"But do you think we left too early?" the first man asked of his dark, short haired companion. He shook out his wet braid as he removed his coat and continued. "I never know the proper time to cut out of those stuffy parties. It always feels too early, but I can hardly stand staying any longer than I do."

His partner shook his head as he removed his own coat. "It can never be too early, Duo. Not when you're wearing this," he said, gesturing to the crisp, black dress shirt he wore under the coat. He moved to take Duo's coat from him and hung the two together on the coat rack that rested to the left of the door.

Duo smiled. "You shoulda listened to me, Heero. I told you to wear one of my shirts instead," he said. He trailed his hand across Heero's chest and traced his collarbone through the shirt. "I knew you'd be uncomfortable all night in this one," he added as he followed the line of Heero's shoulders and down his arms, pulling away only after palming Heero's hand and clasping their fingers together for a moment.

Heero sighed and kicked off his shoes. "Your shirts don't fit me correctly. Our builds are too different," he said. He pushed his shoes to lie close to the door and removed his socks.

Duo followed suit and took Heero's socks from him. He walked into the kitchen and pulled back the screen that hid the laundry area. "Since when are you one to sacrifice comfort for style?" he asked, throwing an amused grin back at Heero who was fussing with the buttons of his cuffs.

"Never again," Heero muttered as he successfully freed both his wrists from the binding restriction of his shirtsleeves. He turned to Duo, who was starting a new load of laundry in the kitchen. "I'm going to go change. I can't stand this."

Duo looked up from the washing machine and watched Heero stalk off toward their bedroom. He smirked and finished loading the washer, fingering the still damp end of his braid and glancing across the apartment at the closed window. He could hear the pitter-patter of the raindrops hitting the wall outside.

A sudden thirst struck him, and he made himself a cup of instant coffee. He moved to the window and pulled back the curtains, revealing the dark night sky streaked with silver flashes of reflected light. He kneeled on the bench that sat beneath the window and crawled up onto the sill. It was barely large enough to fit a person comfortably, so Duo had to pull one leg up onto the sill and leave his other foot on the bench, both knees bent. He leaned against the wall, let his head rest against the window, and began to watch the gentle descent of the rain.

Heero emerged from the bedroom, now wearing a comfortable t-shirt and a pair of sweat pants, to find Duo staring out through the window with a pensive expression on his face. He moved to stand behind Duo, kept at a distance by the bench. He knew Duo was aware of his presence, and he didn't push to end the not yet uncomfortable silence.

A few moments passed and Heero found himself sharing Duo's view when Duo finally spoke. "Made some coffee."

It was a statement of the obvious made to acknowledge Heero's presence as well as show a willingness to engage in conversation. Heero took the bait. "This late? You'll never get to sleep."

Heero saw a reflection of Duo closing his eyes and smiling. "You know coffee doesn't keep me up," he said, and then paused. "I wanted something warm," he said, a slight, almost confused frown on his face.

"Are you cold?" Heero asked. "I can go get you a jacket if --"

"No," Duo cut him off. "I'm fine. The rain just always seems to make me want something warm to drink." His voice took on a puzzled tone. "I wonder why that is."

"Childhood memory, perhaps?" Heero offered.

"Don't think so," Duo answered. "I don't have that many memories of rain as a child. They didn't open the ducts very often. Even when they did, it was artificial, dirty rain. It had been recycled so many times that it hardly resembled water at all because of all the chemicals they loaded it with. It was never really rain."

He turned away from the window and looked at Heero, a small smile stealing across his face. "I remember the first time I saw a real live rainstorm on earth. It was during that month that you were out of commission and we couldn't really fight. Quatre and I were staying in some place that his personal army had found, and it started raining right after we'd gotten there."

Duo looked down, lost in fond memories. "I couldn't help but run out in it. I'd never tasted rain. Sounds stupid, I know, but I wanted to taste it."

"It doesn't sound stupid at all," Heero interjected.

"Yeah well, I ran out into it and poor Quatre had to run after me and try to corral me back inside. Somehow I managed to convince him that dancing in the rain was the greatest idea in the world." Duo looked back up at Heero. "We both got colds from it, but tasting and feeling real, honest rain water was worth the runny nose."

Heero remained silent, not knowing if he was supposed to respond. Duo looked back at the window. The mirth had seeped out of his frame and his reflected expression had dulled.

"I'll never understand how anyone could have wanted to destroy something that so selflessly gives of itself," he said, tone distracted.

"Thankfully," Heero began, "there were people willing to fight to stop that from happening."

"Yeah," Duo agreed. "And I'm glad for it. I'm glad we fought for it. I'm glad that I survived to see the rain fall often enough to nearly consider it one of the mundane parts of life." He paused, and glanced quickly into Heero's eyes before turning his head to his lap, a look of concentration adorning his features. "I'm glad to have stayed here, to still be here," he said, then paused, a more vulnerable expression stealing across his face, "with you."

Heero reached out his hand and placed it on Duo's cheek, pulling his face up so that Heero could look him in the eyes. "So am I," he said, voice soft. He ran his fingers up and through Duo's hair and began to lean in to the magnetic attraction that was Duo's presence.

Duo snaked his hand up across Heero's chest to grasp the back of his neck and pull Heero down to him. He closed his eyes just before their lips made contact and breathed a gentle sigh into Heero's mouth as he opened it to him for gentle exploration.

When the tender kiss was over, Duo pulled back only far enough to lay his forehead against Heero's and press the sides of their noses together. He smiled as their breath mingled between them, eyes still closed. "Watch the rain with me?" he breathed into the space between them, the request barely louder than a whisper.

"Of course," was Heero's steady reply.

Duo put his coffee cup on the floor and scooted down on the bench to make room for Heero behind him. It was a tight fit, so Heero was forced to lay his right leg straight out in front of him with Duo's atop his, while both of their left legs dangled to lie on the bench beneath them.

Duo settled back against Heero's chest once they were situated and sighed in contentment. Heero wrapped his arms around Duo's waist and pressed a gentle kiss to his temple. He glanced at their reflection in the mirror and smiled at what he saw. He was definitely glad to still be here, sitting with Duo, and watching the rain.