FIC: Sunny Side Up, Gundam Wing, for 7snogs
Title: Sunny Side Up
Author: elsie21
Fandom: Gundam Wing
Characters/pairing: Heero Yuy/Duo Maxwell
Rating: G/PG
Warnings: AU
Word count: 739
Notes: Written for the 7snogs theme #7 "milk" (unofficially as my claim hasn't yet been approved); part 1 in a 7 part series
Disclaimer: The characters of Gundam Wing to do not belong to me and are used without permission for fun, not profit.
Duo wouldn't admit it to too many people, but he did actually enjoy cooking. Not that he was any good at it; he could never keep the eggs from turning brown on the edges and he had yet to broil a steak that wasn't part charcoal briquette when he was done, but it was fun, building something from shapeless ingredients, and it could be challenging as well, like trying to judge what constituted a pinch of salt or figuring out how hard to squeeze the tube of butter to turn pancakes into miniature Goldilocks.
What he hated more than anything was cleaning up afterwards. It wasn't that he hated to get his hands dirty, it was more that he'd already gotten the reward, burnt as it almost always was, but with cleaning up all he had to show for his efforts was a clean place to work the next time. He appreciated having clean counters but that was always the next day.
So the first time he'd issued a tentative invitation to Heero to try out Duo's not-quite-famous egg and eggplant quiche ("What?" he'd asked Heero, "tell me that they weren't meant to go together!"), he was pleasantly surprised when Heero not only ate his entire portion (and asked for seconds), but he offered to help Duo clean the kitchen. With someone to chat with and shouldering half the chore, Duo was almost sorry to see the last dish dried and put away.
He'd been unable to stop grinning when Heero had told him they'd have to do it again some time.
Duo winced as the pan clattered on the stove, and he peeked out of the kitchen to see if he'd woken Heero. They'd had dinner together last night, proclaimed the carmelized onion pizza a success and the coconut bread a dismal failure, and this time after the dish towels had been hung to dry, they'd continued their conversation in the living room. Duo had lost complete track of the time until Heero's head kept nodding forward, and there had been no argument when Duo asked him to stay.
Using one hand, he cracked open two eggs into the mixing bowl and was pleased to see that this time he'd managed to keep the shells out. He'd hoped to have breakfast ready before Heero woke up and joined him, but at least he'd managed to have a pot of coffee brewing when a sleepy Heero shuffled into the kitchen. Duo was reaching into the refrigerator for the milk and when he closed the door he caught Heero rubbing the back of his head before he stretched his arms overhead and yawned.
It was cute, endearing even, but that wasn't what had Duo standing there gaping. It was the flash of skin when Heero's shirt rode up, and he managed to avert his gaze before Heero noticed. He turned to pour the milk in with the eggs, but in his haste he hit the carton against the bowl, tipping it over and leaving both Duo and the floor covered with raw egg. He slammed the carton down harder than he'd intended and ripped a long length of paper towel from the roll. It was at least twice as much as he needed but his good humor was rapidly dissipating.
"Sorry," he muttered as he bent down to wipe it up. "Looks like I woke up on the wrong side of bed this morning."
Heero got down on the floor with him and tore off one of the paper towels. He reached over to fold it over Duo's bangs and slid it down the length of the strand. "Got some in your hair," he said.
Duo wiped at his forehead with the back of his hand and folded over his wad of towels to keep the egg from dripping back out, "yeah, well," he shrugged as if to say "what can you do?" He returned to the mess on the floor with a clean section of paper towel, but he could feel Heero's eyes still on him and he looked up again. "Is there more?"
"Yes," Heero said, and it sounded to Duo as if Heero wasn't fully awake yet.
"Well my hands are full," he said, lifting the towels as much as he dared. "So feel free."
That morning, on the floor and over a combination of egg and paper towel, was the first time Heero ever kissed him.
Part 2: Two Peas