Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The Edulcoration of Duo Maxwell ❯ Risk of a Pyrrhic Victory ( Chapter 48 )

The Edulcoration of Duo Maxwell - 48/?

~~~~~

"One so often looks at things the wrong way round." - Jane Marple, Greenshaw's Folly

~~~~~

Warnings: AU, yaoi, coarse language, violence, angst, cliffhangers, red herrings, mention of various vices, random bits of useless knowledge, occasionally explicit sex, enough footnotes to choke an army of horses.

Rating: NC-17

Spoilers: Nah.

Disclaimer: I don't really need to be Captain Obvious here, do I? No ownership, no money being made, yadda yadda. Written for fun, not profit.

Archived at:
http://www.atsui.org
http://www.gundam-wing-diaries.150m.com/gw /Mookie/gwmookie.htm

Edulcorate (verb) - To free from harshness (as of attitude); to soften

~~~~~

Chapter 48 - Risk of a Pyrrhic Victory

To say Milliardo Peacecraft was surprised was an understatement of vast proportions.

Khushrenada. It could not be a coincidence, and it would explain a lot of the sly looks he'd been receiving.

Treize had never mentioned her, so this girl couldn't be his daughter, could she?

"Virgie Fane has been Mariemeia's primary caregiver while Mister Treize is at work," Dorothy said, answering that question. She looked quite pleased to have a bit of information that he did not.

"Do you see how an alliance between us could make us unstoppable?" she asked, her cold eyes taking on a spark of what he could best describe as bloodlust.

"There is little that escapes me, given time," she said. "I must say, thanks to you, I even found out about Relena's little 'date.' You did not seem very pleased with their tête-à-tête. I wonder if the two of them had a conversation as stimulating as ours."

Milliardo was still fixated on one new piece of the puzzle. Treize had a daughter. He could not comprehend it. He took that bit of information, turned it over in his head, then went back over his conversation with the man yesterday.

Treize had said that sometimes people worked on similar motivations. Milliardo's was securing Relena's future first and foremost, and then upholding the family name and reputation second. Treize knew that.

Was Treize acting to provide for his daughter first, and for the company second? Was he hinting that others might be acting with similar interests?

He suspected that Treize hadn't always been involved in her upbringing. Considering her age in the photograph, there was no way Treize would not have said something to him by now. In fact, in some ways, Treize was almost painfully old fashioned. He would have offered to marry the mother, may have even insisted on it.

He'd made his decision, and it pained him to do so.

The things I do for love, he thought. Relena better be home like I told her before I left.

He pulled out his cell phone and glanced at Dorothy, who shrugged and picked up her Blood Mary again. In light of her ambivalence, he wasn't worried about seeming discourteous.

He made two phone calls, each concise and to the point, and then glanced at the photo of Mariemeia before making a third. He pocketed his phone and stood up.

"Mister Milliardo," she said tilting her head to suggest that he seat himself again. He did, out of morbid curiosity alone.

"There is a bird called the Egyptian plover," she said. "It has a symbiotic relationship with the Nile crocodile. Familiar with it?"

He just met her gaze levelly, not allowing her to bait him. He knew that she was well aware just whom he'd called, but allowed her to play her little game. He just had no intention of joining her in it.

"The crocodile feeds all day, then opens its mouth to invite the plover in," she said, undeterred by his apparent lack of interest. "The bird cleans its teeth and gums of food particles, and sometimes dines on parasites as well. It is mutualism at its most surprising. Sometimes you put your head in the mouth of the crocodile, but unless you're the plover bird, you never know if or when it's going to snap shut.

"I do not consider our breakfast a waste of time, Mister Milliardo. I cannot deny that I am disappointed in your decision, but I am not particularly surprised. Nor can I say I regret out time together. Perhaps the next time we meet the circumstances will be much different, and this conversation will have given me an insight into the mind of my opponent. An edge, if you will." She looked at him speculatively. "A worthy adversary..." she began.

"...makes emerging victorious from battle all the more rewarding," he cut in at last, and her eyes gleamed.

She raised her glass in a silent toast.

"Until our foils cross again." With that, she downed the rest of the drink in a single gulp and smiled.

Milliardo glanced at the photograph on the table again.

Treize had a daughter.

He hoped the rest of the day wouldn't hold quite so many revelations. Perhaps he should avoid drinking coffee until the deal had been signed, because the day was off to a rather interesting start.

~~~~~

Duo had given a lot of thought to what he wanted to say to Heero, but in the end, he fell back on one of the oldest defense mechanisms in the book.

"You were good, Heero," he drawled. "I have to say, I can see why you insisted on being...uke, was it? Definitely your forte in the bedroom."

He would not look at Heero's eyes, would not see if those words pierced Heero to the core.

"If you'd like, I'd be more than happy to give your number to some of my colleagues. Maybe one of them could offer you something along the lines of a permanent arrangement, perhaps a contract of exclusivity."

He reached into his pocket and withdrew the money clip he'd removed from the bedroom safe, carefully counting out the other half of the money he'd promised Heero at the end of the contract and placing it on the table, right next to the leather case containing Heero's computer. It had always been Heero's computer, and he suspected they'd both known that from the start.

It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

"You want me to be someone's kept woman," Heero finally said. "Is this punishment for last night?" He hated that Duo had managed to provoke that sort of reaction in him.

"No," Duo said. "Will you just forget about last night?" The way I am trying to, he thought. "This has nothing to do with last night. And no, I don't expect you to be a 'kept woman' for anyone. I certainly don't think of you as a woman at all," he added, not liking Heero's comment one bit. "I'm just thinking that perhaps a few of my associates are clinging to the coats in their respective closets. Hell, screw them all for all I care, I'd just like to see you with a steady income, with less of a risk for infection. I'm expressing concern for your wellbeing, you ungrateful bastard."

Heero didn't reply, and Duo exploded, not exactly sure why he was unable to maintain the cool façade he'd carefully constructed before leaving the bathroom, and had tried to cement into place while getting dressed.

"Will you get over yourself?" he roared. "I told you from the very beginning I wasn't gay, remember? You're the one who was going to convert me for the bargain basement price of a mere five C's. All I wanted from you was a goddamn set of directions!"

"And all I wanted when you got me up here was a quick fuck and my three hundred dollars, but that wasn't enough for you, either, was it? You had to have me the whole fucking night just to deal with your own closet issues, in the end."

Things were getting ugly, but Duo refused to let Heero pin this guilt on him.

"I thought I was doing you a favor, damn it! I'm trying to do you a favor now! Off the street, safe from...from street thugs, and STDs, and wondering where your next meal is coming from!" So much for honesty, he thought. It seemed he'd spent the week mired in both truth and lies, often at the same time. This wasn't how he'd envisioned their parting, but the die had already been cast.

Heero's voice took on a dangerous edge. "Oh, and you're the one to save me from myself, right? If you hadn't noticed, Mister Maxwell, I was doing just fine before you came along." He held out his arm, pointing at the veins in the crook of his elbow. "No track marks. I told you I don't do drugs. I am not stupid, and I certainly know how to take care of myself, just as much as you do. They make condoms for a reason. I was fully aware of the hazards of my profession, and I took every precaution to avoid them."

Duo remembered Heero's rather surprising strength, and he couldn't think of anyone less in need of saving. For some reason that thought didn't sit right with him at all, so much so that he hadn't noticed the verb tense Heero used when referring to his job.

"Look who's calling the kettle black. Do you think you didn't treat ME like a frail little girl?" he edged bitterly. "The sex last night was a bit rough, Heero, but it was..." Duo stopped, not willing to explain to Heero something that he couldn't explain to himself. He tried going for humor. "You know, once you go Heero..." Shit, that wasn't going to help matters either, and on top of that, he was now contradicting his earlier statement about Heero's talent in the bedroom when he was in the more dominant position. If he were honest with himself, what Heero lacked in experience he made up for in enthusiasm.

For the briefest of moments, he wondered what it might like to try that again, only with a Heero who exhibited an aching tenderness, much like he had in the shower. Then maybe the chance to return the favor.

Things had spun out of control, and in a desperate attempt to follow through with his decision, he'd blurted out the first thing that came to mind. He'd insulted Heero terribly, and then the two of them just kept adding more fuel to that fire.

He remembered the way Heero had looked on the balcony the night before, the way his voice had sounded when he'd talked about the woman in his past. Thought about the hitch in Heero's breath when he'd seen the picture of Meiran and Hilde, the woman who figured most prominently in Duo's own recent past. Remembered Heero's look of annoyance when he'd suffered through the fitting at the tailor's, and the expression on his face as they assembled the jigsaw puzzle.

The flashes of memory seemed analogous to dying, except it wasn't his entire life that he saw, just those moments with Heero. The way Heero handled the rifle at the shooting range, the way he'd eaten with chopsticks and explained things to Relena Peacecraft at dinner, and the way he'd looked at the gallery, wearing that soft gray suit and talking to Meiran.

He tried very hard not to, but he could also clearly remember the feel of Heero's body under his when they'd wrestled, and the way Heero's lips had clumsily moved against his before returning the kiss with ardor. It had been more like a first kiss than his actual first kiss had been. It scared the hell out of him, even now.

"Heero," Duo's voice was quiet and resigned. "I have never exploited you as my whore. You know that, right?"

Heero scoffed. "Is that supposed to make a difference? Regardless of how you may have wanted to pretend otherwise, at your convenience, I was, in fact, a whore, Duo. Don't kid yourself. When it suited your purposes, you made that pretty clear several times this week." He gestured to the pile of money.

"And you've treated me nothing more than your damn john, right from the beginning!" It was the first time Duo had referred to himself in that way, but damn it, Heero refused to let go of the gauntlet. "You have a HELL of a lot of goddamn pride for someone who lets anyone fuck him for money! I have never paid for sex before I met you, but I'm pretty sure others in your 'profession' don't charge anywhere near as much as the prices you quoted me! Face it, Heero, you were playing me as soon as you got in that car. Two hundred for this, five hundred for that, a thousand for the night, and every fucking option jacked up the price even more! If I were just some sleaze on the street, you'd have charged me half as much and treated me with twice the respect. You got exactly what you wanted out of this arrangement, Heero, so don't play the wounded martyr with me."

~~~~~

Duo had a point. Heero was letting his emotions cloud the issue at hand. There was a difference between following one's heart and letting it override good sense. He wasn't sure if that was supposed to be a good thing or a bad thing. He turned and walked toward the balcony doors again. Seemed all of life's mysteries could be solved there. He leaned his shoulder against the doorjamb and crossed his arms in front of him.

Duo knew how to cut him to the quick. Heero had suspected days ago, and had fought like crazy, the feelings that had somehow wormed their way into his life. Last night he'd given into them wholeheartedly, giving everything to Duo and holding nothing back for himself. He'd completely lost control, and for once, it had felt damn good.

Did he regret it? No more than he had regretted accepting a precious few individuals into the small circle of people he granted the label of 'friend.' With Kitty gone, and Duo in a category by himself, he counted only three people as friends, although he suspected that, under different circumstances, Meiran Long would have been a fourth.

Heero glanced at the floor of the balcony and noticed that the hotel logo was visible from where he stood. The previous evening, during Duo's narrative, he'd spent a lot of time examining the floor. He would have sworn that, by the time Duo reminded him in that cold impersonal tone that they were going to part ways, he had the entire thing memorized. He knew exactly how many light gray tiles alternated with dark and how many tiles made up the entire border pattern itself.

But he'd been unable to see the picture each piece contributed to until he stepped back and looked at it from a distance.

Even the word "mosaic" was derived, indirectly, from the Greek word "mouseion." Patient work, worthy of the Muses. This entire suite was saturated with symbolism.

Patience. Heero had plenty of experience being patient. He disliked it intensely, but there were times when he'd had no other choice. Patience may have been a virtue, but Heero tolerated it as a means to an end.

He looked over his shoulder at Duo, who was trying his damnedest to avoid eye contact. Was Duo still working his way through the briars, or had he reached the princess, only to discover that he didn't swing that way? It was a rather humorous metaphor to use, but he didn't feel much like laughing.

Heero took a deep breath. Duo had a way of pushing his buttons at times, making him say things he didn't mean. It seemed as though they were both reaching for words that were completely irrelevant at this point, if not outright false. He found it frustrating, reaching that point of clarity, and realizing he'd reached it alone. He frowned. Alone. Duo had been the catalyst, that was certain, but he had come to all his conclusions without any outside input. Everything he knew, everything he believed in, was the result of his own experiences, including the situation with Duo. Meiran Long may have been right about what she said at the gallery, but it seemed too early to make that call.

As the ancient Greeks discovered, if the Oracle at Delphi provided an answer that was too cryptic, perhaps the wrong question had been asked. A second prophecy was often gladly made, for a price. Was he willing to cough up the extra gold in exchange for the answer to his future?

The Delphic shrine may have been dedicated to Apollo, but in the winter, when the sun god was absent, it was sacred to another Olympian.

If Duo had the guts to look at Heero's face, and if Heero's back wasn't still turned toward him, he'd have seen the smile that appeared on Heero's lips. However, Duo had made up his mind and refused to be taken in by a pair of tempting eyes, no matter what color they might be at the moment.

'OK, Duo,' Heero thought. 'I understand. I knew this earlier in the week, but didn't want to accept it. I was sprinting toward the finish line while you were still learning to crawl. I won't push for something you aren't ready to handle. You need to come to terms with it in your own time and stop hiding from the truth. In the meantime...I'll wait until Apollo returns to the north for the winter.'

It came down to having that damned patience again. Means to an end. He turned his entire body around to look at Duo.

Still adamantly refusing to meet his gaze was the man who had taken everything Heero had given him. Everything.

The end was worth it.

Now it was up to Duo to decide if he felt the same, or if the briars were too much for him.

Heero's eyes fell on the pile of money sitting on the desk just as Duo's cell phone rang.

tbc

~~~~~

A Pyrrhic victory - one in which the cost or losses are greater that the value of the prize won. The adjective Pyrrhic means "achieved at excessive cost." Named for Pyrrhus, the king of Epirus, who sustained heavy losses in defeating the Romans. He was later quoted as saying, "One more victory like this will be the end of me."

In Chapter 47, Dorothy and Milliardo discuss symbiosis. Dorothy mentioned a parasitic relationship then, and mutualism here.

In broad terms, symbiosis is a "mutual cooperation between persons and groups in a society especially when ecological interdependence is involved" (my thanks to Merriam Webster, as usual).

The relationship between the plover bird and the Nile crocodile is a dramatic example of mutualism, a symbiotic relationship where both parties benefit. The pollination of flowers by bees is also a good example of this, where the flowers continue to multiply as a result, and the bee obtains food. For the plover bird, it finds food in the crocodile's mouth, and the croc gets free dental care in return.

Another form of symbiosis is commensalism, where only one party benefits, but the other party is not harmed as a result. An example of this would be a squirrel making its home in a treetop. This provides safe, secure shelter for the squirrel, and is neither beneficial nor harmful to the tree.

Parasitism, and you probably know, is where one organism benefits and the other is harmed in some way from the relationship. Think of the common cold, where the virus has found a warm host body in which to flourish, at least temporarily, but the human body doesn't benefit from the accompanying symptoms.

Usually when someone mentions 'symbiosis,' they are referring to mutualism.

Reference: With a Little Help From My Friends, Janye Bohner, The DuPage Conservationist, Summer 2002.

The Oracle at Delphi - Zeus determined the center of the world by releasing two birds, one flying east and the other west. Where they met was Delphi. The oracle was known for giving truthful, if sometimes ambiguous and confusing, prophecies, and is featured in several pieces of Greek literature. King Croseus of Lydia (think of the expression "rich as Croseus") consulted the oracle, who told him his planned actions would cause the fall of a mighty empire. Too bad it was his own!

The shrine was originally a place of worship for Gaia (mother earth), but it fell to Apollo after he slew Python, Gaia's son, a giant serpent-dragon.

In the winter, Apollo spent time with the Hyperboreans, a group of worshippers rumored to dwell in the north of the world. During Apollo's absence, the temple at Delphi was dedicated to Dionysus.

mosaic - By most accounts, the word mosaic is actually derived from the French mosaique or the Latin musaicum, meaning "work of the Muses" or simply "of the Muses."