A/N: Just a little one-shot to let you guys know that I’m not dead. Enjoy.

They collapse onto soft grass, limbs sprawled and Duo laughing. Heero cranes his neck to look at him, soaking in his blissful expression much like they’ve been soaking in the sun all day. The field stretches around them, nearly empty, and when Heero looks straight up, all he can see is blue that dazzles his eyes.

Something’s been sitting on Heero’s mind recently, loafing around and making itself at home until Heero’s nearly crazy from thinking about it. It’s this. Sometimes Duo walks a little closer to him than usual and the hair rises a bit on his arm. Sometimes Duo looks him straight in the eye and Heero suddenly notices how very real Duo is. Sometimes, like right now, Duo lightly touches his hand to Heero’s in a friendly gesture, and Heero wonders, Is it on purpose?

He’s not sure whether or not he wants it to be on purpose. He thinks maybe it would be nice. Yes, it would be nice to know that Duo knows what he does to Heero when he leans over his shoulder, making his face feel hot, although whether that’s from Duo’s breath on his cheek or his own body’s betrayal, Heero hasn’t decided yet. But if Duo was doing it consciously, then it would make things much clearer, and Heero would be able to stop dwelling on this Thing that is slowly taking over his mind.

Heero opens his mouth to ask, but then snaps it shut again. The sound catches Duo’s attention, and he flips onto his side, his face above Heero’s. “What’s the matter?” he asks, sounding so calm, so breezy. The sun catches his hair, making it seem almost red.

Heero blinks and sits up suddenly, putting some space between them. Wait a minute, he thinks. If Duo’s not doing it on purpose, and I draw attention to it, will he stop? Heero pictures Duo stretching his arms over his head, his shirt lifting to reveal a toned stomach, and swallows. He doesn’t want that to stop. He just wants to know. For curiosity’s sake.

Because Heero is certain that if he asks, Duo will answer. Duo doesn’t lie. He might do that annoying thing where he keeps asking Heero questions about his question until it’s five hours later and Heero suddenly realizes he never got an answer, but he doesn’t lie. If Heero is careful and doesn’t let himself be sidetracked, then he’ll get his answer.

Duo scoots closer to Heero, and nudges him with a pointy elbow. “Hey,” he says, waving a hand in front of his face. Heero grabs it. He can feel rough fingertips along the back of his hand. He turns and squints at Duo’s face, trying to decide whether to ask.

Duo shifts his fingers slightly, and Heero relaxes his grip, thinking perhaps that he’s hurting his friend. But no, apparently Duo just wanted to move his hand a bit, and now they’re palm-to-palm, their fingers nearly aligned but not clasped. Heero decides to take the risk and just ask.

“Was that on purpose?”

Duo’s mouth twitches and his eyes dart away, before he suddenly leans over Heero and murmurs, “Do you want it to be?”

Heero’s thoughts come full circle, but he knows now what his answer is. He turns his head until his forehead bumps against Duo’s and looks him straight in the eye. He’s happy to see that Duo’s been taken off-guard and looks nervous now. Checkmate.

Then Heero leans slowly back, taking the chance to stretch his back as he shifts his weight to one arm. He deftly uncaps his water bottle with one hand and takes a long drink, his eyes still locked with Duo’s. Heero takes extra care to make sure that some of the water falls past his lips, making a cool trail down his sun-beat neck, the droplets running along his collarbone. He sees Duo swallow, and feels the corner of his mouth push up into a lazy half-smile.

Duo suddenly smirks, and Heero freezes, his mind pushed off balance once again. With a wild cry, Duo pounces on the blue-eyed pilot and they roll away, each grappling for an advantage. Duo ends up on top and taps Heero’s nose, still smirking. “You’re it,” he announces smugly, and then he’s off, his lithe form sprinting away. Heero sits up and grins, watching for a moment, before setting off after him.

He never did get his answer. As usual, Duo is quite the master at avoiding questions. But that’s okay. Heero knows that he’ll catch Duo yet.