(A/Ns: Merry Christmas! Honestly this came to me last night when I felt like writing some Elleo friendship Christmas fluff and I did not expect it to reach 1k words. My doc manager looks so empty now that most of my fics are on AO3 or private, so I just had to do this. If you get a chance, please review! Happy Christmas to all my readers :D)

I read about it in a book once

It's cold…

"Hn… Leo…" Elliot groaned, barely cracking an eye open as he turned over, the bed creaking lightly under his weight. "Close the window…"

Despite being half asleep, the blonde still picked up on the silence as his response. Perhaps Leo was just ignoring him.

"Leo…" he proceeded to whine, eyes fluttering open and immediately shutting against once they were exposed to the bright light breaking through the crack in the curtains.

There was still no response. It was getting frustrating now.

Just then, another breeze surged through the room, sending a chill down Elliot's spine, even though he was still buried underneath a mound of blankets. Mustering up the courage to brave the elements outside of his cocoon of sheets, Elliot just briefly poked his head out of the top sheet, scanning the room wearily in search of his valet.

But he wasn't there.

Then, his eyes casted up to the clock on his bedside table, which read 09:35. It was uncharacteristic of himself to sleep in this long, but it was unheard of for Leo not to be up. Usually, he was up and ready by 7, if that. No, scrap that – 7am would be a lie in for the noirette.

Shortly after, Elliot came to the conclusion that Leo was up, and that the mountain of scrunched up sheets on his mattress was not him. That, however, opened up a new task: searching for his valet.

And then, as he swung his legs over the edge of bed and shot a brief glance at the calendar, Elliot remembered what day it was today.

December 25th…

Usually, at the age of 15, he should've been excited. Unfortunately, his family had been so busy lately, he'd hardly even noticed. The only possible reminder that Christmas was even coming was the house maids putting up a Christmas tree only 2 weeks ago.

Irritated, Elliot slipped on the closest pair of shoes he could find, raking a hand through his bedhead and yawning openly. Shrugging his dressing gown over his shoulder, he clicked his bedroom door open, his footsteps against the wooden floor overlapping the silence; his parents and siblings must've left already.

As he turned the corner, one thing caught his attention, that thing being the bright and blinding whiteness coming from the garden which overlooked the Nightray mansion's garden.

So that's why it's so cold… Elliot deadpanned internally. Then, in a stark contrast against the pure white snow, he spotted his valet, sitting cross-legged beside the gazebo. That idiot… he's going to get sick…

And yet, for some reason – even though his absence meant Elliot had to actually go outside in the clearly freezing cold snow – he couldn't bring himself to be mad at Leo.

Two minutes later, and Elliot had finally reached the bottom of the stairs, his eyebrow twitching in irritation as he caught another glimpse of Leo, still sitting nonchalantly. Storming over to the door, he swung it open without a moment of hesitation, before wading through the foot-deep layer of snow which had settled on the pavement.

"Oi, Leo!" Elliot yelled after him, clenching his fists as Leo completely ignored his existence. "Hey! Listen to me!"

Leo rolled his eyes (although, thankfully, due to the thick glasses, it went unnoticed), letting out a small sigh as he called back, "Did you want something?"

Elliot was stumped. "N-not particularly."

"Can't you see I'm trying to read?" Leo sighed again, flicking the page of the book.

"What are you doing out here?" Elliot interrogated, "You'll get sick. Tch… you and your shitty lungs."

"You're not very good at insults, are you?" Leo said, clearly testing his patience, and Elliot could tell he was failing already. "I'm flattered that you're concerned about me, Elliot, but don't worry about me."

"I'm not worried about you!" Elliot blurted out defensively. "I just… don't want you getting me sick, that's all!"

Leo paused for a moment, his gaze averting from the book and flitting up to the blonde, stood irritably with his arms folded over his chest. "Does this have something to do with the fact it's Christmas?"

Elliot froze once again. When he thought about it, perhaps it did. After all, you were supposed to spend Christmas with your friends and family, right? His family obviously weren't available, and the only person he could think of to fit the criteria of "friend" was… Leo?

Puzzled by his own train of thoughts, Elliot replied, "Sort of?"

"You don't sound too sure," Leo mocked, returning his attention to the book in his hands. "I'm only here because it's peaceful. I'd rather not have anything to do you with your Christmas."

"Huh?" Elliot tilted his head at him, confused. Tentatively, he lowered himself onto the grass next to Leo, biting back the remark resting on his tongue regarding how bloody cold it was. His tone then softened, as he questioned curiously, "Haven't you ever, like… done Christmas before?"

"I've read about it in a book before. Does that count?"

"Erm, no?"

"Before my mother passed, we never really had enough money to do anything like that. Unlike you, of course," Leo explained, idly fiddling with the book pages between two fingers. "At the House of Fianna, one of the staff members would dress up as Saint Nick every year. All the kids believed he was real," he reminisced, although even Elliot could tell that Leo's memories of that orphanage weren't the happiest. "I stayed out of it, of course."

"Oh…" Elliot muttered, feeling his cheeks grow darker uncontrollably as he formulated his response in his head. "W-well… why don't we celebrate Christmas together then, huh?!"

A perplexed expression found its way onto Leo's face. Bluntly, he said, "Why?"

"I… I don't really know… it just seems… sad."

"I don't need your pity," Leo dismissed. Then, he noticed how strangely flustered Elliot had gotten over the simple request, a sly grin tugging at his lips. "On second thought… I accept."

"Really?" Elliot's eyes lit up.

"Mhm," Leo nodded, closing the book and tucking it under his arm. "So, what's the first part. Maybe presents?"

"Oi, don't push it. You're my valet; you should've bought me a present," Elliot declared, "Wait, I thought you've never done Christmas?!"

Leo chuckled derisively under his breath. "Didn't you listen to what I told you earlier?"

"Tch. What?"

"I read about it in a book once."

Fin.