Sweet November
Part 11
Duo was sitting peacefully on the edge of his bathtub,
totally nude, save the pair of white slippers on his feet. He was
running a large paddle brush through his damp chestnut hair. Each
slippery stand falling between the brush's bristles and landing with
a small splatter against his chest. His eyes focused intently on the
cracks in the tile floor, but even then, he seemed to be staring past
the floor. His little violet orbs flickered upward as Trowa walked
into the bathroom.
"You need to eat something Duo." Trowa put one hand on his
hip and the other lay limp at his side.
"I am eating." Duo stood up, letting the brush clatter to the
floor with a hallow echo. He brushed past Trowa and over to his bed.
He picked up a pair of navy cotton pants with a drawstring and
slipped them over his legs.
"I hardly call munching on carrots eating." Trowa leaned in
the doorway of the bathroom and watched as Duo tied to strings to his
pants.
"You know you don't have to watch me like a hawk Trowa, I'm a
big boy." Duo casually walked over to the sink and filled a glass
with water.
"Are you really now." Trowa finally walked into the kitchen
and took a seat in Heero's usual chair.
Duo tossed Trowa a dirty look and took a large gulp of water.
"Well that is not the only reason I came over. Thanksgiving
is in 4 days, and I wanted to see if you were doing anything, being
that it is normally at your apartment."
"Yea sure, I'll make some tofu and veggies." Duo gazed out
the small window above his sink.
"What ever happened to the traditional turkey?" Trowa smirked
in Duo's general direction.
"Since when am I traditional Trowa."
The way Duo spit out Trowa's name made him jump. "Well aren't
we in a foul mood today." Trowa walked towards Duo. "You miss him?"
"Sort of." Duo was suddenly fascinated with his hands and
studied them persistently. "Hell of course I miss him. I'm so
stupid." Duo nuzzled into Trowa's warm shoulder. "But what I did was
right, wasn't it? I can't be around him when I am like this."
"I can't answer that for you Duo love." Trowa let the shorter
man cuddle him, surprised when Duo suddenly pulled away.
"Trowa, I think I want to go for a walk…alone." Duo left
Trowa to retrieve a warm sweatshirt, and he pulled it over his head.
Trowa just nodded and headed down the stairs with Duo. "You
sure you can handle Thanksgiving?" He turned right once he exited the
building, Duo turned left.
"Yea, it is just you, Quatre, Mariemaya, and her mother,
right? Then it should be no problem." Duo smirked slightly as he took
off down the sidewalk, his hands shoved into his pant pockets.
*******
Heero sat in his apartment, which seemed excessively empty.
He was busying himself by cleaning useless objects in his apartment.
He wandered over to his unadorned counter top and sighed. "Ohh
great…" Heero's eyes lazily wandered over to his fish tank. A bloated
orange body floated lifelessly at the top. "My fucking goldfish
died." Heero flicked his finger at the tank and walked away. His
apartment seemed dead and dull, as it filtered into Heero's eyes in
tones of gray and black. Finally fed up with sitting around doing
nothing but moping , he grabbed a thin jacket and headed out the door.
****
Quatre was sitting lazily on the couch, Trowa seated
comfortably next to him. There was a soft knock at the door,
disturbing the two men. Trowa rise slightly but Quatre pushed him
back down.
"I'll get it, you sit". Quatre pranced over to the door and
opened it. "Aye, Heero, what are you doing here?" Quatre blocked the
doorway preventing entrance to the room.
"Hi Quatre" Heero's eyes tried to peer into the room beyond
the man. Quatre was dressed in a button up blue shirt, that stretched
tightly across his chest, and a tight pair of eggplant pants that
flared out a little at the bottoms. His blond hair was pinned back by
2 clips, allowing a few strands to frame his eyes. His liper seemed
to be coated in a thin gloss and we turned up into a half smile.
Heero bit his lip slightly and tried to look over Quatre's shoulders
again. "Is Trowa around?" Heero fidgetted with one food at Qatre
glanced over his shoulder.
"Yea." Quatre hooked his thumbs into his pant pockets.
"Can I talk to him?" Heero was getting impatient.
"Hold on." Quatre skampered over to Trowa and crawled onto
his lap. He pushed a strand of Trowa's hair behind his ear and
whispered to inform him that Heero was at the door. Trowa let Quatre
tumble off his lap as he stood up and then stormed over to the door.
"What are you doing here?" Trowa walked out into the hallway
and closed the door behind him.
"Trowa, honestly, I need your help." Heero's eyes pleaded
with Trowa.
"Why should I help you?" Trowa's eyes glared at Heero.
"Do you think I really want your help." Heero snapped before
he even knew what he did. He instantly regretted it and took a step
away from the taller man. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. I am just
so frustrated. I'm sorry that we don't get along, but you're the only
one that could help me." Heero scowled at Trowa, his face expressing
all the emotions going on inside his body. "Help me get Duo back, I
truly do love him, he means everything to me."
"I shouldn't help you…but I know you do love him. And the sad
part is, he loves you too, he just doesn't know that yet." Trowa
sighed in defeat and he allowed Heero to take a step closer to him.
"I do love him, I never meant to hurt him." Heero started
talking more with his hands than with his voice.
"So listen, he is having Thanksgiving at his house…" Trowa
continued to explain his plan to Heero as he allowed him into his
apartment.
******
A chilly wind came blowing through the small window above
Duo's kitchen sink. Duo shivered slightly and reached over to slam it
shut. "Damn it's cold." Duo, who was dressed in a tight pair of black
pants, purple shirt, and his thin blue scarf, walked over to the
kitchen table and squirmed into his black fishnet sweater. His small
apartment was decorated with orange and brown streamers, and his
'kitchen table' was transformed into a 'Thanksgiving table', and was
set in the middle of the apartment.
The table was set for 5 people,
Trowa, Quatre, Mariemaya, her mother, and himself. Duo put on a sad
smile as there was a knock at the door, and he walked over to see who
it was. However, Trowa beat him to it, and opened the door. A sweetly
smiling Mariemaya, and her mother, stood there, Mariemaya holding a
small cake up to Duo.
"Hi Duo! Happy Thanksgiving!" Mariemaya gave Duo a huge
grin, her little eyes sparkling up at him.
"Hi Mariemaya, how are you sweetie? You look nice." Duo tried
to ruffle the girls hair but was unsuccessful since all her hair was
pulled tightly into two small pig tails. Mariemaya trotted over to
Trowa to show him the cake she had made.
Mariemaya's mother stepped into the apartment. She was a
slender, unhealthy looking woman, with short dirty blond hair. Her
clothing seemed to hang off of her bones and her face looked sunken
in. "Hi Duo, we made you a cake." She pointed towards her little
daughter who was showing off her creation. "It's chocolate, your
favorite." The woman smiled at Duo gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"You shouldn't have, but thank you." Duo let the woman inside
and pulled the door closed. He went to follow Mariemaya and her
mother but Trowa grabbed him from behind.
"You feeling ok?" Trowa cocked his head to the side as he
looked at Duo.
"Yes and no. But I'll be fine." Duo stood up on his toes and
gave Trowa a peck on the lips. He sighed as he let go of Trowa and
walked over towards his guests.
Quatre had already set some food down
on the table and Mariemaya was already shoveling it onto her plate.
"Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I don't know about you guys, but I'm
starved. So lets eat!"
Duo brought a plate full of vegetables over to
the table and then sat down. The rest of his guests followed suit.
Duo looked around the table to see that Mariemaya was the only one
eating. "Well what are you waiting for? Eat up, I didn't put poison
in it."
Duo honestly laughed for the first time in over a week. He
piled some vegetables onto his plate and passed them onto Trowa.
Mariemaya passed him the rice, which he also took a huge helping
from. Once Duo was finished taking a portion of almost every food,
including the cake, he quickly dug in. His most stuffed with food he
looked up to see everyone staring at him. A muffled "what?" came out
of Duo's mouth as he questioned them.
"Duo, you're eating." Quatre pointed at the braided man.
"Yea I do that sometimes Quatre." Duo smiled, his cheeks
bulging out slightly.
"No Duo, I haven't seen you eat more than just a carrot or
two in weeks." Trowa took a forkful of his own dinner as he watched
Duo.
"Well lets just say I'm over that. I'm starved." Duo
continued to munch down his food, and the atmosphere seemed to be
much more friendly from that point on.
An hour later, after a meal full of laughter and stories, the
5 people still sat at the table, telling even more stories. Quatre
had just told some embarrassing story about Trowa, which had everyone
but Trowa in stitches. Duo quickly jerked his head to the right as he
heard a strange sound coming from a large window to the right of the
table. His eyes widened when he saw what it was. It was Heero,
dressed in a red suit and Santa hat. "Ohh my god." Duo put his head
in his hands as Heero climbed through the window. "This isn't
happening."
But it was, and Heero had successfully climbed through the
window. He stood straight up, giving everyone a good view of his
Santa suit. He had a huge red sack slung over his shoulder, bloated
with presents. "Ho Ho Ho! Merry Christmas." Heero tried to do his
best impression of Santa but failed miserable.
Mariemaya giggled hysterically, her tiny hands clamped on her
stomach. "Heero! You have the wrong holiday!" Mariemaya was quickly
shhed by her mother, but small muffled laughs still came from her
direction.
"No my dear, it is the right holiday, but only for him."
Heero pointed over towards Duo.
Duo had both hands covering his mouth and he was bright red.
"Heero…."
Heero walked around the table so he would be in front of Duo.
Trowa swiveled Duo's chair so he faced Heero directly, and then he
and Quatre backed up slightly, followed by Mariemaya and her mother.
On his way he brushed past Heero. "It took you long enough."
Heero shot him a small glare and then returned his attentions
to Duo. He dropped the sack he was carrying gently and went over to
him. "For you, I would like to present the 12 days of Christmas,
Heero style." Heero walked over to his sack and opened it up.
"Heero, don't" Duo's violet eyes seemed to pulse with
moisture as he watched Heero fumble with the bag.
"As the first gift, I would like to present you with the food
item that started it all." Heero pulled out a large roll of cookie
dough, and handed it over to Duo. Duo laughed as he received the
'present'. "This sugary substance is not as sweet as all the things
you have done for me."
"The second gift, for the man that must always be in control, a
whip." Heero took a long black whip out of his bag and cracked it
loudly before handing it to Duo. A small smirk crossed Duo's face as
he curled the leather around his hand.
Heero returned to his bag and pulled out a huge bouquet of
flowers, ranging from roses to Easter lilies. He got down on one knee
and presented them to Duo, who quickly took them and inhaled their
sweet aroma. "The third gift, flowers, to apologize for all the
wrongs I have ever done to you." Duo smiled and watched in
anticipation as Heero dug for another gift.
"When I first met you, in the DMV, you seduced me with the
playful sucking of a lollipop. So to ensure future seducing, I
present you with…" Heero pulled out a large rainbow lollipop and
dropped it on Duo's lap. "a lollipop."
Duo laughed as he cleared himself of the prior presents so he
could receive more.
"To symbolize one of our first 'dates', I present you with
this." Heero pulled out a miniature sailboat, painted just like the
one he and Duo helped Mariemaya make.
"Ohh a sailboat!" Duo grabbed at the present and studied it.
He let one single tear fall from his eyes as he placed the boat on
the table.
Heero sauntered over to Duo, his finger slipping underneath
Duo's scarf. With one fluid motion, he yanked it free of Duo's neck
and flung it behind him. "With the colder weather just around the
corner, I have a special present for you." Heero pulled a scarf,
similar in color to Duo's older one but thicker and warmer, out of
his bag. He placed it around Duo's neck. Duo cuddled into the scarf
and tied it slightly. "That's to keep you warm whenever I am not
around." Heero smiled when he saw Duo's face brighten up.
"The seventh gift…" Heero caught Trowa's eye and motioned to
him with a nod of his head. Trowa immediately disappeared into the
hallway, but returned moments later with a large box, covered in red
paper, in his arms. He placed it in front of Duo.
"You were involved in this!" Duo's eyes widened as he looked
at Trowa. Trowa gave him a guilty look and walked away, leaving Duo
with the present. Duo quickly tore away the paper and started to open
the plain brown box. He ripped oven the cover and was presented with
a very small… "Dishwasher!" Duo squealed slightly and examined the
white object.
"For the man who hates to wash dishes." Heero watched as Duo
energetically examined the present.
"Ohh my…Thank you!" Duo smiled back up at Heero, his eyes
glowing.
"The eighth gift is one to symbolize the best thing that I
have ever experienced….your kiss." Heero walked over to Duo and sat
in the empty chair next to him. He leaned in closer to the braided by
and they latched lips for the first time in what seemed an eternity.
Heero's lips opened wider, allowing Duo's small tongue slip into his
mouth. After a few moments, Heero reluctantly pulled away from a
flustered Duo, and returned to his bag of gifts. Letting out one
heavy breath he looked lovingly at Duo before he pulled out the next
gift and handed it to Duo. It was a miniature trolley, a small bag of
trolley tokens was taped to the top of it.
"Aww, how cute." Duo rolled the trolley over his lap.
"The ninth gift is so we can ride the trolley together
whenever you want, without even having to leave the house.
Heero turned around and pulled a small slip of paper out of
his now empty sack. He handed it over to Duo, who studied it, not
sure what it was. "The tenth gift is a gift certificate for dancing
lessons, which is guaranteed to get your off of my toes on onto the
dance floor in no time."
Duo turned pink for a moment as he laughed, remembering the
time he almost broke Heero's toes when they tried to slow dance.
"And the second to last gift, back by popular demand…" Heero
looked at Quatre, who was opening the bathroom door. A energetic
Juliet came flying out and pounced Duo.
"JULIET!" Duo cuddled the puppy who was currently licking his
face. Duo ruffled her fur and flipped her onto her back so he could
rub her belly. Heero smiled as he watched his lover play with the
dog. Duo's eyes caught on Juliet's new collar. Her back of her name
tag had both his and Heero's names, and their address. Duo let a few
of his salty tears fall into Juliet's white fur.
"And the last gift, well that requires all of us to go out.
So you'll just all have to wait."
Duo clapped loudly and smiled in delight. He had thought that
seeing Heero would depress him even more, but it had just the
opposite effect. He jumped out of his chair and latched onto Heero,
nuzzling his face into the soft trim of the Santa suit. "Thank you so
much."
"Don't thank me yet." Heero let his nose fall down to Duo's
hair, and he took in his lovers scent. "I have one last thing for
you….well two actually, but one last tangible thing." Heero pulled
out something from behind his back. It was a bright red fishnet
shirt, a black tank top, and a pair of black shirts with a few
zippers scattered over them, they were long enough to reach down to
Duo's knees. He handed the outfit over to Duo. "Wear this tonight."
Duo looked at the clothing and a huge grin crossed his face.
He gathered them up into his arms and examined them. They were
absolutely perfect for him. "I love them! They are perfect. Heero you
spoil me." Duo gave Heero a small peck on the cheek and was startled
when everyone in the apartment clapped.
********
Duo, Quatre, and Trowa sat at a small round table in front of
a ordinary stage with a solitary microphone on it. Duo had on his new
outfit, and looked wonderful in it. He had put on a pair of black
leggings under the shorts since he was a bit cold, and he wore his
new scarf. In his hands he cupped a mug of hot cocoa. He was sitting
between Quatre and Trowa. Quatre had on a lavender short sleeved top
and a short blue skirt. His hair was curled a bit, and he was
impatiently tapping the floor with his foot. Trowa was dressed in a
dark green turtleneck with no sleeves, and a pair of ordinary jeans.
Heero had disappeared shortly after bringing them to this small
'club' but promised he would return, that was about 10 minutes ago.
Suddenly the lights on the stage brightened and the house lights
dimmed. Duo's attention was brought to the stage as he watched the
performer step out of the shadows.
Duo let out a gasp as he looked at the stage. "Trowa look!"
Duo pointed to the dimly lit area of the stage. Duo's slender finger
was pointing at a figure that sauntered onto the stage. To Duo's
utter surprise it was Heero, clad in a tight black shirt and a
matching pair of black pants. Duo had never seen Heero in anything
but a suit or Trowa's clothing. Heero smiled knowingly down at Duo
who was now mindlessly fiddling with the end of his braid.
"What is he doing…" Quatre sighed and let his chin rest in
his hand. Heero walked over to the microphone and wrapped both of his
hands around it. Music began to fill the air and weave into Duo's
ears. Duo' held his breath as Heero opened his mouth to sing.
Heero let his lips trail over the head of the microphone, his heave
breathing audible to the 'audience'. He took a one glance at Duo and
let out a verse of the song. "This Romeo is bleeding but you can't
see his blood. It's nothing but some feelings that this old dog
kicked up." Heero started to sway his body slightly, loosening up
slightly.
With his eyes locked onto Duo, Heero began to sing the next verse.
"It's been raining since you left me, now I'm drowning in the flood.
You see I've always been a fighter, but without you I give up"
Duo looked up at his lover and saw his facial expressions, knowing
full well that even though it was only a song, Heero meant every word
of it.
Heero pulled the microphone free of the stand, wrapping the wire
around his hand twice, and stepped over to the edge of the stage,
towards Duo. "Now I can't sing a love song , like the way it's meant
to be. Well, I guess I'm not that good anymore, but baby, that's just
me"
Heero sank down to his knees, leaning slightly over the edge
of the stage, decreasing the distance between Duo and himself. His
voice became louder as he sang the chorus of the song. "And I will
love you, baby - Always. And I'll be there forever and a day -
Always. I'll be there till the stars don't shine. Till the heavens
burst and the words don't rhyme. And I know when I die, you'll be on
my mind and I'll love you - Always"
Heero got back to his feet and walked back to the center of the
stage, resisting the urge to touch Duo. "Now your pictures that you
left behind are just memories of a different life. Some that made us
laugh, some that made us cry. One that made you have to say good-bye"
Heero emphasized the last line of the verse, hoping the Duo
understood it's symbolism.
Duo whimpered slightly, not sure if he wanted to run away or
jump up onto the stage with Duo. Trowa's strong hand rested on Duo's
thigh, keeping him in his seat.
"What I'd give to run my fingers through your hair. To touch your
lips, to hold you near. When you say your prayers try to understand.
I've made mistakes, I'm just a man." Heero walked over to the edge of
the stage again and closed his eyes. "Yeah, I will love you baby -
Always. And I'll be there forever and a day - Always"
Heero hoped off the stage and walked over to Duo's table,
standing a few feet away from his lover. He locked eyes with Duo and
sang directly to him, as if there was no one else in the room. "If
you told me to cry for you, I could. If you told me to die for you, I
would. Take a look at my face, there's no price I won't pay to say
these words to you." Heero swayed to the music as he waited to sing
the last verse. He watched as Duo's eyes gazed at him, Heero felt as
if he was being sucked into the eyes.
"Well, there ain't no luck in these loaded dice. But baby if you'd
give me just one more try we can pack up our old dreams and our old
lives. We'll find a place where the sun still shines." Heero left Duo
and sauntered back up to the stage.
Heero placed the microphone back in the stand and gave the audience a
sad look. "And I will love you, baby - Always. And I'll be there
forever and a day - Always. I'll be there till the stars don't shine.
Till the heavens burst and the words don't rhyme. And I know when I
die, you'll be on my mind and I'll love you - Always" The music
drifted out and Heero leaned into the microphone and spoke. "I told
you I would sing for you."
Duo sat wide eyed in his seat. Before his mind registered it,
he was clapping loudly, along with everyone else in the club. Heero
jumped off the stage and stepped into Duo's waiting arms. The two of
them hugged tightly, neither of them willing to let go any time soon.
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