CHAPTER FOUR:
Heero wasn’t speaking to him. Not that that should come as a surprise to Duo (or to us for that matter), but considering the Japanese pilot’s behavior the past few days, the silence and coldness he got from Heero was quite unnerving.
Duo figured that Heero must have gone into one of his moods – he secretly considered it Heero’s PMS symptoms, but he was sure that the dark-haired boy would not have appreciated the sentiment.
He pouted and folded his arms across his chest as he watched Heero make his way into the closet and out again every other minute. The pilot was packing up suitable clothes for their long-awaited trip to the beautiful island of Cancun in Mexico and as Duo watched his every movement, he couldn’t help feeling the jealousy well within him again. For weeks he had envisioned himself running along the beaches with his brand new Speedos….I mean, his brand new swim shorts. He had even gone as far as visiting the nearby tanning shop to darken his skin in preparation for days under the hot sun.
He scratched his kitty ears and plopped back against the bed assuming a ‘dead’ position. He wondered how long he could remain this way before Heero noticed him again. This trick had worked during the early days of his transformation. Heero would have rushed to his side to try to revive him and despite his protests, Duo had not been able to hide his inner pleasure at the attention.
So much for that now. Duo might as well be just another print on the bed sheet for all the attention our lovely pilot paid him.
Heero walked up to his travel bag and zipped it up quickly. He paused in his stride as he made a move towards the door. Duo, who had opened up an eye to see what Heero was doing now, closed it again quickly as he noticed that the pilot was now staring at him.
What the hell is he looking at? Duo could feel his skin, ears and tail twitch at the intense scrutiny. Oh, no! Thought our poor defenseless kitten. What if Heero had decided to finally kill him this time?! What could he do? What would he do? He couldn’t very well defend himself, except to hide underneath the bed and hope that Heero give up soon.
He couldn’t help squeaking in fear as he felt Heero’s presence draw nearer and curling himself into a fetal position, inwardly praying that somehow something would magically appear to make him return to his full height, he was left gawking as Heero only made his way towards his side of the room to pull down his luggage.
What the hell? “Hey, what do you think you are doing?” Duo finally cried out as he watched the Japanese boy bring down all the clothes he had so lovingly spent a grand total of $134. 57 on.
“You want to go to Cancun with us, right?”
“Yeah…”
“So, why are you asking me dumb questions?”
“I asked you only one question, Einstein and in case you failed to notice, I won’t be needing any of those clothes you are packing because I’m still…still…”
Heero smirked and placed a cheeky look on features - something that absolutely terrified the hell out of our tragic hero.
“Still tiny?” came the tease. “Don’t worry, I am sure you will be back to your full height in no time.”
“What are you talking about? The woman said that I won’t be normal until three months from now!” He paused as he noticed that Heero now had a small smile on his features. “Hey….heeeeey, do you know something, Heero? Is there some antidote that you are hiding from me? Heero?! Stop ignoring me, damn it!”
The door to the bedroom opened with a bang and before Duo could say ‘Huh?’, he found himself within Quatre’s palm, being checked and scrutinized intensely for any possible Heero brutality. And seeing that his braided little angel hadn’t been harmed, the blond gave a small sigh of relief and then pinned a cold glare at the passive Japanese pilot.
“How many times have I told you not to yell at him, Heero? His feelings are more sensitive at this stage!”
Duo nodded with each word, a look of pure suffering on his features as he snuggled against Quatre’s palm – of course we cannot forget to say that he gave Heero a look of triumph and victory in the process.
Heero was just about to open up his mouth to protest, when Quatre (who can be quite vocal and petulant when something dear and precious to him is being tortured) waved his hand in dismissal.
“Save it for another day, Heero. Duo is spending the night with us!”
And with that said, the door was slammed shut again, leaving Heero standing in the middle of the room with Duo’s ‘Surf’s Up!!’ t-shirt still in hand.
Sometime that night…
All of a sudden, Duo reeeeeeeeeeally wished he hadn’t listened to Quatre’s crazy assed idea to sleep in their bedroom that night.
He lay pouting on his side – in his rather nice-looking bed (it had been specially ordered by the blond for him), his tail twitched in agitation as he listened to the soft giggles, moans and groans from the couple a few feet away from him. He might be a kitten but dear friends, Duo Maxwell is still capable of feeling some things down there. And right now, a certain thing was protesting his comrades’ actions with a passion.
He turned to his left side as he heard Quatre mumble something that sounded eerily like ‘faster’. He turned to his right (his eyes closed all this time) as he heard Trowa mutter out a soft ‘oooooooooooh’. Turned back to his left as he heard the bed creak a little bit louder and then…
“Oooooooooooooohhhh!!”
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!!”
The trio all jerked upright in panic as Trowa hastily reached for his bedside lamp to turn it on. “What? What happened?!”
The bedroom door was thrown open and the scowling visages of Heero and Wufei made an appearance. Quatre squealed and pulled the sheets a bit higher, his face flaming red as Trowa was now left naked in his haste. Everyone ogled at the sight. Goodness! Who knew the silent one was this….this….’talented’?
“Put some clothes on, goddamn it!” Wufei cried out even though his eyes had not really strayed from Trowa.
“What are you all doing in our bedroom?” came the breathless question from the uni-banged pilot, while reaching for the sheets to cover up his precious jewels.
“We heard a scream…” Wufei began. Quatre flushed to a bright red color and wished he could bury himself deep into his bed or something.
“That would be me!” Duo volunteered as he stood tapping his bare feet in irritation. He was dressed in a rather cute looking blue and white polka-dotted pj, topped off with a nightcap that made him look rather elfin like. “You two were driving me crazy.”
The two pilots on the bed managed to look embarrassed and with a light snort, Heero made his way into the room and held out his hand for Duo to climb into. “I thought you said you could look after him,” he said quietly, only to raise a brow as the braided pixie made no effort to climb into his offered hand. “Duo?” He asked again and by this time everyone else in the room was beginning to watch this silent battle of wills with acute interest.
“Hmph! What’s the point?” Duo argued as he spun around to lay back down on his bed. “I will just go back to being ignored. So, why bother?”
“You can come stay with me,” Wufei volunteered, only to wither (* gasp* ) beneath the icy glare that was thrown at him by you-know-who.
Heero fell to his knees, deciding that if he was going to do anything about his petulant kitty, he would have to do it now. Leaning close to Duo, he whispered softly - so soft that everyone else had to strain to catch every word.
“I promise…I promise to never ignore you again, Duo. I promised to take care of you and I will…”
“I am not some charity case you know! It’s not my fault that I am stuck in this way!”
A stony silence filled the room, before Quatre gave a light cough and whispered warily.
“Uuummm…actually, it is your fault, Duo.”
Wufei nodded. “You did upset that woman…”
“And she turned you into a…that thing,” Trowa finished with a light shrug.
“I wonder if there’s an antidote…."
“There is,” Heero interrupted Quatre’s musing, which in turn sent every gawking at him in surprise. None more so than our chibi whose expression had turned from stunned to fury.
“HEEEEEEEEEROO!” And in a move that stumped them all, he leapt off the bed and onto Heero’s tank top, clutching it desperately so as not to lose his balance. Half-climbing and scrambling up the surprised boy’s body, he stood (rather unsteadily) upon Heero’s shoulder and began to scream angrily. “YOU KNEW ALL THIS TIME AND YOU DIDN’T TELL ME?! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?”
“Because it’s not that easy, Duo…”
“What isn’t easy?! Just give me the damn medicine or something and I will drink it!”
“It’s not a medicine you can drink!”
“Then what is it?!”
“Yeah, Yuy. Why don’t you tell us what this miracle drug is?” Wufei asked with a smirk as he leaned against the doorway. This night was turning out to be much better than expected.
“Yeah, come on, Heero,” Quatre cajoled with a small smile, while Trowa gave a small nod of support.
The Japanese pilot glanced at all the eager faces and then winced as he felt Duo tug the roots of his hair in impatience.
“Alright, alright,” he finally mumbled as he lifted the frowning kitty off his shoulder and into the palm of his hands. Staring into the angry and yet excited amethyst depths, Heero took a deep breath, closed his eyes, counted to ten and then opened them up again.
And in a voice as clear as glass, he said softly, hoping that he’s entire emotions were put into the simple statement.
“I love you, Duo.”
Next Chapter
Gundam Wing Fiction
|
|