Chapter Text
“Just hear those sleigh bells jingle-ing, ring ting, tingle-ing too. Come on, it’s lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you-“
Those lyrics could be heard throughout the store as animals went to and fro trying to catch any deals that they were missing out on. It being only a few days from Christmas, the choice of music wasn’t surprising in the slightest. If it was anything other than the overused cheery songs, it would’ve been sort of off-putting.
Most of the merchandise in the store had a certain percentage off, enticing more customers and the amount of animals being heightened by the upcoming holiday.
Some would say it’s a bad decision to do such a thing, having any sale before the commercial holiday, but it had to work from it being a regular occurrence every year.
The store attracted a lot of attention around this time, making it hard to actually navigate through the store. But you had to get gifts no matter what and why not try to get them while they’re cheap? That circumstance leads us to our lovable couple, them too being reeled in by such deals.
They were there to purchase gifts for their friends and family, the gifts ranging from holiday themed candles to ugly Christmas sweaters. The two were keeping to themselves until a lion accidentally bumped into Jack, trying to push through the crowd. Thankfully the couple were holding hands and Legosi stopped Jack from taking a bite out of the floor.
“Hey watch it.” Legosi couldn’t help but scold, his timid self being pushed aside when it came to Jack’s well being.
“Legosi it’s fine, it’s not like he meant it.” The lab interjected, not wanting his larger boyfriend to pick a fight from something so minuscule. The lion didn’t help the situation, increasing Legosi’s anger from his next words.
“Put your dog on a leash then, not my problem.” He sneered.
“What did-“ he started, not getting far with his accusation.
“Legosi, drop it. Just ignore him.” Taking the dog’s advice, he kept his mouth shut. The action was hard to do, seeing the obnoxious lion walk away with a smirk only increased his temper.
“You’re lucky you have an effect on me.” Legosi muttered, wrapping his arm around the other to pull him closer as they looked.
“Lucky me.” Jack giggled.
After Legosi whispered words of reassurance, confirming his boyfriend being okay, Jack picked up a snow globe with a cute little snowman inside.
“Oooooh,” Jack cooed, “Collot would love something like this huh. He loves building snowmen.”
Legosi nodded, taking the globe from the other’s hand for the sole purpose of shaking it to see the glitter roam around the sphere.
“Yea I guess he would.” Legosi agreed, then steering them towards the clothing section where all the racks were.
Legosi already decided he wanted to get Gosha an ugly sweater for the holiday, thinking the upper body wear fit his grandpa a little too well.
“What size does Gosha wear?” Jack pondered, slipping his hand between two sweaters and moving them apart.
“I would say a large.” He guessed, him too starting to look through all the options that were displayed.
After some looking, Jack pulled out two he thought Legosi would like from the rack and showcased each one by holding them both in front of him.
“Which one?” He giggled knowing the options were extremely ugly, but that was the point.
“The nutcracker with boxing gloves on.” Legosi chose, the action getting Jack to put the other one away.
“Now where to next?”
—————
The gift hunting went smoothly, both animals finding everything they wanted but gifts for each other.
They were on their way home with light snow coming down on the two, both animals basking in the comfortable atmosphere. Legosi also made sure to have Jack pressed up against him, not wanting anymore animals bumping into his boyfriend. The action wasn’t just for Jack’s comfort, he liked being so close to his lover.
“Are you still nervous about meeting my parents?” Jack randomly asked through the silence.
The two already had a conversation about Legosi meeting the animals that raised Jack, the wolf’s throat went dry when he was reminded of the fact.
Of course he had to meet them at some point, but it took the wolf a while to believe that he was enough for Jack’s love, so he could only imagine what his parents were going to think of him. The lab also had siblings he had to meet that was the icing on the cake and Jack already warned him of his brother, Warin.
“Your silence speaks volumes Legosi.” Jack observed, Legosi instantly speaking to try to justify himself.
“I’m just worried they won’t see me as enough for you.”
“‘Gosi, I already told them about you. They love that your my boyfriend.”
Oh right, Jack wrote letters to his parents every month telling them any current, noteworthy events.
Legosi will never forget when he saw one of them, it being the cutest letter he’s ever seen. The dog would draw little emojis for what he felt about each event in his life and it was utterly adorable to the wolf.
“Still, they could just be lying to you.” Legosi spoke of the idea, not being optimistic in the slightest.
“Oh stop it.” Jack lightly hit Legosi’s chest as they both stepped onto the train that would take them back to their shared apartment.
The train of course was filled with animals as well, seeming like they too were out gift hunting from the bags most were carrying. It also being a Sunday was not helping with the size of the crowd.
This could be seen as a good thing though, Legosi not having a choice but to squish his boyfriend close to his body, not only to allow room for other passengers, but also being so close to Jack.
The wolf quickly surveyed the small space they were in, his gaze laying on the large pair of eyes held by his lover, looking straight at him.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Legosi wondered, seeing a hint of aspiration in those large brown eyes.
“I can’t admire my boyfriend?” The question could be taken as something along the lines of being offended, but the tone Jack used was nothing negative. It was sweetened with the lab’s soft voice.
As Jack continued to stare, Legosi started to feel nervous from the increase in attention from the other animals in the train. It even got his feet to shift as he made eye contact with a disgusted look from a female sheep, her turning a child away to not look in the direction of the couple. The wolf could only assume it was a mother and child.
“Jack, we’re in public.” Legosi leaned down and whispered, not wanting any confrontation from a simple outing with his boyfriend.
Jack would usually respond with an ‘I don’t care’ but that would be selfish of him in his own mind. He had to think about Legosi’s feelings and his shy personality, the wolf not liking being confrontational.
The dog noticed how his eyes kept drifting to a certain spot in the train, it being behind him. Some animal had to be staring at the two from how close they were and what they were saying is what the lab guessed.
So, Jack simply whispered something that could be good for both of them, “just ignore them silly. It’s just us.” The lab even grabbed Legosi’s hand to squeeze it, reaffirming what he just told the large carnivore.
The gesture did ease the wolf, and the train ride felt shorter than it ever did.
—————
You could really tell it was Christmas by the atmosphere all around, animals in a much better mood from it being the holiday where you express your love to others. The slow falling snow making its way to land on your eyelashes and nose, some even attempting to catch some on their tongues. The point is, everyone was cheerful and that didn’t exclude our favorite couple when they arrived home.
Both finished the worst part of Christmas and that was the pesky shopping. With that out of the way, all they had to do now was look forward to what’s to come.
“Hey babe?”
Jack could see the hint of worry on the wolf’s face.
“What? What’s wrong?”
Both canines were lounging away on their sofa, enjoying each other’s warmth with a cup of hot chocolate only adding to the heat they were creating. So, to see Legosi so curious in such a calming atmosphere, Jack figured there had to be something wrong.
“I just uhh remembered something, and I’m just curious.” The wolf started, Jack replying with a ‘you don’t say’, already noticing the change in emotion.
“If uhh if I bought you knee high socks would you wear them?” He finished, feeling the heat of the question rush to his cheeks from it being so embarrassing to even ask. Knowing Jack, he’d probably console the large carnivore and tell him not to be so bashful of such things, but that was the exact opposite of what happened.
Laughter, a roar of laughter came from the small golden lab, shaking so much uncontrollably to the point of spilling a drop or two of his hot beverage. Quickly wiping away the seeped in liquid, Jack put his hot cocoa down to address what the wolf asked.
“You could’ve just said no…” the wolf muttered once Jack’s laughter died down, enticing a giggle out of the smaller.
“Noooo, hun it’s not like that! Hehe, that was just so unexpected.” Jack attempted to ease the suffering the other was enduring but it didn’t seem like it worked.
A non wagging tail along with not being able to hold eye contact told Jack all he needed to know.
When it came to their relationship, Legosi always played it safe and it showed…badly. Jack always made sure to let the wolf know that it was more than ok to express how he felt and such, but his shy personality always held him back. Even after being best friends since childhood and boyfriends for a year, Legosi still had his moments where he felt like he messed up.
Of course, Jack thought of a way to show his lover that he didn’t do anything wrong. His plan started with him moving his hands to the wolf’s lower back, rubbing his fur in an intimate manner.
The embarrassment was put to the side as the taller canine quickly realized what he asked wasn’t all that stupid as he once thought, their wholesome atmosphere turning quite lewd.
—————
Time really does fly by when you don’t want a certain date to become the present. The wolf was quickly made aware of this as the two canines were a block away from where Jack grew up.
It was Christmas Day and in just a few more moments Legosi would be introduced to two animals that were the parents of the love of his life. The thought was absolutely terrifying, the hair on the wolf’s back standing on end and his palms producing more sweat than he thought he could.
He did enough worrying on the long excruciating train rides here, but it only got worse the closer he was to the source of his anxiety.
Jack, being able to tell that the wolf was beyond nervous, not just from reading facial expressions but from feeling the sweat mesh into his own hand as they walked hand in hand.
“You know you have nothing to worry about.”
Jack’s calming voice swirling through the cold wind and traveling to Legosi’s ears did nothing to ease him. The dog already told him this fact last night before they slept, this morning after they gave each other gifts, and at the stove when they made breakfast. You could tell the wolf a hundred times and he’d still have anxiety taking over his whole body.
“I-I don’t know.”
Legosi’s minimal response as he stared off into nothingness got the yellow canine to giggle slightly. He was so worry-stricken over meeting his parents that it was starting to become funny, but Jack would never say that out loud.
“You introduced me to Gosha just fine and look how that turned out.”
“But that’s because you knew him, I’ve never even greeted your parents before.” The rebuttal was quickly tossed to the side as Jack explained his reasoning on easing up.
“Gosha could’ve been homophobic, we didn’t know.”
That was all the time they had left to converse from reaching the stairs that lead to the door of Legosi’s nightmares.
“Can we go back home?”
“Legosi!” The dog chastised him from even putting that request into words. Avoiding this would only bring it back in a later date.
The dog ignored the shuffling of the wolf’s feet as he reached up and knocked on the familiar door that was engraved into his mind at this point. Jack slunked back, near Legosi and grew frustrated when the wolf didn’t initiate wrapping his arm around him, Jack having to manually do it himself.
“Jack, your parents.” He warned.
“Legosi, please, you’re fine.”
With that, the door opened to reveal two bright and cheerful labradors, both beaming at the fact that their son finally brought his boyfriend on Christmas at that.
“Hi sweetie!”
“How’s it going bud!”
The pair shouted simultaneously, throwing themselves at the child that was secretly their favorite.
“I missed you guys!” Jack spoke as his parents engulfed him into a sort of bear hug, Legosi having to retrieve his arm, it being slightly embarrassing for him to have it around Jack in this moment.
Once the three got done with sniffing each other and other dog type pleasantries, the two older canines turned their attention to the wolf that stood awkwardly with his usual slouched demeanor.
“Mom. Dad, this is Legosi, that grey wolf that I was telling you about.” Jack decided to speak up for the wolf, knowing how bad he was at any type of greetings.
Legosi held up his hand for a moment, imitating a wave but failing to do so. The mind of the taller was running rampant. He didn’t know what else to say, not knowing if the two in front of him observing his being would accept him to date their son.
But that was all thrown down the hatch as he too was wrapped in the loving arms of his boyfriend’s parents.
“Jack told us so much about you! You’re so darn tall!”
“Told you our boy would pull a wolf! You said he couldn’t do it!”
Again, the two spoke almost on top of each other, not really understanding what was said unless you were paying close attention.
“I-I uhmm g-glad to hear t-that. I really like y-your son,” Legosi spoke with a stutter, his arms still at his sides as he truly didn’t know what to do with them at that specific moment, “oh, and it’s nice to meet you!”
Having that ‘and’ in the last sentence made it seem like he was listing off things he had in his head that he needed to say.
Jack watched from the side with a big goofy grin plastered all across his face. Unlike Legosi, he was really looking forward to the encounter happening before him. The dog knew Legosi would be accepted by his parents easily, yes he was a male but was overlooked by being a wolf.
Seeing the disgruntled face thrown towards his way without his parents noticing told the dog that he needed to jump in.
“Ok, ok, guys your embarrassing him.”
The older couple reluctantly pulled away from the now tense wolf, now noticing how they got caught up with their instincts of meeting their son’s boyfriend.
‘This is torture…’ Legosi thought.
————-
After getting used to being in the presence of Jack’s parents, learning that their names were May and Itu, it wasn’t so hard to get comfortable in the household. They were extremely outgoing and honestly mirrored Jack’s lovable personality, so it wasn’t hard to not like the duo.
The lingering sense of dread of meeting Jack’s siblings however still remained, Legosi not really looking forward it.
The younger couple were cuddled up on the sofa, conversing with the man of the household. Jack’s mother was in the kitchen, calling her husband every now and then to help her with something.
“You treating my son well?”
The tone used wasn’t close to aggression, far from it.
“Of course sir, I try my best to make him happy.”
Taking a sip of his dark beverage, he seemed satisfied with that answer. The older lab didn’t even have to ask the question to know Legosi was trying his best for their relationship, it was written all over his son’s face. He was…happy.
“Dad, I already told you that he’s perfect.”
Itu smiled, knowing that he already interrogated Jack through a multitude of letters.
“Come on bud, I wanted to hear it from the guy himself.” He swung his drink towards the sitting wolf who seemed to have a blush start to rise on his cheeks.
On one hand it was nice to confirm Jack really did love him, but on the other hand, he didn’t like how it was from his Dad while being in front of him at that.
“Your wolf is getting all flustered.”
“Legosi can get overwhelmed with all the praise, isn’t that right hun?”
Now the wolf didn’t know what to do, his tail was already wagging before, but now was making a loud thumping sound behind him. It didn’t help that Jack started to scratch behind his ear, a sensitive spot only the dog knew about.
“Y-eaaa-hh”
The wolf was saved as May called her husband’s name, getting him to hop out of his chair and join his wife in the kitchen.
“I’m sorry if this is getting too much for you.” Jack spoke as soon as his Dad left, “you’re doing great so far.”
Legosi leaned down to kiss his boyfriend’s cheek, the front door opening as he did.
“What’s up peeps! I’m here!” A yellow lab that looked like Jack but taller and without glasses shouted as soon as he opened the door.
Seeing the sight before him, he had to do a little teasing, “so this is the big bad wolf that stole my sissy brother’s heart?”
“Warin!”
Like all the new situations Legosi was thrown in today, he didn’t know how to handle this one.
Anger? Shying away? Maybe happy? A lot of emotions were swirling threw the wolf’s body at Jack’s brother’s statement.