Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ 2 Reign ❯ Generally Speaking ( Chapter 16 )

Chapter Sixteen: Generally Speaking

"Where is Selena?" Jesse asked Duo curiously. I could tell the question had been bothering him since he'd arrived early that morning.

"She left me," Duo replied tonelessly, "Too much of a good thing."

Jesse blinked.

Duo snorted out a laugh and turned away.

"I'm gonna ask you not to bring her up any more tonight," I muttered, "He's a bit touchy."

"He always has been," Jesse conceded, looking around curiously, "But…"

"He hasn't told us what happened," I added, "She just sort of left one night a few weeks ago."

He nodded, thinking about that.

"I also suggest you stay in Trowa's apartment tonight…or maybe even Quatre's. Duo's a bit unpredictable anymore."

"Was he ever predictable?" Jesse flashed me a grin.

I laughed, shrugging.

"Tio Jesse!" Alex suddenly clung to the guy's waist and his attention was instantly sucked to her.

I moved away from the pair of them, not wanting to talk about Duo anymore. He'd disappear in a few hours anyway and reappear early in the morning, ready for work. I didn't want to know what he was doing while he was out, either. I had a feeling he had syndicate ties and that these ties could get him whatever he wanted.

"I dare you to," I heard Duo purring and looked around the busy room. His voice was coming from the kitchen.

"Duo, stop," Wufei replied, sounding pressed, "Just…back away."

I moved to the door, narrowing my eyes at the scene. Wufei was backed against the fridge and Duo was over him.

"Honestly, Fei…"

"Duo, get off," I snapped.

"I'm trying to," he replied, all too amused.

Wufei shoved him off and glanced beyond me, "Where is Miguel?"

"He's hiding in a corner," I replied, "He's not comfortable with so many kids."

Wufei darted from the kitchen.

I studied Duo, who had his eyes on me, "What are you doing?"

"Trying to get off," he replied, a slow smile crossing his face.

"I suggest you save it until the kids have gone home," I snapped at him.

"But why?" he asked, pulling a knife from somewhere and offering it to me.

"Knock it off," I snapped, taking the thing and trying to shove it into a pocket, "You can't act like this at a children's party."

"I dunno, I seem to be doing a phenomenal job of it," he muttered in my ear-which made me realize how we were standing.

"Knock it off," I snapped, shoving him back and glaring at him, "Show some respect!"

"Yes, Majesty," he replied in that irritating fashion he'd picked up on. He walked past me, giving me a look.

I stared after him in consternation. Ever since the night Selena had left he was acting like this. He would either be too comfortable with me, or he'd be too formal. There was no middle ground now. It was as if our years of friendship meant nothing to him…that, or he thought it meant nothing to me.

"What's got you so down?" Trowa asked, moving around me and starting to take the cake he had bought out of its box.

"Duo."

"You take him too seriously," he informed me, "You two need to talk."

"You say that so often anymore," I muttered darkly, "You'd think you'd make an attempt."

"I do. Every time I tell you, I'm making an attempt."

"Tell him."

"If he approached you for a talk, you wouldn't listen to him."

I glowered at him.

"So you have to go corner him in his apartment-after he's gotten laid, I suggest. And don't let him pull his knives on you, all right?" that was vaguely exasperated, "And for god's sake, don't let him cut anything with those knives of his."

I stared at him, blinking.

He took the cake around me and announced to the partygoers that the cake was up and for Hilde to get a lighter.

Hilde was giggling as she came in and pressed on the small of my back, "What are you doing in here? You're supposed to be with everyone else."

I smiled at her, turning and starting from the room as she fiddled in a drawer.

Sometimes my friends drove me insane-especially when they were right.

-

I grinned at Duo, hitting him in the stomach, which caused him to laugh as well, "Really! It would be fun…just you and me…"

"And alcohol in copious amounts," I agreed, giving him a look, "You want to get me drunk."

"Why not?" he asked sweetly, "It might get fun."

I really smacked him for that.

He laughed hard, mussing my hair before turning and focusing on Jacob.

"You don't need to get him drunk," I muttered, studying my friend around Duo's shoulder.

"Quatre!" Jacob protested, starting to laugh.

Duo laughed as well, then spotted Alex, "Oh, the birthday girl! Where's my birthday hug!" he scooped her into his arms and spun her in a circle as she giggled and hugged him tightly. He set her on her feet quickly and she wavered unsteadily, breaking into giggles.

"Jesse can't come, he's gotta sleep so he can get back early," Duo muttered in my ear as the little girl wandered off, "So just come with me tonight, I promise I'll be good,"

"Fine," I muttered, giving in. It wasn't like going out with Duo was ever boring. "But remember, you promised."

He flashed me an evil grin.

"You are a knight, and this is on your honor!"

Duo started to laugh.

-

I shoved Quatre against the wall, smiling as his drunken mind tried to process what had just happened. You could see in his eyes that he was well beyond smashed.

It would be really easy to fuck him right now.

I didn't think anymore about that, though, as fun as it would have been, instead, I turned on my heel and met eyes with the guy who had been trying to fuck him.

"Who are you?" he demanded, taking in my form.

"I'm your worst fuckin' nightmare," I replied happily, "And I hate to say it, but you've offended my fine sensibilities."

"What the fuck…I'm not doing anything to you!"

"No, but you are fucking with my straight friend."

"What?"

"Yeah, that blonde thing back there is straight and very, very drunk."

That got a smile.

"See, that's where I come in," I added, stepping toward the guy.

He backed off.

"Get out of here, before I do something."

"That's a mixed threat."

I smiled at that, thinking over the various options of things I could do and landing on the most entertaining one as I looked him over, meeting his eyes. The guy blinked up at me a long moment before taking a faltering step back as I tilted my head at him, smiling slightly and reaching for his arm.

It was hard not to laugh when he fled.

"Duo? I'm gonna puke…" Quatre muttered behind me.

I turned to him instantly, grabbing a trashcan by my feet. I got it under him just in time, then blinked at his throat as he shifted back against the wall and blinked blearily at me.

So I had missed most of what those two were doing.

Quatre's throat was covered in hickies, which would be all well and good if it wasn't because of some punk-ass guy.

"Can we go home?" he asked me plaintively, it reminded me of something Alex or Lea might have said.

"Yeah, come on, let's go…" I glanced across the bar to the guy I'd been entertaining myself with before noticing Quatre's situation. The man was frowning at me.

I shook my head slightly, supporting Quatre from the room.

-

"Duo Maxwell!" Duo focused on me in confusion as I stared at Quatre in dismay.

"What?" Duo asked, allowing Quatre to walk off by himself, watching as he stumbled down the hall and disappeared into his bedroom.

"You promised him!" I hissed in sheer disbelief. Quatre was beyond smashed and his throat was covered with hickies-which was nothing compared to Duo's own throat. I blinked, "I didn't realize that Quatre bites."

Duo stared at me a moment longer in amazement, then started laughing, touching his throat, "He didn't do that!"

"You did promise him, though…"

"I didn't do that to him!" he gave me a look, "Some prick at the bar tried to pick him up…fairly successfully, by the looks of it. I saw them and extricated the dumb-ass from the situation."

I raised an eyebrow at his choice of phrasing.

"At any rate," Duo muttered, "I scared the other guy off, he puked, and we came home."

I wasn't so sure I believed that, but at the same time, it made sense. Quatre had a tendency to get himself in trouble when no one was there to watch him. He didn't go out much and hadn't really been out since Duo had gotten back. Duo wouldn't have known that. His argument made perfect sense, but the fact that Quatre had made Duo promise not to fuck with him made Duo suspect.

"I'm gonna go crash," Duo added with a sigh, starting away, "I'll catch you in the morning."

"Later," I agreed, watching him leave before heading down the hall and into Quatre's bathroom.

"I'm going to pass out," the blond informed me as he rinsed his toothbrush, leaning forward.

"Not yet," I muttered, "You can in a few minutes."

"Hm…" he ran water over his face and stood there unsteadily for a long moment before finally bringing the towel up and wiping it off, "Lea's sleeping, right?"

"She's been out for hours."

"Good," he muttered, turning and stumbling against me, grinning at me as he blinked, "You smell good."

"You are a pain in my ass," I returned the compliment, starting for the bed with an arm around his waist.

"Did Duo smell you?" he asked, studying my eyes sincerely.

"Not hardly," I returned darkly.

"He'd like it, I think."

"I didn't buy the cologne because I thought it'd make me stink."

"Why are you wearing it?"

"I didn't buy the cologne for it to go bad sitting on a shelf."

"You should wear it and stay really close to Duo all day."

"You're going to get me in trouble."

"And then go visit him in his apartment," Quatre added, allowing me to drop him on the bed.

"In a lot of trouble."

"And I can keep everyone from bothering him for a few hours."

"That sounds like a plan."

Quatre started laughing.

"You won't remember any of this in the morning, will you?"

"I might, and I might not," Quatre laughed more, spreading his arms out over his head as he lay on his back, studying me with an evil smirk.

"I thought you were going to pass out."

"But you're being entertaining, Jacob…"

"Good night, Quatre," I muttered before he could try to provoke me.

His laughter was evil again as he stared at the ceiling, "Sweet dreams."

I pulled the door shut behind myself, shaking my head.

-

I studied Duo with a raised eyebrow as he moved into my apartment for our breakfast ritual. When we weren't fighting, we met in my kitchen. Duo was standing tall and slightly petulant. His throat was covered in hickies and bruises that attested to the amount of fun he must have had during the process. There were also some fairly heavy bruises on his upper arms, which were showing since he was only wearing a wife-beater.

"My my my," I muttered, "Aren't we the sexually charged asshole?"

He flipped me off, moving to the counter and starting to get out his breakfast things.

"You really had fun last night, didn't you?" Trowa asked in amusement.

"At first," he admitted.

I snorted.

…and then Quatre came in.

We stared at Quatre for a long moment as he first noticed Duo and froze, then turned to look over his shoulder at Jacob.

"Duo?" I demanded.

"What?" he asked, turning himself and smiling at Quatre, "Good morning."

Quatre only stared, his eyes landing on the bruises.

Duo smirked at him, fingering his throat and turning back to the breakfast things.

"Um?"

"Um what, Ro?" Duo asked, glancing at me.

"You promised me, Duo," Quatre muttered quietly, "You promised…"

"I didn't do that to you!" Duo protested instantly, "If I'd done anything to you…I'm not so stupid as to be obvious!" Duo looked utterly offended.

"So why did you shove me against the wall?" Quatre snapped back.

Trowa and I exchanged a glance before looking to Jacob.

"He said that some other guy had attempted to pick you up," Jacob muttered.

Quatre was staring at Duo, though, looking hurt.

"I shoved you against he wall because you'd got yourself in a situation!"

"Yeah, I agreed to go somewhere alone with you!"

"I didn't do anything to you!"

"Hold it," Hilde muttered, interceding before anything else could be said, "Come on now, guys, take a minute to think things through."

"We went to the Pub," Duo informed her instantly, "We fucked around dancing for a while, then had a couple drinks before I went to find someone to screw. I left him at the bar."

Quatre shook his head slowly, "I don't remember."

"So you can accuse me instantly of this shit," Duo muttered, "Christ, Q, I think you'd know if I was fucking with you."

"I'm fairly certain," Quatre started almost sarcastically.

"I would have fucked you, Quatre!" Duo's tone was informative, "If I'd have started any shit, I would have finished it."

"Did you see my throat?" Quatre demanded, raising his chin.

"I did, and I wouldn't have made small hickies…and you don't bite!"

"How would you know?" Quatre protested.

Duo laughed evilly all of the sudden, thinking about that, "Good point."

We were all watching him warily.

"The point is, I didn't do anything to you. I promised!"

Quatre frowned.

Duo raised his hands in a semi-surrendering gesture, "And if all you remember about last night is when I shoved you against the wall, then we're both fucked and might as well pretend last night never happened."

Quatre frowned, obviously thinking hard.

"I promised you I wouldn't do anything and I didn't do anything…much."

Quatre gave him a sour look.

Duo grinned slightly at that, "It was before either of us drank," he admitted, "I had to have a little fun."

"Your fun tends to leave a sour taste in my mouth," Trowa noted, grinning.

Duo grinned back at him, then sobered and looked us all over, "I didn't do that to Quatre. I told you, it was a guy at the club."

"And the only thing Quatre remembers is a bit of violent seduction?" Hilde asked, nibbling at a sausage.

"It's fuzzy," Quatre muttered, "But…that was clear enough. It hurt my back when I hit the wall and Duo just kinda hovered there for a minute…"

"And then what did I do?" Duo asked sarcastically.

"I can't remember." Quatre admitted.

"Why did I even shove you against the wall? Don't you trust me?"

"No," Quatre replied, "Because you've done shit like that before."

We all studied Duo.

Duo groaned, giving up and moving across the room to stand in front of Quatre, "Fine, I seduced you," he grabbed Quatre by the arms, squeezing slightly.

Quatre looked put-off, but that was all.

"Um…he leaves bruises," Jacob muttered, pulling up Quatre's sleeve.

We all stared at Jacob, who ignored us.

"If you were making out with him, he'd have bruised you…a bunch."

Quatre's eyes narrowed.

"You smell good," Duo noted, focusing completely on Jacob.

Quatre sniggered, stepping back from Duo and thinking.

Jacob was staring up at Duo with large eyes.

Duo focused on Quatre again, turning his back and lifting his shirt to reveal his unblemished back.

"Hey! What are you…"

"No bruises," Duo noted clinically to Jacob.

Jacob grinned slightly at him.

"What are you doing?" Wufei asked in confusion as he moved into the apartment behind them, "Duo! You didn't try and seduce him, did you?"

"No!" Duo sounded a little hurt at that suggestion.

"What happened to him, then?" Fei asked, lifting Quatre's chin to study his throat.

"I only remember Duo shoving me against a wall," Quatre admitted, acting oddly submissive.

"Are you sure you didn't fuck with him?" Wufei demanded, meeting Duo's eyes.

"I didn't!" Duo repeated, "I left him to his own and he started necking with some guy!"

Wufei gave Quatre a look then, "Are you sure you're straight?"

Quatre started to draw himself up.

Wufei rolled his eyes, punching Duo in the stomach and tackling him so he fell over backwards. The furious wrestling match that ensued was enough to distract us all from the argument at hand.

"Would you knock it off?" Miguel demanded petulantly when he came into the room, frowning down at Wufei.

Wufei paused in his wrestling, frowning slightly at Duo-who flipped and pinned him. The laughter that followed reminded me of old times when this was our fun…this complete lack of self-control and rambunctious testosterone.

It looked like fun.

"Don't you dare," Relena muttered with a small smile, studying me, "You wait your turn."

But what fun would that be?

-

I laughed as Heero joined Duo and Wufei on the floor and Hilde giggled. Relena made some not-annoyed-but-exasperated comment and lifted her feet carefully from the floor. Miguel was glowering at the trio and Quatre was just sort of standing aside, thinking. I laughed again, raising my feet as the trio moved toward me, then chocked back more laughter as I was pulled on top of all three of them. I couldn't say how or who had done it, but it had happened.

"You guys!" Hilde squeaked in dismay, still laughing hard, "Would you stop!"

For the first time in years, things were right with us…at least with the four of us. I flipped on my back and grabbed Quatre around the knees. He tried to protest, but that was a bit useless since I'd over balanced him. He landed on top of Wufei, who grunted and paused a moment before we started wrestling again.

And it was all right. The five of us were five again, acting like seventeen year olds on a training base, just waiting for guardsmen to come and try and pull us apart. Of course, the amount of laughter this entailed made it fairly obvious we weren't hurting each other, we were just playing king of the hill…

"Puta madre…" Miguel snarled, "Pinci cobrones…"

I laughed, "Pinci oaku!"

Miguel, however, was not in a good mood. My announcement made him start for the door.

"Oh, get over it," I heard Wufei mutter-and then realized what was going on.

"Miguel!" I shouted, climbing up for air, "Michael!"

"What?" Duo asked.

Everything and everyone stopped, focusing on Duo-he looked us all over in confusion a moment before seeming to connect that he was not, in fact, Michael Ocean…and we laughed.

-

"Darme cólera, mama," Miguel muttered, "Si…también Wufei…no, no…es just…mama, no. Ellos…no! Si, Trowa! Si…es muy…estupido…"

I moved through the living room with a slight frown, seeing Miguel was on the vid and pouting.

"No! Ellos…they…they keep flirting…"

"We are not flirting!" I snapped in irritation, moving into the bedroom to glower at my fiancé.

"Don't you ever knock?" Miguel snapped, his voice heavy with accent.

"Not on my own bedroom door, I don't." I snapped back, then smiled slightly at the vid, "Nei ho, Miraina."

She smiled sweetly at me. She really loved for me to speak Chinese at her, so I obliged easily, "Nei ho, Wufei. What's going on? Why is my baby so mad?"

"We…uh," I thought a second, "the five of us were wrestling this morning. I guess Miguel wanted to join in…"

"Tcch," Miguel gave me a disgusted look.

"Sao dei!" I snapped, more annoyed than he'd realize.

He blinked at me in amazement.

I shook my head at him, then focused on his mother, "I don't know what's up with him, he's been grumpy with me for the past month…and I haven't done anything."

"You expect me to believe that shit? With Duo back around?"

I snarled slightly at him, "Sao hao."

I really had no idea if he understood what I was saying, though.

"Duo is back? Truly?" Miraina looked excited, "Donde esta? Where is my diablo?"

I smiled slightly at that, "He's at work, I think."

"No creo," she returned, shaking her head, "Get him, tell him I want to talk to him."

"He's working, Mama," Miguel pouted.

"Ah!" Miraina hissed at her son, then focused on me, "Is he okay? Is he all better? His girlfriend died, no? Is he okay?"

"He's…difficult," I returned.

"He's always been difficult, pinci…" she giggled slightly, "I mean like depression. He gets depressed too easily…is he all right?"

"Mama, he's working!" Miguel snapped again.

"Would you get the fuck over it?" I snapped at him, focusing on him completely. I was tired of him insisting something inappropriate was going on between Duo and I. I'd never once…okay, so a few times Duo and I had made out…and he'd kissed me recently, but that was the extent of it. "I am not in love with Duo and I have no intentions of leaving you for him, and if you keep this bullshit up I'll leave you because you annoy me."

He stared at me.

"Wufei!" Miraina reprimanded me sharply, "Don't be saying things like that, really! Duo is an attractive man, I can understand my son's worry!"

Miguel's face flushed.

"Duo es mi diablo, my demon. I know he's manipulative, and if he's making Miguel think…"

"He's not!" I snapped at her, forcing composure down my own throat and meeting her eyes sincerely, "Ever since I met Miguel, he's had an issue with Duo."

"You were all over each other!"

Both Miraina and I looked at him.

"And you're doing it again!"

I realized suddenly that Miguel had a point. Duo and I always hung off each other for comfort. Duo and I liked to touch and be touched-not necessarily sexually, but physical contact in general. The others had always been uncomfortable with it, so we'd stopped bothering them. The mutual need for contact made it very easy for us to drift together.

"We are," I agreed, studying his eyes a moment before glancing at Miraina again. Her eyes were concerned. I looked back to her so-called baby, "And I suggest you get used to it." I started away.

"Wufei!" Miguel shouted.

I ignored him, leaving the bedroom to find Duo and let him know Miraina wanted to talk to him.

"What do you mean?" Miguel demanded, following me.

I turned and met his eyes, glowering at him, "I mean that nothing you've done so far has changed the two of us, and nothing you do from here on out will. I'm tired of saving this relationship. I'm tired of you getting your way on everything. I'm not who I am with you, I don't have fun if we go out…I love you, Miguel, but you're stifling me. If you don't back off and let me breath…"

He was staring at me in amazement.

"I don't want that to happen, so just take a deep breath and go talk to your mother. I'm going to find Duo and tell him to call her. Can we do this? Can we trust each other?"

He was still staring at me.

I narrowed my eyes slightly, "Can you trust me?"

He looked away.

I shook my head, starting from the room.

"Wufei!"

I turned to look at him.

He nodded slightly, only meeting my eyes for a fraction of a second.

I sighed in mild relief, "Thank you."

Pausing after shutting the door, I looked up and down the hall. It almost seemed like a weight had been lifted from my chest…as if the Duo-induced stress had not joined the other stresses I'd been feeling.

Duo was in his office. Unless he made plans, he ate there. My watch said it was ten-after, so I jogged off down the hall to find the damned knight. It didn't take much for him to get a plan and I wanted to talk to him. The thought of talking to Relena flashed through my mind, but she was so busy anymore she wasn't really a friend. She was, and I loved her, but she had so many things that took up her day…

Duo first…and then I could decide what happened next.