Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ As You Like It ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

From the Desk of Scilja

On with the show!

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DISCLAIMER: <sob> Please don't remind me.

As You Like It

By Scilja

Chapter 2

WHACK.

"OW!" Leering at his attacker, Duo scowled as he rubbed the back of his head. "What was that for, Wu?"

The man slicked back his shoulder-length black hair into a ponytail, never taking off his stare from Duo, "Whatever you did that made those onnas yell bloody murder woke me up." The irritated tone in his voice faded when he smirked, "However, I simply couldn't go back to sleep and miss the opportunity of watching you get beaten to a pulp."

Trowa made his presence known by emerging from the kitchen parlor. He raised a brow at the Wufei's statement while sipping from his cup of coffee.

Duo frowned in his seat on the plush settee and plopped his elbow on his leg. "Well it's nice to know I have your support," he replied sarcastically. He mussed the brown bangs in an effort to keep himself awake; he had quite a restless night.

"Any sign from the girls yet?" Quatre moved to sit across from him, his teacup making a clinking sound as he set it down on the glass coffee table.

His braided friend let out a sigh, "No, not yet." The blonde became stupefied at the grin that instantly formed on Duo's face. "But when they do," his grin turned wily, and Quatre thought it was best to leave it at that.

At the corner of his eye, Quatre saw Heero step in the room while groggily buttoning his shirt. "Morning, Heero."

The taciturn man grunted as his own way of returning the greeting.

"Look who decided to join the living," Duo remarked. He turned to see his best friend's face, "I take it you didn't sleep well?"

This earned him one of Heero's infamous glowers. If he had the will to, he would've killed Duo with a toothbrush for putting him through silent agony. He reminisced about the empty spot next to him on the bed. The absence of the soft smooth skin and golden silk strands, and the scent of wild roses that filled his senses made him uptight.

Rolling his shirt sleeves to his elbow, Heero sauntered over towards Trowa. "Coffee," he said directly to the tall man, who in turn gestured to the kitchen.

The atmosphere of the room was thick with anxiousness and impatience for the special occasion. Ironically, they all seemed to be on edge, and that was a risky thing to have especially in a room with the world's most deadly men. When it especially came to the subject of their female partners, everything doubled over tenfold.

Cobalt eyes took a glance at the clock. Since when had minute hands gone so slow? It wouldn't be 9 AM for quite a while, and it was quickly getting to boredom. Skimming through the many ideas he had in mind, he figured it was a great time for a song. "Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall, ninety-nine bottles of beer―"

The clicks of both Heero's and Wufei's guns immediately cut off Duo's tune. Deciding he still wanted to live, Duo discontinued his jingle and slouched further in his seat.

Humph, killjoys.

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"What, pray tell, is this?" Midii looked in disgust as she held up a scrap piece of cloth adorned with lace.

Dorothy pinched her temples between her fingers as if she was having a migraine, "It's a garter."

"A what?!"

"It goes around your thighs."

"This skimpy thing?!"

"Yes, that skimpy thing."

Relena winced from the tightening of her waist, "Take it easy, Hil! I would still like to breathe!"

The blonde jerked from the hard tug Hilde gave from the strings of her corset. "I doubt you want the only garment covering your body to loosen and reveal all in the middle of the day." Relena grimaced as her indigo-haired friend pulled further against the cords. 'Uh, the things we do for the ones we love,' she thought. "Almost done," Hilde murmured. Relief washed over her as she felt the ends being tied together - the torture was over.

"Whoever made these costumes have a perverted imagination," Sally said through gritted teeth, her hands fumbling with the bow behind her.

"It's pretty obvious men made it," Dorothy walked over to help her struggling friend. "The damn thing leaves nothing to hide," she patted the bow indicating she was finished.

"I didn't think costume shops sold these kinds of things," Relena said as she put on a choker.

Hilde looked up from buttoning the cuffs around her wrists, "Duo is too resourceful for his own good."

A soft grunt was heard from Midii's direction as the former spy managed to successfully adjust the garter around her thigh. "If this is what casino girls have to do every morning, I'll never work in that kind of joint."

"Oh, but they do get certain advantages to be dressed this way," Dorothy stated offhandedly. "It has such power over men's libidos." The suggestive note in her say could not be missed.

The room's occupants turned to the white-blonde, sensing a plan was forming in action.

"Don't stop there, Dorothy," Sally urged. Whatever it was, she wanted a small kindle of hope to break free of this insane pact.

Her lips curled into a devious grin as she turned towards her eager listeners. "Ladies, take a good look at yourselves. How would you describe it?"

Apart from still not having dressed completely yet, everyone had the same garments. The ensemble started with a tie-around-back corset, which was low-cut in the front, but modest enough for it to be a costume. Fancy lace traced around parts of the corset that hinted at feminine curves of the body. Various nifty designs and glitter linings etched on the fabric of the bodice. A decorative, laced garter was situated high above the thigh, drawing attention to the legs. To make it even more unique, a bow-tie choker was worn around the neck and white cuffs around the wrists. It wouldn't be a complete Bunny attire without the white, velvet ears that were in the form of a headband. And to top it all off was the matching white, fluffy tail with a long, silk bow tied around it.

The girls were given different colors for their apparel. For Relena, it was a cerulean sky-blue, where the laces were white, traced with hints of gold. Hilde received the shade of deep scarlet red with black trimmings. Deep amber orange was Midii's, the frills were the palest tints of beige. Dorothy was given a bold amethyst, and like Hilde's, lined with black outlines. As for Sally, she had jaded-emerald being her main color with traces of off-white.

"The product of a drunken hallucination," Sally tugged hatefully at her tail.

"I'm a friggin' sex-toy," Hilde put it bluntly.

"It's degrading beyond degrading," Midii grumbled.

"A stripper working during an Easter special," Relena replied through clenched teeth.

"Sexual."

"WHAT?!" They chorused in disbelief.

"Have you gone mad, Catalonia?"

"I think the tail has rammed itself far up her ass."

"Wait, this is Dorothy, remember?"

"Dully noted."

Dorothy cleared her throat and glowered, promptly capturing the attention of her perplexed circle of friends. "Think bigger!" She sat at the edge of the bed, crossing her legs together. "What can be one of the most beautiful things and at the same time be just as dangerous? Sex. And what's even worse is sexual frustration." She cast glances to them, "I take it all of you have done it?"

A range of blushes, awkward silences, forced coughs, and torn away eye-contact was all she needed to get her answer.

Despite her state of fairly undress, Dorothy shot off the bed and poked her head out of the door. She whipped her head from one end of the hall to the other before finally spotting her target.

"Rashid!" she whispered loud enough for him to hear. With hurried waves of her hand, she signaled him to come over. Behind her, four figures yelped in protest at the unwelcome guest and scurried to seek cover up.

In seconds, Quatre's loyal servant appeared in the door way. "Miss Catalonia, what can I do for y―?" He was unable to complete his salutation when he was hastily pushed into their room. Rashid stood speechless as he looked at the flushing females, dressed in the most unusual garbs of clothing he had ever seen in his life.

"Rashid, I need you to deliver a message for me," Dorothy said, not minding the Maganac's nervous and uncomfortable state.

Rashid forced his gaze away and came close to fainting when he saw Dorothy in the exact outfit. "A-Anything, Miss."

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The occupants in the living room looked up at the sound of approaching footsteps. "Morning Master Quatre," Rashid bowed then addressed the guests, "Mister Maxwell, Mister Yuy, Mister Barton, and Mister Chang." In return, he received various grunts and replies from the young men. He thanked Allah that his voice did not falter from the previous encounter with the ladies.

As good-natured as ever, Quatre cast a smile to him, "What is it, Rashid?"

It was now or never. The older man inwardly took a deep breath, "Master Quatre, I have a message from Miss Catalonia directed to all of you."

At once, five pairs of eyes focused on him. "Not to worry," he quickly assured them, "they are not in any trouble." He became incredibly thankful when their stances relaxed. Getting on a Gundam pilot's nerves was like playing with fire.

"Miss Catalonia wishes for me to pass a proposition concerning the weekend's event." His hand slipped inside his vest and emerged with a rolled up parchment. He proceeded to unroll it and read, "To avoid complications with the deal, there will be no sexual favors of any sort on your part. No retaliation. That includes kissing, gestures of affection, or anything that deals with intimacy. Touching, and sexual remarks are strictly prohibited."

Rashid paused for a moment to look at their reactions. Though nothing was shown on their faces, both Heero's and Trowa's eyes were flickering madly. He shuddered to think what was going through their minds. Wufei held his teeth clenched, his brow slightly furrowed with a fierce look graze over his features. A blank expression was written across the face of his blonde supervisor. And Duo was ready to blow up any minute.

As if on cue, Duo bounced off his seat and rushed up to the Maganac. "Rashid, can I take a look at that?" He handed the paper over into eager hands and stepped back when a crowd scrambled to gather behind Duo. They read, and reread, the small document in front of them.

"Well I'll be," Duo scratched his head in bewilderment, "they're serious." He turned to face his fellow comrades, "Now what?"

Heero straightened and glared at the article as if to burn it with his gaze, "They are not playing fair."

Trowa blinked incredulously, "This is unexpected. There's something odd behind this."

"I say we take it back to them and let them pay their dues!" Wufei argued, placing his hands on his hips. "They shook on the deal and it stays that way."

"In any case, we can do without this, right guys?" Quatre stated.

All looked at him as if he had gone under the influence of the Zero system again. In truth, more than half of the favors they wanted were intimate, if not, sexual. When the evil paper was shoved under their noses, it felt like the enjoyments of their winnings were dashed to bits. Time was ticking, and if they didn't do something fast, the whole thing would be called off. Cruelty finally came in the form of a parchment.

Grudgingly, after some convincing, everyone agreed to Dorothy's proposal.

"Thank you, sirs," Rashid took the parchment, which contained five very important signatures.

"Rashid," Trowa leered at the dark man. "Not a word of this to anyone."

"Of course, Mister Barton, this stays and leaves with me," he said. Before turning to leave, he stepped in front of Duo, "By the way, Mister Maxwell, I have a final request from the girls."

"Fire away," Duo answered.

SMACK.

Snickers and a concerned shout resonated in the background as Duo stared at Rashid dumbfounded. "I didn't mean it literally!" His hand rested against the fresh stinging pain at his cheek.

"Forgive me, Mister Maxwell, but that was what the request called for. I am terribly sorry." Even though it was called for, Rashid bowed respectfully.

"Forget it, man," Duo waved off the older man's guilt. "You're not the one I should get mad at." Geez, girls sure are touchy.

"Thank you for your understanding, Mr. Maxwell." He gave a final glance before leaving, "Do not hesitate to call me for anything you may need."

Leaning against the wall, Heero narrowed his eyes, "Maxwell, if for whatever reasons this goes out of hand," he sent a fixed glare at Duo's direction, "there will be hell to pay."

His only response was a nonchalant wave, "Don't trust me, Yuy?"

Heero made out what sounded like a scoff, "When it comes to you, trusts are risky."

"You offend me," Duo dramatically placed a hand over his heart. "Besides," he crossed his arms behind his head casually, "you wouldn't be able to kill me since you'll be too busy thanking me."

Trowa let out a mock snort. Oh yes, this was definitely going to be interesting.

TBC…