Contact at Pub in a Tub + Part 6 (cont)

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He rang the doorbell to Heero's condo at ten to nine. A minute later, he knocked. When that failed to elicit a response, he very thoughtfully put his finger on the button of the doorbell and held it there. The door suddenly flew open and his heart plummeted. Relena glared at him for a moment before she recognized him, and then the glare faded into uncertainty. Her hair was disheveled, her white blouse wrinkled and untucked from her pink skirt. His violet gaze studied her face and took in the flush and the smeared lipstick. He took a step back. "I've come at a bad time, obviously."

"No!" she practically screamed as she reached out and yanked him through the door. "You've come at the perfect time. He's being stubborn and won't listen to me. He won't eat and he won't drink the tea I made and he keeps snarling at me." She sounded affronted and frustrated, and Duo took a moment to look at her closer. Her lips were pressed tight together and there was a tension throughout her whole frame. She looked like the survivor of the third World War.

"Um... what's going on?" he asked hesitatingly.

She sighed. "I came by earlier this morning because Dorothy told me that he had stopped taking those infernal pills that he was taking." She ran a hand through her hair and looked at him. "It's right in the warning that your body can become hooked on some of the ingredients even after just a week of use. Heero's been using them for almost two weeks and I was afraid that if he didn't wean himself from them slowly, he'd react... well, he'd react like he is."

Duo was going to ask her what she meant, but the question remained unasked as Heero stumbled from the direction of his bedroom. He was wearing black silk pajama bottoms and he looked pale. Prussian eyes met Duo's and Heero tried to smile, but it wobbled and became a scowl instead as he lurched in the direction of the bathroom. Relena moved to help him, but Duo beat her to his side and moved his shoulder under Heero's armpit to hold him upright.

They moved to the bathroom together and Relena watched them go. Duo was talking quietly, alternately chastising Heero about not reading the warnings on the pills and gently telling him what to do. Heero did as he was instructed by Duo without ever once arguing.

By the time Duo got Heero back into bed, Relena had left unobtrusively. Neither man noticed. Duo called the office and gave Une an abbreviated version of the situation and She told him that Quatre had arrived and seemed to be working magic in the conference room.

When he hung up the phone that sat on Heero's nightstand, the brunette was asleep, curled around a large pillow. Duo smiled and brushed Heero's bangs out of his face so that he could watch his expression as he slept.

Duo leaned down and gently pressed his lips against Heero's temple. Then he straightened and looked around for something to do until Heero woke up, or until noon when Une would probably call back. He had no intention of waking Heero and he would tell her as much then, but for the moment, he had time on his hands.

He found a note from Relena on the coffee table in the main room. //Duo, take care of him. He sleeps for about ten or fifteen minutes and then wakes up with either cold chills or hot flashes. No vomiting, but he is excessively weak (as I'm sure you noticed) and his body keeps sending false signals that he `has to go'. Good luck and take care. Signed, Relena. P.S. Sorry I didn't call you.//

Violet eyes rolled and he threw the note away. Heero seemed peaceably asleep and he'd leave him that way. He was about ready to go into the kitchen area to find something to eat when he heard a grunt from the bedroom. He entered the room to find Heero weaving at the end of the bed in an obvious attempt to get to the bathroom. He slipped his arm around Heero's waist and smiled at him. "Bathroom?" The other man grunted and Duo took it as an agreement and led him to the toilet. A few minutes later, they trekked back the way they had come. Heero settled onto the bed and snagged Duo's sleeve when he would have moved away.

"Stay," Heero commanded, his voice dry. He coughed and prepared to try it again, but Duo settled next to him, eliminating the need.

"I'll stay." Duo smiled and leaned closer. He put one hand on Heero's chest and pushed him back onto the bed, moving so that Heero could put his legs on the bed. Whey they were both laying down, he molded his body to Heero's, one leg lying over one of Heero's, his arm around Heero's waist. "Sweet dreams, babe."

He felt Heero place a kiss on the top of his head and smiled as he snuggled closer and closed his eyes. It never failed; just when he thought that he had everything under control, or that he could at least handle the events that were coming, something happened and he realized how silly he was to presume that an event would occur just because he was prepared for it.

He chuckled quietly as he slipped into a dreamless slumber, his head resting on Heero's chest, his eardrum humming with his lover's heartbeat.

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He woke to a warm tongue laving at his throat, warm fingers entangled in his hair to keep his head tilted back. Duo smiled at the sensation of being licked and kissed, and decided that he quite liked to be woken up that way.

"Mmm, Heero. What time is it?" he asked as he stretched, increasing the pressure that his lover's lips caused on his throat. Heero's mouth opened over his skin and he sucked on the area. Duo would have a mark later, but it was worth it for the sensation of waking up to Heero in such a way.

"Time for lunch," Heero replied, pulling his lips away from Duo's neck long enough to talk before resuming his ministrations. Duo smiled as he realized that he seemed to be on the menu. That's when he realized that his hair was unbound. He frowned and twisted his head, without dislodging Heero's mouth, to see his hair spread out on the bed. It was the first time that his hair wasn't in its braid around Heero.

He smiled and brought his hands up to cup Heero's head, pulling his face up to his own. He kissed him, a short kiss on the lips. He pulled back and smiled, resting back against the pillows. "Like my hair?"

"It's fascinating. The first day I met you, you had your braid hidden in your jacket, but yesterday you left it out. When I woke up, I found it wrapped around my arm." A small smile played about his lips, but his eyes were serious as he changed the subject. "Why did you come?"

"Une told me to find you," Duo answered simply. Heero's eyes grew shuttered and Duo realized his mistake. Before the other man could draw away, he clasped his shoulders. "I wanted to. I was worried when you didn't show up, and I would have come even if she'd told me not to. I -wanted- to find you."

"You did?" There was a hint of vulnerability in his voice and an uncertainty in his eyes.

"Hai," Duo answered, grinning cheekily. Heero chuckled softly and kissed him gently, his tongue running along Duo's lips. He withdrew before Duo had a chance to respond.

"Suki da," Heero said quietly, watching Duo's expression carefully. Violet eyes widened as the grin spread. It wasn't a confession of true love, but it was close. He could have chosen to say that he wanted him instead of liking him, Duo knew. It was something more than what he had expected.

"Suki da, koibito," Duo returned. He shifted his legs, hooking one over Heero's to pull his lower body closer. "Now, how about that lunch?" He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

They kissed, their arms moving to wrap around each other, drawing the other closer. Their mouths worked together, opening to allow the penetration of tongues. Their groins pressed together and they rubbed, the friction causing them to moan into each other's mouths. Duo slipped his thigh between both of Heero's and rubbed against the silk-clad erection.

Heero froze suddenly. "Duo?"

"Hm?" Duo's brain was still lust-fogged, or he would have heard the strained note in his lover's voice.

"I have to go to the bathroom," he whispered hoarsely.

Duo frowned, his lips turning down against the skin of Heero's neck where he had been kissing. "You're kidding me, right?"

"No. I need to go and I need to go -now-" He was forceful. Duo cursed and pushed Heero back, almost spilling him on the floor. If he hadn't caught him in time, he would have fallen on the carpet. Duo got to his feet and heaved Heero after him. He helped Heero chuck his clothing and sit down. Just in time.

Duo leaned against the wall of the bathroom and rested his head against the tiles, eyes closed. He could feel tears prickling at the corners of his eyes, but he hadn't cried in ten years and he wasn't about to start then. He waited until Heero said he was done and then helped clean him up. He was helping Heero back into his clothes, kneeling in front of him, when he could trust himself to speak again.

"I don't fucking understand it. I just don't get it! What is there about you that makes me incapable of walking away? It's not liking and it sure as hell isn't lust, since I doubt anyone could be turned on by watching someone else's bowel movement, and yet... here I am. Still hanging around and not knowing why." He laughed mirthlessly.

Sitting on the toilet seat cover as Duo spoke, Heero watched him with dark eyes, his expression closed off. Duo wasn't deterred; he knew that the other man was listening to every word he said. He continued speaking with a restrained anger, his voice as tight and controlled as his emotions.

"Cancel that. I -do- know why. At least, I know why I'm here. I still don't know why it had to be you, though." He reached up and brushed aside Heero's bangs, his fingers lingering at his temple before dropping down to rest on his knees. "You're gorgeous, but you're not the first cutie to catch my interest. I don't know you at all, so it shouldn't be possible that I can care for you."

He leaned back and adjusted his body so that he was sitting cross- legged in front of Heero, his head resting against the other's knees, his hair fanned around his body like a cloak. He closed his eyes; the only things in his line of view were Heero's legs and the base of the toilet.

"But here we are. It doesn't make sense, even to me. I shouldn't be here. I shouldn't be with you, because there isn't anything about you that... " He trailed off and then looked up with dark eyes. "What the hell makes you so special? Anyone else and falling asleep with my dick in your hand would have been the last straw. Hell, falling asleep on me the first time would have had you out of my life so fast your head would spin. Who the fuck are you that I keep coming back?"

"Duo-" Heero stopped, not knowing how to answer.

"I just want to know why it had to be you, Heero. Why you make me so happy and sad and hot and lonely at the same time. I want to be with you, even when I know that I'm better off without all the shit that you seem to bring into my life. No one else would have gotten away with falling asleep on me, no one else would have been able to talk down to me without a serious tongue-lashing, and yet you do that and so much more, and all I can think about is that if you had to fall asleep, at least I get to be the one to hold you while you snore." He pressed his head to Heero's knees again. Heero gently touched his hair, afraid that Duo would slap his hand away; he didn't, so Heero left it there.

"I just want to be with you. It's like a disease or a sickness; it just won't go away. I knew that first night that I wouldn't be able to stay away. Quatre told me once that a person could know in an instant if someone was meant for them. You can tell in a kiss, or a word, or a touch. I knew the moment you spoke. I didn't even have to turn to look at you. `A woman in pink' and I fell in love. It's really not fair. I had my life figured out, thank you very much, and you weren't scheduled in."

Heero stroked his hair, his fingers making a soothing pattern on Duo's head. Duo sighed softly and snuggled closer, moving his arms to wrap them around Heero's calves.

"I was going to find a guy that hung off my every word, a god that would kneel before -me- and pamper me for the rest of my life. Someone worthy who could bring me to climax with a look and touch my soul with a kiss. Definitely not someone who keeps falling asleep, or who has to go to the bathroom after making out. I didn't want someone who would make me feel so uncertain about everything, the way you make me paranoid."

He relaxed completely against Heero's legs, the fight going out of him as he sighed tiredly.

"If I didn't love you so much, I would be -so- out of here." He yawned. "As it is, I just want you to know that I'm not very happy with the way things are going. It would be so much easier if you'd just decide that you didn't want me and kick me out of your life. Then I wouldn't have to worry about it; there'd be nothing that I could do. Take the choice away from me, ya know?"

The last sentence was spoken very softly and Heero had to lean down to catch all of the words. When Duo didn't speak for several more minutes, he leaned over to look at his face and realized that, for once, Duo had fallen asleep on him. It seemed that they'd come full circle. The only question that remained was where they went from there.

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End note: (for this chapter). Gah! Poor Duo! I can be so mean sometimes, like writing this stuff. As if they didn't have enough angst in their original lives (the show/manga) I go and add to it by making them suffer in other universes also. So mean *shrugs, not really caring*. What started out as a one-shot has turned into an 7+ part lemonade festival. Ah, well. You can't predict everything.

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