1x2x5 Complication (still uncomplete)
All of it so far...
(no italics where there should be because 'm that lazy)
Complication
author: Asuka Kureru
fandom: Gundam Wing
pairing: 5x1, 5x1x2
rating: R
genre: Uh. romance ? Not quite...
warnings: Unabashed blanket fic, take two.
SEQUEL to "Distraction", posted on my site and my ff.net page. Distraction was, basically, the classical mountain blanket scenario, starring Wufei, Heero, one bed, and kissies. This one has graduated to Wufei, Heero, Duo, the beach, and hopefully, heavy petting.
beta: none yet
If you haven't read Distraction and don't want to because you don't like 5x1, you just need to know that Wufei was questioning his sexuality and needed someone to test on; Heero agreed to kiss, because there was nothing else to do and he was curious, and in the end found it a nice pastime. That's about it.
Heero had wanted to sleep in his Gundam, but Duo insisted he joined them on the little beach. Something about how he should take advantage of the occasion to sleep under the stars instead of locking himself in. Duo was a Space baby, like him, so Heero really didn't understand how he could feel perfectly safe sleeping without a protective structure around him, but he wasn't about to let Duo believe that he couldn't get past his hang-ups.
Duo had made a tent on the sand, with five branches to support a camo net. Heero couldn't imagine a construction less likely to offer any sort of protection. At least it was probably too high between the cliffs to be reached by the tide.
Wufei was kneeling a few feet away from the tent, tending to a small fire. Heero scowled, even though it was very unlikely that anyone would see it, because of the way the cove turned on itself, hiding the sea from immediate view. No surveillance route passed directly overhead. No one would discover the Gundams, hidden in the cave behind them. And Wufei looked different in the firelight. Warmer. Softer around the edges. Heero decided to be lenient and not nag about how the fire could make them get noticed.
He'd seen Wufei a few times since that night in the mountain cabin. The first time, nothing had happened, business as usual. Heero had felt a little weird, but he'd managed not to let it show. If Wufei could be professional after that, then so could he.
The second time, Wufei had leaned over the maps and kissed him, then had kept on listing the ammo he could trade with him. Heero could have believed that he'd dreamed it, except Wufei wouldn't look at him in the eye, and left without mentioning either incident again.
The third time, they bumped into each other on the gangway their cockpits opened on as they exited their Gundams, and he quickly pushed Wufei back against Shenlong and kissed him, because it wasn't fair that Wufei could get kisses when he wanted to and not be available when Heero wanted some. And then there was another alarm when their base was discovered and they had to go back in the Gundams and fight again, then go their separate ways.
Now it was the fourth time, but Duo was there and unless they hid in the cave, there was nowhere to be alone together, and trying that would be suspicious. Heero strongly doubted that Wufei would want to kiss him while Duo -- or anyone else, really -- was watching. Duo would probably tease them; he teased everyone. He didn't mind, because Duo never minded when Heero felt like being sarcastic, but he knew that Duo and Wufei argued often, about everything and anything, and he didn't want to give them another pretext.
Or maybe Duo would be angry, or disgusted, but he didn't think so. He was open-minded enough.
He went to the fire and sat, not quite at Wufei's side, but not to the other side either, just barely in reach. Duo was sitting a few feet away, on a rock, wringing the end of his hair, braid half-undone. His pants were rolled up to his knees and wet up to mid-thigh, and there was sand stuck to the soles of his feet. He was chewing on a hair band. Heero glanced at Wufei's face, wondering what he was thinking about.
Wufei was watching Duo. Discretely; Heero was pretty sure Duo hadn't noticed. But still; he was watching him from the corner of his eyes, black pupils and black irises shadowed by black, long eyelashes that Heero remembered feeling against his cheeks. And he wasn't saying anything, as Duo hummed a song under his breath that had the same rhythm as the waves.
Heero felt weird. It wasn't usual to have Wufei and Duo in the same place and no noise. Contrary to what everyone seemed to think, Duo could be quiet, but not around Wufei. Because from time to time he would share his thoughts, and even as interesting or valuable as they were, Wufei invariably ended up sneering at him, and then they started bickering.
Wufei, too, should be making noise. Sharpening his sword, or taking care of his weapons, or even just turning the pages of one of his books -- but there was nothing. They were sitting apart, clearly engrossed in different occupations.
And Wufei was watching Duo, and he didn't know why.
"Anything to eat?"
For some reason, Heero's voice kept low, mild tones, barely more than a whisper, as if unwilling to break the quiet and peace. It made Wufei blink, repress a start. Duo looked at him, and smiled, as if just noticing him.
"Yeah, there's pizza and Japanese takeout in here," he replied as he pushed away from the rock and went back to the tent. "And I buried soda cans in here to keep 'em fresh--ahh, there they are."
He threw a can at Heero, dropped one at Wufei's side and went to sit on the other side of the fire from them. Food started circulating.
"Pizza and Japanese. Wasn't there anything else?" Wufei finally commented, but it sounded more like habitual gripping than real annoyance.
Duo rolled his eyes at him and chomped on his pizza slice vigorously. "Next time you can go. There was a Korean-Cantonese restaurant, but I like Japanese better."
"... No doubt," Wufei replied coldly.
Heero glanced from one to the other one and wondered why it sounded like they weren't talking about food any longer.
He didn't try talking anymore, he was a little tired from the flight and didn't feel like trying to understand the undercurrents of the situation. He finished eating, watched Wufei as he took the empty carton containers and burned them, then carried the plastic stuff back to his Gundam. Wufei's feet were bare too, Heero noticed, and for some reason that pleased him.
Lying on his side, eyes half-closed, Duo appeared content to be listening to the waves and the few birds still flying. Or were they birds? Heero flopped down on his back, looking up at the darkening sky. The clouds were really weird colors, like dark purple and reddish. The clouds on L1 -- when they managed to tweak the dampness of the atmosphere so that it coalesced but didn't rain quite yet -- were always white. And, now that he thought about it, sort of fake-looking. Foggy. Probably the lack of any real wind and altitude. And the dark birds were making high-pitched noises and had really angular trajectories. He wondered what species they were and what they looked like when they landed.
"Bats," Duo offered quietly as he rolled on his other side to be a little closer to him. "They never hit each other. Kind of cool."
"Echolocation," he replied as he narrowed his eyes to try to catch the shape of their wings.
"Hm?"
"That's what the little chirps are. They don't see, they hear. If these are bats."
"What else could they be?" Duo asked. He sounded lazy, sleepy.
"I don't have a degree in seaside biology," Heero replied dryly. Duo laughed. It wasn't the loud, raucous laughter for show, it was a more... a realer one.
He was burying his hands in the sand, then letting it slide through his fingers. Heero imitated him once, just to see. The sand was surprisingly cold underneath. Some of it was getting into his tanktop through the arm holes, but he didn't try to get it out. It was bound to happen eventually.
"It's damn cold by the sea... When I think sea, I think people in swimwear playing beach ball, not roll-in-blanket-and-shiver cold."
"I think that's the purpose of the fire," he replied, amused, and turned to look at Duo.
"Ooooh. Makes sense now." Duo was on his back at his side, not even an arm's length away, and the fire was making shadows and orange-gold lights dance on his skin and hair. He didn't look like himself.
He was looking at Heero.
"Hey...?"
"Hm?"
Seeing the weird, unusual expression on his face, Heero had a fleeting feeling that Duo was about to lean over and kiss him. But he didn't, he just watched him. Heero berated himself. He must have kissing on the brain, really. Not all guys liked to kiss guys, even Colonials, who were culturally more tolerant of social and sexual differences. And while he wondered if it would be different with Duo, he didn't think that it would be quite right to go through with actual testing. Wufei might be jealous, even if so far they didn't have what one would call a relationship.
Duo was pouring cold sand on his forearm. Heero twitched, surprised.
"Stop moving, I'm trying to draw something."
... huh. "You're crazy, Maxwell," Heero sighed as he watched Duo amuse himself.
"Saw people do it on TV. It's one of the rules of the beach. Must throw each other in the water -- but it's a little cold and we have no towels so I figured it would be a no, must either cover each other in sunscreen or get lobster-sunburn -- but then it's kind of night now, must build sand castles -- did that earlier but it was butt-ugly and the tide ate it anyway, and I suppose you won't let me bury you from neck to feet in the sand...? Ahh, you're not fun."
"You've trained him well, I see," Wufei commented. He looked down at them, standing between the fire and the cave, arms crossed. "Barely one look to get your point across. I wonder if you could give lessons." The sarcasm was so thick even Heero could have choked on it.
He wondered why he felt guilty suddenly. There was no reason.
"D'you have a crab up your ass or what? If I was you I'd try trout, they feel a lot better when they wriggle."
"This from someone who tested it? For your information, Maxwell, there are no trout in the sea."
Duo sat up, rolling his eyes. "What do I look like, a seaside biologist?"
Recognizing his earlier reply, Heero couldn't help but chuckle. Wufei spared him a look that was half annoyance and half disappointment. He arched an eyebrow in reply. He wasn't about to be pulled in the middle of their little contest.
Getting up smoothly, Duo threw his braid over his shoulder and gave Wufei a look that Heero interpreted as arrogant and mildly contemptuous, and then Wufei seemed to stop existing in his world. He gave the seat of his pants a few smacks to get the sand off and turned away. "Need to piss. Someone kill the fire, it's about time to sleep." And with that, he turned away and strode off, still-damp braid swinging behind him.
Since Wufei seemed busy with glaring at his back, Heero rolled on hands and knees and went to the fire, burying it. The sand was a lot warmer around the flames, almost enough to burn, and it made him shiver as he fully realized the contrast with the rest of the beach. He smothered the last of the embers with a pinch of regret, and waited for his eyes to get used to the darkness.
Not for very long, though, as Wufei chose that moment to grab his shoulder, turn him around, and kiss him silly.
Startled by the intensity -- hell, the sheer aggressiveness -- contained in that kiss, he almost fell over, which wouldn't have been very bright as his back was still to the fire. Wufei's hand closed on the nape of his neck before it could happen, reeling him in as he kept exploring his mouth. Wufei sat on his heels, one of his knees resting in the sand between Heero's thighs as he leaned over him, forcing his head to tilt back.
On one hand, it felt sort of nice, even despite the bruising force the kiss was pushed onto him with. On the other hand, he had to keep a tight leash on his sudden desire to bite.
Oh, and why the hell not? Wufei wasn't repressing anything.
Wufei muffled a yelp when he felt his teeth, and briefly let go of his neck. Heero's heel caught Wufei's ankle and he tugged, pushing his shoulder back with his elbow. Two seconds later, Wufei was on his back in the sand and Heero was sitting on his hips, hands on his shoulders to keep him down. He didn't try to grab his wrists; it would have turned into a real fight then and he trusted Wufei not to hit him seriously.
He admired what he could see of Wufei in the dark. It was more than what he had expected -- apparently the cliffs and the sea reflected a surprising amount of starlight. It was in all cases enough to recognize the nasty glare sent his way. He smirked and leaned down, kissing him almost as hard as he'd just been kissed. Wufei groaned, arched under him. He felt a warm bump poke him through Wufei's pants and his shorts and tried not to smirk too wide. Now he fully appreciated the gun in pocket reference.
Wufei growled, and his hands closed on the hair at the back of his head, forcing him to meet his lips. Somehow, Heero didn't mind. It was different from the careful exploration back at the cabin, but the fire, the challenge, they were all Wufei. He thought he liked them better when they were unbridled, though maybe it was a good thing that Wufei hadn't gone all out like that the last time, because he would probably have been put off.
There was something moving in the darkness, at the edge of his vision, and he sat up, checking that it was indeed Duo. Wufei nudged him insistently, and he moved away, letting him get up and make his escape. Of course, Wufei didn't run, or even move too fast, but he made damn sure that by the time Duo could see their shapes more clearly, he was nowhere in immediate reach. Heero didn't know if he should feel annoyed at that. But then, he didn't think it was such an unreasonable request to keep their -- no, not their relationship, they didn't have anything like that -- their experiments quiet. It was just that, well, Wufei hadn't exactly requested. Not out loud at least.
Heero wondered if Wufei was ashamed, had issues with his sexuality. It was probable, especially seeing the way his discovery of his attraction toward males had unsettled and disconcerted him. Or maybe the problem was just that he didn't like Duo enough to share something he saw as personal information.
"Didja get your sleeping bag out of Wing?" Duo asked him as he stopped by and gave him a hand up.
"Yes, it's at the foot of the cliff," he replied, pointing with the hand Duo hadn't used to haul him up. Seeing as that hand was still held, and quite firmly too.
Duo's bangs were shadowing his eyes, and it was too dark to hope to see his expression. "Better get it quick, then. Your hands are cold. But then, seeing what you wear..."
Now the once-over, he noticed.
"I'm not cold," he lied. He wasn't. Not a lot at least. He didn't want to admit that he'd misjudged the temperature drop on the beach, though.
"Better get into your sleeping bag quick, anyway," Duo replied with a smile that he saw even in the darkness, and let go of his hand.
Heero decided not to comment. He was almost positive that such a contact shouldn't last as long, but Duo was weird at most time and he wasn't sure he minded, really. He nodded, and went to get his sleeping bag.
From the corner of his eye, he could see the vague Duo-shape going to where the makeshift tent was supposed to be. Wufei and him were talking, but he couldn't hear what they were saying. He shouldered his bag and joined them.
"--fall on our heads--"
"Not unless you kick one of the supports down--"
"It won't protect us of anything, be it rain or infrared sensors--"
"It's not gonna rain, and what would soldiers care for three kids camping on a beach? They're not the cops or the beach patrol, it ain't their problem!"
Sighing in annoyance, he dumped his sleeping bag on the sand between them.
"If it rains, we'll move," he cut them. "Now, bed, both of you."
Duo knelt on the sand and spread his sleeping bag, turning his back on them stiffly. Wufei leaned close enough to Heero that he could see the glare and hissed at him.
"Don't presume--"
Heero grabbed his ass.
He couldn't have said why he'd done that. He'd needed a way to cut off Wufei's rant before it gained momentum, but there were other ways to put him off balance. But the first that came to him was to reach out, fit his palm around the curve of one muscled buttock, and give a good squeeze.
At least it worked, but when he sat on his heels to spread his own sleeping bag beside Duo's, Wufei was still frozen in place and Heero was starting to worry that he'd get murdered during the night.
He heard Duo swallow a snicker and elbowed him in the ribs. If he started to laugh, they would be lucky to wake up in one piece in the morning.
Finally, Wufei growled himself out of his frozen state and crawled under the tent with them. Moving over to make some space, Heero shook the sand off himself, threw his shoes in a corner, then very carefully squirmed inside his sleeping bag. There was some bare sand left on both sides of his place, but not a lot. He didn't really like being boxed in either. But if he wasn't in the middle, they'd probably spend the night bickering.
It was a very good sleeping bag. Better than what he'd had when he was traveling with Odin. It even had a sort of hood. Laying down, he squirmed a little to settle the sand under him comfortably, pulled his tanktop off to make himself a pillow, and looked up.
The camo net was full of so many holes that he didn't have the feeling he was missing even one star. But then, there were lots of stars in this season. He tried to recognize the constellations, but the only ones he'd ever learned were the ones that were useful for navigation. Around him, the sounds of breathing were slowing down, and behind, he could hear the sea against the cliff, rolling and breaking and rolling again...
As he was about to fall asleep, a hand slipped through the open zipper of his sleeping bag, mapping his chest roughly. Heero tried not to jump or yelp, but it was hard. The zipper of his sleeping bag was tugged down slowly, silently, and the hand continued its travels.
Wufei's palm was rough from handling guns and swords and Gundam controls, and Heero had to bite his lip when it rubbed against his nipple in little circles, making it stiffen. Then the same treatment was applied to his other nipple as he tried to keep from moving.
It was hard to stay on his back; he wanted to roll over to face Wufei, but he didn't want Duo to wake up and wonder what was going on. He had a feeling things wouldn't go well. Duo would be either embarrassed or angry, Wufei would be... the same, though not for the same reasons, and Heero wouldn't get felt up. This would be bad.
Wufei's hand was now following the edge of his ribcage, testing his abdominal muscles. Heero shivered when Wufei's fingertips found his bellybutton, and reached out. Wufei was on his side, facing him. Heero wasn't at a good angle to use the inside of his hand, so he used the back, letting his knuckles caress Wufei's cheek, run down his chest, rub his side gently. They hadn't done that before, they'd never touched each other so freely. He was a little miffed that Wufei got to touch his bare upper body and he had to feel his shape through his shirt and the thick sleeping bag. To avenge himself, he ran the back of his hand quickly over Wufei's groin and let his fingers unfold against the dip his thighs made where they touched. Wufei's fingers clenched slightly, digging into his muscles, but Heero didn't mind because that meant he was affecting him. He let his hand rest where it was, his wrist just barely brushing against the suspicious bulge in the material and his fingers rubbing innocently against Wufei's inner thighs.
The hand on Heero's stomach slipped down, and before he could fully realize what was going to happen, questing fingers had pushed under the waistband of his shorts and were feeling down his penis. He bit down on his free hand to muffle his little moan/groan of pleasure, his own hand pressing more snugly against the bulge. He felt Wufei squirm a little, heard his sleeping bag's zipper being lowered, and didn't lose any time slipping his hand in.
Wufei's pants were annoying, especially since he couldn't figure out how they closed, and he ended up rubbing and fondling him a lot through them -- at least they were thin -- as he tried to find a solution that wouldn't involve Wufei being angry because he'd ruined them. Finally he found the drawstrings and freed them.
No underwear. Well, he decided after a second of shock, he didn't mind. He didn't wear any either, though it mostly was because spandex shorts and underwear could be considered a bit redundant. In Wufei's large, floaty pants, it made for easy access.
Wufei's cock was a little different from his, more veins, less hair, a little thicker, but certainly not enough to prevent him from figuring out what to do with it. Even though the hand on his own groin was making it difficult to concentrate -- hell, it was almost impossible to settle on a rhythm. Heero closed his eyes, trying to keep his hips still. He could feel warm breath in his neck and it almost made him whimper, but he remembered that Duo was there in time to smother the sound.
There was a rustle of fabric on his other side as Duo moved sleepily, and they both froze. Heero stopped breathing, feeling Wufei's erection twitch in his hand and the tension in his body. He understood the reaction. Objectively, there was nothing so terrible that Duo could do if he woke up and caught them, but somehow, having to keep perfectly quiet less they were discovered was... intriguing. Exciting.
Duo settled down on his side, back to them, and Wufei let out a long, warm breath, incidentally on Heero's ear and neck. Heero shivered. This felt nice. He tightened his hold, and was rewarded by Wufei's thumb rubbing against his head. They started pumping each other's erection, with a little more urgency behind the gestures. No more time for careful explorations. Heero wanted to come. From the way Wufei was handling him, he wanted the same.
A short minute later, he got his wish. By some miracle he didn't make any sound-- but then it was probably that he'd stopped breathing. He realized that his back had arched off the sand and relaxed, shivering when Wufei's hand brushed against his stomach then left his sleeping bag. He was a little cold now.
Wufei was still hard in his fist, and for some reason he felt bad. Wufei's hands closed around his, speeding up his motion. The back of Heero's hand was wet now from Wufei's touch, but Heero didn't mind so much because it was from his semen. And a few seconds later, his palm and his inner wrist were wet too, a warm, kind of thick wetness that slid slowly on his skin. He listened to Wufei's slowing breath and abandoned his hand to him when his -- teammate? friend? lover? -- started cleaning it gently. Next time he slept beside Wufei, he noted absently for himself, he would think of keeping Kleenex in reach too. He closed his eyes, letting Wufei wipe his hand and wrist clean with slow, precise gestures. Heero couldn't call the way he patted his skin dry and unfolded his fingers tender, only careful at the most, and yet, coming from Wufei, somehow it made him want to smile in a way even the hand down his pants couldn't have provoked.
+
Heero woke up when a seagull started calling overhead. On his right, Wufei's sleeping bag was rolled neatly, the place it had occupied empty. On his left, Duo was groaning. He turned on his side vigorously, apparently trying to bury himself in his sleeping bag to smother the screeching, and ended up headbutting Heero's biceps.
"Ow," he informed Duo in a mild tone.
"Huh?" Duo looked up, blinking owlishly. There was sand on his cheek and temple, close enough to get in his eye. Heero flicked it away quickly because Duo was still too sleepy to realize and had a habit of rubbing at his face when he woke up, and Heero didn't feel like using up half his bottle of drinking water to rinse it out.
"Uh."
"Sand. There."
"Oh. Thanks."
Duo was not witty in the morning. But the seagull seemed to want to compensate. And its voice was a lot louder and shriller. No way to go back to sleep now.
"Stupid bird," growled Duo as he sat up, predictably rubbing his face with the heels of both hands. "Sunrise yet?"
Heero looked at the sky through the net, since he couldn't see the horizon from here. "Not yet. Soon."
Duo started stretching, arms over his head, then arching his back like a cat. "Wanted to see the sunrise over the sea. Just need to go over the cliff-- ahh. Crap."
Heero looked, and noticed that the tide had come in. The waves were now lapping at the dune on which they'd lit their campfire. The reefs were all under the water. There would be a few ways out if Duo felt like scaling the cliffs, but if he'd counted on just walking out of the cove through the shallow water, he was out of luck.
"You can swim here and climb there," he commented, pointing a path to Duo that would bring him quickly to flatter ground.
Duo grinned at him as he squirmed out of his sleeping bag. "Hey, good idea. Want to come with? Come on, it'll be real neat, I bet you've never bothered watching a sunrise since you came on Earth." Well... Duo was right, he hadn't. But -- "And I know and you know that we can't do anything until we receive the spare parts and that won't be before this afternoon at the soonest. So you have nothing better to do than come with me."
Heero sighed. Duo would not take no for an answer. He didn't see what was so fascinating about sunrises -- now sunsets sometimes had interesting, reddish colors, and he would enjoy them on the side if he happened to be out when they happened, but sunrises were clearer, colder -- oh, whatever. Unless Wufei needed him for something, he really had nothing better to do.
"Ah-- fine, if only to make sure you won't fall and drown."
He followed Duo out of the tent and, straightening up, looked around for their teammate. At first, he didn't see him, and supposed that he was in the cave with his Gundam, and then he turned around and caught a glimmer in the shadows of the cliff. Wufei was sitting there, a dozen meters away, sitting cross-legged in the sand with his hands on his knees, and Heero would have assumed that he was meditating, except that he was watching them.
Heero had never been very good at reading moods, but Wufei's were usually easy because they were more often than not holding a part of anger or passion. But right now, he was entirely unreadable. Heero chanced a greeting nod anyway, but was only met by a faint worsening of the ever-present frown, and the black eyes didn't warm up any.
"Yo, Wu! We're gonna climb over that. Be back in twenty minutes or so."
Wufei didn't answer, only scowled more and closed his eyes, dismissing them. Duo shrugged and started toward the edge of the water.
"Better leave your shoes, 'Ro," he advised when he noticed Heero picking them up. "If we're gonna swim, they'll be a pain to move with and they'll take ages to dry."
Heero eyed the edges of the rocks warily, but didn't comment. If he cut his feet on shells or sharp bits of stone, he'd heal. The biggest danger they would face there was falling and breaking a leg, and having shoes or not wouldn't change that.
The water was cold, but not unbearably so. He waded after Duo, watching where he stubbed his toes on underground rocks to avoid treacherous ground. Catching on to what he was doing, Duo splashed water at him, but he was laughing at the same time, so Heero only smirked smugly back and kept following.
"You're an opportunistic little shit," Duo commented after he had to stumble twice into holes. He'd had to get wet up to his chest before he could find a correct route.
"As if you didn't know," Heero replied dryly. He'd taken off with Deathscythe's parts after all.
"I had forgiven you! But you chose to persist in your evil ways -- whoa!"
Heero tried not to react for all of two seconds, then let his smirk bloom. That little dance with gravity had been quite entertaining.
"See if you laugh when it's your turn to walk on something! I don't even know what that was, but it was squishy, yuck..."
Duo kicked at the seaweed around his legs to clear his path a little and stomped off -- as well as you could stomp waist-deep in water -- toward the little ledge on the cliff. Heero cautiously stayed out of range as Duo started to climb, but as he didn't seem to be annoyed any longer, he followed.
That had been a bad idea, seeing as the first thing Duo did when Heero had his hands on the ledge and his body finally out of the water was to plant a dripping, bare foot quite solidly in the middle of his chest and push.
"That's for being dryer than me, you bastard!"
Trying to keep a hold of the cliff or Duo's foot would have ended up with lots of shred skin, so he let go, falling back in the water with a loud splash. Duo was laughing when he resurfaced. He'd have to dunk him when he got the chance, the cheeky brat was still relatively dry from his shoulders up. But for now, he accepted the hand Duo gave him as a peace offering... if only because Duo was braced quite solidly with the rest of his body and he couldn't pull him down. Revenge would wait for the next occasion.
They made their way along the ledge and finally arrived face to the sea. The sun was just rising. Duo found a place to sit, on a tuft of grass, and admired the scenery. Heero sat on his heels as he kept a wary eye on their surroundings. He was already bored.
"Hey, Heero..."
Duo was still watching the horizon, a hand over his eyes to protect it from the direct light of the sun. His braid was dripping, and he wrung it absently. It reminded Heero that his own bangs were dripping in his eyes. He pushed them back with both hands, and blinked when he noticed Duo staring at him.
"... What?"
"Uh--nothing. You just look different when you don't have your bangs hanging in your face."
Heero snorted. "I'll keep that in mind next time I want to go incognito. That wasn't what you were going to say," he added, watching him curiously.
Duo looked out of balance for a few seconds. "... It's... Kinda girly, isn't it?" he finally asked with a little laugh.
"What is?"
"All that crap about how sunrises over the sea are so beautiful. Sure, we don't have that up there, but it's not all that more special than seeing it on a screen."
"It's real here. Witnessing the birth of a new day. That makes it special."
"Sounds like something a chick would say."
"Repeat that and you'll end up feeding the crabs," Heero threatened calmly. "Speaking of crabs, is there a specific reason why Wufei is so hostile around you, or is it just a personality conflict?"
Apparently he'd caught Duo by surprise. Duo stared at him, frowning in confusion. "How d'you get from crabs to Wufei?"
"You were the one who said he had one up his ass yesterday."
That got a good, loud guffaw out of Duo. "Right, I forgot. Ehh, I dunno. Right from the start he's been nagging 'bout little things, and that kinda annoys me... But we can fight side by side just fine!" he added quickly, grimacing.
"I know. It's just that recently it's been getting worse. And I don't like being caught between you two."
There was a funny look on Duo's face for a moment, but it passed before he could ask what it had been about. "I'm not gonna say it's not my fault, because I admit he's fun to bug, but I'm not even sure WHY I bug him so damn much. It's more like I remind him of something that really annoys him rather than like I'm really the one to piss him off. Though... I still piss him off on my own too," he added with a chuckle.
Heero frowned thoughtfully. He was aware that Wufei had a lot of issues, but the only one he could say he really knew about was the one about his sexuality. But Wufei was working through it -- or at least he had no problem getting his hands on another guy's dick, so it couldn't still be bothering him that much, right?
"Heero?"
"I'll have to ask him."
Duo cringed dramatically. "Your funerals, man. 'Kay, enough gossiping behind Wu's back, 'cause I really feel like a chick now."
Heero elbowed him. Duo's seat on the tuft of grass must not have been very solid, because he almost lost his balance trying to avoid Heero's elbow.
"Whoa! I knew it, you want to throw me down the cliff!" Duo exclaimed theatrically, still holding on to him as he straightened up.
Heero waited patiently for him to regain his footing, then gave a pointed look at his hand. It had landed on the inside of his thigh, half on his spandex and half directly on him. Duo, Heero noted absently, had a strong grip, and his touch was surprisingly warm after the cooling effect of the light sea wind on his damp skin. "... Duo. Your hand."
"Ack!!" Duo snatched his hand away quickly and leaned away, flushing. Of course, he lost his balance a second time. This time, Heero managed to grab his wrist and stabilized him.
"Are you correctly seated now? Can I let go?"
Duo gave the hand around his wrist a look Heero couldn't name anything but weird, and managed a small chuckle. "Gimme a minute." He moved on his tuft of grass, trying to find a more stable position. His knee ended up bumping Heero's, but Heero didn't protest because it gave him an additional support point. He released Duo's wrist, frowning at him thoughtfully.
"I don't have cooties, you know."
"Yeah, but you have super strength in case you get pissed that I groped you."
Heero blinked. "I thought gropes usually targeted ass or groin... or breasts, which I don't have anyway," he commented to himself.
Duo started to laugh. "Ehh-- for normal, non-wearer-of-skintight-clothes people, inner thighs are usually considered private, buddy."
"So I could deck you and you wouldn't protest? Hmm." Heero tapped his own chin with a fingertip as he gave Duo a considering look.
"Hey! It's too late now, you let your chance pass by."
There was something moving at the corner of his eye-- a small boat, far on the horizon. Heero frowned.
"Let's go back before we're seen."
Duo sighed, and gave the open sea a regretful look. "You're not fun. I like the scenery..."
"I don't see what's so interesting about it," Heero commented as he straightened up. "It's just a lot of nothing but vast, flat expanses of air and water."
"Exactly. I like it. It's like there's no limit."
Heero frowned a little more as he walked carefully down the rocks. "I don't. It's too open."
"It's wide open in Space too, and you don't have a problem with that, do you?"
"It's different. In Space, there is truly nothing. It's easy to notice dangerous incomings. Here ..."
"I'd say the nothing is pretty dangerous in itself," Duo replied drolly. "Ever seen someone who's been spaced?" he added, muttering to himself.
As a matter of fact, Heero had, but that was really not something he wanted to talk about right now, so he pretended that he hadn't heard.
They went back to the ledge and waded through the water back to the camp, shoving each other. The tide had stabilized about two meters away from their campfire, leaving the tent and the caves dry. Wufei was still sitting at the same place, but now his legs were stretched in front of him, heels digging in the sand.
"We should have kept leftovers for breakfast," Duo commented as he went to the tent to look inside his backpack.
"With a glutton like you? Not likely," Wufei commented from his place.
"Hey! We shared equally, and I didn't see you leave anything either," Duo shot back, sparing him an irritated glare before he started digging into his pack again.
Finding a cereal bar, he sat on his sleeping bag, his back to Wufei, and started chomping. He didn't look happy, so Heero decided that it meant the breakfast wouldn't be taken together. Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, he left to go to his Gundam. He had food there.
The cave was dark and damp, a small rivulet of water flowing sluggishly toward the sea in the middle. It held Wing and Shenlong, laying on their backs; Deathscythe was hidden somewhere at the bottom of the sea. He scaled the side of his Gundam, checked his instrument readings and information sources, retrieved a few cereal bars, and exited the cockpit.
He was climbing down when he heard the soft crunch of someone stepping on wet sand. Wufei was walking toward Shenlong. Or was pretending to, because the second he was out of sight from the beach, he changed his path to go straight to Heero. Heero waited, standing by his Gundam as he watched Wufei stalk toward him. He looked -- maybe not quite angry, but determined. Heero didn't want to look wary by stepping away from his Gundam to avoid being trapped, though, so he stayed just where he was.
Besides, he had a feeling he was about to either get chewed out thoroughly, or get kissed silly. And as Wufei's hands slapped on the metal on both sides of his head, Heero decided that it was probably the second.
It was. It was a very thorough kiss, with full body contact -- chest to chest, thighs pressing against his, stomach muscles tensing against his own -- all in one quite a good kiss. It was also very good when his mouth was abandoned just so kisses could be trailed along his jaw and to this sensitive place just under his ear. But when Wufei started to bite, he pushed him back.
"Stop. You're going to mark me."
Wufei's eyes should have been red, Heero thought, to reflect how strongly they burned. "Do you object?"
"We have to talk first, before I allow it." He gave Wufei a stern look, waiting for him to become more reasonable.
"What do we have to talk about?" Wufei asked belligerently. Heero gave him a tired, borderline annoyed look.
"Why do you want to mark me?"
Wufei blinked, opened his mouth to answer, hesitated. It made Heero want to kiss him again, but he didn't appreciate being targeted every time Wufei needed to unwind.
"Because..."
"You know Duo is going to notice," he commented blankly. He didn't have anything to wear in this heat that would cover his neck and collarbone.
Wufei flinched slightly, then scowled, trying to hide his first reaction. But Heero kept staring, and after a few seconds, Wufei looked away.
"... I see. You WANT him to notice."
A flinch, again, Wufei's weight leaning back just so slightly.
"I'm not sure you have a right to stake your claim right now," Heero commented calmly, though he was starting to feel anything but. "I'm not even sure you know what you want, apart from throwing whatever there is between us in Duo's face."
"I don't want that!!" Wufei protested angrily.
Heero looked at him, not saying anything.
"... I don't -- or maybe," Wufei finally recognized, "maybe I do. I ... apologize." He looked as if he'd just bit into a lemon. "He... irritates me."
"Why does he irritate you?"
"Why doesn't he irritate YOU?" Wufei shot back, still defensive.
"He does, sometimes. But then right now, you're also irritating me quite a lot."
Wufei seemed ready to pull away, pride wounded, but Heero didn't want the discussion to end like that; he had a feeling it would mean the end of whatever it was that had started to develop between them and he didn't want that.
"Wufei."
"What?"
"I'm not your enemy here. I want to know. Don't tell me you don't need my help, you don't seem to be doing so good on your own."
Wufei's face twisted in fury, and Heero realized that maybe he'd been a bit too blunt. Usually Wufei took criticism from him well, a lot better than he took criticism from anyone else, as he'd noticed, but right now he was off balance and already irked about other things. Heero had better say something... except he didn't know what, so he ended up blurting out the first thing that came to mind.
"That night at the cabin. I let you think on your own, because that was a question you had to answer for yourself. But now, you have more questions, and you seem to be unable to sort them out. You've been more irritable than usual lately. It's... worrying."
He didn't say "I'm worried". Neither of their prides would take it well. But it was there, underneath, where they could both pretend it wasn't and save face. And it was enough to smooth Wufei's ruffled feathers, apparently.
"What's the matter?"
"... I don't know... I thought I was dealing with -- with it well, but..."
He couldn't be dealing so well if he couldn't even spell it out, Heero thought, but he would comment on it later, because it would probably make Wufei explode. "Did it change when you started being around Duo more often?"
Wufei muttered under his breath in L5-dialect Chinese, and Heero arched an eyebrow at him. "English, Japanese or Russian, if you don't mind," he shot back.
"Yes. Yes, it did. Since when are you my shrink?"
"You want to get your hands on my dick, you let me look inside your brain. I don't think I'm asking for too much here."
Wufei's cheeks flushed.
"Okay, so what exactly is your problem with Duo? In relation to the previous issue," he amended before Wufei could flood him under his recriminations.
"He's irritating."
Heero nodded patiently, though he was really starting to feel anything but. "And?"
"He's disrespectful. Loud. Ill-mannered."
"Uh-huh." Even Heero could tell that Wufei didn't believe that. It was so weird that someone usually so brutally honest would need to justify himself so much.
"... stubborn. Blunt. Sarcastic."
So was Wufei; maybe that was the origin of the conflict of personalities.
"Foolhardy... honorable."
Ha, he couldn't even twist that one.
"And this relates to your current conflict how?" he asked, still keeping his voice neutral.
"He's ... handsome."
Heero felt a weird squeeze in his chest as Wufei admitted to finding Duo attractive. "...I guess he is."
"He wants you."
"... What?"
Wufei threw him a disgusted look and started to pace, pulling himself out of Heero's suddenly lax hold. "Don't tell me you never noticed. He keeps flirting."
"... That's just the way he is," Heero defended Duo -- himself ? -- by reflex. "He flirts with everyone." Was it flirting? He hadn't seen it as flirting. But maybe it was -- Duo was really touchy-feely, but he'd assumed he was just weird -- but maybe he'd been feeling Heero up all along... and if that was the case, then Heero didn't know how he was supposed to feel about it.
Wufei shot him a dark glare. "He doesn't flirt with me."
Okay, now Heero couldn't tell if that had been a big "you don't know what you're talking about, so shut up" or a big "I'm jealous". It was still a big message, for being packed in such a short sentence.
Letting his annoyance and defensiveness reply for him would be a bad idea. So he went for the clarification route. "Do you want him to?"
Wufei kicked a rock away, in an unusual display of powerless ill temper. "... I don't know. Sometimes I want him to pay attention to me, and sometimes I want him to stop paying attention to you. And sometimes I just want him to go away."
"So you don't know who you're jealous of."
Now Wufei looked discouraged. Heero didn't like that look on him. "No, I guess I don't."
Heero didn't have anything to reply to that. He stared at his feet, half-buried in the wet sand of the cave. He felt -- weird. Lost. He could understand wanting Duo. He'd never really thought of it, but Duo was a good friend, amusing, reliable, and always patient with his weird hang-ups. And yes, rather attractive, with quite a few striking features. Heero felt rather plain compared to him. He wondered why the hell Duo seemed to like him more than Wufei; probably entirely due to a bad start between them, because he could imagine them actually getting along, somewhat.
"Oh, for the love of god, Yuy, don't tell me you're brooding!"
Heero looked up sharply, eyes narrowed in sudden anger.
"... Yuy -- Heero... Does it bother you that much? I didn't mean to -- I can't even stand him most of the time!"
Heero turned away and kicked at Wing. It was irrational, as much the action itself as the relief that actually came from it, but it was either Wing or Wufei's face.
"There's no reason for me to be bothered," he replied, because that was the logical reply. "We're not betrothed, we're not in love. We're not even really... together, whatever it means. There's no reason."
Wufei was watching him, visibly surprised, and maybe embarrassed also. "But you are anyway."
Heero sighed and rubbed at his face, deflating. "Not that much. Just frustrated."
"Do you want a promise of commitment?" Wufei asked, voice softening imperceptibly, tone slightly, weirdly formal. Heero turned to face him, surprised.
"Do you want to give it to me? If you don't, there's no point."
"I can, if you need me to. I just don't see the need. There's no one else I could -- you see."
Molest during the night? Yeah, he saw. "No need. I like what we do together, Chang, and you're a good partner and someone I trust at my back in battle, but I'm not here to find myself a boyfriend."
Wufei grimaced briefly at the word boyfriend, and Heero smirked faintly, amused by his reaction.
"What now?"
"I just -- boyfriend." Wufei shuddered slightly, upper lip curled in mild disgust. "It's -- my parents would spin around in their grave if they had one. And my grandparents... I'm sure they're considering haunting me now," he added sarcastically.
"Why, because you're --"
"Because," Wufei replied, not letting him finish his sentence, "because in case I survive the war and thus restore the honor of our clan, giving said clan children will be a lot more problematic."
"... I don't suppose you could adopt."
"No. They have to be of my blood. Now that my wife is dead -- I always thought if I survived, I would end up marrying again, as distasteful as replacing her is, but how can I do that now that I... That I..."
"Like men?" Heero guessed ; he'd had enough of Wufei dancing around the actual naming of the thing.
"It isn't because you've suddenly discovered a liking for cock that you gotta stop liking pussy, you know. You managed to get it up for her, yeah? That shouldn't change."
Wufei whirled around, aghast. Duo was standing in the shadow of the cliff, watching them. He looked neutral, even despite the crude words he'd just uttered. Heero desperately tried to guess if he'd heard more than that. They'd been talking about him after all -- would he be shocked, disgusted, angry? Heero had a feeling that even if his reaction was favorable, Wufei's wouldn't be. His feelings about Duo were still too contradictory.
"Sorry, guess it's not my business," Duo added before Wufei could lose it.
"You're right, it's not," Wufei snapped back.
"My apologies," Duo intoned in an oddly formal and sincere tone. That, to Heero's puzzlement, pretty much took the wind out of Wufei's sails. Duo was good at defusing things, surprising since it was the opposite of what he usually did.
"... How much of it did you hear?"
"Just the bit about your wife. I don't make a habit of spying on my allies."
Wufei took a deep breath and relaxed slowly.
"I was just wondering what you two were doing," Duo explained. He looked curious -- probably wondering how Wufei had come to confide in Heero -- but to his credit, he didn't ask. "So..."
"Maxwell--"
"Honestly, don't get so worked up. I know it's not my business, but so long as you can do it with a girl, you can conceive naturally. And there's always in vitro--"
"Maxwell!"
Duo fell silent.
"I thank you for your concern," Wufei said stiffly, still flustered, flushed with anger and embarrassment. "But..." For once, he seemed at a loss for words.
Duo shrugged and smirked impishly. "No problem, Fei. I know how hard it can be at first, but it comes with adolescence. See, when you get to be a certain age, your body changes, and you want things..."
"Maxwell!"
"It's all about the hormones, really -- wanna talk about it? I'm a hormones specialist."
"Is this Duoese for 'I hump everything that holds still long enough'?" Heero asked, smirking slightly.
Duo took on an 'offended innocent' expression. "Do you really think so little of me that you don't believe me good enough to hump moving objects?"
Wufei finally relaxed enough to smile, even though the expression was faint and fleeting, quickly hidden under his more usual mildly contemptuous look.
"We should go over the plans a last time," he decided, ending the conversation, and then left the cave as if the whole incident hadn't happened at all. Heero followed. The mission took precedence over everything else.
(no italics where there should be because 'm that lazy)
Complication
author: Asuka Kureru
fandom: Gundam Wing
pairing: 5x1, 5x1x2
rating: R
genre: Uh. romance ? Not quite...
warnings: Unabashed blanket fic, take two.
SEQUEL to "Distraction", posted on my site and my ff.net page. Distraction was, basically, the classical mountain blanket scenario, starring Wufei, Heero, one bed, and kissies. This one has graduated to Wufei, Heero, Duo, the beach, and hopefully, heavy petting.
beta: none yet
If you haven't read Distraction and don't want to because you don't like 5x1, you just need to know that Wufei was questioning his sexuality and needed someone to test on; Heero agreed to kiss, because there was nothing else to do and he was curious, and in the end found it a nice pastime. That's about it.
Heero had wanted to sleep in his Gundam, but Duo insisted he joined them on the little beach. Something about how he should take advantage of the occasion to sleep under the stars instead of locking himself in. Duo was a Space baby, like him, so Heero really didn't understand how he could feel perfectly safe sleeping without a protective structure around him, but he wasn't about to let Duo believe that he couldn't get past his hang-ups.
Duo had made a tent on the sand, with five branches to support a camo net. Heero couldn't imagine a construction less likely to offer any sort of protection. At least it was probably too high between the cliffs to be reached by the tide.
Wufei was kneeling a few feet away from the tent, tending to a small fire. Heero scowled, even though it was very unlikely that anyone would see it, because of the way the cove turned on itself, hiding the sea from immediate view. No surveillance route passed directly overhead. No one would discover the Gundams, hidden in the cave behind them. And Wufei looked different in the firelight. Warmer. Softer around the edges. Heero decided to be lenient and not nag about how the fire could make them get noticed.
He'd seen Wufei a few times since that night in the mountain cabin. The first time, nothing had happened, business as usual. Heero had felt a little weird, but he'd managed not to let it show. If Wufei could be professional after that, then so could he.
The second time, Wufei had leaned over the maps and kissed him, then had kept on listing the ammo he could trade with him. Heero could have believed that he'd dreamed it, except Wufei wouldn't look at him in the eye, and left without mentioning either incident again.
The third time, they bumped into each other on the gangway their cockpits opened on as they exited their Gundams, and he quickly pushed Wufei back against Shenlong and kissed him, because it wasn't fair that Wufei could get kisses when he wanted to and not be available when Heero wanted some. And then there was another alarm when their base was discovered and they had to go back in the Gundams and fight again, then go their separate ways.
Now it was the fourth time, but Duo was there and unless they hid in the cave, there was nowhere to be alone together, and trying that would be suspicious. Heero strongly doubted that Wufei would want to kiss him while Duo -- or anyone else, really -- was watching. Duo would probably tease them; he teased everyone. He didn't mind, because Duo never minded when Heero felt like being sarcastic, but he knew that Duo and Wufei argued often, about everything and anything, and he didn't want to give them another pretext.
Or maybe Duo would be angry, or disgusted, but he didn't think so. He was open-minded enough.
He went to the fire and sat, not quite at Wufei's side, but not to the other side either, just barely in reach. Duo was sitting a few feet away, on a rock, wringing the end of his hair, braid half-undone. His pants were rolled up to his knees and wet up to mid-thigh, and there was sand stuck to the soles of his feet. He was chewing on a hair band. Heero glanced at Wufei's face, wondering what he was thinking about.
Wufei was watching Duo. Discretely; Heero was pretty sure Duo hadn't noticed. But still; he was watching him from the corner of his eyes, black pupils and black irises shadowed by black, long eyelashes that Heero remembered feeling against his cheeks. And he wasn't saying anything, as Duo hummed a song under his breath that had the same rhythm as the waves.
Heero felt weird. It wasn't usual to have Wufei and Duo in the same place and no noise. Contrary to what everyone seemed to think, Duo could be quiet, but not around Wufei. Because from time to time he would share his thoughts, and even as interesting or valuable as they were, Wufei invariably ended up sneering at him, and then they started bickering.
Wufei, too, should be making noise. Sharpening his sword, or taking care of his weapons, or even just turning the pages of one of his books -- but there was nothing. They were sitting apart, clearly engrossed in different occupations.
And Wufei was watching Duo, and he didn't know why.
"Anything to eat?"
For some reason, Heero's voice kept low, mild tones, barely more than a whisper, as if unwilling to break the quiet and peace. It made Wufei blink, repress a start. Duo looked at him, and smiled, as if just noticing him.
"Yeah, there's pizza and Japanese takeout in here," he replied as he pushed away from the rock and went back to the tent. "And I buried soda cans in here to keep 'em fresh--ahh, there they are."
He threw a can at Heero, dropped one at Wufei's side and went to sit on the other side of the fire from them. Food started circulating.
"Pizza and Japanese. Wasn't there anything else?" Wufei finally commented, but it sounded more like habitual gripping than real annoyance.
Duo rolled his eyes at him and chomped on his pizza slice vigorously. "Next time you can go. There was a Korean-Cantonese restaurant, but I like Japanese better."
"... No doubt," Wufei replied coldly.
Heero glanced from one to the other one and wondered why it sounded like they weren't talking about food any longer.
He didn't try talking anymore, he was a little tired from the flight and didn't feel like trying to understand the undercurrents of the situation. He finished eating, watched Wufei as he took the empty carton containers and burned them, then carried the plastic stuff back to his Gundam. Wufei's feet were bare too, Heero noticed, and for some reason that pleased him.
Lying on his side, eyes half-closed, Duo appeared content to be listening to the waves and the few birds still flying. Or were they birds? Heero flopped down on his back, looking up at the darkening sky. The clouds were really weird colors, like dark purple and reddish. The clouds on L1 -- when they managed to tweak the dampness of the atmosphere so that it coalesced but didn't rain quite yet -- were always white. And, now that he thought about it, sort of fake-looking. Foggy. Probably the lack of any real wind and altitude. And the dark birds were making high-pitched noises and had really angular trajectories. He wondered what species they were and what they looked like when they landed.
"Bats," Duo offered quietly as he rolled on his other side to be a little closer to him. "They never hit each other. Kind of cool."
"Echolocation," he replied as he narrowed his eyes to try to catch the shape of their wings.
"Hm?"
"That's what the little chirps are. They don't see, they hear. If these are bats."
"What else could they be?" Duo asked. He sounded lazy, sleepy.
"I don't have a degree in seaside biology," Heero replied dryly. Duo laughed. It wasn't the loud, raucous laughter for show, it was a more... a realer one.
He was burying his hands in the sand, then letting it slide through his fingers. Heero imitated him once, just to see. The sand was surprisingly cold underneath. Some of it was getting into his tanktop through the arm holes, but he didn't try to get it out. It was bound to happen eventually.
"It's damn cold by the sea... When I think sea, I think people in swimwear playing beach ball, not roll-in-blanket-and-shiver cold."
"I think that's the purpose of the fire," he replied, amused, and turned to look at Duo.
"Ooooh. Makes sense now." Duo was on his back at his side, not even an arm's length away, and the fire was making shadows and orange-gold lights dance on his skin and hair. He didn't look like himself.
He was looking at Heero.
"Hey...?"
"Hm?"
Seeing the weird, unusual expression on his face, Heero had a fleeting feeling that Duo was about to lean over and kiss him. But he didn't, he just watched him. Heero berated himself. He must have kissing on the brain, really. Not all guys liked to kiss guys, even Colonials, who were culturally more tolerant of social and sexual differences. And while he wondered if it would be different with Duo, he didn't think that it would be quite right to go through with actual testing. Wufei might be jealous, even if so far they didn't have what one would call a relationship.
Duo was pouring cold sand on his forearm. Heero twitched, surprised.
"Stop moving, I'm trying to draw something."
... huh. "You're crazy, Maxwell," Heero sighed as he watched Duo amuse himself.
"Saw people do it on TV. It's one of the rules of the beach. Must throw each other in the water -- but it's a little cold and we have no towels so I figured it would be a no, must either cover each other in sunscreen or get lobster-sunburn -- but then it's kind of night now, must build sand castles -- did that earlier but it was butt-ugly and the tide ate it anyway, and I suppose you won't let me bury you from neck to feet in the sand...? Ahh, you're not fun."
"You've trained him well, I see," Wufei commented. He looked down at them, standing between the fire and the cave, arms crossed. "Barely one look to get your point across. I wonder if you could give lessons." The sarcasm was so thick even Heero could have choked on it.
He wondered why he felt guilty suddenly. There was no reason.
"D'you have a crab up your ass or what? If I was you I'd try trout, they feel a lot better when they wriggle."
"This from someone who tested it? For your information, Maxwell, there are no trout in the sea."
Duo sat up, rolling his eyes. "What do I look like, a seaside biologist?"
Recognizing his earlier reply, Heero couldn't help but chuckle. Wufei spared him a look that was half annoyance and half disappointment. He arched an eyebrow in reply. He wasn't about to be pulled in the middle of their little contest.
Getting up smoothly, Duo threw his braid over his shoulder and gave Wufei a look that Heero interpreted as arrogant and mildly contemptuous, and then Wufei seemed to stop existing in his world. He gave the seat of his pants a few smacks to get the sand off and turned away. "Need to piss. Someone kill the fire, it's about time to sleep." And with that, he turned away and strode off, still-damp braid swinging behind him.
Since Wufei seemed busy with glaring at his back, Heero rolled on hands and knees and went to the fire, burying it. The sand was a lot warmer around the flames, almost enough to burn, and it made him shiver as he fully realized the contrast with the rest of the beach. He smothered the last of the embers with a pinch of regret, and waited for his eyes to get used to the darkness.
Not for very long, though, as Wufei chose that moment to grab his shoulder, turn him around, and kiss him silly.
Startled by the intensity -- hell, the sheer aggressiveness -- contained in that kiss, he almost fell over, which wouldn't have been very bright as his back was still to the fire. Wufei's hand closed on the nape of his neck before it could happen, reeling him in as he kept exploring his mouth. Wufei sat on his heels, one of his knees resting in the sand between Heero's thighs as he leaned over him, forcing his head to tilt back.
On one hand, it felt sort of nice, even despite the bruising force the kiss was pushed onto him with. On the other hand, he had to keep a tight leash on his sudden desire to bite.
Oh, and why the hell not? Wufei wasn't repressing anything.
Wufei muffled a yelp when he felt his teeth, and briefly let go of his neck. Heero's heel caught Wufei's ankle and he tugged, pushing his shoulder back with his elbow. Two seconds later, Wufei was on his back in the sand and Heero was sitting on his hips, hands on his shoulders to keep him down. He didn't try to grab his wrists; it would have turned into a real fight then and he trusted Wufei not to hit him seriously.
He admired what he could see of Wufei in the dark. It was more than what he had expected -- apparently the cliffs and the sea reflected a surprising amount of starlight. It was in all cases enough to recognize the nasty glare sent his way. He smirked and leaned down, kissing him almost as hard as he'd just been kissed. Wufei groaned, arched under him. He felt a warm bump poke him through Wufei's pants and his shorts and tried not to smirk too wide. Now he fully appreciated the gun in pocket reference.
Wufei growled, and his hands closed on the hair at the back of his head, forcing him to meet his lips. Somehow, Heero didn't mind. It was different from the careful exploration back at the cabin, but the fire, the challenge, they were all Wufei. He thought he liked them better when they were unbridled, though maybe it was a good thing that Wufei hadn't gone all out like that the last time, because he would probably have been put off.
There was something moving in the darkness, at the edge of his vision, and he sat up, checking that it was indeed Duo. Wufei nudged him insistently, and he moved away, letting him get up and make his escape. Of course, Wufei didn't run, or even move too fast, but he made damn sure that by the time Duo could see their shapes more clearly, he was nowhere in immediate reach. Heero didn't know if he should feel annoyed at that. But then, he didn't think it was such an unreasonable request to keep their -- no, not their relationship, they didn't have anything like that -- their experiments quiet. It was just that, well, Wufei hadn't exactly requested. Not out loud at least.
Heero wondered if Wufei was ashamed, had issues with his sexuality. It was probable, especially seeing the way his discovery of his attraction toward males had unsettled and disconcerted him. Or maybe the problem was just that he didn't like Duo enough to share something he saw as personal information.
"Didja get your sleeping bag out of Wing?" Duo asked him as he stopped by and gave him a hand up.
"Yes, it's at the foot of the cliff," he replied, pointing with the hand Duo hadn't used to haul him up. Seeing as that hand was still held, and quite firmly too.
Duo's bangs were shadowing his eyes, and it was too dark to hope to see his expression. "Better get it quick, then. Your hands are cold. But then, seeing what you wear..."
Now the once-over, he noticed.
"I'm not cold," he lied. He wasn't. Not a lot at least. He didn't want to admit that he'd misjudged the temperature drop on the beach, though.
"Better get into your sleeping bag quick, anyway," Duo replied with a smile that he saw even in the darkness, and let go of his hand.
Heero decided not to comment. He was almost positive that such a contact shouldn't last as long, but Duo was weird at most time and he wasn't sure he minded, really. He nodded, and went to get his sleeping bag.
From the corner of his eye, he could see the vague Duo-shape going to where the makeshift tent was supposed to be. Wufei and him were talking, but he couldn't hear what they were saying. He shouldered his bag and joined them.
"--fall on our heads--"
"Not unless you kick one of the supports down--"
"It won't protect us of anything, be it rain or infrared sensors--"
"It's not gonna rain, and what would soldiers care for three kids camping on a beach? They're not the cops or the beach patrol, it ain't their problem!"
Sighing in annoyance, he dumped his sleeping bag on the sand between them.
"If it rains, we'll move," he cut them. "Now, bed, both of you."
Duo knelt on the sand and spread his sleeping bag, turning his back on them stiffly. Wufei leaned close enough to Heero that he could see the glare and hissed at him.
"Don't presume--"
Heero grabbed his ass.
He couldn't have said why he'd done that. He'd needed a way to cut off Wufei's rant before it gained momentum, but there were other ways to put him off balance. But the first that came to him was to reach out, fit his palm around the curve of one muscled buttock, and give a good squeeze.
At least it worked, but when he sat on his heels to spread his own sleeping bag beside Duo's, Wufei was still frozen in place and Heero was starting to worry that he'd get murdered during the night.
He heard Duo swallow a snicker and elbowed him in the ribs. If he started to laugh, they would be lucky to wake up in one piece in the morning.
Finally, Wufei growled himself out of his frozen state and crawled under the tent with them. Moving over to make some space, Heero shook the sand off himself, threw his shoes in a corner, then very carefully squirmed inside his sleeping bag. There was some bare sand left on both sides of his place, but not a lot. He didn't really like being boxed in either. But if he wasn't in the middle, they'd probably spend the night bickering.
It was a very good sleeping bag. Better than what he'd had when he was traveling with Odin. It even had a sort of hood. Laying down, he squirmed a little to settle the sand under him comfortably, pulled his tanktop off to make himself a pillow, and looked up.
The camo net was full of so many holes that he didn't have the feeling he was missing even one star. But then, there were lots of stars in this season. He tried to recognize the constellations, but the only ones he'd ever learned were the ones that were useful for navigation. Around him, the sounds of breathing were slowing down, and behind, he could hear the sea against the cliff, rolling and breaking and rolling again...
As he was about to fall asleep, a hand slipped through the open zipper of his sleeping bag, mapping his chest roughly. Heero tried not to jump or yelp, but it was hard. The zipper of his sleeping bag was tugged down slowly, silently, and the hand continued its travels.
Wufei's palm was rough from handling guns and swords and Gundam controls, and Heero had to bite his lip when it rubbed against his nipple in little circles, making it stiffen. Then the same treatment was applied to his other nipple as he tried to keep from moving.
It was hard to stay on his back; he wanted to roll over to face Wufei, but he didn't want Duo to wake up and wonder what was going on. He had a feeling things wouldn't go well. Duo would be either embarrassed or angry, Wufei would be... the same, though not for the same reasons, and Heero wouldn't get felt up. This would be bad.
Wufei's hand was now following the edge of his ribcage, testing his abdominal muscles. Heero shivered when Wufei's fingertips found his bellybutton, and reached out. Wufei was on his side, facing him. Heero wasn't at a good angle to use the inside of his hand, so he used the back, letting his knuckles caress Wufei's cheek, run down his chest, rub his side gently. They hadn't done that before, they'd never touched each other so freely. He was a little miffed that Wufei got to touch his bare upper body and he had to feel his shape through his shirt and the thick sleeping bag. To avenge himself, he ran the back of his hand quickly over Wufei's groin and let his fingers unfold against the dip his thighs made where they touched. Wufei's fingers clenched slightly, digging into his muscles, but Heero didn't mind because that meant he was affecting him. He let his hand rest where it was, his wrist just barely brushing against the suspicious bulge in the material and his fingers rubbing innocently against Wufei's inner thighs.
The hand on Heero's stomach slipped down, and before he could fully realize what was going to happen, questing fingers had pushed under the waistband of his shorts and were feeling down his penis. He bit down on his free hand to muffle his little moan/groan of pleasure, his own hand pressing more snugly against the bulge. He felt Wufei squirm a little, heard his sleeping bag's zipper being lowered, and didn't lose any time slipping his hand in.
Wufei's pants were annoying, especially since he couldn't figure out how they closed, and he ended up rubbing and fondling him a lot through them -- at least they were thin -- as he tried to find a solution that wouldn't involve Wufei being angry because he'd ruined them. Finally he found the drawstrings and freed them.
No underwear. Well, he decided after a second of shock, he didn't mind. He didn't wear any either, though it mostly was because spandex shorts and underwear could be considered a bit redundant. In Wufei's large, floaty pants, it made for easy access.
Wufei's cock was a little different from his, more veins, less hair, a little thicker, but certainly not enough to prevent him from figuring out what to do with it. Even though the hand on his own groin was making it difficult to concentrate -- hell, it was almost impossible to settle on a rhythm. Heero closed his eyes, trying to keep his hips still. He could feel warm breath in his neck and it almost made him whimper, but he remembered that Duo was there in time to smother the sound.
There was a rustle of fabric on his other side as Duo moved sleepily, and they both froze. Heero stopped breathing, feeling Wufei's erection twitch in his hand and the tension in his body. He understood the reaction. Objectively, there was nothing so terrible that Duo could do if he woke up and caught them, but somehow, having to keep perfectly quiet less they were discovered was... intriguing. Exciting.
Duo settled down on his side, back to them, and Wufei let out a long, warm breath, incidentally on Heero's ear and neck. Heero shivered. This felt nice. He tightened his hold, and was rewarded by Wufei's thumb rubbing against his head. They started pumping each other's erection, with a little more urgency behind the gestures. No more time for careful explorations. Heero wanted to come. From the way Wufei was handling him, he wanted the same.
A short minute later, he got his wish. By some miracle he didn't make any sound-- but then it was probably that he'd stopped breathing. He realized that his back had arched off the sand and relaxed, shivering when Wufei's hand brushed against his stomach then left his sleeping bag. He was a little cold now.
Wufei was still hard in his fist, and for some reason he felt bad. Wufei's hands closed around his, speeding up his motion. The back of Heero's hand was wet now from Wufei's touch, but Heero didn't mind so much because it was from his semen. And a few seconds later, his palm and his inner wrist were wet too, a warm, kind of thick wetness that slid slowly on his skin. He listened to Wufei's slowing breath and abandoned his hand to him when his -- teammate? friend? lover? -- started cleaning it gently. Next time he slept beside Wufei, he noted absently for himself, he would think of keeping Kleenex in reach too. He closed his eyes, letting Wufei wipe his hand and wrist clean with slow, precise gestures. Heero couldn't call the way he patted his skin dry and unfolded his fingers tender, only careful at the most, and yet, coming from Wufei, somehow it made him want to smile in a way even the hand down his pants couldn't have provoked.
+
Heero woke up when a seagull started calling overhead. On his right, Wufei's sleeping bag was rolled neatly, the place it had occupied empty. On his left, Duo was groaning. He turned on his side vigorously, apparently trying to bury himself in his sleeping bag to smother the screeching, and ended up headbutting Heero's biceps.
"Ow," he informed Duo in a mild tone.
"Huh?" Duo looked up, blinking owlishly. There was sand on his cheek and temple, close enough to get in his eye. Heero flicked it away quickly because Duo was still too sleepy to realize and had a habit of rubbing at his face when he woke up, and Heero didn't feel like using up half his bottle of drinking water to rinse it out.
"Uh."
"Sand. There."
"Oh. Thanks."
Duo was not witty in the morning. But the seagull seemed to want to compensate. And its voice was a lot louder and shriller. No way to go back to sleep now.
"Stupid bird," growled Duo as he sat up, predictably rubbing his face with the heels of both hands. "Sunrise yet?"
Heero looked at the sky through the net, since he couldn't see the horizon from here. "Not yet. Soon."
Duo started stretching, arms over his head, then arching his back like a cat. "Wanted to see the sunrise over the sea. Just need to go over the cliff-- ahh. Crap."
Heero looked, and noticed that the tide had come in. The waves were now lapping at the dune on which they'd lit their campfire. The reefs were all under the water. There would be a few ways out if Duo felt like scaling the cliffs, but if he'd counted on just walking out of the cove through the shallow water, he was out of luck.
"You can swim here and climb there," he commented, pointing a path to Duo that would bring him quickly to flatter ground.
Duo grinned at him as he squirmed out of his sleeping bag. "Hey, good idea. Want to come with? Come on, it'll be real neat, I bet you've never bothered watching a sunrise since you came on Earth." Well... Duo was right, he hadn't. But -- "And I know and you know that we can't do anything until we receive the spare parts and that won't be before this afternoon at the soonest. So you have nothing better to do than come with me."
Heero sighed. Duo would not take no for an answer. He didn't see what was so fascinating about sunrises -- now sunsets sometimes had interesting, reddish colors, and he would enjoy them on the side if he happened to be out when they happened, but sunrises were clearer, colder -- oh, whatever. Unless Wufei needed him for something, he really had nothing better to do.
"Ah-- fine, if only to make sure you won't fall and drown."
He followed Duo out of the tent and, straightening up, looked around for their teammate. At first, he didn't see him, and supposed that he was in the cave with his Gundam, and then he turned around and caught a glimmer in the shadows of the cliff. Wufei was sitting there, a dozen meters away, sitting cross-legged in the sand with his hands on his knees, and Heero would have assumed that he was meditating, except that he was watching them.
Heero had never been very good at reading moods, but Wufei's were usually easy because they were more often than not holding a part of anger or passion. But right now, he was entirely unreadable. Heero chanced a greeting nod anyway, but was only met by a faint worsening of the ever-present frown, and the black eyes didn't warm up any.
"Yo, Wu! We're gonna climb over that. Be back in twenty minutes or so."
Wufei didn't answer, only scowled more and closed his eyes, dismissing them. Duo shrugged and started toward the edge of the water.
"Better leave your shoes, 'Ro," he advised when he noticed Heero picking them up. "If we're gonna swim, they'll be a pain to move with and they'll take ages to dry."
Heero eyed the edges of the rocks warily, but didn't comment. If he cut his feet on shells or sharp bits of stone, he'd heal. The biggest danger they would face there was falling and breaking a leg, and having shoes or not wouldn't change that.
The water was cold, but not unbearably so. He waded after Duo, watching where he stubbed his toes on underground rocks to avoid treacherous ground. Catching on to what he was doing, Duo splashed water at him, but he was laughing at the same time, so Heero only smirked smugly back and kept following.
"You're an opportunistic little shit," Duo commented after he had to stumble twice into holes. He'd had to get wet up to his chest before he could find a correct route.
"As if you didn't know," Heero replied dryly. He'd taken off with Deathscythe's parts after all.
"I had forgiven you! But you chose to persist in your evil ways -- whoa!"
Heero tried not to react for all of two seconds, then let his smirk bloom. That little dance with gravity had been quite entertaining.
"See if you laugh when it's your turn to walk on something! I don't even know what that was, but it was squishy, yuck..."
Duo kicked at the seaweed around his legs to clear his path a little and stomped off -- as well as you could stomp waist-deep in water -- toward the little ledge on the cliff. Heero cautiously stayed out of range as Duo started to climb, but as he didn't seem to be annoyed any longer, he followed.
That had been a bad idea, seeing as the first thing Duo did when Heero had his hands on the ledge and his body finally out of the water was to plant a dripping, bare foot quite solidly in the middle of his chest and push.
"That's for being dryer than me, you bastard!"
Trying to keep a hold of the cliff or Duo's foot would have ended up with lots of shred skin, so he let go, falling back in the water with a loud splash. Duo was laughing when he resurfaced. He'd have to dunk him when he got the chance, the cheeky brat was still relatively dry from his shoulders up. But for now, he accepted the hand Duo gave him as a peace offering... if only because Duo was braced quite solidly with the rest of his body and he couldn't pull him down. Revenge would wait for the next occasion.
They made their way along the ledge and finally arrived face to the sea. The sun was just rising. Duo found a place to sit, on a tuft of grass, and admired the scenery. Heero sat on his heels as he kept a wary eye on their surroundings. He was already bored.
"Hey, Heero..."
Duo was still watching the horizon, a hand over his eyes to protect it from the direct light of the sun. His braid was dripping, and he wrung it absently. It reminded Heero that his own bangs were dripping in his eyes. He pushed them back with both hands, and blinked when he noticed Duo staring at him.
"... What?"
"Uh--nothing. You just look different when you don't have your bangs hanging in your face."
Heero snorted. "I'll keep that in mind next time I want to go incognito. That wasn't what you were going to say," he added, watching him curiously.
Duo looked out of balance for a few seconds. "... It's... Kinda girly, isn't it?" he finally asked with a little laugh.
"What is?"
"All that crap about how sunrises over the sea are so beautiful. Sure, we don't have that up there, but it's not all that more special than seeing it on a screen."
"It's real here. Witnessing the birth of a new day. That makes it special."
"Sounds like something a chick would say."
"Repeat that and you'll end up feeding the crabs," Heero threatened calmly. "Speaking of crabs, is there a specific reason why Wufei is so hostile around you, or is it just a personality conflict?"
Apparently he'd caught Duo by surprise. Duo stared at him, frowning in confusion. "How d'you get from crabs to Wufei?"
"You were the one who said he had one up his ass yesterday."
That got a good, loud guffaw out of Duo. "Right, I forgot. Ehh, I dunno. Right from the start he's been nagging 'bout little things, and that kinda annoys me... But we can fight side by side just fine!" he added quickly, grimacing.
"I know. It's just that recently it's been getting worse. And I don't like being caught between you two."
There was a funny look on Duo's face for a moment, but it passed before he could ask what it had been about. "I'm not gonna say it's not my fault, because I admit he's fun to bug, but I'm not even sure WHY I bug him so damn much. It's more like I remind him of something that really annoys him rather than like I'm really the one to piss him off. Though... I still piss him off on my own too," he added with a chuckle.
Heero frowned thoughtfully. He was aware that Wufei had a lot of issues, but the only one he could say he really knew about was the one about his sexuality. But Wufei was working through it -- or at least he had no problem getting his hands on another guy's dick, so it couldn't still be bothering him that much, right?
"Heero?"
"I'll have to ask him."
Duo cringed dramatically. "Your funerals, man. 'Kay, enough gossiping behind Wu's back, 'cause I really feel like a chick now."
Heero elbowed him. Duo's seat on the tuft of grass must not have been very solid, because he almost lost his balance trying to avoid Heero's elbow.
"Whoa! I knew it, you want to throw me down the cliff!" Duo exclaimed theatrically, still holding on to him as he straightened up.
Heero waited patiently for him to regain his footing, then gave a pointed look at his hand. It had landed on the inside of his thigh, half on his spandex and half directly on him. Duo, Heero noted absently, had a strong grip, and his touch was surprisingly warm after the cooling effect of the light sea wind on his damp skin. "... Duo. Your hand."
"Ack!!" Duo snatched his hand away quickly and leaned away, flushing. Of course, he lost his balance a second time. This time, Heero managed to grab his wrist and stabilized him.
"Are you correctly seated now? Can I let go?"
Duo gave the hand around his wrist a look Heero couldn't name anything but weird, and managed a small chuckle. "Gimme a minute." He moved on his tuft of grass, trying to find a more stable position. His knee ended up bumping Heero's, but Heero didn't protest because it gave him an additional support point. He released Duo's wrist, frowning at him thoughtfully.
"I don't have cooties, you know."
"Yeah, but you have super strength in case you get pissed that I groped you."
Heero blinked. "I thought gropes usually targeted ass or groin... or breasts, which I don't have anyway," he commented to himself.
Duo started to laugh. "Ehh-- for normal, non-wearer-of-skintight-clothes people, inner thighs are usually considered private, buddy."
"So I could deck you and you wouldn't protest? Hmm." Heero tapped his own chin with a fingertip as he gave Duo a considering look.
"Hey! It's too late now, you let your chance pass by."
There was something moving at the corner of his eye-- a small boat, far on the horizon. Heero frowned.
"Let's go back before we're seen."
Duo sighed, and gave the open sea a regretful look. "You're not fun. I like the scenery..."
"I don't see what's so interesting about it," Heero commented as he straightened up. "It's just a lot of nothing but vast, flat expanses of air and water."
"Exactly. I like it. It's like there's no limit."
Heero frowned a little more as he walked carefully down the rocks. "I don't. It's too open."
"It's wide open in Space too, and you don't have a problem with that, do you?"
"It's different. In Space, there is truly nothing. It's easy to notice dangerous incomings. Here ..."
"I'd say the nothing is pretty dangerous in itself," Duo replied drolly. "Ever seen someone who's been spaced?" he added, muttering to himself.
As a matter of fact, Heero had, but that was really not something he wanted to talk about right now, so he pretended that he hadn't heard.
They went back to the ledge and waded through the water back to the camp, shoving each other. The tide had stabilized about two meters away from their campfire, leaving the tent and the caves dry. Wufei was still sitting at the same place, but now his legs were stretched in front of him, heels digging in the sand.
"We should have kept leftovers for breakfast," Duo commented as he went to the tent to look inside his backpack.
"With a glutton like you? Not likely," Wufei commented from his place.
"Hey! We shared equally, and I didn't see you leave anything either," Duo shot back, sparing him an irritated glare before he started digging into his pack again.
Finding a cereal bar, he sat on his sleeping bag, his back to Wufei, and started chomping. He didn't look happy, so Heero decided that it meant the breakfast wouldn't be taken together. Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, he left to go to his Gundam. He had food there.
The cave was dark and damp, a small rivulet of water flowing sluggishly toward the sea in the middle. It held Wing and Shenlong, laying on their backs; Deathscythe was hidden somewhere at the bottom of the sea. He scaled the side of his Gundam, checked his instrument readings and information sources, retrieved a few cereal bars, and exited the cockpit.
He was climbing down when he heard the soft crunch of someone stepping on wet sand. Wufei was walking toward Shenlong. Or was pretending to, because the second he was out of sight from the beach, he changed his path to go straight to Heero. Heero waited, standing by his Gundam as he watched Wufei stalk toward him. He looked -- maybe not quite angry, but determined. Heero didn't want to look wary by stepping away from his Gundam to avoid being trapped, though, so he stayed just where he was.
Besides, he had a feeling he was about to either get chewed out thoroughly, or get kissed silly. And as Wufei's hands slapped on the metal on both sides of his head, Heero decided that it was probably the second.
It was. It was a very thorough kiss, with full body contact -- chest to chest, thighs pressing against his, stomach muscles tensing against his own -- all in one quite a good kiss. It was also very good when his mouth was abandoned just so kisses could be trailed along his jaw and to this sensitive place just under his ear. But when Wufei started to bite, he pushed him back.
"Stop. You're going to mark me."
Wufei's eyes should have been red, Heero thought, to reflect how strongly they burned. "Do you object?"
"We have to talk first, before I allow it." He gave Wufei a stern look, waiting for him to become more reasonable.
"What do we have to talk about?" Wufei asked belligerently. Heero gave him a tired, borderline annoyed look.
"Why do you want to mark me?"
Wufei blinked, opened his mouth to answer, hesitated. It made Heero want to kiss him again, but he didn't appreciate being targeted every time Wufei needed to unwind.
"Because..."
"You know Duo is going to notice," he commented blankly. He didn't have anything to wear in this heat that would cover his neck and collarbone.
Wufei flinched slightly, then scowled, trying to hide his first reaction. But Heero kept staring, and after a few seconds, Wufei looked away.
"... I see. You WANT him to notice."
A flinch, again, Wufei's weight leaning back just so slightly.
"I'm not sure you have a right to stake your claim right now," Heero commented calmly, though he was starting to feel anything but. "I'm not even sure you know what you want, apart from throwing whatever there is between us in Duo's face."
"I don't want that!!" Wufei protested angrily.
Heero looked at him, not saying anything.
"... I don't -- or maybe," Wufei finally recognized, "maybe I do. I ... apologize." He looked as if he'd just bit into a lemon. "He... irritates me."
"Why does he irritate you?"
"Why doesn't he irritate YOU?" Wufei shot back, still defensive.
"He does, sometimes. But then right now, you're also irritating me quite a lot."
Wufei seemed ready to pull away, pride wounded, but Heero didn't want the discussion to end like that; he had a feeling it would mean the end of whatever it was that had started to develop between them and he didn't want that.
"Wufei."
"What?"
"I'm not your enemy here. I want to know. Don't tell me you don't need my help, you don't seem to be doing so good on your own."
Wufei's face twisted in fury, and Heero realized that maybe he'd been a bit too blunt. Usually Wufei took criticism from him well, a lot better than he took criticism from anyone else, as he'd noticed, but right now he was off balance and already irked about other things. Heero had better say something... except he didn't know what, so he ended up blurting out the first thing that came to mind.
"That night at the cabin. I let you think on your own, because that was a question you had to answer for yourself. But now, you have more questions, and you seem to be unable to sort them out. You've been more irritable than usual lately. It's... worrying."
He didn't say "I'm worried". Neither of their prides would take it well. But it was there, underneath, where they could both pretend it wasn't and save face. And it was enough to smooth Wufei's ruffled feathers, apparently.
"What's the matter?"
"... I don't know... I thought I was dealing with -- with it well, but..."
He couldn't be dealing so well if he couldn't even spell it out, Heero thought, but he would comment on it later, because it would probably make Wufei explode. "Did it change when you started being around Duo more often?"
Wufei muttered under his breath in L5-dialect Chinese, and Heero arched an eyebrow at him. "English, Japanese or Russian, if you don't mind," he shot back.
"Yes. Yes, it did. Since when are you my shrink?"
"You want to get your hands on my dick, you let me look inside your brain. I don't think I'm asking for too much here."
Wufei's cheeks flushed.
"Okay, so what exactly is your problem with Duo? In relation to the previous issue," he amended before Wufei could flood him under his recriminations.
"He's irritating."
Heero nodded patiently, though he was really starting to feel anything but. "And?"
"He's disrespectful. Loud. Ill-mannered."
"Uh-huh." Even Heero could tell that Wufei didn't believe that. It was so weird that someone usually so brutally honest would need to justify himself so much.
"... stubborn. Blunt. Sarcastic."
So was Wufei; maybe that was the origin of the conflict of personalities.
"Foolhardy... honorable."
Ha, he couldn't even twist that one.
"And this relates to your current conflict how?" he asked, still keeping his voice neutral.
"He's ... handsome."
Heero felt a weird squeeze in his chest as Wufei admitted to finding Duo attractive. "...I guess he is."
"He wants you."
"... What?"
Wufei threw him a disgusted look and started to pace, pulling himself out of Heero's suddenly lax hold. "Don't tell me you never noticed. He keeps flirting."
"... That's just the way he is," Heero defended Duo -- himself ? -- by reflex. "He flirts with everyone." Was it flirting? He hadn't seen it as flirting. But maybe it was -- Duo was really touchy-feely, but he'd assumed he was just weird -- but maybe he'd been feeling Heero up all along... and if that was the case, then Heero didn't know how he was supposed to feel about it.
Wufei shot him a dark glare. "He doesn't flirt with me."
Okay, now Heero couldn't tell if that had been a big "you don't know what you're talking about, so shut up" or a big "I'm jealous". It was still a big message, for being packed in such a short sentence.
Letting his annoyance and defensiveness reply for him would be a bad idea. So he went for the clarification route. "Do you want him to?"
Wufei kicked a rock away, in an unusual display of powerless ill temper. "... I don't know. Sometimes I want him to pay attention to me, and sometimes I want him to stop paying attention to you. And sometimes I just want him to go away."
"So you don't know who you're jealous of."
Now Wufei looked discouraged. Heero didn't like that look on him. "No, I guess I don't."
Heero didn't have anything to reply to that. He stared at his feet, half-buried in the wet sand of the cave. He felt -- weird. Lost. He could understand wanting Duo. He'd never really thought of it, but Duo was a good friend, amusing, reliable, and always patient with his weird hang-ups. And yes, rather attractive, with quite a few striking features. Heero felt rather plain compared to him. He wondered why the hell Duo seemed to like him more than Wufei; probably entirely due to a bad start between them, because he could imagine them actually getting along, somewhat.
"Oh, for the love of god, Yuy, don't tell me you're brooding!"
Heero looked up sharply, eyes narrowed in sudden anger.
"... Yuy -- Heero... Does it bother you that much? I didn't mean to -- I can't even stand him most of the time!"
Heero turned away and kicked at Wing. It was irrational, as much the action itself as the relief that actually came from it, but it was either Wing or Wufei's face.
"There's no reason for me to be bothered," he replied, because that was the logical reply. "We're not betrothed, we're not in love. We're not even really... together, whatever it means. There's no reason."
Wufei was watching him, visibly surprised, and maybe embarrassed also. "But you are anyway."
Heero sighed and rubbed at his face, deflating. "Not that much. Just frustrated."
"Do you want a promise of commitment?" Wufei asked, voice softening imperceptibly, tone slightly, weirdly formal. Heero turned to face him, surprised.
"Do you want to give it to me? If you don't, there's no point."
"I can, if you need me to. I just don't see the need. There's no one else I could -- you see."
Molest during the night? Yeah, he saw. "No need. I like what we do together, Chang, and you're a good partner and someone I trust at my back in battle, but I'm not here to find myself a boyfriend."
Wufei grimaced briefly at the word boyfriend, and Heero smirked faintly, amused by his reaction.
"What now?"
"I just -- boyfriend." Wufei shuddered slightly, upper lip curled in mild disgust. "It's -- my parents would spin around in their grave if they had one. And my grandparents... I'm sure they're considering haunting me now," he added sarcastically.
"Why, because you're --"
"Because," Wufei replied, not letting him finish his sentence, "because in case I survive the war and thus restore the honor of our clan, giving said clan children will be a lot more problematic."
"... I don't suppose you could adopt."
"No. They have to be of my blood. Now that my wife is dead -- I always thought if I survived, I would end up marrying again, as distasteful as replacing her is, but how can I do that now that I... That I..."
"Like men?" Heero guessed ; he'd had enough of Wufei dancing around the actual naming of the thing.
"It isn't because you've suddenly discovered a liking for cock that you gotta stop liking pussy, you know. You managed to get it up for her, yeah? That shouldn't change."
Wufei whirled around, aghast. Duo was standing in the shadow of the cliff, watching them. He looked neutral, even despite the crude words he'd just uttered. Heero desperately tried to guess if he'd heard more than that. They'd been talking about him after all -- would he be shocked, disgusted, angry? Heero had a feeling that even if his reaction was favorable, Wufei's wouldn't be. His feelings about Duo were still too contradictory.
"Sorry, guess it's not my business," Duo added before Wufei could lose it.
"You're right, it's not," Wufei snapped back.
"My apologies," Duo intoned in an oddly formal and sincere tone. That, to Heero's puzzlement, pretty much took the wind out of Wufei's sails. Duo was good at defusing things, surprising since it was the opposite of what he usually did.
"... How much of it did you hear?"
"Just the bit about your wife. I don't make a habit of spying on my allies."
Wufei took a deep breath and relaxed slowly.
"I was just wondering what you two were doing," Duo explained. He looked curious -- probably wondering how Wufei had come to confide in Heero -- but to his credit, he didn't ask. "So..."
"Maxwell--"
"Honestly, don't get so worked up. I know it's not my business, but so long as you can do it with a girl, you can conceive naturally. And there's always in vitro--"
"Maxwell!"
Duo fell silent.
"I thank you for your concern," Wufei said stiffly, still flustered, flushed with anger and embarrassment. "But..." For once, he seemed at a loss for words.
Duo shrugged and smirked impishly. "No problem, Fei. I know how hard it can be at first, but it comes with adolescence. See, when you get to be a certain age, your body changes, and you want things..."
"Maxwell!"
"It's all about the hormones, really -- wanna talk about it? I'm a hormones specialist."
"Is this Duoese for 'I hump everything that holds still long enough'?" Heero asked, smirking slightly.
Duo took on an 'offended innocent' expression. "Do you really think so little of me that you don't believe me good enough to hump moving objects?"
Wufei finally relaxed enough to smile, even though the expression was faint and fleeting, quickly hidden under his more usual mildly contemptuous look.
"We should go over the plans a last time," he decided, ending the conversation, and then left the cave as if the whole incident hadn't happened at all. Heero followed. The mission took precedence over everything else.