Dragon in My Hand
Chapter Nine
Amendments

The evening had been strangely pleasant after Wufei's blow-up at Treize, something that left Wufei feeling even more confused than the General's flirting had. After all, they expected the older man to just push until he got what he wanted, and worse, until he convinced his opponent that it was what they wanted too. One thing Treize did not do was step back and slow down.

Except... he had. He'd only touched Wufei to lift him up to the nightstand, as Wufei had asked, had brought him the tea, sweetened with a little honey from the taste, and then had left him alone. Wufei almost hadn't known what to do with the quiet company, which was completely ridiculous because usually that was the only sort of company that he tolerated. So what was it about the quiet turning of pages with Treize that had suddenly made him want to start chatting like Maxwell on painkillers?

Those questions weighed heavily on his mind as he laid in his make-shift bed the following morning, looking up at the underside of the top of the nightstand. He'd heard Treize getting up and going through his morning routine of grooming a while ago, but hadn't made any motions to rise himself as he put off the day to think. Unfortunately, he wasn't really getting anywhere with that. Treize actions still felt just as confusing as they had before he'd gone to sleep.

And still, he didn't move until there was a soft tapping on the 'ceiling' of his temporary bedroom.

"Wufei, breakfast has arrived if you're hungry," Treize's voice said softly from outside, as though he were trying to make sure he didn't wake Wufei if the pilot was still sleeping. It was almost sweet- no, he was not going in that direction. Not now, not ever.

To distract himself, Wufei pushed back the glove still serving as his blanket and stood up. "I'm awake. Give me a moment." A moment to pull on his jacket so he wouldn't be facing the man in his boxers again, and to pull his mind away from the unanswerable questions floating about it. Grabbing his overcoat, he slid it on and buttoned it up all the way, making sure he was well covered. "Alright, you may open the drawer."

Even with how carefully Treize slid the drawer open, Wufei still had to brace himself against the side of the drawer to keep himself from stumbling. But he was too stubborn to go down onto three points or kneel as he did when he was in Treize's palm. Light flooded in and he had to shield his eyes as he peered out at the giant of a man who was his captor, and his caretaker, something he was only just starting to come to terms with.

"Where would you like moved to?" Treize asked, offering the younger man an open palm. It seemed like he was being serious with his effort to be less forward with Wufei, and that took the pilot aback for a moment before he gathered his thoughts enough to respond.

"Just to the table," Wufei said, stepping up onto Treize's palm and positioning himself enough to be properly stable. Maybe letting the other man wrap his fingers around him would have been safer, but he couldn't bring himself to suggest such a thing and thankfully Treize hadn't suggested it either.

He was silent as Treize straightened up and carried him from the bedroom to the room beyond with the promised meal set up on the table, breakfast for one that was easily shared with someone Wufei's size. Then again, a single cup of tea was easily shared without either of them having to sacrifice so much as a full sip to allow the other a full cup.

Wufei steered his thoughts off in another direction as the general's hand was lowered down onto the table so he could step off, which he did in an outwardly calm fashion. It was almost disturbing how used to that he was getting. He could only hope a cure was found before he came used to too much else or who knew what could happen.

A 'plate' of food was lowered down onto a make-shift table (a small book, low enough that he could still sit on the table), making Wufei realize that Treize must have dished him up while he was thinking. He puzzled over what he was being served on before moving a piece of egg aside to see a bust cast onto it. "A coin?"

"Well cleaned, I assure you," Treize said with a smile as he took his seat on the other side of the small table. He'd taken a bit to figure out what could be used, since a spoon seemed like it would be depressing for his dear pilot to use for very long. And while a coin was also a reminder of his size, covered in food it wasn't so obvious. He hoped at least. I thought you might appreciate something a little more manageable."

It was... considerate, and Wufei gave the older man a nod of thanks for the thought before starting to eat. It really was nice to have something a little more his scale, small enough that he could pick it up himself without needing to sling it over his shoulder like an overly large shovel. Food still felt different at this size, thicker, denser, altogether a little strange, but the touch of normalcy was still appreciated nonetheless.

"I also thought that you might enjoy the luxury of a bath this morning," Treize said after a few minutes of quiet eating. When he saw Wufei's shoulders stiffen, he raised a hand. "A private bath. I'll leave the water in the bathroom for you before I have to leave. Which, unfortunately, will be in a few short minutes."

"In that case, yes, I would appreciate a bath. Without rose oil," Wufei said, giving Treize a sharp look when the older man's lips twitched in amusement. "I don't need anything making my skin any softer, and I certainly don't need you making me with scent like some animal."

This time Treize did chuckle, shaking his head. "I merely meant to sweeten the scent of the water, Wufei. But, as you wish. I will refrain from putting any oil in this time. Now then, if you will excuse me. I'll help you down before I leave, but until then feel free to continue your breakfast."

The general god to his feet and headed back into the bedroom with its attached bathroom, and Wufei could hear water running as Treize moved about to finish his preparations for the morning, not that Wufei could figure out just what more needed to be done to the man's already perfectly put together image. Treize stepped out at one point and poured a fresh cup of tea despite his own claim to be needing to leave soon, but instead of sitting down to drink it, he carried it back into the bedroom with him before returning once more to stand by Wufei's side of the table, a gloved hand held out in offer to Wufei.

As for the confused tiny pilot, he'd stopped eating while trying to figure out just what Treize was up to, but seeing that hand before him made the decision for him. Wufei stepped forward and onto Treize's palm, starting when the man curled his fingers. But rather than grabbing him like Wufei thought he would for an instant, they stopped just bent at a height to give something to hold onto for balance instead of forcing Wufei to kneel when he still lacked his pants, or risk falling over when he was so high up. Wufei murmured a small 'thank you' as he was carried to the bedroom and to the doorway of the bathroom, where Treize stopped instead of entering.

"I shall leave you here then," he said with a gentle smile, smoothly going down onto a bent knee and allowing Wufei to step off onto the floor. "If I do not see you on my return, I'll will be sure to knock. Until later, my Wufei."

Wufei growled at the verbal claim and pointedly did not return Treize's farewell as he marched through the gap in the cracked open door and waited until he couldn't see Treize any longer. Obviously, the general hadn't entirely given up on his pointless chase. He supposed that that was still too much to wish for.

Still, it was a pleasant surprise to see that the bowl of hot water and soap shavings were not the only things that Treize had left behind for him in the bathroom. The mysterious cup of tea was sitting beside it, a thimble on the saucer at the case of the cup for him to use to drink from. Since the other man wasn't around to see it and be made to think that he was making progress, Wufei allowed himself to smile as he undressed for the bath. Maybe he'd be able to survive this ordeal after all.

Treize searched Une out shortly after leaving Wufei in his quarters. He had an idea for something that might make the tiny man's present situation a little easier, but it required an item that he couldn't go fetch himself without making eyebrows raise.

Rather like Une's at the moment, really.

"A fish hook," the woman repeated, not entirely sure that she had heard her superior correctly, or if he was simply pulling her leg. But Treize just nodded with his usual charming smile. Damn him.

"A small one with three or four prongs, ideally, and some very light fishing line to go with it," Treize elaborated cheerfully. "It's for a personal project of mine, but I can't seem to find the time away from work to fetch it myself. I would ask Zechs, but-"

"That will be quite unnecessary," Une said, interrupting him. It was a dirty trick on his behalf, but one that was always so effective with her as much as she rather hated it. The colonel knew of their relationship, and was admittedly quite jealous of it, but far too loyal to act out directly when it risked harming Treize and his revolution to do so. "I'll have them on your desk by this afternoon."

Treize inclined his head in gratitude, smile on his lips. "I knew I could count on you to help, as always. You have my thanks, Lady Une."

"Perhaps you might tell me about this project of yours over tea later," she said, as much curious as simply looking to speak to his Excellency more, as they had in the past before OZ had started to make their boldest moves in the war.

The general gave her an apologetic look before shaking his head. "It's a close secret, I fear, and not entirely my own. One day though, perhaps, when it's complete." He knew his lady would not be happy about that answer, but Wufei would be put in too much danger if Une knew about him. Her loyalty was unquestionable, but her temper was a force to be reckoned with too, and his dragon was so delicate. Wufei would never forgive him either. "However, I'm about to go see how the good doctors are doing on discovering the purpose of our mystery machine, if you care to accompany me."

"Regretfully, I have to decline," the woman said, a narrowing of eyes and a pursing of lips the only signs she gave of her displeasure in front of Treize. Her men and their enemy would no doubt be feeling it soon enough though. "There is a training matter demanding my attention this morning."

"Another time then," Treize said with a nod of dismissal. He waited until Une had given her salute and left before turning down another hall towards the secure laboratory where the pieces of the destroyed weapon had been taken.

He'd only cleared the team of scientists to start examining it yesterday, most of them brought in last minute from other projects and bases for the simple reason that he trusted them explicitly and knew they could not have been involved in its construction. Hopefully the red-eye flights they'd had to take to get here before the morning wouldn't affect their work.

Pausing at the entrance to slip a lab coat over his uniform to prevent himself from carrying any particles out of the lab where they might come in contact with skin until they knew whether or not they were harmless, he stepped inside. "Gentlemen, do you have any news for me?"

The project lead delivered a brief salute before directing Treize's attention to a computer terminal. "We haven't learned much yet, but fortunately what we have figured out so far seems to be highly significant. Large parts of the targeting system are still intact, likely because they were further from the source of the explosion." He glanced at Treize to make sure the general followed, and was motioned to go on. "Right, well the device was designed to target organics from what we can tell. Animals, natural fibers, some raw minerals..."

"Human beings," Treize filled in, lips set in a grim line.

"In theory, yes," the scientist said with a small sigh. "Which is as far as we've gotten, unfortunately. We cannot say for sure what it was originally supposed to do with those targets, as the resulting explosion of course suggests that what it did do may not have been fully intentional. I have a small theory, but I would need to be able to examine the fallen mobile suit to confirm it before it would be worth even testing."

Treize shook his head. "At the moment, that is impossible, but I will inform you immediately if that fact changes. Until then, keep my notified of any new developments."

"Of course, your excellency."

As he left the lab, only stopping to discard the protective layer of clothing, Treize had to frown. Targeting organics. Then was it actually meant to shrink the pilot like it had Wufei, or had that been merely a malfunction? He didn't particularly want to think about what else it could have been intended to do. But, it did partially explain why Wufei's clothing had shrunk with him, but not things like his presumably synthetic hairband or the restraints that would have been binding him to his cockpit chair. And from what he had seen, the damage to the gundam had been caused primarily by the explosion and the force of the crash.

As for a potential examination of the gundam itself, he would have to ask Wufei. Perhaps the fact that it could be to his benefit might be enough to convince the hot tempered pilot. But either way, for now at least Treize would leave the decision up to Wufei. He'd given his work for that much, and hoped nothing would force his hand to break it. But if that became his only way to help the young man, he would do it without hesitation. Particularly when the alternative might be revealing just what the machine had done, which was simply out of the question, no matter any other circumstances. Better for Wufei to live in his nightstand for the rest of the war than to expose them both. Treize doubted that his dragon would agree, but that was one matter on which would not budge. Not even for Wufei.

With a sigh, he headed for his office. His revolution would not wait for this situation to resolve itself, so he could not simply sit on his hands until Wufei was once again fit to take his place as Treize's respected opponent again. All the pity.

Treize hoped Wufei would forgive him if this war was won without his involvement.