Moments of Haven Part 85
X'mas AC198 - Part XIV

Trowa tilted his head as Quatre spoke. "Did someone just pull up to the front?"

Quatre paused in what he was about to say and listened instead. Seconds later, the slamming of a door was heard. "I guess so."

They rose to check it out. Along the way, their path converged with that of Wufei's, and just as they reached the door, someone knocked. It wasn't necessary to take a peek through the peephole. Mostly because the door didn't have one. Being just a vacation house, its security was not up to snuff, and instead of having a solid front door, there was a door with a sizable piece of frosted and etched glass, a fact that had made at least one of the house's current tenants frown in disapproval.

The figure on the other side, though obscured, was recognizable, and even expected. Quatre did the honors of opening the door. "Relena! You should have called."

"I wanted to surprise you," she answered cheerfully, startling a little when Wufei reached out to take her small suitcase from her. She murmured thanks as she stepped across the threshold. "Quatre. Trowa. Wufei. It's wonderful to see you all again."

"You're just happy to see someone your own age," Quatre teased.

They shared equally knowing, equally tolerant looks before she smiled. "It's beautiful out here, Quatre. My compliments."

Trowa snorted softly to himself, recalling some of the annoyed comments the blond had made regarding their housing, back before his little drunken episode had loosened him up a little. He hid the dry sound with a motion toward the interior of the building.

Quatre silently agreed. "Yes, we can show you to your room so you can drop off your stuff, and then give you the tour."

She looked around curiously as they led her upstairs. "Where are Heero and Duo?"

"Ah, they went for a walk, I think," Quatre answered, his words slowing as something dawned on him. He cleared his throat quietly to cover the pause. "They'll be back soon, I'm sure. If you'd let us know..."

Relena laughed. "Ah well, if that's the price I have to pay.... I'll surprise them when they get back in."

Trowa glanced sidelong at Wufei, who answered him back with a faintly amused look.

They reached the hallway of bedrooms and Quatre pointed out the free ones. "These three on this side are open, and that one over there is, too. You can take any one you like."

Wufei coughed. "These two, you mean."

Quatre blinked, then laughed a little nervously. "Oh, heh, yeah, two. That one on the right is Duo's room. Sorry."

Relena eyed the lot of them carefully. They looked back at her blandly. "I see."

"You probably wouldn't want that room anyway," he continued blithely, hoping sounded more nonchalant than he felt. "Duo wouldn't stop complaining about how drafty it was."

How delightfully past tense. "Until? What did he do?"

"Ah, well, I guess he must have found a way to keep himself warm at night." He decided that maybe he should just move on with business. "Which reminds me, the rooms do get cold at night. We've borrowed the unused blankets from the other rooms, which means whichever room you choose, it probably won't have a blanket in it. We can get it back to you, and find you a spare, too."

"Thank you. I'd appreciate that. Though I wouldn't want to take someone's blanket from them if they need it."

"Don't be ridiculous. Who could sleep knowing there was a lady just down the hall freezing her pretty little bottom off? Ladies first, of course."

She smiled slyly. "Of course. But one must maintain one's image by offering."

The comment pulled a laugh from Quatre. "Too true. Too true."

After a moment's deliberation, Relena pointed her finger commandingly. "I choose that room." As Wufei was still carrying her bag, he opened the door for her and delivered her luggage.

"I'm sure Heero would be happy to sacrifice his blanket for her," Trowa murmured to Quatre. "I doubt he needs it."

Relena heard the aside and agreed. "How did Heero end up with an extra blanket? I would hardly expect him to admit that it was a bit chilly at night."

Well, they had all ended up with extra blankets, since as Duo had observed, with two of them sharing a room, there had been enough to go around. Quatre smiled charmingly and fudged with the truth. "Got lucky, I guess. Anyway, you've just gotten in. Did you want to rest for a bit? We have food, drinks."

"It hasn't been a stressful trip. I might like to take a look around, after I've stepped into the little girls' room." She paused and made it a point to study them critically. "That is, if it hasn't turned entirely into a little boys' room."

Quatre spoke in his own defense. "When you have as many sisters as I do, you learn from a very early age to leave the toilet seat down. I can't vouch for the rest of these guys, here, though..."

Wufei waved his hand slightly, passing on the discussion of toilet etiquette. Trowa, for his part, hadn't even had guaranteed access to toilets for quite a few years of his youth, and thought the whole issue silly. Staying with Catherine, however, had taught him to say nothing of the sort. "There are one and a half bathrooms downstairs, as well."

"Good to know," she answered amiably. "So it's..."

"That one," Quatre finished, pointing to the correct door.

"Ah, thank you. If you'll excuse me for a moment..."

After the door shut, they drifted away toward the top of the stairs so they didn't feel so much like perverts hanging out outside the ladies' room, and took advantage of the privacy to talk quietly among themselves.

Wufei glanced at his watch. "I don't think they'll be gone that much longer."

"We can call them, tell them she's arrived," Trowa offered. "At least one of them probably brought his cell phone with him."

Quatre nixed that idea with a shake of his head. "We should leave them alone. It's not an emergency or anything, and... they probably need to talk about... er, oatmeal."

"They seemed to be well on their way to putting the oatmeal behind them," Wufei mentioned, recalling his last sighting of them as they ran laughing together into the woods.

"True." Quatre shrugged, just about ready to give up on trying to figure the two of them out. Just about. He still had a few days left in his vacation. "Well, if nothing else, then, they just haven't had many chances to go outside and enjoy it together, alone, so still, we should just leave them be for a while. I'm sure we can keep Relena entertained by ourselves."

Trowa made an amused sound. "It'll be entertaining if you keep doing things like counting the rooms wrong."

"Hmpf. Well, sorry. It's not like we've been treating it like a big secret or anything. I didn't even think about it until I got to that point."

"It isn't a 'big secret'," Wufei clarified. "But it's not our... 'business' to go sharing with others."

Quatre nodded firmly. "Well, we'll just let them get back and they can tell her or not tell her as they choose."

"Do you think they will?" Trowa asked, mildly curious. "It's not as if they 'chose' to tell us."

"But they said that wasn't because they were trying to keep it a secret," Wufei pointed out.

Quatre glanced toward the bathroom door thoughtfully. "I hope she'll be okay with it."

"Why wouldn't she be?" The girl was a peace diplomat. Pacifists hugged trees and preached love. They didn't get homophobic.

"Well, you know... She and Heero. They've always..." He waved his hand vaguely in the air. "Well. Not really, but... you know?"

Wufei considered making it difficult on him, but decided he didn't have enough time to before the object of their discussion emerged from the bathroom. "I disagree. They've... 'something'. But not like that."

They turned to Trowa, their tie-breaker. He shrugged. He'd never spent practically any time with the girl, nor spoken with Heero about her.

*****

Heero took the lead in opening the front door, securing a safe passage while leaving Duo to guard their rear. He was hardly expecting any trouble, let alone a Relena greeting them with a great beaming grin. She had caught sight of his index finger linked loosely with Duo's.

Duo bumped into Heero's abruptly paused body and pulled his eyes from the survey of outside. "Hey, what--" He cut himself off as he caught sight of the girl over Heero's shoulder and smiled, even as he unhooked their fingers and slid behind his partner's back defensively. Whether for Heero's defense or his own, well, maybe it was a little of both. "Hey, look who's here."

Heero forewent the amused grunt and headed straight for the greeting. "Relena."

Her smile toned down, but it was still bright and genuine. "Heero." She absorbed the sight of him for a few seconds before she tilted her head a little and directed her attention over his shoulder. "Duo."

He wiggled his fingers over Heero's opposite shoulder, then paused and whispered loudly into Heero's ear. "Was I just an afterthought?"

The delayed grunt from earlier made an appearance now. With a shake of his head, Heero took a hold of the hem of Duo's shirt and tugged him inside. "When did you get in?"

"Oh, not long," she answered cheerfully, closing the door behind them. "The others were just telling me how you all have been spending your time here."

"How did you get up here?"

"I took a cab." She laughed when he frowned, not subjected to it quite often enough to be annoyed by it. "I'm not a little girl, Heero. I can take care of myself."

His dark silence persisted for a short period of time while behind him, Duo rolled his eyes and smiled apologetically at her. "Relax, Heero. She's fine."

"We'll take you back down." It was a mild, if inarguable, statement of fact.

She had planned on it, so she was gracious in her acceptance. "I'd appreciate that."

Duo planted his hands on Heero's back and gave him a light shove toward the main gathering room. In turning, he saw Wufei leaning against the portal watching them. Once they headed that way, Wufei went ahead of them and back to the others. "So, how long are you in for?"

"I believe I leave when you leave. I am looking forward to a good, long vacation."

"You back to working too hard again, princess? The time we've got left here is barely anything. You need to take more time off. No, wait. I remember what happened the last time you took a vacation."

Heero threw a smile over his shoulder. "I think it worked out rather well."

Duo dug his knuckle into Heero's lower back. "Don't encourage her. What if she does it again?"

"I can't say I'd mind."

"Grrr."

He chuckled, not looking the least bit abashed when Relena laughed right alongside him.

"So where were you two walking?" she asked as they rejoined the others. "Is there a lot to see out there in the woods?"

Though his job as pouter was not yet complete, Duo set it aside momentarily to take up his primary job as spokesperson. "Oh, well, there's trees, you know. And sometimes, you see some other trees. And if you're really lucky, you might see a tree or two."

Heero flicked his fingers against Duo's arm. "There's a small lake out there, too."

"And birds," Quatre added grumpily. "The loud kind."

"Yup, those, too," Duo agreed, taking possession of the entire chaise. Heero sat on the part of the sectional sofa beside him. "The occasional squirrel, maybe, just for variety's sake."

"He likes the squirrels," Heero mentioned to no one in particular.

"Their tails are cool. I keep thinking about kinematics, watching them go. They're so... well-simulated."

Quatre laughed. "They aren't robot squirrels, Duo. They don't just 'simulate' life-like movement."

That was hardly a deterrent to Duo's enthusiasm. "But that's the best part about it! They're real! And the chains in the tail move so perfectly!"

"Because they're real!"

"He took pictures," Heero added, pointing a finger toward the small digital camera hanging around Duo's neck. Its use since he had given it to Duo was generally sporadic, but when it happened, it really happened. "I don't know if he's planning on motion capturing them for some reason or what."

"Oh, really?" Relena asked, leaning forward in her seat. "May I see?"

Duo noticed the poke of an elbow in his side, and then also registered that Relena was making a request of him. "Um. Yeah, sure." He got up, pulling the camera from around his neck and plopping himself down next to her. He accessed the camera's memory and pulled up the squirrel pictures before handing it over to her, keeping an eye on her as she scrolled through them.

"Maybe he's trying to build a robot army," Trowa suggested with a typically straight face.

Quatre's nose wrinkled. "Of squirrels?"

"Who would suspect them?"

"But what would they do?"

"Plant explosives," Heero responded, with a speed that suggested the answer required little to no thought. "Explosives disguised as nuts."

Duo blinked at him before grinning widely. "You are so on to something. I knew there was a reason I kept you around."

Heero denied it with a shake of his head. "You've gone down this road before. Only I think we were talking about robotic air-bombing pigeons."

"Really? Hey, great, that means I'm really on to something! Okay, don't need you anymore."

"But then who would remind you of these things?"

Relena giggled, though she was focusing on something else entirely. "Your aim in some of these pictures was terrible, Duo. What did you do? Accidentally lean on the button?"

Cursing silently to himself for letting himself get distracted, he pulled the camera deftly out of her hands and turned it off. "Yeah, something like that." He stood and retreated to the safety of Heero's side.

Quatre's brow rose. "Heh, someone's defensive. Does it injure your photographer's pride?"

"He was distracted, that's all," Heero explained before Duo could come up with some good plausible deniability.

"Yeah, distracted," he muttered, pressing the power button on the camera again. "Guess I can delete those."

Heero plucked the camera out of his hands and turned it back off again. "Save them. Mementos of your distraction."

"Ooh, I sense a story," Quatre jumped in. "What distraction?"

Heero carried on as if without interruption. "If anything, you should delete the pics of those squirrels."

Duo slapped Heero's thigh in protest. "Hey, don't delete my squirrels. I like the squirrels."

"I'm not letting you build a robot squirrel army."

"What? Why not?"

"Where would we store them?" he asked quite reasonably.

"In the garage, of course."

"We have things in the garage already."

"They're squirrels, Heero," Duo retorted with an exaggerated patience. "They're small. They'll fit anywhere."

"I will not have my house infested with robot squirrels."

"Hey, it's my house, too!"

"And there they go again," Wufei murmured to the room at large. Maxwell may have been this way to begin with, but this relationship thing had truly done strange things to Yuy.

TBC...

 

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