Work Text:
Christmas Eve
11:36 pm and still on the runway.
Axel sighs heavily after checking his watch for the 20th time in the past five minutes, and flops back into the stiff fabric of his seat.
After landing back in his country, he found his next flight was delayed, so he had to cozy up in a nearby hotel for the night. There was the bumper to bumper traffic on his way back to the airport, which left him stuck in a taxi with a friendly but overly chatty driver. More delays and a last minute flight change with a layover at another airport. And now, finally, he was on the plane that was supposed to take him home, Axel’s plane sat unmoving on the runway, when they should have been in the air thirty minutes ago!
Axel hadn’t even wanted to travel over the holiday break. He was supposed to stay home with his boyfriend. Cozy, warm, baking cookies and watching White Christmas for the 32nd time.
His job, however, had a very last minute, very important business meeting with clients overseas that they just needed Axel for. If the deal went through, it would mean a huge expansion for the business, and a hearty raise for Axel himself.
Of course, they had promised Axel all expenses for this very inconvenient trip would be covered, and they’d pay to get him on the fastest flight home. They promised they’d have him home in time for Christmas Eve.
The weather, however, had different plans in mind.
Storms and heavy snow had delayed flights across the country, and now Axel was stuck on a runway at 11:36—no, 11:37pm on Christmas Eve.
Roxas had been understanding. Disappointed, of course, but understanding. Because of course he was. He was an angel, and Axel had long since decided his first paycheck after his raise was going straight to whatever his boyfriend wanted.
Still, it’s frustrating, and Axel wants nothing more than to just get home.
When the plane finally, finally gets in the air 10 minutes later, Axel lets out a tired sigh of relief.
An hour and fifteen minutes after that, and Axel is standing in the small Traverse Town airport, luggage in hand and taxi on the way.
As the yellow car arrives, Axel tosses his things into the trunk, and clambers into the back seat. He’s thankful this driver is less chatty. Probably no happier about being out on Christmas Eve than Axel is. Instead, Axel reclines in his seat and watches as the familiar streets of his city come into view.
Traverse Town is a small city, compared to some of the metropolises just an hour or so away. It’s downright quaint compared to the skyscraper filled Hollow Bastion.
But it’s a dense city nonetheless, packed with old, historic buildings that sit squeezed right up against each other. It’s easy to get lost if one doesn’t know their way around, and the small winding streets mean Axel’s taxi will only get him so far before he has to walk the remainder of the way.
Shop fronts line the street level, while their second and third floors are mostly residential. Balconies with clotheslines hang over winding back streets, which can,at any turn, open up into hidden away courtyards.
And the lights. Oh the lights.
For being a smaller city, Traverse Town never seems to sleep. Even at night, the place takes on a warm glow, lit by iron street lamps and the illuminated shop signs decorating many of the buildings. Even the purely residential buildings seem to be decorated with extra lamps, and the city’s many fountains dance with multicolored lights at night.
In Axel’s opinion, the city is prettiest at night.
There’s no such thing as a truly dark corner in Traverse Town. And the holidays only brighten the place up more. Twinkling lights line the rooftops and windows of most buildings. Some go classic with all white lights, while others go for multicolored ones, or ones that blink off and on. Garland and bright red flowers wind around every street lamp, and the storefronts all change their display windows to showcase holiday scenes.
Snow has fallen, and the white powder almost glows in the warmly lit city.
Sure enough, within a few minutes, Axel’s taxi pulls to a stop, having taken him as far as it can. Axel thanks and pays the man, hops out, and hauls his luggage out of the trunk before turning down a particularly familiar side street.
The buildings are tucked in tight on this street. It’s not unusual for neighbors to chat with each other from their respective balconies and porches.
For now it’s quiet, even the snow undisturbed aside from Axel’s own footprints; Which in and of themselves are sloppy and uneven from having to haul his suitcase through the thick powder.
Fortunately, he doesn’t have too much farther to go, as at the end of the street sits a small building Axel knows all too well. Home. And in it, Roxas is waiting for him.
It’s a thought that has Axel picking up his pace ever so slightly.
The apartment is an old thing, made of red brick with old wood accents. It sits tucked away at the end of the back street, in between a squat little bakery and another, slightly taller residence with a blue roof. It’s a slightly crooked building, it’s foundation having slanted over time, but Axel just thinks it adds to the charm.
It currently has white string lights lined up along the roof, and up on the third floor, Axel sees a simple wreath hung on the apartment’s door. His and Roxas’s apartment, beckoning him from afar.
One struggling climb up the stairs later, and Axel finds himself standing in front of said door. Finally home.
Axel enters their apartment as silently as he can. He closes the door and shuts out all the cold air with it, leaving him in the much warmer embrace of his apartment.
All’s quiet, and the overhead lights are all off. But the space is still filled with a soft glow.
Weeks prior, Roxas had taken the initiative to haul out all their decorations, and the two of them had spent the day decorating the place for Christmas.
They strung garland and lights along the walls and over each doorway. They have no fireplace in the small flat, so they hung their stockings in the living room. A tree was set up in the corner of the living room as well, and was adorned with red and gold ornaments and twinkling lights.
Their tree was fake these days. Once upon a time, they’d had the tradition of going out and choosing a real tree to take home. But that swiftly ended once they adopted Pluto, and the pup had decided rolling around in the fallen pine needles and spreading them all over the apartment was a fun pastime.
Axel chuckles to himself at the memory. He toes off his shoes and leaves them and his luggage abandoned by the door, to be dealt with later. From there, he pads down the hall, shrugging off his jacket and scarf, and unbuttoning the top buttons of his shirt. He stops at the entrance to the living room, and a small smile spreads across his face at the sight in front of him.
Roxas had apparently tried to wait up for him, but clearly hadn’t made it. Now, he lay curled up on the couch, tangled in an old Christmas throw blanket, with their dog Pluto tucked in the space behind his knees. As much as Axel regrets getting home so late, it’s a heartwarming sight to come home to.
Some tooth-achingly sweet Hallmark shit right there.
Slowly, he pads over to the couch and leans down, nuzzling into Roxas’s messy hair and pressing a light kiss to his temple.
“Hey there, sleepy.” He whispers and rubs a hand up and down the man’s back to gently rouse him. Roxas grumbles a little, never happy to be woken, but softens when he realizes what, or rather who, has done so.
Not yet opening his eyes, Roxas yawns and smiles sleepily. “Oh, ‘s that you Santa?”
Leave it to Roxas to wake up from a dead ass sleep and still be a smart ass.
Axel rolls his eyes, but plays along with a mock gasp. “Santa? I knew it!” He says, voice still soft despite his mock dramatics. “I knew you were cheating on me with that Holly Jolly Home wrecker!”
Roxas’s nose wrinkles and his smile turns into a cheeky grin, so Axel continues.
“Well joke’s on you, Sunshine. I’ve been sleeping with Mrs. Clause!”
Roxas snorts. “I wouldn’t even be mad. I bet she makes the best cookies.”
He yawns again and finally opens his eyes. His smile is sleepy but warm and Axel wants to just melt right on the spot.
“Hey you.”
“Hm. Merry Christmas.” Roxas opens his arms and Axel is more than happy to curl halfway onto the couch and let Roxas lazily wrap his arms around him.
“Merry Christmas.” He responds softly. “Sorry I couldn’t get home sooner.”
Roxas just shrugs one shoulder as he cards his fingers through Axel’s hair. “You’re home now. Tha’s all that matters.”
Axel hums, and a content smile tugs at the corners of his mouth. “Keep yourself busy while I was gone?”
“Hmm... Ven called the other day.” Roxas replies, closing his eyes again as he speaks. “He, Aqua, and Terra are all enjoying their little holiday off in the mountains. Says Terra completely ate ass on the slopes, and I’m kinda sorry I missed that.”
Axel snorts, but let’s Roxas continue.
“Xion and Namine came to visit today. Or, yesterday, technically. They left you a present, but say you owe them for missing their visit.”
“Mm, we’ll have them over for New Years, if you want.” Axel says, honestly a little disappointed he missed them as well. Roxas just nods a little and continues to run his fingers through Axel’s hair, pausing now and then to massage at his scalp. Axel sighs, relaxing under the gentle touch. He would be content to just remain there, awkwardly curled halfway onto the couch in Roxas’s arms. His back would kill him the next day, but to hell with it. This was nice.
Leave it to Roxas to ruin the mood.
“You stink.”
Axel snorts. “Yeah, well, traveling for over 24 hours and being stuck on numerous plans will do that to a guy. Is it bothering you?” He emphasizes his question by pulling Roxas close to his chest and rubbing his face against his boyfriend’s, till Roxas is laughing and sputtering against his hair and trying weakly to push Axel back off.
“Knock it off!” Roxas laughs and squirms to get away, and poor Pluto hops off the couch to escape their struggle.
Axel finally takes mercy on his boyfriend and stops, opting to lay his chin down on Roxas’s chest.
“Alright, alright. I’ll go take a quick shower. You get yourself to bed, yeah?”
Roxas nods, humming his agreement, and Axel gets up to amble off to the bathroom.
The hot water feels good on his skin. His aching muscles relax, and as each minute passes, he feels layers and layers of airport grime wash down the drain. And god, it’s nice to use his own soaps and hair products once again. The travel size ones he brought ran out, and hotel toiletries just don’t cut it. What can Axel say? He’s picky.
Finally clean once again, Axel exits the bathroom, draped in a towel and drying his hair with another. Upon entering their bedroom, he notices a distinct lack of Roxas in bed, or anywhere in sight.
He quickly finishes drying, and dons a clean pair of pajama pants, before he steps out to hunt down his missing boyfriend.
Roxas, it would appear, never left the couch. Axel just shakes his head and chuckles to himself as he finds the blond, having fallen back asleep, right where Axel left him.
Slowly, Axel approaches the couch and kneels down, gentling sliding his arms beneath the dead weight that is his boyfriend.
“I said-“ and he hefts the sleeping blond right up off the couch. “Get to bed!”
Roxas yelps, shaken awake by the sudden manhandling.
Admittedly, Axel isn’t exactly the muscle of the duo. Where he excels in height, Roxas surpasses him in strength.
So maybe trying to haul his boyfriend up bridal style wasn’t the best of ideas.
Roxas throws his arms around Axel’s shoulders as he stumbles backwards. A few wobbling steps and Axel’s manages to regain his balance and plant his feet firmly on the ground.
They’re silent for a moment, before Roxas turns his head and levels Axel with A Look.
“If you drop me, of fall while carrying me, then so help me god I’m giving all your Christmas presents to Pluto.”
All Axel can do is give the threat a goofy grin in return. “Then I guess I’ll just not have to drop you, huh?”
He turns and feels Roxas’s grip tighten at the first step. And as much as he’d love to tease his boyfriend about it, he opts instead to book it back down the hall to their bedroom, because he knows he won’t be able to keep the other man lifted for long and he’s not going to tempt fate on that one.
“I can walk, ya know...” Roxas mumbles as Axel awkwardly nudges open their bedroom door with his hip.
“Of course I know you can. But, number one; just let me act chivalrous for once. And, number two; you weren’t exactly making much progress in getting your own ass off the couch. And-“ Axel finally gets the door open and shuffles inside, quickly depositing his boyfriend on their bed. “As much as I’d love to curl up on the couch with you, we wouldn’t both fit. And how else will you be able to warm your cold, cold feet if you’re not able to stick them under my ass like you always do?”
Roxas snorts and scoots back on the bed. This time of year, there’s a veritable nest of blankets on their bed, to combat the cold, and Roxas wastes no time in burrowing himself beneath them. “You got me there. But what can I say? You have a nice ass. And you run hot anyway.”
He holds the covers open, inviting, and Axel wastes no time in crawling under them. Immediately, his arms snake around Roxas and he pulls the man to his chest, nuzzling his nose into messy blond locks.
Like this, Roxas is the very definition of warmth and comfort, and Axel breathes deeply the scent of his boyfriend.
He missed this. It doesn’t matter how long or short his business trips are; he always misses this.
“You know you’re gonna have to turn out the light.”
Axel groans, voice muffled where his face is pressed into the crook of Roxas’s neck. “Make the dog do it!” He whines.
“The dog doesn’t have thumbs.”
Axel huffs and reluctantly untangles his arms from around Roxas. He rolls over and awkwardly flails for the lamp, till he finally finds the cord and pulls. The room goes dark, save for the bit of light through the window, the glow of twinkling Christmas lights dancing across their wall.
Job done, Axel rolls back over and wraps his arms back around Roxas, grumbling. “There, happy now?”
“Yes. Now stop pouting.” Roxas chuckles and leans up to pepper Axel’s face with kisses. And who is Axel to stay mad with that?
He turns his face slightly and catches Roxas’s mouth with his own. Lips press against soft, soft lip and Axel hums contentedly into the kiss. It’s slow and lazy, and everything Axel has been missing. Their legs tangle and Roxas snakes his arms around Axel, one hand finding its way back into his damp hair.
“I missed you.” Axel breathed, lips barely leaving Roxas’s to speak. In return, Roxas smiles and presses a few more soft kisses to Axel’s lips.
“Missed you too. ‘M glad you’re home now.” His hand slides back around to cup Axel’s cheek, and Axel can’t help the contented sigh that escapes his lungs. Roxas presses one last kiss to the tip of his nose, then pulls the best of blankets tighter around both of them.
“Now, sleep. You’ve had a long day. We’ll get up whenever you want tomorrow. And, believe it or not, I think you’ve been good enough this year to warrant presents.” He chuckles, but already sounds just as drowsy as Axel feels. “I’ll make you breakfast ‘n everything, ok?”
Axel hums softly, already feeling himself give into the embrace of sleep. Back home, in his bed with Roxas, where everything is soft and warm and just how it should be.
Maybe the holiday hadn’t started off on the best foot. But Axel has little to complain about in coming home to this.