Warnings: 4x2 Shounen-ai

Disclaimer: The usual…don't own the characters or the series.

AN: This fic is for jenna_baka, who suggested the pairing and got me thinking.

Chess

Part 1 - Pawn to Queen's Rook 4

By Xellas M.

"You can drop the act, Quatre." Duo spoke seriously, for a change. He leaned over and looked his fellow Gundam pilot directly into his large, blue eyes.

"What are you talking about?" The reply was calm and unexpectedly unemotional, as if Quatre did not care what the response would be.

"You know what I mean. You aren't half as fragile as you'd like people to believe. You've grown up rich, so I figure just about everyone in your life has wanted something from you at one point or another. I'm just saying you don't have to do that with me. The war has made us equals, so you can just relax and be yourself."

It was easy to forget that Duo was intelligent, quite possibly the smartest of them all when he cared enough to apply himself. Quatre smiled ruefully. Still, for all his insight Duo was only half right.

Quatre sat up a little straighter. He was so used to pretending that it took an effort of will for him to be himself in front of another. Almost imperceptibly, the muscles in his face shifted, angles and lines suddenly appearing on his cherubic countenance. A strong leader, a man already despite his teenage years, he looked at Duo from across the tabletop. Even his voice changed when he spoke, becoming subtly deeper although still soft. "I should have known you'd see it. But there's a little more to it than that."

Duo raised an eyebrow, curious.

"When I hit puberty, as if all the normal changes weren't enough, practically overnight I gained the ability to feel what the people around me were feeling. Can you imagine what that was like?"

Although a response was not called for, Duo shook his head, fascinated. The normally garrulous pilot was silent, as if afraid his words would break the spell.

Quatre continued, his voice bitter. "Even in peacetime, people keep secrets. I have 29 sisters because my father refused to admit, even to himself, that he preferred men. He was desperately afraid I would turn out the same way, which I did despite his efforts. None of his wives cared for him at all, they were just there because it was secure and safe and it was what their parents had wanted for them. You are right, no one gave a damn for me as a person…but it wasn't something I only suspected, it was something I knew. If it weren't for Rashid, I'm not sure what would have happened. He was the first person to actually care. Would you like a drink?"

Duo blinked at the sudden question, coming out of the trance Quatre had woven around them with his speech. "Definitely. So you're gay?" It was the first thing that had popped into his head and he immediately berated himself for blurting out such an idiotic comment.

Quatre stood up and walked around the table. Actually, he was stalking more than anything else, his lean form moving aggressively, sensually. He stood behind Duo, not saying anything for a full minute.

It went against Duo's every instinct to allow someone as dangerous as Quatre to stand behind him without turning around, but he managed to hold still through sheer force of will. Suddenly, Quatre grabbed Duo's braid and yanked down hard, forcing the Deathscythe pilot to look up at him.

The blond boy smirked. "Yes, I'm gay. Just like you, only I don't spend half my time trying to become Hiiro's bitch."

Satisfied that he had made his point, Quatre released Duo. He had accomplished the impossible - rendering the braided pilot speechless with shock. Quatre continued across the kitchen and grabbed two plastic juice cups, the only glassware available in the seedy safe house in which the five pilots had been forced to hide. His body was slight, almost feminine, but his movements were forceful as he grabbed a bottle of cheap gin out of the freezer and filled the glasses. Some of the liquid sloshed over the side of one of the cups and the angelic looking boy slowly licked it off, his pink tongue drawing a line up the red plastic.

It was obscene. Duo felt his face flush. He had known that the heir to the Winner fortune was not the innocent he pretended to be, but this Quatre was a great deal more than he had bargained for. What was worse, the empath had to know exactly what he was doing, the feelings his actions were arousing.

"If I didn't know better, I'd think you were doing that on purpose." Finally, to his immense relief, Duo's voice returned and he grinned flirtatiously. There was no way he was going to let the blond think he was getting away with this.

Quatre smiled back, a real smile this time. It felt wonderful to be himself and Duo was adjusting quickly. The situation was promising; he had long wanted to claim the pretty violet eyed boy as his own. He carried the glasses back to the table, pointedly setting the marked red one in front of Duo and taking the other, which happened to be blue, for himself.

He turned the chair around, straddled it and continued his story. "As you can imagine, people were less than comfortable around me. I was lonely and bored, so I started playing little games with the ones who were trying to manipulate me. It was easy. Within a very short time everyone had forgotten that I was more than a shoulder for them to cry on.

"I learned something very valuable, that almost everyone believes they are good people deep down, that their motives are pure. By making them believe that their interests are being served while accomplishing something worthwhile, you can get just about anything you want."

Duo had never considered himself to be in a position to hand out moral judgments, but this still seemed wrong somehow. He couldn't help but wonder if Quatre had used him that way in the past as well. "What about respect?" The braided pilot asked bluntly. "People shouldn't be just pieces on a chessboard. I mean, unless they chose to play."

Quatre sighed. "You are right, but it didn't end up quite like that. You see, every time I did it, I could feel the person's honest pride, their happiness, when the job was done. Knowing I could cause so much happiness, experiencing their joy myself, became more important to me than winning the game. My own objectives became truly secondary." His tone became suggestive as he continued "There is nothing more exciting than giving pleasure to others. Your drink is getting warm." A small smile graced the blond boy's face as he quickly downed his own drink.

A drink definitely sounded good to Duo just about then. He quickly followed his friend's example, draining the still cool liquid in a single shot. The cheap stuff burned all the way down and he soon found himself trying his best to maintain a manly façade and not choke.

Quatre laughed. "You should see your face! Allah, I had no idea you could turn such an interesting shade of red."

Duo grimaced. He was already several points down in this conversation, which was fine because this was one of the most interesting stories he'd ever heard. He realized that he liked the real Quatre very much - possibly too much. Despite the innocence in his blue eyes, he was powerful, honest and amazingly sensuous, qualities the violet eyed boy had always appreciated. He stuck out his tongue in response, only to pull it back in quickly when his friend stared at it meaningfully and began chewing his lip. "So how can you fight? I've always wondered. I mean, it has to be even harder for you than any of us."

The reply was immediate. "It is what my heart tells me I have to do."

The Deathscythe pilot blinked. Shinigami was cold, merciless. "I don't understand."

"Yes, you do."

Duo thought for a minute. Slowly, he nodded. He stood up and grabbed the cups from the table to refill them. He was standing at the sink, his back turned to his friend when that soft voice asked him a question.

"What is it you see in him, anyway?"

The braided boy froze, the blue cup slipping from his hand to bounce off the dingy counter to the floor. He was trapped. Quatre had been so open that a refusal to answer this could easily end both the conversation and kill the new…whatever it was…that was happening between them before Duo would even know for certain where it was leading. This was stimulating in all the right ways; it was too soon for it to end.

A wide variety of responses went through Duo's mind. Naturally, being Duo, he chose the most dangerous. A mischievous light appeared in his large eyes as he slowly bent over to pick up the cup, his movements self-consciously alluring. When he straightened, he looked Quatre up and down, openly assessing his fellow pilot. He grabbed his ever-present braid and began stroking it almost absent-mindedly.

Finally, he looked up at Quatre through lowered eyelids and replied in a voice tinged with amusement and mock shyness, "A challenge."

Quatre's eyes narrowed. While he had appreciated the little show, he certainly did not appreciate the implications of Duo's response. However, this close to his friend he couldn't help but sense the growing interest which lay behind both the violet eyed boy's actions and his statement. Duo was asking him to prove himself first and if he could, then Death himself would almost certainly submit.

It was at this point that the other pilots returned from their mission, putting a temporary end to the conversation. However, the real game was about to begin…and Quatre knew he had been given Duo's permission to play.

* * * * *

To Be Continued?