This is probably the strangest pairing I've ever written. It was a challenge, so if you must flame me, please don’t make it because of the pairing.
Disclaimer: Nothing is mine.
Warnings: Lemon, angst, sap. Maybe a little OOC on her part. I don’t know, it’s weird. Pairing: 2xD.
This takes place after the first Eve War, prior to Endless Waltz. In order for this story to make sense, you have to go with the idea that Duo and Hilde are just friends who live together and share a business.
Promises By Echo
He found her, somehow, after it was all over. She hadn’t been hiding; she just hadn’t gone out of her way to find people. She lived alone now, having chosen to leave what little remained of her family and attempt to make it on her own. So far she was doing well. She had her own restaurant in a small town in L-3. It was closing time when he arrived. All of her employees had already left, and she was turning out the remaining lights. He blended into the darkness. "Hey," he said, leaning against the doorway.
He would be informal. It didn’t matter that she hadn’t seen him in months or that when they had last met they hadn’t exactly been friends. "What do you want?" she asked coldly, not turning to face him as she moved about the room.
"I wanted to see how you were doing. You know, not telling anyone where you were going kinda made my job difficult." He had moved behind her while speaking, and now lightly brushed her shoulder.
She flinched inwardly, but appeared unfazed. "What job would that be?" She already knew what he’d say.
"Taking care of you, of course." He pause a moment. "I promised I would."
Tears had started to form in her eyes. She brushed them away before finally turning around. "I didn’t think you’d remember."
"Always," he replied, brushing away the rest of her tears. "You were crying then too." He embraced her, and she didn’t fight him. "Your father had just died. You were afraid of your grandfather." He looked straight into her eyes. "Somehow, you ended up in the church. And I promised I’d always take care of you."
She pulled away, drying her eyes on her apron. "It feels odd to cry again."
"I think it’s good," he replied. "You’re human." He stood behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Marry me," he whispered in her ear.
"What?" She turned around in shock, her hair hitting him in the face.
"I want to make my promise official," he grinned. "There’s no way you can protest. I won’t buy the "we were enemies" speech. War changes people."
"No," she stammered. "We’re just too different." For some reason, he was still grinning. "We’re closed," she said in a business-like tone. "I suggest you leave when I do."
If looks could kill, he’d be dead. He still smiled. "Feisty as ever, I see."
"Out. Now." She opened the door and glared.
"Ladies first. I insist."
To anyone who didn’t know Dorothy Catalonia, what happened next would have seemed out of the ordinary. "No, I insist," she said as she grabbed him by the collar and shoved him out the door. She followed shortly, locking up behind her. "Good bye, Duo."
"Goodbye Dorothy," he said, sounding only slightly forlorn. Duo walked away, luckily for Dorothy in the direction opposite from her apartment.
After walking about a block towards her home, she thought she heard footsteps behind her. Turning around she saw nothing, and the sound stopped anyway.
Dorothy reached her front door, unlocking all three locks with practiced ease. She turned the lights on in the foyer and screamed.
"Hello, Honey," Duo said as he got up from where he had been sitting. "How was your day?" He laughed.
"How’d you get in here?"
"The same way I always do." His grin had never been wider.
She sighed. "How did you figure out where I live?"
"I went through your purse earlier. Memorized your ID cards."
She hit him. Duo moved his hand to his cheek, hoping to stop the pain Dorothy had inflicted. "I guess I deserved that." He grinned sheepishly.
"Why didn’t you go away when I asked you to?"
The way Dorothy was standing, with her hands on her hips and daggers coming out of her eyes, reminded Duo of the way she had been during the war. He shook his head slightly to make the image go away. That wasn’t how he wanted to picture Dorothy. "I don’t give up that easily," he paused for effect and began walking toward the door. "But if you really want me to leave, I will." He shut the door behind him.
Dorothy stood in the foyer, frozen. She hadn’t expected that he’d really leave. Then it hit her. She didn’t want him to. "Wait!" she yelled as she flung open the door.
Duo was standing directly outside, with his back to her. "Ten point three-one seconds," he said as he turned around. "What took you so long?" His grin was back.
Dorothy threw her arms around him, relieved. "Did you really mean everything you said earlier?" She sounded out of breath.
"I never lie." He pulled away so they were facing one another.
"Forgive me?" she asked, almost looking afraid.
"Yeah," he replied, drawing her close once again. She kissed him lightly on the lips.
"That was our first kiss," she smiled.
He nodded. "You’re crying again."
"Since when is it wrong for me to show emotions?" she jokingly asked.
"Never was." He kissed her back.
They both suddenly realized that it had started raining at some point, and they were soaking wet. (AN: I know it’s overused, but it works, okay?) They went back inside, laughing as they splashed in the puddles.
A few minutes later, they were both sitting in the living room. Dorothy had changed into dry clothes, and Duo was wearing Dorothy’s bathrobe. "I'm sorry I didn’t have anything else that fit," she smirked, "but pink really is your color."
"You think so?" he asked, posing for invisible cameras.
Dorothy just laughed.
"You know," he said, "if this was a movie, the viewers would see this as a prelude to . . ." He stopped a moment. "How do I word this correctly?" He looked pensive.
"The main characters making love?" she supplied.
"Yeah," Duo grinned. "But this isn’t a movie." For once his face showed no emotion.
Dorothy surprised him. "Too bad." She licked her lips when she finished speaking.
"What did you say?" He looked shocked.
"You heard me." She smiled mischievously.
"Well," he began, standing up. "If this was a movie, I’d probably, very slowly, remove your sweater." He performed the aforementioned action.
"And I’d let down your hair," she replied, running her hands through it.
"And I’d kiss your neck while unsnapping your bra." His speech was muffled for the second half of the sentence.
"And then we’d get impatient and strip of the remainder of each other’s clothes in no time at all." Her smile kept growing wider.
"Let’s," he kissed her throat, "see if that," another kiss, "works."
Apparently it did. They finished stripping on the way to her bedroom, leaving a trail of clothes behind them.
They spent a lot of time examining each other, running their hands (and other things) over each other’s bodies.
"I never though you’d taste so good," she whispered against his chest.
"Likewise," he said. He had fully "examined" her breasts earlier.
"I want to taste all of you." She kneeled so that she was staring at his groin. She tentatively took his tip into her mouth as he grasped her shoulders for support. She got more daring after a minute or so, slowly inching the rest of him deeper. Duo screamed when he came, flooding her mouth. She swallowed easily, then licked all the excess drops.
He pulled her up forcibly by the shoulders so they were looking into each other’s eyes. "Now I want to make you scream." Dorothy giggled. Laughter was still an unfamiliar sensation to her.
Surprisingly, for once, Duo didn’t join in. Instead, he grabbed her again, lying her down in the shag carpeting. "The bed is much to far," he said. She nodded her agreement, waiting for him to take her. He didn’t.
"What’s wrong?" she asked.
Duo looked away for a moment. "I don’t want to hurt you, he said softly.
She was amazed. He cared enough about her to worry when his mind should have been the most clouded. "Duo, I'm not a virgin."
He was relieved. Despite the fact that he had wanted to be her first lover, he was glad he wouldn’t have to cause her pain. "In that case," he grinned slyly.
Dorothy shrieked in surprise as he entered her fully. "Duo!" She playfully slapped him.
"Told you I’d make you scream." It wouldn’t be the only time that night.
They found their rhythm quickly, continually fulfilling each other’s needs time and again. Dorothy fell asleep feeling secure for the first time.
She was startled when she woke up and realized there was someone in bed with her. Then she remembered the events of the night before and relaxed. They had moved into her bed sometime during the evening’s activities, and now she just wanted to enjoy the feeling of warmth and comfort Duo provided.
He stirred, awaking a few minutes later. "Good morning," he whispered, pressing a chaste kiss to her lips. He held her tighter.
"Duo?"
"Mmm."
"You asked me a question last night," Dorothy didn’t look at him as he propped himself up on his elbows.
"Go on," he coaxed, giving her an odd look.
Dorothy sighed. "My answer is yes. I want to marry you."
"Are you sure?" he asked, eyes wide in anticipation.
"Yes," she said, brushing his hair out of his eyes. "You’ve kept your promise to me. Now I want to promise to take care of you forever."
"That’s a very good reason." He kissed her forehead lightly before going back to sleep.
‘Yeah,’ she thought, ‘it is.’
Fin
AN: Okay, it was sappier than I originally intended, but all in all I'm pretty proud of myself. Oh yeah, and a special thanks to Scheherazade and Genji, my loyal beta readers, who had to put up with my ranting while I wrote this.
~*Home*~
~*Back to the LEMON Room*~
~*Back to Main Fan Fiction*~