Disguise the Limit - Part 4
Duo's Friendship Arc 10
by Dyna Dee
As expected, the clerk at the motel was not overly curious and accepted Wufei's explanation of being an out-of-town student whose car broke down and needed a place to stay until it was repaired. He got a room with a double bed and a television. The clerks eyes bulged a bit when he was paid in cash and in advance for four nights.
Taking the key, Wufei looked across the street and saw that Duo was still sitting where he had left him, though he noted that the shop was even busier now with more customers than before.
Going to the room, he did a quick inspection to make sure it was clean and acceptable. Seeing that it was, he put their backpacks on the bed and left to pick up his roommate.
The ice cream shop was now quite full. Wending his way through the crowd, he finally made it to where Duo was sitting and found him contentedly eating a fresh sundae and had another sitting in front of the empty space across from him.
"How'd it go?" he whispered as Wufei sat in the chair opposite his friend.
"Fine, and thanks." Wufei indicated the ice cream before him.
"Your welcome." Duo smiled warmly, his large eyes sparkled happily, and he looked....beautiful.
'He's a guy, he's a guy, he's a guy.' Wufei repeated to himself as he quickly looked down at his sundae in order to hide the blush he felt rising on his cheeks. His ice cream looked like something Duo would choose, several scoops of vanilla ice cream were topped with a chocolate sauce, whipped cream and large peanut M&Ms. It looked good.
After taking two bites, a commotion sounded at the front of the shop. Wufei looked up and saw two Oz soldiers had entered the crowded room. His eyes met Duo's in warning. Duo turned his head, spoon still in his mouth, to see what was happening.
"Listen up everyone." a loud, commanding voice barked out. "We are currently looking for two terrorists, two teenage boys, an Asian and a Caucasian with a long brown braid, dressed in black. We need to check out everyone here, so just eat your ice cream and be patient."
Duo turned his wide eyes back to Wufei and slowly removed the spoon from his mouth.
Wufei watched as the soldiers moved efficiently and meticulously through the crowded shop, stopping anyone Asian and searching them and their companions.
"You carrying?" Duo asked silently, mouthing the words.
Wufei nodded and indicated the left front of his jacket.
Duo shut his eyes for a moment trying to come up with a fast solution to their problem. They needed to look hold their disguise by looking like a couple and remove the gun from off of Wufei in case they searched him.
Coming to a conclusion, Duo stood from his chair and moved to Wufei and slid down onto his lap, much to the surprise of the other pilot. After readjusting the skirt so that it flared out behind him and over the Shenlong pilot's lap, he reached back and ran his hand through Wufei's straight black hair and leaned over to whisper in his ear of his tense and startled partner. "Just play along." he said in a calm hushed voice. "I'm going to reach for your gun and hand it to you behind your back, then you can run it up the back of my dress and tuck it into the top of my tights."
Wufei paused as the whispered message sunk in. Finally, he nodded, believing the plan to be a sound one. He just hoped he wouldn't drop the gun in the exchange.
Duo ran his right hand through Wufei's silky black hair as his left hand slid over and inside his jacket. Reaching into the inner pocket, he carefully pulled the gun out. Stealing a quick glance down to make sure the safety was on, he then palmed it into his left hand. Pressing his chest forward, his right arm going around Wufei's shoulder, he gave the appearance of giving an affectionate embrace, his left arm wrapped around his friend's back.
Wufei had his left hand behind him in an awkward angle, waiting for the handoff. They fumbled just slightly before his hand firmly clasped the revolver. Now came the tricky part. Taking a deep breath, he began to fumble blindly as he searched to find the hem of the dress with his gun-filled hand in order to get under it. Once that was accomplished, his hand then snaked up to Duo's waist and the elastic band at the top of the navy tights. It was a lot easier said then done as he struggled to get the tight elastic waistband pulled out and the gun inside it. Several times Duo jumped as the elastic accidently slipped and snapped sharply against his skin.
"You better not be doing that on purpose." He growled. "Hurry up, will ya?"
Finally grabbing hold of the top, he managed to edge the gun into it and slowly slid it into place.
"I don't know what's colder, your hand or the gun." Duo whispered in complaint and shifted himself. "You better move it over towards the front left side, they'll see it protruding from the back." he suggested.
Wufei removed his hand from under the skirt and placed his hand on the hidden gun and tried to maneuver it over Duo's left hip. The long haired boy lowered his head onto Wufei's shoulder and moaned.
"You better not be getting turned on by this." The Chinese boy hissed.
Duo shook his head and whispered tersely. "That's my sore hip."
"Oh, sorry." Wufei felt himself blush and remembered the raw wound.
Duo brought his hand down over the lumpy area where the gun was hidden under the dress, and tried to adjust it as he turned towards his companion. "How close?" he whispered as he looked into his friend's face, inches away from his own.
Wufei looked up to see the pain in the violet eyes, but leaned to the side looking past them to observe the advancing soldiers. "Six feet."
Duo nodded. "Show time." he whispered. Shaking off his discomfort, he reached back to the sundae he purchased for Wufei and picked up a large yellow M&M from off the top. He looked back into Wufei eyes, a sparkle of mischief in his own. "When they get close, I want you to take this from me....with your teeth.
Wufei's eyes widened.
"It's not kissing, it's just a game." he quickly insisted. "But it will look like it."
He put the candy firmly between his front teeth and smiled, though it did not reach his eyes, instead, they were tinted with slight apprehension. He placed his right arm over Wufei's shoulder and his left arm over the gun, resting over his bandaged wound.
"Okay." Wufei said and moved his mouth close to the other boys. Turning his head he reached for the candy held firmly clenched between Duo's teeth and clamped his teeth down on the part sticking out, trying for the life of him not to touch anything but the candy. Duo's teeth held the candy like a vice, determined not to let go. Wufei grabbed the back of his head to tilt it for better leverage. To his consternation, it sounded like Duo giggled. Despite the tense situation they found themselves in, Wufei felt a smile growing on his own face from the ridiculousness of what they were doing.
"Alright, break it up." a lazy sounding voice came from above them. Duo bit down on the piece of candy and let go of the half Wufei had his teeth on. They both smiled broadly at each other as they sucked in and chewed their respective halves. The smiles lingered on their lips and in their eyes as they looked up into the soldiers amused face. With a start, Wufei realized that this was most likely Duo's plan all along. They looked like a couple enjoying themselves, not boy terrorists in disguise and on the run.
"Stand up kid." he motioned to Wufei.
Easing Duo up off his lap, he then stood himself. The Deathscythe pilot clasped his arm and maneuvered himself to hide the left side of his body behind his "boyfriend's" side.
The second soldier walked up behind the other. "What do we have here?" he asked eyeing the Chinese boy to see if he fit the MO.
"Just a couple of kids making out." the first soldier answered.
"Search him and lets move on." the newer soldier, who was obviously in charge, told the other.
Duo stood back, putting the chair they had risen from in front of his left hip. He had never been more grateful for a lacy white sweater in all his life as the one he wore helped to hide the gun. Wufei lifted his arms while the soldier patted him down. "Nothing." He murmured then turned to look at the two. "You kids better head home, curfew is in one hour." His eye seemed to linger on the girl with the violet eyes.
"Yes sir." Wufei answered putting an arm around Duo's shoulder.
As the soldier turned to his partner, the two teens could hear their conversation as they moved away. "Lucky guy, what a looker."
Wufei felt Duo go limp with relief. He led him to the chair where he sat down in front of his now nearly melted sundae. Duo dropped his head into his hands. "I can't take this anymore Wu....I need this day to end."
"Alright." Wufei felt some sympathy for his friend. "Let's just give them a few minutes to move down the street."
******
Fifteen minutes later, the two weary boys entered the hotel room. Duo disappeared into the bathroom, and reappeared later with his face scrubbed clean of make up, hair re-braided into his normal braid, and clad in his boxers and t-shirt.
"Man, this feels like heaven, I'm a guy again!" He said with a yawn. Making his way to the bed he paused. Instead of his usual flying leap onto the bed, he pulled back the covers and gingerly climbed under them. With a sigh he threw his arm over his eyes and lay quietly.
Wufei had been listening to the local news report of Oz troops looking for terrorists in the city and asking for the public's help and patience during the lock down. He stood, stretched, and took his turn in the bathroom. After emerging, ready for the night, he found that Duo was sprawled over three quarters of the bed and lightly snoring. In hindsight, it was a harbinger of the night to come.
The Chinese pilot woke, again, and was glad to note the miserable night was mercifully coming to an end and the morning had finally arrived. He unhappily found himself on his side and at the very edge of the bed. Duo's body was pressed up against his back, his arm slung over the Chinese boy's arm, and hanging across his chest. Sliding his legs from off the side of the bed, he stood and turned to see Duo roll onto his stomach, taking up the space he had just vacated. "Unbelievable." he muttered in dull astonishment at the other boy. The alarm clock read six forty-eight a.m., and he turned towards the bathroom, resigned to the fact that he would not be getting any more sleep, not that he'd had much that night anyway. He emerged twenty minutes later, showered and dressed for the day. He found Duo awake and looking in the dresser drawers. He stopped to watch him, putting his hands on his hips. "Why do you do that?" he asked in an irritated tone.
Duo looked up with a puzzled look on his face. "What?"
"Whenever we go into a new place, you check out the cupboards, closets, and drawers. You did it yesterday in that house and you're doing it again today. Why?"
Duo closed the dresser drawer and moved to the bed and sat down. "I just like to see what's there." he answered simply as he studied the floral pattern on the bedspread, his slim finger tracing a vine. "Just now, I did it out of curiosity to see if someone left something behind, maybe it's just a habit." he shrugged. "But yesterday, in that home, I just wanted to see what it was like to be a family. You can tell a lot about a person by their closets and drawers." He looked up from under his messy bangs at Wufei to see how he was receiving what he was trying to express.
Wufei's expression looked dubious.
"I can't remember if I ever had a family." Duo went on to explain. "At the orphanage, I had three sets of clothing and one pair of shoes. They fit in a box that was kept under my bed. That box constituted my only personal space." He lay back on the bed and looked away from Wufei's face to stare at the water spot on the ceiling. "I always wondered what a family would put into all their spaces." He smiled dreamily as he reflected back to what he had seen the day before. "Yesterday, in that house, I saw a bunch of games, puzzles, clean clothes and linens scented with fabric softener and folded with care, tools and hardware neatly stored, photo albums, boxes with cards saved from loved ones, and children's papers from school." He turned to look at his friend whose expression was now thoughtful. "I saw caring and love in those closets and drawers."
He took a deep breath and sighed. His voice sounding wistful as he continued. "I hope that maybe one day I'll have a place to call home, with closets and drawers filled just like that home."
Wufei stood looking down at his braided friend. All the anger he felt towards him when he woke up had dissipated completely. His heart now constricted with compassion for the lonely life Duo had lived, for all the things he'd never had, and for those that he had lost. He knew the other pilot did not want his pity, so he steeled himself against showing what he was feeling. Instead, he sat on the bed and put his hand on his friend's shoulder. "That's a nice thought, Duo. I, too, hope that--for all of us."
Duo looked up at him, his smile growing.
A few moments passed before Duo's stomach growled. "So, what's for breakfast, Wu-man?"
That day passed slowly and they left the room only to buy necessities and food, which they brought back to the room to eat.
"Urrrrrr!" Wufei growled and sitting up, turned on the light. It was two forty-one a.m., and in his frustration, he turned and roughly shook his bed mate awake.
"What?" Duo complained as he rubbed his eyes and squinted against the bright light.
"Look!" Wufei growled and indicated his position on the bed, the very edge of it, with Duo sprawled out at an angle, effectively taking up the rest of the space.
"Oh, sorry." Duo looked sheepish and moved over to the side of the bed he'd fallen asleep on.
"You are a nightmare to sleep with, Maxwell!" The black hair was loose and in disarray as Wufei continued on with what looked like a new rant. "You move constantly and press up against me, arms and legs all over my person, and hog the covers, in fact, you hog the whole damn bed!." Wufei complained, his voice incredulous.
"I don't do it on purpose." Duo mumbled as he rolled over facing away from his angry roommate and pulled the covers up around his shoulders.
"How does Heero deal with it when you guys have to share a bed?" Exasperation had now crept into his tone.
"He figured out a way to keep me in one place." Duo said in a whisper.
Wufei's eyebrows raised. "He ties you up?" he guessed.
"No!" Now it was Duo's turn to be exasperated. He lifted his head and fluffed his pillow with his fist, and then plopped his head back onto it.
"Well?" Wufei asked.
"Well what?"
"Are you going to tell me what he does to keep you still?"
There was a long pause, and then after a deep sigh Duo answered quietly. "He holds me."
"Huh?'
"Like you did in the playhouse."
The light abruptly went out and Wufei climbed back into bed. The two lay in silence for several minutes.
"Do you want me to sleep on the floor?" Duo asked quietly.
There was a long pause. "No, you'd probably get hurt rolling into all the furniture."
More silence.
"Would you mind?" Wufei asked tentatively.
"What?"
"If I try Heero's trick?"
Duo sighed yet again. "Fine." his voice sounded resigned.
When he didn't move, Wufei took it on his own initiative to turn on his side and grabbing hold of the slender frame, pulled him back and into his arms until Duo's back was only and inch from his chest. He wrapped his arms around Duo securing him in place in front of him. "Like this?" He asked for conformation that he was doing this right. He felt the boy in front of him nod his head in reply.
They both lay stiffly for a while, feeling self-conscious and uncomfortable, unused to the feel of the other's body so close to their own. Slowly, Duo's body relaxed as he succumbed to sleep. Shortly after, seemingly of it's own volition, his body pressed back against Wufei's chest, unconsciously seeking the heat and comfort from the other boy.
Wufei held his breath. 'Well, this is certainly..... different.' he thought to himself. 'Strange, but not unpleasant.'
Duo's head was now cradled on his biceps. He leaned his head against the soft brown hair, smelling the floral scent of the shampoo he had taken from the house the day before. 'Smells good.' he thought as his mind began to drift towards slumber.
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