You go Girl!
by Elyndys
Part 3
Heero awoke a few hours later, feeling slightly rumpled from
having slept in her clothes, but refreshed. She stretched, wondering
if it was safe to go back downstairs: she supposed the other girls
had had time to have finished all their jobs. She decided to venture
down to the kitchen in search of a drink.
Duo looked up as she heard footsteps, and couldn't keep a
slightly smug smirk off her face as she watched Heero enter the
room. Heero was a little unnerved by Duo's widening smile as she
approached the fridge; but as she put her hand to the door to open
it, everything became clear.
"What's this?" She kept her tone neutral as she pointed at the
paper stuck to the fridge door.
"Oh," Duo sounded delighted to explain, "that's our list of
household duties, so we know who does what. Is it OK with you?"
Duo's smirk held a challenge, Heero forced herself to resist.
She smirked a little herself as she watched Duo's face fall at
her response. "Yeah. That's fine." She wasn't going to give Duo the
satisfaction of pissing her off! She would accept the situation
gracefully, and clean that bathroom as though her life depended on
it!
"Oh good. I'm glad you approve."
Heero smirked at Duo's expression and tone of voice. "No problem.
Is there anything else I should know about?"
"Not yet. But now we're all here" Duo was thinking fast "I've got
a great idea to tell you all! I've been thinking, I know just what
we need – a housewarming party!" She grinned in triumph at
Heero. "Bet that's just your sort of thing, eh?"
Heero grimaced. It wasn't that she minded parties per se – but
she hated ones in her own house. Loads of strangers invading and
refusing to leave… all the cleaning up… and you couldn't even go if
you got tired of it. OK, so she had to admit defeat: Duo had her
this time. Heero was determined to keep her dignity intact, however,
so she kept quiet, merely keeping her expression as neutral as
possible.
Duo's grin widened. "That's settled then! Friday OK for everyone?"
~*~
Well, Duo reflected as she wandered through the house, this
wasn't a bad idea at all! It was going very – even surprisingly –
well, considering it was now about two o'clock and the house was
still in one piece. She made her way through various pockets of
people – she didn't know most of them, but hey, it wasn't a party if
everyone there was already your friend. That would defeat one of the
main purposes of parties – the copping-off potential [1]. Speaking
of which… she caught sight of Relena, clearly involved in deep
conversation with a girl with the longest, blondest hair Duo had
ever seen, even though her eyebrows didn't match it. Duo thought
that was very careless of her. But Relena looked enthralled. She
spotted Duo across the room, and flushed as Duo gave her a wide
grin, a wink and a double thumbs-up. The blonde followed Relena's
gaze, smirking at Duo's gesture, and returned the wink. Yes, Duo's
suspicions were confirmed. Relena had pulled.
She got herself another drink from the kitchen, stopping a while
to watch Hilde wiping the floor with a crowd of guys who were
playing cards with her on the kitchen table. Hilde had always been
one of the lads, and she could beat most of them at their own
favourite games. Duo watched in only mild surprise as one of them,
already shirtless, stripped off his trousers. Hilde was clearly
trouncing them at strip poker (or, more likely, strip rummy [2])
this time, and cackling with glee. "Next time, do you want to play
for money? I mean, I'm very happy the way things are, but maybe you
guys would rather end up poor, but with *some* dignity left?" She
laughed some more, and Duo shook her head, chuckling. She didn't
dare get involved; she knew from experience how good – or how lucky -
Hilde was.
Duo herself had spent most of the night mingling, checking people
weren't wrecking the place and just dancing in their little living
room to cheesy pop songs. Colony pop music was the best! Cheap,
tinny and at least 10 years behind the rest of the music scene, Duo
knew it couldn't be beaten for good solid party music. Especially
when you were not quite sober. Of course, some cynics would argue
that it could *only* be appreciated in that state; or, further, only
when you were totally and utterly pissed. Duo thought those people
had no sense of humour. She herself wasn't actually that much the
worse for wear; things were a little fuzzy around the edges, but she
could still walk in a reasonably straight line so she was happy.
She'd been having a great time, and so, it seemed, were the others:
wandering back into the living room she caught sight of Relena and
her friend, looking even, well, *friendlier* than they had before…
Duo made a point of catching Relena's eye and making a "Get in
there!"[3] gesture which made Relena blush, even as she found
herself on the receiving end of a very enthusiastic kiss.
Duo grinned. This had been a great idea! Even if initially it had
just been to piss Heero off. Speaking of Heero… where was she? Duo
hadn't seen her for hours, since they had all played cards and lost
to Hilde; Heero had obviously, and wisely, decided to cut her
losses. But where was she now? Somewhere looking for peace and
quiet, Duo thought. She began to make her way slowly to the top of
the stairs, pausing on the first landing to make way for two young
men heading into Relena's room, in an embrace similar to the one Duo
had just seen Relena herself engaged in; Duo recognised one of the
guys from the LGB, and gave him a cheery wave as he caught sight of
her. She giggled as he slammed the door behind them and continued up
toward her own room and Heero's. She suspected that was where she'd
find the other girl; it was doubtful any of the party goers would
bother to come all this way. Unless Heero had found someone as well…
Duo quickened her pace.
"Heero! Heero?" She didn't really care if she was interrupting
anything; and in any case, Heero's door was ajar. Pushing it open,
she went in boldly and looked around; the room was dark, and Heero
wasn't inside – but the skylight was open.
"Heero?" Duo called, her voice cracking a little. "Are you on the
roof?"
No answer… Duo had a feeling she should be slightly spooked, but
she was feeling particularly fearless today. Or at least, as
fearless as she tended to be after the amount of alcohol she'd
consumed. She made her way over to the skylight, only banging her
head on the sloping ceiling once. She couldn't see very much from
underneath it; so, it seemed, the only thing to do was climb out.
Slowly, carefully, she made her way out onto the roof. Letting
her eyes adjust to the darkness, she could make out the figure of
Heero, sitting o the flat roof of an extension to the building on a
slightly lower level than the roof Duo was crouched on. It only took
a moment's deliberation for Duo to decide that yes, she should go
and talk to Heero. After all, the girl might be getting cold, or
lonely. Duo wanted to make sure she was OK.
So she crawled down the tiles to where Heero was sitting, and
clambered down onto the flat roof to sit next to her. Heero was
holding a can of an energy drink that Duo thought smelt like
medicine. She looked across at Duo as she sat down. Duo smiled in as
friendly a way as possible.
"So, Heero… you enjoying the party?"
Heero shrugged. "It's OK."
Duo shook her head. "Just no pleasing some people is there! I
take it you didn't get off with anyone?" She poked Heero playfully.
Heero snorted.
Duo grinned, surprised to feel a small spark of something like
relief at Heero's answer. "Well, me neither. But Relena looks to
have had better luck."
"Not that scary blonde?"
Duo looked surprised. "Yeah, how did you know?"
"She's been chasing Relena for ages."
Duo sniggered. "That makes sense. Relena must have finally given
in. She didn't look too unwilling though. Everyone's having a great
time."
Heero looked at her out of the corner of her eye. "If you're
having such a great time why did you come up here?"
Duo's jaw dropped. "Hey! I was just showing a bit of concern,
checking you were OK 'cos I hadn't seen you in a while!" `And I
wasn't at all curious as to whether you had someone up here with
you, oh no…'
"I'm fine."
"Well… good!" Duo shook her head again. "I dunno, you try to be a
friend to someone…"
Heero turned to look at her quizzically. Duo shifted a little
uncomfortably.
"Yeah, Heero, look… I'm sorry I've been so awful to you… This
party just started as an excuse to annoy you… Sorry." Her voice
trailed off to a mumble by the end of the sentence.
Heero smirked. She'd known that, but it kind of made her feel
happy that Duo had apologised. They sat in silence for a few
minutes, Heero sipping from her can and Duo casting surreptitious
glances at her whenever she could. Heero looked beautiful in the
moonlight, Duo thought almost wistfully. No matter that they'd not
been best buddies up till now, Duo still had to admit what she'd
known since they first met: Heero was gorgeous. She was wearing a
short, strappy navy blue dress for the party; it outlined her figure
perfectly, and Duo admired the curve of her breast, her slim waist,
the thigh exposed as Heero sat with her knees up and her feet flat
on the ground. She felt sure she and Heero could put aside their
differences… Duo wasn't the sort to hold a grudge. She could forgive
Heero for being so… trying. And she was willing to make the effort
herself… She took a deep breath.
"Heero…"
The other girl looked at her.
"I know we've not got off to the best start, but… I was kinda
hoping we could start again…" She edged closer. "Don't you think,
seeing as we're living together, we should be… friends?" She didn't
give Heero a chance to protest, or herself a chance to change her
mind; but before she could stop herself Duo was leaning in and
pressing her mouth to Heero's. To her surprise and delight, Heero
responded; Duo felt warm, smooth lips kiss her back! She was
shocked; but she wasn't about to complain.
Heero had only a short time to prepare herself for the sudden
vision of Duo moving towards her with what could only be one
intention. In those few seconds, she decided she wasn't averse to a
little snogging at parties, and at any rate Duo was an attractive
girl – so she let herself enjoy the touch of those lips. Soon she
felt hands come up too, one on her waist, the other on her shoulder,
to begin with: it wasn't long before that one crept down, over her
collarbone, down to rest warmly on her breast, and it was then that
Heero began to feel a little uneasy. Sure, people felt her up all
the time if they thought they could get away with it; they were
usually easily dispensed with. But Duo…? Heero was confused. The
hand at her waist was slipping now too, down her hip, onto the top
of her thigh… She began to get more uneasy. Duo's kiss tasted of
cheap beer, and Heero wasn't at all sure this wasn't going too
quickly to not be weird.
She made up her mind, and pulled away. "Duo, you're drunk."
"I am not! I'm just… tipsy." The hands stayed where they were,
and Duo leaned in again, but Heero raised a hand in defence.
"Either way, you're going to wake up in the morning, or possibly
the afternoon, with a hangover and think `Oh my god, what did I do
to Heero last night.'" [4]
Duo was a little taken aback. "Are you saying you don't want me?"
Heero reflected. She wasn't in the habit of sleeping with people
who, up until half an hour ago, would probably not even have given
her the time of day without making a snide remark about it. This
sudden turnaround confused Heero no end, and she was inclined to
answer Duo's question with `Not necessarily; what I am saying is
that I doubt *you* want *me*.' But she didn't; she shrugged. "All
I'm saying is, don't embarrass yourself by throwing yourself at me.
You'll only feel stupid later." Heero wondered only briefly about
how that sounded to someone else's ears.
Duo thought about that. Yeah, she supposed it was a bit sad,
trying it on with someone who barely tolerated you most of the time,
when you had a few drinks inside you. And Duo had her pride. A great
deal of it, in fact.
It was her pride that won over now. Hero was right. It would just
be a mistake. Heero probably thought she was an even bigger idiot
now. She managed a smile. "Yeah, I know what you mean, I guess. I,
heh, I suppose I should say thanks. Y'know, not letting me make a
fool of myself."
Heero smiled a little too. "No problem."
"Hey… you, er, you wouldn't mind not mentioning this to, well,
anyone would you?" Duo would hate for this to get out… She had to
think of her reputation!
"Mention what?"
Duo scowled. "You know, the whole me-kissing-you, me-not-getting-
any-further thing! I'd hate everyone to know I acted so stupid, and
even more so that I…" She noticed Heero was smirking, and
sighed. "Oh, I *get* it now… Guess I'm still a bit out of it… Err…
thanks."
"No problem."
"Y'know, I'm suddenly feeling a bit tired… I think I'm off to go
lie down." Down below they could see people straying away from the
party.
"I'll come down with you."
Duo felt distinctly uneasy as they made their way back down off
the roof. She had only Heero's word that she wouldn't mention this
incident to anyone… She'd better stay on Heero's good side from now
on. Though, from their history up till then, that would be easier
said than done.
Heero too felt strange as she let Duo out of her room and watched
the other girl go to hers. She had something over Duo now; she knew
she'd made the right decision, going any further would just have
made the situation unbearably awkward. But still, she couldn't shake
the nagging feeling that there things left unsaid. It was all she
could do, as she fell asleep, to hope this wouldn't come back to
haunt her.
[1] Copping-off – umm… getting off with someone? Engaging in snogging? Or maybe more… ^_^
[2] Man, I've not played that game in ages…
[3] Said with emphasis on the "in", this is a laddish phrase used to mean "Go for it"
[4] *snicker* These were practically Simon's exact words to Tony just before Tony came out to him, gave him a big kiss, and was almost caught by Tony's girlfriend, who also happened to be Simon's sister… Ah, happy EastEnders memories!
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