{ The AU meme }

[unrelatedname]

 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.

 

Comments

[pilot05]

It took a little while for her to reply -- mostly because she was in the middle of handing someone else their ass when Duo texted her -- and it was telling him to come down to the gym and crash the party.

She was working up a nice sweat, wearing a tank top over a sports bra, leggings, and the same soft shoes she wore during the war. When Duo arrived, she was just tossing some poor soul over her shoulder to land flat on his back on the mat.

"Thirty-seven," Heero announced flatly from his spot on the bleachers, nose stuck in his laptop.

[maxwellsdaemon]

Duo entered the gym and quickly spotted Wufei. He remained where he was for a little while, just watching her throw some poor sap around, before he noticed Heero. He thought about it for a half minute and finally decided to approach.

Before he even sat down Heero gave him pause. Duo blinked, taking a second to work out what was being said to him, and when it clicked he gave a lopsided smile.

"Not bad." then he dropped down. Duo leaned back, elbows on the bleachers behind him and kicked his feet up to rest on the ones in front. "How long?"

[pilot05]

"She's been going since lunch," Heero replied with a little smirk. "She gave me the first round. She won, narrowly." And he wasn't the least bit ashamed of it. He and Wufei had been training together for years, and they were often very close to evenly matched.

"Anyone else?" Wufei called, wiping her neck and brow with a towel, turning to look at the potential opponents who were gathered to watch. A burly man stepped forward, rolling his shoulders.

She grinned, and as soon as they'd bowed, she pounced. She couldn't throw him, but she could spot his weaknesses, and one well-placed punch had him crumpling to the ground, clutching his side.

"Thirty-eight," Heero announced loudly, then lowered his voice to a grumble. "We should make this part of the recruitment test. Anyone stupid enough to challenge her after the tenth victory should be cut."

[maxwellsdaemon]

Duo was impressed. He was weirdly proud. But also concerned.

"Don't you think its time to put a stop to this?" he asked quietly. "Man or woman, after almost 40 rounds with anyone mistakes start to get made. It wasn't long ago she was tied up for three days." He voiced his concerns but made no move to act on them. It was, of course, Wufei's choice on what she wanted to do and Duo wouldn't stop her. But he'd have worried the same if it was any of the guys doing this, or if he'd still thought she was a man. Being ex Gundam Pilots they had a habit of pushing themselves too far. Like they had something to prove. Except they didn't. Not anymore.

[pilot05]

Heero side-eyed Duo. "If you want to get punched in the dick, you can say that to her face," and the corner of his mouth tugged upwards. "She usually does this when she's wrestling with a decision. Last time it was when Une offered her a promotion that would take her out of the field. She usually stops after the fortieth."

Another poor soul landed flat on the mat. "Thirty-nine," Heero called.

[maxwellsdaemon]

Duo frowned then looked back at Wufei. He damn well hoped he wasn't part of what she was working through...

"I'm not gonna stop her. I just..." He shook his head and tipped his head back to stare up at the ceiling instead. "Nevermind. It's not important. Hope she sorts out what's bothering her..." He'd forgotten these guys liked to use their fists to work through shit instead of words. It was fine, all he needed to do was wait for her to get tired and call a stop to things herself.

[pilot05]

The last challenger was a woman a little smaller than Wufei, also Chinese but with a much rounder face. They traded taunts in their native tongue before they bowed, and the bout began. The fight was a little more formal than the others, both the women clearly highly trained in similar styles. And both of them were talking, trading taunts as much as blows, all of it in Chinese, until the second woman caught Wufei glancing at Duo, asked if he was Wufei’s boyfriend. Of course she replied that he was her fiancé and that little reveal was apparently enough to give Wufei the upper hand, deftly sweeping the other woman’s legs out from under her.

Wufei helped the woman up with a laugh, exchanging a few more niceties in Chinese before Wufei grabbed her towel and trotted over to Heero and Duo. “I just have to wash up and change, then I’ll be ready to go,” she was just a little breathless but clearly in a very good mood. Either she'd sorted out what was bothering her, or she just really enjoyed fighting -- or both.

[maxwellsdaemon]

He just plain shut up after that and ignored the man beside him, focusing instead on what was going on on the gym floor. He could see the two women were talking but couldn't hear it, couldn't even read their lips, so assumed it was in a language he didn't know. But when Wufei looked over at him, Duo was actually surprised. Surprised enough to smile at being noticed, though he didn't make a scene. He did nothing he thought might distract her.

When it was all over he slowly eased himself up, dropping his legs from the bleachers in front of him so he wasn't lunching around like a bit stray cat. Then smiled again when Wufei approached.

"Alright. I'll meet you out front?" he offered, figuring everyone will be dispersing now that the fun was over.

[pilot05]

"Yeah," Wufei agreed, tugging the band out of her hair and running the towel over her neck. "I'll be right out," she flashed him a smile, and trotted off towards the locker rooms -- and had to catch herself from almost going into the men's one by accident.

Once they were alone again, Heero closed his laptop and started packing it up. "She's happier," he said as he did, glancing up at Duo. "I thought I was imagining it at first, because I see her differently now, but people have stopped hiding when she heads to the break room." Which was, apparently, one of the ways he measured her moods. Or at least the intensity of her glares.

[maxwellsdaemon]

Duo's smile softened some then and he nodded once more, head turning to watch her go.

He near jumped out of his skin when Heero spoke. He'd almost forgotten he was there.

"You think?" Duo would have to take his word for it. It seemed Heero knew her moods far better than he did so what would Duo know really? "Glad she's happy then. Hopefully my choice of bar doesn't disappoint so she can stay happy." He laughed, then shoved his hands in his pockets and with a brief nod to Heero he headed back out of the gym to hang around for Wufei.

[pilot05]

Heero nodded, pulling his bag onto his shoulder. "You could probably take her to a dumpster and she'd still be happy. It's weird," but it was a good thing, and he was even smiling a little as he headed back into the office, probably to put in a few more hours of work before going home, himself.

It was only fifteen minutes before she met him out front, in a pair of actual, honest-to-god jeans, in a cut that hugged her curves almost aggressively. Her shirt was a dark blue tee, under a black leather jacket, hair back in the ponytail and shedding drops of water as she approached. "Duo," she greeted him warmly, extending a hand to him. "Are we taking my bike again? I returned your helmet to the motor pool, but we should buy you one of your own, anyway. Get them set up with a comm system, while we're at it." It was hard to hear each other over the roar of the engine, after all.

[maxwellsdaemon]

"Actually, I brought my car..." Which he now realised was a pretty dumb idea because now one of them would have to leave their vehicle behind. Duo gave her a sheepish smile as he pushed away from the wall he'd been leaning against and moved toward her. "But you look good. Told you jeans'd suit you."

[pilot05]

"I'm a little surprised you have one, I figured you'd just rent them when you're down here," she replied with an easy smile. "And thanks, I figured I might as well get some clothes that fit properly, now that I've got nothing to hide. They're more comfortable than I expected, with how tight they are," she rubbed her free hand down one of her thighs, and the fabric hardly wrinkled as she did. She'd gotten herself a whole new wardrobe over the week, things that would accentuate rather than hide the shape of her body. "How was your week?"

[maxwellsdaemon]

"It kept me distracted when I was getting used to not tinkering on Deathscythe." Duo explained with a lopsided grin. Those first few months, that first year in fact, had been tough. Howard had gotten him a truck to work on and he'd happily let that be his therapy for a long while.

"Heh it's good you don't have to hide now. But me? I've been good. Sorted everything out. Got my things in storage. Just gotta find a place around here to rent." He'd started moving as he talked, walking Wufei across the car park to his truck.

The truck was, of course, black. A big, heavyduty, black truck that looked like a lot of love and care had gone into its design.

[pilot05]

“Ah, that makes perfect sense,” she chuckled warmly. “I channeled that into aggression on the job, mostly, but I’ve always liked to work through things by hitting people,” she flashed him a grin as they approached the truck.

She hesitated a moment when he mentioned looking for a place. “Is it an apartment for until we figure things out and decide where to live together? Or should I help you look with the intention of moving in at some point?” She didn’t want to overstep, and if he wanted to maintain his own space, she wasn’t going to try to crowd him.

[maxwellsdaemon]

"I always felt more at home fixing things. When I wasn't workin with Howard and the Sweepers I'd keep myself busy as a mechanic." usually with Howard's boys still but he'd help out wherever he was needed. And where the money was.

Duo hesitated himself then. He'd been trying not to overstep too. Desperate not to assume anything. And yet he still had made an assumption.

"I uh..." Duo fished his keys out of his pocket before sighing. Realising he was being an idiot flashed her a crooked smile. "Guess I figured while you were thinking things though I'd stay in my own place, but close enough if you needed me. If I was wrong then I hold my hands up. I've not gotta a place yet, I was kinda hoping it'd be something we could talk about today. Get on the same page, that kinda thing? "

[pilot05]

Wufei chuckled at his grin, nodding in agreement. “That seems the most sensible option,” she agreed when he suggested talking things over. “Though if one of us drinks too much it might be better tabled until morning. I’ve done considerable thinking over the week and some of what we need to discuss is a bit too sensitive to be talking over while drunk. Though I suppose I wouldn’t really know… I’ve always been too nervous about being found out to actually drink more than a few sips.”

[maxwellsdaemon]

"Then how about..." Duo started as he approached the passenger side door and opened it for Wufei. "... We don't get wasted and just have a nice dinner and a few drinks and just... talk and relax?" he offered. "Or... we could raincheck that, grab some take out and head back to your place?" Duo said it so easily, he really didn't mind which of these choices they ended up doing since he would be doing them with Wufei. That had been the goal from the start. No pressure. Just a nice evening spent with a friend. Though now things had changed some and instead of a friend it was a fiance.

Duo moved around the other side of the truck to climb into the drivers seat, laughing as he did. "Both have their pros and cons. But I gotta say I kinda wanna know what you've been thinking this last week."

[pilot05]

She hummed in agreement as he opened the door for her, bobbing her head in agreement. "Let's go to your bar, get some dinner and tuck ourselves into a corner to talk," she suggested, before pulling herself up into the truck, dropping into the passenger seat.

She closed the door and waited for him to get in before she continued. "There are plenty of things to talk about that won't ruin your appetite, after all," and they could save the heavier discussion for later. It wasn't something she wanted to discuss in public anyway, so maybe this time they could get all the way through the meal. She offered him an apologetic smile as she buckled herself in. "So what are all the bells and whistles?" She asked as she gave the dashboard a pat.

[maxwellsdaemon]

Wufei might have looked apologetic but Duo just looked guilty. He knew damn well and good he hadn't handled their last interaction well at all and could admit now that he'd probably run away from it with the excuse of having things to do. He really did have things he needed to do, but they could have waited. It was a point of contention for him that he'd let himself get overwhelmed.

"I'm sorry." He sighed after having buckled himself in and placed his hands on the wheel. "It'll probably happen again though. So you're right, probably best to save the heavy stuff for when we're not eating." Otherwise he might just very well starve to death. Her next question cause him to laugh. "I've cup holders!" And he pointed to them in a dramatic way then waited for her to be impressed.

[pilot05]

She let her gaze linger on his profile for a moment, shrugging her shoulders. "It's alright, we just need to learn to navigate that kind of conversation together, and taking some space for yourself is probably the best way to handle it. I'm not very good at de-escalation, so it gives us both time to cool off before revisiting it," Wufei replied, and laughed at the comment on the cupholders. "Yes, very nice ones, I bet they'd hold one liter bottles. Here I thought you'd do something a little more extravagant, like making sure she can break the speed of sound."

[maxwellsdaemon]

He hadn't actually wanted to leave but had known it was for the best. At least it gave them the time and space to think things over so that they could come back like this. But for the moment it was easier to talk cupholders. So he grinned and raised a brow.

"You better not be mocking my cup holders, Chang!" And then he put the key into the ignition and started the truck up. It was only when the car had power that the actual bells and whistles could be seen. From the fancy HUD on the windscreen in front of him to the dash full of tech all flashing to life. Duo laughed as he eased out of his parking spot and headed for the exit. "I might have gotten more than just cup holders..."

[pilot05]

She gave an appreciative hum as the HUD lit up, a grin spreading on her face. "They're very nice cup holders, but this... If I ever downgrade to a car, you're going to have free reign to tinker to your hearts content," she laughed, relaxing into the seat as Duo drove off. She asked him about the changes, even though tinkering wasn't really her thing, she liked hearing about what he'd done, watching him show off a little. And if his hand went to the center console, well, she might just take that as an invitation to grab it.

[maxwellsdaemon]

"If you think this is good you should see my other rides." Did she really think that all he had was this truck? He was a tinkerer. He had a hotrod in the works, he had a 'bike of his own as well as his own little ship at Howards yard. It's just that he didn't really focus on any one thing, but maybe it was time to change that?

He was happy to chat about all the things he'd added, or taken away, from the truck. How long it had taken, some misadventures getting the parts he'd wanted. And without him even realising it was happening, his hand was within Wufei's. It was only when he'd stopped talking to laugh that he'd looked down to find they were holding hands. And... he didn't mind that one little bit. So he didn't mention it, just smiled and carried on driving.

It was less than an hours drive to the bar which was a hop, skip and a jump from a shipyard. The place was large, weathered and surprisingly homely. Outside was a wide array of vehicles, big and small, though most in a state of disrepair. As it happened, your typical pilot didn't always care about their ground vehicles as much as their ships. Duo liked all of his equally though.

He pulled into a spot and cut the engine. "You ready?"

[pilot05]

Wufei was happy to focus on Duo's tinkering, talking about the truck, the other rides, enjoying the conversation almost enough to forget about what she was so worried about talking over with Duo.

And when they pulled into the parking lot, she looked around as he cut the engine and hummed in agreement, finally pulling her hand away so she could get out. "Absolutely," she agreed, unbothered by the junkers as she dropped out of the truck and closed the door behind her, coming around to meet Duo and extending her hand to him once again. "Just so long as the music here isn't called Jizz." She might have done some catching up on pop culture in the last few years.