ax_main | Trowa and Quatre Shinobi's Party

Trowa shows that he is a considerate roommate and also promises to show Quatre how to dance.

Trowa studied his reflection in the bedroom window. Only half of his face was visible; the other half was obscured by a white mask, which had been painted to resemble clown make-up. Between the mask and the stiff drape of his bangs, very little of his face could be seen at all. Trowa rather liked the effect, in truth.

He hadn't intended to go to Shinobi's party, but Quatre had asked him along. Trowa wasn't certain as to why, except that Quatre seemed to enjoy spending time with him. Since they had discussed the matter of Quatre's preferences, it had occurred to Trowa that Quatre might harbor some attraction to him. He wasn't sure how he felt about that, or if he had any feeling about it at all. That question bothered him for some reason, but he didn't want to dwell on it.

He turned away from the window, to where Quatre was getting his costume prepared.

"Are you ready?"

"Almost." Quatre replied, having already pulled on the baggy red and white striped t-shirt he had found at the store along with his only pair of black jeans. He picked up the black pirate hat that felt like it was made of plastic, but had a weird soft feel to it, and placed it on his head carefully.

He turned towards Trowa with his arms held out and grinned. "How do I look? Are you scared for yer treasure?" He had seen some pirate movie long ago and tried for the accent, trying not to burst out laughing.

"I think I'd win in a fight," Trowa pointed out, "but you look fine."

Quatre chuckled, moving to grab his phone and key to their room before glancing over at Trowa. He titled his head as he looked at the half mask, Trowa's green eye barely visible beyond his thick brown hair. "A clown? Are you a fan of them?"

He hadn't met anyone that actually liked clowns, let alone chose to dress like one, but it weirdly suited his roommate.

Trowa shrugged. The mask was literally the only bit of costume he'd bothered with; outside of that, he had on a pair of worn jeans and a turtleneck against the autumn chill.

"It was simple to make, that's all."

Quatre only nodded. "Well, it suits you. You seem oddly even more mysterious with it on. I did not think that was possible."

When he made sure he had everything before the left and moved towards the door, holding it open for Trowa to leave first. "Shall we?"

That was an unexpected sort of compliment. Trowa stepped out into the hall, then waited for Quatre to shut the door before he started walking.

"How am I mysterious?"

He kept up with Trowa's long legged pace and smiled. "You don't think so? The quiet, keeping to yourself thing. Mix that with your abilities, mutant and non-mutant, I'd say you are pretty mysterious."

Quatre would say his past as well, but it wasn't right to try and label someone's life like that. He reached out and gave a gentle pat to Trowa's shoulder. "But you are in luck, I hear some girls really like that."

One of his cousins sure had.

"I don't see where that would matter," Trowa pointed out. "I don't care about sex."

Quatre stopped, his face coloring a little at the bluntness of his friend's words. "Uh, I wasn't exactly talking about that specifically, but I guess a romantic relationship would lead to that eventually."

He quickly moved to catch up and was quiet for a little while on their walk to the party before glancing at Trowa. "You don't feel any kind of attraction towards other people?"

Trowa couldn't speak to romance; that was completely outside of his experience. When his companions had spoken in terms of desiring women, they definitely had been talking about sex and what it took to get it. It typically sounded like barter or one more shade of tactical violence to Trowa, and he hadn't been interested.

But did that mean he didn't feel attraction? He liked spending time around Tessa, Quatre, and Scott for its own sake. It seemed as if that had to be attraction, if only in the most basic sense.

"I do," he said. "I just don't care about sex. Or romance." He added the last, since the two seemed to be linked in Quatre's mind.

Quatre nodded at that answer, sliding his hands into his pockets as they walked. "I think that makes sense. So, you see attraction in more of a companionship thing than anything else? Like with Tessa? More a friend and partner than anything romantic."

He used the only girl that Trowa really knew because from their conversation in the laundry room he guessed that Trowa's interest went in that direction. Though with this conversation, maybe there wasn’t a direction at all.

Trowa nodded. "Like with Tessa. Or with you. Pleasurable, mutually beneficial acquaintance."

"Well, thank you. I'm glad our feelings are mutual." Quatre couldn't help the large grin that spread across his face at being included in that small group. The closer they came to the party, the easier it was to hear the music and Quatre grew a little antsy, not quite sure what he was exactly supposed to do at this kind of thing. "You went to that other party about a week ago, right?"

"Yes. But that was to infiltrate, not socialize." Trowa watched Quatre fidget with his costume. Perhaps his insistence on Trowa attending had been less for Trowa's sake than his own. "We could go back upstairs if you don't want to do this."

"No!" Quatre quickly held up his hands in an almost stop motion. He cleared his throat and shook his head, offering Trowa a weak smile. "Sorry, I mean, I do want to go. I have just never been to an actual teenage party, so I'm not exactly sure what I should do. I also have no idea how to dance if it isn't a waltz or foxtrot."

"Well." Trowa considered. "I can dance, a little. I'll show you how. So, if you need to dance, dance with me."

"Really?" Quatre asked, his smile growing stronger until it was a grin. "That would be fantastic. Where did you learn to dance?"

The tiniest mote of humor glinted in Trowa's voice.

"At the party I was infiltrating. Shall we go?"

"Only if you promise to teach me." Quatre replied, his grin still in place as he picked up his pace, now more excited to go than before.

Trowa blinked. He thought he just had, but perhaps he hadn't been forthcoming enough with the offer?

"I promise." Now that they were downstairs, the other students were much more in evidence, milling around, heading in and out of the school's main entrance. Trowa reached past Quatre to hold the door open (though prompted more by a desire to get a look at the layout of the party first than by any manners), then followed him out into the heart of the activity.

Quatre could barely contain his excitement, reaching over to grab Trowa's hand and gently tug him along towards one of the tables of food. Some things he recognized, others he didn’t, and he went straight for the ones that were a mystery. "Do you want anything?"

Trowa shook his head. "Not yet." There were more people here than at the party with the Brotherhood, and they were more relaxed. Plus the louder music. And the singing. And dancing. It was hard to keep his eyes and ears from being overwhelmed by all the noise, lights and motion. He squeezed his eyes shut. "I just need a moment. It's loud."
Quatre had completely forgotten Trowa's heightened senses, pulling him out there without thinking, so he quickly reached up and placed his hands over Trowa's ears. He hoped it muffled enough of the sound and let part of his exposed wrist brush Trowa's neck to send one of his feelings to the other.

Apologetic.

He lifted his palms only a fraction to let some of the noise through. "Is this okay?"

Trowa almost shied back when Quatre reached toward his face without warning, but relaxed as it became clear what his intentions were. Quatre's solution was direct, if a bit awkward, and it helped distract him while he adjusted.

"I'm fine. Thanks."

Quatre smiled, letting his hands drop to his sides when he felt Trowa's gratitude and amusement, making him feel happy as it faded. "You're welcome. I'm sorry I forgot."

Trowa blinked. "Forgot?'"

"About your senses, I got excited and pulled you in the middle of everything." Quatre explained. "That's why you had trouble, right?"

"I was a little overwhelmed," Trowa agreed. "But I would have headed out with you anyway. Don't take more blame than you're entitled to."

"Alright." The blond replied and nodded as well. Quatre then watch his roommate for a bit before tilting his head a little bit. "How sensitive are your senses? Are you on par with a wolf or bloodhound when it comes to scents?"

Trowa nudged Quatre gently back toward the food table. No use in letting him get so distracted that he forgot to eat.

"Neither. I don't have an enhanced sense of smell, just hearing, eyesight, and physical awareness."

Quatre let himself be nudged, picking up a plate and looking over the options. "How far can you hear? Are you able to hear anything outside the party?"

"Right now, I can hear a lot of music, conversations, and you speaking to me." Trowa helped himself to a plate. "Why the interrogation?"

"Sorry, I don't mean to interrogate. I was only wondering, I can stop if it makes you uncomfortable." Quatre picked up a small pastry wrapped sausage and popped it into his mouth, frowning when it left a grease mark on his glove.

"You don't. But it seems like there should be more here to draw your interest than the boy you've been living with for months." Trowa noted Quatre's displeasure at the stain. "You might as well take the gloves off, at least to eat."

"Trowa, even with everything going on, you should know that I still find you the most interesting." Quatre smiled and then shook his head. "If I took them off, what if something happened? I'm already risking it wearing a t-shirt."

"What's the worst that could happen?" The question wasn't dismissive, simply inquiring.

Quatre looked at his gloves a little worriedly and then back up at Trowa. "I don't know. I guess nothing too bad could happen, I just don't like the idea of being that intrusive to someone who just brushes past me."

Now he was starting to regret wearing short sleeves. It had been so long since he'd worn anything like it, it wasn't too late to go back inside and grab a jacket and he could say he was cold. Also, if anyone was feeling something strongly and touched him- "I think I should go get a jacket."

"Do you want me to wait?" asked Trowa. "Or we can just grab a couple of plates and go back in."

"No, no." Quatre replied and quickly tried to tell himself that he was being silly. Nothing was going to happen, and he didn't need to be so paranoid about it. Everything would be fine, and he would have fun with Trowa at the party. Calm down. "It is fine. I just need to stop worrying."

He kept his arms tucked a little tighter to his sides though.

Trowa noted the fresh tension in Quatre's stance and made a decision. "Wait here." He sprinted back into the mansion, and was down a minute later with one of Quatre's light jackets. "Here. It's going to get cold later anyway."

"Huh?" Quatre turned his head when he'd heard Trowa's voice, but the other was already gone and Quatre stood there wondering where his roommate had gone. Luckily, he didn't have to wonder long since Trowa was back quickly and with one of Quatre's jackets, causing the blond to flush a little.

"Oh, you-" He smiled as he took the jacket and slipped it on, feeling immediately more comfortable. "Thank you, Trowa. You didn't have to do that."

"You were tensing up. You came down here to enjoy yourself. Easy fix." Trowa picked up his plate again. "I should have brought down my old jacket, though. Then you could have an ex-mercenary costume."

"I don't think I could pull off that look as well as you." Quatre chuckled, the idea of wearing Trowa's jacket making him feel a little giddy. He ate another pastry sausage and looked out on the dance floor, watching everyone sway to the beat. "Is it fun? Dancing like that?"

It looked more fun than ballroom dancing, less stiff and formal. Much more personal.

Trowa twitched another of those "who knows?" shrugs.

"I don't have much to compare it to. It's different from dance class, anyway."

"I think any dancing is different than what we are doing in class, since so far we haven't really danced yet." Quatre replied, liking that class almost above all the others since Miss. Hunter was so nice and it was the only class he had with Trowa. "It looks...more free? If that makes sense."

"I guess you'll hold me to my promise after we're done eating?" Trowa didn't sounded as if he minded. But then, he rarely did.

"Unless you prefer a different time, but that seems like the best option." Quatre was quick with his food, only trying small bite sized things that he could finish easily. He took Trowa's advice, shedding one glove so he wouldn't get it dirty while he ate and kept it in his jacket pocket.

Trowa shook his head and finished his vegetable sticks and fancy cold cuts. "We can always eat more later." He waited until Quatre had finished his snacking, then reached for Quatre's hand. "Let's find some space."
Quatre had a moment of panic when Trowa went to take his ungloved hand, the idea that he was unprotected flashing up before he could quell it completely. Quatre took a small breath and reminded himself who was taking his hand, the panic easing as he let his hand be taken.

The rush of someone else's feelings in him wasn't as jarring this time and he offered Trowa a smile. "Okay, lead the way."