Morning by Agent Midnight

Every morning at 7:15, Heero Yuy steps into a smoke-filled bathroom and nearly drops to the floor as his oxygen supply is immediately cut off. As soon as the smoke clears enough for him to make it to the sink, he ignores the off-pitch singing of his best friend-gone-lover and tries his damnedest to brush his teeth without cringing at every note filtering out to his ears. He starts the meticulous process of brushing very thoroughly (dentist orders, kids!) and taking care of all the little morning cleaning activities that a normal 18 year old should participate in. Everything seems to be going in perfect order until a loud shriek flies from the shower stall, causing Heero to drop his brush every time he hears it despite being physically prepared for the monstrous noise.

At 7:20, Duo Maxwell gets shampoo in his eyes and cries out for help to his friend. He stands in the shower stall, soaking wet, his hair clinging to his body like a wet t-shirt (but in this case... wet hair), and starts fanning his eyes off trying to get the pain to go away. His body presses itself against the shower wall as he tries to get away from the water so that more shampoo doesn't flood across his face.

7:21, the sliding shower door opens and Heero reaches into the stall to brush the corner of a hand towel across the sudsy soap bastards infecting his friend's eyes. Getting soaked in the careful process, Heero wipes the towel over Duo's eyes until his friend's quiet whimpers fade to a quiet purring. As soon as the purring kicks in, the Japanese young man pulls out of the shower and watches as Duo's beautiful eyes slide open and his friend gives him a pathetic puppy-dog look. Smiling at the American, Heero slides the door shut again and goes back to taking care of himself.

With his toothbrush propped in his mouth and a stick of deodorant in his hand, Heero stops everything he's doing at 7:26 when he hears a soft clicking. Ignoring it momentarily, he drops the deodorant and wipes his hand across the foggy mirror, grunting as it fogs up just as quickly as he wiped it away. Becoming a homemade windshield wiper, Heero stands there for a couple of minutes, running his hand across the spot where his face appears on the mirror so he can watch himself brush his teeth.

The clicking comes again.

The toothbrush is discarded in the brush holder and Heero leans over the sink to rinse.

The clicking comes again.

Heero straightens out and snarls at the mirror to see if he missed any random spot of his teeth.

He didn't.

Duo sighs quietly and clicks his fingernail against the shower door, trying to get his friend's attention. He waits until Heero seems to be done before doing it again... much louder.

The clicking comes again.

Giving in, Heero turns around and heads back to the shower stall. He pulls open the door and meets his friend's eyes again, rolling his own as Duo gives him a little grin. Before he has any say in the matter, Duo's wet hands slam against his shoulders and he's pulled towards the water. Heero's knees bump against the outside rim of the tub and he brings his hands up to brace them on Duo's chest. The American leans forward, and at 7:32, he kisses Heero square on the mouth. As soon as Duo pulls away, Heero coughs from getting shampoo in his mouth and he roams back to the sink to wash it all out.

Duo watches him carefully, taking in the view of Heero's jean-clad ass as his lover bends himself over the sink. A second later, the longhaired youth slides the shower closed again and pops back under the cooling water. At 7:35, a scream that is everything but real flies from Duo's lips, followed shortly by a quick laugh as the source realized that he should never be an actor.

"Damn shampoo!"

Heero tries to ignore him.

"Got it in my eye."

Heero tries harder.

The fake shriek comes again.

And all Heero can really do is grab the hand towel and join his bad-actor of a friend-gone-lover.

After all, would you leave someone so beautiful in distress? Heero certainly wouldn't.