Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The Purrfect Houseguest ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

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The Purrfect Houseguest

Part 1

Two years later

Treize, already fully dressed and freshly shaven, regarded the sleeping figure in his bed for a few moments affectionately before he leaned forward and whispered softly into his lover's ear. "It's time to wake up."

Wufei grunted some incoherent words and tried to pull the covers over his ears. But the other man, expecting that reaction, was holding on to the blanket with both hands.

"You will be late for work," he pointed out.

"I'll skip breakfast. I'm not hungry anyway," Wufei mumbled in reply, tugging at his covers. "I can grab something at work later."

"Oh no, you will not," the older man replied firmly. "You have terrible eating habits, Dear. Hasn't anybody ever told you that you need to eat properly to grow properly?"

"I don't remember hearing any complains about my size from you last night."

Treize chuckled softly and nipped at his lover's ear. "Ah, not only are we grumpy this morning, we are also being cheeky. Unfortunately we both have a schedule to keep, or I would show you what happens to cheeky little boys." With a last affectionate nuzzle he straightened. "Get up," he added, a little more firmly this time. "I'll give you two minutes to get that cute little behind of yours into the shower, or I'll drag it there myself."

Wufei huffed, unimpressed by the threat. "You wouldn't dare."

"Just try me," his lover retorted, blue eyes sparkling playfully. "Two minutes," he warned one more time, as he walked to the door.

###

Wufei gave another snort. But the moment the door had closed behind the older man, he smiled softly and stretched leisurely. He climbed out of bed and shuffled into the adjoined bathroom to turn on the shower. As he slipped off his pajamas and stepped under the hot jet, he once again thanked his ancestors for bringing Treize into his life.

It's said that everybody has a soul mate somewhere on the face of this earth. Wufei never believed in it, until the day when he met the tawny haired man. Treize was everything one could hope for in a lover, and then some. He was smart, charming, witty and most of all romantic. He spoiled Wufei and showered him with love and affection, but he also knew when to back off and give the young man some room and time for himself.
He would be lying if he said that he wasn't nervous at first, when Treize asked him to move in with him. It was a big step in their relationship, one that he had never taken with any of his former lovers. And then of course there was Mariemaia. He hadn't wanted the girl to feel like he was trying to cut in on what little time she had with her father. But Marie had accepted him surprisingly well, and had made him feel very welcome.

Wufei was still smiling as he stepped out of the shower to towel himself off. When he walked back into the bedroom the smell of freshly brewed coffee and sizzling bacon hit his nose, and he realized that despite of his earlier arguments, he was actually quite hungry.

Treize was already sitting at the breakfast island when Wufei walked into the kitchen. The young man helped himself to some bacon and eggs; while Treize put aside the paper he had been reading and poured coffee for the both of them.

"Why are you all dressed up already anyway?" Wufei asked, as he settled down at the table.

"I have a meeting with my publisher at 9:30 and I also need to drive by my lawyer's office. He'd called yesterday and left a message that he needed to speak to me. There are some papers I have to sign."

"Is this about Mariemaia?" Wufei asked. He knew that Treize had just recently applied for full legal and physical custody of his daughter.

"Yes." The older man nodded. "I'll be leaving in about half an hour. I can drop you off at the institute on my way into town, if you wish."

"Sounds good," Wufei agreed. He still rode his motorcycle on most days, in spite of Treize trying to convince him how dangerous those things were, but sometimes it was nice not to have to drive himself.

Treize was just about to pick up his coffee cup when the phone rung. From where he was sitting he had only to lean over the counter to his right to pick up the receiver. "Hello."

"Hello, Papa."

"Mariemaia!?" Treize raised one eyebrow, as he glanced at the clock on the wall. "Shouldn't you be in school right now?"

"It's Wednesday; we always have late start on Wednesdays," she replied. "I really just called to ask you a very quick question."

"Alright, what's the question?"

"You remember my friend Melanie Woods, don't you? She was at my birthday partly last year."

"Of course I remember her; cute little blond girl with pigtails. Her father owns the Woods Hardware chain if I'm not mistaken."

"That's her," Mariemaia confirmed. "I was playing over at her house yesterday. Her dog had puppies, and her mom told me they are giving them away once they are old enough. Can I have one…Please?"

There was a long moment of silent. Treize pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath. "Angel, didn't we talk about this already? Your grandfather does not want a dog in the house, and quite frankly I don't blame him."

"I know, I know, Papa. That's why I thought we could keep it at your house."

"I don't think so, Marie. Dogs, especially puppies are a lot of work. They need to be housebroken and trained, and not to mention they need to be walked at least three days a day seven days a week. Neither I nor Wufei have time for that."

"What about a kitten then? They don't need to be walked and they sleep most of the day. You and Wufei won't even know it's there," Marie begged.

"You know I'm allergic to cat hair."

"It's not fair. All of my friends have pets."

He could imagine the pout on his daughter's face right now, and he sighed. "I don't think right now, over the phone, is a good time to discuss this. Let's talk about it this weekend when you are here."

"Alright. I've got to go anyway, the school bus just pulled up. Say Hi to Wufei from me. Love you, Papa."

"Love you too, Angel."

Treize turned off the phone and hung it back into the charger. "Marie, said Hi," he told Wufei.

"I'm surprised she still hasn't given up on the idea of getting a dog," the younger man replied.

Treize sighed. "I guess she figures, if she keeps begging long enough I'll eventually break down."

"It's working, isn't it?" Wufei grinned.

The tawny haired man huffed in fake exasperation. "Whose side are you on anyway?"

#####

"If you take a look now you should be able to see the difference between the original slide and the sample you took this morning," Wufei told the young woman he was working with, as he stepped away from the comparison microscope.

Sylvia Noventa was the newest member of the research team, and she was also the granddaughter of Professor Noventa, the head of IBG's(1) genetics division. She had only been working at the institute for about four months, and until now she had been doing mainly pre-test preparations and lab equipment care. Doctor Sally had asked Wufei to teach her the basics of culture preparation, and help her with her first specimen test.

The young woman stepped over to the microscope, looked through the eyepiece lens, frowned and took another look. "I can't see any difference."

"Exactly," Wufei confirmed. "Neither can I. This means that you'll have to scrap the experiment and start over again."

She looked at him as thought she wasn't sure if he was joking. "Start over? It took me more than two weeks to get to this point."

"Two weeks are nothing," he told her calmly. "Genetic research isn't a race. It takes a lot of time and patience. 99% of the time we fail."

"Alright," she sighed. Of course she knew that Wufei was right, but nevertheless she had hoped to do exceptional well with her first experiment, and prove that she was ready to do more than clean up Petri dishes.

Both she and Wufei turned their heads, as the door behind them opened, and Doctor Po walked into the room.

Sally was wearing her brown hair in braided tails, which made her look even younger than she actually was. Many of the "old school" scientists at the institute didn't take the doctor very serious, because they seemed to confuse age with experience. Wufei, however, liked to work with the young woman, and he couldn't wish for a better supervisor. Over the past three years they had become rather good friends.

"Wufei, did you finish those reports I asked you about this morning?"

The young man nodded. "I put them onto your desk before I went for lunch."

Sally inclined her head in acknowledgement. "Thank you. I'll look at them later. By the way, I just run into one of the security guards from the main gate. She told me that Mr. Khushrenada is here to pick you up. Actually, I think her exact words were: 'Mr. Good-looking is back again. He is waiting in the parking lot. Will you let Mr. Chang know?' "

Wufei flushed and mumbled something under his breath that didn't sound like a compliment. Sally laughed, and even Sylvia couldn't keep a straight face.

"He comes to pick you up and waits for you in the parking lot. That's so sweet," the young woman remarked.

"That's nothing," the doctor added with a grin. "When they first stated dating he would send Wufei a dozen roses every day. The people in the second floor even had an office pool going, betting on what color roses he would bring next."

"Cute! It sounds like he is just as romantic as the heroes in his books are."

Wufei's blush deepened, even as scowled at his two female coworkers. "Women!"

"You'd better go. You shouldn't let a catch like him wait for too long, or somebody else might try to snatch him away," Sally suggested teasingly. "I'll finish up here."

###

"How was your day?" Treize asked as he pulled out of the institute's parking lot.

"Pretty ordinary. Not really much to tell about." the young man replied somewhat evasively. "What about you? How did the meeting with your lawyer go?"

Treize's eyes darkened and for an instant his jaws clenched.

"What's wrong?" Wufei asked.

"He got a letter from Barton's lawyer the other day. They are challenging my request for full custody of Mariemaia; citing my 'lifestyle' as reason why she shouldn't be placed into my care permanently," the tawny haired man pressed through his teeth.

"Barton really doesn't like me, does he?" Wufei remarked quietly. He felt awful, and more than just a little guilty. Perhaps, if he wouldn't have moved in with Treize…

The older man snorted. "It's more that he doesn't like me. He never thought that I was good enough for his daughter, and the divorce didn't better our relationship as you can imagine. He always held me responsible for the marriage falling apart, and if he could he'd probably blame me for Leia's death as well." He looked at Wufei and smiled softly. He knew exactly what his lover was thinking. "Don't Wufei; you have nothing to feel guilty about. You are the best thing that happened to me and Marie, and I give a damn what other people say."

"So, what are you planning to do?"

"I'm going to fight of course, tooth and nail if need be," Treize vowed seriously. "You don't provoke a Khushrenada and don't expect him to bite back."
After Leia's death he had agreed to share custody for Mariemaia with his in-laws even if it meant that he would only see her on weekends and a few weeks during the summer. He just wanted to do whatever was best for his daughter, and for her to stay in the environment and with the people she had lived with for the past two years seemed the best for her after the trauma of just having lost her mother. However, things had changed since. Marie had gotten older and was expressing the desire to spend more time with her father. He would be damned if he would ignore that request, for her sake as much as for his own. He had already missed out on too many things in his daughter's life.

#####

Treize was lying on the couch, watching TV, when Wufei walked into the living room, dressed only in a pair of loose fitting sweatpants. He had just gotten out of the shower, and his hair was still damp.

The young man nudged his lover, and Treize moved over far enough to allow Wufei to stretch out beside him. His right arm snaked around Wufei's slim waist, pulling him closer.

"Are you warm enough?"

"Yes," the young man nodded, as he relaxed against his lover's body.

"You smell good," Treize whispered. He placed a ghost of a kiss onto Wufei's neck, as he soaked in the sweet, fruity smell of the shampoo mixed with Wufei's own, unique scent. "Almost good enough to eat."

Wufei closed his eyes and made a contented noise that sounded almost like the purr of a fat, lazy cat, as the older man's fingers started to play with his hair.

For a while they just lay there silently, simply enjoying each other's presence.

"I have been thinking…" Treize finally broke the silence. "We haven't been up in Deer Creek for a long time. Marie has a four day break coming up next month. She has no school on the 17th, because of some teachers' conference. The 18th and 19th are the weekend, and Monday is a holiday. I thought, if you could take a day off work that Friday, we can drive up and take a little four day vacation. What do you think?"

"Hmm…" Wufei opened one eye lazily. "I'm not sure I can take the day off. Doctor Po might need me. We are working on a number of tests and experiments right now."

"Doctor Po?! It's always Doctor Po. What about me?" Treize complained teasingly. "Besides, what's the hurry about those experiments? Dinosaurs have been dead for millions of years. I'm sure you won't get any complains if they stay that way for just a little longer," he added, and earned himself a bump into his ribs. "Ouch, what was that for?"

"Are you making fun of my job?" Wufei turned around to face his lover and scowled at him.

"Would I ever?" the older man asked innocently.

"I'm not sure about that."

"You know, you have the cutest little pout I have ever seen," Treize smirked. He should have known better. He second time Wufei elbowed him even harder.

"I just can't win tonight, can I?" The older man gave a theatrical sigh. "Here I was just trying to give you a compliment…"

Wufei snorted. "I think you need to brush up on your skills. For a romance novelist you don't know much about compliments, do you?"

"Ouch, that was a definite blow to my ego." Treize managed to look hurt, even as his eyes sparkled with mirth.

"Good, then we are even. Let's call a truce."

"Very well, but we will need to seal it properly." Treize agreed suggestively.

"How?" Wufei asked, his voice a little huskier than he intended.

"How about, like this…?" The older man dipped his head and kissed him. Slowly and skillfully he teased Wufei's lips until they parted slightly, allowing his tongue to slip between them and plunder the hot cavern of his lover's mouth.

The young man groaned. One of his hands came up and buried itself in soft, ginger-blond hair. When they broke the kiss, both off them were panting breathlessly.

"What about my kissing skills?" Treize purred, as he nipped at Wufei's earlobe. "Do I have to brush up on those too?"

"No complains there, none whatsoever."

"I'm pleased to hear that." The tawny haired man laughed softly. "So, what about our trip?"

"Well, I guess I could take off Friday afternoon. You and Marie could go ahead and leave in the morning and I'll just meet you later," Wufei suggested.

"That sounds alight," Treize nodded. It was a compromise he could live with. They still would be able to spend three relaxing days together.

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T.B.C.

Author's Note:

(1) IBG - Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic, the place where Wufei works. Dr Po and her team research ways try to bring back endangered species from the brink of extinction (using DNA, genetics, cloning etc), as well as possible ways to bring back already extinct species. (Hence Treize teasing him about the dinosaurs)