Duo yawned and stretched, waking slowly. He started and snapped fully awake when he felt the smoothness of silk against his skin. <<Silk? Silk sheets? What the...>> Then memories of the day before started to return and the long-haired pilot bit back a moan.

He looked to the side and saw the bearskin rug by the fireplace, but there was no sign of Seth. <<Where'd he go?>> Duo wondered frantically, scanning the room. Eventually his eyes lit on the tapestry that covered the bathroom door. <<Of course, he's probably in the bathroom. Well, I'll just do some quick work on the computer before he finishes.>>

Duo slipped out of the massive bed, almost surprised that he could find his way out. He put his feet down on the slightly cold floor and stood up, only belatedly realising that he had no clothes on. He noticed the silk robe, folded neatly and lying on the bedside table. He reached for it, then froze as a soft voice said "Good morning, Master."

*****

Seth leaned against the bathroom door, enjoying the feel of the thick tapestry against his bare skin. He watched his Master fumble for the green robe and smiled, very much amused. <<Max is just as beautiful by daylight as he is in the shadows and firelight. That's rare.>> the slave thought as he looked his Master up and down appraisingly.

Max struggled to pull on the green silk robe, and finally got it cinched. Seth smiled predatorily <<Oh yes, he looks very good in that robe, especially when he's blushing like that.>>

Seth brushed a wet lock of hair back from his face and modified his smile into a friendly, unthreatening one as his Master turned to face him at last. Then he struggled not to laugh at the look on Max's face when he realised that Seth was very, very nude.

*****

Duo turned to look at Seth, wishing that there was some way to hide the fact that he was blushing. Then he noticed that Seth hadn't even bothered to put on a towel after his bath, and he wondered idly if he was going to pass out from all the blood rushing to his face.

<<He's very... well-hung>> Duo noted faintly, his eyes rivetted to Seth's naked form, despite his efforts to look away. Finally, after a long moment of staring at the slave's slim, perfect body, The American pilot turned away and stared resolutely at the fireplace.

"Could you please.... put some clothes on or something?" Duo asked, nearly panicking as he felt his sex stiffening slightly. <<Why me? Why me? Why am I stuck in this room, with that gorgeous guy, who keeps looking at me like I'm some sort of exotic dessert he's never had before?>>

Duo heard Seth moving around and the slave said, meekly "Terribly sorry, Master, I didn't realise it would offend you."

The flustered boy managed to choke out "I'm not offended, really Seth... just... uncomfortable..... sorry...." as he thought <<And why does part of me keep wishing that that gorgeous guy had short brown hair and eyes the colour of the night sky?>>

*****

<<Shit! I should have known better.>> Seth thought darkly as he slipped into his usual pale clothes, careful to actually lace up the shirt this time. <<I moved too fast again. Damn! Now I'll have to calm him down yet again. He certainly gets flustered easily.>>

He looked over at his Master, who was shaking slightly as he stared at the cold, empty fireplace, and he said quietly "No Master need ever apologize to a Slave. And it was my mistake. I'm dressed now, Master." <<There is something wrong with him... some worry that's eating away at him... I don't think it's me... but I think something about me reminds him of that worry. I'll have to be more even more careful than I planned.>>

*****

Sighing with relief, Duo turned around to face Seth, noting that the slave was actually wearing more clothes than he had the day before. The long-haired young man clutched the silk robe closed tightly and said, his voice still shaking slightly with barely-averted panic, "Well... uh... that's... I'm gonna go get dressed. How do I get food around here? I'd like to get breakfast after I'm ready."

<<Eating breakfast is a pretty safe way to kill time, right? Nothing sexual about that.... nothing to fray my poor nerves....>> Duo thought as Seth replied "I'll have some food sent up right away, Master."

Duo nodded to Seth and mumbled a "Thank you" before he turned away and rooted in his suitcase (which had been brought up while he slept) for another outfit. The contents of the suitcase were almost entirely made of leather, and Duo nearly groaned aloud, thinking of how uncomfortable those outfits were going to be.

<<This one doesn't seem too bad... maybe...>> he thought as he spied a long, silk dress of some sort. A note was attached to it, however, and Duo sighed as he read it:

        Don't even think of wearing this without a corset and proper underwear.

                - Heero Yuy.

The American boy rolled his eyes and fished around in the suitcase, finally finding a corset and another pair of the Hellish leather underwear. <<I guess it'll have to do. And of course... all the shoes in here have heels on them. Wonderful. I am going to hurt Heero when I'm done here.>> Finally, he snatched up a pair of shoes and the bag containing his accessories and headed for the bathroom.

Shoving aside the tapestry with his free hand, Duo slipped into the washroom and sat on the edge of the bathtub. He dumped the clothes on the floor and stared at the wall for a moment, mentally preparing himself for the ordeal he was to go through today.

<<Got to find that guy today... the arms dealer I'm here to kill. The Target, as Heero calls him. Heero...>> Duo firmly shut off that line of thought and dragged his reluctant mind back to his mission. <<Okay, I know he's here... I know his name, and I know what he looks like... maybe I could ask at the desk? No, that's a last resort. If they figure out what happened after I kill him, that could get Quatre in big trouble, since the Palace staff knows who bought me the Key.... The Key! I could ask Seth... maybe he would know, and he might be willing to keep a secret. It's worth a shot.>>

Duo dressed as quickly as possible, lacing the corset as tightly as he could without help <<I am not asking Seth to do up this damn corset. This is as good as it's getting. At least I can almost breathe this time>> and pulling the silk dress over his head. The dress was solid black, as was all the clothing he had with him <<At least Heero chose a decent colour for my wardrobe, if nothing else>> and had a slit on one side that reached up to his hip, nearly high enough to display his underwear.

He looked dubiously at the pile of cosmetics and accessories that tumbled out of the bag when he emptied it, and finally settled on two small, silver clips to hold his hair back. He sorted through the makeup and decided to wear as little as possible, only a light foundation, some lip gloss and a bit of mascara. <<Well, I certainly don't need blush... I seem to be turning red quite naturally lately. This whole mission has me so on edge that everything is getting to me much worse than it normally would.>>

*****

Seth stared at the tapestry-covered bathroom door and thought <<What is taking him so long? Why does Max spend so much time in the bathroom? What is he doing? Writing a novel?>>

Someone knocked on the door and the slave hastily stood up and opened it, letting the servant who had brought up breakfast enter the room. Seth smiled, and said graciously "Thank you, that will be all. My Master will let you know if anything else is needed."

The slight woman nodded and left in a hurry, knowing better than to hang around where she was not welcome. Seth looked down at the tray she had brought as he closed to door behind her. <<Well, quite the selection there. Hopefully Max will find something he likes.>>

The slave set the small table that was off to one side of the room, and looked again towards the hidden bathroom door. <<He'd better hurry up, or I'm going in there after him...>>

*****