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< An.Exorcist > Aʟʟᴇɴ Wᴀʟᴋᴇʀ

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( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

[ On the first day of December Shouto looks outside their bedroom window and starts to think. ]

[ Going into the second week he starts to see familiar decorations and those initial thoughts begin to coalesce into tangible ideas that take up more of his attention. He says nothing about it, observing Trench transform into a winter wonderland with snowbanks near the river. In the third week, he loses track of the decorations while he watches ice start to form near the edges of the river. He tracks the slow growth throughout the week until one morning he finds one of the koi belly up beneath a thin layer of ice and drops the bowl of food he'd been carrying. He runs over, looking terrified, to break through the ice. It disturbs the peaceful waters beneath enough to have the koi turn over and swim away from the disturbance. Mainly him. Shouto sits in a terror-fueled, post-adrenaline rush on the river bank where Allen likely finds him. If asked he'd tell him about his scare and his plans to bring the koi in if it gets any colder.

After the mid-winter koi scare, the fourth week creeps up unexpectedly and on the 21st of December Shouto wakes up early to survey the land near their abode. By lunchtime, he's gone off to the markets and by dinner, he returns with an ice sled full of lunar orbs. On the 22nd he rises early again. Picks out a tree growing close to their window, and starts stringing small lunar orbs starting from the top until the tree is covered in the little glowing orbs from crown to trunk. He eats a large lunch, half of Allen's usual share to keep up with his activities before heading outside and continuing with his decorations. When dinner rolls around, the tree lights up like a Christmas tree with a delicate garland of ice spinning up to the top and ending in a sparkling five-pointed star standing proudly on top. When he comes inside, he looks tired and falls asleep on the chair before being roused for dinner and passing out in the living room nook. He doesn't even take a bath.

Shouto sleeps in on the 23rd rising late and heads out to the markets again coming back a little dizzy having depleted his blood reserves the previous day. This time, he spends the day inside. He finally brings in the koi inside the bath. He and Kizu spend the next few hours in freezing cold water feeding them and cleaning them before changing the bath water. By the time he gets out, his skin is a little pruney but there's a small smile at the corner of his mouth every time he visits the bath which he does quite frequently. Kizu spends most of her time there while he's out and about. Late that night he asks Allen if they can take a picture together right before bed with an old camera he brought in that morning.

The 24th finds them, at one point, in front of the decorated tree during daylight with Shouto trying to arrange a picture which he fails to smile for several times even if prompted by Allen. He simply doesn't know what he's doing wrong. They end up taking quite a few pictures. Of Allen. Of Tim. Kizu and Shouto. The camera gets a turn with everyone capturing different poses and maybe a smile or two from Shouto when he's not paying attention. The same process is repeated that night as his request with the delicate ice garland twinkling against the moonlight and the lunar orbs glowing contently absorbing the lunar energy while flashes of light go off throughout the night.

On the morning of the 25th Allen will find three presents addressed to him under the Christmas tree outside. They're both frozen over and stuck to the base of the tree with Shouto looking distraught at his mistake, forgetting that wrapping paper isn't as sturdy as him in winter and insists on rewrapping them again which he does so in the bathroom with Kizu keeping watch while the koi watch what he's up to. When he leaves the bath, he'll hand over the first gift to Allen with his name neatly re-written in Romaji.

It's a small gift holding a singular card inside. Allen may be familiar with the card. It's the same one he's used before for birthdays except 'Birthday' is neatly crossed out. In its place, the word 'Christmas' is neatly written in Romanji without disturbing the neat type of the '10 favors'.

The second gift is a bit larger. Inside Allen will find 10 picture frames stacked together with an "I didn't know which one you would like" tagged on by Shouto while watches him open them looking very serious while he undoes the package. The third gift is of similar length of width but not as tall. Inside is a stack of pictures they took the previous day developed and of perfect size to fit the frames. All of it tied up with a simple, "Merry Christmas" from Shouto. ]

Edited 2022-12-27 19:39 (UTC)

[ While Allen might normally have noticed Shouto becoming more lost in thought as the weeks go by, starting in early December his demeanor starts to shift and he becomes increasingly distracted. Uneasy, even if he becomes quick to stitch a smile together and say it's nothing if asked. Because it is nothing, isn't it? He has no good reason for why he should be feeling this anxious.

It gets worse as the month goes by; jumping at unexpected sounds like a dropped utensil, a sudden raucous laugh from someone too deep in their cups on the street. Even at Sanctuary he keeps his quietly observant, guarded demeanor like he might in battle when expecting attack at any moment. At home he generally seems to finally relax, but his nerves are so frayed by that point he's just tired and emotionally drained. It's because something is wrong with Dorothea now too, all her Sleepers are feeling it, starts to become common knowledge and the realization it isn't just in his head doesn't bring him any of the sort of relief he thought it would. He does stop saying that it's nothing if someone catches him acting off, but he does try to smile through it around others. In public.

Shouto is still different, but he also has rare reprieve from the constant screaming of primal fight or flight instincts rattling around in his skull around him and therefore doesn't need to pretend he's fine. He is more fine, even if he also is more subdued in manner than usual. He doesn't even try to sneak snacks as much. Stops spending much of any time outside of the house unless he's going on patrol or something to do at Sanctuary that would be inexcusable to miss. Something he might try to joke about or make light of at first—it's a bit like a proper holiday then, isn't it? Exorcists never really took vacation.

It's hollow and doesn't ring true.

His nightmares, the pain from his left eye that occasionally wake him in the middle of the night, also get continually worse to the point where he usually wakes with a sharp yelp. Something that drives him to go out on patrol on the spot instead of attempting to go back to sleep when he knows he can't—which he sometimes does, after likely trying to sneak out the first time and being caught. Together, with Shouto; something Allen would have protest quite a lot at first. The rest of the time he tries to go back to sleep in order to not make the other stay up and suffer too, although he just tosses about restlessly for several hours then.

So he's frayed and run down by the time Shouto begins to decorate—something that does a complete 180 when he wakes on the 22nd (after Shouto, my god Allen is not a morning person when given the choice and would have only made some irritated sleepy grumbles when he got up) to find him decorating a tree outside the window. He's so dumbfounded and excited he runs out half-dressed in socks and pajama bottoms before realizing his mistake and having to go back inside to dress before he can join him. How dare he start without him!!

He's smiling broadly after that, all attention on monkey-climbing through the branches to get every decoration in the best possible spot. Timcanpy is an invaluable help: at least Allen would insist so. He should probably be tired too, but seems more energized by the day and sits with him when Shouto starts to pass out later after dinner. Stroking his hair with a quiet fondness to help lull him into a gentle sleep, he's in no hurry to move and enjoys this as much as decorating the tree earlier. For the sake of both their backs, he sets up the futon before he passes out too and will be the one to try and carefully scoop Shouto up and carry him in. Even if he is reluctant to move.

Sometimes it just takes a little thing. A sliver of some normal and simple kind of happiness to start to change everything. At some point he asks Shouto, with a bright and pure sort of uncensored quiet joy that rolls off him so very naturally, if he wants to build a snowman later. Which will probably become a snowfamily. He starts laughing again then, and probably tries to correct the expression on Shouto's snowman.

Speaking of baths... he's intrigued by the koi living in the house now and watches as Shouto cleans them with rapt and curious attention (as that water is also far too cold for Allen). But... where are they going to take baths in the meantime? He seems to fret slightly at that.

Tim loves it though. He's going to bobble along amidst the koi like a cork and paddle in circles while they try to nibble on his tail frequently. He does so cheekily close to Kizu and tends to grin up at her when she's also present like he's daring her to join him.

The request to take pictures with an old time camera (something Allen is finally more familiar with!) together catches him entirely off-guard though, even if that isn't such an odd request when one considers how many pictures Allen himself takes ever since being introduced to the fact the omnis can do that, including ones of the both of them where he crowds in close to take it badly at some blurred angle, and how many pictures even throughout the day he might send Shouto of something he thinks he might enjoy or that reminded Allen of him. Tim being cheeky is a favorite. But what it turns out to be...

He probably forgets about the camera and its countdown at some point and gets swept up in the everything of it and being too happy for it to be contained and pulls Shouto in to kiss him. The first all month he's initiated something like that himself, even if he hasn't shied away from reciprocating anything either. Something he'd laugh sheepishly at and apologize for messing up the photo, but later on after they're done and should be heading to bed want to hold on and keep stealing increasingly sweet and needy kisses. Like he's trying to make up for lost time and is tripping over having too much to say.

Christmas morning...

You have no idea how badly he wants to peek in while Shouto re-wraps the presents—except he probably does given how Kizu is standing guard. He pouts at her while he waits, before moving on to set the futon away (and retrieve his own present to give; how dare Shouto manage to sneak out without waking him to set his own out earlier) while he waits. During which time he also makes the discovery of a silver antler ring under his pillow that startles him a little to find. Shouto—? No, antlers weren't his style. There's an energy to it too. Something that resonates like little else does—the connection between patron Pthumerians and their Sleepers.

Ah... Blessed Days. That's right. It's his second here.

He pockets the ring, becoming a little more subdued at that. A bit of background uneasiness, but it fades quickly when Shouto reappears and they gather in the living room and the Favorite Nook this time to unwrap their gifts. Which you had better believe Allen frets mightily that there are three that he got him and... he only got you one?? (Did people normally give multiple presents elsewhere?? He's Victorian; getting a single present from someone very close to you was A Big Deal.)

The card... he recognizes, yes. From Ochako's birthday party, and it might earn a wry look and some Very Polite and Tactful acceptance as he realizes that ah, maybe he shouldn't feel bad that there are multiple gifts. It's something that is sweet and very Shouto, too. That would be his default response—except that his eyes snag on where "birthday" was crossed out and his expression falters lightly. Stilling in faint surprise and it takes him a moment to regain his composure. It snaps back in place as he looks back to Shouto and for one of the first times with him quickly composes a smile and laughs gently, thanking him for it even as something inside him fractures a little. Did I tell you...? No, I don't think I did. But I...

...I think I really should.

The frames just baffle him at first, turning them about this way and that as if to confirm there isn't something he's missing before likely needing to be prompted by Shouto to open the third and final present. Unwrapping it to find the pictures they took the day before--

How early did you get up to do all this...?

He stares down at them at first, words failing him as he quickly thumbs through the pictures and realizes finally what was going on. What Shouto had been planning all along. He's so stunned he almost doesn't hear when he says "Merry Christmas" and just looks up at him, amazed with a gentle sort of awe. You— ]

...

[ To his mild horror, he feels the tears only after they start to fall. And while he isn't one to feel shame for crying, this is not a good time or place for them and he doesn't want Shouto to get the wrong idea. He tries to swipe them aside quickly, a broken little laugh escaping him at realizing just what a wreck he must be and from just...

It's a lot. Everything he's feeling right now, it's a lot. ]

Sorry, sorry... [ His voice warbles and cracks, smiling so bright yet also crying. ] It's my first time really unwrapping presents properly with anyone and I didn't... It's such a thoughtful gift and with everything you've been doing--

[ He shakes his head at himself, trying to rub at his eyes with the wrist of his sweater. Shakes a little, forgetting his own present to Shouto that's been set down next to his thigh. A large and thick poorly wrapped rectangle that looks like it might be a tome of a book. ]

...I'm really happy. [ And I wasn't ready for that.

I wasn't ready for that when I've never been happy for Christmas, and that realization hits home brutally hard.

The tears are coming harder despite his best attempts to stay them and fall in heavy droplets against the frames on his lap. The complex whirlwind of emotions making his chest clench too much to stand so he keeps his head bowed. ]

Merry Christmas. Shouto, Merry Christmas...

Edited 2022-12-28 21:05 (UTC)

[ As the snow drifts into early December and his attention shifts to the lowering temperatures, Shouto dismisses the early signs of Allen's withdrawal. His smiles keep his suspicions at bay for a time until his energy levels, always so high, become drained. A cold? He starts to have the meals Allen takes at home ready-made from a nearby restaurant. Keeps the house warm too making sure there's always a fire going when he's there. When no symptoms crop up, he thinks he might have caught it in time until he learns about Dorothea and finally speaks up.

"Allen... Is Dorothea your patron?"

The dynamics change after that. He starts hugging him more frequently. Giving him what he would want if he felt anxious and alone. He reaches for his hand more just to feel connected, presses kisses to his cheek at every turn just because, and starts to offer to comb his hair taking his time to do 100 brushes each time before he sets the comb down. He makes him tea more often bringing pastries home every night for what is essentially a tea party. He's not one to fill the silence with words but he'll talk about his day if prompted or keep quiet humming a tune to himself every now and then when making tea without realizing what he's doing.

When the nightmares creep into the mix everything changes. Like Allen he becomes worried, anxious, and restless too.

Growing up with Endeavor bursting into their room late at night to berate his mother, Shouto became a naturally light sleeper. That's why he takes so many power naps during the day. Allen, while quiet in his scheme, fails to notice the creaks certain floorboards make effectively rousing him from sleep. There's no way he lets him go on patrol by himself after the way he's been lately and gets up each time to go with him. They spend their nights out on patrol leaving him too tired during the day to think about Christmas decorations until Allen tries to go back to sleep instead of going out. He still wakes when Allen tosses and turns, but only for a time. Kizu starts sleeping with them, taking Allen's right while Shouto takes his left. Sandwiched between them, Shouto ends up resting a little easier, waking up occasionally when his nightmares get worse, and gathers Allen in his arms, stroking his head in a similar fashion Allen sometimes does with him. Warm and affectionate, they end up tangled in each other by the time the morning sun starts to rise. After a few nights of this, with his thoughts focused on the figure in his arms, he has enough time to cement his plans and gets up early to put them into action.

On the 22nd, when Allen runs outside without any form of winter gear Shouto stares at him like he's grown a second head. Even he's in proper snow attire! If he stayed out any longer than the few seconds it took for the winter chill to kick in he might have come down to check on him. Thankfully, he returns properly dressed and looking more cheerful than he's seen him in some time which only spurs him on. They spend the day decorating the tree which comes together a lot faster than he expected. After several late nights of staying up to help him through Dorothea's ordeal passed onto her chosen Sleepers, the hard day's work puts a toll on him and he's falling asleep at every turn once night hits. He doesn't even struggle when Allen picks him up to set him on his futon. Kizu is there just as she was there during the day instead of hiding away. She didn't help with the decorations preferring to watch rather than participate. Her energy levels have come down since she first emerged in this new form, and while still a cub there's a look in her eyes that bespeaks of a sharper mind. She watches Allen from her perch making no move to join them as she has most nights. Instead, she watches over them like she once did and if Tim comes by she'll let him do as he wishes as she did during the day. She doesn't play with him like she once did but rather welcomes his excitement with cat-like amusement. She doesn't go intangible when he's near either as she might with others who approach her and lets him tangle himself in her solid form whether it was sleeping or playing.

When he brings in the koi for hibernation, Shouto makes sure to pay close attention to their eating habits to gauge how close they are to hibernation. He knows they can survive in frigid waters while in hibernation but not how cold their body's can survive and with Trench being unpredictable, he takes no chances with them after his mid-Decemeber scare. Their baths are pretty much relegated to the Sanctuary after that, not a short trip, but it gives him reason to show up more often since he's rarely there these days. He greets familiar faces with the same neutral greeting and as the winter festivities get underway, his features soften and occasionally a small smile slips in place. Even Kizu makes an appearance looking prim and proper in a way she hasn't in a while, though she tends to run off on her own a lot more now. Leaving his side to track down Tim or Wolf when he's not paying attention.

Shouto is very pleased with himself for letting the merchant talk him into buying an old time camera instead of using his OMNI. If you want to take a proper picture, you need a proper camera. None of this digital stuff. You want to show that you care, right? He spent five vials of blood on it. Worth every drop as the day's activities stretch out with more smiles and laughter than he ever expected after the rough month they've had. The kisses catch him off guard after a lack of them all month when he's only kissed him on the cheek late at night when the nightmares started up. So when they grow in frequency and passion, he's only too happy to oblige, smiling into them as he feels his heart fill up from the warm memories.

Christmas morning comes bearing gifts.

There's a sense of liveliness about him with a splash of eagerness that sparkles in his eyes. He watches Allen like a hawk while he opens his first present. A perfectly respectable gift. Ten gifts in one, in fact. Do you think he just hands these out to anyone? The frames too add up to ten to give him choices. He thought about buying different sizes but didn't have enough time to make ten separate stacks of pictures for Allen to choose from. Otherwise, he would have had nine more presents under the tree. Eager to see his expression when it all comes together, Shouto prompts him to open the last gift, waiting patiently while buzzing with energy.

The tears hit him like a cold shower, immediately zapping his energy. He stills on the outside, losing his smile, as his mind tries to scramble for what he did wrong. It's in the apology that he realizes what's going on.

You... like it... that much?

His face transforms, smiling warmly as his voice cracks under the pressure of his feelings. He curls an arm around him to hold him close and leans down to kiss him on the mouth. He smiles into the kiss, eyes warm with a different kind of energy. ]

I'm glad you like it.

[ He tips his head up with thumb and forefinger on his chin and kisses him again, this time on either cheek, wetting his lips with his tears that only make him grow fonder. ]

It's okay to cry.

[ He'll keep holding him, pressing kisses all over his face until the tears dry up, smiling warmly the entire time. ]

[ He'd have to be an idiot not to realize the extra mile Shouto started going for his sake, and that's a hard thing for Allen to deal with. Feeling guilty and flustering sometimes you didn't have to! while also being so very touched. It's something he already had to negotiate and steel his nerves through, being okay with telling people (Shouto) things that might make them worry about him—trying to separate "being a burden" from "be honest with people you love". Tea parties is something he's just outright enamored with though, even if they aren't exactly that, but Allen isn't one to fuss about details. He'd tell Shouto why too, how he'd had Exorcist friends called Lenalee and Miranda who convinced him to start joining them for tea parties of a sort too when their downtimes matched up. How they'd be joined by someone named Link as well who would fuss over the finer aspects of tea brewing with Lenalee, though Allen is vague and a little quieter on the details about him. His demeanor is serene and smiling when recounting it, lost in fond if somewhat bittersweet memories. Since he's started staying at home more he might even try to bake one of the confections that Viktor showed him how to make to have for it one night, except he is Quite Bad at baking and it's a flat and burnt mess. He's devastated by this.

One of those times when he's brushing his hair he's going to ask Shouto if he likes that his hair has gotten longer? A quietly serious sort of question while tipping his head back to look at him, and if asked why he wants to know he'd say he was just curious. He also lapses into a thoughtful sort of silence at the answer when he gets it though.

The first time Shouto hums around him while making tea Allen might nearly drop Tim in surprise. Just. outright staring. With an absolutely flabbergasted sort of awe though, and if he's caught he'd be quick to say it's nothing and wave it off a little sheepishly. Were Shouto savvy enough to figure out it was his humming that prompted it and asked... Allen would just hesitate and get a shy sort of smile before saying he liked hearing him like that. Whether he's hideously off-key or not.

Kizu is someone Allen actually starts to take more special note of too, and in fact has ever since she spoke to him again in her true voice for the first time since her form was destroyed. In fact he's so stunned when she first joins them in bed and presses up against his side that it almost startles even his eye back into silence. Even he knows better than to reach out and touch her at any point though, just watching her quietly in moments like that as his thoughts turn deeper. And when Shouto is passed out, he talks gently to her like he did once before. Conversationally, the same way he would with Tim, but with a quiet and thoughtful demeanor.

Kizu is getting better, isn't she? is something he wants to ask Shouto, but also doesn't just because Kizu would also hear and... it seems rude to talk about an omen like that in front of them. Now that she's no longer childlike and is becoming aware of herself again. It's a question whose answer is obvious too, and it warms him as much as when he's sandwiched between them and is half the reason for the intensity with which he burrows into Shouto's arms on those nights.

Omens are a part of their Sleepers and their souls, after all. They mirror them.

He pouts a little that the baths they have to use are Sanctuary's—they're communal, after all. Something he absolutely visibly sulks about, but still insists on trying to take them together with Shouto when he can. Although it should be noted that while in public he is a lot more reserved about doing anything more than holding hands—but would be squirrely about even that in a public bath. He's still Victorian you know, even if he's a weird one. Hit or miss.

Kissing the tears from his face Christmas morning though...

It takes Allen a moment to catch up to what's happening when he first pulls him close and kisses him, struggling too much still with trying to reign in his own heart. He leans up into it when kisses his cheek to either corner of his eyes though, tipping his head one way and then the other to oblige him and make the angle easier. A few more tears leak out at that, but they're of a wholly different nature than before.

Are you... smiling? He can feel how his lips curve slightly against his skin, Breathes for a moment a bit raggedly as he blinks to clear his vision to see. Confirming that actually helps settle the raw emotions battling in his heart, like finding the eye of the storm, and he quiets even as a new feeling settles almost a little queasily in his stomach instead. Brings both his hands up to cup Shouto's face, and the next time he leans to pepper his face with another kiss Allen catches his mouth with his own. Leaning his body into it and melding together into a kiss that still tastes lightly saline and leaves even Allen feeling immediately breathless.

Even if a kiss by definition to Allen is nothing he would ever censor as they express the truest part of him... there is something particularly uncensored about this one. Raw and sweet and laden with everything he struggles with voicing. I want you--

Please keep kissing me.

It ends rather abruptly though as he's either self-aware enough to cut himself short, or running out of breath forces the matter. He sucks in a ragged breath and laughs then, sheepishly and with a light blush as he lingers and stays close. ]

I want to keep kissing you, [ because I've missed it and wanted to so much for weeks, even if he didn't until last night ] but...

[ Allen smiles, demeanor gentling as he brushes his nose lightly against Shouto's. ]

...I also want to give you your present.

Edited 2022-12-29 18:43 (UTC)

[ Tea parties and hair brushing become a consistent part of their routine in the latter half of the month with Shouto bringing in new leaves every other day from the Trench markets, inadvertently converting a whole cupboard in the kitchen into an unofficial tea cupboard. Gone are the days he could store his tea leaves under the wooden table in their room. He still uses the table to brew it, making the extra trip to the kitchen to find the new leaf of the night mixing and matching a few with similar profiles. This is where the humming first starts. In the kitchen, lost in thought in his head, he tries to come up with a new recipe. It's inconsistent, coming and going as it pleases, almost as if he forgot to finish the note when a new idea snags his attention. It's definitely off-key. A barely there hum failing to do justice to the tune in his head and quieting down the moment he decides on a new mix. If he notices anything strange about Allen it's likely to do with how he doesn't seem to devour his pastries right away. Though, if it's the one he burnt in the oven that covered the house in a sort of smoky odor one night, then he'd understand. He did trash that failed experiment without remorse while Allen looked on devasted. Better to remove it from sight. He even pats him on back in consolation. You tried. As for his question, Shouto answers him without losing track of his count - 44, 45, 46, 47 - with a simple 'Yes' as he moves on to the next set. He divides his hair into quarters and makes sure to accumulate twenty-five brush strokes per piece without fail.

Kizu is a strange matter. He'd be blind if he didn't notice the shift. Being connected to her, he's been aware of the gradual changes over time. She hasn't spoken to him about them but she has spoken to him, long before she spoke to Allen. Mainly about menial things. Where they should patrol. What they should buy for dinner. When they should bring the koi in. Normally, he'd keep all those thoughts to himself but with her, he gives them voice. They don't share the most exciting conversations but it's more than he shared with her since she changed shape and while he likes her as a cub - in any form really - he did miss their idle conversations. She keeps her late-night conversations with Allen to herself though. She doesn't speak to him again, expressing herself by more subtlely means. A nod of her head for yes, a slow shake for no. A tilt of her head when Allen doesn't quite make sense. She's savvier than Shouto but she's still a reflection of him so most nuanced questions end up with a 'Make sense now' look. She still hides away from most people, going back inside her Sleeper whenever they have company, so she's virtually non-existent when they go to Sanctuary for their baths even when Allen does manage to pick a time when it's just the two of them.

Shouto isn't one to show affection unless prompted. That great need inside him that desperately craved it, needed it for nourishment growing up, got crushed alongside his more expressive personality. Sometimes, he'll reach for Allen's hand and brush a kiss on his cheek. Each time, it can be traced back to Allen. A sad look. A fit of laughter. It's impossible not to reach for him then. A feeling he quells at a single sign of discomfort always remembering how his mother used to look at him at the end. How he didn't stay away even when he knew how his presence upset her. How he kept on pushing for affection knowing he wouldn't find it anywhere else. Her tears back then weren't like Allen's tears now brimming with love and affection instead of anguish and terror.

It prompts him to reach for him, unable to stop himself as he presses his lips against the flood of emotions too big for him to handle. He knows how overwhelming that can be and accepts them as he would the most heartfelt 'Thank you'. Accepts the kisses too, happy to oblige him after a month's solitude. Maybe that's why they get swept up by it. The warm and caring kisses take on a heated tone that leaves him breathless and a little lost. His hands grab at his back unsure how to carry on but that doesn't stop him from delving into unknown waters returning the kiss with a growing heat building within him before hitting a cold stop.

Looking a little confused at Allen's sudden disruption, Shouto lets go of him, not sure what he means when his words don't match his actions. ]

... But?

[ He asks looking like a lost puppy, not at all following his train of thought until he brings up the present. ]

Oh.

[ Looking more than a little blindsided, he slowly sits up, setting his hands on his lap to keep from reaching for him as he cools that building with his right side. ]

Okay...

[ Reduced to single-word answers, he waits for Allen to continue while he tries to pull his thoughts back to the task at hand. He doesn't remember seeing another one outside though... ]

[ Ahahaha, oh... he feels so bad when Shouto seems so dazed, even if it also makes him blink and bite the inside of his lip slightly to try (and fail) to hide a smile. In fact would rethink what he just said if the other had said anything to indicate a preference, but that he doesn't means Allen just leans in to kiss his cheek softly in faint apology. Lingering there to give him a moment to collect his thoughts.

It's for the best. He'd be so upset with himself at getting so carried away Shouto's present got forgotten until later. And... because it was also a gut reaction to pull himself back from some point of no return given his own unstable and raw emotional state. So he just smiles gently against his cheek as the flutters in his own stomach quiet. Throttling himself with such brutally efficient practice that it's seamless when he has his head about him. ]

It's only one-- [ He reaches over for the package he'd retrieved when Shouto re-wrapped his own, fingers skimming over the stack of pictures still loose in his lap with a quiet and fond smile. Because while Allen had wanted to set it out under the tree as well (but slept in too late), he also knew better than to risk the elements with something delicate.

He presents him with such a terribly wrapped present, though not because he had been careless in doing so but perhaps had taken too much care while having absolutely zero artistic skills. Somehow even the ribbon looks like someone put a very sad clown hat on it.

Thankfully, Allen guesses he might need a little direction still and just sets it gently in his lap. ]

But I had to keep something for your birthday next month. [ ♥ Cheeky? A little.

Inside is... what looks like a very decorative tome, actually. Leather-bound with intricate embossing, a smooth oval in the middle that could hold further potential tooling or customization. Inside isn't paper with writing but the pages of a photo album. Beginning with one of the very first photos Allen had ever taken the moment he learned his omni could, a picture when they had been out at lunch somewhere and he had smooshed in to try and get a picture of the both of them and had to hold the omni back and at an... interesting kind of askance angle before he had realized there was a camera option for taking self pictures like that, but it has both their faces; Allen's own expression utterly delighted and bright. It's technically the third picture he had ever taken: first was one of Tim, then Shouto.

Pictures of the koi, Tim, and Kizu quickly take up the next pages in chronological order, some of which Shouto might recognize as Allen had sent them to him at the time but a greater many he hadn't. The tanabata festival, where Allen tried so hard to get a picture of Shouto smiling before he realized his only hope was to take one when he wasn't looking. The completion of the repairs on the house after the flooding is there. Making soba the first night he tried to recreate it with just the two of them, featuring both Shouto cleaning up with only the top of Allen's hair in the bottom of the picture and a nicer one of the two of them sitting down to eat with Allen looking so radiantly proud of himself. Some of Shouto's friends are in there as well, mostly from celebrations they had happened to all be at and when they were talking with Shouto—especially if there might have been a softer expression Shouto was making that would have caught Allen's eye.

Dabi is there too, one of the extremely blurry long distance photos Allen had very quickly snapped and sent to Shouto when he caught him resting under the guardian sapling.

Pictures that also weren't that easy to figure out how to extract... omnis are blood magic, after all. Trying to figure out how to pull them from that into tangible existence was a far more difficult arcane endeavor than Allen thought it would be, and took enlisting the help of a darkblood friend and a lot of trial and error. He won't disclose that though unless asked.

On and on, filling up maybe a third of the pages. The rest are all blank, and when Shouto gets to them... Allen will fidget lightly, and say it's because he hopes they can keep filling them up. ]

Edited 2022-12-30 07:30 (UTC)

[ Allen's terrible wrapping skills are forefront and, for once, he recognizes the subpar craftsmanship having been the recipient of many 'obligatory' gifts from people throughout his life. He never cared about those presents though, expensive as they might have been.

Shouto looks up at the mention of his birthday, a question at the tip of his tongue, but he thinks better of it and nods softly before returning his attention to the present at hand. With expertise few would suspect of him, he unwraps the present one taped corner at a time, careful of preserving the wrapping paper.

At first, he's not so sure what he's looking at - A book? - and carefully picks up the tome with the same delicacy he would with one of his tea cups. He turns it around in his hand, feeling the weight of it. His fingers pick up on the texture of the intricate embossing as he turns it around to open the cover and stares at Allen's enlarged face smooshed up against his in a sort of 'caught' look that still managed to look impressively non-expressive while conveying his puzzlement with the entire situation. He was used to journalists taking his picture, so he wasn't too out of the loop that day. He turns to the next picture, then the next looking entirely immersed in the experience. Most jog his memory with a few notable exceptions. Page by page, he takes his time to observe the story laid out in the picture, asking Allen a few questions here and there. Where did you take this? What is that? Do you remember what we ordered that day?

When he gets the first blank page, he looks up in question, not quite connecting the dots until Allen starts to fidget. He's quiet in his staring, not yet having learned how disturbing it can be to be put on the spot. He watches him in silence, digesting the gift at his own pace, comparing the first pictures with the spread at the end. ]

You got better.

[ His photography skills that is. Then, after a moment, he leans forward to press a kiss to his cheek, smiling warmly when he pulls back. ]

Thank you, Allen.

[ He keeps his gaze, his eyes straying to his mouth a time or two before reaching for his hands. He's warmer than the room, something Allen may have noticed while seated so closely while he was looking through the album. Each new page spread the heat from his left side over to his right, radiating out gently by the time he reached the end. ]

Can we take a picture together?

Edited 2023-02-05 00:34 (UTC)

[ He remembers all the details of every picture and what was happening, and is very eager to answer every time Shouto asks. Allen might be a bit of a space cadet keeping track of certain things, but people and their relationships and happy times he's had with them is something that's always clear and fresh in his memory. Being asked makes him lean in closer to happily explain, where yes -- he does notice the gentle head coming off of him like a radiator and smiles quietly to himself for it, leaning a bit closer until their shoulders just barely touch.

And yes, he especially remembers whatever they might have ordered or been eating at the time. It's one of the few things his memory is razor-sharp on.

He notices the way Shouto's eyes stray a couple times, and his own flicker briefly away a little modestly at it. But the request gets a curious look and a thoughtful hum from Allen, his eyes brightening in piqued interest. He squeezes his hands gently in response with his bare ones. ]

Right now?

If you don't mind.

[ For an answer, he just leans across their joined hands to kiss him gently. Briefly and sweetly, his lips curving into a soft smile against Shouto's. ]

It's my favorite kind of idea.

[ He pulls back to begin to gather up the photographs and frames that Shouto had given him, bringing them in close and arranging them, wrapping paper included, around the two of them as he scoots in to press up against Shouto's hip. Tim, having been sitting on the edge of the nook watching them, begins to wiggle a little closer. Preparing to photobomb? Preparing to photobomb. Cutely.

Raising his omni up high to check the angle and that he can try to get the both of them and the presents in the shot, Allen tips his head back to look at Shouto, hair long and loose still from bed. Something so bright and effervescent in his demeanor and the smile that hasn't left him yet, eyes sparkling. ]

Like this?

[ He smiles through the kiss, taking the time to appreciate the moment. The way Allen gathers up the different-sized frames, arranging the wrapping paper in front of them as Tim gets ready to dive in for the photograph.

Shouto takes a moment to sweep his long locks over his shoulder before leaning in next to him. He settles an arm loosely around his waist and looks up at the omni, pausing when he finds something out of place. ]

We're missing Kizu and Timcanpy.

[ He settles in and leans back against Shouto the moment his arm loops around him, comfortably and like it's second nature to, and doesn't seem too bothered by the statement. ]

Mm-- [ Distracted and looking up at the picture reflected back at him, Allen's tongue sticks out a little in concentration as he tries to get an angle that he likes. ]

It's Kizu we're missing. [ As if on cue, Tim half-leaps and half-flies flies up to Allen's shoulder opposite of Shouto. Burrowing into Allen's hair he so conveniently swept there and immersing most of his increasingly squat little form in a nest of it before turning around and grinning saucily up at the picture reflected back at them. A ham.

Allen looks back at Shouto then, smiling lightly in a pleased "see?" manner, before his head leans back against his shoulder as he looks over towards the far side of the room where Kizu had last been guarding the door. ]

Feeling shy? [ The most amicable gentle tease. ]

Edited 2023-02-05 07:42 (UTC)

[ That saucy grin earns Tim a cursory glance as he burrows himself in Allen's hair, popping out a few seconds later looking pleased as a plum. Kizu lies near the door observing them from her comfortable perch unperturbed by Tim's antics or Allen's teasing. She's still his omen and so the gentle coaxing does little to sway her. ]

Will you take a picture with us?

[ Shouto asks instead, turning his head in her direction. Kizu tilts her head at an angle as if considering the proposal and after a full minute she rises onto her paws, too large for her small frame, and leisurely makes her way to the couple, settling in against the length of his leg. She curls into a small ball without looking up at the camera and Shouto doesn't ask her to. ]

Ready?

[ He turns back to Allen, a fond look in his eyes as the smile begins to recede with the passage of time. ]

[ Allen's used to Kizu's aloof ways (cats), and doesn't seem to mind it at all, waiting patiently as she considers the the request before leisurely coming over. It's how she is, just as Shouto is how he is, so he just smiles a little more brightly when she finally settles in. Timcanpy leans down to look at her, wiggling his wings slightly. ]

Ready. [ He lingers for a moment, just looking back at Shouto still from his shoulder as the corner of his mouth lifts in a small, thoughtful kind of smile, grey eyes bright. But he pulls his attention back to the matter at hand, looping his arm around Shouto's waist in kind as he lifts his omni up high again. Timcanpy rouses, perking back up.

And Allen smiles wide and bright, carefree, and so truly and utterly happy. ]

One, two-- [ click! ]

Edited 2023-02-05 08:40 (UTC)

[ The moment feels like a memory before the snap of the shutter. Shouto looks back at Allen with a kind and thoughtful look, the urge to kiss his smile prevalent in his mind. He nods instead, looking up at the angle of the camera. His smile fades to a whisper as his face settles into a quiet look of contentment that warms the dual tone of his eyes. Kizu raises her head just enough to look at the camera, mimicking her Sleeper. She's lost her spontaneity from when she was a newborn cub and stays back more and more, observing the world through a lens that seems to see beyond the physical world.

Beside them, Tim and Allen emit a lively atmosphere. Bright and cheerful, almost in contrast to their companions. Their joy takes on a physical form radiating from them just as steadily as Shouto's heat subtly wraps around them in a gentle embrace.

SNAP

A flash of light captures the moment in still life, losing the subtle graces of Allen's contagious joy or Shouto's heat. The way Tim almost shakes from excitement or the subtle way Kizu turns to look at the smaller omen a second before the picture is taken losing half the story with only a snapshot of the memory.

It's not the picture he cares for but the memory. ]

Thank you.

[ His head turns just enough to brush his lips against Allen's, giving in to the urge to kiss him. With the camera now out of the way, he smiles. ]

Edited 2023-02-05 15:26 (UTC)

[ It's a good memory.

On a day normally full of such bittersweet and guilt-ridden ones that it would normally leave Allen reticent and withdrawn. To the point where actually... it will cause him a bit of a cold pause later to realize this new happiness has covered it up almost entirely. He'll sort that out later when he realizes it, weighing out past and present, until he finds peace in reconciling it in a way where he doesn't feel like he's left something important behind. But right now...

...right now he just laughs lightly when Shouto thanks him, still too caught up in the moment and because he feels like he should thank you too. He lets the omni drop when he kisses him though, bringing his hand up to brush his fingers along his cheek. Smiles wide as he brushes his lips back against Shouto's in kind, committing that to memory too; the soft warmth and how they curve with how he smiles as well. Before he shifts closer, hand settling along Shouto's jaw as the bubbling sort of joy in his chest funnels into how he presses in with a deepening kiss, eager and sweet.

"I want to keep kissing you," he'd said before after all. ]

[ His laughter catches Kizu's eye. The same as her Sleeper who seems caught by the melody. It will always be his favorite song rivaled only by the morning songbirds that joined him most mornings by the river bank.

I like seeing you happy.

With the moon in his hair and the star at his temple, Allen brings the night inside, rivaling the morning sun. He brushes his hair back and returns the kiss, caught up in his tempo. ]

[ Timcanpy drops surreptitiously down from Allen's shoulder at some point, with far more sneaky finesse than most would expect from him, and slips off to sit with Kizu. He might try to bat a tiny hand very lightly at the tip of her tail, but won't push it and just looks playfully content regardless.

Who, if not for her being there, Allen might have nudged the paper and presents aside to climb into Shouto's lap so he could hold (and kiss) him what in his mind is properly—but she is so he doesn't. And he pulls back eventually, still lingering close enough that their noses brush, but smiles as something occurs to him. Eyes hooding thoughtfully for a moment, his hand drops to rest against Shouto's chest instead. ]

I think... this might be the first time I've ever celebrated Christmas. [ His eyes flicker aside for a moment, faraway in his memories and with an odd little smile. ] Properly, at least.

[ He returns his attention to Shouto, tipping his head up to nuzzle at him in a way that bumps their noses lightly. ]

Thank you.

Edited 2023-02-06 05:29 (UTC)

[ After the picture is taken, Kizu settles her head back down, curling her fluffy tail around her small frame. Her mismatched eyes follow Tim's sneaky movement, aware of that very tiny hand that eventually meets a solid form instead of passing right through her. Much like her Sleeper, she accepts the contact.

Shouto takes his cues from Allen, falling back alongside him. He takes a moment to catch his breath when that hand lands on his chest, drawing his eyes back up as the smile begins to recede. The gentle heat remains as his face falls back to its natural state with a hint of curiosity lighting his eyes.

The curious statement prompts him to take his hand between his palms, pouring heat into his hands to warm him up. ]

What's a proper Christmas?

[ It's all Tim wanted. ♥ Content at being acknowledged and accepted, he drops his hand and settles his orblike body down next to her, curling his own tail a few times around himself until he can bury his face into its swirled end like a pillow. Is he... mirroring her? It kind of looks like he is.

Allen gives a thoughtful hum at the question, shifting his fingers against Shouto's in a delicate sort of dance without quite threading them. ]

Mm.. [ He's quiet for a moment, reflecting on that as he watches their joined hands. ]

...I always imagined it would start when everyone gathers together to decorate the tree. Playing in the snow, baking cookies and hanging festivities up because they find it fun to do so together. Until Christmas morning when everyone wakes up early and rushes to open their presents together, and it's something full of wrinkled paper and laughter where no one is in a hurry to change out of their pajamas or anything else except spend time with the people they care about. [ The way he talks...

It's soft-spoken and gentle, but like someone describing something they watched through the window as others did it and had to guess what it might be like. Something that was likely literally true as well, growing up as he had sleeping usually out in the cold with Mana and then later hopping from one country to the next with Cross. Ever-itinerant, and watching the happy lives of normal people and families as a quiet, separate, not entirely human like them observer. Over and over again until it was such a clear idyllic picture in his own head, no longer yearned for but held quietly with care in some fractured place of his heart.

But Allen has such a quiet and fond smile, too. Appreciative and warm as his eyes flicker back up to meet Shouto's. ]

Spending time with loved ones, basically.

Edited 2023-02-08 05:35 (UTC)

Oh--

[ He leans in, bringing his other hand up to clasp Shouto's fully and smiling wide with his eyes large and bright in anticipatory delight. Because how could he forgot the most important part!! ]

It's something with lots of good food, too.

[ Grey and teal eyes settle on the golden golem. A few months back, she would have pounced on him the moment his clawed little hand extended out to her and made a mess of the wrapping paper in her pursuit of the elusive blur of metallic light. Now, she simply watches him with more awareness, a lot less distracted.

Shouto, too, keeps his eyes on Allen while he speaks, listening to his take on the holiday. Somehow, coming from a different world, he expected it to be different than what he saw on television. Christmas in the Todoroki household was an obligatory affair. Few decorations graced the walls of the estate. The sense of family and holiday cheer was all but absent with Fuyumi making an effort to make it at least somewhat tolerable for her younger brothers. ]

Should we bake cookies?

[ He asks, staying in the moment instead of being swept up by the past. He follows Allen's list, mentally checking off the ones they managed to hit without trying. He blinks at the mention of food, realizing all too late that he forgot to pick up breakfast. Is anything open?He's not quite sure. ]

Are you hungry?

Edited 2023-02-08 06:10 (UTC)

[ They aren't actually claws, but four of the tiniest little stubby fingers. That he curls up on in addition to the tiniest little stubby feet he pulls back up into his body and seems to doze off besides Kizu.

While Allen's eyes brighten at the mention of cookies... his face also pulls somewhat to the side as well as well as soon as Shouto offers. You saw his failed attempt at baking something, it's something he just can't figure out. They won't rise!!! Or become goo. Or burn. And Shouto's own experience with cooking that he's seen, well...

Allen gives a sheepish little laugh. ]

That might be a little ambitious... [ Look, he's just being realistic. As enchanting as the idea is. But he smiles easily, brimming with good nature and entirely undeterred, and brings a finger up to tap and brush lightly against Shouto's lips. Similar to how he would sometimes tap him on the nose, a couple steps more dignified than impish and just subtly cheeky instead. ]

But I like the idea of a big dinner later. ♥

Edited 2023-02-08 06:40 (UTC)

[ They are most definitely claws to Kizu. Let him be fierce! Sleep takes her soon after Tim dozes off but unlike the small omen, Kizu disappears in a shower of golden light leaving no trace of her passing as she returns back inside her Sleeper.

He shrugs at the answer.

He's well aware of his own failings. There's a reason why every restaurant in a mile radius knows his face. He also witnessed Allen's failed attempts at baking not too long ago, so he's not ignorant on that front either. Still, the offer was genuine. It was the journey he cared about not the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

He nods at the mention of dinner, completely missing the playful banter. The cheeky tap, tap, tap of his lips is odd, but he's used to the feeling by now, so it feels normal in that sense. ]

What about lunch?

Edited 2023-02-08 07:06 (UTC)

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