Here we go with Act II...enjoy!
Hilde wasn't even supposed to show up in this story. Her role in this story doesn't mirror any character in the play. The only reason why she is here is because I kept having this nagging suspicion that Duo can't cook....
"Thank you for inviting me to dinner, Duo," said Relena as she stepped through the doorway, "but you never told me who else was going to be here. Is it a surprise?"
"Kind of," he said innocently. "I just heard that a bunch of us were in the area, and I thought, hey, why not invite them all over for dinner? You know, reminisce about the past, drink some wine, enjoy Hilde's cooking...that kind of stuff." He escorted her into the house.
"Who's 'them'?" asked Relena suspiciously.
"Oh, you know, Sally and Wufei, and Heero..."
"Heero?"
"Yep. Figured you'd be happy to see him, seeing as how your whole political career doesn't lend much to romance."
Relena glared at Duo reprovingly. Duo just looked innocently back at her.
They entered into the living room, where the other three guests sat waiting. Neither Wufei nor Heero budged from their seats. Wufei grunted noncommittally and nodded in Relena's general direction. Heero just met her eyes with his typical cold, calculating stare. Sally Po stood up. "Welcome, Relena. It's great to see you again!"
"Likewise, Sally. Sometimes I wish I had a bit more free time to spend with old friends."
Hilde stepped into the room from the kitchen, drying her hands on a towel. "Hi, Relena! Glad you could make it! Dinner is ready, and since we're all here, we might as well get started. If you'll all follow me..." The party followed Hilde into the dining room, and sat around the table.
Duo hurried into the kitchen, where the plates had already been prepared. Hilde followed closely behind him. "Duo, what are you doing? I said I'd take care of the meals! Shoo!" She tried to push him out of the kitchen.
"Aw, come on, Hilde, you've done enough. Let me help!" He aimed his most disarming smile in her general direction.
It worked. "All right," she said reluctantly. "I suppose you really can't do that much damage to the food now that it's been prepared." She turned and walked back into the dining room.
Duo watched her retreating figure until she was safely out of sight. Carefully he pulled the pouch containing the powder out from its hiding spot behind the toaster, and carefully sprinkled it on two of the plates. It glittered slightly as it descended, then faded into the food. Duo was impressed. "Gotta hand it to those scientists of Quatre's," he muttered to himself. Tucking the bag behind the toaster, he hurried into the dining room with the two plates he hadn't sprinkled with the powder, placing them before Sally and Relena.
"My, what service. I never thought I'd live to see the day when the God of Death was my waiter!" Sally drawled sarcastically.
"Just doing my part to be the good host!" Duo said innocently. He then brought out the plates for Heero and Wufei. "I hope this works!" he said to himself as he began to pour the wine.
"What I couldn't believe was that you stood on a cliff...a goddang cliff, ferchrissakes, and called, "HEeeeeeroo! Come'n Kiiiiilll Meeee!" Sally stood on the edge of the couch to demonstrate her point, the wineglass dangling precariously from her hand.
"Aww, stoppitt..." mumbled Relena. "Can I help it if I wanted to talk to him again? I didn't really want him to kill me..." She tugged half-heartedly at Sally's pants leg, then took another sip of wine. Sally very carefully set her glass down on the end table, then flopped down onto the couch next to Relena, giggling.
"Don't worry 'bout it, R'lena," slurred Sally. "Fact, I remember when I first met Heero...he was strapped to an examination table, and I thought to myself, I says, 'Sally, that guy over there, he is..." She leaned over and whispered something in Relena's ear. The two young women burst into laughter.
The boys weren't doing much better. Wufei and Heero sat on the floor under the table, backs to each other, each leaning against the other to keep from falling over. Wufei was holding the wine bottle like a security blanket. Heero was singing, "Don't worry...be happy..." in a drunken tenor, with Wufei joining him on the chorus. The two sounded frighteningly similar to a pair of dogs baying at the moon.
And if he weren't waiting desperately for them to pass out, Duo would have found the whole scene rather funny. Hilde had left hours ago to run errands, but Duo had his suspicions that she had in reality went to a friend's house to escape the drunken revelry she had known would take place. He hadn't told her the real reason why he had wanted to get his friends drunk to the point of passing out so badly, and he also suspected that she was annoyed with him for keeping secrets from her.
Finally, Sally and Relena were both out cold on the couch. Heero had slumped forward and was mumbling something about his mission. Wufei still hung on to consciousness desperately, swaying back and forth. "Na...Nataku...mmmphh...." He gently toppled over and began snoring.
"Finally!" thought Duo. He dragged Heero out from underneath the table and put him on the couch next to Relena. Draping Sally's arm over one shoulder, he led her down the hall to the guest bedroom. "Wha...what? Mom?" she mumbled incoherently. "Where's Sparky? Did I miss the bus?"
"Just go back to sleep, Sally," Duo murmured in her ear.
She smiled beatifically. "Oh...Brian...issyou...c'mere..." She leaned forward to kiss Duo, and ended up flopping forward as she passed out again. He laid her gently on the bed. "I don't know who Brian is, but you'd better hope Wufei doesn't find out about him," he said. Finally, he pulled Wufei out from under the table to put him in the room with Sally. "Damn!" he grunted. "For being so small, he sure is heavy!"
He walked back into the dining room and flopped down in a chair. He looked over at the couch. Heero had slumped down until his head was resting in Relena's lap.
"A job well done, if I do say so myself," he thought. "Well, these lovebirds will be out for a little while. I might as well step out myself!" He grabbed his baseball cap when suddenly he had a thought. He went into the kitchen and grabbed the pouch of powder. "Never know when this stuff might come in handy!"
C & C? Anyone?