appleqb (appleqb) wrote in roads_diverged, @ 2007-12-16 23:17:00 |
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Entry tags: | appleqb:heero/duo, gundam wing, theme 43: epic quest |
[Gundam Wing] (Heero, Duo) "Chicken Shack" Myth and Folklore: Theme 43: Epic Quest
Title: Chicken Shack
Author: appleqb
Fandom: Gundam Wing
Pairing: Heero/Duo (pretty harmless)
Rating: G
Warnings: Crackish. Present day type setting, nothing blows up ^_^;;
Theme: Epic Quest
When Heero arrived at the meeting spot it was immediately obvious there was something not right. The building’s usually bright interior that was typically filled with happy and hungry patrons was conspicuously dark and empty. The bright neon sign that normally proclaimed "Open" was altogether gone. However, in front of the building there was a lone person, black clad and very familiar.
Heero hopped out of his car and walked up to the building keeping his eye on the other person, already on alert. He wouldn't put it past Duo to have cooked up another elaborate plot.
As he got closer Duo looked up and smiled at him, it didn't look devious, just genuinely happy, but Heero wasn't quite ready to relax yet.
"Hey, long time, no see," Duo said with a grin.
Heero made a noncommittal motion, "One month."
And Duo shrugged, "I'm not so old as to think a whole month is a brief moment in time."
"What happened here?" Heero asked, gesturing at the building.
"Well," Duo took a step to the side; he'd been standing in front of a small sign.
It read:
VALUED CUSTOMERS:
Thank you for your many years of patronage. We regret to inform you that after 23 years of serving this community, Charlie’s Chapel of Chicken has shut its doors for good….
The sign went on, but Heero got the point, "They closed."
Duo nodded, "Yeah." They stood there for a moment longer until Duo cleared his throat, looking uncertain and brave like he was about to do something self-sacrificing. "So, listen, I know we've been doing this for a while and it would be kinda unrealistic to expect to do this forever but... I mean... I would understand if you wanted to-"
"Find another Chicken Shack to continue the tradition." Heero
finished, interrupting whatever Duo about to say. It was worth the smile
that broke over the other man's face. Heero had to resist shaking his head
at the thought but really, sometimes Duo was too silly.
For as long as they had known each other, from being roommates freshman year
and getting to know each other and all the way through undergraduate
studies, even staying in touch after they went off to different graduate
schools, Heero had no intention of letting this tradition drop, especially
not with the surprise he had for tonight.
"So," Duo said slyly, "We should check the next town over first, I can follow you on my bike..."
Heero resisted the urge to roll his eyes, "You can ride with me."
Duo was grinning now, "Are you sure? Because I know you said--"
"Get in the car," Heero said with a smirk as he walked back to the vehicle.
Duo caught up with him laughing and bumped his shoulder. “See, I told you, you’d get over it,” Duo said, slowing as he reached the car to run the tips of his fingers over the lines of the unusual custom paint job. “Still, I’m kinda surprised you never had it repainted.”
The memory caused Heero’s smirk to turn into a full blow smile. About three years ago, right after Heero had first gotten his new car Heero had come out from his dorm from a weekend cram session to find that his car was missing. His keys were missing as well so he had been pretty sure his prank loving roommate had something to do with the disappearance. Heero just couldn’t believe Duo would do something like that, especially after Heero had told him how important that car was to him, how it let him feel free when he felt tied down by obligations. So he had felt torn between hoping that Duo was the one who had his car and hoping that Duo could never be so callous. It had been a tense five hours before Duo had crept back into their room with an apprehensive look on his face. He had been right to look worried, after hours of waiting Heero had jumped at him ready to kill. But Duo had managed to forestall him and five minutes and a quick explanation later, Heero was standing in front if his new car with its new paint job.
“Wings?” He had questioned. At the time it had been the only thing he’d been able to say.
“Yeah,” Duo had answered, patting his shoulder. “You know, in case you ever start to feel grounded.”
At the time, after he’d gotten over the shock, Heero had some very explicit words for Duo, and he may have said something to the effect of “You may never touch my car again or I will Kill you.” But Duo had laughed it off and Heero had mellowed a lot since then (Duo’s continued influence) so it had all worked out.
“Repainted?” Heero said as he opened the door, “I would never. I need the reminder.”
Duo tilted his head slightly, “Reminder of what?”
Heero didn’t answer, just started the car and waited for Duo to get in. He didn’t bother with the radio, he knew Duo wouldn’t be able to resist the urge to strike up a conversation.
And sure enough, they hadn’t even made it out of the parking lot before Duo exclaimed, “Alright, Road Trip!”
“Hmm, No. More like… a quest.”
“A quest?” Duo’s smile was growing to epic proportions, “A quest to find fried chicken. What an excellent idea.”
“Yes, much better than your previous.”
“Are you referring to The Quest to Steal OZU’s Mascot or The Quest to get Wufei Laid?”
“Both plans were hair-brained,” Heero scoffed.
“All of my quest have been inspired,” Duo answered.
The next town was only a twenty minute drive but the trip took significantly longer, because Duo refused to stop at a franchise restaurant. They past two KFCs and a Popeyes, but each time Duo would say, “Chicken -Shack-, Heero! Fight the Man!”
Heero suspected Duo’s objections had less to do with any allegiance to small business owners and more because he wanted to extend the trip; and really, Heero was fine with that. He enjoyed spending time with Duo more than he had ever admitted to, but he figured Duo knew that already; he tended to “get” Heero more than anyone else.
Duo was doing most of the talking as usual but Heero seemed to be in a better mood that either of them was used to so Duo was happy to carry the conversation. They had been driving around for about two and a half hours when, right in the middle of a sentence, Duo shouted, “There!” and pointed at a little whole in the wall inside a shopping center they were about to pass.
Heero made a sharp, not quite illegal but definitely ill-advised turn, into the shopping center and found a spot right in front of the restaurant.
Duo just shook his head, laughing. “And they say I’m the crazy one. Come-on, let’s go,” he said hopping out of the car with Heero not far behind.
But just as they got to the door, the lights on the inside turned off and a group of people who looked suspiciously like the employees starting filing out. A girl at the front of the pack looked up at them suddenly as if she just noticed them, “Sorry guys. We closed at eight,” she said with an apologetic smile. Everyone behind her smiled at them and kept going down the sidewalk chatting amongst themselves.
“Oh no,” Duo smacked his forehead and looked back at Heero, “Figures, huh. What are the odds we’ll manage to find another place tonight that isn’t closed, since it took us three hours to find this one.”
“Not good.”
Duo sighed, “I guess this is my fault.”
“Hn,” this… wasn’t good. Heero had a plan for tonight but his announcement wouldn’t work without the dinner.
“Well, I guess… There’s always next month. I mean—“
“You guys drove two hours to get –here-? Why?” The girl asked incredulously.
“It’s kinda this thing we do. My friend here,” he said grabbing Heero by the upper arm, “and I, meet up once a month and hang out, eat chicken, catch up with each other, that sort of thing. But the place we usually meet at closed so we ahh… “
“Drove around for a couple hours looking for someplace new,” Heero finished, looking long suffered but still amused with Duo still clinging to him.
“There’s a KFC a couple of blocks from here…” she said slowly.
“No, no,” Duo said with a big grin. “It’s gotta be a chicken shack. It’s a tradition.”
“Hey Mike,” she said calling over her shoulder.
The guy who had been locking the door now turned around and gave the three of them a look. The girl giggled at his sour expression, “Give them the chicken.”
Mike shook his head, “It’s supposed to get tossed,”
“Oh please; like you never take it home. Just give it to them; it’s for a good cause.” She turned back to Heero and Duo, “We over cooked tonight. It’s supposed to get thrown away, but it rarely ever makes it to the trash. Besides, I think it should get donated anyway.” She shrugged, “its better off going to you guys than in the trash.”
“Cool, Thanks!” Duo said, taking the bag the guy handed him, Mike just shrugged and took off after the rest of the employees.
“Hey, no problem. Just, next time… Come straight here,” the girl said with a wink, and then she ran off after Mike.
“So, we got some chicken,” Duo said waggling the bag, “But… no place to eat it.”
“Come on,” Heero said, pulling Duo back towards the car. “I saw a park about a block back that way.”
“This is perfect,” Duo said as they were sitting down at one of the benches in the park. “I mean, it’s kinda dark, and we don’t have any napkins, plates, cups, et cetera , et cetera , but umm—“
“Perfect company?”
“Exactly.”
For all that Duo liked to keep a conversation going, there were two times that he never spoke, while he was asleep and while he was chewing. That’s why Heero waited until Duo had taken his first bite, and then he couldn’t wait any longer. He said, “I’m thinking about moving New York.”
Duo nearly spit out the mouthful, “What! When?” he choke out after he swallowed.
“In the next couple of months, the company I work for wants to open up a new Branch Office there. They want me to run it.”
“That’s… that’s….”
“Great?”
“Yeah,” Duo looked away.
“I think I might turn them down.”
“What?” Duo looked at him again. “Why would you do that? I mean, this is like what you’ve been waiting for.”
Heero nodded, “But there’s one problem.”
“What’s that?”
“You’re not in New York.”
Duo paused as Heero’s implication sunk in, and then he cracked a wry grin, “I could always move to New York.”
“Hn. You think you can deal with me more than once a month?”
“If you can put up with me, I can give it a shot. Oh! And I guess I figured out the next Quest.”
“What’s that?”
“Apartment hunting,” Duo said with a smirk. Heero just laughed and took another piece of chicken.