Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Insecurities 1 ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter 2

 

2.1: Sally's pet monkey.

 

Trowa was pissed off by the quality of coffee served in the office, the amount of application forms waiting to be processed piled on his table (slightly more than Heero's since Heero was working through his pile mechanically), at having to do paperwork when he should be out in the field, and the unfairness of life in general. The chipped glass paper weights that were assigned to their room were starting to become an eyesore. Trowa wondered why all the paperweights were damage- some sort of transport accident.

 

He got up, irritably pushing back his fringe, walked to the window and looked down at the streets below. The only impressive thing about having an office on the 26th floor was the view it offered. It barely made up for being cramped in a four- by- four room with three file cabinets, two old-fashioned computer tables and one Heero Yuy. Trowa contemplated opening the window and jumping, just so he could forget Quatre and the infamous dinner. Life just didn't seem to be fair. As if to mock his predicament, the room door opened (inwards) with a grating sound which made him grit his teeth, and Shaun walked in as if he owned the place.

 

What Shaun originally looked like was something Trowa might never know but to him Shaun looked like a walking Christmas tree. He had green spiked hair; more piercings than a bullet-riddled mobile suit and an attitude which made you want to strangle him on the spot. As far as Sally was concerned Shaun was too young and too unstable for any field or office work. As far as Trowa was concerned Sally was far too lenient with the annoying punk. He sauntered into the room as though or was doing them a great favor and brought with him disposable, bio degradable, environmentally friendly cups of coffee. The only thing which was a biohazard as far as Towa was concerned was the coffee itself. If he didn't know better he'd say that Sally had a job designing coffee machines - or making coffee at the HQ canteen.

 

“So,” said Shaun as he slammed Heero's cup down, hissing as his hand got splashed with hot coffee in the process. He shook his hand and blew on it - but only until he noticed the other two following his every move with a critical eye. Then he wiped it off on his uniform and adopted an expression which said it didn't hurt anymore. "Sure you two aren't twins - with those matching expressions?" It seemed to be his way of getting over the fact he was nothing but a glorified coffee boy at the office. He also ran messages, helped with the printing and handed out office stationary - all of which did nothing to dampen his resentment at the others who seemed to have better jobs than he did. Most of Shaun's anger was directed at the five Gundam pilots who were close to his age but got more respect and seemingly, the better jobs around the office.

 

Sally had seen to it that, should Shaun ever step out of line, he would be deported to L2's Juvenile Detention Facility until he was of age but she had also warned everyone in general that he was not to be bullied. Shaun seemed to have taken it into his head that as long as he did not physically harm anyone he was allowed to do anything he wanted.

 

And most of the time he was correct.

 

Verbal barbs never affected either Trowa or Heero …well not usually. But after having had a disastrous dinner the pervious night, the last thing Trowa wanted was to be shut in an office with a teenager with an attitude problem.

 

Heero sent down his coffee in one gulp, making both Trowa and Shaun wince in sympathy. Heero did not even blink. “That stuff's going to kill you,” Shaun offered.

 

“Everything eventually does,” Heero said without missing beat as he bent over his pile of papers again. Shaun walked over and picked up one of the volunteer forms and turned it over.

 

“Why did you reject this?” he asked as he looked at the attached photo. Trowa thought that it might be another misguided girl out to save the world from the evils of fellow humans.

 

Heero did not even bother looking up. “It specifically says to fill in the information in block letters.”

 

“But it's just the first name,” Shaun protested, sounding pleased that he'd found something to needle Heero about. “How about you…”

 

“It is obvious that if this person cannot read simple instructions. He would never be able to …”

 

“As if you filled any application forms to join here,” Shaun said tauntingly.

 

“Neither did you,” Heero snapped back, slightly annoyed by the looks of it. Trowa looked up from his place by the windowsill and realised that maybe Heero wasn't exactly having a great love life either. After all, this was the guy who was with both Wufei and Duo… he was just glad it wasn't him.

 

“I don't think you people knew how to fill in forms,” Shaun smirked at them. “After all, the Gundam pilots here seem to breeze in and out as if you own the place. It's not like you know how to read and write.”

 

Both of them remained silent as Shaun looked at them, willing them to react.

 

“You are the person who refused to go to school,” Trowa pointed out as he reached for his coffee despite his dislike for the drink. If he spilled some, maybe it would burn a hole right down to the ground floor. “If you are done serving coffee and trying to rile us, can you just get out?”

 

“Touchy,” Shaun said with a touch of defiance. “Does this have anything to do with a dinner you had with that girl who visited you and the other blond guy?” It was amazing how much of everyday happenings Shaun was privy to. He seemed to know everything about everybody and even if his information was incomplete there was always some truth in it.

 

“The girl happens to be my sister,” Trowa spat out. “Now…out.”

 

“Repeat after me,” Shaun said slowly as if talking to an idiot. “Thank you for the coffee, Shaun. You may leave now.”

 

“Unless you have a valid reason to stay, get out,” Heero said dismissively.

 

“I have plenty of things to say,” Shaun said resting a hip on Heero's table, looking slightly pleased with himself. “If you ladies like to listen to gossip…”

 

Trowa was grateful Wufei was not there. Calling him a lady in his present state of mind would have resulted in Shaun being thrown out the window, Sally's protection or not.

 

“Say what you want to say,” Heero said neutrally and Trowa gave him points for blank expressions.

 

“Oh,” Shaun shrugged casually, tossed his head back and smirked. “You would like to know, wouldn't you?”

 

“Get on with it.” Trowa stepped away from the window and walked towards Shaun, using his superior height to intimidate.

 

“Forget it,” Shaun hissed. “I spent most of my morning looking up the nostrils of Miss. Superior Queen of the World. Yours' isn't all that different.” Relena was going through a growing spurt which was going to make her taller than Trowa, should it continue.

 

“What's Relena done this time,” Heero demanded making Trowa wince. Trust Shaun to have discovered a weak spot in the Perfect Soldier's armor. But then again, Relena's infamous escapades seemed to have made life interesting if nothing else. Taking advantage of her generous nature, people had taken to sending her requests for financial aid, claiming that they needed money for everything from broken fingernails to holes in the heart. When Lady Une had come across a hastily written letter asking for money for some poor man's wife in-between the application forms she had confronted Relena with it.

 

When Relena finally admitted that she had been using PK funding to `help the helpless', Lady Une had suggested that she at least investigate some of the claims before she filled their bank accounts. The crowning event had been when Relena had approached Heero with a request that he investigate one Mr. Freelove to see if he had an uncontrollable bladder condition which called for extensive surgery.

 

“Well, she seems to have you in mind,” Shaun said with a smile. “It's Heero that she speaks of all the time. Anyway, she and her friend seem to have you and that blond in their sights.”

 

“Quatre,” Trowa frowned. It was a known fact that Dorothy had a certain fondness for the blond Gundam pilot but whether it was serious or not was not clear. With her sarcastic comments and her devil may care attitude, Dorothy breezed in and out of the HQ as if she owned the place. It did not help that Dorothy had refused to join the PKers. She had professed a need for independence which meant she was free to waltz in and out whenever she needed to visit her friend but did not have to bend to any of the rules.

 

“Whatever,” Shaun shrugged to show that he did not care what Quatre was called. “It was pretty obvious that things are going to heat up when Miss. Catalonia's love life perks up…especially since Miss. Noin is going to be returning soon with her price catch.”

 

“What exactly is Noin's mission?” Heero asked looking slightly more interested by the new information.

 

“You'd love to know, wouldn't you?” Shaun taunted. “But it's on a strictly need to know basis.”

 

“What I don't get is how you'd know about something like that when it's supposed to be top secret,” Trowa spoke aloud.

 

“The same way I know what goes on in this office,” Shun said with a wicked smile.

 

“He has access to Lady Une's office,” Heero informed Trowa. “He serves her coffee and tides her table.”

 

`And goes through her personal correspondence,' Trowa realized. `And since Sally keeps him close by, he probably knows about what goes on in her office, as well.'

 

“Anyway, you want to know what I know,” Shaun offered. “As to what this secret mission in the Alps is.”

 

Heero shrugged.

 

“I only give out information in exchange of a price,” Shaun said, tipping his head back and half inclining on the table. Heero looked annoyed as a pile of papers shifted sideways and then tipped off the table completely.

 

“What price?” Trowa asked with a frown. “Money?”

 

“How would I explain away the extra earnings to Sally?” he said derisively. “And from what I hear, your financial position isn't anything to boast about.”

 

“Then…”

 

“It's been a while since I've had any entertainment and I hear you Gundam pilots are to die for. At least from Princess Relena… I want to know what makes you so special…”

 

“You want what?” Trowa asked slightly confused.

 

“Heero,” Shaun managed a mock falsetto closely resembling Relena's. “Kiss me.”

 

“I think not,” Heero said looking slightly stunned.

 

"So the rumour that's going around seems to be true: you are with someone," Shaun pressed. “I heard it from that Winner guy you were involved with someone other than Relena.”

 

`So that's what he was after,' Trowa guessed. `Information'. Heero wasn't as subtle at manipulating people as Shaun was. Trowa also noted that Shaun knew exactly who Quatre was but acted ignorant since it suited him better.

 

“Quatre told you?” Trowa gasped.

 

“I overheard a discreet conversation,” Shaun winked. “What about some of that infor and I'll tell you about Noin's expedition is about. It's called exchange.”

 

“I think we'll find out about it eventually,” Trowa snapped. “Unless you have something to say…”

 

“I'm going, I'm going,” Shaun said slipping off the table. “But let me drop you something interesting for free. From what I hear, while the two of you are stuck in this room, your Chinese friend is hitting it off with the girls. The morning news says that he beat up half the girls but remained behind to chat up one female by the name of Jasmine.”

 

“Wufei,” both Trowa and Heero managed to sound skeptical. The thought of him with some woman was unthinkable.

 

“Laugh if you must,” Shaun said as he opened the door. “But you should know…her last name is Yao and I think they share a common interest. She's from L5 as well.”

 

----!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!---

 

They remained silent as the sound of high heeled steps announced the presence of more approaching intruders. Trowa gave the window a discreet glance, seriously contemplating jumping off, when the door to their room opened and two blonde girls walked in.

 

“Heero,” Relena said pushing open the door. “There you are…”

 

“You said Quatre would be here when you dragged me along,” Dorothy scowled as she walked in. “Hello Trowa.” She added as an afterthought, which was a lot more than Relena had done.

 

“We are here to pick up your sister,” Relena said smiling at Heero.

 

“I don't have a sister,” Heero said, sounding stupid. Trowa had to bite back a smile. Only Heero could get away with sounding dense.

 

“She means Trowa's,” Dorothy said in exasperation. “As soon as she tears her eyes off Heero and manages to explain why she thinks Trowa's sister might be in his office instead of the room assigned to her with Sally, we will leave.”

 

“It's not that,” Relena said blushing scarlet. “I just wanted to…”

 

“Get your morning fill of Heero,” Dorothy supplied helpfully. “When you're done, we should go. Where's Quatre by the way?”

 

Trowa considered lying. “He's out shopping with Duo,” he said. “His sister… one of his sisters is supposed to be coming for a visit this week so he thought he might buy her kids some toys or something.”

 

“Well then,” Dorothy said looking around. “Let's go before he falls for some pretty sales slut or something. Don't mind if I drag Relena away Heero.”

 

The two boys stood, feeling stunned, as the girls walked away, leaving them blessedly alone.

 

“Duo is supposed to be in school,” Heero said looking at Trowa. School was the closest word to describe institution they all attended. It was a special learning center designed to adopt a number of war displaced young people who were of various ages and in various stages of education.

 

“The only reason Duo even attends that place is because both you and Wufei attend it,” Trowa pointed out. “Since both of you are free today in the morning, I guess he felt like taking a day off.”

 

Heero frowned, clearly not liking the idea, but did not speak about it.

 

“What happened last night?” Heero asked abruptly just as Trowa was about to sit down at his table.

 

“Is that a trick question?” Trowa asked feeling defeated.

 

“Duo says I should interact more,” Heero said, trying to word his sentences clearly. “You are…we used to…you and I…”

 

“We used to fuck,” Trowa helped.

 

“We used to help each other out,” Heero said firmly. “I think…you are a …friend.”

 

“How are things between you and the other two?” Trowa asked instead. He wanted to see how Heero would like having his personal life questioned.

 

“I think Duo wants Wufei,” Heero said bluntly. “And I'm just a third wheel. I sometimes think they wait until I'm gone so they can be together.”

 

Trowa paused. He had not seen that coming. And he had underestimated Heero's ability to speak about his personal problems.

 

“You are overreacting,” he said. “They are probably just …”

 

“They don't want me,” Heero said bluntly. “Now, what's wrong between you and Quatre?”

 

“I don't know.” Given that level of honesty, there was no way Trowa could avoid speaking about his problems to his former lover. “I thought we were working out the problems and then last night…”

 

“What happened last night?” Heero asked, which was very unlike Heero but Trowa thought he was simply trying to help.

 

“Well,” Trowa paused. “Catherine said she'd like to have dinner with both me and Quatre to get to know him better and…”

 

2.2: Disastrous Dinner

 

Quatre had shown up at Sally's apartment slightly late, with a dozen roses, which Cathy had assumed was for Trowa. Trowa had never gotten flowers in his life and did not think Quatre was in the habit of buying him any. But he calmly took the offered roses and stuck them in a teapot belonging to Sally.

 

The ride to the restaurant had been quiet but relaxed. The car Quatre drove was compact but powerful and extremely comfortable. Quatre was unusually silent but Trowa assumed it was due to nervousness. Cathy had made all the small talk from the back seat, questioning them about the sights (which they knew nothing about) and asked intelligent questions about their work. Trowa knew he should have told Cathy something about Quatre and him not being together but he had never quite worked up his courage to do that. Whenever Catherine has vid-called him, he had given her the indication that things were going fine between them and while he hadn't specifically told her that he was in a relationship with Quatre, he had not said otherwise either. While Cathy had not been that encouraging about him being close to the Winner heir at the beginning, she seemed to have warmed up to it after a while. If anything, she seemed to be too encouraging, as if making up for her earlier reluctance.

 

The food had been good (Trowa had no idea what half the dishes were called) and probably very expensive, but Quatre had paid for it without blinking. They had all been served the house red, which was a rare treat since Trowa could hardly remember the time he'd tried anything alcoholic. He wasn't sure if it was possible to get drunk on wine but he had been in a relaxed state between drunk and not-drunk by the time they were ready to leave.

 

On the drive back, they had not tried to be polite as to who was going to sit in the front seat. Trowa had gotten in and leaned back against the comfortable seat, his eyes half closed as the car sped off. On the way he'd casually let his hand brush against the knee of the driver and apart from a slight stiffening, Quatre had not protested. Emboldened by the move Trowa had kept a hand on Quatre upper thigh and the rest of the drive had been spent in silence.

 

Trowa knew Cathy could see that his hand was somewhere close to Quatre's crotch.

 

He wondered if Quatre knew that Cathy knew where Trowa's hand had wander off to.

 

He was strangely floating…a feeling he knew meant he was somewhat tipsy but hadn't crossed the threshold of being pissed out of his mind yet. They had dropped off Cathy first and he had walked her to the door. As he'd leaned forward to kiss her cheek (something he'd never done before) Cathy had reached to steady him.

 

“Oh, my,” she said looking slightly surprised. “Just as well Quatre is driving you home I suppose. Otherwise I'd worry that you'd fallen in to a gutter somewhere.”

 

“I'm not drunk,” he'd protested, laughed and practically skipped back into the car.

 

In the car he'd leaned back into the seat and closed his eyes for a moment feeling slightly dizzy. When he'd opened them again, the car had come to a halt outside his apartment.

 

“Come on up,” he'd invited Quatre. “I've got a box of …biscuits.” He had a few condoms - he wasn't sure of the edible stuff but he was not drunk enough to mention that.

 

“Just as well,” Quatre had said getting out and locking the door. “I need to talk to you.”

 

They had both walked up seven flights of stairs to Trowa's sorry little room, which could barely fit in a bed, let alone a table, and had there been an attached bathroom, he could have washed while sitting on the bed. At that moment though, the bed had looked so damn inviting and the prospect of having someone to roll about in it…

 

Quatre had slapped him hard.

 

Trowa had looked up, stunned, the haze in his mind clearing.

 

“What!” he'd mouthed stupidly.

 

“What's the big idea, telling Catherine that we were together? She was two steps from planning our wedding…”

 

“Quatre…”

 

“Don't,” Quatre had snapped. “What's with you? We aren't together and you know that. And acting as if we were shagging…”

 

“Come here.” Trowa had reached forward and pulled Quatre to him. Quatre's body had been warm and firm against his, smaller but not weaker. He'd tasted of spice, wine and mint - a heady combination. Trowa had let his hands roam over the smaller boy's body, feeling the way he'd shuddered when he'd slipped hand through the waistband of his trousers.

 

Encouraged, Trowa had scooped up Quatre and dropped him onto bed, feeling the way his body had responded. There had been a moan as Quatre had reached for him and then they'd been groping each other and then…

 

Trowa had been on the floor with an angry looking Quatre looking down at him.

 

“I don't know who you think I am but I'm not someone you can tumble into bed with,” Quatre had practically given out sparks.

 

“You like me and I like you,” Trowa had reasoned. “It's not like…”

 

“I'm not some quick shag,” Quatre had shouted. “I'm not Heero. You can't just walk up to me and say `let's fuck'.”

 

“You want flowers,” Trowa had guessed.

 

“No you moron,” Quatre had shouted. Really shouted. “I want a something that's not a one night stand. You don't say what you feel for me. You don't say what you want me to do. All you want to do is…” hand gesturing towards his semi-erection. “…this. Well, I want more. You can't say I'm too weak for you on one day then change you mind and pounce on me the next.”

 

“Quatre…”

 

“Don't you get it?” there had been frustration in the voice. “I'm angry at you for choosing to screw Heero when I was there. You knew I liked you but you thought I was not suitable for you. Now that Heero's moved on…you want to crawl into my pants.”

 

“You know it's not like that…”

 

“Maybe.” The blond had slumped in bed. “But Trowa…you can't just…Maybe it's me. I know I shouldn't expect more from anyone…after all I'm a Gundam pilot and so are you but I would appreciate a little consideration…”

 

“I don't know what you want,” Trowa had said in frustration. “If you want me to say I'm sorry I fucked Heero…well I'm sorry. I am. It was like scratching an itch…nothing serious. And he wasn't even the first guy I've…”

 

“Exactly,” Quatre had pounced. “How do I know…”

 

“It's not like you don't want me.”

 

“That's it…this is not working. Maybe we need to see other people instead of each other.”

 

“I don't know what you want me to say,” Trowa had pleaded.

 

“I don't know either,” Quatre had said, sounding sad. “Good night Trowa. I'll see you at work tomorrow.”

 

Then he'd walked out leaving a completely sobbed Trowa behind. He had been so sober there had not even been a hint of a hangover in the morning.

 

1----!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11---

 

While Trowa had recited the previous night's happenings, Heero had stayed silent, listening intently, then he looked up confused.

 

“I don't get it,” he said. “What did you do wrong?”

 

A/N- short chapter ppl. Sorry about it but the next one will make up for it. Sat next to a cute guy on the bus today. He spent the entire ride worrying a tooth using both his hands. Who said romance is dead.