Weekly fic posting...

[calic0cat]

...for this week is Life with Heero #103.



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Title: #103 Preparation - Part 4
Arc: Life With Heero
Author: Calic0cat <calic0cat@fastmail.fm>
Story Completed: September 10, 2005
Genre: Shonen Ai/Yaoi, Friendship, Romance, Domestic, Drama
Pairing: 1x2, OCxH
Rated: FRT (Fan Rated suitable for Teenagers)
Warnings: Language (Coarse Language, Profanity), Angst
Archives: At my site http://www.calic0cat.net and at Mediaminer.org under Calic0cat. Anyone with archive permission for my other fics can help themselves; anyone else, please ask.
Disclaimer: Duo and Heero and the rest of the GW gang aren't mine. This story is. Nuff said.

Author's Notes: This is an open-ended arc focussing on Duo and Heero's lives together, starting about two years after Endless Waltz. The length of each story in the arc will vary, anywhere from ficlet to multi-part. Warnings, rating, genre, and POV will vary from story to story as well. The arc as a whole will probably never truly "end", but the smaller plot arcs within it will.

'Thinking'
"Speaking"
*** Time passing or scene change

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Pausing before moving the last box of electronics components off of the inventory table, Heero asked, "How do the numbers look?"

Rick grimaced and shook his head in response to Heero's inquiry. "Not good. We'll be lucky to break even on expenses."

"Damn." None of them had been expecting a windfall from the contents of the old sheds, but they had been hoping for a modest profit. 'All this work for nothing...' Heero thought dispiritedly. Well, it wasn't *really* for nothing; they had to do the inventory or they would, at best, risk losing their salvage license. At worst, they could be fined *and* lose the license. So it wasn't exactly for nothing, but it would have been nice to have had a nice little payoff for all the work that they'd been doing.

Shifting the box over to the appropriate pallet of inventoried salvage, Heero observed in frustration, "We might as well have just scrapped the works. The time we'd have saved would have probably been worth more than the cost of the extra dumpsters and the loss of whatever little bit of salvage we'd have sacrificed combined."

"Most likely." Rick stretched stiffly, yawning broadly. "Maybe we should change tactics and do that now?" he suggested wearily.

"Maybe," Heero agreed after a moment's hesitation. "You mean, just give each shed a cursory survey for anything noteworthy, then scrap the rest?"

"Right," Rick replied. "Rather than half kill ourselves trying to do the job properly, maybe it's time to just cut our losses on the whole thing.

"If we just pitch everything straight into the trash dumpsters right inside the shed - no sorting, no inventorying - it shouldn't take more than a couple of days to finish up."

"It sounds like a good idea to me." Though Heero wasn't too sure that Hilde would go for it; she had a more personal stake in that collection of - well, *junk*, to be perfectly honest - that her family had built up over the years. Good business decision or not, deciding to just trash the lot of it might not be a choice that she was willing to go along with. In which case, Duo would be left with the deciding vote and, while Heero *thought* that Duo would see their point, it was also possible that he would choose to side with Hilde. Duo took a certain satisfaction from salvaging as much as possible from a pile of what anyone else would consider junk; he might not be any more thrilled than Hilde by Rick's plan.

On the other hand, maybe they would both be so tired and frustrated that they'd quite happily go along with it. Though he was frankly glad that it was Rick's idea rather than his; his relationship with Hilde was pretty good now, but he'd rather not put it to the test if he didn't have to, and this suggestion had the potential to prove a bit... controversial. "Maybe we should call it quits a little early, you can put forward the suggestion, then we can discuss it as a group?"

Nodding, Rick replied, "Yeah. We'd only planned an eight-hour shift today anyway... Why don't you get'em to quit when you pick up the next load, then the three of you can inventory it while I run the detailed figures and see how the options play out?"

"Agreed," Heero acknowledged as he swung himself onto the driver's seat and started the forklift. Just the *possibility* of being done with this job ahead of schedule made him feel a lot less tired and frustrated.

After all, the sooner that they got it over with, the sooner their lives would get back to normal, and the sooner that he and Duo could pick up where they'd left off back when this damn inventory started.

#################################################

Also, just a note regarding my fic offer over on fandom_charity - I've had one taker for 2000 words in my TS "Lifebond" universe, [edit] and ravensilver has pitched in with a library donation for a GW fic (details to be determined) that will take up the remainder of what I was offering, plus a bit over. but that's it so far, somewhat to my surprise considering how often I'm getting poked for new GW "Sweeper Three" parts or a GW "Winning Duo" sequel, and for a TS "Symbiosis" sequel. *shrug* Anyway, I'm prepared to take up to 5000 words total for now, so there's still another 3000 words available in exchange for a donation to one of the listed animal rescue agencies involved in the Hurricane Katrina recovery effort. [/edit] If you'd rather not donate towards animal rescue, I'll add one additional option to the list of charitable organizations - any of the library-related charities listed by The Children's Book Council. If you're curious as to just how badly the libraries fared in the storm, the American Library Association has a news page. Some libraries are closing their (no longer existent) doors for good. :(

Comments

[amejisuto.livejournal.com]

Yay! The inventory should be done soon if Hilde and Duo agree, and I really hope they do! Great update!

And I can't help it, the thought of a new bit of "Winning Duo" makes me squee! If I have the cash I'd donate for that myself!

[calic0cat.livejournal.com]

Great update!

Glad you liked it! I know there's still some other open issues, but those simply didn't fit into this chapter.

If I have the cash I'd donate for that myself!

Well, I've had one more "taker" for my fic offer, and ravensilver has accounted for the remainder of the word count that I'm prepared to commit to (and then some!). So, now I've got lots more writing to work on.

[rochan01.livejournal.com]

I, too, would have liked to donate for this, however - I saw UtopiaDoesn'tExist (http://www.livejournal.com/users/no_utopia/)'s offer first - and donated all I could spare to the Humane Society disaster relief fund.
Trust me, both Sweeper Three and Winning Duo were really tempting me to scrounge up some more though! If it weren't for this inconvenient need I have to eat... Anyway, didn't want you to think your work isn't appreciated.

*sigh* Tevye was right, I wish I were a rich man...

[calic0cat.livejournal.com]

Well, as things have worked out, one donation is possibly going to end up going towards a WD sequel (assuming that the muse cooperates) and another is going towards a "Simple Human Contact" sequel. Plus, of course, the one towards something set in my TS "Lifebond" universe. So, I'm not feeling the least bit underappreciated - I've ended up with plenty of takers for the offer!

Besides, the important thing is that the donations are getting made, no matter whose offer the donor ends up taking as a "thank you" reward.

[merula31]

I love this story! thanks for the chapter! It would be nice if they could finish early... especially if they aren't making any money on it.

I'm still worried about Duo's bad feeling in the shed...

[calic0cat.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed this chapter. As for finishing early and Duo's 'bad feeling'... *looks innocent* ... guess everyone's just going to have to wait and see...

[klingonpoo.livejournal.com]

Thanks for posting another chapter to this story!! I love this series! I hope Hilde and Duo like the idea. It would be nice to finish early, especially if they aren't going to make any money. I'm still worried about Duo's bad feeling. I can't wait for more!

I would like to donate but one of my LJ friends lived in New Orleans and lost everything. I've already donated to her fund plus I made a contribution to animal rescue at my local PetSmart. Unfortunately, I can't afford to make another donation right now but you are doing something terrific! Thanks for helping all our furry friends!

*hugs*

[calic0cat.livejournal.com]

Thanks for posting another chapter to this story!!

You're welcome! I'm just glad that my writing is finally flowing better again; I hate leaving a series hanging for as long as some of mine have been over the past year or so. I'm hoping that there will be more of this (and other stories) ready for posting fairly soon.

I would like to donate but one of my LJ friends lived in New Orleans and lost everything.

Donating to help a friend is definitely a priority! Hope your friend manages to get her life back on track; I can't even begin to imagine how terrible it would be to lose everything like that.

[klingonpoo.livejournal.com]

Thanks! My friend, her father and brother are now staying with an uncle in Georgia. I also can't imagine losing literally everything but the clothes I'm wearing. Times like this I wish I was rich but I do the best I can.

[arielhime.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad to read another chapter even if it is short. You are wonderful and I thank you for sharing your talent with us *bows and smiles* Can't wait for more of LWH! ^_^

[calic0cat.livejournal.com]

A short chapter, but a necessary one. Glad you enjoyed it! Hopefully, there will be more LWH soon...

[leorising1959.livejournal.com]

Finally got around to reading this, yays!

This is such a good story...but I'm biting my nails over Duo and the weird noises...

Thanks for the update(s)!

[calic0cat.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it. As for Duo and the weird noises... well, you'll just have to wait and see. Maybe he really is just overtired and imagining things... or maybe not...