A Very Good Thing
by Presser
“Damn, but it’s cold for June!” Duo Maxwell wrapped his arms around
himself, shivering in the brisk wind swirling through the parking lot
behind the Traveler’s Rest hotel. “Wish I had worn more than a couple of
short-sleeved tees today.” The lanky teen marched toward the motel’s
front office, lugging his overnight bag. “Sure hope this trip is gonna
be
worth it.”
Duo waited for the desk clerk to finish helping the lady in front of
him,
grateful for the warmth in the lobby. He set his bag on the floor,
glanced at his watch, which said 6:04 a.m., June 6th. “Can’t believe I’m
doing this,” he muttered under his breath, shaking his head, smiling at
himself. “It’s only been six weeks since we first emailed.” Duo
reflected
on the surprising turn of events that had led him to the present moment.
* * *
Six weeks earlier, Duo Maxwell had been surfing the net, bored.
“Hmm...wonder what’s happening at the YaoiML today?” He smirked as he
paged
over to his web-based email to check the list activity, remembering the
last two fics he had read there. “That last fic of Lily’s was
so...intense,” he thought. “And you just aren’t gonna find better angst
than the stuff Tatsu writes.” Duo hoped there would be more from his two
favorite authors.
“Not much happening today. Most ML-ers are probably hunkering down over
the end of the spring term, I guess.” Duo searched for every post with
“Re:” in the subject line, then scanned to see if any posts were about
his own fics. He found a few in threads he was following, and saved them
for later. After selecting the others, he clicked the delete button
without reading them. Next he scanned for the fics he was following.
Finally he browsed the posts with “pic” in the title, hoping for a
little
eye candy.
“Looks interesting,” Duo said, as he opened a post. He clicked the
provided link and was rewarded with some intricate drawings of his
favorite yaoi pairing. “Wow! Such detail! And the shading is fantastic!”
It didn’t bother him a bit that the anime characters were drawn in
various stages of undress, some poses full of love, others full of lust.
“Damn, but that’s hot stuff.” Duo wiped the corner of his mouth with the
back of his hand, then paged back to his email. Something in the back of
his mind twitched, and he decided that he had lurked long enough; he
found the pic-giver’s post and clicked ‘reply,’ noting the sender’s
screen name.
“Wing!” the post began, “I looove your work! Great pics, nice style, the
shading is well done, and -- of course -- the content was awesome, girl!
Hope you send more before long!” He signed his screen name, Scythe,
after
his favorite Gundam mecha, Deathscythe.
* * *
Later that evening, Duo checked his email again, still bored at the end
of a long day. There was a rather interesting reply to his feedback from
Wing.
“Scythe? I’m not a girl. And those aren’t my pics – they’re by a friend
of mine named Kracken. I was just sharing them with the ML because I
think they’re cool. But…I /do/ write really angsty fics, if you’d ever
be
interested in seeing something that /I’ve/ done. Don’t sweat the girl
reference; it could happen to anyone. Wing.”
Duo sat staring at the screen. “Damn, am I that unobservant? Could-a
sworn I read that post correctly. Oh, well,” he said with a shrug of his
shoulders, “I guess I ought to offer to read this ‘Wing’s’ fic. It’s the
least I can do after insulting him.”
Duo clicked ’reply’ and typed quickly. “Hey, man, I didn’t mean to call
you a girl! Most on this ML are, yanno, an’ who has any way of knowing?
*shrug* Anyway, you sure those aren’t your pics? Well, I guess you’d
know, ne? Looks like I’m striking out today! Yeah, sure, send your fic;
I’d love to read what you’ve written. More later, Scythe.”
* * *
“May I help you, sir?” Duo looked up from his thoughts to see a
distinguished gentleman with graying temples smiling at him. His thick
French accent reminded Duo that he was in Canada.
“Oh, yeah, name’s Duo Maxwell. I’ve got a reservation for one night?”
“Let me see...oh, of course, sir; I have your information right here.
Now
if you’ll fill out this form, I’ll prepare your room key.” Duo dutifully
told the Traveler’s Rest hotel all about his company (personal trip, not
business), his car (an old Ford Taurus), and his home address (in
Louisville, Kentucky). “Room 418, sir. Elevators are to the left; our
complimentary continental breakfast is from 6:30 to 10 a.m. Please let
us
know if there is anything we can do to make your stay more comfortable.”
“Actually, there is,” Duo said. I’ve been driving all night, and need to
sleep for a few hours before I go to a meeting. Could you wake me up at
2:30 this afternoon?”
“Of course, sir. We will call your room then.”
“Thanks.” Duo picked up his bag and trudged off to the bank of
elevators.
* * *
Duo slotted the plastic room key, yanking it out of the lock as soon as
he saw the green light. Inside, he found frayed carpet, out of date
décor, chilled air that had been recycled a dozen times too many.
Everything seemed clean but thin, as though depleted of essential
nutrients. “How depressing,” Duo said to no one. He dropped his bag and
flopped onto the bed, not even pulling off his shoes. “If I’m gonna be
coherent this evening, I just gotta get some rest!” His eyes fluttered
twice, and he fell into an uneasy sleep.
* * *
“You really like my fic, Scythe? That’s -- thank you.” Wing seemed more
excited than Duo had ever seen him. “I mean, no one ever understood my
work before. If /you/ do, then you’re the first!”
Duo smiled. “I think that’s the first time Wing’s ever used an
exclamation point!”
Duo answered the private email from Wing. “No foolin’, Wing. I like what
I read. In fact, even though it’s all about death, I -- well, you’re
gonna think I’m off my nut here -- but I find a kind of optimism in what
you write.”
Wing’s reply came through almost instantly. “Optimism?! Scythe, no one’s
ever seen that in my writing before. I mean, /I/ knew it was there, but
-- I -- I think, maybe, you’re the first person who ever understood me.”
Duo smiled as he read the post. “I like this guy...a lot. He seems so
formal, and yet there’s a warmth and charm about him. And he seems to
like me, too. I wonder...”
* * *
Duo tossed and turned on a paisley bedspread, strong daylight seeping
around the edges of heavy drapes. A light band of sweat broke out across
his forehead, in spite of the stale, refrigerated air swirling through
the room.
* * *
“Wing? Can I ask you a question?” Duo had been emailing Wing for three
weeks now, and he had grown close to the boy. He had learned that he was
about to turn 16, that he lived in Toronto, Canada, and that he loved
Japanese culture. Wing seemed shy, yet mature, a deep thinker, yet he
seemed to love having fun with Duo. There was a silly side to him that
Duo had worked hard to draw out of the boy. Even though he wrote such
dark, angsty fics, Duo still saw a basic optimism in Wing’s work.
“So, my question,” Duo-as-Scythe wrote, “is a simple one, but I won’t be
offended if you say you don’t wanna answer it. *pause* What’s your real
name?”
Duo/Scythe waited anxiously for the response. In just a few minutes the
reply came through.
“My real name’s Heero Yuy, but I really prefer Wing. I like having a
sanctuary -- you know? It’s sort of like “Wing” represents a space where
my real life can’t go. So if you don’t mind, please continue to call me
Wing.”
Duo smiled sadly at that. “Of course,” he wrote back. “I understand what
you mean. I need that space away from real life, too. Wing it is, then.
My real name’s Duo, Duo Maxwell. You can call me either Duo or Scythe,
whichever you want.”
* * *
Duo’s eyebrows bunched together over his nose. He shifted in his sleep,
unable to find a comfortable position for his arms. Outside his hotel
room the sun shone blindly on the back of thick-lined drapes.
* * *
Duo pushed through the door to his apartment, anxious to check his
email.
Before work that morning he had emailed Wing with a question that had
the
potential to move his relationship with the Canadian boy to a new level.
He dropped his bag, kicked off his shoes, and reached for a bottle of
water from the fridge. Sitting down before the computer in the corner of
his bedroom, he stretched his arms high above his head, arching his
back.
“Man! It sure feels good to be done with work today. Now,” shifting in
his chair, “let’s see what Wing says about my proposal.”
Duo had carefully worded a suggestion that they chat tonight, putting it
in a postscript at the end of his morning email to Wing. He realized
after just a week of emailing Wing that he felt something special for
the
boy, and had spent the last few days getting up the courage to ask him
to
chat.
“If he says ‘Yes,’ then...” Duo’s thoughts trailed off into a vicious
circle. “But if he says, ‘No,’ then this is over, isn’t it? I never
should have asked him! But how could I not?” Duo sat staring at his
monitor. Realizing that his system had started up minutes ago, he shook
his head to clear it. “Well, no time like right now to find out.” He
paged over to his email site.
“Y-you want to chat with me? What ever for?” Wing seemed incredulous.
Duo
nervously read on. “I guess that’d be okay with me. I mean, if you want
to, I don’t see what the harm could be….”
Duo’s heart leapt. He quickly replied to Wing’s email.
“Hey, dude, if you’d like to chat (I know /I/ would!), then why not now?
Send me your screen name, on AIM, and I’ll do the same. If you can’t do
it now, then it’s no biggie. Scythe.”
“That last line’s a lie,” Duo thought. “This isn’t ‘no biggie’; it’s
huge
for me!”
Duo hit the onscreen refresh button over and over, hoping for Wing’s
response. After five full minutes, he began to give up hope. “Maybe he
just had to go…no response doesn’t mean he doesn’t wanna.” Duo sighed,
and hit the refresh button one last time, then clicked it again, and
then
once more. When he saw the “Wing” folder on his screen highlight, his
heart jumped again.
Wing’s message was titled, “Let’s do it”; the body of the message was a
single line: “Gundam01 on AIM. Now is fine.”
* * *
The phone shrilled, jolting Duo on the bed. He jerked the receiver to
his
ear. “Huh? What?”
“Your wake-up call, sir.” The voice of the distinguished-looking desk
clerk sounded calm and unruffled. “It’s 2:30.”
“Thanks,” Duo mumbled, embarrassed about his tone of voice with the
clerk. He hung up, then rolled over onto his back, staring at the
ceiling. “I’m really gonna do this, huh? Well, I guess I’d better look
presentable, then. He pushed into a sitting position, then stretched his
arms high above his head, twisting his torso at the waist. “Need a
shower,” he mumbled, pushing the fingers of both hands through copper
bangs. He undid the tie at the end of his braid, then pulled the two tee
shirts he had slept in over his head. As he slipped off of the bed, he
undid the buckle on his belt, shimmying out of his jeans. He grabbed his
toiletry kit and shambled to the washroom, wearing only white sport
socks
and light blue bikini briefs.
* * *
Duo exited the subway station, striding through a collection of shops,
up
a short marble staircase, and out into the early evening air. “Toronto’s
a big city,” Duo murmured as he stepped onto the street. The
intersection
of Bloor and Yonge was thick with activity. Shoppers and homeless men
and
women flowed around cars and street vendors, while pigeons fought with
squirrels over spilled popcorn and drying puddles of Pepsi. Duo looked
up
to see a milk blue sky gathering strong sunlight and scattered clouds
for
a sunset. Oversized mosaics of steel and glass thrust upward from
tangles
of concrete and asphalt.
Duo fretted about directions. “Wing said to meet at an anime shop on
Bloor street, but he didn’t say which way to turn off of Yonge.” He
unfolded the sheet torn from his notebook and jammed in his pocket
before
he left Louisville, reading it for the twentieth time since he had left
his hotel. The words, “Anime Nation, across from Famous Players theater,
Bloor off Yonge” had been hastily scribbled as Duo had scrambled out of
his apartment to make his trip to the airport.
Duo glanced at his watch, then turned to check his appearance in the
mirrored glass fronting the sleek storefront of Searle and Tucker,
Clothiers. He was wearing the tight black jeans, silver-toned sneakers,
and deep plum tee he had told Wing to look for. He fingered the end of
his braid. Wide eyes over a cheerless mouth stared back at him. “C’mon,”
Duo chided himself. “It -- it’s just a date, right?” Duo turned from the
mirror and pushed off toward the south. “If it’s not this way, then I’ll
go back the other way.” He glanced at his watch again. “Should be time,
if it’s not more than a block or two from Yonge.”
Duo ruminated on his words as he threaded his way through the crowd past
pawnshops, bookstalls, coffee houses. A conversation with himself
ensued.
“It’s just a date, right?”
//Hell, no! Who flies to Toronto from Louisville for a date?//
“But --"
//Oh, come ON, man! Don’t mess with yourself!//
“And how am I doing that?”
//Nuts to you, buddy! If you think you’re not hopin’ for more, then
you’re dumber than I thought you were!//
“Okay, so I’m fond of -- of him.”
//Of COURSE you are! Don’t you remember the first time you chatted? Or
your first phone call?//
If Duo’s interior voice had had a physical appearance, he would have
seen
half-lidded eyes and a smirk to accompany the next sentence:
//Or your...last...one?//
“You’ve got a point there, all right.”
* * *
Duo remembered all too well how shy and hesitant Wing had been when they
chatted. He had been so skittish at first that Duo had almost suggested
they call it quits just after they started, but then Wing seemed to warm
to the experience. By the end of an hour, Duo, emboldened by the way
Wing
seemed to grow comfortable, made another move.
“Wing?” Duo typed. “If you don’t wanna do this, I’ll understand.
But...would you mind if I heard your voice tonight? Just for a moment?
I’d like to know how you sound when you talk.”
Wing had paused for a full minute before typing a response. Duo waited
nervously for his reply.
“You...want...to...hear my voice? Um...why?”
“I just think it’d be a great way to end the evening, that’s all. Bet
your voice is...sexy...*blush*” Duo wondered if he had pushed things too
far.
“Well, I guess...” Wing’s next line gave his phone number in Toronto.
And Duo had called. They had both been shy at first, but by the end of
the call, Duo was convinced he had found someone special. Even though
his
only contact with Wing was online, he could tell that there was
something
exceptional about the Canadian boy; it came through his emails, his chat
sessions, and now, over the phone. Hearing Wing’s voice confirmed Duo’s
feelings: he was falling in love.
* * *
“Watch it, man!” A rough shove to his shoulder brought Duo out of his
thoughts. As the passerby glared back at Duo, he realized that he must
have been walking for several minutes. He glanced at his watch.
“Crap! I have no idea where in the hell I am now!” Duo turned to look
back down Bloor Street; he didn’t recognize anything. He marched back in
the direction he had come, vowing to concentrate on finding the Anime
Nation shop Wing had told him about.
* * *
“You can’t miss it; it’s right across from Famous Players theater --
you've got those in Louisville, right?”
“Um...no, we don’t,” Duo had said. “But I’m sure I can find it.
“It’s just off Yonge down Bloor Street; you can’t miss it.”
“I’ll find it,” Duo had said. “As long as you’re there, I’ll find it.”
Duo now pledged himself to staying alert to the landmarks around him,
determined to waste no more time.
* * *
As he approached Yonge Street, he realized that he didn’t know what Wing
looked like. He ticked off the clothes his online friend had told him to
watch for. Wing had said he’d be wearing a dark green tank top over
black
biker shorts and white sport socks with mustard-colored sneakers.
Crossing Yonge, Duo began scanning for Anime Nation and Famous Players.
“If I’m lucky, it won’t be far.” As Duo plowed through the thickening
Friday night crowd, his thoughts turned once more to the recent past.
The
last phone call to Wing had taken a quite unexpected turn.
* * *
“Duo, I -- I want to tell you something, okay?”
Wing’s rich baritone was hesitant, and Duo knew immediately that
something was bothering his friend. “What is it, Wing? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong, Duo, in fact, everything’s right, maybe for the first
time in my life.”
“What?”
“I mean, I’ve been meaning to say something to you for the past week,
but
there never seems to be the right moment for it. S-so,” Wing rushed
forward, “I thought I’d just bring it up and -- and -- tell you.” Wing’s
face grew warm as his lips stumbled through a carefully organized
speech.
“Duo, I really enjoy talking with you. I love your sense of humor, and
you always seem to put me in a good mood.”
Duo’s blood surged loudly in his ears, his fingers tingled; he began to
tremble slightly.
“Please don’t do this, Wing.”
“Do what?”
“Don’t say what I think you want to say.”
“Duo, I --"
“No, Wing, listen to me.” Duo spoke earnestly. “I know I’ve kept things
lighthearted between us. It’s my damn sense of humor. Usually serves me
well, but this time I think it’s kept me from telling you how I feel.”
“Duo --"
“Let me finish, Wing,” Duo interrupted. “I should have said some things
to you, too, and -- well,” Duo swallowed hard. “I -- I just don’t know
if
I could take it if we didn’t talk to each other anymore.”
Wing was thunderstruck. “Duo, no, no, you don’t understand. I’m not
saying that I don’t like talking to you!”
“But you aren’t sure if you want anything more than friendship with me,
right? It’s okay, Wing, I understand. I’m sorry if I --"
Wing uncharacteristically interrupted Duo, taking charge of the
conversation. “Duo! Hush! I -- I'm trying to tell you that I think I
love
you!”
Background static sizzled softly over the phone lines.
“You wha -- I -- y-you /love/ me?” Duo’s mouth dropped open, his eyes
grew quite wide.
“Yes, I said I love you!” Wing said, more forcefully than necessary.
When
Duo remained silent, Wing continued. “I’ve felt really close to you over
the past few weeks, Duo, and I’ve wanted to find a way to tell you that
I
don’t think I could take it if we didn’t talk to each other anymore,
either.”
“Y-you /love/ me?”
“Yes, Duo, I love you!”
“Wow, Wing, I -- I don’t know what to say.”
“Oh, God, Duo, don’t say that! Say anything but that!”
“I -- I mean, I feel deeply for you, Wing. There isn’t a time we’ve
talked that I haven’t felt better for it, even when you were sharing how
shitty your day was, or I was depressed a little. But I thought you were
about to --"
“To tell you I didn’t feel for you what you felt for me?” Wing completed
Duo’s thought.”
“You /knew/ how I felt?”
“Of course. Your tone of voice, your attitude, the signs that you care
for me are obvious.”
“Then why did you hesitate to say something to me?”
“It’s one thing to realize someone has feelings for you; it’s quite
another to do something about it.”
Well I’ll be damned!” Duo shook his head. “I’ve been trying for the past
two weeks to figure out how to tell you I care for you -- more than
friendship-wise -- and -- and now you beat me to the punch.” Duo smiled
broadly, began to laugh. “And you already knew about my feelings! How
long?”
“Since the first time you asked me to chat. And the first time you asked
if you could call so you could hear my voice. And every time we’ve ever
talked since that first phone call.”
“Wing, I --"
“It’s okay, Duo, I feel it, too.”
“What?”
“The relief. And the pure joy.”
“Damn, Wing! I’m -- well, I’m so damn happy I could pop!”
“Well, don’t pop, Duo. I’d hate to have to clean up the mess.”
Duo chuckled. “So what do we do now?”
Wing and Duo had talked long into the night after that, and before they
had hung up, plans for Duo to visit Wing in Toronto had been set.
* * *
As Duo crossed the street, he saw a multi-story storefront with the
words
“Famous Players” in the middle of the block on the other side of the
street. “This has to be it. Where’s the Anime Nation shop?” Duo glanced
at his watch again, then hurried forward.
“There it is!” Duo moved to the curb, saw the Anime Nation sign. “But
where’s Wing?”
A foursome stood in front of Anime Nation’s gaudy window display. Cell
Phone, Walkman, iPod, Sunshades, all stood jabbering about iPod’s fresh
purchase from the shop. As they moved from the front of the store, Duo
saw mustard yellow sneakers, white sport socks jammed down around
slender
ankles. Black biker shorts shone slick in the evening streetglow,
outlining slim, muscular thighs. A loose green tank framed a torso that
was both graceful and cheetah-wary in posture.
The boy’s back was to the street, so Duo couldn’t see his face. But he
knew it had to be Wing. The clothes were just like he said. Duo walked
up
to him, stood beside him, and looked into the window.
“Figures, you’d be ogling Gundam Wing stuff.”
“Huh?” Wing’s head jerked up, and he met Duo’s eyes for the first time.
Deep, deep blue, no, something else there, could it be a tinge of
violet?
How? But --
Wing’s own intensely blue eyes shone through dark brown bangs that
scattered in the light wind. “Duo?”
“Yeah, Wing, it’s Duo. Pretty cool, this -- getting to meet you face to
face, after all that time together online and the phone.”
“Yeah, it /is/ cool, Duo.” Both boys stood looking into each other’s
eyes. Finally Duo smiled broadly and broke the silence.
“So, we just gonna stand here and stare into each other’s eyes? Or are
you gonna show me the city?”
Wing smiled back. “Come on, Duo. I’ve got plans for us.”
* * *
They walked through Toronto’s largest Chinatown, one of three in the
city, looking in shop windows, chatting and laughing and
people-watching.
Somewhere along the way, Wing shyly took Duo’s hand in his. Duo turned
his head and gave his friend a quirky little smile, and Wing felt a warm
tingling in his heart.
After walking for what seemed like hours and no time at all, Wing broke
away from Duo, running forward, then darting around a corner.
“Hey!” Duo shouted, “Where’re you going?”
“Come on, Duo!” Wing yelled over his shoulder. Duo ran to catch up. As
he
rounded the corner, he found Wing waiting for him. “Gotcha!” Wing said,
wrapping his arms around his friend.
“Wha -- ?” Duo’s surprise was met by laughter from Wing.
“I figured that this was the best way to let you know it’s okay,” Wing
said.
“What’s okay?”
“That it’s okay to touch me, Duo. You’ve been really, well, I don’t
know,
hesitant, and...”
“Wing,” Duo spoke softly, pulling gently away from him. “I like you,
Wing, a lot. I think maybe I love you, too, though I’m still confused
about that. Maybe it’s because I’ve never been in love before, I don’t
know. But I worry --"
“About the age difference? Don’t. I mean, /I/ don’t, so why should you?”
“But people might think I’m taking advantage of you.”
“So what? I’m not /that/ much younger than you, Duo. You’re nineteen,
and
I’ve just turned sixteen; in ten years, that won’t be much of a
difference at all.”
“I know, I know, but I just don’t wanna --" Duo’s complaint was silenced
by Wing’s lips on his, a chaste kiss, all too brief. Duo moved to
embrace
Wing, but Wing quickly pulled away, suddenly shy.
“Look, Duo, I love you. You think you love me, too. Why don’t we just
enjoy each other and see where it goes? I -- I don’t want to care about
what other people think of us; I want -- I want the time we have
together
to be something special, a sanctuary.”
“Like your name?”
“Yeah, like that. Something that no one else can be a part of. Just you
and me, together, being tender, laughing, loving, spending time
together.”
“I want that, too, Wing.”
“Good!” The smaller boy smiled, then took Duo’s hand again. I wanna show
you something. He pulled Duo along the street, down two blocks then
around another corner.
“Wow,” Duo said, as the entrance to the University of Toronto came into
view. “I didn’t know it was right downtown.
“Yeah, and there’s some really old architecture here. Eye candy for
someone like me who loves old buildings.”
“You do? Me, too! I really love the medieval period, and -- "
“Then wait till you see Trinity College!” Wing interrupted Duo, pulling
him through the entrance.
* * *
They wandered the campus, admiring the buildings, watching summer school
newbies exploring the campus for the first time. Near the music
building,
a more modern structure, they walked into a small grove of trees. Wing
plopped down on the grass and looked up at Duo. “Sit down.”
“Why?”
“Come on, I won’t bite. I just want to sit and look at you for a
moment.”
Duo sat beside Wing, and they took each other in for the first time.
Wing was small, but Duo could tell he worked out. His slim body wasn’t
bulging with muscles, but there was definition beneath the smooth skin
of
his arms and legs. Cobalt blue eyes shone under dark brown eyebrows, the
combination striking. Wing’s hair was long over his ears, his bangs
danced across his forehead in the light wind. There was something
intense
about the boy, as though he knew what he wanted and wouldn’t stop until
he got it, yet there was a graceful reserve about him as well. Not for
the first time, Duo thought of a powerful, supple animal.
Duo’s coppery hair was long, too, much longer than Wing’s. He pulled
most
of it back into a tight French braid which hung to his waist. He was
older than Wing, more developed physically, but he was trim. Slim hips
supported firm abs which Wing had felt when he hugged Duo. Duo’s face
was
heart-shaped, his lips full, his eyes impossible to describe. Wing had
stolen glances all evening long, and had yet to figure out the color of
the older boy’s eyes. Blue, yet not. They were almost violet, when the
light hit them just right.
Duo’s lips curled into the half-smile that Wing had already come to know
as a sign of mischief brewing, one eyebrow raised, the other lowered.
“What?”
“Mind if I kiss you?” Duo said.
“Please do.”
Duo leaned over to touch Wing’s lips with his own, his eyes closing.
Wing
put one hand on Duo’s shoulder, tilting his head back slightly. Duo
moved
closer, his lips pressing Wing’s, his tongue shyly darting out to touch,
then withdraw. Wing opened his mouth, his other hand reaching around
Duo,
pulling him closer. Duo’s tongue moved again, and this time it met
Wing’s
own tongue advancing. As they danced, Wing pulled Duo tighter to his
body, Duo slid his mouth down to suckle Wing’s lower lip. A soft moan
from both boys mingled between them. Wing leaned to one side, bringing
Duo with him as he fell to the ground, one arm leaving Duo’s side to
break the fall.
As Wing eased them to the soft grass, Duo broke the kiss. “Oh, Wing, I
--
I --"
“Hush, Duo,” came the quiet response. “Kiss me again.”
Duo did.
* * *
Twenty minutes later, both boys were floating high on a cloud of
pheromones and hormones, panting slightly, flushed and very happy. Duo
sat up, eliciting a whine from Wing.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, lover. I just --"
“Just what?”
“Well, I don’t want to go too far on the first date, that’s all.”
“What if I want you to?”
“What if it’s not the best thing for either of us?”
“What if you’re not the only one to decide?”
Duo sat looking at Wing, still laying on the grass. He looked
vulnerable,
and seductive, boyish and virile and wanting more.
“Wing, come on, man, I’m not --"
“It’s okay. Don’t worry about it.” Wing abruptly stood up and stretched.
“Let’s go get something to eat. Ever had Japanese food?”
* * *
“Sushi Natural is my favorite place in Chinatown,” Wing said. They had
settled into seats by the window so they could watch people walking by,
steaming cups of green tea freshly perched on the edge of plastic
placemats.
“I’ve never had sushi before,” Duo confessed. “I’m sort of anxious to
try
it.”
“Don’t worry, I’ve ordered a sampler that will be more than enough for
both of us. It has a lot of different things on it, so you’ll get to try
all sorts of things.”
As they watched people on the street pass by, Wing once again reached
out
and took Duo’s hand in his. They sat like that until the waitress
interrupted them.
“Chopsticks?” she asked, putting a large wooden tablet before them,
covered with sushi, sashimi, and maki.
“Sure,” Wing said. “You know how to use ‘em?” he asked Duo.
“Um...not really.”
“It’s easy. I’ll show you.”
* * *
Ten minutes later both boys were giggling uncontrollably.
“That’s probably the ninth mistake in protocol you’ve made so far,” Wing
said, grinning from ear to ear.
“Yeah, well, at least I’m trying.” Duo surveyed the table between them.
Wing’s dish was relatively clean, just a few bits of the sticky rice
used
to support the raw fish and traces of soy sauce on the ends of his
chopsticks. Duo’s plate was covered in the debris of dinner, broken
pieces of fish, wasabi, ginger, and soy sauce strewn everywhere.
“Looks like a damn battlefield,” Wing said. Duo looked up at him in mock
anger, and both boys burst out laughing again.
The waitress came to clear away the table. As she left, Duo took Wing’s
hand in his. “You okay with what happened? On the grass at the
university?”
Wing shifted in his seat, his eyes cast down. “I guess so,” he mumbled.
Duo touched the fingers of his free hand to Wing’s chin, gently lifting
his face, capturing the boy’s eyes with his own.
“I didn’t mean to reject you, Wing. It’s just that I’m so uncertain.
This
is brand new territory for me.”
“It is for me, too. But I do know one thing, Duo.” Questioning eyes
looked deep into Wing’s. “I know I love you, and I want to be with you.”
“I want to be with you, too, Wing. But I won’t do anything to hurt you.
Ever. It’s important to me that you know that.”
“I do, Duo. I trust you. I know we haven’t known each other for very
long, and tonight is the first time we’ve even seen each other, but
something in me says to trust you, and I always go with what my heart
says. If you need to go slow, that’s okay. I’ll go slow. It’s worth it.”
“Really?” Duo’s smile contained more sadness than hope.
“Really.” Wing’s fingers left Duo’s. He cupped the older boy’s face in
his hands. “Duo, I love you. I’ll wait as long as I have to for you.”
“Thank you. I wish I could be as certain as you are.”
“Give it time, Duo. It’ll either happen or it won’t. Either way, I plan
to be right here with you.”
“You sure seem a lot wiser than sixteen year-olds are supposed to be.”
Wing laughed softly. “That’s what everyone who knows me says. All I know
is that there’s not much point in playing games with yourself. If you
want something, and it’s a good thing, then you should go after it.” He
paused, looking deep into Duo’s eyes. “This is a good thing, isn’t it,
Duo?”
“Yeah, yes it is; it’s a good thing.”
Duo leaned over the table and kissed Wing tenderly. He sat back in his
chair, taking both of Wing’s hands in his. “It’s a very good thing.”
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