Endless Summer Part 9
Hair of the Dog
Duo woke up trembling in the middle of the night, woke from nightmares of death and thunder and the sound of deadly waves, and his first thought was: Where am I now? Who am I going to kill tonight? But he was wrapped in Heero's strong, warm arms, Heero's breath was warm and sweet against the back of his neck, he was sleeping back-to-stomach with Heero. Heero would save him. Heero could protect him.
Heero soothed Duo with his hands and whispered in his ear. "Shhh, ko'u ipo. Shhh..." Heero was putting small kisses across his shoulderblades, and death seemed suddenly very far away again.
Duo slept.
And for once, Heero did not dream.
~*~
Barking. Someone came in the front door. The screen door slammed against the frame.
"Heero! Heero, where the hell are you?! You said you'd be at Ponderosa Point an hour ago! Are you ever going to practice for the competition!?"
Duo cracked his eyes open, feeling the light pierce his brain like a razorblade. It was early dawn. The light had a slate gray quality.
/ Damn, these islanders get up way too early. /
Wufei's strident voice was painful. He grimaced, burying his head under the covers until only the top of his head was sticking out.
Wait a minute... what was he lying on? It was like warm satin... Oh. He was lying on Heero. Duo stuck his head back out from under the covers. The Japanese boy hadn't even moved when he heard Wufei's voice. He was dead to the world, sleeping with his arms curled around Duo's midsection, Duo's hair spread across his shoulders like a dark golden curtain, mouth slightly open and slack in sleep. Even disheveled and sticky with dried sweat and... uh... other things, Duo thought Heero was extremely sexy. Sexy enough for an encore.
No time for that now. Duo heard Wufei stomping down the hall, muttering Mandarin curses. This was going to be awkward.
"Christ on crutches..." Duo mumbled, rubbing his eyes. He could smell Heero all over him like an intoxicating perfume. He just wanted to roll over against Heero's stomach and go back to sleep.
The bedroom door flew open. "Yuy, get your lazy ass-"
Duo squinted, waving a little. His head was aching like it was full of glass, and his eyeballs felt as if they'd been rubbed raw with sandpaper. He felt lucky that they had wrapped up in blankets afterwards. "Heya Wuffers."
"-...out of bed." Wufei turned a particularly strange shade of red and had to try a few times before he could speak again. He made a choked coughing noise. "Uh... ah. Excuse me." He backed out of the room and closed the door behind him.
Duo laughed a little, then noticed that Heero's ass had been hanging out from under the covers the whole time, and his own face turned a just a little bit pink as he threw part of the blanket over Heero, covering him. He knew if Wufei ever mentioned it, Heero would probably never hear the end of it.
/ Geez, Heero. You need to learn how to lock your damned doors. Bedroom and otherwise. /
He gently disentangled himself from Heero's arms, and was touched when the Japanese boy made a longing noise under his breath, shifting in his sleep and murmuring. Duo couldn't help reaching down under the covers and running one hand across Heero's shoulder, down to brush the scars over Heero's back.
/ Damn. /
As he walked through the house, he saw that Wufei was nowhere to be found. Obviously, the embarrassed young man had decided it was better to surf alone than to wait around for two very nude buddies to rouse themselves.
He went into the kitchen, where Baka was loudly lapping water from a ceramic stone bowl and getting more water on the linoleum floor than in his mouth. / Drool fuel, / Duo thought as he stopped and watched, laughing a little under his breath. The retriever raised his head when Duo walked in and chuffed, trotting over to Duo as the boy kneeled to get some aspirin, his hairbrush, a ponytail holder, and his trusty toothbrush out of his backpack. Baka ran up to him and slurped his face.
Duo grimaced and wiped his face, half patting the dog and half pushing him away as he stood up. "Dude! Your breath smells like a washed-up whale carcass! Go eat a menthol seagull or something!"
Baka gave his shins and knees a couple of wet slurps for good measure, then dashed out the front door, paws clicking on the linoleum. He didn't open it or anything. It just flew open when the dog ran through it, using his head as a battering ram.
~*~
Heero awoke to the familiar, rapid thumping of Baka's pads on the wooden floor, then the apocalyptic sound of the dog battering his way through the screen door. He heard it hitting the side of the porch as the dog ran out. Heero thought that one day the dog was just going to run straight through it, leaving a little dog-shaped hole, like in a cartoon. So far, the door screening had held.
He was stiff all over. He bent his head back to stretch and limber up his neck, feeling the tendons in it creak. Sighing contentedly, he didn't open his eyes, just swallowed, ran a hand through his sweat-clumped bangs, and turned his head to the side, listening to someone rustling around in the kitchen without opening his eyes. Wufei?
No, not Wufei. He suddenly remembered what had happened the night before. Duo... it was Duo. The not-so-shubee God of Death. He groaned softly. He had slept with his only real competition for the Billabong Pro. Great. That wasn't going to be awkward. No way.
But it had been good. So good. He smiled gently as he remembered the way Duo had whispered his name...God, did the Californian even realize what he did to him?
He stilled as Duo came back into the bedroom on his way to the bathroom, closing the door behind him, but Heero didn't hear it lock.
~*~
Duo brushed his teeth first, popped three aspirin in his mouth, chewing them and grimacing at the bitter taste, then took a couple of deep swallows of cold water from his cupped hands, splashing a little cold water on his face.
He then shambled wearily into the shower, turning it on as hot as he could stand it. It was nice cuddling up with Heero after a night of mind-blowing sex, after all... but after a few hours, such an embrace became less than romantic and more than sticky.
For a minute, he just closed his eyes as the hot water soaked his head and steam billowed around him, reveling in the feel of the hot water running down his body, chasing away his aches.
He grabbed a bar of soap, lathering up and scrubbing himself vigorously until he felt slightly more presentable than he was when he woke up.
Ugh. His hair was so tangled. What a rat's nest. Although, he admitted, it was worth it to see his hair spread out over Heero like a blanket. He used his fingers to try and straighten it out a little before grabbing the shampoo and conditioner.
He put shampoo in his hair, using his fingertips to scrub it, then rinsed and put a generous amount of conditioner in it, turning the shower off so it could soak in.
In the deafening quiet left when he turned the shower off, he heard rustling from the bedroom. Heero was awake.
/ Great. / Duo's face fell. / Now I have to go out there and see that face, that 'Oh my God, what have I done?' expression on him. I... I don't think I can handle it. /
Sighing softly, he turned the shower back on just long enough to rinse his hair. After turning it off, he turned and examined himself when his hair was a clean cascade, pushing it over his shoulder and his chest to feel his backside.
He was still a little sore. But there was no blood or bruises anywhere. He was mostly sex-sore, aching in those obscure hip and abdomen muscles that don't get a workout under any other circumstances. Heero had been gentle... he had gone slow. The fire where Heero had pressed into him was still there, but it was slowly fading away. And his headache was going away, too.
He grabbed a towel from the cabinet and wrapped it around his hips, then brushed his hair out before heading towards the kitchen. Even if he wasn't up to seeing any look of regret on Heero's face, he still needed clean clothes.
~*~
Heero was sitting at the kitchen table in a pair of boxers, waiting for him. Duo guessed he had washed up a little in the kitchen sink, because his hair was clumped into wet spikes, and his chest and arms and shoulders were damp. There was a bottle of rum on the table, and just at the sight of it Duo felt a little sick. There were two full shots of rum out on the table in simple shot glasses and two pairs of aspirin.
The Japanese surfer turned around and smiled shyly at him. Duo thought he might fall in love with that gentle, shy smile all by itself.
"Hair of the dog."
Duo shook his head slowly. "Ah... I think I'm gonna throw up..."
"No you're not. Just take a shot. It'll help your hangover."
"Trying to get me drunk again?" Duo teased.
Heero flinched, and Duo laughed softly. "Just kidding, Heero. Kidding." Resigned, he sat across from Heero, taking his glass. Heero grabbed his own, raising it. "Okole Maluna Hauoli Maoli Oe."
"Whatever you said," Duo replied, clinking their shots together before gulping it, grimacing at the sickly sweet taste of the rum. Now he really felt like he was going to throw up. His stomach hitched.
"Keep it down, Duo. Just give it a minute. It'll help."
Duo tried, concentrating on the soothing sound of Heero's voice. / My name... he actually said my name in that tone of voice... maybe... /
He swallowed hard.
"Okay?"
"Let me think about it."
Heero smiled a little.
They sat there in comfortable silence for awhile, as if they had known each other for years instead of days, neither really knowing what to say to the other. The air was full of questions, but no one seemed willing to take the first step and ask one.
Suddenly, Heero's eyes widened. "Oh shit. I told Wufei I would board with him this morning at Ponderosa Point."
Duo blushed. "He... ah... he's already been over here."
Heero looked at him. "You're kidding. Duo, you're kidding. Please tell me you're kidding."
"Nope."
Heero blushed furiously. "...Oh."
They looked at each other silently for a few minutes, mouths twitching, then they both burst out laughing at the same time. Duo decided it wasn't going to be so awkward after all.
Heero was thinking the exact same thing.
TBC...
Riptionary! Hawaiian Terms:
Ko'u ipo - My lover
"Okole Maluna Hauoli Maoli Oe!" - traditional Hawaiian toast
Hair of the dog: If anyone doesn't understand what this means, it's taking a drink in the morning to dull a hangover. It's actually "a hair of the dog that bit you". Fighting fire with fire, and all.
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