Taleshipping (Siegfried x Leonhart)
(Last Christmas themed one! :D)
Siegfried von Schroider leaned against the closed door.
"Leon?" he whispered.
No answer. With a grimace, Siegfried tried the handle. It didn't turn.
Even though he knew the butler had a key to all the rooms, Siegfried let his hand fall from the handle. Maybe he deserved to be shut out after…
"Hey, bruder! Do you want to help me make cookies for Santa?"
"I'm busy, Leonhart."
"You're always busy! Can't you take a break for a few minutes – it's Christmas Eve, after all!"
"Work in a gaming company does not stop for the holidays. It goes faster, actually."
"Please, Siggy? It won't take long to mix the batter –"
"Leonhart von Schroider! Can't you see that I am trying hard to get our company back to where it was? Can't you see that I'm trying to fix things for us, to do what father wanted? I don't have time to make cookies for a man that doesn't even exist!"
The look on Leon's face had stopped him…but too late. Siegfried had forgotten that Leon still believed in Santa Claus. And like the idiot he was, he had just…shattered that innocence.
He swallowed, and tried the door again.
"Leon?"
Still no answer.
Siegfried leaned his forehead against the door. Damn. He had thought he had gotten better since the Grand Prix. Turns out he was still just a workaholic, brother-hating jerk. He wondered vaguely for a moment if Seto and Mokuba had similar problems on Christmas. Then he turned his thoughts to his own brother. What had they done before father had died, on Christmas Eve?
They would go out and wrestle in the snow, see who could make the biggest snowball, have a snowball fight. They'd play hide and seek and get themselves lost in the Christmas market. They would hide in the closet in the room where the Christmas tree was, and peek at it before they were supposed to, then sneak out to blow out the candles on the Christmas tree on the other side while Leoni, the maid, was lighting them on the other. It always made her so flustered…they had laughed at that together.
And then they would –
Siegfried took a deep breath, hoping against hope that he could fix this. He hurried down to the library, swearing under his breath as he tried to find the right book. Then he ran back up the stairs, to Leon's still closed door, and sat down against the wall beside it.
He opened the book on his lap and cleared his throat softly.
"'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring…not even a mouse.'"
He paused to listen for movement, but there was none, so he continued.
"'The stockings where hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that Saint Nicholas soon would be there. The children were nestled all snug in their beds, while visions of sugar plums danced in their heads. And mamma in her kerchief, and I in my cap, had just settled down for a long winter's nap.'"
There – just the tiniest hint of a footstep on the carpet. The soft click of the handle turning. Siegfried kept reading.
"'When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter. Away to the window I flew like a flash, tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.'"
The door opened without a sound, and a quiet voice joined Siegfried's.
"'The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below. When, what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer."
Siegfried stopped reading. Leon's door hung open, and Leon himself sat next to Siegfried, nestled against him the way they used to, on Christmas Eves long ago.
"Leon," Siegfried said. "I'm sorry –"
"Just keep reading, Siggy," Leon said.
Siegfried smiled, and he knew that, for now, everything would be fine.
"With a little old driver, so lively and quick, I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick…"
A/N: Cute and Christmasy! Merry Christmas to everyone (or Season's Greetings or Happy Winter if you don't celebrate Christmas). Next will be Taintshipping (Seto x Noa x Ryou). Weird...but it will probably have a New Year's theme or at least a winter one.
