Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Moments in Time ❯ Human ( Chapter 3 )

Title: Human
Author: Mookie
Pairing: vague 1+2
Warnings: shounen ai
Challenge: security
Word count: 949




Heero watched Duo struggle with his hairbrush. His face screwed up in pain on occasion, but he was stubborn - sometimes more so than Heero himself.

He'd practically wrenched his arm loose from its socket, and Heero knew how much that had to hurt, but he'd acted as if nothing had happened. Sometimes Heero felt guilty, as if Duo felt it necessary to do so because of his own reaction to injury.

Duo had been stunned when Heero had set his own leg. It was one of the things that had told Heero that Duo's upbringing was far different from his own. As if the young man's attire, fighting style, and attitude in general weren't enough clues.

Heero thought it possible that Duo would continue to wrestle with his hair if one arm were hanging off, just to prove something to him.

That thought struck a chord in him, and before he knew it, he'd moved behind Duo, sitting on the floor between his friend and the sofa. The brush he removed from the momentarily lax fingers and he pulled the hair that had been draped over Duo's shoulder so it pooled into his own lap. He picked up one section of hair and quietly began brushing it.

It wasn't until he'd methodically untangled the third section that he'd realized Duo's body had been rigid. He mentally berated himself for that lapse in his observational skills. He'd not noticed until Duo's posture began to relax.

When he'd finished with the ends and had moved the brushstrokes to Duo's scalp, he heard a low groan of satisfaction.

"No one's brushed my hair in years."

Heero didn't respond. He focused his attention on the process he was performing. Once he'd satisfied himself that the hair was free of tangles, he separated it into three sections and began braiding it, using the same technique he'd seen Duo perform regularly.

The silence between them weighed heavily in the air. It wasn't uncomfortable, but Heero thought perhaps he should have said something in response. Duo had never required an invitation to speak, but the tone of his voice this time had been unfamiliar.

It had been nostalgic, Heero decided.

Duo took a deep breath, and if Heero wasn't mistaken, it seemed as if it caught in his throat before he released it.

"Stupid," Duo murmured. "Stupid."

Heero was afraid to breathe, afraid to encourage Duo, afraid not to. His fingers buried themselves in the hair at the nape of Duo's neck and he found himself gently rubbing circles there.

Duo's hair was only half plaited. Heero did not like leaving a job half finished. He continued to massage Duo's scalp, staring at the loose strands still awaiting attention.

"Irrational, impulsive, idiot."

Heero felt a jolt of pain at the comment, after what had happened at New Edwards, before he realized Duo was talking about himself.

"I'm sorry," he said simply.

Duo started, as if he'd forgotten it was Heero behind him. His body stiffened again, and Heero's fingers returned to weaving the sections of hair together.

New Edwards wasn't his first mistake. It wouldn't be his last, either, he was sure. If one learned from his mistakes, Heero had yet to see it make a significant difference for himself. It was painful, this sense of failure.

He hadn't realized he'd sighed until Duo pulled away from him and looked him straight in the eyes. It was unnerving, to have someone that close, to feel like his heart and soul had been stripped from his body with a single gaze. He felt naked under the scrutiny.

"Were you ever happy, Heero?"

"Happiness is-"

"If you say irrelevant, so help me, Heero, I will beat you with this hairbrush."

"Happiness causes mistakes," Heero snapped. Duo's eyes widened in surprise, and he moved back. The gaze didn't waver. Heero looked away first.

"You were. Why are you so afraid of it now?"

Heero refused to look at him. No matter what Duo did, he wasn't about to relive the horror of watching the mobile suit fall. It was locked away where it belonged. He'd made a mistake, and there had been casualties, but, as he'd been informed in great detail, as he'd been painstakingly convinced, life was cheap.

He felt a drop of moisture on his clasped hands and summoned every ounce of control he had to stuff his regret back into the box with all his other weaknesses.

He was aware that Duo was moving, but hadn't expected to find Duo's head in his lap. His hands had nowhere to go but back into Duo's hair.

He could feel Duo's cheekbone pressing against his thigh, could feel the warmth as his shorts absorbed the moisture of Duo's exhaled breath, and could hear the words "to err is human" uttered softly.

His fingers had taken it upon themselves to massage Duo's scalp again.

Human.

His hands moved slowly, grazing Duo's temple as he brushed the bangs out of Duo's face. The continued their journey down the stubborn set of his jaw and over his chin. Heero froze as his fingertips hovered near Duo's mouth.

Duo licked his lips, and although his tongue hadn't made contact with Heero's fingers, a charge of electricity coursed through his body.

He returned to stroking his hand through Duo's bangs.

"Maybe some day," Duo said hesitantly, "I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours."

Heero looked at Duo's profile. His eyes were closed as if asleep. He liked the way Duo's face looked as his fingers danced over it. He felt alive as Duo's breath continued to dampen his shorts.

Human, and alive. Like Duo.

Some day, Duo, he agreed silently.

~ End ~