Zen Pizza, Gundam Wing, Heero/Duo, for stagesoflove
Title: Zen Pizza
Author: Ellie Biel
Fandom: Gundam Wing
Characters/pairing: Duo Maxwell/Heero Yuy
Warnings: AU, innuendo, humor *hides*
Rating: PG13
Notes: Written for stagesoflove, Round 2, Stage 2: Romance
Part 1: Wrong Number
"Interesting."
Duo was only half paying attention to Quatre and their lunch. He was far too busy trying to check out what the guy sliding pizzas into the brick oven in the back looked like.
He'd been a little crestfallen when they first got there, because the freckle-faced kid who took their order, while reasonably attractive in his own right, if too young and not at all Duo's type, was so different from what he'd pictured on the phone, that he'd nearly forgotten to mention the discount.
He ignored the amused looks Quatre gave him when the kid turned around and yelled over his shoulder "Heero! Your special Meat Lover's is up!"
Quatre disguised his snickering with a cough but Duo felt his face heat up as he pulled the money out of his pocket and slid it across the counter, mumbling "keep it" and heading over to the table with their sodas and leaving it up to Quatre to get the straws and napkins.
Duo had no trouble getting up and picking up the pizza when it was ready, but it was Quatre and his bottomless stomach who was already opening the box before Duo's ass had even touched his seat.
Quatre turned the box to the side so Duo could reach in and grab a slice of pizza as well, and gestured to the toppings.
"If this one had anchovies on it I'd think it might be for Pisces, but I guess this is more of a Zen pizza." Quatre wasted no time in pulling the slice out, leaving half the cheese in the box but looking completely unconcerned.
Out of the corner of his eye, Duo saw the kid pull his cell phone out of his pocket and leave the cash register to head toward the rest room, and he hoped Quatre was still fascinated with their pizza because he saw someone move away from the ovens to lean against the wall, cross his ankles and his arms, and look directly at them.
"Cheese," Duo said. "We can't have pizza without Parmesan cheese."
"And red pepper!" Quatre called after him, even though he was already reaching for a second slice.
"Heero?"
"In the flesh," the dark-haired man replied, and Duo felt his insides clench a little at the heated gaze.
Heero looked even better than Duo had imagined from just his voice, and he was surprised he wasn't melting into a puddle on the floor. Duo picked up the glass shaker of cheese and began rolling it between his hands.
"I'm Duo. Thanks for the discount."
"My pleasure," Heero replied, and Duo would swear he could feel the heat from the ovens even from here. "How are you enjoying your meal?"
The corners of Heero's mouth were curved up ever so slightly, and Duo hoped it wasn't amusement at his expense.
"It's good. Well, I've not actually eaten any yet," he said, the ridges on the glass shaker clicking against his class ring as he rolled it faster. Now he was sure Heero was smirking at him, and his face flooded with color as he realized Heero was looking right at his hands and the way he was handling the cheese. He stopped immediately and put it back on the counter, although his first instinct had been to hide it behind his back.
"You should," Heero said. The phone rang and Heero looked toward the rest rooms, looking a bit put out that there was no sign of the redhead. He reached for the phone, but before he answered it, told Duo, "And if you like it, come back again soon."
Duo nearly forgot to take the cheese and the red pepper, because Heero had stressed one of those words enough to know that the innuendo was completely intentional.
"It's good," Quatre said, and there were three pizza crusts sitting on his plate now.
"How can you eat it without the cheese?" The center of the box still had a good portion of the cheese where it had slid off each and every slice Quatre had removed from the box.
"It's still warm," Quatre shrugged. "It tastes good eating it just like this, too," and to demonstrate he pulled up some of the mozzarella, finally disturbing the artfully arranged bits of sausage.
Duo had been so nervous about finding out what Heero looked like, he'd not really paid much attention to Quatre's Zen pizza comment, but he did now, and he couldn't help grinning as he took his own slice of pizza from the box.
He'd let Quatre believe in his Zen pizza theory, but Duo knew it wasn't a yin-yang symbol. He saw the kid take his time heading back behind the counter and Heero looked over to meet Duo's gaze before going to the bake to remove the pizza he'd put in earlier.
Duo was almost too nervous to eat, but he picked a piece of sausage out of Quatre's cheese pile and popped it into his mouth, daring to wink at Heero and receiving another smirk and a nod in return.
Duo wasn't sure whether the slice he had was part of the six or part of the nine, but it didn't matter. As Heero had said earlier that day, it was right where it belonged.