Author: pyrzm
see ch. 1 for warnings, notes, disclaimer

Broken Warriors + Chapter 36
Project Trowa: Mission Planning

Duo's observations about the different forms of intelligence seemed a valuable key to defusing the "Trowa thing" if they could just figure out how to use it. If Trowa's strongest attribute was body-kinesthetic intelligence, Heero reasoned, then it was little wonder that talking about his attraction to him and trying to deal with it logically had not worked.

Quatre provided the test records he'd hacked and Heero and Duo spent a good part of the following day on the couch with their laptops, combing the 'net for more information. Trowa's scores in the visual-spatial and musical-rhythmic categories were also exceptionally high, closely followed by logic-mathematical intelligence. However, the elements that relied on interaction with others, especially the verbal-linguistic score were lower than the norm.

"No wonder he and Quatre work so well," said Duo. "Kat's empathy and all that mind reading stuff lets him see what's going on inside Trowa, and they're both really into the touchy feely non verbal communications. Quatre loves to snuggle and touch and Trowa totally eats it up, and vice versa. It's like they were made for each other."

"Yes. I think Trowa would be lost without him, or someone like him, or at least very lonely."

"But that doesn't do us much good. Just telling him to back off doesn't get through," Duo muttered, tugging absently at his braid.

Heero caught the motion and kept a surreptitious eye on him. But Duo hadn't chewed on the end of it, or his fingernails, since the "spanking therapy" session yesterday. Just like last time, he'd been in high spirits ever since. He'd turned off all the lights last night before bed, slept deeply, and woken horny even though he was still sore inside and out. That hadn't prevented him from teasing and seducing Heero into penetrating him again before he'd let him out of bed this morning, and again just now, bent over the kitchen table in the middle of making sandwiches for lunch. Although Heero could detect no negative element in Duo's behavior or demeanor, he wondered if this behavior was a continuation of Duo's need to feel dominated in order to feel safe. Heero wondered if Duo realized that by instigating and insisting on this sort of activity, he was placing himself, rather than Heero, in control.

After the lunchtime "quickie" and a short nap on the couch with Duo sprawled on top of him, Heero woke with a sore back and a clearer head. He had an appointment with Dr. Batoosingh the afternoon. He should probably mention this to him.

For now, however, Duo was sated, and his mind seemed firmly back in mission mode and focused on "Project Trowa."

According to what they'd gleaned so far, people like Trowa were often performers, dancers, or athletes. Trowa was all of that, and more. It all fit. Such people preferred learning in a non-verbal format, and their muscles and reflexes seemed to store experience as much as their brains did. They literally learned by doing or experiencing.

"Just look how he shows connection to others," Duo observed. "He fucks. He cuddles. He touches. I could be all over him, messing around, and he'd never cross the line, but he liked it. He got it. Me telling him I care about him wouldn't make nearly the impression that just giving him a hug or sitting on his lap watching television would."

"He and I are not so different, although I do like hearing you say how you feel about me," said Heero. "But your touch, and all we do together? It doesn't need words to explain it. You are a very physically demonstrative person, and I am able to welcome and enjoy that, and understand it. I'm afraid it's more of an effort for me to give you the verbal cues you might desire."

But Duo shook his head. "None of us are just one type. My interpersonal scores were off the charts. I can read people really well. Kept me alive on the streets, and got me out of a lot of jams during the war. And it lets me read you like a book, whether you say anything or not." He leaned over and nuzzled Heero's cheek. "Lucky for you, huh?"

Heero smiled. "Very. But Trowa can't do that, can he? According to these scores he worse at it than I am, and I'm not very good unless it involves reading an enemy's intent. I can recognize threats, but I don't pick up on normal social cues very well."

"Hey, you're learning, right? But Trowa was better socialized than you are. He gets it enough to function, and most people cut him slack, thinking he's just shy. But he's sure as hell got some sort of problem around you. Quatre says there's a dark element to it. What's up with that?"

"I don't know. Perhaps something stemming back to our time during the war?"

"What happened then, anyway?"

"I can only speak from my own viewpoint. I self-destructed, then the next thing I knew, I was in his circus caravan and he was there, taking care of me. We hardly spoke most of the time. He tended my physical needs, fed me-" Heero paused, smiling a little as he thought back. "He taught me to play cards, and played his flute for me sometimes. But we didn't talk much. When I told him I was going to seek out the Noventa family and offer them revenge against me, he packed a knapsack and came with me. I didn't ask him to. He just did. Then we ended up with Zechs and Noin an Antarctica . . ."

"Did you mind any of that?"

"No. I suppose I grew to enjoy his company, as much as I was capable of enjoying anything back then. I remember mostly being focused on my recovery, and then the work of finding the Noventas. He was just--there."

"And it never occurred to you that there might be some reason why he was tagging along with you, since it obviously wasn't for your scintillating conversational skills?"

"No."

"And you never found yourself attracted to him?"

"I didn't think in those terms."

"So you spent practically every waking hour together for over a month, he tended to your every need, played music for you, tagged along on your grand quest, and it never occurred to you that maybe he liked you?"

"He slept with me, too," Heero mused.

"What?!"

Heero realized what he'd just said and who he'd said it to and added quickly, "There was only one bed in the trailer. It was large enough to accommodate two. I saw no reason at the time for it to be anything other than the logical thing to do. But there was no uh, snuggling, except for when one or the other of us would move in our sleep in such a way that brought us into contact."

Duo rolled his eyes. "Jesus, Heero!"

"I wasn't registering any attraction to you, either, at that point," Heero reminded him.

"Yeah? Well, if it had been me tending your boo boos and sleeping with you at night, you would have! I started having wet dreams about you about five minutes after we met."

"Given what happened in Finland, against all my training and programming, it was probably just as well we didn't have much time together. I probably wouldn't have survived the war."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Duo demanded.

"I survived and accomplished what I did by not allowing myself any emotional attachments whatsoever, and by not letting myself care what happened to the rest of you, or even myself. If I felt about you then the way I do now, I would not have been able to function at that level. If nothing else, I would have been too worried about losing you. After that night in Finland, you didn't see me for a long time, did you?"

"Nothing unusual about that. We all went months without contact-Oh, I get it. You were avoiding me. Like I'd notice! Aside from a couple of days on the Sweeper ship and that undercover set up at the school, you and I hardly spent twenty-four hours in the same location ever." He paused, frowning. "I didn't get to hang out with anyone much except those coupla times with you and the days with Kat in the Maguanac town. You had that all time with Tro, and both of you hung out with Kat at different times---Hey, you spent weeks with Quatre! Did anything ever happen with him?"

"No!" It came out rather more stridently than he'd expected, and he realized that he was actually blushing. Duo, Mr. Higher than Normal Interpersonal Intelligence Skills, caught him out on it instantly.

"What happened?" he demanded, setting his computer aside and kneeling to look Heero in the eye. "Did you and 04 need to share a sleeping bag or a dorm bed for logical reasons, too? Have any comfy moments together around the ol' campfire?"

"No, we did not, not in any way that was remotely sexual. Quatre was very pleasant company; I'm sure I wasn't, most of the time. He did teach me to play chess, and talked quite a lot, whether I responded or not. I suppose I enjoyed his company on some level, but I was primarily concerned with evading capture and getting out of Sanque without getting captured or killed. We were never on the same mission, mentally, and by the end he was aligning himself with Relena's pacifists. I ended up in a mobile suit, if you recall."

It was all true, but Duo was still scrutinizing him closely, and still frowning. "You like him!"

"Of course I do. So do you! You're the one sleeping and dancing with him, all that."

"You're blushing, Heero. You're sweet on the Q-man! I thought so when you kissed him that last time, and the way you talk to him? You got a soft spot for our little 04!"

Heero froze, not knowing how to respond. It was true, of course. He'd already figured that out, but his feelings for Quatre didn't seem to threaten what he felt for Duo in any way. But how to explain that to Duo?

To his relief, that frown slowly changed to a knowing grin. "So I'm right!"

Heero nodded slowly. "I'm sorry, Duo. I don't want to have sex with him, I just--"

"He just makes you feel like hugging him, right?"

"Yes." It was the truth, in part.

"And you probably get all protective over him, right? I bet you want to clean Trowa's clock for making him feel bad."

Damn Duo's higher than normal Interpersonal Intelligence skills! Heero nodded.

But those skills must have worked in his favor, because Duo climbed into his lap and kissed him. "It's OK, Heero. That's just how I feel! He's smart and capable and a lot tougher than everyone ever thought, but let's face it, he's also so damn sweet and cute and kind I just wanna carry him around like a teddy bear half the time. Trowa feels the same way about him, only in spades, and with the sex. Kat's just that kinda guy and he deserves it, too. He's a good person, and he loves the hell out of all of us. He's nice to cuddle up with in bed, too. Just you wait!"

Heero blinked up at him. Duo was beaming. "So, you want me to sleep with Quatre because I have feelings for him, but are jealous that I slept with Trowa without caring about it? This is confusing, even for you!"

Duo rolled his eyes again, but his fingers were busy playing with the shaggy hair at the back of Heero's neck. "It's totally different! Quatre doesn't want to have sex with you. I mean, he might be really into messing around with you, but that's it."

"So even though I don't think of Trowa sexually at all, you're still jealous?"

Duo gave his hair a playful tug. "Hey, it makes sense in my reality. You're just gonna have to trust me on this."

Heero considered this. "The way I feel about Quatre is the way you feel about both of them?"

"Yeah, sounds like it."

"And you expect me not to feel jealous about that?"

Duo raised his eyebrows. "Why would ya?"

"Because perhaps in my reality it makes sense?"

The grin faded. "Yeah? Well, our worlds are about to collide when they show up in four days. I really want to find some way to make this all work, 'cause--" His voice broke, and he blinked and looked away.

Heero gently cupped Duo's face between his hands, and kissed him tenderly on the forehead and lips. "I will make it work for you, because it is what my lover needs. They're like your family, Duo."

Duo made a face. "That's a little creepy. If I had brothers, I wouldn't be messing around with 'em!"

"Not like brothers, but more than just friends."

"Maybe all four of us should be boyfriends at once, huh?" Duo smirked. "Or are you having some kinda harem fantasy?"

Heero had never considered such a thing, and was dismayed when his mission-oriented mind ran a quick test scenario. On a purely intellectual level, it seemed a needlessly complicated arrangement, fraught with too many unpredictable variables. He could barely manage Duo as it was. Unfortunately, his body reacted on quite another level.

Still sitting on his lap, Duo could hardly miss it. "Heero Yuy, you dog!" He laughed, apparently not offended. Not offended, in fact, to the point that he was squirming around in a decidedly sensual manner now, and his eyes were getting that hot 'fuck me' look again, their kitchen table session less than two hours ago not withstanding.

"What appeals to one as a sexual fantasy does not necessarily have any bearing on what a person would actually wish to do in real life," Heero informed him. "Any research into the subject will bear that out."

But Duo wasn't listening. He was in full lap dance mode, resting his hands on Heero's shoulders as he gyrated sinuously against him, still straddling Heero's legs and groin. "So, you get to be the master, I'm betting, and the rest of us are just lying around, panting for you to summon us to your tent? Hmmm? That what's got your cock all hard, baby? OK, but I wanna be your favorite, the one the others are all jealous of. But what can I do? When the Master calls, I just have to obey."

"Duo--"

"So what do your little harem boys wear, Master, hmmmm? Want me in sheer silk trousers and a veil?"

"A gag would be a better idea," but he didn't mean it. Closing his eyes, he rested his hands lightly on Duo's swaying hips, letting him use those exceptional verbal skills of his to paint a very erotic fantasy. His own imagination started adding details--Quatre in blue and Trowa in green and Duo in--in? Ah yes, Duo in pink silk and a veil and some sort of head covering, with just those violet eyes showing.

"Duo, you may be my favorite, but you're very naughty," he growled, tightening his grip on Duo's hips.

Duo let out a breathy little laugh. "Naughty, huh? Maybe that's why I'm your favorite. Maybe you like what it takes to keep me in line, huh?"

Duo was caught up in his own fantasy now, making it easy enough to flip him over and pin him across Heero's lap. Heero gave him a few playful swats on the seat of his jeans.

"Ow ow OW! Too sore, Heero! Jeeze, give a guy--"

Heero caught him by the braid and pulled his head back. "That's 'Master' to you. And if you get your Master all aroused and distracted while he's trying to get some serious work done, my little harem boy, then you're going to have to tend to his needs."

Duo slid sideways off his lap, knelt between Heero's legs and reached for the buttons of his fly. A wicked little grin was playing about his lips, but he was flushed and turned on, too. "May I, Master? I promise to be good. Really, really good!"

"We'll have to see about that." Heero glowered down at him from under his bangs. "If you please me with that arrogant mouth of yours, perhaps, just perhaps, I'll spare your tight, sore, much-fucked little bottom. Or maybe I'll just throw you down and fuck you anyway. I haven't decided."

Duo muttered something that sounded a lot like "created a monster" but his hands were busy opening Heero's jeans and tugging them down around his knees. He leaned forward and took Heero's straining erection down his throat in one smooth swallow.

Their lunchtime coupling had been quick and frenzied, and had left Heero more sensitized than ever. From the first touch of Duo's hot mouth he was helpless to do anything but lie there and let his 'slave' do whatever he wanted.

And Duo seemed to want to swallow him whole and 'fry his circuits'. Using some remarkable, magical combination of tongue action and suction, he immobilized Heero, and managed to tug his jeans the rest of the way off without even breaking rhythm. Heero closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the couch as Duo pulled his right leg over his shoulder, pinned Heero's left hand to the couch beside him, and then, a moment later, slid two long slick fingers into his ass. One of these days Heero was going to get Duo to teach him how he managed a bottle of lube one-handed, but now was not the time. Now Heero couldn't have strung three coherent words together to save his life. He couldn't even form a coherent thought, once those fingers started massaging his prostate just exactly the way he liked it. He couldn't honestly say he was glad of all the experience Duo had had, doing this to other men, but he was certainly happy enough to reap the benefits. Whether using fingers or his cock, Duo could play him like a Stradivarius, bringing him to the edge and then letting him come down just enough to tease and make him beg, without losing the edge of arousal. He was doing it now, making Heero gasp and moan and babble and beg out loud in a way that he'd have been utterly mortified for anyone else to hear. "Don't stop. Oh god, o fuck, baby that's sogoodsogoodsogood Sweet, naughty little---O fuck! More! Please, more! Nuh-UH!"

He lost count at five near-orgasms before Duo finally relented and brought him off with one so intense he had to drag him off his cock and up into his arms or he'd have passed out. As it was he was so out of it he half-crushed Duo before he got his wits back enough to hear his lover gasping for him to let go. Heero released him and Duo fell back onto the floor, rubbing his shoulder and laughing. He had cum on his chin and down the front of his shirt.

"Sorry," Heero gasped out, still breathless and unable to move. "You OK?"

Duo pulled the neck of his tee shirt aside and showed Heero the dark bite mark on his shoulder, and the reddening marks where Heero's fingers had clenched on the soft flesh of his inner arm. "Damn, Heero. I think maybe you better lighten up on the strength training. You're kinda rough when you're turned on."

"Sorry!" Heero said again. "You just--just--"

"Yeah, I know," Duo chuckled, climbing back up to cuddle. "I'm too sexy for my own good. Or safety. Maybe I should tie your hands next time, huh?"

Heero gasped as a spasm of pleasure rocked his spent body.

"So you like that, too!" Duo kissed his way up Heero's sweaty neck to the corner of his mouth. "Oh, baby, you are my favorite toy!"

And that was the last thing Heero remembered before he woke up half-naked under a blanket on the couch. The room was dark except for the fire crackling in the fireplace, and he could smell something delicious cooking in the kitchen, something with beef and onions and garlic. He could hear pots and pans rattling and Duo's happy, off key singing. "'I know you love me. I see the signs. Don't even have to read between the lines. Ooooooooo baby! How you tease 'n please. Makes me holler, makes me weak in the knees! Shake me baby, then hold on tight. Gonna rock your world the whole damn night!'"

It took a concerted effort for Heero to get up and haul his pants on, and his knees were noticeably weak as he made his way to the kitchen. The bright light there made him blink for a moment, and then he burst out laughing.

Duo was at the stove, stirring some sort of stew while dancing and singing along with the radio. He jeans and a clean tee shirt, and the most absurdly frilly sheer organza apron, tied with an enormous floppy bow in back. His braid swung and bumped against it as he shuffled and fast-stepped, dancing with his stewpot partner. At Heero's laugh, he left the stove and danced over to him, still singing. "Shake me, break me, sexy baby. Gonna spread your wings, an' I don' mean maybe. Take me, shake me, don' never fake me. Gonna rock your world alllllll night long!"

Heero grabbed him and danced him around the kitchen to the lengthy guitar and drum duet and final chorus. Duo broke away when it ended just long enough to stir the pot and fetch them both a cold soda from the fridge. Heero dropped into a kitchen chair and pulled Duo down to sit sideways on his lap.

He settled happily, swinging his bare feet like a little kid. "So, sleep good?"

"Very good. You rocked my world--three times in one day."

"Day's not over yet, baby!" Duo said with an evil grin.

"Hn. You also made me miss my appointment with Dr. Batoosingh."

"No problemo. I traded with you. You can have my appointment tomorrow."

"Ah, good."

"I told him about last night."

Heero looked up at him surprise. They did not usually discuss what went on in their private sessions. He also squirmed a little inwardly, wondering what the psychiatrist had made of his actions.

"Don't worry, he already knows how screwed up I am," Duo told him. He took a drink from his soda. "He described your tactics as 'creative' and 'probably therapeutic'. His exact words. He also said I'm kinda on the manic side today, but he's not worried about it as long as I stay on my meds. Which I will, promise!"

Heero ran a finger under the frilly pink band of the apron. "And is this part of you being manic?"

Duo pretended to pout. "Master doesn't like?"

"Master can barely walk, if that's what you're up to."

"Naw, just thought you'd get a kick out of it. The guys and I found it in a drawer last time we were here. Kat says it's called a 'hostess apron'. You should see me in it with nothing else underneath! Or him, for that matter. That'll give you naughty thoughts for sure, I bet!" He grinned and wiggled a little on Heero's knee. "Sure it doesn't turn you on, just a little?"

"I think I'll stick with the harem fantasy for now, thanks. You looked very cute in pink, by the way."

"Oooooo, I'll bet! I had you in one of those Lawrence of Arabia get ups, with a big ol' whip handy in case I got outta line."

"Did you tell Dr. B about that?"

"No, he had enough to handle as it was. Bet you'll have a fun time with him tomorrow."

"I don't think I'll be able to look him in the eye. But I'll manage. What smells so good?"

"I cooked! You know I'm manic when I cook instead of just opening a can. Tonight's specialty is beef stew a la Maxwell. Which means I cut up a steak and threw in everything else that seemed like a good idea at the time. Good thing for us I couldn't get the anchovies open. I found some cooking sherry in a cupboard and threw some of that in, but I didn't drink any. Shinigami's honor!"

Manic or not, Duo made a very good beef stew. By the time they started on second helpings, he'd calmed down a little. "Today was fun, but are we any closer to solving the Trowa problem?"

"Actually, I had an idea when I woke up," Heero told him. "Trowa learns best though physical lessons, right?"

"You are not--"

"No, no sex with Trowa. But sex is something he understands."

"Huh?"

Heero smiled. "What time are they planning on arriving on Thursday?"

"Around four, I think. It'll depend on traffic out of Boston."

"I will need you naked, horny, and manic by three thirty."

Duo's brows shot up. "Naked and-- Say what?"

Heero patted Duo on his organza and frill-covered thigh. "Trust me, Duo. I'm the one with the high body-kinesthetic intelligence here, right?"

++

Notes:

1. The differing types of intelligence Heero and Duo discuss come from research done in the '80s by Dr. Howard Gardner, who posited that differing types of intelligence require various creative teaching philosophies. It remains controversial, but I think it makes a lot of sense. For a very simplified outline of the types, see:
www.rb-29.net/graa/GRAATMI%20Pgm./TMIPgmPgs/eightwayspkg/00.508ways.htm< br />
For more info see: http://www.thomasarmstrong.com/multiple_intelligences.htm

My application of these types to the G-Boys is pure conjecture on my part.

2. The song Duo is singing is an original I wrote for the story. I mean, it's hundreds of years in the future, right? So why are most fan fic characters listening to our version of classic rock/techno/alternative/etc. Doesn't anyone still write music in the future. Yes, I say! And people will still like the blues and the blues will still be all about sex and the lyrics will still make very little sense unless you listen with a dirty mind.

Although I'm sure you'll be able buy Indigo Girls and Flock of Seagulls CDs on eBay then. Some things don't change. Heero probably gets dozens of spams in his email, too ('cause even Heero "super hacker" Yuy won't be able to outsmart all the spammers, may they all rot in hell forever.) He'll get tearful bogus requests for that money laundering scheme from Nigeria (which Heero wisely ignores), and breast and penis enlargement offers (he laughs and deletes those) and Viagra knock offs (deletes those, but on Duo's manic days he occasionally wonders if it will eventually come to that, just to keep up with the little horn dog) and links to "hot and horny naked GIRLZ ON GIRLZ" sites. (He growls and goes 'Hn' a lot and deletes those, too.) Duo always clicks on those links, which is why he gets more spam than anyone in the group. Wufei will be the only who has an "Adult ID" code, under a fake name of course, and he's all secretly ashamed of himself for needing it and doesn't want anyone to know of course. Most of the sites he surfs feature "Hot young-" Well, you'll see.

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