fic again (same ficverse)
A/N: Follows the week after “Early Morning”
Commitment
This was the second Sunday she had woken up with Heero in her bed, but this time, she not only remembered him getting in - she also remembered everything that had happened. Her body was still tingling. Was that real, or was it brought on by memories?
Last week he had showed up out of nowhere, made her go home to sleep before midnight, carried her to bed and then stayed just because he felt like it. He had surprised her the following Monday by applying for a volunteer position on her staff, refusing any mention of pay and demanding that her PA should be the one to review the application, because he wanted to avoid a “conflict of interest” on her part. He was slowly building up a base for a separate source of income.
University had been Heero’s first taste of normal life. Of course, being Heero, he had obtained his degree in Innovative Engineering in half the regular time, and then gone on to revolutionise toxic waste disposal with a study friend. The two of them would not make much money from it, but it had got them noticed by the right people. Natasha had accepted a two-year post on Mars, while Heero preferred short assignments at first. “I need to find out where I’m going to be”, he’d said cryptically.
Relena had met both Natasha and her boyfriend Erik once, when she visited Heero. She rather liked them, and knew that they had helped him getting loosened up.
Then, this Saturday, Heero had sat her down, and explained why he’d come.
She’d listened to his explanation of the “three-part problem”: 1, did he love her or just what she represented, 2, was it platonic or romantic love, and 3, did he love her enough to commit to what would be a drastic lifestyle change for him.
Relena had listened in amazement as Heero explained how he hadn’t been able to find the answer to the first question until he’d asked himself, hypothetically, whether or not he’d still be interested if she resigned - and found that the answer was “yes”. Question 2 ended with “I kissed you once. I like the thought of doing it again.” As for question 3, well...
“I asked myself if I could live without you”, Heero had said. “But that seemed more like dependency, not love. So yes, I can live without you. I just don’t really want to.” Then he’d looked down at his hands, waiting for her to say something.
Things had progressed from there, and now she was in bed with him, feeling his strong arms around her - and one hand inching up, until it comfortably cupped her naked breast.
“Feeling frisky, are we?” she murmured.
She felt him chuckle against her shoulder. “Are you complaining?”
“Not at all.” She scooted backwards the few inches that separated them, and felt her behind connect with his crotch. “Think you’re up for a repeat performance?”
Heero groaned. “Keep wiggling like that, and I definitely will be.”
Later, she lay sated and happy close to him, half draped across his chest. “I don’t want to ever get up.”
Heero stroked her hair. “We can’t stay in bed all day.”
“Why not?” When he just looked at her, she blew out her breath. “Fine. I can show you around Brussels.”
“You mean you’ve had time to explore it?”
She pushed away far enough to bap him on the head. “Hush, you. Alright, we can explore together. I know for a fact that the comic book museum survived the war of AC 48, and there’s a pub here with beer from all over the world that my PA brought me along to.”
“Comic books?”
“The second largest Belgian export, after chocolate. All right, not really, and I know that there’s no such thing as Belgium anymore, but still. It’ll be fun.”
“All right. Comic books, chocolate, discuss the wedding, and then in the evening we can go for beer?”
She sat up and stared down at him. “Wedding? What wedding?”
“Our wedding, of course.”
“We’re having a wedding?”
Heero raised an eyebrow and said, completely deadpan: “Well, you deflowered me, it’s only fair that you marry me.”
While Relena was still doing her fish-out-of-water impression, he burst out laughing. Her shock at the unusual sound made him laugh harder. “Your face...!”
She moved to thump him on the chest, but he caught her fists easily and pulled her down. She struggled in the prison of his arms for maybe a minute before she gave up. “That’s not funny.”
Heero was still chuckling. “Oh, I think it was, a little.”
Relena felt a smile tug at her lips. “Oh, all right. If only because I never thought I’d get to hear you use the word ‘deflowered’.”
Heero was stroking her back. “I was only half joking, you know.”
She struggled to sit up again, and this time he let her, even sat up himself. “Excuse me?”
He started playing with the fingers of her left hand. “Well, that’s part of the reason it took me so long to decide how I felt. I couldn’t offer myself to you unless I could do so fully.” When she opened her mouth to say something, anything, he continued quickly: “I can understand this is a bit sudden, and if you need time to consider. That’s okay, there’s no time limit. Answer me tomorrow or in a year or later than that, it’s fine by me as long as you don’t marry anyone else.”
“And if, hypothetically, I should want to?” Relena was feeling rather dazed.
Heero tenderly touched her cheek. “Then you have to turn me down first. And I think I’d like an explanation. But basically, you get to decide how we progress now.”
Memories of the night before came flooding back.
“So you’re saying you’re offering yourself to me to do what I want with?”
“Pretty much. If you want to stay friends, or be more than friends, or if you want me to go away forever...Although I’d like an explanation if that’s the case, and a chance to change your mind depending on the explanation. And, well, if you want this to progress, I’d like to know if you...well...”
She’d kissed him, then, but it occurred to her now that she’d never told him she loved him. She had better fix that. “Heero? I love you, I really do, but...” She drifted off when he looked at her, joy and relief shining in his face. She swallowed. “But this is sudden, like you said. I...I need some time.” She wondered if she should point out that proposals usually involved a ring...
“That’s okay,” he said, sounding almost joyful. “We’re young. We’ve got time.”
A/N: I’ve been watching the Japanese language version of Endless Waltz lately, and I can’t ever consider Heero’s voice monotone again. Also, while I’ve only been to Brussels once, for three days, I can’t remember it looking much like what we saw in Endless Waltz. So I just reason that most of the city got levelled during a war, and rebuilt later.
I’ve got a lot of stories set in this universe, but not many have been typed out yet - I’ll be getting there slowly but surely.
P.S: Another story in the same ficverse can be found here
Commitment
This was the second Sunday she had woken up with Heero in her bed, but this time, she not only remembered him getting in - she also remembered everything that had happened. Her body was still tingling. Was that real, or was it brought on by memories?
Last week he had showed up out of nowhere, made her go home to sleep before midnight, carried her to bed and then stayed just because he felt like it. He had surprised her the following Monday by applying for a volunteer position on her staff, refusing any mention of pay and demanding that her PA should be the one to review the application, because he wanted to avoid a “conflict of interest” on her part. He was slowly building up a base for a separate source of income.
University had been Heero’s first taste of normal life. Of course, being Heero, he had obtained his degree in Innovative Engineering in half the regular time, and then gone on to revolutionise toxic waste disposal with a study friend. The two of them would not make much money from it, but it had got them noticed by the right people. Natasha had accepted a two-year post on Mars, while Heero preferred short assignments at first. “I need to find out where I’m going to be”, he’d said cryptically.
Relena had met both Natasha and her boyfriend Erik once, when she visited Heero. She rather liked them, and knew that they had helped him getting loosened up.
Then, this Saturday, Heero had sat her down, and explained why he’d come.
She’d listened to his explanation of the “three-part problem”: 1, did he love her or just what she represented, 2, was it platonic or romantic love, and 3, did he love her enough to commit to what would be a drastic lifestyle change for him.
Relena had listened in amazement as Heero explained how he hadn’t been able to find the answer to the first question until he’d asked himself, hypothetically, whether or not he’d still be interested if she resigned - and found that the answer was “yes”. Question 2 ended with “I kissed you once. I like the thought of doing it again.” As for question 3, well...
“I asked myself if I could live without you”, Heero had said. “But that seemed more like dependency, not love. So yes, I can live without you. I just don’t really want to.” Then he’d looked down at his hands, waiting for her to say something.
Things had progressed from there, and now she was in bed with him, feeling his strong arms around her - and one hand inching up, until it comfortably cupped her naked breast.
“Feeling frisky, are we?” she murmured.
She felt him chuckle against her shoulder. “Are you complaining?”
“Not at all.” She scooted backwards the few inches that separated them, and felt her behind connect with his crotch. “Think you’re up for a repeat performance?”
Heero groaned. “Keep wiggling like that, and I definitely will be.”
Later, she lay sated and happy close to him, half draped across his chest. “I don’t want to ever get up.”
Heero stroked her hair. “We can’t stay in bed all day.”
“Why not?” When he just looked at her, she blew out her breath. “Fine. I can show you around Brussels.”
“You mean you’ve had time to explore it?”
She pushed away far enough to bap him on the head. “Hush, you. Alright, we can explore together. I know for a fact that the comic book museum survived the war of AC 48, and there’s a pub here with beer from all over the world that my PA brought me along to.”
“Comic books?”
“The second largest Belgian export, after chocolate. All right, not really, and I know that there’s no such thing as Belgium anymore, but still. It’ll be fun.”
“All right. Comic books, chocolate, discuss the wedding, and then in the evening we can go for beer?”
She sat up and stared down at him. “Wedding? What wedding?”
“Our wedding, of course.”
“We’re having a wedding?”
Heero raised an eyebrow and said, completely deadpan: “Well, you deflowered me, it’s only fair that you marry me.”
While Relena was still doing her fish-out-of-water impression, he burst out laughing. Her shock at the unusual sound made him laugh harder. “Your face...!”
She moved to thump him on the chest, but he caught her fists easily and pulled her down. She struggled in the prison of his arms for maybe a minute before she gave up. “That’s not funny.”
Heero was still chuckling. “Oh, I think it was, a little.”
Relena felt a smile tug at her lips. “Oh, all right. If only because I never thought I’d get to hear you use the word ‘deflowered’.”
Heero was stroking her back. “I was only half joking, you know.”
She struggled to sit up again, and this time he let her, even sat up himself. “Excuse me?”
He started playing with the fingers of her left hand. “Well, that’s part of the reason it took me so long to decide how I felt. I couldn’t offer myself to you unless I could do so fully.” When she opened her mouth to say something, anything, he continued quickly: “I can understand this is a bit sudden, and if you need time to consider. That’s okay, there’s no time limit. Answer me tomorrow or in a year or later than that, it’s fine by me as long as you don’t marry anyone else.”
“And if, hypothetically, I should want to?” Relena was feeling rather dazed.
Heero tenderly touched her cheek. “Then you have to turn me down first. And I think I’d like an explanation. But basically, you get to decide how we progress now.”
Memories of the night before came flooding back.
“So you’re saying you’re offering yourself to me to do what I want with?”
“Pretty much. If you want to stay friends, or be more than friends, or if you want me to go away forever...Although I’d like an explanation if that’s the case, and a chance to change your mind depending on the explanation. And, well, if you want this to progress, I’d like to know if you...well...”
She’d kissed him, then, but it occurred to her now that she’d never told him she loved him. She had better fix that. “Heero? I love you, I really do, but...” She drifted off when he looked at her, joy and relief shining in his face. She swallowed. “But this is sudden, like you said. I...I need some time.” She wondered if she should point out that proposals usually involved a ring...
“That’s okay,” he said, sounding almost joyful. “We’re young. We’ve got time.”
A/N: I’ve been watching the Japanese language version of Endless Waltz lately, and I can’t ever consider Heero’s voice monotone again. Also, while I’ve only been to Brussels once, for three days, I can’t remember it looking much like what we saw in Endless Waltz. So I just reason that most of the city got levelled during a war, and rebuilt later.
I’ve got a lot of stories set in this universe, but not many have been typed out yet - I’ll be getting there slowly but surely.
P.S: Another story in the same ficverse can be found here