Notes: Before you read, I must apologize, sweets. I should?ve seen this one coming?
I was wrong? again.
After realizing that my chapter on Quatre was bordering on novel-length proportions (ok, I?m exaggerating ? but still?), I decided to break it into two, smaller sub-chapters. This, of course, would be ?Part I? of two parts (hopefully).
* hears grinding and looks to see Wicked sharpening her pitchfork *
Wicked: You promised a Trowa-fix coming soon, and now you're dragging on with Quatre?!
Naus:
Somebody... help...Eh, what can I say? There?s a lot to Quatre people don?t really see or know about?
Anyways, he?s up next on my cutting board, sweets ? let?s see if he survives?
Pros and Cons
written by: Nausica?
Chapter 2: Double Take, PART I
Safe under the protective watch of the five young men, Relena rested peacefully, murky dreams of shadowed faces and distant laughter blooming behind her eyelids. Even in the grips of a deep, restorative sleep, a soft smile curved her lips. So involved with her dreams as she was, Relena was slow in sensing the gentle rub of a blanket being dragged slowly up her body. She floated to the surface of consciousness in a lazy, wending motion, returning to reality with a soft pop! and opening her eyes just as the blanket settled about her sun-kissed shoulders. Sighing with pleasure, Relena rubbed her face against her crossed forearms. What a way to wake up, she thought.
Wondering at who had awakened her, Relena twisted around to see a slightly pink Quatre Winner; he wore the look of a boy getting caught with his hand in the cookie jar. ?Sorry, Ms. Relena,? he apologized, voice pitched soft and low. ?I thought you could use the blanket, even though the weather?s warm.? He smiled at her, head tilted slightly to one side.
She couldn?t help but smile back. ?That was really kind of you, Quatre, really,? she pushed herself to a sitting position, legs to one side, and wrapped the blanket around herself. ?Thoughtful too, though I would think that with so many sisters, it comes rather naturally to you.? He laughed at that.
?Can?t disagree with you there,?
Quatre had been kneeling at the time, and after exchanging the pleasantries, he sat back. Bending his slightly parted legs, he rested his elbows on his knees and stared towards the gently rumbling ocean. Relena did the same, though at the moment, she found the form of the man resting casually beside her much more to her liking than a view of moving water. She searched for a reason to bring his focus back to her. ?So what brings you here, Quatre? Heat getting to you?? As soon as she?d said it, Relena could have kicked herself. Idiot! Her blonde companion was at ease in temperatures far more extreme than the present weather.
Well, either way, while staring at the aristocratic profile presented to her, Relena decided that the heat was at least getting to her.
Sad excuse notwithstanding, as Relena mentally smacked herself on the forehead, Quatre turned back to her. Half his face was illuminated by the setting sun and the other was set in shadows. He smiled slightly and shrugged, the movement inviting Relena to break eye contact and look down. And like the proverbial moth to the flame, Relena?s eyes obligingly dipped to the noticeably distinct slope of a finely muscled shoulder. She just managed to hear his reply. ?Like yourself, Ms. Relena, I just wanted some down time. Away from offices and paperwork. It?s not often I get a chance to watch the sun set.? His voice grew soft and gruff as he gazed at her. ?There?s a lot around you that you miss because you don?t stop to take a look, you know??
Wide eyes snapped to his and silence reigned beneath the palm tree for a few tense moments. Again Relena broke eye contact and barely suppressed the shiver that slid deliciously down her spine.
Whoah.
She had felt that voice down to her toes.
A lame and somewhat breathless ?uh-huh? tumbled from her lips, and Relena desperately groped for her drink. She needed immediate cooling down and silently longed to throw herself into the beckoning water nearby. When her searching fingertips finally found the glass, Relena was not surprised to find the iced tea was now just tea. Upon sipping it and finding the drink far too watered down to do her any good, Relena grimaced, chagrined not only because her iced tea wasn?t iced tea anymore but also because the quiet man beside her had watched her pathetic attempt at being casual the entire time, the variegated blue-green orbs unswerving. Gazing over the rim of her glass, Relena locked eyes with Quatre for a moment, then with a sharp jerk, she tossed her head back and drained the remaining contents of her glass without a word.
To hell with flavour. If he kept looking at her like that?
?Need another?? he asked. ?It has been rather hot today.?
?Oh yes, it has!? Relena gasped meaningfully. The exclamation had burst out of her quite suddenly, and she hoped he would take it as her catching her breath after her impromptu tea chugging. She held the glass out to him unsteadily. ?Thanks.?
Taking the glass from her and promising he?d be back shortly, Quatre pushed himself to his feet and walked barefoot to the cooler not far away. Pausing to exchange words with Wufei, Quatre unknowingly presented a tantalizing full-length view of his body to an all-too attentive audience. The gangly, skinny legs and under-developed chest were gone, and had been for a while. At this timely observation, Quatre?s words came back to her, the truth in them ringing strong and true. ?There?s a lot around you that you miss because you don?t stop to take a look, you know??
She certainly knew now.
Appreciative eyes took in the back view of the tall, Adonis-like man before her, the white cotton shirt he wore revealing more than it concealed. This time, Relena didn?t even bother trying to resist. With a new light in her eyes, Relena watched the muscles of his back stretch in perfect unison as Quatre bent over the cooler, rummaging in its contents. She noticed the way his shirt dipped slightly in the middle, outlining the strong, straight line of his spine. Relena canted her head to one side. If she wasn?t mistaken, it was almost as if it were pointing downwards to the tight, twin globes of his?
Relena jerked.
Damn. She needed that drink fast.
Scowling as the now familiar heat crept to her cheeks, Relena had just decided to drown herself in the water when Quatre did an interesting little movement with his feet. Jean shorts hugged his backside in loving detail?
And Relena just about lost it.
Without looking away, she searched the sand for her sunglasses. Finding them and slipping them on, she settled her back against the palm tree and waited patiently for the show to begin. And like the ladies man he was, Quatre didn?t disappoint. Relena grinned.
Oh boy? Here we go again.
TBC
Notes: This is the only time I?ll allow flames, because it was my fault that I made you guys wait so long for something so short. T__T
I know this wasn't amazingly well-written and I apologize for it. Please love me still?
I must go now.....
<-- look how cheesed I am, sweets...
