castleinthemist | .01.

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gundam wing: duo maxwell [au1]

.01. - Open

He really should have known better. He was the kind of person capable of getting in to trouble just walking across the street, what made him think that going exploring in the castle alone was a good idea?

Well, really, he never thought it was a good idea. It was just an idea. One that he did despite the possible risk of it.

And now he was regretting that.

Having made his way up to a flat, almost roof like area of the castle, he was simply looking around the edges, thinking it was about time to start heading back to his room since there really hadn't been anything of interest around there except for a couple of barrels he couldn't open in another room. He leaned over one of the little ledges that hung over another area below, spotting what looked like train tracks.

Well that was interesting! But not something he wanted to keep to himself. His double would sure as hell want to know about that, right? He kind of wished he'd brought something to draw a map out with, but he knew if he went back now he could recall the path there from memory alone.

He turned to start the trek back, and it was that moment fate decided to remind Duo Maxwell that his luck was good, but never as good as he would have liked it to be.

Loose, crumbling stone fell away from where his right foot was, and his balance was lost. He felt a sickening sensation in the pit of his stomach as he fell backwards. A yelp sounded from him as he grabbed what was left of the ledge, feet dangling high above the stone floor below. If he fell, it was going to hurt. A lot. If it didn't kill him.

"Damnit...!"

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He was waist deep now, still his arms held fast, pinned to his chest as the monster's arms wrapped around him. The cold darkness that was swallowing him up felt like it was draining his own warmth away. It wasn't the first time he'd felt this kind of fear either. The last time? Last time he was on death's door, and that thought chilled him do the bone.

He caught sight of his double storming up the castle stairs to save him and do combat with these damn monsters. The battle cry snapping his attention to the younger one as he watched the exchange. Strangely enough, seeing himself be smacked across the face triggered anger in himself and he began his struggles anew.

"Someone shoulda warned you." He said shakily, looking back to the one who held him in it's embrace. "Anyone who comes up against the god of Death is gonna die!" That bit came as a growl, but he let out another fearful yelp as the beast pushed down on his head, pushing him down to his chest, then his armpits. He raised his arms watching as the one who held him flew off to face his other. He was sinking faster now, and that dark and angry scowl gave way to fear once again. He was done for, at this rate!

By the time his double was done, he was neck deep, his chin pointed up out of fear of drowning in this thing. Hurryhurryhurry! His double grabbed him and hauled his ass up, but it was tough at first. Once he managed to get his arms and chest out, he helped himself up, climbing back out onto the cold stone roof top, near collapsing on his double, his face pebbled with sweat.

It was like trying to pull an object out of molasses, or something even thicker and stickier. It wasn't that the actual blackness itself was sticky, but that it held fast and refused to let go even when Duo's body started lifting out of it.

But eventually, after what felt like more minutes than it really was, his double was out of it and they were both on solid ground again, panting, red faced and sweating. The portal slowly dissipated now that the shadows were no longer around to maintain it and nothing was inside to be taken away in to it's inky depths. A dark bruise was forming across Duo's cheek where he'd been struck, and a tiny bit of blood trickled down his chin from a split lip.

All things considered, though, that being the only real injury of the entire fray was a lucky break for both of them.

Sprawled out near the other on the stone, now tousled braid over his shoulder, he fought to catch his breath against the waning adrenaline rush.

"Let's... let's not do that again... okay...?"

Edited 2012-01-30 20:34 (UTC)

He curled up, his hands around his stomach as he tried to fight back the urge to throw up. He wasn't going to, he knew, he just felt sick. He felt cold and an overwhelming sense of fear. He trembled there, breathing in shaky breaths as he tried to calm himself down. He rolled onto his back as his double said that.

Not do it again? He could do that. He brought his hands to his face, wiping the sweat away then clasping them over his face again as he inhaled and huffing the air out.

"Y-yeah. Sure." He said, pulling himself up to sit, leaning his elbows into his knees, dropping one of his hands from his face and leaning his face into the other, elbow against his knee.

He didn't need to look to know that the shaky sound from his voice was the sound of some one who was just teetering on the verge of a break down. Those things had been scary to look at and terrifying to face, but getting grabbed and pulled in to a portal like that? He could only imagine the sort of nightmare inducing feelings that had caused.

Slowly he sat up with a grunt, knowing he was going to be sore as hell in the morning but not really caring about that right then. He reached out and grabbed his double's shoulder firmly, giving him a gentle shake.

"Hey. It's over. Just breathe, man..." he said, voice low and quiet in an attempt to be reassuring.

Good advice. He took a deep breath, turning his head to face his double. His eyes scanned his face briefly over his shoulder and he exhaled. He nodded, his lips curling into a smile that lasted a split second. Well-- At least he understood. He could be thankful for that.

He spent a few minutes recovering, his head still throbbing and his heart rate still up. Figured if he had stood up he'd have just fallen right back over. He was good now... Probably. But holy fuck.

"You're bleeding." He pointed out, turning to look at him directly. "Uh... And thanks. For that."

To be not to be sucked into oblivion? He owed him. Big time.

Duo blinked and touched the back of his hand to his face, coming back with a bit of blood on it. It wasn't much, though, and even if his face was aching something awful now he wasn't about to complain.

"I've had worse..." he said, offering the other a wry smile in response to his thanks. "Wasn't 'bout to let those fucks get one up on you like that. That was a cheap shot, man, gettin' you from behind..."

He returned the smile and nodded, chuckling a bit though it was without mirth. He pushed himself up to his feet but still stumbled a bit. Just-- set this stuff aside for now. He did have a purpose for being out here again, right? He clenched his eyes shut, a hand going to his forehead.

"Lets go back. I gotta clear my head. Gotta talk t'you about somethin' still."

Hiding the worried look that came over his face was easier said than done, but he didn't push to keep them sitting there for longer. He knew himself well enough to also know that his double would be just as stubborn, if not more so, as he was about these sorts of things. Staying prone in one place, even to recover, wouldn't sit well with him.

He nodded silently and stood, glancing back over the ledge. The tracks were still there, but with the way things were going he wouldn't have been surprised if they had shifted around when they were preoccupied.

For now it was something to come back to later.

"'kay..."

And he'd come back and take a look next time when they were both properly armed. He made a mental note of that too, but he was far too preoccupied with the coldness that still lingered on his skin. He went slowly down the stairs this time, seemingly in thought while the other one trailed behind him. Once in the door he moved inside the chamber.

Looking at the chain, his shoulders dropped and he grumbled. "I'm getting sick of this. It couldn't have been a normal castle, could it?"

His eyes fell on the chain as well, a huff of annoyance escaping him. He stood with his hands on his hips for a minute before finally giving in, knowing there wasn't any other way down. He jumped on the chain, grumbling as he shimmied down it.

"What about any of this is normal... ?"

"Nothin, but I can dream can't I?" Duo watched him go down and waited til he was down before jumping over himself, slipping slightly before getting a hand on the chain. He cursed as he pinched one of his fingers. Nothin' was going right for him just then. He climbed down and dropped off, passing a glance to his partner and started off towards the stairs.

"At least we know that there's something more then just the castle. There's something sinister after us. We're gonna need to let people know about that."

"We both can, apparently."

Another huff, this one more morose than irritated, left him as he stuffed his hands in his pockets, trying to ignore just how much his face was starting to hurt. Stupid things didn't throw their punches. Reminded him of a certain Japanese pilot he knew.

"How d'you propose we do that? Stand on a street corner and say 'the shadow things are coming' until some one listens?"

They'll try and help him out with that when they get to the common room. He walked along side Duo, letting him pass him up the stairs before following behind. How to do that? Hm.

"As if. You get into a conversation with someone, you tell em. Either that or we could find some chalk and write it on the wall. Don't think anyone can ignore that." He snorted at the thought and shook his head. Once they were up the stairs he shrugged. "Do whatever, just make sure that people know what's going on."

"... right," Duo muttered, wondering if he actually could find any chalk somewhere in the castle. Chalk, or at least something to draw on the walls with.

Now that they were finally nearing the living quarters, he chanced a glance over his shoulder curiously.

"What'd you wanna talk to me about anyway?"

Burn some wood and you have char coal. They could always use that! But he didn't think getting the job done itself would be too overly difficult. He shrugged.

He moved in step now with his double across the bridge, mulling it over. "I have some good news, actually. I'm not you after all."

He pauses.

"Actually I'm not sure if it's good news or not. It's just that you don't grow up to be me. Our timelines don't match up."

Edited 2012-01-31 07:31 (UTC)

Duo... wasn't really sure what to say to that. He couldn't really say he was relieved because he hadn't gotten much in the way of information to know what had caused the change between him and his double. But it still was odd and a little unnerving to hear. Their timelines didn't match up? What did that really mean?

"... okay..." was all he could really say at the end of it, confusion written on his features.

"I got to talking to Heero when I met him here. He told me the war ended on Christmas 195. That didn't happen for me." He explained, still walking as they entered the residential room. From there he headed over to the table, nobody was there so they may as well just talk there. He took a seat, frowning a bit. Aaah. Yeah. He wasn't gonna be happy with this information.

"Instead, the Bartons went ahead with Operation Meteor."

He had been following behind a few paces, but the words spoken made him stop and stare, mouth agape.

"... they... they did what?"

That feeling was back. A shame that churned his stomach and made him feel ill. Adding that on top of what he'd just experienced, he was beginning to feel awful. He leaned his arms into the table and sighed.

His voice was low and flat, a bit of a shake with his final words. "They dropped the colony onto the Earth. And we didn't make it in time to stop em."

Edited 2012-02-01 02:00 (UTC)

There was that saying, about the rug being pulled out from under one's feet. Duo was feeling that right then, only when the rug was pulled it seemed his equilibrium and strength went with it. His knees trembled for a moment only to collapse completely. He fell backwards, not even noticing how much it hurt to hit the ground that hard.

He couldn't speak. His voice only caught in his throat uselessly. His hands moved over his face, head shaking slowly.

There was nothing he could say.

There was a long silence between them. After his curt conversation with Heero, he didn't really think it would actually be this hard to talk about it. Then again, much like his initial encounter with his double, he compartmentalized and focused at the task at hand. Looking back at his double, watching his reaction-- it was clear it was no small ordeal.

"D--.." He started. "Don't. Okay?" He folded his hands in front of him and rested his jaw on his knuckles. "I already feel bad enough-- and..." Oh man, he put his hands to his face and let out a shaky breath. He really didn't know what else to say himself. Felt like he just said the most horrible thing in the world.

Worse yet? He still felt cold. He shivered and settled back in his chair, his arms crossed over his chest for the warmth.

Edited 2012-02-01 07:54 (UTC)

Duo still didn't say anything. Try as he might he just couldn't wrap his mind around the level of destruction, death and chaos that had to have caused. There was a million questions, yet none he could voice without his throat closing up on him.

"I can't--..." was all he managed to get out before his voice cracked and he went silent again.

It was a massacre. All of the people on the colony and then the race of immigrants to outer space. He took in a deep breath and exhaled, trying to focus on other things. Some of the good that has come out of the war despite everything. Despite everything.

"I know." He said, shaking his head. What could he say? They had the same hangups about operation Meteor. They probably made the same decision to go to Earth. There was just nothing he could say to make things right. Maybe...

"Listen." He said, glancing longingly at the bedroom doors on the far side of the room. That corridor that at the moment looked so far away. "I won't say anymore. You don't need to carry that."

"Little late for that, don'tcha think?" Duo grunted, finally lowering his hands. He felt sick, but a harsh swallow kept it down for the time being.

Duo groaned. He didn't want to feel this way, and he didn't think the kid would react so much to the news. Heero hadn't, but then they still had so much to sort through that his news probably didn't feel all that important. That? Duo just didn't want to see himself looking like that.

"Does it matter? It doesn't effect you--! It's done! It happened! And your world is still safe!" Duo paused, looking down at the table.

"And I don't wanna think about it anymore."

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