Warnings: The usual. Mild Relena bashing, and fluffy, citrusy goodness, too.

Disclaimer: Still aren’t mine. Feel free to give them to me, though.

Sea of Silence

Chapter 8

The Voyage

“Rise and shine,” a voice said far too cheerily in his ear. Heero kept his eyes firmly shut. Waking up was not his favorite activity. “Aww, come on, babe! Don’t you want to see me in a leotard?” Heero’s eyes snapped open, and he was disappointed to see a decently clothed Duo smiling down at him. “Heh. From that reaction, I may actually have to buy one.” The doctor’s room was empty, save for Heero and Duo.

“What did I miss,” Heero finally asked, sitting up as Duo shrugged and sat on the side of the bed.

“Nothing much. Meiran’s ready to kill Wuffles, and one of us tattooed guys is a prince,” Duo shrugged, and Heero just nodded. “Boy, you seem surprised.”

“My training was centralized around the protection of whoever happened to be Crown Prince of Algon,” Heero stated flatly. “Quatre was trained to be the political advisor. We were all placed in positions to help the prince.” Duo looked at him doubtfully.

“Now, that I don’t believe,” he finally said. “If someone planned my life, they sure as hell wanted a twisted kid.” Before he could say anything else, there was a crash above them, and feet stomped towards the door. Wufei opened it, bristling in fury.

“That stupid woman,” he yelled, close to panting. “She...she’s almost as bad as you, Maxwell!” Duo grinned.

“Glad to see I rubbed off on somebody,” he said giddily, noticing the green slime in Wufei’s hair. “Green is not your color.”

“I KNOW THAT,” Wufei roared, and more feet approached the room. He slammed the door shut.

“Wufeeeiiii,” Meiran’s voice called. “Come out here RIGHT NOW!”

“Go away, woman,” Wufei yelled. “There’s sick people in here, and you’re enough of a pain without you sniffling in my face!”

“Hn,” Heero said, stood up, and put on the shirt Duo handed him. “I’m not sick.”

“Come on, Mei! Break the door down,” Duo said, still giggling, and Wufei braced the door just as Meiran slammed into it.

“Mrs. Chang, get away from my door,” another woman snapped. “There will be no breaking, beating, or destruction of the only medical facility on this ship, stupid husband or no!”

“Don’t call me Mrs. Chang! I’m Nataku,” Meiran yelled, and Wufei slapped a hand to his forehead.

“Stupid woman,” he muttered, and walked out the door. Duo and Heero just looked at each other.

“When did Meiran get untied,” Duo asked, and Heero shrugged.

“I don’t know. I was unconscious,” he said, and a smirk appeared on his lips. “About that leotard...” Sally Po burst through the door, twisted blonde hair disheveled.

“How could they have ever gotten married,” she asked the air.

“In a white dress and a black suit,” Duo said with a shrug. “They had lots of flowers, too. Really, it was a lovely ceremony.” Sally sighed.

“How are you feeling, Mr. Yuy,” she asked, giving him that doctor look again. “Are you sure you’re well enough to get out of bed?”

“I heal relatively quickly,” Heero said, and glanced at Duo’s bandaged leg. “Can you fix his leg?” Sally nodded.

“While you were asleep, I helped it along. But, if he continues to overwork it, it’ll be at least another two weeks,” she said, and shrugged. “If he doesn’t use it much, it could be better in two days.” Duo was blushing from the ‘overwork’ comment as Heero nodded. “He can walk, but no climbing, running, or fighting.”

“Thank you,” Heero said, and without another word picked Duo up and carried him onto the deck.

“Damn it, Heero, put me down! She said I could walk,” Duo yelled, crossing his arms and giving the older boy his best pout. “And like you’re in any condition to tell me what to do! You’ve still got stitches in your back.” Heero grunted. “Verbose.”

“Heero! Duo! Glad to see you’re up and about,” Quatre’s cheery voice called out. Trowa and Quatre stood to the side, watching the approaching landmass. “And...Heero’s carrying you.” Heero nodded, Duo frowned mid-pout, and Quatre shrugged. “Whatever. We’re almost to Algon. I’m so excited!” Trowa smiled down at the blonde.

“Well, that’s good. I’m sick of this incompetent ship,” Duo grumbled. “Stupid sailors wouldn’t know what to do in a freaking lake. Heh. Navy. I tell you-”

“Quiet,” Heero finally said. He was not in a rambling mood. Duo glared at him.

“And since when do you get to command me,” he asked, and Heero smirked.

“We both know that answer,” he muttered. Duo blushed.

“I’m going to hit you so hard your teeth fly out your ears if you don’t put me down,” Duo said calmly, and reluctantly Heero put him down. “Thanks, Hee-babe!” Duo flung an arm around the older boy’s shoulders. “So, what are we talking about?” Quatre cleared his throat.

“Algon. It’s less than a day away,” he said, looking intently at the two. He knew something was up. “Anyway, Trowa and I are just trying to figure out who could be the prince. We’ve pretty much established it isn’t him or Wufei, just by age.”

“What are you talking about? Wu-bear’s eighteen,” Duo said. “He’s obviously still in the running.” Trowa nodded.

“And now you’re willing to have an opinion on Wufei’s age,” Quatre asked, and Trowa shrugged.

“I just wasn’t sure if my information was right. Duo would know,” Trowa said, and all eyes turned to the pirate captain, who was looking pale and apprehensive.

“Why would Duo know,” Heero asked coolly, and Trowa shrugged. All eyes now fixed on the taller, older boy.

“They had a thing going on a couple years ago,” he said, and when Heero turned to look at Duo, said boy was already walking away quickly. As Heero walked away, Quatre whacked his boyfriend across the arm. “What?”

“You couldn’t have told me all this first,” he asked, light blue eyes showing his hurt. Trowa gave him a warm hug, smiling faintly.

“I never thought you’d want to know. Besides, it wasn’t really my place to say it anyway,” Trowa admitted. “I shouldn’t have said anything to begin with.”

“And what kind of a thing, anyway,” Quatre’s muffled voice asked. “Were they serious, or...what?” Trowa shrugged.

“I wouldn’t know. I was still in my old job back then,” he said, and gave Quatre a gentle kiss. “Duo’s had a pretty messed-up life, and I respect his right to keep his past behind him. Just like you should.” Quatre blushed.

“I’m trying...”

Heero caught up to the younger boy in the dining-turned-conference room. Duo had his back to him, staring out at the broken waves.

“Are you angry,” Duo asked simply. Heero didn’t know what to say. He felt...not betrayed, but something similar, like he was torn. Used. But, not angry.

“No,” Heero finally said, shutting the door’s lock firmly in place. “I’m not angry.” Duo looked down a bit.

“Because, you shouldn’t be. I mean, we both know it’s obviously over, right? He’s married, so you don’t have to get angry or something,” Duo said, almost like it was a question. “It’s not like we were a couple or anything. We worked together, and...” Duo shrugged. “Stuff happens. I mean, if one of us got sick, the other was there. Fei’s one of my best friends.” Duo finally turned around uneasily to look at Heero.

“Did you love him,” Heero asked, and Duo started to laugh.

“Hell no! Maybe in a brotherly, friendly kind of way, but not...you know, LOVE love,” Duo said, and began playing with the end of his braid. He sighed. “I miss Hilde. She’d have known how to explain it.” Heero’s arms wrapped around him.

“If you’ve dated anyone else I know, I’d like to know now,” he whispered into Duo’s hair, and Duo giggled.

“Nope. Just him and you,” he said, turning his violet eyes to Heero. “How’s my hair smell?”

“Like you taste,” Heero said, and gave him a teasing bite on the ear. “Clean and sweet, and just a bit salty.” He kissed Duo’s neck. “Like the sea.” Duo’s hand twisted into his hair, and brought Heero’s lips to his own.

“You’re chocolaty,” Duo chuckled. “More than normal.” Heero kissed him deeply again, and Duo smiled devilishly when their mouths separated. “I really like chocolate.”

“Hey, Heero,” Quatre’s voice called as the door swung open, and the two launched to opposite corners of the room as the blonde walked into the room, curious. “Are you two fighting again?”

“Us? Fighting,” Duo asked innocently, face bright red. “What gave you that idea?” Quatre shook his head, still smiling.

“We all know I’m empathic. Please, no more fighting. It’s just, until we reach Algon...”

“You want quality time with Tro. I get it,” Duo shrugged. “We’ll play nice...nicer. Go cuddle.” Quatre beamed at the two.

“Thank you so much! I really appreciate it,” Quatre said, and shut the door to run out and jump into a startled Trowa’s arms. Duo fell into a chair.

“Why don’t people knock,” he asked, and Heero smirked. Duo raised a finger threateningly. “You stop that! No more hanky panky; we promised Quatre to play nicer.”

“You did, you mean. If you’re the prince, ‘we’ can be taken as a royal ‘I’, and obviously, if it’s taken that way, I can be as bad as I want,” Heero said logically, and kissed Duo out of the chair and onto the floor. God, the boy had seven hands. Duo, eternally truthful, had to just lay there and be as motionless as possible.

“This isn’t very comfortable,” Duo finally managed to say as Heero worked on giving him yet another hickie. “That means stop.” Heero immediately stopped, stood him up, and stepped away. Duo rearranged his clothing, grinning. “Not that it wasn’t fun or anything, but it’s just no fun to be a log having sex.” Heero smirked and gave him a decent, loving, simple kiss on the lips.

“You owe me, then,” Heero said, and after fixing his own clothes a bit walked back onto the deck.

Duo collapsed back into his chair afterwards. He’d had trouble keeping promises before, but that had been the hardest thing he’d ever done. Shit, that boy could kiss.

He smiled. Heero was pretty good at some other things, too.

With a frown, Duo realized he’d never been on a date with Heero. Sure, they were as loving as the next couple-not-couple, but he couldn’t really call Heero his boyfriend. That was something to fix.

Duo (after rearranging his hair to cover some lovely new marks on his neck) walked over to Heero, who was gazing at the now-very close coast of Algon.

“Wanna go out with me some time,” he finally asked, and Heero’s blue eyes turned to his own, looking extremely amused. Heero looked around quickly, and then smiled.

It was one of those extremely rare, full-fledged smiles, that said, ‘you’ve really, really made me happy.’ Duo couldn’t help but melt.

“You’re paying,” he said simply, smile gone, and gazed back out to sea.

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