Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Attempted Bystanding ❯ 12 ( Chapter 13 )

Twelve

"What sort of private place did you have in mind?" Zechs muttered brightly to Duo, Lucretzia still under his arm. She'd been there since they'd returned to L-5, and for a long time, he'd had Relena under his other arm.

"What?" Lucretzia asked dangerously. They'd entered the apartments the Gundam pilots were sharing, and she hadn't heard anything about this evident plan her boyfriend and friend seemed to have.

"The sort of private place where no one will interrupt," Duo returned. "That interruption bit includes our leaving."

"So I shouldn't talk about it with the girl around."

Duo nodded, meeting his eyes somewhat pointedly.

"What about your blond?" he asked, pointing at Quatre.

"I'm not his," Quatre retorted, then ran a hand through his hair and nudged Duo with his knee. "Should I dye it?"

Duo looked to him again, then looked back around to Zechs. "He would interrupt," Duo noted. "We can't even banter without interruption around here."

"You better not fight," Lu snapped, looking between the men and moving from under Zechs' arm.

"She told me about her Valentine's Day," Zechs noted pointedly to Duo, his eyes slightly hard, even with his bantering tone.

"I wanted it to be something she'd remember," Duo agreed, his tone also light.

They both knew, though, that if they didn't have the constraints they'd start ripping great stripes of hide verbally from each other. It would also end in a nice little fight where they'd both hurt like hell and be okay again for another few years. They might need a few stitches, or a skin graft if they were too far away from the others—which would never happen—but they wouldn't kill each other.

Zechs smiled forcefully at Duo, then looked to Quatre. "Why do you care what he thinks?"

"Because his opinion matters," Quatre snapped back, glaring up at him.

Zechs snorted, then pulled away—to kiss Lu deeply.

Duo looked away...and Quatre glared at him.

"Wow," Jinli muttered, moving from the kitchen area—it made Zechs jump. "I had no idea you were petty," the man added, pointing vaguely toward Duo.

Zechs stared at him.

"I thought you'd all be like, macho buddies," he added, looking down to Duo. "Then he goes and does that shit—why haven't you just taken her from him?"

Duo smirked at that, looking away from the pair. "She loves him. If he makes her happy..." he shrugged.

Lucretzia sighed.

"Do you have any idea how big an asshole you are?" Quatre demanded of Duo in something like disbelief.

"If you want me," Duo said very clearly, "then you have to tell me and we get to have that talk I keep bringing up. You know, the one you avoid? I can't put you on the same level as a blow-up doll, Quatre. You're my friend, so I'm not going to lust after you."

"And what about me?" Lu demanded almost sourly.

"You're my friend and I don't lust after you," he retorted, giving her a look, then glared at Zechs again.

"I have to go talk to Une again," Zechs muttered with a sigh, pulling away. "You're staying here, aren't you?" he asked the woman.

"Yeah, me and Matty are going to lunch."

Zechs made a face and glared at Duo, then turned and walked off.

"Can you not say stuff like that to him?" Lu appealed to Jinli.

"I probably shouldn't," the man returned, taking a drink from his cup casually. "The thing about it is that I like Duo—and him being a bastard like that upsets Duo. I'm a simple man. I look after the interests of my friends to the best of my abilities."

"And you said you're straight?" Duo asked sweetly.

Jinli laughed and kicked at his leg, moving to drop in a chair.

Lu gave him a look, then moved to sit in another and looked back to Quatre.

"Oh, let me sulk," Quatre retorted, looking away from her. "It doesn't matter anyway."

"I'm not going to make anymore concessions until you do," Duo retorted with a shrug, moving to sit properly. "I'd bend over backwards for you if you need me to...and that really didn't need said," he added to Jinli, shaking his head.

Jinli sniggered and smacked a hand to his face.

"What crap are you talking now?" Trowa demanded, moving from down the hall.

"I have this horrible taste in jokes," Duo explained. "I say a few things too often to have them innocent, and telling Quatre I'd bend over backwards for him put a nifty image in my mind that I'm pretty damn sure he's not going to want the details on."

Quatre was red again, his face covered by his hands.

"You are such a dick," Lu noted, grinning pleasantly at him.

"Holy shit, you're not stuck to Princey's side?" Trowa asked her, moving to look at her closer. "When'd they do the surgery?"

"This morning," she returned, making a slight face at him. "But let's not say more things that can go without comment."

He flashed her a grin.

"What is Fei doing?" Jinli muttered, rising to his feet again. He kicked casually at Duo as he passed him...and disappeared into the hall.

"I really wish he'd stop doing that," Quatre muttered sidelong to Lu.

"Yeah, Duo's fickle enough without someone stealing his attention," she agreed.

Duo guffawed.

Quatre flashed the woman an almost commiserating grin, then hopped to his feet and headed to the kitchen. "Anyone want anything while I'm up? And Duo, don't say it."

"Don't say what?" Duo asked, grinning wolfishly at him.

Quatre gave him a very pointed look as he moved away.

"I didn't say anything," Duo noted to Lu. "You saw me not saying anything."

"But it was so plainly written on your face I didn't even have to try to understand it," she retorted, then gestured at Quatre. "Oh look, he's alone in the kitchen and me and Tro are about to head back up the hall."

Duo laughed wickedly, hopping to his feet.

"Come on," the woman added, her eyes shining as she considered the European male. "They want a moment alone."

"Lucretzia!" Quatre half-gasped in protest.

The woman started laughing delightedly, and bounced down the hall to figure out what was taking Matty so long.

...and for some reason, she really appreciated that Trowa followed her—even with Quatre squeaking protests behind them.

- -

"You can stop thanking me," Heero persisted to Relena, smiling at her. "I promise you can."

"Oh, but I mean it," she protested, moving to hug him. It got her a dark look from Matty, but she ignored him completely.

"Hey," Heero added, extending his hand to Matty. He didn't understand why, but whenever Relena was around, Matty stood back and glared a lot. Heero almost didn't expect the gesture to work—but then Matty was straddling his lap and kissing him heatedly. He sniggered, pulling back slightly. "We're not alone."

"I can share," Matty whispered back in Japanese.

Heero started laughing wickedly, glancing very briefly at Relena. "I thought you didn't like girls."

"So does everyone, I haven't tried yet though."

"There seem to be a few things you won't try," Heero pouted at him. "I don't think your first thing should be her."

"Well, I'm going to go," Relena noted in English with a sigh, rising to her feet again and looking around. "You two obviously want your privacy."

"Sorry," Heero apologized instantly, looking up to her. "We haven't seen each other today. Lu stole him this morning."

She nodded to him, then bowed her head slightly to Matty. He'd obviously won the round, and she wanted to get away.

Matty grinned, turning back to start kissing Heero again.

"Please?" Heero asked quietly.

"I told you before," Matty protested, frowning at him. "I'm not very good at it."

"And you're not going to get better without practice," Heero flashed him a wicked grin. "Come on, just once..."

"Just once now," Matty retorted, allowing himself to be swung onto the bed. "You're as bad as Duo."

"And what do you know about Duo?" Heero asked skeptically.

"I know that he told Quatre that it'd be six months to a year before he tried for anything serious," Matty retorted. "Quatre was telling me—just buttering him up for more fun later."

Heero smirked wickedly, unbuttoning the guy's jeans. "And you have a problem with that?"

"Not really," Matty muttered, thinking briefly. "It's more...I didn't expect that sort of thing from Duo. I could see you doing it, but..."

Heero laughed, bighting lightly at his abs. "You seem to neglect the bit where Duo was my first and taught me all sorts of interesting things."

"Ah, yes," Matty noted, rolling his eyes. "I neglect that...let's neglect this awful conversation, why don't we?"

Heero chuckled wickedly, pushing the guy's shirt up. "Oh, do lets."

- -

"You're seriously just going back to earth?" Une demanded of Wufei in righteous indignation. "You're just going to pick up and leave me with this mess?" she gestured at 27, or at least, in the direction of 27.

"Well, I'm not, exactly," Wufei refuted easily. "I'm actually staying on the colony for another week—but the rest are going home."

"How can you do this to me?" Une demanded in disbelief. "We've got a colony willing to put out guerilla warriors..."

"Um," Wufei cut that off, "I'm not doing it to you...and the colonies like guerrilla warriors—or did you put up a mental block about 195?"

She gave him a level look.

"So I'm taking off," he added. "I resign my post and all that fun stuff—feel free to take your time processing it, because you'll probably drag us back up here before you get anything done with them," he gestured at 27. "So have a good day," he moved forward and kissed her cheek. "And I'm going with Jin to visit a few friends and probably start mourning," he made a face. "I was avoiding it for a reason damn it...take care, Une."

She watched as he turned and started away, her hands on her hips. She knew she could bicker and argue with the five jackasses until her tongue turned blue and they would still disappear on her. If she took legal steps to bring them in, they'd just disappear from radar.

Wufei grinned slightly as he made the hall, but he didn't pick up his speed as he normally would. There was something in the woman's reaction and stance that suggested to him that she wasn't going to be chasing after him.

...or he was wrong.

He turned to look at her as she stopped in the door.

"Wufei?" she asked, then spotted him. "Take care of yourself, all right? And I probably will need you—so don't get lost on me."

Wufei nodded respectfully at that, then watched as she disappeared back into the room.

Interesting.

Wufei started off down the hall again, running his hands through his hair.

He had no doubt that he and his brethren would have to step in to take down the rebellion of 27. Rabid Marsh had survived multiple fights again the various pilots because of tunnel vision and determination. They'd probably only scratched the surface here.

Wufei pushed into the apartment, seeing Duo and Quatre close together near a window, then met eyes with Trowa.

"How'd she take it?" Trowa asked curiously.

"Well enough," Wufei shrugged, heading toward the hall. "I need to get my stuff organized."

Trowa nodded.

Wufei pounded once on Heero's door—he could hear the bed and Matty gasping. "Five minutes, asshole," he said loudly. "I'm leaving in five."

"Hold on," Heero retorted, sounding a little breathless.

Wufei grinned slightly, moving down to his room.

Whatever ended up happening—it was going to be interesting. There was no way in hell that anything with this lot could be anything else.

He closed the door and looked around before moving to his duffel bag.

Jinli would be showing up at some point in the next ten minutes.

He had to get ready to go.

End