Priceless Gifts
Part 12
As Quatre tried to get his thoughts back in the present, a noise from the hallway drew everyone's attention and Trowa was up and gone like a shot.
"Fei?!?" The tall pilot reached the door to the room he shared with the Chinese pilot. "What are you doing out of bed?"
"Um, going to the bathroom?" The Chinese pilot answered almost uncertainly. He was somewhat shaky and leaned gratefully into the arms which wrapped around him automatically, supporting and comforting both of the boys.
Trowa blushed suddenly, realizing he should have thought of this to start with. "Of course," he smiled, "let me help you get there, okay?"
"'mkay," Wufei nodded and let Trowa do most of the work getting them down the hall. He shepherded his friend into the small room, then left to give him some privacy.
Instead of just waiting for Wufei to come back out, Trowa took the opportunity to grab the rest of his belongings from the room that was now Quatre's alone and he moved the few items to the small bedroom with Wufei's things. He assumed he was staying there for the foreseeable future and it made sense to move his things away from a possibly still vengeful blond.
He was right back at his post waiting when he heard a soft thump against the bathroom door as Wufei lost his balance.
"Fei?!" He called through the door, "You okay in there?"
Duo had been barely able to sit still through this, but these words alone were enough to draw him to Trowa's side once more. "What's up? Is he okay?" Duo asked anxiously.
"That's what I want to know," Trowa answered, voice clearly filled with concern yet unsure how to deal with the situation.
"All right," Duo was worried, but he put on his best grin and he knocked on the door loudly, calling out, "Yo, Wu, hope you're decent in there, 'cause I'm coming in to check on you!"
Before anyone either inside or outside the bathroom could voice a complaint, he moved to open the door and heard a muffled moan as it opened part way and stopped against Wufei who lay on the floor too dizzy and weak to stand on his own.
"Shit!" Duo cursed and as he was about to try something else, Trowa simply slid in through the narrow opening. Duo shook his head and said loudly, "Gee, Tro, you really are too damned skinny if you could fit through that!"
Trowa was not as surprised as he expected to be when he realized Wufei was going nowhere on his own. "Fei? Did you pass-out?" He queried as he knelt next to the boy who was holding his head in one hand and feeling foolish.
"No, Tro, just dizzy all of a sudden," Wufei answered, and tried to stop the world from spinning around him. "Help me back up, please?" He reached a hand out blindly, but was picked up bodily instead. Cradled in strong arms, he just curled against Trowa and sighed happily. "Arigatou," he said softly.
"Don't mention it," Trowa smiled and pushed the door back open with a foot, noticing how light Wufei was and almost stepping on Duo who was still worrying in the hallway.
"How is he?" The Deathscythe pilot asked, concerned that Wufei had tried to do too much and shouldn't have been left on his own. Duo felt a bit guilty about the role he had played in convincing Trowa to stay with the others and this newest turn ate at his confidence.
"He says he's dizzy, but he's probably feeling pretty wiped out," Trowa felt the slight nod against his chest and he was about to carry the Chinese boy back to bed when he remembered he had something for the injured boy in the refrigerator. "Fei? Think you can drink something for me, please?"
"Like what?" Wufei asked, with a tired form of interest. If Trowa had a favor to ask of him, it was certain to be granted, but he was still trying to refocus on a spinning world and had his eyes closed.
"While I was out I got everyone some dinner and brought you some, too," Trowa enjoyed the look of confusion on both Duo's and Wufei's faces at this statement. "It's a nutrition drink that I thought might help you feel better since solid foods might not be a good idea for another day or so." He didn't get much of an answer to this so he added, "I got you both chocolate and mocha, which would you like?"
"Chocolate, please," Wufei answered, voice uneven as he wondered if the dizziness would make even keeping it down an issue.
"All right, chocolate it is, then," Trowa walked towards the living room but diverted to go into the kitchen with his human cargo, ignoring the looks on the other's faces as he passed by.
Quatre looked worried, but stayed put on the chair he was in already. He felt that even going into the same room with Wufei might be too much at that moment. Heero cast a glance at Quatre to gauge his reactions to the second time he saw his victim and was pleased to see the reaction. When the Wing pilot looked at Trowa carrying Wufei as if it were done all the time, a small smile crept onto his lips and he nodded encouragingly when he saw Trowa looking back. The emerald-eyed teen's eyes widened in surprise, but he kept moving. Duo's face was a montage of emotions as he followed Wufei and Trowa as if he might be needed on a moments notice.
Trowa smirked a little as he pulled a canned beverage from the refrigerator, shaking it and then sticking a straw in the opening. He stood and held it for Wufei to take a taste of it in case he wanted to change his mind about the flavor chosen.
Wufei sipped at it dutifully and was pleasantly surprised to discover it tasted better than expected. "It's good, thank you, Tro," He sighed and opened his eyes slowly, staring up at the boy who had no plans to put him down any time soon. "Can we go sit in the living room for awhile? I'm tired of being stuck in my room."
At this, Trowa hesitated, he wasn't really ready for Wufei to get upset by Quatre's presence, but he felt that the Chinese boy had the right to at least know the other had returned. He waited and wondered, then decided to make it truly Wufei's decision.
"We can, but you need to know that Quatre's back and he's out there right now," he felt the other boy's muscles tighten at this pronouncement.
"He is?" The smaller boy asked uncertainly. Trowa had been right to be worried, Wufei wasn't sure he wanted to face the blond as weak as he felt. The Chinese youth had spent his whole life avoiding showing any weakness and there was no more clear sign of his inability to defend himself now than the fact that he couldn't even walk across a small room without falling as he had in the bathroom.
"Maybe I should just take you back to our room?" Trowa offered without pressure. Neither boy caught that he had indicated they were sharing the room on a more permanent basis, but all in good time.
"No," dark silk hair shook as Wufei tried to indicate he had no intention of avoiding the challenge he faced. "No, Tro, I need to face him sooner or later, might as well be now." With an irritated little noise, he made a move as if to get down from his cozy spot against Trowa's chest, but he felt the arms tighten, restraining him gently. "Nani?"
"Stay put," Trowa cautioned as he looked out the doorway at the back of Quatre's head and then gazed at Wufei again. Onyx met emerald as the two young warriors silently discussed the matter before Trowa added, "If you want to go out there, we will, but let me hold onto you for now. You aren't as strong as you might think, you've been laid up for four days and I don't want to see you lose any progress you've made on healing because of pride, okay?"
A happy little smile concealed itself as a slight frown as Wufei remarked with a soft sigh, "Fine then, just don't complain when you get a backache from lugging me around, okay? I'm heavy."
"No, you aren't," Trowa answered unhappily, "that's part of the problem, I think. You're too light, you haven't eaten, and you need to give yourself time to recover. For now, let me worry over things like this, please?" He shifted his arms to indicate he meant he wanted to take care of getting Wufei safely from place to place until he could handle it himself again. But what the American who had been surreptitiously listening in heard was an offer to care for Wufei in a far more general way. Duo barely clamped down on his desires to cheer, as he headed out of the room to make sure there was room on the couch for the couple.
"All right," Wufei answered shyly, sipping on his chocolate drink and doing his best to enjoy the pampering on the assumption he wasn't going to experience anything quite so wonderful ever again.
Trowa grew bold with Duo out of the room and nuzzled the dark head resting against his chest and whispered, "Thank you for trusting me, Fei-kun," adding a sweet kiss. He'd allowed the endearment to slip out and he'd assumed it would go unnoticed.
He was quite wrong, though, and coffee-dark eyes went wide as he walked into the living room to grant Wufei his request carrying the ShenLong pilot in his arms happily.
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