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"Grooming"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: R Warnings: AU/Cannon, Fluff bunnies abound ^_^ Pairings: 1x2, 3x4 Summary: Heero learns why Duo insists on taking care of himself. "Grooming" I have never considered myself . There is no comfort in it. No purpose beyond assuring I am capable of performing the tasks set before me. When I am hungry I feed. When I require rest I sleep. If it is necessary to charge head-long into battle to obtain my goal there is no reason hold back. These are basic truths that we all share, the other pilots and I. Even Duo. I found myself reevaluating many things in the short time that I had become acquainted with the L2 pilot. He is an enigma to me. One I find my mind working at more often than not. His capabilities have forced a reassessment of the first impression that he was less than an obstacle; however, it is his strange mannerisms that inject the confusion of color into what was once a carefully structured black and white order within my mind. His faith in... not the war or the cause for that matter; but in life itself… and its purpose are... intriguing. During the first few weeks of this odd acquaintance it had become apparent that Duo Maxwell is no fool. He is playful, like a child sometimes, teasing, goading then grinning like mad at his own cleverness. It drives Wufei insane though I have seen an affection blossom between them over time that eases the Chinese pilots distemper. He seems to have come to understand that when Duo whines or complains or just cracks jokes at oddly inappropriate times the result is more beneficial than detrimental. Others tend to relax in his presence because of that easy manner. I have seen him draw information out of an enemy with nothing more than a smile. He had the man acting like Duo was his own nephew come home from the war and he ended up actually aiding in our escape by ushering us through the road block unhindered. It wasn’t until I noticed the gun clutched in Duo’s hand and tucked carefully under his thigh that I realized he would have easily shot the man to assure our freedom. I, too, was prepared for such a contingency, however, Duo had ensured that it not become necessary. It is night at the moment and I have once again been forced to go to ground, however, the time has been well spent maintaining Wing with small repairs and upgrades to the system software. The fact that Duo has been in the small cottage that would serve as a safe haven for us for hours by no means indicates his unwillingness or incapability to maintain his Gundam. This would have been my assumption some weeks ago; however, I have learned not to jump to conclusion where the L2 pilot is concerned. My curiosity as to what he might deem more important than Deathscythe has come to a head and I find myself packing up early in an effort to solve the riddle. The mountain range that had granted us the cover we needed to hide our suites had also supplied a chill in the air. I noticed the smoke rising from the chimney from Wing’s hatch as I prepared to disembark. It was an oddly comforting scene to gaze upon the little cottage with its windows glowing warmly, the firelight within pulsing softly giving the impression of a heartbeat within the cozy little house. Why had he not turned on the lights? Perhaps there was no electricity? It occurred to me to inquire about his lack of enthusiasm for repairs when I entered the small living room, however, the thought was caught by a stray breeze and whisked far, far away the moment I laid eyes on him. He was sprawled on a pile of pillows and blankets in front of the fire on the floor. He lay on his belly, his torso propped up on his elbows, his hair unbound so that it spilled in a sea of chestnut all around. I blinked. I distinctly recall that I blinked but the image was already burned into my memory. It took a moment longer for my mind to assimilate that he was doing more than just lying there half naked as he’d chosen to bake in the heat in nothing more than his black silk boxers. I never realized he was so tanned, or perhaps, it was the glow of the flames on his skin that made it seem so. By the time I realized he had a handful of his hair in one hand and a pair of scissors in the other it was much too late to resist my interest. ‘What... are you doing?’ I asked curious as to what could possibly have possessed him to enact such a strangely disturbing behavior. It took him a moment to answer, taking the time to flip his hand full of hair this way and that before he slowly and carefully snipped just the end of a single strand and smiled with some satisfaction as he replied, ‘Grooming.’ ‘……………’ ‘…………….’ snip. ‘Grooming,’ I echoed watching him search the tips of his hair. ‘What are you doing to your hair?’ I asked braving what I, for some reason, felt was an intimate moment between Duo and his hair to sit on the couch nearby. ‘Split ends,’ was his only reply. Snip I took a moment to inspect his hair yet from my vantage point I could see nothing but strong, healthy strands spread out over his back and the floor around him. The firelight danced oddly in the mass setting much of it aglow with golden highlights whereas the remainder was cast into deep shadow. The contrast was strikingly beautiful and made me feel warm inside to gaze upon it. I found my eyes following the path of the light down his back, over his ass and into the cleft of his thighs where the ends rested on his skin but I could see nothing but perfection in his hair or his form. ‘Wing all polished and shinny?’ DAMN! Shit! Why’d I jump? ‘Battle ready,’ I managed to croak out. What the hell? ‘Why are the lights off?’ I snipped as I looked around for a switch. ‘No juice,’ he informed me scrunching his face up a little as he snipped at another barely visible strand. It was... cute. I suddenly wanted to be somewhere else. ‘Water?’ I asked and my voice sounded desperately impatient to me. ‘Nnnnope,’ he replied then bit the tip of his tongue in concentration as he zeroed in on another offending split end. ‘Why do you do this?’ I found myself asking. Vanity wasn’t something I’d observed in him before. He was well aware of his charm and wielded it like a weapon at times but this seemed blatantly self-centered. ‘Why do you polish Wing till it shines?’ he chuckled dropping his hair back into the puddle beneath him and beginning to search for another patch. ‘It’s necessary maintenance,’ I retorted sternly, a tad defensively I suspect but I didn’t care for what he might be implying. ‘My ‘maintenance’ was finished two hours after we arrived,’ he countered. He said more but I couldn’t say what it was exactly because he chose that moment to sink into the floor and roll over on his side to smile at me. ‘…if I’m not happy with myself,’ he was saying when the rush of my own heart beat finally cleared enough for me to hear. ‘What?’ I responded too quickly to save me from the embarrassment of having been caught unawares. He smiled. I would not have guessed before that moment that amethyst eyes reflect golden firelight in a most mesmerizing way. ‘It seems to please others when I take care of myself,’ he repeated though I knew the words had been edited due to my reactions. I couldn’t think of a single thing to say to him which; for some odd reason, seemed to please him very much. His smile spread and suddenly he was in motion and I felt my pulse rate elevate to dangerous levels as he sprawled on his back stretching lazily like a huge cat. The heat that was simmering in my body flared until I felt as if I couldn’t breathe when he groaned pleasurably, that little smile still playing along his lips as he glowered in the soft, golden luminance of the flames. I swallowed in an attempt to regain my air and I swear he heard it because he grinned even though he’d closed his eyes. ‘Duo?’ I called though I had no idea what it was I wanted to say. There was just this need to speak to him. To understand the things I was feeling, to know their purpose. ‘Hmmm?’ he moaned softly and something suddenly darted out of the fog surrounding my brain and slapped me squarely up side the head as that heat inside me hastily dropped into my lap. ‘Damn,’ I sighed doing my best to get control of what could only be raging hormones trying to take over my body. This was wrong. Duo was not only a soldier and teammate but a boy as well. An...incredibly desirable boy. Son of a… ‘Hiiro?’ I might have broken in that moment. I might have given into the need to go to his side, to know the feeling of my touch on his skin. How soft would that sea of chestnut be to my rough and calloused hands? But Duo’s hands were as worn and used as my own. He wasn’t there to appease my needs. He wasn’t some twittering girl that needed me to take care of her or make her feel safe yet I found myself teetering on the edge of a confession I’d had only moments to realize when the decision was suddenly ripped from my grasp by the sound of something heavy being dropped on the front porch. ‘Quatre!’ came Trowa’s tolerant tone and I lowered the barrel of the pistol I’d automatically trained on the door. ‘Knock first,’ the mercenary advised affectionately. ‘Doors open!’ Duo called drawing my attention back to him but he looked entirely different than he had only moments before. He’d sat up and was in the process of braiding his hair; the scissors discarded and forgotten. ‘See? They knew it was us,’ Quatre smiled as they entered. Trowa singled me out glancing at the hand that was tucking my pistol away and rolling his eyes tolerantly. ‘Hey, Quat,’ Duo smiled and I was a bit surprised that he was already pulling on a black t-shirt. He seemed wholly different now and I had to wonder if it was something he was doing or my own darkly driven perception. ‘What’re you guys doing here?’ he asked hauling himself off the floor; dragging blankets and pillows and all to be deposited on the couch by my side. ‘The storm forced us north for the night,’ the young Arabian informed us dumping his bag on the floor. ‘Storm?’ I inquired but my mind was still trying to work out why my body suddenly felt so very disappointed. ‘Haven’t you seen the weather reports?’ Trowa asked seeming oddly put out that I was ill informed. ‘No,’ I confessed albeit distractedly as Duo hefted Quatre’s bag up and led him toward the only bedroom in the house. It was no surprise, he always saw to our comfort before his own but my confusion was multiplied by the sudden feeling of intrusion it caused. ‘Been here long?’ Trowa asked. I didn’t miss his scrutiny of the room, his sharp, emerald eyes taking in the pile of bedding by my side, the scissors still lying on the floor, what felt like his penetrating assessment of my own state of being. ‘Since midday,’ I informed him finding my center a little. ‘What is your course?’ I asked forcing my mind back to more pertinent issues. ‘The Birmingham Space Port,’ he informed me though his attention appeared to be more focused on the scissors he was retrieving from the hearthrug. ‘Has Duo taken up origami?’ he asked through a quirky little grin I couldn’t quite discern the meaning of. ‘Grooming,’ I replied and he chuckled right out loud. ‘Good,’ was his only reply as he quietly sat the utensil on the table and retrieved his bag. I found my curiosity growing once again when he pulled from its depths a brush and a bottle of hand cream. The crease on my brow apparently amused him because he smiled in an oddly affectionate way. ‘Grooming is more fun with company,’ he smiled laughing softly at the, no doubt, thunderstruck expression on my face as he disappeared into the bedroom. My confusion over just what he’d meant dissipated when Duo made a rather hasty retreat and rejoined me in the living room. I had to fight the urge to get up and kick them both out of our room! Our room. Damn it, but I was loosing it. ‘Think I’ll sleep in Scythe,’ Duo said just as if he weren’t dropping a bomb. ‘You can have the couch,’ he added making me realize he was doing that self sacrifice thing he always does and nobody notices until its too late. ‘Wait!’ I snapped before he could disappear from the warmth of the cozy room he’d worked to make so nice. ‘You stay,’ I told him snagging the pile of pillows by my side. ‘It’s not a problem…’ he began but I had no patience left for his argument. ‘Stay,’ I ordered feeding on the frustration my body was supplying me with. ‘I still have some work to do on Wing anyway,’ I lied but it seemed to appease him because he gave in. It wasn’t until I was seated in the cockpit and surrounded by the pillows and blankets that Duo had been nestled in that I realized they reeked of his scent. I sighed my frustration feeling that heat pooling once again inside me, my mind supplying a detailed rendering of how he’d looked sprawled in front of the fire and I found myself burrowing down into the soft scent. I had just realized what a sappily stupid grin had taken up residence on my face when my eye caught a tiny gleam of chestnut gold shimmering along the surface of the blanket and I pulled back smiling as the single strand of Duo’s hair came into sharp focus. My fingers rose and plucked the tiny, inconspicuous, hitchhiker from its lodging and offered it up for my inspection and I found the smile refused to be daunted. ‘It seems to please others when I take care of myself’. His words raked across my memory and suddenly I understood. I was pleased he took care of himself. Notwithstanding the fact that he kept his body and mind in top condition it warmed me inside to know that he was well cared for. The fact that I found myself physically attracted to him was not the issue. For all his considerable beauty, the decadence of his form, those endless violet eyes; it is his willing concern for others that brings that warmth to my chest. I am glad he is well cared for. I realized as I found myself drifting into a lazy sleep, my head nuzzled into his soft scent just why I am glad and as odd as it seems in the situation we’re currently facing I couldn’t stop myself from hoping that he would be well cared for, for a good, long time. I bought a brush and a bottle of hand cream today. The brush doesn’t help much but it’ll be interesting to see the expression on Duo’s face when he discovers it and perhaps, if it is the expression my heart longs for, it will help justify the purchase of the hand cream. owari :)
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