Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Idle Hands ❯ Five ( Chapter 5 )

Five

Jinli was sitting next to Duo with his head bowed as Quatre moved tiredly into the meeting room. Trowa had finished his speech and was working on his laptop at the edge of the stage, and Duo likewise had his machine in front of him. Other than them and the tapping of Trowa's keys, the room was silent and empty.

Aside from wondering where everyone else had gone, Quatre realized that Jinli was actually upset. His emotions were in a tangle that ended up in depression, and he wasn't expecting Duo to pay him mind. If Duo hadn't made anything up that morning when he'd gone back to bitch to Quatre, the semi-blond wasn't surprised by that—just that Wufei would leave him out.

Though...maybe Wufei hadn't thought about it? Heero was awake and back in their sleeping area—Quatre hadn't bothered to actually look at the notices of people going through their line. The fact that Heero's being under had sent off a drinking binge in their Chinese friend suggested that him being awake would be met with equal enthusiasm...though leaving Jin out?

"Don't ask," Jinli muttered tiredly, looking up to him. "I'd rather not talk about it."

"You hurt him," Duo noted without looking up. "And that will piss Heero off ten times more than me, because we taught him that consideration was second nature and thoughtless anger was barbaric."

"Calmly," Quatre soothed his lover with a sigh, wrapping his arms around Duo's head and kissing his temple. "He understands that he overreacted, let him off the hook already."

Jinli looked away.

"What are you doing out here?" Duo returned, not acknowledging the words as he moved his head to kiss the underside of Quatre's chin.

"We're done," Quatre shrugged. "We found one man...one fucking man," he groaned and pressed his head into the small of Duo's neck...well, as best as he could from that angle. "I'm so pissed..."

"You letting your guys finish off?"

"I already ran the arrest and shit," Quatre explained. "When we got him, I let them take over the questioning again and ran the asshole through."

"Good," he muttered, focusing on closing things on his laptop. "Let's go back to the rooms. I want to get Wufei a cake...is that okay with you, Jin?" he hissed at the man without looking at him. "You're his espoused, you should be taking care of this shit."

"Yes, Duo," Jinli snapped back, shoving his chair back. "In fact, I'll be the good fucking wife and pick it out myself." He turned away from the table, starting to storm from the room.

"The base doesn't have a bakery," Duo half-snarled after him, spinning in his seat to follow the other man's motion.

"Oh, you weren't trying to get rid of me?" Jinli snapped back, his eyes both hurt and angry—hell pissed worked just as well.

Duo started to stand up.

Quatre shoved his lover back in his seat. He felt the protective anger for Wufei's mental state, true, but he also knew that the internal squabbling over the matter would tear Wufei up worse.

Duo spluttered at him.

"Calm. your. shit." Quatre glared down at the other, then moved across the intervening space as he saw Jinli's startled look. "Come with me," Quatre suggested, gesturing the man after him, then looking across the room as he felt Trowa's attention. He studied the man a moment, nodded once, then moved from the room.

The silence that followed him was dark, but hopeful. Jinli didn't seem to have anything to say, though his emotions jumping around suggested otherwise. Quatre glanced back at him, noting that his hands were in his pockets and he was studying the ground.

Duo could be an ass.

Quatre sighed, pulling back into himself and hesitating a half step. He'd been unable to control himself for two weeks, and even though he'd had several opportunities to 'put it away', it still confused him a moment.

"You okay?" Jin asked hesitantly, slowing with him, his eyes concerned.

"I've been having a hard time," Quatre said quietly, putting his own hands in his pockets to mirror the other. He met the man's eyes briefly, falling into a more comfortable stride. "With how things've gone...I mean, my sister and Ethan...I need to call her...and then you all coming down here. Then Duo went and got himself grabbed," he ran a hand through his hair. "That's when it just went away," he made a face. "All my damn control." He snorted, glancing at the other man. "Since Duo's been back, I've been reading him."

Jinli blinked.

"I can't control it to one person, either," he noted glumly. "So you know, it's been a damn open channel—Blake is obnoxious."

Jin smiled slightly at him.

"But...I've been able to stop now. I stopped for a few hours last night—before Wufei left. I slept alone last night, and Duo was still there." He shook his head. "Kinda restful—and a lot less sex," he snickered. "Not that you care."

"Not particularly," Jinli agreed dryly, looking around. "Where are we going?"

"To let you be a good wife and get a cake," Quatre retorted, taking another hall.

"Duo said there's no bakery here," the man protested, blinking.

"There's not," Quatre agreed. "But there is a city here, and if we don't find anything good we can take the ferry and get him one from Brazil. You can say you went to a whole 'nother country to get it for him—and if he protests that the river about a hundred feet from us is the border, you can note that as being beside the point."

Jinli smiled a small smile at that.

"I mean, you do plan to apologize to him, don't you?" Quatre pressed, raising an eyebrow.

The man looked away glumly.

"If you're not you may as well spend your time figuring out where we are. Because if you're not you need to get away from me."

"I fucked up!" Jinli spat, hackles rising as he glowered up at the guy. "I'm sorry! Okay? Is that good enough for you?"

Quatre gave him a very long and level look. "I don't think I am the one who needs the apology—though Duo might accept that one."

Jinli looked away darkly.

"At any rate," Quatre muttered, looking back to their path. "I spent today reading a bunch of boot-lickers. We found a whole of one. I think we'll have the same issue with the damn soldiers, too. I'm irritated, because it's the same as that fucked up network of his. It's too small to be obvious, and a sparse handful of men can disappear for legitimate reasons out of nowhere. If they're not due back until Monday, it takes until Monday to mark them as deserters or traitors. Hell, there are a few men back in LA that I haven't been able to fuckin' read because of maternal or paternal leave...or vacation time."

Jinli nodded, looking toward another wall-map.

Quatre stopped at the next, noting that the man was actually reading it. The guy stopped almost gratefully, tracing the hall they were on with a fingertip. "What are you doing?"

"Debating if pissing you off would be a better bet than letting Wufei think I'm okay with him becoming an alcoholic."

Quatre stared at him, feeling his gut clench.

This was the problem with outsiders.

Jinli sighed, turning back to glower back at him.

"Who said we let him think we're okay with it?" Quatre couldn't pull his clenched teeth apart to ask.

Jin blinked at that, then looked away and shrugged almost indifferently.

"You have some fucking gull," Quatre snapped, pulling his hands from his pockets and crossing them over his chest. "Why do you assume we let him think it's okay? Because we aren't tearing him down? Are you kidding!? Do you even realize how bad disappointment rips him apart!?"

The man blinked at him.

"If he thinks he's disappointed us, then what the hell is the point? If he's trying his hardest to please the ones he loves, and they're still disappointed...what's to keep him from just giving up? What's to keep him with us? You can pull the stick out your ass now, because coming with me to get him a fucking cake is your last chance at grace. I'd say you could just pack up and head back to space, but Wufei won't let that happen—which will put him in an even harder spot, so we'll tolerate your ass...you might want to think what..."

"Don't fucking threaten me!" Jinli snarled back, half-stepping forward. "I'm aware I pissed you all off, don't even start..."

Quatre raised his hands, having two thoughts at about the same time. The first was that a fight between them would be bad. If he out-and-out attacked the man, it'd take too many men to pull him off—or them apart. The second was that Jin had been having a hard-ass day without him slamming the point home.

Jin looked away, crossing his arms again. "Sorry...I'm just...stressed."

"You have no idea how hard it's been for us and him," Quatre noted, starting slowly back up the hall. "It took him nearly running off on us to make us realize that...being disappointed in him...was the least helpful thing we could persist with. We wanted him to know we disapproved, but there are other ways of doing it than bitching at him. I still don't know how he got to the point last night that he went and bought alcohol...we'll get to talking about it later or tomorrow, I'm sure—but none of us are going to touch it tonight. If the assholes didn't come collect you, it doesn't mean they're all superbly pissed at you. It means they got distracted and lost track of time. I'm assuming it's either one of those games Matty and Blake have, a movie, or some stupid ass game."

Jinli nodded, moving slowly closer to him as they neared the outer-wall.

"Duo's the only one who's done it so far," he noted quietly, "but Heero likes that...memory game...too. The one where they program their phones with stupid-ass locks? And on top of that, the first three soldiers on duty with Matty...well, the guy who was most forward of them...he's a bit like Duo. He'll say shit out of nowhere, stick his foot in his mouth, and feel absolutely no shame in digging himself out or in deeper. You put all that together with Wufei wanting to forget what he did and Heero just out of his coma...I'm sure they'll be loud and rambunctious by the time we get in, and lord-knows putting sugar in that mix might make something explode...but it will be a happy last breath."

Jin raised his eyes to study Quatre a long moment.

"If you let it drop," Quatre said quietly, "he will, too. Of that, you can be sure."

Jin nodded again.

"Hopefully," Quatre added, shoving into an open room with a wall of windows...facing a parking-lot. "I can get us a car and find a bakery in ten minutes...because if not, the others may be a little upset with us."

- -

Jin wanted to write something like 'I'm an ass' on the cake, but everyone they seemed to come across knew Chinese. Besides, if Quatre wasn't kidding, that meant Wufei wouldn't fully appreciate it. It was bad enough that Quatre nearly got the woman to use "beloved" instead of Wufei's name—though in the end, Jin decided to go with the more amusing and familiar name of 'Fian.'

He studied the cake in his lap uncertainly as they went, aware of something else. He'd picked what he'd known to be Wufei's preferred cake. It was the cake both their mothers had made them, and one he'd known Wufei to go to a store to buy before he'd gone off for his schooling. It hadn't even been a hesitation for him, either, but while he'd agonized over what to have the woman behind the counter write, Quatre had casually noted that Wufei usually picked or wanted white with chocolate...not white chocolate.

So...what was the reaction going to be?

Jinli hated not knowing, and hated that he'd started Wufei's birthday off with bitching. It was one of those things where he wanted to slam his head against any given wall...and then Duo'd taken the fuckin' cake all day. As if his own internal berating wasn't really enough.

"Um...Brigadier Winner?"

The pair slowed to see a pretty woman looking up at them with very wide and nervous eyes.

"Yes?" Quatre returned casually, noting the package she had in her hands.

"Um...I...I know that...um," she licked her lips and drew herself up. "I know that Brigadier Chang doesn't know me...but today is his birthday," she glanced at the cake Jin was holding. "And...a few of the girls in my unit decided to pitch in and...well...here." She set two packages in his arms. "Sorry, bye!"

And she ran.

Jinli blinked.

"Sorry, bye?" Quatre echoed, watching her disappear down another hall. "I don't suppose you got her name, did you?"

"It started with an S?" Jin offered.

Quatre snorted at that, looking down to the gifts and shaking his head. "My birthday is going to be annoying back home, isn't it?"

They started walking again.

"Um...Brigadier Winner?"

Quatre looked up at a man this time, a hand-cart in front of him. Quatre raised his eyebrows.

"I'm not sure how the men...or women...found out," he said quietly, "but it's gotten around base that today is Brigadier Chang's birthday...and..." he also glanced at the cake. "Well...these have been showing up down in central all day." He shoved the handcart forward for them to see better. It was half-full of wrapped packages...and a quarter full of gift-baskets.

Quatre blinked down at the contents a long moment, then sighed and put the presents he was holding into it. "I'll just take this in," he said quietly, taking control of the thing. "I'll let Chang know—thank you, soldier."

The man saluted him, smiled almost knowingly at Jinli, then turned and walked away.

Jinli raised an eyebrow, but they were at the end of their hall. He was happy to see that someone had taken his suggestion of a separation seriously, too. There was a rice-curtain divider with dark paper set up between the inner hall and the outer. He could hear laughter, too.

"This is nice," Quatre noted, stopping at the divide to start plucking cards out of the thing...and picking up the presents from the floor. "That was a good idea you had."

Jinli smiled slightly at him, moving through the thing—there were actually two. They were both longer than half the hallway, and set enough apart for them to get through without issue without letting the general populace see into their area.

"Let me in first," Quatre suggested, moving around him carefully as he headed for their room—it had amused Trowa to no-end that Wufei and Jinli had been put in the same room with one bed...but it wasn't like any of them had been sleeping alone.

"Quatre!" Wufei chirped happily. "What is...are those for me?" he sounded astounded.

"Either people actually like you," Quatre retorted, "or are bootlickers—I'm inclined to say the latter."

Wufei laughed at that, then focused on Jinli. His eyes went over the cake, then up to Jin's face.

Jin smiled slightly at him, proffering the thing.

"Did you get candles?" Matty demanded, bouncing forward to take the cake. "You didn't did you? You totally suck...or you should..." he cackled as Wufei swatted at him, diving off to one side in a way that suggested he'd known it'd happen.

"I still say you let Heero show you his ninety-nine ways," Blake chirped.

"I know a hundred," Trowa noted dryly from where he was sitting on the bed. He had Blake more or less in his lap, arms looped loosely around the younger male's waist.

"You and Heero decided that your hundredth was really a combination of two that didn't count as its own," Matty reminded them happily.

Trowa's eyes were sparkling as he looked back to Jinli.

"Ooh, look!" Matty proclaimed, starting to spin toward Blake with the cake...but Wufei swiped it from him. "Hey!"

"It's my cake," Wufei retorted, laughing as he read the name on it...then falling quiet.

"I told him you liked white cake with chocolate icing," Quatre noted almost pointedly. He'd gone to Duo upon entering the room, and was sitting on his lover's lap. Duo and Heero were sitting across from each other over a little table with three chairs.

Wufei raised his eyes from the cake, swallowing as he met Jin's eyes.

Jin smiled a lopsided smile, figuring it had been a mistake.

"Thank you," Wufei said quietly, looking back down to the thing...and swallowing hard.

"It's...what you...what you got," Jinli explained, swallowing himself. He could almost feel the grief.

He was an ass...god...

Wufei wiped at his eyes, starting to laugh a little, then moved over to hug Jin hard.

"What is it?" Heero asked blankly.

Jinli squeezed his friend back, realizing that they'd probably cry tonight—after everyone else left and it was just the two of them. Hell, they may as well have been lovers.

"I used to order this," Wufei explained, spinning away from Jin to show the cake to Heero as he wiped at his eyes with his free hand again. "White chocolate...I haven't had it in years."

"Ooh, that sounds yummy," Matty bounced up around Wufei, reaching for the cake, but Wufei was taller, and he raised it out of the young man's reach.

"What is all this?"

Jinli started, turning to look at Blake in confusion. Trowa was sitting alone on the bed, and Blake was poking through the hand-cart.

"Happy birthday Brigadier..." the twenty-year-old read, snickering. "They spelled Brigadier wrong. Brigader. Happy birthday Brigader..." he started laughing more.

"Hey!" Wufei protested, turning back to the cart and passing the cake to Jinli. "Those are mine! I'm the Brigader here!"

Blake and Matty both started laughing at that, and Matty followed after to join in the nosing of packages.

"The guy who gave me the cart gave Jinli a very interesting look," Quatre noted happily. "Why don't you see what's in those presents?"

Wufei's eyes flashed to delight before he started pulling the baskets out and passing them to the youths. The pair were uncertain at first, then decided on the top of the dresser to the side.

"Bath salts?" Wufei asked blankly, straightening as he looked at one package in disbelief. "Who the hell gives a brigadier bath salts?"

"A romantic soak?" Heero offered.

"I like that idea," Matty bounced, looking to Heero with a smile.

Jinli snorted, moving over to the table and set the cake on top of that. He smiled slightly at the man, offering his hand. It was good to see Heero on his feet again.

"Look!" Wufei chirped. "White hot chocolate! Jin! They thought of you!" he laughed more.

Jinli turned from shaking Heero's hand to rejoin his friend. He was glad he hadn't gone with the apology. Wufei was in a better mood than he had been in for days. He pulled out a few of the wrapped gifts, shaking one of them near his ear, then turned and looked solemnly to Quatre.

Quatre raised his eyebrows skeptically.

"Are these gifts safe for me to open?" he asked in a nearly sincere tone.

"Probably not in mixed company," Quatre returned in amusement. "But we're all men here, right, Jin?"

"What do you mean by that?" Jinli demanded, blinking a few times.

Wufei laughed, pulling the cart with him so he could sit at the foot of the bed...and start unwrapping.

Jinli followed at a more sedate pace, wondering what the hell was up.

"Those top two were from a cute girl in the hall," Quatre noted, indicating the things. "She said she and the girls from her unit bought them, sorry, bye."

Wufei grinned at that...and ripped into the top one.

It was a plastic-tube of t-shirts. They were different colors, mostly subdued.

"That's...neat," Wufei muttered, turning the thing to read it. "Pre-shrunk, washed, and cleaned...interesting." He blinked at the label.

"Presumably, washed and cleaned are two different steps," Trowa noted.

"You're helpful," Wufei shot back happily, tossing the package to Jinli as he sat next to him...and started laughing. "What the fuck?"

"What?" Jin asked, noting a magazine.

Wufei laughed even harder, pulling the wrapping all the way off as he looked sidelong at Jin a moment...and laughed harder.

"What is it?" Duo asked, sitting forward slightly. "What's funny?"

"You can have it," Wufei retorted, tossing the thing over. "Lord knows, you're into the porn enough..."

Jin stared at him.

"What?" Matty demanded...and he and Blake were in front of Duo almost as soon as the man caught it...and started laughing.

"What was it?" Jin asked blankly.

"Masculine Toys," Duo noted eyebrows arching in amusement. "Comes with free DVD...wow. They went all-out for you, Fei...ooh..." he'd flipped it open and was looking at one side. Quatre wasn't looking at the thing, rolling his eyes as the younger men leaned forward to look almost avidly...and started giggling.

Heero snickered. "We have the DVD player, you know."

Duo and Matty both laughed at that.

Jin wondered how badly his face showed his blush, looking back to Wufei.

Wufei grinned at him, tossing him a book. It was...philosophy? A philosophy book? What the hell...

"Don't lose that," Wufei suggested, starting on yet another package. "I want to know who the hell profiled me so I can kick their ass...I've seen that book a few times," he indicated the thing. "But I never get around to reading, so I haven't bothered yet."

"You didn't have anything to do with this, did you?" Jinli asked Quatre almost hesitantly as Duo pretended he wasn't going to show the younger men a picture. It sounded like he was saying something about being 'too indecent for young eyes.'

"No," Quatre retorted, then sniffed—it made Matty's hair move from his face. He snorted, shoving the book down so the pair'd back off.

"Hey!" Duo protested.

Matty squeaked, slapping his hands to his mouth as Blake's jaw dropped open.

...their reactions made him very curious as to what there could be a picture of.

"Heero!" Matty ripped the magazine from Duo's hands and moved around the table to show him. "Look! Pink fuzzy cuffs!"

Heero's eyebrows arched a moment, and he tilted his head to one side.

"You really don't want to ask," Wufei noted, looking to Jin as he tossed a cologne-set to the side. It wasn't an expensive one by any means. "If you look, you'll wish you hadn't—I've seen Duo squeak over pictures before, and when I gave in and asked..." he shook his head, looking across the room to Duo, who'd plucked the magazine back from Heero's hands. Quatre'd removed himself, and the two younger were trying to cluster even closer.

"You were intrigued and you know it," Duo noted, glancing up at Wufei as he turned to another page.

"Only to how he could bend that way," Wufei retorted. "And I don't think it was from yoga."

Duo laughed delightedly.

Wufei grinned at Jin a moment, leaning down again and pulling out something with weight to it. He blinked a moment, then tore of the paper...and stared.

"What?" Jin asked, considering what he could see of the clear liquid. It looked sort of like massage oil or something. Not a big bottle of it, either.

"Is that..." Quatre started, moving forward.

"Lube!" Trowa guffawed his laughter, diving forward to claim the bottle from Wufei's hand. "I get it! We get it!"

Wufei looked up to Jin almost incredulously.

Jinli squeezed his eyes shut in disbelief, wondering just how much of that sort of thing was in those gifts.

"I get the next bottle if Duo gets the magazine," Heero noted happily. "Straight friends should play gay more often...this is fun."

Wufei flashed him a grin, pulling out another package. "I will get you so much female paraphernalia on your birthday that you won't have anyone to give it to."

"But Reg," Duo noted with a wicked grin, looking up and around to them all. His eyes brightened as Quatre moved closer to the bed. "Did I tell you that I slept with her?"

They all focused on him in disbelief.

"I was at her house and we were drinking—I thought I'd told her who I was...but I guess I full-on seduced her and just kinda...left." He snickered, looking around to Quatre. "I thought she was avoiding me because what I'd said."

Trowa started laughing.

"Oh, look," Wufei noted dryly, showing them all a box of small bottles. "Trial sizes."

Jinli smacked a hand to his face as Heero perked up.

"Hey!" Duo protested as Wufei tossed the thing to the Japanese man. "We get the next one!"

"By all means," Quatre noted dryly. "Happy birthday, Wufei, give me your lube."

...and after a very long and very disbelieving look to the semi-blond, they all started laughing. Hard.

- -

Wufei smiled tiredly as Jinli shut the door to their room and flicked off the light, watching as he moved toward the bathroom. The night had been fun, and he was pleasantly tired. He wasn't going to admit it to anyone, really, but the presents and cards from the men made him feel good. Even the stupid sex-stuff that'd been sprinkled through the items. Someone cared enough about him to try and help him have a good time with his supposed husband.

"What are you grinning at?" Jin asked dryly, dropping his jeans and starting to unwrap one of the packages of pajamas Wufei'd gotten.

"If we were actually a couple," he returned, "we'd be having a really good night—it's my birthday, all our friends are gone...I was just given more porn or porn accessories than I've ever paid for..."

Jinli snorted at him.

"I just wish that not everyone knew we were espoused," he added, yawning and turning over. "I'd like to get laid."

"I know," Jin agreed dryly, pulling the pants on and stretching. "God...I haven't done my forms in forever."

"There's enough room there," Wufei reassured him. "I've been doing mine a bit."

The other nodded, stretching some more. "You know...I was an ass this morning, right?"

"I was an ass last night," Wufei agreed quietly.

"I shouldn't have torn your head off," Jinli added. "I overreacted..."

"Its fine," Wufei cut him off, forestalling the apology. "Don't worry about it..."

"No," Jinli returned, focusing on him seriously—the only light in the room was coming from the bathroom, and the man's face looked very...angsty.

Wufei smiled a bit as the descriptor struck him. "I wanted to apologize myself," he said quietly. "I know...I know I shouldn't drink...but..." he looked away a moment.

"Do you think...we should quit?" Jinli asked quietly. "Just drop alcohol entirely for a while?"

"I don't think I can," Wufei said quietly, not looking at him.

"You're strong," Jinli said quietly. "You're smart...powerful. You can do whatever you want to do. You don't need a crutch—shit, you saved the damn world."

Wufei met his eyes, blinking.

Jinli sighed, shaking his head and looking around the room, then sighed again. "I didn't realize you'd been avoiding the cake," he added. "We got into the bakery, and I just..."

"It's what you know," Wufei reassured him. "It surprised me, but...it was damn good cake, wasn't it? It's easier now...to remember stuff? Is it for you?"

Jin shrugged and nodded. He hadn't had the same issues Wufei'd had, and he'd had friends who'd lost the same as he. Wufei'd been alone and making himself alone. It'd been hard for all of them, but undoubtedly harder for Wufei. He didn't see that as being necessary to add, though, and let the matter stand.

"I'm...scared," Wufei admitted quietly, looking toward the bathroom. "I...I'm scared to find the others."

"We all wanted you with us," Jinli said quietly.

"It's been years," Wufei reminded him quietly. "Me and you...we were more like brothers than friends. Our relationship...I missed you...a lot."

"I missed you," Jinli reassured him. "We all did...and they all do. I think we need to all meet at once, you know."

Wufei looked away, his insides churning.

"But we don't need to talk about that," Jin muttered, bending forward. "We're not done with Gerrange yet. What do you think? Should we give Matty and Heero those bath-salts? I know I won't use them."

"We?" Wufei asked, focusing happily on the change. "I could have sworn it was my birthday, husband."

"And considering how much lube and porn you got, bath salts were most likely for us. But if you want to use them..."

Wufei laughed at that, settling back down where he lay. "Are you actually going to do your forms, or are you trying to entice me into one of them hundred ways of seduction we couldn't seem to escape all night?"

"Entice?" Jinli demanded, straightening and turning to focus on the man. "Please tell me you did not just say entice."

Wufei snickered.

Jinli huffed at him...but decided to leave it, and went back to what he was doing.