Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The D.C. Saga ❯ The D.C. Saga, Part Twenty-Six ( Chapter 26 )

The D.C. Saga, Part Twenty-Six

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"Barton?"

"Yes?&q uot;

"Do you get the feeling that there's something wrong here?"

"Yes."

"So it's not just me?"

"No."

"What do you think is wrong?"

"There are crucifixes covering the wall."

"I noticed that as well."

The two boys paused. Trowa sighed. "Want to find another room?"

WuFei backed out. "That would be wise."

They went to another room and found Heero there, typing on his laptop and virtually oblivious to everything.

"Yuy."

He glanced over and saw the Chinese boy in the doorway. "Yes, WuFei?"

"Which rooms aren't taken?"

"East wing," he replied, returning to his work, and Trowa and WuFei set off to find a bedroom to share.

Quatre watched as they left the area of the crucifix room and went in there, closing the door behind him and preparing to play a prank on Duo. He had it coming to him, Quatre reasoned as he started turning all the crosses upside down on the wall. For that stunt he'd pulled the morning before, he definitely deserved it.

I can't believe he thought it was funny to put a spider in my porridge, Quatre thought, scowling. He knows I hate bugs... The logical part of his mind supplied that it wasn't a bug, per se, but an arachnid, so Quatre told it to shut up and leave him be. A good prank was in order and he'd be darned if he wouldn't make Duo cry like a little baby.

Duo, for his part, had absolutely no idea that one of his best friends was planning to terrify him. He was in the kitchen, looking through a cookbook to try and get ideas for that night's supper. WuFei and Trowa were having their first night back with the others after such a long mission, so Duo wanted to make them feel more at home. That is, if you can GET "at home" in a creepy-ass place like this...

He decided on making a decently easy jambalaya. He was really starting to enjoy the Cajun food that New Orleans had to offer, and found that he'd developed a taste for it. He didn't know if he would ever be able to go back to eating sandwiches and burgers and fries again, not after gumbo and etouffe and all those Creole spices. The flavors and vibrancy of the food were highly addictive. He was even beginning to pick up some of the subtle slang, and he found that he enjoyed the music as well. Everything about the culture was pure magnetism and he wanted to devour the knowledge and learn all he could.

As long as he followed the recipe and used the right ingredients, he had no problem. So by the time seven o'clock strolled around, he was done and placing the plates and silverware on the table, popping the cornbread out of the oven, and taking the chilled potato salad out of the refrigerator.

"Heero! Trowa, WuFei! Quatre! Dinner's ready!" he called up the stairs. He didn't get any responses, but he didn't care. Three out of the four he just called were naturally reticent, but he did wonder where Quatre had scampered off too. The blonde boy just could not be trusted. He liked playing pranks a bit too much, though he never messed with Heero or WuFei. Probably to keep his life, Duo reckoned.

Heero was the first down and he was looking a bit drawn around his eyes. Too strained. Duo gave him a flippant smile. "Dinner's on the table, honey," he joked, taking off his plain white apron. He made sure to put it away before any of the other boys saw it--Heero he could handle seeing him look a little bit too girly. WuFei? Hell no. No way.

Heero gave him a very small smile. "Thank you, dear."

The American laughed in pure delight, a true smile flashing on his face for one of the first times ever. "I hope you like it."

"I will," he said confidently, and walked around Duo to get out glasses for their drinks. They bumped into each other in the little kitchen and laughed it off. Heero still seemed that little bit upset about something, so Duo, in true best friend fashion, tried to remedy that.

"You want to watch a movie tonight?" he offered, tilting his head to the side as Heero filled a glass with ice from the ice machine.

"Not really."

The violet-eyed boy frowned. "Um...do you want to play a video game?"

"...No."

He stamped his foot, almost annoyed. "Well, then what do you want to do?"

Heero looked at him then, the weirdest expression of longing on his face. "I want to go out and see the city."

Duo stopped dead. This was new. Very new. Heero had never had any desire whatsoever to "see the city." He just...didn't. He didn't seem to enjoy doing something that wasn't productive, and sight-seeing certainly wasn't productive.

"Um...can I ask why?"

Heero lowered his eyes, and in an instant, Duo saw the true Heero. It shocked him, took his breath away, and made him ache for the melancholy boy he was seeing. He'd never seen the perfect Heero Yuy anything but...well, perfect. Heero was always the constant, always the taciturn. He never looked so lost and broken, never. It was a rule or something: Heero Yuy was not allowed to show extreme emotion.

And he never did, not really, not like this. And when he spoke, his voice was soft and pregnant with emotion. "I've been all over the world, yet I can't tell you what any of the places looked like. I can't tell you the scenery, or explain the marketplace, or even what languages they spoke." He turned his haunted eyes to Duo's. "I don't want to die like this. I think I'm losing myself."

Duo nearly let the glass slip from his fingers. Not even checking to see if the others were near, he set the glass down and stepped over to Heero, putting his arm's around the Japanese boy's neck and holding tight. His heart was aching and he tried to ignore it. "God, Heero--I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. We'll do that after dinner, okay? We can go see some of the city tonight, and then tomorrow we can make a day of it, and we'll do anything and everything you want, okay?"

A little bit stunned, Heero carefully closed his arms around Duo's slim waist and let himself relax into the familiar embrace. "All right."

"We can go to Café du Monde tonight," Duo babbled on, trying not to show how affected he was, "and I think we'll be able to go to some of the shops in the French Quarter. And tomorrow we can do the museums and the aquarium and the zoo and we can go to Cafe du Monde again--it's open twenty four hours a day, seven days a week--and we can--OH! At night, we can do those graveyard tours I heard Quat talking about! Those are supposed to be really neat!"

Heero smiled, hiding his face in Duo's hair. "All right," he repeated, feeling a bit lighter.

They pulled away, but Heero reached for Duo's hand, startling him. "So...so what is it?"

Duo blinked. "What is what?"

"Tonight. And tomorrow."

"Um...a fun day?"

Heero turned a little pink. "A date?"

Duo froze and didn't speak, barely even managing to squeak out a little noise somewhere between a sigh and a gasp. "I, uh....I don't....um....what do you want it to be?" PLEASEDON'TSAYDATEPLEASEDON'TSAYDATEPLEASEDON'TSAY DATE...I can't handle that!

Heero smirked. "It's a date, then."

Duo flushed a dark shade of maroon. "A date? We're going on a date?"

"Yes. You don't want to?"

Duo remembered the horribly empty expression in Heero's eyes and he shook his head. "It's not that. It's just...you're my best friend. And you're a guy. Are dates acceptable?"

Heero shrugged. "Who cares if they are or not?" He watched his best friend's reaction and tried to gauge that odd look in his eyes.

"Well..." A date doesn't necessarily mean a date-date. I mean, Heero wouldn't try to kiss me or hold my hand or anything. He's not like that. So if I say it's a date, it's not a big deal....right? "Um, okay then. A date."

"Tonight after dinner?"

"Yeah. After dinner."

"Good." He broke away and brought the two glasses that were filled to the table. Duo finished filling the rest, shaking a little.

I am going on a date with Heero Yuy. I am actually going on a date with my BEST FRIEND, Heero Yuy. Dear God.

The day certainly didn't turn out how he had expected it to....