Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Rituals ❯ Part 4 ( Chapter 4 )

Disclaimer: Don't own Gundam Wing or any of its characters. I'm just borrowing them for my own, twisted ideas. Sorry all who disapprove. *sheepish smile*

Warnings/Genres: 1+2, shounen ai, Heero POV, angst, general, sap (?), action . . . and so on, I'm afraid.

Notes: I'm sorry about how short this part is but I just couldn't find any way to make it longer. Please deal with me. Please?

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Rituals - Part 4 by Maaya

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I put my hand carefully on the rain-soaked door handle and pushed the door open. The hinges creaked uncomfortably and I saw Duo wince at the unpleasant sound.

Now you might expect me to say that a nice wave of warmth greeted us as we stepped into the lightened house.

Nothing could be further away from the truth.

The lights were off in the hallway together with whatever not so impressing heating system the safe house had. It was only a couple of degrees warmer than outside in the rain now. I think I allowed myself to sigh softly. It felt like stepping into a deserted cabin in the middle of the woods. Of course, it wasn't very far away from the truth.

"Uhh, where is everyone?" Duo asked by my side just as a door opened and Wufei stepped out from the kitchen, that thick book tucked tightly under one arm. He stopped when he saw us and Duo grinned. "Hi, Wufei. Tired of Shakespeare yet?"

The Chinese pilots looked at us strangely, ignoring the question. "What have you two been doing?"

"It's raining outside." Came the enthusiastic reply. "We walked home. Got wet." I could see something strange in his eyes that resembled a kid on Christmas morning. Childish happiness mixed together with wonder. His defenses were currently very low. I'm almost sure Wufei saw it too because something strange passed over his face as well.

"Well, I'm going to dry off now . . . so long!"

And then he was gone, having left only a memory of wild dances in the rain for me to take and keep. Wufei and I stood side by side, looking at the stairs up which he had disappeared.

"He's from L2." I said after a while as an answer to the unspoken question lingering in his eyes. "He has never seen rain before." I kept the fact that I hadn't seen it either away from the subject. Suddenly, my body as well as heart felt heavy in something maybe akin to sadness. How many children had never seen rain before? Rain that was supposed to be an everyday thing for people here on earth. Was it that Duo was fighting for? For the everyday things some people couldn't afford to enjoy?

Wufei put the glasses he had been holding into a pocket and I decided to take another step by telling him this. "I don't think he is an idiot."

It got very, very quiet for a while and he stilled, hand hovering unmoving over his pants pocket. The water in my bangs collected into one big drop that lingered in the tip before falling heavily onto my nose tip.

"He has." Wufei said at length. "He has to prove it for me first."

I thought about that. "Do I have to prove myself too?"

"You already have." Was the only, cryptic reply I got and then he was gone too.

I think that Chang Wufei is a man who thinks that people are important, no matter how much he seems to hate them. His only problem is that he need friends that fit his thoughts of worthiness, as well as he has to find people he is worthy. I guess it's a strange, individual circle he has shaped for himself and that people have a hard time understanding.

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It wasn't until later when we had dried off that I realized we hadn't brought an extra set of clothes and I had forgotten to fetch my laptop from 'Wing.

So there I was, sitting in my wet clothes on a chair in mine and Duo's shared room, tapping my fingers against the table as if I was typing on a keyboard. Duo because my not-so-quiet observer, where he was lying under the covers in his bed. He had taken his wet clothes off and decided to stay in the bed until they had dried off enough for him to wear. It was understandable logic, since his clothes were both heavier and thicker and had probably absorbed more water than my spandex and tank top had.

"Heero, I can assure you that the table won't turn into a laptop not matter how hard you try to convince it to do so."

I snorted and continued to tap.

"I'm sure of it."

I snorted and continued to tap.

"Do you think Wufei brought his sword . . . ?"

I snorted and . . . continued to tap.

"Heero, I'm getting a hard on."

I stopped and raised my head to look at him. He was grinning like a mad man, with something strange in his eyes.

"Got ya."

I snorted and continued to tap.

After a while, he seemed to get tired of talking without receiving an answer so he stopped. And along with his voice, my tapping also ceased into nothingness and we found ourselves in complete silence.

Have you ever been in a room quiet enough to make your ears ring in wish for sound to rest them with? I compare the feeling with being in a totally dark place. It hurts your eyes, doesn't it? We have our senses because we use them and when we suddenly don't need one, something feels 'off'.

But I'm not used to describe emotions, so ignore me.

So when Duo began to hum (or sing, since I wasn't close enough to hear a difference) quietly in his surprisingly subdued voice, it was an almost welcome rest for poor body parts, welcome enough not to make me ask him to shut up. Instead, I found myself listening to a melody I couldn't name but still recognized somehow.

It was a calm and slow-paced piece, in a soothing but still sad way. Then, the tune became faster and rhythmic; I didn't recognize it as I had heard many songs akin to that one before. It was one of those fluff-filled happy songs about love and happiness. Slowly, the tune turned into a whistle, louder and louder until . . .

"Aren't ya going to tell me to shut up soon?"

I looked up and found Duo staring at me, strangely incredulous expression stuck in his face. A small frown marred his forehead, barely visible under the long, chestnut bangs. It took me a moment to realize he wasn't joking. "Do you want me to?"

It made him even more confused. "Yes, well . . . no, I wanted. . . " He broke off and shrugged with an 'oh-so-uncertain' look in his eyes.

I looked at him for a minute before speaking slowly, as I wanted to see his reaction and if I was betrayed and was right in my assumption. "You wanted me to speak . . . so that you could start a conversation?"

His frown turned into a sheepish smile. "But admit that this worked as well." One hand went up to brush across his cheek slowly, almost thoughtfully in all its quiet glory. He said, slow as nothing else. "This sucks." And then. "No kiddin'."

He said it naturally, as if it had been two persons, not one and I wondered if he did that often. It was kind of sad, really, that he answered his own questions and statements instead of waiting for a reply from me.

"Hey, Heero?" My blank stare out in empty air reversed somehow until it focused on his face. "How long do you think it'll take until the clothes have dried?"

I wriggled my shoulders around a bit and shifted position slightly to feel the wet fabric against my skin. "Approximately four hours. from now."

"Oh." His grin faltered together with the sigh he let out slowly. "So, who are you?"

"Heero Yuy, gundam pilot 01 of Wing. . . " I felt stupid, rambling it up as I knew that he knew about it all already. He broke me off, though.

"Japanese, right? But you grew up on L1, didn't you? Or are you really an earthling? Do you have a family somewhere?" I watched him as he rattled up question after question in the small room. I think his soft tenor took up more space in the air than we did.

He subdued after a while, taking some deep breaths as if he had just sprinted a whole marathon.

"So." He said again. "I'll ask you a question, you'll answer it and then I'll do so. Then *you* will ask a question and we do the same thing. Deal?"

What was I supposed to do? Say yes, no? Was this how normal people got to know each other? I wouldn't know, so I decided to grunt a non-committal "Hn". That could be affirmative as well as negative.

Of course, he took it they way I hoped he wouldn't. He sat up in the bed, letting the covers fall to reveal a very much bare torso as well as a long, white, though still old, scar going from one nipple to the bellybutton. I stared at the scar when he asked his first question of what would become one of many through our life together.

"Do you enjoy reading?"

I admit that I frowned at that, not understanding what it had to do with anything. "Sometimes. Don't do it a lot."

He thought for a while, and I guessed he was trying to analyze my answer into all possible truths. I could just wonder where he had gotten that scar. It looked so very long. "Why?"

"It's your turn to answer." I reminded him, turning the chair so I was fully facing him. It groaned dangerously and for a moment, I wondered if it was going to be able to bare my weight any longer.

"True." He sighed and fell back onto his bed again. The covers still didn't go higher than to barely cover his hips. "Sometimes too, I guess. Don't really have times either - I'm not exactly a scholar. Why?"

It took me a while to separate answer and question into two different things but when I did, it was easy to answer. "Don't have time to." I paused. "It was my turn to ask."

"Okay. . . shoot."

My confusion must have been easy to detect because he was quick to explain.

"I meant that you should go ahead and ask." He grinned faintly at my frown.

It took me a while to think of a question that wasn't too forward or deep (yet) and decided for what I hoped would be an impartial one. "Have you been to earth before?"

"Nope. I'm a hundred percent L2 colonist." His grin didn't waver one bit. Though, the answer explained why he was pale. Generators used on L2 (and many other colonies as well), because they were cheap, makes it hard to get much sunburned. Therefore, earth can be almost dangerous for colonists before they've gotten used to the real sun. Hair and even occasionally eye colours can pale considerably much.

"I haven't either. Your turn."

He didn't even think before he asked his next question up to the ceiling. "What's your real name?"

My confusion was only momentarily before answering. "Odin."

"No last name?" A chestnut eyebrow rose carefully and I reminded him it was his turn to answer. He grumbled and frowned, still keeping the eye-brow raised. I don't know how he managed. He looked like a guy in a cheap manga I had seen once.

"Don't know." He said at last, leaving me feel mildly confused. "I've never known my real name."

And that finished the 'game'. He didn't look like he wanted to hear any more questions nor ask any of his own, and I let it go. I had another piece to add to my puzzle of Duo Maxwell.

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TBC . .

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Next up: A side story in Duo's POV about how he feels in the safe-house. I'll add a flashback from the school for those who haven't read 'Friendship?'.

I wanted to thank those who have sent me feedback because it's what I earn from my writing. I love you guys and I'm sorry about how long it takes for me to update sometimes. Thank you for staying with me!

/Maaya