Kracken
Playing
Disclaimer:I don't own them and I don't make any money off of them.
Warning: Male/male sex, romance, language, some violence. Preventer schoolness
1x2
Balloons
He did it, because it drove Heero crazy. Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap ,tap.....
Duo could almost see the complete 'pissed off' anger sizzling over his target as Heero, sitting ahead of him, tried to concentrate like a good soldier. Duo knew, though, that Heero was missing every fourth or fifth, or maybe even sixth, word the woman in front of the class was saying. Heero was too busy thinking about wanting to strangle the life out of Duo.
Wu Fei knew the game. His ability to concentrate, despite the distraction, made Duo respect him.. Arms crossed over his chest, Wu Fei only afforded Duo one, disdainful, arch of his eyebrow, before his attention went back to the instructor.
Hilde, on the other hand, was ready to smash her desk over Duo's head. She looked very young as she scowled furiously. A hundred pounds soaking wet, many doubted her ability to finish the course. Duo knew that they were all going to be proven wrong. Hilde was as tough as Gundanium in her determination.
Suddenly, a hand reached back and snapped Duo's pencil in half. He blinked into Heero's killer, blue eyes and grinned, undaunted and unrepentant. Heero narrowed his eyes, as if he were gauging Duo's sanity, and then turned back around.
Duo continued to grin as he picked up his much smaller pencil and began to take notes again. His one hand rubbed at a still healing war wound in his knee as he scribbled unintelligible notes. He couldn't help reflecting on the absurdity of his situation. Fresh from a war, they were all reformed killers, good citizens, and seeking gainful, meaningful employment. Life couldn't get any stranger than that, and Duo couldn't help poking fun... or poking Heero, who still couldn't seem to drop the 'I'm on a mission.' mentality.
"Mr. Maxwell," the instructor suddenly said and Duo sighed. She had noticed his antics. Privately, he had named her, 'Ms. Iron Pants' in his mind. She wasn't pleased to have 'children' in her class, and killer children at that.
"The section for detaining class b citizens during a riot?" Ms. Iron Pants asked with a frozen smile, confidant that Duo wouldn't be able to answer.
"Class b," Duo replied with a shake of his head. "That's the problem with this government. People are people."
"Some citizens are ex military," Ms. Iron Pants shot back testily. "They require special guards and detainment facilities. Now, the section, Mr. Maxwell?"
"Is someone really going to ask me that while I'm on an assignment?" Duo persisted. "Is Mr. Class B going to suddenly stop fighting and demand, 'Agent Maxwell, what section states the proper handling of Class b citizens?', because I really don't-"
"Four laps, Mr. Maxwell," Ms. Iron Pants ordered in a weary tone. "I expect you to give me a proper reply when you return."
Duo's knee twinged and he covered a grimace with a grin. "I do know it."
"Then you'll be prepared to give me that answer when you return," she snapped back. "Take the laps."
"Sir, yes, sir," Duo grumbled and headed out the door.
If anyone was going to wash out, Duo thought, as reached the field and began to run, it was him.
Duo barely managed to run one lap before he noticed the fat man in a doctors coat running across the field towards him. Huffing, puffing, and red in the face, the man's little blue eyes, in his round face, were full of alarm. He came to a halt before Duo, leaning over and trying to talk while he caught his breath.
"Mr.... Maxwell... what on God's Green Earth... do... you think... you're doing?!"
Duo sighed and rubbed a hand behind his neck. "Following orders."
"Who's?"
"Agent Saladay's."
The man straightened, looking angry, and wiped a sleeve across his sweating brow. He motioned Duo to follow him and Duo gritted his teeth as he complied.
Hands in his pockets, Duo kept his eyes on the ground as they made their way back to the classroom. Saladay was lecturing to her attentive class from a text book open in one of her hands. She closed it with a snap and a glare when she saw the doctor leading Duo into the room.
"Dr. Perkins? What's this?" Saladay inquired icily.
"Duo Maxwell spent three hours in surgery to take shrapnel out of his right leg, Agent Saladay," the doctor replied angrily, "and yet I just now saw him, from my office window, running the course. His records clearly state that he is to be relieved of all course exercises for three more weeks and pending a full examination."
Saladay simmered a moment, as if she didn't trust her voice, and then she pointed out Heero. "He was injured far worse, yet he runs the course in record time. I think you're being over cautious in Mr. Maxwell's case."
"I am his physician," he snapped back. "You will follow my orders to the letter or you will face a formal reprimand."
Saladay's jaw worked and then she grunted, "Very well. Take your seat, Mr. Maxwell. We will have to find a more appropriate punishment for you."
Duo sat down heavily, groaning inwardly and sure that a painful course run would have been a lot easier than what Ms. Iron Pants was contemplating now.
The doctor left and Saladay continued her lecture. Heero gave Duo a glance that said nothing. Wu Fei made a small snorting noise, and Hilde rolled her eyes at Duo irritably. Duo's other classmates had long ago grown sick of Duo's antics. He could feel the pressure of their irritation as well. They were worried about excellence, about grades good enough to place them in regular Preventer training and on the fast track to becoming commanders. Duo didn't care about any of that. He doubted that any of them would understand his reasons for being there and most psychologists would have nixed his admission if they had known about them. Duo, though, was, if nothing else, excellent at being something that he wasn't and making people believe it.
Class ended, but freedom didn't come with it. Being on Preventer grounds, and expected to follow a lighter version of military discipline, they were never really on their own to do as they pleased. Still having to face a punishment, Duo knew that his 'limited freedom' was about to be restricted even more, and knew better than to follow the others as they quietly filed out.
"Report to the kitchens," Agent Saladay ordered and Duo could hear the pleasure in her tone, even though her face was stern. "You will scrub pans, alone, until they are all finished. You won't need your injured leg for that."
Duo cocked his head at her and she scowled when he didn't leave immediately. "That make you feel good?" Duo asked. "Why don't you just say it and get it out in the open between us? You think I'm just war baby trash that should be institutionalized, right?"
"Hilde has already been in formal training and she has good ethics," Saladay replied. "Yuy is a hero and a disciplined soldier. Chang Wu Fei is an impeccable student. You're a fool, and I knew, from day one, that you would be better off institutionalized with the other undesirables and war orphans."
"Already had that happen," Duo replied with a snort. "It didn't work out."
"No further discussion, Mr. Maxwell," Saladay told him firmly, hate clear in her eyes. "Either report for your punishment or face expulsion from the school for insubordination."
"Heh," Duo chuckled as he turned to leave. "Even when you hate, you have to do it by the book."
"Good thing for you," Saladay replied tartly.
Duo entered the hall, closing the door behind him, well aware that Heero was standing to one side and waiting for him. "You owe me notes," Heero growled.
"What makes you think that I was taking any?" Duo chuckled back.
Heero narrowed his eyes, but there was more there than anger. Duo didn't dare wonder what it was. It wasn't safe to read a man like Heero wrong. Heero said, "You can play stupid as much as you like, but I know that you are able to operate on several mental levels. I saw proof of that during the war. Not many men can make jokes and calculate the trajectory of a shuttle, during battle, in their head."
"You noticed?" Duo grinned and then relented, almost sorry that Heero had seen through him. It had been too much fun playing the idiot. "Okay, so you got me. I'll fill you in after I finish in the kitchen."
Heero looked confused. "Kitchen?"
"Dishwasher duty," Duo groaned.
Heero looked annoyed. "These classes, this situation, is ridiculous." And then he was turning and stalking down the hallway.
"Well, well, Heero isn't so happy here after all," Duo mused and then shrugged and made his limping way to the kitchens.
After his stint in the kitchens, Duo made sure to take his time going back to his dorm room. He stopped and had a soda, chatted with some friends, and made a wide detour around the small park between the teaching facilities and the living quarters. He wasn't surprised to find Heero already in his closet like room and seated with his books open on the one bed. He looked up with a scowl of annoyance when Duo entered.
"We won't have much time now before curfew," Heero complained."Being late to annoy me doesn't serve any purpose."
Duo raised an eyebrow as he rubbed at his reddened, dishpan hands. "You think a lot of yourself. What're you to me that I should go to the trouble?"
Heero stacked his books, each open to their lessons, and then positioned his note pad on his knee. "Let's drop this. Just tell me what I missed in class today and then I'll go."
"If you want to," Duo said with a shrug as he limped to a chair and sat down. The small table was littered with empty snack wrappers and crushed soda cans. He pushed some aside so that he could lean his elbow on the desk. "I'm not forcing you to go."
"Curfew," Heero reminded him sourly.
Duo sighed and cocked his head at Heero. "Good little soldier and now good little student. Don't you get tired of this, man?"
Heero stared and then he said softly, as he repositioned his notepad, "Yes... but it's necessary. Notes. That's all I want. I'm not here to debate our situation."
"There isn't any debate, that's the problem." Duo snorted. He found a half empty soda can and drank it warm. "I wanted to take off and join the sweepers again, but they talked about re-education, getting legal, having papers to do stuff.... Sounded good, until they tagged on that 'mandatory' bullshit and told me I owed them for the surgery and my keep. I would have felt better giving them the credits, but they wanted the time instead."
"It's necessary," Heero replied tightly, pencil making a hard, dark line on his paper."You could have signed up for the minimal, though. Why opt for Preventers?"
"Why do you think?" Duo asked.
Heero looked annoyed. "I don't know what you think, ever."
"Good," Duo grinned. "I like it that way."
Heero scowled and said firmly, "Notes."
"Okay, okay!" Duo sighed. He rubbed his knee as he frowned in concentration.
"It still bothers you, even after...?" Heero suddenly said, looking at Duo's knee.
"Yeah," Duo replied, "Don't yours?"
Heero looked uncomfortable, as if that was different. Duo wondered at that, but then let it go.
"Okay, first we were talking about...." Duo recited the lessons from memory and Heero scribbled notes. Duo watched his bowed head as he talked and ran eyes over Heero's strong shoulders. The curve of the man's knee under his notepad, and the strong line of the other leg, half stretched out to relieve a cramp, were infinitely of interest to Duo. How Heero could go through so much, yet come out still looking... perfect... was beyond Duo.
Heero finished with his notes and closed his notepad. He gathered his books and then, as he was moving to leave, he said, almost against his will, "You need to stay off of your knee."
"And not pass my course exam?" Duo shot back with a grunt. "Not likely. That's the last part of this dog and pony show and I intend to be on the line when it happens."
Heero frowned as he opened the door. "They won't allow that."
Duo grinned. "They will, you'll see."
Heero looked skeptical as he left. Duo wanted to laugh at his ignorance. The man really didn't have any idea who he was dealing with.
"So...?" Quatre poured tea from a thermas into a cup and then cradled it in his hands as he stared up at the stars.
"So...?" Duo echoed as he rolled an eye at Quatre. Stretched out on his stomach, he was ignoring the night sky and concentrating on eradicating grass from the campus lawn.
Quatre colored and hid his embarrassment by sipping at his tea.
"I don't see why I should spill my guts, if you won't," Duo pointed out.
"He wouldn't come tonight," Quatre replied quietly and his expression turned sad.
"That's because it's breaking the rules," Duo snorted. "Him and Heero are afraid of messing up their record. You don't need to care. You're a Winner. I still don't understand why you didn't just buy your way out of all this."
"You forgot about Wu Fei and Hilde," Quatre said, sidestepping the question.
"We're not wanting to get into bed with them," Duo retorted. "Stay on the subject, blondie."
"No," Quatre replied with a frown, but he wasn't angry.
Duo shrugged. "We all have our secrets, I guess." He began weaving his strands of grass, concentrating on the task as he thought, and then asked, "Quatre, what do you want? Right now? More than anything?"
Quatre took another sip of tea and then replied, "To make up for the pain I've caused. To use my position, and money, to rebuild what the war destroyed."
Duo glared. "For you, not anybody else, I meant. Be selfish."
Quatre sighed and then replied softly, "Trowa."
Duo nodded and grinned. "Good. I want Heero. That bastard makes all of my engines burn and I don't know why. It not even about... you know... it's... well... HIM."
Quatre snickered. "I'm more honest. I want to have him in a very, very wicked way."
"Heero?" Duo joked.
"Trowa, ass!" Quatre retorted.
"Trowa's ass?" Duo laughed. "Think he'll let you?"
"I hope so," Quatre breathed as if he were suddenly, physically uncomfortable.
Duo finished his grass weaving and studied his handiwork as he asked, "Which part do you like best?"
"I've never done... it," Quatre replied with a hot blush.
"Not that!" Duo shot back. "I meant... his body. Which part, you know, turns you on?"
Quatre poured himself more tea, and replied. "Well, I've only seen him in shorts, but.... his waist is so long... and flat. I keep imagining what it must look like."
Duo snickered.
Quatre frowned. "What?"
"I've seen it," Duo confessed "During a performance at a circus. "The guy looks skinny, but he's got shoulders... and yeah... his waist is real hard."
Quatre looked frozen, mouth open a little, as if he were seeing a very clear, erotic, mental image of it.
"You're 'tenting'," Duo snickered.
Quatre suddenly put the thermas into his lap to hide it. He retaliated by asking, "and you, what's so great about Heero?"
Duo smiled and shook his head. "I dunno. The whole package? They guy's lean and nothing but hard muscle and bone, but he has this way of moving all of that around that makes him like one of Trowa's lions. His hands are blunt and broad... maybe that's it. I can just imagine those hands on me, really strong and ..."
"Tenting?" Quatre inquired.
Duo swallowed and squeezed his grass mat in one hand. "Yeah."
"We're pathetic," Quatre sighed. "We should be like anyone our age, trying to have sex where we can get it and not worrying about... romance."
Duo shot a look at Quatre. "You know everyone thinks you're some sort of innocent angel face, right?"
Quatre smirked. "I was the overindulged only son of a millionaire. Innocence doesn't come with that territory."
"But you're still a virgin," Duo reminded him.
Quatre frowned. "I just never felt ready, not until I met Trowa." He suddenly laughed. "Do you know, after our first meeting together, Rashid gave me a lecture about not letting my heart make me show my heels to the sun. I didn't have a clue what he was talking about at the time. I do now. You see some things when you're constantly surrounded by a very large group of men in war time."
"Tell me about it," Duo cringed. "I saw some things on the street, but, not guy on guy stuff..Walking in on Howard and one of first mates was my wake up call to other possibilities. The guy had a tattoo on his ass, Quatre!" Duo shuddered again and Quatre looked like he had sucked a sour lemon.
Quatre finished his tea and put the cup away into a picnic kit. He leaned back then, staring up at the stars again. "So, we're both after impossible men. What do we do about it?"
"Mine's more impossible than yours," Duo replied irritably and then shrugged. "We don't do anything. If it happens, it happens. That's life. Worrying about it just makes life suck."
Quatre frowned. "But what if they think that way too? What if no one 'makes a move'?"
"We're young," Duo replied as he rolled onto his back and watched the stars with Quatre. "We have a lot of time to figure it out."
Quatre shifted uncomfortably. "I don't think I can wait very long."
Duo laughed. "Horny Winner wants a piece. You're not a girl, so go find some nice guy and have some fun."
"Why don't you?" Quatre retorted.
"I have found someone," Duo replied seriously.
Quatre's eyes went wide. "Who?"
Duo grinned. "He's warm, strong, and rough when I want him to be. He's always available too. No back talk, no expectations, and no personality conflicts."
"Who?" Quatre demanded.
Duo waggled his right hand. "Meet Mr. Hand."
Quatre punched Duo sharply on the shoulder. "Asshole!"
"Now you're getting personal," Duo smirked.
Quatre colored. "You are a pervert."
"Haven't you heard?" Duo wondered with faked innocence. "People think guys like us are perverts."
"I'm not," Quatre replied, chin lifting a little. "I'm a perfectly honorable and upstanding gay- boy."
"Who likes lion taming, Gundam pilots, in tights," Duo snickered and was given another punch in the arm.
On to Chapter two