Maintaining the Peace

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by marilyn

::thoughts::

Disclaimer: Not only do I not own GW, but I tragically do not own Maynard's wonderful fics, Comfort and Joy and And Hope (if you haven't read them, do so at once!), from which this grew.

Dedicated to The Reverand Maynard and to Wystii for their inspiration, encouragement, and surpassing beta reading. Special thanks to Razor Queen for adjusting my point of view.

Maintaining the Peace

A.C. 198

Zechs glanced up as a braid and an unexpectedly restrained grin appeared in his office doorway. In the back of his mind he had been waiting for this, expecting it, hoping for it? He was not sure, just as he was not sure why he had barely glimpsed the other agent in the last month. It had been a busy month, certainly, but then they all were. Une had a clear grasp of the Preventer organization's purpose and an equally clear vision of how to achieve it, and if that put all her top agents in the field at once, so be it. Zechs had heard the atmosphere in the building described as "perpetual game seven overtime," and although he had no direct experience with rugby or hockey or whatever the hell was being referred to, he could feel in that phrase Une's all out, no holds barred approach to maintaining the peace.

He knew why Duo was here, that he had been bound to appear sooner or later. Zechs knew himself to be a disciplined man, and if the time he had spent replaying their previous meeting had not approached the obsessive, it had been enough for him to expect to have found some resolution in his own mind. But he had made no decision, and time had run out.

"Looks like we're catching a break. 'Bout fucking time. You busy?" Relief, apology, request. Zechs' spirit responded before his mind recognized the words, and he felt himself smile. A mental eyebrow quirked. ::A decision may have been made after all.::

"It was a complex intervention, and you know our Lady." Not an answer at all, much less one appropriate to Duo's simple question. Still, he knew his expression was at least mildly expectant, and he waited to see what would follow.

"Yeah. Blow 'em up or confuse the hell out of 'em, the mission reports don't change much." Duo was inside the office now, leaning against the wall near the doorway with arms folded, utterly still. From under long bangs, his gaze took in Zechs completely. "Do you ever eat?"

::Ah. The contest begins to take shape.:: Contest? Where had that come from? There was no challenge in Duo's eyes nor in his tentative smile, an order of magnitude below his usual grin, and Zechs knew that the only contest was within himself.

"On occasion." Self-mockery came without thought, but his defensiveness suddenly felt harsh, and he offered a tiny, oblique apology. "Why?"

"Y'know, you *cannot* get a decent burger on any of those damned resource satellites. I'm gonna fade away if I don't get some real food." Duo's grin widened as he pushed off the wall just far enough to move his hands behind his ass. A subtle move, but a revealing one, inviting the other's gaze. With a start, Zechs realized that he needed that invitation. ::I would not have noticed, would I?:: Now he did notice, how the stiff collar accentuated the graceful neck, how the open uniform jacket framed the strong chest under the white standard issue shirt, how the dark wool clung to the long legs, how the cant of the hips left little question that a lovely ass....

With effort, unnoticeable except to himself, Zechs' gaze continued upward, back to Duo's face, where deep blue eyes sparkled with satisfaction, uncertainty, and a hint of glee. But as the silence continued, the uncertainty grew, and Duo shifted again, the end of his braid coming into his hands. Still, he did not fidget, merely held onto it, smile tightening minutely. "Wanna go catch a bite after?"

::Excellent question.:: "I am going to be here for some time, I fear." Then he relented, whether for Duo or for himself, he still was not sure. "How long can you give me?"

Duo released his braid and stood free of the wall. "For you? Name it," he grinned. "Meet you at Hope's Place over on Blake, then. I can survive on her nachos for a couple of hours if I have to. Got an ETA?"

Zechs thought a moment. Une would attempt to shoo him out when she left at 7, and although he had invented ways to circumvent her, perhaps tonight he would let her win. "7:30? I will not find a corpse propped up in the corner booth?" It was not a usual hangout, but he had been there before and the food was very good. He suspected that Duo's choice sprang from the same source as the other man's positioning, unnoticeable from the hallway, and from Zechs' tastes, more than from the quest for the perfect burger.

"Nah." Duo turned, gaze sweeping the hallway expertly, and he was gone.

Perhaps for form's sake he should have put up more resistance. Une had more than raised an eyebrow when his mild surprise at her approach (he was always mildly surprised) was followed by the closing of a folder rather than the opening of one. But he assured her of his intentions and she, unexpectedly successful, left him in solitude. He allowed himself ten minutes to clear his desk, and to be certain she was clear of the hallway, before making his way out of the building. He was not sure if Duo was being purposefully secretive or merely keeping a professionally low profile, but it suited him to do the same.

That was the reason, he told himself, that he bypassed the garage. His long legs would eat up the blocks quickly, and his heavy greatcoat, sent to him by his sister in silent acknowledgement that his place was not with her, was more than equal to the late January night. ::That, and the safety of returning to Headquarters before driving home.:: Safety? Well.

Unfortunately, the walk also gave him time to think, and was not that what twelve hour days as a Preventer were meant to avoid? At the end of the war his sorrow had been so great, so sharp, that only the conviction that he deserved nothing better had kept him from following Treize. Now it had become a pervasive dullness, permeating his life and informing all his actions, but rarely blossoming into conscious pain. The last time had been at Quatre's Christmas party. That night he had felt around him the joy of being in love, but it did not touch him. He felt the camaraderie of the Gundam pilots that included him without reservation, but that he could only partly return. He had felt her deep friendship, which he did return, knowing it could never be more even though at times they had each wanted it to, but its comfort was fleeting. He had been dazed and a little angry. He hated feeling sorry for himself, hated feeling that others felt sorry for him, and he fought it with the weapons of a prince: carefully schooled expressions, perfect manners, flight.

Not so perfect that night. What had possessed him to sink so far into his memories that he had struck the boy?

No matter how deep his thoughts now, his soldier's training brought him to a halt before his approach would be noted from within the restaurant. A gaze as practiced as Duo's had been swept its interior, but he recognized no one.

Hope's Heavenly Nachos notwithstanding, Duo had snagged a rations bar to hold him and, in truth, he had not finished even that. He could not recall being too nervous to eat, ever, but it seemed he was now. He had spent the intervening hours at target practice, practice he needed not at all, but it was at once familiar and engaging, and he set himself challenges of order and placement, headphones filling his ears with insistent beats, to keep his mind from wandering.

Well, some wandering was fine. ::Jesus, he's sexy. Does he have a clue? Sure doesn't seem like it.::

He had timed his arrival at the restaurant just ahead of the Zechs' earliest possible, on the realistic grounds that he didn't really trust the guy to show and he wanted to save what little patience he had for waiting for after the appointed time. Thus it was 7:15 when he slid all the way into the dimly-lit corner booth. It took an almost physical effort to sit where the entry, and its surrounding expanse of glass, was out of view, but he had been careful, earlier, not to challenge Zechs and he wasn't going to blow it now. ::He's so damned skittish! I mean, he's a soldier. And a prince, for god's sake.:: He figured Zechs would recognize and appreciate the gesture for what it was: a gesture. It wasn't as if anyone would be able to sneak up on him whichever way he faced.

"Just a large nachos and fizzy water at the moment. Thanks!" God, he wanted a beer, but it was tough enough to stick to his game plan as it was. No sense making it worse. ::Game plan? Oh, that's a good one.:: He had been completely unable to think past 'don't scare the poor bastard,' which really didn't qualify.

::He's here. On time, too.:: Duo let out a tiny sigh of relief as he sensed Zechs' arrival, then immediately tensed. ::Now what?:: He turned towards the door, then, and was caught, mesmerized, by the vision of Zechs Merquise striding towards him, stripping the gloves from his hands. His whitegold hair fell about the shoulders of the gray-flecked black coat in an uncharacteristic swirl, and his face... ::Fuck. He glows. What the hell am I doing?::

"Hey. Gave those files a night off, huh?"

"Duo." The greeting was restrained but not distant, and Duo could sense both curiosity and bemusement. Zechs slipped his gloves together into the left pocket and his neatly folded scarf into the right before shrugging off the heavy coat and hanging it on the hook. Duo was encouraged to note that Zechs had taken time to change; the dark red sweater against that skin and that hair was sure as hell not calming him any. The expatriate prince slipped into the other seat.

Duo had remained in uniform. It was part of his Plan. "So does Une know you didn't have your nightly chat with the maintenance guy?"

Zechs looked startled, then chagrined. "Yes, she does." He paused, and Duo feared he had put his foot in it for sure. To his surprise, Zechs continued. "Does she know the specifics, or is that information private to the Gundam pilots' spy network?"

::Wow! Joke!:: Duo began to relax. "Nah. She knows you don't actually leave, but not how." He looked up into those ice-blue eyes and dared a grin. "You know that's her choice, right? to know or not? She could find out, but she respects you too much."

Zechs said nothing, but he did not turn away and a silent acknowledgment passed between them. When they did look away, Duo felt as though the force that had been constricting him was suddenly rushing outward, and he could barely suppress the need to jump to his feet, cackle maniacally, something! But he merely sat back a bit more and smiled at the beautiful man across the table. ::He's really here this time. I think it's gonna be okay.::

The ensuing silence felt more companionable than otherwise. At last, Duo gestured at the untouched nachos. "Great food here." A waiter appeared. "Good service, too. I'm starved!"

Duo had been amused when Zechs joined him in ordering the house burger, a splendid plateful of luscious ground steak, sourdough bun, and perfect fries, and charmed to watch his companion eat. He had wondered, very briefly, if a prince could eat a hamburger without appearing to be slumming. This one could, large, strong hands holding dripping burger or delicate wineglass with equal familiarity. The waiter's incompletely concealed surprise when Zechs requested the wine list had drawn the comment that meat this good, even chopped, deserved consideration. Zechs approached his dinner with less abandon than did Duo, but he was eating with enjoyment, and he had a very unprincely bit of tomato right.... Duo shivered as imagination augmented memory. Nor was temptation removed when a quick tongue immediately swept the morsel between pale lips. He'd tasted them once.

Duo knew his gaze was lingering too long on the perfect mouth, mesmerized by that flick of tongue, waiting for it again. Indeed, as he forcibly pulled his eyes away he felt their glances cross and realized he had been noticed. ::Well, hell. I lost the element of surprise a month ago. I'm betting he wants what I want, if he'll let himself.:: Duo laughed. ::Mission understood.::

Zechs said nothing, but raised an eyebrow inquiringly.

"Just thinking something funny about Heero." Close enough for jazz.

Pale brows lifted further. "I know my sister has helped him to relax a great deal; still, 'funny' and 'Heero' do not often appear in a sentence."

Duo waved a french fry. "Way before Relena dragged him into the light. Back then he'd've shot me if he'd known he made me laugh sometimes." 'Back then' was not where Duo wanted his thoughts. "Much as it kills me to admit it, your little sister is exactly what Heero needs. I think he might actually be happy, and man, I never thought I'd see that."

The gaze over Zechs' wineglass sharpened. "She is grateful she did not need to begin on the ground floor."

Duo met that gaze. "We all helped each other." He knew that being evasive now could ruin everthing, but tonight he was hoping to avoid the past. Either of their pasts, for that matter. He recalled vividly the reaction he'd gotten at Christmas. He hoped that Zechs would put two and two together without seeking his confirmation.

There was a nod from the man across the table, and Duo smiled his thanks.

Office gossip and Earthsphere politics carried them safely through until Zechs nudged his plate away dismissively and leaned back with a slight sigh. Duo cocked an eye at the nearly untouched mound of fries, and was surprised by Zechs’ faint smile as he pushed the plate further towards the center of the table. The light in the other man’s face was so unexpected that Duo had to ask. "What’s so funny?"

When the smile became a chuckle, the easing in Duo’s heart was only one of the ways his body reacted to the deep, rich sound. He tried to squirm surreptitiously.

The chuckling ceased but the tiny smile remained. "I am so rarely reminded that you are yet a teenager."

Duo selected a large french fry from Zechs' plate. "It’s not just my stomach." He winked at Zechs and was rewarded with an almost imperceptible start. Following up his advantage, he put the fry between his lips and sucked it slowly into his mouth. The tall man’s expression did not change, but an unexpected shimmer of light on pale gold hair caught Duo’s eye, and he recognized the cause as a slight shift in the position of the man across the table.

Eventually both plates were empty and Duo’s slice of Chocolate Decadence consumed, leaving the two men idly sipping their coffee. When the check appeared between them, Zechs reached for it absently. Duo’s hand instantly covered his.

"Hey, hey. None of that. I’m not after you for your money, you know."

Zechs stilled but did not pull away. His eyes betrayed only mild curiosity. "Why are you after me?"

Duo had a sudden awareness of ‘now or never,’ and felt a familiar rush of adrenaline. "Jesus, Zechs, do you ever look in the mirror?" Duo did not release the hand, and he could feel the moment when manners, or something hungrier, won over flight. He caught Zechs’ gaze and continued. "But you know that’s not all of it. You know things, things that are important to us and to not many other people. You’ve been places and seen stuff, like me. If we were to talk about the past, about the war, we’d speak the same language." The eyes he held were now bleak. ::And because when you look like that it breaks my heart.:: Suddenly he was terrified, but stopping would be worse than going on. "But mostly because we have a present, and a future, too, and that’s where I want us both to be."

Duo gently removed his hand and turned his attention to the bill. He fished for his wallet and took his time putting down his share, giving his companion a chance to recover himself. When he again looked up, his heart clenched to see that Zechs' face had not changed. Instinctively, Duo reached out again, laying a hand on the other arm, prepared this time to retreat at any hint of resistance.

"I doubt I can. I have certainly failed thus far." The words were almost a whisper.

Zechs was gazing out over the restaurant, but Duo knew that the only thing Zechs was seeing were his memories. ::He’s forgotten me completely.:: Duo looked away, taken aback by the intimacy of the moment, then trailed his hand down the wool-clad arm. He paused atop the large hand, feeling like an intruder but unwilling to break contact. His confidence had begun to give way under the strain of extended silence when, without visible change in the other man, he found his own hand trapped beneath.

Startled, Duo looked up into ice blue eyes, haunted as before but with something new, as well, a request, perhaps even a plea, and Duo knew what was needed. He withdrew his hand slightly, then used Zechs’ polite release to entwine their fingers. He smiled. "Yeah. Yeah, I can."

When Duo had released his fingers and slid from the booth, Zechs followed, automatically paying his portion of the bill and donning the coat Duo handed him. He’d been relieved to feel a smaller hand tucked into his own as Duo carefully steered him through the restaurant, chatting conversationally about the food and managing to learn from his distracted companion that he had come on foot. That part of Zechs’ mind that observed his surroundings admired the young man’s ability to mask Zechs’ own silence and get them into Duo’s car while revealing nothing unusual to an observer. Now, as they pulled away from the curb, the warring emotions and flickers of hope that had almost overwhelmed him were coalescing into two coherent thoughts. ::What he is offering me is… something he wants. He is no part of my guilt and despair, and they should have no part in my response to him.::

As his thoughts cleared, Zechs glanced over at the young man behind the wheel and was struck, as he always was, by Duo’s natural ease and skill at whatever he did, even a thing as ordinary as driving a few city blocks. His mind then supplied another image, that of Duo at dinner: friendly, comfortable, inviting? jacket off, sleeves rolled up, slender forearms resting on the white tablecloth. ::I truly am insane to fight this.:: He began to notice the strategic pauses that Duo was leaving in his pointed comments about the deficiencies of the agency sedan he was driving, and Zechs accepted the opportunity, responding with more fervor than he would have expected. This topic segued into mutual complaints about funding, and they soon were making their way along the walk from the vehicle pool to the agents’ lot.

At Zechs’ SUV they stopped. Zechs leaned back against the vehicle’s cab and drew Duo towards him. "May this be ‘some other time?’" There was no hesitation as the boy came into his arms, and he felt a hardness he’d barely been aware of pressed back against him by Duo’s firm belly. Deep blue eyes met his, then closed as Duo rose onto his toes, mouth meeting Zechs’ hungrily. The kiss deepened, lips and tongues and heat, that much sweeter for what had so recently passed between them. When they were both a bit breathless, Duo settled back onto his feet, arms loosely around the tall man's waist and cheek resting against the heavy wool of the coat. Zechs found himself with one arm around slender shoulders, the other hand petting the long, silken braid, and it felt… good. ::You are lying to yourself. It feels wonderful.:: But it was wrong; he did not deserve this. His resolution of minutes earlier wavered. He knew he had to stop, withdraw, return to his solitude, and only the reality of Duo’s breath and bone beneath his hands kept him from fleeing.

Tremors in the slight form he still held against his own brought Zechs out of his dark thoughts, and he realized with a pang that the cause was not passion. The car interior had never warmed and an icy wind was whipping through the deserted parking garage. Gently he held Duo away from himself with one hand as he quickly unbuttoned his greatcoat and wrapped it around them both. The boy slipped his arms more tightly around the taller man’s waist and again rested his head on the broad chest, sighing happily as the warmth surrounded him. When the shivers ceased, he shifted to lean on Zechs’ arm and, turning his face upward, invited another kiss.

"May I take you home?"

"Will you come in?" Duo’s face became serious.

Zechs hesitated.

"’Cause if not, I wanna know why. I’m not letting you get away so easily this time."

"I will come in." He kissed the upturned face once more, then opened the door and in one motion handed Duo in before removing his coat and tucking it around the boy. He raised a hand to stop Duo’s protest. "I am a prince of Cinq, after all, not the Sudan." His eyes reflected satisfaction at Duo’s startlement, and he closed the door as his passenger snuggled into the coat.

Zechs required no direction to find the house that Duo shared with two fellow agents, leaving each to his own thoughts. Duo knew that Zechs knew that Quatre and Trowa were both away, Tro on a Preventer’s mission and Quat on one of his unavoidable business trips. This set of circumstances had figured prominently in Duo’s selection of today to approach Zechs. Now, as he sat next to the man in the oversized SUV, tucked up warmly and half hard from the kisses, he began to suspect that his objective had expanded.

Zechs pulled his vehicle up next to Tro’s jeep behind the house, got out, then reversed his maneuver with the coat to shelter them both as they hurried through the freezing night and in the back door to the warm kitchen. Duo hung the coat in the entry way, then removed his uniform jacked and placed it carefully on the back of a chair. He did not quite trust Zechs not to disappear if he went off to hang it up properly.

"More coffee? How about some tea?" Duo opened a cupboard and waved at the contents. "We’ve got an amazing selection. Quat’s always bringing back new ones from wherever to try, but in the end they can’t compete with his beloved lapsam soochong and Tro and I have to toss them out." He ushered his guest to a high stool and plugged in the kettle.

Zechs surveyed the options with amusement before settling himself on the stool. "It seems a shame not to take advantage of these riches, but lapsam soochong will do nicely."

While the water heated, Duo hit the button next to the flashing light on the vidphone. It occurred to him that he was stalling, the chatter, the tea, and now this, but he had a gut feeling that he could not just lead the man upstairs and expect to be thoroughly ravished. He had felt the hesitation in the parking garage, and his heart skipped at the memory. The man was gorgeous, sexy, fierce and sweet, and he thought too fucking much to be simply carried away by the moment. The lesson of the day was that the care with which Duo had begun would have to be carried through to the end, whatever that turned out to be.

Quatre’s face appeared on the screen.<<Just about done here.>> He turned away and moved purposefully around the suite, apparently packing. Through long practice his voice was modulated perfectly regardless of his distance from the vidphone. <<A simply show-them-who’s-boss trip, not really necessary but useful in its own way, I suppose.>> The small blond paused as though ticking off things on a mental list. <<Oh, I heard from Tro. It’s all on schedule, but he can’t call home yet.>> Returning to the instrument, Quatre smiled wickedly. << One more office to terrorize and I’ll be home day after tomorrow. Don’t forget to feed the dog.>> The screen blanked.

Zechs glanced around with interest.

Duo laughed. "No dog." At Zechs’ knowing look he continued quickly. "Nope, not even code." He rinsed the teapot with water from the steaming kettle, added the tea, then poured in boiling water, suddenly grateful for Quatre’s tea-making rants. "Started out as a running joke, about how domestic it all looked, with the house and the cars and all, but after a while it wasn’t a joke anymore because we really are a strange sort of family." He pulled a couple a mugs from the shelf, then fetched the milk and set it with the sugar on the breakfast bar near Zechs' perch.

"Good families are hard to find," Zechs responded wryly.

Encouraged, Duo grinned. "Yeah, well, most of us haven't had a lot of luck in that area, but you two seem to get along all right these days."

"We get along very well, indeed, as long as she is in Cinq and I am here except for the occasional holiday."

Duo snorted. "Kind of like me and Heero. It was fine… okay, more than fine, when it was a day here and a night there, on the run and in danger. We'd've killed each other if we'd tried to live together in peacetime."

"Trowa and Quatre seem to manage."

"Yeah, they do, don't they?" Duo poured two mugs of tea and handed one to Zechs before returning to lean against the far counter. "Tro and Quat had kind of assumed that I’d live here with them when I joined the Preventers, but I was real wary, you know, of being in their way and stuff, and I told them I wasn’t sure it was a good idea." He looked across at Zechs, needing to be sure he understood. "That was when I found out how much all of us mean to them, both of them. Not to Tro for Quat’s sake but really to both of them." The tall man lounging on the stool gazed back and Duo wondered if he was imagining that Zechs had noted his emphasis. "Anyway, we always call home when we're off somewhere 'cause it really is our home, and Quat always makes some joke about the dog."

Duo had been allowing himself to watch the man across the room more and more openly, justifying his boldness with the knowledge that he, too was being watched. Zechs was lounging against the bar, legs spread invitingly and one foot lifted to catch a bootheel on a rung of the stool. A long arm stretched along the counter's edge; the other hand held the mug which rested on the raised knee. That glorious hair fell forward over one shoulder to gleam against the dark red wool. Duo licked his dry lips, acutely aware that, under those deceptively lowered lids, keen blue eyes, backed by intelligence and training to match his own, were aware of his every move.

::Fuck it.::

Very deliberately, Duo set his mug down behind him and closed the distance in two quick strides. Stretching slightly, he placed one knee on the stool seat between muscular thighs, carefully nudging the enticing bulge there. He retrieved Zechs' mug and set it aside, then dropped that hand to the counter's edge for support, leaving his other hand free to slip into the blond mane. The ice blue eyes widened briefly before closing, and the predatory flash through the pale lashes made Duo wonder fleetingly who exactly was the prey tonight. The thought went straight to his groin as he leaned in to kiss pale lips, waiting slightly parted to greet him. Instantly he was lost, drowning in the heat, the working of mouth against mouth, the twining of tongue with tongue, so overwhelmed that he barely noticed deft hands pulling out his shirt until they slid up under it, burning against his skin, holding him in the kiss. He was vaguely aware then that Zechs surged forward, pushing his crotch firmly against the intruding knee even as one large hand found its way between Duo's legs to cup him firmly.

With enormous effort Duo managed to resist his mental picture of riding Zechs' cock right there in the kitchen. At one point he had had a Plan, and it had involved more than a quick fuck on a tall stool. Somehow he was able to step back, breathing heavily but confident now and grinning, and hold out his hand. "Sorry 'bout the dog, but I do have a really great bed." He seized the hand held out to him in return, and led the way upstairs.

Zechs had come wordlessly, almost silently, stretched forward over Duo's back, hands gripping Duo's hips for the final thrust, jaws closed on a slender shoulder like some great cat. But he had withdrawn almost immediately, long before he was completely soft, caressing the small of Duo's back and kissing his shoulder apologetically before rolling off to lie on his back, arms crossed over his face. Only then did Duo collapse, burying his face in a cool pillow, but he could hear the deep, controlled breaths being taken by the man beside him, as though he was unwilling to allow himself time to luxuriate in the afterglow.

Even awash in the last of his own pleasure, Duo was aware of why Zechs had taken him from behind, why he had wanted the light in the room kept so low, why even at the height of passion he had been careful to stifle himself. Although the knowledge made the boy a little jealous and a little sad, he was still nothing less than gloriously sated, the memory of being filled so perfectly and fucked so thoroughly triggering new tremors. He was drifting away again, unwilling to surrender to reality just yet, when a rustling in the sheets cut through the lingering haze. He turned his head barely in time to see Zechs roll away, then curl in on himself to lie motionless.

Alarmed, Duo forced his reluctant limbs into motion and slid, a little awkwardly, over towards the long, pale back glowing faintly in the darkness. Gently he kissed an elbow and then a shoulder before brushing back the tangled mane to kiss the exposed temple. "Stay with me here, okay? Don't let them trap you. Stay here now."

Zechs threw a half glance over his shoulder, but it was enough encouragement for Duo to spoon in behind him, kissing each vertebra within his reach before beginning to kiss slow patterns across the broad back. His free hand stroked the lean flank and long arm before slipping under that arm and up to wrap around a shoulder. The body under his hand and lips rose and fell with perfectly even breaths, but it was vibrating minutely. Duo could think of no more words, only continuing to hold and pet the silent man held so close to his chest.

As the vibration faded, Duo's movements slowed and stopped, his forehead coming to rest between sharp shoulder blades. He thought the other man had fallen asleep when he felt more than heard Zechs begin to speak. Duo stilled utterly, holding his breath, straining to hear words murmured as though they had not been meant to be spoken aloud.

"I have nothing from him. I sometimes think that if I had something…."

Duo's arm tightened instinctively, and no more words came. They lay curled together, breathing together, until he again thought Zechs had fallen asleep. But presently the man beneath his arm stirred and turned towards him, raising an arm in clear invitation. Duo needed no urging to settle himself against the pale flank and tuck his head into the curve of the graceful neck. A moment later he boldly pressed his thigh across Zechs' and draped his arm over the man's chest for good measure. Then he sighed deeply, as though he were only now able to breathe again. He thought that a crisis had passed, yet he felt as though he was waiting for some kind of confirmation.

"Thank you."

Duo nearly exploded with relief. "You're thanking me? It wasn't exactly one sided, you know."

Miraculously, there was an almost-chuckle in Zechs' voice. "Apparently not." The delightful quaver vanished, and he continued ruefully. "Although I wonder what you must think."

Duo could think of no better response than to try to burrow closer, although it was a gesture at best. They lay in silence, belatedly enjoying the aftermath of their lovemaking.

But there was one more thing that needed to be said, and Duo pushed himself up on one arm to gaze down at the ghostly face of this man he had wanted for so long. His braid fell over his shoulder and out of habit he grasped the raveling end of it in his free hand. Even though there was not enough light for him to read Zechs' expression, he needed them to be face to face.

"Wherever you go from here…." He stopped and allowed himself a shy smile, knowing that Zechs could see no better than he could. "I won't lie. I hope you don't go very damned far, but that's up to you. But the only way you can thank me is to stay here, with us, with me if you want, in the present." He thought he felt Zechs' thigh twitch against his knee. "Okay, I won't ask for miracles, but try, all right? You're too…" ::Too intelligent, too quick, too sweet, too driven, too fucking gorgeous…:: "..precious," he winced at his own word choice but kept going, "for us to have only part of you this way."

The room was completely still, and Duo watched intently for a response from the dim figure below him. He had become so fixed on the pale oval of Zechs' face, faintly glowing hair fanned out to each side, that movement in his peripheral vision startled him. He turned towards it, mesmerized, as a hand raise to caress his face, brow, cheek, lips, before falling to capture the end of his braid and the hand that clutched it.

When Zechs' finally spoke, there was no equivocation. "I will try."

With that, Duo pounced, claiming the mouth that had just formed the words he had hardly dared hope to hear. This kiss was pure joy, lips and hands striving to express relief and happiness more than desire. They wrestled briefly and had almost descended into a tickling contest when Duo felt a decided twitch in the long, beautiful cock pressed against his upper arm. He stopped, grinning. "Ready for round two?"

Zechs laughed. "No, no. I am an old man."

Duo snorted. "Could've fooled me."

"Oh, I expect I could manage," the prince conceded, "but I would prefer to enjoy you less actively for the moment. You will want me to roll off onto the floor soon enough."

"Whyever would I want that?" Then he cursed himself for missing the obvious. "You, too, huh? I guess we'll see who gets the boot first."

They settled together once again.

"Indeed we will."