(no subject)
Title: Lovely
Author: Dreaming of Everything dreams_of_all
Series: Gundam Wing
Characters/Pairings: Duo, Heero, Wufei, Quatre, Trowa, Duo/Heero
Rating/Warnings: T, slash.
Summary: A retelling of Beauty and the Beast. When someone stumbles into an enchantment hidden deep within a forest, he trades his life for the lives of one of his slaves...
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
FFnet link
So it was decided. He would make an attempt to get to know Duo. Because it was only fair, and he had been raised to be a lord, to dispense justice, and maybe Wufei’s attitude was affecting him more than he had thought; it had been 500 years, after all.
And putting it off would be a silly, useless act, giving in to a weakness.
oOo
There were three of them: Wufei, Duo and Trowa. Quatre was in the library but the other three were in the orchard, at least one and maybe two, or even all of them, reveling in the weather: glorious sunshine with just enough a breeze to keep it from being too warm. It would have been unseasonable if the castle grounds had had seasons.
All three noticed his approach fairly quickly, with a caution and awareness that spoke of a long history of mistrust and wariness for all of them. That was worth thinking over, but later. Now he should concentrate on the present, and a potentially dangerous situation. Trowa-Barton, was it?-was still an unknown quantity.
Trowa carefully noted the reactions of Wufei and Duo when Heero appeared in the orchard they currently inhabited, mentally recording the reactions, along with his own, for any potential insight they could provide. There was always the chance that it would prove necessary to protecting Lord Winner.
Duo hid his surprise well, but it was still noticeable, and it was difficult to tell whether it was because Heero was spending time with him, (at least, outside of the dinner they were required to spend together) and with them, or whether the unanticipated appearance was because of something else he hadn’t guessed at. It was difficult to tell if there was still an element of fear in his reaction.
Wufei was inscrutable, which was clearly annoying Duo; Trowa guessed that his carefully constructed non-reaction was because he was, in actuality, quite surprised himself.
And Trowa himself-it was surprising, yes, but it was his job to be prepared. He had been given a fairly accurate description by Duo. Largely, Heero’s appearance reinforced the difficulty in keeping Lord Quatre safe. Yuy was clearly faster and stronger than an un-augmented human would be, and apparently not social, which was, admittedly, not interchangeable with ‘homicidal,’ but a step in the wrong direction, and when you had been holed up in a castle with very minimal interaction for an unknown amount of time…
It was not an insurmountable difficulty, but one that would require work.
He nodded companionably at Yuy before his inattention was noticed, his resolve to monitor the situation reinforced.
The mood was noticeably tense, Duo noticed. He pitied Quatre for having to eat dinner with those two, Trowa and Wufei, every night-not that his own dinner companion was any better, or his dinners any more at ease. At least Trowa was merely quiet, and Wufei generally controlled his temper when it came to people other than Duo. On the other hand, Duo was a lot better at creating noise and conversation than Quatre was, even though Quatre was better at making conversation. Probably came of being a Lord. It was hard to remember that he was one, sometimes…
Anyways… The mood needed some changing.
“Heya Heero! What brings you out here on this fine day?”
Yuy looked lost for words, flummoxed, even, and his expression was remarkably out-of-place on his dramatically inhuman features.
Duo’s mood swings were nearly dizzying, thought Heero fuzzily, before metaphorically shaking the confused fog from his mind. There was something about the boy that managed to destroy his reserve and professionalism-it was even more obnoxious than Duo himself, which was saying something.
“Nothing,” he bit out.
“Well then, you can stay and spend some time with us!”
Heero resisted the urge to (flee) make a tactically advantageous retreat, despite the fact that that had been his intention all along, and the reason he was out on the grounds at all was because of Duo (primarily) and the other two (a secondary concern.)
“Quatre’s going to be out anytime, and we were just talking about what to do-today’s weather’s good enough that we were talking about going swimming-“
“No, Duo, you were trying to convince us that we should go swimming.”
“Trooooowa-“
“I don’t understand why you feel the need to splash around like the undignified fool you are, Maxwell, and the fact that you think that anyone else would want to do the same is even crazier. Or stupider.”
“Oh, why, thank you for your kind remarks, Lord Chang, clearly your lessons on diplomacy have done you a great service.”
“Quatre was talking about going on a picnic,” offered Trowa.
Duo positively lit up. There was something fragile and innocent in his expression for a minute, something overjoyed, wonderstruck-like a lost child. It was quickly overtaken by unholy amounts of glee that were much better suited to the hyperactive teenager he was.
“Oooooo let’s do it let’s do it let’s do it!”
“There’s nothing to get so overexcited about,” growled Heero, his first comment since his brusque reply to Duo’s greeting.
“I’ve never been on a picnic before!”
Nobody had time to reply to his curious statement. Hadn’t his parents? If they were anything like him- If it mattered so much to him- Before Duo turned his attention to something a ways off in the distance.
“Heeeey, Quatre!” Duo yelled-loudly, Quatre was still a ways away-as he approached, the first to notice: the other three had had their backs towards him, facing towards Duo-he tended to draw attention towards himself, for better or for worse. Generally for worse.
The other three turned to face the approaching Quatre, each annoyed in their own way at being caught off guard.
He blinked heavily in surprise at Heero’s appearance and everyone steeled themselves for everything that could go wrong from here on out-
But he recovered himself nearly visibly, a diplomat’s training taking over, smiling at them and waving cheerily-
Before stopping, shaken, and staring at Heero in horror before clutching at his chest and collapsing, eyes wide with some glassy horror-
And Heero was gone, suddenly, simply not there, Wufei making an aborted attempt to chase after him-
Trowa was lunging for the collapsed form of Quatre, all business and steely intent and professionalism and a half-hidden current of true despair beyond that even he might not notice-
And everything, as Duo assessed, was shot to hell.
oOo
An on-edge Trowa stalked out of Quatre’s room, nearly oozing danger and a barely-controlled killing intent. Duo remained unaffected by his presence, hovering outside the door, (while doing a good impression of not actually having any purpose there,) clearly nearly frantic with worry-and the silently watching Wufei noticed that he hadn’t looked this stretched, this close to breaking, before, worse even than Trowa, who was probably the one Quatre was closest to, the one who was closest to Trowa. And he wondered what had happened…
But then he forced that train of thought away. He had enough to worry about.
Like Heero. He had walled himself up somewhere in the castle; it responded to his thoughts, and there was no way to get to wherever he was that he could find. He knew, because he had tried, and now it was well past midnight, 14 hours since he had fled, and he didn’t know what it would do to him, what would end up happening. The others might not realize it, but he did: the Winner had just reaffirmed everything Heero thought of himself, and so soon after Duo had done the same, and he suspected that that would go further towards destroying the man than 500 years of near-solitude had.
And there was still the matter of the so-studiously-not-frantic Duo, as close to snapping as Trowa, both so unaware, and the continuing unconsciousness/unresponsiveness of Quatre.
Wufei had so much he needed to do, but so little he could actually affect-
--End--
Author: Dreaming of Everything dreams_of_all
Series: Gundam Wing
Characters/Pairings: Duo, Heero, Wufei, Quatre, Trowa, Duo/Heero
Rating/Warnings: T, slash.
Summary: A retelling of Beauty and the Beast. When someone stumbles into an enchantment hidden deep within a forest, he trades his life for the lives of one of his slaves...
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
FFnet link
So it was decided. He would make an attempt to get to know Duo. Because it was only fair, and he had been raised to be a lord, to dispense justice, and maybe Wufei’s attitude was affecting him more than he had thought; it had been 500 years, after all.
And putting it off would be a silly, useless act, giving in to a weakness.
oOo
There were three of them: Wufei, Duo and Trowa. Quatre was in the library but the other three were in the orchard, at least one and maybe two, or even all of them, reveling in the weather: glorious sunshine with just enough a breeze to keep it from being too warm. It would have been unseasonable if the castle grounds had had seasons.
All three noticed his approach fairly quickly, with a caution and awareness that spoke of a long history of mistrust and wariness for all of them. That was worth thinking over, but later. Now he should concentrate on the present, and a potentially dangerous situation. Trowa-Barton, was it?-was still an unknown quantity.
Trowa carefully noted the reactions of Wufei and Duo when Heero appeared in the orchard they currently inhabited, mentally recording the reactions, along with his own, for any potential insight they could provide. There was always the chance that it would prove necessary to protecting Lord Winner.
Duo hid his surprise well, but it was still noticeable, and it was difficult to tell whether it was because Heero was spending time with him, (at least, outside of the dinner they were required to spend together) and with them, or whether the unanticipated appearance was because of something else he hadn’t guessed at. It was difficult to tell if there was still an element of fear in his reaction.
Wufei was inscrutable, which was clearly annoying Duo; Trowa guessed that his carefully constructed non-reaction was because he was, in actuality, quite surprised himself.
And Trowa himself-it was surprising, yes, but it was his job to be prepared. He had been given a fairly accurate description by Duo. Largely, Heero’s appearance reinforced the difficulty in keeping Lord Quatre safe. Yuy was clearly faster and stronger than an un-augmented human would be, and apparently not social, which was, admittedly, not interchangeable with ‘homicidal,’ but a step in the wrong direction, and when you had been holed up in a castle with very minimal interaction for an unknown amount of time…
It was not an insurmountable difficulty, but one that would require work.
He nodded companionably at Yuy before his inattention was noticed, his resolve to monitor the situation reinforced.
The mood was noticeably tense, Duo noticed. He pitied Quatre for having to eat dinner with those two, Trowa and Wufei, every night-not that his own dinner companion was any better, or his dinners any more at ease. At least Trowa was merely quiet, and Wufei generally controlled his temper when it came to people other than Duo. On the other hand, Duo was a lot better at creating noise and conversation than Quatre was, even though Quatre was better at making conversation. Probably came of being a Lord. It was hard to remember that he was one, sometimes…
Anyways… The mood needed some changing.
“Heya Heero! What brings you out here on this fine day?”
Yuy looked lost for words, flummoxed, even, and his expression was remarkably out-of-place on his dramatically inhuman features.
Duo’s mood swings were nearly dizzying, thought Heero fuzzily, before metaphorically shaking the confused fog from his mind. There was something about the boy that managed to destroy his reserve and professionalism-it was even more obnoxious than Duo himself, which was saying something.
“Nothing,” he bit out.
“Well then, you can stay and spend some time with us!”
Heero resisted the urge to (flee) make a tactically advantageous retreat, despite the fact that that had been his intention all along, and the reason he was out on the grounds at all was because of Duo (primarily) and the other two (a secondary concern.)
“Quatre’s going to be out anytime, and we were just talking about what to do-today’s weather’s good enough that we were talking about going swimming-“
“No, Duo, you were trying to convince us that we should go swimming.”
“Trooooowa-“
“I don’t understand why you feel the need to splash around like the undignified fool you are, Maxwell, and the fact that you think that anyone else would want to do the same is even crazier. Or stupider.”
“Oh, why, thank you for your kind remarks, Lord Chang, clearly your lessons on diplomacy have done you a great service.”
“Quatre was talking about going on a picnic,” offered Trowa.
Duo positively lit up. There was something fragile and innocent in his expression for a minute, something overjoyed, wonderstruck-like a lost child. It was quickly overtaken by unholy amounts of glee that were much better suited to the hyperactive teenager he was.
“Oooooo let’s do it let’s do it let’s do it!”
“There’s nothing to get so overexcited about,” growled Heero, his first comment since his brusque reply to Duo’s greeting.
“I’ve never been on a picnic before!”
Nobody had time to reply to his curious statement. Hadn’t his parents? If they were anything like him- If it mattered so much to him- Before Duo turned his attention to something a ways off in the distance.
“Heeeey, Quatre!” Duo yelled-loudly, Quatre was still a ways away-as he approached, the first to notice: the other three had had their backs towards him, facing towards Duo-he tended to draw attention towards himself, for better or for worse. Generally for worse.
The other three turned to face the approaching Quatre, each annoyed in their own way at being caught off guard.
He blinked heavily in surprise at Heero’s appearance and everyone steeled themselves for everything that could go wrong from here on out-
But he recovered himself nearly visibly, a diplomat’s training taking over, smiling at them and waving cheerily-
Before stopping, shaken, and staring at Heero in horror before clutching at his chest and collapsing, eyes wide with some glassy horror-
And Heero was gone, suddenly, simply not there, Wufei making an aborted attempt to chase after him-
Trowa was lunging for the collapsed form of Quatre, all business and steely intent and professionalism and a half-hidden current of true despair beyond that even he might not notice-
And everything, as Duo assessed, was shot to hell.
oOo
An on-edge Trowa stalked out of Quatre’s room, nearly oozing danger and a barely-controlled killing intent. Duo remained unaffected by his presence, hovering outside the door, (while doing a good impression of not actually having any purpose there,) clearly nearly frantic with worry-and the silently watching Wufei noticed that he hadn’t looked this stretched, this close to breaking, before, worse even than Trowa, who was probably the one Quatre was closest to, the one who was closest to Trowa. And he wondered what had happened…
But then he forced that train of thought away. He had enough to worry about.
Like Heero. He had walled himself up somewhere in the castle; it responded to his thoughts, and there was no way to get to wherever he was that he could find. He knew, because he had tried, and now it was well past midnight, 14 hours since he had fled, and he didn’t know what it would do to him, what would end up happening. The others might not realize it, but he did: the Winner had just reaffirmed everything Heero thought of himself, and so soon after Duo had done the same, and he suspected that that would go further towards destroying the man than 500 years of near-solitude had.
And there was still the matter of the so-studiously-not-frantic Duo, as close to snapping as Trowa, both so unaware, and the continuing unconsciousness/unresponsiveness of Quatre.
Wufei had so much he needed to do, but so little he could actually affect-
--End--