"Okay, Heero, that is one weird decoration. When I said, you can bring in anything you want, when you moved in, I didn't mean stinky incense fire hazards."

"......"

"Okay, That's one of those, 'Please give me the freakin' patience of a saint, dear lord.' looks, Heero. I admit, that I'm clueless, so why don't you clue me in as to what this is about?"

"It's Mother's Day, Duo."

"Oh. So, this is for your mom? I thought...?"

"That she's passed away? Yes, she has. This is to honor her spirit."

"A soft, sentimental side to you, Heero. I like that."

"Do you want to light incense as well, Duo?"

"Well, me and my mom, who ever she was, have abandonment issues. So, no."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Hey, can I light incense for women in general? I knew a woman, who wasn't a mom, but she was real nice to me. Does that count?"

"Yes, of course it does, Duo."

"Good."

".........."

"What?"

"A soft sentimental side, to you Duo. I like seeing that, too."

Drabble #22

I suppose that I'm dense... more than dense... my head is Gundanium... solid... uncompromising... totally focused on the goal of becoming the best Preventer agent, the world will ever know. There's no understanding as to why I considered Duo Maxwell an annoying, grinning, ever talking, source of peripheral annoyance. Ever see a fly, buzzing around a bull's head? The bull keeps his head down, flicks his tail, and completely ignores it.... until it bites him in the ass. Duo's proverbial bite in my ass, was just as startling.

We were both in Records, sifting through file folders, each of us trying to find the information that we needed, and both of us, probably, wondering why paper was still an option for record keeping in our day and age. Duo was talking, but I was determinedly shutting the sound out, as I concentrated on the arm load of files that I held, trying to determine whether I had everything, before I made the long trek back to my Preventer desk. When one of Duo's files tumbled from a tall shelf, onto the floor, I heard him curse, just as my eyes flicked up from my task.

Duo had been reaching high, to get to a box near the top shelf. Arm outstretched, fingers grasping, his uniform had hiked upwards, to reveal a long, lean line of waist, a soft curve of a hip bone, and just a hint of the crack of his ass where it met the drooping waistline of his pants.

"This is crazy!" Duo was muttering as he ignored the fallen file and continued to fish for the box that he wanted. "All of this should be in the computer! Don't you think so, Heero?"

My name warned me, too late, as he craned his head to look at me, long braid swinging back and forth across that tantalizing curve of ass. There wasn't any mistaking where my wide, glazed eyes, were looking.

Duo blushed. I blushed. My world widened to include him in a way that I had never considered before. Why had I never noticed how damn handsome, how damned sexy, he had become?

"Uhm... Heero?" Duo forgot about his file, his waist disappearing as he stopped reaching and turned to me, eyes wide.

"I feel... stupid," I managed.

Duo grinned, relaxing and cocking his head at me. He said, "No, not stupid, just... overly dedicated. It's about time that you noticed the big, wide world around you... and the crack of my ass."

He laughed, easy and good natured, and not wanting to assume anything, though his eyes were asking questions. I could take his words for a joke, or take them more seriously. He was leaving the ball in my court.

"I think that I would like..." I battled a deeper blush, and a tongue that had suddenly decided to stumble, and finished, "to notice you a lot more.... not just your ass crack."

Duo laughed again, slung an arm over my shoulders, and gave me a hard hug. "Okay, that's good to go with me. First, though, use those few extra inches to get me that box of files, would you? I think I want to do my own staring."

Drabble #23

"Two bucks, says you won't," Trowa said as he sifted through file folders on Duo's desk.

Duo was watching Heero Yuy, across the room, steadily, hands flexing on the edge of his desk as he considered the dare.

"Only two? You must not be very sure," Duo taunted.

"I'm very sure," Trowa retorted, as he fished into his pocket and brought out a twenty. He slapped it onto the desk. "There is no way, that you will drop your pants in front of Heero."

Duo added his own twenty, on top of Trowa's, and then grinned. "You're out twenty bucks, my man."

Trowa glared. "You talk big, Maxwell, but you'll be the one out forty bucks."

Duo snickered, "Forty? Oh, yeah. Well, I never thought that you'd wear sheer, pink spandex to work, that's for sure. You can't blame me for losing that one."

"You're still talking, Duo," Trowa taunted. "Time for some action. You have to the count of five, or the money is mine."

"Five? Wait a minute!" Duo stuttered in a panic.

"One....two... three... four..."

"Okay! Okay! I'm going!" Duo growled and then stood up.

As Trowa watched him cross the room, Duo tried, wildly, to think of a reason to drop his pants in front of Heero. He discarded line after line, but then settled on, "Heero, mind looking at this scar? It itches funny and I can't see it."

Duo undid his belt buckle, turned away from Heero, and pulled down pants and underwear with a blush traveling all the way up to his hairline.

There was dead silence. Duo felt nervous sweat trickle down by his ear, and then Heero said, unsteadily, "It's looks... all right... more than all right."

Startled, Duo twisted his body to look at Heero's hot, flushed face and wide eyes. Those blue eyes came up to meet his own. There was definite desire there.

Duo yanked up his pants as he turned to face Heero. As he did up his belt buckle, the dare was suddenly not important at all. "I didn't know," he managed.

Heero looked at a loss, not sure of himself.

"Maybe we should, uh, talk about this later, after work?" Duo suggested.

Heero nodded, blushed deeper, and then hid his desire and nervousness behind a file folder.

Duo went back to Trowa and sat down, in a half daze. Trowa said sourly, "You are one crazy, man, Duo. You've earned the money."

"Keep it," Duo mumbled as he stared across the room at Heero.

"What?" Trowa exclaimed in disbelief.

"Keep it as thanks. I just learned something that I didn't know before," Duo explained. "That's worth a hell of a lot more than twenty bucks."

Drabble #24

"Stuck?" Heero stared down at Duo's fly and the shirt cuff stuck there.

"If you're going to tell me that this never happened to you, I swear...!" Duo growled, blushing hotly.

"Then I won't," Heero replied as he shifted in his chair and moved out from behind his desk.

Duo gave another jerk on his cuff, and the zipper, to no avail. "I'm not asking anyone else to... help me."

"Why not?" Heero wondered as he scooted even closer and surveyed the problem.

"It's my crotch, Heero!" Duo retorted. "Do you want just anyone touching your crotch?"

"Zipper," Heero corrected as he tugged up Duo's cuff to see where the material was caught. "It's just --"

"The zipper over my crotch!" Duo corrected.

Heero concentrated on the zipper, now, getting very close. He glanced up, briefly, and then asked quietly, "So, I'm safe? I'm no danger?"

Duo scowled. "I trust you not to tell anyone and... I don't mind you touching... there."

Heero looked up again, meeting purple eyes. "You don't?"

Duo sighed, leaned down, and gave Heero a quick kiss on the cheek. "Not in the least. Now, get me loose, please?"

Heero smiled and set to work.

Drabble #25

He's standing next to that hole in the wall, laughing. His eyes are sparkling as he slides eyes at it and says, "Close shave, wasn't it?"

A bullet, designed to go through even the toughest armor, it's purpose, only one; to kill Preventer agents. Duo had a line along his jaw, the mark of it's passing, and nicks from when the wall, from when it had exploded in pieces at him on impact. It was cold comfort that the shooter was now in custody, and heading toward a long jail sentence. It didn't matter at all against that stark truth; that Duo had almost died... had been a hair's breath from leaving the world... my world... our world... the world that I had wanted to share with him, but had been too much of a coward to say so.

"What's up, Heero?" he asked me, frowning now as I stepped forward and put a hand over that hole, feeling the depth and the shattered masonry. That hand then moved to his cheek and the red line of the graze. I wasn't going to be a coward any longer. Time was too short, too full of possible last moments.

"I'm gay, Duo." Unexpected words, out of context of anything that was happening just then. He blinked like an owl at me, mouth slightly open. "I'm gay," I tried again, "and I know that I'm attracted to you. I'm sorry if that bothers you. I'll understand if it does. I just have to tell you. I have to let you know, before anything else happens, like this, that I care."

His hand came up, broad fingered and rough from our line of work, and covered mine, almost in a desperate way, and I fully expected him to pull my hand off and curse me. He didn't, though. He just gripped my hand, against his cheek, pressing it tight to him.

"I'm gay too," Duo admitted, almost fiercely. "I didn't want to freak you out with it, so I never said."

I smiled shakily and reached behind his neck, sliding fingers under his hair. I pulled him toward me, almost harshly with my desperation to be closer to him, to really know that he was safe. He winced a little, as my fingers caught strands of hair, but he was smiling too. I locked lips with him, ravishing them, devouring him, tasting the pulse of his life through that touch.

Duo staggered under me, totally shocked, but responding too. When I broke the kiss, panting and heated, he grinned, locked a hand in my uniform, and pulled me away from the place of his near demise. Death had been foiled and we were both eager to see what life had in store for us, now.

Drabble #26

"What is going on in there?" Une demanded as she glared at the closed record room door and the moans of pleasure coming from its other side.

Quatre and Trowa winced and looked nervous. "Uh, research?" Quatre tried.

"Duo! This is against all orders!" Heero protested from behind the closed door.

"Who cares?!" Duo groaned. "Keep doing it! Don't stop. That's my damn order! God, yes! You have magic in those fingers! This feels wooooonnndddderrrfulll!"

"Maxwell! Yuy!" Une barked as she strode forward and yanked open the door. "You will cease and desist in this type of behavior as of --" She blinked, frozen in place as she spotted Duo, bent over a chair, uniform hiked up to his shoulders, and Yuy bent over him, scratching a livid rash on Duo's back. "Explain yourselves!" Une demanded.

Heero and Duo straightened, Duo's uniform falling back into place, as they both blushed. Duo said defensively, "It itches."

"Duo crawled, on his back, through poison oak, on our last mission," Heero explained. "He has orders from the medic not to scratch it."

Duo looked sheepish, "So, I had Heero scratch it for me."

"Did you know that you can contract poison ivy that way, Agent Yuy?" Une asked with an arched eyebrow.

Heero looked down at his fingers, startled, and saw a rash starting on his hands.

Une sighed in exasperation. "Both of you go to the medic... and neither of you scratch! That's an order!"

Drabble #27

"Why is he in with a medic, Fei?"

"You were gone so long on that mission, Heero, that we were going to get together and celebrate your return. I noticed that Duo's ear was severely infected and we all forced him to come here."

"What caused it?"

"Stupidity."

"I don't understand."

"You may ask him to explain, since it is something that you should speak to him about. I will say that the infection began with a double piercing on his right ear, done by an amateur, not familiar with basic hygiene."

"O_o"

"Duo?"

"Hey, Heero! I've missed you!"

"Don't cover up your ear. Tell me why you decided to get a double piercing?"

" -_-' "

"I'll ask Quatre, if you won't tell me. I know, that he knows."

"Because he knows everything, the little shit, and he can't keep his trap shut."

"So, tell me."

"You thought they looked good... on Riley."

"What?"

"His gold loop earrings. I heard you tell Trowa, that you thought he looked good with them."

"And that made you get them? Why? So that you could look good, too?"

"Yeah... well..."

"You look good already. Wu Fei was right, this was stupid."

"He called me stupid?!... Wait... You think I look good?"

"Is that important to you?"

"Uhm... yeah, it is."

"Enough to get piercings?"

"Hmmmnnn."

"What?"

"Hm, yeah."

"You didn't need to try to get my attention, Duo. You have it already."

"You were looking at Riley, though, not me."

"You didn't hear the other half of our conversation."

"What was that?"

"I told Trowa, that those earrings might look good, but that they wouldn't look so good ripped out by an enemy."

"Oh. You were thinking that he was stupid?"

"Yes."

"I guess that I really am stupid, then, for doing the same thing?"

"Maybe, but, then, I guess we both are."

"Why is that?"

"Because I never noticed that you were interested in me enough to pierce your ears."

"Well, you do now, though, right?"

"Yes, I do. Get an okay from the medic and let's go talk, all right?"

Drabble #28

"Ow! Shit, Hilde!"

"I told you to hold still, dumbass!"

"I didn't know that this was some sort of Oz torture!"

"Baby!"

"Am, not! You're just a butcher!"

"I used the ice cubes to numb your ear, Duo. I have a sharp needle. It went right through, clean. Getting the hoops in, should be the piece of cake!"

"Well, it's not, and it hurts like hell!"

"Look, you jerk, I didn't want to do this, as you recall. Why didn't you just go to a professional?"

"Someone might have seen me."

"Like who?"

"Guys from work."

"So? A lot of guys pierce their ears."

"They would have asked me why, and I don't really feel like telling them."

"Then lie.... oh, right, you don't like to lie."

"Yeah."

"Well, you do have to go to work, and they will ask you why you suddenly have two gold rings in your head. What then, idiot?"

"I'm working on it..."

" -__-' "

"Don't give me that look. I just need this done, okay? I knew that you'd leave it and not go on about why, if I told you to drop it. So, drop it."

"What ever. Your love life is none of my business, after all, I suppose."

"Love life?!"

"Get real, it's obvious. I'm glad you decided to crawl out of the closet and meet a guy, at last. I was going to start suggesting the priesthood, as a vocation, Mr. Virgin."

"Ha, ha."

"Duo, this doesn't look good. I sterilized the needle and your ear, but your skin isn't happy with this at all."

"Just get the loops in. I'll pour alcohol all over it, when it's done."

"Hm, okay, as long as you promise to see the medic if it gets bad?"

"Yeah, yeah... OW, shit! Are you sure you aren't an Oz interrogator?"

Drabble #29

"Adopt?" Heero eyed his lover with trepidation, a chill going up and down his spine. "What brought this on?"

They had been walking down a sidewalk in their neighborhood, shaded by old oaks, relaxing after a hard mission. The small community park had been an annoyance to Heero, when they had passed it; filled with screaming children, barking dogs, and mothers with their squalling babies. He had been glad to leave it behind for a quieter side street. It hadn't occurred to him that Duo had felt different about it, so much so, that he was contemplating...

"Think about it," Duo urged him. "Caring for someone, being responsible, giving them love, and affection, and making sure they grow up right, just seems part of having a regular home life."

"We were gone, on our mission, for six months," Heero reminded him firmly. "They almost condemned our house as being abandoned. We had to clean out everything from the refrigerator and the cupboards, because it was all spoiled. Our glasses had cobwebs. There was a squatter in our backyard garage."

Duo shrugged and snickered. "Maybe that's a problem? Maybe we need to take easier missions, step down and enjoy life more?"

"And adopt?" Heero sighed and rubbed at his suddenly aching forehead. "We had fish, remember?"

"We did?" Duo blinked.

"Yeah, that's what used to be in that green tank in the den."

"I wondered what the smell was."

"I don't think that you can forget about a baby like that, Duo."

Duo looked at Heero, startled. "Who said anything about a baby?"

Heero frowned. "I thought...?"

Duo laughed out right. "You need your head examined, Love of Mine. I was talking about a dog! Seeing everyone with their pets, being together, loving them, taking care of them... it just seemed like they were more grounded than we are."

Heero slipped an arm around Duo's waist, in relief, and pulled him in tight. He gave Duo's words consideration, and then nodded. "I am getting... tired... older. I think that we do need to settle down more. A dog, though..."

"We need an anchor in our home, something to keep us there and caring about that part of our lives," Duo told him, leaning his cheek against Heero's shoulder.

"I care," Heero tried but felt how hollow that sounded. They still had their things in boxes, as if they expected to leave at any moment. Duo was right that they needed to be more grounded, more committed to living their lives outside of Preventers missions. "What kind of dog?" he wondered.

Duo grinned. "A big one. One we can't ignore and that no one else will allow us to foist off on them. When we get him, he's ours, no matter what. We'll have to make a home."

"What if it doesn't work out?" Heero wondered.

Duo gave him a sad smile. "Is that a possibility?"

Heero held him tighter and committed. "No, it's not."

"That's why I love you," Duo told him, and pulled him down for a kiss.

Drabble #30

"They're tight."

"Yes, very. Which is why I want to take them off, Heero."

"Not yet. Just a bit longer, Duo."

"And they're purple, to match my eyes. That's what she said."

"Could you turn the other way, just for a second... or longer."

"Heero."

"I love when you growl like that, Duo."

"Heero!"

"I'm sorry, but they're just so... skin... tight. You can see everything."

"So why should I wear them?"

"They're a gift. You should honor it."

"She was coming on to me, Heero. The little note said, 'love to see you in these.' Aren't you jealous?"

"Of course, but it's not as if you're going to actually wear them for her, right?"

"I don't want to wear them for anyone! I think my balls are turning blue."

"Here, let me have them?"

"Why? Wait, why am I asking? Take them. Oz could use them as a form of torture. Hey! Are you putting those on?"

"So that you can see why I like them."

"Damn, Heero! Those are... skin... tight... Could you turn around... just for a sec, and maybe... bend over... yeah, just like that... That's good.... that's very good..."

*Smirk*