Of House and Home Part 2
June 3 (continued)
"... Hmph!"
"... Hn!"
Lucrezia Noin looked at the two Asian boys who were glaring at each other. "Look... I'll settle this fairly! Heads... Heero gets this room. Tails... Wufei gets it! Okay?"
"Stupid! This is not something to be settled with a random flip of a coin!" Wufei glared at Noin. 'STUPID woman!'
"Oh? And what would YOU suggest? A pissing contest?" Noin arched an eyebrow. "You two know the rules. No fighting." She nodded and tossed the coin. She let it land on the floor with a dull thunk. "Tails... Wufei gets the room."
Heero just shrugged and entered the next room as Noin picked the coin up.
Noin noticed Wufei glaring at Heero and shook her head. 'Boys!' She walked downstairs and smiled at the sound of a car approaching. 'I hope the other two are more cooperative.' She opened the door with a smile. "Quatre... Trowa... welcome! The other two are already here and they've chosen their rooms. You two have to choose which room you each want." She noticed that Quatre suddenly looked upset. "Quatre? What's wrong?"
Trowa wrapped a supportive arm around Quatre. "What is it?"
'I can tell Trowa... he'll understand.' Quatre bit his lip and looked up at Trowa. "Do I HAVE to have my own room? Can't I share one with you? I've been alone for so long..." Then he ducked his head and closed his eyes as he trembled.
Noin hadn't thought of that. "Oh sweetie!" She hugged Quatre gently. "Shhhh! It's okay, Quatre. If Trowa doesn't mind, you two can share a room. It won't take much to get a bunk bed in there." She turned to Trowa.
Trowa smiled and rubbed Quatre's back. "I don't mind, Quatre. I don't like being alone, either." He nodded as Quatre's teary eyes met his. "It's okay."
Although still crying, Quatre smiled and hugged Trowa. "Thank you!"
A snort drew their attention to the Chinese boy standing on the bottom step. "Tears are for women and weaklings!" He pointed at Quatre. "You are not a woman, so you must be a weakling! I do not know who you are, nor do I care. You are weak and therefore not worth my time!"
Lucrezia Noin rolled her eyes. "Trowa, Quatre... this is Wufei Chang. His room is the first door on the left." She watched Wufei stomp out the front door. "Don't let him bother you, Quatre... he's like that with everyone. Me... I'm a weak woman."
"Oh! He seems really lonely to me." Quatre looked out the window to watch Wufei walk to the shaded bench in the flower garden.
Lucrezia smiled at Quatre's sweet nature. "Maybe he is. Come on... you two need to pick a room."
*****
Milliardo Merquise looked at the four boys at the dinner table. "All right... Lucy tells me that Quatre and Trowa will be sharing a room. This means that we now have a bedroom vacant. What do you all propose we do with it?"
Wufei scowled. "Like I care."
Heero just shrugged.
Milliardo looked to Trowa and Quatre. "Do you two have any ideas?"
Trowa shrugged. "Find someone to fill it?"
Noin walked in. "Tried that... although I DID want five boys, the bureaucrats would only allow four. There is ONE option open to us."
Quatre thought a moment. "The homeless, right?"
Wufei growled. "You want to bring a bum into this house?"
Quatre looked at Wufei. "I think that's an unfair way of thinking, Wufei. Just because someone doesn't have a home does not mean he or she is a bum. Right, Trowa?"
Trowa nodded. "It is wrong to make a broad generalization like that, Wufei. I mean... what if I said that I had been told that all people of Chinese descent were sneaky? How would you feel?"
Wufei scowled and folded his arms.
Noin nodded. "Quatre is quite correct in saying that I was going to bring someone in that is homeless. It would do all of you good to have diversified backgrounds brought in. You all come from troubled homes. Perhaps it would do you good to see that you were fortunate to not have to worry about when you were going to eat next." She picked up a roll. "I'm heading out now. I'll be back, hopefully, by breakfast." With that, she left the house.
*****
June 4
Howard blinked his eyes as he was being poked. "Huh? Wha? Wassup?"
The girl who had poked him jerked his head to the old, condemned building. "Someone approaching... two women... dressed nice. Don't look scared. What should I do, Howard?"
Howard pushed himself up. "Gather everyone, Hilde. We're meeting these fancy ladies."
*****
Noin smiled at the elderly gentleman. "Hello. I'm Lucrezia Noin. This is my friend, Doctor Po." She motioned to Sally, who had accompanied her. "I have an interesting proposition for you and your group." They followed Howard into the building, looking up in apprehension.
Howard chuckled. "It'll fall one day... it's been falling in bits and pieces... which is why we only use it as a meeting area. Now... you stand right there and tell us what you came here to say."
Noin cleared her throat. "Okay... let me make this quick and to the point. I have started a program for young people with bad home lives. In this program, they will live together and learn how to live on their own. We have four boys right now, but one of the four rooms is now vacant because two of the boys will be sharing a room. Now... is there anyone here interested in filling that..."
Anything else Noin was going to say was drowned out by several of the teenagers talking excitedly and loudly.
One voice suddenly sounded over the others. "HOWARD! HOWARD!!!" A girl with short dark hair pushed forward and ran to Howard, sobbing nearly hysterically. The people around slowly went quiet as the girl spoke... especially since Howard was going pale.
"...But he can't get up! He's shaking really bad."
Howard was shaking his head in denial as he took the attention away from Noin. "Everyone... listen to me. Hilde has just given me some very bad news." He cleared his throat. "It's about Duo. We all know that food's been scarce and that Duo's been giving his share to the little ones." He took a breath and paused. "Hilde just informed me that while on the way to this meeting, he just collapsed. She tried everything, but he can't get to his feet. It's possible that Duo needs medical attention." He turned to Noin. "Miss... if ANYONE deserves a place in this thing, it's Duo. He's a good kid..."
Sally nodded to Hilde. "Take me to him."
Noin smiled at Howard as Hilde led Sally out. "I have a friend who was looking to build an apartment complex for homeless people. Think you can do without your meeting place for a while?"
Howard returned the smile. "Yup! It'll actually take a load off the kid. He's always so busy worried about the rest of us that he never takes care of himself."
Before long, Sally returned carrying a near-skeletal boy. She did not look happy. "My clinic... now."
Noin nodded and followed after reassuring the people that Duo would get the best care they could give him.
Once out of earshot, Sally sighed. "Lucy... you have a candy or granola bar on you? He's showing all the signs of hypoglycemia. That with apparent dehydration and near-starvation... and a touch of heat stroke." She smiled a little at a now frightened Duo. "Nothing I can't treat, but I want to run a few simple tests to make sure there's nothing else wrong. While at my clinic, I can hook you up to an IV. That will take care of your dehydration." She settled him in the car and got him as comfortable as possible in the back seat.
Noin opened up her cell phone and dialed the house after handing over a granola bar she had planned to munch on. After a few rings, she smiled. "Hey, Mil. Yeah... yeah... we're taking him to Sally's clinic. Have a bath ready for him... cool one... well Sally suspects mild heat stoke, so I don't want it too warm. Yeah... Oh and make some oatmeal... it looks like he hasn't eaten for quite a while." There was a pause. "Well... Sally wants to run some tests, but she suspects hypoglycemia." She nodded and smiled warmly at Duo. "I'll call before we head over... okay... love you too, Mil. Bye!"
*****
Wufei frowned as he climbed down the stairs. "What are you all doing?"
Quatre turned from his position at the window to smile at Wufei. "Miss Noin just called and told Mr. Marquise to get the fourth room ready. She's on her way here with our new house mate and a doctor! From what Mr. Marquise said, the boy they're bringing in is in pretty bad shape. If he's awake, I wanna make sure he feels welcome!"
Trowa smiled fondly at how animated Quatre was. Just yesterday, the blonde had cowered from Wufei. He really hoped the new person would be nice to Quatre. "I told Quatre that odds were he wouldn't be awake."
Heero shrugged. "I just wanna get a look at the guy who's getting what would've been Quatre's room."
A car pulled up and all four converged on the front door as Mr. Marquise opened it to reveal Miss Noin carrying a sleeping boy.
Lucrezia saw the group of curious boys and laughed. "He's not a baby, you guys! He's just in really bad shape."
As soon as she was inside, the boy moved. "Hmmn?"
Quatre beamed happily. "He's awake!" He smiled as he met a pair of confused violet eyes. "Hi! My name's Quatre. You look tired. Maybe you'd best go back to sleep. Miss Noin will explain things to you later. Okay?"
Lucrezia was not about to let the opportunity to feed Duo slip by. "He can sleep AFTER he eats something. Mil... is the oatmeal ready?" She carried Duo into the kitchen and started spoon-feeding some oatmeal to Duo.
Quatre started chatting with the newcomer. "Miss Noin started this house for us... that's the four of us before you got here... to help get us ready to live on our own. I've been all by myself for years, so the idea of having my own room was NOT a pleasant one. Trowa... he's the tall one... and I get along, so we share a room. Which left the fourth bedroom vacated. Miss Noin had originally WANTED five boys in this program, but could only get permission to have four. Since the homeless don't have the same system we did... you get to stay here."
Duo was still very confused. All he knew and cared about was the warm food he was eating. He didn't even care that he was being fed as if he were an infant. When he felt full, he turned his head away... knowing that if he continued eating, he'd be sick. The blonde was talking again. "Huh?"
Quatre smiled... though the newcomer's face was gaunt and filthy... the eyes bespoke of a kind nature. "I asked what your name was."
Duo couldn't fight it, he had to smile back. "Duo." He winced at how just speaking his name drained him... and his voice sounded so cracked.
Quatre took hold of Duo's hand, not caring if it was skeletal in feeling. "I hope we can be friends!"
Duo coughed weakly, but managed to speak again. "I'd like that." The way the blonde's eyes lit up made the effort worthwhile. He yawned and relaxed a little. He was still tired.
Noin rubbed Duo's arm. "Do you want to sleep now, or would you like to have a bath to get cleaned up a bit? It's cool, though."
Quatre smiled at Duo. "You can rest now, Duo. The blankets can always be cleaned later. So can you. You look tired."
Lucrezia nodded when those hazy eyes of Duo's looked to her for confirmation. "You're more important than the blankets, Duo. You can take a bath or a shower when you feel up to it."
Duo shook his head. "I think I c'n manage a bath. It'll feel good ta be clean fer once."
Noin nodded and started for the bathroom.
Quatre followed her into the living room and found himself surrounded by three curious faces all asking him questions. "All right! His name is Duo, and he seems really nice. He's confused and disoriented and really tired." Quatre blushed. "He's also gorgeous."
Heero raised his eyebrows. "Be serious! Quatre... he's filthy and he's a friggin' skeleton!"
Trowa shook his head. "Quatre sees the potential. Once he gains a few pounds and gets cleaned up..." He nodded in agreement with Quatre. "There is potential, Heero."
*****
Duo sighed as he started draining the tub and let the shower water rinse him off. He had been right... it was heavenly to finally be clean. Well... the only exception was his hair. He sighed sadly as he thought about his pride and joy. He figured he'd have to cut it. It was way too tangled despite all his efforts to prevent that. 'Worry about that later. I'll just close my eyes a moment.' He grunted a reply when someone knocked on the door to check on him.
"Duo, are you okay in there?"
"'M fine!" Although he appreciated Quatre's concern, the blonde had been the fourth person to knock on the door and ask him if he was all right. It was starting to get on his nerves.
Fifteen minutes later, Heero peeked in. When he had taken his turn to check on the new arrival, silence had been his answer when he knocked. He saw why as soon as he looked to the tub. Duo was sound asleep, and shivering a little under the spray of the shower. 'Oh for... he fell asleep in the tub! Good thing he drained it, or he might've drowned.' Heero turned the water off and wrapped a towel around Duo before lifting the sleeping boy out of the tub.
Heero frowned at the tangled length of hair and the filthy water which was dripping from it. 'Might as well get it washed.' He set Duo on the floor so Duo's head was resting against the rim of the tub and turned the shower on again. He turned the setting to pulse and started to work.
It took twenty minutes, but the end result was satisfactory. Duo's hair was clean and, thanks to a lot of conditioner and a wide-toothed comb, slowly becoming tangle-free. After making sure the last of the shampoo and conditioner was rinsed from the mass of now-chestnut colored hair, Heero wrapped a towel around the length. After a moment of debate, he grabbed one of Wufei's hair elastics before giving Duo a gentle shake. There was no way he was going to carry Duo.
"Huh? Hilde? Wha? Who're you?" Duo groaned. His head felt like it weighed a ton.
"My name is Heero Yuy. I woke you up so I could help you get dressed and get you settled in." He pulled forward a lock of Duo's hair so Duo would know what Heero was talking about. "I was about to braid it so it wouldn't get tangled again. May I?"
Duo blinked and nodded as he tried to sit up. He closed his eyes as Heero ran a comb through the length a few times to make sure he had gotten the tangles out before braiding Duo's hair firmly, but not tight enough to hurt.
After securing the elastic on the end of the braid, Heero nodded in satisfaction. "I'll have Miss Noin get some more hair supplies for you tomorrow. If your hair's this long, it must be for a reason. It might need to be trimmed to get rid of the split ends, but..." He stood and reached a hand to help Duo up. "Come on. You're tired and probably want to get some sleep."
Duo nodded and gratefully accepted the hand up. "Hey Heero? Thanks." He smiled and ran his hand down the braid. "I really didn't wanna cut it."
Heero nodded and helped Duo to get settled in.
*****
He was sleeping on something cool and soft. For a moment, Duo thought he had died, but... the sound of a door opening dispelled that notion.
"If you're awake, are you up to eating?"
His mind supplied a name to that soft voice. Quatre... a boy with pale blonde hair and friendly light blue-green eyes. Duo blinked his eyes open and managed a weak smile when he saw Quatre standing there with a tray. "Always up to eating!"
Quatre smiled and set the bed tray over Duo's lap before helping Duo sit up. "How are you feeling?"
Duo wanted nothing more than to gulp the food on the tray down, but he'd learned from Howard that you don't gulp your food. He had seen the results of people who had eaten nothing for a long period of time just attack their food. They had gotten violently ill. He did not want to be troublesome, so he ate slowly... taking his time to chew, swallow, and sip some of the orange juice. "I feel better than I did earlier."
Quatre nodded. "You look better, too." He sat down. "Dr. Po is going to be sleeping on the sofa bed for the next few nights. She wants to make sure that you settle in okay."
Duo nodded and poked at a small pill. "Uhhh... what's this?"
Quatre shrugged. "Dr. Po said it was a multivitamin... because you need the supplements until your body is up to par. We all take a vitamin, but she said yours was stronger because you need the nutrients."
"I'm not a plant." Duo sighed and took the vitamin with a swallow of juice. "How long do I have to be stuck in bed?"
Sally chose that moment to enter the room. "That all depends on you, Duo. You should stay in bed tomorrow, at least, and get some rest. Along with your malnutrition, your systems are all but burnt out due to lack of sleep." She smiled and patted Duo's head. "You're not on the streets anymore. You can take it easy for a couple of days. Your body will let you know when it's ready to get out of bed."
Duo, who was not happy with being patted on the head as if he were a puppy, snorted. "Great! I've never been immobile for longer than it took me to sleep." He gave Sally a look. "I'll prolly go nuts and take these people along for the ride."
Sally chuckled and shook her head when Quatre gave her an alarmed look. "He'll have some mood swings. He'll most likely be irritable one moment and in tears the next until he recovers." She turned back to Duo. "I'm saying this in your presence so that when it happens, you won't be alarmed." With that, she played with Duo's bangs and left the room.
Duo turned to Quatre. "I can't be stuck in bed! I'll go nuts!"
Quatre could only shrug in reply. He had no idea what he could do to keep Duo occupied. "Well... you still look tired. Maybe you should go back to sleep." He removed the tray.
Duo hated it, but Quatre was right. He shifted into a more comfortable position and chuckled as Quatre tucked the light blanket around him. "G'night, Quat!"
Quatre blinked and smiled at the nickname. "Good night, Duo. If you need anything, I'll be right next door."
"Hmmmph."
*****
"Are you sure it's a good idea keeping him in bed, then? He might get into trouble."
Sally smiled at Lucrezia. "If he does, Lucy, I'll take the blame. Getting into trouble will be a sign that he's getting stronger. That he's even HINTING about a possibility of trouble is a good thing. I wouldn't worry about it too much if I were you. Just keep him as occupied as you can while he's getting his strength back. Something tells me that he'll find something to occupy his time."
Lucrezia smirked. "I don't know, but I THINK I should be worried!"
TBC...
Back to Tenshi-chan's Fanfictions Page