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

She laughed at that, sliding her hand into his as they reached the curb and waited for the cab to pull up. It was just down the street, so they'd come out right on time, and she snagged his hand. "Well, that's an easy enough request to grant," she replied lightly.

And laughed at the question. "Well, I managed mascara yesterday, I think it's supposed to be harder than lipstick," she shrugged. "And if I make a mess of it, I'll just blame it on making out with you," she cast him a shameless grin. She'd warned Quatre that they were coming, of course, but if he'd heard the news, he'd kept it to himself. Which either meant he hadn't, or he had something ridiculous planned. Maybe both.

Edited 2022-02-01 00:07 (UTC)

Duo was more than happy to take her hand. He was pleased she trusted him. He and Quatre had an understanding... And he really hoped he could drag him away for a minute once they got there. Maybe he should shoot him a text himself? He decided that was probably a good idea and when he got the chance he'd do just that.

"I could probably help..." He started to say, but trailed off and burst out laughing before finishing his words. Yeah, he supposed she could say that. "That works, sure." Duo grinned, winked, and when the cab pulled up for them he did the gentlemanly thing of opening the door with a little flourish.

She rolled her eyes, but she was smiling as she slid into the cab, putting her backpack down by her feet. She buckled in and gave the cabbie their destination while she waited for Duo to join her.

And once he did, she spent the first few minutes of the drive briefing him. What kind of plane they'd be on, how long the flight was, the specifics of that airline's policies that they might find relevant -- including the in-flight movies and wifi, and what snacks they normally handed out. "It's just over six hours, so there's no meal on the flight, but they do have a bar in the first class cabin, so we could have a couple of drinks on the way. I might need one or two to deal with Quatre, especially if any of his Maganacs are there. I don't know what it is about those men, but they always make me feel like I need to prove myself," probably because she'd been pretending to be a man and they were, well. Extremely masculine.

Duo hopped in the cab as well, shoved his own pack down before giving Wufei his undivided attention.

He tried not to laugh and managed to get it down to a broad grin. It was just a flight but Wufei was breaking it down like it was a mission into enemy territory. He didn't have to heart to stop her, if it was keeping her focused then it was fine.

"You don't have to prove a damn thing, Wufei. Not now and not back then. Especially now." Duo really hoped she could overcome that somehow. "It'll be fine though. You're worryin about nothing! We'll get there and he'll be the perfect host. Or I'll kick his ass."

She hummed in agreement, leaning back in her seat and watching the city go by. "Logically, I know that, but since when have emotions ever listened to logic?" she smiled and shook her head. "And to be frank, kicking his ass sounds like too much fun for me to let you do it all by yourself. We can have a two-on-two sparring match, us against Trowa and Quatre." Wouldn't that be a brawl for the ages?

"Or maybe someone on the flight will get rowdy and I can work out some of my nerves that way. I don't even know why I'm nervous, it's just Quatre and Trowa. They're just going to be happy for us. Or confused."

"Not sure why you're nervous either." Duo reached out then and lightly took hold of one of her hands. He pulled it into his lap so he could cover it with his other too.

"Happy and confused, but mostly happy. Give them a chance, Wu. Give us a chance. It'll all work out, just wait." And he was definitely going to shoot off a text to Quatre to warn him to not come on so heavy once they arrive. To give Wufei some space. Maybe even Trowa too, see if he can slap a leash on the blond.

She let out a long sigh, squeezing his hand gently as he took hers, smiling as she turned her attention to him. "Are you nervous?" she asked, amusement dancing in her eyes as she watched him closely.

He thought about it, his head tilted a little, and then shook his head. "Not really." Duo looked back at her with a grin. "Weird, huh?"

He probably should have. But if there was one person he didn't think would judge them for this it was Quatre. He might have to explain a few things in private, but he really hoped that Quatre would understand that he knew what he was doing.

"A little," she replied with a chuckle. "It'd at least explain why you missed the part about us sitting in first class," she wasn't sure if he'd think it was extravagant or torture, but when it came to planes, she preferred comfort.

Duo had missed that. But hearing it now he wrinkled his nose just a little. "I suppose I can suffer it. It's only 6 hours. I've lived through worse."

Imagine, living through days of actual torture and then being able to moan about sitting in fancy first class planes. If there was anything that showed him just how different his youth was to now, it was this. Peace was such a strange thing.

"I've you to keep me company as well." Duo grinned. "Can't complain too much about that."

"If it's any consolation, I refuse to even fly commercial when it comes to shuttles. I'd much rather be elbow-deep in the wiring than sitting in a passenger seat any day," she smiled lightly, leaning on his shoulder a little. "But when we're in-atmosphere? I'll take the free champagne." Except it wasn't really free, it was built into the price of their tickets. "Besides, I've got a lot of money saved up. Might as well use some."

"If it's off-planet, I'll take you anywhere you wanna go. But down here? I'm at your mercy." He chuckled glanced to the side to see Wufei leaning against him. So he let go of her hand and lifted his arm, a little awkwardly, and draped it across her shoulders.

She shifted to make it easier, and settled against his side with an easy smile. "Good news is I generally don't travel all that much, unless it's for work," and if he joined the mechanics, he wouldn't need to go with her very often, unless it was off-planet, anyway. "You've been travelling quite a bit... aside from a dude ranch in the Americas, where should I be looking for vacation spots?" Not that she'd taken a single day of voluntary leave since she started working for Preventers. Even this little vacation was mandated by Sally.

Duo hesitated on answering that question.

"Not as much as you'd think..." Another pause as he thought about all the places he'd been and all the places he'd wanted to go. "... I've never been to China. Then again I've never been to most of asia. A good chunk of Europe too. How about you?"

"All the travelling I've done has been for work," she sighed. "Well, except between the wars, I spent most of that time in China, figuring things out, making nice with the elders. They'd probably appreciate if we spent a little time there, even if it's not actually with them. Show that you're at least not snubbing the entire culture," she rolled her eyes at the very idea of Duo snubbing much of anything. Aside from the elders themselves. "Most of what I see when I'm away is either a Preventer's outpost or a terrorist's den."

And she ignored the look they got in the rearview mirror for that. "Though this will be my first time in Dubai, and it's strictly vacation. Sally even flagged my badge so they won't even let me into the outpost."

"You think they'd think I'd snub your culture? I think they're assholes and can go suck vaccume for all I care. But I'd be down to visit China sometime." He grinned then, he wasn't paying the least bit of attention to he cabby. "I've been to Dubai... but only in passing to say hi to Quat on my way somewhere else."

"They don't get out much," she replied dryly. "Honestly, I'm surprised they had an elder close enough to meet our shuttle in Brussels. But I'd love to show you around China, and I'm sure I won't have trouble getting time off," she was expensive to keep on payroll as it was, so making sure she was getting proper R&R when she was normally resistant to the idea? Easy as can be.

The cab started heading into the airport, around the massive structure and towards their terminal. "Sounds like we're going to have to take some time to wander the city for ourselves. I'm sure Quatre will have plenty of other things vying for his attention."

If they kept their distance from him he'd be happy. There was going to be issues if they started trying to interfere in his and Wufei's lives. But he smiled for her, happy she thought she could get the time off and they could travel a bit. See some of the world. Quality time together.

"Don't see why we can't play tourist for a few days. Saves bein stuck at his place all day." Truthfully he'd not actually ever really had time to get out and see the sights. He'd gone for a meal with Quat once or twice but that was about it.

He glanced out the window when they started to slow down, and once they'd stopped he smiled and eased his arm from around Wufei, grabbed his bag and slid out of the cab.

She hummed happily in agreement. "That's going to be a new experience for me, going around and taking the time to do the touristy things. Maybe I'll finally get a tan," she chuckled, and slid out of the cab when it came to a stop, pulling her bag onto her shoulder.

Getting in and through security was quick and painless, with her flashing her badge and scanning their bags through security. She didn't even have a weapon with her like she normally would have, so there was a cursory glance into their bags, and they were allowed past the checkpoint.

Then it was on towards the gate, past kiosk after kiosk selling wildly overpriced goods. "The crew will know we're onboard and what seats we're in, just in case," she said as they walked, and slid her hand into his as she stepped out of the way of someone in a much bigger rush than they were.

Maybe they both could get a tan? Or just straight up have a great time together. Duo was looking forward to it.

Once inside of the airport was less of an issue than he'd expected. Somewhere deep inside he always felt a little stress, having had to sneak around and use fake passports, now it was all above board and wasn't that wild? Duo was chuckling to himself when his hand was taken. He glanced down and smiled warmly before curling his fingers around Wufei's. "Just in case? You challenging the Power of Worse, Wufei? That's a dangerous game to play."

"I'd rather tempt a minor problem into manifestation than pretend like everything's going to be fine and you end up landing the damn plane for us," she replied lightly, leading him over to a coffee shop kiosk. Because they had cinnamon rolls. Big, gooey, tasty, monstrously overpriced cinnamon rolls. This was a vacation, it was a time for excess. So she was going to fork over three times as much as she should, because she wanted to.

"Do you want one for yourself, or do you want to split it?" She asked, pointing at the roll in the bakery case. It was probably more sugar in one blob of icing than she normally consumed in a week. Duo wasn't going to be the problem on the flight -- she was.

"Minor? Have you met us?" Minor problems didn't happen around people like them. Minor problems got people killed, themselves captured or shit blown up. If they were blessed to have something minor happy, Duo would honestly believe that it was just gearing up for something major down the line. But he was going to trust Wufei's judgment here. He'd said what he'd wanted to say and if the worst happened she better be prepared for the smug 'I told you so' that was coming.

He did look amused when he was pulled in the direction of a coffee shop though and raised a brow and the item she wanted. Duo honestly couldn't remember if Wufei had eaten sweet things around him previously... Aside from the cake. And the chocolate... But back during the war days?

"Will they even let you take food on the plane?" If so he wanted a coffee. Plane coffee wasn't always the best, even in first class he couldn't guarantee it. Duo grinned though. "At that price though, get the one. I'll steal an end off of you."

"Well. Relatively minor," she conceded, because she had met them, and Duo was far from wrong.

"With the price we paid for these tickets, they'd better," she grumbled, and then smiled for the cashier, ordering one bun and two large coffees, black for herself and Duo's the way he normally ordered it. Or the way he had around her, anyway. "I probably should share it," she agreed. "It's big enough to feed me all day," and she was grinning as it was handed over, wrapped up in a little paper bag.

He was cheered when she got him a coffee, he didn't even have to ask.

Duo had to laugh when they were all handed over. He took his coffee and then eyed the bag with the bun inside, grinning right back at her. "If you don't it's fine, this coffee's good enough for me. Need me to carry anything though?"

"Oh, you're getting some," she flashed him a little grin, shaking her head at the question as she gathered up her coffee and the bag with the bun, heading towards their gate again. She even managed to juggle it so she had a free hand to snag his with. "I fully intend to turn the tables on Quatre today, and that requires us both to be on our very worst behavior." Hence the sugar rush currently nestled in her arm.

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