fic - two out of three : 6
Two out of Three : 6
The door to the apartment opened before he could do it himself, and Heero welcomed him back with a hug that was far too short. He watched a bit numbly as Heero finished locking up, and blurted out what he suddenly realized.
"I don't want to do this anymore."
There was a slight pause after the bolt slid home, before Heero turned with a cautiously curious look. "Do... what?"
Duo blinked at him, off-kilter. "I didn't mean... I meant, of course I didn't..."
Heero decided he needed a nice long hug, and executed on the plan immediately. "Hey. Maybe you want to get some rest first?"
"God, yes, but no." He wanted to both pull away and snuggle closer. Snuggling closer won out. "I want to finish this thought. I should, while..." He exhaled loudly and let his thoughts fall into line under the soft pressure of Heero's embrace. "I... feel like I have a... duty. To L2. You know?"
Heero made an encouraging sound.
They'd spoken about it before, but Duo went on to elaborate for his own edification. "Because I'm in a position. To do stuff. Good stuff. But this commute is... not what I want. L2 for a couple of weeks. Back here for a couple of days. This is not what I want. For me or for you. And I don't want to live full-time on L2. With or without you, honestly. And I definitely don't want to rope you into it. You've got your own stuff going on..."
"You've done a lot these past two years." Heero gave him an apologetic squeeze. "Only you can say if you've done enough."
He sighed heavily. "Yeah. I guess."
"But my advice... if you'll have it... is to not let 'duty' become a cover word for self-punishment."
Something in those words resonated with something within him. "Heh, I'd have to be a fool not to take advice from someone so well-versed in both topics."
"Yes, take it from me... Duty often involves sacrifice. But it doesn't necessarily involve sacrifice."
"Hmmm."
"Let's talk about it in the morning, okay? I'm sure there's a way you can continue your work from here."
Duo nuzzled his neck. "Thank you. I should probably say that more often than I do."
Heero disengaged them gently, though not before laying a kiss to Duo's forehead. "Now you're just getting maudlin. Come on. Let's get you to bed."
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