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"The Wedding Planner"Written By: Snowdragonct Disclaimer: Don't own any part of Gundam Wing or the characters, more's the pity. This is for fun...no profit involved. Warnings: AU, yaoi, some OOC, angst, potential lemon(s), sickening sappy fluff Pairings: to be announced, or it’d be too easy (but you know who I like) A/N: This idea hit me while I was driving somewhere, and I needed to start it before the inspiration faded. But it will take second place to Boot Camp and the sequel to Boot Camp, so I can’t promise regular or frequent updates. It’s probably totally predictable FLUFF, so you have been warned. And I’m trying out the world of first-person here, with point of view shifting between Heero and Duo (maybe others…not sure yet). Rating: NC 17 Summary: Heero isn't thrilled when Relena hires
someone to plan their wedding, but once he meets the young man, he's
downright unhappy. Duo Maxwell is friendly, good looking, and spending
way too much time with Relena...Heero's jealousy knows no bounds.
"The Wedding Planner"
Chapter Twenty Five: Dreams Heero’s Point of View That week in Hong Kong stands out as one of the longest, most boring business trips I can recall. Of course, keeping my mind on work was more of a challenge than usual, too, when I had the conversation in the plane replaying in my mind at regular intervals. Why did Wufei seem to think I was attracted to Duo Maxwell? I went over every word and gesture from our dinner at The Circus, trying to see what he’d seen. But I just couldn’t figure it out. I mean, even Wufei agreed with the word “gorgeous.” So then why did he seem to think I’d shown a noteworthy attraction to the man? So I dissected my previous conversations with Wufei, searching for clues. Okay, I’d said right from the start that Duo was gorgeous. But that was when I was looking at him as a potential rival for Relena’s attention. I mean, it was obvious the effect he had on women; Silvia hadn’t been able to keep her hands off him any more than Relena did. It certainly hadn’t occurred to me to grab his ass the way Silvia had—not at any point in our acquaintance. I mean, shit, if you wanted to get technical, I’d held his hand that day in the Jag. When he’d tried to start the car and I grabbed hold of his hand, there’d been no sexual overtone. Nothing. Not even a flicker of electricity at the contact. Of course, when he leaned in so close his lips nearly touched my ear, it had caused a twinge of discomfort. But that was to be expected in those close quarters, wasn’t it? Then why did the way he’d said I should “try new things more often” make me shiver? At the time, I hadn’t given it a thought. But in light of Wufei’s accusations, and my in-depth reevaluation of my interactions with Duo, it now raised doubts. Was I, in fact, attracted to Duo? And if I was, what did that mean? “Yuy—if you’re going to toss and turn all night, I’ll ask for separate rooms next time,” came Wufei’s weary, surly voice. I looked at the clock beside my bed in our shared hotel room. Two a.m. “Go right ahead,” I said curtly, rolling onto my back and glaring up at the ceiling. “It’s your fucking fault anyway.” There was a heavy sigh from across the room. “I’m sorry about the things I said on the plane,” came the insincere apology. “I didn’t mean to raise such doubts that you’d lose sleep over it.” “Of course you did!” I accused. There was a lengthy silence, and I wondered if my weary Chinese roommate had finally been able to doze off. “Well—if the doubts are so strong that you can’t sleep, perhaps that should tell you something.” “Like what?” I demanded, anger getting the better of me. “Maybe you need to—rethink things.” “What things?” “Have you and Relena started that counseling yet?” I rolled my eyes. “No, ‘Fei. She assures me we don’t need a marriage counselor.” “She might feel differently if you told her you were attracted to the wedding planner.” I sat up sharply, and it was all I could do to keep from dashing over and belting Wufei. “I am not attracted to Duo Maxwell. And I’m sure as hell not going to tell Relena I am!” “There’s just no point in arguing with you when you get like this,” came an infuriatingly patient reply. “You go ahead and sleep, and if you don’t dream about Maxwell tonight, I’ll never bring up the subject again.” “I fucking hate you, ‘Fei!” I snarled. I swear I heard him chuckle unrepentantly, but then there was silence, and eventually I did doze off. And of course, now that Wufei had planted the idea, I did dream about Duo. We were on a beach, of course, and that incredibly long hair of his was loose, instead of tied back in the smooth, sleek braid. And those indigo eyes had the same expression in them that I’d seen when I looked up from brushing Relena’s hair off her face, and I recognized it as longing. Then he cocked his head to one side, with that vague smirk on those too-perfect lips, and said I should try something new. When I asked what that meant, he got a devilish twinkle in his eyes and said “Let me show you.” And he proceeded to do just that, overwhelming me with the most erotic sensations, at great length, until I jerked upright in bed to the sound of the alarm, gasping and soaked with sweat…and other things I’d rather not have had to explain to Wufei. With his usual impeccable timing, Wufei flicked on the lights, looking over at me with a mixture of amusement and pity in his dark eyes. “Sleep well?” he taunted ruthlessly. “You fucking ass!” I growled between panting breaths. He blinked as if startled, and then his gaze raked over me again, more appraisingly. A faint blush crept up his cheeks, and he rolled out of the opposite side of his bed, standing and stretching. “Dibs on the bathroom,” he said with a hint of a grin in his voice, before disappearing into the next room. I used his absence to hastily change my boxers, using the, er, sodden pair to clean up as much as I could of the evidence of the most intense wet dream I’d ever had. Damn him anyway! And what would the maid who cleaned the hotel room think of something like that? Shit, damn, and motherfuck! Needless to say, I didn’t sleep a wink the rest of that trip, and only on the plane ride home did I finally nod off. Of course, I woke up every time Duo’s face insinuated itself in my dreams, which seemed to be every time I dozed off. So by the time the plane landed, I was dead on my feet. We were in baggage claim before Wufei dared broach the untouchable subject again. He’d been conspicuously quiet about it since that morning. In fact, he’d talked about nothing but business ever since. But now, as he grabbed his luggage off the carousel, he fixed a brief, intense look on me. “If you need to talk, Yuy—.” “I know,” I growled wearily. Staying angry at him for making me pick apart my own emotions and motivations was a waste of energy. Hadn’t I said I valued his honesty and bluntness? Oh, wait. Duo was blunt. Wufei was supposed to be tactful and artful. Well, so much for that theory. Chang was the “blunt as a rock” friend after all. “If I was out of line, I’m sorry,” Wufei said rather stiffly. I shook my head. “No, you weren’t. You were entirely right. And I do need to think—about things.” We headed out to hail a taxi, our silence more companionable than it had been in days. Still, I was relieved to arrive at my penthouse and bid my friend farewell. I really needed some time alone to sift through my troubled thoughts and maybe catch a few hours of sleep. Out of reflex, I pushed the “play” button on my answering machine and promptly heard Relena’s voice. She sounded conciliatory—but then, she should. Having gotten roaring drunk with the wedding planner was a blunder even by her standards. “Hi, Heero. You didn’t call from your trip, so I thought I’d leave a message. Um, maybe you could come out for dinner after you get back. I—Duo said you came to take care of me when I got sick.” There was a pause, as if she was trying to figure out what to say next. “I don’t really remember the evening very well. Did Duo say anything about it? Maybe when you come out, you could fill me in. So—talk to you soon. Bye!” Bright, cheery—unrepentant. Yep, that was Relena in a nutshell. Then I froze at the sound of Duo’s voice on the answering machine. “Hey ‘Ro—I heard you were getting back today, so I wanted to let you know the next few appointments for wedding planning. You promised to participate, an’ I’m gonna hold you to it.” He gave a warm chuckle that sent chills up my spine. “Besides, I like your company. And I want you around to babysit your wino of a girlfriend.” He laughed again, a bit uneasily. “Sorry. That was inappropriate. Just—call me when you get the chance, okay?” If it hadn’t been for Wufei’s acerbic comments, I might not have tried to analyze my reaction to the sound of that laugh. Instead, I replayed the damned message just to see if it still made my stomach flutter—and it did. Resisting the urge to throw the machine out the window, I went into the kitchen and put water on the stove for a cup of tea. When the phone rang I picked it up automatically. “Yuy here.” “Oh, you’re back!” Relena said brightly. She had a singular gift for forgetting we’d been on the outs when we’d last spoken. I didn’t count carrying her passed-out body up the stairs to her room as a conversation. She wouldn’t even have known I’d been there if Duo hadn’t told her. “Of course I’m back. You knew I was due in today,” I said matter-of-factly. “I just wasn’t sure when,” she said, sounding a little less confident. “You’re not still mad at me, are you?” “For what?” I asked wearily. “Well…getting a little tipsy the other day…” “It wasn’t the brightest thing you’ve ever done,” I said a bit caustically. I was mentally and physically exhausted, so my patience was wearing thin. “It’s not like I did it on purpose,” came the defensive reply. “You’re a big girl, Relena. You should know your own limits. Or you should have warned Duo that you had no self-control.” “No self-?” She stopped short, sounding uneasy. “What do you mean?” I caught the wary tone of her voice. “What do you think I mean?” “I—I’m sure I don’t know,” she babbled nervously. “What did Duo tell you?” Now, just for the record, I wasn’t the type to jump to conclusions—honestly. But something in the way she said that made me wonder what there was that Duo might have told me that would worry Relena so much. And although I hated to tip my hand and admit he’d told me nothing incriminating about her, I had to answer the question. “He told me the two of you went wine-tasting, and that you’d had too much and were sick. And since you’d given Walter and Milly the night off, he thought I should come look after you until I had to leave for my flight.” I paused to let her know I’d caught her little slip-up. “Was there more I should know about?” “Oh. No,” she said quickly. “That’s all of it.” “Right.” I knew damned well she’d done something more to embarrass herself, and that Duo had been too much of a gentleman to tell me, and she wasn’t about to confess. “So, if that’s all you called about, Relena, I really need to get some sleep.” “Don’t you want to come for dinner?” I looked at the clock, mentally calculating the time it would take me to drive to her estate, eat, and drive back into the city. “Honestly, Relena, I didn’t sleep well. I’d rather not do a lot of driving tonight.” “You—could stay here,” she said tentatively. I guessed that meant I was forgiven for our previous spat. “So you finally believe I didn’t coerce Duo into behaving around you?” I asked coolly. “Well you have to admit, after you two went off alone for the day, he started acting differently around me.” “That’s because he found out how much his behavior had bothered me, and he was gentleman enough to try to make amends.” She gave a little laugh. “I’d think it had more to do with the fact that once you knew he was gay, it wouldn’t have bothered you any more.” So, she remembered that much of her drunken evening. “If that were the case,” I shot back snidely. “I’d have expected him to flirt more with you instead of less.” I shook my head, tired of the whole conversation. “Look, Relena. I haven’t slept in days, and I’m going to have a cup of tea, find something in the freezer to eat, and go to bed. I’ll see you when we have the next appointment with Duo, okay?” “Oh. Okay,” came the rather petulant reply. “Goodnight then?” “Goodnight.” I put the phone down a little harder than necessary and shut off the boiling teapot. But then, as I was dropping in the teabag, I found myself picking the phone up and dialing. “Maxwell!” came the cheery greeting. “Uh—hi, Duo. It’s me, Heero.” “Hey! Good to hear from you. Did you just get back in?” “Yeah—long flight. I’m kind of tired. But I wanted to find out when our next appointment is, so I can make arrangements at work.” “Aw, man—this could’ve waited until morning,” he assured me. “You sound like death warmed over.” “I didn’t sleep—well.” Images of the dream came back unbidden, and I rubbed my eyes to try to rid myself of the vision of Duo with his hair unbound and falling around the two of us. “It can be tough sleeping in a strange place,” he said, his tone warm and understanding. “I always take a blanket from home, y’know. Something about the smell and feel of a familiar place makes it easier to relax.” Yeah. He was babbling on about travel tips, and I was picturing him naked and lying on top of me on a sandy beach. I nearly groaned aloud. “Y’okay, man?” came his concerned voice. “Fine,” I rasped out, drawing a ragged breath. “Just—exhausted.” “Then forget about appointments and shit, and just go to bed,” he said quietly, sounding genuinely worried. “You sound awful.” “You have no idea,” I sighed. “Just—when’s the next appointment? I’ll get the rest from you when I see you.” He chuckled warmly, and I shivered deliciously at the tone, knowing I’d hear it in my dreams. “We don’t have a planning session until the day after tomorrow…that’s the tenth. But if you want to come to The Circus tomorrow night, I’ll buy you dinner.” “That sounds…nice.” I heard my voice answering him, even as my brain was trying unsuccessfully to intercept the message and change it to “thanks, but I better not or I might get in deeper than I already am.” “You can call my cell phone when you’re on your way,” he said with a grin in his voice. “Now do me a favor, and go get some rest—okay?” “Yeah. Thanks.” “For what?” I shook my head, even though he couldn’t see the gesture. “Just—thanks.” I hung up to the sound of puzzled laughter, and stumbled my way to my bedroom, forgetting about my half-brewed tea and the aforementioned frozen dinner. I didn’t even bother undressing, but flopped face down on the mattress. I think I was asleep before my head hit the pillow. And yes, I dreamed about him again. tbc... |
