Author: Asuka Kureru
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? ;_;

The Wufei-sighting bit is all Mel and Christy's fault. ^___^

Walking the Tightrope + Chapter 4

This morning, when Duo woke up, Heero had been away from the nest for a while already, if he believed the cold blankets. The half-awake boy turned around to snuggle Wufei instead... and only found a pillow.

Grumbling, Duo sat up, rubbing at his eyes, and glared around. Nope, he was alone in the room. Disgruntled, the boy got up and walked, or more like stumbled, to the kitchen. Wufei was sitting there listening to the news on the radio.

"Good morning, lazy ass."

"Fuck off Wu, 'm not in the mood," grunted the chestnut-haired teenager, dragging a chair away from the table and letting himself fall on it gracelessly.

Chuckling, the Asian pilot poured a cup of coffee for him. It was wrenched out of his hands without any thanks or apology and then slurped down very noisily.

"Another," demanded the boy, giving his cup back. Wufei poured it obligingly, still laughing softly.

After a while, Duo began to regain his humanity, and looked a little more alert.

"Where the hell is Heero? Why the hell wasn't he in bed when I woke up?"

"He was warned that there would be a communication from J, he had to take it from his Gundam, you know it's more secure. So he's going to stay there, until noon at least, and use the trip to verify that Wing is still in good working order. You know if he had to walk to there, it was better that he find a way to make it worthwhile..."

Duo made a face. "And you?"

Wufei shrugged. "He woke me up when he left. I have a meeting with someone from the Chinese resistance this morning though, so it's no big deal."

"So you decided to leave me alone, too? What good is it having two boyfriends if I still wake up cold and alone?" growled the other pilot.

Wufei couldn't help it. Duo looked so indignant... He began to snicker, uncontrollably.

"Hey!!" protested the boy.

"What do we look like, auto-warming comforters?"

"Bastard," grumbled Duo once again, not awake enough to answer more intelligently.

He got up again for yet another cup of coffee, then, this time, sat down in Wufei's lap, snuggling. He was feeling much more amiable already.

They cuddled for a little while, Duo slowly sipping at his extra-strong beverage and Wufei thoughtfully running a hand along his braid, slipping wild strands of hair back inside.

"The wonders of promotion. First I was a comforter, now I am a chair," mused the Chinese boy, grinning slightly.

"Be happy that I have a use for you, boy," smirked Duo, getting up once again to put the cup into the dishwasher.

He turned around and looked at his boyfriend. If Wufei was still there and not taking care of his duties, he probably had something to tell him. The braided boy lifted an eyebrow at him, waiting.

"Do you have something to do today?"

"Nope. Just finished a big mission, remember? I'm on vacation now."

The Chinese boy nodded pensively.

"Duo... I really think you should go spend time with Heero today. We just had a date, you and me, and... I know that between you and me it's still new, and believe me I'd love to spend all my free time with you, but I don't want him to feel neglected, you know? We are not going to make up for the lost time between us all at once, and if we even try, he is going to feel really abandoned."

"Damn, you're right..." admitted Duo with a grimace.

"One after the other is good for the moment, you know. I know it looks like we're taking turns playing with a toy, but if you only go out with me for a while, then only with him, one of us is going to feel like the other has gotten the better end of the deal, and, well..."

The braided boy let out a long sigh and rubbed at his head. Damn-it, it was too early for that couple-psychology thing.

"Yeah, I see what you mean. One of you getting jealous is the last thing we all need just now."

"I think that after a while, it will not be necessary to plan your private time that way, but for the moment, it would be better."

Duo began to laugh softly. "You're so logical in this... Hey, how come each of you is trying to hook me up with the other one?" he asked with a grin. "First Heero telling me to go on a date with you, and now you..."

"Only returning the favor," smirked Wufei. "He is being very considerate about this, the least I can do is being considerate too. Furthermore, I..."

He stared at the table for a while, his nails mechanically scratching at a pattern.

"I never thought that he could be... frail. So insecure. He's always so strong, never afraid of anything..."

Duo nodded, his face unusually serious. "Heero has a heart of glass," he said in a low, hushed voice. "It is why he hides it so well. He would not survive a blow there."

Wufei frowned, ill at ease with such a subject.

"Damn-it, I think I preferred it when I still believed that he was a tough and cold bastard of a soldier."

"Too late," chuckled Duo. "He's always trying so hard, you know. I think this is the only thing that he really fears, being hurt by someone he opened up to. Not being injured or even dying. Just being hurt in his heart. But he does it anyway. He doesn't trust easily, but once he does, it's entirely, and forever. And I... Damn. I love him so much for that... Anyway," he cut himself, rather abruptly, as if he couldn't bear any longer to talk about that subject, especially since his voice had a tendency to soften in a very unmanly way without his consent. "Anyway, as I was saying, too late, because now you've seen it, and you're gonna keep on seeing it." He was frowning at the Chinese boy, trying to impress into him how this subject was important and not to be laughed off.

Wufei chuckled softly. "I don't think I really mind that. It's just... It was so unexpected. Two weeks ago he was my greatest rival, and now we're sharing things about ourselves that we never talked about with anything else..." He shook his head, as if he was refusing to believe it.

Sighing wistfully, Duo leaned against him and nestled his chin on Wufei's shoulder.

"You getting soft on me, Wu-bear?"

The black-haired pilot mock-growled and shook his shoulder to push him away.

"Not on you, no," the Chinese teen shot back, smirking.

"So, tell me, honey, am I going to have to get jealous of Heero over you now?" asked the braided boy, his eyes gleaming maliciously, as he jumped to his feet.

Wufei snorted disrespectfully. "Hardly. I'm beginning to understand him more, I never said I was falling for him."

"Too bad..." sighed the braided teenager, dancing around the room with excitement. "Think about all the kinky threesomes we could have!! All the possible combinations!!"

Wufei shot him a contemptuous glare. "You're a hormones-crazed pervert."

"Duh! I'm a teenager. Of course I'm hormones-crazed!"

"Well, go get your hormones-crazy ass over to Yuy then. I have things to do, and at least that way he will be of use to me."

The blue-eyed boy got a speculative look in his eyes, and Wufei caught him glancing in the direction of the hangar. The Chinese teen groaned inwardly. Way to go, Wufei. The poor Japanese pilot would have no idea what hit him.

"Thanks, Wu-love," chirped Duo, leaning forward for a kiss. "It's a great idea, and I'll make sure we use it to its fullest! Don't expect us back before late afternoon, and I have a cell phone just in case a mobile suit falls on your head or Treize stops for tea or something like that, don't worry, later, bye-bye!!" And grabbing his wallet in passing, the braided menace ran outside.

Wufei sighed. He wasn't sure if Duo had been thanking him for the idea of going outside, or for the idea of boinking the boy from L1 silly. He had a feeling it was not the former.

+

Wufei had his meeting and then ate in town, knowing that he would not see the two boys at their house today anyway. But then, he didn't know what to do, so he came back. The house was empty, like he had known it would be. He took it upon himself to straighten the living room up a little. It was messy, especially since they had moved the mattresses down there. Some personal effects had followed, and since there were no drawers to put them in, they were mostly resting on chairs or on the table, or littered around on the floor when they were Duo's things.

Once finished, he sat down on the bed-nest-thing, and then fell back on it, sighing. It smelled of the three of them. It was strange, Wufei nearly never used his sense of smell, but he could pick apart Duo's and Heero's easily. They smelled nothing alike. He wondered how he smelled to them, then, he shook himself and thought that he was being lazy and it was bad, he should be doing something productive instead of daydreaming in bed.

It was a beautiful day outside. He was sure that around the house he could find something to do. He walked out on the grass, admiring the peaceful woods all around. He had been getting lazy lately with his training anyway...

The Chinese boy stretched his legs and arms, then his back, and after a little warm-up exercise to get his muscles to respond fast and well, let himself flow into the first kata he had ever learned.

+

A couple of hours later, Wufei was nudged out of his trance-like state by a change in the sounds around him. Being careful to keep his balance and the rhythm of the kata he was performing, he extended his senses out of his body, concentrating on being conscious of what they taught him, and not on letting all the information flow around him.

It was late afternoon and the sky was tinting orange and pink on one side. Birds were twittering in the trees...

Ah. That was the difference. They had stopped on one side.

When one of the katas made him turn around, he glanced under his lashes at the side of the forest that was silent.

They weren't hiding, really, just being very discreet and very careful of not alerting him of their arrival... damn them, they knew all the things that made him pay attention to his surroundings.

Duo was leaning against Heero's side, one elbow on his shoulder and an arm across his belly. Heero was playing with the end of his braid, contemplatively turning it around between his fingers. They were observing him with an unnerving attention.

He saw Duo grin suddenly, having apparently understood that they had been spotted. Casually, he asked Heero, as if Wufei couldn't hear:

"Magnificent specimen of wildlife, isn't it? We should have these woods classed as a national park. The creatures nesting there are quite fetching..."

"Hmm... And in good health too. Look at the gloss of the pelt, and the healthy tone of the skin..." continued Heero, totally deadpan.

Wufei nearly missed a step, and had to fight to keep a straight face and continue acting as if they weren't there. He kicked slowly in the air, careful to keep his balance while he was moving his foot in the air. The movement made him turn around so that his back was to them, more or less, and he knew from experience that the position made the muscles of the back stand out quite noticeably. He felt slightly embarrassed and had to force himself to keep a sufficient detachment so as not to accelerate the movement.

"And FIT. Wow."

"You're not supposed to be drooling over wildlife, you know."

Damn. He knew it. Duo was checking him out. He could feel it, a tingle between his shoulder blades.

"Tell me you're not, and I'll believe you. Not."

"But I hide it better."

The childish "so there" was so audible in the curt answer that Wufei nearly chuckled out loud. The ...date, or whatever it was that they had been doing, had done good for Heero, or so it seemed. He sounded more relaxed now than he had sounded in weeks.

'Since when do I take notice of Yuy's state of relaxation between missions?... And while I'm at it, since when is YUY checking me out?!! Unless he's playing along with Duo...'

He couldn't help but shake his head to dispel the idea, and it made him tumble oh so slightly in the next step. Of course, offsetting his balance for the next movement. The third was too fast to compensate and he stopped there, preferring to make it look like he was stopping by choice, and not because he was falling flat on his face.

He straightened and looked at them, lifting a challenging eyebrow. Maxwell grinned back at him, and Yuy smirked, letting his eyes flicker down then up to his face again.

Wufei blinked and began to blush. Yuy really had been checking him out. And was still doing so. In front of him even, and without any shame.

"Hello there, handsome stranger," chirped Duo, approaching him, a very visible bounce in his step. Heero followed, still looking at Wufei with an amused little smirk on his face.

"Awww!!!" whined suddenly Duo, making a face. "Heeeeroooo..."

"What?" asked the pilot patiently, knowing that Duo was back into one of his childish acts and that it was best to just play along for now.

"I wanna glomp Feifei and cuddle him and smooch him and pet him..."

"And?"

"I caaaaaaaan't...." sniffled Duo, over-dramatically.

"Why?" sighed Heero.

"He's all sweatyyyy... It is very sexy to look at, all those muscles glistening, but I don't wanna hug him like that, eww..."

Heero glanced at Wufei. Then at Duo. Then at the yard between them and the house.

"Mission accepted," he announced with an overdone seriousness, before stalking to the house.

The two longhaired boys stared at his back, wondering what he was thinking about, than looked at each other and shrugged at the same time.

"So, I'm an exotic animal, then?" asked Wufei, detachedly examining his nails.

"Oh yeah, and may I add that I love your mating rituals?" answered Duo with much enthusiasm, leering at him. The Chinese boy gave him a dirty glare.

"Let's see if I have claws, would you?" Wufei answered back, extending a hand to catch him.

"Naw! Don't touch me, you're all sweaty!!" the braided boy cried out, dancing out of reach.

They began to run around the yard, Wufei trying lazily to catch Duo and Duo trying not to laugh so much that he couldn't run.

And then, Heero came back.

Armed.

+

A few minutes later, Wufei resurfaced from under the dirty surface of the small pond, spitting vile-tasting water. Duo was wiping his damp bangs from his face, glaring daggers at Heero who, standing on the bank a few feet away, was still laughing at them, the hose in hand.

"May I know what the hell possessed you to attack me with the damn water hose?" asked Wufei in a haughty voice.

Unimpressed, Heero smirked down at him and pushed his thumb on the hose's mouth menacingly. Duo cringed.

"You asked me to rid Wufei of his sweat, didn't you?"

"By pushing him into a muddy, dirty pond after having traumatized him with freezing water from a damn high-pressure hose? And me? Were you supposed to chase me into the pond too?"

"Collateral damage."

"Argh!!!!" shouted the braided teen, grabbing a handful of mud and flinging it at Yuy. He dodged with ease, still looking superior, and began to drag the hose back to its support. Duo stared at his back, looking disgusted.

"Hey, Fei?"

"Hmm?"

"Why the hell isn't HE wet?"

Wufei shrugged and climbed out of the pond, then turned around and silently offered his help.

Duo grabbed Wufei's hand and began to climb the steep bank, but suddenly, he lost his footing and half-stumbled, half jumped aside, nearly dragging the Chinese boy back into the muddy waters head first.

"Eww! I walked on a toad!!!"

"Gross," commented Heero, who was observing them from a safe distance. "Did you squash it?"

Duo made a disgusted face and jumped directly on the grass to avoid a repeat, using Wufei as a support.

"No, it just slid away from under my foot... Urgh."

Heero mock-sighed wistfully. "Too bad. Would have been one less to croak all night..."

"You prefer to have a toadless, lonely night rather than a toadgore-free boyfriend?" glared Duo.

"Frankly? You make almost as much noise as one, anyway."

"Fine. You can go hump one tonight. Me and Wu will sleep just fine without you."

"I wish you pleasure," the Japanese answered dryly while turning around to walk to the kitchen's door. "You both stink like a muddy toad pond anyway."

"YUY!!!"

Duo shook a menacing fist in the direction of the brown-haired boy, but he didn't even look back and disappeared calmly into the kitchen. The clean kitchen that Duo had needed three hours to scour this morning. Damn, now they couldn't follow.

"We'll get him back later," Wufei consoled him, putting his hand on his shoulder. "... may I suggest a shower though?" he added, taking a whiff of Duo's clothes and wrinkling his nose.

Duo glared at him.

"Tu quoque, fili!!"*

"It hurts to admit it, but, he's right. We stink. And that's only going to get worse as we dry."

Duo made a face.

"Ok, ok..."

They traveled reluctantly to the bathroom, trying to stay clear of the carpets.

"We need to get back at Heero, yanno," commented Duo, pushing the bathroom door open.

Wufei walked in after him, to see that the braided boy was already ridding himself of his shirt and flinging it into the laundry basket.

"No, dear, I need to get back at Heero," said Wufei while turning around to get rid of his own shirt and socks. "You deserved what you got for pushing him to go after me. See it as poetic justice."

"Aww, you're so mean!"

"...never said I wouldn't accept your help for my own revenge, you know..." mused the Chinese boy.

[cont]