Breaking Tradition
"Here are the reports from L3, and this month's financial estimates,"
Une planted a stack of paper in front of Treize.
Treize stared at the mountain with as much grace as he could muster and
smiled at Une.
Zechs laughed at the pained look on Treize's face, as his hand gently
brushed against Treize's shoulder, expressing his sympathy.
A light touch. But Une knew there was more in that touch than anything
that will pass between Treize and herself.
"I'll be in my office." Une said graciously, as she let the two lovers
be.
Safe in her own office, Une collapsed unceremoniously into her chair.
There was nothing personal in her office. No photographs of children or
husband or friends. No stuffed animals or art prints. Not even a
bookshelf. There was nothing of her personality except for an ancient
oak desk, and a dozen red roses flanked by a bottle of champagne.
Knocks came from the door.
Une quickly straightened herself in her chair, "Come in."
"Une, I got the mission reports from..." Noin marched in, but stopped
talking when she saw the roses and the champagne, "What's the
occasion?"
For a moment Une didn't answer as she turned away, her eyes fixed on
the window.
"It's my birthday today," Une said quietly.
Noin wisely closed the door behind her, and seated herself on the
table. Without asking, she picked up the card on the roses.
"To my loyal companion. Happy Birthday. Treize," Noin read the note out
loud, "For a woman who saved his butt plenty of times, he's not very
personal to you, is he?"
Une didn't respond as she continued to stare outside of the window.
Noin suddenly regretted what she had said. <The pot calling the kettle
black. I wonder if I am this pathetic.>
"Every year, he sends the roses and the champagne, and then drops by my
room late at night to drink it with me," Une's voice was distant,
apathetic.
"Sounds exciting," Noin tried to keep the sarcasm from dripping from
her voice.
"I hate champagne," Une said quietly, "And I hate the color red. If I
ever keep a garden, it would be filled with white flowers."
Noin was slightly taken aback by the comment. She and Une had never
been close. During the war Noin thought for sure she and Une were going
to duke it out a couple of times. Even now, as the two women worked
side by side, they rarely exchanged more than a few words outside of
business. Yet, irony of ironies, the two of them should fall for two
gay men who were in love with each other.
Noin wanted to laugh at herself. What right did she have to feel sorry
for Une when she was no better herself. For all their dedication to the
men they loved, unrequited love sucked.
She had once taught cadets at OZ to pick their battles. Not all battles
can be won. Now, here she was, still fighting when the war was already
lost.
Suddenly, Noin got fed up with it. She wondered why she hadn't gotten
fed up with it earlier, but at this moment, she decided, enough was
enough. They both were young and attractive women, and there were
plenty of fish in the sea.
"Take the rest of the day off, Une," Noin declared, "We are going out
shopping and clubbing tonight to celebrate your birthday!"
Une stared at Noin evenly, "Noin, you don't know how to dance."
Noin flinched. Of course she shouldn't be surprised. Lady Une knew
everything about everyone that worked under this roof. From who was
having whose baby, to the favorite wine of the Ambassador of L5. Yet
people didn't know anything about Une at all.
Noin shrugged, now seemed as a good time to find out as any, "I could
always learn. Come on, Une. Let's be irresponsible for once in our
lives."
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Treize was just beginning to see his desk again when Relena came in
with a brand new stack of papers, and dropped it on his desk.
"Here are Eurasia reports," Relena told the frustrated politician.
"Isn't Une supposed to be taking care of those?" Treize asked while he
inwardly moaned.
"Not today. She took today off." Treize could have sworn on his honor
that Relena was smirking. Relena never smirked. This was serious.
"She has *never* taken a day off," Treize stated very very slowly.
"All the more reason for her to do it, then." With that Relena half
walked, half skipped out of Treize's office. That Hilde girl was
teaching Relena new ways of annoying him, Treize was sure of it.
<*I'm going out tonight - I'm feeling allright*>
Noin stared at the poor salesman until he looked like he was going to
cry.
"Leather?" Noin said finally.
"You asked for something 'ultra sexy'," Une helped out the poor man.
Noin snatched the black leather skirt from the salesman and waved in
front of Une's face.
"Une, I have underwear bigger than this," Noin had a distinct feeling
that Une was enjoying her plight.
Une just stood there with that damn annoying polite manner of hers and
smiled. Sometimes, Noin wondered if she liked Une better as the
merciless commander.
"You have a nice figure, you would look good in it," the salesman told
Noin. <I am not going to punch him. I am not going to punch him.>
"He's right," Une added innocently.
"Why don't you wear it, then!" Noin dared Une.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
After the two women left the store, the poor salesman collapsed on the
ground laughing. Not that the two ladies didn't look good in the
clothing they finally picked out, they were certainly beautiful, but
the expression on their faces as they picked out each other's outfits.
oh my.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"Noin, kindly remind me to not let you leave tonight until you help me
out of this skirt," Une shouted at her companion as they were blasted
into the club, the Hip Monkey. Une was clad in a white shirt buttoned
down low enough that her lacy black bra was clearly visible. A skin
tight black leather mini skirt hugged her shapely hips.
"At least you have the assurances that it won't slip off! I am going to
freaken fall into my dinner," Noin shouted back. The outfit Une had
picked out for Noin was a silver dress with openings strategically
located to emphasize her long legs, slender waist, perfect shoulder
blades and ninety percent of her breasts.
<*Gonna let it all hang out*>
"So what are we supposed to be doing now?" Une asked Noin after they
squeezed past the entrance, and into the dance floor.
"We dance!" True to her words, Noin began to swing her hips
dramatically. And was rewarded with a stifled laugh from Une, "Who told
you I couldn't dance anyway!"
"I see I was misinformed," Une corrected as she moved by Noin's side
and joined her wild swinging motion. To Noin's surprise and envy, Une
moved with an easy grace that made even the wildest motions seem sexy
and polished.
Une's whole body flowed like ripples slowing expanding in water. Noin
watched Une dance with strange fascination as if watching a dream. No,
a vision... In the flashing lights and the loud music, somehow Une
seemed to emit a soft glow of her own. Noin tried her best to mimic the
movement of her partner, and succeeded only in distracting half of the
men in the club with her enticing moves. However, Noin's attention was
focused solely on Une. It was an intoxication. As if watching someone
else, Noin saw her hands reach out and her arms wrap around Une's
slender waist. Une felt like an apparition in her arms, light, airy,
and completely unreal.
When the music was replaced by a slow love song, Noin felt as if she
was waking from a dream. I haven't even had any alcohol and already I
feel drunk, Noin thought with some amusement.
"Let's go get a drink," Noin informed her partner as the two glided to
the bar along with a bunch of admiring glances from the men and not a
few women.
"May I have a glass of water?" Une asked the bartender. The man didn't
answer for a moment, as he was too busy staring down Une's shirt.
"Cancel that. Give us two glasses of beer," Noin took the opportunity
to make her order.
Une turned to Noin questionably, "Beer?"
"I trained cadets for OZ for two years, I got addicted to the stuff.
Ever tried it?" Noin asked as two foaming glasses were placed next to
them.
"No. Treize only keep wine and champagne for his guests," Une sniffed
it carefully.
"Zechs too," Noin said with a bit of self-pity, "I think I know all his
favorites. And yet, he wouldn't be able to tell you that I like beer."
Une didn't reply as she continued to stare at the beer.
"It's more bubbly than I thought," Une watched a bit of foam spill over
the glass.
Noin looked up from her glass, Une looked oddly innocent as she stared
at the beer. Who would have thought that Lady Une would even be
touching something as unsophisticated as beer?
"Get down to earth with the rest of us mortals sometime," Noin told her
companion. <I kind of like it.> But Noin kept that thought to herself.
Une finally took a brave sip at her glass. Surprise was evident on her
face. Then she proceeded to bury her face into the beer and gulped it
down. When she came up for air, some foam lingered on her nose.
<I am not going to laugh. I am not going to laugh. I am. I wish I had a
camera.> Noin had to bite her lips as she reached out her hand and wiped
away the stain on Une's face.
"I take it you like it?" Noin stared at Une's mostly empty glass.
"It's not sweet," Une smiled, "I like the light bitterness."
Noin smiled, as she gestured the bartended to fill their cups again.
When Noin put her mug down from her face, she noticed that Une's chest
was glistening. Probably damp from all that hard dancing, Noin decided.
It was somewhat distracting watching Une's chest rise and fall slowly.
"So where did you learn to dance like that?" Noin asked quickly.
"When I was little, I wanted to be a ballerina," Une smiled, "I took
lessons for five years."
Noin studied Une's entire body, in the changing light, Noin could
almost see the outline of a pink ballet dress. <That's what she reminds
me of!> Noin suddenly realized. Ever since she had met Une, she had
always thought Une reminded her of something, but she couldn't never
pinpoint it.
Noin grinned, "When I was a little girl, I had a music box in the shape
of a crystal ball with a ballerina in it. She had brownish hair and
brown eyes just like you."
Une laughed.
Noin loved the way Une's face melted from fall to spring when she
smiled or laughed.
"What happened to it?" Une asked after a moment.
"I broke it," Noin confessed honestly.
Une laughed again.
"She looked trapped in that crystal ball. She could never play with my
other toys," Noin's voice was soft.
Une stared at Noin, "Did she look happier after you broke her glass
cage?"
"Yeah, she kicked G.I. Joe's butt with her super ballerina kick!" Noin
told Une proudly.
Noin got the reaction she expected, but she could not laugh. <What I am
doing? I'm cracking bad jokes just so I can hear her laugh. And I don't
know if I'm doing it for her, or for me.> Noin thought with some alarm.
"So what did you want to be when you were little?" Une finally asked
Noin after a moment of comfortable silence.
"I wanted to be a cowboy!" Noin said eagerly, "I love horses."
"I could never ride horses. When I was little, I thought people were so
cruel when they..." Une's words died in mid-sentence as she looked
away.
<Cruel>. The word hanged in the air.
Noin reached out her hand and embraced Une's long fingers, "We were
soldiers. And it was a life time ago."
Une looked up.
Noin's hands tightened slightly, "This is now. This is real. The war
was a dream from another lifetime." <A lifetime ago when we loved men
that would never be ours.>
Suddenly the music stopped and a member of the band claimed the
microphone, "Are you having a good time tonight?"
The crowd shouted. Noin stared at Une for a moment, before wolf
whistling with the crowd.
Une had never seen any one wolf whistle. She was very impressed.
<*Wanna make some noise - really raise my voice
Yeah, I wanna scream and shout*>
"Excuse me?" a familiar voice shouted over the crowd, "Lady Une?"
Une turned around abruptly and stared at the source, "Tyr? What are you
doing here?"
Tyr laughed nervously trying not to stare at Une's more than ample
endowments.
Tyr, the person who archived all their documents at the Preventers,
Noin quickly placed the name. The name rang another bell. <A soldier
under Commander Une.>
"Would you like to dance?" Tyr offered.
Noin watched Une very carefully. She could almost see Une's brain
pulling up the regulations that OZ and Preventer both had about proper
behavior towards people who work for you.
"Sure," Une smiled and Noin tried her best not to let her jaw drop to
the ground.
Before Une reached the dance floor she turned around and smiled at
Noin, "This is now. This is real."
<*No inhibitions - make no conditions
Get a little out of line
I ain't gonna act politically correct
I only wanna have a good time*>
"So are you here with Lt. Noin?" Tyr asked Une over the music.
"Yes," Une smiled, "She's the one who picked out my outfit for me." Une
rarely talked about herself. But as she danced in these dim flashing
lights, as she saw the glances Noin was giving her, as the alcohol
worked through her system. She felt oddly liberated.
"Permission to speak frankly, Sir," Tyr said seriously.
"Permission granted," Une smiled a little. It had been a long time
since someone called her Sir.
"Off the record, are you and Lt. Noin together?" Tyr asked carefully.
Une was taken aback by the question. They were just... Une stopped
herself. She never had any friends. At least... she didn't.
Tyr, however, took the silence as a yes.
"It's about time!" Tyr exclaimed, "Off the record, Sir, a lot of us
thought Lt.Noin could do better than Zechs and that you..." Tyr
stopped. Perhaps believing that too much had been said.
Une smiled reassuringly, "I will take that as a compliment."
Noin watched Une wow Tyr with her sexy movements and felt a little
jealous, but then she wasn't sure if she was more jealous of Une having
someone to dance with while no one had asked her, or if she was more
jealous that she wasn't the one dancing with Une.
<Oh boy. The alcohol must be getting to me.> Noin thought gingerly as she
watched Une's round hips swung backward and forward with the music and
her perfect breasts bouncing with the beat.
When the song finally ended, and Une came back to join her, Noin was
feeling distinctively hotter.
"I'm going to use the Lady's room," Une told Noin, oblivious to the
change in Noin's temperature.
Noin nodded as she watched Une's butt disappear in the crowd and
decided that Une needed to wear clothing like this more often. <Who
would have guessed such beauty was hidden under those conservative
clothes and that cool manner.> Noin decided that she must be spending
too much time working with Duo lately. Her thoughts were becoming...
unseemly. Then again, did she really care right now?
<*The best thing about being a woman
Is the prerogative to have a little fun and... *>
It took longer than Une expected to adjust her bra. Tyr was very
courteous but while they were dancing, Une had snapped one of the hooks
that held her bra together. Une thought it best not to flash anyone
tonight. Especially since she had to work with Tyr in the future.
When she came out of the Ladies Room, the music of the club had
changed. There was someone actually singing. It took a moment for Une
to recognize the voice as Noin's. Oh my.
Noin was looking directly at her as she sung.
<*Oh, oh, oh, go totally crazy - forget I'm a lady*>
For tonight. I'm just me. Une. And perhaps forever.
<*Men's shirts - short skirts*>
Une looked at herself and had to laugh. So this is what normal women
do, is it?
<*Oh, oh, oh, really go wild - yeah, doin' it in style*>
Noin was dancing seductively, as she let her hand slide from her hips
up to her breasts, eliciting wild cries of ecstatic men offstage. All
the while, she was staring directly at Une, as if challenging her.
Daring her to action.
<I was a soldier once, Noin. I never turn down a challenge.> Une placed
herself directly in front of the stage, and began to dance, swinging
her whole body alluringly like a belly dancer.
Noin's eyes burned on Une's body, but Une kept on dancing.
<*Oh, oh, oh, get in the action - feel the attraction*>
Une felt as if a light veil had drapped over her mind. The rest of the
room faded into a distance. Only she and Noin remained. Noin on top of
the stage, and her beneath it. Dancing, moving, living.
<*Colour my hair - do what I dare*>
As if under a spell, Une climbed on top of the stage to join Noin.
Their hips barely touching each other as they danced.
<*Oh, oh, oh, I wanna be free - yeah, to feel the way I feel*>
Noin wrapped her arms around Une as they began to move as one.
<*Man! I feel like a woman!*>
Before Une realized it, Noin was kissing her. And for some strange
reason, she wasn't moving away.
Loud hooting noises finally broke the spell.
The song had already ended, and the band leader was smiling stupidly at
them.
Noin took Une's hand and dramatically bowed to their eager audience.
"So Une, still wanna me to help you get out of that skirt?" Noin
whispered to Une, as she led them off stage.
"I think you will have to. I certainly can't get it off myself," Une
answered.
<*The girls need a break - tonight we're gonna take
The chance to get out on the town
We don't need romance - we only wanna dance*>
Noin didn't know how the heck they got back to Une's apartment. Her
head was buzzing, and her whole body was burning. She could feel Une's
kisses on her neck and on her shoulders. Her dress was already
practically falling off by the time she was in Une's apartment.
They didn't even make it to the bed. They pushed each other over Une's
furry carpet, trying to undress each other. The fuzzy carpet underneath
Noin's body tickled her slightly, and made her giggle a little.
"You have a nice voice," Une muttered as her mouth traced Noin's
shoulder blade.
"It was a good song," Noin whispered into Une's long hair.
" Oh, oh, oh, go totally crazy - forget I'm a lady," Une sung softly as
she unzipped Noin's dress. Taking long moment to admire Noin's flawless
skin and soft curves, Une's breath tickling Noin's bare flesh.
It was more than Noin could take as she grabbed Une and flipped her
over. Noin sat on top of Une, and gently messaged Une's breasts with
her hand.
" Men's shirts." Une teased her soon-to-be lover. Noin ripped open
Une's shirt with her teeth.
"Short skirt." the black leather skirt took more skill.
Just as Noin managed to finally unzip it, the door to Une's apartment
opened.
Treize and Zeches nearly tumbled over the two women on the floor.
Black lace bra, black leather skirt. Treize registered.
Naked except for a black underwear. Zechs managed to process.
Treize and Zechs stood there for a moment, completely dumb-founded,
then slowly backed out of the room.
"Ummm.happy birthday," Treize managed before Zechs closed the door.
Noin stared at Une. Une stared back.
The two of them started laughing hysterically.
"Doesn't he ever knock?" Noin asked Une when she finally managed to
contain her laughter.
"No," Une replied as she planted a kiss on Noin's neck, "I guess he
will start now. I forgot completely that he always comes over on my
birthdays."
"Ironic, isn't it?" Noin reflected, "They finally see us naked when we
give up on them."
Une stared at Noin's breasts for a moment, "Lucky them."
"Isn't there any one who's straight working with us?" Noin asked
lightly as she resumed taking Une's skirt off.
"Wufei," Une said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Good to know," Noin finally succeeded in her task.
As Noin kissed Une again, she whispered, "Happy birthday, Une. I think
this is the beginning of a whole new birthday tradition."
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