Calling.

Marco easily freaks out every time he receives a call. Freak out, as in he wants to throw his phone to the wall when he hears its ring tone. He once thought the anxiety would disappeared after he grew up, yet he's in his forties now and the fear remains unchanged, only he becomes better at hiding it. When the screen blinks and the incoming call is announced, whatever he's doing, his heart almost stops. All Marco can think is 'oh my lord why can't they text?' He mentally wishes for whoever calling would hang up and choose texting instead. Taking a very deep breath, Marco picks up the phone, praying to the universe he won't sputter on his words. His heart accelerates when he hits the receive button.

Ace, in contrast, is the 'why wasting your time texting when you can say it out' kind of person. His habit of calling bothers Marco a lot when they first get to know each other. Sometimes, after a long day of work, Marco's energy is drained and he's in no mood of talking. At those times, picking up a phone is equivalent to being tortured. Ace rants a lot, and even Marco himself finds his responses bland and unsupportive, but he's just too tired to fake his excitement. Along the line, he notices Ace's tone becomes less and less eager, and it makes him feel so bad. Marco hates himself when he's like this, so tired for a simple call, yet still desperate to maintain their relationship.

Then Ace begins to change his greeting from 'Hey there, Marco' to 'Hey there, Marco. It's so great to hear your voice'.

"Listen, I know you dislikes calling, but I want to talk to you so much, so I'll wrap it really quick. I-"

A simple opening, but it melts Marco's heart. Slowly, but firmly, Ace becomes an important part of his life, an exception.

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Caffeine.

Ace doesn't like coffee. One, caffeine makes him dizzy, and two, he has a terrible sweet tooth. At the age of twenty-two, Ace's favorite beverage is strawberry smoothie.

He's never thought that one day he'd craved for coffee.

Marco is a coffee man. He can't function well without at least three cups of coffee a day.

Their first kiss tasted like coffee, and Ace finally understood why people said caffeine is addictive. The bitterness makes his body trembling in joy and drowns his heart in endless warmth. The world becomes a foreign concept until they part, and Ace loves licking the aftertaste lingering on his lips.

Sometimes he wonders if Marco feels the same about strawberry flavor.

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Hair.

Ace loves playing with Marco's hair. Running his fingers through the blond strands while they exchange a passionate kiss is his daily dose of joy. Marco knows this habit of his beloved, so he takes keeping his hair in good condition very serious. It's not like he spends hours in the mall for hair products, but he's careful with the chemicals, and always makes sure his hair is clean.

One day, when he's about to take a shower, he finds a gray hair; its color alone stings him in his eyes. Marco keeps staring at the grayish strand until he hears Ace playing with Stefan in the living room. He lets out a sigh as he sits on the bathtub and thinks about the person on the other side of the door.

Sure he can apply as much shampoo and conditioner as he want, but he can never resist the cruelty of time. At the end of the day, the chemicals only slow down the aging, or worse, gives him the illusion that he can fool his aging. The flimsy gray hair is a vivid reminder that he's getting old, and what's within his reach right now may flip through his fingers in the near future. In the next five years, he'll become a cranky middle-aged man while Ace's still in the glory of his youth. Can he really hope they'll remain the same as they always are?

Suddenly happiness becomes too surreal. The hair is real. A light strand of hair weighting down his heart.

Marco had expected the cause for his mid-life crisis would be insurances and health problems, not a single strand of hair.

He has a dream where he wakes up and finds his hair turning to white. Then he becomes panic and tries millions way to make himself blond again, even dying it with paint. It's silly, Marco knows, Ace won't leave him because his hair has drained out of color. Yet the thought of Ace stops liking one of his feature because he's getting old is really unnerving.

Except it isn't a dream. Marco opens his eyes and finds the bed covered in white hair. Chill runs down his spine. Marco immediately rushes to the bathroom to check his hair. His hair is still blond, but that's not enough to put his heart at ease, so he keeps checking over and over again.

"Marco? You're up?" He hears Ace calls for him, "What're you doing?"

"Plucking my gray hair."

"Really?" Ace reaches out and runs his hand on Marco's hair, the touch sends shiver over his scalp, "Don't see anything, you look wonderful. If you're still worried, I'll help out you later. Now help me with Stefan's fur. The boy's been shedding everywhere."

Marco dumbfounds and follows Ace to the living room. Stefan is snoring happily in his bed. Meanwhile, not only the floor, but the whole sofa is covered in white fur.

"I saw him ran out from our bedroom, so we need to check our bed too," Ace purses his lips, "And get him a new brand of shampoo."

The gray hair anchoring Marco's heart slowly fades away when he and Ace cooperate to bathe their son.

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I sometimes have random ideas that aren't enough to develop to a completed story, but I still want to write them out so much, so here's a collection of random drabbles/short stories no one asks for. Most of them will be slice of life, hurt/comfort and fluff (aka my cup of tea).

If you're interested, send me random word and I'll see what I can come up with ^^