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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 Eight For My Heart Has Not Denied Me I should have known Duo would want me to "use my charms" to get Winner's cooperation in the Mission Preposterous. That moment came about obliquely an hour or so after dessert. "How about a re-enactment then?" Duo was asking. "Absolutely not!" Chang's retort had its own cutting edge. "What Treize Khushrenada and I had, he took to his grave with him." I wondered if Chang thought about what he said before he said it. That could be taken a couple of ways. "Okay, then just a little sword action?" Duo stabbed the air with his table knife. That, too. Merquise snatched the blade out of his hands. "I believe your wishes can be accommodated, isn't that right, My Heart?" And that as well. Winner perked up. "Yes, we maintain fencing equipment and a fine gymnasium, if you'd like, I could—" "Don't you bother your pretty head over that," Duo said breezily, 'In fact, why don't you entertain Tro'man while I watch the boys go at it. He hates sword play--" I do? "—comes from being under the knife for surgery," Duo explained as he draped an arm over Chang's shoulders, under Yuy's intense and unhappy-looking scrutiny and Chang's intense and unhappy-looking countenance. Yuy looked from Duo to me and back. "I'll keep an eye on the dangerous activities." "Good idea," I agreed. Winner took a step in their direction, but was held up by my foot on his instep. He turned a cranky face to me. "Are you going to tell me what's going on?" "Yes." I supposed I should. Pencil in a moment to thank Duo for leaving this part to me. "Duo's playing matchmaker for Chang and Yuy and wants you to come up with a surefire plan." There, I spit it out. Over and done. And I swear I saw hearts streaming from his big, liquid blue eyes. "Really?" "Would I joke about something like that?" His eyes narrowed to suspicious slits. "Maybe." We stayed that way for a few seconds then he gave in. "It's too much fun contemplating this to waste more time. Tell me what you know." I did in as few words as possible. "They are both interested yet too socially incompetent to hook up on their own, Duo thinks, and need us to supply the words, the setting, and the opportunities." "Like this fencing match?" he asked. I think Winner imagined better than I what was going on, the boys stripping down to comfortable clothing, lanky sweaty bodies, yards of hair swirling, blades glinting-- and I was doing a pretty fair job of it. "Yes." His eyes went wide with wonder and visions and he licked his lips. "It's a good start, but we can't let Duo win at this and have all the fun." Why not? "We can't?" "No, we have to do better." We? Why "we" and not just an "I," as in "him," not me? I had to extricate myself before I was factored further into Winner's machinations. If you'd been there to witness Zero Winner upfront and personal then you'd understand why; he'd very nearly killed me. "There is no master plan for getting two people to fall in love," I said, and damned nearly amazed myself for coming up with that bit of wisdom all by myself. "Of course not! I didn't mean to imply I could work miracles, just spark the fuel." He smiled a polite smile. Nice, but nothing like Duo's except that he was covering up for what he was really thinking. "It starts with Rashid." Doesn't everything around here? "You and I should go swimming and meet the others by the pool." I would not ask him why. Or argue. "Okay." It would pass the time. "I'm changing in my room and I need to find Rashid." He directed me to the pool house where I would find swim wear, "if you want it." I did. What was the alternative, swimming nude with him? How would I explain that to Duo? I could not conceive of a more excruciatingly painful situation to explain. I shivered just thinking about the look on Duo's face as I tried to tell him, "it felt good being free" or "it really meant nothing", while imagining how I'd feel if I walked in on him and Yuy naked in the pool. Why, I wondered, did I do that to myself? Why did I punish myself thinking up such terrible scenarios to get caught up in? Why couldn't I stop?! Sometimes, my mind was a minefield of fun. I moved from one imaginary hazardous situation to another more real one. I found appropriate swimwear and did a few laps, which felt good and was good. Winner took his time conducting the business of putting his plan into action and didn't join me until I was climbing out. One look at svelte little Winner in his skimpy getup, however, set off every still functional alarm in my mind, and I dove back in for a few more laps. When at last my arms refused to keep me afloat any longer, I got out using the steps on shaky legs. I had hoped to slink away innocuously, since invisibility was out of the question. "Over here!" he called gaily and waved from a row of chaise lounges, which lined up and heaped with puffy pillows and towels reminded me of beached whales. I tried to keep that picture in the forefront of my mind as I chose one to stretch out onto. Nothing pale, pretty, and pink about bloated whales. A few minutes later, fresh and gleaming from their showers, the sword-boys joined Winner and me sunbathing by the pool, he in his microscopic pink speedo and me in my to-the-knees, modest trunks still dripping with water. I clearly had been in the water, while he had not-- proving we hadn't been in close proximity for long. I'm not stupid. I know the difference between attraction and love, and I wanted no ambiguity for Duo to have to interpret. Yuy was first to complain. "Winner. There's a Maguanac in my room with drop-cloths and blue tape." Chang stated his grievance next. "I discovered his clothes in my room." "Ashir's?" Quatre asked with a look of complete disbelief on his face. Chang lost his tidy look as he crumpled the corner of his tunic with one hand. "No, Yuy's." Quatre smiled and offered his pretense of a regretful excuse. "I'm afraid your room's being painted, Heero." "How about the gold room?" "Water leak." "Green?" I guess Heero'd been a more frequent visitor here than I'd thought. "Window repair." "The," gulp, "pink?" "Something." I smiled. Winner hadn't even attempted to come up with another lame excuse. "You and Wufei can share," he suggested light as the evening breeze tousled his golden hair. Um. Chang clicked his tongue. Yuy clenched and unclenched his fists as he walked around to stand just so. Now, he was casting his shadow over Winner. Winner slipped his sunglasses down his nose and looked at them both in turn. "I can't push the Maguanacs out of their rooms, can I?" "Yes, you can." Heero said. "They work for you." Chang agreed. "Oh, dear," Winner shook his head. "Don't be so prissy." More growling. "Oh, okay, I could move a rollaway cot in there if you insist--" Chang stepped in to complete our tidy circle and shade my legs. "If Heero needs a room, he can have mine. I can sleep on the floor. An exercise mat will be sufficient." His thin smile beamed noble magnanimousity. Was Chang the bigger man? I didn't know the answer to that. I'd never seen him nude, actually. Yuy, yes--when he'd self-destructed his clothes were burned off; Chang, no. Not to be bested at the game, any game, Yuy said, "Don't be ridiculous. I can sleep on the floor—without a mat." "The weather is fine. I can sleep on the patio," Chang said, proudly shirking his carnal needs. Of course, why would Chang need a mat? He can levitate! "The decking would be better than most places I slept during the war," Yuy said, establishing that he was tough as nails. "A blanket on the lawn--." A blanket? You wimp! "--That patch of concrete by the pool." That's more like it! Before either of them could claim the rock ledge covered in broken glass as the perfect resting place, my dear Duo suggested, "Why don't you just share Chang's bed? That's gotta be way worse than any other alternative I can think of." I felt it was time for my line. "Yeah, get a room, guys."
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