The Mysterious Affair at Victoria (or, the Worms' Mistress)



[A note to the reader: The Mysterious Affair at Victoria is written in the "Cozy" Mystery genre. 
Expect, then, to find a deeper than usual description of the Club where the story takes place, 
an emphasis on the comforts and conveniences the Club has to offer (which contrast nicely with 
the terrible thoughts of some of its guests), and a great deal of the dialogue being carried 
out in armchairs, bedrooms, sitting rooms, and the dining room. Watch out, though, even cozies 
can be chilly at times...]


Part 1 



9am - Over the Italian Riviera

"Duo, maybe you should get back to actually flying the plane... The Mediterranean can be a 
bit tricky in a small craft like this... ah! - you little devil!"

The devil looked up at Zechs, grinned wickedly, and admired his handiwork. "Hmm," he said, 
"just a little while earlier you called me your angel, I believe...Oh, this is too good to 
ignore..." Duo bent his head again to the blond man's neck where his lips had just created 
a small but exquisite bruise. It looked tender and, somehow, incredibly erotic and the urge 
to lick it overpowered him.

"I don't know what I could have been thinking," Zechs murmured, his head thrown back against 
the cockpit floor, his long white-blond hair making a lovely contrast to the deep blue of the 
carpet. "You're the spawn of Satan, Duo, there's no doubt about it...ah, *God!*" Duo's hips 
had not been idle during his suckling time and, given that he was kneeling between Zechs' 
thighs while pinning the tall man's wrists to the floor, Zechs was somewhat at his mercy.

"I want to do it again, Zechs," Duo whispered in the blond's ear, causing his prisoner to 
squirm in protest.

Zechs, his eyes closed, his head turned to one side, moaned softly. "No!" he breathed. "No, 
please..." but his body betrayed him, stiffening under Duo, his back arching. This little 
battle, it seemed, was going all Duo's way.

The long-haired boy's cries of release had just finished echoing in the small plane when the 
radio crackled to life. "Kestrel oh-one-niner-two-five, this is Corsica tower, do you copy?"

Duo fumbled for the headset he had abandoned somewhere over the northern end of Southern 
Europe and panted into it, "Roger... Roger... we copy, Corsica tower... this is...ah, rats, 
what's the number again, Zechs?"

By this time the owner of the plane had gotten himself off of the floor and was putting 
clothes back on. He gently took the headset from Duo, who was still trembling from the 
adrenaline rush of their coupling. "Corsica, this is Kestrel oh-one-niner-two-five, we 
do copy - over." The controller relayed some weather information for crossing the Mediterranean. 
Zechs acknowledged, then thanked the controller and quickly entered the altered course heading 
into the small positioning system near the control wheel. Then he turned to Duo and smiled. 
"Taking over again, kitten?"

Duo grinned at him. "I thought I just did," he growled, the grin becoming predatory. Zechs 
rolled his eyes and moved out of the way, heading back to get his shirt and letting the 
mostly-clothed boy into the pilot's seat. As he finished dressing, he watched Duo. Every 
movement was graceful, and yet, he still seemed so *young*, with all the excitement the 
young bring to their actions.

/You're breaking my heart, kitten. I love everything about you... I wish we could disappear 
somewhere... a place no one could find us... but that won't be Africa. Too many old 
acquaintances... and Noin... I have to tell you about Noin.../

They had just cleared the Italian coastline, heading southeast, when Zechs brought up the 
rather dicey subject of Noin, his relationship with her, and what Duo should expect when 
they got to Africa.

"Noin and I have a rather...*complex* relationship, Duo," he had begun. "We met at the 
Academy and were friendly competitors, although I knew she wanted more. Then, during the 
war, we would see each now and then, but it didn't seem appropriate to get involved, and...
and... " Zechs voice faltered and he turned his head to look out the side cockpit window. 
Duo couldn't see his face.

"And what?" Duo asked gently. During the silence that ensued Duo thought about his own situation 
during the war. "Was there someone else, Zechs? Someone...like me?"

The beautiful blond turned back to him. Zechs was smiling now, but his eyes were full of pain. "
About as unlike you as a person can get, Duo." He looked down at his hands and added, in a soft 
voice, "except for the fact that he was male."

"Yeah," Duo responded, wishing he didn't have to keep his eyes on the horizon, "I know how 
that 
feels. There was someone who...wanted more from me, too. She deserved the best, and it sure 
wasn't me, stuck on another boy...But you know all about that now."

Zechs looked over at the slim ex-gundam pilot and made a decision. "It was Treize," he said 
quietly but firmly.

Duo took his eyes off the horizon for that one. "Tre- but I thought he was your..."

"My commanding officer," Zechs finished what Duo couldn't quite say. "Yes, he was. And the 
best I ever worked with. I'd been thinking about him, wanting him, for quite awhile - since 
he asked me to join the Specials, actually. One night after a horrible training exercise he 
asked me to come up to his rooms and have a drink. Well, as I said, it had been a difficult 
day and we ended up having more than one. I just couldn't stop staring at him and, as it 
turned out, he was having the same problem with me. That's when it started..." Zechs' voice 
trailed off again.

Duo checked the horizon, compass, and altimeter, then turned back to Zechs. "When did it 
end?" he asked.

"For me?" The tall man looked over at Duo and gave him a rueful smile. "During that last 
battle, I suppose - when he was killed. That's when it ended. On my part at least. I can't 
say what he felt then"

Duo looked as if he was going to ask more questions, so Zechs held up a slim, elegant hand. 
"I'll tell you more about that later, if you like. I don't want to have any secrets from 
you, Duo. But it's Noin you need to know about now, and that is an altogether stickier 
subject."

Duo frowned slightly. "I guess I thought from all the talk at the end of the war that you 
and she were going to get married. I was really surprised to find out you weren't."

"I almost asked her - on Mars," Zechs replied. "The way we were living we might as well 
have been married, I suppose. It was... comfortable, and felt so safe after what we'd 
been through with Dekim Barton. I think a part of me wanted everything to stay the same, 
then. I couldn't face another change, and she was so loving to me..."

"Did you love her?"

"Yes I did," the blond man answered softly. "I still do. I always will."

Duo looked up sharply, hurt crossing over his face. "You - But I thought... I -"

"I love Noin dearly, Duo. She's been my confidante, my fighting partner, the one person I 
knew absolutely would *care* if I got out of a battle alive or not. She's intelligent and 
caring and brave, and I'll always feel a tie to her for helping me want to live again after 
the war was over. And..." here Zechs paused for a moment. "And I can't deny that there has 
been something between us... some attraction, stronger at some times than others on my part, 
but always the same for her..."

The former Prince of Sank looked up at his young companion. He raised a hand to Duo's cheek 
and drew his thumb slowly across the boy's lips. "But you, Duo - you my love... are in a 
class apart. I know so little about you, but thoughts of you are in my head constantly. 
Being apart from you is agony - physical agony for me - and every time someone else looks 
at you, I feel something so primitive..." He stopped for a moment and pulled Duo closer to 
him, his hand behind the American's head, his eyes searching the boyishly beautiful face. 
"You're *necessary* to me, Duo," he whispered fiercely. "I need you like I need air to 
breathe. I've never felt that way... about her. I've tried. I've tried so hard, Duo, 
because I know it's what she wants and she deserves more than anyone to be happy, but... 
I just can't make myself feel this way for her. And yet, with you... it all happened so 
easily."

Duo leaned in closer and pressed his forehead against Zechs'. He wound his fingers into 
the man's silky blond hair and spoke in his softest voice. "You shouldn't have to make 
yourself into something you're not just to be happy, bunny. No one should have to do that."

Zechs moved Duo's hand from his hair to his lips and kissed it gently, first the back, 
and then, more slowly, the palm. "I think you're making me realize that, Duo. Sometimes 
I'm a very slow learner."

Duo sat up straight again and checked the instruments, still holding onto Zechs hand. 
"So," he said casually, "what's Noin gonna think of me?"

Zechs looked down to where his fingers and Duo's were wound together. "I don't think 
she'll like it one bit when I tell her," he said. "I would like to find out what's 
troubling her first - why she asked me to come. But I will tell her, after that. I will. 
Only -" He broke off and frowned out the window.

"Only what?" Duo asked, beginning to feel a little apprehensive.

"Only, please try not to act like we're a "couple" until I tell her. That's not the way 
I want her to find out. She's likely to be very... affectionate... to me, and, well, I 
hope you can just... be patient."

Duo looked at his lover, his strong and beautiful lover, and saw something flash through 
those azure blue eyes that was vulnerable and in pain. "I'll be patient," he sighed. "But 
I warn you, bunny, it's never been my strong suit, ya know?"

Zechs smiled over at him. "Why kitten, what a surprise..."

**********

3pm - Due North Across the Serengeti Plain

"It's an elephant! I see an elephant! Look! Zechs! Down there! An elephant!!"

Zechs looked over at the long-haired boy, whose face was currently plastered against the 
window of his plane.

"Why, Duo," he replied, striving greatly to cover a smile, "I do believe you've spotted 
an elephant."

Duo cast an exaggerated huff in Zechs' direction. "Oh, okay, very funny. It may be all 
ho-hum stuff to you Mr. *Prince*, but *I've* never seen one before."

Zechs added insult to injury and winked.

"Hmpf!", Duo threw back, and turned again to the Serengeti unfolding under the small, 
sleek jet. They had had to overshoot their target at Lake Victoria due to traffic, and 
were now approaching the airfield from the south.

/It's all so amazing!/ Duo thought. /Ah - a herd of giraffe! And those *trees*. Just 
like it looked in the books in school. And I'm *here*! I'm really *here*! Me, who 
figured he'd never survive the war, let alone see anything of Earth but battlefields.
..I'm in *Africa*...with Zechs!...and *elephants*!!

Duo's reverie was interrupted by the voice of the controller at Lake Victoria's tower. 
Zechs was piloting. He had taken over when Duo nearly crashed the plane staring at the 
pyramids about three hours north. The tall blond turned as per instructions and within 
minutes the southern end of Lake Victoria came into view.

"If you've seen enough elephants, kitten, you may want to take a look at the source 
of the Nile. It doesn't have a trunk or tusks, I'm afraid, but it is rather an 
attractive view, nonetheless." Zechs glanced at the American boy who had settled 
into the seat beside him and arched an elegant silver-blond eyebrow. "By the way, 
is there something I should know about this attraction to things long and thick?"

Duo put on the spare set of headphones and stared ahead at the lake that now seemed 
to be swallowing the cockpit window, fighting a wicked smile.

"Nothing at all you need to know, bunny; I just relate to them because...because...of..
.my braid...Yeah, that's it...my braid..." He waved it in front of himself, vaguely 
imitating a trunk.

"Oh yes," Zechs replied, "of course. That makes perfect sense. Forgive me."

Duo grinned to himself at the quick save. Zechs had, disturbingly, almost read his 
current thoughts, which had turned rather carnal as his attention moved from the 
wildlife to the handsome blond piloting the plane.

As for the blond in question, he hadn't been fooled a bit. Unfortunately, there was 
nothing he could possibly do about Duo's lustful thoughts (or his own) until they 
had landed, cleared Victoria security, and gone through the motions of meeting those 
many old acquaintances.

/And Noin,/ Zechs thought. /There *is* Noin to consider. How am I *ever* going to 
explain all of this to her.../

They were fast approaching the western shore of the lake, the site of their landing 
strip, and where Noin would be meeting them. The plan was to go immediately to her 
quarters, so they could discuss the events that had brought them to Africa.

Three minutes away from approach, Duo felt a chill run through him.

"Zechs? Are you sure it's ok that I'm here?...with you?...I mean, this whole place - isn't 
it, like, all OZ people? Why would *you* even want to come here? Do they still hate you? 
Hate me? It wasn't all that long ago, really." His voice trailed off as he looked 
apprehensively at former Lightning Count.

Zechs looked back - looked Duo straight in the eye - and offered an analogy.

"Tell me Duo Maxwell, former gundam pilot, former enemy of Treize Khushrenada and Zechs 
Merquise, former enemy of White Fang, tell me Duo, do you still hate me?"

Duo blinked. Several times, actually. For all of the feelings he had experienced during 
the past four days - and there had been so many- not once had he felt any resentment, let 
alone hatred, for this former enemy. The role Zechs had served in the Preventers, the 
bravery he had shown, along with Noin, in fighting off Mariemeia's armies, had been 
enough to convince Duo that Zechs Merquise, former Prince, now the Duke of Sank, was an 
good and honorable man. What was past was, in his opinion, truly past.

He smiled at Zechs, feeling suddenly shy.

"Nah. I don't hate you Zechs. I know we both fought for what we thought was best for 
the worlds we loved. No one can fault a person for that, eh?"

He paused for a moment as the shy smile turned to a grin.

"But I have to say, I'm glad we eventually ended up on the same side."

The tall nobleman inclined his head, ever so slightly, and smiled back at Duo.

"I agree, and I believe you should expect that feeling to be widely held at the Club 
as well."

Zechs gave Duo's hand a squeeze, and began to prepare for landing.

/You feel that way, bunny. But what about *her.* What's she going to say when you 
tell her about *me.* And how in hell am I gonna keep my hands off of you until you 
do?/

**********

"Zechs - I'm so glad you're here." Noin with her talent for understated passion, 
put her hand on Zechs' arm and gave a squeeze. Any other affectionate displays 
would no doubt wait until they were away from the hangar workers. They had left 
Zechs' plane in the able hands of the club's flight mechanics and were walking 
slowly towards the opposite side of the airfield, where a waiting car would take 
them to the main compound. "I'm glad I could be of service", Zechs smiled back at 
her. "Noin, you remember Duo Maxwell."

"Duo!", Noin smiled broadly. "It's wonderful to see you again. What has it been, a 
year already?"

"Oi, a little over I think," Duo drawled and smiled back at the slim Italian woman. 
"Didja like Mars? Get any snaps of little green men you can show me?"

Noin laughed. "You haven't changed a bit, have you? But I thought you were back on 
L2. And where's Heero? He was heading your direction the last I heard."

Zechs was on guard immediately and cast the boy a worried sideways glance. Duo's grin, 
however, faltered only for a moment, just a brief spasm of pain, and then fell back 
into place, cheerier than ever. "Ah! Heero - he goes his own way, you know. As for me, 
I was on L2 until this past week and, well, now I'm here!"

Noin looked helplessly at Zechs and then laughed again. "So you are, Duo, and I'm very 
glad of it, too. But you must be tired - that was a long flight."

"Oh, actually," Duo replied nonchalantly, "Zechs was pretty good at keeping me 
relaxed, weren't ya?" He winked up at Zechs, gave him a poke with his elbow, and 
grinned maniacally.

The sympathy that the tall blond had shown him not a moment ago was now decidedly 
absent and he discreetly gave Duo's arm a hard squeeze.

"Hey! Man, that hurt! Why -"

"It *was* a tiring flight, *wasn't* it Duo?", Zechs broke in. "Although there was, 
naturally, the usual breathtaking scenery."

/Hmmmm...oh, yes, Zechs,/ Duo thought to himself. /Breathtaking was the word for it.
..You, wearing that little headset...and nothing else.../

Zechs noted with growing concern that the braided boy's eyes were getting a somewhat 
misty, far away look. Noin had obviously noted it too, but with more amusement. "Why 
the dreamy smile, Duo?", she teased. "Remembering someplace particularly good?"

"Oh yeah," the boy breathed, still lost in thought. "The floor..."

Zechs tried to say something, but it came out as a small squeak.

"The floor?", Noin looked puzzled. Duo seemed to have forgotten he was talking to her.

"You were so good, Zechs...especially when you-"

"*Thank you*, Duo. *Really*, it was nothing, " Zechs interrupted, as Duo's reminiscence 
began sliding towards the unfit-for-public-consumption category.

"What was nothing?", Noin pressed, now looking thoroughly baffled. What did you do on 
the floor, Zechs? What was so good?"

Zechs laughed politely, shaking his head and playing for time. "It was nothing, 
really, just that the floor..."

/I can't for the life of me think of anything to say!/

Noin waited.

"The floor," repeated Zechs, "well, the floor-"

"Of the Valley of the Kings," Duo chimed in, having finally arrived back in reality 
and realized that his beloved was in need of help, "was...really hot for this time 
of year, and...and..." he looked helplessly at Zechs.

"And that created this tremendous clear-air turbulence, you see," Zechs continued, 
"and no one could have foreseen it, and I...well, I..."

"Yeeees?" Noin encouraged, a faint line appearing between her slim dark brows.

"Well, I...", Zechs faltered and look at Duo.

/Come on, kitten, we can't lose it now./

"He had to take over flying, Noin," said Duo, pulling victory from the jaws of defeat. 
"From *me*, can you believe it? I mean, *there* I was, not having touched a single 
control for over a year, and the turbulence was like, whoa!...and I had been staring 
out the side window like an *idiot* -"

"Like a *complete idiot*," Zechs agreed, nodding solemnly.

Duo threw him an irritated look.

"Yeah, well...like, like a *tourist* anyway, and BAM! this stuff hits us - just like 
that - BAM! and then again, BA-"

"I get the picture,"Noin said firmly, holding up a hand in protest. "You two are lucky 
the plane didn't go down. Whose idea was it for you to fly anyway?", she asked in an 
irritated voice, looking suspiciously at Duo.

Zechs spoke first.

"Ah, that would have been mine," he said graciously. "I had no idea of the effect the 
pyramids would have on the boy."

Noin looked skeptical and Duo began nodding vigorously.

"Yup," he said raising a hand, "uh huh, *me*, Mr. Shinigami, totally stunned. It was 
*so* uncool of me, I know. You'd think with everything we saw during the war that - but, 
nope. I admit it. In fact-"

"Is this our car, Noin?" Zechs stepped forward, resisting the urge to clamp a hand over 
Duo's mouth. A sleek black limousine pulled up beside them.

"Oh, yes - here it is," Noin shook her head a little as if to clear it. "Let's get to the 
Club and show Duo his rooms, shall we?" She climbed into the waiting car even before Zechs 
could open the door for her, pulling his hand along with her.

"Roomz?," Duo said to Zechs, who was fast disappearing inside the limo. "As in, more than 
one?"

The tall blond managed a look somewhere between dreadfully serious and sarcastically 
amused. Just as his head cleared the car door, he said, "Oh, yes, my good Maxwell. It's 
nothing but first-class all the way at the Victoria Club."

Duo looked in at the pair in the back seat. Noin had her hands on Zechs' arm and thigh 
and was pulling him close for a kiss. The American boy blinked.

/Hey! What the hell does she think she's- oh...yeah... as far as she's concerned she's 
ot her man back with her... Except he's *my* man, now! Paws off, missy! Geez - be patient, 
the man says, be patient... well I'd like to see him be patient with some girl's hands all 
over *me*... Hell, why am I thinking of *Relena* all of a sudden... Well, I may have to be 
patient, but no one's said I have to make it easy for her.../

"Will you come this way, sir?" The driver motioned Duo in the direction of the front seat.

"Oi, don't worry about me!", Duo grinned wickedly, waving the man off with his hand. "I'm 
small. I'll just squeeze in the back here! Move over, Zechs! Comin' in!"

**********

The 15-minute ride to the Club's main lobby could have been routine. Could have been, Zechs 
mused, but given the people on either side of him, he put that down as highly unlikely.

There was Noin, to his right, who had been apart from him for four days but was acting more 
like it had been four weeks. She was currently running a hand over his right thigh, moving 
it higher up as they drove, and giving him little kisses behind his ear, which she thought 
no one could see. She was wrong, of course.

Duo was to his left, and had gone almost 45 minutes now without a single kiss. The stress 
of it was showing. The boy watched Noin's wandering hand pointedly whenever she looked out 
of the window, and he noted with a strange mix of feelings that Zechs was beginning to get 
aroused. So, he moved his right hand discreetly down Zechs left leg until his fingers rested 
against a special place, very familiar to him now, behind the blond man's left knee. He began 
rubbing it lightly and was perversely pleased to note the little catches in Zechs's breath 
and the shivers after a particularly deep or prolonged touch.

The object of all this lust sat, somewhat dazed and more than a little stimulated by the 
attention from both sides, trying to keep his eyes focused on the road before them.

"It's a bit warm in here, isn't it," he remarked. He reached for the climate controls 
opposite him and prayed that the ride would end soon.

**********

The Victoria Club was a unique institution in the new One-Earth Nation that had been 
built following Dekim Barton's failed coup.

The newly-chosen President, the Senate, and the Vice Minister, Relena Peacecraft-Darlian, 
had agreed that drawing attention to the military factions involved in the wars would 
only impede the establishment of true peace. Because of this, they had deliberately left 
out a Ministry of Veteran's Affairs when the Cabinet was formed, and no special 
provisions were offered to those who had fought in the conflict over World rule.

One exception to this general policy existed, and that exception was the Victoria 
Club. It's formation had come from a personal request to Vice Minister Darlian 
from her elder brother, the former Prince Milliard Peacecraft, who had so recently 
proved himself an ace pilot as Zechs Merquise. He had approached Relena after the 
war, just before leaving for Mars to oversee her latest project. As they drove 
towards the Club, Zechs recalled the evening they had discussed it>

 



"There are many men and women who fought bravely for what you now have, Relena," Zechs 
had told his powerful younger sister. "I would ask on their behalf for a peaceful place, 
for their use alone. A place they can go where there are others who understand what they 
have been through- what they have sacrificed."

"Did you have someplace in mind, big brother?", Relena had asked, her face a mask of 
disapproval.

"I thought perhaps that Lake Victoria Base would be appropriate," Zechs had replied. 
"It was the primary training area for soldiers, so most of them are familiar with it, 
and because of its facilities it would be the least expensive to renovate."

Relena had frowned more deeply, so Zechs had played his ace.

"And, there is one other reason. Somewhat romantic and selfish, I suppose, but there, 
nonetheless...Lake Victoria was where Noin and I met. We were at the Academy there 
together so naturally it means...quite a lot to us."

His sister's face had softened then, and she had agreed to present the proposal to 
the President. Later, en route to Mars, Noin had asked him why such a personal reason 
had won Relena over when the more rational ones had not.

"Relena is still a teenager, Noin," he had answered. "She still tends to think first 
at the personal level." And then he'd added, more quietly, "It was one of the first 
things I realized about her when we met up again. And one of her weakest points."

Relena had kept her word to him. She had, in fact, outdone herself on her older brother's 
behalf, hiring the best architect and designers for the job, and donating a fair amount 
of funding herself - a decision she kept from Zechs until his arrival back on Earth.

The result, after a year's effort, was the Victoria Club. It sprawled around the Western 
end of the lake in elegant splendor, resembling nothing so much as a Colonial British 
Officers' club from the days when Africa had been owned by the countries of Europe. 
The outside of the place blended nicely with its surroundings in a rather 19th-century 
sort of way, with wide, shaded verandas, lazy ceiling fans, and exquisitely manicured 
grounds that ranged from comfortable European gardens near the Club proper to civilized 
savannas further out, where recreation centers offered everything from hot air ballooning 
to photo safaris.

On the inside, the Club's atmosphere was one of pure comfort in a historically-accurate 
setting. Indeed, British Colonial officers and their wives would have been completely at 
home in the Club's many libraries, music areas, and deep, comfortable sitting rooms. 
Armchairs were overstuffed, colors were muted, and service was unobtrusive and impeccable.

When Relena had brought Zechs and Noin to see the Club on their return from space, she had 
been like a kindergartner showing off her classroom to an adored parent.

"I did it for you, big brother," she said, still somewhat stiff and shy around her elder 
sibling. "I just...imagined you here. It fits you so well, don't you think?"

Noin had arched an eyebrow at him, a smile playing around the edges of her lips, and later, 
in their rooms, she had laughed out loud. "Is it true, Zechs?", she teased. "Is this really 
the place where you've always wanted to be? Do you dream of the Great Empire and colonial 
elegance?"

"I believe," he had said slowly, "that this is Relena's somewhat romantic notion of where 
I would want to be - what a weary soldier such as myself would yearn for at the end of his 
warrior days."

Noin had broken into laughter again and pulled him onto the bed, effectively ending any 
further discussion of the matter.

As it turned out, though, the Club was a success beyond even Zechs' imaginings. Managers 
had been chosen carefully, and they had told a few well-placed ex-officers about the Club's 
existence. A few months later, the place was booked through the middle of the next year.

 

Noin had had to call in a lot of favors when Zechs had informed her that Duo Maxwell would 
be joining him on the trip to Africa. Zechs' lodgings were not a problem, of course. She 
had assumed that he would be staying with her.

**********

The Lodge at Victoria

"So, where's our room?", Duo asked Zechs after the lodge register was signed and their 
bags whisked away.

Noin laughed. "You have your own room, Duo, no sharing necessary! Although I realize 
that you're used to things being very different."

Duo blinked and looked back up at Zechs. "Well," he said. "So...where are you sleeping?"

Noin blushed faintly and herded them away from the ears of the hotel staff at the desk. 
Before Zechs had a chance to say anything, she turned to Duo and spoke quietly. "He's 
staying with me, of course, Duo. Let's just not begin a discussion of it here in the 
lobby, all right?"

The braided boy looked sad, then somewhat hurt. Zechs intervened.

"Why don't I show Duo his rooms and then meet you in yours, Noin. It will just take a 
few minutes. Come with me, Duo." Before she could say a word in protest, they had 
disappeared around the corner of the hallway.

As they crossed into the newest part of the club's lodge, Zechs began to speak, very 
quietly. "Duo, I know that these are not the best of arrangements right now, but try 
to remember that I haven't had a chance to tell Noin about this past weekend or anything 
about...us, yet. As soon as I do, then we can work out the room arrangements but right now-"

" 'Not the best arrangement'? Duo turned to face Zechs, walking backwards down the corridor, 
his voice rising with each syllable. " 'Not the best arrangement', Zechs? Now *that's* an 
understatement! Geez, man, what are you gonna do, sleep with her 'til she's *comfy* with 
the idea? Aaaah!", Duo said in disgust. He faced forwards again and began to walk ahead of 
his tall companion, still talking and gesturing. "I mean, that's why I'm *here*, right? So 
we could be...*together* - you know, as in, the *two* of us? At least," Duo took a quick 
breath, "when you weren't having to deal with whatever Noin's problem is. It's just that I 
didn't think she was gonna be your bedtime buddy - I figured you'd at least be *sleeping* 
with me!"

Just then the door to one of the suites was flung open and a middle-aged woman, whose 
appearance reeked of General's Wife, looked out, an outraged expression on her face. 
"Just what do you think you two are talking about out here?", she demanded of Zechs as 
the actual noisemaker continued down the hall, now talking to himself.

Zechs looked at the woman and then at the braided figure wandering further down the hall. 
He bowed with as much dignity as he could muster at the irate figure in the doorway.

"It's the sun," he said simply, and walked off to corral Duo.

**********

Duo's Rooms

In two minutes they were inside the suite and behind a locked door. Zechs was standing, one 
hand in a pocket, the fingers of the other pinching the bridge of his nose, trying to be calm. 
Duo was pacing around the top of the large bed, his braid twitching behind him.

"Please, Duo," Zechs managed to get out, "don't *ever* do that kind of thing again. There are times 
to speak and times to be silent and *that* was a time to be silent!"

"Oh, yeah?", Duo challenged, his hands on his hips. "Well, I think this whole thing is a little 
unfair! I know you said I couldn't act like we were together until you talk to her, but we get 
here and she starts playing lovey-dovey with you in the car-"

"You were doing the same thing from the other side!", Zechs retorted.

Duo angelically innocent. Zechs wasn't buying it, so he pulled out all the stops - and pouted.

"I'm *supposed* to do that! I'm your boyfriend - that's my *job*!"

Zechs looked startled for a moment, then ducked his head. When he looked up again, through long 
golden lashes, he was smiling.

"Well, then, you should be given a raise," he said softly.

Duo stared, speechless, at him for a moment, then let himself fall forwards off the bed into 
Zechs' arms, wrapping his own tightly around his lover's neck. Zechs held the slender boy for 
a small eternity, a fist around the long, gleaming braid, Duo's face buried in his hair.

"Damn you, Zechs," the American whispered, smiling against the white-gold silk. "You always 
figure out such a nice way to do it...Heero just used to say 'Shut up', and the next thing 
I knew I was on the bed."

"Ah, well, I do apologize," Zechs replied. "I've never been good at using rudeness as a form 
of foreplay."

Duo raised his head and large violet eyes met azure blue.

"Zechs," he murmured, never taking his eyes off the tall blond man. "Could you call Noin 
and tell her you'll just be a *little* bit late?"

to Part 2

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