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Title: #12 Hand-me-downs
Arc: Life With Heero
Author: Calic0cat
Story Completed: Jan. 5, 2003
Genre: Shonen Ai/Yaoi, Domestic, Friendship
Pairing: None yet
Rated: PG-13
Warnings: AU, OOC, Swearing
Archives: At Mediaminer.org under Calic0cat. Anyone with archive permission for my other fics can help themselves; anyone else, please ask.
Disclaimer: Duo and Heero and the rest of the GW gang aren't mine. This story is. Nuff said.

Notes: The arc begins between one and two years after Endless Waltz. Heero POV in this story.

'Thinking'
"Speaking"
*** Time passing or scene change

Author's Notes: This is part of an arc of stories. I don't know for sure how many stories there will be or how often I'll be posting them. The length of each story in the arc will vary, anywhere from ficlet to multi-part. Warnings will vary from story to story as well, as will the genre. The arc *will* eventually be Shonen ai/Yaoi - but there's only one faintly implied pairing prior to Fic #23. Feedback is appreciated.

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Cursing under his breath as the wrench slid off a rusted bolt and he cracked his hand against the frame for what seemed like the hundredth time that afternoon, Heero decided maybe it was time to quit and go get supper started. Glancing at his watch, he realized that in fact, it was long past time to start supper. Duo would be home any minute. 'Shit, and he ended up fixing supper *last* night since I got caught up in working on this damn hunk of junk and didn't get around to it before he got home...' Directing an evil glare at the semi-dismantled car, Heero nevertheless ran an appreciative hand along its side as he walked past it to go into the house.

***

Exiting the bathroom after a shower that left him feeling much more in the mood for cooking, Heero met Duo's gaze sheepishly. "Sorry, I lost track of the time. Just give me a minute and I'll get..."

"Whoa, hold it," Duo said with a grin. "Actually, I was kinda hoping you hadn't started anything yet. Howard and some of the guys are in town and they invited us to meet them for supper. You feel up to going?"

Shaking his head, Heero automatically started to refuse, then saw the disappointed look on Duo's face. 'Fuck, he probably won't go if I don't. I know he doesn't like the amount of time I spend by myself as it is and he's not too likely to go running off and leave me alone again tonight. And I did promise myself that I'd make a bigger effort to meet him halfway on things he wanted to do...' Hesitantly he asked, "Are you sure the invitation was for *us*, not just you?"

Grinning hopefully, Duo said, "Yeah, I'm sure. Howie specifically told me he'd heard 'Spandex Boy' was stayin' with me and to be sure to bring him along."

"Okay, I'll come," Heero told him, immediately being rewarded with an "Alright!" and an enthusiastic hug/backslap.

"Just gimme a few minutes to take a quick shower and we'll get out of here, 'kay?" Duo called back over his shoulder as he bounded past Heero towards the bathroom.

"Okay." Now the only question was what the hell should he wear. Surveying his limited wardrobe, Heero was forced to concede that he probably didn't own anything suitable. Howard wasn't the type to go for a formal restaurant, so the dress pants and suit jacket were definitely out. Workout pants were a little too far in the opposite direction on the casual to dressy spectrum. Which basically left his jeans. Which he'd been wearing to work on the car. One pair was in the laundry basket, covered in rust stains. The other pair was clean - well, as clean as jeans that had been liberally coated in oil and grease could be. In other words, not very. Definitely not fit to be worn in public. 'I'll just have to tell Duo I've changed my mind,' he thought with a sigh. 'It's not like I really *wanted* to go anyway...' Well, maybe not *wanted* to go. But he actually wouldn't have *minded* going. Howard was always nice to him and most of the Sweepers that he'd met had been pretty easy to get along with too. It might have been kind of nice to get out and see some of them again.

"Aren't you coming?" Duo asked from behind him, sounding distinctly disappointed. Turning, Heero confirmed that the disappointed tone of Duo's voice was matched by an equally disappointed look on Duo's face.

'Dammit Yuy, he doesn't ask much of you, surely you can manage this. Maybe he'll have an idea...' "This is going to sound stupid," Heero admitted, "but I don't have anything to wear. My choices are dress pants, workout pants, or stained jeans."

"Yikes," Duo said, leaning on Heero's shoulder as he surveyed the meagre contents of Heero's side of the closet. "Never thought of that." Straightening, he looked Heero up and down then offered, "I went through a growth spurt a while ago and there were some clothes that ended up too short for me but were still in good shape. I boxed'em up intending to take them someplace and donate'em but never actually got around to it. Wanna see if any of them will fit?"

Relieved at the thought of expanding his wardrobe without either dipping into his meagre savings or borrowing money from Duo, Heero readily agreed. After a bit of rummaging in the tiny attic crawlspace, the boxes in question were located.

"They might be a bit - uh, form-fitting," Duo warned. "You've got more muscle mass than me."

Giving Duo a small smirk, Heero reminded him, "I used to wear spandex. Form-fitting won't bother me."

Surveying his reflection in the bathroom mirror a few minutes later, Heero was tempted to take that statement back. The dark brown leather pants that Duo had handed him with a challenging grin were form-fitting alright. *Very* form-fitting. 'And just where the hell are we going for supper that leather pants are appropriate wear?' he wondered. 'Or do I even want to know?' The vivid green silk shirt was a bit snugger than it was probably intended to be, but was in no danger of ripping out at the seams, and the jacket that went with the pants fit him like a glove. Emerging from the bathroom a bit reluctantly, Heero flushed at the wolf-whistle that greeted him. "Enough, or I'll just change back into my workout clothes and stay home," he warned.

"Sorry, Heero," Duo apologized. "But you *do* realize that was meant as a compliment, right?"

Giving Duo a silent glare, Heero started down the stairs. Yes, he was well aware that was meant as a compliment. He just wasn't too sure whether to be pleased or perturbed about it. Particularly in light of the fact that he was tempted to return the compliment.

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