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There was a new kind of ambiance to the Penthouse when Keigo arrived home, soft melodies of american christmas music trailed through the air, and the smell of whatever Elizabeth was cooking was a blessing to his senses. As it was, the balcony had been lined with garlands of evergreen and poinsettias, and he could hear the lilt of her voice as he stepped in the door singing along to Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.
Was it Christmas already? He looked at his phone. December 1st. She had told him that she was taking the day off, was this why? Had she been intending to surprise him with this? It brought a soft glow to his cheeks. And made him want to seek her out a little faster.
He found her standing there in front of the counter, her back to him doing something he couldn’t quite see what though.
###
Elizabeth had found herself preoccupied most of the day while Keigo had been at work. The air in the Penthouse had changed a lot with the decorations she’d managed to hang herself. Red and gold tinsel garland lined the piano and she hadn’t been able to piece together the big ass tree herself. She’d tried, the half of it that she’d managed to put together was in the far corner right where anyone who could see into their windows from the Tokyo skyline could see it when it was finished and illuminated.
And she’d started baking cookies, and not to mention the hot chocolate bombs she’d made earlier that afternoon. Christmas was one of her favorite times of year. There was such a different vibe to the world at Christmas.
Her attention was drawn away from her cookies briefly when she felt the energy Keigo put off as he stepped into their own personal Winter wonderland. She grinned. She didn’t acknowledge him simply because she wanted what she knew was coming when she did. As was told by the sound of him making his way through the penthouse and into the kitchen to where she stood working on her lovely star shaped cookies. Frosting coating her fingers as she tried to meticulously line the cookies in golden frosting.
His arms snaked around her waist and she leaned back against him turning her head to the left where she felt his chin on shoulder. “Welcome home, Birdie.” She murmured, and the two of them adjusted, only a little bit so that their lips could meet.
“You know, I was not expecting this, but I like it. You look like you could use some help though.” Keigo murmured against her lips.
“You know, I realized that when I found your Christmas Tree in the storage room and tried to put it together by myself. That thing is huge. Decorating it is gonna be great. We should bring the kids over to help us out.” She suggested, and she hoped that they’d be able to pull the kids away from the Commission to assist. Just like she was going to try to steal them all for Christmas Day too.
“That sounds like a fantastic idea.” Keigo said, “And it’s tradition anyway. It’s the one thing that Madam Prez doesn’t take from me. Or them. One day a year, I get to give them what I didn’t have.”
Her smile dropped just a little bit. “One day we’ll get them all out. We’ll get you out. Gods be good, by next Christmas.”
He’d given her so much already. Her heart was mending, he’d given her safety and happiness. She wanted to return the favor, to him and the wonderful kids she’d had the honor of meeting.
“Baby Girl, you are--- something special, you know that?” He said, with a soft laugh, leaning his head against hers as she turned her attention back to the cookies.
“You know, I’m actually starting to believe it when you say that.” She said, and her smile was back, big and brilliant.
“You are beautiful, Honey. Inside and out.” He said, his arms tightening around her waist as she drew her frosting lines along edges of cookies.
And the two of them stayed like that until the cookies were decorated and the sun had finished sinking below the horizon. There was something about the way they moved together, about the way she felt with him. Time moved differently now. Especially around them, with them. It’d been six months since they’d met. Six months since he wormed his way into her life, and made residence.
But she still had attachments. She still had things she had to take care of before she was ready to completely hand herself over to him.
Still. She couldn’t imagine her life without him. And wasn’t the Christmas holiday the best time to come to that realization.
#
“Plug her in, let’s see this beauty lit up.” Keigo said down to her from his place hovering close to the ceiling as he finished wrapping the lights around the tree.
Elizabeth plugged in the lights and watched as the twinkling white and brightly colored bulbs illuminated the space around them. And Henna laid low the house lights just so that they could see the brilliant colors as they twinkled on.
She gasped softly, “It’s beautiful.”
Keigo wasn’t looking at it though, he seemed to be enamored with her. “Yes, you are.”
A blush rose to her cheeks and she hid her face in her hair to hide from him and the sweet things he said.
“I think all this hard work calls for a break though.” He added after a moment as he came to land on the floor beside her.
She removed her face from her hair to look up at him from where she sat on the floor and she smiled up at him. “Cocoa bombs, cookies, fluffy blankets and a christmas movie?” She asked.
“That sounds like the best possible option, I mean look at the windows.” Keigo gestured to the bottoms of the glass where fractal patterns had begun to form as snow fell on the world beyond their beautiful glass walls. She traced her fingers along them, expecting to meet cold glass but finding that inside the glass was warm. That’s when she realized it was a feature of the windows, just like the tinting was. Fuck this place really was state of the art. It still continued to baffle her.
“That’s so cool.” She laughed, looking up to find his hand held out to her. She took it and worked herself up from the floor.
Once up, she made her way to the kitchen and started to heat the milk for the cocoa bombs, while Keigo went to go grab the new fleece blanket that they’d bought the last time they’d gone shopping. And before long the two of them had made their way to the living room with nothing but the soft glow of the tree and the glow of the tv.
The two of them curled up together on the couch, her head on his chest, the warm blanket covering the both of them, and their empty cocoa bomb mugs sitting on the coffee table as the movie played on.
Elizabeth found herself drifting off to sleep about half way through, Keigo petting his fingers through her hair and trailing them gently over her cheek. She was sure he was paying more attention to her than the movie. But as sleep consumed her, she found she liked it.
###
Keigo watched as she drifted off to sleep under the gentle brushes of his fingers against her skin and through her hair. He smiled down at her, and when the movie finished he extricated himself from under her, and settled her down on the soft throw pillows so that he could go finish what they’d started.
He was almost finished when his phone rang as the sun started peeking over the horizon.
“Ha---” He attempted to greet the person on the other end of the line. But was cut off.
“We have a mission for you. You have two hours to be in my office for your debriefing, Hawks.” The call ended.
Noriko sounded bothered, but if he worked fast he could finish up the decorating and leave a note for Eliza to find when she woke up. He wanted to let her sleep in peace, she looked so peaceful still.
He finished in the next thirty minutes, wrote out his note, and then pressed a kiss to the sleeping woman’s head. “I love you, Songbird.” He murmured, knowing she wasn’t going to hear him.
###
When Elizabeth finally found herself waking up, she stretched out, and pulled the blanket tight around her. The sky was overcast and the world was still too bright. She blinked herself into focus, and found herself staring down the finished decorating. The only thing that hadn’t been further touched was the tree. Reserved for decorating with the kids.
So beautiful. It was like a completely different world. Like she’d walked into a Hallmark Christmas movie.
“Oh my God.” She laughed, softly. “Silly Bird.”
She flopped back down under the covers, pulling the note on the table closer to her.
Got called in on a short notice mission. I’ll call you when I have time. I hope you like your present. Yours Always, Keigo.
There was a box sitting on the table next to it, buried under what looked like cotton mixed with something else to make fake snow as a centerpiece. She pulled it towards her, and she opened the large jewelry box, and found inside it one of his feathers, twined at the quill to rest on a hemp rope strand. A small charm hung off the side, a tiny bird.
And another note laid in the bottom of the box under it.
I promised you I’d get the chain fixed since the metal didn’t work out. Oh and this is the first of many. So many more gifts in your future. Hope you’re ready.
“I love it.” She murmured, into the air. “Thank you.”