Parameters: Dishonorable intentions, misuse of illegal fireworks, Heero suffering withdrawals, no point whatsoever.
Notes: I was minding my own business one night, making falafel at my mom's cozy west-coast apartment and listening to the evening news, when combined musings on the New York blackout and my two favorite anime boys combined to form this fic. No irreverence intended towards those who were actually caught in the blackout, cause I know from personal experience that being in a city without power in the dead of summer sucks big time.
~*~*~*~*~*~
�Hey Heero, you�re in here, right?�
Silence.
The dorm room was pitch black, not a shred of light filtering through
the
small window or from the open doorway. It was ten p.m. and the
blackout had
spread throughout the entire southern end of the city, leaving the
boarding
school dark and quiet save for the occasional spurts of laughter and
shouting as the dorm�s occupants took advantage of the situation. Duo
fumbled through his pockets for his zippo. He himself had spent the
last
several hours working the power outage to his benefit, sabotaging the
school�s surveillance system and setting a bug in the computer network
that
would take effect as soon as the system rebooted.
In short, he was currently feeling *very* self-satisfied, and had his
sights
set on taking advantage of a completely different situation � in the
relative anonymity provided by total darkness.
Regardless of which, he still had the self-preservation to announce
himself
before entering the room he shared with one very high-strung Gundam
pilot.
The zippo flicked on, throwing long shadows onto the walls and
providing
enough dim light to locate the emergency candles on the dresser. And
to see
that Heero was sitting at his desk chair, still as a statue, staring
pointedly at the blank screen of his laptop as though he could provide
power
to the machine by will alone.
�Heero?�
Silence.
�Backup power run out?�
Silence.
Duo sighed in resignation � a common occurrence in his partner�s
presence �
and lit a few of the candles before venturing further into the little
room.
�No sense in brooding over it, yanno. No one knows when the power�s
gonna
come back on, so you might as well enjoy it while it lasts.�
Silence.
�Oh, come on. You could go outside and check out the UFO�s. There�s
about
five of them circling the school.�
Silence.
�One of them touched down, yanno. An alien took over my brain and sent
me
here to give you an anal probe and steal your kidneys.�
�
��what?�
�Ah! Now that I have your undivided attention, why don�t you stop
sitting
there like a zombie and help me blow something up or commit an equally
destructive act?�
��no.�
Duo groaned and dropped to the floor, waving a candle in Heero�s
general
direction. �You�re impossible. That thing isn�t going anywhere, and
even
if it was capable of spontaneous movement, it doesn�t have any power.
Come
on. Security is seriously slack tonight and I still have that stock of
unsafe and insane fireworks left over from new year�s.�
��can�t � leave � terminal ��
�Heero?�
His fists were clenching and unclenching at his sides, and he had yet
to
avert his stare from the laptop�s screen. �� must � have � internet �
access ��
Duo didn�t hesitate. He recognized the warning symptoms of a
net-junkie
going into withdrawals. He clambered to his feet, setting the candles
safely out of the way, and lifted Heero bodily from the chair, setting
him
down on his feet to face him. Heero�s eyes were wide, the pupils
dilated,
staring at Duo without seeing him. Duo took a step back, the better to
avoid retaliation should it occur, and slapped Heero hard across the
face.
Heero, in turn, recoiled, then shook himself, and gingerly raised a
hand to
his cheek. He blinked and took in Duo�s presence, stanced and ready
for a
fight. �Oh. Thanks. I needed that.
Duo relaxed and crossed his arms, regarding him with a look bordering
dangerously on Shinigami Mode�. �Hell yeah, you did. Hey!� He
grabbed
Heero by the shoulder as his gaze began wandering back towards the
computer.
�None of that. We�re going out. You�re going to cause some minor
explosions and get your mind off that damned laptop. Got it?�
Heero nodded slowly, almost dazed. �Yeah��
Duo snapped his fingers in front of his eyes. �Wake up! Come on,
think
mission. Mission!�
�Mission��
�Your mission is to shoot bottle rockets into as many open windows you
can
find, set off M-80�s behind the girls� dorm, graffiti the fountain in
the
center square and screw me silly in a janitor�s closet. Got that?�
He stared into middle space and mumbled the parameters under his
breath.
�Bottle rockets � open windows � M-80�s � girl�s dorm � graffiti �
fountain
� scre�WHAT?� Heero�s eyes, suddenly coherent, snapped to Duo.
He chuckled. �Just making sure you were listening.�
�Duo��
�Okay, so I wasn�t, but still��
�Duo��
�I�m not about to let you sit here and waste away staring at that
fucking
thing��
