Two character challenge
Title: Why One Should Never Get into an Argument with Relena Darlian
Author: ingvild
Characters/Pairing: Relena and Heero (I’m so predictable)
Rating/Word count: G, 737 words
Summary: Heero’s trying to be noble. Relena won’t let him.
It all seemed very obvious, really. She was a pacifist politician and one of the most famous women in the entire Earth Sphere Unified Nation. He was a former teenage terrorist, a nobody from the Colonies whose official identity didn’t exist until AC 196 - sixteen years were entirely unaccounted for. She was a social person who had to talk to and charm people as part of her job, he still had misgivings about shaking somebody’s hand.
For all that memories of the softness of her skin from the one dance they shared years ago kept intruding on his thoughts, for all that his heart sped up a little when it seemed like she was smiling directly at him, Heero decided that for Relena’s sake, he would have to go away. They had no future together.
He thought this through, planned everything he was going to say, even practiced on the potted plant (a gift from Relena. She said that if he managed to take care of it, she might buy him a medium-sized aquarium next). He was ready for her to be upset, or even (shudder) sad, but expected her to be accepting and understanding in the end, because acceptance and understanding was what he’d always received from Relena.
He did not expect her to draw her brows together, grit her teeth and clench her fist, like she was inches away from punching him. He definitely didn’t expect her to refer to him as an utter and complete son-of-a-bitch.
There really was only one proper response to that.
“What?” Heero asked carefully.
“You heard me, you selfish bastard,” Relena bit out.
Now, that was unfair. “I’m trying to be selfless here,” Heero protested, but Relena was already talking again.
“You...did it never occur to you that part of the reason you interested me in the first place was that you didn’t put me on a pedestal? And here you come with your carefully prepared speech, which really can be summed up as ‘you’re too good for me’, and...”
“I’m trying to protect your career, and to shield you from what the press would throw at you if they fount out about my past,” Heero interrupted.
Relena glared at him. When had she become so good at that? “Oh, please, I can handle the press. Besides, I’m not going to let politics dictate my heart.” She held up a finger to forestall his protest. “True or false: my entire career is built on being more sincere and honest than any other politician. Hm?”
“True, I guess,” Heero muttered.
Relena nodded. “So, if I didn’t stay honest about my feelings, I would in effect be betraying all the people who voted for me, correct?”
He could probably argue with that, but Heero had a feeling that he would lose; she was, after all, a professional politician. Besides, something else was on his mind. The answer to this question might be a little scary, but Heero Yuy had never hesitated about jumping into things with both feet first before, and he wasn’t going to now.
“What do you want from me, really?” he asked.
Relena’s face softened. “As much as you can give,” she answered quietly. “If that’s just the occasional conversation, I’ll take that, if it’s more, I’ll take that. But you have to understand, I won’t take fear for a reason.”
“I’m never afraid,” Heero muttered, and ignored Relena’s smothered snort of disbelief. He sighed. “What will you accept as a reason, then?”
“Tell me you don’t love me.”
Heero actually took a step back. “What?”
Relena nodded at him. “Go ahead. Four simple words, that’s all it would take.”
Heero opened his mouth. “I don’t...” He closed his mouth again and sighed. He couldn’t do it. “I don’t know if I can love you,” he said quietly.
“You’ll never find out if you don’t try,” Relena replied, equally quietly. He wanted to answer, really, but that was when she took his hand, and his mind was flooded with the information that her skin really was as soft as he remembered.
He was sure that his answer to her statement had been different than what eventually came out, but his world had narrowed down to Relena’s small hand in his and that smile she was giving him, so he didn’t really care when he heard himself say: “Maybe we could do something someday?”
Relena’s smile grew bigger. “Absolutely.”
Author: ingvild
Characters/Pairing: Relena and Heero (I’m so predictable)
Rating/Word count: G, 737 words
Summary: Heero’s trying to be noble. Relena won’t let him.
It all seemed very obvious, really. She was a pacifist politician and one of the most famous women in the entire Earth Sphere Unified Nation. He was a former teenage terrorist, a nobody from the Colonies whose official identity didn’t exist until AC 196 - sixteen years were entirely unaccounted for. She was a social person who had to talk to and charm people as part of her job, he still had misgivings about shaking somebody’s hand.
For all that memories of the softness of her skin from the one dance they shared years ago kept intruding on his thoughts, for all that his heart sped up a little when it seemed like she was smiling directly at him, Heero decided that for Relena’s sake, he would have to go away. They had no future together.
He thought this through, planned everything he was going to say, even practiced on the potted plant (a gift from Relena. She said that if he managed to take care of it, she might buy him a medium-sized aquarium next). He was ready for her to be upset, or even (shudder) sad, but expected her to be accepting and understanding in the end, because acceptance and understanding was what he’d always received from Relena.
He did not expect her to draw her brows together, grit her teeth and clench her fist, like she was inches away from punching him. He definitely didn’t expect her to refer to him as an utter and complete son-of-a-bitch.
There really was only one proper response to that.
“What?” Heero asked carefully.
“You heard me, you selfish bastard,” Relena bit out.
Now, that was unfair. “I’m trying to be selfless here,” Heero protested, but Relena was already talking again.
“You...did it never occur to you that part of the reason you interested me in the first place was that you didn’t put me on a pedestal? And here you come with your carefully prepared speech, which really can be summed up as ‘you’re too good for me’, and...”
“I’m trying to protect your career, and to shield you from what the press would throw at you if they fount out about my past,” Heero interrupted.
Relena glared at him. When had she become so good at that? “Oh, please, I can handle the press. Besides, I’m not going to let politics dictate my heart.” She held up a finger to forestall his protest. “True or false: my entire career is built on being more sincere and honest than any other politician. Hm?”
“True, I guess,” Heero muttered.
Relena nodded. “So, if I didn’t stay honest about my feelings, I would in effect be betraying all the people who voted for me, correct?”
He could probably argue with that, but Heero had a feeling that he would lose; she was, after all, a professional politician. Besides, something else was on his mind. The answer to this question might be a little scary, but Heero Yuy had never hesitated about jumping into things with both feet first before, and he wasn’t going to now.
“What do you want from me, really?” he asked.
Relena’s face softened. “As much as you can give,” she answered quietly. “If that’s just the occasional conversation, I’ll take that, if it’s more, I’ll take that. But you have to understand, I won’t take fear for a reason.”
“I’m never afraid,” Heero muttered, and ignored Relena’s smothered snort of disbelief. He sighed. “What will you accept as a reason, then?”
“Tell me you don’t love me.”
Heero actually took a step back. “What?”
Relena nodded at him. “Go ahead. Four simple words, that’s all it would take.”
Heero opened his mouth. “I don’t...” He closed his mouth again and sighed. He couldn’t do it. “I don’t know if I can love you,” he said quietly.
“You’ll never find out if you don’t try,” Relena replied, equally quietly. He wanted to answer, really, but that was when she took his hand, and his mind was flooded with the information that her skin really was as soft as he remembered.
He was sure that his answer to her statement had been different than what eventually came out, but his world had narrowed down to Relena’s small hand in his and that smile she was giving him, so he didn’t really care when he heard himself say: “Maybe we could do something someday?”
Relena’s smile grew bigger. “Absolutely.”