The three sat in a rehearsal room. The far wall was covered with mirrors, allowing the casting director to see herself in the mirror. In her hand was a clipboard. To her left sat the orchestra director, fiddling with his pencil and tapping his leg with the yellow writing tool. To her right was the director of the production. She will ultimately decide how things will go.

They had already seen various people dance and prance for them. Most did very well and will most likely be in the production. Now, they must see those trying out for speaking and singing roles.

First was Heero Yuy. Short, dark, with a strong body. His voice, though slightly nasal, was very nice, and, with enough time, captivating.

"He's almost destined to be nothing in the play," the casting director told the director in a soft whisper, but the director shrugged this comment away.

"Why don't we have him interact with a possible 'Maria' instead," the director said gently.

They called in the next person for the role, but instead of the bubbly blonde that was trying out for 'Maria', in came the possible 'Riff'. He was Duo Maxwell. Attractive, with a long mass of golden-brown hair and quick, constant grin, he showed so much energy the other day that he could easily become 'Action', 'A-rab', 'Snowball', or even dull 'Diesel' as well, but 'Riff' is almost too perfect for him.

The casting director stood up. "Mr. Maxwell, you must wait till after we're done...," she began, trying to explain to Maxwell that he wasn't needed next, but the young man was ignoring her. Instead, he was hugging Yuy, asking in rapid succession how the dark-haired 'Tony' was doing in his tryout.

Yuy ignored Maxwell.

The director smiled at the sight. With a motion of her hand, she asked in a kind voice, "Mr. Maxwell, please read with Yuy starting from act one, scene five. I would appreciate it."

Maxwell blinked, then started flipping through his libretto in search of the scene. Yuy glared at the director, but the director continued to smile modestly.

In rushed the blonde that was trying out for 'Maria'. A lovely girl with long sunshine hair and a pink leotard, she comes in screaming. "There's no way that long haired Freak is reading my lines!"

The director gave her a cool gaze. "Miss Dorlain, please. You'll have your chance soon enough."

"No." She glared at the director. "I want it now!"

There was a tense silence in the room. For a few moments, the director and Dorlain glared at each other before the director finally conceded to the young woman.

She motioned to the young man at the piano. "Play 'America'."

"No!" Dorlain said, stomping her foot. Maxwell distinctively rolled his eyes. Yuy stepped away slowly. "That is not a 'Maria' song!" She glared at the pianist. "Play 'I Feel Pretty'."

The director sighed. "Fine. Do what she says."

The pianist begins the song and, right on cue, Dorlain begins to sing.

"I feel pretty.
Oh so pretty.
I feel pretty and witty and bright!
And I pity any girl who isn't me tonight!"

"Stop, stop..." cried out the orchestra director.

"What's wrong?" Dorlain asked, not understanding why everyone in the room was giving her pained glances. She was getting annoyed at the fact that Duo keeled over and died when she was singing. That wasn't very polite.

"'Maria' is supposed to have a beautiful voice," the orchestra director began.

"And?"

"What he's saying is that you sound like a mix between fingernails on a chalk board and screeching cats," Maxwell interjected.

"Shut up, you," Dorlain spat back. "Why don't you try it!"

Maxwell sat up on the floor and grinned. "Fine.

I feel pretty.
Oh so pretty
I feel pretty and witty and gay!
And I pity (here he clings to Yuy's leg affectionately while smirking at Dorlain) any girl who isn't me today!"

Dorlain glared at Maxwell, never noticing the approving nods from the directors. "That's not the words."

"It is in the movie!" Maxwell stuck his tongue out at her.

"A lovely voice," said the orchestra director.

"He would look heavenly as a girl," commented the casting director.

"Only as a last option," concluded the director, though, in her mind, Maxwell would be perfect for the part.

~~~~~end~~~~~

The iced mocha had become watered-down coffee by to the time the director was done playing with the options she had concerning her new cast. There were several people that could not fit anywhere except one particular role. She was more than thankful that was the case for many of those who tried out and will make the cut. There were others, however, that could not be confined so easily.

Juggling ideas and people back and forth was the bulk of her work that afternoon.

And there still was the problem concerning…

At that precise moment, a fury of blond hair and pink taffeta stormed unannounced into her office. "I want to be a part of this show, woman!" Dorlain demanded, slamming her palms on the director's polished wooden desk. "Give me a chance to prove to you that I can be a part of this show."

The director sighed. "If you wish, Dorlain… but do not sing 'Pretty.' It's cruel and unusual punishment," she added as an afterthought.

Dorlain cleared her throat and began to sing.

"Puerto Rico…
You lovely island.
Island of tropical breezes.
Always the pineapple growing.
Always the coffee blossoms blowing…"

The director held her hand up. She had noticed that Dorlain's voice has improved a bit, but she was correct in thinking that her voice was more suited for 'America' than 'I Feel Pretty'. She knew almost instinctively that her voice would sound cracked and wretched in higher octaves.

"Thank you, Miss Dorlain." She waved the girl out of the room, returning back to her papers and lists of possible cast members. "Please come tomorrow to know whether or not you made the cut."

Dorlain looked at her dubiously before taking the hint and leaving the room. She knew in the bottom of her heart that she will be in that show, and, because of the experience, will be closer to her Heero that ever before.

~~~the next day~~~

Alex and Mueller looked the cast list over several times, making certain that they knew who was playing what. First came the 'high-fives' they gave each other once they saw they were 'Schrank' and 'Officer Krupke', but they were uncertain as to which one of them played which part. They settled the argument with a coin-toss

The next order of business was to see whom would the lovely, talented Noin play. They smiled when they saw she won the part of 'Action'.

They frowned when they saw that Zechs got the part of 'Riff', a leading role that should go to the more-deserving Noin. It just did not do that Noin would play second fiddle to Zechs once more. They will have to bring it up in the first group rehearsal.

Rashid grinned with delight when he saw the cast list. As expected, Master Quatre won the role of 'Baby John'. A handful of Master Quatre's sisters also won plenty of supporting parts, as either 'Jet' or 'Shark' girls, while Abdul became the only Maguenat to have a speaking role.

Catherine glanced over the list and couldn't contain her excitement. Although she got a mini speaking role as 'Graziella', Trowa was given the wordy role of 'A-rab'. She couldn't have been more proud. Now she must get her brother to practice his lines.

Duo couldn't help but laugh at the list. Wufei, in the most obvious use of stereotypical casting, was to play 'Chino'. He'll make sure to tease him on and off-stage on that point.

Hilde, that hyper kinetic sugar fiend, was to play 'Anybodys'. He couldn't be more proud of the gal. And what is this about Solo being in the play as well? Some minor character, it seems…

Relena was fuming. She could not be the 'not so bright' Rosalia! She's supposed to be 'Maria'! She could not be cast into some two-bit supporting role, not when… No. It couldn't be.

"What's da matta, Re-Re?" Duo asked, surprising her for a moment before she turned around and gave him an angry stare.

"What's the matter!" she cried out. "That's the matter." She pointed to the cast sheet.

Duo gazed at it for a minute. "Let's see now. It looks like Howard and Dr. J are in the play. Interesting…"

Relena glared. "Not that, you moron. This." She pointed a hateful finger at the name listed as the play's 'Maria' and 'Tony'.

Unexpectedly, Heero, despite his lack of experience and little in the way of acting talent, was cast as 'Tony', and Duo, despite the fact that he was a boy to begin with, was going to be 'Maria'.

~~~~~end~~~~~

The newly formed cast of 'West Side Story showed up more or less on time. The Winner girls all showed up in different leotards, thank the gods, but it was still difficult keeping track of which girl went with which name. The casting director left that little detail in the capable hands of the choreographer, who will make certain that the dances are more than perfect.

Many of those with speaking roles came together. Along with his sisters came Quatre, who was accompanied by Trowa, Catherine, and Abdul. It was decided during the cuts that most of the Maguanats were too big for the role of teenage hoodlums, yet their help will be necessary later on, either as part of the various stage crews or ushers/bouncers.

Although Duo's entourage was insignificant compared to the sheer numbers of the Winner group, it counted more important people in its numbers. Heero, Hilde, Doctor J, Howard, and Solo came in with the recently christened 'Maria'.

Relena was infuriated, and was quick to show her disgust in the entire situation when she came in alongside Zechs, Dorothy, Trieze, Une, Noin, Wufei, Otto, and the reluctant Alex and Mueller. With them also were large amount of OZ soldiers, recently signed up to be backup singers and dancers, making them only slightly smaller than the Winner conglomerate.

"My, oh my," Dorothy said, her voice full of sarcasm, when she saw Solo talking with Duo and Hilde, "if it isn't a dead man walking."

"Nice eyebrows," Solo quipped. "Did you have an accident with a weed-whacker?"

"Watch out, pal," Duo joined in. "Her eyebrows have magical powers beyond that of normal eyebrows."

"Says the crossdresser," Relena said bitterly.

"And poor Re-Re's just jealous that I can be more of a girl than she could ever be." Duo gave her a wily smile.

Relena opened her mouth to respond, but at that moment the director's loud, almost shrill voice interrupt their miniature argument.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let's begin."

~~~~~

The seamstress pinned the white cloth here and there as Duo squirmed underneath the fabric and pinpricks.

"Really, is this necessary?" Duo mumbled just before another pin pricked his arm.

"Come, now," the seamstress said as she fluffed out the skirt a bit, smiling as she tailored the white dress to Duo's body. "You will look so stunning on stage in this outfit. See?" She pointed to Heero, who wasn't concentrating on his lines very well and was watching Duo from a distance. "No self-respecting 'Tony' can resist a pretty face in a white dress."

"Heero!" Duo purred. "Do you want to help me undress later?"

Heero scowled, turning back to the script he had laid on his lap earlier to focus more on Duo's fitting. "Baka."

"I love you, too," Duo said as he raised his arms for the seamstress.

"Oh, dear. Honey, quick reminder. Shave your armpits, okay?"

~~~~~

Dorothy's face twitched as she listened to Relena warm her voice up for the rehearsal.

"I won't let that street rat win!" she sang, each syllable intended to be a note on the B flat chord.

"Heero is mine!" This line was supposed to be in F chord.

Dorothy covered her ears. "Miss Relena, stop! My ears are bleeding."

Relena stopped, glaring at Dorothy for interrupting her. "I can't stop. I have to prove that I am better than that stupid Maxwell." She clenched her fist. "Heero Yuy will be mine, and no dirty street punk is going to stop me."

"No, that's what your singing's supposed to do."

Dorothy had to run away right after that, for the high and mighty (and tone deaf) Queen of the World had picked up her pocket tuner and threw it at the escaping Catalonia.

~~~~~

"Let's see now…" Treize thumbed through his pristine copy of the script, looking for his dramatic death scene while sitting on the floor of the rehearsal room.

By his legs rested Wufei, who was absentmindedly listening to the 'Caribbean Surf' CD that he had bought for his insomnia. He had one arm nonchalantly draped over Kushrenada's leg as he slept on the cold, polished floor.

"This is interesting," Zechs said. The blond, who was also sitting on the floor, was reading a dog-eared paperback copy of 'Romeo and Juliet'.

"What is?" Treize asked, curious.

"In this tale, Romeo is rejected by a woman named 'Rosaline', correct?"

"Yes."

"In the play, there is Rosalia, the 'not so bright'."

"Are you trying to imply that the Shakespearian Rosaline is the 'not so bright' Rosalia?"

"It makes sense. Why would any smart person be willing to give up such a handsome person as Heero Yuy?"

"Traitor!"

Zechs never saw the heavy tan-colored dancing shoe coming. He was knocked out cold by Relena's footwear.

Stunned, Zechs collapsed onto Wufei, waking him up from his short nap. "Of all the Injustice… Can't a person get any sleep around here!"

Treize purred. "I'll help you get back to sleep, Wufei."

From the other side of the room, Alex and Mueller cheered at the dancing shoe attack. "Wonderful shot, Miss Relena!" Alex praised.

"We couldn't have done it better ourselves," continued Mueller.

Their cheering stopped when they saw Noin rush up to the aid of her fallen Zechs.

"Are you alright?" she asked, lifting the fallen Zechs off of the irritated Wufei, cradling his injured head as she would a newborn child.

"I'm fine, Noin, but…"

"Oh, my lord Zechs has been knocked down in his prime," began Otto, who magically appeared beside Noin. "Oh, why are the most beautiful things the most fleeting?"

"Otto, stop… I'm okay…"

"Oh, how merciful the gods are towards us, allowing our beautiful blond Adonis to continue living among us imperfect mortals…" Otto praised the ceiling of the room… er, heaven… raising his arms high.

The others looked at Otto as if he had recently had a lobotomy.

~~~~~

The seamstress began to let out several stitches to accommodate Relena's body.

"Perhaps we should have tried a different dress for you, sweetie…" the seamstress began.

"No." Relena stamped her foot. "I must have the pink dress. Pink must always be worn by -me-."

The seamstress sighed. "At least you aren't Maria. Her dress is much smaller than this."

"What!"

"Watch out Relena," joked Duo, who had just come from the convenience store nearby with lunch for him and Heero. "Heero doesn't like fat girls."

Trowa and Quatre both heard the comment. Trowa smiled quietly while Quatre giggled.

"Does Heero like girls at -all-?" Quatre whispered to Trowa before eating some salad, his lunch that day.

~~~~~

"Damn it damn it DAMN IT!"

Hilde collapsed onto the cold floor, her right calf going through a major cramp. It didn't matter to her that the cast was in the middle of the opening dance/fight scene and that she needed to go through the steps along with the others, but the pain was too much.

"Hilde, are you alright?" asked happy-no-glasses Une as she leaned towards the young woman before she let out an ear-piercing scream.

She continued to scream at her pain for a good three minutes before the initial suffering passed.

Relena started to clap. "Beautiful…"

"Almost to your perfection, eh, Miss Relena?" Dorothy snided. Relena frowned at her.

"Hilde…"

Hilde gasped, noticing that Une wasn't her happy self anymore. With her glasses in place and her hair pulled back into practical buns, she glowered at the quaking brunette.

"The next time you scream like that into my ear, I will personally slice your throat and roast you."

Hilde swallowed hard.

Une removed her glasses. "Now," she said cheerfully to the others, who were sweating profusely, "can we try it again?"

~~~~~tbc~~~~~

Howard stood on the stage as several black-clad figures moved around him. Some were putting the last touches on the sets. Others were moving props and backdrops appropriately. One or two were checking the stage mikes and the lights flashed in seemingly random ways to test if they were all right.

He clapped his hands twice and shook his head wearily before clapping his hands again. He did this over and over again, trying to get the right sound, but each time was a failure. He paced back and forth on the stage, trying over again to find the right sound.

Hilde watched him as she sat in the empty audience, sipping from a bottle of juice and shaking her head. “Howard!” she called out. “Calm down! You only have, what, 5 lines? You’ll be fine…”

“But the clap is all wrong!” he called back before testing his clap again. “Too loud… no, now it’s too soft… It needs a little bit more depth… still more… God, where’s the hmph!”

Hilde shook her head. “They all sounded the same to me…”

~~~~~

“I really -do- need a shave,” Duo mumbled to himself as he examined himself in the mirror. It was rather fortunate that the rehearsal room had one of the walls fitted with a large mirror. As he stood before the smooth glass surface, he realized that he -was- a bit too hairy for the role of a young girl.

“Maybe you should get it waxed,” Solo said from behind his copy of the daily news. Duo cringed.

“Great, mention the most painful thing that I could do to my body…”

“Aw, come on,” Solo said, stretching. “Girls do it all the time. It can’t be that bad.”

~~~~~

“Frankly, I don’t see the logic behind it all,” Dr. J said over the phone as he stood away from the others. “The director is a really prick, and a fag hag to boot… Your little monster insists in calling me ‘Jo-Jo’… No, I -don't- know what that refers to… Oh, and you do… Har-har-har, very funny. To think, -you’re- a scientist… To be truthful, I don’t think I’ll be able to take this insanity any longer. All these people are so much younger than me, and it doesn’t help that, collectively, their acting abilities couldn’t fill a shoe box.”

He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “…Well, you wouldn’t say that if you were here, suffering as I am suffering… What do you mean it’s my fault for getting myself in this mess? I didn’t audition… Are you calling me a liar? Well, fine, same to you, Mushroom Man.”

“Dr. J?”

The older man turned around and noticed his boy standing off to the side. “What is it, Heero?”

“Who was that?”

Dr. J shook his head as he hung up the pay phone. “No one in particular.”

~~~~~

Duo was sweating bullets in the salon as he waited his turn. How exactly DID Solo talk him into this? Pain is fine, but actually looking for it?

God damn it...

The girl that was going to wax his hair off smiled at his shyly. "Just the armpits, or the legs too?" she asked, as if it was that simple.

"Uh, yeah... but the legs aren't that hairy," he hesitated as she took his arm and led him to what looks more like an operating table than a barber's chair.

"Now, just relax," she cooed as she kindly, but forcibly, pushed Duo down. "It won't hurt a bit."

"Have you ever had your hair waxed off?" Duo asked nervously as she stirred the hot liquid with a wooden stick.

"No, but remember! Pain is beautiful." Somehow, as she said the sado-masochistic phrase, she smiled rather innocently, setting all of Duo's warning lights to go off.

To his credit, he did not wince when the hot wax made contact with his skin. It was the tearing of his hair from his body that hurt...

~~~~~

Relena stood next the large double doors that led to the band room, listening as the small orchestra practiced the music. It sounded so beautiful to her, even in this early stage. She moved her head back and forth, swaying to the music, becoming an unseen metronome for the musicians on the other side on the doors.

As she swayed to ‘I Have a Love’, she began to sing along. At first, during the rough, accusatory lines, her voice was faint, almost melodic. As the more heart-felt lines were being played, she began to sing more forcefully, allowing her emotions for a certain sullen ‘hero’ to come through in her words. She continued to sing for sometime after the band stopped playing, who were collectively wondering who was consistently making such sour notes.

From inside the band room popped out a head. With a bit of annoyance on his round features, the orchestra director motioned to Relena.

“Miss, I know that you are very excited over being a part of the show, but, if you interrupt my -very- important rehearsal with your singing from hell, I will kill you.”

Relena blushed, not only from the rebuttal, but also from the utterance of those lovely words. “Really?” she asked, hoping against hope.

Feeling utterly disgusted, the orchestra director left her where she stood.

~~~~~

Alex looked over the edge of his cards, glaring at the other players with his best poker face. He must be serious. Otherwise, the others will guess, and perhaps correctly, that he had a good hand.

Mueller wasn’t as lucky as Alex when it came to poker faces. His expression was, bluntly, dour and cross. He wasn’t lucky when it came to cards as well.

Dorothy smirked and she shifted her cards back and forth into some semblance of order. These will go here… these work better set next to those… When she was finished, she placed the cards, face down, in front of her and waited patiently for the other three players.

Wufei, now awake and ready for almost anything, including the sight of Dr. J in a polka dot bikini strangely enough, gave his cards a soft grin before setting down his first card. His hand may be bad in some aspects, but a true warrior knows how to make everything work in his favor.

The other three players groaned. They rarely saw something like this happening as the first move of the game.

“Draw four, Dorothy,” Wufei smirked a bit. “And the color is red.”

“Are you insane, Chang? That card should be used near the end,” Dorothy protested.

“The only way to win is to be strong, confident, and a bit unhinged,” Mueller commented, nodding his head in approval of Wufei’s first move.

“Which means if Maxwell was here,” Dorothy began.

“… We would never have a chance of winning,” Alex continued.

“Eh?” Duo, dressed in the white dress, bounced up towards the card players. “You guys are playing Uno without me!!!”

“We want a chance to win, Maxwell,” Chang said as he watched Dorothy take the required four cards from the deck.

“Be careful, Maxwell,” Dorothy said with a bit of a scowl as she examined the increased number of cards in her hands. “If Relena saw you prancing around in that thing, she may have half a mind to grab you by your hair and steal that dress from you.”

“Well, I can take her,” said Duo with a confident smirk as he plopped down on the floor between Wufei and Dorothy. He peered at both of their hands and cross-examined them for a moment before noticing that Mueller placed a ‘Reverse’ card down. Dorothy, with a vengeful smirk on her lips, placed her own ‘Draw Four’ card on the pile.

“Your turn, Chang,” she said. The words that fell from her lips were made of sugar and acid. “And the color is blue.”

Wufei smirked in return and placed a ‘Draw Two’ card down. “Draw Six, Alex.”

Alex placed down a ‘Draw Two’ card as well, his green as opposed to blue. “Mueller, 8.”

Mueller peered at his companion from over the rims of his glasses before placing his card down. “Miss Catalonia, I believe you must draw ten cards now.”

Dorothy stared at the four ‘draw’ cards in front of her. Beside her, Duo was chuckling.

"Hmmm… Was it worth it?”

Dorothy shot him a venomous glare, but was no match for the sight that she was greeted to. Duo was squirming on the floor, ruining his white dress as Heero, in the appropriate jeans and t-shirt, had taken control of the other boy’s newly-waxed legs and had begun to caress them.

"Yes, very," was Heero's response as he laid himself on top of Duo.

Wufei frowned and sighed. “Sometimes, they are really pathetic…”

Dorothy took the allocated ten cards without another word.

~~~~~

Treize sat in front of one of the makeup girls and stayed perfectly still as she did her magic. She darkened his eyelashes. She used blush on his pale cheeks. His lips were given a rosy texture with some lipstick.

When she was done, she sighed in accomplishment. “Sometimes, I am just -too- good!” She tapped Treize’s sprayed-stiff coif and grinned. “Simply perfect.”

Next up was Relena. The makeup girl got out the heavy artillery for her. Not only did she had to make her pretty, she also had to add some layers of dark foundation for skin tone, blush, mascara and eyeliner, lipstick, more foundation, eyeshadow, and a helping hand with a short black wig.

She shrugged as she gave Relena the mirror. “Eh. Could had been a lot worse,” she apologized as Relena’s eyes started to tear up.

“Next!”

~~~~~

Catherine sat on the edge of the stage and stared out at the rows and rows of empty seats. Pretty soon, each and every one of those seats will be filled with audience members… people willing to watch them. It was always exciting to her: the adrenaline rush of performing before others. She could never get tired on the applause and praise.

Trowa sat down quietly beside her and stared out at the empty seats as well. A few pit members chatted and warmed up to their side.

“Are you nervous, Trowa?”

“No. It’s the same as in the circus.”

Catherine turned her head slightly and looked at her brother. “But you never talk in our act. Here you have a pretty nice speaking and singing role, and you’re not nervous?”

He ran a hand over his hair-sprayed-back hair. “It may be different, but it’s still the same. We’ll be fine.”

Catherine watched her brother for a moment more before turning back to the empty seats. “I hope so,” she whispered.

~~~~~

The director stood before the cast, crews, and band. Despite her small stature, she stood tall, commanding the attention of those under her thumb. Before her, the young people were silent, awaiting her word for she was God, and they are the ignorant mortals subjected to her whims and desires.

“Now,” she began, her voice clear and awe-inspiring, “you all know very well that tomorrow night will be our opening perfomance. I know that all of you have worked very hard to make this show the best it could be. Frankly, when I was first told that I had to deal with a bunch of gun-toting loons and air-brained princesses, I was worried. You showed me that anything is possible. All of you are the final result of that miracle. Tomorrow night, remember. You have, through your sweat, your blood, and a lot of makeup, wrung out a miracle right before your very eyes.”

She clapped her hands. “Remember to be here at your designated times and do not be late. I know you will have a great show.”

She and the other two directors left the room, leaving the ‘gun-toting loons’ and ‘air-brained princesses’ to themselves.

“I can’t believe that the first show’s tomorrow!” Relena squealed happily, clutching Dorothy’s arm. Dorothy winced, feeling her arm grow cold and numb.

Duo pulled out a pack of copies from his hair and makeup bag. “Guys,” he started, “Solo, Howard and I’ve been working on this for a while, so, in order to commemorate this great event---”

“This event isn’t that great,” Wufei muttered. “All we’re gonna do is prance around like idiots.”

He was promptly hid over the head by Meiran, who, incidentally, was in charge of the stage crew.

“Thanks, Dragon Lady,” smirked Duo. “Anyway, I was wondering if you guys would like to hang out with us after the show!”

“Oh god, you’re not suggesting a cast party,” Catherine murmured.

“How did you know?”

“You’ve been raving about it since the second day of rehearsals. You’ve already rented out a house for the thing, and at least 95% of the people here already know where it is,” Zechs, er, Milliardo said quietly as he shined up his pretty white mask.

“Then you’re willing to dance and get drunk wit’ me?”

As an silence settled among them, slowly, one by one, picked up a copy of the directions to Duo’s party.

~~~~~

Duo stared down at the stairwell underneath him, ignoring the blood that was rushing to his head as he dangled, head first, from the metal rails. It was twenty foot drop to the nasty cement below, and if he lost his balance, he would end up falling head first.

“Duo, are you ok…?” asked Heero as he approached the silent ‘Maria’, or, rather, his legs as they gripped the cool metal tightly. Above his head, the sky was turning a reddish gold.

“Yeah, I’m cool,” Duo replied, his voice a bit confident. Good thing he was a Gundam pilot. Otherwise, he would have had a pounding headache by now. “You?”

“Hn. Just…”

“Don’t worry, Heero. Everything will turn out great.” He swung himself back up and settled on the top rung. He gave Heero a hopeful grin. “Just think like Wufei. He talks all the time.”

“So do you.” Heero’s contemplative face softened. He reached out and grabbed the top rung on either side of Duo, drawing himself closer.

“Yeah, but I talk nonsense,” Duo joked as he wrapped his arms around Heero’s back and brought his face closer to Heero’s. “I’m not a good role model for aspiring actors like you.”

“And he is?” One of Heero’s hand floated its way to Duo’s shoulder.

“Of course. He’s more serious than I am half the time.” He placed a light kiss on Heero’s lips.

“Are you being serious now?” Heero brought his other hand to Duo’s waist, closing whatever small gap still laid between them.

“Yeah,” he barely whispered before Heero made claim to his mouth.

“Hey, can you to please save that for the play!”

The pair broke their kiss and turned their heads. There, standing by the double doors that lead to the hallway, was Wufei. Behind him were a few of the Winner girls, who were trying to sneak a peek of the smoochers (and would have a better view if Wufei would just move).

Duo’s cheeks grew warm while Heero’s face began to scowl.

“PDA’s are extremely tacky, gentlemen,” Wufei said with a bit of distain before closing the door. Outside, the couple could hear Wufei rant to the Winner sisters, telling them to ‘disperse’ and to ‘mind your own business.’

Duo chuckled as he laid his forehead on Heero’s chest. “On second though, don’t be like Wufei. He’s too serious for love scenes.”

~~~~~end~~~~~