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"Surprise?"Written By: Fancy Figures Disclaimer: I don't own 'em, wish I did, just
enjoy writing about 'em for free etc Pairing: 1x2 Warnings: yaoi, romance Rating: PG Summary: For Dacia to celebrate another year of
her site Raygunworks "Surprise?" Duo twisted the key in the lock and pushed open the front door of his apartment. He frowned. Everything was dark inside, with the looming shadows of everyday household objects transformed into something potentially sinister. He sighed and frowned. Damned lights had failed again, they’d obviously been out all week while he’d been away. He’d complained to the landlord that they were flickering, on and off, driving everyone in the block mad. Just like the air-conditioning had sputtered to a halt last Tuesday, and just like that dead pigeon had rotted away behind the panelling in the stairwell last month. The lazy fat pig had just laughed at Duo, picked the remains of his lunch out of his teeth, and told him it’d be fixed when he had time. Duo sighed. He’d have to get Heero to talk to him, instead. That always seemed to work better. He kicked his bag into the apartment in front of him. His shin knocked against a table leg and he grunted with mild surprise. It wasn’t that he didn’t know his way around his own place, though he was pretty damned tired – but hadn’t the side table been in the lounge before? It was one of Heero's discoveries, from the antique auctions he went to, and he'd insisted that it’d be useful in Duo’s apartment. He’d brought it around one evening, and helped Duo move other stuff about to fit it in, and then they’d had a great time eating takeout off the top of it. It’d been about 3am when he arrived and after 7am when he went home. Heero was one of the few friends who could keep up with Duo’s strange shift work without complaint. Duo smiled to himself at the memory. Heero was quite a guy. After all, Heero had also picked most of the pictures on Duo’s walls because he said the place was too much like a motel, and he’d recommended the best make of refrigerator because of Duo’s preference for ready-made meals, and he’d even pushed Duo into buying a better quality mattress for Duo’s bed, because… well, Heero was just being helpful. Like he was with any new furniture. Beds were... the same sort of thing. Obviously. Duo was still smiling, even though no-one was watching. Heero was one hell of a guy, actually, even though he, Duo, did that 'macho' thing and never actually put such things into words. It'd be just like Heero to worry about Duo getting some of the bedroom-action-business, without them needing to swap embarrassing details. Or not having any to swap, in Duo's case. He sighed. He could only hope Heero was getting some, somewhere, else one day they’d be crotchety, frustrated old men together. There was a slight creak from along the corridor. Shit. Once the landlord’s dog had got in while he was away. And then there’d been that problem with the pigeons… Duo started to inch along the corridor, nerves alert. Yeah, he probably ought to move, but what was the point when he only spent a day or so here a month, and anyway there was always Heero’s apartment to crash at if he needed a touch more luxury. Heero was always pleased to see him, and let Duo leave his stuff over there, and Duo had to admit he often took advantage of that. Generous guy, Heero. Duo felt as much at home there as here, sometimes. Maybe more so. In fact… No. He shook his head. He ought to find out what was going on before he went running to his friend’s place like some scared, lonely kid. He stumbled forward, hands outstretched towards the entrance to the lounge. Something squeaked inside the room, and there was a soft rush of air through the hinges of the door. What was going on? There were strange smells in the apartment – something like pungent fruit; something like baked bread, though he couldn’t remember the last time he cooked here; something like sulphur - His heart hammered. He pushed the lounge door open with a bold flourish and he sprang in, his hand already reaching for the baseball bat he kept behind the couch. It wasn’t there. In fact, the couch wasn’t there either. And then the lights came back on. There was a sudden shock as his eyes tried to focus quickly. The couch had been switched around and instead of his side table there was a long dining table that he was pretty sure hadn’t been in his inventory before today. It was covered with a bright cloth, and had a fan set up on it, whirring out cool air, with fluttering paper streamers waving from the spokes. There were balloons hanging from the light fitting in the centre of the room, swinging in the breeze, squeaking against each other. And Heero standing in front of it all, just a foot away from him. Duo whirled around to face him. “What the hell is going on?” he yelled, way too loud for the small room. Heero flinched and grimaced. “You nearly scared the crap out of me,” Duo continued, “and my God, you don’t want to do that after I’ve spent seven hours in a plane with over-spiced bean casserole as the only meal choice and the lack of any comfortable facilities -” “Surprise party,” said Heero, swiftly. “For your return. It’s your birthday, remember? Or at least it was while you were away, and I didn’t think you’d have had time to arrange any events while you were on site, so I did it for you.” “You…surprise…” Duo found speech momentarily difficult, which was always a novelty. He glanced around, taking in the large bowl of brightly coloured fruit punch, the plates piled with salad and cheese, fresh bread and olives. When he twisted back to stare at Heero, his friend pulled the string of a party popper. Coloured strips flew out into the air and sparkles sprayed over the tablecloth. The loud ‘pop’ was followed by the gentle smell of sulphur. “Jeez,” sighed Duo. He started to grin. He loved party poppers, they summed up everything that was silly and startling and outrageously tacky. “Never saw you as a party planner, Heero. But you know I don’t really celebrate birthdays nowadays.” "Sure," said Heero. He was staring at Duo’s face, and smiling. Duo wondered if he had dirt on his nose or something: Heero was very close. Duo felt suddenly tired; strangely flushed and over-warm. “Anyway, I don’t really feel up to a party, you know what hours I’ve been working, I don’t know what possessed you.” Heero was still watching Duo closely: Duo noticed that his face was flushed, too. “All that noise,” Duo continued, frowning. “Music and stuff. Chattering. The landlord’s dog barking and the lazy fat pig hammering on the floor from upstairs with some kind of bat -” Heero shrugged again, gently. “- or maybe hammering on the floor with the dog, for all I know,” Duo went on, relentlessly. "Damned air con's still out too, it gets way too hot in here, clammy too..." Heero nodded, amiably. Duo looked over at the fan behind them, blowing a fresh breeze. “Well, whatever. And I can't be worrying about party food or anything when my diet’s been on some kind of culinary rollercoaster for the last few days, it’s not good for me..." "Hell, yeah," nodded Heero. Duo glanced over at the table again, and the plates of plain, fresh food - all his favourites. If taste buds had a voice, his had just whimpered. "I need to do my washing, check the mail, turn my mattress. And I'm dehydrated from the flight, you know -” Duo's voice petered out. Heero reached across him and started to pour out a couple of glasses of punch. The ice chinked gently against the sides of the glass. “- I mean, in all honesty,” Duo drew a breath and decided truth was, as always, the best policy, “I was kind of looking forward to crashing out, maybe watching a movie and falling asleep half way through, maybe calling you over to watch it with me, that’d be good -” very good, he admitted to himself, ambushed by both surprise and pleasure – “Yeah, I just don’t think I can face loads of people cramming into my lounge and trying to pretend they don’t have cramp just from wriggling around the couch, and sitting on balloons and giving themselves hernias with the shock, and going on at me about getting a decent job and bemoaning my lack of sexlife, and eating all the best olives, the ones you know I like the best -” “Just us,” said Heero, loud enough to halt Duo’s tirade. “Huh?” “No-one else is invited,” Heero said. He sipped at his glass of punch, still looking at Duo over the rim of the glass. His eyes were dark and amused. Duo frowned. He bit his lip. He had another moment of that speechless thing. The fan whirred soothingly over on the table and the punch smelled sharp and rich. He looked at Heero a little more closely and saw something... new. Or rather, something that wasn't. He wondered how long he'd been looking at that something without really seeing it. He wondered why the hell his thoughts were getting stirred into a kind of punch of their own, and his heart was hammering painfully against his chest. "You know me well, don't you?" he said, quietly. Heero shrugged yet again, but his eyes sparkled. "You're always there," Duo continued. His stomach grumbled a bit with hunger, declaring its interest in the treats on the table, but there was a lump of excitement in his throat that had to be got over first. "You know what I need; how I’m feeling. When to help – when to back off. You bother with me, don't you? Care for me." He felt embarrassed at saying these sappy things, but there was an astonishingly pleasant sense of release, too. "You listen." Heero put his glass down on the table, carefully. He nodded. "You're always worth listening to. Caring for." Duo stared at him. This was way unusual. This was way... promising. "I can call the other guys up if you like," said Heero. There was a slight flicker in his eyes that looked like disappointment. "There's space on the couch; beer in the fridge, for when and if you get tired of punch. I've hired a selection of DVDs, and there might be one or two that'd please even Wufei. The popcorn later on probably won't stretch to more than two portions, but I can make some more..." "No," said Duo sharply. Heero nodded. He moved a step nearer Duo. "You said you didn't want company tonight. I listened, right?" Duo felt like grinning, and he did. He thought he might have some trouble stopping. "Right. Not other people's, anyway. Just yours. I bet you sorted my mail and put my laundry out already, didn't you?" Heero grinned back. Their eyes were talking far more than their words. There was a light between them: something firing up. "Probably turned the mattress, too," Duo laughed. "Always caring for my comfort." "Not just yours," Heero replied, rather quickly. He blushed. Duo's eyes widened. I wish, he thought, fervently, shocking himself and then mentally slapping his forehead. "I wish," he said aloud, slowly, bravely - wonderingly. Heero's gaze didn't falter. "Wish away, then," he said. He sounded hoarse. "Just you and me. At last." Duo wanted to move even closer but the toes of their boots were already nudging. He suspected that the birthday treats in store this year might be more than food and drink and party poppers. He just might start celebrating birthdays again... "Just you and me," he repeated. "There's a surprise." Heero couldn't seem to take his eyes off Duo. He smiled and raised his eyebrows. Duo smiled back, the feeling mutual. "No," he murmured, and reached out to take Heero's arm. "I guess it's not."
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