Snow fell outside of their apartment in a flurry, blanketing the entire city in white while the moon and stars were hidden behind thick, grey clouds. The fireplace crackled in the corner, batting away the cold that seeped through the large windows. Adjacent to the corner was a modest-sized pine tree adorned with red and gold tinsel. It sparkled against the hearth's golden light that illuminated the living room softly.
Alya and Nino sat meters away on a thick braided rug in thin Christmas tree-themed pajamas and matching Santa hats. Stacks of boxes and shopping bags full of clothes surrounded them like a child's fortress. Rolls of wrapping paper in shiny reds, matte golds, and pearlescent whites were haplessly scattered to the left while crumples of unusable tape and an assortment of ribbons lay on their right.
Alya's hazel eyes followed her boyfriend's slender fingers as he struggled to tightly roll shiny red wrapping paper over an unmarked box. The sound of scotch tape tearing tickled her ears as he used 4 pieces to tack down one side. Biting back a giggle, she watched as he groaned when he realized that he had accidentally creased the most presentable side of the gift.
He is trying so hard.
Instead of mentioning his mistakes, she hummed along with the French cover of Mariah Carrey's "All I want for Christmas is You" playing from the mantle over their fireplace; she didn't want to interfere with his work no matter how much he struggled.
Nino had volunteered to wrap gifts with her this holiday season despite the fact he didn't know how. Alya didn't hold the inability against him, most people their age didn't see eye to eye with her about the joys of gift wrapping. While somewhat amusing, the juxtaposition of gently placed Amazon boxes and grocery bags underneath a carefully decorated tree always bothered her.
It made her smile when he had offered to help her gift wrap this year. Normally, Alya would be holed up, alone, in her childhood bedroom, left to indulge in her hobby that only comes once a year. However, this was their first year living together and Nino had wanted to share this with her, even if he was terrible at it.
They had started off the night with drinks and baking (after dinner, of course; they weren't children). It was her beloved's idea to turn it into a productive night of sweet baked goods and cocktails.
Since Alya moved out, Marlena had finally given in on passing down her famous bread pudding recipe to her second eldest daughter. They had made it once together two weeks ago, but tonight was the first night that she would be making it alone without her mother.
Nino, on the other hand, had contributed to tonight's 'productivity' by whipping up a pitcher of peppermint white Russian. Normally, both Alya and Nino weren't fans of sugary sweet cocktails, but Adrien had insisted that the peppermint really cut through the sweetness.
He wasn't wrong, after they modified the recipe to be a little stronger for their taste.
Shifting her gaze toward his face, Alya could see the concentration in his pinched expression as he tried to neatly fold one of the open sides of the gift. His eyes were slightly glazed while his face was flushed from having two cups of his concoction. Biting his bottom lip, he recreased one of the edges twice before it lied neatly against the box. As he repeated this process to the other side, his brows became more furrowed, almost as if he was glaring at the package.
Alya just wanted to kiss his stress away.
Adorable, absolutely adorable.
Nino sighed in frustration, snapping her awake from her daydream. Alya watched him lift his latest attempt for inspection. Wrinkles lined 4 of the 6 sides while the edges were rounded, indicating that his folds were not tight. The sides of the gift- which would have required the most folding- were uneven; one was puffy from not having the excess cut off while the other had a tad too much taken off.
Alya's hazel eyes sparkled. "This one is much better."
Pouting, Nino set it down to grab a name tag. "But I wanted it to be good." he sulked as he carefully wrote Otis' name to attach it to the gift.
Alya moved it to the finished pile. "And it is. Don't be too hard on yourself, babe," she quipped as she turned to pick a medium amazon box, "Gift wrapping is hard."
He watched her scan the rolls of wrapping paper before settling on a gold foil with cartoon reindeers. "But you're so good at it."
"That's because I wrapped everyone's gifts growing up." Pointing the roll at him, her lips curved into a smirk as she joked, "You can't compare yourself to a master."
"I never thought I would be dating a master wrapper." Nino ducked, narrowly missing the roll as she swatted at him.
"God that was bad." She shook her head. "Sunshine is really rubbing off on you."
He had the biggest shit-eating grin on his face. "While I admit most of the time my dude's puns are usually just too cheesy, a pun about music and gifts is just right up my alley."
Playfully rolling her eyes, she unraveled the wrapping paper and picked up a pair of scissors. In one smooth swoop, she sheared off the desired amount and returned the roll to the pile. Nino scootched backward to give her some room and watched her with laser focus as she set the decorative side facing down. With a single piece of tape, she tacked down the first side of the fold. Slowly, she demonstrated how to neatly wrap the gift, pulling the box towards her while holding down the wrapping paper to ensure tight edges.
While she wasn't known to be the crafty one between her and Marinette, gift wrapping was the one thing that she knew she excelled at when it came to hand-making anything.
It started when her parents were still at the beginning of their careers, too busy with their day jobs to handle every detail of the holidays. She recalled that her first memory of wrapping gifts was around age 6. Their father had taken it upon himself to teach both his oldest daughters how to wrap with old newspapers. Everyone always knew who wrapped which gift since Nora's often tore at the corners from her heavy-handedness.
When the twins came, the amateur fighter took on the active role of keeping them company, leading to Alya being the sole gift wrapper for her family.
Soon, she had a perfectly wrapped present sitting between them. If she were alone, the aspiring journalist would have given herself a little more time to admire her handiwork. There was something magical about the festive patterns that made her heart sing. Crisp corners and unblemished designs. Alya always made sure that the tape was discreetly tucked away under each fold. Her favorite type of fold was the twisted pleat, a fairly tricky design, but one that brought her immense satisfaction.
Nino whistled as he picked up the wrapped gift to inspect it. Admiration washed over his face. "Not a single wrinkle. Truly a master."
"Of course." She smirked, pressing her glasses back into place. She couldn't help but feel a tad proud. "Can you write Nora's name on a tag please?"
As he handed over the finished tag, the oven timer rang loudly from the kitchen. "I can get that!" Springing into action, Nino quickly traveled to the kitchen and smacked the timer off. "I am soo excited for this babe, you have no idea."
She chuckled as she watched her boyfriend animatedly pull the bread pudding out of the oven and use a plastic cutting board as a fan. While the Dupain-Chengs created patisserie unmatched by all the other boulangeries in Paris, her mother's bread pudding was next to none. Every winter, her mother would whip up a fresh batch every week with her restaurant's leftover bread only to have her family devour each in one sitting. With Nino a regular at their dinner table, the servings drizzled with whiskey, or caramel for the twins, the pudding was snatched up even quicker than before.
The warm aroma of cinnamon and vanilla wafted through the apartment, luring Alya to her feet. Sashaying over, she snaked her arms around Nino's waist and pressed her body against his. Still too short to place her chin on his shoulder, she settled with rubbing her forehead against his back.
Snuggling into his warmth, she asked. "Do they look ok?"
Nino's laugh rumbled through his body. Placing the cutting board down, he turned to face her. Wrapping his arms around the curves of her waist, he placed a chaste kiss on her forehead. "They look great."
As soon as she set her eyes on his glasses, she immediately started laughing. The steam from the oven had fogged over the lenses. That was the problem being four-eyed and baking: they were always prone to being blinded. Using her sleeve, Alya gently wiped away the condensation.
"What's so funny?" Feigning ignorance, Nino lowered his forehead to touch hers. A sly smile was plastered on his lips. The tail end of his Santa hat fell forward, brushing against Alya's sun-kissed cheek. Gold bore into hazel, commanding her attention. "Is there something on my face?"
Her breath hitched at his playful tone. Temptation coursed through her body as she gently drug her nails over the small of his back. Closing her eyes slowly, Alya pressed her lips against his. Nino's hands pulled her body closer to his as he returned the kiss. As their glasses lightly knocked against one another, Alya pulled her head away just enough to slide hers to the top of her head, knocking her Santa hat off.
Nino closed the space between them again. His tongue darted across her bottom lip.
Delight traveled down her spine.
Not one to be outdone, she lightly sucked on his lower lip. As he moaned softly, Alya relished in his subtle vibrations. He tasted like Kahlua with the faintest hint of vodka, which was surprising since they doubled the hard liquid content in the recipe.
Pulling away, she opened her eyes and gave him a quick peck on his nose. Her hands slid down his arms as she stepped backward till she had his fingers entwined hers, palms pressed against one another.
"I'll get the sauce. Can you cut us some slices?" She grinned before moving toward the refrigerator to pull out a tupperware full of whiskey sauce.
The air felt light around her. Alya wasn't sure if it was the alcohol buzzing through her body, the magic of the holidays, or the amazing company she had with her. If she were a betting woman - and she was - she would have put all her chips on Nino.
His dedication to his friends was the first thing that attracted him to her. Then she had gotten to know him better, and while he wasn't someone that stood out in a crowd at a glance, he was the type of person who was hard to forget once you started talking to him. He was clever, and funny, and had the ability to make anyone feel like they were the only one in the room.
Popping off the lid to the whiskey sauce, Alya slid the cool container into the microwave. It beeped three times before the light flickered on and the convection hummed to life. She looked over at her beloved as he set their plates and utensils on the dining table.
She and Nino were a lot alike, they both could easily be caught up in the moment and fiercely outspoken in what they believed in. However, while they were both passionate people, she knew she could be a bit overbearing with her antics and could always rely on Nino to bring her back to reason. He was the rational one between them, he was her rock.
Sliding a grey oven mitt over one of her hands as the microwave timer went off, she pulled out the hot tupperware and brought it over to their table. Nino had poured them the last bit of their cocktail into two new glasses.
"This smells so good." He salivated over his plate as Alya drizzled their homemade whiskey sauce over the gooey bread pudding.
Sitting down next to him, she watched as he scooped a large spoonful and thrusted it in his mouth before stopping just as he was about to close his lips. Nino pulled back the spoon away and began to blow on it a bit forcefully and gingerly touching the bottom of the spoon to check the temperature. Once satisfied, he happily ate it and let out a satisfied moan.
Alya chuckled.
Nino was observant, which also made him smart and self-aware. It was probably why Ladybug had chosen him to hold the Turtle Miraculous. Being that it wasn't an offensive type, brute strength wouldn't have gotten him far in utilizing its full potential. He shined on the defensive, keeping the fight in the heroes' favor by protecting everyone from serious harm.
But him being the shield didn't mean he wasn't brave. Alya would never let herself forget the day Nora got Akuamatized or the sheer determination on his face as he returned after being tossed in the air multiple times to save her.
Hell, she would go so far as to say he was braver than her and she used to throw herself in harm's way just to get the money shot for her blog when they were kids.
She paused.
Well, some might argue that recklessness isn't necessarily bravery.
Alya chuckled to herself as she absentmindedly took a bite of the extremely hot bread pudding. Her spoon fell and clanked onto the wooden table.
"H-h-hot! Hot!" She hissed. Tears pooled at the corners of her eyes as she tried to huff the heat out.
Immediately, a tall glass of milk appeared in front of her. Alya reached out and began to gulp it down, soothing her tender taste buds from the scorch. As she calmed down, she felt Nino's hand grasp her shoulder.
"You ok there, Al?" He sounded concerned, but she could see the mirth twinkling in his eyes.
The bastard was laughing!
"Yeah, thanks babe." Her tongue felt numb and sensitive at the same time.
He also had his flaws, like laughing at her when she accidentally burned herself or getting exasperated when plans go awry. She had seen him become easily frustrated when he saw something he deemed unfair because of his strong sense of right and wrong. Nino always needed a little time to himself to cool down.
He entwined one of her hands in his. "It looked like you were deep in thought. What were you thinking about?"
However, that only made her love him even more.
Alya felt her cheeks burn. It felt utterly embarrassing to reveal that she was feeling hopelessly romantic to the point where she accidentally burned herself.
That was so Marinette, not Alya!
Focusing on his fingers, she watched as he drew lazy circles with his thumb over the back of her hand.
These were the same slender hands that held her when they were locked in the zoo. The ones that stayed with her when she got infected by Zombizou. They had wielded the Turtle Miraculous and fought alongside her when Scarlet Moth attacked. These were the same hands that were carefully now wrapping gifts with her even though it distressed him.
The holidays are the time to open your heart and be vulnerable, right?
Alya beamed at him with utter adoration. "I was just thinking about how much I love you."
A/N: Special thanks to Book_Squirrel for giving me the idea and the betas Art and Rakqua.
Probably the shortest and quickest one shot I've cranked out so far. I spent 4 hours alternating sniffing my Maison Margiela perfume "By the Fireplace" and FVITH candle in "Saint" for inspiration. Both smell like smoked marshmallows, warm, musky, and slightly sweet.
I personally love gift wrapping so I channeled a lot of my own feelings and experiences into Alya because it seems to make sense for her. Tired of these Amazon boxes under the tree ya hear? Tired of it!