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"High Rolling"Written By: ShenLong Disclaimer: I don't own the Gundam boys, they belong to Bandai, Sotsu and associated parties. I just borrow them from time to time and return them a whole lot happier. I have also used inspiration from the Cirque Du Soleil show 'Zumanity' for this fic without permission; also several of the hotels that will feature in this fic are real. No disrespect is intended to the show or the hotels. Written for pleasure not profit. Rating: NC 17 Pairings: 1x2x1, 3x4x3 Warnings: Yaoi, Lemons, limes, angst, sap, OOC, AU, gambling Summary: Duo is a multi millionaire having made his money in computer games and is working himself into the ground. Hilde, his secretary and best friend convinces him to take a vacation – to Las Vegas. Dedication: To Leslie, not only for giving me the plot bunny and breeding said plot bunny by taking me to see the show but for also being a wonderful friend and excellent 'tour guide'. Hope you enjoy what Fred did with the idea, Les! *hugs* Betaed by the ever patient Karina *snugs* Archive: www.gundam-wing-diaries.foreverfandom.net Anyone else please ask.
"High Rolling" August. 2015 ShenLong Chapter 25 Mid afternoon the following day, Trowa contacted Duo to let him know the revamped paperwork was all ready for him to peruse, Duo heading for the lobby to pick up that paperwork and go through it. Hilde hadn't been forgotten either, Quatre having had his lawyers draw up a contract for her which Duo collected when he picked up his own. Returning to the suite with both contracts in hand, Duo gave Hilde hers to read through whilst Heero went through Duo's updated contract with him. Hilde plonked down on one of the comfortable sofas, Wufei beside her and opened the paperwork. “I hope you know I'm relying on your superior knowledge of this sort of thing to make sure I'm not signing my life away,” Hilde told her boyfriend. Wufei snorted. “Would I advise you to sign an employment contact if I didn't feel you were more than capable of handling the position; or that the rate of salary is satisfactory for the kind of work you will be doing and the skill set you will need for that position?” “Ummm... English please?” Hilde looked completely lost. On the other couch, Duo couldn't help the snicker. “I don't see what you're laughing at, you needed Wufei's expertise to check through your contract too,” Hilde huffed. “That might be so, but mine's a little more complicated and in-depth than yours,” Duo retorted. To prove his point, he held up the small stack of roughly ten pages of contract. Hilde paused, looked at Duo's stack and then back to the two pages of her own and shrugged. “Small can be just as complicated,” she replied with a huff. “To get back to the point,” Wufei interrupted before the entire conversation could end up in an all out insult trading match, “I would not advise you to sign anything that wasn't going to pay you well for the duties you will be expected to perform.” “Thank you, Wufei,” Hilde said with a smug look in Duo's direction. Duo rolled his eyes and picked up his own contract again. Silence remained for a short while... “Bloody hell,” Wufei muttered. “Maybe I should give up the coaching and training with Cirque and become a secretary.” A subtle undercurrent ran through the room before Duo burst out laughing. Having an idea where his boyfriend's thoughts had gone, Heero was doing his best to try and stifle his own snickers. Hilde simply looked confused. “Somehow I can't picture you in a short skirt, blouse, stockings, high heels and glasses with your hair up in a bun, saying something like: 'I'm ready to take that shorthand now, Mr. Carmichael',” Duo snorted. Wufei's cheeks began to redden as the words sank in – having Heero rolling around on the couch also in fits of laughter at the mental image Duo's words had conjured up, didn't help matters either. “I'll have you know there are male secretaries working very efficiently out there. It's no longer a female dominated career choice,” Wufei huffed. “That's true,” Hilde said, backing her boyfriend up. “Besides, I don't wear high heels, stockings, skirt and blouse to work.” “Although, if they were to pay me what they're proposing to pay you for the job, I'd certainly consider wearing that outfit,” Wufei mused. The look on Hilde's face with Wufei's words sent Heero into a fresh bout of laughter and Duo into hysterics. Once Hilde had gotten over her shock she could also see the funny side to it and joined in with the laughter. Wufei also realized exactly what he'd said and how it had been taken, swallowed his pride and joined in with the mirth. Once everyone had calmed down enough to think and talk rationally again, they finished going through the proposals. “Well, I'm happy enough with mine,” Duo said and placed the papers onto the coffee table. “Yeah, mine looks good too,” Hilde stated and turned to Wufei. “What do you think?” “I think you should take it. It's a generous salary and the outline of the amount and type of work you will be doing appears to be quite cruisy.” “Cruisy?” Hilde said with a raise of her eyebrow. “You know what I mean,” Wufei huffed. Hilde snickered and dove in for a kiss, one Wufei was happy to return. “If you two lovebirds have quite finished...” Duo said with amusement. The pair in question broke their kiss, looked into each other's eyes before Hilde announced 'Nah' and partook of another kiss. “Sheesh, and she has the gall to carry on at me,” Duo said and shook his head. “You know what they say,” Heero said. When his boyfriend gave him a confused look, Heero continued, “If you can't beat them, join them,” and dove in for his own kiss. Several minutes later, much tongue and a few moans for good measure, the two couples broke apart. “If you're happy with your contract, Hilde, I'll fax it through to my lawyers with mine for them to take a look over. If all is fine then I'd suggest we sign and start to make plans.” Duo's tone was husky. “Sounds good to me,” Hilde replied, her voice a little dazed still. “I think I'll need a little help to operate the fax machine though.” Duo's eyes were locked with Heero's as he directed his words to Hilde. “I'll help you out with that,” Hilde replied, her eyes still on Wufei. “Guess it could wait a little longer,” Duo licked his lips. “Yeah, I agree.” Hilde's lips were hijacked again. Duo moaned softly into Heero's mouth as their kiss deepened into something more primal. “Uh, yeah, a lot later.” The contracts did, eventually, get faxed off. * * * Friday morning saw Hilde, Duo, Trowa and Quatre all in Quatre's office once more. Duo's lawyer had faxed the contacts back with a very favorable report on both – or as Duo put it, the lawyer had said 'Go for it!'. Quatre finished adding his signature to the bottom of the last contract and capped the pen. He looked up with a beaming smile to the pair opposite him. “Well, that's all that done. Welcome aboard,” he said and offered his hand first to Duo and then to Hilde. Both Duo and Hilde returned the handshake, broad smiles on their faces. “I guess the next question is: when can you start?” Quatre said with a grin. Duo paused and thought for a moment before replying. “As I said before, we will both need to sort out our apartments, arrange for packing and moving of all our personal effects and then find somewhere to rent or buy here. Oh, I'll also need to advise Khushrenada Holdings that I won't be working with them any longer.” Duo smiled at that thought, it was something he was looking forward to. “The offer to stay here until you find something suitable still stands and I'm happy to assist in storage, packing and removalist companies and such if you want the help,” Quatre reiterated. “Thanks, Quatre, we both appreciate that and I will let you know if we do need help. Based on all of that, I'd say it will be around two weeks at the earliest before we can start.” “That's fine with me. In the interim, if you could find the time to give me a detailed list of the employees you will be requiring for this project, things like qualifications and such, I can start to draft up an advert so we can advertise for and schedule interviews for possible employees.” “No problem. Today's Friday, we're flying back to LA on Sunday so I'll see what I can do in regards to that list and give it to you before we leave. Otherwise I can fax or email it to you by Monday.” “Either one is fine, Duo. Now, if that's everything for now, I suggest you enjoy your last couple of days here at the Bellagio before flying home on Sunday.” “Thanks, Quatre.” Duo smiled and shook the businessman's hand once more. “Yeah, thanks a lot, Mr. Winner,” Hilde said. “I'm really looking forward to this.” * * * “How long until you will be moving to Vegas?” Wufei asked as the four of them relaxed back at the Bellagio suite after having enjoyed burgers once more in the New York, New York hotel following the evening performance of Zumanity. “We hope to make the move within the next two weeks, but it will all depend on how soon we can get removalists in, find somewhere to move to and terminate my lease on my apartment,” Hilde replied. “Do you think you will have any trouble terminating your lease?” “No. I just need to give them two weeks notice, but finding somewhere to move to is going to be the problem. Apartments here in Vegas are hard to come by and then they can be expensive too. I can't afford to buy one or a house for that matter just yet as I don't have enough savings to put down a decent deposit to secure a loan for the mortgage.” Hilde saw Wufei's mouth about to open and thinking she knew what he was going to say, she got in first. “No, I won't ask Duo for a loan either. In fact, he's already offered and I turned him down. If I'm doing this, I need to do it by myself.” Wufei smiled. “Actually, that wasn't what I was going to say or suggest; but I do admire your independence.” “Oh, sorry.” Hilde blushed. “What I was going to say is, I'm pretty certain that Heero will be moving in with Duo – at least that's what they've been talking about doing which will mean there will be a spare room in my accommodations at the New York, New York. If you're interested and wouldn't mind sharing, you are more than welcome to move in with me until you find somewhere of your own if you wish.” “Ahhh...” Hilde's mouth opened and closed for a moment before her brain came back on line. “Thank you, Wufei, that is most generous of you. I'd like that very much.” “Good, that's settled then. I will arrange for a storage unit for you to put your furniture and things in. Then you can take your time looking for somewhere of your own, but there's no rush, you are welcome to stay with me for as long as you want or need.” Wufei leaned across the table and stole a kiss. On the other side of Hilde and Wufei, Duo and Heero were making their own plans. “What about your apartment in LA?” Heero asked. “Well, I own the apartment so I can either sell it or rent it out. I'm thinking more along the line of renting it as opposed to selling, that way I will have some form of investment should I need it,” Duo replied. “That sounds like a sensible idea to me,” Heero replied. “Have you thought any more on what you might look at buying or renting here in Vegas?” Duo gave his boyfriend a smirk. “Actually, I have. Whilst you've been off flying around the stage, I've put my fingers to work and looked up the local real estate offices around Vegas.” Heero let the jibe pass. “And?” “Are you free for a couple of hours on Saturday and Sunday?” “May I ask what for?” Heero said with a raise of his eyebrow. He was pretty sure he knew what Duo was going to say next. “Oh, I might have booked an estate agent to take us round a few properties that could be suitable for us,” Duo teased. Heero couldn't help the flush of excitement when Duo confirmed what he'd been thinking. “That sounds great. I'd love to come and look at properties with you. Are you going to give me a heads up on any of them?” “Hmmm... I don't know. Maybe I should keep them all as a surprise,” Duo continued to tease. “That's so unfair.” Heero folded his arms across his chest and pouted. “You're pouting,” Duo pointed out helpfully. “No, I'm not.” “Yes you are.” “I don't pout,” Heero grumbled. “You do now,” Duo snickered and then relented. “Okay, I'll show you the ones I thought might suit us.” “Good.” While Duo fetched his laptop, Heero moved from the couch to the table. Moments later Duo was back and set the laptop up on the table so they could both see the screen. A few keystrokes later, Duo had the properties he'd earmarked to look at up on the screen in several tabs. “You know Vegas better than I do and would have a much clearer idea of exactly where these properties are located. We need to consider the commute in and out as well as the features of the properties,” Duo said and brought the first property up. “That looks alright from the picture,” Heero said, “but the distance might be a little far.” “Okay.” Duo had also brought his note book out with him which he'd written down the properties in so he could make further comments against each one when they looked at them. He flipped through a couple of pages, found the property in question and made a note against the property in regards to the traveling time and distance. Over the course of the next thirty minutes, Duo showed Heero the six properties he'd picked out for them to look at. Two were struck off the list – one for being in a rough area of Vegas and the other as the distance was too far. Of the four remaining ones, Heero had to admit he liked the look of the third one the best. “I'm quite partial to that one too,” Duo admitted when Heero pointed out his favorite. “The second one isn't too bad either.” “Thing is, they always look really nice in the photos, but when you actually get to look at them properly, that's when you find all the flaws,” Heero said. “That's the whole reason for going out and physically looking. It's no good having a place that has a massive kitchen, great pool and spa if it suffers from rising damp.” Heero quirked an eyebrow. “Duo, this is Vegas, you know, out in the middle of the desert? It's extremely rare to have a problem with rising damp. In fact, I don't think I've ever heard of any property having that problem yet.” “Well, yeah, I gather that we're in the desert, I was just using it as an example,” Duo grinned. Shaking his head, Heero continued. “Now sandstorms... that could be a whole other issue.” Seeing Wufei about to open his mouth, Heero turned slightly and gave his trainer a wink. Wufei closed his mouth and smirked. “Sandstorms?” Duo echoed and frowned. “I didn't think you'd get those here.” “Oh yes,” Wufei said, playing along. “Sandstorms are a part of all desert terrains. Sometimes you can get really bad ones that last for days.” “And trust me, that sand gets into everything,” Heero said with a dramatic sigh. “Really?” Duo's eyes had widened considerably. “How do they managed to keep the sand from getting into the hotels, the pools and everywhere?” “With great difficulty,” Wufei deadpanned. “The cleanup bill must be very expensive,” Duo mused. “They have been looking at trying to put together something like a big, plastic dome to cover the city when a sandstorm is coming, to try to prevent the sand from getting in,” Heero said. Duo narrowed his eyes and stared long and hard at Heero, detecting the minute smirk twitching at the corners of his mouth. “You're having me on!” he accused. Both Heero and Wufei burst into laughter, even Hilde joined in, having gotten the idea that the two were baiting her boss. “You have to admit, we did have you going for a moment there,” Heero said between bouts of laughter. Duo scratched the back of his neck and gave a grin. “Yeah you did.” “He probably would have continued to believe you if you hadn't come up with that lame idea of a huge, plastic dome,” Hilde chuckled. “Couldn't string him along for too long,” Heero replied. “I would have gotten wise to you soon enough,” Duo said, his own mirth bubbling away. “Seriously though, we do get the odd dust storm come through, although they aren't very often,” Wufei said. “There are times too when we have flash flooding. It doesn't just rain here, it usually pours and then as quickly as it starts, it stops.” “I can see I have a lot to learn about the Vegas climate,” Duo sighed. Heero patted him on the shoulder. “Don't worry, you'll pick it up soon enough.” “Thanks, I think.” * * * “What do you think?” Duo asked, standing in the empty lounge area of the house they were looking at. “I really like it,” Heero replied honestly. “So do I,” Duo replied. The estate agent had picked them up on the Saturday, mid morning and taken them out as promised to visit the properties Duo had been interested in. They were currently looking at the property that had appeared second on Duo's list and was the final one for them to look at. The other three had all been nice, but none had really 'felt like home' to them – until now. “It has loads of space, the pool is great and the hot tub under the cabana is perfect,” Heero said with a smile. “The basement could easily be converted and set up into a gym and training room for you,” Duo mused. “Yes, it could,” Heero replied. “The study is quite large too. Do you think it would be big enough for your computer equipment?” Duo walked up behind his boyfriend and wrapped his arms around Heero's waist, resting his chin on Heero's shoulder. “If it isn't I can always use one of the bedrooms and set that up as my work room,” he said and kissed Heero's neck. “Well, there are five bedrooms after all,” Heero snickered. “I don't think turning one of them into a work room will be too difficult.” “It has a bit of a yard too,” Duo pointed out and proceeded to nibble along Heero's neck. “Enough space to enjoy without it requiring a lot of time and effort to maintain,” Heero agreed. “I could always get staff in to take care of things. It's not like I can't afford it.” “I draw the line at a pool boy,” Heero growled. Duo chuckled. “Don't tell me you'd be jealous of a pool boy?” he teased. “Damn straight!” “Straight? I thought you were gay?” Duo continued to tease. “I am and so are you and no pool boy is going to take what's mine.” Heero turned himself around in Duo's arms, wrapped his own around Duo's neck and kissed his lover fiercely. “Why would I want a pool boy when I have my own Adonis in you?” Duo said with a lustful leer once his mouth was freed. “Just laying down the law,” Heero stated firmly. “So I take it you would be happy living here?” Duo asked with a wistful smile. “As long as it has you then I'm happy anywhere,” Heero murmured. “In that case, I'll tell the agent we're ready to talk deals?” “If you're happy with the place, then let's do it.” “You have no idea just how much I'd love to 'do it' right now,” Duo whispered and rubbed his groin against Heero's. “Mmmm,” Heero groaned and pressed back. “Call the agent back and get this deal done so we can go back to your suite or my rooms and I can have my wicked way with you.” “Your wish is my command,” Duo chuckled and stole a kiss. “Much more of that and I won't be able to control myself,” Heero ground out. Snickering softly, Duo released his lover, smoothed down his clothes and went in search of the estate agent to talk turkey. ~ * ~ tbc...
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