"Last fire we'll raise, behind those eyes / black house we'll rock, dead boys don't lie / Immortal fear, that voice so clear / through broken walls, that scream I hear / Cry, little sister (thou shalt not fall) come, come to your brother (thou shalt not lie) unchain me sister (thou shalt not kill) love is with your brother (thou shalt not kill)..."
--- "Cry Little Sister"
"Say hello to the night, lost in the shadows / say hello to the night, lost in the loneliness / say hello to the night, lost in the shadows...no one knows...One is high, 'til the sun gets higher, I don't know what this madness means / Here comes the night, with the bedroom shadows, candlelight...I don't know where it's comin' from... but I, I keep movin' on, until the darkest hour makes me want to try these wings, yeah, yeah..."It's A Hard Knock Life Part 5
--- "Lost In The Shadows"
Duo woke up slowly to find the world engulfed by deep, warm shadows. He woke up to the warmth of someone curled up over him. When he slowly opened his eyes, he found a pair of eyes staring back into his with intensity.
// Heero? //
No, not Heero. The stranger smelled like cinnamon and cigarettes. Heero smelled like gunpowder and mecha fuel. These blue eyes were not Heero's. While other people would see a boyish innocence in these eyes, Duo saw nothing but deep, dark blue steel. A mop of dark blonde hair fell in those eyes, and the graceful, catlike features of the boy that hair belonged to were not those of the Wing pilot.
Duo did not believe in ghosts. But... still...
"... Solo?"
The blonde boy barked a harsh laugh. "That's my name, hotshot, don't wear it out or I'll make ya buy me a new one." He looked down, then raised his head again, smirking at the position they were lying in. "Was it as good for me as it was for you?" He said it jokingly, but Duo saw the heat in that gaze, too. They weren't kids, anymore.
For once, Duo couldn't think of anything to say back. Only Solo had the power to knock him speechless.
Solo laughed again, rolling off the Deathscythe pilot. Sometime while they slept, Foxy had picked them both up and moved them to Solo's room. "So, you're back, that it, kiddo? What made you come back to this fuckin' hellhole?"
Duo only stared after him, amethyst eyes wide. Solo was dead. Solo had died. But here he was, walking with that streetsmart swagger, talking with the alleyway drawl, as cocky as a stray cat. It was like watching a ghost.
"You died."
Solo looked back at him and raised an eyebrow as he pulled a ragged comb out of his pocket and began brushing his hair, which fell in soft, dark golden waves, barely brushing his shoulders. "So did you." He lowered his head and looked up at Duo with that special Solo look-half laughter, half disdain, with just a little bit of sex mixed in. They looked at each other. Neither could think of anything to say. The silence in the night-filled room seemed loud all of a sudden.
"What is this, a damned morgue?!" Solo burst out suddenly. He rummaged through the boxes, finding the transistor radio and turning it on. The static-laden pounding intro to "Cry Little Sister" filled the room as the blonde orphan fumbled for a battered pack of cigarettes, putting one in his mouth that was only slightly bent, and lighting it.
He looked at Duo, who just lay on the bed, watching him as if he would fade into oblivion any second.
"What, cat got your tongue or somethin'? You usually talk my ear off. What happened to you, loudmouth? What, five years and you don't got nothin' to say to me?"
"Yeah," Duo said, hearing the word distantly in his ears, echoing. His heart was thrumming in his chest. He still hadn't gotten over the shock. His voice was a hoarse whisper. "I missed you, Solo. I thought you were dead."
"Yeah, well. Not yet. I mean... I ain't gonna live to a ripe old age or anything, anyway." Solo leaned against the wall and inhaled, sending a cloud of gray-blue smoke into the room. The lit cigarette made a small red dot in the shadows.
Duo looked around the darkened room. He loved the way Solo's things lay all over the place, just like they always had. Both of them were so alike, both so disorganized, throwing their stuff wherever they felt at the time.
"Be right back, D. I'm gonna go wash my face." The blonde boy stalked out of the room, leaving Duo alone in his bed.
Ragged comics, scratched mini-disks, newspaper clippings littered the floor. A pair of sneakers with holes cut in the toes to make room lay on their sides, looking into each other's laces. A torn tee-shirt lay flung over a metal folding chair.
Solo came back, his hair wet and curling at the ends. He was grinning from ear to ear. "It's shadow-time, D! The night is young! Let's blow this popstand!" he crowed. He rummaged through a box full of clothes, pulling out a long-sleeved purple silk shirt that tied up the front, with slits up both arms and on either side. He tossed it at Duo, who caught it dazedly while Solo went back to rummaging through the box. He came up with a pair of black vinyl pants. "Here, wear these too. Damn, that shirt is gonna look great with your eyes!"
The blonde boy moved like a cheerful tornado through the room, walking back over to the bed and laughing as he started to unbutton Duo's habit.
"Solo!"
"Ah, shaddup a minute, Duo!" Solo said, laughing again, and yanked the habit off, throwing the priest's outfit on the bed. He pulled the braided pilot off the bed and had him stand there. Solo stalked around Duo, who was naked to the waist, inspecting him. Duo blushed furiously. Solo noted it and grinned.
"Solo... I can't do that stuff anymore."
Solo's blue eyes were hazy and smirking when he gazed into Duo's face. His voice was a husky, mock-serious whisper as he put his hands on Duo's bare shoulders. Duo felt himself blush harder, never sure whether Solo was serious or not. "You're sexy, bud. Look the part. Get the stick out of your ass. And come have fun with me."
With Solo, the words 'have fun' could mean a lot of different things.
Solo rummaged through the box himself and threw his faded teeshirt off, pulling down his jeans, which were ragged, stained, with holes at the knees. Like a lot of the teenagers who turned tricks in L2's Bottomside, there was nothing under the jeans but Solo. Duo looked away.
Solo looked up and caught Duo averting his eyes. He laughed. "C'mon, Duo, ain't nothin' you haven't seen before, right?"
Duo dressed himself, sliding into the pants and putting on the shirt.
Solo threw on a black leather sleeveless vest that revealed his muscular, scarred abdomen and looked like he was poured into it, then put on a fresh pair of jeans, also with holes at the knees. He had one a black leather collar with metal studs in it, and a bright blue bandana wrapped around his forehead. White scars glared on his tanned arms, and one lit up his face like a badge. He flopped down on the floor and pulled on a pair of vinyl boots.
When Solo looked up at Duo, it made the pilot catch his breath.
Solo was beautiful. Somehow, over the years...Duo had forgotten. He smiled and cocked his head at Duo, the movement utterly graceful as if Solo heard music in his head that only he could dance to. Wisps of his blonde hair fell over the bandana and eyes the blue-gray of a summer storm.
"Damn, Solo..."
"We ain't kids anymore, Duo," Solo whispered, smirking softly. He clapped Duo on the shoulder, letting fingers linger on the silk there.
~*~
The two boys stalked into the night. Solo walked along in a saunter, whistling the tune from "Hotel California."
"Let's get a snack at the market first. I'm starvin' over here."
Solo walked into the grocery, lit by flickering fluorescent lighting. The little Korean lady running the counter looked at them suspiciously. "You have money, boy? You buy, yes?"
Solo shot her his most harmless good ol' boy grin. Who, me steal? that look said. "Yes'm, Missus Huan. I sure as hell am gonna buy something. I promise. Cross my little heart and hope to die."
The little woman scowled at him. "You little street rats full of shit. No cursing in my store."
The boy shot her a mock salute, speaking in a pronounced drawl. "Yes mam!"
Solo ducked into an aisle, struggling to hide his grin. He shot Duo an amused look as he stealthily shoved a couple of tangerines into his pocket.
"Hey you! I saw that! Lying punk! Empty your pockets!"
Solo slid towards the door, moving deceptively fast. "No can do, Missus Huan!"
"I know you! You Solo Maxwell! Drop my tangies!" Duo burst out laughing. He couldn't help himself.
"Gotta steal to eat, Missus Huan!"
The woman grabbed a broom and started to come after him, shouting curses in an incoherent mix of Korean and English. "Stop, thief! Little thief!"
"Gotta eat to live, you understand, don't ya?!" Solo tried to keep an aisle of groceries between him and the angry Korean woman, looking for an opening to the exit. She was torn between targeting Duo with the broom, or getting Solo before he ran out of the store.
"Goddamned thief! Police! Police!"
"Missus Huan, hey now! No need to take the Lord's name in vain!"
"Fucking thief!"
Solo found his opening, streaking down an aisle and flinging the market door open with Duo and the Korean clerk hot on his heels. "It'll come back on you ten-fold! God bless!"
"FUCK YOU! LET OZZIES THROW YOU IN LOCKUP, LITTLE SHIT!"
The two ran until they couldn't catch their breath anymore, and Solo tossed Duo a tangerine, laughing breathlessly. "Here. For the decoy job."
Duo peeled it, laughing. "So much for shopping in there anymore, huh? I've got creds. I could have paid for that, you know."
"Where would the challenge be in that? Besides, she'll forget in a week or two. I think we all look the same to her. No good. She knows me, but it always takes her a few minutes to recognize my face. A few minutes is all I ever need... if you know what I mean." Solo popped a juicy section of the fruit into his mouth, smirking.
After he bolted the fruit and threw the peeling on the sidewalk, Solo lit another cigarette and squinted under the streetlights, scanning the roads.
"What are you lookin' for, Solo?"
"I'm findin' us a ride. Ah, there!" Solo ran forward, working his way through the crowded sidewalk. Duo pushed his way through, following the blonde boy. Solo pulled a rag out of his pocket, wrapped his hand in it, and broke out the window of a hydrogen car that was parked on the side of the road and unlocked the door, sliding into the driver's seat and unlocking the passenger side. No one on the sidewalk even gave him a second glance, if they gave him a first one to begin with. Duo went around and got into the passenger seat as Solo hot-wired it. Within minutes, the car roared to life.
"You always were good at that," Duo said. He grinned. "You shouldn't steal, Solo. You're breakin' a commandment."
Solo smiled and put his seatbelt on; that grin could win over the Devil himself. "I'm not stealin' it. I'm borrowin' it. Procuring it for recreational purposes, as it were." He looked over at Duo seriously, scowling in a perfect imitation of Father Maxwell, mouth in a small worried frown, one eyebrow raised. "You should wear your seatbelt, Duo Maxwell. It's the law."
Duo laughed, putting it on. Solo tramped the accelerator, throwing them both back in their seats. "Woo!"
The car leapt forward, angling into traffic. Solo was an experienced driver, even more so than he was experienced at grand theft auto. He whipped the car around turns, manipulating the brakes with all the style of Quatre playing his violin. He came up onto a stop sign with no intentions of obeying it. He drove with the reckless abandon of a driver who is confident that he has roll bars and stabilizers and heavy duty hydraulic shock absorbers... except he didn't have any of those things. Duo could practically smell the smoking rubber, and he was glad for his seatbelt.
Solo peeled to a stop in front of a club that had a line halfway around the block.
"Holy shit, Solo, we're not going into that one, are we? It'll take hours just to get to the door."
"Don't worry so much, D. I have the key to the city."
Duo shook his head. He didn't bother to ask Solo what he meant. He just trusted that the older boy knew what he was doing.
Solo led him past all of the crowd, winking every once in awhile at a particularly cute boy or girl.
"Solo, my man! How about help a buddy out, huh?"
"No can do, bud! I got an agenda tonight. Hey Jules, I didn't know you were out of juvee! Look good enough to eat. And speakin' of sexy, Marco!"
"You don't look so bad yourself, Solo-baby. You're not turnin' tricks tonight?"
"Does it look like I am?"
"... Yeah."
Solo laughed and turned away, pushing his way to the front, pulling Duo along with him.
The both of them drew catcalls from some, and insults from others, for cutting to the front of the line. Solo sauntered directly up to the bouncer, a huge guy in a ripped muscle shirt. "Heya Stevie-boy. Enough room on the floor tonight for me and my pally here?"
The bouncer looked down at Solo, raising an eyebrow at him. "What, Solo, you think you can get special privileges here?"
The blonde boy pretended to pout up at him. Offhandedly, Duo thought the expression was pretty damned provocative. In a good way. "Oh, c'mon, Steve. If I stand out here, me and my buddy might get mugged. Or some buddy might want to take advantage of us or somethin'." He threw his arms around the bigger man's shoulders from the back, hanging on him, still making a pouting face. "We're just defenseless little kids, Stevie. Orphans even."
"Hmph."
"Pleeeeeeease? Don't tell me you can resist this face, man. Nobody can resist this face."
The bouncer's mouth twitched like he wanted to smile, but he remained resolute. "No go, Solo." Solo jumped off and laughed. "Okay, I see what you're gettin' at. You want me to grease the wheels. All right, all right. You win." Two twenties appeared in Solo's palm like a magic trick, and he slapped them into the bouncer's hand.
The bouncer smirked. "Go ahead, boys."
"You greedy son of a bitch," Solo muttered, and the big man belly-laughed. "Go on, you little gutter rat, before I change my mind." Solo didn't have to be told twice, and the two slipped into the club, listening to the bouncer chew out the ones in line who dared to protest the special treatment.
The music hit Duo at the door like a tsunami, a wall of sound they had to push through. It was pounding, rushing over him. The whole joint smelled like smoke and sex. The club was large, dimly lit, dark in convenient corners, with too many people pushed into too small of a place, moving their bodies frantically to music that was way too loud.
Solo pulled Duo out onto the dance floor, laughing softly in the darkness beneath the blacklights and the strobes. He swayed to the sounds, hips rotating ever-so-slightly. The music had a pulse, like the heartbeat of L2. Solo closed his eyes and his body moved to the beat, still dancing. He moved with careful violence, and Duo was reminded of the way Solo had always looked before a street rumble, with that dancing, nervous energy, like electricity bouncing around beneath his skin. As if he touched Solo, he would get a shock.
The two of them danced, together yet separate, each watching the other. Duo began to dance himself, eyes fluttering as he surrendered to the music, but when he looked up he saw Solo watching him, the older boy's face flushed, eyes flaring dangerously.
He swayed up to Duo and put his hands Duo's shoulders, stepping in so close that just breathing hard would make their bodies touch. He put his mouth against the shell of Duo's ear, whispering there in order to be heard.
"Been awhile for you, hasn't it kid?"
Duo started to pull away, but then leaned in and whispered back, pushing the hair back from Solo's ear. "Years."
Solo rested his cheek against Duo's face briefly, whisper laughing. "Years for what?"
"All this." Duo leaned his face against Solo's, leaning into him, wrapping his arms around Solo's waist, pressing the lines of their bodies together. Solo's hands came up to rest at Duo's neck, and the movement of those callused hands against Duo's neck made the pilot sigh softly. He stopped breathing for a moment. To be so close after all that time... it was too much.
Solo leaned forward and kissed hard enough to bruise, hard enough to force Duo's mouth open; Duo could feel the older boy's mouth, jaw, and neck working as he held, explored, possessed. Duo knew he should have been angry as hell, pissed...but he wasn't, and he knew exactly why. Solo was a flirt...but he wasn't easy. If he did something like this...he meant it. And Duo felt the sneaking suspicion that he had always been waiting for the older boy to do it. When Solo finally pulled back, they were both breathing hard.
"Welcome home, buddy."
Duo's voice was husky. He looked into Solo's eyes and knew something; he wanted to be touched. He was sick of fighting in mobile suits, not with bare hands on the streets. He missed the contact, be it sex or violence. He wanted to feel Solo's hands on his bare skin. He wanted it hard and fast, the way it always went down on L2. The visual was so vivid he shuddered. "Some welcome."
He wanted to rip off that leather and watch the older boy dangerous and perfect above him, so close to another boy he was currently infatuated with. They were so alike... but they couldn't be any more different, too.
// Forget it, Duo-kid. Heero doesn't care. He's as cold as a fuckin' rock, and you're never gonna have him. May as well have someone that wants you back. //
Solo's gaze flared, seeing that the braided pilot had enjoyed it, and wasn't angry with him. "Yeah, well, I aim to please."
Duo smiled a little, teasing. "You plan to finish that?"
Solo grinned wickedly, and he pulled Duo closer, confident in the knowledge that he was going to get exactly what he wanted.
"Let's get back to Haven, and I'll let you know."
TBC...
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