Summary: Jaden doesn't know what to get Syrus for Christmas. He asks everyone for ideas. Will he find the perfect gift? Snowy fluff ahead! Jaden/Sy, Zane/Alexis, Chazz/Bastion
Title: Christmas Star
A/N: This is my holiday gift for you all! Get a glass of hot cocoa (with lots of marshmallows!) and enjoy.
Christmas Star
"Is it straight, Zane?" Alexis asked from her position on top of a small ladder. Zane smirked, crossing his arms over his chest.
"I couldn't tell you. I was taking the opportunity to look up your skirt."
"You dog!" Blushing furiously, Alexis turned on the ladder quickly to tell off her boyfriend. Instead, her boot heel caught on the ladder and she went flying forward. Zane jumped towards her and just barely managed to make the catch. While she was still gathering her wits, Zane looked upwards with a thoughtful look in his blue eyes.
"It's not straight. That clump of mistletoe is definitely crooked. I suppose I'll kiss you anyway, even though your work is less than perfect," he said softly. He silenced any reply Alexis might have made by gently covering her mouth with his and tightening his arms around her passionately. She moaned lightly into his mouth, her hand caressing up his back sensually. Zane gripped her tighter, turning slightly so she was pressed against the wall. Alexis was excited by the extremely rare event. Zane never kissed her in a place they could be seen by someone else.
Apparently, it excited Zane, too.
She felt his hand sliding up her thigh and pushing the material of her skirt up a few inches. Her eyes widened in surprise. In retaliation, she trailed her other hand over his stomach and then down further, causing him to grind against her harder and deepen their kiss even more.
"Hey, Alexis, you're supposed to kiss him under the mistletoe – not give him a hand job."
Alexis and Zane sprung apart, Alexis blushing and Zane glaring. Chazz just smirked and continued down the hallway, an apologetic Bastion following behind. He had gone a few paces past them when he stopped and turned with an inquiring look on his face.
"That mistletoe is crooked. Did you know?"
Alexis giggled and straightened the lapels of Zane's jacket.
"Zane already informed me. I don't know, though. I think the kisses under crooked mistletoe are much better."
Bastion smirked. "Maybe Chazz and I will test out your theory later."
"Bastion!" Chazz bellowed from down the hall. Bastion rolled his eyes and then smiled at the two of them.
"His highness Chazz is on the way to the card shop. Care to come along?"
Zane looked as if he was about to refuse, but Alexis beat him to it.
"Yeah, actually, I'm waiting for a card to come in and it might have arrived. Come on, Zane," she took his hand and he followed reluctantly after his girlfriend and her Ra Yellow friend.
When the two couples entered the card shop, a gust of cold air followed them inside.
"Shut the door quickly, dears! You'll let the heat out!" The elderly woman that ran the shop smiled at them from underneath several colorful scarves. Zane closed the door as she asked.
"What are you doing in here, Slifer?" Chazz asked without his usual malice. He and Jaden had forgotten their differences a long time ago. Now their rivalry was more playful than serious. Bastion and Alexis greeted Jaden happily, and Zane merely nodded.
Jaden, however, was less than friendly. He returned their greetings with an anxious look, and then went back to chewing on his lip and staring at some cards on the counter. "Hey, guys," he finally muttered distractedly.
"What's wrong, Jaden? And where's Syrus?" Alexis asked. Jaden never looked so worried, and he and Syrus were usually attached at the hip.
"Syrus? Oh, he's with Chumley," he answered absently. He returned his attention to the cards, "I just don't know. What do you think?" he asked the shop owner. She smiled at him merrily and tugged on one of her scarves.
"I wouldn't get him a card. I'd get him a scarf! It will keep him warm, and it will remind him of you when he wears it!"
Alexis walked further into the shop, peering over Jaden's shoulder at the three really rare cards on the counter. All of them were mechanical monsters.
"Christmas shopping for Syrus?" she asked knowingly. Jaden, however, just slumped over the counter and banged his head a few times for good measure.
"Yes! And it's been driving me crazy!"
Bastion arched an eyebrow and sat down at one of the small tables in the shop set up for students who wanted to trade. Zane sat across from him, and Chazz moved to look at one of the counters.
"Why's it driving you crazy?" Chazz asked, quickly adding, "Not that I care, of course."
"Jaden, stop banging your head on the counter, and sit down with Bastion and Zane. It can't be that bad. You can tell us what's wrong and we'll help you sort it out," Alexis advised kindly. Glumly, and with a huge sigh, Jaden dragged himself to the table and flopped down beside Bastion. Alexis inquired about her package (it wasn't in yet), and then joined them. After Chazz had made his purchase, he came and pulled a chair up to the table as well.
"Usually, shopping for Syrus isn't hard at all. I just get him a cool card or a Barbara Streisand C.D."
Chazz snickered and Jaden shot him a weak glare.
"So what's the problem? There were some great cards over there that I'm sure he'd love," Alexis said reassuringly.
"That's just it. They're just cards. See, Syrus let it slip to Chumley that he was getting me something really special this year. I wasn't supposed to know about it, but Chumley told me accidentally so now I don't know what I should do. I can't get him the usual gift – not if he's going to get something special for me. I have to get him something really great, but I can't think of what."
Chazz rolled his eyes. "So these are the kind of problems old married couples have – what to buy each other once you've already given him Barbara's Greatest Hits two years in a row." Jaden punched him in response. After dating for two years and three months, Jaden and Syrus were the longest lasting couple at the school. Only Zane and Alexis were close to beating their record at a year and a half. Bastion and Chazz had only been dating for a little more than a month, and Chazz loved to tease Jaden and Syrus for "practically being married."
"Well, Chazz has got a point," Bastion said. The group looked at him skeptically. "After all, you have been together for quite some time. Maybe you should give a gift that's more personal."
"I know that – I just don't know what that gift should be," Jaden moaned.
"Why don't you wrap yourself up in a big red ribbon and nothing else and put a tag around your neck that says his name."
The group stared at Zane with huge eyes and gaping mouths. "What? A guy can't make a joke once a year?"
The group dissolved in laughter, and for just a moment, Jaden forgot the seriousness of his problem.
-JS-
A week passed, and Jaden was giving Zane's idea serious consideration. The three couples were hanging out in one of the small dueling stadiums, and Zane and Syrus were dueling over a box of brownies their mom had sent them both for the holidays. Zane was winning, but he wouldn't have much of a prize left. Jaden and Alexis were eating the contents of the box, unbeknownst to the dueling brothers, and discussing Jaden's problem.
"Okay, Chumley, what did Syrus say exactly?" Alexis asked, passing him a brownie as incentive.
"I really shouldn't say…" Alexis handed him another brownie. "He said that he was going to get something really personal and special."
Jaden sighed glumly. "See? I'm screwed!"
"Cheer up, Jaden. I'm sure Syrus will love anything you give him," Bastion said reasonably. Chazz, who sat a bleacher below Bastion and was resting his head on his boyfriend's lap, snickered evilly.
"Sure…unless he gets you something really expensive and all you've got to give him is some cheap card. Then he'll probably be pissed. I would be."
"Yes, but you're spoiled rotten and you've got a black, selfish little heart," Bastion replied in an affectionate tone. Chazz smiled as if he'd just received a wonderful compliment. Jaden shook his head at them.
"You two are so weird." Alexis laughed and agreed with him. Chumley kept stuffing his face while the other two were distracted.
Jaden looked out over the duel stadium, smiling at the fierce determination on Syrus's face. He must really love his mom's brownies if he was willing to challenge Zane for them. He was actually putting up a pretty good fight. He was so adorable when he had that determined look on his face. He was adorable period.
"Jaden! Earth to Jaden!" Alexis said loudly, finally resorting to waving her hand in front of his eyes.
"Don't even bother, Lex," Chumley said with a sigh. "When he starts Syrus watching, he's totally zoned out."
"What do you want?" Jaden asked grumpily, tearing his eyes away from his boyfriend.
"I asked if you had come up with any ideas at all," Alexis said a bit irritably.
Jaden squirmed a bit and shot Chazz a warning look.
"Well…I had one. But if you say one word, Chazz, I'll beat you so bad the next time we duel that Crowler will want to kick you into Slifer."
Chazz looked highly affronted.
"Go on, Jaden, what's your idea?" Alexis encouraged.
"I was thinking I might…get him a ring."
"Oh, Jaden! How romantic!" Alexis's eyes immediately got watery. A light blush covered Jaden's cheeks. Chazz snickered and Bastion smiled softly.
"I warned you, Chazz!" Jaden threatened.
"What! You said I couldn't comment. I'm not commenting. I'm snickering at your pathetic sappiness. There's a difference."
Jaden continued to mull the idea over in his head, and wrapped up the last couple of brownies. He smuggled them into his jacket when Alexis wasn't paying attention to give to Syrus later.
-JS-
The big night finally came. Chumley had gone home to visit his family, and Syrus and Jaden had the room to themselves. Syrus had put up a miniature tree, and they'd decorated it with old duel monster cards that they'd turned into ornaments. Three stockings hung on the wall, and a picture of the dorm mates taken the previous Christmas stood on the desk. There was garland handing on the window ledge, and a vanilla scented candle filled the room with soft aroma.
Both boys wore their pajamas and were trying to stay bundled up because the heater had gone out. Syrus smiled up lovingly at Jaden. They gazed into each other's eyes, simply enjoying being close and sharing body heat. A little beep alerted them that the hot chocolate was done. Making a reluctant sound, Jaden wiggled out of their cover cocoon and fetched the steaming mugs, along with a few gingerbread cookies.
"Go ahead and grab the present I got you. Since we're both going home early tomorrow morning, we can open them tonight."
Jaden nodded, a bit of nervousness in his eyes as he picked up the slender box with the neat little red bow. The sight of it made him recall Zane's joke, and he grinned. Syrus held open the covers for him, taking the cookies and his mug of chocolate.
"What are you grinning about?"
"Oh, nothing. So this is it, huh? Let me get my gift for you." Jaden reached under the mattress and pulled out the small, sloppily wrapped ring box. Syrus's eyes went wide.
"That doesn't look like a Barbara C.D. or a duel card."
"Have I really gotten that predictable?" Syrus kissed his cheek.
"Just a little bit," the blue haired boy replied with a smile.
"Alright, well, let me open yours first." Syrus nodded and propped his head up on one hand, taking a sip of hot chocolate as he watched Jaden open the box.
"It's…a book," Jaden said, trying to mask his disappointment. Syrus laughed, reading him all too well.
"Not just any book. Open it up," he encouraged. Jaden opened the cover and smiled. It was a scrapbook. The first page had his favorite picture of the two of them in the center. In the corner, in Syrus's neat penmanship, a few words were scribbled. Squinting, Jaden read them out loud.
"Your beautiful eyes?" he read aloud, not understanding.
"It's full of pictures of us and our friends, mementos from your duels, report cards and movie stubs, and 100 reasons why…I love you," Syrus finished softly. Jaden returned the loving smile, then flipped through a few more pages and read the phrases, his heart melting even further. Syrus hadn't been lying. This was a really special gift that he obviously put a lot of time and love into.
"This is the best gift I've ever gotten, Syrus. It means a lot to me." To prove his sentiments, Jaden captured Syrus's lips and kissed him deeply, tasting the hot chocolate he'd been sipping. When they parted, Jaden offered the small box. "Your turn."
Syrus peeled off the paper and looked at Jaden with huge gray eyes full of curiosity before he flipped it open.
"Oh, Jay!" The smaller boy stared at the simple silver band, its little blue stone twinkling, with a growing smile.
"Syrus, I got you this ring to show you that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I know we're young, but I love you. That's never going to change."
Big tears of happiness welled up in Syrus's eyes and slid down his cheeks. Almost sloshing him with hot chocolate, Syrus passionately kissed him.
"I want to spend the rest of my life with you, too. I love you so much," Syrus said between kisses. Grinning, Jaden set their mugs and the cookies on the floor, and resumed the passionate lip lock.
Long after the two had fallen deep asleep, the little stone continued to twinkle brightly in the darkness with all the radiance of a Christmas star.
A/N: Wow. I think that gets an eight on the Sap-O-Meter. Hope you like it anyway, and Happy Yule!