"How original," Heero said flatly. He was getting a slightly queasy feeling in his stomach.
"Ah, c'mon. If I'd left the naming to you, you would probably have just ended up calling her Neko or Spot or something lame," Duo said, mouth quirking up in a grin. "And that wouldn't suit you at all, eh, Callie-chan? Nope, not one bit!"
Heero rather thought Duo was giving him too much credit in the naming department, since to his mind the kitten was rapidly becoming That Thing and seemed unlikely to come up with anything better. Heero shook his head and went to set up his laptop, leaving Duo to coo over the kitten. He was getting a bad feeling about this.
His feeling turned out to be entirely right. Once the small beast had eaten its fill, and Duo's fussing had rendered it warm and dry, its fear began to fade and natural inquisitiveness took over. Everywhere Heero went in their safehouse, he had to carefully watch his step; between the time when he picked up one foot, and the time when he put it down, That Thing had jumped in the way.
Several times only Heero's enhanced and combat-honed reflexes saved him from either falling on his face or making kitten jelly. Of course, Duo always happened to be watching whenever Heero came too close to stepping on his precious kitten, and would warn him off with a baleful Shinigami glare that made even Heero cringe. At last he gave up and retreated to the corner he'd set up the generator in, and hooked up his laptop.
The moment he settled down, of course, That Thing lost all interest in exploring, and wandered over to wreak havoc on Duo's ankle. Duo, of course, found this entirely amusing, and his laughter filled Heero's ears as he dropped right down onto the dusty floor of the warehouse to play with the kitten. That sound made Heero's skin burn; how the hell was he supposed to concentrate on work while Duo was laughing like that? It was a sound he'd never heard before, warm and rich and full of life; certainly nothing like the tense, edged laughter he used to bleed off stress in the middle of a battle.
It was enormously distracting. Every time Heero thought he was getting somewhere, Duo's laughter filled his ears, and distracted him again. He sneaked a glance over his shoulder; Duo was lying on his stomach, black-clad legs crossed at the ankle, supporting his chin with his hands as he dragged his braid back and forth for That Thing's enjoyment. He immediately cursed himself for looking, and turned away, but the image of Duo sprawled gracefully on his stomach wouldn't leave him, no matter how intently he stared at the screen.
After an interminable time, Duo reluctantly tore himself away from the game, and announced that he was going to go scout for trouble. Heero only grunted an
Re: Sucker for a Stray
Date: 2006-02-21 07:43 am (UTC)"Ah, c'mon. If I'd left the naming to you, you would probably have just ended up calling her Neko or Spot or something lame," Duo said, mouth quirking up in a grin. "And that wouldn't suit you at all, eh, Callie-chan? Nope, not one bit!"
Heero rather thought Duo was giving him too much credit in the naming department, since to his mind the kitten was rapidly becoming That Thing and seemed unlikely to come up with anything better. Heero shook his head and went to set up his laptop, leaving Duo to coo over the kitten. He was getting a bad feeling about this.
His feeling turned out to be entirely right. Once the small beast had eaten its fill, and Duo's fussing had rendered it warm and dry, its fear began to fade and natural inquisitiveness took over. Everywhere Heero went in their safehouse, he had to carefully watch his step; between the time when he picked up one foot, and the time when he put it down, That Thing had jumped in the way.
Several times only Heero's enhanced and combat-honed reflexes saved him from either falling on his face or making kitten jelly. Of course, Duo always happened to be watching whenever Heero came too close to stepping on his precious kitten, and would warn him off with a baleful Shinigami glare that made even Heero cringe. At last he gave up and retreated to the corner he'd set up the generator in, and hooked up his laptop.
The moment he settled down, of course, That Thing lost all interest in exploring, and wandered over to wreak havoc on Duo's ankle. Duo, of course, found this entirely amusing, and his laughter filled Heero's ears as he dropped right down onto the dusty floor of the warehouse to play with the kitten. That sound made Heero's skin burn; how the hell was he supposed to concentrate on work while Duo was laughing like that? It was a sound he'd never heard before, warm and rich and full of life; certainly nothing like the tense, edged laughter he used to bleed off stress in the middle of a battle.
It was enormously distracting. Every time Heero thought he was getting somewhere, Duo's laughter filled his ears, and distracted him again. He sneaked a glance over his shoulder; Duo was lying on his stomach, black-clad legs crossed at the ankle, supporting his chin with his hands as he dragged his braid back and forth for That Thing's enjoyment. He immediately cursed himself for looking, and turned away, but the image of Duo sprawled gracefully on his stomach wouldn't leave him, no matter how intently he stared at the screen.
After an interminable time, Duo reluctantly tore himself away from the game, and announced that he was going to go scout for trouble. Heero only grunted an