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"Mission: Christmas Party "Written By: Yanagi Disclaimer: I don’t own the Gundam Boys.
I just borrowed them Rating: R Warnings: Fluff, Yaoi, drama, romance. Pairings: 1x2x1, 3x4x3, others Summary: It's Heero and Duo's turn to host the
annual Christmas Party. " Mission: Christmas Party"
“Because?” Duo joined him on the couch. “Yeah, because we're crazy. Why did we accept this assignment?” Heero guzzled beer, sighed and put his feet on the coffee table. Duo finished his off and fished another out of the mini fridge at the end of the couch. He popped the top off with his thumb, twist tops were so last century, literally. “So, first we make a list?” Heero frowned as he handed Duo the empty. “Is that really necessary?” Duo dropped the bottle over the end of the couch into the recycle bin. “Yes. Absolutely. Every operation needs a battle plan. You know that.” “Ok, ok. Don't get your shorts in a bunch.” Heero accepted the cold one Duo passed over. “Well, if I do, you'll just have to straighten them out.” Duo leered at Heero who just snorted suds up his nose. “You. Are. Evil.” Heero sneezed several times then wiped his face off on his shirt tail. “Yes, I am. And don't you forget it.” Duo whacked Heero on the back of the head. “OW! Hey! Spousal abuse.” Heero's light laugh belied his words. “Ok. Make a list. Of what?” Duo scowled, then waved a hand, “I'm not sure. Stuff. Supplies. Things.” “Well, that's really helpful.” Heero finished off another beer then handed the empty to Duo, commenting, “Wonders of bio-engineering. I can't get drunk. Best I can manage is a nice buzz. You, on the other hand, are cut off.” Duo clutched at his chest. “Cut off! How could you? I've only had three. And, despite me not being made of steel, I've been jiggered too. Remember? I can drink a grown man twice my size under the table. So, not cut off yet.” Heero snatched the beer out of Duo's hand. “Yes, you are. You're the one who got us into this mess, you're the one who has to make the list. Especially since you're the one who wants one.” Duo sneered in a genial fashion, if such a thing is really possible, and asked, “Well, what would you do?” Heero laughed softly, saluted Duo with the bottle and said, “Wing it, of course.” “Evil. You tell me I'm evil and you ...” Duo grumbled as he got up to get his data pad and make his list. “And ... you agreed, so you have to help. Now.” So they made lists. Duo made his, Heero made his. Then they compared them. After that, they combined them. Heero eyed the list then sighed, “Are you sure we need all that?” “Every last bit.” Duo nodded once. Heero shook his head. “Ok. I get it. We either do this or we get Quatre's puppy dog eyes of doom.” Duo laughed, “Right in one, and he's actually got that trademarked.” Heero snorted with laughter then grumbled drily, “Ok, so we go shopping tomorrow.” . The next morning was Christmas Eve. A time of bad memories for many but everyone seemed determined to enjoy the season. The two young men were greeted at every stop with 'Merry Christmas' and cheerful smiles. Heero was a bit put off until Duo socked him on the shoulder, exclaiming, “Stop that! Everyone is just trying to be happy, don't look at them like that. You'll scare the little kids.” Heero gave him a shamefaced look. “Sorry. I just don't get why they'd wish a total stranger a Merry Christmas.” “Because it's nice.” Duo turned away from Heero, grabbing him by one hand and dragging him into yet another store. The lady who approached them chirped, “Merry Christmas, gentlemen. How can I help you?” Heero looked at the trees on display. It was confusing as there was every sort of tree imaginable: tall, short, fat, thin. There was even half a tree. He decided to ask. “Excuse me but why is that tree flat on one side?” “Oh.” The clerk, whose name badge read 'Anne', laughed softly. “That's a wall tree. It's for people who want a fairly big tree but need to put it against a wall. They look weird on the floor but really nice when you get them home. You looking for a tree?” Duo nodded. “Yeah. We've got a nice size apartment but we don't want to hog the whole living room with a tree. Something nice but not too big.” Anne looked at the display for a moment then said, “Lighted or not, pencil or spruce, pre-decorated or do it yourself?” At their expressions of dismay, she kindly pointed to each type and named it. She finished, “And there's no reason to pick one over the other, just pick what you like.” Heero examined each tree for ease of assembly, while Duo 'eyed them up for fit' as he said, trying to figure out which one would look good in their living room. They were just so cute that Anne had to call her supervisor to see them. The supervisor called a friend and before they knew it they were surrounded by giggling girls. Duo rolled his eyes while Heero just ignored them. Anne finally pointed out a nice tree that both Duo and Heero could agree on. It was only six feet tall but it was nice and full. Heero checked carefully to make sure that it wouldn't block any traffic patterns. They both liked the fact that it came in three pieces and could be fully assembled in only fifteen minutes. Then they had to pick ornaments. This was a matter of some concern until the ladies took over. One clerk picked up a box, exclaiming, “Oh! You have to have angels. Here.” Duo took the box which contained six angels with lace wings. He eyed it for a moment, shrugged and tucked it under his arm. Another clerk handed a box to Heero. “You've just got to have this. Hand crocheted snowflakes. They're just too cute.” Heero just stoically took the box, giving the woman a nod of thanks. This opened the floodgates and every clerk around had to press their favorite on the two young men as a 'must have' item. It wasn't long before they had strings of lights, ornaments, a skirt and a topper. Duo gave Heero a blank look. “Christmas trees have skirts?” “I guess.” Heero just eyed the folded, glittery cloth as if it might bite him. Duo announced, a bit too loudly, “Our mission is to plan a Christmas party for the rest of the crew. So? We planned. ” Heero sighed, “But ... I don't think planning this like a mission is going to be as successful as we hoped.” Duo sagged. “Me neither. So what do we do?” Heero rubbed the back of his neck irritably. “I don't know. How the hell do you plan a party? Isn't a party supposed to have a theme or something?” He scowled at the floor. “This is going to be such a disaster.” Anne couldn't help overhearing. “Oh, honey. Don't worry. If this crew are all your friends, it'll work out ok. What did your Mom do for Christmas?” She looked from Heero to Duo. Duo plastered on his 'happy idiot face' and said, “No idea. We're both orphans. I grew up on the streets and Heero was raised by ... an uncle. So, we're taking our turn for Christmas ... stuff and we're stuck. Help?” “Sure thing.” Anne smiled a bit tearily. “So ... is this supposed to be a full on party with a sit down dinner or a cocktail sort of thing with snacks and drinks?” Dou frowned. “Well, Quatre had a full on thing but he's rich, has servants and a mansion. Then Trowa had it, at a circus. Now it's our turn. We've got a nice apartment, three bedrooms, one converted to an office and the living room is huge. We've also got a dining room. But neither one of us is up to cooking anything really complicated.” Anne nodded. “Ok, can you do a casserole? And do you have any sort of a list?” Heero and Duo both brightened. “Lists we can do. Here.” Duo handed over his data pad with his lists all queued up. Anne examined the menu. “Well, this is good. Three nice veggie dishes and a good meat. Carry in cake and pie. Smart. You ought to add a salad. Nothing fancy, something like Caesar or something. Just dump on dressing and put it out in a nice bowl with croutons and stuff on the side. You baking at all?” Heero grumbled while Duo grinned. Duo said, “No, I don't think we have time for that. The guests are supposed to arrive at about six this evening.” Anne nearly fainted. “Oh, my God! Why did you wait this long? You're going to have to scramble to get everything done. But ... you do need a theme so ... how about a tree decorating party?” Duo brightened. Getting the tree ready was the thing that had him the most worried. Heero nodded. “Sounds good. How does that work?” “Just put up the tree wherever you want it to be. Then put out the lights and boxes of ornaments. Then get out of the way. Everyone will have a ball putting on the things and you'll have a decorated tree at the end of the evening.” Anne smiled then offered, “And a piece of advice. If the ladies offer to clean up, let them, makes them feel all motherly and stuff.” She glanced over the lists again then remarked, “Get plastic plates and stuff. Set up a really big trash can for all the mess. Cuts the mess down by ... well, almost to nothing. Is there going to be a present exchange?” Heero nodded. “We drew names.” Anne finished her explanation as she rang them up. She smiled and said, “Merry Christmas and good luck,” as she sent them on their way. Then she went to the break room and told her supervisor everything. They had a good laugh and said a small prayer that everything would go well for the two young men. . Heero examined their lists then started gathering ingredients. They had decided on old favorites, green bean casserole, broccoli rice and corn pudding. Their meat was a nice, pre-baked ham, all they had to do was put that in the oven to warm. Pumpkin pie, mince meat pie and pecan pie rounded out the sweets, along with cookies. A huge bag of mixed romaine and iceberg made the salad. He checked his list again and added a few bags of odd bits of things. Duo was checking out the deli for anything that looked good. He finally just asked the attendant what she'd suggest in the way of buffet dishes. “Having a bachelor do? Sandwich stuff is always good.” The lady, whose name tag proclaimed that she was Wanda, smiled at Duo. “No, not exactly a bachelor do. We're having a tree decorating party. And about half the guests will be ladies. Oh, and no liquor, several of the guests will be on call.” “I see. So ... how about marshmallow salad, that's always popular and it's really good this year.” She chuckled at Duo's lost expression and pointed, “That. It's got marshmallows, whipped cream and fresh fruit. And there are a few others that are popular. Just put each in a fancy bowl and stick a spoon in it.” Duo couldn't help a snicker. “Then stick a fork in me, 'cause I'm done.” Wanda laughed at that and said, “That's right. How many people?” Duo told her and soon had several large containers in his cart, along with instructions on exactly what to do with them. A quick side trip got very nice plastic plates and things, all in a 'party box'. Things were really looking up. . Heero eyed the dining room table, it didn't look right to him, but he wasn't sure what was wrong. Duo popped his head in the door just as Heero realized what was bothering him. “I don't recognize the plates, flatware or glasses. Where did they come from?” “The supermarket. A lady recommended that we use plastic and I found that all in one box. Table cloth was extra but came with more napkins, all in a matching pattern. Nice, huh?” “Very. Is that why there's a garbage can wrapped in fancy paper in the kitchen?” “Right. I thought it looked better like that than just plopped down ... um ... naked so to speak.” Heero chuckled at the thought of a naked trash can. Just as he was about to make some sort of 'off color' remark the door bell rang. Duo went to answer the door. Wufei, Quatre and Relena were at the door. Duo took their coats and put them away, calling over his shoulder, “The theme is decorate the tree, have at it.” This brought about a flurry of activity as Wufei and Quatre started putting the strings of lights on the tree, with a lot of direction from Relena. She cheerfully pointed and fussed until the strings were, they all agreed, equally and properly distributed. Heero just wandered around, filling cups of coffee and passing the cookie tray. It wasn't long before they were joined by Trowa, Une and Sally Po. Relena pouted a bit and demanded, “And where is my dear brother?” Trowa's shoulders shook with silent laughter. “He had to stay behind a bit. Paperwork.” Relena snorted. Milliardo hated paperwork with a passion and always put it off until the last minute. They were still admiring the lights and trying to decide which box of ornaments to start on when the bell rang. Milliardo strode in, still in his uniform, announcing, “I'm here. The festivities may commence.” This caused Relena to throw a small pillow at him. He caught it, laughing, and put it on a nearby chair. Heero offered, “We've got coffee, tea or punch. We'll be having the buffet as soon as the casserole is done.” Milliardo decided on coffee, black, so Heero produced a cup for him. Relena then turned to the boxes of ornaments. “Ok, which box do we start on?” Milliardo offered, “I think we should start with the bigger ornaments, or the special ones, then the smaller ones.” He stood up. “And who's going to put the topper on?” Heero started laughing, a hearty laugh, not his usual snicker or soft chuckle. “Who indeed? Stretch.” Milliardo scoffed at that. “Stretch? I've never been called that.” Relena snickered. “To your face. I do remember someone calling you a long drink of water once.” Quatre nodded. “Oh, yes, and one of my guards calls him The Ice Prince.” Milliardo just laughed. “I've heard that one. But you know that people call you the Money Man.” Quatre flushed a bit then laughed. “Well, I guess I am. So, fairies?” Wufei stiffened and demanded, “Excuse me?” Trowa handed him the box of fairy ornaments. “Fairies.” Relena wound up perched on a footstool, putting hangers on the ornaments. The loops on most of them were so small that the guys couldn't quite manage. Une shuttled between Relena and the tree, handing ornaments to the group and offering advice and comments. Finally, Duo cocked his head. “Oops. Timer. I better get in there before something burns. Help?” He looked around. Relena held up her hands. “Oh, no! You don't want me anywhere near food.” Heero smirked at her. “If I remember correctly, you were getting a D- in Home Ec. I believe we were supposed to be cooking that semester.” Relena stuck her tongue out at him. “I suppose your grade was better?” Duo snorted. “Not really. I think he was getting an F, while I, genius that I am, was getting a C-.” Une snickered. “In other words, none of you can cook. So what are we eating?” Duo led the way to the kitchen, saying over his shoulder, “I learned later on. Mostly from Quatre and Trowa. We're having casseroles. What some people call dump cooking.” Wufei blinked. “Dump cooking?” His tone of voice was more that doubtful. Duo started pulling things out of the oven and putting them on the kitchen table. “Yeah, dump a can of this, a can of that, stir and stick in the oven. Not as easy as it sounds, but mostly, it turns out good. Here, be careful, it's hot.” Wufei snorted, “Well, no duh. It just came out of the oven.” Wufei smelled the dish then smiled. “It smells good.” The small parade of people made their way to the dining room. Duo carefully put down trivets for everything and announced, “Ok, guys, dig in.” Everyone lined up to fill their plates. Duo smiled happily, one of the things he'd been worried about was having enough plates. This was when they found that most of their friends preferred to sit down to dine. Relena looked around, biting her lip. Une just efficiently took charge, saying, “Heero. Duo. You've done a great job but we all would rather sit at a table to eat. So ... how do you want to do this?” Since neither Heero nor Duo cared one way or the other where their guests ate, they just pushed all the food to the middle of the table and put in the two leaves that made the table twice as long as usual. They all took seats and enjoyed their meal. Une told a few stories that she really shouldn't. Milliardo told one on himself. They all laughed at all of them. Relena did viciously funny imitations of various politicians. She played off Heero as the straight man. Sally wisely said that none of her stories were dinner table fare while Wufei just snorted at the thought of telling stories out of school. They finished eating and headed back into the living room to finish the tree. On the way, Duo started to sing a carol and everyone joined in. Milliardo turned out to have a bass voice while Une was an alto. Sally was a soprano. Wufei was a high tenor and Trowa a tenor. Heero was also a tenor and Quatre and Relena rounded the group out as another tenor and a soprano, respectively. They happily caroled, decorated and snacked far into the night. Milliardo remarked that he should have brought a bottle of wine but had, frankly, forgotten. Heero just shrugged, “I don't think anyone but Relena could have had any. All the rest of us are on call.” “It's only polite but, since we couldn't open it, I won't repine.” Milliardo stretched to put the star on top of the tree, completing its decoration. Everyone settled around the tree to watch the lights. Relena gave a rather heavy sigh. Duo looked up and asked, “What's the matter?” Relena grumbled softly for a moment then said, “I'm having turducken for Christmas dinner.” “And what the hell is that? And, if you don't like it, don't have it.” Duo nestled against Heero with a sigh. Une showed her knowledge of all things odd. “A turducken is a turkey stuffed with a duck stuffed with a chicken. It's supposed to be the height of gourmet eating. I think it's just an excuse for a cook to show off their boning skills.” Relena nodded. “I think it sounds nasty. What's wrong with a nice ham? I like ham. And turkey, just turkey. With stuffing and all the trimmings.” Quatre nodded. “And that's why you're all coming to my house for dinner. We'll be eating at about one. And speaking of one, that's what time it is.” He stood up. “Trowa, we really need to be going.” And with that, everyone made their excuses and all the guests were gone within fifteen minutes. Except for Une, Wufei and Sally. They stayed to help clean up. This didn't take long as all that really needed to be done was gather up the plates, cups and glasses that were still sitting around and toss them in the trash can. The food was put into containers and those went into the fridge. The baking dishes went into the dishwasher and that was it. Heero and Duo saw Une, Wufei and Sally out the door and returned to their favorite seats on the couch. Heero smiled with satisfaction. “Well, I didn't think it would go that well. Mission accomplished.” “Mission? Heero, you're such a dufus.” Duo laughed gently. “What? Mission: Make a Christmas party. Secondary: Make our friends happy.” Heero poked Duo in the ribs. “Come on. We'd better get to bed. Morning comes early. Glad we got all the presents last week.” Duo laughed. “Me too.” Duo took one last look at the merrily twinkling tree. “Merry Christmas, Heero.” “Merry Christmas, Duo.” Heero flicked the wall switch, turning off all the lights, including the tree. He followed Duo off to bed. ~ * ~ |
