Mission: Optometrist
by Persephone
A grim, set expression graced the features of one man as he struggled out the door. A frantic scurrying, a scraping and then a catching of fingers on the door jam was the only answer to his silent plea. He turned back with a sigh and braced his sneaker-clad feet against the cool tile of the stairwell leading down from their apartment.
"Duo, let go of the door." A shake of one braided head.
"Dammit, Duo! Stop being a baby!" Heero let out an exasperated breath, not bothering to admit that he would be acting the same way if he had to where Duo was going.
His lover turned to him with soft violet eyes that belied the strong death grip on the door. "I thought you loved me, Heero." A sad, trembling sigh.
Heero’s jaw dropped, "I can’t believe you! You did the same thing to me when you made me go to the dentist last month*. Remember? Where was the sympathy there, huh? The love?"
Caught up in the memory, Duo loosened his hold on the door and chuckled, "Man, love, you should’ve seen yourself! It was absolutely hilarious! I’ve never seen you more nervous! It was almost bordering on ridiculous!" He straightened from his clinging crouch and stopped for a minute, mission forgotten, to admire his lover. Just a few inches taller than Duo himself, Heero made a striking picture of solid, whipcord strength, brilliant blue eyes, and messy brown hair that remained the same, year after year, no matter how hard Heero tried to change it. But Duo was secretly glad, even though he helped Heero every time he went on a binge of hair products and brushes, because he loved to prove to Heero just how attractive his mop of uncooperative hair really was.
Duo, already planning their next session of "loving Heero’s hair", didn’t notice when Heero’s eyes narrowed dangerously, or when he began to inch closer to his prone companion. Or when his arm snaked out and wrapped around Duo’s wrist.
With a not-so-gentle tug, Duo was whirled away from the door and half-way down the stairs before he even realized. His cry of dismay echoed down the hall and his feet scrambled for a purchase on the slippery tile.
"Heero! You tricked me! How can you live with yourself" Duo flopped his free hand dramatically against his forehead, "What happened to honesty, trust, support in a relationship?"
Heero turned his head to glare half-heartedly at Duo, "That part ended when you made me go to that psycho with a scalpel. Now all we have is sex." He smiled crookedly at Duo who stuck out his tongue in answer.
"Yeah, well, if you make me go there, we won’t even have that." Heero stopped abruptly on the third floor landing and looked at Duo, pasting a hurt expression on his face. Duo stumbled to a halt and brushed loose strands of hair out of his face, "What’d I say?"
Heero cupped Duo’s face tenderly in his hands, "I just want you to know that I love you and I wouldn’t force you to go to this if I didn’t think you needed it." He pressed a brief kiss to Duo’s lips and then grasped his wrist again. With a gentle pull, they started back down the stairs, Heero with determined strides, Duo with a resigned dragging of feet.
At the door to the street, Duo suddenly latched onto the door, pulling Heero to a halt. He turned around, still holding onto Duo’s wrist and his shoulders slumped, "Duo, I hate doing this, don’t make it any harder-" Duo pulled him against his chest and pulled his head down for a deep kiss. Tongues tangled and breath mingled until Duo pulled away.
"I love you, too, Heero. Just wanted you to know," He made a show of releasing the door, "Lead the way, lover." Heero smiled, a slow spreading across his face that even seven years after their first kiss made Duo’s breath hitch in his throat, and covered his mouth with his, a kiss of thanks and love. A glance at his watch had Heero swearing and breaking into a run towards the car. Duo jogged behind him, still mentally trying to postpone the inevitable.
"If we don’t hurry, Duo, we’re gonna be late! Run faster, you baka!"
"Oi, Heero! Let go of the braid!" Duo ran faster.
Once in the car, Heero sped out of the parking lot and raced towards the building duplex downtown that housed the offices of George and George, Optometrists.
Forty-five minutes later, Heero sat quietly beside Duo as he watched his lover glare at Dr. George, the younger one.
"I don’t need glasses."
A sigh, "Yes, Mr. Maxwell, you do."
Duo shook his head so hard his braid hit Heero in the arm, "Where did you go to school, Mr. George, huh? I didn’t see a degree on the wall! Do you know who I am! I’m a former Gundam Pilot, current member of the elite Preventers! I do not, I repeat! DO NOT need glasses. Glasses are for dorks. I am not a dork."
Heero cleared his throat to catch his lover’s attention, "Wu Fei wears glasses. Sally says she finds them, ah... ‘hot’"
Duo looked at him, "Heero, Fei is the epitome of dorkness! Women only find men with glasses attractive because it makes them look smart. However," He grinned at Heero, "you already know I’m smart."
"Sometimes, I wonder." Heero managed to say with a straight face. Duo glared at him.
The Optometrist looked back and forth between the two men and hid a smile, "Mr. Maxwell, if you don’t have a pair of frames on when you walk out the door, I’m afraid I have to report to Miss Une that you are not fit for duty. End of story. So I suggest you walk over to that wall and start trying on frames. Now."
Duo’s mouth opened and closed repeatedly before he stood and walked over to the wall. He blindly picked a pair and shoved them on his nose.
His shoulders drooped and his face fell. He saw Heero walk up behind him in the mirror and leaned against the offered chest. Heero’s arms wound around him, "I look awful. You aren’t ever going to want to touch me again." Heero eased the pair of hated glasses off his nose and quietly studied the wall. He didn’t release Duo but walked him back and forth across the floor, drawing a reluctant laugh from his antics.
He decided upon a simple pair of wire-frame, thin oval glasses. They were black, narrow enough for Duo’s elfin features but bold enough for his personality. He placed them on Duo’s nose and walked him back to the mirror
Heero smiled softly and leaned the few centimeters down to Duo’s ear. "I disagree with your previous statement. I think you look incredible. I can’t wait to get you home so I can take you to bed. With your glasses on." He nipped at Duo’s ear and chuckled warmly when Duo raced to the counter to have his glasses fitted.
Duo waited impatiently while Dr. George and Heero conversed and signed the proffered check blindly. He held out his hand to Heero and practically flew out the door.
They entered the apartment in a flurry of movements. Clothes flew and shoes thumped against bedroom walls followed by soft rustles of sheets and breathy voices.
A gasp, "Heero! You broke my glasses! Was that part of your plan, too?"
"Baka! They’re the new flexi-frames! Unbreakable! See, you can bend them, twist them, and tug on them constantly!"
"Oooh... Heero, that’s so cool! Do it some more?"
"Nimru Ryokai."
And after...
"Oi, Heero?"
"Hai?" was the sleepy reply.
"Maybe having glasses isn’t so bad after all."
Stay Tuned for part Two! - Heero’s story, The Dentist, coming soon. As Part 2 out of 5 of the Dangerous Missions Arc
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