Life together - Part 2 by Maaya
Standard disclaimers apply

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The sound of rain smattering against the window was heard by the two boys who were sitting by their new kitchen-table. Norma had been kind enough to give them a small amount of supplies for breakfast, and they could therefore relax on this rainy Sunday-morning. Wufei sat, comfortably leaned backwards in his chair, and with his feet on a small stool. In his left hand, he held a mug filled with aromatic, green tee, and in his right hand, a newspaper. He was throughout enjoying the repose this day of the week gave, and he felt completely relaxed. Everything was peace and quiet..

Tap, tap, tap..

Wufei looked up from the letters-to-the-editor column in the Sunday paper and shot an annoyed glare towards the source of the dull, annoying sound.

Tap, tap, tap..

The sound still didn't stop, and Wufei cleared his throat, slightly louder than necessary, trying to catch the attention of the one making the sound.

Tap, tap, tap..

The Chinese boy cleared his throat again, this time even louder, and he could feel his tonsils vibrate in the effort. To his irritation, the sound still didn't stop..

Tap, tap, tap..

"Yuy! Stop making that frustrating sound before I rip out your heart with that pencil of yours and boil it for lunch!" Wufei's try to be polite and patient with his new friend seemed to rip into a million of pieces, and Heero dropped the pencil he had been tapping against the table, before he looked up and met Wufei's black eyes. Black, annoyed eyes, that is.

"What?"

They could both hear as the pencil hit the floor, bounced twice, rolled slightly, and then settled itself under the table - the grey marking that said 'teacher's society' visible, which made it clear that someone had taken it from a school somewhere.

There was a moment of silence before Wufei spoke up; his tone gave Heero a hint of how frustrated the Chinese man was with him. "Weren't you going to go home to wherever you come from, and take Maxwell with you?"

Heero shrugged and leaned down to retrieve the pencil. When he sat up straight again, he answered, a disapproving frown in his face. "I haven't seen Duo this morning. I believe he has gone out for a while. He should have told me though - he seems irresponsible."

"I think he's still sleeping." Wufei replied and ignored the comment about the braided boy being irresponsible. Heero figured that he was the type who didn't like to slander behind other peoples' backs. As he thought about this, it took a while before he realized what the black-haired boy just said.

"Sleeping? It's half past eleven!"

He stood up and stalked out of the room with big, fast steps. Wufei leaned back even more in his chair, took a sip from his tee-cup and resumed to read the letters-to-the-editor column in his beloved Sunday-paper. The last thought he offered about the other two tenants was 'idiots!'

*******

Heero left the black-haired boy sitting by the table, and went out of the room in a hurry. He was annoyed, but wasn't sure if it was because of himself for agreeing to drive Duo home, if it was because of Duo for ever asking him to take him home and now sleeping in late, or if it was because of Wufei who had lost his temper. Not being able to decide the reason annoyed him even more; he was therefore upset that he was practically shaking with rage by the time he arrived at Duo's door. He pondered for a second about whether he should knock on the door or not. If truth be told, he really didn't want to, but at the same time he wanted to give the braided boy some privacy, if only to make a good impression as a fellow tenant.

Heero felt like an angel when he finally decided to knock, but he wasn't received with an answer. This annoyed him a little and he knocked again, harder. When he still didn't have an answer, he took a deep breath before knocking once again, this time really hard.

The only result was the pain in his knuckles, and a promise that he would have an impressing bruise on the hurting body-part tomorrow.

Heero frowned and decided to enter, still rubbing the hurt knuckles. He opened the door slightly at first to see if the long-haired boy was up and changing garments or something, but when he saw that this was not the case, he opened the door fully.

The room was dark. Only the faintest light from the rising sun had been able to shine into the room by the small streaks of the window that weren't covered by the dark-blue blinder. One of these thin streaks of sunlight shone directly at the bed, more precisely at the foot-end, and revealed a lump in the bed - covered with a worn blanket. One toe, which was peeking out from the cover, was bathing in the white light.

Heero couldn't help but snort at the small toe that was the only part visible of the younger boy. The toe twitched once, as if it knew that Heero was glaring at it, and the brown-haired boy snorted once again at the sheer stupidity in that thought.

Heero fumbled with his hand by the wall before he found what he was searching for. When he found it, he grinned, a scary, devilish grin, and decided to be merciless.

Heero hit the small button he had found, and immediately, the room was bathing in an almost yellowish light coming from the old ceiling lamp.

The short-haired by watched Duo with interest to see what his reaction would be..

A groan came from the bed, but still, Heero was unprepared for the big, puffy pillow that flew straight into his face, making him fall backwards on his rump, not much because of the force from the thrower, but more because of his own utter surprise.

Dizzily, he stared at Duo as the braided boy's head appeared from under the covers. Violet eyes, drowsy with sleep, glared at him, but the desired effect from the glare didn't come. Instead, Heero stood up again and pretended that nothing had happened; especially not that he had been decked with a pillow.

"Get out.. too early.." Duo mumbled in a raspy morning-voice as he rubbed his eyes in a 'try-to-make-them-focus-easier' way. After a while, he gave up and yawned.

"The clock is past eleven."

"What?"

"You should get ready."

Duo yawned again as he sat up. He managed to catch the pillow Heero threw to him and he laid it back on the bed without saying anything. He stood up though, and made his way towards the bathroom, ignoring Heero.

The short-haired boy glared after him and stalked out of Duo's room, brushing through his hair to see if it had been ruffled when his head connected with the pillow, then rubbed his poor knuckles. He went out in the kitchen again and decided to eat a second breakfast while waiting for Duo to be finished.

At first, Heero didn't realize that something was wrong; he sat down in a chair by the table as usual and picked up the Sunday-paper that Wufei seemed to have left behind when he went wherever he know had gone. He didn't think much about it, but he got slightly annoyed to find Wufei's tee- cup still standing on the table, half full with a now cool, green tee. He snorted, stood up again, and placed the cup on the kitchen sink. He couldn't stand when it was messy; it gave him shivers and stressed him out. He desperately hoped that his fellow tenants weren't untidy.

When that little fault had been taken care of, he settled down with the newspaper and relaxed in his chair.

..Shake, shake, shake..

Heero blinked in surprise as he felt the table shake under his elbows.

..shake, shake, shake..

He grabbed the edge of the table and shook it - to see if it was possible for it to shake, and yes, it wobbled on its unsteady table legs.

Now, imagine his surprise when the table started wobbling again in his hands, making one of the saltcellars fall over with a slight clink.

Before Heero had a time to react, the red-and-white checkered tablecloth was lifted and a disheveled Wufei emerged from under the table, looking slightly surprised when he saw Heero staring at him like he was the devil himself.

The Chinese boy opened his mouth. But at first, no sound came out. His cheeks grew a little red and he stood up and straightened his clothes before attempting to explain himself again. "The table is unsteady. I was trying to fix it, but I believe I need a screw-driver to do that. We should fix it as soon as possible, though."

Heero decided not to say anything, just nod, still with a slightly perplexed expression in his face. It was quiet for a while, but thankfully, Duo appeared and broke the embarrassing silence between the two boys.

The younger boy was now fully dressed in the same all-black attire as yesterday, and he was braiding his long hair, that was damp, and Heero guessed that he had taken a short shower.

"Morning, both of you!" The boy said brightly as he walked over to the refrigerator and took out a carton of milk. He found a big glass in a cupboard, and filled it with the white liquid - not seeming to care about the fact that no-one had answered him.

However, Wufei seemed to gather his wits, and he replied sourly. "Good day, you mean. The clock is twelve."

But Duo seemed to care less - he just shrugged, and Heero watched in fascination as he drank all of the white liquid without stopping once to catch his breath once.

"Maxwell, we should be leaving now. Are you ready?" He asked and took one step down the stairs.

"Just a sec." The boy answered as he took a chocolate-donut in his left hand and an apple in his right, then followed Heero down the stairs and out in the small hall. Both boys grabbed their thick coats and put them on, though Duo had some problems because of the food he held in his hands.

Heero watched with a painfully straight face as the other boy squirmed, until he realized that he could hold the apple in his mouth as he put the coat on.

"Could have helped me." He grumbled as they made their way outside. It was a lot warmer now, maybe even some degrees above zero and it wasn't even near as icy as before, though it hadn't started to thaw just yet.

Heero just ignored the other boy and took the lead, showing where he had parked his car.

"Be careful with that." Heero said as they got in, and nodded towards the donut that Duo was holding in his hand. "Don't want any crumbs in the car."

"Oh, and that would be a tragedy." The sarcasm was thick in the other boy's voice.

"No, but I wouldn't like to wash the chocolate-stains away later."

Duo just shrugged as an answer and began munching on the sweet pastry, throwing side glances towards his companion to see how he would react. Heero simply ignored him, started the car and drove out from the parking lot.

They sat in silence for about half an hour, but Duo, being the conversational person he was, couldn't stay silent for any longer moments. He would have sung if he had known Heero better, but since they had met just yesterday, he decided to wait with that kind of irritation. Instead, he chose the slightly better alternative, the radio.

He turned it on with a mockingly elegant motion, and then leaned back in his seat again - relaxing as the tones of Loreena McKennitt's 'The Mummers Dance' started playing.

Heero saw from the corner of his eye as Duo pushed the button, but decided to ignore him, at least for the time being. When another song started playing though, in a much faster tempo, he decided that he wouldn't be able to stand it, and reached out with his left hand and flicked the radio off again.

He almost growled when he saw Duo reach out and turn it on again.

He flicked it off.

Duo turned it on.

'This is ridiculous!' The shorthaired boy thought when he flicked the radio off for the third time. Moments later, he was able to watch when Duo turned it on again, with a mischievous grin tugging at the corners of his mouth.

Duo couldn't believe this, Heero was so much fun to tease! Idly, he wondered when the other boy would break down and tell him to stop. Unfortunately, Heero started speaking after flicking the radio off for a fourth time, distracting him from turning it on again.

"Where did you say you lived?"

"Augistina Springs." Duo replied and decided not to turn the radio on anymore. He began staring out of the window instead, watching the views fly past as they accelerated on the freeway.

"Huh?" Heero couldn't remember ever hearing about that town before.

Duo shrugged, looking slightly apologetic as he did so. "Yeah, I know - it's kinda small. Most people haven't heard about it though. What about yourself?"

"Huh?" Heero said again, not understanding the question, wishing he had something more interesting or intelligent to say.

The braided boy tapped his finger against the car window in an impatient way. Heero flinched as he saw greasy fingerprints appearing, he really hated when it was dirty - especially when his own things was!

"I mean, where do you live?" The braided boy explained. "I remember that 'yes, that's close to me' or something like that when you told us yesterday, but I can't really recall what you said."

"Carson Valley."

Duo nodded in acknowledgement, and it got quiet in the car for a while before Heero spoke up.

"We go home to my sister first and pick up my things. Then you can tell me where to drive, since I don't know in what direction Augistina Springs is."

Duo, once again, nodded. He thought about turning the radio on again, but decided otherwise when he saw the look Heero gave him before staring back at the road again. He settled with staring straight ahead too, and he took in the snowy landscape with a bored look in his face. He blinked when he saw a raindrop fall on the windscreen, and he leaned forwards in his seat to get a better view to the sky - yup, it was cloudy and grey. Another raindrop fell. Now he was most certain that it was going to thaw.

"You have a sister?" The braided boy asked after a while, more because he wanted an excuse to speak than out from sheer interest.

Heero nodded. "Yes, Relena. She's a year older than me."

"And how much is that?"

Heero hadn't realized that Duo didn't know how old he was. "Nineteen, she's nineteen. I'm eighteen."

The other boy whistled, ill-humored. "Blows. You're older than me."

Heero glanced at Duo, and smirked faintly at the downhearted look he saw in the violet-eyed boy's face. Duo leaned backwards in his seat again, and began fingering on a loose thread in his black jacket, with an air of sulkiness around him. Heero wasn't sure how, but it felt like he could reach out and touch the air with his fingers and become as sulky as his companion. After a moment of quiet boredom, he began talking again, trying to lighten the mood. The subject he chose, however, didn't cheer Duo up the least.. "Wufei's older than you too - you're sixteen, right?"

"Yeah."

"I think he said he was seventeen."

"Again - blows." Duo sighed. "I don't want to be the youngest one in the house."

Heero watched the road instead of looking at Duo when he replied. "You don't know how old the others are."

Duo shrugged. "How much more younger than sixteen can a person be who moves to a new house alone?"

Heero didn't answer, and Duo decided that either, Heero hadn't heard him, or he decided not to answer. The latter seemed more believable.

No more conversations came up until they had almost arrived to Heero's place, when brown-haired boy squirmed in his seat in a manner that even Duo, who had met him only yesterday, thought was very un-like Heero.

With a strange expression in his face, he watched as Heero continued to wriggle and squirm. After a moment, he couldn't take it anymore. "Uhh, what exactly are you doing?"

"My back is itching." The other boy growled in frustration, and rubbed said body-part against his seat in an attempt to scratch himself. It didn't seem to work, because he didn't stop wriggling after that, and Duo had to endure watching him squirming around. It almost made his back itch!

"Hold still." He said and touched Heero's shoulder, lightly so he wouldn't move the arm since the older boy held the steering-wheel.

Heero gave him a confused glance but did as he was told. He felt as Duo pushed him forward slightly, before starting to scratch his back with calm motions. "You're too annoying when you move like that, you know." The braided boy offered as an explanation for his actions, and Heero relaxed slightly. Still, it felt strange to being scratched on his back by a person he met only yesterday and Duo seemed to think the same thing, because he stopped rather quickly and leaned back in his seat again - maybe a little red in his face, but it could also be Heero's imagination.

Nothing more was said, and soon, they had arrived to where Heero lived. The car was parked and they got out in the rain quickly. Duo looked around; it was a completely usual housing area with line after line of blocks with apartments. He followed Heero who entered one of the houses.

They stepped into an elevator, painted in an ugly, light green color which reminded Duo of snot or spews, and Heero pushed the button with the number four on it, written in the same color as the elevator was painted in. With a slight jerk, the elevator started going, making both boys sway where they stood.

"What's your sister's name?" Duo asked after steadying himself by putting a hand on a small metal handle that was fixed to the wall of the elevator. It was rusty and dirty, but served its purpose perfectly.

"I've already told you that, it's Relena." The other boy answered, just as the elevator stopped to pick up an old man who wanted to go to floor six. He wore a dirty, dark green cap which he pulled farther down over his ears. Though he glared at the two boys without saying anything, Heero politely greeted him with a "Good morning, Mr. Robinson."

The man scratched his grey beard and glared even more - only answering with a low grumbling sound that made Duo blink in surprise. He chose not to say anything because the elevator stopped at floor four and he followed Heero who walked out of the small space, leaving the strange man behind.

"Who was that?" He asked Heero who searched in his pockets after a key.

Heero shrugged slightly and drew a small key out which he stuck into the lock and twisted it around. A small click was heard before he opened the door. "It was Robinson. He's a bit strange."

"A bit?"

Heero held the door open for Duo to step in, and the braided boy entered the hall that was painted in dark blue colors. There wasn't much furniture, but doors led from the hall to other rooms -some were closed and some were not. Heero followed close behind him. "Relena?" He called out.

Nothing was heard at first, before a small sound came from one of the closed doors; it opened slightly, revealing a girl dressed in a light red pajama. Her honey-blonde hair that reached past her shoulders was ruffled, and the blue-green eyes looked a little puffy and sleepy. She stepped out in the hall with two other girls following her close behind; one with short, bluish black hair, and the other with very long blonde hair.

"Heero." The first girl said as she walked over to hug the boy, who returned the loose embrace carefully. Duo guessed that she was Relena, and he noted that they were the same high even though the girl was a year older than Heero.

Brother and sister parted and Relena looked at her little brother. "Did everything go okay? You got the apartment, right?"

Heero nodded, first as a positive answer, then towards the other girls who watched them curiously. "Hilde, Dorothy, what are you doing here?"

The dark-haired girl smiled, a little impishly. "Rel invited us on a sleep- over party, or what you now want to call it, to celebrate that you've finally leaved the nest." She ignored Relena's protest against the rude joke and turned towards Duo. "And who are you?"

"I'm Duo Maxwell." The violet-eyed boy introduced himself, grinning almost cheekily while doing so. "I share an apartment with Heero."

"Oh, nice to meet you." Relena smiled politely. "My name is Relena, and I'm Heero's older sister. The short-haired girl is Hilde Shbeiker and the blonde girl next to her is Dorothy Catalonia." She motioned with her left hand towards each girl as she spoke.

They all nodded towards each other and maybe offered some words as greetings, and then it became quiet in the room. The girls tugged on their pajamas while blushing in different shades of red, from crimson to light pink, and Duo sensed that they wanted to change into something more.. neat. Heero sensed the same thing and went towards a door which Duo guessed led to the brown-haired boy's former bedroom.

"I'm just picking some things up before we have to go again." Heero said to Relena with a backward glance over his shoulder before disappearing into the room. Duo was soon to follow, but he had time to hear Relena sigh and mutter something about how her brother 'never took time to relax'. He had to admit that it didn't surprise him; Heero seemed like a real workaholic.

*******

Since Relena insisted that they would stay for coffee, Heero and Duo found themselves sitting by the kitchen-table together with the three girls after having loaded the car. Not even Heero complained, because they had both gotten rather wet from the rain.

It was pouring down now, and the sky was covered with thick, grey clouds which made it quite dark despite the fact that the clock was only half past one. The girls, now dressed in comfortable jeans and sweaters, huddled in their chairs and rested their hands on their giant tea-mugs filled with Earl Grey, as if they were freezing though it was warm in the apartment.

Relena looked out the window with dejected look in her eyes. "I don't understand the weather here." She sighed. "It was so cold yesterday, and now it's pouring."

Duo sipped on his coffee and nodded thoughtfully. "It's kinda strange, actually." He continued muttering something about that it wasn't good, but no one seemed to notice him more than Heero, who didn't say anything about it.

Hilde looked at Duo, curious. "Where did you live before moving to the apartment?"

"Augistina Springs."

"We're going there to pick some things up and I'm giving Duo a ride since it's not long from here." Heero added and glanced at the clock which was hanging on the wall beside a copy of one of Claude Monet's paintings of water-lilies. He stood up.

"We should leave now." He said shortly but not un-politely.

"Yes." Relena agreed as Duo followed Heero example and stood up, brushing some crumbs away from his black jumper. He smiled at the girls.

"Well, thanks for the coffee and all, but Heero's right."

Dorothy wiggled her fingers towards them. "Bye."

Both boys were soon back in the car again, and Heero drove as Duo pointed out which ways he should take to get to the next planned stop.

When they were out on the free-road again, they both relaxed and didn't spoke much to each other. Heero peered in attempts to see more clearly through the rain-wet windscreen - but no matter in what direction they were driving, they always seemed to drive against the wind that forced the water- drops to fall in different angels than 90 degrees. [1]

After a long moment of silence, Duo spoke up. "You look like Relena."

It was a clear statement, but still Heero said his intelligent "Huh?"

"I said, you look like your sister. You have the same eyes for example."

"Relena's eyes are green, mine are blue."

Duo sighed, annoyed by Heero's reluctant answers. "Well, they have the same shape!"

Heero shrugged, not bothering to say anything against it. "Do you dislike rain?"

"Huh?" Duo imitated Heero's earlier statement, wide-eyed and taken aback from the change of subject. "Why do you ask?"

"You said something about how bad it was that it was raining, so I thought that.." He was interrupted by Duo.

"I don't mind rain, but my mother does."

The braided boy's words were spoken in an almost rude manner and it was Heero's turn to be taken aback. He didn't push the subject any further.

The rest of the drive was made in silence with the exception of Duo's calm voice telling his friend where he should drive to get to his home.

As they arrived, the violet-eyed boy tucked his chestnut colored braid down in his coat, before stepping out in the rain again. It had calmed down slightly, it wasn't pouring down anymore, but it was enough for them to get wet before they reached the small private house. Luckily, the door was open and they didn't have to wait outside until Duo had found the key.

As they entered, they were greeted with.. nothing. The hallway was dark, quiet and rather untidy. Duo ignored it and took off his coat and flung it over a chair that, for some reason was standing in the small hall, making it hard to press past since the corridor was so narrow. Heero mentally shrugged before doing the same thing.

"Where's your mother?" He asked as he followed the braided boy into a room which he guessed was Duo's bedroom.

The boy shrugged. "Don't know, maybe out somewhere." He bent down to pick up a big box with things that was prepared.

"In this weather?"

Duo seemed to try to shrug, but wasn't very successful because of the heavy box he held in his hands. "Don't know. Why don't you lend me a hand?" He nodded towards another box, and Heero picked it up, noting how heavy it was.

They went out of the room again, and Heero suddenly found himself walking into the smaller boy's back when Duo stopped dead in his tracks. They both almost fell forwards and were close to drop their boxes, but luckily, they managed to keep their balance.

When Heero looked up again, he was met by the sight of a woman, dressed in a big pajama - it had probably been dark brown, but now it had the color of a dark swamp, greyish brown. Her hair was black and unwashed and her pale blue eyes looked at them both with a scary amount of impassiveness. She ignored Duo and looked directly at Heero with a frown. "Who are you?"

Duo spoke up. "Hi, mom."

*******

TBC..

*******

[1] Anyone more than me who have noticed this? Always, and I say *always* when I walk home from school (3 kilometers) it is headwind! Is that really possible?

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