The Wedding Date Part 10
A brisk knock on the door by the maid the next morning roused both men, and Heero sat up groaning at the dull ache in his muscles from sleeping in a curled-up position on the couch.
"Damn," he sighed, forcing himself not to look longingly at the plush bed Duo was rolling out of.
"And a good morning to you, too," Duo grumbled, yawning and rubbing his eyes. "What time would it be in the States right now?"
"Midnight, I think."
"No shit." Duo slumped onto the edge of the bed, pulling his bedraggled braid over a shoulder and picking at the tie. "Really don't feel like getting up and trying to function right now," he sighed.
"You could stay in bed," Heero offered, twisting this way and that to loosen the tension in his back. "There's a short meeting this morning over breakfast for the wedding party. They're going to outline the schedule. And then I'm quite certain we've each got an appointment with the royal tailor, to fit us with tuxedoes."
"Better you than me," Duo quipped.
"Thanks." Heero stood and stretched his arms towards the ceiling, finally beginning to ease the stiffness.
"Was the couch that bad?" Duo asked quietly, his indigo eyes fixed on Heero's bare chest.
"It's fine," shrugged the Japanese man. "I just tend to sleep with my knees tucked when I'm on a couch, and it leaves me a bit stiff."
"Sorry."
Heero fixed the other man with a quizzical look. "Why are you sorry? This situation isn't your fault."
"No -- I'm sorry I got pissy about you askin' about me and Ze-- Milliardo," Duo mumbled, toying with the end of his braid.
Heero shrugged, picking up a brush and starting to rake it through his unruly hair. "As you pointed out, it's none of my business."
"Well, yeah. But I didn't have to get defensive about it," Duo pointed out. "It just really took me by surprise, seeing him -- and then realizing I never really knew him at all." He gave a shrug. "I thought we were friends."
Friends? Why did that word make Heero's heart jump a little bit?
"I'm sure you were," he said carefully. "And still are. I've known Mill since we were in grade school, and even though we live on separate continents now, I still consider him a friend. He's not the kind of man to forget his friends."
"Sounds like you aren't, either," Duo said with a vague smile.
"I'd like to think I'm not."
"That's good." Duo stood up and rummaged in his bag for a comb and toiletries. "Maybe after goin' through all this craziness, we could end up friends."
"It's entirely possible," Heero admitted, unable to keep from smiling.
Their morning was much more relaxed than the previous evening, as they took turns in the bathroom and then dressed in more casual clothing for the activities of the day.
Over an informal breakfast they listened to announcements, and found out Heero and the other men in the wedding party would be occupied until early afternoon with fittings. In the meantime, their guests would be treated to a guided tour of the palace and grounds, followed by a luncheon in the garden, and then free time to enjoy the spa or the gaming rooms.
They'd reunite with their partners at dinner, and then the men were off to a bachelor party at a nearby tavern the Peacecraft monarchs had patronized for centuries, while their dates were invited to a reception hosted by Relena.
Milliardo personally stopped by the table for two that Heero and Duo had acquired in the hopes of avoiding spending the whole meal fending off personal questions from the two women they'd dubbed "Relena's gossip squad." Silvia and Dorothy had contented themselves with sitting where they had an unobstructed view, if not the ability for a bit of casual eavesdropping.
The blonde prince gave a warm smile as Duo looked up at his approach. "Good morning, Duo. I wanted to make sure you realize you're invited to the bachelor party along with Heero."
"I am?"
Milliardo smirked openly. "You didn't expect to be shuffled off with the womenfolk, did you?" he teased.
Duo ducked his head, blushing a little. "Well it did seem like a trend," he pointed out. "Considering I'm gonna be lunching in a rose garden --"
Milliardo chuckled. "The rose garden is a lovely place to dine," he said firmly. "And you won't be the only man there. There are a couple of women in the wedding party, and they brought dates along too, you know. Male dates."
"Oh. I hadn't thought of that. I just figured, you and Wufei both being guys, you'd have all guys for your wedding party."
"Trust me -- while planning a same-sex wedding, Wufei and I took that into consideration. That's why we each made a point to include some females in our entourage. We looked at all possible combinations of activities and genders. There's hopefully something for everyone to enjoy."
His gaze fell on Heero, whose attention seemed focused on Duo to the exclusion of everything else, and a faintly speculative gleam entered his eyes. "I hope Relena hasn't been monopolizing your time --?"
"No!" Heero said quickly, looking up in surprise. "Not at all."
"Good. I know how she dogged your steps back in school." He dropped a hand on Heero's shoulder. "She's grown up quite a bit, you know -- isn't quite the little pest she used to be."
"That's good to hear."
Duo frowned, his glanced darting between Heero and Milliardo. "Trying to set up my date with someone else?" he asked in a bantering tone that barely concealed a much crisper one.
"Certainly not." Milliardo smiled tightly. "It would be a waste of time, considering Heero's -- orientation." He gave Heero's shoulder a little squeeze.
Duo's gaze intensified into something resembling a glare. "You might want to watch that hand, your highness. Wouldn't want to make your fiancé jealous, now would you?" He looked pointedly across the room at the dark-haired Chinese man, who was making the rounds of the guests much as Milliardo was.
As if sensing the gaze on him, Wufei looked over, raising an eyebrow at the sight of his lover in close conversation with the two men.
Milliardo smiled serenely. "Wufei is the last person I'd want to make jealous." He gave Duo a teasing wink and went on his way.
"What was that all about?" Heero asked.
"I don't know," Duo said, staring at the prince's retreating back. "It seemed like some sort of word game, but I'm not sure I got the point." He shook his head and turned back to Heero, sharing a conspiratorial smile. "Maybe all that royal inbreeding finally took its toll." He made a little loopy gesture next to his head, and Heero had to clap a hand over his mouth to keep from laughing aloud -- both at Duo's irreverent gesture, and at the thought of Milliardo Peacecraft being off his rocker.
Their pleasant breakfast ended all too soon, and the members of the wedding party were asked to gather in the front hallway to be escorted to their personal tailors.
Heero stood to leave, and Duo caught his wrist, a sudden intensity in his blue eyes. "Not gonna kiss me goodbye, love?" he asked lightly.
The Japanese man paused, suddenly made acutely aware of several curious stares. He leaned in, fully intending to just brush his lips across the braided man's cheek. And in fact, it looked like that was exactly what Duo expected, as he turned his head fractionally to facilitate the move. But at the last second, Heero changed the angle of his head and kissed Duo squarely on the mouth.
It wasn't as -- involved -- as the kiss at the airport. Not with the kind of audience they had watching. But at the same time, Heero heard the hitch in Duo's breath, and the muffled groan as the indigo eyes fluttered shut.
When he pulled back, it took a moment for those eyes to open again, and Duo was staring at him with an almost perplexed expression on his face.
"See you at dinner," Heero said quietly, stealing another quick peck on the lips before turning and heading for the exit.
He was torn between feeling proud of the performance -- which had earned him a startled look from Relena as he passed her table -- and confused by it.
Why had he gone for the lips instead of the cheek? Surely a chaste peck on the cheek would have been enough to fulfill their role as a couple, wouldn't it?
Then why go for the lips?
Because he'd wanted to -- it was as simple as that. He'd felt a sudden urge to taste those lips one more time -- to see if the kiss at the airport had just been a fluke -- a moment of madness, or lust.
Apparently, it hadn't been. It felt just as intriguing and exciting as it had the first time.
Then a snide voice cut into Heero's mental rambling as he neared the foyer. "Turned into quite the exhibitionist, didn't you, Yuy?"
He turned a cold gaze on Alex. "I beg your pardon?"
"I'm surprised at you," Alex sneered, his superiority and contempt clear in his face. "I'd have thought you had more decency than to make out in the middle of a formal function."
"Make out?" Heero echoed in disbelief. "I kissed my date goodbye. How does that constitute 'making out?'"
"You kissed a guy," Alex pointed out. "That, in and of itself, could be considered public indecency."
Heero's eyes narrowed. "You might want to run that by Mill," he shot back. "I think he might harbor a different opinion." He brushed past the offensive man, and chose a place within earshot of several other people, in case Alex tried to pursue the conversation.
But his old nemesis backed off and within a short time, they went separate ways to their respective tailors.
TBC...
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