Title: #34 An - Odd - Combination
Arc: Life With Heero
Author: Calic0cat
Story Completed: Feb. 7, 2003
Genre: Shonen Ai/Yaoi, Domestic, Friendship
Pairing: None yet
Rated: G
Warnings: AU, OOC
Archives: At Mediaminer.org under Calic0cat. Anyone with archive permission for my other fics can help themselves; anyone else, please ask.
Disclaimer: Duo and Heero and the rest of the GW gang aren't mine. This story is. Nuff said.

Notes: The arc begins between one and two years after Endless Waltz. Wufei POV in this story.

'Thinking'
"Speaking"
************ Time passing or scene change

Author's Notes: See earlier fics for notes on the arc as a whole. Feedback is appreciated.

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Wufei finished folding the blanket and piled it on top of the pillow and other bedding on one end of the couch. He stopped and listened for a moment, thinking he'd heard a sound from upstairs. The pipes groaned as the upstairs shower was turned on. Yes, he had. Relena was up.

Wufei sighed and entered the kitchen to fix some breakfast for her. He had eaten with Heero before he left for work an hour ago.

Heero was leaving for work suspiciously early. 'Avoiding Relena,' Wufei thought. No wonder really. She was very subdued and none too eager to be around Heero either. The Vice Foreign Minister was just as passionate and persuasive as ever in her dealings at the conference, but the moment she was safely in private, she reverted to the girl - no, Wufei corrected himself, the young woman - experiencing her first brush with heartbreak that she was.

Checking the contents of a plastic container, Wufei decided that Relena probably would not want squid for breakfast and placed it back alongside the stick of pepperoni. Continuing to rummage through the refrigerator, Wufei eventually came up with some fruit, milk, and eggs. He knew Relena ordered omelettes sometimes, and she definitely liked fruit, so he thought she would find *something* here that she would eat.

The fridge, like the rest of the house, contained the oddest hodge-podge of tastes. Tofu, yogurt, and cheese sat side-by-side. Leftover miso soup shared a shelf with leftover spaghetti sauce.

Elsewhere in the house, an ornamental Japanese screen concealed the television in one corner of the living room while a slightly-worse-for-wear beanbag chair sat in another corner. Books in English and Japanese on every topic from gardening to mechanics filled the bookshelf along one wall.

In the basement, part of the floor was covered in training mats. In the middle of the area, a punching bag was suspended from a clever pulley system that held it sideways, flat against the ceiling, while not in use. A rack on one wall held martial arts practise weapons - bos, bokkens, swords, etc. Shelving at the opposite end of the room held basketball and volleyball gear along with boxing gloves and other sports and workout equipment.

The fact that the people living here had a very wide range of interests was very obvious.

Stepping out into the backyard, Wufei took a closer look at the garden. At a glance, it was a very typical Japanese-style garden, containing the main elements of rock, water, waterfall, trees, bridges, and garden plants. A small waterfall tumbled over rocks; a tiny ornamental bridge crossed it at a fairly level section. A dwarf Japanese maple leaned over the basin at the foot of the waterfall and half a dozen fancy goldfish swam in its shade. But rather than traditional ornamental plants making up the rest of the garden, it consisted of herbs and vegetables. It was an - odd - combination. Yet, somehow - it worked. Much like the friendship between Duo and Heero.

Wufei had not expected Heero to settle in so contentedly here on L2. After finding out that Heero was staying with Duo, he had expected the situation to last a few months at most, then Heero would be on the move again, once again discontented and drifting. Yet here Heero remained, well into his eighth month on L2. And showing every sign of staying put for the foreseeable future.

'He has certainly placed his mark on the house, just as much as Duo has,' Wufei thought with a certain degree of bemusement. 'And, uncomfortable though he is at the moment over hurting Relena, Yuy appears to be quite content with his life here. And Duo seems perfectly content to have him here as well.' Throwing another glance at the garden before re-entering the house, Wufei thought again, 'Such an *odd* combination to go so well together.'