Sunday morning- New Year's
Eve- Duo watched from the window as Wufei left for work, then turned back into
the apartment with a determined expression.
"Right," he muttered, heading
for the kitchen. "What are we going to need?"
A quick search of the
fridge and cupboards produced a good selection of finger foods, but also
revealed that they were running out of several things; Duo sighed, and made a
list.
They were also running out of clean towels and sheets, as
Duo discovered when he hauled the spare futon, pillows and quilts out of the
closet.
Well, I was already planning to do some housework, he
thought, eyeing the laundry hamper. I know the laundry room is in the
basement, so it shouldn't be hard to find, and I know where 'Fei keeps the
laundry money. He did say it was too steamy, though...
I
haven't coughed for days, I'll be fine. I'll even take the stupid puffer so if
Sally finds out she can't lecture me too much. She probably will find
out, too.
First, though, Duo sat down in front of the vidphone and
keyed in Wufei's work number.
< < Chang here-- Duo? Is
everything all right? > >
"Everything's fine," Duo said quickly. "I
just wanted to ask you to buy some things on the way home."
< <
Oh... okay, that's not a problem, > > Wufei said, looking immensely
relieved. < < What do we need? > >
"Um, well, I thought we
might want some champagne for midnight... you know, for the toast and
everything. The non-alcoholic sort, so it doesn't screw with our
medication."
Wufei smiled. < < Good idea; I wish I'd thought of it
myself. What else? > >
"We're out of hot chocolate," Duo told him,
pausing for the Chinese Preventer to awkwardly scrawl a note left-handed. "A
loaf of French or Italian bread... and could you get some bay
leaves?"
< < Bay leaves? > >
"I found your crockpot
and figured I could make a stew for dinner. We've got all the other ingredients,
I just need bay leaves."
< < I have a crockpot? > > Wufei
blinked. < < Oh. That. Sally gave it to me as an apartment-warming gift;
I've never used it. I suppose it works... > >
"It's still in
the box, 'Fei. It had better work."
< < I'll buy bay leaves,
then. Anything else? > >
"Ummm... no, that's plenty for one trip,
considering. How's your shoulder?"
Wufei grimaced. < < It aches a
bit, but nothing serious. If it gets worse I'll take a pain pill, I promise.
> >
"Good."
< < By the way, I checked in the paper;
there's quite a carnival down at the lake today, leading up to the fireworks
tonight. Would you like to go down for a couple of hours after I get home? >
>
"Uh, sure... if you're feeling up to it."
< < I think I
will be. Shall we call it a date? > >
"Um. Yeah. A date," Duo
stuttered, blushing slightly and looking down. Idiot! he told himself.
It's just an appointment type of date, not a date date... isn't
it?
----------
Half an hour later, Duo was leaning on the wall
outside the laundry room, coughing so hard that he was seeing stars and
wondering if his ribs would stand the strain.
Damn it, if I pass out
down here, Wufei's gonna freak! he thought desperately, clutching his puffer
in one shaking hand. I already took one dose and it's not working. Maybe I
should take another... shit, if I could stop coughing long enough to do that, I
wouldn't need another dose!
There was a surprised exclamation
from down the hall, and quick footsteps coming towards him; then someone was
helping him straighten up and supporting him for a few steps, until he could
sink into a chair.
"There now, you just sit and concentrate on getting
your breath back," a warm female voice said. "Lean forward and put your head
down... that's right... did you manage to take your medication?"
Eyes
closed, still coughing and gasping, Duo managed to nod and wave the
puffer.
"That's all right, then." A gentle hand started rubbing Duo's
back, and the lilting voice chuckled softly. "There's always that nasty pause
before it starts working, when you're sure it's taking too long, isn't
there? My Casimir is always positive that this time, it's not going to
work.. then it does, and he does his best to pretend he wasn't worried. I'm glad
he only gets asthma in spring!"
She waited a little while, then patted
his shoulder. "Getting better?"
"Yeah," Duo wheezed, opening his eyes and
trying to breath deep and slowly. "Thanks. I thought I was going to pass
out."
"It's no problem. Were you doing your laundry?"
He nodded,
slowly easing himself upright and leaning back in the chair. "I was handling it
okay until the dryers really got going. The extra steam was the last
straw."
The woman nodded, silver hairs at her temple catching the light.
"The residents have been complaining about the lack of ventilation in there
since this building was first occupied, but somehow nothing ever gets done. It's
a little odd, because anything else we complain about gets fixed right away.
You're Mr. Maxwell, aren't you? Staying with Mr. Chang, the
Preventer?"
"Uh... yeah," he said, automatically taking the hand she held
out to him. "I'm Duo. Uh, have we met?"
"No," she said, smiling, "but I
ran into a couple of friends of yours on Boxing Day. I'm Gwennol
Ptaschinski."
"Oh! Mrs. P!" the braided teen exclaimed, then had to cough
again. "Ow... Whenever we encounter you, it's something to do with laundry,
isn't it?"
"I suppose our paths are fated to cross over detergent and
dryer sheets," she chuckled, getting up and recovering her basket from where
she'd dropped it. "If you'll just wait here, I'll check on your washing, and
fetch it out if it's finished. No point in giving yourself another attack, is
there?"
----------
When Wufei let himself into the apartment, he
blinked in surprise at the collection of items arranged by the glass door to the
balcony. The spare futon and quilts were neatly folded and stacked, with pillows
sitting on top of the pile; next to them, the coffee maker was sitting on the
floor, charged up and ready to go, plugged into an extension cord long enough to
stretch outside. A little tray next to the coffee maker held teabags, sugar, a
bag of marshmallows, coffee mugs... and two wine glasses.
"'Fei!" Duo
said happily, walking over for a welcome-back hug. "How was your
morning?"
"Reasonable," Wufei sighed, pulling Duo closer and pressing a
kiss to his temple. "It seems to be improving now, though..." The shopping bag
dangling from his hand bumped Duo's leg as he moved to kiss him again, and he
disentangled himself with hasty apologies.
"Oh, good," Duo said, taking
the bag and turning away to hide his blush. "I've got the stew all ready to go;
I just have to add a bay leaf and switch the crockpot on. It does work,
by the way, I checked." He quickly put everything away, ducking over to the
glass door to add the hot chocolate mix to the tray.
"Duo... what's all
this?" Wufei asked.
"For watching the fireworks," the braided teen said,
a little sheepishly. "The futon and stuff is so we don't freeze, and I figured
we'd want hot drinks as well as champagne. I sorted out some snacks, too,
they're in the fridge. Um... do you want to have a rest before we go down to the
lake?"
"Not unless you want one. I thought we could have lunch there,
unless you already had something in mind?"
A slow grin spread over Duo's
face. "Hot dogs with chili and sauerkraut?"
Ruthlessly suppressing his
first reaction, Wufei grinned back. "I'm sure we can find you one, but I think
I'll stick to something a little tamer." And if he ends up needing something
for heartburn, i know where there's an open chemist's shop. It should be
okay... Duo's been eating properly for a while now...*
...but I'm
still going to make sure Sally never hears of this!
* * * *
*
"Sally," Une's wary voice said, "were you expecting a
parcel?"
"No," Sally replied, closing the car door and hurrying up the
path. Une was standing a few feet from the door, eyeing a large flat box that
was propped up against it as if it might jump out and bite her.
"We
haven't had any bomb threats lately," Une muttered, peering carefully at the
label without touching it, "and they usually try to bomb HQ, not private
residences, but... oh. It's all right," she said, picking it up, "that's
Maxwell's handwriting. I'd recognise it anywhere."
"I should hope so, by
now," Sally said cheerfully, unlocking the door and switching off the security
system. "He sent you enough samples of it during the war! I take it the
tradition is starting again?"
"Looks like it. I'm almost afraid to look."
Une set the box on the hall table and started peeling off the
tape.
Inside the box, protected by a lot of fluffy packing material, was
a rather smaller flat parcel, wrapped in sparkly metallic paper. A small
envelope tucked under the ribbon had 'READ THIS FIRST!' written on it in
big red letters.
"It was addressed to both of us," Une said dryly,
plucking the envelope out and handing it to Sally with a flourish. "Will you do
the honours?"
"You just don't want to be caught in the effects if this
turns out to be booby-trapped," Sally grumbled, holding it well away from her as
she eased up the flap and tugged out a folded sheet of paper. When nothing
happened-- no flour, glitter or stink bombs-- she unfolded the
paper and brought it closer to her face to read.
"'Dear Une and Sally',"
she read aloud. "'Do not open this until New Year's Day! We mean it!' It's
signed 'Duo and Wufei', and that was Duo's handwriting again. There's a PS in
the scrawl Wufei's using at the moment. 'That means you, Sally. I know what
you're like.' Right," Sally said decisively, folding up the note. "Let's open
it!"
"Oh no you don't," Une laughed, snatching it away. "We are going to
follow the instructions, and open it on New Year's Day!"
"I bet you
didn't follow the instructions during the war," Sally argued, edging
closer.
"Once or twice I did," Une told her, thinking of 'CLICK ME' on a
computer screen. "Most of the time, he didn't leave instructions. It'll
be well past midnight when we get back from Quatre's party; we can open it
then."
"Oh, all right," Sally mock-pouted. "That'll have to do."
*
* * * *
When they got close enough to the carnival to be encountering
crowds of people, Duo unconsciously drew closer to Wufei; the Chinese teen
glanced at him, noted the slightly nervous way Duo was looking around, and
reached over to hold his hand. Rewarded with a blush and a delighted smile,
Wufei smiled back and kept walking, rubbing his thumb over the soft skin on the
back of Duo's hand.
He's still nervous about getting separated, he
thought, spotting a hot dog stand and tugging Duo towards it. Hopefully he'll
relax a little once he gets used to the crowd. In the meantime, it's certainly
no problem for me to keep hold of his hand... especially when something so
simple can produce such a beautiful result!
They had to let go of
each other to eat, but Wufei found a quiet corner where they could watch the
rides and stalls without worrying about people pushing between them. At least,
Duo watched the rides and stalls; Wufei watched Duo, and was relieved to
see no ill effects after the braided ex-pilot downed one and a half jumbo hot
dogs, smothered in chili, cheese and sauerkraut.
"You want a taste,
'Fei?" Duo asked, offering the last half of his second hot dog. "It tastes
better than it looks, I swear."
"It would have to," Wufei
muttered, taking the drippy object gingerly.
Duo snorted. "It even counts
as sort of healthy, since it has something from all four food
groups!"
"Which four?" Wufei asked, eyeing him with a faint smirk. "The
standard four, or your four?"
"My four?"
"'Fat, salt, sugar
and chocolate'," Wufei quoted. "I don't see any chocolate in this..."
"If
you're not going to taste it, give it back."
Cautiously, Wufei took a
bite and chewed.
"Well?" Duo asked, watching his face
anxiously.
Wufei swallowed and handed the rest back. "It's not bad, Duo,
but it's not really to my taste, either," he said apologetically. "You're right
though; it definitely doesn't taste as bad as it looks!"
"I
wouldn't have offered it if I'd thought you'd hate it..."
"I know," Wufei
said, smiling slightly. "That's the only reason I was willing to try
it."
"So!" Duo exclaimed, dropping the empty wrapper into the trash bin
and dusting off his hands. "Where do we go next?"
"Well,
traditionally-- since we're making a point of continuing good
traditions-- there are certain things that should be done during a date
at a carnival," Wufei said, elaborately casual as he glanced around at the
stalls. "I haven't exactly made a study of the subject, but I believe I'm
supposed to win you something. Shall we find a suitable game booth?" he asked,
holding out his hand for Duo to take.
Duo stared at him, wide-eyed.
"Then... um... you did mean that this was a date date... not just
an appointment-to-go-somewhere type of date?"
"I did mean 'date
date'," Wufei said quietly. "What do you want me to win for
you?"
Swallowing, Duo slowly reached out to take the offered hand. "I
think stuffed toys are the usual sort of thing," he whispered, a little shakily.
"Really big ones."
"Really big stuffed toys it is," the Chinese teen
said, carefully tucking their linked hands into his coat pocket to keep warm.
"This way, I think..."
They soon found 'Shooting Alley', where most of
the gun- and throwing- based games were concentrated, and Wufei shocked one
booth operator by hitting every target, handling the small pellet rifle
one-handed. When they left, Duo's free arm was wrapped around a large red and
green plushie dragon.
A minute later, Duo tugged Wufei to a halt. "Oh,
wow," he said, a slow grin spreading over his face as he stared at
another booth. "Will you look at that, 'Fei? I think it's my turn to win
something. Which one do you want?"
"As if you even have to ask," Wufei
breathed.
At first glance, it was just a 'Whack-A-Mole' game, identical
to games that had been traveling around with carnivals and circuses for
centuries; but the signboard proudly proclaimed 'Whack-A-Leo', and the fuzzy
objects popping up and down in the holes were small mobile suit
plushies.
"Five credits a game, gentlemen, care to try your luck? the
booth operator called, waving them over. "Hit a Leo and it's five points; hit
Tallgeese and it's fifty!"
"Tallgeese?!" Duo yelped.
"I have
got to tell Zechs about this," Wufei purred, grinning
evilly.
"We've got a whole range of prizes, from Leos to Gundams," the
operator continued cheerfully, holding out a padded mallet. "Give it a go,
gents, take something cute home to your lady loves... oooops, or to each other,"
he corrected himself, eyeing their linked hands. "That'll teach me to look first
and spiel later! No offense meant, honest."
"None taken," Wufei assured
him, handing over ten credits. "Two games, please. Think you can win us one
each?" he asked Duo.
"No problem," Duo chuckled, passing him the
plushie dragon and taking a firm grip on the mallet. "Stand back 'Fei, I'm a
professional... though, this would be more fun if I could use a scythe. I don't
suppose you offer alternate weapons?" he asked hopefully.
The booth
operator just looked at him, one eyebrow raised.
"Didn't think so. All
right, let 'er rip!"
One mad flurry of thumps, whacks and yells of 'Ha!
Take that!' and 'Tallgeese! Gotcha!' later, Duo had scored enough points
to get a plushie Gundam.
"Congratulations!" the operator said, reaching
up to the shelf. "After that scythe comment, I suppose you want one of these?"
he asked, pulling down a Deathscythe.
"Yeah, for me, but first I want a
Shenlong for 'Fei--"
"Actually, I'd like a Deathscythe," Wufei
interrupted quickly. Duo tried to cover his reaction with a wide grin. "Why,
'Fei, at last you're opting for a real Gundam?" he crowed. For a moment,
as Wufei drew himself up to his full height and glared haughtily down his nose,
he thought he'd made a horrible mistake; then:
"Just because your
Deathscythe has the full cloaking capacity and the fancy thermal scythe that
works underwater, is no reason to make fun of my Nataku," Wufei said coolly,
mouth twitching as he suppressed a grin. "My Gundam has the
flamethrower."
"I'm going to assume that you gentlemen are just
big fans of the Gundams," the operator said, setting the plushie on the counter,
"because the only other explanation for that conversation that occurs to
me-- that I have two Gundam pilots standing at my booth-- is
too... disconcerting, Are you going to play your second game, or should I just
pull down another Deathscythe for you?"
"Hey, if 'Fei wants Deathscythe,
I'll have Shenlong," Duo said happily, taking a firm grip on the mallet again.
"Start it up!"
----------
Strolling down the midway with Duo's
right hand tucked into his pocket again, Wufei glanced sideways, checking for
any sign that Duo was getting tired or cold. The American ex-pilot had the
dragon and Nataku plushies in the crook of his left arm, with the Deathscythe
dangling from his fist by one leg. The same hand held a medium sized cone of
cotton candy, which he was happily reducing in size.
He seems all
right, Wufei thought, absent-mindedly licking at the sugar left on his lips
from when Duo had offered him a taste, but if he's going to be staying up
past midnight to watch the fireworks, I should get him home to rest...
"Duo," he said tentatively, "if there aren't any rides you really want to go on,
maybe--"
"'Fei," Duo muttered behind his candy, staring straight
ahead, "what was that you were saying earlier, about Zechs...?"
"I want
to tell him about that game," Wufei replied, confused by the sudden change of
subject until he looked ahead and saw what Duo was staring at. "Ahhh, yes," he
said, grinning again. "Showing is so much better than
telling!"
Further down the midway, Noin glanced around and did a double
take, then tapped Zechs's shoulder to get him to turn around.
"Good
afternoon, Zechs, Noin," Wufei said calmly as they came up to the two
Preventers. "On duty?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at their uniforms. Duo just
nodded to them, having conveniently taken a huge mouthful of candy.
"It's
called 'supporting the local law enforcement presence at a possible terrorist
target'," Noin said, a little sourly. "Afternoon, Maxwell."
"It's not
considered a high probability target, or we'd be in our suits," Zechs explained,
nodding back at Duo. "In fact, the probability of any attack is so low that we
wouldn't be here at all if the police hadn't requested some sort of Preventers
presence." "The mayor's twitchy," Noin sighed. "Since we're here on duty, we
can't even play for plushies... though I see being in uniform hasn't stopped
you, Chang. Nice haul!"
"I may still be in uniform, but I'm
definitely off duty. Actually," Wufei said casually, mouth starting to
twitch upwards, "Duo and I saw something back this way we think you'd be
interested in..."
----------
"'Whack-A-Leo'?" Zechs asked,
bemused.
"Back to clean me out, are you?" the booth operator asked,
grinning. "Did you decide to go for a full set?"
"No," Duo told him,
unceremoniously unloading his plushies into Zechs's arms. "I thought I'd win
Noin one of those white Tauruses, since she's not allowed to play right
now."
"They have white ones?" Noin exclaimed, stepping forward for
a closer look. "They do! And
all the Gundams... Look Zechs, there's Tallgeese!"
Duo snickered, passing
his cotton candy to Wufei. "Oh, there's Tallgeese, all right. How many points do
I need to get the Taurus?"
The operator told him, and he smirked,
adjusting his grip on the mallet. "Easy; that's just two whacks at Tallgeese and
half a dozen Leos. Batter up!"
"Two whacks at Tallgeese?
What-- hey!" Zechs yelped as the first Tallgeese plushie popped up among
the Leos and Duo slapped it back down with excessive force.
"Bonus
points," Wufei explained, absent-mindedly taking a bite of Duo's candy as he
watched the braided teen slaughter the mobile suit plushies.
"Maxwell,"
Zechs said in a pained voice as Duo passed the mallet back and Noin collected
her plushie, "you seemed to be having far too much fun whacking my
Tallgeese."
"Well, I never got to in real life," Duo muttered, taking his
plushies back. "You always went after Wing. I felt slightly
insulted."
"Officially, I didn't hear any of that," the booth operator
muttered under his breath as he watched them walk away. "Un officially,
however... it's not every day I get to meet three Gundam pilots."
* * * *
*
"Hang on, 'Fei, I need to sweep the snow off of the balcony first," Duo
protested as Wufei bent to tug at the futon.
"Oh, of course," Wufei said,
looking up as Duo hurried by with the broom. "You've already done a lot, Duo, I
can... er... stand back and applaud while you do that," he trailed off
sheepishly, looking down at his strapped up arm.
"You're going to
applaud?" Duo asked, pausing at the door. "I always wondered... what is
the sound of one hand clapping?"
"Swish, swish," Wufei replied,
deadpan.
About to step onto the balcony, Duo faltered and glanced back,
wide- eyed with surprise for a moment; then a slow smile spread across his face,
and he went out to sweep.
Wufei watched him quietly. It's amazing what
little things will do. A date at the carnival, holding hands, and sitting up to
watch fireworks makes him so happy! It's good to see him
smiling...
This may not last. He's slid back before... but it's a
good sign, and I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts.
Duo bounced back
in, red-cheeked from the cold. "Done!" he said cheerfully, propping the broom
against the wall and reaching for one end of the futon. Between them, they
manhandled it outside and arranged it like a very low sofa, one end propped
against the wall to protect their backs from the cold bricks. Pillows, quilts
and finger food followed, and the balcony started to look quite
cozy.
"You know, we could just about live out here," Duo puffed, carrying
out the coffee maker. "All the comforts of home."
"No bathroom," Wufei
pointed out, bringing out the bottle of champagne, "and the weather forecast
predicts more snow tomorrow."
"Walls and a bathroom are luxuries,
'Fei. We've got all the essentials here. Food--" he patted the bowls of
cheese, fruit and biscuits, "--shelter--" bouncing onto the futon,
he tugged the quilts over his legs, "--and caffeine." One decisive
poke turned the coffeemaker on, and he smiled sideways at Wufei. "What more do
we need?"
Wufei chuckled, settling onto the other side of the futon. "A
loaf of bread, a jug of coffee, and thou," he (mis)quoted. "You're right; I
could live like this."
As the first fireworks burst over the lake, they
settled back against each other and pulled the quilts up, both blushing faintly
and determinedly pretending that they weren't doing any such thing. Some time
passed in silence before either spoke again.
"They're putting on a good
display," Duo said softly as a particularly colourful grouping flared and died.
"Better than I managed when I shot up Une's base last year."
"Well, you
did have to keep most of your shells concentrated on bang not flash,"
Wufei reminded him. "Even you can only modify explosives so far before they lose
their effectiveness." He watched for a while longer, then sighed, unconsciously
pulling Duo closer. "The big display is a sign of hope, I think," he whispered.
"The first New Year's celebration since the war ended... people are hoping it'll
be a year of peace."
"I hope so, too," Duo sighed, wriggling around a
little to slide his arm behind Wufei's back. "There were fireworks celebrating
the end of the war the night of Quatre's party, too... remember?"
Wufei
grimaced. "Some of that night may have been blotted out of my memory by alcohol,
but I still remember most of it. Including all of the things I did
wrong."
The braided teen shrugged, hugging him gently. "It started out
just fine..."
"Well," Wufei said, a little nervously, "we have fireworks
again. We have a balcony. And Quatre is miles away, and won't come
staggering out to startle me into doubting the wisdom of my actions. So... shall
we begin again?"
Without giving himself time for second thoughts, he
leaned down to Duo's upturned face and kissed
him.
----------
Three balconies away, Casimir Ptaschinski
stretched and craned his neck sideways, working out the kinks caused by staring
attentively in one direction for so long. Something over to his right caught his
eye, and he leaned out for a better look.
"Well," he said happily,
grinning and nudging his wife, "looks like that young Preventer's finally found
himself a girlfriend."
"Really?" Gwennol leaned around him, then sat back
in her chair, chuckling. "Dear, that's no girlfriend. That's Mister
Maxwell."
"With hair like that?!" Casimir patted at his wool cap,
thinking of the bald spot underneath it. "I think I'm jealous. ...Nice young
man?"
"Definitely, dear."
"More power to them, then.
They've definitely got the right idea about what to do on a romantic night like
this!"
Grinning, he edged his chair closer to hers and leaned over for a
kiss.
----------
Duo's hands slid up underneath Wufei's sweater
and t-shirt, stroking gently at the bare skin below his bandages. They twitched
and clenched when Wufei nuzzled in under his chin, mouthing the soft skin on his
neck, and he shivered.
"Cold?" Wufei whispered, sliding up to kiss under
Duo's ear.
"No..." Anything else Duo might have been going to say was
lost as he turned his head and caught Wufei's mouth with his own; a tentative
flicker of tongue eliciting a soft groan. Wufei pressed closer, hand sliding
along the upper curve of Duo's flank then cupping firmly to pull him
forward.
Midnight struck and a massive series of fireworks began
exploding over the lake, joined by car horns, sirens, yells and
cheers.
"HAPPY NEW YEAR!"
In the distance, somebody began singing
'Auld Lang Syne', sounding thoroughly and happily drunk.
"Happy New Year,
'Fei," Duo said breathlessly, pulling back slowly.
"Happy New Year, Duo,"
Wufei whispered, hand sliding reluctantly back up to the braided teen's waist.
Well, that definitely broke the mood, he thought ruefully as Duo turned
to grab the champagne and glasses. Perhaps it's just as well... I don't know
if we would have stopped. I certainly didn't want to! And I think it's
still too soon for us to take things that far. I'm sure this is what I want...
but I have to be certain that it's what Duo really wants,
too.
With a loud 'POP', the champagne cork went flying over the
balcony railing.
"Here," Duo said, passing Wufei a glass. "Here's to...
what? To a peaceful year?"
"To a peaceful year," Wufei agreed, clinking
glasses. Together.
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