Author: Zazu
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Angst, Sap, Yaoi, Lemon, Get together
Pairings: 1x2, 3+4+3
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing, nor do I own the characters. I have borrowed them here for some fun and creativity, and this is not for profit. I do, however, own the plot mentioned here, and any instances that you may find similar to real life events are purely a coincidence. All of the characters depicted in this story are adults.
Christmas Gem Part 1
Duo had been hard at work tapping his pencil on a piece of paper when his door was opened with more force than necessary. He stared. It was the first time he saw Heero Yuy.
"Um..."
Heero dropped a file in front of Duo, flipping it open. Flattening his hand on top of the first page, Heero narrowed his eyes at Duo.
"You can't do that."
His first thought of Heero was that the man was damn gorgeous. Untamed, dark hair, what looked like a toned body and blue eyes that stared right into his...Duo swallowed.
It took him a moment to find his voice. "Excuse me?"
Heero jabbed his finger onto the page to direct Duo's attention where it should be. "I said, you can't do that!"
Duo looked down at the page. "And...who are you? Why do you have this?"
Heero straightened. "My name is Heero Yuy. I'm head of manufacturing."
Ah. That would explain why he had access to Duo's designs.
"I'm Duo Maxwell," he said, offering his hand as he stood. "I'm one of the designers."
"I'm aware of who you are, Mr. Maxwell."
"Duo is fine. If you would have a seat, perhaps you could explain to me just what I can't do?"
Heero didn't bother to sit down. "This is one of the rings you designed for the Christmas line, right?"
"That's right."
"It's not going to happen."
"Why not? I submitted it before the deadline."
Heero made a sound of disbelief. "The deadline was meant for designs that had certain conformity. This design does not."
"You're telling me you can't make it? The moulds you mean, right? To make the ring, or some part of this ring?"
"Of course not!" Heero exclaimed. "We're looking at about a week to make the right mould. Another two to mass produce the mould."
"Whoa!" Duo raised an eyebrow. "Why would you need to mass produce the mould? It's supposed to be a limited edition product."
"Limited edition of three hundred," Heero said. "Are you saying that we need only one mould to make three hundred rings?"
"Well if it takes you one week to make one mould, along with plans on how to make that mould, then are you telling me that you can't make a few others in another week?"
"Even if I could, Mr. Maxwell..."
"Duo."
"Duo, then. Even if the moulds could be made within two weeks. The materials you've specified are not ones we generally use. I'm surprise the head of material inventories hasn't come in yet! To find the raw materials, for it to pass grade inspection, for quality inspection not to mention for the staff to learn to work with the materials, there's just no way this product can be made!"
"You're head of manufacturing here," Duo replied. "You're supposed to make it happen."
"I make things happen within reason, Mr. Max..."
"Duo."
Heero sighed, straightening. "The point is, Mr. Winner told me to expect two designs from you for the Christmas line. He warned me to be aware of your creativity. Since you've only submitted one, I would suggest that you not be too creative with the other since our deadline is looming."
"What, you want me to design jewellery that you can find anywhere else on the streets?" Duo asked, feeling slightly offended. He was hired for his creativity, damn it! Who was this man to come and tell him to be more...mundane with his designs?
"I'm asking you to take into consideration what you have to work with. If you want to keep this design for the next line, then give it to me earlier and we'll get the moulds done and train the staff to work with the new materials. Right now, we don't have that time."
Duo sighed. "You're telling me to trash this, then."
Heero blinked. "Didn't I just mention keeping it for another line?"
"If you hadn't noticed the hint of mistletoe engraved on either side of the colored stones I fail to see how you are head of manufacturing. It would have sucked, wouldn't it, if you had made everything except that detail?"
Heero glared. "I did notice it, and I fail to see why you cannot keep it for next Christmas."
"That would be why you are not a designer, Mr. Yuy," Duo sighed. "It would be out of style by then."
Heero stared at Duo for a moment longer before turning. "I hope you're able to submit designs this company's manufacturing team is able to make, or you'd be out of the job pretty soon." With that, he walked out of Duo's office.
"Out of the job, huh?" Duo mused. With a sigh, he closed the folder Heero had brought and slipped it into a drawer. "Sorry," he muttered. "Looks like you're not coming to life after all."
~*~
"Duo?"
Duo looked up and grinned, tired. "Hey Boss, what's up?"
"What are you still doing here?" Quatre asked, taking a seat across from Duo. "It's almost nine!"
"Designing, of course," Duo sighed. "Your head of manufacturing came up and gave me a lecture on designing things he didn't have moulds for."
"Heero?"
"He warned me not to do it again, at least not with a looming deadline, or you'd fire me."
"Then I assume he has no idea I practically doubled your pay at your old firm to get you here."
"I told him you didn't want mundane."
"That's right," Quatre nodded. "But Heero's the person one who made your previous designs work. If he didn't have his reasons he wouldn't have complained about your design."
"I guess so," Duo yawned. "I mean, you certainly aren't someone who hires idiots, Quatre, and if he made it to head of manufacturing then he's got to have his credentials."
Quatre nodded.
"Quatre?" Another voice called from outside the office.
Duo grinned. "Lover boy is looking for you."
Quatre flushed a little. "Why don't you head home? You'll do better after a good night's sleep."
"Are you kidding me?" Duo asked, stretching and rolling his shoulders. "I'm nocturnal, man! I do my best designs at night!"
"I don't want you sleeping here, Duo."
"Damn, you found out I'm homeless, didn't you?"
Quatre snorted. "Homeless? Then what's that address on your personal files? The one for the loft?"
Duo chuckled. "Don't worry. I promise you won't see me wearing these clothes tomorrow."
"Good. I don't want to see you wearing any other clothes you keep in that cabinet, either," Quatre said with a gesture. "Goodnight, Duo. I appreciate you working hard to get the designs out, though."
"No problem, Boss. Goodnight. Tell Trowa I said goodnight, and don't do anything I wouldn't!"
"I'm not sure that's a safe assessment of what or what not to do," Trowa drawled from the doorway as Quatre stood. "You've been known to do some crazy things."
Duo waved his hands. "Shoo, lovebirds, designer at work here."
The couple chuckled and left Duo. When he heard the elevator doors close, Duo sat back, dropping his pencil and studying the design he had sketched out. With a sigh, his gaze drifted to the drawer that housed the design that was turned down. Shaking his head and telling himself that not all designs would come to life, Duo set to work once more.
~*~
No one was more surprised than Heero to look up and find Duo Maxwell approaching him where he was watching one of his staff work.
"Mr. Yuy," Duo said.
"Mr. Maxwell."
"Duo."
"Duo," Heero corrected. "Then you can call me Heero."
"Heero," Duo smiled. "I was wondering if you had a bit of time?"
"For?"
"Lunch?" Duo tapped his watch. "It's twelve thirty."
Heero took the moment to look at his own watch, using the action to buy some time before answering. Was Duo asking him out on a lunch date?
When he had stormed into the man's office, Heero hadn't been expecting to find a young man probably around his own age sitting at the desk. For some reason, he thought he would find someone as handsome as Duo. The man was well dressed, and his tie had been loosened, top two buttons of his shirt undone...both were supposed to make someone in the office look tired or sloppy.
It had only looked extremely sexy on Duo.
Today, though, Duo was buttoned up and his tie was properly in place.
"I was thinking," Duo was saying. "That perhaps you could help me with that design."
"Help you with the design?"
"Yes," Duo said. "You banned it, I know, but I'd like to see if there was some way to alter it so that it could be used."
"Even if we could, there's the problem of the materials that I mentioned yesterday," Heero answered.
Duo waved his hand. "We'll be boring and use diamonds. But the point is, if possible, I want something like this out on the market this Christmas." He held up the folder that Heero had brought down. "I just want one hour of your time to discuss whether there are changes that could make it possible. If not, I'll trash it. If you have a problem with using your lunch hour like this, I'll compensate you."
Heero shook his head. "There's no need for that. Your design was really good, just...not very realistic at this point in our schedule."
"I understand." Duo gestured. "Shall we?"
Heero nodded. "Just let me get my jacket."
They spent the hour-long lunch at the deli close by where they ate first and verbally discussed the issues with bringing the design to life. Heero was surprised that Duo was such a good listener; he'd half expected Duo to pull the hot-shot-artist stunt and continually interrupt him.
But then, he reminded himself, the fact that Duo had asked him for this opportunity should have meant he would listen.
Once they had finished their sandwiches, Duo pulled out the folder and a red pen. Heero realized that Duo had photocopied his own design and meant for Heero to mark with the red pen the places that needed some sort of altering so that their current moulds and equipment could handle the job.
Then, he watched as Duo studied it and sketched smaller designs at the side. It gave him the opportunity to study Duo again, and Heero watched the way his eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he blocked in certain designs, frowning and moving on to another section of the paper. Soon the margins were filled and Duo sighed, looking up at Heero. It seemed to surprise him that Heero was there.
"Oh man! Sorry," Duo said sheepishly. "You didn't have to sit here and watch me work. I'm sorry to bore you all lunch."
"Not a problem," Heero said. "Figure something out?"
Duo sighed. "It's...not going to look as good but if we alter the distance of the ring to fit the jewel and lessen the curve of the ring..."
"You'd also have to take away the top," Heero said, indicating the top portion of the ring that was supposed to fit partially on top of the main one.
"Yea, I know," Duo said, studying the design again. "I think I can alter it to an engraved detail although it would be different. I'll have to work with it, but maybe we don't have to completely trash this design after all."
"Maybe not," Heero agreed. "If you can work with the restrictions I gave you...I don't see why it wouldn't work. And you're willing to change the gems to diamonds, which...is good because the materials department definitely has connections to get diamonds into stock."
Duo chuckled. "We do specialize in diamonds," Duo said. "The other gems aren't worthless, I know. Maybe some other day, we'll be able to do a line with them."
"Maybe."
Duo glanced at his watch. "Lunch is almost over. Let's head back. I'm going to keep working on this in my office." He smiled at Heero. "Thanks, Heero, really. For taking the time to do this when you didn't have to."
His smile warmed Heero's heart, and Heero couldn't help but offer a small smile in return. "It's not a problem. I can only imagine the amount of time you spent on that design. To have to completely trash it would be a waste." He paused before forging on. "For what it's worth, the original design was breathtaking...until I realized we couldn't do it."
"Well, let's hope the altered version would be just as good." Duo held the sheet in his hand. "I hope it will be," he said softly. "This initial design was actually from a school project. It was something I worked on with a partner."
"A partner?" Heero asked. Duo's expression changed; he looked sad.
"Yea," Duo murmured. "She was really into the whole Christmas theme and we worked together to come up with something like this. I've altered it, of course, but..."
"Duo?" Heero called softly when Duo didn't finish.
Duo shrugged a little. "My partner...she was on her way to school to meet me to get the project back. We were lucky enough to have the professor avail himself to discuss the project with us; he didn't do that with everyone. We were really excited...but she never made it."
"Never made it?"
Duo shook his head, staring at the design. "Some bastard ran a red light. Her small car didn't stand a chance...she died on the scene." Duo looked up. "She didn't know we scored an A minus. It was the biggest project in that course; that was pretty much the grade I ended up with. She would have gotten it too and she would have been...ecstatic. It wasn't until I went to her funeral that I found out...she was born around Christmas Day and the inspiration she had for the project was...she did the design because she wanted to give it to her mother."
"I'm sorry," Heero said.
Duo shook his head again. "Nothing to be sorry about," Duo said roughly. "The driver lost his license, is behind bars for drinking and driving and manslaughter." He offered a small smile. "Sorry to dump that on you, Heero. Let's go."
A woman walking by suddenly yelped, slipping slightly. Duo's hand shot out automatically to grab her arm and hold her upright. "Are you all right?" he asked when the woman found her balance again.
"Yes...oh my God!" she was staring at the table. "I'm so sorry!"
Duo saw that his photocopy and sketches was soaked in the soda that had spilled from her tray. The woman quickly set the tray down and automatically began to dab her napkins on the half-soaked sheet. "I'm so sorry! Was it really important? Oh, God!"
Duo caught her hand. "Don't worry about it. I'll just throw it out. It's fine."
"Duo?" Heero frowned. "Your sketches..."
"Sketches are in my head, Heero," Duo said, tapping his own temple. "It's fine." He looked at the woman again. "I'll just throw it out."
She nodded, flushing. "I'm so sorry."
"Don't worry about it. Just be more careful."
With that, Duo grabbed his folder and stood from the table. Heero followed him out of the deli and back to work.
The next day, Duo was down at manufacturing again. Heero was busy with his staff and waved Duo into his office. Duo sat down in the chair across from Heero's, look around the office. It was neat and tidy; Heero was obviously a very organized man. Spotting a photo frame, Duo leaned forward, turning it to study the picture. It was of Heero and an older man with goggles who had a claw for one of his hands. Duo blinked; he'd seen that man somewhere before, but he couldn't quite recall where.
"Duo?"
Duo returned the photo to its place. "Hey! Sorry to bother you again."
"Not a problem," Heero said, shutting the door to block out the sounds of the machines outside. "Can I help you with something?"
"Who's that?" Duo asked curiously, gesturing to the picture. "You don't seem like the kind of guy to put pictures around and make your office all cozy."
"I don't," Heero acknowledge. "That's my uncle. He pretty much brought me up after my mother passed away from illness and my father left home."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Duo said sincerely. "I know how you feel...I'm an orphan myself. My folks died in a drunk driving accident and I was brought up in an orphanage."
Heero mentally made the tie between Duo's parents' death and the death of his partner back in school. "I'm sorry to hear that," he replied.
"So," Duo brightened. "I've tweaked the design a bit and was hoping it would pass your inspection, so I brought it down myself." He offered the folder to Heero.
Heero accepted it and flipped it open, studying the design and the specifications of the ring. It was different than the original, of course, but it didn't mean that it was any less creative or beautiful. Heero smiled at Duo. "I'll send you the very first prototype."
"Great!" Duo stood. "I look forward to seeing it."
"I'll personally handle it," Heero replied. "I'll bring it up in a few days."
~*~
Duo was so busy working on his second design that it surprised him to see Heero at his door.
"Heero!" Duo grinned. "What's up?"
Heero offered a velvet box, and Duo raised his eyebrows. "I don't do proposals before dating," he joked.
Heero snorted. "It's your prototype."
Duo snatched the box from Heero and carefully opened it, taking the ring out. He studied it for almost impossibly long, leaving Heero standing and watching him.
Heero released the breath he hadn't realized he was holding when Duo looked up with a smile. "It looks perfect," he breathed. "The details...you got all of them."
"I don't suppose I can be head of manufacturing if I can't capture all of the details," Heero said dryly. "If it's fine, I'll set the work orders for the next three hundred. I...showed it to Mr. Winner first and he signed the papers for the work orders, provided you were fine with the design."
"This wouldn't have happened without you," Duo said, replacing the ring and offering the box back to Heero.
Heero shook his head. "It was nothing. I merely pointed out the...impossible bits. You did all the creative work." He took the box, but Duo didn't let go.
"I...don't suppose you'd let me take you out for dinner tonight? It's Friday night and...oh. You probably have plans..." Duo trailed off.
Heero stared at Duo. Then he smirked. "Are you asking me out on a date?" he asked softly.
"Maybe," Duo said. "Are you accepting?"
"You beat me to the asking," Heero admitted. "So yea, I'm accepting."
"Great!" Duo let go of the box and grabbed a notepad and a pen, scribbling something down. "This is my number," he said, tearing the piece of paper out. "Is...Italian okay? I'll meet you at Sotto Sotto at seven?"
"Sotto Sotto at seven," Heero replied. "See you there."
TBC...
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