Author: Dacia
Category: OC POV, yaoi, lime, sap-ness
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Did you catch that OC part? It almost seems sacrilege, I know, but it just came out this way...
Disclaimer: I do not own GW. I do own a GW lunchbox, though. Somehow it's not quite the same
Notes:
[1] I had this idea about a fic where Duo got fed up with Heero and decided to get himself a real live boyfriend. Not someone to love -- just someone to make the pain go away for a while. This isn't exactly what I had in mind, but my muse tends to tie up my consciousness and use my hands to write with. Damn muse.
[2] Ryu Asoko's name is based on the name of Ryo Asoko from Devilman, but Ryu himself is not.
[3] Forgive any mistakes I might have made with the smatterings of Japanese found throughout the text. Along those same lines, I have placed translations, when necessary, at the end of the relevant section instead of the end of the fic itself if only cuz I can't stand having to scroll down to the very bottom just to see what the hell it is a character just said.
[4] Heero might be an expert on tensile strength, but I am not. If any of what I said is downright wrong, feel free to point it out to me and just keep in mind while you're chuckling what it is I was trying to do. ^_^
Feedback: cries, weeps, *begs* for C/C (I'll love you forever, I swear, if you just let me know what you think)

Flights of Angels

It would be easy to say that I wanted him as soon as I saw him. It also wouldn't be true. It would be just as easy to say that I hadn't been attracted to guys then that he opened my eyes to my true nature, but that wouldn't be true, either. You want to know the truth? You want to know how I felt about him when I first met him? The truth is that I couldn't stand him. Just the sound of his name made me cringe. Duo Maxwell.

+

He hadn't been enrolled for more than a few days before he was the talk of the school. He charmed everybody's socks off. He was a born flirt if I ever saw one. And I don't mean that the way you think. Duo Maxwell wasn't out to get anyone into bed. If you just closed your eyes and listened to him instead of watching him, you knew he didn't really mean any of it. At times I sincerely believed he did it just to hear the sound of his own voice. I couldn't really think of any other reason why someone would talk so much. His constant chatter would lull you into a stupor if you didn't watch yourself cuz, as my old granny used to say, there was no there there.

+

Duo Maxwell came to school every day late. He flew in with a grin that soon had the teachers twisted around his little finger and flew out like a storm wind. His tie was never straight, he refused to wear his school blazer, and he had more hair than any guy I'd ever met. He was always laughing or smiling or talking. He hardly seemed real. I suppose that's why he irritated me so much. What use were his deep blue, almost violet eyes (and I had noticed. After all, I wasn't blind) if there was nothing behind them?

+

It was his eyes, in the end, that got me. When Duo Maxwell talked, you were scarcely aware that he never made eye contact. I don't think anyone else ever realized. His movements were so distracting, his every gesture meant to draw notice. I really think I began to make him look at me just to annoy him. After all, nothing else shut him up. I looked into his blue/violet eyes long enough for a flush to colour his cheeks. The funny thing was he wasn't embarrassed. If there's anything out there that would embarrass Duo Maxwell, I've yet to hear about it. No -- It was almost as if he were...afraid.

+

It was after this that I began to take more notice of him. I watched him constantly. Mind you, this was a pretty easy task in itself. I might not have liked Duo Maxwell, but there was no denying the fact that he was exceptionally good looking. I got caught up more than once in daydreams involving him covered by nothing but the flowing cascade of his hair. The longer I studied him, the better I got at seeing beyond all the hocus pocus. It didn't take long to figure out the reason there didn't seem to be anything behind his eyes was because that was what he wanted you to think. His act made everybody like him, but I will never get rid of the feeling that it hurt him to the core that they all bought it.

+

The very last place I expected to see Duo Maxwell was in the library. Not that he wasn't smart -- as much as he tried to play it down, he was as sharp as a tack. But it was so quiet in the library. It wasn't exactly a popular place to hang. So when I came across him sitting there, bent over his notebook, it was unreal enough that, before I knew it, I found myself approaching him.

"Duo Maxwell. You chew on that pen any more and you're gonna end up eating it."

He raised his head, the end of the ragged pen still between his teeth. He kept it there as he broke into a grin. "Hero!"

He had given me the name the day I'd saved Tina's kitten from being Chad's science experiment. Every time he saw me, he called me 'hero'. He seemed to find it very funny. Though it was the first time I had voluntarily sought out his company, he wasn't at all surprised when I sat down next to him.

"What's a cute guy like you doing in a place like this?"

"Duo Maxwell..."

To this day, I don't know exactly what it was I wanted from him. But at my call, he raised his eyes to mine as if he didn't have a choice. His ever present grin slipped almost at once and at last disappeared.

"Hero..."

"Wanna go get some pizza? You look like you could use some company."

"Why, hero? Living up to your name?"

His defenses weren't going to disappear just because I willed them to, but it was important, somehow, that I try. I shrugged, looking away from his gaze. His eyes were suddenly very deep. I knew, then, that I could drown in them if I didn't watch it.

"I've never been a hero."

And it was true. But I wanted to be one now. I'm almost positive I didn't say that last bit out loud, but the next thing I knew, his warm hand closed over mine. When I looked back to him, he literally took my breath away. It was then that I realized that through all the days I'd known him, for all the laughing and joking, this was the closest thing to a real smile I had ever seen on his face. And he was beautiful.

+

Pizza is always good for what ails you. The way Duo Maxwell put it away, you'd think he was trying to calm something a lot more insatiable than hunger. I really didn't mean to stare at him. He shifted uncomfortably under my gaze but didn't stop eating.

"See something you like?" He winked one deep violet eye. Duo Maxwell -- the flirt.

I wasn't about to make it easy for him.

"Yes."

I had given him the answer that he wanted, but not in the way he had wanted it. I wasn't playing the game. Worse than that, I had recognized the fact that it was a game. I wondered how long it would be before his mask fractured permanently. There was a small voice inside my head telling me he needed that mask, that it had a purpose. I suppose I listened to it, in a way, because instead of pressing my advantage, I grabbed the last slice of pizza. His pout was enough to make me grin like an idiot.

"You look good," he said. "When you smile. How come you don't smile more?"

I hadn't ever given it much thought. I like to think that I know myself, though I've never been all that introspective. Yet the answer was there on the tip of my tongue a second later.

"It's too much."

"Too much?"

"Too much of myself. Too much to just give away like that."

He looked at me then. It was one of those eternal moments that you read about when time stops. I wasn't really sure if I appreciated the feeling. Just as I was about to start squirming, life skipped back into its groove again.

"I know what you mean," he said.

This from the boy who spent more time smiling than breathing. Thing is, I believed him.

+

I didn't see Duo Maxwell again til a week later. A death in the family, if the rumours were true. It didn't take long to see I was the only one to notice the haunted look in his eyes. He grinned and laughed and joked just as before, but it was as if some essential part of him had been somehow damaged.

+

When I finally found him away from his adoring fans and approached him, it surprised me to note he was genuinely happy to see me. His smile was free and clear. Maybe he was just relieved he didn't have to pretend anymore, if only for a moment.

"Hero!"

It was the end of the school day and the halls were literally empty but for us. His locker was right next to mine. During the day, this didn't mean much. The most I got was a glimpse of his chestnut braid as he dashed off.

"Long time no see."

He threw his arm around my shoulder and pulled me close.

"I missed you, baby." He whispered this into my ear. Duo Maxwell -- the tease. But I grinned at him anyways.

"How've you been?"

It was a dangerous question. If he was going to put his walls back up to me, that would be what did it. For a second I thought I'd made a mistake. But, no.

"You know, hero, I've been better." He actually sighed. I thought people only did that in movies. "Life sucks sometimes, you know?"

I finally gave up the vain attempt at stacking my books neatly, shoving them into their metal cage and slamming the door shut before they could realize all the laws of physics they were breaking. I knew come tomorrow they'd be all over the floor, but then that was the fun of high school, wasn't it.

"And here I though sucking was supposed to be a good thing."

It was a pitiful joke, but it made him chuckle.

"You're good for me, I think. I've gotta spend more time with you."

"How 'bout now?"

We were walking down the hall, now. It's funny how different it seemed when it wasn't packed with legions of boisterous youths. When it was quiet like this, I could almost imagine school was a nice place to be. Duo Maxwell hooked his arm through mine. He was a big one for physical contact. I got the feeling that when he touched me, though, that it was always a tentative gesture. As if he were afraid I might hurt him or pull away.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. You still owe me a pizza."

His laughter echoed in the empty halls.

+

What with the war and all, we had kids coming and going all the time. Mortal conflict is hell on family life. Funny, that. So it wasn't anything special when the teacher announced yet another new student. Duo Maxwell sat directly in front of me. When the new boy walked in, he tensed up so quickly it was almost as if he'd been shot. I'd found long ago that selective listening is all you need to get through a typical high school day, so I didn't pay any attention to what Mr. Klein said about him until I noticed Duo Maxwell's reaction. What I did pick up was his name -- Heero Yuy.

He had a shock of dark hair that would have given the impression that he'd just lost a serious battle with any number of hair styling implements if he hadn't looked so damn good. His eyes were like polished sapphires -- shining and blue and very, very hard. If I had to picture the complete antithesis of Duo Maxwell, it would be the silent, brooding boy who was now walking towards me. Without a word, he took the empty seat next to mine. I'd never been one for small talk, and I certainly wasn't too thrilled by the idea of idle chit chat with the pretty tin man beside me, so I did the next best thing and ignored him. The feeling, I noticed with an inward grin, seemed to be mutual.

Duo Maxwell's shoulders were around his ears right about this point. Without even really thinking about it, I reached out and tugged his braid. If there was one thing that could get his mind off just about anything, it was his hair.

"Hey, would you mind not -- "

He pulled his braid out of reach and turned, his sentence cut off in mid-lecture when he realized it was me. He smiled. Not the free and easy grin he had come to use with me, but something overlaid by...what? Pain?

"Oh, hero. What you do to me..."

+

Heero Yuy must have been the only individual within a ten mile radius to not find Duo Maxwell irresistible. I could understand why he might be put off by his act, but there was so much more to him if you just took the time to look. It was obvious that the two knew each other from before. It was also obvious, almost painfully so, that Heero Yuy tolerated Duo Maxwell only barely. His icy glare alone would have had me running for the hills. For some reason, Duo Maxwell put up with it. He shrugged off the insults and the cold shoulders. I wasn't quite sure if the pretty tin man actually couldn't see what Duo Maxwell was doing, or if he just didn't care. I avoided being around the two of them together. It hurt too much to watch.

+

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