[M] College Life

[adhdinspired]

Point to Duo. Wufei nodded a bit and sighed. "Personal preferences, I suppose. I believe them artists, but most do not. This round will go to you, for now." No point in this conversation now that Duo brought up...

Wait..... what? "....You're joking, aren't you?" But from the look on Duo's face, it seemed he was completely serious. Wufei ran a hand down his face and sighed heavily, moving to sit in the chair after he pulled it from the computer desk.

What were the odds the two were neighbors? What were the odds that he'd meet his neighbor today? Perfect. Just when Wufei went to say something, his cell phone went off and he held up a finger to Duo and fished it out of his pocket. Checking who it was, his eyebrow twitched yet again and he answered it.

"What?" A pause. "No, Sally. You broke up with me. Why would I want to go anywhere with- What do you mean you weren't seriou- ......No, I don't want to 'get back togeth- Would you let me finish- FINE." He disconnected the call with a hard jab to his phone and threw the thing on his desk, not caring if it broke or not.

He was fuming. Silently, anyway. He took several deep breaths, trying to get the red to drain from his face. When that wasn't working, he pinched the bridge of his nose after taking off the glasses he forgot he was wearing. "Women...."

[jakfrost]

Duo actually stood, twiddling his thumbs, while Wufei spoke on the phone. I wasn't an action he normally did but it did have some amusement value, especially when trying to go as fast as possible. He listened with half an ear to the phone conversation while musing on Wufei's abrupt cessation from the discussion. I'll bet that doesn't happen too often.

It wasn't until the muttered 'women' that Duo started really paying attention to Wufei's frustrated posture.

"Chick's got you on a short leash, huh?"

[adhdinspired]

He growled at Duo and glared harshly. Wufei knew it wasn't his fault, but he was in the room, and Wufei was irritated. "Whatever. I never realized how bossy she was! Telling me she didn't mean it when she broke up with me. It is wrong to trample over someone's feelings and then take it back. I can't believe her." He growled again, looking to the floor as his face grew even more red. Ok, time to calm down.

"Sorry. You.... can go if you want. I won't be much company right now." It was true. He had to grab clothes, shower and then meditate this away. But he'd probably go down to the gym and practice his sword movements with his kendo sword; since they didn't allow real ones here.

[jakfrost]

"And leave you to mope?! Hell, no. I'm not going to be neighbors with some gloomy gus!" To be fair, Wufei didn't much look like he was going to mope. He looked more ready to violently maim some poor stuffed toy. And Duo didn't want to miss something like that.

Though, he did want to catch his laundry before someone else got their paws on it...

But then, there was more truth to his first comment than just the overtone of a depressed neighbor being a pain to deal with. Duo wanted to see if Wufei would destroy some innocent toy in his frustration or maybe there was some other outlet he didn't know about. He wanted to see what Wufei was capable of, and an opportunity like this rarely came around so quickly. Besides neighbors tended to see each other a lot, and Duo needed to know what might set the chinese boy off. It could be important sometime down the line.

And for such a seemingly uptight guy, Wufei had been remarkably calm despite Duo's needling. The foul language, the pet-names, the girly-art debate, and even to a degree the fidgeting, while all a part of Duo's personality and mannerisms, usually led people as stiff as Wufei seemed, to show their frustration a bit earlier.

He interlocked his fingers behind his head and leaned a bit farther back against the wall, a picture of casual repose. "Yeah. Girls can be fickle like that. Gave up on them a long time ago. So what are you gonna do? Take her shit or give it back?"

[adhdinspired]

Take her back? No, once a girl dumped Wufei, he refused to take her back when she felt it convenient. He snorted at the thought of it and gave a long, quiet sigh. Those coal colored eyes glanced up to Duo again and he shook his head, which was starting to hurt. Oh, yes, he could feel that headache churning behind his eyes, causing so much pressure behind them. If he didn't know better, he would think his eyes would pop out from his skull.

But that was how Sally made him feel most of the time. She was a good, strong women, yes. In some way he loved her, but maybe not completely. He did find her nagging and her gossip wasn't something he enjoyed. Wufei didn't like taking her out to dinner, either, because she never once finished a meal. Girls who ate like birds and watched their calories and weight were too much for Wufei. Yes, he was on a diet himself, but he didn't count every single calorie, or eat small portions. Wufei's diet consisted of three big meals followed by working out. His meals always gave him energy, never left him feeling sluggish.

Oh, great. He'd been thinking all this time and hadn't said anything to Duo yet; he would be surprised if the boy hadn't been trying to get his attention. Focusing on Duo's face again, Wufei shook his head.

"No. I refuse to take her back on her time. I won't take her back on mine. I can focus better on my studies and swordplay without her." He growled out. Growling was how he vented his frustration, much like a dog or a big cat did.

With some semblance of grace, Wufei got out of his chair and moved to take his hair down again. Too tight for comfort with his headache. Meditation and practice was in order.

"Duo, I'm sorry to do this, but it would be best if you left. I need to think on this and center myself again." Or nap to get rid of the storm raging in his head. Yes, a nap. He hadn't had one in quite a while.

[jakfrost]

Duo raised an eyebrow at the growling, almost wanting to let out a laugh. He didn't, though.

He gave a little half-shrug. "If that's what you want." He pushed off the door frame without using his hands and took a step back into the hallway. "It was cool meeting you. I'll see ya around?" If Wufei didn't want any witnesses to his frustration than Duo could accept that. For now. He didn't want to make Wufei so nervous he'd clam up. It also wouldn't due to let the kid go postal cause no one was paying attention. Heh. Solo says I'm paranoid, but there's always someone ready to piss all over you just cause they had a shitty day.

"Let me know if you need a distraction. I hear I'm pretty good at those."

[adhdinspired]

He looked up at Duo again and gave a nod. "Perhaps...." He did need a friend, might as well act like one. "Perhaps tonight, then? After I've calmed myself down. I could use a distraction, as it were." Wufei didn't smile, or look pleaded, but he tried not to look hopeful. That is, if Solo would let Duo out tonight. That boy seemed oddly possessive of the braided one.

Back when Wufei was growing up, he had a friend, a girl friend at that, and when the two of them went out, they went out for some decent food and just talked. Maybe that's what they were going to do? See, Duo was very good at distractions already.

He moved to his closet and pulled out a wooden sword; but it wasn't a typical kendo sword. This one matched the weight and length, look and curve of a real sword. It was of Wufei's own making. The bamboo swords were good, but he didn't care for the thickness of them, the straightness. So, on his own time, he'd crafted this dark beauty. "You could possibly retrieve me from the gym area. If not the field behind the school."

[jakfrost]

Duo's eyes nearly lit up at the sight of the wooden sword.

"Damn. You were serious when you said 'swordplay', weren't you? I thou- well, I mean, I didn't think you actually...man... You've gotta teach me! Please? Not now or anything. But over the semester, maybe?"

He paused a moment to think if he should swear to keep his obnoxious-ness to himself during the lessons, but decided that would reveal how very awesome and possibly useful he'd find this particular skill set. He shook his head to clear it momentarily.

"Sure. A Wuffee hunt it is then! I'll probably be hanging with the guys in the second floor lounge if you get done early. The TV there is huge."

He took another step closer to his own door, unlocked it, then tossed the forgotten frisbee somewhere inside without looking. There was possibly a muffled yelp of annoyance from an unseen roommate. The door relocked automatically as it closed.

[adhdinspired]

A couple of hours later and Wufei found himself wandering back into the dorm building. He'd worked out the last of his frustration for now, and he needed some down time.

Out in that field he meditated, practiced his kata's and did some yoga; all because he didn't want to face his inner demons. He would, right now, continue this regime until he felt himself mentally strong enough to face the fact he was alone in this school now; and that most of the ones he'd considered friends weren't going to take his side. They would be with Sally, because they had told Wufei time and again to pay more attention to her or he'd lose her.

Well, apparently Wufei needed to learn how to take advice. That is why he was wandering to the room Duo had instructed him to go. Downtime with some.... others his age might actually be a good thing. While he didn't want to admit it to himself, he needed ....closeness? Friendship? Perhaps just someone he could talk to about all of this.

Of course, he had showered, thrown his hair into a loose ponytail and donned a fresh pair of pants and a plain dark brown shirt. His glasses were perched on his nose when he entered the lounge and looked around. He felt so awkward as a few pairs of eyes turned to him and then seemed to dismiss him.

[jakfrost]

Most of the group surrounding the large television was engrossed by the image of a small girl in a pleated plaid skirt brutally massacring those around her. Duo sat in the center of a large couch, leaning forward towards the tv, eyes gleaming with excitement. He let out a small triumphant cheer as she performed a particularly gruesome move using a long chain ending with a sharp object and a creative use of physics.

Both sides of the couch were filled. Clark was on the one side, leaning against the armrest, Hilde sitting on the floor next to his leg. The other side was occupied by Solo, who sat in a relaxed sprawl, one arm thrown across the back of the couch in Duo's direction, not quite near enough to touch even if Duo reclined fully.

The action on the screen died down and Duo leaned back against the couch, smirking a bit as his movement made an obnoxious sound against the fake leather surface. His eyes flickered towards the clock on the wall above the tv.

[adhdinspired]

Wufei didn't notice Solo, because he hadn't spoken with the boy, nor was he the one he'd agreed to meet up with. Instead, the obnoxious noise drew Wufei's eyes toward it and he found Duo there, engrossed in some horrible B movie.

Feeling more than awkward, the Chinese boy moved toward the middle of the couch, leaning over and tapped on Duo's shoulder before leaning in. He didn't want to interrupt the movies for the others. "You didn't come find me." A statement. "So ...I came." Yes, stating the obvious would really earn him friends.

Visibly, Wufei looked a lot more relaxed. Sure, there was still traces of depression and anger, but he looked more calm, and sounded more collected than when they had parted. His eyes turned toward Solo, who was boring a hole in his skull and arched a brow. Why was it Solo was so protective of Duo? Brothers? He leaned back into Duo's ear, "You'll find me in the corner, in the armchair after your movie."

[jakfrost]

Duo looked over when he felt the tapping on his shoulder, half expecting it to just be Solo being a pain. What he saw instead was a much more, in control and calm Wufei. His face split into a wide grin.

"Hey! You made it! Man, you know how difficult it is to judge how long it should take someone to feel better? I was just gonna wait till the movie was over but we got started a bit later than I expec-Ow!"

Duo shot a glare at Solo, who just gave a pointed look at the still playing movie and silently refused to apologize to the braided boy for the light smack upside the head. Duo thought about punching Solo in retaliation but instead gave Clark a light shove on his shoulder.

"Oi! Clark. Shove off and give 'Fei some room, yeah?" Duo had been trying to get that boy sitting next to Hilde instead of just near here for the better part of a week. This was the perfect excuse.

Duo glanced once more at the clock. "Hey 'Fei , don't be shy. The movie's almost over. Stay up here."

[adhdinspired]

When Solo smacked Duo in the head, Wufei's eyebrows shot up, both of them. Well, with friends like that, who needed enemies? Then Duo shoved some boy off and Wufei sent him an apologetic look before taking his seat, mainly so he'd stop getting glared at and the shushing noises would stop. So Duo didn't have the best movie skills, it was Wufei's fault!

Situating himself between Duo and Solo, he was quite surprised when Solo shifted from his lofty position just to move away from Wufei. Did he smell? Surly not; he'd changed and freshened up before he came here. A frown tugged on his face as he inspected Solo a moment longer before turning his attention to the bloody end of the movie. Violent movies weren't really to Wufei's liking, but there were some moves in this one that caught his attention and made him want to see if it were really physically possible to reproduce.

He leaned back against the couch, though still sitting fairly stiffly, making sure not to touch Duo. His hands were in his lap, and their thighs were touching, so that was a good thing. Big groups like this, sitting so close, made him a bit uncomfortable. Clearly he was an only child or didn't get held a lot in his youth.

Once the movie was over, he was surprised it was Solo who addressed him first. "Who are you anyway? Why are you being all buddy buddy with Duo when you wanted to punch his lights out over a mistake?"

He was expecting that to come up. "I'm Wufei. I apologized to him. I've had a bad... year really." He wasn't going to say much more than that to someone who was being hostile. Which is why he was surprised Duo had even bothered to talk to him after that. "It is none of your concern who I am friends with, however, even if they happen to be a friend of yours." Yes, Wufei could chip ice with how cold his words could come out.

[jakfrost]

He kept mostly quiet for the rest of the movie after noticing how uncomfortable Wufei got with his disturbances, taking exception only when someone else had started with a comment. Duo relaxed against the armrest and back of the couch and he barely noticed where he and Wufei touched or didn't other than to note that the Chinese boy still looked uncomfortable. Must not just be attention he doesn't like.

If Wufei hadn't surprised him by sitting between him and Solo, Duo surely would have smacked Solo for his comment after the movie had finished, but doing so with someone in the middle, would be just plain awkward. Solo could be a class-A jerk sometimes and childish to boot but they were still best friends and that meant Duo would put up with a lot from the other boy.

A lot but not everything. Duo sent Solo a glare that promised words later on. He moved to sit on the armrest of the couch, his feet on the seat where he had been just moments before. The move was a purely subconscious tactic for gaining higher ground.

"Dude. Solo. I'm no D.i.D. I don't need you to protect my virtue from every passing vandal." The words and tone were teasing with only a slight edge that very few in the room could catch. The edge was gone for the next sentence. "Besides, tell me honestly that you didn't want to punch my lights out the first time we met. Bet you can't."

[adhdinspired]

Solo watched as his friend too higher ground and spoke. He even went so far as to open his mouth to deny it, but quickly snapped it shut again and flipped him off with a 'bite me' comment. "You might not be a D.i.D, but you're an S.O.B."

With that comment, he moved off the couch and over to a table that looked as if they were playing poker.

Wufei, however, watched the exchange quietly. He observed both of them and mentally cringed. What kind of people were these? And what is a D.i.D? He turned to Duo, noticing he was staring at his hands as he listened and sighed. "It seems he doesn't like me. Maybe this was a bad idea." After all, Wufei wasn't anyone worth this. Not that they were fighting over him or anything. Oh, no.