I don?t know why this occurred to me, frankly I don?t think I can pull it off, but I?ll try anyway. I only want this to be a short thing, maybe a few chapters. Wish me luck.
Disclaimer: I own no Gundam Wing anything, except a DVD of Endless Waltz, and that?s about it.
Chapter 1
Heero wished that he went to more funerals. Frankly, the atmosphere at funerals was something he had a better handle on. Everyone looked somber and few people talked to one another. There was crying and the occasional attack of hugging by random people who assumed he?d know the deceased but other than that at least he knew how to fit in. He had always been that way. Unfortunately for him, he often only got requests for weddings and celebrations, sometimes birthdays but more often than not just general social events for the upper crust. They weren?t his people, they barely knew him, but they knew of him and that meant a lot more. Heero made ice sculptures, and being known as an artist was what got him commissions and allowed him to continue being an artist without other outside jobs. In many ways he was very lucky, but right now he didn?t feel very lucky. As he always did, he sat in the corner and tried not to be noticed and watched weeks worth of effort slowly turn from beautiful art into a puddle of water mucking up the table.
The friendly slap to his back came out of nowhere and Heero found himself choking and sputtering on his mouthful of much too sweet punch that held the tang of a slight alcoholic aftertaste. He could very well guess who that was who just interrupted his solitude. The smiling face of his manager came into view. Duo could be such an idiot sometimes. . . well, most of the time really.
?Time to mix with the guests!? Duo declared in a cheerful voice. He waved his drink in the direction of the quietly talking and laughing people dressed in formal gowns and tuxedos. Many of the men looked warm and uncomfortable in the early summer heat, while the women seemed to be doing their best not to sweat. Heero didn?t want to converse with these socialites.
?Why do you make me do this every time?? Heero sounded as surly as he felt, as he picked up a napkin from the table he was at and wiped off some punch from his sleeve.
?Because it?s good for business, and it?s good for you.? Duo pulled at Heero?s arm, forcing the gruff looking and slightly sticky man to rise from his seat. ?And I know that there?s a certain person you wouldn?t mind meeting. Hilde finally tracked her down and I know for a fact that she?s here tonight. Other side of hall, in fact, talking with two friends of hers.? Hilde, Duo?s down to earth fianc?e was the only person Heero knew who could actually shut Duo up. She was the best thing that could have happened to Duo.
?What?s her name?? Heero looked much more interested now. Duo didn?t even have to pull at him to get him to follow. His mystery woman would soon have a name, and in his chest his heart fluttered erratically. On the surface, however, he looked perfectly calm.
?Why not ask her yourself?? Duo gave him a wink.
?Don?t try my patience tonight, Maxwell.? When Heero used his last name, Duo knew he shouldn?t push too much more. They had known each other long enough that even the impassive Heero could be read by him. It had only taken a little over a decade. They stopped a ways away from a small group of women whose jewels sparkled in the light. That combined with the vibrant colors of their dresses made them easy enough to spot next to a few men in their tuxes. Indeed, Hilde was among them talking to a woman with long honey blond hair. She didn?t need to turn around, Heero knew who she was the second he laid eyes on her, but now he could put a name to the mental image. He looked at Duo with narrowed eyes.
?Relena. Relena Peacecraft.? Duo smirked. ?Nice girl. Comes from old money. Her brother runs Dorlian Enterprises, big in real estate and a little investment as well. I think you know best of all what she does, though.? Heero ignored the laughter in his friend?s voice. There was nothing that could touch him tonight; she had a name. It fit her well, he thought, Relena had a certain flow to it. He could care less about her family, though, and wished that Duo had stopped at her name. There was no need to make her more unreachable than she already was in Heero?s mind.
He had first seen her a year and a half or so ago, when he was making sure the shipment of a nice statue of Apollo, (a work he had been only moderately pleased with on completion) was being handled correctly by the people who had come to move it. The entranceway had been busy with people coming in and out, asking questions and looking panicked. It was a sight he was very familiar with having done this many times before. Events all sort of ran into one another after a while, with the last minute preparations and the changes in schedule. At least his clients could always count on him, as he delivered promptly two hours prior to the start of the event. The only sad part for him was when they inevitably asked him to stay, and he was left to wallow through hours and hours of making uncomfortable conversation with people he didn?t particularly want to know. He had seen her on the steps leading into the building that particular day. At the time he had noted how attractive she was, but had not really thought anything of it. She had been arranging flowers with an obscure smile on her face and for a moment Heero was so distracted by her that the movers almost dropped the Apollo while waiting for his instructions. He had gotten too busy to talk to her, if he was going to talk to her at all, and when he had gone to look for her a few minutes later she had already disappeared.
After that first time, he had resigned himself to never knowing who she was. Imagine his surprise when he saw her again not a month later at a wedding of some person he was only vaguely aware of. They had wanted an angel. People often wanted angels, and they were quite boring to make. He tried to put variation into his work however, as being original was part of what made his work unique and highly sought after. Essentially it functioned as a status symbol, but that?s why he could charge such exorbitant prices. At any rate, he saw her again, this time twining flowers into a latticed archway. Immediately he recognized her, but it took him a moment to remember from where. By the time he remembered and started to approach her, some people had come barreling through carrying a ladder and he was forced to let them get by. One of them had some trouble and almost dropped the ladder, so Heero did the decent thing and jumped in to help prevent the thing from hitting the ground (and also knocking down a leg of a nearby table). As he held the side of the ladder he watched as his mystery woman descended from the archway and made her way out of the hall. His eyes followed her out, but he couldn?t do anything to stop her. He had spent the rest of the evening in a particularly foul temper.
Things continued on in this way for some time, with Heero trying to get up the nerve to say something to her, and just missing her for some reason. She often stayed for the events, just like he did, but unlike him she mixed with the guests well. Rather than interrupt her conversations, he would simply watch her from afar. Always beautiful, always smiling. She couldn?t be a part of his world, and fate seemed to be telling him just that. Eventually someone was bound to notice Heero?s fascination, and indeed Duo did after a time. When he found out Heero was actually interested in a girl he went into shock and then laughed a lot. He laughed even more when he discovered that Heero didn?t even know her name. That was one of the few times in his life he had ever seen Heero blush, if not the only time. Heero still denied he ever did such a thing. Taking action in the way only Duo knew how to, he enlisted the help of his girlfriend (soon to be fianc?e) Hilde. All Hilde could find out, as she was incredibly busy at the time with her job in an accounting firm, was that the woman was a florist but only did special requests. Seems that she did a lot of random work, for small weddings, and for birthdays, and sometimes other events, but never funerals. No name though. Seems she had a business card, but all it gave was the number and the words ?flowers for special occasions?. All in all, very weird but certainly intriguing as well. Now that tax season was over, Hilde was in a much better position to discover who the woman was, and indeed she had moved quickly. Heero felt indebted to her.
Coming out of a long moment of thought, Heero looked down at his sticky hand and sleeve and wondered if maybe he should just go wash his hands first. Duo saw the look of hesitation and grabbed him by the arm again. ?No you don?t, mister. You are going to talk to her right now, if I have to move your mouth for you.? Resisting the urge to dig his heels into the carpet and let Duo struggle to move him, Heero actually let him pull. It would better to get the rejection over with quickly. The edge of Hilde?s short bark of laughter came to his ears, and he had a moment of pure panic before he realized that he was being introduced.
?. . . na Peacecraft. Nice to meet you, Mr. Yuy. I see your work all over the place, and I?ve always loved it. Such a shame it isn?t permanent.? Her voice was so soft, almost muted. Her eyes were much more blue up close.
?Thanks,? he mumbled. Glancing at Duo and Hilde, he saw Hilde?s brow arch in a distinctive ?say something? gesture. Damn. This is why he hated meeting new people. ?You?re flowers are nice.? God how stupid. He should just get a gun and shoot himself in the head right now, he was doing that badly. Relena smiled in the way of archaic Greek statues, and Heero didn?t know what to make of it. Best just to be honest. ?I never know what to say when I meet people.?
?Me either.? Her smile was wider and more genuine now. There was another pause in the conversation. For once Heero actually felt how uncomfortable it was to have silence. It never used to bother him. Curse all this fumbling around. He was a much more accomplished person than this. He wasn?t stupid. She just seemed to bring out something in him that couldn?t do anything right, and he only barely knew her name. Maybe it would be best to perform a strategic retreat. Unfortunately Duo and Hilde had backed away and were no doubt observing from afar. Relena cleared her throat and took a sip of her water. Some hair fell across her cheek and Heero had to use every speck of willpower not to brush it back. The idea of touching her, even that momentary caress, was too tempting. He was much better at denying himself.
?I?m sorry. . .? Better bite the bullet. ?Listen. I may be a bad conversationalist, but it?s even worse at these things.? He gestured at the many politely talking people who probably did not have much interest in what was going on around them. ?This isn?t real. Please, could I meet you for some food sometime or something?? He had gone out on a limb and uncharacteristically made a move. The little Duo in his heart cheered. His outer Heero wanted to smack him.
Tilting her head to the side, there was an agonizing moment when she unblinkingly seemed to consider him. She brought a finger up to her lips and tapped the lower one gently a couple times. Pausing, she nodded at him. ?Why don?t you call me tomorrow? I?ll be home all day. Just a moment, I?ll go get my card, that has my number on it.? She left. Heero stood there, stunned, and squelched the smile threatening to break out on his face. Such a simple thing as agreeing to see him again and he was elated. Warning bells rang in his head, as his emotional defenses alerted him to how much he was putting at risk. The doubts were quickly dispelled the moment she came back, hand outstretched to give him her card. ?Both my home and work number is the same. I don?t get all that many calls.? Heero thanked her and then walked back towards the other side of the hall where he had originally perched himself.
As soon as he sat down Duo and Hilde converged on him like vultures, and demanded to know what happened. When he was less than forthcoming with details, they just got more irritatingly talkative. In response Heero stopped talking altogether, and they left him alone (knowing that he had gone into one of his ?moods? again). Just as he was starting to feel pretty good about tomorrow, he realized that to make arrangements, it meant having to call her. Again, phones and he just did not get along when it involved talking, as he could work the phone just fine. That?s why he had an answering machine. People called him, he didn?t call people. With a slight groan escaping his lips he slipped a hand through his chocolate hair only to find it stuck halfway in. Stupid Duo. Stupid punch.
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Good? Bad? Indifferent? I am very directing fishing for comments or suggestions. I constantly worry about making Heero OOC. Please tell me he's not, or if he is where I went wrong?
