A Happy Mother's Day to all of the moms out there- and really anyone who looks out for/cares/etc other people- human or fuzzy or feathered.
Again, many apologies and thanks to lavendarlizard for this one... and believe it or not- it was so plotted out this way in my head- the comp thing and all... before yesterday. *sigh*
Banshee Part 4
My appointment calendar chimed at me and I sighed, getting up from my desk and heading towards the elevators. I had nearly managed to forget that I had that appointment today- even though I knew I'd never be allowed to miss it.
Trowa smirked at me as I walked by his desk. "Don't forget to be ready to go to the club tonight," he said and I hid my grin.
"I can't go."
"Duo- it's not like you have other plans-"
"Actually, I have a date tonight."
"What?! Wait- come back here-" He started, but I just shook my head at him.
"Can't talk now- Dr. Po's waiting."
The expression on his face was priceless, and I only just managed to make it into the elevator before exploding into laughter. Luckily for me, the elevator was empty so I didn't have to explain just why I was laughing like a hyena.
When I got to the medical floor, I was waved on past the desk. It served to dampen my amusement a little. Was I ever going to be finished with these damn appointments?
I knocked on the familiar blue and gold door, sighing at the request to come in. Dr. Po was waiting for me, her glasses perched on the edge of her nose, her notebook on her knee, her tails arranged in neat order around her.
"Good afternoon, doc."
"Same to you, Duo." She indicated the chair across from hers. "Please sit. How are you doing?"
"Pretty good, I think." I sat down and did my best to ignore the clock next to her. Time would go faster if I wasn't watching.
"Any panic attacks this week?"
"Nope- and Trowa dragged me out to a club a couple of times. Damn place was packed to the walls."
She smiled knowingly. "Did you enjoy it?"
"Not really, no. But I wouldn't have before either."
"Talk to anyone new while you were there?"
"Trowa's latest- and Heero."
She tilted her head a little. "Heero?" She prompted.
"He's a banshee- sings at the club."
"A male banshee?" Dr. Po looked interested. "Huh, not many of those out in the world. They're supposed to have amazing voices."
"He does- I told him it was the only reason I stuck around in that place."
She grinned at me, her sharp teeth sparkling. "Did he appreciate the compliment?"
"Well, he let me help him out twice, so I guess so."
"Help him out?" She questioned and I explained about the flat tire, the ride home and the group of elfkin on the corner. "That doesn't sound good," she said when I finished.
"I didn't think so either."
"Going back tonight to help- if needed?"
"Actually, I'm meeting him for dinner."
That surprised her. "Really? Did he ask you out?"
"Nope- I asked him. Turns out he works at the bakery in the mornings- I saw him there this morning and... yeah. Asked him out."
She lifted an eyebrow at my tone. "Regretting it now?"
"No. Not at all. Just-" How to explain it?
"Just?" She prompted when I let the silence drag out too long.
"Well, Quatre? The elfkin Trowa goes to see? He... he keeps warning me that Heero's a cold-hearted bastard."
"Does he seem like a cold hearted bastard?"
"No. I mean... he's not outgoing and friendly, but it's more like he's reserved. Kind of shy, really. It's just, after last time- I wonder if I'm reading him right."
"Trust yourself, Duo. Just because you had one bad experience-"
"Is that what we're calling it now?"
"What would you call it?"
"A monumental fuck up."
Her lips curved and she shook her head. "All right. Just because you had one monumental fuck up doesn't mean that you will continue to fuck up from now on, okay?"
"That's reassuring."
"You're the one who defined the vocabulary." She tapped her pencil on her notebook. "We're almost out of time- so next week you'll have to tell me how your date went."
I raised an eyebrow at her. "That's it? No warnings to be careful? No reminding me that dragons are hardwired to be protectors and since I sucked at it last time I'm looking for someone else to protect? Trying to prove myself?"
"Are you?"
"Hell if I know." I shrugged helplessly. "I mean- I can tell he needs help- something is going on- but he hasn't even given me a clue as to what."
"Well, you have an evening to figure it out- and to figure out if it's something you want to be involved with."
"That's true."
Her expression grew serious. "Just- Duo, this time- if you do get in over your head- ask for help, okay?"
Rolling my eyes, I got to my feet. "Like I won't have everyone hovering over me ready to jump in as it is-"
"Your kin love you, Duo. Be grateful for that- not everyone has your support system."
"I know that, Sally. I am- truly."
~*~
Checking my watch again, I hurried down the street. We'd had a small rush right before I was due to clock out- of course- and now I was doing my best to move quickly through the five o' clock chaos. Why had I forgotten that the streets got so crowded in downtown at this hour? Well... it wasn't like I had spent a lot of time here. The elfkin stuck mostly to the edges- and ever farther- out in the still-wild area to the south- a place I wouldn't dare set foot in right now. That would be as good as surrendering to Zechs and his plans- and I had no intention of doing that. I'd cut my own throat before I'd give that bastard the satisfaction.
On the edges or not, the elfkin still had a good hold on the city- I needed to find someplace else to go- and quickly too.
If I hadn't promised to meet Duo for dinner, I would've been back at my apartment- packing up and getting the hell out of town. But... I didn't like the idea of disappointing him... there had been something... hell, what could've possibly hurt a dragonkin? But it was almost as if he had been hurt in some way- bruised somehow- and I didn't want to hurt him more by not showing up for our dinner.
I just hoped I didn't regret it. I doubted whoever was behind all the little annoyances lately was going to stop- no matter what surprise Zechs had shown today. I could only hope tomorrow wouldn't be too late.
There was a huge crowd of people on the street corner where I was supposed to meet Duo. Was he in that crush? I might never find him...
Looking up, I scanned the sky, even though I knew he wouldn't be up there in broad daylight. The Compound looked like any other block of office building in the city- oh sure, it was painted a little nicer and the decorations were a little more elaborate, but it didn't stand out from the rest. The dragonkin evidently believed in blending in- I approved. Course, I only had the Grove to compare it to-
"Hey," a familiar voice said by my ear and I turned to find Duo beside me.
"Hey. Sorry I'm late-"
"Not at all- you're really right on time. I forgot it'd be this busy-" Duo touched my elbow and led me closer to the side of the Compound. "There's a lot of good restaurants here- I figured one of them would do. Do you have a favorite?"
Like the other office blocks, the Compound had restaurants tucked in on the ground floors. All of them in range looked busy- filled with mundanes who had no idea of the sort of creatures who were serving them.
"I've never been here," I told Duo and watched his eyes widen in surprise. "Whichever one you like is fine."
"Never? Really?"
I squinted at him. Was it possible that he didn't know how most of the other city-dwelling magical beings regarded his kind?
"Never had the chance," I said instead of telling him that I had been told to stay away from the Compound- unless I wanted to be a dragon-dinner.
"Well, in that case, I'll take you to my favorite." He hadn't removed his hand from my elbow, and I found I didn't really mind having it there. I let him lead me down the street, dodging people as we went, listening to his side comments about each place we passed.
To be honest, I wasn't listening as much to the comments as I was watching his expressions. I liked the way his lips curved into a smile or a smirk, liked the way his eyes lit up when he saw something interesting or crinkled when his bangs tangled with his eyelashes.
Oh, I was in trouble. I needed to get out of the city... not spend my time admiring a gorgeous dragonkin...
The ring in my earlobe chimed softly, burning cold against my skin. Here, beside me, this one could be...
Reaching up, I touched the cool metal, silencing it. I hardly knew Duo- and he was dragonkin-
Then again, I knew damn well that you didn't have to be a banshee to get the ring to react. Wasn't Zechs counting on that very thing? Course, he had wanted to force it- told me he could make it accept him-
I hadn't thought it would react to a non-banshee without being forced. And if it liked Duo, then...
"Here we are," he said as he guided me into a small corner restaurant. It was full of people, but seemed more crowded than cozy. Duo waved at the woman behind the counter as we took a seat at an empty table. A moment later, she was beside us, smiling widely and handing out menus.
"Hey Kura," Duo greeted her and she kissed him on the cheek.
"It's good to see you, Duo- and friend." She winked at me and continued: "We're a little slow tonight." I blinked at her. The place was packed and this was a little slow? "The computers are down again, so we are doing things the old fashioned way." Ah, that's what she meant- I wondered if I could offer to help...
"Did you call Chang?"
"Of course. He said he'd be here an hour ago." The woman made a face and then smiled. "I know, I know, he's understaffed at the moment-"
"He really is," Duo caught my eye and explained: "Chang is the head of our IT department. They've lost a few to other cities lately and so he's a bit overworked right now."
"I can look at it," I said and found myself on the receiving end of two questioning looks. "I used to do computer repairs-"
"For magic based systems?" Kura questioned and I nodded.
Before I could say more, Kura had hauled me out of my seat and towards the counter, babbling in my ear about all the problems she'd been having.
I cast an apologetic look back at Duo, but he just grinned at me. I was fairly sure this wasn't how our dinner was supposed to go...
~*~
This wasn't quite how I had expected my date to go- having him bodily hauled off before we'd even gotten to eat dinner. Then again, Kura was rather desperate- I knew how much she'd come to rely on the system- especially in the back- and if Heero could help her- well, it was worth it.
Kura had sent one of her servers over with a soda and a basket of sliders- evidently as an apology for stealing Heero. So, it wasn't a total loss.
Besides, I could see him from where I sat, could note the way he nodded as Kura talked at him, could see the intent expression on his face as he focused on the problem in front of him.
Damn... if he could repair computers- magic based ones- what the hell was he doing working three jobs? Why wasn't he employed somewhere? There weren't many magical beings who were comfortable with tech- granted, a lot liked to use it, but not many were good at the fixing part. That's why Chang lost so many of his people- once he trained them, they got hired away by other places.
Not only could Heero apparently fix computers, he was fast too. Before I could finish the last slider, he was back in the seat across from me, looking pleased.
"Finished," he said and I pushed the remaining slider over to him.
"Thanks for helping her," I told him as he picked it up.
"Thanks for not minding that I did. It's been a while since I've gotten to do something like that." The server appeared beside us with another basket of sliders, another soda for me, and a smile.
"Kura says dinner is on her. Are you two ready to order?" After she took our order and got Heero a bottle of water, I leaned across the table.
"How did you learn how to fix magical-based systems?"
"At the Grove. I spent some time there when I first got here." Heero frowned a little. "They don't rely on technology very much- but they had to have some in order to do business."
Interesting. "We use it a lot here," I told him. "Our Matriarch decided that we needed to fit in as much as we could."
"Based on what I've seen, I'd say you do pretty well. It must be hard though- hiding what you are-"
I chuckled. "Only out here. Inside the Compound is a different story. I'll show you after dinner if you like."
"Are you allowed to do that? I thought it was only- well- your kind that you let in-"
I shook my head at him. "Course not. We have allies from everywhere- and really- except for the Hoard- it's just a big group of buildings of offices and apartments."
"So there is a hoard?"
"Of course. We have to have one, you know. It's traditional."
The server returned with our meal, but before I could keep trying to figure out the puzzle of the banshee across from me, the door to the restaurant was flung open and Chang stomped in.
"Guess Kura forgot to cancel the help call." I said to Heero with a grin. At his questioning look, I tilted my head towards Chang. "That's the head of our tech department."
"Please tell me I'm not going to end up as a living torch for helping?" Chang was talking to Kura now, his expression changing from stressed to thoughtful.
"Oh no," I assured him. "Chang's not the fire-breathing type. Well- not usually." I added as he headed toward us.
Chang stopped at the side of the table, his dark gaze focused on Heero. "Duo," he said and I nodded at him. "Trowa told me that you were going out tonight."
Oh, I'm sure he had. "Always good to see you, Chang."
"Introduce me to your date."
"Chang, this is Heero. Heero, this is Chang Wufei of the Longma Clan, an ally of FreeNation."
"No family name?"
"No," Heero said quietly.
Chang nodded. "After your dinner, I would appreciate it if the two of you would stop by my office."
"Of course," I told him, and with another nod, he stalked out.
"Am I in trouble?" Heero asked.
"Depends. I think Chang wants to hire you."
TBC...
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