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“I hate you.” Chuck hissed through his teeth. His arms were folded, a clear sign that he was pissed off and wanted everyone to know about it. Especially Raleigh. And yeah he could admit that he was definitely keeping them folded in a futile attempt to hide, at least partly, the monstrosity he had been forced to wear by said person he was entirely pissed at.
“Aww, come on Chuck.” Raleigh, the cause of Chuck’s current misery, said. “You look– ”
“Don’t you dare finish that sentence.” Chuck warned.
“–adorable.” Raleigh finished with that shit-eating grin of his. “Ow! Jesus, Chuck!”
Chuck made sure it was short lived with a quick punch in the arm.
Raleigh rubbed his arm and Chuck just rolled his eyes in response. He hadn’t hit him that hard, and even if he had, the fucker deserved it.
Not that Raleigh really cared.
“It was really, really hard to even find these, you know.” Raleigh pointed out. Even a year after closing the breach trade in certain items he had once been accustomed to as part of everyday life had still been hard to come by. Rationing didn’t just end overnight, he knew that, but he didn’t think he was stretching his expectations too far; he’d gotten his hands on a decent looking tree and second hand decorations at the very least.
The bastard, Chuck noted, was actually pouting.
He gasped in mock horror. “You mean they weren’t all burned and forgotten about for being an abomination to fashion?”
“Haha, shut up.” Raleigh rolled his eyes. “As if the guy who wears the same grey t-shirt every single day of his life would know a thing about fashion.”
Raleigh had joked to Mako about Chuck’s wardrobe just being filled with the same few items of clothing on repeat, like in those cartoons he used to watch as a kid, when he saw the man almost every day wearing the same damn thing. It wasn’t as funny when he discovered that this was actually the case when he got a better look at the inside of Chuck’s room. Not that he had seen much of it except the ceiling on his first few visits, but that was beside the point.
Even after Pitfall when trade slowly started back up again and the PPDC were no longer constrained to just the standard issued military like clothing, Chuck had stuck to his old wardrobe as if nothing had changed. Not that Raleigh had ever been some kind of fashionista either; comfort had always been his thing regardless of whatever the hell he had been wearing. But even he could appreciate some of the finer things in life like soft cottons and varying thread counts as opposed to itchy woollen sweaters that had been worn to death day in and day out.
In hindsight though, he probably shouldn’t have started introducing Chuck to the possibilities of there being more than one kind of clothing out there with Christmas sweaters.
Chuck had balked at the sight of them. He seriously questioned the sanity of the person who had thought that that many colours and that many reindeer, snowmen and snowflakes all on one single item of clothing had been a good idea. And he seriously questioned the mental state of the people who had thought that those abominations were a good idea to wear. And pay money for.
“How the fuck is this a tradition?” Chuck asked, staring down at the hideous jumper he had been forced to wear and cautiously picking at the material as if it might bite him.
“You mean you never wore Christmas sweaters as a kid?” Raleigh asked. He had started to learn that there were a lot of things Chuck had not experienced in his life that Raleigh had seriously taken for granted when he was growing up. It had all just seemed so normal to him, but Chuck had his life ruined by the Kaiju at a much younger age in comparison he had to remind himself.
Chuck stared blankly at him. “I grew up in fucking Australia. Our Christmas’ were hot. One year the lights on our bloody tree melted.”
“Huh.” Raleigh mused, also remembering that he and Chuck had come from very different backgrounds. He had spent a lot of his childhood travelling the world with his family, and yet Raleigh still found some of the country’s customs just plain weird. He knew to keep his mouth shut about it though; there was no way in hell he was ever going to sit through another rant about something called fairy bread and why it was apparently not weird or gross. Not that Chuck had any control over the climate though. “Hadn’t really thought about that.”
“Not all of us lived in igloos and rode around everywhere on polar bears.”
“I lived in Alaska, not the Arctic you jackass.”
“Same difference.” Chuck shrugged. He looked down at the ugly as sin jumper again. “So you’re really telling me that these godawful things were all the rage around Christmas?”
“Yup.” Raleigh nodded. “And a lot of couples wear matching ones too.”
Chuck made a less than attractive face at that thought. All this supposed shit couples did together still confused the hell out of him. Maybe it was because he’d never been in a real relationship until now that he didn’t even know what a ‘normal’ functioning one was even supposed to look like. He gave Raleigh’s jumper a side glance. No, he concluded, some of that shit was just plain stupid.
“That’s really fucking lame.”
“It’s nice.” Raleigh insisted.
Chuck had known Raleigh could be affectionate; he’d seen it in the way he and Mako were all sweet and open with each other in their best friends forever shtick. But the bastard had surprised him in a lot of ways the closer he and Raleigh had become. He was still the same bloke, but shit like the sweet nothings he whispered in Chuck’s ear and the affections he sometimes lavished him with in private left Chuck flushing with embarrassment and not always in the ways he’d like. He was not some blushing school girl with her first crush, he was Chuck Fucking Hansen dammit. His boyfriend did not make him weak in the knees thank you very much and not a bastard in the whole ‘dome could prove otherwise.
“Corny.” Chuck retorted.
“Sweet.”
“Cheesy.”
“Romantic.”
Chuck made a gagging sound.
Raleigh shook his head. Okay, he had half expected Chuck to hate this idea and shoot it down in flames from the get go. The fact that he had actually gotten Chuck to wear the thing in the first place was a feat in itself and it probably should have been enough. He could have just accepted his small victory and of course he should have stopped there, but sometimes Raleigh didn’t know when to quit. Still, he probably should have seen the resistance from Chuck at the mention of wearing the sweater in public.
He sighed. “I don’t know. I haven’t really celebrated Christmas in a long time. Never really had a reason to, you know? It just brings back memories, I guess. Snowball fights. Waking up early and the excitement of unwrapping presents. Sitting indoors wrapped up by the fire with hot cocoa while it snowed outside.”
Now Chuck felt like an arsehole.
“The whole sweater thing. Just something my mom did. Matching ones for me, Jaz and–” He stopped and sucked in a breath. He always stopped and inhaled like that when he brought up his brother, like he couldn’t quite catch his breath anymore. “-Yance.”
Now Chuck really felt like an arsehole.
He could wear the thing, he guessed. It was pretty cold there in Hong Kong after all, especially compared to Sydney this time of year. Christmas just wasn’t something he and his old man really celebrated anymore since his mum died. Just like birthdays and other holidays. They all seemed like any other day that blurred from one to the next after that.
Chuck plucked at the material of the jumper once more. It was warm he supposed, and soft. He hadn’t been uncomfortable in it since sticking the bloody thing over his head – if he didn’t count the pure embarrassment of the stares and fucking smart arse comments from other people in the ‘dome that was.
“I don’t really remember Christmas all that much.” It was sad really, but he couldn’t. It felt like a million years ago. He remembered presents under the tree and stuffing himself silly on his mum’s Christmas dinners, but other than that he couldn’t really recall any special Hansen family traditions. “It stopped being important a while back. Just another day, you know?”
“Yeah.” Raleigh nodded, with a sad knowing smile. He did know, all too well. He and Yancy used to get drunk and act like jackasses on their birthdays and at Christmas. But it never really felt right celebrating after that.
He shook his head. “You don’t have to wear it.”
Of course Chuck had to wear it. Raleigh had given it to him. It was then that he realised the bloke could have given him rags and he would have worn them to make the fucker happy. He was going to chalk that up to almost dying or some other life changing shit like that. Raleigh did not have that much power over him.
Chuck took a slight step back from him as if he might try to take the ugly thing away from him. “Nah, you can’t take it back after you already gave it away, Ray. That ain’t how presents work. It’s mine now.”
Raleigh regarded him for a moment, wondering if Chuck was fucking with him. “You don’t have to wear it for me.”
He was all for teasing Chuck, but he wasn’t going to make him miserable over it.
“Shut up would yah?” Chuck snapped. “I’m wearing it ain’t I? Not exactly in Sydney anymore, am I? Gotta keep warm somehow.”
Raleigh didn’t look entirely convinced and Chuck just wanted to shake the bastard to get the message across. He shifted awkwardly and sighed.
“No one’s given me anything in a long time.” He picked at the sleeve of the jumper. His jumper. His list of items he owned had started to grow ever since befriending Raleigh and Mako. He and his old man had become a real sorry pair. The whole emotionally distant thing only seemed weirder now that Raleigh and Mako had forced their open affections on him. He’d never seen the point in collecting crap himself either; he always travelled light and was ready to move from ‘dome to ‘dome on a moment’s notice. “Just… thanks, yeah?”
A soft smile worked it’s way onto Raleigh’s lips and Chuck felt a warmth that had absolutely nothing to do with the hideous jumper he was wearing.
“When you say stuff like that it makes me feel like I’ve adopted a stray, neglected puppy.” The smile was quickly replaced with that shit-eating grin again, and like that the warmth was gone.
“Oi, fuck off. If anyone’s the puppy it’s you.” Chuck poked him in the chest. “I can practically see your tail wagging over this.”
“Admit it, you secretly love it.” Raleigh poked him back.
Chuck snorted. “Dream on, mate.”
A flash and a click made both of them turn around to see Tendo standing there admiring their new shared look.
“Well now don’t the two of you make an adorable pair?”
Chuck’s fists and jaw clenched.
“What?” Tendo asked, with a perfectly innocent smile on his face. “It’s a free corridor isn’t it?”
Tendo was holding a camera.
Raleigh was starting to regret dragging Chuck from hiding out in his room.
“You did not.” Chuck’s voice was low.
Raleigh new that tone.
“Uhh…” He looked between Chuck and Tendo.
“Camera.” Chuck held his hand out. “Now.”
Tendo’s grin widened. He was a kid playing with dynamite and the fuse was lit. “But it’ll make such a great greetings card.”
“A what?”
Raleigh swore he could hear something snap inside Chuck’s head.
Tendo pulled it back on instinct and instantly regretted the decision when Chuck’s look darkened further – which apparently was possible from the previous look of murder in his eyes – and knew that he was a dead man.
His smirk quickly died on his lips as Chuck took a step towards him. “I don’t know what’s worse. Getting my ass kicked at Christmas, or getting my ass kicked at Christmas by a guy wearing that.”
Raleigh groaned and hid his face in his hands. There wasn’t a hope in hell of holding Chuck back now. “Stop digging your own grave and just run already man.”
Tendo turned tail and ran. Chuck would have been hot on his heels if not for Raleigh latching onto him from behind and valiantly struggling to keep him back. Tendo owed him big time for this.
Chuck growled and strained against Raleigh’s grip. “If that picture makes it around the ‘dome then Tendo’s kid is soon to be an orphan–”
“Jesus fuck, Chuck.”
“–and you’re gonna be joining him since this whole thing is your fault to begin with.”
“I’ll get the photo from him later.” Raleigh reassured him, not letting up on his hold on Chuck for a second. “He’s not actually gonna make a million copies and send them out.”
He hoped.
Chuck went slack in his arms. Raleigh relaxed his grip a little but kept his arms around him and leaned his chin on Chuck’s shoulder.
“You gotta admit, they are pretty comfy.” He said, breath warm against Chuck’s neck. “Pretty good for snuggling in.”
Chuck huffed in response. Maybe he could get used to curling up on the sofa, pressed up against Raleigh and the soft material of the fuck ugly sweater. He could appreciate the texture without having to look at the bloody thing he supposed.
“Well, you’re not wrong, I guess.”
“I know you hate it, but if you behave for the rest of the day.” Raleigh’s voice lowered to that deep, husky tone that made Chuck shiver despite the thick material of the jumper and the heat from his body pressed against him. He licked his lips.
“Then I’ll rip it off you tonight.”
Oh, he could behave alright if that was the present waiting for him under the tree. Consider Chuck Hansen on Santa’s nice list this year. At least until the evening.
“You should have opened with that when you tried to sell this thing to me in the first place, Ray.”
“I’ll keep that in mind for next time.”
Chuck groaned at the thought of whatever ridiculous thing Raleigh would try to force on him in the future. Then again, he thought as he felt Raleigh’s lips press against his neck, maybe it would be worth it.