#2xr

[5ctorial]

#wingtober2025 day 18: escape duo x relena / ♫ laufey - i wish you love

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“What exactly are we supposed to do here, by the way?”

Relena removes her sunglasses and squints and squirms, visibly regretting her decision. Duo takes a quick peek at her cheeks, already rosy from sun exposure, before she decides that protecting her eyesight is more important than glaring in his direction.

“Relax,” she states matter-of-factly, “like normal people do.”

The ferry has already left port, and seagulls dance for them on the top deck. As scenic as it looks, Duo knows he’s only here to keep Relena safe on her holiday. She doesn’t take many—perhaps because most people hired to escort her will follow her at all times. Duo doesn’t. He hates the idea of being closely tracked himself, and he doesn’t see why he should inflict that on someone else. So he accepted the job without asking for more details, and he lets her go away to buy ice cream at the convenience store when she mentions it. She returns safely with two cups in hand.

“For me, Your Majesty? I am not worth it,” he teases.

“Shut up and eat, Duo,” she says with a quiet snarl, but laughter almost escapes her.

Duo’s grin is wide and probably looks silly on his face, but he can’t hide he’s genuinely excited for the offer. He takes the cup, and it’s cookies and cream, one of his favorites. Relena seems to have strawberry-something herself, which makes him realize she actually put some thought into which flavors to pick. It’s sweet—the ice cream, of course, and the gesture.

They find seats in the shade, and despite the somewhat busy deck, most passengers don’t even seem to notice, or at least care about their presence. Duo has his braid in a bun to avoid curious eyes, and a floral bucket hat to hide most of his features, especially from the sun. Relena’s choice of holiday outfit is less ‘I just came back from a tropical island’ and more ‘May I have a glass of limoncello spritz?’ complete with a flowy white-and-navy striped dress and wide straw hat. They look like a couple that couldn’t decide where to go for the weekend, and Duo chuckles at the thought—at the idea of Relena finding anything in him that is worth taking a chance on when she has the world at her feet.

He swallows a spoonful of ice cream and the sudden brain freeze is a welcome pause to his overthinking.

“How do you like it?” Relena asks, not quite facing him, but not really looking away either. There’s a dash of anticipation in her voice, and Duo finds it adorable.

“‘Tis good,” he replies, and clearly he can’t stop his own mouth before he adds, “but the company makes it even better.”

He winces at himself, but Relena doesn’t seem to mind the uncalled-for comment. She bumps her elbow into his side, and there’s a faint smirk on her lips when she retorts, “You’ll pay for the next round.”

Duo bites back the urge to shove the whole cup down his throat.

[alphaikaros]

Tea time

[noirangetrois]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Rating: Explicit Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply Fandom: Gundam Wing Relationship: Duo Maxwell/Relena Peacecraft Additional Tags: Tumblr Prompt, Cruise Ships, Alternate Universe, Fake Marriage, Becoming a real marriage, Also I've never been on a cruise, so everything about this is entirely made up

Summary: Relena's mother is pressuring her to get married, so when she meets a handsome and charming man on a cruise, she can't help but think that he could be the solution to all her problems.

Excerpt: “Are you excited for the show?” Quatre asked the table as he, Duo, Relena and Dorothy sat together at dinner.

Duo smiled. “I am. I’ve seen this one before and it’s wonderful. You guys are in for a treat.”

[noirangetrois]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

It’s back! More than a year later, I’m finally updating this story. @kangofu-cb​, I most humbly apologize for the ridiculously long wait. Hopefully you still remember what’s going on in the story! For those of you who aren’t familiar, this is a gift fic inspired by a certain tumblr post about getting fake married on a cruise. The next couple chapters are already written, they just need some editing, so I promise the wait won’t be so long this time!

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Summary: Relena's mother is pressuring her to get married, so when she meets a handsome and charming man on a cruise, she can't help but think that he could be the solution to all her problems.

Relationship:  Duo Maxwell/Relena Peacecraft

Tags: Tumblr Prompt, Cruise Ships, Alternate Universe, Fake Marriage, Becoming a real marriage, Also I've never been on a cruise, so everything about this is entirely made up

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Relena's phone buzzed and a little thrill shot through her. She checked the phone anxiously, but it was just a text from Dorothy. Who was sitting on the lounge chair right next to her.

/ Have you heard from Duo yet? /

Relena looked over at her friend, exasperated. “Why, exactly, did you have to text me that?”

Dorothy smirked. “So I could see how excited you got when you thought Duo was texting.”

@thisweekingundamwing

[noirangetrois]

Snippet Saturday

Here’s another snippet from Waves and a Wedding, by 2xR fake wedding AU.

There were a couple lanes roped off for the purpose of lap swimming, and happily, they were unoccupied. Relena hopped into one of them, relishing the feel of the water on her skin.

“Don’t you want to dive in for the race?” Duo asked.

“I’m pretty sure diving isn’t allowed.”

“So? That’s because most people don’t know how to dive without hurting themselves. We do. What do you say, down to break the rules with me?” he asked, waggling his eyebrows at her.

Relena hesitated. Generally speaking, she didn’t like breaking rules. But… she didn’t want to come across as a spoilsport. Plus, she loved to dive. Quickly, she pulled herself out of the water.

“Very well. Two laps work for you?”

“Sure does,” Duo replied. “On three. One, two, three!”

Relena dove into the water, then kicked dolphin style for as long as she could remain under the water. Breaking the surface, she began to stroke with her arms, taking as few breaths as possible. Soon she was at the other end of the pool, and expertly executed a flip.

She couldn’t tell where Duo was, but she didn’t care. Being in the water, pushing herself to her limit was always a thrill. Besides, she was confident she would win. And she liked the prospect of showing off for her husband to be.

She reached the wall and immediately turned to see where Duo was, breath panting. He was almost there, arm stretched out to touch the wall after a last, powerful stroke.

“Well,” Duo said when he surfaced, also out of breath. “I can’t say I’m surprised. You kicked my ass. It’s nice to race again though. Haven’t done that in ages.” The smile on his face communicated utter delight, and Relena felt her stomach turn over as he continued looking at her with such happiness in his expression.

“So,” Relena said, suddenly shy. “I suppose you’re not interested in a rematch?” Duo laughed. “What’s the point? We both know who would win. We could head over to the other side of the pool though.”

“And do what?”

“You’ll see,” Duo said, eyes glinting mischievously. “Catch me if you can!” He dove under the lane line, strong arms pulling him quickly away. Relena dove after him.

[noirangetrois]

WIP Wednesday

Here's an excerpt from the next chapter of my 2xR AU, Waves and a Wedding.

Duo was already there when Relena arrived at the pool, wearing board shorts and a long-sleeved swim shirt. Must not like putting on sunblock, Relena thought.

“Hey!” Duo called. “Glad you could make it! Everything go well this morning with the planning?”

“It did. Catherine was a huge help, by the way. You’ve got a great friend there.”

“I can say the same about Quatre. And boy does he have connections! I had no idea he knew the Captain. But then, the Captain did mention knowing you as well. Guess it makes sense for the daughter of such a high profile politician to have friends in high places, too,” Duo said, grinning.

Relena blushed. “Well, yes, when you put it like that…”

“Aww, hey, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. It’s just pretty cool, okay? My kind of connections are, well, like Trowa and Catherine. They got me a cheap ticket for the cruise, which was awesome, just not quite as impressive, you know? Anyway, how about that swim? Quatre mentioned that you used to swim competitively.”

“Yes, I did. I still do a lot of swimming, but the training level required to continue competitively was more than I wanted to commit to. I swam throughout college, but haven't been in a race since then.”

“So, what's your favorite stroke?”

Relena smiled. “Hard to choose. My best event was IM - where you swim two laps of each stroke. But if I really had to choose, I guess I’d say butterfly.”

Duo whistled in appreciation. “That’s pretty impressive. I never could get the hang of butterfly myself. Gave myself a charlie horse trying to properly sync my legs and arms, back when I did swim team.”

“You did swim team?”

“Sure did! But not since middle school, so I’m way behind on skills compared to you. Even so… fancy a race?”

Relena grinned. “If you don’t mind getting your ass kicked, sure. Which stroke?”

“Uhh… how about freestyle? That was always me best one.”

“You’re on!”

[noirangetrois]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

At long last, the next chapter! @kangofu-cb, thank you for your patience <3

Rating: Explicit Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply Category: F/M Fandom: Gundam Wing Relationship: Duo Maxwell/Relena Peacecraft Characters: Relena Peacecraft, Duo Maxwell, Quatre Raberba Winner, Dorothy Catalonia, Trowa Barton, Catherine Bloom, Vice Foreign Minister Darlian, Mrs. Darlian Summary: Relena’s mother is pressuring her to get married, so when she meets a handsome and charming stranger on a cruise, she can’t help but think that he could be the solution to all her problems.

Dorothy, surprisingly, was waiting outside the flower shop for Relena and Catherine. Relena had expected her to be inside, already making the order. Instead she was tapping her foot impatiently under the sign reading "His Excellency's Flowers" in golden script. As soon as they caught up, she turned and entered.

A bell chimed as they opened the door, and they were met with the tantalizing perfume of dozens of different flowers. They were arranged tastefully, some in ready-made bouquets, and others by variety for customers to select individually.

“Welcome. How may I help you?” asked a tall man with golden-brown hair. He was wearing a sharp navy blue suit, with a golden tie and pocket square, and a red rose as a boutonniere. It was rather over the top, Relena thought, but he managed to pull it off.

@thisweekingundamwing

[noirangetrois]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Happy Birthday @kangofu-cb ! Here’s the first chapter of a story I wrote just for you. I hope you enjoy! And thank you so much for the beta, @claraxbarton !


Rating: Explicit

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Category: F/M

Fandom: Gundam Wing

Relationship: Duo Maxwell/Relena Peacecraft

Characters: Relena Peacecraft, Duo Maxwell, Quatre Raberba Winner, Dorothy Catalonia, Trowa Barton, Catherine Bloom

Summary: Relena's mother is pressuring her to get married, so when she meets a handsome and charming man on a cruise, she can't help but think that he could be the solution to all her problems.

The cruise was not turning out how Relena had wanted. Well, that wasn't entirely true. It was wonderful to spend the days sunbathing with Dorothy on the deck or racing against Quatre in the huge endless swimming pool they had on board, even if he did win most of the time. Dorothy, who had never swum competitively, refused to participate in the races, electing instead to tease the loser mercilessly.

No, the time spent with her two best friends was even better than she could have hoped for. The problem was her mother.