Life Goes On Part 22
Duo sighed deeply as Heero tucked the afghan from their couch around him. Much as he loved the fact that his lover was taking such excellent care of him, the braided neko hated being treated as if he might break any second. "I'm not that cold, love," he muttered with a deep frown. "All I suggested was that it felt a little cool in here."
He left out the fact that he was all but carried to the couch and lied down nearly the moment those words came out of him just moments before.
"And it might take some time for the thermostat to kick in," Heero replied. Once he was satisfied that he'd effectively wrapped the smaller boy, the Japanese teenager went to fluffing the pillows around him with a stern determination on his face.
Inwardly, Duo sighed to himself, his ears and tail drooping a bit. When the other teenager was set in looking after him, there was simply no talking him out of it. In the end, he really couldn't be too upset over it all. It did make him feel good to know that someone worried and cared for him so much. Still... he was perfectly capable of something as simple as covering himself if he was cold enough.
With a small smile, the neko chuckled deeply, "I thought that my parents were bad the whole time they were over here." He instantly regretted his words when Heero's shoulders slumped as if in defeat and his hands stopped working at one of the pillows beside him.
Biting his lip, Duo said softly, "I didn't mean to upset you with that. It's just... as much as I appreciate what you're doing, I can candle some-mew." The high-pitched cat sound that cut off his words ended the rest of his train of thought. Sighing deeply, he closed his violet eyes and lowered his head.
The edge of the couch shifted a bit as Heero sat beside him. A hand gently brushed its fingers along the cat-eared boy's cheek as his best friend's voice spoke quietly, "I'm sorry, Duo. It's just... I need to feel like I'm doing something to help out right now." At that, the smaller teenager blinked his eyes open to meet the cobalt eyes watching him.
Forcing a deep breath, Heero sighed, "Howard, Sally and Treize have been working on the solution to beating this thing. My Mom and Trent have been keeping any and all news media at bay this whole time. Zechs and Noin have been taking care of meals, getting us around and whatever else we need help with when things get out of hand for us... I want..." He turned his head away for a moment to gather his thoughts, and his voice when it cracked a bit in the end of what he was saying.
Despite his wish to say something, Duo just frowned and remained silent and allowed his lover a chance to speak his mind. Finally, Heero turned his head back and said in little more than a whisper, "I just need to feel useful to you right now. I need to know that I'm doing my part, since everything else is out of my control."
"Oh, Heero," the neko breathed with small tears in his eyes. "You're doing more than your part for me." When the art student was about to protest, Duo quickly told him, "I would have gone out of my mind long before now if you weren't here to hold me, kiss me, listen to me, reassure me, God, everything. If it hadn't been for you, I would have fallen apart by now."
Swallowing roughly, Heero asked brokenly, "Really?" With a small mew of a whimper, the braided teenager nodded. Slowly shifting closer, the taller youth wrapped his arms tightly around his partner as they both began shaking a bit.
The moment lasted for a few minutes before the doorbell rang. With a small sigh of regret in parting, Heero lowered his arms and slowly rose from the couch. Heading through the living room and past the kitchen, he was careful to make his way through the maze of flowers, stuffed animals, candy and other 'Get Well' offerings that filled the apartment before finally opening the door.
Only an hour ago, the phone finally stopped ringing off the hook with calls from concerned classmates that wanted to find out from Duo, himself, that he was all right.
First to greet him was a large bouquet of colorful flowers in a large, porcelain vase. Peeking out of the side of the immense display, the young man carrying them smiled, "Hey, Heero. Got a delivery for Duo. Again. No need to bother with a tip from here on out. I about made a mint from you along today."
Laughing, Heero nodded, "Thanks, Jason." With so many deliveries coming in, he and Duo came to know the deliverer on a first name basis. Carefully taking up the vase, he grinned, "I'll probably see you again before the day's out."
"Most likely," the brunette chuckled deeply. "Have a good afternoon, just in case that was the last of them." It was about the third time he'd said that in the last two hours. With an exchange of farewells Jason was off and Heero stepped deeper into the apartment as he closed the door as he called for his lover.
All but bounding into the room, Duo gasped at the sight of the beautiful arrangement of lilies, multi-colored sunflowers, violets and roses. Beaming, he gathered up the vase and took a deep, long whiff of the flowers before lowering them in one of the few openings on the floor in the hallway. Opening the card and reading it silently, the braided neko smiled warmly, "Christine and Denise. That's so sweet of them."
Heero leaned against the kitchen counter with his arms crossed and a smile on his own face. As he watched "Seems you've been making quite the impression on your classmates for your first semester," he commented before adding, "And the staff and faculty for that matter. At this rate, we won't be able to walk around here. I might have to turn down the next deliveries."
It was just a playful threat. They both knew, since Heero had made the same threat several times that day. In truth, he'd be thrilled if the entire apartment was filled to the last inch with flowers, candy and whatever else was sent up. It all showed Duo how much he was appreciated and cared for, regardless of his physical differences.
Seeing such an outpouring of affection for the neko only served to remind Heero, once again, how truly lucky he was to have him in his life.
And the cat-eared teenager truly appreciated every offering. Nothing came into that apartment without being hugged, sniffed, sampled and saved or cherished in any other way. So, yes, Heero was more than happy to endure the crowdedness.
"Good thing my Mom has a green thumb," Duo chuckled deeply before going through all of the other displays to smell them deeply with his tail swishing happily. "I love how it smells in here now."
His own smile growing in seeing how content his partner was, Heero admitted, "That it does." He glanced to his watch and announced, "I better get back to preparing for my last exam tonight. I'll feel a lot better once that's out of the way so I can focus on you the way that I want to."
Duo grinned moved one of the crystal vases with the largest arrangement of pastel-colored flowers to the kitchen table. "We already talked about that, mew," he reminded softly while ignoring his little slip in where he meant to say 'love'. "You're already more support to me that you realize." Lightly kissing the end of his best friend's nose, he told him, "Now, go on and study. I can last a few hours on my own."
With a light snicker, Heero smirked, "All right." Leaning in to kiss the other teenager soundly, he walked off down to the room that they'd dubbed their study.
Just as he was headed back to the couch, Duo's large ears twitched when the telephone rang. "I'll get it," he called back to the hallway. Quickly checking the caller id and recognizing the number, he smiled and opened the vidphone on the table before him. "Hey, Solo," he greeted when his blonde classmate appeared on the screen.
A mischievous smirk played on the red-capped boy's face as he chuckled deeply, "So, a visit to the hospital and you get out of your exams to take all of your exams at once, as opposed to spread out over the week, huh? I'm sure you could have come up with a more pleasant way of wrapping the semester up early."
Duo laughed, grateful that the frat boy was taking a light approach to the prior day's incident. "What can I say?" he shrugged. "It was the first thing that came to mind that seemed the most logical to work in my favor."
In reality, he was quite relieved that Dorothy was so good at getting his professors to give him the remainder of his finals that morning instead of having to wait. Now that he was finished, all that Duo needed to focus on was relaxing. Even Lady Une had done the same for Heero and his last test. After that evening, they would both have officially finished their fall semester.
Solo's smile warmed as he inquired kindly, "How are you feeling?"
Unable to hide his own worry, and unable to lie, the braided neko shrugged, "I've been better." Wrapping his arms around his thin frame, he explained, "Got a little problem that needs to be worked out." He was careful not to get too long-winded, less he run the risk of another slip of the tongue, so to speak.
Worry creased the blonde neko's face. "Sorry to hear about that," he said sincerely. "I hope it works out." Duo gave him a bright smile and firm nod to reassure him. Clearing his throat, Solo suggested, "If you're up for it, maybe we could visit the Halo Café for another hot cocoa tonight." He quickly raised his hands submissively and promised, "I promise not to ask what was on the exams that you took this morning."
At that, Duo grinned, "Our teachers know that I'd never share that information, anyway." He thought for a moment of what night it was. Tuesday. The café was pretty slow on Tuesday nights, so it'd be easy to stay out of earshot should another cat sound escape him. With a deep breath, he finally nodded, "With Heero taking his last exam tonight, I could go for some company. I could let him know to just meet us there. I have some things that I need to talk about."
"Yea," Solo frowned slightly. "Me too." Quickly forcing a smile, he straightened and offered, "I'll come and pick you up at about eight tonight. It should be clear enough for a nice walk, long as we dress warm enough."
The thought of a nice night outside was more and more pleasing to Duo as he considered it. He really needed to tell someone other than his tight inner circle what was going on. And Solo had certainly become a person that he thought of as trustworthy- a far cry from how their relationship had started at the beginning of the semester.
Nodding firmly, Duo grinned, "Eight it is, then. Thanks, Solo." After a brief farewell from the other teenager, the screen went black. Virtually alone again, the braided neko sighed deeply in relief that he'd managed a whole conversation without a slip. He would not be able to go all night and be so lucky, but at least he could finally get his fears off his chest with a new pair of listening ears.
Already looking forward to the evening, and another cup or two of that wonderful hot chocolate at the café, Duo rose to his feet and headed to the bathroom for a shower. 'Maybe,' he thought to himself, 'it'll be a pretty good night after all."
* * * * * *
It was about quarter to eight that evening when the violet-eyes neko was dressed in his blue jeans and two layers of sweaters for the brief walk to the Halo Café. Duo felt a bit guilty at deciding to leave a note telling Heero where to meet him, as opposed to telling him before he left for his exam. But, he knew that his lover would just argue that such an outing might not be such a good idea. Better to explain after the fact that he just needed this.
The phone rang and instead of bothering with the vidphone, Duo just picked up the standard receiver on the wall in the kitchen and placed it to his ear. "Hello," he greeted.
"Hey," Solo's cheerful voice responded. "I'm out back."
Smiling, the braided teenager answered, "I'll be right down." As he hung the receiver back on its cradle, his long tail took hold of the grey ski cap that matched his top sweater. Sliding the woolen hat over his head and poking his ears through the holes at the top, he quickly reached for his winter coat and scribbled a note to Heero on their message board.
In just a few minutes, Duo stepped from the elevator on the ground level and headed for the back exit. Stepping out into the cool air, his breath steamed out as he looked around the dark paring lot. Solo approached with a wide smile and a wave of his hand. As he approached, the violet-eyed boy asked, "Ready,"
When they were only a mere foot apart, Duo paused suddenly as the air around him seemed to change. Something was wrong. Solo's smile had all but instantly faded and his brown eyes were darting about... as if waiting for something.
That was when he heard it, his ears twitching back to the heavy footsteps that were approaching behind as he watched the other boy's voice pale as he whispered in a small moan, "I'm so sorry, Duo."
Acting out as quickly as he could, Duo spun. He was only able to turn himself half-way before two strong arms caught him around the waist and squeezed the air out of him. With a harsh gasp, the braided neko lashed out and managed to scratch the side of his attacker's face as he twisted awkwardly. The tall man cried out, but only tightened his hold.
From behind, yet another pair of footsteps came running through the dark lot and took hold of the trapped boy's arms. Yelling out as best he could without a full breath, Duo gagged on the cloth that was roughly shoved into his mouth and covered over his nose. The fumes acted quickly and within moments, despite his best efforts to fight, he felt his eyes going heavy.
One of the men, the one that had been scratched, chuckled deeply into his ear, "That's right. Just take a little cat nap."
With a small moan, Duo's body went lip as he drifted off. The last thing that he saw was the devastated look on Solo's face as his eyes shimmered with tears.
* * * * * *
A bucked of ice water was poured onto Duo to wake him with a start. Frantically retreating backward on the floor that he had been sprawled out on, his wide violet eyes took in his surroundings as his back hit a wall.
Before him, a pair of legs dressed in white pants neared and a deep voice chuckled from above, "Well, well, well. It certainly has been a long time, Duo."
That voice. In instant recognition, a chill ran up the neko's spine.
Panting, Duo slowly raised his head to face his captor. When he saw that terrible smirk on that face that he would never forget, he whimpered in a small mew and his ears drooped heavily in fear. "D-Doctor J," he stammered in little more than a whisper.
And in the look in those eyes behind the glasses boring down on him, Duo knew that not even anything that Dekim Barton might have had in store for him would amount to the hell that awaited him now.
TBC...
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