"That's an incredible view of a beautiful lake," Mill comments as they slow to a stop in front of a log cabin set partway up a hill overlooking the vast expense of water. "How did you find this place?" he asks, getting off the back of the Harley. Platinum gold tresses cascade down his shoulders when he removes his helmet.
"It was a safe house during the war," Duo replies, taking off his own helmet. "Now, it belongs to Jack, one of Howard's crew. He usually rents it out during the summer but I've made arrangements to stay for as long as we want. I thought it'd be a great place to hang while you..." He glances sideways at man beside him.
"Get over the shakes," Mill completes with a sigh.
"If you insist on putting it that way, who am I to argue?" Grinning, Duo turns back towards the bike and wheels it into the shed beside the cabin.
Trailing behind, Mill mutters, "It hasn't been too bad."
"It's only the first day." Duo emerges from the shed and closes the door behind him. "From what I've seen of drunks drying out, it gets worse," he says, taking Mill's hand and drawing him close.
Pale blue eyes lose a little more of their spark. "That's supposed to make me feel better?"
"Nope," is Duo's frank reply. "But this is." He presses his lips to the back of the hand in his grip before turning it over to first place a soft kiss on Mill's palm before moving on to the inside of his wrist. "See? Steady as a rock," he states with a saucy wink.
Slight color touches the prince's cheeks as he parts his lips to speak but doesn't manage to say anything, staring at the younger man.
"We're doing this together, babe," Duo says, leading the blond into the cabin. "Don't you forget it."
Duo holds a small pail, marked 'BAIT' with big black letters, in one hand while stirring its contents with the other. "So, you're the one who's done this before. How do we get these worms on the hooks?" he asks of the blond sitting at the other end of the small rowboat. They rock gently back and forth to the slight motion of the water.
"You prick one end, wrap it around the long part a couple of times, prick it again in the middle and wrap, then prick again so that it looks like the worm is curled around the hook." Mill supplies instructions, trying to sound helpful while looking dubiously through narrowed eyes at the fishing rods resting across their thighs.
"We actually have to err... prick the worm?" Placing the pail between his feet, Duo picks up the hook attached to the end of his fishing line. "Can't we just drape it or something?"
"It won't stay on the hook if you just drape it," Mill points out, demonstrating with a bit of string on his hook. "We have to cast the line away from the boat."
Violet eyes narrow just the slightest bit. "Uh-huh."
Mill lifts the rod off his lap and holding it almost vertical, says, "Well, you have to flick it." A small movement of his wrist is followed by a whizzing sound as the metal sinker flies some distance before landing in the water with a plop. The loose line settles between the small round float bobbing on the surface of the lake and their boat. "Like that!" he exclaims, eyes widening at his achievement. "Then, when the fish bites the hook, you reel it in," he explains. "It's all in the wrist."
"You're right." Duo nods, admitting defeat at the obvious. "Draping won't work." Looking back and forth between the worm in his left hand, and the hook in his right, he eventually holds both out to the more experienced fisherman. "Will you put the worm on for me?" Looking up through his lashes, he smiles, adding, "Please?"
Light blue eyes blink as Mill pales slightly. "I'm not impaling a poor innocent worm on that nasty looking hook!" he exclaims, leaning backwards, away from the offending item.
"But you've done it before." Confusion lines Duo's brow as he attempts to comprehend the implications of that statement.
"I've been fishing," Mill says, looking aghast. "I never mutilated helpless worms."
"Oh!" Grinning as understanding dawns, Duo puts the worm back in the pail. "You mean Treize did it for you." He looks nonplussed at the hook, wondering what to do with it.
"Oh no!" Mill hurries to correct the misconception. "He wouldn't touch the slimy things, called it undignified."
Duo's jaw drops slightly as he lifts up an eyebrow. "So how did you get the worms on the hooks?" he asks.
"The expert did it for us." Settling his fishing rod down beside him with its tip over the edge, Mill lifts his feet from the wet bottom of the boat and rests them on the middle cross plank before reclining and bracing his elbows on either side of the boat. His ankles cross as he stretches out.
"Expert?" Staring at the bare feet between his knees, Duo sighs and straightens up, keeping his hands to himself.
"Yes, Dorothy is quite the expert," Mill explains. "She often used to accompany her father, an enthusiast, on his fishing trips. She's very good with worms." He drops his head back to look up at the sky. The edges of his long golden tresses fall, unnoticed, over the end of the boat and into the water.
"She's not here," Duo points out, entranced by the line of a long perfect neck and the exposed underside of Mill's chin. He licks his lips and leans forward, hook slipping, forgotten, from his fingers.
"Then we have a problem," Mill says, struggling to sit up without rocking the boat. "Treize and I never went fishing without her. She'd distract the fish while we played in the bushes." The boat tilts alarmingly to one side.
Scrambling to counterbalance the blond's movements, Duo chuckles. "That was a joke, right?"
Ice blue eyes dance merrily as a single lid lowers in a wink. "After her father died, we would accompany her on her fishing expeditions." Mill rests his elbows on his knees. "On the first trip, we made a vague attempt at actually trying to fish. She baited our hooks and showed us how to cast, helped us cast and we sat all afternoon with her waiting for a bite." His gaze grows distant, memories of his youth overwhelming his present. "We didn't catch anything." The sultry voice lowers in volume as his chin settles on top of his linked fingers. "But I think she appreciated the company and some of those rivers we frequented on private estates were beautiful. It was only ever just the three of us. She'd fish while Treize and I would spend quiet time together where we wouldn't scare her fish away. It was a perfect arrangement. I wonder if she still goes."
"Next time we decide to try fishing, how about we ask her along?" Duo suggests, watching closely for Mill's reaction.
"I'd like that." The contemplative expression barely changes, though Mill's lips stretch in an attempt at a smile. "She tried her best to understand us. She is almost as much a part of my childhood as Treize is." He blinks and straightens up. "I shouldn't have forgotten that," he says, staring at his trembling hands.
"Well, it's not forgotten anymore." Reaching across the small distance, Duo cups the pale cheek. His heart misses a beat when he feels an answering pressure against his palm.
Mill looks up and drowns in that soft violet gaze. For an endless moment, it is all he can do just to breathe. When those full red lips smile at him, he finds himself smiling back. "I suppose you can just cast out your line anyway," he hears his voice saying. "Since we're here, it doesn't hurt to practice."
"Yeah! I'll do that," Duo agrees, but it is a long while before his lingering hand leaves Mill's face. "How's this done again?" he asks when he finally lifts his fishing pole.
"Get some extra line," Mill instructs, shifting back into his previous position in preparation for more sky watching. "Lean the rod back," he continues. "Now, flick forward at the wrist." The hook, line and sinker sail in a wide arc over calm waters. His head tilts back, following that flight. "There it goes!" Long blond tresses skim the surface of the lake as a 'plop' is heard in the distance.
"Hey, I can do this!" Duo exclaims, with a pleased smile at the sight of the prone, lanky form before him. A well-defined chin is once again lifted to the sky, exposing that long neck as bare feet, cross at the ankles, and return to their previous position between his knees. "And one little piggy cried, 'wee, wee, wee, wee,' all the way home," he mumbles under his breath.
A vague sounding, "Well done," is heard as Mill returns his gaze to the clear blue sky.
Positioning the pole along the length of the boat, Duo asks, "Now what?"
"We sit and wait."
"Oh." The smile drains from the younger man's face as he looks about their calm, secluded surroundings, studiously ignoring those tempting toes.
"Most of fishing is sitting and waiting." Mill closes his eyes. "Treize and I didn't have the patience for it."
Duo notices the slowly relaxing prince slide further down in his seat. He stops barely short of sliding off the plank he is sitting on. "So what did you guys do?" The delectable feet are now between his thighs. He stares at them, fascinated by how clean they seem.
"I was at that sexually curious age," is Mill's quiet reply. "And exploring my growing body was Treize's favorite pastime," he continues after a slight pause. "I'm sure you can guess."
Violet orbs sparkle with speculation as Duo licks his lips. "Must've been hard in a boat," he comments, tilting his head to the side as his gaze travels up those seemingly endless jeans clad legs. It continues up the bony torso in a too tight T-shirt, one of his own, slightly exposing a midriff, all the way past the jutting collarbones to the long stretch of neck. "Too thin," he mutters, resolving to find ways of adding flesh to those bones.
"We usually fished rivers, not lakes," Mill continues, oblivious to the intense study of his body. "So, we did it from the shore. Well, Dorothy did. Treize and I really did play in the bushes."
Duo pulls his braid over his shoulder and wraps it around his hand. "Do you have any happy memories that he wasn't a part of?" he asks in a subdued voice.
"No." Mill opens his eyes to stare at the cloudless sky. "I have vague impressions of my parents and Relena from before the fall of Cinq, but I wouldn't call them happy memories, even if I remember being happy. The times I can recall clearly have all included him in some small way, at the very least." He sighs before continuing. "His death left such a void in my life... I didn't realize it until Noin and I were on our way to Mars. It occurred to me then, that in going, I was consciously deciding to stop looking for him. His death suddenly became so final, and I fell apart. The harder she tried to fill that emptiness inside me, the more I drank. By the time we landed everything was, thankfully, a blur. I don't think I've had a happy memory since."
"Have you ever shared them with anyone?" Duo asks, brushing his palm with the tail of his braid.
"Who would want to hear me ramble about a dead man?" Mill counters with his own question.
"That's not an answer," Duo grumbles. "Have you ever tried sharing your happy memories of him with anyone?" he asks again. "Besides me," he qualifies after a moment's thought.
"No, it would have been such a faux pas to mention the personification of war while everyone was trying so hard to build a lasting peace." Mill struggles into a slightly more upright position. "I hadn't much to say to anyone while I was living at the palace. I couldn't bring myself to speak while I was recovering from my encounter with the Libra's core, and after I got back from Mars, I was rarely sober enough to formulate coherent sentences."
"You did ok when we were talking in the garden," Duo reminds the morose prince.
Pale blue eyes narrow as Mill says, "It's a pity I still don't recall much of that conversation but I do know that you did quite a bit of talking yourself."
"That's how conversations usually happen." An impish grin makes an appearance as Duo points out the obvious.
"I don't think anyone else tried to understand anything I might have slurred in my drunkenness," Mill explains. "It was mostly, 'May I, your highness?' and my standard reply of, 'Whatever,' before they'd start undressing me." He shrugs and slips off his perch, banging an elbow against the side of the boat before replacing it.
Duo winces at the 'thunk' of joint on wood, although the owner of the elbow barely flinches.
"Except for Relena of course," the blond continues. "But I knew not to mention Treize to her. He stood for everything she despised about the war. Do you enjoy listening to me ramble about him?"
"I think you need to ramble about him," says the man with the braid tightly clutched in his hands. "Especially about the happy times you spent together. I can see the way you stop shaking, how you almost smile and forget to be so sad. It's almost as if you miss him a little less when you talk about him. For that, I'd listen to you all day."
"Is this your way of trying to fill the void he left behind?"
"Maybe." Duo flicks his braid over his shoulder and wraps both his hands around the feet between his knees. "I'm not trying to take his place in your heart." He squeezes slightly before beginning a slow rubbing motion. "There's no one who can do that. He's a part of your past that no one can take away from you. I'm here now, just trying to get to know you. That's all." Placing a light kiss on a big toe, he smiles. "I have to know what this life you've handed over to me is about. The only way I can sort through it is to hear it from you. There's gonna be good and bad stuff, and I want to know all of it." He looks up through his lashes at the faintly surprised look on Mill's handsome face. "Maybe we can create a future together but we won't know if we can until we make some sense of the present, and to do that we have to sort through the past. The only way that can happen is if you share it with me," he concludes.
"All of it?" A slight tremble is audible in the whisper.
"We agreed to all of it, remember?" Duo gives the feet a final squeeze before releasing them. "Doesn't have to be all at once, or right now, but... "
"Duo," Mill cuts in, scrambling to sit up. "I'm not feeling well..." he says, his face paler than usual. The boat rocks precariously with his movements.
"You can't be seasick, sweetie." Stabbing an oar into the water in an effort to steady them, Duo grits his teeth. "We're on a lake! A calm lake. There's barely even a breeze!"
"Tell that to my stomach..." the decidedly greenish blond retorts.
"Well..." Duo replaces the oar in the bottom of the boat once they stabilize again. "Be sure to chuck over the side," he stipulates.
"Won't that pollute the lake?" Mill asks, concerned. "Or at least scare the fish?"
"Dunno..." Violet eyes cast about for an alternative. "Here, use this!" Duo shoves the bait pail into Mill's hands.
Ice blue eyes widen in alarm. "There're worms in here!"
"Use the fish bucket then!" The younger man growls.
Mill blinks, nonplussed. "What if we catch something?" he asks.
Duo drops his head into his hands with a whimper. "We... couldn't... get... the worms... on... the hooks..." he forces through ground teeth. "What fish... is gonna be stupid enough to bite an empty hook?" He lifts his head and cracks his knuckles.
"Then why's my rod twitching?" a small, uncertain voice ventures to ask.
The violet gaze is immediately drawn to the bulge in Mill's jeans. "Keep it in your pants!" Duo snaps.
"That rod!" Lieutenant Zechs Merquise snaps back, pointing at his fishing rod.
"Holy mackerel!" Duo exclaims, bouncing to his feet. "Reel it in! Reel it in!"
Mill sighs as he feels the boat tip...
Splash!
Dark chestnut hair surfaces from beneath the waters of the lake followed, by a dripping wet, black clad body. Duo's braid whips around his shoulders as he spins, looking for his companion. He finds an ice blue gaze observing him calmly just above a small fountain as Mill expels liquid from his mouth. "Oops?" he says, wading in waist deep water towards the blond.
"I'm wet," is the only reproach as together they right the capsized boat. Nothing more is said as they wade the hundred yards to the shore.
"Still feeling sick?" Duo inquires after they drag the rowboat high up on the banks of the lake.
"No... " Mill replies, shivering where he stands.
Duo wrings out his jacket and drapes it over Mill's shoulders. "C'mon, let's get back to the ca... Ah-choo!" he sneezes. "We're gonna get you under a hot shower as soon as we get back." He wraps an arm around the slim waist and strides up the hill. "How are you with sharing showers?"
Mill shrugs. "I don't mind," he says, struggling to keep up with the pace set. "We have been sharing a bed for a week."
"Just thought I'd check." Duo slows down. "You're kinda out of shape, aren't you?"
"Perhaps, just a little," the former Oz ace admits. "Do you really mean to stay with me?"
"For as long as you need me," the ex-gundam pilot assures the man by his side.
Mill slows to a stop. "And then?"
"And then," Duo repeats, restarting their forward motion, "we'll see. Let the future take care of itself. Let's find our present first, okay?"
"Okay."
The End
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