I can't believe I actually got this done - took a whole hour to write. Guess if the motivation is there... and Zechs and Duo are really delightful motivation...!!!
This is completely unrelated to any other 6x2 universe I've written in, so it's a stand alone. It's also very predictable, but, eh... <g> (Heh, not even Manon has read this one yet - surprise!)
"Will there be anything else, sir?" Pargan asked the new Sankian chief of security before leaving the man's office.
"Nah, if you can't get my honey man back to me today, there's nothing else, P," Duo Maxwell sighed, tugging on his formal coat of office. He'd enjoyed the traditional Sankian wear for about a week, but now was seriously missing his more usual black attire a month later.
Pargan raised an eyebrow at the young man's reference to the King as his "honey man", but smiled indulgently. "His Majesty has that meeting with the colony cluster D representatives in London today," he reminded him.
"I know, I know... and I know there's a big treaty to be signed as a result," Duo sighed, pushing some papers around on his desk restlessly. "Damn that he has to be gone today..."
"Yes, sir," Pargan murmured, bowed, and then went out.
Duo's morose gaze went to the new formal portrait of the King which now hung on the opposite wall from his desk. "It's Valentine's Day, Mil, and I don't have my Valentine man..."
A sharp knock on the door startled him out of his reverie. "Come in!" he called crossly. Milliardo would have knocked then come right in... and if it had been him, Duo would have leapt over the desk to reach him before he got in two steps and done a neat leap into his arms. But it was only a deliveryman.
"Where do you want these?" the man asked once the door was opened remotely. Bored, he clutched a clipboard.
"Want what?" Duo rose and followed him back out into the hall.
Out in the hallway were buckets and buckets of sweet-scented gardenias. Duo gaped at them, remembering...
They'd been on holiday in Rome, though for the heir to the Sank throne even this trip with his lover included a diplomatic meeting. Duo and Milliardo had met with the new representative from China in an open air cafe on the perimeter of a large square with a fountain and a variety of other vendors scattered around. Near the cafe was a flower stall, and Duo, unfamiliar with most Earth varieties, had been drawn to it.
There he had discovered the lush white blooms of the gardenia. They reminded him a little bit of roses, but the scent was heady and potent. He'd wanted to drag Mil over to smell them, but the Prince was deep in discussion and had missed all the subtle and not-so-subtle attempts by his lover to divert him and share his discovery with him.
That evening, instead of a romantic encounter with his tall, handsome prince, Duo was taken to task for his distracting behavior and attempts to divert Milliardo from an important negotiation. Later the older man had apologized, but the scent of gardenias would always now remind Duo of that unpleasantness between them.
"I've got the manifest," a voice broke into Duo's reverie, and a good thing it did, too, for Duo had been about to yell for the foul things to be removed.
"Who ordered these?" Duo asked the man who'd spoken to him, turning to face the speaker.
Chang Wufei, on loan from the Preventers to assist his friend Duo in securing the Sankian palace and grounds, gave his boss a little bow. "I don't know that, but I do know where they go, and yes, I have searched through them and cleared them through our security procedures."
"Wufei, lighten up," Duo murmured as the deliveryman was dismissed after collecting a signature. He sighed as he was always saying that to his old friend. "Anyway, the King isn't around and unless the Princess is behind this, I want all of these flowers removed."
Wufei narrowed his eyes at him. "Of course, Duo." He gestured to the two pages who'd accompanied him, handed off the manifest list, and whispered directions to them.
Duo hadn't noticed. "Gahhhh, I'm sick of these formal duds," he muttered, stripping off the long traditional coat as he went back into his office, Wufei on his heels. "I think I'll take the rest of the day off - do you mind?"
"Not at all," Wufei replied serenely. "Why don't you take a drive? That always clears your mind."
Duo brightened. Milliardo had bought him a sleek new car, black of course, not as a present, but with what he called "back wages" from the time Duo assisted him after the last war when he functioned more as an ambassador, helping his sister out with her work. Duo loved the car, taking it out on remote country roads where he could drive it at maximum speeds. "Yeah, that sounds like a plan," he muttered, then clapped the other man on the back. "You're a good friend, Wu."
Wufei just smiled.
Once out on the road, Duo, now wearing black tee and jeans and a black leather jacket, pushed the car to its limits, indeed feeling his mind and heart calm. [Mil will be back tomorrow,] he told himself. [We'll celebrate Valentine's then...]
Upon returning, Duo felt much more himself. [Fuck meetings and fuck those stupid white flowers,] he thought, taking the steps up to the King's suite two at a time. [And fuck that uniform. I think a new policy is going to go in place - yeah, that's it...]
But throwing open the doors to the suite, all of those thoughts fled immediately. Those damn gardenias were everywhere! Their perfume filled Duo's sense immediately, and for a moment he savored the lush, sweet scent, forgetting that he disliked what the flowers represented to him. Then he followed the scent into the master bedroom, puzzled.
Gasping, Duo gaped at a sight he did not at all expect. The King of Sank, in his powerful naked glory, was laying at leisure upon their very large bed which was strewn with gardenia petals. His waist-length platinum blond hair spilled lushly over the heaped up pillows upon which he reclined. There were red candles everywhere as well, the flickering flames making the King's skin golden and glowing. His honey man...
"Happy Valentine's Day, baby," Milliardo Peacecraft murmured, a little smile on his lips.
Duo wasn't having any...yet. "I thought you had important negotiations - that treaty," he reminded his lover, his hands closed into fists at his sides.
"I told them they had to wait for my participation," Milliardo replied. "They weren't going to refuse the King of Sank."
Duo's throat went dry. Of course - now that he'd been crowned, Milliardo had more pull on the stage of the Earthsphere. A reigning monarch anywhere could certainly command changes to his schedule as he liked.
"I hate gardenias," Duo tried again.
The King smiled. "You love gardenias... and I want to redeem them in your eyes for my poor behavior that time in Rome. And I want to show you who comes first now."
Duo swallowed with difficulty. "You mean that?"
"My first professional duty must be to my country... and I know you respect that, Duo," Milliardo murmured. "But my first personal duty will always be to you. You're my beloved, my mate. In personal matters, first in my heart."
The affirmation warmed Duo's pride. But he had a couple more things to say. "I don't want to wear those formal duds every day."
"Then don't. Although I'd like you to reserve them still for state occasions."
The sight before Duo had been slowly working on his libido. "God, you're magnificent," he sighed, shifting his weight from foot to foot as his pants had tightened around his groin.
"And you look equally as hot," Milliardo agreed with a grin. "Now, take everything off and come and enjoy your Valentine's present."
Duo inhaled deeply as he quickly stripped, then fairly leapt into his adored Mil's arms. "You're right, I love gardenias!"
"I told you so," Milliardo replied, laughing, pulling the hard, slim body against his as he bent to kiss him.
The End
Happy Valentine's Day!
The Czarina