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"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 22 -- November Storms, Part 2 I do greeting cards. I once considered myself a poet even, but it was all in my mind so now I do my own copy and illustrations to cheer others. Sometimes I create beautiful art and farm out the copy. When I first started out, I was cheated by the printer and robbed by the distributor. My products are distributed worldwide now, and pay just enough to make me ineligible for food stamps. What has made my name somewhat recognizable and added dollars to my savings account, is my special line of hand-painted, signature cards, like the ones I give Duo. In my studio, my favorite cards are framed and mounted on the walls. Correction: were on the walls. Relena has taken them down, collected others from Duo and who knows where else, framed them, and is preparing to display my art in a prestigious gallery in downtown Sanc. I should be grateful she is doing it for me. I should get orders for art, some commissions for paintings, bigger than the 3x5 dimensions that limit most of what I have produced. I hung my favorite pieces within view to inspire me. So now when I look up from the table where I work, I see the earlier emanations of my genius. "Kiss me again—I'll turn the other cheek." "We'll have to stop meeting like this—roll over." "Love is—never having to say, 'How much?'" In fact, they inspired me again. I no sooner sat down at my work table than I grabbed pencil and paper and wrote. "Get well soon—my doctor says you have it, too." That was two in one day, when I wrote the one for Duo. By God, getting laid really did help. Oh, being intimate with Duo did more for me than just that. He was unbelievably whole and real and capable. I could tell him anything. I didn't, but I could. Almost. Could I tell him I'd rather not have a repeat performance of the other night? Probably not. He seemed to thoroughly enjoy the experience. Was that just one more way I was weird? A queer who didn't crave anal sex with his lover? It got me off. My body reacted, but my heart just wasn't into it. I could never tell him that. Ty had fucked me. Duo loved me. But what I wanted were his hands on me, Duo's mouth, his tongue, his lips, anywhere, everywhere loving me like no one had before. That was perfection. And I did feel deeply for Duo. I'd killed before and was nearly immune for the guilt. He had killed an evil thing. What was that creep's name? Sidney, that's right, one of Ty's worst. I think he gave Ty ideas as to how to torture me. A gutting was far too tame a death for him. I'd have to remember to tell Duo that, if I didn't throw up thinking about Ty and the rest of the evil near-dead, stalkers of the night who prey on the young and weak in their sleep. Duo had not believed that Zechs was a vampire when we talked about it, and was instrumental in my coming around to his point of view. It was just so much easier to structure the universe so that the evil ones were in another world, and not a part of mine. I know my categorization tactics meant I was odd, but rationalizing the evil I saw and experienced that way kept me mentally balanced. I had o-fuda to stave off the attacks of the undead; how could I defeat the Ty Keel's of the world? Dreary thinking was getting me nowhere on the card in my hand. I surmised that if I had to create designer greeting cards and break into crypts looking for buried bodies, I was allowed a few quirks. Maybe a lot of them. Now, if only I could think of what to say for Duo's special card, I would be done for the day. I closed my eyes and pictured him coming up to me and asking, "What can I do to make you happy, 'Ro?" And then the words came to me, just like that. I jotted them down and looked for the right pen to inscribe the card, when my phone buzzed. It was Zechs. "Have you any living blood relatives and do you know if Maxwell does?" "No, and I really doubt he does either. He's never mentioned any family nor had any visitors. Why?" "I'd like to have more tissue or blood samples for DNA comparisons." "I don't understand the point, Zechs. What is the difference between DNA analysis on hair and on blood, or in our cases, semen?" "Nuclear DNA comes from blood and tissue. Mitochondrial DNA is collected from hair and bone, and doesn't tattle on its owner's gender. Nuclear DNA testing is the preferred method for identification purposes. It's basically the same as the analysis carried out for paternity testing, actually. Your DNA profile, or that of the questionable remains, is compared with the profiles of known relatives, which is why they like to contact relatives to provide a small blood samples for comparison. As in testing a mother and father to determine whether you really are a child of those parents. If there is a match between the DNA profile of the you with the deceased or those of your 'real' the parents then it is likely that an identification can be made. If you had brothers and sisters, they could also be compared." "So, why were we collecting hair at Une's home, then, if it's not very useful?" "It's useful, just not the best. It's our back up in case my plans don't work out." I could hear Zechs sigh. "I didn't know about the DNA testing at the labs, but it will be backup for that, too. Can't be too careful or have too much information." "You are certainly not giving me too much information that I understand." "I don't want to stir up an unnecessary amount of trouble if I'm totally wrong here, that's all. I will tell-all, everything, by the end of the week. Trowa Barton should be returned from his investigations by that time. I think we will all have to have a meeting." I assumed all meant Duo and me, Trowa and Zechs, but who else I didn't know, or ask about. I wanted to finish my card for Duo. He and I had a dinner reservation in a couple of days and I wanted it ready for then. "All right. Bye." "Good night, Yuy." (o) Yuy and Maxwell had gathered a tremendous quantity of data from the OZ laboratories, and I had yet to examine much of it. Using Maxwell's computers was preferable to the ones at the palace because it masked what I was doing from Treize Khushrenada and the eyes of his spies. As a result, I found myself spending more and more time at the mortuary. Oddly enough, I enjoyed the camaraderie of Duo's workspace, a residual fancy from my years of service in the Sanc military and later as a subordinate of Treize. In any case, I found it increasingly easy to rise early and meet the staff at the mortuary first thing in the morning. Today I actually looked forward to it and met them at opening time. The phone was ringing as Duo unlocked the back door to the morgue. He ran to catch it on its last ring, while the rest of us filed in and prepared for the day. Funny man. Expressive as his almost-partner, Trowa Barton, was impassive. Sound and rational as his lover, Heero Yuy, was inventive and unstable. All-in-all, Maxwell chose his friends well as counterbalance his emotional, driving personality. "Maxwell Morgue and Funeral home. How can I help you? Oh, sure. Right now? Okay, I'll put our driver on the line for directions. Hold a second, please." He cupped a hand over the mouth piece and shouted to me, which was totally unnecessary because I was on my way to his side, "Zechs, take this before you change! Andres, hold on, you'll be going out with him." I wasn't thrilled to have a 'pick up' to do. I'd been looking forward to sitting around observing the new employees, listening in, and conducting my own research on the sly, and some of it in the open. However, it was my job and I was accustomed to receiving orders, so I took the call in good humor. "Thank you. Yes, I know the location. Some remote Voyate property. I shall be there presently." I hung up the phone, thinking that this had to be a related murder, and the perpetrators were getting sloppier as time went on. I was certain we would have all the evidence required to tie Voyate to OZ and bring vengeance upon those responsible for the atrocities done and to be done. "Not again," Duo groaned. "I wish I never heard of that place." "You are not alone," I said from the desk where I was checking on a few lab results. Not complete, drat. "I've prepared slides of the label fibers for analysis. You and I can look them over when I get back." "Gotcha," Duo said without looking up. He flipped over the chart of work to do with a sigh. He was a driver, like me, which is why I had come to admire him. He also chose to wear his hair long as I did, a sign of a man with good taste. "A simple embalming, that's all. If you help me get this one out of the way fast, DeeVee (Endive), we'll be able to do a full autopsy on the body they're picking up when it comes in. Coming from Voyate means it may be connected to the other murders. The police won't want anyone else to do it." Sharp man. "Right, I'll go change." Endive and he entered the changing room to don their coveralls, masks, and slip into gloves, while Andres and I put on disposable protective clothing, bundled up gloves, and nabbed the keys to the van on our way out. I drove hell-bent on getting to the designated pickup location while there was a break in the rain. I had decided that the job would be harder in the short days of winter, the sun angle low to the horizon, and the days often clouded and gloomy. At least people with normal hours slept through the deepest dark of winter nights. Andres was stuck in close quarters with me. "That was some game on TV last night, wasn't it?" Andres asked. "Sports is a safe topic, right? My grandfather always warned me against discussing personal problems, politics, or religion at work." Or with a famous person like me, Zechs Merquise. "I was out." "Well, the coach thought the refereeing was bad, but I think it was just a made-up rationalization for a bad game. The quarterback just didn't have any energy, not that it mattered. A loss is a loss." Andres must have decided that I wasn't going to say more, and gave up trying to make small-talk with me for several minutes. "Zechs, I see flashing lights over there." "It appears to be our destination." Andres checked his watch, making a mental note of the time. He jumped when I spoke next. "Well, well, well. Look who is here." Andres seemed relieved by the interruption and smiled nervously. "Who?" "I know these detectives," I told him. We were greeted by the now-familiar tall, blonde Detective Trant and short, dark Inspector Acht, who led us to the naked body of a young woman. "Looks like she was strangled with her own blouse," Detective Trant commented as the silent Inspector Acht took crime-scene photos. "She hasn't been dead long," Detective Trant noted. He was trying to catch my eye and flirt. Damn, how I detested the man for that. "Her body's still warm and rigor mortis hasn't set in. We took the temperature already." "I'll make a note of that." I turned to Andres. "Bag it first, then load the body onto the stretcher..." I began, pausing when the boy's face blanched white. "What's the matter?" "I recognize her; the face, that is." Andres' face flushed when he said that, as suddenly as it drained earlier. "You should sit down before you fall down," I warned him. "Y-yeah." Andres sank heavily onto the stretcher. Detective Trant paused in his note-taking. "You can identify the body?" "When I was working at the hospital I'd see her. Then she quit and went to work in the research labs here at Voyate. I think she was the assistant to a lead chemist by the name of Dr. Tsubarov, and her name was... Dr. Sylvia Noventa." "Well, let's get Dr. Sylvia Noventa back to the morgue, and see if we can't figure out who killed and left her here," I said. "Oh...yes, of course." Andres stood and together he and I rustled the lady into the body bag and from there onto the cot. Inspector Acht, camera dangling from his neck, had been listening politely and interrupted now. "We'll need DNA, fingerprints, hair, anything to ID the assailant, when we catch him." "Of course." Full service crime investigation team—that's what the funeral home was becoming. "You have a clue who that might be?" "We'll start by locating Dr. Tsubarov, I think," Detective Trant replied. He stepped within arm's reach of me and lowered his voice. "Haven't seen you for a while." "No. Why, was there a related case? Excuse me." I aided the boy move the laden cot, which seemed determined to roll into the tall grass and remain stuck. "Oh, no." Detective Trant stepped back to allow Andres space to pass with the cot. The persistent cop tried again. "You seem busy. But I was hoping... Perhaps I'll call you at a later time?" "If you feel it's necessary. Otherwise, someone at the mortuary will let you know what we find as soon as the data is available. Good night, gentlemen." And that, I hoped, wasn't too subtle a way to tell him get lost. Back in the van, Andres thought he could needle me. "You know he was trying to see if you'd go out with him, right? The guy's interested, so if you're not, just tell him, okay? It's hard enough to ask another guy out, much less figure out confusing signals. Um, I'm bi, so I know both sides of the game." I rammed the gear shift into position, my annoyance obvious. "I'm not signaling anybody anything. I have a girlfriend. I am not interested in having a boyfriend, and I'm just trying to do a job here, all right? Now, mind your own business!" "Okay, okay!" Andres said, clamping up, nodding, and looking straight ahead. The mood on the ride back was stretched even tauter than the ride over. While Andres and Endive wrestled the new body onto a morgue table, I called Duo over to the desk. "I have the new slides prepared for you to look at. Tell me what you see." Without touching the adjustments, Duo peered through the eye piece. "Okay..." "Now, look at this one." "It's the same fiber-type. Are these off the same label then?" "Not quite. The first came off a bottle from OZ, while the second was collected from a bottle in Lady Une's bathroom." "Lady Une's--? How did you get that?" "Heero didn't mention how he ran into Chang the other night?" "Yeah, but we got...um...distracted and he never finished telling me." I smiled. Distracted? I smiled more and shook my head. Bad for Yuy to keep secrets. I quickly explained about the break in. Before Duo could question me further, I continued, "What is important is that Lady Une has been taking the same stuff some of those bodies were subjected to. It's too complex for me to analyze, but I sent the trace powder from her bottle to another lab. I have a dozen or more labels with the same fibers you were telling me about, which mark them as from Voyate's lab, too. My guess is that the bottles contained chemical variations of one another. I swabbed out the residues, and sent those in for lab work with the others." "But what does it mean?" Duo said as much to himself as to me. "I can't say for sure, because I don't know, but we can make some educated guesses. Lady Une has been aware that Voyate was secretly creating drugs that were not part of Voyate's average offerings. Somehow, those drugs made their way to the OZ laboratories, where testing has been done on subjects from the penitentiary and the asylum. I have only had time to trace a couple of the codes found on bottles in Lady Une's cabinet to their corresponding match in the records on OZ Island." "But you found matches? That's incredible, Zechs." Duo was impressed with my skills. "You ought to be a spy or something." He compared both slides again and stood up. "So you think Lady Une has been taking some experimental drug they designed." "Not just some drug. What was it Heero called it? The Fountain of Youth. They want to live forever, or at least stop aging, and, you must admit, Lady Une is very young-looking. But there's something more to it, because among the subjects were youths, too. One compound contained steroids and growth stimulants, plus unrecognizable other chemicals; at least, so far." "How do you think she found out about it? They wouldn't have shared that kind of information with anyone in Preventers or a hospital official?" "I've been wondering about that, too." I didn't have her role figured out. I didn't want to think she was playing both side. "She is undercover and because of her role in the hospital-- I don't know. Perhaps they needed more test subjects, and she became involved." "Or maybe someone in OZ made a mistake and gave it to the wrong person, which led Une to Voyate? I don't know, but I wanna to find out. And Heero thinks Trowa's accident was linked to all this, planned or accidental." "Oh, it was no accident; at least, I'm certain he will make that discovery." "Okay, then, while you're answering questions, where does the disinterment that you and Heero mentioned come in? You think we should check some of the bodies on OZ Island to prove that the drug testing was the cause?" "Well, yes, in a way..." I paused while deciding what to say. "I have a bad feeling that this has something to do with those DNA samples we gave you." "Oh, don't feel bad about that. The question is: do you want to be part of the tomb raiding?" "Count me in," Duo said. "Okay, that's a start, but we'll need more help." "You know Heero and Trowa will do it and that means Quatre. I doubt we'll be able to keep this from Wufei, which means Hilde..." "That's enough help." (o) I was home, doing late-night laundry, microwaving a tub of noodles for a dinner-esque meal, when, yes, the phone rang. It was Hilde, so I picked up on ring number two. "Howdy do?!" "Doing fine, chum, and you?" "The same, little buddy. What'sup?" "Oh, Wuffy's out on call tonight and I'm home. Bored." "How can you be bored? I have housework. Wanna come over and scrub floors?" "Your floors? Never. I don't even want to drive through your neighborhood at night. No, I'm just bored. I got my own chores I'm not doing. Waittaminute. You're cleaning? Again? That's like three weeks in a row I've called and you're cleaning or something domestic." "If I want Heero as company, I have to keep the place hospitable to a higher life form." "If you call him higher... I suppose higher than a bug. So, he's been over, as in over NIGHT?" "Yeah." "Oooh." "I gotta new futon." "futon fusion? The place Wuffy told you about, I take it?" "Yeah." She seemed a bit down. "Business okay?" "Yeah, selling clothes fine." "You're not out and about. Everything cool with you and 'Wuffy'?" "Uh, huh. He's wonderful. I just miss him when he's not around. Don't you miss Hee-ro?" Did I? I sure enjoyed life more with him around, but I didn't think about him All the time. I wasn't unhappy without him, but that was because I knew he was a phone call away. A heartbeat away. He made me a better man and made be feel complete, but I didn't miss him to distraction. "I've got to much to do to think about to dwell on stuff like that. We got reservations at Tully's." "Tully's?! no kidding!" "Fireside seating no less." "Oak wainscoting hundreds of years old, that soda fountain, the new saloon—that place is a five-star history museum. How'd you get reservations?" "Relena got them for Heero in trade for his cooperation on a project of hers." "That art show, I'll bet. Oh, I have to get my tickets from Quatre for that play of yours. I keep forgetting to pick them up. I'd forget my head if it wasn't screwed on these days." "It isn't, by the way, and Quat's been gone all week so you didn't miss nothing. He will deliver the tickets to you. I don't think there even are tickets yet. Maybe there will never be." "Now you're sounding goofy, so I'm gonna go. Clean my bathroom. There, feel better? You got me cleaning now. Good gravycakes, Duo, we used to go out dancing and now we're cleaning house for amusement." "And sex, don't forget that." "Never. Bye, sweetie." "Nighty, night, love." (o) It was just me, Deevee, and 'Dres the next day. Zechs had some other business to do pressuring poor lab techs someplace to make 24-hour tests take 12, or something equally frustrating and futile. I noticed Andres scratching his legs the next day. He crossed his ankles and rubbed them together, a self-destructive way to curb the itching. The kid was in a hurry to meet a friend for lunch, so he rushed out before I could ask him about the itching. I mentioned it to DeeVee (Endive,) who had dropped her last boyfriend over the weekend and I think was working her way into the girlfriend role in Andres' crowded life. "Think Dres has all his cats on flea medication?" "Of course, why?" "Oh, his leg's covered with bug bites." She thought that over. "And you don't and I don't, and he's been with one of us all the time here." Maybe you've been with him all the time, but not me. "He and Zechs did a pick up the other day." "Oh, yeah. They were outside, too. I remember them mentioning getting grass caught in the gurney wheels." "I'll call Zechs. It would be interesting if both he and 'Dres got bitten by the same bugs at that site." I looked away, not wanting to see her face studying mine for more information on the guy's condition. "Zechs said he wouldn't be in. Running around labs today. Hope he's got his cell on." "I remember that body they picked up. I didn't notice bite marks on her skin." Endive was actually thinking about the case! Would wonders never cease? Her eye's flashed. "I get where you're heading with this. A dead body wouldn't attract blood-sucking insects, so if the body was dropped there, or was killed soon after arriving there, then you wouldn't expect to see bites. But..." "But...the murderer might have bites, too." "Exactly!" "All right. I'm gonna call Zechs. I'll let you know what I find out." "I'm gonna call my doctor," Endive said. With a flick of her wrist her cell phone was ready to go. Zechs' line was busy. The door slammed open. "Duo? You know anything about rashes?" Andres asked, leaning over to really scratch at his legs as he continued to hobble inside. "Um, you keep doing that and you'll start bleeding," Endive remarked. She turned back to her phone. "Okay, thanks that's all I needed. Bye." "Doing what?" Andres asked. He caught himself scratching again behind his knee. "I don't know what it is, but I have these itches." "Let me see." I tried to be no-nonsense about it. "Okay," Endive said. She pushed in to look, too. "My doctor told me that there were lots of bugs still active because we haven't had a frost yet. And then was got those recent rains. They were treating all kinds of rashes and bites this week." Andres shyly rolled up a pant leg to expose an ankle. "There's a spot down there. It stings." He had already rubbed it raw. "Well, looks to me like a bug bite, and a bad one," she offered. She felt for lumps. "That tickles." Great the boy was flirting back. "Have you been out hiking in the grass?" "No, not exactly. Oh, yeah, the other day. Zechs and I had a body to pick up. It was under trees in tall grass." "So, Zechs might have bites, too." Endive straightened up and looked at me. "Did you get him? This is a chigger bite and it should be treated so infection doesn't set in." "I'll try again." He picked up on the third ring. "It's about 'Dres... Oh yes, and itchy as hell. He's got bites on his legs... Chiggers, yeah, that's what DeeVee said. Yeah, that one, and I am sending him out to get them treated." "Hold on!" My voice carried all the way through the mortuary, I'm sure. "Real common right now." I explained what I thought that meant to the investigation. "I need directions to the field where you did that pickup. Okay. Got it. I'll give our favorite crime scene investigators a call-- you know, Detective Trant and Inspector Acht-- and see if they can meet us out at the crime scene. I'll call you when I learn more." I hung up, left 'Dres to get his bites taken care of, and dialed Detective Trant. "I want to go with you," 'Dres said. "I'll get the first aid kit and cover the bites...and I promise to see a doctor afterwards." "Well..." "Me, too!" Endive chimed in. She wanted to be a part of the action for a change. My work team was coming together. "If I get the cops okay--" The call to the detectives came through at that moment. I explained the situation and listened carefully to what they had in mind. "Yeah, sounds like a plan. How about some helpers? Gotcha. See you in half an hour then." "Hey, guess what? Both Detectives Detective Trant and Inspector Acht have chigger bites, too. We're going to have to look for chiggers over a huge space, so it's fine to bring as many helpers as possible." I ended up driving Andres and Endive out to Voyate Laboratories field research parking lot. Detective Trant and Inspector Acht were already on the scene with Zechs, who was combing the grass for specimens. He stood up when we arrived and smiled with a determined effort. Detective Trant introduced Zechs as if we didn't know him already. "This is Dr. Merquise, a well-known entomologist. We are looking for chiggers. If you want to help, listen to his instructions, otherwise, leave." Zechs rolled his eyes with barely leased in annoyance. "Everyone stay." Inspector Acht had laid out a grid of strings covering one hundred and fifty square feet around the area where the body had been found. He sketched a rough outline in his notebook, and numbered each section in the grid. "Okay, I'm assigning each person a spot inside a grid space to search for bugs. Merquise, number one..." "I've already begun." He continued down his list. I was number two, funny that. Endive was number four next to Andres, number three. When everyone had their designation, they all listened while Zechs demonstrated how to identify and collect specimens. "Any questions, just yell." Detective Trant waved us all to work. After an hour of testing in each designated place, we broke to compare results. The only place we found chiggers in was a narrow strip near a pine tree under which the woman had been found. I had been searching there and found several, and several more found me, sad to say. "Lucky me." "Pick them off this way." And Zechs demonstrated. "So, can we connect the dead woman's boss from the labs to the scene, too?" I asked. "What was that guy's name?" "Dr. Tsubarov," Andres supplied, "but that was just what I remembered. She may be working for someone else now." "We have investigators checking on that. Hold on, incoming call." Inspector Acht stepped aside and listened to his call in private. Detective Trant explained, "We questioned Dr. Tsubarov, but he claimed that the last time he'd seen the woman was at work, then he drove straight home. He was very clear about not being outside, and now we have evidence proving that the chiggers cannot be found on the parking lot- only under the tree where the body was found." "So, you want to find out if he has any bites like you guys, right? Isn't it possible that he may not have been bitten, but still have been here?" I asked. "It's possible, if he wasn't here long. When Endive called us earlier, we sent a couple officers and a medical technician to Dr. Tsubarov's office. That is who Detective Trant is speaking to." "Thank you," Detective Trant was saying as he ended the call. He joined our group on the pavement, where we were checking one another's clothes for unwanted bugs. "Well, sure enough, Dr. Tsubarov has chigger bites. A doctor has examined his bite marks and confirmed that they are similar to the ones that the rest of us have. That possibly places him at the crime scene at some point, which doesn't correlate with his testimony. He is now our primary murder suspect, thanks to your lead." "We aim to please. No problem." "Wow!" Endive cried out excitedly. "If the suspect is found guilty, then I'll bet that makes it the first time chigger bites ever convicted a man for first-degree murder!" Everyone chuckled, pleased to have something to laugh about for a change. I wondered why the good doctor murdered his assistant, and was about to begin a discussion of my ideas on the subject when my cell phone timer went off. I'd never used it before, but Heero insisted I try it tonight so I wouldn't miss our dinner reservation. Good thing! I couldn't wait to meet up with Heero and tell him about our discovery and crime solving success. I drove the mortuary's car back to the shop, with a brief stop at the clinic to drop off Dres, and parked. I checked the shop messages—none-- and closed up. I'd expected to hear from Trowa. He and Quatre were due back, and thought about giving him a call, but whatever news they would have could wait. I had a dinner date with my man at a rather nice restaurant. I jogged a few blocks and walked the remainder, smoothed my hair in the window, then went on in. I spotted my 'Ro immediately. He looked real good sitting by the fire in his brown corduroy jacket and blue shirt, nursing a glass of water. "That's where you can set me," I told the waiter. "You're about the fourth person to ask me that." "And he's still waiting for me," I grinned and joined Heero on my own. "Hi, babe. Sorry I'm late, the bus..." "I'm early. No problem." Our eyes met over the menus and I knew it was true. We were here together and the past was safely in the past. Well, part of it. I told him about the chiggers and how we found the killer. "You guys are getting clever. I hope Preventers doesn't try and recruit you." "No chance of that. So, how's the art business? Oh, I thought up an idea for a Christmas card. Wanna hear? You can say no." He always wanted to hear. "I want to hear." "Christmas comes but once a year—I'm glad you can do better." I grinned and he did too. "I'll use it, unless you mind?" "Heh, heh... go ahead. You can pay me, uh, later, if you get my drift?" He did if the flush from his neck to his crown was any indication. He told me about Relena's progress putting on his art show. "As long as she stays away and refrains from pestering me, it is all right—I guess." "If she starts to bug ya, let me know. I'll set her straight." He gave me a quizzical look that melted into a smirk. "Sure you will." Always funning around, my 'Ro. The waiter reappeared and we ordered, all the while enjoying the ambience far away from our work places. "Relena can be a force for good and evil," I said. "Like how she roped us all into that play because her brother told Dorothy we were all actors and not really doing a séance and she was crazy nuts superstitious about things like that." "Quatre reads emotions. There was no séance," 'Ro reminded me. "Yeah, well, tell that to the princess 'keeper of the peace' you live with. Ah... share an abode with." "Rent a room from." "For free." "Low rent." "Uh, huh." I sipped at my water and his defensive frown smoothed out. "Here." He slid a card across the smooth linen tablecloth. "My card!" I always was surprised and delighted when he remembered. We were taking it pretty slow, being seen in public together. We still didn't do anything overt. I guess it would take awhile getting over my relationship with Solo and how poorly he coped with being gay, how we had to hide it all. The cover was a gorgeous table laden with sumptuous dishes in copious quantities. Across the top he'd written "I am ever thankful for this bountiful feast." Inside, the script continued, "And you." And then his special note to me: "Adore me, treasure me, never let me go." "God, 'Ro, I'd be pretty damned stupid if I ever let you go." "Love you," he whispered. "Backatcher, babe." I don't know if he even could hear what I said. I was overcome with this upwelling of sheer good feelings. He whispered because it was romantic, but I did so because I didn't have the strength to talk.
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