Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Gone Round ❯ Three ( Chapter 3 )

Three

"My concern," Taofa noted quietly, studying Heero, "is the fact that my son is only nineteen. I'm fully aware that there are people who can fall in love and know they'll be together forever—but my son is nineteen."

Heero nodded, studying the floor.

They were in the kitchen of Taofa's house, and Heero was leaning against the counter. Heero'd been getting thirds of dinner—Matty was a good cook, and Taofa had come in for a drink. Instead of leaving again, though, the man had decided to talk with Heero. Matty and Lifon were doing something that was making them laugh very hard, and Heero really wanted to just melt and go join them.

"You have to have something to say," Taofa noted. "You know you do."

Heero met his eyes and shrugged slightly. He hadn't expected Matty to tell the man about...about asking about getting married. He'd just been asking to hear Matty's mind...not to have his father pressing him on the matter.

"Heero," Taofa said seriously, "you asked my son to marry you."

"I...don't want to...I want to be with him," Heero met his eyes briefly and shrugged again. "It's not like...I...I just wanted to see if he wanted to."

Taofa grinned slightly at that, considering Heero's expression. He'd never managed to fluster Heero sufficiently enough that he avoided eye contact, so he was vaguely amused by the situation. It wasn't like he'd intended to fluster the guy, either.

"He pointed out that we've only been together a few months," Heero added.

"Four," Taofa returned dryly. "In the first month, you saved him from a hostage situation. The second month you took him to space again. The third, you took him back to space and legally espoused him, which is about a half a step down from marriage anyway...and the fourth you rescue him from being abducted."

"We filled out the paperwork so he could come and go from the base unhindered," Heero muttered, studying the far counter.

"Oh, I know the reasons," Taofa noted pointedly. "He called and made sure I agreed with him before he finished it."

Heero looked up at him, startled. Matty hadn't mentioned that—but then again, he knew how often Matty would call Taofa for advice, that had been why he'd said for Matty to call the man from base.

"Tox?" Taofa called.

Heero blinked as the laughing stopped.

"What's up, Dad?" Matty muttered, appearing a half a moment later and looking between them. "What's going on?"

"I flustered your espoused into wordless uncertainty," Taofa returned dryly, starting away. "You talk to him."

Matty blinked, moving out of the man's way as he left the kitchen, then looked uncertainly to Heero.

Heero shook his head, extending his arms. He held Matty a long moment before kissing him and giving him a skeptical look. "Tox?"

"My mom used to call me that," he noted, smiling slightly. "And toxic, actually."

That explained the 'caution: toxic' sticker on the door to Matty's bedroom.

"He only does it when he's serious," he added, looking after his father. "I thought you two had started fighting or something; stopped my heart."

Heero grinned, considering his eyes a long moment. "What would you do if he told you to leave me?"

The question startled Matty, and he stared at Heero a long moment before becoming flustered. Heero could tell the guy was thinking fast.

He chuckled, kissing him again. "I guess that means I put an effort in to keeping him happy, too, huh?"

Matty stomped his foot, giving Heero a petulant look.

"Even when you throw a fit," Heero noted, kissing him, "I can't help wanting you..."

Matty sniggered, covering Heero's mouth with both of his hands. "Not in my father's house."

Heero guffawed in disbelief—that had not been what he meant.

Matty grinned at him, bouncing to the fridge as Taofa moved to look in at them with a raised eyebrow.

"What?" Heero asked sweetly. "We weren't doing anything."

"And I believe you just as much as I believe her boyfriend," he agreed, gesturing with his thumb toward his daughter.

"Daddy!" Lifon whined. "We weren't doing anything! We were just kissing..."

"And what do you think kissing leads to?" Taofa demanded, though not in a harsh way—he seemed amused. "A walk in the park with a musical montage ending with you both on your backs in a meadow, looking at the clouds or the stars? Really?"

Lifon and Matty both started giggling.

Heero started laughing himself, taking the can from Matty, who stopped and looked up at him.

"What?" Heero asked curiously, gathering the plate of food he'd been readying.

"You drink beer?"

Heero blinked at then at the can he'd opened and drank from blankly. "Uh...yeah."

Matty snorted at that, pulling out a pop. "So, Li," he called, moving from the kitchen. "What song is your montage?"

"I like Dustin, thank you very much. We are not talking about it."

Matty started laughing wickedly.

"So, Heero," Taofa muttered, "how would you like to put the fear of god into a seventeen year old punk with me?"

"What?" Li demanded as Heero moved from the kitchen as well. She was standing on the couch and staring between them with an accusatory glare.

"Depends. What do you need me to do? If you want me to scare the shit out of him, your daughter might hurt me."

Tao grinned at him, then looked around to the girl with interest. "I did tell you he was coming over tonight, didn't I?"

Matty was laughing his ass off where he stood, his eyes absolutely dancing.

"You're not scared of a sixteen year old, are you?" Toa added wryly to Heero. "Really?"

"That sixteen-year-old you speak of is within hearing range, and I'm not discussing it with him here, either," he indicated Matty, who laughed even harder. "I think if I took a wrong step with her, it'd put me in the dog house faster than pissing him off."

Li giggled at that as well, jumping the back of the couch.

"Don't you dare go running to call him," Tao ordered the girl. "Don't you go running to warn him..."

She gave him a look, and disappeared anyway.

"She won't call him," Matty noted dryly to Heero, "she'll text him."

Heero grinned wickedly at that.

"I try," Tao appealed to Heero. "I really do..."

"I think you're mostly doing fine," Heero reassured him, moving around the couch to sit. "Just don't let her tears put you off and she'll stop hating you by the time she's...twenty-one, twenty-two if you embarrass her."

Taofa laughed delightedly at that, sitting his in his chair as Matty slid over the back of the couch to curl against Heero.

- -

"And this is Heero Yuy," Lifon added, indicating Heero. "You're a general or something, right?"

"About a step back from one," Heero agreed in amusement, studying her eyes. He couldn't tell if she was downplaying the rank, or being sixteen. She did that sort of thing a lot.

"Heero Yuy?" Dustin breathed, staring at Heero with wide eyes—he didn't even offer his hand. He'd exchanged happy greetings with Matty.

"He's awfully protective of my Li," Taofa noted from where he was. He hadn't gotten out of his chair when the young man had shown up, and had said something to Heero about seeing his gun—Heero wasn't going to let the man fuss with the weapon, though. Not to scare a kid. They could do that very well unarmed.

Li tsked at Taofa.

"Lifon is very important to me," Heero agreed casually with the man as Matty moved back to the couch, trying to keep a straight face. "But you look like an okay kid...you wouldn't hurt her, huh?"

The guy dropped his eyes, shaking his head quickly.

The girl herself had narrowed eyes...an expression remarkably like Matty's when he was delivering a silent warning.

"Or...pursue her in ways I would consider...un-admirable," Heero added in a low voice.

"You're a jerk," Li snapped, shoving at him.

Heero stepped back wordlessly, still studying the younger man. If he'd had to confront the families of the people he'd taken up with at seventeen, he wouldn't have done half of what he had—a quarter of it. He had been more confident than this kid back then...Li stormed passed him, then stopped.

"You're not seriously freaking out, are you?" Matty demanded of the guy in disbelief. "They're warning you not to treat my sister like a slut, and you're freaking out?"

The kid looked up at him, his cheeks cherry red, then turned and darted from the house.

"Dustin!" Li protested, running after him.

"I didn't think that was too heavy," Heero muttered to Matty with a frown.

"I didn't either," he reassured him. "Evidently she took up with a pussy."

"Matty," Taofa chided.

"He just ran," Matty retorted, gesturing at the door.

The door flew open again and Li stormed into the house with tears on her cheeks. "I hate you!" she flared at Heero, then ran and threw herself at Matty.

Heero blinked, not sure if he was supposed to believe that or not.

"Hey, she didn't blow your eardrums," Taofa noted happily, bouncing to his feet. "Want another beer, Heero?"

"I hate you!" Li half-shrieked at her father, then ran down the hall and slammed her bedroom door.

Taofa turned to Heero, raising three fingers, then lowered them one at a time. As he lowered the last finger, music blared from her room.

Matty snickered, rising to his feet. "Dad."

"That boy wasn't only kissing," Taofa retorted, heading happily into the kitchen. "He was only kissing in the same way Heero is only kissing."

Matty snickered at that. "Did I tell you about the call I made from the border at Western Sahara?" Matty asked, bouncing into the kitchen.

"What?" Taofa asked. "You want a beer?"

"Really?" Matty was startled.

"You probably won't like it, but I somehow don't imagine you're innocent. Your boyfriend's commentary about anything to make you happy somehow strikes me as him letting you try anything."

Matty giggled at that. "We're not that bad...but I do have a drink sometimes."

"And since he's you're espoused, he gave it to you if the cops show up."

"She is kind of throwing a fit, isn't she?" Matty noted, cracking the can open and looking down the hall. "Should I go talk to her?"

"Probably," Taofa agreed, passing him a can of juice.

Matty smiled slightly at Heero, then disappeared down the hall.

"Here," Tao passed Heero another beer. "Hopefully he'll calm her down so she doesn't throw a screaming fit at me. She did before—and the neighbors called the cops. She told the cops how I'd chased off her boyfriend, and the man suggested I find a way to distract her."

Heero grinned at that, moving back into the living room after the guy.

"I hope you scared him off," he added, dropping back into his chair. "He was a pussy...the type who'd get Li pregnant and declare that he'd never touched her...the stupid sort who would never accept the consequences of his actions...so. I've been thinking a while today...and I could have sworn Matty wanted to marry you earlier today, but you wanted to play a game of solitaire."

Heero started laughing, arranging himself comfortably on the couch. "Quatre was in the room with me...and Blake. Matty came in with this fake concerned look on his face, and I think Quatre was buying it. He informed me that he was pregnant...and what could I say at that point? Quatre was...exasperated," he laughed a bit. "Utterly exasperated, and Blake was just bouncing around."

"So what's this I hear about you not sending Blake from the room, huh?"

Heero practically spit out his beer, covering his mouth with his hand as he met the man's eyes. "He told you about that? Shit..."

"You are the very embodiment of what I never want my daughter to find, and you're in love with my son. How does that work?"

Heero started laughing, taking another drink to give himself a moment to think. "I...there's nothing I can say in response to that that won't just confirm what you say...all I have left to say is that I have gotten more straight guys into bed than turned me down, and I'm willing to do anything for your son."

Taofa gave him a very level look, rolled his eyes, then flicked on the television.

Heero chuckled slightly. "Morning after can be priceless."

Taofa snorted. "What? Get out of my bed before I brain you?"

"A little more panicked than that, usually...more of a holy-shit, what did I do?"

The man covered his face with his free hand.

Heero snickered slightly. "All I have to say is that Duo's an awesome teacher...but you have to mind the subject matter."

The man started laughing helplessly, shaking his head.

Heero laughed more, focusing on the television. "So, what's on?"

- -

"And he left," Lifon summed up to Trowa. "He just...ran from the house!"

"I imagine you were upset," Trowa returned, focusing on the food he was making. "You want some?"

"What is it?" she muttered, focusing on the pan skeptically.

"Chicken stir-fry," he returned.

"Okay," she moved to sit across the island from him.

Their old apartment was nearing completion, so they were still working out of the new. The stove was in the middle of the island.

"So what? You just let him run?" Trowa gave her an interested look. Heero had told him the story when they'd gotten back to the apartment, but he wanted to hear what she had to say.

"No," she returned grumpily. "I went out after him, telling him they were just stupid, and he told me he was just going home." She pouted at him. "When I saw him today he said he was sorry, then ran off to join his buddies."

"So they scared him away," Trowa noted. "At least until he gets horny and none of the other girls will give him a second glance."

She glared at him.

"Sorry," Trowa noted. "I know you won't go back to him after that stupid shit—and really, your dad walked in on him kissing on you. Most of the guys I knew back then...if they really wanted to be with a girl more than just trying to get in her pants, they'd make sure the parents didn't walk in on them. When they didn't care, they didn't care."

Her lower lip quivered slightly as she stared up at him.

"You're better off without him," Trowa noted, serving her up a plate. "You can find a better guy—one who will want to be with you enough that Heero won't scare them off."

She smiled slightly at that, taking the plate from him and blinking at the chopsticks.

"What?" he asked, blinking at her in return. "You don't want those? I can dig you out a fork, but I don't want to do dishes later and these are disposable," he showed her the package they had on the counter.

"But what about the pan?" she muttered, blinking at it.

"I'll wash that as soon as it's empty," he explained. "Then when it comes time to clean up after supper, I can point out that I did my dishes...the others will grumble at me, but I won't have to do it."

She giggled at that, picking at the food.

"So what else is new?" he muttered, starting to eat from his own plate. "You were saying on Friday you were going to get your friends and go see that movie. How was it?"

"We didn't get to go," Li returned with a sigh, taking a bite. "Me and Eve were the only ones who really wanted to, but Dad grounded me because of Dustin. That meant I didn't get my allowance...and Eve went with Ade."

"Geeze, don't any of you have names that are more than one syllable?" he muttered, looking up at her.

She giggled at that, giving him a look.

He grinned back.

"So they aren't going to it again, and they keep talking about it," she stabbed a piece of chicken viciously. "My friends are assholes and my almost-boyfriend's a dick..."

"Should I say what that makes you?" Trowa asked, grinning at her.

"Hey!" she protested, meeting his eyes with an upset look.

Trowa laughed, taking another bite. "Sorry...you just left it wide open..."

She sighed, going back to the food. "I just...I really wanted to go."

"Are you grounded still?"

"No...Dad gave me my allowance this morning and said he'd take it back if Dustin showed up again."

Trowa grinned at that, studying her eyes. "So you're a forlorn little single princess?"

She glowered at him.

"I'll take ya," he added, turning to the fridge. "You want something to drink?"

"What?" she asked. "You'll take me?"

"Oh sure, make it a date, huh? Go see some uber girlie movie, and I just made you dinner," he grinned as he indicated the paper plate she was eating from.

She snorted at that, taking the can from him. "Okay...I don't know about the date part," she added, "but if you wanna go with me..."

"Take you," he corrected. His mind offered him several better choices of phrase, but no one else was home, so he could ignore the slip.

Lifon gave him an interested look.

"I haven't gotten to go out with a pretty girl in a couple months," he added, grinning wickedly at her. "And I know full-well that Heero and your dad...and your brother...would bury me under the daisies if I was inappropriate, so we can go do something stupid and girlie for your amusement."

She giggled more at that, shaking her head at him, then looked around.

"My laptop," he noted, pointing at the sunken living room, "is over there...and if you can't find the browser..."

He watched her hop into the sunken area in amusement, going back to eating as the front door opened. "Hey," he greeted Matty, feeling a little wicked. "How are you guys?"

"Li here?" Matty asked, blinking at her phone, which was on the counter by her plate, then looked up to Trowa.

"He's taking me to the movie!" she declared, bouncing back up to hug him and take another bite. She smiled brightly at Trowa, grabbing her phone, then disappeared again.

Matty focused very levelly on Trowa.

"What?" he demanded.

"What are you doing?" Heero asked in Spanish, raising an eyebrow.

"Taking a girl to a movie to distract her from the fact that the guy she thought would be her boyfriend is a pussy," Trowa retorted. "Don't look at me like that. She's been about to start crying for the last ten minutes. The movie will help her feel better, and then I'll buy her something stupid and expensive so she can annoy her friends just as bad as they've been annoying her."

Heero blinked.

Matty gave Heero a concerned look, glancing at his sister. He leaned forward, narrowing his eyes at Trowa. "What do you think you're doing?" he hissed.

"Talk to your boyfriend about it, in the room," Trowa snapped back.

"How were her friends annoying her?" Heero muttered, looking around to the girl.

"Since she got grounded because of him," Trowa explained, "her dad didn't give her her allowance, which means she didn't have the money to get into the movie, so two of her brainless friends went without her and won't stop talking about it."

Heero gave him a very long look, then rolled his eyes. He grabbed Matty's arm and yanked him after.

"The next showing is in ten minutes," Lifon breathed, moving up to look at him with bright eyes. "But they start every half hour...so whichever theater we go to, we won't have to wait long."

"So let's finish eating," he suggested, indicating her food. "Then we can go find a likely theater, and if we have to wait we can hit a store or something."

"Okay," she perked up. "I was looking at this shirt over at Timeless," she added. "Maybe we can find one of those."

"Oh, sure," he returned, grinning at her. "Sound plan."

- -

"You took a sixteen year old on a date?" Duo demanded happily of Trowa as he moved into the house.

"Oh, shut up," Trowa retorted, hanging his jacket up by the door and sliding off his shoes.

"No...you...you took a sixteen year old on a movie date."

Trowa gave him a very long look.

"And you did it because you wanted to distract her from the pussy-boyfriend who dumped her."

"You," Trowa noted happily, "are annoying." He started down the hall.

Duo snickered, looking around to Quatre, who shook his head.

"You're home early," Matty bounced out of his and Heero's room happily. "She not want a kiss goodnight?"

"If she did," Trowa breathed, moving in on the teen so he was pressed against the wall, "who's to say I wouldn't still get her home on time?"

Matty's expression clouded.

"You want me to kick your ass, don't you?" Heero asked levelly, moving up near the pair with narrowed eyes on Trowa's face.

"Try me," Trowa purred, moving so they were eye to eye. "I just spent three hours with a chattering little sixteen year old and made her forget about some bitch boyfriend she had, and all I'm getting for it is grief."

"Such a gentleman," Heero returned.

Trowa grabbed Matty's arm and moved him from between them.

"Stop," Matty snapped, moving back and shoving Trowa away backwards, then Heero. "Knock it off."

Heero snorted, turning away.

Trowa glared after him a moment, then focused down on Matty expectantly.

"I was just teasing," Matty added, frowning at him.

Trowa snorted, turning back for his room. He pounded on Wufei's door as he passed.

"Yeah?" Wufei asked.

"You want to go get drunk and laid?"

"Oh...uh..." Wufei pulled the door open and blinked at him. "Me and Jin decided to hit the movies...and we work tomorrow."

"I called in," Trowa admitted, then sighed and started down the hall.

"What about Tim?" Wufei muttered.

"He didn't call in, and refused to," Trowa noted, stopping in his door. "I'm not going out alone."

"We can just have some drinks here," Wufei noted.

"Yes, but that doesn't take care of the getting laid part," Trowa pointed out.

"Sorry," Wufei grinned at him. "Just don't drive drunk?"

Trowa moved into his room irritably.

He wasn't going out by himself. His friends were annoying. Duo and Quatre were topmost on that list, but Heero and his little lover weren't that much better...and ever since Jinli had shown up, Wufei may as well have had a boyfriend. Tim was fine to take off with, but he refused to on week-nights.

There was a knock on the door.

Trowa glowered down at the phone, which hadn't beeped an alarm for people's approach.

"What the hell," Heero snapped, storming from his room. "What in the hell..."

"It's just Blake," Matty protested, following after. "Why are you so upset?"

Heero indicated his phone—which was about when Matty realized that Quatre, Duo, and Trowa had theirs out.

"Watch out," Heero instructed, moving around Blake, who'd been smiling happily at him. "Duo?"

Duo sighed, moving after the other. "Hi, Blake."

"Hey...what's..."

"The sensors didn't warn us you were coming," Quatre explained. "That sort of thing is a personal insult to Heero."

Blake laughed, looking around and smiling at them all.

"Are you watching tv?" Matty asked Quatre, bouncing after him. "We wanted to play that game again."

"That's fine," Quatre reassured him, rising to his feet and stretching. "Me and Duo are going out anyway."

"Are you?" Trowa asked, perking up.

"To dinner," Quatre agreed, grinning at him. "At Pandora's."

"Oh," Trowa deflated slightly, then sighed and headed for the kitchen.

- -

It turned out that the sensor on the side of the old apartment had malfunctioned, and after Heero had destroyed it entirely out of annoyance, they fished out a new one and reset the sensors. That done, Duo and Quatre left for their dinner, and everyone else moved out to the living room to watch Blake and Matty try to beat some game.

Trowa sighed, moving over to the stereo—for some reason, he was the only one who seemed to use the sunken living room, and they had an entertainment system set up. He was fortunate enough that his friends didn't mind his music, so he set his laptop to stream his playlist through the thing, and set the audio so the boys could still hear their game.

The evening drug on, and Trowa sighed as he stared out at the city below them from the far window. The noise reached a crescendo, which indicated the end of Blake's turn, and Matty happily announced that he'd clear the thing, even though Blake couldn't.

His drink was by the stereo, and Trowa turned to grab that, noticing that Blake was standing on the stair, watching him. He grinned at the guy, grabbing his drink and starting to dance. Everyone else knew he was in a bad mood, so they'd been giving him his space.

"What is that?" Blake asked, moving up to him and looking into his cup—it was a large cold-mug.

"Whiskey and seven-up," Trowa explained, lowering it for the other to smell.

"Can I?"

"I don't care," Trowa let him take the cup, starting to dance with him. He was buzzed, bored, and annoyed...it didn't seem to matter anymore.

Blake laughed a little at that, backing away as he took a few drinks, then met Trowa's eyes...and moved in. He turned as he did it, sliding up against Trowa with his back to Trowa's chest.

Trowa laughed a little, resting a hand on his hip...at least Blake was willing to have fun...unlike everyone else in the damn apartment.

- -

Wufei looked up from the drink he'd been having when Trowa's motion changed...Trowa's and Blake's, that was. They'd been dancing for probably a half hour with Blake's back to Trowa's chest. Trowa's drink was empty, and the movement had been Blake turning to face Trowa. For some reason that was beyond Wufei's willingness to comprehend, there was an amount of hip movement between the pair that suggested they weren't just dancing.

He snorted slightly, looking to Jinli a moment, then indicated the pair with his head, then the hall.

Jin looked around himself, then spotted the pair and rolled his eyes. They moved down the hall as Matty laughed at the game, then into Wufei's room.

"You have some special friends," Jin informed him.

"I know," Wufei agreed, closing the door and indicating the laptop. "We need to look up more places for you to apply to."

"Yeah, huh?" Jin moved and dropped in the chair, grabbing Wufei's laptop. Wufei moved and dropped onto the bed. He had a folder with Jinli's résumé in it, since they'd been messing with both things since Wufei had gotten off work. Jin was reaching the end of his money, and while Wufei didn't mind rent going back to normal, he knew that Jin wouldn't be happy in that situation.

"Maybe we should mark that you're supposedly my espoused," Wufei noted, flashing a grin up at Jin. "I wonder if that would sway anyone."

Jin snorted and threw a balled up piece of paper at him.

Wufei laughed, batting that away before grabbing his pen. "So...how about..."

- -

When Heero took Blake's turn for the fifth time, Matty realized that his friend hadn't come back into the room in a long while. He stood quietly, listening, but all he could really hear was Trowa's music, the game and...and moaning? Well, okay, that had been more of a moan, a short little sound of pleasure. He looked around in disbelief, stepping forward to see through the kitchen...and stare.

Trowa had Blake pinned against the far wall, and Blake's legs were wrapped tightly around Trowa's thighs. He had his head thrown back and his eyes closed...and Trowa was moving his hips in a slow and consistent motion.

Matty dropped on the couch, clapping his hands to his mouth as he looked around to Heero.

Heero gave him an interested look as he saved their progress, then leaned forward to look himself...and stare. After a moment, he sat back and stared at Matty in amused disbelief.

Matty pressed his hand to Heero's lips, giving him a pleading look. He didn't want to embarrass Blake by calling Trowa out on the action...and Trowa'd been in a bad enough mood that he sort of...just wanted to let him do his thing.

Heero started laughing silently, moving forward to turn off the machine, then the television...and follow Matty happily toward their room.

- -

"Let's go in my room," Trowa whispered, kissing at Blake's ear as Blake caught his breath. "Everyone else is in bed already, I should turn off this stereo...and Duo and Quatre will be home any minute wanting to talk, so..."

Blake swallowed, blinking around at the empty apartment. "Right..." he muttered, allowing himself to be lowered to the floor. "All..."

Trowa smiled briefly at him and turned to the stereo.

Blake followed after, not entirely sure what to think. He hadn't expected anything to come of the dancing...not from Trowa.

He did have the thought, though, as Trowa started the media streaming in his room, that Trowa wasn't really into guys. The notion of being easy was unpleasant to Blake, but he was already laying on Trowa's bed, so the point was a little moot...not to mention what had happened against the wall.

He shuddered slightly as Trowa pulled his shirt off, then again at the sensation of his mouth.

He was beyond done thinking.