Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Winning Duo ❯ Chapter 13
[ 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: 02.17.2003 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.8K | Visits: 1.3K | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Gundam Wing Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / / Romance | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 02.17.2003 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.8K | Visits: 1.3K | Status: Completed
*****************************
Title: Winning Duo
Chapter: 13/?
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: NC-17
Warnings: OOC, Swearing, Shifting POV, Threesome
Archives: At Mediaminer.org under Calic0cat. Anyone with archive permission for my other fics can help themselves; anyone else, please ask.
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*). This fic is courtesy of Quin, my romance/humour muse. Feedback is appreciated.
#################################################
Duo sighed and dumped his bags in the corner of the room. He didn't mind carrying them in himself; both Wufei and Heero had their *own* luggage to look after. But... it would have been nice if they had at least *offered* to help. He *did* have more luggage than either of them after all, since he'd had to bring enough clothes with him for the bachelor auction plus this week. And he'd had to bring considerable variety of clothing since he had no way of knowing whether he would need formal or casual wear.
Of course, since they were staying in California for at least part of the week, almost *none* of what he had with him was particularly useful. After all, it was all purchased with Sanc's climate in mind. 'Guess I'll have to find the hotel laundromat and wash my bachelor auction outfit and what I'm wearing,' he thought wearily. He only had one pair of jeans with him - the ones he had worn for the trip to the amusement park. His other pants were all warmer - cords and wool-blend dress pants, totally unsuitable for *this* kind of weather. And the tops were just as bad - sweaters and heavyweight long-sleeved cotton shirts. The t-shirt that he'd worn today had been bought at the hotel in Vegas after finding out that he needed cool and casual clothing for the day.
Duo was just glad he'd brought a couple of ball-caps along from habit; even with wearing one of those and a lot of sunscreen, his nose was starting to peel. And pulling one short sleeve up a bit confirmed that yes, his arms were distinctly pinker from the edge of the sleeve down as well.
'Great,' he moaned silently, 'just one more problem to deal with.' Much as he liked Earth, Duo had to admit that he was severely spoilt by colony life. He didn't think it was even possible to get a *tan* from L2's artificial sunlight, let alone a sunburn. 'Maybe it was just as well that we gave up on the theme park,' he thought ruefully. 'I hate to think how bad I'd have been burnt if we'd stayed all afternoon.'
Duo had been a bit surprised when Heero and Wufei came out of the restaurant and asked whether he really wanted to stay at the park and try to have some fun or if he would rather call it quits for the day and maybe come back some other time. Both of them were usually quite insistent on sticking to whatever had been planned, so he hadn't expected them to be so willing to alter their plans for the day. It had been a relief to admit that he didn't feel much like staying. The mood had been pretty thoroughly ruined by the events of the morning and the explanations during the noon meal. Between that, the emotional stress, the sun, and the fact that he hadn't slept too well the previous couple of nights, he was tired and really would have liked to just curl up and take a nap. But first, he needed to get a couple of outfits clean for tomorrow.
After changing into the coolest dress pants and shirt he had with him - thank god for air-conditioning or even that would have been unbearably hot - Duo checked the hotel information sheet. Having his clothes cleaned *for* him was out of the question; not only was it too expensive, but at this point in the day it was too late to have them done for morning. So that meant a trip to the laundromat.
***
Wufei frowned slightly as he looked around the small sitting-room. A door at one end opened into a tiny kitchenette while the doors on either side led to the two bedrooms. A suite with three separate bedrooms would have been preferable, but the hotel had not had one available. That left Heero and him sharing the room with two doubles and Duo in the room with just the queen-size bed. It hadn't taken long for either of them to get their luggage unpacked and now they were left waiting for Duo to emerge from his room. Which seemed to be taking an awfully long time. Surely Duo hadn't had *that* much luggage?
Wufei's thoughts were interrupted as Duo came out of his room, wearing an outfit that looked uncomfortably warm and carrying a small pile of clothing.
"Isn't that outfit rather - warm?" Wufei asked cautiously.
"Yeah, a bit," Duo shrugged, avoiding meeting Wufei's eyes. "I just need to go wash a few things for tomorrow. I'll be back in a while, okay?"
Heero rose from his chair, frowning slightly. Why would Duo need to do laundry already? He had had plenty of luggage with him... "Duo, those clothes are far too warm. Your face is already flushed. If you really need those things washed, why don't you go put something cooler on first?"
"Because this is all I've got with me," Duo snapped impatiently. "Look, the auction and the week were supposed to be in Sanc, remember? I packed clothes for Sanc's climate, not Nevada's or California's. Just let me go get this stuff washed and then I'll be set for the next couple of days, okay?"
Heero had moved closer to Duo as they were speaking and he abruptly realized that Duo's face wasn't just flushed. It was sunburnt. Shit. 'Bright move, Yuy. Take a fair-skinned colony-raised person to a theme park for the day and don't bother making sure he doesn't get sunburnt. It's a damn good thing we left there earlier than planned.' This week was *not* getting off to a good start. Reaching out, he snagged the pile of clothing out of Duo's arms. "*We* will go get these washed since it's our fault that we're staying here instead of heading back to Sanc. You go have a nice cool shower and relax for a while. And put something on that sunburn." Just in time, Heero spotted the rebellious gleam in Duo's eyes and added, "Please?"
Heero's high-handed orders had been almost enough to finish the job of unravelling Duo's control over his frayed temper. And then he'd gone and added that very hopeful "please" and completely deflated Duo's rising anger. "I don't have anything for the sunburn," Duo admitted. "I thought the sunscreen would be strong enough to do the job."
Wufei spoke up at that point, having moved to join the two of them, "Then while you go have your shower, the two of us will take care of getting your clothes washed and picking up something for your sunburn, okay?" A bit hesitantly, he reached out to lay the back of his fingers against Duo's cheek. "You're very warm..." he murmured worriedly. "Just how badly are you burnt?"
Duo was temporarily grateful for the sunburn since it prevented his flushed cheeks from showing. All of this sudden attention was a bit embarrassing at the same time as it soothed some of the hurt at their inattention earlier that day. "I don't think it's too bad," he said. "I've had worse a couple of times during the war..." Once when he'd fallen asleep on deck when he was on Howard's ship - Howard had had an absolute conniption when he'd found him - and the other time when he was staying with Quatre in the desert, after Heero had self-destructed. He hadn't been sleeping too well and had finally dozed off in the shade outside. Except that the shade had moved long before he'd woke up. Rashid had been the one to find him and have the fit *that* time. This sunburn was nowhere near that bad.
"We'll take the passkey with us so that we can get back in," Heero said. "So if you want to rest for a while after your shower, go ahead."
"Alright," Duo agreed, turning to go back to his room. He paused in the doorway and looked back at Heero and Wufei. "Thanks," he added before heading off for his shower.
Wufei opened his mouth to speak, but Heero shook his head silently and motioned towards the hallway door. Nodding in return, Wufei gathered up his wallet and followed Heero out of the room.
"Is there a Guinness World Record for most fuck-ups in a day?" Wufei asked rhetorically as soon as the door was closed behind them.
Heero snorted, "If there is, I'm sure we've managed to break it. How the hell did we manage to forget that he's not used to Earth's sun?"
Wufei shook his head, "Not to mention that he would have brought clothing for Sanc, not here..."
They walked in silence down to the elevator before Wufei said, "Yuy, if you don't mind taking care of the laundry, I'll see about getting something for his sunburn." He hesitated, then added questioningly, "And maybe a couple of outfits?" He was sure that there would be *somewhere* reasonably close that he could find something suitable at. He just wasn't entirely certain that Duo would thank him for interfering. Clothing was a rather personal item to just go out and buy without being asked to do so.
Heero nodded slowly, "That might be a wise choice. If he doesn't like what you get or if he feels that us buying him clothing is inappropriate, we can always return them. Split the cost?"
"Agreed," Wufei said. A quick check of the sizes on the jeans and t-shirt provided him with the only other information he needed. Then he and Heero parted to each complete his own task.
***
Wufei exited the mall and hailed a cab with a feeling of satisfaction. Not only had he purchased the necessary cream for treating Duo's sunburn, he had managed to get another pair of jeans and a couple of t-shirts as well as an outfit suitable for Duo to wear when he accompanied them to work and a slightly dressier outfit in case they chose to dine out in the evening. Hopefully, that would provide enough clothing to fill out Duo's wardrobe for the week without being so much that it would embarrass or upset him to accept the clothes from them.
During the ride back to the hotel, Wufei spotted a sign that caught his attention. 'I remember reading an article about them... Duo would love to go. I wonder if there's still tickets available...' It only took a moment to get the cabbie to drive around the block and park in front of the building.
"Wait here," Wufei instructed.
"Sure thing, mac. Meter's running."
"I will be back shortly," Wufei responded. Avoiding the hassle of getting another cab was well worth paying for the cabbie's time.
Much to Wufei's pleasure, there were indeed some tickets remaining for the Wednesday evening. They would be done the Preventers demonstration/training sessions in plenty of time to make it. And of course, that was *his* day with Duo, so there should be no problem with him scheduling the time.
"How many seats would you like?" the young woman asked brightly.
"Two - no, wait, make that three," Wufei said. Even as he paid for the tickets and exited the building to reclaim his waiting cab, Wufei was asking himself exactly why he had changed his mind and bought *three* tickets. 'Duo will enjoy the evening more if Yuy is with us too,' he told himself. 'That's all there is to it.'
The fact that he knew perfectly well that Heero liked basketball just as much as Duo did and would enjoy the evening had nothing to do with it. Nothing at all.
***
Heero removed Duo's clothing from the dryer and carefully folded each item. He hoped Wufei had been able to find some suitable clothing to add to Duo's wardrobe. Otherwise, the hotel laundromat was probably going to see a lot of usage over the next few days. Of course, even if Wufei had managed to find a couple of outfits, that did not guarantee that Duo would be willing to accept them.
'Damn. I forgot to talk to Wufei about our plans for the week,' Heero thought. He still intended to let Duo choose what to do on *his* days, even if that meant including Wufei in their plans. He had a few suggestions for activities - and he *would* offer them so that Duo would know he wasn't just trying to get out of making any effort by letting him choose - but the final choice would be up to Duo.
Gathering up the laundry, Heero headed up to the room. Since Wufei had not appeared at the laundromat to get the key, he obviously wasn't back yet. Heero hoped he wouldn't be too much longer though - he really wanted to get that sunburn of Duo's taken care of.
Heero was just about to unlock the door to the suite when Wufei caught up to him. "I take it you were successful," Heero said, indicating the bags Wufei was carrying.
"Yes," Wufei answered. "And..." he hesitated, uncertain over whether to bring up the subject of the tickets just yet. Seeing Heero's expectant look, he drew a deep breath and continued, "And I hope you don't mind, but I got tickets for something on Wednesday night."
Heero winced slightly. He should have spoken up sooner. "Ah. I was going to talk to you about our plans for the week myself. I guess I should have said something earlier." Meeting Wufei's eyes, he told him, "I'm going to let Duo decide how he wants to spend 'my' days. Including who he wants to spend them with."
Wufei's eyes widened in surprise. That - was unexpected. After all their careful planning to evenly share the week, he had not thought that Heero would risk losing his exclusive time with Duo. But then - hadn't he just done the same thing, giving up having Duo entirely to himself for an evening because he knew Duo would rather have Heero there as well? Once again, Wufei firmly ignored the little voice that was pointing out that perhaps the fact that he knew Heero would enjoy the planned evening too might have had some small influence on his decision.
Realizing that Heero was still waiting for some sort of reaction to his statement, Wufei said, "That is - not an entirely bad idea, I think. Perhaps we should allow him the final say over the entire week and forget the schedule we had planned?"
Heero managed to keep most of the relief out of his voice as he answered, "I think that would be a good idea."
Wufei nodded in response, "Very well then. But I do not think that he will have any objections to the plans for Wednesday evening." Pulling the tickets from his pocket, he held them out to Heero. "Do you?"
Taking the tickets from Wufei, Heero read them with considerable surprise. This was not exactly the sort of thing he would have expected Wufei to come up with. And he had to admit, Duo would not want to miss this. Hell, *he* would have liked to go himself. "No, I don't believe that he will," Heero said a bit regretfully. As he started to hand the tickets back to Wufei, they shifted slightly in his grasp. Now that they were no longer neatly stacked, it became clear that there were not just two tickets here.
Heero looked from the tickets to Wufei's face. "Three?" he said disbelievingly.
Wufei snatched the tickets back, cheeks flushing slightly. "He would not enjoy it as much if you were not there," he said defensively.
"Thank you," Heero said simply, giving Wufei a slightly shy smile. Maybe Wufei *had* only bought the extra ticket to make Duo happy. But he would enjoy the evening too.
"You're welcome," Wufei grumbled, secretly pleased. Getting a genuine smile out of Heero was a truly rare occurrence. He couldn't help but feel a bit pleased at having managed to earn one.
#################################################
Title: Winning Duo
Chapter: 13/?
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: NC-17
Warnings: OOC, Swearing, Shifting POV, Threesome
Archives: At Mediaminer.org under Calic0cat. Anyone with archive permission for my other fics can help themselves; anyone else, please ask.
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*). This fic is courtesy of Quin, my romance/humour muse. Feedback is appreciated.
#################################################
Duo sighed and dumped his bags in the corner of the room. He didn't mind carrying them in himself; both Wufei and Heero had their *own* luggage to look after. But... it would have been nice if they had at least *offered* to help. He *did* have more luggage than either of them after all, since he'd had to bring enough clothes with him for the bachelor auction plus this week. And he'd had to bring considerable variety of clothing since he had no way of knowing whether he would need formal or casual wear.
Of course, since they were staying in California for at least part of the week, almost *none* of what he had with him was particularly useful. After all, it was all purchased with Sanc's climate in mind. 'Guess I'll have to find the hotel laundromat and wash my bachelor auction outfit and what I'm wearing,' he thought wearily. He only had one pair of jeans with him - the ones he had worn for the trip to the amusement park. His other pants were all warmer - cords and wool-blend dress pants, totally unsuitable for *this* kind of weather. And the tops were just as bad - sweaters and heavyweight long-sleeved cotton shirts. The t-shirt that he'd worn today had been bought at the hotel in Vegas after finding out that he needed cool and casual clothing for the day.
Duo was just glad he'd brought a couple of ball-caps along from habit; even with wearing one of those and a lot of sunscreen, his nose was starting to peel. And pulling one short sleeve up a bit confirmed that yes, his arms were distinctly pinker from the edge of the sleeve down as well.
'Great,' he moaned silently, 'just one more problem to deal with.' Much as he liked Earth, Duo had to admit that he was severely spoilt by colony life. He didn't think it was even possible to get a *tan* from L2's artificial sunlight, let alone a sunburn. 'Maybe it was just as well that we gave up on the theme park,' he thought ruefully. 'I hate to think how bad I'd have been burnt if we'd stayed all afternoon.'
Duo had been a bit surprised when Heero and Wufei came out of the restaurant and asked whether he really wanted to stay at the park and try to have some fun or if he would rather call it quits for the day and maybe come back some other time. Both of them were usually quite insistent on sticking to whatever had been planned, so he hadn't expected them to be so willing to alter their plans for the day. It had been a relief to admit that he didn't feel much like staying. The mood had been pretty thoroughly ruined by the events of the morning and the explanations during the noon meal. Between that, the emotional stress, the sun, and the fact that he hadn't slept too well the previous couple of nights, he was tired and really would have liked to just curl up and take a nap. But first, he needed to get a couple of outfits clean for tomorrow.
After changing into the coolest dress pants and shirt he had with him - thank god for air-conditioning or even that would have been unbearably hot - Duo checked the hotel information sheet. Having his clothes cleaned *for* him was out of the question; not only was it too expensive, but at this point in the day it was too late to have them done for morning. So that meant a trip to the laundromat.
***
Wufei frowned slightly as he looked around the small sitting-room. A door at one end opened into a tiny kitchenette while the doors on either side led to the two bedrooms. A suite with three separate bedrooms would have been preferable, but the hotel had not had one available. That left Heero and him sharing the room with two doubles and Duo in the room with just the queen-size bed. It hadn't taken long for either of them to get their luggage unpacked and now they were left waiting for Duo to emerge from his room. Which seemed to be taking an awfully long time. Surely Duo hadn't had *that* much luggage?
Wufei's thoughts were interrupted as Duo came out of his room, wearing an outfit that looked uncomfortably warm and carrying a small pile of clothing.
"Isn't that outfit rather - warm?" Wufei asked cautiously.
"Yeah, a bit," Duo shrugged, avoiding meeting Wufei's eyes. "I just need to go wash a few things for tomorrow. I'll be back in a while, okay?"
Heero rose from his chair, frowning slightly. Why would Duo need to do laundry already? He had had plenty of luggage with him... "Duo, those clothes are far too warm. Your face is already flushed. If you really need those things washed, why don't you go put something cooler on first?"
"Because this is all I've got with me," Duo snapped impatiently. "Look, the auction and the week were supposed to be in Sanc, remember? I packed clothes for Sanc's climate, not Nevada's or California's. Just let me go get this stuff washed and then I'll be set for the next couple of days, okay?"
Heero had moved closer to Duo as they were speaking and he abruptly realized that Duo's face wasn't just flushed. It was sunburnt. Shit. 'Bright move, Yuy. Take a fair-skinned colony-raised person to a theme park for the day and don't bother making sure he doesn't get sunburnt. It's a damn good thing we left there earlier than planned.' This week was *not* getting off to a good start. Reaching out, he snagged the pile of clothing out of Duo's arms. "*We* will go get these washed since it's our fault that we're staying here instead of heading back to Sanc. You go have a nice cool shower and relax for a while. And put something on that sunburn." Just in time, Heero spotted the rebellious gleam in Duo's eyes and added, "Please?"
Heero's high-handed orders had been almost enough to finish the job of unravelling Duo's control over his frayed temper. And then he'd gone and added that very hopeful "please" and completely deflated Duo's rising anger. "I don't have anything for the sunburn," Duo admitted. "I thought the sunscreen would be strong enough to do the job."
Wufei spoke up at that point, having moved to join the two of them, "Then while you go have your shower, the two of us will take care of getting your clothes washed and picking up something for your sunburn, okay?" A bit hesitantly, he reached out to lay the back of his fingers against Duo's cheek. "You're very warm..." he murmured worriedly. "Just how badly are you burnt?"
Duo was temporarily grateful for the sunburn since it prevented his flushed cheeks from showing. All of this sudden attention was a bit embarrassing at the same time as it soothed some of the hurt at their inattention earlier that day. "I don't think it's too bad," he said. "I've had worse a couple of times during the war..." Once when he'd fallen asleep on deck when he was on Howard's ship - Howard had had an absolute conniption when he'd found him - and the other time when he was staying with Quatre in the desert, after Heero had self-destructed. He hadn't been sleeping too well and had finally dozed off in the shade outside. Except that the shade had moved long before he'd woke up. Rashid had been the one to find him and have the fit *that* time. This sunburn was nowhere near that bad.
"We'll take the passkey with us so that we can get back in," Heero said. "So if you want to rest for a while after your shower, go ahead."
"Alright," Duo agreed, turning to go back to his room. He paused in the doorway and looked back at Heero and Wufei. "Thanks," he added before heading off for his shower.
Wufei opened his mouth to speak, but Heero shook his head silently and motioned towards the hallway door. Nodding in return, Wufei gathered up his wallet and followed Heero out of the room.
"Is there a Guinness World Record for most fuck-ups in a day?" Wufei asked rhetorically as soon as the door was closed behind them.
Heero snorted, "If there is, I'm sure we've managed to break it. How the hell did we manage to forget that he's not used to Earth's sun?"
Wufei shook his head, "Not to mention that he would have brought clothing for Sanc, not here..."
They walked in silence down to the elevator before Wufei said, "Yuy, if you don't mind taking care of the laundry, I'll see about getting something for his sunburn." He hesitated, then added questioningly, "And maybe a couple of outfits?" He was sure that there would be *somewhere* reasonably close that he could find something suitable at. He just wasn't entirely certain that Duo would thank him for interfering. Clothing was a rather personal item to just go out and buy without being asked to do so.
Heero nodded slowly, "That might be a wise choice. If he doesn't like what you get or if he feels that us buying him clothing is inappropriate, we can always return them. Split the cost?"
"Agreed," Wufei said. A quick check of the sizes on the jeans and t-shirt provided him with the only other information he needed. Then he and Heero parted to each complete his own task.
***
Wufei exited the mall and hailed a cab with a feeling of satisfaction. Not only had he purchased the necessary cream for treating Duo's sunburn, he had managed to get another pair of jeans and a couple of t-shirts as well as an outfit suitable for Duo to wear when he accompanied them to work and a slightly dressier outfit in case they chose to dine out in the evening. Hopefully, that would provide enough clothing to fill out Duo's wardrobe for the week without being so much that it would embarrass or upset him to accept the clothes from them.
During the ride back to the hotel, Wufei spotted a sign that caught his attention. 'I remember reading an article about them... Duo would love to go. I wonder if there's still tickets available...' It only took a moment to get the cabbie to drive around the block and park in front of the building.
"Wait here," Wufei instructed.
"Sure thing, mac. Meter's running."
"I will be back shortly," Wufei responded. Avoiding the hassle of getting another cab was well worth paying for the cabbie's time.
Much to Wufei's pleasure, there were indeed some tickets remaining for the Wednesday evening. They would be done the Preventers demonstration/training sessions in plenty of time to make it. And of course, that was *his* day with Duo, so there should be no problem with him scheduling the time.
"How many seats would you like?" the young woman asked brightly.
"Two - no, wait, make that three," Wufei said. Even as he paid for the tickets and exited the building to reclaim his waiting cab, Wufei was asking himself exactly why he had changed his mind and bought *three* tickets. 'Duo will enjoy the evening more if Yuy is with us too,' he told himself. 'That's all there is to it.'
The fact that he knew perfectly well that Heero liked basketball just as much as Duo did and would enjoy the evening had nothing to do with it. Nothing at all.
***
Heero removed Duo's clothing from the dryer and carefully folded each item. He hoped Wufei had been able to find some suitable clothing to add to Duo's wardrobe. Otherwise, the hotel laundromat was probably going to see a lot of usage over the next few days. Of course, even if Wufei had managed to find a couple of outfits, that did not guarantee that Duo would be willing to accept them.
'Damn. I forgot to talk to Wufei about our plans for the week,' Heero thought. He still intended to let Duo choose what to do on *his* days, even if that meant including Wufei in their plans. He had a few suggestions for activities - and he *would* offer them so that Duo would know he wasn't just trying to get out of making any effort by letting him choose - but the final choice would be up to Duo.
Gathering up the laundry, Heero headed up to the room. Since Wufei had not appeared at the laundromat to get the key, he obviously wasn't back yet. Heero hoped he wouldn't be too much longer though - he really wanted to get that sunburn of Duo's taken care of.
Heero was just about to unlock the door to the suite when Wufei caught up to him. "I take it you were successful," Heero said, indicating the bags Wufei was carrying.
"Yes," Wufei answered. "And..." he hesitated, uncertain over whether to bring up the subject of the tickets just yet. Seeing Heero's expectant look, he drew a deep breath and continued, "And I hope you don't mind, but I got tickets for something on Wednesday night."
Heero winced slightly. He should have spoken up sooner. "Ah. I was going to talk to you about our plans for the week myself. I guess I should have said something earlier." Meeting Wufei's eyes, he told him, "I'm going to let Duo decide how he wants to spend 'my' days. Including who he wants to spend them with."
Wufei's eyes widened in surprise. That - was unexpected. After all their careful planning to evenly share the week, he had not thought that Heero would risk losing his exclusive time with Duo. But then - hadn't he just done the same thing, giving up having Duo entirely to himself for an evening because he knew Duo would rather have Heero there as well? Once again, Wufei firmly ignored the little voice that was pointing out that perhaps the fact that he knew Heero would enjoy the planned evening too might have had some small influence on his decision.
Realizing that Heero was still waiting for some sort of reaction to his statement, Wufei said, "That is - not an entirely bad idea, I think. Perhaps we should allow him the final say over the entire week and forget the schedule we had planned?"
Heero managed to keep most of the relief out of his voice as he answered, "I think that would be a good idea."
Wufei nodded in response, "Very well then. But I do not think that he will have any objections to the plans for Wednesday evening." Pulling the tickets from his pocket, he held them out to Heero. "Do you?"
Taking the tickets from Wufei, Heero read them with considerable surprise. This was not exactly the sort of thing he would have expected Wufei to come up with. And he had to admit, Duo would not want to miss this. Hell, *he* would have liked to go himself. "No, I don't believe that he will," Heero said a bit regretfully. As he started to hand the tickets back to Wufei, they shifted slightly in his grasp. Now that they were no longer neatly stacked, it became clear that there were not just two tickets here.
Heero looked from the tickets to Wufei's face. "Three?" he said disbelievingly.
Wufei snatched the tickets back, cheeks flushing slightly. "He would not enjoy it as much if you were not there," he said defensively.
"Thank you," Heero said simply, giving Wufei a slightly shy smile. Maybe Wufei *had* only bought the extra ticket to make Duo happy. But he would enjoy the evening too.
"You're welcome," Wufei grumbled, secretly pleased. Getting a genuine smile out of Heero was a truly rare occurrence. He couldn't help but feel a bit pleased at having managed to earn one.
#################################################