Title: A Very Merry Christmas.
Author: Miasen
Rating: K+
Pairing: Angel/Rogue
A/N: A fluffy one-shot to celebrate the season! Merry Christmas to all of you!
A Very Merry Christmas
Snow was slowly drifting to the ground, muffling all sounds and covering the grounds with a white blanket. Kids were running around having snowball fights and enjoying their holidays immensely. Inside the mansion the fireplaces where ablaze, and the hot chocolate was heating on the stove. Christmas was close, and it showed. It was as if everyone had just forgotten all of the worries and the pain that usually marked their lives. It had vanished as snow piled up and the rooms filled with Christmas activities. People were sneaking around with presents or decorating the mansion, and everywhere there were smiles to see.
Warren Worthington III walked through the hallways of the mansion, on his way to the small closet that Storm had sent him to. She had said that there should be some boxes with Christmas decorations there. As soon as he found them they would all be able to decorate the three. But first, actually find the closet, something that was easier said than done in a mansion of this size. There were doors everywhere, and Warren wasn't sure if he remembered just where Storm had said it was.
"Left after the kitchen, then down the corridor, then right and then left again. Or was it straight forward?" he muttered to himself.
This was his first Christmas not spent with his parents, and it felt kinda weird. But the X-Men were his family now, and he wanted to be here with them. And Storm could use another hand in taking care of the kids. It certainly was too many kids and too few adults here. So ever since he's come here he'd done his best to help out. Teach the occasional class, make sure the kids didn't get out of hand and whatever else he could do. It really was the least he could do after they had let him move in here when he needed a place to stay, somewhere that accepted him.
"Wait, it was right, then left, and then straightforward and then the third door on the left side!" Warren felt the sudden urge to add a small 'eureka', but didn't. He feared someone might hear, and that wouldn't be good for his image. Not that he really had an image, but still, just to be sure and all.
He had to go back a couple of hallways before he came to the right place. The door looked like all of the other doors in the mansion, but as he opened it he was relieved to see what appeared to be a closet. It had to be the right place. He fumbled inside for the light switch, and a single bulb which hung from the roof lit up the room. He saw shelves stacked full of boxes and noticed that none of them seemed to be labelled. He sighed and walked inside. This could be interesting. The door slid close behind him.
Rogue was on her way to the kitchen, intending to grab a cup of hot chocolate, when she heard him. It was the voice she wanted to hear the least of all the voices here at the mansion. Bobby Drake. Her former boyfriend, currently ex. She'd broken up with him well over two months ago, and since she'd done her best to avoid him. He'd tried to talk to her several times, and the first times she had agreed. But he didn't really have anything to say, he just asked her for another chance, said that they should try again. But she didn't want to try again. She was, quite frankly, sick and tired of him.
For some reason he just didn't want to understand that. He wanted to know what he had done wrong. She told him he hadn't done anything, she just didn't feel that way for him anymore. He asked if they couldn't try over again, she said no. He pleaded, she said no. He begged, she walked away. After three conversations like that she'd gotten tired of it, and whenever he wanted to 'talk in private' now, she just ignored him or came up with some lame excuse. It would have been so much easier if they weren't living in the same house, but luckily it was a big one, and she was getting quite good at avoiding him.
Now she quickly looked around, searching for a way out. He was coming, and she didn't have time to turn and go back, he'd just see her. She sighed. She really, really didn't want to talk to him.
As she heard his voice nearing enough that she could actually make out what he was saying, he was obviously talking on the phone, she just did the first thing that came to mind, wrenching open the closest door and jumping in, pulling it shut behind her.
She spun around as she heard a small cry from inside the room. Her heart was suddenly pounding in her throat. She was thoroughly shocked when she saw Warren standing behind her. The rooms around here were mostly used for storage and she hadn't been expecting to see anyone.
"What the hell—" he started to say, but she rushed forward and clutched her hand to his mouth. She didn't want Bobby to hear him. She didn't want to risk Bobby checking out who was hiding in the closet.
Warren's eyes widened, but he took her hint and kept his mouth closed as she removed her hand. He quizzically cocked an eyebrow at her. Rogue just pointed to the door and held a finger to her lips. The universal sign meaning that he should just be quiet. He shrugged and leaned back against the wall. Rogue leaned against the door, pressing her ear against it, trying to hear if Bobby had left yet.
He hadn't. She could hear his voice just outside the door, and it wasn't distancing. He'd stopped right outside the closet. Now how typical wasn't that. Carefully Rogue stepped away from the door, further into the closet. She was afraid to breathe too close to the door. One never knew what he would be able to hear.
Rogue slid to the floor and pulled her knees to her chest, trying to find a comfortable position. In her peripheral vision she saw Warren doing the same thing. She turned towards him and saw him lean his head against the wall behind them and close his eyes. She used the opportunity when he wouldn't notice to let her eyes trace his features. She'd known Warren for months, ever since he first came here to the mansion. He was a nice guy, and she liked him. The last weeks of her relationship with Bobby she had realised that she much preferred to talk to Warren then Bobby, and that was a good indicator that she just didn't care very much about Bobby anymore. Warren was just much easier to be around, he wasn't very demanding, he just was there, always eager to talk or just hang out. She appreciated that.
But now, for the first time actually, she took the time to really take in his looks. Of course, she wasn't blind; she had noticed that he was good-looking before as well, she just hadn't looked at him this closely before. Great lips, a nice nose, and hair that just screamed out to be touched. Oh yeah, Warren was handsome, dreamingly so actually. She was allowed to think that now that she was single wasn't she? Nothing wrong with appreciating his looks even if he was a good friend.
Suddenly it went very quiet outside. Bobby wasn't speaking anymore, but Rogue didn't think he'd left. She hadn't heard him walking away, and she would wait just a little but longer before she walked out. She feared that he was just standing there, silent. Maybe he'd hung up, but was still there, texting someone or something. Or maybe the one on the other end was talking, or…
Warren slowly opened his eyes when he didn't hear Bobby's voice anymore. He turned towards Rogue, and was going to ask why she was hiding out in here. He never came past opening his mouth.
Rogue saw Warren open his mouth, and her hand quickly flew up to cover it to prevent him from talking. But she misjudged the distance and ended up actually smacking him right in the face. The sound of flesh hitting flesh seemed very loud in the small, silent room, and it was followed by a painful moan from Warren that he, fortunately, stifled almost instantly. Rogue flinched and bit her lip. Bobby had to have heard that. She just hoped he ignored it.
She strained her ears, trying to hear steps closing, but there was nothing. The door didn't open, Bobby didn't peek in. She released a breath she didn't know she had been holding. He must've walked away without her hearing it. She was relieved.
"Ah'm so sorry," she whispered to Warren, still a bit afraid to raise her voice, "ah didn't mean to hit ya."
Warren rubbed his mouth, but a small smile played on his lips. "Don't worry about it. I've felt worse. But you do have a good right hook, I have to admit that."
Rogue blushed. She was so embarrassed she wished she could just disappear through the floor. It was in times like these she wished she had Kitty's powers. They would have been very convenient.
"So, is it Bobby you are hiding from?" Warren asked casually.
"Yeah, ah really don't want to talk to him. Ah can't wait till he leaves for his parents' place tomorrow."
"Well, you are more than welcome to stay in this lovely closet until he does," Warren said and chuckled. "Or you can help me find the Christmas decorations, and then I'll protect you from the frozen bogeyman."
Rogue just shook her head and smiled. "'Yeah, that'd be great. And sure, ah'll help ya out. Ah don't really have anything to do so. It's not like ah have to pack to go home or anything." She wished she could take it back as soon as she had said it. It sounded awfully bitter. It was just that this time of the year, when so many of the students only talked about how great it would be to come home for Christmas, it was a bit hard not to have anyone to go back home to. But her home was here now, at the mansion, and she was happy with that. But still, sometimes she missed her parents.
"I'm sorry Rogue; I know it can be a bit difficult. This is my first Christmas away from home as well."
"Ya ain't going home to your family?"
"No. My dad and me aren't exactly the best of friends anymore. I don't really want to spend the holidays being looked down on, you know?" Warren shrugged casually, but Rogue sensed it meant more than he let off.
"Ah know. But at least that means that we are more people stayin' here over Christmas, and ah can't say that makes me very sorry." Rogue smiled comforting. "So, which boxes are the ones with the decorations?"
"That's the problem. They're not labelled. I have no idea."
Rogue looked over the massive amount of boxes. "Well, we'll just have to get started then!"
They didn't say anything else as they looked through the boxes. There was Halloween decorations, Easter decorations, other stuff, crap, and then some more crap. Rogue was starting to doubt there were any Christmas decorations at all in this closet when she saw what looked like tinsel sticking out of a box on the top shelf.
"Lift me up will ya, sugah?" she asked Warren and pointed at the box. He nodded and grabbed her around the waist, lifting her straight up, seemingly without any problem at all. He was even stronger than he seemed, and Rogue couldn't help but to smile. It felt nice to have his hands around her waist, she kinda wished she could just stay there for some time, but that would perhaps seem a bit strange. No, it would be better to actually get the decorations before he started to worry about her sanity.
Rogue grasped after the box, but it was just out of reach. "A little bit higher," she said as her fingers just brushed the cardboard. Warren did as she told him, but she could feel him starting to shake just a bit. She wasn't that small, and holding her up had to be a strain.
She decided to be quick about it, and reached for the box, just getting a grip on the corners. She pulled the box towards her, but her grip was nowhere good enough, and the box was bigger than it had seemed. It slipped out of her hands, and slowly tipped over the edge of the shelf. Rogue's eyes widened for a second, and then she had to close them as the entire box of decorations toppled over her head.
Warren was silently wishing Rogue would just hurry up when Christmas decorations started pouring down over their head. Rogue stiffened in his arms, and he lost his footing. Before he knew it he was lying on the floor with Rogue on top of him. They were swimming in Christmas decorations.
"Uhm, Rogue? What just happened?" he asked, bewildered. Rogue rolled off him before she answered, and Warren used the opportunity to sit up. His back ached from hitting the floor, but he'd live.
"Ah dropped the box," Rogue said, and Warren cast a glance around at the mess.
"No kidding."
"Ah'm sorry, ah couldn't get a good grip and just…"
"Well, at least we found some decorations didn't we?"
Rogue nodded, her cheeks bright red. She looked utterly embarrassed, something Warren found immensely cute.
The pile around them consisted of all they would need to decorate the tree, and luckily most of it seemed to have survived the fall. There were on box of baubles that was broken, but the half dozen other boxes would just have to due. It seemed like the professor had been an eager collector of decorations, there was much more than they would ever need, and Warren knew that Storm had bought some as well when she was Christmas shopping earlier.
Warren pulled a red hat with white fur trimmings, part of an old Santa costume, from the pile on the floor and pulled it over Rogue's head. "Damn, you look so much better than Kurt in a hat like that," he said.
Rogue giggled and thought back to the Christmas party they'd had just over a week ago. Kurt had dress up as Santa Claus and given out candy to all the younger kids. There was something a bit off with a blue Santa, but the kids had been thrilled, and didn't seem to pay any notice to that fact. That just might be because he gave out candy, it was amazing how kids reacted around candy.
Rogue reached into the pile and pulled out a piece of silver tinsel. She draped it gingerly on Warren's head, making an improvised halo. "There. Ah'm Santa, and ya are an angel. Ain't it perfect?" Rogue beamed and Warren just shook his head. But he didn't remove the tinsel, only started putting the decorations back in the box.
"Hey, what's this?" Warren asked and held up a twig with some shrivelled leaves still attached to it. It looked very dead and not festive at all. Rogue had no idea what it was doing in the box of Christmas decorations.
"Ah have no idea, maybe it's ended up there by some mistake. Just toss it out."
Warren didn't toss it out, but turned the twig over in his hands. Rogue kneeled next to him and looked more closely at the twig. As he slowly turned it around she realised what it was. She had no idea why it was in the box though; it should have been tossed out last year with the Christmas tree.
"It's mistletoes ain't it? From last year?" she said. A big smile spread over Warren's lips.
"Mistletoe huh? So what if I just hold this here?" Warren asked and dangled the twig over their heads. He had a very mischievous gleam to his eyes, something she hadn't seen very often in him. She couldn't help a small blush from creeping to her cheeks.
"Then tradition says we should kiss. But it's kinda dead ain't it? Ah don't think it counts."
Warren pouted, but soon cracked up in a smile. "Yeah, I guess you are right." He tossed the dried up twig into a corner and stuffed the rest of the Christmas decorations back in the box. He tried to act cool about it, but inside he cursed. Why did he always have to make a fool of himself like that? Of course she didn't want to kiss him, mistletoe or no mistletoe. She just wanted to be friends, and he was cool with that. He certainly wouldn't have minded if she wanted something else, but he was cool with being friends.
Rogue stared after the twig where it landed not very far from her. She didn't know why she'd said what she'd said; it was just that she thought Warren had been joking, but the look on his face as he tossed it away? Maybe he wasn't joking at all. Maybe he did want to kiss her? But why would he? A guy like Warren could have anyone he wanted couldn't he? But then again, she'd never heard any talk from him about a girl. Maybe she should just be a bit daring for once? If he brushed her off they could probably go back to being friends, and if he didn't brush her off? A smile spread over her lips.
He rose from the floor and brushed off his pants. No one could've washed these floors in a long time. He was just about to pick up the box and set of towards the common rooms when Rogue tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around to see what was up and saw her smiling broadly at him, hands behind her back.
"What is it?" he asked, his brow furrowing slightly. He wasn't sure he could interpret the smile on Rogue's face. He hadn't done anything stupid again had he?
He didn't have to wait long for an answer. Rogue stepped closer, and held out one hand. In it was the dried up mistletoe. Warren just looked at her as she held the mistletoe up over her head.
"What..?" he said absentmindedly as he looked at her. His brain seemed a bit slow on the uptake.
"Well, sugah, ah thought we should give it a try, but if ya don't want to…"
Warren finally seemed to be able to move his feet, and he stepped closer to Rogue and put a hand on her cheek. Then he leaned in and kissed her. He felt the mistletoe hit his head as Rogue dropped it, but he couldn't care less as she pulled her arms around his neck. They didn't need any mistletoe now.
Rogue felt hundreds of small butterflies flutter around in her stomach. This Christmas was going to be great. Bobby was leaving tomorrow, so that meant two weeks free of him, and Warren wasn't leaving at all, and that meant two weeks with, hopefully, a lot of him. This Christmas was going to be great indeed.
A/N: You know? A review would be a brilliant Christmas present don't you think? ;-)