For Odile.

Snow fell lightly from the clouded skies, leaving the three to walk in a whitened wonderland. Luna seemed to brighten up considerably with the weather, turning to them and saying, "Wow, it's really looking like Christmas around here. Isn't it pretty? And boy, you two look festive!"

The two glanced at each other. Derek smiled a bit.

Damion didn't. "I don't get it," he said, frowning.

"Red and green," Derek said.

Damion's eyes widened a bit. "Ah," he said. "Red..."

"...and green."

They shared the smile, now. Luna, watching them, also smiled.

"Aren't you two just so cute together?" she said, grinning. She reached out to the two, taking one boy's hand in each of her own, and they walked down the road together.

Their eyes reflected the shine that lit the winter town. Looping green cords, along which hung neatly arranged lights of red and green, ran along from tree to tree, from streetlight to streetlight, over the houses and across the sidewalk. They caught the light of the falling powdered white, and the snow glittered in its descent.

Derek felt Luna's hand gently squeeze his own. He turned to her, and she smiled at him, her eyes sparkling.

"Look!" she said, her breath forming fog. Her hand slipped from his grip, and she skipped a few steps in front of the two boys, spinning around and bathing in the colorful spread. The pitch of her laughs matched that of the quiet bells of the city. Her cheeks were flushed a light pink by the cold as she called out to them, "Look at all the snow!"

"It's snowing, it's snowing!" Damion cheered. He, too, bounded forward, scraping footprints into the crunching snow beneath him and unearthing the dark asphalt underneath. Derek watched, smiling, as the two danced along the street, scarves and hair aflutter in an attempt to match the their energy.

Few people walked along the sidewalk, but the few that did muttered amongst themselves. Derek walked by a couple that seemed glued together and couldn't help but overhear their conversation.

"People these days," the male muttered into the female's hair. "What are they, children?"

"Mm, I don't know," she replied into his chest. "Seems kinda cute."

"Pfft, cute. Sure, the girl is fine, but that other kid? Arceus, he must think he's five or something if he's gonna pull that off."

Derek's feet slowed to a stop. A cold block of ice seemed to enclose around his heart, and he knew it had nothing to do with the temperature.

"Oi," he growled, turning around to face the man, but he was cut off by a loud shout—

"DEEEEERRRRREEEEKKKK!"

—and an accompanying snowball to the face. Spluttering, he wheeled back, his arms flailing in an attempt to catch himself before he fell over. It was a vain effort, though, and his derriere hit the snow-covered street all the same.

He wiped his face dry with his sleeve and raised his eyes, scowling. He could hear Luna's laughter from down the street, even over the echoing footsteps of Damion's panicky sprint.

"Derek, Derek, Derek, are you—ack!"

The boy slipped along the road and lurched forward. For a split second, he froze in midair, surprise flitting across his face in the form of wide eyes and an open mouth. Then he plummeted and hit the ground.

Derek's mouth fell open.

Damion let out a very loud groan, his voice muffled by his sleeves. Derek felt himself regain control of his jaw, so he closed his mouth. It seemed the boy had saved his head with his arms.

Luna was over in a heartbeat. She skidded to a stop next to Damion, first, placing a hand on his head. "Y-you all right, Damion?"

"Mmmrghhhh..."

Derek pushed himself off the ground gingerly before he, too, wandered over to Damion's side. He winced with every step; pain stabbed at his tailbone, and his jeans felt soaked.

"Hey," he said, slowly kneeling next to Luna, "you all right, Damion?"

"It hurtsssss," the boy moaned.

"Where does it hurt?"

"Everywhere..."

Derek cast Luna a bemused look. "I don't think he hit his head, so he's probably fine. Do you think we should just lift him back to the Pokémon Center?"

"Y-yeah... Here, let's just...um..."

Derek didn't hear her next words. He was too distracted by a very specific sound: laughter. He looked around in indignation, only for his entire body to tense up.

Of course it was his laughter.

One of the Poké Balls on his belt burst open. Out of the capsule burst white light, reflecting off the snow and lighting everything up in a blinding array. A little company of angels did a jig in Derek's eyes, leaving him to rely on his ears—not that, of course, he had any doubts as to which Pokémon had come out.

There was a loud crack! as the furball leapt off the ground. There was a scraping of wood, and the branches of the trees creaked and groaned under the unaccustomed weight of the scurrying Pokémon. A satisfying floof! soon followed, and Derek heard a man yelp in surprise, undoubtedly shocked by a rather large draft of snow.

"Ugh...what the..." Luna mumbled. Derek squinted; the lights were beginning to fade from his vision, and he could see the vague semblance of her face as she rubbed her eyes.

The thin layer of snow crunched underneath her small padded paws as she stepped over to them. With a soft mew, she licked Damion's exposed neck, making the boy laugh.

"H-hey! Stop stop stop! S-Soorraaaannn!"

He squirmed around and for the first time lifted his face—and Luna and Derek both flinched away. His cheek was a messy mix of slush and blood, leaving grimy streaks of red running down his face. His eyes were a shimmering green with tears, both from mirth and from pain. Derek couldn't help but stare in shock.

Damion began to rise into a sitting position, but his arms suddenly froze, and his expression tightened up. Derek glanced down, only to see red-stained tears in the sleeves of his coat.

"Crap." Luna's face was paler than the snow falling around them. "Damion, you're just bl...bleeding all over the place..."

"Oi, c'mon," Derek said. He shifted around, causing a jolt to run through his lower back, but he ignored it. With his back to the boy, he said, "I'll carry you. Let's just go."

"E-eh? Derek, you're giving me a piggyback ri—"

There was dull, deep thud of contact as Luna shoved Damion onto his back. Derek made sure Damion had securely wrapped his arms around Derek's neck before he even attempted to lift the boy—

And oh Arceus was this boy heavy.

Flames ran through his legs as he struggled to rise to a standing position. He sincerely hoped neither of the others noticed his efforts as he unsteadily rose, gritting his teeth in desperate struggle. The jolt in his back changed to pain, but he again ignored it, focusing instead on the body on his back.

That was odd, Derek thought, clenching the hands that were holding Damion's legs. The boy's warmth felt awfully nice.

"You sure you can carry him?" Luna asked. Soran seconded her question. "I'm sure at least one of our Pokémon can help..."

"I've got this," Derek muttered in an attempt to hide his fatigue. "Let's just get a move on."

Not waiting for an answer, he took a step forward. He concentrated every single inch of his being on not falling over; it sure as hell took a lot of effort to make sure he didn't just flop on the spot. He took another step forward, and a part of him was already ready to give up. Another step—oh my goodness, this boy was freaking fat.

And still, Derek took another step.

And another after that.

All the way up to the Center, never once even hinting that he was tired. He felt Damion struggle every now and then, but Derek really wasn't in the mood to listen. He zoned out the boy's words, simply listening to the rise and fall of his voice.

It was somewhat relaxing, actually. Aside from the aches and the burning sensation and the whole exhaustion factor, it was pretty nice.

The path to the Pokémon Center was clearly lined with Christmas lights. Red and green, skating figure-eights and dancing in circles, sprinting up and down the streets. Every now and then Soran would pause in guiding them, moving sideways a step or two to avoid something. Up hills, Luna would always help by grabbing hold of Derek's hand and pulling him up. If not for the two of them, Derek had no doubts that he would have tripped on some ice or fallen into a ditch.

Without the commotion of a larger city, the town had a quaint, comfortable feel to the night. The lights were pleasant and were to celebrate, not to promote commercial goods. It would be so nice if the Christmas atmosphere were actually so apparent in capitalism.

Such thoughts ran through Derek's head as he distracted himself from the burdening weight over his back.

He lost track of time, so focused he was on not focusing on the numbness of his legs and the occasional uncomfortable jerks in his back. It wasn't until Luna was tugging at his hands that he even realized they were nearing the front of the Pokémon Center.

"We're almost there," she said in a hushed voice. "Just a little more, Derek!"

"Don't tell me that," he groaned, but it was too late—his body was already beginning to feel the end of the road. Just the words "almost there" was enough for him to be done.

The arms around Derek's neck tightened a bit. He shuddered a bit as Damion breathed a quiet "Thanks" into his ear. It tickled and was awfully warm.

Derek rolled his eyes. "Oh, shut up."

He forced himself through the last few steps and stumbled into the Pokémon Center. He was officially done, he decided, both mind and body—and he collapsed onto the carpeted floor without a second thought. Damion's extra weight smashed him a few extra centimeters further into the ground, and the boy rolled off of him and onto the carpet beside Derek.

Nurse Joy ran up to the them in a hurry. Her voice was a painfully high-pitched shriek: "Oh my goodness, what happened? Are you okay?"

Derek grunted. Dryly, he grumbled, "Luna, explain."

The girl let out a little breath of laughter. "Well, Nurse Joy... First, can we get these two some first-aid?"

All's well that ends well. So Derek told himself, sitting there in front of the fireplace and holding a mug of hot cocoa between his palms.

"All's well that ends well," Damion said in a singsong voice behind him.

"Don't do that."

"Eh? Don't do what?"

Derek glanced over to him. The boy lay on the couch, his short-sleeved shirt revealing the gauze draping his arms. His face had been patched up as well; a rather large piece of tissue had been taped on, which looked very professional. (Courtesy of Luna, of course.)

"Don't...you know what, whatever." Derek turned back to the fire and sighed.

"Ehhhh? I wanna know now! Tell me!"

"No."

"C'mon!"

"Drink your stupid hot chocolate and leave me alone."

There was a light thud on the wooden table behind Derek. And, out of nowhere, two bandaged arms wrapped around Derek's waist.

"O-oi!" Derek exclaimed. He nearly forced the boy off, only to remember he had boiling hot cocoa in his hands.

"Derek~," Damion mumbled into his back. His legs remained energetically moving around on the couch; from the waist and up, he was sliding along the ground to hug Derek.

"Ughhhhh, gerroff!"

"Never!"

Derek jerked his head backwards to smash into Damion's. He instantly regretted it; it was like headbutting a rock. Still, he heard the satisfying "Ouch!" of success, and the arms wrapped around him loosened in their grip.

Fighting off the pain in his back and head, he set his mug down a bit away from him so he wouldn't accidentally knock into it and turned a bit.

Damion looked up at him from his sprawled position on the ground. The carpet had snagged at his shirt, leaving it to hike up his torso and reveal far too much skin to be publicly accepted. Derek yanked it back down, and his fingers brushed along Damion's skin, making the boy giggle.

Smiling a bit, Derek asked, "Feeling a bit better, then?"

Damion grinned. "A little. When do you think Luna'll be back?"

"Mm, dunno." Derek looked up at the ceiling. "She'll probably take a while. She looked pretty guilty, so maybe she's buying something special for you."

"Ehhh, maybe. You know she was the one who threw the snowball, right? It wasn't me, I swear!"

"Of course. I don't doubt it."

Damion smiled. "You sure?"

"I'm sure." Derek glanced back over at the boy, and he couldn't help but smile a bit. "You really do look ridiculous with that tissue on your face."

"Luna did the best she could!"

"Oh, I'm not saying she didn't. Sometimes her best just isn't good enough."

Damion's lips curved into a frown, but it was short-lived. After a while, his face brightened up back to its usual expression.

"Hey, Derek?

"Mmph?"

"What do you want for Christmas?"

Derek blinked. Damion looked up at him, and their eyes met.

"Huh," he said. Red and green.

"Hmmm?"

Derek turned away, shaking his head. "Nothing, really."

"Whaat? But I want to buy you a Christmas present!"

"No, really, Damion, I'm fine."

"Derek!"

Derek smiled. Reaching for his hot chocolate, he said, "It's fine, Damion. It's fine."