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"On the Wings of an Eagle"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: several Summary: When Trowa Barton and Duo Maxwell pay Quatre Winner a visit, he coerces them into archeological site destruction and matchmaking A/N: My deepest thanks go to the kindness of Snowdragon and WaterLily for editing and encouraging me to complete this. Sequel to For a Lark "On the Wings of an Eagle " Chapter Seven For the Truth of What I Know In passing, I handed over my costume-roll to Rashid and shrugged a "thanks," giving Duo just enough room to squeeze by us and catch up with Yuy. Duo grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him slowly. Duo had gumption. He usually paired it with smarts and ability. This time it looked like all attitude to me. I was ready to step in and protect him from getting his arm ripped off, if it came to that. I had a strong sense of self-preservation which extended to my lover, but lucky for us all I didn't have to test my skills against Yuy's. "Hey!" Duo said. "Why?" Aw, no, please no. "I mean it. Stop a minute." Let it go Duo. Yuy waited. "I thought we were done." "I wanna know right now why you treated me that way after I bared my heart to you?" I really should have asked him out loud to stop , even shouted to get his attention. There were times when my silence implied my acquiescence when actually I was conflicted or avoiding a quarrel. And I really, really, really wished Duo didn't need to know the answer to his question. Knowing he did was deeply disappointing. I half expected (hoped?) Yuy would grunt and walk away, but he actually took the time to explain after a short, thoughtful, pause. "I had no libido whatsoever when you kissed me and confessed your affections, but I knew enough to think homosexuality signaled an end to replicating the human race and that it was frowned on generally." Well, that was sparse on emotions. Yuy had been as detached from Duo as I could wish for. Now, let's go. "So, you rejected me, a valued comrade, and as hot as a guy comes, like that? You must have been on anti-sex drugs or something." Please, drop it. Now Yuy was glaring at me. Did he expect me to control Duo? I turned away not wanting to be a part of the conversation any more. "Duo, you are an idiot," Yuy declared. "It shouldn't matter to you anymore that I once snubbed your advances, because you have Barton. You'd think having a devoted boyfriend would be enough for you and that you'd drop the past." "He is enough," Duo said with feeling. "I said so. I just was curious 'bout you, that's all." Duo reached to my head and pulled off my Maguanacs cap. My bangs, freed, fell into my eyes. "And you," he poked me above my belly button and shook the hat in my face, "dressed up like this to listen in on my private conversation? If it hadn't been a ridiculously inane performance, I might have thought you didn't trust me or something around Heero." "I trust—" I tried to explain. But Duo had a valid point. "You spied on us." I did and I felt guilty for doing so. Yuy surprised me, though, with a very supportive statement. "It's obvious. Barton was protecting you from another attack by me." Well, that and other things... "I figured that out, love," Duo kissed my ear and sucked on my earlobe to melt my reserve, "but I can fight my own fights now, thank you." He bit down hard enough to make me jump. "As Heero justly pointed out, I was thinking 'bout me. I haven't done enough for you. It's different me giving you time to talk to Quat alone, even though Zechs blew that for you—" "I never had a thing for Winner like you had for—" Let's make that clear. "Yeah, I figured that out, too." Duo winked. "I hope it's plain how I think of us?" "Yeah." That had been pretty cool, hearing him declare his love for me in front of Yuy. "You make Barton less secure when you act as if you regret the past." We both just stared open-mouthed at Yuy, who continued talking. "He had no idea if I might try to win you over, but he knew you were obsessing over having been turned down." "Wasn't obsessing," Duo muttered. "Listen, from what I can see, you two have a good thing going, so don't fuck it up with stupid, pointless jealousies and misunderstandings, especially don't get me involved." "Sorry, if I made you doubt your worth, your value to me, 'Tro, 'cause you're kindest, sexist man alive." Duo enveloped me in an embrace I never wanted to be parted from. "Winner's waiting." And with that, Yuy started back to the dining room. "Hold on!" Duo called after him. "What?" "So you dumped Relena--okay, not dumped-- you dodged her advances, and you didn't bring someone to this party, so am I to guess that means there is no significant other in your life as of the moment?" I covered my face with a hand and groaned. Duo was relentless today. Yuy shrugged off his desire to explain further. "So there is someone?" Give it UP, Duo. Yuy was flaying him alive with the force of his glare, or trying to. "Gotcha." Duo grinned as if he'd won the lottery. "You really want to get closer to him, don't you?" he asked. Yuy's entire body shook. He was about to kill Duo on the spot or he was struggling to keep from self-destructing. I didn't want to be an audience for either alternative, frankly. I stepped backwards, pulling Duo out of the direct line of action, mumbling my own sage advice, "He doesn't want to be closer to us." Yuy sighed and then nodded. "Yeah, I do." Duo did that smile of his that said "all's forgiven," and said, "You're on. Get ready for the best time of your life." He looked over at me. "You'll help me, right? I mean, hooking 'Ro an' 'Fei up will take the all the man power we can muster." Of course I would. "I thought we'd just say something like, 'Guys get a room.'" Duo's smile faltered. "Uh... guess we'll need Quat to come up with a strategy." He smiled sympathetically my way. "When it comes time for that line, it's yours, love." Thanks? And then there was Yuy's receding back to contend with. By the time we dashed to the dining room, Yuy had already taken a seat at the table. Did he choose the open chair next to Chang, you ask? No. More of that adolescent behavior made him take the chair in the middle, splitting Duo and me apart and ensuring he'd sit next to Duo no matter what. Would I just take that sitting down, you ask, but only if you had a corny sense of humor? No, and Duo wouldn't either. He and I went up to Yuy, one of us on either side of his chair, and picked him up, chair and all. He lost his smug expression and complained some. Duo kicked the chair next to Chang to the side and we dropped Yuy, chair and all, right into place. Duo retrieved the other chair while I plunked myself in the one next to Yuy. "Thanks," I said to him. "Get to know our old friend, Chang, there." There was some rough talk and all coming from him, but all in all the new seating arrangements worked out fine. Set before me was a dish of flaming peaches over rich, creamy ice cream. As I dipped in for a taste I realized how much the dessert represented us. All this show, this gruff or showy exterior over a really sweet, melty interior. A burn to the tongue here meant a soothing chill later. But then I didn't like imagining Yuy's melty interior, or that he even had one, and dropped the analogy. "You dropped your spoon, Master Barton. Here, I have an extra." "Thanks, Rashid." The flaming peaches over rich, creamy ice cream made a delicious dessert, too.
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