Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The Repast Series ❯ Antithesis to Hamburgers ( Chapter 5 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or any of its characters.

Warnings/Genres: implied 1x2, sap-thingies, Heero POV, conversation piece, pathetically PWP-ish. (like most of the stuff I write)

Summary: Heero and Relena have a conversation about apologies, lifestyles and . . . everything else. (implied 1x2)

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Antithesis to Hamburgers (Part of the Repast Series) by Maaya

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I really, really like Relena as the friend she is, but sometimes I can't get away from the fact that she is rather . . . fussy. Not in a really bad way, only upper class and refined, with the rich upbringing she had. Despite this, she is still one of the best friends and `female associate' I have ever had.

But honestly, I can sometimes feel a little uncomfortable in all those restaurants Relena seems to prefer when he is away for business. They are too . . . *posh* for me, as Duo would have put it. Blend in I can do without problem after having done that a million of times, but comfortable? Not really.

"Heero, can't you please stop glaring at me?" That's Relena in a nutshell, always polite, even when she is practically writhing uncomfortably. I quickly averted the glare I hadn't known I had been using.

"Sorry."

I took another bite of lamb roast with sauce done with red wine. There was an uncomfortable silence and I felt her eyes resting on me, then heard her quiet sigh before she began to speak. "I'm sorry too. I honestly neither wanted to have a bodyguard, nor did I know Une would pick you. I know you wanted to spend some time with Duo . . ." She trailed off, unsure of what more she wanted to say.

"Alone." I inserted.

She sighed again. "Yes, alone. I know you haven't had time to be with him for a while because of that P[Author ID1: at Sat Nov 22 18:20:00 2003 ]reventers' thing too, and it is my entire fault you can't go home for another week but please, can't you stop sulking about it?"

"I'm not sulking."

"You are." She snorted that little snort that is just barely audible and perfect when discussing something at a rich gala banquet. How many times had she practiced and been forced to use it? "Honestly, Heero, I'm not blind. You have that little . . . frown between your eyes that are just about visible."

"I do not . . ." I started, but broke off when I realized exactly how childish this argument was about to highlight me as.

Relena used the opportunity to go on about everything she had noticed. She sat up a little straighter in her chair, took a sip of wine and looked more alive than she had this whole evening, happy about having an at least somewhat interesting discussion. "You're uncomfortable here," she accused. "You should have told me and we could have gone somewhere else."

I shrugged. "I'm your bodyguard. It's your choice. I'm paid to protect you."

"Oh." She looked vaguely disappointed. "Are you just protecting me for money then?"

Why did all people have to mark my words all the time? I'm not great with them, but I do try to not say something to hurt someone else. It wasn't even my intention to hurt her in the first place. "No. I'm saying that it doesn't matter where we eat."

Okay, so that was a slight . . . exaggeration, but she looked relieved, so I guess it was for all good.

"Good." She sipped elegantly at her wine once again. "It sounds terribly spoiled when I say this, but I am used to this kind of places. Maybe it would be interesting to go to a . . . hamburger bar or something, just for the fun of it. I can't remember ever being to one, only seen them in those old American high school movies." That is another perfect example of Relena, having lived and dreamed in the fictional world as young.

"Duo'd probably be glad to help you. I despise those places."

"I figured you would."

"Why?"

She shrugged, apologetic, as if she had just insulted me. "Never thought you'd be one to like `junk food'."

I hated to admit it but . . . ."You're right."

Another silence. Then, "So Duo likes it then? Hamburger bars, I mean." She looked positively curious, something that surprised me, as I don't think she ever really liked Duo much. His sarcastic, flirty way of being confuses her, especially since she grew up in high society, where most guys seem to flirt by upholding honour and being gentleman-ish. But I only have that blonde guy I fenced with as example, so maybe I shouldn't judge them all. Duo, however, flirts mischievously.

"Duo loves them. But then, he's American. He *should* like them."

"Going for stereotypes much?" she wondered, a little amused. "All Americans can't worship hamburgers, you know."

I shrugged. "The ones I know do."

"But you only know Duo, right?" She pointed out, now outright smiling.

I digressed by taking another bite of lamb and making a show of chewing it carefully. When I was done, Relena seemed to have gotten tired of the subject, and moved on to something else.

"Sometimes, I wish I could have been adopted by less . . . well-known people, because that would have meant I wouldn't have been forced to see my `father' being killed in front of my eyes." She admitted out of the blue. "But I feel ashamed because of that, because I honestly loved him." She stared down in her navy-skirt-covered lap, cheeks red-tinted with embarrassment.

Okay, so I would have preferred the earlier subject. I'm no good at cheering people up, woman least of all. I don't believe in changing my manners because of the sex of the one I am talking to. It's just that I am more used to speaking to males and my manners tend to be more . . . guy-like, as Duo says. Some females appreciate this, some do not. I'm not sure which category Relena falls under.

"What brought this up?"

She waved her left hand uncertainly. "I don't know. Life-styles. Hamburger bars. Lack of thereof. If I had been adopted into a poorer, unimportant family, I would maybe be a frequent visitor to McDonalds."

I smiled briefly at the imaginary. "But then maybe you wouldn't have had a purpose for doing what you did in Sanq."

"Maybe, maybe not."

"What about Ms. Darlian-" I hesitated, unsure if it was callous to call the woman `miss', but decided it was the truth and continued. "Where is she today?"

Relena looked a little surprised at my question. "She's doing fine. I mean, I still keep in contact with her and she is my mother but. . ."

"You feel uncertain around her." I finished for her as her own voice faltered.

"Yes. I know it's stupid - she *is* my mom, but I can't help but feeling . . . awkward around her now after the war. She was always there, supporting me, but it feels like she's become something of a stranger. I have my own life now, my own business to take care of. I take care of the business her *husband* took care of."

"Maybe that's what it means to grown up," I suggested, not really sure. I never had a mother to outgrow, after all. Can one really outgrow one's own mother? I didn't think so, but maybe Relena was a special case.

Another awkward silence followed, and I returned to my food for a while.

"So . . ." Relena's voice came hesitatingly, after a couple of minutes. "So how are you and Duo doing?"

I flushed. I wanted to blame it on the wine, but as a body-guard, I'm not allowed to drink the stuff, and I assumed the wine the sauce was done of wasn't enough to be blameworthy. Damn it. Let's say I'm just not used to speak about my romantic relationship with another man, especially not with the woman who was obviously smitten with me as younger.

And why are all women I know so interested in what I and Duo are doing? [1]

"It's . . . okay." I ventured at last.

"Good. I was always a little-" She searched for the right words. "- doubtful to why you and he got `together'. You are rather different."

"Different is good." I muttered and hoped she would leave it like that. And surprise, surprise, she did. Maybe she realized how uncomfortable the subject made me, or maybe it was just the blush betrayed me.

She was a little flushed too, and was looking down in her lap again, subdued. A quiet moment passed, until . . .

I stood up.

Relena looked up, surprised. "What are you doing?"

"Taking you to a hamburger bar." I said.

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The End

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[1] I cannot speak for the women in the series, but I do know why *I* am smitten with them. ^_^ Also, this is a reference to Repast Series 3 and 4 when Heero shared a meal with Sally and Hilde.