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"Just Ducky"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: When Trowa Barton and Wufei Chang adjust to college life, Duo Maxwell and Heero Yuy learn to balance work with their changing relationships. A/N: My deepest thanks go to the kindness of Snowdragon
and WaterLily for editing and encouraging me. "Just Ducky " Chapter 7 - Party Animals "If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, we have at least to consider the possibility that we have a small aquatic bird of the family anatidae on our hands."-- Douglas Adams I couldn't get over Trowa seeing some guy hitting on me and assuming I would surrender! Like I gave him any reason whatsoever to doubt my loyalty! Outside of him I had no social life-well, except 'Ro and 'Fei. Why did he doubt me? Why did he doubt his own worth so much, was more like it? Didn't he know how he was the only guy for me? I had no interest in pursuing other lovers. I might look; who wouldn't? But I only wanted to share my life with him. Had I failed him in some way? I couldn't help that I was a magnet for sex-starved men, or so it seemed. Ugh! I was only talking to some professor guy! Argh! I felt like a very frazzled fairy to be sure. And a hungry one. I wanted to check out the food and drink on the far side of the room, but before that my intention was to dash after Tro' and set him straight. Let him know his lack of confidence in us hurt and made me mad-then snag him and get the hell outta this place before anything else could- No! Ah, hell, no. It can't be him! I'd spotted my ex boss, Jet Barr, with his lapdog OZ thugs and a posse of pretty boys-- all dressed like classic gangsters in striped suits and spats-- and ran directly into Heero Yuy. I tried to make it look like it hadn't happened, but Heero wasn't cooperating. He had a grip on both my shoulders that brought tears to my eyes. "Sorry, man! Jesus! Back off. Don't make those dudes look over here." "You know them?" Heero shook me. "Duo!" I tore my eyes away from the ugly knot of OZ toadies. "Yes. The tall one lording it over the others owns Adolph's where I worked. He fired me after the other older fuckers there with him complained because I didn't like their hands on me. Then he suggested I whore for him instead. Yeah, I know him." Heero listened intently, his eyes leaving the men only when I said "whore." "He said that to you? What's his name?" "Jet Barr. I'm gonna get Tro' and leave. If you see Quat, tell him he's got some crappy associates or whatever." I didn't take off just then, though, because 'Ro was acting kinda strange. "Hide!" he demanded. "Why--?" My head hit a harder surface when 'Ro backed me into the wall. "Ugh! Hurts!" No apology came; instead, he growled into my ear, "Hide the braid." "-the fuck?" I knocked my nice little rope of hair free from his grip. Heero reached out to a passing Dracula, telling him, "I need to confiscate this," and snatched the dude's cape. "Put this over your hair," he told me. Dracula was none too pleased with the costume change and was about to hassle me to get it back, I could tell, so I used the cape to hide what I was doing and popped my braid under my vest and tucked the tip into my shorts. Then I stripped off the cape and surrendered it back before Dracula could sink his fangs into my arm or something. He combined "fucking fairies" and "fleecing fags" into a stupid remark and marched away. I guessed he was a poetry major. Stupid poetry. When he was out of earshot, I said to 'Ro, "I'll forget the roughing up, since I'm guessing you think you were protecting me, if you come clean. Tell me you smelled OZ shit from here, too." I stared him down until he nodded, then asked, "What's your interest in them?" "OZ... I do expect the henchmen all have OZ connections. But that man, Barr-he's on the Preventers watch list." "Preventers are pretty inept if they missed that guy." That got me a hard look and a waspish response. "'Barr' isn't his real name and his appearance has changed somewhat." More to himself, 'Ro added, "The nose. This is a remarkable opportunity to catch him." "Catch him? Catch him doing what?" Not to mention you're no longer an agent and can't arrest him. "Recruiting. He must be here in the university area where he can employ young people, reel them into his network of arms dealing and drugs and, apparently, prostitution." "At a palace party? That takes some nerve." "I need to make some calls and talk to Quatre about the invitation list for this party. Can you stay a little longer?" "In case what?" "I may need your help." Heero said this while pulling out his cell phone. "Okay, bud. I've been itching for some excitement lately." "Two words that should never be used in a single sentence-'itching' and 'excitement'." It was Wufei sidling up to Heero and horning in on our conversation. 'Ro brushed him aside. "I need to contact Une-" "Do whatcha have to; I've gotta go find Tro' first anyway. I'll have my cell on if you need me." "Do you mean Commander Une, Heero? Why--?" Wufei growled. But his boyfriend was busy and ignoring him; worse, giving him the cold-shoulder, leaving me to do the heavy work. "What kind of trouble are you stirring up and getting him into, Maxwell?" Who, me? "Not my idea, bro. It's all gooey-Yuy stuff." Wufei stared at me through coal-black eyes narrowed to slits. Very scary. Far more frightening than all the ghouls and Halloween freaks at the party. "I have half a mind to-" "Ha! So you admit it! Half-wit Chang--!" Wufei was instantly in my face with the rest of me in a strangle-hold, his expression that of a man with no sense of humor. "Who is the OZ emperor over there surrounded by his simpering sycophants?" I knew who he meant even after suffering from spit in the eye from all those "s'es"! I wasn't sure about that last word, but figured if it was a cross between "sicko" and "fanatics," then it wasn't too far off. "The super goon's my ex-boss, Jet Barr. 'Ro says he's on a Preventers' list. How'd ya know they were OZ?" "Same way as you, most likely." Was that, perchance, a compliment? "Yeah, I'm pretty good at sniffing out the dregs of society-" "Quite likely. In my case... you forget I worked for Preventers." I watched his eyes widen as he recognized the man with the nose-job. "Dear Buddha! That man! It had been Heero's responsibility to track him down. H-he won't drop this!" I heard the crack in his voice which sounded a lot like emotional breakdown. It had to have been hard for Heero to give up his job for Wufei. 'Fei had to have known that. Was he afraid 'Ro would leave him, preferring Preventers to him? I kinda felt sorry for him all the sudden. Seeing as his boyfriend had gone off to make his call in private, 'Fei dashed after him as only a meddlesome boyfriend can do. At least, I didn't think Heero would shoot 'Fei for getting in his way. Off in the distance I could see Zechs and Quatre also streaming toward 'Ro, which rhymed with Tro'. Tro', Tro', Tro... I thought it was Tro' when a hand slid over my shoulders and embraced me. "Hey, I was looking for you-" I nearly fell into the giant brown eyes. Whoa doggies! Not green eyes. Not Trowa. I put on the proverbial brakes and snapped shut my lips. I was certainly not looking for this guy! "For me? I'm flattered," Professor Deepak Malik said meekly, but I could tell he was smugly satisfied. "Ah, not exactly," I corrected him and made his smile go away. "My boyfriend. He's around here somewhere. Oh, there! " I waved at Trowa, who just had to have seen the entire episode play out, 'cause his unhappy expression had turned wry and he was coming my way. See, Trowa, I'm a one-guy guy. Malik wasn't excited about meeting my main squeeze, but he put up with it for politeness' sake, greeted 'Tro, and then buzzed off. "Hey." "Hey," I ricocheted back. "Had enough?" Halloween had never caught on out on colony L2, so I had no emotional investment in this party, but I did in my lover, who looked tense. "Oh, yeah. So much fun, parties, yuh know? You?" "I think the decorations are cool. Bats remind me of 'Scythe, heh, heh... Definitely I've had my fill of university types tonight. I'd rather have filled up on the food, but to get to the spread I'd have to have passed a gauntlet of OZ characters I'd rather not. Let's split." We took two steps and then I remembered. "Oh, ah, I gotta check out with 'Ro." I nearly missed the sarcastic, "Sure you do," from Trowa in my haste to say good night to our friends and go. I just let it pass. At times Trowa's humor (if it was humor) was a bit arch even for me. I found it no real surprise-- Une nixed arresting the dude on trumped-up charges and making a scene at a Winner affair. We'd have to come up with a far more elaborate plan later, so I was free to go. At least, that's what I was told. Who knows what the truth was when it came to Preventers cases? Plus, I could never figure how 'Ro and 'Fei could bring themselves to trust Une. Trowa wouldn't-- hadn't, in fact-- and I'd trust his instincts over theirs anytime. To trust or not to trust, that is a reoccurring theme. We'd gotten back to the changing room about then and he took off his shirt, turning my brain function to mush and directing my blood flow south. We changed out of the fairy outfits and back into our street clothes while waiting for our taxi to show up. "See? We're going; no problem, Sweetlips." I grinned at him and he shook his head. Trowa stared out the window in silence most of the taxi ride home. I was torn between wanting to make him feel better and wanting to punch him for doubting my faithfulness. I settled on making us both feel better. "How 'bout I make us some toasted cheese sandwiches?" "That would be great." "Or we could stop somewhere?" He shook his head. "Home it is, then." After sitting two bowls of tomato soup and two perfectly constructed sandwiches on the table, I let Trowa eat before making him talk. Generally, guys want two things to make them happy: food and sex. Pretty simple. Of course, there were other variables that came into play like having a job and a family for self-worth, but food and sex were primo. I thought Tro' and I had the bases covered. "You know, Tro', there's never gonna be anyone for me, but you. Just you. Every night I come home, right here, to you. You know that, right?" He shrugged. "So far, but there's a lot of other choices out there. I'm not fool enough to think you won't notice them." "I see good-looking guys, sure. But I have all my wants and needs in you, babe. Get that through that thick skull of yours, okay, and stop moping." That made him smile. I knew I could do it. He didn't like to be caught being insecure. "Sure." "Do you have some big exam to study for or an important assignment to do that I gotta work around tomorrow?" "There's always something, but I already said I'd go to the zoo." "Good. Just making sure, 'cause I've decided to treat us to a day out and a picnic at the zoo so we can just enjoy being with each other." He liked that idea, took it directly to bed, and submitted to my adoring touch. It wasn't wild and crazy sex that night, more focus on pleasure and loving each other, with me on top. Whipped cream and a cherry on top sex. Problem was, though, he was still in his 'not good enough for me' frame of mind. I hoped spending time together at the zoo would help. (o) "We should get a car one of these days," I suggested. "I'll put it on our list." "We have a list?" "We do now." Ah, Trowa, my heart, you are such a funny man. The bus dropped us near to the zoo. We had a block left to walk. "See, if we had a car I could have packed a terrific picnic and left it in the car. This way we have to buy food when we leave the park." "So complicated." "No, it's not. We can't carry food into the zoo-" "I meant owning a car in Sanc. Licensing, parking spaces, taking care of it, paying for it." "When did a little work become complicated? He looked me over. "Since I let you into my life." That came across as a bit of an insult, except that I saw a glimmer in his one visible eye. I knew he meant to tease me, so I hip-checked him hard enough to prove I cared, but not so hard as to run him into the ticket booth. "Is complicated bad?" "No, it's just life. Things make it complicated, but also worthwhile. Um, two adults, please." He handed over a few bills in return for entry cards, and then reached out and took my hand in his. In public. "A car's not so bad an idea. Can we afford one? A parking space is pricy." "I dunno." "And we'd have to get driver's licenses. Earth requires more than our pilot ones to operate a car." "Another fucking license! Actually, I've got one, but it might be a fake, heh, heh, ugh, oh shit. What is it about this place that makes me want to fight against it all the time?" "Sanc is big on regulation." "A monkey can drive a car." "They can't get licenses, though." "Speaking of monkeys, what are those?" "Lemurs." "Pretty. Like cuddly toys. Won't you be my anipal?" I felt a tug on my hair. Trowa was sticking the tip through the bars trying to attract one closer. "That's my--!" A fuzzy white, young lemur bounded up to the cage. "Hey!" "Keep your braid away from them," he told me, grinning. Clown. I didn't say that, but I thought it really, really hard and he laughed aloud. "Capybara," I read, "the largest living rodent. Man, a rat the size of a sheep without a tail. I'd love to see those roaming the alleyways of L2." "Except they need water to swim in and are vegetarians." "Okay, so they could haunt the sewers. Whoa! Pink birds!" "Flamingos." "They're real! Quatre told me he'd seen them perching on Sandrock out in the desert when he first came to earth. I thought he was joking or nuts." "He probably was delusional. Flamingos live near water. The only water where he'd been was an illusion caused by the rising heat off the sand. Sure he didn't say 'pink elephants?'" "Yeah, I'm sure it was birds." "Maybe Rashid had passed around the hash?" I laughed at that. "Can't imagine serious little Quat smokin'." "Woulda done him some good." Trowa switched topics, to point out turtles the size of... Gundam feet. Seriously huge. I wondered a bit about what had happened between him and Quat. He sure didn't like the guy, but I got distracted by more gigantic animals. Elephants, the grey kind, are big. Not big like a Gundam, but the biggest animal walking on ground. Most of them were standing around doing rock impressions, but one dude was hosing his feet with his nose. It sounds funnier that it looked. The giraffes were tall and had a really long black tongue that fascinated Trowa in way that was lewd and sexy at the same time. "It's so cool to see them in real life. Not just on nature shows." He gave me a peculiar look. I didn't have him entirely figured out, after all. "You led a deprived life," he said. "Depraved or deprived?" "You tell me." He winked. "We had vermin and cats and dogs. Nothing with wings and no zoos." We passed the bird cages, the chatter overwhelming my voice, and I noticed a flock of green birds tearing up fruit. "Noisy things." Trowa nodded. "Conures. You can get them for pets, though, if you do, I'll have to move out." "Screw that idea!" I said as I dug my fingers into his side and made him crack up. "So, you are depraved." "How shall I reward you for that comment?" I asked him. Trowa had his eyes on the fruit-eating birds. "Feed me." "Just imagine where my depraved mind took that?" I laughed and so did he. "There! The sign says snack bar thataway, and I'm guessing they mean food for the visitors not that we become the snack bar for the larger carnivores." "Now who's the clown?" he asked. It was fun joking around and having fun again. "Yeah, well, this is great, huh?" "Yeah, thanks for getting me outta the books." I'm not a bear guy (I like my men lean and smooth, heh, heh,) but the snack bar was in that direction so we saw the bears. The bears had their backs to us and were sleeping. Snore. We got sodas and had a bag of chips while we planned our route. The big cats were closest. I didn't know how Trowa would feel about seeing the animals that tore up his leg. Not THE lion, but his cousins. I chose the seal arena in the opposite direction. "Avoiding them won't stop the nightmares," he said. "Maybe not, but seeing a cage of claws and teeth might make'em worse." He stared in the direction of the big cats and I knew he wanted to face his fears by the set of his jaw. "Okay, love, I'll go with you. I'll hold yer hand and-" "Just don't leave me, that'll be enough." Ah, geez, he could kill me saying stuff like that. It was not enough. Didn't he know that I'd do just about anything for him? How could I get through to him that I loved him more than anything else? I draped an arm over his shoulders in a brotherly way. "Show me the cats." I had a whole slew of jokes I'd looked up just in case this happened. As our path led up to the lion cage I felt the tension across Trowa's shoulders. "Ya know what happened when the lion ate the comedian?" He ran his finger through his bangs and looked at me. "You are kidding." I grinned. "He felt funny!" Trowa studied his feet for a second, then smiled his twitchy-quick smile. "Oh." "Betcha can't guess when it is that a lion is not a lion?" "When it's a savage animal?" "Ah, Tro', you're not even tryin'." "Okay... ah... not li-on when it's telling the truth? Was it that bad?" "Yes, it was buuuut," I drawled. "I got a worse one. A lion's not a lion when he turns into his cage!" "Christ, Duo... that's awful." "You think? So, tell me why was the lion-tamer fined?" This one was a bit too close to reality, but he was softened up. "Why?" "He parked on a red lion." He groaned. "All right. I remember a cat joke Chang told me once. Yes, a real joke. Here goes: Who was the most powerful cat in China? Chairman Miaow." Okay, so his joking telling style could use some polish, but at least he was getting into the game and lightening up. I laughed and rubbed up against him. "Miaow." No one was watching us. I felt his arm wind around my waist. He pulled me on to the next cage of tigers, but they were all hiding in a box so it was on to the leopards. "Know why cats chase birds?" I asked. He shook his head. "For a lark!" "Where do you get this crap?" he asked, smiling at me. "Internet. So, what do you call a cat that has just eaten a whole duck?" "Full," he guessed with no creativity at all. "A duck filled fatty puss." I was so proud of that one. His hand started to roam and squeezed my butt. "Speaking of filling-" I wiggled my ass and batted my eyelashes. "Sweet talk, bring it on, baby! But first, last one." "It had better be." "It is. What works in a circus, walks a tightrope and has claws?" "Me in a cat suit?" "Close, an a-cro-cat!" I crowed. "I can see it's time to feed you," he said in that dry as toast tone. "Greasy snacks and sugar drinks just make you asinine." "Did you say 'your ass is mine'? 'Cause it is, but I just wasn't sure if you were calling 'tops' and I nearly missed it." "Duo, when it comes to sex, you rarely miss a clue." He tossed in a crooked smile. "And, no, I wasn't calling tops. There's the zoo restaurant. Aim for that." "You're such a romantic," I purred and snuggled against his side. He hugged me all the way to the door then opened it, freeing me. "You first." "After me!" I chortled and skipped in. This was going to be great and I felt like I was soaring, high like a bird. I loved when he touched me. I felt so proud to be his boyfriend. We purchased take-out lunch boxes and got directions to a couple picnic areas. I chose the grassy knoll overlooking the duck pond location, over the cautionary "wasps" and "mosquitoes" warnings. I borrowed a tablecloth, too. You have to work at romance sometimes. "Try a grape." I pushed a green globe past his lips. "It's a little sour." "Nothing's gonna be as sweet as this," I told him. I leaned closer and pressed my lips against his. He bent into it, lingering, winding fingering into the hair at the nap of my neck, his lips soft and warm. "There's nothing I like more than touching you," he said. "Good. I like that too. It's right up there with kissing, cuddling-" "I included those in 'touching'." "Fine. So we both like each other's bodies. I love this too." I tapped the side of his head. "Uh, huh." I could see him crawl into some little hole. Like a snail, hiding. "Trowa, I swear I will beat you to a pulp if you keep this up, this... doubting me. Doubting your worth to me." I pounded on his head a couple times to make my point. "Hey!" he chuckled, blocking my next punches. "Okay, I accept you liking my mind too." "You betcha." I gazed into his eyes, his shy eyes. "Now about the party-" "I'm sorry for acting like an ass at the party, too. You did nothing to deserve that. I should trust you." "Yes, you should." I put a grape between my lips and leaned into him. He got the hint and tongue-wrestled me for it. We did eat our sandwiches, and fast, because the wasps wanted their unfair share. "Nasty buggers." "Don't swat at them or you'll get stung," he told me. "Right." He was looking at me in a way that made me think he wanted to say more, so I kicked his foot. And he looked away the moment I tried to look deep into his eyes. He made my heart flutter, the way his nose flowed into his lips with a day's growth of hair framing his mouth. A few freckles stood out on the side of his face uncovered by his long bangs. He stared into the distance and chuckled. "Tell me." "I loved the fall outdoors," he said, pushing stray leaves into a pile and uncovering acorns. He handed me one to look at. "Cool, huh? You're thinking back when you were with the mercenaries?" "Yeah, and camping out under the stars. I really appreciated the dry days and the cool at night-like the weather here now. Between that and the circus, it was a hellova way to grow up." "I'll bet. It shoulda taught you to trust the people close to you." Like me. I reminded him of where he'd fallen short at the party and gathered more of the pretty wood-carved nuts. They'd look good in a bowl at home. "I guess." He stretched out on his back and closed his eyes. "Except my first friend betrayed me." Ugh. "That sounds bad. Was he one of the gang you hung out with?" "No, just a civilian girl who served as the group's cook. We were about the same age, which was nice since the other mercenaries were older men, and became friends. At least, I thought so. She was working undercover as an Alliance spy in return for funds to take care of her sick father and brothers." "So, what happened?" He shook his head. "Doesn't matter anymore. Everyone's dead and gone now." O-kay. "So, you have trust issues with me because of that?" "I trust you with my life. I just react automatically, without thinking at times." "Uh, huh. And don't you think we are good together?" "Yeah, I do." "But you act sometimes as if you don't think you're good enough for me. That really bugs me, ya know?" He plucked at the dry grass and made a loose nest for a couple small acorns. I watched and waited. "If you think of it one way," he said at last, "you could feel flattered." "I could?" "A compliment. You're so spectacular, I must be okay to have won you?" Ah geez... whatta sap. And then it occurred to me that kissing me out in the open like this had to go against all his training. He'd always tried to fade into the background and not draw attention to himself. Yeah, he had the blending in thing down to a science and now I was messing with the chemistry. Why did love have to be so tough? "I could think of it that way," I said, "but I'm a shambles without you, and you know it. How 'bout we agree on us being better as a couple than the sum of our parts?" "You sure carry more than your share in that equation-" I cut off that notion with a kiss, settling over him. He didn't try to push me off right away. Instead, I could feel his hand brushing over my hair and smoothing my braid. I broke for a breath, whispering, "Equals, babe." "If you say so--" "Just did. Now agree and give me some of that Barton loving." "That I can do. Do you forgive me?" "Forgive you? I'd ordain you. Lover extraordinaire!" "Then we'd better go home so I can try to live up to that title." Pretty good idea, actually. No one could see us, but I had my pockets full of acorns which hurt when I rolled over, and I wasn't getting naked in the grass with all the bugs and things-not that he'd go that far in public. "Coming?" He patted my jeans. "What's with the new look?" My pockets were bulging. "Nuts." He burst out laughing, cracking up and mimicing an ape, so I looked down at my pockets bulging provocatively. "Not my nuts-- acorns!" Definitely time to leave the zoo and get my crazy monkey-boy home.
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