04-Aug-2000
Title: Mission Arcadia
bonnejean & vonceia *present*Category: yaoi, AU
RavynFyre & Kateri Marie
in The B&V Guest Authors Series!
Duo - words, thoughts, actions - RavynFyre
Heero - words, thoughts actions - Kateri Marie
Rip & Jack, Their World and General Production - bonnejeanne & vonceia
Duo sighed happily, sated from yet another wonderful Arcadia meal. If they kept feeding them all like this, they'd be hard pressed to get him to leave and head back to their own world one of these days.
He eyed Heero sitting across the room from him, an evil grin spreading across his features.
"So, Hee-chan... Decided what you're gonna wear to the party tonight?" he asked innocently, his hentai mind already supplying him with a myriad of images.
Heero glared at Duo for a moment then glanced down at his jeans and the present shirt. Then he lifted his eyebrows to make the answer even more obvious. "Hn."
"No way. We're like the guests of honor or something. You can't just wear that!" Duo protested.
"Besides... they left you that really cool outfit," he continued suggestively as he meandered over to stand near his partner.
Unfazed, Heero crossed his arms over his chest, "So?"
"You're going to be difficult about this, aren't you?"
Heero leaned back slightly in the chair, regarding Duo with placid blue eyes, not flinching a bit.
Duan reached up and tapped Heero's arm. "Don't ya like it here?" he asked.
Heero looked down at Duan, a faint wash of surprise flitting over his face, "Hai."
"Then if you like it, why don't ya want to dress up for the party in special clothes?" Duan asked.
Kenny frowned, and silently edged closer to Duan, preparatory to a braid-grab.
Duo reached down absently and caught up the end of Duan's braid, protecting it in a preemptive manner. He spared a glance and a wink down for his partner in crime.
Kenny glanced up at Duo, looked down, and prepared an alternative attack - elbow nudging Duan with one short jab.
"Ow!" Duan cried out and frowned over at Kenny. "You gotta wear somethin' nice too! We'll hurt their feelings!"
Kenny scowled, shaking his head. No.
Heero scowled too, the expression settling over his face like a stone wall.
Duan sighed, then looked up at Heero with large moist eyes. "I'm sorry," he said. "You can wear what you want." His first urge was to run, but he opted for studying his shoes instead.
Damn. The thought crossed Heero's mind the instant Duan's sigh reached his ears. This did not bode well. Then the boy lifted his eyes and Heero could see his defeat. There was just no defense against eyes like that.
With a sigh of his own, Heero straightened and swallowed a grumble. A calloused hand reached down and lifted Duan's chin. "You win. Fancy clothes it is. But no tie. Agreed?"
Duan smiled suddenly, exonerated once again, and nodded. "No ties," he said.
Heero shook his head slightly, a bemused smile flickering onto his lips - always the eyes. Those eyes should be listed as a fatal weapon.
Duo spared a quick, conspiratorial glance down at Duan, then he turned to Kenny.
"How bout you? Gonna join in?"
Kenny tried to scowl again. He looked up at Heero trying to determine if he needed to maintain the honor of the unit.
Heero shrugged, still wearing that smile
Kenny decided to stay quiet. He didn't think there were any dress-up clothes there for little kids, maybe he could skate this thing after all.
Duan nudged Kenny with an elbow.
Kenny glared at Duan.
"Hmm... where'd that remote go? I know we have cool clothes for the party... but somehow I doubt they got you guys anything yet," Duo said, looking around for the vid screen remote.
Spying it on a table nearby, he let go of Duan's braid and pounced.
Kenny blanched. Then he tilted his head. "They like to dress up here," he said softly. "We could switch... me as you and Duan as Heero."
Heero grimaced at the first part. Dressing up was not high on his list of favorite duties.
Duo eyed Kenny dubiously.
"Hmm.. Let's see what they have first, ne? Unless... Unless it would really make you unhappy," he offered, cocking his head at Kenny.
Kenny sighed and sat down.
"It's just clothes," Duan said. "It's not like you're gonna get hit or something. Just think of it as spy clothes. Nobody knows who you are, ne?" He looked at his friend, patting him on the shoulder. "But, if you don't wanna, then I'm not gonna either cause we're together," he added sitting down next to Kenny.
Kenny sighed again and simply looked at Duo with the expression of a resigned prisoner.
Duo sighed and put down the remote.
"We're all supposed to have fun tonight, I'm guessing. You're off the hook, kiddo."
Kenny picked up the remote and handed it to Duan with a slight nudge. "Pick something," he said quietly. He met Duan's eyes for a moment so his friend could see that it was okay.
Duan took a little breath, his eyes brightening. Using the remote, he aimed it at the screen and went immediately to the sections with kids clothes. Scanning a couple of selections, he settled on an outfit. "That one," he said, proudly. It was a mirror image of Heero's outfit.
Heero smiled at the boy and then turned to Kenny with a commiserate glance, "Good choice." They could be tortured together.
Kenny smiled very slightly. He nudged Duan. "Hurry up... then we can go down and get them."
No sense in delaying the inevitable.
Duan nodded.
In a few minutes, the kids clothes were ordered and the two of them took off to go get the garments while Duo and Heero got dressed.
Duo smiled at Heero as the boys vanished.
"Would it help if I promised to make it up to you?"
Heero eyed his lover for a moment, the scowl softening slightly. But he didn't respond.
"Heh. Let's go get dressed, koibito."
A warmth flooded Heero's eyes at that word and the scowl faded even more as he followed his lover back to the bedroom, resigned to his fate.
Later, the four found themselves headed down the elevator once again. The sky was beginning to darken and through the glass it was easy to spot the location of the party.
As the sun began to fall below the horizon, lights strung across the streets and wound through the trees glowed with a festive illumination. The air glittered. People wandered into the streets around City Hall, dressed in bright colors and amazing ornamentation. The low vibration of bass notes from music in the Park throbbed through the streets and penetrated the glass buildings, and the tunnels below.
As an extra attraction, a small troupe of wandering performers, a true rarity, had come into Arcadia and promptly joined the party. The electric wagons were parked by the bayou, but the brightly painted letters naming the group 'Carnivale Risqué' had been seen and reported throughout the tiny city.
Gangs of children formed into gaming groups, playing tag, hide and catch, filling the air with laughter. In front of City Hall, the epicenter of the free-wheeling street jam, the reflection pool was banked on one side by the Carnivale performers who had set up a high-wire, juggling, and trained animal acts. On the other side, the small staged rocked with music and a band that changed musicians often and fluidly, without missing a beat.
As Heero and Duo, with the small boys in tow, made their way to the pool, they were greeted on every side with smiles, quick embraces, and welcoming words.
"Thank you!" they were told from person after person, "For bringing the Base children back safely!"
The bass beat from the stage was loud and infectious, and the crowd around the reflection pool seemed to gyrate in unison, every male, female, man, woman or child responding to the music in some way, from toe-tapping to outright boogey.
A small cheer went up from the group around the pool as a tall, long-limbed figure jumped easily to the stage. Ripper was dressed as if he were a member of the Carnivale troupe, and in fact had just come from their side of the pool where he'd been having fun with the young lady knife-thrower. He wore clingy velvet tights of purple velvet and a loose frilly shirt striped in white, yellow and green. His brilliant red hair was tossed wildly and his eyes were made up with streaks of glitter.
Snapping his fingers with the beat, he twirled on the crowded little stage, to the grins and catcalls of the musicians. Fluttering hands played air-bass, and the wide grin was blinding. He spotted the two pilots and their charges, catching their eyes, as he moved to the center of the stage, grabbing a microphone on a stand that was waiting for the next singer.
Hips swaying, looking directly at the pilots, he sang:
"Memories of things that never happened
These are always the hardest to forget.
All the old friends and the loved ones...
These are the people you haven't even met!
Looking forward into the old days
Looking back at what there's gonna be
There's no reality - it's just an illusion
There's no real sanity - just plain confusion!"
The musicians sang the next line to Rip:
"How do you feel?"
Who answered:
"Well I don't know just how I feel
All I know is that I love you -
It's so real, so real, so real...Here we go!
There is no single circumstance
I never took a final chance
I made myself a thing
You can see and touch forever
You always look the same
From every angle
And never cast a shadow
That would change the way I felt about your very being
And what you're seeing
Would always be, would always be, would always be
Would always be the truth..."
And the crowd sang:
"How do you feel?"
And Rip answered, grinning:
"Well I don't know just how I feel
All I know is that I love you -
It's so real, so real, so real...All the seasons I have spoken
All the reasons I have rhymed
Form a state of incandescence
Just imagine what is real
Simply there no words were spoken
Just imagine what is real?"[1]
Standing on the top steps in front of City Hall, Jack watched, a smile stretching his painted lips, changing his face to something young and joyful as he watched his partner.
Red slid up beside him, looking old enough to be a favorite aunt, and no longer hurting over it. "Enjoying the party, Controller?" she said, taking his arm.
Jack tilted a green look at her. "Of course. Having a nice time, Controller?"
"Certainly. The Carnivale arriving today was a stroke of luck for the party, don't you think?" she answered serenely.
"Yes... lucky," Jack said, his remarkably deep voice hinting at dry humor. A small figure dashed past and Jack felt a prickle of something. "Red, love..."
"Yes?'
"Keep an eye on Raj. His father is... away tonight. And his mother is sitting with Nana in the Trose."
Red frowned slightly, then cleared her expression. "Of course, Controller...."
He gave her another green-eyed look. Red smiled.
"Of course, Jack."
The cheer was spontaneous, and Rip jumped down as a young woman took his place and the beat propelled the music into another song.
Heero blinked in surprise. Rip could sing. It took him a moment to process that. Then he shook his head slightly, still amazed at the fact and the song. It wasn't what he had expected.
Duo grinned over at his partner, a little taken aback himself.
"Man of many talents, ne?"
"So it seems." Heero replied in a near grunt.
"Wonder who he likes better," Duo quipped, snickering at Heero's expected glare.
"Hn." Heero growled lowly, tugging Duo's braid. "Behave, baka," he ordered.
"Why start now?" Duo asked innocently.
"Sorry Duo!" Duan said, realizing he hadn't covered Duo's back or his braid.
"S'all right, kiddo." Duo assured him with a wink.
Rip made his way through the dancing crowd towards the little group. He bowed with a theatrical flourish, scanning the nicely dressed young men appreciatively. The deep red velvet suit only added to Duo's sensuous beauty, and the sapphire-blue silk shirt with the black satin pants and vest Heero wore enhanced his incredible looks with sleek sophistication.
"Lovely!" Rip said brightly. "I won't ask if you're having fun... if you aren't.... you don't know how! But you will."
"Hmm... Is that a threat? Or a promise?" Duo asked with a grin.
"It's better than that!" Rip grinned. "It's salvation!"
He smiled at Heero, not expecting a smile back. He nodded to the small performance area across the reflection pool. "Carnivale," he said. "The lady is good with knives. And the boy is very light on his feet..."
"Hey Ripper!" Duan called, looking way up at the tall man.
Rip grinned at Duan and winked.
"You sing real good!" Duan said, excitedly.
"Thank you!" Rip said, bowing again. He pointed to the area he'd been talking about. "Look, Duan - trained animals! And a high wire!"
Duan looked in the direction Rip pointed in with opened mouth wonder and awe. He took Kenny's hand, squeezing it. "Look! Animals! And those people!" he said.
Kenny's eyes widened. He'd never seen animals except out in the wilderness and then not up close.
Duo grinned over at Rip.
"So, ya found someone as fascinated with knives as you, huh?"
Rip snickered. "Not quite... but close."
Heero cocked his head towards the tent and decided to test a suspicion. "What's the lady's name?"
"Katrina," Rip answered. "Shall I take the boys over, hmmm?"
Heero glanced sidelong at Duo then shook his head at Rip. "We all go." There was no way he was letting Rip take the kids near all those knives.
"Yah! I wanna go too!" Duo said, grinning idiotically.
Heero contemplated for a moment. It may not be such a good idea to take Duo near all those knives either.
"And I know exactly what you're thinking, you spoilsport!" Duo said, sticking his tongue out at Heero childishly.
Heero glared for a second and then settled into a smug look. "Hn." He said. He'd let Duo create his own disaster. It would be fun to watch at least.
And when he put a knife through his own foot...
Duan looked up at Duo, then to Heero. "You guys stick your tongue out... and nobody tells ya stuff. Hn," he said, shaking his head.
Rip snickered.
"And just what's so funny, Glitterboy?" Duo asked Rip with a grin.
"Nothing, nothing... Braid Boy!" Rip laughed.
Duo bowed in response, adding a flourish at the end and carefully controlling where the end of said braid whipped as he stood back up.
Duan pulled at Duo's hand. "C'mon... Animals..." he urged, attempting to drag the bigger boy.
"Sugoi!" Duo crowed, allowing himself to be dragged.
Kenny looked at Heero, trying to get visual permission to follow, all but leaning after the two braided ones.
Heero had to suppress a chuckle at the look on Kenny's face. But he offered his hand quickly, "Let's go!"
Kenny grabbed Heero's hand and a smiled flickered across his face as he tugged forward to make up the time behind the other two.
The route was short enough - around the end of the reflection pool and they were there. There were a lot of people around the very small tent and a wire was set up outside of it, suspended about twelve feet from the ground. There was another wire set up below it, at a height of four feet, which appeared to be thicker.
As they approached, they heard the sound of a low roar, and a beautiful lioness jumped up and began walking sure-footedly across the lower wire, following the movement of a small boy who was walking confidently across the top wire. The watching crowd hushed in excitement.
Duo peered up at the tightrope-walking boy intently, impressed by his confidence and balance.
The boy on the tightrope was slender, with auburn brown hair cut short, except for a shock of hair that fell across his face.[2]
Heero shook his head as he saw the tightrope boy. He couldn't help but chuckle this time. It was the first thing about this world that had been even remotely predictable.
The lioness and the boy both made it safely to the other side and there was a cheer. A young woman waved her hand and said, "Let's hear it for Sheeba the lioness, and Tryan!"
Duan clapped and cheered loudly. He had never seen such wondrous things in his life. Not only was the lioness great, but the little boy was like something magical in what he was doing.
Kenny clapped also, his eyes wide.
The boy climbed down from the high-wire and laid a hand on the lioness, walking her back to the tent. They passed in front of the small group and he glanced up, from under the hair.
"Hi!" Duan said, excitedly. "I'm Duan and this is my friend Kenny!"
"Hi," the young acrobat replied. "You can call me Tryan," he said, quietly with a small, professional bow.
Kenny nodded, and looked in longing amazement at the beautiful and large lioness standing patiently by the other boy, with one of his hands resting on her back.
Duan, who was wound up tighter than a coil, bounced from one foot to the other. He wanted to touch the lioness, but did not dare.
Tryan looked down, suppressing a smile. He understood. "Her name is Sheeba," he said. "You can touch her here." He stepped up a little, but said nothing more.
As this was happening, the young woman came up to Heero and Duo.
"Are you enjoying the show?" she asked, smiling.
Heero inclined his head, "Hai." He supplied.
Duo nodded more enthusiastically, a wide smile splitting his face.
"You bet!"
She nodded. "Excellent," she said. Then she tilted her head. "Are you the ones who brought the children from that other base?"
"Yeah. Why for?" Duo asked pleasantly.
"Your friend asked me to tell you about the one we came from just before this," she said, lowering her voice slightly. When she said 'friend', she nodded back to the top of the steps of City Hall at the head of the reflection pool. They could see Jack standing there watching the crowd.
"Hn." Heero grunted, following the motion, then turning piercing blue eyes back to her.
"Yeah. What he said," Duo said, his grin making it a joke between them all.
"Huh?" said Katrina, not versed in Heero-speak.
"Shall we go someplace quieter and let the kids play?" Duo offered.
"Sure, come into the tent," she said leading them to the small, canvas structure close by.
Duo glanced down at Duan before he followed the woman.
"Go have fun. Don't do anything I wouldn't, okay?" he said with a chuckle.
Heero sighed, "And try not to blow up the place." He added dryly.
"Okay!" Duan said. "You can brief us later."
"Will do, commander," Duo retorted with a mock salute.
Duan nodded and saluted back, formally.
Heero caught Kenny's eye and motioned towards Duan in a clear 'keep your eyes on him' gesture. Then he smiled and turned towards the tent.
Kenny nodded briskly.
However, once Heero turned away, he nudged Duan gently and exchanged a meaningful look with his best friend.
Duan nodded, then looked back up at Tryan.
Inside the tent, there were several animals, resting away from the crowd.
"My name is Katrina," the woman said, offering them seats on a bale of hay. "Your friend talked to us when we got here today. We told him that a few days ago we'd been traveling this way from the coast and had... well basically come across what we thought was a small settlement. It turned out to be something else. We were lucky to get away. But this place, where people were living under ground, was very scary and dangerous. However, there were children there... I know of one anyway. The one that helped us get away."
"Lemme guess... Short... Blonde... Teal eyes... Very kind?" Duo asked.
Katrina blinked. "Well he was blond. I don't know if his eyes were teal but he was short - he was the same age as Tryan," she said.
"Do you know this boy?" she asked, puzzled.
"Not exactly... but... Hmm. What did our 'friend' tell you about us?" Duo asked.
Katrina laughed. "Not too much! He said you were not natives to this city and that you were defenders of the children."
Duo glanced over at Heero, wondering how much, if anything, they should explain.
Heero shook his head slightly, there was no need to rehash the whole story. The less people that knew the more comfortable they could be.
Instead he looked at Katrina and asked, "Do you remember how to get to that place?"
Katrina nodded. "I can do better than that. I can draw you a map," she said. "This is our first trip through this area so we've been mapping as we go. I'll make you a copy. But if you intend to go there I must tell you that it is very dangerous. The people there seem to think they are in some kind of war, although that's ridiculous. There's no one to fight with, now that the Greenies are all gone!"
"The kid that helped you... Did you get his name? And how did he help you?"
"I don't know his name," Katrina said. "But Tryan might. He snuck inside the place before we left the area."
"Hn." Heero made a note of that. The boy might have learned something very useful.
Katrina sighed. "He didn't want us to leave the child. He wanted him to come with us but the boy wouldn't come. He said that if he did, they wouldn't never let us go."
"Why is he so important to them?" Heero mused.
Katrina shook her head. "I don't know, but there was something different about that child. He said he had seen us coming from a distance and I don't think he meant through a telescope."
Duo nodded to himself, having expected as much. He shot another glance at Heero.
Heero sighed, too much to be coincidence. "Anything else that might help?"
Thinking for a moment, Katrina shook her head. "I can't think of anything but I will ask Tryan if he can offer any more information. I'm afraid he won't be able to do it tonight - he has his hands full with the animals, with all the people about. But when we get them bedded down for the night, I'll see if he can come talk to you."
"That'd be great," Duo replied, nodding.
"Your little brothers look like they might want to join the Carnivale," she said with a teasing look. "You better keep your eyes on them."
Duo laughed heartily, nodding in agreement. "I always thought working in a carnival would be a blast myself."
Katrina laughed. "Well you're quite a nice looking young man, and I bet you have some talents. Let me know if you want to try out sometime!"
Duo threw a wicked smirk at Heero before he turned back to Katrina.
"I'll think about it. Meanwhile... We'd best go rescue Tryan from the kids..."
Katrina nodded, but added, "Not that I'm worried. Tryan's a match for any kid we've ever met," she said, leading the way out of the tent.
"Even me?" Duo asked innocently.
Katrina looked at Duo thoughtfully. "You know, now that you mention it, I've just realized something... you seem... to be about, what? Sixteen?"
Heero's blue eyes darkened slightly but he waited, slightly tense.
"Seventeen, actually," Duo chirped.
She nodded. "Of course you know that's impossible," she said, then winked at the two and moved off as another of the Carnivale people called her name.
"Let's go." Heero said slightly, uncomfortable with the sheer press of people.
"You'd best be careful, Hee-chan. You're almost over word quota for the next month," Duo teased, glancing around for the boys.
As Duo looked around, he spotted Duan and Kenny standing under a nearby tree, talking quietly with Tryan... and Wufan who had appeared from somewhere.
Duo sighed softly, his eyes clouding up a little at the sight of the small group.
"Fate, ne?" he whispered to himself.
But Heero heard the whispered word. He took his lover's hand discreetly and squeezed it gently. "Destiny."
Duo smiled down at the rare public show of affection. A teasing glint entered his gaze as he replied, "Either that or a pair of meddling psychos."
"Hn." Heero agreed.
End of Part 16
Notes:
[1] The song sung by Ripper is actually a song from the soundtrack of the
movie "Toys". On the soundtrack album, it's writer/musician Thomas Dolby
who is singing the lead vocal but I didn't think he'd mind Ripper covering
his song ^__^. If you can handle a large download and you'd like to listen
to an mp3 of the song, I've put it up here for you:
http://www.no-assumptions.com/listen/TheMirrorSong-ThomasDolby.mp3
[2] Tryan, alias kiddie-Trowa appears by popular request. ^__~
Let is know what you think!!!
for the writers....
bonnejeanne & vonceia present
RavynFyre and Kateri Marie
Please feel free to direct feedback to any or all of the authors!
ravynfyre@hotmail.com,
nacl3salaris@hotmail.com,
vonceia@yahoo.com,
bonnejeanne@yahoo.com.