Author: SkyLark
Warnings: Neko-fic, AU, angst, sap, possible lime
Pairings: Eventual 1x2, 3xR, 4xD, 5xS
Rating: R
Plot Bunny Assistance From: Eos and Tora
Archives: Debs-Dragon - GW Diaries
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing, nor it's characters. I just love playing with them.
Life Goes On Prologue
"And so explains the importance of the cross examination," Duo concluded his presentation, lowering the pointer in his hand from the nearly covered chalkboard that he had been using. Mentally, he sighed deeply at completing his assignment.
Scanning the room, he gazed to the faces of his peers and their various expressions. With a wide smile, the grey-haired professor sitting at the back of the classroom rose to his feet. "Excellent work, Mister Maxwell," he nodded firmly. "You certainly used your time to prepare for your assignment wisely."
His odd, long nose scrunched along with his brow as he gazed over the other students and commented, "I wish that I could say the same for all of you." The few students sitting in the class had different reactions from lowering their heads to rolling their eyes.
Duo just smiled in relief at receiving acclaim from his professor. Behind him, his cat tail swished to-and-fro with an air of happiness. He quietly made his way back to his seat as the classmate beside him sneered quietly, "Teacher's pet." The young man's friends around him laughed and snickered at the comment.
Quickly turned around to face the band of frat boys, the professor glared, "Unlike Mister Maxwell, Mister Barrett, you certainly have no reason to find humor in this room. If you actually did your assignments, you would not be likely to fail my class, as you are now."
Lowering his head, the blonde boy readjusted his cap and muttered, "Yes, Professor G." Around him, his fraternity brothers all frowned deeply and lowered their own gazes in the hopes of not being called out.
With a grateful nod, Duo grinned to the old man. Nodding back to his cat-eared student, the grey-haired man checked his watch. As he moved to the front of the class, he announced, "That will be all for today, class. We will complete the remainder of the presentations on Thursday."
A low rumble of murmuring amongst the students began as they collected their books, backpacks and other belongings before rising from their desks. Duo managed to catch some glares from the 'frat boys,' a term Heero helped him understand, before they made their way out of the room. Sighing sadly to himself, the neko's ears drooped a bit and he followed after his classmates.
"Don't let them get to you, Mister Maxwell," Professor G called to his pupil from his own desk by the blackboard. Looking up from stowing away his books, the long-nosed man grinned, "There will be more like them when you're off on your own when you're finished your studies. Better for you to not allow it to bother you now so it will come easy later."
Nodding firmly, Duo brightened once more and smiled, "I'll try. Thanks, Professor." That said, he turned on his heels and headed outside with his tail swinging. Chuckling deeply to himself, the old man shook his head in amusement and finished clearing his desk.
Out in the hallway of the large facility, the braided teenager was soon greeted by a familiar face. As she walked past with several law professors, Dorothy met his gaze and grinned to the handful of her staff, "I'll be with you in just a moment." As the small band of teachers continued on, the blonde director made her way to her braided friend. "How are you, Duo?" she asked in the friendly voice that she only used for those she was closest to.
With a proud smile, Duo answered, "Professor G was pretty happy with my presentation. I've been working really hard on that one these last few weeks."
"I know that you have been," Dorothy chuckled deeply. "Excellent work. I know how difficult that old man can be to please. No doubt that Heero will be very happy to hear that all of the effort you put in paid off." She raised a long eyebrow, "The last time I spoke to him a couple of nights ago, I believe that he was more nervous than you were."
Rubbing the back of his neck shyly, Duo blushed, "Yea, well, he was worried that I was overworking myself. I just wanted to do well." His ears twitching to the right at a small sound from the end of the hall, he turned his violet eyes to see the same band of fraternity boys watching them. At the head of the group was the blonde young man that loved the name calling. His arms crossed, he made a puckering gesture with his mouth while his friends laughed.
Dorothy turned her own head to see what had caught her friend's attention. At the sight of her most challenging students, she gave them a warning glare that brought a fear in their eyes and sent them running with the blond in the lead. Sighing deeply, the law director shook her head, "There are a few in every class." Looking back to her friend, she grinned reassuringly, "Don't let Solo and his mindless sheep get to you. If they do give you any trouble, however, you know all you have to do is tell me."
The relief and appreciation evident in his eyes, Duo smiled sincerely, "I know. Thank you, Dorothy." He tilted his braided head and asked, "Will you and Trowa be able to meet up with us next week during the break?"
At that, the blonde young woman laughed, "Wouldn't miss it for the world. After spending Thanksgiving with our families, it'll be nice to spend it with our second 'family.'" With quick glance in the direction that her staff had gone in, she stated, "I best get on with this meeting. Good seeing you, Duo, and congratulations on your presentation. I look forward to hearing the details from Professor G."
"Thanks," Duo replied. "See you later, Dorothy." Turning in the opposite direction, he ran down the hall in his excitement to tell his lover how his day went.
* * * * * *
Lightly humming to himself, Heero made a few more paintbrush strokes to the canvas before stepping back. Smiling as he appraised his work, he told himself quietly, "There." Carefully lowering the easel speckled with different shades of paint along with his brush, he took another moment to examine the detail of his project.
The blues, greens and violets that he had used were dark at the top of the five-foot canvas then brightened into almost white by the bottom. Etched along the waterfall of color were abstract lines of multiple shades that at a first glance seemed very chaotic and lacked any definition.
At the sound of the apartment door opening, Heero turned just in time to catch the force pouncing at him. With a small, 'oof,' he landed on his back atop the sofa that he was knocked into. Laughing as he stretched out on the cushions, the Japanese teenager grinned up at the beaming face just above his own, its owner straddling him. "Hi, baby," he greeted quietly, cupping his lover's cheek.
Purring deeply, Duo's already smile only grew as he closed his eyes and nuzzled his face into the touch. Quickly closing the distance between their faces, he took Heero's lips into a fierce kiss. When he pulled back, they were both breathless and his tail was swishing lazily. Looking over the many paints that were splattered on the prone boy's arms and 'work clothes,' the braided law student chuckled deeply, "Looks like you've been busy."
"A bit," Heero smirked, folding his arms behind his head. "How did your presentation go?" he asked while reaching up to gently run his hands through the chestnut hair just behind his partner's right cat ear.
With another rumble of purring, Duo practically bounced as he exclaimed, "Great! Professor G even gave me a compliment on it for the whole class to hear! He almost never does that!"
Heero couldn't help but sigh in relief at that, though he was not at all surprised that all of the work that his lover had put into the project would pay off. Duo certainly had spent many a long day preparing himself. Wrapping his arms tightly around the thin waist over him, he pulled the neko close and grinned widely, "That's great, Duo! I'm proud of you." He leaned up to kiss the braided young man soundly to convey even further how sincere he was.
Only pulling back when the need for air called once more, Duo hummed quietly and lowered himself fully atop Heero. Peering to the canvas at the center of the living room, he quickly propped himself back up and shouted in surprise, "You finished it!" Quicker than a blink, he practically jumped from the couch for a closer look at the painting.
Softly chuckling to himself in amusement, Heero rose to his own feet and stood beside his cat-tailed lover. From the corner of his eye, he could see the puzzled look on the neko's face as he tried to make out the odd lines that seemed to make no sense. "Don't try so hard to find what's there," he urged softly. "That's the trick. If you look too hard, it won't make any sense."
Taking the advice given, Duo blinked his violet eyes and just took in the painting without trying to find the logic in it. Almost as soon as he eased his concentration, he gasped sharply at seeing what moments ago was not there. When looked on unfocused, the lines brought out the image of a small, French street café that overlooked the Eiffel Tower just across the river that ran between them. The many colors of the lines served to bring out the shade of each object outlined.
Unable to breath, Duo whispered, "It's amazing, Heero. So that's why you've been bringing home books that show tourist sites on France." Beside him, the Japanese boy nodded with a proud grin. Turning to face him, the braided youth smiled, "I'm sure Lady Une will be very impressed with this when you turn it in next week."
"I hope so," Heero sighed deeply. "She has been pretty happy with my progression so far." The pair stood in silence for a moment, appraising the artwork before them. Slowly raising his arm to wrap it around his best friend's thin waist, the Japanese student pulled him close against him and breathed, "Thank you."
Frowning in confusion, Duo met his cobalt gaze and asked, "For what?"
With a deep breath, Heero answered, "Because of you, I get to do what I love. I never would have had the courage to tell my mother that I enjoyed art enough to study it and pursue it. So, thank you." He leaned in for a chase kiss and rubbed the top of his partner's braided head.
Duo smiled from ear-to-ear with small tears in his eyes. Unable to find his voice, he just threw his arms tightly around Heero. As they held each other, he purred lightly in his roommate's ear. Pulling back, the unruly-haired teenager grinned, "Now that we both finished our big assignments before next week's break, we should go out to dinner to celebrate."
"Sounds great to me, so long as we can come back here for dessert later," Duo commented in a husky voice. He smirked mischievously and tugged at the elastic waistband of the spotted work shorts. "After this last busy week, I'm pretty hungry."
His own voice purring, Heero smiled, "Oh, I'm sure that might be in the cards." Another breathtaking kiss later and he looked down at himself, commenting, "I better go and get cleaned up, first." Raising an eyebrow, he offered, "We could always go for an appetizer if you want to join me in the shower."
Pulling on his lover's hand, Duo shouted, "Well, let's go!" Heero laughed as he was led into their bedroom, their clothing already falling away to pool on the floor.
* * * * * *
As the last of the conditioner was massaged from his head, Duo leaned back until his neck rested against Heero's shoulder. Purring loudly with his ears down to keep as much water from running in as possible, he sighed, "Feels nice, 'Ro."
Chuckling deeply, Heero kissed the smaller boy's shoulder. Lightly pushing him further under the spray of warm water, he helped with the last of the rinsing. "So did anything else happen in class today?" he inquired.
Slightly tensing at that, Duo's shoulders sagged. Looking over his shoulder, he frowned and shrugged, "Solo and his gang were being their usual selves. It was just the usual name calling stuff."
His hands stopping from rubbing the neko's shoulders, Heero stiffened at the mention of the law student that seemed to love tormenting him. Turning the smaller teenager, he pulled him into a tight hug as the water continued to spray on them. "I'm sorry, Duo," he whispered. "I wish that everyone could accept you so that you didn't have to go through that."
Lightly pulling back so their eyes met, Duo gave a small grin and replied, "It's all right, Heero. I can take the name calling. At least Solo and the others that say things don't mean me any physical harm, unlike Muller." Just the thought of the brute made him shudder.
A small smile of his own tugging his lips at that, Heero nodded, "Very true." He ran a hand through long, damp chestnut bangs and said, "I just wish that everyone could see you the way that I do." Biting his lip, Duo blushed and grinned shyly before kissing him lightly in appreciation.
"We better get out of here and dressed for dinner before we skip dinner and move on to that dessert," the cat-eared teen suggested with a deep chuckle. Nodding at that, Heero kissed him softly once more before lowering his arms to open the shower door. Quickly turning off the water, Duo followed his lover out.
Braiding his hair a short time later, the neko asked, "So where will we be eating out?"
Heero pulled a light blue T-shirt on and replied, "How about that new Italian place that opened up last week? Everyone I know that's been there said the food is great."
Tail swaying excitedly behind him, Duo beamed, "All right." Tying the end of his braid with a black tie, he jumped to his feet from the edge of the bed to pull his blue jeans over his hips. He turned around and announced, "I'm going to have to call Mom and Dad afterwards to tell them the good news. I'm sure they'll..." His words trailed off when the room suddenly started spinning.
Gasping sharply, the braided youth grasped out to the dresser to steady himself on his shaking legs. "Duo!" he managed to hear Heero call out just as his best friend reached his side to help him up.
"Heero," Duo panted through the pain in his head, his vision going blurry. "What's happening to m-" He never managed to finish his question when blackness took him, the cry of his name from his lover the only thing seeing him off.
TBC...
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