Sooooo I actually wrote this last year but never quite polished it off... I really should have been organised and got it out before Christmas this year, but oh well. For anyone reading my main Bleach fic 'Evolution Devolution' it hasn't been discontinued so much as... majorly stalled. Writing just seems to have fallen off my list of skills, or perhaps some of the things I'm trying are a bit more than I can handle, and I need to try and get myself started again on some easy stuff :P
Anyway. Because Gino, Anya and Suzaku rule. The only downside is, you can only pick two characters on the list...
"Suzakuuuuuuu!"
Is it morning already? The Japanese boy buries his face deeper into the pillow, trying to hold on to sleep.
"Wake up! It's Christmas!"
Oh…. no.
Suzaku rolls over and opens bleary eyes to see a far-too-awake Gino stood in the doorway, clearly just out of bed with his hair stuck up in several interesting ways and still dressed only in boxers and a t-shirt.
"Nnnnn?" he manages. Even after all his years in the army, Suzaku is NOT a morning person. Especially when he'd just gotten in from the front lines in Area Twelve late last night.
"Come on!" Gino gives him a brilliant grin. "Santa's been, you know!"
Anya, dressed in neat pink pyjamas, appears under the blonde's arm with a click of her camera phone.
"Recorded. Thank you," she tells the bleary Knight of Seven.
"Um…christmas?" Suzaku feels like he's missing some part of the plot here.
"Yep!" Gino's grin widens. "We heard you were due back last night, and I thought we could all have Christmas day together! After all none of us are going to our families so… Wait," The blonde gives him a worried look. "Were you… did you have plans for Christmas day?"
Suzaku finally manages to sit up as Anya snaps another photo.
"No," he yawns as he rubs his eyes. "We don't… I mean, we don't really see Christmas as that big a deal."
Anya's dark eyes fix on him. "You don't have Christmas?"
"Ummm… most Japanese aren't Christian so… not really."
"You don't have Christmas." The girl sounds somewhat disappointed.
"Oh…" Gino seems even more disappointed. "But… well, you can celebrate it with us anyway! We'll show you a real Britannian Christmas!" Within seconds, the irrepressible blonde is by the bed, pulling at Suzaku's arm. "Besides, I already planned everything, so you might as well come and open your presents with us!"
"Presents?" Suzaku is astounded.
"Presents," Anya confirms solemnly.
"It's not Christmas without presents. And I told you, Santa's been!" Gino drags the somewhat bemused brunette out into the small living space the three of them share, which is dominated by a bushy green tree rather over-enthusiastically decorated with a mismatching assortment of colourful baubles and lights.
Suzaku can't quite believe he didn't notice it last night, but he'd been so exhausted he'd simply wandered straight to his room without bothering to switch on the light. It was also quite amazing he hadn't managed to drive pine needles into his bare feet, given the number of them that litter the floor.
Gino finally releases him as they reach the sofa and quickly plonks himself down, while Anya reappears and presses a cup of tea into Suzaku's grateful hands, before settling herself on the chair beside the tree.
"You can pass them out, Anya! You open one first!" Gino encourages, and the girl reaches for one of the brightly coloured packages under the tree. Her hand skims over a couple before landing decisively on a pink-wrapped parcel.
"This one."
Suzaku is vaguely aware of Gino practically bouncing with excitement on the sofa beside him, as Anya pulls at the paper to reveal a small box.
"That one's from me!" Gino grins proudly at her as she turns it around to look at it. Suzaku catches a small smile on her normally stoic face as she holds up the box for him to see.
"It's an electronic photo frame! The guy in the shop showed me it… you can load all kinds of pictures on there and it shows them all like a slideshow!" Gino bubbles. "I thought you would like it, you can put all your favourite photos on it!"
"I like it," Anya nods, causing Gino to dive across the floor and almost knock the small girl off her armchair with an enthusiastic hug.
"Suzaku next!" he announces as he straightens up, grabbing a green-wrapped box from beneath the tree and offering it to the bemused Japanese.
"I…" Suzaku can feel his face burning. "I don't… I mean you shouldn't have…"
"Oh, be quiet," Gino rolls his eyes, then breaks into a winning smile. "Just relax. It is Christmas, after all!"
Suzaku reluctantly accepts the present, still feeling embarrassed. It hadn't even occurred to him, that the Britannians he lived with might buy him something. In Japan, only children got presents, and they were supposed to be from 'Santa'. It wasn't even a holiday, so he hadn't thought about it.
"Come on, open it!" Gino urges him impatiently, flopping down beside him and leaning over his shoulder excitedly.
Suzaku pauses, then decisively rips into the shiny paper, feeling wood and glass under his fingers. Beneath the paper is a simple wooden photo frame, the normal kind, not a fancy one like Anya's. Contained in the frame is a photograph, of the three Knights. Suzaku vaguely remembers it being taken, at one of the various court parties that Gino tended to drag them to. He can't even remember what the event was now – maybe the birthday of one of the numerous Princes or Princesses. Whoever had taken it had caught Suzaku in a rare moment, with a slight smile on his face, as Gino leaned in behind with one arm thrown across the smaller Knights shoulders, a beam on his face brighter than the flash of the camera itself. Anya stood just to the front left of them, her head turned toward the camera with the ghost of a smile flickering across her face.
"Nice," Anya, who had padded silently across the room, comments quietly.
"You don't have enough pictures in your room," Gino's arms squeeze around him from behind. "You should have pictures of your friends! Then maybe you would smile more, because it would make you think of happy things! Instead of pictures that make you sad… AH!"
The last was in response to Anya's slight kick to his shins. He looks up, indignantly, and the small girl nods toward Suzaku, who is still looking at the picture with a slightly suspicious sparkle to his eyes.
"Hey, do you like it?" Gino asks, getting worried.
"I…" Suzaku finally raises his head, looking between the two of them. "I… like it. A lot. Thanks you both, so much. I'm really glad…"
Gino shuts him up with a bear hug that knocks all the breath out of the boy, then jumps to his feet.
"My turn!" He announces with a grin, and heads for the tree. Crouching, he stares hard at all the presents. "I think I'll choose… this one… or maybe…. THIS ONE!" He selects a gold-wrapped present proudly.
"I wonder what it is…" Suzaku watches the blonde bemusedly as he turns the present over in his hands, shakes it beside his ear.
"Gino. It's in a box," Anya states with a roll of her eyes.
"Anyaaaaaaaa! Don't spoil the fun!" The Knight of Three sets the box down on his lap and finally tears into the gold paper.
Suzaku jumps at the almost-feminine squeal that erupts from the tall blonde.
"You found it! It's the only one I'm missing! Anya! You are an angel!" The pink-haired girl squeaks as Gino lifts her bodily from her seat and swings her around the room. Seconds after lowering her to the ground, Suzaku finds himself enveloped in a bear hug that crushes all the breath from his lungs.
"Gino…" He starts to protest, but the Britannian has already bounded back to heft the present excitedly.
"Optimus Prime!" Gino waves it at the Japanese boy. "The one where, if you add the smaller one in, you can make a BIGGER Optimus Prime! I've been after this for years!" He swings back towards Anya. "You're amazing! Where did you find it?"
"Ebay," states the Knight of Six flatly, as her camera phone records the image of an over-excited Gino. "You're going to knock Suzaku's tea over."
"Oh!" The blonde jumps backward away from the teacup on the floor – and straight into Arthur, who had been eyeing Suzaku's toes for a snack. "Woah… oops!"
Both Knight and Optimus Prime go crashing to the floor, sending the tree toppling over as well.
Suzaku can't think of anything to do except simply stare at the blonde, who is flat on his back and wide-eyed, one hand still held aloft to protect his precious Transformer figurine. The blonde meets his eyes somewhat sheepishly.
"Errrr…" he starts, only to be cut off by Anya's camera phone.
"Recorded. Thank you."
"A little help, here? Guys? This tree is heavy…. And prickly! Ow!"
I love Gino. He makes me smile. I suspect in person I'd ant to beat him over the head most of the time, but hey...
Hope you enjoyed reading :) Feedback welcomed as ever, whether you loved it, hated it, or just couldn't care less - hit the shiny review button, it makes me happy :)
A rather late merry christmas and happy 2012 to all of you!