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"Epiphany "Written By: Mookie Second place story in the Moments of Rapture Fall 2003 contest. Disclaimer: I don't really need to be Captain Obvious here, do I? No ownership, no money being made. Written for fun, not profit. Warnings: AU, shounen ai, some strong language Pairings: 1x2 Spoilers: None
"Epiphany"
Epilogue
Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, and
therefore is winged Cupid painted blind. ~~~~~~ "Think we'll be able to afford it six months from now?" Duo asked, placing his last box in the living room and wiping his arm across his forehead. Heero grunted in reply as he carried a box to his bedroom. Duo sat down on the floor, his back to the wall, and closed his eyes. Heero stopped in the kitchen before joining him. He threw a bottle of water at Duo before seating himself against the opposing wall. Duo uncapped the bottle and took a long swig. "Aaaaaaah," he sighed in contentment. "Man, I could kiss you, Heero." Heero closed his eyes and took a drink from his own bottle. "So would you mind terribly if we crashed tonight and took care of the unpacking tomorrow? I know it will probably drive you crazy, but I have had just about enough of this crap today." "OK." "Heero, you are so good to me. Let's get married," Duo grinned at him. Heero threw his bottle cap at Duo. "That's it," Duo said. "You're definitely sleeping in the wet spot on our honeymoon." Despite their impromptu break the night before, they were able to unpack everything the next day. Duo broke down the boxes as each was emptied and the two of them brought the folded cardboard to the recycling bin in the complex. "See, Heero?" Duo asked on the return trip to their apartment. "We got a good night's sleep and we still managed to kick ass and get things done today." "I didn't say anything," Heero said innocently. Duo snorted. "Does this ring a bell? 'Move it or lose it, Maxwell!'" "It's your fault that you broke your suitcase." "HEY! Garbage bags work just as well, ya know. And I wouldn't have broken it if YOU hadn't decided to try and fix it! Isn't that why you changed majors? 'Cuz I'd hate to see you near machinery, if you can't handle the hinge on a suitcase, ya know!" "Maybe it wouldn't have slowed you down so much if you'd waited to fill a new garbage bag until after you'd unpacked your 'luggage,'" Duo laughed. "It WAS kinda funny, eh? I'll bet that was a Kodak moment, huh?" Heero chuckled. "To put it mildly." He opened the door and they entered the apartment. The previous evening had found Duo looking in wide-eyed alarm at a bag he held in each hand. When Heero told him to hurry, he'd started wailing that he didn't know which one was the real garbage and which one contained his clothes, until Heero had pointed out that he could set one of the bags down and look into it. Duo had glared at him and accused him of snoring and keeping him up all night. Heero had just smiled at him smugly and suggested that perhaps, considering Duo's wardrobe, there wasn't much of a difference, anyway. "Cup o' joe?" Duo asked as he reached into the cupboard for a mug. He turned and grinned at Heero. "Always wanted to say that!" Heero gave a small snort and shook his head. "I could start buying decaf for you," Duo suggested, spooning coffee grounds into the filter as Heero watched. "What is the purpose of drinking coffee if not for the caffeine?" Heero pointed out. "Heh," Duo said. "Well, ya know, SOME people like the way coffee tastes, ya know." "Ice cream doesn't count, Duo." Duo stuck his tongue out and leaned against the wall as he waited for the coffee to finish brewing. "Well, here we are," he said. "This is it, ya know. The 'real world' and all. We're in that eye of the storm, ya know." "Edge of the precipice," Heero said. "Yeah, that's a better analogy," Duo nodded. "Like we're taking this giant leap. I've always said you were a poet at heart, Heero." The coffee maker gurgled, and Duo poured himself a cup, then headed for the window. Heero followed a moment later. "I really love this view," Duo said. "I'm glad you agreed to split living expenses, Heero. I never would have been able to afford this place otherwise, and probably would have ended up in some shitty studio with a nice view of a brick wall, overlooking a dumpster." Heero shrugged, even though Duo couldn't see him. He watched Duo's content reflection in the window for a moment. "I'm going to take a shower," he announced. "OK. You have five minutes before I flush the toilet, ya know." "I'll kill you if you do that." Duo's laughter followed him to the bathroom. Heero realized he'd grabbed the wrong shampoo after he'd lathered his hair. He frowned. He must be more tired than he'd realized. For some reason the day had taken a lot out of him; it wasn't like him to do something like mistake one product for another. He shrugged as he rinsed the soap from his hair. Duo wasn't the type to begrudge the loss of a bit of shampoo, after all. He toweled his hair vigorously, trying to get it as dry as he could before falling into bed. He was vaguely aware of Duo in the next room half an hour later, and when he heard the other man fall into his bed and turn over, he closed his eyes and went to sleep. Duo was up before him in the morning. He was standing in front of the window, waiting for the sun to come up. Heero went to the kitchen and prepared breakfast for them. When Duo heard the pans rattling on the stove, he joined Heero in the kitchen. "Want some help?" "You don't have to," Heero said. "Nah. There will be other sunrises. I can't let you do the house frau thing, ya know." "You can cook tomorrow." Duo didn't bother to answer. He just went to the refrigerator and pulled out the eggs while Heero was melting butter in one of the pans. Heero had to admit, he enjoyed this. It was their first morning in the new apartment, and it wasn't like when they'd been living on campus apartments. He liked having Duo in the kitchen with him. Heero was starting his new job on Monday, and Duo was starting on Tuesday, but he had to go in for orientation for half a day on Monday as well. They decided to go out Saturday and on impulse, Heero called Trowa, Quatre, Wufei, and Relena to join them. When Duo saw them at the bar, he wagged a finger at Heero. "Bad dog, no biscuit?" Trowa said, reaching between them and grabbing a handful of peanuts from the bowl on the bar. "Bad dog, hear that, Heero?" He grinned at Trowa. "I still can't believe people think you're quiet." Trowa shrugged, stuck out his tongue, and placed a peanut on it, then curled his tongue around it, hiding the peanut completely, before turning his tongue upside down. "Quatre!" Duo said, gaping at Trowa. "You are SUCH a lucky man!" Quatre insinuated himself between Heero and Trowa, and ran a hand along Trowa's spine, removing it when he reached Trowa's belt. "I could tell you stories," he said in a low, sexy voice. "Quatre Raberba Winner! I'm telling your sister!" Relena said in mock disgust. "Which one?" Wufei said. As Quatre pretended to consult his palm pilot to see which sisters were available for the week, Heero slid off his stool and gave Relena a hug. He stepped back and looked at her, then looked at Wufei, and back at Relena. "Are you...?" he asked in her ear. "Hmm," she said, beaming at him, then turning her gaze back to the raven-haired man who was on the other side of Duo. 'How did you know?' he wondered. Relena wasn't looking at him, but at Wufei. "We complement each other," she said. It took Heero a moment to realize he'd spoke out loud. "I know it doesn't make sense," she said, looking at Heero. "We have been friends a long time, you know. Not long in the great scheme of things, but still, a while, wouldn't you say?" Heero nodded. "It shouldn't make sense, right? Love shouldn't make sense. But Wufei...he makes sense. Together, I think we make sense. Does that make sense?" Relena asked, smiling at Heero as she attempted to explain. Heero smiled at her, and Relena realized he'd never smiled like that at her before. If he had ever looked at her that way when they first met, she would have fallen madly in love with him. "Stop making goo goo eyes at each other, guys!" Duo hollered from the jukebox, where he was perusing the selections. "Please pick something other than this godawful dance crap," Wufei muttered. A pop tune was currently playing. Heero raised an eyebrow at Relena, and then winked. "Care to dance?" She laughed, accepted the proffered arm, and the two of them walked to the dance floor. ~~~~~~ "Sure you don't want any?" Heero shook his head as he carried his dirty dishes to the sink. His roommate picked up his mug and walked to the window, kneeling on the padded bench as he did every morning. "Looks like it's gonna be a scorcher," he commented. "Hmm," Heero agreed, frowning slightly at a stubborn bit of egg on his dish. He scraped it with a soapy fingernail, then rinsed it and placed it in the dish rack on the counter. He walked to his bedroom, digging the dried yellow yolk out from under his fingernails. "I can't believe you haven't walked into a wall yet," the other boy commented without turning around. Heero couldn't see his smile, but he could hear it, that light teasing tone that was as familiar to him as his own hands. By the time Heero had thrown on a shirt over his pants, Duo was sitting on the sill, cradling the mug between his knees. The suns rays were still climbing, the red haze softening into an orange-gold. Heero moved closer to the bench. His eyes traveled from the window to Duo's head, and he watched as the light was reflected in Duo's hair. He felt the same stirrings in him that he'd felt on and off for as long as he'd been in college, and his eyes closed briefly. When he opened them, Duo was looking at him curiously. His eyes flicked down to Duo's lips, and then back to Duo's eyes. He felt more than saw Duo's shuddering breath, and the way Duo parted his lips slightly. Heero thought Duo might have been leaning toward him ever so slightly. Some things can't be explained by science. We complement each other. Don't think about things so much, Heero. I could kiss you, Heero. I love you, Heero. Heero closed his eyes, and let himself fall. His knee hit the bench, but he wasn't aware of that as his lips grazed Duo's. His hand came up to touch the side of Duo's head, and he felt the warmth of the sun in the hair beneath his fingers. He shuddered when one of Duo's hands left his mug and cupped his neck. Duo's fingers felt long and graceful as they stroked his skin. "Duo," he groaned into the other man's mouth, his other hand moving behind Duo's head. Neither of them noticed that a cloud had covered the sunshine that had warmed them just moments earlier, nor the rain that was now falling on the other side of the glass. Falling. "Me too, Heero," Duo whispered, before capturing his best friend's lips with his own again. ~ End ~
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