Title: Jupiter
Author:Link Worshiper
Pairings: 1=2, R+1 (friendship)
Notes: Five sentence drabbles, each one somehow inspired by a track on the Jupiter disc of the new RHCP album Stadium Arcadium.
Disclaimer: Not mine, though they might as well be >__>

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1. Dani California

When Heero was small, he learned quickly that when all you knew was poverty, sometimes there were just certain things you had to get used to if you were to survive. He'd been a rebel upstart long before he'd ever been given the offer to pilot Wing, and he lived every day like it was the last day of his life, knowing that there probably wouldn't be anyone to mourn him when he was gone. He was reminded of it every time he thought about Odin, and sometimes, when he was alone, he'd cry about it, wondering if maybe he was the unluckier of the two. By the time Heero came to Earth for the first time, he'd been more than ready to die - that is, until he met a longhaired thief who was just as wasted and forgotten as he was. After living a life stealing even the air from the sky above him, it wasn't until that moment that Heero truly understood what it felt like to be breathless.

2. Snow ((Hey Oh))

Flurries always reminded Heero of the falling ash and debris that swept through the battlefields of his past, and he couldn't help the overwhelming nostalgia that always washed over him as he watched the snow come down. It crunched in his ear and caked itself in his thick bangs as he turned his head to the right, where the tracks leading to the spot where he'd flopped down into the snow drift had filled until they weren't much more than a shallow dip in the icy white blanket. To his left was Duo, spread out in the snow beside him, puffs of steamy breath rising from his flushed lips as he blinked the drifting snowflakes out of his eyes. Padded in the patch of snow-crusted ground between them, Duo's compass was clasped in one of the orange mittens he'd borrowed from Heero, its needle lazily spinning around its circular face aimlessly. Together, they lay in angel-shaped prints, caught between the horizon and the arching, gray heavens, and in the stillness, they could hear the universe.

3. Charlie

Out of breath, Duo leaned against the lamppost, tired from the impromptu dash he'd just made through the park after giving into the impulse to kiss Heero on the mouth. He was so worked up about what Heero's reaction might have been - if he'd been wrong to even try such a thing - that he didn't even stick around to see what it was, which was why he was startled when he felt a pair of strong, familiar arms wind themselves around his torso from behind. Duo's heart quivered in his chest as Heero's unmistakable scent met his nostrils and the heat of his skin burned through Duo's jersey. With the soft touch of Heero's shaggy hair pressed against his cheek, Duo realized that what he loved about his relationship with Heero was how free he made him feel. For the first time in a while, Duo felt like he belonged.

4. Stadium Arcadium

That euphoric feeling of just hanging in space like another star was one of Heero's favourites. When he'd been on the Peacemillion, he'd been more than content to just drift through the corridors while everyone else was sleeping, staring out the observation windows as dust-filled rays of moonlight filtered through them. One night, he found a lonely, sleepless shadow lingering in his path, distractedly toying with the end of his long, braided hair like he'd been waiting there for a while. Before Heero knew it, Duo had drifted to his side and wrapped his arms around Heero, their combined mass sending them tumbling uncontrollably through the smoky glow. Heero clutched Duo as if he were the only grounded thing in the entire universe, remembering why he loved zero gravity.

It was like flying and falling at the same time.

5. Hump de Bump

A lot of people seemed to be under the impression that what attracted Heero to Duo had been that smile the American always wore, but Heero was pretty sure they'd never understand exactly what about Duo that excited his feelings so. When Duo had come strolling into Heero's life, gregarious and openly friendly, he'd jerked and stretched Heero in uncomfortable ways that had forced him to think about things he'd never had much time for before. Heero knew it was hard for someone else to understand how one could fall in love with such havoc, but it was just that wildness - that sense of order in chaos - that kept Heero rooted firmly in his waking life. Maybe they just didn't know how hard it was to be yourself when you were so alive and yet so alone - how it felt when you didn't even have a friend to talk to - but Heero didn't expect them to. After all, just looking at that smile and kissing it were two completely different things.

6. She's Only 18

Sometimes even Heero had trouble swallowing the concept that Relena was the same age as him. Her political stature was shared by older men twice as old, and she flitted in social circles that were that prime cut above - at least, in his humble opinion, anyway. Sometimes he couldn't decide if they were fascinated by her, or merely entertaining the thought of a former Peacecraft princess being a main staple in world politics, and it was clear that the notion wasn't alien to Relena, herself, either. On the day she turned eighteen, there were tears on her face as she sat by herself in the gardens at some fancy gala, drowning in one of Noin's old Sanq coats. When he saw Duo stroll by and offer her his last cigarette, he didn't object.

7. Slow Cheetah

Sometimes, when Duo was out wasting time between missions during the war days, he'd watch the careless civilians surrounding him and wonder if he'd be happier if his life was more like theirs. He'd be able to state what things he stood for without worrying about whether or not he was being judged as right or wrong, or he could go methodically through his existence without a single fear about whether or not he'd make it around the next street corner alive. Once, though, he and Heero had walked into a convenience store, and, upon going to pay at the register, were greeted dully by a most mundane and directionless checkout girl. She was a bit more concerned with the glossy, airbrushed magazine she'd bought with her pay to really notice the two strange teenagers as she lethargically rang up their one tube of toothpaste, four instant noodles and their single pack of mint chewing gum. Standing between her and Heero, Duo sent them both surreptitious glances and decided he wouldn't trade his life for the world.

8. Torture Me

When Duo asked Heero what his favourite season was, the Japanese aviator promptly told him that it was autumn, saying that he felt a certain kinship with the tumbling leaves that were so effortlessly tossed around by the breeze. Duo thought it was sort of depressing that Heero would connect himself with the dead, crumbling things, emphasizing that Heero was far too alive to be a decaying autumn leaf.

"Death isn't always the end," Heero replied, stopping for a moment to simply lean on his rake; "Even at the mercy of the wind, look how free they are!"

"I never thought you'd be the sort to put your life so easily into the hands of another - especially one who'd throw you for such a loop," Duo said slowly, unsure of what to really make of Heero's statement as he eyed the other man curiously.

"Maybe I enjoy being that way," Heero answered, a smirk growing on his face as he tossed his rake to the ground and grabbed Duo by the wrists, dragging the American down with him as he collapsed into the pile of leaves.

9. Strip My Mind

Looking back on it, Relena had to admit that the main reason she'd probably developed such an intense crush on Heero was probably because he was so unlike anyone she'd ever met before. Encountering Heero that day had sent her small world careening onto its head, showing her that it was actually a much larger place than she'd ever anticipated. Still, even as she watched him walk away for the second time, she didn't want him to vanish from her mind as if he'd been no more than a phantom. Though she understood there was something more out in that big world Heero yearned for, she wished he'd leave something behind, even if it was just so she could remember everything he'd represented for her. Then again, she knew the things he'd been through, and she understood better than anyone that what Heero needed wasn't something she would be able to give - a half of him he'd lost and found a long time ago.

10. Especially In Michigan

Sometimes it seemed like everything in the world came running just to steal Duo's luck. There were days where Duo was convinced that he was the unluckiest son of a bitch to ever live and that his bad fortune was the only thing keeping him from being dead - since that often sounded like a much less stressful option than the current track he was on. Then again, other times it seemed like his bad luck was just so terrible, it was actually good: if his rough and tumble life hadn't kicked him from his burning childhood home to the cockpit of a stolen Gundam, he probably would never have met Heero. Duo was pretty sure that if Heero hadn't come crash landing into his life with all his passion and intensity, his existence would have been nothing more than a shapeless, mind-consuming shadow. No, now that he thought on it, for all its kinks and hard knocks, Duo was pretty sure that life was his friend after all.

11. Warlocks

Having spent years and years of personal time with Duo, Heero couldn't help but notice how easily the longhaired American was able to twist anyone he wanted around his finger, but Heero knew he'd be lying to himself if he tried to deny that his happiness also lay in the palm of Duo's hand. When he'd go looking for Duo, he was often surprised that Duo would drop whatever he was doing to gravitate towards him, even if it meant ditching a whole throng of admirers. It was probably just Duo's way of trying to include him in a more social circle, Heero would reason, knowing full well that he didn't easily take to people he didn't know particularly well, and he didn't dare imagine it could ever be any more than that. But one night, when he and Duo were alone by the bay, he couldn't help himself, and was soon asking why a popular guy such as Duo would ever want to wait around for someone like him.

"A little locket of fantasy," Duo answered, putting an arm around Heero and hugging him close, his fingers reaching to toy with Heero's bangs; "It's what we believe in."

12. C'mon Girl

Uncomfortable with the teetering sensation that went with lingering at the top of the Ferris wheel, Heero asked Duo for the second time in fifteen minutes why he'd been dragged along for the ride. Shaking his head, Duo gripped the safety bar with one hand and slid his other around Heero's shoulders as he pulled him close to his side, answering, "Some people do it by the book, but I prefer to go by feel."

Heero didn't have time to ask him what he meant by that, because the wheel was suddenly turning again, and they plummeted downwards, falling and falling uncontrollably, only just missing the ground as they were hoisted back to the sky.

"It's hard not being in control, being jerked around like this," Duo leaned over and whispered to Heero as the wheel turned around again, "but I think I like the completeness of it all, you know?"

The wind rustled through Heero's tee shirt and mussed his hair, and he then understood exactly what Duo meant - and that if anyone was going to be able to find him, it was the one sitting beside him.

13. Wet Sand

Sitting on the beach in the lap of the rolling waves, Duo traced the shape of his long shadow to where it encroached on Heero's bare feet, which were buried in the soft sand as the water crashed around his ankles. Heero seemed so stoic standing there, the setting sun casting fiery orange flecks in his fathomless blue eyes as he stared out across the expansive ocean - one soul against all odds. So many of the sun-dried unfortunates who thought Heero seemed so much like a god among men had never seen him formed of wet sand and vulnerable to the torrents of water spilling across the beach. Duo was glad he'd brought Heero on a walk here, to his favourite place, knowing full-well that the Japanese aviator had been in need of a little sea breeze and salt water to rub his wounded heart. He just hoped that Heero also realized he was there too, sprawled on the sand in the ocean's wake.

14. Hey

Once upon a time, Heero had been so full of confidence, had known exactly what he wanted and where he had to go, but ever since Duo Maxwell had crash- landed into his life, he hadn't been quite sure where to turn. Duo was boisterous and forward, not afraid to let people know explicitly what was on his mind, even if it came off as irrational or erratic behaviour. Still, it was the carpe diem flame in Duo's eyes that forced Heero to think about things he never had before, made him want things for himself, instead of constantly putting others first, and truthfully, it scared Heero a little. Much as he thought it would be better to just walk away and cut himself off from the dangerous things that Duo excited within him, there were times Heero wondered what would happen if he gave in and allowed himself to be swept up in the moment. Maybe if Duo gave him the word, he'd come around and stay, but not just for today, and not for the last time.