Itooshi Hito No Tameni Part 4
Duo bit his lip, lying back down on the bed. A month. A month since that incident at the bathing house and Heero never said a word about it, even though they were together often. And during the times he spent with the emperor, Heero's new smooth and welcoming manners had...well. In a way, Duo was starting to like him, albeit slightly.
And his bedchamber...what the young ruler did to it had shocked Duo into minutes of silence, a rarity in itself...it had been modeled exactly after his own suite in the Eltwo palace.
Duo sighed, turning over so that he was propped up on his elbows. So different was Heero now after that day. Not once had he pushed himself onto Duo; not once had he done anything even remotely alarming. He was very charming, infact. ...and he WAS *awfully* handsome...
But the same man had taken his family, his kingdom, his throne, and was seeking to take his virginity too.
Duo didn't understand the sudden change in Heero, and was slightly suspicious. What were his intentions? Had he really given up? Or was trying to get him through another way?
"Duo-sama," the familiar voice of his servant, whom he'd made friend with, called through the scarlet doors--the only sign that this was a concubine's home.
"Yes?"
There was a pause. "His Majesty requests your presence for dinner."
~*~
It was working, Heero knew that much. His plan was working. Although Duo didn't seem to behave differently than before, he knew from the servants' reports that the prince no longer hated him.
It was a good start, Heero said to himself.
The large doors to his private dining room opened then clicked shut and he looked up. The apparition before him made his heart skip a beat then start racing.
Duo was wearing official harem girl clothing. Not a dress, but an outfit feminine enough that upon first glance, the Maxwell prince would've passed as a woman.
A very beautiful woman, Heero thought as his eyes trailed up the slender form. Loose violet silk concealed most of what he knew was velvet skin, but there was still a fair amount of it exposed...enough to send his hormones and imagination raging. A silver crown sat on top of the shining chestnut locks, undone from its normal confining braid and cascading downwards in rich waterfalls. Duo's appearance screamed sex.
The sound of a near-by servant clearing his throat made Heero realize that he was practically ogling the walking sensuality named Duo Maxwell. He pulled his eyes back in their sockets and smiled at the glaring boy before him.
Walking to his concubine, Heero took his elbow and, ignoring Duo's cringing, led him to the table. When guiding the long-haired prince to sit in the exquisitely carved chair, his hands lingered on the bared shoulders a bit longer than necessary before going to his side of the dinner table.
Heero noticed Duo's wary gaze and let out a low chuckle. His little pet was staring at him like he was attack or something. Leaning forward, Heero said softly, "You look nice tonight, Duo, as always."
The change was immediate and pleasing. The muscles on Duo's body visibly relaxed and a small grin broke over the pretty face. "Thanks, I had a hell of a time trying to figure out where the arms and legs go...so many holes in this thing." He rolled his eyes. "Hilde--that's my maid, by the way--insisted that I wear it, but won't tell me why." Duo pouted a little. "Will you tell me why?"
Heero continued to stare at him. Duo sighed.
"And will you stop looking at me like I'm a piece of meat?"
Heero blinked at the openness of his concubine's words. It's been so long since anyone dared to speak to him that way...ten years[1]... The emperor shook his head clear of those memories[2].
Several servants came in, all of them carrying some sort of gold or silver platter. A moment later, a food-tester[3] approached them. She chanted something in a language that Duo didn't understand and took little pieces of food from each of the platters. She stood for a while, then bowed and prepared to leave. Before she could get very far from the table, however, Heero grabbed her hand and said something in the same tongue as she had spoken in moments ago. She blushed and giggled softly.
Duo barely contained a snarl, but bit his lip and turned away. He suddenly frowned, puzzled as to just why he found the sight before him so...so...!
From across the table, Heero smirked triumphantly to himself. Perfect. Everything was perfect. He'd had it all planned. It was to seem like he said something flirtatious to the girl when basically what he'd done was order her to tell the other servants to leave the room. In turn, she was to seem giddy.
And Duo had fell for it. Most wonderful.
A tense minute passed before he blurted out, "What was that language you were speaking in?"
Heero looked at him. "It's an ancient Elwon tongue. Rarely used now that there's a uniform language between most of the countries, but royalty is still required to learn it."
Duo sagged in his seat. "Oh."
~*~
"How are you enjoying your meal?" Heero asked near the end of dinner.
Duo took another huge gulp of wine. "It's good," he slurred. The violet eyes were glassy, probably the fault of the drink, and they were fixated on Heero. He looked ready to fall over.
The emperor had been shocked at the amount of food the small boy could eat. So far he'd had three servings of rice, two enormous stuffed bear paws[4], and more assorted servings of vegetable and meat than Heero wanted to count. Not to mention he didn't seem quite done yet. And the wine! Heero had wanted Duo to get his fill of the drink so he wasn't so reserved and stubborn. But he could've sworn the other had emptied an entire cask.
Before Duo could get his hands on the carafe again, though, Heero snatched his wrist and held fast.
"No more," he commanded sternly.
Duo glared at him to the best of his current ability, to which he responded with a dominant look of his own. The braided boy made a strange noise and reached out with his other hand. Heero took that one too.
"You'll make yourself sick."
"Dun' care..."
With a sigh, Heero pulled Duo unresistingly to him and picked him up. The small body was practically a dead weight in his arms as he carried his concubine to his own quarters. Upon reaching his destination, Heero somehow managed to open the door without the assistance of any servants. He gently laid the slender boy on the bed and tucked him under the covers. He sat beside Duo and stroked the loose chestnut hair.
"You were a real case tonight. What's wrong?"
Duo cracked open one eye, which quivered suspiciously. "Don't like seeing you with her..." His sentence trailed off, but he'd already said enough for Heero to understand.
He leaned close to other's face until their noses were touching. "Don't be jealous, Duo. I still want you, more than ever now actually."
"Not jealous."
"Oh yes you are."
"Not jealous," Duo insisted stubbornly, though he sounded like he was trying to convince himself.
"Oh yes--nevermind. I'd better be leaving now."
As Heero stood up, a shaky but determined hand latched onto his cape.
"Stay with me?"
Heero gave a sharp intake of breath. He hadn't been expecting that so soon... "No." As much as he wanted to--oh Lord he wanted to!--he shouldn't. He knew that better than anyone else. "You're drunk and you'll regret it in the morning." He wanted no regrets, not from any of his concubines and most of all not from Duo.
"Will not. Just hold me...don't wanna be alone..."
Heero blinked.
Duo giggled a little. "What were you thinking?"
"Nothing," he lied. Stripping off his outer layers of clothing, Heero crawled onto the bed beside the lithe body.
"Mmm, thought you hated me," he murmured, taking Duo in his arms.
The long-haired prince responded with snuggling closer. "Hate you? Not any more. Still want revenge? Hell yeah." He looked up at Heero. "I'm still going to kill you, you know. But...later, I'll do that later," he mumbled, already loosing hold on consciousness.
Heero chuckled into his hair. "Then I guess I should be prepared, ne?"
"I'm serious." The threatening growl ended in a soft snore.
"Hn. Right."
TBC...
^____^ There, that was a bit longer than the other chapters, ne? And of course, mi want replies!
[1] Heero's almost twenty-one (but still twenty) and Duo just turned nineteen in this ficcie. I purposely gave their ages a little gap in between.
[2] Heero's case is similar to that of Hotohori. He rose to the throne at age ten and was, like Hori-sama, not happy.
[3] Food-tester. A servant who comes before royalty eats to try some of it for poison. Not a pleasant job.
[4] Stuffed bear paws. *grin* One of the delicacies of the late Dowager Empress, CiXi TaiHou. It's black bear paws with Portabella mushrooms inside. It's really good, or so I hear.
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