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"Puppy Love"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: NC 17 Warnings: sap, angst, fluff, Alternating Trowa/Quatre
POV, AU Pairings: 3x4 get together, Background 1x2, 5x6
Summary: quatre gets a new puppy and has ot take
it to the vet. "Puppy Love" Chapter 47: Hot Tub Heaven I'd never told anyone that I loved them before. I hadn't meant to. I hadn't really known. Or maybe I just hadn't admitted the 'L' word to myself. After four weeks, I was starting to live with the fact that Quatre Winner was capable of inducing all sorts of feelings in me. Vertigo, chiefly. Half the time, I felt that I was stepping off a high cliff into the unknown, beckoned on by a bright smile and that incredible blue gaze. Oh, yeah, and all the rest of him. Luckily, I'd always had a good sense of balance because the guy had such a knack for literally turning my world upside down. Case in point; in the space of one hour, we'd had sex, a row, and then admitted just how badly we'd fallen for each other. To be totally honest, I still wasn't 100% sure what had pissed him off so much. It seemed to be equal parts of him thinking that I was only after him for sex, and that he was enjoying the sex so much that he was worried about us breaking up. Go figure. All in all, it seemed better if I just backed down a little bit. But then he'd probably start to think that I was mad with him or something, if I refused to touch him at all. I wasn't sure I'd be able to do that anyway. It had been bad enough watching him eat his ice-cream, savouring every mouthful of ice-cream and cream and fruit, and licking his spoon so he wouldn't miss any of the treat. Just as well he hadn't ordered a Banana Split, or there was no way I could have kept my hands off him. At one point, I'd got up to get us a couple of drinks. Not that I needed the beer so much as I needed a couple of minutes to myself. The barman had laughed at me when I'd downed my first glass in one gulp and surmised it was girlfriend trouble. His advice had been to apologise, admit I'd been the one at fault and produce a huge bunch of flowers. I didn't want that sort of relationship. I wanted someone I could be honest with. So I'd somehow ended up telling him that I was falling in love with them. After that, things calmed down a little bit. We finished our drinks and bought the weekend papers and a few odds and ends for dinner, and wandered home. Our walk back home was a lot quieter. Not exactly uncomfortable; more a mutual acknowledgement that we'd done enough serious discussion for a while. Well, that was how I felt anyway, and Quatre seemed happy with it. I decided that it wasn't a bad time for our first cookery lesson. Something non-sexual that we could do together, and that we could focus on. It worked too. There was no time for meaningful life discussions while we were putting out the fire on the grill, or picking salad leaves off the ceiling. Apparently, he'd never used a salad spinner before. 'I think this steak is done, Trowa.' 'Why?' 'Well,' he prodded at it with his fork. 'It looks cooked. It's brown.' 'Right, well you need to check it's done in the middle as well. Slide it on to that plate and try cutting a piece off. No, that's too red; it'll need to go under the grill for a bit longer.' Quatre gave an annoyed little huff. 'It said on the packet that it would be done in ten minutes. It's been ten minutes.' I was starting to see why he had problems cooking. 'That's just a guide, honey. Cooking's not an exact science; you have to use your own judgement a lot.' 'That's utterly ridiculous. There should be rules. How am I supposed to know if something is ready or not?' I grinned down at him. God, he was cute when he was all confused. 'You know how to eat, don't you? If something tastes like you'd want to eat it, then it's ready. If not, you need to let it cook for a bit longer, or maybe add something to it. Remember we put a bit more black pepper in the potatoes when we tasted them? It's like that. Different people have different tastes, so there aren't any definite guidelines.' 'Oh! Potatoes! I totally forgot. Ick, they're all mushy.' I peered into the pot. 'That's OK. They have to be mashed anyway. Right, you need to drain them first, like this. You can't just mash them into the water. Now, you want to pour in some cream; wait, not the whole carton! Oh, well, they'll be nice and creamy. And some butter. Perfect. Here you go.' 'What's this for?' He glanced interestedly down at the metal implement I'd just handed him. 'To mash the potatoes. Like this; watch.' 'Oh, I see. Duo uses an electric beater.' 'Yeah, you can do that too. But I kind of like doing it by hand.' And that had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he looked very cute bent over the pot, squishing the potatoes down like they were his mortal enemies. Damn, I should have got him to put it on the floor, then I could have seen him leaning down properly. Oh well, next time. 'Here, try some.' 'That's delicious. Wow! I cooked something. By myself!' 'You did!' Well, more or less. 'Now you can do the cooking for your party next week.' He looked a bit uncertain at that. 'I could maybe help Dorothy. But she's already offered to do it. And she's done some proper cookery courses.' Dinner turned out to be very nice. Quatre was glowing with the achievement of having cooked a very edible meal, and planning his next culinary experiment. We talked about food and favourite restaurants and the menu for his dinner party. All very comfortable and relaxing. Not a word about any of the falling in love stuff. We stacked the dishes to soak in the sink, and Quatre gave me an expectant little 'what happens now?' look. 'Well,' I announced, 'I don't know about you, but I really fancy another soak in that hot tub. Seems like it would be a really nice place to watch the sunset.' I gave him a quick kiss as I walked past, just grazing the corner of his mouth, and tried not to laugh at the look of incomprehension on his face. Sorry, Quatre. You wanted me to back off a bit, so I'm not going to sling you over my shoulder and dump you in the tub with me. You'll have to make up your own mind whether to follow. He did, though it took him a good ten minutes. He'd undressed, which had to be a good sign, but he'd tied a towel around his hips. Naked underneath, hopefully. 'Hey.' I held out one hand and he dropped the towel - naked, yes! - and slid in, a few inches away from me. 'What kept you? I was starting to think I'd have to go and look for you.' 'I thought maybe you wanted to be alone for a little bit.' 'I did. Then I started to get lonely here by myself.' 'Trowa.' He gave me one of those sidelong little looks from under his lashes. 'Do you think that we could please talk a little bit?' 'Sure.' 'Thank you.' He edged a little closer, still not quite enough to touch. Oh, what the hell? I slung an arm around his shoulders and he burrowed against me. Now, that felt nice. 'Quatre. If you want to talk, one of us is actually going to have to say something at some point.' 'I know. It's difficult. I know that what I said earlier hurt you. When we were on the beach and I told you to stop… to stop touching me.' 'To stop mauling you, was what you said exactly.' OK, that came out pretty bitter; maybe more than I'd intended. But, yeah, it had hurt, all of it. The words, and the way he'd flung them at me, and how he'd just jerked away. Until then, I hadn't even realised I'd been doing something wrong. I thought he'd been enjoying it. He'd certainly seemed to be having a good time when went along with my little sex-on-the-beach fantasy. He nodded, biting his lip. 'I should never have said anything like that. It was horrible. What I said, about Simon, that was true, but it wasn't all of it. I'm honestly not used to being that…obvious in public. I've always been very circumspect, before I met you. It's not that easy to change overnight.' 'OK. I can get that.' I could, too. Not that I'd ever, personally, given a damn what anyone had thought, but Quatre was different. Much more like Wufei in that respect. 'I am trying,' he said seriously. 'I don't want you to have to feel that you can never touch me in public, but I am a little shy about that sort of thing.' 'We'll work it out, honey. I'll try to tone it down, but I need you to tell me when I'm pushing it, and you're starting to feel uncomfortable. I mean that. Don't just leave it 'til the last minute and then shove me away.' 'I won't.' He wriggled a little closer, and somehow ended up in my lap. 'Hey there,' I kissed the top of his head. 'Where did you come from?' Those beautiful eyes sparkled with mischief. 'I haven't come anywhere yet!' 'Yet,' I echoed, wrapping both arms around him. 'Does that imply there will be coming at some future date?' 'I hope so. Trowa,' he asked softly, 'what are you doing to me?' 'Right now? Holding you. Loving every minute of it, just for the record. Maybe thinking of some stuff it would be fun to try with you. Is all of that acceptable?' He nodded. 'Of course. But I didn't mean that, not really. When I'm with you, even when I'm not with you, you're all I can think about. It's not even thinking, sometimes, it's just imagining, and remembering, and wanting.' His voice trailed off into silence. 'I think about you all the time too, Quatre. What's wrong with that?' 'It's new,' he confessed in a whisper. 'All of this. Half the time, I can't even think properly, especially not when I'm with you. Especially not when - when you're touching me. It's just all too much, sometimes.' 'I don't really understand, love.' I pulled him around so I could look at him. 'What's too much? The fact that I touch you? I don't think I could stop doing that. I like it way too much!' 'No!' He shook his head vehemently. 'I don't want you to stop doing that. I couldn't bear it! It's just the way I feel, like I can't think about anything else, and I don't even want to, most of the time, and it scares me, Trowa. It's not like me. I think about things, and make plans and reason things out, and I can't do that when I'm with you!' It came out almost as a wail, those last few words. Oh, God. Don't laugh, Trowa. He'll kill you. 'Listen, honey.' I tilted his chin up to look at me. 'Calm down, OK? It's normal to feel like that when you're attracted to someone. At the start, anyway. It's not a bad thing. If you meet someone, and you like them, then of course you want to be with them. It's very, very flattering that you feel like that about me, and I feel exactly the same.' I dropped a kiss on his gorgeous, tense mouth. 'I've never felt like this before. Not with anyone. Ever.' 'I think maybe it's all a bit intense for you because you haven't been with anyone for a while, and your last relationship didn't work out,' I said carefully, and he granted me a tight little nod. 'What can I do about it? It isn't funny!' 'No. No, of course it's not.' OK, that wasn't entirely true. 'But why do you want to do anything about it? Just enjoy it.' 'But…weren't you listening? When I'm with you, it's like all of my brain cells have dissolved!' I shrugged. 'What's wrong with that? Sometimes, you just have to let go, Quatre. Just go with how you're feeling and not worry about what you should be thinking. Give your mind a little break and let your body take over.' 'I suppose.' He started to worry at his bottom lip with his teeth. God, it was so cute when he did that. I wanted to do that; to nip at his beautiful mouth and then kiss the hell out of him. 'You know, you said last week that you needed to relax a bit more, and stop planning things so much?' He nodded. 'Well, this is one way to do that.' I tapped his forehead. 'Sometimes, when I'm with you, I can almost hear the gears shifting inside your head. It must get really tiring; maybe you need to stop concentrating so much on figuring out every single thing in your life, and go with how you feel?' 'Like yoga, you mean? Or meditation?' OK, having a fit of hysterics in a hot tub of water with my boyfriend clinging to me probably wouldn't be the best idea. But, God, he could overthink relaxation like no one I'd ever met. I liked being the one who could dissolve his control freakiness, though. 'That wasn't exactly what I meant. Look, I honestly don't think it's something you need to worry about. I mean, you're on my lap, we're both naked, and you're managing to be fairly articulate. It's almost an insult, from my perspective, just how unaware of me you seem to be.' 'I'm not!' He shook his head vehemently. 'I am trying so hard to concentrate on what I want to say to you and it isn't easy!' 'Hard, is it?' I tugged him closer, checking out just how hard it was. Oh, that was perfectly satisfactory. 'So, honey, given the mutual nakedness and the proximity, and all these lovely bubbles in the water, does that mean it's hard for you to think about other stuff? You mean, you don't want to discuss climate change or the next election or something?' 'You,' he grumbled, wrapping his legs around me nonetheless, 'are not helping at all.' 'I don't want to help! I love that you have this particular problem, that you can't stop thinking about me, and wanting to be with me, and when you are with me, that you can't think straight. I'm loving every minute of it.' He gave me what was obviously his best attempt at a Heero-style glare. He didn't nearly pull it off. 'You could stop looking so insufferably pleased with yourself for one second!' 'Nope,' I informed him amiably. 'I couldn't. I'm thrilled with the effect I seem to have on you!' He snorted. 'You don't have to look like the cat that got all the cream, and a whole cage-ful of canaries as well!' 'But I did get the cream, remember?' I grinned at him, and laughed when he blushed. 'You,' he said sternly, 'are utterly obsessed with sex. Utterly.' 'Your problem being?' I shot back, settling him more comfortably across my thighs. Oh, that felt good. 'Seriously, honey, I can't believe you're worrying about this. Now, if you weren't attracted to me, then we'd both have a problem.' 'I suppose,' he murmured, winding both arms around my neck and snuggling in. 'Trowa, have you felt like this about anyone before?' 'The physical bit, sure. Sorry, but it's true. The other stuff? No. I have you on my mind all the time as well. Do you have any idea how many prescription sheets I've had to throw out because I've doodled your name on them? Whatever I'm doing, I'm imagining what it would be like if you were there with me. Even stupid stuff like watching TV or doing laundry. That's all new. I think we'll both have to accept that it's new territory and just get on with it.' 'I'm glad it's not just me.' 'Oh, it's not just you. It's not a bad thing. Really. Yeah, it's a bit confusing, but you seem to be functioning pretty well for someone who's had his brain cells dissolved. Actually, I'll tell you what probably would help with that?' 'Really? What?' He was all eagerness, gazing up at me. 'Well, you know they say that practice makes perfect? So maybe if you get used to the whole sensual overload thing, you'll be able to live with it and it won't be such a big deal.' Blush deliciously in place, he gaped up at me. 'What?' 'Oh, you don't have to thank me. It'll be tough and all, but I'm willing to be there for you whenever you feel the need to get physical. If we do it often enough, it'll start to feel normal.' 'Hmmm. What if it has the opposite effect? What if I become even more addicted?' 'Yeah. That could be a real problem, all right. But I'm willing to take the chance. If you are?' 'Could we start now?' The words were blatant enough, but not nearly so much as what he was doing with his hips, thrusting against me. 'This second. I suppose we could do that. Just let me get a couple of things.' I groped behind me 'Trowa! Did you plan all this?' 'Me? No way! I think you were the one who left them there last night.' Thank God for whoever invented waterproof lubricant. It still wasn't easy getting him ready; trying to hold a squirming, slippery, over-excited blond in one place is always a challenge. I managed though. He seemed to be right about the sort of effect I had on him. I was feeling pretty pleased about that, watching the way his eyes glazed over and feeling him hump against my fingers. 'How d'you want it, honey?' I asked softly. 'I'm not sure I - oh! Oooooh! - what do you mean?' 'You want me to keep to nice and slow, or speed things up a little bit for a change?' 'I don't - oh, God! Oh, Trowa! That's just..don't stop! Oh, God!' Hmm. Maybe he'd had a point earlier. Taking that babbling to mean that 'nice and slow' wasn't the preferred option this time, I just arched straight into him, and listened to him scream. Yep, he'd definitely lost any form of control or coherency. Excellent. Actually, it wasn't easy for me to hold on to either of those desirable qualities either. Not with a gasping, groaning guy letting me know just how much pleasure I was giving him, and those perfect legs locked around my waist, and his mouth opening to suck in my tongue. At the end, the poor guy didn't even have enough brainpower left to stay upright, collapsing into the water when I pulled out and needing to be hauled back up to my lap. 'How was that, Quatre?' I kissed his soggy blond hair, remembering that I'd promised to wash if for him at some point. I'd forgotten to bring any shampoo down from our bathroom. Still, we could always take a shower together, or no, maybe not. He'd probably end up cracking his skull against something. 'Oh, shit.' 'Uhh?' He peered groggily up at me. 'We totally forgot about the sunset.'
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