Title:
Winner
"A carnival. You brought me to a carnival."
Duo threw an arm around Heero's shoulders. "Yes, a carnival. You've been working so hard all week, and you need a break, man. A little distraction."
Distraction, indeed. Duo alone was more than enough distraction for Heero, these days.
"Look, there's the midway." Duo grabbed Heero's hand and tugged him across the dirt pathways, stopping at a booth with row of water guns along the front. "Wanna race?"
"What?" He was preoccupied with the warmth Duo's hand had left in his palm.
"A race. You grab a water gun and aim for the clown's mouth. If you pop the balloon on the top of the clown's head first, you win."
Heero frowned. "I don't see the point."
"The point is to have fun, dork."
"Fine. Mission accepted."
Duo rolled his eyes and picked up one of the guns. The operator started the round, and Duo got off to a quick lead. Heero glared at his clown head, willing the balloon to fill up faster. Suddenly, he felt a cold stream of water hit his side, and he looked to his left to see Duo grinning. Heero wanted to spray Duo back, but he wanted to win more, so he ignored his wet shirt and kept his finger steady on the trigger.
His balloon popped first, and the game operator called out, "We have a winner. Pick your prize, son."
Heero surveyed the variety of stuffed animals that hung around the walls of the booth. None of them were that appealing. He was about to refuse a prize when one caught his eye. It was a teddy bear with fur the same color as Duo's hair.
"That one," he told the man.
As soon as he had it in hand, Duo was off again. This time, he lead Heero down the row of food wagons, saying that he needed to eat something so he'd have the energy to beat Heero in games later. Heero didn't know so many things could be fried and put on sticks.
They ate at the end of a picnic table in a pavillion, then headed back to the midway. Duo challenged him to a few more games, but Heero beat him in most of them. He gave his prizes to children who gathered around. There were no more games with water guns.
The last game, though, was a tricky fishbowl game. The goal was to toss ping-pong balls into the bowls with colored water, each color representing a different quality of prize. Duo had managed to get a medium animal and chose an electric blue tiger.
Heero used his first two balls to gauge speed and force, and he got the third into the center bowl. His prize was a giant plush panda.
Duo marvelled at the enormous bear. "What are you going to do with it?" he asked as they got in the car.
"I haven't decided, yet."
When they pulled up in front of Heero's building, he looked down at the Duo-colored bear in his hand.
"Thanks for letting me drag you around the carnival, Heero." Duo smiled.
"Hn." He paused, looking at the panda in the backseat. "You keep it."
"What?"
"The panda. You keep it. I...want you to have it, Duo." Before he lost his nerve, Heero leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "Good night."
Clutching his own bear, he left Duo sitting in the car, speechless.