Chapter 3: Thursday Specials

Duo suddenly got up and hit his alarm clock just as the alarm was about to blare into his right ear. He yawned loudly as he stretched out his arms ready to for a new day even though it was only seven in the morning. He had worked at the club last night, but had been lucky enough to be one of the early shows so he had been able to surprise Liam by getting home at eleven thirty. He had spent an hour and a half with his son watching Toy Story having surprised his son with the movie. Liam had of course loved it and had immediately declared that Woody was his new favorite and that he wanted Woody stuff in his room.

Duo smiled at the thought as he got up and walked slowly past his studio room and into the bathroom. Reaching for his toothbrush he turned on the faucet and began brushing his teeth vigorously. Duo's hair stuck out at various points as Duo finally finished brushing his teeth and began fiddling with his braid. Releasing the chestnut mane from its confines he turned on the shower and moved to step into it allowing the water to heat up and a light steam to begin rolling out easily.

Duo hummed a soft tune as he showered his mind relaxing as he washed away all the filth from last night, as he purged from his mind completely the nature of his night job. He didn't feel bad about what he did, he did it to support Liam and help pay for his college education. Yet, he didn't want those vibes flowing onto his son and even though he had taken a shower last night and gone through his ritual cleansing this felt more pure as if somehow the morning sun would help to burn away to dross.

Finally stepping out of the shower after having washed both his body and considerable mane of hair Duo wrapped a towel around his fit body and began the process of combing throughout his hair and applying the vitamin E oil. He smiled as he continued with the process as he now added frankincense and myrrh extracts the strong, but pleasant aroma now locked into his hair. His now damp hair was quickly wrapped into a braid as Duo went to his room and got into a pair of fitting black jeans and a white t-shirt.

He walked into his kitchen and began preparing breakfast for Liam and himself. He grabbed a couple of eggs and some hash browns from the freezer. Duo found some grapes and mangos from the fruit drawer in the refrigerator as well and set them on the counter as he reached from on top of the refrigerator and grabbed some bread for toast. As he turned on the stove and put the eggs on he heard a soft padding of feet and smiled inwardly, his son had inherited from him the characteristic trait of knowing when and where food was being made for him.

"Morning' Li. How was your sleep?" Duo asked his red headed son whose now dark amethyst eyes watched him in a somewhat dazed manner, the smart boy still waking from the depths of a deep sleep.

"Fine." Liam answered absentmindedly causing Duo to smile again, his son had never been a morning child and this was their ritual for every morning and had been for quite some time now. Grabbing the eggs from the skillet Duo ladled some onto a plate for his son with a slice of toast and a few mangos. Duo abhorred mangos, but his son loved them and so he always made sure to have some for the little guy. Duo grabbed himself an egg and his hash brown and sat at the little light brown table with his son.

Liam began eating methodically his eyes beginning to seemingly gain life as the food disappeared into his little mouth. Duo sat quietly as he realized he was watching his son again, he smiled to himself. Liam had often accused him of staring at him like a television show and Duo realized he was right. He was watching the Liam show, watching this bundle of energy and everything that in Duo's mind made the world worth existing, live his little life. Duo had begun to just watch his son in the morning when the normally astute child was too sleep fogged to realize his father was watching him and cherishing him more than he would ever understand.

"Hey Dad are you working tonight at the other restaurant?" Liam asked suddenly breaking Duo's moment of deep thought.

"Nope kiddo, I'm all yours tonight." Duo smiled as he reached across the table and ran his fingers through his son's hair affectionately.

"Cool! Can we go to Uncle Quatre's?" Liam asked pleadingly. "I offer my time and everything and you wanna' ditch me for a dog." Duo said acting hurt although the smile on his face betrayed him.

"Oh dad, you're being such a drama queen." Liam said with a sigh, his statement causing Duo to fall out of his chair with laughter.

"Where on Earth did you get that statement from?" Duo asked having finally collected himself. "I heard Uncle Tro' calling Quatre that when Danae had scrapped her knee yesterday." Liam said as if it was completely obvious. Duo smiled as he thought of the scene with Quatre freaking out as always and Trowa remaining his ever calm self whilst Danae probably cleaned the scrape herself.

"Well your aunts are an ever hilarious bunch." Duo said with a huge grin as he finished up his small, but filling breakfast. He leaned over and grabbed Liam's empty plate and padded over to the sink where he turned on the water and made some dishwater for his son. He had finally relented a few months ago and had allowed Liam to begin washing dishing, of course he washed the pots and the sharp knives, but he realized his son wanted to help and so he had finally caved.

"Hurry up Li; we got to get you still school." Duo smiled at his son as he left to go pick out Liam's clothes for the day. He would then get the brush and go through his son's hair while they watched Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and talked about what Liam was looking forward to in school. Then Duo would tell Liam about his classes and how what he was working on in the studio room. He smiled as he thought o his son, Liam was definitely the most precious thing he had ever even come in contact with and he knew he had lost his ability to do anything without Liam playing the biggest factor when the little red head and first tried to call him "Dada".

"I'd like and order of fries with a teak well done and a vanilla shake." The blonde customer asked politely as Duo wrote it all down with a smile. The lunch hour had been going on full blast for about fifteen minutes now and Duo had been rushing around like a mad man. His long braid trailed behind him briskly as he went from table to table occasionally pulling out a random sucker from the braids corners for a smiling kid.

"Duo, Keri isn't feeling well and needs to go home, can you take her tables?" Larry asked with a smirking plea in his voice. He knew as well as Duo that the answer would be yes; Duo had a heart for the little restaurant and was always willing to help a friend.

"I hate you Larry." Duo said with a huge grin as he grabbed another note pad so that he could gather more orders. Larry waved as Duo mingled in and out amongst the various tables stopping often to grab orders.

"Hey, Mr. Blue Eyes!" Duo said with a smile as he walked up to Heero's table the wild chocolate hair revealing beneath bangs the piercing cobalt eyes that had earned him the name.

"Baka, my name is Heero." Heero said a vague smile ghosting across his face. "Yeah, I'm sure it is. So, what will you be having today?" Duo asked with a grin.

"Grilled salmon with pasta covered in alfredo sauce." Heero said as he looked over the menu. Duo smiled as he wrote down the orders in shorthand his braid waving merrily as he shook his head. "Well, I got it all!" Duo said excitedly as he turned around his braid lightly hitting Heero's shoulder as he turned around causing the chocolate haired man to briefly touch the soft fragrant mane of chestnut hair, the sweet aroma of citrus fruits washing over him.

Duo went to and chatted with various other tables his smooth voice carrying smiles and laughter as he checked on his tables and gathered more orders. Duo's smiles and chuckles seemed to infect Amoretti with good humor, the entire restaurant a buzz with cheerful staff and customers. As the braided man disappeared into the back Heero caught himself watching the door almost obsessively willing the man to return.

/Say something clever, ask him out./ Heero thought to himself furiously as he tried to gather his wits. /He is definitely cute, but he could be straight, and then I'd be a fool/ Heero continued thinking as he waited for his food and watched as Duo mingled amongst the other people. /But, damn! Look at him/ Heero continued frustrated with himself. /Ok, ok, I will ask him to the thing for the company on Saturday./ Heero thought to himself finally having gathered courage.

Duo finally returned to his table with plates on a tray carrying his food. "Here ya' go Blue-Eyes." Duo said with a smile as he set the plates down causing a brief smile to flash across Heero's face. "Ahh so you do have other facial expressions." Duo said with a brilliant smile as he also set down a glass of lemonade.

"Baka." Heero said acting irritated although it was obvious that he was holding back a smile. "I didn't order lemonade; I actually forgot to order a drink." Heero said puzzled.

"Yeah, I know it's why I took the liberty to get you what I thought you might like." Duo said with a knowing smile as he got ready to turn around. "Thank you." Heero said pleasantly as he felt his insides churn up like butter. Heero frowned inwardly steeling himself for a harsh and possibly embarrassing rejection.

"Duo, there is this picnic thing this Saturday for my job and I thought you might like to attend." Heero said in a near rush. He watched Duo's face for what felt like an eternity multiplied by the slowing of time and then suddenly Duo's face broke into a huge grin.

"Normally, I would Blue-Eyes, but I already have something to go to, I promised my friend that I'd go with him to some lame stuffy event." Duo said with a smile that seemed to be growing wider by the moment. Heero tried not to look so depressed, but felt he was failing miserably as suddenly a piece of paper was set down by his plate.

"My shift is nearly up and I'm sure I won't bump into you this time, but here's my schedule for next week, show up and maybe we can try something else." Duo said his violet eyes staring deeply into Heero's own cobalt orbs. Heero nodded as he watched Duo's smile widen impossibly before the braided man turned around and went to continue the last few chores of his shift.

/I ASKED HIM OUT/ Heero's thoughts yelled so loud that Heero was sure the entire restaurant heard. He didn't know how he was going to be able to think clearly anymore now that he had an entire week of Duo-watching ahead of him. He smirked as he began eating catching Duo's eyes as often as possible. /I am definitely behaving like a fool./ Heero thought furiously as he caught himself thinking of Duo as he ate his grilled salmon even on the last bite, his hand holding Duo's schedule like it was a lifeline.

Author's Notes:

So there you have it, I decided not to go for the whole emotionally confused Heero thing. He probably won't be very expressive, but he won't be terribly emotionally stunted either. Read and review, you have no idea how much it helps me. Ciao--Anahka