Christmas Gem Part 2

Heero arrived at a quarter to seven; Duo arrived five minutes after him.

"Damn!" Duo said with a grin. "I thought I'd be early but you beat me!"

Heero took in the sight of Duo wearing a dark grey shirt and black slacks. "Only by a few minutes," he replied, opening the door for Duo.

That gave him the opportunity to drop his gaze a little lower while checking out Duo's back. Heero couldn't help but think of Duo's braid as an arrow pointing right down to his ass.

They were quickly seated; apparently Duo had made reservations. Neither of them ordered alcohol and settled for water as they studied the menu.

"Been here before?" Heero asked. He'd heard of the restaurant but had never actually tried it.

"Only once," Duo said. "But the food was good, the prices not too unreasonable, and there were other dishes I wanted to try here."

"What did you have last time?"

"One of the risottos." Duo looked up at Heero. Heero was wearing a black shirt and he looked good in it. Duo quickly turned back to the menu. "Yea, the risotto wasn't bad."

They placed their orders and talked about mundane things as they waited for the food to come.

"So did you grow up here?" Duo asked.

"Yea, pretty much all my life. You?"

Duo shook his head. "I was here for a jewellery design show and Quatre happened to be interested in my work. Before that, I was working two states away. Quatre hired me about nine months ago and that's when I moved here."

"Ah," Heero nodded. "And you're right. The risotto is good."

"So is the alfredo sauce," Duo said. "Want to try some?"

Heero smiled and, glancing around to make sure no one was studying them, reached across the table and dipped his spoon until the sauce. Sampling it, he nodded. "Not bad."

Meanwhile, Duo had no qualms about reaching over and stealing a bit of the risotto. "I can't decide which one I like more," he admitted. "And I haven't even tried the tomato sauce here yet!"

"Next time, then," Heero said.

"Next time?" Duo asked softly. "This time isn't done yet. You sure about next time?"

"Fairly sure," Heero said with a smile. "So, tell me how you got into this business?"

The remainder of their dinner passed fairly quickly despite the time they spent drinking the coffees they ordered after their main dishes. Before long, Duo had to ask for the bill, telling Heero that he was paying since he had asked Heero out.

"I'll pay next time then."

"Next time," Duo agreed. They left the restaurant and Heero walked Duo to his car. "Where do you live?" Duo asked.

"Not to far from here. About a ten minute drive to the east."

Duo whistled. "One of those expensive apartments?"

Heero ducked his head. "How about you?"

"I'm about fifteen minutes from the office. North of it."

Heero smirked. "You're one to talk about expensive apartments if you live by the lofts. Or in one?"

"You got me," Duo chuckled.

"Do you...want to come over?" Heero asked.

Duo smiled. "Next time," he answered, touching Heero's hand briefly. "I volunteer every other Saturday at the local orphanage. I may not have grown up there but sometimes, it helps for the older kids to have someone who's been through it all to talk to. They're...the ones who know deep down that they don't have much of a chance at adoption. It's getting late and I'm honestly beat from working this week."

Heero nodded in understanding. "All right then. I'll...see you soon?"

Duo smiled. "See you soon." Then, he leaned forward quickly, dropping a kiss on Heero's cheek before ducking into his car.

Heero smiled towards the driver's seat for a moment before walking towards his own car. Half an hour later he'd settled at home, flipping idly through his CDs for a little music to listen to. But his mind kept wandering to his cell phone where he'd stored Duo's number. It wasn't all that late; Duo couldn't be in bed yet.

Without giving himself the chance to hesitate, he dialled Duo's number.

"Hello?"

"Duo?" Heero said, almost breathlessly.

"Heero?"

"I...just wanted to see if you got home safely."

Duo smiled. "Yea. Got home ten minutes ago."

There was silence for a moment before Heero forged on. "I was wondering...if you would be available for a movie on Sunday? And maybe a dinner, too?"

"Movie?" Duo asked. "That would depend on which one."

Heero rarely frequented the theatre; he preferred to watch movies at home. "You can pick," he said, not knowing what was playing.

"How about that action flick, Choices? The trailer looked okay."

"Choices it is," Heero said, relieved that Duo had picked a movie. "I'll get the show times and text them to you tomorrow. If...you don't mind giving me your address I'll come pick you up."

"I don't mind. It makes sense not to drive two cars."

"All right. Then...I'll see you on Sunday?"

"Sunday. Goodnight, Heero."

"Goodnight, Duo."

Neither of them hung up, and suddenly, Duo chuckled. "See you on Sunday. Sweet dreams."

"You too, Duo." Heero said softly, listening as Duo hung up.

~*~

Sunday was, after all, a work night, so Heero and Duo hadn't done more than dinner after the movie.

The following week passed quickly; Heero and Duo met three times for lunch and had plans to meet up for dinner on Friday night again. Duo also managed to submit his second design for the Christmas line as well, feeling relieved that he had much more time now, to work on the upcoming Valentine's promotions.

Friday rolled around quickly enough, but decided against eating out due to the sudden rain.

Heero drove his car, following Duo's, back to Duo's apartment where they agreed to order pizza and watch some of the movies Duo had purchased but never got around to watching. Staying in sounded much more appealing with the sort of weather they had; but it was mid-November, after all.

He parked his car in the visitor's parking and found Duo waiting, as agreed, at the elevators.

Duo lived on the twenty-first floor; each floor had four lofts and each one was two floors in height.

Heero looked around curiously as Duo went about switching on lights and getting the pamphlet for the pizza place.

"Want something to drink?"

"Water is fine," Heero said. Duo handed him a glass of water along with the pizza pamphlet.

"I don't order pizza much," Heero admitted. "So why don't you choose?"

"Sure," Duo took the pamphlet back. "Anything you don't eat?"

"Not really."

"Okay." Duo found his cordless phone and dialled. "Make yourself at home."

Heero wandered from the kitchen, which was the closest to the door, over to the living room area. There was a small table between the kitchen and the living room. A large entertainment system stood against one wall and a comfortable couch sat across it with a coffee table in front of it. There was also an armchair with a light close by; that was when Heero noticed the shelves on the far side of the entertainment system that housed both books and DVDs.

He looked up to the stairs, wondering what could be there. Then he found himself at the large windows stretching the entire height of the two floors and was attracted by the view.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yea," Heero breathed. "It is."

"That's what sold me this place," Duo said. "The view was nothing like what I had back in the orphanage, of course. And where I used to live, my window looked out at the brick wall of the building across from me. I decided I needed a change in scenery."

Heero nodded. "This must be much better."

"It is," Duo said softly. When Heero turned, he found Duo looking at him instead of outside the window. Duo averted his eyes. "So, pizza will be arriving within half an hour. Want to pick a movie?"

"Sure." Heero walked over to the shelf and studied the titles. Duo sat on the couch and picked up a controller to turn on some light music. Heero joined him at the couch shortly after, setting the movie he had selected onto the coffee table. He looked around, studying the art and various knick-knacks that Duo had, noticing some pictures of Duo and some children, Duo and an older woman and even a picture of Duo and Quatre.

"Quatre is an easy-going guy," Duo said, noticing Heero's surprise. "He's a good boss."

"Yea, he is."

Duo sipped his water and sighed. "Another work week finally over."

"You've got it better now, having submitted your second design," Heero said. "Now I get to do the hard work."

Duo chuckled. "I slaved hard over the design to get it done! It's about time someone else did the hard work. But either way, I was working solo and you have a bunch of minions."

"Minions I have to watch over carefully," Heero sighed.

"That's what you get, being head of a department," Duo replied. "Tough."

"How do you do it?" Heero suddenly asked as he made eye contact with Duo.

"How do I do what?" Duo asked.

"Design," Heero breathed. "Your designs come out brilliantly. They don't work out because of manufacturing restrictions but it doesn't mean they aren't...beautiful."

"You really think that?" Duo asked. Heero nodded, sliding a little closer. "Man! You totally had me fooled! I thought you hated my design because I hadn't considered the manufacturing restrictions with timelines. I mean, I guess if I had done it earlier it would have been possible but..." Heero was leaning closer, and Duo found himself closing the distance. "Even if you had told me before that it looked good...I didn't realize that you thought they were...brilliant..." Duo's attention was on Heero's lips, and suddenly, those lips were on his own.

Heero reached up, touching Duo's cheek as he gently kissed Duo. Touching his tongue against Duo's lips, he felt them part and he let his tongue dive into Duo's mouth, eager to taste him.

Duo hummed appreciatively as Heero's tongue explored his mouth; he tangled his own tongue with Heero's inviting him to play. Then, Heero's tongue had backed off; they broke the kiss only briefly before Duo was leaning forward again, eager to do some exploring of his own.

The doorbell interrupted them and they broke apart again, chuckling. "Timing," Duo muttered. "Hold that thought." He got up and went to the door to get the pizza. Heero leaned back on the couch, taking a deep breath as he licked his lips, still tasting Duo and feeling a little dizzy at that revelation.

But the mood had been broken, and by the time Duo was back and setting the pizza down on the coffee table, Heero had moved from the couch to set up the movie. Duo took over, showing Heero which channel to switch to and which machines to switch on for the surround sound. As the movie started, they sat down between the couch and the coffee table to eat the pizza. They paused the movie to put the empty box away and to for Duo to make some coffee, and when they resumed the movie again, they were sitting close together on the couch with Heero's arm around Duo.

It was still early when the movie ended and they switched the music back on to talk, trading stories from their childhood. Before long, Duo knew that Heero hated green peppers and didn't particularly enjoy spicy foods. Heero found out that Duo liked to eat oatmeal for breakfast and never had the chance to learn how to ride a bicycle.

And it wasn't much longer before Duo had thoroughly explored Heero's mouth with his tongue, felt Heero's muscles quiver under his touch and managed to untuck Heero's shirt to slide a hand under just to rest on his waist.

Heero's hand had slipped under Duo's shirt too, resting at the small of his back as they continued to share kisses, and then Duo had pulled away a little.

"What are you doing to me?" he asked softly.

"The same thing you are doing to me?" Heero answered breathlessly.

"...Stay tonight?"

"If you want me to."

"I do."

"Then I will."

"Come upstairs?"

Heero nodded. He accepted Duo's hand to stand from the couch, and Duo didn't let him go as he walked about locking up the apartment. He did stop at the sink to do the dishes; Heero slid his arms around Duo's waist as he worked, occasionally pressing kisses to Duo's ear and neck.

And then Duo was taking Heero upstairs where Heero saw a set of double doors that Duo pointed out was the closet, and another door which Duo gestured was the bathroom. A large bed sat in the middle, headboard against the wall and flanked by two bedside tables.

They were in the dark but they could see each other well enough, illuminated by the city's lights filtering through the large glass window across the balcony-like rails of the second floor. Duo ducked into the bathroom and exited with a large towel, which he tossed onto the bed. Then, he began to unbutton his own shirt; Heero followed suit after a moment.

"Doesn't the sun wake you up in the morning?"

"The curtains automatically come down at about four-thirty."

Then, Duo was kissing him again and Heero couldn't remember taking off his pants, or his socks. The next thing he knew, Duo was squirming under him to reach towards a bedside table, and then Duo was holding a condom in silent question. Heero nodded and watched Duo rummage for something else, lube, and then he resumed kissing Duo, touching him all over, listening to his moans and gasps and quiet pleading, and echoing them with his own.

He poured some lube onto his hand and began to stroke Duo, watching Duo's face.

Duo's legs parted as he gazed up as Heero, and he reached up to play with Heero's nipples for a short while before he pulled Heero down for another intoxicating kiss. He tried to relax his body as Heero added more lube to his fingers and his hand quested lower. He concentrated on kissing Heero then, as Heero's fingers entered him one by one and stretched him.

Before long, Heero was tearing open the packaging of the condom and rolling it on; Duo sat up, reaching for the lube to smooth it liberally over Heero's condom-clad hardness, watching with a half grin as Heero wiped his own hand on Duo's boxers shorts; the only pair within reach on the bed. Duo lay down then and pulled his own legs back by the knees. Heero leaned down, moaning his name and pressing his hands on Duo's thighs as he teased Duo's entrance. Then, he used his hand to guide the head of his cock into Duo, forcing himself to move slowly. Duo's hand found his and clasped it, and he leaned down, kissing Duo's skin as he whispered Duo's name.

As he began to move, he leaned a little lower, seeking for Duo's mouth. Duo's hands were touching him all over, scratching down his back one moment and sliding into his hair. One leg was hitched up over Heero's shoulder; the other around his waist and Heero's hands rest on either leg as his hips moved.

He was reaching his climax too quickly, too turned on by just the amount of kissing they had done before coming up the stairs, so Heero let his fingers ghost down the inside of Duo's thigh to wrap around his erection.

Duo moaned and his leg tightened around Heero's waist, urging for more, so Heero complied, letting Duo's leg slip from his shoulder and giving Duo the leverage to thrust back. Be focused on stroking Duo, intent on making Duo orgasm, and he watched as Duo's eyes closed, head tossed back as he came.

"Heero...." He moaned.

Then Heero was bending down to kiss Duo, moaning into that delicious mouth as his climax overtook him.

It was a few minutes later before Heero managed to get to the bathroom to clean himself up and he exited to find that Duo had cleaned himself with the towel he'd brought out before; Heero hadn't realized that Duo had placed it under himself. The towel was sent into the bathroom with a well-aimed toss, and then Duo was pulling back the covers in invitation. Heero slid in and curled up with Duo.

"That was..." Duo breathed. "So...good."

"Just good?" Heero asked. It had felt more than that to him.

"No. More than that. I...I just don't have the words for it." Duo nuzzled Heero and Heero chuckled. "You know what I mean, don't you?"

"I do," Heero conceded. He felt warm and sated, and Duo was in his arms, falling asleep. Heero let sleep claim him, smelling Duo's hair and letting it fill his dreams.

A lack of clothes drove Heero out of Duo's apartment right after breakfast and they didn't meet again until Sunday when they went to the local history museum to spend the afternoon.

"Duo?" Heero caught Duo's hand before Duo slipped out of his car at the end of their outing.

"Yea?" Duo tangled his fingers with Heero's.

Heero smiled. "I just wanted you to know I had a good time."

Duo snorted. "I had to drag you away from some of those displays, and I was the one who was supposed to be engrossed in it!"

Heero chuckled. "But I meant...more than that. Lately, I have."

Duo grinned. "Me too," he said. "So...I'll see you tomorrow? Give me a call later when you get home."

"Will do. See you tomorrow."

Duo honestly felt like he was floating on cloud nine as he walked in to his office on Monday morning; he'd spent most of last night on the phone with Heero. It was a little silly, he supposed, since they didn't live all that far apart, but he also knew that if Heero had been over at his place again they'd be doing a whole different type of communication.

Sitting on his desk were several catalogues; he went through them periodically to see what the company's competitors were coming up with.

It wasn't until he was flipping through the second catalogue that a certain ring caught his eye.

It was his design, the first one Heero had banned. He stared long and hard at it in disbelief, closing and opening his eyes several times to see if he had been imagining it.

Someone had his design. Not only that, someone had managed to make it work.

And to make matters worse, the newer design he'd done wasn't in their latest catalogue; it was in the special brochure for the new Christmas line and that wasn't coming out for another two days. It would look like he had copied someone's work; never mind that both designs were his to begin with.

Flipping to the front, he found the name and quickly tapped the name into his computer's browser. As it loaded, he dialled Quatre's internal extension.

"Quatre? We've got a problem."

"What is it?" Quatre asked.

"Do you have the new catalogues on your desk?"

"I do. I was just about to look at them."

"Take a look at the catalogue from Christoph J's. Page three, product C."

"Just a moment."

Duo waited impatiently, clicking through the website and looking at the director's names. Opening a second browser window, he entered the CEO's name and waited for the search to load.

"Got it," Quatre's voice came over the line. There was a pause and then Quatre seemed to realize the problem. "It looks...almost like..."

"It looks like the design for the limited edition ring," Duo said. "Not only that, Quatre, the one in the catalogue is the exact ring I had initially designed, the one that Heero had banned due to manufacturing and schedule restrictions."

Quatre gasped. "And it will look like we had copied the design somehow, since our catalogue is not out yet."

"Exactly," Duo ground out.

And then the search had loaded, and Duo stared at the picture of the man on his computer screen.

Goggles.

It wasn't a full body shot and Duo knew that if it were, he'd see a claw instead of a hand. Heero's uncle was the CEO of Christoph J?

"Son of a bitch."

TBC...

 

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