"Shit!" he swore as he whipped his hand like a limp noodle as if shaking would lessen the hurt. He removed his work glove and inspected the ring finger of his left hand. There was a white line under the nail where it had been bent back too far. He absently squeezed the tip of his finger knowing it did not undo the damage, but it made him feel better.

A glint of gold caught his eye. His scowl turned into a grin as he replaced the glove.

Heero fished the very last of the muck out of the gutter and fixed the very end of the strand of lights to the edge. He meticulously replaced all the tools to their proper place in the shed along with the ladder. Only then did he return to the entryway where he flipped the proper switch. All along the eaves of their house, little clear bulbs burned merrily. They were, like many things Heero did, very nearly perfect.

Something cold and fleeting touched the side of his forehead. Looking up, Heero's breath caught in his throat for a moment. If wasn't occurring in the middle of his backyard, he might have assumed it was a scene from a movie.

Powder fine flakes of snow drifted lazily through the air and shimmered like diamond dust in the weak waning winter sunlight.

Their silvery sparkle reminded him of the gutter and the golden sparkle he'd seen not half an hour previous. After a moment more of admiring the cold beauty of winter on Earth, Heero went inside.

"Heero! I'm home! I didn't know you were going to put up lights this year!" called Duo from the outer door of mud room. Heero did not answer him. While still outside, Duo stomped in his boots to dislodge as much debris as possible before stepping into the cocoon like warmth of their home. His wayward lover was probably napping. Last year it had been Duo's turn to clean the gutters before winter and despite being in pretty damn good shape, it was amazingly tiring work.

Duo walked into the kitchen with his shopping bags. He was not surprised to see Heero sprawled unconscious on the sofa. It was a good sofa for sprawling (and other things); Duo had picked it himself. Content to let his lover sleep a little while longer, he quietly went about putting away the groceries. When he finished, he fixed two mugs of real hot chocolate. For years he had sworn by Swiss Miss until they had taken a trip to Venezuela where the locals prepared the treat with nothing but hot milk into which actual chocolate was melted.

He went into the living room and stood, mugs steaming in his hands, looking out the picture window. The snowfall that afternoon had dusted everything with a thin veneer of white. It reflected the lights Heero had put up earlier and made the whole yard glitter and glow. It was rather fetching, he decided.

Heat seeped from the mugs into the handles. As Duo had taken the trouble to warm the mugs before pouring in the milk, they were getting a bit uncomfortable to hold. He sank to the floor by Heero's head and set their drinks on the glass top coffee table. In addition to the usual magazines and books, a small notebook sat open upon the table.

"Hm," Duo said as he leaned over to take a peak.

It looked like a list of places in the house, but got progressively less mundane the further down he went:

Bed
Shower wall
Kitchen
Closet
Desk
Overstuffed chair
Back seat
Butt
Apple Tree
Gear shift
Ivy bed
Ladder
Gutters

"...hm..." Heero mumbled as he reached out his hand and started to caress whatever bit of Duo Maxwell it landed upon. He got a shoulder blade. "You're home."

"Yup. I made us hot chocolate," said Duo as he shifted to get Heero touching the middle of his back. "Hey, Heero?"

"Hm?" Heero said as he rolled into sitting position before sinking to the floor beside Duo, leaning against him as he yawned.

"What do the bed, bathtub, kitchen, closet, desk and all that have in common?"

"The what?"

Duo looked over his shoulder and couldn't help but grin. Heero Yuy, savior of the entire Earth, was nothing short of Hallmark greeting card cute. His lover was slumped against him and rubbing his eyes. He dropped a kiss on Heero's cheek and picked up the notebook.

"You know," he said he adopted a sultry low tone of voice, "this almost looks like a list of places where we've had our wicked way with each other, Yuy."

Heero, however, didn't seem to take the bait. Instead, he reached out and picked up his mug of hot chocolate. Warm ceramic pressed pleasantly against his lips and he took a sip. Suddenly, however, he pulled back and started smacking his lips rather loudly.

"Is it too hot?" Duo asked with concern.

"No, it's --" Heero raised a hand to his mouth and plucked "-- just a hair."

"Damn, baby, I'm so sorry!"

Heero was waving it off, but Duo couldn't help but watch with a comedic mix of horror and disgust playing on his features. Then, he started swilling their cups, as if to check for more wayward strands. Duo was about to get up and remake their beverages when Heero spoke.

"Actually, the notebook," Heero began as he reached out and threaded his fingers through the base of Duo's braid -- the light reflecting in from outside gave it a golden sheen -- and brought their foreheads together, "is a list of all the unexpected places I've found strands of your hair." He finished by brushing his lips across Duo's.

He plucked the notebook from Duo's lax hand and added one more item to the list: hot chocolate.