Christmas at the mansion was one of a kind, and Sean loved every minute of it, even if it was a little bit hectic. At the beginning of December he and the rest of the house had came to the conclusion that the Professor took the holidays rather seriously. That's how he found himself decorating the living room with jolly faced Santa's and strings of lights that got tangled around his ankles. As much as Sean loved Christmas, he would have much rather spent his time participating in other activities, but even stringing popcorn for the tree and attempting not to eat it, or being made to remove and replace the same ornament a dozen times was better than listening to Hank drone on and on about the history of Christmas, or the origin of reindeer.
As he stood on his tiptoes to finish tacking a bow on the garland he had just hung, Sean felt a familiar pair of arms wrap around his waist, pulling him back into a warm, broad chest. He couldn't help but smile, and Alex moved forward to rest his chin on Sean's shoulder.
"Looks good," he said, his breath tickling the back of Sean's neck, sending shivers up the redhead's spine.
Sean hummed appreciatively, leaning back into the warmth of Alex's body.
"You missed something though."
"What?" asked Sean, glancing down at the empty cardboard box at his feet, but then Alex was turning him in the circle of his arms to face him. There was flash of green and then Alex was stretching to dangle something over Sean's head, his blue eyes big and bright. One look at the mistletoe above his head, and Sean grinned, closing what little space there was between their bodies and wrapping his arms around Alex's shoulders.
Sean raised a eyebrow. "Mistletoe, really?"
"Yep," Alex all but whispered against his lips, the 'P' popping, his eyes trained on Sean's mouth. And then he was pulling Sean into a kiss so sweet that made his toes curl inside his candy cane socks.
Alex hadn't had an actual Christmas with a real tree, stockings, or lights in what seemed like forever. Christmas in prison wasn't all that spectacular, and a Christmas in solitary was even worse. Though he probably wouldn't admit, Alex enjoyed the Christmas carols that the Professor insisted on playing, the stuffed snowman that took up half of his favorite arm chair, and even wrapping gifts although he was terrible at it. What he loved the most, though, was Sean and his array of hideously festive Christmas sweaters. Alex wasn't sure where Sean had managed to procure so many ugly sweaters, but none of them seemed to fit him. They were all ten sizes too big, and hung off Sean's skinny frame like drapes instead of clothing.
Alex's favorite of Sean's sweaters-or should he say least favorite-was a dark green one with glittery appliqué snowflakes across the front that was so large that it was always slipping off his freckled shoulders. So when Sean came down the stairs one morning, clad in that sweater and jeans that looked like they were painted on, Alex couldn't help himself. As soon as Sean's feet touch the carpet at the bottom of the stairs, Alex was on him like that of a lion attacking a gazelle. Sean's breath hitched as he back collided with the wall, blinking at Alex with sleepy eyes.
"Well, good morning to you, too," said Sean, his voice lethargic, but his smile teasing.
Alex didn't bother to reply, instead setting to work, greedily marking the smooth expanse of Sean's neck and shoulders right out in the middle of the hallway where anyone could walk by. But Sean's half-stifled gasps and breathy sounds made up for any subsequent embarrassment so well that Alex couldn't have cared less.
Man, did he love those sweaters.
Sean loved sweets.
Cookies, candies, chocolates-you name it, Sean would eat it; not that there was much that Sean wouldn't eat anyways, so Alex was really beginning to regret allowing him to bake Christmas cookies with him. Alex hadn't chose to be the one in the house on cookie patrol, but seeing as Hank couldn't make anything without shedding all over it, and the Professor was rather inept when it came to preparing food that didn't come out of a box, he was stuck with it. Besides, he wouldn't have been able to listen to Sean whine any longer about the absence of holiday sweets without doing something drastic.
"Sean, if you keep eating all the batter there's not going to be any left," Alex said, watching his boyfriend lick his fingers clean while he shut the oven door on a sheet of chocolate chip cookies.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Sean replied, quickly wiping his hands on his pants, and feigning innocence.
"Right," Alex said, smirking. Reaching across the island, he cupped Sean's chin, eyeing a spot of chocolate on the edge of his mouth for a moment before leaning in until he was a hairbreadth away. "That's why it's all over your face," and then Alex closed the remaining distance between them to wipe the evidence away with his tongue.
"Need some help there?" asked Sean, the corner of his mouth tipping up, as he lounged against the paneled wall beside the Christmas tree, his eyes dancing with amusement whilst Alex struggled to reach the top of the tree, golden star in hand.
Alex shot him a glare. "No."
Sean laughed. "Sure you don't," he said, snatching the star from Alex's hand and placing it on the head of the fir with ease. "How about you just stick with tinsel."
Alex scowled, appearing utterly unamused, and crossing his arms in front of his chest childishly. Sean's grin just widened, cupping the blonde's face in his hands, and ducking down to press a kiss to his forehead.
"Maybe next year," he teased. "Who knows, you might hit a growth spurt."
"Fuck you, Cassidy."
"Y-you know, I've never had eh-eggnog before," slurred Sean as Alex all but pulled him up the stairs.
"Jesus, how much of that did you drink?" asked Alex, glancing at the ginger boy with mild concern.
"Not, not that much," Sean said, but Alex knew that it had been a whole heck of a lot. Sean could definitely hold his liquor, and very rarely did he ever see Sean get really wasted. Making eggnog with everclear probably wasn't one of his brighter ideas, he decided, as he towed Sean to his room and deposited him on his bed.
"D-don't leave me," Sean whined, snatching at Alex's clothing and yanking him onto a mountain of tangled sheets and blankets. Throwing a skinny leg on either side of his hips, he straddled Alex, swaying a bit and grabbing onto his shoulders to steady himself. "You...you're such a good boy. Santa's going to bring you loads of presents."
Alex chuckled in the back of his throat, and Sean pressed his body up against his, molding them together, and attacking his mouth with eager, sloppy kisses. Sean shifted his hips once, twice, making Alex gasp. Taking advantage of his open mouth, Sean delved inside, knocking Alex's tongue around like a ball in a pinball machine. When Sean pulled back for air, he began to trail messy, open-mouthed kisses down the side of Alex's neck. Burying his face into Alex's collarbone, Sean muttered something incoherent and yawned before climbing out of his lap and snuggling into his side, pale, spindly limbs wrapping around Alex's body like an octopus and promptly falling asleep.
Alex sighed, and raised a hand to play with Sean's hair, twining the silky curls around his fingers while taking in Sean's peaceful appearance. Cataloguing everything about sleeping Sean to his memory: the freckles, the curve of his nose, the pale eyelashes that fluttered against his cheeks as he slumbered, Alex realized that he didn't have to worry about being a good boy, because he had already got what he wanted for Christmas.