Blue Forest Banshee Part 33
I found Duo the next day in, of all places, the library. He sat at one of the long oak tables, with an astonishing pile of books around him.
I took a moment in the stacks to watch him surreptitiously. He seemed to have no lingering effects from his encounter with the 6th level demon. His face was a bit sunburnt, but no more so than after a day at the beach.
Almost, almost I wished he had been more effected. It would have given me more opportunity to comfort him, but at the same time, he would have been that much more embarrassed. A tossup, I sighed to myself. Do I want him strong and independent, or fragile and reliant on me? Not even worth a second consideration.
I stepped up to the table. He was making notes from the open book, a study of demons and how to effectively deal with them. I saw a myriad of stickynotes marking pages of that and many of the other books, also demon-related. He looked up at me and smiled.
"Hi, Heero. Was I supposed to be in the office? You told me to take some time, but I can --"
He started to close the book, but I stopped him.
"No. I just wanted to see you. I didn't expect you to be up so early. I missed you at your room."
He grinned and swept his arm through the air, indicating the array of books.
"I needed to do some homework."
My curiosity must have been in overdrive for him to see it in my face.
"Geez, Heero!" he laughed. "I didn't even know what that thing was! How can I be good at my job, if I don't know squat?"
"Squat?" I echoed uncertainly.
He reined in the too-bright laughter, and I saw anxiety in his purple eyes.
"I want to do a good job, Heero," he said quietly. "I have to know what I'm doing out there. I can't expect you to come running every time I have a problem. That would make me a liar for saying I can take care of myself. And I don't lie."
I sent him a low-wattage glare. "You did just fine taking care of yourself and Detective McLain. You didn't need me to rescue you!"
He's been obsessing over that since he woke up on the lawn. I don't know what else I can do to make him understand that he saved himself. I had nothing to do with it.
"Duo, you're driving me crazy over this," I growled. "I know you're just learning, but you're doing well! What do I have to do to convince you? Must I coerce Wufei into skywriting it for you to believe it?!"
A deep, exclamatory growl rumbled in my chest.
He stared up at me, his eyes so wide they resembled saucers. After a long moment of staring at each other, he swallowed, then suddenly bounced to his feet and grabbed my shoulders.
Before I could react, he pressed his lips to mine, hard.
I would like to report that I swept him up in my arms and carried him off to make wild, passionate love to him for the rest of the day and night. Unfortunately, the reality was considerably more mundane.
And embarrassing.
I grabbed for him and caught his braid in one hand and his shirt in the other. His tongue warred with mine. His scent filled my lungs. My knees turned traitor and wobbled alarmingly, and apparently, my brain took an early lunch. I tried to wrap myself around him, lost my balance, and toppled us both onto the floor, upsetting the chair and knocking several books off the table. I'm not sure what happened after that, until an angrily tapping shoe a foot from my head brought me to my senses.
To my chagrin, Master Rosencrantz, the head librarian, was standing over us, arms folded in irritation, and glaring as only a librarian can glare.
I became immediately aware that Duo was underneath me on the floor, gasping for breath, and looking stunned. I scrambled off him, apologising profusely. He waved his hand feebly to signify that it was all right. I turned to Master Rosencrantz, and began to apologise.
The librarian cut me off with a toss of his head.
"Mr. Yuy," he snapped. "This is a library! The students of the school use this library! It is not your duty to give them a practical lesson in sex education! Either control yourself in the future, or you will be banned from the library!"
"Yes, sir," I said sincerely. "I'm very sorry, Master Rosencrantz. It will not happen again."
"It had better not!" he snarled. He looked down at Duo, now on his hands and knees still trying to catch his breath. "You had better escort Duo back to his quarters. Or perhaps to the infirmary!" He spun on his heel and stalked off.
I helped Duo to his feet, and picked up the books.
"I'm sorry, Duo. I don't know what happened to me." A wrenching admission for me; I am always aware of what is happening.
He shook his head. "My fault," he insisted breathlessly. "Kissing in the library! I'm such an idiot!" He managed a nervous grin, but he wouldn't meet my eyes.
"Why did you do it?" I asked quietly.
He shrugged. "Seemed like the thing to do at the moment. I'll try to control myself in the future."
"Don't do that!" I blurted out. "Just... maybe wait till we're out of the library."
He cut me a sidelong look, and seemed to be trying to hide a smile. "Okay."
I think he's beginning to get to me.
TBC...
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