Coffee Shop Encounters CSE-8: Turkish Coffee
Duo looked up peturbedly as he got yet another knock on his door. It wasn't one of the kids- they knew that he was not to be disturbed while he was studying unless it was very important. But he'd had a steady string of interruptions all afternoon... Forcing himself to smile, he called, "Come in!"
His annoyance melted away, though, as the door opened and a blonde woman walked into his office, settling into one of his chairs with a heavy sigh. Relena Peacecraft was the sort of person an Orphanage Administrator dreamed of working with. Sympathetic, kind-hearted, always smiling and never giving up hope, she was a dedicated social worker with a heart of gold who never failed to find a good family for a needy child.
Her smile was missing, though, as she sat down; she looked tired and frustrated, and Duo immediately shoved his own worries away as he stood and came around his desk to sit with her. "Relena! What's the matter?"
Her hands were clenched tightly in her lap. "I'm sorry to bother you- I know this is study time..."
He waved the thought away. "Don't worry about that! I wasn't getting much done, anyway. What's eating you?"
She wrung her hands and took a moment to think of something to say. "Duo... did I ever tell you that I have a brother?"
His eyes widened. "No! Really? I can't believe you never mentioned it..."
"Well, I do," Relena continued. "He's about five years older than me, and when Mom and Dad divorced, he went with Dad while I stayed with Mom. We really haven't seen much of him- and he really resented it when Mom re-married..."
Duo squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. "So what brings him up now?"
"He's coming here."
Duo's eyes widened in surprise. "Coming... here?"
She nodded. "Milliardo- that's his name- he's been in and out of a few different schools, but he gets... Well, for lack of a better word, he gets expelled very quickly. Dad thought... he thought that if Mil was in a place where he had family, it would be easier for him to make friends and to stay put long enough to graduate."
Duo patted her shoulder sympathetically. "In other words, he's being handed off to you."
Her eyes flashed. "My father expects me to be a baby-sitter for some creepy older brother I don't really know, and I don't have any choice in it- it's already been done!"
Duo grimaced, but couldn't bring himself to commiserate with her completely. An orphan himself, he was all too aware of how it felt to handed around and treated as though he wasn't wanted. And in his expert opinion- that was what this brother had to be feeling. "Aw, come on- he could be a nice guy!"
She glared at him silently, and Duo bit back what he had been ready to say. "All I mean is that you don't really know him. All you know is what you've heard, and I've learned that trusting other people on a person's character can be a bad step. Give him a chance."
She looked up into his face. "Look, Duo, I know you already have a lot on your plate, but... Would you help me? If anyone can get through to him..."
She bit her lip as her voice trailed off. Duo was a specialist in hard cases, and everyone in the city knew it. There were very few people who could resist his style, and it was possible that even her older brother...
Duo sighed. Bad timing was putting it lightly. Between classwork, the orphanage, Heero... But Relena was a friend, and a valued co-worker. He looked up into her face. "Look, I don't know how much I'll be able to do personally, but I'll try and help you out. At any rate, I can get the guys in on this, and maybe they'll be able to do something. Will that do?"
Relena smiled. "That would be great, Duo, just great."
~*~
Wufei stared at Duo in shock. "You told her we'd do what?"
The braided young man sipped at his coffee. "I said we'd look out for him, that's all. It can't do any harm..."
Wufei snorted. "He sounds like a real problem kid, Duo. Who knows what he's like?"
Duo wrapped his hands around the mug of coffee and shut his eyes, clearly exhausted. "Look, I went through all those thoughts already. I know he might just be some freak, but Relena's a friend. I have to at least try. Now are you going to help, or not?"
Trowa put a hand on Wufei's shoulder, silently halting anything the boy wanted to say. "We'll try, Duo. It probably won't get us anywhere, but we'll try."
Duo's eyes opened as he leaned against Heero's comfortable bulk, at his side. "Thanks, guys- I knew you would."
Duo could hear Heero's voice rumbling in his chest as the Japanese boy asked, "When does he get in?"
"Two days from now," came the answer. "Relena will be bringing him by here for introductions at our normal coffee hour. That work for you all?"
Trowa and Heero nodded almost immediately, and Wufei only a few seconds later, albeit with some trepidation. Trowa gave his friend a smile. "I'll see if Quatre can join us, too. From what I understand, Relena's dad's rich. Maybe they'll get along."
"Thanks, Tro."
"And now I'm taking you home for some sleep," Heero whispered in Duo's ear, noticing how the boy sagged against him.
The braided boy didn't protest, and waved a sleepy goodbye to the guys and to Roberto as he was dragged out.
~*~
Seven heads came around in anticipation as the door to Roberto's opened and Relena walked in, followed by-
Six jaws dropped open in amazement, while Roberto, himself, merely turned away and chuckled darkly. Signalling to his assistant, he drifted closer to the group to listen in. Something told him this was going to be a night to remember!
Relena approached her friends cautiously, almost as if afraid of what was about to happen. They weren't helping much- staring at her and her brother as though they had grown third eyes in the middle of their foreheads, or something... "Evening, guys. Hi, Sally. This is my older brother, Milliardo." She turned to the man at her side. "Mil, there are Sally, Wufei, Trowa, Quatre, Heero and Duo. Duo runs that Orphanage I told you about, and these others are his friends."
The group took a moment to look over the newcomer. He was tall- taller, even, than Trowa- with long platinum blond hair, chiselled features and gleaming, dark blue eyes. Well-dressed, you could still tell that his clothing hid an impressive physique. In short, Milliardo Peacecraft was gorgeous.
Duo was predictably the first to recover his wits, and he held out his hand with an easy smile. "Hi! Nice to finally meet you."
Milliardo shook his offered hand firmly. "Relena has told me quite a lot about all of you. Nice to see that my little sister has friends here." He shook hands with all of them, smiling as he reached Sally and showing a dazzling flash of white teeth.
Roberto walked over as the tall blond shrugged off his coat. "Hi, I'm Roberto. Anyting to drink for ye?"
Sparing the Cajun a look, Milliardo nodded. "Do you make Turkish coffee?"
Roberto's grin widened. Here was a man after his own caffeinated heart! "Sure do! Comin' righ' up."
Quatre pinned the other blond with a smile. "You'd better be careful- he makes it extremely strong."
Milliardo's smile widened a little as he darted a glance at Sally, who was holding Wufei's hand. "Real men can take it, Mr. Winner, I assure you."
Duo could have almost sworn he felt the air at the table chill a few degrees, and he quickly spoke up before either Trowa, Quatre, Wufei or Sally had the chance. "Relena told me you'll be at our University. What's your major?"
The blond gave him a suave smile. "Politics. And yours?"
Duo shrugged. "Linguistics. Heero's into Computer Science, Wufei does Philosophy and Trowa's training to become a vet."
"Truly?" Milliardo turned his gaze on the last two members of the group. "How about you two?"
Sally responded, "I'm a doctor- I work at the orphanage, too."
He smiled at her before turning to Quatre. "And you, if I'm not mistaken, are the Quatre Winner of Winner Enterprises, are you not?"
Quatre simply nodded, and the other blond nodded back. "Interesting." He looked Quatre over with a frown.
Relena quickly jumped into the conversation. "Milliardo, I'm sure my friends would be happy to show you around, if you need it. Sank University's campus is huge..."
The tall blond favoured his sister with a distant smile. "That's very kind, I'm sure." He stood, even as Roberto hurried over with his coffee. "I have to be going- putting my new room in order and all. Nice to meet you- I'm sure I'll be seeing you around." He favoured Sally with another of his dazzling smiles before walking out, straight past a bewildered Roberto.
As the door closed, Relena buried her face in her hands. "He's a beast, and you hate him- go ahead! Tell me you hate him."
Wufei was glaring at the seat the blond had occupied. "I can't say I like him Relena..."
She looked up, her eyes reflecting pure embarrassment. "I know! I'm so sorry he was such a shit..."
Heero patted her shoulder. "Maybe he'd come down a notch or two if we just beat it out of him..."
She swivelled to look at him with distressed eyes. "Heero! I know you're good, but trust me- he's incredible! From what I've heard, he loves to fight. That's how he's gotten kicked out of so many places..."
"I'm sure we can think of some thing to do with him that doesn't involve violence," Quatre said, frowning at the idea.
Duo nodded his agreement. "Beating him up will only make him worse. Sorry, Relena, but your brother's a real jerk."
She smiled painfully. "You've noticed? I don't know what to do..."
Trowa smiled in concern. "He's only been here for a few hours. Give us some time to work on him, okay?"
Relena sighed and dropped her head into her arms on the table. "Okay."
~*~
"Hey, Milliardo! Hi!" The tall blond whipped around to find Duo Maxwell waving at him from the steps of the McEntyre Language Building. He offered the other student a wave back as Duo jogged up to him, braid bouncing behind him as he moved.
Duo watched the blond carefully. "You had your first class already? Who's the prof?"
Milliardo looked back down at the schedule in his hand. "Professor Greenberg, Political Theory."
The braided young man grimaced. "Yeah- I've heard of her. The Ogress. What did you think?"
Milliardo arched an eyebrow. "Ogress definitely applies."
"Look- I promised Heero I'd meet him for coffee right about now. You wanna come along?" Duo asked, doing his best to smile.
Milliardo looked completely disinterested, as though coffee and friends were the furthest thing from his mind, but nodded anyway and fell into stride with the shorter young man as Duo turned to make for Roberto's. After a few moments of walking, he gestured to the ring on Duo's finger. "Does that mean what I think it means?"
Duo's already bright face brightened more. "Yup! We haven't set a date, as yet, but Heero and I are getting married."
"Hn." Milliardo frowned. "So who's the wife?"
Duo stopped dead in his tracks, and the taller of the two was surprised at the strength of the grip on his forearm that spun him around. The smile was gone- Duo rarely ever wore such a dark look as was on his face now, and even Milliardo knew that he had overstepped a serious boundary as violet eyes glinted at him. "Okay, pal, let's cut the crap. Are you always this obnoxious, or only when you're trying to make sure no one likes you?"
"Get your hands off me, Duo," Milliardo growled back.
Duo's grip tightened. "No- you're going to listen to me first. One- your sister is trying to help you because she cares, and you're making her look bad. Two- hitting on Sally like you did yesterday is a real quick way to get Wufei pissed, and you don't want to do that. Three- insulting Quatre Winner is a very dumb idea. Four- NEVER insult Heero in my presence unless you enjoy being in a lot of pain. D'you got that?"
"And you?" Milliardo asked with an arch of an eyebrow.
Duo grinned suddenly, but it wasn't his normal look- it was darker and less stable. "You can't possibly call me anything someone else hasn't already said, so go ahead and be unoriginal if you want to. I wouldn't recommend saying it in front of my friends, though. Or Heero. Especially Heero." Releasing Milliardo, Duo turned and walked away.
But Milliardo's voice trailed after him, "Why bother warning me?"
He stopped and turned one last time. "For Relena's sake. Do yourself a favour and don't make me warn you again."
Milliardo watched as the braided young man slipped into Roberto's, and turned to walk back to campus.
This was going to be an interesting semester!
~*~
Wufei and Trowa both groaned as the library doors opened and Milliardo walked in, a handful of people trailing around him. They watched him- he was so charming, when he wanted to be! But frowns darkened their faces as they listened to what he was saying-
"So she introduces me to her friends- I didn't know there were so many gay people in this town! Talk about pathetic! Especially that Japanese guy and his girlfriend or whatever they call it..."
Trowa started from his seat, only to find that he didn't have to. One of the blond's admirers hushed the man as quickly as he could. "Okay- you're new here, so maybe you don't know, but you gotta watch what you say! Duo may be gay, but he's smart, and he's doing good work. The same goes for Heero, and talking trash about them is a very quick way to find yourself friendless around here."
Wufei turned to Trowa with a frown. "Do you think he's figured out you and Quatre yet?"
The taller boy shrugged. "Who knows? Probably. He's much smarter than he lets on. Relena would be humiliated if she saw this."
Wufei's eyes narrowed as he quickly whispered, "He's coming this way." The conversation ended abruptly.
Milliardo gave no greeting as he walked over. "Mind if I sit down?"
Wufei shrugged. "Why not?"
The blond pretended to work for about ten minutes before he had to break the silence. "Hey, Chang-Sally's your girlfriend, isn't she?"
The Chinese boy nodded. "She is."
Blue eyes swivelled to Trowa. "And you're dating Quatre Winner, right?"
Trowa arched his visible eyebrow. "Is there a point to this?"
Milliardo smiled. "Just trying to get a feel for the group dynamic. I could tell Quatre was gay- sorta like Duo, you know?- but I wasn't sure about you."
"You have something against gay people?"
The blond shrugged. "No. Just curious."
Wufei sighed- the guy obviously wasn't planning on giving them any idea of what he was up to. "Look- just don't go there, okay? Let it go, or at least try to, for your sister's sake."
Milliardo rolled his eyes. "Why bother? She hated me before I even got here."
Trowa glanced over at the blond distastefully. "If she hated you, she wouldn't be trying to help you. Stop being an asshole."
"Speaking of assholes..."
Wufei stood before Milliardo could finish his thought, knowing too well where the conversation was headed, and he pulled Trowa up with him. He stopped before leaving, though, to offer a bit of advice tot he now smirking blond. "You want to learn this place the hard way, go ahead. Make yourself happy. Just don't let Heero hear you- do yourself a favour."
~*~
"Roberto," Quatre queried, leaning over the bar a little as he handed his briefcase to the Cajun for safekeeping on a Friday night, "what did you give Milliardo? He's shaking!"
Roberto was chuckling, his dark eyes glinting brightly as he darted a look to the table where the usual group had gathered, plus Milliardo and Relena. "He said he didn' tink my coffee was strong enough. So I made it stronger!"
Quatre somehow managed a critical tone, despite the smiling of his eyes. "That wasn't particularly nice of you, now was it?"
The Cajun shrugged. "He's not bein' nice, either. His fault." They shared a smile and a laugh before Quatre grabbed his coffee and moved to join the group.
Trowa gave him a broad smile as he scooted over to make room for the blond next to him in an oversized armchair. He pretended shock and looked down at his watch. "Quatre, it's only seven o'clock! You're early!"
Quatre swatted at his shoulder as Duo laughed. "I am early for me, you jerk!"
Wufei arched an eyebrow. "Did Julia chase you out again, Winner?"
"No comment."
Heero spared Relena and Milliardo a look. "Quatre's more of a workaholic than the rest of us put together. Even Trowa can't get him out of the office sometimes."
Quatre blushed a little. "Actually, my Strad is back from the shop- I had to send it in for cleaning and minor repairs. I've sorta been itching to get home to it since Rashid called, at around noon."
"How about a little concert, then, at your place?" Heero asked.
Quatre and Trowa shared a look, and the blond smiled as his boyfriend gave him a firm nod. "My accompanist agrees- sounds like fun to me!"
Finishing their drinks quickly, the group piled into cars and headed to Winner Mansion.
~*~
Even Milliardo had to admit that Trowa and Quatre were excellent musicians. They alternated between Quatre on violin and Trowa on piano and Trowa on flute and Quatre on piano, and the music was just as breathtaking either way. He shot a glance, though, at where Duo and Heero sat, side by side. A slight frown marred his features. They were obviously the ringleaders of this little group, so secure and happy in each other...
He clapped louder than the others as the last strains of the violin's song came to an end, melting into the air, and he stood to walk over to where Trowa sat, at the piano. "I've rarely heard musicians as skilled as you two, and that's saying a lot in my circles."
Neither boy was completely able to hide the slight flush of anger at the underhanded slight. Trowa let his fingers glide over the piano keys, as though to draw his serenity from them. "I often tell Quatre he should give up on international business and go into music, but he refuses."
"To the loss of the world at large, I'm sure," Milliardo purred, his eyes drifting to the slender blond, as he conversed with Relena, the Stradivarius cradled lovingly in his arms.
His eyes narrowed, and he turned to Heero and Duo. Heero felt his skin going cold as he caught a warning glint in Trowa's eyes.
Milliardo twitched an eyebrow as he looked down at the couple. "So... do either of you play an instrument?"
Relena broke off what she was saying to Quatre abruptly as she turned incredulous eyes on her brother. "Milliardo..."
Duo somehow managed to smile, rather than simply baring his teeth at the blond. "I never had the chance to learn, unfortunately."
Milliardo nodded understandingly, with a hint of condescension to the tilt of his head. "Yes- stupid of me to forget. Hard to learn under certain circumstances..." He directed his gaze to Heero. "And you?"
The Japanese shook his head. "Never learned."
Milliardo shrugged. "Shame- I'm sure you would have enjoyed it. Aren't gay people supposed to be good with their hands?"
Relena went white in shock and anger as every sound in the room died out completely, all eyes on the smirking blond in their midst.
Before Milliardo could even blink, Heero was one his feet, one hand fastened around the taller man's arm with a grip of steel, tugging him after him out the door. The blond man barely had a moment to be nervous about what was going on before he was roughly pushed into a side room, the door slamming shut behind him.
Slanted blue eyes glared into his, and Milliardo was surprised to find himself becoming... nervous? Him?
Heero glared darkly. "What the hell is your problem, Peacecraft? You've insulted all of us over and over again, your sister, Dr. Po... What is it with you?"
"It isn't my fault if you are all over-sensitive, though I've heard most gay people are..."
A lightning fast fist grabbed him by the collar and lifted, until he found himself dangling embarrassingly from the shorter man's grip. "I'll tell you what your problem is. You're a stuck-up, attention-hungry bastard. You think acting up is going to get you the attention you want? You're worse than the kids at the orphanage- at least they have the excuse of being too young to deal with it."
Milliardo glared down at the smaller man as Heero slowly lowered him to his feet, and he smoothed his clothing and hair. "I didn't ask for your friendship, Yuy."
Heero glared right back. "No, but we tried to offer it to you, anyway, for Relena's sake. You got something against your parents, fine. Take it out on them. Not on us, and certainly not on Relena! She's actually trying to help- when's the last time someone game a good goddamn what happened to you really?" He turned to leave...
"What? Going back to your stupid little faggot boyfriend?"
Heero saw red. He spun quickly, and Milliardo cried out in agony as a fist slammed into his midsection, neatly dropping him to his knees. Heero's quiet voice sneered down at him. "Firstly, he's my fiancé," he backhanded the blond sharply, smiling slightly at Milliardo's yelp of pain, "and second, NEVER call him that again."
The door flew open behind him, and Heero heard Quatre's shocked catch of breath. "Heero! What the hell happened in here?! Rashid!"
Heero stepped back from his victim. "I just gave him what he wanted. And a lesson in manners."
A hand closed on his arm, and he looked up into Duo's worried eyes as the braided boy pulled him a few steps further back from Milliardo. "He insulted you."
Duo simply nodded, his hand tightening on Heero's arm, eyes floating back over to where Milliardo knelt.
Rashid poked his head in, his eyes widening as he saw the man on the floor. "What the..."
"Rashid, if my sister's home, please ask her to join us," Quatre commanded, his tone showing how angry he was at the situation.
Rashid knew better than to argue with his young master, when the boy was in one of these moods. "Of course, sir." He disappeared.
Wufei tactfully lead Relena out, followed by Duo and Heero and, much to everyone's surprise, a few seconds later by Trowa.
As the door closed again, the smaller blond turned the full intensity of his gaze on Milliardo. "You're a real asshole, you know that?"
"So I've been told."
Quatre reached over and helped the taller man to his feet, letting him lean on his shoulder as he slowly walked him to a couch. The taller man gratefully sank down onto the cushions.
Quatre sat next to him and winced as he looked over the growing bruise on Milliardo's face. "That's going to be ugly."
"I'll live. Had worse before." Milliardo's eyes slipped closed, and he leaned back into the cushions.
Quatre watched him carefully, though. "If I thought you meant any of what you said, I would have helped Heero, as no doubt the others would, too."
"Look who knows so much."
Quatre scowled darkly, but anything he might have wanted to say was cut short as Iria walked in and gave a gasp of dismay. "Quatre Raberba Winner! What the hell did you do?!"
Quatre looked up and shot his sister an annoyed look. "Heero's handwork not mine. And he deserved it." He stood and wiped his palms on his trousers before turning back to give Milliardo a long lance-over. "If you continue to be alone, Peacecraft, it's no one's fault but yours." He turned and left.
Iria gave an irritated sigh as she flicked the light switch for better lighting. Milliardo's bruise was even uglier in full light, darkening to an evil, livid shade of purple. He winced away from the light.
She huffed as she sat down and gently turned his face towards her. "Sorry this hurts, but I'll give you a painkiller in a minute, okay?"
As gentle fingers probed his face, Milliardo managed to open an eye. Iria Winner was as blonde as her brother, but her eyes were deep hazel, almost green, and the spark in her eyes plainly said that she was not one to be toyed with in her present mood. "Heero hit me."
She glared into his eyes. "From what I've heard about you, you probably provoked him into it, Mr. Peacecraft. I don't give out sympathy to idiots who go looking for trouble."
"Nice bedside manner."
She 'hmphed' again as she applied antiseptic to the spot on Milliardo's cheek where Heero's engagement ring had cut into his skin. "I should think... most people in your situation would be happy to make new friends and get on with life."
Milliardo shrugged, grimacing slightly as his pained ribs reasserted their presence. "Don't need pity from my little sister's associates."
"Funny- it looks to me like that's precisely what you want." Iria opened a jar and scooped a pleasant-smelling salve onto her fingers, gently applying it to the bruised skin. "You'll never admit to it, but all this is a scream for attention, isn't it? No- don't bother answering that," she added quickly, as he shot her a dark look.
He sighed, relaxing slightly as the salve made the stinging on his face go away. "You wouldn't understand how hard it has been."
"Try me." Iria wiped her hands on a handy towel before looking up into Milliardo's face. "I see people like you every day, desperate for attention and caring from a single individual, and to Hell with the rest of the world. Well get over yourself. You want to pity someone, come down to the Orphanage with Relena tomorrow and meet some of those kids. You've had it easy, Milliardo. You have no idea how lucky you've been."
She stood quickly and rummaged in her bag for a bottle of painkillers, pouring a few into his hand. "Take two now and two more in the morning- it'll help for your stomach, as well." She made to leave, but stopped and turned back to him quite suddenly. "You've got a whole group of people here ready to take you in, and a sister who's willing to give you a chance, even after you've insulted and belittled all her friends repeatedly. Take my advice and be happy with that. If your dad really wanted to be here for you, he would be. He's not, and she is."
She turned the lights off for him as she left, but Milliardo stared at the door blankly for quite a long time.
~*~
He stared up at the brick building, trying to control his reaction to the place. The neighbourhood... to say it was bad was like saying Hitler disliked Jews- a massive understatement. But the House itself...
Milliardo followed his sister up the steps, not really knowing why he was bothering, but he forced himself to walk through that door-
Sally Po met his eyes in surprise, a look that quickly morphed into distrust. "What are you doing here?"
He smiled as best he could with the bruise on his face. "Hi, Dr. Po. A... friend of mine said I should come here to see what it meant to have a hard life."
"So she did." He turned as Iria laughed from an adjoining doorway.
"Good afternoon, Dr. Winner. Thanks for taking care of my face."
She rolled her eyes as she stepped closer to Sally and eyed the bandage the blond had chosen to wear, rather than showing off his bruise. "Anything that covers it up is an improvement." The two women laughed.
He managed a small smile. "I suppose I deserve that."
"He's telling a joke- he might actually make a decent human being, after all," Sally joked, as she scooped up a small, pig-tailed girl and stopped her from running headlong up the stairs, scooping the child into her arms. "Well, as long as you're here, you might as well make yourself useful. Come on!"
He followed her in.
Duo looked up in surprise as the two Doctors walked in, followed by the tall blond. "Didn't expect you here, Milliardo. Welcome to the Hope Home."
He smiled down at the braided Administrator. "Thanks."
"Here, hold this." He automatically held his hands out as Sally shoved a large grocery bag into his arms. He gave her a look of surprise, and she smiled. "Donations. To be brought to the kitchen."
A small hand pulled on his trouser leg, and he looked down to find a young black boy staring up at him. "Ya need me to show ya the way?"
It took a moment for it to sink in, but when it did, Milliardo gave the boy a tiny smile. "Yes, please."
~*~
Roberto looked up in surprise as he heard a familiar laugh at the door and saw... Duo and Milliardo Peacecraft?
Sally Po and Iria winner were deep in some private conversation as they followed the boys in.
He wasn't the only one to notice, either. Heero and Wufei were on their feet immediately, Quatre and Trowa seconds behind them. But all four calmed down as Duo shot them an expressive look- He's okay, don't worry.
His eyes lingered on Heero for a moment as he caressed the ring on his finger. Heero smiled back, taking his seat.
"Hi, Sally. How was brat patrol?" Wufei asked, taking her hand in his and kissing it.
She smiled at him as she settled into her place. "No worse than usual, Fei. We had a new helper, though."
Milliardo seemed to falter a little, but Iria gave him an encouraging nod that was reflected in Duo Maxwell's smile. He faced the others and took a deep breath. "I was... rude to you. Really rude, and childish. I'm sorry for that, and I'd like to try this friends thing over again, if you'll give me that chance."
Duo squeezed Heero's hand under the table.
Quatre smiled as he saw his sister's eyes gleaming, locked on the tall blond. "What brought this on?"
Milliardo's eyes swung around to meet the hazel stare directed at him. "A good bit of advice from a good doctor."
Wufei nodded gruffly, but those who knew him well could see the approval in his dark eyes. "Well, nice to meet you. I am Chang Wufei." He held out his hand.
Milliardo smiled. "Milliardo Peacecraft, my pleasure." Chuckling, they shook hands all around the table again.
Roberto walked over, unable to contain his curiosity a moment longer. "Alrigh', jus' what's goin' on here, now?"
Duo grinned up at him cheekily. "It's classified. We could tell you, but we'd have to kill you."
"Remin' me to leave de sugar out of his coffee," Roberto chuckled as the whole group rolled its eyes at the lame joke. He smiled over at Iria and Sally. "What can I get four you ladies tonight?"
Iria grinned right back. "Vanilla milkshake, heavy on the Baileys."
"There's no Baileys in a milkshake, sis," Quatre commented.
"Now hush, you!" Roberto scolded lightly. "De lady wants Baileys, she gets Baileys! How about you, Dr. Po?"
"Baileys shake sounds pretty good, actually."
Roberto grinned. "That's two. Another Turkish coffee for you, Milliardo?"
The tall blond tried not to make a face. "Thanks, but no. It's a little too strong for me, after all. An espresso will do nicely."
As Roberto turned back to the counter, he distinctly heard Duo making a comment about 'real men' and Turkish coffee, and he couldn't help a little laugh. He wondered if Milliardo had the slightest clue how much he was in for, allowing this bunch to become his friends.
He hoped the blond would eventually realise how lucky he was, too.
OWARI
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