There was only the very lightest dusting of snow, despite the fact that it was positively cold as balls outside, and also December 23rd. Every street light was adorned with a wreath, and spindly, bare trees had lights carefully hung on every branch. Almost every house was ready for Christmas, which was good, since it was already December 23rd.
Almost every house.
Within their little one-story abode, Marco and Ace have been running around all day trying to get into the spirit, albeit a month later than their neighbors.
"Shit, fuck, god damn; we do this every year why do we do this every year?! Ace, next year I swear to god we're getting this done before Thanksgiving!"
"THAT'S WHAT YOU SAID LAST YEAR! It's your responsibility to get my ass in gear, with decorating, I mean. I can't focus on anything till it's almost too late!"
"Get your own ass in gear, stop blaming me, and string the lights already! Oh wow, just listen to us. I'll make some hot chocolate or something. We're getting too pissed off too quickly here; maybe we need a break..."
At that, Ace nearly fell off his stepladder. He'd only been suggesting a break for the past 3 hours. It was already 9:30 for god's sake, and standing on a ladder putting up lights that always found new ways to get tangled, while arguing with Marco wasn't how he wanted to be spending his nights this close to Christmas.
An uncomfortable silence settled in the living room once Marco left for the kitchen, and it was then that all of the little aches and pains Ace had accumulated throughout the day of frantic decorating decided to settle in at once: His back hurt from hauling boxes from the basement, his arms hurt from rigging up who knows how many strands of lights, his neck hurt from craning it up all evening to make sure the lights and ornaments were secure. Everything just hurt.
A small area of empty carpet beckoned him and his feet felt so heavy that they just dropped down each rung of the ladder. Soon, he found himself curled up in a small empty area by the fireplace, eyes falling shut.
Footsteps could be heard from the kitchen, as well as a small click and radio static before the first few notes of that Michael Buble cover crackled to life.
Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but the fiiiire is sooooo delightful...
Their half-decorated Christmas tree stood twinkling in the glow of the fireplace and streetlights outside. There were boxes of ornaments, lights, garlands, and those stupid shiny icicles that always got tangled in Ace's hair covering every available piece of furniture, which left Marco trying to squeeze in next to Ace's tiny nest of boxes.
He handed Ace a mug of hot chocolate, who gulped down half of it in one mouthful. Heat never seemed to bother Ace and it has always been funny to Marco. They sat shoulder-to-shoulder in front of the fireplace, looking out at the dozens of boxes of glass shapes and tinsel and bows.
"When'd we even get all this junk? I don't remember having this much last time," Ace whined quietly, rubbing his arm, "And is it really necessary to get such a huge-ass tree every year? What's wrong with having Christmas shrubbery? It'd be a hell of a lot easier to decorate. My arms might snap off if I have to reach around this sucker any more, I'm not like my brother, you know. My arms can't stretch like that."
"Complain all you like; you know you love doing this. Come next week, you'll drag all the boxes back out and try to fill every empty spot. Remember how much you weighed the last tree down? Poor thing almost snapped in half."
"Maybe that wouldn't have happened if we didn't have so many goddamned ornaments. Where did you even get these things?"
Marco laughed, chin on one hand, hot chocolate steaming away in the other, and eyelids drooping slightly, "Hm, maybe you're right about that. A good few of these were from your mother, actually—most of the twisty metal ones, if I'm not mistaken."
Ace's face visibly softened, and he smiled sadly. "She did always like the sparkly stuff. Our trees when I was little were more like balls of glitter with some green here and there. At least we had the Christmas shrubs, unlike you, who has to have everything tall and long. Oh, now I guess I know why you're with me."
"Dream on, shrimp," Marco retorted, shoving Ace with his shoulder. "It's just plain depressing to have a tree-topper at eye level. Any tree shorter than you is Charlie Brown-tier, if you ask me."
"I didn't hear anyone asking you."
"Yeah, yeah, alright, break time's over. Let's finish this up, we've been at this for God knows how long and I'm starting to get tired." sighed Marco, standing up and stretching and joints cracking all the way up. Ace snickered at this, jumping up off their tiny area of the floor.
"You've got no stamina these days, old man. It's only been a few hours, this is nothing." He boasted, stretching his arms, wincing slightly when they started aching again. "Let me at this stuff and I'll have it done in 10 seconds flat, guaranteed. Now hand me those balls.
"Hey now, focus on the tree. I may not have interior decorating stamina but that doesn't mean I'm inept when it comes to everything."
"Hilarious. Just hand me some ornaments, pineapple-head, so we can be done with this for tonight. I don't wanna leave this for tomorrow! I refuse to lose to a plant."
"Who're you calling 'pineapple-head', freckle-face?" Marco said with a grin, handing Ace a small carved heart ornament, marked "M+A".
When we finally kiss goodnight, how I'll hate goin' out in the storm...
Ace flashed him a playful smile and turned to find just the right spot for his favorite decoration. Marco's eyes wandered over to an open box filled with mostly wreaths and garlands, but another type of greenery caught his eye, and he regarded it with a smirk.
When he was sure that Ace had his back turned, he reached over and plucked the mistletoe out of the box and hid it behind his back.
Ace was still searching for just the right spot for the gift his younger brother had made for them 4 years ago, when he felt a tap on his shoulder followed by a, "Hey, freckle-face".
But as long as you love me so...
He turned around intending to stick his tongue out at his better half, only to see him standing there with a sprig of fucking mistletoe held above his head.
Marco had that sleepy smile on his face that was oh-so contagious, and Ace returned it with his own brand of ever-present enthusiasm.
Let it snow!
"You're just a big dork, pineapple-head, you know that?"
"Takes one to know one, freckle-face." he murmured, wagging the mistletoe in his lover's face.
Let it snow!
Ace's smile reached ear to ear as he leaned in and whispered,
"I love you, Marco. Merry Christmas."
"Love you too, Ace." he murmured in reply as they closed the gap between them in the glow of their almost-decorated Christmas tree.
Let it snow!
boy that was corny i am up to my eyebrows in corn right now
this was written for the 25 days of fic challenge thing on tumblr and is currently the only day i've finished
this is my first attempt at writing fanfiction so i would really appreciate some feedback and critique
also thanks for reading!