Slow and Steady Part 11
"Duo? What are you doing up so late?"
"I dunno, what are you doing up so late?"
Quatre waved the book in his hand. "Left this downstairs. Saw the light on."
"Yeah? Well, I left this downstairs." He wiggled his fingers at the platter of chocolate chip cookies sitting on the kitchen counter.
"Midnight snack?" Quatre asked, amused. He wandered over, tempted. "Or shall we say, a late dessert?"
Duo dipped his cookie defiantly into his mug of milk. "Hey, I'm getting my calcium, too."
"No arguing that." Quatre broke off the corner of a cookie and popped it in his mouth.
Duo rolled his eyes. "Geezus, Q, just man up and eat the whole damn cookie. You're just going to sit there until you nibble the whole thing up."
"Hmpf. I have no milk. I couldn't possibly."
He waved his hand over his shoulder. "You know where the fridge is."
"I know. It's all the way over there." Quatre threw a mournful look at it.
"Whatever, man. It's your tummy that's gonna get jealous of mine."
"And your abs that will be jealous of mine."
He snorted. "As if. I'm buff enough that I've got room to spare for a cookie or three. Too bad you're not so lucky."
"Ah, well, it's nothing a well-tailored suit can't hide." Quatre claimed the rest of the cookie he'd sniped a piece off of.
"Atta-boy."
"Are you sure I can't charm you into fetching me a glass of milk?"
"Heero's in a wheelchair. What's your excuse?" He turned around and pulled the milk out of the fridge and set it on the counter next to the cookies, but that was all he was going to do.
Quatre heaved a dramatic sigh and got his own cup from the cabinets. He poured his milk, and when he was done, Duo stashed the milk back in the fridge. Quatre stirred his milk idly with a corner of his cookie. "Heero's in a wheelchair," he repeated softly.
"Sure is."
"You're... satisfied with his progress?"
"Sure am."
"He's... taking it well."
"Yup."
"He's... letting you fuss over him."
Duo looked at him sternly. "I am not fussing over him."
"Uh-huh."
"If I were fussing over him, he'd have told me off by now."
"I see."
"I'm just, uh, being his wingman. Getting his back."
"Noble of you."
"He'd do the same for me."
"Sure would."
"Where are you going with this?"
"I dunno. Where are you going with this?"
Duo glared at him, then decided he'd go into his milk with another cookie.
Quatre sipped at his cookie-flavored milk. "I'm not fussing through sheer force of will. Trowa's doing the nonchalant thing, but every once in a while, he pulls himself up short, like he's not quite sure if he's about to cross a line or something. Wufei's kind of uncomfortable now and again, but he doesn't bother to hide it. I doubt he'd be very good at it anyway. What about you?"
"What about me?"
"What do you think about the whole thing?"
"It's temporary."
"It's long-term."
"Big deal. It's Heero. He's Heero. He's still Heero. He'll always be Heero."
"True. I don't know. It's hard to tell. I think he's glad he's here, but I don't think he's quite relaxed being here."
Duo agreed with that assessment, though he had to note, so far things had gone more smoothly than he'd expected. "Yanno... I brought this sniper rifle up with me. Had to show off some new tech for the locals. Heero dropped by, tried it out. He was so... so Heero in that moment. And not just personality-wise. Skills-wise, he's still totally the same guy. I mean, he's old hat with a sniper rifle, been friendly with them earlier than even I think could possibly be appropriate for a person. And he was evaluating the tech like the pro he is. That hasn't changed a bit. I had this mental image of him going out on a job, with maybe a lovely assistant." He gestured vaguely at himself. "And he'd do all the planning as meticulous as ever, nail the perfect shot, pack his rifle up in a box stashed under his chair, and then we'd make our calm getaway, and no one would even ever suspect. Like, I could totally see him doing that, as is. Well, aside from the whole 'killing dudes for money' part, of course. But... I can see him doing what he's always done. Just with a different MO."
Quatre pictured it. "Can't disagree. Except with the 'lovely' assistant part, maybe."
Duo stuck his tongue out at him.
"You're right. It's... reassuring, isn't it?"
"In a totally demented way? Yeah."
"No kidding." He watched as Duo picked up a cookie crumb and licked it off his fingers. "Well, if that's not why you're sighing into your milk, what else is on your mind?"
Duo looked him in the eye and answered. "Cookies."
Quatre met his look squarely.
Duo blinked. "And milk."
Quatre didn't blink.
Duo looked away. "And Heero." He drank down some of his milk, tongue absently darting out to erase the possibility of a milk mustache. "You know Heero and I... have always... had a 'thing'." He glanced back to Quatre, and was surprised by Quatre's own surprised expression. "What, you knew that, right?"
"Well, of course I knew that, but I've never been sure whether or not you knew that. You two have got that whole 'platonic' routine down pat."
"Gee, don't have to say it like it's such an icky thing."
"Well, it's..." He paused, trying to find the right word in the face of Duo's raised eyebrow. "I've never understood what the hold-up is."
Duo shrugged, picking at the corner of a cookie. "Nothing in particular. Or everything. I dunno. It just... It just never seemed... I don't know. Like we just never... built up the steam to go for it."
"And are things getting 'steamy'? Quatre asked archly.
He didn't seem to notice the innuendo there. "I think... I think I've been feeling it, Q. It's a hell of a time, too."
"Oh? What makes you say that?"
He threw Quatre a withering look. "He's got enough on his mind as it is."
"Are you worried he might not be feeling it right now?"
Duo nodded morosely. "That's how this thing works, right?"
Quatre looked to the heavens for patience. "Duo. If you weren't feeling it, and Heero walked up to you and said, 'hey, let's get it on.' Are you seriously telling me that you'd say no?"
"Um. No."
"Then I still don't understand what the hold-up is."
"Um. Hmm."
"You two were totally flirting over that sniper rifle, weren't you?"
"What? No, we were not flirting over the sniper rifle."
Quatre smirked. "Yes, you were."
Duo countered with a half-assed glare. "No, we weren't. Well, I mean, maybe we had a 'moment', but... No, we were not flirting over the sniper rifle!"
The smugness did not in any way fade from Quatre's face. "Okay, maybe not. But now you wish you had."
Duo threw a chocolate chip in his direction and called it a night.
TBC...
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