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Two Doors Down : 1
He noticed the plain box in front of his apartment door as he came down the hall. Strange, he hadn't ordered anything, and in any case, he had all of his packages delivered to the office. As he got closer, he noted that the box didn't look secure enough to have been used for shipping. Hm. He crouched beside it and slipped the lid off. Inside were four cupcakes, chocolate and plain, a fancy dollop of frosting on top.
Heero stared at them for a few seconds before taking them inside with him. He brought them into the kitchen and paused in front of the trash can. If someone had accidentally left them on his doorstep, there was little chance of finding whom they belonged to so he could return them. If someone had intentionally left them on his doorstep, well, he wasn't about to eat mysterious, unwrapped food left by a stranger.
He inspected the box again, looking for identifying marks, but found none. He set the box down on the countertop and went to hang up his coat instead. He emptied his pockets, took off his watch, did a quick check for messages on his cell phone, and finally went back to the kitchen. He needed to start thinking about dinner. But there was the box. He needed to do something about the box, and stalling wasn't going to do anything any faster.
He took the box, put his shoes back on, left his apartment, and headed two doors down. He hesitated, listening carefully just in case there was anything to be heard inside to give him more information, then rang the doorbell.
The door opened, and he was greeted with a cheerful "Hi."
"Hi, sorry to bother you, and this might be a strange question, but... did you by any chance leave this box on my doorstep? I live two doors down." He gestured vaguely with his box of cupcakes.
"Yeah, actually," the man said with friendly smile. "They're for you. Oh, I guess I should have put some allergen info in there. Hope you're not allergic to eggs or dairy. Or gluten. Or, I dunno, sugar or whatever the heck kids are allergic to these days. Man, that would suck to be allergic to sugar. There's no nuts in there. Not exactly a nut-free environment in here, though."
"Um. Any particular reason you would leave cupcakes on my doorstep?"
"Nope, not really. Just baked some extras. Thought you might like them. Hi, I'm Duo."
"Oh. Heero."
"Cool. Nice to meet ya, Heero." They shook hands.
"I, uh, guessed they might have something to do with you. I... smell delicious things coming from your apartment sometimes."
"Aw, sorry about that, man. Bad habit of mine, baking stuff. More than I can eat alone. Lucky I've got a bunch of gluttonous co-workers that're always happy to stuff this stuff into their bellies for me."
"No, it's great. It... smells delicious."
"Yeah? Cool. Hey, what do you like? I'll make you something."
"Oh, uh, no, that's really not necessary..."
"No really. I'm gonna have a bad habit, I might as well channel it into something useful."
"I... don't really have a sweet tooth."
"Nothing too sweet. Got it. Hey, are the cupcakes okay for you? I don't think I go overboard with the sugar, but everyone's got their own taste."
"I haven't tried one yet. I just got home from work..."
"Oh, yeah, totally. No problem. Save 'em for dessert, maybe. Or bring 'em to work."
Heero nodded, wondering if he was lying. He really didn't have much of a sweet tooth, but it didn't seem right to just toss them. "If you don't mind my asking... How long were they sitting out here?"
"Hmm? Oh, I dunno, about... two hours? No offense, but you work a little late, don't ya?"
"Oh. Do you know if, um, anyone came by during that time?"
"Came by? What, came by and poisoned them or something?"
"Well... Yes. Something like that."
Duo gave him a strange look.
"I am not in the habit of eating food that's just been left out in public unattended. Someone could have, I don't know, passed by and sneezed on them or something."
"That's what the lid's for. And no, I didn't hear anyone skulking on by in the last couple of hours. That's probably what the locked gate outside is for. Unless you've pissed someone off inside the complex, in which case, well, lemme know and I'll bake you something to give them. Baked goods can go a long way toward smoothing out personal differences. You wanna poison them first, though, that's your problem."
"Sorry. Doesn't hurt to be careful..."
Duo waved it off. "Hey, tell you what. I'll trade ya your possibly-adulterated cupcakes for some fresh ones inside. I promise nothing weird's happened to them. Unless you're just looking for an excuse to get rid of them. Hey, I do savory, too. I've got something savory on for dinner, should be done in, oh, ten minutes? Got any plans for dinner?"
Heero blinked. "Dinner?"
"I can just spoon some out for you, if you want to take it home, or you can join me for dinner. I'd love the company. We can eat cupcakes for dessert." He perceived Heero's uncertainty over the offer and chuckled. "Baked goods are a great way to meet new people, too."
"Well...." Now that Duo mentioned it, he could indeed smell something delicious coming from within the apartment. He thought about the meager offerings of his own refrigerator and was tempted.
"Hey, we're neighbors. Neighbors should get to know each other, eh?"
Tempted and utterly swayed. "Alright. Dinner."
"And dessert." Duo winked.
Tags: fic_holiday, fic_shorts, fic_two_doors_down, gw
