castleinthemist | 008 | What lurks in the dark.

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gundam wing: duo maxwell [au1]

008 | What lurks in the dark.

Duo sat on his couch, thankful for the sliders on the legs of it. It took him some effort, but he finally had a nice piece of his property from back in the hanger, complete and in piece except for a tear in one of the pillows. Oh well.

So he sat there, hand against his chin as he watched the rest of the room, watching for Harth. He wanted to see that little runt just to see exactly who he was dealing with. After about an hour of sitting and waiting, drawing with some chalk on the wall he'd pushed the couch against, he saw him. They met eyes briefly and Duo forced himself to have a straight face, deliberately shrugging at the boy who seemed intent to look at him. Look at him like he was his next meal.

Well, there was gonna be none of that.

But as far as who he was, Harth wasn't showing signs of being one of the undead, so once the man went outside into the hot and humid sun he relaxed, laying against the armrest of his couch.

"We're boned... Goddamn... Someone get me outta here."

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"Toph! Hey!" Duo moved swiftly, stopping just short of being within two yards of Harth.

"Uh..." His voice almost trembled glancing at Harth, then focusing on Toph. "Hey. We're... Going exploring in like two minutes and my scythe broke. I need it fixed." His voice shook, only because he was deliberately lying.

C'mon, Toph. Come with him. No questions asked.

Of course she didn't remember. She wasn't conscious at the time. But she did remember he was there.

"You got out okay, though, right?" A hand rose to run over his chest and arms, checking him over for injuries. It would have been easy to check someone else for them, typically because a pained body beats differently than a well one, but... with his mechanical heart...

Duo's approach snatched her attention and she moved her head to focus an ear on him.

"Duo?"

The man was lying. Flat out lying. She could tell. His heart was racing, his body trembled, and his voice was about as solid as the wind. It worried her, because Duo Maxwell didn't lie. Something was up.

"Duo?" she repeated his name, though this time it was thick and dripping with concern and confusion, and sprinkled with apprehension. "... what exactly is going on?"

She turned from Harth to Duo, showing that he had her full attention.

Harth just stood there, almost smiling at the touches to his form. She could probably feel his ribs under his shirt, probably feel how skinny he was before he died. Probably give him a little trouble just for that. It was Toph, after all. Droll as her antics could be he was still rather amused by her not coming after him so readily. His spell had worked like a charm.

Duo's approach however had him watching the boy carefully. His eyes shielded by the sun reflecting off his glasses. That fear in his eyes, that fear on his scent, it was clear exactly what he was afraid of. Haku must have talked. That would have to be dealt with immedietly, and this boy would have to be silenced.

"Yeah. Is something wrong?" Harth asked, playing up the act for Toph's benefit.

Shit. Those eyes were cold. Duo composed himself, turning his eyes to Toph.

"I need you to come with me, Tophy. C'mon. I got some work you need to do back inside." Partially true. More true than before. He reached for her hand, trying not to look at Harth at all. So much for keeping the secret. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. He's gonna know, isn't he? Either way he couldn't risk Harth interacting with her anymore.

Duo's fear was contagious. If he would have been anyone else, it wouldn't have even bothered Toph in the slightest.

But this was Duo. Everything they'd been through in the castle, and she'd never once caught him even breaking a sweat over even the scariest and deadliest foes and situations they'd faced so far. Whatever had him on edge was probably something worth being wary of at least a little.

Or it could be nothing at all. Either way, it bore a looking into.

Toph dropped her head and sighed a grunt. She turned her head towards Harth.

"I'll be right back. Glad to know you're okay," she told him before letting Duo lead her out by the wrist. It helped her catch his heart rate, his temperature, and his skin condition.

She followed him for a while, the distance between them and Harth growing longer and longer until finally she brought it to an end. She dug her heels into the ground and stopped, jerking her wrist away and folding her arms over her chest.

"That's enough, Scaredy Pants. Now, what's got your feathers ruffled?"

Harth just nodded, offering a solemn gaze to the two of them as they walked away. He himself turning to that place he usually perched on directly in the setting sunlight. Of course as long as they were in this room he could still hear them.

Duo made an effort to move as calmly as he could away from Harth. He worried. He was a horrible actor even on a good day, could Harth tell what was wrong? That his apprehensions were directed at him? Better not have.

Finally when Toph dug in and yanked her hand away, he flipped around. "What's got my feathered ruffled? That kid is a monster!" Hush hush tone.

"He killed you!"

Reflexively, Toph blinked.

"What?" ... someone had killed her?

"Wait," she held up a hand. After a second of running over Duo's words in her head, she tossed a thumb back towards the vampire. "You mean Harth?"

Harth killed her? Duo was joking, obviously. Or he was just being weird. Or he'd finally snapped and gone crazy. Either way, Toph could barely contain her laughter, hugging her sides and holding the back of a wrist to her lips.

"Did you drink something funny, Duo?"

Duo grabbed both her shoulders, looking over her shoulder at Harth who was just grinning ear to ear. Fuck!

Eaagh! "Toph, Dammit. I'm serious here. You hang around him anymore and who knows what he's gonna do to you!" Duo grit his teeth, shaking his head as he reached to her hand to trab her.

"C'mon."

Edited 2012-04-27 02:20 (UTC)

Sorry, Duo, she's not going anywhere. Not if he feet sunk ankle-deep into the dirt have anything to say about it.

"What's your problem?" she demanded, glaring at nothing as she tore her hand from his.

"He's not a monster. I don't know why you're so scared of him. He can't do anything to me that I can't stop."

It was true. Without Harth's sleeping spells, Toph had the upper edge. Sure, he was strong, probably fast, and likely not too bothered by many injuries she could inflict, but she'd eat her own feet if he managed to break out of being completely immobilized by solid rock. None of this occurred to her, though. He was just... just Harth. Just a too-thin, scrawny, quiet and shy kid who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and was being accused of so many senseless things.

And Harth certainly couldn't kill Toph.

Duo had to shut up. He couldn't risk saying everything. Backing way from the stubborn girl, he eyed Harth briefly before looking back at the girl.

"You be careful, Toph. Just promise me you won't go anywhere alone with him." He said, starting to run back to the common room. He didn't want to risk saying it right in front of him but there element of surprise was almost certainly ruined.

His only saving grace was that he had a small army behind him to back him up, Toph excluded. Hopefully she'll come and find him later and they can work this out.

Toph stood there, feeling Duo's footsteps as he retreated, a hand on her hip and her head tilted.

Something wasn't right. Duo was scared. He was trying to tell her something. It was like he truly believed that Harth was bad. He wasn't just lying.

Maybe he was just being overprotective. She appreciated it, really. Especially after what had happened to her. She just... well... she'd talk to him later about it.

For the moment, she had to check up on her friend, talk to him, see how he was after that day in the dome

Harth was frowning slightly, but his sour mood didn't last. He lay back and basked in the hot and humid weather of today. It was cloudy, and it smelled like fresh rain was coming. He knew that smell all the better since he arrived here. Back home there wasn't much weather to actually sense aside from an acid rain now and again.

"Toph?" He asks very timidly. "Why's he so upset?"

Toph didn't respond as she threw herself up on the perch with him.

"I don't know. Something. He's just being protective and paranoid. Not that I mind too much, I guess. Not after what happened."

That in mind, she turned her head to him.

"What did happen? Did you get out okay?"

"I've heard paranoia is usually simply one's own self delusion. Don't know why he's trying to direct anything towards me, or if that was just the impression I was getting." Harth shrugged, leaning back to look up at the sky. It was still humid. Seasons are changing.

"When you fell asleep the shadows appeared. I tried to carry you out but they were too many. They took you and I ran." He stiffens slightly, turning his head down.

"I don't... Toph. I'm sorry."

Well, she couldn't blame a guy like Harth for running. He didn't have powers, didn't have Bending, didn't have strength, and hardly had any weight on him if the rib poking she gave him said anything.

They really needed to put some meat on his bones.

She didn't say anything to his response directly, instead hiding her shaken spirit behind a smile and a tough voice.

"I can't wait to get out of here..."

It was an empty statement. No use to it, just speaking. Internally, she was still running that day through her head. She hadn't been tired until that room. What was it that caused it? All she could think was an allergy to the hay, but... well... who knew.

There's a long pause, but he does notice how broken she looks. He smiles a bit at noting that then shook his head.

"How can you be so sure that we're ever getting out of here?" Harth asked with a heave of a breathless sigh.

That didn't quite sit well with Toph. She caught that smile. She couldn't see it, but try sounding truly sad with a smile. It's hard to hide from someone who interacts with the world through hearing.

She tilted her head slightly. What was so funny?

She let it go for the moment, though.

"Well, we've got a lot of smart people on our side. We'll figure something out."

"Maybe. I'm not smart in any way that would actually help, and I'm not strong. Makes me a dead weight." A big burden, and his tone of voice said it all.

She snorted. He was dead weight, wasn't he? He was like Sokka and Duo and the others- normal. No Bending. Only, unlike the others, he had no fighting skills.

"We'll find something for you," she shrugged.

Oh, but he was worse. At least those others were strong, no? Not like weak little Harth.

"I hope so." He said in lower than a whisper.

"Maybe just have you stay out of it. It wouldn't do us any good if you were in the way and caught in the fight. I-we don't want you getting hurt."

More silence passed and she kicked her feet back and forth as she thought, head turned away from him. Hopefully he didn't catch that slip. She focused on the ants crawling around on the stone behind them and manipulated the hard rock idly, making little hills and valleys for the ants to maneuver.

"Hey!" She said suddenly, turning to him again with a grin on her face. "We can make you some sort of long range weapon. You can shoot arrows at things from the sidelines. You'll ultimately be useful while at the same time not getting caught up in the gist of the fray."

"Probably..." He hesitates as he catches what she says. 'I'? He lets a breath of air out his lips, breathed natural air. "I'm better off not getting involved." Actually, that was truth. The boy he was? Weak, in the way. But clever enough to save his own life, in a matter of speaking.

He watches her play with the dirt and rock for a moment, before looking up at her and fervently shaking his head.

"No... No. I don't think that's a good idea."

Edited 2012-05-13 05:00 (UTC)

"No, no, Harth... it's a great idea. Listen, you'll be out of the way. You'll be on the sidelines. The rest of us can hold their attention. They'll view us as the deadlier threat and focus their attack our way. You'll have full access to their backs for free shots. It's perfect."

She patted his shoulder harshly, giving a smile that she hoped was encouraging. The smile was given to the ground, but it was meant for Harth.

After a moment, she withdrew her hand almost awkwardly. This whole 'positive reinforcement' and 'gentle nudging' that Katara professed didn't seem like it was working too well. She let out another sigh.

"We all have to pull our own share of the weight around here if we expect any of us to make it out alive, okay? You can't just keep being the helpless little kid. You're going to get hurt or you're going to cause someone else to get hurt. I know you're scared, but that's no excuse."

"Regardless of that, Toph, I'm useless in a fight. I'll stay out of the way. I can do something else." Something far away from those monsters.

Had Toph not caught him smiling before he might have shown his droll amusement at how pitiful he was acting for her benefit. Gaining sympathy and earning her friendship.

What he didn't believe however, is how Toph just rejected what Duo had said, though all true, based on her own bias. That he will use at a later time.

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tophbeifong - 2012-05-13 17:21 (UTC) - Expand

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