A/N: I am a tad angry because I edited this and then it didn't save. Also, picture this: I walk into my room and find a note on my bed from my muse. It reads: "Dear you, I have gone on a small vacation and don't know when I'll be back. Sorry, I know you wanted to write some things but you'll have to manage without me. I'll be sure to bring you back something good when I return. Love, your muse"
Needless to say I was a tad angry. He's always doing this to me; running off without ever telling me. Tch.
But you guys have been so wonderful so I wanted to give my reviewers, new and old, this fic as a gift.
My family celibrates Christmas on Christmas Eve so... (hard to explain, heh) I guess technically, tomorrow is my Christmas. How strange, it doesn't feel that way at all! Which reminds me, I hope you all have a fantastic, wonderful, safe and very Merry Christmas!!
Warnings: I edited this while listening to music to block out the loud sounds coming from downstairs (not that it helped much) but its hard to focus so there may be grammar issues as always. Uhm, wishy-washy-ness (I'm allowed to be mushy in fics around the holidays, yus?), corny gifts, and yeah... The title has little to nothing to do with the actual story, baha, I just picked it because it's one of my favorite Christmas songs ever.
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Air Gear
a fiction by Crimson Vixen
Santa Baby
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Kazu shivered slightly and huddled a little deeper into his coat. He quickened his steps and fingered the tiny gift in his pocket. When he approached Ikki's front door, he hesitated, hand hovering in the air as he debated whether or not it was wise to knock on Christmas day. He could always give Ikki his gift after Christmas, the next time he saw the guy.
With a sigh of wasted effort, Kazu turned to leave, but as soon as he took two steps, the door opened behind him. The blonde turned to see Ikki standing in the door way, a look of confusion on his face before it broke out into a grin.
"Lose your way?" he teased, standing aside and gesturing for the other boy to come on in. Kazu smiled gratefully, stepping out of the cold and into the warmth and shedding his jacket and hat upon entering. The house smelled of food and pine, sending a frisson of homeliness through his chilled system.
Ikki shut the door and looked at Kazu in all seriousness.
"What are you doing over here?"
"Oh," Kazu mumbled, taking in all the sights and smells Ikki's place had to offer. "I'm going to head back in a second; I just wanted to give you this."
The jet shuffled through his pocket and pulled out a tiny, neatly wrapped box and handed it to the crow. Ikki stared at it for a moment before grasping it in his hand, then looked up to meet Kazu's eyes.
"I didn't get you anything," he said quietly, as if he didn't want anyone else to hear him. Then his lips spread, raising his cheeks and crinkling his eyes. "Thanks man, this is awesome! What is it?"
Kazu fondly rolled his eyes.
"Idiot, how about you try unwrapping it?"
Honestly...
Ikki opened his mouth to speak but was cut off when he heard his name being called. Both Ikki and Kazu turned their heads to the sound of what was obviously Akito's voice. Kazu squirmed a little; he had forgotten that he lived under the same roof as Ikki, and impulsively reached out and grabbed Ikki's wrist to guide it into the crow's pocket. Their eyes met.
"It's for your eyes only," Kazu said quickly, and Ikki nodded just as Akito rounded the corner and bounded into Ikki's arms.
"Ikki, everyone's opening gifts without you!"
Kazu took a single step back, a little annoyed at how Agito always seemed to have something to say to him but Akito tended to overlook his presence whenever Ikki was around. Wasn't Akito supposed to be the nice one? Kazu wrinkled his nose, slightly offended; seeing the way Akito was nuzzling into Ikki's body, not looking like he was going to let go any time soon, Kazu felt a little out of place.
"I'm going to head home," he said awkwardly, stepping back towards the door and feeling a rush of cold air wash over him when he opened it. It was snowing now; light, fluffy flakes. "I'll see you later, Ikki."
Ikki's mouth moved to call him back but he couldn't form any type of sound, and he reached out towards the front door as it closed but could not grasp anything with Akito hugging him so unrelentingly.
"Ikki," Akito hummed smoothly, eyes going half lidded and lips upturning slightly. "Ikki, look."
His small hand pointed upwards. Ikki followed the gesture with his eyes and found they were standing right under the mistletoe.
He looked down at Akito then, licking his teeth nervously before putting a hand on the smaller boy's head.
"Don't tell me you actually…" Ikki started but stopped and widened his eyes when he saw Akito leap up and pull him down to touch lips, smashing their noses together and lingering there for a moment before dropping away.
"Mistletoe!" the small boy cheered. "You have to do it; those are the rules."
"Rules, right," Ikki mumbled, wiping at his mouth with the back of his arm.
"What's that?"
"Huh?"
Akito reached out and picked up something off the floor. Something white and all too familiar.
"His hat," Ikki said, grabbing it and folding it around in his hands. His hat, as though it should be obvious who he was. The blonde must have left it behind in his rush to leave, and all Ikki could bring himself to worry about were Kazu's ears, and how cold they must be at the moment. That Kazu didn't do so well in the cold.
He wriggled free of Akito's clingy arms and gave an apologetic look.
"Don't let anybody touch my presents," he said quickly, throwing on his coat and shoes and following Kazu's fresh footprints in the snow.
He was about half way there when he forced himself to stop. He stood in the silent air, letting the snow fall around him and realized just how intense the stillness was on Christmas, where everyone was inside and visiting family. Patting his pocket, he was relieved to find that his gift had not fallen out, and he took it out to examine it carefully, afraid to shake it, afraid that he may have jostled it in his run.
Carefully, he unwrapped the tiny package and took off the lid.
There on a shining, silver chain, was a trinket. A pair of elegant, well crafted wings. He carefully took it in his fingers and held it up to the sky to get a better look it. It was flawless in design, beautiful in appearance, just the right size. With a wide grin, he placed the box back inside the safety of his pocket. His gift, he wrapped around his neck and let the trinket rest over his chest, over his heart. With a new burst of energy, he sprinted forth again.
His breath spiraled into the air gently as he continued running until he was on Kazu's doorstep. There were holiday decorations lit up on the house and a wreath on the door, but the lights inside were off, which made Ikki knock on the door a bit tentatively.
For a while there was no answer and the crow wondered for a moment if Kazu was even home, and if he wasn't, then where the hell was he? He didn't like not knowing.
As if their roles were reversed, Kazu opened the door just as he was turning to leave. The blonde's hair was mussed, eyes drooping, mouth stretched open in a stiff yawn.
"…Were you just sleeping?" Ikki quirked a brow, making his way inside and shutting the door behind him.
"Yeah," Kazu grumbled lazily, running his fingers through his locks.
"So uh," Ikki shifted his weight from foot to foot, taking notice of how quiet and empty the house was. He was expecting maybe to see wrapping paper thrown all over the floor, or to hear holiday music playing softly in the background, or something. But all the gifts were still neatly wrapped underneath the tree. "Where is everyone?"
Kazu licked his lips and shrugged sleepily.
"My sisters gone off to a friend's house for the day. She invited me but I just would have felt weird being there."
"Your parents…"
"Still oversees."
"Oh…"
Ikki felt the weight of the silence starting to push down on him. Alone on Christmas… Even if Kazu didn't seem bothered by it, it did bother Ikki, and he stuffed his hands into his coat pockets for lack of knowing what to say about it. Luckily, he didn't have to.
"Hey, that's mine," Kazu said.
The boy tugged his white beanie out of Ikki's bulging pajama bottom's pocket and stuffed it into his own with a muttered thanks.
"That why you came here?" the jet chuckled a little.
Ikki shrugged and looked off to the side. He couldn't entirely justify himself with this one; he ran over here to make sure Kazu's favorite hat was where it belonged, and because his visit was too short, and because there was something in his eyes when he left, and because he had a thing for him and needed an excuse to chase after him, and… and…
"Thank you," Ikki blurted suddenly, falling forward to pull Kazu into a tight embrace, burying the smaller boy's face into his shoulder. "It was probably the coolest, most thoughtful thing anyone has ever gotten for me."
When he released the blonde and looked at him, he was blushing fiercely. Then his eyes were drawn like magnets to the patch of green above them; mistletoe. What a perfect opportunity. When he met Kazu's gaze and wiggled his brows suggestively, Kazu gave him a strange look.
"Nuh-uh," Kazu shook his head. "I don't do the stupid mistletoe thing."
Not that Ikki cared, since he kissed the boy anyway, hard and intense right on the lips, warm tongue nudging for entrance, which Kazu easily granted after relaxing into the crow's hold. He shut his eyes and kissed back.
There was a point, however, where both of them needed to take a breath and so they parted messily.
"Y-you're… you're welcome, but…"
Ikki shrugged.
"It's mistletoe. You have to do it. Rules; or at least that's what I'm told."
Kazu rolled his eyes and shook his head at the idiot, leaning against the crow to be held (because it just felt so nice), which Ikki did instinctively.
"You should probably head on back," Kazu said, eyes drooping shut again and heavy head resting against Ikki's shoulder. "It's Christmas, so you should be with your family."
"I probably should," Ikki nodded sarcastically, then slowly lowered himself to sit on the floor, taking Kazu with him and never letting him go. He squeezed him tighter, indicating that he had no intentions of leaving the boy that had given him wings. "Probably."
