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"The Negotiator"Written By: t-shirt 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: AU/Fantasy/Adventure, Angst, Fluff,
Sexual favors from a dragon? ^0^ (non graphic), Eventual Lemon, Mild
violence, My corky humor lol ^-^ Pairings: 1x2, 3x4, 5xM Beta’ed by the wonderful Mechante Fille *hugs*
You’re the best baby! ^__^ Summary: Duo Maxwell finds himself on the adventure of a lifetime when he is hired by the future king of Lagrange to aid in dealing with an encroaching Dragon. However, he quickly discovers that not everything is as it seems. Wizards, Dragons and magic abound in this epic tale of adventure and discovery when one young man finds himself between two worlds and suddenly the future depends solely on his skills as The Negotiator. View art work commissioned
by SkyLark and drawn by t_shirt for "The Negotiator" - Click
HERE "The Negotiator" Ch 3 ~ “Lord Efl!?” SMACK! “Negotiator?” Wufei greeted as he eyed his abused servant while he walked across the common yard to greet their unannounced guest. “How is the jade?” Duo asked, not slowing down as he headed for the dungeon stairs. “Uh, much improved,” Wufei replied. “I take it your initial proposition did not go well?” he asked, following him into the building. “Why didn’t you try to kill it?” “Kill it?!?” Wufei gasped. “He tried to help us! Why would we want to kill him!?” “Not the jade,” Duo sighed, stepping into the small dungeon to find the jade sitting up, in his front left claw a large flask that he sipped before grinning at his visitors. “Why didn’t you hire slayers?” he asked, going to the jade’s side. “It’s bad luck to kill a god,” Wufei explained while Duo hissed a greeting to the dragon. “You believe he’s a god?” “My ancestors worshiped them with great faith,” Wufei nodded, watching the odd exchange between his companions. “And you?” Duo asked, checking the jade’s wounds. “There has not been the opportunity,” Wufei explained. “This is the first Great Dragon that has presented itself in my lifetime. Is that what it wants?” “I don’t know,” Duo confessed. “But he seems to still consider himself a god.” “Most Celestials do,” Trowa informed him. “You speak human tongue?” Duo asked, mildly amazed. “No,” the jade explained. “But we understand.” “Is he really divine?” Duo inquired softly. The faraway look in his eyes as he dabbed potion on the jade’s healing neck gave the creature reason for pause before he finally hissed and replied. “It is a label given to them by humans.” “Then he is not a god,” Duo sighed, letting the last of his reservations drain away until the jade snickered and informed him… “No, but he’s about as close as you can get to a demon.” Duo thought of the beast, his attitude, size and strange demeanor, the way he patronized Duo’s wants and desires, his desire to aid the small humanoid creature that disturbed his quiet world and those incredible, endless blue eyes… “How did you get away?” the jade grinned sipping his drink. “He… let me go,” Duo replied. “And you managed to walk away?” Duo’s brow creased indignantly at the implications in his emerald eyes. “Yes,” he stated firmly. “With my mind and body intact!” “Duo?” Wufei questioned the odd tone and energy suddenly coming from of his guest. “Your dragon is an arrogant pervert with no regard for others, no respect for life and an ego roughly the size of the moon,” Duo informed him. Wufei stared in mild shock while the jade burst into laugher and Duo sank in on himself sulkily until the resident Lord suddenly went ashen and breathed… “The maidens… he didn’t…?” “I don’t know,” Duo groaned, deflating where he sat. “He refused to answer any of my questions unless I…” “That monster!” Wufei suddenly growled, instantly drawing his blade and storming for the exit. “I will kill him myself!” “No!” Duo barked but Wufei didn’t slow down until he explained, “He made me a deal!” “The price being your virtue?!” Wufei snapped, rounding on him. “NO!” Duo barked, suddenly slumping before he quietly explained. “He seems to … like me.” The jade was hiding his snickers behind his flask. “He said he would answer my questions if I stayed with him.” “You’d never survive…!” Wufei began but Duo cut him off. “Not like that! Just… stay and keep him company.” “Unacceptable,” the Chinese Lord sniffed, sheathing his blade. “We don’t have much choice.” “I will not subject anyone to that sort of depravity, especially one as beautiful as you,” Wufei declared in a strong tone in spite of the red dimples on his cheeks. “But you let the women go…” “Duo not impugn my character!” Wufei snapped and Duo had a very odd moment of déjà vu. “The girls left without my knowledge; had I known, I assure you… they would not have.” It was in him to argue but the look in his host’s eyes was enough to convince him it was true. “Is there any chance of reasoning with him?” Duo asked the jade. “With your virginity intact?” the beast grinned, chuckling when Duo’s cheeks lit up and his face went white as a sheet. “Relax,” he chortled, patting his friends hand reassuringly. “Celestial’s don’t have the proper equipment to steal that away from you.” Duo thought back, recalling the ample skills of the dragon’s tongue and flushed an even brighter shade of red which seemed to highly amuse his scaly companion as he chuckled, “At least not without killing their mate.” “Great,” Duo grumbled, delighted to find the flask contained a rich, thick wine when he stole it and helped himself to a drink. “Why would he want such a thing anyway?” he asked no one in particular, kicking back another long draught. The jade grinned so slowly Duo felt the need to edge back as he moved into his personal space and purred, “We are born with a longing for human flesh.” “You… want to eat us?” Duo gulped. “No,” the jade smiled, flicking his long, thin, forked tongue out to tickle Duo’s neck as he explained, “Just suck on you till you scream.” “Shit!” Duo barked, jumping to his feet. The moment he was up Wufei stepped between he and the jade, sworn drawn and a death warning in the depths of his black eyes. “It’s ok!” Duo gasped, trying to force Wufei’s sword hand down but the Chinese Lord wouldn’t budge. “He tried to bite you!” “He was just… making a point,” Duo sighed gratefully when the blade began to descend. “So you’re all perv’s,” he said once the catastrophe had been averted. “I beg your pardon,” Trowa sniffed, reclaiming his flask. “It’s not our fault the Mother fell in love with a demon.” Duo blinked. He knew the tale but had never put any stock in it. It was a widely accepted old wives’ tale about a humanoid woman, each race choosing to claim their own likeness of her, that fell in love and mated with a demon producing offspring of fire and scales that was told to children to explain the existence of such massive, incredible creatures as dragons, but he’d never thought to hear it from the dragons themselves. Their origins were unknown, as was the case with many magical creatures in their world. He couldn’t bring himself to believe the bedtime story was true. “What has that to do with a dragon’s lustful heart?” he demanded. “Demons have the ability to shift their form,” he explained absently as he refilled his flask. “However, because of the mother’s blood, we do not.” “So you can’t take humanoid lovers,” Duo surmised. The jade’s grin spread over his elegantly pointed face in satisfaction as he concluded, “Doesn’t stop us from wanting them.” “Geez,” Duo groaned, returning to his seat. “No wonder you’re all hard up.” Wufei’s sword was suddenly half drawn as the jade spit wine out his nose and choked. “Don’t you mate with each other?” Duo grumbled, smacking him on the back. “O…of course,” Trowa rasped, wiping the tears from his eyes. “But it is hardly the same.” “Don’t tell me you’re not attracted to your own females.” “They are quite impressive,” he confirmed, clearing his throat with a long drink. “But mating with them is hazardous to one’s health.” “They don’t like males?” Duo groaned, wishing he didn’t need this information. “Pissy bitches the lot of them,” Trowa nodded. “So it’s one of those black widow ‘the females eat their mates’ things?” “No,” the jade replied. “It’s one of those ‘the only way you’re getting any is over my dead body’ things.” He stopped a moment to laugh when Duo groaned and his head sank into his hands. “Sorry,” the jade offered sympathetically, shrugging as he sighed, “Survival of the fittest and all.” “I don’t think he’s interested in women anyway,” Duo sulked. “Not an uncommon result considering,” the jade nodded. “Then why do they always demand women?” “An attempt to breed ourselves back into a humanoid form but it never works and is not tolerated. Bipedal forms are not capable of withstanding a joining with us, not even I in my diminutive state. The one time it was attempted the girl died during the mating.” Duo looked at him sharply but his eyes were cast down in a shadow of misery long past. “She was the daughter of a Sultan and my good friend.” “I’m sorry,” Duo offered softly. “I was young and naive,” Trowa shrugged it off. “It was impossible to stop once things got started and by the time it was over, she had ceased to breathe. It is always the same but there are those who persist in spite of this fact. Those who do not fall to the swords of the slayers find their fate in our Brethren rage.” There was some consolation in knowing that the dragons did police their own kind but when he thought about it, if they hadn’t the world would have become a much different place. “I’m going back.” “What?!” Wufei balked, looking confusedly between his guest and the smiling jade. “You can’t! I won’t allow…” “You have no say in the matter,” he informed him, patting Trowa’s shoulder as he said a quick thank you and headed for the stairs. “Then I’m coming with you!” Wufei stubbornly insisted. “He’ll use you for a toothpick,” Duo scoffed. “I am not without skill…” “That is easily surmised,” Duo sighed, turning on him as they stepped into the yard. The oddly self indulgent smile on his face at the offhand compliment gave Duo a moment’s pause before he shook it off and went on. “However, he is not your garden variety worm.” “All the more reason for you to remain here,” Wufei smiled. “I have a job to do,” Duo insisted. “Negotiator,” Wufei called after him as he strode away but he paid him no mind until he suddenly called, “Duo!” A moment of silence reigned as the braided one stared back at him until slowly the castle Lord’s expression softened into some sort of resolution and he smiled. “Be careful.” Duo took a good long look at the young man, so stern in his tightly bound, raven hair and flowing white robes and saw for the first time the king he would one day become. He straightened, clicked his heels and bowed, leaving his host standing proudly among his people as he joined his horse outside the gate and rode away. ~ “Lord Elf!” Duo groaned, sagging a little as the misplaced greeting was repeated by several of the villagers who were running from the fields to greet him. “You’re alive!” “Did you slay it?!” “Did you bring us its head!?” “His head would fill your wagon,” Duo grinned, tousling the boy’s hair fondly as his feet hit the ground. “I hardly think it would fit in my pocket.” “Really?” the boy gushed in amazement. “You saw it?” the blacksmith asked, welcoming him into the boarders of their locality. “I have,” Duo replied, fishing bits of dried fruit out of his pocket to offer the kids with a smile. “And it still lives?” another gentleman he was not acquainted with inquired. Duo didn’t care for the larger man’s tone of voice but the magic was a delicate thing and had to be maintained at all costs. “He is a stubborn fellow,” he evaded, knowing full well the villagers’ blood lust over their losses would not tolerate a negotiator when it was a slayer they desired. “We saw it light the night on fire,” the woman from before informed him anxiously. “A minor setback,” Duo assured her. “What of Alicia and Kiya?” the woman inquired hopefully but Duo could only shake his head. “I don’t know,” he told her. “I saw no sign of them in the den.” “You entered its den?!” the bigger man scoffed in wonder as he looked the thin stranger over skeptically. The man was highly… annoying in his persistence to skirt the magic but Duo was persistent as well. “I must apologize for the intrusion but may I beg your hospitality for the night?” he asked the woman. “Of course…” she replied, brightening but the other cut her off. “Why didn’t you stay at the castle?” Definitely annoying. “The village is much closer to the mountain,” he explained amiably. “The climb will be easier if I am allowed to start fresh.” “You scaled the mountain?!” the boy who had offered him the sword on his last visit gaped. “To my great dissatisfaction,” Duo replied, wrapping an arm around the woman’s shoulders as he passively revealed, “Yes. I can pay for my housing and meals,” he told the blushing woman, turning to lead her away. “Oh, there’s no need…” she began, blushing furiously. “Oh, but there is,” he smiled. “I am a man of honor.” “You’re hardly a man at all.” Duo felt the magic shudder as he glared back at the annoying man, the smile playing on his lips telling him for certain he was not properly ensnared, though from the odd light in his eyes he wasn’t sure if he were on the lesser or greater side of its effects. Either way he was forced to dismiss him for the moment and bent to the task of filling his belly and collecting what information he could ascertain. “Are all elves as pretty as you?” Duo just barely kept from choking on his bread as Cale, the energetic boy he’d come to know as his biggest fan beamed up at him from where his sandy head rested on the table. “I couldn’t say,” Duo grinned, reaching out to poke his nose. “I’ve never met an elf.” “What about your family?” Elspeth, his current proprietress inquired, dishing up yet another large bowl of wild stew for him. “My good woman,” he grinned, accepting the tasty fare, “If they could cook as well as you I wouldn’t care if they were elephants.” She flushed brightly and waved a dismissive hand, having completely forgotten her question as he turned the conversation and asked one of his own. “Has he ever demanded an offering?” “He takes what he wants,” Elspeth snipped, going back to her pot. “But has he made any demands?” Duo persisted, keeping his tone light and his actions centered on making Cale giggle. “No one’s ever gotten close enough to ask,” she replied, smiling when Cale laughed at a magic trick Duo was doing with a coin. “How long has Kiya been missing?” “Six weeks,” she replied, loosing her smile. He had seen no sign of either of the girls in the cave or around the cliffs which didn’t sit comfortably in his mind. Even if the dragon had eaten them there still should have been clothes or bones or something. He closed his eyes, remembering to flick a bit of potato at Cale, making him duck and laugh as he reminded himself that just because he didn’t want the dragon to have killed them didn’t mean that he hadn’t. Marken, the blacksmith, and his son, Brawn, stopped by after dinner offering ale and the company of men which Duo took them up on happily. The more information he could gather the better and drunken men were usually a geyser of useless information. Perhaps he could guide them into revealing more than the sultry habits of their wives. The usual meeting place for such things turned out to be the blacksmith’s barn where he, his son and any male over the age of thirteen had gathered to sample the homemade mead the women brewed. It was strong and bitter and went down like a smoldering pinecone but the desired effect was quick to come and he soon found himself in the midst of a swaggering party complete with piped music, dancing with the chairs and all the uproarious laugher a man could want. “I thought elves liked to dance?” Marken grinned, doing a jig in front of Duo to try and entice him to join the fray. “If I ever meet one I shall ask,” Duo laughed, tipping his cup to him. “I wish Cable’s flock hadn’t been eaten by that monster,” Brawn sighed, dropping down in a breathless heap beside him. “We could have had a cookout in the field.” “You cook your lambs in the pastures?” Duo asked thoughtfully. “Mm,” Brawn hummed, nodding as he took a long drink. “We were sampling this year’s lot when the beast descended and devoured the entire flock.” Duo thought about the view of the pastures from the dragon’s den and chuckled wryly to himself at the thought that the cookout had probably looked very much like an offering from up there. “Has he taken anything else?” he asked, pretending to drink heavily from his cup. “It ate Winard,” Cale’s father interjected sulkily. “Did he take him from the field as well?” Duo asked after the ox. “He wandered away when the paddock broke in a storm,” the man explained, sniffing as he wiped his nose on his sleeve. “All we found was his head.” Made sense, oxen heads had to be nothing but bone and grizzle but if the creature had wandered off then it was possible the dragon hadn’t known it was owned by anyone. He sighed again and reminded himself that just because he didn’t want the beast to be evil didn’t mean that he wasn’t. The party went on for some time after that but no more information was forthcoming so sometime after midnight Duo excused himself and headed for his bed. He hadn’t had that much of the homemade swill but his mind was sufficiently relaxed and he found he needed to make a comfort stop on the way. A small lean-to along the outside boarder provided the necessary privacy but when he was finally relieved, shaken and tucked away he turned to find the annoying presence of Inisho standing quietly nearby. “You seriously intend to face that beast alone?” the man asked smugly from where he stood with both arms crossed, leaning against a pole. “It’s what I do,” Duo smiled. “It goes against my nature you know?” the man told him, pushing off to approach and Duo instinctively moved so that his back wasn’t against a wall as he asked… “What’s that?” Inisho smiled as he stepped closer and replied, “Letting someone as… delicate as you walk into the jaws of death.” “I can look after myself,” Duo assured him, backing away from the hand that was slowly reaching for him. It was clear from his behavior that he was acutely sensitive to the magic; either that or he just had a thing for young men. “Then the least I can do,” Inisho grinned, lunging forward to grip his arms, “is see that your last night is a memorable one.” Duo was already in motion to make sure the man never bore any offspring when the lean-to suddenly exploded in flames. Inisho screamed like a ten year old girl and ducked instantly behind Duo who whirled to get a look at the behemoth shadow in the sky. It was huge, spouting more flame and coming around for a second pass. His heart hammered against his ribs as the other villagers clamored out of their dwellings, shouting and screaming and rushing for the well and their bows and swords but all he could think to do was turn his gaze skyward. In one instant of unexpected clarity he caught a glimpse of smoldering blue eyes, his own turning to stare wildly at the cowering Inisho before he stepped firmly in front of him. The dragon suddenly pulled up and spouted his thick column of flame into the night as his target was shielded. He held his position a moment, long enough for the hurricane from his wings to make the villagers arrows uselessly fall to the ground. Duo stared into the infinity of his gaze and understood with blinding clarity before the beast suddenly peeled off and rocketed skyward. “He’s jealous,” he breathed, needing to hear the notion out loud in order to retain it. “Are you all right!?” “Inisho!?” “He protected him!” “He saved Inisho!” “Bring more water!” Duo spent the better part of the night helping to put out the flames and defending himself from overly zealous gratitude. Inisho disappeared somewhere before dawn but not before offering Duo a very quiet, very private apology and asking if he would like to have dinner with him if he should survive. Duo had used the standard excuse of being previously involved but it was the first time he’d ever felt as if he weren’t deceiving the would-be suitor. That thought disturbed him more than he was able to cope with so he put it out of his mind and began his journey at first light. It was late afternoon by the time he pulled himself into the den. The dragon was lazing on his side, seemingly unaware of his presence for which he was glad because it gave him a moment to catch his breath and shake the fatigue from his limbs. ”Why have you returned?” the beast asked after a time. His tone was solemn, a sound that brought discomfort to Duo’s chest but he brushed it aside and replied. “We had a deal.” The silence grew between them wherein neither moved until Duo could hear his heartbeat and felt the gentle breeze in each and every strand of his hair. He jumped nearly an inch off the ground when the dragon finally asked… ”Will you stay?” “If you promise to respect me,” Duo replied. The beast’s huge head slowly rolled until he could look up at him thoughtfully. ”In what way? “In every way,” Duo chuckled. “And you must abide by our agreement and answer my questions truthfully every seven days.” ”And for this,” the dragon began, pulling himself up to his full and considerable height. ”You would stay with me?” “Until my task is complete,” Duo promised. The dragon moved toward the mouth of the cave to gaze out over the valley sprawling below while Duo waited. He waited so long his legs grew tired and the sun was setting on the horizon before the creature finally said, ”Very well,” and fell from the cliff. Duo watched him as he soared out over the land, his enormous, midnight wings softly aglow with the blush of the setting rays of the sun and wondered how long he would have to wait for his return.
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