---------------------
     Perspective
~ A Moment of Haven ~
---------------------
	"Tell me again why this is a good idea?"

	Heero leaned back a little against the warm chest that suddenly 
presented itself behind him.  Sneaky arms convinced him to lift his 
elbows enough for them to worm their way around his waist.  "You know 
that, if it were my choice, I'd leave it alone."

	Duo put his chin down on Heero's shoulder and pouted at the 
laptop's display.  "You weren't leaving it alone when it was your 
choice."

	"I was studying it, but I wasn't reporting it."

	He shifted on the carpet to wrap his body around Heero's a bit 
more, glad that they had indulged in an extra layer of padding beneath 
the rug in front of their fireplace.  "And I know you're not reporting 
everything you've been studying... but you could have just told Une that 
you didn't have anything to research."

	It wouldn't have been entirely a lie.  Just a small stretch.  
But unnecessary.  "If it wasn't me, then someone.  Someone would have 
started looking into this, and he wouldn't have had any idea what he was 
dealing with.  And then somewhere down the line, something bad would 
have happened."

	"Are you really any better?  Giving them misleading information, 
I mean."

	"At least I'm leading them in the direction I want them to go."  
He would just have to hope it worked.  And that he wasn't falling into 
some sort of pernicious trap.  Objectivity was key in this situation.  
Wanting to protect Zero could be ultimately counterproductive.  Perhaps 
he would have to rely on Duo's opinions in the end to give him 
perspective.

	"Hmpf, who would have guessed it.  Heero Yuy, manipulative 
mastermind."

	"I think that's Quatre."

	"Heh, yeah, maybe.  What are you going to do if Une doesn't 
leave well enough alone?"

	That implied that Heero would fail somehow.  He suppressed the 
irritable grunt and reminded himself about perspective.  He was glad 
that Duo asked.  Really.  "I'll worry about that if it happens."

	Duo chuckled grimly in his ear, giving him an extra squeeze.  
"Sometimes you are so completely unprepared, it boggles the mind."

	"I'm not unprepared.  I'm just not one to worry about things 
that don't need to be worried about."

	"This, coming from a guy that's worried about snipers and sex in 
the shower."  He nuzzled Heero's neck to take the sting from his 
muttered words.

	Heero saved his open file, then pushed his laptop back a few 
centimeters on the low coffee table.  Though the floor in front of the 
fireplace, and the table that was just that perfect height for 
productivity, was one of his preferred spots around the house for work, 
the organization of data into the pretty little charts and graphs that 
bureaucrats found so impressive was tedious.  Devoting his attention to 
Duo instead was by far the more attractive option.  "Did you ever have 
to snipe someone?"

	Duo worked his fingers underneath the hem of Heero's untucked 
button-down, rubbing the warm skin for a few seconds before he answered.  
"Not really, I guess.  Related activities, but no actual stakeouts with 
a sniper rifle, scope and crosshairs and all."

	"Once you do, you really get a sense of how... how simple it 
really is.  How exposed we are on a regular basis.  Not necessarily to 
someone with a sniper rifle.  I don't really think there's a sniper out 
to get us.  But exposed even just to observation."  He made a wry sound 
as his right hand rose to rest on one of Duo's forearms.  "Look at 
Keller."

	"He came to all the wrong conclusions," Duo grumbled, the 
accusations of their neighbor still smarting.

	Heero let the side of their heads touch.  "His facts weren't 
that far off.  We were out jogging at midnight.  We do disappear for 
days sometimes.  We do keep motorcycles.  We don't go to school.  We 
don't have nine-to-five jobs.  Maybe he came to the wrong conclusions, 
but all things considered, he seemed to have a more than casual grasp of 
our situation."

	"And all just from living across the street from us... and being 
a neighbor who doesn't know how to mind his own goddamn business," he 
finished off with a mutter.  "And we're pretty careful with our 
observable behaviors, too."

	"So not without cause do I think about these things, Duo."

	Still didn't really explain the sex in the shower, he thought, 
tugging Heero back until there was enough movement to let them twist 
around a bit and lie down on the plush rug.  From there, he let out a 
faint smile at the sight of the coasters underneath the feet of the 
table, saving the rug from harsh indentations.  Those had been Heero's 
idea.  "Yeah, but how come you don't seem to be thinking about a whole 
bunch of weird things?  You seem to come up with just some random ones 
now and again.  Or do you only vocalize the ones that seem to involve 
others?"

	They would have to think about repainting the ceiling when they 
decided to repaint the walls.  Heero remembered passing by the 
information about which colors would make the ceiling look higher.  He'd 
have to look that up again some time.  "There's a reason why I insist 
Relena never lick her envelopes."

	Head propped up with one hand, Duo pondered that as he fingered 
a circle around one of the lower buttons on Heero's shirt with his other 
hand.  "I always thought that was just because envelope glue's nasty.  
You mean you've actually, what, poisoned envelopes before?"

	There was something vaguely wrong with Heero's first thought, 
which was, 'hasn't everybody?'  It was gone in a blink.  "As you said, 
envelope glue's nasty.  No one ever lingers over its taste.  And then 
the evidence gets put in the mail, and eventually discarded on the other 
end."

	"Yeah, but that also means it's just the quickest swipe of the 
tongue that you can manage."

	"Which is perfectly fine when you're working a long-term 
contract.  It's ridiculously easy to contaminate the envelopes of a 
bureaucrat.  They pass through so many hands just because it's a 
bureaucracy, especially when they're all pre-printed with the office 
address and insignia."

	Duo hummed thoughtfully, chiding himself when he found his mind 
filing that little idea away for later use.  He didn't un-file the idea, 
though.  His fingers wandered up another button and began tracing a 
circular path around the new bit of plastic.  "I remember making fun of 
her swanky letterheads and stuff.  How many tax dollars go into that 
crap, you know?"

	"Probably less than on L2," Heero murmured in response.

	Well, no arguing that.  Duo moved on instead of dwelling on it.  
"And how many tax dollars are being wasted on your little report, I 
wonder."

	"Hopefully, the total will be less than what they're wasting 
now, or may plan on wasting in the future, on their own research and 
application of the Zero system."

	"You really dig relativity, don't you?"

	"Perspective, Duo.  I 'dig' perspective."  The perspective from 
where he was lying wasn't half bad.  He reached up and ran lazy fingers 
over Duo's hair.

	Duo's fingers traveled upwards another notch.  "You think 
they'll really just stop?"

	He sighed softly.  "They'll probably take it under advisement.  
Maybe bring it up for review every few years.  But it is a bureaucracy.  
And bureaucracies have budgets.  And Une runs a tight ship."

	"Ooh, appealing to the wallet side of things, eh?  That maybe 
oughta work.  Or we could just blow the hell out of the thing.  Then 
they'd never be able to use it again."  Heero leveled a look at him that 
tried to be patient, and even succeeded in large part.  In return, Duo 
turned his frustrated growl into an apologetic lop-sided grin.  "How 
many people does she have exposed to that thing right now?"

	"You mean doing research?  I think she mentioned three people in 
R&D that had an interest in Zero, and who were in charge of all 
Zero-related activities, but they haven't been active on any projects 
for a few months now.  Maybe pending the completion of my report.  As 
for exposure to the ZSST... eighty was the figure I had."

	Duo snorted.  "That watered-down thing barely even counts.  Were 
those three the people that developed it?  I remember getting run 
through it.  It was like... like... like a video game.  A cheap 
simulation.  Yeah, yeah, I know it's a simulated test.  But the best 
sims are things that seem so real you don't even know they're sims, 
right?  I don't even know what they were getting out of it."

	"It's my recommendation that they stop all testing with the 
system indefinitely.  I'm writing up the doc now on how it's impossible 
to configure the simulation to collect any useful information."  A 
fourth button was reached, light fingers dancing a ring around it.  "The 
tricky part is, of course, convincing them that the information is 
indeed useless."  The fingers paused, then frolicked across his chest 
towards his side.  "People tend to believe what they want to believe.  
Even if they accept my arguments, they can always claim speciously that 
it's all for the sake of science."  The fingers changed direction again, 
returning to the center and swiftly undoing the line of buttons from top 
to bottom.  "It's a difficult argument to counter since... it's... 
so..."

	He trailed off as the rough pad of a thumb strayed across his 
left nipple, caressing the peak with several tentative, teasing brushes.  
He stopped altogether when the thumb gained enough confidence to circle 
the prominence with an increasingly firm pressure on the pigmented skin, 
leaving the peripherals of the thumb to cross paths with the more 
sensitive flesh as chance dictated.

	Wondering what just happened, Heero stared in confuzzlement at 
Duo's look of concentration.  So intent was his partner on his task that 
the tip of his tongue could be seen peeking out from between his teeth.  
And even though Heero was watching him, he was still somehow startled 
when Duo suddenly decided to remove his fingers and swipe the point of 
interest with the rough surface of his tongue.  The sensation made 
Heero's chest tighten with something good.  His eyes snapped back in 
surprise to stare straight ahead, which would explain why he missed it 
when Duo's focus shifted to rest on his expression.  He was still 
blinking when Duo decided to give him another mischievous, swirling 
lick.  Once that was done, Duo weighed the experience in his mind, then 
pulled Heero's shirt back into order.  It stayed for about three seconds 
before the two halves slithered back down to puddle at his sides.

	"Well," Heero declared, still staring at some point on the 
ceiling across the room.  "That was random."

	Duo broke off his contemplation of Heero's far nipple to answer.  
"No, it wasn't.  See, I was thinking about buttons and... Never mind.  
You kinda had to be there."

	"Yeah.  I'll bet."

	"So... you were saying something about arguing something?  Sake 
of science?"

	So he'd been paying attention.  That was nice.  But Heero's 
attention had jumped the tracks.  "That's it?  You're done?"

	Not that he wouldn't mind continuing... but he shrugged 
carelessly because it would be more amusing.  To keep up appearances, 
however, he had to firmly reprimand his eyes not to wander away from 
Heero's face.  "Yeah."

	"Just an... exploratory mission?"

	"Hey, you're not the only one that's big on recon."

	"So you decided to lick my nipple..."  Heero shifted his head to 
look directly at him.  "To see what it tastes like?"

	Or to see what his reaction would be.  The incredulity was good 
for a passing snicker, but Duo had really been more interested in that 
brief not-quite-gasp of something pleasurable, something electric.  He 
hadn't been certain whether the actual sensation of it would be as good 
as advertised, though.  But now he knew, more or less.  At least how it 
was from this side of the mouth.  He smirked, still feeling the phantom 
touch of firm, pliant flesh against his tongue.  "Was it good for you, 
too?"

	It occurred to Heero that he had never licked Duo's nipples.  
Well, obviously.  Why would he have?  But the assumption there -- 
perhaps arrogant, perhaps not -- was that Duo had never had the 
experience.  He had to ask to find out.  Well, there was only one way to 
rectify that.  Heero pushed Duo flat on his back with one hand and 
rolled onto his side.  "Ow," he noted mildly, frowning as his shin made 
contact with the edge of the coffee table.  He had forgotten that, 
though Duo had pulled them back from his original seat, his feet had 
still gone underneath the table once they had stretched out.

	Duo snickered as he twisted around to get out from beneath the 
table, and stopped snickering once Heero pushed up the hem of his 
t-shirt.  Heero left it tangled up around his armpits with the vague 
notion that, even though it was going to get in the way, summer was 
winding down.  The room was just barely on the cool side of warm, but he 
knew how Duo disliked the chill.  How much good the shirt would really 
do Duo when it was covering only his shoulders and upper arms, Heero 
didn't really linger on.  Oh, wait, problem solved.  Heero would just 
have to keep him warm for him.  He splayed the fingers of one hand 
across the wiry muscles of Duo's abdomen.

	But then his lips were on Duo's skin, keeping one particular 
part of him quite warm, and he didn't think very much more about the 
rest of it.  Except, perhaps, to notice how Duo was holding himself 
particularly still, as if he might start squirming if he didn't put his 
mind on not doing so.  After a kiss, and then an experimental lick, 
Heero pulled back a little, breath wafting gently over moistened skin as 
he confirmed that Duo's careful breathing was a good thing and not a bad 
thing.

	With a private smile, he returned his attention to the innocent 
little nub waiting patiently for him.  It did seem like a remarkably 
convenient protuberance.  It was just so... 'there'.  He hadn't thought 
much of them before.  The female breast was obviously an object of 
sexuality, and figuring quite prominently on a breast was a nipple.  It 
made sense for it to be a sensitive point of attraction.  Men simply had 
pectoral muscles, with nipples existing more as a vestige of the default 
human state than anything else.  He'd never gone poking at it to explore 
what sensitivity might also have lingered in its incompletely developed 
condition.

	Now seemed like an ideal time, though.  He made a few 
observations, formed a few conjectures about its probable points of 
weakness, and then investigated his theories with a swipe of his tongue, 
a twirl, a somewhat insistent probing.  The application of his lips.  A 
light grazing with the tops of his bottom front teeth.  Each reaction 
was duly noted by the hand taking measurements of muscle tension across 
Duo's side.

	An interesting pursuit, he decided, but not quite as fun as 
kissing Duo.  The nipple just sat there, basking in the attention.  
Perhaps its growing perkiness was a response of sorts, but it was still 
rather inanimate in the end.  Duo, however, played back when kissing 
mouth to mouth.  His lips performed in point and counterpoint.  His 
tongue moved in various harmonious rhythms.

	Heero liked that interaction.  It was very Duo.  Seeking the 
Duoness, he slid upwards, mouth bypassing the bunched up shirt to fix 
itself upon Duo's neck, pausing just long enough to feel the pulse of 
Duo's lifebeat before migrating up the column and across the jawline to 
gain access to Duo's wonderfully interactive mouth.  It greeted him with 
warm welcome, and in the meantime, he noted the smooth, heated slide of 
skin against skin, of his bared torso against Duo's partially bared one, 
and made a note to look out for opportunities to repeat the experience 
again some time.  Preferrably when the both of them were equally bared 
for greater exposure.

	While 'payback' was not really a word that floated to the top of 
Duo's mind, perhaps there was something of the notion in there 
somewhere.  Not one to lie back passively, he set his elbows to the rug 
for leverage, bent his knees for additional aid, and assumed the 
advantage of higher ground.  Yes, his mouth liked Heero's mouth, too, 
but it was also more than passingly fond of the pleasant angle of his 
jaw, the notch where it met his ear, the slope into where it became his 
neck, the hollow just below his chin.  It took momentary leave of its 
playmate to lavish attention upon these other friends.  No one deserved 
to be left out, and towards that end, one hand trailed down to push the 
open shirt aside and make its acquaintance with the twin of that which 
had started this all.  Though his forearm on the other side was bracing 
him against the floor, his hand was left free for a romp through Heero's 
hair.

	Removal of that encumbering t-shirt would require Duo to remove 
his lips from Heero's person.  That simply would not do.  Other 
skin-to-skin contact was sought.  Heero's hands and arms found it 
beneath the t-shirt, roaming familiarly over sides, back, shoulders, 
scapulae.  They echoed the pacing of Duo's equal opportunity mouth, and 
the movements of their various parts together prompted similar movement 
from the rest of their bodies, connected as it all was.  There was the 
brushing of the outside of Duo's leg against the inside of his.  The 
tail of a braid tickling his shoulder.  A top of a thigh occasionally 
rubbing up against his crotch.

	The carpet being not a particularly comfortable surface, padded 
or not, he maneuvered them into an upright position.  Duo took advantage 
of the situation to rise up on his knees for greater height, but Heero 
matched him, putting them back on even ground.  His knees, being even 
less fond of resting on hard surfaces than his back and the back of his 
head, encouraged him to get his feet beneath him, and he rose, dragging 
Duo along for the ride.

	The sofa was soft.  That was a good bet.  They stumbled along in 
that direction, but with their minds completely elsewhere, managed to 
miss it in their travels.  They continued, and without much thought for 
their destination, ended up bumping up against the wall of their living 
room, right next to the portal that led to their little foyer by the 
front door.  Rather than trying to puzzle out how to path around the 
obstacle, they simply stayed for a bit.  The t-shirt had managed to fall 
back into the position gravity preferred, but the pinning of Heero 
against the wall kept them close enough that texture was irrelevant.  
There was only heat and pressure.

	"Not... liking... walls," Duo managed to murmur against Heero's 
skin.

	"Oh?"  It was like a well articulated breathless pant, all he 
could really manage with his vocal cords, though other parts of him 
protested that the wall was hardly better than the floor in its yield.

	The answering sound could have been a moan, or a hum of 
agreement.  "Not... enough... neck."

	Heero obligingly tilted his head further to the side, though now 
his neck muscles joined the discussion, disapproving of the stretch.  
The endorphins drowned out their complaints.  "Better?"

	Duo gave it a shot, but still found the position lacking.  His 
disappointed mouth worked its way back up where he could breathe his 
next words almost directly down Heero's throat.  "Not much."

	While one neck was occluded, the other was not.  Bidding a 
short-term good-bye to the visiting lips, Heero pushed forward and laid 
gentle siege to the available flesh.  With no wall behind his head to 
prevent him from tilting his head back, Duo put up very little 
resistance to the attack.  He encouraged it even, cradling Heero's head 
close with heavy arms.  His utter absorption was broken when there was a 
chuckle that burst forth from his own lips, reflexive when Heero played 
his lips across and around his Adam's apple.  He felt the smile against 
his skin and laughed giddily again.

	His muddy thoughts returned to the wall.  Moving away from that 
wall.  Holding Heero close.  Ooh, an image flashed across his mind and 
his arms moved to make it a reality before he could give it more than a 
cursory glance.  His arms lowered; his hands lingered on two tight 
buttocks, cupping them possessively before shifting for a more steady 
grip and lifting.  Nothing much happened, and he grunted.  "It'd help if 
you..."  He paused when the cold tip of Heero's nose made contact with 
the skin behind his ear.  "...if you'd cooperate here."

	"Hmmm?"

	Duo pulled upwards again, and when Heero didn't seem to be 
taking the hint, did it again.  He was contemplating doing it for kicks 
a fourth time -- not in example, but because the side effect of the 
action was their groins rubbing up against each other, which was kinda 
nice -- when Heero unfortunately caught on with an inarticulate sound, 
seeming to be an acknowledgment and a question and a grumble all at 
once.

	He lifted a leg experimentally and angled it around Duo's waist, 
waiting for a hand and an arm to secure it before he bounced on his toes 
in warning and preparation.  When he felt that Duo was ready, he closed 
his eyes, hopped, and hoped for the best.  Not betraying his faith, Duo 
caught the leg under the knee as it rose and hefted him up with a 
muttered "Oof."  They wavered, and then Heero's back thumped against the 
wall.

	Counting himself lucky that his head was leaned forward, though 
he no longer held much interest in his partner's neck, Heero took a 
moment or two to contemplate their current position.  It was... nice.  
And kinda not.  Nice to know that Duo was holding him up.  Kinda nice to 
be so snug up next to him.  And kinda not nice to know that Duo was all 
that was holding him up.  Even with his back to the wall to provide 
additional support, his position felt a little precarious.  "Duo...," he 
started levelly.

	Duo shifted his grip a little before smiling brightly at his 
partner.  "Yeah?"

	Reluctant to actually express any doubts aloud, Heero opted 
instead for the steady look, leaning back against the wall a bit more to 
shift the burden to that sturdy thing, and trying not to move too much 
otherwise.

	"What?"  Okay, steady the balance, ready the legs, one, two, 
three... He pulled back from the wall, staggering a little when Heero 
readjusted his weight to compensate for the lack of support behind him.  
Once things seemed stable again, he grinned and kissed Heero lightly.  
"See?"  He went back for another kiss or three, made the mistake of 
shifting his grip absently, and swayed.  "Heavier than you look, babe," 
he muttered.

	"Duo," Heero started again, amused, but just barely.  "Put me 
down."

	"No, I got ya, don't worry."  He firmed his hold and shuffled an 
experimental step away from the wall.  When all seemed fine, he slowly 
moved towards the doorway next to them, putting effort into making it a 
smooth, worriless ride.

	"Duo, don't you dare go up those stairs."

	He just hoped they hadn't left anything on the floor.  He 
couldn't see very well over Heero's shoulder.  "Doubting me?  You wound 
me."

	"I might just do that.  I don't doubt your strength, Duo.  I 
know you can support my weight.  And I'm sure you could manage those 
stairs with me in a fireman's carry, or an arms carry.  But this 
position just isn't very secure, so I suggest we go up the stairs like 
normal people."

	Duo paused at the bottom of the staircase, frowned up at Heero's 
disapproving but caring face, eyed the obstacle that lay before him, 
then let Heero down slowly onto the first step with a faint sigh.  "I 
coulda done it, yanno."

	Heero raised an eyebrow at him as he straightened with a 
suppressed wince.  "See?  No sex in the shower for you."

	How irksome that Yuy was apparently justified in his concern.  
"What?  We haven't even had sex yet and I'm already being cut off?  
You're cruel, Yuy."

	"I'm only concerned for your well-being."  He reached around 
Duo, pulling him close to soothe his annoyed back muscles.  No damage 
was done, he was quite certain of that.  But that didn't mean the 
muscles had to like it, especially without advanced preparation.  "No 
need for you to turn out like me."

	"You'll turn out just fine, Heero," Duo answered softly, 
suddenly no longer so grumpy as he set his cheek against Heero's chest.

	Not wanting to say 'maybe', Heero opted for a neutral "Hmmm."  
He tugged the man up a little, not entirely unreminiscent of Duo's 
earlier action.  "Come on.  Upstairs, and I'll give you a proper back 
rub.  I'll even let you use my menthol," he added with a faint smirk.

	Duo smiled and let Heero change the mood.  "Man, you know you're 
getting old when..."



------
and then they went upstairs and finished their conversation about zero.  
i would have written it out, but then the discussion didn't go anywhere, 
and didn't seem to fit anyway, so i chopped it off.  but let the record 
reflect that that's what happened afterwards.



_________________________________________
This piece of fiction is the intellectual 
property of the little turnip that could.  
The basis for this fic, i.e. Gundam Wing, 
Kyuuketsuki Miyu, et al., is the property 
of someone else.  The author can be con-
tacted at jchew at myrealbox.com.  This 
has been an entirely automated message.
http://www.cs.hmc.edu/~jchew/misc/gw.html

last modified : 7/31/2005 01:00:15 PST