Once again, the braided whirlwind had left the bed-nest in a hurry. Wufei groaned. It was too damn early… Trying to block out the light from the window Duo had opened before leaving the room, he pulled on the cover to nestle under it once again.
Which produced quite a startling result.
Heero moaned into his pillow, one of his hands gripping the cover to prevent Wufei from dragging it any farther, "Damn you, Wufei!!" he protested.
The Chinese boy stared at him, not understanding.
Then he lowered his eyes. And blushed bright red.
Heero had been warm the night before, apparently. He had kicked down the cover, and had put one leg on the outside…only one. The cover Wufei had pulled on passed between his thighs.
Apparently, from what Wufei could see of the bulge behind the cover, the Japanese boy happened to have morning wood. Oh well.
"Bastard," hissed the brown-haired teen, lifting his face from the pillow long enough to deathglare at his comrade.
His cheeks, and even his ears, were flushed a bright, pinkish red. A chuckle escaped Wufei's mouth, an automatic response to the flushed and bothered look on his partner's face. To be truthful he was very embarrassed to have, without knowing it, but still, teased the other boy… but… For once, he had the advantage on Yuy. He was not going to let it pass, was he?
"Have any interesting dreams last night, Yuy?" he asked in an ironic voice, glancing at his comrade's groin, then smirking.
Heero growled at him, still as flushed as before, baring his white teeth at him. His eyes were gleaming ferociously, and his tousled morning hair… The Chinese boy didn't show his reaction, but it was an act of pure will. Heero sounded so wild when he made that kind of noise… Primal. Bestial.
Bloody arousing.
"Hell yes," growled Heero, his voice rumbling as if he was biting back a deep roar. "And how did you expect me not to have interesting dreams, as you put it, with the look you both had on your faces when you came back from your… shower?"
"What?!" exclaimed the black-haired boy, startled by the comeback.
"I wonder if he washed you everywhere…" added Heero, his voice taking on a lower, dangerous, nearly purring tone.
Wufei wondered what the hell he was doing. He was in a bed with Heero, Duo wasn't there anymore, he should have gotten up, but no, he stayed there and teased the boy about his morning erection, and enjoyed the tingling feeling the boy's aggressive reactions were giving him! Damn, but he was slipping… He was less and less able to restrain himself, to stop himself from being interested in the other Asian teenager…
Oh, shit. They had promised Duo they would tell him beforehand when they engaged in…
He didn't have the time to wonder why he thought that this was going to go farther than just some teasing, Heero was jumping on him, pinning him to the bed by his shoulders.
His black eyes fierce, decided not to let the other teen have the upper hand, he fought back, or flirted or made-out back, whatever.
They rolled on the bed, their hands and arms sliding against each other's skin in an effort to pin the other down and fend off his tries, but they always managed to escape any hold the other gained on them and fought again, scratching without quite meaning to, pushing, pulling, squeezing, biting…
Heero howled when he felt Wufei's teeth clamp down on his shoulder, and his hold on the other's waist slid. One second later, the Chinese pilot had him on his back, Heero's wrists crossed above his head and immobilized by one of Wufei's hands, Wufei himself kneeling over him and putting all his weight in this hold. His other forearm was resting across Heero's throat, and his knees were squeezing the other's narrow hips, sitting too high on Heero's thighs to be kneed off.
"I win," breathed the Chinese teenager.
Heero's breath caught in his throat. Ebony locks were falling all around his face and shoulders, caressing his skin, Wufei's bottomless black eyes staring right at his own, full of passion and love of the fight.
He was caught, and well caught. He grunted, trying to dislodge the other boy even as he knew that by doing so, it was just to try to salvage his honor; that he was caught and knew it, but Wufei merely tightened his hold and smirked at him. What a bastard, who had given him the right to be so sexy with his superior, mocking smirk! Heero wiggled again, trying to find a way to free himself.
A flash of something indefinable passed through the black eyes still staring at him, and their lids slid down halfway, slowly. The Chinese's lips parted a little, his tongue came to wet them, nearly too fast for Heero to see.
Heero was transfixed. Escape? What for?
Wufei's lower back bent without any conscious decision, making him arch above his captive's body, their bellies and groins pressing against each other's. They moaned together, low, nearly inaudible.
Experimenting now that he had the other boy secured in his clutches, Wufei slightly changed the angle of his hips, pushed just a little, still staring into Heero's eyes. He smirked, satisfied, when he saw his pupils widen even more, swallowing his blue irises, giving him a cloudy gaze. Heero looked totally dazed. It was a damn good look on him.
"Bastard…" he whispered, but there wasn't any force behind the insult.
Wufei chuckled.
Heero glared at him, his eyes full of fire anew, bared his teeth in a wordless challenge. He was prisoner, but he hadn't surrendered yet! Tensing in the other's hold, he tried to shake him off again.
"You won't succeed, you know, I've got you…"
The Chinese boy used the arm on Heero's throat to force his head to stay unmoving, then bent and nibbled at his lips. The brown-haired boy glared and refused to open his mouth to him. Nonplussed, Wufei just nuzzled his cheek and began to kiss his jaw, slowly going to his ear. He grinned against the tanned skin when his captive's breath hitched, and began to suckle on his earlobe, biting gently when the boy tried to turn his head away.
The Japanese boy's tenseness suddenly disappeared, and he arched back into Wufei, throwing his head back, offering his throat. All restrain flying away, the other boy began to devour the offered skin, licking, sucking, biting. As he was putting less weight on it, one of Heero's hands succeeded in escaping his hold, and the Chinese teen interlaced his fingers with Heero's other hand to prevent it from escaping too.
Heero's free hand didn't push him back, though, but slid in his hair and guided his head lower, on the boy's clavicle. Wufei was happy to oblige, and without remorse gave the messy-haired boy a hickey that would last days. Heero moaned, or groaned, it was difficult to decide which, and raked his nails from Wufei's waist to his shoulders, making him shiver and rub against him, pressing their bodies together.
They were squeezing their interlaced hands hard enough to hurt, but it didn't seem important against the bursts of pleasure the kisses and bites and caresses gave them.
Heero came first, with a surprised look in his eyes that Wufei would remember for a long time. His mouth half-opened under the shock, he grabbed Wufei's shoulders to steady himself and rode the waves, his left leg coming up automatically to wind around Wufei's thigh, pressing his groin to the other's in short, intense contractions. Thrown over the edge as much by the contact with Heero's most intimate parts than by his expression and the knowledge that HE was the source of such an expression, Wufei had to stifle his shout in the hollow between his shoulder and neck as he came after him.
Spent, he let his body cover Heero's. They were both totally relaxed against each other, not a tense muscle anywhere. It was comfortable…
"You're crushing me, 'Fei…" mumbled Heero, still idly caressing his shoulder and back.
Hnn'ing in response, Wufei rolled on his right side, sliding down Heero's flank, letting his arm rest around the boy's torso and his face press against his neck. Heero, eyes closed, still flushed and damp with sweat, began to play with the long hair trailing down his shoulder, running his fingers to Wufei's scalp and beginning to rub it, by reflex. Wufei would have purred if he hadn't been so tired.
"Can one of you explain to me why it is that each time I leave you two alone in this room, I find you getting all hot and sweaty with each other?!"
They jumped, sitting up with a leap. Duo was leaning on the little table near the door, both his fists solidly planted on it. He was glaring at them, but his red cheeks, the heavy way he breathed, and the damp patch on his boxers were all signs that his problem wasn't really anger.
"Oh gods," moaned Wufei, mortified, hiding his face in Heero's shoulder once again. Even his neck was beginning to get scarlet. Heero was still gaping at their lover, too surprised to think about hiding.
"So? Why do you only engage in sexual activities when I am not there? The least you could do is let me enjoy it, too!"
Heero snorted.
"Because each time you're there, we only pay attention to you, baka!"
Duo wasn't thrown off-balance for more than a few seconds. "Ok, next time I'm letting you two alone just long enough to begin, then I come back and jump in the middle. Ok?"
Wufei's shoulders were shaking against Heero's side. The teen turned his head, but only saw black hair.
"Wufei?" he called, shaking his own shoulder to make the Chinese move.
"Seems like we're gonna get our Duo sandwich after all…" the Chinese boy whispered at him, eyes sparkling with mirth.
Heero burst out laughing.
"Hey, what's so funny?"
The two Asians looked at each other, then at their lover.
"Private joke," they said at the same time.
Duo pouted at them, but knowing his techniques, they were carefully NOT looking at him, so they weren't affected. Damn. Now he was the one to be the odd man out. He was lucky it didn't bother him like it bothered his two lovers. Shrugging, he walked out to the bathroom before coming back with a towel. He walked to the bed-nest, kneeling at the edge.
They were glancing at him and still blushing, but neither one was trying to get away. Good. It seemed like they weren't ashamed of being attracted to each other anymore… Not too much anyway… Finally beginning to see, at last, that they could like and want each other and not love Duo any less. Damn, but they had been thick-headed about that.
Gods he loved them.
"You've made a mess," he said in a soft, tender voice, wiping the mixed semen on Heero's belly with slow swipes that were more caresses than anything else.
Heero's hand brushed against the long braid falling from his shoulder, and Duo and he kissed, slowly.
Wufei looked without even thinking of letting them to their privacy. It seemed such a silly idea now, privacy between them. He was intimate with the two of them, his two lovers… His two lovers. Gods.
Heero could be considered his lover too now. Just like Duo.
"Wu-love? Are you ok? You look like you've seen a fish dance the macarena…"
"It's nothing," answered Shenlong's pilot, shaking his head to dispel the dizziness he felt.
'I’m attracted to Yuy… Heero, too. Not as much as I am to Duo, but… Still enough to… To what? If Duo wasn't there… Well, if Duo wasn't there I wouldn't even have tried to see behind the ice walls he uses as protection, but… With the feelings I have now… Duo is the one I love, but…'
Too confused to continue his line of thoughts, he stopped trying to understand his strange, mixed-up feelings and got up, looking at the two other boys. They were sitting side by side, Duo's arm around Heero's shoulders and Heero's hand closed around the end of Duo's braid, turned toward each other, but still looking at him, their body languages still opened to him, if he wanted to take his place with the both of them to complete the circle. He smiled a strained little smile to acknowledge the invitation, but shook his head slightly and gave his hands to them, so that he could help them up.
"Time to get moving, we have work to do," he reminded them.
"Yeah, you have the time to engage in activities by early morning, but I don't," pouted Duo.
Heero glanced at him.
"Ah, damn, Duo, I didn't even think about that. Do you need…" he asked, letting the end of the sentence trail into silence.
"No, it's ok, I was just joking," grinned the boy. "You were so hot together that I didn't even realize what my hand was doing anyway," he added with a lewd smirk.
"You're so crude," groaned Wufei, shaking his head.
"You're so sexy… Whee! I just realized something!"
"What?"
"I have my own homemade porn shows now!!"
"Duo!!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wufei searched for an isolated place to meditate a little. He needed to think on this strange relationship, now more than ever.
He hadn’t had even one chance to stop and think about things before; everything had happened too fast, a whirlwind of revelations and new situations to adjust to, one on top of the other. He hadn’t been able to just say "wait!" to give himself a chance to figure out what was going on. But he needed to, he needed to stop and think now, before it was too late...
It was like he had just woken up from a strange dream, the kind that only makes sense while you’re dreaming. What the hell was he doing? He had been supposed to share Duo with Heero, not to... Not to... to share himself with Heero! He couldn't. He had not planned that...
At first, he was just trying to learn to tolerate Heero. He needed to, in order to share Duo with him during their most intimate moments. That was his intention, to learn to share Duo with Heero, but Duo hadn’t been there at all this morning. Hadn’t even entered his thoughts. His thoughts had all been about Heero.
Heero was not at all his usual self. Heero was acting nice for now, but even that was scaring Wufei. No one could change that totally in so little time... which meant that Heero hadn't changed. He was just putting on an act to make Wufei accept him, and the act would not last. As soon as Wufei let down his guard, he was sure that Heero would revert to his unfriendly, impatient, uncommunicative self.
Two weeks ago, for the chance of having Duo, Wufei had agreed to try and get along with his greatest rival. And now he was rolling around in a bed with a man that, up until two weeks ago, had been the epitome of cold fish and heartless killing machine. And not once, not even ONCE, had thoughts of Duo entered his mind. There was no way that his love could explain, even a little, the overwhelming passion he had felt.
He freaked out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They had received a mission of demolition, a Mobile Doll factory, and since it was supposed to be a job for two and Duo had just finished a tiring mission, and needed to go to Howard's for a recap on the Sweepers' latest information and members, the scientists had decided that Wufei and Heero would go together, since they were already at the same location, Trowa and Quatre being nearly at the other end of the Earth. Duo tried to argue with his lovers that three was better than two, but sadly, transportation had only been arranged for two people.
Duo had left not too long ago, and Wufei had immediately retreated to his room. He had seemed pensive about something, concerned even, and Heero was loathe to disturb him, but the mission didn't care for personal arrangements.
He found it a little disturbing that Wufei would retreat to his bedroom… that he would still have a bedroom. Heero and Duo didn't use their own room under the roof anymore at all, but Wufei… It was as if he was preparing a safe place to hide in should this experiment fail. But it was kind of defeatist to have something like that all ready, and didn't bode well for the three of them. If Wufei felt that he needed to have a safe place… If he was ready to pull out, had one foot out of the door already…
Well, he had a right to privacy. It was not that now that they were a coupl…trio, he had to share it all with them. With his training, Heero didn't need a room to isolate himself, but that didn't mean Wufei didn't.
But still, it disturbed him. The only thing he found reassuring was the lack of mattress. The Chinese boy couldn't sleep anywhere but with them, he thought, glancing around the room, before looking at Wufei who was kneeling by his chest of drawers and going through them.
"Do you have everything you will need?" asked Heero, stopping on the threshold of Wufei's room.
He winced when he saw the other boy's shoulders tense. The way Wufei's head carefully turned around wasn't reassuring.
"I am still able to prepare for a mission alone, Yuy," said the Chinese teen.
Heero clenched his teeth. The tone had been cold, haughty, distant. And he had called him Yuy.
"I was just verifying," he gritted out.
"You don't trust me enough to do that?" asked Wufei in a controlled tone. Heero felt as if he had been sucker-punched.
"I never said that! I always verify…" he exclaimed in a slightly angry tone, wanting to tell him that it helped his worry to see it all, that it didn't mean that he didn't trust them… that it was just irrational, but it made him feel better…
"Well I don't need you to. Let's go," cut Wufei, getting up, his bag thrown over his shoulder. He left the room without even sparing a glance for the blue-eyed boy.
Heero stayed unmoving, standing in the doorway, still looking at the half-empty room, even when he heard Wufei's steps in the staircase.
It had been too early. This morning had been too early. Wufei hadn't been ready to accept him. And now he was closing off, pushing Heero back all the way out.
He had spoiled it. He had lost Wufei's barely burgeoning trust.
"K'so!!"
His fist hit the wall hard, and he winced, but not from the outer pain.
Well, if Wufei had shut him out, there was no need to stay open to him, just to get his heart trampled on.
He felt a deep sorrow well up along with the walls rising in place, but it didn't show at all on his face, not even a hint. The soldier was back. He crushed his inner thoughts and desires, unneeded now. Now was the time to be professional. Now there was a mission. Missions didn't require feelings.
His face utterly expressionless, he stalked down the stairs, caught his bag and took his place in the car.
He didn't avoid Wufei's glance in the mirror, met it with the void he felt, uncaring. Wufei looked away, his face as frozen as Heero's, and began to drive away.
+
'I hurt him' Wufei thought in the stony silence of the car. A tiny thought, barely heard over the noise of the mission parameters he was reviewing and the concentration on his driving.
He mentally scoffed. 'I barely said anything to him. I've been meaner before. He never died or anything.'
'We weren't lovers…'
‘‘Lovers’ is too big a word for participants in a humping session,' he thought back with force, viciously shutting up the little voice under a downpour of mission specs.
It was not as if he had been more snappy than usual. He was always like that. Always. If Yuy couldn't cope, he could leave him alone, and that was all.
'I don't care for him. I barely even like him. Who the hell does he think he is, checking on what I'm doing as if he was the only one not able to make mistakes? Did I ask to be supervised? I love Duo. I don't need Yuy. He just makes me react because he's hot. Doesn't mean I care. Doesn't.'
He drove all thoughts of his comrade and his love life out of his head. They were nearly there; time to get serious about the mission.
+
For all the acknowledgement they gave each other en route to the enemy factory, they might as well have been walking alone.
They didn't look at each other when they stopped at the edge of the cover, just at the limit before they could be seen.
Heero didn't ask if Wufei remembered the coordinates and the time they were supposed to stay in, nor the margin they would have to get out before the explosions.
Wufei didn't ask if Heero had spare detonators with him, nor if his escape route had an emergency backup.
They just shrugged, and went to work.
+
The factory was built along a river, which meant that it was much longer than it was wide. They could have taken one side each and have met in the middle, but that didn't leave many options for escape from the explosions, that was why they proceeded in parallel.
They could catch glimpses of each other's progress when they darted in and out of the buildings and from between the crates, sometimes. The guards at the entry hadn't been much of a hindrance, and now, the visits to the laboratories and bureaus finished, they were planting bombs in the hangars.
The Mobile Dolls here weren't complete, just parts waiting to be assembled. There were crates of parts everywhere, in a labyrinth that most probably only the workers knew how to navigate. Well, maybe not that bad, but it sure looked like it, thought Wufei.
Nearly finished, a dozen bombs to plant, a hundred meters to go and they could get out and look at the fireworks.
If he didn't get sighted by guards before that, he realized, jumping back.
What the fuck were those guards doing, walking without a light on? He had barely seen them in time! He jumped back in silence to get out of the passage they were using…
… and realized that there was another group behind him, walking in the main alley. Shit! He was caught between the two! He glanced at the crates to see if he could climb, but the moon had decided that now was a good time to get out. If he tried that, he would be seen for sure…
… Yes, but if he didn't he would be caught for sure!
He got ready to jump…
There was a smashing of crates falling on the ground on the other side, and the men using his alley ran back to take another, more direct route to the origin of the sound, while the men in the main alley ran to block all escape routes, freeing the path for Wufei. He didn't lose time and jumped on top of a pile of wooden boxes bigger than him, hiding in the shadow of another, bigger pile.
And then, he realized that the crates couldn't have fallen alone. He swore. Had Yuy bumped into one? He was not so clumsy usually…
… Oh gods. He had done that to give Wufei a way to escape.
And now he was going to get caught.
The Chinese boy ran on top of the crates, jumping in silence, and slid his blade across the last guard's throat, killing him without a sound to alert the other, then took care of the second in quite the same fashion. He jumped back behind a crate just as one of the guards looked back to glance at his comrades.
"Shit. Kellers and Sanderson are down!!!" he shouted before Wufei could shut him up.
Ahead of them, the guards stopped trying to be silent and ran forward to close down on Heero. Gunshots exploded in the night. At the entry, a dog barked, and lights went on from place to place.
Well, to hell with secrecy. The Chinese pilot jumped down from the pile he was on, gutting the man before he could shoot him, and took off running to where the artillery fire had come from.
He arrived on site just in time to see Heero caught between two enemy parties. There was a slapping sound, and the momentum of the bullet threw him on one knee, leaning against a wood panel. He began to slide against the wood, slowly, and for a very long second, Chang thought that he might be seriously wounded, maybe fatally. Abandoning the safety of their shelters now that the intruder had fallen, the men were closing in, trying to get a better angle to shoot him.
Wufei threw a grenade at one of the groups, and jumped to the pile his comrade was leaning against.
"Your hand!!!"
He dragged the boy up, taking most of his weight on him, and, jumping in an alley just behind, began to run for the river. The grenade exploded and he heard a few screams, and piles of crates tumbled, blocking the path for the uninjured guards.
"Can you climb?"
Heero nodded soberly, his teeth clenched hard.
The Chinese boy threw the end of a metal bar that had been lying in a puddle on the wire fence. After the shower of sparks, the hum of electricity disappearing was deafening.
"Status?" asked Wufei at the foot of the fence, turning around to brace himself against it. He offered his hands for Yuy to prop himself up.
"Bruised ribs, scratches," said the boy, jumping up to balance precariously on top of the fence. Wufei followed, using the hand his comrade was giving him. They fell on the other side and began to run, Wufei once again making Heero lean on him. He looked much too wobbly on his legs to walk alone.
"The bullet…"
"Kevlar shirt."
"Oh." Duh. He felt silly for having thought that Heero might have been killed by a bullet in the torso, now.
They jumped down the riverbank, in the water, but didn't try to cross, just walked upstream, staying in the shadows of the high bank. It would throw the dogs off their trail. And soon, they would have other things to do besides following them.
There was an explosion, then another, then, too close to really separate them, all the other bombs exploded more or less together. The light reflected on the river, casting deeper shadows on them. Earlier than what had been decided. Someone must have tried to defuse one.
"I hit my head," Heero informed Wufei after a few minutes, when the sound of explosions diminished and was replaced by the dull roar of a major fire.
Wufei gritted his teeth. If Heero took the pain of telling him about a bump in the head, then it was serious enough to get him concerned.
"Ok. I don't need to tell you not to fall asleep."
"With my feet in ice-cold water I don't think it will happen," Heero informed him idly.
He seemed to realize that he had been too chatty, had made a kind of joke, and closed off once again.
Wufei clenched his teeth.
Now that the adrenaline rush was going down, the "battle-mode" wasn't the dominant mode of thoughts anymore.
Heero had nearly gotten himself killed. To save him. And it was only now that his mind let him hear the violent denial it had screamed when he had heard the first gunshot. When he had seen Heero fall. When he had thought that he could be injured, he could have just been killed… What had the moron been thinking, attracting the attention of the guards to himself like that?!
He could have lost him. He could have lost him, thinking that Wufei hated him… and it was not true. He… Kinda liked him, in fact… Even if he pissed him off so much sometimes that Wufei wanted to strangle him, he…
…
… He could have lost him? Not, Duo could have lost him? HE?
Oh, crap.
In the silence of his mind, the little voice from before was clearly heard.
'It would hurt me to lose him. It would hurt me, and not because of Duo. Just because of him. Just because of me.'
This time, the voice of denial didn't find anything to answer.
+
Finally they arrived to the hidden car they would use for the return trip. The one they had taken for coming here had been rigged to explode with the bombs in the factory, in case someone had discovered it during their trip. Abandoning Heero against a tree, for the boy was not yet able to keep his balance alone, Wufei went to drag the camouflage net away from the car. He opened the door to the backseat wide.
There was a basket on the passenger seat, and Wufei blinked. The person who had put the car here for them was very thoughtful. Too bad he would probably never be able to say thank you for the gesture, the terrorist cells never having direct contact and anonymity being the number one rule amongst them. There were things to eat, a first aid pack, and a cover. He took the cover and spread it on the backseat, then got out to fetch Heero.
The Japanese boy was leaning against the tree with most of his weight, an arm around it, his cheek pressed against the bark as if seeking the roughness just to stay awake, and his eyes were closed in weariness. It was too dark to judge of the pallor of his skin, but he wouldn't look well either way.
"Heero?"
The boy opened his eyes slowly and glanced at him, expressionless. Wufei winced. He was still giving him the ice-prince treatment, but the Chinese boy had to admit that it was well-deserved. He had been so moody with him before, and without any warning. There wasn't any excuse, because Duo had told him, and he knew, that Heero had discarded his shields for him… but he just hadn't thought about that. He hadn't thought that the Japanese boy had given him access, and so, that his usually thick hide wouldn't protect him against verbal abuse.
It had always been Wufei's most despicable quirk, in Wufei's own opinion, the way he would forget about people's emotions and lash out when he was feeling out of balance, to forget to consider the repercussions when he delivered a scathing reply right in the middle of someone's weakness. It was what had made the young boys in his clan leave him alone to his books, what had made a love-hate relationship of his marriage with the only person he respected at the time. It was something he had never been able to prevent, and something he had always been ashamed of, when he was calm enough to consider other people's feelings. He had a very sharp tongue, and too quick for him to really control. But that was not an excuse; he just should have tried harder.
Wufei offered his shoulder in silence, too ashamed to look at him, and helped him to the backseat. He sat the boy down on the edge of the seat, then dragged the first-aid kit closer to him. He would make his apologies later, for now he had to take care of his comrade before they departed from the area. Once on the road, Heero would have to take care of himself and it was not something the Chinese boy really wanted.
"Ok, look at me," he said in a professional voice. "I'm going to look at your eyes."
When Heero turned his eyes to him, he lighted the flashlight in his face, judging the way his pupils were constricting. Heero winced imperceptibly, but didn't turn his watering eyes away.
The pupils contracted to pinpoints at the same time. There wasn't one to go slower, or not constricting at all. It was a good omen.
"Dizziness?"
"A little."
"What else? Upset stomach?"
He just shook his head no, his eyes fixed on something far away over Wufei's shoulder. Still didn't want to look at him. Ok, Wufei could work with that.
Didn't even hurt.
"Do you like this shirt very much?" asked the Chinese boy, lifting the edge of said clothes. "Because I don't want you to lift your arms if you have a cracked rib," he added, showing him his knife.
"Go ahead," said Heero, still indifferent.
Wufei cut the shirt off, then unhooked the kevlar shirt under the cotton one and made it slide off Heero's arms. The boy didn't react, letting Wufei undress him as lifelessly as if he was a doll. It was slightly disturbing, to have him so pliant, when usually he was so stubborn.
Especially after this morning...
The skin was split and there was already a hell of a bruise all along Heero's left ribcage, but when he passed his hand on it, pushing slightly, he didn't feel any of the bones give or even move in a suspicious way. Heero had his teeth clenched hard, and Wufei could see a little muscle in his jaw jumping wildly, but the blue-eyed boy didn't protest the pressure on his hurt side at all. Sorry to have hurt him while searching for a broken bone, Wufei changed his clinical touch into a caress, lightly brushing against Heero's side before letting his hand fall on the boy's knee.
"Still dizzy?" he asked in a low voice.
Heero was staring at him, looking slightly puzzled. But then he shrugged and his eyes became blank once again.
"A little."
"Sleepy?"
"No."
"You should lay down on the backseat anyway, to rest your ribs."
Heero shrugged, glancing back at the seat. His bangs hid his eyes for a few seconds, caressing his cheekbones.
"Wait, let me see your head," asked the Chinese boy impulsively.
Kneeling up on the edge of the doorway, he hooked his hands behind Heero's neck and made him bend forward, until the wildest strands of his hair were tickling the black-eyed boy's collarbone. The raven-haired pilot took in a silent, deep intake of air when he felt Heero's warm breath insinuate itself between his tanktop and his skin, and slid his hands upward in the boy's hair.
He didn't ask where Heero had been hit, just explored the wild mop of hair with the pads of his fingers, softly, barely pressing on the skull, enjoying the light tickles of the rebellious bangs against his palms and wrists.
He found the damp, bumpy place, and grazed a finger over the already closed scratch. Heero sighed silently, discretely, and Wufei only knew because of the longer brush of air against his skin. Slowly, he transformed his already caressing exploration in a massage, rubbing at his temples and his fingertips drawing small circles against the boy's nape. Heero didn't move for the longest time, tense and making himself as distant as he could while being in his arms, but then, just like that, as if losing his resolve to keep up the icy demeanor under the warmth of Wufei's touch, he suddenly relaxed and leaned his forehead against the other boy's torso.
Smiling in Heero's hair, Wufei slid a hand down his nape and on the first bumps of his vertebras, idly following on his light massage. It didn't feel like touching a doll anymore, and it was great, because it meant that Heero was willing to let him try to make amends for his earlier behavior.
"Now lay down, we need to get going," advised Wufei in a whisper.
He guided the other boy down so that he wouldn't put strain on his ribs, one arm around his shoulders not to let him fall back too brusquely and one arm hooked over the back of the seat to prevent himself from falling over the short-haired boy. Heero crawled back a little so that his legs wouldn't hang out of the car from mid-thighs, his eyes hidden by his dark lashes. Wufei felt unsure of what was going on in his mind; Heero had let him touch him, but he was still not looking at him. That could mean that...
Then, he looked up at Wufei, who was still leaning over him.
Just looked. Just like that.
And Wufei was kissing Heero, and he was kissing back. And it was slow, and tender, and so sweet, saying so many things they couldn't say out loud, Wufei's shame at having been so cruel, Heero's hurt feelings, Wufei's apologies, Heero's silent acceptance.
But the Chinese boy had to make sure that Heero knew that he was sorry, he had to say it… he opened his mouth.
"Heero…"
A finger across his still tingling lips.
"Shh. I know."
Heero's hand brushed against his cheek, light as a feather, the caress of rough skin on his face making him shiver. Such a contrast, hard hands, soft gestures. Heero all the way.
"Now drive. Duo will be worried."
Wordlessly, absolution, forgiveness, just like that, no questions, no conditions.
Wufei nodded silently, then crawled out of the backseat, closed the door once Heero had bent his legs to have them inside, and got into the front. Revving the motors, he glanced at Heero, who blinked slowly, tiredly at him, then began to drive away.