Morning Zombies (Wufei/Duo) LW4 Title: Morning Zombies Authors:trio and petermaxwell Characters: Chang Wufei and Duo Maxwell Fandom: Gundam Wing Theme Set: LW4 Theme(s): Coffee Warnings and Notes: male/male relationships
It was quiet when Wufei awoke, the sun up but the daylight feeling as sluggish as Wufei was himself. Cloudy outside, he supposed as he looked up at the window over his bed, considering the light. Perhaps it would rain. It didn't matter much if it did, really. He had no specific plans that required a bright, shiny day. Swinging his legs off the bed, he sat there for a long moment, regretting the growing addiction to caffeine even as he craved it. Crazy, how long it took him to wake up in the morning these days...
Sighing, he shuffled up and into the bathroom, splashing water on his face and taking a few moments to himself before making his bleary way into the kitchen, grateful as he was every day for the coffeemaker that allowed him to set it up the night before. He wouldn't be groaning "coooooffeeeeee", but it was a very near thing.
The other occupant of the house had apparently already risen... or had started to, at any rate. While the coffee pot percolated the last few drops into the waiting carafe, one Duo Maxwell was standing at the counter with both feet braced to keep him upright as he leaned forward, his head pillowed on his arms which were folded on the ceramic tile with one hand wrapped tightly around the handle of a coffee mug that had apparently been filched from the dishwasher. The wait seemed to have gotten to him, however, and a soft snore could be heard from somewhere beneath the chestnut hair.
Wufei paused in the doorway, rubbing the sleep from his eyes before verifying that yes, Duo was apparently sleeping in his kitchen. With a quiet, wry smile, he moved to carefully try to tug the mug from Duo's fingers.
"Mine!" Duo's head shot up then, eyes not open at first, then one indigo orb became visible through a crack in the eyelid. "My coffee...."
"There is no coffee," Wufei pointed out dryly, fighting the urge to laugh.
"Sure there is." Duo pointed idly at the coffeepot. "Was jus' waiting for it. Couldn't figure out how to make the thing start it early."
"I am not pouring scalding coffee near your hand," Wufei informed him, tugging at the mug again. "Go sit down and let me serve."
Muttering softly, Duo reliquished the mug after a moment of pondering Wufei as if debating inwardly whether to believe that or not. Eventually, however, he determined that this was the only way to get coffee... and if the other man tried to make off with his cup, he was awake enough to tackle him.
Wufei moved to the cupboard, digging out a second mug and setting both on the counter before beginning to pour. "Black?" he asked.
"Nothing shall tarnish the taste of the perfect coffee bean," Duo managed to say, rather eloquently for someone who was now sitting with his head leaned forward and resting on the tabletop.
Wufei snorted, taking a long, slow sip of his own and feeling the warmth curl through him before carrying over the second mug to Duo. "Why were you up so early, anyway?" he asked, moving to sit across from his friend.
"Usually am," he replied, threading his fingers around the cup of coffee and inhaling deeply before moving to take the first tentative sip. While Duo desperately wanted that coffee IN his system right now, he also valued his taste buds enough to be careful.
"What are your plans for the day?" Wufei asked, feeling more and more human with each passing moment.
A shrug answered him, mid-sip before the mug was lowered again and Duo looked at him with both eyes open. "Don't know. I figured I'd hang around here while you were at work, if you didn't mind, otherwise I was going to ask you to point me in the direction of something fun and I'd go wandering."
"I work half-days on Fridays," Wufei mused quietly, watching Duo for a long minute. "When is Winner's child due?"
"Two weeks, tops," Duo answered, sitting up fully and stretching his arms over his head. A bit of his normal self was finally starting to appear and he took another drink of the coffee. "They've been hovering over Cathy like a pair of hawks, and according to Iria's last ultrasound, the baby can be born at any time. However, her due date is in about two weeks."
Wufei nodded. "What about going shopping with me this afternoon? I can treat you to lunch and then get your help, and perhaps that way, the package will only be a week or so late."
"Perfect! Or if you want, I can take it with me when I go. My assignments usually take me around L4 once every couple of weeks, and I haven't made one there lately."
"That would also be good," Wufei nodded, fighting down the surge of regret at the thought of his friend leaving so quickly. "If you're sure you don't mind."
One hand waved, and Duo downed the last of his mug. "I don't mind. Just depends on when I get my next shipment. I just came into the port here yesterday, so it might be a few days yet, I never know."
"Tomorrow, I'll rig the coffee maker to go early," Wufei promised. "You can always bring mine to me in bed."
Duo grinned, his eyebrows wiggling. "Oh now there's a tempting thought." He got up from his chair then, moving to get another cup of coffee.
Wufei blinked, then slowly relaxed, ducking his head into his own mug as he fought to quell the blush arising on his cheeks. The coffee maker, not the delivery... "Anywhere in particular you want to eat?"
"Someplace there's food," came the wry answer, Duo dropping back into the chair and draining half hte cup in one gulp. "OH! And I was going to pick up something for Cathy too, sort of as a 'thank you' for helping out Cat and Trowa. Did you want to get her something too?'
"Good point," Wufei nodded, surprised at the thought. "She has been rather ignored, hasn't she?"
Duo let out a snort at that. "Hardly. I think she's going to beat Quatre with a stick if he doesn't jump every time she breathes wrong."
Wufei snickered softly at that. "I meant by the rest of the world."
"Hadn't thought of that... but I don't really think she's ignored. She's been really close to Trowa and Quatre, and I hear she's getting married in a few months, too. She wanted to do this for them before then, so that way she can start her own family afterward."
"Married?" Wufei asked, and though he didn't know the woman well at all, he found himself curious. "To whom?"
Snickering, Duo peered over the edge of his mug. "Abdul. You know, the Manguanac with the sunglasses? I guess all the times he annoyed the hell out of her just to get smacked was a ruse."
"Pigtails in ink," Wufei murmured, frowning a little and looking at his coffee.
"Eh?" Duo asked, tilting his head to the side a bit. "What do you mean? Cathy doesn't wear pigtails."
"It's an old saying, a description of how children fight when they're really trying to admit they like someone," Wufei explained quietly. "If they were children, Abdul would be 'dipping her pigtails in the ink'."
"Ahhhhh, okay! Kinda like picking on someone you like. Gotcha." By this point, Duo was finished with his second cup and was back to his normal self. He nearly bounded over to the sink, setting the cup inside and heading for the kitchen door. "I need to get a shower, and get dressed, then find the list I made last night... I'll look around in the phone book and see if there's any places that might have everything we need, and see if they're near any good restaurants..." His voice trailed off down the hall then as he continued to talk, but moved out of range.
Wufei stared after him, the slew of words catching him off-guard. After a moment, he moved to get himself a second cup of coffee as well, deciding he'd probably need at least three to deal with Duo Maxwell.