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Christmas. One word, 2 syllables.
Simple.
“… Crap.”
Or that is what Daisuke would say if he hadn't been struggling with a headache since this morning. Don’t misunderstand him, he loves christmas, but there’s someone who loves christmas far more than him. And that would be his best friend —and current boyfriend— Ken Ichijouji.
And that leads us to his current problem. Let’s go back to many many years ago, to the ‘gay illumination moment’ as Miyako likes to call it the few times they have talked about it.
He’s been Ken’s boyfriend for the past 5 years, since they were 15 to be more precise. He knew he was in love with his best friend and jogress partner not much time after their adventure at the Digital World, but he wasn’t prepared to face it until he was 13, after he had a very emotional conversation with Hikari of all people out there; he, the courage boy, was scared as hell to the idea of talking about it with Ken, he knew his best friend would not hate him because he was the personification of kindness itself but he also knew Ken was the kind of person who tries a lot not to hurt people’s feelings and at this topic… well, he didn’t want to disturb Ken’s peace.
However, at Ken’s 15 birthday party Vmon, as honest and careless as he could be, just spill the tea in front of everyone while not a single soul at the room was talking when it was supposed to be “a secret he wanted to tell just Wormmon about” ; Vmon voice was everything except discreet, so he ended being exposed on how cheesy and desperately in love Daisuke was with his best friend.
Daisuke could classify that event as one of the most embarrassing moments of his life, and that says a lot if you take into consideration how much he does silly things, so he decided to make a lame situation to excuse himself and run away from the party. Fortunately, the day after he had a happy but teary Ken at his door telling him he reciprocates yesterday’s words. And since then, he was —proudly, to say the least— Ken Ichijouji’s boyfriend.
This year was their first Christmas living together. Ken was very busy at college so he didn’t have the chance of visiting his parents as much as he wanted to since moving out and Daisuke told him to go there and stay a couple of days before Christmas. Obviously it was all part of his master plan: make Ken the happiest person in the world by making the best Christmas celebration ever.
Ken’s parents were a little disappointed when they heard Daisuke wasn’t coming, they have known for a while about what kind of situationship he has with their son but surprisingly they were very happy to know it was Daisuke who his son loved. Anyway, somehow he will make up to with Ms. & Mr. Ichijouji later.
So, he started the morning of Christmas Eve and had until 9:00pm to make their apartment scream “ Christmas! ” Just by seeing it.
Wormmon and Vmon have orders of not coming out of the room until Daisuke calls them at meal time cause he knows how clingy both of them could be and that could cause an accident. He is conscious that without Ken he couldn’t keep those situations over control. It was better like this.
Everything was going smoothly. The apartment was more than clean at 10:35 am, simple decorations like mistletoes, lights, plushies or Christmas porcelain figures were setting in two hours and he called the digimons for a meal one hour later. It was 1:45 pm, perfect.
The meal was for him as a relax time, he joked with both Vmon and Wormmon, the last being a bit shy though but it was part of his cuteness anyway. Looking at how they interacted with each other it was like he was seeing the essence of him and Ken when they were younger, when they were just two little children trying to save the world. He smiled with melancholy, not because he wanted to go back but because he was glad of living all those things and meeting important people like his friends and boyfriend.
When they finished with the meal it was almost 3:00 pm and he was left alone in the kitchen again, so he decided it was a good time to prepare the dinner and set up the table. Daisuke didn’t want to cook something simple for his lover, he wanted to make something special for him, so he decided on some foreign recipes from a fancy restaurant he took notes on “just in case”. Apparently the case will be now.
At 5:20 pm there was everything ready on the stove. He will heat everything once he and Ken are ready for dinner.
So the last task . The Christmas tree, how hard could it be?
He started with the star. He carefully decided on putting the pretty golden star at the top of it but “Why does it look like the top of my tree is going downwards?! Damn!” No matter in how different positions he places the star it looks more like a drunk man than like a Christmas tree. Daisuke inhaled. “It’s just a detail, I’ll see it at the end.”
With renewed determination he decided to continue with the light series, slowly putting one row after another until there was no space that wouldn’t shine. Who the hell said decorating the Christmas tree was funny? It was awful! He spent what it seems like hours just with the lights. Ok, looking at the clock made him realize it didn't seem like it, he really spent 40 minutes putting those diabolical mini-light bulbs and it was left like a meter of them.
“I’ll hide it behind, yeah. Ken won’t notice, it won’t look from the front.” Trying to roll up the remaining he put it on the floor behind the tree and “Of course it looks from the front.”
Right, no time for panicking, at least they look great. Just the spheres and everything will be ready—
Unless he and his weird powers of breaking everything down decided spheres are the enemy and Daisuke needs to defeat them, because there’s no other explanation on how he has broken half of all the spheres that were in the box in less than half an hour.
6:40 pm
“Crap...” So here we started, on Daisuke’s last attempt at getting at least the remaining quarter of spheres on the tree with success. And gratefully he succeeded on that. “It looks bad and I don’t have a clue on how to fix it…”
“Daisuke-kun?” Daisuke was surprised by the tender and low voice that echoed the room after his words. Wormmon is just as kind as his boyfriend. “You look exhausted, we are worried for you, please take a break.”
With a defeated sigh, he just smiled weakly to the caterpillar digimon trying to appease the other’s concern. He knows he won’t resist that gaze with those cute big eyes. “Yeah you’re right, let’s go with Vmon”
He felt like a disaster.
————
Silence.
That was weird. Well, yeah, he wasn’t supposed to arrive home this early but he was impatient to see his boyfriend and company and he decided to come earlier than expected. Nonetheless, he wasn’t used to get inside his apartment at any hour and being received by deadly silence, and more than weird it was worrying.
He checked the hour. 7:03 pm .
“Daisuke? Wormmon? Vmon?” Ken asked not too loud but with uncertainty tingling in his voice, walking to where he could see the light it was reflecting on the entrance wall until he just gasped amazed.
A Christmas tree.
A very messy Christmas tree.
It was decorated by just a few spheres, a many —but not exaggerating— quantity of lights on a beautiful warm yellow and a beautiful gold star that looks like it was about to fall at any time; there were also broken spheres at the bottom of it and a mess with cables trying to be hidden by the tree but failing miserably. And yet it looks so appealing and adorable at Ken's eyes that his cheeks blush a little and his eyes sparkled, not sure if it was the reflection of the tree lights or the way his heart suddenly skipped a beat at the view of a letter on the sofa beside the Christmas tree.
He gently took it and started reading the cover with a shy smile on his face. “ To: Ken ” simple, with a heart at the top of Ken’s ‘n’.
Hi baby!
A chuckle escaped his throat. Daisuke’s handwriting has always been clumsy.
If you’re reading this it means that my plan was executed with total success that includes seeing the most beautiful Christmas tree in the world. But well, that's the least I could do for the best human being on Earth.
I know we had bad and good moments together but you always do so much for me and I just, idk, want to return the favor with something that means as much for you as you mean for me.
Love you lots.
Daisuke.
Time stopped for a moment and he shed a pair of happy tears. No matter how many years have passed, if they were best friends or lovers or even when they were enemies, Daisuke always was caring, lovely and would do anything for him. Everyday when he wakes up just to see him sleeping soundly he wonders how he’s so lucky to have him by his side and even better in the way he wants Daisuke to be by his side.
Daisuke ? Daisuke!
He almost forgot the silence of the place with how touched he was, but thanks to the lack of noise, paying more attention there were some muffled whispers coming from their room. So he walked over there just to be faced by the cute sight of his boyfriend cuddling with Wormmon and Vmon patting his head. It seems like the three of them haven’t acknowledged his presence at the half open door.
“Ken-chan will love it, Daisuke-kun. It was made by you without any help.” Wormmon’s voice was very kind as always and Daisuke only growled in disapproval but caressing softly at the caterpillar digimon.
So Daisuke did it by himself? Cute .
“Yes Daisuke, you need to cheer up! You were multitasking and broke some spheres but it looks pretty good without having plenty of them.” Said Vmon with his always energetic voice but a frown on his face just showing how weird it was seeing Daisuke given up on something.
So that explains the disaster of broken pieces on the floor.
“You don’t understand guys! This is our first Christmas alone in our home and I know how much Ken loves this date specifically and I just wanted to decorate properly. It isn’t even a big task at all! And the tree is a disaster from far and from near, not even a great view from any angle that can rescue it.” Ouch . It was unusual hearing Daisuke being this frustrated, of course it had happened before, his boyfriend, as brave and cheerful as he is, is very sensitive and sometimes hard times are just too hard; but that doesn’t mean Ken likes hearing him like this.
“You’re being so harsh on yourself.” Yes , yes he is. “We are happy to be with you and Ken-chan now and ever, I know that won’t change just because of a Christmas tree.” Wormmon's words were supported by Vmon’s consecutive nods and Daisuke just inhaled and exhaled deeply like knowing maybe they were right and he was overthinking it too much.
There was something on that Christmas tree Ken loved from the first sight but didn’t know how to put in words.
“He’s right, Daisuke.” Vmon started talking. “Even if it wasn’t as you expected to be it looks—”
“It looks just like you.”
The communal gasp of the three of them and the little jumps that made them sit on the bed by hearing his voice made Ken smile a bit. He couldn’t help but open the door wide and finally let out the words he was searching for since he saw the Christmas tree in his living room.
“Ken…” the soft blush on Daisuke just intensified as Ken was walking toward them, sitting softly at the edge of the bed caressing Daisuke’s hair just as he was doing before with Wormmon, who with Vmon, left the room carefully. “I thought you would come until 9:00 pm for dinner.”
“I missed the three of you.” At Ken’s soft confession Daisuke looked surprised. Ken sighed before speaking again with the sweetest tone he could use.
“The beautiful Christmas tree outside looks just like you. A bit messy yes,” Daisuke couldn’t hold the pout. “Kind of simple also, but it’s warm, shining, full of life and most important… full of heart. I love all those things about you, even the messy you can be or the simple way you look through the daily things.” Saying those words looking directly at Daisuke’s eyes was difficult as he is not as open as him and because both his and his boyfriend's eyes were a bit crystallized by now. “You’re perfect. Perfect for me.”
Daisuke laughed weakly and with no malice before pulling with his index finger Ken's chin to give him a soft peck on the lips. “You’re cheesy Ichijouji, stop.”
Ken returned the laugh and the peck on the lips with a mellow smile on his face. “So now I’m Ichijouji again? What happened to Ken? Or what about ‘baby’ hm?”
Daisuke looked confused. “ Baby ?” After a moment of pronouncing the word, acknowledge crossed his face . “Oh God… You read the letter, didn’t you? I totally forgot I left it there.”
“Don’t worry, baby . Unlike you, I love it when you’re cheesy.” Ken adjusted the two of them to be cuddling comfortably, holding his boyfriend in his arms while he was jokingly dramatizing in whispers. “So, would you mind telling me what your Christmas plan was about?”
Daisuke whined “It’s just… We recently moved out together and decided to have Christmas at the apartment just the two of us and our partners.” A sigh left his lips. “And I know how much you love Christmas and I wanted to do something super special for you, so I cooked a special dinner, set the table at the balcony to a romantic mood, bought you a present and all. But the damn Christmas tree was awful! The more I tried, the worse it seemed.”
Ken gasped like he was offended. “Excuse me but the tree is beautiful.” Seeing his boyfriend being dramatic even as a joke like he did before was weird but it amused Daisuke and he couldn’t hold the joyful laugh which was copied by Ken not long after.
After minutes of that, the two of them were laying in their bed, looking at each other with a lovely smile on their faces. But Daisuke’s nature was not the one to keep silent. “So, this means you like the surprise?”
He just sat on his boyfriend’s lap and tilted himself until his faces were almost non existent inches apart. “I love it. But… you know what I love more than your surprise?”
“What?” Ken obtained the reaction he wanted from Daisuke, a combination of nervousness caused by his closeness and indignation for saying there was something better after telling him it was amazing.
Ken smirked, loving how well he can read his lover. “You.” He said before crashing carefully but deeply their lips on a kiss. Daisuke’s response took some seconds due to the surprise of the action, but after that, both took their time savoring the flavor of their lips, intertwining their fingers with softness and trying to communicate all the emotions they were feeling just with their actions at that moment.
Ken knew it was not the moment what he loved. It was the person.
It was Daisuke.