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lavandarlizard2I'm about ready to shoot Rudolph and nuke the north pole...
Instead, I'll just post this. See? I didn't make you wait too long. ^_^
BFB - 083b - Strange Days I
Duo didn’t come home last night.
Heero called our flat at 2017 to ask if he was here.
Wufei went nuts. He started yelling at Heero, in Chinese, which I don’t think Heero even understands; the gist of it being that it was somehow Heero’s fault for not keeping Duo safely chained to his belt. You’d never know to listen to him at that moment how much progress he’s made with his anger management therapy.
I managed to wrestle the phone away from the damn Dragon, ‘accidentally’ giving him an elbow in the ribs while I was at it.
While he was sucking air, I cut through Heero’s rage and got him calmed down enough to be coherent.
Yeah, I know; I oughta be a diplomat. Really, I’m just used to dealing with Dragons.
Anyway, the story was thus. Duo had gone into town about mid-afternoon. Heero expected him back for dinner. Duo wasn’t back by dinnertime. Heero started calling his cellphone. No answer.
I asked some careful questions, the only kind I dared to ask.
No, they hadn’t had a fight. Duo wasn’t depressed or unhappy. If anything, he was more bouncy than usual. Teal and Dael were coming to visit in a few weeks.
After two hours of searching, Heero was at his wits’ end. Duo was friendly toward a lot of people in town, most of whom we didn’t know… I hesitated to bring that up; it would just make Heero even crazier.
Dragons, in all forms and varieties, tend to be very protective of what is theirs. When it involves someone they care for… Well, you really oughtn’t to get in their way.
But I knew some of the places in town that Duo went without Heero, so I told him I would check out those places.
That *we* would check out those places.
Wufei had recovered from the shot in the ribs and was standing at the door, keys in hand, gesturing for me to hurry up.
Duo doesn’t drag Heero to the places where he buys his beads and yarns. He is rather over-conscious of such things being seen as feminine or female occupations among many groups. Probably comes of spending so many years with Humans. Even Witches and Wizards are apt to display those same chauvinistic attitudes.
I know Heero doesn’t feel that way, but he might be bored, simply because he doesn’t have the interest that Duo has.
The Banshee still seems to find it remarkable that Heero loves him the way he does. It sometimes seems that he’s waiting for Heero to come to his senses or tire of him.
Like that’ll happen in this lifetime.
Or the next seven.
Duo is always careful to shop for his craft supplies when Heero is busy or away on assignment, though, so as to always be available for the Wyvern. The Banshee is loathe to give Heero any reason to feel neglected.
Wufei has some strong opinions on *that* subject; *do not* get him started. All the way down to the parking lot he muttered and grumbled, mostly to himself, in Chinese. I usually ignore him when he gets like that. It’s some obscure ancient dialect anyway. Were-Dragons do not deign to speak the common tongue of the masses.
At the last moment, I veered away to my own car.
“Trowa?”
“You check the north side and I’ll check the south side,” I said. “Quicker that way.”
He snorted his agreement, irritated at not having thought of it himself. The clubs and bars tend to group on the north side, and he knows where Duo likes to go.
The boutiques and craft shops are mostly on the south side, but I had another, ulterior motive for separating.
Duo is still quite young, and for all of the time he spent living among Mundane Humans, he still displays an oddly endearing naïveté sometimes, especially when dealing with Humans his own age. Not the students at the Castle; Duo is wary around them since that not very pleasant session last year, but he seems to feel comfortable with Human teenagers with not a bit of Magic to them.
In keeping with that, he has some acquaintances among the local high school population. I don’t think Heero or Wufei know this, but I’ve dropped Duo off at the local park hangout a couple of times, and seen a few of the young adults who appear to enjoy his company. I do not believe that any of those acquaintances know that Duo is a Magical Creature.
Being a school night, not many people were in the park at that hour, but I did find a small group. They greeted me cautiously, but without hostility.
“Do any of you know Duo? Tallish, slim, long hair,” I sketched a description. “He wears his hair in a braid.”
“Yeah, sure,” said one boy. “Why do you want him?”
A girl sprawled atop the next table snickered. “Are you his boyfriend?”
A second boy smacked her leg and hissed at her. The first boy rolled his eyes.
“He’s a friend,” I explained. “He was supposed to be home for dinner, but he never showed, and his partner is frantic.”
The girl giggled and rolled onto her back. I caught a whiff of alcohol. “Maybe he’s having too much fun to go home,” she smirked.
“Oh?”
“*Everyone* likes Duo,” she pronounced solemnly, and then spoiled it by giggling again.
“Ignore her,” said the second boy sharply. “She’s faced, and she’s still pissed that Duo turned her down.”
“Am not!”
Both boys ignored her. She batted her eyes at me. “Bet you’ve got better taste,” she purred. “I like men better than boys anyway.”
“Don’t we all,” muttered the first boy. Then to me, he said; “I saw Duo with Julie earlier. But that was hours ago.”
“Who’s Julie?” ‘Hours ago’ wasn’t a lot of help, but it was better than nothing.
The drunken female started to speak, but the second boy cut her off. “Julie’s okay. She’s kinda weird, but we’re all kinda weird. She and Duo just talk yarn, mostly. She crochets, he knits.” The boy shrugged. “I get the feeling that he feels sorry for her.”
My ears pricked up. Figuratively. “Oh? Why do you think that?”
“Well, she’s kinda like everybody’s victim. You know, one of those people that everything bad happens to. Like a bad luck magnet.” He looked to the other boy. “Right?”
“Yeah. She gets picked on at school, and she’s not very good in class. She lives with her dad. Her mom and her older sister took off a few years ago.” He crumpled a dead leaf thoughtfully. “She – her mom, I mean – was kind of a… Well, she slept around a lot, I guess. Her sister too. I heard her dad threw them both out. Julie’s not like that; not as far as I know. She’s just sort of quiet, doesn’t fit in anywhere.”
Yes, I nodded; it would be very like Duo to befriend someone who didn’t fit in. His aunt’s death had brought him both closer to and further from who he is inside; he would be touched by someone else dealing with the same problem. It was a feeling he knew quite well.
“Do you know her phone number or where she lives?”
They looked at each other. “On Nokaki, I think,” said one. “But I don’t know the number.”
“She’s got a crappy yellow Toyota,” said the girl suddenly. “It’s like ten years old. I don’t know the license or anything, so don’t ask,” she grumbled.
I looked at the boys; they shrugged. That was all I’d get from them. I thanked them and left.
Back in my car, I called Wufei. He had never heard Duo mention ‘Julie’, but agreed that she sounded like someone he would have sympathy for. He also reminded me that Duo had recently taken up crocheting; maybe the two were related.
I no longer bother asking how or where Wufei gets his information on Duo. He has turned Banshee-watching into a science. Inazuma is almost as bad.
I love Duo dearly, and if he had chosen us over Heero, I would have been ecstatic, but he didn’t and it makes no sense to me to behave as if anything will ever change. I consider him one of my best friends now, and I am content with that. Mostly.
And dammit, I was beginning to feel very scared. Duo would *not* deliberately do something like this. Not something that would have Heero frothing at the mouth with worry.
Wufei and I headed for Nokaki Street.
Of course, there was no sign of an old yellow Toyota. We would have to keep looking, but at the moment, this Julie seemed like the person who would have the best information of where Duo was. Maybe she worked somewhere and just wasn’t home yet. Or, more annoying, maybe she was home and her old yellow Toyota tucked safely away in the garage.
I picked up my phone and dialed Heero. No answer. He was probably flying, searching from the air. I think he can pick up Duo’s presence or scent or ki from a distance, but I have no idea how great a distance, or if it’s a consistent thing. He just seems to know, when we’re within the Castle, where Duo is at any given moment. It may be another Dragon thing, because Wufei seems to do something similar sometimes.
I pick up on his pheromones sometimes, but only if he’s upset or deeply engrossed in something. And my scenting ability is greater when I’m in my animal form, but that wouldn’t help me now.
Wufei and I compared notes, the Were-Dragon being much more subdued than usual. He sighed heavily, fingers drumming on the steering wheel, as I shared what I’d learned, and then gave his own report with uncharacteristic brevity
According to Wufei, Duo hadn’t been to any of the clubs he likes to go to. He hadn’t been at the library; Wufei managed to catch the librarian as he was leaving for the night. The craft and yarn shops are all closed by 2000; I couldn’t ask if anyone there had seen him.
Wufei took off then, to make another circuit of the club zone. He would meet me back at the Castle.
I cruised down Nokaki again, but still no yellow Toyota anywhere along its seven tree-lined blocks.
At a loss for how to proceed, I headed back to the Castle. Wufei was only a few minutes ahead of me. Jake appeared as we were getting out of our cars.
“I went to check that beach,” he explained. “The one he seems to go to when he’s upset.”
It’s happened all of twice, but I wasn’t going to argue. Instead, I told him about the kids I’d talked to.
“What about the owner of the yarn shop where Duo always goes?” he asked when I finished. “Even if the shop is closed, we could call her.”
I looked at Wufei. Neither of us had thought of that. We didn’t know her name, and Wufei said so, rather testily. Probably put out at not knowing that single scrap of information about Duo’s life.
Jake snorted and vanished, leaving Wufei and I staring at empty air. I really hate the way the teleporters do that. It’ll drive you crazy to stand in the port room with people popping in and out. I’m always afraid to move in there, especially in my animal phase, for fear I’ll be run down by an inattentive porter. One of them trod on Wufei’s tail once; you should have heard the noise.
A handful of seconds, and Jake was back, cellphone in hand, already dialing.
“There’s an ‘In Case of Emergency’ number on the door,” he explained.
“Oh.” I looked at Wufei. He shrugged.
“What a concept,” he muttered.
Jake suddenly perked up, taking on his ‘customer service’ attitude. “Ms Werner? My name is Jacob Colinetti; I’m a friend of Duo’s. I’m sorry to disturb you so late, but I need to ask if you’ve seen him today.” He paused, obviously listening. “Oh? No, that is odd. Well, he was expected home by 1800, but he still isn’t back and we’re getting worried. Yes. Yes. That’s why we’re concerned. Would you happen to know of anyone we could call? Uh-huh… I think someone mentioned her…”
He looked at us, frowning, and made a writing motion. Wufei had paper and pen in hand instantly.
“Okay… Julie Stauber…? Oh, Strauber… Yes… 329… Okay. Ah, Ms Werner thanks so much! What?”
Jake went suddenly very still, listening intently.
Wufei and I looked at each other. I dialed Heero’s number again.
...tbc...
Instead, I'll just post this. See? I didn't make you wait too long. ^_^
BFB - 083b - Strange Days I
Duo didn’t come home last night.
Heero called our flat at 2017 to ask if he was here.
Wufei went nuts. He started yelling at Heero, in Chinese, which I don’t think Heero even understands; the gist of it being that it was somehow Heero’s fault for not keeping Duo safely chained to his belt. You’d never know to listen to him at that moment how much progress he’s made with his anger management therapy.
I managed to wrestle the phone away from the damn Dragon, ‘accidentally’ giving him an elbow in the ribs while I was at it.
While he was sucking air, I cut through Heero’s rage and got him calmed down enough to be coherent.
Yeah, I know; I oughta be a diplomat. Really, I’m just used to dealing with Dragons.
Anyway, the story was thus. Duo had gone into town about mid-afternoon. Heero expected him back for dinner. Duo wasn’t back by dinnertime. Heero started calling his cellphone. No answer.
I asked some careful questions, the only kind I dared to ask.
No, they hadn’t had a fight. Duo wasn’t depressed or unhappy. If anything, he was more bouncy than usual. Teal and Dael were coming to visit in a few weeks.
After two hours of searching, Heero was at his wits’ end. Duo was friendly toward a lot of people in town, most of whom we didn’t know… I hesitated to bring that up; it would just make Heero even crazier.
Dragons, in all forms and varieties, tend to be very protective of what is theirs. When it involves someone they care for… Well, you really oughtn’t to get in their way.
But I knew some of the places in town that Duo went without Heero, so I told him I would check out those places.
That *we* would check out those places.
Wufei had recovered from the shot in the ribs and was standing at the door, keys in hand, gesturing for me to hurry up.
Duo doesn’t drag Heero to the places where he buys his beads and yarns. He is rather over-conscious of such things being seen as feminine or female occupations among many groups. Probably comes of spending so many years with Humans. Even Witches and Wizards are apt to display those same chauvinistic attitudes.
I know Heero doesn’t feel that way, but he might be bored, simply because he doesn’t have the interest that Duo has.
The Banshee still seems to find it remarkable that Heero loves him the way he does. It sometimes seems that he’s waiting for Heero to come to his senses or tire of him.
Like that’ll happen in this lifetime.
Or the next seven.
Duo is always careful to shop for his craft supplies when Heero is busy or away on assignment, though, so as to always be available for the Wyvern. The Banshee is loathe to give Heero any reason to feel neglected.
Wufei has some strong opinions on *that* subject; *do not* get him started. All the way down to the parking lot he muttered and grumbled, mostly to himself, in Chinese. I usually ignore him when he gets like that. It’s some obscure ancient dialect anyway. Were-Dragons do not deign to speak the common tongue of the masses.
At the last moment, I veered away to my own car.
“Trowa?”
“You check the north side and I’ll check the south side,” I said. “Quicker that way.”
He snorted his agreement, irritated at not having thought of it himself. The clubs and bars tend to group on the north side, and he knows where Duo likes to go.
The boutiques and craft shops are mostly on the south side, but I had another, ulterior motive for separating.
Duo is still quite young, and for all of the time he spent living among Mundane Humans, he still displays an oddly endearing naïveté sometimes, especially when dealing with Humans his own age. Not the students at the Castle; Duo is wary around them since that not very pleasant session last year, but he seems to feel comfortable with Human teenagers with not a bit of Magic to them.
In keeping with that, he has some acquaintances among the local high school population. I don’t think Heero or Wufei know this, but I’ve dropped Duo off at the local park hangout a couple of times, and seen a few of the young adults who appear to enjoy his company. I do not believe that any of those acquaintances know that Duo is a Magical Creature.
Being a school night, not many people were in the park at that hour, but I did find a small group. They greeted me cautiously, but without hostility.
“Do any of you know Duo? Tallish, slim, long hair,” I sketched a description. “He wears his hair in a braid.”
“Yeah, sure,” said one boy. “Why do you want him?”
A girl sprawled atop the next table snickered. “Are you his boyfriend?”
A second boy smacked her leg and hissed at her. The first boy rolled his eyes.
“He’s a friend,” I explained. “He was supposed to be home for dinner, but he never showed, and his partner is frantic.”
The girl giggled and rolled onto her back. I caught a whiff of alcohol. “Maybe he’s having too much fun to go home,” she smirked.
“Oh?”
“*Everyone* likes Duo,” she pronounced solemnly, and then spoiled it by giggling again.
“Ignore her,” said the second boy sharply. “She’s faced, and she’s still pissed that Duo turned her down.”
“Am not!”
Both boys ignored her. She batted her eyes at me. “Bet you’ve got better taste,” she purred. “I like men better than boys anyway.”
“Don’t we all,” muttered the first boy. Then to me, he said; “I saw Duo with Julie earlier. But that was hours ago.”
“Who’s Julie?” ‘Hours ago’ wasn’t a lot of help, but it was better than nothing.
The drunken female started to speak, but the second boy cut her off. “Julie’s okay. She’s kinda weird, but we’re all kinda weird. She and Duo just talk yarn, mostly. She crochets, he knits.” The boy shrugged. “I get the feeling that he feels sorry for her.”
My ears pricked up. Figuratively. “Oh? Why do you think that?”
“Well, she’s kinda like everybody’s victim. You know, one of those people that everything bad happens to. Like a bad luck magnet.” He looked to the other boy. “Right?”
“Yeah. She gets picked on at school, and she’s not very good in class. She lives with her dad. Her mom and her older sister took off a few years ago.” He crumpled a dead leaf thoughtfully. “She – her mom, I mean – was kind of a… Well, she slept around a lot, I guess. Her sister too. I heard her dad threw them both out. Julie’s not like that; not as far as I know. She’s just sort of quiet, doesn’t fit in anywhere.”
Yes, I nodded; it would be very like Duo to befriend someone who didn’t fit in. His aunt’s death had brought him both closer to and further from who he is inside; he would be touched by someone else dealing with the same problem. It was a feeling he knew quite well.
“Do you know her phone number or where she lives?”
They looked at each other. “On Nokaki, I think,” said one. “But I don’t know the number.”
“She’s got a crappy yellow Toyota,” said the girl suddenly. “It’s like ten years old. I don’t know the license or anything, so don’t ask,” she grumbled.
I looked at the boys; they shrugged. That was all I’d get from them. I thanked them and left.
Back in my car, I called Wufei. He had never heard Duo mention ‘Julie’, but agreed that she sounded like someone he would have sympathy for. He also reminded me that Duo had recently taken up crocheting; maybe the two were related.
I no longer bother asking how or where Wufei gets his information on Duo. He has turned Banshee-watching into a science. Inazuma is almost as bad.
I love Duo dearly, and if he had chosen us over Heero, I would have been ecstatic, but he didn’t and it makes no sense to me to behave as if anything will ever change. I consider him one of my best friends now, and I am content with that. Mostly.
And dammit, I was beginning to feel very scared. Duo would *not* deliberately do something like this. Not something that would have Heero frothing at the mouth with worry.
Wufei and I headed for Nokaki Street.
Of course, there was no sign of an old yellow Toyota. We would have to keep looking, but at the moment, this Julie seemed like the person who would have the best information of where Duo was. Maybe she worked somewhere and just wasn’t home yet. Or, more annoying, maybe she was home and her old yellow Toyota tucked safely away in the garage.
I picked up my phone and dialed Heero. No answer. He was probably flying, searching from the air. I think he can pick up Duo’s presence or scent or ki from a distance, but I have no idea how great a distance, or if it’s a consistent thing. He just seems to know, when we’re within the Castle, where Duo is at any given moment. It may be another Dragon thing, because Wufei seems to do something similar sometimes.
I pick up on his pheromones sometimes, but only if he’s upset or deeply engrossed in something. And my scenting ability is greater when I’m in my animal form, but that wouldn’t help me now.
Wufei and I compared notes, the Were-Dragon being much more subdued than usual. He sighed heavily, fingers drumming on the steering wheel, as I shared what I’d learned, and then gave his own report with uncharacteristic brevity
According to Wufei, Duo hadn’t been to any of the clubs he likes to go to. He hadn’t been at the library; Wufei managed to catch the librarian as he was leaving for the night. The craft and yarn shops are all closed by 2000; I couldn’t ask if anyone there had seen him.
Wufei took off then, to make another circuit of the club zone. He would meet me back at the Castle.
I cruised down Nokaki again, but still no yellow Toyota anywhere along its seven tree-lined blocks.
At a loss for how to proceed, I headed back to the Castle. Wufei was only a few minutes ahead of me. Jake appeared as we were getting out of our cars.
“I went to check that beach,” he explained. “The one he seems to go to when he’s upset.”
It’s happened all of twice, but I wasn’t going to argue. Instead, I told him about the kids I’d talked to.
“What about the owner of the yarn shop where Duo always goes?” he asked when I finished. “Even if the shop is closed, we could call her.”
I looked at Wufei. Neither of us had thought of that. We didn’t know her name, and Wufei said so, rather testily. Probably put out at not knowing that single scrap of information about Duo’s life.
Jake snorted and vanished, leaving Wufei and I staring at empty air. I really hate the way the teleporters do that. It’ll drive you crazy to stand in the port room with people popping in and out. I’m always afraid to move in there, especially in my animal phase, for fear I’ll be run down by an inattentive porter. One of them trod on Wufei’s tail once; you should have heard the noise.
A handful of seconds, and Jake was back, cellphone in hand, already dialing.
“There’s an ‘In Case of Emergency’ number on the door,” he explained.
“Oh.” I looked at Wufei. He shrugged.
“What a concept,” he muttered.
Jake suddenly perked up, taking on his ‘customer service’ attitude. “Ms Werner? My name is Jacob Colinetti; I’m a friend of Duo’s. I’m sorry to disturb you so late, but I need to ask if you’ve seen him today.” He paused, obviously listening. “Oh? No, that is odd. Well, he was expected home by 1800, but he still isn’t back and we’re getting worried. Yes. Yes. That’s why we’re concerned. Would you happen to know of anyone we could call? Uh-huh… I think someone mentioned her…”
He looked at us, frowning, and made a writing motion. Wufei had paper and pen in hand instantly.
“Okay… Julie Stauber…? Oh, Strauber… Yes… 329… Okay. Ah, Ms Werner thanks so much! What?”
Jake went suddenly very still, listening intently.
Wufei and I looked at each other. I dialed Heero’s number again.
...tbc...
