Author's Note: Finally, some niceness. I promise, they'll get somewhere with this eventually! All of 'em!
"While out hunting the other day, I stumbled across a fresh puma kill, and the killer itself. I've never seen such an intimidating creature. He was all lean muscle, coiled like a spring, and looked every bit as deadly as they are known to be. Thinking to rid myself of one more predator on my stock, I raised my rifle. But he neither flinched, nor broke eye contact. It was uncanny how fearless he seemed. When I hesitated, he moved so quickly the eye could barely follow, simply slipping away into the early morning shadows like a wraith. I blinked and looked again, wondering if I'd really seen him at all, because his disappearance was so swift and complete..."
--excerpt from the private journal of Ephraim Barton
Smoky Hills Part 16
Meeting Again
It had been nearly a week since his altercation with Otto and Trant, and Duo had all but forgotten the unpleasantness--until he encountered Heero in the grocery store. Quatre had gone to the deli section to wait in line and get sandwich meat, while Duo was picking out a few frozen dinners for those nights neither of them felt like cooking or paying the price of takeout.
"Those are filled with sodium," a quiet voice at Duo's elbow pointed out.
He turned sharply, nearly dropping the two meals he'd been comparing. "Oh! Mister Yuy. I didn't hear you behind me."
"Sorry I startled you," Heero said with a small smile. "And call me Heero."
Duo smiled back. "Okay." He held his breath, recalling their last encounter and searching the blue eyes for any signs of disgust or condemnation, but there were none.
"Now, to get back to the subject at hand," Heero continued, nodding to the frozen dinners. "The fat content and sodium in those things is practically lethal."
Duo eyed the boxes warily, and then looked back at the Japanese man with a mischievous sparkle in his eyes. "But they taste so good!"
Heero opened his mouth to disagree, but Duo continued on before he could. "And they're convenient. Five minutes from freezer to table." He pointed out that very phrase on one of the boxes. And then he gave an impish grin. "Quat and I don't eat 'em very often," he assured Heero. "They're kind of for emergencies--like when we're too lazy to cook and too tired to go out."
"Quat?"
"My boss--and housemate," Duo explained. "You met him--the day you came into the office." He decided not to bring up the reason Heero had come to the office.
"Oh yes, Postmaster Winner." Heero frowned a little as he let the last name really sink in. "He's not related to the Winner family--?"
"Yes, he is," Duo told him. "But I wouldn't bring that up in conversation, if I were you. His family-- Well, let's just say they're not particularly close these days."
"Ah." Heero wanted to ask, but decided it wasn't really his business anyway.
"So, um, about the other day--"
Heero looked sharply at him, and his gaze slid up to the bruising around Duo's eye and the healing cut. "Did they do that to you?" he demanded, half-reaching to touch the injury, before catching himself and lowering his hand. "I didn't see that happen. When--?"
Duo shook his head. "No. That happened after. I had a little--accident on the way home." He gave a small shrug. "I just wanted to say thanks for helping me out."
"You already thanked me," Heero reminded him.
"Yeah, but you could've gotten hurt, and I appreciate you stepping in."
"First off, I wouldn't have been injured," Heero insisted. "Believe me; I know how to handle their type. And secondly, it was no problem. I was happy to be able to return a favor."
"Well, I was happy about that too," Duo told him frankly.
Then both were a bit lost for conversation, and Duo shifted restlessly, putting back one of the frozen dinners and dropping the other into his basket.
"I should--" Heero began, intending to say something about needing to finish shopping and get back home to Trowa.
"Hey, how's Thor?"
"Good!" Heero replied a bit too quickly, pouncing on the excuse to keep talking. "Trowa's going to take the stitches out in a couple of days, and the big beast will be good as new."
"I'm glad," Duo said warmly, shifting his basket a little so it wasn't between them. "And how's Trowa?"
"He's good too," Heero answered. "He gets to take the knee brace off for a few hours each day, as long as he uses the crutches to prevent any sudden stress."
"How long until he's a hundred percent?"
"It'll be another couple of weeks until he's allowed to walk without the crutches. But from then on, it's supposed to go fast." Heero smiled fondly. "Good thing, too, 'cause he's not a very patient patient." He grimaced at the awkward wording, but decided it was worth it when Duo laughed aloud.
"Good one!"
Heero glanced down at the tiles under their feet, feeling a trace of heat on his cheeks.
"Will ya tell him I said 'hi'?" Duo asked.
"Of course." Heero looked back up, trying to read the expression on the mailman's face. "I'm sure he'll be happy to hear from you. He was very grateful for your help with the trunk."
"Aw, that," Duo said with a dismissive wave of a hand. "No problemo. Took me all of five minutes, and it made him so happy!" He grinned at the memory. "Is he still reading the journals?"
"Yes--although some of them had a bit of water damage, and others have faded a lot with age. He's a bit frustrated, afraid there'll be parts he never gets to finish."
Duo cocked his head to one side. "Hey, maybe Quat could help him out. He's kind of a history buff--and he does a bit of document restoration at the local library. Want me to ask if he'd take a look at them?"
"I don't know," Heero began, thinking of how possessive Trowa was with the fragile old journals. "Why don't I run it by Trowa and see what he says?"
"Sounds good. You know where to find Quatre anyway. I'll give him a heads up that maybe your good-looking roommate will be stopping by with a restoration project or two."
Heero gave him a sharp look, and Duo ran back through what he'd just said to figure out where he'd gone wrong.
Oh.
"Oops! I didn't mean anything by that--" he sputtered, blushing and looking studiously down at his feet.
"It's okay," came an amused reply. "He is good-looking. No reason you can't say so."
Breathing a quick sigh of relief, Duo dared to look back up into the blue eyes, which were glimmering with mirth. "Sometimes," he said carefully. "I talk without thinking."
"No shit?" Heero said with a grin.
They both laughed then, relaxing appreciably, and then turning when a voice hailed them.
"Duo? Who--oh! Hi, Mister Yuy." Quatre walked up to them, smiling in greeting. "Nice to see you."
"You, too," Heero replied.
Again there was a brief, awkward hitch in the conversation, and then Duo took over.
"Heero was just pointing out that frozen dinners aren't the healthiest meal choice," he said with a grin. "And we got to talking about Thor."
Quatre nodded. "I hope he's recovering okay."
"He's fine," Heero said firmly. "But I should probably get going so I can take him for his afternoon run." He gave a sheepish smile. "If I don't exercise him enough, he has an unfortunate tendency to try to slip off on his own."
"You run with him?" Quatre asked.
"Morning and evening, if I have the time," Heero said. "Otherwise, whenever I can squeeze it in."
"You must be very fit, considering the size of the dog Duo described to me."
Heero chuckled. "He's not easy to keep up with," he admitted. "Those long legs." He smiled at Duo, and for an instant there was no one else in the whole store. "Nice talking to you. I'll pass your greeting along to Trowa."
"Yeah, and give Thor a pat, too."
"I will."
With a brief nod to Quatre, Heero headed off to finish his shopping.
Duo waited until he'd rounded a corner and turned a glare on Quatre. "He must be very fit?" he demanded. "What was that about?"
"I was just making conversation!"
"You were flirting!"
"Duo Maxwell, I did no such thing!"
"Yes, you did. You commented on his physical attributes. That's flirting."
"Get real. I just meant that if he goes running twice a day with an Irish Wolfhound, he must be in great shape."
"Oh? Now he's in great shape?" Duo's scowl deepened. "Jesus--why don't you just take out an ad? Hot, blue-eyed Japanese guy with stamina wanted for all-night sex!"
Quatre's eyes widened, and he glanced around to be sure they were alone in the frozen food section. "Shhh!" he hissed. "There's no need for jealousy, Duo. It was pretty obvious who had his attention. I was just making small talk so he'd stick around a little longer to ogle you."
"To--what?"
Quatre rolled his eyes. "Ogle you. Did you not see it?"
Duo snorted skeptically. "We were just talking, Quat. There was no ogling going on." He ducked his head and blushed a little. "At least not on his part."
"Pu-leeze! Yes there was."
Indigo eyes leveled a glare on the postmaster. "Look--I was just glad he was talking to me at all. After that scene at Howie's, and the way Hilde shot off her mouth, I figured he wouldn't want to be in the same store with me."
"Let alone 'making cozy' in the frozen foods," Quatre teased, his aquamarine eyes sparkling.
"Quat!"
The blonde laughed, tugging at Duo's sleeve. "C'mon. I want you to help me pick out dessert. I passed a cheesecake on the way over here, that looked scrumptious. And while I know you were far more interested in the beefcake--"
Duo punched him in the arm as they walked. "Asshole."
"Oblivious."
"Delusional."
Their joking insults continued, fading in volume as they made their way to the bakery section.
They didn't see Heero again in the grocery store, and while Quatre loaded the food into the Jeep to take home, Duo set off on foot for the auto parts store to get some touch-up paint to finish the door repair.
Mister Gunderson had given him a break on the price for un-wedging the door and tapping out the crease the tree had left, as long as Duo did his own finishing work. So the mailman had spent a weekend sanding and priming the damaged area, and just needed to match the color to spray on a coat of actual paint.
He wasn't paying much attention as he walked into the store, but stiffened when he saw Otto shuffling through windshield wiper replacements.
"Shit. They let anybody in here," he muttered, his good mood fading swiftly away.
Otto looked up and scowled. But when his gaze fixed on the bruised side of Duo's face, a satisfied smirk curled one side of his mouth. "Have an accident, did you?"
Duo walked closer, glancing around to be sure that Trant wasn't in the store, and he lowered his voice to a quiet snarl. "I oughta make you pay for the repairs to my Jeep, you fucking asshole."
"What?" Otto said innocently. "Can't take a little game of tag, Maxwell? We used to play it all the time."
"You an' Solo did," Duo reminded him. "I was just a passenger back then. And no, I never saw the point." His eyes narrowed. "But that's not what I really want to talk about. Stay the fuck away from Hilde."
The other man stiffened, turning to face him with a glare; but at the same time, a trace of pink tinged his cheeks. "What's it to you, queer?"
"She's my friend," Duo reminded him. "And aside from the fact that she is way too good for you, she's not going to give you the time of day as long as you keep messing up the store and fucking with me in front of her."
"Don't mention you, me, and fucking in the same sentence," Otto snapped.
"Why not? Trant did. What was it he said--?"
"That was just bullshit an' you know it." Otto rubbed his hands on the thighs of his jeans as if to clean off something repugnant. "I wouldn't touch you if you dressed up in high heels and curled your freakin' hair. You're disgusting."
Duo smirked nastily. "Been fantasizing about me again?"
"As if--!" Otto made a face at the very thought. "Look, if I wanna see Hilde, it's none of your goddamned business, ya fag. Stay out of my way."
"Not likely." Duo shook his head, suddenly weary of the posturing. "You just don't get it, Otto. And you never will. You're so used to following Trant's lead that you don't even know how to act human any more. Whatever he's got up his ass when it comes to me, it shouldn't be your problem. You wanna get on Hilde's good side? Leave me alone, get rid of your fucked-up sidekick, and work on developing a fuckin' personality. Then you might have a chance to at least get her to talk to you."
"She'll talk to me," Otto said defensively. "Sometimes she does."
"Let me guess--when Trant's not around?" Duo shook his head. "The guy's toxic, Otto. And frankly, so are you. There might've been a point where you had a chance to go your own way, but you didn't take it. You chose to stick with the crowd you sank into during high school--Trant's crowd. Buncha fuckin' losers--"
"As opposed to your crowd? A crowd of one?" Otto sneered derisively. "Thanks, but at least I have friends. Friends who aren't queer, geriatric, or a different species." He mustered up a cocky grin. "Seen any interesting wildlife lately, have you? Maybe another mountain lion? Bigfoot, maybe?" He threw back his head and let out a mocking laugh. "Nice chatting with ya, Maxwell. Go round up the Loch Ness monster, why don't you?"
Duo's face heated at the familiar taunt, and he brushed past Otto and headed for the paint section, aware of several amused glances following him after other shoppers overheard the bully's loud ridicule.
There was nothing he hated more than being reminded of how isolated he was, and in how many ways. But then, as one of his longest-standing enemies, Otto knew that very well. He and Trant had done more than their share to create and maintain that isolation.
Yeah, but a lot of it was also self-inflicted, Duo reflected bitterly. If he'd never mentioned the mountain lion--there'd be that many fewer people laughing behind his back--or right to his face. Bad enough they knew he was gay--but there were at least a few who also considered him a bit melodramatic--if not outright delusional. And that stung just as much.
"Fixing up the Jeep?" asked the man behind the counter, as Duo placed the can of spray point on it.
"Yeah. Doing a little touching up."
"Remember a lotta light coats work better than one or two heavy ones." Victor caught his eye, and gave him a reassuring look and a small nod of encouragement.
Duo managed a smile for him, grateful for at least one ally in the place. "Thanks for the tip. I'll keep it in mind."
He paid for the paint and got out of the store without so much as looking in Otto's direction again, and set a brisk pace back to the grocery store parking lot, where Quatre would be waiting.
TBC...
Back to Snowdragonct's Fanfictions Page