Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Ugly ❯ Pizza and sulphur ( Chapter 7 )

Blair! Hi! :D Nice that you're still with me... I'm glad that my story's still woo and umm, here, and umm... >;)

...Lol! (hugs)

 

 

Duo was sitting in the livingroom, hoping he could go out, but feeling a bit too out of it to turn the thought into action.

 

He was looking around, bored and lonely. All the gray tones of the dusty and ugly furniture were making him weepy, and he felt just generally imprisoned.

 

He had spent the morning wandering from room to room, aimlessly, trying to find a good place to sit in, and some inspiration to go with that, but nowhere was comfortable.

 

He hated the walls, painted in some ugly, unidentified color, and he hated the dark corners, filled with shadows and boredom, and dust.

 

He sighed, hiding his face in his palms. Wufei had gone to school, and he would be alone for the day, untill his friend would return.

 

”Why am I so dependent on other people?” he asked out loud, but, of course, there was no answer.

He wasn't entirely sure that his mood was all boredom, anyway, but it was easier to call it that then to really start thinking about it. He didn't inparticularly feel like delving back into the thought maze of jumbled fears and self-pity that he had been wondering around some time before. He wanted to enjoy himself and the turn that his social life was taking, but it wasn't quite so simple, because thinking of his social life brought into his mind his school-life and all of the trouble he had with that.

 

He didn't know what to do. He was supposed to go back to Hell and pick up from where he left off, just like everything was fine. He didnt know, if his teachers had had any speeches for his class or the whole school in general about him, but he was certain, that they would do nothing to improve his situation anyway. Though, if he was lucky, he would be left alone and just ignored completely from now on.

He gave a bitter little laugh. Yeah, that was his dearest fantasy, the most wonderful and fullfilling daydream he had ever had. That he would become completely invisible to the other people, and just be ignored all the time. That was the best he could imagine, and he was well aware of how pathetic that was, himself.

Everything was so good here at home... So peaceful, so quiet... He felt almost like a humanbeing after being here by himself for awhile. Going back to school seemed less and less apppealig to him.

 

He streched himself on the couch and closed his eyes.

 

When he opened them again, an hour had passed, and he felt dissatisfied.

Why could't mom come home already? Why could't Wufei?

 

He sighed loudly.

What would he do, when Wufei would leave? He was getting used to having a buddy around...

And it was great fun, too.

Just last night, he had woken up to the feeling, that could get no more sleep, and then he had poked at Wufei, 'till he was awake, too.

Wufei had cursed him in Kantonese, English, French, German, Japanese, and then in some weird language, that Duo didn't know, but he had stayed awake anyhow, keeping Duo company.

They'd snuck downstairs and played some Project Zero(1), and then they'd snuck back up, and Wufei had moved his bed closer to Duo's, because of the draft, and Duo had helped him pull the matress, and then he had settled himself on the very edge of his bed, just to be able to keep an eye at Wufei's well-being, of course.

 

They had both had immensely big black circles around their eyes come morning, but neither of them had complained, and Wufei had been smiling a quiet smile all morning, sneaking glances at the playstation. Obviously breaking the routine was a new and pleasing experience to the guy.

 

Some little devil in Duo's head had almost made him start persuading Wufei to play hookey, but he had managed to restrain himself.

Wufei would never skip school, and Duo would only make his friend mad at him, if he bugged him with suggestions as such... But still... Duo heaved an enormous sigh. Wasn't Wufei supposed to be his entertaiment troops, or something?

 

Duo scrambled up from the sofa, and dragged his stripy-sock clad feet to the mirror in the hall.

 

He took an appraising look at himself.

Still no romeo, but at least the swelling had vanished almost completely, and his face was more of it's normal shape, now.

The bandage felt a little loose, though... not much, not badly so, but still...

Maybe he could take a walk outside. Maybe he really could.

If he didn't go crossing streets or anything like that... He smiled a little to himself, and went to take his antibiotics and painkillers.

- - -

 

A half an hour later found Duo walking up the street, that led to Trowa's pizzeria. He was taking long steps and almost smiling. There were only old people out at this hour, and the weather was nice, if a bit cloudy, and Trowa would most probably give him free food.

All in all, right at this moment, life was very good.

People were staring a little, but for once, Duo just didn't care.

 

Soon enough he reached his destination, and found a very weary Trowa, who was only too glad to take his lunch-break. And he stole pizza for Duo, of course.

 

Together they went out from the backdoor, to eat in the alley, on the garbage containers.

 

They had a lot of fun, and at one point Duo was standing on the container, trying to 'catch a flyin' pizza'... Trowa was feeding him, and both boys were snickering madly.

 

Due to Duo's inability to open his mouth much, a lot of pizza was already on his nose and jacket.

 

When Duo reached down to get his food, Trowa jumped some ways from him, laughing.

 

”Hey, c'mon man! Gimme my grubb!! You know a weak person like me can't survive without his meager meals...” Then Duo tried to look like a puppydog for awhile, and whined: ”Oh, please, let me have my pizza... After all, I'm injured and not in my full strength yet... Please... I'm begging you...” he even went as far as to look like he was about to cry.

 

All of his attention was focused on Trowa, and so it was a complete surprise to him, when someone suddenly flew to the alley yelling something with a threatening voice, tackling Trowa.

The next minute, Trowa was laying on the ground, holding his cheek and wailing. On him sat a boy that Duo recognized as the 'Heero' who had so far been absent from their gatherings.

 

Wufei was running there with Quatre hot on his heels, and they were both yelling and shouting for Heero to stop.

 

”Heero! Heero! This is Trowa! He's our friend! ” Wufei stopped before the two boys on the ground, a little bit short of breath, but most likely more from the shouting and the emotional turmoil, then anything else. Quatre looked frightened and at the same time on the verge of a hysterical breakdown. His eyes were wide and scared, but his lips were twitching oddly.

 

The boy called Heero looked utterly baffled for a moment, and then he started to climb up from Trowa's mid-area.

 

Trowa was heaving himself slowly up, groaning. ”Maxwell... This has got to stop... Oh, hi Wufei. You wanna take a swing? I believe you haven't hit me yet...”

 

Wufei offered Trowa his hand for assistance, while he turned his head to Heero, saying slightly disapprovingly: ”They were probably just doing something immature together... At least, judging by the laughter we heard before seeing them, and all that pizza on Duo's face...”

 

After all, Duo felt more embarassed then anything else, and looking at the red brick wall on the opposite side, he started towards the edge of the container, with the intention of jumping down. Of course, not looking at your feet to see when you're going to reach the edge, when you're about to jump down from somewhere, is never a good idea.

 

He let out a little yelp before starting to fall.

 

Then Heero took a quick step forward, and time stood still. Duo was falling, falling. How could it take so long to crash forward trough air..? It was strange... But down, underneath him were a pair of storm-blue eyes, intensely fixed on him. In them, he could see millions of things swirling. A million years of blue skies, a million kilometers to fall... A million blue currents under the surface of the water, while floating down, down, to oblivion.

 

Never had he seen such beautifull eyes, ageless, every lash holding a secret, eyes more than eyes, eyes holding landscapes and...Wings. He was flying, after all...Wasn't he..? He had forgotten all, but the smallest smile on the corner of those red lips, and how the blue depths opened up to him some more... He had always longed to reveal the ancient secrets sleeping in the bottom of the great oceans... And still he was falling.

 

Then he landed on a warm chest, was pressed against it, melting into it, fitting there, while warm arms were draping around him, their hold firm, the pressure steady, unforcing, just strong, drawing him closer, while he could feel a palm lightly stedying him on his lower back, fingers slightly spread, and his own arms went around the waist, that he was pressed against, and it was so warm, and he had melted into the other body without feeling weak, and never had he been so-

At home.

 

”Duo!” A chorus of scared voices snapped him out of his reverie, and instinctively he pulled back, regretting the move a split second after he had started it, but unable to stop anymore for lack of a valid reason to do so.

 

He felt pain. He'd found home, and lost it in one small second. So much had happened in that one, slow-motion scene, that for a moment he felt like an entirely different person, much older and more experienced then before, when he looked at his friends.

 

Then he came back to the 'now' that was his and his friends shared time, and coughed. ”I'm fine... Just stupid, is all..” And he hung his head hiding behind his bangs for a moment, scared to look up, and embarrassed to boot.

 

”Oh, well...In that case.” Quatre's cheerful voice was speaking, completely unaware of the earth shaking change, that Duo had gone trough just a moment ago.

 

”Our teacher for the afternoon classes got sick, and no-one had arranged us a substitute, so finally we were just dismissed and told to read chapters six and seven at home... We were just on our way to your place. We were gonna bring you food ...” Quatre smiled ”...And that, if it would be able to leave it's position.”

 

What the 'that' was, was clear to everyone else except for Heero, but he would catch on soon enough. Trowa heaved a long-suffering sigh, and Quatre disappeared in the restaurant from the backdoor. Wufei followed him, and Heero went after Wufei, throwing a couple of glances over his shoulder at Duo, who's gaze was still stubbornly fixed on his shoes.

 

After they were all gone, Duo dared a look from underneath his bangs, that were hanging over his eyes like brown spikes. Trowa was feeling his cheekbone with his fingers.

”I think we're done with this alley, don't you..?” Duo had to smile. ”Yeah... I guess so...”

Trowa was right, but still... Now the alley was the home of the most wonderfull memory he had, along with the most terrible one, also.

He had crossed feelings towards it, but the humor of the situation did have a serious streak to it. They do say, that lightning never strikes twice to the same place, but the 'better safe than sorry' is a good saying also... It was an alley, after all... A dead-end place with trash-containers. Perhaps they could do without it, too.

 

Hanging out somewhere a little less claustrophobic would be pretty nice also...

 

They started back in , after their friends, Trowa with his hand on his cheek, and Duo digging a tissue to wipe his face and jacket with.

 

Inside the store, Quatre was making the order: ”Yes, and then the extra-cheese..” ”Alright. You boys really should learn to behave, anyway, the backdoor is for employers only... Anjovis?” ”No, thank you, but garlic and oregano are fine. Yes, we know that, and the next time, we will use the front door....Promise.” ”Your pizza will be ready shortly. Will you be eating it here? I certainly hope, that you'll favor the front door from now on...It's not a good impression on the other customers, if there are boys running in and out from the trash-area, and all around the restaurant..” ”Heh... WE are your best customers, just you'll see...No we will take it with us. ” ”Alright..Please sit and wait... WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE, BARTON!?”

Duo and Trowa, who had just entered the room looked at eachother.

”Umm... It is a shiner..?” Trowa's fingertips were traveling over the steadily darkening area on his jaw, again.

”I'm very sorry. The fault was all mine. ” And Heero was bowing.

 

The red-faced man behind the counter just sighed. ”I don't think I want to know anything more about you boys, anymore... Trowa, go home. There might be something that you could do, that would involve only staying in the kitchen, but since you're not a cook... Oh, where am I going to get an extra person, now..? I wonder, if Samantha would do your shift, too..?” And the man went to take their order in the kitchen himself, since there were no other customers besides them there.

”Who's Samantha..? Is she your girl-friend..?” Quatre was examining the menu, too engrossed on this task to look up at all.

”No. Samantha is one, very unhappy person after today... Old Lucas can hardly pin all my work on her alone...”

”Lucas?” Duo asked, too surprised to remember his embarrasment.

”Yeah”, Trowa grinned. ”Lucas Williams. What, you didn't think he was all-Italien, or something..?” Now Trowa's face begin to crunch into that mischievous grin of his.

”Well...I... Frankly... Yes, I did. He looks Italien...”

Trowa begun to laugh. ”No way is that man from Italy! He just looks like it, and so, he decided to start a restaurant, that would serve Italien food and... He's doing good. 'Nuff said?” But then Trowa's laughter died, and his tanned, smooth face kind of fell a little. He sighed.

”But there went some important shifts... I have to stay at home untill I'm presentable again...”

Here Heero jumped in. ”I'm so...Sorry. I saw you two, and after everything I've heard, I...” Duo blushed again. Luckily, no one noticed.

He threw a sideways glance at the boy standing there, talking to his friend.

He looked at his nose, straight and elegant, and the ruffable bangs, that were hanging over his forehead, tickling his nose...

Duo wanted to extend his hand, and run his fingers trough them, letting his fingertips skate over that skull to dip in to the place in Heero's neck, where his hair met the skin of his neck...

 

”...Maxwell. EARTH TO MAXWELL!!” Duo flinched, and blinked around, like an owl.

”Huh?”

”I asked”, Wufei said, with an overly patient voice ”What do you want to drink with the pizza?” ”Umm... Sprite.” Duo felt really disoriented, and his eyes kept slipping back to Heero.

Now Heero was thinking something, his lips smiling a little, looking luscious and red, and all Duo had to do was to lean over that table to run his fingertip lightly over that mouth , just lightly enough to tickle a little, and when the lips would part to smile, he would bring his own against them lightly, before tilting his head and sucking on the lower lip gently, brushing it with his tongue... He was sure, it would taste so good... And then he would-

” MAXWELL!! I'm getting a little tired of this... Are you coming? Would be cool, if you did, though, since we're heading out to your place...” Wufei was huffing, holding something, that looked like a white, cardboard made table-top.

Duo stared at the thing, for a change. ”Umm... What is that?” ”What..? Oh, this?” Wufei lifted the box, smirking. ”This is the pizza. It's the 'Italien-family' size...” He laughed, and then he said: ”Lol.”

Silence reigned the room. ”What?! I'm allowed to use the computer, too! Duo doesn't even have one!”

Duo blushed, insulted, even if he knew, that Wufei hadn't meant it quite that way.

They had never had as much technology as some other people because... They had just never really thought about that.

Duo liked to play with his Playstation, but that was it... They'd gotten a vcr only two years ago.

Noin would have probably never stood for it, but, since she was hardly ever home, it kind of didn't matter to her what they had or didn't have.

 

Duo was the last one to leave the pizza-place.

 

- - -

A tiny bell chimed as the door creaked shut behind him, and his face was bathed in a pleasent, fresh feeling.

It had started to rain softly, while they were inside.

The clouds had drifted from somewhere without any of them noticing, and no one had an umbrella.

The sky was soothing grayish-blue, and the roofs of the buildings as well as the couple of cars that were parked along the sidewalk, were gleaming.

The wet pavement was looking black and the windows of the stores looked friendly and warm with their lights on.

Duo inhaled and turned his face upwards.

 

He loved the rain as much as he loved to watch the moon.

 

'I'm actually a very mellow guy.' He thought. 'I don't like to worry about things, and I don't like things hectic, either... If I could have my way, I would just enjoy every moment, living for things like raindrops and moonshine, and music with friends... I'd live a life, that would leave me smiling every evening, as I go to bed...'

 

He was walking slowly after the others. Now they were having a mock-fight over the pizza-box, since the pizza was in it, and it was steaming hot, keeping Wufei's hands nice and toasty, and the others had figured, that he was overly priviliged at the moment...

 

Duo sighed. Turning his face up was as much a sign of defiance and self-hatred, as it was for his love of rain.

 

He had learned from school about the nitrogen and sulphur, that were released in to the air from the exhaust gasses of cars and other man-made things like that, and how they were now happily raining back down on the humans and trees and everything...

'Use umbrellas. Seriously. You never know what it is, that is raining down on you, anymore..' the teacher had said.

But Duo figured, that his face could take some acid-rain. Perhaps it would even do him good. Kind of melt his face away, slowly...

 

Then his neck started to ache, and he had to stop walking face upwards.

As he tilted his head forward instead, he could't help but look at Heero, again. He was walking briskly, and...laughing. It was very quiet, but Duo could still hear it. A happy, melodious sound... And how his face changed, as he laughed. It became bright, and alive, very different from the usual slighty withdrawn and controlled expression, that spoke of hidden thoughts more then anything else...

 

Then Duo walked by the spot, where he had been looked at by Heero for the very first time, and he suddenly re-lived the moment, as it had been only a minute ago.

 

”..This is my girlfriends' little brother, Duo.” the echo of Zechs was saying in his head, and the memory-Heero lifted his beautiful eyes only to flinch away from Duo after seeing a close-up of his face...

 

Duo looked at Heero, walking ahead of him, laughing quietly in the rain, and his heart broke.

 

Tbc

 

(1) Project-Zero. A ghost game. Has a good atmosphere, in my opinnion.