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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 Thirty Nine: Fun Land Heero’s Point of View Duo had never looked better. With his head flung back and the sun gleaming off his chestnut hair, he was beauty incarnate. And if my hands hadn’t been busy with the tiller and sail, they might very well have been buried in that gorgeous mane. I’d forgotten the miserable start to my day by the time we had the sail unfurled and were bouncing recklessly over the cresting waves at the beach. But when Duo made me take over sailing, I felt a rush of elation at trying something new and even a bit challenging. And being able to stare unabashedly at the braided man basking in the sunshine was an added bonus. It was a wonder I could keep my mind on the task at hand. He opened those deep indigo eyes and fixed a searching look on me, smiling. “You like?” he asked cheekily. Like what? Sailing? Staring spell-bound at you? How about “all of the above?” I grinned carelessly. “I love!” I replied firmly. My choice of words drew a startled look, and then Duo glanced away, reaching behind him to run a hand through the waves as we sped along. “It gets in your blood, Yuy. The sea and the wind…skimming over the waves like this. Doesn’t it?” That wasn’t the only thing that got in my blood, and I was half-tempted to tell him so. But the day was off to a perfect start, and I was afraid to cross that line too soon. I needed to watch him and try to read his mood—to see if the attraction Wufei thought he had to me was real. Then—maybe—I could bring up the subject of being attracted to him as well. “What’s that scowl for?” Duo demanded, once again looking at me with those knowing eyes. “Just thinking.” “Well, stop! That’s not what we’re out here for!” he cautioned. His braid was whipping in the wind of our speed, and small wisps fluttered around his face as he gave me a devilish smile. “We’re out here to feel.” Oh, God, did that conjure images of what I’d like to be feeling right then. It was a good thing I had both hands occupied. I think Duo might have read something in my expression, because he blushed and looked away again, as if studying the horizon. “Steer us towards that peninsula over there.” He pointed to a distant spit of land crowned by a gigantic ferris wheel and roller coaster. “Fun Land?” I guessed. He glanced over his shoulder, grinning. “Fun Land!” As I started to turn us, the shift in our course caused us to run parallel to the wind, and the sail promptly went slack. “You’re luffing,” Duo told me, pointing to the sail. “I’m what?” He chuckled. “Ya gotta keep the sail at right angles to the wind. When you don’t, the wind just brushes past. Luffing. It means you’re too close to the wind.” “Uh-huh,” I replied, eyeing the sail dubiously. “And how do I un-luff?” Duo laughed, sliding over so that he was nearly pressed up against me. He reached and took the rope from my hands. “Turn the rudder a little to the starboard, and I’ll show you how to catch the wind again.” He graced me with a sly smirk and a wink. “You’re a pretty ‘luff-able’ guy, ‘Ro. But I’ll teach you how to avoid it anyway.” I rolled my eyes at the lame excuse for a pun. “I’d ‘rudder’ you didn’t.” Duo laughed so hard at that, he nearly fell overboard. I made a panicky grab for the front of his life vest, hauling him closer, until I was just about staring into the indigo eyes from inches away. But before I could close the gap and see if those lips tasted as great as they looked, a shift of the boat caused it to slap down into the trough of a wave, and a cascade of cold sea spray nearly drenched us. Duo blinked, reaching to wipe the damp bangs from his forehead, and then caught hold of the edge of the boat again, flashing me a quick grin. “Good save, Yuy! Ya try to kill me with bad jokes, and then keep me from drowning.” “It seemed like the thing to do at the time.” We refocused our attention on piloting our small vessel, and I nearly groaned at the lost opportunity. Duo spent the rest of the voyage showing me the basics of sailing…how to tack, jib, run, and come about. Don’t ask me to explain, because I’m sure I couldn’t. Honestly, it made sense at the time. Although I choked a bit when he told me to “come about” in a rather sultry voice, I managed to do it without blushing as long as I didn’t look straight at him. We reached the small marina adjacent to Fun Land, and Duo efficiently lowered the sail and paddled us in to tie up at the dock. Then he jumped up onto the wooden structure and held out a hand. “C’mon, Yuy. Time’s wasting.” I took his hand, feeling a tingle of electricity as our skin made contact, and resisted the urge to keep hold of it even once I’d climbed up beside him. “So…Fun Land is an amusement park.” He nodded. “Haven’t you ever been here?” I shook my head. “I’ve never been to any amusement park.” The indigo eyes widened incredulously. “Never?” he asked in an almost breathless whisper. I looked down at the weathered boards of the dock, unaccountably embarrassed by my lack of experience at something Duo seemed to think was vital to his existence. “My parents weren’t big on recreational activities,” I shrugged. “I studied, practiced martial arts, did chores.” “Fuck…you’re makin’ me glad I was an orphan,” he chided, and I found a warm hand wrapped around my wrist. “C’mon and let me show you how to have fun.” You can show me anything you want. I let myself be led along the dock until we came to a row of outhouses. At that point, Duo released my arm (dammit!) and shoved my backpack and a towel from his bag into my hands. “Put on dry clothes and shoes,” he instructed me. “Believe me, you don’t wanna go on rides soaking wet.” I glanced up to see a teasing glimmer in the deep eyes. “You’ll chafe.” I managed a snort at that. “Wufei has always said I had an abrasive personality,” I joked. Duo grinned brilliantly, and rolled his eyes. “Again with the lame puns! Just get dried off, and we can put our wet shoes out to dry while we go have fun.” He shoved me towards an outhouse, and headed for the next one over. Fun. I wasn’t entirely sure what that entailed; but as long as I was with Duo, I knew I’d enjoy the experience. Moments later, I emerged in dry khakis, shoes, and a polo shirt. Duo was lounging against a post, wearing faded jeans, sneakers, and a tee shirt that clung to every curve and muscle of his chest. God, I hoped I wasn’t drooling. He raised an eyebrow. “Is that the most informal thing you own?” he sighed. I looked down at my clothes. “Pretty much,” I admitted. “Isn’t it acceptable?” “It’s fine. Just—.” He looked away, a faint pink tinge on his cheeks. “I was kinda hoping for you to have a nice tight pair of jeans for me to ogle all day.” His sly sideways glance assured me he was just teasing to get a rise out of me. “Next time I’ll be sure to bring a speedo,” I said deadpan. He gaped momentarily, and then laughed, grabbing the damp shorts and tee shirt out of my hands and bounding back to the boat to lay them across the deck to dry. “Open up your shoes as much as possible and set them on the edge of the dock.” “No one will take them?” An amused look crossed his face. “No one wants a pair of smelly old hightops, Yuy. And fortunately, the kids around here aren’t the type to kick ‘em into the water for fun. They’ll be safe enough.” “Oh.” I carefully set my soggy shoes up to dry, and within moments, Duo and I were on our way to the amusement park. He chattered on amiably about Fun Land, expounding on the variety of rides and attractions until I felt like I knew every inch of the place. When we reached the gate, he insisted on paying for me, as it was his treat. And I didn’t want to insult him by arguing. We got a little blue star stamped onto the back of our hands, and then we were inside, melting into a laughing, festive crowd of people. Even though it was a weekday, it was summertime, so the place was busy without being mobbed. There were families there, young kids who had finished school for the season, and even couples—apparently taking advantage of the thinner weekday traffic. “This is the perfect day to be here,” Duo told me, as we headed straight for the roller coaster. “Mondays are always slowest, and mornings are quieter than nights.” “They’re open at night?” “Of course!” he said as if it were common knowledge—which it probably was. “At night there are strings of lights, and all the rides are lit up—it’s awesome!” His eyes were shining with eagerness that was so contagious I could barely keep from grinning unabashedly at him. “How often do you come here?” “Quatre and I still make it at least half a dozen times every summer,” he replied, stopping at a cotton candy vendor. “C’mon, Yuy. Time to rot our teeth.” “You don’t actually eat that stuff, do you?” I asked dubiously. He bought a cloud of pink fluff on a paper stick. “Naw, you inhale it.” He pulled a chunk off between two fingers and stuffed it into his mouth; then waved the rest in my face. “C’mon. You have to try it.” “Duo—.” He batted his eyes at me, damn him! I cautiously pinched off a piece, and tucked it carefully into my mouth. And although I’m not big on sweets, I had to admit, it had a unique flavor and texture that melted quite pleasantly in my mouth. “Mmm.” “Ah, see?” Duo grinned triumphantly. “Tasty, huh?” “You are an overgrown child, Maxwell,” I sighed, trying to sound exasperated. He shook his head, steering us towards the roller coaster again. “I’m a grown-up who finally has a chance to be a child,” he corrected me. “Growing up on L2 was plain Hell, Yuy. This is my payback.” We finished the cotton candy in record time, since it was prohibited on any of the rides. And I found myself fixated on the way Duo licked the sticky remnants off his fingertips. I swear the bastard knew he was being—erotic—about it. I mean, shit...licking the wedding cake off my fingertip had been bad enough; but the way he sucked on the tip of his index finger to get the sticky pink confection off it nearly drove me insane. “Are you about done?” He glanced at me in surprise, and then a flicker of realization crossed his face, and he pulled his finger abruptly out of his mouth, smiling disarmingly. “Sorry. Didn’t want to waste any. Ya ready for The Rocket?” I looked up at the towering roller coaster. “That thing?” “Yep. I always do it first so I can eat later and not worry about upchucking.” He eyed me appraisingly. “You don’t have a weak stomach or anything, do you?” I smiled dangerously. “Not at all,” I assured him, recalling that I was known for a cast-iron stomach and nerves of steel. I could take any ride he could dish out; that much I knew for certain. His return smile was both conspiratorial and evil. “You an’ I are gonna make a great team,” he predicted, gesturing me to precede him to the ride. Half an hour and two rides later, we staggered wearily away from the roller coaster. Even I had to admit that the spiral twist and double loop were enough to challenge the most impervious stomach in the world. I was glad we hadn’t eaten anything substantial ahead of time. I was even gladder we didn’t stay on for a third go-round. “Was it good for you?” Duo chuckled, stumbling once on the way down the ramp. Fuck him! Did he have to put innuendo into every damned sentence? “It was—great,” I replied diplomatically. “I thought you were an old hand at this. Why are you staggering?” “It’s that second ride in a row that does it,” he explained, waiting for me to catch up and then throwing an arm across my shoulders; whether for companionship, or to steady himself as he walked, it was hard to tell. “One trip barely gets my head spinning.” “I see.” “Next we do the ferris wheel,” he told me, pointing to the towering ride. “You aren’t scared of heights, are ya?” “I’ve been sky-diving with Wufei,” I chided. “I think I can manage a big, slow-moving wheel, Duo.” He pulled away, looking at me in surprise. “You’ve been sky-diving?” I nodded. “I take back everything I said about you being a chicken weenie,” he said earnestly. “And I may have to revise my opinion of your best friend. I think he has been a good influence on you.” “Have you been sky-diving?” He shook his head. “Never had the money,” he admitted. “Or at least, I never wanted to spend it on that. I always thought it was an overpriced activity—though it looks like a serious rush!” “I’ll have to take you along the next time we go,” I offered. “Would you really?” “Of course!” I looked at him incredulously. “You’d really want to?” He waved a hand back towards the wild roller coaster we’d left behind. “Whaddaya think?” I found myself smiling again—or still. I’d done so much of it already that day I was beginning to lose track. “Well, then. You’re on. Next time we play hooky, I’m taking you sky-diving.” Much of the day passed in a blur, as we went from ride to ride, and joked our way through the entire park. We had hotdogs for a late morning snack, covered with relish, mustard, sauerkraut and catsup…and we shared a container of greasy, salty french fries. It was one of the most enjoyable meals I’d ever had. And by early afternoon, we found ourselves on the midway, where hawkers tried to get us to try our luck on their hopelessly rigged games of chance. Duo goaded me into throwing baseballs at a stack of bottles…weighted bottles that were nearly impossible to topple…and I won a silly baseball cap with cat ears attached. I’ll admit, Duo almost got me to wear it. But I was able to resist the puppy dog eyes and the pouting lips, and stuff the offensive head gear into a back pocket. Then he spotted the target practice booth, and all but dragged me over to try it. I sighed deeply, passing the vendor a couple of dollars and accepting the horribly balanced bee-bee gun. I was supposed to shoot at little metal ducks that zipped along a track at deceptively high speeds. No one was more surprised than I was when I nailed five in a row. “Whoa.” Duo blinked and looked at me with a mixture of admiration and apprehension. “Um—have you played this game before?” “Never.” “Shot a real gun?” “Yes.” “At anyone I know?” I saw the teasing gleam in his eyes, and I smirked back. “Just annoying wedding planners now and then.” He chuckled, and then grimaced as the man behind the booth held out a frilly pink teddy bear towards me. “Your prize, Mister.” Duo and I exchanged a horrified look, and my braided friend leaned on the counter, giving the man a winning smile. “Aw, c’mon. Haven’t you got something a little less—pink?” “If your pal can shoot five more ducks, he can trade it in for the next prize up.” He jerked a thumb at a row of slightly larger, more conservatively colored bears. “And if he keeps going, you upgrade each time, until you have a choice of the grand prize animals.” Here he gave a small, smug grin. “Of course, the ducks get smaller each round.” “No problem,” Duo said glibly, elbowing me. “Go on, Yuy. Keep shooting.” He tossed a couple more dollars onto the counter. “What on Earth do I want with a bigger, uglier bear?” I wondered. He gave me a pleading look. “It’s a matter of pride, man. You’ve got to go for the biggest, baddest prize, or it ain’t worth doing.” “It ain’t—it’s not worth doing anyway,” I pointed out. He pouted again, and I caved. “Fine!” I picked up the gun, nodded to the man behind the counter, and picked off five more ducks without batting an eye. Duo gave a yelp of delight. “Ha! I knew you could do it!” He waved the man away when he would have handed us a large, pudgy panda. “He’s gonna keep going.” “I am?” “You are.” Fifty dollars and ten rounds later, I found myself picking off ducks so small it felt like I was shooting ants from a passenger plane. But I succeeded in hitting all five of my miniscule targets. The vendor wore an expression somewhere between annoyed and impressed. “You a cop or something?” he demanded with a scowl. I shook my head. “I program computers,” I said flatly, giving him the simplified version of my job description. “No shit. Well, pick your grand prize.” He gestured to a row of gigantic stuffed animals behind him. I looked at Duo in horror. “Maxwell, how d’you expect to take one of those monstrosities back across the bay in a Sunfish?” “We’ll manage,” he said with ill-concealed glee. “Heero, you don’t know how many times Quat and I have tried to beat this game. We have so gotta get your prize home so you can tell him about it next time we go to The Circus. You have to enjoy your bragging rights!” I rolled my eyes. “Fine. Which one do you want?” “It’s your prize,” he said with a shrug. “You pick.” I shook my head, smiling grimly at him. “You’re the one who made me keep going. You’re the one who brought me here in the first place, and who’s dreamed of winning this game. The grand prize is yours, Duo. So you pick it out.” He blinked, looking uncertain. “Shit, Yuy…no. You pick one. You can take it home to Relena…for when you guys patch things up.” Well that was the wrong thing for him to say. Firstly, I had no desire to take anything to Relena at all, and secondly, she’d laugh in my face if I gave her a giant stuffed animal. Maybe if it had been a giant mink, and could be made into a coat she’d like it; but as it stood, there was nothing in that booth that would impress her. “Either you pick the prize and keep it, or I’ll just leave it here,” I warned. He ducked his head, and then shrugged slightly. “Ya sure?” It dawned on me then that he really did want the grand prize stuffed animal. In fact, I’d have bet money he’d tried for it every time he was here. And I suspected he even had one picked out in his mind, just in case. “I’m very sure,” I said gently, giving him a small, encouraging smile. “I want you to have it. Consider it a present for bringing me here, teaching me to sail, and making this such a special day.” He blushed at that, looking up to see the impatient vendor giving us a rather patronizing look. When he pointed to his choice of prizes, my jaw nearly hit the ground. “Are you fucking nuts?” I demanded, giving him an incredulous look. “How in Hell are we going to carry that—that thing on a Sunfish?” The guy behind the counter seemed to find that highly amusing, and he quickly fetched the chosen prize, staggering under its bulk as he brought it over to us. “No refunds or exchanges, boys!” he said triumphantly, passing it to Duo with an almost relieved look on his face. Duo’s smile was bright enough to light the entire coast, and he picked up as much of the huge animal as he could fit in his arms. “Could you maybe take his feet, er, hooves there, Heero?” I sighed, gathering the four long legs and letting Duo handle the head and neck. Between us, we barely managed to keep it off the ground as we made our way out of the midway. “Am I safe in assuming we’re done at Fun Land for today?” I asked. Duo looked back at me with an expression of such contentment that it made my heart swell with pride at having won his prize. It almost overrode my urge to beat him senseless with the awkward, unwieldy creature he’d chosen. “Yeah,” he said quietly. “If you’ve had enough rides, we may as well head home. Our picnic supper is still waiting at Howie’s for us anyway.” I briefly considered dancing a little joyful jig at the thought that our day wasn’t over yet. “When you say ‘done for today,’ do you mean you might like to come back sometime?” Duo asked almost shyly. “Definitely.” He looked supremely pleased with my answer, and practically
glowed all the way back to the docks. Of course, trying to devise
a way to put an eight-foot tall stuffed giraffe into a tiny little
Sunfish soon wiped that peaceful look right off his face. And I was
kind of glad for that. tbc... |
