The Playlist Arc

Title: The Playlist Arc 3/4
A/N: Sorry, my phone doesn't understand italics. But give me credit - this entire series has been written with my thumb.

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"...So that's when 'Fei picks up my boombox and hurls it against the brick wall. He didn't even thank me for saving his sorry ass," Duo whined from the back seat of his friends' Porsche SUV.

Trowa glanced up at the rearview mirror as he continued to drive. "Didn't Yuy destroy your stereo last week when you two were out on assignment?"

"Yeah," Duo sighed, "but at least he was nice enough to let me nab the stereo from his room for the time being. But damn, I'm in Demolitions, I need a boombox! It's in the friggen name - boomboxes are boxes for people that make things go boom!"

"So what was the final straw for him?" Quatre inquired from the passenger seat.

"I don't know, man. He was probably all wound up from lying around all day. Complained about every song I put on - even when it was as innoccuous as Tom Jones!"

"You played Sex Bomb, didn't you?" Trowa accused with a smirk.

"Of course I did! My Bomb Mix wouldn't be complete without it!"

"Who's Tom Jones?"

"Seriously, Kit-Kat? And you call yourself a music lover. Here, track 4," Duo replied, handing a disc up to the front seat.

What's new, Pussycat, Whoa-ooh-whoa-ooh-whoa-ah!

"Oh him! Yeah, I like him!" Quatre giggled at the bubblegum-sweet lyrics.

"See? Anyway, since we were headed to the zoo today, I whipped up a quick playlist. Turns out I've got a ton of songs that mention animals in them. And don't worry, Tro, I left out 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight' because I know how much you hate that song."

Trowa shrugged. "Lions do not live in jungles. It just doesn't make any sense."

Duo's musical menagerie started out innocently enough, with cute songs about puppy love and cautionary tales about black cats, but soon the selections became more...carnal in nature. Songs about eminating animalistic mating rituals seen on the Discovery Channel had Quatre blushing furiously at practically every exhibit. There were unions of snakes, wolves were hungry, the leopards had some strange scratching fever, and Quatre nearly fainted when he passed an exhibit where a gorilla was banging on his chest.

Trowa sighed and rolled his eyes in affectionate exasperation as he hooked an arm around the petite blonde's waist. "Honestly, Quatre, I really don't see how you can be so sensative about Duo's music choices when we've been friends with him as long as we have. Also, you gotta admit, it's all pretty tame compared to what goes on in our bedroom," he finished with a leer, his arm earning a smack from a rolled up program for his efforts.

"Trowa! That's private! I do not go publicizing our sexual exploits, no matter how..delightful...they might be. Furthermore, you're being rude to our friend. Surely Duo doesn't want to hear about what goes on between us behind closed doors," Quatre huffed indignantly.

Quatre turned then to his friend who was pointedly looking anywhere but back at the flirtatious pair, a slight pinking of the cheeks a telltale sign that he was not quite oblivious to the conversation. Quatre frowned, feeling the waves of lonliness and longing rolling off his dear friend. "When are you going to tell him, Duo?"

Duo shook his head, bringing himself out of his reverie. "Hmm? Tell who what?" A stern look and a raised blonde eyebrow was his response. Duo shook his head again. "That ship has sailed, Q. I think I really fucked up last week. I was planning on telling him then, but then he shot my stereo and told me he didn't even want to be my friend! 'Sides, who knows if he even swings that way? He's never brought anyone home, and he's still got Her Royal Pinkness clamoring for his affection. I'm not going to compete with that. And I would have been fine with his friendship if that was the case, but it seems I don't even have that," he sighed dejectedly.

"Oh Duo I can't believe that! You know Heero's bad with words; maybe something got lost in translation. What did he say exactly? Also, he's letting you borrow his stereo - what kind of non-friend does that?"

"Probably the kind that doesn't want his roommate bitching up a storm about not having access to his music collection. And to quote Yuy verbatum, 'I don't wanna be friends'. Not too many ways to misconstrue that," Duo grumbled.

Quatre was nodding somberly when suddenly Trowa started shaking with ill-contained laughter. "Great Allah, Trowa, why are you acting like such an insensitive bastard?"

The rare outburst from Quatre helped to calm Trowa's curious episode of giggles, and the ride home was spent in a sullen silence.

Upon reaching Duo's apartment complex, Trowa rolled down his window and beckoned Duo close. Crystaline emerald eyes bore into clouded violet. "Duo. As your friend, please heed my advice; go take a long bath, listen to some music, and get some rest. Tomorrow's a new day." Duo nodded reluctantly before turning for his door.

Trowa turned back in his seat after raising his window to find his lover glaring heatedly at him. "You know something," aqua eyes accused.

Silence.

"Oh don't even bat those lashes at me, Barton; 'Cute and Naive' is my schtick."

A pair of smirks were exchanged. "Surely someone of your tactical fortitude can figure this one out."

Quatre flushed at the compliment. "My clue?"

"When have you ever heard Yuy use a word like 'wanna'?"

Blonde brows furrowed in thought. "I don't know. It's rare to be sure." Several beats passed before Quatre's mind gained recognition and he too barked with laughter. "I knew there had to be something going on - I've never felt anything from Heero but adoration and occasional exasperation towards Duo, but he subtlely requested that 'me and my empathy butt out' of the topic." Trowa snorted in amusement at the thought of how that particular converversation really turned out.

Smiling blue eyes regarded green knowingly. "So how long have you known, really?"

"Since he borrowed my CD last week. His idea was to rig Duo's stereo to play the song on endless loop, but apparently that plan was shot to hell. Literally. By him."

Quatre wiped tears from his eyes as he tried to contain his laughter. "By Allah, they're made for each other!"

"Indeed. Now, want to go do it doggie style so we can both watch X-files?"

Wide pools of blue blinked on a face of pure innocence save for a corner of his mouth that threatened to turn up in a smirk, "What's 'doggie style'?"