[1xR One-Shot PG] Begging the Question

[wingzerosnuggles]

Title: Begging the Question
Continuity: Figurative Brotherhood
Length: One-Shot
Pairings: 1xR
Prompt: None
Teaser: "Seeing that you're not intent on leaving this bed and walking out that door, I assume sex wasn't your sole objective when you told me you loved me."
Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5227951/15/ ... rotherhood

Disclaimer: GW = not mine.

Author's Note: Yeah, this is long overdue but inspiration left me for a bit. Bit of a refresher to help with the plot of this one: Relena was twenty-one in Independence Days. She turned twenty-two on the campaign trail that ended in Bigger is Better.

Figurative Brotherhood
by mistress amethyst une

Begging the Question
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Spider-Man's uncle once said, "With great power comes great responsibility," but what the great philosopher really meant was, "With great power comes a never-ending string of dumb-ass questions."

--taken from Bro on the Go by Barney Stinson with Matt Kuhn, p. xi

"What is it with everyone and their questions this morning? 'Where'd you learn to drive? Will you marry me? Why'd you say that to my baby?'"

--Veronica Palmer, Better Off Ted, Season 1, Episode 11 "Father, Can You Hair Me?"
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Relena was a veteran at rejecting impromptu marriage proposals.

Heero, however, would never quite got used to the fact that his girlfriend was the sort of woman who received impromptu marriage proposals from random crazed members of the male populace.

"If it bugs you so much, ask her to marry you already," scoffed Duo, launching another pencil at Heero's desk with his new and improved makeshift slingshot made of paperclips and rubber bands.

Heero caught the well-sharpened pencil in one swift motion. It quickly splintered in his tightly clenched fist.

"Whoa...tense much?" chuckled Duo, watching as Heero dropped the shattered pencil. "You've never broken any of my parrows before."

"It was a pencil," stated Heero.

"Pencil plus the usage of it as an arrow equals parrow," shrugged Duo. "Or maybe ancil... Nah, not as catchy. Anyway, that's not we're talking about. If you want other people to stop proposing to her, you should propose to her. We all know you're the only one she'll say yes to."

"No, we don't know. Only she knows who she'll say yes to and, for all I know, she'll say no to me. Besides, Relena and I have already discussed this. She was already apprehensive about starting a romantic relationship since I..."

Heero stopped, not wishing to remember the unpleasantness of the night when he found himself drunk on her doorstep thanks to Duo. Alcohol loosens lips and spills guts. It also spills whatever it was one had for dinner. Suffice to say, Heero dredged up more than his feelings for Relena that night.

"Lighten up, buddy," grinned Duo. "Sure, you left her for six months without a goodbye, and that really pissed her off. She forgave you. Heck, you told her you loved her while throwing up. She was cool with that. What's wrong with taking the next step?"

Heero glared at Duo. The man had a really bad habit of rubbing things in.

"She and I had a deal," said Heero, trying to regain his composure. "Just because she returns my feelings doesn't mean that she'll forget what I put her through."

"Well, yeah. I figured as much. She'd want you to win her back."

"And for the past few months I've been doing just that."

"So why can't you propose to her?"

Duo also had a really bad habit of being annoyingly persistent when it came to questions.

"She made me promise not to," Heero bit out. "Not until she turns thirty. She wants us to weather out a few years."

Heero thought back to a few nights following his drunken confession. That was when she'd told him.

"Seeing that you're not intent on leaving this bed and walking out that door, I assume sex wasn't your sole objective when you told me you loved me."

Relena lay spooned against him as she told him this. Heero glared at the back of her head before kissing her shoulder. "No. However, I'd be lying if I said sex wasn't one of the objectives."

"That's good. I value honesty."

He didn't have to see her face to know that she was smiling. Her tone said it all.

"Relena, is this a suitable arrangement for you? I mean...do you find me acceptable?"

She was unable to stifle a laugh. "Acceptable?"

"The conditions you gave me about us being together. Am I- Do I-"

"You want to know if you're making up for what you've done? Is that it?"

"Yes."

"Well enough," she sighed. "It'll take awhile for me to put everything behind us but you're doing a good job of making it easier. There's one more thing I should tell you. You'll think I'm being presumptuous though."

"What is it?" asked Heero, hanging on to her every word.

"It's an if," she continued. "A very big if that will probably never come to pass but I might as well ask you."

She took a deep breath, stiffening in his embrace.

"If you ever do decide that you want to marry me, I'm asking that you not propose until I hit thirty," she told him, her voice carrying a slight tremor. "It's nothing personal. I just don't want to get married until then. Also, there's a chance you'll get tired of me. You'll hate how we have to be apart because of my work, or I'll change and you'll no longer want me, or you might fall in love with someone else. There's a million things that can happen between now and my thirtieth birthday. Neither of us should be tied down too soon."

"I might fall in love with someone else?" he repeated, utterly flabbergasted. "And what about you?"

"Me?" she chortled, gradually melting into his arms again. "I won't fall in love with someone else. If there's one thing I'm sure of, it's myself."

"And you think I might?"

"That's up to you," she shrugged. "I'm helping keep your options open."

"But she just turned twenty-two!" spat Duo.

"So eight years before I can propose to her," said Heero nonchalantly. "Besides, it's not because she doesn't want to marry me specifically. She doesn't want to marry anyone until then. That's what she tells me every time she notices that I'm bothered by the stream of proposals she's getting."

"Well...then why does it still bug you?"

All right, Heero had had enough of this interrogation. Time to fight fire with fire...

"Even if you knew she'd reject the man, wouldn't you be bothered if someone else proposed to Hilde?"

"Point taken," gulped Duo, noting how he felt frustrated ire emanating from Heero's face despite the distance between their desks. "But, then again, Hilde didn't tell me I couldn't propose to her."

"So when will you?" Heero shot back.

"Hey! Don't make this about me! I dunno... In a few months, in a year or two. Definitely before either of us turns thirty though. You're really going to wait for her then?"

"She fully expects me not to," shrugged Heero. "For once, I'm doing all I can not to live up to one of her expectations."
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Yes, I know this could have been waaaay better. Forgive me. I'm still rusty. Since I've written so many proposal stories, I though I might as well try writing an anti-proposal one.

[Elyn Yuy]

*giggles* Great one shot!