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“Welp,” Duo grins and turns to Wufei, “That’s a wrap.”
It's 11PM on their very last day of their mission together at the coffee shop in Quatre’s headquarters. It had been a week since their kiss and Wufei was beginning to assume that it didn’t mean anything. Obviously.
“Yeah, good work,” Wufei says, absently, and slips on his jacket. “We did a good job..”
“So…” Duo pauses and smiles. “Wrap party?”
“What?”
“You know...you wanna come back to my place for, like, hanging out?”
Like nothing had ever happened... It infuriates Wufei and then he feels irritated to feel so infuriated over something of such small consequence. Obviously it meant nothing, so why is he getting upset? This is nothing to be upset about.
“No thanks,” he says quickly and shoves his hands into his jacket.
“I’ll let you pick out dinner,” Duo offers.
“No, feel free to have whatever. I’m going back to pack.”
They walk out of the building, but Duo keeps on Wufei’s heels. “Hey, we got three days for that, right? How about we pick up some whatever, how about Chinese-”
“Seriously, Chinese? You think-” Wufei is hot fire and Duo can tell. He doesn’t shrink but he puts his hands up in surrender and Wufei suddenly wonders why this is any kind of issue at all. Obviously it’s not. “Never mind. I’ll see you...later. I’ll see you whenever.”
“Hey, wait-”
“What do you want?” Wufei spits, getting irritated at the insistence, at making this linger and stretch more than it has to. He just wants to go home and pack and forget about the last two months of this hell-hole and learning how to make cutesy drinks for overpaid sycophants.
“I want you to come have dinner with me, okay? For one time. Before we leave and do whatever else we’re assigned to,” Duo huffs, slipping his hands in his pockets.
“Why?” Wufei is a man of little words and patience, both fading as time wears on.
“Why? Do I need a reason for everything-”
“Yes!” Wufei protests. It’s absurd, utterly absurd, to do things without rhyme or reason. To kiss him and then act like that was nothing, like that act wasn’t a momentous experience…
Because it was for Wufei and the more that Duo denies that, the worse it makes Wufei feel. The more he feels like a fool. An idiot. Contemptible for hoping...for misunderstanding.
“Because I like you!” Duo growls, and then shakes his head, frustrated. “Can’t I just take you to dinner because I like you?”
Wufei is beside himself. “I don’t understand you at all.”
Shrugging exaggeratedly, hands held out, Duo huffs through his bangs and mutters, “I’m a simple guy. I don’t know what you don’t get.”
“The entire package,” Wufei grunts and crosses his arms.
“Holy shit. I’m basic, man. I like fast cars, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, sunsets on the beach...like, pscht - I don’t get what you don’t get. What you see is what you get.”
But no, that’s not true at all. Duo has all these nuances, all these corners. Like an M.C. Escher drawing, recognizable from a distance, but full of illogical twists and turns. Nothing was as it seemed and the fact that Duo can’t even see that infuriates Wufei even more.
“That’s a lie. You-...You make no sense. You say one thing, you do one thing, and then say and do another the next day.”
“Like what?” Duo asks, incredulity bordering on becoming downright pissed. “When the hell did I do that?”
“The kiss, you idiot,” Wufei hisses through a whisper, understanding the public space they are inhabiting although no one else is around.
“What about it?”
Wufei just shakes his head. “I’m leaving.”
“You wouldn’t even look me in the eyes the next day,” Duo pushes out, feeling out that hurt. “You didn’t want to even talk about it. And now what? Are you telling me to forget about it? You’re a real stand up guy. Thanks, pal. Thanks for the damn memories.”
“You-! You-!” But Wufei doesn’t have any words, all he has are feelings and they hurt. He’s so tired of stuffing them down, of side-stepping them. All they do is keep bubbling up. All they do is slow him down. He kicks the steel of the building, spitting out, “Damn it!”
The building doesn’t waver under his power, but there’s an impressive noise. It echoes around them a moment before Duo bursts into laughter. Wufei is about to explode until Duo says, “God, you’re so weird. That’s why I like you.”
Duo wheezes before adding, “Jesus, I just never know what you’re gonna do.”
“We’re the same,” Wufei admits awkwardly. “I never know what you’re going to do…”
Duo wipes his face, but the smile remains. “Okay, I guess maybe I wasn’t, like, exactly straight-forward because I thought that you were weirded out or something. I thought that you wanted nothing to do with me after that. You just seemed real skitterish-”
“I’m not skittish. I just...You didn’t invite me again. You didn’t say anything- Never mind. This is tiresome.”
“Yeah,” Duo agrees with a fresh grin. “You’re right. Let’s just go back to my place and I’ll make us a salad.”
“I’m not coming,” Wufei says, still feeling like a fool for being led around for no good reason.
But Duo just laughs and his smile turns softer, which just flips Wufei’s stomach, so beautifully uncomfortable. He crosses his arms tighter to protect himself from those careless wiles.
“Hey,” Duo says, soft as melting butter, “How about you come back with me and I’ll kiss you any way you want?”
But Wufei can’t agree to that. His heart, the wildly cautious thing, won’t allow him to concede just yet.
“Noodles,” he mutters, more into his chest than into the air between them.
“Huh?”
“I could eat some noodles.”
He doesn’t see Duo’s eyes sparkle at that concession but he can hear it. “Any way you want.”
“Did you bring your bike?” Wufei asks and starts walking in the direction of the parking lot.
“Hell yeah I did and I did even one more than that: I brought my spare helmet.”
“Oh what, you were planning this?” Wufei flatly asks.
“Well,” Duo replies quietly. “Maybe I was just really hoping…”
**
Duo is awful at eating noodles. He’s a mess, but he’s trying.Wufei watches from the corner of his eye half in amusement and half in disgust. It’s an odd combination.
“Did you get your new assignment yet?” Wufei asks as another sling of vegetable broth cuts across the table and Duo sighs from both the question and the action.
“Yeah, somewhere in L2. You?”
“Yes. Berlin.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.”
“So they’re sending me on the shit missions while you get to live it up, huh?” Duo loosely jests, but his disappointment is apparent.
“Hardly, it’s another ‘wait and see’ mission. Mostly trailing someone.”
“Huh, sounds boring.”
“Yeah. You?”
“Actually wasn’t given too much info yet. Go here. Wait there. Further instructions coming when we feel like it. That kind of thing.”
“Sounds intriguing.”
“More like annoying,” Duo says with a sigh and gives up on eating with the chopsticks. “I like to know what I’m getting into.”
“Oh?” Wufei asks, the word in almost two syllables.
“Yeah, don’t you?”
“Of course, but you also seem like someone who just throws himself in situations.”
Duo grins a bit darkly. “You talkin’ about the moon base?”
Wufei frowns slightly and Duo can sense a shift. “No.”
“Oh….Oh, you mean...Yeah, well…” He laughs. He has no good excuse for the kiss, for touching Wufei’s arms and back, for bringing them closer, for calling him out like this. He shrugs and says, “I guess some things you just gotta leap into. And try it out, you know?”
“No, I like to plan.”
“So, you, uh, planned that?”
“In a way,” Wufei is honest and sets his chopsticks down with finality, clearing his throat. “I accepted that. I thought...I thought it would be all right.”
“Be still my heart,” Duo jokes.
“Shut up.” But the tone is slight and airy, carrying on its breeze a warmth and familiarity.
“Okay, so can we plan a few more things?”
Wufei pulls in a deep breath before replying, “Like what?”
“Like…” Duo swallows and decides to leap again. “Like you spending the night.”
“I have to pack,” is the curt reply.
“Okay...what about, uh…” He pauses because he’s never had to negotiate these terms. “Getting naked?”
Again, Wufei’s reaction is caught between amusement and disgust. “No, probably not.”
“Okay, like, ever or for tonight?”
“Let’s say…” Wufei pauses because he’s never had to negotiate these terms. “Definitely not tonight. Perhaps one day.”
“Okay, half naked?” Duo pushes and is rewarded with a slight smirk.
“Which half?”
“Uh, heh. You got me. Uh, top?”
“So,” Wufei pauses and realizes this is getting more uncomfortable. Exciting, yes, but also uncomfortable. “We would be shirtless?”
“Uh huh.”
“And…” Wufei huffs a frustration he’s been holding onto. “And what? This is a ‘tonight’ thing? No strings?”
“Is that the thing you’re into?”
‘God, I don’t even know what I’m into,’ Wufei realizes with a flush. ‘I don’t even know what to ask for. ’
“What do you want?” He counters instead, buying himself time.
Duo scratches his head and decides to fully jump because he’s going to L2 and Wufei’s going to be in Berlin and who the hell cares anymore. “Look, I like you. I know you’re probably not the dating kind, but...Like, I wouldn’t mind it-No, I mean. I want to try to do that.”
“Dating?”
“Yeah,” Duo confesses and leans back, opening himself to whatever assault is coming.
“Dating…” Wufei echoes but more to himself. “I’ve never…”
“Never?” Duo is incredulous. That’s nuts. Wufei’s a hot guy. There had to be someone at some point.
“Are you going to take my word or keep asking me?”
“Okay,” Duo says and swallows his incredulity.
Wufei takes a moment to consider. He’s seen it on TV. There’s walking around, eating, talking, holding hands, kissing, fade to black. He’s familiar enough. He tries to picture himself and Duo in those roles. It’s difficult, especially when he’s in Berlin and Duo’s in L2.
“But we’ll be separated,” he concludes.
“Yeah...Long distance relationship, I get that.”
“So, what? You’d keep flirting with people and say that you’re attached to me? I don’t get the point or the reasoning.”
“You’re so difficult,” Duo laughs around the nervousness in his chest. “You know? I’m not gonna screw around on you. We could talk. We could email. We could still, you know, make time for each other.”
“Just on opposite ends of the galaxy.”
“Hey, that’s life,” Duo says somberly. “You got a better idea?”
But, no, he doesn’t. It’s either date like this or not date at all. Both have pros and both have cons. It’s a deadlock.
He considers everything, though, carefully, like laying it all out on a table.
“But tonight...you want to be shirtless?” He asks for verification.
“Uh...yeah? Maybe kiss. Maybe, like, touch you?”
“You’re adding things,” Wufei points out.
“I’m making this up as I go, I have no damn road map, okay?” Duo says with a nervous laugh that Wufei recognizes. Suddenly he remembers the flail at the moon base - ‘this is so not cool ’. How those words echoes back to him, how they permeate his memories now. Joking in the face of anxiety.
“Okay,” Wufei says, “I agree to the vague terms, but on the condition that I can amend them as we go...because I have ‘no damn roadmap’, either.”
“Seriously?”
Wufei scoffs. “You want me to reconsider?”
“Nononono,” Duo assures him and jumps out of his chair. It unnerves Wufei, the energy, the spontaneity...or maybe thrills him. He can’t be sure. “I accept, okay?”
“Okay,” Wufei agrees and smiles when Duo laughs openly. “What?”
“I just-...Wow. I’m giddy, you know? Like, whew!”
Wufei softly smiles and looks to the side.
“Hey, can I kiss you? Can we start this whole ‘half-naked and across the universe but trying to make it work’ process?”
Taking a breath and feeling dizzy at the precipice of this new destination, Wufei quietly says, “Sure.”
And Duo’s hands are on his face first, warm and rough, pulling him and he allows the movement, the touch, the pressure of a mouth on his. He allows and welcomes Duo’s lips, the soft slide of wetness and the tip of a tongue against the roof of his mouth.
Wufei hasn’t kissed much, but wants to keep trying, wants to be better, wants to feel more. His hand placed firmly on Duo’s stomach makes Duo moan into his mouth, the vibrations caught and trapped there. And maybe this isn’t the worst idea Wufei Chang has ever had. Maybe it isn’t so bad to feel this, to touch like this.
He’s the one who removes his polo first, surprising Duo at the timing. But Duo follows suit and Wufei takes his time feeling Duo’s skin against his hands, the hitch of breath and nervous laughter tumbling out.
And then they’re kissing again, Duo’s hands on his back and neck, drawing him closer. Wufei doesn’t pause or startle like Duo thought he would when their bodies rub together, when there’s friction.
Wufei doesn’t hesitate; he keeps going, keeps kissing and holding Duo just as tightly.
Wufei also jumps into this, no plan, no map, and doesn’t flinch once...