fic - i backward cast my e'e part 16 [novella]
Title: I Backward Cast My E'e
Part: 16
Note: Ha, cop-out with a x'mas retrospective. You're lucky real-time just happens to match up with fic-time, otherwise I'd have had no motivation to get this out quickly-ish. ^_^
I Backward Cast My E'e
sequel-lite to for promis'd joy
Part 16
"Quatre's showing his rebellious side again."
"Again?"
Trowa rolled his eyes after setting his knight down in his chosen square. "He said he had some great idea for spending New Year's together."
"That... doesn't sound so bad," Heero offered tentatively, studying the new layout of the chess board.
"Ha. You didn't see the look in his eye."
"Ah. Well. Have fun with that."
"Ha. His plan involves all of us."
"Damn. What do you know about this plan?"
"Not much. I think it involves a lot of alcohol."
Heero raised an eyebrow. "Doesn't know how to do things halfway, does he?"
Trowa shrugged. "They don't teach you to be half-assed in business school."
"He's going to be brilliant when he gets out of there, isn't he?"
"Of course."
Cathy came in from the kitchen to fetch a platter left sitting on the dining table. "Trowa, Mom wants you to help mash some potatoes. And Heero, you should get the door. Your boytoy just pulled up." She winked at him and swept back into the kitchen with a flourish.
Heero gave Trowa a wry look. "'Boytoy' means she likes him, right?"
"No, just means she thinks he's hot."
The doorbell rang as predicted. Trowa disappeared into the kitchen to do the bidding of the womenfolk, leaving Heero to play host. He opened the front door to usher his boytoy and his boytoy's uncle inside.
"Hey." Duo greeted him with a quick half-hug before setting his bag down and slipping out of his jacket.
"Hey." He took their jackets and hung them up on the appropriate pegs. "The others are in the kitchen."
Howard sniffed the air appreciatively. "I'll, uh, just be in the kitchen then. Paying my respects and all." He took off without further ado to get a sneak peek on dinner.
Heero smiled after him, and found himself snagged around the waist as he turned back to Duo. He selected a bland look over a counter-cuddle. "We could go join them?"
"Or we could take advantage of this little bit of privacy."
"Well, I suppose there's enough cooks in the kitchen as it is."
Duo took that as the invitation it was to kiss him, taking his time and enjoying the slow burn. It could have been a forever or just a minute when a shot of laughter came out of the kitchen, startling them into breaking apart. They looked at each other with goofy smiles for a few seconds before Duo extracted his hand from Heero's hair and smoothed it down.
Heero used the fingerhold he still had on one of Duo's belt loops to pull him in the direction of the couch. "We still have about half an hour before dinner starts getting rolled out."
"Yeah? Guess I'll just volunteer to help clean up to make up for arriving just in time for the food."
"You won't need to volunteer." Heero pulled them down into a comfortable seat and momentarily lost the thread of his thought as Duo curled up close beside him. "Cathy will wave a knife at you, and you will help."
Duo chuckled. "Uh, I think I'll still try to volunteer first, if it's all the same to you. I'm trying to cut back on people waving knives at me."
"I dunno. She's awfully quick with her knives."
"Um. Can I volunteer right now?"
Heero kissed the side of his head. "Don't worry. She's really good at missing people."
"With pinpoint accuracy?"
"Yup."
He shuddered dramatically. "Geez, just when you think a family couldn't get more normal than the Bartons, you remember that they're about as far from normal as you can get." He shifted a little to peek at the fireplace mantle and unnecessarily confirmed to himself that all those circus photos were still there.
Heero shrugged with the shoulder unoccupied by Duo. "You get used to it."
There was another homey burst of sound from behind the kitchen door. "Sounds like they're going all out.'
"Yeah, they do this every year. You were here last year, weren't you?" He paused for a moment of recollection. "Oh. Um. I guess you weren't."
Duo cast his thoughts back as well and sighed ruefully. "Yeah. Guess I wasn't. But hey, on the plus side, things are a lot different this year."
"I like this kind of different."
"Me, too." He nuzzled Heero's shoulder. "Wow. That was a whole year ago. Ignoring that little hiccup... it's been, what, sixteen months? Something like that?"
Heero did some math and figured out what he was talking about. "Something like that."
"I... wow." The butterflies from last year made a brief reappearance in his stomach, but settled down as he concentrated on the feel of Heero beside him. "How come I haven't messed everything up yet?"
"I won't let you."
He thought back to the way Heero had chased him down last year and demanded explanations for his sudden change of heart. Pushy bastard got what he wanted in the end. Got what they both wanted. He found Heero's hand with his own and laced their fingers together. "I wouldn't have tried breaking up with you if I hadn't liked you so much."
"I know."
"I think I like you even more now."
Heero smirked. "So, does that mean you'll try breaking up with me more, too?"
Duo laughed softly. "Hell, no. I like you so much -because-... because I think you've really helped me get past that. Yeah, I still think about... 'us' sometimes, and yeah, sometimes I still feel like I'm in way over my head and it's kind of uncomfortable, but... it's okay now. Now it's like... well, just consider the alternatives. Think about... not meeting you. Not taking that chance. Not... having you. And being a totally different person today."
"I'd be a pretty different person today, too."
"I think about if I'd had to deal with Elizabeth without anyone to back me up. Yeah, Howie'd be there, of course, but it'd be different. I'd have probably just thrown her out, end of story. Been so terrible about it that she'd never come back. Probably would have confirmed every terrible thing she'd imagined about me. And now look. Now, she thinks I'm a pretty decent guy. Go fig."
"You would have been a pretty decent guy without me. She just wouldn't have had the chance to know it."
"I wouldn't have had a chance to know it, either. I..." He looked for some more words to express what it was that was bouncing around his head, but in the end decided that kissing would be much, much easier, and so they kissed until Cathy stuck her head out again and ordered Heero to make sure the table was set properly.
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Part: 16
Note: Ha, cop-out with a x'mas retrospective. You're lucky real-time just happens to match up with fic-time, otherwise I'd have had no motivation to get this out quickly-ish. ^_^
I Backward Cast My E'e
sequel-lite to for promis'd joy
Part 16
"Quatre's showing his rebellious side again."
"Again?"
Trowa rolled his eyes after setting his knight down in his chosen square. "He said he had some great idea for spending New Year's together."
"That... doesn't sound so bad," Heero offered tentatively, studying the new layout of the chess board.
"Ha. You didn't see the look in his eye."
"Ah. Well. Have fun with that."
"Ha. His plan involves all of us."
"Damn. What do you know about this plan?"
"Not much. I think it involves a lot of alcohol."
Heero raised an eyebrow. "Doesn't know how to do things halfway, does he?"
Trowa shrugged. "They don't teach you to be half-assed in business school."
"He's going to be brilliant when he gets out of there, isn't he?"
"Of course."
Cathy came in from the kitchen to fetch a platter left sitting on the dining table. "Trowa, Mom wants you to help mash some potatoes. And Heero, you should get the door. Your boytoy just pulled up." She winked at him and swept back into the kitchen with a flourish.
Heero gave Trowa a wry look. "'Boytoy' means she likes him, right?"
"No, just means she thinks he's hot."
The doorbell rang as predicted. Trowa disappeared into the kitchen to do the bidding of the womenfolk, leaving Heero to play host. He opened the front door to usher his boytoy and his boytoy's uncle inside.
"Hey." Duo greeted him with a quick half-hug before setting his bag down and slipping out of his jacket.
"Hey." He took their jackets and hung them up on the appropriate pegs. "The others are in the kitchen."
Howard sniffed the air appreciatively. "I'll, uh, just be in the kitchen then. Paying my respects and all." He took off without further ado to get a sneak peek on dinner.
Heero smiled after him, and found himself snagged around the waist as he turned back to Duo. He selected a bland look over a counter-cuddle. "We could go join them?"
"Or we could take advantage of this little bit of privacy."
"Well, I suppose there's enough cooks in the kitchen as it is."
Duo took that as the invitation it was to kiss him, taking his time and enjoying the slow burn. It could have been a forever or just a minute when a shot of laughter came out of the kitchen, startling them into breaking apart. They looked at each other with goofy smiles for a few seconds before Duo extracted his hand from Heero's hair and smoothed it down.
Heero used the fingerhold he still had on one of Duo's belt loops to pull him in the direction of the couch. "We still have about half an hour before dinner starts getting rolled out."
"Yeah? Guess I'll just volunteer to help clean up to make up for arriving just in time for the food."
"You won't need to volunteer." Heero pulled them down into a comfortable seat and momentarily lost the thread of his thought as Duo curled up close beside him. "Cathy will wave a knife at you, and you will help."
Duo chuckled. "Uh, I think I'll still try to volunteer first, if it's all the same to you. I'm trying to cut back on people waving knives at me."
"I dunno. She's awfully quick with her knives."
"Um. Can I volunteer right now?"
Heero kissed the side of his head. "Don't worry. She's really good at missing people."
"With pinpoint accuracy?"
"Yup."
He shuddered dramatically. "Geez, just when you think a family couldn't get more normal than the Bartons, you remember that they're about as far from normal as you can get." He shifted a little to peek at the fireplace mantle and unnecessarily confirmed to himself that all those circus photos were still there.
Heero shrugged with the shoulder unoccupied by Duo. "You get used to it."
There was another homey burst of sound from behind the kitchen door. "Sounds like they're going all out.'
"Yeah, they do this every year. You were here last year, weren't you?" He paused for a moment of recollection. "Oh. Um. I guess you weren't."
Duo cast his thoughts back as well and sighed ruefully. "Yeah. Guess I wasn't. But hey, on the plus side, things are a lot different this year."
"I like this kind of different."
"Me, too." He nuzzled Heero's shoulder. "Wow. That was a whole year ago. Ignoring that little hiccup... it's been, what, sixteen months? Something like that?"
Heero did some math and figured out what he was talking about. "Something like that."
"I... wow." The butterflies from last year made a brief reappearance in his stomach, but settled down as he concentrated on the feel of Heero beside him. "How come I haven't messed everything up yet?"
"I won't let you."
He thought back to the way Heero had chased him down last year and demanded explanations for his sudden change of heart. Pushy bastard got what he wanted in the end. Got what they both wanted. He found Heero's hand with his own and laced their fingers together. "I wouldn't have tried breaking up with you if I hadn't liked you so much."
"I know."
"I think I like you even more now."
Heero smirked. "So, does that mean you'll try breaking up with me more, too?"
Duo laughed softly. "Hell, no. I like you so much -because-... because I think you've really helped me get past that. Yeah, I still think about... 'us' sometimes, and yeah, sometimes I still feel like I'm in way over my head and it's kind of uncomfortable, but... it's okay now. Now it's like... well, just consider the alternatives. Think about... not meeting you. Not taking that chance. Not... having you. And being a totally different person today."
"I'd be a pretty different person today, too."
"I think about if I'd had to deal with Elizabeth without anyone to back me up. Yeah, Howie'd be there, of course, but it'd be different. I'd have probably just thrown her out, end of story. Been so terrible about it that she'd never come back. Probably would have confirmed every terrible thing she'd imagined about me. And now look. Now, she thinks I'm a pretty decent guy. Go fig."
"You would have been a pretty decent guy without me. She just wouldn't have had the chance to know it."
"I wouldn't have had a chance to know it, either. I..." He looked for some more words to express what it was that was bouncing around his head, but in the end decided that kissing would be much, much easier, and so they kissed until Cathy stuck her head out again and ordered Heero to make sure the table was set properly.
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