|
"nakodo shimei"Written By: t-shirt View art work for 'Nakodo Shimei": Click HERE Disclaimer: Gundam Wing and its characters are
copyright to Sunrise, Bandai, Sotsu Agency, and associated parties.
I make no money with this fic. Rating: NC 17 Warnings: post-war cannon, Fluff, sap, WAFF ^-^,
slight angst, mention of lemon Pairings: (eventual 3x4, 1x2), 5+all Beta reader: mechante-fille Summary: Duo’s unease over his fellow pilot’s
lack of happiness in their new world of peace leads to a daring plan
to rectify the problem.
"nakodo shimei "
Wufei and Sally arrived two days later and were a welcome sight in spite of the fact that they didn’t seem to be able to co-exist in the same room without sniping at one another. I hate to say it, but Sally was instigating most of it. The woman just seemed to have it in for him for some reason, and he was near the end of his patience from what I could see. When she started in on him about the way he was making his toast I figured it might be a good idea to put some distance between them for a while and suggested the girls go shopping for the afternoon. I knew from Sally’s eagerness and Hilde’s excitement at being able to show off all her favorite haunts, not to mention the relieved gratitude in Wufei’s eyes, that I’d done the right thing. I needed to find out what Sally’s deal was before I could hit her up for advice on how to chill Hilde out when it came to Trowa. Wufei had physically relaxed the moment they were gone, settling himself in the living room with the paper and a cup of hot tea. I couldn’t recall seeing him read so much during the war, and paused a moment to assimilate the fact that he apparently uses reading glasses. “Is there something you need?” he asked without lifting his eyes from the print. “How the hell do you aim without your glasses?” I asked, stunned by the very idea that anyone could perform with his accuracy without being able to see clearly. “I only use them for reading,” he replied evenly. “Oh,” I nodded, helping myself to a seat in the armchair. “Heero left some files for you to look over,” I informed him, and he finally looked up from his paper. “Where are they?” he asked, setting it aside. “On the house system in my office,” I replied. “I can download them to your laptop if you want.” “I’ll get it,” he said, getting up to do just that. “So what’s Sally’s problem?” I hedged. “I have no idea,” he sighed. I followed as far as the guest room door and watched while he pulled his laptop out of his bag. “Maybe she just needs to get laid,” he commented as he brushed by me and I swear I heard the distinct ringing of a bell. Two seconds later I was trying not to choke to death as I followed him into my office. Holy geez! “Are you set up for networking?” he asked just as if he hadn’t just turned my brain inside out. “Uh.. yeah,” I grunted. I left the connection cable jacked in because Heero was on and off the system so much. It only took Wufei a minute to start the transfer. “Has she mentioned the ball?” I asked after a time while we looked over the files he was downloading. He paused for a long moment, then turned slowly to gaze at me with the most adorably lost expression in his eyes and I almost laughed out loud. Almost. “On L4,” I prompted, but all I got was one elegantly raised brow. Wufei has this way of moving that kind of makes him look like some artistic god got out his paints and brushed his features into life. I knew if he’d just loosen up and find that calm, peaceful center he’d have to beat the women off with a stick. I was certain he could make Sally happy. “The public awareness ball Quatre and Relena are throwing?” I explained and finally seemed to spark some memory. “No,” he intoned turning his attention back to his work. Sigh. “Why don’t you two come with us?” I suggested as nonchalantly as I could manage. “We have work to do,” he replied. “Yeah, but Quatre would appreciate the support.” Working on his sense of responsibility wasn’t perhaps the noblest thing I’ve ever done but I was getting desperate. “Besides,” I added hopefully, “I bet Sally would love it if you took her.” I couldn’t help watching him closely out of the corner of my eye to see his reaction but all he said was... “She will go if she wants to.” Christ! “Yeah,” I grumbled, plopping down in my favorite chair and kicking it back against the counter on two legs. “But she’d probably like it if you went with her.” “She worries too much,” he replied, unhooking his laptop before standing to leave. “Well that’s just ‘cause she cares about ya, man,” I shot quickly at his back. He paused but didn’t say anything before he moved off down the hall and went into his room. “He’s as pig headed as Heero,” I sighed to myself, dropping my head in my hands so I could scrub the fatigue out of my face. This wasn’t going as well as I’d hoped. Maybe I’d have better luck with Sally. Things were looking a bit better when the girls returned, as they were both in bright spirits and giddy as hell. It made me smile just to be around them and the best part was Sally seemed as relaxed as she ever had. Even Hilde appeared content and offered to make dinner without asking me or probing me for the menu! Sally offered to help, then they were off and running on a steady commentary about their day at the mall, the park, their luncheon at the café by the huge central fountain in Commerce Park and the subsequent hilarity when some poor schmuck pissed his girlfriend off and got pushed in. I was laughing right along with them before long and suddenly found myself having a great time making the salad while they bounced around in this oddly choreographed dance that was quickly bringing about the makings of a very nice dinner. It was fun. They were really good together and it made me feel happy that Hilde had found a new friend. It seemed like a good time to broach the subject of her current crush and see how this new mood would change her perspective. They were talking about cutlery and the proper use of a spatula so I nabbed the closest thing I could to Trowa’s profession. “A spatula is a spatula,” I interjected pulling one of the long carrots from the bunch beside me. “But a good knife is priceless,” I told them demonstrating by quickly chopping the vegetable in true chef’s style. “At least that’s what Trowa says,” I added, bringing his name into the conversation. “I would think he would,” Sally snorted. “Catherine’s the one that throws them at him,” Hilde snipped, losing some of her gaiety. “Yes, but as the target, I imagine he’s pretty particular about what’s being thrown at him,” Sally chuckled, offering Hilde a piece of the beef she was cooking. “He should tell her to mind her own business,” my roommate groused, accepting the tidbit from Sally’s fingers. “Do I detect a note of dissatisfaction?” Sally grinned. “She’s hot for him,” I chuckled, then laughed out loud as Hilde turned six shades of purple and threw a piece of potato at me. I was preparing to retaliate with my arsenal of carrots until Sally dropped the line... “I thought he was gay?” and the entire room froze. “What?” “He’s what?” Hilde joined me on the crestfallen wagon of disbelievers. “Why would you say that?” I asked. “I don’t know,” she shrugged. “Just a feeling, a guess.’ “Well he’s not,” Hilde stated defiantly. “Not everyone is heterosexual,” Sally countered. “Well,” Hilde countered sounding impatiently offended by the notion as she insisted, “He is.” I’ve got to admit it was rocking my world a little, too. Trowa? Gay? The notion had never crossed my mind. I mean I like Hii... guys, but no one knows that but me, so could it be possible? I’d certainly never noticed anything that would make me think so. It’d sure put the kibosh on Hilde’s aspirations if it were true. Hell, maybe I should ask him out……………… ok... maybe not. “Wanting him to be het isn’t going to make it so,” Sally was saying. “No one that good looking and brave could be a homo,” Hilde countered. “Excuse me?” I heard myself snap. Damn it! Shut UP Maxwell!!! “Who’s a homo?” Wufei asked, walking in at just that moment and inadvertently saving me from foot in mouth disease, but I didn’t miss the sly little glance Sally tossed my way. “No one,” Hilde sighed. “Trowa,” Sally sniggered. “I thought he was dating Catherine,” Wufei commented. “Naw,” I interjected avoiding Sally’s gaze. “She’s a little too sisterly for him. Hilde here’s the one that wants to gain his affections,” I said turning the focus of the conversation back on my flailing roomy. “That would be a futile effort if he’s gay,” Wufei reasoned, checking out what Sally was cooking. “He’s not gay,” Hilde maintained. “You sound as though you disapprove,” Wufei commented. “No,” the girl shrugged. “I just don’t think he is.” “You mean you don’t want him to be,” Sally chuckled again, offering Wufei a bit of beef this time. “I think I could tell if he were a homo,” Hilde grumbled. “There is nothing wrong with being homosexual,” Wufei interjected, taking a seat at the table with me and I couldn’t help grinning at him. “I didn’t say there was,” my roommate countered defensively. “But he doesn’t act like one so...” “He doesn’t act like one?” Sally laughed. “You talk like gays are a separate race,” she chuckled tolerantly, which was good ‘cause I was finding her attitude kind of offensive, and it took the edge off. “I didn’t mean it like that,” Hilde sighed. “But you know how they are,” she added, squashing any sympathy the first comment had gained her. “You might be very surprised by the sexuality of those around you,” Sally intoned very evenly, managing to grace me with this little sidelong glance that made me feel as though I’d been turned inside out. Well shit. The woman was quick, I’ll give her that. “Well I’m not going to give up,” Hilde retorted. “I don’t think he’s any more gay than... Duo is,” she proclaimed tossing a hand in my direction, and if it hadn’t been for Sally’s sudden and uncontrollable coughing fit they all would have seen my cheeks catch fire. I used the cover to beat a hasty retreat and got the hell out of there before I said something very wrong. I had intended on holing up in my room for a bit, but when I got there it was to find Heero asleep in my bed. Hn. “Hey... Heero?” I called softly, wondering when he’d gotten back as I brushed his shoulder lightly to wake him. “Hmm, Duo?” he groaned, fumbling to snag my hand. “What time is it?” “Four...” “Thirty,” he finished, nodding groggily, and I couldn’t help but smile at his sleep tousled self. The image had distracted me momentarily, but the fact that he hadn’t released my hand yet was starting to send a heat wave up my arm and make me squirm, so I wrenched it free and sat on the bed beside him. “How long have you been back?” I asked. “Few hours,” he replied, waking a bit more. “Uh… why’re you in my bed?” “Wufei was in the guest room,” he explained, and I felt a little of the discomfort bleed away and nodded. “I’ll take the couch while they’re here,” he offered. “Actually, I let Sally have this room,” I informed him. “Well, I couldn’t ask them to share a bed,” I explained when he cocked a brow. “I can go to a hotel then,” he sighed covering his eyes with one arm. He looked dead tired. I had to wonder if he’d slept much at all since he’d left. “We can share the couch if you want,” I offered and he was back to quirking that brow again. “It folds out into a bed,” I informed him and felt the bands tighten in my stomach as I realized what I’d just done. My first instinct was to pull away and get out of there when he drifted back under the blanket of sleep and absently brushed his hand down my arm until he was holding my hand again, but I couldn’t make myself move. He was just dreaming and needed a hand to hold. He was tired and had just come home from a long trip. He just wanted some sort of comfort and didn’t know how it would affect me. He was just... so damn beautiful. I knew I would feel guilty as hell later, but I sat there and let him hold my hand and loved every single second of it. It seemed like no more than a moment had passed when I heard Hilde calling out that dinner was ready, and I was forced to abandon the moment. If I had realized what a lasting impression it was going to leave, maybe I wouldn’t have allowed myself that moment. Maybe. But it was so sweet I still had a hard time slipping away. I was still fighting off a rather insistent warm fuzzy as I walked out the door, but froze when I heard him call my name. “Duo?” “You’re awake?” I stammered, wondering if he’d been aware of my transgression at all. “I’m hungry,” he grunted, pulling himself up out of my bed. It was at that moment that Sally once again made it clear they were ready to eat by singing my name at the top of her lungs. “It would appear you have impeccable timing,” I grinned as Hilde chimed in and sang my name with Sally again. “We’re coming already!” I called back. “We?” they replied in unison. Dinner was a happy affair for the most part. With Hilde around taking Sally’s focus off of Wufei, things were downright pleasant and the best part was that having Sally around gave Hilde someone else to follow around. It would seem the two girls had bonded during their afternoon out together. I was glad because that meant that Sally shouldn’t have any problems worrying over Hilde with me. I was a little apprehensive about diving into the Trowa issue again, and decided to take a different tack. Somehow they had gotten on the subject of a magazine article and were twittering over how hot the guy in the movie was. It gave me an opening. “How can you just ogle him like that?” I asked over my plate of beef stroganoff. “He might be a total asshole, for all you know.” “Who cares,” Sally chortled. “He’s probably got a girlfriend or a wife,” I persisted. “I don’t care if he’s got a boyfriend,” she smirked and I almost dropped my fork. “It’s not like I want to take him home,” she chuckled. It was becoming clear that she bore the same ability as Heero to make me just want to smack the shit out of her. “Yeah,” Hilde interjected. “He’s just so dreamy,” she sighed picking up the magazine to gaze at. “He wouldn’t be so dreamy if he turned out to be a letch,” I deadpanned. “Stop messing with the dream, Maxwell,” Sally scolded, and even Wufei sniggered. “Nightmare is more likely,” our Chinese friend opined, glancing at the guy’s picture on the page. “Being pretty doesn’t make the man a masher,” Sally grumbled. This conversation wasn’t exactly going where I’d hoped it would. “It does when he’s using it to manipulate others,” Wufei countered. Uh oh. “He’s an actor, Chang,” Sally snipped back. “That’s his job”. “A job he chose willingly,” he retorted, and I knew we were in trouble when I saw that glint in the depths of those black eyes of his, and turned my best pleading gaze on Heero hoping that he’d bail me out as Wufei went for the throat. “A pretty cover doesn’t make the book worth reading,” he intoned flatly, and then Sally’s eyes were flashing but Heero had gotten the message. “Being beautiful doesn’t mean there’s nothing worthy inside either,” he said and the room went strangely still. It’s odd, maybe because he speaks so little, but when he does people listen. “Sometimes,” he went on, turning to hold my eyes for a moment. “What’s inside is so brilliant anything less than a beautiful binding would seem …sacrilegious.” It felt like a very long time before anyone spoke again, and when Sally did it was a bit like someone had slapped me with a cold fish. “There ya see?” she grinned triumphantly. They said more. I recall the conversation meandered from there but where it ended up, your guess is as good as mine, because I couldn’t stop thinking about what he’d said and the fact that he’d been looking at me when he’d said it. I decided right then that he could have the couch and I’d sleep on the floor, because there was no way I was going to be able to share a bed with him. It took a full two days to cut back the vines of hope that had sprouted when that little seed in my heart drank in those words and turned them into what I wanted to hear. He was doing his job, nothing more, and after some time had passed and those visions of him and Relena danced across my mind a couple of times, I was feeling pretty foolish. He had said he didn’t love her, but she definitely cared for him, so the possibility of his feelings changing was still there. That was something I hadn’t really thought too far into. If she was still hung up on Heero it was going to be difficult to get her to look at Quatre. It was time to move on to phase 3 of my mission. I waited for a Sunday when I knew both she and Quatre would be taking some time off. Everyone needs a moment to take a breath, even those two, and Sunday afternoon was their usual rest and relaxation period. I knew this because it was during these times that Quatre usually found time to call me, but I didn’t wait for him this time. It was necessary to catch him before the morning meetings were over so I could put my plan into action. My timing was perfect, if I do say so myself, as they were just coming out of the last meeting for the day when I called. I made sure Heero was no where to be seen so as not to get her started on that little fantasy, and did my best to act as normal as possible. She’s never been one to speak to me for long periods of time. I think my casual manor offends something in her base upbringing, so it wasn’t long before she politely excused herself and I was free to prod Quatre a little. “She looks tired,” I commented once she was gone. “It’s no wonder,” Quatre sighed. “I’ve never known anyone so single-mindedly stubborn,” he chuckled. It was promising to hear the affection and respect in his tone. “Workin’ ya hard is she?” I laughed. “To say the least,” he replied. “But it’s good. Things are rolling now, so it should start to get a little easier,” he told me. “The ball should help.” “Yes,” he agreed. “The more public awareness, the more help we should get from the citizens. There’s just so much to be done,” he added sounding very tired again. “You ok man?” I asked genuinely concerned. It made my heart hurt to see his eyes so dim. “Just tired,” he sighed. “Sounds like you two need a break,” I smiled and though it worked into my plan, I meant it sincerely. I could hear the weight of the world in his tone. “Maybe after the ball,” he commented distantly. He was obviously thinking on something pretty hard but I had no clue what it might be. Meetings, no doubt. “Why not take a mini-vacation this afternoon?” Ok. So I’m shameless. Bite me. He needed some ‘me’ time. “What do you mean?” he asked half-heartedly. “Grab Relena and go have some fun,” I suggested. “Oh, I don’t think…” he began but I cut him off. “Take her to a play or the opera or something,” I encouraged. “You both like the same stuff. I’m sure you could find something relaxing to do. It’ll be fun.” “The London Symphony is in town,” he sighed though he didn’t seem more than mildly interested. At least he was considering it. “There ya go!” I enthused. “It’ll be good for you both.” “I’ll ask her,” he sighed again, and it just made me wish I could reach through the vid and give him a hug. Sometimes I felt like a real ass for not playing a bigger role in the clean up effort, but in all honesty, I’d really suck at the job, so it was better to leave it to those with the aptitude for it. He was quiet for a long moment, and I was taken by the fact that he was absently playing with his pen and had that distant fog in his eyes again when he quietly asked… “Have you heard from Trowa… or Wufei?” “Wufei’s here now,” I told him. “Along with Sally. They’re into this investigation with Heero. You wanna talk to him?” “No,” he sighed again, shaking his head. “Just tell them I said hi. I should go now and see when the next show starts.” “Um… ok man,” I acquiesced, but I got the feeling I wasn’t quite up to snuff on the tail end of this conversation. “Have a good time,” I added, hoping he wouldn’t just abandon the idea once we hung up. He nodded, and offered me that sad little smile, and then he was gone and I felt like I had hopelessly failed him in some way. “You think she’ll go?” I asked Heero, since he was lingering in the doorway where I couldn’t see him. “Maybe,” he replied coming on into the room. “It really doesn’t bother you?” I had to ask. “No.” “She’d be yours for the taking, ya know?” I felt compelled to remind him. “She’s not the one I want,” he said softly, and I’ll be damned if my chest didn’t flutter like a preteen schoolgirl. I was just about to ask him who it was he did want, since that comment implied there was someone, but it would have been hard to get over Sally’s bellowing when she chased Wufei down the hall. “I said I could do it, Chang!” “Heero,” Wufei sighed, doing his best to ignore his partner altogether. “Would you mind having a look at the encryption on some files for me?” “You are such an ass!” Sally growled. “I told you I could handle it!” “Yes, but he can do it twice as fast,” Wufei replied evenly. “Sure,” Heero smirked. “Damn pig-headed men!” the woman snarled, turning on her heel to storm off back down the hall. “Thank you,” Wufei sighed, and I ended up chuckling with Heero because the words held more meaning than simple gratitude for his technical services. The fact that Heero had implied there was someone he’d
like to get closer to had not evaded me however, and I felt it starting
to sink in once they had left me alone. I couldn’t help but wonder
who it might be. There wasn’t a soul on Earth or in space that
I could think of who he had ever shown an interest in other than Relena,
and it appeared we had all been dead wrong about his feelings for
her. So, Heero was in love. My heart hurt, but I couldn’t help
grinning a little at the thought that he might find that kind of happiness.
Whoever it was, they were the luckiest person alive, that’s for
sure.
~ * ~ tbc... |
