Author: Asuka Kureru
Beta-reader: My Arabiana-love ^___^ *cuddles Ara-chan*
Warnings: Yaoi, romance, sap, love triangle, threesome, heavy lime to nearly full lemon, dunno yet; the POV is shifting between the boys.
Couple (trio?) : 1+2+5, 1x2x5x2x1 and diverse combinations ^__^
Disclaimer: They're sharing, why can't we do the same? ;_;

Walking the Tightrope + Chapter 2

"That new movie looks good, whatcha think, Heero?"

The Japanese boy turned on his chair to look at his boyfriend. Duo was sprawled out on the couch behind him, a magazine held in front of his face, looking very carefully at the announcements written therein, and had been since Heero had begun working on his laptop, some two hours ago. He half-sat and stretched an arm toward Heero, showing him the article he had been reading. Heero glanced at the pictures; lots of action and a few martial artists here and there, all quite good-looking. Heero thought that it was probably the live movie of a video game Duo had enjoyed playing very much the last time they had been in a town big enough to have a games center.

Well, ok, actually, Heero had enjoyed playing too, even if many of the moves had been totally unbelievable.

They had exploded the record of high scores. It had been fun, especially the relief on the face of the director when they told him they wouldn't be coming back. They had totally ransacked his shop.

"Hmm... From a game, huh? I don't know if it's really worth seeing, but at least it shouldn't be too bad, from the listed actors and the director," he commented noncommittally.

"Yeah, true, usually movies made after a video game are lame, but this one seems to be a little better... and I love the heroes and the storyline anyway. And there is this martial artist that you like, yanno, the only one you didn't diss because it was obvious he didn't know what he was doing in the last movie we saw ... ne? ne? ne?"

Playfully, Duo sprawled on his back, his head hanging from the edge of the couch seat, his braid falling on the ground, and shot him his best starved puppy look. Heero snorted.

"I'll do everything for you master, please, I wasgood on my last mission, can't I have a reward? pwease..."

Heero growled at him, his eyes gleaming, amused against his own wishes. His lover was so kissable like that... It had been a while since he and Duo had been on a date...

...But he had work to do, he reminded himself when he glanced at his laptop's screen, where the new data was still blinking, waiting for him to acknowledge it. Heero sighed regretfully.

"I have work to do today, Duo. I've received tons of information on those new bases built in Australia and India, I need to correlate all of it as fast as I can..."

"Oh..."

Duo didn't pout to make Heero feel bad about refusing him, but it needed a conscious effort from him. He knew that Heero's work was important, more important than a date. Things were calm and peaceful at the moment, and so he had authorized himself to feel more relaxed, but the war was still going on, and many guerilla fighters needed Heero's input and supervision to make their efforts coincide.

He sighed. Too bad about the date, but after all it wasn't the first time that they had had to postpone plans to a later date for the greater good.

"I'll take a raincheck then..." he said, trying for joyful but only sounding dejected.

"The movie won't be on anymore..." remarked Heero, going back to typing but still listening to his lover.

"Yeah I know, but what else can we do?" sighed the braided boy.

"You can take Wufei," Heero suggested in a detached voice.

He had had the idea floating around in his head since he had remembered he couldn't go, but hadn't voiced it earlier. It was silly, after all he was the one who had suggested that they try this threesome thing, but... He feared, stupidly, that if they went to have fun together, without him, they would... bond, excluding him from their distractions, and that they would see things together, have fun together, and then, when they'd come back to him, sometimes they would happen to talk about things he didn't know about because he hadn't been there and have private jokes he wouldn't understand, and they wouldn't even realize it... It was hard to put words on the feeling, but he feared being excluded. As long as they did things in the house, when he was there too, he could always see what they did together, even if he didn't participate, and know where they were, how far into their relationship they had gone, what happened between them.

But it was so stupid to feel like that. Wufei would never know many things that had passed between Duo and him, Heero and Duo would always have private jokes and moments of understanding where Wufei would feel excluded. It always happened with anyone being with another person for any length of time. There were things that Heero and Wufei had shared that Duo didn't know about, too... There were even things that he had shared with Trowa that no one knew about.

He was not going to be jealous of each and every person Duo had known and talked to. He hadn't been so needy, so possessive when they had first gotten together, so why now? And trying to have a fusion-like relationship with Duo would only kill their love by suffocation.

Duo was mulling over the idea, blinking. "I didn't even think of that," he admitted.

Heero felt ashamed about feeling better.

"... Yeah, it's a good idea!... It doesn't bother you?" Duo asked, hesitating between a happy grin and a more considerate expression.

"I proposed it, would I have if it bothered me? Wufei is your boyfriend too, isn't he? Why shouldn't you go out on dates with him from time to time?"

Duo blushed suddenly, grinning from eat to ear. "Wufei's my boyfriend too..." he repeated. "I don't know why, when I hear that sentence I wanna jump on the couch like a five-year-old and begin to howl to the moon or something!" the braided boy admitted sheepishly, grinning like a fool.

Heero chuckled, amused at his lover's openness.

"Yeah, you're right, Fei and me should go on dates sometimes! I'm gonna ask him!!" decided the boy, jumping on his feet. "You sure you don't wanna come, though? You can, you know..." he added, a little lower, looking tenderly at his lover. "I'd like for the three of us to go out together sometimes..."

"Not this time, Duo, I still have work to do," answered Heero. "Plus it wouldn't be fair to Wufei if he never gets to have you just for himself from time to time. Maybe another time...?"

"Maybe? Certainly, yes! Don't work too hard, kk?" he grinned at him, already bouncing toward the door.

"Don't have too much fun," Heero called amusedly after him, turning back to his laptop.

Duo stopped at the door, turned around to look at him, one hand on the wall, and then, in two big strides, was standing behind his chair. Heero didn't quite have the time to turn around to face him, though, and was surprised when his lover's arms encircled his shoulders.

"Wouldn't want to forget this," whispered Duo, his breath caressing his neck. He kissed him on the cheek and squeezed his shoulder, then pecked his mouth when Heero turned his head to look at him. "I love you," he breathed, his voice intense, staring him right in the eye.

And two seconds later, the Japanese boy was alone in the room, and he could hear Duo running in the corridor and bursting through the back door, calling to Wufei happily.

Heero caressed his cheek, slowly, briefly feeling warm and tingling inside, in a place he couldn't quite pinpoint.

His laptop beeped at him, and Heero turned his attention to it, pushing back the fleeting feelings the discussion had evoked in him. Enough with the niceties. It was time to work.

+

As he was stepping outside in search of his newer boyfriend, Duo was still feeling rather strange about the conversation he had had with Heero. He had been with Heero for so long, and now, going on a date with someone other than him... He didn't know if he should feel like he was cheating on his lover with his best friend, what Wufei had been for him for even longer than Heero and him had been a couple.

Wow, he was going out with his best friend. How weird was that? Duo wondered. But Wufei loved him and he loved Wufei, so it should be ok, once they got used to it... Maybe they wouldn't even have to change their relationship that much, except now they had the right to get more intimate physically and sexually speaking. They were pretty close as friends already.

He hoped he could keep Wufei as a friend even while he was his lover. He enjoyed so much all those things they had debated on, often for hours...

Duo stopped at the entry to the garage and stared into the darker room. Wufei was verifying his bike, seeming to enjoy himself quite thoroughly. He had a dark smudge on his cheek. Duo wanted to lick it away, even if on second thought it probably tasted very nasty.

"Hey," he called quietly.

Wufei looked up and gave a small smile before returning to the piece of metal he had been tweaking.

"Wait a second... Ok. What did you want?" he asked, wiping his hands on a rag.

"Are you really occupied with your bike? I mean, can I convince you of doing something else?"

Wufei blinked and began to get up, and Duo gave him a hand to help him, which he finally caught after an awkward second of hesitation. Duo dragged him up, a little too hard, and they ended up chest to chest, their faces very close to each other's...

... ok, with the way the American's eyes twinkled with merriment, it hadn't been an accident. Wufei felt his face heat up some and frowned to cover it up, hoping that Duo's eyes wouldn't be used to the lack of light yet.

"Perhaps, depends on what you try to entice me with, I guess..."

Duo slid an arm around his neck casually, and guided him to the door. Wufei felt his cheeks flush some more. Damn, damn, damn! Yes, Duo was brushing against his side and hanging onto his neck in a proprietary way? So what? ... Ok, ok, it felt good. Great even. So what?

"There's a new movie I wanna see, but I don't wanna go alone. It's an action flick with some good martial arts actors, does it interest you yet?"

A movie? It had been a long time since the two of them had gone to see a movie.

"Hmm. I don't know... I don't have any money left on my personal stash, it all went into the bottomless pit that is that damn bike's maintenance. All that I have is OZ accounts, and I don't want to touch them for the moment."

"Silly! Don't you know that on a date it's the one who invites who has to pay?" grinned the braided boy.

Wufei started and stared at the boy.

"A date...?"

"Yeah, silly... Me, you, a movie... Boyfriends are supposed to go on dates from time to time, you know," snickered Duo, enjoying the total surprise. It was a rare treat to see Wufei Chang off balance for more than a few seconds.

"Oh. Err." He coughed in his hand, politely, darting nervous glances around.

"You had forgotten that now we could, ne? Don't worry, I did too... To be truthful, it was Heero who reminded me," Duo added with a sheepish look, looking very apologetic. "I should have remembered to take you on a date alone, but I'm still not used to this two boyfriends business..."

"I'm not used to it either, Duo, it's not a problem, it just needs time," Wufei reassured him. He smiled at him to make him understand that he wasn't feeling hurt that it was Heero who had thought of that. In fact it was very thoughtful of the other Asian pilot... And very sweet of Duo to ask him like that, and to be truthful even when forgetting to mention their partner's responsibility would have made him look better. It was slightly paradoxical, Wufei supposed, but it was what he was feeling. Duo's rigorous uprightness was one of the things which had made him fall in love with the man, after all.

"So, we going?"

"Sure, why not. I expect you to pay for my drinks and food, too," he added jokingly.

"I never would have figured you for the junk food type, Wu..." Duo shook his head, bewildered.

"That's because getting addicted to junk food is the best way of ensuring I never have enough money saved for my bike," answered the other boy in a slightly mocking voice. "I never said I didn't like it."

"Oh, so you're the one who's been stealing my stash!"

"Oops," deadpanned the Asian teenager.

The Chinese boy, not looking guilty in the least, took off running without warning.

"WUFEI!!! COME BACK HERE!!!"

+

Duo didn't catch Wufei before the Chinese teen was in his room, but then, it was because he wasn't running anymore, but bent over a drawer, rummaging through the contents. The braided boy took a flying leap and jumped on his back, making him falter and nearly flatten his nose on the wood of the chest of drawers.

"Ooof!! DUO!!"

"That's what you get for messing with my stash!!!" Duo hollered, rubbing his knuckles on the other boy's skull.

Wufei moved back to the bed and let himself fall flat on his back, crushing Duo under his weight, then rolled away when the other boy, surprised, let him go. Calmly, he walked back to the open drawer and began searching inside again, as composed as if nothing had happened at all.

"You're no fun..."

"Stop trying to pout at me, I'm not even looking at you," advised the boy in a calm and slightly haughty voice.

Duo burst out laughing.

"My boyfriend the psychic!!"

Wufei chuckled, for once not even jumping when he heard Duo say 'my boyfriend' while referring to him.

"Here it is," he finally said, getting a backpack out of the drawer. "Perfect to pack just a few things."

He grabbed his gun and two clips of ammo and hid them inside before grabbing a poncho, in case it rained suddenly.

"Go get yours, we can put it inside too."

"I'm keeping my gun on me," Duo warned him.

"Of course," answered the boy. "What do we need apart from that?"

"Hmm. Water."

"I'll go to the kitchen, go fetch the program so we can see when there is a performance," suggested the black-haired boy.

They met in the kitchen later, packing the bottle of water, the second poncho and a few things Duo had deemed necessary, like shades that 'looked cool'.

"There's a performance in two hours" said Duo, leaning on his shoulder to show him the magazine. "We can walk through the woods to go to the bus stop, I've seen other teens there often, people probably wouldn't notice us too much."

"Fine by me."

Duo bounced to the living room. "Heero! We're going!" he called, pouncing on the working boy and kissing his neck noisily. "Think of taking a pause from time to time, ok lover?" he added, his affectionate whisper meant only for the Japanese teen's ears.

"Ok," Heero answered, as low as him.

He glanced at Wufei, who was standing on the doorstep and carefully not looking at them to give them their privacy.

"Keep him out of trouble... well, try at least," Heero called in an ironic tone. Duo huffed, taking offense at the comment.

"I am not ALWAYS getting in trouble!!!"

"Of course not, dear..." agreed Heero in too much of a soothing tone to be sincere.

"...It just has a habit of finding you all on its own," continued Wufei without missing a beat.

"Haha. Cute. How come you two are only in tune when you want to make fun of me? Wu, let's go before you two decide to gang up on me again."

They walked outside, and Heero could see them move away for a little while before they disappeared between the trees. They were talking animatedly, laughing even, and he had never seen Wufei so carefree, and Duo hadn't been that radiant for a long while. 'I'm not doing the damn self-pity thing again,' Heero growled at himself before turning back to his work.

For a while he was unable to concentrate, too many images were gathered in his head since he had made the proposition to Wufei until today, crowding him, images of his incredulity and sincere emotion when Heero had asked, images of Duo and the Chinese teen, grinning at each other with no reason other than they were deliriously happy to be together at last, images...

... That hurt, in a way, because Duo was tender and loving as always with him, but with Wufei, he was... Still dazed. Still crushing. Still in l...

It was just the novelty of it, he was sure of that. Duo didn't even act as if he preferred one of them. It was just that, well, they were still in the honeymoon stage. Once it went away, things would settle down, he was sure.

He shoved back these thoughts, as far as he could, and totally absorbed himself in what his computer screen taught him.

After all, with the caseload he had, he wouldn't have finished for long when they came back.

Unaware that he was even doing it, he worked faster yet, as if finishing sooner would make them come back sooner, too.

+

The walk in the woods was nice. There were speckles of light dancing everywhere on the green of the leaves, and birds singing merrily. The path in the woods, while bumpy by places, was easy to follow. They talked some, just walked silently at each other's side some more, just appreciating the moment for all it was worth, both of them feeling strangely elated when Duo's hand brushed Wufei from time to time, or Wufei's shoulder Duo's.

Fuck the butterflies. It was, Duo thought, as if there were damn birds nesting just under his heart, and they were trying to fly free through his stomach, beak first. They had done that before, walking in the woods together, but it had never made him feel like this. And it annoyed him, slightly. He sounded like a romantic girl.

Shaking himself out of his daze, he looked at the raven-haired boy... and caught him glancing at him with a wondering look on his face.

"What are you thinking about, Wu?"

"Nothing," mumbled the boy, blushing slightly.

Duo had to bite his tongue not to ask what the blush was about. Wufei was so cute when he was flustered... And telling him so would probably send the braided boy right to the doghouse. He took his hand and interlaced their fingers, squeezing slightly, as if he hadn't even seen the reaction.

It had felt strange at first to walk holding hands with someone that was not Heero. Wufei's hand was narrower, with longer, nervous fingers, even if his palm was as rough as the other Asian's was. His calluses weren't in the same place, some being due to a gun and the controls of his Gundam like theirs, but some others were due to using a sword. He didn't walk in the same way either, didn't rock as much with each step, was in fact nearly flowing from one step to the other. It was strange getting used to another synchronization, another way of walking together. But easy too. As if he had been made for synchronizing with them... Argh. He was romancing things again.

'I sound like a love-struck schoolgirl...Ok, I am in love and I am old enough to be in school, but still. Mushy stuff was never my style anyway. I'm a guy, damnit!'

Without warning, he snatched Wufei's hair band and took off running. Enough with the cute stuff. They were gonna have fun today.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[cont]