Harry Potter and the Secret Link Part 16
"... Duo?" Harry probed quietly, hoping to encourage any kind of reaction from the unnaturally quiet American who, after showing Harry the message scrawling across the bear's front, turned the stuffed animal back around and began to stare sightlessly at the gift. The Gryffindor Golden Boy was at a loss as to why a gift, while somewhat strange and slightly creepy, would spur such a distant reaction from the braided boy.
Duo didn't move for a long moment before, finally, he precariously set the mysterious gift to the side. "Hmm?"
"You didn't tell me today was your birthday."
"It's not."
Oh. Maybe that's why Duo's so out of it...
"I mean, it couldn't be," Duo said absently, his eyes still studying the present. "No one could know when my birthday is -I don't even know when my birthday is. The chances of today being my birthday is one out of, well, 365, if I include leap year..."
How could someone not know when his own birthday is? Harry wondered to himself. He realized it was possible that Duo didn't know because the American admitted readily enough that, as far as he could remember, he was a street rat. Any life before that was completely lost in the hazy memory of early childhood.
"... and if I had a birthday, I would hope it would be set sometime in July, probably on the twenty-fifth, because that's exactly six months away from Christmas and affords me multiple gifts every six months. If today is my birthday, I'm getting completely gypped because who wants to buy anyone a birthday present right after they wasted all of their money on Christmas?"
Rambling. Harry recognized the sign for what it was; Duo was upset and, to keep himself from showing his frustration, he would begin to ramble rather light-heartedly to detract attention from what he was feeling. He did it the same day his friends arrived, too...
"Yeah, I'd definitely rather my birthday be in July. And since today couldn't possibly be my birthday, I hereby declare my birthday July 25. You'll come to my party, right? Of course you would. And Heero, Trowa, Quatre, Wufei, Draco, Hermione, and Ron will be there too. You think Ron and Draco will argue a lot? I love it when Draco's all snarky and Ron's all indignant. Family feuds are so stupid it's funny." Duo stood up suddenly, going for the door.
"Duo! What-?"
"I'm going for a walk. Y'know, I'm not so sleepy anymore. Strangest thing. Hey, you think I'll run into Sevy? He's always fun to ramble at. I love seeing his hopes that I'll pass out from lack of oxygen so he can leave me in a cold corridor to catch something fatal and die slowly crumble when I keep going. You'd think he'd never heard of circular breathing, which, I'm proud to say, I excel at. I'll see you at breakfast, right? Or, y'know, maybe lunch, since you'll be sleeping through breakfast. Well, maybe not lunch, either, because you said that if anyone woke you at lunch you'd be forced to take extreme actions. Dinner, then? Dinner it is. I'll see you later, man."
"Duo..." But the American was already closing the door behind him, pajama clad and all. "Damn it..."
What now? Heero. Well, of course Harry couldn't out and out tell Heero what had happened because that was Duo's business, but Harry could tell Heero that Duo needed an understanding ear and a shoulder to lean on, right? So how was he supposed to get to the Slytherin dorms when they were all the way in the dungeons? If he took the direct way, he'd be stopped by the password protected entrance. And, since the Slytherin dorms were in the dungeon, there was no way he could sneak through a window, or...
Wait. Trowa. Trowa called the Slytherin dorms the Slytherin Tower. "The Slytherin Tower has an amazing view over the Forbidden Forest -so much so that I've actually seen unicorns and centaurs through the window." Harry wasn't even going to contemplate how that was possible, since he knew for a fact the Slytherin common room was in the dungeons.
Hogwarts had seven towers; the Gryffindor Tower, the Hufflepuff Tower, the Ravenclaw Tower, the Headmaster's Tower, the Astronomy Tower, and the Divination Tower. Could the seventh tower be the Slytherin Tower?
Harry's eyes flickered to his broom. Only one way to find out, right? He threw himself from the warm confines of his bed and hastily placed his warmest cloak around his shoulder before he absently slipped his treasured Marauder's Map in his pocket, almost immediately noticing it was part of the wardrobe Malfoy had jokingly given him for Christmas. He didn't even try to puzzle out why that was worth noting as he took up his treasured Firebolt and flung the window open, wincing at the sharp, cold wind that sliced across his face, so cold his cheeks began to sting and his nose went curiously numb.
While the wind was strong, it was hardly the worst weather Harry had flown in, and the rising sun offered a little relief from the harsh winter temperature. The view from the window was mostly over the lake first years crossed on their first evening at Hogwarts, and there was a small corner of the Dark Forest within his vision, as well. The tower with the best view of the Forbidden Forest had to be... the one directly next to Gryffindor Tower?
"If it is Slytherin Tower," Harry mumbled as he straddled his Firebolt and pushed off the ledge, steadying the broom against the howling wind, "then talk about the irony of Slytherins and Gryffindors being civil neighbors."
He swooped low as he approached the tower, peering into the first window. A dorm room. Hmm... Don't think I'll tell Ron about this. He might either flip or plan something that'll start an all out war. We'll never get to sleep with all of the pranks we'll be trying to pull on the Slytherin House as a whole...
He slowly went from window to window facing the Forbidden Forest, peering inside each one until he could clearly see each was empty. Finally, after almost losing all hope that this was the right tower at all, he found a room that definitely had signs of life.
That sign of life, however, was Heero Yuy very clearly pointing a gun at Harry through the window. The Gryffindor let out a startled squawk and ducked down below the sill.
The window above him came open, allowing Harry to hear Draco's very disgruntled, "Yuy, you bastard, it's freezing outside!"
Harry bravely pulled up again, sighing in relief as he noted that Heero had lowered the gun to his side.
"Harry's here," the Gryffindor Golden Boy heard Trowa note mildly.
"Potter?"
Before Draco could say something that made Harry want to kill him, Harry looked straight into Heero's eyes and said, "Duo's upset."
Heero narrowed his eyes, causing Harry to shiver. He had a sinking suspicion it wasn't the cold that caused it.
"Ooh," he heard Draco say in awe, appearing beside Heero. "Heero Death Glare number 122: 'I would kill you myself, but I think it would be more amusing to chain you to a ceiling in the dungeons while the rats feast upon your warm, still-living organs.' Congratulations, Potter -you've successfully put Yuy into 'someone is going to die a slow and painful death' mode."
"He's not upset with me," Harry said indignantly.
"Pity," Draco drawled. Cheeky bastard... "Come in before I hex you - God, Potter, it's too cold and miserable to be putting up with you this early after we left the Gryffindor Tower."
Harry decided quickly that he wasn't going to tell Malfoy about the close proximity of the rival houses' towers, either, for much of the same reasons as he wasn't telling Ron. Heero and Draco moved to allow Harry to navigate himself inside, and Draco shut the window after him.
"What happened?" Heero demanded.
Harry paused, wondering what was within his right to tell. Even he wasn't quite sure why something like an innocent teddy bear upset Duo, other than the fact it seemed kind of creepy. "Duo... received a birthday present."
Draco's eyebrows rose in amusement. "A birthday present? Maxwell's upset because he's a year older? Isn't he a little young to be going through a mid-life crisis right now?"
"Duo doesn't have a birthday," Trowa informed him quietly. "At least, not one he's aware of."
"That's what he said," Harry said evasively, "before he started rambling. I usually take that as a sign that he's upset, but... the present itself was mildly disturbing."
"Where is he?"
"He went for a walk," Harry said, somewhat intimidated by the rather dangerous glint in Heero's eyes. "He said he'd see me later. He tried to hide it, but he was really disquieted. I did bring something that would help you find him, though."
He pulled the Marauder's Map from the depth of his pocket, unfolding the parchment halfway. Malfoy's eyebrows poised once again, the Slytherin Prince drawled, "Oh. A scrap sheet of parchment. That's loads of help."
Harry gritted his teeth together, hating that Malfoy was going to see something he would rather the Malfoy heir not see or know about at all. "It belonged to my father and his friends when they were in school. Here..." Pointing the tip of his wand at the blank parchment, he murmured lowly, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
Ink began to line the parchment, starting with the typical introduction, Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers are proud to present THE MARAUDER'S MAP. Harry felt Malfoy hovering over him as the parchment's lines began to darken, clearly revealing the only known map of Hogwarts. The map, true to form, started with the map's own present location, in this case, Slytherin Tower; more specifically, the room that contained Odin Lowe, Jr., Triton Bloom, Harry Potter, and Draco Malfoy.
Wait. Odin Lowe? Triton Bloom? Harry blinked, befuddled. The names, while unfamiliar, were faded behind the names of Trowa Barton and Heero Yuy.
Then Malfoy slapped Harry on the back of the head with a peevish growl. Harry, slightly dazed, snapped, "What was that for?"
"Damn you, Potter! Why do you get all the nifty toys?" the Malfoy heir raged before getting a better look at the map. "Faulty toy. Odin Lowe and Triton Bloom?"
Heero and Trowa shared a look between one another. "Interesting," Trowa murmured.
"Hn."
"Catherine Bloom is my adopted sister," Trowa mused. "She's told me often enough that I remind her of a brother that died when she was younger."
"And Lowe was the man who raised me," Heero said coldly, "though I don't recall him ever giving me a legitimate name."
"That's good," Draco said offhandedly. "You really don't look like an Odin."
Harry was reluctant to agree with Malfoy's assessment, but it was true. Heero really didn't look like an Odin. Instead of mentioning that, he quickly went in search of Duo and found him soon enough. His name, oddly enough, had a second one underneath as well, though it was far more faded than Heero's and Trowa's. He'd almost made out the first name behind Duo Maxwell before Malfoy distracted him by saying loudly, "He's in the Headmaster's office."
"Hn." Heero didn't even blink before he was out of the door -presumably on his way. Trowa followed scant seconds later, leaving Harry and Malfoy alone in the sixth year Slytherin boys' dorm. From the map, Harry could see Trowa part ways from Heero at the entrance to the Slytherin common room which, strangely enough, was in the dungeons.
"Does that say Keary?"
"What?" Harry asked, startled. Draco was studying the blur behind Duo's name as intently as Harry once was. The Gryffindor Golden Boy felt his face heat up when he noticed that Malfoy was so close that, one off move and they'd be cheek to cheek.
"Pay attention, Potter," Malfoy said, pointing. "Maxwell admitted himself that the name he goes by is about as real as Trelawney's Sight. I can only assume the reason his is much more blurred than Yuy and Barton's is because those two are somewhat aware of what their real names could be. Maxwell, strangely enough, just doesn't care, which is probably why it's really illegible on... this bloody wicked map." Draco sounded reluctant to admit any so-called toy of Harry's was 'wicked'.
"Probably because the name Duo gave himself means a lot more to him than his real name ever could," Harry mused thoughtfully. "Duo for his first friend, and Maxwell for his first family."
"Maybe," Draco said dully, still squinting at the name. "Keary, I think. Keary Guth... Guthric? Is that what it says?"
"I can't tell," Harry said, shaking his head. "It would make sense, though. Those are Celtic names, right? Duo has a lot about his looks that seem to trace back to the Celts."
"Hm." After a few more moments of trying to clearly make out the name, Draco gave up, grunting in annoyance as he rubbed his eyes. "The blur keeps shifting. I can't make it out. Keary, I know for sure."
"Well, Quatre and Wufei's names are real," Harry pointed out, showing Malfoy the view of Quatre's dot in the Hufflepuff Tower.
"Yeah, but we knew tha- Wait a minute... Quatre Raberba Malfoy Winner?"
Harry winced. He'd forgotten about that little detail. In his defense, however, he hadn't known the map would go as far as to show it all... He hadn't even known Malfoy was a part of Quatre's name.
----------
Duo hadn't lied to Harry. Lying just wasn't his thing. He really did go for a walk. A walk that, coincidentally enough, led him straight to the Headmaster's office in hopes of discussing something with aforementioned Headmaster. There was a small glitch that he hadn't counted on, however; the password protected gargoyle that sat in front of the entrance to the office wasn't budging.
Thanks to Harry, however, Duo was vaguely aware that Dumbledore always used the name of a candy for his password. Unfortunately, Duo hadn't had much of a chance to verse himself with miscellaneous wizarding candies.
"Chocolate Frogs, Pepper Imps, Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans, Licorice Wands..." And that was the extent of his wizarding candy knowledge. Damn it. "Chocolate covered raisins? Mars Bar? Kitkat, Twix, Lemonheads, Skittles-"
Upon 'Skittles', the gargoyle shuddered and jumped neatly out of the way. The respect Duo held for the Headmaster rose to an entirely different level. Anyone who liked Skittles enough to use it as a password couldn't possibly be that bad.(1)
Quit stalling.
Duo was a guy on a mission. Sort of.
Once he'd ascended the winding stairs that led to the small alcove just before Dumbledore's office, he took a moment to rap his knuckle against the aging wood of the door, doubtful that Dumbledore was actually awake this early in the morning on a holiday; however, old people did strange things, and it was better knocking on the door to see if anyone was in than getting caught sneaking into the Headmaster's Office in an attempt to find student records.
He was disappointed to hear someone invite him in. He really, really wanted to see if he could get away with the sneaking bit...
"Ah, Duo," Albus Dumbledore said pleasantly from behind his cluttered desk, dressed to the nines in a pair of burnt orange robes with little green moons, a pointy purple hat propped over his snow white hair; such an outfit had to have been the style on some distant planet far, far away...
Then again, even if Duo thought little about the existence of extraterrestrial life, he'd like to think they had way more sense than that.
"Where in God's name do you get your robes?" Duo had to know.
"Cozy little place in France," Dumbledore said jovially. "I do believe they're a work of art myself."
I would have guessed 'blind tailors', but then again, 'French tailors' wouldn't be far off, either... "They're a work of... something," Duo said vaguely, resisting the urge to shy away screaming, "My eyes! They burn!"
"Have a seat, Duo. To what do I owe this early morning visit?"
Duo sat casually. "Oh, well, I've decided I like this gift-giving business so much that I'm going to be having my birthday party in July, and I wanted to know if you'd be busy on the twenty-fifth. Or, y'know, whenever, because my birthday isn't exactly on a set date, and that got me thinking that if anyone knew when my birthday actually was, it would be you. I mean, you did say information like that was in my student record."
Dumbledore considered Duo thoughtfully, and the American Gundam pilot found himself dreading what the wizen Headmaster's answer was going to be. Finally, the man said, "I had no idea that you didn't know. It never occurred to me..."
"Know what?"
"Duo," Dumbledore said, "today is your birthday."
I was afraid of that... "You sure? I mean, I'd much rather it be in July; who wants to buy me presents after burying themselves in a mountain of debt for Christmas?"
"I'm quite sure. January 1st, A.C. 180. You were very nearly born on December 31st -as it was, you were born a few minutes passed midnight."
"Oh. Happy birthday to me, I guess," Duo said casually. "Pity -really doesn't leave me a lot of time to convince Heero to buy me that pony I've always wanted."
"Though your statements are humorous, Duo," Dumbledore said solemnly, "and I do not doubt you intended them to be any other way but distracting, I somehow find it unlikely that you would just happen to inquire about your birthday on this specific date a coincidence, and it is even more unlikely to have anything to do with a pony."
Sharp man. "Don't worry about it. I can handle it."
"Duo-"
"I can handle it," Duo repeated with a quick grin. "I mean, my friends tend to think handling my anger issues with high grade explosives isn't very conductive, but big booms make me feel better. The closer the big boom to the source of my irritation, the better I feel."
Now Dumbledore was beginning to look a little alarmed. "Duo-"
"But since I don't have anymore explosives, I think I'll just deal with my anger issues the old fashion way." Duo stood with a flourish, sending a quick, maniacal grin toward the worried Headmaster. "Later, AB."
Duo was out of the door before Dumbledore could wage another protest.
He was surprised when he found Heero waiting for him outside of Dumbledore's office, leaning stiffly against the wall besides the gargoyle with his arms crossed over his chest in classic, "Who do I have to kill to make you happy?" mode. All Heero had to do was look at him in that frank, understanding way of his, and Duo's facade almost completely melted.
He smiled somewhat sadly at his boyfriend, feeling a tug behind his ribs when Heero uncrossed his arms only to immediately envelope him in a warm hug. It was a big step for Heero, who was never comfortable with public show of affection in the first place. "How do you always seem to know that all is not right in Duoland?" he asked, laying his head on Heero's shoulder and closing his eyes to the world.
"My Duo senses were tingling."
Duo snorted into Heero's shoulder, amused. "I can't believe you just made a pop culture pun. You are getting better at this being normal stuff."
"We're ex-terrorists on the run who happen to be wizards taking refuge in a school where classes teach us to hone that ability," Heero pointed out logically. "What's normal about that?"
"Point." Duo sighed, turning his face and laying his cheek on Heero's shoulder as he stared sightlessly at one of Hogwarts' many moving paintings; this one happened to display a battle scene between warring centaurs, focused predominantly on the front-line offense, bow strings pulled taunt and arrows whizzing through the air. Duo thought it was ironic that, even in art, he couldn't escape war.
It was then that Duo was struck with a thought. Oh, what a wicked thought it was. Soon the thought turned into a plan, and suddenly, Duo was much, much happier. "It would make me really happy if you could do me a favor, Hee-chan..."
"I'm listening."
Duo grinned, pressing his lips against Heero's cheek laughingly as he gently broke out of the comfort of Heero's arms. "Find me something flammable."
"Flammable." Though deadpan, the one word contained a single hint of a question to it.
"You'll see."
----------
There was privacy, and then there was being a good friend. Most people could not seem to find a middle-ground between the two, especially when it came to acting out on the friend part while still not treading all over privacy.
Trowa Barton was the type of guy who knew how to differentiate between a situation that required tact, and one that required the comfort of the whole. He made it his business to know these things. It was his nature to study people and note their reactions to individual stimuli. It was this same habit of studying a human being's persona that made him such an expert in infiltration, in fact; if he could find something useful that pleased his enemy and somehow recreate the process in his favor, he would then successfully endure himself to that enemy, therefore allowing him to pass through that same enemy's internal alarm.
Humans, down to the basic element, were nothing but animals. Besides opposable thumbs, a higher brain function (for the average human, anyway), and morals, humans were just another lethal animal that topped the food chain. And Trowa knew animals quite well.
What upset an individual of the pack affected the pack as a whole. And so, with this in mind, he thought it necessary to inform Quatre and Wufei of what had happened. A decision would be reached on what was to be done to alleviate the frustration of the individual in order to alleviate the tension of the pack.
Trowa loved Quatre -there wasn't a doubt about that. What made Quatre special was that, while somehow still possessing the demeanor of a submissive, he was still distinctly alpha; even more so than Wufei and Heero. Quatre's presence alone demanded deference, all the while still maintaining a calm, soothing conduct that, more often than not, led people into a sense of security, whether false or otherwise. Quatre was clearly the leader of the pack, whereas everyone else happened to be the protectors. If push came to shove, he would admit that their pack was slowly opening up to outside individuals like Harry and, in some way, Draco; and Trowa could see that Quatre and Duo would appreciate if the pack's size grew to further embrace maybe even Ron, Hermione, and Wufei's friend Mandy, as well, though Trowa couldn't see how that would work out with Ron and Draco's constant battle for dominance.(2)
The three of them were currently huddled together outside, truly solitary in a castle in which the walls literally had ears. Trowa wouldn't have been surprised if the paintings were how Dumbledore kept up with all of the new developments and gossip throughout Hogwarts itself; it would certainly explain his all-knowing appearance.
That's what he would have done, anyway.
"Maxwell's not an idiot," Wufei said solemnly when Trowa brought Duo's trouble to the rest of the pack's attention. "He'll find a way to feel better in the end, and it'll probably involve something violent -mark my word."
"That still doesn't give us an idea on what to do about this person sending Duo a gift that affected him in such a way, though," Quatre pointed out. "Duo will find a way to seek justification, true -but, in the long run, there are several questions we still haven't answered. Will this become a problem? Will we ever find out who sent the gift and why? And what connection does this mysterious gift-sender have with Duo to even assume today is his birthday?"
"I have a feeling we'll be finding out eventually," Trowa said quietly, "though I'm not sure it'll be daisies and sunshine in the end."
"Potter said it disturbed Maxwell, didn't he?" Wufei mused. "It's hard to believe -Maxwell hardly lets anything effect him on a personal level. I wonder what the gift is to get this kind of reaction out of him?"
"Harry wasn't too forthcoming," Trowa said. "He doesn't like to step on his friends' toes, which is probably why he told Heero as much as he did while still saying very little."
Quatre was about to say something more on the matter, but he stopped suddenly and held up a hand to quiet Trowa and Wufei. Almost immediately the doors to the school swung open, and the familiar form of the braided American pilot danced out with a bulky black box under one arm, what appeared to be a long bow wrapped around his shoulder, and an arrow clenched between his teeth. He was followed by Heero and, curiously enough, the boys had managed to pick up Harry and Draco along the way.
"Hi, guys," Duo chirped cheerfully around the arrow in his mouth. "Let's go bake a cake!"
"Cake?" Wufei said lowly, his eyebrow raising slightly in bemusement.
"Yeah! It's my birthday. I can't believe you forgot!"
He seems to be in good spirits, Trowa noted thoughtfully. Still a little resentful, but otherwise content.
Trowa knew what that meant. Duo had found a suitable outlet for his frustration. This could be either good or bad; good because once Duo found a solution to extract petty revenge, he almost always went back to his "life is normal" routine. It could have been bad because the last time Duo had decided to let it all out, OZ's mobile suits had peanut butter spread into the knee joints of almost every mobile suit except for the damaged ones; large purchases of peanut butter, they soon found out, could narrow down a safe house's location rather quickly.
"Ah!" Duo said, facing the lake with a big smile on his face. "Perfect. Hee-chan, hold this." The bow and arrow exchanged hands, and Duo bent down to place the box on the ground.
"What's he doing?" Quatre asked quietly.
Harry shrugged uncertainly. "He said something about candles and marshmallows."
Sure enough, out of the box came marshmallows and, strangely enough, a teddy bear. Duo displayed the stuffed animal with a wide grin on his face. "Cute, isn't it? Too bad someone didn't do his research -I'm seventeen today. It's hardly my first birthday."
Wufei frowned at the stuffed animal. "'Baby's First Birthday'? That's..."
"Peculiar," Quatre finished quietly. "I can see why it would cause worry, though, especially when you didn't know today is your birthday." He glanced at Trowa meaningfully, and Trowa knew exactly what Quatre was thinking. A gift like that implied long-term knowledge about Duo.
"Yeah," Duo said casually. "It really bothered me, especially since whoever sent me this gift also gave me something for Christmas that I'd originally assumed was Heero trying to be coy. But I like that gift, so I'm keeping it. This one, though -well, the sender wasn't polite enough to send a receipt, so I guess I'm stuck with it, ne? Hee-chan, the kerosine, please."
Uh-oh. Flammable liquid in Duo's possession.
"Kerosine?" Harry said faintly, fascinated as Duo proceeded to douse the teddy bear in kerosine. The braided boy hummed cheerfully as he set the bear aside, taking the silently offered bow and arrow from Heero and pouring a little kerosine over the clothed tip of the weapon, as well.
"Right," Duo said cheerfully. "Somebody light me."
Trowa, eyebrows raised, cast a small Incendio on the tip of the arrow, watching the flame lick at the tip. Heero picked up the stuffed animal, careful to avoid any excess liquid as Duo readied the bow and arrow.
"Pull!" Duo shouted gaily, and the teddy bear went sailing through the air. The bow string grew taunt and with a quick thwack, Duo released the flaming arrow, hitting his mark dead on. The stuffed bear almost exploded into flames and dropped limply to the ground; even the snow didn't seem to stop the flames from burning.
Duo cheered, putting the bow down and conjuring sticks that he cheerfully decorated with large fluffy marshmallows before passing them out. "Marshmallow roast for all! Happy birthday to me!"
Somehow he rallied even Draco to the flaming present, and they were all casually roasting marshmallows over the corpse of the bear.
"Satisfied now?" Wufei asked, a faint tone of amusement in his voice.
"Oh, yeah," Duo mumbled around the gooey marshmallow he was busy gnawing on. "The school's water pipes are saved from me once again after the cherry bomb episode."
"I knew that was you!" Harry exclaimed, laughing. "Let me guess -you roped Ron into helping, didn't you? He acted guilty enough..."
"Chaos, ol' boy," Duo said. "It's what I crave."
TBC...
(1) I seem to have Skittles on the brain these days; probably because they're my favoritest candy in the whole world, and I haven't had them in a year because the sugar content alone might put me into a coma. Damn my metabolism for not being able to handle sugar... :eyes her Diet Coke in disgust:
As an offshot, I can completely understand Dumbledore's dislike for every-flavored beans. I, too, have been afforded the agonizing experience of biting into a vomit flavored bean by mistake. (Well, it was more like, "Vomit flavored? Pfft! It can't really taste like vomit!") Unfortunately, it really does taste like vomit. (Though I did have a lot of fun picking out all of the bad ones and giving them to my classmates. Heheheheh.... Ah, to hear Steven gag emphatically and say, "Ugh, it tastes like DIRT!" One of my fondest high school memories...)
(2) I'm going to try to explain what I perceive as Trowa's POV as simply as possible -the guy loves animals. Somehow I think he identifies with them on a deeper level, and he applies what he knows of animals to humans, who are animals with opposable thumbs, higher brain functions, and the capacity to decide right from wrong on the principle of morals. We share a lot of our baser instincts with animals still -survival, finding food, etc. Some of us even go as far as to prove dominance over others, while others are perfectly content with being submissive. Ergo, the world is Trowa's jungle. (Running-loose pointed out that I haven't done anything with Trowa's 'voice', and I thought that was unfair to Trowa. This is my attempt to find his voice. I rather like it -it's very unique. However, you may not like it, so please; input would be appreciated on this point.)
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