Green eyes stirred from Nótt's embrace as he awoke. They focused on the window across the room, where he could see blots of white lazily falling beyond the fogged glass. His eyes shifted to the red-green-yellow-blue glow of the Christmas tree and he let out a sigh. It was Christmas Morning.

And he was alone.

Which he knew was a bit strange, as when he'd fallen asleep on the couch on Christmas Eve there'd been a second person beside him, who'd been hugging him contently after an intimate night together. On top of that when they had fallen asleep, the fairy lights on the Christmas tree had been off.

"Jack? Hello?" he lethargically called out, the temptation to close his eyes and catch a few more minutes, or a half hour; or an hour of sleep was more than a little appealing.

The cozy quiet of the room was gently disturbed by the sound of tiny metal bells jingling, and as music started to play from their Jukebox-themed CD player.

"Have yourself, a merry little Christmas, let your heart be light…"

The tinkle of bells sounded again, and Hamish turned his head toward the back of the couch, where a Santa hat had just appeared over the upholstered rim. The hat rose to reveal a few roguish strands of snow-white hair, followed by a dark pair of eyebrows and a pair of azure eyes, dancing with silent laughter.

"Good morning. Merry Christmas."

" …Next year all our troubles will be out of sight."

"Merry Christmas." he greeted in return, smiling a tired smile. "I missed waking up next to you."

Jack's eyes looked apologetic. "Sorry, I had to wrap your present."

"Have yourself, a merry little Christmas, Make the Yule-tide gay…"

Hamish's brows furrowed in confusion, and he turned a little to face Jack more easily; the motion causing the blanket to slip down a little, revealing the auburn-haired man's bare chest.

"Wrap? We wrapped everything yesterday afternoon."

"Not everything." he could hear the smirk in Jack's voice, and the other man rose to full height, revealing his bare upper body and stomach. As he did so, the bells jingled again.

"…Next year all our troubles will be miles away."

Hamish's brows furrowed further. "Wait… where're the bells? They're not on your hat."

Jack smirked again as he walked out from behind the couch, the bells ringing with each step. Hamish blushed profusely when the rest of his boyfriend's body came into view, and his face wasn't the only place the blood rushed to.

"Merry Christmas." Jack said again, even he was red in the cheeks.

"Once again as in olden days, Happy golden days of yore…"

"I don't believe you." Hamish covered his face with his hands, more amused than horrified. Jack had somehow managed to carefully wrap his most intimate body part in shiny, red wrapping paper, with silver garland wrapped in a bow facing toward the man on the couch.

The finishing touch however, was the metal ring he was wearing, which had two bells attached to it.

"Want me to-"

"Don't say it!" Hamish held up one hand to stop the blue-eyed man, and used the other to adjust the blanket. "You say 'give it to you' and you'll be finding coal shoved in a very uncomfortable place."

"Faithful friends who are dear to use, Will be near to us once more…"

Jack wiggled his eyebrows, and then gave his pelvis a bit of a shake, making the bells rattle. "Careful, I might enjoy it."

"Someday soon, we all will be together… if the fates allow…"

Hamish shook his head, a lopsided smile on his face. "Are those brass?" he nodded at the bells. "You might want to be careful; it's cold enough outside to freeze them off."

"Until then, we'll have to muddle through somehow…"

"So, do you like your present?"

Hamish mulled over the question, and he then pulled the blanket back. "Does that answer your question?"

Jack smiled. "Just what I wanted, how did you know?" he clambered onto the couch so that he was straddling his boyfriend.

"So have yourself a merry little Christmas now…"

"I know what you like." Hamish smiled, and then kissed the other man on the lips. After a while he began to unwrap Jack, and after discarding the paper and ribbon, he carefully removed the bells. "Do I even want to know where you got these?"

Jack kissed him, and took the bells, dropping them onto the floor along with his hat. "A website. You should've seen some of the things they had for Christmas. The ring wasn't the only thing with bells on it."

"Once again, as in olden days, Happy golden days, of yore…"

Hamish chuckled. "Ideas, ideas. Something to think about for next year, then."

Jack laughed against his companion's lips. "Yeah."

"Faithful friends who are dear to use, Will be near to us once more…"

"When do we need to be at your parents?" Hamish asked, between kisses.

"Oh, not for a few hours. Plenty of time to kiss all my favourite bits of you under the mistletoe."

"Please tell me you don't actually have one with mistletoe attached to it."

They rolled over on the couch. "No, no. They don't sell anything perishable. They did have a stocking that I could slip over my-"

"Someday soon, we all will be together… if the fates allow…"

Hamish interrupted him with another kiss on the lips, and Jack smiled. He then began to place kisses on Hamish's neck, and then continued to trail them down his chest.

Hamish gasped as Jack's lips reached a very tender spot. "Fu-fuck. Please behave yourself when we're at Mom and Dad's later."

"Until then, we'll have to muddle through somehow…"

Jack removed his lips for a moment and gave his lover a wicked grin. "I promise nothing. Merry Christmas, Hic."

Hamish smiled back. "Merry Christma-ah-hah-sh-shit!"