Duo was chattering. So what else was new? Wufei had gotten stuck with the Talking Terror for this mission, because it needed the combined skills of the two.
*Has that boy a brain in his head?* Wufei wondered.
“...I like puppies. Puppies are cute, don’t you agree, Wufei? When I was younger I was friends with a stray puppy. I fed him sometimes. Cats are pretty nice too, but dogs are better. Heero reminds me of a cat. I’m more like a dog, don’t you agree? Of course, then there’s other pets like rabbits and parrots...I think you’d be a ferret, Wu-man...” And on, and on, like a broken record. Wufei was about out of his gourd from the constant chatter. Did Maxwell ever _breathe_?
“Sometimes I feel like I’m ignored, though. Do you ever get that feeling, Wufei? Like everyone’s pretending to listen to you, except they’re not?”
*Some of us don’t even bother to pretend.*
“Maybe it’s because you appear to have the intellectual level of a Stegasaurus,” Wufei replied absently.
“Hey!” Duo said. “I do not! I could beat you, Mr. Scholar, at any intelligence game you can come up with.”
“OK,” Wufei said, “But if I win, you have to shut up the rest of the time we’re here.”
“And if I win...well, I’ll tell you what I want then.”
Wufei sweatdropped. “No. Tell me now.”
Duo raised an eyebrow. “What are you so worried about? I’m an idiot, _remember_?”
The sweatdrop grew larger. “Uh...right. We’ll have to find a teacher or someone to judge.”
“I know just the gal,” Duo said, bouncing around with a giant smile on his face. “C’mon!”

“Hello, Duo,” Mrs. M. said, looking up from the computer screen wallpapered in Zorro. “What can I do for you?”
“Hmmmm,” Duo said, “It seems my friend and I have a slight disagreement over my intelligence level.”
Mrs. M. smiled. The boy may have been a real chatterbox, but she knew the truth. In his time at Maxwell Church, Duo had been hated and loathed by most of the other kids...because of his intelligence. Most of the other children had thought him a snob or worse, because he had often chosen to spend time reading classic literature over playing with the other children.
So...Duo created a mask, thicker that Zechs’, of bubbly, ditzy laughter. Teacher and student had had known each other for a long time. It was just happy coincidence that they had ended up at the same school.
Duo’s friend was in for a suprise. Duo might not be able to study much any more, but his mind latched onto information like a steel trap- and he rarely forgot anything he learned. She’d heard his IQ was well over 200. She believed it. She sighed and rubbed her temples. Now if the boy would only _apply_ himself...

“OK,” Mrs. M. said, “You both understand how the game works?” Both boys nodded. “Test the buzzers really quick. Duo?”
Buzz!
“OK, Wufei?”
Buzz!
“OK, let’s begin. First question: Which Romans were rich and powerful: the patricians or the plebians?”
Buzz!
“Wufei?”
“The Patricians, everyone knows that.”
“Hush!” she said. “What’s the capital of Cuba?”
Buzz!
“Duo?”
“Havana,” Duo replied.
“In what sport do players on horseback hit the ball with a mallet? Duo?”
“Polo.”
As the game progressed, Wufei proved himself quite knowlegeable in math and sciences, while Duo got more geography, literature, and trivia type questions. Both boys knew quite a bit of their history.
In the end it came down to the two questions, “What did Sophocles, Aeschylus, and Aristophanes have in common?” and “What were the first words Charlotte wrote in her web to save Wilbur’s life?” Duo answered the first one to tie with Wufei and the second to pull ahead by one point as the time ran out.
*Whoa...holy _shit_,* Wufei thought, worried. *He _is_ smart! What's he gonna make me do?* This second thought he voiced out loud.
"That's for me to know, and you to find out. Later." Duo replied.
*This is not good, this is not good...* Wufei started to chant in his mind, repeating it all the way home to the safe house. *He'll make me dress in drag and square dance, or something awful like that. This is not good...it's injustice...very bad...*
"So...Duo..." Wufei said, his throat dry, as they entered the silent safehouse. "What do you want-"
Duo gave that grin of his again, and Wufei found his mouth going even dryer than before. "...me to...." he trailed off.
"Uh-oh..." he said, not liking the look on Duo's face in the slightest.
Duo moved closer. "I want..." he purred, pretending to pause and consider, "You."
"Wha?" Wufei gaped.
"You heard me," Duo replied, covering Wufei's mouth with his own.
Wufei was startled, but then he gave into the kiss.
Duo really was smarter than anyone realized.

~Owari~