Author: FancyFigures
see part 1 for warnings, notes, disclaimer

True Colours + Part 7

Heero was moments behind him as Duo opened the door to his bedroom. Duo had barely enough time for a swallowed laugh, then Heero pushed him into the room and up against the wall. Their mouths were greedy - they were kissing, tongues probing around and inside, teeth nipping at swollen lips. Heero's hand was up under Duo's shirt, stretching it forcibly over his shoulders, trying to get at his skin; Duo's hands were behind Heero's waist, tugging his shirt out of his waistband, scraping the tight muscle in his eagerness.

"I want you, Duo!" groaned Heero.

"I've wanted you for a long time," gasped Duo, not to be outdone. "Just been waitin' to see -"

"To see -?" There was an ominous tearing noise as Heero was a little too aggressive with Duo's clothes.

"To see how you were with it - with me!" grinned Duo. He twisted his body away from the wall, and back towards the bed, dragging Heero with him, their mouths reaching for each other all the way, their hands touching and grasping and sliding away in frustration.

He started snapping the buttons of Heero's shirt, then cursed as one bounced off and spun into some forgotten corner of the room. The shirt was pushed rudely off the tense shoulders - Heero pulled his own tie off; Duo's hands were now busy at his pants, unzipping them swiftly.

Over recent nights they had spent long, sensual times undressing each other slowly; caressing each part of the body as it was uncovered; savouring the gradual exposure.

Tonight it was as if they'd melt away if they didn't get naked in the next forty five seconds!

Duo was shrugging out of his jeans and boxers, kicking them to the side, ripping off the remains of his torn shirt. Heero grabbed for him, and he laughed, pushing back at him. The dark-haired man fell back on to the bed, sitting down suddenly, with his pants round his ankles, and Duo's hand still trapped inside his boxers.

Duo's laugh was short and excited, and it echoed Heero's feelings perfectly.

He gazed up at Duo, and then Duo's lips were back on his, and the gloriously nude body was lying against him, pressing nipple to chest, warm groin to shivering thigh. The boxers went the way of all the other clothes, kicked and thrown to one side; now Heero was naked as well, and his cock was hot and thick and free, and tugging impatiently at its bed of dark curls. It reared out, seeking contact, and brushed against Duo's equally eager shaft - they groaned in unison.

"Fuck, that's good!" gasped Duo. "Rub me, Heero - hold me -"

Heero reached down a fumbling hand, and folded it around the two aching cocks, together - he felt Duo's hand come to meet his, sliding the warm, slim fingers on top of his own. They began to pump in tandem, kissing clumsily, their panting bodies clutched together on the crumpling bedclothes beneath them.

Heero felt the heat coiling up inside him - he'd never had so little control of himself in all his life as when he was with Duo! His groin ached - the skin of his cock was stretched and slippery. He felt himself swelling against Duo's flesh, and desperate for the increasing pressure of their fingers on each other, encouraging, caressing, cajoling, begging for completion. He wasn't sure any more where his cock ended, and Duo's began - their stomachs stuck together with sweat; their thighs tangled in a muscular mess half on and half off the bed; their free arms grabbed at whatever skin they could find, both to caress and to anchor themselves against the enthusiastic rocking of their hips.

"Wait -" gasped Duo. "Wait!" he cried, when Heero couldn't hear him for the rushing in his ears. "I'm gonna come too soon - want more, remember -?"

Heero felt his hand gripped - his fingers were prised off their precious target. He could feel the pulse of blood in his cock - feel the answering hammering in his chest. His hand felt numb; the palm was slick with pre-cum. Duo wriggled awkwardly out of his grasp, with the soft sucking sound of their flesh coming apart. Heero thought he might have groaned; he hoped he showed more dignity than that, but he doubted it.

"Duo - no - come back - "

"Hush, Heero," came the throaty chuckle. The bed rocked and creaked, and he saw that Duo had rolled so that he was facing away from him, now hitching himself up on to his hands and knees. He peered back over one shoulder at Heero - his braid hung heavily over his neck and down over the other shoulder.

"Take me, Heero," he hissed. "Put those hot, wet hands on my ass, and take me, now!"

+

Heero knelt up behind Duo's ass - a strong, fine ass, which he'd caressed many times. He loved the feel of the muscle here - the taut skin; the soft hairs. His fingers ran firmly over the shape of the buttocks, and he saw the muscles clench. Duo's back arched under his touch, and his head stretched back; his thighs instinctively opened a little wider. There was a dark, intimate valley between the cheeks of his ass - there was pinker skin, and sparser hairs, and the promise of something impossibly, earth-shatteringly sexual. He heard Duo moan; heard the soft murmurs of encouragement and impatience.

Then Heero paused, and Duo felt his hesitation.

"There's stuff in the drawer, Heero," he gasped. "Condoms - you know...is that what you want -?"

"I want you," groaned Heero. "Do you believe me, Duo?"

Duo looked back over his shoulder again, gazing down at what he could see of Heero's swollen cock - at the glistening purple tip; at the softly throbbing pulse.

"Guess I do," he said, breathlessly, with a rather twisted grin. He ached all over - every muscle, every nerve. He'd never felt so desperate or so aroused in his life! "So what's the problem?"

Heero struggled with words - he'd never seen anything so gorgeous as Duo's ass spread out before him; offered to him. His hands reached out for Duo, with plaintive, stroking movements.

Duo's breath hitched suddenly, as he realised. "You've never done it before," came his quiet statement. "With a guy."

He caught Heero's wary look - it made him seem vulnerable. Duo had never seen him quite like that before. He guessed that few people ever did.

"Fooled around," gasped Heero. He was swamped with a miserable, debilitating shock. His body felt suddenly, humiliatingly paralysed. "Never actually -"

"'S OK, Heero," said Duo, so gently that he barely recognised his usually bold voice. He shifted a little on the bed, slipping his flesh away from Heero's petrified touch. "It doesn't matter to me -"

"I want you," repeated Heero, as if he were in a daze. He felt Duo leaving him - pulling away. This wasn't going to happen, after all - the promise; the anticipation; the need -!

But Duo's voice was still murmuring - his face was still smiling. "Hey, man," he said, his voice more sympathetic than Heero had ever heard it before. "That doesn't mean I'm letting you off! Just means we'll go a little slower, OK? You happy with top? Or would you rather go bottom?" He caught Heero's look of startled shock, though he'd tried to hide it. "Another day for that, I think," he murmured. "Bottom's always great for me..."

He shifted again, this time turning fully to face Heero, and sitting back on his heels so that they were of equal height. His hands cupped Heero's face; his lips ghosted gently against Heero's frozen ones, and passed his own harsh, panting breath into Heero's mouth.

"Let me lead," he whispered. "I want you inside me. I want to show you how good it can be. Let me touch you, Heero..."

+

Heero ached all over as well, with need and anticipation, and this strange, overwhelmingly sensual fear. Duo's hands stroked him slowly, across his shoulders, along his sides. It was stimulating - it was comforting! He murmured nonsense into Heero's ear, he breathed warmth into Heero's body; he kissed him, often and passionately. He moved like a river flowed - like smoke enfolded. Heero couldn't dismiss the fanciful, unbidden pictures in his mind - he was lost to it all! Duo was in front of him, sliding hands across his chest; and then he was behind him, rubbing his chin on his shoulder blades, and tracing down the shape of Heero's backbone with his rough tongue. How did he move like that? marvelled Heero. How had he, Heero, lost the ability to judge time and distance in this way? He felt the increasing heat along his veins, and the promise of even greater pleasure shivering in his groin. His skin felt gently peeled away from his bones - his nerves were exposed, and panting for attention. When would it happen? What would he do? He cursed every second that Duo kept him waiting - and yet he had no choice but to leave Duo entirely in charge. He had never felt so adrift before - so disorientated from his own body and his actions.

He saw Duo reaching beside the bed, and tugging away at a small unit there; he pulled something out of the top drawer. All the time, he kissed Heero, and stroked him, and distracted him deliciously. Now Heero felt a confident hand back on his cock, and he shuddered with the delight of the strong, supple fingers caressing him. Duo made a swift movement, and then he was rolling a condom on to Heero, and smoothing soft, cool lube along its length.

"You - what about -?"

Duo sighed, softly. "Heero, I can see to myself," he murmured. Heero saw him toss a small tube away from him, down beside the bed. It fell with a gentle clatter on to the bare boards. His other hand had been busy at his hips - maybe between his legs. Heero couldn't see clearly - Duo's tongue was hot and slick in his mouth now, and he saw and felt nothing but a mess of desire and lust. He knew now - of course he did! - that nothing would stop him taking Duo tonight; not his nerves; not his inexperience. Nothing!

"Now!" he rasped.

"I ain't arguing..." hissed Duo, and the last thing Heero saw was his grin as he rolled back to his position on all fours, wriggling up against Heero's groin. This time, Heero pressed firmly up against him; this time Heero put strong hands to his buttocks, and split them apart, running his finger wonderingly against the newly lubricated hole.

"Jesus, Heero, I'm beyond want here - do it already -!" Duo spoke with a gargled mixture of anger and amusement and his own, urgent need. Heero was smiling, now - he was confident, he was eager beyond belief. He started to guide his cock into the tight, muscled entrance, nudging the swollen crown in, gripping Duo's hips to give him purchase. Amazed; fascinated; almost unbearably excited, he watched the pucker open almost reluctantly, and then swallow him gratefully as he pushed on in.

Duo yelped; he was beyond words for the moment. He panted, consciously relaxing his muscles - he made a deep, guttural noise with the delight of Heero slowly, steadily filling him. His legs and arms tensed up, holding him rigid; and then his hips relaxed back into the hollow made by Heero's body, and he felt the other man's warm, tight balls slap gently against the back of his thighs.

"OK?" he gasped.

"OK," came the low voice in reply. "Incredible...!"

"Uh-huh," grimaced Duo. "Preaching to the converted, Heero! Just get going, man - just start moving, or I'm gonna come all over the sheets before you've even pumped a coupla times -!"

So Heero moved; he slid himself gently out a little way, and then plunged back in. He gasped with the sharp, squeezing hold that Duo had on him, and praised the cool lube that allowed him to thrust in and out of the fantastic channel. Which he did - again and again! His hips began to slap against Duo's ass, and his upper body sagged over Duo's back with the effort. Their skin was slick with sweat again, and he slid easily back and forth against the other man's body. He could feel Duo grumbling, not knowing whether it was from frustration or anger or eagerness - the vibration of Duo's voice ran along his chest, and across his own, parched throat. He tried to reach under the braided man's body to caress his cock - to give him some attention - but Duo batted the hand away.

"Concentrate on what you're doing -" he groaned. "Can't - be - bothering with - mine as well..." So Heero continued to grip him, and to pump into him, feeling his senses catch fire, and slowly and inexorably losing any vestige of control that he'd ever had. Underneath him, Duo dropped his weight on to one elbow, so that he could reach a hand to his neglected, painful cock, and bring his own satisfaction.

"Tell me, Heero -!" came the excited gasp from beneath his bowed head, his body rocking against Heero's increasingly deep thrusts. "Tell me how it feels -!"

Heero had never spoken during sex - except for obvious requests to make it more comfortable, or perhaps to whisper an endearment. He wondered if he should have expected this also would be different with Duo - Duo talked a lot, of course, when he wasn't drawing. He talked while they necked, and he talked while they jerked each other off, and he talked...

Well, he obviously talked through sex as well!

"It's - incredible - I can't say -" Heero could feel his tongue swelling; his lips drying. Was it so fantastic because it was his first experience with a male body? Or because it was Duo? His brain wasn't operating with any degree of objectivity - so he cast any sensible thought aside, and gladly. He was approaching climax, he knew, and he was only holding off for this long because he just truly wanted this experience to last for the whole goddamn year...!

"You feel fantastic -" hissed Duo. "Thick - filling me - your skin is part of me... I want you to go as hard as you want, as deep as you want - shit...!" He gasped again, and Heero felt the body underneath him shaking uncontrollably. He held on more tightly - he felt the muscles of Duo's ass clenching almost painfully around him.

"Gonna - lose it, Heero - Jeez, I never felt so good!" Duo suddenly arched his back again, and slammed back against Heero. His free hand clutched desperately at the bedclothes, trying to support himself upright, and as Heero tightened an arm around his waist to hold him, he felt him shudder and jerk as he came. Heero felt the shock waves throughout his own body, as if they were coming from within his limbs and flesh - as if it were his own cock throbbing and bursting inside his hand. He imagined the hot, creamy liquid spilling out on the sheets, and on to Duo's legs - he cried out himself, and knew he couldn't hold out any longer.

"Incredible -" was the only word he could stutter out from his tortured lips.

"That'll do for me," came Duo's soft, hoarse reply, his hips sat firmly back almost on Heero's lap, Heero's cock buried primally deep inside him. "Come for me now, Heero - I must have you come for me...!"

And so - surrendering to it with relief and ecstasy - Heero did.

+

Heero knew for certain now that he was mad - mad for Duo Maxwell. He lay on his back on Duo's narrow bed, naked, his limbs draped around the other man's, and his body still shaking from climax, and overall sensory overload.

It was a feeling that was both shocking and very, very satisfying.

Pervading the room was the smell of paint - he realised he'd always smelled it, but never acknowledged it. It wasn't unpleasant; it was just there in the air. It wasn't only from the gallery below - it was stronger and more specific up in the apartment. Duo hadn't painted for months, and yet the tracks were still with him. Heero shifted the crumpled sheet a little impatiently under his legs; his fingers brushed a smudge of charcoal on the mattress cover.

"Sorry I hit you, man..." came Duo's smothered voice. He was pressed in close to Heero, his face against his chest, his hands stroking lightly at Heero's hips and thighs. Teasing a body that was already deliciously exhausted, but that still vibrated with the memories of an astonishing excitement.

Hit him? Heero could barely remember his own name, let alone what had happened an hour ago! He smiled slightly. "It's OK. It was a pathetic attempt, eh? I've had better."

He felt Duo's face twisting with his own smile. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," he gently mocked. "The business world has its own share of fear and frustration, you know..."

"And clumsy boxers," muttered Duo. "Never punched a guy before like I meant it."

"Me neither," admitted Heero. He'd been threatened, that was true; but he'd never had to strike back. There'd always been someone there to call a halt.

There was a moment of wriggling while Duo got more comfortable, and Heero arched gently against his naked, sweat-streaked chest.

"You fooled around with many guys before me, Heero?" Duo's voice was a little softer. It sounded younger.

Heero took an extra breath before replying, which wasn't just to help him get more comfortable himself. "Maybe. Some. I never wanted to go this far before. That's what matters, surely?"

"Sure, that's cool. Guess you're bi, then," replied Duo. His body shifted further down in the bed; Heero could feel his lips move against his belly, damp and tactile with a smile - the wide, lazy smile that Duo often wore.

"Guess you've shown me that," Heero sighed. "I wouldn't think of it like that. I wouldn't give it a name."

Duo was making a soft, humming sound; a sound of pleasure and mischief. "Whichever you choose, Heero Yuy, you're a loss to the other, y'know? This body is magnificent..." His mouth nibbled at Heero's groin - his tongue lapped gently at the thin flesh. Heero shivered. He didn't see how he could be aroused again! His mind protested - but his body gleefully responded.

"You like both, don't you, Duo?"

Duo snorted quietly, and the breath tickled up against Heero's stomach. "You jealous, Heero? Can't deny it, I do - I like it all. So we're much the same, aren't we?"

All Heero could see now was the top of Duo's head, the hair mussed, the haphazard parting bobbing under his hands as he guided him down over his aching groin. He laughed softly at Duo's words.

"I can't think of two people less alike, Duo! Yet you were the one who said there was something that worked between us..."

"Uh-huh," mumbled Duo. "Got no complaints in the mechanics department..." He nudged Heero's legs apart; wriggling a body between them that was smooth and soft with sleepiness and satiation - almost.

"But our desires aren't the same, are they?" asked Heero, piqued despite his growing desire. "I'd like to think I'd sleep with either gender because it's the person that matters to me..."

"... and I'd sleep with either gender because there's no person that matters to me," said Duo. The bitter tone was back in his voice. "Let's leave this, Heero, OK? It's enough that we're here, and that this is damned good."

"Damned good..." echoed Heero. He gasped as Duo's head slipped under the only corner of the sheet still draped over them. It rippled up and down as Duo licked at him - as he laughed softly, and nipped and sucked his mark on to the inside of Heero's lean, muscled thigh. Heero winced, and the erotic shiver ran all the way through to the back of his neck, and beyond. He'd never experienced such an aggressive, passionate time! Duo's body didn't seem to calm, even as they relaxed after climax. He still seemed to be restless, to be seeking - now there was a kiss, and then a touch, and a bite, and a moan...Heero had never known sex could be anything more than a careful, mutual stimulation, to produce satisfaction and relief. Exciting - but in a controllable way.

Duo Maxwell wasn't controllable in any way at all!

Heero was shocked at how much this pleased and excited him - how much he welcomed this. What the hell was happening to him?

"What about your girl?" mumbled Duo, suddenly. "Don't wanna upset y'all..."

Heero dragged his attention back. He'd never known anyone talk like this - before, during, and after sex - the way that Duo was doing. His voice was an accompaniment - it was obviously part of the package. It was teasing at Heero - demanding things of him, before he could decide what he was prepared to give voluntarily.

Should he accuse Duo of jealousy too? he wondered, but silently. He wasn't sure he knew Duo well enough to know how far he could tease; not in this situation, anyway. "I haven't seen her for weeks. Well - not like that, anyway. I've seen her at social events, of course - at exhibitions; at a couple of product launches. But that's all; and I don't think either of us would ever have called her my girl. Remy is her own mistress."

"'S over then, y'mean?"

"Maybe," said Heero, slowly. "And if not then, it is now."

"Huh?"

"I wouldn't sleep with anyone else at the same time as you," blurted Heero, frankly. He thought he blushed; would Duo think him foolish?

But Duo was suddenly and momentarily becalmed, his lips just a breath against Heero's skin. His words were just as slowly delivered. "You're an honest guy, Heero Yuy. Guess I feel the same - though no-one believes it of me. Duo Maxwell doesn't equate to faithful; to the finer emotions."

His head suddenly appeared above the sheets, his face flushed, and his eyes stripped of his cynicism and aggression. He looked very young, and very wanton, with hair astray all over his neck, and lips swollen red with their fierce kissing. Heero felt a sharp ache for him that he found a little frightening.

The longhaired man's voice broke harshly through Heero's thoughts. "I don't want this to be good for the wrong reasons, Heero, y'know? I don't want it to be good because we fight - because we're always in conflict - and only because of that. That we use that aggression to get off - and then we fuck and make up."

Heero felt a need to be honest about everything; to make some sense of all this. He couldn't tell Duo how they would be tomorrow, because he didn't know that answer yesterday, did he? He felt in a kind of limbo, and he didn't know what it was that Duo wanted him to say. In the same breath, he was afraid to say what he wanted to, in case it broke the spell.

This uncertainty was alien to him, and he fought against it - it hurt, in some way that he couldn't describe clearly. This wasn't his world; this wasn't his domain! He suspected that if he'd died and gone to heaven, this would be what he'd hope to find - but then, what would be the chances of that?

He spoke as carefully as he could. "I don't believe it's like that. I don't think it has to be. You're too harsh on yourself, Duo! We're adult, intelligent people, aren't we? We're not enemies, for God's sake..."

Duo didn't seem to acknowledge the conversation any more; instead, he sighed and rolled sleepily under the covers again. Perhaps he was embarrassed; perhaps he was scared of any more talk, now. Heero struggled with a spurt of anger - a need to clarify things. Duo was too frustrating!

Then Duo's voice spoke, muffled against the pillow, and the thick richness of its desire overwhelmed any other feelings in him. "Forget it, Heero, OK? Forget the crap I talk...Just come here and fuck me again!"

Heero's breath halted with delighted shock. Quickly, he wriggled up to his knees and reached for the slim, lithe body beside him. He rolled Duo on to his back so that he gazed down on his face again. His hands clutched Duo's knees - he spread his legs open, and pressed the thighs gently back towards his hips. His eyes flickered down to Duo's groin, and his heart froze with eager excitement.

"You're gorgeous..." came his throaty, sensual growl.

"Just lookin'?" purred Duo, wriggling his hips in gentle encouragement. He flushed with pleasure at Heero's words. But he was hot, and he was impatient - he was swelling fiercely again, and he wanted Heero to pull his legs up and apart, and get knelt between 'em, and thrust that deliciously thick and shiny cock so deep inside him that he felt it throbbing at the back of his throat -

"Come on, Heero," he groaned. "Mattress - me - you - fucking... anything take your fancy on the menu? Supplies in the drawer... Dammit, man, do it already!"

Heero smiled slowly. "Too much talkin', man..." he murmured, mockingly.

He leant steadily down towards Duo so that the heat from their bodies started to saturate the close air of the small room again. He moistened his lips, and Duo felt his own mouth ghosting towards them - begging. His cock thrust harder and higher, and started to press insistently on Heero's belly.

And Heero, yet again, did what he was told.

+

"You're sleeping with him, aren't you, hon? Your artist boy?" Quatre's drawl was vibrant with inquisitiveness - and a mix of other emotions.

Sleeping with him? Heero wondered just how many of the intimate hours spent with Duo had actually been spent in sleeping. His skin felt warmer at the mere thought.

They both sat at the bar of Heero's apartment block, awaiting dinner as they so often had before. Quatre toyed with a tall, tempestuous cocktail that scorned plastic umbrellas, and promised nothing but the kick of pure alcohol. He sat on a high stool, legs encased in tight chocolate-coloured leather, kicking his boot aimlessly at the counter. His shirt was open at the neck, and made of sheer white silk. Deceptively simple; totally seductive.

But for the moment, he knew that the focus was not on him.

He watched the expressions flicker across Heero's handsome face, and he smiled broadly.

"Yo, sweetheart! You've got it bad! That good, is he? Guess I thought he might be - he's a wild child, but a very bright one. Damned fine legs, too..."

Heero glared back at him, ready to protest that his love life was - as always - a private matter. But then, this was Quatre, wasn't it? A smile started at the edges of his mouth - it was both wary and rueful.

Quatre gave a low whistle. "Don't get me wrong - I'm glad for you!" His hand was light on Heero's arm, and his tone unusually serious. "Y'know I tease, hon - but I don't mean it. This is important to you, eh?"

Heero saw no reason to deny that honesty to his closest friend. "Yes, it is."

Quatre grinned with genuine pleasure. His eyes sparkled still with rampant curiosity and a million questions, all of which he knew would remain unanswered. Damn the man - damn the pair of 'em! He'd waited years to hear Heero Yuy admit that someone was important to him.

And it was a guy!

"So what about you and the super-skin, boy? Can we safely assume she's history?"

"Remy?" Heero ignored Quatre's habitual contempt of the model. "I've seen little of her, to tell you the truth. I assumed she'd found other - diversions. That was cowardly of me, I suppose."

Quatre snorted, and waved at the barman for a refill. "That girl lives for diversion - she ain't gonna be short of a few. You owe nothin' to her, Heero. She's been chasin' you since months back, and I for one am glad to see the back of her."

"Come on, Quatre, not that old debate again. I must admit, I don't know why she took up with me in the first place, we hardly move in the same circles -"

Quatre was looking at him a little oddly. "She's been lookin' for ya, this last month. Askin' after ya. She knows you two ain't an item any more - but she's slidin' in those snide little whimpers wherever she goes, askin' when you'll be around."

"You can tell her -"

Quatre laughed out loud, and a couple of people in the bar area turned to stare at him, attracted by the sound. "She'll be damned before she asks me anything, hon! I'm just warnin' ya, that's all. Does she know you're seeing Duo Maxwell?"

Heero looked bemused. "I don't know. We haven't actually advertised it to anyone, Quatre. Does it matter? What is this problem you have with Remy?"

Quatre shrugged, but his eyes were unusually evasive. "She's a leech, hon. A serial one! She's selfish, obsessive, greedy -"

Heero broke in, surprised at his friend's vehemence. "She's had little enough off me! She's harmless -"

"She's a viper, Heero!" Quatre's voice was sharp. "Some time I'll tell ya some home truths about that madam. I knew a coupla guys at the track that she got her claws into, and seems they're the worse for it. They're humiliated, and tryin' to make up with wives and lovers - while Ms de Haas has a few new pieces to add to her collections of diamonds and gold and pretty pictures... and nary a wrinkle on her silk frock! I've been lookin' into that girl, and what she's about - "

"What the hell are you talking about, Quatre?"

He saw Heero staring, and his expression slipped into rueful caution. He took a deep mouthful of his fresh drink, and allowed his tone to settle back to its usual equilibrium. "Guess that was rude of me, since you dated her. Ignore me, hon. I know what I'm doing."

"Which is more than I do," mused Heero. "Nowadays I can't seem to decide if I'm doing the right thing or not -"

"In what way, Heero? Working with Duo Maxwell? Sleeping with him? I can see it may be a brave new world for a sheltered child like y'self." He laughed, softly. "You need some technical advice from the master here?"

"Quatre," sighed Heero, eyebrows raised warningly. He'd barely touched his drink, and the restaurant manager was on his way over with the menus for the evening. "You're on the borders of offensive, friend..."

Quatre grinned back unabashed, knowing it would take more than that to offend Heero Yuy; but his voice grew calmer. "So why did you choose him for the job in the first place, Heero? Answer me that - truthfully."

Heero thought for a moment, but his answer was almost instinctive. "I knew he could do a great job - I knew he would inspire the gallery. He would bring out the best in it - he would demonstrate a flair and skill that it needed."

"He failed before."

"Yes, but he was younger then, and he really just wanted to paint - not to be a businessman."

"Didn't have your corporate support and experience behind him..." murmured Quatre, a little dryly.

"Yes, I suppose that's what I mean," said Heero. "I offered him the job, because this time he could make it work."

"To make the gallery successful commercially -"

"Well, yes, of course, but also -"

"But also?" Quatre prompted, persistently.

"I think that I admired so many things about him, Quatre. I still do. His talent - his creativity. His ability to bring art and colour and vision into everything he does. His disregard for convention - for a sensible, measured view of life. His flagrant provocativeness..." Heero laughed a little self-consciously. "He's so much the opposite to me."

Quatre was shaking his head. "No, hon. He's the complement to you. That's how you've gotta view it. You have your own considerable talents, and a creativity of your own - they're just not the same as for Duo Maxwell. I suspect that's why you were drawn to him in the first place."

Quatre took Heero's arm, and squeezed it affectionately - offering some support to his friend. Heero looked up at him, almost in surprise. His mind was occupied with other thoughts.

"He's had a bad time of it, Quatre. Losing his brother - losing his popularity in the art world. His work is still as good, you know. Just - different. That business of the fire, and Solo's death - it really was horrifically shocking, God knows how things like that can happen. And then the sketches - they should have stayed here, they should have been his..."

"The sketches? You mean Solo Maxwell's work?"

"Yes - they should have been Duo's, I understand. He was grief-stricken - he wasn't thinking straight after the fire. Someone took advantage of that, and his inheritance was sold out from under his feet."

"That's business..." said Quatre, softly. His eyes looked a little unfocussed, as if his mind were also occupied elsewhere.

"Sure..." agreed Heero, but he sounded unconvinced. "Do you know the guy who bought them, Quatre?"

"You think I know the world and his damn Pekinese dog -" grumbled Quatre. But then, of course, he did, didn't he? "Let me get back to you on that one, Heero, OK? I'm still tryin' to pump you for salacious details on your wrinklin' of the sheets with the young Master Picasso, aren't I -?"

Heero continued to toy with his drink, and smiled his opinion of that. But his thoughts still plagued him - he felt the strangest desire to talk. "I don't know what he wants, Quatre. I - it's an unusual feeling. I thought I knew the motivation of everyone who came to me for something."

Quatre was silent beside him now, allowing him to talk it through.

"But he's different. I don't feel that he came to me for anything at all - rather, I went to him with an offer. Did it make any difference to him, whether I entered into his life or not? Would our paths ever have crossed otherwise?" He grimaced, as if he fought with his emotions internally; as if some feelings were anathema to him. "It's - not just the sex, you know? That's good - that's very good. I just don't know him well enough. Sometimes I feel as if I don't know him at all."

Quatre was tired of watching Heero roll that drink back and forth on the bar - it was a waste of a fine rum! He took the glass gently from his hands, and pushed the stale drink away. Looked like he'd be choosing the meal tonight - Heero had also ignored the menus.

"And that bothers you, sweetheart?"

Heero focussed on Quatre as if the man were speaking total nonsense. "Of course it does!"

Quatre's blue eyes were bright, but a little grave. "First time I've ever known you be concerned for that, Yuy. You date, and smile, and maybe you bed for a while - but you don't bother to understand what's really going on inside their heads. Am I right, or am I right?"

Heero stared at him. He wanted to deny it - to say that his behaviour with Duo Maxwell was no different than his behaviour with past lovers.

His honesty prevented him.

The manager cleared his throat behind them, and Quatre waved him back. "You ready, Heero?" he smiled. "It's time to see to the appetites of the belly instead of the balls! But this thing with Maxwell - I ain't harassing you, OK? I want it to work for you. "

"I don't know if it will," said Heero. Even as he spoke, he was shocked at the stark tone of his voice; the pain inside his chest. "It's hard, Quatre. To know what to say - what to do. How to avoid ruining things..."

"I know, hon," came the low drawl in sympathetic reply. "Why d'you think I live on the fringes - why I avoid the connections? But you want him..."

"Yes."

"OK, and you're as determined as they say, Heero Yuy!" announced Quatre, swinging his leather-clad legs over the side of the stool, and standing up. "If you want him, you'll have him. I just hope he'll be good for ya, boy." He scrawled a flamboyant signature on the bar bill, and stretched the long limbs that had been cramped for too long. "So after dinner, you comin' out with me to relieve that tension you're always complainin' about?"

"No," said Heero. "No thanks."

Quatre couldn't say he was surprised. He hadn't had the pleasure of the Ice Prince's company at the clubs for a while now. Good thing he could amuse himself, wasn't it?

"You've changed, hon, y'know that? But it's good to see." He smiled to soften his complaint, and the two of them walked into a dinner that neither was particularly interested in. The restaurant manager nodded respectfully as they were seated - the staff looked a little nervous. Quatre knew it wasn't on his behalf - Heero Yuy's reputation as a demanding client preceded him! "Maybe this new Yuy image ain't common knowledge yet, though," he murmured, intending a joke.

"That's what they say about me, though, isn't it?" said Heero, tight-lipped. "That I'm ruthless - that I'm unforgiving of anything less than the best. That I'm cold. That's not me really, Quatre!"

Quatre's eyebrows raised. "I know that, hon. You just want the best."

"Duo says that I think of success all the time -"

"You've had to, Heero!" said Quatre, sharply. "It's what you do well; it's what nourishes you. It's what you've needed, to keep your life on track - and it provides for the guys that work for you, doesn't it?"

"Yes..."

Quatre sighed, and looked longingly towards the wine list. All this soul-searching was damned distractin'... "But success is a greedy mistress, Heero. Or master. You're gonna have to let other things in - share your time with other claims. I've always said you've been looking for something; for someone - "

"And I've always argued with you about that," countered Heero.

They both stared at each other, briefly.

"It doesn't always work, does it?" Heero's voice was very soft; very low. "Being determined - that's not always enough. It doesn't always get me what I want."

"You never fail, Heero. Do you?"

Heero's head shook very slightly. "That's with money, not people."

He sat there, unmoving, while Quatre nodded through the table d'hote menu for the sake of something to do.

"Not people."

[part 6] [part 8] [back to FancyFigures' fic]