Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing, and am making no money off of this fic.

AN: Written for the March 9th Cocktail Party prompt: "Somebody please pass the birthday cake and the tequila."

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Tequila, Cake, and Blankets by luvsanime02

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Wufei looked around, a pinched expression on his face. "Somebody please pass the birthday cake and tequila," he croaked out. Just hearing that much was enough for Duo to wince. Wufei's throat sounded like he'd scraped it raw. Then again, given the amount of coughing Wufei had been doing recently, he probably had.

"Still sick, huh?" Relena asked sympathetically. Wufei let out a loud sneeze at that moment that obviously hurt a great deal by the way his eyes reflexively watered. He blew his nose, the skin around his nostrils visibly chapped and peeling.

Duo poured some tequila into a glass and handed it over, because no one deserved to feel this crappy on their birthday. Wufei gave him a look of deep thanks, and practically chugged the drink down, obviously uncaring if his throat was burned from the alcohol.

"You really shouldn't be mixing that with your medication," Sally said, raising her own glass and taking a much more moderate drink from it.

"Don't care," Wufei said, and coughed. Just once, but the sound was deep and dry, and Duo winced. Sick people were such a mystery to him. He was so thankful that he'd never had that experience. It was probably best not to mention that to Wufei right now, though.

"He's thirty and miserable," Trowa said from where he was sprawled out across an armchair, his legs thrown over an armrest and his head dangling over the other one. He lifted his head up just far enough to take a sip of his own drink. "Let him get trashed."

Wufei tried to glare menacingly at the reminder of his new age. He didn't look very scary, with his nose starting to drip and his eyes bleary. Gross and pathetic, yes, but definitely not scary. "You're older than me," Wufei grumbled at Trowa, and finally shuffled over to his couch and sat down, pulling up his legs underneath him and burrowing into the cushion.

Heero, cutting the cake and putting a piece on a plate, walked over and handed it to Wufei. He then pulled an afghan blanket off of the back of the couch and laid it over Wufei. Duo snorted at the fussing, but didn't say anything. Wufei just looked too miserable right now, and Heero was immune to embarrassment, as far as Duo could tell.

At least they'd arranged beforehand to have Wufei's birthday party here at his apartment, and not out somewhere. For once, Wufei's desire to avoid anyone but his friends on his birthday had worked out in his favor.

"As far as we both know," Trowa agreed, not seeming upset in the slightest to be a whole year older than Wufei. Not that Trowa had ever cared about his age, as far as Duo knew, beyond being surprised to have lived this long. Duo could relate.

"I'm older than both of you," Sally shot back, and raised a challenging eyebrow at Wufei, silently daring him to make something of it. Wufei wisely chose to stuff his mouth with some cake instead.

"Quatre's here," Heero said into the temporary quiet.

Duo turned to look towards the door, and about fifteen seconds later, there was a knock. He gave Heero a look. "You do know that's creepy, right?" he asked, just to watch Heero roll his eyes at him. Duo had no idea if Heero had hacked into Quatre's shuttle's flight schedule and figured out the time of his arrival, or if he'd somehow sensed when Quatre had walked into the building. Maybe Heero had heard the front door open. Twelve stories below. None of those options would actually surprise Duo, and he didn't bother asking which was true. He walked over to the door to let Quatre in.

"Happy Birthday, Wufei!" Quatre said when he walked into the room, only to stop abruptly and blink in bemusement.

Duo turned around and looked too, and had to stifle a laugh. Apparently, in the time it took Duo to open the door, Wufei had passed out. He was huddled into the blanket, his half-eaten piece of cake and glass of tequila thankfully left on the coffee table in front of him. Duo quickly pulled out his phone and took a picture.

"Ah, I guess I'll talk to him later?" Quatre said, half-questioning.

"There's cake," Heero offered, holding out another piece. Quatre took it gratefully, and the rest of them spent the next hour or so demolishing most of the cake and finishing off the bottle of tequila. Wufei slept through the rest of the party, with everyone doing their best not to disturb him.

All in all, it wasn't a bad birthday party, and Wufei would probably be relieved to wake up later and find out that the whole day was already over and done with. After he cursed and worked out the sore muscles in his neck, because none of them had tried to move him into a more comfortable position, knowing it would only wake Wufei up.

Everyone else left, and Duo was the last one out the door, locking it behind him. He hoped like hell that Wufei was feeling better come Monday, or working with him definitely wasn't going to be fun. Duo didn't hold out any hope that Wufei would just stay home and recover, either.

Then Duo took out his phone and looked at the picture he'd taken of Wufei drooling on his own hair, and couldn't fight back a smirk. No, the party hadn't been a waste of time at all. Duo couldn't wait to show this picture to Wufei later. Once the guy was feeling better, of course.