sweetestsurrender | { The AU meme }

Current Music: Hand of Sorrow - Within Temptation

Entry tags:

{ 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

She gave her head a little shake, kissing his knuckles. "I meant that you see past all of my bravado and the walls I've put up over the years. To hide my secrets and my pain and..." she shrugged. "My self. But you've always seen right through it. That's why I was so mean during the war. You scared me, because it felt like, at every turn, you understood me in ways I barely understood, myself. As frightening as it was then, it's just as comforting now. I really am grateful that you're willing to marry me. There's no one else I would rather have as my husband."

She hadn't exactly been out looking, but she was sure no one would ever measure up.

"I guess I just see a lot of me in you..." Duo replied. "I did, anyway. But it was the same with all of us. We all had those walls." But he also guessed that maybe he had come on strong with the others, especially the likes of Wufei and Heero. They were tougher nuts to crack. Their walls higher than Quatre and Trowa's. And... for some weird reason, he'd liked Wufei. In his young, inexperienced mind, he'd honestly believed that if he could scale that wall and find what was beyond that maybe, just maybe, Wufei would like him back.

That had never happened though. At least not in a way he'd been able to see.

"I didn't mean to scare you back then, Wu. I just... suppose I was trying my hardest to get you to look at me." He laughed, lips curving in a self-depreciating smile. "But I'm glad you accepted. Even if I haven't actually asked you properly..."

She chuckled softly, leaning against him a little. "Oh, I was looking," she replied with a shake of her head. "I had myself convinced you could see right through me, knew I was a woman. I almost told you, while we were in the lunar base. I probably would have if Trowa hadn't passed us those plans. And you know, it's not too late. We haven't gone and gotten rings yet, you could get an engagement ring and do the whole fancy proposal thing if you want," she replied lightly. "But really, taking my hand like that... you might not have known what you were doing, but it felt very real and very proper to me," she said, scooping up the last bite of her cake on her fork and offering it to him. "It felt very much like an offering of love and commitment, and isn't that what an engagement proposal is?"

When she leaned into his side, he gently pulled his hand free of hers and instead wrapped his arm around her shoulders in a casual drape.

"Maybe I did?" Duo offered with a low laugh. "It'd explain a hell of a lot..." Like the sleepless nights where he'd question his sexuality and whether or not he was going insane. He'd never looked at guys the same way he'd looked at Wufei. Until he'd met him, Duo was convinced he was as straight as an arrow. But now, knowing that he was actually a she? It was a whole mind-fuck that was another reason for him needing to take time away to wrap his head around.

"So you're sayin I don't have to get down on one knee? Hire a hot air balloon or a romantic meal and have the waiter stick a ring in the dessert?" And speaking of dessert, he grinned and opened his mouth to accept the last bite of cake off of her fork. Somehow it tasted better when it was offered. "Yeah, yeah you're right. And when you're right, you're right." Even if that hadn't been what he had meant when he'd grabbed her hand, it had just turned out to be a shortcut to what he'd wanted to do in the first place.

She laughed warmly at that, feeding him the last bit of cake and setting the empty plate aside. "I think you'd be more likely to hide it in the depths of an engine and have me help you dismantle it to find the problem," she replied lightly. "It's been a long time since I did anything like that, my bike runs so smoothly I hardly ever have to do more than change the oil on it." She wasn't as much of a tinkerer as he or Heero were.

She stuck her feet up on the coffee table, too, letting out a long sigh. "So, do you want to talk about wedding parameters, or just go to bed? You can share my bed if you like, but I also got an airbed so you wouldn't have to." She didn't want to push him into anything, especially knowing what she'd needed to tell him. She was honestly a little surprised he hadn't just left.

"See now, that's more like me. I looked up common ways people propose and... some of it was so damn cringe!" Duo wasn't entirely sure if he was a romantic or not. He would have liked to have had the chance to find out, but it was fine if not. It wasn't the end of the world.

"Depends." He said to her next question. "On how tired you are." She'd had a long day, and the stress of knowing what she had wanted to tell him must have been eating away at her. Duo hugged her to his side a bit more. "I'll crash on the sofa if you want me to. Don't want you to feel you have to offer me your bed, Wu. I've slept in worse places than your sofa."

"Some of it is very cringe," she agreed. "Some of it sounds like a normal evening for Quatre, which is even weirder," she laughed softly, and gave her head a shake.

"No, it's either my bed or the airbed, I'm not going to have you sleeping on this monstrosity of a couch," even if she'd done it earlier in the week. "I'm perfectly comfortable sharing my bed with you. As for how tired I am," she shrugged and sighed. "I'm a little tired, but not so much that I'd be able to fall asleep right away." Mostly because she knew damn well nightmares were waiting for her.

While he would have preferred her to tell him what she wanted him to do here, because he didn't want to make the wrong choice, he could understand why she didn't. So in the end Duo nodded slowly. "Bed it is then." Because even without telling him, even without him being able to read her mind, he knew that tonight wouldn't be easy.

It would be the same for him if he were to ever tell Wufei some of the things from his past. Reliving the memories in the day meant they would come and haunt at night as well. And Duo wanted to be close enough to maybe be of some help.

He glanced over at the boards on the walls and laughed softly. "You wanna tell me what you come up with in all that mess?"

She hummed in agreement, reluctantly pulling away from him to go over and look at the wall. "Well, this side," she gestured at the larger wall, "can be ignored," she carefully pulled the picture of Duo off of it, moving it to the kitchen counter. "I'll take it down and get rid of it tomorrow, but the other," she turned to face the smaller one. "Wedding parameters."

She approached the wall, gestured to a few sections. "Guests over here, the list we'd already agreed on, and..." she grabbed a brick of post-its, and wrote Debbie's name on one, slapping it onto the wall with the rest. "Then we've got ceremony parameters," which was just a post-it with a bunch of question marks. "I definitely want to wear a proper wedding dress," she gestured to another section, this one with a few pages from magazines of different styles of dress and all their shoes marked with black x's, a post-it with the word red. "And the rest is just... I think they call it a 'mood board' online. Just images that make me think of weddings or you," which explained why it was half vehicles and half rustic outdoor restaurant photos. Dark wood, fairy lights, flowers, draped fabric. Like a fancied up version of a patio party at night. "I have no idea if I did it right, but," she shrugged her shoulders, turned to look at him.

Duo got up, grabbed his cooling coffee, and followed after her. He couldn't help glancing at that other board, but did his best to focus more on the one they were talking about.

He listened and he took it all in, followed where she pointed and saved his questions for when she was done. And when she was, she looked at him. He near grinned at that look. "Just a few questions... What's with the x's on those dresses?" He reached out and tapped the word 'red'. "And this? That mean you wanna wear red? That's traditional for chinese weddings, right? I don't mind going that route if that's what you want." He thought he looked just as good in red as he did black. "But if you don't mind, I'll skip wearing a proper wedding dress. You totally can though." He was teasing here, but soon moved his attention to the 'mood board' with a softer kind of smile. "I like this... I think you did it exactly right, Wufei."

She hummed in agreement as he joined her, shifting closer to him as he looked it over. "It's just the shoes. I am not wearing heels. Ever. Sally convinced me to try them once and I sprained my ankle so badly I was riding a desk for two weeks," she replied with a shake of her head. "And yes, I'd like to find a red dress, if I can. If I can't find anything I like in red, I'll also look at white," and then laughed at his little joke, folding her arms over her chest. "Well, you have it easy. You just have to find a nice suit in whatever color you choose. Most of the magazines show men in black or navy suits, but that seems like more of a suggestion than a rule -- I think every color in the rainbow as accounted for in the magazines I looked at."

She blushed when he told her she'd done it right, and smiled warmly. "I've never planned a party before, but it seemed appropriately intimate."

"Then no heels for you." Spraining her ankle on her wedding day just wouldn't be cool. "You can wear sneakers or boots or whatever the hell you want. Barefoot even." It honestly didn't bother Duo. It would be their wedding and they could do whatever they wanted with it. Or wear whatever the hell they wanted. But... at the same time. "I think I'd like a fusion. I won't lie, I looked up some traditional Chinese wedding stuff and you guys are way fancier. So if you think we could take the best of both worlds and make it our own... I'd be game." Because lets face it, Duo wasn't the most traditional guy. And he wasn't exactly Christian either. He didn't believe in God. Kind of hated churches a little, or maybe it was a little leftover trauma from his youth.

"Just need to find somewhere like that..." Duo looked at the board thoughtfully for a long while. "I wonder what kinda venues look like that? We could look em up one day? Somewhere rural, out in nature..."

She laughed softly at the idea of wearing sneakers. "I was thinking red slippers, like the black ones I wore during the war," she suggested lightly, and nodded in agreement. "There's a good tailor in Chinatown, we can go have a look this weekend, if you'd like. Try on some off-the-rack shirts, make sure they're comfortable enough. I'm not sure if it was the binding or the silk, but they always felt much too hot for my liking when I've worn them for formal events," and then she made a face. "Which reminds me, I need to go buy some cocktail dresses at some point. There are a lot of fancy parties that I'm expected to blend in at." As if she didn't always stick out like a sore thumb from her posture alone.

"A farm, probably," she suggested. "Apparently barn weddings are trendy, so I'm sure there'd be a farm or a campgrounds outside the city that would have something that would work."

"Y'know, I always wanted to ask, those couldn't have been comfy." Duo laughed. "Maybe as everyday wear, but for walking over debris and dead bodies I'd have thought they'd be too flimsy? But sure, we can go check out your tailor and see if they can do something for me." He'd never actually been to a tailor before. Had only ever seen them in movies and on tv, so this would be interesting.

He gave her a bit of a side-eye then. "Am I expected to go to these fancy parties?"

And oh... Oh a farm? Duo's eyes may have lit up a touch at this. He hadn't considered that. He'd been thinking that maybe they'd have to call on Quatre after all and see if he knew any little country manors nearby who would be willing to play host to a simple, intimate wedding. "Yeah... Lets go with that."

"My feet have very heavy callouses from my training, so it didn't bother me very often," she replied lightly. "They were quite thin, but that was so I'd be able to feel the ground through them. With thick soles it's more difficult to tell how likely the ground is to give beneath you, especially on something as unsteady as rubble." She nodded when he agreed to go to the tailor, and laughed at his follow-up question.

"Well, I'm sure you can talk your way out of most of them, but you'll probably be strong-armed into coming to anything I'm forced to go to where I'm not working security. Which means mostly fundraisers, with the consolation prize of Heero being equally miserable and Quatre running interference for all of us," she smiled, perhaps a little too fondly for something as obnoxious as a high-end party.

She was trying very, very hard to keep asking Quatre for anything wedding-related off the table. The boy was as sweet as spun sugar but he got carried away every time. "You like farms?" she asked with a warm laugh. "Have you ever been to one? We're going to have to take tours of them," and seeing him visiting for the first time sounded downright charming. "Might have to go buy you a hat, just for the occasion," she grinned this time.

Duo wasn't sure what he was expecting in terms of a reply there, but that her feet were as tough as old leather was not what he was expecting. But it would also explain why heels hadn't worked out and done more damage than good. Duo nodded along though, accepting all of that with a laugh and a smile.

Until they came around to the fancy shit. Here he groaned and whined. "Wufeeei... C'mon, man, you can't do this to me! We're not even married yet and you're tellin me that you're planning on torturing me? I never agreed to that!" He was... half joking. If Wufei wanted him to, he'd put up token resistance but he would go and he would smile and be charming and do whatever was needed of him. But his skin would be crawling through the entirety of it. Of all of them, he belonged in places like that the least. He was out-of-place. There was only one rich bastard he could tolerate and that was only because he loved the guy, and they'd been through hell together. Quatre understood.

"Never been. Never had the chance." From whine to happy, Duo couldn't help grin back at her. "A hat? I'll whatever the hell you want if we get the chance to go and look at farms."

She couldn't help laughing at his whine. "If I had known that was a condition of employment, I never would've signed up," she replied, even though it wasn't true. Sure, it was torture, but it was a small price to pay for a job that made her feel like she was still useful. "I won't try to force you to come, but Une certainly will. She likes to parade me around to all the donors. Look what a lovely Gundam Pilot we have on staff, wouldn't it be nice if we could pay him properly," she rolled her eyes.

"But yes, a hat. And we'll tour all of them, even the ones we've ruled out, if you enjoy the first few," she grinned. She could put up with tours of farms for a few weekends if it would make him happy. "We could even book some horseback riding, really get into the farm theme," she suggested lightly. "I've never tried it, myself."

"The there you go! She'll never want me to go!" Duo grinned victoriously. "I was never a lovely Gundam Pilot! She can't put a leash on me. Who can say what I'll do? Maybe I'll start break dancing or the lambada or eat my body weight in shrimp cocktail or... I dunno, something really crass and embarrassing that I'll think about on the night. Gotta take that shit on a case-by-base basis." He gave a serious nod. He would undoubtedly make Une rue the day she ever thought she could parade Duo Maxwell around. Had no one told her that you couldn't take him anywhere?

If that light in his eyes got any brighter it would be blinding. "I've never done that either! You're serious? We could do that? Don't joke, yeah? I don't think my heart could take a joke like that." For dramatic effect he put a hand over his heart and the back of the other to his forehead and 'wobbled' on his feet.

She was laughing now, hard enough that she had to lean on the wall, hand covering some old bastard's face as she did, holding her side with her other hand. "Oh, is that all I have to do? I might just try that, tell her it's your good influence on me," she grinned widely in a way that said there was no way in hell she could drop propriety at such a high-profile event, but oh, the dreams of doing it were sweet. "Maybe I'll finally insult Relena to her face and start an international incident."

Shaking her head at him, she grinned even wider. "You keep that up and I'll book our honeymoon at a dude ranch. They still have those, out in America. You go out into the wilderness for a week, following cows around on horseback and camping under the stars at night eating... I don't know. Baked beans and beaver or something."

Oh, but Wufei. Don't you understand? If you take Duo Maxwell to an event like that, he's going to drag you into his nonsense right along with him. And he'll make it seem like the most reasonable thing at the time. It'll be an adventure!

And she'd pretty much doomed herself now. Her laughing like she was delighted him to no end. He couldn't stop grinning and he knew... that at the first chance he got, he was going to end up doing something completely outrageous. Something that would get the both of them out of going to those things. At least for a while.

"Holy fuck, are you sayin I could play City Slickers?" Duo stopped trying to swoon in favour of grabbing Wufei by her shoulders. "They still do that? Where the hell do I sign up?!"

She was laughing so hard, she was crying. "I don't even know what city slickers is," she replied, curling her arms around him. "But I'll find out, and I'll book it for us," she promised with a wide grin. She loved going out into nature, the freedom to just be herself with no pressure to do or be anything other than what she was. How could she say no to doing something she knew she would enjoy, with Duo so excited about it, too?

What little doubt she had left about their little arrangement evaporated, and without even thinking about it, she leaned in to kiss him again.

"It's only the best movie! I'm getting it and we're watching it. Hope you don't have plans tomorrow, Wu!" He laughed and, as arms went around him, he wrapped his own around her shoulders and laughed right along with her. It was good. Her laugher made him feel really damn good about himself. And yeah he was pretty excited too. He'd watched a few westerns in his time. They weren't his favourite kind of movie, he leaned more toward the action-comedy genera. But they were good and thrilling in their own way.

And now he got to live the dream and find 'that one thing', and herd some cattle and... yes, he was really excited. Duo would be on hand to help Wufei every step of the way on this impromptu vacation.

He was going to ask more, dive into some of the story of City Slickers, but before he could, the mood changed subtly. Wufei moved, her body shifted against him and she leaned in toward him. Duo realised what was happening quickly enough, and had only seconds to react. Did he let it happen? Trust Wufei knew what she was doing and let her? Did he take the choice away from her and turn the tide of the kiss, from lips to cheek, or even forehead? Should he pull away and laugh it off, pretend it wasn't a thing that almost happened? Did Wufei even know what she was doing...? What kind of fire she was playing with? Just how fragile his heart was? Could he handle it? Duo had tried to convince himself that he was strong enough, that he could do this without it hurting him too much. But... could he?

He'd soon see.

Duo didn't move much. He didn't back off. His eyes half closed, his smile softened. If Wufei wanted to kiss him, he would let her. He would kiss her back. But in this... she was the lead. He would not do anything that would make her feel like she had no choice in the matter. He just couldn't.

It was a soft kiss, soft and sweet and full of all the things she was feeling just then. The warmth and the happiness and, above all else, the way he felt so safe, like nothing bad could touch her if she just stayed close enough to him.

She sighed softly when she pulled back, blush on her cheeks as she did. "I'll watch it a dozen times if you want me to," she replied softly, giving him a little squeeze. "I like seeing you this happy," and to know it came from an idea she'd had? But then she remembered, and groaned softly. "We'll have to watch it on the plane. We've got an early flight to Dubai tomorrow, did I text you with the time? It's early, but if we take any of the others we'd arrive in the middle of the night." Or they'd be stuck in jump seats for seven hours if they took a non-commercial flight with Preventers or Sweepers, if they even had something heading that way tomorrow.

Duo returned the kiss as promised. He was gentle, his hold on her light and secure. One arm had dropped to link around her waist loosely while the other stayed across her shoulders.

He let her be the one to break it. His own cheeks were warmer than before, but he was still able to smile and then shake his head. "We can watch it any time. I'd forgotten we were heading out yo see Quat, so let's leave the movie night till when we get back, huh? Give us something to look forward to." And unwind with. He had a feeling that they might end up coming back with a little extra stress if they weren't careful.

She hummed happily, lingering in that moment, with the way he was holding her, and just enjoying it for a little while. "That sounds nice. And we can buy liquor in duty-free if things go badly. A good movie and getting drunk sounds like a good way to unwind, but we probably should try to get at least a little sleep.

Reluctantly, she pulled away, turning to the long wall and reaching up to start ripping everything down, stuffing it into her kitchen trash bit by bit. Something cathartic to hopefully help keep the nightmares at bay. And that paper, with Treize's name on it? She pulled it off and ripped it up into the smallest pieces she could manage before dumping it in with the rest.

She didn't think about it as she worked, but down near the baseboard, at the far end of the massive diagram, there had been two papers with hand-written options. One was 'Death'. Another was 'Death -- fake'.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject