Starman chapter 2

[wsprs]

Relena Peacecraft sat with her legs folded under her on the couch, clad only in a white summer halter-top and baby blue cotton panties. She had left the back porch sliding-door open to let in the breeze, and the sounds of determined crickets and tree frogs chirping soothed her despite the time of year.

Just coming on Fall. It was Fall, wasn?t it? Yes. It was Fall. But it wasn?t as cold as it is now..

She tried to hold in a sob with a bunched up Kleenex in one hand while she reached for the remote control with the other. She almost dumped a glass of Chardonnay on the photographs littering the coffee table in the process, but managed to catch it in time. Gulping the last of the wine, she then discarded the glass to take up the remote.

Rewind. I want to see you again. Just one more time.

She sat back and waited until the vid beeped, and activated it. The sounds of a forest in early Fall bloomed from the speakers, and colorful images filled the screen in a whorl of disorganization until it settled on something that resembled the inverted likeness of an eye. The eye blinked.
?Hey, does this thing still work? It?s like a thousand years old, but I think I fixed it.. You see a red light or what??
?Duo. What are you doing.?
The camera tilted and once again colors danced and objects became distorted. It finally settled on the stern features of Heero Yuy.
?Relax buddy! I?m just here to get proof!?
?Proof of what, Duo??
The scene shifted once more to a blur of blond and peach before refocusing on the smiling face of Relena.
?There she is!?
Duo zoomed the lens until Relena?s mouth overtook the picture, before a large hand covered it.
?Duo. Turn it off.?
?Aw, common!?
There was a pause, but even from off camera, one received the distinct impression that Duo was grinning.
?You?ll thank me later.?
Silence followed.
?And I promise to be quiet.?
A moment later, the hand was removed, and Heero could be seen walking in the other direction. Relena smiled into the camera before following Heero. She stopped a few feet from him, perched her weight against the trunk of a tree, and watched him bend over to pick up something from the ground. He turned to her and appraised her before nodding once.
?Now. I?m going to show you how it?s done, once. Then, you?re going to do it.?
She looked at him expectantly before hanging her head to observe the ground.
?Heero, tell me why we?re doing this.?
?We?ve been through this, Relena. You need to know how to fire a weapon.?
Stubbornly she jabbed the toe of her boot at a root.
?I already know how to fire a gun.?
?Knowing how to fire a gun and firing a gun is different.?
She looked up sharply.
?I almost shot Lady Une!?
She was making excuses and her voice was losing its conviction. And he knew it.
?Almost shooting and shooting are two different things, Relena. Now pay attention.?
He waited until he had her full attention, and threw a rock into the sky without looking to where it had been thrown. He then narrowed his eyes and glared at her for a moment before his entire body eased itself into one blurred, fluid motion. All at once, he tossed himself on the ground and rolled. A gun erupted from somewhere on his person and a loud crack rocketed the sky. Not an instant later, the rock exploded in a shower of debris.
Slowly, he stood and dusted himself before turning back towards Relena. No grin of satisfaction, no hint of smugness, no evidence of showing off or trying to impress. Nothing. Nothing at all touched his face. He simply stood there, looking at her, waiting.

Then, he blinked, and his stance became more rigid.

?Not a word, Duo.?

The unmistakable sound of Duo clamping his teeth shut sounded in the speakers, followed by a swallowing noise. But the tension in the air was too much for him. He squeezed out a hushed, yet shrill whistle before succumbing to quiet once again, feeling much better for doing so.
Heero?s eyes flicked towards the lens and his jaw clenched in response. But he smoothed his features before looking toward Relena once more, and he held out the gun for her to take. She looked at him with wide, unsure eyes, took in a sharp breath, and slowly reached for the pistol.

And a distinct crack of a twig snapping was heard. Heero jumped and his eyes flew wide open as instinct and panic momentarily overtook him. In that second, he calculated his best defense would be immediate action. He didn?t bother to push Relena to the ground, he simply turned as fast as he could and fired towards the sound. But in that second, Relena was able to launch herself at Heero and unbalance him so that his aim was off. They both tumbled to the ground in a heap of leaves and body parts. A large raccoon, startled by the loud sound and explosion of forest flora near its head where the bullet had hit, had run head-on into a tree trunk. It lay there squalling in pain.

Heavy guffawing rippled and echoed through the trees. Duo, unable to keep silent any longer, had dropped the camera on its side. His hair could be seen to the side of the screen, getting tangled in the leaves, and beyond it, a sideways Heero reaching down to give Relena a hand-up. Unaware of their approach, Duo continued to laugh and hoot uncontrollably. It wasn?t until a large brown boot stood on his precious braid that the laughter squelched in his throat.
?Uh? hi??
?Get up, Duo.?
?Um. I?d love to. But, uh, you?re kinda um, standing on my hair.?
?So... I am.?
The boot was removed, but in a fashion that showed it was done deliberately over Duo?s head, and that it could crush said head if desired.
?Ok! OK! I get it! Sorry dude! But you looked ridiculous! And the coon, man! That was classic! And I got it on FILM!?

This part was indistinguishable aside from black and white fuzz, and an occasional complaint from Duo or a curse from Heero. Relena remembered that Heero and Duo had been fighting for possession of the camera. Heero had turned the video off, but gave in when he realized Duo would cause less trouble with the camera than without it. Duo had promptly turned it back on and placed it on Relena, who had found the unfortunate raccoon, and was cradling it.
?Look at him. Isn?t he beautiful??.??

Abruptly the video halted.
?You have to stop this, Relena. You have to stop doing this to yourself! He?s gone. He?s gone and he?s never coming back no matter how many times you watch this stupid film.?
Sobbing, she threw the remote still in her hand, and lurched off the couch when her arm was stronger than intended. And the remote had flown all of two feet.
?And you?re drunk!?
She laughed at herself bitterly before crumpling the rest of the way on the floor, succumbing to choking tears and heaving sobs.
Minutes or hours later, she regained her self-control.
?Pick yourself up, girl. Go to bed.?
Sniffing, she walked as a zombie would through the hall. She reached her room and flung herself on the bed, not bothering to climb under the sheets. Somewhere in her jumbled mind she knew she would feel like hell the next morning, and was glad that she was ?on vacation? at her mountain cabin, just inside the border of Old Wisconsin. She didn?t want to deal with people for a while. This was the perfect place to escape.
?Or to run away??
Then sleep took her.

[kawaiiemogirl]

Ooooh...Heero teaching Relena to how to fire a wheapon...hehehe how cute...unlike the time she missed Lady Une by a few inches.