|
"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 10: [In which Trowa and Duo discuss life, the universe and everything, including love.] They'd arranged to meet in the coffee shop across the road from the gallery. The sort of place Trowa hated, selling murky, lukewarm water topped with foam and a shot of some synthetic faux-alcoholic syrup masquerading as real coffee and costing obscene prices. It was marginally better than the gallery though. At least he wouldn't have to meet Treize and have to pretend to be polite. He hadn't even bothered to pretend, the first couple of months they'd been together. What was the point? He hadn't liked the guy – still didn't, much, in all honesty. He'd been sure that Duo would come to his senses at some point. Then Treize had taken him aside one day and asked him if he really meant for Duo to have to choose between them. They'd eventually established something of a state of armed neutrality, which was, Trowa supposed, better than open hostilities. For Duo's sake. Duo was already there, looking like the sort of person who frequented these sorts of places. He probably did, now. He was leaning against the counter and talking to the waitress. And, being Duo, he was totally unaware of the appreciative, appraising glances most of the other patrons were shooting his way. He looked great; no wonder half the café was drooling over him. He'd taken off the fancy clothes Treize liked him to wear in the gallery; what he had on was probably supposed to be casual. An ocean-coloured t-shirt that had to be silk, and inky-dark fitted jeans. Before Treize, he hadn't cared about clothes, except as camouflage, or distractions, as appropriate. Now, it was all designer stuff. Treize probably chose them for him. The jewel in his ear was one Trowa had bought him, though; an uncut amethyst. At least, he still kept the ear piercing. Treize probably felt it matched the arty image or something. Trowa had done that for him, with a needle and an ice-pack to the skin first. It was a little bit too low on his lobe, really, because they'd both been drunk at the time. Trowa had needed to be high to bring himself to pierce Duo's flesh, and Duo had wanted to keep him company. It was weird sometimes; if he hadn't seen Duo for a couple of days, he still got a little jolt that his friend wasn't the scrawny kid he'd known for over fourteen years. He'd filled out in the last year or so. Not that he was fat or anything; he'd never be that, but you couldn't see the bones protruding anymore, and he'd got a lot more confident. Treize had given him that, Trowa had to admit, however reluctantly. He'd lost a bit of that edginess that came from growing up on the streets, and doing whatever you had to do to survive, balancing on a constant knife edge. Trowa still had it; he saw it in people's eyes sometimes, recognising danger. 'Hey, Max.' Trowa didn't touch him until Duo had registered his presence. Underneath the gloss of Treize's wealth, he was still Duo; Trowa knew better than just to sneak up on him. 'Hey.' Duo grinned, reaching for the bag at his feet that Trowa hadn't noticed before. Good; he'd be staying the night then. He didn't always. With his other hand, he proffered a cardboard cup. 'Double espresso. OK?' 'OK.' It would be vile; the drinks in those places always were. He took it anyway, leading them both outside, very aware that they were being watched, unable to quash a little spurt of pleasure in the fact that people probably thought they were together. Duo whistled when he saw the truck, and the tarp-covered bundle in the back. 'What's that?' 'Surprise.' Trowa opened the door and fended off the ridiculously enthusiastic greeting from the dog inside. 'Another dog. You've been on a shopping spree.' 'The pound called me yesterday. He was due to be put down this afternoon. If you want a second dog, he's looking for a nice home.' 'He's cute.' Duo buckled his seat belt and laughed as the bull terrier barrelled on to his lap. 'What's he called? Why was he being put down?' Trowa shrugged, pulling out just in front of some blonde woman with an SUV. He hated those things; mostly hated the people who drove them. 'Called Nero. He's four; too old for some people. And bull terriers are always hard to rehome. He's a nice dog; just needs a bit of basic obedience. You want him?' 'Treize would kill me if I brought another dog home.' Duo looped one arm around the dog's neck and hugged him. 'He hardly has a pair of shoes intact as it is.' That made Trowa laugh. 'Dogs chew things.' 'Yeah. And piddle on antique rugs. And knock over antique Waterford crystal when they wag their tails. And eat the roast duck you've stupidly left on the table for two seconds. And then puke it up on the Persian rug they've pissed on earlier.' Still laughing, Trowa said, 'I told you what a puppy would be like, that you'd be better off with an adult dog if you didn't want to go through all that. Laragh's how old again? Six months? She'll settle down in a bit.' 'I hope.' Duo stroked Nero's ears. 'Tro, that other dog, the one you were going to give us. Jess. Did you get her a home yet?' 'Yeah. A couple of days ago, actually. Nice couple who'd just lost their own Rottie after twelve years. Jess was perfect for them.' It was difficult to keep the bitterness out of his voice; he didn't try very hard. 'I said I was sorry.' Duo sounded ever so slightly defensive. 'You know what Treize is like. Mr. Protective. He read somewhere that Rottweilers can be unpredictable, and decided he didn't want a dog like that in the house.' 'Sure.' Trowa signalled left for the turn off the main road. 'She'd been a family pet for three years and had a perfect temperament. She was fully obedience-trained and she'd even won a few prizes at local shows. They were only getting rid of her because the dad had lost his job and they couldn't afford to keep a big dog. If your boyfriend's so damn protective, maybe he should have taken some of that into account. Instead, you've got a dog from the local shelter. You know nothing about her history except that she was abused and neglected; you don't know what her triggers are, and she's big enough to do some serious damage if one of you inadvertently scares her.' He shrugged. 'I know damn well which dog I'd have chosen for you.' Duo stared fixedly out the window, one hand resting on Nero's neck. 'Laragh's the dog I chose for me. I'm sorry we let you down after all the trouble you went to find us a dog, but sometimes you have to compromise in relationships. Treize didn't want a Rottweiler; don't you think he was entitled to have some say in it?' 'Compromise, sure,' Trowa muttered. 'Max, how come it's always you who's the one who has to compromise?' 'What?' Duo's eyes were very big suddenly, staring at him. 'It isn't! It's probably the other way around, if anything.' 'Really? Come off it. You live in his house, you work in his gallery, you get engaged when he decides he wants to. What would happen if you said tomorrow that you wanted to move out of that fucking mausoleum?' 'Then we'd move.' Duo said it with no hesitation at all. 'Now, if I wanted to. But I like living there. I know you hate it, but I like the history of it, that his family's lived there for centuries. I like that one of us has that sort of permanence. And I feel like I belong there too.' 'I've seen that damn painting. You don't exactly look like you belong.' Duo sighed. 'We'd been together for less than two months when Zechs did that. Maybe I didn't feel I did, not then. It was still all this fairy tale that I didn't really believe. You know? Couldn't believe that he'd want to be with me, that he wouldn't just throw me out.' Trowa wrenched the steering wheel around, turning them on to the dirt road home. Not Duo's home, not anymore. 'He's so fucking lucky to have you. He'd better realise that.' 'He does, you know,' Duo said softly. 'I do love him.' What more was there to say after that? Trowa pulled up and Duo hopped out to unlock the five-barred gate, grinning, like he always did, at the hand-painted sign. Trespassers will be eaten by Dogs. Not that he ever really got trespassers; too far out of town. And most cars didn't have the suspension to make it up the hill, on a track that was sometimes mud and sometimes a river, and always pitted with boulders and potholes. It meant plenty of privacy but there were a few downsides. Duo's little sports car could never make it, which meant he hardly ever just turned up unannounced. Just in those first few months, when he and Treize had fought about something. And he'd always gone back to Romfeller eventually. 'I saw three deer this morning. Over there,' he pointed trying to lighten things a bit. Duo gave him a grateful smile, and said something about seeing dolphins from the beach, and they talked about nothing in particular until they got to the house, and then they were submerged under the tail-wagging tide of Trowa's dogs. Once the dogs had calmed down a bit; it took longer, with Duo there, they unloaded the bike from the back of the truck. Nero was still hanging around, unsure of all the strange animals, and Cleo, who acted like his second shadow. 'Nice,' Duo whistled. 'Enfield Bullet, right? Where'd you find one of those in Sanque? They're Indian, right?' 'Yep. Found her in Browne's Scrap Dealers. Help me get her into the barn? She's going to need a lot of work. They're nice touring bikes though.' After an hour, Duo was looking a lot less….polished. Some of his hair had escaped from the tight braid, he had grease on his face, and a stain on his t-shirt. Trowa sort of hoped it wouldn't wash out. 'D'you ever miss this?' 'Miss what?' Duo looked surprised at the question. 'This.' Trowa gestured to the toolbox, the bike, the shed strewn with parts. Duo's own bike stood in one corner; he'd brought it with him to Romfeller when he officially moved in with Treize, then brought it back a few months later. Treize had given him a car; he'd said he didn't need the bike anymore. It had been his most prized possession, once. They'd found it in a junkshop and spent months restoring it. He took it out, sometimes, when he stayed over. Shaking his head, Duo took a swig of beer. 'Treize's car is always breaking down. You know what classics are like. I'm under her at least every week or so.' He grinned. 'Apparently, I'm saving him a fortune in garage bills.' Trowa hid a grimace in his own beer, not relishing the thought of Duo being under anything of Treize's. He loved working side by side with Duo, the pair of them focussed on what they were doing; getting dirty and sweaty and Duo cracking terrible jokes. It was impossible to imagine Treize doing something like that; getting his hands dirty. Although maybe he liked to watch Duo crawling underneath his car. 'Want another drink?' 'Sure.' Trowa snagged another couple of cans out of the cool-box, catching Duo's hand when he reached out and turning it palm up. 'It's nice. The ring he picked.' It was beyond nice, naturally. Khushrenada had exquisite taste. A narrow gleam of gold, studded with stones that were almost as brilliant as Duo's eyes, in sunlight. 'Yeah.' Duo took his hand back, a bit self-consciously, and tucked it into one of his pockets. 'Are you sure about this? Marrying him?' Duo didn't say anything for a minute. He took his hand back out and looked at the ring, like he wasn't quite sure how it had got on to his finger. 'I guess.' 'Max.' Trowa set his own beer down. 'You need to be sure.' 'I'm sure I love him,' Duo said in a small voice. 'I am, Tro. I know I want to spend forever with him. It's just …..' 'Just what?' Trowa prompted. 'The whole 'til death do us part promise thing. It's kind of scary.' Trowa nodded, understating at once. It was scary. They both knew death. They'd both lived with it for years, and seen too many people die. Growing up on L2 was nothing like life in Sanque. He wondered, sometimes, just how much Treize actually knew about Duo. About both of them. And promises, for Duo, meant forever, because he never lied. 'I wish you liked him a bit more.' 'He doesn't like me either.' 'He knows you're important to me.' Duo had one finger in his mouth; the one with the ring on it, teeth tearing at his fingernail. 'The most important thing, really.' After Treize, he meant. Of course. 'Stop doing that.' Trowa caught his left hand at the wrist, and jerked it out of his mouth. He couldn't remember the last time Duo had done that; when they were kids, he'd torn his nails to shreds on a regular basis. Now, Quatre Winner took him to get manicures. 'Oh.' Duo looked down at his own hand in surprise. Trowa let him go. 'Sorry. I don't want to lose you. That's all.' 'You won't,' Trowa said it gruffly. 'Good.' Their eyes locked; Trowa reached out and brushed one long strand of hair away from Duo's dirty cheek. 'I promised, didn't I? That I'd always take care of you?' He'd been eleven then, and Duo four years younger; just a child. He'd been lucky; seven years old and pretty sheltered for L2. There'd been a gang of kids who'd looked after him at first, and then a year at the orphanage he hardly ever talked about; the one that had burnt down. He'd never broken that promise. He'd kept Duo safe, and done some things that even Duo didn't know about, and hopefully never would. And then Duo, his Duo, had walked straight into Treize fucking Khushrenada's arms, and he'd lost him. 'Can we get dinner now?' Trowa nodded; there was no point really. They'd said it all before; he'd yelled a lot of it, along with every obscenity he knew, which was a lot, and Duo had just stood there and said, I love him. 'Come on.' They had the pizza Trowa had picked up in town earlier; no place was ever going to give him home delivery. It was stone cold and congealing, the way Duo liked it. Probably a nice change from caviar and lobster or whatever Treize fed him. After, Duo rummaged through his DVD collection and picked out something that involved lots of explosions and a through-the-roof body count and a dumb plot. Like always, they started out on opposite ends of the couch. Then Duo tucked his legs under him, and shifted a bit, and then leaned back in Trowa's direction, with his legs hooked over the edge, and then wriggled a bit to get comfortable, and ended up with his head resting on Trowa's thigh. Like always. There were things he just couldn't imagine Duo doing with Treize; like lying on the couch to watch a crap movie and catcalling at the bad stunts, and wolf-whistling the hero when he took his shirt off. There were still things Duo needed him for. Duo liked being touched, never having had any sort of bad experiences, that way. It was one of the things Trowa was proudest of; that he'd kept his friend from that. Kept him safe and whole so he'd been able to move into Treize's bed without a single qualm. And Treize had apparently got that particular part of the relationship down pat. They weren't all that demonstrative in public. Trowa was fair enough to recognise that this was quite possibly for Duo's benefit. The way they'd grown up, it wasn't the best idea to be overt about showing affection. He'd seen them holding hands, though and kissing, and a couple of times, when he'd visited, it had been pretty damn obvious what they'd been doing. Even after the final credits had rolled, Duo didn't move. Trowa turned the sound down and just stroked his friend's hair, liking the way Duo arched into his hand, like a cat. He'd let all the dogs stay inside, for once; recognising it as a treat, they were all on their best behaviour, lying still and quiet, just jumping at odd sounds from the fire. Then Duo yawned, breaking the spell. 'Sorry, Tro. I was up early this morning. D'you mind if I head to bed?' 'You go on.' He still didn't move, though. Neither of them did. In the end, Trowa got up, stirring the last few embers to life. He'd had to move, before he did something stupid. His body remembered things, sometimes, that his mind had tried to forget. Duo just lay back, snagging a cushion to stuff under his head. 'What's wrong?' 'Nothing.' Trowa sat down on the hearthrug. Cleo, lying in front of the fire, inched over to him, laying her head heavily on his leg. She was, always, way too sensitive to his moods. Like Duo, actually. 'Tired, too, I guess. Had a long day.' 'Still not sleeping properly?' Trowa shot him a sharp look, and Duo just shrugged. 'The other day, when I called you at seven, you sounded like you'd only just crawled into bed. I know you like staying up late, but that's ridiculous.' 'I'm fine, Duo.' Duo, not Max. Where had that come from? Of course, he picked up on it. Far too bloody quick, he was. 'I can't remember the last time you called me that. It must be a bit weird, now that Kurt's moved out. You still miss him?' Trowa's turn to shrug, this time. 'You know me. I get over stuff.' 'You were together for nearly three months,' Duo said quietly. 'Screwing for three months. He only actually lived here for a few weeks.' And that had been a fucking mistake; asking Kurt to move in. Except Kurt's roommate had got married and moved his new wife in to the apartment, and she'd wanted Kurt out, and it had seemed like a good idea, one night when they'd both been drinking, to try living together. He'd hated it; living in the middle of nowhere with a shitload of animals. At the start, he'd claimed to like the strong, silent, enigmatic type. That had got old fairly soon, once they were together all the time. He'd wanted to turn Duo's room into a darkroom for his photography, complained about all the signs of Duo's presence in the house, tried to get Trowa to open up about his feelings, and even suggested a couples therapist. There'd been a few spectacular rows before he'd moved out. The sex had always been great, even at the end. He missed that, even if he didn't miss the other man's less appealing characteristics. 'You're so damn romantic,' Duo grumbled, sitting up. Trowa grinned. 'Yeah, that's me.' He put the poker down carefully, and moved to sit on the floor between Duo's legs. 'It was never serious, Max. You know that. We should've ended it long before we did.' Duo's hands rested for a minute on his shoulders and then the fingers flexed, kneading his muscles. 'You're really tense, Tro.' 'Told you I was tired, didn't I?' Duo's touch felt indescribably wonderful. 'You never liked him, anyway.' 'Well, no.' Duo admitted. 'You've got such a talent for picking losers. I never got what you saw in him.' 'Just how coarse do you want me to be? It was a one night stand that went on for too long, that was all.' Duo snorted. 'Like I said, you're such a romantic. If you've got a migraine, why don't you take something?' 'How d'you know I have?' One finger touched between his brows, very gently. 'You get this little frown, just here. I don't get why you won't just take the pills.' 'Because if you take them too often, they don't work so well. And I don't like taking that chemical shit unless it's really bad.' 'What about all that caffeine shit you take? One of these days, you'll turn into a coffee bean.' Trowa laughed, past the ache in his skull. 'I need caffeine to function. Stop trying to mother me.' Duo punched his arm. 'I'd sooner mother a crocodile. But someone has to. Are you going to call Quat?' 'That came out of nowhere, didn't it? Can Treize keep up with your thought processes?' 'It was a logical question. Quat's into this herbal stuff; he could probably get you some alternative remedies. And we were discussing your dating history. Wouldn't you like a nice little blond ray of sunshine to light up your life?' 'I'd like for you to stay out of things that aren't your business.' 'It is my business,' Duo retorted. 'He likes you.' 'Yeah. Sure.' Duo's hands were digging deeper now; probing sore muscles. It hurt. 'I'm sure Quatre Winner can't do any better than someone like me.' 'Oh, fuck off. Anyone'd be lucky to get someone like you. You should call him.' 'I thought you wanted to go to bed.' God, Quatre. No way. Whatever maggot Duo had got into his brain, Quatre Winner had made it very damn clear that he wasn't interested. He'd probably only invited Trowa out in the first place because Duo had nagged him into it, or because he fancied something different to the rich guys who probably fawned all over him. He was nothing but a snotty little tease. He'd been all over Trowa when Tro had dropped him home to his fancy apartment building, and then acted like an affronted virgin when Trowa suggested taking the action inside. Prick. Duo sighed. 'Fine. I'll see you in the morning.' 'Call me when you wake up, OK? We could take the bikes out for an hour or so. If you're not in a hurry to get back.' 'That'd be great.' Duo smiled at him, accepting the peace offering. 'Thanks, Tro. You know.' 'Hey. Max.' Duo, on his way to the door, swung back and Trowa pointed at his left hand. 'Whatever you do, I'm here. You know that. Always.' ~ * ~ |
