Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Winning Duo ❯ Chapter 31
[ 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: 04.21.2003 | Pages: 2 | Words: 3.3K | Visits: 1.3K | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Gundam Wing Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / / Romance | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 04.21.2003 | Pages: 2 | Words: 3.3K | Visits: 1.3K | Status: Completed
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Title: Winning Duo
Chapter: 31/?
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.
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It didn't take long for Duo to realize that the chlorine fumes were indeed going to aggravate his bronchitis. 'Shit. And I really wanted to be able to stay...' he thought unhappily. He decided to wait until the urge to cough became too strong to resist, then he would leave voluntarily before either Heero or Wufei forced him to. Unless of course one of them asked him whether the fumes were bothering him first. In which case he would have to admit it and leave...
'Dammit,' Duo silently groaned. 'I'm doing it again...' He hadn't realized how often he *did* that kind of thing. Bent his "no-lying" rule until it shrieked in protest. But he'd more or less promised *not* to do that anymore... Right now though, the feeling of the warm water and the very attractive company he was in left him awfully tempted to not say anything.
Heero stole surreptitious glances at Wufei from time to time. Their trip down to join Duo at the hot tub had taken place in silence. Wufei evidently felt that he had said all that he needed to say while he himself simply didn't know *what* to say. 'I do care about Wufei... I'd already decided that I cared about him almost as much as I care about Duo... And he *is* very attractive...' Images flickered through his mind of Wufei doing katas in the Preventers gym. Of him in the locker room, one towel around his waist and another draped around his shoulders to catch the drips from his hair. Of that silky black hair hanging loose around his face for a few brief moments before being dragged back into a tight tail. Of the softness and warmth in Wufei's dark eyes as he gazed at Duo. And of the tenderness in the way he caressed Duo's face and Heero's own previous half-formed wish that Wufei would touch him like that. Had he already been subconsciously thinking along those lines even then? Heero wasn't sure.
'Could I fall in love with Wufei too?' Heero wondered. It was a tough idea to wrap his mind around. Love itself was such a foreign concept to him and he had had so much trouble accepting his feelings for Duo that the thought of being in love with someone else as well was rather - overwhelming. Though not necessarily in a *bad* way...
Heero was pulled away from his thoughts by a sigh from Duo. "The fumes are kinda bothering me," Duo admitted with obvious reluctance. "But it's not bad enough to make me actually cough yet... Maybe I could stay a while longer?"
Wufei was drawn from his own contemplation of Heero's possible reaction to his suggestion by Duo's words. He could certainly understand why Duo didn't really want to go back to the room; the hot tub felt very good. And all of them had been enjoying the - view - so to speak. Duo openly and he and Heero a bit more surreptitiously, particularly when eyeing up each other. But chlorine irritation would linger for quite some time after Duo left the area; Wufei didn't really think remaining right until he started coughing was a good idea. "How long has it been bothering you?" he asked.
"Err, more than five minutes?" Duo offered timidly.
In other words, long enough that he'd obviously considered hiding it and changed his mind, Wufei thought. Considering that Duo *had* confessed though, Wufei hated to insist that he immediately leave and get out of the fumes. "But less than ten, I hope," he said drily.
Duo winced and admitted, "Just barely."
Heero sighed and suggested, "Five more minutes then we'll all go up together?" The hot tub had done a good job of relieving his stiff and sore muscles and although he wouldn't have minded staying longer, he didn't really want to send Duo up without them. He hoped that not insisting on leaving immediately would keep Duo from feeling like they were trying to boss him around yet five more minutes shouldn't be enough that he would end up coughing for the next few hours.
Shooting Wufei a hopeful look, Duo asked, "Fei?"
Wufei nodded in agreement. "Five minutes. Unless you think you're going to start coughing," he amended.
Duo grinned, relieved that neither of them had chewed him out for taking so long to tell them. He would get better at not hiding things, he promised himself. But he'd been doing it for a long time and he suspected that it was going to be a hard habit to break.
***
Wufei stole another quick glance at Heero who was seated across the table from him. Since they had all wanted something a bit more substantial than takeout for supper, they had ended up going out to a nearby steakhouse recommended by the hotel receptionist. The food was excellent but Wufei was not entirely enjoying his meal. Because despite the fact that several hours had passed since his - conversation - with Heero, Heero had yet to respond to his earlier actions which was starting to make Wufei a bit nervous. He *had* told Heero to take his time and think about it but still... His thoughts were thankfully interrupted by a question from Duo.
"So when are we s'posed to fly back to Sanc?" Duo asked curiously. "Or do we still need to get tickets for that?"
"There's a Preventer shuttle taking some new recruits there for training tomorrow. We can all catch a ride on that flight if none of us particularly want to spend the whole weekend here," Heero suggested. "I had checked into that yesterday and completely forgot about it after everything else that happened."
"Umm, yeah, that sounds good to me," Duo said, throwing a guilty look at Wufei's cast in response to Heero's oblique reminder of the previous day's disastrous events. Heero didn't seem to be limping anymore, thank god, but Wufei's injuries were going to provide a reminder of his mistakes for quite a while yet.
"That is fine with me as well," Wufei contributed.
"I'll call and confirm the departure time when we get back to our room then," Heero said. The mention of returning to Sanc had reminded him as well that they were going to have to figure out living arrangements for the next few days to a week while they house-hunted. 'Not to mention deciding whether to move in before he returns from L2 for good or not...' If they *did* move in before Duo's return, that would leave him sharing the house with Wufei for a month or so unless Duo managed to help hire and train a yard manager in less time than that. Sharing a house and - if they started out with the rooms set up the way they intended to keep them once Duo returned - sharing a bedroom as well.
Which brought Heero back to the *other* decision he was still putting off. How to respond to Wufei. He had pretty much made up his mind what his answer was; he just needed to figure out how to convey it.
***
Heero threw a quick glance towards the doorway. Judging by the faint sounds he could hear, Wufei was still getting ready for bed. Turning to Duo, he said softly and a bit nervously, "Duo, you're sure that you don't mind if Wufei and I end up - well, sharing each other too?" He knew that Duo had already said it was okay but he wanted to be absolutely *sure* before he committed himself. Getting as far as they had already had been so difficult and there had been so many misunderstandings that he didn't dare run the risk of another one.
"I'm sure," Duo assured him. Judging by that question, he guessed Heero was getting ready to give Wufei his answer. And from the sounds of things, it was the one that both he and Wufei had been hoping for. He stepped closer to Heero and hugged him reassuringly. "It'll make things easier in the long run for all of us. I'm not sayin' things will ever be quite as simple as in a regular two-person relationship; balance is always gonna be pretty critical for the three of us. But a true three-way relationship should be a lot more stable than just overlapping couples. And it won't leave all the responsibility for keeping things balanced on just me; I was kinda worried about that..." he admitted.
Nodding his understanding of Duo's point, Heero hugged him back. Seeing Wufei approaching the door, he said to Duo, "Time for a goodnight kiss, don't you think?"
Duo grinned and nodded enthusiastically. He responded willingly to the kiss Heero pressed to his lips. Once Heero released him, he crossed the few strides separating them from Wufei and kissed him as well.
Wufei slid his good arm around Duo, holding him close as they kissed. He didn't think he would ever tire of these simple, tender kisses even after their relationship progressed beyond the stage of merely kissing and cuddling. As Duo slowly pulled away from him, Wufei was startled by just how close Heero was standing.
"My turn?" Heero asked a bit hesitantly. He had intended to just go ahead and kiss Wufei but found that when it came right down to it, he couldn't quite manage that. Despite Wufei's earlier actions, he simply wasn't that sure of himself. All of this was just too new to him and he was too afraid of making a mistake and wrecking things.
Eyes widening in surprise, Wufei managed to nod slightly and say, "If you want it to be..."
Heero stepped forward and slipped one arm around Wufei the way he had when Wufei kissed him earlier. Cupping his other hand around the back of Wufei's neck, he tilted his head and brought their mouths together in a still slightly hesitant kiss.
Wufei responded readily to Heero's kiss; relieved to finally have Heero's answer. Couched in no uncertain terms too.
As Wufei and Heero separated again, Duo ducked under Heero's arm and squeezed in so that he could wrap an arm around each of them. "Love you both," he murmured, dropping a quick kiss on each one's nearest cheek. "Guess there's one little thing we kinda need to talk about, 'specially now that you two have decided to - well, explore some possibilities at least."
"Why don't we get settled for the night first?" Wufei suggested.
"Okay," Duo agreed. "Uh, Heero, do you mind taking the middle again? 'Cause I really don't think Fei's ribs and arm need me draping myself all over them and I don't think I can keep myself from doing that in my sleep..."
"No, I don't mind," Heero responded. He would just have to do some stretches and take a hot shower in the morning to loosen his muscles up. The pulled muscles from yesterday weren't really bothering him anymore but another night of acting as a pillow would probably make them pretty stiff again. He climbed into the bed, Duo close behind him.
Watching Duo curl up and pillow his head on Heero's shoulder, Wufei hesitated. Draping himself all over a sleeping Heero while semi-sedated and half asleep was one thing, doing so while they were both wide awake was rather a different story. But it *had* been quite a comfortable position...
"Aren't you coming to bed Fei?" Duo asked curiously.
Prodded into motion, Wufei got in bed and slid over close beside Heero before hesitating again. "Umm, Heero, do you mind if..."
Heero managed not to snicker at the flush flooding Wufei's cheeks. Of course, his own felt rather warm too... "No, go ahead..." he managed to say.
Duo waited while Wufei got himself settled, wincing a bit at the twinges of discomfort that crossed Wufei's face as he did so. He really had a lot to make up for... He actually felt a bit guilty that his cough medication was doing such a good job; it seemed as if he'd gotten off awfully lightly compared to Wufei.
"What was it that you wanted to discuss Duo?" Wufei asked, trying to ignore the fact that he was carrying on a conversation over top of Heero's chest while lying with his head on Heero's shoulder.
Keeping his voice low to avoid irritating his throat and lungs, Duo began, "Uh, well, Fei, you mentioned something earlier about us all needing to get to know each other better before taking things any further. I think you're right, 'specially now that we're talking about making things a true threesome. For one thing, I think that me going any further with either of you should wait till you two have figured out what you want from each other as well. Now that I know you guys love me and want us to be together, I'm not in a big rush."
Duo hesitated, then continued, "I wasn't really before either. During the war, I mean. Yeah, I was a horny teenager but I was just kind of trying to find a way to get close to one of you. I sorta thought that maybe if I could get a sexual relationship going, I'd eventually be able to turn it into more. Probably not exactly the brightest idea, but..." He sighed before adding, "I was just so damn *alone*. And I hate being alone. And there was a hell of a good chance that at least one of us would get killed before the war ended, *if* it ended. I fell in love with Heero and the fact that I hadn't been having much luck even turning him into a friend didn't seem to matter; I was in love and that was all there was to it. Trying for friendship first didn't work, or at least didn't work fast enough for me to realize that it was going to, so I figured maybe hormones *would*. But then they didn't either, so I backed off for a while, watched to see if he noticed the difference - and he didn't seem to."
Duo hastily touched a finger to Heero's lips as an indrawn breath warned him that Heero was about to protest. "I know now that I really was rushing things too much, Heero. I'm not blaming you; the whole mess was just as much my fault for pushing too hard and expecting too much, too soon. But what I'd managed to find out about your background didn't really give me any reason to understand how new and confusing this all was for you. So I figured maybe you were straight; the odds weren't really in my favour after all. And the whole not-making-friends thing could have just been because we were too damn different to ever be more than casual acquaintances."
Duo removed his cautionary touch as Heero subsided with a soft sigh. "So then - well, I already knew that I cared about Wufei a lot and was attracted to him, and once I let myself think about him that way..." Duo shrugged one shoulder awkwardly, "I realized I was in love with Wufei too. And I already knew that friendship hadn't worked 'cause I'd been trying to be friends ever since we met, so I moved straight on to hormones and - well, it didn't take long to realize that wasn't going to work with Fei either." Speaking hastily to forestall any objections, Duo added, "And again, I'd found out just enough about your background, Fei, to think I knew a lot about you, everything I needed to know, but really I didn't know enough to understand why you reacted to me the way you did. I rushed things too much with both of you 'cause I always had that thought at the back of my mind that each time we saw each other could be the last. And for a while there, it didn't seem like the war would *ever* end; at least not unless it was because we all got killed."
Duo sighed before continuing, "Couldn't completely forget about either of you, but I sort of shut down to being politely friendly 'cause I just couldn't keep trying anymore. And even if neither of you exactly responded *positively* to that, at least you didn't respond negatively so I kind of figured that was about the best I could hope for."
"I had wondered why you seemed to be in such a rush during the war yet were content to take things slowly now," Wufei admitted. He could certainly understand why the hazards of war had added such a feeling of urgency for Duo. And now that he understood how important simple contact with another person was to Duo, he could also understand why Duo had felt so alone. Of their entire group, the only one that would have been likely to be provide that sort of casual contact would have been Quatre. And while the blond and Duo had occasionally had missions together, Duo had been partnered with either himself or Heero far more often.
Heero offered quietly, "I think that the two of you are correct about getting to know one another better. We all have rather distinctly non-average pasts; undoubtedly there are other things that need to be shared before they become the source of an accidental misunderstanding." He hesitated, then confessed, "And taking things slowly may help me to get past some of my issues with not knowing how to respond to touch. I am - not sure how fast I would be comfortable with proceeding." He was embarrassed to admit it but Heero really wasn't sure how fast he *could* proceed. For so much of his life the only thing that touch had meant was pain, whether from a blow causing an injury or the rough treatment of an injury, that he was sometimes surprised that all he did in response to unexpected touch was freeze temporarily.
On either side of Heero, two people wished again that they had J in front of them and at their mercy. Not that mercy played any part in what they would have liked to do to the cold-hearted bastard. Both Duo and Wufei suspected that their contempt for J would only continue to grow as Heero revealed more of his childhood to them.
"Since we're all in agreement, slow it is," Duo said, careful to keep his anger out of his voice. "Now, I don't know about you two but," he yawned widely, "I think I'm ready for some sleep. 'Specially since we've got a pretty early start tomorrow to catch that shuttle. G'night Heero, Wufei..."
"Good night, Duo," Wufei responded. "Good night, Heero."
"Good night," Heero answered, giving in to temptation and dropping a kiss on top of the head pillowed on each shoulder. The temptation itself surprised him almost as much as his impulsive decision to give in to it. 'Maybe falling in love with Wufei won't take quite as long as I thought after all...'
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Title: Winning Duo
Chapter: 31/?
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.
#################################################
It didn't take long for Duo to realize that the chlorine fumes were indeed going to aggravate his bronchitis. 'Shit. And I really wanted to be able to stay...' he thought unhappily. He decided to wait until the urge to cough became too strong to resist, then he would leave voluntarily before either Heero or Wufei forced him to. Unless of course one of them asked him whether the fumes were bothering him first. In which case he would have to admit it and leave...
'Dammit,' Duo silently groaned. 'I'm doing it again...' He hadn't realized how often he *did* that kind of thing. Bent his "no-lying" rule until it shrieked in protest. But he'd more or less promised *not* to do that anymore... Right now though, the feeling of the warm water and the very attractive company he was in left him awfully tempted to not say anything.
Heero stole surreptitious glances at Wufei from time to time. Their trip down to join Duo at the hot tub had taken place in silence. Wufei evidently felt that he had said all that he needed to say while he himself simply didn't know *what* to say. 'I do care about Wufei... I'd already decided that I cared about him almost as much as I care about Duo... And he *is* very attractive...' Images flickered through his mind of Wufei doing katas in the Preventers gym. Of him in the locker room, one towel around his waist and another draped around his shoulders to catch the drips from his hair. Of that silky black hair hanging loose around his face for a few brief moments before being dragged back into a tight tail. Of the softness and warmth in Wufei's dark eyes as he gazed at Duo. And of the tenderness in the way he caressed Duo's face and Heero's own previous half-formed wish that Wufei would touch him like that. Had he already been subconsciously thinking along those lines even then? Heero wasn't sure.
'Could I fall in love with Wufei too?' Heero wondered. It was a tough idea to wrap his mind around. Love itself was such a foreign concept to him and he had had so much trouble accepting his feelings for Duo that the thought of being in love with someone else as well was rather - overwhelming. Though not necessarily in a *bad* way...
Heero was pulled away from his thoughts by a sigh from Duo. "The fumes are kinda bothering me," Duo admitted with obvious reluctance. "But it's not bad enough to make me actually cough yet... Maybe I could stay a while longer?"
Wufei was drawn from his own contemplation of Heero's possible reaction to his suggestion by Duo's words. He could certainly understand why Duo didn't really want to go back to the room; the hot tub felt very good. And all of them had been enjoying the - view - so to speak. Duo openly and he and Heero a bit more surreptitiously, particularly when eyeing up each other. But chlorine irritation would linger for quite some time after Duo left the area; Wufei didn't really think remaining right until he started coughing was a good idea. "How long has it been bothering you?" he asked.
"Err, more than five minutes?" Duo offered timidly.
In other words, long enough that he'd obviously considered hiding it and changed his mind, Wufei thought. Considering that Duo *had* confessed though, Wufei hated to insist that he immediately leave and get out of the fumes. "But less than ten, I hope," he said drily.
Duo winced and admitted, "Just barely."
Heero sighed and suggested, "Five more minutes then we'll all go up together?" The hot tub had done a good job of relieving his stiff and sore muscles and although he wouldn't have minded staying longer, he didn't really want to send Duo up without them. He hoped that not insisting on leaving immediately would keep Duo from feeling like they were trying to boss him around yet five more minutes shouldn't be enough that he would end up coughing for the next few hours.
Shooting Wufei a hopeful look, Duo asked, "Fei?"
Wufei nodded in agreement. "Five minutes. Unless you think you're going to start coughing," he amended.
Duo grinned, relieved that neither of them had chewed him out for taking so long to tell them. He would get better at not hiding things, he promised himself. But he'd been doing it for a long time and he suspected that it was going to be a hard habit to break.
***
Wufei stole another quick glance at Heero who was seated across the table from him. Since they had all wanted something a bit more substantial than takeout for supper, they had ended up going out to a nearby steakhouse recommended by the hotel receptionist. The food was excellent but Wufei was not entirely enjoying his meal. Because despite the fact that several hours had passed since his - conversation - with Heero, Heero had yet to respond to his earlier actions which was starting to make Wufei a bit nervous. He *had* told Heero to take his time and think about it but still... His thoughts were thankfully interrupted by a question from Duo.
"So when are we s'posed to fly back to Sanc?" Duo asked curiously. "Or do we still need to get tickets for that?"
"There's a Preventer shuttle taking some new recruits there for training tomorrow. We can all catch a ride on that flight if none of us particularly want to spend the whole weekend here," Heero suggested. "I had checked into that yesterday and completely forgot about it after everything else that happened."
"Umm, yeah, that sounds good to me," Duo said, throwing a guilty look at Wufei's cast in response to Heero's oblique reminder of the previous day's disastrous events. Heero didn't seem to be limping anymore, thank god, but Wufei's injuries were going to provide a reminder of his mistakes for quite a while yet.
"That is fine with me as well," Wufei contributed.
"I'll call and confirm the departure time when we get back to our room then," Heero said. The mention of returning to Sanc had reminded him as well that they were going to have to figure out living arrangements for the next few days to a week while they house-hunted. 'Not to mention deciding whether to move in before he returns from L2 for good or not...' If they *did* move in before Duo's return, that would leave him sharing the house with Wufei for a month or so unless Duo managed to help hire and train a yard manager in less time than that. Sharing a house and - if they started out with the rooms set up the way they intended to keep them once Duo returned - sharing a bedroom as well.
Which brought Heero back to the *other* decision he was still putting off. How to respond to Wufei. He had pretty much made up his mind what his answer was; he just needed to figure out how to convey it.
***
Heero threw a quick glance towards the doorway. Judging by the faint sounds he could hear, Wufei was still getting ready for bed. Turning to Duo, he said softly and a bit nervously, "Duo, you're sure that you don't mind if Wufei and I end up - well, sharing each other too?" He knew that Duo had already said it was okay but he wanted to be absolutely *sure* before he committed himself. Getting as far as they had already had been so difficult and there had been so many misunderstandings that he didn't dare run the risk of another one.
"I'm sure," Duo assured him. Judging by that question, he guessed Heero was getting ready to give Wufei his answer. And from the sounds of things, it was the one that both he and Wufei had been hoping for. He stepped closer to Heero and hugged him reassuringly. "It'll make things easier in the long run for all of us. I'm not sayin' things will ever be quite as simple as in a regular two-person relationship; balance is always gonna be pretty critical for the three of us. But a true three-way relationship should be a lot more stable than just overlapping couples. And it won't leave all the responsibility for keeping things balanced on just me; I was kinda worried about that..." he admitted.
Nodding his understanding of Duo's point, Heero hugged him back. Seeing Wufei approaching the door, he said to Duo, "Time for a goodnight kiss, don't you think?"
Duo grinned and nodded enthusiastically. He responded willingly to the kiss Heero pressed to his lips. Once Heero released him, he crossed the few strides separating them from Wufei and kissed him as well.
Wufei slid his good arm around Duo, holding him close as they kissed. He didn't think he would ever tire of these simple, tender kisses even after their relationship progressed beyond the stage of merely kissing and cuddling. As Duo slowly pulled away from him, Wufei was startled by just how close Heero was standing.
"My turn?" Heero asked a bit hesitantly. He had intended to just go ahead and kiss Wufei but found that when it came right down to it, he couldn't quite manage that. Despite Wufei's earlier actions, he simply wasn't that sure of himself. All of this was just too new to him and he was too afraid of making a mistake and wrecking things.
Eyes widening in surprise, Wufei managed to nod slightly and say, "If you want it to be..."
Heero stepped forward and slipped one arm around Wufei the way he had when Wufei kissed him earlier. Cupping his other hand around the back of Wufei's neck, he tilted his head and brought their mouths together in a still slightly hesitant kiss.
Wufei responded readily to Heero's kiss; relieved to finally have Heero's answer. Couched in no uncertain terms too.
As Wufei and Heero separated again, Duo ducked under Heero's arm and squeezed in so that he could wrap an arm around each of them. "Love you both," he murmured, dropping a quick kiss on each one's nearest cheek. "Guess there's one little thing we kinda need to talk about, 'specially now that you two have decided to - well, explore some possibilities at least."
"Why don't we get settled for the night first?" Wufei suggested.
"Okay," Duo agreed. "Uh, Heero, do you mind taking the middle again? 'Cause I really don't think Fei's ribs and arm need me draping myself all over them and I don't think I can keep myself from doing that in my sleep..."
"No, I don't mind," Heero responded. He would just have to do some stretches and take a hot shower in the morning to loosen his muscles up. The pulled muscles from yesterday weren't really bothering him anymore but another night of acting as a pillow would probably make them pretty stiff again. He climbed into the bed, Duo close behind him.
Watching Duo curl up and pillow his head on Heero's shoulder, Wufei hesitated. Draping himself all over a sleeping Heero while semi-sedated and half asleep was one thing, doing so while they were both wide awake was rather a different story. But it *had* been quite a comfortable position...
"Aren't you coming to bed Fei?" Duo asked curiously.
Prodded into motion, Wufei got in bed and slid over close beside Heero before hesitating again. "Umm, Heero, do you mind if..."
Heero managed not to snicker at the flush flooding Wufei's cheeks. Of course, his own felt rather warm too... "No, go ahead..." he managed to say.
Duo waited while Wufei got himself settled, wincing a bit at the twinges of discomfort that crossed Wufei's face as he did so. He really had a lot to make up for... He actually felt a bit guilty that his cough medication was doing such a good job; it seemed as if he'd gotten off awfully lightly compared to Wufei.
"What was it that you wanted to discuss Duo?" Wufei asked, trying to ignore the fact that he was carrying on a conversation over top of Heero's chest while lying with his head on Heero's shoulder.
Keeping his voice low to avoid irritating his throat and lungs, Duo began, "Uh, well, Fei, you mentioned something earlier about us all needing to get to know each other better before taking things any further. I think you're right, 'specially now that we're talking about making things a true threesome. For one thing, I think that me going any further with either of you should wait till you two have figured out what you want from each other as well. Now that I know you guys love me and want us to be together, I'm not in a big rush."
Duo hesitated, then continued, "I wasn't really before either. During the war, I mean. Yeah, I was a horny teenager but I was just kind of trying to find a way to get close to one of you. I sorta thought that maybe if I could get a sexual relationship going, I'd eventually be able to turn it into more. Probably not exactly the brightest idea, but..." He sighed before adding, "I was just so damn *alone*. And I hate being alone. And there was a hell of a good chance that at least one of us would get killed before the war ended, *if* it ended. I fell in love with Heero and the fact that I hadn't been having much luck even turning him into a friend didn't seem to matter; I was in love and that was all there was to it. Trying for friendship first didn't work, or at least didn't work fast enough for me to realize that it was going to, so I figured maybe hormones *would*. But then they didn't either, so I backed off for a while, watched to see if he noticed the difference - and he didn't seem to."
Duo hastily touched a finger to Heero's lips as an indrawn breath warned him that Heero was about to protest. "I know now that I really was rushing things too much, Heero. I'm not blaming you; the whole mess was just as much my fault for pushing too hard and expecting too much, too soon. But what I'd managed to find out about your background didn't really give me any reason to understand how new and confusing this all was for you. So I figured maybe you were straight; the odds weren't really in my favour after all. And the whole not-making-friends thing could have just been because we were too damn different to ever be more than casual acquaintances."
Duo removed his cautionary touch as Heero subsided with a soft sigh. "So then - well, I already knew that I cared about Wufei a lot and was attracted to him, and once I let myself think about him that way..." Duo shrugged one shoulder awkwardly, "I realized I was in love with Wufei too. And I already knew that friendship hadn't worked 'cause I'd been trying to be friends ever since we met, so I moved straight on to hormones and - well, it didn't take long to realize that wasn't going to work with Fei either." Speaking hastily to forestall any objections, Duo added, "And again, I'd found out just enough about your background, Fei, to think I knew a lot about you, everything I needed to know, but really I didn't know enough to understand why you reacted to me the way you did. I rushed things too much with both of you 'cause I always had that thought at the back of my mind that each time we saw each other could be the last. And for a while there, it didn't seem like the war would *ever* end; at least not unless it was because we all got killed."
Duo sighed before continuing, "Couldn't completely forget about either of you, but I sort of shut down to being politely friendly 'cause I just couldn't keep trying anymore. And even if neither of you exactly responded *positively* to that, at least you didn't respond negatively so I kind of figured that was about the best I could hope for."
"I had wondered why you seemed to be in such a rush during the war yet were content to take things slowly now," Wufei admitted. He could certainly understand why the hazards of war had added such a feeling of urgency for Duo. And now that he understood how important simple contact with another person was to Duo, he could also understand why Duo had felt so alone. Of their entire group, the only one that would have been likely to be provide that sort of casual contact would have been Quatre. And while the blond and Duo had occasionally had missions together, Duo had been partnered with either himself or Heero far more often.
Heero offered quietly, "I think that the two of you are correct about getting to know one another better. We all have rather distinctly non-average pasts; undoubtedly there are other things that need to be shared before they become the source of an accidental misunderstanding." He hesitated, then confessed, "And taking things slowly may help me to get past some of my issues with not knowing how to respond to touch. I am - not sure how fast I would be comfortable with proceeding." He was embarrassed to admit it but Heero really wasn't sure how fast he *could* proceed. For so much of his life the only thing that touch had meant was pain, whether from a blow causing an injury or the rough treatment of an injury, that he was sometimes surprised that all he did in response to unexpected touch was freeze temporarily.
On either side of Heero, two people wished again that they had J in front of them and at their mercy. Not that mercy played any part in what they would have liked to do to the cold-hearted bastard. Both Duo and Wufei suspected that their contempt for J would only continue to grow as Heero revealed more of his childhood to them.
"Since we're all in agreement, slow it is," Duo said, careful to keep his anger out of his voice. "Now, I don't know about you two but," he yawned widely, "I think I'm ready for some sleep. 'Specially since we've got a pretty early start tomorrow to catch that shuttle. G'night Heero, Wufei..."
"Good night, Duo," Wufei responded. "Good night, Heero."
"Good night," Heero answered, giving in to temptation and dropping a kiss on top of the head pillowed on each shoulder. The temptation itself surprised him almost as much as his impulsive decision to give in to it. 'Maybe falling in love with Wufei won't take quite as long as I thought after all...'
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