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"Halfway to Sublimity"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: 1x2x1 Summary: When Duo moves to a new town on the river,
he meets a young man running the river and a rich boy who seems nice.
Maybe he'll settle down for awhile, or maybe not. "Halfway to Sublimity" Chapter Two The next morning, Duo was up with the birds. His front porch faced west, good for catching sunsets over his dock, if he had a chair from which to watch them. A rocker would be nice. His back door faced east, and, since his bedroom was in the back, his small, high, window let in the morning rays and low larger window the drafts and varmints. A stab of light in his eyes would be his second wakeup notice, but his first came in the form of twitters of finches and the raucous squawking of mating crows. "Shaddup! I'm up already. Damn, it's noisy out here." Duo rolled over, crinkling the letter from Hilde. He slipped it free and scanned it for the fifth time. "...best that you're outta here, the sour way things have gone. You'd hate the mood now. Not enough work for the crew that's still on. We're all waiting for the other shoe to drop..." He sighed, missing the familiar, but glad he had money in his pocket and work waiting him. Heero wasn't so bad either. He was the kind of man a guy wanted on his side; right thinking, steady, strong. He was probably arrow-straight all the way, damnit all. Duo's sexual persuasion didn't have to come up between them at all; in fact it would be avoided at all costs, he had decided. He thought he'd queered everything a months weeks ago when he'd had to tell Hilde why he kept avoiding sexual contact and couldn't marry her, but he'd been lucky. She had accepted his news surprisingly well. She told him that she was glad to know the truth and moved on with their friendship, but not before lecturing him daily about staying alive. Oh, yeah, Duo agreed, considering the rough men they worked with, that his sexual preferences should be kept a secret. In the future he'd have to be even more careful with how he acted and talked, Hilde pressed upon him. And not stare so long at the good-looking river-rat. Even in her letter, Hilde warned him: "You be good-do good-and watch your eyes. They flirt even when you don't think you are. Bye love and write back when you can." Thinking of Hilde made him think back to Solo, his first big mistake. One errant kiss and one dangerous word-- love. Solo could have killed him, but he didn't; instead, he laughed at him. "If I didn't love ya like a bro,too, I'da cleaned your clock for that, Maxwell. Yer one in a million, you are. Real jokester." "One in a million..." Duo mused with a wry smile and a snort. He tied up his pants and wished he had some clean socks. Solo had made him wash his socks daily. He had even wanted to believe that Solo thought he was special. But one of the other young street thieves overheard part of Duo's admission and unmercifully teased Solo about it. Solo lashed out and fists flew. Duo shuddered as he remembered how the night ended in a brutal fight. He didn't have to be told twice. He took Solo's advice and fled the L2 sector before rumors spread. Boys "like him" would be shown no mercy, so he ran, heading west for Sanc Royal, the capital city-state of the kingdom of Sanc. Along the way, he barely avoided becoming a whore in Perdition. Duo still felt queasy when the thought about how close he'd come. "Thank you, Howard!" he muttered aloud. That one fateful meeting with Howard landed him a job with the Sweepers in Serendipity along the Rogue River. Yeah, Duo thought ruefully, he was certainly special. Part of what seemed to be an exclusive club. Hilde had narrowed it down a bit more. "Wouldn't cha know I'd fall for that one-inna-hundred fag guy. Damn you anyway, Duo!" If she was right, and Hilde usually had her facts down straight, then with every hundred guys he would meet up with, the odds were he'd find another one that liked boys. The trouble was he kept coming up with those other ninety-nine straight dudes. Not that Duo was about to give up. As he figured it, sooner or later he'd find a place filled with gay boys looking for love. "Wouldn't that just be sublime?" he snickered at his own clever play on words. Duo used the envelop from Hilde's letter to jot a few words to Quatre, should he or one of his "people" come by the cabin. He wrote: "Thanks for invite. Be there Sunday-- with friend, if possible. I'll ask. Thanks for wood. I'll see if postal'll deliver to me direct-like and save you the trouble.-Duo" He pushed the envelop deep into his back pocket and moved to the fireplace. The kettle was large and usually hung by a hook on a wrought-iron bar over the fire, but Todd had set it to the side when he cleaned. Duo hefted the iron weight to the sink, primed the pump and filled it once, swished, emptied out the accumulated detritus, filled, swished, poured, and repeated until he was satisfied that the water was clean enough to drink. He hung the heavy kettle from its hook, added another stick of wood, and watched the flames lick the air. While he waited for the water to boil, he measured grounds into a pot. He was eager to try out the local coffee roaster's wares. More than ready. After digging through his haphazardly arranged pantry and locating a few items of interest, he flipped open the knife he carried in his pocket, carved away a hunk of cheese, popped it into his mouth, cut another two pieces and sliced a portion of dry sausage. He dropped them all into a canvas satchel. Snatching up another pair of apples on his way out was the finishing touch to lunch. He stepped into his shoes and out the back to visit the deadly privy. "Next on the docket when I get a free day, is to fix you," he told the wayward door to the smelly pit. The sweet fragrance of roses and violets struck him on exiting the nasty place, which meant he had to tour the garden. It was far larger than he'd thought; the small orchard alone was loaded with more trees than he had seen from the door. He sucked in his breath and held it. He listened to the birds and drank in the rustic beauty that was his home. Truly a novel experience. A familiar voice, one he heard even in his dreams, broke him out of his reverie. "Your water's boiling." "Heero! Am I late again?" Heero shook his head. "No set time. I assumed you were making coffee and went ahead and got it started." "Yeah, thanks! Lookit this! I got little green fruits!" "Cherries. They'll be ripe in another week or so. Cherries from the south might be at the market Saturday. Those are apricots," Heero said pointing to a tree limb sagging with fuzzy, green fruit. "Apples and pears are nearly bloomed out. Over there," he gestured to the far end beyond the clothesline, "I see berries flowering." "Man, you sure know a lot about plants. You have a garden?" "No," Heero answered, his manner curt, closing off further questioning as he turned back to the cabin. Duo decided he had somehow offended his new friend and silently followed him to the kitchen. Yuy had already located two mugs and poured very dark, rich-smelling liquid into each. He was being quiet, too. Okay. Duo valued privacy. He wasn't one to pry into the secrets of others, especially to intrude upon his new friend's private matters, so he moved on, hoping to regain their feeling of camaraderie. "I don't have milk or sugar." "I need neither." "So, where we headed today?" Duo savored the rich taste with his eyes closed. "Damn this is good coffee." "Yes, it is." There was an almost sacred pause as both young men appeared to bless the powers above for the sanctity of the coffee. He watched Yuy breathe deeply of the aroma, his expression beatific for a moment, before he answered Duo's question. "We'll be loading beer again around the bend then heading north to Tumult to deliver and pickup scrap for transport to Serendipity tomorrow." He nudged the bulky bag Duo had dropped onto the small table. "You made lunch?" "Yeah, we both gotta eat, right? Just holding my own in this business." Hopefully... "Hn," Heero grunted with a nod and returned to his drink. "Ah, I know it's kinda soon, seeing as I just got started with you, but I need a few short days or days off to do some work around this place and since Saturday's market day..." "I can take off Saturday and Sunday." "Hey, that's great. Ah... and Quatre, he's inviting us to his place for dinner Sunday night." Duo caught Heero's furtive glance as he looked over his coffee mug. "Quatre Winner invited me?" "Us. He said I could bring a bud." "All right," Heero said, but his expression was wary. "I'll just let him know," Duo said. He snatched the envelop from his pocket and added a "PS: Yes-- for Sunday with friend " He printed the words carefully, making sure the exclamation point was big and dark to highlight his point. "I need to let our route contacts know we will not be delivering both days and everything's fine," Heero told him. "Cool..." "Get started, then." Duo jumped at the orders. "Right!" As the two young men headed out the front door, Duo remembered to drop the note to Quatre in his makeshift mailbox by the porch. They leaped from the top of the porch steps, and Heero grunted about the bad stairs that needed fixing first off. Duo laughed and told him "wait until you have to spend some time in the outhouse." Heero groaned and reminded him about the number of barrels and pounds of boxes they'd be moving up and down the river the next couple days. It was Duo's turn to roll his eyes and complain about sore arms. "Sunday had better be good," Duo concluded, and Heero agreed whole heartedly. (o) The next day began like the one previous. Glittering rays of sun and chirping birds roused Duo. He rolled over the note Quatre had left in his mailbox the day before, the crackling paper imitative of the crackling grackles swarming his fruit trees. He stuffed the letter into his pants pocket as he dressed and went about collecting food. Heero never seemed to turn down the food he brought, so he thought he'd continue that ritual. He passed on the coffee, hoping to beat Heero to the dock, and dumped hunks of cheese and dry sausage and another pair of apples into a canvas satchel. He passed by his mailbox, tucking a newsy note to Quatre inside. It was nice to keep in touch and Duo knew it would make meeting on Sunday more comfortable if they had touched bases all week long. The air smelled green with growing things and the hot sun cut through the chilly morning air already. This time the river rushed by, cool and empty of all things Yuy. He thought about what Quatre had had to say and smiled. He took the note from his pocket and re-read it. "The postal service refuses to deliver to your cabin. They say they fear for their lives with cries of 'gators and panthers (pronounced 'painters')', neither of which have ever been spotted in any part of Sublimity. The manager said he would consider a route change, but it must go through the proper steps, which can take months. So in the meantime, Todd will deliver daily, more if you need him to. Why Todd, you ask? I'll tell you. He came to the house for Ruggles. Duo, you are not obliged to take that ugly little runt. Todd Switcom is a sweet little boy, but he's devious as hell. His father told him to kill the puppy, so he brought it to me. Just so you are warned, I've got a soft heart..." "No kidding, Quat. You are a pussycat. I really don't get how you can play ball out there in the nasty world," Duo mused then returned to the letter. "I took in the puppy, named it, and fed it milk from eyedroppers then a bottle. Rashid, you'll meet him at the door when you come, was thrilled to let Ruggles go to someone else's house, but when Todd informed me, under pressure, that it would be your home I told him-- well, I was stern, Duo. He will bring Ruggles to see you on approval Sunday, at which time you may accept or refuse him-no questions asked. He also-Todd, not the dog-has mail duty. Looking forward to seeing you Sunday, and your friend." Duo chuckled when he remembered the postscript warning: "Don't let Todd dump a cat on you!" Too, late for that. He counted his thirty-third dragonfly, and had time to splash his face with water and dry it on a sleeve before the familiar flatboat eased into view. Heero polled in close enough for Duo to leap aboard and take up the spare poll to push off. "I was thinking of a bath," Duo said. "Here? Now?" "No, not a river bath, a real one with hot water and a long soak." Heero snorted, pretending indifference. "I got one of those, you know." Heero shot him an eager look, which he quickly quelled. "Where?" he asked suspiciously. "Lean-to out back. Wood-fired stove and everything. There's a laundry tub, but most importantly a huge tub-big enough for six, I'd gage it." He focused on an imaginary point in the distance, safely far away from the other young man's face. "No kidding?" "Yeah, thought I might give it a go preparatory to Quatre's party." Duo looked askance from beneath his bangs, judging his friend's mood, but hiding his "give himself away" eyes. "Hey, I gotta idea. You come over early tomorrow morning and we can go to the market together. You probably know the venders and can steer me clear of the rotten deals." Heero dipped his chin, encouraging Duo to continue. "Then we go back and stow the stuff and do some work on the house, cool off with a swim, wash up, fire up the tub..." "Your plan is good. I can sleep in the boat house." "Or somethin'. Cool. Then we can talk 'garden' the next day, laze around, and then call on Quat for dinner." "I haven't had a break like that in...I can't recall when." Duo grinned, his long braid slipping over his shoulder as he bent into the pole. He could not believe his luck, so he pushed it. "Guess I got here at the right time, then." A smile flickered at the corners of Heero's lips and he nodded once, "Yes," and work day sped by uneventfully after that. (o) The next day, they punted another load north to Tumult. The town stuck out on a windblown point bare of trees and devoid of everything Duo had come to think of as rural beauty. Neither wanted to stay longer than necessary, but today Duo wanted to visit the main street. He slipped into the apothecary shop to purchase some ointment to reduce the annoying itching he suffered from numerous bug bites, leaving Heero to fend for himself. "Let's go in that place to eat," Heero said the moment Duo reappeared. Duo looked over their clothes and made a quick assessment. "You think we look good enough? I don't see other dockers going in." "Good enough." They found seats in a dark corner, ordered the daily special and two beers. They situated themselves so they could survey the room and anyone entering or leaving. Duo watched Heero, who scanned the room with a nervous intensity. "Looking for someone in particular?" Duo asked. Heero dropped his gaze to his hands and whispered. "Barton's mercenaries get down this far. I've seen them before." He frowned and ran a hand through his bangs. Duo had never seen him so anxious and now he was, too. Their food arrived, providing a temporary diversion. Plates of fried fish piled high around mounds of mashed potatoes yellow with butter were set before them. In the center of the table the waitress placed a bowl of trimmed fresh spring radishes and a saucer of salt. "More beer?" she asked. "Of course," they answered. "This is A-number one," Duo said. Heero agreed. "Pricey, though." Duo was about to argue, considering the quantity, when a man about their age entered the eatery. Tall, with a fall of caramel hair, and athletic build, he was striking and yet his demeanor was so low key he was easily overlooked, but not by Duo-- or Heero. When they both noticed that the other was checking out the newcomer, Duo chuckled and Heero blushed faintly. "Know him?" Duo asked, hoping it wasn't an "ex"-something. Ex-boyfriend, ex-lover, ex-friend, ex-killer-- none were good in Duo's book. Heero shook his head. "No. He looks like a trapper from the south." Duo nodded. "Buckskin, yes, but moccasins?" "Or..." Heero paused, "not. He's going to the gambling table." "A gambler in trapper clothes and native footwear? Odd." "Yes. Finish up. Barton's gang's known to frequent gambling establishments." Duo and Heero polished off the last of the food, dropped some coins on the table, and left quietly. They didn't encounter any suspicious men in town or on the docks, but Duo didn't want to press his luck. If Heero felt uncomfortable in Tumult, Duo was ready to split immediately. The trip home was with the current and fast, for which Duo was thankful. He had work yet to do before his day was done. "See ya tomorrow," Duo said. "Yes, Friday. We have a load to pickup here and drop south, but nothing to haul back." "Right. Later, then!" When he got home, Duo thoroughly cleaned and tested the wood-fired tub in the lean-to, kept to his new bedtime routine, which included writing to Hilde and Quatre, washing his socks, and stuffing a couple potatoes into the hot ashes to bake all night. He wondered what Heero Yuy relaxed might be like and wondered if Heero had been checking out the gambler in the same way he had been. He wondered and imagined and counted the minutes until he fell asleep and Friday morning finally arrived. (o) The return ride home up river from Serendipity with an empty flatboat provided the two young men a lighter than usual workout. When they had to pole a full load against the current, it was a hard job. Friday evening was cool, the bugs gone, and the stars brightly lighting the velvety darkness and furnished them an aerial causeway through the heavens. From Duo's perspective, it was romantic as hell, or would be under different circumstances, meaning a shift his way in his company's sexual orientation. "Beautiful, ain't it?" "Yes." Heero tilted his head up and scanned the stars. "When I'm alone, on the river at night, I imagine I'm piloting a ship...up there." He closed his eyes and turned his face away from where Duo was examining his expression with interest. "Foolish, I know." "Nah, I was thinkin' how jammin' that would be. Man, would that be somethin'? Cruisin' the stars, makin' deliveries while outrunning the space pirates." "Blasting them into particles with ray guns!" "Yeah, ray guns," Duo repeated. "Those would be cool. Sun rays, you think?" "Magic wa-ay cool ones," Heero drawled. He tossed Duo a quick smile, which Duo mirrored in spades. The last of the daylight faded as they pulled into the inlet to Duo's boathouse. They tied the craft at the dock in the cove, because the vessel was far too large to fit inside a covered boat slot. Heero stowed a tarp then stood, unmoving, as Duo lit a lantern. "You're not stayin' out here as bug bait. C'mon," Duo said, and without voicing any argument, Heero pulled a bedroll and bag from the storage cab of the flatboat and followed him, picking his way along the path to the cabin. Inside, Heero stirred the fire, feeding it a couple sticks of wood, while Duo rustled in his pantry. "Beer?" "Yes." Duo popped the lids and dropped a bottle into Heero's outstretched hand. He took a long pull and then unfolded the blankets in front of the fireplace. Duo collapsed on the blanket next to him and stared into the fire. When the beer was gone, Duo collected the bottles and placed them in the carrier at the door, ready for cleaning and re-filling at the brewery. Not a word had passed between them, until Duo sighed, "'Nite," and plodded the few feet to the bedroom. "Coming?" Heero twisted his head so quickly, Duo nearly laughed. One look at the surprised expression and he did. Heero's brows drew into a frown. "I have no trouble sleeping on the floor." "Ha! You afraid I'm gonna strangle you in your sleep or somethin'?" Especially the something... Heero examined the shorter, lighter weight, less muscular young man and snorted. "No." "Then c'mon. It's huge. Quatre sent the damn mattress here figuring a family of five was gonna sleep in it." Heero peered inside. The bed nearly filled the room. There was hardly room to get to the built-in closet or dresser. It was his turn to chuckle. "All right, as long as you don't mind how I smell." Duo sniffed the air. "Can't smell you over me." "We both reek," was the forgone conclusion they both made, but Yuy verbalized. "Okay, since you're particular, we'll take a dip first." Duo nabbed a couple towels from a box, still unpacked, outside the bedroom door and pushed his friend in the direction of the front door. He shouldn't have drunk that beer, not with the two he'd consumed with dinner. Checking his behavior, especially around a nude Heero was going to be a challenge. Heero took up the lantern and together they headed for the short dock. Duo turned his back and stripped, knowing the cool water would undo anything embarrassing that arose, and dove in without looking back over his shoulder at Heero. He sure had wanted to. Seconds after he hit the water, he heard another splash nearby. "Shit!" Duo shouted. Heero shook out his hair and laughed. "Too cold for you?" "Damn straight! I'd rather sleep in my own filth than freeze off my rocks." "Baby," Heero said while swimming in place facing Duo. "What did you call me?" Duo's throat tightened defensively. "A whining baby," Heero sneered, taunting him further. Duo bared his teeth. "Oh, now you've done it. You've asked. For. It." He lunged through the water at Heero, grappling for a hold and then pushing his head under water. Heero fought his way free, breaking the surface, and sputtering before launching his own assault on Duo. Hands pawed, feet kicked, and lots of water was swallowed. They exchanged curses and laughter then separated, panting and paddling for all they were worth to stay afloat. "Truce?" Duo shouted breathlessly as he treaded water. "Yeah, truce. This water's too fucking cold to stay in any longer." Heero swam to the dock and hauled himself up and onto the dock. Duo was half a stroke behind him. They lay side by side, belly down, chests heaving. "It wasn't this cold the other day," Duo said. "Sure it was. You just didn't have a bellyful of cold beer." "Right." Duo crawled over and grabbed a towel, wrapped it around his waist. He flung Heero the other towel, but not before he slipped a peek at Heero's uncovered body as he rose to his feet. The gleaming wet, broad shoulders tapered to lean hips, but the rest was hidden in shadows. The lantern's light flickered with the wind from the flying towel. Duo stepped into the darkness as he removed his towel and squeezed it around his braid, twisting out the water. "Move it, stud." Heero passed him, lantern in hand and snapped Duo's bare butt with his towel. Duo's head snapped first to follow the movement of the towel then to Heero's exposed body, but Heero had already tied his cover-up back in place. "Chump," Duo barked in weak retaliation, and then replaced his towel before his member woke up and disgraced him. Heero chuckled and Duo groaned. Inwardly, Duo chastised himself for the whiplash reactions the other guy could get from him and strode on ahead to the cabin. He messed with the fire, while Heero brushed his teeth in the kitchen sink, impressing Duo with his hygiene. Hygiene wasn't one of Duo's strong points, but he could adapt. He could be a conformist, while he was a sexual iconoclast. When Heero finished, Duo took a turn with the toothbrush, hoping Heero didn't mind sharing his. He heard Heero open the window in the bedroom, the wood sticking and groaning all the way. The scrape of metal on wood sounded as if the lantern had been wedged in place so the window wouldn't slam shut later. When Duo entered the room, he saw that he'd been right on. Heero had turned down the wick so the room filled with a soft, warm glow. He had even hung the two towels from nails on the back of the door. Neat freak. Yes, but a naked, neat freak under the sheets and waiting for Duo. NO! Duo absolutely had to put an end to that train of thought. "I'm beat," Duo said as he collapsed onto the mattress and pulled the covers up and over. "Gonna invite critters with that open." "Hn," Heero replied. He reached up and put out the light. "'Nite." "Hn." Duo lay awake for some time thinking of the way Heero's skin felt under water, how it looked wet in the light of the lantern, and how near it was to his in bed. He was inches away from heaven and hell, which placed him smack dab in the middle of Purgatory. Yeah, he'd visited that township once, too. (o) Duo woke up with the tap, tap, tapping of a blue jay on his open window sill. His first thought was to throw something at the bird to chase it away; his second was that he was completely naked lying next to a really hot looking guy who was also completely naked, and it was light out. No hiding this time, except that the other guy was still asleep. Thank God! Duo understood opportunity when it knocked on his window, so he slipped silently out of bed and out of the room, found his worn clothes in a heap where he'd dropped them the night before by the fire, dressed, tossed a log amongst the glowing coals, and then ran out the back door to relieve himself. He stuck his nose into the lean-to and found that the water for the bath was gradually warming. He added another log to the stove and returned to the house. When he stepped back inside, Heero was messing with the fire, stirring it to flames with a stick of wood. He was dressed, Duo noted with disappointment, shook his head at his stupidity, and thanked his lucky stars that Heero was dressed. More torment and temptation he didn't need. "What do you want to do first?" Heero asked. Duo could have told him exactly what he wanted to do, but since it was to Heero, and it would have meant the end of a freshly minted friendship, he lied a little. "Saturday market. We can grab some grub there." "All right." Heero picked up the lantern at the door. "This goes back to the boathouse, right?" "Yeah, good thinking, 'Ro. We'll drop that off." Returning the lantern to the boathouse put them only a little out of the way. From there, Duo could find his way back to the path that led to the main road he had taken to town with Quatre. Heero had other ideas. "This way." "Is this a path?" Duo asked, ducking a thorny briar switch whipping the air above his head. "If we maintain it, it will be." Duo let Heero snap branches. He preferred slashing with his knife. Wild roses scraped his arms and snagged his braid. "This is fun, Yuy," he said flatly. "It cuts our travel time in half. Do you want to go back?" Heero bent a small tree to the ground and stomped it flat. "No." Duo licked his lips and stepped back. "No need to be so...intimidating." Heero smiled out the side of his mouth. "Hn." "Show off," Duo muttered and stomped on his own tree-- branch. "This takes us around the Watergardens and lets out closer to the marketplace." Duo un-snagged his braid from snarl of wild blackberry. "If you say so." "I do and we're here." The thick understory opened to a cleared meadow along which the Saturday market spread. Some vendors sold from the backs of open wagons and others had erected elaborate booths with canopies during the night. Bric-a-brac, ornaments and trifles; fresh produce, flowers, cheese, honey, and meats; crafted iron work, glass, pottery, rugs, and clothing- the Saturday market was a spaghetti-bowl of narrow, bustling thoroughfares swarming with life and products to sell. "Man." Breath escaped Duo's lips in a long low whistle. "If you are going to purchase a lot, we should arrange for transport early on," Heero said. Duo was wolfing down a bread sample. "Gotta get some of this." "Fine." Heero brought two loaves and a bag of hard rolls. He followed the swinging braid to the next merchant, and purchased a wheel of cheese and a canvas bag to tote the goods. When Duo bagged handfuls of cherries, bright, fresh, and expensive, and apples, the worse for too-long in storage, Heero yanked on his braid. "Before you buy more, come with me." "Whatsup? Oooh, coffee!" "I'll buy you coffee, after you come with me," Heero said with a firmness in his tone that signaled serious intent. Duo followed him dutifully. "Goats? No goat juice. Dear God, no!" "Shut up." Heero ignored him and spoke to the goat merchant. Duo let him deal on his own, arms folded over his chest, eyes traveling over the booths beyond, until he noticed Heero leading a pair of goats harnessed to a cart. "What the...?" "Put your purchases in the cart. We are renting the goats and cart, letting them eat your weeds tonight, and returning them early Sunday," Heero explained. "Okay," Duo said and turned to more interesting matters, like cinnamon rolls and coffee. "You take care of breakfast and I'll handle lunch." "All right, but what about dinner?" Heero asked as he counted out coins. "We'll buy it here and take it home with us," Duo said. "You don't cook, do you?" Heero asked. "Nope! Never learned. Hilde was good at that, when we ate." They found a shaded bench and sat with their food and drink, leaving the goats to nibble at the grass nearby. Duo looked over at Heero when he felt his eyes boring holes through him. "What?" "Why didn't you bring Hilde with you?" Duo tensed. He knew he must look nervous and uncomfortable, but he couldn't help it. Heero was prying with no compunction. "I told ya. She had a job and didn't need to leave. Plus," Duo shrugged his shoulders to indicate he'd said enough on that subject, and concentrated on eating. Heero either chose to ignore or didn't read Duo's body language, and pushed more. "Plus, what? You lived with her but she wasn't your, ah, wife? Not many women will do that." "Oh, she wanted to be, that was the problem. Don't get me wrong. She's real cute and a catch actually. Dark hair, rather short, with blue eyes. Nice, ya know? But...not my type." "You don't like blue-eyed brunettes?" Duo cursed under his breath. Heero was a blue-eyed brunette and his type to boot, possibly. "I do, but... she was too... girly and curvy. Listen, can we get off this? I see a tailor's booth. Let's get some clothes!" "I have clothes," Heero said quietly. "Oh yeah? What have you got to wear for dining at the Watergardens?" "Oh," a light went on, "all right." The tailor's wife was a dressmaker who found that making men's simple shirts and pants wasn't so hard. Together, they sold off the rack clothes which he would adjust for length on the spot. "I need a few things," Duo began. "But mostly we want to look respectable at a Winner dinner party," Heero finished for him. "Let me see what looks best but not formal," the dressmaker replied. She clicked her tongue and rifled through racks and boxes pulling out shirts, vests, and pants in varying combinations until the colors and sizes lined up properly. She began with Heero. "White shirt with dark blue pants and..." "The black leather vest!" Duo chose. "That looks ahhhhaa...good together." Heero nodded his approval, and it was Duo's turn next. "Cream shirt with gray-green pants, because of the red streaks in your hair, love," the woman cooed. "And this." Heero chose a buttery soft tan vest for Duo. Duo looked at him in wonder. He wanted all black, and here he was letting practical strangers dress him in... but the vest was so soft. "Okay. I'll, ah, need some work pants and shirts and socks-" "And hats," Heero put in. "Who makes good, but not too expensive, summer hats?" The tailor and his wife beamed their approval, thrilled to being asked for advice. "Two booths down. Benny. Tell'im Martha and Ramul say hello." Duo paid for the clothes and loaded the packaged vests and shirts into the cart. He wouldn't let Heero pay for the clothes Heero required to wear to Quatre's. It was Duo's doing. The hats were for work, though--an absolute must as the summer grew longer and hotter, so Heero would buy those. The two men found logic in all this and fell into the mutual decision making process with ease. After paying the bill and waiting for the clothes to be packaged, Duo joined Heero. "The tailoring is WIP as we speak. We can pick up the finished goods on our way out." "Fine. Try these for fit. With that braid, I don't know what works," Heero said. Duo tried on a selection of wide-brimmed straw hats for sun and leather for rain and chose two that accommodated his braid just fine. Heero picked two also and paid up. "A few more things, then we'll go?" Heero asked. "Sure, I could stay all day, but there's the house..." Duo sighed dramatically. "Stop here." Heero selected bars of different smelling soaps and a box of fine pieces for laundering. Candles, matches, tea, and a few spices Duo considered to be terribly exotic filled a sack which joined the rest in the goat cart. "I need to go by the farmer's market one more time," he told Duo. "Rice?" Duo asked as Heero make room for a heavy sack. "Yes." "What are those?" Heero sighed. "Vegetables, Duo. Change of plans. I'm making our dinner, so don't argue." "Okay. Do I get meat?" "Do you want meat?" "Yes." "All right." Heero made one more re-direction to a butcher's booth and made his purchase quickly. "Now we must go or the meat will spoil in the heat." With a quick stop back at the tailor's, the two young men completed their shopping and headed the long way back to Duo's cabin. Duo was in a fine mood. This day had gone better than he had expected. Heero was a great guy to hang around with and he never made Duo feel awkward or uncomfortable, well rarely. If only-- but Duo tossed back that thought before it materialized fully in his mind. They had their road to travel and work waiting for them at home. And another night. And a bath with a naked soak. Oh, my!
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