Disclaimer: They’re not mine
Warnings: Check the first part. They’re all there
Disclaimer: They’re not mine
Warnings: Check the first part. They’re all there
An hour later Trowa went on a tour of the house, peeking into closed rooms without a thought to privacy. He discovered Duo had been honest about the state of the rooms, most of them in some state of repair. Only the room he was occupying, a bathroom, and the room he assumed was Duo’s were completed upstairs.
Feeling only slightly guilty about trespassing on personal space, he stood in the center of the other man’s room, much larger than his own. The riot of colors almost made him dizzy, yellow fighting orange and red with splashes of blue tossed into the mix. Oddly, the crazed colors of the room reminded him of how Duo had been during the war, vibrant, alive, and bursting with energy. Absently, he wondered if that almost manic person still resided in the serious man he had seen today.
Noticing some framed pictures above the bed, he stepped closer; smiling when he realized several had been taken during the war, against Heero’s orders. While the pilot of Wing had said photos were a security risk, Duo had constantly snapped pictures with his small camera, laughing when Heero caught him and somehow convincing the prussian-eyed teen it was perfectly safe. To Trowa, it had been obvious Duo could charm Heero into doing whatever he wanted and part of the reason he had been so stunned when Duo had opted to return to the colonies alone.
A few of the photos featured Hilde, Howard and others Trowa didn’t know, possibly from after the war. Trowa blinked as he found one of Wufei that had to be recent, the dark-eyed man sporting longer hair and a smile. Again feeling he was missing something obvious, he stepped back and stared at the pictures together for several minutes before making a startling discovery.
There wasn’t a single photo that had Quatre in it. Trowa could find himself, Heero, Wufei, and even Duo in some of the pictures from the war, but the blonde wasn’t present in even a single one. Once noticed, the omission was glaringly obvious, making him wonder what Quatre had done to cause Duo to cut the blonde out of his life.
When the phone in his pocket began to ring, Trowa jumped and hurried out of the room, not wanting Duo to find him there. He made his way down the stairs as he answered the phone, rolling his eyes as he recognized the blonde smiling at him. “Hello, Quatre.”
“Did you make it to Duo’s?”
“You could have told me who your friend was instead of making me wonder,” he hissed, barely keeping the venom from his tone. He was tired of being an object of amusement to the blonde’s twisted sense of humor.
“I thought if I told you who it was you would have found a way to disappear before he arrived. I know you never really approved of him.”
“I never really knew him,” Trowa corrected. “We never had much of a chance to talk before.”
“I know. I made sure of it.”
The offhand comment had Trowa staring at the small screen with his eyes narrowed. “You made sure Duo and I couldn’t talk? Why?”
“Don’t be dense,” the blonde sneered. “I saw the way Heero watched Duo. There was no way I was going to let you become enamored of him, as well.”
Appalled, Trowa blinked several times before he was sure his voice would be calm. “I’ve been capable of making choices regarding my own life for quite a few years, Quatre. I didn’t need you to interfere in decisions I should have made on my own.”
“On your own you would have made the wrong decisions. I saw the way he looked at you when no one was looking. It wouldn’t have taken long for him to get your attention if he had been given a chance, so I prevented that from happening.”
Hating to admit it, Trowa knew Quatre was more than capable of that type of manipulation. Most of the time, such as now, he turned it around to make it sound like he was doing it out of concern for someone else, but it was for one reason; Quatre wanted things his way. “It’s surprising you’re willing to let me stay here for a while.”
Quatre waved a hand in front of the screen, his expression dismissive, “It’s only for a day or so, until your truck gets fixed. Besides, you are both different people now. You didn’t have anything in common during the war, so it’s doubtful you’ll have enough in common now to have more than a two-minute conversation.”
It was on the tip of Trowa’s tongue to tell the blonde that conversation wasn’t required for sex, keeping his mouth shut only to prevent a fight. “I’m hanging up now,” he said instead and did just that, cutting off whatever the blonde was saying.
“That didn’t sound like a typical lover’s spat,” Duo stated as he came into the kitchen from outside, where Trowa had gravitated while on the phone. “Trouble in paradise?”
Unused to sharing his problems, Trowa considered telling Duo it was none of his business, aware the other man would let it go. It was odd to realize he wanted to tell someone and he wanted to tell Duo specifically. “Quatre and I broke up over a year ago, although I continued to live in his house. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, but I was trying to get a new job that didn’t require me working with him any longer.”
Duo moved past the taller man, washing his hands in the sink before pulling items out of the fridge and setting them on the counter beside the stove. “Let me take a wild guess what happened. After putting in applications and going to interviews, you couldn’t figure out why no one called you back, so you started to call them, only to hear you weren’t right for the position you had been told you were qualified for.”
Trowa sat down heavily on the sturdy bench that took the place of chairs at the table. “Did that happen to you, too?”
“No. I’ve never been in the position where I needed a job. I do know of others that have crossed paths with Quatre and ended up on the wrong side of his temper.”
Propping his chin on one hand, Trowa watched as Duo set up a skillet on the stove and poured a concoction he had mixed into it. “The sad thing is that I didn’t know Quatre had a temper. He always seemed to be in the same mood.”
Duo gave a low chuckle that had more sarcasm than amusement, “He’s always had a temper, but he doesn’t get mad. He waits and plots against those he believed wronged him, whether they did or not. Me, personally? I can’t stand the blonde bastard.”
The abrupt confession was hardly surprising. Duo’s feelings for Quatre had been obvious in his tone and the omission of any pictures cemented the belief. Trowa was certain Duo wouldn’t answer his next inquiry, but asked anyway, “What did he do to you?”
Turning away from the stove, the cobalt-eyed man gave him a long look before returning his attention to the skillet. “Right after the war he informed me I was to stay away from you, Heero, and Wufei. He promised to make my life difficult if I didn’t go far away. That’s why I went back to the colony so fast. I didn’t see any reason to stick around. He would have made my life hell and whoever I was with at the time, too.”
“I don’t blame you for hating him,” nodded Trowa, understanding how he would feel if he was forced to leave those he believed were his friends.
“That’s not why I hate him. That didn’t come until later. I actually understood why he wanted me gone,” Duo corrected.
“You understood,” Trowa replied blankly, wondering what he had missed between the two men he had believed were friends.
Bending down to peer inside the oven, Duo’s tone was distracted. “Sure. He wanted you for himself and had plans for Heero and Wufei. It was another time where he manipulated all of us into doing what he wanted. This should be done,” he announced, opening the over and pulling out a foil wrapped pan.
Tantalizing scents filled the air; distracting Trowa and making him forget his line of thought. He watched in fascination as Duo piled two plates full of food and brought them to the butcher’s block that acted as a table, turning back to the fridge for two beers and lifting an eyebrow at Trowa in question.
Suddenly realizing he was ravenous, Trowa nodded as he took a large bite of the meat, eyes growing wide as it practically melted on his tongue. Turning his focus on what looked like french fries chopped up and cooked with green peppers and onions, he tentatively took a forkful, then another.
Silence reigned throughout the meal. His vow to become a vegetarian was a distant memory as he cleaned his plate of any crumbs, washing it down with the cold beer. Leaning back a little he saw Duo watching him, mirth dancing in the blue-violet eyes. “That was really good,” he said unnecessarily. “What was it?”
“Roast beef and fried hash browns. Southern food,” Duo stood and took his plate to the dishwasher. “There’s more if you want seconds.”
Putting a hand on his full belly, Trowa shook his head even as he eyed the large piece of roast still in the pan. “If I eat more I’m going to pop, but thanks for the offer.”
“Do you like leftovers?”
The query had Trowa searching his mind for the meaning of the word. “I’ve never had any,” he finally admitted.
Already in the process of transferring the roast to a plate, Duo snorted and explained, “It’s when you have the food you ate for dinner the night before for lunch.”
“It sounds good, I guess,” Trowa blinked, curious how the meat would taste the next day.
A moment later he rose with his dishes, feeling he was taking advantage of Duo’s kindness. Not wanting to be a burden, he opened the dishwasher and placed his plate beside Duo’s. “I should be the one cleaning up. You cooked, I clean. Isn’t that how it works?”
Leaning against the counter, Duo crossed his arms over his chest. “I know you were with mercenaries before the war, Trowa, and I doubt you’ve been cleaning after yourself while living with Quatre. Do you even know how to turn on a dishwasher?”
Heat made his cheeks burn with embarrassment as he confessed, “No. You could show me, couldn’t you? I’ll only be here a few days, but I can help. I’d like to see some of what you do here. I’ll do what I can.”
Duo gave him a long, searching look before rolling expressive eyes. “We need to put some soap and water in the sink.”
“I thought we were going to use the dishwasher?”
“If I wash pots and pans in the sink I only have to run the dishwasher a few times a week. The entire house is run on solar and wind energy, so I conserve where I can,” Duo explained patiently as he plugged the drain and filled the sink with water, adding a healthy amount of dish soap. “I’ll wash, you dry. Pots go in that cabinet and pans go in the one next to it,” he indicated a set of doors beside the stove, where he had gotten the skillet from before.
Handing Trowa a dry cloth, Duo dumped his hands in the soapy water and began to scrub out the pot, setting it in the clear water to rinse the soap off. As Trowa began to dry it, the pan followed and they were finished. Putting the dishes away, Trowa recalled how he had come to be there. “Were you able to figure out what happened to the truck?”
“Busted water line and I think you have an oil leak somewhere. What was it doing when it stopped?”
Following Duo’s lead, Trowa sat back down at the table, smiling in appreciation as he was offered another beer. “I’ve had problems with it for a while; it hasn’t wanted to start. Today it started jerking and sputtering, then started smoking.”
“The water hose is easy to fix, so I’ll start with that and then look for the leak. We might just have to fix things as we find them and I can’t tell you how long it could take. I could have it fixed tomorrow or a week from now.”
The prospect of staying with Duo didn’t seem as terrible as it had earlier in the day. Trowa was discovering he enjoyed talking to the man across from him and was still curious why Duo loathed Quatre. “I didn’t have any definite plans - nothing set in stone. My schedule is pretty flexible since I don’t have a job.”
Duo eyed him for a moment before tilting his head inquisitively. “You tell Heero you were held up?”
Trowa almost choked on the beer he had just tilted to his lips. “How did you know I was going to Heero’s?”
“Everyone passes through Huntsville to get to the coast from Reesetown. Heero’s place is just far enough away from Quatre to be sure he can’t spy on you.” Duo shrugged as he tossed his empty bottle in a recycling bin, “You have enough clothes for a week or two, which means a visit, not a move.”
“I called him while waiting for Quatre’s friend,” Trowa didn’t miss the way Duo’s nose wrinkled in distaste at the word friend. “The original plan was to stay long enough to see if there were any job openings I might want and a place to live if I decided to stay. If that didn’t work I was going to start looking at jobs on the colonies. Do you ever talk to Heero?”
“Couple of times a month; I’ve been out to his place once. He knows where you are and probably who you’re with. He has a GPS locater on his computer for all of us, triangulated to our cell phone numbers.”
Trowa was offended, but only for a moment, curious if the prussian-blue eyed man had the coordinates for his brand new phone, “That sounds like Heero. Does he like it out here?”
“Don’t know. He’s never been.” Duo shook his head slowly, “I never invited him, Trowa.” Standing, Duo jerked a thumb to the door, “I’ll show you where everything is in the living room. I gotta get in bed.”
Glancing at his watch, Trowa frowned, “It’s only eight o’clock.”
“The day starts early around here. When you get up in the morning, there’s cereal in the counter over the sink. You can handle making cereal, right?”
The smirk helped Trowa figure out he was being teased. Surprised at the sudden emergence of the Duo he had once known, Trowa rolled his eyes. “Smart-ass. I can handle cereal. Do I eat that with a fork or a spoon?”
The laughter he received made him feel better about the situation. He listened as Duo explained how to turn on the electronics using a button attached to the wall that fed off a power storage center, blinking as he was handed a remote. “There’s no cord? How does it get power?”
“Ummm, batteries?” Duo chuckled at Trowa’s baffled expression. “It’s not realistic to run everything off alternative power. If you stay for a while, you’ll get used to it. Just remember to turn everything off before you go to bed. The power in the bathrooms run all the time, as well as the kitchen, so if you need something in the middle of the night you don’t have to worry about finding a power switch.”
Glad to hear that news, Trowa nodded. He watched as Duo walked away, stopping at the bottom of the stairs. “Trowa? With Heero…did you ever look that direction?”
Realizing Duo was asking if he had been attracted to the prussian-eyed man, he shook his head. “I admire his drive and determination, but that’s it. He’s a good friend. It may be hard for you to accept that kind of relationship, but for a long time Quatre was the only one for me, until I figured out what he really was.”
Duo smiled at his words, “When you spend the formative years of your life on a Sweeper ship you don’t learn those designations. I’m bisexual, Trowa. Now maybe you can see why Quatre was so determined to keep me away from the three of you; I thought you were all beautiful.”