A/N : Happy Christmas! I'm so tired but you guys wanted the chapter, so here is your chapter! You bunch of slave drivers… Do you have any idea what time it is? Tch!

Warning : Strong language, yaoi.

Disclaimer : I don't own Beyblade or any of the characters. The characters you do not recognise are mine and are not to be stolen/used in any story other than my own.

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All I Want : Chapter Eight

December 25th

"It's Chriiiiiiiiiiiistmaaaaaaaaaaas! Everybody wake up!"

… "Uhhh…" What time is it?

"Come on guys! Tyson, Rei, Chief, Kai! Come on!"

… Five thirty in the morning. I hate you Max.

Bang, bang! "Come on Kai!"

Fuck's sake.

"Tyson! Yeah! You're awake! Haha! Hey buddy!"

Tyson. My hero. Take that thing away. Preferably outside. Bury it.

"Uh, Max? I don't think the others will appreciate being woken up at this hour."

See previous statement.

"That kid is going to die." … Bryan? Is he still here? No less, on my bedroom floor. I'm also gutted to realise that I'm not fucking Rei right now. He went to bed in his own room, the inconsiderate bastard.

"I thought you went home?" I know that Christmas is a time for sharing and all, but I didn't mean my house.

"I did." You did? Then why the hell are you here? "Tala was annoyingly drunk, so I came back. You left the back window unlocked so I climbed through at about three this morning." Well thank you for letting me know how easy it is to break into my house. Though how could he leave Tala alone when drunk? The boy is dangerous enough to himself when sober, let alone drunk!

"And where is Tala now?" On second thoughts, do I even want to hear the answer?

"Don't know. He followed me." He says offhandedly like it doesn't matter. He's supposed to be your best friend Bryan! "I left him trying to get in the window two hours ago." … I knew he was heartless, but come on!

"Bryan! How could you?" I'm completely awake now, and I'm going to find Tala. He could have died out in that cold! "Grrr!" Kami it's freezing, even inside the house. I can't imagine what I'll find. What if… No, he can't die, not at Christmas! I yank the door open and push past Max, still in my underwear, kicking Bryan on the way through and hear him... Laughing? Well, that's close enough to a laugh for Bryan, anyway. Sadistic fucker.

"He's on the sofa, Kai." … I repeat, sadistic fucker. I'm now directing every bit of hatred I can find within my soul straight at that lilac-haired moron through a 'Powered Up Hiwatari Death Glare'. If this is his sense of humour at Christmas, I don't even want to begin thinking about April Fools.

… Or Halloween.

"I hate you, Bryan!" Ah, good morning Tala. Poor Max and Tyson don't know what to think of all these half naked Russians stalking around the house arguing with each other in a language they don't understand – Tys and Max, that is, obviously we understand the language otherwise we wouldn't be arguing in it. Hmm, Tala isn't wearing a great deal either and it's not a bad sight actually, I wouldn't mind waking up to that every morning. I'd still prefer Rei though. Sigh. It's, what, five forty in the morning and I'm already being a complete pervert – Go me. The redhead is now directing a glare at least three times as disgusted as mine toward his supposed best friend, one hand on his hip to show his disappointment, the other flailing around in the air to show his anger, cussing loudly in Russian about being freezing cold for an hour. I think he needs a good strong coffee to calm him down since his personality never fails to match his fiery hair until it has been soothed by the 'Soothing Liquid of Calm', basically he has always been known to be much less of a bitch after a good cuppa in the morning, or afternoon usually, considering this is Tala and he doesn't know much about this time we call 'morning'. He's just stormed off, no doubt back to the living room to sleep for a bit longer, not that there is a great deal of point in that since Max appears pretty adamant to get everyone awake so that we can open presents.

I'm still glaring, Bryan's still sniggering heartlessly at my expense, while Tyson and Max are glancing in utter confusion between us and the door through which Tala just exited in a rather irate manner, minus the 'rather' and plus a 'very'.

"Uh… What just happened?" Oh Kami Tyson, don't ask, for your health's sake, don't ask.

"Bryan's heartless." I reply, throwing one last snarl at Bryan before turning my attention to the navy-haired questioner. I'm almost tempted to tell the surly Russian that I preferred him when he was depressed and didn't make such jokes, but that just isn't true. He was a sad sight when he was depressed, I'm glad he's happier now… Even if it does mean that he'll pull evil pranks on people who are said to be his friends. It's only five forty in the morning, dammit! Why am I even awake? And what's that smell? "Tala?" No, I'm not being horribly immature and suggesting that it is Tala I can smell, but his cooking. Now is a good time to ask since he's just walked back in with a steaming mug of coffee – And I'm jealous. Something smells damn good in the kitchen. "You cooking?"

"Nope. Rei is." He replies. Ah, that would be why it smells so fucking tasty, like chef, like food, no? He's a good cook and I've just realised that I'm walking. I hate mornings, it takes me a while to notice what I'm doing half the time, but walking to the kitchen seems like a good enough idea. Coffee, Rei, tasty cooked breakfast – Would you refuse? Only if you're a complete pillock.

"Good morning Kai." Drool. "Happy Christmas!"

"Same to you." He looks good this morning, wide awake, bright eyed and bushy tailed as the phrase goes. I get the feeling that he was up long before Max went shouting around the house, just keeping himself quiet, he looks too bouncy to have only just got out of bed. He's also wearing clothes, which is a bit of a shame since I really have become accustomed to being greeted Rei in underwear the rest of the mornings he's been here, I love that sight. It might just be the best part of my day, watching his stride proudly past with those long, slender legs that have often been wrapped around me in my dreams. Maybe that will happen one day if I keep holding on to him, maybe he'll let me in to his heart like I have him.

"Sleep well?" He says, sliding a coffee across the counter to me. What an angel! I nod my appreciation and begin to drink the stuff as though it's my very lifeline. It's a darn good cuppa too, the guy's talented.

"Very. Still worn out from Max's hyperactive… Ness." He chuckles at my made-up word and I'm almost ready to curse myself for it, any other morning would have been fine, but I blame Murphy and that stupid law of his that it would have to be the one time I am talking to Rei. Still, despite common disbelief, I am only human. "You?"

"Nah." He shakes his head with a laugh, his black bangs falling into his eyes, and it's now that I realise he isn't wearing his usual bandana yet, so of course it would be in his eyes. His hair looks very pretty today… And I just sounded like a five year old. Give me a break, I'm tired. "I couldn't sleep so went to watch TV. I nearly had a heart attack when Bryan walked in."

"Wouldn't anyone?" I smirk, making my neko chuckle lightly. I down the rest of my coffee as I would plain water, leaving the mug in the sink because I am too lazy to wash it up right now. At the back of my mind, a voice is telling me that Rei will probably end up doing it, even though he doesn't need to, just like he always has. He did far too much for our team in the past, cooking, cleaning, generally keeping us all together (when Tyson wasn't, that is). He's done so much over the years that we've known him, and we've all taken it completely for granted. Now's a time to change that. I nod toward the frying pan of sizzling bacon, sausages, mushrooms and eggs and let myself smile lightly. "Thanks for this, Rei."

"No problem." He grins that grin again. You know, the flash-of-the-teeth-and-make-the-fan-girls-faint grin? That one. I think I'm sweating. He goes back to his cooking, flipping everything and sending another waft of good food smells into the air, I can't help but sniff at it, smiling. It smells so damn good and I'm really quite hungry now. I watch Rei as he works wonders, adding some spice that I can't even pronounce to the eggs and make them go slightly browner. He's noticed me watching and is now holding out the spatula to me – Is he offering to teach me how to cook, or is it some weird Chinese tradition? 'You have proven yourself worthy, have a spatula…' I think not.

"I can't cook." I state bluntly, remembering Tala and Bryan's outburst in the supermarket while trying to ignore the fact that Rei has adapted a gorgeously cute pout.

"I can show you how." He replies with confidence and his usual calm, friendly smile set upon his perfect features, the pout completely vanished. Sighing, I step forward. This is something that Rei is offering, and it's something special to him, I know that for a fact. Whenever he used to cook for the Bladebreakers, he wouldn't want anyone to crowd him and he'd send us out the kitchen if we tried to help – Not that we did after a while, we all just took it completely for granted that Rei would do the cooking for us and that we would leave him alone to do it. He didn't mind, but thinking back on it, I can't remember a single time that any of us really thanked him properly. Still, I grudgingly accept the utensil he is holding out for me (I wish, now keep on track you perverts) and move in front of the frying pan.

"Hn." He'll be a 'miracle worker' if he can teach me to cook, according to Tala. I'm still annoyed at that, I can't be that bad. "If you say so."

"Have faith in me, Kai." He says, standing behind me, laying a hand on my hip. I'll just have to keep my head facing the pan so he doesn't see the huge grin I appear to have acquired right this second, even though I really would like to kiss him, right now in fact.

"I do have faith in you." I mutter, unconsciously leaning backwards into his warmth, closing my eyes and sighing. I only awaken from my stupor when I feel a pair of lips on the base of my neck, causing me to take a sharp breath in, more in shock than anything else.

"You're not concentrating on your cooking, Kai. That's how accidents happen." Well how am I supposed to concentrate when my three-and-a-half-year-long crush is practically molesting me? Not that I'm complaining, I'm really quite enjoying this. So, instead of answering, I go for the easy option. I turn around in his arms and pin him against the front of the fridge, making him gasp from the cold contact. So then Rei, the tables have turned, have they not? I smirk at him as a predator would it's prey, stepping forward only to realise that I was right – He is taller than me now, but only by about an inch. Even in this position, I can't help but think about how sweet and innocent he is and how beautiful he looks. I loosen my grip on his wrists, which I was holding in place above his head, and let them snake their way around my waist. I playfully flick a bit of his hair out of the way, before leaning toward him for a kiss.

I was half expecting for Tala to come in and ruin the moment a second time, but no. He's a better kisser than I thought he was yesterday, but it seems like nerves aren't in his way this time. It's just me and Rei. Rei and me.

Beep, beep, beep, beep!

Rei and me, and the fire alarm.

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Luckily for me I didn't ruin the breakfast, Rei saved everything before it got burned, but I have ruined any dignity I had. Tala won't let the subject drop, even three hours later, which is still too early in the morning in my opinion. On any normal day I only would have gotten up and hour ago, but since it's Christmas I was hoping for a lie-in this morning, preferably with Rei, but whatever, it didn't happen, moving swiftly on. Everyone is currently seated around the living room, some chatting, some staring into space, some looking bored and some (mentioning no names, Max) are jumping around like lunatics, shouting about presents. So I guess that's what we're going to do now, since everyone is here – Still including Tala and Bryan, even though they promised that they'd leave, they never did. But then, I knew that they wouldn't. It will be fun any how, watching them open the gifts I bought for them.

"Can we start now?" The hyperactive blond squeals excitedly, gazing around the room. He's an odd creature, our Max. Sweet though. I give him the Nod of Permission and he immediately dives under the tree to find a present each for everyone, soon joined by Chief, I presume so that he can keep some sort of order and not let Max have all of his own presents before everyone else. "Tyson, catch!" The blond calls out, throwing a squishy parcel I recognise as the scarf I wrapped to Tyson, who patiently waits for the others to receive something to open before 'digging in'. Though, this doesn't take long, as I didn't think it would with Max as the 'Chief Hander-Outer'. I notice him fumbling with a small gift that I also recognise and looks as if he's about to send it flying toward it's owner. Time to step in.

"Don't throw that one Max." I warn. It's my present to Bryan and could most definitely kill somebody if thrown. It's a little token of appreciation for killing the bastard who thought he could control people's lives. I nod politely as Max gets up and hesitantly walks over to the scowling teen to give him the small package. I have to smile though, I can tell that Bry is simply dying to show some kind of happiness but I don't think he really knows how to in front of all these people, poor guy, he's just like I used to be.

"Thanks Kai." The lilac-haired teen mutters in my direction, not waiting politely like everyone else but unwrapping it straight away. "Thanks Kai." He repeats with a little more enthusiasm this time as he lets his thumb slide over the sharp blade of his brand new (personalised) knife. I think he's just noticed that I had his surname, Kuznetsov, engraved into the handle. That will keep him happy for weeks, I can tell by the new light that's shining in his purple eyes. He's so easy to please, just give him something violent and deadly to play with and he's happy!

"No problem." I reply, smirking at his fascinated expression as he checks the blade over, turning away from Tala who is literally climbing on top of the other teen to try and sneak a peak at his best friend's new 'toy', while Bryan is getting more and more irritated with the redhead. I turn my attention back to Max, who promptly hands me a present from Chief. "Max… Find something for Tala." I suggest, making all eyes turn toward the two Russians, one of whom is beginning to growl, and it's not the sweet and redheaded one – Go figure, that means violence.

"Here we go!" The blond gets up and takes the large package over to a now beaming Tala. I may have to hide before he opens that gift or I could just get leapt on. Everybody, (including Bryan, though he's pretending not to) watches as my excited best friend rips the wrapping off and squeals loudly in delight, before getting to his feet, grinning dangerously. I feel a look of complete horror pass over my face, brining laughter from the 'crowd' as, just like I had suspected, Tala launches himself at me, leaching onto my arm and grinning, thanking me over and over again.

"Nice." Bryan mutters quietly from across the room, returning to 'petting' his knife after taking a quick inspection of the contents of the box, said contents being Tala's brand new snow boots, the ones that he has been staring at for the past three months and still hasn't managed to afford. They're pretty much exactly the same as his fur-lined white ones that he tends to wear, but they're grey and a slightly better quality.

If people I've known and been reasonably open to for a couple of years now are so happy with their presents, that they were probably expecting from me as well, then I can't wait to see the reaction I get from my old team mates – Especially Rei. It looks like I won't have to wait long to find out either since the neko is currently unwrapping the paper of a chocolate plaque shaped present. His eyes light up and he smiles brightly so I assume he's read the words and appreciates the thought.

"Hey, thanks Kai!" And I distinctly heard the sentiment behind the excitement, so I am rather happy right now.

"Fuck!" … Or would have been happy had Tala not just trodden somewhere rather precious (yes, that crazed fool is still sitting on me and it doesn't look like he's leaving any time soon), making me wince.

"Sorry Kai…" No problem Tal, I just may never have children in the future. "Who's that from?" He asks, nodding toward the present in my lap, I forgot I had that there. It's a wonder he crush this as well as… Other things, while 'climbing'.

"Chief…" I say, noticing all eyes are suddenly on me. Just to humour myself, I unwrap the gift very slowly, knowing that Kenny is itching to hear my response to his present. I can hear Tyson drumming his fingers against the side of the chair he's sat in, and Max sighs in frustration. In fact. the only person who seems to be laughing along with me, is Bryan, but this does fit in with his weird sense of humour so I suppose that figures. I decide to stop and stretch before continuing, listening to the simultaneous sighs from those around me and a slight chuckle from the teen in the corner. "Have fun last night?" I inquire to him in Russian, knowing that he will join in my game and humour me. He nods once, smirking.

"Hmm." He replies in our native tongue, appearing to think about the previous night. "Was alright." He pauses and looks toward the redhead, who seems to be just as frustrated as the former Bladebreakers, if not more so since he knows that we're just stalling for a laugh. "Tala was a bit annoying, though." He tells me while still looking at the redhead, though the look of calm in his eyes as he does so has not gone unnoticed by me, there's blatantly something going on here. Maybe I'm not the only Russian in the room who wants to be 'happy and gay' this Christmas.

"I see." On closer inspection, Tala has the same look in his eyes and so I have a bit of setting up to do later today, but for now, the gift. Chuckling lightly, I continue to unwrap it, and a smile graces my face after I finish doing so. Like me, Kenny has gone for sentimental value, but he's really gone all-out. I wonder if the others knew about this? It's the very first photo that the Bladebreakers ever had taken, the one that was on the front of all the newspapers when we'd won the Asian tounement three and 'a bit' years ago, set behind glass in a silver frame. With it, there's a letter from everyone I remember from the various teams, all wishing me a merry Christmas and a happy New Year. Let's see, there's all of our old team, including Hilary and Daichi (hate that kid), Justice Five and Hiro (through Tyson, I guess), The Majestics since Tyson and Max stayed quite good friends with Oliver, the White Tigers have all signed, even Mariah – And she hates me just as much as I hate her – The All Starz have signed, along with Judy (Max's mum), and it looks like that Mr Dickinson and Tyson's grandfather (of all people) have even left a note for me… AJ and Brad? You're kidding! Apparently not because I've just read their names on here too, and Jazz, the three people that really made the tournaments work, without them, there wouldn't have even been tournaments, but I'd never thought about that before. I'm… I'm touched.

"Aww, he's at a loss for words!" Tala grabs his shirt where his heart would be, and flutters his eye lashes in a mock gesture. I turn my stunned stare toward him but quickly turn it into a glare, sighing.

"Read it." I thrust the letter at him and smirk as he suddenly goes wide-eyed before turning his expression into a peaceful smile. I look at Kenny and give him the only genuine smile I ever have, knowing that it probably means more to him than that scarf and bit of chocolate that has been unwrapped now.

"That was more of a present from Mr Dickinson than from me." He mumbles almost incoherently. I smirk, what I'm about to do is going to surprise him and the guys, it may even surprise Tal and Bry.

"Tell him I said thank you." I smile. They do look a little surprised, except Tyson – I guess he was expecting it though, after our talks in the mornings he has come to know me better than I thought he ever would.

"Kai?" Yes oh completely wonderful and gorgeous one? Ahem.

"Hm?" Rei is holding something toward me, a Christmas present for me. He needn't have bought me anything really, I already have the only thing I wanted from him, from anyone, ever – Love. Okay, so Rei isn't in love with me yet, we've only just begun our relationship, but I do know that he likes me being around, I feel wanted around him, and that is the most special thing I have ever come to feel in my entire life.

Rei's parcel, as I rip off the wrapping, contains a necklace, a simple string with a carved wooden trinket dangling from it. I look at it and notice that it's something along the same lines as the White Tiger team symbol, but a bit more curvy. It has a Chinese symbol in the middle, but I don't know what it means. I look at Rei for an answer to my unspoken question.

"The outside shape the White Tiger tribe representation of trust and friendship, and inside is the Chinese symbol for luck." He smiles at me, his beautiful eyes twinkling with pride. "It was my idea, I had a local carver who carves the patterns in furniture do it for you. I did try myself, but even Lee couldn't tell what it was." He did this for me. He didn't buy it from some random shop, he had it specially made for me. I undo the string at the back, make sure it is the right length around my neck and then let Tala retie it for me. I swear, I am never taking this off.

"Thank you Rei." You honestly don't know how much this means to me… I love you.

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"I said give me the salt, Tala!"

"Tut, tut, Bryan… Manners."

"To hell with manners and give me the God-damned fucking salt!"

"… I don't see any 'God-damned fucking salt', I only see plain table salt, sorry."

"Chill out with the language." Sigh. They cooked it, they argued. The eat it, they argue. They're clearing up, and I can tell they're going to argue. I pass the salt down the table toward a now muttering Bryan and get a glare that may actually have been a thank you. I'm not sure if you can use such a fierce facial expression to give thanks, but I'll accept it any how, since it's coming from somebody who I know for a fact is currently carrying a knife and I am therefore not prepared to argue. Maybe that was a bad idea for a Christmas present.

Speaking of Christmas presents, the guys all loved their scarves and chocolates, though Max choked on some of his for trying to eat and laugh at the same time. I haven't unveiled the sled yet, I figured that could wait for later, preferably after Tala and Bryan have gone home, considering Tala will just take over it for himself and not let anybody else have a go while Bryan would push somebody down the hill at full force in the middle of the road, and though there isn't a great deal of traffic right at the moment, the sled, if backed with all of the teen's power, wouldn't stop at the end of the road but would probably carry on into town and then whichever poor sod was in it would have to drag it all the way back up to the top. However, I've already decided that I'm taking the first turn with Rei, just so I can use it as an excuse to pull him between my legs and wrap my arms around his waist; I'm looking forward to that.

Right now we are all sat around the dining table, I'm in between Rei and Tala so I'm more than happy about the seating arrangements, especially as the former keeps rubbing his foot against my leg, unknown to the rest of my guests. However, Bryan is right at the other end of the table and unfortunately the salt fiasco hasn't been the only one so far – the potatoes were the worst and Tala ended up getting one launched straight at his head… Let's just say it's lucky he ducked. Kenny had been sitting next to him, but after said incident, he soon moved up the table and is now opposite Rei instead where he seems to feel a little safer. Tyson and Max are opposite each other, two seats down from Kenny – i.e., Tyson is sat next to Tala while Max is opposite him, one chair's space and then Bryan, who must be feeling rather alone down there all by himself; I'd wave at him but since he's quite irate at this particular minute I think I'd end up with gravy splattered across the walls and one finger missing, be it mine or someone else's.

I have to say, their cooking is spectacular. I had my doubts, lots of doubts, about letting them do it, but they've done a really good job, despite having to send Rei away at least four times since he kept trying to help out with things. I know that he was annoyed with not being allowed to cook things because I caught him sulking (which he repeatedly denied), but after pinning him against a wall, kissing him and letting our hands roam free reign for two minutes straight, he felt a lot better and stopped moping around immediately.

However, Rei wasn't the only person I found that was looking a little low, I discovered Tyson standing out on the patio, sighing every thirty seconds. After hearing about five sighs I decided to ask him what was wrong. It turns out that he was missing Brooklyn but sitting outside and staring at nature helped him… I took the phone to him and told him he could have up to an hour if he so desired, it is Christmas after all. He was much happier after his conversation with his redheaded psycho (ahem) boyfriend (I meant that, I swear), and has been striding around like he owns the place ever since. I'm beginning to wonder if they did actually have 'phone sex', since Tyson is quite possibly a little too happy. Still, it's their life, not mine – thank fuck.

"This food is really good!" Rei exclaims through a mouthful of turkey, before swallowing and grinning The Grin (you know the one I mean) at Bryan down the table, who simply raises an eyebrow. Come on Bryan, you can't tell me that this guy isn't completely and wonderfully gorgeous and adorable? Kami, that was a bit over the top on the mushy side. Still, sigh, it's true. For me, anyway… It's true for somebody else with Bryan, as I noticed earlier. I've just caught his lilac gaze so look pointedly at Tala to see the other teen's reaction. A slight twitch of that eyebrow again proves my point – He wants him.

"I agree with Rei." Kenny chimes in, directing his comment to Tala though since he isn't quite as fearful of the redhead as my other psychotic friend.

"E thoo!" Since Tyson has his trap full to the brim right now, I'm guessing that was supposed to be 'me too'. It was barely coherent none the less.

"Yup! This is some good food you've done, guys. Congratulations and merry Christmas!" … Only Max. He's so polite and bubbly all the time that it makes me smile. He's always been lovely though, hasn't he? A little naïve, but lovely.

"Happy Christmas."

Silence. I think that was what I thought it was. A very strange moment for everybody has just passed as the meanest bastard in the whole of Russia his first pleasant words ever!

"Merry Christmas, Bryan." Tala replies with a smile. Yeah, definitely some feelings flying around those pair. It may just be because it's Christmas and their high spirits are getting the better of them, but I don't think so. Tala has always enjoyed being around Bryan, and the same the other way round, they love each other's company, maybe it's time for them to take that leap into new territory like me and Rei have…? They would make a cute couple actually, but I may have to point that out to them both at least ten times each before they get the gist.

Everyone has now begun wishing each other a good Christmas time, but right this second I am more interested in Rei's foot that is currently stroking it's way up the inside of my leg. He's just as bad as I am when it comes to the horny-perverted-ness issue, possibly worse, the guy's been practically feeling me up the entire meal time, and I'm not complaining one bit.

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"Thanks for letting me share the best Christmas I've ever had with you." Aww, Rei! How sweet was that? Very. Well, I'm currently feeling rather smug about the whole situation, still that may be because I'm a little bit drunk. No, that's not the reason, the reason is because I'm lying in my bed in my underwear with Rei's arms draped over me, his head resting on my shoulder, gazing at me with his beautiful amber eyes. Unfortunately this isn't the most romantic situation in the world considering we have both been drinking a lot of champagne, but because we can hear Tala having a giggle-fit through the door. They never did leave in the end but I don't mind, we all had fun together anyway…

Everybody started drinking at around six in the evening, a little early possibly, but it is Christmas after all. I let Max and Tyson unwrap the sled at about seven thirty and we all went sledding straight away because they wouldn't give up bugging us. Actually, Max wouldn't give up bugging us, Tyson didn't seem to care about the whole idea until we were actually out there in the snow, and that is when he livened up, begging to have first go with Max. I said no. I climbed into the sled and let Rei in too, enjoying the feeling of him settling himself between my thighs. To my horror it was Bryan who decided to give the sled a shove to get it going, but we'd had the sense to go to a near-by field rather than sled down the road and risk getting killed on Christmas day. I was really enjoying myself. Booze plus getting to cuddle up close to Rei equals one very happy Kai, and I know I was laughing for the whole time we were out playing together. Yeah, who'd have ever thought I'd get a second chance to mess about with the guys like we did? I always declined when we were on the team, but only because I didn't know how to play back then, I do now. We all had so much fun.

Tyson and Max teamed up to have a go after Rei and I had dragged the sled back up the steep hill, then Tala forced Bryan to have a go with him and it was obvious that they both fully enjoyed their time spent together. Kenny went in Max, who just couldn't get enough of the game until we were all snow-soaked and freezing. That, I suppose, is when we thought that hot showers would be a good idea, soon followed by hot chocolate or coffee, depending on the person. I sat on the sofa and let Rei lean on me, one of my arms wrapped tightly around his torso while Tala was resting his head on Bryan's shoulder, who really didn't seem to mind. Then, on the other side of the room, Tyson was chatting to Brooklyn over the phone for the second time; Max was sleeping soundly, curled up with a blanket and a pillow, clutching his Draciel blade while Kenny was leant over contentedly looking at it as it dangled from the blond's hand… So at the end of the night, everyone was with something or someone they loved or cared about, whether in person or in spirit.

It was a really great night, and now, just to top it off, I am lying here with the person I love more than anybody else in the universe and I would like said universe to know that Rei Kon is the best kisser that there is. Obviously, I have not kissed everybody in the universe, but I thought that Tala couldn't be beaten – He can. Kami I'm drunk…

"I love you, Rei." He smiles up at me and I kiss him on the cheek, caressing his back with my hands, pulling him as close as I can bring him.

"I… I think… I love you too." He giggles drunkenly. I can't help but smile; for the first time, I don't care if he loves me back yet, just the feeling of being wanted and cherished is good enough for me, I know love with come. I think I'm going to fall asleep…

"Night Rei."

… And I'm out. Merry Christmas.

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