Part 26
Duo sat on the edge of the fountain, picking bits of celery out of his tuna salad. He hated celery.
"Hi, Duo."
Duo looked up to find Trowa smiling at him.
"Hi, Trowa. I haven't seen you in ages."
"We've been up north again. Some damn fool of a Wizard tried to lock a herd of kelpies into a glacier. What a mess. It rained ice cubes for three days."
Duo snickered. "Well, at least it wasn't cow tippers again."
Trowa rolled his eyes. "Thank the Great Mother for that! I've stepped in all of that I ever want to, thankyouverymuch!" He eyed Duo's tuna briefly before returning his attention to Duo. "Rumor has it that you and Heero went away for the weekend."
"We did. We flew to the ocean. A town called Solano Beach. It was a lot of fun. We walked on the beach, watched the surfers, looked in all the shops, and ate fish tacos and sushi. I had a great time. I even bought a tourist shirt!" He noticed that Trowa had a tail and ears today. The tail was switching idly.
Trowa nodded absently. "I'm glad to hear that you had fun," he said slowly. "Duo, I know it's not really my place to ask this, but... Well... Duo, are you in love with Heero?"
Duo stared at his friend.
"In love? Um... I like Heero. I like him a lot... but I'm not in love." He frowned slightly. "Why do you ask?"
Trowa shrugged, picking at his tail. "I like you, and Wufei likes you, but we kinda think you like Heero better."
Duo didn't know how to answer. He did like Trowa and Wufei; they were great fun to be with, enormously entertaining. Heero was just... more than fun. Heero had an intensity that Duo found very appealing. But he wasn't in love. At least, he didn't think so. The only people he had loved were Caz, Shar and Teal, and he certainly didn't feel for Heero what he felt for them.
"Trowa, I really don't know what to say..."
"It's okay." Trowa waved it away. "Heero's a good guy. Not like Zephyrus. That would really make us crazy, if you hooked up with Zeph."
"Oh." Trowa was being deep again. Duo had discovered that if he left it alone, Trowa would usually clarify whatever point he was trying to make.
"It's funny you should mention Zephyrus," Duo said after a few minutes of non-clarification. "I told Heero about meeting him. He got that look, like he could punch holes in rock just by glaring at it, and took off right after we got back this morning. He wouldn't get into a fight with Zephyrus, would he? I mean, Zephyrus didn't do anything to me. And I can take care of myself."
"He made you nervous, and there's no telling what he might have done if we hadn't come along."
"I suppose..." Duo said with a shrug. "But really he just startled me."
"Heero doesn't like Zeph, anyway. It goes back a few years. Zeph seduced a young Fairy, messed with the kid's head and then dumped him. The Fairy had sort of a crush on Heero before that, and Heero was fond of him. Well, I think he was; it's hard to tell with Heero. The poor thing tried to hang himself over Zeph, and Heero went after foxboy in a towering rage. Nobody knows what really happened, but Zeph disappeared for a few months, and Heero glowered and snarled for a couple of weeks."
Duo stared at him, wide-eyed. "Wow. What happened to the Fairy? He didn't succeed in killing himself, did he?" That would be horrible!
"No. He was an emotional mess, though. Heero and Q took him home to his Clan. I heard they sent him to Europe after he recovered." He brushed the end of his tail against his cheek, noticing as he did that Duo was making a similar motion with his braid. "Heero is a very protective guy."
"Yeah, I noticed."
"He's a good guy."
"I think so, too."
"Yeah. If we have to lose, I don't really mind losing to Heero."
"Losing?"
"You. You know, you choosing him over us."
"Huh?"
"To be in love with."
"Trowa! I told you I'm not in love with anyone! Certainly not with Heero!"
Trowa dismissed the matter with a flick of his hand. "He loves you."
"Oh, come on! Trowa!"
This time Trowa smirked. "I know, I know. But you'll see it eventually."
With an indignant snort, Duo turned to his lunch. Heero Yuy in love with him? Ridiculous! And he certainly wasn't in love with Heero! In fact, he didn't intend to fall in love with anyone. He'd already lost his mother and his uncle Caz, nearly lost Shar, and he didn't want to bring anyone else close to his terrible secret.