Forty-Seven

Round Two

      “Hey, Quatre...” Duo called, following us into the bar.
      “Yeah?” the Arabian replied.
      I took stalk of the room and instantly noticed the black hair on the counter. I tried to hide my smile as Wufei also noticed it.
      “You have any condoms?” Duo asked, “I ran out...”
      Quatre laughed as I unobtrusively brushed Wufei’s former pony-tail out of sight.
      Wufei nodded very slightly to me, appreciating it. None of the others realized that they’d cut his hair in here, and only Duo realized she did it at all.
      “No, not in my room. Sam might have some...” Quatre started, thinking.
      Trowa laughed, “Get’em from Heero...I’m sure he hasn’t used two boxes up already...”
      I laughed, “Not yet.” I grinned. “I still have that extra box, I’ll give it to you later, Duo.”
      Duo nodded.
      Quatre laughed, “I wondered why you bought three boxes...”
      I grinned larger, “I know you guys too well. I knew that at least one of you would forget...”
      Trowa grinned, “I would be in deep shit if you didn’t have any...”
      Wufei moved behind the bar, “Drinks anyone?”
      “No thanks...unless there’s rum...” Duo replied, “I’m in a very rum sort of mood.”
      Wufei put two bottles on the counter, one full, the other maybe half empty. “There’s nothing to mix it with though...I can make anything else though...”
      He made a face, turning to me, shaking his head, “So, Heero, you two talk anymore?” he asked, amused, meaning Nikki and I.
      I grinned at him, “Not so much...”
      “So...” he raised an eyebrow, “Your relationship’s degenerated to pure sex?”
      I laughed, “We talk...just not as much as we used to...”
      “You know that once she’s tired of you, she’ll be gone, don’t ya?” Wufei said.
      I shook my head, hoping he was wrong...knowing he was wrong...
      “Yeah, if you have no meaningful relationship...”
      Duo laughed, “No, it’s Nikki. Unless they have a fight so bad...” he shook his head, “Which won’t happen, then they won’t split up at all...”
      “We had about four and a half years meaningful relationship, anyways...” I muttered, thinking over that first argument and the night that followed...I could deal with that... “I think we’ll be okay for a few months meaningful sex...”
      “So this is what you guys talk about...” Sally said suddenly from the door, “Meaningful sex...it’s no wonder you never get much done.”
      We grinned at her.
      “We don’t always talk about meaningful sex...” Wufei started as if defending us.
      Sally grinned and came up to the bar, setting a twelve-pack of soda on the counter in front of Wufei, “Just those you want to have it with?” she asked.
      Wufei smiled, “Something like that...”
      Before he could go on, Sally leaned over the bar and kissed him firmly.
      We were shocked.
      “Sally...” Wufei protested slightly annoyed as she pulled away, he wasn’t surprised...
      Sally looked around at us, “What? Does it really surprise you?”
      Trowa snorted slightly, “Well...yes...it does.”
      She turned to Wufei, “Things have settled down again and they’d find out sooner or later...”
      “Sooner or later...?” Duo asked, amused, “How long’s this been goin’ on?”
      Sally laughed at him, “You make it sound like some big scandal...”
      “Isn’t it?” he replied with a naughty grin.
      “Since the day we left” Wufei answered at the same time.
      I looked at him, my eyebrows raised, “That was a while ago...”
      Wufei grinned at me, “I know. I went to her because she’s the only one who listens to me...”
      “We listen to you...” Quatre protested.
      “Unless there’s a girl in the area...specific girls, I might add. When Sam, Nikki, Kris, and Kat are nearby, you guys are completely oblivious to anything...unless its only one of them, in which case you're thinking about your own.”
      “So you go to Sally...”
      Duo snickered, “What’s it like to be cream, Sally?”
      She looked at him, amused and confused, “What?”
      Duo laughed, “That day when we, well, when you two started your...relationship, we had all met in Trowa’s room for breakfast. Wufei was...for lack of a better word, jealous...”
      Wufei laughed again, “No, it’s true, I was. I needed to get layed bad, their games weren’t helping anything...with any other girl before, what I did with them...it wouldn’t have ended with just kissing...and I had the notion Nikki was interested in me.” He shook his head, “Seeing her and Heero...I’m sure you can figure the rest. So there was all that, and the fact that you two,” he looked at me and Quatre, “were so damned smug...” he shook his head, “I was jealous and needed someone to talk to who actually gave a shit, which ruled out Heero right away.”
      I grinned at him, understanding, at that point, I hadn’t given a shit.
      “Quatre was busy with Sam, and Trowa was so distracted by Kitty...” he smiled, “That he wouldn’t have really listened. Duo,” he looked to our comrade, “Duo is Duo...”
      “Wufei...” Sally reprimanded quietly.
      I grinned again, we all said shit about Duo, and only the girls ever said anything in his defense...not that we actually meant any of it...
      Wufei smiled at Sally, giving her puppy dog eyes.
      “Don’t look at me like that, it’s Duo you need to apologize to.” She looked to the braided pilot, “And I don’t think puppy dog eyes will do much good on him...at least, not from you...”
      Wufei laughed, “Sorry, Duo...”
      Duo laughed too, shaking his head. He didn’t care what we said as long as one of the girls backed him up.
      “Anyways, Duo was ruled out because of Kris...Relena was never even considered. Noin and I never talk. The idea of talking to Zechs about any of this is just ludicrous...That, mixed with the fact that the only other was Sally, made it an easy decision. Actually, I would choose to talk to her before you guys anyway because she always listens and never laughs at me...”
      She snorted slightly, opening the box of soda’s and passing them around.
      “Well, not about serious things. So it just happened.” Wufei finished his story.
      “Enjoy your drinks, Guys, I’m goin’ over to Heero’s room.”
      We nodded as she gave Wufei another kiss and walked out. We turned to Wufei.
      He grinned at us, looking superior somehow.
      “So, is she good?” Duo asked conspiratorially.
      “Duo!” Sally’s voice came from the hall.
      Duo looked sheepish a moment, “Sorry, Sal...” he replied.
      “Don’t call me Sal, and of course I’m good...” her voice faded away and a door closed.
      We started laughing.
      “You’ve got a modest one...” Trowa muttered.
      “Modest or not, she’s tellin’ the truth...”
      We grinned again.
      “I wondered who you bought for...” Duo commented. “I didn’t even consider Sally...”
      Wufei looked at him, “Why not?”
      Duo shrugged, “You two’ve been playing games with each other for so long that it didn’t really occur to me...”
      “Oh,” Wufei accepted that, “At least you didn’t come up with bull-shit about our age difference...”
      Duo smiled, “That actually hadn’t even occurred to me.”
      Wufei smiled back, then turned to me, “Since we’re on the topic, is Nikki any good?”
      “We’re on the topic?” I asked, smiling, surprised that I wasn’t annoyed by his asking...
      He gave me a level ‘I’m not moving on’ look.
      “Yes, actually.”
      I glanced at Duo as he looked away. I wasn’t sure what even had brought my attention to him...
      “You realize that if they find out we’re talkin’ ‘bout them like this, they’ll get a bit pissy, don’t you?” Trowa asked.
      “Nikki will just say that we’re stupid or something.” I informed him, “I don’t think Sam will care either.”
      “And obviously Sally doesn’t care.” Wufei added.
      “Kitty...” I paused, “Kat...Kat. Her name is Kat...Katie...” I was annoyed slightly, “Not that she really cares, I think she likes the name, so...hell...” I decided to start calling her Kitty, “Kitty will probably be embarrassed because...” I looked around, “What?”
      They were grinning at me.
      Quatre shook his head, “I just find it amusing you know them all so well...except Sally...”
      I grinned. “I know, it’s odd to be the one saying what this or that girl likes best and having no one contradict me...and being right...that’s what gets me...” we laughed. “Has she stopped acting innocent yet?” I asked Trowa as an after-thought.
      “What do you mean acting?” he demanded evenly.
      I rose an eyebrow, “She’s been acting like she did when she first met them. She’s...” I thought about it, “Not really all that innocent anymore.”
      “Did she really use to play games like Sam and Nikki?” he asked curiously.
      I nodded along with Duo, “Yeah. She did. She was really good. As good as Nikki when we first met.” I smiled, “Duo was the first guy she did that to...” I laughed at the memory, “He wasn’t even expecting it...”
      Duo laughed a bit harder, “I was too. I saw it coming...” he shrugged, “I knew her before you guys. I knew she was up to something...Thanks for the warning, though...”
      I grinned at him, “No problem. Anytime...”
      He laughed again, “It doesn’t bother me, though.”
      I rolled my eyes.
      Quatre laughed, Trowa shook his head, and Wufei grinned.
      “We should probably change the subject though...”
      “From Kat to Sam...” Duo decided, turning to Quatre.
      “Like you really need to ask...”
      “Actually, he does.” I replied, “They may have played games, but she wouldn’t sleep with him...”
      Duo gave me an annoyed look and I laughed.
      “That’s funny.” Quatre told him.
      “None of’em would sleep with me...they played games...but wouldn’t sleep with me...until...” he muttered something that sounded like now, his eyes downcast a moment.
      I rose an eyebrow.
      He laughed at me, “Oh yeah, Heero, Nikki and I had a fling. How do you think I knew about her ‘grape’?” he laughed some more at my shock.
      “You didn’t...” Trowa started, “Not with Kitty...”
      Duo laughed, “No. I just taught her how to shoot my gun and as a reward,” he rolled his eyes, “She got me, she flirted with me, and she laughed in my face when I offered to take her to a movie.”
      They had a fling? I hadn’t exactly moved on with the conversation.
      “You don’t have a very good track-record here...” Wufei noted.
      Duo shook his head, “No, not really, but again, neither do you.” They grinned at each other, “And now I have Kris.” he smiled, looking to the door without moving his head, “She’s so sweet...just being with Kris is...well...”
      “That’s disgustingly sappy.” I informed him.
      He rolled his eyes at me, “And of all the conversations we’ve had ‘bout’em...you can’t tell me you never said anything sappy.”
      I grinned at him, realizing someone was at the door, “Oh, I’ve said plenty of sappy things...like...” I thought about it, making shit up, “She’s as beautiful as dawn...and...she has the eyes of goddess...perfect...”
      They laughed at me. The only ones facing the door were Duo and Wufei, and I wondered who they saw...
      “You’ve seen her eyes...don’t you agree?” I demanded of them.
      Wufei had caught on at the same time I had, “She does have nice eyes, but have you seen Sally’s?”
      “You’re talking about our eyes?” Nikki’s voice came from the door and we all jumped, turning to look...I doubted she noticed it was feigned...or cared if she did notice.
      They were all standing there, huge grins on their faces.
      “If you think about it,” Kris said as they came in and to us, “It’s kind of nice to know they don’t only talk about sex...” she kissed Duo.
      Sally laughed, “They were talking about meaningful sex when I brought’em the soda earlier...”
      I laughed, “Actually, we were discussing me and Nikki...”
      She rose her eyebrows as she looked up to me, “Really?”
      I nodded, pulling her close.
      “Now, that’s something I would never admit to...” Wufei started, then stopped as Sally looked at him, “In front of everyone...” he amended quickly.
      She laughed, hopping the bar to join him.
      “So we have meaningful sex?” Nikki asked me, her bearing naughty... “I thought it was just good sex....”
      I laughed, everyone had stopped listening, “Well, there is that...” I kissed her and was surprised by the demand in her kiss...I pulled away slightly, “Umm...Duo, let’s go get that box...”
      He nodded, detaching himself from Kris, “All right...”
      “What?” Nikki asked, shocked, as I walked off. She looked to Kris and they started to follow, “He’s not going to stay long is he?”
      I grinned, very happy, if that kiss meant anything... “Only long enough to get a box of condoms.” I replied.
      “You had a varied conversation, didn’t you?” Kris asked Duo from behind Nikki.
      Duo nodded, “Yeah...” he turned to her, walking backwards as Nikki avoided him, “Did Sally tell you?”
      “Tell me what?” Kris asked.
      “She and Wufei are together...”
      Nikki giggled in a knowing sort of way. “What else did you talk about?”
      “Let me see...” I said as we entered the room, “Who was good in bed...” I crossed the room to the night stand.
      She rolled her eyes, sitting on the bed, “Go on...”
      I smiled, tossing Duo the box, “That’s all you need to know. Except that Duo said he had...ah...shall we say...experiences...with all of you...” I looked very pointedly at Nikki.
      She giggled again, “Oh yeah...I’d forgotten about that...”
      Oh really...I snorted slightly.
      “What?” she demanded happily.
      The look in her eyes meant she was hiding something.
      “I think we might want to go...” Duo muttered to Kris who also had an ‘Oh really?’ look, directed between the two...his tone had a very ‘Oh shit’ quality to it.
      That failed to reassure me.
      I met her eyes, laying down on top of her and she smiled.
      “I’ll lock the door...” Duo muttered as he ushered Kris out.
      “Whatever...” Nikki replied, kissing me.
      The door shut with a click and I could hear Kris questioning Duo in the hall.
      “So you had a fling with him?” Why am I so shocked about this?
      She kissed me again and I rolled off her, wanting to talk about it while it was still on my mind.
      She propped herself on an elbow, annoyed, “Yes, and then moved on...”
      That was pointed. “Did you...”
      She grinned, “What? Give him a hair cut?”
      “That didn’t make sense.” I informed her, knowing the reference had something to do with Wufei’s haircut, and not to pleased with the possibilities.
      She laughed, “That’s right...hmm...I could be coarser and call it a hand job...”
      “That’s not very funny...” I thought about it, “Is that what you did to Wufei?” That would explain a lot...
      She smiled again, kissing me, “I didn’t say that.”
      “You implied it...”
      “So?”
      Her kisses were getting distracting...and so was her hand, which was on its way to undoing my pants, taking a very lingering route...
      But now I was sure. She’d given them both a...hair cut...
      I couldn’t keep focused on my aggravation...and that was all in the past anyways...
      “I’ll have to give you another haircut sometime...” she muttered, “I can’t have you jealous now...”
      And with that, we stopped talking.


      I smiled at Kris, “What’s the matter? It’s not like we did anything...”
      She sighed, “It’s not that, it’s just...you didn’t tell me...” she grinned, “And with you, not doing anything can be quite a bit to anyone else.”
      I smiled again, “I didn’t tell anyone. We were just bored and...there...”
      “So you didn’t have...sex with him?”
      I blinked, thinking fast, “It’s Duo...”
      She grinned.
      “You know what?” I asked as if ready to impart a secret, not wanting to talk about that. Trying to make the change of subject smooth.
      “Hmm?”
      “Heero thinks I gave him a hand job.”
      Her eyes went wide, “He does?”
      I nodded.
      She laughed and I suppressed my urge to feel guilty. I had...given Duo a hand job...at one point...
      “I still wish you would have said something...”
      “I did.” at her blank look I raised my eyebrows, “The ‘grape’?” she wasn’t catching on, “He bought it for me...” I bit my lip, hoping she didn’t remember certain details...like it was at the same time Duo and Sam were together...
      Her face lit with understanding and she nodded. “Nikki,” she shook her head, “Sometimes you shock me...”
      I grinned, “Predictability makes life dull...in that sense. Shall we join them, then?”
      We had all been in the hall when Kris’d asked me to go talk.
      She met my eyes a moment longer and nodded again. Standing, she led the way back into the hall.
      Duo had a slightly worried look as we met eyes.
      If Heero hadn’t been watching, I’d have nodded slightly to reassure my friend, but he was watching, so I couldn’t.
      When nothing passed between us, he looked to Kris, who nodded.
      “That’s cute, you two.” I said, slightly annoyed and everyone looked to me. “Really cute. But guess what?” Actually, I was outright pissed, “I gave you conflicting stories.”
      “Really?” Sam was curious.
      I nodded, even though she probably didn’t know what I was talking about, time-wise, that was a good thing. She’d be a bit pissed at...both of us if she found out.
      “To one I said yes, and to the other I said no.” I looked to Heero, “And, since you’re double teaming me, Omaesan, I won’t tell any of y’all the truth.” for the last I looked at everyone in the room.
      “That’s a bit harsh,” Duo spoke up, “Seeing as how they don’t know what’s going on.”
      I nodded, “True. But if they’re sweet enough to conspire against us, then they won’t hesitate to get the others involved.”
      “Us?” Quatre asked.
      “True...” Duo said at the same time and I nodded once for both.
      “Nikki, what’s going on?” Sam asked, truly interested now.
      I smiled at her slightly, “An on-going conversation about a hand job.”
      Wufei and Duo were on opposite sides of the room, they both tensed very slightly.
      No one else noticed.
      “A hand job?” Sam asked.
      I nodded, “In reference to Duo.” I clarified, just in case.
      She had an amused look. “So why’d ya give’em conflicting stories?”
      “Confusing people is fun, and I kinda figured they’d ask each other eventually. It’s kind of disappointing that it happened so fast though, I didn’t have time to come up with...interesting stories for them.”
      “That really is too bad.” she agreed, “You’re stories can be...enlightening...”

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Kyeian