Author: Merula
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing is not mine.

WARNINGS: Lemony scene. Nothing described in detail- this is an R rated fic.

Good Clean Fun

Duo was cursing under his breath, a steady stream of phrases, most of which I couldn't make out and more than likely would've have understood. Duo curses creatively, a legacy from his childhood.

I didn't mind the cursing, I felt like doing it myself. We had completed our mission successfully, reported the results to Une and all that, but it hadn't been pleasant.

Getting out had involved a muddy walk through a forest. And when I say muddy, I mean up to my knees at some points. As in, I took a step and sank. Several times.

Had we fallen? Hell yes. The footing was far from good and we'd both been injured before we even started the trek from hell.

Duo had the worst of it. He'd managed to tumble down a small hill and into some bushes. I was coated in mud, but he looked like he'd gone swimming in it. I was sure there were scrapes and bruises under the mud, but I wouldn't know until we got home and cleaned off.

His braid was the worst though- covered in mud, full of sticks and leaves, no sign of its normal color coming through.

Thus the reason for the cursing, I deduced.

Une had taken one look at us over the link and bitten her lip. Our report was plenty, she told us, go home and clean up. Please.

Thank goodness we'd taken the jeep- easier to clean than our Preventers vehicle.

I glanced over at Duo again. Even covered in mud, looking like a prickly hedgehog with all those sticks in his hair, he was still gorgeous to me. I hid the smile that wanted to dance on my lips, knowing that Duo would misconstrue it.

Two years of being his partner and roommate had taught me quite a bit about Duo and I knew that he would be quick to jump to the wrong conclusions if he saw me smiling. It's not like I could tell him the real reason. I was Duo's friend and partner- nothing more. No matter how much I might want to change that, I didn't dare. Why reach for something that might cause me to lose what I had?

We reached the house and I pulled into the driveway. Duo stopped cursing for a moment.

"I don't want to track this through the house."

"Let's go around back," I told him, having already thought it through.

Duo followed me around the side as I undid the lock on the gate. I blessed the fact that most of our neighbors would be at work and not looking over their fences at this part of the day.

I locked the gate behind us and led Duo up to the back deck. The cursing litany had not resumed; he was instead staring at his braid forlornly.

We got up on the back porch and I unlocked the house door.

"Strip," I told him as I pulled off my T-shirt and dropped it on the deck. "We can hose off our gear and bring it in later."

"We could hose off ourselves a bit first…" he suggested.

"And be wet and muddy going into the house?" I shook my head. "Most of this is dry. We'll be better off this way."

Duo looked around, assuring himself that in fact no neighbors were watching, and began pulling off his own clothes.

Boots, pants, shirts all went in a pile on the edge of the deck. I pulled my gun out of the pile of clothes, not wanting to leave it out there. I stood in my boxers; gun in hand, waiting for Duo to finish.

Some of the mud had worked it's way into my clothes, so I still had long muddy streaks on my limbs, and I knew some had ended up in my hair. It itched and I could not wait to get it off.

Duo, thanks to his tumble, still had more mud on him than I did, and his poor hair really was a mess.

"Maybe I should cut it off," he muttered.

"Don't you dare. I'll help you with it." I told him and was rewarded with a startled glance.

Duo pulled off his pants, adding them to my heap. He had his gun out too. I imagine we made quite a sight, standing in our underwear, guns in hand and covered in mud.

He smiled, finally, and gestured with the gun. "So, we gonna have a shootout over who gets the shower first?"

"I already said I was going to help." I ushered him inside, walking carefully, trying not to dislodge any of the mud onto our floors.

Again, the startled look.

We reached the bathroom and I turned on the shower, letting it run for a moment to get warm. The mud had been freezing and I didn't want to be cold if I didn't have to be.

I pulled out a comb and placed it by the shower. The water was warm and the small bathroom was beginning to fill with steam, my muscles were relaxing already.

"Come on," I said to Duo, pulling off my boxers and tossing them in the sink.

"Heero…uh…"

"What?" I opened the shower door and stepped into the small stall. "Come in, you're going to need help."

"Practical as always," he muttered, and after pulling off his underwear and tossing it in the sink, joined me in the shower.

I put him under the spray, letting the pulsing water rinse his hair out a little. We started pulling out the leaves and detangling the sticks from the mess.

When most of it was gone, I took his place under the spray, letting my fingers untangle the rubber band out of the end of his braid as I rinsed myself off. Duo picked up the soap and began to scrub at the streaks of mud on his arm.

I started untangling his braid, carefully trying not to pull.

"I can do that," Duo told me, and I noticed his cheeks were pink.

"It's easier for me," I replied. "Just get the mud off. How's your ankle?"

"Not so bad- just twisted a little. Your shoulder?"

"Just bruised."

"Ah good." I continued to untangle his hair, lifting it under the spray at times to dislodge chunks of mud.

"Thanks for helping."

"It's no problem." I assured him.

"I thought you'd tell me to cut it off."

"Why would I do that?"

"You have to admit, hair this long is a bit unpractical."

"But it's important to you. That cancels out the unpractical bit."

I reached the top of the braid, and found myself reluctant to stop touching it. Duo usually did not let anyone touch his hair- I was surprised that he had not yanked the strands out of my fingers.

But then he was cold, tired, muddy and I would bet that he ached after all those falls. He was decorated with a few bruises, just as I had suspected.

I decided to take advantage of it.

I reached past Duo, grabbed the bottle of shampoo and put good bit into my hand.

Duo was absorbed in trying to get all the mud off of his legs and didn't notice.

I put the bottle away and began applying the shampoo to his hair, gently, letting my fingers work it in deep.

Duo froze for a moment, then straightened and tilted his head back for me. He must be aching if I didn't even get a token complaint.

"Thanks Heero."

"No problem." My pleasure, I nearly said. I had wanted to touch Duo like this, to use the gentle hands of a lover- even if it was only for this time.

Too bad we didn't get sent on missions like this more often.

I finished and carefully switched places with him while he washed out the soap and shampoo and I lathered my hair up. Watching Duo under the spray, tilting his head back while the water slid down…

I yanked my thoughts back on track. I did not want him to know how arousing I found this situation. It's not like we hadn't used the showers at the gym or HQ together before… but this was different. This was our tiny shower in the privacy of our home.

I focused on scrubbing the mud off of me.

"Switch?" Duo blinked the water out of his eyes and I obliged, taking his place under the spray while he moved to reach the conditioner. I kept my back to him, tilting my head forward under the showerhead, letting the warm water soothe my aching shoulder.

A hand touched my shoulder blade hesitantly. "You have mud back here too."

"Figures," I grunted.

"I'll get it." Duo's hands moved over my back, an unconscious caress I was sure, brushing my shoulder and moving down my spine, his fingertips making small circles as he cleaned the mud off.

I held my breath as my body reacted. Even this small touch started heat stirring under my skin.

Great, how was I going to hide this? Keep my back to him? Hope he doesn't look down? I felt myself flush and hunch a little, trying to hide, knowing it wouldn't work and hoping that he didn't just punch me through the glass door of the shower.

But then he was leaning against my back, his fingers sliding around my waist and down, stopping in a place that made me gasp.

"Do you need me to help with this too?" Duo's voice was soft, a mere thread of sound, hesitant and careful- but hopeful.

"Yes- if you want to." I leaned back against him, skin sliding against skin and smiled.

Duo evidently wanted to.

"Oh," his voice changed, grew huskier, as his fingers slid that little bit more and then began to move. "I do."

I put my head on his shoulder, leaning into him, reveling in his touch, listening to him murmur to me in that tone I hadn't heard before. His fingers coaxed me to climax and then it was my turn to push him under the spray, help him rinse the conditioner out of his hair even as I teased him into the same breathlessness he had given me.

We tumbled out of the shower, dried each other off carefully, kissing and touching as we worked. I could tell that his ankle was aching despite his protests and so I insisted we move to his bed. I towel dried his hair and braided it for him carefully as he rested against my legs. He was tired, the long day finally catching up, his defenses down, relaxed and comfortable. He yawned frequently as I worked, leaning into me, letting his hands caress the parts of me he could reach.

"How long?" He asked me finally.

"A long time," I answered, knowing what he meant.

"Me too." He tilted his head back and smiled sleepily. "Stay here?"

"Try and move me."

He laughed then, pushing me down into the pillows and curling up in my arms. "As long as you're here when I wake up."

I didn't intend to be anyplace else.

end

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