Dearly Departed
chapter 3
Dearly Departed
Chapter 3
Heero awoke to someone shaking him. Worried violet eyes met
his and Heero was instantly awake. For the cat to look like that, something
must be wrong. Duo was wearing just his pajama pants that Heero had cut a hole
out for his tail and he was clutching his bat to his chest. Duo frantically
pointed at the clock. Heero saw that it was five minutes past his usual wake up
time. It wasn’t so late that he would have to rush, but if Duo hadn’t been
here, he would have overslept by a lot. He rubbed one of Duo’s ears in
gratitude. Still, Duo tugged on Heero’s shirt, trying to tug him out of bed.
“Alright, alright, I’m up,” Heero laughed. Duo ran to the
kitchen and Heero headed to the shower. His heart ached as he remembered his
mother waking him up that exactly same way. He shook off the feeling. He missed
his parents very much, but having Duo around made him feel better.
feelings vanish.
saw that Duo had already set the table, though he hadn’t done a very good job
of it. Duo was still learning, so Heero wouldn’t penalize him for it, besides
it was the thought that counted. Patiently, Heero showed him how to do it
properly, the fork did not belong under the plate and the knife did not belong
in the water glass. Duo watched all of this in fascination. Duo’s zest for life
and learning was contagious and Heero found himself smiling even at the simple
task of making scrambled eggs. He let Duo try some of the eggs and gave him some
friend hamburger for breakfast. The smell wasn’t tantalizing to Heero so early
in the morning, but Duo seemed to love it. Heero decided that he would take a
little bit of time out of each day to teach Duo things. Yesterday he had taught
him how to dress and Duo had already taught himself how to do the laundry.
Today he would teach him how to use the shower. For normal cats, they could
wash themselves with their tongues, but Duo wasn’t a normal pet and he
remembered watching an Animal Planet special on tigers and panthers and it had
said that the big cats loved water, so he was sure that Duo would enjoy a
shower. Duo watched intensely as Heero washed the dishes and Heero knew that he
was storing the information away from later use. The cat’s intelligence was
very much like a human’s. Heero let Duo help him with the dishes, though there
weren’t that many to do. Still, Duo seemed happy to do anything to help Heero.
As Duo was concentrating on how to dry the dishes once they were washed, a
plate slipped from his fingers and shattered on the floor. Duo’s reaction was
immediate; he crouched on the floor, hanging his head in an act of submission
and his whole body shook as he tried to get his cries under control.
Heero cried, worried both about the reaction and that Duo might hurt himself on
the shards of the broken dish. He wrapped his arms around the cat
“It’s
alright,” Heero said, stroking Duo’s hair. Duo started to settle down at the
reassuring touch. Heero caressed Duo’s cheek and wiped away his tears.
“I
will never hurt you. No matter how angry I am, I will never strike you, ok?”
Heero smiled at Duo and Duo tried to smile back, though he still looked unsure
that he wouldn’t be punished. “And I’m not mad, Duo. It was just an accident. I
have hundreds of plates but only one kitty.” Duo rubbed against Heero’s cheek
in happiness. Heero’s smile grew. He never wanted Duo to be afraid of him. Suddenly,
the door rang. Heero swore.
“Bad timing,” he muttered. If he didn’t hurry up, he might
be late for work after all. Duo’s ears flattened back against his skull and he
hissed. The sound was loud and frightening coming from the small cat. Whoever was
at the door, Duo didn’t like them.
“Go to the bedroom,” Heero told Duo, “I’m not supposed to
let anyone see you, remember?” Duo nodded and carefully maneuvered around the
broken plate and ran into the bedroom, shutting the door firmly behind him.
Heero sighed. It wouldn’t be Trowa
came harder and more insistent. With an impatient frown, Heero went to open it,
only to have someone throw their arms around him and he nearly fell to the
ground. He instantly felt angry about anyone touching him like that, only Duo
was allowed that privilege! He might have wondered at how he allowed Duo to
tackle him like this when he hated it when anyone else did it, but he just didn’t
have the time.
“Heero!” The
person squeaked, their voice high pitched.
“Relena,” Heero growled, “What
are you doing here?” Relena got off of Heero and
smiled sweetly, but Heero only felt more annoyed. He hadn’t seen the blonde
girl since his parents funeral. Personally, he had
been furious that she had showed up at all. Of course, she had every right to
be there, their families had been close for years but the last few years their
parents had had a falling out and he had hoped never to see her again. The only
reason why he had not thrown her out of the funeral was out of respect for his
parents. It was no wonder Duo hadn’t liked her; her
perfume was enough to make his nose itch and Heero had normal, human senses.
“Oh, Heero! My brother told me
that you hadn’t been eating or going to work! How horrible! I came here to
help!” She said earnestly. Heero narrowed his eyes at her. He hated
of proportions just so he could see some drama. He was always butting into
other people’s business and had a different boyfriend at the end of every week.
Zechs knew about Heero’s dislike of him and didn’t
playground.
“Relena
actually talked to Trowa, who works with me while
your brother does not, you would discover that I have been going to work and
that my appetite is fine.” Relena frowned.
“Now, Heero, I think my brother knows about these things a
little bit more than Trowa Barton. Besides, you may
think you’re fine, but you are not! I’m a woman and I can tell!”
his keys from their hook by the door and put on his shoes. He was angry that he
could not say goodbye to Duo properly.
“I’m sorry, Relena,” he said
insincerely, “But I have to go to work,” he stressed the work.
they just leeched off of their parents. Heero doubted if either of them had
ever worked a day in their lives. Heero’s parents had been fairly wealthy, too,
but unlike the Peacecrafts, the Yuys
did not flaunt their wealth or spoil their son. Heero liked being independent
and he like working for a living. He brushed past Relena,
who was sputtering, trying to get Heero to go with her to some stupid restaurant
as Heero rushed to his car.
Duo poked his head out his Master’s bedroom. That horrible
female and her domineering stench had finally left. Duo went to the kitchen. He
had done bad, he had broken one of his Master’s
things, but Master had not punished him. Duo felt at his slender neck. Master
had not put a collar on him, yet and Duo hoped that he never would. Collars
were evil things and they hurt. His Master was a good human; Duo could sense
that, so he wanted to do everything he could to help him. Heero was so sad,
just like Duo and Duo was glad that he was around to make things better. Duo
knelt down on the floor and started to pick up the pieces of plate. He would
clean up the house and show his Master that he could be a good kitty and that
he didn’t need a collar to behave. The pieces of plate cut his fingers, but Duo
didn’t mind, he was used to pain.
End Chapter 3