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"Heero's Dog"Written By: Kaeru Shisho Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Gundam Wing
or its characters, nor do I make any monetary profit off this story. Rating: NC 17 Warnings: AU, male/male pairings, language Pairings: 1x2, 3x4, Summary: Heero chooses a dog for stress relief and gets everything but, and then he meets Duo. This is about relationships more than dogs, but the title stuck. And he does get a dog. A/N: My thanks go to Waterlily for the excellent
editing and support. The story is told from the point of view of Heero,
Trowa, and at times Wufei. Thank you for reading.
" Heero's Dog" Chapter 6 "So, here's the type of dog I'm thinking of getting." Wufei offered his device to the other man. While Zechs studied the picture, Wufei studied him. The heir to the Peacecraft estate was certainly very handsome, but, on further observation, Wufei judged the man to be on the verge of going soft with a dissolute lifestyle. He could use some exercise and hardening up. "A French bulldog? I understand they make very devoted pets." "I value loyalty highly," Wufei asserted, firmly. "I don't see them around. Are they hard to find?" "I'm sending a request to a..." Wufei paused to consider what Trowa was to him. Not a friend, that would not be justifiable under the circumstances, but he was someone he could find admirable qualities in, if he looked hard enough. "-To a well-regarded dog-man in town. He seems able to magically pull wonderful dogs out of hats." "I see. I was thinking myself about getting a loyal companion, but a dog might do in the interim." When the man laughed, Wufei realized it was a joke and smiled. "Perhaps you should begin with a stalwart friend?" "Is Yuy your friend?" Zechs asked. "Do you know him well?" Wufei wondered a moment about who "Yuy" might be. "The somber-faced man you just spoke to?" Zechs clarified as if he'd read his mind. "If you mean Heero, then no. We just met. I already like him a great deal." "Really?" "I do. And I believe he'll make Duo the perfect boyfriend." Wufei noticed the look of relief on the other man's face. "Not my type, particularly, but Duo needs a certain degree of stability in his life. Someone he can count on. Sound and robust." "And Duo is-? Oh, I know; the distraught young man you spoke to before that?" "Yes, that's the one. He takes his ship out on adventures, which worked out very nicely for us. He needed space from a bad relationship and I invited him to share a room in my house. But even the best of friends—" "Relationships become strained in close proximity?" Zechs offered. "Correct. And as long as he was at sea- What are you smiling like that for?" "Forgive me, but I couldn't help but picture him on deck in a pirate costume," Zechs said, chuckling. Wufei thought that was funny as well. "Oh, if Duo wore a pirate costume, he'd have people queuing up to hire him for voyages! I'll have to mention that to him." "You would look positively cutthroat with a large gold earring," Zechs touched his ear and Wufei shivered, "red silk scarf tied around your head, a white shirt, loosely tied, crisscrossing, you know, from the neck down -" "You imagine these scenarios with impressive detail," Wufei noted. He tried to look stern, but he was terribly pleased with the image Zechs had described. "Oh, I was only getting started. I hadn't even gotten to the cutlass at your side." "Sword," Wufei corrected. He sniffed. "I had a practice sword in my hand before I could write!" "Did you?" Zechs' expression was that of pleasure. "I'm a swordsman, too, you may have heard." "Of course." Everyone but a hermit would have seen pictures of Coronel Merquise, sword in hand, receiving commendations when he left the military. A career cut off mid stride by injury, so it was said. Wufei couldn't see a single weakness in the man. "We should cross swords sometime," Zechs said, leaning very close. Wufei felt him pick at a loose strand of hair and tuck it behind his ear. He couldn't help gasping when the man began petting his ear intimately. "I have an excellent recreation room." "That's ridiculous!" Wufei said, mastering himself, or at least attempting to think lucidly. "Our fighting styles must be entirely different. There'd be no purpose to the sport—oh!" Once Zechs' lips touched his, his thoughts turned to mush and rendering him speechless. Sword play took on an entirely new meaning. The words might have been ambiguous, but Zechs' skilled tongue made his intentions unmistakable. (*) Trowa was tired of driving around in circles, living his life that way hadn't gotten him anyplace either. Hadn't he said enough to Duo? Broken things off? Admitting he had met someone else had been hard. He didn't need to have another face-off with Duo to call it quits. "So, back to Quatre's," he decided. He didn't want to run into Duo again, or Heero, or Wufei, for that matter, so he took a short turnoff to an overlook and watch the cars leave. If he'd been totally honest, he'd have admitted he was trying to get the guts to go in and talk to Quatre. Instead, he cogitated over his situation some more and came to the ridiculous conclusion that Wufei was to blame. If he hadn't been so accommodating, allowing Duo an alternative place to hang out and friend to lean on, Duo might have been more compliant to his needs, moved to the farm, been with him. But then there wouldn't have been any room in his life for Quatre. Perhaps "blame" wasn't the right word. Maybe he had Wufei to thank? "Fuck that." Another car had beat him to the spot. Parked under a street light rather than in the dark, though. Wufei's ratty old blue and white Datsun. Speaking of Wufei Chang... "What's Chang doing out here?" But when the figure inside the car moved, he recognized that it was Duo in the driver's seat. Alone. "What are you doing, Duo? Changing clothes?" he wondered to himself. Trowa felt a wave of guilt when it sank in that Duo had left the party early, and it had been his fault, spoiling it for him. The dim light and distance made it difficult to tell exactly what Duo was doing, but he decided that the poor guy had probably spilled something on his clothes, a lot of something, soaking him to the skin. He appeared to be busy, most likely cleaning himself up, but eventually Duo started the car and backed out. Trowa backed further up the hill away from the entrance to the turnout and waited for Duo to leave. Sure enough, it appeared he was going back down, returning home—Wufei's home, probably. Where else would he go? "Better follow him to make sure he gets home okay," Trowa said as if he needed an excuse to check on him. When Trowa pulled up across the street, the Datsun was parked and empty. Duo was safe and he ought to leave, but something held him back. If Wufei hadn't left with him, then Duo was alone. He didn't want to confront Wufei. He frankly didn't want to confront Duo either, but he knew he should be certain that Duo would be all right. That he wasn't going to do something stupid and desperate. Quatre would never forgive him if he let Duo hurt himself because of his callousness, he knew that much about Quatre. Treat the ex in a manner that demonstrates how you'd treat the next guy, or something like that, right? Yeah, if he ever hoped to make anything of those sparks with Quatre, and he did want that, he'd have to leave Duo in good shape. Quatre. It triggered Trowa to get out of the car and knock on the door. Get it over with. Progress. It wouldn't be easy, he knew, not like it had been with Heero. Heero, he'd only just begun to know, and the other man had other interests as well. Duo and he had been friends and lovers they'd had a history together for years. All in all, breaking up was more difficult than he'd thought it would be. And then suddenly Duo appeared, standing there at the door, wrapped in a towel, hair down and looking so vulnerable and beautiful. "What do you want? I'm about to take a shower." Mentally, Trowa knew what he had to say, what had to be done, but his body failed. "I can't—"His throat constricted and tears threatened to escape for the second time that night. "Um, you'd better come in." Obviously by the way he said it, Trowa knew the situation was anything but "all right", but he accepted the invitation to go inside. "Sorry. I-I wanted to make sure you got home all right." He was so choked up he barely got those words out. "Well, I did." "I'm sorry, Duo." "I know," Duo said quietly and sounding equally disturbed, "it's awful, isn't it?" Trowa wiped at his face and nodded. "Yeah." "It's why we kept putting it off." This time the tears did let loose and he couldn't talk at all. He accepted it when Duo pulled him into a hug and patted his back. He leaned into the embrace and held him back for support. "It really is okay," Duo assured him. Assured him. "It will be okay. Things will get better for both of us." The words came in hushed tones he could only just make out. "I'm not just saying that either, Tro'. I mean it. Holding on to... what we had was just killing us both and hurting so bad." Trowa sobbed. "Yeah." "Yeah, me, too, babe." Duo continued to hold him, rocking a little. "Maybe, we'll still save enough to re-build a friendship, eh? Think so? Well, we'll see. Give ourselves some time, okay?" Trowa didn't keep track of how long they just stood there, holding one another, saying goodbye. He felt Duo drew apart at last, sweeping away some of his bangs to look at his eyes. "Hey, you okay...some? Better?" Trowa coughed and found a pocket kerchief to blow on. "Sorry about- " He couldn't control his breathing to speak properly yet. "Me, too." Duo pressed a hand to his eyes. "Look. I know about Quatre and you, and that's good. I'm really good with that and happy you found a better match. Really and truly I am. I mean it. We can both move on now." Trowa nodded again. He hadn't actually given him Quatre's name, but there it was. It was all out. No ugly secrets. All the cards were on the table and his heart felt a little lighter. "Thanks. I should have said something." "Yeah, well, over and done. Lots of blame to spread around, so let's not. Just clean the slate. Oh God, especially the pictures." Trowa shook his head. "What pictures?" "The pictures I just sent. You got those, right?" Trowa heard the uncertainty in Duo's voice and pulled out his cell to look. . "I figured you'd seen them and, shit. Just delete anything I just—" "There's nothing from you. Sure you got your numbers right?" "Um, I dunno." He watched as Duo found his phone on a table. "New phone and all-." Duo paused while staring down at his phone. "When did I get that? Um..." Duo shivered. "Oh, God. Wish I was a dog. In dog years I'd be dead. Which might be less suffering...?" "What? You're probably cold." Trowa found a way to excuse himself, not too hard now, especially since Duo seemed distracted, his attention occupied elsewhere. "I'll drop off a box of music that got moved by mistake and that end table you like. If there's anything else-?" Duo brushed the rest away. "Nope. Got what I need. Thanks." And Trowa returned to his car. "Two down and one left to go. I hope to God Quatre's in an understanding mood." He wasn't even going to hope for a magnanimous mood. (*) Nothing had gone right for him. Heero scratched at Wing's exposed belly, lying stretched out on his couch fully dressed where he'd fallen minutes after entering his home. "At least you still want my attention." No one wanted to keep him around. Relena had been a test case that had bombed never having left the ground. Zechs had been a case of lust that had nose-dived right after take-off. Trowa, well, even if nothing developed, it had been nice to think a man like that found him attractive. And then there was Duo. "I guess he did, but does he now?" Wing whined and licked his fingers. "Why does Duo have to be so-?" Ugh! Desirable! Unavailable! "At best I'd be the re-bound man." He raked his finger through his hair repeatedly until the mess was wilder than usual, and then did the same to his dog until the animal passed out from the pure joy of it. Heero wished he could pass out and forget the entire week. The last month! He decided to forgo the last week of his vacation and return to work in order to distract himself. "Huh?!" He jumped at the sound of his phone signaling incoming messages. He checked the ID. And his heart not only skipped a beat, it did cartwheels in his chest. "It's Duo!" He opened the message and read the short note. "Pictures? Oh!" He couldn't believe his eyes: Duo in the buff pointing out what he was missing and daring him to come over! Well. Maybe that was what he was saying; the text was mostly illegible with f*u punctuation. Intriguing and a little disturbing at the same time. Heero ran that past his mental logic meter and deemed it amazing, bordering on irrational, but very, very hot. After one more stare at the hot photo, tapped out a brief: "OK". He didn't remember the drive over. He stood at the door and then Duo appeared. Dressed in sweats, he was far less appealing than what Heero had seen in the photos. Then there was the fact that Duo didn't look especially happy, but before all those things computed, Heero did the most impulsive thing he had done in a while and stepped forward and kissed him. Duo trembled in his grip. That was exciting. That was good, right? Right? "I loved the pictures. I was so happy you sent them and couldn't wait another second to see you. I probably broke a hundred traffic laws getting here, but I don't remember. All I know is that I—" "Hold it!" Duo said. When he pulled back to examine Duo's face he felt a cold chill go up and down his spine. He had felt pretty secure that greeting Duo with a kiss was the right move, up until that very second. "I didn't mean to send those to you. It was a message to...um... Trowa—" "T-Trowa?" Heero was devastated. "Yeah..." Heero watched as Duo brushed the hair out of his eyes and sighed. He let Duo gear up to say whatever seemed unwilling to come out, while he chafed over what he'd told him. Why Trowa? He'd said they were over? "Sorry, man. God that was... shit. Those weren't meant to, um, be a come-on. I was mad and wanted him to know we were over and think about what he'd be missing. A good riddance sorta message, not encouragement! Didn't the message make that clear?" "No." That was not at all the message you were sending! "I may have messed that up too. Sending pictures and messages? Two things at once? But, um, hey, me and him...that's really all over now. Completely. Nada. Nothing going on there anymore." "Not meant for me?" "Yeah. Um... I musta slipped up with the IDs, you know, because my phone's new and I hadn't the 'knack' of it yet." "I'm ID '01'," Heero told him, so stunned that he felt unable to say anything else. "Oh, yeah. I see... he's '03' now, heh, heh. Shit. Yeah. Sorry." "I'm not. I liked them. I thought I'd gotten my wish come true." Heero hadn't intended to reveal his feelings to that extent. He simply spoke from the heart and his heart was breaking. And then he was staring into a pair of deep blue eyes, falling into them, and he couldn't speak. "Hey, come inside. Let's not have this conversation on the doorstep, okay?" Heero let himself be drawn inside. "I like you, too, remember? I meant what I said about thinking about you a lot." Not for me? Duo's hand reached out and settled on his shoulder. "Dog hairs. Your pup sure does shed!" "I know. I complain about it all the time. Duo, stop. I want to know, honestly, if I have a chance with you. A real chance. Sometime? It... doesn't have to be right this minute. Oh, hi, Sky." He knelt down to greet the black dog who'd been sitting patiently by the couch. When Duo gave him the signal, Sky ambled over to Heero's hand. "You are the best dog," Heero cooed. "I agree." He felt Duo studying him. Maybe thinking things over? He hadn't pushed him out the door, at least. "Duo, I can give you all the space and time you need, if that helps?" "It does. Immensely. And I meant I agree to give us a chance, but, um, Sky is cool, too. God, I'm so nervous! Okay. You know I'm interested, but I'm kinda a mess currently, as you can tell." "By the sweats?" Heero smiled tentatively. "I meant that as a joke," he added quickly. He couldn't be too careful, he thought. With a roll of his eyes and a chuckle, Duo indicated that he knew that. "Yeah, real attractive clothes, huh? Heh, heh, so, just let me get this said the one time and then we don't ever have to go over it all again, okay?" "All right." Heero had heard what he'd needed: that they had a chance. He could let Duo have all the "say" he wanted now. "Right. So, this is what happened as I see it. I do not want to go through this thing again, get it?" "Go on and I will." "Okay." Heero watched as Duo paced the carpet near the couch. He waited him out, enjoying the feel of the dog's fur between his fingers. Patience he had now. "Here goes, then. You find that you think you're crazy in love with this person, so you let all kinds of red flags and warnings slip through your radar." "They say love is blind." "It can be, for sure, until one day you decide it's time for you to do something about it." "Like after you met me," Heero said it hoping it to be true. "Um, yeah, but you shouldn't actually know that, heh, heh. Anyway, so you try to pull away from the person you've been seeing, because you know that you deserve more than you're getting out of the relationship. Then, whammo! Mr. Elusive suddenly notices you're beating a hasty retreat and launches a charm offensive filled with compliments and loving gestures designed to win you back. Um...that part's come up short lately, but it happened in the past enough to make me wonder, you know? Had the object of your affection finally come to his senses? Yeah, well, so you cautiously crack open the door to your heart again. And for a brief time, it's bliss... but before you know it, you're right back where you were before, stuck in the status quo. Then, the cycle starts anew. But not so much this time..." "—Because of me?" "Yeah, you and him. He found someone else, too, you know, your friend, Quatre. Anyway, that all sounds exhausting, right?" "Yes, it does. It won't happen with us." "You sound pretty sure of that." "I'm not that insecure. If something is amiss, I'll tell you." Heero knew himself. "I have been told I'm too blunt, but if the attraction is overwhelmed by problems, I don't let things drag on long. All my previous... relationships have been brief." That did not sound at all like he meant it to sound. "It wasn't intended to sound that bad." "Open and honest, I like that. You have to learn to give and take, too, for something to last," Duo pointed out. "I-I think we have a future," Heero added. "I'd like to join you on the ship. I can offer you a place to stay, um, a room of your own at my place, if you'd like? You wouldn't have to, of course. Was that too soon to mention? You wouldn't have to take me with you. You can have plenty of freedom, if you need it, as long as... you, um like me a lot. "You seem real supportive, and I like that a lot." "So, were back to the beginning." "A new one with a better outcome, I hope." "Oh, definitely a better outcome." "So-." "So?" "So, here's the deal—" (*) Trowa wiped his face in hopes that Quatre wouldn't notice that he'd been crying. Men didn't cry. The light at the front door was still on, but the cars were gone. He took that as a good indication and rang the bell. The door opened. Quatre met him with a gracious smile and greeting, "Come in, Trowa," and a more ominous, "I was expecting you. I'm glad you didn't change your mind." "I promised to come over." And then Quatre was there, close, studying his face. "You've been crying!" Trowa let the fall of bangs veil his face and turned away, embarrassed. He should have waited longer to recover. Quatre would never go for weakness like that! "You spoke to Duo," Quatre concluded and a warm hand came to rest of Trowa's shoulder. He nodded. "Yeah. That's all done with." "It's all right," Quatre said in the gentlest tone. "If you weren't sad over a breakup, then you wouldn't have a heart. I can't imagine wanting to be with someone who'd treat ex-lovers shoddily!" Amazing! Trowa had done something right and it had come naturally! "I'd have no friends if I'd done that!" Quatre laughed merrily and Trowa, feeling relief at the sudden redemption of his own character, allowed him his joke. He wasn't interested in hearing a recitation of past lovers, now or ever. "The moment I set eyes on you I fell madly in love. Does that shock you?" Quatre asked frankly and with the most angelic expression springing from his face- like a doe-eyed puppy, no, scratch that—the most disarming look Trowa had ever seen. Nothing could shock him anymore, either that or everything did and he was becoming immune to it. "I guess it should," he said. "I'm not sure how to take that, Mr. Barton, but I'll consider you too shocked to be too awfully clever." Trowa laughed aloud. "That's a good assumption!" With a smile gone smug, Quatre carried on: "But even then I wouldn't think to destroy a relationship to win you, you understand?" "You didn't!" "I understand. I can see someone letting a long-distance relationship drag on, waiting for the right time to end it, and then meeting someone else, and wanting it over immediately." "Yeah, that's what it was like. But then, it was hard to drop everything, even when I was...in love." That pleased Quatre, from the warm smile he received for his admission. "It was already over and now you are on the mend, I assume?" "Well over it." "And you left things so you and Duo can be friends, I take it?" "Yeah, I did. That's important to you, huh? Yeah, I get that." "I wouldn't have it any other way." "Okay, so, what's next?" Trowa was plenty ready to move off that touchy topic and on to the more interesting future in store for him. "Next? Well, you can bring me up to date on the llama." "Llama? What-? Oh." "Yes, that imaginary one that kept you from my party." "Sorry about the lame excuse." Trowa didn't even pretend that hadn't been a stupid mistake on his part. "You should be! I can't tolerate lies, especially directed to me, to misdirect me. You understand?" "I understand you're setting ground rules." And that there would be many unpleasant consequences if I break them. "Exactly right. I believe in being clear about expectations if we are to be together. And we can begin with: treat others with the respect due them and be honest to me." "I can do that," Trowa said. He smiled now, feeling secure again. Maybe that's what he really needed, he thought. Someone who was themselves very secure of themselves and what they wanted, so he could feel the same way? Quatre was the one, then. THE ONE. "Did you ever read Alice in Wonderland as a child?" Quatre asked. Trowa's brain did a little spin to get on track with the new topic. "Huh? Oh, the storybook... ah... No, missed out on the cozy childhood memories altogether." "I'm sorry, Trowa, really. And I'll read it to you myself, it's that good. In fact, I think it's better to read as adults. There's a lot of adult truths inside." "I'll let you do that," Trowa said with a smile. "Was that it? Did I read that story? That was all you wanted to know?" It couldn't be, not with Quatre Winner doing the asking. "No, actually, thank you for getting me back to the point. What I was thinking about was something Alice says. She's a little frustrated, trying to get someplace but not making any headway." "I see where this is heading," Trowa said. "In a general life-sense, maybe you do. Let me explain, though. The queen to whom Alice is speaking explains that to simply stay in place she must run as fast as she can, and then urges her to go faster and faster to make progress. I feel that's my life, Trowa. I just run and run and everything stays the same. I'm tired of that. I don't want to go any faster, either." "I get you. Yeah, so, stop running." Quatre smiled. "Let's both stop running. Let the world pass us by, if need be, while we take the time to get to know one another and make something new happen." TBC
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