Ever After [2]

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Author: Perin Emeraldlaughter (morethir @ hotmail.com)
Archive: http://chocolat.sinfree.net/

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Episode 1: Socks to be You



Sunday. January 3, AC 197.

07:30 AM.

Despite it being an early weekend morning, the man with the cobalt blue eyes and unruly brown hair had been awake since the crack of dawn. For some reason, his deeply instilled discipline of self never got the hang of sleeping in and encouraging lazy mornings and brunches-in-bed, even though there had always been the added incentive of spending the time in decadence with his beautiful long-haired boyfriend.

By half-past-seven, even though it was a Sunday, Heero had already cooked breakfast for two, had taken a shower, and was now dressed and standing in the master's bedroom, his wet hair momentarily combed into submission.

And even if he'd wanted to dally the whole morning in bed with his lover, he unfortunately had to spend the day at Preventer's HQ, doing the paperwork he'd put off in favor of attending Relena's New Year party the other night before.

All he needed now was a pair of socks before he put on his boots, and he was good to go. Heero, in consideration to his sleeping companion, quietly made his way towards their shared dresser. However, all thought to leaving Duo undisturbed flew out the window as he looked into his underwear drawer. His eyebrow twitched.

"Duo?" he called, knowing that the other, who can sleep perfectly oblivious to his surroundings in the hours between midnight 'til dawn, would subconsciously shift his awareness to either a light or moderate doze towards the early hours of the morning.

"Yeah?" came an instant, if muffled response from the tangled pile of braid, pyjamas, blankets and duvet on the bed.

"Are you colour-blind?"

"Huh?"

Heero repeated his question slowly.

Duo's sleepy violet eyes peeked out from under the duvet. He blinked. "Wha--" yawn, "no, don't think I am. Why'd you ask?"

With a small smirk tugging at his lips, Heero turned around and moved to sit on the bed beside the braided man. He held up a mismatched pair of socks. "You did the laundry last night. Like you do every other Saturday night since we moved in together. Are you aware of regularly pairing up almost all of my navy socks with my black ones?"

Duo grinned sheepishly. "Oops? They all looked the same to me under yellow light at three in the morning." He sat up and playfully whacked the other with his pillow, "and thank you for asking *now*, after two *years* of knowing your partner, and spending a quarter of that time living and *sleeping* with him under the same roof! You'd think you'd know by now that I can distinguish colors just fine, thankyouverymuch." Then he suddenly stopped talking and blinked in surprise. "Wait--you have *navy* socks?!"

Heero chuckled. "That's why I asked if you were colour-blind, baka. You'd think you'd know by now that I had them, after being my partner for two years, and living and sleeping with me under the same roof for six months," he mimicked, grabbing Duo's pillow and halfheartedly whacking him back. Then he frowned slightly. "I didn't know you stayed up that late," he said apologetically; ready to send his lover back to sleep.

"Hey! You didn't start wearing anything other than white socks until *after* the Eve War!" He sniffed mock-offendedly. "I know for a fact that you only ditched most of those schoolboy whites after you joined the Preventers, where dark-colored undergarments are a nice --and sexier--" here he leered at Heero's crotch as if he could see through his slacks to his black boxers, "--complement to the uniform." He regarded Heero's raised eyebrow with some amusement. He huffed. "Okay, fine," another sheepish grin, "I know that's no excuse for not noticing that half your socks are blue until now, but really, they just look all the same to me." Duo leaned against his companion's shoulder and snickered. "Does that mean you've been wearing mismatched socks to work every other week for the last six months?"

Heero snorted. "No. I re-match them every Monday morning."

Duo snatched the socks from Heero's hands. "Then what's the problem?" He asked mildly, examining the pair. He blinked again and grinned wryly. "Oops," he stared at the sock in his left hand, "this *does* look like navy blue under natural lighting. Sorry!" He pecked an apologetic kiss to Heero's cheek.

Heero took the socks from Duo's hand and gently guided him to lie back on the bed. "Nothing's the problem, and it's okay. I'm sorry to have woken you over this. Go back to sleep."

Duo yawned again and moved obediently under Heero's hands. He felt the blankets and duvet surround him, and smiled shyly. "Thanks, Heero," he whispered, eyes drifting closed in contentment, "and one more question: if you noticed it all along, why'd it take you this long to call me on it?"

Heero was silent for some time, just gazing down at him. When Duo's breathing gradually evened out, he gently brushed the chestnut bangs back, answering softly, "It's one of your funny quirks. I think it's endearing."

The braided man was drifting off, but he was alert enough to hear his lover's response. A slight blush stained his cheeks as he felt the tender brush of Heero's lips against his forehead.

'When it's my turn to do the laundry,' he thought fuzzily, 'I'll make sure to mismatch his socks again.'

And Duo's smile widened as sleep claimed him.

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End Episode 1

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A/N: Episode (Webster defines this as 'an incident or scene within a narrative'). Heh, that fits better than 'part' or 'chapter,' I guess, since there's not much written for it to be classified as either. ^^;;; The plot might show itself eventually (or not -_- *kicks muses*). Feedback craved and much appreciated.

Thanks for reading!!