The Blood of Peace
First Movement, the Ninth Part: Andante, once again
Finally, the dance was coming to an end. Most of the guests were drooping in their seats and everyone on the dais was ready to slide off their chairs. Relena was especially tired from the dancing and the exertion her heart had received from the close contact with Heero all night. She was ready to sleep now, the journey finally catching up to her. She glanced rather sleepily at her brother. He definitely needed to rest. He was not looking very healthy, not with his half closed eyes and the restless drumming of his fingers on the table. She decided, although it was wonderful to be next to Heero for his birthday, both she and her brother needed to get out and rest up for tomorrow. So she stood with as much grace as her tired body would allow and politely announced her departure to the king and the guests. Then she signaled Milliardo and they left the room in a stately pace born from both grace and exhaustion. That started a small flood of guests who also announced their departures and in a few minutes, the entire room had been cleared of people. Then Odin, the great king himself, stood, swept a look around the room, and left with a small army of servants and counselors who materialized out of no where. And that left five very tired boys on the dais. Well, four very tired boys and one particularly drunk one.
Duo had taken every advantage of the cocktail part of the night, drinking almost everything that the servants had to offer. He did not usually like drinking so much since it impaired his abilities, but a party would not be a party without some consumption of alcohol. But apparently, he was the only one to think so. When Heero stood, they all stood. Except that Duo had a slight balance problem.
"How much did you drink, Duo? Are you okay?"
Quatre's concerned voice did almost nothing to help Duo out of his predicament. What he needed was a crutch, not compassion.
"Well, Quatre, looks like the world is moving and I'm the only stable thing. Wanna help me to my room before the world decides to crash land on my face?"
There. Duo was absolutely sure he did not slur. So he could not be all that drunk. The only problem was, the world was a complete blur. Then he felt a body wedging itself underneath his right arm and the world was steady again. Grinning for all he was worth, he looked at his human crutch, ready to thank it profusely for the kindness. That was until he landed his eyes on a pair of mildly annoyed cobalt blue eyes about five inches from his face.
'Shit, that's not Quatre.'
That bit of thought floated in his alcohol hazed mind before he actually realized who was holding him up and helping him walk.
'Shit, that's Heero.'
Duo definitely was not having one of his intelligent days. But he had been so miserable for some reason during the party and the alcohol had just dulled it a little. Now, he was being walked to his room by the person who seemed to be the reason that he had been miserable. And Duo could not figure out why it was that Heero made him miserable. They had only met today, hadn't they? So what was going on in his mind?
Heero's mind was not having a better time coming up with any answers either. He had tried to catch Duo's eyes all night without realizing that he was. Until when he had actually encountered them at the end of the night. The feeling he had the moment their eyes met was unusual, even a bit frightening. And for some weird reason, he was helping this drunken idiot back to his room, supporting him with his body. And the only reason that he was annoyed was because he liked Duo's body next to his. The whole damn situation was complicated, unwanted and confusing. And it was only the first day.
Heero shoved the door open to Duo's room and deposited him rather unceremoniously onto the bed. Before Duo could recover from the sudden dump, Heero quickly left the room and shut the door behind him. Then he walked to his room, closed the door and fell into bed without bothering to remove his constricting clothes. He was asleep in less than a minute, his mind and body tired from the emotional strain it had been through. Quatre, however, did not have Duo or Heero's determination to fall asleep. He needed to find Trowa and talk to him. When Heero and Duo disappeared into their rooms, Quatre followed Trowa to his room. WuFei gave them a curious glance and then went to his room at the far end of the hall way. He wondered about Quatre's actions and then dismissed it. It was none of his business right now anyway. They may be brothers, but that didn't mean they trusted each other yet. So WuFei fell asleep fully content, one hand grasping his sword and the other on his dagger. No one could say the Master of Swords was a sloppy warrior.
Trowa looked at Quatre with his one visible eye and opened the door to his room. Then he gave Quatre a tacit invitation to enter. When he did enter with a bit of trepidation, Trowa shut the door and spoke before Quatre.
"So, I gather you are here to talk about the small problem between Heero and Duo."
So he had noticed. Quatre was relieved. He had been right to count on Trowa to notice anything unusual.
"Yes, Trowa. I'm glad you noticed. I wanted to see if you saw it as a big problem. What should we do? I'm of the mind that we do not interfere unless it becomes a detriment to any of our missions and duties."
Quatre had decided that during the party. He had learned long ago that human emotions could not be stemmed or shut off just because it would be more convenient. Since Duo and Heero seemed to be drawn to each other, he saw no reason to make it more uncomfortable by interfering. If they could perform their duties, those feelings would not matter. Apparently, Trowa agreed with him.
"That's about what I decided to do. It's fairly late. We should go to sleep now."
Quatre felt guilty. Here he was, keeping Trowa awake, when he had the problem figured out. He was supposed to be the advisor, not the other way around. With a sense of guilt and shame, he said good night to Trowa and started to leave. Then Trowa spoke up.
"Don't feel bad. I didn't mean it as a dismissal. You just looked very tired. I want you to feel your best."
Those choppy sentences, delivered with such a monotone voice somehow made Quatre feel better. He liked Trowa and was glad that he would be a part of his life from now on. Maybe starting tomorrow, everything would look better. With that thought, he gave Trowa a small smile and went to his room to sleep and to dream.
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