Chapter Sixteen: London Light
Christmas Day dawned bright and beautiful, light reflecting off of a thin layer of snow and ice and wonderfully illuminating Rei's apartment through the gold-tinted curtains. For once, Nagisa himself was up with the birds and preparing a meal alongside his beau.
"You really were incredible last night," he praised as he cut a pear in half. They'd decided on winter fruit wrapped in prosciutto and rosemary for an easy-to-prepare breakfast that would leave room for dinner later on.
"You're so open about these things," Rei remarked with a blush instead of responding directly to the compliment.
"Your last boyfriend must have been a real piece of work, making you so underconfident in your abilities," he pressed on, sticking his nose in the air. The nerve of that man that he'd never even met! His lover grinned shyly, attempting to hide his smile in the mimosas he was preparing.
"Thank you, Nagisa. You always have a way of making me feel loved," he finally acknowledged, pressing his lips to the blond's plump cheek. He giggled, placing the last of their breakfast on a cute tray on carrying it out to the living room (still in disarray after their wild night together). "But honestly," his boyfriend's voice sounded from behind him as he approached with the alcohol, "will you please put on some clothes?"
"Your shirt counts as clothes!" he protested with a pout, sitting down beside the tree. "And I put on my underwear too."
"You mean your lingerie?" the older man pointed out, one of his eyebrows shooting up skeptically. Nagisa stuck out his tongue and took a swig of his mimosa.
"You're wearing your pajamas. Now just grab a present and be done with it!" he replied, wrapping himself up in the throw. Rei rolled his eyes and pulled the two envelopes out of the branches of the Christmas tree. He plopped himself down by Nagisa's side, not quite within cuddling distance, but close enough to feel one another's warmth and handed the reindeer one to the young writer. The blond laughed at the poor illustration. "You did this at work, didn't you? Is it a summons?"
"I should hope you are never in need of my services," Rei declared loftily, carefully opening his envelope. "At least, my professional services. Anything else I can offer you, I will." When the attorney pulled out the cooking class vouchers, he gave a small look of surprise. "How astoundingly practical of you," he joked. "Thank you." Nagisa grinned.
"If we like it, there's an aphrodisiac cooking class associated with it," the young blond snickered as he tore into his little gift, only to be faced with confusion. Out fell a ticket and a hand-scrawled note on lined paper, likely torn from a journal of some sorts. His boyfreind blushed. Nagisa examined the ticket that had fallen out. "'Innocence Foundation's Annual Charity Ball'," he read aloud, "'December 31st, 10pm to January 1st, 2am.' Rei, what's this?"
"An invitation," he replied matter-of-factly. "I attend the function every year, and there's always been a plus-one associated with it, so I thought you might like to come. It's a very formal event, associated with a charity that overturns wrongful convictions based off of DNA evidence," he informed his beau. "But that's not really the gift..." he finished, cheeks glowing as he handed Nagisa the scrap of paper that had fallen.
"Let's see," the blond hummed. "'One shopping trip, sans complaints, for a suit or dress, to be paid for by Rei Ryuugazaki.' Oh, Rei!" He dropped the note and flung his arms around his beau. "That's so nice! I don't have anything that's ball-worthy, after all." The attorney colored himself even more deeply.
"It's a bit of a selfish request, even then. I'm afraid I'll need to find myself a tuxedo or something and I'd rather hoped you would help me..." he confessed. Nagisa grinned obligingly.
"Of course!" he responded as he pulled another set of packages toward them - a heavy but small one for himself, and a medium one for Rei (from himself, of course). They opened the two together. His was book - the movie of which he'd seen before - called Confessions of a Shopaholic. "Oh, I didn't know this was a book!" he exclaimed. "Thanks! I hardly ever have time to find a good one for myself!"
"You're welcome," Rei responded as he examined his 'Art of Shaving' kit. Nagisa jumped in to explain.
"It's a cosmetic thing. It'll help condition your skin and keep it soft and youthful, but it also gives a nice clean shave - it had really good reviews online, and Michael from our publishing department swears by it, and I think he has a thing for Hana, which means he has good judgment," he rambled. Rei chuckled and kissed him lightly to stop him.
"It's lovely. I never would've thought to buy something like this for myself," he commented, rubbing his ever-so-slightly stubbled chin. The blond blushed at the praise, and grabbed his last gift to Rei - and coincidentally the first one he'd bought. "All right, last one," the brunet murmured. "I'm afraid my last gift for you was among those you took to your father's. It should be in your stocking. These other ones are just for decoration," he explained, gesturing to the other boxes in the corner. "They make for good storage."
"Didn't your family bring you anything for your birthday?" the blond asked with a frown, finishing off his mimosa.
"No," Rei replied smoothly, gently removing the wrapping paper, "they're bringing back things from Japan instead. Sake, maybe a cookbook... I hope to God Daiki doesn't think it'll be funny to bring me back anything from Akihabara this year. He still acts like a teenager, honestly." Nagisa giggled, sensing a story in there but too distracted by the food to ask. Meanwhile, the lawyer examined the exposed box, taking note of the store name, and opened it, revealing the lovely silk lavender tie and pocket square. "Oh my," he hummed, gently taking them and holding them to the light, "these are lovely," he complimented.
"They'll look great with chrome, which is like, most of your wardrobe, but I'd hold off on wearing them until January at the earliest. They should make a good spring color, too. You'll really stand out in court," the fashionista informed him. Rei nodded, beaming at the thoughtfulness behind the gesture.
"Thank you," he replied sincerely, tucking them back in carefully. "I like the pocket square. It'll give me a touch of your personality," he chuckled. They spent a moment placing the excessive mess of wrapping paper into the brown packages around them. "So," Rei began after a moment, "when are we going to start cooking dinner? I suppose we ought to practice before our class."
"Soon," Nagisa replied breezily. "Finish cleaning yourself up and I'll actually get dressed and maybe take a bath. It's too early for more ibuprofen, isn't it?" The brunet looked momentarily taken aback.
"We used so much lubricant, I was sure there was no way you could be in that much pain today," he replied, worry creeping into his voice.
"I'm not really," the blond sighed. "It's just my thighs. It's a hard position to hold, you know, and we haven't been running very much thanks to this weather." He gestured out the window to the fresh snow. "If I can't have more, then do you have any epsom salt? I can just bathe in that."
"I do, it's under the sink in the bathroom. I'll help you up," he offered, sticking his hand out for the smaller man to hold. They walked up the stairs together, Rei with his shaving kit under one arm and the other around Nagisa's waist. When they got to the bathroom, he spent his time making slow sense of these new cosmetics while his young boyfriend soaked in the tub.
"So is your brother coming here eventually?" Nagisa inquired curiously, referencing the attorney's earlier comments about his family.
"Yes - he and Satsuki usually come home around February or March, depending on when basketball season ends. Why do you ask?"
"I'd like to meet them," the writer confessed, lifting a calf out of the water and massaging it gently. "You talk about them a lot, after all." Rei glanced over his shoulder as he applied the high-quality shaving cream, a surprised look etched on his face.
"Do I really? Daiki is such a thorn in my side," he responded wearily, giving his beau a good laugh.
"You do! I can tell you love them," he stated matter-of-factly. The attorney smiled.
"Well, that's true as well," he agreed, gently taking a razor to his face, as Nagisa shut his eyes and slipped all the way into the hot water. They continued quietly for a bit, and by the time Rei had finished experimenting with his new shaving kit, the blond saw no need to carry on in the bathroom by himself. For cooking purposes, he didn't wear anything too nice, instead picking out his sweatpants and a long sleeved shirt. His boyfriend was as stubbornly formal as ever, in a white button down and grey slacks. Once they had made their way to the kitchen, Rei had tossed on an apron and turned to Nagisa with an inquisitive look on his face.
"All right, what's first then?" he asked the blond who sat at the counter with his laptop.
"We need to start with the carrots, I think," he replied. They'd need to sit in the oven for awhile, whilst the duck would be cooked in a skillet. The attorney cocked a brow.
"Well before that, we need to get everything out," he pointed out rationally, pulling this and that out of his kitchen. Nagisa rolled his eyes.
"Well, why'd you ask me what to start with, then?" he grumbled as he scrolled up to the ingredients list. "Grab a baking sheet, olive oil, and spices," he instructed before Rei could bicker back. The older man did as told with a wry smile. "Toss the carrots in the pan with the spices and olive oil," the writer relayed from the recipe, "and make sure they're coated. Oh, and season with salt and pepper. Oh, we need to preheat the oven!" While the attorney made busy with the preparation of the carrots, the blond set the oven to 400 degrees. "The carrots stay in for 25 minutes, so I can do the duck while they cook."
Nagisa grabbed the skillet that his boyfriend had provided and tossed the spices in. "Okay, toast the spices until fragrant," his murmured to himself, turning on the stove and tossing in his ingredients. "Coriander, and there's some cumin, the cinnamon, and... star anise, okay." From behind him, Rei snickered. "What's that about?" the blond protested with a mock pout.
"You certainly like to talk to yourself while cooking, hmm?" the brunet pointed out from where he prepared the carrots quietly.
"Cooking's boring without background noise!" he protested. "If we aren't going to talk or listen to music, what else can I do? Besides, I have to keep track of what I'm doing somehow." Rei laughed.
"It's just rather cute, listening to all your fussing," he admitted, and the blond blushed, embarrassed at his perfectionist tendencies, but pleased with the attention nonetheless.
"Oh, hush up and put the carrots in the oven," he retorted, tossing around the spices in the skillet. The kitchen fast became fragrant with the warm, sharp scent of seasoning. It didn't take more than a couple of minutes before they were ready to transfer to a grinder. "Rei, will you grind the spices for me? I have to do the duck," he said.
"Of course," he replied, quickly setting a timer on his phone for the carrots before he set to grinding the spices. The blond pulled the naked bird from where it lay thawing on the counter and rubbed it with salt and pepper. Giggling, he stood it up, holding it by the wings and wiggled it around.
"Look, Rei, it's dancing!" he laughed as he messed around. The lawyer huffed with amusement.
"Nagisa, stop playing with the food," he reprimanded, trying to hide his smile. His lover just picked it up and continued to shake it in his face.
"Dance with me Rei!" he begged in a high pitched voice. "Love me!" The older man ducked away in disgust.
"Honestly!" he complained as Nagisa pestered him with the bird.
"Rub me all over with those spicy hands!" he kept on, and finally the brunet snickered. The pleasant sound distracted the blond enough that the duck slipped right out of his hands and onto the floor with a smack. The couple froze. "Oh shit," the younger man breathed, biting his lip to keep from laughing at Rei's horror-struck face as he scooped up the bird. "Um, meat doesn't bruise like fruit, right?"
"Of course not, but -" The blond pursed his lips and interrupted with, "Well, then no one will know!" and plopped the bird right back on the counter as his boyfriend groaned. "Now hand over those spices." Meekly, the younger man finished dressing the bird while Rei reheated the skillet.
"All right, it says to place it skin-side down," the attorney informed him, glancing at Nagisa's Mac.
"Which side is skin-side down? The entire thing's covered in skin," the writer complained.
"I'd guess it would be the side with the greatest surface area - the top," Rei informed him wryly, taking the bird and placing it in the pan. The mouthwatering scent of roasting meat complemented the sweet smell of the spiced carrots that began to spill in the kitchen. Simultaneously, the couple breathed in deeply and traded a satisfied look. Who ever said they were bad cooks, anyways?
Rei glanced at the timer on his phone and informed his beau, "The carrots should be finished right when the duck needs to go in - a few more minutes." He left the duck behind as he grabbed a set of tongs. Gripping the breast carefully, he began to flip it, only to have the tongs slip straight out of his hands and clatter to the floor. In his struggle to grab them again, his fingers landed straight in the skillet. "Shit!" Rei cursed, startling Nagisa, who had never heard him swear beyond a quiet mumble. He scrambled out of the way of the sink, where his boyfriend poured ice cold water over his hand. The blond rushed to his side, right as the carrot timer went off.
"Are you all right?!" he gasped, peeking over his shoulder.
"I'll be fine - the duck!" he shooed Nagisa, who remembered that the bird and carrots needed to switch places. Frantically pulling out some paper towels, the young man flipped the bird with his bare hands, opened the oven, and shoved it on the rack above the vegetables. He pulled out the carrots and tossed them onto the counter where a nicer platter awaited them, and used the tongs on the floor to transfer them over.
"Okay, that's done at least," he muttered. He grabbed the glass pan the carrots had been in, stupidly forgetting oven mitts or paper towels. "Hot, hot, hot," he muttered as he dashed over to the sink at Rei's side.
"Nagisa, wai -" but the attorney's warning came too late. Without thinking, the writer shoved the oven-hot pan under the ice-cold water, where in his pale hands it immediately shattered into a hundred pieces. The blond cried out in shock and withdrew his hands as Rei stumbled back from the mess, tripping over his own feet and landing butt-first on the ground. Who was it that said they were good cooks, again? Nagisa wondered as they looked at the disaster that was the kitchen right now.
For a moment, they simply surveyed the damage, the younger man joining his beau on the floor. They looked at each other, stunned. And in the camaraderie of this disaster, they broke into unabashed laughter, their howling echoing throughout the room.
"Is your hand all right?" Nagisa inquired breathlessly, gently taking it in his own and examining it.
"Yes, I'm fine, but look at you!" Rei protested, switching their hands so that his gripped his boyfriend's. "You're bleeding!" The blond glanced down and saw that he was covered in cuts, with one particularly long gash spread across his palm. He realized he was stinging all over.
"Oh, Christ," he muttered, "I guess I should take care of that." And right as he spoke, the delicious aroma wafting around the kitchen took on a burnt edge. The blond perked up. "Oh my God, the duck! Rei, get the duck!" But his boyfriend was already on the job, scrambling to get oven mitts and just barely saving Christmas dinner from a most unfortunate fate (though the top was clearly quite burnt).
"Well, that's that," the older man concluded, pursing his lips. "I'll go get the first aid kit. Try to stop the bleeding - a cut that size might need stitches..." As Rei left, the blond stood and pulled some clean paper towels over his hands, which had now begun to hurt as his adrenaline faded. What a day it was turning out to be.
"All right, let's get ourselves patched up," the attorney sighed when he returned, first aid kit in hand. "I'm worried some of my stuff might be rather old. Strange enough, I never had any disasters until you walked into my life," he pointed out, softly taking his boyfriend's bloody palm in his own. He continued to apply pressure to the wound, holding a paper towel firmly in place with his thumbs. Their eyes met and they shared an intimate smile.
"You never had any fun, either," Nagisa retorted, his cheeks a shade of pale pink. They were so close...
"Well, I'll admit to that," Rei conceded, and they leaned in for a chaste kiss. "Now, have you stopped bleeding?" He removed the towel and gently rubbed antibiotic ointment onto the cuts, taking care with the biggest one. "It's long, but not deep... It shouldn't need stitches, I don't think." By the time he'd finished wrapping his young beau's fingers and palm in bandaids, Nagisa was sure his hands looked like Frankenstein's. He grimaced at the sight, but that's what he got for not being careful, he supposed. He deftly swapped places with Rei, to the attorney's faint surprise.
"All right, your turn." Ever so softly, he placed a kiss to the reddening welt across his boyfriend's fingers. His face went red beneath his glasses. Nagisa used a cream and antibiotic ointment across the three fingertips that got burnt and wrapped them snugly in bandaids. "All set!" Rei grinned fondly, but ever the efficient man, steamrolled right along.
"Thank you. Do you know what time your father is expecting us? We ought to turn off the oven and leave the food in to stay warm." Nagisa checked the time on his laptop, miraculously unscathed by the fiasco.
"It's only mid-afternoon, and I said we'd be there around four. We have some time before we've got to get going." The blond took a seat at the counter again, powering down his laptop and setting it aside. Rei leaned over beside him.
"Is there anything you want to do? It's close to dinner, but we didn't have a very big breakfast - are you hungry?" The writer hummed thoughtfully.
"Not yet... But I bet a walk would do just the trick! What do you think? Hyde Park is just around the corner, after all. Seems a shame not to take advantage of it while we're here," he pointed out. Rei nodded.
"That's a wonderful idea. We should enjoy the white Christmas while it lasts. It's supposed to warm up today," he replied.
"We'll still need to change, though," Nagisa mused. "There's no way I'm going out looking like this." He gestured to his tracksuit, and pranced off to the bedroom. The older man followed him, likely to grab a sweater or jacket of some sort, while the blond constructed his outfit. He switched out his sweats for a sleek pair of black skinny jeans and tossed a long wool coat over his uni pullover. A scarf, beanie, and his gold necklace finished the athletichic look. His beau had simply added his one blue sweater and grey coat. The younger man took his proffered arm, and out the door they went.
The sun peeked in and out of high clouds to highlight the sparkling powder below their feet. Every step made a light 'poof, poof' as they made their way around the block and into the park. The little blond breathed in the cold, fresh air, and exhaled a satisfied sigh in the form of a little fog, and then cuddled closer to his boyfriend.
"Say, Nagisa," Rei began curiously as he dropped the writer's arm and wrapped it around his waist instead, "you know a bit about my most recent ex, but I've never heard a word about yours." The blond's finely sculpted brows shot up.
"What's this about?" he inquired. He wasn't exactly bothered by the question, but it seemingly came out of nowhere. Rei shrugged.
"Nothing in particular. I'm just curious." With a chuckle, he added: "I wonder if I might have to deal with a huge, buff man pounding at my door at night?" Nagisa laughed at the picture.
"Certainly not, but I guess you're not far off the mark. To be honest, when we first met, I was surprised I found myself attracted to you," the columnist confessed. "I've had the tendency to go with shorter and admittedly larger men. Gym rats, I guess you could call them." He paused, thinking back on his last boyfriend, James, and flinched a little. "I definitely had a thing for the 'alpha male' type."
"Goodness, I couldn't be further from that. How on earth did you end up with me?" the brunet joked with a self-deprecating tone. Nagisa hurriedly jumped in to chase away his negativity.
"Well, firstly because you're wonderful," he reminded his beau, leaning into his side. "But I think it's because you're so different that I love you as much as I do." He closed his eyes sleepily and allowed Rei to lead him onward for awhile. "Besides, you're much more in control than you think you are," he informed his boyfriend some time later.
"I really don't feel that way outside of a courtroom. I don't even remember what I said when we first met," he chuckled. "I just remember hoping that whatever I said, it wasn't insulting. I completely short-circuited, like I was on my first case all over again," he groaned as his boyfriend laughed at him.
"If I remember correctly, you described the plot of an old western to me." Rei rolled his handsome violet eyes.
"What a first impression that must have made," he complained. The blond smiled warmly despite the air's chill.
"I remember Gou asked me if you were 'cute as a button', 'sexy hot as a pepper', or 'storybook handsome'," he informed Rei, "and I said you were none of the above, and all of the above, and I'll hold true to that. Your first impression was exactly who you are." Softly, in the light of the day, their chapped lips touched.
"I could say the same for you." The lawyer tucked a stray golden lock behind his exposed ear, and fixed his beanie. "A little bit different in every way - a little loud, a little annoying, and perfectly good and cheerful. You've become the light of my life." Nagisa's face went so pink that the sudden warmth stung his chilled cheeks that had grown quite numb. The older man chuckled and wrapped his trendy scarf around his face one more time.
"Meanie," he pouted through the extra layer of fabric. The attorney laughed at the display.
"You're just as different for me as I am for you. Most of my relationships have been with like-minded men, more of a good match than a true relationship. I've never really fought with anyone before you. I certainly never pictured myself as much of a bickerer." Nagisa visibly stuck out his tongue.
"Well, you are, so there. You're nitpicky, too." They both knew that the blond was just trying to get a rise out of his beau, and without hesitation, the brunet silenced him with another kiss, deep and heady, unlike the previous brush of their lips. Blood rushed to Nagisa's head, and he wrapped his mittened hands around Rei's neck, leaving himself at that wicked attorney's mercy. The brunet dipped him down just enough for the blond to gasp into the kiss. "I take it back," the writer summed up as they separated and his boyfriend stood him up straight, "you're my type. An alpha male to the core."
"I most certainly am not," Rei protested. "Besides, that's what you get for teasing someone older and wiser."
"Oh, come off it, you old fart," Nagisa joked, jabbing a hand into his beau's stomach as a bit of revenge.
"Oof," he gasped, bending over slightly. The blond squirmed out of his grasp and immediately heaved an armful of snow at him.
"Take that!" he shouted, slipping out of throwing distance. The very affronted lawyer packed together a snowball and, with the utmost concentration upon his face, hurled it at Nagisa, hitting him square in the back.
"Doing track means shot put!" he hollered after the blond's retreating form. He hadn't considered that. Taking a defensive pose, he dove in after Rei, messily tossing up snow to his face. A sputtering sound told him he was successful in his endeavor, and off to his side he saw Rei's trademark red glasses dusted with snow. The blond wasn't nice enough to give them back.
"Good luck with your aim, Mr. Shot Put!" he gloated, dashing behind a tree. When he peeked over his shoulder, he noticed his beau looked quite disgruntled at having his advantage taken away. He was near-sighted, so Nagisa would have to keep his distance.
"You certainly aren't playing fair today," the brunet remark with a dour look on his face.
"Do I ever play fair?" he taunted from his stronghold behind the tree before ducking back to safety. Rei's voice, however, didn't cheer up.
"I'm bloody freezing," he complained, "just give me my glasses and let's be done with this frigid weather." A prick of guilt emerged in the blond's heart - he had doused the lawyer in the face and down the back with snow, whilst he had only been hit once on the jacket. He emerged from the spot and, hoping to keep his boyfriend in good spirits, joined him with a meek smile - only to be smattered in the face with so much snow, that the only indication Rei had been joking with him was the vibrato laugh from his side. Nagisa wiped off his eyes.
"I don't play fair?" he muttered. With a deft hand, the brunet took his glasses back and perched them on his face gracefully.
"I have to keep up with you somehow. Now why don't we go in for some cocoa and a light lunch?" Nagisa had been right - a walk and a snowball fight was just what they both needed to be ready for food. Not one to let hard feelings over pranks linger, he threaded his arm through Rei's once more and kissed his cold cheek, the melting snow caught on his lashes brushing the tanned face ever so slightly.
"All right. I'm about ready now!"
The day had grown slightly late, and after a cheerily romantic lunch (followed by glass clean up), they found themselves scurrying to get ready for their evening with Nagisa's family. The older man made himself quite respectable in his usual grey ensemble, accented with his red sweater and glasses. He had to switch out the soaked trousers and coat for a different set, though. The blond revamped his entire outfit to complement his boyfriend's. Using Gunn plaid pants (a rather wild purchase, admittedly) as a base, he carefully selected a white shirt and layered a neutral navy sweater over for warmth. His newly shining gold necklace added a touch of formality while a deep red coat gave him a pop of color, and at last equestrian style boots topped the look off. They carefully packed their nearly-disastrous Christmas dinner in nice plates and saran wrap - Rei made sure they remembered the serving tools as Nagisa waltzed out the door and to the car without a second thought.
The sun had taken the edge off of any ice that had been on the roads, and while more populated areas had been dusted with salt, driving was still slow. It took them 20 minutes longer to drive to the hospital than it normally would have, leaving their duck and carrots in the precarious situation of growing cold.
"Hurry up, Rei!" Nagisa fretted as the warmth of the food in his lap grew lesser.
"If I go any faster on roads like this, we'll be deader than the duck," he shot back testily. "I'm sure they'll have appropriate facilities to warm it up with." The blond sighed and glanced out the window. It was dark enough that the Christmas lights on the streets had now lit up one last time, casting tiny fractals of color over his skin.
"It doesn't change the fact that I'm bored. I want to see everyone open their presents!" he pouted.
"Ever the child, I see," Rei retorted with a grin. "Don't worry, it's just around the corner," he assured, cutting his boyfriend off before he had a chance to argue any more. Nagisa let out a tense sigh.
"Finally." The older man pulled up alongside the curb, parking, and took the duck from the blond's lap. The writer in turn collected the utensils and the carrots. The couple burst into the room, about fifteen minutes late, but received a warm reception.
"Nagisa! I was thinking it was about time for you to be showing up," his father greeted, his smile illuminated by the lights of the tree (now considerably better decorated than it had been during Rei and Nagisa's competition). Emi grinned from where she sat on the floor, a smuggled bottle of wine on the coffee table in front of her.
"About time. I figured that Rei would keep you on a tighter ship," she observed, taking a swig of vino. The lawyer chuckled at the observation.
"Oh, no, I've quite got him at my own pace," the younger man replied, laying the carrots on the table.
"I'm at his mercy most of the time," his beau agreed. He thoughtfully took Nagisa's red coat and hung it beside his grey one and Emi's officer's jacket. "So, are we to have food first, or shall we open gifts?" he asked, slightly uncertain. The blond had already joined his older sister on the floor and was pouring a glass of red for himself in a plastic cup.
"Wine first," Emi stated, not hesitating to pour another. "We've got two bottles of Pinot and one Scotch between the four of us, and I don't intend to bring any home with me." The brunet nodded and sat on his knees between Nagisa and his father, who promptly noticed the bandaids.
"What on earth happened to cause that?" Ken asked as he sipped at his spirits, causing Nagisa to color greatly. He peek at his boyfriend with eyes that begged 'don't say anything about the dropped duck'. Rei grinned wryly.
"Several cooking mishaps. Nagisa thought it appropriate to buy us a voucher for a couples' cooking class, and all I can say is that it'll be most useful." Emi snorted with laughter.
"Meanwhile, I'm here with a marvelous soup and a pie to boot," she bragged to the general. Nagisa rolled his eyes, but couldn't stop a grin. He'd forgotten about dessert!
"Aside from your injuries, how has your Christmas been?" Ken asked his son brightly.
"Absolutely peachy," gushed the young man. "Did you know? Rei's gone and invited me to a ball!" he bragged. "It's the Innocence Foundation's Charity Ball!" Emi's eyebrows raised.
"My boss should be in attendance," she commented, sipping at her wine. "I hear it's quite the affair." Meanwhile, Ken looked slightly confused.
"Pardon if I'm rude, but why on earth would something like that invite defense attorneys and officers?" A good question, thought Nagisa, as he turned to listen to his beau's answer. Rei chipped in to explain.
"We're invited mostly for appearances," he said with a shrug. "It's in the best interest of all groups involved to uphold justice, after all. Besides, the convictions they overturn have little to do with me. Most of them are cases from the 70's and 80's, before DNA evidence was common, and courts relied on eyewitness testimony," he relayed professionally. Emi nodded, and clinked their plastic cups together.
"Well said," she stated. "I can see why you're well-respected as an attorney in my unit." The brunet colored, and she grinned in a cheekily Hazuki way. To her brother, she said: "I had to investigate him myself a little, make sure my baby brother's being cared for." The young couple blushed heartily, the blond especially at his sister's forwardness.
"Ugh, you suck," he whined, looking for ample distraction from his father and sister's amusement. He decided on the presents. "Let's just get these over with so we can eat." The writer's personal philosophy was that if his family was eating, they couldn't talk.
There were only a couple packages - most of the presents were unceremoniously stuffed inside the stockings. Among the larger presents was a mystery book for Rei, from Emi, a DIY spa kit that Nagisa had made up for his sister, and a tasting flight of Hibiki whiskey from Rei to Ken. Judging by the general rowdiness of the Hazukis, however, alcohol was the last thing they needed at the moment.
As Ken finished up his thank-yous to his son's boyfriend, his daughter made busy passing stockings out to everyone. The young blond, hands as grabby as a child's, made no hesitation in digging in.
Everyone's stockings held a handful of sweets, but Nagisa found a sleek, marble-patterned iPhone case that was unique to his - a final gift from Rei. The lawyer himself found the credit card tool kit and a gift certificate to a top-notch restaurant for he and Nagisa to enjoy together, signed in Emi's name. And of course, his father received the small but tech-savvy socks and insoles from his children, a gift immediately put to use.
"I feel my feet are better already," he informed Nagisa cheerily as he helped the old man along. Emi offered to find facilities in which to heat their long-forgotten (yet hard-earned) dinner, leaving the three men on their own - two of which were quite near tipsy. Simultaneously, the man and his son leaned back into their respective seats with a contented sigh. Rei smiled as he refilled their wine glasses, and the officer quickly swung the door open, toting the most mouth-watering scent along with her.
"Your duck looks appalling, but if I'm any judge, it should be relatively unscathed," she assessed, placing it on the coffee table.
"Bugger off!" Nagisa replied good-naturedly, dishing up a plate and passing it onto his father. The good wine gave his sister a rather purple tinted smile, which he must have been reciprocating. The food would do them all good.
"Any other mishaps, other than tanning this poor bird's hide?" she asked jokingly. Any wariness she may have had towards Rei in the beginning had melted away with wine and conversation. The attorney himself piped up.
"I was burned by the duck, but that's not how Nagisa got hurt." Throwing his arms up in defense, to the blond's chagrin he informed them: "Before I could say anything, he took the pan the carrots were in, piping hot out of the oven -" Emi interrupted him to gran, having guessed where it'd end " - and dunked it in ice cold water. There was glass all over the place." He made a broad gesture, and the other two Hazukis howled with laughter at their youngest counterpart, now flaming with embarrassment. So much for not talking while they ate! So while the duck carried the ever-so-slightly present aftertaste of char, they washed it down with delicious soup and strong spirits. And when full tummies and rosy cheeks turned to drowsy eyelids, the couple decided that it was time for Christmas Day to come to a close. The siblings helped their father into bed, Emi called herself a cab, and Rei carefully helped his boyfriend into the passenger side of his car.
In his tipsy state, Nagisa found himself absolutely tickled by how well his quiet boyfriend fit in with the group, and how easily they accepted him - and all the challenges accompanying - into their ranks. Perhaps, he imagined, it was the spirit at Christmas hard at work. With happy thoughts, he closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against the cool window as his beau drove away, under the colorful London lights.