It’s Good To Be King chair—officially named by one Duo Maxwell—engrossed in the book he held in his hands. Duo wandered over ever-so-casually and leaned over his shoulder to get a look at what he was reading. Philosophy. Now why wasn’t that surprising? “I didn’t think you were an Emerson kind of person. Maybe a Sun Tzu, but not Emerson.” “I am not prejudiced against philosophy born in other nations.” Wufei replied calmly, turning the page. “Huh.” Duo had taken a look at which essay Wufei was reading, and was rather intrigued by the man’s choice. The essay on Power. “So…do you agree with him?” “On which point?” Wufei didn’t look up from the pages in front of him. “That it’s really only a matter of willpower, health and design that harnesses real power. That luck or chance has nothing to do with it.” Wufei froze. Carefully he let the book close, one finger keeping his spot. Twisting in place so that he could at least partially face the person hanging over him, he studied him carefully. Wufei had been conscious of the fact that Duo possessed at least a modicum of intelligence. He could hardly be able to pull half the pranks that he did without being caught otherwise. But never, in a thousand years, would he have expected the cheerful maniac of having the sensitivity to actually read philosophy. Not only read it, but apparently incorporate it. Carefully Wufei replied, “To a degree, yes I think he is correct. As far as his argument goes.” Intrigued by the answer, Duo came around to sit on the ottoman, propping his fist on one hand. “You really think fate or chance has nothing to do with it?” “Not really. A well prepared mind is always more advanced than the people who rely on just chance or luck.” “Or lemme-up?” Duo queried dryly. (1) Wufei snorted, showing his own impression of the local cultural idiosyncrasy. “Quite.” “Not that I’m arguing against it completely, but I think you’re being a bit unrealistic if you’re saying that chance has nothing to do with power whatsoever. Now I agree that if you’re prepared for the unexpected, you’d be able to take better advantage of whatever Lady Luck dropped in your lap, but I don’t think you can plan for everything. And I certainly don’t think that’s the route of all power either.” “ ‘Chance favors the prepared mind’?” “’xactly.” “Hm.” Wufei put a bookmarker into the volume and set it aside, turning to completely focus on the debate. “Do you mean to suggest that luck alone has impacted this world’s inhabitants more often than sheer determination and skill?” “Hm…no. But I think it’s had just as great an influence.” “Really… Give me an example.” + Quatre hadn’t meant to spy on the two. Truly, he hadn’t. And he wouldn’t have if Trowa hadn’t been doing it first. No one quite understood why Heero stopped and joined in. “They’re actually having a *conversation*.” Quatre whispered in awe. “I didn’t think Duo knew how!” “I didn’t think Duo knew how to read anything more complicated than manga either.” Heero noted, voice soft. Trowa didn’t comment at all, but he had this funny little smile flirting around the edges of his mouth. Carefully he eased the door back into position and motioned for the other two peepers to follow him. “We don’t want to disturb them. Not when Duo is finally making some progress.” Quatre glanced at him sharply. “What?” Trowa quirked a brow at him. “I thought it was obvious.” Heero looked at the pair of them in confusion. “What is?” “That Duo’s been falling for Wufei.” Both of Heero’s brows shot up. Quatre grumbled under his breath. “Well, since it’s so obvious, I guess I can ask. Do either of you know if Wufei is straight?” Trowa shrugged, but Quatre hadn’t really expected him to know the answer. Heero hesitated slightly before shrugging. “I’m not sure.” He admitted in a low voice. “Wufei…is a very private person in a lot of ways. He’s never said or demonstrated how he feels one way or the other. But if I were to take a guess…I’d say yes.” Quatre groaned. “I hope you’re wrong.” Trowa gave a concerned glance back the door. “Me too.” ::Heeeero~!:: Heero gave the ceiling above him a panicked glance and looked around for a place to hide. Considering what was happening on the other side of the study door, he could hardly call for Duo. It would be unfair to involve him at this particular moment. ::Heero!:: Relena started hovering in front of him, wringing her hands. ::I don’t understand why you’re ignoring me! What have I done wrong!:: “Does the concept of ‘stalking’ have any meaning to you?!” He snapped at her. When she flinched backwards, he pressed his advantage. “Leave me alone, Relena. The person I want isn’t YOU.” Relena’s mouth worked, but nothing came out. He strode past her, careful not to brush through her, continuing up to his room. That stunned silence wouldn’t last long, he knew, even though every word had been the absolute truth. Relena wasn’t the one he wanted. But he doubted that the obsessed ghost would be able to accept that. She had an incredible ability to lie to herself. Heero flung himself into a chair, eyes closed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Three, two, one…” ::Heeeeroo!:: “Right on time.” He looked up as Relena came in, mournfully staring at him. “Go *away*.” ::But Heero—:: “No.” He had no idea what he was saying ‘no’ to, but it seemed like a good answer just at that moment. Whatever she was about to propose, he had no intention of going along with it. ::I don’t understand why you’re being so cruel to me!:: “Because I’m an absolute bastard.” Heero answered tiredly. “A bastard that doesn’t care about anything.” She was quiet for a moment, and Heero half hoped that she had finally caught the hint and gone away. ::You don’t look at him like you don’t care.:: “Shut up!” Throwing himself out of his chair, he stopped within inches of her. “You know nothing of this! Stay out of it!” ::Why do you want him?:: She demanded spitefully. ::He doesn’t even know how you feel!:: Heero had to choke down the urge to throttle her. It would be a useless gesture at this point. “Drop this. NOW.” ::I won’t! He’ll never care for you like I do!:: Thank the gods for small favors. Heero wasn’t sure if he could handle two stalkers. With a deep breath he forced himself to regain a firm hold on his temper. “Relena. I can’t give you something that I no longer hold.” Her scream of denial was unintelligible before she vanished in a vacuum of air. Heero sighed, relieved that she was gone. A part of him had been denying what he had confessed to her tonight for so long…it almost felt like a relief that at least one other person knew, even if they were his enemy. Absently he rubbed his hand over the middle of his chest. There was a soft knock on the door before Quatre poked his head in. “I assume that you got her to leave.” “For the night, at least. Or so I hope.” Heero shrugged. “Alright. Good night then.” “Good night.” ~~~~~ ~ * ~ |
