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Equus	By : Deb Category: Gundam Wing/AC > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 2855 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing, it belongs to Bandai, Sotsu and associated parties. I do own the equines though, please do not take them without permission. Written for pleasure not profit.

Chapter List
- 10
- 11
- 12
“Equus”

Chapter 11

The following Saturday saw June arrive at Duo's cottage where Heero greeted her and took her down through the raceway to the stables. He gave her a tour of the facilities, starting with the stable complex, the feed and tack sheds, schooling paddock and finally the paddocks themselves. He explained the basic outline of the work he would do with Orion and asked several questions in regards to the horse's current education.

June seemed very impressed with the set up, not only was it comfortable and practical, but it was obvious that Heero cared for his animals. She met Zero and Shinigami and had nothing but kind words to say about the pair. Heero introduced Wing to her as his up and coming jumper and finished off with Angel. June fell in love with the gray mare.

With the guided tour finished, Heero took the woman back to the cottage where she was introduced to Duo who made them all some refreshments and had put the paperwork out on the table. Reading through the paperwork, June was again impressed by the professionalism of Heero. She asked a couple of questions and queried the clause of the Maxwell Veterinary Practice being the consulting vets. Heero explained about Duo's practice being right there on the property along with Duo and also Zechs in residence in the house by the stables.

Seeing the logic in that and agreeing it was by far more practical, not to mention reassuring that should the need arise for vet treatment it was right there on the doorstep, June agreed to the terms and conditions and signed the paperwork. Heero also signed and Duo followed up with his own signature as a witness. Taking the paperwork through to the surgery, Heero quickly made a couple of copies and brought them back, handing one over to June and filing the other one away.

It was arranged for June to bring Orion over the following day, along with his gear – rugs, saddle bridle and such. With the final arrangements in place, they bid the woman farewell and returned to the cottage for a celebratory glass of soda.

“When will you be finishing up at Treize's?” Duo asked, sitting himself down in Heero's lap and winding his arms around the rider's neck.

“Not sure,” Heero replied. “This is only one horse and it will take a couple of days for him to settle in before I can start to do any serious work on him. The advert has appeared in the Salsbury Times and I've got another couple of inquiries from that which I will be speaking to the people about; one this afternoon and the other tomorrow. The advert in Hoofbeats is due out in another two weeks and I may get some interest from that too. Meanwhile, one horse isn't really enough to keep me going so I'll need to stay on at Treize's for a while. If either of these other two I'll be talking with later happen to work out and I take them on, I guess I will have to look at quitting Treize's within a week or so, although I really should give Treize two weeks notice.”

“I'm pretty sure Treize will be understanding, he knows what it's like,” Duo said as he nuzzled Heero's neck.

“Yeah, he's been a great boss and mentor, not to mention a loyal friend too.”

“Speaking of friends, Zechs starts with us on Monday.”

“That's right, he does. I'd completely forgotten about that with everything else that's been going on.”

“Lucky one of us is on the ball then,” Duo chuckled.

“It will be nice to spend a little more quality time together,” Heero replied and kissed his lover's lips.

“Mmm, I agree. I'm gonna have a staff meeting Monday after morning consults so we can work out a roster. Care to sit in on it? It is your day off from Treize's.”

“I should be able to manage that.”

“Good, now kiss me some more.”

~ * ~

The last two weeks working at Oakford had been strained and Zechs would be more than happy to walk out the door for the final time. Since handing in his notice, Anderson had tried to talk him out of leaving, but Zechs had stood firm. When the offer of a pay rise, and granting his vacation time hadn't swayed the blonde vet in any way, Anderson knew Zechs meant business.

The work load hadn't decreased though and Zechs found himself covering just as many, if not more consults during his last couple of weeks. Whilst the workload may have still been horrendous, Zechs didn't let it get to him. Instead he played his boss at his own game. If Zechs hadn't finished the list of clients he'd been given by the end of his usual working hours, he made certain to put the remaining time down as overtime. When Anderson questioned him about the extra hours, Zechs had informed his boss that he was quite within his rights to be paid overtime for any work outside his agreed hours of employment. He gave Anderson a choice; either he paid the overtime or Zechs would knock off at his normal time regardless of whether or not he'd finished his list.

Anderson knew he was beaten. If they didn't complete the day's work then the backlog of work would continue to build; if he didn't pay the overtime he could be in serious trouble with the Department of Employment. Grudgingly he agreed to pay the overtime, but Zechs did note he ended up with all the really awful cases to attend.

Saturday finally rolled around and Zechs was looking forward to finishing up that day. He'd agreed to work the Saturday and finish up then as opposed to the Friday when he should have left. There were a lot of cases still on the books to be seen and some of them were clients Zechs had formed friendships with and he did want to let those people know he was leaving and where he would be practicing in the future. He'd let a lot of his clients know already and many had expressed their dismay at his leaving. Once they knew where he was going to though, several told him they would be moving their business to the Maxwell Veterinary Practice as well.

Zechs had been touched by the number of clients who wished to retain his services and he hadn't in any way tried to influence them into changing their vet practice as not only was it unethical but also against the law. However, he was free to tell them where he would be practicing and it was the clients' right to choose what vet they wished to treat their animals. Zechs had a funny feeling that Oakford wasn't going to be quite as busy in the future, but the Maxwell practice would be seeing a further increase in their client base.

Dusk was starting to close in when Zechs finished with his last client – an abscess drain. Packing away his gear into his black bag, Zechs shook hands with the owner and promised that the bill would be sent out in due course. The owner passed on their best wishes for Zechs' move to the new practice and waved the man off. Heading back out onto the road, all Zechs had left to do was return to Oakford, hand over all the information on the cases he'd attended that day, empty out his car of all drugs and equipment that belonged to Oakford and sign off. Then he would be a free man; well, free for a day at least before he started work with Duo and Hilde on Monday.

Walking back into Oakford's office, he passed over the client data to Sarah, pointing out a couple of things she would need to know. With that part done, Sarah offered to give him a hand to empty his car, an offer he gratefully accepted. He had a dinner date with Treize, sort of a celebration at finishing up with Oakford and the start of his new life at Maxwell's. With Sarah helping, it only took fifteen minutes to empty the car.

“Leave it all there, Zechs. I'll put it all away later,” Sarah told the vet.

“Are you sure?”

“Of course.” Sarah looked up at the blonde. “Zechs, I just want to say it's been a pleasure working with you and whilst I will miss you terribly, I wish you all the best in your new job.” Sarah paused to wipe at her eyes. Picking up a small, wrapped box off her desk, she handed it to Zechs. “The other nurses and I had a bit of a whip around and although it's not much, we'd like you to have this as a sort of farewell present from us.”

Zechs was touched. “Oh, Sarah, you and the others didn't have to do anything like this. It's been a pleasure working with you nurses too. You're all professionals and I'll miss all of you.” He took the offered box and began to open it. Once the wrapping was removed he was left holding a red velvet box. Carefully he lifted the lid and peered inside. He gave a soft gasp as he studied the item.

It was a chain and pendant set in silver. The pendant was a solid silver horse, standing to attention and looking into the distance. Two small sapphires were set for its eyes, the silver having been delicately crafted in loving detail. It was exquisite.

“It's beautiful, Sarah. You all shouldn't have done this though, it's way too expensive.”

“It's our pleasure, Zechs and we hope that when you wear it or look at it you will have fond memories of your time here with all of us at Oakford.” Sarah gave a sniffle and wiped at her eyes.

“Thank you, it really means a lot to me.” Zechs took the pendant and chain out of the box and placed it around his neck. “Would you mind?” he asked Sarah, indicating for her to do the clasp up as he was having a bit of a problem with his larger fingers.

“Of course,” Sarah chuckled. “Turn around.” Pushing Zechs' hair over his shoulder, Sarah did the clasp up and then pulled Zechs' hair back into place. Moving to stand in front of the vet she admired the way the pendant sat against his throat. “It looks good on you.”

“Thanks,” Zechs whispered and pulled the nurse into a hug. “Thanks for everything.”

Sarah returned the hug before pulling away. “You'd best be going I suppose. Don't be a stranger and drop in on us from time to time.”

“I'll be sure to do that.” With a smile, Zechs put the empty box in his pocket and turned to leave. Stepping outside the practice he walked swiftly to his car and paused. He turned back and took one last look at the place he'd worked at for a few years now, surprised when he saw Doctor Anderson step out and walk towards him.

“Merquise,” Anderson began with a nod of his head and offer of his hand.

Zechs took the offered hand and shook it.

“I know we haven't always seen eye to eye and I'm not the easiest person to work with, but I would like to say thank you for all the time and effort you have put into this practice over the years. Despite people thinking otherwise, I do appreciate your skills and I wish you all the best.” Anderson's tone was calm but firm.

To say Zechs was shocked would be an understatement, but he could appreciate the effort it had taken for the other vet to say those words and he really didn't want to leave on bad terms. He decided to forgive and forget. “Thank you for giving me the opportunity to broaden my skills. It's been a good learning curve in my career.”

Anderson grunted, gave a last nod and turned on his heel, walking back inside the practice.

Zechs watched him go and once the man was inside, he let go a soft whistle. “Guess there's hope for him after all.” With a smile on his lips, Zechs got into his car and drove away from the Oakford practice for the last time. As the pages closed on one chapter of his life, so a new chapter was awaiting him.

* * *

“What time is this other person calling around?” Duo asked as he put on his shoes.

“About four-thirty,” Heero replied.

“Is this the one who has a horse they want educating or the one looking for agistment?”

“The one looking for agistment.”

“Ah. Good luck then. I'm off.” Duo swooped in and stole a kiss from his lover.

“Will you be okay or would you like a hand with the consults this evening?” asked Heero when the kiss broke.

“I should be fine. Catherine is on and although we're fully booked I don’t foresee anything unusual happening. But of course, I wouldn't mind if you wanted to swing by the surgery once you're all done with the horses and the client.” Duo gave his lover a secret smile.

“I'll come up as soon as I'm finished down here.” Heero partook of another, quick kiss. “Don't go getting bitten by any more patients,” he teased.

“I'll try not to,” Duo shot back as he dashed out the door.

Heero snickered, shook his head and returned to reading the paper.

There was a knock on the door at precisely four-thirty, Heero opening it up to see a man who he guessed to be in his late twenties standing there.

“Mr. Yuy?” asked the man.

“I'm Heero Yuy,” Heero replied.

“Frank Lowe. I called in regards to agistment for my horse?” Frank offered his hand which Heero took.

“Yes, Mr. Lowe, I've been expecting you. Please, come inside whilst I put on my boots and I'll take you down and show you the facilities. We can discuss exactly what it is you're looking for while you're taking a look around.”

“Thank you.” Frank followed Heero into the cottage and waited whilst Heero put his boots on. Minutes later Heero was taking the man along the raceway towards the stables.

As they walked, Heero explained about the two properties being joined and the top property and stables being the Maxwell Veterinary Practice whilst the stud and stables were situated on the rear property. Walking between the paddocks, Heero pointed out the ones that were available for agisters and clients horses he was educating. Frank asked a few questions which Heero answered.

Passing by the paddocks where Heero's horses were currently grazing, Frank couldn't help but comment on the excellent condition they were in. They paused to say hello to Zero and Angel, Shinigami preferring to continue grazing as he couldn't scent any carrots and Wing was just too lazy to leave his shady spot under the tree.

Frank was shown the schooling paddock, jumping course, stables, feed and tack rooms. “What type of horse have you got and what is it you're currently doing with it?” Heero asked as Frank appraised Heero's jumps.

“He's a bay stallion, warm blood and stands seventeen hands,” replied Frank. “Royal Park Jester is his name but I call him Jester for short. He's currently competing in B grade and I'm hoping to have him upgraded to A grade by next year. I must say, you have a very impressive set up here, Mr. Yuy.”

“Call me Heero and thank you.”

“I think this would work out just fine for Jester. You say you only do full board?”

“That's correct. I do have a written contract which itemizes everything that is included, but as a rough guide, full board means your horse is stabled at night, paddocked during the day and receives two hard feeds and hay. All stable work, rugging and such is also included. Pretty much all you need to do is come over whenever you want and ride the horse.”

“Sounds ideal for what I want. Do you by chance give lessons, or know of someone close by with a similar level of experience as yourself that does lessons? I know Jester is good and has the ability to go further, but there are times when I'm not completely sure if I'm teaching him the right way.” Frank shook his head. “You would know what I mean.”

Heero smiled. “Actually, I am going to start giving lessons. They will be at a reduced rate for clients who agist with me, so if you're interested in that side of things as well, I'm sure we can come to some sort of arrangement.”

“That's great. Look, Heero, I'm very happy with everything you've shown me and if you are okay with myself and my horse, I'd like to agist him here and arrange to have a weekly lesson with you.”

“If you're sure you're happy with everything I suggest we go back to the cottage where we can talk a little more on your horse's dietary requirements and you can read over the paperwork. If you have any questions I can answer them for you too.” Heero began to walk back towards the cottage.

“Thank you, Heero.”

* * *

“Just give him one tablet per day with his dinner, Mr. Swann. You should start to notice an improvement after three or four days. Continue the course until all the tablets are gone. If he doesn't show any improvement after four days or suddenly gets worse, bring him straight back,” Duo said as he handed the middle aged man a packet with the tablets and instructions written on them.

“Thank you, Doc. Much appreciated.”

“You're welcome, Mr. Swann. Be a good boy now, Rusty.” Duo gave the red setter's head a gentle pat and received a tongue bath to his hand for his trouble. Opening the door, Duo let the client walk out ahead of him and handed Catherine the file. Whilst Catherine took charge and settled the client's account, Duo disappeared back into the consulting room to clean up. Rusty had been his last consult for the evening and he was looking forward to dinner and snuggling with Heero. He was also curious to know how Heero had gotten on with the person interested in agistment.

“Speak of the devil,” Duo said as Heero walked into the consulting room. “I was just thinking about you.”

“Nice thoughts I hope,” Heero smiled and wrapped his arms around his lover, pressing a kiss to Duo's neck.

“Of course. Now kiss me properly.”

Heero was happy to oblige. “You all finished?”

“Yup. Just got the waiting room to tidy up and check that Catherine has managed to get all the clients' files loaded onto Nrobbuts and I'm all yours.”

“I'll give you a hand.” The smile was still on Heero's face and Duo couldn't help but notice he looked a little smug.

“How did it go with the person who was looking for agistment?” Duo asked as he finished wiping down the consulting room table.

“He was very impressed with the set up.” Heero said and left it at that. He knew Duo would want more information.

“Heero! Stop teasing me and tell me what happened,” Duo demanded, holding the spray bottle of disinfectant and wipes up a little higher and aiming at Heero.

“Okay, okay,” Heero chuckled and held his hands up in surrender. “His name is Frank Lowe, he has a warm-blood stallion that's currently in B grade competition. He's very happy with the set up and has signed a contract to bring his horse in on full board agistment. He also wants a minimum of one lesson per week, two if time permits for both of us. He's bringing his horse over next Saturday.”

“Yes! That's two now, Heero. Pretty soon I'm betting you will have a stable full and be your own boss. I'm so happy for you.” Duo flung his arms around Heero and hugged him close, planting a kiss to those sweet lips. “I think this calls for a celebration. I know, we'll go out to dinner, my treat.”

Knowing any protest he made would fall on deaf ears, Heero decided it would be far easier to just give in. “Where shall we go?”

Duo thought for a moment, then his face lit up in a big smile. “We haven't been to the Chang Palace for a while. Fancy Chinese?”

“Chinese is fine with me.”

* * *

Meiran greeted the pair as they entered the Chang Palace. It had been a little while since she'd seen them both and smiling broadly, she escorted them to a booth in the corner. “How are you both?” she asked politely as they took their seats.

“We're fine, thanks for asking. How are Wufei and yourself?” Duo returned.

“We're both well. Business is really busy lately which is a nice thing. How is the practice?”

“Keeps me out of trouble,” Duo grinned. “Actually, it's getting very busy, to the point where I'm taking on a third vet just to be able to cope.”

“That is excellent. I hear you're starting up your own business, Mr. Yuy?”

Heero blinked at that. He didn't realize just how fast the grapevine could work at times. “Yes, yes I am.”

“I wish you all the very best. Now, can I get you something to drink while you look over the menu?”

“I think I'll have a soda,” Duo said.

“Make that two, please,” Heero added.

Having taken their drink orders, Meiran left them to peruse their menus. After a short while she returned and took their food order. Whilst waiting for the food to arrive, Heero explained a little more about Frank Lowe and his horse, the man's current level of competition and his hopes for the future.

The food arrived and the pair began to eat with enthusiasm, Wufei's cooking was second to none and although the pair didn't get out as often as they would have liked for dinner, when they did manage it, the Chang Palace was one of their favorite places to dine. It seemed it was also very popular with a lot of Salsbury's residents if the packed state of the place was anything to go by.

As the evening wore on, many of the patrons left, a lot of them having dined earlier. Given Duo's hours at the practice it was rare for them to make a dinner reservation before seven-thirty. As the restaurant crowd thinned, the noise level also dropped and Meiran managed to stop by their table and see if they would like any dessert. Both men declined, feeling rather full from their meal, but they welcomed the offer of coffee.

Meiran returned with their coffees and set them down. “Excuse me for being forward, gentlemen, but Mr. Yuy, if you are not in any rush, would you mind staying for a little longer, please? My husband, Wufei, would like to have a word with you if it's no trouble.”

Heero wondered what the Chinese chef could possibly want with him and he glanced across at Duo. The vet gave a shrug of his shoulders to indicate he didn't have a clue either, but nodded that it was fine with him if they lingered over their coffees. Neither one had to be up early for any reason so retiring a little later in the evening wouldn't be a problem.

“That would be fine, Mrs. Chang,” Heero said.

“Thank you. I'm sure he will be out very shortly.” Meiran cleared the last of their dishes away and left them in peace to enjoy their coffees.

“I wonder what he could possibly want,” Heero mused after the woman had left.

“No idea,” replied Duo. “I guess we will soon find out though.”

The pair finished their coffees, speculating on what Wufei could want to talk to Heero about and not coming up with anything. Meiran returned to clear away their coffee cups and brought them both a refill. “On the house,” she'd said.

After another fifteen minutes, a Chinese man in a white chef's uniform stepped out of the kitchen and approached their table. The restaurant was almost empty by now, just a couple of other tables remained finishing off desserts and coffees.

“Mr. Yuy, Doctor Maxwell, thank you for waiting,” Wufei greeted and offered his hand.

Both Duo and Heero shook the man's hand and indicated for him to take a seat. Once Wufei was seated, he took a brief moment to order his thoughts before speaking.

“Mr. Yuy, if you don’t mind, I'd like to talk to you about a business proposition I'm thinking about. I've done a little research and I have a rough idea of what I want to do, but I thought if you could spare the time to talk to me, you would be the best person to offer advice and tell me if what I'm thinking of is a good proposition.”

Now Heero's curiosity was even more piqued, along with Duo's.

“My business is is getting, shall we say, very busy and looks to continue along that way. I have been looking at ways to cut back on taxes and sort of advertise at the same time. I have spoken to a few other business people and one thing a lot of them seem to have in common is the way in which they manage to reduce their tax. Several of them have gone into partnerships involving racehorses and use the expenses as a tax deduction.”

“I see,” Heero said. He had a reasonable knowledge of how what Wufei was talking about worked, he'd handled several clients' files during his time as an accountant who claimed expenses such as a racehorse to reduce the amount of tax they paid. “It is a way of reducing your tax, although managing to purchase or go into a partnership with a successful racehorse is very difficult to do. For every good racehorse, one that will win or place consistently, there are around another twenty that don't.”

“I realize that, Mr. Yuy and I propose to do something a little different. I was thinking more along the lines of purchasing a good competition horse, a show jumper to be precise and paying someone to train it, ride it and compete on it.”

The light bulb in Heero's head began to shine a little brighter. “Ah.”

“I had thought of approaching Mr. Khushrenada with my idea, but when Meiran informed me of your venture into the equine business world, I thought that maybe you would be interested.”

The wheels were turning rapidly in Heero's head and he could envision how this proposal could work to both their benefit. “Mr. Chang, I am interested in what you propose, but it would need a lot more discussion before an agreement could be put in place. There are quite a few questions to be asked and answered first.”

“Of course,” Wufei replied. “I would expect nothing less. Would it be at all possible for us to arrange to meet at a convenient time to go into it all more deeply?”

“I'm sure we could arrange something.”

“Thank you. I will have Meiran pass on my business card to you with my personal number on the back. If you would be so kind as to check your appointments and contact me at your earliest convenience with a date and time that would be suitable for you, I would appreciate it.”

“No problem. I will be in touch in a day or two.”

“Thank you again. Now, I will leave you to finish your coffee.” Wufei stood up and gave the pair a bow before disappearing back into the kitchens.

Duo couldn't help the shit eating grin that adorned his face. “I told you this equine adventure would pay off for you, Heero.”

Heero shook his head. Maybe he should listen to Duo more often.

~ * ~

tbc...
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Equus