Crazy Times
Thyme

[You're cold that way
And that's why you say
The things that you say]

Duo watched Heero's fingers run over the keyboard, the latter's eyes locked on the screen as usual with his hair bagging in his face. He wasn't smiling and his expression was blank, but Duo could sit there and watch him type like that for the rest of his life if he could. He didn't know it, but he was grinning.

"You know, they weren't just whistlin' dixie when they called you the perfect soldier."

Slender fingers halted briefly in their clicking.

"You *are* perfect. You know that, don'cha Heero?"

More hesitation, then a quiet "Hn." The typing resumed.

Duo sighed, flopping down on the bed of their shared room. His braid dangled off the edge as he crossed his arms over his chest and stared at the ceiling lazily. "Was that an affirmative 'Hn' or a negative 'Hn'?"

The tissue box from beside Heero's laptop suddenly sailed above Duo's head, smacking affectively against the wall.

"You talk too much," Heero grumbled.

Duo stuck his tongue out at the back of his head.

"... And I can see you doing that, Duo."

Duo blinked and shut his mouth.

"Damn reflective screen," he muttered. Heero snorted in response. Duo rolled his eyes and flung his arms out on either side of him. "Heero?"

Again, the clicking faltered for a moment. "What?"

Violet eyes boldly averted their gaze from the ceiling to the still figure in front of the computer. "I'm bored."

If there had been another tissue box nearby, Heero would have thrown it.

"So do something," Heero muttered impatiently. Duo sniffed at the air unhappily.

"Will you come with me?" he asked, the hint of a whine growing in the tone of his voice. Heero turned around and shot him a look that could wither a flower.

[You can't attract
All that you lack
You're trying in vain]

"I'm busy."

Duo gulped and shrank away against the wall. "Yes, sir."

But it took more than that to quiet Duo, for after a mere minute of fiddling with the end of his braid, he started up again.

"Heero, I'm still bored."

Heero exhaled sharply and drew his eyebrows together in concentration. "Then do something. I need to get this done."

"Can I help you?"

"No."

Duo scowled and flicked his braid away. "Why not?"

"I have to do it myself."

"Why?" He rolled over onto his stomach and cupped his chin in his hands, his elbows propped on the mattress.

"Because."

"Why?" He scrunched his nose up, blowing a strand of chestnut out of his face from the corner of his mouth.

"... Duo, you have the maturity level of a two-year-old."

The American boy grinned widely and rolled over again, this time swinging his legs over the side of the bed as he prepared to get up. "I know," he said, laughing, then jumped from the edge of the bed. "Hey, Heero?"

Heero had to suppress a groan. "What, Duo?"

Duo stuck out his tongue again. "You're no fun." Then he laughed again, but it sounded more forced than anything. Heero shrugged.
[It seems it's always the crazy times
You find you'll wake up and realize
It takes more than your saline eyes
To make things right]

Duo cast a helpless look over to Heero, something like a tear shimmering in the corner of his eyes; but not a tear, because Duo Maxwell never cried. "Heero?" He tried one last time.

"What is it?"

He closed his eyes and fell back onto the bed half-heartedly. "Did you lie to me?"

Heero finally let out an exasperated sigh and scooted his chair around to face Duo. "What do you mean?"

Duo was careful not to look at him, studying the lines of the ceiling instead. "About... what you said and all, you know, the other day..."

[You spiral down
You've broken your crown]

"I'd never lie to you," Heero corrected him mildly, then turned back to his computer without another word. It was all Duo could not to break down and cry right there. But, of course, he didn't. Duo Maxwell never shed a tear for anyone.

"Okay."

[You've seen the proof
But you're still crying wolf]

He idly traced the lines in the ceiling with his eyes for a moment before speaking again. "Heero?"

Said person heaved a gigantic sigh of annoyance. "What, Duo?"

"Did you lie to me just then?" he asked meekly.

[You'll never believe]

"No," Heero snapped irritably. "I just said I'd never lie to you, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but..." Duo's voice trailed off as his mind ran in circles of insecurity. "Yeah, but you sure didn't seem like you meant it. Besides, you could just be lying about not lying, so it wouldn't make a difference, now would it?"

The computer chair squeaked in protest and a weight fell on the bed next to Duo as Heero moved to sit near him. The Japanese boy sighed again as he tried to think of how to handle the situation, seeing as he wasn't used to these sort of things.

"Duo," he began quietly, "I told you I care. I told you I don't, and won't, lie. What do you want?"

"Attention," Duo said, quite simply. A look of confusion flickered across Heero's face briefly, and he asked,

"What do you mean, attention?"

Round violet eyes looked up at him almost angrily.

[It seems it's always the crazy times
You find you'll wake up and realize]

"Attention, Heero. I want a little damn attention, and more than just an annoyed scowl every so often. You can be so-- so selfish sometimes."

"Whatever you say, Duo," Heero muttered irritably. "But you know you can't just expect me to change all at once." He narrowed his eyes and turned his head away, but remained perched on the bed. Duo eyed him reproachfully.

"... Are you saying that you'll change?"

Heero's sighed, but still refused to face the other boy. "I can't make any promises." He turned his chin slightly to the side. "Maybe."

[It takes more than your saline eyes
To make things right]

Duo turned the thought over in his head. "But... that's a yes-maybe, right? Not a no-maybe?"

Heero finally met Duo's eyes with his, and nodded once. "Yeah. But... Duo..."

The chestnut-haired boy smiled brilliantly. "Yeah, Heero?"

"I can't make any promises."

[You try to climb a broken ladder
Grip the missing rungs]

Duo bit his lip gently. "... Tell me something."

"Hn?"

He closed his eyes and leaned against Heero's shoulder lightly. "Does this bother you? Talking like this, or touching?"

Heero frowned at him. "No."

Duo pulled away and grinned. "Then there may be hope for you yet."

[And you fall down, down, down]

Heero shrugged and pushed off the bed to a standing position. "Maybe." He started towards the door, then paused, seeming to consider something. "... I'm going for a walk." Then he left the room.

[Seems some time ago you said
This wouldn't last]

Duo sighed softly and pulled his legs to his chest, rocking back and forth very slowly. He clutched his braid in his hands tightly while stroking it absently with his thumbs. "Maybe," he echoed. "Maybe."

Then he sniffed at the air again and let his head fall onto his knees. "... But maybe not."

[And now you sit here crying]

He listened as Heero's footsteps retreated down the hall, and once he was certain he had gone outside, Duo finally let a tear spill. But only one.

"Can't make any promises, he says," he mumbled into his jeans. "But... that's okay." He turned his head to the side to stare at the door. "Because he told me himself that he cares. And he said he didn't lie. And that's promise enough," he reassured himself. But he didn't feel reassured.

[Beside your bed
You feel left for dead
You kneel in the dark...]

Duo inhaled sharply as he felt another hot tear roll down his cheek. "That's promise enough," he repeated to himself. "Heero wouldn't lie to me."

He closed his eyes.

"But damn... it hurts when he ignores me."

[It takes more than your saline eyes
To make things right]