Disclaimers and warnings in first part
“Why are you in such a good mood?” Zechs grumbled as he glared at Duo over a cup of coffee. “I haven’t seen you this cheerful since…I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so cheerful, not this damn early.”
“It’s almost ten o’clock. You’ve had hours to wake up,” Duo smirked. “What’s wrong with you? You and Wufei get in a fight this morning or what?”
Leaning back in his chair, Zechs rubbed a hand down his face while Duo looked on from behind his own desk, an item he had insisted on when going to work for the blonde. If he was to be guarding Zechs, it wouldn’t do any good for him to be in another room. He had gotten the idea from the arrangement between Quatre and Trowa, who also shared an office.
Zechs’ sigh floated across the room, “We got into an argument last night after leaving the restaurant. I spent the night on the couch.”
“I bet that was uncomfortable,” Duo winced as he recalled how short the couple’s couch was. He could probably lay on it with some minor shifting; Zechs had to have a very long and sleepless night. “You guys were getting along fine when you left. What happened?”
“He asked how long I thought it would be before you had another bad date.”
After the discussion he and Zechs had the previous day, Duo could imagine the blonde hadn’t taken the question very well. “You should have let it go.”
“No, I shouldn’t have. He needs to realize that the things he says are hurtful. It probably wouldn’t have been so bad if I hadn’t accused him of being cold…then asked him if he really considered you a friend at all.”
Duo whistled, “Were you trying to get kicked out of the bedroom?”
“It seems that way. I was trying to get him to see that what he says is not nice. After seeing your expression yesterday, I knew we were wrong to tease you that way.” A moment passed before Zechs sat up straight, shaking his head slowly, “It’ll work out somehow.”
“I gotta get a drink. You need anything?”
“I need someone to finish filling out this paperwork,” the blonde scowled at the stack on his desk. “No, I’ll be busy for some time. You could get me a bag of chips or something; lunch isn’t looking like it’s going to happen.”
“I’ll deal with lunch. Be right back.”
As soon as Duo closed the door to Zechs’ office behind him, he had his cell phone out, making a call. He assumed he’d have to leave a message so he blinked when the call was answered almost immediately, “Is something wrong?” the low voice questioned.
“Nothing’s wrong. Have you got a minute to talk? I need some advice.”
“Quatre’s in a private meeting with his accountant, so I have more than a minute, though I doubt I’m the best person to dole out advice. Is this…is this about a date?”
“No,” Duo blinked. “It’s about Wufei.” He explained what had occurred, summarizing the best he could while heading to the vending machines at the end of the hall, ignoring the curious looks he received from Zechs’ employees. It was rare to see him outside the office without the blonde, but he thought this was important and Zechs was too busy to leave without Duo’s knowledge. “What do I do, Trowa? I don’t want them fighting about something so stupid.”
“Fighting over you is not stupid. I can understand why Zechs is standing up to Wufei about this. Wufei may not see it, but his remarks are made to cut you down. I don’t like hearing him do it, either.”
The thrill of pleasure that went down Duo’s spine was dutifully ignored. “I don’t want them fighting; Wufei’s always been like that.”
“No, he hasn’t. He only began making snide comments after you went to work for Zechs. In a way, he may be threatened by the time you and Zechs spend together. If I were in his place, I’d likely feel the same.”
“Why?”
“You and Zechs have a lot in common. You never lack for something to talk about, even after spending all day together. If I hadn’t been aware of how Zechs felt for Wufei, I would have wondered if there was something between you two. It’s not uncommon for an employer to develop feelings for an employee or vice versa.”
With a soda and a bag of trail mix clenched in his hand, Duo made his way back toward the office slowly, “Zechs is a good guy, but what would he want with someone like me when he has Wufei? The idea is nuts. Wufei’s a lucky guy. Zechs isn’t my type, anyway.”
“Why not?”
“Hell, I don’t know. He’s too proper, I guess. We might have some things in common on the surface, but we’re too different.”
“What is your type, Duo?”
“I don’t know that, either. I’ll figure it out when I get a chance. Right now, I need to know how to fix this.”
Trowa was silent for a minute. “What do you have planned for lunch?”
“It’s looking like a couple cans of soda and some stale crackers. Zechs has a bunch of stuff to do so we’re staying here.”
“Hmmm…let me call you back,” the line went dead before Duo could form a response.
In Zechs’ office, he dropped the trail mix on the blonde’s table, “Chips are bad for you.”
“So is soda,” the blonde glared at the can in Duo’s hand.
“Do you want to talk about your coffee habit?” the braided man narrowed his eyes at the ever-present cup of coffee at Zechs’ elbow. “Didn’t Sally say you needed to cut down on that mud?”
“I’ll eat the damn trail mix as long as you stay away from my coffee.”
“Done; I’ll even keep my mouth shut about the candy bars you slip in there every once in a while.” Having had the coffee/chocolate mixture before, Duo knew it tasted good and helped you wake up in a hurry.
When his phone rang, he glanced at the number and backed out of the room, “I have to take this; I’ll be right outside.” Answering the call, he growled, “Don’t hang up without saying goodbye; it’s rude.”
“It’s a habit.”
“Work on it. Why did you hang up on me?”
“Heero and Wufei only work half a day today because they have to work this weekend. Wufei is going to go to Zechs’ office at twelve-thirty, so they can talk this out without one of them being relegated to the couch. When he gets there, you are going to go to the diner across the street and wait for me. Heero plans to stay here with Quatre.”
Duo was speechless for a long moment. The abrupt appearance of this take-charge Trowa was…alluring and more intriguing than he had a right to think. “Uh, yeah, that’ll work,” he finally managed, swallowing the lump in his throat and chastising himself for wondering what other times the tall man would be so commanding. “How long is Wufei going to stay?”
“You’ll have to ask him when he gets there. He isn’t too happy with me at the moment,” Trowa replied in a wry tone.
“Why isn’t he happy with you?”
“Because I told him he was acting like a jealous jackass and he needed to fix the mess he made.” Duo had to laugh, unable to image the expression on Wufei’s face. “I have to go, Duo. I’ll see you at the diner?”
Taking that as a goodbye, Duo smiled, “It’s a date.”
Wufei didn’t shove the door open, but it was a close thing, narrowing his eyes when he saw Duo leaning over Zechs’ shoulder. Remembering what Trowa had said, Duo stayed where he was when he would have moved away before; the sudden withdrawal had likely made him look guilty of something. “Change this, too,” he suggested to the blonde, letting his eyes fall back to the seating arrangement for a charity ball taking place the next month. “The ambassador and his wife are separated; she was caught in bed with her aide.”
“Isn’t her aide a woman?”
“That would be why they’re separated; something about the ambassador not being able to compete. Also, the Banedero sisters can’t sit together.”
“What happened there?”
“I don’t know, but the last time I saw them together they were trying to pull out each other’s hair while one called the other a backstabbing bitch.”
“Duo, Trowa is waiting for you,” Wufei said in an odd tone.
The braided man nodded once, “That should be everything. You need anything else?”
“Wufei will be here to take care of any security issues. Go get something to eat.”
With a brisk nod, Duo quickly grabbed his jacket and slid it over his holster. He was grabbing his keys when Wufei touched his arm, “May I speak with you for a moment in private, Duo?”
“Walk me out; the building’s clear other than staff,” he added when Wufei glanced back at the blonde bent over his desk, muttering darkly at the paper in front of him.
“It was easy for me to walk in.”
Leaving the office, Duo lifted an eyebrow, “That’s because I called the security desk ten minutes ago and told them you were coming, Wufei. I know how to do my job.”
Wufei visibly winced, “I’ve never doubted that Zechs was safe with you. I need to apologize, Duo. I was recently told I was being an idiot and treating you like an enemy rather than a friend.”
A corner of Duo’s mouth turned up in a lopsided grin, “Trowa has a helluva way with words, doesn’t he?”
“So he does. The lecture I received on the phone was shocking and…enlightening. I didn’t mean to hurt you, not consciously. I will admit that I’ve felt…jealous of how close you are to Zechs.”
“Wufei, I don’t know if you’ve figured this out, but Zechs adores you. He’d do anything you asked him to do. If you asked him to get another bodyguard, he probably would.”
“That isn’t what I want,” the dark-eyed man hastened to assure. “Zechs is safer with you than anyone else I can think of.”
“Does this mean we’re good?”
The easy laugh had none of the apology the former words had, “We’re good. Go eat with Trowa; I’ll take care of Zechs.”
“How long are you going to stay with him? I can come back when you need to leave,” Duo was already planning his lunch ‘date’ and thinking of how much time he would have to spend with Trowa before returning to work.
“I will stay with him for the rest of the day.”
“I really can take care of him…” Duo insisted, wondering if the other man didn’t actually trust him.
Wufei shook his head, “I really don’t doubt your abilities. Since I have the rest of the day off, I wanted to use the time to make up for being such a jerk to him…and to you.”
“I don’t want to know how you’re going to make it up to him,” Duo said quickly, prompting a small snicker from the dark-eyed man. “Are you sure you can stay?” he asked, checking his watch, mind more on the man that was supposed to be waiting at the diner than on his employer, certain that Zechs would be safe in Wufei’s care.
“I’m sure; go eat with Trowa and enjoy your evening, my friend.”