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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 Four: Lines of Battle
The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed. Carl Jung (1875 - 1961)
The plot was pathetic, the conversation was atrocious, and Quatre had caught four grammatical errors within the first page alone. Judging by Wufei’s scowl, his book wasn’t much better. They were not, however, reading for pleasure. After an hour or so of this pose, their quarry popped up and started reading over their shoulders. It took her a few minutes, but she finally grasped what she was reading. ::A ghost story?:: Her voice was incredulous. ::You’re reading a GHOST STORY?:: “Apparently.” Wufei muttered, not looking up from the book. Quatre didn’t look up either, but it was just a pose now. He wasn’t actually interested in continuing the…novel. ::Why are you reading a ghost story?:: She demanded in outrage. ::You have a real ghost!:: Quatre turned to Wufei, cultivating a thoughtful frown. “She’s not very convincing.” He twisted slightly to study the transparent apparition floating behind them. After a thoughtful scrutiny he nodded. “You’re right.” Then they both went back to the books. Relena screeched and stormed about that for hours. +
::Don’t ignore me, Maxwell! You are not supposed to go into Heero’s room!:: He switched songs to the main theme song for the James Bond movies. It seemed appropriate. Then he started rifling through drawers and, failing that, went into Heero’s closet. Aha! The perfect thing. He took out Heero’s favorite green tank top (which had been carefully folded on a shelf) and slipped it on. ::MAXWELL!!!!!:: Duo switched songs again to ‘We are the Champions’ and walked out, Relena right behind him, still yelling. + After about an hour, Relena gave up and went somewhere else to sulk. Duo went directly to the pantry, intent on finding a reward for himself. Wearing something of Heero’s had been a stroke of genius. “Duo.” Duo poked his head around the pantry door. “Hey, Q. So, I score major points for this right?” Quatre nodded somewhat reluctantly. “It was a good idea. But…” “But? Buts are bad.” Duo hated buts. It was the ‘buts’ that usually got him in trouble. “Well…Wufei was giving you some very…strange looks.” “Aw crap.” Duo came completely out of the pantry and sat at the bar. Somehow, this wasn’t funny anymore. “Man, he’s leapt to the wrong conclusion, hasn’t he? Just cause I was wearing something of Heero’s.” “It IS something you would do with a crush.” Quatre admitted. “You’d better find a way to straighten this out.” “Right.” Duo pushed away from the bar, thinking furiously and formulating a plan as he went. As he went into the hall, he saw that Wufei was sitting in the It’s Good To Be King chair. There was a strange line of tension in his shoulders, however. Quatre was right. He didn’t look happy. Plastering a smile on his face he walked in. “I’m waiiiting.” Wufei didn’t even glance up. “For what?” “My brownie points, man! Here I think up this great idea on how to annoy Relena, and nobody says a word to me about it.” Come on, Wufei, bite. Wufei slowly raised his head. “You did that to annoy Relena?” “Sure. Why else would I be raiding Yuy’s wardrobe? Hell, if I was going to raid anyone’s closet, it would be yours. If you have some really neat stuff.” Duo smirked when he saw the confusion/trepidation spread over Wufei’s usually closed face. “Man, you are out of it. Didn’t you hear her screaming?” “I’ve…learned to tune her out.” “Wish I could.” Duo gave him a casual salute before turning away and back into the hallway. He saw Quatre standing just inside the kitchen door and flashed him a thumb’s up before going back up to Heero’s room. He had to put the tank back before their owner noticed the absence. Some lines you just did cross, no matter the reason, and touching the sacred tank top was one of those lines. + It had taken roughly three days of sad looks, pleas and cajoling, but Duo finally got his way. Well, truthfully, after nearly a week of putting up with Relena’s screeching, the boys didn’t care where they went as long as it was Somewhere Else. The appeal of fishing was slightly enhanced by the distance it would put between them and a certain ghost, true, and it probably helped that this particular Saturday was cheerfully sunny. Two weeks solid of rain had them in the mood for the great outdoors. Well, at least, the appeal worked on two of the boys. “Aw, com’n guys!” Duo put all of the enthusiasm possible in his smile, trying to convince Heero and Quatre away from their reluctance. “It’ll be fun! No Relena—” ::I heard that Duo!:: “—no rain, beautiful skies and sitting in the middle of water with no one to bother us!” “Except you.” Heero corrected with a slight growl. “I’m not desperate enough to get within ten yards of you with that much water on hand. No.” Quatre nodded in rueful agreement. “It is a dangerous idea, you must admit. But truthfully, I’m not in the mood to try to trick innocent fish into accepting a worm for lunch, then turning around and having THEM for lunch. Sorry, Duo.” “You’re such a wimp, Q.” “The term that you are looking for is ‘merciful’. Besides, I hate fish.” “Fine.” Duo waved away their protests as if they were of no major concern. “Just don’t stay bottled up here, kay?” “That we can safely promise.” Heero glared at the spector hovering over his right shoulder. Relena had been particularly clingy lately, and it was beginning to wear on his patience. She pouted, eyes brimming with transparent tears. Heero rolled his eyes. “Go, Duo.” “Not a problem! Hey Wuffers!” Duo sprinted outside, braid disappearing from sight with something that could have been mistaken as a goodbye wave. “I almost feel sorry for Wufei and Trowa.” Quatre murmured, eyes twinkling madly. “Better them than me.” But Heero had to agree with his friend. Duo would be a handful in that kind of mood. He didn’t handle being cooped up well. “Out of curiosity…what *are* we doing today?” “I have no definite plans.” Quatre raised his voice a little to be heard over Relena’s voice. “But they did open up a new Chesboro’s Music Store in town.” Heero thought that over for a tenth of a second. “Should I drive?” + Trowa had barely managed to navigate the motorboat into the middle of the lake before Duo had taken his shirt off and dug out a bottle of sunscreen. “Hey, ‘Fei. Do my back, will ya?” “Isn’t it more advisable to keep your shirt *on*?” “No way, man! I’ll never get a tan like that.” Duo tossed him the bottle and knelt to where his back was facing the Chinese man. Wufei sighed. It seemed that every time that he turned around, Duo was somehow touching him or finding a way for Wufei to touch him. He was not ambiguous about his sexual preferences, and normally he would have taken advantage of the numerous opportunities that Duo threw his way. Two things stopped him from doing so. One, he knew that Duo meant nothing by it. It was just how the American was. He treated Trowa and Quatre the same way. And two, he knew that Duo was more interested in Heero than a Chinese bookworm. All of this considered, it made touching him a pleasurably frustrating exercise. Still, Wufei did as he was asked and poured a healthy amount of sunscreen into his hand and started covering the other’s back. Duo smirked a little to himself as he felt Wufei’s hands glide over his back. He still had no idea whether Wufei was straight or not, but at least he was making progress in this area. The first month or so they had been living together, Wufei had been almost paranoid about touching him. Now he only gave a sigh and gave in. And the last time that Duo had hugged him, he had actually leaned *in* for a second before pulling away. It was a good sign. And, as always, Wufei finished the task without lingering and pulled away. Duo shrugged as he stood up and flashed a smile over his shoulder. “Thanks, man. Okay, fishies, get ready! You’re about to become lunch!” Trowa had kept an eye on both of them as he pulled the tackle box out and readied his line. He wasn’t sure if Duo was making progress or not, but judging from Wufei’s expression, something had definitely been going on between the two of them during that innocent exchange. He had no idea what to say to help the situation, however, so he turned back to the matter at hand. “Duo. Do you know how to fish?” “Sure. The pointy end goes in the water.” “Hm.” Trowa eyed him sideways. “I think I’d better bait your hook this time.” The first hour passed quietly. That is to say, Duo chattered non stop and the other two tuned him out and enjoyed the sunny weather. At a certain point Duo pulled his line back in, noting that he had lost his eighth worm. With a sigh he put another on and stood up slightly, tossing it like Trowa had shown him. During the hour however, they had drifted slightly towards a sand bar near the center of the river. Duo’s line hit the bar and wrapped itself around a piece of driftwood on the sand. “Aw man. Now what?” Trowa, a person who had lived in Louisiana for the past five years, took one look at the situation and shook his head. “Just cut the line. It’s not worth the effort.” “I can’t do that. I won’t have enough line afterwards.” “Duo. Trust me on this. Don’t try to go out there and untangle it.” “No sweat, Tro. I’ll be back in a sec, kay?” Duo dove off the end of the boat, staying well clear of the other’s lines. A moment later they saw him resurface and swim to the sandbar, now only fifteen yards or so away. “He does realize that he just scared all of the fish off.” Wufei noted idly. “No. Bring your line in.” Trowa was already reeling in his. Wufei gave him a look. “Any particular reason?” “We’re going to have to rescue him.” Wufei looked at Duo, who had by this point reached the sandbar, then back at Trowa, obviously clueless as to the taller man’s reasoning. He had just opened his mouth to demand an explanation when he heard a loud “CRAP!” from Duo. Snapping his head back around, he saw in astonishment that Duo was up to his collarbone in mud and sand. Trowa nodded his head casually in Duo’s direction. “That’s why.” Wufei jerked himself back into action and reeled his line in. “Is it quicksand?” “No. Not in the sense that you mean, anyway. If he tries hard enough, he could get loose on his own. It’d take about a half hour though.” Trowa revved the engine up and turned the boat around until he was roughly a yard and a half from Duo. Then he turned off the engine and started routing around for a rope. “Tro!” Duo struggled mightily to get an arm free so that he could shake it threateningly at his friend. “You could have warned me!” “I told you not to.” Trowa replied calmly, smirking a little to himself. “You didn’t tell me WHY!” Wufei grew impatient with Trowa’s methodical searching and reached over the edge of the boat, planting both feet firmly against the sides. “Duo. Move closer so that you can grab my hands.” Duo squirmed and wriggled and strained, moving a slow inch at a time until he was within Wufei’s reach. By this point he had mud from the neck down sticking to his skin like an adhesive. Trowa looked up, frowning slightly. “Wufei. That isn’t a good idea.” “I’m braced, Barton. He won’t pull me in.” Trowa highly doubted that, but he was willing to let him try. He watched as Wufei locked his hands around Duo’s wrists and started pulling Duo out of the sandbar slowly. Trowa was slightly impressed by the demonstration. It took a lot of strength to pull someone your own size out of a suction that strong. He just might be able to do it. Trowa moved forward, intending to help, when Duo’s slippery wrist slid out of Wufei’s grip. Wufei leaned forward to catch him, but the quick action upset his balance and he fell overboard with an indignant squawk. Trowa fought down a chuckle and leaned over the side to get a look at the situation. Duo was on his side, both arms planted up to the elbows in the mud in an attempt to keep his head up. Wufei had managed to catch himself on his elbows, but the rest of him was sinking quickly. In a minute or so, he would be just as covered as Duo. “Do you want to try it my way now?” Wufei turned enough to glare at him. “Next time, instead of saying that something is a bad idea, I want you to explain WHY it is a bad idea.” “Certainly.” Trowa was perfectly agreeable. “Let me find a rope.” + Chesboro’s Music Store—more commonly known as just Chesboro—was a three story building. The first floor held instruments and the numerous gadgets that one could buy for them, the second floor was cds, and the third floor was sheet music. It was the Barnes and Noble for music lovers, and Heero and Quatre were little better than children turned loose in a candy store. They attacked the third floor first, pulling out sheet music at random and playing it through in their minds to get an idea of how it would sound. When they had a fair selection of things that looked interesting (some fifty or so pieces) they went back to the main floor and snitched one of the grand pianos in the back of the store. Heero had played through two pieces, and Quatre fiddled with one of the violins until it was in tune. As soon as he was ready, they pulled the duets out and started playing through them. The store clerks, of course, noticed the private concert they were being granted, and leant half an ear towards the music. The patrons simply took advantage of them. “Excuse me.” A motherly figure approached them with a smile, her hands holding a selection of music. “I wonder if you would mind telling me which of these I should buy. My daughter is in the third level of piano, and asked for a few things, but I don’t know enough about music to know which one is the right one to buy.” “Certainly.” Quatre took the music that she handed him and thumbed through them casually. There was score music from Snowy River, Lord of the Rings, and a piece called Christoff’s Dream. “She’s third level?” “Yes.” “Of which books?” “Thompson.” “Hm.” Quatre handed them to Heero. “I think she could handle those. They’re within her skill level.” Heero glanced through the music and nodded thoughtfully. “I would think so. The music from Snowy River might be a bit of a challenge, though.” “But it’s the right ones?” “Oh yes.” Quatre assured her. “Heero, play through one of them for her, would you?” He nodded and picked Christoff’s Dream, since it was a favorite of his. As he played the woman leaned forward and murmured to Quatre, “You both play very well. Are you students?” “Yes.” “Majoring in music?” “I’m minoring in it. Actually, I’m majoring in business. Heero hasn’t decided what to do yet.” “It’d be a shame if he didn’t do something with music. He’s very talented.” Quatre nodded in agreement, but refused to comment. Heero and his uncle had arguments constantly about music. He didn’t want to add to Heero’s stress about the subject by saying something one way or the other. Heero finished with a small smile on his face. “This is a personal favorite of mine. But everything you chose should be fine.” “Good. And thank you for your help.” “Not a problem.” Heero assured her, handing the music back. Once she had left, they went back to their own selection of music. It was nearly two hours later when they finished, setting the music that they had liked to one side to purchase. “I’m starving. Let’s get some lunch.” Quatre picked up the music in one hand. “A good idea.” “Sir. A moment, if you would.” The store manager came up to them, a elderly man in tow. “This gentlemen would like to buy a piano for his granddaughter.” “Would you be willing to play a few of the pianos for me so that I can know how they sound?” The elderly man smiled at them. “I can’t pick out ‘Mary had a little lamb’ but my granddaughter has a good ear for music. I’d like to pick out something that she can use.” Quatre shared a look with Heero before he smiled. “Of course we can. Heero, you take the grand. I’ll take the Kimball.” Heero nodded. He went back to the grand piano he had been playing on and played the first three lines to The Waterfall. As soon as his hands left the keys, Quatre picked up on the next three lines and played it through. While he played, Heero moved to a Wurlitzer standing next to the wall and settled on the bench. When Quatre stopped he played the next three lines. They continued this pattern until they had played through the entire piece, and played every piano in the store. Heero looked up as he finished. “Is that what you wanted?” Both gentlemen looked slightly poleaxed at the display, and more than a little amused. The gentleman nodded. “Yes. Tell me, which one did you prefer to play on?” “The Wurlitzer.” Heero admitted. “I prefer its mellow sound.” “Is it a good brand?” “One of the best, although most wouldn’t consider it so because it usually has a more tinny sound. That one has been tuned lower than normal.” Heero turned to give it a considering look. Quatre came up beside him. “Actually, all the pianos here are of high quality. You don’t need to worry about that. I must admit, though, that I liked the sound of the Wurlitzer the best as well.” “Then I’ll take that one.” The manager nodded. “Thank you both for the demonstration.” “Our pleasure.” Quatre assured him. They gathered up their music again and paid for it before leaving quickly, just in case someone else tried to rope them into staying longer. “How did we attract so much attention?” Heero shrugged. “Lunch?” “Subway.” Heero suggested. “And Coldstone afterwards.” “Hn.” “It’s a plan.” + With the aid of the rope that Trowa had found in one of the compartments, both Wufei and Duo were extracted from their muddy prison within roughly fifteen minutes. When both of them were finally inside the boat, Trowa could no longer restrain himself and started laughing softly. Wufei growled up at him. “This is not amusing, Barton.” Trowa started laughing harder. “Y-you look like a pair of river r-rats.” Both of them were covered from ears to toes in mud, streaks of it across their foreheads and cheeks. Even the short distance that they had crossed in the river hadn’t helped remove the adhesive substance. Duo wrinkled his nose and lifted his braid to eye it closely. “I’m never going to get all of this out.” Wufei rolled his eyes, silently asking his ancestors what he had done to deserve this humiliation. “We might as well head back.” Trowa nodded, putting a lid on his amusement. He dropped them off near where they had parked the truck before he returned the boat from where he had rented it. The man behind the counter was a little surprised to see him back so soon, but Trowa shrugged. “Sandbar.” He grinned. “Get that all the time. Yanks don’t know better, I guess.” Trowa had enough of an accent to be considered a ‘native’ so he played along. “I warned ‘em.” “They never listen, though.” The man replied, shaking his head bemusedly. Trowa nodded in agreement. With a casual wave he went outside and started heading back. As he cleared the doorway, there was a suspicious tug at his pants. Looking down he saw a black kitten with white paws and a white smudge on its nose looking up at him. “Hello.” “Mrr.” Leaning down he scooped it up against his chest. The kitten started purring immediately. Now that he was closer, he could see that the creature was too thin, and the fur slightly matted. “Looks like you’re homeless.” “Mrrr.” The kitten yawned idly and snuggled against his chest. “Or not…” Trowa shook his head in amusement. It appeared that he had just been adopted. “I hope no one’s allergic.” With one hand idly caressing the kitten’s ears, he continued the path to the truck. Duo was in the water, still trying to clear some of the mud out of his braid. Wufei had apparently given up on the idea and was sitting on the tailgate, watching Duo raptly. When Trowa walked up beside him, he started guiltily. Trowa arched a brow at him, which made Wufei flush harder, but neither of them commented. Duo looked up. “Hey, Tro, who’s your passenger?” “Our new house-mate.” “Ohhh.” Duo bounded out of the water and approached carefully so he wouldn’t scare the kitten. “He’s cute. And kinda sad looking.” “I know. Is anyone allergic?” “Nope.” Duo reached over to scratch the kitten under his chin. Trowa looked at Wufei. “No. I am not.” Wufei slid off the tailgate to get a better look at the purring feline. “Actually, it might be very useful to have him. Animals are supposed to be very sensitive to a ghost’s presence.” “A Relena-detector, you mean?” Duo’s grin was not at all nice. “Cool. So whatcha gonna name him?” “Trousers.” “Huh?” “That’s how he got my attention.” Trowa explained. “He tugged at the bottom of my pants.” “Oh. Works for me. Let’s get him home. He needs a bath and food.” Wufei looked down at himself and wrinkled his nose. “He’s not the only one.” Trowa was quite proud of himself at that moment for not commenting. + Once Duo had showered, he had tossed himself onto the bed for a nap. Struggling to get out of that sand quagmire had worn him out, and right now he just wanted a bit of sleep. Relena ghosted in, making sure that Duo was fast asleep before hovering next to him. She had thought for days on how to get her revenge for his trespassing into Heero’s room and borrowing his clothes. Extending her energy, she focused on his hair, still wet from the shower. Using extreme care she lifted locks of it at a time and started to twist and manipulate it, losing all track of time as she worked. There was a soft scratch at the door. Relena jumped in surprise, and the hair that she had been holding fell back to the mattress. There was another scratch, then a small pink nose pushed through into the room. As Relena watched in astonishment, a small black and white kitten wriggled its way in. Taking no regard for her presence it continued its way in and jumped onto the bed, nudging Duo’s head with its own and purring. “Wha—” Duo blinked sleepily and tried to push the kitten away. The kitten dodged the attempt easily and growled, nudging harder. “Gah. Geez, Trousers, I’m awake already.” Duo finally opened his eyes to look down at the kitten. He caught a glimpse of Relena’s murderous scowl before she disappeared. “Oh great. Her Spookiness was here, huh? Guess ‘Fei was right, you can sense her.” Duo sat up and cradled the kitten against his chest. “Good kitty. You must have been a guard dog in a previous life or something.” The kitten purred in agreement. “Trousers? Where are you?” Trowa poked his head into the room. “Ah. There he is.” “Hey, Tro, you need to give him tuna or something. The cat just saved me from our Ghastly Ghost.” Trowa eyed him critically. “Not soon enough, apparently.” “What?” “Look at your hair.” Duo pulled some of it to where he could get a closer look. The hair had been knotted and tangled so badly that there was no way he would be able to comb it out. Duo snarled. “That—that whoring bitch! How did she--?! I’m going to get her back for this!” “Worry about your hair first.” Trowa advised, coming forward to reclaim his kitten. “But you’re right. He does deserve tuna. She might have done something else if he hadn’t woken you up.” “Not a good thought.” Duo grumped. “Hn.” Trowa retreated out of the room, softly murmuring to his kitten as he went. Duo grabbed his hairbrush from his nightstand, staring at his hair dispiritedly. There was no way that he would be able to work all of those tangles out. He couldn’t see half of them. What he needed was help, but who— Wufei. Duo started to smile slowly. He could ask Wufei for help. In fact, this might help his whole Seducing Wufei plan. Ha! If this worked, he would almost be thankful to Relena. Well, that might be pushing things a bit too far. Duo bounced out of the room and towards Wufei’s bedroom. He gave it only a cursory knock before sticking his head in. “Wuffee?” “Duo. Stop calling me that.” “Okay, ‘Fei.” “And that.” “Sure, Wu-man.” Wufei sighed, setting his book aside and looked up. “Did you want something?” Duo grinned ruefully. “Help?” “With what?” Duo stepped all the way in and turned to where Wufei could see his back. “With that. Relena tangled it up when I was napping.” Wufei swore softly. “She did quite a thorough job.” “Yeah, I know. Can you comb it out? I can’t see the back of my head.” Wufei motioned him to the bed. “Sit there.” Duo flashed him a smile of pure gratitude. “Thanks.” He settled onto the mattress, putting his head on his drawn up knees and wrapping his arms around his legs. He felt the mattress dip when Wufei climbed up behind him. Duo was about to warn him that he was a little tender headed, but when he started to untangle the first knot so carefully, Duo closed his mouth again. There wasn’t any need to warn him if he was going to be that cautious. Wufei forced himself to focus solely on the task at hand. He had never seen Duo with his hair loose, although he had dreamed several embarrassingly erotic dreams about it. This was a chance for that, and he was almost tempted to thank Relena for giving him the opportunity. Some of them had to be undone with his fingers they were so badly tangled, but others he worked through with the brush alone. It was only after several moments of working that he realized Duo was completely silent. Canting his head slightly he took a look at the American’s face. Duo was smiling softly, eyes closed. Wufei sat back slowly, not wanting Duo to suspect that he had looked at that serene expression. He…apparently enjoyed the tactile touch, despite all the snarls in his hair. Wufei swallowed hard, trying not to dwell on that soft look on Duo’s face. For an hour they sat there in silence as Wufei corrected the mess that Relena had made. Finally he was able to draw the brush through the slightly damp hair without a snag. Without a word he parted the length and started to braid it. When he reached the end, he took the band off the handle of the hairbrush and wrapped it in place. “There.” “Thanks.” Duo twisted about to give Wufei a brief hug then bounded off the bed. “I owe you one.” With a quick analyst’s salute, he bounced out of the door and was gone. Wufei sat frozen, hand slowly clenching into a fist. With a harsh snarl he pounded it against the coverlet. “Damn you, Relena.” A brief shiver went through his body. “Damn you.”
Footnotes:
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