Eighteen

Good Sides

      Click click click click click
      Heero wouldn’t stop clicking that damned pen...he was completely focused on it and continued to click it...
      Click click click click
      I sighed as I watched Sam hand Nikki a cup and Nikki pulled her eyes from Heero. She kept watching him with this disbelieving look...not completely upset unless he was looking back at her...and they’d share long glances...it was odd because those glances weren’t pissed...Nikki would be surprised and Heero would be completely calm...sort of...smug...maybe...considering, definitely.
      Click click click click click
      “I know you don’t want to come, but we need new dresses...” Sam had quite the hang-over this morning...served her right.
      I still couldn’t believe she’d left...
      Click click click click
      “Just buy some you think I’d like or would look good on me...” Nikki replied like Sam wasn’t seeing something obvious, “I will not go. I flat out refuse. I don’t care if they lock me in the study...”
      Click click...
      “We won’t lock you in the study,” Heero’s voice was cold and it was obvious he was pissed... “Quatre’s rooms, maybe. But not the study...” as he said the Arabian’s name the pen went flying across the room to bounce off the wall. That surprised me...she flinched back even though it wasn’t even aimed at her. She was reacting bad to his violence...that made me wonder. She was being too flighty, period. What had happened last night before they’d went to sleep? What could have happened to make her flinch like that when he threw a pen...a pen...
      Her reaction to his words meant they had said something about it last night...
      We all had heard them...at four-thirty in the morning...Nikki bitching and calling him ‘Asshole’ and him telling her to ‘Just fucking shut up!’ and of course, the very amusing, ‘Call Duo so you can go fuck your princess...’ I had been shocked at the ferocity of it...‘specially this morning when she’d first flinched from him...her tone hadn’t sounded like she was reacting like this...
      Why they were arguing like lovers was beyond me...
      Not really, I knew how Heero felt about her.
      They had no reason to be awake at four-thirty in the morning, though. The party had ended at four, and they had left at...like...midnight or something and had been sleeping when we came up.
      Someone...Quatre probably...had checked on them...
      They had only stopped when Duo had pounded on the door and told Heero to go fuck Relena so we could all sleep...the odd thing was, Heero hadn’t taken him up on the offer...He’d apologized, then Nikki had and they’d went silent. Duo had muttered something to Nikki and left.
      We could hear nothing for a while after that but mumbling...I mean, ‘Again!’ had been quite loud...then there’d been a loud noise and everything’d went silent for a second...until Trowa pounded on the door.
      Heero’d muttered something and Trowa’d asked Nikki something.
      Then everything had went silent again.
      Why had Heero thrown something? What had the ‘again’ been about?
      I couldn’t see how her going to Quatre’s rooms fit in though...other than the obvious implied...but Heero knew that Quatre wouldn’t do something like that, didn’t he?
      I pulled out of my memories and focused on the present.
      Heero watched Nikki in disbelief...just like every other time she’d flinched...which’d happened a lot already today...and threw a cup across the room, causing her to flinch again and the cup to shatter...
      “Hello...girl with head-ache...” Sam waved her hand to get his attention, “You can stop throwing shit any time now...I promise we won’t mind...” she indicated herself and Nikki.
      He glared at her, “You realize I don’t care?”
      She made a face but he ignored her.
      “...That nothing you say will change anything right now, don’t you?”
      “Yeah. I’d noticed. What happened last night...why is she...” Sam gestured to Nikki, she shook her head and refocused on him, “What did you do?”
      His eyes opened wide in shock and he shook his head, then her brush hit the wall again and Nikki flinched...again...along with Sam.
      Nikki was glaring at him and he focused on her.
      I stood up.
      “What is your problem?” Heero demanded, throwing his arms in the air after they had glared at each other a time.
      That meant either her flinching, or why she’d been pissed last night. That’d been funny as all hell...Duo’d explained about Heero kissing on Nikki’s neck; it was him chasing the peacock away so she’d talk to him.
      And now Nikki flinched at his every sudden movement.
      I gestured to the door with my head to Sam, wondering what favor she’d done him that he hadn’t needed...that had been funny...my eyes landed on a dent beside the door...What the hell... He had better not have hit her...but she wasn’t bruised...I ignored the fact that she had a hickey and he’d been the only guy around her all night. I knew him better than that. He would never do that...I pushed those thoughts away.
      Sam nodded and started out, not noticing the dent...or maybe ignoring it.
      “I’ll stay with her. But you’ll have to fill me in later.” that would be an easy way to find out...ask her when he wasn’t near...
      He nodded once in my general direction, looking none too thrilled by this. I followed Sam out.
      “Why did you leave last night?” I asked calmly.
      She shrugged slightly, “I wasn’t ready for bed.”
      “You were drunk.”
      She shook her head, “No, I was buzzed. There is a difference...”
      We both glanced to the door, hearing Heero’s voice rise.
      “Not much of one.” I noted, looking back to her.
      She shrugged, “I wasn’t as gone as you guys thought.”
      “Whatever. What would have happened if you’d been caught?”
      She smiled, “I wouldn’t be here right now...”
      I took a breath.
      “...but I’m getting bored of this conversation, I have a question.”
      I waited.
      “Why are you staying with Nikki?”
      This time it was Nikki’s voice that we could hear, a very audible ‘asshole’ followed whatever she’d said.
      I grinned, “Being alone with Nikki might get fun...” I winked, hiding the truth of the statement with the argument we were hearing. “Of course, being alone with you...” I left it hanging, suggestively moving closer.
      I wasn’t going to mention my suspicions to her and acting an ass kept our subjects for discussion limited.
      “Knock it off, Wufei.” she said, smacking idly at me as something was thrown across the room...evidently by Heero, it was loud.
      “No,” I chuckled, shifting my weight back, “Actually, I just decided to be nice.”
      She rolled her eyes.
      “Okay, okay, I don’t want to go to the meeting...”
      “Shut-up!” we heard Heero clearly and both our eyes opened wide.
      The door flew open and Heero brushed past us. He was pissed. He didn’t give Sam or I even a glance.
      With a nod, Sam headed for her room as Heero disappeared around the corner, punching it as he passed. I waited for her door to shut before I went back into Nikki’s room.
      Nikki was also pissed as she picked up her brush and...I noticed another dent in the wall...So that’s what he threw...again...she tossed it onto the vanity.
      “Are you okay?” I asked as I shut the door.
      “I’m fine.” her voice was clipped.
      “What happened last night?”
      “A lot.”
      “Care to elucidate?”
      “No.”
      “Did he hit you?”
      She looked at me, shocked, “He wouldn’t hit me.”
      “Then why do you flinch from him?”
      She stared at me, “Like I said, a lot happened.”
      “That fails to reassure me.”
      “You know Heero, don’t you?”
      I nodded.
      “So think about it. It’s not his fault...it’s just...” she trailed off, looking out the window, then shook her head, “Never mind. Just trust your friend and know that he’s also pissed because I hurt his feelings...that’s why he’s throwing things...”
      “How?”
      She looked back at me, “I flinch every time he moves quickly.”
      We met eyes for a bit, not saying anything.
      “So what are we gonna do?” I asked finally, grabbing a pillow he’d thrown from the floor and sitting in the vanity seat.
      I had decided not to piss her off today...if I could help it. I’d noticed my decisions about such things never held, however. I’d try anyway.
      She shook her head, “I don’t know...nothing.”
      “Why won’t you tell me what happened?”
      She gave me an outraged look, “Because it’s none of your business...you should at least pretend to trust him...”
      “Don’t get pissy with me, or I’ll make your ass go with Relena.”
      She snorted at that and was silent a moment as she sat on the bed, then sighed, “Sorry, Wufei,”
      For some reason I didn’t think she was sorry.
      “Thanks for staying with me.” she shook her head, “I’m going to sleep.” she lay back.
      I threw the pillow at her playfully, “That’s no fun, unless there’s a game involved...”
      She dodged the pillow, “I’m not in the mood for games.”
      “Oh, come on! You were pissed when I came in...”
      She smiled, “Not at you, if I’m doing it ‘cause I’m pissed, then it’s a revenge thing. You know that.”
      “I could piss you off...”
      She snorted, “Yes, you could...” she smiled larger, “And have...” she thought a second, “You just want to get layed.”
      I nodded, “That should be a given...How do I piss you off again?”
      She grinned larger, “Haven’t gotten layed in a while, have you?” she sat up.
      “No. And it’s really starting to aggrivat me. Wouldn’t you want to fuck me?” I stood, turning so she could look me over. I knew how concieted it was and hoped she would take it the right way.
      She stood up, grinning, then stopped, “No. I’m not doing this...”
      I sighed, disappointed, sitting back down, “But it’s fun...”
      She laughed as she sat back on the bed, “Well...I’ll pass.” she lay back again.
      This was going to be no fun. I stood and walked to the bed, “You don’t care if I lay here too, do you?”
      “No. Not really.”
      I collapsed back onto the bed, sighing.
      “Are you worried about Romefeller?” she asked after a time.
      I took a breath and let it out slowly, thinking about that, “No, Romefeller always falls. It always will. It’ll be nice to have something challenging going on for a while, though. My life’s been fairly dull these last few years.” I sat up, swinging my legs to the floor and hunching forward.
      I didn’t really want to lay down just to lay there.
      “Why don’t you work for Quatre? I’m sure he’d like that.” she asked after a while.
      “I don’t accept charity.”
      She sat up, resting against her arms, “That wouldn’t be charity, not in that sense. I would think you’d want to be near your friends...”
      I sighed, “I do, but I don’t want to be a burden.”
      She snorted, “A burden? To Quatre?”
      She was right, Quatre wouldn’t see me as a burden.
      There was momentary silence.
      “How come you fucked Heero’s girlfriend?” She shifted, pulled out my hair-tie, and started messing with my hair...What the hell? I decided it best not to mention it...it felt good. My next thought was; why was she even thinking of him? I was still bothered by her flightiness with him and refusal to tell me what’d happened last night...
      “Did you see her?” I thought about that...Man that felt good... “Oh, wait, you wouldn’t have realized...”
      “So you like slutty bitches...” she muttered.
      “What?” I turned to look at her.
      She laughed, “She was a slut...why do you think she slept with you when she was with Heero? Not to say anything about you sleeping with his slut...”
      I frowned.
      Nikki laughed again, “What? You don’t fuck sluts?”
      I rolled my eyes, “How would they become sluts if they don’t fuck around? I just do my part to help...”
      She shook her head, deciding to move on, “You should cut your hair.”
      “What?”
      She passed me the hair-tie and dropped my hair.
      “You should cut your hair.” she repeated calmly, “I will, if you want me to.”
      “No thanks.” I said, chuckling, disappointed she’d stopped.
      “Aww...” she pouted, then lay back again as I re-did my hair. “Your hair is going to get cut.”
      “I think not.”
      “Your hair is getting cut.” her tone was firm.
      I turned and looked down at her, “Oh, really? How are you going to manage that?”
      She was grinning at me, “Very carefully.”
      Was she flirting? Or was this just more games...either way...I leaned down and kissed her.
      She returned the kiss for a moment, surprised at something, but pulled away, shaking her head, “No, Wufei, I’m sorry...”
      That was annoying, “Whatever.” I lay back down, “I hate it when a woman’s a tease...”
      “I hate it when guys think I always play.”
      “I hate it when a girl’s suggestive on purpose with no intentions of...”
      “I hate it when guys think they can get me just like that.” She snapped her fingers.
      I watched her a moment, “I hate it when girls think I’m only after them for sex.”
      “Aren’t you?” she demanded calmly.
      I decided not to answer that...it could be a trap...or lead to one.
      “Have you ever been raped?” I asked, as the thought of the way she was hit me.
      It’s the type of thing that hadn’t come up in conversation between us.
      She was surprised, and stayed silent a moment, “No, why?”
      “I’m surprised.” I shrugged, “The way you are can get you in over your head.”
      “I really doubt I’ll ever get raped...”
      “Why?”
      “Because I’m protected.”
      “By what?”
      She shifted, looking at me, “A Gundam pilot.”
      “Not everyone knows who he is.” and she didn’t seem too comfortable with him anymore...
      “No, but they do sense his danger.”
      This was interesting...she seemed to completely trust him...and seemed to intend to remain friends with him...but she was acting like she was scared of him or something... “So you only play when he’s near?” That could explain...
      She snorted, “No.”
      Really? “So how do you know you won’t get raped?”
      “I never said that I wouldn’t.”
      “Regardless.”
      She sighed in exasperation, “Heero has a presence...hell, you have a presence...”
      That was true, I’d noticed that we all left a mark...
      “And you’ve all been around for almost all of the last five years...even if you weren’t constantly near...But Heero’s been around as close to constant as possible with you people...”
      I remembered how much their apartment had seemed like Heero and Duo’s...I decided that whatever had happened didn’t affect them as much as I’d assumed and whatever made her jumpy didn’t bother her as much as it seemed...it did him, like she said, it hurt his feelings, but she was perfectly fine with him...sort of...
      “A lot of guys stop coming over after they meet him.” she laughed slightly, “Some will only come over when they think he’s not there...it’s funny, though, ‘cause most of the time, he is there.”
      “Day or night?”
      She nodded, “Day or night.”
      There was that damned suggestiveness again...the way her eyes glittered and the set of her head...
      Her answer explained why she had no problems being a tease.
      “You’re cruel.” I informed her.
      She chuckled, “It’s fun.”
      “You have an interesting notion of fun.”
      “You should try it sometime. You might like it.”
      “Try manipulating people? Sorry, Nik, I think not. I’ve had my share for a while...”
      She ran her hand low across my abdomen...very lightly, “Oh, but it’s so fun...”
      I couldn’t help but freeze for a moment, I rolled off the bed, utterly pissed, “Don’t fucking tease me!” I stood up and paced the room, “You keep...keep...” I closed my eyes a second, “Keep making me think you’ll have sex with me, and I can’t tell if it’s all a game or not...”
      She had a blank look.
      “Well?”
      “What?” she asked at the same time, then thought about it, “In English, please...”
      Oh...that made sense...I realized I’d said it in Chinese...an interesting slip...Hell, I even thought in English now...
      “Never mind.” I didn’t really want to know anyway.
      “I won’t tease you for fun anymore, if that helps any...” she offered.
      She seemed to understand some of it, though...
      I turned, studying her.
      She got agitated, “I’ve told you before, I hate being watched. Stop.”
      I grinned slightly, feeling better, continuing to watch her.
      “If you want me to stop playing my games for fun, then stop watching me like that.”
      “Only for fun?”
      She shrugged, “If you piss me off...” she smiled, “Revenge is sweet, and I always have mine.”
      “I guess I can accept that, Onna.”
      “Don’t call me Onna.”
      “Why not? You are.”
      “As you would say, regardless.”
      I grinned, “Regardless.”
      She had been pissed at Heero, then irritated at me...but tolerant...I’d forgotten my decision not to piss her off...
      She stood and came toward me, her bearing too calm, but pissed, completely pissed. “I should slap you.” she stopped right in front of me, too close...like normal.
      “I feel so threatened.”
      She was shaking her head, breathing deeply, “You are an asshole.” she stated it clearly, then paused for my reaction.
      I didn’t respond. She was entitled to her opinion.
      “Keep pissing me off, I dare you...I’ll slap your ass.”
      “Like the first time?”
      She took another deep breath, “You don’t think I will?”
      I smiled, “Well, you’ll try.” I made my voice condescending as possible and caught her wrist within an inch of my face, “Like that, and fail.”
      She was breathing heavily.
      I let out a breath, dropping her hand, “Heero’s not here to protect you...”
      An empty threat...not only could I not do anything like that, but if I actually did, Heero would kill me...literally...with the help of Duo and probably Quatre...and if I somehow got away from that...Trowa would hunt me down...she was right. She was protected. I would also hunt any son of a bitch down who tried anything...with any of them.
      I was almost glad when she didn’t seem to realize what I’d just told her...
      How did they do it? Once you got past the games, they seemed very...vulnerable, all of them...I wondered what it would be like to just be a friend...like Duo...instead of a toy.

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Kyeian