Date: March 14, AC 199
The sounds of a city night pierced the absolute silence of the apartment the Gundam pilots shared as the door opened and Heero let himself in. He shrugged off his jacket and wandered into the kitchen, removing a glass of juice from the fridge. He snapped the TV on as he passed, less out of wanting to watch anything than to have some sounds playing in the background.
"You look happy."
"Yeah, I am," replied Heero, setting the glass down. He was aware of the slight smile creasing his face. His face wasn’t used to it, that particular expression having been very rare. Not so much recently, though...
"Care to enlighten me? Oh wait, I know. You just came back from a date with Relena, huh?"
"Your intuition astounds us, as always," deadpanned Heero. He’d developed a sense of humor-somewhat-but it was of the very, very dry variety. So dry, it was hard to tell if he was joking or not.
Absolute silence met his sally. Heero drained the glass and set it in the dishwasher.
Then, all of a sudden, bluntly: "So, you in love with her?"
Heero lightly chewed on his lower lip, turning the half-query, half-statement around in his head. He knew the answer, but it was still a bit hard to put into words. Finally, he spoke. "I...I...yes, I am." He chuckled wryly at himself. "You know, this wasn’t a recent development..."
"I’ll say. It was obvious to everyone-except you, of course-since, like, four years ago..."
Heero ignored the jibe and continued, "...but I haven’t admitted it to myself until a bit ago...."
"Have you told her...?"
Heero nodded, a blush somewhat staining his cheeks as he recalled the exact incident. "Yeah. It just sorta...spilled out. I didn’t really think about what I was saying. But I really meant it, and she knew that."
Silence filled the apartment again, interrupted only by the TV playing the opening theme of a show. Heero stared out the window at the night sky. The sky was unusually clear and unobscured by pollution tonight, and he could pick out the individual constellations, something normally only possible on the Colonies or way out in the country. His eyes settled on the Northern Star, and he found himself absently reflecting that it seemed especially bright tonight...
"You’re thinking of something big. I know that look on your face."
Heero didn’t stop looking at the sky. "Mm."
"I’ll take that as a yes. So...?"
"I’m thinking of asking Relena to marry me," admitted Heero.
Again, silence filled the room. It was soon broken by a question. "So you love her. That’s cool. No one doubts that. But...but do ya gotta propose to her so soon?"
Heero didn’t reply right away, trying to find the right words to answer. "I...I do. I’m really in love with her, and there is nothing that is EVER going to change that. So there’s really no reason for me to delay. And...and besides, I’m a Preventer."
"And...so?"
"Don’t you get it? Being a Preventer means I have no guarantee I’ll be alive tomorrow. I would like-no, I would love-to spend the rest of my life with Relena at my side. For as long as I still have life to spend."
"Are you sure about this?"
Heero didn’t hesitate at all as he replied firmly, "I’ve never been more serious in my life."
"Well, that is the absolute mushiest I have ever heard you. Are you going to be worse when you actually propose?"
"Shut up."
There was an amused, somehow approving laugh. "Well, you’ve finally caved. You’ve finally accepted it. At last I can stop playing devil’s advocate! About frickin’ time. So, you need any help picking out a ring?"
"Not from you."
"Hey!"
Heero gave a low chuckle. "I’m glad I had this talk with you. It really helped clear my head."
On the TV, a cartoon character was scolding his rival/buddy. "Riiya, don’t you know that talking to yourself is the mark of a crazy person?" The blue-haired boy being so scolded scowled and proceeded to thrash the other character.
Heero watched as the scene dissolved into dustclouds, flying fists and sparks of magic. He laughed and switched off the television. "So, I’m crazy. They all know that anyway."
He retrieved the jacket he’d tossed on the couch. Maybe Duo or Quatre’d help him pick out a ring. He really needed to start spending time with real friends anyway.