A/N Cute and fluffy Nicholas/Danny Christmas one shot. This is my #PeggGift to my merry band of Twitter Peggsters. I love you guys so much, and hope this feel-good fic gives you the warm and, ahem, fuzzies! (sorry!) Thank you, also, for your support and encouragement of my writing :D
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to:
loreladyblue, Gotgirl05, poisonheart81, lokitaxmagneto1, ZombieGrrl27, tenkigaiine, moore67288755, Sosojokan, BettyCool13
xxxx
A Christmas Mission
He was concentrating completely on his task, totally dedicated to the endeavour with characteristic focus. All that mattered to him at the present moment was getting this right. Nicholas Angel was usually spectacularly proficient in whatever he was doing, however this particular mission was causing him such significant trouble it was threatening to become impossible.
He was grateful, at least, not to be suffering in quite the same way as he had the previous year, relieved to discover that it did not bother him in the slightest to be performing this feat in public. The first year they were together it had bothered Nicholas greatly. He had been crippled by embarrassment, certain that the cashier was making unfavourable judgements about him. He remembered thinking he would far rather have been buying condoms, and even lube, as he would not be so obviously broadcasting something as personal as his sexuality by doing so. A year ago, he would far rather have been doing almost anything but this. Of course, being Nicholas Angel, he had heroically done it anyway. The look on Danny's face on Christmas day had made the humiliation more than worth it. He had understood instantly what Nicholas must have been through to get it for him. A lot had changed over the intervening time, though, not least of all Nicholas himself. He had loosened up considerably at work, where he found he actually enjoyed interacting with people after all, once Danny had shown him how to not be such a robot. At home too he was finally happy, now Danny was sharing his little cottage with him. He slept easily and deeply, something which had eluded him for much of his adult life, as a result of having Danny beside him every night. Nicholas was at ease with his sexuality now, that was the biggest change for him, and he was deliriously happy in his relationship. This year, Nicholas felt no embarrassment, no humiliation. Merely a burning desire to choose the perfect 'for my boyfriend' Christmas card, one that did not look like it was meant to be from a girl. Here lay the difficulty, and was the reason the quest was taking such an inordinate amount of time. People moved around him, sometimes asking to get by, an occurrence which had panicked him the previous year. He had been reduced to pretending not to look at the display of boyfriend and husband cards in front of him, a ridiculous ruse, as they were the only thing he could possibly have been observing. This year he moved aside, smiling politely and making eye contact as he apologised for his presence blocking the aisle. He had let go of the secrecy, finally believing that his sexuality was most likely of concern only to himself. He also knew he could physically handle anyone he encountered who wanted to be aggressive about it. He assessed the selection anew. The vast majority of the cards offered for sale were adorned with a worrying amount of fluffy teddy bears. Had it been monkeys, he just might have considered it, given his and Danny's history. He leafed through the cards, checking inside any that looked vaguely passable before inevitably discarding them one by one in disgust. What was it about card designers that made them think they possessed the right to put words into his mouth. Particularly such sickeningly lame declarations of love as the ones he was currently being forced to read. If he wanted to let Danny know how he felt about him, which he did, then he was perfectly capable of doing so in his own words. That had been another change in Nicholas as he became comfortable in his relationship with Danny. He was now able to express himself and his emotions without stuttering and stammering and blushing as he always had in the past. And he was evidently far better with words than the makers of any of these cards. He really wanted one that was blank inside, to allow him to craft a sentence that was worthy of Danny, at once humorous and heartfelt, or failing that, one that said something simple. His hopes of success were gradually disappearing when his attention was dragged from the cards by someone clearing their throat beside him. Thinking they wanted to get past, he shifted forward, apologising automatically.
"Excuse me, Sir." Nicholas straightened up to look at the owner of the voice addressing him. It was a member of staff, a girl in her early twenties. He looked at her expectantly and she swallowed nervously, hesitating. Nicholas quickly softened his features into a smile for her benefit. Sometimes his chief inspector face just happened without him realising, and it was pretty intimidating, so Danny told him.
"I... I wondered if you might be interested in this new range we've got, Sir." She began, gesturing towards the next stand. "I'm still putting them out as they've only just arrived. She moved along the aisle, beckoning, and Nicholas followed. "I think they might be more what you're after?" They were standing in front of a display above which a sign declared the brand name of the cards below as 'Man 2 Man'. These cards were clearly designed for men to give to men, and there was barely a fluffy teddy in sight. Nicholas grinned at her, partly with genuine pleasure at her being so sweetly helpful, and partly with amusement at the thought of how he might have reacted to this situation twelve months ago.
"Thank you." He said sincerely. "I was getting a bit worried there for a minute." She giggled with relief at the knowledge that she had not made an embarrassing mistake in redirecting him.
"You're welcome, Sir."
Nicholas was overjoyed to discover that most of these cards had a very simple or no message inside, prompting him to feel vaguely sorry for the women searching in vain for cards for the men in their lives which did not induce feelings of nausea in the recipients. His eyes swept greedily over the cards and then he saw it. It could not have been more perfect. The card looked cool and classy for starters, being black and white. It was designed to look like a strip of the old 35mm film that was used before digital cameras existed. The image in the frame was a stylish pencil sketch depicting the back view of two men sitting on a sofa in front of a crackling fire, a shimmering Christmas tree and a TV set, its picture left unwatched as the two characters had turned to kiss one another. Incredibly, the black and white shading even described one as having fair hair, and the other dark. The other details in the drawing were just as delightful. Two stockings hanging on the fireplace, two pairs of shoes kicked off carelessly and abandoned behind the sofa. It evoked exactly the warmth and contentment Nicholas basked in whenever he and Danny were alone together. It was as if somebody had looked inside his head for the image he felt best summed up their relationship, then translated it into this beautiful, skilfully rendered portrait. He selected the card, carefully checked it for any damage and then proudly relayed it to the cash desk. The young assistant who had helped him find the appropriate section of the shop for his needs was now on the till. She smiled at him as she took his purchase.
"That's lovely, is it for someone special?"
"Yes, yes it is." Nicholas confirmed, returning her smile as he thought of Danny. "It's for my boyfriend." He said confidently. Out loud.
THE END
A/N This story was inspired by me trying to find a card for my hubby and being annoyed at all the flowery, soppy stuff inside them! I suddenly had this vision of Nicholas struggling with the same problem looking for a card for Danny, I LITERALLY can't get him out of my head at the moment!
Merry Christmas guys!
xxx