The Difference Of Two Minutes [Oneshot, G, subtle WAFF]
Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2007 8:35 pm
Disclaimer: I own nothing, I regret nothing.
Comments: This was inspired by an AsuCaga Gundam Seed fic by psychedelic aya. This is written from Heero?s indirect point of view, hence the near-mathematical precision with which he words things and thinks. The reason I wrote this was because I am not fond of stories where people had the characters fighting a whole new threat that kidnapped Relena and whatnot so Heero had to go save her and all that. I honestly think that once the conflict was over, the real challenge would be interacting in an environment that did not have room for warriors. (Wufei would agree with me, I think, haha.) So I wanted to write a small fic that showed something small and commonplace could slowly start giving Heero a chance to express the courage and feelings he only knew how to use in wars. I?d love to hear other people?s thoughts on this. Anyway, here it is!
The Difference Of Two Minutes
Two minutes a day.
He frowned.
He had unwittingly started basing his entire day?s satisfaction on the completion of two minutes each Monday through Friday.
He was not pleased, but he was willing to allow the continuation of such interaction.
Surely it hadn?t made much of a difference in their relationship.
Contemplatively, he leaned back and analyzed his average working day.
At 7:00 am exactly, he would arrive in his office with his tie fit impeccably tight around his neck.
At noon, after a solid set of five hours spent driving, repairing, flying, protecting, filing, and strategizing for various Preventor branches, he would leave for lunch.
And that was when he would see her.
She would enter his line of vision from his right, sometimes carrying a briefcase or a jacket.
Her eyes would widen and then she would smile as she turned to face him.
Then they would be alone at the same time.
For two whole minutes.
On particularly chaotic days, she would treat the two minutes as if they were there for them to experience a tranquil and well-deserved rest.
On particularly productive days, she would converse excitedly with him about the world, her own life, what she knew of his life.
And best of all, whether it was a hectic day or an encouraging day, he felt comfortable responding.
He would quietly but confidently comment on her apparent lack of sleep, or how he agreed with the policy behind her new legislation.
By the end, his tie would be off and he would be joking about it with her, and her impractical shoes would be kicked carelessly to the side.
They could enjoy during those two minutes.
Then, once the two minutes were over, he did not see her again the rest of the day.
From 12:02 pm to 12:00 am, he did not directly encounter her.
And yet.
There was something about those two minutes that made the other 1438 minutes pale in comparison.
In those other minutes his tie would once again be securely fasted, and he did not doubt her shoes were heartlessly stuffed back onto her feet.
He smiled lightly.
Maybe he would ask her about those two minutes next time he saw her.
A bland 838 minutes later, that?s exactly what he did.
And just like he expected, she smiled back at him and laughed.
She told him how happy those two minutes made her, and how she always knew she had them to count on each day.
Feeling a newfound sense of importance and verification, he replied he felt the same way.
They briefly smiled at each other, until the elevator doors banged open and they were rushed at head-on.
But as she walked away, exiting his line of sight to the left, she smilingly turned and waved farewell to him for the first time.
A simple gesture, but poignantly new nonetheless.
His face slowly transformed into an inquisitive smile as she disappeared, and he thought of how things were indeed changing.
Maybe he had underestimated the power of those two minutes.
Comments: This was inspired by an AsuCaga Gundam Seed fic by psychedelic aya. This is written from Heero?s indirect point of view, hence the near-mathematical precision with which he words things and thinks. The reason I wrote this was because I am not fond of stories where people had the characters fighting a whole new threat that kidnapped Relena and whatnot so Heero had to go save her and all that. I honestly think that once the conflict was over, the real challenge would be interacting in an environment that did not have room for warriors. (Wufei would agree with me, I think, haha.) So I wanted to write a small fic that showed something small and commonplace could slowly start giving Heero a chance to express the courage and feelings he only knew how to use in wars. I?d love to hear other people?s thoughts on this. Anyway, here it is!
The Difference Of Two Minutes
Two minutes a day.
He frowned.
He had unwittingly started basing his entire day?s satisfaction on the completion of two minutes each Monday through Friday.
He was not pleased, but he was willing to allow the continuation of such interaction.
Surely it hadn?t made much of a difference in their relationship.
Contemplatively, he leaned back and analyzed his average working day.
At 7:00 am exactly, he would arrive in his office with his tie fit impeccably tight around his neck.
At noon, after a solid set of five hours spent driving, repairing, flying, protecting, filing, and strategizing for various Preventor branches, he would leave for lunch.
And that was when he would see her.
She would enter his line of vision from his right, sometimes carrying a briefcase or a jacket.
Her eyes would widen and then she would smile as she turned to face him.
Then they would be alone at the same time.
For two whole minutes.
On particularly chaotic days, she would treat the two minutes as if they were there for them to experience a tranquil and well-deserved rest.
On particularly productive days, she would converse excitedly with him about the world, her own life, what she knew of his life.
And best of all, whether it was a hectic day or an encouraging day, he felt comfortable responding.
He would quietly but confidently comment on her apparent lack of sleep, or how he agreed with the policy behind her new legislation.
By the end, his tie would be off and he would be joking about it with her, and her impractical shoes would be kicked carelessly to the side.
They could enjoy during those two minutes.
Then, once the two minutes were over, he did not see her again the rest of the day.
From 12:02 pm to 12:00 am, he did not directly encounter her.
And yet.
There was something about those two minutes that made the other 1438 minutes pale in comparison.
In those other minutes his tie would once again be securely fasted, and he did not doubt her shoes were heartlessly stuffed back onto her feet.
He smiled lightly.
Maybe he would ask her about those two minutes next time he saw her.
A bland 838 minutes later, that?s exactly what he did.
And just like he expected, she smiled back at him and laughed.
She told him how happy those two minutes made her, and how she always knew she had them to count on each day.
Feeling a newfound sense of importance and verification, he replied he felt the same way.
They briefly smiled at each other, until the elevator doors banged open and they were rushed at head-on.
But as she walked away, exiting his line of sight to the left, she smilingly turned and waved farewell to him for the first time.
A simple gesture, but poignantly new nonetheless.
His face slowly transformed into an inquisitive smile as she disappeared, and he thought of how things were indeed changing.
Maybe he had underestimated the power of those two minutes.
