'...' thoughts
Chordney Manor Part 1
Duo Maxwell was pissed. Storming through the hallways of Preventer's headquarters toward the office he shared with his partner, Chang Wufei, he growled softly at anyone and everyone that step in his way, watching with demented glee as one young intern practically jumped backwards to avoid his undaunted approach. Freshly from a very unproductive and dangerously insubordinate meeting with his commanding officer, Lady Une, in which he had argued against taking the newest assignment he and his partner had been given, he really was in no mood to be his normally joker self. After all, with their already overworked caseloads, the last thing they needed was a mandatory, month long vacation. Unfortunately, Une had been adamant concerning the time off, citing the three back-to-back, extended missions they had just completed and the far too obvious dark circles under his eyes because of them. In the end, she had threatened to arrest him for insubordination and throw him in the Preventer's holding cells for the next month if he did not comply.
Finally reaching his office, his anger still had not cooled when he threw the door open nearly hard enough to shatter the beveled glass in it before stalking toward his desk.
"I see it didn't go as you'd planned." Wufei smirked only receiving a low growl in return. However, when he finally looked closely at his desk, he stopped short, his anger pushed to the side for a moment.
"What the hell is this?" the braided Preventer asked, waving toward the large, white box sitting on the top of his cluttered desk.
"You mean the box just like this one?" the Chinese man returned, motioning toward the almost identical box sitting on his own desk, which in his anger, Duo had failed to notice.
"Yeah, Einstein, that box." Duo said with a roll of his eyes, inside though he was grateful for his partner's sarcastic humor as it was more than capable of washing away the last of his anger.
"I don't know." Wufei finally answered. "I only stepped out for a moment while you were gone to get another cup of tea and when I returned, they were here. As you can see, I haven't opened either of them."
"Why not?" Duo asked, as he cautiously poked at his box.
"You know Preventer protocol as well as I and all suspicious packages have to be examined by the bomb detail."
"Then why are they still sitting here and not in one of their offices?" the longhaired man stated just before grabbing the edge and pulling the top off his box.
"Because they haven't arrived to pick them up." Wufei stated only a moment too late. "Maxwell! Are you trying to kill all of us?!"
"Chill Fei, I knew it wasn't dangerous." Duo said as he started lifting various items of clothing out of the now opened box.
"And how exactly did you know that?"
"Ah, come on Fei, the bomb boys may think their special with their little vests and gadgets, but you're talking to the demolitions expert here. Do you really think I wouldn't be able to see signs of explosives?"
Sighed softly, Wufei had to admit that the other man was correct; even the bomb detail deferred to Duo on more jobs than they cared to admit. Shaking his head as a smile crossed his lips; he reached forward and pulled the top off his own box.
"Man Fei, this stuff is just too weird." Duo commented, causing the dark-eyed man to look up, noting the ruffled shirt and long overcoat the violet-eyed ex-pilot was holding up. Quickly returning his attention to his own box, he was surprised to find almost the exact same type of clothing, except where Duo's was a solid black, Wufei's was white.
Lifting the first item, a black string tie, he saw a small price of paper peeking out from the edge of the box. Pulling it out, he unfolded it, noting the elegant, flowing print and the obviously fine paper before reading aloud,
To Chang Wufei,
You are cordially invited to a Murder Mystery gathering to be held at the legendary Chordney Manor starting two days from today. The enclosed clothing will be the required uniform for the month long festivities and no packing will be needed on your part since further changes of clothes will be provided once you arrive at the manor. We await your presence.
Sincerely,
Vice Foreign Minister Relena Dorlian-Peacecraft
ps. The invitation has hereby been made mandatory by Lady Une's orders and a car will be around your apartment to retrieve you at 7:00 tomorrow morning.
"What the fuck?!" Duo exclaimed, indicating to Wufei that he had also found his note.
"Maxwell, you need to calm down."
"Calm down! How the hell am I supposed to calm down when these two bitches are conspiring to drive me up the wall?" the longhaired man yelled. "And don't tell me this is a coincidence, I can just see Miss Pretty Pink Princess calling Lady Schizophrenia saying she wants to have this thing, but she needs people to attend. So now were stuck going."
"I serious doubt if Relena would need to commandeer us for a party, I have no doubt the entire Earth Sphere would fall all over themselves to be invited to her gathering."
"Yeah, well, I'm not one... Hey wait a minute, if the two of us received these, does that mean that--"
Before Duo could finish his thought, the door to their office was once again slammed open and a very irate Heero Yuy stood there with a surprising familiar shirt gripped tightly in the fist of his right hand and a piece of paper in the other. Taking one look at the other two Preventers, he quickly noted the matching notes in their hands before giving a growled, "Hn," then turned and stalked away, closing the door behind him.
Wufei and Duo stared twin looks of shock before the braided man finally doubled over in laughter. "Man, I think 'Ro needs to lay off the cheese; that looked kinda painful."
Giving a shake of his head even as he smiled at his partner's words, the Chinese Preventer laid the note back in the box before replacing the lid and moving it to the floor beside his desk. "We may be taking a mandatory vacation, Maxwell, but it doesn't start until 5 o'clock this evening. Until then, we have work to do."
"Yeah, yeah Fei, I'm right behind you."
********************
Bright and early the next morning, Duo was woken by a loud pounding on his apartment door followed almost immediately by the repeated ringing of the bell. Cursing fluently in several languages, he managed to grab his robe and throw it over his boxer-clothed body before stumbling down the hall and yanking the door open.
"What?!" he yelled.
On the other side, Hilde Schienbecker nearly jumped a foot off the floor at the sudden shout but quickly covered it up by scowling darkly at him.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she demanded. "Dammit Duo, you're not even dressed."
"Of course I'm not, didn't you hear? I've been given a month's vacation, that I didn't want or need might I add."
"I'm well aware of the vacation now where the hell are your clothes." the woman said as she pushed past him, heading directly for his bedroom.
"What the...?" Duo exclaimed as he followed after her quickly, trying to remember what exactly was lying out. "Now wait just a minute Hil."
"We don't have time to wait." Hilde called from inside his bedroom. "We have exactly fifteen minutes to get you dressed and in the car or we'll be late."
When Duo stepped into the room, he was greeted by Hilde dragging the accursed box out the corner where he had tossed it upon arriving home the night before. Sitting it on the bed, she then proceeded to lay out the various items before turning to look him over.
"No time for a shower." she sighed and shook her head in exasperation. "Just put them on and then I'll help you with your hair."
"No way Hil, I'm not--" Duo started but the glare she sent him stopped the word on this lips. While not up to Heero's standards, the glare none-the-less promised severe pain if he disobeyed and at that moment, he really did not feel like having to patch himself up. Least of all knowing that even after he did, he would still have to put on those god-awful clothes. Finally giving the dark-haired woman a small nod, he watched carefully as she crossed the room and left, closing the door behind her.
At first, the catches and stays on some of the clothing gave him trouble and in the end it took nearly the full fifteen minutes to finish putting them on. Stepping out in to the hallway, he was greeted by an anxiously pacing Hilde who turned at the sound of the door opening.
"Oh my god." she whispered, her eyes growing impossibly large.
"What? Do I really look that stupid?" he groused, reaching down to try and straighten imaginary wrinkles from the long coat. The outfit consisted of a pair of black pants that fit without being tight and a button-up black shirt with a high, ruffled neck. Over this, he wore a long coat with a high collar that reached to mid-thigh and knee high riding boots. All in all, he looked like he had just walked out of the fourteenth century.
"Quite the opposite Duo, you look amazing." Hilde breathed, blinking a couple of times before she was able to pull herself out of her entrancement. "Come in the living room and let me do you hair."
"Nope." he stated, with a wry shake of his head. "Already done."
Turning around, he proved his point by showing her that the thigh length braid of chestnut hair had been neatened up and the black bow that had been in the box was firmly attached at the tail.
"What about the ribbon?" she asked, causing him to turn and give her his own glare.
"I'm a guy Hil, in case you've forgotten. Isn't it bad enough you've got me putting bows in my hair? There's no way I'm braiding a damn ribbon into it too." Duo stated and crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes daring her to argue.
"Oh fine." she conceded. "We have to leave anyways."
"Well then, let's get this nightmare started." the longhaired man sighed and followed her out of the apartment, remembering to grab his keys and lock the door behind him.
********************
The three hour drive to the manor took a surprisingly short time, most specifically because Duo promptly fell asleep the minute they passed the city limits sign and remained that way until they started up the long drive to the main house. Driving out through a large iron gate that swung shut behind them and then around a sharp bend, the longhaired Preventer was given his first sight of the place he would be staying for the next month.
"I thought this place was a manor, not a castle." he groused and in truth, his words were correct. Chordney Manor was a mammoth three-story structure with five story torrents on two of the four corners. A widow's walk located at the top of the roof's gradual slope and large glass windows in the upper portions of the torrents would provide a spectacular view on a beautiful day. Of course, the fact that the house actually sat on the edge of a cliff over looking the ocean helped. "You're kidding, right? I'm not supposed to stay here am I?"
"Yes Duo." Hilde sighed not for the first time since the young man has woken from his slumber; she was damned if she would ever let Relena talk her into something like this again. Friend or not, Duo could be a royal pain when he wanted to be. "Listen, just make the best of it. Who knows, maybe you'll actually have fun."
"Fun, yeah right." he stated and slumped down in his seat with his arms crossed over his chest. "Why are you here anyways? I thought the scrap yard was keeping you busy?"
Following the end of the first war and once she was recovered from her injuries, Hilde had left the Earth to return to L2 and opened a scrap yard to help deal with the overload of space and other debris left over from the fighting. Left listless and just a little lost following the end, Duo had followed a few months later, taking up residence in a small apartment not far from the lot until what has been called the "Mariamaia Incident" broke out and he found himself thrown right back into the thick of things.
Joining up with his old partner, and secret crush, Heero, they and the other pilots had managed to put it down quickly enough. Of course, Wufei's betrayal during the skirmish had weighted heavily on everyone. Immediately following, they had been approached by Lady Une and Sally Po who offered them all positions in a new organization called the Preventer's, which was to act as a buffer against further movements like the one Dekim Barton pulled. Of course, Heero was more than happy to sign up and, to everyone's surprise, so was Wufei.
Unfortunately, forgiving and forgetting are two different things and while Heero could forgive Wufei for the betrayal, he could not forget and as it turned out, not many others could either. Knowing the Chinese teen would never find a reasonable partner that could understand that feeling of displacement quite like he could, Duo signed up the next day, requesting the teen as his partner.
This act of course sent a shock through everyone since they all knew just how well he and Heero worked together. Not the least of those affected by this decision was the Japanese pilot himself and, sitting the other teen down one evening, Duo explained his reasoning for the choice. In the end, Heero had agreed with the American's assessment and had instead requested Trowa to fill the position as his own partner. Trowa, who would also be partnerless since Quatre was far too busy running Winner Corp. to even think about joining, readily agreed.
Calling Hilde the day after his decision, he had told her how sorry he was for running out on her when things were so hectic but she had quickly reassured him that she had more than enough help and that in truth, she had been waiting for him to realize that it was not what he wanted to do with his life. Having therefore parted on good terms, the two friends had kept up a close friendship, well as close as they could given the distance between, over the last two years. During that time, the scrap yard had bloomed into a very demanding business, leaving Hilde with very little time so it was a surprise to see her turn up on his stoop.
"And why exactly are you the one to pick me up?"
"About time you realized." she snickered.
"Yeah, well, I wasn't exactly awake now was I and don't change the subject."
"I'm here because Lena asked me to come."
"Oh." Duo said, his brows growing together in a frown. "And how exactly do you know Miss Relena well enough to call her 'Lena'?"
"You know something Duo; sometimes you can be completely dense." Hilde laughed. "Have you not been listening to me during our weekly vidcalls?"
"Um, well...." he hedged as he tried to remember the last time he had talked to the young woman.
"Just as I thought." she sighed. "You've overworked yourself to the point you can't even remember the last time we talk haven't you?"
"Wrong, it's just, well, I haven't--"
"Save it Duo, I'm not mad, just worried. We all are actually. The five of you have worked yourselves into the ground over the last two years trying to make up for what happened with Barton."
"No we haven't and whose 'we'?"
"We being Lena, myself, Lady Une and Sally." Hilde explained as she pulled to a stop in front of the manor's front door. "That's why you're all here for the month, to relax and unwind before you all do something stupid."
"We're just fine, Hilde. We don't need you trying to mother us."
"Oh really, so you didn't nearly get yourself and Wufei killed on that last assignment when you fell asleep while drive back when you should've gotten a hotel room for the night?"
Scowling darkly at her, Duo reached over and threw his door open before standing from the car and slamming it behind him. He knew she was right, he had made a very big mistake by believing he could make the drive back after the completion of their last mission. However, the thought of another night in a random hotel room after spending an entire week doing just that made his stomach turn and the only thing he wanted was the comfort of his own, soft bed. Peeking out the corner of his eye, he found himself scowling even darker at the knowing look the dark-haired woman was giving him.
"Fine." he groused. "I screwed up, happy now?"
"No, Duo." she sighed. "What would make me happy would be for the five of you to relax for a while. A month is not that long of a time, trust me."
With that, she proceeded toward the large, double doors that opened as she approached revealing a man in his early seventies, his back bent from age.
"May I help you?" he asked.
"Yes, my friend and I are guests of Vice Foreign Minister Dorlian." Hilde explained with a wave toward Duo who was stand to the side. When the butler looked over at the slender young man, his eyes widened before quickly schooling them to detached disinterest once again.
"Of course," he said and stood to the side to allow them to enter. "do come in."
"Uh, thank you." the woman said, exchanging a curious look with her companion at the old servant's behavior.
"Hilde. Duo." Relena called as she glided down the staircase. The inside of Chordney Manor was just as opulent and grand as the outside. They found themselves standing in a huge foyer with a ceiling that went all the way to the second floor. Two staircases, one on either side of the room led up to the next level with a balcony joining them at the back wall and looking over the foyer itself.
However, for all the grand appointments and furnishings the house presented, it was the vision of the approaching young woman that held their attention. Relena was dressed in a flowing gown in a pale yellow color that had a high neckline and an empress style waist. The sleeves were long and straight, reaching to cover her hands to just the beginning of her fingers and she was wearing a pair of soft slippers instead of her normal heels.
"Lena." Hilde greeted the woman with a huge smile. "Sorry we're late but this lazy ass was still asleep when I arrived to pick him up."
"Hey!" Duo exclaimed indignantly.
"That's quite alright." Relena laughed. "The others had just arrived as well but you'd better go get changed now if you want to be ready by noon."
"Right, I'll see you two later." Hilde said before allowing the butler to show her to her room.
"Why's she gotta change?" Duo asked.
"Everyone here is required to dress appropriately for the gathering." Relena explained as she took his arm, threading her own through it, and began to lead him toward the back of the foyer. As they approached, he could clearly see the two servants standing to either side of a set of double doors, and at seeing them approach, they quickly pulled them open to allow them to enter. "I knew it would not be possible for her to drive up here in her gown so I brought it with me."
"Why would you bring her clothes?"
Only giving the braided man a bright smile, Relena led him into the room that he quickly realized was nearly full of people wearing the same type of clothing as he and the blonde woman. Guiding him through the throng of people, she smiled and nodded to many of them before coming to a group he was more than acquainted with. However, before he could make a proper assessment of the other pilots, Relena directed him to stand before a lovely young woman in pretty much the same gown as she, only this one was a soft lavender.
"Beth McClain, this is Duo Maxwell." Relena introduced with a wide smile that made the violet-eyed Preventer nervous. "Duo, this is Beth; a very good friend of mine. She will be your date for the duration of the gathering."
"What?!"
TBC...
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