Captains (Part 22)
TITLE: CAPTAINS
FANDOM: Gundam Wing
PAIRING: 1x2 and some het pairings in the background
RATING: R/NC-17
GENRE: AU, Adventure, Historical, Romance
WARNING: yaoi, cross-dressing, swearing, graphic violence, sex
DISCLAIMER: Don’t own anything save for the story, so please don’t sue poor little me
SUMMARY: A huge reward on his head, a crew who doesn't take him seriously, a few vindictive ex girlfriends and a vicious curse which sticks like a bad smell. The fearsome pirate Shinigami thinks it can't get worse. A stalkerish Heero will prove him wrong.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: Well yeah a new chapter at long last. I know it’s been like forever since I updated so I put a little lemony bit in the end to sweeten the deal. Hope that’ll help you forgive me for my laziness. I’ve been valiantly fighting the attraction I have for a few other fandoms lately so that’s pretty much why I haven’t been writing Captains. My inspiration to work on this story seemed to have returned this week so don’t despair yet. If anyone knows a miracle recipe against lack of focus and/or procrastination though, please share.
Previous chapters can be found here.
Chapter 22: The Witching Hour
Once he’d been allowed to get something to eat, Heero didn’t dally for long. He would have liked to contemplate the reasons for this sudden and unexpected trust or maybe to give chase to that blushing vision of a pirate, but some things came first. He was still bare-chested though and felt a little uncomfortable showing that much flesh. He pondered briefly the wisdom of ransacking Quatre’s closet in search of a shirt but refrained. The Prince had been clear on his position regarding the violation of his privacy and he had no desire to offend neither him nor anyone on this ship if at all possible. There would eventually be someone to take pity on him if he kept strutting half-naked on the deck. There was also the endearing emotion the sight of his bare torso seemed to spark off in a certain Captain. His own discomfort would be a lot easier to tolerate if he could witness more of that unexpected blush.
Duo had been right; the galley was real easy to find. There, he was welcomed by a cheerful Arab who introduced himself as Auda. Heero would have expected more distrust or at the very least some reservation, but the cook was seemingly incapable of either. Instead, he sat him congenially before offering him a meal worthy of kings. All the while, the human tornado served him enthusiastic chatter to season the already delicious food. Heero listened to every word religiously while trying to disguise his acute interest: Auda might not have been saying anything of real importance but such a chatterbox was wont to let out one secret or another at some point. Heero had already heard about the accident that happened earlier on the deck. It might not have been crucial information, at least not in regards to Shinigami’s secrets but that had at least comforted Heero on the fact that Wufei hadn’t abandoned him. He felt better already. Moreover, if he could manage to visit the injured man, it might just be the way to appear harmless and to win over another ally on the Deathscythe.
Auda had been amazed --and pleased-- at the amount of food the Captain Lowe was able to put away, of course he hadn’t been initially appraised about the man’s exact state of starvation. Regardless, Heero left the kitchen a half-hour later to the sound of delighted comments and with a standing invitation. Life didn’t get much better than that.
He was just exiting on the deck, his stomach finally silenced, when he collided with a wall or what appeared to be a wall until it moved and revealed itself to be the torso of a really big man. It was that same giant that had come bursting in his cabin the previous day and he looked even more impressive when he wasn’t mothering Quatre to death. He didn’t look particularly pleased to encounter the stowaway left to his own devices, so Heero hurried to justify his presence.
“Rashid I suppose? Shinigami ordered me to find you. He said that you would put me to work. So here I am. Heero Yuy reporting for duty… Boss?”
The giant snorted, clearly unimpressed. Okay, Heero’s new found smartass-ness might not be appropriate in every situation but it wasn’t exactly easy to turn off. He wasn’t sure either why he had introduced himself as Heero Yuy when he hadn’t used that name since he was a kid. It might have been in the subconscious hope to distance himself from the persona of the Captain Lowe which couldn’t garner him much sympathy amongst pirates. It might just be working too, because Rashid wasn’t looking at him like he was an enemy anymore… just like he was a brat and that had to be progress… somehow.
“Rashid will suffice… Heero. The only Boss around here is the Captain and I wouldn’t try too much of that attitude with him if I were you; he’s not been in the best of moods lately.”
Heero nodded as if in easy acceptance. Rashid didn’t need to know that he had no intentions to heed that advice. The man studied him and shrugged nonplussed. The barely perceptible twitch of his lips however gave away that he knew better. Heero had the nasty suspicion that under his stern looks, Rashid was the sort to enjoy a good fight and that he would like nothing better than to see their stowaway taken down a notch by a temperamental Shinigami. Well, at least Heero had been given a fair warning.
“For starters, you’ll be appointed to the crow’s nest. There are a few loose boards up there and I want you to repair them. I suppose that task is within your abilities?”
Heero bristled at the blatant insult and Rashid smirked.
“I expect you to keep watch at the same time of course. Do I have to point out what would become of you should you forget to warn us of any incoming ship, friend or foe?”
“That won’t be necessary no,” Heero answered meekly.
Rashid searched for signs of a lie on his face then nodded apparently satisfied. “Good. Do you have a shirt somewhere? Otherwise you’ll burn spending the afternoon bare-chested up there.”
Heero briefly pondered on how to answer that question. He remembered he had had a shirt on when he boarded the Sandrock but had no idea where it was now except that it was missing. He recalled that he had still been wearing it during his passionate encounter with Shinigami so he guessed it was safe to be honest on the matter, seeing that the truth shouldn’t reveal that little secret.
“Well… I have no idea. I appear to have misplaced my shirt at some point while I was unconscious. I guess someone must have undressed me to take care of my injuries…”
Heero knew he looked dubious seeing that his only injury at the time had been on his head but whatever. Rashid looked him over carefully with as much skepticism which only worsened when he noticed the faint gash Wufei had put on Heero’s pectoral. It was obvious that injuries to his torso had not been tended. The giant cocked his head thoughtfully but rapidly gave up on finding a likely explanation.
“I brought some tools and planks under the main mast, so you can begin immediately. Meanwhile I’ll get a shirt for you, as well as something to clean that cut. Even small wounds can take a turn for the worse in this climate.”
Heero thanked him and went to accomplish his first incredibly dull task. He had a feeling the next days would put new meaning on the word “boring”...
A day and a half later, Heero was sadly able to confirm his worst fears: watching out from the crow’s nest for non-existent oncoming ships had actually been by far the most exciting of the tasks Rashid had found for him to do. Heero was beginning to suspect the man had a sadistic streak. If they were really so low on staff, there should have been more relevant tasks for him to be doing than moping the decks, helping out in the kitchen and shining the crew’s boots. Somehow he hadn’t thought he would be learning the best way to peel potatoes when the Captain had asked him if he knew how to operate a ship.
On some level Heero understood that he was mostly needed in case something dramatic happened and that it was logical that he be put on trial in the meantime. Deathscythe’s crew had no reason to trust him for now and that was probably why they were only testing him with boring tasks until a time would come when they would need him for something more important. Still, that rankled just a bit.
The other thing that annoyed him was that, save for Auda who chatted nonsensically and took pleasure in mocking Heero’s cooking style, no one else was speaking to him. Well… to be fair there didn’t appear to be that much people aboard Deathscythe, but of those who were onboard: most seem to be avoiding him. Rashid always gave his orders briefly before running on his way. He had been barred entry to Wufei’s cabin and thus went his plans to make a new ally among the crew. They apparently weren’t trusting Heero with one of their wounded and he had nothing more than his word to convince them of his mostly good intentions. Moreover, worse than not being able to make new allies, he hadn’t been able either to cultivate the one he hoped he already had. He had caught sight of Quatre a few times but always at a distance and the mischievous prince hadn’t offered more than a bright smile and disappeared before any discussion could be had.
Heero didn’t know quite what to think about the entire situation but couldn’t help but feel like a pariah. He had been so enthusiastic at the idea of mingling among people that might just be as weird as he was and had stupidly hoped that he would for once be able to fit in somewhere. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be and the Captain Lowe felt just as isolated as he had always been among his soldiers. He might not have been starving anymore but he was now hungry for attention.
The only two things that might have brightened his spirits were the possibility to investigate the Deathscythe and the presence of Shinigami. Problem was that he was forbidden to go anywhere else on the ship than on the decks, the galley and his cabin. He had tried to explore a few times between assignments but an ugly old man would then materialize in his way and threaten him with a broom. For all his cleverness, Heero had still to find a way to get past this most unusual guardian and he wasn’t sure he felt up to the challenge. The man never spoke but he looked quite mean. As for Shinigami, he was on the contrary impossible to locate. Heero had caught neither hide nor hair of the man since the previous day. It was likely that he had his meals brought to him and spent the rest of the time in hiding even if Rashid and Auda had both sworn up and down that their Captain was keeping up with his duty. Heero was beginning to suspect that there were a number of hidden passageways on the Deathscythe that enabled Shinigami to come and go most effectively while avoiding Heero. That was the only explanation that made sense because the frigate, however magnificent, wasn’t that big and it should have been impossible to keep missing Duo if he truly wasn’t staying in his cabin.
More so, what Heero truly didn’t understand was his status onboard the Deathscythe. Realizing that Shinigami’s crew didn’t want to be al buddy-buddy was one thing but they could at least have the courtesy to tell him what he was supposed to be among them. He wasn’t trusted to be one of them but he was still allowed to roam mostly free and, while he hadn’t tried yet, he had a suspicion that acquiring a weapon would be all too easy. He felt like he was suspended in a world in-between neither ally nor prisoner and up to this point no one had had the decency to give him any explanation. Indentured servants must have felt like that upon arriving in a whole new world to discover that they were considered lower than beasts --the few cattle which managed to survive the journey from Europe were actually treasured in the Caribbean. Heero felt even lower than those poor souls as he was already pretty much convinced that he had indentured his life and free labor to Shinigami without ever being told for how long or in exchange of what. In his opinion, it was past time that the Duo stopped hiding and came to discuss the situation with him. Fortunately, Heero had finally devised a strategy and if all went according to plan, he should be able to corner Shinigami that very night for a little one-on-one. Now, all he had to hope for was that the pirate wouldn’t prove too distracting and that they would actually managed to have a reasonable discussion.
Quatre was on the warpath. Swearing to his Captain that he wouldn’t visit their poor suffering stowaway was one thing but that didn’t mean he couldn’t interfere in other ways. And it was getting clearer with each passing minute that someone had to interfere. It was usually Wufei’s job to tell their Captain when he was being an idiot but in this instance Quatre doubted his Chinese friend would even be able to see what the problem was, especially while he had been confined to his cabin to lick his wounds. Wufei hadn’t seen the pitiful Captain Lowe moping around the deck like a duckling missing its mother. Wufei hadn’t witnessed either the fearsome Shinigami skulking on his own ship, perpetually looking over his shoulder and startling at every sound. It was getting ridiculous and as it had only been a day, it was only wont to get worse.
Quatre wasn’t the kind of man to meddle in other people’s business… Well okay, that was a lie: he was exactly that kind of man, but even had he not been that kind of man, this particular situation would have pushed him to act contrary to his character. Having been cursed with the gift of empathy since as long as he could recall, it was terribly hard for him to ignore the feelings of the people close to him. He usually did his best to shield himself from everyone because he didn’t want to end up insane but sometimes, when the emotions surrounding him were particularly violent, there was nothing he could do but feel them. Right now, he didn’t think he could take much more of Duo and Heero’s frustration, confusion and despair.
Rashid and Auda themselves, whom were by no means empathetic, had complained that Shinigami was acting skittish and had appeared worried about their stowaway’s apparent depression. Quatre could well understand poor Heero’s unease seeing that Shinigami had put him to work without ever explaining the situation to him. He must feel pretty confused and on unstable grounds right now. So much for Quatre’s advice to afford the man a modicum of trust: it had obviously gone well over Duo’s head. Another well-meant push in the right direction would apparently be necessary. It was fortunate that Quatre had a pretty good idea as to where his Captain was presently hiding.
He marched determinedly to Wufei’s closed door and knocked loudly, then pushed the door open and entered without waiting for an invitation that might or might not have been coming --more plausibly the latter given Wufei’s obsessive attachment to his privacy. The scene waiting for him inside the cabin was much like the one he had pictured in his mind. An unusually resting Wufei sulked; he looked very much out of place being so inactive even if the long suffering expression he harbored conferred an air of familiarity to the scene. In the darkest corner of the room, a guilty-looking Duo made valiant efforts to make himself invisible and, failing that, to hide an half-empty bottle of rum behind his back. Quatre snorted and shook his head: as if those kind of tactics had ever worked before.
Uncaring of his obvious unwelcome, Quatre dragged a chair over the short distance from the desk to the bed and sat at Wufei’s side.
“How are you Wufei? Do you feel dizzy? Are the ribs hurting?”
“I’m fine Winner. No thanks to your lackey mistaking me for a landing pad!”
“Now, now Wufei, you know that wasn’t Abdul’s fault. He didn’t mean to fall on you. That was just an accident.”
The irritable Chinese would have none of that and continued undaunted on his rant. “Humph! An accident my ass! If that fool had been careful instead of recklessly playing around in the crow’s nest, it wouldn’t have happened. There is already too little discipline on this ship without your little guards getting out of control.”
“Hey I resent that! There is absolutely no discipline problem on my ship,” Duo intervened, forgetting for the time being that he was supposed to be hiding.
That was what Quatre had been waiting for and he took advantage of the opening in a falsely guileless falsetto. “Captain! I hadn’t seen you there in the dark. That’s so very thoughtful of you to keep Wufei company, especially when your time is so precious what with all the things you could be doing instead…”
Duo didn’t answer but avoided his eyes and it was Wufei who answered, unknowingly furthering Quatre’s argument. “It’s not like I need a baby-sitter. I’m perfectly fine and if you would please let me go, we could both get back to work where we are probably needed when we’re so much understaffed.”
“You were unconscious for several hours Wufei and you’re still much too pale for my taste. We have no urgent need of you up there so you might as well sleep the rest of the day away and we’ll see how you feel tomorrow morning.”
That was Shinigami’s no-nonsense voice and Wufei knew better than to argue. He satisfied himself with a sigh and a disgusted grimace at the prospect of more bed rest.
Quatre however, had no intention to let the subject drop.
“You don’t have to worry anyway Wufei: the Captain has found us free labour in the meantime. Of course that’s pretty much slavery but desperate times call for desperate measures even if one has to sacrifice one’s beliefs.”
Duo growled almost imperceptibly but Wufei pounced upon the matter as Quatre had expecting him to. “Free labour? Slavery? What are you talking about? What did you do Duo?”
Shinigami glared at Quatre who smiled back at him innocently. “Quatre is exaggerating as usual. I just put our stowaway to work because we need every able body and because that’s the best way to keep an eye on him. He’s not a slave at all.”
“Well, if you make him work for you without pay, that’s the very definition of slavery.” The Prince pointed out impishly.
“Oh for God’s sake! I asked him if he wanted to earn his keep and he said yes. I don’t see how that’s supposed to be slavery. Gimme a break! And do I have to remind you that he’s a stowaway to begin with? I would have been well within my rights to throw him overboard or in the hold instead of giving him a cabin and something to do.”
“You meanie! I would have agreed to work for you too if my only alternatives were death or the hold!”
Quatre played indignation fairly well but Duo wasn’t buying it and was growing more frustrated by the minute.
“Oh please Quatre; it’s not as if I put a knife at his throat. Besides, you were the one who advised me to trust him.”
“Yeah! Trust, not threaten! There is a significant difference you know. Did you even talk with him about his reasons to be onboard or about what you intended to do with him before putting him to work? You can be so insensitive sometimes.”
Duo had had enough and appealed to Wufei with a desperate look, hoping that the Chinese man at least would listen to reason. That wasn’t to be however and all he got was a disapproving look.
“You didn’t even give him anything to eat; the poor man was starving. No one deserves to be treated that way. And I also think that you should trust him: he looks like an honourable man.”
“Not you too! How would you know that anyway? You only saw him once briefly yesterday and you were then of the opinion that he should be treated like a prisoner and not a guest.”
Wufei looked a little shamefaced and made a vague gesture of his hand. He was wary of revealing Heero’s little morning escapade seeing how Shinigami seemed to already be badly disposed against him.
“We sort of… sparred yesterday morning and it was obvious that he is a man of honour. He didn’t try to take advantage of the situation and he was respectful. He is a worthy opponent.”
That was high praise indeed coming from Wufei but that didn’t explain…
“You sparred? With the prisoner? And why wasn’t he in his cabin to begin with? Did he try to escape?” Wufei was avoiding his Captain’s eyes and Duo turned to Quatre with a satisfied expression. “You see! I was right! The man can’t be trusted.”
“I’m sure he had a perfectly valid reason to be out of his cell and it’s not like he did anything wrong while he was out. I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation. Isn’t there Wufei?”
Feeling guilty to have betrayed his new acquaintance, Wufei hastened to defend him with all the fervor and loyalty he usually reserved for his closest friends. “He was hungry. You can’t really blame him when his stomach was making really atrocious noises. He even went back to his cabin without prompting as soon as I promised him I would bring him food and as far as I know, he stayed there even after I failed to return. That’s definitely not the behaviour of someone untrustworthy.”
Duo just shrugged, obstinately refusing to answer. The combined strength of Wufei and Quatre’s unblinking stare however was beginning to wear away at his resolve. He took the bottle of rum out of hiding and gulped a few long swallows more to give himself a countenance than because he felt thirsty. He needed to think, not to be lectured. It was easy for them to preach for his leniency. They were still innocent enough to have faith in people. He wasn’t so trusting and had troubles thinking past the maelstrom of the emotions Heero had awakened in him. Mostly, he didn’t want to deal with the man in addition to everything else and he had naively hoped that if he could just sweep the problem under the rug for the time being, it would give him time to concentrate on what really mattered. That wasn’t to be.
His friends might have a point though: he was being unfair with Heero. He knew better than anyone why the soldier had followed them and even why he had sneaked aboard his ship. Heero hadn’t had any nefarious purpose; he had just been following his heart and thus shouldn’t be threatened for his daring. Yet, Duo couldn’t quite get past the fact that the man had upturned his universe nor could he help but to resent him for that. Maybe if the timing had been better would he have dealt with the situation a little more like a grown-up and not retaliated childishly as he had. Alas, Fate or whatever was responsible for the entire mess chose its own timing. That wasn’t really Heero’s fault and there was no reason to be petty about it. It was sure a pity: he’d always been so good at “petty”.
Quatre, apparently estimating that the silence had gone on long enough, interrupted Duo’s thoughts with puppyish excitement. “So... you are going to talk to him, to give him a chance?”
“I’ll think about it.”
Quatre frowned. “You said the same thing two nights ago too. What tells me it will be any different this time?”
“Quaaaatre, could you maybe stop nagging? We were talking about something else last time and I thought about it and that’s why the Captain Lowe is now roaming mostly free on Deathscythe. So now, I am going to think about what we just discussed and maybe tomorrow you’ll see some new results implemented. And again maybe not but whatever it will be, it is ultimately my decision because if I recall I am still the Captain. Not Wufei. Not you. I! So, I’d like it if you decided to show me at least some respect and ceased to question each of my decisions.”
Shinigami seldom used those little lectures that reminded everyone of his authority. They were that much effective for they were sporadic. It was a testament to the growingly out of control situation that it was the second one he had needed to impart in almost as many days. Worse even, he suspected that it would be utterly ineffective in quelling Quatre’s stubbornness. He was sadly proven right by the mutinous expression darkening the fair features of the Prince.
“I never denied that you were our rightful Captain but as your Second, it is also my duty to call you on your bullshitting. That wasn’t a new topic of discussion I raised up today but the exact same one as two days ago if merely more fleshed out. To be fair I even somewhat narrowed the problematic for you since the last time seeing that I didn’t even push you about that other matter you were so embarrassed about.”
Quatre mercifully shut up once confronted too long with his Captain’s silent glowering but it was obvious he still wasn’t backing down. He even had the gals to add a petulant “so there” while raising his pointy little chin defiantly.
Naturally Wufei, whom Duo had thought cowed by his little lecture, chose that moment to re-enter the conversation. “What other matter?”
Duo had a distinct suspicion that his staying mute would be pointless and thus stayed unsurprised when Quatre answered with glee. “Our stowaway isn’t in pursuit of Shinigami because he’s a pirate or to avenge some slight or another but because he’s carrying a torch for the pretty girl who duped the Governor’s army our last morning in Sank.”
There might have been a moan coming from Shinigami’s tightly closed lips but it was mercifully eclipsed by Wufei’s choking and Quatre’s muffled snickers.
“But... but... there was no girl! It was Duo all along. He must have known that or he wouldn’t have found us. So why would he still be pursuing Duo if he knows he’s a male?”
Quatre gave his answer by way of a toothy smile before elaborating when Wufei continued to look stumped. “Well my friend, Duo may make a pretty girl but he’s nothing to sneeze at either when he’s all man. You might have heard that some people are not limited by gender?”
Comprehension finally downed on the Chinese’s features soon to be replaced by a mounting fury.
“We found him in your bedroom. What did that bastard do to you Captain? I’ll run him through with my sword!”
Wufei was already trying to get out of the bed in which Quatre was desperately trying to keep him when Duo finally gave up hiding his face in his hands and attempted to calm his subordinate.
“You will do nothing of the sort. The Captain Lowe didn’t do anything I didn’t want him to do.”
“Aha! So he did do something!” quipped Quatre gleefully.
“How dare he invade our homes and rape our women!” added Wufei.
That last comment was enough to light up Shinigami’s short fuse and he exploded in a tempest of rage and swearwords that couldn’t bear repeating.
“That’s enough! What I did or didn’t do with Heero in the privacy of my own cabin is of my concern alone. Not yours! So Quatre you keep out of it and that’s an order! As for you Wufei, I don’t know where you got the idea that I was a fragile maiden in need of protecting but take your head out of your ass this instant! My virtue is in no more danger than it has ever been as I am perfectly able to defend myself against untoward advances if need be. Now that that’s been cleared I want you Wufei to stay in bed and rest till the morrow and you Quatre to go back to your own quarters. Good! I’ll be gone!”
Shinigami stood abruptly and swept out of the room with a flourish, slamming the door shut after him. When he returned not two seconds later and grabbed his bottle of rum as an afterthought, his friends sat perfectly still and not quite breathing until he had left once again. Long after his departure, they continued to mourn his typical good moods.
Listening to Auda talking, Heero had learned that Captain Shinigami shared each task equally with his crew, never snubbing even the dullest ones regardless of his rank. Once he was aware of that, it had only been a matter of finding which of the tasks would place Shinigami in the less defensive position. The answer to that question was easy to come by for one who knew anything about sailing: when Duo would be on watch in the crow’s nest, there would be nowhere to run. All the smoke and mirrors he used to disappear on the ship would be useless up there and Heero was confident that the pirate wouldn’t go so far as to jump from such heights just in order to escape him. The Captain Lowe held no delusion that Shinigami hadn’t already worked out that flaw in his systematic avoidance strategy for himself and he would thus most likely choose to take that watch at night when he believed that Heero was safely locked inside his cabin. That was however a gross miscalculation because nobody had ever come to block the window and the soldier was perfectly able to use it to escape as he had already proven once to Wufei if to no one else. Whatever the reason had been for the Chinese man not to betray that little fact to his fellow crewmembers; Heero would have to thank him.
He waited till a little before midnight to open his window and hauled himself on the ship’s side and over the guardrail, landing silently on his feet. He was glad he had already made the climb once as it was a little more of a challenge at night. The ship was eerily silent and almost completely dark save for a few islands of blue light here and there. It was really like being aboard a ghost ship and Heero had to repress a shiver of unease. He couldn’t let himself be distracted though; it was now or never. He crept silently on the deck, advancing slowly to the main mast. When he reached it, he looked up to the crow’s nest which was bathed in complete darkness. There was no way to know if Shinigami was indeed up there but he had a feeling he was: it was closing the witching hour after all and which better time to catch a demon?
He grasped blindly around until his hands closed in on the rope ladder and began his ascent. His eyes were getting used to the darkness and it was getting easier to see. It was no reason to be less than cautious however as the thought of plummeting to his death was all but appealing. He moved swiftly but carefully, silent as a cat. It wouldn’t do to startle his prey.
Meanwhile, said prey was not quite contemplating the meaning of life but wasn’t far from it. Duo was leaning on the guardrail maybe naively trusting in the repairs the stowaway had done on it. His gaze was lost on the horizon in front of the Deathscythe confident that it was the most likely direction from which a ship could have appeared. There was no chance in Hell that a ship coming from behind would be able to catch them and one coming from port or starboard could be almost as easily distanced. There was something reassuring in having the fastest ship in the Caribbean and maybe the world...
He was also pretty confident in his instincts and if those failed for some odd reason, he still had an advantage over any other watcher with his formidable eyesight. He never really broadcasted it but everyone seemed to know all the same that he could see perfectly in the dark. There wasn’t really any reason to explain this fact; it just was. To be truthful even for him it was a little bit weird to be able to see as well at night as at the brightest of the day. It was as if the darkness could hold no secret from him; maybe because he was a creature of darkness himself. And wouldn’t it be pretty stupid if that was the reason he was unable to see anyone in a positive light and had thus such trouble to heed his crew’s advice to trust Heero? He sighed quietly. He was doing much too much circular thinking lately. No matter what he was thinking about, everything seemed to come back to Heero.
He wasn’t sure exactly what he found so disturbing with the man’s presence. After all it wasn’t like it was the first time that Fate seemed to have it in it for him, so why should he be so reticent to deal with the situation this particular time? He could recall a great many number of instances when the bitch had sent much worse his way than a sexy officer. So was it as Quatre implied? Was he so afraid to be attracted to a man that he refused to deal with the possibility? Fear. Not a familiar emotion for him to be feeling. When you lived as long as he had, you realized that there wasn’t that much to fear in the world. He didn’t think he was so narrow-minded though that he would fear his own difference. There were worse things to be than a queer and he had never balked when he was called any of these things, often with reasons.
And yet, he sincerely thought it was fear that made him act so irresponsibly these days. But if not fear of queerness, fear of what? Love maybe. That was a silly thought but... It wasn’t as if he was in love with the Captain Lowe; he barely knew the man. It was undeniable however that there was a connection, a connection that just might lead to love... eventually. Duo Maxwell had never been in love. So how had he recognized the feeling? Had he felt this connection before? Toward one among his legions of lovers maybe? No. Not a chance! Toward a friend perhaps? Not really. He had connections with his friends of course but they were of another sort. They were less sturdy... or more brittle... something. They had been carefully designed that way so they wouldn’t cause him too much heartbreak when the friendships would come to an end, when his friends would leave or die.
Duo had learned the hard way that a human being couldn’t live without forming any connection at all. At least not someone with his personality. He needed some sort of connection to the rest of humanity in order to stay sane. However, even before that, he had learned that connecting too deeply could hurt and had approached his subsequent relationships with more caution... So was it that the source of his fear? Was he seeing another Solo in Heero? Was he afraid to connect with him as strongly as he had connected to his long dead best friend? But more worriedly, seeing that he appeared to be physically attracted to Heero, did that mean that he had been similarly attracted to Solo and just not known it?
With hindsight, that might not be that farfetched. Even when discounting the horrific events that lead to Solo’s death and the guilt he couldn’t help but feel in regard to his own implication, he had a suspicion that most people would think that the extent of his grief might be disproportionate for the death of someone who was just a friend. Duo had and still mourned Solo like one would mourn a lover and he had somehow forbidden himself to love anyone else since him...
So that would be the reason he was so wary of Heero...
He had loved and lost and thus was so afraid to hurt again that he wouldn’t take the risk to love anyone else. And he hadn’t even known it. Well... not on a conscious level anyway.
So... yeah, people he loved would inevitably leave him, he would have to see them die, but was it really any reason to go and stop living too?
Was it worth it to go on like a zombie keeping everyone at arm’s length?
When had he become such a bloody coward?
Duo suddenly felt a presence at his back. He refused to turn; he knew who it was anyway...
Great! As if the man weren’t driving him crazy already he had to come up for a late night chat... The worse was probably that he knew he couldn’t avoid a conversation with Heero without feeling even more like a coward than he already did.
“Will you make a habit of escaping your cabin against orders?”
Heero startled: he knew he hadn’t made a noise but he wouldn’t let Shinigami get the better of him even before the conversation started.
“I always follow orders; I thought I was overdue for a little mutiny.”
Duo shrugged, never looking away from the horizon. “I wouldn’t know. I never tried to live up to anyone’s expectations.”
“That must be easy. Being a pirate that is. No pressure, no one to tell you what to do or whom to pander to... You’re lucky, you have a great life.”
Duo let out a humorless chuckle. “Well that’s easy for you to say. The grass always seems greener on the other side of the fence.” He sighed. “If you had lived my life you wouldn’t find it that great… I didn’t like it much in the beginning; I just sort of grew into it in recent years.”
Heero stepped a little closer in the hope to see his interlocutor’s features better. “Maybe,” he conceded. “My life sucks though…”
“Oh come on Captain! Whatever would you mean? I hear you are the most prestigious officer in Sank and you are going to marry the lovely and fabulously rich daughter of the Governor. You have plenty of reasons to want to get back to your awesome life as soon as possible.”
“Well… I have it under good authority that my fiancée isn’t faithful to me. She seems to have a thing for dashing pirates.” Heero cracked.
He arched an inquisitive eyebrow and Duo glanced over his shoulder and offered him a little apologetic grin.
“Ah yeah… sorry about that mate.”
Heero chuckled. “Don’t bother. You saved me the chore of deflowering the twit myself and I had no desire to marry her to begin with… My grandfather is making me… That’s political I guess.”
Duo threw another glance over his shoulder, incredulous this time and burst into laughter. Seeing the hurt expression on Heero’s face, he tried to contain his hilarity.
“I am not in the business of deflowering maiden mate and your Relena was certainly no virgin. Anyway, it’s reassuring to know you didn’t actually choose to marry her. I was seriously beginning to doubt your sanity.”
“You’re the one sleeping with her, so should I doubt yours?”
Duo sniggered a little at that. “Do not worry. My sanity’s not in doubt; it is a certainty that I lost it quite a long time ago. As for the Governor’s daughter, there is quite a difference between spending a night in her sheets and spending your life by her side. Sex is just that: sex! We reprobates have to take it where we can find it.”
Duo had returned his attention to the sea and Heero seized the occasion to get closer, a lot closer. When he talked, his breath brushed the pirate’s ear and made him shiver.
“So Duo, if sex is no big deal and so hard to come by, why don’t you want to talk about the other night? I’m still offering in case you were wondering.”
Duo forced himself not to move. “I don’t recall there being any offer Captain, just you taking what you wanted.”
Daring, Heero leaned a little more, plastering himself against Duo’s back and kissed him lightly on the temple. “Just admit that you liked it too… and you’re still not pushing me away.”
Duo sighed once more but still didn’t move one way or another. “You don’t know what you’re doing Heero. You said it yourself: that’s the first time you ever rebelled. You’re just after a cheap thrill. You’d be better looking for a nice girl to marry. It doesn’t have to be Relena; I’m sure your grandfather would be pissed enough without you going for a male pirate.”
The soldier bristled offended. “You really think I don’t want that? I’m not a kid you know. I want you.”
He grabbed one of Duo’s bony hip and clutched him to himself. With the pirate’s butt pressed against Heero’s nether regions there was no mistaking the rock-hard erection there. “Does it feel like I’m forcing myself to piss off my family?”
Duo felt his own penis swell with an answering need but he forced himself to argue some more. “That means nothing. Maybe danger makes you hot. I’m dangerous and I’m your enemy. It would be madness to pursue anything of the sort.”
Heero bit the shell-shaped ear that was so tantalizingly close before giving it a playful lick. Duo moaned.
“See. You are not my enemy if you don’t want to be.”
Duo had more and more trouble staying coherent when the other had begun rocking sensually against him while caressing his hip at the same time. “You… AH! You’re a soldier. I can’t trust you.”
Heero nudged Duo’s head on the side and attacked the neck thus revealed with teeth and lips. “I told you I didn’t want to be a soldier. You already put me to work on your ship… I could stay…”
He bit sharply at the point between neck and shoulder before soothing the hurt with his tongue; Duo gasped.
He regained his bearings fast though. “Are you listening to yourself? You can’t just give up who you are on a whim. I couldn’t trust you… you’ll leave.”
“But I’m here now…”
Duo tried to shake out of the embrace for the first time. “Let me go!” Heero used his other arm to impede his movements and held him closer. He froze only when he felt the sharpness of a blade at his throat. The pirate was dexterous; you had to give him that. Heero hadn’t even felt him go for his dagger.
“You see! I’m dangerous. Let me go!”
Heero hummed thoughtfully, nicking himself on the blade in the process. “Do you plan to use that?” The hand that was clutching Duo’s hip relaxed, but far from moving away, it slithered in the direction of the pirate’s groin and pressed familiarly the bulge it found there.
Duo swallowed audibly and the dagger clattered on the floor.
“I thought not.” Heero observed smugly.
The pirate’s body tensed minutely as if his mind was still trying to come up with something, some sort of argument that would make the other retreat but none must have been forthcoming because he was soon melting against Heero. For the first time ever Shinigami surrendered…
It was a beautiful moment and the Captain Lowe ached with the awe it deserved. It was like witnessing the taming of a wild animal. Not its put down: because the ability to bite was there still, but it was that amazing moment when trust was established, when the predator decided not to bite your hand and to accept instead to be fed by it. It was a pity there wasn’t more light because Heero would have loved to see the expression on Shinigami’s features. As it was, he would have to be satisfied with hearing him purr. And purr he did. At least that was what the constant little whimper he was trying to keep at the back of his throat sounded like; it was glorious.
Emboldened by his victory, Heero didn’t wait to partake in the spoils of this sweet war. His hands were almost as clever as Duo’s and soon he had them under clothes shoved hastily aside. One of them had infiltrated under the pirate’s shirt, its fingers teasing a nipple to tautness. The other, far more daring, had managed to unlace the fastenings of the trousers and had found flesh.
Heero was grasping Duo’s member firmly, gauging its weight, its heat against his palm, not allowing himself any hesitation at the newness of it all for fear that the other would bolt at the first sign of weakness.
The feeling was alien and yet not: it was a little bit like masturbating but the shape, the proportions were all wrong and yet never righter. The sensory input from his own penis was also missing of course. The feeling of his hand squeezing his own flesh was replaced by the friction against a deliciously yielding butt. Yet it wasn’t as comfortable or as pleasant as one would have thought because Heero couldn’t be bothered to spare a hand to take himself out of the constricting pants. The cheap cloth didn’t have much give and was rough against his sensitive skin, but it didn’t matter. Two width of cloth away, it was Duo’s ass against his cock and that was all that mattered.
The pirate wasn’t exactly passive either. He was rubbing against him wildly as if bent on imprinting his scent allover Heero. He was bucking madly, answering Heero’s thrusts with pushes of his own hips, grounding against the soldier with more strength each time as if he wanted to burrow in his embrace, to disappear in it.
The purr was still there, only getting louder. Yet he managed to make other sounds as well: pleading moans and mumbled expletives mostly. It was not actual speech; he was far too excited to be coherent but he managed to make himself understood anyway. Heero adjusted the pressure of his hands accordingly. The one that held the pirate’s dick began a slow rubbing movement, soon accelerated to obey the barely comprehensible directives that were still coming. Sometimes the rhythmic movement would stop and Heero’s fingers would go on a little teasing exploration, going up for a caress to the head or going down to pat at the balls which felt tighter each time. When Heero would do something especially pleasing, Duo would ground against him with yet more enthusiasm and groan approvingly. Heero would then grunt against the throat he was still laving with kisses.
The soldier’s own pleasure only came as an afterthought; all he was concerned about was to please the man who felt so wanton in his arms. Each moan, each gasp, each shiver of the pirate was a small victory, a deep thrill that was much more pleasurable than his own physical satisfaction could ever hope to be.
It could have been going on for minutes or for hours; they would have been hard-pressed to decide between one and the other. No matter how long the encounter lasted for, it still ended too soon.
Duo’s entire body froze then started to shake uncontrollably as if in a seizure. He came with a garbled cry. Heero felt the heavy cock pulse in his hand and he felt ecstatic to have brought his lover to orgasm as well as oddly bereft that it was already over. He would have liked to go on until dawn…
So overwhelmed was he that he almost didn’t notice he had reached his own peak. He felt like his own pleasure was just a bonus and not worthy of notice; it hadn’t been about him anyway.
They were both sticky and frazzled, Duo even more so than Heero with all his clothes in disarray and his now limp manhood still carelessly exposed to the warm night air. Shinigami had let himself sag against Heero; he was a reassuring weight against his chest. The brash young man didn’t look so tough anymore. The profile Heero could barely distinguish in the dark appeared softened. The soldier wasn’t fooled though; he could still feel the more than adequate muscles tightening and relaxing in turn with each tremor still shaking the deceptively lean frame. It was a moment stolen from time and Heero felt like reality would ascertain itself again all too soon.
Duo stilled suddenly as if he had heard Heero’s disheartening thoughts. The soldier sighed but loosened his embrace. The following curse was loud in the silence and Heero startled a bit.
“Bloody Hell! I’m gonna kill the bastard this time!”
Heero thought it prudent to take a few steps back, just in case and tried to reason with the man. “Now, that’s a little over the top… you could have stopped me at any time…”
Duo silenced him with a vague gesture without diverting his attention from a point far away in front of him. “Not you moron! Him!” he said while pointing a finger toward a vague shape which was barely distinguishable from the surrounding darkness on the horizon.
Intrigued, Heero took a chance and came near Duo again, squinting in the darkness in the hope to see what the other was seeing. Whatever it was, it was too far away for him to see. In spite of his own average eyesight, he still found himself limited when in nearly complete darkness. Shinigami obviously had no such limitations, if he was able to identify the vague shape that was coming their way.
“Is it a ship?”
Duo nodded. “Yes… I have to go wake the crew. There’s going to be a battle before the night is over.”
He was already moving toward the rope ladder when Heero stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. “How do you know if they are friends or foes? The ship’s too far away still to know who it is.”
“I know. I’d recognize that ship anywhere. Now let me go before I lose my patience.” Duo then shrugged his hand off and started to climb down with urgency. However, just before his head disappeared in the darkness below, he stopped and stared up at Heero with an unidentifiable emotion. After a while he nodded to himself. “Do not worry: there shouldn’t be any conflict of interest where you’re concerned. It’s not a ship from Sank and you wouldn’t like that particular Captain anyhow.” He hesitated for a moment before adding: “If you want to make yourself useful, keep looking on the horizon so we’ll know how much time we have before he gets here. I’ll call you if I need you for something else.”
Then he was gone.
FANDOM: Gundam Wing
PAIRING: 1x2 and some het pairings in the background
RATING: R/NC-17
GENRE: AU, Adventure, Historical, Romance
WARNING: yaoi, cross-dressing, swearing, graphic violence, sex
DISCLAIMER: Don’t own anything save for the story, so please don’t sue poor little me
SUMMARY: A huge reward on his head, a crew who doesn't take him seriously, a few vindictive ex girlfriends and a vicious curse which sticks like a bad smell. The fearsome pirate Shinigami thinks it can't get worse. A stalkerish Heero will prove him wrong.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: Well yeah a new chapter at long last. I know it’s been like forever since I updated so I put a little lemony bit in the end to sweeten the deal. Hope that’ll help you forgive me for my laziness. I’ve been valiantly fighting the attraction I have for a few other fandoms lately so that’s pretty much why I haven’t been writing Captains. My inspiration to work on this story seemed to have returned this week so don’t despair yet. If anyone knows a miracle recipe against lack of focus and/or procrastination though, please share.
Previous chapters can be found here.
Chapter 22: The Witching Hour
Once he’d been allowed to get something to eat, Heero didn’t dally for long. He would have liked to contemplate the reasons for this sudden and unexpected trust or maybe to give chase to that blushing vision of a pirate, but some things came first. He was still bare-chested though and felt a little uncomfortable showing that much flesh. He pondered briefly the wisdom of ransacking Quatre’s closet in search of a shirt but refrained. The Prince had been clear on his position regarding the violation of his privacy and he had no desire to offend neither him nor anyone on this ship if at all possible. There would eventually be someone to take pity on him if he kept strutting half-naked on the deck. There was also the endearing emotion the sight of his bare torso seemed to spark off in a certain Captain. His own discomfort would be a lot easier to tolerate if he could witness more of that unexpected blush.
Duo had been right; the galley was real easy to find. There, he was welcomed by a cheerful Arab who introduced himself as Auda. Heero would have expected more distrust or at the very least some reservation, but the cook was seemingly incapable of either. Instead, he sat him congenially before offering him a meal worthy of kings. All the while, the human tornado served him enthusiastic chatter to season the already delicious food. Heero listened to every word religiously while trying to disguise his acute interest: Auda might not have been saying anything of real importance but such a chatterbox was wont to let out one secret or another at some point. Heero had already heard about the accident that happened earlier on the deck. It might not have been crucial information, at least not in regards to Shinigami’s secrets but that had at least comforted Heero on the fact that Wufei hadn’t abandoned him. He felt better already. Moreover, if he could manage to visit the injured man, it might just be the way to appear harmless and to win over another ally on the Deathscythe.
Auda had been amazed --and pleased-- at the amount of food the Captain Lowe was able to put away, of course he hadn’t been initially appraised about the man’s exact state of starvation. Regardless, Heero left the kitchen a half-hour later to the sound of delighted comments and with a standing invitation. Life didn’t get much better than that.
He was just exiting on the deck, his stomach finally silenced, when he collided with a wall or what appeared to be a wall until it moved and revealed itself to be the torso of a really big man. It was that same giant that had come bursting in his cabin the previous day and he looked even more impressive when he wasn’t mothering Quatre to death. He didn’t look particularly pleased to encounter the stowaway left to his own devices, so Heero hurried to justify his presence.
“Rashid I suppose? Shinigami ordered me to find you. He said that you would put me to work. So here I am. Heero Yuy reporting for duty… Boss?”
The giant snorted, clearly unimpressed. Okay, Heero’s new found smartass-ness might not be appropriate in every situation but it wasn’t exactly easy to turn off. He wasn’t sure either why he had introduced himself as Heero Yuy when he hadn’t used that name since he was a kid. It might have been in the subconscious hope to distance himself from the persona of the Captain Lowe which couldn’t garner him much sympathy amongst pirates. It might just be working too, because Rashid wasn’t looking at him like he was an enemy anymore… just like he was a brat and that had to be progress… somehow.
“Rashid will suffice… Heero. The only Boss around here is the Captain and I wouldn’t try too much of that attitude with him if I were you; he’s not been in the best of moods lately.”
Heero nodded as if in easy acceptance. Rashid didn’t need to know that he had no intentions to heed that advice. The man studied him and shrugged nonplussed. The barely perceptible twitch of his lips however gave away that he knew better. Heero had the nasty suspicion that under his stern looks, Rashid was the sort to enjoy a good fight and that he would like nothing better than to see their stowaway taken down a notch by a temperamental Shinigami. Well, at least Heero had been given a fair warning.
“For starters, you’ll be appointed to the crow’s nest. There are a few loose boards up there and I want you to repair them. I suppose that task is within your abilities?”
Heero bristled at the blatant insult and Rashid smirked.
“I expect you to keep watch at the same time of course. Do I have to point out what would become of you should you forget to warn us of any incoming ship, friend or foe?”
“That won’t be necessary no,” Heero answered meekly.
Rashid searched for signs of a lie on his face then nodded apparently satisfied. “Good. Do you have a shirt somewhere? Otherwise you’ll burn spending the afternoon bare-chested up there.”
Heero briefly pondered on how to answer that question. He remembered he had had a shirt on when he boarded the Sandrock but had no idea where it was now except that it was missing. He recalled that he had still been wearing it during his passionate encounter with Shinigami so he guessed it was safe to be honest on the matter, seeing that the truth shouldn’t reveal that little secret.
“Well… I have no idea. I appear to have misplaced my shirt at some point while I was unconscious. I guess someone must have undressed me to take care of my injuries…”
Heero knew he looked dubious seeing that his only injury at the time had been on his head but whatever. Rashid looked him over carefully with as much skepticism which only worsened when he noticed the faint gash Wufei had put on Heero’s pectoral. It was obvious that injuries to his torso had not been tended. The giant cocked his head thoughtfully but rapidly gave up on finding a likely explanation.
“I brought some tools and planks under the main mast, so you can begin immediately. Meanwhile I’ll get a shirt for you, as well as something to clean that cut. Even small wounds can take a turn for the worse in this climate.”
Heero thanked him and went to accomplish his first incredibly dull task. He had a feeling the next days would put new meaning on the word “boring”...
A day and a half later, Heero was sadly able to confirm his worst fears: watching out from the crow’s nest for non-existent oncoming ships had actually been by far the most exciting of the tasks Rashid had found for him to do. Heero was beginning to suspect the man had a sadistic streak. If they were really so low on staff, there should have been more relevant tasks for him to be doing than moping the decks, helping out in the kitchen and shining the crew’s boots. Somehow he hadn’t thought he would be learning the best way to peel potatoes when the Captain had asked him if he knew how to operate a ship.
On some level Heero understood that he was mostly needed in case something dramatic happened and that it was logical that he be put on trial in the meantime. Deathscythe’s crew had no reason to trust him for now and that was probably why they were only testing him with boring tasks until a time would come when they would need him for something more important. Still, that rankled just a bit.
The other thing that annoyed him was that, save for Auda who chatted nonsensically and took pleasure in mocking Heero’s cooking style, no one else was speaking to him. Well… to be fair there didn’t appear to be that much people aboard Deathscythe, but of those who were onboard: most seem to be avoiding him. Rashid always gave his orders briefly before running on his way. He had been barred entry to Wufei’s cabin and thus went his plans to make a new ally among the crew. They apparently weren’t trusting Heero with one of their wounded and he had nothing more than his word to convince them of his mostly good intentions. Moreover, worse than not being able to make new allies, he hadn’t been able either to cultivate the one he hoped he already had. He had caught sight of Quatre a few times but always at a distance and the mischievous prince hadn’t offered more than a bright smile and disappeared before any discussion could be had.
Heero didn’t know quite what to think about the entire situation but couldn’t help but feel like a pariah. He had been so enthusiastic at the idea of mingling among people that might just be as weird as he was and had stupidly hoped that he would for once be able to fit in somewhere. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be and the Captain Lowe felt just as isolated as he had always been among his soldiers. He might not have been starving anymore but he was now hungry for attention.
The only two things that might have brightened his spirits were the possibility to investigate the Deathscythe and the presence of Shinigami. Problem was that he was forbidden to go anywhere else on the ship than on the decks, the galley and his cabin. He had tried to explore a few times between assignments but an ugly old man would then materialize in his way and threaten him with a broom. For all his cleverness, Heero had still to find a way to get past this most unusual guardian and he wasn’t sure he felt up to the challenge. The man never spoke but he looked quite mean. As for Shinigami, he was on the contrary impossible to locate. Heero had caught neither hide nor hair of the man since the previous day. It was likely that he had his meals brought to him and spent the rest of the time in hiding even if Rashid and Auda had both sworn up and down that their Captain was keeping up with his duty. Heero was beginning to suspect that there were a number of hidden passageways on the Deathscythe that enabled Shinigami to come and go most effectively while avoiding Heero. That was the only explanation that made sense because the frigate, however magnificent, wasn’t that big and it should have been impossible to keep missing Duo if he truly wasn’t staying in his cabin.
More so, what Heero truly didn’t understand was his status onboard the Deathscythe. Realizing that Shinigami’s crew didn’t want to be al buddy-buddy was one thing but they could at least have the courtesy to tell him what he was supposed to be among them. He wasn’t trusted to be one of them but he was still allowed to roam mostly free and, while he hadn’t tried yet, he had a suspicion that acquiring a weapon would be all too easy. He felt like he was suspended in a world in-between neither ally nor prisoner and up to this point no one had had the decency to give him any explanation. Indentured servants must have felt like that upon arriving in a whole new world to discover that they were considered lower than beasts --the few cattle which managed to survive the journey from Europe were actually treasured in the Caribbean. Heero felt even lower than those poor souls as he was already pretty much convinced that he had indentured his life and free labor to Shinigami without ever being told for how long or in exchange of what. In his opinion, it was past time that the Duo stopped hiding and came to discuss the situation with him. Fortunately, Heero had finally devised a strategy and if all went according to plan, he should be able to corner Shinigami that very night for a little one-on-one. Now, all he had to hope for was that the pirate wouldn’t prove too distracting and that they would actually managed to have a reasonable discussion.
Quatre was on the warpath. Swearing to his Captain that he wouldn’t visit their poor suffering stowaway was one thing but that didn’t mean he couldn’t interfere in other ways. And it was getting clearer with each passing minute that someone had to interfere. It was usually Wufei’s job to tell their Captain when he was being an idiot but in this instance Quatre doubted his Chinese friend would even be able to see what the problem was, especially while he had been confined to his cabin to lick his wounds. Wufei hadn’t seen the pitiful Captain Lowe moping around the deck like a duckling missing its mother. Wufei hadn’t witnessed either the fearsome Shinigami skulking on his own ship, perpetually looking over his shoulder and startling at every sound. It was getting ridiculous and as it had only been a day, it was only wont to get worse.
Quatre wasn’t the kind of man to meddle in other people’s business… Well okay, that was a lie: he was exactly that kind of man, but even had he not been that kind of man, this particular situation would have pushed him to act contrary to his character. Having been cursed with the gift of empathy since as long as he could recall, it was terribly hard for him to ignore the feelings of the people close to him. He usually did his best to shield himself from everyone because he didn’t want to end up insane but sometimes, when the emotions surrounding him were particularly violent, there was nothing he could do but feel them. Right now, he didn’t think he could take much more of Duo and Heero’s frustration, confusion and despair.
Rashid and Auda themselves, whom were by no means empathetic, had complained that Shinigami was acting skittish and had appeared worried about their stowaway’s apparent depression. Quatre could well understand poor Heero’s unease seeing that Shinigami had put him to work without ever explaining the situation to him. He must feel pretty confused and on unstable grounds right now. So much for Quatre’s advice to afford the man a modicum of trust: it had obviously gone well over Duo’s head. Another well-meant push in the right direction would apparently be necessary. It was fortunate that Quatre had a pretty good idea as to where his Captain was presently hiding.
He marched determinedly to Wufei’s closed door and knocked loudly, then pushed the door open and entered without waiting for an invitation that might or might not have been coming --more plausibly the latter given Wufei’s obsessive attachment to his privacy. The scene waiting for him inside the cabin was much like the one he had pictured in his mind. An unusually resting Wufei sulked; he looked very much out of place being so inactive even if the long suffering expression he harbored conferred an air of familiarity to the scene. In the darkest corner of the room, a guilty-looking Duo made valiant efforts to make himself invisible and, failing that, to hide an half-empty bottle of rum behind his back. Quatre snorted and shook his head: as if those kind of tactics had ever worked before.
Uncaring of his obvious unwelcome, Quatre dragged a chair over the short distance from the desk to the bed and sat at Wufei’s side.
“How are you Wufei? Do you feel dizzy? Are the ribs hurting?”
“I’m fine Winner. No thanks to your lackey mistaking me for a landing pad!”
“Now, now Wufei, you know that wasn’t Abdul’s fault. He didn’t mean to fall on you. That was just an accident.”
The irritable Chinese would have none of that and continued undaunted on his rant. “Humph! An accident my ass! If that fool had been careful instead of recklessly playing around in the crow’s nest, it wouldn’t have happened. There is already too little discipline on this ship without your little guards getting out of control.”
“Hey I resent that! There is absolutely no discipline problem on my ship,” Duo intervened, forgetting for the time being that he was supposed to be hiding.
That was what Quatre had been waiting for and he took advantage of the opening in a falsely guileless falsetto. “Captain! I hadn’t seen you there in the dark. That’s so very thoughtful of you to keep Wufei company, especially when your time is so precious what with all the things you could be doing instead…”
Duo didn’t answer but avoided his eyes and it was Wufei who answered, unknowingly furthering Quatre’s argument. “It’s not like I need a baby-sitter. I’m perfectly fine and if you would please let me go, we could both get back to work where we are probably needed when we’re so much understaffed.”
“You were unconscious for several hours Wufei and you’re still much too pale for my taste. We have no urgent need of you up there so you might as well sleep the rest of the day away and we’ll see how you feel tomorrow morning.”
That was Shinigami’s no-nonsense voice and Wufei knew better than to argue. He satisfied himself with a sigh and a disgusted grimace at the prospect of more bed rest.
Quatre however, had no intention to let the subject drop.
“You don’t have to worry anyway Wufei: the Captain has found us free labour in the meantime. Of course that’s pretty much slavery but desperate times call for desperate measures even if one has to sacrifice one’s beliefs.”
Duo growled almost imperceptibly but Wufei pounced upon the matter as Quatre had expecting him to. “Free labour? Slavery? What are you talking about? What did you do Duo?”
Shinigami glared at Quatre who smiled back at him innocently. “Quatre is exaggerating as usual. I just put our stowaway to work because we need every able body and because that’s the best way to keep an eye on him. He’s not a slave at all.”
“Well, if you make him work for you without pay, that’s the very definition of slavery.” The Prince pointed out impishly.
“Oh for God’s sake! I asked him if he wanted to earn his keep and he said yes. I don’t see how that’s supposed to be slavery. Gimme a break! And do I have to remind you that he’s a stowaway to begin with? I would have been well within my rights to throw him overboard or in the hold instead of giving him a cabin and something to do.”
“You meanie! I would have agreed to work for you too if my only alternatives were death or the hold!”
Quatre played indignation fairly well but Duo wasn’t buying it and was growing more frustrated by the minute.
“Oh please Quatre; it’s not as if I put a knife at his throat. Besides, you were the one who advised me to trust him.”
“Yeah! Trust, not threaten! There is a significant difference you know. Did you even talk with him about his reasons to be onboard or about what you intended to do with him before putting him to work? You can be so insensitive sometimes.”
Duo had had enough and appealed to Wufei with a desperate look, hoping that the Chinese man at least would listen to reason. That wasn’t to be however and all he got was a disapproving look.
“You didn’t even give him anything to eat; the poor man was starving. No one deserves to be treated that way. And I also think that you should trust him: he looks like an honourable man.”
“Not you too! How would you know that anyway? You only saw him once briefly yesterday and you were then of the opinion that he should be treated like a prisoner and not a guest.”
Wufei looked a little shamefaced and made a vague gesture of his hand. He was wary of revealing Heero’s little morning escapade seeing how Shinigami seemed to already be badly disposed against him.
“We sort of… sparred yesterday morning and it was obvious that he is a man of honour. He didn’t try to take advantage of the situation and he was respectful. He is a worthy opponent.”
That was high praise indeed coming from Wufei but that didn’t explain…
“You sparred? With the prisoner? And why wasn’t he in his cabin to begin with? Did he try to escape?” Wufei was avoiding his Captain’s eyes and Duo turned to Quatre with a satisfied expression. “You see! I was right! The man can’t be trusted.”
“I’m sure he had a perfectly valid reason to be out of his cell and it’s not like he did anything wrong while he was out. I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation. Isn’t there Wufei?”
Feeling guilty to have betrayed his new acquaintance, Wufei hastened to defend him with all the fervor and loyalty he usually reserved for his closest friends. “He was hungry. You can’t really blame him when his stomach was making really atrocious noises. He even went back to his cabin without prompting as soon as I promised him I would bring him food and as far as I know, he stayed there even after I failed to return. That’s definitely not the behaviour of someone untrustworthy.”
Duo just shrugged, obstinately refusing to answer. The combined strength of Wufei and Quatre’s unblinking stare however was beginning to wear away at his resolve. He took the bottle of rum out of hiding and gulped a few long swallows more to give himself a countenance than because he felt thirsty. He needed to think, not to be lectured. It was easy for them to preach for his leniency. They were still innocent enough to have faith in people. He wasn’t so trusting and had troubles thinking past the maelstrom of the emotions Heero had awakened in him. Mostly, he didn’t want to deal with the man in addition to everything else and he had naively hoped that if he could just sweep the problem under the rug for the time being, it would give him time to concentrate on what really mattered. That wasn’t to be.
His friends might have a point though: he was being unfair with Heero. He knew better than anyone why the soldier had followed them and even why he had sneaked aboard his ship. Heero hadn’t had any nefarious purpose; he had just been following his heart and thus shouldn’t be threatened for his daring. Yet, Duo couldn’t quite get past the fact that the man had upturned his universe nor could he help but to resent him for that. Maybe if the timing had been better would he have dealt with the situation a little more like a grown-up and not retaliated childishly as he had. Alas, Fate or whatever was responsible for the entire mess chose its own timing. That wasn’t really Heero’s fault and there was no reason to be petty about it. It was sure a pity: he’d always been so good at “petty”.
Quatre, apparently estimating that the silence had gone on long enough, interrupted Duo’s thoughts with puppyish excitement. “So... you are going to talk to him, to give him a chance?”
“I’ll think about it.”
Quatre frowned. “You said the same thing two nights ago too. What tells me it will be any different this time?”
“Quaaaatre, could you maybe stop nagging? We were talking about something else last time and I thought about it and that’s why the Captain Lowe is now roaming mostly free on Deathscythe. So now, I am going to think about what we just discussed and maybe tomorrow you’ll see some new results implemented. And again maybe not but whatever it will be, it is ultimately my decision because if I recall I am still the Captain. Not Wufei. Not you. I! So, I’d like it if you decided to show me at least some respect and ceased to question each of my decisions.”
Shinigami seldom used those little lectures that reminded everyone of his authority. They were that much effective for they were sporadic. It was a testament to the growingly out of control situation that it was the second one he had needed to impart in almost as many days. Worse even, he suspected that it would be utterly ineffective in quelling Quatre’s stubbornness. He was sadly proven right by the mutinous expression darkening the fair features of the Prince.
“I never denied that you were our rightful Captain but as your Second, it is also my duty to call you on your bullshitting. That wasn’t a new topic of discussion I raised up today but the exact same one as two days ago if merely more fleshed out. To be fair I even somewhat narrowed the problematic for you since the last time seeing that I didn’t even push you about that other matter you were so embarrassed about.”
Quatre mercifully shut up once confronted too long with his Captain’s silent glowering but it was obvious he still wasn’t backing down. He even had the gals to add a petulant “so there” while raising his pointy little chin defiantly.
Naturally Wufei, whom Duo had thought cowed by his little lecture, chose that moment to re-enter the conversation. “What other matter?”
Duo had a distinct suspicion that his staying mute would be pointless and thus stayed unsurprised when Quatre answered with glee. “Our stowaway isn’t in pursuit of Shinigami because he’s a pirate or to avenge some slight or another but because he’s carrying a torch for the pretty girl who duped the Governor’s army our last morning in Sank.”
There might have been a moan coming from Shinigami’s tightly closed lips but it was mercifully eclipsed by Wufei’s choking and Quatre’s muffled snickers.
“But... but... there was no girl! It was Duo all along. He must have known that or he wouldn’t have found us. So why would he still be pursuing Duo if he knows he’s a male?”
Quatre gave his answer by way of a toothy smile before elaborating when Wufei continued to look stumped. “Well my friend, Duo may make a pretty girl but he’s nothing to sneeze at either when he’s all man. You might have heard that some people are not limited by gender?”
Comprehension finally downed on the Chinese’s features soon to be replaced by a mounting fury.
“We found him in your bedroom. What did that bastard do to you Captain? I’ll run him through with my sword!”
Wufei was already trying to get out of the bed in which Quatre was desperately trying to keep him when Duo finally gave up hiding his face in his hands and attempted to calm his subordinate.
“You will do nothing of the sort. The Captain Lowe didn’t do anything I didn’t want him to do.”
“Aha! So he did do something!” quipped Quatre gleefully.
“How dare he invade our homes and rape our women!” added Wufei.
That last comment was enough to light up Shinigami’s short fuse and he exploded in a tempest of rage and swearwords that couldn’t bear repeating.
“That’s enough! What I did or didn’t do with Heero in the privacy of my own cabin is of my concern alone. Not yours! So Quatre you keep out of it and that’s an order! As for you Wufei, I don’t know where you got the idea that I was a fragile maiden in need of protecting but take your head out of your ass this instant! My virtue is in no more danger than it has ever been as I am perfectly able to defend myself against untoward advances if need be. Now that that’s been cleared I want you Wufei to stay in bed and rest till the morrow and you Quatre to go back to your own quarters. Good! I’ll be gone!”
Shinigami stood abruptly and swept out of the room with a flourish, slamming the door shut after him. When he returned not two seconds later and grabbed his bottle of rum as an afterthought, his friends sat perfectly still and not quite breathing until he had left once again. Long after his departure, they continued to mourn his typical good moods.
Listening to Auda talking, Heero had learned that Captain Shinigami shared each task equally with his crew, never snubbing even the dullest ones regardless of his rank. Once he was aware of that, it had only been a matter of finding which of the tasks would place Shinigami in the less defensive position. The answer to that question was easy to come by for one who knew anything about sailing: when Duo would be on watch in the crow’s nest, there would be nowhere to run. All the smoke and mirrors he used to disappear on the ship would be useless up there and Heero was confident that the pirate wouldn’t go so far as to jump from such heights just in order to escape him. The Captain Lowe held no delusion that Shinigami hadn’t already worked out that flaw in his systematic avoidance strategy for himself and he would thus most likely choose to take that watch at night when he believed that Heero was safely locked inside his cabin. That was however a gross miscalculation because nobody had ever come to block the window and the soldier was perfectly able to use it to escape as he had already proven once to Wufei if to no one else. Whatever the reason had been for the Chinese man not to betray that little fact to his fellow crewmembers; Heero would have to thank him.
He waited till a little before midnight to open his window and hauled himself on the ship’s side and over the guardrail, landing silently on his feet. He was glad he had already made the climb once as it was a little more of a challenge at night. The ship was eerily silent and almost completely dark save for a few islands of blue light here and there. It was really like being aboard a ghost ship and Heero had to repress a shiver of unease. He couldn’t let himself be distracted though; it was now or never. He crept silently on the deck, advancing slowly to the main mast. When he reached it, he looked up to the crow’s nest which was bathed in complete darkness. There was no way to know if Shinigami was indeed up there but he had a feeling he was: it was closing the witching hour after all and which better time to catch a demon?
He grasped blindly around until his hands closed in on the rope ladder and began his ascent. His eyes were getting used to the darkness and it was getting easier to see. It was no reason to be less than cautious however as the thought of plummeting to his death was all but appealing. He moved swiftly but carefully, silent as a cat. It wouldn’t do to startle his prey.
Meanwhile, said prey was not quite contemplating the meaning of life but wasn’t far from it. Duo was leaning on the guardrail maybe naively trusting in the repairs the stowaway had done on it. His gaze was lost on the horizon in front of the Deathscythe confident that it was the most likely direction from which a ship could have appeared. There was no chance in Hell that a ship coming from behind would be able to catch them and one coming from port or starboard could be almost as easily distanced. There was something reassuring in having the fastest ship in the Caribbean and maybe the world...
He was also pretty confident in his instincts and if those failed for some odd reason, he still had an advantage over any other watcher with his formidable eyesight. He never really broadcasted it but everyone seemed to know all the same that he could see perfectly in the dark. There wasn’t really any reason to explain this fact; it just was. To be truthful even for him it was a little bit weird to be able to see as well at night as at the brightest of the day. It was as if the darkness could hold no secret from him; maybe because he was a creature of darkness himself. And wouldn’t it be pretty stupid if that was the reason he was unable to see anyone in a positive light and had thus such trouble to heed his crew’s advice to trust Heero? He sighed quietly. He was doing much too much circular thinking lately. No matter what he was thinking about, everything seemed to come back to Heero.
He wasn’t sure exactly what he found so disturbing with the man’s presence. After all it wasn’t like it was the first time that Fate seemed to have it in it for him, so why should he be so reticent to deal with the situation this particular time? He could recall a great many number of instances when the bitch had sent much worse his way than a sexy officer. So was it as Quatre implied? Was he so afraid to be attracted to a man that he refused to deal with the possibility? Fear. Not a familiar emotion for him to be feeling. When you lived as long as he had, you realized that there wasn’t that much to fear in the world. He didn’t think he was so narrow-minded though that he would fear his own difference. There were worse things to be than a queer and he had never balked when he was called any of these things, often with reasons.
And yet, he sincerely thought it was fear that made him act so irresponsibly these days. But if not fear of queerness, fear of what? Love maybe. That was a silly thought but... It wasn’t as if he was in love with the Captain Lowe; he barely knew the man. It was undeniable however that there was a connection, a connection that just might lead to love... eventually. Duo Maxwell had never been in love. So how had he recognized the feeling? Had he felt this connection before? Toward one among his legions of lovers maybe? No. Not a chance! Toward a friend perhaps? Not really. He had connections with his friends of course but they were of another sort. They were less sturdy... or more brittle... something. They had been carefully designed that way so they wouldn’t cause him too much heartbreak when the friendships would come to an end, when his friends would leave or die.
Duo had learned the hard way that a human being couldn’t live without forming any connection at all. At least not someone with his personality. He needed some sort of connection to the rest of humanity in order to stay sane. However, even before that, he had learned that connecting too deeply could hurt and had approached his subsequent relationships with more caution... So was it that the source of his fear? Was he seeing another Solo in Heero? Was he afraid to connect with him as strongly as he had connected to his long dead best friend? But more worriedly, seeing that he appeared to be physically attracted to Heero, did that mean that he had been similarly attracted to Solo and just not known it?
With hindsight, that might not be that farfetched. Even when discounting the horrific events that lead to Solo’s death and the guilt he couldn’t help but feel in regard to his own implication, he had a suspicion that most people would think that the extent of his grief might be disproportionate for the death of someone who was just a friend. Duo had and still mourned Solo like one would mourn a lover and he had somehow forbidden himself to love anyone else since him...
So that would be the reason he was so wary of Heero...
He had loved and lost and thus was so afraid to hurt again that he wouldn’t take the risk to love anyone else. And he hadn’t even known it. Well... not on a conscious level anyway.
So... yeah, people he loved would inevitably leave him, he would have to see them die, but was it really any reason to go and stop living too?
Was it worth it to go on like a zombie keeping everyone at arm’s length?
When had he become such a bloody coward?
Duo suddenly felt a presence at his back. He refused to turn; he knew who it was anyway...
Great! As if the man weren’t driving him crazy already he had to come up for a late night chat... The worse was probably that he knew he couldn’t avoid a conversation with Heero without feeling even more like a coward than he already did.
“Will you make a habit of escaping your cabin against orders?”
Heero startled: he knew he hadn’t made a noise but he wouldn’t let Shinigami get the better of him even before the conversation started.
“I always follow orders; I thought I was overdue for a little mutiny.”
Duo shrugged, never looking away from the horizon. “I wouldn’t know. I never tried to live up to anyone’s expectations.”
“That must be easy. Being a pirate that is. No pressure, no one to tell you what to do or whom to pander to... You’re lucky, you have a great life.”
Duo let out a humorless chuckle. “Well that’s easy for you to say. The grass always seems greener on the other side of the fence.” He sighed. “If you had lived my life you wouldn’t find it that great… I didn’t like it much in the beginning; I just sort of grew into it in recent years.”
Heero stepped a little closer in the hope to see his interlocutor’s features better. “Maybe,” he conceded. “My life sucks though…”
“Oh come on Captain! Whatever would you mean? I hear you are the most prestigious officer in Sank and you are going to marry the lovely and fabulously rich daughter of the Governor. You have plenty of reasons to want to get back to your awesome life as soon as possible.”
“Well… I have it under good authority that my fiancée isn’t faithful to me. She seems to have a thing for dashing pirates.” Heero cracked.
He arched an inquisitive eyebrow and Duo glanced over his shoulder and offered him a little apologetic grin.
“Ah yeah… sorry about that mate.”
Heero chuckled. “Don’t bother. You saved me the chore of deflowering the twit myself and I had no desire to marry her to begin with… My grandfather is making me… That’s political I guess.”
Duo threw another glance over his shoulder, incredulous this time and burst into laughter. Seeing the hurt expression on Heero’s face, he tried to contain his hilarity.
“I am not in the business of deflowering maiden mate and your Relena was certainly no virgin. Anyway, it’s reassuring to know you didn’t actually choose to marry her. I was seriously beginning to doubt your sanity.”
“You’re the one sleeping with her, so should I doubt yours?”
Duo sniggered a little at that. “Do not worry. My sanity’s not in doubt; it is a certainty that I lost it quite a long time ago. As for the Governor’s daughter, there is quite a difference between spending a night in her sheets and spending your life by her side. Sex is just that: sex! We reprobates have to take it where we can find it.”
Duo had returned his attention to the sea and Heero seized the occasion to get closer, a lot closer. When he talked, his breath brushed the pirate’s ear and made him shiver.
“So Duo, if sex is no big deal and so hard to come by, why don’t you want to talk about the other night? I’m still offering in case you were wondering.”
Duo forced himself not to move. “I don’t recall there being any offer Captain, just you taking what you wanted.”
Daring, Heero leaned a little more, plastering himself against Duo’s back and kissed him lightly on the temple. “Just admit that you liked it too… and you’re still not pushing me away.”
Duo sighed once more but still didn’t move one way or another. “You don’t know what you’re doing Heero. You said it yourself: that’s the first time you ever rebelled. You’re just after a cheap thrill. You’d be better looking for a nice girl to marry. It doesn’t have to be Relena; I’m sure your grandfather would be pissed enough without you going for a male pirate.”
The soldier bristled offended. “You really think I don’t want that? I’m not a kid you know. I want you.”
He grabbed one of Duo’s bony hip and clutched him to himself. With the pirate’s butt pressed against Heero’s nether regions there was no mistaking the rock-hard erection there. “Does it feel like I’m forcing myself to piss off my family?”
Duo felt his own penis swell with an answering need but he forced himself to argue some more. “That means nothing. Maybe danger makes you hot. I’m dangerous and I’m your enemy. It would be madness to pursue anything of the sort.”
Heero bit the shell-shaped ear that was so tantalizingly close before giving it a playful lick. Duo moaned.
“See. You are not my enemy if you don’t want to be.”
Duo had more and more trouble staying coherent when the other had begun rocking sensually against him while caressing his hip at the same time. “You… AH! You’re a soldier. I can’t trust you.”
Heero nudged Duo’s head on the side and attacked the neck thus revealed with teeth and lips. “I told you I didn’t want to be a soldier. You already put me to work on your ship… I could stay…”
He bit sharply at the point between neck and shoulder before soothing the hurt with his tongue; Duo gasped.
He regained his bearings fast though. “Are you listening to yourself? You can’t just give up who you are on a whim. I couldn’t trust you… you’ll leave.”
“But I’m here now…”
Duo tried to shake out of the embrace for the first time. “Let me go!” Heero used his other arm to impede his movements and held him closer. He froze only when he felt the sharpness of a blade at his throat. The pirate was dexterous; you had to give him that. Heero hadn’t even felt him go for his dagger.
“You see! I’m dangerous. Let me go!”
Heero hummed thoughtfully, nicking himself on the blade in the process. “Do you plan to use that?” The hand that was clutching Duo’s hip relaxed, but far from moving away, it slithered in the direction of the pirate’s groin and pressed familiarly the bulge it found there.
Duo swallowed audibly and the dagger clattered on the floor.
“I thought not.” Heero observed smugly.
The pirate’s body tensed minutely as if his mind was still trying to come up with something, some sort of argument that would make the other retreat but none must have been forthcoming because he was soon melting against Heero. For the first time ever Shinigami surrendered…
It was a beautiful moment and the Captain Lowe ached with the awe it deserved. It was like witnessing the taming of a wild animal. Not its put down: because the ability to bite was there still, but it was that amazing moment when trust was established, when the predator decided not to bite your hand and to accept instead to be fed by it. It was a pity there wasn’t more light because Heero would have loved to see the expression on Shinigami’s features. As it was, he would have to be satisfied with hearing him purr. And purr he did. At least that was what the constant little whimper he was trying to keep at the back of his throat sounded like; it was glorious.
Emboldened by his victory, Heero didn’t wait to partake in the spoils of this sweet war. His hands were almost as clever as Duo’s and soon he had them under clothes shoved hastily aside. One of them had infiltrated under the pirate’s shirt, its fingers teasing a nipple to tautness. The other, far more daring, had managed to unlace the fastenings of the trousers and had found flesh.
Heero was grasping Duo’s member firmly, gauging its weight, its heat against his palm, not allowing himself any hesitation at the newness of it all for fear that the other would bolt at the first sign of weakness.
The feeling was alien and yet not: it was a little bit like masturbating but the shape, the proportions were all wrong and yet never righter. The sensory input from his own penis was also missing of course. The feeling of his hand squeezing his own flesh was replaced by the friction against a deliciously yielding butt. Yet it wasn’t as comfortable or as pleasant as one would have thought because Heero couldn’t be bothered to spare a hand to take himself out of the constricting pants. The cheap cloth didn’t have much give and was rough against his sensitive skin, but it didn’t matter. Two width of cloth away, it was Duo’s ass against his cock and that was all that mattered.
The pirate wasn’t exactly passive either. He was rubbing against him wildly as if bent on imprinting his scent allover Heero. He was bucking madly, answering Heero’s thrusts with pushes of his own hips, grounding against the soldier with more strength each time as if he wanted to burrow in his embrace, to disappear in it.
The purr was still there, only getting louder. Yet he managed to make other sounds as well: pleading moans and mumbled expletives mostly. It was not actual speech; he was far too excited to be coherent but he managed to make himself understood anyway. Heero adjusted the pressure of his hands accordingly. The one that held the pirate’s dick began a slow rubbing movement, soon accelerated to obey the barely comprehensible directives that were still coming. Sometimes the rhythmic movement would stop and Heero’s fingers would go on a little teasing exploration, going up for a caress to the head or going down to pat at the balls which felt tighter each time. When Heero would do something especially pleasing, Duo would ground against him with yet more enthusiasm and groan approvingly. Heero would then grunt against the throat he was still laving with kisses.
The soldier’s own pleasure only came as an afterthought; all he was concerned about was to please the man who felt so wanton in his arms. Each moan, each gasp, each shiver of the pirate was a small victory, a deep thrill that was much more pleasurable than his own physical satisfaction could ever hope to be.
It could have been going on for minutes or for hours; they would have been hard-pressed to decide between one and the other. No matter how long the encounter lasted for, it still ended too soon.
Duo’s entire body froze then started to shake uncontrollably as if in a seizure. He came with a garbled cry. Heero felt the heavy cock pulse in his hand and he felt ecstatic to have brought his lover to orgasm as well as oddly bereft that it was already over. He would have liked to go on until dawn…
So overwhelmed was he that he almost didn’t notice he had reached his own peak. He felt like his own pleasure was just a bonus and not worthy of notice; it hadn’t been about him anyway.
They were both sticky and frazzled, Duo even more so than Heero with all his clothes in disarray and his now limp manhood still carelessly exposed to the warm night air. Shinigami had let himself sag against Heero; he was a reassuring weight against his chest. The brash young man didn’t look so tough anymore. The profile Heero could barely distinguish in the dark appeared softened. The soldier wasn’t fooled though; he could still feel the more than adequate muscles tightening and relaxing in turn with each tremor still shaking the deceptively lean frame. It was a moment stolen from time and Heero felt like reality would ascertain itself again all too soon.
Duo stilled suddenly as if he had heard Heero’s disheartening thoughts. The soldier sighed but loosened his embrace. The following curse was loud in the silence and Heero startled a bit.
“Bloody Hell! I’m gonna kill the bastard this time!”
Heero thought it prudent to take a few steps back, just in case and tried to reason with the man. “Now, that’s a little over the top… you could have stopped me at any time…”
Duo silenced him with a vague gesture without diverting his attention from a point far away in front of him. “Not you moron! Him!” he said while pointing a finger toward a vague shape which was barely distinguishable from the surrounding darkness on the horizon.
Intrigued, Heero took a chance and came near Duo again, squinting in the darkness in the hope to see what the other was seeing. Whatever it was, it was too far away for him to see. In spite of his own average eyesight, he still found himself limited when in nearly complete darkness. Shinigami obviously had no such limitations, if he was able to identify the vague shape that was coming their way.
“Is it a ship?”
Duo nodded. “Yes… I have to go wake the crew. There’s going to be a battle before the night is over.”
He was already moving toward the rope ladder when Heero stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. “How do you know if they are friends or foes? The ship’s too far away still to know who it is.”
“I know. I’d recognize that ship anywhere. Now let me go before I lose my patience.” Duo then shrugged his hand off and started to climb down with urgency. However, just before his head disappeared in the darkness below, he stopped and stared up at Heero with an unidentifiable emotion. After a while he nodded to himself. “Do not worry: there shouldn’t be any conflict of interest where you’re concerned. It’s not a ship from Sank and you wouldn’t like that particular Captain anyhow.” He hesitated for a moment before adding: “If you want to make yourself useful, keep looking on the horizon so we’ll know how much time we have before he gets here. I’ll call you if I need you for something else.”
Then he was gone.