Warmth
Author:aleilisth Rating: PG-13
Genre: PWP, fluff
Pairing: 1=2
Warnings: mild swearing, soapiness
Notes: For Kracken, who has had a crappy day at work. ♥

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Eyes half-closed, lulled almost to sleep by the motion of the public bus, Duo stared lazily out of the window. The pale grey sky above was eaten by the jutting shapes of equally grey concrete office blocks, stretching down the endless streets. Flashes of golden-brown flickered by as they drove down the sycamore tree-lined road, and as the bus slowed to pull into a stop Duo saw with a faint smile that the leaves, dampened by the rain, had been pressed into the dark tarmac, giving the road an attractive, decorated sheen. The only good thing about the fall, those leaves the braided American mused. The constant cold, clammy damp in the air ate away at his bones and the eternally-grey sky overhead felt as though it was pressing down on his shoulders.

The bus began to move again, and as it pulled out into the rainy street Duo stretched, rubbing his drowsy eyes to take better stock of his surroundings.

Shit. That was his stop they were just pulling out of; he should have disembarked here. "Yo, hey," he called out to the driver, standing up and staggering down the length of the bus as they rounded a corner. His fellow travellers regarded him with curious, distant eyes, shrouded in their own beige-overcoated anonymity as he stumbled down the aisle, black coat crumpled at the back where he had leaned against the seat.

"Hey! Can you pull over?" he called to the driver once more, as near to the front as he could manage. He held on to one of the green-painted metal poles stretching from floor to ceiling for support. "That was my stop!"

"Tough luck, mate," came the cheerfully unconcerned response of the driver. "Can't stop here, it's illegal. You gotta wait for the next stop, I'm 'fraid!"

"Aw, shit!" Duo cursed, resting his head in the crook of his arm as he held on to the metal pole. Outside, it rained harder, rain slicking the windows in mocking rivulets.

With a sigh, Duo turned back to sit back in the nearest seat. Typical. Not only had he left his cellphone and wallet on the kitchen table that morning, but he had apparently been found responsible for a royal screw-up with the orders at the office. No money meant that he had been unable to eat during his day of fielding angry phonecalls from dissatisfied colleagues and customers... and now he would have to walk a good two miles in what was turning into biting sleet rather than simply rain.

As the bus pulled in to the next stop, Duo was already on his feet, waiting for the doors to open and leaping onto the street as they parted. "Good luck, mate!" called the driver as the doors closed behind him and pushed the bus forwards, leaving Duo standing alone at the bus stop, in the freezing rain.

Squinting through the rain up the road, Duo tugged his coat tighter around his waist, pulling up the collar to shield his neck from the icy water and, head down, began the slow trudge home.

During the summer, the area was beautiful: sycamore trees arching high and glorious into achingly blue skies, a fresh salty breeze blowing in from the sea a few miles away, and the houses gleaming fresh and clean in the sunlight. However, in the cold, bleak autumn and winter the water dripped from the trees with numbing splips; the wind howled along the streets as it thundered in from the ocean and everything was turned to a blurred shade of the same damn grey.

Feet plodding tiredly one after the other, soaked sneakers half-heartedly trying to avoid yet another puddle, braid soaked to a darker shade of its original rich chestnut, Duo suddenly felt the rain ease up. Glancing up, eyelashes beaded with droplets of water, Duo's eyes widened in shock.

An umbrella was hovering over him. An umbrella attached to a hand, which was in turn attached to a body. Heero's body. Duo opened his mouth to speak, but his lover stepped in first.

"What are you doing all the way back here?"

Heero clearly knew the answer from the amused spark in his eyes, and Duo pulled a faux-grumpy face at him. "I missed the stop," he said sulkily, falling into step beside his partner as they made their way up the road towards their block of apartments. "Had a good day?" he asked, looking up at Heero, feeling the warm twist in the pit of his stomach that still came when he looked at his lover, after all these years.

"Better than yours, by all accounts," Heero's lips twitched, trying not to smile at the pathetic appearance of his partner. 'Drowned rat' would not have been an inappropriate statement, and the hopeless expression on Duo's face simply perfected the image. "Une called."

Duo winced. "She didn't ream me out to you as well, did she?"

Heero smiled softly as Duo slid a hand into the crook of his elbow as they moved to avoid a large puddle that stretched across the pavement. "No," he said simply. "You know she doesn't talk to me like that."

"No, she loves you," Duo replied jokingly, yet the note of bitterness was not wholly disguised.

"She said that you had had a terrible day and that I might like to save you the trouble of cooking tonight," Heero informed Duo quietly, not at all perturbed by the American's reactions.

"Oh." For once, Duo had nothing else to say. The couple turned the corner into their home street.

"She likes you," Heero said, a moment later, as they entered their apartment block and headed towards the stairs that would lead them up to their flat.

"Sure has a funny way of showing it," Duo muttered, dripping onto the marble floor.

Heero did not reply; now was not the time for such conversations. He fitted the key into the lock on their front door, and gently pushed Duo inside, before walking into the kitchen.

For a moment, Duo stood on the doormat, slowly dripping onto the surrounding carpet. Then, with a shrug, he shook off his sodden black coat and draped it over the hallway radiator, kicking off his sneakers and peeled off the greying white socks underneath.

"Go into the bathroom," Heero called from the kitchen, where he was clattering around doing some kind of preparation. "And we're ordering in tonight," he added.

"Uhh, 'kay," Duo called back, doubtful yet trusting. Clutching soggy socks in hand, he trailed through the house towards their large bathroom.

Pushing the door aside, he breathed in deeply as the scent of relaxing aromatherapy oils assaulted him. The white-tiled room was full of steam and Duo noted with pleasure that the vast bathtub was filled with hot, bubbly water.

"Get in," Heero said, his voice much closer. Duo turned back to see his lover standing behind him, two tall mugs of cream-and-marshmallow-topped hot chocolate in his hands.

"Only if you get in with me," Duo replied, the warmth of their apartment beginning to seep into his frozen skin.

Heero glanced into Duo's expressive eyes with a smile. "But of course."