FIC; Lovely 11 (!!!)
Lovely 11
Series: Gundam Wing
Characters/Pairings: Duo, Heero, Wufei, Quatre, Trowa, Duo/Heero
Rating/Warnings: T for various things, not really pushing the rating. Slash.
Summary: A retelling of Beauty and the Beast. When someone stumbles into an enchantment hidden deep within a forest, he trades his life for the lives of one of his slaves... 1x2 shounen-ai.
Author's Notes: My eternal thanks to my incredible beta, Lady_Friselle. She never fails to astound me!
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
FFnet link
oOoOoOo
Duo looked up from his dinner unexpectedly enough to surprise Heero, who had been watching him-closely, he forced himself to admit. He hadn’t expected Duo to almost catch him doing so.
“So, Heero-what do you eat?”
That was… Unexpected. A lot of what Duo did was. It was a new experience for Heero.
“Meat,” he said dispassionately. He wasn’t going to add that it needed to be raw meat-it was the full truth, and an important detail, but…
But some part of him didn’t want to scare Duo away. Which was too easy for him to do, the way he was.
“So if, say, I were to feed you a bit of this, there would be no problems? Hypothetically speaking, of course.”
“Technically, yes.” Now Heero was downright wary, and suspicious. He could see where this was going.
“Great. Hey, Hero, want to try a bit of this really excellent beef?” Duo smiled a dazzling smile and held up his fork, a chunk of meat speared on it.
“My jaws prevent me from being able to eat normally,” Heero replied quietly, looking away.
“Heero, seriously-I don’t care. You could cough up your stomach and envelop live birds to be slowly digested whole, for all I care.” He paused. “…Okay, that might actually be kind of gross. Anything up to that point, though.”
“Fine,” Heero said shortly, standing abruptly. He stalked around the end of the table, coming to stand behind Duo’s chair, reaching one arm around to pick up one of his unused forks-the table was always set for a formal dinner, and Duo always insisted on only using one of the six or seven forks provided-and speared a piece of meat. He slid it into his mouth, the fork feeling light, foreign and unwieldy in his hands (it had been four hundred years since he’d used one, or tried to) chewed and swallowed.
“See? No problem whatsoever. How was it?”
“Good,” said Heero, voice neutral. He was lying through his teeth.
“Great! Now have another bite.”
“Why are you feeding me?” He told himself he wasn’t stalling.
“Because I’m sick of eating dinner alone every night. Didn’t anyone ever tell you it’s rude to watch someone eat?”
“I think that etiquette rule is supposed to work the other way around-”
“Whatever.”
“-It wouldn’t be a problem if this wasn’t required by the curse. You could eat with Wufei, Quatre and Trowa.”
“I want your company, Heero-it’s just, I’d like you to feel comfortable enough to eat, too. -I like dinner with you, requirement of the curse or not, now that I’m being less stupid and you’re being less of an ass. So come on, eat-there’s tons more here than what I need, even if it’s not a full meal for you. You could just eat a little.”
Heero looked away, even though his friend couldn’t see him, the way he was standing behind him. He was out of excuses and-and he owed Duo the truth. “-I can only eat raw meat.” There was no immediate verbal result, which just wasn’t normal for Duo. He tried to ignore the way his heart stung, sharply. He knew that Duo wasn’t going to be the one to break the curse, because nobody was-the whole thing was a sham, an act, some charade he moved through because he had to cling to whatever hope he had, even if it was false hope-
He hadn’t honestly believed that Duo would come to love him. It was just that he was the only one of his ‘guests’ that Heero had ever truly liked, had become friends with.
Heero forced himself to look back at Duo. He’d turned himself around so he was kneeling in the seat of his chair, facing backwards and looking up, and he met Heero’s gaze unflinchingly.
“Seriously? So what did you mean when you said that meat-cooked meat-you just ate was good?”
“It was a lie.”
Duo scowled suddenly. “Damn it, Heero-”
He sounded disappointed and angry instead of disgusted, furious. “What?” Heero couldn’t keep the surprise from his voice.
“Why didn’t you tell me? I mean, it’s not like it’s even something that matters! If you didn’t like it, just say so-”
“I-” He didn’t have a good reason. He didn’t know why…
“What?” Duo’s tone was hard, set: he wasn’t going to budge an inch.
“Cooked meat is something normal people eat. Something humans eat. Raw meat is for… Wolves, lions, other beasts. For monsters.”
“Heero-you’re human in all the ways that matter.”
His lip curled in disbelief, and he looked away again. Duo stood in his chair so they were closer to the same height, and placed a hand on either side of his head, turning it until Heero was looking at him again, his eyes wide with some emotion-shock, Duo thought. “Do you want to eat me?”
He looked repulsed, and hurt. “No-!”
“Well, then, clearly you’re more human than you seem to think. And raw meat… That’s kind of weird, honestly, but it’s just who you are. It’s not an issue.”
Heero didn’t believe him, Duo realized, his stomach twisting a little with the thought. It hurt.
“I would like to avoid giving offense. And no matter how… Tolerant you are, I don’t want to offend you. I would eat like a human if I could, but my… I can’t, I’m physically unable to handle it-”
“Damn it, Heero, you aren’t going to offend me! Unless you keep on assuming I’m some sort of cold-hearted bastard who can’t overlook weird eating habits in my closest friend! So you eat raw meat-so what? It doesn’t matter!”
“I don’t mind, and I don’t run the risk of offending anyone when I eat alone-”
“But you shouldn’t have to, damn it!”
“I don’t mind, which you would know if you listened-”
“You should mind,” Duo said, tone suddenly quiet again, the anger draining out of his voice. “Do you eat in front of Wufei?”
“No-and he knows that when I say I prefer it-”
“Wufei is a great guy and all, but he doesn’t know when to yell at you until you get some sense into your damn fool head.”
Heero glared, offended.
“…Don’t look at me like that, you know it’s true.” Duo realized, suddenly, that he was still resting his arms on Heero’s shoulders, although he’d relaxed his grip-it was almost a loose hug. He… Really didn’t want to move them, even though he should. He sunk his fingers into the thick fur instead: it was warm with the heat radiating from Heero’s body, the difference striking in the unchanging chill of the dining hall they ate in. “Please. Just… Think it through.”
His breath caught as Heero suddenly reached out, arms a blur, to wrap him into a desperate hug almost too tight to be comfortable. He wriggled his own arms into a more comfortable position, buried his fingers into Heero’s fur, head pressed against one shoulder-he could hear the steady rhythm of Heero’s heart, slower than a human’s would be, and feel his breath, hot and intimate against his ear and moving in and out of the broad, muscular chest he was pressed against.
Heero tried to let go and move back. Duo tightened his grip. He wasn’t going to let him back off now, and pretend that it had never happened. After a second, Heero put his arms around him again, lightly and hesitantly, and Duo relaxed into the embrace.
They broke apart a minute or two later, and Duo was smiling widely, face glowing-he looked so happy that Heero smiled back before he could stop himself. Duo didn’t even flinch at the way that bared canines the size of his fingers, teeth designed for ripping and tearing flesh, still just inches away from his face.
“Fine,” Heero almost-whispered. “I’ll… Think about it.”
oOo
It was the first truly summer-like day they’d had, to Duo’s great delight. The only downside was that it was the middle of the afternoon, and he hadn’t seen Heero all day. …He always saw him at dinner, of course, but for the past few weeks, maybe as long as a month, he’d spent at least an hour with Heero outside of dinner, and usually more…
He enjoyed the time he spent with the castle’s lord.
So he was looking for him. …He hoped Heero wouldn’t mind, if he did find him. And he felt kind of stupid doing it-he could amuse himself for a single day without needing to go searching for the other man, he wasn’t dependent-
But he was still doing it. Because he really did want to see Heero, especially to enjoy the sun-the way the weather was here, it could snow tomorrow, even though it was hot enough today that he was sweating-in fact, they’d had hail and slush the day before, and spring squalls the day before that. It was kind of fun, Duo thought-he’d had a distinct lack of weather during his years of imprisonment, and this helped make up for it.
So, where was Heero?
If he didn’t want to be found, Duo wouldn’t find him. The castle knew its master, and tended to rearrange itself, subtly, depending on what Heero needed. But if he didn’t care, then there was a chance-
He’d already checked the obvious places, like the library and the reading room, Heero’s study, the practice grounds. Now he had no idea where he was...
No, wait, that was the dining hall. He wasn’t lost after all.
And checking out the dining room was worth a shot-maybe he’d finally catch Heero eating!
Anyone else probably would have missed Heero, sprawled on the cold stone floor of the dark room a ways down its length, but Duo had always had sharp eyes. He felt worry spark inside him at the sight-what was Heero doing laying on the floor of the dining hall during the middle of the day? Was he sick, or hurt?
“Heero?” he asked, hurrying (why was he so worried about him?) towards the still figure. “Heero? Are you-Are you okay?” He knelt, placing a hand to Heero’s side.
“Hnnng…”
“Heero?”
“-Duo? What?”
“Are you okay?”
“-Yes. Of course. What are you doing here?”
“-Damn it!”
“What?”
“I was worried about you! Why are you laying on the floor, out cold?”
“…The floor’s cold,” Heero said, as if his meaning should be obvious.
“What?”
Heero harshly pulled a clawed hand through his thick mane of hair-or fur, Duo wasn’t sure what to call it. “The… changes have given me trouble with the heat. I’m… I am physically adapted for an extremely cold environment.”
Oh. That made sense. “Oh, good. I was worried-I’m not used to finding you unconscious.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I was looking for you!”
Heero smiled, still looking somewhat sleepy, up at him and Duo ignored the way that made his stomach twist, flopping down to the floor to distract himself. His smiles meant more, because they almost never appeared-partly the fault of his personality, and partly because of Heero’s damn stubbornness and sheer beat-your-head-against-the-wall denseness and stupidity when it came to what he looked like. Who he was.
Hell, Duo barely noticed it anymore. It was just Heero.
It really was colder in here-and Duo was no expert, but it seemed a bit too pronounced to be a matter of thick, insulating stone walls over a cellar.
Maybe it was the castle, adjusting for Heero.
Either way, Duo was suddenly glad that there was a fire in the huge, gaping fireplace every evening when he met Heero. It made a huge difference-against the stone floor, wearing light summer clothing and with his skin slightly damp from rapidly-cooling sweat, he was rapidly getting uncomfortably cold.
…Which gave him an idea. It was probably a bad idea, but Duo never let that stop him.
“Hey, Heero?”
“Mmm…”
Damn, he was really out of it. That just wasn’t normal-the heat really messed with him that badly? But it wasn’t hot in here… Maybe he was just tired, or something.
“I’m going to, um… I’m going to sit on you now, because it’s kind of cold here on the floor.”
There was no obvious reaction to his statement, so Duo figured it was safe, and did so.
There. That was much nicer. With the cool air of the room and Heero’s heat-he was always remarkably warm-he was remarkably comfortable.
Hesitantly, he laid down. Heero’s heart was beating underneath him. Duo closed his eyes and just enjoyed-touch. He’d…
When he’d been Ellyaugh’s captive, he’d been-isolated. The most interaction he’d gotten had been from the few fellow slaves also kept near him, and the guards, who hadn’t been nice people.
“What are you doing?”
The unexpectedness of the voice, Heero's voice, vibrating up through his bones, as deep as night, surrounding him, made him jump.
“Gah! Oh-uh, hey there, Heero. You see, it’s funny, I thought you were asleep-”
“Duo. Why are you laying on me?”
“-because the floor was cold?”
Heero didn’t respond, just waiting.
“…Um.”
Although Heero's patience was being sorely tested. He was done waiting, and started talking: he wanted an explanation. “That is not a good answer.”
“It looked comfortable.” There was no way in hell, absolutely no fucking way, that Duo was going to actually say that he wanted to be touched, to be held, out loud. Absolutely not.
Now, if only Heero would accept a not-mortifyingly-embarrassing explanation…
His neck was cricked to look into Duo’s face, and he finally lay back down, shrugging. “Acceptable.” Duo didn’t know, but he guessed that he’d seen something that had convinced him to back down-at the beginning, he knew, that first dinner, his host hadn’t been able to read him. He probably didn’t get everything now, but he was a lot better-and it was working the other way around, too, so Duo wasn’t too peeved about the matter. It certainly could have been worse.
Duo finally lay back down too, trying to not feel too stupid as he did so.
Because he was laying on him. Which was kind of weird, really.
But it still felt nice.
oOo
“Damn. You beat me again.”
Heero just looked at Duo steadily, the ball they were playing with tiny in one of his huge hands.
“…Fine. Point made, you're always gonna win, whatever. Now, let's do something else.”
oOo
“The weather here is driving me crazy!” Duo announced. His arms were wrapped around his shoulders and he was shaking slightly, even tucked up against the warm bulk of Heero the way he was. The two of them had been out in the garden-just talking; but Duo did better with something physical to do, even if it wasn't anything big-and a sudden squall had blown in, surprising after the sunny and warm-almost hot-start to the day. It had started raining, a few drops turning into a full downpour within seconds, the rain falling hard enough that Duo's skin almost hurt and the drumming of the water was deafening and so heavy that it was hard to see more than a few feet in front of you through the sheets of water. The two of them had run for a small shelter placed in among the plants, arriving soaking wet-Duo more so than Heero. Fur seemed to shed water better.
And Heero was holding the heat better. As the resounding din doubled in intensity as hail started to fall in with the rain Duo pressed himself even further back, unable to move anywhere but closer to Heero in the tiny protected space they had, and not sure he was unhappy he was being forced to.
But there wasn't any real need to think about that. Was there?
Heero muttered something.
“What?” Duo asked, forced to raise his voice to be heard over the resounding clatter of hailstones on the slate roof of the little building they were in.
Heero repeated what he'd said, but it wasn't enough for him to make out actual words-he had the impression of speech, nothing more.
“What?” he repeated, and this time Heero just shrugged, looking mildly peeved. Duo assumed it wasn't at him-and if it was, it shouldn't be-and leaned further back. He'd felt the movement as much as seen it. The ripple of fur and muscle had been-odd, but not... Not too weird. He was adjusting. It wasn't hard to; in fact, it was pretty damn easy. Heero was great, certainly the best friend Duo had ever had-well, maybe that was Quatre, although he certainly had a different relationship with the blond boy-and it was easy to just think of him as Heero. Not the monster, not even as human, just as-what he was. Which was Heero. It suited him.
It was nice, watching the rain pour down all around them. It was the first real rain Duo had seen in-in years, honestly. Not during his capture, and this was the first time it had really stormed at the castle, at least during the day. It was nice. He'd forgotten how peaceful rain could be, and how nice it was to look out at it. And he'd never seen it out in the country, before. He'd been a city brat.
The only downside was that he really was kind of cold. Kind of really cold. His teeth had started chattering.
Which was probably the reason Heero had started to sneak one arm around him, better than a fur coat because they didn't come with built-in heaters. Because Heero-even if he didn't see Duo as a potential partner-cared about him. Other than Wufei-and that was different; just like Duo and Quatre didn't have the relationship Duo and Heero did-he was the Lord of the Castle's best friend. And this way, he could help Duo without Duo needing to protest, and he could do his duty as Duo's host and he could help pay back some of the debt he seemed to think he was owed, even though he wasn't.
And Duo could pretend he didn't notice, and imagine that Heero had done it out of something more than friendship. And he could just enjoy the touch, the arm heavy around him and most of him pressed against muscle and fur and the heavy cloth that served as Heero's rudimentary clothing, and the scent of him, inhuman but... Not in a bad way. It wasn't like he smelled like wet dog, or anything. He just smelled like Heero.
Duo sat there, and watched the rain, and pretended it meant something, that they were standing like that.
oOo
They'd made it in, but they'd both gotten pretty wet in the process. There were damp spots on the rug, and a pile of wet clothes a little ways away. Duo had pulled on something comfortable and dry, and wrapped himself in a blanket. Heero was seated a little ways away, steaming slightly. There was a roaring fire, and the faint sound of rain on the roof of the building-they were on the top floor, then, Duo guessed. But it was hard to tell. He wasn't sure that the castle had a solid connection to reality. Not least because of the invisible servants-the shades that served them.
He'd looked away for a second, and when he'd turned back there had been a tray filled with a tea pot, fruit, a little pastry and a few small tea-sandwiches. Duo had missed lunch.
Life was... For the first time, his life was probably pretty close to perfect. If he didn't think too hard about... Things.
But that was the past. And this was now. He poured himself a cup of tea and held it in his hands, breathing the steam in deep, and let the warmth soak through him.
There was a single calendula on the tray, next to the plates of food. He picked it up with a slight smile, twirling the stem between his fingers. “Pot-marigold. For the kitchen, and cooking.” He gave a slightly lop-sided smile, in the direction of Heero. “I think you can eat them.”
“I can't,” rumbled Heero quietly, and Duo chuckled slightly. “When did you learn that?”
“Good question. Well-
“Let's see. My mom... She was a ladies' maid. Or she had been, but she lost favor for some reason or another. For all I know she was caught fucking someone's husband, and I'm not only a bastard, I'm a noble bastard. But I don't think so. Odds are she just wasn't all that good at her job.”
Duo took a bite of sandwich, chewed thoughtfully and then swallowed. “Yeah. She picked up a few things, though. And she learned how to read flowers. She was good at it. She got asked to make messages, sometimes. And before she died-I was real little, then-she taught me how to read them, too. She had to draw the flowers in charcoal on the floor. She'd do it before she washed up.”
“You remember that early?” Heero asked, sounding slightly surprised.
“Yeah. I got a good memory. But it's my turn, now. What was your mom like?”
Heero stilled suddenly, pulling away both physically and emotionally, leaving Duo confused.
“Heero?”
“My mother died during my birth.”
“Oh. I'm sorry.”
“...It's nothing.”
There was a long pause.
Heero stirred, after a long silence, then spoke, slowly and quietly, the words falling out of him like stones hitting the surface of a still pond. “I was raised by a maid until I was six, when I was taken aside to be raised as befits a Lord.”
Duo hissed in a breath. “That sucks,” he said, reaching out to lay a hand on Heero's arm. He tried not to think too hard about the gesture, but simply to do it. He'd wanted to; that was good enough for him.
He was still hyper-aware of his fingers against the rough, still-damp fur that covered Heero, but he tried to ignore that, too.
Heero shrugged, the gesture an acceptance and a dismissal, and the movement wasn't meant to push Duo away from him. “The woman who raised me... She was a good woman.”
There was a pause.
Duo wanted to ask a question-Was she the one who tried to kill you?-but didn't. He didn't know his boundaries, didn't know what would be pushing too hard, what would offend, or hurt. So he stayed quiet-not something he usually did, but something that needed doing.
“She had... Trouble with my change.”
That answered his question. Moving with all the impetuous speed of an ex-pickpocket, Duo whirled to wrap his arms around him, clinging hard. Heero made a startled noise.
“I'm sorry,” Duo whispered into his chest.
“You don't need to be,” Heero said and, slowly, cautiously, wrapped his arms around Duo in return.
--End chapter 11--
Series: Gundam Wing
Characters/Pairings: Duo, Heero, Wufei, Quatre, Trowa, Duo/Heero
Rating/Warnings: T for various things, not really pushing the rating. Slash.
Summary: A retelling of Beauty and the Beast. When someone stumbles into an enchantment hidden deep within a forest, he trades his life for the lives of one of his slaves... 1x2 shounen-ai.
Author's Notes: My eternal thanks to my incredible beta, Lady_Friselle. She never fails to astound me!
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
FFnet link
oOoOoOo
Duo looked up from his dinner unexpectedly enough to surprise Heero, who had been watching him-closely, he forced himself to admit. He hadn’t expected Duo to almost catch him doing so.
“So, Heero-what do you eat?”
That was… Unexpected. A lot of what Duo did was. It was a new experience for Heero.
“Meat,” he said dispassionately. He wasn’t going to add that it needed to be raw meat-it was the full truth, and an important detail, but…
But some part of him didn’t want to scare Duo away. Which was too easy for him to do, the way he was.
“So if, say, I were to feed you a bit of this, there would be no problems? Hypothetically speaking, of course.”
“Technically, yes.” Now Heero was downright wary, and suspicious. He could see where this was going.
“Great. Hey, Hero, want to try a bit of this really excellent beef?” Duo smiled a dazzling smile and held up his fork, a chunk of meat speared on it.
“My jaws prevent me from being able to eat normally,” Heero replied quietly, looking away.
“Heero, seriously-I don’t care. You could cough up your stomach and envelop live birds to be slowly digested whole, for all I care.” He paused. “…Okay, that might actually be kind of gross. Anything up to that point, though.”
“Fine,” Heero said shortly, standing abruptly. He stalked around the end of the table, coming to stand behind Duo’s chair, reaching one arm around to pick up one of his unused forks-the table was always set for a formal dinner, and Duo always insisted on only using one of the six or seven forks provided-and speared a piece of meat. He slid it into his mouth, the fork feeling light, foreign and unwieldy in his hands (it had been four hundred years since he’d used one, or tried to) chewed and swallowed.
“See? No problem whatsoever. How was it?”
“Good,” said Heero, voice neutral. He was lying through his teeth.
“Great! Now have another bite.”
“Why are you feeding me?” He told himself he wasn’t stalling.
“Because I’m sick of eating dinner alone every night. Didn’t anyone ever tell you it’s rude to watch someone eat?”
“I think that etiquette rule is supposed to work the other way around-”
“Whatever.”
“-It wouldn’t be a problem if this wasn’t required by the curse. You could eat with Wufei, Quatre and Trowa.”
“I want your company, Heero-it’s just, I’d like you to feel comfortable enough to eat, too. -I like dinner with you, requirement of the curse or not, now that I’m being less stupid and you’re being less of an ass. So come on, eat-there’s tons more here than what I need, even if it’s not a full meal for you. You could just eat a little.”
Heero looked away, even though his friend couldn’t see him, the way he was standing behind him. He was out of excuses and-and he owed Duo the truth. “-I can only eat raw meat.” There was no immediate verbal result, which just wasn’t normal for Duo. He tried to ignore the way his heart stung, sharply. He knew that Duo wasn’t going to be the one to break the curse, because nobody was-the whole thing was a sham, an act, some charade he moved through because he had to cling to whatever hope he had, even if it was false hope-
He hadn’t honestly believed that Duo would come to love him. It was just that he was the only one of his ‘guests’ that Heero had ever truly liked, had become friends with.
Heero forced himself to look back at Duo. He’d turned himself around so he was kneeling in the seat of his chair, facing backwards and looking up, and he met Heero’s gaze unflinchingly.
“Seriously? So what did you mean when you said that meat-cooked meat-you just ate was good?”
“It was a lie.”
Duo scowled suddenly. “Damn it, Heero-”
He sounded disappointed and angry instead of disgusted, furious. “What?” Heero couldn’t keep the surprise from his voice.
“Why didn’t you tell me? I mean, it’s not like it’s even something that matters! If you didn’t like it, just say so-”
“I-” He didn’t have a good reason. He didn’t know why…
“What?” Duo’s tone was hard, set: he wasn’t going to budge an inch.
“Cooked meat is something normal people eat. Something humans eat. Raw meat is for… Wolves, lions, other beasts. For monsters.”
“Heero-you’re human in all the ways that matter.”
His lip curled in disbelief, and he looked away again. Duo stood in his chair so they were closer to the same height, and placed a hand on either side of his head, turning it until Heero was looking at him again, his eyes wide with some emotion-shock, Duo thought. “Do you want to eat me?”
He looked repulsed, and hurt. “No-!”
“Well, then, clearly you’re more human than you seem to think. And raw meat… That’s kind of weird, honestly, but it’s just who you are. It’s not an issue.”
Heero didn’t believe him, Duo realized, his stomach twisting a little with the thought. It hurt.
“I would like to avoid giving offense. And no matter how… Tolerant you are, I don’t want to offend you. I would eat like a human if I could, but my… I can’t, I’m physically unable to handle it-”
“Damn it, Heero, you aren’t going to offend me! Unless you keep on assuming I’m some sort of cold-hearted bastard who can’t overlook weird eating habits in my closest friend! So you eat raw meat-so what? It doesn’t matter!”
“I don’t mind, and I don’t run the risk of offending anyone when I eat alone-”
“But you shouldn’t have to, damn it!”
“I don’t mind, which you would know if you listened-”
“You should mind,” Duo said, tone suddenly quiet again, the anger draining out of his voice. “Do you eat in front of Wufei?”
“No-and he knows that when I say I prefer it-”
“Wufei is a great guy and all, but he doesn’t know when to yell at you until you get some sense into your damn fool head.”
Heero glared, offended.
“…Don’t look at me like that, you know it’s true.” Duo realized, suddenly, that he was still resting his arms on Heero’s shoulders, although he’d relaxed his grip-it was almost a loose hug. He… Really didn’t want to move them, even though he should. He sunk his fingers into the thick fur instead: it was warm with the heat radiating from Heero’s body, the difference striking in the unchanging chill of the dining hall they ate in. “Please. Just… Think it through.”
His breath caught as Heero suddenly reached out, arms a blur, to wrap him into a desperate hug almost too tight to be comfortable. He wriggled his own arms into a more comfortable position, buried his fingers into Heero’s fur, head pressed against one shoulder-he could hear the steady rhythm of Heero’s heart, slower than a human’s would be, and feel his breath, hot and intimate against his ear and moving in and out of the broad, muscular chest he was pressed against.
Heero tried to let go and move back. Duo tightened his grip. He wasn’t going to let him back off now, and pretend that it had never happened. After a second, Heero put his arms around him again, lightly and hesitantly, and Duo relaxed into the embrace.
They broke apart a minute or two later, and Duo was smiling widely, face glowing-he looked so happy that Heero smiled back before he could stop himself. Duo didn’t even flinch at the way that bared canines the size of his fingers, teeth designed for ripping and tearing flesh, still just inches away from his face.
“Fine,” Heero almost-whispered. “I’ll… Think about it.”
oOo
It was the first truly summer-like day they’d had, to Duo’s great delight. The only downside was that it was the middle of the afternoon, and he hadn’t seen Heero all day. …He always saw him at dinner, of course, but for the past few weeks, maybe as long as a month, he’d spent at least an hour with Heero outside of dinner, and usually more…
He enjoyed the time he spent with the castle’s lord.
So he was looking for him. …He hoped Heero wouldn’t mind, if he did find him. And he felt kind of stupid doing it-he could amuse himself for a single day without needing to go searching for the other man, he wasn’t dependent-
But he was still doing it. Because he really did want to see Heero, especially to enjoy the sun-the way the weather was here, it could snow tomorrow, even though it was hot enough today that he was sweating-in fact, they’d had hail and slush the day before, and spring squalls the day before that. It was kind of fun, Duo thought-he’d had a distinct lack of weather during his years of imprisonment, and this helped make up for it.
So, where was Heero?
If he didn’t want to be found, Duo wouldn’t find him. The castle knew its master, and tended to rearrange itself, subtly, depending on what Heero needed. But if he didn’t care, then there was a chance-
He’d already checked the obvious places, like the library and the reading room, Heero’s study, the practice grounds. Now he had no idea where he was...
No, wait, that was the dining hall. He wasn’t lost after all.
And checking out the dining room was worth a shot-maybe he’d finally catch Heero eating!
Anyone else probably would have missed Heero, sprawled on the cold stone floor of the dark room a ways down its length, but Duo had always had sharp eyes. He felt worry spark inside him at the sight-what was Heero doing laying on the floor of the dining hall during the middle of the day? Was he sick, or hurt?
“Heero?” he asked, hurrying (why was he so worried about him?) towards the still figure. “Heero? Are you-Are you okay?” He knelt, placing a hand to Heero’s side.
“Hnnng…”
“Heero?”
“-Duo? What?”
“Are you okay?”
“-Yes. Of course. What are you doing here?”
“-Damn it!”
“What?”
“I was worried about you! Why are you laying on the floor, out cold?”
“…The floor’s cold,” Heero said, as if his meaning should be obvious.
“What?”
Heero harshly pulled a clawed hand through his thick mane of hair-or fur, Duo wasn’t sure what to call it. “The… changes have given me trouble with the heat. I’m… I am physically adapted for an extremely cold environment.”
Oh. That made sense. “Oh, good. I was worried-I’m not used to finding you unconscious.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I was looking for you!”
Heero smiled, still looking somewhat sleepy, up at him and Duo ignored the way that made his stomach twist, flopping down to the floor to distract himself. His smiles meant more, because they almost never appeared-partly the fault of his personality, and partly because of Heero’s damn stubbornness and sheer beat-your-head-against-the-wall denseness and stupidity when it came to what he looked like. Who he was.
Hell, Duo barely noticed it anymore. It was just Heero.
It really was colder in here-and Duo was no expert, but it seemed a bit too pronounced to be a matter of thick, insulating stone walls over a cellar.
Maybe it was the castle, adjusting for Heero.
Either way, Duo was suddenly glad that there was a fire in the huge, gaping fireplace every evening when he met Heero. It made a huge difference-against the stone floor, wearing light summer clothing and with his skin slightly damp from rapidly-cooling sweat, he was rapidly getting uncomfortably cold.
…Which gave him an idea. It was probably a bad idea, but Duo never let that stop him.
“Hey, Heero?”
“Mmm…”
Damn, he was really out of it. That just wasn’t normal-the heat really messed with him that badly? But it wasn’t hot in here… Maybe he was just tired, or something.
“I’m going to, um… I’m going to sit on you now, because it’s kind of cold here on the floor.”
There was no obvious reaction to his statement, so Duo figured it was safe, and did so.
There. That was much nicer. With the cool air of the room and Heero’s heat-he was always remarkably warm-he was remarkably comfortable.
Hesitantly, he laid down. Heero’s heart was beating underneath him. Duo closed his eyes and just enjoyed-touch. He’d…
When he’d been Ellyaugh’s captive, he’d been-isolated. The most interaction he’d gotten had been from the few fellow slaves also kept near him, and the guards, who hadn’t been nice people.
“What are you doing?”
The unexpectedness of the voice, Heero's voice, vibrating up through his bones, as deep as night, surrounding him, made him jump.
“Gah! Oh-uh, hey there, Heero. You see, it’s funny, I thought you were asleep-”
“Duo. Why are you laying on me?”
“-because the floor was cold?”
Heero didn’t respond, just waiting.
“…Um.”
Although Heero's patience was being sorely tested. He was done waiting, and started talking: he wanted an explanation. “That is not a good answer.”
“It looked comfortable.” There was no way in hell, absolutely no fucking way, that Duo was going to actually say that he wanted to be touched, to be held, out loud. Absolutely not.
Now, if only Heero would accept a not-mortifyingly-embarrassing explanation…
His neck was cricked to look into Duo’s face, and he finally lay back down, shrugging. “Acceptable.” Duo didn’t know, but he guessed that he’d seen something that had convinced him to back down-at the beginning, he knew, that first dinner, his host hadn’t been able to read him. He probably didn’t get everything now, but he was a lot better-and it was working the other way around, too, so Duo wasn’t too peeved about the matter. It certainly could have been worse.
Duo finally lay back down too, trying to not feel too stupid as he did so.
Because he was laying on him. Which was kind of weird, really.
But it still felt nice.
oOo
“Damn. You beat me again.”
Heero just looked at Duo steadily, the ball they were playing with tiny in one of his huge hands.
“…Fine. Point made, you're always gonna win, whatever. Now, let's do something else.”
oOo
“The weather here is driving me crazy!” Duo announced. His arms were wrapped around his shoulders and he was shaking slightly, even tucked up against the warm bulk of Heero the way he was. The two of them had been out in the garden-just talking; but Duo did better with something physical to do, even if it wasn't anything big-and a sudden squall had blown in, surprising after the sunny and warm-almost hot-start to the day. It had started raining, a few drops turning into a full downpour within seconds, the rain falling hard enough that Duo's skin almost hurt and the drumming of the water was deafening and so heavy that it was hard to see more than a few feet in front of you through the sheets of water. The two of them had run for a small shelter placed in among the plants, arriving soaking wet-Duo more so than Heero. Fur seemed to shed water better.
And Heero was holding the heat better. As the resounding din doubled in intensity as hail started to fall in with the rain Duo pressed himself even further back, unable to move anywhere but closer to Heero in the tiny protected space they had, and not sure he was unhappy he was being forced to.
But there wasn't any real need to think about that. Was there?
Heero muttered something.
“What?” Duo asked, forced to raise his voice to be heard over the resounding clatter of hailstones on the slate roof of the little building they were in.
Heero repeated what he'd said, but it wasn't enough for him to make out actual words-he had the impression of speech, nothing more.
“What?” he repeated, and this time Heero just shrugged, looking mildly peeved. Duo assumed it wasn't at him-and if it was, it shouldn't be-and leaned further back. He'd felt the movement as much as seen it. The ripple of fur and muscle had been-odd, but not... Not too weird. He was adjusting. It wasn't hard to; in fact, it was pretty damn easy. Heero was great, certainly the best friend Duo had ever had-well, maybe that was Quatre, although he certainly had a different relationship with the blond boy-and it was easy to just think of him as Heero. Not the monster, not even as human, just as-what he was. Which was Heero. It suited him.
It was nice, watching the rain pour down all around them. It was the first real rain Duo had seen in-in years, honestly. Not during his capture, and this was the first time it had really stormed at the castle, at least during the day. It was nice. He'd forgotten how peaceful rain could be, and how nice it was to look out at it. And he'd never seen it out in the country, before. He'd been a city brat.
The only downside was that he really was kind of cold. Kind of really cold. His teeth had started chattering.
Which was probably the reason Heero had started to sneak one arm around him, better than a fur coat because they didn't come with built-in heaters. Because Heero-even if he didn't see Duo as a potential partner-cared about him. Other than Wufei-and that was different; just like Duo and Quatre didn't have the relationship Duo and Heero did-he was the Lord of the Castle's best friend. And this way, he could help Duo without Duo needing to protest, and he could do his duty as Duo's host and he could help pay back some of the debt he seemed to think he was owed, even though he wasn't.
And Duo could pretend he didn't notice, and imagine that Heero had done it out of something more than friendship. And he could just enjoy the touch, the arm heavy around him and most of him pressed against muscle and fur and the heavy cloth that served as Heero's rudimentary clothing, and the scent of him, inhuman but... Not in a bad way. It wasn't like he smelled like wet dog, or anything. He just smelled like Heero.
Duo sat there, and watched the rain, and pretended it meant something, that they were standing like that.
oOo
They'd made it in, but they'd both gotten pretty wet in the process. There were damp spots on the rug, and a pile of wet clothes a little ways away. Duo had pulled on something comfortable and dry, and wrapped himself in a blanket. Heero was seated a little ways away, steaming slightly. There was a roaring fire, and the faint sound of rain on the roof of the building-they were on the top floor, then, Duo guessed. But it was hard to tell. He wasn't sure that the castle had a solid connection to reality. Not least because of the invisible servants-the shades that served them.
He'd looked away for a second, and when he'd turned back there had been a tray filled with a tea pot, fruit, a little pastry and a few small tea-sandwiches. Duo had missed lunch.
Life was... For the first time, his life was probably pretty close to perfect. If he didn't think too hard about... Things.
But that was the past. And this was now. He poured himself a cup of tea and held it in his hands, breathing the steam in deep, and let the warmth soak through him.
There was a single calendula on the tray, next to the plates of food. He picked it up with a slight smile, twirling the stem between his fingers. “Pot-marigold. For the kitchen, and cooking.” He gave a slightly lop-sided smile, in the direction of Heero. “I think you can eat them.”
“I can't,” rumbled Heero quietly, and Duo chuckled slightly. “When did you learn that?”
“Good question. Well-
“Let's see. My mom... She was a ladies' maid. Or she had been, but she lost favor for some reason or another. For all I know she was caught fucking someone's husband, and I'm not only a bastard, I'm a noble bastard. But I don't think so. Odds are she just wasn't all that good at her job.”
Duo took a bite of sandwich, chewed thoughtfully and then swallowed. “Yeah. She picked up a few things, though. And she learned how to read flowers. She was good at it. She got asked to make messages, sometimes. And before she died-I was real little, then-she taught me how to read them, too. She had to draw the flowers in charcoal on the floor. She'd do it before she washed up.”
“You remember that early?” Heero asked, sounding slightly surprised.
“Yeah. I got a good memory. But it's my turn, now. What was your mom like?”
Heero stilled suddenly, pulling away both physically and emotionally, leaving Duo confused.
“Heero?”
“My mother died during my birth.”
“Oh. I'm sorry.”
“...It's nothing.”
There was a long pause.
Heero stirred, after a long silence, then spoke, slowly and quietly, the words falling out of him like stones hitting the surface of a still pond. “I was raised by a maid until I was six, when I was taken aside to be raised as befits a Lord.”
Duo hissed in a breath. “That sucks,” he said, reaching out to lay a hand on Heero's arm. He tried not to think too hard about the gesture, but simply to do it. He'd wanted to; that was good enough for him.
He was still hyper-aware of his fingers against the rough, still-damp fur that covered Heero, but he tried to ignore that, too.
Heero shrugged, the gesture an acceptance and a dismissal, and the movement wasn't meant to push Duo away from him. “The woman who raised me... She was a good woman.”
There was a pause.
Duo wanted to ask a question-Was she the one who tried to kill you?-but didn't. He didn't know his boundaries, didn't know what would be pushing too hard, what would offend, or hurt. So he stayed quiet-not something he usually did, but something that needed doing.
“She had... Trouble with my change.”
That answered his question. Moving with all the impetuous speed of an ex-pickpocket, Duo whirled to wrap his arms around him, clinging hard. Heero made a startled noise.
“I'm sorry,” Duo whispered into his chest.
“You don't need to be,” Heero said and, slowly, cautiously, wrapped his arms around Duo in return.
--End chapter 11--