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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 Eight: Rectifications II
An enraged dragon had him by the front of the shirt, eyes spitting fire. “You are an idiot, Yuy.” Heero had no idea what had brought this on. But he had seen his friend enraged like this once before. Several people had been hospitalized and a couple of thousand dollars worth of damage had been done before Wufei had calmed down. Heero froze, trying to not even breathe more than necessary. “What did I do?” “How can you ask such a question?!” Wufei’s free arm flayed out in an expansive gesture of frustration. Heero was just as glad that the arm hadn’t been used to send a punch in his direction. “How can you hurt him that badly and not even realize it!” Heero’s confusion was growing instead of diminishing. “Hurt who?” Some of Heero’s expression made a dent in Wufei’s rant. He shut his mouth with a click and truly looked at his prey for the first time. “You really don’t know what I’m talking about.” Heero’s reply was very careful. “No. I don’t.” “Quatre.” Wufei whispered. “You hurt Quatre.” “What?” Heero felt like a proverbial five ton gorilla had socked him in the chest. If the building hadn’t been trying to make an impression on his back, he might have fallen. “How?” “I don’t know. He didn’t tell me details.” Wufei’s eyes narrowed and the glitter of anger reignited. “I just walked in last night and found him crumpled on the floor, nearly delirious from eating four bags of Hershey kisses.” Heero winced. “From what Duo tells me, that’s bad. You’d better speak up quickly, Yuy, because if I don’t hear a good reason for this, you’re going to be in traction for the next month.” “I don’t know.” Heero whispered. At this moment he almost wished that Wufei would beat him to a pulp. He would have preferred that physical pain that knowing that he had hurt the one person that mattered most. “I honestly don’t remember saying or doing anything that would cause that reaction.” “He said that you wouldn’t even look at him.” Heero looked up, puzzled. Wouldn’t look at him? When? The events of the last two days were fuzzy, mostly because his mind hadn’t been on his surroundings. When he had slammed the phone down, refusing to hear anything more of what Jay wanted, he had grabbed only his wallet and keys before slamming out of the house. Wouldn’t look at him— Heero ran that scene back through his head. There was a detail there out of place. He vaguely remembered someone trying to speak to him. But he had been so angry, and he hadn’t wanted to blow up at someone, he had pushed them out of the way… His eyes widened when the details spun and clicked into place. “Oh god. When I stormed out of the house the other night. He must have tried to stop me. I was so angry, so focused on just leaving and…” Wufei stumbled back a pace as Heero brushed past him, nearly running toward the parking lot. With a soft curse he sprinted after him. “Yuy! Where do you think you’re going?” “Home. I’ve got to straighten this out.” Wufei watched his friend climb into the Ford pickup and speed away, a funny quirk set to his mouth. “So maybe you’re not such an idiot.” The cellphone in his pocket vibrated. He pulled it out and gave a casual glance at the screen. Duo. “Yes?” //You find him?// “Yes.” //Good. Don’t start in on him till I get there. I want to break a few bones. Where are you?// “I’m at the parking lot near the gym. Heero,” the smile grew a little “is breaking several speeding laws on his way home to straighten everything out.” //…// “It’ll be fine, ai ren.” Wufei murmured tenderly. “Quatre needs Heero right now in one piece. You can punch him later.” There was a sigh on the other end of the line. //Nah. He’ll have guilt tripped himself thoroughly by then. It’ll feel like I’m kicking a puppy or something.// “Hm. That’s rather how I felt about it as well. Meet me for lunch?” //Sure thing, babe.// Wufei glared at the phone when Duo hung up. + Heero barely let the door slam open before darting through, eyes scanning frantically for a certain blond head. When he didn’t find it on the ground floor, he started going up the stairs. “Yuy.” Heero froze when Trowa’s voice snapped behind him. Swallowing hard he turned enough to meet the cold stare he was getting. “I know. Wufei told me. Where is he?” “Still upstairs. When he comes DOWN those stairs, I expect him to be smiling.” Trowa took a half step forward, crossing his arms in front of his chest while his eyes bore into Heero’s. “And if he’s not, then you’re going to need a wheelchair for the rest of your life. Am I clear?” Heero gave him the barest of nods. “Good. Go.” Heero didn’t waste a second, just continued his path upwards. Wufei was a volatile person, so he had half hoped that the Chinese man had been blowing things a little out of proportion. But Trowa wasn’t volatile, which told Heero that last night had been bad. Very bad. He had a lot of explaining to do, and hoped that he could get his mouth coordinated enough to accomplish the task. Drawing in a breath, he knocked lightly on the door. There was only the faint sound of a sniffle. Heero winced. He cracked the door open and peeked cautiously around the door. Quatre was huddled up in the center of the bed, only half way dressed, hugging himself tightly. Without conscious thought Heero closed the door behind him and moved toward the bed, not stopping until he had drawn Quatre up into his arms and buried his head in the blonde’s neck. “I’m sorry.” Quatre stiffened slightly when he realized who was holding him. “Heero?” “I’m sorry. I wasn’t angry at you. I’m not angry with you. I didn’t even realize you were there until Wufei tracked me down a few minutes ago.” Not knowing what else to say, he tightened his hold a little more. Quatre finally relaxed, sliding his arms around Heero’s waist and returning the embrace. “Okay.” It was too easy. Heero felt like Quatre should at least punch him to even the score. “What can I do to make up for this?” Quatre burrowed in a little more. What he wanted was just this. Just to be held. Just to know that everything was right again. But Heero wouldn’t understand that need, wouldn’t think of it as balancing the scales. He needed something more tangible. “Make me omelets for breakfast.” “I can do that.” Heero pulled back a little, smoothing hair out of Quatre’s face so that he could assess the damage. It looked like he had been crying all night. An omelet wouldn’t make up for this. A finger gingerly traced the dark shadows under the brilliant blue/green eyes. “Quatre—” Quatre caught the hand and shook his head, smiling. “I told you, its okay. I know that you didn’t mean to hurt me. So it’s okay.” “I’d still feel better if you punched me.” Heero said miserably. “Nothing doing, Yuy.” Quatre reluctantly pulled free and tugged Heero off the bed. “Now come on. I haven’t had breakfast and I’m starving.” Trowa was blatantly waiting for them at the foot of the stairs. He examined Quatre’s face carefully before nodding in satisfaction. “I have class. Later.” Quatre eyed his departure suspiciously. “Heero, you said that you didn’t know about it until Wufei found you this morning. How did Wufei find out?” Heero wasn’t surprised by this hole in Quatre’s memory. “He stumbled across you last night.” Quatre blanched. “Who else?” “Duo.” “And Trowa?” “I’m not sure how Trowa knows.” Heero admitted. “Oh. Um.” Quatre rubbed the back of his neck absently. “Does that mean that Wufei went after you this morning with a katana?” “ No. I think he was planning on using his fists.” Quatre thought that over for a minute. “Do I need to call them?” “It might not be a bad idea.” “Right.” Quatre headed for the hall phone and started dialing Wufei’s number. Heero, having no desire to be reminded of last night, went into the kitchen and started taking out the ingredients for omelets. + Duo stumbled into the study, blanket trailing behind him like a toga. He cracked one eye open and scanned the room. Wufei was sitting on the couch, book in one hand and a mug sitting on the table beside him. Duo smiled sleepily and continued his ramshackle trek into the room. Wufei looked up at Duo ambled over, a little surprised. As far as he knew, the only reason why Duo would be up at 8 o’clock on a weekend morning was if the house was on fire. He marked his place with a finger, tracking the other’s approach. Duo stifled a yawn and climbed into Wufei’s lap. With a contented sigh he snuggled in, head dropping to the crook of Wufei’s neck. Wufei tilted his head down to look at him, sliding an arm around the body on top of his. “Good morning, Duo.” “Mmm.” Wufei’s gaze softened. “Couldn’t you sleep?” “Not without you.” Duo mumbled. “Shh. Sleepy.” “Then sleep.” Wufei tightened his hold and pressed a kiss against his lover’s forehead. Duo emitted a purr and snuggled closer before settling. Quatre came in the next moment, taking in the scene with raised eyebrows. “Are you both coming with us to the Pot Luck?” Wufei put a finger to his lips. “Softly. Yes, we’re both going. I think we might be late, however.” Quatre eyed Duo’s sleeping form. “Yes, I gathered that.” He murmured. With a smile he walked back out again. + All of the different divisions in the Arts building had decided to have a Pot Luck the week before Mardi Gras. Trowa had been the one to talk them all into going. His most prominent line of reasoning was “We don’t have to cook or clean up afterwards.” This logic had the desired effect on the house full of bachelors. Because of the fair weather, it had turned more into a barbecue buffet than a Pot Luck. Trowa had taken care of bringing something for them, something that he called ‘Slamgullion’. Quatre had snuck some of it out of the pan earlier and was determined to talk Trowa into cooking the dish for the rest of them sometime in the near future. Perhaps tomorrow. Trowa had actually arrived earlier than the rest, having driven separately. While they were still standing in line to reach the food, he was walking past them with a plate in his hands. Duo stopped him. “Hey Tro, aren’t you going to get something besides fried chicken, salad, and a roll?” Trowa thought about it for a moment. “No.” He nodded towards the back. “I’ll reserve a spot.” Duo eyed him sideways as he disappeared. “I’m never going to figure that guy out.” The rest of them understood a moment later where Trowa was coming from. As easily as Trowa could be assumed a native—especially with his French background—he had actually been raised in the eastern states and his taste buds reflected that. Quatre listened in amazement as his fellow students started swapping recipes as they heaped food onto their plates. “—if it weren’t for my cousin Bill running down this critter, I would have been stuck for ideas, let me tell you. I was in the mood for possum, but they’re hard to get ahold of sometimes.” A perfectly normal young woman in front of Heero was saying. “Oh I know it.” Her friend from across the table nodded ruefully. “And alligator tail. Lord, it’s hard to get ahold of alligator tail!” The first girl sighed wistfully. “Haven’t had that in a while.” “Really? Jace said he brought some.” “No, really?” “Yeah, up yonder. He went fishin’ this past weekend, I think, and caught it then.” “Well, I’ll be. I’ll just get me some of that.” Quatre leaned close to Heero’s shoulder. “Do you recognize any of this?” Heero looked at the display and shook his head. Duo leaned over so that only the other two could hear him. “Me neither. But you know, I’m kinda glad of that….” Trowa had this expectant look on his face when the four returned. He was not in the least surprised to find that all four plates only held fried chicken, salad and rolls. Well, Quatre and Wufei also had some Slamgullion on their plates, which rather tickled his ego. “See?” Wufei looked at him wryly. “Yes. We see. Barton, how can we convince you to EXPLAIN things to us before you throw us into an unknown situation?” Trowa shrugged innocently. “But I did warn you about the sandbar.” Duo and Wufei gave him simultaneous glares. Quatre, sensing a story, perked up. “What sandbar?” “Never mind.” Wufei growled out of the corner of his mouth. Trowa gave Quatre a wink that said ‘later’. Despite the odd quality of the food, the company was good, the music was excellent and the day long. They didn’t even think of returning home until at nine that evening, and even then it took an hour to find everyone and get them into the cars. They were all feeling the need for soft beds when they reached home. Duo was openly yawning, Quatre rubbing at his eyes. Wufei was the first out, unlocking the door. But when he tried to push it open, it wouldn’t budge. Feeling uneasy, he tried again. The handle would turn, but the door simply wouldn’t move. “Odd.” Trowa came up behind him. “It won’t unlock?” “It’s unlocked. It just won’t open.” “Hm.” He grabbed the top of the ornate door frame and lifted himself up so that he could see into the small oval window over the door. “Ah.” Quatre looked up at him. “’Ah’?” “Relena has apparently been quite busy while we were gone. The door is blocked by the china cabinet.” Heero started snarling curses under his breath. “Right.” Quatre pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache coming on. “Spread out. I’m sure that if she blocked this door, she also blocked the back door, but let’s make sure. Duo, take the back. Heero, look to see if she missed any windows on the ground floor. She probably didn’t, but… Wufei, Trowa, can you get on the roof? I think that’s our best bet on how to get in.” They nodded acknowledgements and scattered. Quatre, for lack of a better idea, took one side of the house while Heero took the other, trying to peer into windows. Several times the windows would open, but he found that they were blocked by some piece of furniture. It was Trowa that found a way in. She hadn’t been able to block the attic window because there was nothing stored in the attic but empty boxes. Wufei eyed the narrow opening doubtfully. “I think the only one who could fit in there would be Quatre.” “I can fit.” Trowa replied calmly. He held himself up by the edge of the roof and slid his feet in first. As Wufei watched in amazement, he twisted and contorted his body until he was able to slide through the narrow opening. Wufei shook his head. “So you can. I’ll tell the others.” The back door was actually the easiest to come in through. Trowa wouldn’t be able to move the fully loaded china cabinet by himself. As the others came through, Wufei muttered darkly “It looks like I’ll be doing more research.” “Ah…why?” Duo studied his lover in confusion. “We have an incantation that keeps her out of our room. There must be some way to keep her out of the house entirely.” Heero looked at all the furniture and books that they would have to move back and growled an agreement. “The idea has appeal.”
Footnote: This is becoming a habit, I swear. Alright, here we go. Yes, people in Louisiana really do eat roadkill possum, alligator tail, crawdads, rattlesnakes, and various other things. In fact, I’ve seen people hit a boiling pot of water with a spoon and say “Get back in there!” These people are strange, let me tell you. Their eating habits are only part of the equation. ~ * ~ |
