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“I really don’t wanna go…” Naib eyed himself in the mirror with a deep frown. He always hated how dressy he needed to be for company parties and whatever. It super fucking sucked that he wasn’t able to show up in a t shirt and jeans.
“It doesn’t really matter if you want to go or not.” William chuckled as he slapped his friend’s back. “You look good!”
“Yeah…? I feel like I’m choking.” He tugged on the collar of his black turtleneck to show there was barely any room for him.
“That means you’re wearing it right, baby! Hey, come on…” The taller of the two ran his fingers through his hair as he stood beside him. William looked a lot nicer than Naib in his knit sweater and black slacks. “It could be fun…”
“I’m going to kill the fucker who made these turtlenecks…” Grumbling, Naib threw on his coat. “Yeah, it could be fun… Or it could suck big time.”
“Pretttty sure whoever made turtlenecks is dead-”
“I don’t care. I’ll beat them up in their grave.”
William shook his head. “Eli will be there.”
Naib flinched when Eli’s name was brought up. He furrowed his brows with annoyance before grabbing on their bag of gifts to take to the car. “Course he’ll be there. He’s bossman’s fave employee.”
The Christmas party was optional, but they were technically required to go if they wanted any form of reputation and brownie points from their boss. The only good thing about the parties were the raffles and gift giving.
William often got great gifts- But mostly because he was easy to shop for. Football was his passion… Naib on the other hand? Well, he often got whatever shit people found on clearance. And it showed. It truly showed.
Pulling his hood over his head, he shoved his hands into his pockets. “Let’s get this over with.”
“That’s the spirit!”
The two packed everything away in their car and piled in as well. Their car was a shitty one that William swore was too good to scrap. It would be a miracle if they could even make it to the workplace.
Naib clenched onto the safety bar as his roommate pulled out of their parking spot. The roads were icy and it looked like the snow was going to come down at any moment.
He could only pray that the car would shut down in the middle of their travels so they couldn’t carry on.
It wasn’t like Naib hated his co-workers or anything… He just disliked them! A lot. Majorily. He was one of the people who worked there the longest, but it seemed like whoever sucked up the most got the most respect. He was deemed as “grumpy” and “hard to talk to.” Fucking dicks.
The manager was Mr. Carl… A man who seriously was even harder to talk to than him. He didn’t get why everyone loved that guy so much. He did nothing but belittle Naib and say he was on thin ice.
Andrew, Helena, Vera, Luca, Norton, Melly,- And all the rest of them could get fucked.
He really only liked William and Eli.
Eli was the newest member of the team. He was part of the customer service people along with Emma and Demi. He easily was the best out of them. There was just something about him that made it easy to communicate. He was patient and kind… And never raised his voice.
God.
The first day he came in, Naib was sure he was going to be a disgusting, little, know it all noobie… But then Eli accidentally dropped the papers he was carrying on the floor and scooped them up.
Of course, Naib made a little crack at him for being clumsy just to scare him away from their office.
Eli only paused in picking up his papers to smile and laugh at his comment from the ground. It threw Naib off so hard that he somehow ended up crouching to help him.
That guy was seriously something else…
He made Naib’s chest feel all nasty.
The car suddenly swerved to the left and dread filled Naib’s body. He knew they were in the company’s parking lot. Mother fucking car must have survived the entire way back. Oooooughhh…. FUck.
“We’re here.” William opened his door to get out with a grin. “Man… I hope Helena made her punch again.”
“She always makes her punch for parties.” Naib grumbled as he exited the car.
“True… But Mike always spikes it! I’m ready for a good time. Woohoo!” The taller threw his arms up in the air to cheer.
“Woohoo.” He repeated in a quieter, annoyed tone.
The bag of gifts they took out of the car were heavy. It didn’t really matter to either of them though. They were strong enough- But it didn’t mean Naib wouldn’t complain about it.
“Why did you have to get people rocks? Like… Couldn’t they live without them?” Naib threw the bag over his shoulder.
“They’re not rocks, they’re paperweights. People love that shit. We work in an office.” Rolling his eyes, William locked up the car and tossed his keys into his pocket.
“Yeah… People love gettin’ expensive rocks. ”
“Whatever man!”
If Naib got a rock for Christmas, he’d throw it outside. Fuck that shit.
“Check it out, Will. There’s rocks here. Do ya think someone would want one?” He pointed to the gravel outside the main doors.
Luckily for him, William laughed it off and picked up one of the pebbles. He tucked it into Naib’s coat pocket with a wink.
“Think of it as a tip.”
“Wow. Thanks.”
When they walked into the office’s doors, Naib set the gifts down beside the shitty tree that was set up. It looked the same from earlier when he left that place. And now? Now he was back at work. Out of his own free will. Amazing. They couldn’t even go to somewhere nice like Olive Garden or some shit.
The lights were turned down pretty low, there was a CD of some ~holiday classics~ in the back playing, and his coworkers were all standing around chatting with each other as if they didn’t do that for five days a week from 9 to 5 already.
Andrew was standing in the corner of the room looking like a fucking sleep paralysis demon. He wasn’t talking to anyone or doing anything. Just… looming in the dark. If Naib didn’t know better, he’d assume this was a Halloween party. Christ.
Everyone else seemed to be in the main area though. They were chatting to one another and sipping on their, presumably, spiked punch. Even Aesop was out and about.
Oh.
No- No wait.
Aesop was coming towards them.
“Glad you could make it.” He nodded his head to William and then slower to Naib. “Please, help yourself to the refreshments.” Aesop pointed to the receptionist’s desk that was covered with random food that the others had brought.
“Heyyy! Thanks for having us. It’ll be great!” William smiled with his teeth glimmering in the light. “Next time it’ll be at your place, right?” He mused whilst nudging his boss’s arm.
The grey hair man only made a single ‘heh’ sound before shaking his head.
Naib eyed him with an unimpressed expression. He was wearing the most ridiculous and ugly sweater he had ever seen in his entire life. Was it supposed to be an ugly Christmas sweater party? Fuck. He wasn’t going to spend money on something useless like that.
It was a bright red, knit, embroidered sweater with a Santa Claus in a coffin. Again- This could have been a Halloween party.
“So, uh- What does your sweater mean?” Naib tried to spark conversation awkwardly as William abandoned him for the punch.
“ Christmas is dead. ” Aesop calmly responded.
“O.”
The taller man walked away from Naib without another word. That was awful…
It was pretty clear that this Christmas party was only happening because it was required to happen. He was pretty sure Aesop said it was supposed to be a “perk” of working there.
Well… Judging by the groups of people… He could either stand beside Andrew, force himself into the middle of Vera, Helena, Demi, Melly and the rest of them… Awkwardly go up to Norton, Luca, and Victor- Or…
Where was Eli?
“Oi, Luca.” Naib called out to one of the more… tolerable people he spoke to. “You see Eli anywhere?”
“Oh, yeah!” Luca looked up from his spot on the desk. He was kicking his legs back and forth happily as he pointed to the kitchen. “I think he was making hot chocolate for everyone! Nice to see you again, Naib!”
They worked with each other every day, but Luca rarely ever lifted his head from his computer.
“Yeah. Thanks.”
As Naib walked off, he noticed that Victor was signing something to Luca with his hands. Victor was just the delivery guy who did the dirty work for their office… Surprisingly, he was allowed to come. Looks like Luca was explaining who Naib was.
He didn’t really want to hear it.
Quickly making his way into the kitchen break room, he looked around for Eli. It wasn’t really a “kitchen” per say… Just some appliances for easy use.
His eyes landed on the coffee machines that had hot chocolate in them. Then, he noticed Eli standing beside the counter in his own world.
Eli was wearing a super ugly green sweater and humming something to himself as he dropped a few marshmallows into each of the cups. His glasses were a little crooked too… It was cute.
Naib stood beside the door of the kitchen to watch him move his body to whatever song he was humming. It must have been a good one because he was getting into it.
“Hmm!” Eli paused as he held the marshmallow bag. Just to reward himself, he plucked out one of them and popped it into his mouth. The sugary sweet taste was so good… He could eat an entire bag, honestly. But oh- He needed to watch his weight.
He was chewing lightly and minding his own business before turning around to see his co worker standing by the door. “Oh!” Gasping out loud, he swallowed the rest of the marshmallow and blushed from embarrassment of being caught. “Good evening, Naib!”
“Hey- There… Uh-” Naib was feeling a little shy for some reason. Must have been the turtleneck cutting off the circulation to his brain or something… “Eli… You havin’ fun?”
“Mmhm.” Eli set the bag of marshmallows down to finally adjust his glasses. “I was um… Making hot chocolate for everyone. Do you want a glass? It’s just about ready.”
Like always, he smiled down at Naib like an angel- Woah. No. He was just smiling like any other dude. Naib really must have needed oxygen to his brain. Hfuck.
“Yeah- I mean-!” He rubbed the back of his head. “I was actually… Hopin’ that I could help ya. There’s a lot of people here… And you’re the only one serving? So-” His words stumbled out in a hurry. “Is that… okay?”
“That’s perfectly okay. Thank you, Naib. You’re always so helpful.” Eli chuckled as he grabbed the coffee maker’s pot. He started to pour the glasses one by one whilst humming the little tune to himself again.
As he did that, Naib picked up the full ones and set them down on the serving trays Eli had gotten out. He really wanted to say something else to Eli… But he wasn’t sure what.
“Your sweater is fuckin’ hidious. It’s hilarious… I didn’t know it was an ugly sweater party.” Naib grinned as he gestured to the large owl with a santa hat on Eli’s sweater. It was even complete with googly eyes and bells. “Even Aesop has an ugly one… But yours totally takes the cake.”
Eli set the pot down.
“Naib,” He began in a serious tone.
“Huh?”
“Naib, I knit these.” Eli frowned with his eyes furrowing. He stared at Naib with pure disappointment. “Do you really think they’re ugly?”
Okay! You know what? That’s- That-
Naib’s face went pale. He set the last cup of hot chocolate down on the tray and nervously looked to the side. A bit of sweat was starting to form on his face too- He just knew it. Christ. If there was a God, he must have wanted him dead.
“I mean- No-! Not at all- I was just- I… Uh- Fuck- I mean-” As he looked up at Eli’s chest, he could only see the googly eyes of the owl again. He should probably go jump out the window and die or something as punishment-
After a few seconds of silence, Eli started to giggle as he covered his mouth with his hand.
“Huh?” Naib blinked twice as he felt his heart beat simmer down just a tad.
“I was just kidding… About them not being ugly.” Eli returned to pouring the hot chocolate. “I did knit them though. I made you one too- But it was supposed to be a surprise. Don’t worry… They are ugly.”
For a second there, Naib thought he was almost going to break down and cry or something. He liked Eli a lot and didn’t have the heart to actually hurt him.
“Wow… Wow! Wow-” He wiped his forehead. “God- You… You really got me! I thought you were actually offended or somethin’ HA- Good one…” It only erased about 20 years from his life. Very funny.
“Yeah… I always knit these kind of sweaters for my friends. I think Christmas is more fun with a bit of silliness. Don’t you think?” He picked up the last tray of hot chocolate and led the way for them to serve.
“Friends, huh…” Naib mumbled to himself. “Y-yeah… Way better. For sure.” He picked up the other tray and sighed.
One by one, everyone came over to Naib and Eli to get hot chocolate. They all thanked Eli mostly… But some of them thanked Naib for helping. William winked at Naib as he started to chug his. Fucking prick. The last person to get theirs was Andrew- Who had finally started to come out of his shell. He was talking to Luca and Victor it seemed. Good for him.
When there were two left on Naib’s tray, he set the tray down to pick them up. He offered Eli the mug and picked up his own. They were random ones from the cabinets… So his was a tacky pink one with a painting of an orange cat in the middle. Eli’s looked normal. It was just white.
“Thank you- Oh.” Eli’s lips tugged into a smile as he turned his mug around for Naib to see. “Did you save this one for me?”
“Yeah.” Not thinking about it, he simply responded.
“Number one MILF, huh…”
Naib almost choked on his hot chocolate.
“I didn’t look at the cup- I just- I…” How did he always manage to lose his cool around Eli!? It was so damned embarrassing…
“It’s funny.” Eli giggled again before sipping some of the hot chocolate. He closed his eyes and sighed happily. “Don’t worry. I’m not actually a milf or what not… I’m single.”
“Haha, yeah… Me too. Do you like men?” He blurted out.
Eli stared at him owlishly.
Naib slurped on his hot chocolate loudly as he tried to process what the hell he just said. Jumping out the window looked extremely good right about now.
“I mean…” Eli’s cheeks warmed as he held the mug closer to his lips. “I do like men. I’ve only had a girlfriend long ago, but… We decided it was better if we were only friends.” He smiled happily. “I still love Gertrude,”
Man. Did that mean he wasn’t available?
“However, I am looking for someone else to spend my life with. We’re the best of friends and still support one another. You know how it is…”
No, no he didn’t. He couldn’t imagine having a relationship with an ex.
“So…” Eli took a sip before setting his mug down on the desk beside him. “What about you? You probably have a boyfriend already.”
“Nope! No. Nope- Totally single and uh- Ready to jingle- Get it?” He tried to crack a joke, but it was so stupid that he knew it was going to s-
The brown haired man started to laugh genuinely as he stepped a bit closer to Naib. “Good one. I got it. Ehe… I suppose that means the both of us are a couple of jingle bells, hm?”
“Ha… Yeah.” Naib didn’t understand even a little bit. The fuck did that even mean.
“I was hoping I would have found someone by Christmas, but… Mm…” Eli sighed as he looked out at the rest of their co-workers. “I don’t think the right person has come around yet.”
Naib’s hope was getting washed away with every word Eli said. Did that mean he didn’t have a shot at him?
“You don’t think so? I mean- I think a few of them gotta like you… Like… You’re pretty- Special.” Naib set down his mug as well.
“Do you think so?” Eli kindly smiled again, but Naib couldn’t tell if it was him being nice or being genuine. “I think… I have a crush on someone. Maybe that’s why it’s hard to tell.”
“Ah, fuck.” Naib said to himself in pure despair.
“Huh?”
“Oh- Nothin- I said… Ah, whooooo… Do you- Who is it?” He’d make sure to counter them and make sure they were a good person. If he couldn’t have Eli, then he might as well make sure Eli could be happy.
“Oh. Well, it’s…” Shyly moving a piece of hair behind his ear, Eli avoided all eye contact as he looked the other way. “It’s someone reliable… I can always count on him to be there for me. He’s a little hard to approach at first- But then it’s easy to tell he’s just a bit awkward… He’s like a teddy bear, I think. Um… Ah, this is embarrassing.”
Reliable… Hard to approach.. Awkward… Teddy bear…
. . . Wait. No way.
Naib gasped as he used his thumb to gesture to-
“Andrew?”
Eli’s face turned a bright red as he stared at Andrew then Naib. “Sorry- I shouldn’t have brought it up…”
“Oi- Don’t go out with Andrew! Dude’s a complete freak and like-” Naib tried to find the nicest way to put his words… “He’s like… really… Look. The guy can’t be trusted and he looks like a demon sometimes. Did you see him standin’ in the corner earlier? I thought I was gunna piss myself if he jumped out at me.”
“Aw- Don’t be mean to Andrew! He’s just awkward. It’s- I… Sorry. I have to use the restroom-” Eli pulled away in a hurry. It was clear he was trying to hide his blush with his fingers.
Andrew… Huh? Naib didn’t get it. What was the appeal? He was just a fucking loser. And? He was pretty damned sure he was hanging out with Luca in their free time. He furrowed his brows as he glared daggers at the man who was looming over the people he was with. If he tried any funny business with Eli then he’d snap his scoliosis right out of his back or so help him God-
Leaning against the desk, Naib cracked his knuckles as he stared at Andrew the entire time.
Every now and again, the guy would lift his head before shying away again. That’s right. He should be scared.
Motherfucker.
A bit of time passed and Eli hadn’t come back. Did Naib scare him that badly? Man… There went any chances of snatching him away from Andrew. He didn’t even know what he had.
“Hey, enjoying yourself yet?” William came over with a huge, goofy, drunkish grin as he held Tracy by his side. She was extremely drunk and rambling about stuff that Naib had never heard of.
“Yeah- Is she good?”
“She’s fineee. Just excited to be here. How are you and Eli?” He helped Tracy go run off with Demi who took over watching her.
Naib folded his hands together and sighed deeply. “He likes someone. I think it’s Andrew.”
“No way- Andrew?” William pointed to the man who was now kissing Luca in plain view.
“Yeah. Andrew… He said he liked some reliable dude who was hard to approach… And like- A teddy bear or somethin’? I dunno… Got me fucked up, I think.” Naib rubbed his neck awkwardly. “Can’t believe it’s Andrew.”
When they turned to look at Andrew again, he was getting kissed by Victor this time. Damn that guy worked fast. There must have been some sort of charm that made people fall for a pathetic 41 year old virgin.
“Wait… Reliable, hard to approach, teddy bear-” William slapped Naib’s back so hard that he started coughing. “Are you stupid?”
“Hey- What the hell!? I ain’t stupid-!” Naib barked back. He tried to catch his breath after coughing so hard.
“Yeah? I think ya are. He’s clearly talking about you!”
Squinting at William, Naib didn’t seem to get it.
“Think about it. You’ve always been helping him ever since he came here… You’re super hard to approach because you have a stick up your ass-”
“I do not!” Naib interjected.
“-And you’re super soft around him like a teddy bear. That or he knows you sleep with one-”
“Keep Mr. Snuggles outta your slander, b-”
William grabbed Naib by his shoulders to shake him.
“Open your eyes! He likes you! And you probably yelled at him or did somethin’ stupid, right? So why don’t you go…” Looking around, William searched for Eli. He finally spotted the man standing near the large windows looking at the snow. “Go and get your man!”
“W-what do I even say?” Naib had butterflies in his stomach.
“You got him a gift, yeah? Go fucking get it and woo him! Subedar, you can do it!” Cheering him on again, he ruffled Naib’s hair and smiled.
“Fucker-” Trying to adjust his hair again, he pulled it out of its ponytail. “Fine. I’ll try.”
“You can do it. Show ‘em that Subedar charm!”
“Yeah, yeah…”
“Tell him bout your soda can cock too-”
“OI.”
Rushing away from his embarrassing friend, Naib went up to the bag they had gotten and pulled out a wrapped gift for Eli.
He was nervous to give it to him… But he knew that Eli liked handmade items. It was apparently impossible to shop for him due to it. Everyone around the office had complained that Eli really didn’t want anything but they felt like he deserved something- It was complicated.
Naib never allowed William to see it when he was making it either. It was probably nothing but garbage… But at least he tried.
Inhaling deeply, he carried it to the window where Eli was standing. He looked really pretty with the light reflecting from the streetlamps and snow onto his skin. God… Naib had it bad.
“Hey…” Naib stood beside him awkwardly.
“Oh, hello.” Eli hugged himself. “It’s pretty outside, isn’t it?”
“Yup. Sure does look like… Outside… Haa- Um- Anyway! I…” He held out the wrapped box. “Wanted… to get you your gift before the others. If ya don’t like it, I’d rather you throw it away before uh- Yeah.”
Eli smiled a little as he took the box. “You didn’t have to-”
“No, I did-! You deserve somethin’ nice for the holidays. You work hard and you’re so nice to everyone and uh- I… Well- Sorry. This ain’t very “nice” I guess- I…” He inhaled deeply. “I just think you’re worth more than you say you are.”
His crystal-like blue eyes were shimmering with emotion as he looked at Naib. Eli silently nodded his head as he dug his nails into the poorly wrapped gift. He pulled away at the paper easily and opened the box under it.
He pulled out a pile of yarn- No wait. That was a scarf. It was a bit loose, but it was a little lopsided scarf. It was made out of soft white yarn that had a few shiny strands of gold and his name written through the middle.
“It’s…” Eli breathed as he let the entire thing come out of the box.
“Yeah, yeah… I know- It’s shit. I should have gotten ya somethin’ good and like- it’s… Probably got a little of my blood ‘cause I stabbed my hand with the needle and-”
“It’s beautiful.” He finished.
“What?”
Not believing him for a second, Naib looked up at Eli who hugged the scarf close to his chest. He was smiling wide as he looked down at the sloppy edges with love.
“It’s wonderful, Naib. Thank you… I really like it.” To prove a point, he quickly wrapped it around his neck.
Now that it was actually on him, it didn’t look as bad as Naib had assumed it would. It almost seemed to fit him… Too bad the ends were probably going to fall apart.
“Do you mean it?”
“Of course. It means so much to me that you spent time to make this… And you hurt yourself for me.” Eli gently offered his hands for Naib to take.
It felt like he was accepting the hands of a goddess. Naib eagerly squeezed them with his own as he started to smile with Eli.
“It was a pain in the ass.”
“Yeah… Knitting is like that.” Eli’s long lashes fluttered.
“Yeah…”
They got just a touch closer as they stared into each other’s eyes. Naib was completely mesmerized by them- Until Eli suddenly looked upwards.
“Mistletoe.” He commented.
“Huh? What-”
Covering his mouth with his hand shyly, Eli’s cheeks darkened. “It’s Mistletoe, Naib…”
Naib was so nervous he couldn’t think about what the hell that meant. It was the same as holly, right?
“Is it bothering ya? You allergic or something? I’ll- I’ll… eat it-” He reached up to snatch it down from the wall, but Eli quickly grabbed his hand.
“It’s poisonous.”
“Deadass?”
“Yes.”
They were quiet again.
“You know, Naib…” Eli interlocked their fingers. “The person I was talking about earlier… It wasn’t Andrew.”
“Yeah… I figured that out later…” Naib felt like they were meant to be closer. So, he boldly removed one of his hands from Eli to cup his face. He wished he was taller than him so he could look down into his eyes. Fucking bad genes…
“The person I like is you.”
“I… I like you too, Eli.”
The sounds of the shitty Christmas CD were starting to grow quieter along with the chatter of their drunk co workers.
Naib breathed quietly as he watched Eli shut his eyes and lean down to reach his lips. In response, he did the same and gently kissed Eli.
The kiss didn’t last longer than a few seconds.
They pulled away and only looked at each other silently. Both of their faces were bright red.
“Wow.” Naib mused. “That… was really great. Can I do it again?”
“Mmhm.”
Kissing again and again, Naib ended up wrapping his arms around Eli’s waist to hold him closer. Likewise, Eli wrapped his arms around his neck. They softly kissed about three more times before they were interrupted by Aesop walking by.
They froze in place.
“Make sure to fill out the office dating contract.”
“Yes’sir.”
Waving to them both, he walked off the other way. “Merry Christmas.”
“M-Merry Christmas…” Eli politely whispered.
“Fuck Christmas.” Naib mumbled.
.
They started laughing to themselves.
Maybe this year wouldn’t be that bad.