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Disclaimer: I don’t own Gundam Wing and am making no money off of this fic.
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Gimme, Gimme, Gimme by luvsanime02
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Relena spots the drinks table and makes her way there as quickly as possible. She wrinkles her nose at all of the fruity cocktails, though. There’s not a liquor bottle in sight, so she can’t just make her own drink.
Oh well, needs must. Relena picks up one of the glasses and chugs the contents down. She slams the empty glass back down onto the table and picks up another.
Relena is on her third drink and feeling a little buzzed when Sally appears at her elbow with a raised eyebrow. Relena ignores her and swallows half the contents of the drink down at once.
“Dorothy called, I take it?” Sally asks.
Relena takes a moment to breathe and nods. “She’s stuck in Maui. Without me,” she says. Relena takes another drink of the cocktail, though this time a more moderate amount. “Why is my girlfriend stuck in Maui without me, huh?”
She’s not actually expecting an answer, and Sally doesn’t give her one, only pats her shoulder in sympathy. Relena finishes the rest of her glass and grabs a fourth one, but then Sally’s hand is holding her elbow and starts steering Relena away from the drinks table. She grumbles but follows her friend’s lead.
“I think we need to get some food in you,” Sally says, depositing Relena at a table with Wufei and Duo.
Duo grins and gestures at his own drink. “These suck,” he announces cheerfully. The facade almost masks his annoyance at having to be at this fundraiser. Almost.
Not that he’s complaining, when it’s for charity. It’s the same reason why Relena’s not complaining. She takes a sip of her new drink. It’s the first time that she’s actually tasted the cocktail, and she makes a face right afterwards. Duo’s right.
If someone likes very fruity drinks, then they’d love it, but Relena definitely does not like fruity drinks. “Someone please find me a bottle of something hard,” she mutters.
Wufei snorts. “Hilde’s already looking for some,” he reveals. Relena knew she liked that woman. “No one seems to be enjoying the provided drinks.” His own cocktail is sitting at his elbow, completely untouched, and Relena idly wonders if she can manage to take it from Wufei without him protesting. It’s not like he’s drinking it, clearly.
“Okay, here,” Sally announces, and then she’s sitting down next to Relena and pushing a plate of food over in front of her.
Relena glances at the finger sandwiches and cheeses and fruits, but she’s honestly not that hungry. “Thank you,” she says anyway, because she was raised with manners, damn it, and maybe she can trade some of this stuff for half the bottle of whatever Hilde brings back, if she’s lucky.
Sally gives Relena a look, and so Relena picks up a grape, chewing it sullenly. She’s not pouting.
Okay, yes, she is. Relena is moping, because she’s been without her girlfriend for three weeks, and everything’s driving her crazy. When did she get so used to being part of a relationship that the empty space next to her feels so odd now?
Relena gulps down the rest of her drink and sets it on the table, looking at Wufei’s full glass inquisitively.
“Don’t let her have that,” Sally intervenes just as Wufei’s opening his mouth, and Relena frowns. Now she’s just being rude. “She’s had two or three already.”
Ha, it’s been more than that. "She is sitting right here, thank you very much,” Relena says. “And I’m not drunk, Sally.” It’s true. She’s gone past buzzed and is tipsy, but she’s not at the stage yet where she’s likely to fall out of her seat or cause an embarrassing scene or anything. Not yet, anyway.
“And we’d like to keep it that way,” Sally replies, as though she’s just read Relena’s thoughts.
Still, that’s fair. It’s not going to keep Relena from drinking something else the minute that Sally’s back is turned, though. The fundraiser hasn’t even started yet, but Relena is honestly ready to leave. She probably shouldn’t have come in the first place, but she’d RSVP’d months ago.
“Where’s Hilde?” Heero asks, coming up to the table. He has two plates of food, which seems a little excessive until he sets one down in front of Duo and the other in front of an empty chair that Relena assumes Hilde was sitting at.
Duo shrugs, swallowing the last of his drink. “Off to find the good stuff,” he says.
Heero doesn’t quite sigh out loud, but his expression says that he really, really wants to. He sits down instead. “You don’t get anything else to drink until you eat that,” he says to Duo, gesturing at the plate in front of him.
Duo rolls his eyes but starts eating. Unlike Relena, his face is already flushed from one drink, and getting some food into him is a very good idea. Relena eats a few more things off of her plate just to have something to do with her hands. Wufei takes a few pieces of things from her plate and some from Duo’s and starts carefully nudging his glass closer and closer her way.
Relena stifles a grin. Sally has probably noticed, but she hasn’t said anything yet, so that’s fine. Even better, Noin and Milliardo arrive, and Relena snatches up the drink quickly while Sally’s attention is completely on them.
Milliardo raises his eyebrows at her, and Relena takes a big gulp of her new drink in response. He sits next to her after a moment, letting Noin take the seat next to Sally. “Everything alright?” he asks.
It should sound condescending, but Milliardo is honestly too awkward around her still for him to sound anything but serious.
Relena nods, then shakes her head. “Dorothy’s not back yet,” she says.
Milliardo doesn’t reply, but he does carefully reach over and put her arm around both her shoulders in a gentle hug. He’s always so careful with her, and usually, Relena would try to get him to loosen up, make some joke or something, but this is nice for right now. She leans her weight into him a little and enjoys the closeness instead.
Having her brother back in her life is the best thing that’s happened to her this decade. The other best thing is currently in Maui.
Relena’s savior comes in the form of a triumphant Hilde, though, who gleefully reappears holding two bottles of gin and one of vodka.
“Give me,” Relena demands, holding out her hand. She doesn’t even care which option, at this point.
Luckily, Hilde knows her well and is a true friend. She doesn’t even hesitate, just smacks a bottle of gin into Relena’s hand. Sally sighs, but she’s obviously given up, which is probably for the best. The lights go down and people grow quiet just as Relena cracks the seal on the bottle, and while the host starts his speech, Relena takes a few sips of the gin - a very good quality - and huddles into Milliardo’s embrace and knows that she’ll be fine.
She’ll get past this, and Dorothy will be home soon, and then Relena’s life can go back to normal. In the meantime, she’s got a bottle of gin and great friends to keep her company. She couldn’t ask for anything more than that tonight.