Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Life With Heero ❯ A Whole New Wardrobe? ( Chapter 22 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
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Title: #22 A Whole New Wardrobe?
Arc: Life With Heero
Author: Calic0cat
Story Completed: Jan. 21, 2003
Revised: April 21, 2005
Genre: Shonen Ai/Yaoi, Friendship Fic, Domestic, Drama
Pairing: 3+4 implied
Rated: FRC (Fan Rated suitable for Children)
Warnings: None
At my site http://www.calic0cat.net and at Mediaminer.org under Calic0cat. Anyone with archive permission for my other fics can help themselves; anyone else, please ask.
Disclaimer: Duo and Heero and the rest of the GW gang aren't mine. This story is. Nuff said.
Author's Notes: This is an open-ended arc focussing on Duo and Heero's lives together, starting about two years after Endless Waltz. The length of each story in the arc will vary, anywhere from ficlet to multi-part. Warnings, rating, genre, and POV will vary from story to story as well. The arc as a whole will probably never truly "end", but the smaller plot arcs within it will.
'Thinking'
"Speaking"
*** Time passing or scene change
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"Quat, if you really want to change your image, casual wear is the wrong place to start."
"What do you mean?" Quatre asked, puzzled by Duo's assertion.
"What do you spend the most time wearing?"
He didn't even have to think about that one. "Suits." The only times that he wore anything else were on his occasional days off and for the few hours that he managed to keep free most evenings. Abruptly realizing what Duo meant, Quatre shook his head emphatically. "Oh, no, I can't change that." Some businessmen might be able to get away with dressing in a less conservative and traditional fashion, but his youth meant that he couldn't. He had a hard enough time getting business associates, and even the members of his own board of directors, to take him seriously as it was. "I have to look completely professional."
"Well, duh," Duo said, rolling his eyes. "I *know* that. Business owner here, remember?
"But suits *do* come in different styles, y'know. Ones that might maybe make you look a little less 'cute and sweet' and a little more 'hot and hip'. Err, in a totally professional way, of course."
"Hot and hip?" Quatre echoed, giving him a disbelieving look. "Duo, a suit is a suit."
"Ah, come on, Quat, what've you got to lose? Just give it a shot, okay?"
"Oh, alright. I'll try a few on. But I'm making no promises about buying any," he warned Duo. "And I still want to get some new casual clothes."
"Well, yeah, of course," Duo agreed. "Those pink shirts and vests have 'cute, sweet, and petite' written all over them. You want to ditch the image, you've *definitely* gotta ditch those clothes." He rubbed his hands together and grinned enthusiastically. "Now c'mon, let's take a look in your closet. See what *else* has to go."
Suddenly, Quatre was a little less certain that it had been a good idea to ask Duo to help him change his image. All he'd really had in mind was a new outfit or two for casual wear, maybe a couple for a night out on the town.
Duo seemed to be thinking in terms of something a little more radical.
***
Quatre stared in amazement at his reflection in the changing room mirror. He could hardly believe what a difference there could be between two business suits. So much for his belief that a suit was just a suit.
And to think that he'd been sceptical when he'd met Duo for their shopping trip and had been informed that Heero was coming along to help choose suits. He'd thought that Duo was dragging Heero along just to get him out in public; after all, what could Heero Yuy possibly know about business attire?
'A lot,' Quatre thought, shaking his head in disbelief as he shot another glance at the mirror.
Exiting the changing room, he smiled brightly at his waiting friends. "Heero, this is perfect! I'm glad that Duo talked you into coming along to help - I would have never thought to ask you!"
Heero shrugged slightly. "I might not have talked to all those people Relena met with, but I watched and I listened."
'That does make sense,' Quatre acknowledged silently. They'd all been trained to be observant of their surroundings, Heero probably even more than the rest of them. Knowing what was normal made it more likely that anything the least bit abnormal would be instantly noticeable. For Heero, being familiar with the attire and behaviour of the people that Relena dealt with would have simply been part of his job.
"The kind of suits that you usually wear were popular with the older generation," Heero pointed out. "Younger men tended to wear ones more like the one you have on now."
Quatre turned to check his appearance in the three-way mirror as he admitted, "My other suits were just like the ones that my father always wore. I never even considered getting something different - after all, a suit was just a suit." Examining the way that *this* suit fit, he continued, "Was I ever wrong!"
Quatre's other suits had always made him look rather young and lost - like a child playing dress-up with his father's clothing. This suit, however, did not. It was more fitted than his old suits, yet not actually snug. The material itself was softer and followed his body more closely yet did not - quite - cling to it. Instead of making him look petite and delicate, the suit more closely reflected his real build - compact, but wiry.
Even the colour of the suit was more flattering than his others. While still a thoroughly appropriate shade of blue, it was a richer tone that was more appropriate to his youth and also did not make him look pale and sickly like the more traditional drab navy did. And the tan suit that he had tried on before this one had been an equally big improvement. Rather than making him look like a child playing dress-up, the new business wear made him look professional. Youthful and attractive but also very focussed. Intense.
'Forget about "a new outfit or two",' Quatre thought, 'I'm getting a new *wardrobe*!'
While his original goal had been to change his image in Trowa's eyes, that had changed. Oh, he still wanted Trowa to see him as the strong, mature young man that he was, but the potential benefits of changing his business image were just as valuable. Considering how much difficulty he sometimes had in getting people - particularly his Board of Directors - to take him seriously, making them see him as an accomplished young businessman could only be a *good* thing!
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Title: #22 A Whole New Wardrobe?
Arc: Life With Heero
Author: Calic0cat
Story Completed: Jan. 21, 2003
Revised: April 21, 2005
Genre: Shonen Ai/Yaoi, Friendship Fic, Domestic, Drama
Pairing: 3+4 implied
Rated: FRC (Fan Rated suitable for Children)
Warnings: None
At my site http://www.calic0cat.net and at Mediaminer.org under Calic0cat. Anyone with archive permission for my other fics can help themselves; anyone else, please ask.
Disclaimer: Duo and Heero and the rest of the GW gang aren't mine. This story is. Nuff said.
Author's Notes: This is an open-ended arc focussing on Duo and Heero's lives together, starting about two years after Endless Waltz. The length of each story in the arc will vary, anywhere from ficlet to multi-part. Warnings, rating, genre, and POV will vary from story to story as well. The arc as a whole will probably never truly "end", but the smaller plot arcs within it will.
'Thinking'
"Speaking"
*** Time passing or scene change
#################################################
"Quat, if you really want to change your image, casual wear is the wrong place to start."
"What do you mean?" Quatre asked, puzzled by Duo's assertion.
"What do you spend the most time wearing?"
He didn't even have to think about that one. "Suits." The only times that he wore anything else were on his occasional days off and for the few hours that he managed to keep free most evenings. Abruptly realizing what Duo meant, Quatre shook his head emphatically. "Oh, no, I can't change that." Some businessmen might be able to get away with dressing in a less conservative and traditional fashion, but his youth meant that he couldn't. He had a hard enough time getting business associates, and even the members of his own board of directors, to take him seriously as it was. "I have to look completely professional."
"Well, duh," Duo said, rolling his eyes. "I *know* that. Business owner here, remember?
"But suits *do* come in different styles, y'know. Ones that might maybe make you look a little less 'cute and sweet' and a little more 'hot and hip'. Err, in a totally professional way, of course."
"Hot and hip?" Quatre echoed, giving him a disbelieving look. "Duo, a suit is a suit."
"Ah, come on, Quat, what've you got to lose? Just give it a shot, okay?"
"Oh, alright. I'll try a few on. But I'm making no promises about buying any," he warned Duo. "And I still want to get some new casual clothes."
"Well, yeah, of course," Duo agreed. "Those pink shirts and vests have 'cute, sweet, and petite' written all over them. You want to ditch the image, you've *definitely* gotta ditch those clothes." He rubbed his hands together and grinned enthusiastically. "Now c'mon, let's take a look in your closet. See what *else* has to go."
Suddenly, Quatre was a little less certain that it had been a good idea to ask Duo to help him change his image. All he'd really had in mind was a new outfit or two for casual wear, maybe a couple for a night out on the town.
Duo seemed to be thinking in terms of something a little more radical.
***
Quatre stared in amazement at his reflection in the changing room mirror. He could hardly believe what a difference there could be between two business suits. So much for his belief that a suit was just a suit.
And to think that he'd been sceptical when he'd met Duo for their shopping trip and had been informed that Heero was coming along to help choose suits. He'd thought that Duo was dragging Heero along just to get him out in public; after all, what could Heero Yuy possibly know about business attire?
'A lot,' Quatre thought, shaking his head in disbelief as he shot another glance at the mirror.
Exiting the changing room, he smiled brightly at his waiting friends. "Heero, this is perfect! I'm glad that Duo talked you into coming along to help - I would have never thought to ask you!"
Heero shrugged slightly. "I might not have talked to all those people Relena met with, but I watched and I listened."
'That does make sense,' Quatre acknowledged silently. They'd all been trained to be observant of their surroundings, Heero probably even more than the rest of them. Knowing what was normal made it more likely that anything the least bit abnormal would be instantly noticeable. For Heero, being familiar with the attire and behaviour of the people that Relena dealt with would have simply been part of his job.
"The kind of suits that you usually wear were popular with the older generation," Heero pointed out. "Younger men tended to wear ones more like the one you have on now."
Quatre turned to check his appearance in the three-way mirror as he admitted, "My other suits were just like the ones that my father always wore. I never even considered getting something different - after all, a suit was just a suit." Examining the way that *this* suit fit, he continued, "Was I ever wrong!"
Quatre's other suits had always made him look rather young and lost - like a child playing dress-up with his father's clothing. This suit, however, did not. It was more fitted than his old suits, yet not actually snug. The material itself was softer and followed his body more closely yet did not - quite - cling to it. Instead of making him look petite and delicate, the suit more closely reflected his real build - compact, but wiry.
Even the colour of the suit was more flattering than his others. While still a thoroughly appropriate shade of blue, it was a richer tone that was more appropriate to his youth and also did not make him look pale and sickly like the more traditional drab navy did. And the tan suit that he had tried on before this one had been an equally big improvement. Rather than making him look like a child playing dress-up, the new business wear made him look professional. Youthful and attractive but also very focussed. Intense.
'Forget about "a new outfit or two",' Quatre thought, 'I'm getting a new *wardrobe*!'
While his original goal had been to change his image in Trowa's eyes, that had changed. Oh, he still wanted Trowa to see him as the strong, mature young man that he was, but the potential benefits of changing his business image were just as valuable. Considering how much difficulty he sometimes had in getting people - particularly his Board of Directors - to take him seriously, making them see him as an accomplished young businessman could only be a *good* thing!
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