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"SHADOWS AND LIGHT: AN UNBREAKABLE BOND" Written By: Stone Angel
Please see Prologue for disclaimer, ratings and explanations. ^_^ AN: /TEXT/ = flashback
SHADOWS AND LIGHT: AN UNBREAKABLE BOND:
"Ok. That looks alright." Duo said as he examined the couch. The stain was nearly gone completely, the only sign it had ever been was a slight discoloration. Duo glanced to Heero and then looked back to the bundle of clothes on the floor, bundled with the calves of Heero's jeans protecting the carpet from being stained as they were not so. He checked his watch. It read 12:57. "It's not even One yet." He groaned. "Well, Hee-kun, I'll burn your clothes later. For now, we're done with clean up crew duty. You wanna tackle those study assignments?" Heero smiled. "Not really. But what choice do I have, ne?" Duo smiled as well and was about to speak when there was a sound from the porch. His keen ears picked up the sound of soft footsteps and wood creaking only slightly. After a half of a second there was a loud scratch at the door and Wufei was in the room, holding a katana and stepping towards the door. "Wufei! Stay your sword! It's just_!" "Shut up and let me deal with this, Maxwell!" Wufei threw the door open and Duo was thankful of the overhanging on the porch, shading the area outside the door and not allowing too many rays into the house. Patches stood in the doorway and growled but did not move when Wufei's sword began its swift descent towards him. Wufei stopped at the last second and jumped back. "CHANG!!!! WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU!!!!!!!" Wufei turned and glared at him. "Shut up, Baka! I was only protecting you!" "From what?!" Duo yelled. "What the hell kind of vamp would find me and attack in the fucking DAYLIGHT?!" Wufei stuck his nose in the air indignantly. "There ARE day-walking marks, Maxwell." Duo snorted at that. "Yeah. But Heero and I took care of our local Idiot Brigade. There's only one left and they never act alone. And you know to scan first. The best you could have done right now is kill a ningen. And then I would have been upset. I don't fancy the idea of scrubbing Land Lord out of the carpet." At that point, the dog sat down and waited to be called into the house. "This is the Jones’ dog." Duo explained. "And he has the run of this place. Step aside and let him in." Wufei stepped to the side and waited for a moment before looking back to Duo. Duo rolled his eyes. "Patchy-chan, come on in." The dog panted in a grin-like fashion and stepped into the house. He did not wag his tail and Duo knew he knew something was up. Wufei closed the door and watched the dog approach him. Patches sniffed his pant leg and growled before walking to Duo and sitting by his side, watching Wufei avidly as if waiting for him to make a move. Duo had to laugh. "Basically, Wu, in dog talk, you just got the big 'fuck you'." Wufei glared at him and then the dog. Duo chuckled as the dog continued to challenge Wufei to make a move against him, the place he sat an obviously protective one. "He knows you're pissed and he wants you to know that to get to me, you have to get through him first." He laughed and scratched behind the dog's ear, knowing it to be a weakness and exploiting it ruthlessly. Wufei snorted. "Whatever. I'm going back to bed. Will you two keep it down? I'd like to get some sleep. Not just pretend to do so for your sake." Duo blushed as he recalled the short conversation he and Heero had had in his room. "You do that." Wufei walked out of the living room, holding the sword carefully and muttering under his breath. Patches growled at him again as he walked by and Duo could tell that he was restraining from kicking the dog straight out of the house. Once the bedroom door clicked closed, Duo let his giggles surface and looked to Heero who wore a small smile as well. "Well. Wufei can certainly make a good first impression, ne?" He scratched the dog's head and was rewarded by the wagging of his tail. "Ah." Patches stood then and sniffed around the room until he came upon Heero's clothes. He then came back to Duo, sniffing him and his bandage before moving to his side and sniffing Heero. He licked Heero's face and Duo picked up a vague feeling of gratitude from the dog. "He's thanking you. For helping me." He looked to Heero and smiled at him. "I have a feeling that if Wu wasn't as angry as he was when Patch showed up, he would have thanked him, too. But dogs share with us the ability to sense and smell emotions. And Wufei was PISSED. He's really grumpy. Can't say I blame him. This has been one hell of a week." Heero nodded and pet the dog's head. "Yeah. No kidding." The dog whined then and lay by Duo's side, resting his head in his lap. Duo chuckled and scratched under the dog's chin. "Yeah, I missed you, too, Aiybo." He turned to Heero. "So. Homework?" Heero nodded and retrieved his backpack from the corner of the room by the couch, taking his books and papers out of it. * * * "Ok. I think it's safe to say that I'll either ace the next math test or die trying." Heero said as he packed his books back into the bag. "So what now? It's only Three." Duo sighed. "I don't know." He looked to Patches who had fallen asleep by the door as if guarding it and Duo knew that he was. "Patch, it's too bad you're fixed. I could use another dog like you." Heero chuckled as he looked at the passed-out dog. "Yeah. He's great." Duo nodded. Raising his head and listening to something, Patches lifted an ear and his eyes opened. Duo had heard an engine too but was puzzled as the presence felt like that of a vampire. "Shit! Wu! A vamp!" He yelled as he tried to stand to get Heero into the other room as quickly as possible, despite his weakness. Wufei walked into the room casually. "It's about time you sensed him. I've known for a few minutes. You're always so slow." Duo continued to try to stand but Heero held him in place. He struggled against him. "Goddamn it! Heero! Chang! How can you be so calm about it?! It's day!" Wufei smirked. "Reach out, baka. It is no mark." Puzzled, Duo extended his senses before being torn between groaning and squealing. "Quatre." * Wufei nodded and walked to open the door. Patches was whining at the door by this point. Heero stood from his seat next to Duo on the floor leaned against the uncomfortable and damp couch to look outside the house. A newer, sand colored BMW pulled up to the front of the house and stopped, the engine turning off. He watched as Quatre got out of the driver's side door and looked around the place before turning bright blue eyes to the house and smiling. The dog ran out and skidded to a halt before Quatre, sniffing his leg and then jumping up to lick his face, forcing a child-like giggle from him as he pet the dog's head. Heero wanted to laugh at how weird it was to see a vampire in the daylight, his reason arguing with his knowledge of vampires in the back of his head. 'Man. This is strange. For how strange the last few weeks have been, it is even weirder to see a vampire walking around in the sun.' As the dog began to investigate the car, Quatre walked up the steps and smiled brighter than the sun could ever shine at Wufei. Then his eyes met Heero's and he looked down for a moment before looking up and smiling again, this time not as bright. "Hello, Heero." Heero smiled as brightly as he could and stepped aside so Quatre could enter the house. Wufei did the same and Quatre stepped inside and Wufei closed the door again. The blonde's eyes rested on Duo and he looked like he was in pain. Heero followed his gaze to where Duo was more or less smiling at him. "Not that I'm not happy to see you, Q, but what are you doing here?" The blonde smiled grimly. "Wufei told me of your injuries. I came to see you." Duo glared at the Chinese vampire. "Oh?" Wufei growled. "Don't give me that shit, Maxwell. We both know that you would not hunt with me. Winner is the only one you ever allowed to see you. So tonight you will hunt with him as I'm still weak and you need to feed more than usual." Duo looked down at the floor and Heero knew he was just wishing that it could swallow him. Glaring at Wufei, Heero sat by Duo's side and put an arm around his shoulders. Quatre smiled wryly. "Trowa-kun will come here later. He is worried about you as well. Dai ja bu?" Smiling wryly, Duo answered. "Aside from not getting a break from certain friends of mine, I'm just dandy." Quatre smiled. "What kind of friend would I be if I left you to your own devices, Shinigami? You would no doubt end up hanging by your braid from a tree or something likewise silly. You're so..." "Fatuous." Supplied Wufei with a smirk. Duo glared at the Chinese vampire even as a small smile played upon his delicate lips. "Oh, you better PRAY I never look that word up." Heero laughed. "I came to see if you need help. And Heero." Said Quatre, paying Heero a guilty glance before returning his eyes to Duo. "And then I figured tonight I'd take you to the slums." Duo shrugged nonchalantly and Heero knew he was trying not to show the conversation bothered him. "Whatever." Quatre glanced at Heero for another moment before speaking. "Um. Duo. Do you want me to dispose of the animal outside?" Duo nodded as he looked up at his friends from beneath his bangs. "Um. Yeah. Thanks." Quatre nodded. "Is that all you've had since the fight?" Duo looked at the floor. "Um. Yeah." "Did you hunt that night?" He shook his head. Quatre looked a little angry but his voice was gentle. "When was the last time you hunted?" Duo seemed to think for a moment before answering. "Thursday." Quatre looked shocked. And angry. "Duo!" Duo growled at him. "Shut up! Just shut up! I've been busy, incase you didn't notice! I've been a bit preoccupied taking care of Wu-man, so I really don't need a lecture from you two right now, Ok?" Eyes softening, Quatre nodded but spoke. "Alright. But you're going with me later. And, as I said, Trowa wants to see you. He's worried about you, too." Duo nodded but didn't say anything. "Wufei said there were seven. How did you two fare?" "We did Ok." Said Duo, putting an arm around Heero's shoulders. "Hee-kun here can really kick some ass." He said with a grin. Quatre nodded at Heero respectively. "You have Ki. I take it that was Duo's work?" "Ah." Heero said as he nodded. "I am glad that you are well." He looked about the room and spied Heero's clothes. "Those look like the clothes you wore at the party..." Quatre glanced to Heero who was suddenly very uncomfortable. "A-ah." Quatre looked closer at them and Heero could see him judging just what had happened exactly from just what he could see of the clothes. "Looks like you took a beating as well. Are YOU alright?" Heero nodded. "Yeah." Duo grinned at the others. "Heero dusted one of them. A big one." Quatre gaped at him for a moment before smiling brightly. "Segoi. I'm impressed." Heero nodded as he looked at the floor and felt Duo give him a mental caress. He sent him a silent thanks. Quatre looked back to the door for a moment. "I'm going to dispose of the deer. I will be back shortly." And so saying, he took off his dressy vest, handing it to Wufei, who grumbled something about not being a coat-hanger, and stepped outside to do the dirty work. After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, Duo spoke. "Wu. At least tell me when you are going to do stuff like this from now on, Ok?" Wufei snorted as he walked into the other room, tossing the vest at Heero who caught it and placed it on the back of the couch. "I had to call him. You need to hunt and this was the best way of going about getting you to. Desperate times call for desperate measures, Maxwell." The door closed and Duo turned wide and timid eyes to Heero. Heero shook his head and kissed Duo's hair. "It's Ok, Duo-kun. Before Quatre takes you out, let's get some alone time, ne?" Duo nodded. "Ok. But I have to wait for him to get back. Then we can do whatever." Heero smiled, wishing that "whatever" meant sex. He needed to relieve some stress but there was no way he was going to injure his lover further. "Ok. We can watch a movie." Duo smiled wryly. "Ok." At that moment the door opened and Quatre walked in. He nodded to Duo and then walked straight past them into the kitchen where Heero heard him wash his hands. Then the sound of the refrigerator being opened reached Heero's ears. Duo looked down at the floor as if preparing himself for a beating. "Duo." Came Quatre's voice. "This stuff is ancient. How have you been living off it?" Duo smiled meekly when Quatre walked back into the room. "Um. Stubbornly?" Quatre sighed. "You're lucky I thought of everything. I knew this was worse than it sounded. I have a stock. It will last for a while. I'll get it." He turned and walked out the door, leaving it open behind him. Heero looked to Duo who had wide eyes and was shaking lightly. He decided that he wanted to save his beloved from any more stress. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom. I have to piss." He kissed Duo's cheek and walked out of the room when Patches entered through the open door and lay by Duo's side again. He stepped into the bathroom and closed the door. He leaned against it, counting the ticks of the clock for a whole two minutes before stepping back out of the small bathroom. He walked quietly into the living room to see Duo staring at the floor with Quatre sitting next to him with a hand on his shoulder. Patches lay on the other side of him. He didn't hear any words but he figured they were speaking telepathically so they were not overheard. He waited for a moment before Quatre turned to look at him and then stood and regarded Duo before moving into the kitchen. Heero knelt by Duo's side and waited for him to look up at him. Duo looked as though he had been beaten. Not physically but emotionally and Heero knew Quatre had given him crap about his feeding habits. His bandage looked like it had been removed briefly and Heero figured Quatre had checked the wound. He leaned against him and rested his head on Duo's shoulder. "Duo?" "Ah." "Ai shite ieru." A pause. "Wacataio." Duo's other arm came up and rubbed Heero's back and Duo kissed his hair. "Ai shite ieru." Quatre returned from the kitchen a few minutes later and smiled at the two of them. "You two remind me of Trowa and myself." Duo chuckled. "Don't flatter yourself, Q. We're a MUCH cuter couple." Heero chuckled as well and held Duo more tightly to himself. He wanted to have a talk with Quatre about making Duo so upset but he knew that Quatre was right. Duo did need to take better care of himself. So he let it slide. Reluctantly. There was a knock at the door and Quatre spun to face it. Duo seemed to think for a moment before groaning. "Can't I get a BREAK?!" Wufei was in the room suddenly and Duo picked up Quatre's vest and threw it at him to get his attention. Wufei caught it reflexively before glaring at him. "It's my land lords, dammit. Back off." Duo growled. "And what enemy in their right mind would knock anyway?" Heero took the initiative and stepped forward and opened the door. Mr. and Mrs. Jones were in the doorway with nervous smiles. Heero smiled wryly. "Hi. Patches is here." Mrs. Jones smiled widely. "I thought as much. He's been missing all day." Heero nodded and Patches came up behind him, sitting on the floor just inside the door. Mrs. Jones bent down to pet him and saw Duo sitting on the floor in nothing more than boxers and wearing a bloody bandage. "Duo!" She looked like she wanted to push past Heero into the house. Heero realized that she really did care for him. As a mother might. 'Hn. That could be a bad or very good thing for him.' "What happened?!" She all but demanded. There was a "meep" and Heero looked behind himself to see that Duo had apparently just realized that he was mostly unclothed. He quickly blocked the two from seeing his lover's state of undress. Quatre walked briskly into the other room and returned with a blanket, draping it over Duo who semi curled into a ball and used his good arm to cover himself with the heavy comforter, clutching a handful of it to one shoulder with his good arm, the other exposed. Heero looked back at him for a moment before looking back to the elderly couple, unsure of what to do. Duo sighed from behind him. "Heero, let them in. This IS technically their house. And for god's sake, close the freeking door." Heero glanced back before stepping to the side and allowing the couple to walk into the house. Martha all but barged in and Elmer followed suit. "Duo? What... Are you alright, Dear?" She asked, ignoring the other two vampires in the room. Duo smiled wryly. "Hi. Elmer. Martha. I'm fine." Pointing at his bandage, she spoke. "What is that then? And your hair!" She seemed utterly mortified. He waved his good hand in front of himself. "It's nothing but a scratch. And my hair will grow back in no time. I got into a brawl. I'll live. You're not getting out of putting up with me that easily." He said with his manic grin that Heero loved. Martha stared at the bandage. "That looks serious, Duo." "It's Ok. Really. It'll heal." He turned his eyes to Quatre who had been studying the two from his vantage point at the wall. "Elmer. Martha. I'd like you to meet yet ANOTHER friend of mine, Quatre Rababera Winner. Quatre, this is Elmer and Martha Jones." Quatre smiled brightly at them and stepped forward, extending his hand confidently. "Pleased to meet you." Elmer smiled as he shook his hand and Martha did the same. "Um... Are.... I mean..." The man flustered. Quatre smiled wryly. "Afraid so." Martha and Elmer looked about the room. From Duo, to Heero, to Wufei and then back to Quatre. Duo chuckled. "Oh, if only you two knew what you were getting into when you rented me the house, huh?" Martha scowled slightly at him. "Duo, we don't regret letting you live here. We never did." At that moment, Patches flopped down on the floor by Duo's side and rested his head on his paws, watching everyone with deceptively half-mast eyes. Elmer chuckled. "I'll be damned. He likes you. All of you. He hardly liked ANYONE until he met Duo. He was always so fussy about people's character. And then he likes all you." Quatre smiled wryly while Duo chuckled and Wufei grumbled and walked out of the room. "Duo." Martha spoke. "How did you get that?" Duo looked down to his bandage. "Um. I got into a fight." "With what?" He sighed and closed his eyes. "I told you that there are baddies out there. Heero and I ran into a few. I let my guard down and this is what happened as a result." Martha's eyes widened. "How many is 'a few'?" "Seven." The poor woman blanched. "And you fought them?!" "I had no choice. It's my job." Duo argued. As Martha processed that information, Elmer squinted at the wound. "You got stabbed?" "Staked." Now the woman looked as though she was about to fall on her ass. "I thought that would kill you." Duo smiled wryly. "He missed." "Oh." Said Martha. "So you will be alright?" Duo nodded. "Yep. I just need a week or so and then this will be gone. I'm sorry. I won't be able to help you with farm stuff for a while." Martha waved it off. "Don't worry, Duo. You just get better. Um, are there going to be any other friends of yours here?" Quatre spoke. "Yes. One more. But he and I will not be staying. We will visit for a few nights and be gone by dawn, though we may visit from time to time afterwards." Martha nodded. "Ok." Quatre smiled wryly and stepped to the door, opening it and stepping quickly outside, closing it behind himself. Martha made a squawking sound and Duo began to laugh while Heero swore that the woman looked like she was about to faint. "What? What?! What is he doing?!" Duo chuckled. "It's Ok, Martha. Don't fall down. He can be outside. He can tolerate the sun." Martha gaped at him. "How?" Duo shrugged. "*I* don't know. Neither does he. It just kind of happened that way." "Will you be able to? I mean, what did he do to be able to survive?" Duo smiled sadly. "Um. No. It's just something that happened when he was... It's kind of a fluke. He's had it his whole life. I never will." Martha stepped to the door and peeked outside, her eyes widening at watching Quatre move about in the sunlight. "Can others?" Duo sighed. "A few. Not many. It's pretty rare." Martha nodded and closed the door, glancing at Elmer before looking back to Duo. "I'll leave you alone now. Please take care of yourself, Duo. I'll call you later?" Duo smiled wryly and nodded his head. "Sure thing." Elmer shook Heero's hand again and followed his wife as she stepped outside. "As soon as you're feeling up to it, go ahead and take Cherokee out for a run. He needs it." Duo grinned. "No prob." Elmer gave him a thumbs up and headed out the door, nearly bumping into Quatre who was carrying a not large, but not small cardboard box. The blonde smiled at the two of them and then walked past and into the kitchen with his burden, kicking the door closed behind himself. Thinking that it was blood, Heero was puzzled as he thought Quatre had already brought that into the house. Then he recalled the conversation Duo had had with Wufei about a "heater" and looked to Duo who was gazing at the floor with half-mast eyes. "You tired?" Duo looked up and nodded. Heero tousled his bangs, lifting him and the blanket gently and carrying him into the bedroom. He laid him down on the mattress and Duo put his good arm around him. "Stay here?" Heero smiled sweetly as he nodded and got up to close the door. He returned to the bed and lay by his beloved's side, encircling his arms about Duo's lithe waist. Draping his arm over Heero again, Duo yawned widely, a cute, almost kitten-ish sound escaping him before he opened tired eyes and looked up to Heero with a small smile. "Sorry. But I think I'm gonna pass out." Heero kissed his hair. "Hekki. You just sleep, Koi. I can think of nothing better to do than be in your arms." "Arm." He corrected with a wry smile and Heero kissed his hair again. "Get your rest. I can respect that you're too weak for any fun now, but you can't ride that ticket forever." He grinned. Duo grinned back at him. "Baka teenager." Heero grinned wider. "I never heard any complaints before." Duo chuckled. "I have none." "Good." Heero kissed him lightly, an innocent, chaste kiss, not wanting to start a fire if Duo was not strong enough to handle the flames. "Go to sleep, Duo-kun." He whispered against his lips. "I'll stay with you." Duo nodded slightly and his arm tightened around Heero. Because of their awkward position of Duo on his back and trying to hold Heero with the arm opposite him, Heero decided to change to the other side of the bed and rest partially on Duo's chest, his ear near where Duo's heartbeat would have been. That way was much easier for Duo to hold him and he felt more comfortable as he was not causing Duo's left arm or broken ribs any pain. He sighed and listened as Duo's breaths became even. * * * After an hour, Duo moaned in his sleep and stirred. His eyes fluttered open and he looked up to Heero and smiled. "Koban wa." "Ah." Heero kissed his hair. "So you want to watch a movie?" Duo shrugged a shoulder. "We could." Heero kissed him lightly and carefully disentangled himself from his lover. He waltzed out of the room to retrieve his laptop from his backpack. Upon entering the living room he saw Quatre sprawled on the couch with Patches lying beside him on the floor. The blonde's eyes were closed and his breathing was nearly non-existent. 'God. They all look like angels. I wonder, did they all look like angels before, or did that change when they were made? Probably a little of both.' Heero stealthily crept forward and picked up his backpack from the other side of the small couch and looked back to Quatre's slumbering features. He thought he saw an eye close quickly but was unsure. He quickly and still quietly left for Duo's room. He was no longer afraid of Wufei, and he knew that Quatre was even less of a threat but his instincts got the better of him. 'I guess that makes sense. I was gang bitten.' He walked back to his beloved's bedroom and saw that Duo's eyes were closed again. 'Damn.' He backed up to have his backpack hit the doorjamb, and saw Duo's eyes open. Duo smirked slightly. "Stealthy. I'm awake, Hee-kun." He smiled warmly. Heero did too. "I'm glad." He walked over to the bed and placed his backpack on it, opening it and taking out his laptop and its cords. He also took out the few DVD's he had for his long breaks between classes. He handed them to Duo. "Your pick." "Aw, I couldn't handle that much responsibility. Whatever you want, Hee-kun." Duo grinned at him and Heero felt like he wanted to melt. Heero looked back to the titles and selected one. Plugging his laptop into the outlet, he put the disc in the tray and placed the computer on the nightstand. He let it start of its own accord and lay on the other side of Duo, holding him in his arms. * * * By the time the movie was half way through, Duo was asleep again, his breaths small and even. Heero sighed. 'He must need even more rest that I thought. Oh well.' He continued to watch the movie as his head rested upon Duo's chest. When the movie ended, Heero was at a loss for what to do. 'I'm not tired. I'm not leaving. I sure as HELL ain't waking him up. And I don't want to be in the other room enjoying uncomfortable silence with Quatre or Wufei. That doesn't leave me very many options.' He thought about watching another movie but the idea did not appeal to him. He then spied Duo's stereo. Smirking, he carefully got out of the bed and opened the cabinet. He took out the CD's and looked through them. He had seen a few of them after he and Duo had had their fight but he had not looked through the whole collection. He smiled as he looked on the titles. 'Duo really must love music. There's got to be seventy CD's here. And he's got music by bands I've never even HEARD of. And I work at a music store. That one said that the songs were recorded back in the Fifties. Damn.' He continued to look through the mess of plastic until he came upon one that he had been eyeing on the shelves of his place of work for some time but had never actually gotten around to buying. He put it in the tray, quickly memorizing how to use the large stereo, and turned the volume down to almost nothing. He checked the back of the CD case and looked for the song he wanted to hear, changing the track number on the stereo and turning the volume up just a little. Acoustic guitar began to play and he smiled, closing his eyes and letting the music take him over, much the way he was sure it did for Duo. Before even a few seconds had passed, a voice of black velvet came from the bed. "That's a good song. A good CD actually." Heero startled and hit pause on the player as he looked back to Duo. "Gomen. I thought you were asleep." "Oh, I was. But who can resist Green Day, ne?" Duo smirked. "Turn it up." Heero grinned and did just that, starting the song over and letting it play. He sat by Duo on the edge of the bed and the two of them listened to the song. Today's the Macy's Day Parade. The night of the living dead is on its way With the credit report for duty call It's a lifetime guarantee. Stuffed in a coffin. Ten percent more free. Red light special at the mausoleum. Give me something that I need. Satisfaction guaranteed to you. What's the consolation prize? Economy sized dreams of hope. When I was a kid I thought. I wanted all the things that I haven't got. Oh, but I learned the hardest way. And then I realized what it took. To tell the difference between Thieves and crooks. Lesson learned to me and you. Give me something that I need. Satisfaction guaranteed. 'Cause I'm thinkin' 'bout a brand new hope. The one I've never known. 'Cause now I know It's all that I wanted. What's the consolation prize? Economy sized dreams of hope. Give me something that I need. Satisfaction guaranteed. Cause I'm thinkin' 'bout a brand new hope. The one I've never known. And where it goes. And I'm thinkin' 'bout the only road. The one I've never known. And where it goes. And I'm thinkin' 'bout a brand new hope. The one I've never known. 'Cause now I know It's all that I wanted.
Being the last track on the CD, the laser eye audibly retracted to the center and the CD was left stopped. Heero smiled to Duo. "I've been meaning to buy this CD for a while." Duo grinned. "It's pretty good. I love it." Heero nodded. "Me too. I always liked Green Day. Hey, can I put the songs on my computer?" Duo's eyes widened. "You can do that? Steal music from plastic?" Heero rolled his eyes. "Ok. I'm going to have to tutor you on just how many things with computers I CAN do. But, yes, I can." Duo looked pensive. "Would it hurt the CD? Will the songs stay on it?" Heero laughed. "Of course. All I would be doing is making a copy. And the songs would stay on my computer even when I give the CD back to you." Duo looked at him like Heero had suddenly grown antlers. "How?" Heero shrugged. "I dunno. It just is." He laughed and reached forward, closing Duo's jaw. Duo smiled. "Segoi. And can you do that with the DVD's as well?" Heero shook his head. "No." Now Duo looked REALLY confused. "Why not? They're both discs. Wouldn't it make sense that they both work the same way?" Sighing, Heero looked up to the ceiling as if it held his answers. "I don't know. You just can't put a movie on your computer from a DVD. It doesn't work that way. It might be because it would take up way too much memory space." He looked back to Duo whose eyes were comically wide. "Computers remember things?" He looked slightly afraid and Heero could just picture what was going through his head. "Yes, Duo. Look out, cause those computers from your class are going to find you and make you pay for crashing them all." He laughed and Duo smiled, realizing he wasn't serious. "Movies have mass when they're in computers?" Heero giggled. "I REALLY have to teach you some stuff. No, it's not mass exactly. It's..... It's..... It just is." He said exasperatedly. "I don't know how to explain this. I'll dig out my old Computer Basics textbook and we can go through it." He smirked. "There's a change. ME helping YOU with learning things from a textbook." Duo smiled and then looked down, obviously still thinking about what he had learned. Heero laughed. "You're too cute sometimes. When something confuses you, you get that 'I have to figure it out, so help me god.' look. It's great." He laughed again. Duo grinned. "I like understanding things. Knowing exactly where I stand. Little computer information is no different. I would very much like to get my hands on that textbook of which you speak. I think I could learn a lot." Heero smirked. "Maybe even how to NOT kill them?" Duo laughed. "Hai. That too." He kissed Heero lightly. "Ai shite ieru." "Hn. Wacatio." Heero said with a smirk as he stood and stretched his legs. He wandered over to the dresser and opened the top drawer. It was full of books. "Is this where you’ll keep it?" "Ah. The ones below it are weapons." ‘No clothes. I guess all he has this for is weapons. The books seem like they’re there as a decoy.’ Heero was slightly saddened at that but, opened the second one from which he had retrieved that dagger the previous night. Swords and knives. The one below that was full of stakes and had a crossbow and arrows. He smirked and took it out, noting that Duo kept it loaded. "Hee-kun, careful, it has a bolt in it and a hair trigger." Duo warned. Heero kept it pointed to the wall. "Don’t worry. I’m not that stupid. And I want to learn how to use it so I can protect you." He said just as he accidentally nudged the trigger. The bolt flew through the air and straight into the defective nightlight, destroying it. He turned wide eyes to Duo. Duo was smirking and shaking his head. "Sorry." "Aw, it’s Ok. I was thinking of doing that myself." Duo said with a smile. There was a knock at the door. "Is everything alright?" Asked Quatre. Duo looked to the door. "Yes, it’s Ok. Heero killed the bad nightlight." He called to Quatre. They heard footsteps leave the door and head down the hallway. Heero smiled sheepishly and put the weapon back before closing the drawer and walking to Duo to sit by him on the bed. "Don’t worry about it. The wall will live and that nightlight was faulty anyway. I was going to get a new one so you could see in here at night. Now I guess I have to, ne? It’s Ok, Hee-kun. Just be careful with that." Duo smiled and leaned forward, kissing him gently. Leaning forward, Heero deepened the kiss, unable to resist. Duo responded, lying back against the pillows. ‘"Heero. We can't go any further than this. Not yet. I'm sorry."’ Heero nodded as he continued to kiss him. 'I know. I just can't help it. But we don't have to do anything.' Duo seemed to think for a moment before his hand found the front of Heero's too tight shorts. ‘"There is one thing we can do."’ His fingers slipped inside slowly. Heero groaned. * * * Heero walked out of the room to the bathroom with a pair of Duo's boxers bundled in his hand. It had been the only thing they had had and Duo did not like the idea of having to wash his sheets. Heero filled the sink with water and began to wash the shorts with the semen on them, blushing brightly and thankful that the door had a lock on it. He looked up to his reflection in the mirror over the sink as he continued to wash the underwear and saw that, indeed, he was changing back to the way he used to look. His hair was still shinier than it had been, his skin still smoother, but he did notice that they seemed less so. His sight and hearing had begun to return normal as had his sense of smell and touch and he found that he missed it. 'When everything was so heightened it was like it painted a perfect picture, better than human senses could. Now I feel kind of like I'm making grabs for things in the dark. Oh well.' His teeth had dulled again. But the one thing that remained the same was his scars. They remained faded. And he loved it. He ran his fingers over the scars under his shirt and loved how much smaller they felt. He sighed, feeling much more relaxed than he had a few minutes before and silently thanking Duo. He had been a little upset when Duo could not get an erection and thus he could not return the favor, but Duo had assured him that it was due to blood loss and that as soon as he was well, Heero would not be leaving his bed for some time. He smiled at that thought. Quickly, he finished washing the shorts and wrung them of the warm water before turning back to the door and stepping out to go to his lover. Duo was lying back against the headboard and looked tired. After taking a moment to hang the shorts on the inside door handle, Heero smiled at him and sat by his side, kissing him gently before ghosting kisses over his cheeks and brow. "Ai shite ieru." Duo smiled. "I know." He wrapped a tired arm around Heero's neck and pulled him close so he could kiss his hair. "So you gonna do that thing with the CD? I'm interested in seeing how that works." Heero smiled. "Sure." He retrieved the CD and put it in his computer, removing the DVD and putting it back in its case, throwing it back into his pack. He closed the tray and waited for the program to load. A whirring sound came from the CD drive and Duo looked absolutely fascinated as a program automatically popped up onto the screen. Heero smiled to himself as he slowly did what he could do faster than anyone he knew, keeping things slow so Duo could follow them easily and commit them to memory. He opened "Copy from CD" and checked the "Copy All" button. He then hit "Record" and the songs began to play on his muted speakers while the status bars for each read just what was going on. "Segoi." Heero turned to see Duo gaping at the laptop and had the feeling that if Duo had a stick, he would be poking the computer with it. He smiled at that thought. "Welcome to the Twenty-first century, Duo." Duo grinned at him. "I'll teach you all this stuff. You should know at least some of it and I think you'd pick it up fast. Those things you did with Photo Shop the other day were incredible. People have to take classes for months to get as far as you did in two hours. I'll give you the book and we can use my computer for lessons. How's that?" Duo looked like he wanted to squeal with delight. "Arigato, Hee-kun!" He sang as he playfully butted his head against Heero's shoulder. "I would love that." He looked back to the computer and watched, amazed, as the CD's contents were duplicated. Once done, Heero removed the CD from the tray and, in the interest of seeing if he could get Duo's eyes any larger, turned up the computer's volume and hit play on the last song. Macy's Day Parade began to play over the speakers while he held the CD in his hand right in front of Duo. He was not disappointed. Duo's eyes widened to an impossible size and he continued to stare at the computer as if it had just materialized out of thin air and then switching his gaze to the CD, only to look back to the laptop again. "I have much to learn." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ok Ok, according to a buddy, one actually CAN make a copy of a DVD onto their hardrive and then reformat it to a data disc. My savvy computer skills have once again made themselves obvious. (takes a bow) I didn't know that at the time so I left it in there. So sorry. ~_~'
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