Duo let himself into the safe house with a long sigh, the tension of weeks of dodging OZ weighing down on his shoulders. Absently, he wondered what kind of mood Heero was in, and whether he could be persuaded to indulge in 'stress relief' this evening. It had been several days since they'd even spoken on the com, and weeks since they'd met in person. Duo's hormones were definitely feeling the lack.
"Heero?" he called softly, dumping his duffel by the kitchen fridge and peering around the one-room reception. His boyfriend's laptop was up and running on the coffee table, and immediately Duo became suspicious. Heero should have been glued to the computer, his eyes fixed on it in a way that occasionally made Duo faintly jealous. The absence of glaring spandex-clad psychopaths made Duo very nervous indeed, and a nervous Gundam pilot is a bad thing.
Pulling his gun from its concealed holster at the small of his back, Duo released the safety and slipped into stealth mode, ghosting across the kitchen to the back door that was ajar and swinging in the breeze. Carefully, keeping the gun in front of him at all times, Duo eased to one side and pushed the door open.
The sight that greeted him made him seriously doubt his sanity. Blinking carefully, Duo raised the muzzle of the gun and thumbed the safety back on, staring at the frozen figure of his partner, partially visible in the shadow of a huge cherry tree. Hesitantly, he took two steps forward.
"Um, Heero�?" he ventured, not quite believing what he was seeing. Immediately Heero swung round to face him, only to draw up short as what looked like hundreds of little� things swarmed him, clinging to the fabric of his tank top. Duo did a double take as sunlight glinted off metal and he suddenly realised what he was seeing.
"Heero, what are they?" he hissed, sidling closer without trying to draw attention to himself. Heero's torso was entirely covered with a swarm of little creatures, some winged and others looking almost like little miniature people. Several of them held tiny swords to his boyfriend's throat, and with a start Duo realised what was so familiar about the scene.
"Oh my God!" he all but shrieked, only to be cut off as a long cry of "Shiiiiiiiniiiiiiii!" arose and something plummeted out of the sky towards him, brandishing a glowing green scythe.
"Aaaah!" Duo raised his hands instinctively to protect his face, and at the sight of the gun the little creature backed off hastily, beating little black bat-wings furiously and making a strange "ooooooooiiiiiiiii!" noise at him. He could very clearly see the tiny chestnut braid that fluttered behind it in the updraft.
Slowly, Duo lowered his arms, bending to slide the gun away from himself on the patio without ever taking his eyes away from the little creature hovering before him. It dipped, darting forward a little at a time to peer intently into his face, so close that he could easily see its huge violet eyes. There was a startled moment of mutual recognition, and then�
"Shiiiiniiiigaaaamiiiiiiii!! Sscyyytheeeee!!" it shrieked, flinging itself at him. Duo found himself with a sudden armful of burbling critter, and then staggered under the combined impact of dozens more as the braided black forms mobbed him.
"They're Chibis." Heero's voice was quiet and awed as he stared at the spectacle of his lover, flat on his ass on the patio being hugged and cuddled by a whole clutch of duo-chibis. "I'd heard of them, but they're incredibly rare. I never dreamed�" A pair of little wufeis glared at him suspiciously, katanas waving threateningly, but an excited chirp from one of the duos gathered around the American pilot made them grumble and swarm back down his body, clustering with the others of their kind around his feet.
Slowly, something white-and-green descended into his field of vision. Heero frankly stared as a white-winged heero chibi fluttered to a landing on his shoulder, staring disbelievingly into his eyes. "Baka?" it murmured in a tiny, nasal voice, prodding his cheek with the butt of a beam rifle. "Omae?" Heero got the impression that it was trying to determine whether he was booby-trapped.
A sudden tugging on his hair made him turn his head; on the other shoulder, clinging to the strap of his tank top, was a tiny golden creature bearing an undeniable resemblance to the pilot of Sandrock. Scrambling hastily after it was a larger trowa chibi, which arranged itself protectively behind its offspring. "Freeeiiiind?" the little chibit murmured, patting gently at Heero's cheek and smiling delightedly. "Peace!"
Duo, meanwhile, was thoroughly occupied with the swarm of chibis crawling all over him, pulling at his hair and investigating every fold and pocket of his clothing. He caught one pulling a loose quarter from his pocket, squealing happily at the shiny thing, and still others were curiously patting between his shoulderblades as if searching for something. The leader of the bunch was still hovering in front of him, gesturing enthusiastically with a small green thermal scythe.
"Shiiiiniiiiii! Moooooiiiii! Miiiiii! Ooiii, traaaa!" All of which Duo took to mean that they were excited because he looked like them, but where were his wings?
"Hey little guys," he murmured, carefully detaching a duo-chibit that had crawled rather too close to his more personal areas and settling it onto his knee. "I don't have wings of my own, I have to use my buddy's. Damn, you guys are cute, aren't you?"
There was a sharp pinprick near his ankle, and he jumped suddenly, muffling the instinct to curse. A suspicious-looking young wufei had poked him with its katana and was now examining the blade, muttering to itself about justice. Duo hid a smirk, wondering what Chang would think of this. An adult heero-chibi came to pull the juvenile away, scolding it shortly, and Duo smiled at the sight of the little thing that looked so much like his own love.
"They're beautiful." Duo looked up in surprise to see Heero staring down at him, one arm cradling a pair of tiny quatres to his chest. The Japanese pilot was staring at the cluster of black-plumaged chibis crowding his boyfriend. Duo quirked a grin as Heero raised his eyes, favouring him with a rare true smile.
"And so are you."