sweetestsurrender | { The AU meme }

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{ The AU meme }

Ever played out something and then later wondered "What if?" Ever wondered what it'd be like to play your character a different way, but didn't feel like making a full thing dedicated to it? Now's your chance to play it out!

Using RNG you'll roll 1-3 for the level of the change, and 1-6 for the change itself, or if you want, pick your own based on what you wanted to do.

1)  Small Change: The flap of a butterfly's wings can cause tsunami's on the other side of the world.

-1: "A minute too late"- What if you missed something by a minute, or more? You missed the big meeting, the girl, helping that person, all because you were too late, what happens next?
-2: "The nick of time"- Just like the first, only that instead of missing something you got, that if you got something you missed because you were either too late, or just messed up? Congratulations! Let's just hope it's what you really wanted.
-3: "A little too early"- One more, what if you showed up early? It's suppose to be a good thing, is it this time?
-4: "The other choice"- You had two choices, left or right, heads or tails, Coke or Pepsi, now you get to see what would have happened with the other choice.
-5: "Oops!"- You slipped up, and made a mistake. Is it bad, or a blessing in disguise?
-6: Wild card/Pick your own- Thought of a slight change that'd make all the difference, or had one you wanted to play? Here's your chance.

2)  Medium Change: Didn't really see that coming, did you?

-1: Turning point change- That one thing that would have turned things in your favor went against you, and vice versa. How will you handle this critical change?
-2: "A Razor's edge"- That one moment that could have went either way has gone the opposite way of before. Is this a good thing, or a bad thing?
-3: Crossroads- You reached a point in your life where you had several choices before you, now's the time to go down another road and see where it leads.
-4: The Road less traveled- "Two roads diverged in the woods, and I took the one less traveled" Will it make all the difference?
-5: Interference- Something blocked you from getting something you were going for. What do you do once the moment is gone?
-6: Wild Card/Pick your own-Thought of a medium change that'd make all the difference, or had one you wanted to play? Here's your chance.

3)  Large Change: Why do all the people here have goatee's?

-1: Good/Evil- Use to be a good guy? Welcome to the dark side, here's your cookie. Former bad guy? Hand over the cookie tray and join the side of good. How will the change of moral compass change you?
-2: A different person- You're now a completely different person, literally. Are you taller? Shorter? A robot? A pony? Powers? No powers? Your call.
-3: The other sex- Rule!63 is in effect. Now how does this effect your relationships with the other?
-4: A change in history- Something that happened in the past now has completely change or is now gone. One domino toppling the rest. Now that you've changed your past, how will it effect your future?
-5: Giving up- You walked away from something important to you? Do you regret it? Are you happy?
-6: Wild Card/Pick your own- Thought of a large change that'd make all the difference, or had one you wanted to play? Here's your chance.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I'm a better cook than him at least." He laughed. "But these are just pre-cooked meals. They should be good enough?" Duo almost regretted not making an actual home cooked meal and relying on convivence instead. But if Wufei was happy with it then it was fine.

He offered her one of the bottles of soda before he dropped himself down at the other end of the sofa and also settled down. The meal wasn't too bad. The stress of the day was ebbing away and it wasn't long until Duo had began to doze off.

The following morning was a bit of a blur. Duo had woken early to clear away the dishes and things he'd bought the day before as well as getting that shower he'd missed out on yesterday. He'd been careful of his arm but he'd managed to get rid of the worst of he filth. Soon enough he and Wufei were back in the car and heading to the space port where a small, non-descript and somewhat run down little shuttle was waiting for them. Duo waved Wufei inside while he dealt with his contact. The shuttle would get them to Earth in one piece and that was good enough for Duo.

"Right, we're ready to go. Buckle up, Wu." Duo entered he cockpit and slid into the pilots seat before buckling up himself. A quick grin and Duo pushed Wufei to the back of his mind as he prepped for flight and waited for clearance to take off.

Wufei must've liked it because she polished the whole thing off -- and even drank the soda, too. When Duo fell asleep, she tucked a blanket over him and went up to one of the beds to sleep, lest he feel weird about things in the morning. Her secret being out changed things, certainly, but she wanted to try to keep them as close to normal as she could.

The next morning was a blur for her, too. Dealing with a little bit of a mess first thing, then sewing the binder a little tighter with some leftover sutures from the day before, and wiggling her way into it.

She headed into the shuttle ahead of Duo when they reached the space port and was already midway through the takeoff checklist from the copilot's seat when Duo entered, flashing him a smile. "Already done, Captain," she replied lightly.

Wufei got a low laugh at that, and was pleased to find that Wufei had gone ahead to get things ready. He glanced to the side and gave a little gesture for Wufei to continue. He'd handle the rest.

Within ten minutes they got their clearance. Prep finished it was time for take off. Duo always kind of loved and hated this part. It was a thrill but there was always that little fear that the shuttle was going to shake itself apart as it struggled to escape the atmosphere. It was smoother when already in space though. One moment they were waiting to go and the next they were off and Duo's hands were moving, correcting their trajectory to the course he'd plotted for them.

Wufei nodded, and finished going through the checklist, announcing items and checking them off as they went, and by the time they had clearance they were ready to go.

It was always a little weird, when the shuttle slipped out of the gravity well of the colony and inertia gave way to microgravity. They were off, on the short trip around the moon and back home to Earth. "So, are you going to stay long once we get soil-side, or head right back?"

Once the course was plotted and they were in their way there wasn't much to do except sit back and wait. So he smiled over at Wufei when the question was asked of him and gave a thoughtful hum before replying. "I'll probably stick around a while. Let the heat die down before I go back. What about you?"

"I'm going to be crushed under a mountain of paperwork for the next week or so," she replied with a sigh. "I'd estimate at least three hundred forms, in triplicate. Most of which are redundant, but bureaucracy loves nothing more than wasting time." Even with most of the forms being electronic, and having perfected her copy and paste skills, it was going to take her at least sixty hours to fill everything out, and that was only because they'd not interrogated her. That would've tripled the amount of work. "We should go get drinks on Friday," she suggested. "I'm going to need to get good and drunk by then," and since Duo knew her secret, there was no need to worry about accidentally outing herself.

"If I could help..." He laughed. If he could help bed probably find some way to get out of it. He'd always hated paperwork and thought it was a colossal waste of time and energy that could be spent doing other things. Important things.

"But drinks I can do." which meant he had to stick around till at least Saturday, well Sunday, Saturday would be earmarked for nursing an epic hangover from Friday night. "In fact I know just the place. You'll love it." or hate it. But one thing was for sure, they wouldn't care who or what Wufei was.

Wufei snorted at the idea of Duo helping, imagining him attempting to hack the mainframe that Heero himself maintained the security on. "You'd probably have to blow the whole building just to take the servers down," she replied lightly.

Hearing that Duo knew just the place had her smiling, and she nodded in agreement, relaxing in her seat and stretching her legs out. "Drinks, socializing like a normal person," without being terrified of her binder breaking, or someone noticing that she was a little too curvy in all the wrong places. There was a reason she was about as friendly as a cactus, and it was mostly a big, neon distraction from her little secret. "Sounds like something I've been putting off far too long."

"Just say the word and that can happen." Duo most definitely would, if Wufei wanted him to. Though he knew that would never happen. She was too good to let him do something like that. So it was easier to just go onto the next topic.

"Yanno..." He started, tone a little more delicate that Duo Maxwell was known for. "If you wanted to just be yourself, I'd be okay with that. I can almost guarantee you'd not see a single person who knows you."

She snorted softly at his first reply, smiling and shaking her head a little.

The second, though, had her lifting her brows, glancing over at him. "Yeah?" she asked. "I do own some dresses that rarely get to see the light of day," and wouldn't that be an experience? She wasn't terribly fond of dresses even when she'd been living as herself, but a few undercover operations had opened her to the possibilities. "How formal is the place we'll be going? I've got an evening gown, a sundress, and, well. Hooker attire. It was for a mission," even though she knew damn well he would have worked that out for himself almost immediately.

Duo just laughed at the idea of the bar he was thinking of being 'formal'.

"It's a spacer bar, Wufei. Jeans and a button down is about as formal as you'll get there." He laughed again, a slight pink tint to his cheeks. "No need for a hooker outfit or a ball gown. Just...come as you are. Casual. Yanno?"

"Casual I can do," she agreed lightly, and released her harness so she could get up. "I even own a pair of jeans. I hate them, and will not be wearing them, but they do exist," she teased as she headed into the back, almost certainly to use the bathroom. Assuming it was in decent shape.

"Think you'd look pretty good in jeans." Duo threw the comment over his shoulder with a grin, off hand and with a laugh in his voice. But it was a true comment. Then again, he was pretty sure Wufei would look good in anything. He just usually kept those comments to himself.

The bathroom was as basic as basic could be, but it was working so there wasn't much they could complain about there. At least they wouldn't have to deal with it for several, just several hours.

"I look much better in tights," she shot right back, relieved that Duo was back to joking around with her -- things had been weird and tense, but that little offhand remark told her that it wasn't going to destroy their friendship, even if it had been strained a little.

She took care of business, and mentally blessed Duo for buying a big box of the pads. At this rate she was going to use the whole thing up before her body decided to stop trying to kill her with anemia. She returned to the cockpit and lowered into her seat with a sigh, idly going through another systems check just to keep her hands and mind busy a little longer. "So how much did Une agree to pay you for this little field trip? Did I net you a sizeable bounty?" She said it in a playful tone, but she was genuinely curious just what dollar amount Une had put on her head.

Wufei would have headed to the bathroom to the sound of Duo's laughter. And when she returned, he was lazing in his seat, arms behind his head and eyes closed. A smile formed when he heard Wufei joining him in the cockpit and cracked a single eye open to peer over.

"Honestly? Nothing." Duo said with a shrug. "I don't need to get paid to help a friend out, Wu. And I definitely don't need to be paid when it's saving you from a dangerous situation. And if she tries to force it..." He shrugged again. "I'll just give it to a charity or something. I don't... Don't think I did this for money, yeah? I didn't."

Her cheeks went warm as she listened. "I didn't figure you did, but sometimes it's nice to know how valuable your boss thinks you are. Most people can just look at their paycheck for that, but mine is controlled by a parliamentary subcommittee. So if justifying your worth to a bunch of arrogant old white men sounds like the very special hell that it is, never let her get you on payroll," because Duo would end up in the same category, of that she had no doubt at all. She smirked at him, and finished her checks, leaning back in the seat again. "The only nice thing about it is that Yuy always does his right before mine. Scares most of the stupid questions right out of them."

"If it helps... she might have offered. I just wasn't paying attention." He shook his head then in wonder. "I don't know how you guys do it. It'd drive me insane."

He was, for the most part, freelance. He did a bit of everything. Helped with the Sweepers, helped with the Preventers sometimes. Took on missions, played mechanic, even smuggler now and again. A jack-of-all-trades. He went where he was needed most. Which meant he could usually dictate his price. Or if he even wanted payment.

She laughed warmly at that, watching the earth looming in the viewscreen. "I think Heero likes intimidating them, but it is by far the least pleasant part of my job. Even worse than that last mission."

It was a nice view, and good company, and being safe after several days of captivity was always a welcome feeling. Enough that she let her mind wander, back to that spacer bar Duo mentioned. "How formal would I have to dress, do you think, to get somebody to try starting something with me at that bar of yours?" And her smile said that kicking just a little bit of ass might be exactly what she wanted out of that question.

"Oi, don't dare be going to my bar to pick on my friends!" Duo wiggled a scolding finger in Wufei's direction. "... Unless Murnaghan is there. Then you can kick his ass. He owes me money."

But if a fight was what Wufei was itching for, there were places he could take her. He was sure, once the weekend came, he could show her a good time. At least good way to relax after the hellish week she'd suffered through.

She laughed again, relaxing more with him than she had since, well... since she was a little girl. "Well, you'll just have to point him out to me, then. It's been a long time since I've had the pleasure of ensuring the little punk I was beating knew I was a girl. In fact," and she smirked now, "the last person I did it to was Wufei himself."

"... So there was an actual Wufei?" Duo couldn't help asking and turned his seat a bit more so that he could look over at... the other Wufei. It was still a little odd calling her 'Wufei' knowing that wasn't really her name. But she'd said she preferred it so who was he to argue?

"What was he like? I'm guessing... he'd not alive now?"

She hummed and nodded. "I call him Nataku, because he died protecting me. He was my husband, for a few short months," she replied, her smile turning sad. "He was very strong. Smarter than me, and with an ego the size of the sun. We were always arguing, and after he'd run off to this little meadow of flowers behind the palace to read and watch the birds. He loved to study, especially philosophy, and pick fights about Operation M. It's because of him that we didn't drop our colony the day we all arrived on earth. If he hadn't made me think so deeply about what we were doing, I would've accepted the order when it came from the Barton Foundation."

"He sounds... like a tough act to follow." Duo smiled, his own a little sad too, because while he had never met this man, he could be upset about a loss of life. Especially someone important to Wufei. And especially someone who had been so influential.

"You're plenty smart though. And strong." His smile widened just a little. "Pretty big ego too."

"He taught me the value of appreciating what I have before it's gone, so you might say he's a very easy act to follow," Wufei replied lightly, and when he said she had a big ego, she laughed. "I suppose I'd have to, to fancy myself a modern day Mulan." And it had worked surprisingly well, until quite recently.

"You said that before. Mulan? Who is that?" Duo felt he'd heard the name somewhere before that but honestly couldn't place it. But he was curious. So he leaned forward and grinned. "I wanna know more."

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