One of the lesser finer things in life was being woken up by the merciless, highly irritating beeping sound of a vidphone call in the very early morning. Duo Maxwell turned around in his comfortable bed, hugging the pile of blankets and pillows; he loved his giant-sized bed more than he'd like to admit. Well, there was someone he even loved more... but that was a different tangent all together and that stupid noise made it hard to think and fantasize at the same time.
"All right, all right!" He gave up. Untangling himself from the blankets, his mind raced through certain possibilities of the identity of the caller. Something happened to the spare parts shop? Someone calling in sick? Hilde having her baby? Third war? He shivered, and not from the cold when his feet hit the tile floor. It had been over a decade, and he was far too comfortably settled to even think of fighting in a war. Alongside a certain...
"Hello?" he asked gruffly, when he hit the panel. Sound on, no visual. He had put on his robe, but his hair was a mess and his eyes were still clogged from sleep. Duo rubbed his cheek and winced when he heard the overly preppy, happy voice of Hilde Schbeiker. He always forgot the surname of her husband.
"Duo! I wanted to make sure that I was the first one to wish you a very happy birthday!"
"At five in the morning, there wasn't any risk of someone else calling me," he answered dryly, but it went past her.
"Are you going to work today? Does our dinner date still stand?"
"I wouldn't miss it for the end of the world," Duo said in all earnest. He had send out invitations to all his friends for a celebrating party coming weekend, but tonight, the very evening of his birthday, he wanted to be with his best friends; Hilde, Trowa, Quatre, Wufei and... Heero. His mouth suddenly ran dry. It wasn't like them to not have responded to their personal invitations. It was a given fact that everybody was busy nowadays; but travel between colonies and Earth had improved considerably and wasn't as time-consuming as before.
"Duo? Duo? Hey, are you still on?"
"Yes, I'm here," he answered and plastered a grin on his face, even though she couldn't see him. "I'm going to work anyway, but I won't make it too late. I'll see you at seven, the Clockwork Cafe."
"See you at seven," Hilde confirmed and disconnected. Duo clicked off the phone and yawned. He usually appreciated her antics, but in this silent, early hour, she had inadvertently reminded him of his loneliness. He heaved a sigh. He wasn't "really" lonely... he had lots of friends, acquaintances, buddies... but not that special someone to share his life with. Duo knew the only one who could qualify for being that 'special someone', but he had his doubts that would ever come to pass.
"It's your birthday, man, lighten up," he told himself sternly, but somehow he didn't get into the mood.
On his way to Maxwell's Spare Parts, he didn't encounter any difficulties with traffic and arrived earlier than usual. He parked his car behind the shop; his own private parking space, reserved for his baby; a Chevrolet old-timer he had personally restored. He got out of the car and slipped right into the comfortable routine of the day; open the shop, drink some coffee, welcome his coworkers, go into the back for repairs. He didn't want to deal with customers personally; Hilde was the one to do it, but ever since her pregnancy she had trained a nice, smart girl to do her job.
That very same girl, Belinda, stuck her head around the corner of the repair shop and yelled: "Telephone call for Duo Maxwell!" She grinned and waved at him. He waved back, acknowledging her call, and went to pick up the phone; also an old-fashioned model. He loved to repair and restore old utilities, especially pre-colonies era.
"Duo here," he said and waited for an answer; with this old type of model, it would take a while before the sound was transferred.
"Happy birthday, Duo."
"Trowa! So good to hear you, man."
"I called your house first- but it doesn't surprise me to find you at work. Are you going to do something special today?"
"Yes, dinner with my best friends," Duo stated, a little bit miffed. Why did he ask about doing something special? Didn't he receive the invitation?
"That's all? No birthday bash?"
Duo was stumped for an answer. What was Trowa implying? He had a strange sense of humor- maybe this was his idea of a joke.
"No, no bash, just dinner," Duo said and decided to bounce the ball back. "Or maybe you're going to throw me a surprise party, since I haven't heard from you if you're coming or not."
"Yes, sorry about that," Trowa answered, not sounding very regretful. "It has been very hectic with the circus and all."
"I see." To say Duo was a little bit irritated wasn't far beside the truth. They all came together on mutual birthday parties or dinners; what was Trowa's problem with acknowledging a simple invitation?
"Duo, I have to go, Catherine wants something," Trowa said suddenly. "I'll see you tonight at the Clockwork Cafe. I'm looking forward to it."
He had disconnected before Duo even had the chance to reply to him.
The welding torch blazed furiously and Duo toned the apparatus down; no need to cause burn wounds because he was ticked off. First Hilde calling him out of bed so early and now Trowa, treating him airily as if he was just some acquaintance. Maybe we're growing apart. He hadn't been that close to Trowa anyway. It has been a decade, and friendships slow down... falling out of touch. He didn't hope that was the reason. Maybe the others would more brighten up his day; though it still stung him that nobody had answered his invitation. Were they all that busy, or didn't they want him to be a part of their lives anymore? Don't go there, Maxwell, he told himself sternly and frowned.
"Package for Duo Maxwell!" Belinda had great fun announcing to her boss; showing off her incredible lung capacity. Well, you had to have a loud voice to not drown in the sounds of several welding and sawing devices.
"Can't you accept it?" He hollered.
"You have to sign for it," she made a writing motion with her hand, wriggling her fingers as if she was holding a pen.
"Great." He took off his work gloves, dumping them on the bench, and followed the girl to the front desk.
An obviously bored mailman with a clipboard was standing at the desk; in front of him was a flat parcel, which immediately piqued Duo’s interest.
"Sign here, please."
Duo accepted the clipboard and the pen and started scrawling his name. The package was from L4- Quatre had send him something! The joy of seeing his friend's name was soon overshadowed by a certain thought; had Quatre send him a birthday present to make up for his absence at dinner tonight? Quatre hadn't replied to his invitation either, something Duo had found a bit strange as the blonde businessman had an army of punctual secretaries.
He handed the clipboard back to the mailman, thanked him and forgot about him as soon as he ripped up the package. Belinda came to stand next to him, curiosity written over her face.
It was a watch; a sturdy sports watch. Duo knew the brand of the watch; it advertised as being shockproof, waterproof and to be "still working even after you dropped a bulldozer on it".
"Wow, that's nice," Belinda said. "Look, it's a limited edition one."
"Great," Duo grunted. The accompanying card in his hand was definitely written by Quatre – he'd recognize the fine, neat print everywhere -, wishing him a very happy birthday. Thankfully, Quatre had also written that he was looking forward to dinner at the Clockwork Cafe, to Duo's relief- still, he wondered why it had took him so long to react. The guy had a whole private army of secretaries at his disposal.
"This matches great with your black shirt," Belinda babbled while she examined the watch for more exclusivity. She found it, as Duo's name and birthday date were engraved in the back. He left the girl squealing- and moping about why her boyfriend didn't get her anything like that- at the front desk and went back to work.
After lunch and finishing some tedious chores, it was time for paperwork. Not his favorite part of the job, but ever since trade on L2 had increased and improved, the consequential paperwork had increased too. He booted up his computer, pulling up the files and sheets he had to fill in. A 'ding' sound and a window on his screen got his attention. 'You've got new e-mail Duo Maxwell'.
"Heero," he thought excitedly and clicked on the program. Duo quickly scanned the messages; some junk, some offers, more junk, one of Hilde, and...
"Wufei?" Duo clicked on the message. It was as short and efficient as Wufei had always been: "Maxwell, happy birthday to you. I'll see you tonight for dinner."
Nothing from Heero. That stung immensely. He reclined back in his chair, suddenly feeling... as if he'd been stood up. Do I expect too much of them? Or... am I thinking something that's completely not there... that they don't like me, and this is all out of politeness... Three of the four had thought about him and were all coming to dinner tonight, though it was a bit last-minute and he had expected some more... enthusiasm. All in all, he was glad they would come over. If only Heero would be there too. Why hadn't he replied, or called, or send something? He wasn't that hard to track down anymore, and nothing had happened that had distorted their relationship, hadn't it?
Duo snorted. Relationship, yeah, right. Vidphone calls and e-mails back and forth. He'd hoped it would turn out to be more, but Heero had always kept some kind of distance. Not as much as when they'd first met, when he was still aloof and all mission-orientated. Heero had personally taken his own walls down, yet had left a little... screen... in place. Duo couldn't figure out why, or even if it had something to do with him- still, Heero had never responded to his friendly jabs or playful remarks to something 'more' but e-mails and the occasional visit or vidphone call.
It was almost closing time; he was going to leave earlier because he had to freshen up for dinner. He was thinking about his preparations- shower, what clothes to wear-, when Belinda tapped him on the shoulder.
"Special delivery for Duo Maxwell!"
"Whoa! Don't startle me like that!"
"Sorry boss," the girl said, without a single trace of remorse. She smiled. "It's a very special delivery."
"Really?" Duo searched her face, looking for hidden mirth. His coworkers had been behaving perfectly today, congratulating him in all earnest. He was waiting and anticipating for their prank- there was always a prank on his birthday.
"Don't tell me- I have to sign for this one too?"
"For sure," she answered in a sing-song voice. "Special delivery needs to be signed for by receiver."
"Fine," Duo said and it came out harsher than he'd intended. Belinda wasn't offended and she walked to the locker rooms to get out of her work clothes. Duo grumbled a bit, dusted off his hands and made his way to the front desk, mentally preparing himself for something...
but all the mental preparations weren't enough when he was confronted with the courier of the special delivery service.
"What the..." His mouth fell open. The man at the front desk, clad in a red and yellow uniform, had tousled dark brown hair, blue eyes like shining crystals, and an amused smirk ghosting his lips.
"Delivery from L1," he said, speaking in a low tone of voice that made Duo go weak in the knees. Heero had nothing with him; no parcel, no envelope. Duo came closer, eyeing Heero to see if it was really him- but he doubted his coworkers could've found a look-alike to prank him. This was Heero. Heero was here.
"Where do I sign?" He croaked, voice almost faltering. He couldn't believe it. This was the best birthday present ever- Heero in person! His eyes grew wide when Heero lifted his hands and started unbuttoning his shirt. One, two, three, four... five buttons down and he slowly parted the fabric to reveal a part of his chest. With his index finger, he pointed at the heart area.
"Right here."
Silence. Deafening, shattering silence. Duo stood eye-to-eye with the man of his dreams, the man he used to fantasize about, the man... he wanted to have for his birthday and for each and every day to come. He realized his mouth still stood open, yet he couldn't force himself to close it. Heero looked at him, with that amused smirk of his, but also with a hint of uncertainty in his eyes. Heero Yuy, uncertain?
"Sign here please," Heero said. Duo didn't imagine the slight hesitation. There was no one left in the shop, and even if there were people, Duo didn't care about it any more. He took a few steps forward, closing the distance between himself and Heero, parted his lips a little and planted a kiss on his smooth chest, right next to his finger, spot on the heart.
He had hardly finished or he felt fingers running through his hair, trailing down his neck and he was pulled in an embrace. Duo wasted no more time and wrapped his arms around Heero, looking up at him.
"Autograph approved?"
"Approved," Heero simply answered and the next second they kissed; warm lips brushing each other and tentatively tasting, searching, probing. Duo's heart jumped into his throat and he suddenly felt very, very warm. "Heero, I didn't know..."
"I didn't either, for a long time," he said. "I'm sorry it took me so long, Duo. I never knew..."
Duo silenced him. "Better late than never."
They kissed again, a little bit bolder now. The lights went suddenly out.
"Belinda!" Duo yelled before he realized it and turned around. There was no one in sight and Heero snickered. "I think a fuse just popped."
"Never mind, where were we?"
"We were kissing and fondling," Heero smiled, "and about to leave to get ready for dinner."
"Right, the Clockwork Cafe," Duo said and fumbled around for his keys.
"No," Heero said.
"What no?"
"Not the Clockwork Cafe. We're going to have a private dinner and some quality time for ourselves. Hilde has told me you've been working non-stop and put all your energy in your cars and shop, burying yourself in work."
"You're the one to talk," Duo mumbled. "What about the guys?"
"They all agreed that you need some time off. You'll see them soon enough- but not tonight. Tonight is ours."
"That's why they didn't answer to my invitations," Duo said, not knowing whether he should be irritated or not. "And Hilde is a mean little sneak!"
Heero pulled him back into an embrace. "Tonight is ours," he repeated.
"Tomorrow night too?"
"And the night after tomorrow night... and the night after the night after tomorrow night..."
"Heero?"
"Hmmmyeah?"
"This is the best birthday ever."
"Special Delivery," Heero said and smiled. "Only the best for you, Duo Maxwell."