A/N: For Crown-of-Winterthorne, in exchange for her writing the lovely 4x6 Deconstructing Gods, I offered her smutty 1x4. It's a little different, stylistically, than my usual.

Warnings: fluff?, language, smut

Pairings: 1x4, 2x3

Real Thing

As far as first dates went, Heero had to admit, it hadn't been a total disaster.

The restaurant - not his choice - had been shockingly casual and Heero, walking in and seeing the exposed brick walls and wooden floors that looked so scuffed and scratched he doubted they had ever been polished, much less swept, had immediately felt over-dressed and out of place.

When Trowa had called him yesterday, had told Heero to show up at Marlow & Sons tonight at Seven - had spoken right over Heero's objections about working late and told him that he absolutely was not cancelling this time, Heero had been a little curious about just who Trowa wanted to set him up with this time.

Trowa seemed to have made it a personal mission - now that he was regularly fucking the Uber driver who had driven Trowa and Heero home four months ago and flirted back with a very drunk Trowa to the point that Heero debated filing a bad review - to get Heero 'settled down' as he put it.

So, for weeks now, Trowa had tried to set Heero up on dates, had even gone so far as to create a Grindr account for him - hot sex with strangers is better than no sex, Trowa had muttered darkly when Heero tried to protest - but Heero had done his best to avoid the dates, had only bothered to respond to one of the many guys who approached him on Grindr and been cured of the desire to go near it - or him - ever again.

Every once in awhile, though, Trowa managed to trap him. Two weeks ago it had been on a date with Wufei Chang, an analyst at work that Heero had exchanged maybe five words with over the seven years they had worked together and it had been a disaster of monumental proportions - had resulted in Heero getting drunk with Duo, Trowa's Uber driver, because every time Trowa walked into Heero's line of sight he started to remember just who was at fault for Heero having to spend three hours listening to how very superior Chang was at everything.

Trowa had left him alone for all of a week before he was at it again, and Heero had flat out refused any of the dates Trowa arranged until this one.

It wasn't so much because of Trowa's expert maneuvering - or even because the dinner would be at Marlow & Sons and Heero had been wanting to check out the place - it was because Duo had texted Heero earlier in the day to give him a warning, to say that Trowa was going to set Heero up with an old friend and could Heero please just do it because the guy had just gotten out of a really shitty relationship and he just needed to know there were still a few good guys left in the world and if Heero stood him up the guy would probably be miserable for forever.

Heero knew Duo was exaggerating - probably - but he also knew that Duo wouldn't have reached out to him if the guy wasn't a close friend, if he wasn't at least a decent human being and Heero knew what it was like to be in a shitty relationship, knew what it was like to finally get out of one and think there was nothing but future, equally shitty relationships on the horizon.

So Heero had planned to go home after work and change, had planned to show up early and be polite, at the very least, and not let flashbacks of Chang ruin the evening.

But then he had had to stay late to get an emergency order out so he hadn't been able to change out of his navy suit, and then there had been traffic because of course there was traffic and then - then Heero had walked into Marlow & Sons fifteen minutes late and followed the hostess over to the table and seen Quatre Winner for the first time.

It had been a rough start - Heero late and overdressed and unable to stop staring at Quatre, trying to figure out just what about his fine, sculpted features was so extraordinary, had fumbled through ten minutes of conversation before their drinks had arrived, had then made an idiot of himself and dropped an oyster on his shirt and Quatre had laughed and wrapped an ice cube in his napkin and insisted on helping Heero clean himself off and Heero had finally been able to relax, had been able to laugh at himself and smile at Quatre and from that point on, the evening had been relaxed.

Had been the best date Heero had been on in years, not that he would ever admit that to Trowa.

After dinner they walked down to the river, still talking, still relaxed, and watched Manhattan come alive under the fall of darkness.

And after that, they shared a cab, stopping by Quatre's place first and he asked Heero if he wanted to come in, his pale lips curved in an expression that was somewhere between innocent and seductive and Heero had slipped the driver a twenty and followed Quatre.

They shared a beer and Heero allowed himself to admire the view - the city from Quatre's balcony and Quatre's ass from just behind him.

Then Quatre had turned to him and said he was conflicted, that Duo had said Heero was still recovering from a bad relationship and Quatre didn't want Heero to think this was only about sex - just a one night stand because Quatre was genuinely interested in spending more time with Heero but he was also genuinely interested in sleeping with him.

Heero had said that he didn't want to jump the gun, that Quatre had just gotten out of a bad relationship but Heero - Heero hadn't dated anyone in over a year.

They had realized, at the same moment, that Duo had lied to both of them and had shared a laugh before Quatre had smirked, had set down his empty beer bottle and asked Heero if he was enjoying the view. At Heero's affirmative, Quatre had reached out and taken his hand, had suggested there was another view from his apartment that Heero might like as well.

Sex with Quatre was unlike sex with anyone Heero had ever been with.

It was easy, it was fun, full of gentle teasing and breathy laughter.

Quatre's body was as golden and beautiful as his face - slim, almost delicate but there was strength beneath his smooth skin, muscles that flexed as he wrapped his legs around Heero's waist and pulled him down to the bed.

Heero couldn't help but feel a little reverent, as he knelt between Quatre's thighs and worshiped the other man's body, pulling soft cries from his mouth as Heero explored his body with teeth and tongue. He couldn't help but feel a little smug when Quatre arched under his touch, when he pushed Heero's head lower and begged for release. He couldn't help but feel a little bit in awe as Quatre fell apart under him, mouth open in a long, low keen that ran through Heero like a current.

When Quatre returned the favor - when he pushed Heero onto his back and straddled him with a wicked smile - Heero was left feeling everything. Quatre might look like an angel, might sound like one - but he certainly didn't fuck like one. All Heero could do was hold onto Quatre and pray he survived because he was fairly confident that there was a strong possibility he would be consumed by the heat of the other man's body, by the fire that seemed to be raging under his own skin wherever Quatre touched him.

-o-

Heero stayed the night, the thought of slipping out never even crossing his mind, and when Quatre suggested they share a shower to cut down on time so that neither of them were late to work, Heero had smirked and joined him.

They had both been late to work, Heero showing up in the same suit he had worn the day before but, thankfully, a borrowed pair of Quatre's boxers, and Trowa had arched an eyebrow at his appearance but wisely refrained from comment.

They met for lunch two days later, Heero casually offering to return Quatre's boxers to him, or offer a pair of his own in exchange if Quatre wanted to come over for dinner.

Heero refused to talk about Quatre with Trowa or Duo - glaring at them when they asked about that first date and giving the impression that it had gone just as badly as the one with Wufei - and after a week, Trowa stopped by Heero's desk at work and offered an apology, promised not to waste his time with set-ups anymore and Heero allowed himself a smug smirk as Trowa walked away.

After a month of dating in relative peace and secrecy, however, they had been caught out by Trowa and Duo one night at Heero's favorite bar.

Duo and Trowa had walked in, spotted Heero and Quatre in a corner booth and appeared to be frozen in their tracks before Quatre rolled his eyes and waved them over.

Heero had seen Trowa reluctantly slip Duo a twenty dollar bill as they sat down, had seen Duo's triumphant grin and he had rolled his eyes.

But when Trowa had looked between Heero and Quatre, had pointed out that their first date couldn't have been as bad as Heero had led him to believe, Heero had shrugged and, tangling his fingers with Quatre's under the table, informed Trowa that it hadn't been a total disaster.