...this will be rather short...
Dec. 24th, 2004 08:39 pmBut it's the beginning of something long that requires a warning.
Dark, angsty, possibility of NCS, squick and a death.
But you won't see most of that for a while... Buckle up; it's gonna be a long ride.
Bah humbug and merry christmas. ~.~;
BFB – 083a – Strange days
Duo closed his phone, frowning slightly. He looked at his desk.
His clean desk. His clean, empty and nothing-left-to-do-today desk.
“Tiffany, do you mind if I leave early? I want to go into town and do some stuff.”
“Sure; no problem, Duo. We’re not busy. But leave Heero a note; he never believes me when I tell him where you are.”
“Heh! I know! Why is that, anyway?” He gathered his bag and his cloak, swirling it around his shoulders.
Tiffany didn’t look up from her magazine. “I think it’s a Dragon thing. He and Wufei both like to get their information directly from the source. Beyond that, who knows?”
“Or cares!” Duo laughed. He typed a quick note on Heero’s computer, embellishing it with flowers, bubbles and tiny floating hearts. “See you tomorrow,” he called to the Witch. She raised her hand in acknowledgment.
~*~
Julie handed Duo a cup of soda and sat down across the table from him.
“Thanks,” he said automatically. He took a swallow. It tasted odd; he made a face and checked the lid.
“What’s wrong?” asked Julie.
“Just tastes kind of funny.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I must have gotten diet by mistake. I can get you another one.”
“No, that’s okay,” Duo soothed. “I don’t mind it, now that I know.” The girl was always so anxious to do the right thing; he didn’t want her to get hysterical over a cup of soda.
They sat in companionable silence, sipping their sodas. Duo figured she would get around to the point of their getting together soon enough. He was in no great hurry; dinner wasn’t until 1800, and he could always call for a port if the time got close.
They’d done this a few times; just sat and talked. Julie didn’t have many friends and she didn’t have much self-regard. She seemed to think she wasn’t worthy of regard, a child of divorce who blamed herself. He tried to convince her that she was worthy of a better education – that was, after all, the holy grail of Human existence – but she seemed to think she couldn’t get into college without knowing what she wanted to do there, and she frankly didn’t have a clue on that score. Sometimes they talked about the guys who populated her fantasies; sometimes Duo even tried to offer suggestions on how to get this boy or that one to notice her, but he didn’t have much hope that any of it would work. Julie was just so socially inept. Or maybe it wasn’t ineptitude as much as fear; she was still having trouble just saying ‘hello’. Dragons only knew how she managed to speak to Duo in the first place. He didn’t know how to help her, really, so he just listened and tried to let her see that she wasn’t ‘nothing.’
After a while, Julie checked her watch. “Time to go, Duo.”
He looked up, blinking owlishly. “Go? Where’re we going?”
“We’re going to go buy my freedom.” She took his arm, pulling him to his feet, where he swayed rather alarmingly.
“Huh?” Why in the hell was his mouth acting… strange? And his head… It felt like spider webs… or… or glue. Each thought seemed to take a very long time.
He blinked again; he was sitting in Julie’s car. She was turning the key, starting the engine.
“Whr’r we goin’…?” he mumbled again.
“Don’t worry, Duo. It’ll be okay.”
~*~
Duo started awake as strange hands moved over his body. He tried to pull away from that unwelcome touch, but nothing happened; his body didn’t respond. Voices… two voices very close by. But most of the words were strange and made no sense. He tried to concentrate, but his head still felt… odd. How long? Where? What? Heero!
*That* thought got through all right, but nothing else seemed able to.
“That’s why I brought him,” said a vaguely familiar voice. “You said...”
“Yeah; whatever,” replied a second from much closer to Duo.
Hands… That voice belonged to the hands.
“All right; you can go. Just you keep your mouth shut. I can still find you any time I want, and if I go down, you go with me.”
“Yeah, yeah. I *know* that.” That voice came closer. He tried to open his eyes, but they just wouldn’t cooperate; it was as if they were glued shut. “Sorry, Duo,” said that voice and a hand touched his hair. “You’re a really nice guy and I appreciate all the stuff you tried to do for me, but you were right; I gotta think of myself first, ya know? Anyway, it won’t be so bad. You be good, and he’ll treat you okay.”
What the fuck?!
But the voice was gone, and his thoughts were losing coherence again.
::*What* won’t be so bad…?::
...tbc...
Dark, angsty, possibility of NCS, squick and a death.
But you won't see most of that for a while... Buckle up; it's gonna be a long ride.
Bah humbug and merry christmas. ~.~;
BFB – 083a – Strange days
Duo closed his phone, frowning slightly. He looked at his desk.
His clean desk. His clean, empty and nothing-left-to-do-today desk.
“Tiffany, do you mind if I leave early? I want to go into town and do some stuff.”
“Sure; no problem, Duo. We’re not busy. But leave Heero a note; he never believes me when I tell him where you are.”
“Heh! I know! Why is that, anyway?” He gathered his bag and his cloak, swirling it around his shoulders.
Tiffany didn’t look up from her magazine. “I think it’s a Dragon thing. He and Wufei both like to get their information directly from the source. Beyond that, who knows?”
“Or cares!” Duo laughed. He typed a quick note on Heero’s computer, embellishing it with flowers, bubbles and tiny floating hearts. “See you tomorrow,” he called to the Witch. She raised her hand in acknowledgment.
~*~
Julie handed Duo a cup of soda and sat down across the table from him.
“Thanks,” he said automatically. He took a swallow. It tasted odd; he made a face and checked the lid.
“What’s wrong?” asked Julie.
“Just tastes kind of funny.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I must have gotten diet by mistake. I can get you another one.”
“No, that’s okay,” Duo soothed. “I don’t mind it, now that I know.” The girl was always so anxious to do the right thing; he didn’t want her to get hysterical over a cup of soda.
They sat in companionable silence, sipping their sodas. Duo figured she would get around to the point of their getting together soon enough. He was in no great hurry; dinner wasn’t until 1800, and he could always call for a port if the time got close.
They’d done this a few times; just sat and talked. Julie didn’t have many friends and she didn’t have much self-regard. She seemed to think she wasn’t worthy of regard, a child of divorce who blamed herself. He tried to convince her that she was worthy of a better education – that was, after all, the holy grail of Human existence – but she seemed to think she couldn’t get into college without knowing what she wanted to do there, and she frankly didn’t have a clue on that score. Sometimes they talked about the guys who populated her fantasies; sometimes Duo even tried to offer suggestions on how to get this boy or that one to notice her, but he didn’t have much hope that any of it would work. Julie was just so socially inept. Or maybe it wasn’t ineptitude as much as fear; she was still having trouble just saying ‘hello’. Dragons only knew how she managed to speak to Duo in the first place. He didn’t know how to help her, really, so he just listened and tried to let her see that she wasn’t ‘nothing.’
After a while, Julie checked her watch. “Time to go, Duo.”
He looked up, blinking owlishly. “Go? Where’re we going?”
“We’re going to go buy my freedom.” She took his arm, pulling him to his feet, where he swayed rather alarmingly.
“Huh?” Why in the hell was his mouth acting… strange? And his head… It felt like spider webs… or… or glue. Each thought seemed to take a very long time.
He blinked again; he was sitting in Julie’s car. She was turning the key, starting the engine.
“Whr’r we goin’…?” he mumbled again.
“Don’t worry, Duo. It’ll be okay.”
~*~
Duo started awake as strange hands moved over his body. He tried to pull away from that unwelcome touch, but nothing happened; his body didn’t respond. Voices… two voices very close by. But most of the words were strange and made no sense. He tried to concentrate, but his head still felt… odd. How long? Where? What? Heero!
*That* thought got through all right, but nothing else seemed able to.
“That’s why I brought him,” said a vaguely familiar voice. “You said...”
“Yeah; whatever,” replied a second from much closer to Duo.
Hands… That voice belonged to the hands.
“All right; you can go. Just you keep your mouth shut. I can still find you any time I want, and if I go down, you go with me.”
“Yeah, yeah. I *know* that.” That voice came closer. He tried to open his eyes, but they just wouldn’t cooperate; it was as if they were glued shut. “Sorry, Duo,” said that voice and a hand touched his hair. “You’re a really nice guy and I appreciate all the stuff you tried to do for me, but you were right; I gotta think of myself first, ya know? Anyway, it won’t be so bad. You be good, and he’ll treat you okay.”
What the fuck?!
But the voice was gone, and his thoughts were losing coherence again.
::*What* won’t be so bad…?::
...tbc...