The Bartender And The Thief
by Jade Black
// When you think about it,
He’s watching every word you say, hey… //
Heero watched as the woman walked in, blonde hair trailing halfway down her
back, and swaying against her strawberry-pink dress. She smiled like a
politician, and was quickly noticed by every man in the room. Heero didn’t
so much notice her as he noticed her expensive necklace… gold, he surmised
with a quick glance. The pendant hung delicately at her collarbone… and with
each movement she made it glinted in the light of the bar. She made her way
up towards him, and hastily glanced around, ordering a vodka martini. Heero
smiled courteously, summing up the necklace as it dangled when she leant
over, and polished a glass in preparation for her drink. Before her eyes, he
poured the liquor into a shaker and tossed it twice over his head, just as
he had been trained to do- not even batting an eye at her obvious
admiration. Heero’s mind wandered as he poured the drink into the glass…
wondering how much cash she had in her handbag if she wore a pendant that
expensive. He looked into her eyes, drawing her attention, as he requested
some obscene price for the little show, and the alcohol. She obliged
happily, pulling out a pink purse from her fuchsia handbag- and handing him
a note. He glanced at the green in his hand as she closed her purse and told
him to keep the change.
// …Dazed.
And when he’s sussed you out… //
Keeping his eyes on her, even as he placed the note in the till, Heero
watched the woman as a man approached her. He, too, looked pretty damn rich.
Flashing golden rings as he gestured to his table, full of other greasy and
suited men. The woman in pink glanced back at Heero as she followed the man
over, as if to dismiss him as just a lowly bartender. Heero checked to make
sure there were no other customers waiting for his attention, and then made
for the phone in the back room.
// …He calls her up and out she comes and hustles
Us… //
Heero resumed his position at the bar, tending to a handsome man’s rusty
nail. He didn’t even spare a glance as his lover slipped in through the
door- beautiful as ever in his usual (or perhaps unusual) black –and headed
straight for the woman in pink’s table. He placed a comfortable arm around
her shoulders, and looked into her eyes as he intruded on her conversation
with the rich men.
// Long digging… //
She was entranced; of course, no one in their right mind had the power to
resist those sparkling violet orbs and the charming grin. She was under his
spell in moments, and he led her away to the dance floor as though he’d done
it a million times. She’d wish she’d stayed with the rich old men. They
swayed and rocked and flowed like water- a perfect match the naked eye. A
trained glance would have told different, however- would have told of
deceit, and yet no lies; would have told of power and weakness.
// Gone fishing… //
He held her in his arms as if protecting a child, and eyed her neck like a
vampire. The prize and the life force all in one. Hands about her neck,
nimble fingers fiddled with the clasp of her golden necklace- as she wrapped
her arms around him so lovingly. So trustingly. A flash of teeth over her
shoulder, and he was gone, like a vision or a dream.
// Love drinking //
A girl alone and lost on the dance floor, glancing around for the object of
her affection. The braided stranger gone forever… and taking a small part of
her with him.
// The bartender and the thief are lovers
Steal what they need like sisters and brothers… //
Duo weaved his way through the collection of askew gravestones. The
silhouette of his lover in the distance, at the top of the hill, near the
crypt. All smooth lines and spiky locks. The cool moonlight set his pallor
to a soft light blue; dark and deep Prussian eyes gazing out, sparkling
brilliantly as he approached. Duo stepped closer, observing him for a moment
more, and then held out one arm- the prize dangling loosely from his
forefingers. Heero snatched the glimmering necklace, and brought it up to
his eyes, expertly assessing the metal, and then pocketing it. Duo kept a
hand on the woman’s purse, which remained in his pocket, as Heero looked
down on him- a small smirk creeping across his face before he took him into
his arms, and brought down his lips upon his.
An intruding tongue, and a cool hand across his back. Duo shivered and drew
closer to Heero’s comforting warmth. Looking up and meeting a lustful look
of dark blue.
// Met in a church, a night to remember,
Robbin’ the graves of bodies dismembered //
That look took Duo right back to the beginning. It was a wedding… long ago.
Heero was the best man, and Duo was in there to confess his sins. He
couldn’t help being catholic- it was his nature and his religion, and
something he had to abide. He caught a look from the Asian man as he left
the confessional, and knew he had over heard something. All Duo could
remember was the welcoming blue.
That was all Duo could feel now, the look of his koi. The aquiline features
directed to him, knowing him better than he knew himself. He turned and
noticed the glint of the shovels behind him; they should have started
working if they were ever going to break away from this immoral routine.
// He watched the lesbian talk
She kissed and groped and mostly talked in lust… //
Heero watched as he walked in the door, and immediately knew he was the one
for the night. He wasn’t a regular… but Heero wished he were. A singular
emerald eye caught him from across the room, and he approached the bar,
flagged on each side by two men. This beauty leant across the bar, allowing
Heero to catch a quick glimpse of green from beneath a fall of silken hair.
He ordered a drink for him and his two friends, who Heero caught looking at
him. Both were shorter than the man with one eye; one blonde with an air of
innocence, the other with slicked-back black hair and Chinese features.
Heero put on his usual show in making the drinks, and gazed at the tall one
almost lustfully.
The turned away with their drinks; and Heero couldn’t help but notice the
way the tall one looked at him… and the contents of his wallet. The trio
took a place in a secluded corner, still glancing at him occasionally; when
the tall one took the blonde’s face in one hand and brought his lips down to
his- and intimate moment in public view… somehow made to seem especially for
Heero’s benefit.
// …Crushed.
He couldn’t make the call… //
The green eye met his again, and he was gone. He knew what he had to do, and
knew that he had to so it. He knew Duo was waiting diligently outside in a
car somewhere, mobile phone switched on and waiting. He went out into the
back and looked at the phone, hand twitching out towards it. But then he
glanced back outside to the bar, and saw the man with that amazing hair
standing there, the blonde hanging from his arm, waiting for him. He just
couldn’t…
// His eyes were gripped on licking tongues
Enough’s enough… //
He didn’t want another drink. The man waited until Heero was leaning up
against the bar watching, and then locked eyes with him as he delved into
the little blonde’s mouth again. Drawing back, with a small trail of saliva
still joining them. He gazed at Heero, and asked him to join them. Heero
paused, breath caught in his throat, temptation over ruling all senses. He
bit his lip, trying not to go with what his body was telling him, trying
desperately to stay loyal to Duo.
// Failed for once //
He declined. But he still couldn’t make the call.
// Long digging… //
Duo was at the graveyard first. Heero wasn’t late, but Duo hadn’t had
anything to do before hand. He was furious, awaiting an explanation, sure
his lover would supply something adequate. But the handsome man bumbled,
never good with words in the first place. Duo stared into his eyes, those
deep, beautiful pools of blue that meant so much to him. He could see it
there, somehow, that Heero could have done nothing to stop that feeling. He
could see it there that he was sorry, and that Duo was the only person in
the world that could forgive him.
// Gone fishing… //
Duo passed him a shovel and indicated the patch of ground that he had
pre-determined. They needed to make at least some kind of score that night.
They were so close, they only needed a bit more money before they were free
to do what they wished and there was nothing more they wanted to do than go
back to the church where they had first met and be accepted as a couple. The
dream of being wed to the one you truly loved was alive in both of them, and
there was nothing either wanted more in the world than that freedom.
// Love drinking //
Like very other night they dug, and dug, and dug. A new patch of earth and a
new covering of grass. The people buried with their goods, and the way of
selling the bodies back to medical science was still a wealthy business. The
deal being that Duo pocketed the change from whoever he robbed, and Heero
took what they found and sold it- either in town at a jewellers or on the
black market, and sometimes on Ebay. The one mausoleum at the head of the
hill that belonged to the Yuy family- where they stored their finds in a
lock-box. No one was going to find anything in there. It was the perfect
scene.
// The bartender and the thief are lovers
Steal what they need like sisters and brothers… //
Heero woke up the next morning in an apartment not his own. A familiar place
all the same, and a wonderful smell in the pillows and in the sheets. The
sounds and smells of breakfast being cooked in the next room met him, and he
turned to see the bed empty and crumpled… but still warm.
// Met in a church, a night to remember
Robbin’ the graves of bodies dismembered //
Sunlight poured into the room in heavy strips, warmly illuminating the bed,
and splaying across the pillows. Heero’s back ached in protest as he rolled
over in bed to observe as his violet-eyed lover stepped into the room
carrying a try full of food. Heero smiled as Duo sat down, and handed him a
plate with his breakfast on. So considerate.
// Long digging… //
The pile of cash and credits stored away in the mausoleum atop the hill was
growing rapidly, they almost had enough… just one more job and they’d be
through. It felt strange to be so close- an odd feeling of anxiety welling
up in Heero’s stomach. Everything was arranged. All they had to do was run
it through and succeed with this job- and it would be easy footing. The only
possible set back was if they were actually caught stealing… and, even then,
who would really suspect such a mismatched pairing?
// Gone fishing… //
But it was the most brilliant pairing ever to be discovered. Duo was the
black and Heero was the white- they fit together and became one in the same
like pieces of a puzzle. Heero was all the different colours of light
combined, and Duo was all of the different colours scribbled down in a
beautiful mess on a piece of paper. But, without Heero’s light, Duo’s paper
wouldn’t be seen. They were everything, and nothing at the same time. They
were opposite, and yet the same. They needed each other to survive… there
was no better way of living.
// Love drinking //
And all it took for them to be together finally and completely was this one
job- hopefully with enough money in it for both of them to go away and leave
a place full of such prejudice. Heero watched her walk in. Swathed in a
beautiful blue dress that shimmered with each step she took. She paused just
inside the door, glancing around for a sign of a friendly face. She wasn’t
going to find one today. She took a seat by the window and gazed out. Heero
glanced down at his watch- 10:03. He walked out from behind the bar and went
over to the woman in blue. As she realised he was approaching, she drew her
gaze away from the window and met his eyes. He smiled as best he could and
offered her a drink, noticing the various amounts of jewellery she wore, and
the expensive handbag. She looked like she was waiting for someone. She
ordered a drink, and he made his way back over to the bar to prepare it.
// The bartender and the thief are lovers
Steal what they need like sisters and brothers… //
An hour after Heero had served her a drink, she was still sitting there, and
hadn’t even taken a sip of it. Heero, having seen it before, knew she had
been stood up by the way she was gazing out of the window. The wistful look
in her eyes. He walked in the back and made the call, Duo’s voice like honey
over the phone. He smiled knowingly as he walked out to serve one of the
regulars.
// Met at a church, a night to remember
Robbin’ the graves of bodies dismembered //
Duo waltzed in and bought the woman another drink. He worked his charm,
listening to her talk happily and paying close attention to every sorrowful
word she said. Heero served more and more customers until his shift was up.
Heero was wiping the bar when Duo left, taking the woman with him. Heero
knew Duo would get her somewhere between the car and dropping her off at her
home. Heero even wondered what alias Duo had used this time.
// Saved what they stole to meet at the altar //
A different rendezvous this time, but it wasn’t the first time Duo had been
there. The priestess was ready for them, she knew they were in a hurry- and
she thought it was so sweet that she didn’t have a problem with it. She
didn’t think it was immoral at all to be so deeply in love. There were two
witnesses, one invited by Heero and one by Duo. The man from the bar, with
only one eye visible sat in the front row ready to watch… pleased for the
Asian boy who he had only just met. The second, a woman about Duo’s age
dressed all in black… apparently a friend from Duo’s hazy childhood.
// Place where they first set eyes on each other //
The priestess said what she had to, and the two men happily repeated. They
kissed, and it was the deepest joining they’d ever been allowed to indulge
in. The man with the single bang clapped and smiled softly, and the woman
joined in, grinning happily for the pair. Heero and Duo Maxwell-Yuy walked
out of the church hand in hand that day.
// Flew to he sun to start life all over //
Neither man left their new house for days. They were too busy- but they had
plans of the future. Heero had already sorted it all out…
// Set up a bar and robbed all the locals… //
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