And there's shmoopy Christmas Dean/Gabe fic to follow an already fluffy fic. *slowly falls in a circle* Where is all this happy fic coming from. What is happening. Did my muse survive a life or death experience and have a change of attitude?


"There, see? That wasn't so bad."

Gabe knocked Dean's heavy arm off his shoulder, brushing invisible dirt off his forest green jacket. "You lummox," he scowled and Dean's peals of laughter flowed in the sharp winter air. "That was an entire row of Christmas trees you knocked over like so many dominoes!" He stopped to plant his hands on his hips and glower up at his unapologetic boyfriend. Giggling in a totally manly fashion, Dean dropped a sloppy kiss on Gabe's temple as one of his uncovered hands curled around Gabe's gloved one.

"I helped put them upright," he pointed out to a mighty exhibit of rolling eyes from the shorter man.

Gabe threatened, "You are so lucky we're poor college students. I think they would've made you buy at least five of them."

Dean's green eyes danced as he teased the other. "You're just sad we can't fill the entire dorm with fir trees and dance up and down the halls at all hours to obnoxious Christmas music."

Drawing himself up, Gabe haughtily retorted, "And so what if I do?" They regarded each other for a drawn-out moment before Gabe's mouth twitched and they both went off in a round of muffled chortles. "Oh my God, let's just get a tree and get outta here before an employee snaps and tries to kill us with candy canes," Gabe wheezed.

"You'd just eat them!" Dean cackled. Gabe scrunched up his face and shrugged in agreement. Candy canes were delicious, what could he say?

He tugged Dean over to an untipped tree that was just this side of scrawny and threw up his hands. "Ta-da!" It wasn't too tall to fit in either of their rooms and lacked the full skirt most farmed trees had, so it wouldn't take up very much of the precious floor space.

Dean raised an eyebrow at the small Balsam Fir and then turned the eyebrow on Gabe. "Dude, you are taller than this tree."

"We can put it on a box if that makes you feel better," Gabe shot back, stepping forward to caress the tip of a bough. "It's perfect; even you can see that with your profound lack of appreciation for beauty."

Dean sniffed, crossing his arms. "Real beauty is my baby."

"There are beautiful things in the world other than your car, Dean." It was an old argument that they liked to circulate, playfully bitching back and forth. "We're getting it."

"Mr. Authoritative, I like it," Dean rumbled, pressing closer to Gabe's side and dropping his chin on Gabe's shoulder. "Okay, so the misfit tree will come home with us. Think it can survive without our nurturing presences when we head down to Lawrence for Christmas?"

Without glancing away from the fir, Gabe reached up and patted Dean's cheek. "I don't think you can nurture anything that doesn't have four wheels and consumes gasoline like it's going out of style, but it can manage. This beaut is stronger than it looks." He cheerfully tapped the branch he'd been poking and a small shower of blue-green needles fell onto his boots. Dean erupted with laughter.

"Of course you pick the Charlie Brown tree!"