A Birthday Card

A Birthday Card

"Cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudel, these area few of my favorite things," Brad's voice, a deep tenor, reverberated through his office. No one was home. Nagi had gone for two weeks to a camp on Mt. Fuji. Duo was due to return from a mission, but not for another three hours.

In Brad's life before Duo there had not been time nor the mental energy for such things as sing Bei Being a good guy was slightly boring though and it left plenty of time for hobbies, so the Oracle had adopted several. The most important to him being finding out all the cogs and belts in Duo Maxwell's psyche. Singing was just something that he did when no one would ever catch him and he wasn't able to pry into Duo's mind and past.

His voice echoed through the main living area as he crossed to the kitchen. Happy songs, that's all he would sing today. He didn't believe in Farfarello's new found religion, but he did know that ghosts and demons occasionally lurked around Duo and that if his singing didn't scare them away, maybe the happy lyrics would. He didn't want any of them here today, only happy things.

Wearing only a pair of gray slacks and a light blue shirt, he opened the oven. Sweet strawberry cake scent filled the room, and for a moment, an irrational concern that the sweet smell of it would some how corrode the weights or his punching bag. He shook his head, shaking off the odd thought. He also closed the oven door, gently so as not to make the cake 'fall'.

It would have been more in character to order the cake, but Brad was afraid that someone would find out if he did. So he'd baked his first cake, made the frosting and spent nearly four hours learning to make roses. It was easy enough to predict when the rose was going go lopsided, but difficult to understand exactly how not to cause such unnatural blossoms.

Cakes were easier to predict than Duo, however and his lover's reaction to what he had planned for the day was still unknown to Brad. This was one of the things that both terrified him and enticed him about younger man. And so he finished the cake, sang away the demons from the house, and waited.

When Duo came through the door, a full ten minutes later than he'd said he would, Crawford was waiting for him, black hair in perfect place, black tux in tailored perfection. The red rose he held in his hands was a bud only, and of the deepest red.

Duo stopped, dropped the duffle bag he'd had on his shoulder, tilted his head just slightly, his eyebrows drawing over violet eyes. "Brad?"

Brad took one step forward and caught Duo's hand, ignoring the gun powder and the slight remnant of blasting gel as well, as he brought his lover's palm to his lips. "Welcome home."

"Miss me?" Duo asked, slightly confused, feeling wickedly underdressed in military issue pants and tee-shirt, dirt sticking to his skin by the sweat he hadn't gotten the time to shower off yet.

"You never left me, so I didn't miss you," Brad said, then worried that it might have been the wrong thing to say, but it was his truth, so he didn't take it back. "I have found something you were looking for."

"That so?" Duo asked, kicking his duffle bag in and shutting the door with his foot.

"Happy Birthday." Brad held the rose out to him and Duo frozen, fingers touching the petals.

If anyone else had said that to him, he would have fined them in teeth. Brad said it though. That made it true. "Happy Birthday."

"You're twenty-on."

"Twenty-on
B
Brad nodded. "A more beautiful twenty-one I have never seen. The cake is strawberry, with milk chocolate frosting. I managed several decent roses, but acceptable penmanship seemed beyond me. I hope it's acceptable."

Duo stepped around him, taking the rose with him. There on the counter was the cake, and Duo smiled, knowing that Brad knew it was half a centimeter higher on one end then the other. His smile twitched, higher on one side then the other, and when he turned, his tongue was pressed to to his upper lip, inadvertently licking away soot. "It's mine? I can do anything I want with it."

Brad motioned with his both hands, palms up, moving one from the other as he nodded. "It is yours. I considered getting you twenty others, but I think I shall order them, one a week."

"Naw, I don't want them. This is the one I want." Duo said, turning back to his cake, no candles, just chocolate roses and more or less smooth surfaces. He licked his pointer finger clean then drew his finger through the frosting. 'Duo loves Brad. Happy Birthday."

Without a word, Brad turned Duo towards him and kissed him, before he could lick that frosting away, cleaning his lover's lips with his own, cleaning a mouth that hadn't seen a toothbrush in a week. Duo melted easily into the kiss, his solider persona melting like sugar in the water of Brad's kiss.

After the kiss, Brad guided Duo's frosting slicked finger to his own mouth, watching Duo's eyes as he sucked his finger, swirling his tongue around it, cleaning away the sweet chocolate. "In our room, on the bed. Go. Dress."

"Yeah. Okay." Duo said. "Is it another surprise?"

Brad smiled, pushed his glasses back up his nose and moved towards the kitchen. Duo watched him for another moment before heading towards their bedroom.

The outfit laid out for him far out paced the surprise of his birthday. Brad had done his research, but Duo couldn't find it in himself to be angry. There were no secrets between them, though this was more than Duo knew Brad knew. It was exactly the dress he'd been looking at on line. Long, white satin, like something from an ancient black and white vid. There were matching shoes, with little white feather fluffies on the front, and a black velvet box which he picked up. Inside were diamond dangle earrings, clips.

The bathroom was lit by several tall white candles and a bath draw with white rose petals floating in the water. Duo backed out of the beautiful bathroom, out of the bed room, and stripped in the hall way. He peeled off his tee-shirt, toed off hs boots and dropped his pants right there, then kicked the lot of them to the side. Leaving the pile of mission residue, he was loosening his braid as he went back into the bathroom.

He really didn't know how Brad had known, or accepted. Death in a white evening gown? It wasn't so bad, he supposed in the scope of things, but he was smiling as he looked at the dress, his feet sinking into the plush carpet. There were just some things that one had to accept without too much thinking.

Quickly, he got himself into the tub, scrubbing away the dirt of his mission, the sweat, the blood that wasn't his, wishing he could scrub away the scrapes on his knuckles. Sometimes Bralpedlped him with his hair, but not this time. This time, the transformation was part of Duo's present.

It took time to dry all that mass of hair, even with the hair dryer, but the time was welcome, really. Time to soak in how truly he was known, time to fluctuate between anticipation and anxiety. Brad liked him as a male, he didn't know what his lover was going to think of him in a white satin evening gown.

Looking at himself in the mirror, pink nipples showing under a curtain of dark brown hair, Duo almost couldn't bring himself to look at his own face. Ugly words surfaced for him when he did. Fag. Homo. Fruit. Pretty. He traced his fingers over his lips, curvy female lips. From the counter, he picked up one of the diamond combs and tucked it into his hair, bringing it away from his face. Then the other side, so that they pulled a bit, but didn't really tame his hair in the least. It hung all the way to the back of his knees, and he ran his fingers through it, combing away the slight damp that remained. It was his first possession, his longest possession, and he wondered what the spirits of his parents would think of a son about to slip into white satin, with hair like a princess.

It was a connection he'd never make, between himself and his parents. His birthday, it was some kind of link into himself and it was Brad who'd given him that, Brad who received the lion's share of his devotion and love. Quickly he moved one of the smaller candles to the counter and with his fingers touching the warm sides, he sent a prayer out to the spirits of his parents, thanking them, apologizing for the things he couldn't give them. "Thank you," he whispered, then blew out the candle, sealing the prayer.

Tears n his eyes, he moved into the bedroom and stepped into his new dress, the past all left behind now. It was just the present, just this gift he'd been given. With excited and nervous fingers, he drew the straps up over his shoulders, under his hair and reached behind him to pull up the zipper. It was then that he found Brad's hands there, searching in the water fall of chestnut for the zipper. Silently, Duo leaned back against him, and let him pull the zipper up.

Strong fingers, without judgment, without any great excitement either though, Brad's fingers pulled up, closing the satin around Duo's body. Duo stepped into the shoes and almost fell over as he tried to balance on the high heels. Brad smiled and caught his elbow, spinning him around, pulling him close, one arm behind his back. "How do you feel?"

Duo blushed then, hiding his face against Brad's dress shirt. "Uh.."

He couldn't see the smirk on Brad's face, but he maybe felt it in the way his chest held for a moment before taking a deep breath. "Let me put the earrings on?"

Duo stepped back, blush still up his cheeks, still brightening. "Okay."

Of course, that only made it worse, as the silk did nothing to hide his excitement. Brad didn't give any sign of noticing the odd way the gown hung over Duo's body. Confident fingers closed one diamond earring then the other on ears that were more used to a com ear piece. The back of Brad's fingers brushed over Duo's cheek, against the heat of his blush. "You are beautiful to me, fatigues or satin. Come dance with me."

It wasn't an invitation and Duo closed his fingers around Brad's as he let himself be lead into the main room. Soft music, a waltz, and more candle light waited for them. Brad turned, lifting Duo's hand as his other hand reached around and pulled him close, hand in the small of his back. If Duo could have meeped, he would have, but the music restarted, and Brad carried him into the waltz, compensating for Duo's lack of balance on the heels, guiding him around the room as if Brad had danced every night of his life.

The next song was a little faster and Duo had his balance now. They moved over the polished wood floor with a precision that was more of warriors than romantic dancers, but it was their precision. Duo's hand rested in Brad's, a light touch that only floated above trying to take control the dance, even in this, this lovely gift, the competition between them sparked like static, sizzling, burning. Brad closed his hand around Duo's and dipped him, taking his satin wrapped lover completely off balance, and then kissing him. It was a kiss that ended the dance, Brad's arms went around Duo's waist as he pulled him back into a standing position. "You have a problem," he teased in Duo's diamond studded ear, even as he rubbed his thigh against the tent of white satin.

"I can't help it. You make me hard." Duo said, then forced down the giggle that would have come after. "I don't sound like a lady."

"You don't look like one either," Brad snarled, kisses going down Duo's throat. "Sit down on the bench, hold onto the bar."

Duo moaned as he straddled the weight lifting bench and reached behind him to take hold of the bar in the rack. Brad watched him, watched him balance on those white feathery heels and the satin grow tight over his spread legs. Duo watched Brad just the same, in his perfectly fitting tux, the way the fine cloth lay over the curve of his ass, and almost hid the bulge at the front of his pants. Cream colored cummerbund, and ivory shirt with pearl buttons, did nothing to cover the power in Brad, the taunt muscles under the fancy, the tension in his stance. It was a new kind of sparring between them, this dancing.

Duo shifted, hands on the bar, wanting Brad's hands on him, but obediently waiting. He scooted back, forward, feet turning and repositioning in the heels, feeling the satin brush over his legs, cool on his skin where Brad watching him burned like fiery satin. "Brad?"

"Shhh," Brad said as he moved so he was standing right in front of Duo. With his little finger, he lifted the satin, pulling it up one leg, making ever hair on Duo's body stand on end. "I forgot to give you the thong."

"Uhh.. I'm uh, not wearing anything under the dress."

"I know. I've been dancing with you, Duo Maxwell."

With the little finger of his other hand he pulled the dress up on the other side, until his fingers meet in the middle, caressing Duo's tight balls and making him wiggle and moan. "Nahhhhh. Brad," Duo groaned, asking in his voice, his tone.

"Want it sweet, want it rough?" Brad's middle finger slipped back, between the curves of Duo's bottom. The insertion demanded, forcing slowly as Brad's finger rotated, relentlessly opening muscles that hadn't admitted any thing for too long. Duo gripped the bar, leaning his head back against it as Brad's finger slipped into him.

"Rough, sweet, yes, both," Duo said, bringing one high heeled covered shoe up to place it gently on Brad's leg. The feeling of Brad inside him, even just a finger, felt deeply intimate, pinning, and his focus narrowed down to his and and the penetration farther back. He wanted desperately to stay in this moment to reach towards the pleasure he knew they could get to, even a bit of pain that held him in the moment was so very welcome. Here with Brad, that was where he wanted to be. "No escape."

"No escape," Brad agreed, his glasses just slightly down his nose. He cupped Duo's ankle and lifted it to his shoulder. With Duo's foot hooked to the back of neck, he rummaged in his pocket for the small tube of lube he'd put there earlier. He didn't need it, to say the words. He knew them to be true, knew that Duo loved him and would submit to him in most things, but he wanted Duo to enjoy, to be free of dark memories and he wanted him hot, his cock weeping and his balls tight begging for the slightest touch. Aggressive, intimidating, voice low, a second finger slipping into his lover, he snarled, "You're mine, to do with as I want and I want to fuck you. I want to fuck my little virgin princess."

"Ahhhh," Duo said, about drooling, braid slipping off the back of the bench he sat on, violet eyes wide. Brad smiled as a shiver went through the barely covered shoulders of his lover. He could feel the heat inside of him too, not that Duo wasn't always warm, but excitement raised the whole body's temperature, the temperature inside the anus was not excepted. "Virgin," was all Duo could manage in response.

Brad withdrew his fingers suddenly, stood and opened his trousers, watching Duo watch him as he coated his erection, uncut but completely hard and thick now. Using the fingers warmed by Duo's body, he spread the lube over, around the head, down the shaft. Then Duo started licking at the edge of his mouth, making little sucking motions, but not moving his hands from where he'd been told to hold to. Brad still held Duo's ankle with his other hand, the leg straight and pinned with his other hand to his shoulder.

Smiling, Brad brushed the lubed erection against the leg, moving downwards. As he went, the shoe feel off and Duo's bare foot now hooked back around his neck. With both hands he lifted his partner's hips with both hands, fingers holding firmly, roughly. Duo thrashed just a little, trying to move forward faster, testing Brad's grip on him. The slick on Brad's cock left a trail down Duo's leg, right to below his balls, then down… as Brad lifted him and Duo wiggled to get closer to the thick pink head of Brad's manhood.

That ring of tight muscle was more ready for penetration when the head touched down, making a soft sound as it slipped in the lube. Relaxed, Duo wanted the thickness of Brad in him, wanted the feeling of full penetration. Teeth showing in a snarl, Brad pressed forward. The ring of Duo spread as he moved into him, then closed tighter as soon as the head was passed. He thrust then, hard and fast, refining his angle until he hit Duo's spot. One hand under Duo's ass, he leaned forward, "Let go the bar, lay back, hold to me," he commanded and Duo was only happy to do so.

Fists gripping tuxedo, leg just about between them as Brad pressed deeper, riding him. Duo got a leg around Brad's waist just about the time that Brad hit the right angle and he cried out, head pressed back against the vinyl of the bench, leg trying to push Brad forward, right back against the same spot. "Master! Bra Brad closed his eyes and tried to calm himself, back from the sweat soaking his belly and the heat of his lover around him, but only managed to shut Duo up with a savage kiss, grinding, tongues washing each other. He wanted Duo to cum first, but they'd never really played that way and he spilled into him, hot on heat and he held there, deep inside as the little pulses of pleasure rippled through him, pumping more deep into him. Duo came almost immediately after, spilling himself between them, sticking cream between white satin and tailored tuxedo. For a moment they lay there, on the weight bench, but then Brad rolled off to the side, taking Duo with him. Getting comfortable, Duo's head on Brad's chest, Brad's arm around him, they lay there, just happy with the world. "I'm glad you're alive, Duo Maxwell."

"Brad. I love you," Duo replied, fingers trailing in the cream he'd left on Brad's belly. "Is this a new tradition?"

With one finger, Brad pushed his glasses back up his nose. "I don't want to wait that long. Perhaps we'll practice every other day or so."

"Nympho."

"I, my dear sir," Brad teased, touching his thumb to Duo's nose, "Am a satyr."

Duo laughed softly. It was a lovely birthday.