Sixty

Task At Hand

      Nikki grinned at me as she entered the kitchen, surprised I was up.
      I felt vague uncertainty...that grin wasn’t too feeling...
      “Good morning, Wufei.” she said happily.
      Quatre and I exchanged a glance.
      “Good morning, Quatre. I trust you slept well...”
      He nodded.
      I rolled my eyes at him, then realized he knew what he was about. Nikki didn’t feel sorry for us...they continued with a cheery conversation for a while, and I could tell Nikki knew he felt like shit.
      Finally, Quatre gave up his charade and leaned over the counter, “Make me feel better, Angel...”
      Nikki laughed, “You puked, didn’t you.”
      He nodded miserably, “Feel sorry for me...make me feel better...”
      She laughed, grabbing a cup and getting some water, “Sorry, Sweetling, you should have drank water last night, and should be sleeping right now.”
      He pouted at her, “Don’t you feel sorry for me?”
      She stepped behind him and started to massage his shoulders, “Not particularly.”
      I snorted.
      She glanced up at me and I could hear her bedroom door open and Heero start down the hall.
      I should have stayed silent.
      She stepped away from Quatre and close to me, gaining a protesting look from him, she moved as if to kiss me as Heero entered.
      I didn’t react, unlike last night when I’d decided to kiss her and mess her plans up...a ludicrous idea...but I’d been drunk.
      She smiled and pushed me.
      “For shame, Nikki, foreplay is for the bedroom...” Heero muttered, going to the fridge.
      I gave him a look, realizing I’d get no slack for that...maybe if I hadn’t woken them up...
      “Don’t I get some?” Quatre asked in this tone...
      He had to be kidding.
      She grinned at him, “Do you really want me to push you?”
      He kind of melted back onto the counter, “No...make me feel better...”
      She laughed at him, “Sorry, I don’t feel that bad for you. Get Sam to.”
      “She’s mad at me...” he muttered.
      “I wonder why...” she returned dryly, starting back to the hall, “Water and sleep, Gentlemen, and apologies to the ladies when the time comes.”
      I sighed.
      “Don’t you feel sorry for me?” he demanded of Heero, not actually meaning it.
      Heero laughed at him, “Maybe I would if he hadn’t been so kind as to wake me up last night. Nikki’s right. Water and sleep. In that order with water mixed in.”
      He also left.
      I glanced at Quatre, “Water, maybe. But not sleep.”
      We’d already decided we felt too bad to sleep.
      He nodded, looking as miserable as I felt.
      “You shouldn’t have woken them up...”
      “Oh...stop pouting.” I told him in a disgusted tone...more than I really felt.
      He waved a hand at me, “You can’t blame me for tryin’...”
      “Stop pouting and get some cups.”
      He shot a look of daggers at me.
      I grinned slightly, then started messaging my temples.
      Quatre stood and went to the cupboard, I barely caught the cup before it hit me and looked up to him.
      “It’s your fault.” he informed me.
      I put the heels of my palms to my eyes, “Shut-up, Quatre.”
      He started laughing then, “What?” he demanded, “Who made the drinks?” he filled his cup, “Who decided to go...” he thought about that, “What were you doing anyway?” he took a drink.
      I rolled my eyes as I filled my own, “I was just gonna go talk to them, but they were sleeping.” I took a drink.
      “What was that about foreplay?”
      I shrugged, “Nikki had been doing that thing where she almost kisses you and I’d tried to kiss her back so she shoved me off the bed.”
      “And that constitutes foreplay?”
      “Tcch...you and your damn big words...” I was trying to change the subject.
      Quatre laughed, “Don’t even act like you don’t understand. Your vocabulary is equal, if not bigger, than mine...”
      “Who’s got he bigger what, now?” Kitty asked, coming into the kitchen with a large grin.
      I smiled at her, “I’m not sure...you’ll have to check it out for yourself...”
      “Wufei...” Quatre hissed, smiling at her, “Good morning, Kitty.”
      She smiled at him, “Good morning...” she went to the fridge as Quatre gave me a look.
      I shrugged, “What?” I demanded, I hadn’t said anything really wrong. She could test to see who had the bigger vocabulary...
      She drank some milk from a cup I hadn’t noticed her grabbing and started for the hall again.
      She stopped at the threshold and turned to look us over with bright intent...impish...eyes, “Trowa’s is bigger.”
      Quatre covered his momentary shock, “How do you know? You haven’t even looked ours over...”
      She grinned even larger, coming back into the kitchen and setting her cup down, stopping in front of him.
      He was grinning from ear to ear, but looked a little less at ease with her doing this.
      “Hey, what are you doing?” Trowa demanded, also joining us.
      Katie glanced at him, then at me, then back at Quatre, “Seeing who has the bigger vocabulary.”


      I stopped, waiting for Quatre to catch up with me, still a bit peevish about seeing Kitty that close to him this morning.
      “Go any slower and I’ll see you on the way back.”
      He rolled his eyes, “Leave me alone.”
      “It’s not my fault you got drunk off your ass last night when you knew you were doing this today. You should have had someone else come.”
      “Trowa...” Nikki’s voice was on the edge of reprimanding. I wasn’t sure if I liked the idea of her being able to hear me the entire time or not...
      I shook my head.
      “How much further?”
      “Not much now.” Quatre replied.
      We continued down the hall.
      We were at a base. It was used off and on for stagings, so had a continuous staff. We didn’t think it would be the one, but there was no way to really be sure but to check.
      We were lucky because it kept funds up by allowing tourists to visit.
      We finally reached the door, “Employees only...” I muttered, reading the sign as we went in.
      We had to go to the third story. Neither of us said anything as we went up.
      The lock was almost too easy to deal with, “I think this place is low on funds...”
      Quatre nodded, “Their last sponsor went bankrupt and they’ve been floundering ever since...”
      I was almost surprised he knew that...almost.
      There was no one in the room.
      “I like that screen-saver...” he muttered, standing there watching it.
      “What screen-saver?” Nikki asked.
      “This one...lots of bright colors...”
      I rolled my eyes, “Whatever. Watch the door.”
      I failed to see how it was all that amusing.
      “Can you copy it for me?”
      I nodded, moving the mouse...a password box came up.
      “Shit...”
      Quatre glanced at me, then the screen.
      “I really don’t want to do this...”
      He shrugged, “We have time.”
      “What?” Nikki asked.
      “This screen-saver has a password...”
      She didn’t reply and I started working on it.
      “The window...” Quatre hissed suddenly.
      We climbed out silently and waited.
      After a time two people entered, discussing something. The printer came on and they both left again.
      ‘What were you guys doing this morning?’ I demanded, mouthing it. Kitty had only given me a cryptic answer about vocabularies.
      Quatre shrugged, ‘Just seeing who had the bigger vocab.’
      I met his eyes, ‘Ha ha. Very funny. Really, though?’
      He shook his head, ‘That’s all we were doing.’
      I gave him a disgusted look.
      He grinned, then carefully leaned over and looked in the window.
      He nodded to me and climbed back in.
      I was relieved to see that the screen-saver hadn’t come back on.
      After that it was boring. I copied the information, and that damned screen-saver...
      No one stopped us as we left, no one even gave us a second glance.
      “I don’t think there would have been a problem if someone stopped us...” Quatre muttered after a while.
      “Why not?”
      He smiled slightly at me, “Who am I?”
      “A conceited ass?” I returned, knowing what he meant.
      “I can be. Especially when people annoy me.”
      We grinned at each other and walked on...and on...and on...
      I sighed, disgusted, “Why did we have to bring them again?”
      Quatre glanced back at me, we were heading toward the Gundams through a forested area, “Because if we needed them and didn’t have them we’d be screwed.”
      I sighed again, “I know...”
      “Then why did you ask?”
      He wasn’t serious.
      “I just wish we didn’t have to walk so far...”
      He stopped, turning to look at me, “No offense,” he paused, “But you’re being a bit bitchy...”
      I gave him a look and he shrugged, starting again.
      The rest of the walk was silent. Most of the ride home was too.
      I headed for my room as Quatre started pleading with Nikki to load that damned screen-saver onto his lap-top...I rolled my eyes as she caved...Why didn’t he just do it himself? Not like it was hard...
      I hadn’t realized that Kitty had followed me until I felt her hands on the small of my back...
      “What’s the matter? You’re so tense...come on...” she pushed me toward the bed.
      I did as she said, wishing I felt better...
      I sighed, “I don’t know...I just feel...blah...”
      She massaged my back and I relaxed.
      After a time she giggled.
      “What?” I asked tiredly, near sleep.
      “You’re time of the month...”
      “What? Guys don’t...”
      “Yes they do...” I could tell she was smiling, and not really trying to bait me.
      I sighed, deciding not to be bothered by that...remembering Quatre as he told me I was being a bit bitchy...
      I wasn’t all that offended by it...I had been whining, but he didn’t need to say it...
      After a while she shifted and lay beside me.
      I shifted to hold her and a thought occurred to me, “What do you think your parents would do...if...they...found...out?”
      I’d never thought about it until Nikki had told me no more jail-bait...Legally...it was statutory rape...
      She tensed slightly, “I don’t know.”
      “Do you think they’d be mad at me?”
      “Probably...”
      I sighed, “Do you think I’m wrong?”
      She met my eyes, “For what?”
      “You’re seventeen...”
      She kissed me, “Do you think I’m wrong?”
      I gave her a look, “What?”
      “You’re twenty...”
      I had to smile at that.
      “Don’t worry about it, by the time they find anything out, I’ll be legal...” she snickered slightly, “That sounds bad.”
      I smiled, then chuckled, “It does, doesn’t it...” I pulled her closer, feeling better for the first time all day, “We should go on a walk.”
      “Mmm...I don’t want to move...”
      I sighed, “Me neither.”


      “You did not set that for one minute...” Sam was a bit peevish.
      I smiled slightly, turning to her and grabbing her waist, “No...two minutes...”
      She gave me a look and I stood up, I’d managed to talk Nikki into loading that screen saver into my lap-top...I wasn’t sure how yet...but everyone else seemed to find it amusing.
      She leaned against me and sighed.
      “What’s the matter?”
      She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, “Nothing...”
      I took in the scent of her hair and the feel of her in my arms, “You sure?”
      “No.”
      “What’s the matter?” I repeated.
      “We’re not getting anywhere with this. We have no way to be sure where this base is, or when they’ll attack, or where. Or if...What if they gave up and this is all for nothing?”
      “Nothing? I’ll be thanking these people for the rest of my life...”
      She pulled back and looked at me.
      “If they hadn’t done this, then how would I have met you?”
      She smiled and leaned against me again, “That’s true...”
      We stood there for what seemed like ages.
      The house was quiet and peaceful, nothing was pressing at the moment, and I could relax...
      “I’m sorry about last night...”
      She sighed, “It’s all right.”
      “I really didn’t think about it. I’d realized I was going to get drunk when he offered to mix me something, but I didn’t think it all the way through...”
      “I think I was more annoyed that you didn’t come get me.” she smiled slightly.
      I grinned, “Well, we were kinda getting...philosophical...you would have gotten bored.”
      She snorted, “Philosophical, huh?”
      I nodded, “Yeah, we were discussing how differently we were raised...”
      I looked around my room, thinking over everything I owned...how much money I had...how many jobs relied on my slightest whim...it was depressing, really.
      I sighed, “I have all this...and...” I shook my head, “And he was married...I don’t know...we were just comparing our lives and discussing what we would switch with each other if we could.”
      “That would have been depressing.” she murmured.
      I nodded, “It was...and is...it never really occurred to me...”
      She understood, I could tell. That was nice. I didn’t really want to say it.
      “So what happened today?”
      “Nothing. A couple of workers came in and didn’t turn the screen saver back on as they left. It was easy after that.”
      She snickered, “I heard you tell him he was being bitchy...”
      I grinned, “I think that bothered him.”
      She nodded, “Specially since you were sincere.”
      I closed my eyes, “Yeah. I guess it would. I’ll apologize later. But he was...” that last was to make sure she didn’t think I was just complaining.
      She nodded again, “It’s his time of the month.”
      That was funny.
      “I didn’t think guys had one of those.”
      “They do, you should see Heero’s when it’s noticeable...he can be an ass...”
      “Was that what all the fighting before was?” I asked, thinking of when Relena got here.
      “Which?”
      I grinned at that, that was a very good question...and there seemed to be almost a month between each...
      “The first...”
      She shrugged, “No, that was him not having the balls to tell her he loved her...”
      “Mmm...Do I have one?”
      She pulled back and met my eyes, “I think I’d better wait to answer that.”
      I rose an eyebrow at her, “Really?”
      She grinned larger, “Yes.” her voice rose slightly in pitch, “Subject change...”
      I rolled my eyes, “Anything happen here?”
      She shook her head, “Nothing. It was boring.”
      I thought that over, “Then it’s time to move on. Where do you want to go to next?”
      That surprised her, “Well...where can we go?”
      “Anywhere we damn well please.” I grinned.
      “I think we should set that one before the jury...”
      I sighed, “But that means I have to apologize to Trowa sooner...”

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Kyeian