snippets | Gundam Wing - One-shot

Title: At the Circus
Fandom: Gundam Wing
Rating: PG
Genre: Shounen-ai, general
Wordcount: 990
Pairing(s): Duo/Trowa

Summary: The circus comes to town and Duo pays a visit to see the show and a certain ex-comrade of his.

Author's note: Written for

animethief92 as per her request of Duo/Trowa. I'm actually not to happy with the tone in this fic and it wasn't as exciting as I had hoped it would be. Still, I hope it was worth the ~~long~~ wait.

At The Circus

He never missed an opportunity to attend the circus. There was just something about it that drew him there time and time again. Maybe it was the inner child within him fighting to stay free, or maybe it was the reminder that all those smiling people were able to laugh and cheer and gasp at the clowns and acrobats performing amazing feats because he once put his life on the line.

And maybe, it was because there was one fearless worker that always rode in with the circus.

Chuckling, Duo ducked into his seat and sat with a bag of popcorn in his lap. One would be hard fetched to determine who was more excited, the ex-gundam pilot or the three year old sitting five feet away from him. Still, Duo was undeniably happy about something.

As the lights dimmed and the band struck up a fanfare, he watched with twinkling eyes as the clowns came in, Trowa standing among them. They did the usual assortment of acts with water spouting flowers, juggling, and over-exaggerated injuries to pride and posterior. Each movement was utterly flawless and aimed to please the crowd. Trowa was the best with his half-masked face and flexible body. His expression was painted on though his muscles never twitched in a smile or frown.

He was glad the circus came to town.

Slowly eating his popcorn, he watched act after act come in and go, even the special knife-throwing act with Cathy as the marksman and Trowa as the fearless target, a trademark of this particular troupe. His eyes never moved from the face of the enemy and neither flinched nor breathed a sigh of relief as every knife met its mark a bare millimeter from his skin.

The whole audience shivered in dread as dark memories briefly flashed through their minds, each one caught up in the death defying stare of one masked, young man. It even made the battle tested Duo give a sigh of relief when Cathy signaled the end of her act with a grand sweeping bow while assistants moved in to release Trowa from his bonds.

Humming to himself happily, he waited several more long minutes as the act grew closer to the finale. This would be the coup de resistance, the final touch to an enjoyable evening. The ring master made one final proclamation to the crowd as a cage was slowly wheeled into the ring with a snarling lion prowling its tiny domain.

Upon the ringmaster’s word, the cage was opened, the lion sprang out. With a roar, the large cat advanced on the crowd; its tawny mane shaking with barely suppressed malice. It did not like being confined against roaming to its heart’s content. The lion tamer jumped into action, cracking his whip for all he was worth, putting up a big show of being unable to calm the wild beast. At least, he thought it was only a show for the crowd. When the lion leapt on him, the crowd shrieked in terror, jumping to their feet in shock and alarm as the lion tamer struggled to keep those sharp teeth at bay.

Duo continued to watch contentedly from his seat on the stands. Death was by no means a stranger to him, and he enjoyed a good show from time to time. Besides, his hero was getting ready to take charge.

Trowa leapt from the top of the cage where he had been crouching; his job to open the contraption already long since completed. Doing a double summersault into the ring, he seized the huge cat and began to physically pull the demented creature from his coworker. Sweat stinging the wounds on his arms, the lion tamer scrambled back, whip forgotten on the ground as he watched in captivated silence as one man alone wrestled with the enraged beast.

Tumbling along the ground, the unexpected savior evaded those deadly claws with ease and fended off the fearsome teeth with a detached calm that defied the understanding of all those who watched. As the seconds dragged by in weighty silence, the lion at last seemed to tire, leaving man victorious over the beast. As Trowa stood and brushed the dirt from his once pristine white pants, a slew of stage hands rushed in and carried the panting lion back into his cage and quickly wheeled it out of sight.

As the lion disappeared from the pavillion, the crowd erupted in shouts of ecstasy and whistling mayhem. It was a good day to be at the circus, and the night would be talked about by children for weeks to come.

Duo grinned and wiped the residual popcorn butter from his hands as he slipped out of the pavilion as easily as he had slipped into it. Making his nonchalant way behind the scenes, he greeted anonymous coworkers, grunting and heaving as they went about their business. No one paid attention to him besides appreciating his bright personality and easy manner.

No one would remember him.

Whistling a merry tune, he strolled into one tent that was strategically placed at the edge of the encampment, separated from the others. Plopping himself down in a chair, he put his feet up on a wooden crate and prepared himself for a long wait for the hero of the hour to come through the closed flap. He’d eventually come, even if it was to get revenge against the devil in disguise.

Flashing a wide-smile, he pulled out an unlabeled bottle from his pants pocket and sat wondering as the camp slowly grew quiet as the day began to draw to a close. He wondered if maybe, just maybe, the stimulant would bring out Trowa’s inner beast like it had the lion. At least then he’d be assured of some wild playtime rather then the hours it’d take from him to wheedle his long-standing friend and casual lover into losing that mask of his.

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