Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ War Story ❯ Chapter 10
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Vinyl-Koneko 
Anime/Manga: Gundam Wing Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Drama / Angst / Adventure / Action | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 06.30.2003 | Pages: 1 | Words: 1.3K | Visits: 394 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Gundam Wing Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Drama / Angst / Adventure / Action | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 06.30.2003 | Pages: 1 | Words: 1.3K | Visits: 394 | Status: Completed
+ Title: War Story - Part 10
+ Author: Vinyl Koneko (Emily), roguegirl@att.net
+ Rating: R
+ Couplings: 1xR, 1x2, 3x4
+ Warnings: AU, WWII era, minor het, yaoi, historical fiction, drama, no Wufei
+ Archive: Want it? Take it. Just give me credit, please.
+ Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing. If I did, well, let's just say the 1xR and 2xH fans wouldn't be so happy...
+ Comments: // Written //, *emphasis*, 'thought', [ flashback ]. Heero POV. This story was written solely for the 1x2 AU Novella 25,000 Word Fic Challenge. Inspiration hit watching PBS on a lonely Saturday night and wouldn't let me rest until it was done. ^_^
+ Summary: The year is 1942. Heero Yuy, a pilot for the United States Air Force, gets send to command a squadron in London. There he meets a literature student by the name of Duo Maxwell, and he learns sometimes it takes another person to figure out everything about yourself.
*~**~*
Duo was waiting right where he said he would be - just outside the entrance. He wore a knapsack which Heero figured contained their lunch and a large, round object that had to be a ball of some sort. The other man smiled, and Heero silently cursed himself. He did not know what he was getting himself into. He could feel his stomach doing barrel rolls.
"I figured we could eat at the park and just hang around there. It's a nice day and I didn't know if you played or not, but it's been awhile since I played some basketball and I'm not really into rugby or cricket… It's something to do, anyway." Duo was playing with the end of his braid, twirling it between his fingers. Heero wondered if he was aware of this habit or not.
"It sounds fine to me," Heero replied. He hadn't played since high school, and it sounded like a good way to let off some steam. They started to walk in the direction of the park, and Heero noticed that Duo never seemed to travel on anything but foot. "Is there a reason why you walk everywhere?"
Duo shrugged. "It's healthier? I don't know. I guess I feel safer this way. The buses just feel like big lovely targets for the Nazis to blow the shit out of. I bought a bicycle when I came over but it got stolen within my first month here." He was walking on the edge of the curb, carefully balancing himself so half of his body hovered over the road. Heero could not help but envy how Duo had an innate ability to not take life too seriously. It gave him an almost childlike curiosity, and it made Heero wonder if his solemnity scared people away.
The longhaired man stumbled, causing Heero's reflexes to kick in. He reached out and wrapped an arm around Duo's waist to hold him up and steady him. Duo seemed to be blushing slightly, and Heero felt embarrassed when he realized the other American wasn't falling anymore and had been fine for a little while now.
"Sorry," Heero said, turning his gaze away from Duo's as he released his grip. Holding his companion like that wasn't an entirely unpleasant experience, but the fact that the contact remained for longer than it needed to made Heero feel more embarrassed than he should have been. 'This has all been going too fast. It's been too much in one day for me to handle, that's all. I need to relax a little.'
"It's okay." Duo was suddenly very interested in picking lint off of his shirt. "It would have been pretty humiliating if I actually fell, right? Probably would have left this huge bruise that I'd need to make up a different story for…a bar fight or something." Heero felt like he was suffocating. The tension was just that overbearing. "Well, we can see the edge of the park from here. I'm starving, how about you?"
"Ravenous." Heero replied, wincing at the double meaning as he watched Duo's braid swing back and forth at his waist.
Duo turned to face his companion and walk backwards as he spoke. "Are you feeling all right, Heero? You've been kind of quiet. Is there something on your mind?"
'Tell him. Tell him! TELL HIM!' His conscience screamed, but Heero just shook his head. "No, I'm fine. Really."
The rest of the distance was covered in silence, and the quick lunch was relatively quiet, too, made up of small talk such as the weather. Nobody involved directly in the war talked about it, and between Duo continuously writing articles on what he really thought and Heero's much more active participation, neither of them wanted to cover such sketchy topics. It was easier to pretend the world was at peace for some time. Not to mention that Heero's conscience was too busy berating him for not taking the opportunity to tell Duo what he had just figured out when it presented itself.
Duo pulled the basketball out of his knapsack, squeezing it to check the air pressure. The ball looked like it had seen better days - most of the rubber grips were worn off and it almost looked black. At Heero's questioning eyebrow, Duo grinned and shrugged. "It's my lucky ball."
"What are we playing for?"
"Do we have to play for something?"
Heero brushed his bangs out of his eyes. "That's generally the idea."
"Oh." Duo seemed to think for a moment. "Can't we just play for the satisfaction of the victory? I mean, I'm feeling a little sapped for ideas right now and we could be here all day waiting for me to think of something."
"That sounds good enough." Heero's imagination had been coming up with his own ideas on what the winner should receive, but none of them were too kosher, so to speak.
Duo pulled himself off the ground, going to the space that made up the basketball court. It was obviously ill kept, grass poking through here and there with a liberal covering of dirt and sand. He dribbled the ball back and forth between his two hands as he waited for Heero to stand in front of him. The Japanese-American snatched the ball as it hovered in midair between Duo's hands, turning on his heel to get out of the other man's reach before running past him and towards the net. Duo, seeming to have expected a *friendly* game, put on an expression that was much more determined as he went after Heero.
They trailed each other up and down the court, Duo managing to score first, which Heero blamed on his ancestry making him shorter than the other man. They seemed to balance each other out. Heero was faster, but Duo was more agile. Heero found the best ways to move strategically while Duo just went with his instincts.
Heero realized that he did enjoy being around Duo. They complimented each other, and the other man seemed to truly enjoy his company, as well. He knew it was much too soon to bring the word love into their strange relationship, but Heero could understand that if he wasn't in love with Duo Maxwell, he sure was falling into it.
He just wished they could find a way to work things out. Heero knew that it was his fault for marrying Relena without loving her, and it would be a problem he would have to figure out on his own. If he were to initiate anything deeper with the braided American, he wouldn't want Duo to feel like a cheap fling. He was worth so much more than that.
*~**~*
End Part 10
+ Author: Vinyl Koneko (Emily), roguegirl@att.net
+ Rating: R
+ Couplings: 1xR, 1x2, 3x4
+ Warnings: AU, WWII era, minor het, yaoi, historical fiction, drama, no Wufei
+ Archive: Want it? Take it. Just give me credit, please.
+ Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing. If I did, well, let's just say the 1xR and 2xH fans wouldn't be so happy...
+ Comments: // Written //, *emphasis*, 'thought', [ flashback ]. Heero POV. This story was written solely for the 1x2 AU Novella 25,000 Word Fic Challenge. Inspiration hit watching PBS on a lonely Saturday night and wouldn't let me rest until it was done. ^_^
+ Summary: The year is 1942. Heero Yuy, a pilot for the United States Air Force, gets send to command a squadron in London. There he meets a literature student by the name of Duo Maxwell, and he learns sometimes it takes another person to figure out everything about yourself.
*~**~*
Duo was waiting right where he said he would be - just outside the entrance. He wore a knapsack which Heero figured contained their lunch and a large, round object that had to be a ball of some sort. The other man smiled, and Heero silently cursed himself. He did not know what he was getting himself into. He could feel his stomach doing barrel rolls.
"I figured we could eat at the park and just hang around there. It's a nice day and I didn't know if you played or not, but it's been awhile since I played some basketball and I'm not really into rugby or cricket… It's something to do, anyway." Duo was playing with the end of his braid, twirling it between his fingers. Heero wondered if he was aware of this habit or not.
"It sounds fine to me," Heero replied. He hadn't played since high school, and it sounded like a good way to let off some steam. They started to walk in the direction of the park, and Heero noticed that Duo never seemed to travel on anything but foot. "Is there a reason why you walk everywhere?"
Duo shrugged. "It's healthier? I don't know. I guess I feel safer this way. The buses just feel like big lovely targets for the Nazis to blow the shit out of. I bought a bicycle when I came over but it got stolen within my first month here." He was walking on the edge of the curb, carefully balancing himself so half of his body hovered over the road. Heero could not help but envy how Duo had an innate ability to not take life too seriously. It gave him an almost childlike curiosity, and it made Heero wonder if his solemnity scared people away.
The longhaired man stumbled, causing Heero's reflexes to kick in. He reached out and wrapped an arm around Duo's waist to hold him up and steady him. Duo seemed to be blushing slightly, and Heero felt embarrassed when he realized the other American wasn't falling anymore and had been fine for a little while now.
"Sorry," Heero said, turning his gaze away from Duo's as he released his grip. Holding his companion like that wasn't an entirely unpleasant experience, but the fact that the contact remained for longer than it needed to made Heero feel more embarrassed than he should have been. 'This has all been going too fast. It's been too much in one day for me to handle, that's all. I need to relax a little.'
"It's okay." Duo was suddenly very interested in picking lint off of his shirt. "It would have been pretty humiliating if I actually fell, right? Probably would have left this huge bruise that I'd need to make up a different story for…a bar fight or something." Heero felt like he was suffocating. The tension was just that overbearing. "Well, we can see the edge of the park from here. I'm starving, how about you?"
"Ravenous." Heero replied, wincing at the double meaning as he watched Duo's braid swing back and forth at his waist.
Duo turned to face his companion and walk backwards as he spoke. "Are you feeling all right, Heero? You've been kind of quiet. Is there something on your mind?"
'Tell him. Tell him! TELL HIM!' His conscience screamed, but Heero just shook his head. "No, I'm fine. Really."
The rest of the distance was covered in silence, and the quick lunch was relatively quiet, too, made up of small talk such as the weather. Nobody involved directly in the war talked about it, and between Duo continuously writing articles on what he really thought and Heero's much more active participation, neither of them wanted to cover such sketchy topics. It was easier to pretend the world was at peace for some time. Not to mention that Heero's conscience was too busy berating him for not taking the opportunity to tell Duo what he had just figured out when it presented itself.
Duo pulled the basketball out of his knapsack, squeezing it to check the air pressure. The ball looked like it had seen better days - most of the rubber grips were worn off and it almost looked black. At Heero's questioning eyebrow, Duo grinned and shrugged. "It's my lucky ball."
"What are we playing for?"
"Do we have to play for something?"
Heero brushed his bangs out of his eyes. "That's generally the idea."
"Oh." Duo seemed to think for a moment. "Can't we just play for the satisfaction of the victory? I mean, I'm feeling a little sapped for ideas right now and we could be here all day waiting for me to think of something."
"That sounds good enough." Heero's imagination had been coming up with his own ideas on what the winner should receive, but none of them were too kosher, so to speak.
Duo pulled himself off the ground, going to the space that made up the basketball court. It was obviously ill kept, grass poking through here and there with a liberal covering of dirt and sand. He dribbled the ball back and forth between his two hands as he waited for Heero to stand in front of him. The Japanese-American snatched the ball as it hovered in midair between Duo's hands, turning on his heel to get out of the other man's reach before running past him and towards the net. Duo, seeming to have expected a *friendly* game, put on an expression that was much more determined as he went after Heero.
They trailed each other up and down the court, Duo managing to score first, which Heero blamed on his ancestry making him shorter than the other man. They seemed to balance each other out. Heero was faster, but Duo was more agile. Heero found the best ways to move strategically while Duo just went with his instincts.
Heero realized that he did enjoy being around Duo. They complimented each other, and the other man seemed to truly enjoy his company, as well. He knew it was much too soon to bring the word love into their strange relationship, but Heero could understand that if he wasn't in love with Duo Maxwell, he sure was falling into it.
He just wished they could find a way to work things out. Heero knew that it was his fault for marrying Relena without loving her, and it would be a problem he would have to figure out on his own. If he were to initiate anything deeper with the braided American, he wouldn't want Duo to feel like a cheap fling. He was worth so much more than that.
*~**~*
End Part 10