* * * * * * * * * * *

The explosion shook the small viewscreen; vibrations translated through the controls, threatening to break his grip. Duo tightened his hands, eyes narrowed, muttering to himself, "That's it, baby, just one more to go..." Then he let out a yell as the last enemy ship was destroyed and the screen flashed six-inch high letters:

LEVEL CLEARED
HIGH SCORE 1,250,000,000

Several people who had been standing behind him clapped, and Duo bowed, smiling. He turned back to the screen to concentrate on the next set of enemies when a low voice completely wrecked his concentration, causing him to get blown up by no less than three enemy ships.

"I thought we were supposed to be laying low."

Duo spun to face the other pilot, flushed and more than a little annoyed. "Geez, Heero, way to fuck a guy up. That was my last life!" He stared at Pilot 01, briefly wondering why Heero was here, in this arcade. Following him? Interesting.

"I cannot understand why you would want to play that game," Heero said, contempt in his voice barely disguised. "Don't you get enough of that?"

Duo moved away from the game to let the next person play. "It's called fun, Heero. Not that you'd know about that concept. Challenge without having to worry about dying."

"I fail to see the appeal," the flat voice answered.

"You would," sighed Duo. The longhaired boy had, on several occasions, tried to drag Heero into various recreational activities. Getting drunk had failed, as Heero's altered metabolism apparently wouldn't allow him to become inebriated, while Duo passed out on the couch. Racing go-carts had been fun at first, but of course Heero had proven so good at it that he maneuvered past the other drivers, lapping everyone, and had never cracked so much as a smile. They'd got kicked out of the laser tag place after Heero "killed" everyone else, including his own team, and refused to leave when the time was up, declaring that he'd won and deserved a free game. Duo still hoped they'd end up near a beach sometime, as he wanted to teach Heero how to surf. Though, no doubt the boy would excel at that, too, but at least Duo would get to see him wet and nearly naked.

Duo allowed himself a quick glance at Heero's spandex-clad ass wistfully. Yes, he'd allowed himself to develop a "thing" for the other boy, but how could he not? Cold blue eyes, perfectly chiseled features that on a girl would be pretty, but on him were devastating, a body that no teenage boy should ever have, coupled with an unattainable air that Duo had always found irresistible. He was so fucked. Or he wasn't, as the case seemed to be, because Heero showed all the responsiveness of a rock to Duo's flirting.

Duo glanced around, hoping to spot a game that Heero might find interesting. "Hey, how about this one?" He led Heero over to two small replicas of sports cars that were situated in front of large screens. It was the most expensive game in the arcade, as the cars moved and simulated actual racing maneuvers. Since neither of them were old enough to drive a car (which was ridiculous considering what they did) maybe Heero wouldn't be good at this. It was a long shot, but oh well.

Heero agreed reluctantly, and they got in their cars. While they were waiting for the game to start (there were several sets of linked cars, and up to eight people could play at once), Duo asked, as casually as he could, "So what are you doing here?"

"Playing a game," Heero replied shortly, not looking at Duo.

Well, that was evasive, Duo thought. "That's not what I meant," he said. "How did you find me here?"

Heero snorted, adjusting his controls. "It's never difficult to find you, Duo."

Duo had been staring at the screen in front of him, waiting for the light to turn green, but at this he whipped his head around to look at Heero. "What does that mean?"

Just then, the race started, though, and Duo looked back just in time to find that he'd been left at the starting line. "Fuck," he snarled, putting all his concentration into weaving his Viper through the other cars, catching up.

He chanced a glance at Heero once he'd negotiated the first turn, to see that the other boy was smirking, effortlessly downshifting to take a particularly tight S-curve. A look at Heero's screen told Duo that Heero was in first place and pulling away easily. He growled, and applied himself, and soon was in third place and closing fast on the second place car. A deft move, coming up the inside of a turn, and he'd slid by the second place car. Now, it was just him, and Heero.

But Heero was so far ahead now, Duo couldn't even see him on his screen. He spared a quick glance at the map and saw that Heero was about two turns ahead of him. Right. Duo floored it, executing each turn flawlessly, and soon he saw the simulated taillights of Heero's car ahead of him.

With a whoop of triumph, Duo jabbed his turbo button and rocketed up behind Heero's NSX. "You're going down, Yuy!" cried Duo as the display announced the final lap. Duo was good at this game, knew this course well, and there was no way he was going to lose this time.

"Not likely," snorted Heero, weaving to block Duo from passing him.

"Watch me," Duo shot back, getting the nose of his car inside Heero on a turn and squeaking past.

Heero snarled something that sounded suspiciously close to "Shit," and Duo laughed.

"Finally something you can't beat me at, O Perfect One," teased Duo, as he moved to block the other boy's attempt to pass. None of the players were even close to them; it was just Heero and Duo, locked in mortal racing combat.

"I can beat you at anything," Heero said tightly, though he didn't sound quite as confident as before.

"Not this time," laughed Duo. Then he had a thought. "Of course, we could make this a bit more interesting.

"Interesting?" asked Heero, through clenched teeth as they both took a turn nearly sideways.

"A bet," suggested Duo.

Heero was silent for a long moment, and Duo thought he was ignoring him like he had a habit of doing. Then he said, "For money?"

Duo laughed. "I don't have much of that. I was thinking more along the lines of..." he paused, wondering if he had the nerve to actually say it, "The loser has to do anything the winner wants for the rest of the day."

Duo expected an outburst of anger, or at best, a flat refusal in response. What he got was silence. He couldn't risk looking at the other boy; they had half a lap to go and this was the tricky bit. He was about to repeat the statement when Heero interrupted him.

"Okay."

Duo's mouth dropped open and he fought to concentrate on his driving. That was too easy. He'd better win now, or Heero would probably make him clean Wing Zero with a toothbrush.

There was no more time for Duo to speculate; Heero was pushing him hard, and the two boys traded the lead several times. There wasn't more than a fraction of a second between them. Then they came to the final stretch. The track evened out and opened up, and it was only a matter of who was faster.

They tore down the track, neck and neck. Duo wasn't even sure who was ahead; then, amazingly, incredibly, Duo's car began to inch ahead. Not much, just a few feet, but it was enough. As the two cars crossed the finish line, Duo's screen was splashed with a huge number one and he punched the air, yelling, "Yessss!"

Duo jumped out of his car, grinning from ear to ear. Heero got out more sedately and the two of them made their way out of the game area. Duo turned to Heero and said, "Good game!"

"Congratulations, Duo," Heero said, with an unreadable expression on his face. "You won the bet. What do I have to do?"

Duo stared back at Heero. He had expected an argument, but the other boy was just giving him an odd half-smile and an expectant look. "Uh..." Duo, as usual, hadn't fully thought through what he had said, and he was at a loss now. He knew what he wanted Heero to do, but he couldn't exactly come out and say it. He seized on the first thing that popped into his head. "Well, for starters, how about you buy me lunch?"

"Ok," said Heero, and Duo was again amazed at how compliant Heero was being.

"Wow, Heero, you're really taking this well," Duo commented as they walked toward the food court.

Heero shrugged. "You won, fair and square. I never back down on a bet."

"Never?" Duo mused as he chose a place to eat. This had possibilities.

"Never," repeated Heero, looking straight into Duo's eyes. Duo got lost in the blue depths for a long moment before being interrupted by the girl behind the counter asking for their order. Duo could have sworn Heero was smirking as he tried to gather his wits enough to place his order. Heero ordered as well, paid for the food and waited for the order while Duo went to find a free table.

Duo sat, staring at Heero's back, completely at a loss. Here he was, he had a chance to get what he wanted, and he was chickening out. But then again, he did want Heero, yes, but not as the result of some stupid bet. He wanted Heero to want him too. But... Heero should have won the race. He was sure the other boy had never used up his turbo boost like Duo had earlier on. Duo narrowed his eyes as he thought back. If Heero had had any turbo boosts left, it would have been trivial for him to punch it just before the finish line. He would have sped right past Duo and won. But maybe Heero had already used them... he didn't seem to be the kind of person who would lose something on purpose. Unless he really did want Duo, and was too shy to say so, and didn't know if Duo reciprocated, and therefore saw the bet as a way to see how Duo felt, to force him to make the first move... Duo resisted the urge to bang his head on the table as he tried to figure it out.

Just then, Heero returned to the table with a tray of food and his unreadable expression.

"Thanks," Duo said, and dug into his food, mind still whirling.

"So, Duo," began Heero, and Duo looked at him. Heero played with his salad, then went on, not looking at him. "I guess I'm your slave. What are you going to make me do?"

Duo just remembered to close his mouth so his food didn't fall out of it, and he considered. He was well known for his joking manner, so what if he just came out and said it, jokingly, and then he could claim to be kidding when Heero tried to kill him. After all, he mused, not everyone had their mind in the gutter like him; Heero might not have even thought of a sexual connotation to their bet. "Didn't you guess, Heero?" he said, trying to sound light. "You're going to be my sex slave." He watched Heero carefully to see what reaction he would get.

Whatever he was thinking it would be, it wasn't this.

Heero blushed. *Blushed.* Duo stared at him. He didn't know Heero was capable of blushing.

"Heero," he began. "I didn't mean..."

"You didn't?" Heero asked.

Well, Heero wasn't killing him, and he wasn't angry, he was blushing and adorable and Duo's mouth always did run off without his approval. "I did."

"You did what?" Heero said carefully.

Duo took a deep breath and plunged in. "I meant it."

"You want me to be your sex slave?" Heero said incredulously, but still slightly blushing.

"Yes, I mean no, I mean, yes, I want you but not really as a slave I just want you," blurted out Duo, all in a rush so he wouldn't lose his nerve.

There was a long silence between them and Duo started to fidget.

"Really?" Heero whispered, looking intently at Duo.

For once, Duo couldn't speak, only nodded.

The silence stretched again.

"Good," Heero stated firmly, his blush gone.

"Really?" It was Duo's turn to ask.

"Really," Heero answered.

Duo had the urge to thank a god he didn't even believe in.

"You want to... you want me?" Duo said, wincing at the plaintive tone of his voice. But he had to be sure.

Heero ducked his head uncharacteristically. "Yes," he admitted. "But I had no idea how these things worked. Flirting and stuff. Dr. J never taught me that sort of thing."

"And thank Shinigami for that," blurted Duo, repulsed at the mental image that conjured up. Sometimes his vivid imagination was a curse.

"That's not what I meant, Duo," chided Heero, but he was smiling.

The tension was broken, and Duo felt like himself again. "I gotta ask, Heero... have you ever, um, done this before?"

Heero looked down. "Not much. A couple of times. But they weren't..." he trailed off, looking up at Duo. "I really just wanted you."

"Well, why the hell didn't you say something?" demanded Duo. "It would've saved a lot of jacking off... not to mention the other stuff..." he trailed off. Apparently they'd both tried to slake their thirst for each other, but Duo didn't want to talk about that right now. "But anyway. Um... so what do we do now?"

Heero smirked. "Well, that's up to you since I'm your sex slave, remember?"

Duo gaped at the other boy. "You still... you want to..."

Heero just nodded.

"Who would have thought you'd be as kinky as I am?" wondered Duo out loud. "You mean you'll do whatever I want?"

Heero nodded again.

"Wherever I want?" A decidedly evil tone had crept into Duo's voice.

Heero stood up from the table, walked around to Duo's side, leaned down and whispered in his ear, "Whatever you want. Wherever you want. I will suck your cock right here at this table if you want me to."

Duo swallowed, his cock going from slightly interested to granite- like in two seconds flat. "Guh," was all he could say, even though he wanted to say much more.

Heero pulled back slightly, though Duo could still feel his warm breath on his ear. "Though if you want that, we may have to make it pretty quick since the management might frown on it."

"Gah," added Duo, looking up at Heero.

Heero smirked at him.

"I think we'd better get out of here," Duo mumbled, finally finding his voice.

"Lead the way, master," Heero murmured.

Duo tried to walk but it wasn't easy. He also tried to think, which was even harder.

They were in a mall, a standard one, with two levels and lots of small stores, as well as the usual two or three anchor stores. Several new stores were just moving in, their fronts covered by wooden walls, usually with a door cut into them. Duo had an idea.

"Heero..." he began, and the other boy looked at him. "You can pick any lock, right?"

"Of course," he answered immediately. "What did you have in mind?"

In answer, Duo led Heero over to one of the unfinished stores. He listened; there were no sounds emanating from it so he figured no one was working in it right then. "Open that door?" he asked, indicating the access door.

Heero glanced around; the mall was relatively quiet at the moment. "No problem," he replied, glancing at the lock as he pulled a multitool out of his pocket.

Duo whistled in admiration as he watched. The tool had multiple projections, most of which looked complex (Duo liked to stick with the odd hairpin in his braid, but those didn't work well on deadbolts). The tool was also made only of plastic and ceramic, so it wouldn't set off metal detectors. Heero was certainly well- equipped.

While Duo mused, Heero had unlocked the door. Another glance around, and they slipped inside, closing the door behind them. This store was about half finished; the walls were done but the floor was still concrete. Tools and tables sat around, slightly dusty but not bad. Light came from a fluorescent bulb that had been left at what looked like half power. Duo looked around. Not perfect, but it would do. At least they were alone.

Heero stepped closer to him. "Okay?" he asked.

"More than okay," Duo grinned, and got caught in those eyes again.

Moments passed, and Heero whispered, "Tell your slave what to do."

"Kiss me," Duo replied instantly, and Heero did, stepping close and covering Duo's mouth with his own.

The kiss started slowly, tentatively, but Duo parted his lips and Heero moved his tongue to meet Duo's and suddenly everything moved quickly. Heero's hands slid up Duo's back, pulling him close as his tongue moved more insistently. Duo moaned softly, molding his body to Heero's as he raised his arms to the other boy's shoulders. Both gasped and broke the kiss as their erections met, hard and aching and lined up perfectly.

"Heero," moaned Duo, clinging to Heero's shoulders as if they were all that was keeping him afloat.

"Want you, Duo," Heero whispered, moving his hands to cup Duo's ass.

"God, yes," moaned Duo. "But..." he glanced around. He had no lube with him, and there was nothing here they could use as a substitute. "We need something...."

Heero frowned, then it seemed to dawn on him. "You mean the great Duo Maxwell doesn't carry lube at all times?"

"Fuck you," shot back Duo, but snickered. "No, I don't. Sorry to disappoint."

"I'm not disappointed," Heero said in a husky voice that nearly made Duo climax right then. "There are other things we can do."

"True," panted Duo.

"So, tell me what to do," prompted Heero. "I believe you seemed interested in me sucking your cock."

Duo groaned at those words coming out of Heero's mouth, just like in his dreams. "God yes," he said before he could stop himself. "But... I mean, you don't have to," he hastened to add.

But Heero had already grabbed an old dropcloth, put it on the floor and dropped to his knees in front of Duo. He looked up at Duo and smirked. "You don't want me to?"

"Gah," Duo said again, reduced to nonverbal utterings by the sight of Heero Yuy on his knees in front of him. He managed to nod, and finally say, "Please."

Heero seemed to understand. He unfastened Duo's jeans quickly, and Duo almost screamed when Heero wrapped a hard around the hard length, drawing it out. Duo's hands went automatically to Heero's unruly hair as his erection was engulfed in wet heat. "Fuck, Heero, that's so good, you're so hot, oh god oh god oh god," Duo rambled, as Heero's head started to bob up and down.

It had been ages since Duo had had sex with anyone but himself. And anyway, the idea that Heero, his Perfect Fantasy, was doing this to him in semi-public, shoppers just feet away on the other side of a few pieces of wood, was so erotic that he knew he was only minutes from releasing into Heero's mouth. He tried to warn Heero, but all that would come out of his mouth were incoherent cries. Heero swirled his tongue around the tip of Duo's cock, then plunged his mouth down, engulfing the whole length, and that was it. Duo cried out, barely keeping his feet, as near-paralyzing pleasure gripped him. Helplessly, he pumped his release into Heero's waiting mouth, and it seemed to go on forever.

When Duo came back to his senses, Heero was standing in front of him smirking. Duo smiled weakly and said intelligently, "Wow."

Heero brushed a stray lock of hair out of Duo's eyes and kissed him softly. Duo moaned and leaned into him, deepening the kiss. Heero pulled back finally and said, "Shall we go?"

Duo stood dumbly. "Go? But you haven't..."

"I'm the slave. Slaves don't have to come," said Heero.

"But I want my slave to enjoy himself," smiled Duo. He hooked a hand in Heero's spandex shorts and pulled him back.

"Well if you insist," Heero started to say, but it turned into a moan as Duo plunged his hand inside the shorts, finding his erection.

"I do insist," smirked Duo, pulling the shorts down with his left hand while his right pumped the hard length.

It was Heero's turn to make incoherent noises as Duo stroked him quickly. His head fell back and he moaned Duo's name, and Duo thought it was the best thing he'd ever heard Heero say. Other than the bit about sucking his cock.

Heero with all his strength and knowledge had little more stamina than Duo; in the end they were both horny teenage boys. In just a few minutes, Heero gasped and climaxed, his seed covering Duo's hand and his stomach.

Duo watched Heero find his pleasure, and decided he needed to see that many more times.

They slumped against each other then, catching their breath, and kissed again softly. Heero pulled back and said, "How did your slave do?"

Duo grinned and said, "The day is far from over, Heero. You're still my slave. Let's go back to the safehouse, shall we?"

Heero smirked back. "Yes, master."