---------------------
      The Proxy
~ A Moment of Haven ~
---------------------
	"Got it!" Duo hollered out of habit more than anything else.  
Heero was in the shower, after all.  It was obvious that he wouldn't be 
picking up the phone.  All the same, in case he'd heard the ringing over 
the sound of the water, Duo thought he'd let him know that the matter 
was being taken care of.

	He automatically headed towards the small side desk in their 
living room before running headlong into the plastic sheeting draped 
across the doorway and remembering that they had moved the vidphone to 
the kitchen.  Denied passage to the kitchen through the living room, he 
had to run around the circular layout of their bottom floor in the other 
direction, hustling over an errant sofa and around two end tables, a 
coffee table, a recliner, and several houseplants on the way.

	It was a minor miracle to have gotten to the phone before the 
machine picked up.  He had time to take a breath first and check out the 
identifying codes.  Not whom he might have expected, but never 
unwelcome.  "Yo," he answered after punching the button.

	Relena smiled.  "Hello, Duo.  I'm sorry, did I catch you at a 
bad time?"  He seemed a little off balanced.  Had she been lucky enough 
to catch the boys in the middle of a little hanky-panky?

	He shook his head, incidentally tossing his bangs back where 
they belonged.  "Nah, just forgot we moved the phone.  We cleaned out 
our living room today to get at the floor, and sanded all the wood down.  
Very fun.  I'd recommend it to anyone."

	Those darn boys.  No fun at all.  Home improvement was not her 
forte, but she was curious about it.  "How does one sand the wood down?"

	"You use this sander thing.  They're kinda like this big, uh, 
sander thing..."  He gestured with his hands, trying with only minimal 
success to mime the use of a sander.  "Kinda like a vacuum cleaner... 
that sands.  You can rent 'em from the hardware store or wherever.  Had 
a hell of a time getting that thing into the jeep, but it was better 
than renting a truck from them, or borrowing one from the Preventer 
motor pool, and dusty as hell getting it back into the jeep 
afterwards... But it was definitely fun.  Dusty, but fun."

	Since the use of large power tools had never ranked very highly 
on her list of things to do for fun, she would have to take his word for 
it.  Perhaps with a little more exposure to her boys, she might one day 
find out firsthand.  "So you're refinishing your floors?"

	"Yup.  Just one more stop on our grand tour of home 
improvement."

	"Everything went smoothly?"

	Depending on one's idea of 'smoothly', he thought.  "As well as 
can be expected of two guys who had to read the manual before starting."

	"As well as I might expect of two guys who were intelligent 
enough to read the manual first, you mean."

	He shrugged.  While he was certainly one for improvisation, that 
didn't mean he would turn down the opportunity for foreknowledge, 
especially when it came to large pieces of machinery.  "Glad we did, I 
guess.  That baby sure packs a punch.  Not exactly the kind of machine 
you want to let idle while you figure it out.  It'd sand the floor down 
all by itself, if you let 'er rip.  But we're not quite done yet.  We 
just finished cleaning up most of it not long ago.  We're probably going 
to go back in tomorrow and clean up the edges, wipe it all down again, 
and then figure out how to stain it all.  And we're probably going to be 
mouldingless for a while.  We're gonna redo that, too, since it's all 
off right now."

	What a glorious occupation this home renovation seemed.  It 
would be beautiful when it was all done, she thought, but then she gave 
it a moment's reconsideration.  The craftsmanship would be superb, but 
she wasn't quite certain what sort of taste the boys would exhibit in 
the end.  She tapped her chin in thought.  "I don't remember your floors 
being in need of refinishing."

	"Well, the one in the living room, which was the one we were 
doing today, was mostly hidden under the floor rug."  Which they were 
planning on replacing at some point.  They didn't say so in so many 
words, but the silent consensus was that they wanted something a little 
plusher.  "It had a few scratches we were covering up, and there were a 
few other rough patches here and there, and... I dunno, maybe I'm just 
getting carried away here, but I've always thought it was kinda... 
dark."

	"It's your house, Duo.  Get carried away with it."  She had only 
limited liberty with her own residences.  The palace in Sanq was nearly 
a national landmark and historical site, and the embassy in Brussels was 
not strictly within her jurisdiction.

	Duo pushed his hair back absently.  "I mean, you never really 
noticed it with all the stuff covering it up..."

	"It's your house, Duo," she repeated.  He was obviously missing 
the point, or maybe still adjusting to it.  "You noticed it.  That 
should be justification enough."

	He shrugged uneasily.  "I dunno.  It just seems kinda..."  He 
shrugged again, not quite certain how to finish the sentence.  It just 
didn't quite sit right with him, and yet it did.

	"It isn't about what's necessary, or important.  If you want to 
do it, then do it.  It's not as if you just tore out a perfectly good 
floor.  It's just a little maintenance work."

	"Now tearing it up wouldn't be worth it at all," Duo agreed.  
Diligent maintenance appealed to his engineering, sweeping soul.  
"Although... we figured that, if we messed up on the sanding, we could 
always just replace it.  Of course, the other room doesn't quite match 
right now, but then again, it never did.  We did see a wood pattern that 
matched in the store, but what we got's decent right now.  We figured, 
if it ever goes on sale or something, then maybe we'd think about it."

	"See?  That's completely practical of the two of you."

	"Practical, hm?"  None of this really seemed 'practical' to him.  
This was all about wanting, not needing.  "But you didn't call to hear 
about our adventures with a belt sander.  Heero's in the shower right 
now."

	"Well, that's alright.  Unless you're busy...?"

	He shook his head, hoping that not a hint of faint surprise 
showed on his face.

	She clapped her hands together.  "I was just calling for no 
particular reason at all.  Just wanted to see how the two of you are 
doing.  Surely I could beat Heero to the punch just once."  And if she 
wasn't actually talking to Heero right now, surely it would still count.  
She was glad to have the chance to chat with Duo, anyway.  Heero had 
such a different perspective sometimes.

	"We're, uh, well, doing fine."  Duo waved his hand around the 
room vaguely, feeling somewhat horrified that he couldn't find anything 
better to say.  Relena was a good friend; it shouldn't take this much 
effort to carry on a conversation with her.  "Doin' some stuff around 
the house.  Working on some miscellaneous stuff for work.  Keepin' busy, 
I guess."  Sweet mother of mercy, what on earth did she and Heero talk 
about all the time?  "So what's happening in your neck of the woods?"

	His discomfort was not lost on her.  It had materialized the 
moment she'd said she wanted to talk to him.  Perhaps if it had been 
Heero, she would have answered with a bland, unexciting answer, and then 
moved on to greater things.  But this was not Heero.  "I spent all day 
in session," she sighed with an exaggerated pout.  It was too entirely 
what she was used to for it to be a truly dramatic occasion.  "It's 
amazing that Senator Weissman gets breathless even thinking about 
climbing a flight of stairs, and yet he can go on an hour-long tirade 
without batting an eye.  Just this morning, after complaining about the 
stairs in the foyer, he scolded an aide for the pastries he brought in.  
Apparently they didn't meet his high standards.  And then he scolded me 
for girlishly indulging in a diet when I turned down a pastry.  
Honestly.  It had nothing to do with my weight.  Maybe I could have used 
the sugar, though, having to sit through his speech on the alleged 
effects of terraforming Mars on the psyches of Earthborn.  The man is a 
complete astrophobe."

	He fell into the exchange easily enough with a shrug.  "Yeah, 
well I know some guys who were total, umm, terraphobes?  Whatever you 
call 'em.  And a lot of people that aren't phobic, but, you know, really 
don't like it.  Don't like the gravity, don't like the air, don't like 
the weather, don't like the unpredictability.  Might as well just lump 
them all together into unfamiliarphobia or something."

	The made-up word added only a smidgen of levity.  "It's sadly 
ironic that the people that don't like space don't like it for almost 
exactly the same reasons."

	"Yeah, well, that's how it is."  Life was just overflowing with 
sad ironies.  "Did you like space right off the bat?"

	She took a moment to think about it.  "Hmm.  Well, I think I was 
always very practical about space.  My father was the Vice Foreign 
Minister, after all.  Maybe for a while, it was that magical place where 
Daddy worked, but the first time I remember going to space, I was... 
eight, I think.  It just became a fact of life."  An introspective 
second passed, wherein her expression darkened just a bit.  "No... Maybe 
that's not quite right.  It was a fact of life... but I won't deny that 
maybe, just maybe I... resented it a little.  Space.  The colonies.  
That was what stole my father's attention from me."  Duo was being 
awfully quiet.  She snuck a glance at him to see if he was still paying 
attention.

	He was, though he was lost in his own thoughts as well.  For the 
briefest of moments, he almost said something that might have paralleled 
her story, only from the other side, but he when he opened his mouth, 
something else came out entirely.  "Glad you don't hold a grudge, 
Princess.  'Course, after Heero came a'falling from the stars, things 
kinda changed, didn't they?"

	Uncertain of whether or not he was referring to her early 
interest in his boyfriend, she chose to take it as something innocuous.  
"A lot of things changed then... and we were all right in the thick of 
it."  When Duo seemed disinclined to say anything further, she made do.  
"I'm glad Heero came a'falling... but I hope it was a once in a lifetime 
event, too."

	"Yeah... me, too."  Duo's eyes looked at the ceiling, as if he 
could see the subject of their conversation through the floors.  Several 
seconds passed of him listening to the sound of water running through 
the pipes before he blinked and realized that he had been ignoring their 
caller.  He quirked the corner of his lips up nervously, understanding 
what a crappy job he was doing of keeping the conversation alive.  
Surely they had something to talk about other than Heero?  It passingly 
unnerved him to think that they had Heero in common.  "Heh, so, uh, is 
Heero bugging you, with all the checking up and stuff?  'Cuz I could 
make him stop harassing you or something..."  He tried on a stern face.

	The shift in topic threw her for a moment before she laughed.  
"He's not harassing me, Duo.  He's just... being Heero," she finished 
helplessly.

	Wouldn't have it any other way, he thought to himself.  He was 
shortly bothered by the idea that perhaps that very same line was echoed 
in her mind.  "Heero is as Heero does."

	"And it's not bugging me when a friend calls."

	"So what do you two talk about?" Duo asked, masking his desire 
for the answer.  He'd always sort of wondered.  "Is he grilling you for 
a complete account of any and all suspicious persons you might have 
interacted with in the last seven days?"

	"Only sometimes."

	Duo grinned.  "If he called some time within the last seven 
days, then you don't have to review the ones you already reported, 
right?"

	For all that they kept teasing him about it, Heero really didn't 
call so very often.  "I usually manage to distract him.  I'm sure you 
could help.  Next time he calls, you should join him.  I could use an 
ally."

	He shook his head.  "Nah, I wouldn't want to intrude on your 
private time."

	The thought was appreciated, but unnecessary.  "Don't be 
ridiculous, Duo.  It's not like we spend all the time talking about you 
behind your back or something.  There's nothing going on that you 
couldn't be a party to.  In fact, I'd welcome it."  Then maybe she could 
tease the both of them at the same time.  It was so very difficult to 
get a rise out of Heero.  "You know how Heero is sometimes.  He can dole 
out his wisdom both with and without his partner by his side... but I 
think he benefits from the balance.  We all do.  Honestly, the other 
day, I thought he was about ready to fly out here and gouge out the eyes 
of any man that even dared to think to look at me with ignoble 
intentions."

	"Oh, well, I could do that, too."  Duo tried out a death glare, 
but apparently it wasn't nearly as powerful as Heero's since it evoked a 
laugh.  He shrugged.  "Meh, I tried.  Sorry I'm not a very good 
Heero-proxy."

	"I don't need a Heero-proxy."

	"Ooh, wait, 'ignoble intentions'?  Does that mean some guy 
that's got the hots for you?  That mean you're on your way to finding 
someone?"  Would the tables be turned at last?

	She rolled her eyes.  "Don't let Heero hear that you're 
supporting what he's against.  He's much more likely to castrate any 
young man that comes near me.  But no, I'm going nowhere right now.  I'm 
only just thinking about the matter."

	Aww, shucks.  "Think harder.  It's got all sorts of benefits, 
yanno."

	"Yes, I can tell."  She arched a significant look at him, making 
him shift uncomfortably on his feet.  How much more could she make him 
squirm?  "So how are you two getting on?"

	"Oh, we're... getting on," he answered vaguely, thinking instead 
about 'getting it on'.  That was nothing he felt like mentioning in 
front of this particular lady at this time, so he cheerfully tried to 
change the subject in a blatantly obvious maneuver.  "You know, I'm sure 
Heero will be out of the shower any minute now..."

	"Don't feel as if you're just holding the line for him, Duo.  
There's nothing wrong with the two of us talking.  Unless, of course, 
wanting to get rid of me is just an excuse you're using for entering the 
bathroom and dragging him out here yourself?"

	Relena was a respected woman of state.  Why was she doing this 
to him?  "Uh.  No.  No joining him in the bathroom for me."

	She squinted at his face on the screen.  Was he the slightest 
bit pink?  Or was the impression merely enhanced by the way he appeared 
a bit bashful?  "Duo Maxwell.  Did something happen in the bathroom?"

	"No," he let out, stopping just short of a startled bark.  "It's 
just a bathroom.  Nothing happened.  Nothing weird at all."  Out of the 
ordinary, perhaps, but certainly nothing weird.  Nothing worth 
mentioning.  Something to snuggle close to at night, along with the 
Heero it was attached to, but definitely nothing worth mentioning to a 
third party.

	"I see," she drawled lazily.

	She might have continued, but Duo cut her off.  "Oh, the water 
just turned off.  See, Heero'll be out any second now."

	"Great," she grinned.  "I'll just ask him, then."

	Crap.  But Heero knew how to keep his cool in the face of such 
things.  Normally Duo did, too, but there was just something... 
something unbearable about this whole thing that made him lose it.  He 
frowned internally and made a note to himself to go rooting for it 
later.  For now, he smirked triumphantly.  "Good luck.  You know how 
Heero is."

	Was than an admission that there was something of note had 
happened?  "With the way he is, there's just as much a chance that he'll 
tell me as there is that he won't."

	True.  Heero was, unfortunately, completely unpredictable in his 
predictability, sometimes.  But Heero was of a mind with him on this 
one.  Others were... others.  There was no need to keep them apprised of 
their situation.  Rather than try to deny Relena's claims, he just 
smiled knowingly at her and let that stand as his retort.

	She pouted, got nowhere with it, then let it go.  "Fine, have it 
your way.  I'll talk to you later, Duo."

	That startled him out of his smirk.  "Hey, don't you want to 
wait for Heero?"

	Duo didn't have a monopoly on knowing smiles.  She turned one on 
him.  "This one will be our call.  I'll talk to him next time.  Or 
better yet, I'll talk to the both of you next time.  Tell him 
everything's fine on this end, and give him a kiss for me, would you?"

	"Uh."  He blinked, his mental processes lagging behind a second 
or two on this one.  Sure."

	After the goodbyes were said and the call disconnected, Duo 
figured he'd go back upstairs and meet Heero, but he made it only as far 
as their displaced sofa.  It partially blocked access to the sitting 
room from the entranceway of their home.  He sat down heavily on the 
cushions and tried to assimilate the call.  Something had happened, he 
thought, or something should have been made obvious, but he wasn't quite 
sure what it was.  That bothered him.

	In time, Heero came down the stairs looking for him, climbing 
over the arm of the sofa to plop down beside him.  "Who called?"

	"Relena.  This is from her."  He leaned over to peck Heero quite 
chastely on the cheek.  After a moment, something within him inspired a 
predatory grin.  "And the rest are from me."  He pulled Heero down to 
the cushions and started kissing him any way but chastely.

	Yeah, baby, and don't you forget it, a little voice whispered 
inside his head.  He wholeheartedly agreed with it, and kissed Heero 
some more.



_________________________________________
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Kyuuketsuki Miyu, et al., is the property 
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http://www.cs.hmc.edu/~jchew/misc/gw.html

last modified : 2/21/2005 15:09:13 PST