[Crossworld] Silver Bells
Dec. 26th, 2014 09:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
n_wilkinsona/n: Meant to post this yesterday. Completely forgot in the wake of family and celebration. Enjoy!
Title: Silver Bells
Universe: Crossworld
Characters: Azriel, Kieran, Gale, Ione, Frost, Sleet, Sander, Jasper, Ethan, Jaiden, Janus, Alcaeus
Rating: T
Warnings: fluff, elements of dom/sub
Description: What is Christmas without a little tinsel?
It takes them an hour to haul every last box from the attic. There are bins and bins of decorations and Kieran is a bit of a pat rack. He refuses to throw away anything and they like to reuse boxes and bags from year to year. And every year, they add something new to the mix.
Azriel shakes his head, an amused grin on his lips. When they first moved into this house, they had one box of memories. Now they have twelve.
“I just don't think we have enough,” Kieran says as he plants his hands on his hips, surveying their bounty of bulbs, ornaments, lights, wrapping paper, wreaths, stockings, and so many other accessories.
Azriel laughs. “I'm actually thinking that we could open a store at this point.”
Kieran blows him a raspberry. “Shouldn't you be doing something useful.”
“I thought I was.” But Azriel knows his part to play. He turns on the stereo and puts in their Christmas CD, the same they've been using since they moved in.
It always opens with All I Want for Christmas is You. Kieran loves to sing along. It's a pity his vocals leave much to be desired. But it's cute to watch him dance around the den, putting up decorations as he bebops to the popular tune.
“And now Christmas can begin!” Kieran announces with a wink before he starts digging. There will be ornaments and detritus over the den before long.
Azriel chuckles and retreats to the kitchen where he prepares to make hot chocolate by scratch, another Christmas staple. Soon enough he'll be drafted into the decorating nonsense, but he'll take this moment of peace for what it is, a brief breath of sanity.
Because the rest of the afternoon will be spent decorating every spare inch of their house, inside and out.
Meanwhile...
“I like blue.”
Sander tilts his head. “But I like gold.”
“We could do both.”
“That sounds like a lot of work.”
Jasper wrinkles his nose and looks adorable when he does this. Sander resists the urge to kiss him in public. People tend to frown on that, no matter the gender.
“It's going to be work no matter what we do,” Jasper corrects and grabs a plastic bin that holds an assortment of colors. “We could be traditional and make it a colorful mess.”
“And show that we have no taste?”
Jasper arches a brow. “Our furniture doesn't match. Our tree is pre-lit. Our chestnuts are roasting over a space heater. How much taste do you think we need?”
He has a point. “Fine.” Sander grabs another box, this one with a nice assortment of ornaments with cheerful cartoon characters smiling from their painted faces. “These too, then.”
“God, it's going to be the most hideous tree anyone has ever seen.” Jasper grins. “I can't wait.” He pauses, and then his eyes light up. “We'll definitely need tinsel then.”
“No tinsel,” Sander says, throwing another set of three ornaments into their basket.
“Why not?”
“Too flammable.”
Jasper shakes his head. “What is with you and fire?”
Meanwhile...
“This one was a gift from my grandmother,” Janus explains as he considers the tree and then, with precise calculation, hangs the stone-carved ornament from a sturdy branch.
Alcaeus looks into the box. His job is not to hang the ornaments. Oh, no. Janus has a very precise method for doing that. Each one of them has a place. There will be no random placement.
Alcaeus' job is to hand Janus an ornament from the box, a task made more difficult since every ornament has a history and has been wrapped in bubble-wrap from year to year.
“And this one?” Alcaeus asks as he unwraps a gold angel, spilling glitter all over his lap and favorite sweater.
“Hmm.” Janus plucks it from his hand, mouth forming a moue of consideration. “My secretary. Last year. She felt I needed a guardian angel.” He smirks at Alcaeus. “I suppose I should thank her since I met you less than a month later.”
“It was destiny then?”
“It was something.” Janus turns toward the tree, giving it a critical look.
Alcaeus distracts himself by unwrapping the next ornament. They'll be at this all day at this rate. And there's still the rest of the house to go.
Fun times.
Meanwhile...
There is nothing quite so tedious as attempting to string popcorn, Gale thinks. He squints at the greasy corn – they'd forgotten to get the unbuttered kind – and tries to thread the needle through it. He fails.
Beside him, a crunch is a testament to Ione's own failure.
“You're not supposed to be eating it,” he tells her, the bowl between them half-full and their string not even a third of the way completed.
“We can pop more,” she says, leaning over to give him a kiss on the cheek.
Gale raises a brow. “This is already our second bag.”
“Really?” Ione affects a look of utter innocence. “Martha Stewart I am not, apparently.”
Gale laughs and gives up on the popcorn string.
Meanwhile...
“I don't think this is what garland is supposed to be used for,” Sleet murmurs, giving a testing tug to the greenery wrapped around his wrists. It has some give to it. He could snap it if he wanted to.
He just doesn't want to.
Frost leans over him, eyes dark and dangerous. “You bought four trees,” he says, and drags a hand down Sleet's chest.
He shivers. He's fully clothed but Frost has a way of looking at him that makes Sleet feel as though he's walking around nude.
“You gave me the credit card,” Sleet reminds him.
“And clearly you can't be trusted with it.” Frost's fingers linger at the strip of skin bared between Sleet's shirt and jeans.
Sleet sucks in a breath, hips pressing upward hopefully. Frost pushes him back down, ignoring the bulge in Sleet's denim.
“You are to be punished, not rewarded,” Frost says.
Sleet sweeps his tongue over his lips. “Then I can't wait until you see what else I got,” he groans, mind filled with pleasant images.
Totally worth it.
Meanwhile...
“Does it tilt a little to the left?”
Ethan folds his arms and peers at the tree, newly installed in their stand. He tilts his head. “No. I think the tree is just crooked.”
Jaiden plays with the star, twirling it in his fingers. “The star will fall off.”
Ethan squints. “It should be okay. Maybe.” He glances down at their mismatched collection of ornaments and their Crayola-colored lights. “And even if it does fall off, well, who can blame it?” He'd want to escape from that sad excuse of a Christmas tree, too.
His partner laughs and steps forward, gamely placing the star on the top of the tree. They hold their collective breaths as he steps back, waiting to see if it falls.
It tilts a little to the right. But it stays.
“There,” Jaiden says, planting his hands on his hips. “Now. As long as we don't jump around--”
“--or there's an earthquake.”
“Or an earthquake,” Jaiden amends. “It should be just fine.”
Together they eye the star. It tilts a little further.
Well, beggars can't be choosers.
****
a/n: Feedback is always welcome and appreciated! Ideas for further Crossworld fics are always welcome as well and they don't have to be holiday themed either. :)
Title: Silver Bells
Universe: Crossworld
Characters: Azriel, Kieran, Gale, Ione, Frost, Sleet, Sander, Jasper, Ethan, Jaiden, Janus, Alcaeus
Rating: T
Warnings: fluff, elements of dom/sub
Description: What is Christmas without a little tinsel?
It takes them an hour to haul every last box from the attic. There are bins and bins of decorations and Kieran is a bit of a pat rack. He refuses to throw away anything and they like to reuse boxes and bags from year to year. And every year, they add something new to the mix.
Azriel shakes his head, an amused grin on his lips. When they first moved into this house, they had one box of memories. Now they have twelve.
“I just don't think we have enough,” Kieran says as he plants his hands on his hips, surveying their bounty of bulbs, ornaments, lights, wrapping paper, wreaths, stockings, and so many other accessories.
Azriel laughs. “I'm actually thinking that we could open a store at this point.”
Kieran blows him a raspberry. “Shouldn't you be doing something useful.”
“I thought I was.” But Azriel knows his part to play. He turns on the stereo and puts in their Christmas CD, the same they've been using since they moved in.
It always opens with All I Want for Christmas is You. Kieran loves to sing along. It's a pity his vocals leave much to be desired. But it's cute to watch him dance around the den, putting up decorations as he bebops to the popular tune.
“And now Christmas can begin!” Kieran announces with a wink before he starts digging. There will be ornaments and detritus over the den before long.
Azriel chuckles and retreats to the kitchen where he prepares to make hot chocolate by scratch, another Christmas staple. Soon enough he'll be drafted into the decorating nonsense, but he'll take this moment of peace for what it is, a brief breath of sanity.
Because the rest of the afternoon will be spent decorating every spare inch of their house, inside and out.
“I like blue.”
Sander tilts his head. “But I like gold.”
“We could do both.”
“That sounds like a lot of work.”
Jasper wrinkles his nose and looks adorable when he does this. Sander resists the urge to kiss him in public. People tend to frown on that, no matter the gender.
“It's going to be work no matter what we do,” Jasper corrects and grabs a plastic bin that holds an assortment of colors. “We could be traditional and make it a colorful mess.”
“And show that we have no taste?”
Jasper arches a brow. “Our furniture doesn't match. Our tree is pre-lit. Our chestnuts are roasting over a space heater. How much taste do you think we need?”
He has a point. “Fine.” Sander grabs another box, this one with a nice assortment of ornaments with cheerful cartoon characters smiling from their painted faces. “These too, then.”
“God, it's going to be the most hideous tree anyone has ever seen.” Jasper grins. “I can't wait.” He pauses, and then his eyes light up. “We'll definitely need tinsel then.”
“No tinsel,” Sander says, throwing another set of three ornaments into their basket.
“Why not?”
“Too flammable.”
Jasper shakes his head. “What is with you and fire?”
“This one was a gift from my grandmother,” Janus explains as he considers the tree and then, with precise calculation, hangs the stone-carved ornament from a sturdy branch.
Alcaeus looks into the box. His job is not to hang the ornaments. Oh, no. Janus has a very precise method for doing that. Each one of them has a place. There will be no random placement.
Alcaeus' job is to hand Janus an ornament from the box, a task made more difficult since every ornament has a history and has been wrapped in bubble-wrap from year to year.
“And this one?” Alcaeus asks as he unwraps a gold angel, spilling glitter all over his lap and favorite sweater.
“Hmm.” Janus plucks it from his hand, mouth forming a moue of consideration. “My secretary. Last year. She felt I needed a guardian angel.” He smirks at Alcaeus. “I suppose I should thank her since I met you less than a month later.”
“It was destiny then?”
“It was something.” Janus turns toward the tree, giving it a critical look.
Alcaeus distracts himself by unwrapping the next ornament. They'll be at this all day at this rate. And there's still the rest of the house to go.
Fun times.
There is nothing quite so tedious as attempting to string popcorn, Gale thinks. He squints at the greasy corn – they'd forgotten to get the unbuttered kind – and tries to thread the needle through it. He fails.
Beside him, a crunch is a testament to Ione's own failure.
“You're not supposed to be eating it,” he tells her, the bowl between them half-full and their string not even a third of the way completed.
“We can pop more,” she says, leaning over to give him a kiss on the cheek.
Gale raises a brow. “This is already our second bag.”
“Really?” Ione affects a look of utter innocence. “Martha Stewart I am not, apparently.”
Gale laughs and gives up on the popcorn string.
“I don't think this is what garland is supposed to be used for,” Sleet murmurs, giving a testing tug to the greenery wrapped around his wrists. It has some give to it. He could snap it if he wanted to.
He just doesn't want to.
Frost leans over him, eyes dark and dangerous. “You bought four trees,” he says, and drags a hand down Sleet's chest.
He shivers. He's fully clothed but Frost has a way of looking at him that makes Sleet feel as though he's walking around nude.
“You gave me the credit card,” Sleet reminds him.
“And clearly you can't be trusted with it.” Frost's fingers linger at the strip of skin bared between Sleet's shirt and jeans.
Sleet sucks in a breath, hips pressing upward hopefully. Frost pushes him back down, ignoring the bulge in Sleet's denim.
“You are to be punished, not rewarded,” Frost says.
Sleet sweeps his tongue over his lips. “Then I can't wait until you see what else I got,” he groans, mind filled with pleasant images.
Totally worth it.
“Does it tilt a little to the left?”
Ethan folds his arms and peers at the tree, newly installed in their stand. He tilts his head. “No. I think the tree is just crooked.”
Jaiden plays with the star, twirling it in his fingers. “The star will fall off.”
Ethan squints. “It should be okay. Maybe.” He glances down at their mismatched collection of ornaments and their Crayola-colored lights. “And even if it does fall off, well, who can blame it?” He'd want to escape from that sad excuse of a Christmas tree, too.
His partner laughs and steps forward, gamely placing the star on the top of the tree. They hold their collective breaths as he steps back, waiting to see if it falls.
It tilts a little to the right. But it stays.
“There,” Jaiden says, planting his hands on his hips. “Now. As long as we don't jump around--”
“--or there's an earthquake.”
“Or an earthquake,” Jaiden amends. “It should be just fine.”
Together they eye the star. It tilts a little further.
Well, beggars can't be choosers.
a/n: Feedback is always welcome and appreciated! Ideas for further Crossworld fics are always welcome as well and they don't have to be holiday themed either. :)
