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Aether collapsed onto the couch in the finally clear living room with a huge sigh of relief. The last guests- a slightly too drunk Kaeya leaning heavily on Albedo as they said goodnight and Ayato, who had called it a night shortly before the other two, had just left and the apartment was blissfully quiet for the first time in hours. He could finally hear himself think again! Seriously, Aether loved his friends, but they could be so loud sometimes.
Speaking of which- he hadn’t seen Xiao in a little while. He wasn’t the biggest fan of social events like this, though he’d gotten a little better after living with five other guys for this long. Aether remembered him mumbling something about needing a break around the time that all the gifts had been distributed and subsequently unwrapped. In all the chaos, Aether had completely forgotten to go check on him.
Right as he was about to roll off the couch to go look for him, he saw a familiar head of teal hair appear in the entrance to the living room. Aether sat up properly so he could see the rest of his boyfriend, then quickly decided that wasn’t good enough. He stood up and headed over to him. Xiao wouldn’t quite meet his eyes as he approached and it looked like he was hiding one arm behind his back. Suspicious.
“I was just thinking about you,” Aether whispered, feeling what must have been a dorky little smile creep onto his face as he spoke. He was trying to keep his voice down to avoid waking up any of the others- Kazuha and Heizou were definitely asleep already, knowing them.
“So was I,” Xiao responded. He finally brought his eyes to meet Aether’s, though he quickly looked away again. A light blush had settled on his face, though it was difficult to see in the dim light.
“Are you feeling any better?” Aether asked.
Xiao nodded. “Part of it was because I needed a break, but I was also preparing something for you.”
“Oh, really?” Aether tilted his head to the side like a curious puppy. “Is it what you’re hiding behind your back?”
“...Yeah. You caught me.” Xiao responded, the blush on his face deepening. Aether could have sworn that he glanced over his shoulder, back in the direction of the bedrooms, before he exhaled heavily and let all the tension leave his body. He pulled his arm out from behind his back and, rather than hold it out to Aether, held his hand up above the two of them. Aether’s confusion must have been evident on his face, because Xiao gave him a lopsided little grin and whispered “Look up.”
Aether did as he was told and followed Xiao’s arm up to where he was holding-
Wait, was that a little sprig of mistletoe?
Of course, how could he have been so stupid? Aether blinked once in surprise, then looked back at Xiao’s face. (Idly, he noticed that his boyfriend was standing on the tips of his toes to hold the mistletoe over his head. He was definitely going to have to tease him about that later.)
“Xiao-” Aether cut himself off with a breathless little laugh. “You’re ridiculous.”
“Only for you.”
Aether stepped closer to him and cupped Xiao’s jaw with his right hand. Xiao leaned into the touch like a cat, bringing them so close that Aether could feel his breath tickling his face ever so slightly. He thought about saying something else, but found that no words could really capture what he was feeling right now. So, instead, he just leaned in all the way and kissed him gently. Xiao slipped his free arm around Aether’s waist to bring him closer.
Had it not been for the sudden noise of a body hitting the hardwood floor of the hallway followed by a muffled curse, Aether would have happily stood there with Xiao all night. Yet it seemed that their roommates had other plans- because surely they were behind this. They both flinched, breaking the kiss, and turned toward the sound of the noise. Xiao lowered the mistletoe and squinted into the hallway. Aether followed suit, but the hallway was unfortunately too dark for either of them to spot anything.
“It was probably just Venti,” Xiao commented with an exasperated sigh. He looked back at Aether, clearly over their roommate’s antics.
“Oh, absolutely. You’d think he would learn his lesson by now, and yet…”
“He never does,” Xiao muttered, finishing Aether’s thought perfectly.
Aether hummed in response. He was starting to get a little lost in thoughts of other pranks that Venti had pulled in the past when Xiao’s fingers brushing against the side of his face brought him back to the present. His whole body stilled as Xiao tucked the sprig of mistletoe behind his ear. When he was finished, he kissed Aether’s cheek.
“Merry Christmas, Aether,” Xiao whispered. The silly little smile he had on his face was worth everything.
Honestly, this guy. He was going to be the death of him someday. Aether pulled Xiao into a tight hug and murmured “Merry Christmas, Xiao,” against the side of his neck.
(Meanwhile, completely unbeknownst to the two of them, Scaramouche and Venti gave each other a silent high-five as they crouched in the hallway and watched.)