Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Going For Gold ❯ Chapter 43 ( Chapter 43 )

Disclaimer: I don't own the G boys, I just borrow them from time to time and return them a whole lot happier. I do own the plot and any other characters, especially the equines, that you will find in this fic. Please do not take them without permission. Written for pleasure not profit.

 

Pairing: 2x1x2, 3x4, 13x6, H+C

 

Warnings: Yaoi, lemon, sap, angst, vet themes, AU

 

Rating: NC 17

 

Archive: www.gundam-wing-diaries.150m.com Anyone else please ask.

 

Betaed by Yami_tai *snugs*

 

Summary: Eighteen months have passed since Heero was advised he was shortlisted for the Olympic games team. With Zero going well and young Shinigami almost ready to make his showjumping debut, Heero looks set to reach his goal. Life though doesn't always play by the rules.

 

Dedication: To Leslie who gave me the original idea for Equinity.

 

Fic 3 in the Equine Intervention Arc.

 

"Going for Gold"

 

January. 2007 ShenLong

 

 

Chapter 43

 

On the way home from Treize's that afternoon, Heero pondered how best to bring up the subject of Relena paying a visit to see Wing with Duo. Knowing that whilst Duo had forgiven the woman for her past torment of them both, he hadn't forgotten the viciousness of her attack on their relationship and especially Duo's career. Heero could clearly see and accept Duo's distrust of the woman, and he didn't blame his lover in the least.

 

He could only hope that Duo would at least listen to him and his reason for inviting the woman over. Maybe a slow, sensuous massage would help, coupled with a long, hot bath and then some serious worship of Duo's skin - with his mouth.

 

It couldn't hurt, Heero thought.

 

Arriving back at the vet practice, Heero parked his car and headed for the stables. He went into the tack room and fetched Shinigami's saddle and bridle, setting them on the stable door before going out to the paddock to get the young stallion. With the gray saddled, Heero led Shini out to the jumping paddock and some serious practice.

 

They had another two big shows to attend over the next two months and the selectors would be out looking at their performance before releasing their shortlist for the Nations Cup team. Heero wanted Shini to do well and had hopes of making the shortlist. Time and performance would tell though and all Heero could do was get himself and his horse as ready as possible.

 

Shinigami soon settled into his work, listening to Heero's aids and obeying them as best he could. Despite being a little mischievous, as all colts tended to be as they grow up, Shini was a nice natured horse and wanted to please his master. He loved to jump, but was sensible enough to know his master was in charge and listened to him. Put simply, Shini trusted Heero to not ask more than he was capable of giving; and Heero was a smart enough rider to know exactly how much to ask of his horse.

 

The partnership had taken some time to develop, Heero knew that it would and therefore had taken his time with the youngster. Knowing what Zero was capable of, Heero knew Shinigami would be very similar.

 

The trust was now evident, the way horse and rider melded into one was obvious to even the most inexperienced of people. All Shinigami needed now was experience; and that would come over time.

 

Pleased with the way the stallion had performed, Heero brought him to a halt and patted the gray neck. “Good boy. I think that's enough for today,” Heero said and slipped from the saddle. He loosened the girth and ran his stirrups up so they wouldn't bang against the stallion's sides when he led him back to the stables. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a couple of carrot slices and offered them to the gray.

 

Shini wuffled happily and gently took the offered treat. He knew his master was pleased with him, the treat and the tone of his master's voice told him as much. Gently, he pushed his muzzle against his master's chest and rubbed lightly.

 

Chuckling, Heero petted the gray some more. “Come on, Shini, time to go in and have your dinner,” Heero said as he pushed the stallion's head away and began to walk towards the gate. Shini followed along, content with the world.

 

Walking back towards the stables, Heero spotted an unfamiliar horse float parked by the stables and felt his curiosity rise. Knowing there was every chance that Duo had a patient inside the stables, Heero took a firmer hold of Shinigami's reins.

 

Hearing the sound of hooves, Duo looked up from where he was crouched at the side of the crush examining his patient's leg. He smiled at Heero.

 

Leading Shini over to his stable, Heero was quick to unsaddle and put the stallion inside. Leaving the youngster for the moment, Heero walked over to where Duo was still examining his patient's leg. “Need a hand?” he asked as his eyes took in the damage.

 

Duo blew the air out of his lungs, ruffling his bangs as he did so. “If you can, I'd appreciate it. Won't be ready for you for about five more minutes though.”

 

“No problem. I'll go finish off Shini. Give me a shout when you're ready.” Heero turned and nodded to the woman standing at the horse's head.

 

“He's certainly made a mess of himself, Miss Fletcher. Fortunately, most of the wounds are superficial, although there are a couple of deeper ones that will require stitching,” Duo said as he straightened up and gazed again at the mess on the horse's legs. “Barbed wire sure does create havoc.”

 

“You can say that again,” muttered Miss Fletcher. “I don't know how he managed to do so much damage in such a short space of time.”

 

“You'd be amazed how much trouble they can get into in the space of a minute,” Duo chuckled. “I'm just going to get what I'll need. Heero, my assistant, will be back to give me a hand just as soon as he's finished settling his own horse. Won't be long.”

 

“That's fine, Doctor Maxwell. Thank you.” The woman turned her attention back to the horse standing in the crush. “What am I going to do with you, Raff?”

 

The horse looked at his mistress with liquid brown eyes.

 

Heero finished brushing Shini down and put on the light, cotton rug. With his horse tended to, Heero took his gear through to the tack shed and put it away. With Shini calmly eating his dinner, Heero went back over to the crush and the woman standing beside the horse in it. “What happened?” he asked in an attempt to start a conversation whilst waiting for Duo to return with the things he would need.

 

The woman ran a hand down the gentle face of the gelding and sighed. “I'd just come back from a bush ride. I'd unsaddled and brushed him down ready to put inside his stable for his dinner when I realized I hadn't finished cleaning his stable. I was doing it earlier when I had a phone call and kinda forgot to finish off the job. Anyway, I put him in the small paddock to graze while I finished cleaning up. I'd just finished and was heading out to fetch him in when a car went past and backfired. It scared him and he took off around the paddock in a flat out gallop. Next thing I knew, he couldn't stop in time and went into the fence. By the time I got to him, the wire had wrapped around his legs and, well, you can see the damage yourself.”

 

Heero gave a low whistle. “He's certainly done a good job on himself.”

 

“Could have been a lot worse,” the woman replied. “Luckily he had his rug on.”

 

“Ah.”

 

“Yeah, you want to see the state of that,” she snorted. “At least I can replace the rug. It saved his chest and body from being cut to ribbons.”

 

Heero knew all to well the damage barbed wire could cause. From what he could tell, this horse had gotten off pretty lightly. “At least you were there to get him out before he could do any serious damage,” Heero said.

 

“For that, I'm grateful.”

 

Duo returned then with an armful of supplies, which he set down on the side bench. Heero moved across to his lover.

 

“What can I do?” he asked.

 

“Can you get the hose pipe and wash his legs down for me please? I'll grab some warm water to clean the wounds with properly once the worst of the dirt and blood is cleaned away,” Duo replied.

 

Heero fetched the hose and turned it on slow. Returning to the horse, he began to run the cool water over the animal's legs, soothing and cleaning the wounds. Once the worst of the mess was cleaned off, Duo stepped in with a bowl of warm water, swabs and betadine. Gently, he began to swab at the wounds, cleaning them out completely and seeing exactly what he would need to do. Once the wounds were clean, Duo stepped back and focused his attention on the owner.

 

“There's two gashes on the left fore, one on the right fore and one on the left hind that will need stitching. The others are all superficial and will heal on their own. I'll infiltrate the areas with local anesthetic and then stitch him up for you. The remaining cuts I'll dust with penicillin powder and then we can give him a course of antibiotics and a tetanus injection.”

 

“Thanks,” the woman replied. “Will there be much in the way of scarring?”

 

“Hard to say,” Duo replied. “I'm guessing there will be some, although how bad it will be, only time will tell. Hopefully it won't be too noticeable. Is he a show horse?”

 

“Not really,” Miss Fletcher replied. “We mainly go bush riding, but we do attend the local Adult Riding group and occasionally compete in their gymkhanas. A little scarring won't matter, as long as he's sound and can be ridden then I don't care about scarring.”

 

It was evident that the woman loved her horse, regardless of the fact he was no top show animal, he was hers and they enjoyed life together. Heero could relate to that.

 

“Right. I'll get started then.” Duo moved back to the bench and picked up a kidney dish, which held needles, scissors, catgut and a bottle of local anesthetic. Passing the dish to Heero to hold, Duo picked up the bottle, syringe and needle, slipping the needle into the rubber stopper on the end of the bottle and drawing back on the syringe plunger. He drew in a few cc's of anesthetic, passed the bottle back to Heero and proceeded to infiltrate the areas on the horse's legs that would need stitching.

 

Raff stood quietly in the crush, his mistress' calm, soothing words making no sense to him, but the tone eased his nerves. The softly spoken human that was prodding and poking him also gave off an aura of calm and that helped to settle the big gelding too.

 

Deciding that the anesthetic had had enough time to work, Duo carefully poked around the cuts, watching the horse's reaction. When the horse didn't even flinch, Duo decided it was time to stitch. Heero passed over the scissors and scalpel for Duo to tidy up the ragged edges of the cuts. With the wounds now ready to be stitched, Duo took the offered needle and began to suture the wounds.

 

Miss Fletcher kept a low monologue of words flowing, keeping her horse calm as Duo stitched. Heero smiled at the woman, understanding her concern for her animal. He continued to pass over needle, scissors and the like as Duo asked for them and pretty soon the horse was all stitched up. Straightening up, Duo observed his handiwork.

 

“I'll pop some penicillin powder on those and then bandage them,” he said. “It's important to keep them covered for the next few days.” Duo reached for the penicillin powder.

 

Heero took the kidney dish and used utensils through to the dispensary and came back with gauze and bandages. He passed them over to Duo who proceeded to wrap the wounds. Once they were covered, Duo fetched the antibiotic and tetanus injection and gave them to the horse.

 

“He'll need a seven day course of antibiotic. I'll give you enough needles and syringes to see you through. Twenty cc's once a day, intramuscular,” Duo said and disappeared into the dispensary once again. When he returned he carried a small bag. “I've put everything inside here with the instructions on the bottle for you. Change the bandages every two days for the first four days, then each day after that until the tenth day. I'll come out and remove the stitches on the tenth day, or you can bring him back here. Whichever is the easiest for you.”

 

Taking the offered bag, Miss Fletcher nodded. “Thank you, Doctor Maxwell. I'll bring him back to have the stitches removed. Shall I make an appointment now or give you a call?”

 

“Give me a call in about eight days to make the appointment,” Duo replied. “If you have any concerns at all in the meantime, feel free to call me.”

 

“What about the account?” Miss Fletcher asked as she undid the front of the crush to bring her horse out.

 

“I'll get it done up and have it ready for you when you bring him back to have the stitches removed.”

 

“Okay. Thank you again.”

 

“My pleasure,” Duo said. “Do you need a hand to get him back in the float?”

 

“I'll be fine,” the woman replied leading her horse out and back to the float.

 

With the patient safely in the horse float and on his way home, Duo set about cleaning up the mess from the treatment. Heero had taken the remaining items through to the dispensary and put the rubbish in the bin. He'd now gone out to bring the rest of the horses in for their dinners.

 

By the time Duo had finished cleaning up, Heero had all the horses in and settled for the night. Duo joined his boyfriend leaning over Zero's stable door.

 

“Thanks for the help,” Duo said as he wrapped his arms around Heero's waist and nuzzled the soft skin of Heero's neck.

 

“No problem,” Heero replied and continued to watch Zero; although he did tilt his head a little to allow Duo better access to his flesh.

 

Duo could sense there was something on Heero's mind. “What's up?” he asked.

 

Heero sighed. There really wasn't any easy way to say what he wanted so he thought it would be best to just come out and say it. “Promise you will hear me out before saying anything?”

 

“Ohh, this doesn't sound like something I'm going to like,” Duo teased, trying to keep his tone light whilst his stomach seemed to sink into his shoes.

 

“Relena called over at Treize's today.”

 

“Ah.” Duo was right. He wasn't going to like it.

 

“She'd heard about Wing and wants to come and see him.”

 

“Does she now?” Duo growled softly.

 

“Actually, that's not quite technically correct.”

 

“Oh?”

 

“Yeah. I sort of invited her to see him.” Heero turned around in his partner's arms and wrapped his own around Duo, pulling the vet close to his body. He sighed again and buried his head against Duo's shoulder, pressing a soft kiss to his lover's neck.

 

“Did you now?” Duo said as small shivers passed through his body.

 

“Considering she sold me Angel, it's only natural she would want to see the resulting foal from the cross. Also, I did promise her a free service to Zero as part of the deal in buying Angel.”

 

Duo wasn't silly, he could see the business angle Relena would be aiming at, and Heero had promised a free service to Zero. “Do I have to be civil?”

 

“It would help if you weren't too rude to her,” Heero said as he continued to feather kisses along Duo's neck.

 

“Mmmm. This is going to cost you.”

 

“Anything, anything you want, Duo,” Heero murmured and began to nibble on Duo's earlobe. “You name it and it's yours.”

 

Duo groaned as his pants began to shrink. “How the hell can I think of anything when you're doing that?”

 

Snickering softly, Heero continued his assault.

 

Duo's eyes closed as Heero's hand wandered down his back and then over his hip to press against the bulge appearing in his pants. His hips began to push forward into the contact, seeking more friction. “Ahhh, feels good,” Duo moaned.

 

“Want to come back up to the house and I'll show you just how good I can make you feel?” Heero murmured and gave Duo's cock a firm squeeze through his pants.

 

“Now that sounds like a really good idea,” Duo groaned.

 

* * *

 

The sweat trickled down his spine, skin hot and flushed with exertion, eyes closed in pleasure. A soft groan and a muttered 'please' had him opening his eyes to stare into the lust filled blue pools beneath him. Continuing in his slow, steady thrusts, Duo reached between their heaving bodies to wrap his hand around Heero's stiff length. With a firm grip, he began to pump the organ.

 

“Need... Need to come,” Heero moaned as his pelvis thrust upwards to meet Duo's inward push and also increase the friction of Duo's hand around his cock.

 

“Then come, Heero,” Duo whispered, leaning down to press a kiss to Heero's neck. “Come for me, Heero.”

 

“Aa...” The pleasure was building, heat searing in his groin as his balls tightened. Duo's cock sliding in and out caused delicious friction against his inner walls and every now and then, Duo's cock head would rub against his prostate and send even more heat dancing through his nervous system. Duo had been making slow, torturous love to him for the past half an hour and Heero was seriously wondering just how much stamina the vet had.

 

A few more pumps and Heero was teetering on the edge. When Duo struck his prostate once more, he felt the inevitable rise to meet him. The heat flared through his system, robbing him of any coherent thought as he gave himself over to the pleasure of his orgasm.

 

Feeling his partner tense and then spurt over his hand, Duo closed his eyes and gave another few thrusts before allowing his body the release it had been craving for so long. He shuddered as liquid fire burned through his blood, searing his skin as his passion was sucked from his cock by Heero's greedy channel. As the last tremors washed over and through him, Duo collapsed onto his sated lover, chest heaving and drawing much needed oxygen back into his deprived lungs.

 

“Heavy,” Heero grunted and pushed Duo off to the side.

 

A small whimper of protest came from the long haired man, but he soon quieted as Heero snuggled close. They lay together in each other's arms simply enjoying the afterglow and bliss that came with a round of good lovemaking.

 

Recovered slightly, Heero rolled a little so he could run his hand along Duo's side, rubbing soothingly over the tired muscles of Duo's back, ribs and buttocks. “You sure you don't mind Relena calling around to see Wing, Angel and Zero?” Heero asked.

 

“It's okay. It does make good business sense, besides, I don't have to be around whilst she's here,” Duo replied a little sleepily.

 

“Really?” Heero said with a touch of sarcasm. “You mean you'd leave me all alone with her...”

 

“On second thought, I think I'd better stay around,” Duo growled and pulled Heero close to him. “Mine!” he stated firmly and proceeded to kiss his lover senseless.

 

Heero chuckled into the kiss and then moaned. “Yours, Duo. All yours,” he returned.

 

* * *

 

While Duo did the evening consults, Heero rang Relena and arranged for her to call around the following Saturday afternoon once he'd returned from Treize's. Relena agreed and said she would be there promptly at four, but wouldn't stay too long as she knew Heero had horses to work and Duo his practice to run.

 

Heero was relieved to hear that.

 

Duo even more so.

 

The remainder of the week passed without incident and Saturday afternoon was soon upon the pair. Heero returned from Treize's to find Duo fighting with the washing. It was a windy day and whilst it was good for drying the clothes, it proved to be quite the task in getting them off the washing line.

 

“I swear, it's all out to get me,” Duo cried from where he was caught up with a t-shirt determined to wrap itself around his face.

 

Heero couldn't help but laugh.

 

“That's right, laugh your head off instead of helping me,” Duo groused and then gave an evil grin as he plunged back into the flapping washing again. He emerged seconds later, several pairs of boxers and briefs entangled around him.

 

“Duo?” Heero questioned.

 

“Just my luck,” Duo snickered. “I finally get into your underwear only to find they're empty.”

 

Heero snorted. “Baka!” He grabbed Duo around the waist and stole the vet's lips in a heated kiss.

 

The friendly banter and kiss was interrupted by the sound of an approaching car.

 

“Damn! She has the worst timing,” Duo muttered.

 

“Rain check?” Heero offered.

 

“You better believe it,” Duo growled. “And I want more than a kiss, Yuy.”

 

“Anything you want, Duo,” Heero replied in a husky tone, then turned and began to walk towards the stable area car park where he'd heard the car pull up.

 

Duo was left gaping like a stranded fish for a moment before his brain kicked in. “Tease,” he muttered and then began to follow his boyfriend, his half hard cock wilting with the thought of the woman he would have to put up with for a short while.

 

Relena stepped out of the car and locked it. Turning, she spotted Heero walking towards her. Smoothing down her top and slacks, she put a smile on her face and walked around the car to greet him.

 

“Relena,” Heero greeted and offered his hand.

 

“Heero. Nice to see you again,” Relena replied and shook the offered hand. Once Heero let go, Relena turned her attention to the vet who had walked up and stopped beside Heero. “Doctor Maxwell. Thank you for allowing me on your property to see Angel and the foal.” Relena extended her hand, which Duo took.

 

“No problem, Relena. Please, call me Duo,” Duo replied and shook the offered hand. He still wasn't comfortable with the woman, but he would be polite and tolerant because Heero had invited her. His nose wrinkled a bit as he got a whiff of Relena's rather strong perfume and he resisted the urge to sneeze

 

With the formalities over, the air became a little tense, Heero finally breaking the silence. “Would you like to see Angel and Wing now?”

 

“Thank you, that would be lovely.”

 

“This way.” Heero turned and began to lead the way to the paddocks, Relena at his right side, Duo on his left. He felt Duo discreetly entwine his fingers with his own and Heero smiled, giving his partner's hand a small squeeze.

 

On their way to Angel's paddock, they passed by Zero and Shinigami. Heero brought them to a halt and turned to Relena. “If you're interested, in this paddock is Zero, and in the paddock opposite is his first offspring, Shinigami.”

 

“If you don't mind, I'd love to have a look at both of them,” Relena replied.

 

Heero stood at the gate to Zero's paddock and called the stallion. Hearing his master's voice, Zero immediately came over to the gate and began begging for carrots.

 

Duo had released Heero's hand and now fished in his own pocket for some of the stallion's favorite treat. Pulling out a few carrots, Duo began to feed them to Zero. Heero, meanwhile, picked up the lead rope from the paddock gate and entered, clipping it to the stallion's halter.

 

Relena slipped through the gate, closely followed by Duo and looked the horse over with the eye of a breeder, noting his good points, calm nature and obvious enjoyment of the carrots. “He certainly likes those,” she commented in an effort to make conversation.

 

“Yeah, he's a real piglet when it comes to carrots,” Duo replied. “Aren't you, boy?” Duo patted the gray neck as his mind wandered back to a certain show several years previous where Zero had managed to knock Relena into a pile of manure. Despite the woman's obvious change in her attitude, Duo couldn't help but hope, in some small way, Zero would do the same again. Unfortunately, or fortunately as the case may be, he was literally shit outta luck. Zero was on his best behavior and there wasn't any manure pile around. Damn Heero for being so meticulous about cleaning the paddocks!

 

“This is Zero, Relena. Shinigami's sire and also Wing's.” Heero turned the stallion away from the gate to stand side on so Relena could see him better.

 

“He's a very nice horse, Heero. Lovely hocks on him. No wonder he was such a good jumper.” Although Relena had seen Zero before at a couple of shows, she'd never really looked closely at the horse; back then all her attention had been fixated on his rider. Now she took the time to really appraise the stallion and she liked what she saw. She approached Zero's head, holding out her hand for the stallion to sniff and then petting him. “Lovely natured too,” she added.

 

“Yes, he is,” Heero replied. “He also seems to pass that on to his offspring. All his foals so far seem to be good natured too.”

 

“That's a real bonus then. You wouldn't believe the number of stallions standing at stud that are nice tempered and yet their offspring don't inherit that trait.” Relena studied the stallion a little longer, thoughts of which one of mares she currently had would cross the best with the gray.

 

“Come on, I'll show you Shinigami next and then you can see Scythe, Shini's mother as well as Angel and Wing.” Heero unclipped the lead rope and let the gray go. Duo closed the gate and latched it behind them before following over to the opposite gate where Shini was now standing, looking a little affronted that he wasn't getting any attention.

 

“This is Shinigami, Zero's first foal and my current hope for the London Olympics,” Heero said as he clipped Shini's lead rope to the halter and stood the youngster up for Relena to study.

 

Having given the young stallion a good look over, Relena spoke. “He's also a very nice horse, Heero. Good hocks like his father, but he seems to have a better shoulder and more lung room.”

 

“That's what I thought too,” Heero replied.

 

“Well, as long as the offspring are an improvement on the parents, you're heading in the right direction with breeding,” Relena said.

 

“Thank you. I'm sure you will think that Wing is a great improvement yet again. Not to take anything away from Zero or Shinigami, but Wing is a slightly different type.” Heero gave the youngster a couple of carrots and then let him go. Exiting the paddock, he closed and latched the gate. “Now for the two mares and Wing,” he said as he began to walk along the pathway between the paddocks again.

 

As they neared the mares' paddock, Scythe and Angel heard them coming and both gave whinnies of greeting, stopping in their grazing to walk over to the paddock gate. Heero, Duo and Relena all stopped at the gate, Heero's heart swelling with pride as he watched his horses coming towards them.

 

Relena's eyes were scanning over Angel. The mare was even more lovely now than when Relena had sold her to Heero. She's certainly improved as she'd matured and looked in perfect health. Relena had to hand it to Heero; he really did look after his horses. Then her eyes picked up on the small foal walking beside his mother and she was transfixed. “Oh, what a gorgeous foal,” she exclaimed.

 

“The cross between Zero and Angel went very well,” Duo said as Heero had entered the paddock to clip lead ropes onto the two mares' halters. Once Heero had both mares caught, Duo let Relena into the paddock and went to take Scythe from Heero. “This is Scythe, Shinigami's mother,” Duo said as he petted the black mare.

 

“She's a sweetheart,” Relena replied as she petted Scythe. “Lovely natured. I'm surprised you haven't bred from her before or since.”

 

Duo explained briefly, Scythe's history and how Heero came to have her in his possession. Relena was appalled that someone could have treated such a sweet natured animal in such a way.

 

“For what she's been through, she certainly has a very loving and forgiving nature,” Relena said. “Makes my blood boil that people can be so cruel.”

 

Relena went up a notch on Duo's tolerance meter.

 

“You remember Angel, Relena?” Heero asked and brought the mare a little closer.

 

“Of course I do. She's looking wonderful, Heero. I must compliment you on your care. All your horses are in excellent condition.”

 

Heero blushed.

 

“And this must be Wing,” Relena stated as she crouched a little to see the foal.

 

Wing watched warily from his mother's flank. He was used to the other two humans, he saw them both daily and was learning to accept their petting and attention; but this was a new human and he wasn't too sure about this one. The voice was a little higher pitched and she smelt different. Wing wasn't too sure he liked the smell and wrinkled his nose.

 

Duo managed to stifle the snicker as he watched Wing's antics. Seemed Wing didn't care much for Relena's perfume either.

 

Gradually, Wing's curiosity got the better of him and he crept forward. Relena extended a hand very slowly and Wing sniffed at it. With each passing minute, Wing grew a little more confident and eventually, Relena could stroke along his neck.

 

They spent several more minutes in the paddock with the mares and foal, Relena clearly impressed with the cross of a Peacemillion daughter with Zero. Both Heero and Relena discussed the various good points of the foal, Heero's plans for Wing and Zero's career at stud. Whilst Duo didn't join in with the conversation, mainly because he was out of his league when it came to the finer points of horses, he didn't feel too jealous either. True, he was still wary around Relena, but he could also see that she was making an effort and he thought he at least allowed her some measure of decency.

 

Soon, Duo began to glance at his watch. Time was getting on and there were horses to be fed, dinner to organize and evening consults to be done. Heero saw his lover from the corner of his eye and looked at his own watch. Surprised by the amount of time that had passed, he brought the visit to a close.

 

Having waved Relena off, Duo gave a big sigh and slumped his shoulders. Seeing the strain and weariness etched in his lover's face, Heero wrapped his arms around Duo's waist and pulled the vet close to him. “Thank you.”

 

“What for?” Duo questioned.

 

“For not abusing her, for being kind enough to tolerate her presence and especially for not pushing her into the manure heap,” Heero replied with a grin.

 

“Ah, well...” Duo began as he turned a little red. “Hey! How did you know what I was thinking?” he demanded. Surely he hadn't been that obvious; had he?

 

“I think I read your expressions and body language well enough by now,” Heero teased.

 

“Yeah, I suppose so, but it may have contaminated the manure and we wouldn't get very nice veggies from the patch,” Duo countered and then paused as he took in his partner's face. “Hang on a minute, you were thinking along the same lines!” he accused.

 

“Only as a form of defense, I swear,” Heero replied with a twinkle in his eye.

 

“Why, Yuy. I'm surprised at you. Thinking of pushing a woman into a manure heap.”“What can I say? You trained me well, grasshopper,” Heero shot back and then began to laugh at the pole axed expression on Duo's face.

 

For once, words escaped Duo.

 

~ * ~

 

tbc...