"Duo! Come on! We have to go now!" Michael whined. "The draft starts in twenty minutes!"

"Huh?" Duo mumbled, half-awake. All the same, he began to get up, stretching his uncooperative limbs as he willed himself conscious enough to drive. "Go where?"

"Other Realms! Didn't you hear me? The draft is about to start, and they won't let me join if I don't get there in time!" The panic was evident in Michael's eyes. "I'll tell you how to go, so just get up and take me!"

"Okay, okay, fine," Duo grumbled, grabbing his car keys off the kitchen table. 'Other Realms'? It sounded like the title of some terrible fantasy novel, the kind that Michael had scattered all over the floor of his room. Oh well, he was being paid to babysit the kid, not to clean up after him, so what did he care if Michael bought a thousand books and threw them everywhere? But if Michael was dragging him out of his comfortable mid-afternoon nap just to take him to the store to buy more books, there was going to be hell to pay.

In the car, Michael rummaged anxiously through his backpack, but whatever he was looking for, Duo couldn't see from his vantage point in the driver's seat. "So, Mikey, what's going on at 'The Other Realm' or whatever this place is called?"

"The draft," Michael said, as if that explained it all.

A draft? Well, at least they weren't out to buy more books. "Does this have to do with your little league or something?"

"No," Michael said, rolling his eyes, obviously exasperated at his teenage cousin's profound ignorance. "It's a booster draft."

"Oh," Duo replied. "Okay." Whatever that was.

Michael's directions were fast and accurate; obviously he'd been to this place quite a few times. Duo found Other Realms nestled between a Burger King and a Safeway supermarket, and he probably would have missed it if Michael hadn't shouted to let him out as soon as it came into view. Duo watched the kid make a beeline for the entrance before pulling around to find a parking space. As he walked up he couldn't help but wonder what could possibly be so important to Michael that made him come to such a dinky little place.

No sooner had Duo opened the door then he was hit by a smell emanating from the depths of the store. What kind of smell it was, he couldn't exactly say, but it certainly wasn't pleasant. Something in between unwashed hair and the smell of the inside of a McDonald's takeout bag. Yeah, that sounded about right, Duo decided. It smelled like old french fries. Lovely.

He glanced around. The store was small but stretched far in the back, where Duo could see a small cluster of people huddling around several fold-out tables. To his right sat the cash register and possibly one of the fattest men Duo had ever seen. Along the counter and the wall directly behind the man were rows and rows of boxes with colorful packs of what he assumed to be cards stacked in them. He read some of the names off in his head. Yu-Gi-Oh... hey, didn't Michael watch that show? Star Trek... Buffy the Vampire Slayer... they made trading cards for this stuff? Duo approached the counter at the farthest end from the clerk, peering into the cases displayed behind the counter's glass. Inside he saw cards covered with text and bizarre little symbols, along with a price alongside each of them -- Fifty dollars?! For a single card? He didn't even think the picture looked particularly cool. Soon he found an even more expensive card, a small illustration of a jewel with a sticker beside it declaring its price at $250. Duo gave a low whistle. There were people willing to spend $250 on a trading card?

"Just to let you know," the clerk said, turning towards Duo, just the slight motion looking like an ordeal, "the first booster draft is almost full, so if you want to draft, you should probably sign up soon."

"Uh, I'm not here to play," Duo replied quickly, "I'm just here to watch my little cousin."

"Draft's in the back," the clerk responded, heaving back the other way.

Taking that as a cue to finish browsing, Duo made his way toward the back of the store, passing glass displays housing tiny, intricately painted figures of soldiers and monsters (each displaying a price that was much higher than what Duo could imagine anyone wanting to pay for them), shelves of strategy books for games that Duo had never heard of before, and of course, the ubiquitous assortment of fantasy novels. The back of the store itself was a small space in which six or so metal tables had been set out, one of which was covered with a green, mossy tarp dotted by fake trees and boulders, and even a couple of painstakingly detailed tanks and cannons. All the current activity, however, was centered around a couple of the tables, where Duo quickly found his cousin pulling some of his mystery equipment out of that giant backpack of his. Duo could see a container of oddly-shaped dice, a couple of binders, and several big boxes like the kind he'd seen back at the front counter. So Michael was here to play cards? Duo got closer so he could hear the conversation Michael was having with another kid about his age as he rifled through a black binder filled with cards.

"How about the Warhammer for Yosei?" His cousin said, rifling at lightning speed through the small binder.

The other boy frowned. "No, not unless you throw in your Keiga."

"Keiga and Warhammer for Yosei and Jitte?" Michael countered, pulling out several cards from their laminated sleeves.

"Deal," said the other boy with comical seriousness, and the two children handed each other their respective cards and immediately resleeved them in their protective binders. Duo simply watched, completely without comprehension of anything he had just heard or seen.

"Hey Mikey, what's up?" Duo finally said as he took a seat next to his cousin, who was carefully packing his binder of cards to trade into his backpack once more. "So, is this a Yu-Gi-Oh game or something?"

Michael leveled him a look as if Duo had just declared he liked eating out of the garbage can. "This is Magic: The Gathering," he replied with slow, deliberate emphasis.

"Magic: The Gathering," Duo repeated. Well, that made about as much sense as everything else. Hopefully, this 'draft' would be finished pretty soon. He didn't know how much longer he could hang around in this smelly store filled with kids.

Actually, he amended, taking a real look around, make that kids and weirdos. Of the eight or so people milling around the back of the store, only about half of them were kids like Michael. The rest were an eclectic assortment of teenagers and adults, apparently here to play the same game. One of the guys looked like he had to be at least forty. This place was beyond weird, Duo decided.

Another store employee, wearing a too-tight shirt with "Other Realms" emblazoned across the front, came out from a back room with a piece of paper and addressed the crowd. "Okay, here's the seating list. When I call your name, please take your seat so we can start the Ravnica block draft."

Aw man, the draft hadn't even started yet? As the eight participants slowly took their assigned seats, Duo wondered forlornly to himself how long this was going to take.

A draft, it turned out, was when a bunch of people sat down at a table and passed cards to each other. At least, that's what it looked like to Duo. He watched as the eight players silently opened packs in unison, selected one card from each, then passed to the person beside them and continued the pattern. Duo peered over Michael's shoulder as he selected cards, trying to make something of it, but the boy seemed to barely scan the cards before picking one and placing it face down on top of his neatly stacked pile. Did he have them all memorized already or something? Duo had never felt so lost.

When the draft was over, the clerk spoke up again, "Okay, everyone count your cards, make sure you have forty-five. Deck construction begins now, you have ninety minutes, land box is at the front!"

Ninety minutes? Duo felt his chances of escaping this place anytime soon slipping away. The eight players dispersed, taking seats at separate tables as far away from each other as possible. Michael began to sort out his cards into various little piles, mumbling to himself every once in a while. Duo tried to watch him, but Michael shooed him away. Apparently sorting cards into piles took tons of concentration.

Man, this was so boring. How could Michael possibly be entertained by this? Whatever happened to good old Attention Deficit Disorder? He'd been here for thirty minutes and nothing had even happened yet, just a weird game of hot potato with cards while no one said anything! This had to be the most boring way to spend an afternoon that Duo could think of. With Michael focused on his cards and ignored him, Duo looked around at the silent card players for someone his age to talk to. They couldn't all be weird, could they?

Unfortunately, there were only five or so people that even looked to be over the age of twelve, and one of them was the forty-year-old guy. Another one had to be in his late twenties, with an enormous, unruly beard that reached all the way down to his hefty stomach. Well, Duo thought, at least one of the remaining three looked okay. No crazy facial hair or bizarre clothing or offensive body odor. Alright, so he did look like he'd never touched a comb in his entire life, but beggars couldn't really be choosers here. Duo strode over to where the messy-haired kid was arranging his cards alone.

"Hey buddy, mind if I take a seat?" Duo said cheerfully.

The boy was silent, not even looking up from his cards at Duo's question, as if he hadn't even heard him. Jeez, maybe he should've gone with the beard guy. Duo tried again. "Mind if I sit down?"

This time the boy gave a nearly imperceptible nod of his head, attention still fixed on his cards. Duo wasn't even sure if it was meant for him, but he took it as a green light anyway and sat down next to the boy. "So, you're playing this Magic thing too, huh?" He ventured, not terribly surprised when he didn't receive an answer. Okay, fine, whatever, if this guy wouldn't talk to him, he'd just amuse himself for a while. He looked around at the table in front of him, where cards had been spread out in a million intricate little piles. Quietly, while the boy was rifling through cards at another end of the table, he picked up the nearest pile and began to inspect it.

"Woah, creepy picture," he said, turning one of the cards over in his hands. "'Gleancrawler', huh? Must be a pretty good card."

The boy's head snapped around, glaring at Duo, then at the cards in his hand. "Give those back," he said, his voice deeper than Duo would have expected.

"What? I wasn't taking them, I was just reading them," Duo replied.

"I need them," the boy said, still glaring. "Give them back to me."

"Okay, here," Duo said forlornly, handing them over to the boy, who quickly snatched them away and shuffled them into another pile of cards. Well, at least he'd gotten him talking. "So, what does that 'Gleancrawler' guy do?"

The boy turned toward him again, looking for all the world like he was trying to kill him with his expression. "Didn't you read it?" He replied.

Duo shrugged, grinning. "Yeah, but I have no idea what any of it means."

"Then there's no point in telling you what it does," the boy replied sarcastically, "you wouldn't even understand it anyway."

Jeez, this guy sure wasn't winning any popularity contests with that attitude. With a dismissive grunt, the boy turned his attention back toward his cards, but Duo's curiosity -- or perhaps some latent sadistic streak -- had been piqued, and he wasn't going to give up without a little bit of a fight. "So, what's your name?"

The boy said nothing. It was obvious he was trying his hardest to ignore Duo's presence entirely. He continued to rearrange his cards and refused to answer when Duo pressed him several more times for his name. Finally, with a sigh of capitulation, he said, "If I tell you my name, will you leave me alone?"

"Sure." Duo shrugged.

"Heero Yuy," the boy said immediately, not even looking up.

"Well, hello there, Heero Yuy," Duo responded brightly, "I'm Duo Maxwell. Now that we've been introduced and all, can I check out some of your cards?"

Heero glared at him with renewed exasperation. "Fine, fine," Duo muttered, "I'm leaving!" Stretching as he got up -- those folding metal seats were a killer -- he made his way over once more to his cousin, who was still agonizing over his cards. "Mikey, I'm hitting up Burger King. You want something?" Michael didn't answer him. Duo was really getting tired of being ignored by everybody. "Fine, your loss," he groused, eager to get outside for some fresh air.

"So, what's the score?" Duo Maxwell, the boy with the ridiculous hair and the mouth that never stopped moving, asked for the fifteenth time. Whether it was directed at him or at Duo's cousin, he didn't know, but neither of them answered him anyway. The score was 1-1, but there was no point telling Duo that; he was like a brick wall in terms of listening comprehension. In five minutes he'd just be bothering them for the score all over again. Heero was doing a pretty good job of tuning him out, focusing on the game at hand and what he had to do to win.

It was the third and final round of the draft, and though it was with some surprise that he found himself facing a small boy at the final, he was nonetheless careful not to underestimate his opponent. After playing for the last two hours, Heero knew he was truly performing at his best. The previous rounds had illuminated his deck's strengths and weaknesses; by now every play he made seemed perfectly obvious, requiring almost no mental exertion on his part. He basked in the satisfying feeling of knowing he was truly working in tune with the deck he had constructed. Even the unfortunate circumstance of having to play the younger cousin of the exasperating loudmouth who had been bothering him during deck construction didn't faze him now. Sure, Duo didn't stop talking for a single minute during the entire round, but Heero just let his voice fade into the background of his consciousness, until it was no more than ambient noise in the atmosphere of the game store.

This was the game it all came down to. Game one had been easy, the young boy's deck, aggressive but underpowered, had been weak to Heero's flyer-heavy board; when he'd dropped his bomb creature, the Gleancrawler, the game had already been tipped irreversibly in his favor. The second game, he'd added more direct damage to counter the boy's fast, but small creatures. However, he had to mulligan down to a mediocre six-card hand, and it didn't improve much more for the rest of the game. Failing to draw enough land, he was simply run over with fast creatures and couldn't stabilize. Now it was the final game, and Heero was confident he could win. He was playing first, and he drew a nearly perfect hand. The boy cast a mean little 2/2 creature, but Heero quickly neutralized it with a removal spell, following that up with a couple of fast flyers of his own. After a few turns, the life totals were 18 to 13 in his favor.

It was the boy's turn, and Heero watched as he drew his card, his eyes lighting up in complete betrayal of emotion. Duo, behind him, gave the boy a supportive pat on his shoulder. "That's good, right?"

Soon Heero discovered what the card was. Brightflame, and he had just enough mana to cast it and kill both his flyers, gaining an equal amount of life in the process. Well, that wasn't good. If he didn't do something to stabilize quickly, he might be in trouble. Heero frowned as he milled impatiently through the cards in his hand. He hated topdecks.

And yet, it was with one of his own that he was quickly able to regain control of the game. Though the boy had wiped Heero's board with one card, he had no creatures he was able to cast, and thus when Heero drew Gleancrawler again off the top of his deck, it was met without resistance. The boy's expression, cheerful after his lucky draw, quickly soured as Heero swiftly finished the game in a few turns of attacking with the powerful Gleancrawler and the resurrected flyers from his graveyard.

"Aw, Mikey, you lost?" Duo said to his forlorn cousin. "Sorry, buddy." The boy said nothing, just sat dejectedly as Heero packed up his cards and collected his prize from the hovering store employee.

"Aw, come on, Heero, why didn't you just let him win? He's just a kid." Heero ignored him, but Duo wasn't finished. "Look how sad he is, man," he continued, as if they were old friends. "It's just a card game."

Rolling his eyes, Heero got up from the table, making his way toward the exit. To his chagrin and rising annoyance, Duo followed, unhappy cousin in tow. "I don't get it. What's the big deal about winning against a little kid?"

Now that they were outside the store, he turned around, glaring at Duo, who hadn't left him in peace for one minute once he'd sat down next to him that afternoon. Duo seemed almost surprised that he'd gotten Heero's attention. "That's right," Heero said, "you don't get it, so why don't you shut up about something you know nothing about?"

Leaving Duo speechless for once that entire day, Heero turned swiftly and walked to his car.

Babysitting his little cousin, Duo decided, sucked a big one. This entire summer hadn't really been gearing up to be so great, anyway. All his friends were busy in one way or another -- he wondered, a little enviously, how Hilde was enjoying her Mediterranean cruise with her parents, and even his own parents had gone on a vacation for two, cheerfully suggesting that he go hang out at his aunt and uncle's house while they were away. And oh, while he was there, wouldn't babysitting little Michael be a great part-time job? Though Duo had to concede that his loaded aunt and uncle were paying him a ton just for watching their slightly eccentric son, he sometimes wondered if it was even worth it when he found himself chauffeuring Michael around everywhere during the day, back and forth from store to store so often that he had to question whether it was wise to give a little kid such a large allowance. He tried more than once to interest Michael in playing sports with him outside, as sitting inside the house all day was driving him stir crazy, but Michael was much more content to play alone with his cards than to play sports with Duo. While it wasn't exactly fun for a seventeen-year-old to have to hang out with a ten year old anyway, Duo reasoned, this was just ridiculous. This was like a seventeen year old hanging out with a wall fixture.

It was only several days after his defeat at the draft that Michael once again implored his cousin to drive him to Other Realms, this time to purchase cards for a deck he was building. Duo knew that a 'deck' was the name for the pile of cards that one apparently played Magic with, but his knowledge of the mysterious game that his cousin obsessed over ended there. Michael wasn't exactly eager to teach him, and though Duo had tried to coax him into doing so a couple of times, ten-year-olds didn't make the best instructors; he'd quickly found himself just as lost as before. It wasn't exactly with breathless enthusiasm that he once again drove Michael to the game store.

The now-familiar stench of leftover french fries welcomed him anew as he followed his cousin inside, looking around and spotting a couple of recognizable faces. There was Forty-Year Old Guy loitering around in the back, and the enormous shop clerk was still positioned precariously on a stool behind the register, this time accompanied by Burger King takeout. And well, well, well, who should be rifling through one of the binders at the counter but Heero Yuy? Did these guys live here or something? Before he could really stop himself, he was on his way over to say hello to the guy who, if he'd noticed him enter, would have probably sprinted right out of the store.

"So, if it isn't Heero Yuy, Vanquisher of Small Children," Duo cracked when he managed to sneak up next to the boy. Jumping about a mile out of his skin, Heero whipped his head around to stare, seemingly horrified, at Duo. Duo flashed him his most debonair smile. "'Sup?"

Heero's expression was frozen somewhere between infuriated and petrified. "What are you doing here?"

"Man, and here I thought you'd be happier to see me," Duo shrugged, grinning.

"Why would I be happy to see you?" Heero snapped, whirling back towards the binder of cards, impatiently flipping through the laminated pages.

Duo elected to treat that question hypothetically. "Jeez, I'm beginning to think my cousin's a lost cause, but don't you have anything better to do with your summer? Why are you here all the time?"

Heero ignored him. "Nothing better to spend your money on than funny-looking cards?" Duo continued.

"It's none of your business," Heero snapped, glaring so hard at the cards in front of him that Duo was surprised they didn't catch fire. Man, it was so easy to rile this guy up. No sense of humor whatsoever. Duo's mouth was moving on autopilot, firing thoughts out before his brain even registered the rising frustration and anger building in the other boy.

"This seriously has to be, like, the nerdiest hobby ever," Duo declared, pulling a card out of the binder Heero held in a white-knuckled grip. " 'Add 3 colorless mana to your mana pool'," he recited, laughing to himself. "I mean, what does all this crap even mean? How can something so dumb be so interesting to you? I'm bored out of my mind and I'm just reading the --"

"That's it!" Heero growled, slamming the binder shut and turning on Duo. "What is your problem? If you don't like what I do, then just leave me the hell alone!" With that, he flew angrily past Duo and stormed out of the store.

Oops, looked like his teasing had gone too far again. "Shit," he muttered, watching Heero stomp angrily across the parking lot. He hated making bad impressions on people. Heero didn't even know him and he probably already thought he was a huge asshole. And Duo had only wanted to... Quickly, he located his cousin, who was rifling through a binder of cards. "Hey, Mikey, can you stay put in the store for a second? I'll be right back." Michael nodded, distracted or just uninterested in where Duo was going. Figuring the cards would hold his attention for a while longer, Duo sprinted out of the store and out across the parking lot.

"Hey! Wait!" He called out to Heero, who was already several yards away and closing in on his car. Without waiting for a response, Duo ran toward him, cursing the oppressive heat of the day and his own propensity for black clothing. "Wait!"

Heero's retreating form halted; he stopped where he stood and slowly turned to face Duo, apparently surprised he had come running out after him. Okay, he looked more angry than surprised. Duo cringed inside as he reached him, pausing to catch his breath for a few seconds.

"Phew," he panted, squinting in the high glare of the afternoon sun. "Didn't think you'd stop."

Heero crossed his arms impatiently, glaring.

"Look, I'm sorry." Duo peered out at the other boy from under his heavy bangs. "I've been cooped up for a week with my cousin and I guess it's starting to get to me." He shrugged. "Guess I took it out on you a little. I'm sorry." Duo ventured an apologetic smile.

Snorting, Heero turned around and continued to walk toward his car, pulling out his keys to unlock the doors.

"Wait!" Duo repeated. Heero once again paused, his hand clasping the car's door handle. When he turned around this time, Heero's expression was closer to bemused than pissed.

"Why do you care what I think about you?" He asked. "After all, I'm just a nerd who needs a better hobby."

"Hey, I said I was sorry!" Duo whined, but Heero looked genuinely confused, like he couldn't imagine why Duo would be bothering to even apologize. "I... uh... well, okay, I guess I just..." he stumbled, feeling guilt flood him at the way Heero was looking at him, "...want to be your friend?" Duo gave a shrug, deflated.

"Why?"

Jeez, what was with this guy putting him on the spot now? "Because I can't stand another minute with my cousin!" He quipped, but quickly shook his head. "Look, all my friends are out of town this summer, so are my parents. And I'm stuck with this stupid babysitting job for my aunt and uncle. I guess I'm just happy to find another guy my age to hang out with," he finished, scratching his head, fully mortified now.

Heero smirked. He seemed to be finding Duo's embarrassment amusing.

"And I'm sorry I said your game was stupid," Duo went on. Now that he'd started pouring his heart and soul out to this guy, he guessed he might as well continue. "Maybe I just don't understand it. Hey! I have an idea!" Duo exclaimed suddenly. "Why don't you teach me how to play?"

Heero's eyebrows shot up into his mess of bangs. "You can't be serious."

"Yeah, come on, it'd be cool!" Come on, don't leave me alone with my baby cousin the whole summer! "I'm sure Magic is fun once you get the hang of it," he entreated, putting on his best pout. Heero looked positively floored at the turn of events.

"You seriously want to learn how to play Magic?"

"Yeah!" Duo said with more enthusiasm than he actually felt. Did he really want to learn how to play this dumb game? "Come on, Heero, whaddaya say?"

Why the hell had he agreed to this? Heero once again asked himself, spreading a small pile of cards out on the floor in front of a bewildered, but nonetheless eager Duo Maxwell. A Duo Maxwell who was sitting beside him in his own basement. Why the hell had he agreed to this?

Heero couldn't believe his own actions, really. One minute, Duo was strolling into Other Realms and shooting off at the mouth to him, again, and the next he was following him out to his car and actually asking to be his friend. Heero couldn't understand it. And how exactly had he come to invite the long-haired loudmouth over to his place? He was supposed to hate this guy, after all. It was something in the pouty look he'd gotten when he'd asked him to teach him how to play. Those purple eyes had grown so wide and imploring... Heero had agreed without even really intending to, just to get Duo to stop making that face so he could clear his head a little.

"Look," Heero began what he was sure was a futile exercise. "Magic is an incredibly complicated game. I couldn't possibly explain it all to you fully tonight, so we'll just start with the basics." He gestured at the small piles of cards he had laid out on the floor in front of them. "There are two kinds of cards in a deck: spells and lands. Every spell in Magic requires a certain amount of points you have to use to cast it, called 'mana'," Heero explained in the simplest terms he could devise. "There are five colors of mana, corresponding to five colors of spells. You have to use the right kind of mana for a spell to cast it. These," Heero continued, indicating some of the cards he'd placed in front of Duo, each illustrated with a scene of some otherworldly landscape, "are lands, and they produce mana, so you need a lot of them in your deck in order to cast any spells."

Duo plucked one of the cards off the floor and inspected it. "What's this big fireball-looking thing for?"

"That's the symbol for red mana, just pay attention to the colors." Picking up another card from the floor, Heero pointed out the small symbols in the right hand corner. "This is the mana cost for this card, okay? That's how many lands you have to tap to cast it."

"Uh, 'tap'?" Duo repeated. Heero sighed in frustration. Magic terminology was like second nature to him; even when he was trying to use layman's terms for Duo's benefit he found it hard to catch himself.

"Tapping a card means you use it for something, like mana, or when you attack with a creature," Heero tried to explain, but Duo's eyes remained wide and uncomprehending. "Never mind about creatures," he sighed. "For now, just remember that in order to cast a spell, you have to use mana, and in order to get mana, you have to turn your land to the side like this --" he indicated what he meant by flipping the card ninety degrees on its side. "After you've tapped a land for mana, you can't untap it to use it again until your next turn. Understand?"

"Uh, yeah, I think so," Duo replied, inspecting the card Heero had picked up earlier. He hadn't spoken much since Heero had began this lesson; it was a little strange to Heero that he was the one doing all the talking for once. Well, at least that hopefully meant he was listening. "So this card needs two little red guys, and... uh, what's this little '3' in a grey circle supposed to mean?"

"That's called 'colorless' mana."

"Colorless, huh?" Duo thought it over for a couple of seconds. "Does that mean that you can use any color of mana for it?"

"Very good," Heero nodded, actually impressed. It seemed Duo could keep up with him after all. Maybe his first impression of the boy was a little hasty. Eager to get to more complicated matters, Heero quickly described the basic layout of a game: two opponents at twenty life points each, seven cards in an opening hand, with one new card being drawn a turn, meaning it was pulled off the top of your face-down deck, referred to as your "library". There was a limit of one land cast per turn, and if, at the end of your turn, your hand exceeded seven cards, then you were forced to the discard extra cards to your "graveyard".

"This is a creature," Heero handed Duo a card off the floor. "Those numbers in the bottom right corner are its power and toughness."

"Let me guess, how much damage it deals and how much damage it can take?" Duo ventured, a smile spreading across his face at Heero's pleased surprise. "I'm not as dumb as I look, I swear," he added, grinning.

Heero snorted, but he couldn't help smiling a little; he had to admit Duo's enthusiasm was infectious.

After about an hour, Heero thought Duo grasped enough of the basics to survive and suggested a practice game. "If there's something you don't understand, let me know."

"Deal," Duo replied brightly.

"So," Heero said as they shuffled their decks, feeling more talkative than usual. Maybe it was because he had been doing most of the talking for an hour anyway. "How did you manage to get away from babysitting today?"

"Well, I was supposed to take Mikey to his little league practice today," Duo explained, drawing his opening hand. "But I got out of it by saying I had a hot date," he finished with a laugh.

"A date?"

"Yeah, I knew they wouldn't bother me about it. Looks like you're my hot date for the evening!"

Heero's stomach gave an odd little flip. He frowned, wondering if maybe he'd eaten something bad.

"Although," Duo continued, mostly to himself, "this is a pretty weird idea for a date, if you ask me." He scratched his head. "Actually, I can't believe I'm even playing this game." He pulled a mountain from his hand and said, "your turn!"

Heero began to draw his card when Duo suddenly exclaimed, "oh shit! I just realized I could've cast something!" There was that pout again, Duo's expression the very picture of disheartened. "Aw man, Heero, can I just do it now and we can pretend I did it on my turn?"

Heero tended to be very strict on rules; after all, you never knew when your leniency or your opponent's mistakes could cost you a game. But Duo had never actually played before, so he was bound to make mistakes, right? Heero assured himself that was the reason he was willing to let Duo take back all of his misplays. Surely it wasn't because of the weird feeling in his stomach he got whenever Duo made that face. "Go ahead."

Duo grinned widely and plucked a 1/1 Goblin out of his hand, making sure to carefully turn his mountain to the side before he did so. "I tap my mountain for one red mana and cast Mogg Fanatic!" he declared triumphantly. He seemed so pleased with himself that Heero couldn't help but chuckle.

The game went more or less as Heero expected it to. He'd given Duo an easy deck for a beginner to play, very fast and heavy on creatures. It didn't offer too many difficult decisions that might confuse someone new to the game. Duo played capably despite making several mistakes, most of which he caught. Whenever he'd realized what he should've done, his brows would knit together in that distracting way and Heero would quickly find himself letting him take back his plays. Heero wasn't sure what was more confusing, that he was being so agreeable or that it didn't annoy him when Duo made a mistake. It didn't matter in the end how many do-overs he let Duo have anyway; Heero's experience easily gave him the advantage and he beat Duo soundly.

"Aw, dammit!" Duo swore as Heero gathered his cards. "I thought I had you for a second there! Best two out of three!" He declared, already shuffling his cards for the next game.

Six games and nearly three hours later, Duo finally gave up. "I just can't beat you," he grumbled, deflated. "I'll never be king of the nerds at this rate."

"Shut up," Heero retorted automatically, but there was no sharpness to his tone. "Anyway, you're a beginner. I was just as bad as you when I started out."

"Really?" Duo brightened.

"Actually, no, I was still better than you," Heero quipped.

"Hey!" Duo was laughing despite his indignant tone. Heero smirked, feeling some color rising to his cheeks. Why did something as simple as playfully trading insults make him feel like this? And just yesterday, he hadn't even liked the guy.

Heero was still mulling it over even after Duo went home. He'd never acted like this before. Heero had a few friends, mostly guys who would get together to play Magic occasionally. Heero enjoyed the company of people who were as passionate about Magic as he was, who appreciated the strategic intricacy and mental exertion the game required, but their conversations mostly ran to game mechanics and Heero wasn't particularly interested in getting to know them as anything other than gaming buddies. He thought that he didn't need any other kinds of friends.

And Duo was totally different from any of his other friends. Heero had never found himself trying to instill interest in Magic in someone before. Whether or not someone had any interest in his hobby didn't matter to him. Whether or not they thought he was a loser for enjoying playing a card game more than he enjoyed the company of most people didn't matter to him either.

But Heero had found himself having fun tonight in spite of Duo's inexperience, or perhaps because of it. Duo's enthusiasm toward learning how to play Magic was contagious. His excitement at aspects of the game that were like second nature to Heero should have been tiring or frustrating, but instead Heero found himself excited to teach them to Duo. When he saw that comprehension dawn on Duo's face, Heero's stomach would give one of those strange little nervous flips that were completely unfamiliar to him.

Duo wasn't anything like Heero had thought when he first met him. He was smart, perceptive, gregarious... not just an idiot with long hair and a big mouth. Heero found that rather than being apathetic, he wanted Duo to be interested in Magic. Even more, he wanted Duo to be interested in him. For the first time, he thought he cared whether or not someone thought he was worth spending time with.

Duo rolled over in bed and turned the light back on for the third time, giving up on sleep for the near future. For some reason, he couldn't get his brain to shut off for the night. Instead, all he could think about was the evening he'd just spent with Heero.

Who knew that a stupid card game could be so much fun? Duo was actually surprised at how much he'd enjoyed himself. Sure, he hadn't even won once, but somehow it hadn't even mattered. He'd had so much fun just trying to make Heero laugh that losing all those games made no difference.

He'd been wrong about Heero, Duo decided. He wasn't just a nerd with a yard stick up his ass. Okay, he was a nerd, and he still could manage to loosen up a bit more, but... well, he was fun to hang out with. Heero got so into Magic, even when he was just teaching him how to play. It was really kind of... cute. Cute? Duo flipped onto his side, scratching his head in distraction. Jeez, what was he thinking? Had he really just thought that Heero was cute?

Well, Heero didn't look like a typical nerd; Okay, well, not besides that crazy hair anyway. He looked pretty good, actually. When he actually smiled, rare as it was, Duo found himself laughing maybe a little too loudly just to get over the lump that rose in his throat. And besides, Duo was never one to judge people by their hair. Yeah, he decided, Heero was definitely an attractive guy. And his personality wasn't that bad. He was pretty funny when he wanted to be. And so what if he was really into a card game? It could be worse. Better that Heero really apply himself to something that required concentration and intelligence. Would he knock on a guy for being really good at chess?

Okay, just what was he doing? Lauding Heero's talents, waxing poetically on his good looks... Duo rolled onto his back once more, frowning at the ceiling. This might be really, really bad.

Even so, he couldn't sleep. He couldn't force himself not to think about Heero, about the fact that he really, really wanted to see him again. He'd given him his number when he'd left that night, asking him to play again, but would he call? Had Heero liked hanging out with him enough to want to see him again? Ugh, Duo hated obsessing over shit like this. He felt like a girl with a crush or something. A girl with a... oh, man.

Just then, Duo's cell phone buzzed from his night stand. Duo snapped to attention. Was it Heero? Calm down, Maxwell, he scolded himself, get a hold of yourself. It was probably Hilde, anyway; she'd said she'd call him from Europe to tell him how her cruise was. Duo reached blindly for his phone, wondering whether or not he should tell her about Heero. Maybe he'd just conveniently leave out the part about Magic. Didn't want Hilde to think he'd gone crazy while his friends were away, after all.

Duo turned the phone over to its face to see the caller ID. His eyes went wide. Shit, it was Heero! Quickly, he flipped it open, running a hand through his bangs. "Hello?"

"Duo?"

"Hey!" He said, wondering if maybe he sounded a little too excited. Maybe he was just being paranoid. "What's up, man?"

"I was, uh, well," Heero stammered. What, was he nervous or something? Maybe he didn't talk on the phone a lot. Yeah, Duo didn't find that hard to imagine. "There's uh, a Two-Headed Giant Tournament on Friday at Other Realms, and I wasn't going to go, because you need a partner, but I was wondering if... maybe you wanted to go?"

What the hell was 'Two-Headed Giant'? "Well, uh, Heero, I'm flattered," Duo replied sincerely, "but I mean, I just started playing Magic, you know? Are you sure you want to teach me a whole new game in one day?"

Heero chuckled on the other side of the phone. "Two-Headed Giant is a type of Magic tournament, Duo. You play two-on-two instead of one-on-one."

"Oh!" He felt kind of dumb. "So, you want me to be your partner?"

"Oh, um, yeah," Heero mumbled into the phone. "I mean, if you want to."

"Sure I want to!" Duo said eagerly. "Are you sure that's okay? I mean, I'm not very good, or anything."

"I -- I don't mind."

"Okay! I'll be there!"

"Okay." Maybe it was his overactive imagination, but Heero sounded relieved. "Sorry for calling so late," he added. "I didn't think you would pick up at all."

"Eh, it's all right. I wasn't sleeping anyway." Cuz I was thinking about you, Duo's mind added for him. Yeah, this definitely wasn't good. "Uh, anyway," Duo said, a bit distracted by the path his mind was wandering, "I'll see you on Friday, right?"

"Right. Good night, Duo."

"Night, Heero," Duo replied, setting his phone back on his night stand and shutting off the light once more. For some reason, he felt much more relaxed after talking to Heero, his thoughts no longer running marathons in his head. Maybe just knowing that he now had definite plans to see Heero again put his mind at ease. Whatever the reason, Duo couldn't wait for Friday to come.

"Remember what I said, right?" Heero asked as they sat down. Round one was about to begin. Duo placed the deck Heero had helped him build in front of him on the table, stretching unhurriedly.

"Don't make any decisions without consulting you first?" He replied.

"Right."

"Roger, Captain," Duo said with a mock salute.

"We win ten booster packs if we get first place," Heero noted, but the truth was he didn't care about the prizes at all. After Duo had left the other day, Heero hadn't been able to sleep at all. Instead, he ended up doing what he always did when he stayed up late at night -- browsing the internet for Magic news and upcoming events, and the Two-Headed Giant tournament had immediately caught his eye. Never one to rely on anyone's authority but his own, Heero had never bothered to play in a team event before, but the opportunity to see Duo again had been all he'd needed to convince him to give it a try.

Their opponents found the assigned table and sat down across from them, breaking out their decks and beginning to shuffle.

"Good luck, guys!" Duo said brightly. The two men smiled, a bit sheepish but warmed by Duo's friendly enthusiasm.

The judge announced the official beginning of the round, and both teams drew their hands. Heero had built Duo a strongly aggressive deck, all damage spells and creatures, and made one for himself that was more strategic, designed to dictate gameplay and prevent their opponents from interrupting Duo's steady flow of damage. The first few turns were routine, Heero's input not really necessary to Duo's simple plays, dropping lands and a couple of small creatures. It was good to see that both their decks were working efficiently, with Duo's creatures coming quickly and Heero's hand stacked with removal spells. It was also good to see confidence in Duo's decisions, that he wasn't looking like he was in over his head. Still, the deliberate attention he put into even the simplest plays was really... charming. Yeah, that little furrow in his brow, the way those purple eyes searched carefully through his hand to ensure he wasn't making any mistakes, it was doing crazy things to Heero's concentration.

"Heero?" Duo was suddenly looking directly at him, and Heero belatedly realized he'd been staring. "You spaced out or something? We gotta take our turns together, you know."

"Uh, yeah, sorry," he stammered, feeling his face flush. He had to pull it together or his playing would suffer. Willing his attention away from the unintentionally distracting boy at his side, Heero surveyed the board to collect his thoughts. The guy on the left had a 2/2 flyer in play; that had to go. The one on the right had all black mana on the board but hadn't yet cast anything. Heero suspected he was playing a control-oriented deck as well.

"Okay, question," Duo said after drawing his card. He leaned in close so he could talk to Heero without the other team hearing. All of a sudden, his breath was warm and intimate against Heero's ear, his soft hair brushing lightly against his cheek. Heero thought his heart might just burst from his chest. Duo was so close...

"Should I cast this guy with haste or should I attack and wait to see if I have to use the mana to kill his creature?" Duo whispered against his ear, sending shivers up and down Heero's spine. For a moment, the words were meaningless babble, just warm breath and the wholly unfamiliar sensation of someone -- of Duo -- being so near. Thankfully, Heero's poker face remained intact, otherwise who knows what his opponents might have thought was going on.

"Uh..." Heero tried to think of what the correct play was. Come on, think. "Just attack for now, I think that guy might try to pull something," he whispered back, maybe putting his mouth a bit closer to Duo's ear than was absolutely necessary.

Nodding thoughtfully, Duo declared his attack phase. Sure enough, after the opponent on the left blocked Duo's biggest creature, the one on the right tried to play Gaze of the Gorgon, which would have regenerated his blocking creature and subsequently destroyed Duo's.

"Okay, cast Cleansing Beam on his creature in response," Heero whispered. That would kill his creature before the Gaze had a chance to resolve.
"A-all right," Duo replied. "In response, I cast Cleansing Beam."

Heero noted with satisfaction the crestfallen expressions that fell across his opponents' faces. That was the correct play, after all. It was fortunate that the distraction Duo was unconsciously providing wasn't terribly detrimental to his gameplay ability.

The game continued, with Duo constantly leaning close in to him to ask for advice and Heero doing his best to maintain focus. Years of competitive playing had given Heero ample time to develop a formidable poker face, but even so he couldn't imagine how he wasn't betraying just how flustered he was feeling. Duo, thankfully, didn't act like he noticed anything out of the ordinary.

Heero was actually a bit surprised when they won the first round. He felt like his mind had been somewhere else the entire time. Duo, however, was enthusiastic enough for the both of them, slapping him jovially on the back and beaming that dazzling smile of his. Yeah, there was no question now. Forget the tournament, the main event for him today was definitely Duo.

The two of them stuck close together the entire day, grabbing a bite to eat nearby when there was time between rounds, whispering confidentially to each other in the way that made Heero's mind wander dangerously during the second round. Duo was getting some real confidence in his game now, unafraid to play first and ask Heero questions after. Instead of annoying him, he felt proud and happy that Duo showed so much interest in Magic.

Duo caught on much faster than he'd imagined he would, actually. They won the second round as well despite Duo not asking him for advice as often. Which meant not leaning over to whisper in his ear as often, either. Oh well, maybe that was better for the both of them. It definitely was if they wanted to win, anyway.

The third and final round proved not to be as easy a match. Since Two-Headed Giant rounds lasted longer than usual one-on-one matches, each round consisted of only one game. Though Heero thought Duo played quite admirably, their opponents in the final had formidable decks, and though they put up a fight, Heero and Duo couldn't defeat them. Duo, however, was ecstatic about getting as far as second place, and seeing Duo so excited quickly eased Heero's frustration at losing. Besides, second place still awarded them eight packs.

"Eight packs!" Duo said later, as they leaned on the hood of his car in the parking lot. Nearly an hour had passed since the draft had finished, but Heero, trying to prolong his time with Duo as long as possible, had followed him out to his car and they'd ended up talking outside for the last forty-five minutes. "Not bad for my second day, huh?"

"Not bad at all," Heero agreed. "At this rate, you'll be better than me."

"Really? You think so?"

Heero smirked. "No, not really."

"Hey!" Duo smacked him with the packs in his hand. "You know," he said, sighing happily, "that was really fun. I think I'm turning into a nerd, ditching my job and shit to come hang out and play games with you."

"Oh." Heero frowned. He'd thought that Duo had really enjoyed playing Magic with him, that maybe he didn't find him such a nerd anymore.

"Hey, don't look so upset!" Duo nudged him with his shoulder, leaning slightly closer and smiling quizzically. "I didn't say I minded. I really like hanging out with you, Heero."

Heero's heart lurched, beating faster with Duo's proximity. He didn't respond; he was afraid that no matter what he said, it would give too much away, that he would sound too abnormally excited at the prospect that Duo liked being around him. Duo searched his face, then drew away, seemingly feeling awkward in the silence that ensued with his admission.

"By the way, half of these packs are yours," Duo blurted, eager to break the silence. "Don't let me forget and take them home by accident."

Heero wanted to say something to let Duo know that he hadn't said the wrong thing, that Heero enjoyed spending time with him. "I like being with you too," he mumbled finally, looking down at the flecked paint on Duo's car hood.

"What?" Duo said, and Heero finally turned to face him fully. Duo's wide purple eyes were locked on his, a small, hopeful smile playing on his lips. Heero was enthralled; he couldn't remember what he had been meaning to say. Duo really did care about what Heero thought about him. Just the realization alone made his head swim, made him want to do crazy things.

"I said I like..." Heero began, but trailed off. Duo was so close to him, looking at him so attentively, so interested in what he had to say. Heero's hand moved of its own accord, heading toward Duo's cheek, to cup it carefully in his palm. "I said I like --" and then he was moving toward Duo, making up that scant foot of distance between them and lifting his mouth to press tenderly, gently against Duo's. There was no sound but the rushing of blood in his ears and Duo's surprised inhalation of breath. Duo's lips were unexpectedly soft against his own, the skin of his cheek so much more delicate to his fingers than Heero had imagined.

And then his brain caught up with him and he realized just exactly what it was he was doing with his friend. No, to his friend. Heero regretfully pulled away from Duo, removing his hand from his cheek like it had burned him. Incoherent thoughts swirled in his mind like fog. What the hell had he been thinking?

Duo said nothing. His eyes were impossibly wide, a slight flush risen in his cheeks. He stared at Heero as if stricken. Heero felt his stomach drop to somewhere in the vicinity of his sneakers.

"S-sorry!" He stammered, already pushing off the hood and flying across the parking lot. This time, Duo didn't follow him. Of course he wouldn't, Heero admonished himself, you're such an idiot! How could you do something like that?

Forcefully, angrily, Heero turned his car on and hauled out of the parking lot, refusing to look back over to Duo as he sped home.

Heero stomped across the floor of his room. His mother would probably come yell at him for being so loud, but he didn't care -- the unnecessary noise helped ease a fraction of the misery he felt. How could he be so stupid? He and Duo had been having such a good time together the whole day and he'd had to go and ruin it like that. No, forget the day; he'd ruined everything, their entire friendship, by letting his emotions get the better of him. What the hell had he been thinking, kissing Duo? That wasn't what you did when you wanted your male friend to stick around! Heero ran a hand through his hair, pacing around his room as he berated himself endlessly for what he'd done in the parking lot. More than a half-hour had passed since he'd gotten home and he didn't feel any better; in fact, if anything, he only felt more miserable as the implications of kissing Duo became quite obvious. Duo definitely thought he was weird now. Actually, that was about the best possible scenario. More likely, Duo thought he was a total creep, some kind of abnormal freak. He'd probably never see him again. Yeah, he'd really screwed this up.

Heero ceased his frenetic pacing to collapse heavily onto his bed. He'd never felt the way he'd felt around Duo with anyone else before. It had been... it had been so nice just to be with him. It had made him feel cooler, more interesting, just to be around someone who was so outgoing, and funny, and social, and attractive... shit. He was such a loser! He really was a loser after all, and he'd proved it today by going ahead and alienating the first person he'd really cared about for good.

"I'm such an idiot," he muttered aloud, the words hanging hollowly in the disconsolate air of his room.

"Heero!" His mother yelled from downstairs. Maybe she wanted to yell at him about stomping around earlier. He shook his head as he sat up.

"Yeah?"

"Come downstairs! Your friend is here to see you!"

Heero's stomach dropped. No way... It had to be someone else, unless Duo was here to kick his ass or something. Slowly, laboredly, as if he was walking down death row, Heero made his way out of his room and descended the stairs, turning with deliberate hesitation toward the front door where his mother stood with none other than the boy who he'd kissed less than an hour before. Duo stood, hands uncharacteristically in pockets, watching him approach with an unreadable expression. Well, he wasn't smiling, that was for sure. Heero's stomach headed further south. It took him several tries to clear his throat enough to speak, but Duo beat him to the punch. "Hey," he said, his voice level, unusually reserved.

"Hi, Duo," Heero managed. His mother's eyes lit up with recognition.

"Oh, that's right!" She said. "Duo! You came to the house the other day, didn't you?"

"Yes, ma'am," Duo replied.

"Oh, of course! Heero talks about you all the time, you know!"

Heero winced, his mother's cheerful words compounding the misery he already felt. She couldn't have picked a worse possible time to say that. This was going to be awkward enough already without all the mortifying details of his stupid crush being brought to light.

Duo smiled pleasantly, then turned toward Heero. "Heero, could we go downstairs for awhile? I wanted to play a couple of Magic games."

Heero's mother patted Heero on the back. "Just don't stay up all night, you two."

"Don't worry, Mrs. Yuy!" Duo said, already on his way down the stairs to the basement. With a serious sense of foreboding, Heero followed him down. Whatever he was here for, whether it was to simply reject him or punch his lights out, he was definitely not here to play Magic.

Duo stopped once they were far enough into the basement that Heero's mother couldn't hear them upstairs. He turned around, expression uncomfortably serious. This was it, Heero thought, he was going to tell him to get lost for good. Oh well, he couldn't say he didn't deserve it.

"You know, you ran off before I could give you these," Duo said, pulling the packs from their tournament out of his pocket. "Half of these are yours, you know."

That was what he came for? Heero couldn't believe it. This was almost worse than being told off outright; what was Duo possibly waiting for? "Duo, I'm sorry about --"

Duo cut him off. "Hey, you didn't let me finish." Heero stopped, his face feeling hot. "You think I'm just going to give these packs to you for free?"

"W-what are you talking about?"

Duo smiled mischievously, but for what reason, Heero couldn't begin to guess. "I'm only going to give these packs to you if you do something for me."

Duo's gaze was unrelenting, agonizing. Heero's heart thumped. Do what? He guessed Duo was trying to assure Heero would leave him alone from now on. "What do you want me to do?"

"Hmm, let's see..." Duo's smile widened. "I know!" He took a step forward, and Heero unconsciously took a defensive step back.

"I'll give you these packs... if you kiss me."

Heero blinked. Was he hearing things now? "What?"

"You ran off so fast today before I could even say anything," Duo continued, eyes bright. "That wasn't exactly fair, you know, kissing me and then booking it." He took another step forward.

Heero said nothing. He stood frozen to the spot as if he'd taken root. Duo wasn't angry? Wait a minute... Duo wanted to kiss him?

Whatever expression Heero's face wore, it must've done a terrible job of concealing his thoughts, because Duo laughed and said, "come on, Heero, don't look so surprised! You think I spent all that time with you because I wanted to get better at Magic?"

He took another step forward; they were very close now, and Heero's brain, finally beginning to catch up to the current events, was registering his proximity with wild excitement, his heart thundering in his chest. Duo's gaze held his own, that captivating smile playing across his lips. He gestured with the packs in his hand again.

"This is your prize anyway," he said, voice low and absolutely intoxicating. "I'm still waiting for mine."

That was the last invitation Heero's brain was going to let him pass up, and all at once he was reaching for Duo, his hands catching in his hair, pulling him by the shoulder against him as he searched out Duo's mouth with his own. This time, Duo was ready, and where he was passive with surprise before, he now responded to Heero with rough enthusiasm, attacking his mouth with fierce kisses. Duo's tongue coaxed his mouth open, teasing his lower lip with a few light strokes before sweeping inside to search out his own. Heero was vaguely aware of being pushed back against the wall by strong hands that held him possessively at his hips, but all that mattered was Duo's breathtaking kiss, the press of his lips, the soft heat of his mouth. It was a delicious eternity before he pulled back, burning his lips with light feathery kisses even as he broke away.

Something occurred to Heero through the fog of happiness clouding his mind, and he frowned in hesitation. "You mean, all this time you were only playing because of me?" The thought both thrilled and troubled him. He had really thought Duo had enjoyed playing Magic.

Duo chuckled, tossing the unnecessary packs in his hand to the floor to tangle his fingers in Heero's hair. "Well," he replied, voice low and coarse, "Magic is fun and all, but this is way better."

As Duo pulled him in for another mind-blowing kiss, Heero had to admit he was right.