A/N: This is nothing but fluff. Cotton candy fluff. It's positively saccharine.

Takes places after "Fever Dreams."

Disclaimer: The characters in this story are from Tales of Vesperia and do not belong to me.

It had taken a week to plan. He'd spent all day putting it together, from the time Yuri had left for his volunteer work at the shelter that morning until just before four in the afternoon. He had been to three different places to get what he needed for dinner. It had taken four trips to carry up everything out of his car. He had cleaned the entire apartment and made sure his room was spotless…then he had turned it upside down.

Flynn stood before the front door, surveying his handiwork, and smiled. Yuri was going to love this.

He couldn't see the clock, but according to his watch, he had about ten minutes before Yuri ought to be getting back. It was enough time to double check things, to make sure the pins and tacks and ties held secure, to adjust the angles some of the books were leaning at. He made his way carefully into the hall. Everything was still just as he'd left it. In his room, he moved carefully around, stretching on the tips of his toes to readjust a few of the lights. With the overhead off, the effect was just what he'd wanted. He was grinning uncontrollably, so impatient for Yuri's return home that he was having a hard time keeping still. He felt like a kid again.

The distinctive sound of Yuri's motorcycle pulling into the parking lot had him making a dash for the living room. He wanted to be there to see Yuri's face when he came in. There wasn't a good place to stand where he wouldn't obstruct the view, so he took a seat on one of the two large floor pillows. He strained his ears, listening for the sound of boots on the stairs and keys in the lock. His cheeks hurt from smiling, and he fidgeted, settling first in one position, then another until the door swung open and he sat up straight as he welcomed Yuri home.

"What the…?" Yuri stopped just inside the door and stared at what he could see of their living room. It was so unusual to actually see him surprised, but now he was just gaping, completely at a loss for how to react. Finally, he settled his attention on Flynn, expression caught somewhere between amazement and concern.

"Did you turn our living room into a pillow fort, or am I just having a really weird dream?"

"I built it for you."

Flynn was beaming. He'd spent so much time on this, planned it out as best he could. He'd wanted to give Yuri something spectacular for the birthday he'd forgotten a month ago, but Yuri was notoriously hard to shop for. Then one day, the pillow fort idea had come to Flynn out of the blue. It had been perfect. Yuri used to love building forts and playing soldier. Something like that, something that they had shared as children would actually hold meaning for him.

So, Flynn had begun planning. He'd counted up all the spare sheets and blankets in the house and worked out what furniture he could incorporate into the construction. He'd bought thumbtacks and safety pins and fishing line even though that was cheating, because he wanted this pillow fort to be perfect. He'd picked a Sunday when he knew Yuri had volunteered a long shift at the animal shelter so that he would have enough time to set everything up. The day before, he had "borrowed" several sheets, three couch cushions, and as many throw pillows as he could sneak out from his mother's house. It had taken him a couple of hours to plan out and longer to set up, but as he saw the smile spreading across Yuri's face, he knew it was worth it.

Yuri dropped his book bag and ducked to move from underneath the sheet pinned up over the door to the main pair of sheets hanging over the living room. Flynn watched him explore, noticed that Yuri was grinning as wide as he was, and he knew he'd done well.

The better part of the living room had been made part of the fort. Flynn had included the TV by setting it on the floor and using the legs of the upside down coffee table he'd placed on the entertainment center to hold the sheet over it. Fishing line tied to tacks in the ceiling held the sheets up where they were pinned together in the middle, preventing them from sagging too low. Flynn had emptied off his bookshelves and turned them onto their sides to catch the edges of the sheets. He had taken out the adjustable shelves and stacked some of his books as if building a house of cards, creating a rough, openwork window that let in light from where he had left the blinds over the sliding door pulled to the side. Across the room, he had let the sheets fall straight to the floor, except for where he had moved the dinner table to create a low tunnel to the kitchen.

The couch had been turned around to face the wall and pushed over in front of the entrance to the hallway. Their floor pillows were placed against the back of the couch as seats, flanked on one side by the seat cushions he had pilfered from his mother's house and on the other by their own.

"You even made a tunnel!"

Thrilled that Yuri had noticed, Flynn followed him as he climbed over the arm of the couch and along the bare seat in order to get into the hall. With no outside light, it would have been nearly impossible to see had Flynn not dug a string of white Christmas lights out of storage and laid them along the floor near the wall. He had another empty bookshelf holding up the sheet stretched from the couch. It was set back just far enough to allow entry into his bedroom or Yuri's bathroom. The bathroom door was outside the tent fort. His bedroom, however, was a continuation, the sheet pinned up over his doorframe and a thick blanket hanging like a curtain over the entrance.

Before Yuri could push aside the blanket and look into his room, Flynn grabbed his wrist.

"Do you like it?"

"It's awesome! What's the deal, though? You haven't built a pillow fort since we were kids."

"I just felt like it. Come on." He tugged gently, leading Yuri back towards the living room. "I've got it set up so that we can play games or watch a movie."

Yuri practically raced him back down the hall, throwing himself eagerly into the couch tunnel. Watching the vibrations of his movements sending tremors through the sheets, Flynn bit back a laugh. It felt almost like they had gone back in time. As he ducked to crawl back through into the living room, Yuri's grinning face popped back into view over the arm of the couch.

As soon as Flynn was close enough, Yuri pulled him into a kiss, and practically dragged him off the couch and back into the larger area of the fort. Somehow, they got turned around and tumbled backwards onto the stack of couch cushions, toppling them into the makeshift loveseat Flynn had created. It made for a soft landing, and they bounced a little, the world reduced briefly to lips and hands and springy cushions that made things interesting as they rocked unsteadily, the movement causing Yuri to rub up against Flynn in all the right places.

Things were moving much quicker than he'd intended, but in the next moment, they rolled off the cushions and onto the floor, and Yuri was spread out laughing next to him. The make out session had been effectively derailed.

Flynn lay still and watched him, a warm, buoyant feeling filling his chest. Yuri had been feeling rough recently, after his run-in with an ex-social services worker and the bad fever he'd come down with immediately after. It was good to see him happy and relaxed. Flynn had missed the sound of his laughter.

It didn't last long. Yuri's mirth fizzled out too quickly, but his smile remained, a little crooked but genuine. His eyes were bright as he got to his knees and turned to fix the cushion pillar he had knocked over. Flynn joined him, fluffing up the floor pillows and letting their shoulders bump together.

"Thanks," Yuri said. When he glanced over, Flynn kissed him again, softly, his fingers resting gently on Yuri's cheek.

After a few seconds, Flynn broke away with some difficulty. He did have other plans for the evening, however, and a little anticipation never hurt.

"So, what would you like to do?"

"I'm captain of the fort?" Yuri hopped onto the tower of cushions again, nearly toppling it a second time, but somehow managing to keep his seat as he bounced. "All right. I declare a Smash Brothers brawl."

Flynn got things set up and tossed Yuri a controller, taking a seat with his own on the floor pillows. He picked Link. Yuri chose Bowser. They gave the AI Kirby and Samus and agreed on free-for-all rules, meaning they wouldn't be ganging up on the computer's characters before fighting each other. They left the setting up to chance and started the round.

Just as Flynn had thought, all of Yuri's energy translated into an unnecessary amount of bouncing and sliding on the wobbly short stack of cushions. He was jerking his controller back and forth, moving like he was the one dodging shots and slashes. As far as Flynn could tell, he was focusing as much on trying to keep his balance as he was on playing the game.

"Watch out for Kirby," Flynn cautioned. He was too late to save Bowser from taking a hit with a mallet.

"Like I'm gonna loose to a regurgitated gum bubble—that fucker swallowed me!"

Flynn chuckled and knocked Samus out of the game. "Watch out for me."

"Shit…shit! Move you leftover eight-bit fossil!"

A particularly enthusiastic lunge proved to be the last straw for the leaning tower of pillows and Yuri crashed sideways, furiously mashing buttons and unconcerned that he was now sprawled across Flynn's lap.

"Hey! I'm in the middle of throwing you off the side, here."

"Eat fire breath, fairy!"

"Navi is the fairy. I'm—"

"Toast!" Yuri cheered as Link's HP dropped and Bowser and Kirby ganged up to knock him out of the running. He made short work of the AI and looked up at Flynn, grinning triumphantly. "Round two?"

They played for over an hour, joking and chatting and tossing insults back and forth as they went. Eventually they started to get hungry, and Flynn revealed the second part of his surprise. Crawling beneath the table into the kitchen, he returned with a sushi platter and a six-pack of beer. They settled back in and started to eat and, half jokingly, Flynn picked up a piece of the tempura roll that Yuri liked in his chopsticks and held it out to him."

"Say 'ahh.'"

"Like hell." Yuri smirked. "You forgot the wasabi."

"My apologies."

He set the piece down, topped it off, and tried again. This time, Yuri ate the piece without hesitation. A little surprised, Flynn watched him add a larger dollop of wasabi to a vegetable roll and offer it up.

"Your turn."

Flynn took the bite from his chopsticks, and the burn prickled behind his eyes. Yuri watched him expectantly, and it took Flynn a moment to realize that he was waiting either for a forfeit or for Flynn to up the ante. Flynn opted to keep the game going. They took turns feeding each other increasingly large amounts of wasabi on pieces of sushi. Yuri lost. Flynn slapped his back as he coughed, trying not to laugh as Yuri grumbled inarticulately about Flynn's lack of taste buds.

Things quieted down as they laid off the wasabi and finished their dinner with conversation replacing competition. They swapped stories about friends and school and work, plans for the next break, and new recipes Yuri wanted to try. Although it wasn't very late, Yuri was leaning heavily against Flynn the way he did sometimes when he was tired. It was almost enough to make Flynn change his mind about mentioning what else he had picked up that day but, in the end, he figured it couldn't hurt to ask.

"Are you interested in some dessert?"

Instantly, Yuri was twisting to look up at him, face alight with an eager grin. He pulled Flynn in for a kiss, tongue flicking out against his lips. His teeth were dimpling his lower lip in an anticipatory smile when Flynn pulled back.

"I'll take that as a yes." He saw that smile change to surprise as he got quickly to his feet. "I'll go get it."

It was hard not to laugh at the look on Yuri's face as he realized that 'dessert' had not been a euphemism. When Flynn returned from the kitchen once again, Yuri was finishing off his beer. He quirked a brow at Flynn over the can and set it aside when he was presented with a chocolate cake. The look on his face made it obvious what he was thinking, and Flynn spoke up to save him the trouble of asking.

"I didn't bake it. I picked it up from Schwann's earlier today." He hesitated for a second, then added: "Happy birthday."

Surprised registered briefly on Yuri's face, though it melted quickly into a smirk.

"Didn't I tell you not to worry about it?"

"I wasn't worrying, I was trying to make it right."

He laughed shortly at that. "You're such a goody-goody. Hurry up and cut me a piece of cake."

Yuri took the slice when Flynn presented it and settled himself in a hollow amid the pile of cushions and pillows. His face when he took that first bite was a little too close to some of the expressions Flynn had seen him make in more intimate situations, and he couldn't help staring. Of course, Yuri caught him at it.

"Mmmm-mm." He drew out the sound, teasing, and licked his lips. He made such a show of it that Flynn couldn't help laughing.

Gathering up the empty cans and the leftovers, he cleaned up as Yuri enjoyed his treat. There were still a few bites of cake left on Yuri's plate when he came back from the kitchen, and Flynn passed by him to crawl through the couch tunnel into the hall. He would wait in his room for Yuri to finish. It was the last surprise for the night.

He had only been waiting for a few minutes when Yuri realized that he had been gone too long.

"Flynn?"

"Come find me."

He listened to the faint shuffling of Yuri's progress through the tunnel and the hall and waited for the blanket hanging over his door to be pushed aside. He saw Yuri's legs first. The rest of him followed as he ducked into the little tent of navy sheets Flynn had suspended between his bed and the three chairs from their dining set. Inside, Flynn rested on a thick pallet of blankets ringed with the pillows off his bed and the ones he had taken from his mother's sitting room. The best part hung above him, however. The string of Christmas lights that illuminated the hall provided most of the light in the room. Flynn had wrapped them around the sheet, and they shone softly through, little points of warm, white light like so many stars overhead. In the dark room, the illusion worked even better than it had earlier.

Slowly, Yuri dropped to his hands and knees and crawled forward onto the little bed, staring up at the sky Flynn had made just for them. He lay down on his back next to Flynn, staring up wide-eyed and silent. None of their childhood pillow forts had ever included a room like this.

He turned to Flynn after a minute, mouth open to say something that was lost when Flynn pressed close and kissed him. Yuri still tasted like chocolate, but this time, neither dessert nor laughter interrupted them.

The next morning, Flynn woke up tangled in sheets with Yuri's head pillowed on his chest. Above them, his stars still shone, though they were faded by the daylight streaming through his window. He stretched and, feeling Yuri stir, ran his fingers lightly up and down his arm.

"Mm. Time is it?" Yuri murmured.

"I don't know. You threw my watch somewhere last night."

"Catches in my hair." He sat up, spilling blankets off himself and yawning hugely. Crawling over Flynn, he fumbled in his jeans, searching the pockets until he found his phone.

"You're late for class," he informed Flynn.

"I'm skipping today."

Yuri made an inquiring sort of noise. "Sounds like a good plan."

He didn't resist as Flynn wrapped an arm around his waist and dragged him back down into the nest of blankets and pillows. Tucked in close at Yuri's back, Flynn nuzzled against his neck.

"Go back to sleep if you want."

"Mm."

"Happy birthday."

"Mm. Can't wait to see how you're gonna top this next year."