Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The Psionic Saga ❯ Chapter Nine ( Chapter 9 )

Chapter Nine.

Notes: Quilt and Doona are the same thing in Australia. I think in other countries they are used differently. Sorry if this causes confusion.

Wufei woke to muffled sounds of clothes sliding over skin. He didn't want to think about how he knew the sound. Instead, he forced his eyes open and looked blearily about the room, cursing himself for not being a morning person.

Sunlight was streaming through the open windows, the early morning breeze chilling his skin. Wufei glared at the open glass panels before forcing himself to stand on the pile of blankets that had been his bed and shuffle to the Trowa's desk.

Quatre and Trowa, he noticed vaguely, were at the other end of the room, each standing within their own closet, madly dressing. They seemed in a hurry. Wufei was suddenly glad he had slept in his clothes, not that he had had anything else to wear. He had a feeling he was about to go somewhere.

"Good morning Wufei!" Quatre piped pleasantly and Wufei groaned. He really did detest morning people. Had Maxwell been a morning person Wufei knew he would have killed him within a week of meeting him. As it was he had settled for throttling the boy whenever the opportunity presented itself. Which was often.

A slight smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, Wufei grabbed his shoes from the small mat beside the door and after slipping them on his feet, forced his mind to wake up enough to tie the laces. Somehow laces were like worms; give them that first taste of morning sunlight and they had more energy than at any other time in the day. Wufei had decided long ago that he detested worms.

"So where are we going?" He looked up to see Quatre and Trowa already heading for the door. Trowa got there first and held it open, a slight twitch in his cheek the only sign he was vaguely happy about the idea of going anywhere.

"Your place," Quatre replied glibly, as if that explained everything. Frowning darkly at the evident amusement in Quatre's eyes, Wufei warily left the room, aware of the lock clicking into place as Trowa and Quatre followed. They didn't speak as they left the east dorm building and headed for the west side dorms where `special' students were accommodated.

Wufei was the son of a wealthy Chinese family who had insisted on providing him with the best of everything. Subsequently, Wufei did not only attend the best colledge they could find, he also had his own room. It was a delightful thing with a small kitchen, small bathroom and single bedroom. It also had a microwave, which meant Wufei could eat something besides the road-kill served in the cafeteria.

Unfortunately, it also meant there was more room than in the dives ordinary boarders had to live in and Duo had a valid excuse to do his homework at Wufei's...and his research. Recalling Duo's last `experiment' almost gave Wufei a nosebleed; he loved his microwave! His microwave allowed him to survive. If his microwave was damaged Wufei was almost tempted to ignite the bottom of Duo's braid.

They had just reached the doors to the west side boarding facility when Wufei noticed Heero and Duo headed in their direction.

"Quatre, explain!" Wufei demanded as he noticed Duo's arms were laden with his latest creation. Wufei had a sinking suspicion he knew what it was intended for.

Quatre did not explain. Instead he pushed Wufei into the building and didn't release the Chinese boy until they were at his door. Wufei was tempted to just stand there for a few hours, or make up an excuse like he had forgotten his key. But Maxwell could pick locks, and making Heero stand in one place for too long without some kind of mission to keep his brain occupied was asking for more than just trouble.

Sighing like a truly wronged and damned creature, Wufei fished his key from his pocket and unlocked the door. The sight that met him was not pleasing.

The microwave explosion had singed the walls a strange brown colour and the tv was a small twisted wreck on its equally twisted and distorted frame. His mobile phone was little more than a melted puddle of solid goop on the bookcase. Wufei didn't even try to touch it. However, to his absolute delight the microwave was unharmed. He grunted at the microwave's open door, the strange device still sitting inside, as if waiting for someone to press `start' again.

To Wufei's horror, Quatre headed straight for the microwave and closed the door, the device still within.

Heero was helping Duo to attach something to his arms while Trowa headed to attach something similar to Quatre's lower arms. Both Quatre and Duo were grinning like drug addicted Cheshire Cats. It made Wufei very nervous.

"Maxwell...."

"Hush Wufei!" Quatre scolded lightly, testing the movement available to him with his new adornments.

"Yeah, Fei, relax. I promise I will not do anything to harm your microwave!"

Wufei glared at Duo for three reasons. One, he hated when Maxwell used that name! Two, he did not like anyone giving him orders, let along people repeating orders someone else had already given him. Three, that was the exact same thing Duo Maxwell had said before he blew up Wufei's last microwave.

Wufei looked at Heero and Trowa for help but both seemed resigned to at least letting the crazy happy people try their new toys. On his microwave. Wufei swallowed dryly.

"So how do they work?" Quatre looked at Duo expectantly and the braided baka flew to the blonde's side, pointing at various little knobs and switches and whispering excitedly.

"You mean IF they work," Heero interrupted loudly, surprising even Wufei.

Duo, unsurprisingly, stuck his tongue out and kept explaining everything he could think of to Quatre, who seemed a little perplexed by was nodding in agreement. Wufei was disliking the situation more every second. He hurried to his bedroom and grabbed the quilt from his bed. It had a new silk cover...He had only had it for a month, because Duo had used the last one to test his unsuccessful fire-proof paint.

Trowa and Heero took the hitn as soon as they saw the quilt. They rushed to the far side of the room, pushing themselves up against the bookcase and covered themselves with the doona. Three sets of eyes peered out from the bottom, and Wufei narrowed his, glaring at Duo's feet and daring those crazy black boots to catch on fire. Anything to stop this madness.

Quatre pressed some buttons on the microwave and the machine jumped to life. A small red light began flashing on the device within and Wufei would have groaned if he not recalled that every electrical device other than the microwave was already completely destroyed.

Duo was fiddling with the knobs on Quatre's arms. He seemed satisfied and began flicking switches on the inside of his arm. His eyes were practically glowing purple he was so excited and it made Wufei furious. How could he enjoy trashing his place so much when he couldn't even afford to pay for what he broke?

Because Duo knew that in his heart Wufei really didn't mind. That did not make Wufei's temper relent, however.

The microwave shimmered and the device within smashed loudly against the roof of the small box. Duo and Quatre were caught in the haze but seemed unfazed by it. There was a loud humming and then a strange crackling as if someone had turned on a radio and Duo cried out in triumph as he waved his hands in the air. Even through the haze Wufei could see the strange ethereal light in his palms and feel the wild energy thrumming through the air about them.

Duo stepped forward and flicked a switch on Quatre's arm. The Arabian boy cried out in surprise then smiled brightly, his eyes rolling wildly in his head. Wufei wondered if the pair actually were on drugs after all...

Duo began swaying on his feet. Before Wufei could even think of crawling out from under the blanket he fell forward, hard into the floor. Quatre cried out in alarm as the energy around them grew thicker. The microwave had died suddenly, still and quiet and unharmed in its place on the bench.

Wufei knew something was happening, but he had no idea what. As if to answer his thoughts, a wild fizzing sound came from the microwave and it exploded, small shards of metal and glass raining down around the room. Wufei bellowed in anguish and surprise, very much aware he would not be able to get another one for a least a week. That was a week of cafeteria breakfast lunch and tea's Maxwell had cost him.

The quilt was tossed aside and Wufei fumed to where Maxwell was lying face-down on the floor. He hauled him bodily into the air and shook him angrily.

`You. promised. not. to. hurt. my. microwave."

There was an ugly bruise on the side of Duo's face already and a small trickle of blood was seeping from the corner of his mouth. Wufei assumed he had bitten his tongue. The long lashes lifted to reveal unfocussed cobalt eyes. Wufei stopped shaking the limp body as Heero appeared behind and slipped his arms under Duo's shoulders in support.

"Not me," Duo whispered. "Quatre." And his chin fell against his chest as he fell asleep, exhausted.

Wufei released Duo and watched from the corner of his eye as Heero swept the boy easily into his arms and headed for Wufei's bedroom. Wufei thought it was typical, that the baka got to blow up his microwave and then have a nice leisurely nap in his bed. Instead of focussing his anger on such a useless weary numbskull, Wufei turned to Trowa, who had gathered Quatre's small form into his lap.

"I'm fine," Quatre whispered. "Just a headache. A bad one."

Wufei fetched some Panadol from the cupboard and a glass of water, giving them into Trowa's care before he stood before what remained of his precious microwave.

"I'll pay for it Wufei," Quatre said softly, apologetically.

Wufei couldn't believe his ears. Quatre would pay? No, no, no! No matter what anyone said, Wufei knew that somehow this was all Maxwell's fault. He said as much, very clearly and very loudly. He followed up on this announcement with another on the injustice of the world, that people like Duo felt justified in blowing up their friend's possessions.

"You should be grateful," Quatre suddenly interrupted him, stifling a yawn.

"How so?"

"Imagine if Heero decided to have a go."

End Chapter Nine.