Thunderstorm

The world was tense and still and the cold muted light of late afternoon peeked through a rift in the lowering clouds. The air outside the safe house was pregnant with moisture and expectancy; it clung to Duo's hair and clothes as he tramped through the weeds that choked the small yard.

Heero was waiting in the deep shadows of the rickety porch, leaning against a rough wooden beam, staring at the threatening sky. Duo ran his eyes over his lean, still form, gaze lingering on the hard planes of his chest not covered by his green tank top. The stairs creaked under the weight of his heavy boots, causing his partner's gaze to fall briefly on him.

"Storm coming."

Duo paused for a long moment, immobilized by the sound of the other pilot's voice. He forced himself to glance around and reply as he walked inside.

"Yup."

The screen door shut with a bang as loud as a gun shot in the silence. The cabin was crude and rundown but managed to fit the bare necessities in its one room. Duo dropped his load of wood by the stove and shivered slightly as the exertion of chopping and carrying dissipated. He felt strange, restless, ill at ease, as if infected by the coiled tension of the waiting afternoon. The grit on the bare plywood floor scraped beneath his boot soles as he straightened, looked about. The dark corners and barren angles of the room suddenly seemed both stifling and accusing, another place that was not home in a life that was not living. A vague sense of unreality crowded up, filling the space as he faintly heard the first far off grumbling of thunder. He went back outside.

On the porch, the tension between the two pilots hummed in the air, making breathing difficult and talking nearly impossible. Heero had not moved from the beam and Duo leaned against the wall by the door, drinking in the grace of his silhouette. Another, louder crackle fell against his ears, rattling the dirty panes of glass in the open window.

"Duo,"

God- that voice pulled something taught to fluttering in his stomach. He stepped forward, next to its owner, watching the way the weak light caught at his profile, in his eyelashes. He had to try twice before he could form a whispered reply.

"Yes?"

"What's wrong?"

His tone was so steady, so matter of fact. Duo had a brief vision of burying his head against that strong shoulder and clinging to him for dear life. Instead he shook his head.

"It's a strange afternoon."

He dared a sidelong glance at his friend, and found himself caught in his piercing blue regard. The two boys starred at each other for a long moment, turning to face each other squarely. Overhead, a rumble ended in a jarring crash, and they both glanced away, Heero back to the sky, Duo to the light sheen of moisture on Heero's upper arm. He drew a shuddering breath, trying to control the shaking of his insides, hoping that it wasn't evident to the other.

The porch creaked again, and his breath suddenly stilled and his body strained toward the warmth radiating off Heero's body. He looked up, again meeting those eyes now only inches away. He bit his lip, startled and excited by the concern he read there.

"Duo-" the murmur sounded unnaturally loud compared to the ghost of breath across his skin. He cut off whatever else Heero had been going to say as he brushed a trembling, hesitant kiss across the other's open lips.

Duo took a convulsive step back, horrified at what he had just done. He needed to run, or to apologize, or to do anything, but he was rooted to the spot, frozen. Thunder growled louder, echoing off the vault of the sky, as Heero touched his fingertips to his lips, then looked strangely at the braided boy. Duo finally found his voice and even to him he sounded desperate and afraid.

"I shouldn't have-"

His apology died on his lips as a warm hand hesitantly brushed his bangs back and traced his face. His wide eyes struggled up the angles of his friend's body to reach his face. The eyes this time were full of compassion that belied his tiny frown. Duo found himself roughly tucked into a tight embrace, the answering tremble in the other's stomach dissipating as their bodies melted together.

"It's OK," Heero murmured into his hair, "I understand."

The heat of his partner's mouth on his was accompanied by the hiss of the oncoming rain as it rolled across the hills.