Grocery Shopping Together

By DragonMage

Notes: You could probably say this continues off from For the Love of Mornings. *grins*

After being introduced to the interesting and sometimes disturbing world of clothes and fashion, Heero Yuy found himself--and totally against his will, of course--liking clothes and shopping for clothes. Naturally no one else knew about this but Chang Wufei. And his petite lover made no secret to the fact that he loved teasing Heero about his love for shopping. Heero didn't mind the teasing from Wufei since he knew it was true but he would kill anyone else who dared to make a remark. Thus the reason why Wufei hasn't told anyone of Heero's new found passion for clothing. He hated cleaning up after a fight and blood stains were hell to get rid of.

But yes, Heero liked clothes. He especially liked clothes on and off Wufei. His lover had a somewhat...preppy sense of style that always made Heero smile and buy something provocative just to drive Wufei crazy. Of course the provocative things were usually in Wufei's size. This meant the tiny Chinese man either returned the item or wear it himself. Three out of four times their returned but the one time they weren't was absolute heaven for Heero. Watching Wufei walk around in things that left little to the imagination just made him want to pick up his lover and find the nearest bedroom, bathroom, closet, anything with a bit of privacy would do. Wufei knew this and that was probably why that one piece of clothing doesn't go into the 'return' pile after a shopping trip from the mall.

Wufei looked good in almost anything. There was just something about the Chinese man that allowed him to pull off almost any insane outfit with a touch of class and sophistication that made many jealous. Maybe it was the way he carried himself in public or maybe it was just that tiny, wonderful body of his that just looked wonderful in anything. With his hair up or down, he always had a sexy glow to his face that made Heero very happy yet very protective. He couldn't count the number of times he had to thrown a death glare here or there to make sure people knew who Wufei belonged to and no one else. And then there were those really stupid ones with no concern for their life whatsoever who actually *approached* Wufei while Heero was still in the room. It was just all and well that he got special privileges from the Preventers for his occasional help and stayed out of trouble with the law for the fights that usually resulted in such stupid actions.

Now, while laying in bed and enjoying that warm afterglow of sex, Heero smiled. Wufei was already up and out of bed making breakfast in the kitchen. He had heard his lover shower earlier and had been given a wonderful glimpse of Wufei's bare back and tight naked bottom before they disappeared under a long T-shirt that Wufei liked to wear around the house on a lazy weekend morning. After the T-shirt had been donned, Heero lost interest and went back to dozing lightly, intent on catching up on sleep he had lost during the week of near continuous work. Both he and Wufei had started out working for the Preventers after the last war. But after working there for a year and a half Heero had gotten tired of dealing with so much politics that revolved around Preventers work so he quit and took up a job at a local computer corporation that paid amazingly well for his hacker skills and computer genius. Wufei had stayed with the Preventers because he liked doing what he called "useful" and he liked politics. The Chinese man was born to be involved with politics and there was no changing that.

So it was the weekend and he had an entire day to spend with Wufei, in or out of bed before he had to trudge off to work tomorrow to test another security system for some hotshot executive or help further another advance in technology, blah blah blah. It was all child's play and he was currently wondering where his sexy lover was.

Gathering up all the energy he had left in his sated body, Heero rolled out of bed and slipped on a light robe that Wufei had laid out on the chair close to the nightstand. He ran his fingers through his short hair, trying to get it to calm down as much as possible before he left the room and went in search for his lover.

Wufei was standing on that little step stool, searching through the cabinets for...something. But that didn't really matter since what *really* mattered was the fact that Wufei seemed to be only dressed in a long T-shirt, possibly boxers (Heero couldn't really be sure since the T-shirt hid them), and black slippers. This left his long, golden limbs nicely exposed to the warmth of the late morning sun streaming in from the wide window off to the right where the sink was.

"Enjoying the view?" Wufei asked archly, his head turned slightly so he could look at Heero from the corner of his eye.

"Mm...Very much so. Do you have to show so much skin?" Heero asked wonderingly as he walked into the kitchen and sat down on the small island in the middle of it. He rested his chin on the cup of his palm and stared, blatantly, at the back of Wufei's well-shaped legs.

"It's too warm," the Chinese man said defensively as he turned back to searching for whatever he was looking for. "Have you seen the pancake mix? I can't seem to find it anywhere."

"You're going to actually make an American breakfast?" Heero asked, raising an eyebrow in surprise. "I thought you said you hated pancakes."

"They're not for me, obviously," Wufei drawled as he stepped down from the stool and easily kicked it under the island. "It's for you."

"Don't worry about me. I'll eat anything you're eating," Heero said, shrugging.

Wufei smiled and rolled his eyes. "You forget. I'm going vegetarian today."

"Again?" Heero asked, frowning. Great. They were going to have rabbit food for lunch and dinner. Wufei was a somewhat devote Buddhist. He really didn't believe totally in religion--none of them did save Quatre--but it was a familiar thing that was part of his life and Heero understood why Wufei kept it up all the time. When life was confusing you always wanted something reliable and constant, no matter what form it came in. For Wufei it was to keep up with Chinese festivals and tradition and having a small shrine to the gods. It seemed like it was another one of those days when Wufei didn't eat meat and pay his respects to the gods and his ancestors by going to the Chinese Buddhist temple a few miles from their apartment. It happened twice a month; once in the beginning and once near the end. There would be no meat touching Wufei's lips, only vegetables and tofu, he would spend half the day shopping for food and groceries to put in front of the little shrine they have and at the temple and the smell of sandalwood incense would permeate the air. The closes word Wufei ever came to explain the food being placed in front of the shrines was 'sacrifice'. They were offerings to the gods who only ate when food was placed in front of their shrines.

"Yes, again. Don't frown." Wufei walked over to the refrigerator and began to look through it. He pulled out two eggs, some bacon, sausages, and a box of waffles. "Since I can't find the damn pancake mix, you'll be having waffles with blueberry syrup instead." He turned and smiled, his arms full. "Sounds good?"

"You're going to be gone all day?" Heero asked, knowing he sounded like a petulant child. He had expected to spend the entire day with Wufei, just lazing around. But now his plans were ruined because of some Chinese thing that his fiancé practiced. It didn't make him very happy.

"Well," Wufei said slowly, "yes. Of course. You already know that, Heero, so stop sounding so surprised and annoyed." He sighed and placed everything on the counter. He pulled out the necessary utensils for making breakfast and began cracking eggs. "Scrambled or not?"

"Scrambled."

"Black pepper, salt?"

"Ketchup."

"Ah."

"Why do you have to be gone? I mean, can't you just do it at home?" Heero demanded.

"Yes."

"Then why don't you?"

"Because I like going down to the temple once in a while. I rarely visit except on these days and I try to make the most of it." Wufei added cooking oil to the frying pan and poured the small bowl of thoroughly beated eggs onto the pan. It immediately began to sizzle and the smells of frying egg filled the air. He picked up the a flat wooden spatula and began to push the eggs around expertly.

"I wanted to spend the day with you," Heero admitted. He stood up and walked over to the refrigerator. He pulled it open and grabbed the carton of milk. Without bothering with a cup, he began to drink from it.

Wufei turned to frown at Heero, his attention taken away briefly from his eggs. "I'm never going to break you of that habit, will it?"

"Nope."

"Are you doing this because I'm going to be gone for the day?" Wufei asked almost knowingly. He gave the eggs another push and turn before he picked up the pan and scraped the eggs onto a pretty plate. He placed the pan back down and turned the fire down. Tearing away at a piece of the thick Bounty paper towel, he wiped the pan clean and poured more oil on to it. He turned the fire back up and grabbed a pair of wooden chopsticks. Even though he was cooking an American breakfast he still made it seem almost Chinese.

"No. Yes." A pause. "I think I might come with you."

Sszzz!

The bacon fried happily, simmering in the hot oil that it had just been placed in with the pair of chopsticks. Wufei looked at Heero from the corner of his eye.

"You want to come with me? You never come with me."

"Well, I want to go with you this time," Heero said, smiling.

Wufei matched his smile. "All right. After breakfast we'll go shopping for food."

~*~

Truthful be told Heero had never stepped into an Asian supermarket before in his entire life. Not even a Japanese one. Of course he had been in a few American ones, shopping for some neutral food that would keep everyone happy during the time they lived together for a while. But to be in a Chinese one was a completely new experience for Heero while it was an every day thing for Wufei.

His lover had grabbed a shopping cart and began pushing it, leaning on it casually, allowing the stretchy material of his pants to curve nicely over his hips and ass, pulling and hanging loose at the right places. His hair was tied back loosely, longer than it had been during the war, with a few errant strands falling over his eyes and brushing across his silky cheek. He was dressed in a navy long sleeved shirt and khakis pants with a pair of black boots. He had a shopping list in one hand while the other grabbed at the things needed as they moved down the aisle. Heero merely walked next to his fiancé, taking in the slightly foreign lettering on the packages and the Chinese family that was making their way down the aisle in the opposite direction talking cheerfully in what sounded like...Mandarin? He couldn't be sure. In the last five minutes since they had entered the grocery store Heero had heard almost four different dialects and since Wufei rarely spoke his native language Heero couldn't tell what they were.

"Heero, what do you think is better? This one or this one?" Wufei asked thoughtfully as he held up two packs of dried mushrooms.

"Does it make any difference?" Heero asked, blinking.

Wufei smiled sweetly at him. "Of course it makes a difference. If I pick a bag of mushrooms that don't look so well the food won't taste as good. Now, help me out there. You've picked mushrooms before, haven't you?"

"Actually I'm not that fond of the fungi family," Heero said, trying not to laugh at Wufei's solemnity in the subject of picking mushrooms.

Wufei rolled his eyes. "Why did you come again?"

"So I could spend time with you. This weekend was supposed to be spent alone, at home and hopefully in bed. Together," Heero said quietly underneath his breath so that only Wufei could hear. He really didn't want the family not so far away to know exactly what kind of relationship he and Wufei had. After all innocence is something that is best preserved for as long as possible, especially during the times of peace. Children shouldn't need to know what went on in other's people's beds--and at times adults as well.

A warm flush swept up Wufei's cheeks. He focused his attention wholly on the dried mushrooms for a moment before finally picking a pack. He threw that into the cart and started pushing it again. As he passed by Heero, he muttered softly, "We can do that after." Then loudly, "I'm going to go look at the sea cucumbers." With a soft smile, he continued his way down the aisle innocently, his bottom swinging just a bit too suggestively.

The first thing that registered in Heero's mind was the heated tone Wufei used while promising to spend time in bed later. A shock of lust and want shot through him, leaving him very aware of how he felt at that moment. Then his brain caught up with the rest of what Wufei had just said.

Sea cucumbers?

Heero blinked and jogged after his lover, waving quickly at the family as he passed them by. He soon caught up with his lover at the seafood section, looking at some frozen...well, the only thing they *could* be was sea cucumbers.

"What the heck is that?" Heero moved to stand veery close to Wufei, his pelvis brushing slightly with Wufei's hip. His lover threw him a heated look before explaining.

"Sea cucumber."

"I know *that*. You said *that*. But what the heck is a sea cucumber?" Heero asked, reaching out to grab a pair of metal tongs and poked at the black and flesh colored things. They were frozen and hard as he tapped on them.

"Heero!" Wufei grabbed the tongs from him. "Don't do that! It's just some kind of sea...thing. It might sound weird but they're good!" He tore off a plastic bag from a near-by roll and began to roll the sea cucumbers around, checking a few before putting two into his plastic bag. He picked out another one before he was satisfied, tying off the bag with a quick move. He dropped them into the cart and moved on to the glass displays where the live fish were swimming back and forth. Or at least they were trying to. They were packed into the thing like a...can of sardines. Except sardines were smaller and dead and partially cooked. These were clearly alive and crowded.

"I thought you said were going vegan today," Heero remarked as he watched Wufei check out the fish.

"I am."

"Then why are you buying fish?"

"So I can lay it out."

"But you don't eat it?"

"No."

"I don't get it," Heero admitted.

Wufei laughed. "I might lay it out but I don't eat it until the next day. I just pack it away after the respects and the incense have been set out."

'It still doesn't make sense. Why does the big guy(s) eat the meat but you don't?" Heero questioned.

Wufei looked thoughtful for a moment. "Actually, I don't know."

"Ah. Of course. Well..." Heero pointed at a fish. "That one looks lively."

Wufei grinned. "Thanks a lot, Heero." He motioned for the butcher and began to yell out instructions in Cantonese.

After the fish had been knocked unconscious with a stick and shoved into a bag with a sticker noting the weight and price on it, they moved on to the meats section. Or at least they tried to. A tiny Chinese kid ran screaming and laughing in front of them, hands clutching what looked like to be a dead eel. A mother was yelling furiously at them in another dialect of Chinese, chasing after them. Unfortunately for Heero the kid decided to trip just as the mother almost caught him, hands releasing the eel into the air. It landed, rather unceremoniously, onto Heero's pants.

Wufei stared wide eyed at Heero for a moment before choking on laughter. He had to clutch and hang onto his shopping cart for support as Heero stood there, stunned as the slimy eel slid down his pants and landed on the floor with a wet 'smack'.

"Dui bu qi! [1]" the woman gasped as she held her wiggling son in front of her.

"Mei guan xi," Wufei laughed, waving his hand. "Ta men...ta men..." [2]. At this moment Wufei could no longer speak.

Heero looked down at his pants, surveying the damage. It really wasn't that bad. So what if the eel had been wet and slimy? His pants looked...okay. If you ignored the large wet spot around his crotch and the trail of eel slime down his right pant leg where the eel had fall off of. Really he was fine. He was just going to make Wufei pay for laughing at him when they went home.

"Dui bu qi," the woman gushed again. "Wo de hai zi..." [3]

"What is she saying, Wufei?" Heero asked, frowning slightly as he tried to think of some way to clean off the mess as much as possible.

"She's apologizing. Really, Heero, it's not that bad..." Wufei reached into his pocket and pulled out a napkin and began to wipe uselessly at Heero's pants. "I mean...It'll wash out."

"Sugoi. Arigatou. And don't touch there," Heero managed to grit out in Japanese as Wufei's hand brushed much too close to his crotch. He was a bit damp and totally embarrassed. He didn't need Wufei's hand *there* to make things worse.

"Hentai," Wufei uttered as he pulled his hand away and crushed the napkin. He turned to the woman and began to tell her it was all right and there was no harm done as he tried not to feel too warm. Even in the most embarrassing situations Heero could still get hard. Amazing. What had he gotten himself into, promising to marry this man?

When things had been smoothed over, Wufei quickly finished his shopping and headed home with Heero driving. That just meant they were going almost forty miles per hour on local.

"I can't believe this," Heero muttered as he slowed the car to a stop at a red light.

"It's okay, Heero. You can get another pair of pants when we get home," Wufei said soothingly.

"I know *that*. It's just that...What a way to spend the weekend! Shopping at a grocery story and then getting dead eel slime on my pants. This was not how I planned it," Heero complained. The light turned green and he immediately slammed down on the gas, shooting them forward.

Wufei shot him an annoyed look. "How did you exactly plan to spend the weekend? Screwing me sore?"

"Exactly!"

"Heero!" Wufei huffed. "I think this was a good thing. I mean, if we're getting married our marriage can't be based entirely on sex, right?"

"I seriously have no problem with that."

"Are you this horny because you suppressed it all during the war?" Wufei demanded.

"No. I'm just horny."

Wufei tried to stay mad, he really did. But Heero was Heero and he loved him and he couldn’t stay mad no matter how hard he tried. The Chinese man chuckled softly and reached out to put his hand on Heero's knee.

"Look, after we put everything away I'm going to the temple. You can come or not but when I'm home again we can do anything you want for as long as you want. Better?"

"Much," Heero admitted.

"Although I don't see much point in it. You have your wicked way with me whether or not it's a weekend anyway."

"It's just the knowledge that I have you for a weekend that makes me happy."

Wufei smiled softly. "I love you, too, Heero."

"That's good to know. I'd feel sorry for the other person who has your love," Heero said matter-of-factly as he made a left turn.

"And why is that?"

"Because then I'd have to kill them."

"Heero," Wufei said lovingly. "Your possessive tendencies are creepy but I love you for them anyway."

Heero smiled and slowed to a stop as the another light turned red. He reached over and grabbed his lover, pulling him close and kissing him softly on the lips. After a few moments, he pulled away and smiled, licking his lips.

"But you're right. There was something good about this shopping experience." He reached out and smoothed his thumb along Wufei's satiny lips.

Wufei stared at him, slightly dazed. "Wha--?"

"At least I know what to avoid on the dinner table next time you feed me. No sea cucumbers for this boy, no way."

Wufei blinked and laughed, punching Heero slightly on the shoulder. "It's a green."

Heero whipped around and wasted no time in stepping on the gas, making up for the time he had lost while kissing Wufei.

~*Owari*~

And that's the end. Yeah, I know. No lemon. But I just thought it'd be fun to have something every day with no sex. Or at least not yet. *laughs* We'll see in the next 'installment.' *waves* Hope you enjoyed it!

Started: January 27, 2002

Finished: February 18, 2002

Mandarin:

[1] I'm so sorry!

[2] It's all right. He's...he's...

[3] I'm so sorry. My child...