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tj_dragonbladePairing: 1x3x4 & 2x5
Rating: PG13
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing is created by Hajime Yatate and Yoshiyuki Tomino, copyrighted by Sunrise/SOTSU Agency, and distributed by Bandai entertainment. I am merely playing with the boys in the name of entertainment and maintaining my own sanity; in so doing I mean no disrespect or copyright infringement.
Credits: Vaguely suggested by and named for the J. Geils Band song "Centerfold".
Setting: Post-EW; assumes everyone's working for the Preventers.
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Centerfold
By TJ Dragonblade
"Fei!!"
Duo burst into the main common room of the ex-Gundam pilots living quarters at Preventers HQ, out of breath from running, hollering for his lover in a veritable panic. "Fei! Where are you?"
"Here, Duo," came the unfazed answer from the depths of an overstuffed armchair with its back to the doorway.
"Thank god!" Duo zipped in and leaned over the back of the chair. "I think we've got a major pro--" He broke off as he saw what Wufei was reading. "Hey! That's the *new* Playgirl I just swiped from the stash in Hilde's office yesterday--*I* haven't even gone through it yet!"
"You have my word--I will put it back exactly where I found it when I have finished," Wufei assured him calmly.
"Aah, it's no biggie--I've got other things on my mind right now anyway." Duo shrugged. "I didn't even realize you were into that stuff."
"I am reading for the articles," Wufei deadpanned, the gleam in his eye clearly stating otherwise. "Now. What is this problem of which you were about to inform me?"
"Bad news." Duo straightened up and began pacing the length of the living room. "I just saw Trowa and Heero going at it in the practice dojo downstairs."
"'Going at it'?" Wufei raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, y'know--kissing, groping, making out, shirtless and sweaty and backed up against the wall--"
Wufei held up a hand to cut him off. "I have the idea, thank you. Why is this a problem? We have expended a great deal of effort to help them realize their feelings, after all..."
"No, we spent all that time getting the *three* of them hooked up--and Quatre was nowhere around!"
"Duo, love, any threesome is bound to be a twosome from time to time..." Wufei glanced back down at his magazine.
"But *this* threesome decided to wait 'til they were *all* ready to take the plunge together. And Q hasn't come to that point yet--I'm worried he's gonna lose them!" Duo whirled and paced back the other direction.
"You doubt the power of the infamous Winner 'puppy-dog' eyes?"
"I'm serious, 'Fei, we gotta do *some*thing before those two start thinking he's just stringing them along!"
"If Quatre does not wish to engage in sexual relations with his partners at this point, I don't see that *we* need to do anything about it." Wufei turned a page or two idly. "Would you have him 'give it up', as you say, before he is ready?"
Duo stopped pacing and frowned. "Well...no, of course not. I mean, that's not something anyone should do until they're completely comfortable with it. But...I just don't want Heero and Trowa to get frustrated with the waiting and decide they could just as easily have the satisfaction of boinking each other without 'im, see?"
"If they are all as perfectly right for each other as we both believe them to be, I would not worry about such things," Wufei said gently, turning a few more pages.
"Well...yeah, but...it just took us so long to get them together in the first place, and hormones are damned unpredictable things...I'd feel better if we could somehow drop a hint or two, y'know, that he's very much in love with them both and that waiting is bound to be very worthwhile..." He trailed off and settled his hands on his hips with a sigh.
"Love lies not in the hormones nor the loins, but in the heads and hearts of its disciples."
"Yes, 'Fei, but that *other* head can be remarkably persuasive..."
Wufei shook his head, smiling slightly. "Why so intent on the matchmaking, xin ai?" His voice was still gentle.
Duo considered it, chewing on his lower lip. "They...they just *belong* together," he said at last. "They go with each other the way *we* go with one another, and...I just...I want all my friends to be as happy as I am with you."
Wufei looked up as he turned another page and graced his lover with a dazzling smile. "You make me happy as well, Duo. And I agree that they belong together. I will gladly help you drop hints any way I can, provided our efforts do not turn meddlesome in their eyes."
"Thanks, 'Fei."
"You are welcome." Wufei glanced back down, then gasped in sudden surprise.
"Wufei?" Duo's brow creased in a worried frown as he saw the change that came over his lover's face. The Chinese boy's expression was flitting through degrees of reaction almost faster than the eye could follow--shocked, horrified, flabbergasted, fascinated, intrigued and finally impressed.
"Fei, what's wrong?" Duo strode over to his lover's chair.
"I believe I have just found our very first hint," Wufei said slowly, still staring at the magazine.
Duo leaned over and looked for himself to see what had so affected Wufei; his mouth fell open in shock.
"Holy *shit*," he breathed reverently, eyes glued to the page. "I think you're right, 'Fei." His gaze flitted over the photograph. "Damn, I never woulda *guessed*..."
"I must go back on my word, Duo," Wufei said softly. "I will not be putting this back where I found it. I am leaving it *here*--" he closed the magazine and laid it on the coffee table "--for Barton and Yuy to find."
~~~***~~~
Down in the practice dojo, things were beginning to get out of hand. Trowa still wasn't sure just how it had happened. One moment he and Heero were sparring, practicing at bare-handed combat; Heero jabbed, Trowa blocked and countered, grabbing Heero's arm; the next thing either of them knew, Heero had been swung up against the padded wall and Trowa was pressed close against him, pinning him there.
"My point," Trowa growled softly, panting from the exertion, adrenaline surging through him, the scent of sweat and Heero mingling in his senses; and suddenly Heero's mouth was crushed beneath his and the Japanese Preventer's hair was tangled through his fingers as he gripped the back of Heero's head, tilting it further so he could deepen the kiss. His tongue forced its way into Heero's all-too-willing mouth, teasing at the shorter boy's, sparring with it until Heero gave a soft, tortured groan and surged into him, one hand grabbing the back of his neck, the other gripping his waist hard enough to bruise. Trowa braced his free hand on the wall and put all of his body weight into keeping Heero pinned up against it. His knee pushed between the other's legs, which parted with no resistance to let him feel the hard length of Heero's arousal pressing into his thigh, his own manhood grinding firmly against his partner's hipbone as he plundered that intoxicating mouth.
He broke away at last, fully intending to stop; but somehow his body remained crushed to Heero's and his mouth began nipping at Heero's neck instead, excitement flaring at the taste of his sweat and his skin.
"We shouldn't be doing this," he managed to groan, making no move to heed his own words.
"I didn't start it," Heero returned, shifting his grip to Trowa's head and lifting it away, moving to suckle at the pulse that throbbed in the taller boy's neck.
"You didn't stop it, either," Trowa gasped, head tilting back as the tip of Heero's tongue danced up his throat. "Heero..."
Heero drew back with obvious effort. "We can't," he managed to say. "For Quatre's sake..."
"Yes," Trowa agreed; but all he could see were Heero's steel-blue eyes blazing up at him from beneath that dark shock of unruly hair; before either of them knew what was happening they were kissing again, an ardent, needy kissing that was swiftly urging them on to other things.
It was Heero who finally managed to gain control of himself, shoving Trowa back and to the side with a short cry of frustration and lurching a step or two away. "We *can't*," he ground out, arms wrapping about his midsection as though to hold himself back.
Trowa stumbled against the wall and sagged into its support, eyes closed, head leaned back. "No," he agreed, his heart pounding. "I won't do this to him. I can't. We can't..."
Heero stared at his would-be lover, resolve crumbling, mesmerized by the ragged rise and fall of Trowa's chest. He couldn't leave Trowa like this...his eyes flicked lower, racing over the highly visible lines of Trowa's erection within his shorts. It would be so easy to fall to his knees and peel those shorts down, to suck the other boy off...he positively *ached* to hear Trowa groaning his name; and he could almost feel the hard length of that cock moving against his tongue...
He took a faltering step forward.
But he knew, even as the fantasy flashed before his eyes, that he could not. It would not be right; he wanted Quatre there when he drove Trowa over the edge, wanted Quatre to help him, wanted to do it to Quatre as well, wanted Trowa and Quatre to do it to him.
But for reasons as-yet undisclosed, Quatre was not ready for such things to occur. And it would not be fair for the two of them to race ahead this way without him.
Trowa's green eyes opened, brimming with lust as he focused on Heero. "Go," he ground out.
Heero hesitated a second, his body screaming in protest of leaving them both so unsatisfied even as his heart told him to obey.
"*Go*, Heero," Trowa repeated, forcefully; and the soldier in Heero moved to comply in response to that commanding tone. He slipped back into his shirt and shoes and strode out quickly, duffel held before him to hide certain things as he rushed back to their quarters to shower. Preferably in cold water.
Trowa remained draped against the wall a moment longer, trying to calm his breathing and his body; he knew if he moved now it would be to go after Heero. He brought images of Quatre to mind in a last ditch attempt to come down.
But such thoughts, while serving to fuel his guilt, only drove his arousal hotter; with a groan he pushed away from the wall and stumbled from the dojo to the showers.
He stood beneath the spray, leaning forward, face turned down, hands braced on the tiled wall before him as the ice-cold water cascaded overhead and down his back, practically steaming as it met his skin. He shivered violently, yet still he burned.
This was helping nothing. He adjusted the water to a comfortable coolness and leaned against one of the side walls, hands straying far too quickly to his stubborn, throbbing erection. All too easily he was lost, needing less than a thought to convince him that the hands stroking his cock and gently kneading his balls belonged to Quatre as he relived the dark, hot taste of Heero's mouth.
He came in a matter of moments, a long, drawn-out groan escaping him as the sweetness of release pulsed through his body. He stayed a moment longer, collecting himself; then turned off the shower and dried, wrapping the towel about his waist as he finished. He stepped into the locker room, where he had left his clothing.
"Barton? Are you alright?"
Trowa jumped at the sound of Zechs' voice. He hadn't realized anyone had come in.
"I'm fine, yes; why do you ask?"
"I would swear I heard you moaning in the showers..."
Had Trowa not known better, he would have thought Zechs was teasing him. There was just enough sparkle in those pale blue eyes to make him wonder. "No, I'm fine..." He flushed slightly, repeating himself.
"Glad to hear it." The long-haired blond smiled a very slightly mischievous smile and turned back to finish changing from his uniform into clothing suitable for working out; still blushing, Trowa quickly slipped into clean clothing and made his way back to the quarters that he and his four war-time comrades shared.
He found Heero in the main common room, also fresh from the showers, thumbing through a magazine at one end of the couch. "Heero," he greeted.
"Trowa."
And with just those two names spoken, the electricity snapped on the air between them, though less urgently than before.
"What can we do to ensure this doesn't happen again?" Trowa asked softly.
"Imagine Tsubarov and Quinze making out in thong bikinis," Heero said flatly.
"...That's...revolting," Trowa answered mildly. "And I can't guarantee that I could hold such an image if a situation like just now should occur again."
"Never be alone without him, then," Heero returned. "Or...*are* there such things as chastity belts for men?"
Trowa stared at him a second, not sure if he was joking or serious; as usual, Heero's perfectly schooled bland expression revealed nothing.
"Perhaps we should talk to him," he suggested after a moment. "Let him know the frustration we're feeling; make it clear that we want him as well..."
"I *won't* rush him." Heero's voice was firm. "You and I--we both lost ours too early, a matter of training, a matter of course. Quatre has the chance to make his meaningful. I won't take that from him."
"No," Trowa agreed, running a hand up under his bangs distractedly. "I never meant that we should. But this...this *waiting* is driving me mad. Especially as I'm around you both so much of the time..."
"Indeed." Heero sighed and glanced down at his magazine, turning a page. "But we both have the discipline to manage it, particularly since we're doing it for Quatre."
"Right." Trowa's voice was firm with resolution; he gestured at the magazine, changing the subject. "Reading anything interesting?"
Heero lifted the magazine from his lap, displaying the cover to Trowa. "Playgirl."
Trowa raised an eyebrow. "I don't think that's going to help anything."
"I'm *reading* it," Heero stressed, flipping another page.
"Really."
"The articles are quite interesting. They put me in touch with my feminine side." And again, it was impossible to tell if he was joking or not.
Trowa smiled, tuning away and lacing his hands behind his head. "And the fact that those articles are published alongside photos of attractive naked men--this makes no never-mind to you?"
Receiving no answer, he glanced back at the other boy; the look on Heero's face made him turn around in concern. "Heero? What's wrong?"
Heero was staring at the magazine, his face white, his eyes huge, voice barely more than a whisper when he spoke. "My resolve has just suffered a *serious* setback." He raised those wide eyes to Trowa and turned the magazine around, displaying the centerfold.
Trowa's heart stumbled in his chest. "Oh my *god*," he managed, unable to tear his gaze away.
The focus of their shared desire stared back at him from the glossy page, wearing a sunny, sultry smile and nothing else.
"Quatre," Trowa whispered, sinking down beside Heero on the couch, both their attention riveted to the photograph before them.
Quatre was laid out for their viewing pleasure on a bed drowned in hunter-green silk. The color contrasted beautifully with the fairness of his skin and yellowed the blond tones of his hair, lending him a subtly elfin look while accenting the shade of his eyes. He was lying on his right side, one arm folded back beneath his head to serve as a pillow, the other curving down across his mid-section to lie comfortably on the sheets, fingers lightly splayed against the silk. His right leg was drawn up further than his left, the inner surface of his thigh serving as the perfect showcase for his family jewels, artfully fluffed to display the full measure of his size without being obscenely hard. The diffuse lighting softened his skin, brightened his eyes, made him appear even more so the handsome young godling plucked from mythology; his eyes were fixed straight into the camera, bold and inviting, his smile full of promise and temptation. He looked sinfully innocent, wickedly pure, wanton and virgin all at the same time; neither Heero nor Trowa would have hesitated to label the picture a masterwork of erotic photography though their fondness for its subject may have colored their judgment in the slightest.
"I can't believe he did this," Heero said at last, turning back a couple pages to find more photos of their young blond paramour displaying his subtle sex appeal in a variety of enticingly less-than-subtle photographs along with a printed interview.
"Neither can I," Trowa agreed, voice still quiet in shock. "Not that I'm complaining, mind you; but...wouldn't he be worried about the repercussions to his sisters' business? And tabloids?"
Heero was scanning through the interview. "He says, 'In this day and age, it's more likely to boost business than hurt it'." He scanned a bit further. "He doesn't mention tabloids; he says that he posed '...as a gift for the two most important people in my life'..." Heero trailed off.
"For...*us*?" Trowa was humbly incredulous.
"Uh huh." Heero knew exactly how he felt.
"What in the world would make him think of posing nude for us, of all things?"
"Are you still not complaining?"
"Still not complaining." Trowa stared at the images before them and shook his head, more disbelief than anything.
"He *must* know," Heero said quietly. "He sees how hard it is for us to wait for him; perhaps he's giving us some incentive...?"
"Well, that and I though you'd like to see me naked."
Two heads snapped up at the sound of Quatre's voice in the entryway. The blond was leaning against the doorframe, still in uniform though he'd come off duty some hours before. In his hand was a copy of the same magazine that Heero and Trowa were salivating over, had been so caught up in that they hadn't heard him come in.
Quatre's smile was brightly innocent with just a hint of mischief lurking at the corners. He pushed off from the doorway and sauntered over, holding up the magazine in his hand. "And it looks like I'm too late--someone gave you my present already." He plucked the matching issue from Heero's slack grip and tossed both copies carelessly onto the coffee table before sliding onto Heero's lap sideways and twisting to slip his arms around the other's neck. Heero's arms curved behind his waist and across his hips reflexively; Quatre flicked a quick sidelong glance at Trowa and leaned into Heero, snaring the shorter boy's mouth with his own.
~Beautiful.~ The word flashed across Trowa's mind without thought as he viewed the sight before him and desire seeped up to pool warm and heavy in the pit of his belly. They were beautiful, separately, together; watching them kiss, watching Quatre's hands move to touch Heero's face, to weave through the back of his hair--it gave Trowa as much satisfaction as kissing either of them himself would have done. He felt honored, blessed, that they both returned his deep affections.
"So." Quatre broke the kiss at last and drew back somewhat, turning so that his still-mischievous smile encompassed them both. "If the looks on your faces when I walked in are anything to go by, I'm guessing that my announcement pleases you?"
"'Announcement'?" Heero's brow furrowed in the same puzzlement that Trowa felt.
"Yes, my announcement. That your long and unreasonable wait is over at last." Quatre's smile was terribly complacent. "Surely you don't think I'd continue to hold out on you both after showing you pictures like *that*--" he gestured vaguely towards the discarded magazines "--do you?"
Heero blinked, excitement sweeping through him as Quatre's meaning sank in.
No more waiting.
Part of him was tempted to haul Quatre off to the bedroom this instant with Trowa in tow; but then again, that was not the way that he--that *any* of them--wanted it to happen.
Heero pulled up a bright smile of his own. "Your 'announcement' does please me. Greatly."
"It pleases me, too," Trowa agreed. "But, if I may ask...why the sudden change of heart?"
"Not a change of heart--I've always wanted you both in my bed. But..." Quatre made a face, then heaved a sigh. "But when I was younger, several of my sisters ganged up on me and made me promise that I would stay a virgin until after I was twenty-one."
"Ahhh, " Heero and Trowa chorused as the long-kept secret was finally revealed.
"And I don't break promises."
"Of course you don't." Trowa smiled, the expression directed at both his companions. "We knew there would be a reason, even if you didn't tell us beforehand..."
"It sounded embarrassingly silly--'I'm sorry, guys; I love you both and I really want you but I promised my sisters I wouldn't have sex yet'..." Quatre trailed off. "And it *still* sounds silly, but..."
"But since your birthday was last week, it doesn't matter anymore." Heero's tone conveyed acceptance and appreciation and absolutely no hint of condescension or ridicule; Trowa's soft smile and slight nod expressed the same. Secretly, Quatre was relieved; there had been a tiny part of him that wondered if they would laugh or be mad when he finally told them why.
"Right. It doesn't matter." He smiled brilliantly. "What *does* matter is that you've been patient with me and willing to wait so long, especially when I wouldn't give you a good reason..." He reached one hand out to Trowa, pulling the three of them in close together. "I can't express how much that's meant to me..."
"We *love* you, Quatre," Heero said simply.
Trowa had not released the hand that Quatre held. "We'll *always* do anything you ask of us."
"Good." The brilliant smile turned into something closer to a smirk. "There may come a time when I'll hold you to that statement." His tone hinted at things darkly sensual; he leaned forward and kissed Trowa quickly, lingering long enough only to tease before pulling away. "In the meantime, though--" he swung his legs out of Heero's lap and stood, stepping backward as he pulled them both up by the hand "--I have spent the past couple of hours turning our bedroom into something worthy of a lover's resort...at least, I *hope* it is; and I for one am ready to put it to good use."
Trowa moved to throw an arm around each of their shoulders companionably. "That is an *excellent* suggestion."
"One question." Heero kept them moving for the hall even as he spoke. "What made you choose Playgirl? We're both more likely to pick up a men's magazine, after all."
"Since I was going to plant the layout where you would easily find it, the choice of magazine didn't really matter. And Playgirl is better with the tasteful-artsy feel, which is what I wanted." Quatre's smile had that vaguely evil-mischievous feel to it again. "And this way, it makes for better payback, also."
"Payback?"
"Yes. Most of my sisters read Playgirl. By now, they've probably already seen more of their baby brother than they ever wanted to..."
Heero suppressed a snicker. "You are a cruel man, Quatre."
"Not any crueler than they are," was the mild retort. "If they hadn't exacted that big-sisterly promise from me as a child, the three of us would have been lovers months ago." There was far more wistfulness in Quatre's voice than anything else.
Trowa's arms across both their shoulders squeezed briefly. "It's no matter any more. After all, the time spent waiting is bound to make tonight all the sweeter..."
"Agreed." They had reached the end of the hall; Heero turned an inviting smile to both his lovers and twisted the knob to their bedroom door, holding it open chivalrously.
But it was Quatre who pulled the other two inside impatiently. "Come show me what I've been missing, " he purred; and kicked the door shut behind them.
~~~***~~~
Three nights later, Wufei slipped into the bedroom he and Duo shared and closed the door with a bit more force than necessary; running his hand through his loosened hair, he heaved a sigh before glancing up.
Duo, lounging on the bed in a remarkably provocative pair of purple underwear, met his eyes with a seductive smile. "What's wrong, baby?" he asked, voice sultry. Clearly he was aiming to get some tonight.
"They are at it *again*," Wufei announced, not exactly in the mood to indulge his lover. "They are worse than rabbits, I swear they are."
Duo snickered. "Aw c'mon, 'Fei--cut 'em some slack. They've got lots of time to make up for, after all. I think it's great that they're finally gettin' it on."
"I am happy for them, truly I am." Wufei groaned and threw himself on the bed next to his lover. "If only these walls were *sound*proof, I would be thoroughly ecstatic!"
Duo laughed outright at that. "Aw, poor Fei-fei--do the sounds of honeymooners' lovemaking assault your innocent wittle virgin ears?"
Wufei glared. "My ears are hardly virgin, Maxwell--I fornicate with *you*.
"*Nothing* about you is virgin anymore. Or innocent." Duo's eyes were still laughing; he pointed a mock-accusatory finger at the Chinese youth. "And I'll have you know that when *we* got together, I got *plenty* of complaints about the noise; and they *weren't* griping about *my* voice."
Wufei flushed slightly. "So turnabout is fair play, then?"
"Yup. And while we're on the subject--" Duo rose up to lean over Wufei, hands braced on either side of his raven-dark head "--I'll betcha if we were busy making noise of our own, you wouldn't even notice *their* noise anymore..." He grinned, one eyebrow cocked in invitation.
Wufei grinned back, his mood improving. "You may be right on that count." His smile took on a seductive edge as his hands wandered down Duo's chest in a teasing caress. "But if we are going to find out, you will have to lose that pretty purple underwear..."
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Beg: 11/19/02
End: 8/14/03
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