Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Winning Duo ❯ Chapter 36
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Calic0cat 
Anime/Manga: Gundam Wing Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / / Romance | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 09.13.2003 | Pages: 2 | Words: 3.1K | Visits: 1.0K | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Gundam Wing Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / / Romance | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 09.13.2003 | Pages: 2 | Words: 3.1K | Visits: 1.0K | Status: Completed
*****************************
Title: Winning Duo
Chapter: 36/?
Author: Calic0cat <calic0cat@fastmail.fm>
Story Started: Jan. 2003
Genre: Yaoi, Romance, Humour, Angst
Pairings: Working towards 1x2x5; 3x4; 6x9; others may be implied
Rated: R
Warnings: OOC, Swearing, Shifting POV, Threesome
Archives: At Lev's Lair http://www.gwaddiction.com/levlair/ and at http://calic0cat.freeservers.com (my site) and at Mediaminer.org under Calic0cat. Anyone with archive permission for my other fics can help themselves.
Disclaimer: Duo and Heero and the rest of the GW gang aren't mine. This story is. Nuff said.
Notes: Starts one year after Endless Waltz. POV changes frequently.
'Thinking'
"Speaking"
*** Time passing or scene change
Author's Notes: I usually write 1x2x1, so a 1x2x5 is a first for me (well, writing one is - I've been reading them for quite a while now, that's the *only* threesome I actually *like*). Feedback is appreciated.
#################################################
Duo groaned and marked yet another listing off the list of possible houses. Then he sighed and carefully erased the line, putting a question mark beside the house instead. It honestly wasn't all that bad. Yeah, it was way more money than he'd like but it looked like that was something that really couldn't be helped. Housing in Sanc was simply that expensive; even fairly average houses were double or triple the cost of something even vaguely comparable on L2.
And the neighbourhood wasn't *too* bad either; the houses weren't cookie-cutter identical like some he'd viewed. He didn't really like the fact that throwing a Frisbee in the yard would probably mean it would land in the neighbour's yard but at least there were privacy fences between them in the backyard and hedges in the front one. 'But I *don't* like the fact that the neighbours are nosy...' Well, maybe not really *nosy*; that was probably an unfair assessment. But he wasn't too thrilled about the fact that several different people had made a point of coming over to greet the real estate agent and incidentally grill *him* none too subtly about his age and occupation and marital status and a hell of a lot of other things that were none of their damn business. He'd pretty much avoided answering the questions but it brought home to him just how badly three young men sharing a house were going to stick out in suburbia.
'Three young *gay* men. Three young gay men in a relationship together...' Duo looked around the neighbourhood again and shook his head slightly. If they lived somewhere like this, they were going to have to either keep their relationship firmly *inside* the house, out of sight and knowledge of the neighbours, or resign themselves to being the neighbourhood curiosity. If they were lucky, all they'd draw would be curious stares. If they *weren't* so lucky... Well, same-sex relationships were far from universally accepted and threesomes weren't exactly commonplace either. A same-sex threesome was probably going to draw a *lot* of attention - a lot of *negative* attention - in a community like this.
'Someplace with a few less neighbours and a lot more privacy would be good. *Very* good,' Duo decided.
Before the real estate agent could start her car and pull away, he hopped back out of his and hurried over to rap on her window. "Sorry," he apologized as she rolled it down. "I was just wondering whether you had anything similar listed that wasn't in a subdivision? Working for the Preventers is pretty stressful and I'm starting to think that someplace a little more - uh - peaceful," he winced as a couple of small kids playing in a nearby yard shrieked and one started to wail at the top of her lungs, "and with more privacy would be kinda nice..."
The realtor frowned slightly, thoughtful. "Yes, I do have a couple of properties that might fit your needs. We also have a couple of build-to-order lots listed just outside of the city; perhaps you would be interested in those if none of the houses are exactly what you're looking for."
"Hadn't really considered building but at this point..." Duo shrugged with a sheepish smile. "I wouldn't exactly rule it out. Would there be time to look at any of those today?"
She checked her watch and nodded, "Certainly."
"Great."
***
Wufei swore and reached awkwardly over the stacks of files cluttering his desk to grab the phone. Irritably, he snapped, "Preventers, Chang speaking."
"Umm, hi Fei. Is this a bad time?"
Irritation vanishing, a faint smile tugged at the corners of Wufei's mouth as he answered, "No, of course not, Duo."
"You're sure? I don't want to interrupt anything important..."
"Believe me, you're not. The only thing you're 'interrupting' is the development of a nasty headache from all the files I've been reading," Wufei assured Duo. He leaned back in his chair more comfortably before continuing, "Une has me going through every open but inactive case dating back to when the damn agency was *founded* looking for any new leads to pursue. I've been at this all day, I can certainly afford to take a break and talk to you for a few minutes."
"Oh. Good. I won't keep you long; I just wanted to let you guys know that I might be a little late getting back tonight."
Wufei's forehead creased slightly in concern. "There isn't anything wrong, is there? I didn't think that you had that many houses lined up to look at today..."
"No, nothing's wrong, Fei. I've already been to the places we had lined up but, well..."
'He sounds a little bit excited... no, more like anxious - nervous?' Wufei thought. "But..." he prompted carefully.
In a rush, Duo continued, "Well, the realtor's going to show me a few places that weren't on our list. The ones I looked at already weren't all bad but - well, there's not a whole lotta privacy in subdivisions and I thought maybe it'd be a good idea to see some places that were a little better that way so I asked her if she had anything similar that would have more privacy and she does and she said she could show them to me today and I'm meeting her at the first one in a few minutes but I didn't want you guys to worry if I wasn't back yet when you got back to the apartment so I thought I'd better call and let you know I might be running kinda late. Umm, and I wanted to ask whether it'd be okay if the drive in was a little longer than we'd originally figured on 'cause these places are kind of on the outskirts of the city; one's even in a nearby town..."
Wufei wasn't surprised when Duo ended up coughing after that long, breathless rush of words. He waited until Duo had his breathing back under control before replying, "That sounds like a good idea, Duo. Privacy *is* important to all of us; I think that a slightly longer drive is a fair trade if we can find someplace that we all like."
"Okay, just wanted to check. Oh, and she mentioned some build-to-suit lots... Should I look at those too?"
Remembering the horror stories told by one of the secretaries, Wufei was severely tempted to say absolutely not. She and her fiance had very nearly ended up calling off the wedding before their house was finally completed; they had fought nearly nonstop during the building process and apparently that wasn't particularly unusual. He wasn't particularly thrilled at the thought of deliberately putting the very new and fragile relationship between Duo, Heero, and himself at that kind of risk. But if it was the only way that they could find a house to suit all three of them, it probably wouldn't put any more strain on their relationship than buying a house that one or more of them was unhappy with. "It wouldn't hurt just to take a look," he said cautiously.
"Okay," Duo agreed. "Umm, and you'll tell Heero what I said, right? Or do you think I should talk to him myself?"
"I'll tell him," Wufei answered. "He's out doing a security and emergency evacuation plan evaluation over at the university right now anyway; Une's not about to leave him sitting around the office just because I'm on desk-duty. There's plenty of assignments she can give him that can either be done solo or with a temporary partner."
"Makes sense. See you guys tonight, then. Bye, Fei."
"Goodbye Duo." Wufei hung up the phone, half-regretting that he hadn't added a "Love you" to his farewell. But the three of them hadn't exactly discussed how open they intended to be regarding their relationship and all calls to the office were automatically recorded... Something that he guessed Duo had thought of as well, since nothing that he'd said really went beyond what was appropriate for friendship. 'One more thing that the three of us need to talk about...' He sighed and made a mental note to bring the subject up, then turned his attention back to the stacks of files on his desk. They'd figure it out later; for now, he had work to do.
***
Duo followed the real estate agent around the last house she thought might suit their requirements, scribbling notes as he went. These places were definitely better privacy-wise than anything he'd seen previously though they weren't nearly as attractive, at least not at first glance. The first one would have been practically perfect - if it weren't for the fact that it was practically next door to the city airport and one of the main flight paths went directly overhead. He didn't think jet engines roaring over their heads would be good for their nerves.
This one didn't have that sort of problem, nor did the basement have visible water damage and cracks in the wall like the second place they'd been to, but both bathrooms would need to be completely torn out and redone. One because the tile was cracked and falling off the wall and the other because the plastic shower enclosure was badly stained and the taps leaked. Plus the fittings in general were in poor shape. And pretty much every room in the house could use a fresh coat of paint plus new carpeting plus the woodwork all needed to be refinished...
And the in-ground pool needed work; he wasn't sure how *much* work because he really didn't know anything about pools but the filter motor sounded like it was on its last legs and the water looked and smelled a bit brackish. They'd definitely have to have someone take a look at it and provide an estimate before even making an offer on this place and there was no way that they'd pay the asking price but the house *did* have potential. It was just really not very well-maintained. Even the lawn was in poor shape; half-dead and full of weeds.
'I can't imagine Wufei agreeing to this one,' Duo admitted silently. 'It just needs too damn much work done to it.' Which was really a shame because underneath all the neglect, it *was* a nice property. At one time, it would have been almost as much of a showplace as some of the ones they'd looked at that first day that they went house-hunting. In its current state, though, he doubted that he could even sell Heero on its potential. Hell, he wouldn't even *try*. If he didn't have to go back to L2, he might have considered trying to convince them based on him taking full responsibility for getting the place fixed up. It would be a challenge but not all that different from the challenge he and Hilde had faced in reviving the failing scrapyard. As it was, though, he couldn't in all fairness ask either Heero or Wufei to take on the task. And although he liked the place and could see the potential in it, he wasn't completely enthralled by the house.
'Maybe we *will* have to build...' he thought reluctantly. He didn't really like that idea very well; they'd either have to wait till he came back from L2 or Heero and Wufei would have to take full responsibility for the whole thing. He *had* kind of liked one of the lots that the realtor had shown him; the small woodlot on the site had appealed to him. But the neighbouring house was very close to the property line and the lot was deep but narrow. They would either have to build very near to the existing house - and thereby sacrifice a lot of their privacy - or tear out the woodlot that was the whole reason he liked the property in the first place.
Stifling a sigh, Duo thanked the realtor for her time and assured her that she'd given him a few possibilities to consider. She headed off to meet another client while Duo pointed his vehicle back towards the city. He had directions from her to get back without retracing their entire route but it didn't take long to find himself facing a construction detour. "Bridge out. Shit," he muttered unhappily. He hoped that this didn't take him *too* far out of his way and that the detour was well marked; he'd already discovered that neither his Sanc map nor the car's onboard GPS was much good out here. Half the local roads didn't *exist* as far as those were concerned; the GPS was currently insisting that he wasn't even *on* a road.
He followed the detour signs carefully, not wanting to get lost on these backroads. Finding his way back on his own would take a lot of time and he didn't want to be *too* late getting back to the apartment. Duo was concentrating so hard on finding the next detour sign that he almost missed the small "House and Woodlot For Sale by Owner" sign by the side of the road. He threw a quick glance in the rearview mirror to make sure no one was behind him then slammed on the brakes. "Probably just a waste of time, but what the hell..." he muttered, backing the car up in order to pull into the driveway.
***
Heero checked the lasagna and grimaced. They were going to either have to go ahead and eat without Duo or they could wait and just reheat the meal for all of them; the pasta was going to dry out if he left it in the oven any longer no matter *how* low he set the temperature. "Do you want to go ahead and eat?" he asked Wufei. "I can reheat Duo's portion when he gets home..."
Wufei frowned slightly, "I didn't realize he meant that he'd be quite *this* late... I'm not sure whether we should wait to eat or not..." He didn't want to make Duo feel bad because they'd waited for him in order to eat but he also didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable because they'd gone ahead and eaten without him. He really wasn't sure which was the best thing to do.
"It's never quite as good reheated," Heero noted, setting the pan on top of the stove. He wasn't too disappointed though; it wasn't as if he'd made the lasagna himself. It was from a small pasta place that made everything from scratch and sold some ready-to-cook dishes. He'd picked it up on the way home since Wufei had told him that Duo wouldn't be home in time to fix dinner. It was less trouble and cost than going out to eat but a lot better than any frozen packaged dinner would be and a lot quicker than making something from scratch.
"Perhaps we should go ahead and eat then," Wufei decided. "I need to eat before I take my pain medication anyway." He hated to have to take it again but sitting in one position and working at his desk all day had made his ribs ache and his arm throb. Trying to pull some additional files that he needed out of a filing cabinet hadn't been the brightest move either. If he wanted to get a good night's sleep, he was going to have to take the painkillers.
Frowning, Heero asked, "You're in that much pain? Maybe you should have Sally take another look..."
Wufei shook his head and admitted, "Not really pain, more like an ache. I just overdid it a bit today. I *could* get by without the painkillers but I probably wouldn't sleep very well - which would mean that neither you nor Duo would either." He added silently, 'And both of you feel bad enough over this already; you don't need any more guilt over my injuries...'
Heero ducked his head and made a soft sound of acknowledgement as he cut the lasagna. He still felt guilty that he hadn't realized Duo wasn't up to the demonstration that day and equally guilty that he hadn't been able to avoid hitting Wufei when things started to go wrong. He suppressed a shudder at the memory of the sickening crack when his kick had broken Wufei's arm.
Noticing the tension in Heero's muscles, Wufei stepped up beside him and gave him a one-armed hug. He could make a pretty good guess what was going through Heero's head right now. "Stop blaming yourself; it wasn't your fault." In response to the disbelieving snort that greeted his statement, he qualified, "Or at least accept that it wasn't *just* your fault, Heero. All three of us made mistakes that day; I certainly don't blame you."
The reassuring arm wrapped around him felt good and he was glad that Wufei didn't blame him but that didn't change the facts. Heero said quietly, "It's not that simple. I'm supposed to have better control than that; I *have* to have better control." He shrugged slightly, adding even more softly, "I'm too dangerous without it." It was the simple truth. Between his strength and his training, he *had* to be observant and in control. Mistakes had too much potential to be deadly.
Wufei observed simply, "The circumstances were highly unusual. And as I said already, we *all* made mistakes. Don't place too much significance on that single instance; your control is exceptional, Heero." He tightened the hug for a moment and brushed a light kiss over Heero's cheek before stepping away and changing the subject. "Hopefully Duo's this late because he's found some good possibilities for us."
Grateful for the change of subject - and equally grateful for Wufei's support - Heero agreed.
#################################################
Title: Winning Duo
Chapter: 36/?
Author: Calic0cat <calic0cat@fastmail.fm>
Story Started: Jan. 2003
Genre: Yaoi, Romance, Humour, Angst
Pairings: Working towards 1x2x5; 3x4; 6x9; others may be implied
Rated: R
Warnings: OOC, Swearing, Shifting POV, Threesome
Archives: At Lev's Lair http://www.gwaddiction.com/levlair/ and at http://calic0cat.freeservers.com (my site) and at Mediaminer.org under Calic0cat. Anyone with archive permission for my other fics can help themselves.
Disclaimer: Duo and Heero and the rest of the GW gang aren't mine. This story is. Nuff said.
Notes: Starts one year after Endless Waltz. POV changes frequently.
'Thinking'
"Speaking"
*** Time passing or scene change
Author's Notes: I usually write 1x2x1, so a 1x2x5 is a first for me (well, writing one is - I've been reading them for quite a while now, that's the *only* threesome I actually *like*). Feedback is appreciated.
#################################################
Duo groaned and marked yet another listing off the list of possible houses. Then he sighed and carefully erased the line, putting a question mark beside the house instead. It honestly wasn't all that bad. Yeah, it was way more money than he'd like but it looked like that was something that really couldn't be helped. Housing in Sanc was simply that expensive; even fairly average houses were double or triple the cost of something even vaguely comparable on L2.
And the neighbourhood wasn't *too* bad either; the houses weren't cookie-cutter identical like some he'd viewed. He didn't really like the fact that throwing a Frisbee in the yard would probably mean it would land in the neighbour's yard but at least there were privacy fences between them in the backyard and hedges in the front one. 'But I *don't* like the fact that the neighbours are nosy...' Well, maybe not really *nosy*; that was probably an unfair assessment. But he wasn't too thrilled about the fact that several different people had made a point of coming over to greet the real estate agent and incidentally grill *him* none too subtly about his age and occupation and marital status and a hell of a lot of other things that were none of their damn business. He'd pretty much avoided answering the questions but it brought home to him just how badly three young men sharing a house were going to stick out in suburbia.
'Three young *gay* men. Three young gay men in a relationship together...' Duo looked around the neighbourhood again and shook his head slightly. If they lived somewhere like this, they were going to have to either keep their relationship firmly *inside* the house, out of sight and knowledge of the neighbours, or resign themselves to being the neighbourhood curiosity. If they were lucky, all they'd draw would be curious stares. If they *weren't* so lucky... Well, same-sex relationships were far from universally accepted and threesomes weren't exactly commonplace either. A same-sex threesome was probably going to draw a *lot* of attention - a lot of *negative* attention - in a community like this.
'Someplace with a few less neighbours and a lot more privacy would be good. *Very* good,' Duo decided.
Before the real estate agent could start her car and pull away, he hopped back out of his and hurried over to rap on her window. "Sorry," he apologized as she rolled it down. "I was just wondering whether you had anything similar listed that wasn't in a subdivision? Working for the Preventers is pretty stressful and I'm starting to think that someplace a little more - uh - peaceful," he winced as a couple of small kids playing in a nearby yard shrieked and one started to wail at the top of her lungs, "and with more privacy would be kinda nice..."
The realtor frowned slightly, thoughtful. "Yes, I do have a couple of properties that might fit your needs. We also have a couple of build-to-order lots listed just outside of the city; perhaps you would be interested in those if none of the houses are exactly what you're looking for."
"Hadn't really considered building but at this point..." Duo shrugged with a sheepish smile. "I wouldn't exactly rule it out. Would there be time to look at any of those today?"
She checked her watch and nodded, "Certainly."
"Great."
***
Wufei swore and reached awkwardly over the stacks of files cluttering his desk to grab the phone. Irritably, he snapped, "Preventers, Chang speaking."
"Umm, hi Fei. Is this a bad time?"
Irritation vanishing, a faint smile tugged at the corners of Wufei's mouth as he answered, "No, of course not, Duo."
"You're sure? I don't want to interrupt anything important..."
"Believe me, you're not. The only thing you're 'interrupting' is the development of a nasty headache from all the files I've been reading," Wufei assured Duo. He leaned back in his chair more comfortably before continuing, "Une has me going through every open but inactive case dating back to when the damn agency was *founded* looking for any new leads to pursue. I've been at this all day, I can certainly afford to take a break and talk to you for a few minutes."
"Oh. Good. I won't keep you long; I just wanted to let you guys know that I might be a little late getting back tonight."
Wufei's forehead creased slightly in concern. "There isn't anything wrong, is there? I didn't think that you had that many houses lined up to look at today..."
"No, nothing's wrong, Fei. I've already been to the places we had lined up but, well..."
'He sounds a little bit excited... no, more like anxious - nervous?' Wufei thought. "But..." he prompted carefully.
In a rush, Duo continued, "Well, the realtor's going to show me a few places that weren't on our list. The ones I looked at already weren't all bad but - well, there's not a whole lotta privacy in subdivisions and I thought maybe it'd be a good idea to see some places that were a little better that way so I asked her if she had anything similar that would have more privacy and she does and she said she could show them to me today and I'm meeting her at the first one in a few minutes but I didn't want you guys to worry if I wasn't back yet when you got back to the apartment so I thought I'd better call and let you know I might be running kinda late. Umm, and I wanted to ask whether it'd be okay if the drive in was a little longer than we'd originally figured on 'cause these places are kind of on the outskirts of the city; one's even in a nearby town..."
Wufei wasn't surprised when Duo ended up coughing after that long, breathless rush of words. He waited until Duo had his breathing back under control before replying, "That sounds like a good idea, Duo. Privacy *is* important to all of us; I think that a slightly longer drive is a fair trade if we can find someplace that we all like."
"Okay, just wanted to check. Oh, and she mentioned some build-to-suit lots... Should I look at those too?"
Remembering the horror stories told by one of the secretaries, Wufei was severely tempted to say absolutely not. She and her fiance had very nearly ended up calling off the wedding before their house was finally completed; they had fought nearly nonstop during the building process and apparently that wasn't particularly unusual. He wasn't particularly thrilled at the thought of deliberately putting the very new and fragile relationship between Duo, Heero, and himself at that kind of risk. But if it was the only way that they could find a house to suit all three of them, it probably wouldn't put any more strain on their relationship than buying a house that one or more of them was unhappy with. "It wouldn't hurt just to take a look," he said cautiously.
"Okay," Duo agreed. "Umm, and you'll tell Heero what I said, right? Or do you think I should talk to him myself?"
"I'll tell him," Wufei answered. "He's out doing a security and emergency evacuation plan evaluation over at the university right now anyway; Une's not about to leave him sitting around the office just because I'm on desk-duty. There's plenty of assignments she can give him that can either be done solo or with a temporary partner."
"Makes sense. See you guys tonight, then. Bye, Fei."
"Goodbye Duo." Wufei hung up the phone, half-regretting that he hadn't added a "Love you" to his farewell. But the three of them hadn't exactly discussed how open they intended to be regarding their relationship and all calls to the office were automatically recorded... Something that he guessed Duo had thought of as well, since nothing that he'd said really went beyond what was appropriate for friendship. 'One more thing that the three of us need to talk about...' He sighed and made a mental note to bring the subject up, then turned his attention back to the stacks of files on his desk. They'd figure it out later; for now, he had work to do.
***
Duo followed the real estate agent around the last house she thought might suit their requirements, scribbling notes as he went. These places were definitely better privacy-wise than anything he'd seen previously though they weren't nearly as attractive, at least not at first glance. The first one would have been practically perfect - if it weren't for the fact that it was practically next door to the city airport and one of the main flight paths went directly overhead. He didn't think jet engines roaring over their heads would be good for their nerves.
This one didn't have that sort of problem, nor did the basement have visible water damage and cracks in the wall like the second place they'd been to, but both bathrooms would need to be completely torn out and redone. One because the tile was cracked and falling off the wall and the other because the plastic shower enclosure was badly stained and the taps leaked. Plus the fittings in general were in poor shape. And pretty much every room in the house could use a fresh coat of paint plus new carpeting plus the woodwork all needed to be refinished...
And the in-ground pool needed work; he wasn't sure how *much* work because he really didn't know anything about pools but the filter motor sounded like it was on its last legs and the water looked and smelled a bit brackish. They'd definitely have to have someone take a look at it and provide an estimate before even making an offer on this place and there was no way that they'd pay the asking price but the house *did* have potential. It was just really not very well-maintained. Even the lawn was in poor shape; half-dead and full of weeds.
'I can't imagine Wufei agreeing to this one,' Duo admitted silently. 'It just needs too damn much work done to it.' Which was really a shame because underneath all the neglect, it *was* a nice property. At one time, it would have been almost as much of a showplace as some of the ones they'd looked at that first day that they went house-hunting. In its current state, though, he doubted that he could even sell Heero on its potential. Hell, he wouldn't even *try*. If he didn't have to go back to L2, he might have considered trying to convince them based on him taking full responsibility for getting the place fixed up. It would be a challenge but not all that different from the challenge he and Hilde had faced in reviving the failing scrapyard. As it was, though, he couldn't in all fairness ask either Heero or Wufei to take on the task. And although he liked the place and could see the potential in it, he wasn't completely enthralled by the house.
'Maybe we *will* have to build...' he thought reluctantly. He didn't really like that idea very well; they'd either have to wait till he came back from L2 or Heero and Wufei would have to take full responsibility for the whole thing. He *had* kind of liked one of the lots that the realtor had shown him; the small woodlot on the site had appealed to him. But the neighbouring house was very close to the property line and the lot was deep but narrow. They would either have to build very near to the existing house - and thereby sacrifice a lot of their privacy - or tear out the woodlot that was the whole reason he liked the property in the first place.
Stifling a sigh, Duo thanked the realtor for her time and assured her that she'd given him a few possibilities to consider. She headed off to meet another client while Duo pointed his vehicle back towards the city. He had directions from her to get back without retracing their entire route but it didn't take long to find himself facing a construction detour. "Bridge out. Shit," he muttered unhappily. He hoped that this didn't take him *too* far out of his way and that the detour was well marked; he'd already discovered that neither his Sanc map nor the car's onboard GPS was much good out here. Half the local roads didn't *exist* as far as those were concerned; the GPS was currently insisting that he wasn't even *on* a road.
He followed the detour signs carefully, not wanting to get lost on these backroads. Finding his way back on his own would take a lot of time and he didn't want to be *too* late getting back to the apartment. Duo was concentrating so hard on finding the next detour sign that he almost missed the small "House and Woodlot For Sale by Owner" sign by the side of the road. He threw a quick glance in the rearview mirror to make sure no one was behind him then slammed on the brakes. "Probably just a waste of time, but what the hell..." he muttered, backing the car up in order to pull into the driveway.
***
Heero checked the lasagna and grimaced. They were going to either have to go ahead and eat without Duo or they could wait and just reheat the meal for all of them; the pasta was going to dry out if he left it in the oven any longer no matter *how* low he set the temperature. "Do you want to go ahead and eat?" he asked Wufei. "I can reheat Duo's portion when he gets home..."
Wufei frowned slightly, "I didn't realize he meant that he'd be quite *this* late... I'm not sure whether we should wait to eat or not..." He didn't want to make Duo feel bad because they'd waited for him in order to eat but he also didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable because they'd gone ahead and eaten without him. He really wasn't sure which was the best thing to do.
"It's never quite as good reheated," Heero noted, setting the pan on top of the stove. He wasn't too disappointed though; it wasn't as if he'd made the lasagna himself. It was from a small pasta place that made everything from scratch and sold some ready-to-cook dishes. He'd picked it up on the way home since Wufei had told him that Duo wouldn't be home in time to fix dinner. It was less trouble and cost than going out to eat but a lot better than any frozen packaged dinner would be and a lot quicker than making something from scratch.
"Perhaps we should go ahead and eat then," Wufei decided. "I need to eat before I take my pain medication anyway." He hated to have to take it again but sitting in one position and working at his desk all day had made his ribs ache and his arm throb. Trying to pull some additional files that he needed out of a filing cabinet hadn't been the brightest move either. If he wanted to get a good night's sleep, he was going to have to take the painkillers.
Frowning, Heero asked, "You're in that much pain? Maybe you should have Sally take another look..."
Wufei shook his head and admitted, "Not really pain, more like an ache. I just overdid it a bit today. I *could* get by without the painkillers but I probably wouldn't sleep very well - which would mean that neither you nor Duo would either." He added silently, 'And both of you feel bad enough over this already; you don't need any more guilt over my injuries...'
Heero ducked his head and made a soft sound of acknowledgement as he cut the lasagna. He still felt guilty that he hadn't realized Duo wasn't up to the demonstration that day and equally guilty that he hadn't been able to avoid hitting Wufei when things started to go wrong. He suppressed a shudder at the memory of the sickening crack when his kick had broken Wufei's arm.
Noticing the tension in Heero's muscles, Wufei stepped up beside him and gave him a one-armed hug. He could make a pretty good guess what was going through Heero's head right now. "Stop blaming yourself; it wasn't your fault." In response to the disbelieving snort that greeted his statement, he qualified, "Or at least accept that it wasn't *just* your fault, Heero. All three of us made mistakes that day; I certainly don't blame you."
The reassuring arm wrapped around him felt good and he was glad that Wufei didn't blame him but that didn't change the facts. Heero said quietly, "It's not that simple. I'm supposed to have better control than that; I *have* to have better control." He shrugged slightly, adding even more softly, "I'm too dangerous without it." It was the simple truth. Between his strength and his training, he *had* to be observant and in control. Mistakes had too much potential to be deadly.
Wufei observed simply, "The circumstances were highly unusual. And as I said already, we *all* made mistakes. Don't place too much significance on that single instance; your control is exceptional, Heero." He tightened the hug for a moment and brushed a light kiss over Heero's cheek before stepping away and changing the subject. "Hopefully Duo's this late because he's found some good possibilities for us."
Grateful for the change of subject - and equally grateful for Wufei's support - Heero agreed.
#################################################