Title: SOS -
Stranger on Sugar
AN: It’s kind of a Gundam Wing X-over
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The sky above the
Lance
and Keith stopped short, their mouths falling to the floor at the site of their
new 'roommates'. Lance tilted his head
slightly at the sight of a young man with a braid sitting on his bed and eating
jelly belly jelly beans. "Um...who
are you? And why are you bouncing on my
bed?"
“Cause we're your new roommates.” Duo
explained. “And I am not bouncing.”
"Then
why every few seconds there is air between you and the bed?" Lance asked before turning to Keith. "Um...were we suppose to get new
roommates?"
“Um… not that I am aware of.” Keith said.
“We are only here until the portal is
fixed.” Duo explained. “For the last time I am not bouncing…this is bouncing.” Duo said,
deliberately bouncing up and down on the bed.
"Well
then cut it out!" Lance
snapped. "And WHAT
portal?" He glanced over at the
other man in the room. The man had short
hair and was completely serious as he worked on a laptop on Keith's desk. "AND who the hell are both of you?"
“Trans-Dimensional portal.” Heero replied,
looking up from his laptop for only a brief moment.
“I am Duo Maxwell.” Duo proclaimed standing
up on the bed and flinging his long braid over his shoulder as though it was a
cape. “And that…” He pointed at Heero, “is Heero Yuy. And who might you two
be?”
Lance pointed at Keith. "He is Keith. And I'm confused, though everyone calls me
Lance." He shook his head as he
stared at the man standing on his bed, who now had his arms spread out like he
was trying to fly. This guy...Duo...was
worse than Keith was when he was drunk!
At least Keith didn't jump on the bed and try to fly...well granted
Keith did try to stand on his head on the bed one time, but Keith was drunk at
the time. Duo didn't look drunk, just
insanely hyper!
“Duo shut up and sit down.” Heero scowled at
the braided boy, silently cursing the fact that Duo had managed to find a
Starbucks and had at least two double mocha lattés.
Duo stuck his tongue at Heero and completely
ignored him. “We wanted a room with our friends, but they insisted we all split
up. Our friends Trowa and Quatre are in a room with a guy named Hunk and some
little guy Pidgeotto…something like that…and Wufei was with…um…some other guy
who sounded as psycho as him…Seven…?”
Lance couldn't help but snicker. The guy was so damn funny! "You must mean Hunk, Pidge, and
Sven. They are friends of ours. But who insisted you spilt up and WHY in our rooms?"
“The stupid directors of the school.” Duo
pouted. “I didn't pay much attention to who they were 'cause they were far too
boring.” He shook his now empty bag of jellybeans upside down as though hoping some
would magically fall out. “Need more sugar. Know where I can get more?”
"Um..." Lance glanced at Keith,
who was no help whatsoever because he seemed to still be in shock. Keith was too busy watching Duo jump from one
bed to another. Duo obviously did NOT
need more sugar, but he was a guest.
Lance sighed. "I do, but you
probably don't need anymore."
“He is right. You've had enough.” Heero
said. He stepped over to the bed Duo was currently on and grabbed the long
braid, yanking it down.
“OW! OW! DON'T PULL MY BRAID HEERO!” Duo
whined loudly as he sat down heavily on the bed.
Keith leaned over and whispered in Lance's
ear. "You tell him where to get
more sugar, and I promise you I will never sleep with you again."
Lance gulped. "Okay...since you put it that
way." He paused in his whispering
to watch the bickering duo.
"Um...are they a couple?"
“I don't know. Why don't you ask them?”
Keith asked.
Duo jumped off the bed suddenly and ran to
hide behind Lance and Keith as Heero stalked after him, glaring at him with an
icy death glare from behind his long bangs.
“You can't kill me now, not in front of witnesses.” Duo smirked.
“Oh my God he's worse then you.” Keith said
staring at Lance.
"Whatever. I am not
that bad!" Lance snorted as he glared at Keith. "Look who's talking. This Heero is acting just like you whenever
you're pissed! I honestly can't tell who is worse!"
“I am not that bad.” Keith scowled at Lance.
Duo tapped Lance's shoulder. “Um…excuse me
but I get the feeling that the two of us should leave before there is a double
homicide.”
"I think you may be right
buddy." Lance stuck his tongue out
at Keith. "You just proved my point
kitten!" Laughing, he quickly
dashed out the door, Duo right on his heels.
Keith yelled an obscenity at the laughing
man as the door banged shut.
^^^^^^^^^^
Duo slung an arm around Lance's shoulder.
“Hopefully they don't kill each other.
Blood's a real bitch to get out of the carpet.” He giggled.
"Ya got that right!" Lance laughed
as Duo almost stumbled on an invisible bump in the hall carpet. "Though I've found that 'Blood-Be-Gone'
works wonders (Trademark of Todesengle)."
Duo laughed. “I'll have to remember that.”
He looked at Lance. “Are you sure you don't know where to get more sugar? I
really haven't had all that much today…”
Lance sighed. No matter how
much he wanted to get back at Keith for the earlier remarks, it wasn't worth losing his bed rights. "I'm afraid not. How about we go check on your friends? Hunk and I were talking about doing something
today."
Duo pouted, his trembling bottom lip along
with his heart shaped face and large violet eyes made him look like angel. “All
I had was two double mocha lattes and...two bowtie doughnuts for breakfast…then
a cotton candy and a candy apple and a slushie at that carnival…and that bag of
jelly bellies I won at the balloon pop game…OH WAIT…I just remembered….” Duo
pulled a little two colored box from his pocket. “I GOT NERDS!” He proclaimed
happily. He opened both sides and dumped the entire contents into his mouth.
Lance came to a dead stop, his mouth hanging
open. "How the HELL did you do
that?"
After swallowing Duo grinned at Lance.
“Practice. Lots and lots of practice.”
"Oookkkaaayy." Lance gulped.
Keith was going to kill him! Not
to mention Duo's friend or lover, since Lance still couldn't figure that one
out! And it wasn't even his fault this time!
"So...do you want to check on your friends?"
“We could go check on Q-man and Trow and
your friends Hunkster and Pidgeotto.”
"That's Hunk and Pidge. And unless you want to die, I suggest you
remember that!" Lance sighed. This was going to be a long day! Hell, he probably
should get drunk while he was at it since Keith was going to kill him anyway.
“Yeah, whatever Lancer.” Duo grinned. After
all he was never one to call people by the right name and was always ticking
his friends off with the names he invented for them.
"It's your funeral. They are just down the hall." Lance shrugged before glancing at the skipping
man beside him. "So...are you and
Herto just...friends?"
“Me and Heero…” Duo stopped skipping for a
moment. “Well…um…that is…ah…”
"What?" Lance tilted his head. "The fact you put up with his fierce
temper suggests more then just friendship."
“Um…” Duo blushed deeply before quickly
recovering. “That because he's my best friend and my partner.”
"I see." Lance smirked. "He's as good as his temper?"
“Hell yeah!” Duo grinned brightly.
Lance burst out laughing before playfully
whapping Duo on the side of his head.
"I see! Well thanks for
finally answering my question Dino!"
Duo stuck his tongue out at Lance. “Well you
never know how people will react. There is a lot of prejudice, at least where I
am from there is Chancey.”
"I know what you mean, but my friends
and I are not that way Nero." Lance smiled.
“So Wance, where's the room?”
"We're almost there. It's that third door to the left at the end
of the hall." Lance said. "Oh and sorry about snapping at the two
of y'all earlier. I tend to get
territorial, and seeing both of you in our room just surprised me."
“Don't worry about it. If things were
reversed I'd reacted the same way.” Duo dashed towards Lance said. “This door?”
He waited until Lance nodded before knocking with a rhythmic pattern.
The occupying pattern responded before a
grinning Hunk opened the door.
"Heya Lance! Come on
in! Who's your friend?"
Lance grinned. "This psycho is my temporary new
roommate, Duo. Be careful though...he
has had WAY too much sugar."
"WHAT?!?!" Hunk shifted allowing Duo and Lance to see
into the room. Sitting on one of the
beds, a blond young man was staring wide-eyed back at them, his face kinda
green. A brown haired man with one eye
(his hair was practically covering the other) had his arm wrapped around the
terrified man, trying to comfort him.
“Hey Q what happened?” Duo asked, genuine
concern could clearly be heard in his voice. “You eat some bad clams or
something?”
"Um...How..." Quatre looked a
mixture of ill and fright. "How...how
much...sugar...did you...have today?"
“Is that your only problem? Geez, T-man you
really need to work some more with him.” Duo stuck his tongue out at Quatre.
“For your information I haven't really had that much sugar. I need some more
but nobody will give me any.”
Lance rolled his eyes as he stepped into the
room. "If you call enough sugar to
get the entire school on a sugar high five
times not enough, then I would hate to see you when you have had enough!" Quatre yelped at that remark, leaning deeper
into Trowa's arms.
“Why does everyone feel the need to deprive
me of sugar?” Duo pouted. “I have not had THAT much sugar!”
Pidge glanced up from his book to stare at
the now bouncing young man.
"Suuurrree."
“The world is cruel and bitter.” Duo said,
collapsing heavily onto an overstuffed chair. “All I want is sugar and you
insist upon denying that simple life's necessity.”
Trowa snorted. "Oh you poor, poor baby..."
Duo shifted in the chair so his head was upside
down, the top of his head touching the floor. “Is this world always so boring?”
Lance shook his head, snickering. "It all depends on how you look at
it."
“Well looking at it from down here I can see up your nose.” Duo giggled.
Lance chuckled as he walked over to the
chair, knocking Duo's legs from the top of it causing the man to fall to the
floor. Lance glanced at Trowa and
Quatre. "My name's Lance. Is he always
like this?"
“Only when he's on a sugar high.” Quatre
replied. “Well…at least most times….”
“He's at his worst right now.” Trowa added.
“I am Trowa and this Quatre.”
“HEY! I RESEMBLE THOSE COMMENTS!” Duo
shouted.
“Be afraid, be very afraid.” Quatre
whispered.
Pidge snorted. "Let me guess. He is here due to the 'portal problem' too?"
“We all are.” Duo pouted from where he sat
on the floor. “And this world is boring. Boring, boring, boring.”
"You just got here! What did you expect!" Hunk shook his head. "By the way, why were you using a portal
anyway?"
“We weren't using it. We were sucked through
it.” Duo said. “SLURP like a big old vacuum and that's why it's broken.”
Pidge blinked. "Slurp?"
“Yes, SLURP! And then we were here.” Duo
said. He jumped to his feet and started pacing restlessly like a caged tiger
before suddenly throwing himself across Quatre's and Trowa's lap. He grinned up
at the two shocked faces. “Hi guys.”
Quatre somehow managed to turn even
paler. Trowa rolled his eyes before
glaring menacingly at the other men in the room. "Don't EVEN think of giving him ANYMORE
sugar!"
“I have not had that MUCH sugar!” Duo pouted
then suddenly grinned brightly. “Then how about drink or two…or three?”
Hunk shrugged. "Sounds good to me."
Duo's grin widened even further he launched
himself off the couch and over to Hunk, throwing an arm around the bigger man's
shoulders. “I like this guy.”
Hunk paled as the others glared at him. "Um...what did I say?" Lance just started to inch towards the door.
“Wonder how Wolfie and Svenie are making
out.” Duo wondered out loud with a mischievous grin on his face. “Don't leave
Lancie, the party hasn't even started yet.”
"Actually Dough Boy, I was just going
to check on Sven. You can go ahead and
leave with Hunk. I'll meet you
later." Lance said, hoping to
escape before things got worse and Keith would definitely kill him!
“No way! I wantta check on Wu-man. So I'm
going with you roomie.” Duo grinned.
“There is going to be some blood spilled yet
today.” Trowa muttered under his breath.
Lance slapped his forehead. "Great!
Now not only Keith, but also Sven are going to kill me!" Shrugging, he decided to stop fighting and
accept his fate. "Okay, let's go
Duoy."
Duo dashed over to Lance and looked back at others.
“Anyone else coming?” Nobody moved or breathed hoping the hyper boy would just
leave. “Guess not…” Duo bowed dramatically to the room his braid flopping
forward to the floor as he did. “Well boys, it hasn't been fun.” He stood up and quickly darted out of the room.
"Why me?" Lance moaned, throwing
his hands into the air. He turned to
Hunk. "I guess we will have to do
something later, huh?"
Hunk nodded, his eyes wide. "I would believe so!" Sighing, Lance nodded and walked out the door
after Mr. Sugar High.
^^^^^^^^^^
Duo walked down the hall with a bounce in
his step, his braid swinging from side to side. He started singing 'Found A
Peanut' (though at least he was in tune, because Duo is an excellent singer no
matter how much sugar he's had). When suddenly he spotted a vending machine.
“SUGAR!!” He looked at Lance. “Think my money will work in this thing?”
"I hope not!" Lance mumbled under his breath.
Duo dug through his pockets. “I don't have
any change.” He pouted then grinned. “Desperate times call for desperate
measures.” He took a lock pick set and used it to open the front panel of the
vending machine. He grabbed several boxes of Nerds, a bag of Fuzzy Peaches, a
bag Whoppers and several kinds of chocolate bars that he hadn't even heard of.
Lance's jaw almost crashed through the
floor. Despite the consequences of all
that sugar, Lance was impressed!
"How the hell did you do that?"
“I can pick any lock.” Duo said boastfully.
“Want anything before I shut it again?”
"Neat trick! That sure would come in handy!" Lance glanced into the machine. "Hmmm...a Milky Way sounds good."
“Can do.” Duo grabbed he chocolate bar and
tossed it to Lance before closing the vending machine door.
"Thanks!" Lance munched on his candy bar as they continued
down the hall. "Where did you learn
that by the way? I wouldn't mind
learning that trick. Could come in
handy!"
“It's a long story…” Duo's voice trailed off
for a moment. “But I can teach it to you.” He quickly finished before digging
into his new sugar stash.
"That would be great. I could leave detention earlier." Lance
watched in amazement as Duo downed an entire candy bar in one gulp. "By the way, how can you eat all of that
sugar and still be so skinny?"
Duo shrugged. “Everyone is always asking me
that. Heero says it's because I never stop talking so I burn it all off.”
Lance thought for a moment. "Maybe...but I doubt it. Pidge talks a mile a minute and still can
gain weight if he so much as look at a chocolate bar. It drives Hunk nuts that Pidge is always
dieting!"
Duo laughed. “I guess I'm just lucky. Now
…where is that room?”
"Right here." Lance stopped in front of a door next to the
stairway. He bowed dramatically as he
stepped aside. "Would you like the
honors?"
“Wonder if it's unlocked…” Duo tapped the
panel and the door slid open. “That was too easy. Takes all the fun out of it.”
"You can say that again." Lance
whispered before his voice took on a spookier tone. "Should we dare enter the monsters'
lair?"
Duo grinned. “Shinigami fears nothing.” Duo
said before entering the almost dark room.
Lance snickered before following. "Mama always said to let the insane or
sugar hyper soldiers enter the dragon's lair first!" (Smart advice! Very smart advice! ^_~)
“HELLO! WOLFMAN?! SVENIE?! ANYBODY HOME?”
Duo shouted.
Lance jumped at least five feet! He almost had a heart attack! "SHIT!
Warn me before you do that!"
Wufei stepped out of the shadows. “What do
you want, Maxwell?”
“Just seeing how you are doing Wu-man.” Duo
grinned.
Lance jumped again when he heard a sigh near
him. Turning quickly he saw Sven sitting
at his desk near the door. Sven sighed
again. "You just had to bring him here, didn't you
Lance?"
Lance shrugged. "It was either bring him here and have
you and Wufei kill me, or stay in my room and have Keith and Heero kill
me. I just chose the lesser of two
evils."
“Go away, Maxwell.” Wufei said, almost
growling.
“Somebody's a little testy. What's the matter Wu, did we interrupt something?
You and Mr. Dark and Broody hitting it off?”
Lance almost burst out laughing at that
remark. 'Sven! Mr. Dark and Broody! It fits!'
Somehow he managed to mask his face when Sven looked at him. Living with Keith certainly had its
advantages! Lance shrugged again. "Don't look at me."
Sven shook his head. "No wonder Keith chased him
out!" He glared at Duo. "We were
getting along just fine until you
showed up!"
“You sound like you need some sugar. But you
can get your own. I ain't sharing.” Duo said sticking his tongue out at Sven.
Sven growled and started to get up, but
stopped when Lance put his hand on his shoulder. Lance shook his head. "We're out of Blood-Be-Gone (again
trademark of Todesengel)."
Snorting, Sven sat back down. "We should buy stock with that company
since we are constantly buying and running out of that stuff!" (Gonna have to talk to Todes about that!)
“I didn't think vampires needed it. Don't
you guys just drink all the blood anyways?” Duo asked Sven.
Lance groaned, putting his hand back on a growling Sven's shoulder. This was a bad idea! He shrugged
helplessly at an angry Wufei.
"Sorry, he insisted on coming."
“Growls real nice. Yep. You make a really
cute couple.” Duo laughed, his wide grin almost enough to brighten the dark
room. “You two have fun...or whatever it is you call fun…I'm gonna find some
real fun.”
"Um...good idea!" Lance grabbed
Duo and shoved him out the door. He
paused to look at Sven. "Uh...could
you check on Keith and Heero? I am not
sure how they are handling each other, and I can't check since I'm stuck with
“We can check. No use disturbing the two
love birds.” Duo grinned.
"Uh, I thought you wanted a
drink?" Lance said, turning
pleading eyes to Sven and Wufei.
“Well I got more sugar so we don't have to
get a drink. I want to see Heero, I miss him.” Duo pouted.
“You are insane, Maxwell.” Wufei said.
“And you just noticed this now, Wu?” Duo
grinned.
“Leave, Maxwell.” Wufei growled.
Lance leaned closer to Sven and whispered. "Um...any suggestions here would be
nice!"
“He's all yours.” Sven said. He smiled
wickedly at Lance. “Consider this your punishment for bringing him here.”
"Oh really?" Lance snorted. "Keep that up and I will give him the
key to your room! But not before I give
him enough sugar to flow a battle cruiser!"
“Just go now and we will check on them.”
Wufei said, he was way past annoyed by this point.
"That is all I wanted." Lance smirked before turning to Duo. "So...you want some excitement?"
“YES!” Duo shouted enthusiastically. “Do you
even need to ask that silly question?”
Lance rolled his eyes. "Then make up your mind! First you say you want excitement and then
you want to see Heero, and now you want excitement again! SHEESH!"
“Seeing Heero IS excitement.” Duo stuck his
tongue out at Lance.
"I bet." Lance smirked before
turning back to Sven. "Catch ya
later?"
“Without him I hope.” Sven said, to which
Duo stuck his tongue out at.
"Righto! Have fun!
And tell Keith not to wait up for me." Lance laughed before pulling
Duo out the door. "Let's go
Dodo!"
“Lead on, Lance.” Duo grinned at Lance
shocked expression over actually being called by his right name.
"You are strange! I like you!" Lance laughed. "How does China Town sound? They are celebrating the Chinese New
Year. Exciting enough?"
“Yeah, sounds cool.” Duo said. “Very
exciting.”
"Okay.
However..." Lance stopped dead in his tracks and glared at
Duo. "Don't you DARE tell Keith
where I took you! He would have a cow if
he found out I took a new guy, not to mention from a totally different world,
there! It's on the wrong side of town,
and even though I grew up there and know how to handle it, Keith would still kill me if he found out I took you there!"
“COOL! It really sounds like even more fun
now.” Duo grinned. “I haven't ran around on streets like that in a long time.”
"I thought so." Lance snickered at Duo's shock look. "Your lock picking clued me in. Just wanted to make sure. So...you ready?"
“Ready!” Duo said excitedly. “Let's get the
show on the road.”
"On the count of three, I'll race you
to the bus stop. One...two..."
Lance took off running, yelling over his shoulder. "THREE!"
Duo ran after Lance, his long legs and the
excessive amounts of sugar he had eaten allowed him to catch up to the other
man. He ran beside the brown haired boy. “Not really fair considering I don't
know where the bus stop is.”
"Details, details." Lance laughed as they reached the bus stop at
the same time. "It was the only way
I could keep up with you." He
quickly pulled out a couple of tokens from his pant pocket, handing one to
Duo. "This should pay for your
ride. Ready?"
“YEEHAW! LET'S BURN DOWN THE TOWN!” Duo
shouted enthusiastically.
"SHH!" Lance chuckled at the shocked look on the bus
driver's face. "Easy Shinigami,
God of Death, or whatever you call
yourself. We are going to have a blast,
but don't scare the natives! At least
not yet."
^^^^^^^^^^
Somehow, Duo managed to remain semi-calm,
though he was bouncing up and down in his seat until they got to
Lance's face broke out in a huge grin. "Damn!
I love this place!" He
chuckled at the excited look on Duo's face.
"I probably don't have to tell you this, but stay on your toes out
here."
“Like this?” Duo questioned laughingly as he
stood on his toes, his violet eyes dancing with laughter.
"Smart ass." Lance playfully swatted Duo on the head. "Seriously, I don't want to have to
explain this to your boyfriend. I would
prefer to keep breathing. Death is so
overrated."
Duo laughed as he set his feet back down on
the ground. “I know what you meant. I doubt the streets are any different then
the ones I grew up on.” Duo took out a box Nerds (again eating the whole box at
one time).
"How do you do that?" Lance shook his
head in wonder as they started to walk down the street. "And how deep are your pockets
anyway?"
“I can stuff a lot into them…they seem
bottomless at times but that is the wonder of pockets.” Duo said with a
shrug. (I could really use those
pockets!) “And eating the whole box really isn't too hard… at least not with
practice.”
"I guess." Lance shrugged before
bowing. "So what would the insane
gentleman want to do first?"
“Gentleman? I don't see any of those
around.” Duo grinned. “But I would like something to eat.”
Lance laughed before grabbing Duo's arm and
dragging him down the crowded street.
"Well then, LET'S EAT! I
know a great little place!"
^^^^^^^^^^
Lance was chewing on his fifth fortune
cookie as he and Duo watched the parade from the roof of one of the many
deserted buildings in the area. Since
Duo could pick any lock, it wasn't difficult getting into the building. And what a wonderful view! There was no moon so the fireworks were
especially bright. They could see
everything...in and off of the parade.
Lance reached down and took another fortune
cookie, making a face as he read his fortune.
"Philosophy to one generation is common sense to the next. Where the hell do they come up with this
stuff anyway!"
“I don't know but you didn't read it right.
You're suppose to add 'in bed' to the end.” Duo laughed. “So it should read,
Philosophy to one generation is common sense to the next… in bed.”
"I am not sure that is any better!" Lance laughed. "So what do you think so far?"
“It's great! The fireworks are beautiful.
They're a lot better then watching missiles explode.” (Um...I'll stick with the fireworks!)
"You got that right!" Lance shook
his head again as Duo pulled out another
box of Nerds. "You wouldn't happen
to have a Baby Ruth in there, would you?"
“Um… I think so…” Duo dug through the
'sugar' packed pockets and pulled out a Baby Ruth. “There ya go.” He handed it
to Lance.
"Thanks." Lance opened the bar and
slowly ate the candy. "By the way,
why do you have such long hair since you're a soldier? I had to cut all mine off when I
joined."
“Because I am not really in the official
military...none of us are, at least not really…it's very complicated. Besides
NOTHING could make me cut my hair.”
"Lucky dog!" Lance mumbled under his breath, before
chuckling. "I had never seen Keith
so pissed! He looked like a volcano
about to erupt when he saw my short hair!
I was afraid we would both end up being kicked out of the Academy!"
“How long was your hair?”
"Not as long as yours. Just past the shoulder blades." Lance smirked. "Just enough to annoy the hell out of
the officials."
Duo laughed. “So, grow it back out. I think
you'd look cute with long hair.”
"Why thank you kind sir!" Lance
laughed. "I'm going to once we get
out of the Academy. I don't want to ruin
my chances of getting assigned with Keith and the others. They have already assigned the five of us to
several missions, but we are still tied to this planet. Once we get a real exploration mission, I won't have to worry about nosy
officials." He smirked. "Though, I kinda like having a little
power over Keith. All I have to say is I
won't grow it back out and he tends to clam up!"
Duo laughed. “Shave it down to a buzz
cut. That'd really rot his socks.”
Lance almost fell off the roof, laughing so
hard. "I will keep that in
mind! Oh man! The look on his face!" That sent him into another laughing fit.
“Let's go mingle with the yokal locals.” Duo
said.
"Great idea Dynomutt!" Lance jumped down from his perch and ran for
the door. "Last one to the street
is a Telaria mouse-slug!"
(Um...don't ask. Ya don't want to
know what that looks like! ^_~)
“A whatever…” Duo shrugged and chased after
Lance.
^^^^^^^^^^
Lance grinned as they reached the back alley
of the ten-story building at the same time.
"Man! I never knew one could
go so fast sliding down those banisters!
I was practically flying!"
“Yeah but that's what makes it so fun.” Duo
grinned. “And it's better then flying off the top of the building Lancit.”
"You got that right!" Lance
chuckled before frowning as he looked past Duo's shoulder. "Uh oh."
“What oh?” Duo questioned.
Lance tilted his head toward the front of
the alley. Duo turned to see four muscular
men with buzz cuts blocking the exit to the alley. All were dressed in ripped blue jeans, black
leather jackets, and biker gloves. They
also were smirking rather evilly.
The tallest one laughed, causing the scar
across his right eye to dance.
"Looks like we have some pretty boys here."
“No, you don't. As a matter of fact you are
all quite ugly.” Duo said with a smirk, though his eyes had gone from laughing
to serious.
"Very
ugly!" Lance agreed, as he sized up
the thugs. He smirked. Four against two...not good odds...poor
guys. 'I hope their insurance is paid up!'
“WHY…you snot nosed little punks.” Scar Face
growled.
Duo smiled wickedly. “Bring it on. Shinigami
welcomes all challenges.”
“And just who the hell is that suppose to
be?” A man with a crooked nose asked with a laugh.
“Why that would be the god of death, me.”
"Not just the god of death..." Lance snickered as he unconsciously
slid into a defensive stance. "The
god of death on a sugar high!"
“Oh scary. We're trembling, aren't we boys?”
A chorus of snickers answered his question.
“If you leave now I might not kill you.” Duo
said, seeming unfazed by the laughter.
"Whatever." Scar Face snorted as he pulled out a crow
bar. "Don't beat them up too much
boys. I want to fuck braidy here
later."
Crooked Nose man chuckled as he held up a
club. "The cutie with the short
hair is mine."
“Yeah well fuck THIS!” Duo kicked Scar Face
hard in the nose as the man approached him.
As Scar Face roared in pain, his buddy, the man
with too big britches, charged at Duo with a knife. Meanwhile, Crooked Nose man was swinging his
club at Lance...and missing him every single time!
Lance laughed as he ducked another
swing. He put his thumbs in his ears,
waving his hands as he stuck out his tongue.
"Na nanny na na! You can't
get me!"
Duo grabbed the guy by the wrist as the Big
Britches man charged at him, using the man's own forward momentum against him.
He twisted the wrist making the man scream, a sickening pop could be
heard. The man's wrist snapped, making
him let go of the knife. Duo shoved the man against the wall and picked up the
knife.
Crooked Nose man and the man with no front
tooth had their hands full with a jumping Lance. Crooked Nose roared in anger. "Hold still damnit!"
"You mean like this?" Lance stopped jumping and did a roundhouse
kick straight into the man's...tender spot.
Crooked Nose fell to the ground in pain.
"Or do you mean like this?"
Lance asked as he ducted a swing from Missing Tooth, moving forward and
jamming his elbow into the man's gut. As
Missing Tooth doubled over, Lance pulled his elbow up and brought it crashing
down on the guy's neck, knocking him out.
Lance smirked as he stared down at the two men. "Damn.
I guess I didn't do it right."
“You know this is getting really boring. I
want to go back out and rejoin the party. Are you about done, Lancey?”
Lance dusted off his hands. "Yeah.
These guys were no fun. Let's see
what else we can find Ditto."
“Kay.” Duo said, tucking the knife away in
one of his many pockets as a souvenir. “Let's par-tae.”
"Right!
If we hurry, we might still get to the center of the town before
“Sounds great. Let's go!” Duo grabbed
Lance's hand and yanked him back out onto the crowded streets. “Which way
Lizard?”
"HEY!
Easy on the arm! Don't pull it
out of socket!" Lance yelled. "Go straight ahead Domino!"
“Righteo Lambert.” Duo said, clearing a path
through the crowd of people.
^^^^^^^^^^
Lance suddenly jerked to a stop, almost
causing Duo to fall on his back since Duo was still dragging Lance through the
crowd. "Hey Dumbo! Do you see what I see?"
"Nope. What do you see Lancelot?"
Duo asked cocking his head to one side as he tried to follow Lance's gaze.
"Open your eyes, Dopey!" Lance rolled his eyes at he pointed to a shop
across the street that sold rice wine. He
then pointed to another nearby that sold all kinds of sweets. "That give you any ideas?"
Duo grinned widely. "Sugar and booze,
the perfect combination. C'mon Loopy let's go get some."
"Lead the way!" Lance laughed. Since Keith was already going to kill him,
might as well have a blast before dying!
^^^^^^^^^^
Duo dragged Lance across into the shop that
sold the rice wine, but the shopkeeper just glared at them and was quick to
inform him that he would not sell to minors. Duo was pouting as he started to
drag Lance back out when several other people came into the shop. The small
shop was busy and the store owner was no longer watching them since he thought
they had already left. Duo grabbed a big bottle off the shelf and quickly ran
out the door with Lance in tow.
Oh boy!
Keith was going to torture him first, then kill him! Lance shook
his head. "You are something
else. Not only did you take a bottle but
you also left some money on the shelf.
Not many people would do that here."
"Well that way it's not really
theft…unlike the candy machine but that's a different story." Duo opened
the bottle and took a long swig. "AHHH. Delicious…fine and dandy like sour
candy." Laughing Duo handed the bottle to Lance.
Laughing, Lance took a swig. It burned as it went down, nice and
comforting. "This stuff is really
good! Just need some sugar to make it
not as tart...if you know what I mean."
"You just said by favourtie
word…SUGAR!" Duo charged into the candy store, yanking Lance with him so
suddenly that it almost made Lance spill the bottle. Duo wandered around the
candy shop making comments about every single thing. "I can't decide,
there's so much to chose from."
The clerk behind the counter stood watching
with laughing eyes as he smiled at the young couple that wandered through the
store and the excited giggles the braided one kept giving. "Looking for
something extra sweet for your girlfriend?" He asked Lance.
Duo giggled and wrapped his arm tighter
around Lance's. "He sure is." He said with a most 'angelic' soft
voice.
Lance snickered as he shifted his arm around
Duo's waist. "What sugar can ya
give this sweet thang?"
"There's a special on the fudge, buy
one slice get one free." The clerk said.
"FUDGE!! I want some of everything in
here...the more sugar the better." Duo said.
"How about we just stick to the fudge
darling. I don't have that much money!" Lance winked at Duo before releasing him to
buy all the fudge from the
clerk. "Thanks sir. You were a BIG help!"
"THANK YOU!" Duo shouted, cheerful
kissing Lance soundly on the cheek. The
clerk chuckled as the 'couple' left the store.
As soon as they safely away from the store,
Lance almost doubled over from laughter.
"Oh man...I'm so...SO glad Keith...isn't here!" He could barely talk since he was laughing so
hard. "He...he would...have
flipped!"
"Heero wouldn't have even let me in
that place, let alone buy me fudge."
"I can see why!" Lance laughed. "Well, since Keith is going to be pissed
at me anyway, I may as well make it a dousy!" He quickly handed Duo half the fudge.
"Hell yeah!" Duo said. "Let's
see just how much we can do to piss Heero and Keith off… let's see…what can we
do…?"
"Hmm...good question. It is really, REALLY hard to faze
them!" Lance quickly ate a few
pieces of fudge. "Damn! This stuff is rich! Here, you have the rest. I will just stick to the rice wine."
"Okay." Duo willing accepted all
the fudge and stuffing a big piece of 'triple chocolate delight' into his
mouth. "How 'bout a tattoo?"
"COOL!
Let's do it!" Lance grinned
madly as he took another swig. He shook
his head slightly. "Man! This stuff is strong! Take another sip!"
"I swear you're trying to get me drunk
kind sir." Duo said in a mock-insulted tone… though the big grin on his face
made it impossible to take him serious. He grabbed the bottle and took a long
swig and handed the bottle back to Lance. "So…where's a good place to get
a tattoo?"
"Chin's Body Art is good." Lance
chuckled. His face was already starting
to feel numb. "It's just down the
street. We better hurry though before
this stuff really hits us! They may not let us in."
"The let's do it to it!"
^^^^^^^^^^
Chin's Body Art was fortunately not too
busy, especially since it was so close to midnight (little over an hour). Pictures of various symbols, figures, and
other art covered the room. The place
was well known for its unique designs.
An oriental man, covered from head to foot with tattoos, was standing
next to a padded table with several different types of laser needles and inks
by his side. He smiled brightly at the
couple. "What kind of tattoos would
the two of you want?"
"Um…let's see…" Duo scanned the
walls looking over all the options.
"THAT ONE!" Duo pointed to his choice, a small black winged demon
that was holding a scythe with a very impish grin on its face. "I want the
death demon."
"Good
choice! It fits you!" Lance nodded in approval. "Hmm...what should I get?" His eyes finally rested on a red firebird, it's
wings spread out as it soared out of the rising flames surrounding it. "THAT'S IT!"
"Nice." Duo said. "Ok, let's
do it."
"I agree. No one has ever wanted those two designs due
to all the colors and how long they take to get on. They are my personal favorites!" The clerk grinned excitedly. "Where would you gentlemen like
them?"
"Um…where would be a really good
spot?" Duo wondered out loud. "Right here." He pointed to the exact spot on the front of
his left shoulder.
"Hey!
That is where I was going to put mine!" Lance pouted.
The clerk laughed. "My name is Dia Chin. And that is an excellent choice. Right over the heart. They will protect you well. So who's first?"
"ME!" Duo shouted and jumped into
the chair by Dia Chin with a huge plastered on his face.
"Well, you need to take off your shirt
first!" Dia laughed. "I can't do it with it on!"
Duo stuck his tongue out at the man then
peeled off his shirt tossing it to Lance for safe keeping (mostly because of
all the fudge he had in the pockets).
Dia shook his head in amusement as Lance
grunted from the weight. He then quickly
went to work. It took about twenty
minutes to finish (Hey, this is the future - it could happen). Dia smiled proudly at his work. "Do you like?"
"I LOVE IT!" Duo said grinning
brightly.
"Good!" Dia smiled before turning
to Lance. "Still willing?"
"Hell yeah!" Lance grinned brightly before handing Duo his
shirt and removing his own shirt.
"Ya better not lose that shirt Dina!"
"Don't worry your little head Lima."
Shaking his head, Dia chuckled before
getting to work. It took him another
twenty minutes to complete his work. He
grinned brightly. "You like?"
"DEFINITELY!" Lance quickly shook Dia's hand. "This is great!"
After paying for the tattoos the sugar high
and drunk pair tore back out onto the streets.
"Okay what next?' Duo asked excitedly.
Lance chuckled as he rubbed his left
shoulder. "Something that doesn't
call for much arm movement. My shoulder
is sore!"
"Aw poor ba-bee." Duo grinned as
he bounced up and down, unable to stand still for more then two seconds. He
swung his long braid from side to side. "I GOT IT! We can dye our
hair."
Lance blinked, though if it was due to his
buzz or what Duo said, he wasn't sure.
"Why? How?"
"How is …we can buy stuff that washes
out right away...or with a couple washing." Duo said and grinned
mischievously. "The way is to piss Hee-Chan and Kee-Chan off."
"I'm dizzy." Lance giggled. "Sure, why not! We have twenty minutes until midnight. Plenty of time before the New Year
celebration. So...what colors?"
Spotting a hair saloon, Duo dragged Lance
across the street. After a little bit of sweet talking Duo and Lance got a
reduced price on hair coloring that would wash out in ten washes. There were
two girls on duty, one to color Duo's long hair and one to color Lance's short
hair.
Duo
undid his braid and his wavy chestnut hair cascaded down around his body. The
girl set about the task of dying Duo's long hair, dying the separated hairs
that formed the braid, a different color – crimson red, black, and white
blonde.
Lance burst out laughing as he gazed at his
own reflection. Waves of bright red
mixed with waves of his own brown hair.
He looked like a psycho zebra! (*rolls
eyes* These two are insane!)
"Looks great." Duo said holding
two fingers up in a V to Lance.
"Looking good yourself!" Lance grinned before paying the giggling
girl. "Let's hurry or we will miss
the midnight blast!"
^^^^^^^^^^
Again the 'dynamic duo' was out prowling the
streets. The midnight festivities only seemed to add to Duo's hyperness, who
was bouncing around nonstop. Everyone was giving them a wide berth, looks of
amusement and fear in their eyes as they starred at the two young 'hooligans'.
Duo wasn't the only one who was
bouncing. Lance was not exactly calm
himself. His 'calm' exterior
deteriorated more when he saw the tigers in the cages. "LOOK! LOOK! LOOK!"
"KITTY, KITTY, KITTY!" Duo said
excitedly. "Let's go get a closer look while nobody watching." He
grabbed Lance (yet again) and dragged him toward the cages.
Lance and Duo quickly sneaked around to the
back of the cages, somehow without anyone seeing them (which is amazing
considering they couldn't even walk straight, much less discreetly). There were two cages, each with one Siberian
tiger. Luckily, the tigers were tame or
else they would have lost their hands as the loonies petted the 'kitties'.
Lance laughed as one tiger licked his
face. "I like this one!" He gasped as he looked into the cage. "Hey!
There are cubs in here!"
"That's just not right." Duo said,
looking at the adorable tiger cubs. "They should be allowed to run
free."
"Well...let's do something about
it." Lance snickered. "Besides, you were going to show me how
to pick some locks."
"Yep!" Duo said, kneeling down in
front of the lock and pulling out his 'tools'. "It's really quite
simple…" Duo showed Lance his expert technique. "You want to try the
other lock?" He nodded towards the second cage.
"Sure!" As Duo opened the cage, Lance set to work on
the other one. He grinned triumphantly
as he opened the cage. "I DID IT!"
"See. It's easy." Duo said
re-pocketing his tools. "Tyger, Tyger burning bright…." Duo started
to recite an old poem. "I forget the rest." He opened the cage wide
for the tigers to leave. "Born free…" He started to sing.
Lance laughed, bending down to hug the
female tiger as she nudged him.
"We'll watch over your babies.
Go have fun!"
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE
DOING?" Loud voices suddenly yelled.
"EEP!" Duo jumped.
Lance grinned as he waved at the tiger
owner. "We are just playing with
the kitties." The she tiger growled
as she continued to rub against Lance.
"Oh shit oh shit oh shit!" Duo
said nervously. "Heero's gonna kill me. I'm so gonna die."
"Only if you don't move your
ass!" Lance grabbed Duo's arm and
dragged him away. "I know where we
can hide!"
"Um, Listerine...this is a DEAD
END!" Duo yelled as Lance pulled them into an alley, with the cops close
behind.
Lance chuckled. "That is what you think
Dingo." He quickly lifted up a
manhole cover. "Move it or lose it
shorty!" He quickly jumped down
into the sewers.
"EW!" Duo complained before
following Lance. "This idea stinks Lan-man."
"What did ya expect...a rose
garden? This is a sewer for crying out
loud." Lance mumbled as he ran
through the tunnels. "It was either
this or jail. And I really don't want to
get expelled...though it would be safer than facing Keith." He snickered.
"Well it still STINKS!" Duo
complained. "Let's just get OUTTA here."
"Patient, patient." Lance chuckled. "Just follow me. I want to make sure we lose the cops. I don't know why they are so upset. The kitties just needed to stretch their
legs. They wouldn't have hurt
anyone."
"I don't know why they were so afraid
of a little kitty. Some people…."
"I know...go figure." Lance weaved
in and out of a few more tunnels before stopping below another manhole
cover. "Wait here." He cautiously climbed up the stairs and
peeked outside. "All clear!"
"ABOUT TIME!" Duo said in relief,
rushing out and breathing in the clean smelling air. He pulled one of his very
last pieces of fudge from his pocket and deeply inhaled the sweet scent.
"Better."
Lance laughed. "Yeah, much better. We probably better stick to the rooftops
now."
"Slinking across the rooftops…sounds
like fun." Duo grinned. "In the dead of night two all powerful super
heroes dash across the rooftops protecting everyone below from injustice using
the mighty power of sugar and rice wine."
"Um...ya forgot the freeing tigers
part."
"And freeing tigers and other caged
animals…there wouldn't happen to be a zoo around here would there?"
"Yeah, but not close enough." Lance yawned.
"So we need to find something else to do."
"Oh…let's get some new clothes to go
with our new hair!"
Lance perked up. "Great idea! Any ideas?"
Duo grinned. "LEATHER!"
"Definitely!" Lance grinned wickedly. "I think I know where we can get some
fairly cheap. They may even still be
open. I think they close at 12:30pm
during festivals."
"WHOO-HOO!" Duo spins around in a
circle, his long braid spinning. He stopped and grinned at Lance. "Then
let's go, Lan-man."
"Follow me!" Lance yelled as he run up a fire escape of
one of the buildings. Duo wasn't very
far behind.
^^^^^^^^^^
After doing some building 'jumping', they
soon got to the area of China Town that for some strange reason had a clothing
store that was still open (Go
figure.). Before running down a fire
escape, they paused to admire the 'Tiger' fireworks.
Lance grinned as they walked into the
store. "That is so cool! I'm glad we weren't close. That tiger is more awesome from a distance. You can see more of it!"
"YEAH! It was great." Duo began to
dash around the store trying to decide what he wanted to wear. "There's so
much here that's GREAT! I can't
decide."
The store was a second hand store but was
surprisingly well stocked with nice clothes.
Many had holes in them, but even those could be easily fixed. It even had a section with second hand
leather (Again, don't ask. This is our
story, and we can do what we want to! It
doesn't have to make any sense
whatsoever! After all this is Lance and
Duo we are talking about here...).
Lance coughs. "You got that right, Donut!" He pauses to glare at the authors. "Now if you two would stop
rambling..." (Oops! Sorry!)
Duo grabbed a few things and dashed into the
dressing room. A few moments later he stepped out wearing a pair of very short
shorts (Daisy Duke's J ) with a button fly that he left the top button open. A black leather
vest hung open showing off his muscular chest. A pair of tall black leather
boots reached to just below his knees.
He jumped out of the dressing room spreading his arms out above his
head. "TADA!" He yelled. "Though I still got the feeling its
missing something…"
"Hmmm..." Lance tilted his head as he looked Duo
over. "I know!" He quickly picked up a black lace bandana. "Put this in your hair."
Duo flipped his braid over his shoulder and
tied it around the end of the braid before looking in the mirror. "I like
it!" Then he spotted some glitter makeup. "And this." He ran
some bright silver and gold glitter across his cheekbones. "PERFECT!"
"Perfect indeed!" Lance quickly went into the dressing room
with his selections. He soon jumped out
in tight black jeans with many tears in them.
Leather black combat boots reached midway of his shins, and his red tank
top fit very tightly, covered with a
brown leather jacket. Lance grinned as
he put on black leather biker gloves.
"I know this jacket doesn't really fit this outfit, but I REFUSE to
take it off!"
Duo whistled from where he sat perched on a
chair, sitting on the back with his feet on the seat of the chair. A small black leather 'book' bag hung over
one shoulder, resting on his back; his other clothes were stuffed inside it.
"Looking sharp, Lan-man."
"Why thank you kind sir!" Lance
laughed. He paused to put his clothes
into Duo's bag, and they quickly paid the snickering store clerk before dashing
back outside.
"Things are starting to calm down now
that the celebration is over. Should we
call the others...or play some more?"
Lance grinned.
"I don't know…" Duo stuffed a
piece of fudge in his mouth. "That's all the sugar I got left." He
pouted.
Lance thought for a moment. "How about some pool? I'm short on money, but maybe we could win
some playing pool. I'm not exactly a pool
shark, but I can get by..."
"Sounds like fun." Duo said
excitedly and two dashed into a nearby pool hall.
^^^^^^^^^^
Their game was about half over when a big
brutish man sauntered over. "Hey buddy, how much for a taste of your
little sweet thing?" He asked Lance, gazing at Duo wantonly.
"Ya mean Death here?" Lance snickered. "I strongly
wouldn't suggest it, but ya could ask him."
"Yeah right. Just look at you
two...it's obvious he's your little bitch. So how much?" The man insisted.
Lance grinned evilly before winking at a
smirking Duo. "Tell you what. I bet you, say...$250 bucks...that my sweet thing here could kick your
ass."
"That puny little runt?" The man
laughed. "You're on. But if I win I get to have a taste of him for
free."
Duo grinned. "Sounds like a fair bet to
me." Lance nodded from where he
stood behind Duo. Duo turned to Lance, "A kiss for good luck." and
gave him a peck on the lips, his eyes laughing.
'Thank
the gods that Keith isn't here!'
Lance chuckled before slapping Duo's butt. "Go get him darling. Don't mess him up too much...he needs to be
conscious enough to pay."
"That takes all the fun out of
it." Duo pouted.
"I'm the only one whose gonna have any
fun here." The man snarled. (Are
there really people that stupid in
the world?)
"Then bring it on big boy." Duo
grinned at the man.
The man rushed towards Duo charging like
bull, his head down. As soon as the man was close enough Duo grabbed the man's
shoulders and vaulted himself over the man, promptly kicking him in the ass.
"I WIN! I WIN! I KICKED HIS ASS!" Duo giggled.
"Why you little…" The man growled
spinning around to grab Duo, but Duo jumped back. The enraged man grabbed a
pool cue off the table and swung it at Duo.
Duo jumped back. "MISSED ME! MISSED ME!
NOW YA GOTTA KISS ME!" He taunted.
The man growled and swung again at Duo. This
time Duo grabbed the pool cue and yanked it forward causing the man to lose his
balance and fall to the floor. By this time everyone had all gathered around to
watch and were laughing at the fallen man.
Lance snickered as he shook his head at the
man. "You want to pay up now, or do
you want to see why they call him the God of Death?"
Growling under his breath and using every
swear word he knew he pulled out his wallet and threw the money at Lance.
"More sugar money!" Duo said
excitedly, running over to Lance and hugging him around the neck. "So I
was wrong...this place is a lotta
fun."
"Told ya so!" Lance laughed as he handed Duo half of the
money. "Did a great job
darling!"
"Of course I did." Duo grinned.
"Let's forget the rest of this game and go get more SUGAR!"
"Hmm...it's almost 2 am. Not sure if there is any place still
open." Lance mumbled before
grinning broadly and snapping his fingers.
"What a minute!"
"YES??" Duo asked, hoping Lance
knew where to get sugar at this hour.
"I know of a place that is open
twenty-four hours that serves the best deserts!
It is not too far from the school.
Interested?"
"Do you even have to ask?" Duo
questioned with a huge grin.
^^^^^^^^^^
It didn't take long to get a bus to take
them to Phil's All Night Dinner. The
place was practically deserted except for the usual people getting off or
starting late night shifts. One of the
waiters, Ted was on his nametag, chuckled when he saw Lance. "Are you trying to get yourself killed
buddy? Keith is going to have
kittens!"
Lance shrugged. "Probably. I don't want to become boring though...he may
lose interest."
"Or die from heart failure." Ted shook his head. "What do y'all want?"
"One of EVERY DESSERT you got. "
Duo said.
Ted's jaw almost hit the table. He glanced over at Lance. Lance shrugged. "Go ahead. It's his money. I'll take some apple pie and coffee. Make sure it is black and strong! I'm going to
need it!"
Ted blinked again as he stared at Duo's
grinning face. "I'll keep the
coffee coming Lance." He shook his
head as he left to place the orders.
As he waited impatiently Duo grabbed the big
sugar shaker and tipped his head back pouring the sugar into his mouth. Chuckling, Lance reached over and grabbed the
shaker. "Hey! I like sugar in my coffee! The food will get here soon."
"You said black, GIVE IT BACK!"
"I don't think so!" Lance laughed, sticking out his tongue. "Besides, here it comes..."
Duo quickly dug into the desserts, scarfing
them down, and barely seeming to take a breath between bites but still somehow
able to make occasional single syllable comments such as 'mmmm'.
Lance, and several of the other customers
for that matter, just stared in wonder and amazement as Duo downed over twenty
deserts (*blinks* WHOA!). Lance quickly downed his cup of coffee and
refilled it. He was in for a long night!
"Aww…is that all there is?" Duo
pouted and finished off the end of the last desert. He quickly reached over to
snag the sugar shaker again. "ME need SUGAR!" He said, sounding just
like 'Cookie Monster'.
"Whoa boy!" Lance quickly grabbed
the shaker again. "I think you have had more than enough!"
"NO!" Duo grabbed his spoon and swung
it at Lance as though it were a weapon. "Never can have enough! I ain't
never had too much sugar."
"I think so!" Lance shook his
head. "Besides, don't waste your
money totally on sugar. Get too much in
you and Heero might run for the hills!"
Duo stuck his tongue out at Lance and threw
down enough money to cover his bill and leave a large tip on the table. As he
headed toward for the door, he grabbed a sugar shaker off another table as he
ran. As soon as he was outside the door, he began to eat the sugar.
Lance groaned as he downed his seventh cup
of coffee, praying that it would be enough before running outside and earning
several sympathetic smiles from the other customers. Lance reached over and grabbed the sugar shaker
from Duo. "That's enough Duke! Let's do something else before the sun comes
up and I have to face the music."
"MEANIE!!!!" Duo yelled. "Why
does everyone always want to deprive me of sugar?"
Lance rolled his eyes. "Just to make sure that it doesn't
become the most important thing in your life."
"It already is." Duo laughed
sticking his tongue out at Lance as he grabbed the sugar back and ran down the
street in the direction of the Academy.
Cursing, Lance took off after Duo. Fortunately all the caffeine had a stronger
effect than the sugar (I wonder what the combination would've done.) and Lance
was able to tackle Duo to the ground.
Smirking slightly, he grabbed the sugar shaker back. "So...which is more important to you
now...the sugar or Heero?"
"Wh…what do you mean?" Duo asked,
eyeing Lance suspiciously.
Lance slid off of Duo to sit cross-legged
next to him. He smiled reassuringly at
the other man. "You said that sugar
was the most important thing in your life.
Is that true buddy?"
Duo crossed his arms under his head and
looked up at Lance from where he still lay on the ground. "Naw. It's fun
to have a lot of it at times. A lot of things are more important to me then
sugar. Like love. And I don't just mean Heero…though especially Heero. I mean
all my friends, old…and new."
Lance smiled as he handed the sugar back to
Duo. "Sorry buddy, but I was just
making sure. You act like a drug addict,
and I just wanted to certain that it wasn't an addiction." He laughed slightly. "I know you love Heero, so if it was I
was going to try and help you 'kick' the habit.
But it is obvious that sugar doesn't control you. Sorry about the quizzing."
"It's okay." Duo said but he
didn't eat any more of the sugar. "I can go a long time without eating any
sugar…believe it or not." Duo grinned. "It's just…nice at times to be
able to get on this big of a sugar high. It's a nice escape from the normality
of life in my world. Heero complains a lot about it, but he really does
understand. After all it was him who bought me that bag of cotton candy
today."
Lance laughed. "No wonder you were so wired when we
first met!" He then turned
serious. "I understand what you
mean. Granted, I don't know much about
your world, but I've already been on a few missions. None of them have been really pretty."
Lance paused as he smiled at his new buddy.
"I also like to escape...that is why I enjoy going to China Town
and it's surrounding areas. Keith hates
it! But, though it scares him, he also
understands. Though..." He chuckled
slightly. "I think he would feel
more comfortable if I used sugar instead to escape."
“I think Heero would rather I ran around
places like that then eat all the sugar…I know all the others would be a lot more
happy if that was the case.” Duo sat up. “But they really need to learn to
lighten up so…” He grinned brightly leaving the rest implied rather then said.
Lance snickered as he rolled over onto his
stomach. "So...it's almost
3:30. Should we go home and piss them
off now, or really piss them off and
come home after dawn?"
“Is there anything else to do here? I mean
at this time of the day?”
"Not sure what to tell you. Usually the only reason I'm out this late now
is if Keith and I have a spat." Lance
thought for a moment. "And usually
then I just go down by the bay to watch the sunrise." He rolled over onto his back and
groaned. "Crap! I guess I am married now! I don't party late like I used too!"
(*snicker*)
“I guess we should just go back and show
them our new looks. Who knows, we might just end up down by the bay to watch
the sunrise.” Duo grinned bright. “DOWN BY THE BAY, WHERE THE WATERMELON
GROW…BACK TO MY HOME…I DARE NOT GO…..”
(Ouch! I think my ears are
ringing!)
Lance laughed. "Well, I probably shouldn't dare go back
home!"
Duo stuck his tongue out at Lance. “We
probably should if Keith is as much like Heero as I think they are...probably
both stressing by now.”
"I don't know..." Lance
mumbled. "Sometimes Keith gets
stressed, sometimes he doesn't. I never
know with him."
“He probably does a lot more then it seems,
he just doesn't allow it to show. Heero's that way. His expression doesn't show
it. But his eyes do…if you know him well enough to be able to read his eyes.”
"I guess I don't know him well enough
then...I can rarely read him...even his eyes."
“It took a long time before I could get past
Heero's defensives, but with all that has happened…maybe it comes from being in
such intense situations where the only way to communicate at times is with the
eyes…” Duo shrugged. “I don't know Keith well enough to say how he is. How long
have you been with him anyways?”
"You're probably right." Lance
smiled as his new buddy. "We have
only been together for almost a year. I
guess we are still learning each other."
“I've known Heero for almost two years. It
took a lot of time and effort…but it's worth, despite what some people think.
When it is just him and me he's different…he's more at ease.” Duo chuckled.
“And I can't believe that I am telling you all of this.”
Lance laughed too. "I can't believe I'm telling you this
too! I only just met you today, but it
seems like I've know you for years!"
“Yeah, scary ain't it? Kinda like…we are
spirit brothers or something.” Duo
said. (Okay, that is just TOO scary!!!!)
"Well, I've never had a brother, but
you would be a great one! Though, I've
never heard of brothers helping each other get into trouble...usually they
tattle on each other." Lance
chuckled. "So Daisy, what now? Face the music? Or spy on them first and then decide?"
“I think spying first would be a very good
idea, Lan-man.” Duo said. “So we know how far we have to run.”
"Well this will take some planning,
Scooby Doo. We are on the seventh
floor."
"Well, it's closer to the top then the
bottom…so go to the roof with some rope and climb down 'til we can look
inside.”
"K...Now where can we find some
rope?" Lance's fingers drummed the
ground while he thought. "There may
be some rope in the gym."
“ALRIGHT!” Duo said excitedly. “Since you
are the one who knows where the gym is lead on Lan-man.”
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Lance was getting more and more
excited. He loved rock climbing and
repelling almost as much as he loved flying!
It didn't take long for the two insane boys (Well, what else would ya
call them?) to find some rope and get to the roof of the dorm building. Lance glanced over the side. "This is going to be so cool! However, we are going to have to keep the
rope around us instead of letting it lose to touch the ground. Someone may see it. So it may be better to start down this side
of the building since there are no windows and work sideways to get to our dorm
window."
“You mean you actually think that anyone
else would be awake to see the rope.” Duo laughed. “They'll only wake up if we
wake 'em. Like we are going to do to a certain pair of hoties.” Duo grinned
widely and crowed like a rooster.
"Um...they may still be awake,
Donkey! So let's not let them see us
until we are on the ground again...I would like to have a fighting
chance."
“Ah, you're no fun.” Duo said with a mock
pout. Duo checked the rope again and balanced himself over the edge. “Going down?" He smiled with a mock seductive grin at
Lance, before dropping over the side of the building.
Lance didn't say anything...he was laughing
too hard!
Duo bounced off the building swinging
himself far off the wall as he repelled downwards, singing a very insane song
the whole time. “As one rude rabbit ran up the road, the other rude rabbit ran
down…” (Yes Duo is insane).
Lance was now laughing and crying at the
same time! (Need a tissue Lance?) "Thanks!" Lance made a honking sound as he blew his nose. "Okay, now where were we? Oh yeah...we just agreed that Duo was insane,
right?"
Duo looked up at Lance. “C'mon down Lan-man,
you're the next contestant on the 'Price Is Right'.”
Lance shook his head. "I'm coming down!" After checking his rope, he slowly made his way
down the side of the building, humming 'Jeopardy' (Hey, so he doesn't remember
the theme song to 'Price Is Right'...not my fault!).
“This should be far enough down…let's start
moving across to see what they are up to… and whoever else we might happen to
spy on along the way…” Duo said.
"Very interesting." Lance said in his German accent (Think of the
soldier in Yeehaw). He did a mock
solute. "Lead on Donkey Kong!"
“And you call me insane? You are nutbar.”
Duo said as he carefully maneuvered his way along. “Sometime you feel like a
nut. Sometimes you don't…” Duo paused a moment. “Which window do we have to go
to again?”
"Who's a nut?" Lance chuckled. "Head for the only window with the light
on. Something tells me it's our
room."
“Maybe they fell asleep with it on...” Duo
said doubtfully as he headed toward the illuminated window. (Um okay don't ask
how they went from the side and across dangling from a rope.).
(Good point...um specially designed ropes
from the future?) Lance blinked. "Huh?" (Oh just shut up and
continue the story!)
"Right." Lance rolled his eyes. 'And
people say WE are insane!' "I
seriously doubt it."
On the 'specially designed future rope' Duo
hung with his feet braced against the wall on the far side of the window, allow
Lance to also be able to see in to check on just what their lovers were doing.
Heero was still sitting at the desk, messing
with the computer. Though instead of
typing this time, if you looked closely it looked like he was pounding away at
the poor keys (Like the computer ever did anything to him!). Keith was on his bed with his back against
the wall, reading a book. Occasionally
his eyes would dart to the door, but you could only see that one too if you
looked really closely (Probably his suspicious nature again.).
Keith yelled at the authors. "HEY!" (Oops!
Sorry...he, he, he. ^_^)
“Uh-oh…Heero's gonna kill me…” Duo sighed.
“If you make it out alive bring roses to my grave would ya?”
"Sorry buddy, I don't think I will be
making it out alive either." Lance
said before mumbling under his breath.
"Especially since these damn #*$*#* authors are already pissing him
off!"
“I don't think they are bad. They are
supplying me with a lot of sugar.” Duo grinned. “So do we dare go into the
room?”
"Hmm...I guess. What a minute!" Lance grinned. "How about I go through the door. Once I'm in you can go through the
window. How do you think they would
react?"
“Heero will still kill me but it'll be worth
it to see the look on his face.”
"Okay...though he may kill me first if
you don't come in with me. So don't
chicken out on me!" Lance
mumbled. "Though if he does kill
me, at least I don't have to mess with these two crazy authors anymore!"
(Debates 'dropping' Lance to the ground for
that comment). Duo snickered. “I won't.
I promise. I run and I hide but I never lie.”
Lance blinked. "Um...okay." Glancing at the authors warily, he checked
his rope before climbing back up to the roof.
^^^^^^^^^^
Keith slammed the book closed, earning a
glare from Heero. Keith just stared back then turned his attention back to the
door and Heero continued to hack into various alliance files with expertise
that put even Pidge's abilities to shame.
Lance stared at the door for a moment. 'This
is not the smartest thing you've ever done, Lancer. Maybe you should have let the authors drop
you...' Taking a deep breath, he opened the door and stuck his head in,
keeping the door in front of him as a shield.
"What are you two still doing up at this hour?"
“Good question. What are you doing out until this hour is a
better one though.” Keith said. “And just what
did you do to your hair? Use it as a paintbrush?”
Lance rolled his eyes as if Keith's question
was so obvious...though he still kept the door open as he walked in. "It's the Chinese New Year, so of course
I would be out this late. The hair bit
is part of the celebration. It'll come
out in a few washings."
“How nice of you to tell me that before
taking off.” Keith said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
Heero sat staring at Lance, or more
precisely through Lance...not seeing Duo with him his eyes hardened. At that moment Duo bounced through the window
(which he had silently opened during the distraction of course).
Lance shrugged as if Duo's entrance was
expected. "You never asked. Besides, you two wanted me to try to get Duo
to wear off his sugar rush. I
tried..."
Heero glared at Duo, his eyes taking in
Duo's new hair color (or rather colors) and his outfit. Duo just grinned
merrily. “Didja miss me?” Heero just glared harder. “Do you like my new look?”
“Lunatic.” Heero muttered.
Keith glanced from Duo to Lance and back
again. "Which one were you
referring too?" Lance stuck his
tongue out at Keith and shrugged again.
“Both.” Heero said simply
Duo shrugged and suddenly launched himself
at Heero, sitting on Heero's lap and wrapping his arms around his lover's
neck.
Lance had to cover his mouth to keep from
laughing at the shocked look on Heero's face.
His kingdom for a camera!
"As I said...I tried...didn't work!"
Heero shoved Duo off his lap. “OW!" Duo
complained as he hit the floor. “Meanie.”
“Just how much sugar did you let him have?”
Keith asked.
"Um...I pledge the fifth. I do have the right to remain silent..."
Lance mumbled. "Like you two could have stopped him!"
“Should've handcuffed him to the bed the
second we arrived here.” Heero muttered.
“Ohhhh! Sounds like fun, never knew you were
into those kinds of games.” Duo said, actually getting a slight blush to rise
in Heero's cheeks.
To hell with the kingdom...the world for a
camera! Lance didn't say a word...he was
too busy trying not to laugh! Maybe he
should just slide out of the room right now...while the authors were distracted
with Heero and Duo...
“Don't go thinking you are safe.” Keith said
as he stalked towards Lance. “I hate the hair…though I like the jacket.”
Duo suddenly jumped to his feet. “I almost
forgot...” He peeled off his vest fully revealing his tattoo. “Do you like my
little death demon tattoo?”
Heero stared at the tattoo with an
expression that was impossible to describe.
Screw the camera! No way in hell would he have been able to
take a picture, his hands shaking so much from hidden laughter! Seeing Keith's face, Lance was able to keep
the laughter from escaping.
"Um...the authors made me do it?" (DID NOT!)
Keith glared at Lance. “You got one too?”
"Um...yeah?" Lance said sheepishly.
Heero rolled his eyes before glaring at
Duo. "And how long will it take for
your hair to be back to normal?"
“A few washings. Though if I like it like
this, I think I might keep it this way.” Duo said.
“You do and I swear I'll cut it off.” Heero
threatened.
Lance was too busy with Keith to
notice. "Hey...you know I've been
wanting one..."
“First you sneak off without telling me
where you are going, staying out all night and coming home looking like this….”
Keith said, his voice a controlled rage.
"Um...you were the one who chased me
out." Lance paused to glare at the
authors, who were both rolling on the floor laughing their heads off. "Oh, would you two be quiet! You two got us into this mess!"
“Give it a rest Lance. You left of your own
free will. Grateful for an excuse weren't you?” Keith questioned.
“HEY! He wouldn't have gone if I wasn't
looking for a way out of this boring place.” Duo piped up in Lance's defense.
“Shut up, you sugar junkie.” Keith said not
even glancing at Duo.
Lance just rocked on his heels, while Keith
glared at him. Heero sighed before
grabbing Duo's right arm, practically dragging the sugar junkie to the
bathroom.
“HEEEEERROOO….” Duo whined loudly. Heero
said nothing as he slammed the bathroom door.
Lance sighed. Looked like Duo was going to get his ten
washings all at once. He groaned when he
looked at a still slightly pissed off
Keith. "Um...sorry?" Lance then mumbled under his breath about
killing some certain authors.
“You can sleep on the floor tonight. I'm
taking your bed and giving Heero mine.”
"I figured that...but it's already
morning!" Lance shrugged, knowing
he goofed majorly. "Look, there is
not enough room on the floor for both Duo and me. Since I'm not tired (Too much coffee!), I'll
just change and go to the rec room while the three of you sleep. Duo is going to crash once all the sugar he
had wears off!"
“Do whatever you want Lance, it's not like
anything I say is going to stop you.”
Lance winced at that. 'Well,
I deserved that one.' He quickly
picked up Duo's backpack. "I'm
sorry. I should have called. I really enjoyed getting to know Duo, and I
just wasn't thinking. So don't go
blaming him when I needed to unwind and get away from everything. All of this was my fault, not his!" Frowning slightly, Lance gazed into Keith's
eyes. 'Damn! I just can't read them
yet! Maybe time is what I need...like
Duo said.' Lance sighed. "I can tell you're exhausted, and I'm
really sorry. I guess I'm still wired
after all the coffee I had to keep up with Duo.
I will just keep the three of you awake when you really need
sleep."
“You are not leaving this room.” Keith said
firmly.
A shout from the washroom got both Keith and
Lance's attention. A second later Duo ran out, now wearing nothing more then
the overly short shorts. “YOU ARE NOT WASHING MY HAIR THAT MANY TIMES AT ONCE!
Lance sighed as he covered his eyes with his
hand. "Maybe I should have kept him
out a little longer..."
Duo looked towards the door. Finding it blocked by Lance and Keith, he
looked towards the still open window wondering how quickly he could make it to
the roof for a get away. He ran towards the window and was felled by a tackle
from Heero. Heero sat with his knees around Duo's waist, his hands grasping Duo's
wrists and pinning Duo to the floor. “Pleeeeeaaaaaassssseeeee?” Duo begged.
“Don't make me wash it all out now… Pppllllllleeeeaassssseeeeee?”
Both Lance and Keith watched wide-eyed as
Heero calmly picked Duo up and threw him over his shoulder. Duo's struggling and screaming didn't seem to
faze Heero as he carried the sugar addict back into the bathroom.
Lance blinked, his mouth wide open. 'And
the guys think I'M bad!'
“Um…just how much sugar did he have?” Keith
asked as he stared at the closed door, still hearing Duo's protests even over
the running water.
"Um...one of every desert from Phil's
All Night Dinner."
“And what else?” Keith asked. “And for that
matter what all did you have...since you have a tattoo that you haven't even
shown me.”
Lance thought for a moment. "I honestly can't remember what
else. I had about seven cups of
coffee..."
“And coffee makes you do stupid things now?”
Keith asked.
There was a lot of splashing and protesting
from the bathroom…then suddenly there was silence.
"I told you...I've always wanted a
tattoo. I just got lucky and finally
found the one I wanted." Lance
paused as he stared at the silent bathroom door. "Why do I suddenly have the urge to run
before that door opens again?"
Duo's sudden laughter broke the silence, but
the laughter seemed to be quickly stifled under the sound of the water.
“I don't even want to know.” Keith said.
"I don't either." Lance mumbled, though he couldn't help but
grin. Heero and Duo were definitely an
interesting couple, balanced each other perfectly. Lance was really happy for his new partner in
crime.
“How bad is your tattoo that you refuse to
show it to me? All you keep saying is how you have always wanted one. Never
what it is. Nor where it is.”
"Oops!
Sorry...got distracted."
Lance quickly took off his jacket and shirt so that Keith could see
it. "I have been searching for
something like this for years..." Lance mumbled, not looking at Keith
cause he really didn't want to see his reaction.
Keith ran his fingers lightly over the
tattoo. “It suits you.”
Lance blinked in shock at the other
man. "You...you don't...mind?"
“The way you were so reluctant to show it I
thought it would be far worse…something like two people screwing or something.”
Keith said.
"Um...I can never get rid of this. Or I can but it costs way too much. I have at
least some taste, thank you very
much." Lance mumbled. "Besides, as I said I've been looking
for one for a long time. It is one of
Dia Chin's creations. I wanted it there
because of the street belief that it offers protection."
“So you decided to get it done with your new
best friend.” Keith said pointedly.
Lance felt like he just got slapped in the
face. He could feel his famous temper
rising, and it took all of his self-control to keep it down. And even though that hurt, Keith still had
every right to be angry. Now if Lance
could just keep telling himself that. "No,
I got it done because I finally found it!
It wouldn't have mattered who was with me...you, or Duo, or the school
principal for that matter!"
“Whatever.” Keith rolled his eyes. “I am
getting a little sick of you running away until some ungodly hour in the
morning when you decide to come waltzing back in excepting me to just roll over
and play nice.”
"I don't expect you to play nice when I mess up!" Lance snorted. "And if it was bothering you so much,
then why the hell didn't you ever say anything about it!"
“You never listen to what I say.” Keith growled.
He turned away from Lance, walked back over to the bed, and sat down. He grabbed his book and proceeded to start
reading again.
"How when you never say a damn
thing!" Lance snorted, storming over to his closet to get his gym
bag. "I'm going to go play some
basketball." Lance laughed bitterly
as he opened the door. "This seems
to be a normal routine for us...you hiding in your book and me hiding in the
gym. Solves absolutely nothing!" He quickly slammed the door behind him.
As soon as Lance left the room Keith hurtled
the book at the closed door, cursing under his breath.
(The authors would like to apologize for
losing control over the fic again. The characters are being temperamental again.
We should have them whipped back into shape soon.)
A little more then twenty minutes later Duo
and Heero emerged from the bathroom. Heero's hair was obviously wet, but he was
fully dressed. Duo had one towel wrapped around his waist and one big towel
wrapped around his hair. He was whistling as he dug out the clothes he had been
wearing before buying his new outfit. Heero sat on the other bed watching as
Duo rushed back into the washroom emerging minutes later fully dressed and
starting to braid his wet hair. Duo stopped in mid step and looked around the
room. “Um…Where's Lance?”
“The gym.” Keith replied gruffly, almost
glaring at Duo.
“Oh…why?”
“None of your business.” Keith said.
“Yeah, well I am making it my business.” Duo
noticed Keith's book on the floor and picked it up. “Shouldn't leave your books
laying around like this.” He hurled it Keith.
“Mind your own fucking business why don't
you?” Keith snarled as he caught the book.
“Lance is my friend so it is my business
when someone does something to upset him.” Duo said.
Keith practically growled. But Heero
interrupted before Keith could say anything. “Word of advice...if you shove too
hard he will never come back.”
Keith glared at Heero for a moment, but said
nothing.
“Do you want him back?” Duo asked.
Keith nodded slowly. “But he won't listen to
me right now.”
“Yeah...yeah…So I'll go get him.” Before Keith
could object Duo ran out the door.
^^^^^^^^^^
Breathing hard and dripping sweat, Lance ran
up for another lay-up. He was working
himself into extreme exhaustion, but he didn't give a shit. All he cared about was pounding that ball
into the hoop. Many people were staring,
though mostly because of his strange hair.
Lance would have hammed it up if he weren't so pissed. Some were leering, but fortunately they had
enough sense not to get on the court.
Lance probably would have run them over, in the current frame of mind he
was in.
Duo strode out onto the court, earning
several shocked gazes that he would be brave enough or stupid enough to
approach the lunatic on the basketball court. (I'm voting for stupid!) He jumped in front of Lance, snatching the
ball away.
Unfortunately, Lance couldn't stop in
time. He slammed into Duo, both sliding
across the floor until crashing into the wall.
Lance rubbed his head as he tried to de-tangle himself. "Um...couldn't you have thought of a
better way to get my attention buddy?"
“Umm… nope.” Duo grinned. Duo seemed to
recover quicker and jumped to his feet. “Let's go talk elsewhere away from all
these watchful eyes.”
Lance sighed as he slowly got to his
feet. He really didn't feel like talking
to anyone yet. "I guess so. I was getting tired anyway."
“Never would've guess. You looked ready to
drop.” Duo said. He grabbed Lance's arm and pulled him out the side door in the
slight chill of the pre-dawn. Spotting an old elm tree they could sit under,
Duo proceeded to drag Lance across the dew damp grass. He sat down, pulling
Lance down beside him. “There. Much better.”
Lance just shrugged as he watched other students
doing their early morning activities.
"If you say so."
“I'm sorry that I got you into trouble with
Keith.” Duo said sincerely.
"You didn't do anything." Lance
snorted slightly. "I'm the one who
got me into trouble. Nothing new about
that."
“Okay, so it was mutual trouble causing. You
wouldn't have left and…everything if I hadn't been so overly hyper looking for
something to do…but it was still your choice.” Duo rambled. “But I don't think
that you are in as much trouble as you think.”
"Maybe." Lance shrugged. "We probably just need some time to cool
off. We both have fabulous
tempers."
“Maybe you shouldn't run. He's not really
trying to push you away. You can't run every time you have a fight with him. If
I ran off each time I fought with Heero…I would be forever running, and never
would've gotten to know him.” Duo said.
Lance chewed that tidbit of information for
a moment. "How do you know he isn't
trying to push me away? It sure seems
that way lately."
“Because he's just like Heero. Even Heero
could tell that Keith's pulling the same deal that he did with me.” Duo said.
“He wants you to come back but figured you wouldn't listen to him so I came to
get you instead.”
"What difference would it
make?" Lance sighed. "He already says that I don't listen to
him. I do listen to him...when he speaks. I just can't read his blasted body
language!"
“Do you want me to tell you what I think…at
least based on what I saw?”
Lance stared at Duo a moment. "I guess..."
“Well he was relieved that you came back
because he was worried about your safety and that you would never come
back…especially now. I don't know if it's because you leave a lot or what, but
he seems to look like it's expected. That's why you have to prove you'll never
leave.” Duo said, idly playing with his braid.
"I kinda guessed that." Lance mumbled. "But how do you stop something you have
been doing all your life?" He
glanced at Duo. "I would only leave
him if he asked me to. How did you do it?"
“I used to always run but I found there was
nowhere to run to. The only place I wanted to be was with Heero. I stopped
running from him and I started running to him.
I have never been happier.” Duo grinned brightly. “Just try it once and
you'll see.”
"Thanks." Lance smiled at
Duo. "It will be hard since Keith
can be downright scary when he's
pissed!"
“Well…his eyes get dark. VERY dark…I don't
think he likes me very much. Might be because I got closer to you in one day
then he has in all this time." Duo
paused. "But so is Heero…but as
scary as he seems I know he will never truly hurt me.”
"I hope your right." Lance sighed.
"Even when we are together, it feels like he doesn't want me
there. It hurts, and I have to leave
just to regain my composure."
Duo frowned slightly. "Perhaps you should lose it instead of
hiding it. He needs to know that he is
hurting you to by keeping silent."
"Maybe." Lance lay down on his back, staring at the
clouds through the tree branches.
"I honestly don't know why you got so close to me so quickly. Or why it has taken Keith longer for that
matter."
“I don't know.” Dou shrugged and leaned back
against the tree. “It's like we are brothers only from different dimensions.
Our lives are a lot a like.”
"I guess. Kinda feels like the Twilight
Zone." Lance chuckled at Duo's
confused look. "An old TV show from
the nineteenth century."
“Oh.” Duo said. “Are you ready to go back to
the room yet?”
Lance sighed dramatically. "I guess. Though I probably should take a shower
first. Give me time to figure out what
to say."
“Maybe you should wait on the shower and
have Keith help you wash the color out.” Duo grinned.
"I was wondering what was going on in
that bathroom." Lance snickered. "I don't know if I want him to wash it
all out yet though...might be fun to see the professors' expressions."
“Still no reason he can't help take a
shower.” Duo grinned. “I know it was the only way I would stand to let Heero
wash my hair that much…”
Grinning evilly, Lance reached over and
pulled on Duo's braid. "Looks to me
he missed a few spots."
“Oh really…?” Duo asked. “I hadn't noticed.”
"I bet!" Lance laughed before turning serious. "Thanks bro."
“No prob.” Duo hugged Lance for moment. “Let's
go back to the room now, okay?”
"Sure." Lance returned the
hug. Then as he pulled away, he quickly
reached over and pulled Duo's braid hard enough to cause the man to fall onto
his back. "Race you to the
gym!" Lance jumped onto his feet
and took off.
“NO FAIR!” Duo yelled as he scrambled to his
feet and set chase after Lance.
^^^^^^^^^^
Lance chewed his bottom lip as he and Duo
approached their dorm room. He wasn't
sure if he was ready to deal with his relationship 'problem' quite yet. But if he walked any slower, Duo just might
pick him up and carry him the rest of the way!
"Geeeeeeeeezzzzzzzzzzzeeeeeeeeeee,
Yurtle. Can you walk any slower ya turtle?" Duo asked impatiently.
"Actually, yes I could! You want to see?" Lance sighed.
"Why do I have to do this again?"
"Because you love Keith." Duo
grinned. "Lance and Keith sitting in a tree… k-i-s-s-i-n-g…"
Paling, Lance quickly clamped a hand over
Duo's mouth. "Hey! Quiet!
The school officials may overlook same sex relationships here, but that
doesn't mean they allow them!"
"And do you think they'd take me
serious? They'd think I was teasing you anyways." Duo grinned. "And
if they said anything you'd need new school officials 'cause they'd be visited
by Shingiam."
"Good point." Lance laughed slightly, pausing in front of
his dorm room. "Um...maybe death
should visit me right now..."
"You'll be fine. I swear you worry too
much." Duo said. "Besides we are already here." He threw open
the door.
Lance groaned. 'Well
that was very subtle!' Sighing
again, Lance walked into the room. Heero
was again typing away at that computer of his (I wonder if he would type my
paper while he was at it?), and Keith was on his bed flipping through his book,
not actually reading it again. They both
stopped when Duo bounced into the room like Tigger and started to jump on
Lance's bed.
Rolling his eyes, Lance gave a weak
smile. "Um...Hi everyone. As you can see Duo is back."
"Oh really? He's so hard to
notice." Keith said sarcastically.
Duo stuck his tongue out at Keith before
flopping back on the bed and looking at Lance. "So Lance...guess you can
take that shower now that you have Keith to help you."
"Whatever Duo!" Lance snorted. He calmly walked around his bed and Keith's
on his way to the bathroom when he paused next to Keith, placing his hand on
the pillow Keith was leaning on.
"May I?"
Curious, Keith nodded and leaned
forward. Lance quickly grabbed the
pillow and threw it hard at the bouncing Duo, hitting him in the chest. Duo went flying into the open closet! Lance smirked. "That had to be a five pointer!"
Duo appeared to be unfazed as he started
searching through the closet. "Ohhhhh…. Look at all this PORN in
here…"
"It's called yaoi Dodo!" Laughing,
Lance just shook his head before opening the bathroom door. "I'm taking a shower. Try not to drool all over them! Phoenix wouldn't like you messing up her
collection."
Duo stuck his tongue out at Lance.
"They are still dirty, dirty, dirty Lan-man." He glanced at Keith.
"I think you better make sure he doesn't drown."
Keith raised one eyebrow, but walked over to
the bathroom door – anywhere was safer then in the same room as Duo.
"Well I don't need to be reading these
Dojoushin anyway when I got a real red hot lover for myself." Duo said,
launching himself over to Heero and wrapping his arms around Heero's neck as he
brushed his lips against the side of Heero's face.
Heero smiled slightly. "You set them up, didn't you?"
"Set who up?" Duo asked with a
grin, glancing at the closed door. "Now that they are out of the room
let's…have our own fun."
"You are a little devil." Heero sighed as he rolled his eyes.
^^^^^^^^^^
As Keith walked in, Lance was still
chuckling as he pulled off his shirt.
"Duo better watch it. He
mess those up, and Phoenix may do worse than kill him. She may fix him up with Relena!"
Keith leaned back against the counter as he
watched Lance undress, without trying to be too
obvious about it. "So…did you and Duo have a nice talk?"
Still in his boxers, Lance sat down on the
edge of the bathtub and stared down at the ugly green tiled floor. "Yeah...I guess..."
"Oh?" Keith raised on eyebrow
questioningly. "It seems whatever he said at least made you decide to come
back to the room."
"If you noticed, I always come back here!"
Lance snorted slightly though his eyes never left the floor. "Duo just suggested to maybe try talking this out instead of walking out."
"Just because you came back before
doesn't mean you will always come back." Keith pointed out. He was quiet
for a moment. "You seem to…be close to Duo. Must have been quite the
night."
"Yeah.
He is kinda like the brother I never had. I grew up mainly around girls." Lance smiled slightly. "I guess I can be open with him since I
don't have to prove anything to him."
"And what is it you think you have to
prove to everyone else?" Keith asked.
"That I don't start something and never
finish it. That even though I don't show
it, I am reliable." Lance mumbled. "But I'm not perfect and will make
mistakes."
Keith looked at Lance, not quite sure of
what to say in response. "Nobody is perfect. We all make mistakes, it's a
part of living." Keith shifted his weight slightly. "Do you think
your mistake is leaving or returning?"
"I don't know...maybe both." Lance sighed as he placed his elbow on his
knee, resting his chin on his hand.
"Leaving because I know it upsets you and causes you to doubt me,
but it is the only way I know of to escape the strictness of this school and
clear my head...if only for a little while." He paused to glance at Keith. "Returning because I can't read you,
which upsets you even more."
Keith thought about Lance's reply for a
moment. "Why do you always have to escape that way though? I mean leaving
for so many hours. It seems more like you are trying to escape me rather then
this place…so you are right, your leaving does cause me to doubt you. Doubt
that you will return every time. Doubt that you actually want to be with me…
doubt that I mean more to you then just a way to pass the time when you are
here."
"I don't know really. Maybe because I just want to be carefree for
a few hours. That the time will come when
rules will control my life and not me.
I'm not trying to escape you. I
never was." Lance chewed his lip
for a moment. "I want to be with
you, but how can I when I can't get past your defenses!"
"Kinda hard when you are never around
long enough to be bothered."
"Kinda hard to be around when you never
let me in to begin with. Makes me feel
like I'm the only one who is bending over backwards trying to make this
work. Like I'm just needed as a quick
fuck."
Keith rolled his eyes. "All you are
ever interested in is the sex. Soon as you ain't getting enough, you take off
running back to the streets."
"It is obvious to me that you don't listen to a word I say either!" Lance growled as he stood up and glared at
Keith. "And if you actually think that then there is less
in this relationship than I thought! I
take it that all the times we do
spend together, away from the fucking bed,
mean absolutely NOTHING to you!"
"And what time would that be? The only
time we spend together outside the room is in class. All the other times you
are off alone. You don't want to do
anything, but run around on the streets alone.
That's all you ever want anymore…"
"Oh really?" Lance snarled, glaring at Keith harder. "I guess you have forgotten all the
dinners we had together. Or the movies
we've seen. Not to mention the many
nights I spent with you teaching you how to dance so you wouldn't make a fool
of yourself in class. Or the times you
helped me with Latin." He said
sarcastically as he counted off even more times on his fingers. "Oops!
I seem to have run out of fingers!
But then again, what difference does it make! Since you can't remember any of those times then frankly I'm surprise you even
notice when I'm gone!"
"How about the fact that ALL of those
times were always in the room? Dinner is always take-out. Movies always
rentals. Can't have anyone knowing you're gay, you don't want anyone to know. I
mean if they knew all those girls wouldn't flirt with you and that would just
never do." Keith said, his voice quiet as he slowly stepped towards Lance.
"You take off leaving me alone, kinda hard not to notice that you aren't
here. You expect me to just sit around and wait until you come back and roll
over for you to relieve yourself."
"NO I DON'T! YOU MEAN MORE THAN 'RELIEF' TO ME!" Lance was surprised that Duo and Heero hadn't
come into the bathroom by now. "You
wanted to keep it quiet! Or at least I thought you did! Hell, every
time I tried to kiss or hug you in public, you would push me away! Why don't you tell me this stuff instead of
leaving me to try and figure it out!"
"You are the one who carries on about
not letting people know we are together, like it's some big horrible secret
that you want to hide in shame…or a mistake that you just can't correct."
Keith said. He stood directly in front of Lance, so close they were almost
touching. His black eyes overly bright. "I have had enough of running,
it's time you make your choice – stay or go?"
Lance stared at Keith a moment, a few tears
falling from his hazel eyes. "I
thought you wanted to keep it
quiet! You never talk to me. How will I know that you won't still push me
away? You always have. Why would you stop now?"
"I do because you keep leaving me.
Every time you leave I fear that you won't return, that's why…that's the only
reason why. If I gave in completely and didn't keep my heart distanced…the day
you didn't return would be the day I died."
"You mean that all this frickin' time when
I've been leaving to try and figure you out, it has been actually helping to cause this mess!"
Keith reached out with one hand and wiped
Lance's tears away with his thumb. He wasn't sure of what to say so he said
nothing.
Lance smiled sadly. "Why didn't you say anything before? I would
have stopped if I had known it upset you that
much! Why didn't you just talk to me
instead of hiding in those books of yours?"
“I gave up saying anything because it never
seemed to make a difference. You want to escape everything by leaving. You never let me help you…you've only known
Duo for a few hours and you've confided more in him then you ever have me.”
Keith said.
Lance thought what Keith said over for a
minute before mumbling quietly. "I
didn't think you wanted to help
me..."
“I didn't think you wanted my help. I'd try
and you'd chose to leave before I could even say anything…so I gave up trying
to say anything.”
"I'm really confused now!" Lance laughed slightly.
“Nothing new there.” Keith said with a small
teasing smile.
"I guess so." Lance laughed before gazing at Keith
seriously. "Stay...if you still
want me too."
Keith blinked and looked at Lance as though
trying to understand the words Lance had just said. “Of course I want you to
stay…isn't that what all of this has been about?”
"Yeah...just wanted to be sure."
Lance wrapped his arms around Keith's neck and pulled him into a tight
embrace. "I'll promise not to leave
anymore, but..." He pulled back slightly.
"You have to promise to talk to me...in English. I still can't read
that body language of yours correctly yet and I'm not sure I ever will!"
Keith slid his arms around Lance's waist. “I
talk as long as you stay...Now let's take that shower.”
"Sounds like a plan to me." Lance laughed as he hugged Keith again. "But I thought you didn't like Duo...and
here you are taking his suggestion."
“I don't like him. But that doesn't mean I
won't take every opportunity I can to see you naked.” Keith replied.
"You can be such a pervert at
times." Lance shook his head in wonder, smiling teasingly. "Just give Duo a chance. You may like him once you get to know
him. After all, you didn't like me when
we first met."
Keith didn't reply, just started the shower.
He didn't want to say that he doubted he'd ever like Duo…the boy was just too
strange.
Lance shook his head again, before removing
his shorts and stepping into the shower.
His look feigned innocence as he looked at his lover. "You coming?"
“No. I thought I'd just watch.” Keith said,
his voice dripping with sarcasm as he undressed. He slid into the shower behind
Lance. “Watching from in the shower is a better idea though.”
"I would hope so." Lance turned and pulled Keith into a shy,
timid kiss. "Again, I'm
sorry."
“Hush.” Keith said and captured Lance's lips
with a deep searing kiss that only broke for the need of air. “You don't have
to be sorry.”
Lance wrapped his arms around Keith's neck,
pulling him closer. He didn't know how
long he just stood there holding his best friend as the warm water rained down
on them. "Please don't ever leave
me." Lance whispered so quietly,
almost as if he was afraid that just saying it too loud would cause the other
man to vanish.
“I could never leave you anymore then I
could stop breathing.”
Lance smiled but continued to hold the other
man tightly. Finally, he regretfully let
go. "I guess we better clean up
before the water gets cold."
The water was just starting to get cold by
the time they had finished getting washed up… and, unlike Duo, Lance's hair was
still dyed. It took almost as long to get dried off as it had taken for the
shower. It was a little over an hour later when they emerged from the bathroom,
clad in only their boxer shorts. (*sighs* And people complain about my
showers!)
Heero and Duo were curled up together on one
of the beds with a sheet pulled up over their waists. Duo's long braid was undone and his wavy
brown hair cascaded over both of them. Duo lifted his head sleepily and glanced
at Lance and Keith.
Lance smiled reassuringly at Duo, before
petting Duo's head. "Go back to
sleep Dork."
“G'night Lamb.” Duo grinned before settling
his head back down on Heero's chest.
Keith said nothing as he laid on his bed and situated himself under the
covers to wait for Lance.
Chuckling, Lance crawled under the covers
and snuggled closer to Keith. "I
think his sugar rush has finally worn
off!"
“Should have gave him knockout drops in the
first place. He's not quite so annoying when he's asleep.” Keith said.
"And you complain about me!" Lance snickered as he rested his head on
Keith's shoulder. "I don't think
I'm that bad!"
Keith wrapped his arms around Lance. “You're
definitely a lot less annoying.”
Lance yawned as he wrapped his arms around
Keith, pulling himself deeper into the embrace.
"Maybe. Duo just acts like a
little brother. Fun but annoying at the
same time."
“More annoying then anything.” Keith said
and yawned (after all yawns are contagious). “Let's get some sleep.”
"Okay.
I love you." Lance mumbled
before falling asleep.
(SEE!
We managed to whip them back into shape!
They know better than to stay temperamental for too long! Dangerous to their health! *evil laughter*)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The long weekend felt even longer then four
days to some people because Duo had somehow managed to find himself a
never-ending supply of sugar and only seemed to crash for a bare minimum of
sleep. And somehow he dragged Lance into all his hijinx… including turning the
school swimming pool into a batch of Cherry Jell-o.
Keith anxiously watched Heero as he typed on
his computer near the fountain in the school courtyard. He glanced over at Sven and Wufei. Both men still
smelled of Tide! Keith never dreamed
that a small box of Tide could fill an entire bathroom with suds! He could also never figure out how Duo and
Lance were able to sneak into Sven's bathroom while the other two were
showering without being detected,
much less sneak out!
The portal slowly opened and Trowa and
Quatre were quick to say their good-byes and fled to the relative safety of
their own world where Duo didn't have a partner in crime. Wufei was a little
slower to leave, seemingly less anxious to get away…probably because it meant
still having to deal with Duo unless they left Duo there. Heero waited
impatiently by the portal for Duo who was enthusiastically saying his
good-byes, leaving Lance for last. Duo almost bowled Lance over in big hug.
“I'll miss ya, Lan-man!”
Lance smiled warmly, somehow managing to
keep his balance and hug Duo tightly in return all at the same time. "I'll miss you too, Dodo! Try not to give the others too many gray hairs! Save it for when I get to come see you!"
Duo sighed and hugged Lance one last time
before stepping over to Heero. “Catch ya on the flip side.” He waved
dramatically to everyone before Heero grabbed his braid and pulled him through
the portal.
"Bye bro!" Lance laughed as the portal closed. He grinned evilly as the others all sighed in
relief, Sven letting out the loudest sigh.
Then Keith stepped up behind him, wrapping his arms around his waist and
sighing into Lance's shoulder.
"Need some aspirin love?"
“Not now that he's finally gone.” Keith
said, praying that he never saw the braided baka ever again.
"Poor baby." Lance gently patted Keith's arms before
glancing at the others celebrating.
"Aw come on. Duo wasn't that bad!"
“Maxwell is a horrible little vermin.” Sven
said, sounding very much like Wufei.
“Yeah, what he said…only worse.” Keith
mumbled.
Lance shook his head as Pidge and Hunk
quickly nodded their agreements.
"Naw...he's just misunderstood.
I really learned a lot from him!"
“WE'RE DOOMED!!” Pidge yelled in terror,
clinging to Hunk.
“Do us a favor and forget all the things you learned from him.” Keith said.
"Okay." Lance shrugged before smirking. "As long as no one pisses me off. No telling when the stuff might pop up again!"
“I'm just glad this weekend is over and we
never have to see Duo again.” Keith replied.
By this time Sven had wandered off and Hunk and Pidge had left to be
alone, leaving only Keith and Lance.
Lance laughed as he leaned back into Keith's
embrace. "Are you sure about
that? These portals are very unpredictable."
“I can only pray that there is never another portal that lets him through.” Keith said.
"I will admit that it will be nice to
have our room back to ourselves."
Lance grinned as he lightly brushed a kiss on Keith's cheek.
“Let's go take advantage of that fact.”
Keith smirked and pulled Lance to their room where they made wild passionate
sex all day – or at least until their first class.
owari
^_~
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^