Slow and Steady Part 6
"Duo. Would you mind doing me a favor?"
"Of course not."
"I..." He took a fortifying breath. "I need to go shopping."
Duo laughed quietly. "Like, shopping-for-embarrassing-things shopping, or like Christmas shopping?"
"Christmas shopping."
"You don't have to look so grim, man."
"You know I dislike shopping under the best of circumstances." That he was not in his best of circumstances hardly needed saying.
"Yeah, sure, no problem. Wanna go now? Shops should still be open for a bit. It's Tuesday, so it should be relatively uncrowded."
Heero nodded once in agreement.
"Surprised you aren't onlining it."
"I don't know what to get yet."
"For...?"
"Krista and Ari. They've done a lot for me this year. I know it's their job, but... it seems appropriate that I give them some token of my appreciation."
"Yeah, totally." Duo mentally reviewed what he knew of them. "I wouldn't really be surprised if they gave you a little something, too, so you can be all smooth and reciprocal, show off your social chops."
"The ones I'm borrowing from you, you mean?"
"Best damn chops in town. At your service."
"That's right. You actually enjoy this ritual consumerism."
Heero's sour face illicited another chuckle from Duo. Heero was actually pretty good at it, when given proper directions. Duo could usually ask for something not particularly specific, and Heero would come back with exactly the right thing, with features he didn't even know he wanted. "Yup. This is pretty convenient, actually. Give me some time to do some shopping of my own. Gotta poke around, see if there's anything cool for the guys."
"What, nothing for me?" Heero teased in his typical deadpan fashion. They didn't always exchange gifts.
"Oh, well, for you, I was thinking about trying my darnedest to get you to come home with me." He automatically thanked the waitress for bringing their dinner check, but didn't take his eyes off of Heero.
Heero returned the gaze evenly. "I wasn't planning on a visit..."
"Not like you need to buy a ticket. You can fly down with me. Ooh, maybe I could even score a med-trans. Not one of those stat-evacs, but one of those swanky VIP types. You're a VIP, right?"
"You're going to use me to score a sweeter ride?"
"Hey, that's what friends are for, right? At worst, I'm sure Quatre can use his connections to hook us up with something."
"Quatre doesn't use connections. Quatre is a connection."
"True, that. Now, I'm sure you've got plenty of vacation time accrued. And it's not like the department can't live without you. Your whole job there is to make yourself redundant, after all. We can jet off Friday afternoon, after your next treatment, and have you back here by the Friday after that. Or heck, even later, if your doc updates your schedule. You can rest up on the flight down. You know I'm good for a smooth ride."
Heero eyed him skeptically. "...I'd have to clear it with Dr. Kessler."
"Done. And Krista and Ari, too."
An eyebrow rose eloquently.
"I wasn't trying to go behind your back or anything. I just didn't want to even bother having this conversation if they were going to say it wasn't medically advisable or something. But you're doing awesomely. Just keep up your exercises -- your PTs said you can do a lot of them on your own, and they can brief me on the rest, if you like, but it's not like they're worried you might slack."
Heero looked at him steadily.
"I didn't even go super out of my way to ask them. Just had a moment here and there."
He looked away, lips pursed.
"I can give the guys advanced warning. Not the whole story, I guess, unless you want that. But at least enough so they don't freak out as soon as they see you."
He released a little puff of a sigh.
"Yeah, I know, Quatre's going to fuss, no matter what I say, but I promise I'll do my best to get him to lay off. Scout's honor. And really, he'd fuss even if there weren't anything out of the ordinary, and you'd be prepared to handle that, wouldn't you?"
He leaned back in his chair, arms crossed loosely, and gave Duo a more direct stare this time.
"Quatre was making noise about another big slumber party, like last year, you know? Or, uh, what's the other word for it? Staycation, right? So yeah, when I mentioned I was getting shipped up here, he may have asked me to ask you. And I could have asked you sooner, but, uh, you know. Situation wasn't what I expected. Thought I'd take some time to sit back and re-evaluate things. And now I have. And now I'm totally asking you if you want to come down with me."
He tilted his head questioningly.
"Yeah, you have a choice. I'm not going to kidnap you or anything. That'd hardly be fair, since it's not like you could outrun me or something."
One corner of his mouth lifted just slightly.
"Hey, you coming would totally get you out of having to buy presents for everyone. Hell, me getting you to come could totally get me out of having to buy presents for everyone, too. This is, like, the best of all worlds. Whaddya say?"
He unfolded his arms, put one on the table, drummed his fingers for a bit. "I'll think about it."
Duo tried not to grin too widely.
TBC...
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