...Duo's brain is worrying it like a bruise. Why is it bugging him so much? Why are Edwin, personable, inoffensive Edwin, and Abigail—Cricket, Duo knew a Cricket, didn't he?—getting under his skin? It's fun to puzzle out those things with the people who think they've hidden it well, but there doesn't really seem to be an effort to hide it here. Edwin's old enough that if looking the part were critical, well, anyone at this party should have the means to make that happen.
He must be zoning out because Dorothy elbows him in the ribs.
"Ow," he says, protecting the spot. No one has sharp, stabby elbows like Dorothy.
Another event where Duo and Dorothy hang out on the sidelines because their partners--Wufei and Relena, respectively--are approved of, but the same can't be said for them. Still, they make the best of it, people watching, amusing themselves, meeting small-bits and up-and-comers. Enter Edwin St. Dubois. Duo should have known that nothing good ever comes from the name Edwin.
My notes: This is primarily a slice-of-life moment that explores the intersection of Duo's past and present. Something about it really charmed me - the interactions between Duo and Dorothy, the love between Wufei and Duo - and that last conversation between Duo and Edwin, for sure.