Yzak stifled a yawn. He'd been up late, busy with… what else but paperwork? His head throbbed painfully, and he gritted his teeth. A collapse into bed would hopefully rid him of the endless swirls and columns of text that still floated through his mind. Damn it – why couldn't ZAFT get the lowly green-coats to do the more mindless jobs?

The silver head trudged into the bedroom, hand against his head. If the world didn't stop spinning, pretty soon he'd use his standard issue firearm to personally coerce it.

"Yzak," Dearka called from the bathroom. "You going to bed?"

"Damn straight I am," Yzak spat, though it was more the headache he was angry with than Dearka. Maybe he should have taken a painkiller or two extra.

The blonde shuffled out of the far door with his toothbrush in his mouth, and he spoke around it while the foam dribbled over his chin. "Acktooey, I wash tinking ub gettik to bed a wittle shooner—"

"Elsman, if you think I can decipher a word of that disgusting drivel, you're making a mistake." Yzak squinted his eyes shut and turned his face away. Had he an appetite just then, he would have lost it.

Dearka made a slurping noise and wiped his mouth on the back of his palm. "I said, 'Actually, I was thinking of getting to bed a little sooner too.'"

Yzak hadn't the mental strength to respond to the cheeky grin on the blonde's face. He waved a dismissive hand and felt his way to the bedside, keeping his eyes cinched tight. The light from the bathroom was wreaking havoc on his senses. He needed to lie down.

While he listened to the running water in the sink, he felt for the pillow. Dearka muttered something about locating his towel, but Yzak didn't quite hear him. The pounding of blood in his ears rendered him impervious to whatever the tanned male now blathered. For a second, the silver haired youth considered snickering. Maybe this headache of his wasn't so inconvenient after all.

"OY, YZAK!"

Or maybe Dearka Elsman was just going to yell into his ear.

Yzak hissed and opened his eyes. "For the love of ZAFT, Elsman – what the hell do you want?"

Violet eyes blinked worriedly at him. "I wanted to know why you looked so pale, that's all."

The silver head had to use every ounce of his control to keep from throttling the opposite Coordinator. "I'm always pale. Or hadn't you noticed?" A bolt of lightning shot through his temple then, and he cursed beneath his breath and leaned over.

Dearka stayed quiet for a moment, weighing the situation with his hands on his hips. "Did you take a painkiller?" he asked seriously, all traces of harassment gone from his handsome features.

"Yes, yes. I'll be fine in a minute. But quit hollering."

The blonde positioned himself on the bed next to Yzak, and they waited there in silence until the silver head felt he could chance opening his eyes. A flicker of moonlight shone between the curtains – Dearka had mercifully turned off the bathroom light. Yzak inhaled a deep breath, catching sight of the blonde's anxious face in the semi-darkness.

"Are you all right now?"

Yzak's cheeks flushed. "What am I, some helpless little girl? I said I'd be fine, and I am."

Dearka looked mollified. "Okay then. I'm going to bed, as should you."

The Duel pilot grumbled. "Don't tell me what I should and shouldn't do." That was when he noticed the sheets. Pink sheets, with pairs of plump little strawberries dotted left to right, nestled together side by side and valentine red like heart candy. The whole display was visible even in the muted dark of night.

For once in his life, Yzak Joule was speechless with mortification.

"What, the sheets?" Dearka asked. He glanced between Yzak and the covers, looking slightly guilty. "Uh. I borrowed them from my sister."

"You don't HAVE a sister!" Now Yzak was fully awake. To hell with sleeping off headaches; he was out for blood.

Dearka flinched. "Okay, you're right. I borrowed these from Cagalli this morning. You know when we went to the store and we split up? Remember how when I came back, I had that—"

"Don't tell me what I already know," Yzak frothed, his voice a shrill screech as he sought the blonde's throat. "Just tell me why the bed has got strawberries all over it!"

"Well," Dearka was having a tough time prying the silver head's fingers from around his neck. "You see, I had planned on using them to piss you off again, but then you got a headache so I just—"

But Yzak wasn't listening any more. "Arrgh! On the pillow too?"

A pale pink pillowcase with one chubby, stout strawberry. Right in the middle.

"ELSMAN!" He struggled wildly, but before he knew it, Dearka had forced him down onto the offending pillow and pinned his arms.

"Take it easy, Yzak. You're pushing yourself too hard."

Yzak blew a strand of hair out of his eyes and fought against the weight of Dearka atop him. He couldn't move an inch, and at once the blonde boy's face was dangerously close to his own.

Dearka paused. "I'm sorry," he said after a moment.

"For what?" Yzak growled, aiming a kick that missed and getting himself pinned harder in the process. "Don't tell me you're actually apologizing for assaulting me with those damn strawberries."

"Not a chance," Dearka said. He dipped his head lower. "I'm apologizing for this." And he crushed their lips together.

Yzak fell immediately still. His body tingled at the familiar sensation of Dearka's firm lips. He began to wriggle, but the blonde worked his mouth gently over Yzak's own and suddenly he was rendered helpless. Helpless to the hands that slipped through his hair, helpless to the way that Dearka slowly shifted them both so they were fully lying down. Yzak allowed his eyes to close and a low sigh to escape his lips.

"What was that for?" he asked when Dearka had untangled himself and rolled over.

"To kiss you quiet." He didn't say anything else.

Yzak scowled for a moment, then submitted to the softness of the bed and closed his eyes to sleep. He felt himself drifting almost at once.

It was the most comfortable pillow he'd ever slept on.

A/N: "Yzak would probably be pissed if he found so much as a pillowcase with strawberries on it." – anja-chan

Now, I don't think that was an official request from her. Just a comment made a while ago. But nonetheless… it turned into this chapter. (THANK YOU, O SEED TWIN OF DOOM!)