Speaking in Tongues

Speaking in Tongues

Chapter 1

Very brief reference to Gaiman and Pratchett's novel Good Omens. Nerd-kudos if you find it.

Speaking in Tongues
Hades Phoenix

By the time Duo stumbled through the door, exhausted and covered in grease, Heero was lifting a pot from the stove. He raised an eloquent brow when he saw the messy state Duo was in.

"Dinner will be ready soon," he said calmly, and Duo took a moment to appreciate the sheer irony of having someone like Heero Yuy acting the part of housewife. Then the itchiness of having machine oil in his precious hair roused his practicality, and he shot a half-grin towards the kitchen as he headed for the stairs.

"I'm gonna take a quick shower, my braid feels twice as heavy with all this shit in it."

It took a good amount of shampoo and some creative cursing before Duo was able to run his hands through his hair without his fingers coming away blackened, and once he was satisfied that the water no longer ran down the drain tinged with oil, he twisted his hair into a loose tail and slipped into clean clothes with a happy sigh. Playing with big toys at the local mechanic's part-time kept his pilot's heart content, but there was nothing like coming home and washing away the filth of a long day's work.

When he came back down the stairs, the table was already set and the food waiting, covered with hand-towels to keep it warm. Heero was at the sink, cleaning the used dishes with the sort of patience Duo had only ever managed for things like Gundams and blue-eyed Japanese lovers.

His bare feet made just enough noise to be heard so that the other pilot was not startled when thin, colony-pale arms slid around his waist from behind and a kiss was pressed to the back of his neck. Heero gave a small smile, and Duo rested his chin on the shoulder conveniently presented to him under a thin white shirt.

"How was your day?"

Duo allowed the warm fuzziness caused by such simple, homely words to curl his toes before he replied. "Good. I think Jim's finally figured out I actually know what I'm doing and that I won't drive him outta business or something, so he hasn't been hovering so much anymore." Sometimes, it sucked being so experienced in the ways of the world and still not be old enough to legally drink. It made people look at you funny, and it had taken a while for the men down at the mechanic's to realize that for all his pretty face and long hair and youth, Duo was a true grease-monkey and could teach them a thing or two about fixing things.

Heero made a thoughtful sound of understanding as he rinsed the soap from a pan, and the other took the chance to silently admire the hands, capable of bending steel, under the water of the faucet. Heero had nice hands, Duo thought, because while they were calloused, and scarred in a few places, and could clean and reassemble a firearm almost impossibly fast, he had also seen them delicately pull the weeds from around the rosebushes outside, and remove a splinter with a nurse's care from the foot of one of the kids down at the town's center they sometimes volunteered at.

It was also something else to know that the hands that could so easily kill could also move across his skin so gently and reverently, but those were thoughts best saved for later.

"What'd you do?" he mumbled curiously, his words slurred because he refused to lift his chin.

"I spoke with Relena this morning. She seems to be under the impression that we are far too solitary for her tastes, and she wishes to see us."

"Both of us?" Duo asked. He liked Relena well enough, but circumstances had never really let him know her as much more than the girl-that-Heero-tried-to-kill-and-now-protected-with-his-life.

"Of course, Duo. Why wouldn't she?" Heero's brow furrowed slightly, and Duo just shrugged lightly without removing his hold around the other's torso.

"Hey, I'm just saying. Never had much of a chance to get to know her very well, what with the war and then Marimeia's-sorry, the Barton's uprising. Between her being Prime Minister of the Known Universe and our own obligations to Preventers, someone's always busy, y'know?"

"True." There was a note of regret in that one word, and Duo figured that now Heero would make it his personal mission to ensure that the five pilots and one former Queen of the World would remain in close contact, come hell or another revolution. He squeezed his arms a little, affectionately, and when Heero tried to move across the kitchen for a dishtowel, he followed, making them move like an awkward four-legged penguin.

"So, what else?"

"It was a…low-key day." Being Heero, no day was ever unproductive; 'low-key' was about as close to it as Duo had ever heard. He hid a grin, knowing how much being confined to the house drove the other absolutely crazy, but after coming back from their last Preventers' mission successful but with a severe wound to his calf muscle, Heero would rather spend a little time cooling his heels at home than forcing himself into permanent injury and thus early retirement. It was fortunate, then, that they were considered special agents and were only called in for missions that required particularly advanced skill, so not even Heero could complain about missing work.