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BFB - 080e - Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

The siblings slithered off soon after that. I got a hug from each of them and a kiss from Kikai. I guess they weren’t going to hold my mouth against me this time. I made a pledge to myself that I would not do something like that again, though. No sense in pushing my luck.

It turned out that Heero and I had been drafted to baby-sit that afternoon. Seems that Kohaku and Kiba were hoping for a little ‘alone time.’ According to Heero, every time he visits the kids he winds up alone with them for a couple of hours while Kohaku and Kiba do some playing of their own. I couldn’t begrudge them a couple of hours; I’d had my own turn yesterday. Or last night. Okay; both.

Kids being kids, I don’t think I really need to belabor the next few hours. They were delighted to have us to play with for a while; or Heero anyway. Although I got my share of attention, in spite of the language thing. The playground had one of those go-around things, like a carousel without horses, and Tsutsuji planted herself on it and demanded that I push. I wound up, predictably, flat on my face in the grass before too long. So then it was my turn to ride while she pushed. I faked her out, though. I pretended to be dazed by the speed and snatched her up on my next pass and we both rode the thing until it finally stopped, both of us giggling like fools.

Heero and Komori were amusing themselves in a slightly more dignified manner; the little guy seemed to have a real attachment for the swings. He was still there, apparently content to have his father push him all day, while Tsutsuji and I worked our way from the go-round, to the see-saw, to the swings, to the rocking horse and back to the go-round.

I now know that it takes less than an hour for a – what; five, six year old – kid to utterly exhaust me. I might have been embarrassed if I hadn’t been concentrating on catching my breath. I was flopped out on the ground with Tsutsuji tugging at my arm and giggling when Heero and Komori joined us. Komori chose to interpret my supine form as a just-for-him sofa and plopped down on me. I squawked and I thought Heero was going to hurt something, he laughed so hard. I think Tsutsuji was planning on joining Komori, but Heero thankfully stopped her with a few quiet words and she sat down on the grass instead. After a look around at the surrounding area, Heero joined us.

I patted Komori’s head and he graced me with a somewhat suspicious glare; I snickered. “So, is this how you spend your visits, Heero?” I smirked. “No wonder you come back all worn out.”

He smiled and ruffled his daughter’s hair, and she tilted over to rest her head on his leg. “I don’t get to see them every time,” he explained. “They don’t live here; they live at Clan Tombo, Kiba’s Clan.”

That seemed kind of unfair... “They couldn’t live here?” I wondered. Maybe it was like some of the Human cultures, where a wife had to leave her family and go to her husband’s family. Most Magical Creatures are matrilineal, so you don’t see a lot of that kind of thing in our side of the world.

“They could have, but both Kiba and Kohaku have work in the north, so it made more sense for them to stay there. They come back every few weeks, just not always when I’m here. But I do go there sometimes.”

He got this odd look on his face then, like he was remembering something, and I poked him in the ribs. “What?”

He shrugged. “Just... wondering if I’ll ever get a chance to take you there.”

Well, that sounded odd. I opened my mouth to call him on it, but was forestalled by a shout from the path. It turned out to be Cousin Rigel. The kids scrambled up, obviously acquainted with the blue-haired Wyvern by the way they glomped onto him. He laughed and hugged them both before turning his attention to Heero.

“I know you guys are leaving soon; I wanted to say goodbye.”

“Actually,” Heero began, “We’re leaving tomorrow morning...”

“Well, that’s pretty soon,” Rigel grinned. I could feel a bear hug coming and sure enough, he grabbed Heero, crushing him to his chest. “I have to leave pretty soon too.” He looked a lot less... scattered than he had the day before. Maybe he wasn’t as ditzy as he seemed. “Wish we could have spent some time together,” he said wistfully. “Maybe next time.” He swung around, dragging Heero with him before my Wyvern could open his mouth. “And I’m really glad to have met you, Duo. I can tell that you’re just what Heero needed.”

“Oh. Um... Thanks, Rigel,” I managed to say. I never know how to respond to compliments that aren’t obvious. Tell me you like my boots or my clothes or my hair or my work and I know what to say. Tell me I’m ‘good for someone’ and I’m left wondering ‘how?’

While I was blinking, Heero managed to get himself out of Rigel’s grip and was regarding his cousin from a safer distance. “I’m sorry,” he said; “I didn’t know you wanted to see me, Rigel. Perhaps next time we can coordinate better.” It wasn’t quite the formal, all-business tone he uses at work, but it was damn close.

Rigel grinned anyway and scuffled his boots in the grass. “Well, I tried to get here before, but you were kind of hit-and-run those times. And I didn’t have enough notice to make arrangements.” He gave a wistful sigh then. “It’s just that I haven’t seen you in ages; I really miss spending time with you, you know? Hey, remember that little tea house in Akita? The one with the sculpture of the IchiBan in the garden? The Humans have declared it some kind of historical thing. Imagine that! Our spot is historical!” He laughed raucously. Heero looked oddly embarrassed.

“Have you mentioned that to Giniro?” he said.

“Uh... You don’t think she’ll mind?”

“Of course not; she will probably find it mildly flattering,” Heero said crisply. I couldn’t help being curious; Heero’s tone bordered on rude. What had Rigel done this time to deserve that?

“Oh, the statue; right...” He looked down at his boots again, maybe speaking to them as well. “We had some good times there, Heero...”

Heero sighed. “Yes, Rigel...”

“I was kind of hoping... but then IchiBan told me about you finding a Banshee, so I figured that was that.” He looked up and his grin lit up again. “I’ve still never met anyone like you, Heero. You’re the greatest, you know?”

Okay. Call me paranoid and suspicious, but Rigel’s words sounded awfully... former lover-ish. I looked at Heero. My cool, collected, always-in-control Wyvern looked flustered.

“Rigel, this really isn’t –“

“Oh, yeah; sure. I know...” He scuffled his boots again; maybe it was a nervous habit. “I just wanted to be sure you knew. I couldn’t remember if I’d ever actually told you before.” He looked up, his whole manner softening slightly. “Nobody has ever compared to you; I just wanted you to know.” He turned to me. “Man, Duo, you are the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen, and I just know you’re a terrific guy too. Heero wouldn’t have fallen for you if you weren’t,” he grinned mischievously.

“Oh...” I said stupidly. Nobody ever compared to Heero? Da~amn... “Well... Thanks...” I had one of those little leaps of imagination or something, picturing Heero in Rigel’s arms. I shook it away before it got past an “R” rating, but it was too late to stop my mouth. “So, Rigel... You and Heero used to be...?”

Heero stiffened and glared at me, but we all know by now how useless that is.

Rigel bounced on the balls of his feet happily, willing and eager to share. “Yeah! He’s got a presence that just won’t quit! Half the Clan was hot for Heero before he went away!”

“Rigel!” cried Heero, appalled.

“What, Heero? Duo knows you weren’t abstinent.” Understanding dawned. “Oh... You never told him about your lovers!”

I looked at Heero, who looked to be approaching apoplectic. “Yeah, Heero,” I teased. “How come you never told me about all your lovers?” It wasn’t as if I was going to have hysterics at the idea of Heero being with someone else before we met; how silly would that be?

“Duo...” he growled.

“Aw, Heero. You aren’t ashamed of me, are you?” Rigel sounded almost hurt.

“Rigel, of course not!” Heero snapped turning back to the other Wyvern. I jumped into the breech.

“Hey, Rigel; did he do that funny little shrugging thing with you?” Oh, Heero was going to kill me!

“You mean the...” He fluttered his fingers and I nodded. “Oh yeah! He still does that? Wow!”

“Enough!” Heero roared. Rigel jumped, wide-eyed. “I do not intend to have my present and former lovers comparing notes on my sexual idiosyncrasies!”

Rigel blinked at him. I blinked at him.

We blinked at each other, and I caught the hint of a smirk in Rigel’s eyes and just threw caution to the winds.

“But Heero,” I cooed silkily; “it’s *cute*!”

And Rigel jumped in before Heero could reach for me.

“Take him flying, Heero. You *have* to.” He glanced up at the sky before Heero could decide which of us to go for first. “I have to go, guys.” He grabbed me around the waist for a hard squeeze that left me gasping. “Take good care of him, Duo; he really is a terrific guy.” Then he braved my Wyvern’s wrath and pulled Heero into another bear hug. “I miss you,” he murmured against Heero’s neck. “Take care.”

Then he let go of Heero, changed form and launched, all in one smooth motion.

Heero glared after him. “Dammit,” he muttered under his breath.

I slid up next to him. “So... Rigel loves you too...”

He snorted. “Do not start that with me, Banshee.” He hooked his arm around me. “I have no control of what other people feel.”

I head-butted him gently. “I know; I just think it’s cute. And pretty damn decent of him not to resent me.”

He softened then, and sighed. “Rigel is a decent Wyvern. He just wasn’t what I wanted...”

“And I am?”

He looked into my eyes, holding me still. “You are everything I ever wanted, even before I knew what I wanted.”

Well, damn. And *still* I couldn’t say what he wanted to hear.

The kids were playing nicely on the swings, Tsutsuji agreeably pushing her brother. We collected them and headed back to the IchiBan’s house, where we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening relaxing and chatting with whomever happened to stop by.

We went to bed early, got up late and Jake appeared right on time, yawning and with a cup of strong coffee in hand.

“Wait a minute,” I said, doing the math. “It’s only afternoon at home; why are you yawning?”

He shook his head. “Geez, Duo; you don’t even want to know what’s been going on. I had to port a crazy Dragon-lady to LAX last night, and then she wouldn’t turn loose of me! I had to sit there and listen to her for seven hours! Her damn flight was delayed.”

I stared at him. “A Dragon... taking an *airplane*? Whatthefuck?”

Again he shook his head. “Talk to Q; it’s his fault. C’mon; are we going or not?”

I just blinked at him. “Heero! Let’s go!” I yelled. “I gotta talk to Q.”

Man, I love mysteries.

This concludes The Clan Visit Arc.