An Otter, a Walrus, and a Porcupine

The day hadn't been as bad as he expected. Sure, Trowa was gone, but he had managed to keep himself busy the whole day. Most of his morning was taken up with a visit with Relena and Dorothy, who had recently gotten engaged. Then was a trip to the secluded home that Noin, Zechs, and their three-year-old daughter shared. He hadn't wanted to see Une, but because of an odd desire to see Treize he had dropped by their home. Not yet engaged, but probably very close, they seemed quite content. And Sally and Hilde…sure, there was an age difference, but he had never seen them happier.

Okay, he was lying to himself. All the happy couples…and here he was, without Trowa, his lover, the only man, no person, he had ever truly loved. God, he was depressed. Then, suddenly, it was time for his dinner date with Wufei. How fun.

The Chinese man had suggested a very nice, very cozy restaurant for dinner. The restaurant was, surprise, surprise, a Chinese one. God, how many clichés did Wufei fit into? Quatre shook his head, trying to shake out the unkind thoughts about his friend, and sighed.

He missed Trowa.

He parked his car and walked into the small restaurant, where he stood for a moment, scanning the tables in hope that he would see his friend. Spotting the gloomy looking man, he trotted over to the booth, unable to suppress a grin at his friend expression.

"God, Wufei, you look about as bad as I feel."

"Ah, Quatre, your quips are always welcome, no matter how trite they might be." He snapped back, his black eyes sparking.

"Feeling a bit snarky today, are we?"

"You're one to talk." He smirked slightly "Good to see that you're in low enough spirits to have an insult contest I usually can't get one from you, and Duo tries too hard. His remarks are, how shall we say, lacking in something."

"I see you miss them as much as I miss Trowa." The blond sighed, pushing a stray bang out of his face.

Wufei grimaced "Of course. But that's why we must distract each other, correct?" noticing the look on his friends face, he scowled "Not like that! Get your mind out of the gutter, Winner! That's Duo's job…"

"I'm sorry. I can't help it. Trowa's had an effect on me."

"Trowa?"

"Hell yeah. That man has one perverted brain in his head."

"I never would have guessed." The dark haired man muttered dryly, frowning.

"Yep. In fact, he told me this great joke the other day. An otter, a walrus, and a porcupine walk into a bar, and the bartender says…"

"I cannot believe she tricked us." Duo snarled as he followed Trowa into the silent mansion.

"Well, we did ask her to help us trick Quatre." Trowa sighed, flipping on the lights in the main entrance hall.

"Yes, but did she have to turn around and trick us?" Heero muttered, pulling off his gloves and hat "Wufei actually thought we were leaving!"

"Our whole point was to make it realistic, right? Quatre doesn't suspect a thing…" he sighed, pushing away his guilt "I'm just glad Wufei kept his promise and took Quatre out to dinner. We still don't have long to set up though…"

Duo scowled, brushing the snow off Heero's back "This better be worth it Trowa…I do not want to be here if something goes wrong and Quatre ends up more pissed then he will be to begin with."

"Stop worrying! I'll take care of everything…I just need you and Heero to go get the fox." Trowa snapped from the other room "All our friends are just waiting for a call before heading over, and I know a caterer that owes me big. He'll supply the food."

"Well, that's great Trowa, really great." Duo said, his voice dripping with sarcasm "And what about the blizzard going on outside? Does old man winter owe you a favor too? Or are you depending on Rudolph the Red nosed reindeer to help you out?"

Trowa scowled "All the guest are former gundam pilots, or can get rides from former gundam pilots. The way I see it, there is no problem."

Duo threw up his hand in an exaggerated sign defeat as he stalked towards the door "Fine. But if you ruin Christmas, I'm going to be really pissed."

Part 6, everybody! Okay, I know what your all thinking; I finished Masks, so I should have more time to work on this. Well, you're wrong! But don't you fret, it doesn't look like it's going to be nearly as long as I first thought, and it should be done within the next month. I make no promises though!