fic - two chances : 12
Thus concludes the Two Chances collection. Thanks for reading!
Two Chances : 12
They'd all been invited to a Maguanac wedding. The ceremony had been short but meaningful, the banquet more properly labeled a feast, but now it had carried on into the latter part of the festivities, which seemed more appropriate for a cozier group, and they'd each excused themselves. Heero and Duo separately found themselves on one of the venue's balconies to watch the moon rise.
Duo eventually broke their companionable silence. "Ever wonder if we..."
"Hm?"
"...squandered our chance? I mean, we were probably too young for that. Or immature. Or, I dunno..."
"Still trying to figure ourselves out?"
"Yeah! That." Duo exhaled loudly, thinking back to those early days. "It was hard enough figuring ourselves out, it was probably gonna be impossible for us to figure each other out at the same time."
Heero's answering silence signalled agreement. "Well," he said eventually. "At least it ended while we could still be friends. Right?"
"Right. And I'm super glad I've gotten to know you as a friend instead. You're..." He paused, a lot of things coming to mind all at once. He settled on something that seemed like an appropriate summary. "I really value that."
"Hm," Heero said contemplatively. "I also value our relationship now. But..."
"...but?"
"...I don't know that I would say 'squandered'."
"Uh." Duo chewed his lip for a moment, trying to figure that one out. "Oh. Just wasn't meant to be?"
Heero shook his head slightly. "I mean... We took a go at it. And it didn't work out. But... things are different now. Who's to say it wouldn't work out if we tried it again?"
"If..." He mouthed the word near-silently, just trying to process the thought. "If we..." he tried again, this time with a little bit more sound. Alright, there, the idea finally came into focus. "If..." Oh, now some more details clarified themselves and he needed some more time to think about them.
Heero gave him a sidelong glance to gauge his reaction, then turned his visual attention away again.
"Have you ever wondered... about that?"
"I'm wondering now. Since you've brought it up. No, I don't think we lost our one and only opportunity to have that sort of relationship with each other. Yes, I think it would work out this time, if we tried it again. It'd be very different from what it was before, of course, but... that's the point, right?"
"Right...." he echoed automatically. He wasn't entirely certain what he was agreeing with. How was there suddenly a point to this? A wonderful, beautiful point. It all sounded kind of right, if he had to be honest with himself. He looked Heero over with a critical eye. "You've actually kind of gotten hotter, yanno? You were kinda all.. awkward limbs and stuff back then."
Heero raised an eyebrow at him. "Like you weren't a teenager, too?"
"And I do kinda like you even more than I did before."
Heero just went ahead and put a hand on top of his. He figured this would be a more effective test than any rambling on on the topic.
They both looked at those hands for a while, each thinking to himself, oh, see, that's not weird at all. They'd touched plenty of times over the years, of course, even gotten right into each other's personal space... but always in a reassuringly platonic way.
This... was barely even a blip outside the friend zone. But it was still somehow generating an attractive force that made Duo scootch right up to Heero so they were standing shoulder to shoulder.
"Hm," Heero observed mildly.
"Hm," Duo responded smugly, giving him the lightest of shoves. "This could work. Maybe," he had to hedge, never feeling quite confident about being optimistic.
"Maybe I'm just being curious," Heero admitted, showing just a hint of doubt.
Duo shrugged, somehow getting closer to Heero with the action. "I've done things for worse reasons."
Heero huffed a chuckle, rested his head briefly against Duo's. "There's no hurry, I suppose."
"Hm, no hurry at all."
The moon rose above them, noting to itself that they were building up quite a bit of momentum, for something they weren't in any hurry to do.
This entry was originally posted at https://turnippatch.dreamwidth.org/188820.html.
Two Chances : 12
They'd all been invited to a Maguanac wedding. The ceremony had been short but meaningful, the banquet more properly labeled a feast, but now it had carried on into the latter part of the festivities, which seemed more appropriate for a cozier group, and they'd each excused themselves. Heero and Duo separately found themselves on one of the venue's balconies to watch the moon rise.
Duo eventually broke their companionable silence. "Ever wonder if we..."
"Hm?"
"...squandered our chance? I mean, we were probably too young for that. Or immature. Or, I dunno..."
"Still trying to figure ourselves out?"
"Yeah! That." Duo exhaled loudly, thinking back to those early days. "It was hard enough figuring ourselves out, it was probably gonna be impossible for us to figure each other out at the same time."
Heero's answering silence signalled agreement. "Well," he said eventually. "At least it ended while we could still be friends. Right?"
"Right. And I'm super glad I've gotten to know you as a friend instead. You're..." He paused, a lot of things coming to mind all at once. He settled on something that seemed like an appropriate summary. "I really value that."
"Hm," Heero said contemplatively. "I also value our relationship now. But..."
"...but?"
"...I don't know that I would say 'squandered'."
"Uh." Duo chewed his lip for a moment, trying to figure that one out. "Oh. Just wasn't meant to be?"
Heero shook his head slightly. "I mean... We took a go at it. And it didn't work out. But... things are different now. Who's to say it wouldn't work out if we tried it again?"
"If..." He mouthed the word near-silently, just trying to process the thought. "If we..." he tried again, this time with a little bit more sound. Alright, there, the idea finally came into focus. "If..." Oh, now some more details clarified themselves and he needed some more time to think about them.
Heero gave him a sidelong glance to gauge his reaction, then turned his visual attention away again.
"Have you ever wondered... about that?"
"I'm wondering now. Since you've brought it up. No, I don't think we lost our one and only opportunity to have that sort of relationship with each other. Yes, I think it would work out this time, if we tried it again. It'd be very different from what it was before, of course, but... that's the point, right?"
"Right...." he echoed automatically. He wasn't entirely certain what he was agreeing with. How was there suddenly a point to this? A wonderful, beautiful point. It all sounded kind of right, if he had to be honest with himself. He looked Heero over with a critical eye. "You've actually kind of gotten hotter, yanno? You were kinda all.. awkward limbs and stuff back then."
Heero raised an eyebrow at him. "Like you weren't a teenager, too?"
"And I do kinda like you even more than I did before."
Heero just went ahead and put a hand on top of his. He figured this would be a more effective test than any rambling on on the topic.
They both looked at those hands for a while, each thinking to himself, oh, see, that's not weird at all. They'd touched plenty of times over the years, of course, even gotten right into each other's personal space... but always in a reassuringly platonic way.
This... was barely even a blip outside the friend zone. But it was still somehow generating an attractive force that made Duo scootch right up to Heero so they were standing shoulder to shoulder.
"Hm," Heero observed mildly.
"Hm," Duo responded smugly, giving him the lightest of shoves. "This could work. Maybe," he had to hedge, never feeling quite confident about being optimistic.
"Maybe I'm just being curious," Heero admitted, showing just a hint of doubt.
Duo shrugged, somehow getting closer to Heero with the action. "I've done things for worse reasons."
Heero huffed a chuckle, rested his head briefly against Duo's. "There's no hurry, I suppose."
"Hm, no hurry at all."
The moon rose above them, noting to itself that they were building up quite a bit of momentum, for something they weren't in any hurry to do.
This entry was originally posted at https://turnippatch.dreamwidth.org/188820.html.