|
"Greeting Cards"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: Yaoi, funeral practices, AU, fluff Pairings: 1+4, 1x2x1, 3+H, 5xH, 3x4, 6x9 Summary: Each chapter is based on Heero’s
greeting cards and Duo's mortuary. "Greeting Cards " Chapter 20 -- October Haunting, Part 2 Play practice was more of a joke than anything else. Oh, Zechs was there swanking about like he owned the place, and maybe he did. I didn't see his sister Relena or her friend Dorothy, who was somehow responsible for the thing. Trowa, Quatre, Heero, and I were closeted off with a bunch of other suckers to have our roles worked out. And what was the stupid play about? We were to learn as we went along. Oh, joy. "Ugh," Heero groaned. "Dancing and singing? I can't do either." "I am so not liking this," Trowa grumbled. I was not overjoyed at spending a day off at a play practice myself, but I wasn't about to let the only performer amongst us grouse. "Fuck you. You were a clown in a circus act. You have nothing to complain about," I told him. "I wasn't complaining," he drawled back. "When I start complaining you'll know it. I was just expressing my feelings." His smirk softened as Quatre snuggled closer to his side. "And that's so much healthier than holding everything in." Quatre flashed him a spunky little smile and Heero looked as if he were about to toss his cookies, chew the cheese, worship the porcelain goddess, and flash the hash-- if you get my drift. I was feeling about the same. I mean, you wouldn't catch me an' 'Ro making googly-eyes. Quatre hadn't acted like that when he was with me, had he? I don't think so, but he was sickeningly sweet around my bud Tro'. I guess I was getting used to the fact that Quat had sloughed me off for Tro' pretty readily. I had the best boyfriend on the planet, and it was time to show him what that meant."Don't worry, 'Ro, I'll handle the tough stuff. You just hang back in the shadows." "I can do that?" "Sure!" I knew he'd get into the fun in no time. He might not think he could sing and dance, but there was a showman deep down inside him raring to break out, I just knew. He was an artist, after all! "Who's the twink in tights?" Trowa asked. Our 'coach' in tights minced over to take us in hand. Heero's eyes raked over the oncoming man with an appreciative glance, and then he folded up against the wall and hid in the shade of his bangs. I could still see the glimmer of his deep blue eyes, though. He really needed to grow out the long fall in front, like Trowa sported, to be truly effective. And that gave me this funny image of him and Trowa comparing the length of their hair. No, Heero...you need another two inches to hide your eyes totally... I moved so that he wouldn't have to bother keeping the man in tights in sight. "Hi everyone. I'm Gregory. The choreographer." No one applauded. Were we supposed to? He huffed and continued in an annoying, affected manner. Behind me, Heero realigned his line of sight. I detested the flamboyant gay types. "I am going to show you how to lift those heels and shake those asses—" "I'll bet you will." That was Trowa murmuring over Heero's shoulder. "Hn." And that was Heero chuckling once. "Dancing keeps him toned, don't you think?" Quatre whispered loud enough for me to hear him from Trowa's side. Great. I guess I was the only one not attracted to our coach. "We haven't much time to get you...people in ship-shape, so let's begin with some warm-up exercises." "I'm pretty warm already. How 'bout it, Yuy? You ready to feel the burn?" If Trowa said one more thing like that I was gonna smack him good. He was just doing it to rile me, I know. My boyfriend thought Trowa was funny and laughed, though, then he pressed into me from behind. It was brief, but telling; he wasn't aroused. Heh, heh... gotta love my 'Ro. The hour passed quickly into the next. Gregory must also have been cajoled into being the losers' vocal coach, because next he pulverized our collective will-not-sing willpower into a gray powder that he could shit on and mold into a gala production number. Sorry, but my mood was pretty glum. "Be the flower! Open! Let me hear you blossom!" Quatre squawked when Gregory pinched his butt and Trowa roared. I'd never heard my quiet worker make so loud a noise before. Gregory nearly burst with excitement. He was "thrilled" and on my employee in a heartbeat. "You are fantastic! I have a special part I can just build it around you. Such a natural you are." It was fun watching Tro' fail at getting out of that special opportunity. Circus boy. Heh, heh...yeah. I was cheering up now. When the few lines we were to sing were ground into our brains and our souls cast to fit the tunes, Gregory finally let us go with a hopeless-sounding twitter directed at someone posing as the man in charge. Loved show biz. Loved the process. Heero stared at the door. I had said we could drop the play commitment if he didn't think he could go through with it, but I think he wanted to rise to the occasion. He set his jaw with determination. "Here comes Zechs," he ground between clenched teeth. Funny how "Zechs" sounds like "sex" at the most unlikely times. Like then. "Er, okay, but can we find a less conspicuous place to, ah, go?" He gave me the strangest look, which cued me into my misunderstanding-- that, and the blond prince was upon us. Too bad that. There was something about his demeanor, his upright carriage, flowing hair, pale skin, not to mention the play - the subject of which included some pretty unsavory types—that made me say to Heero, "Tell me I'm stupid, but he reminds me of -" Heero's face lit up. "A vampire," he said low enough so that Zechs couldn't have overheard him. I wasn't going to say "vampire" but Heero was so absolutely certain, and, well, now that he mentioned it... "Yeah, a vampire with some David Bowie in Labyrinth thrown in." I said the right thing. Heero was nearly hopping with excitement. "Yes, yes, Relena, too." Okay... there was a girl in Labyrinth... "O-fuda work against vampires. You are safe at work." "You did that...for me?" Gosh, golly, gee, aw shucks. "Thanks. Don't you think he'd favor the sweetness of circus-boy over hard-luck artist, though? I mean, when you think about it , better yet, well-bred Winner in a crystal decanter?" He looked unconvinced, so I continued to embellish my theme. "Ah, yes, the Winner Chardonnay. 180 was an excellent year; a cheeky little wine with a light aroma of desert fruits and light on the oak aging. Top quality in a few years. Trowa would be ... What? A more assertive Zinfandel?" "You are teasing me." Well duh. "We're talkin' Bram Stoker, Anne Rice, Buffy, and Hollywood here, 'Ro." "I was serious," he said, in all seriousness, too. "The coffins and long black capes are gone. The destructive haunting is over. The dead used to be a world away, far beyond our sphere of mortal existence. If they walked the Earth at all, they inhabited the night." "So I should forget about them menacing the living?" "No! It is just that these days, the dead are just like us." "Well I gotta tell you in my line of work, the dead are getting a stunning amount of face time, but I don't know about the world at large." "Oh, yes, I think they are domesticating the notion of death. Converting our nightmares into a nice, gated suburb we can recognize." "Um, why's that?" "If the supernatural seems mundane, we let them get the upper hand. They take over." "So, we gotta be on the lookout for these bloodsuckers, huh?" "Vigilance is a necessity. If we dispose of them, and we can, we can only assume they're trapped forever in some kind of nothingness. No one, especially them, wants to leave and be gone forever. In the end, that may be the scariest death of all." Now after what I'd seen in floating in those tubs on Zodiac Island Heero's weird talk was getting to me. "You really are serious about this." He nodded, eyes bright, but I didn't have time to comment further because Zechs had joined us and had something on his mind and in his hands. "It appears your practice is over. We need to meet privately. Next week, at the palace. I'll let you know exactly when." If I thought that all sounded mighty spooky, he started pressing small paper bags into each of our hands. "Take these, quickly." Trowa peeked inside his, so I did too. "Vial?" Trowa asked, and he wasn't pleased about it either. "What's with this shit?" I looked. There were a few hygienic-looking objects, plastic-wrapped swab, but nothing I'd pin as "vile". "I require hair and... samples... for DNA tests, from all you. I am including myself in the testing, before you ask. Look inside. You'll find that there are instructions typed out." Oh, a vial. I got it. Zechs was collecting semen for DNA tests. Why? That was today's question. Cheek swab samples contain the same DNA as blood and sperm samples and will therefore produce the same test results. "Um, Zechs. I do DNA collection all the time. Why the, um, personal sample here? It's not at all necessary." He leaned in and used a hush-hush tone. "Because sperm cell membranes have cross-linking chemical bonds called disulfides." There were a heapa blank looks aimed his way, except from our chem. major, Trowa, naturally. "And according to the information in one of the files Yuy gave me, data was attached to those membranes chemically by to certain... subjects. It is important we all be tested." "You think we've been test subjects for Voyate? Or on Zodiac? That's crazy talk, isn't it 'Ro?" 'Ro just scowled and shrugged. Okay, I'd try Zechs again. "But—" that was me trying to learn something from the man. Silly me. "I know it seems like a stretch of imagination..." Zechs began. "Fuck that. Why should we trust you?" Trowa put in. "Why should we go along with any of this?" "Because there is a connection between you and what Heero and Duo discovered in the Zodiac labs." "How can that be?" Quatre asked. "The Winner Corporation owns Voyate and you were...born via their genetic labs, for a start. Yuy, you lived on Zodiac Island which has ties with Voyate. Trowa, I am next to certain the attack on you was related to your roots to that island and Voyate. I have contacted a man in L3 who was present when you were brought to the circus, and, yes, I'll give you that name and number so you can follow up on that lead." Zechs paused to catch his breath and look at me. "No, I can't tie you into this for certain yet, but there was a Father Maxwell, the asylum chapel preist who died in a fire under unusual circumstances. There was a Chang Clan connection as well, and while that may be too far fetched to be considered relevant, I'll continue to investigate agent Chang's past as well." Zechs checked his watch. "I have a pressing apppointment or I'd be glad to sstand here all day and explain." "I'll bet." He gave us one last desperate plea. "It is imperative that we get the results ASAP." "Sorry to burst your bubble, but DNA test results take six to eight weeks." I was still not excited. "Maxwell, please. I can rush the testing, but I have to get it started today, in an hour would be optimal." "Ya mean, you want us to do... this, er, that, now? Here?" I asked since no one else was doing the asking. "Yes, that is what I mean." "Men's room is this way," Heero said and led the way. I couldn't believe that he'd capitulated so fast. Eh... but he did have a thing about authority figures I didn't understand completely. He let Odin lowe and that Ty thug control him for a long time. Still, Zechs had a point and if this could help illuminate what was going on. "Why isn't Pre-preventers doing this?" I asked with a skip to keep up with Zechs' long strides. "They don't believe me. But then, I haven't turned over the data you and Yuy found either." The man's smile didn't reach his eyes, and was that an unusually long canine tooth I saw? "Oh!" Everyone followed his lead with varying degrees of hostility. Quatre was the least concerned. It was all "terribly mysterious" to him, giggle, giggle. Jesus, you'd think he'd invented sex the way he was sending out "first time" signals. And Trowa—time to get him, I thought. "You still have green sparkles, Tro." "Do I? And I thought it was gay dandruff." Cute. He wasn't cranky enough. I thought as part of this strange adventure that Heero and Trowa were involved in, somehow, he'd be spitting on Zechs' good times. I guess it was just me and 'Ro who were both grumbling and moody. Heero laughed. He laughed at what Trowa said. He messed with the top of Trowa's head, sending a cascade of green sparkles down his shoulders. "Pretty, Barton." Yep. Heero said that, too. Smiling. "That from the queer who writes poetry. I'll give you pretty, Yuy." Trowa smacked Heero's hands away and they traded punches until Quatre dashed between them and stupidly got caught in the crossfire. Man, how I'd longed to have connected with Quatre's gut at one time. Possibly in the present tense, now that I thought about it. Ah, well... Heero managed to cuff Trowa on the head one more time, and it rained green sparkles onto Quatre, sending him into a pouting session. That ended when Trowa mashed their faces together muttering something about his being "cute when you do that." Gag. You didn't catch me an' 'Ro acting all gay in public. No, sirree. "I'll help you with your sample," Heero said, his warm breath tickling my ear. "We can share a stall, if that is all right with you?" Heero's mood was rather high. That meant that it was just me who was a bit testy about being pushed around by Zechs. 'Ro had put up with singing and dancing, which I'd enjoyed despite the Gregory treatment, and come through smiling. The least, the very least I could do was obey Zechs and not make a scene. "Okay." Thank the Gods above that the men's room was empty. I would have been more grateful if the stalls had been cleaner and bigger, but I could work with what I got handed. "Duo, can I...?" "Uh, yeah..." And watching 'Ro unzip his jeans and fumble with mine was something I could work with just fine. From the sounds coming from the stall further on, Trowa was "helping" Quatre acquire his sperm sample, too. Headline news: Winner heir gets gay handjob in backroom john by ex-circus performer. In a related event, downtown mortuary owner "stalled" by local artist in gay sex scandal. "Ah, jeez, brain; gimme a break!" It was crazy being all cooped up in a men's bathroom like that, hearing others get off a few feet away. Kinda dirty and way hot. Heero hardly had time to get the vial into place; I just took off like a rocket seeing his hand on me like that. "Jesus!" Would I ever get any self-control? Not at this rate. Quatre was giggling. Great. That kept Heero flaccid for a whole two seconds. I looked him in the eye...no, I couldn't tear my eyes away from the erection weeping in my hand. "Duo," growled my boyfriend whose patience was wearing thin. One, two, three, weeee and we were done. Sample collected. Stress relieved. Mood funky. In the end, Zechs got his brown-paper-bagged "DNA" and promised to supply answers to everything on Monday, including to my off-putting, repeated question "how did you know we were at that airport at that time?" And then he left, leaving us standing around feeling rather sheepish; or, at least, I did. Man, the inside of the playhouse was a zoo. Props half designed moving about, lights blinking, people running about in the strangest costumes. As much as I wanted to get out of the noise, I knew it was time to leave and knew it meant the end of my fun time with Heero so I kinda preferred just standing in the way and looking dumb. Heero would have stood all day with me, I think, but Quatre rounded us up and pointed to the exit. We all parted ways soon after. I had to do some shopping for food, laundry, turn out the vermin from my place. I was always getting something nasty. Mice, roaches, ants, spiders, moths, mold. Never baked ham, roses, cold beer. I had phone messages up the kazoo. I plowed through the ones for work filling out a calendar of upcoming events. There was a message from both my new employees. "Hi, this is En-dee-vee (she spelled 'Endive' like the vegetable). I wanted to tell you I'll be about five minutes late if it's cold and my car doesn't start. Just five. And it's gonna get fixed this weekend if I can get my good-for-nothing boyfriend to work on it. Um, too much information, huh? Okay, well, see ya in the morning. Bye." "Yo, it's Drace (Andres, nicknamed 'Drey' or 'Dres'). Gotcher message. Thanks. I'll be there at eight like you say. Thanks for giving me a chance at doing something honest. Right. Later, dude. Ah, goodbye." Okay. Next were calls from Hilde. I didn't bother listening. I just dialed and hoped she'd pick up and be alone. "Hey, Hil. It's Du--" "Hey yourself, stranger. Where have you been?" "Just a few days off, with 'Ro." "Days off? Days? Off? DAYs? You never take a vacation. Okay, this 'Ro dude's good for you then. You happy?" "Very. You?" "Top of the world. My 'Fei is a gem. Courteous, thoughtful, refined, honest and sexy as hell... he can cook, he's clean, smart, and he works." "And he's crazy about you?" "Damned straight he is. He's on to something big with his new job. He's with Preventers now, you know? Oh, he's partnered with a real tough agent, Lucy Noin? Something like that. Kinda sounds like that domineering dominatrix PR lady that worked for Solo, you know? Oh, sorry, Duo, really. I didn't mean to bring him up. Sorry." I stopped her nervous blather with some platitudes. "Forget it, I have. Don't worry. It's okay...blah, blah, blah..." Lucrezia Noin had made a bundle handling Solo's PR as his career soared. Obviously she and I were not friends. As far as she was concerned, I was the secret gay lover and stumbling block to Solo's super stardom. From my point of view, she was the reason he wouldn't make a permanent commitment to me. From PR bitch to Preventer dominatrix was no stretch of anybody's imagination. "We made it to the play rehearsal," I said to find a new topic. "Good for you. Was it terrible? I can't imagine Heero trying to deliver lines in that flat monotone of his." "Play practice was fun, actually. I get to sing and dance. Who knew I was so talented?" I joked. I couldn't carry a tune; Solo had always told me so and he knew talent. "I always said you could sing. You can really emote. And you are a great dancer. My first choice." "Before Chang?" "Okay, second, but not because he's a better dancer." "Ahhhh, I've missed you, ya know?" "Me, too, sweetie. Just 'cause we got boyfriends, shouldn't mean we don't get together now and then, right? How 'bout something special, like... coffee in the morning?" "Very funny." "Well, it's a pretty sure thing I'll get a 'yes', right?" "Right." "So, everything good?" "Mostly." "Mostly? How 'bout in the sack? Yuy a good lover?" "Hil! That's pretty personal stuff." "God, Duo, why else would I ask? Tell ya what. I'll tell you one thing if you tell me one thing. Deal? I'll start. Wufei's great and all that but his one shortcoming is that he's not very...inventive. He really needs to read up on some fun stuff. Any suggestions?" "You're asking me about hetero sex?" "Eh! What was I thinking? Forget it, I'll get my info off the internet. Read some smutty stories. Okay, your turn." "I don't know..." "One thing." "Well, things are just about perfect." "Just about?" "Yeah. There's just this one little thing." "And that is—" "We're both, uh... It's like we like the same, uh... shit." "Are you both tops or bottoms, is that it? I mean, that's about all there is to figure out from what I can tell." "No, there's more to it. Lots more. But... this is hard, um... Yeah, we're both the same side of the coin." "That stops you from having sex?" "No! Jeez, Hil... It's really no show stopper... just something we gotta work out. No biggie. Now, that's all I'm gonna say." "He looks pretty intimidating with his death glare. My guess? Tops. Neither one of you wants to play 'woman' to the other. Am I right?" "I'm not going to talk about this any more. Final. Um, I gotta wash some clothes and put away the rest of the groceries." "Yeah, sure. You are one prude of a gay boy, Duo Maxwell." "Am not. I just don't kiss and tell." "Uh, huh...see you in the morning then?' "For coffee? Yeah, got it. Bye, Hil." "Ciao, sugar." Heero. Yeah. Last night in Heero's room at the palace was pretty stupid, me especially. Just thinking about it made me feel stupid. I was mortified for myself. As I undressed him, I slapped a condom and tube of tube in his hand. "Please." And then I regretted my forwardness with a vengeance. I couldn't take back what the things meant, or what' I'd intended. We hadn't talked about fucking, but we were both experienced with it so I figured, let him do me and see how it goes. But the look on his face! Terror? Horror? I couldn't tell, but I was sure I'd done the wrong thing. I hadn't thought I could read him so wrong, but... there it was. Plain as day. He pushed my hand away. "No, you, um, first, all right?" Not all right, but better than what I though he'd meant. "'Ro, I, uh, can't. How 'bout you--?" "No, you. I've never. I-I don't know--?" We wore out the outer packaging on the condom we tossed it back and forth so much. Then we decided we weren't ready to put it to use yet and trashed it. The lube went into a drawer. Sheesh. We were both bottoms and totally subs when it came to sex. I thought it, our perfect fit, was all too easy, too good to be true. Mutual blowjobs we were comfortable with, so that's what we decided to stick with for awhile. And my 'Ro was really, really good. He knew what a guy liked, for sure. He said he was learning from me. Well, that was nice of him. It was all good. Looking back, I'd felt kinda stupid at first, but really, he was so fuckin' sexy and willing to please. Problem was... so was I. We would have made an utterly pathetic pair 'cept we made it work at last and now, lying in bed listening to microwave heating my cup-a-soup, I missed him sorely. I'd learn how to do a kick off as long as he'd be my receiver. And we'd work out the reverses, too. (o) Hilde and Wufei were already slurping coffee with Heero by the time I rushed into the shop. It was going to be one of those days. No matching socks, clothes forgotten in the drier and wrinkled to rags, missing bus pass, those were only bad in retrospect. Fighting over my toast with a full-grown and much more aggressive rat had freaked me out. I really needed to move before the vermin started in on me. Explaining my morning to them brought the others mirth and happiness so it was worth it. Wufei wanted to discuss our holiday, but I only had time to remark that 'sewer surfing was a highlight," when Quatre and Trowa glided in on a cloud. Trowa left to care for their orders, and Quatre watched him with blatant admiration. "So, are you still doing that play?" Hilde kicked his foot to get his attention. "Play? Oh, yes. In fact we have dress rehearsal coming up pretty soon." I felt miffed about the play, still. Mostly, it bugged me that everyone else was kinda getting into it and it was just another way Zechs and his sister were interferring in my life... and Heero's. I probably looked angry, but when Heero patted my arm sympathetically and encouraged me to breathe deeply, I calmed down. "Anyway, the performance is soon, if you're interested." Of course she was, and Wufei, too, expressed a desire to see us making fools of ourselves in public. Everyone wanted tickets, so Quatre offered to take care of that. Quatre gazed unfocused into the distance, past the dusty binds. Behind them, the sun blazed. He liked the heat, he had told me on numerous occasions when I was complaining about it. His family had come from the L4 desert people, so the steady heat of summer was in his blood. I wondered if he would take Trowa on a trip to the desert. He'd once told me he'd take me some winter. I smiled. Not any more. I imagined Trowa at his side, listening to music, driving under the open skies, and smelling the sagebrush. "How am I doing for time?" I asked 'Ro. Heero checked his watch, but before he could say anything, Trowa arrived with two coffees in to-go cups and he gave me the word. "Time to open the shop, Duo." It was fun to watch Quatre's face change the moment Trowa showed up. And I was okay with it. I understood how he felt. I had my 'Ro. When I looked at him, when I even just thought about Heero Yuy, the admiration filled my heart to the brim, then bubbled over into a smile. An inner-warmth I'd never experienced before sent a thrill through me. I knew it was love, and it was turning my world upside down. Everything I wanted to do began with the word "Heero." I prized this new feeling. "See ya, 'Ro. Call?" "Yes. I'll call you later." I hated to part from his company, but I knew it was time to take off to meet the new employees and the newly dead which had accumulated over at the competing mortuary and needed to be picked up. I actually hoped Zechs would show up early. He wouldn't, nightowl that he was, but just the same— Trowa and I made the short walk to the mortuary together, leaving our boyfriends to answer Wufei's prying questions, or not. Trowa was still sporting a green freckle or two, but it looked as if he'd tried hard to rid himself of the sparkles. I opened my mouth to point out that very fact when he stopped me. "Don't. Just don't." "Heh, heh... Yeah, glad my boyfriend's not into stuff like that." I spent most the morning acclimating my new employees, Endive and Andres, to the strange surrounds. I was already wasted and we hadn't a body to work on! That's the trouble with vacations. When you get back things are worse than ever. When Zechs meandered in about noon, I sent him directly on his way with Dres and Endive both to load up the bodies on ice and bring in the start of our work week's jobs. That left Trowa and me a moment alone. Time to bring up a topic I'd been thinking about for some time. "Tro', buddy of mine?" He looked unsure whether to run or put up a fight. "Yeah?" "How about we do this as a partner thing? I've been thinking, since about the week after you signed on here, that I could use the cash and the help. 'Course I don't know if you have anything saved up, but if you were interested in co-owning a..." "How much?" He grinned. I grinned. "Let me show you the books." It was a lot of money, and he'd need a month or two to round it up. "Quatre thinks I've got funds somewhere. Something's paid for my upkeep. I've saved some, too, but I'd rather not take out a gigantic loan if I didn't have to." "So, how do you think you'd find out?" "If I can have a few days, I'm going to track down the circus I grew up with and get some answers. And Zechs promised me that lead." "Take off the time you need." "I'll see that these newbie's are settled in first." "Thanks, Tro'. This'll be great." "You sure? This business has been your baby. Hard to share that, isn't it?" "Truthfully?" I thought about the tussle with the rat and how the infusion of cash could bring me closer to a new home. "No." We had a bit of a laugh and talked over the division of labor and how a partnership would work. We bet Quatre would be able to give us some pointers, too. If I could get my work life under control, maybe my private life would fall into place, or at least I'd have time for it to grow. I needed to make more time for Heero in my life. By afternoon, Zechs was reunited with me and the new recruits, and Trowa in the morgue, working. Zechs had information to share but wouldn't dare with the newcomers in the room. From what I could glean, the DNA information would be taking a lot longer than he'd expected, just as long as I had known it would, despite his throwing his name and money at the lab doing the work. The tension was thick, but Trowa and I were tight enough to endure just about anything. "There are times when we have to do the thoracic cavity embalming right after we're finished with the arterial injection of embalming fluid," Trowa explained to Andres and Endive. Endive nodded in understanding while she removed the tubes and sealed the opened jar of formalin. "I remember. It hasn't been that long since I interned at Matt's Mort." "But you went back to the hospital," Trowa reminded her. "Think of this as a refresher, while it may be new to Dres (pronounced "dray") here." "The chest looks pretty caved in on that one," Zechs noted. He eyed the proceedings critically, because he was bored, waiting for a pick up call, and trying to avoid my presence, the last not actually being possible. Trowa ignored Zechs for the most part, which he was good at by now, and continued speaking directly to the new hires. He hadn't been crazy about Zechs as a volunteer, and as much as he hadn't wanted the pick-up business Zechs was doing, he understood what the increased business meant to the bottom line. But besides all that, I could tell there was some underlying problem between the two men. Trowa had lost his memory and Zechs seemed to know things he wasn't sharing that would help him. I couldn't blame him. It was understandable, probably more so than Heero's 'vampire' delusions. (Sorry 'Ro, but you are odd that way.) "Feels like we've been gone weeks," I put in for good measure. Trowa shrugged. "Yeah. Well, we need to reorder more of the approved cavity filler." "I know..." I sighed. "I reordered it last Monday." "It that what these are?" Zechs asked, standing. He'd been using the stack of bags as a chair. "Show Dres how to fill the bin, please," Trowa ordered. Only I heard the muttered, "...lazy cretin." "At Mort's we packed bodies using kitty litter." Endive smiled. "'S true!" "That was clean, never-used kitty litter, I hope," Zechs muttered. Trowa returned to his instructions. "Now, re-aspirate the lungs, and then the windpipe gets corked. All the exterior openings have got to be corked off." "I can understand sealing them. Why not just super-glue them shut?" Endive asked. At least she hadn't suggested the amateur, universal, fix-all: duct tape. "When the remains are available for viewing, we have to do a last minute check of the abdominal and thoracic regions for any signs of bloating caused by gaseous buildup. If there's some distention, pressure is relieved by opening anal vent, thus the removable cork." "That is done in the slumber room, of course, when no one is looking," I said with a chuckle. Trowa looked at me, his green eyes narrowed. "No kidding..." "Which reminds me of another fun tale from my formative years with Howard. I had been starting out dressing the dead before showings. I remember dressing this guy, probably mid twenties or so. Anyway, I had dressed him in what was his first suit and tie, and felt proud of how he'd turned out. I sat out with the family, at the back of the room during the funeral service just to witness the parent's joy in his appearance. Then, only minutes after the funeral services ended, when the lid was about to be lifted for viewing- everyone was lining up, and I was so excited-- the body caught fire inside the closed coffin. There was smoke shooting out of the cracks." "You're kidding, right?" Trowa wasn't sure whether to believe my stories anymore or not. Zechs was shaking his head. Disbeliever. "No, it really happened," I insisted. "I've heard it can happen," Endive said. "Embalming fluids can spontaneously combust." "Really?" The other newbie, Dres, straightened, and glared at the bottle closest to him as if it might explode any second. "It scarred me deeply." I let out a protracted sigh. "All that trouble I'd gone to, and no one ever noticed. The guy had looked very nice, too, better than when he'd been alive. Drug addict, under-nourished, ill, scruffy, when he'd come in." I was talking mostly to myself, which was just as well since the sound of the telephone drown out what I'd said. Further comment was shelved, while Zechs grabbed the receiver. "Maxwell's Mortuary and Funeral Home. May I help you? We certainly do make pickups. Riverbend Nursing Home on Sixth and River Road. I'll be right there. Thank you for calling." He pulled on his expensive-looking jacket and checked the kit for clean sheets and gloves. "After collecting bodies from tubs, cars, and fields in the dark, a fresh one out of a room should be a pleasure." I must say it was a relief to have Zechs go out. Trowa called me over. "Duo's an artist at this. Want to demonstrate you second-to-none mouth sealing techniques?" "Sure, it's not that I'm particularly adept at the process, it's more that he's not, heh, heh... Okay, the reason it's so important to do a good job is that the mouth of the deceased is the focal point when folks view the remains in the casket. In fact, the mouth's expression determines how the relatives of the deceased relate to the body, whether they accept it as their lost one or not. So, it's our job to make them look natural. To do that the mouth is sutured shut and thoroughly waxed. Watch me." "And no super-glue," Andres said, with a wry smile in place. "No dickhead," Endive snapped back. "Maybe not in this mortuary, but at Mort's—" "There are a few lazy 'progressive' embalmers who do. I swear by a needle and catgut. Like this." I did a partial line of stitches. "Now both of you try, and don't pull too tightly." "How's that?" Dres muttered as he stood back to let me check out his stitches. "Okay, that's pretty good. Next, you apply a coating of softened wax to both the upper and lower lip so they don't dry out and start cracking and flaking. Just do half and let Endive do the rest." "Looks natural," Endive commented. "That's the idea." I studied her technique as she finished off the lip. "You had a different introduction to morgue work than me." She laughed aloud. "Ha! No kidding! All kinds of stuff went on at Mort's place, because no one cared about crooks and crazies. There was this one morgue attendant who regularly extracted the organs from corpses-- without permission from the families of the deceased, of course-- and then he sold the parts to researchers. The morgue sold pituitary glands for about 50 cents each to fund last year's staff Solstice party." When both Andres and Endive laughed, Trowa and I joined in. It wasn't at all funny, but we were in good moods and starting to bond a little. I felt a breeze as the outer door opened. "What's so funny?" Zechs asked while he rolled the full cot toward the lift down to the cold storage locker. "Nothing mysterious here, just an old lady. She can keep." "Just a mortuary story," Trowa said through a chuckle. "Go on, it can keep too." (o) We were all at Quatre's apartment, but he wasn't there. We were waiting for him, but I had forgotten why as I enjoyed stretching out on his nice couch, listening to music, while Trowa and Heero played a card game on the floor nearby. I was jostled awake when Quatre pushed a bundle of clothes into my arms. "...then you can have these. They should fit..." "Ready?" Heero was looking into my face waiting for an answer. "For what?" Trowa laughed. "The dude's been on cloud nine all day. What did you do to him, Yuy? Oh, guess I shouldn't ask, heh..." Heero actually blushed. He hadn't done a thing to me, which was a bit of a problem. At the mortuary, we'd been pretty busy the last few days making up, finally, for lost time. Heero and I had had a good weekend in his room, but we had avoided the "who's on top?" question completely by sticking to what was mutually satisfying. I had had a killer day, so had Trowa, and he knew I was tired. "Cloud...? Hey, I'm sitting right here. And Quat? What's this crap I'm holding for you?" Now they were laughing at me. Quatre was going on about how "this had been planned for weeks" and how could I have forgotten after "showing up on my doorstep tonight?" Heero took pity on me. "We are invited to a Halloween party. Quatre borrowed outfits for us from the costume department for the playhouse. That is yours. Would you like to go with me?" Well, damn. I wasn't going to let my boyfriend go without me! "Okay." The party was to be close to campus with buddies of Quat's. "You'll recognize at least a few of my business school chums from our dating days," he promised me with a dainty smirk. "Although, it will take them a moment to place you," he added with an even sneerier smirk. And it was no wonder. My costume was that of a fluffy-tailed white rabbit. I was THE Alice in Wonderland White Rabbit with a waistcoat, tie, and broken pocket watch. Heero wore a cool green-plaid suit with a foppish tie and ridiculously oversized top hat. He was the Mad Hatter. Quatre was a cute little gray dormouse, and Trowa was even stupider-looking than me in a pink and green striped cat outfit. "God," he groaned in the mirror. Quatre had just finished painting his face and he looked himself over. "I wish I could disappear." Trowa was the Cheshire Cat. Quatre pulled himself away from the mirror where he was primping. "Don't say that! You are adorable!" "Fuck..." Now, that was funny. "You two can play...heh, heh...cat and mouse all night, heh, heh..." I howled long enough that Trowa threatened to trade costumes with Heero. Heero said he didn't care which costume he wore, but that he didn't think the taller man could fit into his pants. I know Trowa wasn't sure if Heero was joking or not, so he just gave up and went off to play cat and mouse like I'd said in the first place, the idiot. "Couldn't you've found an 'Alice' dress for Maxwell?" I heard Trowa ask his boyfriend. Heero suddenly had his hands on my ass, messing with my 'tail'. "Hey!" I chirped before he silenced me with a sloppy kiss. After that we storlled over to the pary, where things were already rolling. There was music and food, though what remember best of that was dipping marshmallows in melted chocolate, feeding it to Heero, and licking the dribbles off his face. I'd had a drink or two by then. A lot of something that looked like swamp water but was, Quatre told me, kiwi fruit blended with vodka and gingerale. I crammed a few 'finger" foods into my mouth then made a sandwich of sorts starting with a split hoagy roll. Heero was slathering a plate of chips with melted cheese and talking with Trowa. Nice. I liked that Trowa and Heero were finding some common ground. I piled on some salami, sliced tomatoes, jalapeños and a squirt of mustard, when Trowa nudged my back. "Huh?" I said. "That's some hot sub you got for a boyfriend, boss-man." I turned around in time to catch his smile, but not much. I looked down at my sandwich. Submarine sandwich. "Sub?" "You figure it out,' he said with a chuckle this time then made his way across the room, me tracking him all the way and wondering why he thought my sandwich was my boyfriend. Weird, but then he did work in a morgue—by choice. Had to give him a lot of latitude for that, poor dumbass. "Hey, Quat! You know when it's bad luck to meet a black cat? When you're a mouse, ha, ha, ha!" "Duo, aren't you getting tired of the mouse jokes yet?" "Nope!" I said and his little nose twitched in anticipation. "How about a change of subject matter?" Quatre looked at me and I shrugged. "Okay then, I have a quote; guess who said this: 'Having sex is like playing bridge. If you don't have a good partner, you'd better have a good hand.'" Heero was very good at the movie line game. As I expected, he guessed correctly. "Woody Allen said that." Trowa chuckled. "Bet you never heard this one: 'Bisexuality immediately doubles your chances for a date on Saturday night.'" When the Mad Hatter gave up guessing where the quote was from, the Cheshire Cat told him, "Rodney Dangerfield." "I thought of one." All eyes turned to Heero. He wasn't a joke-telling sort of guy, so everyone was on alert and I knew they were preparing those polite laughs to encourage him. Don't get me wrong. The guys liked my 'Ro, Trowa especially seemed to respect him and appreciate his quiet strength, or lack of it, whichever. Still, I thought it was condescending of them to lead him on. "Go ahead, Heero," Quatre said. "All right. So I was watching Zechs and it made me think about vampires." He colored slightly and I wondered if he wasn't just a teensy-weensy bit attracted to the tall blond. "So, what do you think is a vampire's favorite fast food?" "A blood drive-thru?" That was Trowa the comedian. Heero just smiled. "Good one. I, ah, thought it might be a guy with very high blood pressure...?" That was funny and we all laughed genuine laughs. Man, I was proud of him and his shy smile and deadly eyes. Dark hair, slightly shaggy in his eyes because of the hat-- I loved the whole package. I had this overwhelming urge to strip off my clothes and beg him to take me, right there on the floor of Ed Whoever's loft. I didn't and wouldn't, but the compulsion was there just the same. I ate my sandwich, my sub, while watching Heero eat his and pushing my left ear out of my face. "I thought rabbits only ate vegetables," he said. "Only vegetarian ones. Me, I'm a fairytale rabbit, and I wiggle my fairy tail to prove it." I did and he chuckled. "Duo, you have had too much to drink. And you have to get up early. I should see you home." "Okay." He was right. Trowa met us going out the door. "Going? Want to change at Quatre's and I'll take the costumes back?' I nodded as Trowa gave me a set of keys, adding, "We'll give you an hour's head start," and then with a wink of his eye, catted away. "Thanks." I leaned toward Heero just a little closer than usual on the walk home, and he didn't complain or push me away. That was nice. And when we got to Quat's, I wasn't sad to lose the white fur, but I would miss Heero in a suit and top hat. Telling him that just got me a skeptical look, but then he tipped his hat, a little further and out fell an envelope. He caught it in mid air and held it out to me. "For you." "Me? Oh, yeah." My monthly greeting card depicted a scary scene with a looming castle, bat-filled night sky, and evil-looking demon lurking in the shadows. In the foreground, however, stood a couple, locked in an embrace, two men, kissing in the lamplight. Us. He painted us, me with my braid and him. "This is too cool, 'Ro." "Did you read what's inside?" "No." I opened the card and read aloud, "Thrill me, chill me, haunt my heart forever." It was all Heero, all his odd and interesting facets and talents tucked into a single card. And it was mine. And that's when I needed to tell him about Solo. The music was muted and no one was going to interrupt us. If I could do this, say Solo's name without falling apart, then it must mean I was ready for this new commitment, right? So I tried. "'Ro? You know how I had a boyfriend before and how after him it took me a while to start dating again?" "Yes, I remember." "He, ah... was kinda famous. Keeping us a secret..." and then I choked up "...really hurt." I was wrapped in Heero's embrace before I said anything more. "If you want to leave--?" I shook my head. He felt solid and honest, if that could have a form. "I want to say this." I wanted to say this without crying or making a scene is what I wanted. "His name was Solo. The singer." Heero took that revelation extremely well. He was the most composed I'd ever seen him. "The singer/songwriter. His being gay was certainly a secret. that must have been terrible for you." "Yeah. He promised me life together. H-house... future, ya know?" Heero nodded. "You would like the space and privacy." "Uh, huh. And the owning. I had the mortuary by that time, done all the upgrades and all, but I never had a house of my own, so it was like a dream come true. A-and then he died." Heero pulled me tighter. I didn't know what he was thinking. This entire ordeal couldn't have been fun for him. I was telling him he was coming in number two to my ex. But that wasn't true! "He didn't leave a will or anything, so I... I--" "You recieved nothing. Oh, Du--" "I had nothing. Not even a place to live 'cause his family swept in and swept me out and took over and suddenly I was there sleeping in my office with his b-body waiting for me to autopsy and then the funeral..." "You were... you are inhumanly strong, love." "I wasn't. No, I almost didn't make it throught all that." "But you did. You are here. You survived." He was right. "The Claremonts helped me." "I am glad they did. I like them very much. And I love you." I did it! I told him about Solo and he was still holding me, loving me, and I was so glad I'd come clean. "I am so lucky," I told him. "I thought my life was over back then. Yet, here I am with you feeling like the best is yet to come." He looked up to meet my eyes, and smiled. "I feel the same way. I'd like to kiss you here, all right?" "I, ah, love you, too, 'Ro, sure." He squeezed my hand for a second and kissed me gently, then as if he suddenly remembered where we were, he drew back. "This is all right?" "Quat and me are way over, 'Ro, you know that. They are giving us this time together. Trowa knows we need it. And... and... I don't wanna cover up for us any more. I think I'm about ready for making us public." "I think I can handle that too, which is fortunate because I think we were photographed by a couple cellphones tonight and I can't help how I look at you." How I loved him! "If I lose some business, so be it. Besides, you know how I asked Trowa to buy into the mortuary? Well, he's not gonna hide his sexual preferences, so why should I, right? Oh, um, if that's... " "Put down the card if you don't want it crushed." That was the only warning I got before he stripped me naked and gave me a mindblowing blowjob. He had hands that read my needs like braille. We were good together, no matter what.
|
