Duo Maxwell arrived yesterday, looking very much like a lost puppy. I can’t say that I’m entirely surprised at his unannounced visit. He has always been so obsessive over Heero. His feelings are common knowledge; everyone – with the exception of Heero himself – knows about it. I had wondered often how the American would take Heero’s new job when it meant moving far away to live with Relena. I thought that perhaps he would feel helpless and possibly heartbroken. But I did not at all expect to open the door on a Friday afternoon to find wide purple eyes staring at me from underneath unruly bangs. "Dorothy-chan!" He moved to hug me as though we were friends being reunited after years apart, as though we hadn’t been enemies only a few months ago. I stepped back away from his arms and glared at him, effectively ceasing his movements. He lowered his arms quickly and cleared his throat. "I mean…hello, Dorothy." His voice was laced with mirth and his eyes glinted playfully. I frowned and took another half step backwards, looking him over closely. His braid is still obnoxiously long, I noticed immediately. Men with such long hair are rare and stand out far too much to be useful. But I find that I can’t imagine Duo without it. He has also given up his priest outfit; I give him points for this. Of course, he’s replaced it with leather pants and a horridly tight shirt. He therefore looses said points. Americans. I rolled my eyes inwardly. He stared at me, observing me while I did the same to him. His smirk eventually widened as he spoke in a loud, laughing voice. "You know, Dorothy, I’ve always wondered…how do you get your eyebrows to do that?" I blinked at him indignantly and moved to finger one of my eyebrows. "I mean, do you gel it or something? I think that you’d almost have to, to get it to fork like that." Duo cocked his head momentarily before continuing relentlessly. "Unless of course they’re natural. In which case, I would just like to ask you if you’ve ever heard of tweezers. Because that’s just disturbing." I opted not to respond, partly because I consider myself to be above exchanging childish remarks with a boy from L2 and partly because I knew perfectly well that he was about to make a point. "Not exactly pleasant is it, Dorothy, to have someone degrade your appearance." There was no bitterness in his voice, only cheerfulness. "I didn’t say anything about your appearance." "You didn’t have to; your face says it all." I was fairly impressed by his observation and quite a bit surprised. I briefly considered complimenting his skill before I stopped myself. I do not compliment Duo Maxwell, no matter what the circumstance may be. "You know, I think that you’ve been around Miss High and Mighty for far too long," he said, rocking back and forth on his heels. I didn’t get a chance to reply as both Heero and Relena entered the room. I noticed her hand on his arm and the way her smile seemed strained when she caught a glimpse of our guest, and I smiled. "Hee-chan!" Duo launched himself full-force at the other boy, his legs wrapping around Heero’s waist. Heero looked none too pleased but nevertheless held his arms around Duo awkwardly. Relena’s smile didn’t falter even slightly; I was disappointed. "Good afternoon, Duo. To what do we owe this visit?" Duo disengaged himself and gave her his brightest grin. I wondered idly if I was the only person present who noticed the mocking tone he suddenly took on. "Well, I was talking to Quatre the other day and he asked how you two were doing and I realized that it had been a very long time since I’d seen either of you. So I thought I’d pay you guys a surprise visit. I hope you don’t mind." "Not at all. You’re welcome here any time." The lack of enthusiasm spoke for itself. "I’ll have Dorothy take you up to a room." I began to respond when I was interrupted. "I’ll take him." Relena and I could only stare in shock as Heero turned quickly after speaking and walked toward the direction of the stairs, Duo trailing behind him with his bulging suitcase and a self-satisfied smirk written plainly on his lips. I spoke after a moment, turning my head slightly and clapping my hands together gleefully. "Oh, this is going to be such a lovely weekend, isn’t it, Miss Relena?" She was silent. Her fingers twitched lightly, and I could see her chest rising and falling with each breath. Finally her gaze shifted so that it met mine. "Yes," she said. "Yes, I believe that it is." Her eyes burned into mine, and I realized that the night would be quite a long and remarkable one. And it was. I could taste her jealousy.
Back to Failure of Vision Index - Back to Gundam Wing Shoujo-Ai Fanfiction