Title: Rainbow Sherbet (P/P+11)
Author: Bronze Tigress
Pairings: 5x2, 3+D permanent; temporary 2x3, 5x3, 3x2, 3x2x5, 2x5,
etc.; implied possible ??x3
Genre: yaoi lemon lemon with plot plot
Rating: R

WARNINGS: yaoi lemon, exhibition, voyeurism, masturbation, threesome,
het lime, some angst, some language, reference to past ugliness of
various varieties

Spoilers: for Episode Zero - Wufei's, Trowa's, and Duo's stories;
reference to time periods not shown in Duo's and Trowa's Episodes Zero;
references to past events shown in Blind Target

Flavour Notes: If you have never met rainbow sherbet (of the frozen
variety) before, it involves a swirl of raspberry, orange, and lime
flavoured sherbets. This fic includes several varieties of citrus, and,
well, two of the three flavours are appropriate for the characters
involved, anyway (sorry, 'Fei!). In fact, this is saved from being a
collection of PWPs only by the fact that it's all Dorothy's fault. Really!

Timeline Notes: This fic belongs to the same timeline as the other ice
cream flavour fics do; it takes place about six months after the
Preventers 5 Manga, and assumes that all six still-living former Gundam
pilots are currently working for the Preventers. In fact, they have all
been put into the same department of crack anti-terrorism specialists -
based entirely on experience and capability of course - and partnered
with each other. Dorothy has also joined up, as of approximately four
months before the fic begins, and is currently working in Covert Ops.

Special Notes: The author wishes to apologize in advance for finding
it hilariously funny that all three of the boys end up being "friends of
Dorothy's" by the end of this fic. Yes, I *do* have a warped sense of
humour! Oh, and beware more mentions of Tsuberov's pink tutu and
Catharine's soup. And thanks to TJ Dragonblade for betaing!

Disclaimer: The GW characters aren't mine, nor are some of the events
referred to, nor is the Preventers organization. I don't own 'em, I
just speculate a bunch. The various departments within the Preventers,
however, are my fault; Liss and Tabs are my creations; and so is this
story. The research was all done by me, too! Wow, I've been playing
hard...

~*~*~*~*~

Prologue: Tuesday afternoon
An Unusual Conversation

The long, glass-walled corridor on the third floor of the Preventers
HeadQuarters in Sanq is empty except for a lone figure strolling along.
At nearly 1500h on a Tuesday, that's hardly a surprise, given that
everyone in both Covert Ops - at one end of the hallway - and the
Anti-Terrorism Squad - at the other - is normally busy with their own projects
at this hour.

//Tuesdays are good. So orderly, compared to the rest of the week.
Nice weather today, too - sunny, and warm for October. Nothing a light
jacket couldn't handle - and this uniform jacket is certainly light
enough. What were they thinking when they picked this fabric for them,
anyway? Not that it needs to be heavier, with the way these wings are set
up. I'd never need to go outside at all if it weren't for cases.//
The young man pauses to look out the window, at the courtyard below, and
the back side of one of the Residential wings on the far side of the
grassy area, nearly squinting to look towards where his own apartment is
just out of visual range behind the buildings.

//Yes, a nice day indeed! Life is good, and... I'm happy. Ancestors!
Happy! Me, able to say I'm *happy* with my life. Who would have
thought it possible?// A small, slightly incredulous smile breaks over his
otherwise serene face. //Work is good - and working with my friends is
even better. *Having* friends again is a good thing all on its own.
And *they* are happy too. Well, Quatre wasn't too happy about us
teasing him over how his voice kept breaking all summer - although that
baritone he's settling at is certainly nice enough to listen to.(1) I think
I may have to revise my estimates on Duo's becoming the tallest of the
five of us; the little blond isn't staying so little. At least he's
staying blond!//

Pulling away from the window, the young ATS Agent continues walking
slowly down the hall, a rather dreamy smile beginning to spread over his
face. //Triton's slowly finding his past, and I'm finding a chance to
love again. After everything that happened - losing my wife, my family,
my colony... aiee; after *marrying* my wife in the first place. That
was certainly an experience... Never, ever would have thought it would
be like this, though; he's not... *he*. Me, falling for a man.//
Wufei shakes his head slightly as he walks, suppressing an amused snort.
//He's not the easiest person to live with, but he does keep me on my
toes - sometimes a little too literally. I suppose it's a good thing he
doesn't mind my being shorter than him, because it seems we'll be stuck
with it. But I can't remember *anything* better than Duo Maxwell
having ever happened to me...//

Dorothy, coming up behind him, is surprised to see the vague and almost
wistful expression on Wufei's usually sober face. It isn't an
expression she would have thought the stern Agent capable of wearing, but it
does give her a bit of hope that she will, in fact, be able to speak with
him on a certain matter. She had been hoping to run into one of
Triton's friends. Not Duo, though - this is, well, a private concern. And
not Heero; she had discovered that his grasp of social interaction was
severely limited, and, well, this is sort of a social problem, she
supposes. Certainly, it's an interaction problem. And to be quite honest,
she doesn't want to run into Quatre again. She never did figure out
why everyone thinks him so charming; she always found him even more
lethal than she herself had been at the peak of her war-mania. No, she had
decided, she really did want to speak to Chang Wufei about this matter.
Especially since he might have some insight that none of the others
would. So what if he was insufferably rude and apparently unapproachable?
At least, if she spoke to him, it was unlikely that anyone else would
hear about it. And perhaps, he isn't so unapproachable after all...

"Excuse me, Agent Chang? Could I speak with you for a moment? I'm so
happy to have run into you like this.."

"Eh?!" Wufei, startled out of his reverie to discover himself no
longer alone, immediately slams down the inert and remote mask he usually
employs for discouraging casual flirtations and annoying interruptions.
"What can I do for you, Miss Catalonia?"

"Oh, well... it's a rather personal thing... if you don't have time
it can wait..."

"I am on break for another seven minutes. What is this about?"

"Ah... You are Triton's friend, yes? I'm not even sure I should be
asking you this, but... I was just..." She trails off, uncertain as to
how to phrase her problem without sounding silly, now.

"I am that. Is there a problem that I should know about?" He is
beginning to become curious. It is not every day that he is approached
about one of his teammates, by one of their girlfriends. Looking about
quickly, he reaches out to take her elbow and steers her towards an empty
conference room at the end of the hallway as he continues walking.

"Ah, I, that is... I don't know? I was hoping you could tell me,
actually..."

"Perhaps you had better explain..." He steers her into the first empty
chair, moving around the table to seat himself opposite her, not quite
incidentally placing himself where he can also see down the corridor.

Taking a deep breath, she begins, "Okay... you know we've been going
out for a while now, right? Do you know why? Because I'm beginning to
wonder if it's not some sort of a joke."

"A joke? That seems most unlikely..."

"Well... Maybe I'm asking the wrong thing. He *does* like girls,
right? I know he seemed awfully close to Quatre at the end of the Eve
Wars, but... *he*'s the one who asked *me* out first, so I thought
surely... or maybe he's just really shy? I mean, it's been almost six months
and he won't even kiss me... Did he just pick me because he thought he
needed a girlfriend and doesn't want me after all? Or maybe I'm just
doing something wrong, but if so I don't know what..." Dorothy sounds
perilously close to tears by the time she has meandered through this
recitation of her woes.

"I am not entirely certain how to answer that, but I do not believe he
would trifle with your affections, Miss Catalonia. And - I have seen
him kiss you quite frequently."

"Oh. Oh, well... This is so embarrassing. Um, well... you were
married, right? I mean, you must have *some* experience, with, ah... you
know. *That* sort of a kiss..."

Wufei blinks, and raises an eyebrow. "You are asking *me* for bedroom
advice?" He sounds a little bit surprised that anyone would even
consider him as a source of such information, let alone request it of him.

"Ah, not *exactly*, but... um..."

"Ah. You are encountering difficulties in getting there, then, Miss
Catalonia?"

"Er... Please, it's just Dorothy."

"As you wish, then, Dorothy. Have you considered that perhaps he does
not wish to push your relationship to that level?"

"Oh dear... You don't think I'm pushing him, do you?"

Wufei blinks again before answering. "Dorothy. Surely you know that
none of us pilots have had an easy time of adjusting to life after the
war, because of what we each went through before and during it. It is
quite likely that Triton has some issue of his own to resolve before he
becomes that close to you. I have it on very good authority that he
loves you, and it seems you feel the same. It will work out; it just may
take some time, that is all."

"You're sure, Wufei?"

"Life is never sure, Dorothy, but it seems most likely. Trust in your
feelings for him - and his for you. All will be well. Now, come... I
still have a few minutes, and you could probably use some tea." At
that, he stands, takes her elbow, and gently leads her towards the staff
cafeteria, escorting her firmly through the halls with an expression on
his face that speaks of misbehaved children to any passersby.

Wufei guides Dorothy quickly through the empty line at the cafeteria
counter, watching as she places a cup and teapot on her small tray, and
suggests that something to eat might be wise as well. Dorothy pleads a
fairly late lunch, however, and moves off towards the seating area. A
quick scan of the area shows no-one there with whom Wufei would entrust
the girl, but he reasons that she has withstood worse fits of confusion
before, and directs her towards a quiet table at the side. Having seen
Dorothy to a seat, and after assuring her once again that all will be
well and enjoining her not to worry too much about it, Wufei turns
smartly on his heel, and makes quick time back to his office.

When he gets there, his partner is out on an errand that is liable to
take the remainder of the afternoon, according to the note stuck to his
monitor. The brief meeting with Dorothy is odd enough to keep him
thinking about it for the rest of the day, however. As far as he can
recollect, no one has ever asked him a question even remotely like it. He
really hasn't been a contributor to casual office gossip or pillow-talk
discussions. In fact, most people would not approach him for a
conversation at all. That he would be asked for such intimate information,
concerning a fellow pilot? All in all, this has been a most unusual
Tuesday afternoon...

~*~*~*~*~

(1) Talk about your basic *late* bloomers! Quatre is voiced by a
female seiyuu through Endless Waltz, which effectively gives him the voice
of a child, and hence my inference that, age notwithstanding, Quatre
has yet to experience that particular change. Put it down to odd,
mutated L4 genetics, if you must!

Next ---> Rainbow Sherbert 1

comments so far? e-mail Bronze Tigress!