Thirteen

Dinner

      Relena was watching Heero. I shook my head, she was completely oblivious to everyone but him.
      “So you’ve been living in L-1 and going to school?”
      How vapid could she make herself look?
      Hmm...Heero was right, she was sincere. Of course, I was right too, she wasn’t sincere to me, Krystal, Kat, or Sam.
      It was disgusting to watch. The worst part was, Heero didn’t notice. He didn’t notice her ignoring everyone else and he didn’t notice me.
      Milliardo did, and Noin. He talked avidly with me, happy to ask too many questions. He wanted to know what I’d been up to after I left.
      Relena would talk to them, but her brother made it obvious he was busy. Other than that, though, I seemed to be outside their circle.
      Heero had dressed to match me, escorted me here...given me compliments and laughed with his comrades...now he was focused on the Minister’s vacuous expression, smiling and laughing, ignoring me.
      Sam nudged me slightly and I closed my eyes, looking away from Miss Relena.
      “You’re glaring again.” she murmured. Milliardo pretended not to notice.
      Heero was still talking to Relena as Duo winked at me from where he sat across from Heero and I. This caught his attention and he turned to me, still talking to Relena.
      “I’ve been staying off and on with Nikki.” he gestured to me with his head, “She and the others, except Kat...Katie, live together...” he turned back to Relena and Duo grinned. This also caught his attention, “What?” he asked.
      Duo chuckled, “Nothing. I’m sure you’ll hear all about it later.”
      “What?” Relena asked, confused.
      Milliardo grinned to Noin and tried to hide his...knowing...smile.
      After a second, Heero seemed to understand and glanced at me. “You enjoying your dinner?” he asked, completely focused on me.
      Too little too late...
      I noted he left out the ‘Omaesan’ that he had attached just about every time he had addressed me since he’d first said it, of course, he hadn’t said it since she’d arrived...
      I plastered on a smile I knew he knew was fake, “Yes. It’s very good. My complements to your chef, Quatre.”
      Relena was shocked and Quatre nodded.
      No one called Mr. Winner by his first name in public...well, formal...This time my grin was true as no one else spoke up or even showed shock, if they even felt it.
      “So, Miss Kaze...” she started.
      “Oh, please, you’re one of Heero’s friends,” I leaned against him, holding his arm to me, “Call me Miss Nicole.” I smiled, gently caressing his lower stomach with the hand she couldn’t see.
      Heero froze with a slight intake of breath.
      He knew he’d offered too little, too late. He also knew my games wouldn’t stop here tonight.
      Relena returned my smile, not noticing, “Well, Miss Nicole. Heero says that he’s known you since before the last war was over. Is he the same now as he was then?”
      I grinned, trying to think of a subtle way to insult her, lowering my hand. He shifted away, managing not to let it show, not quite controlling his breathing.
      “What a question to ask, Relena.” Heero spoke up before I could. He managed not to let it sound too airy, giving me a level look...which meant he knew what I was thinking. He unobtrusively moved my hand...after clenching it and flinching slightly as I clenched my own hand...in a different way than him...but...
      He didn’t realize that before the night was out he’d be a little troubled...maybe a little messy...possibly bloody...who knew...right now I didn’t care.
      I smiled coyly at him and he rolled his eyes, returning his attention to Relena.
      Turning to Milliardo, I tried to continue smiling, making an effort to control how absolutely pissed I was, hoping my clenched teeth didn’t show.
      He was hiding a grin from me and turned to listen to Noin, whispering something that made her grin at me.
      Sam and Duo had exchanged a look and were now grinning at me.
      I rolled my eyes and looked to Kris, she too, was grinning.
      Nyaa, it wasn’t as if it hadn’t worked, it had worked as well as ever...
      I looked to Kat, she was listening, with great interest, as Trowa explained something to her.
      Noin was now focused on her conversation with Relena, and Quatre was too far away...Milliardo had joined their talk.
      I sighed and turned to Wufei. He was eating quietly, watching his plate.
      I watched him a while, debating on if I should...or not...start a conversation with him. The Chinese man continued eating and staring at his plate, not seeming to notice me. After a while, he looked up, confused.
      Hmm...so he had noticed...
      “...Nikki?” Heero said, distracting me, and I looked to him, he was glaring at Wufei.
      “What?” I hadn’t heard the question.
      fter a moment, he refocused on me, “Nothing. Never mind.”
      A little annoyed, I looked back to Wufei.
      This time, he didn’t look up.


      “You want to dance?” Heero asked Nicole, his voice questioning as she settled onto a stool.
      She’d been talking with Zechs in an alcove for the last twenty minutes or so.
      I looked up at Heero, he had one hand extended and this look on his face...
      I grinned.
      “I don’t want to dance with you, Heero.” Nikki replied, shifting around to face him.
      I rose my eyebrows to Wufei, she’d danced with all of us...a number of times...it occurred to me her choice of wording...
      “Oh...” he stood there a second, unsure, he knew that she’d been dancing with us...and sort of avoiding him...
      One of the other guests started making his way toward us.
      “Well...” Heero sat down beside her, relaxing a bit against the bar.
      “Would you like to dance, Miss?” the other asked.
      Nikki smiled winningly at him and stood, “Of course, I’ve been hoping someone would ask me...” she flicked her hair at Heero and walked off.
      Heero remained impassive as Wufei started mixing a drink.
      I continued to meet eyes with Wufei a moment, then turned to face Heero, “I have a feeling this is only the beginning.” I informed him.
      He gave me an annoyed look, “Yeah, Duo.” he said acidly, “I know.”
      Wufei set the cup down in front of Heero and hopped the counter, taking off the half apron he was wearing and pulling on his sports jacket, then muttered something in Chinese to Heero.
      Heero grinned at him, they had a slightly hurried sounding conversation...it was too fast for me to follow...Wufei didn’t really seem to notice that the smile Heero gave him wasn’t sincere...at all.
      He grinned and headed out onto the dance floor, cutting in.
      Quatre and I exchanged a glance as Heero stared at Nikki and Wufei a moment, then seemed to go off in his own world, taking a long drink from the glass.
      I exchanged a look with Trowa.
      “I think I’ll say something to her...” Quatre muttered, shifting to move.
      I nodded, “Wait ‘til this song’s over, though.”
      He hesitated, glancing at me.
      “Trust me. Wait.”
      He frowned slightly and settled back.
      I glanced around, there was nothing I could do just sitting here...and well...ladies liked to dance...liked guys to ask them to dance...and, of course, I liked the ladies...
      I winked at Quatre, “I’ll be back eventually...if you’re lucky...”
      He grinned and rolled his eyes.
      When I did come back...sometime later...Quatre was leaning against the bar and Nikki was beside him, watching Wufei hop back behind the counter.
      Heero came up from some direction and Quatre grinned at him...Heero looked about to kick his ass...but managed his reaction...Quatre didn’t seem to notice.
      It occurred to me how little these guys noticed sometimes...especially if there was a girl involved...
      Wufei set a drink in front of me, leaning forward slightly, “Quatre talked to her... and Heero noticed...he took her into an alcove...”
      I accepted the drink, “Damn...I bet he thinks...”
      He nodded, “He shared a few interesting sentences with me...I think we may want to make him go to bed soon...or something...he’s getting really pissed.”
      I couldn’t help but agree, “Either get him to go, or get Nik to knock her shit off.”
      He nodded, glancing at the two as Heero stepped back, giving up on getting her to actually talk to him.
      I thought she was more mature than that.
      Nikki smiled winningly at Wufei, “Make me something? Something sweet?” she added some suggestiveness to it to bother Heero.
      Wufei went to stand in front of her, it was too far away for me to talk to him without looking dumb so I settled back.
      I thought he had better sense than that too...or at least the sense not to try and move in on someone else’s girl...because even if they didn’t realize it, that was what this was about.
      Nikki was flirting outrageously with him and he seemed to be falling for it.
      A fast song came on and Nikki managed to get him to dance...the type of dirty dancing she’d only do with Heero or me...it was just a little beyond what she’d do with others...she was more provocative...but only a bit more. I noticed that she was keeping the little bit back that she’d go with Heero or me.
      Wufei was a bit too interested in it...I’d assumed he’d caught on to the whole games bit...but evidently I was wrong...
      Heero turned his back on them, staring intently at his cup.
      Nikki was impressed with Wufei’s dancing...and very obviously starting to have fun...stepping it up a bit...not even to the point that she’d go with me...I decided that I wanted to dance with her...Just to show Wufei...make a point to help Heero...I glanced at him. He was still staring into his cup.
      I could tell he wasn’t having a good night. Nicole was hurting him purposely... though she didn’t realize the extent of it...and we weren’t being all too helpful...
      Weren’t females supposed to have some sort of intuition on this type of thing?
      The song ended and another like it started, I went and grabbed Nikki’s arm, grinning at Wufei.
      He gave me a dirty look as she seemed forget he existed.
      Heero also gave me a murderous look after Wufei hopped the counter again.
      ‘Having fun?’ he mouthed to me, ice in his eyes.
      I nodded, ‘Your turn, if you’ve got the balls to.’
      He grinned then, and approached.
      ‘She just wants to dance so don’t try to talk to her...’
      He sighed, nodded...and pushed me aside.
      Nikki gave me a look, realizing what was going on...but she loved dancing with Heero, so she put that aside...glaring at me for only a moment before focusing on her best friend...
      I went over to the DJ and told him to play another fast song since this one was almost over...this was the only way I could think of to stop them...
      I went for another round of dancing, watching Nikki and Heero, keeping an eye on Kat, Kris, and Sam too...I noticed they were also doing this...‘they’ being the guys...
      After that dance was over though, Nikki went off with some other peacock and Heero returned to the bar.
      I decided I should probably talk to Nicole...Trowa was a step ahead of me, however, because he disposed of the peacock and was talking to Nikki as they danced.
      She was more than willing to dance with me. After she finished this dance with Trowa. Even though he was saying something that bothered her in a persuasive tone.
      He passed her over as the song ended, shrugging slightly.
      “Don’t give me any shit, Duo-dear.” she informed me after he was actually out of ear-shot...people generally mis-judged that.
      I rose an eyebrow to her, “Why not?”
      “Because I don’t want to hear it. He pissed me off. Move on...”
      “And you’re being a bitch.”
      “Surprise, surprise. Imagine that. It’s seems we’ve had this conversation in the past. It’s his own fault.”
      “Don’t be stupid. I know you know what’s going on.”
      Her eyes clouded up, “But he pays so much attention to her...I mean...he’s never ignored me...”
      “Nikki. This is the woman he left for. You remember that. I know you do.”
      She swallowed looking down, “Why do you think I hate her? She’s the only person who can change our relationship...”
      “Do you really think he’d let someone change that?”
      She didn’t look up, “I can’t tell...and it scares me.”
      I sighed, “Well...you need to be nicer and you know it. And you need to tell him how you feel, or he’s going to be entertained elsewhere tonight.”
      The song changed and she continued to dance with me, even though there were a number of the damned peacocks waiting...
      “Am I that obvious?”
      “No.” I was surprised, “Lucky guess...I guess...” I hadn’t intended it that way.
      She chuckled.
      “You really should apologize to him.”
      She went cold, “For what?”
      I gave her a level look and she subsided, looking pouty and hurt.
      After a while she started smiling, it was odd...I swirled her around off and on, trying to spot anyone watching us...but I didn’t see anyone...I could feel the eyes...where were they? I hated this...but it had to be one of the guys...
      After a time, she grinned maliciously and shook her head very slightly.
      I swirled her around, again...she laughed delightedly.
      When we regained our balance, she leaned close to my ear, “I’m being paged.”
      I pulled back from her, “Paged?”
      She nodded past me, directing at someone.
      I started to turn and look, but she leaned up and kissed me...the fun kiss...the long and lingering one...
      She winked at me, stepped back, and started in that direction.
      I watched her, then looked at who she was headed for.
      Heero.
      Shit...well, he didn’t seem too agitated...he sort of forgot I existed as he went into an alcove with Nikki a few steps behind.
      She turned and closed the curtain, meeting my eyes for the brief instant before she was covered.
      I grinned...if I didn’t know Nikki so well, then I would have felt sorry for Heero... well, she was pissed, so I probably should feel sorry for him...Oh well, I could decide when I saw him again. I could figure out what happened then.
      I headed to the bar and...Wufei...except...he was dancing dirty with Sam...and heading for the bar himself...well, being pulled up on the bar by Sam...
      I stopped below them, grinning, “Hey, Wufei...” Samantha was fun to dance with... “You can’t keep her to yourself like that...” I hopped up onto the bar with them, joining in the dance.
      “Duo, do me a favor?” Sam murmured in my ear after a while, “Help me get Quatre up here...”
      I nodded, during the course of the dance, he’d come up to the bar...we both grabbed an arm and pulled, ‘Come on...’ I mouthed.
      He hesitated, then jumped up.
      Wufei and I turned and jumped behind the bar.
      “Where’s Heero?” he asked as Quatre and Samantha started to dance.
      I nodded to one of the closed curtains, “He wanted to talk to Nikki...”
      He grinned at me, “Am I right in assuming?”
      I nodded again, “You may want to assume more, though, I’m not sure how well you know our dear, sweet, Nikki.”
      He grinned.
      The song ended and Sam collapsed against Quatre as the crowd dispersed.
      “Wufei, where’s my drink?” she asked after they had joined us.
      “Oh, sorry about that. What was it? Butterfly nipple?”
      “Ih. I’ll just have a honeybee.”
      He gave me a look mixed the drink for her.
      I had the very distinct feeling he was about to cut her off...because if he didn’t, I would. She didn’t need any more drinks tonight.
      She’d had way too many already...so had Kat...but Kat was starting on water...at least for now...and Kris wasn’t drinking much...like Nikki, she’d been dancing a lot.
      “What?” Sam demanded, and it occurred to me that we were all watching her.
      “I was just wondering if it turned out okay,” Wufei answered.
      “Me too,” I added, getting an idea, “Can I taste?”
      “Which method?” she giggled.
      It probably would have been funner if she hadn’t asked, if she’d just agreed...but she knew what I meant. I grinned and leaned down, kissing her in much the same way Nikki had me earlier, but it was all part of the games, so it didn’t bother her...not to mention that she’d had a few too many.
      “Good?” she asked.
      “Very.” I replied with a grin.
      Quatre had an eyebrow raised, “The drink, right?”
      “I’m not sure.” I glanced at him, then back to her, “I’ll have to check on that...” I kissed her again, knowing that he did not appreciate it...but hell...she was my friend. This was how we played. I was a good boy...most of the time...some of it...if I had a reason.
      “Quatre, if you’re so interested,” she told him, when I’d pulled away again, pausing to take another drink, “You should come taste for yourself.”
      He brushed me off and started to lean down.
      He should have known better than that...
      She put the glass in front of his face.
      I couldn’t help it. It was just too funny...I died laughing...then decided that I would probably be safer at some point a ways away from these two.
      I sat down beside Trowa at the bar.
      After a while Wufei joined us, “I guess he likes it.” he informed us.
      “What?” Trowa asked, confused.
      I laughed, “Wufei made Sam a honey bee, and I decided to taste it. Quatre decided that he liked that particular method...”
      “He’s trying it as we speak.” Wufei added, nodding down to where Quatre was kissing Samantha.
      “How do you taste a drink that way?” Trowa seemed a bit skeptical...not adverse, skeptical.
      I shrugged, “You can try it sometime, if you’d like, I’m sure Kat will be more than happy to show you.”
      He gave me a look, “She’s seventeen.”
      I laughed as Wufei started mixing us drinks, I’d wondered what was keeping him distanced.
      “I’ve heard it’s rather efficient...” Wufei muttered in reference to the kiss, “I wouldn’t mind having Nikki show me at some point...”
      I laughed even harder at that, “You should try it with both of them. They can make the worst drink taste divine...even vodka...if they’re in the mood.”
      We all laughed at that as Quatre and Sam headed for a door.
      “I think our friend over there is going to have a good night.” Wufei informed us.
      “Unless he decides to get all noble...” I agreed, wondering if he would.
      “Hey, guys.” Samantha said, suddenly beside us, “Goodnight,”
      She leaned over the bar, grabbed Wufei, and pulled him toward her.
      “Thanks for all the lovely alcohol, darling.” she kissed him on the cheek, then turned to Trowa and I.
      She looked us up and down, then kissed Trowa on the cheek. “Duo’s already had enough goodnight kisses.”
      I grinned.
      “Night.” she started to turn.
      Quatre came up behind her and put an arm around her waist. “Hey, guys, have you seen Heero lately?”
      Wufei and I exchanged a glance and laughed.
      At the questioning look from both sides...Trowa and Quatre, I decided to clarify. “Nikki’s been missing, too,”
      If they needed any more clarification than that, then they were too innocent to know.
      “Oh dear.” Quatre muttered, thinking, “Hey, I’ll come back here in a few minutes and we’ll...discuss this...” I didn’t quite believe that, but if he wanted to...it wasn’t my fault if he decided to miss this golden opportunity...
      He turned Sam toward the door with a last glance back to us, and left.
      “Okay,” Trowa started after a second, accepting his drink from Wufei, “I can tell I’m missing something.”
      “You remember what Nikki did before supper, I assume?”
      He nodded, “That’s not the type of thing that one forgets quickly.”
      I nodded, “You remember what she did to Heero?”
      He nodded again like he were listening to a small child.
      “She’s doing something similar now, I assume.” Wufei finished for me.
      Trowa grinned, then sobered, “Isn’t she pissed at him?”
      I nodded, “And at times very jealous and guarding. She’s doing her part to keep Relena form getting down his pants...”
      “I thought...” he started, then looked at Wufei and back to me, “I thought they were just friends...”
      I nodded again, “Yes. They are. But you can’t be that good of friends without doing things...and neither of them sees the...extended...interest the other has.”
      “So Nikki...”
      I nodded, “She’s doing her part. But they’ll be a bit pissed with each other for a while. They’ve both managed to hurt each other tonight.”
      “I bet she leaves with some other guy right under his nose.” Wufei muttered, looking the crowd over and mixing a drink for someone else at the bar.
      “And you want to be that guy, don’t you?”
      He gave me a look.
      “I saw you dancing with her earlier...” I smiled, “Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t mind being that other guy either...and I doubt Trowa would...”
      Trowa shrugged non-commitally.
      “..but you have to keep in mind that it’s only a game. And it’s directed at Heero. Are you willing to risk friendship on a good lay?”

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Kyeian