Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ 1 Blood on the Window ❯ Delusion ( Chapter 7 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Relena was smiling at me as she sat across from me at the table, her mannerisms very professional.

"What?" I asked warily, studying her face. We were just about to head over to the port to pick up Heero and Duo, and I'd just worked all night. I really didn't want to play any of her games. I was just tired, on the far side of buzzed, and very much not in a mood to think.

"I hear you wanted to talk to me about an upgrade." she said very professionally, "I'd like to hear your pitch."

I stared at her a long moment in disbelief before I realized what must have happened, sniggering and running my hands over my face, "Well," I said, deciding I could play along with this game, "I was just thinking over the faults of your current model."

She grinned even more, "But I'm fully aware of the faults of my current model. A new model would require me to relearn aspects I've become very comfortable with."

I grinned, "The new model has many helpful attributes…like steady work."

She considered that, "But the model I have makes large sums of money in short order, and brings around other models of great interest."

"The new model would be capable of that, as well." I countered, "And many more that you may not be aware of yet."

Relena laughed delightedly, rising from her seat and moving to the fridge, "You're a shit, you realize that, don't you?"

"Of course. That's why you're interested in the upgrade."

She laughed again, pulling out a soda, "Come on…let's get over there."

I laughed myself, rising and following her to the door.

She paused, thinking and meeting my eyes, "What was that bit about fantasies?"

I died laughing.

She winked at me, leading the way to the car, "Are you driving yourself?"

I looked at the spot on the road I normally parked pointedly, "I had a bit to drink tonight and couldn't drive home."

She turned to focus on me, frowning, "Wufei, you really need to stop drinking, all right? If you're not careful, you'll become an alcoholic…and then what would we do with you?" she shook her head disapprovingly, opening the door, "Get in."

I rolled my eyes, doing as ordered and studying Duo's ring.

"How'd your day go?" Relena asked finally, meeting my eyes as we started off down the road.

"I dunno, it was a day. I broke up two fights and got into three…"

"Wufei." she sounded amused but reprimanding.

I laughed, "I made four-hundred in tips, though."

"Holy-shit." she met my eyes, staring.

I laughed, "I have a few regulars."

This got me a speculative look.

I sniggered, "Of course, there's a high-roller who's rather fond of me, as well."

She giggled. She knew of Jun without my elaboration.

I sat back in the seat, staring up at the black ceiling and trying to ignore the motion of the car. Along with four-hundred dollars, I'd been given drinks I couldn't refuse. The fact that I mixed my drinks heavy was beginning to seem like a bad idea; especially on nights when I hadn't eaten anything.

"Wufei? Are you all right?"

I shook my head, realizing that she'd been talking at me, "Huh?"

She laughed, "Why don't I drop you off at your apartment?"

"No," I muttered, sitting forward some and leaning so my head rested on my knees, "I'm not that bad off."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, plus I have to give Duo back his ring." I gestured with the hand.

"Ring? What ring?"

"I dunno where he got it, but he was wearing it when he left and wouldn't tell us where it came from…so I took it from him and told him I'd give it back to him tonight."

"Why?"

I laughed, "I'm a shit, remember?"

She laughed herself and we slowed down.

We were already at the port.

I sighed, closing my eyes again.

Definitely a bad idea to mix things so heavy.

.

I yawned, pulling Relena into a hug before kissing her, "Anything special happen while I was gone?"

"No, it's boring as hell home alone now, though."

I laughed, kissing her again, "I had quite the trip."

Duo moved up beside me, looking very much awake as Wufei fell into parade rest and closed his eyes.

"What's with you?" I asked Wufei.

"Jun showed up at the bar tonight," he replied, opening his eyes to blink at me, "You know how he is."

"Who?" Duo asked.

Wufei focused on him and shrugged, closing the distance between them to lean against Duo, resting his head on Duo's shoulder, "A guy who tips big. For every drink he orders himself, he orders one for me. It's near impossible to turn him down."

"Are you gonna be all right?" Duo asked, changing stance to support Wufei's weight.

I yawned again, blinking at Relena, "Can we get home? I'm beat."

"You're letting me drive?" she asked, a smile creeping across her face.

I gave her a look and took the keys from her hand.

She laughed as well, following me when I started walking, "Come on, you two." I muttered, studying Duo a moment longer.

He didn't look the slightest bit tired.

"What was so interesting for you trip, then?" Relena asked, "And why didn't you call me back?"

I shrugged, "The battery died. Duo had an eviction notice when we got there."

"We suspected as much." Relena muttered, frowning at me. "Duo has his phone, doesn't he?"

That thought hadn't actually occurred to me.

I glanced back at the pair as Duo allowed Wufei to use him for support. I knew that Wufei could walk normally if he chose to, so I found this highly amusing. "Sorry. Anyway, his landlord showed up while he was packing and ended up pulling a gun on me."

Relena flinched, "You didn't kill him, did you?"

I shook my head, shrugging and passing her back the keys, "I disarmed him and he called the cops."

This got me a confused look.

"They didn't even ask for my name," I sniggered, thinking back to how polite they'd been, "I managed to sweet talk them into leaving us alone."

"It's how you're dressed." Duo countered, "Your mannerisms. They figured you weren't some two-bit hoodlum and moved on. Glen has called the cops so many times now that they just show up so he'll leave them alone."

"I don't know," I muttered, "They didn't even check to see if I had my concealed permit."

"Do you have one?"

I laughed, "I have several, depending on where I'm at."

"I told you," he muttered after a moment, "It's how you're dressed. You saw Mrs. Ludderman, that was one of her best outfits."

I turned to meet his eyes, blinking at him.

He shook his head, looking away from my eyes…and then focused on the hand Wufei had pressed to his chest and shoved it away. He stopped, however, spotting his ring on Fei's finger as Wufei lifted his head to meet his eyes.

Duo settled back again, and didn't say a word.

.

I blinked at my alarm clock slowly, listening to the silence of the house.

Why was I awake?

"Duo?"

I lifted my head to blink up at the open doorway to my room. Wufei was standing there, studying me, "Are we going to mass?"

I ran my hand through my hair, thinking about that and looking to my clock again.

Eleven.

"I dunno, Fei…I'm tired."

"Come on, we've only gone once since you got here…"

I raised my head to study his eyes, debating if I wanted to get up or not.

"Are you gonna want me to join with you?" he added after a moment, "Since you're here, I'll probably end up going more often."

I snorted, pushing myself up, "I don't know yet."

"Do you think I should? I mean…I think probably."

I sat up and blinked at him, shaking my head, "No, I mean that I don't know if I'll join the church or not."

This got me a confused look.

I gestured him away, "Make me some breakfast, please…I'll shower and be down in a few minutes…that should give us enough time to get there."

He beamed at me and disappeared.

.

"Where is Duo?" I asked Relena, blinking at her.

"He and Wufei went to mass." she replied, slopping eggs onto toast.

"I don't suppose you'll make me one?" I asked, watching the food.

She laughed, shaking her head, "I used the last eggs. Sorry."

I sighed, rising to my feet and moving to the cupboards to dig for something.

Here, at least, it was a matter of choice.

"Would you believe that the only food in Duo's apartment was noodles and condiments?" I asked, meeting her eyes.

"What?" she asked, taking another bite as she gave me a confused look.

I nodded, "It was insane. And then he had all sorts of pictures of himself and kids. He said that the teachers gave them to him."

"Teachers?"

"He was working as an assistant teacher," I clarified, "As well as being a night-clerk somewhere."

"Really? That's…"

"Plus his volunteer shit." I shook my head, pulling out a box of cereal and gathering the necessary implements, "I couldn't believe it. Everyone there knew him as Tailor."

"Maybe he was trying to start over again," she muttered, thinking, "Maybe he was trying to make a difference."

I studied her a long moment, then shook my head, pouring my breakfast into the bowl.

"You realize I bought that for Alexia and Lea, don't you?"

"Yeah," I returned, frowning at her, "Why?"

"You don't have to eat it. We can throw it away."

I blinked at her, then looked to the box and grinned as it connected in my mind, "I like this stuff, shockingly enough."

She gave me a look, "You get weirder and weirder every month."

.

"Hey," I pulled away from Kayla to blink at Heero, who was standing in the doorway, "I've got a job. Let's go."

I sighed, starting to crawl out from under the woman.

"If he's got a job, then what are you doing?" she asked me, frowning.

"He's been working with me, Kay," Heero explained, "Go figure."

She frowned at me, "You're going? I only just got here…"

I kissed her again, "I'm sorry. This shouldn't take more than an hour…you want to go to a movie or something?"

This seemed to startle her, "Like…a date?"

I laughed, "Yeah."

Her hazel eyes went considerate as if the idea of a date had never crossed her mind-which made sense, since the night I'd went to take her to dinner she'd ended up just pulling me into her apartment again. We hadn't even left the house.

"No sex?" she asked, meeting my eyes again.

Heero laughed an evil laugh, "He didn't say that…"

I silenced him with a gesture, studying her eyes carefully, "No sex. Maybe a kiss, though."

She smiled slowly at me, blushing, "You want to date me?"

'Amazed' was an understatement.

I stuttered a moment, not sure exactly what to say to that…I'd been sleeping with the woman for a week and she was getting girly over a date?

"No, it's fine," she said quickly, rising to her knees, "We don't have to date…just don't…don't freak out on me, okay? Just…"

"Kayla, you misunderstand him," Heero said calmly, resting a hand on my shoulder, "He's speechless, not uninterested."

I blushed myself, meeting her eyes.

Her cheeks flamed again.

"She's the weirdest chick I ever met." Heero whispered at me, patting my shoulder and starting into the hall.

"Do you…want to date?" I asked finally, catching my mouth up to my thoughts.

She smiled a girly smile at me and nodded, "That would be nice."

I smiled at her, starting to follow after Heero-who'd cleared his throat pointedly, "All right, find a movie you want to see…and when I get back…"

She giggled, bouncing across the room to kiss my lips, "'kay."

I smiled at her again, then started down the stairs, glancing back at her as she leaned over the railing to watch me leave.

"I'm telling you," Heero muttered as we got into the car, "She really is a nut-case."

"Why do you say that?" I demanded, frowning at him, "Why don't you like her?"

"I like her well enough," he muttered, buckling and starting the engine, "But she's…weird. You've been seeing her the past…what? Week? Just about daily? And she's only just now understanding that you're interested in a relationship? You've even taken her out once before."

I chuckled, "Actually, we didn't end up leaving the house."

He raised his eyebrows at me.

I shrugged, "I intended to take her out."

He laughed his evil laugh again, starting down the road, "I think you're getting yourself in over your head." he informed me, "Maybe you should sleep around some more and find some nice chick to accidentally have a kid with."

I snorted, "My constructive sin goes only as far as one woman at a time. Deal with it."

The look he gave me at this was fairly astounded.

I laughed, studying his eyes, "Don't worry, you and Wufei can still try and rape me when I'm drunk."

"We did not!" he protested instantly, swerving slightly and meeting my eyes.

I sniggered, rubbing my nose and looking away from his eyes, "Right."

"We didn't! We were playing that dare game you started."

"I started?" I couldn't believe that.

He gave me a look, "Yeah, you started. You dared him to finish a nearly full glass, and he dared you to kiss me."

I thought about that a long moment, then met his eyes, "How did that lead to you kissing my throat?"

He sputtered out a laugh on that, then shook his head, not meeting my eyes, "I don't know, I can't remember either."

"Then how did you remember that I tasted like peaches?"

He shrugged, "I remember telling it to Wufei, but not much else."

I sat back in my seat, thinking things over, "You know, we really shouldn't get drunk with him anymore."

"No, he's fine when you don't start daring him to do shit."

I decided to let that one lie, my mind going back to Kayla, "Where should I take her?"

That one took a second to compute in my companions mind, but he snorted, "To the river. Drown her and put her out of my misery."

I smacked him for that one.

.

"Hey, Duo, let's go to the Burn on Friday," I muttered, tossing myself onto Duo's bed from the door.

Duo, however, was not the form that bounced a good three feet into the air next to me, and the next instant when I had claws dug deep into my forearm I realized that Duo was not in the room at all.

"Oh my god, don't do that!"

"Ouch!" I shouted at the same time, yanking my forearm from Kayla's grasp-and managing to fall off the bed at the same time.

I groaned, staring up at the ceiling as my head recovered from the sharp smack it'd received on the nightstand.

"Wufei?" Kayla's voice was concerned as her head popped over the edge of the bed, "Are you all right?"

I laughed painfully, covering my face with my hands as my mind started clearing up again.

"What's going on in…" Relena's voice stopped.

"You didn't tell me Duo wasn't home, Relena." I informed the woman, uncovering my face to look at her.

Relena was looking between Kayla and I with wide disbelieving eyes, "What did you do?"

"He jumped on the bed and sent me flying into the air!" Kayla said instantly, gesturing at me.

"You're bleeding." Relena noted at the same time, moving to offer me a hand, "Are you all right?"

I laughed still more as I sat on the bed, letting her hand go and looking at my forearm. It had blood across it. "I'm fine." I muttered finally, blinking some at Kayla who was sitting just behind me.

"I'm sorry." she muttered, dropping her eyes, "I didn't realize I had such a tight grip on you."

"It was when I ripped my arm away," I reassured her, studying the wound, then focusing on Relena when she turned away from us.

She was trying not to laugh.

"How was I supposed to know Duo wasn't here?" I demanded, "And even so, how was I supposed to know Kayla was here?"

Relena composed herself, meeting my eyes calmly, "It's all right, Wufei. Let's get you cleaned up."

I narrowed my eyes at her, pulling my arm away when she went to grab me, "You could have told me Duo wasn't here when I started upstairs."

She forced a frown, catching my wrist and yanking at me, "You're right. I'm sorry. Kayla, are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Kayla returned, shoving at my back, "You're gonna make a mess if you stay in here. Let her clean it."

I turned to study Kayla's eyes. She wasn't upset or even embarrassed-hardly even worried.

"Wufei." Relena's tone was commanding.

I gave up, rising to my feet and allowing Relena to drag me across the hall, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I tried to," she replied, "You said hey and started up, but you were out of hearing range before I could say he was gone."

I frowned at her as she yanked me into the bathroom and shoved me down onto the closed toilet-lid. She seemed surprised.

"What?"

"You…'re not fighting me."

I couldn't help but laugh, meeting her eyes, "I enjoy being manhandled…especially by a pretty woman."

Her eyes narrowed.

I laughed more, resting my arm on the counter-top and looking away.

.

"Who is home?" I called up the stairs, listening carefully. Wufei's car was out front, but that really told me nothing.

"We're all here." Relena's voice came from up the stairs, "You missed the show, though."

"I'm not interested in seeing Wufei strip, sorry." Duo muttered, smirking at me and starting up the stairs.

Relena's laughter was naughty and we could hear Wufei protest in the distance.

"What do you mean?" I asked as Duo and I crested the stairs, studying her beautiful eyes.

"Wufei came in and jumped on his bed," Relena explained, wrinkling her nose slightly and grinning, "Poor Kayla went flying."

"Is she okay?" Duo demanded, moving around us as I stopped in front of my girlfriend.

"She's fine." Relena replied as I pulled her to me, "She grabbed him and…" I cut off whatever else she was going to say with a kiss, which made her giggle.

I didn't realize I'd started us for our room until she used her arms to brace against the door-frame, pulling away from our kiss to give me a look, "Not right now," she muttered, "I want to tell Duo what happened."

"You can tell him later," I muttered, turning her so her arms weren't impeding progress into the bedroom-but then she had better leverage to stop me.

"Just wait, all right?" she muttered, focusing on my grip and managing to free herself-not that I was holding her tightly by any means…well…I had been, but yeah.

"Relena…"

"I'll be back in a few minutes." she whispered, kissing me lightly, "Just have some patience."

"You know me better than that." I protested, following after her as she started into the room.

Kayla had been muttering to Duo and now that I could see them, she was right up against him. Wufei looked annoyed as he sat against the headboard with his feet on the bed, hair loose, but what really caught my attention was the bandage on his right arm, which was resting against his knee.

"What happened to you?" I muttered, moving around Relena to study the thing.

"I jumped onto the bed from the door," he explained, staring at his arm, "Kayla weighs about as much as a pillow, so she went flying into the air and grabbed me."

I snorted, moving to let go of him before realizing he was still wearing Duo's ring.

He squeezed my hand, smirking at me.

I let him go, grinning at him and pulling Relena against me when I joined her.

"You should have heard them, though." Relena muttered to Duo, who broke his complete attention to the girl and met her eyes, "Kayla screamed something and he shouted…and then there was a small thud and a big one." she grinned at him.

I turned to frown at Wufei.

"She'd dug her nails in and I was trying to break her grip."

Kayla giggled, "He fell off the bed."

Wufei was glowering worse than before, now.

Duo smiled at his friend, then smiled at us.

"Come on, you told him." I whispered in Relena's ear, meeting Duo's eyes as I talked.

He rolled his eyes.

.

"Would I be invited if you went to Burn?" Kayla asked Wufei curiously.

"What's that?" I asked, looking from one to the other as I poured juice into glass, then shook the container in offering.

Kayla smiled at me.

Wufei shook his head, "It's a club uptown." he explained, "Jun gave me some passes for the V.I.P. room, so I figured I should use them."

I turned to study his eyes, "Who is this, Jun?"

Wufei shook his head again, "You don't want to know, really. Let's just pray you never have to meet him."

"Jun Martin?" Kayla asked, giving Wufei a curious look, "He's a nice guy. I've talked to him before. He bought me a few drinks."

"Yeah, he's nice, he's rich…he's nice and rich," Wufei agreed, studying her eyes a long moment before shaking his head and looking back to me, "But I swear to you both that he creeps the hell out of me."

I smiled at him, taking mine and Kayla's glasses back to the table-and blinking at the ceiling as I heard Relena's voice.

Wufei sniggered, "You're in for a few sleepless nights, you realize?"

"What?" I asked, meeting his eyes.

Wufei's laughter was amused as he shook his head, then met Kayla's eyes, "I wouldn't be able to bring you in with me."

She frowned.

"I don't know that I want to go," I muttered.

"Come on, Duo…you wouldn't believe this place! It's got a two hour line and a twenty dollar cover charge on a Wednesday night."

I shrugged. I didn't know enough about clubs or bars to know if that meant a damn thing.

"You should go," Kayla muttered, studying my face, "I'm going to my sister's Friday morning, so you won't have anything to do."

Wufei nodded, meeting my eyes again, "You'll have a blast. Trust me."

"Trust you?" Kayla demanded, blinking at him and laughing as he flipped her off with his own grin.

I considered this a long moment, looking from Kayla to Wufei, then shrugged, "Fine."

Wufei beamed at me, "Great!" he said, hopping out of his seat, "I want to go get a new outfit."

Kayla made a face, since this appeal seemed to be made to her.

"You'll get to dress me," he offered, his tone extremely suggestive, dancing with evil laughter.

"But what about going to a movie?" Kayla muttered, meeting my eyes.

"What?" Wufei asked.

Kayla flicked her hair as she met his eyes, "He wants to date."

Wufei's brow shot up and he met my eyes.

I shrugged at him, not sure what he meant by it.

"He said that when he and Heero got back from their job that we could go to a movie."

"Did you pick one?" Wufei pressed.

"Not yet." she confessed, raising one elegant nail to her lips and thinking.

"So what's the problem? We go get some new clothes, you get to dress a couple boys up like dolls…then I head to work and you two go to your movie. It's only three, we've got hours before anything really needs deciding."

She made a face, shaking her head, "I don't want to go shopping."

Wufei and I exchanged a look.

"But that's fine if you two go," she rose to her feet, "I have some things to do at my apartment anyway, so I'll call you when I've decided what I want to do. Is that okay?"

I nodded, blinking at her again.

She smiled at me, moving across the room to kiss me, then met Wufei's eyes, "Can you drop me off on your way?"

"Sure." he said happily, starting into the living room, "It'd be my pleasure."