Divergence

"Babies."

"Babies?" Heero was already starting to regret having asked, but Duo's decidedly pensive appearance, staring up into the ceiling of the cramped mess hall, had made him curious.

Challenging even the low gravity aboard Peacemillion, Duo rocked softly on his chair, balancing on two legs. His feet were crossed on top of the metal table and his hands supported his head. He finally abandoned his studies of the dimmed tube lights in favor of looking at his comrade in arms and his sealed pack of concentrated orange juice. "Yeah - you know, babies." He started a grin. "You know what they are, right?"

Heero gave an abrupt snort and took another sip of his refreshment.

"I think I'd want two - one for me, one for the wife," Duo mused, facing the ceiling again. "The hellion that spits the food back up and pees as soon as the diaper comes off - that one is mostly hers, so she'll take care of that one. The other tyke - the little angel that'll sleep all night without crying even once, that one is mine, as it obviously has more of my goodnatured qualities." He shot a glance at Heero to gauge his reactions.

And was fairly disappointed. "Obviously," Heero flatly stated, sucking at the straw.

Duo shrugged it off and sighed faintly. "She'd have to be real special, the woman that's gonna help me give something back to the gene pool."

Goes without saying, Heero thought to himself, briefly pulling up half a smirk as he studied his occasional friend. He knew better than to voice that opinion. He knew when he was being baited. Instead, he finished up his packet of juice and curled up the empty plastic container. "You're only fifteen, Duo. Aren't you a bit young to be thinking about-"

"Family?" Duo cut in, effectively shutting Heero up.

Heero started to see where this was all coming from. He understood, but for his own reasons, he didn't like it. Scowling just a tad, he stood up and shuffled towards the recycling unit.

Duo's chair fell forward, though the lacking gravity resulted in a soft landing. "What's wrong with planning ahead a little, anyway?" he muttered towards Heero's back.

He gritted his teeth, pumped his fist. "Planning is stupid," he said, tossing the spent packet in the bin. "If you fix your mind to a certain path, you'll be unable to cope the minute something unexpected pops up. It's better to just wing it."

Duo let go a huff through his smile, got to his feet, made two skip-steps in Heero's direction and embraced him from behind just as he jettisoned the waste. He rested his chin at Heero's shoulder.

Heero tensed up, not for the first time sensing how tight-fitting their flightsuits were. "Duo, what the hell are you doing?!" he cried out, albeit making no move to free himself.

Duo's breaths touched his ear, Duo's palm came up to cup his cheek, tilt his head even more, coaxing him to face Duo as best he could. The feral grin made his heart skip a beat. "Oh... just winging it," Duo whispered against his lips.

Impact.