By: Spooks
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Duo watched the dorm room door swing silently.
He listened to the rapidly fading footsteps as Heero ran down the corridor, sneakers squeaking. He heard the door to the stairwell being flung open, and the subsequent booming of iron colliding against a concrete wall. Thudding steps echoed as they descended down the stairs.
The door continued swung.
Why hadn’t Heero slammed it?
Duo knew he had been pushing, but it was only considered pushing because he was dealing with someone like Heero. Anyone else would have thought he was holding back.
Because he was holding back... Anyone else would have seen that...
But then, anyone else probably would have slammed the door.
Duo heard the door to the stairwell click shut.
The door to the dorm room itself had almost stopped shuddering. Duo glanced outside and caught a glimpse of a figure running alongside the dorm and across the small street. Was it Heero?
Hm. It was foggy outside.
Maybe...
Duo slipped out of the room, locking the door behind him. A moment later, he was running, a strange urgency filling him. Down the stairs and out into the darkness and mist, he stopped and listened.
The relative quiet of the night made the other runner’s footfalls that much louder to Duo’s ears.
He took off in a brisk run, keeping his breathing soft and controlled as he kept to the grass and moved in the shadows. Purposefully quiet footfalls. Stealth. He didn’t want to scare the runner, especially if it wasn’t Heero.
If it was Heero, then Duo didn’t want to alarm him...or annoy him.
That was the last thing he wanted.
The fog seemed to shift away from him as he moved, repelled by his body as he slipped quickly through the cool night. It masked him, aided him, and before he knew it, he was almost upon the other runner.
Yeah, he decided, it was definitely Heero ahead of him. Duo recognized the other boy’s steps and remembered how he sounded when out of breath after extended gym class.
Together but apart, they ran through the fog. Heero’s footsteps ahead, and Duo silently gaining as they roved the school grounds.
Wait...
The sound of Heero’s running had stopped. Nothing remained in the void of gray except the noise of Heero’s quiet attempts to catch his breath accompanied by the sound of his own hushed panting. The movement of air through lungs: the sound of life.
Duo edged closer, suddenly feeling remarkably out of place. What if he was invading Heero’s privacy by chasing him like this?
He heard Heero’s breathing cease and fought a stab of panic.
Was he only holding his breath? Was he listening? Yes, that must be it.
Duo forced himself to remain still. Maybe he should just leave?
Quiet footsteps, the muffled scrape of soles on pavement, and Duo realized Heero was moving again. The sound of the other boy’s quiet gasping was once again drifting to him through the cool wash of fog.
Duo crept closer again, his attention focused on the sounds. There wasn’t much in the night he was able to see, nothing except the numbness of the grayed, muted landscape. He felt drawn to the sound of Heero’s breathing.
Even if he wasn’t welcome, he needed to make his presence known, he realized. Heero’s training might kick in if he didn’t know who it was, and then Duo would be in some real trouble. Besides, even though he could move silently, it didn’t mean that he should.
Duo opened his mouth to announce his presence...
But then Heero was gone, running again. The other boy was all but flinging himself into the gray world of fog and darkness.
Duo followed.
He kept his footfalls quiet at first so that he could keep track of Heero’s steps, but after a while he noticed his own footsteps were growing louder. They had been running for a long time, it seemed. Duo realized suddenly that he had no idea where there were. He had lost track of his surroundings in his focus to keep up with and follow Heero.
Did he even want to catch the other pilot?
Duo wasn’t sure.
He didn’t want to bother Heero, not to the point of being a nuisance. He just wanted to open the other boy up a little. But maybe Heero wanted to be alone, and maybe that’s why he had run away into the fog...maybe...
When the hell had things gotten so complicated? They hadn’t even been arguing, just talking, Duo had nudged Heero with his elbow and boom! Heero had left. And yet...it didn’t quite feel like a rejection.
It was confusing.
The fog seemed to smother Duo for a stifling second. Its nature had changed from comforting to callous.
He skidded to a halt, his boots sticking in the mud. He stood, bathed in shadows.
Ahead of him, a single streetlight flooded down and into the fog.
The sound of Heero’s footsteps had also stopped. They had been running so long, Duo’s muscles were fatigued and he was a bit out of breath. He fought to control his intake of air and listened.
Silence.
Duo suddenly felt terribly, terribly alone. Above and around, the fog swam, the darkness of the night a strange companion to the cold gray abyss.
With silent steps, he edged closer to the haven of lamplight. Even if Heero didn’t want him, the other boy still had the right to know that he was there.
Still fighting for breath, Duo stepped into the circle cast by the streetlight, the fog moving away from him as though repulsed by his presence. He gave up all attempts at stealth, deliberately making his boots thud on the hard pavement.
Duo stopped and stood in the circle of lamplight.
In the shadows, sitting with his legs pulled up against his heaving chest, sat Heero. Duo could barely see the other boy, but his posture was extremely defensive. Strange. Duo wished he could see the expression on Heero’s face, or even just his eyes, but the contrast between the light in which Duo stood and the darkness in which Heero sat was too great.
Doubt overwhelmed him. Maybe he should just leave Heero alone.
The fog suddenly shifted, and a gust of frigid air made Duo force back the urge to shudder. He started to move towards Heero, but stopped himself. Maybe...maybe he should ask first? He just wanted to help his friend.
“Can I come over there and sit beside you, or will you run away again?”
Heero was a rock. “I’m through running.”
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