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"Breathless"Written By: Waterliliylf Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing. All rights
remain with Bandai, Sotsu and associated parties. No profit being
made here. Rating: R Warnings: sap, angst, fluff Pairings: 3x4, 13x2 Summary: Quatre finds himself introduced to an
annoying young man, one he can't seem to get out of his head. "Breathless" Chapter 9: [In which Duo overhears, not entirely by accident, an interesting conversation at the gallery.] 'Hey!' Expecting to see Heero Yuy, a few minutes early, Duo flung open the gallery door and grinned at Quatre. 'I didn't think I'd be getting to see you today. Aren't you supposed to be doing family stuff?' The blond nodded. 'I can't stay long; Iria's picking me up in ten minutes. But I've been dying to see the ring. Show!' Duo extended his left hand obediently. 'Treize told you about it then? No, scratch that. I guess he's told everyone he knows. It's lucky he hates the 'net so much or he'd have posted it on YouTube by now.' 'It's beautiful.' Quatre gave him a very direct look. 'Do you like it?' 'Actually, yeah.' Duo heard the slight edge to his own voice and shook his head. 'I do.' He twisted it once around his finger. 'It's just kind of weird; I never in a million years thought I'd agree to something like this.' 'To the ring or the wedding?' 'Both. Probably.' Duo shrugged, twisting the gold band on his finger so the stones sparkled. 'Would you mind if I tried it on?' 'Here you go.' Considering Treize had put the thing on his finger less than twenty four hours ago, his hand already felt oddly bare without it. 'Well, how does that feel? You'll have your own someday.' 'Maybe.' Quatre kept it in the centre of his palm for a minute and then handed it back. 'It's exquisite, Duo. I think I'd be nervous too, in your place. How do you know, really? How is anyone supposed to know that they've met the perfect person to spend their lives with?' 'I do realise this is a sucky answer,' Duo closed his fist around the cold metal, warming it, 'but I just do. I knew, the minute I saw him.' His eyes, not entirely consciously, drifted to Treize's office door. Then he caught Quatre, one of the few people in the universe who knew how they'd met, doing the same thing. 'I've never felt like that about anybody,' his friend said quietly. 'I think I'm jealous of you, a little, actually. To be that certain.' Duo felt his cheeks warm slightly. 'Everyone wonders sometimes, Quat. I love him, but it's not like I can really compare him to anyone else.' Not really. 'I think that part of it is so romantic.' Duo snorted. 'Maybe it would be if it was a bit less one-sided.' He was tempted for a second to ask Quatre about his own magic number, but they'd never really talked about sex. Quat was bit of a funny duck; it was hard to figure out some things about him. He could have slept his way through a whole regiment of lovers, or he could still be a virgin. Instead, he went for a handy subject-change. 'What's in the bag? Something nice that I might like?' 'Oh, I forgot. Here you go; early engagement present.' He handed over the carrier bag from Duo's favourite coffee shop. 'White hot chocolate with marshmallows and caramel syrup.' 'Cool! If there's a brownie in there as well, I'll love you for ever.' 'In that case, you'd better tell Treize the wedding is off and run away with me.' 'Ha ha.' Duo took a closer look at his friend. Quatre always looked great; a living testimony to the benefits of early rising and organic foods, but there was an extra sparkle to him today. 'What are you looking so perky about?' 'I'm always perky.' Quatre gave him a sly little smile. 'It's my thing.' 'And?' Duo pressed, breaking off a piece of brownie. 'Let me guess; you've found a new blend of tea?' The smile widened, producing one of his dimples. 'Well, it is slightly tea-related. But better. I don't really have time to tell you everything now; are you doing anything later this afternoon?' 'Going to Howard's, and then meeting Tro.' Duo closed his eyes in ecstasy; Quat had even got them to warm up the brownie, and sprinkle on extra icing sugar. 'Quatre, come on. Just tell me.' 'It's a little bit complicated.' Quatre's bright smile faded and he wandered off looking at the paintings, stopping in front of the one Heero Yuy was – hopefully – going to buy. 'This one's rather soppy, isn't it?' 'Yeah. It's the one your buddy Heero might be taking. Now, what's wrong?' 'Nothing's wrong. Really. But I have to leave in five minutes and it's going to take a while to tell you everything. How did you get on with Heero? Is he nice?' 'So so. Hang around for a few minutes and you'll get to meet him. He's dropping by at one to have another look at the painting. I guess it's his engagement present to his fiancée so he wants to make sure it's perfect.' 'Everyone's getting engaged.' Quatre made a face. 'Iria and I are planning an anniversary party for my parents next month. Can you imagine, they've been married for forty years? I don't think I've ever had a relationship for that many weeks.' Duo lifted an eyebrow at him, wiping whipped cream off his mouth. 'Whose fault is that? You're an amazing guy; if you're still running around single, it's your own choice.' His friend just laughed, not remotely fazed by the compliment. He never was. 'I suppose. I've just always wanted to meet the right person before getting too serious. 'Hmm.' Duo gave him a shrewd look, taking another bite out of his brownie; all gooey and squishy and chocolaty. Whoever did end up with Quatre Winner would be a seriously lucky guy. 'And I'm guessing Trowa's not the right person?' Quatre shrugged, blue eyes firmly glued to his own cup of healthy herbal tea. 'Quat, you moron! Is that why you were acting so weird yesterday? You thought I'd be pissed off that you and Tro didn't click?' 'A little bit. I know he's your friend and I did like him, but I wasn't sure if he really liked me.' 'He did,' Duo said quickly, sipping his chocolate. Shit, for two smart people, his best friends were acting like idiots. It was obvious that they'd both really liked the other, but for some reason they were convinced it wasn't mutual. Dopes, the pair of them. Dopes in need of a match-making friend to sort them out. 'Seriously, he thought you were great, but it's up to you. I kind of thought it would be nice if you guys hooked up. Look, the thing is, he's had a pretty rough time lately and I thought a bubbly blond might be nice to cheer him up a bit.' He shrugged. 'Doesn't matter. I was going to ask you a favour; if you're not busy on Sunday night, would you mind dog-sitting? I was going to take Treize out for the evening and maybe check in somewhere and I don't want to leave Laragh alone all night.' 'Oh, I can do that.' Quatre seemed only too happy to change the subject. Dizzy blond; how the hell could he think that Tro hadn't been totally into him? 'Where are you planning to go?' 'Just a little private post-engagement celebration in a hotel he likes. Um, Quat, can I show you something?' That slipped out; he'd meant to keep it an absolute secret until he showed Treize, but he could trust Quatre and he was bursting to tell someone. And it wasn't like Tro would want to know. His friend's eyes widened as Duo handed him the little box, which he'd picked up that morning. 'You think he'll like it? It was kind of a bit one-sided with me being the only one to get a ring and stuff. He's always making these big, romantic gestures, so I thought I'd even the score a little bit. It's OK, isn't it?' 'It's perfect,' Quatre said sincerely, blue eyes sparkling just like the sapphire in his hand. 'He'll adore it. 'Cool.' Duo beamed at him. Everything going perfectly to plan. He'd take Treize off and romance the hell out of him, while Quat and Tro were cosying up at Romfeller. Now, he just had to get Tro on board. Get the pair of them in the same place for an evening and see what happened. 'Around sevenish? Joanna's going to be there in the afternoon, but she doesn't like being in the house by herself after dark. Here, can you hold this for a sec?' He handed Quatre his toolbox, and scooped up a couple of extra cables. Better get all this stuff out of sight before any real customers come in.' 'What are you doing?' 'Playing around with our security system.' He grinned. 'Don't tell Treize, but I've rigged the rooms for sound. I suggested it a while ago and he's far too honourable for anything like that.' 'Why do you need sound? So you can listen to whether people are planning to steal the paintings?' 'They'd be pretty inept thieves if they talked about carrying out a heist on the actual premises. No, I just thought it might be interesting to listen to things people are saying about the paintings, when they don't think they're being overheard.' 'Is that legal?' Duo shrugged. 'No one's going to know about it. Nothing's illegal if you don't get caught.' He laughed at Quatre's expression. 'Hey, you're the one whose sister is a lawyer. She'll tell you.' 'I somehow doubt she'll tell me anything of the sort. Quatre rolled his eyes, strolling around to look at the other paintings. 'That's nice. The one with the poppies.' 'Take a closer look.' The painting he'd liked, at first glance, was a charming watercolour of poppies, growing riotously around a couple of weathered pieces of wood. Only if you looked really closely, could you see that the wood was a rough cross, with letters roughly carved into it. William Harris, 1900 – 1915. 'Oh.' Quatre said softly. 'Was he real?' Duo nodded. 'He's the artist's great-uncle. Ran away from home to fight in the First World War, lied about his age, got killed in the trenches after a couple of months.' 'That's so sad. He was only fifteen.' Quatre traced the letters with one finger. 'I can't understand why someone would paint something so personal and then sell it to strangers, though.' 'She's got kids to put through college.' Duo said it as mildly as possible. It wasn't Quat's fault that he had no real concept of the things people had to do for money. Selling a painting, no matter how personal, was nothing. 'If you really like it, I can give you a great discount.' 'I'll think about it. Duo, I'd better go; I told Iria I'd be waiting outside. Can I meet you for lunch tomorrow?' 'Sorry, I'm going to be at Howard's all day. And Treize and I are going to the opera in the evening. Just call me, OK?' Quatre nodded. 'OK.' Duo shook his head as his friend rushed off. He'd been acting seriously weird for the past day or so. He was always a bit on the emotional side, but this waltzing around looking like he'd just found the Holy Grail without actually saying what was going on was just plain weird. Heero turned up, as agreed, precisely at one, Chang Wufei in tow. They looked pretty good together; the two of them. A damn shame Yuy was straight, or they'd have made a cute couple. Yuy was actually smiling, looking considerably less uptight than he had on his first visit. 'Mr. Maxwell. Thank you for letting us come back.' 'No problem.' Duo grinned at the Chinese man who nodded. Treize had been quite right. Chang would have been attractive if he knew how to smile. Not that the dark, brooding expression wasn't kind of appealing in its own right. He'd look seriously good with Zechsy. Or Quatre, even. 'How's it going, Wufei?' That stern face nodded again. 'I gather congratulations are in order.' 'Huh? Oh, right. Thank you.' Duo shook his head, leading them both into the room where the Emerson was displayed. Who'd have thought Chang would be the sort of guy to read the Personal Announcements column? A surprising number of people did, apparently. 'Well, here you go. One original Emerson watercolour, painted in 1895. If you need any more information, just ask me.' 'That's fine. We just need a few moments.' Heero's tone was perfectly polite but it was clearly a dismissal. Huh. Duo thought about it for approximately two seconds. The legal aspect wasn't what bothered him; he had a perfect right to listen to conversations conducted in his own gallery. But Treize would be furious; they'd installed a new security system the previous year, and he'd absolutely vetoed Duo's suggestion to wire the rooms for sound. Still, he'd never know…. What the hell? It wasn't as if they'd be talking about anything personal and if they did, he'd just switch off. Duo selected the room on the CCTV monitor and flicked the new little icon in the right hand corner. He was just going to check if it worked OK. Just a few seconds… 'Eighteenth century watercolours aren't exactly my main area of expertise,' Wufei was saying, a little tetchily. 'And I can't say I like the subject matter. Still, it's competently executed and the flesh tones are rather lovely. Are you quite sure you can bear to live with the thing?' Heero shrugged. 'I won't have to. It's for Relena. Do you think she'll like it?' 'If her taste in art is as execrable as her taste in fashion, she'll undoubtedly adore it. What's the price?' His eyes widened. 'That much? I think it's overpriced for what it is, but if you want to give it to her before going back to Japan, you don't have a lot of options. ' 'I don't mind paying if it's a good investment. I just don't want to be ripped off.' 'I think you're fairly safe. I asked a few of my colleagues about Emerson and his work is usually in demand. A few of his larger pieces have sold at auction recently, in the United States, and the prices were unexpectedly high.' 'Fine.' Heero sounded as if he were ticking something off on a list. 'What's the procedure now? Can I just pay and take it with me?' 'If you like. Or they can have it delivered to Relena, to save you carrying the thing around all day. Unless you really want to give it to her in person?' Heero grunted, glancing around. 'Don't be facetious, Wufei, please. The delivery is fine. I hadn't realised there was so much money in art.' 'Well, this is one of the more upmarket galleries in Sanque. Quite the success story, actually, considering they were almost bankrupt a couple of years ago.' 'Oh?' Heero stopped in front of the poppy painting Quatre had admired earlier. 'I like this one. What happened?' 'I'm not sure.' Wufei sounded disapproving of the fact; he obviously didn't like not knowing everything. 'The gallery's been in the Khushrenada family for over a century; it was originally some sort of hobby for one of the younger sons. I think it's only been run as an actual profit-making business since the present owner took over and it was doing fairly well. Then a couple of years ago the global art market took a downturn as a result of the recession. I hear Khushrenada had over-reached himself buying a couple of paintings that he couldn't sell; some of his creditors started pressuring him; the whole operation looked like it was going to tumble down around him.' 'So what happened?' The Chinese man made a sour face. 'An extremely convenient burglary.' Heero's eyebrows lifted. 'Really? I'm surprised that any insurance company paid up in the circumstances.' 'It beggars belief, doesn't it?' He muttered something Duo didn't quite catch. 'The insurance money was enough to keep the place afloat?' 'Apparently. There doesn't seem to be any shortage of money now. They had the place renovated before Christmas, and the boyfriend drives around in a ridiculously flashy sports car.' Duo sniffed. His car was….elegantly flashy. A totally different thing. 'Duo Maxwell,' Heero noted. 'The one who let us in. I met him yesterday; he's the one who showed me the painting. He was claiming to be a full partner in the business but I imagine he's the token trophy boyfriend?' 'You'd think so, given the way he looks,' Wufei agreed, laughing. Shithead, Duo thought, making a face at the screen. 'I don't know anything about his involvement here, but he officially works as a picture restorer. He's very good; he's worked on a few jobs for the National Gallery. That's how I first met him.' Thanks a bunch. Duo stuck out his tongue. I'm not just very good, FYI. I'm brilliant. 'Have they been together long?' Heero didn't bother to turn around as he asked the question, apparently engrossed in his study of the painting. 'Don't go there, Heero. Seriously. By all accounts, they're utterly devoted to one another. Khushrenda's very possessive. And not someone you want to get on the wrong side of.' 'Hn. That's ridiculous. You're the one who seems to be taken with him, not me. And you seem to know a great deal about Khushrenada.' 'Good point,' Duo decided, glaring at the miniature Chang on the monitor. 'And yes, we are damn well utterly devoted to one another, so don't you start getting any ideas about moving in on him. Because he's mine.' The Chinese man gave a rude snort. 'No more than anyone in Sanque who's ever picked up a newspaper. The man's a magnet for those ridiculous celebrity columnists.' Surprisingly, Heero laughed; a rather nice sound. 'I was only teasing, Chang. No need to go on the defensive like that. I know you've got your Mr. Perfect.' Wufei, quite unbelievably, flushed. 'I still can't believe it. And I'm seeing him tonight. God, Heero, do you really think this is a good idea? Maybe I should just stick to dinner and forget the rest of it.' Heero sighed. 'Not this again. You told me you wanted to do something adventurous and different, and I spent hours this morning setting it up. You'd better not back out on the plan now, after all the trouble I went to.' Wufei nodded, turning away to examine a watercolour of two ballet dancers. 'It's not that I don't appreciate your help. Truly. But what if he disapproves of it? I want him to like me. And I acted like an idiot yesterday. God knows what he thought of me. I could hardly string two coherent words together.' 'If that's what having tea with him does for you, I don't know how you'll manage an actual meal. I hope he won't mind having to carry the entire conversation.' 'That's not helpful, Yuy. I'm nervous enough about this already.' Aw, that's cute, Duo thought, hoping Mr. Perfect was going to go easy on the poor guy. Chang had it seriously bad. 'Why? You like him, he obviously likes you or he wouldn't have agreed to go out with you. And you did say you wanted to impress him.' 'I know. I'm not sure if a little breaking and entering on our first date is the right way to do it though.' Heero looked pained. 'You don't have to put it quite that crudely. After all, you work for the Department of Antiquities; you've done some consultancy work for the museum. There's no reason why you wouldn't just have a key.' 'Maybe. I suppose I could put it like that. I just really want this date to be special, you know. I want him to realise that I'm not always such a tongue-tied idiot. I want him to enjoy being with me.' Heero smiled at his friend; an oddly tender little smile. 'Of course he will. Don't worry. From what you've told me, it sounds like he's just as besotted as you are. He'll probably be thrilled just to spend some time with you, regardless of what you do.' 'I hope so!' Wufei said fervently. He was still slightly flushed; a very cute, hopeful expression on his handsome face. Duo hoped it would all work out for him and his Mr. Perfect. 'I owe you one, after all your help with this.' 'Just don't get caught,' Heero told him gruffly. 'Enjoy yourselves. And call me.' Duo grinned; for a minute there, they'd sounded just like him and Quat. Slightly weird, but kind of cute. He made it back to the foyer just in time to open the door for Chang, and then it was just him and Yuy. Huh. He'd decided, listening to the two of them talk, that he didn't like Mr. Heero Yuy very much. Too interested in the gallery; too damn interested in Duo himself. Duo had met them before; guys about to take the plunge into marriage and suburbia with 2.4 kids and the requisite Golden Lab to piss on the picket fence. Guys wondering if there was something in life other than ferrying the kids to ballet and swimming and thinking of one last little adventure before settling down. And he was taking way, way too much interest in his gay buddy's love life; not a good sign. Straight guys, in Duo's experience, might very well have close gay friends, but they didn't usually want to get too involved in their relationships. Sounded like Mr. Yuy was starting to wonder what life might be like on the other side of that white wooden fence. He could, speaking as a newly engaged man himself, understand it. Sort of. It wasn't as if he'd never wondered, once or twice, what it might be like to be with someone else. And then felt guilty as hell for letting the thought even have a second's house room in his brain, because it wasn't like he wanted to be with anyone who wasn't Trieze, not ever. He'd just - wondered about it. Well, whatever was going on under that shaggy head – and, seriously, you'd think someone with all that money could afford a better haircut, or even a comb - Duo didn't want to be any part of it. 'So have you made a decision about the painting, Mr. Yuy?' He made it polite; either the guy would take it or he wouldn't but either way that would be the end of it. 'I'm taking it.' He handed over a credit card. 'I'd like it delivered. I'll give you the address. Why didn't you let those men take the rug yesterday? They're the most reputable firm in Sanque; they would have cleaned it for you and no one would have needed to know.' Well, that was direct. 'I didn't know them, and we have a different firm we use for that sort of thing. Sorry, but I wasn't about to let a couple of total strangers walk out of here with something that valuable.' The man gave him an odd look; God only knew what was going on behind those blue eyes. What the hell was it with him and rugs anyway? It wasn't like he'd been in any way responsible, and now he was taking this god-almighty high stance on cleaning services. 'Did….. your dog get into trouble?' 'I talked our way out of it.' 'I see. Can you have the painting delivered this evening? Before eight, if possible?' 'Sure. I hope the lady likes it.' 'No doubt she will.' For someone who'd just spent a not-so-small present on his fiancée's engagement gift, he didn't sound terribly interested. 'Thank you for your assistance. Goodbye.' Duo took the extended hand. 'You're welcome. Good luck with everything.' 'You too.' Wary cobalt-blue eyes met smiling violet. He dropped Duo's hand abruptly and that was it. 'Goodbye.' Right. That was it, then. Duo locked the door behind him, watching him get into the waiting car at the pavement. Nice ass; wasted on a straight guy. Or whatever he was. He'd get the painting parcelled up and then call Trowa. Miss Relena Whatsername was welcome to Yuy and his rug-cleaning
fixation.
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