Work Text:
“Merryyyyyy Christmas!”
Ten burst through his door, a 6-pack in one hand and a bottle of whiskey in the other, a colorfully wrapped package tucked under his arm,.
“...Eh?”
Akagi looked up over his glasses from the newspaper he’d been browsing, raising one skeptical eyebrow. He hadn’t been expecting him over tonight. In fact, he’d sort of had it planned out as a stay-in-and-keep-warm-under-the-cozy-blanket-he-currently-had-wrapped-around-his-shoulders kind of night.
“Merry Christmas!” Ten repeated, wasting no time in setting his things down on the table and shedding his coat.
Huh. Yeah, he supposed Christmas was coming up, today or tomorrow or something. To say the holiday had traditionally flown under Akagi’s radar was an understatement. Of course, he noticed the weather changing, and the decorations going up around the city, but he himself never participated. He had no family, and he’d never been in the sort of romantic relationship where cutesy Christmas gifts had ever seemed necessary or appropriate.
“You could have phoned and told me you were coming…” he grumbled, fussing a little just because he could.
Ten nudged his shoulder playfully, earning a half-hearted grimace from Akagi.
“Ehhh, but if I told you, you would’ve told me to forget it, right? Since you hate Christmas and all.”
Akagi snorted, adjusting the specs at the end of his nose and turning his attention back to the article he’d been reading.
“I don’t hate it.” He was ambivalent. Which was worse, the holiday having failed to even impact him strongly enough for him to dislike it. He had a feeling Ten knew this already.
“C’mon, Akagi, I can’t let you spend Christmas all alone like this. You’re like one of those lonely old coots from all those holiday specials...” Ten dropped down next to him, putting an arm around his shoulders. Had he already started drinking…?
Akagi looked over at him, feigning reluctance.
“Shouldn’t you be spending it with your wives? It’s a holiday for couples, right?”
Ten laughed.
“Don’t worry! First of all, we’re a threesome, not a couple! And they told me to come! They’re over at our neighbors drinking, so they’re fine. Speaking of, I brought your favorite whiskey...”
Akagi looked again, putting the paper aside, and sure enough, there it was, the brand label unmistakable. Well....
“Get me a glass, then.”
Ten laughed again, standing and walking to Akagi’s kitchenette to fetch one.
“I knew you’d come around.”
He returned and poured Akagi a glass on the rocks, taking a seat next to him and popping open a beer for himself.
“Cheers!”
Ten grinned, and chugged most of the can, pulling back from it with a smack of his lips. Akagi took one conservative sip, then another. Smooth as ever.
Moments later, Ten had already finished his first drink and cracked open another can, launching into some sort of vaguely amusing story about an incident that had occured last week in his neighborhood. He liked to talk about mundane things like that, and Akagi always nodded along obediently, no matter how dull the subject matter. More than the words, he was focused on the man telling it, the way the scar near his lip moved when he talked, the way his bushy eyebrows bunched together when he laughed. Even his voice, loud as he could be, had a sort of soothing cadence to it, low and warm.
Akagi wiped a drop of whiskey from the corner of his lips, staring at the man across from him with a little smirk. Feelings like these would have scared him, years ago, but now…
He leaned over.
“Ten.”
“Hm?”
Closer, closer still, emboldened by the whiskey sitting hot in his belly, and--
“Oh! I almost forgot!”
Ten turned away in an instant, and Akagi sat back, watching him retrieve the colorfully wrapped package that had lain forgotten.
“This is for you!”
Akagi took the lumpy pack of wrapping paper and turned it over in his hand gingerly.
“What is it?”
“Open it!”
He gave Ten a dubious look, then began to pull at the tape holding the thing together with unpracticed hands. He’d never been given a Christmas gift before. He wondered if this was supposed to be a special moment.
The wrapping gave way to reveal a strip of fabric -- a necktie -- but it wasn’t like one he’d ever seen before. Mahjong tiles stretched across it in a uniform pattern, with a green background just peeking through.
“It reminded me of you!”
Akagi stared at the item for another moment. He didn’t typically wear ties, but this one appealed to him. Ten… had really thought of him, picking this out. He looked up and smiled.
“I like it. Thank you.”
Ten positively beamed back.
“You’re welcome!”
He took another big swig of beer and patted Akagi on the shoulder a few times.
“...Hey, Ten.”
Ten looked at him, an unspoken question on his lips.
“I have something for you, too.”
Akagi didn’t give Ten a chance to react. He simply leaned over and pressed his lips to the corner of Ten’s mouth, planting a gentle kiss.
“Merry Christmas.”
He sat back, watching in satisfaction as Ten flushed even redder than what the alcohol had done to him.
“A, Akagi…”
“Hmhmhm…”
He took another sip of his whiskey. Maybe Christmas was a worthwhile thing to celebrate after all.