Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Winning Duo ❯ Chapter 33
[ 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: 05.17.2003 | Pages: 2 | Words: 3.1K | Visits: 1.2K | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Gundam Wing Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / / Romance | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 05.17.2003 | Pages: 2 | Words: 3.1K | Visits: 1.2K | Status: Completed
*****************************
Title: Winning Duo
Chapter: 33/?
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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Duo looked at the third house they'd been to so far and cringed. 'My god, it's fucking *huge*...' He tucked his hands in his pockets, not wanting to accidentally touch anything while they were inside. He'd made the mistake of touching the polished wood banister at the first house and had been completely embarrassed when the home owner promptly whisked out a rag to polish off the oils left behind by his fingers. And at the *second* house, the home owner had whipped out a rug rake (or at least that's what Wufei said it was, he'd never heard of something so idiotic) and had raked the deep plush carpet after they had walked across it and left footprints behind them all the way simply from their stockinged feet crushing the pile. 'What the hell good is a carpet that you can't even walk on?!' One look inside the door of *this* house confirmed that it was more of the same. The sick knot in Duo's stomach tightened even more. He couldn't imagine actually *living* in one of these places; they were just as fancy as some of Q's houses and he was always on edge the whole time he was in one of those.
Out of the corner of his eye, Heero noticed Duo cramming his hands into his pockets and hunching his shoulders defensively. He had to admit that he wasn't entirely comfortable with the houses they'd looked at so far either. 'But if we were the owners, things would be different. It wouldn't matter if we left fingerprints on the woodwork or crushed the carpet pile...' Though he did sort of wonder whether that feeling of being an interloper would ever go away. The houses - including the one they'd just entered - just didn't feel right. Almost as if the houses themselves were rejecting their presence. It was a silly notion, the sort of thing that would have got him in big trouble from J, but he still felt that way.
Wufei ran an appreciative eye over the beautiful woodwork in the entryway. The tile floor was completely scratch-free and polished to gleaming perfection. There were some truly beautiful homes on their viewing list today. It would be hard to narrow their choices down with such lovely houses to choose from...
***
Duo took one look at the next house on the list and stopped in his tracks. He was *not* going in there. This was just another one of those snooty fancy places that felt like they should be a museum. Not one of the places they'd been to felt like a *home*. Not at all like someplace he wanted to live. He wasn't going to go suffer through another uncomfortable tour.
"Duo? Aren't you coming?" Wufei asked, pausing partway up the sidewalk to the front door.
"No," he said shortly. He walked back to Heero's sturdy little car and hopped up to perch on the hood. "Go ahead, I'll wait here. I just need a little fresh air, that's all." His heart sank as Wufei took him at his word and continued up to the house. Heero gave him a concerned look but when Duo made a shooing motion, Heero followed Wufei.
'What the hell am I going to do? Fei loves these places we've been looking at. Heero - well, I'm not sure what he thinks but he hasn't been complaining so I'm guessing he's okay with them. But I can't imagine having to live in one of them...' Duo shivered at the thought. Yes, these were beautiful houses. No argument from him on that one. But they weren't *homes*. And they were too damn expensive no matter what the others thought. His entire share from the salvage yard wouldn't even pay for a full third of one of these houses.
Duo drew his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them, burying his face against his legs. He didn't want to live in a place like this. Hell, *could* he live in one of these houses without being completely miserable? 'If Fei and Heero are there - yeah, I guess I can... I mean, it's not like I haven't lived in worse places before...' But the very fact that Wufei *liked* these kinds of places pointed out all over again just how different they were. Just how different their backgrounds were. And Duo started to wonder just how the hell any of this was ever going to work.
***
Heero followed Wufei into the house reluctantly. Duo was definitely not happy. Heero suspected that it had a lot to do with the whole housing cost issue that they'd discussed last night. But he didn't think that it was *just* the price of these places bothering Duo today although he was pretty sure that was part of the problem. No, he thought that it was the whole atmosphere and he wasn't overly thrilled by it either. Most of these houses reminded him strongly of when he and Quatre had stayed at Relena's palace here in Sanc during the war while it had been serving as an upper-class boarding school. He wasn't entirely sure what a real *home* felt like but he didn't think that any of the places they'd been in so far qualified even remotely. 'But Wufei has liked them all... Will he be as uncomfortable in the less fancy places on the list as Duo has been in these ones? God, I hope not... Or we may have a real problem...'
'Another beautiful house... I'm glad that we started with this neighbourhood. We may not even need to work our way through the whole list,' Wufei thought, regarding the beautiful brass fittings and gleaming mahogany woodwork. 'Duo really should have come in to see this one. It's truly a gorgeous house.' The sunroom with the hot tub was a very nice touch too. "Heero, we should go get Duo. He really should see this one. I think he'll love the hot tub in the sunroom and the huge bay window in the master bedroom."
Sighing, Heero forced himself to be truthful. "No, he won't. Wufei, he's afraid to even *touch* anything in the places we've been in so far." Dropping his voice to a near-whisper, he added, "Hell, *I'm* not comfortable in them either. They're beautiful houses but they're not someplace either of us would really want to live. Duo won't say anything because he knows that you *are* comfortable in them and that you like them."
Stunned, Wufei looked around the beautiful room they were standing in and said, "But they're beautiful houses - why wouldn't you want to live in them?"
Heero groped for words, reminding himself that he was talking on Duo's behalf here too and while he didn't want to hurt Wufei's feelings the other youth had to understand that the surroundings that seemed so natural to him were completely foreign to Duo and himself. "They *are* beautiful. In fact, they're showcases Wufei. And that's why we wouldn't want to live in them. We're looking for a *home*." He stopped, unsure how else to explain this. Glancing out the window towards the sidewalk, Heero noticed the way that Duo was sitting curled up on the car's hood. Wordlessly, he pulled Wufei over to the window and pointed.
One look at the way Duo was miserably hunched over was enough to confirm that Heero was right. Thinking back to the houses that they'd already visited, Wufei realized that Duo had been very quiet and subdued throughout each visit. And that although he had eagerly listed off the best features of each house, neither Duo nor Heero had seemed particularly enthused. Heero's reticence he had simply dismissed as his usual reserve but Duo's... 'I was so thrilled over the gorgeous houses we were looking at that I didn't really notice that Duo *wasn't*,' he admitted unhappily. Pulling the list of addresses out of his pocket, Wufei skimmed down through the next group, skipping over the remaining ones in the same general neighbourhood as those they'd already visited. "Let's try this one next," he suggested to Heero. If he remembered correctly, that was more of a middle-class neighbourhood. Maybe they would have better luck there.
***
Duo slid slowly off the car hood as the others returned, bracing himself for another enthusiastic description of the house by Wufei. 'It isn't Fei's fault that he's used to nice things and likes being around them. But that's just not *me*...'
Halting beside Duo, Wufei reached out and raised Duo's chin to make their gazes meet. "Truth now Duo," he said gently but firmly. "Would you want to live in any of the houses we've been to so far?" He could have simply let this pass but if Duo started out by just going along with what either he or Heero wanted they were going to have big problems somewhere along the line. Heero had caught this one but maybe next time neither of them would.
"I... Well, not really," Duo admitted hesitantly. In a rush, he continued, "But I know that you would and I'm sure that I'd get used to it eventually..."
"I wouldn't be comfortable in one of these houses either, Duo," Heero contributed. "It's not just you."
"So let's go look at some different houses and see if we can find something that suits *all* of us, okay?" Wufei offered. Duo's nod and relieved smile in response made up for the pang of disappointment that giving up any thought of buying the truly spectacular houses they'd looked at so far caused. 'Compromise,' he reminded himself. They'd talked Duo out of simply settling for the cheapest houses the night before; it was only fair that he give way on this and let the really fancy houses go.
***
Heero wished that there was a way to simply prevent Duo from knowing the asking price for the houses that they were looking at. He had positively blanched and completely lost interest in the last one when the real estate agent mentioned what a great deal the house was at such a low price. 'Low for Sanc but not for L2...' Heero thought with a grimace. Duo was really trying but it was obvious that he was very unhappy with the prices of the houses that they were viewing. Heero, on the other hand, was just getting tired of looking at houses. While none of them exactly screamed "buy me" to him, there had been plenty that would have been acceptable. Except that either Duo or Wufei didn't like those ones either. He sighed heavily. 'This is *not* going to be an easy task...'
The house was nice enough but the price... Duo winced and wished that he hadn't snuck a peek at the list Wufei was carrying. It might have been easier to work up some enthusiasm if he didn't know that the damn house was worth more than his and Hilde's entire business. 'And for what? A neighbourhood that's got a good school - which doesn't *matter* to us since it's not like any of us are equipped to be having kids anyway - and a landscaped yard that you wouldn't dare have a game of baseball on 'cause you might tear up the grass and it really isn't big enough for that anyway. And then there's the *other* stuff on top of that. The pool and the whirlpool and the three car garage and...' And a whole bunch of other things that they didn't *need*. Yet this was far from the most expensive place they'd looked at in this neighbourhood. Which he *also* wasn't overly thrilled with. It was full of families and the three of them were going to stick out like sore thumbs.
Wufei looked around the house with a distinct lack of enthusiasm. There wasn't really anything *wrong* with it. But it wasn't nearly as nice as the others they'd seen earlier in the day. 'The ones that no one else liked, so just stop thinking about them Chang.' Of course, he didn't think anyone else was overly thrilled with *this* place either. Or any of the others that they'd looked at so far. "Maybe we should call it quits for today," Wufei suggested wearily. "The last few places we've looked at are all running together in my memory and I don't think any of us was really interested in any of them anyway... Maybe we'll have better luck if we take a break." Instant agreement from the others greeted his suggestion and they all headed back towards the car.
'Maybe we'll have better luck another day... But I'm not too sure about that,' Wufei admitted reluctantly to himself. They all had such different tastes... Different things that they wanted in a house... 'What if we *can't* agree...'
***
Duo snuggled against Wufei's shoulder while Heero was off getting some popcorn in the kitchen. They had piled up the pillows so that they could sit propped up against the wall and watch movies on the TV installed in the entertainment centre against the far wall. The current arrangement of things in Heero's apartment really wasn't very convenient but it *was* only temporary after all. Or at least, it was *supposed* to be. At the rate they were going with the house-hunting, Duo was starting to wonder about that. "Fei? I'm sorry about those first houses we looked at; I know you really liked them..." he said apologetically.
Wufei sighed and dropped a kiss on top of Duo's head where it rested against his shoulder. "It's okay Duo. We need a house that we'll *all* be happy with, not a place that one of us likes and the others tolerate."
Heero returned with a large bowl of popcorn and several cans of soft drinks. He set the refreshments down within easy reach of the others before crawling across the mattress to take up position on Duo's other side. "There's plenty of places left on our list," he pointed out. "Tomorrow you can just take my car and go take a preliminary look at some of them Duo. Then in the evening we can all go together and check out any that looked promising."
"Yeah, I guess..." Duo muttered reluctantly. He really had hoped not to have to do things that way. It would have been a lot nicer if they could have picked out a place today when they were together.
***
Duo spent most of the morning dawdling around the apartment. Doing some laundry, washing the breakfast dishes, calling Hilde to make sure things were okay at the yard... 'Avoiding going house-hunting...' He grimaced unhappily and sighed in resignation. He was out of excuses to put this off. And Heero and Wufei would be disappointed if he didn't have at least a couple of places for them to all go view tonight.
Pulling out the list, he decided to skip all the way to the bottom and work his way back up. At least that way he'd start off dealing with houses that weren't *quite* as ridiculously expensive.
***
Looking around the small, neat house, Duo tried to compare it to the list of things that Wufei and Heero had seemed to like in the houses that they'd looked at yesterday. 'Okay first off - bathrooms. One full bath, one half-bath... Well, that's not *too* bad... But there's no way in hell that you'd ever get more than one person in either the tub or the shower stall...' And there wasn't even a hot tub or whirlpool to make up for that lack either. And the garage would barely hold Heero's car; there was no way they could squeeze Fei's motorcycle in too. Reluctantly, Duo crossed the house off his list. It was such a nice, homey little place... And reasonably priced too... He left the real estate Open House behind and set off to his next destination just a few blocks away.
Duo took one look at the next house and didn't even bother getting out of the car. The front lawn was about the size of a postage stamp and the "garage" was actually just a carport. It didn't matter how nice the house itself was, the guys would never go for that.
Six houses later, Duo was ready to admit defeat. There were several places that he would have been perfectly satisfied with but when he tried to imagine Wufei's reaction to them... Well, he knew that they wouldn't pass muster. Checking his watch, he realized with a mixture of relief and chagrin that he really didn't have time to visit any more houses if he wanted to be back when the guys got home from work. 'But I don't have anything lined up for them to go look at tonight either... Fuck...' And the next listings were back up in the more expensive range. The ones with umpteen dozen luxuries. But a couple of them were more-or-less on his way back to the apartment so he *could* at least drive by them. Then if the houses looked at all promising, maybe they could come back later...
Except that the neighbourhood that the houses were in was not at all promising. Block after block of perfectly landscaped, perfectly manicured, perfectly *identical* yards in front of perfectly identical houses. Well okay, maybe not *perfectly* identical. There *did* seem to be three different house designs that repeated. And the door colour and siding differed slightly though there only seemed to be about five or six different shades to choose from. Parked in front of one of the listed houses, Duo looked up and down the street and tried to imagine having to check the house number in order to make sure he was pulling into the right driveway every day. And failed miserably. "No fucking way," he muttered. And two more houses were crossed off of the rapidly dwindling list.
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< br>
Title: Winning Duo
Chapter: 33/?
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 looked at the third house they'd been to so far and cringed. 'My god, it's fucking *huge*...' He tucked his hands in his pockets, not wanting to accidentally touch anything while they were inside. He'd made the mistake of touching the polished wood banister at the first house and had been completely embarrassed when the home owner promptly whisked out a rag to polish off the oils left behind by his fingers. And at the *second* house, the home owner had whipped out a rug rake (or at least that's what Wufei said it was, he'd never heard of something so idiotic) and had raked the deep plush carpet after they had walked across it and left footprints behind them all the way simply from their stockinged feet crushing the pile. 'What the hell good is a carpet that you can't even walk on?!' One look inside the door of *this* house confirmed that it was more of the same. The sick knot in Duo's stomach tightened even more. He couldn't imagine actually *living* in one of these places; they were just as fancy as some of Q's houses and he was always on edge the whole time he was in one of those.
Out of the corner of his eye, Heero noticed Duo cramming his hands into his pockets and hunching his shoulders defensively. He had to admit that he wasn't entirely comfortable with the houses they'd looked at so far either. 'But if we were the owners, things would be different. It wouldn't matter if we left fingerprints on the woodwork or crushed the carpet pile...' Though he did sort of wonder whether that feeling of being an interloper would ever go away. The houses - including the one they'd just entered - just didn't feel right. Almost as if the houses themselves were rejecting their presence. It was a silly notion, the sort of thing that would have got him in big trouble from J, but he still felt that way.
Wufei ran an appreciative eye over the beautiful woodwork in the entryway. The tile floor was completely scratch-free and polished to gleaming perfection. There were some truly beautiful homes on their viewing list today. It would be hard to narrow their choices down with such lovely houses to choose from...
***
Duo took one look at the next house on the list and stopped in his tracks. He was *not* going in there. This was just another one of those snooty fancy places that felt like they should be a museum. Not one of the places they'd been to felt like a *home*. Not at all like someplace he wanted to live. He wasn't going to go suffer through another uncomfortable tour.
"Duo? Aren't you coming?" Wufei asked, pausing partway up the sidewalk to the front door.
"No," he said shortly. He walked back to Heero's sturdy little car and hopped up to perch on the hood. "Go ahead, I'll wait here. I just need a little fresh air, that's all." His heart sank as Wufei took him at his word and continued up to the house. Heero gave him a concerned look but when Duo made a shooing motion, Heero followed Wufei.
'What the hell am I going to do? Fei loves these places we've been looking at. Heero - well, I'm not sure what he thinks but he hasn't been complaining so I'm guessing he's okay with them. But I can't imagine having to live in one of them...' Duo shivered at the thought. Yes, these were beautiful houses. No argument from him on that one. But they weren't *homes*. And they were too damn expensive no matter what the others thought. His entire share from the salvage yard wouldn't even pay for a full third of one of these houses.
Duo drew his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them, burying his face against his legs. He didn't want to live in a place like this. Hell, *could* he live in one of these houses without being completely miserable? 'If Fei and Heero are there - yeah, I guess I can... I mean, it's not like I haven't lived in worse places before...' But the very fact that Wufei *liked* these kinds of places pointed out all over again just how different they were. Just how different their backgrounds were. And Duo started to wonder just how the hell any of this was ever going to work.
***
Heero followed Wufei into the house reluctantly. Duo was definitely not happy. Heero suspected that it had a lot to do with the whole housing cost issue that they'd discussed last night. But he didn't think that it was *just* the price of these places bothering Duo today although he was pretty sure that was part of the problem. No, he thought that it was the whole atmosphere and he wasn't overly thrilled by it either. Most of these houses reminded him strongly of when he and Quatre had stayed at Relena's palace here in Sanc during the war while it had been serving as an upper-class boarding school. He wasn't entirely sure what a real *home* felt like but he didn't think that any of the places they'd been in so far qualified even remotely. 'But Wufei has liked them all... Will he be as uncomfortable in the less fancy places on the list as Duo has been in these ones? God, I hope not... Or we may have a real problem...'
'Another beautiful house... I'm glad that we started with this neighbourhood. We may not even need to work our way through the whole list,' Wufei thought, regarding the beautiful brass fittings and gleaming mahogany woodwork. 'Duo really should have come in to see this one. It's truly a gorgeous house.' The sunroom with the hot tub was a very nice touch too. "Heero, we should go get Duo. He really should see this one. I think he'll love the hot tub in the sunroom and the huge bay window in the master bedroom."
Sighing, Heero forced himself to be truthful. "No, he won't. Wufei, he's afraid to even *touch* anything in the places we've been in so far." Dropping his voice to a near-whisper, he added, "Hell, *I'm* not comfortable in them either. They're beautiful houses but they're not someplace either of us would really want to live. Duo won't say anything because he knows that you *are* comfortable in them and that you like them."
Stunned, Wufei looked around the beautiful room they were standing in and said, "But they're beautiful houses - why wouldn't you want to live in them?"
Heero groped for words, reminding himself that he was talking on Duo's behalf here too and while he didn't want to hurt Wufei's feelings the other youth had to understand that the surroundings that seemed so natural to him were completely foreign to Duo and himself. "They *are* beautiful. In fact, they're showcases Wufei. And that's why we wouldn't want to live in them. We're looking for a *home*." He stopped, unsure how else to explain this. Glancing out the window towards the sidewalk, Heero noticed the way that Duo was sitting curled up on the car's hood. Wordlessly, he pulled Wufei over to the window and pointed.
One look at the way Duo was miserably hunched over was enough to confirm that Heero was right. Thinking back to the houses that they'd already visited, Wufei realized that Duo had been very quiet and subdued throughout each visit. And that although he had eagerly listed off the best features of each house, neither Duo nor Heero had seemed particularly enthused. Heero's reticence he had simply dismissed as his usual reserve but Duo's... 'I was so thrilled over the gorgeous houses we were looking at that I didn't really notice that Duo *wasn't*,' he admitted unhappily. Pulling the list of addresses out of his pocket, Wufei skimmed down through the next group, skipping over the remaining ones in the same general neighbourhood as those they'd already visited. "Let's try this one next," he suggested to Heero. If he remembered correctly, that was more of a middle-class neighbourhood. Maybe they would have better luck there.
***
Duo slid slowly off the car hood as the others returned, bracing himself for another enthusiastic description of the house by Wufei. 'It isn't Fei's fault that he's used to nice things and likes being around them. But that's just not *me*...'
Halting beside Duo, Wufei reached out and raised Duo's chin to make their gazes meet. "Truth now Duo," he said gently but firmly. "Would you want to live in any of the houses we've been to so far?" He could have simply let this pass but if Duo started out by just going along with what either he or Heero wanted they were going to have big problems somewhere along the line. Heero had caught this one but maybe next time neither of them would.
"I... Well, not really," Duo admitted hesitantly. In a rush, he continued, "But I know that you would and I'm sure that I'd get used to it eventually..."
"I wouldn't be comfortable in one of these houses either, Duo," Heero contributed. "It's not just you."
"So let's go look at some different houses and see if we can find something that suits *all* of us, okay?" Wufei offered. Duo's nod and relieved smile in response made up for the pang of disappointment that giving up any thought of buying the truly spectacular houses they'd looked at so far caused. 'Compromise,' he reminded himself. They'd talked Duo out of simply settling for the cheapest houses the night before; it was only fair that he give way on this and let the really fancy houses go.
***
Heero wished that there was a way to simply prevent Duo from knowing the asking price for the houses that they were looking at. He had positively blanched and completely lost interest in the last one when the real estate agent mentioned what a great deal the house was at such a low price. 'Low for Sanc but not for L2...' Heero thought with a grimace. Duo was really trying but it was obvious that he was very unhappy with the prices of the houses that they were viewing. Heero, on the other hand, was just getting tired of looking at houses. While none of them exactly screamed "buy me" to him, there had been plenty that would have been acceptable. Except that either Duo or Wufei didn't like those ones either. He sighed heavily. 'This is *not* going to be an easy task...'
The house was nice enough but the price... Duo winced and wished that he hadn't snuck a peek at the list Wufei was carrying. It might have been easier to work up some enthusiasm if he didn't know that the damn house was worth more than his and Hilde's entire business. 'And for what? A neighbourhood that's got a good school - which doesn't *matter* to us since it's not like any of us are equipped to be having kids anyway - and a landscaped yard that you wouldn't dare have a game of baseball on 'cause you might tear up the grass and it really isn't big enough for that anyway. And then there's the *other* stuff on top of that. The pool and the whirlpool and the three car garage and...' And a whole bunch of other things that they didn't *need*. Yet this was far from the most expensive place they'd looked at in this neighbourhood. Which he *also* wasn't overly thrilled with. It was full of families and the three of them were going to stick out like sore thumbs.
Wufei looked around the house with a distinct lack of enthusiasm. There wasn't really anything *wrong* with it. But it wasn't nearly as nice as the others they'd seen earlier in the day. 'The ones that no one else liked, so just stop thinking about them Chang.' Of course, he didn't think anyone else was overly thrilled with *this* place either. Or any of the others that they'd looked at so far. "Maybe we should call it quits for today," Wufei suggested wearily. "The last few places we've looked at are all running together in my memory and I don't think any of us was really interested in any of them anyway... Maybe we'll have better luck if we take a break." Instant agreement from the others greeted his suggestion and they all headed back towards the car.
'Maybe we'll have better luck another day... But I'm not too sure about that,' Wufei admitted reluctantly to himself. They all had such different tastes... Different things that they wanted in a house... 'What if we *can't* agree...'
***
Duo snuggled against Wufei's shoulder while Heero was off getting some popcorn in the kitchen. They had piled up the pillows so that they could sit propped up against the wall and watch movies on the TV installed in the entertainment centre against the far wall. The current arrangement of things in Heero's apartment really wasn't very convenient but it *was* only temporary after all. Or at least, it was *supposed* to be. At the rate they were going with the house-hunting, Duo was starting to wonder about that. "Fei? I'm sorry about those first houses we looked at; I know you really liked them..." he said apologetically.
Wufei sighed and dropped a kiss on top of Duo's head where it rested against his shoulder. "It's okay Duo. We need a house that we'll *all* be happy with, not a place that one of us likes and the others tolerate."
Heero returned with a large bowl of popcorn and several cans of soft drinks. He set the refreshments down within easy reach of the others before crawling across the mattress to take up position on Duo's other side. "There's plenty of places left on our list," he pointed out. "Tomorrow you can just take my car and go take a preliminary look at some of them Duo. Then in the evening we can all go together and check out any that looked promising."
"Yeah, I guess..." Duo muttered reluctantly. He really had hoped not to have to do things that way. It would have been a lot nicer if they could have picked out a place today when they were together.
***
Duo spent most of the morning dawdling around the apartment. Doing some laundry, washing the breakfast dishes, calling Hilde to make sure things were okay at the yard... 'Avoiding going house-hunting...' He grimaced unhappily and sighed in resignation. He was out of excuses to put this off. And Heero and Wufei would be disappointed if he didn't have at least a couple of places for them to all go view tonight.
Pulling out the list, he decided to skip all the way to the bottom and work his way back up. At least that way he'd start off dealing with houses that weren't *quite* as ridiculously expensive.
***
Looking around the small, neat house, Duo tried to compare it to the list of things that Wufei and Heero had seemed to like in the houses that they'd looked at yesterday. 'Okay first off - bathrooms. One full bath, one half-bath... Well, that's not *too* bad... But there's no way in hell that you'd ever get more than one person in either the tub or the shower stall...' And there wasn't even a hot tub or whirlpool to make up for that lack either. And the garage would barely hold Heero's car; there was no way they could squeeze Fei's motorcycle in too. Reluctantly, Duo crossed the house off his list. It was such a nice, homey little place... And reasonably priced too... He left the real estate Open House behind and set off to his next destination just a few blocks away.
Duo took one look at the next house and didn't even bother getting out of the car. The front lawn was about the size of a postage stamp and the "garage" was actually just a carport. It didn't matter how nice the house itself was, the guys would never go for that.
Six houses later, Duo was ready to admit defeat. There were several places that he would have been perfectly satisfied with but when he tried to imagine Wufei's reaction to them... Well, he knew that they wouldn't pass muster. Checking his watch, he realized with a mixture of relief and chagrin that he really didn't have time to visit any more houses if he wanted to be back when the guys got home from work. 'But I don't have anything lined up for them to go look at tonight either... Fuck...' And the next listings were back up in the more expensive range. The ones with umpteen dozen luxuries. But a couple of them were more-or-less on his way back to the apartment so he *could* at least drive by them. Then if the houses looked at all promising, maybe they could come back later...
Except that the neighbourhood that the houses were in was not at all promising. Block after block of perfectly landscaped, perfectly manicured, perfectly *identical* yards in front of perfectly identical houses. Well okay, maybe not *perfectly* identical. There *did* seem to be three different house designs that repeated. And the door colour and siding differed slightly though there only seemed to be about five or six different shades to choose from. Parked in front of one of the listed houses, Duo looked up and down the street and tried to imagine having to check the house number in order to make sure he was pulling into the right driveway every day. And failed miserably. "No fucking way," he muttered. And two more houses were crossed off of the rapidly dwindling list.
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