Kiss

You know the song and dance by now. I don't own any of the Gundam Wing characters. I'm not pretending to own any of the characters. This is written for no profit, and is simply for myself and others sick amusement. Don't sue.

Warning: This part of the Kiss stories contains an implied relationship between Duo and Heero. Some unexpected complications arise. To go into any further detail would spoil the story.

Duo was sprawled on one corner of the couch, his feet propped up on the coffee table, when Relena entered the living room. Relena looked around for other seating but, seeing none, and not wanting to seem too discourteous by sitting on the floor, carefully took the far end of the couch. Duo looked up from watching TV, and thought about not saying anything. But hey, he had a reputation to consider.

"Oi, Relena, wanna be a little more obvious there? For a second, I actually thought you wanted to sit with me! What's wrong, afraid of cooties?" Sometimes it was just so fun annoying her that he couldn't resist.

Relena almost stammered an apology, but then realized who she was talking to. The guy who wouldn't know manners if they smacked him on the head. Which she was tempted to do sometimes, though she never gave into that impulse. She was too much of a pacifist to resort to violence when she could just ignore the problem.

Of course, lack of answer did not dissuade Duo. If anything, it only encouraged him. "Oh, the silent treatment, eh? I understand, you can't be polite to everyone. Feel free to be as bitchy to me as you like."

"What are you referring to?" Relena asked icily. "All I did was sit down." Duo couldn't find fault with what she said. The way she said it, however ...

"Hey, that's the spirit! C'mon, yell a little, use a few cuss-words," Duo encouraged.

"What are you talking about?" Relena said, losing a little of the icy veneer. This conversation wasn't making much sense from her point-of-view.

"I wanna see if you can really be as bitchy as they say you can," Duo replied with a cat-like smile. Some little voice in his head whispered, You shouldn't be so mean to her. What would Heero think? He ignored it. After all, this was Relena.

"But of course I didn't believe them," he continued, enjoying the stunned expression on Relena's face. "I doubt you even know a cuss word, or if you do you learned it from a book and you'll never use it." He watched shock give way to anger with grim satisfaction.

"I do too know cuss-words!" she replied, hotly. "Wait ... why am I having this argument with you?" Sometimes she could be a little blind to reality, especially when she had a goal in mind, but Relena was far from stupid. She knew Duo was just trying to pick a fight.

"Because," he replied smugly, "I'm the most irritating person you know." Let her try and argue that one. "So, do you know even one?"

"F-fuck you, Duo-s-san," she declared, then promptly felt like an idiot. She couldn't believe she had sunk to that level. Just like Duo had been trying to make her.

"There ya go! Take out the stuttering and the '-san' and you've got it! And all this time, I thought you were a sheltered goody-two-shoes." The little voice had returned That was harsh, even for you.

"I have not been sheltered! I fought in the war, too!" She knew it was different, knew she shouldn't even say it, but anger got in the way of reason. It was just that sometimes this boy understood Heero so much better simply because they had both piloted Gundam's. Relena couldn't help but feel jealous when they talked about what it was like, having never been in that situation.

Duo put his hands together in the air to form a 'w', the first time he had even stirred from his relaxed position. "Whatever, Relena-sama."

"You know what your problem is, Duo-san?" she said, suddenly regaining her composure. Her tone had taken on that particular holier-than-thou note that even she hated. But she couldn't seem to help it sometimes.

"Not a clue!" he replied cheerfully, refusing to acknowledge the sudden tension that came from the seriousness in Relena's voice. "Please, enlighten me."

"You have no sense of romance."

"What?" he said, sitting up and trying not to sputter. Of all things to say he didn't have. "Whattaya mean, I got no romance?"

"Just what I said. You wouldn't know romance if it handed you a rose and a glass of champagne." A small smile crossed Relena's face. It was a rare that she managed to shock the braided boy. She was going to enjoy her victory, however small.

"I've got plenty of romance! 'Hark, what light through yonder window breaks!'", he quoted, suddenly switching to a melodramatic voice and broad gestures. "'It is the yeast, and Juliet is the bun!'"

"What?" said Relena, flatly, not quite believing her ears.

"What what?"

"Did you do that on purpose?"

Duo sat up, carefully copying Relena's posture and mannerism. "And what," he asked, pitching his voice high, "are you referring to?"

"It's supposed to be: 'It is the East, and Juliet is the Sun,'" she enunciated carefully. Surely he was kidding. Surely he knew the right words and hadn't just made a complete fool of himself in front of her. Surely.

"Oh," said Duo, a little crestfallen. "Really?"

"Really."

"Well, quoting Shakespeare never did help much when you're living on the streets," he said, a little defensively. Relena hadn't used a tone of voice that stated that she thought he was an idiot, but that didn't stop Duo from feeling like one. God, he must look like a moron.

"Cussing never helps much when you're trying to be a diplomat, either." Relena replied, proud that she was slowly learning how to defend herself from Duo's remarks. Sometimes he could be threatening without meaning to.

"Oh, well," he said carelessly, "you never know till you try."

"I'll keep that in mind." Relena rolled her eyes, undermining the serious voice she made the statement in.

Duo grinned at her, knowing just what would set her off. "Goody-two-shoes."

Relena snapped back. "I am not." v"I'll bet you'd never kissed anybody before Heero." It was a completely random thought that had come out of Duo's mouth before he could stop it. Oh well. Too late now. Besides, he was kind of curious.

Relena tossed her hair. "That's none of you business." Her cheeks, however, betrayed her with a tell-tale flush. How was it that she could calmly deal with some of the most cunning diplomats that existed, yet felt flustered and stupid around one annoying street brat?

"I knew it, I knew it!" Duo crowed triumphantly. It was so amusing to see the great ice princess Relena actually blush. She could have kissed a couple hundred of guys before Heero or be as innocent as the freshly fallen snow. Duo could care less. It was just fun to get a reaction.

"I've kissed other guys than Heero!" she denied. This was so embarrassing.

"Your dad doesn't count," he smirked. The blush deepened if possible.

"It wasn't my father!"

"I don't believe you."

"I don't care if you don't believe me, it's the truth!"

"Then you wouldn't mind kissing me."

"What?" said Relena, paling. The conversation had been getting out of hand, and she hadn't really been thinking about what she was saying, just letting her thoughts run where they would. That one sentence brought her thoughts to a grinding halt. And reason returned full force, asking her what she thought she was doing. "No ... it's different, now."

Duo grinned knowingly. "Cooties?"

She sniffed disdainfully, trying to regain control of the situation. "I have Heero, now."

Duo's smile grew cold. "So do I."

The two stared at each other for several moments. The tension grew exponentially, till Relena's mind was filled with that face, erasing her awareness of her surroundings with its intensity.

"All right," Relena gritted out through clenched teeth. Duo made a little 'c'mon, bring it on' gesture, posture deceptively relaxed. He was still leaned back in his corner, not trying to make it easier for her at all. She braced herself on the back of the couch and leaned over him, trying to touch him as little as possible.

Relena's face paused an inch from his, suddenly uncertain. Duo raised one eyebrow, daring her to chicken out. That one gesture was enough to strengthen her resolve, enough to ...

She leaned forward and kissed him. At first Relena just held her lips against Duo's. Despite her earlier words, there really hadn't been anyone besides Heero. Most of the guys she had known had put her on too high a pedestal to even think about joining her.

Then she forgot just who she was kissing and just kissed, using little skill and a lot of instinct.

Duo could honestly say he had never experienced a kiss quite like it. It wasn't exactly revolting, which was what he was expecting. In fact it was kind of... nice. As long as he didn't think about who was doing the kissing. So when Relena relaxed and began kissing him rather than just pressing her lips to his, Duo did what any normal teenage boy would do. He responded.

The lips under Relena's opened slightly, and a tongue flickered lightly over her closed lips. Then it retreated. Curious, she copied the move, and it happened again. She shivered a little at both the sensations and the vague feeling of daring that came from doing something that she knew she shouldn't be doing.

For a moment, that feeling distracted her from the gentle mouth and warm body underneath her. It was only a brief second, but it was enough. Reality returned with a feeling akin to having ice water poured down your back. Relena gasped and jerked back, her eyes wide and her breathing ragged.

Duo watched her with confused, hazy eyes until his brain managed to wade through the surge of hormones. Then he realized just who he had been kissing. That killed whatever feelings the kiss had managed to evoke. Relena doubted anyone could look paler.

That doubt was erased as she looked up and met Heero's startled eyes from across the room. Duo saw the look, and tracked her gaze over the back of the sofa to where Heero stood. Sick numbness stole his ability to speak.

But it didn't matter. Heero left before either one could gather enough thoughts to speak.

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