Ante Up, GW
Title: Ante Up
Author: elsie21
Fandom: Gundam Wing
Characters/pairing: Heero Yuy, implied past 1+2
Notes: Continuation of a series that wasn't meant to be a series. This part was originally planned for gw500's prompt 106: please, but I procrastinate like whoa
Warnings: AU
Word count: 610
Part 1: To Cut Off One's Nose
Part 2: Yellow
Part 3: Belgian Waffles
Part 4: Frozen
It was true, what they said, about time healing all wounds, because it did get easier. That wasn't to say that there weren't still times when he'd find himself listening for the sound of the shower when he first blinked open his eyes in the morning or smiling wistfully when a certain song came on the radio, but he'd made his choice and it wouldn't be fair to either of them if he spent too much time dwelling on past mistakes. Learn from them, move on, and find happiness in life's simple pleasures - that was a good motto to live by and it had served him as well as could be expected.
Heero had known that the day he'd run into Duo at the supermarket, because although his heart had skipped a beat, he'd found himself thinking of the good times they'd shared rather than the bitterness of the last time they were together. It had been a moment of epiphany for him, that he'd gotten to that point without even noticing, and he'd gone back to an aisle he'd visited previously just to pick out the makings of one of Duo's favorite suppers. He'd prepared and eaten it that night, alone, just to prove to himself that he could.
He'd been feeling restless lately, though, dissatisfied with his job, and had thought of finding a second one, part time or on weekends, just to meet and mingle with other people. The main flaw in that plan was that the places that offered shifts that fit his schedule tended to be staffed by teenagers, most of them still in high school, and he'd decided that he'd have much better luck visiting a pub during one of the big games where he'd find people closer to his own age.
He'd tried that once and decided that rowdy groups of heavy drinkers did more to interfere with his enjoyment of the game than enhance it, and he'd found instead that playing online poker and chatting with strangers on the internet provided a welcome distraction, one he could walk away from and pick back up whenever he felt like it.
The last thing he'd expected was to run into Duo there.
The screen name was unmistakably Duo's, but it was the joking tone he used when he'd win a hand and the habit he had of making the most innocent comments seem like innuendo, while completely ignoring the more obvious ones, that really convinced Heero, and he'd taken it upon himself to send a private message outside of the tournament. It was only fair that Duo know he was there. That was the one and only time they'd communicated.
Until now.
Heero told himself it was a bad idea. He'd come this far, and to meet Duo again, deliberately, to talk things over, could only end in angry words and hurt feelings. He wanted the best for Duo, but he wanted the same for himself, and he wasn't sure that this meeting would benefit either one of them. He looked at the message again and sighed. There was no question about it, he was going to cave. Duo had always known how to get Heero to do what he wanted, but he'd always saved it for when something was important to him.
He tried to glower at the screen, but his eyes fell unerringly to the one thing guaranteed to make him throw caution to the wind and agree. Heero really hoped he wasn't going to be sorry.
I'd like to see you. There's a lot of things we need to talk about, to clear the air. Please say yes, Heero.
Part 6: Moon Jellies