Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing and am making no money off of this fic.
AN: Written for the February 28th Cocktail Party prompt found here: gwcocktailfriday . tumblr .com(/)post/190964673658/cocktail-friday-post-responses-on-friday-february. (Without the spaces and parentheses.)
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Fine With Me by luvsanime02
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Wufei once again takes a sip of his Finnieston. It's not that bad. The gin's good, but there's not near enough of it in his drink. Then again, maybe Wufei is biased. A whole bottle isn't enough gin somedays.
Not that today is one of those days. His work's not backlogged, and his family's behaving as much as they ever do. Really, things could be worse.
A hand reaches around Wufei, grabs his drink, and takes it away from him. If he hadn't recognized the rings on the fingers of that hand, Wufei might have responded with anger. As it is, he only sighs and gestures for the bartender.
"This tastes like crap," Hilde says behind him. Wufei turns, and sure enough, Hilde's standing behind him with the empty glass in her hand and a faint frown on her face.
"I know," he says, because he does. Wufei's been a gin man since his mid-twenties. He knows what a good cocktail tastes like. Then, he raises an eyebrow. "Long day?" he asks, because Hilde's the type of person who will steal his drink but not usually the sort to down the whole thing in one swallow.
Hilde shrugs, setting the empty glass on the bar top.
That's not much of an answer, except that it is. Wufei gestures over to the tables. "Want to grab a seat?" he asks next. Hilde looks like she needs food and some privacy more than she needs another drink.
Hilde sighs but nods. "Yeah, thanks," she says. Wufei orders his second drink and some food. Hilde will end up eating most of it, likely, so he orders a burger and fries that he knows she likes, and then they grab a booth.
There's no one else from their group here yet, which isn't unusual. Wufei almost always shows up before everyone else, then Hilde, and then the others come in about half an hour later. Wufei checks the time quickly, and Hilde's even earlier than normal. They'll have some time alone together to talk, if she wants.
Despite what most people assume, Hilde is not one to chatter a lot. Duo chatters more than enough for everyone, though he rarely says anything substantial. Wufei thinks he talks just so that the rest of them don't sit around in awkward silence. Hilde can be loud and bright when she's happy, but most of the time, she's actually one of the more quiet people in their circle of friends.
Wufei talks more than her, on average, and that says a lot.
Still, sometimes when they're alone, before everyone else arrives, Hilde will talk quietly about her day, about the things that bothered her or that she found especially interesting. Wufei enjoys their talks quite a bit, honestly.
Right now, Hilde slumps over the table and looks out at the rest of the bar, but she's clearly not paying any actual attention to her surroundings. She's still frowning thoughtfully, and Wufei can't decide if she's upset or just musing hard on something.
Thankfully, before he has to try and begin the conversation himself, Hilde sighs again and turns her gaze towards Wufei. "My grandma died this morning," she says softly.
Wufei doesn't know what to say. He's also rethinking his stance on Hilde having more gin. She deserves to get completely drunk tonight, if that's what she wants.
Eventually, Wufei reaches over and covers one of her hands with his own, squeezing her fingers gently. "I'm sorry," he says simply.
Hilde turns her hand over and returns the squeeze, and then the two of them sit there in silence after that, and it's not awkward at all, Wufei finds, sharing this moment of quiet grief. Wufei doesn't know the right thing to say, but he's there for her, which is clearly all that Hilde needs right then. Hilde picks at the food when it arrives, and Wufei doesn't even bother to pretend to care that she took the plate. She also takes his second drink, and that's fine, too.
Wufei walks over to the bar and quietly orders another, and then returns to sit in silence with Hilde until the rest of their friends arrive.