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The December wind was cool—maybe even a little too cool, making Basil shiver from head to toe despite his three layers of clothing, gloves, scarf and beanie. If it wasn't already obvious enough, he was a relatively chilly person, not tolerating winter very well—exactly like a flower, actually. No wonder it was the season he hated the most, much preferring spring or even summer.
Of course, while seeing him shivering with cold like that, Hero put an arm over his shoulders, pulling him closer in the process—to his naturally warm body, for some reason. Genetics, he said.
And Basil couldn't help but blush at the gesture.
Even though they'd been together for several months now, he still got all flustered when his boyfriend was publicly affectionate with him, by taking him in his arms or simply by kissing his cheeks. Maybe it was his charm, he didn't really know—but chances were. And he was the first to be susceptible to it.
To fall for it.
But anyway. It turned out that Hero knew Christmas markets well—thanks to his parents in particular, who had taken him and his brother there so many times when they were younger, and it was something he still loved to visit. The little wooden chalets, the colored lights, the fir trees set up everywhere, the delicious smells of gingerbread... haha... it was really...
“It's romantic, don't you think?” He asked suddenly, turning his head toward Basil. Unsurprisingly, the latter almost jumped at the question, staring into his eyes. Caramel brown in an ocean blue.
“Ro—romantic? What do you mean?” He stammered.
“Christmas markets,” Hero clarified.
“Oh... well, I guess so?”
To be honest, Basil had never thought about it, so he just shrugged after answering. Either way, his boyfriend wasn't exactly wrong when he said that... there was a certain pleasant, romantic atmosphere, or maybe it was also the temperature. It was so cold that couples were huddled together to keep warm! And they were no exception, it seemed. So they continued to stroll leisurely, Hero's gaze easily wandering around. There was so much to see and do, but also so many people that it was kind of difficult to move around. Basil blew into his hands—despite his woolen gloves, when his attention was caught.
“Oh, they're back this year,” Hero said with a little smile.
“Who?” And his head movement was enough to give him his answer, his eyes now directed toward a booth set up in one of the many chalets made available for the Christmas market: still warm breads and buns were spread out on the display, a sweet smell escaping from them. Of course, there were also two faces that Basil recognized immediately. “Wait—it's Bowen and Daphne!”
Giving each other a knowing look and without wasting any more time, they headed toward the bakers' booth, and it was the eldest who spotted them and greeted them first.
“Hello you two,” Daphne said, leaning forward a little. Surprisingly, her hair was tied back in a ponytail, not even a strand of hair sticking out on the sides of her face. “Having a good Christmas market?”
“Yeah, everything's fine so far!” Hero replied cheerfully. “How's it going for you? Did you sell a lot of—hi Bowen!” He trailed off when he saw the other twin give him a brief wave. Unlike Daphne who seemed to be the one communicating with the customers, Bowen was off to the side, probably baking new batches of bread behind the scenes.
“Hmhm,” she approvingly mumbled, before sighing—perhaps too dramatically. “Aah, it's such a shame our dear little brother refused to come help us with the booth once again...”
“Oh...” Basil hesitated, thinking for a bit. Until he finally looked up at Daphne. “I think he already had something planned tonight, right? With... with Angel... I guess—but yeah, it's a shame...” Although in reality, they all knew that Mikhael just felt like he was too cool to help his older siblings with the booth, and that he wouldn't be able to sit still for even a day anyway. Dating Angel was convenient to ensure he was busy when his family needed him, thus avoiding his responsibilities. Anyway—Basil didn't really care, to be honest. It was none of his business, and had other things to think about for tonight already.
“Anyway,” Daphne continued with a shrug. “Is there anything you'd like? We have some exclusive gingerbread cookies for Christmas, in the bags right there.”
She pointed them to the far right corner of the display, where several transparent bags of different sizes—up to three, filled with gingerbread cookies in various shapes and forms stood proudly. There were Santa Claus heads, Christmas trees, stars, gingerbread men, angels...
Of course there were some angels.
“Basil, do you want anything in particular?” Hero asked, and Basil blinked slightly at the question.
“Oh, uh—the gingerbread cookies? They look good.”
“So a big bag of gingerbread cookies,” he told Daphne, and soon the two of them were walking away from the bakers' booth, waving goodbye to their friends one last time. Basil already had a half-eaten gingerbread man in his hand, a beaming smile on his face. Unsurprisingly, they were delicious! Their reputation as the best bread and pastry makers in all of Faraway Town was well established.
While continuing to wander around the market and occasionally commenting on the booths they saw, Hero pulled him closer again, sighing happily. Argh, he loved seeing his boyfriend in such a good mood... it could almost make his heart explode. Almost.
And Basil was so focused on staying warm next to Hero, eating as he went and letting his mind wander, that he was abruptly pulled out of his thoughts when he felt that he was no longer moving. That they were no longer moving, now stopped.
“Eh?” He said, blinking, a little disoriented at first, turning his head from right to left when he saw that they were in front of another booth. The many bottles on display and the liquor rising to his nose left no doubt as to the nature of the product sold. “Oh! Is it... mulled wine?”
In response, Hero first nodded.
“Yeah, I saw this booth in the distance so... I wanted to take a quick look,” he almost mumbled as he looked at the labels, before chuckling a little nervously. “I know you don't like wine or even alcohol, bu—”
“No, no, it's okay. I'm not going to stop you from going to see the booths that interest you,” he replied—a bit more awkward than he'd wanted to be, probably.
But indeed, Basil didn't really like alcohol, largely contenting himself with fruit juice or syrups if he wanted to be more festive. There had to be at least one in a group of friends, right? In any case, he couldn't hide his curiosity any longer, to be honest—his eyes roaming over the different bottles in front of him. Mulled wine seemed to be a popular drink during festive times like Christmas, so... it wouldn't kill him to try it just once, would it? If the worst case scenario should happen, they'd come to the market on foot. So, no danger of having a car accident if they drank too much—which wouldn't happen anyway. He and Hero wouldn't be the type to get drunk, no matter the occasion.
Basil tugged at his boyfriend's jacket, to get his attention.
“I think I'd like to try it. Just one cup, though.”
“Oh? Are you sure?” Hero raised an eyebrow, surprised. He'd only planned on getting himself a drink, but... in that case...
“Yeah. I don't like wine, but mulled wine, which is different—I may like it.”
So, only a few minutes later, they were walking away from the booth, each with a plastic cup filled with mulled wine. Which felt good... having something warm in their hands, when it was so cold outside. Hero couldn't help but keep his gaze focused on Basil, watching him as he took a sip—still paying attention to where they walked, so as not to bump into someone or a booth. He was curious to know if he would like it or not.
“So? What do you think?”
“Mmmh...” Basil mumbled, eyes closed. Thinking carefully about his verdict. “It's not bad... I guess?” He shrugged. “I think the orange and cinnamon are more noticeable than the wine, which probably helps. I can finish my cup—it's not as bad as I thought.”
And Hero laughed at his answer. Well, while he was glad to know that Basil was enjoying it a bit, that would still be more mulled wine for him, huh? Anyway, they continued to explore the Christmas market—they even took a picture in front of a huge Christmas tree, decorated with lots of fairy lights and covered in fake snow. They'd even eaten half the bag of gingerbread cookies already! When Hero stopped walking again.
“It looks like they've installed an ice rink this year!”
“What?” Basil immediately turned his head and indeed, right in front of them was an open-air ice rink. Several people were already skating on the ice, which was already scratched by skates. Of course, there were also a lot of people slipping and falling on their butts, or even straight up on their friends. It was kind of funny to watch, to be honest—but he'd never admit it out loud like that.
“I almost want to see if I can still skate,” Hero suddenly said, thoughtfully.
“Ha—have you ever been ice skating? I didn't know that!”
“Wait, I never told you? My bad.” He scratched the back of his head. “But yes, I do a little ice skating—or I used to, at least. That was several years ago, I haven't had the chance to try again since... I wonder if I lost my touch or not.”
“... eh, go ahead then.”
“Only if you come with me,” Hero bargained, a small grin on his face. At this reply, Basil's eyes widened and he opened his mouth, although no sound came out. What? But—but he'd never been on an ice rink in his entire life! And seeing so many people falling over themselves on the ice made him even less inclined to try, if it was to hurt himself or make a fool of himself in front of Hero—even though he knew very well that the latter would never dare to make fun of him. And despite still not saying a word, his train of thought seemed so obvious that his boyfriend chuckled. “Don't worry, I was just kidding. But you can watch me!”
And with that, Hero didn't wait any longer—he just gave him a small, charming smile and disappeared into the crowd, obviously looking for the entrance. Basil immediately rushed to the nearest wooden railing, now having a full view of the ice rink. The entrance was all the way on the other side, with what seemed to be a set up area with benches and lockers. Which made sense. He silently sipped his still unfinished mulled wine, the bag of gingerbread cookies under one arm when finally, a familiar figure entered the ice rink. He didn't wait to raise his cup in the air, wanting to let Hero know his location.
Their eyes met despite the distance and without waiting another second, his boyfriend skated over to him.
And...
That was truly something to see.
Hero moved almost elegantly across the ice, his hands behind his back. He made a few detours to avoid colliding with other people, of course, until he arrived in front of Basil, perfectly stopping, just before hitting the railing—smiling.
... he really hadn't lost his touch, huh?
“W—wow,” Basil blurted out, his voice trembling just a little. “It really doesn't look like you haven't done this in years! You—you immediately jumped onto the ice.”
“Well, at first I hesitated a bit,” Hero admitted. “But I quickly remembered the position to adopt to keep my balance and... I guess it just came naturally?” He chuckled softly.
He rested an elbow and a forearm on the railing, his chin nestled in the palm of his hand—and then the pair began to chat about everything, nothing and ice skating. Basil was still as formal as ever about the fact that he didn't want to try, much preferring to watch Hero do it—even if seeing him so comfortable on the ice had lifted a weight off his shoulders that he didn't think he had.
And God—they were so close.
The smell of mulled wine—orange and cinnamon gently stinging their noses, their icy breaths fanning each other's faces—when they finally seemed to remember that if Hero was here, it wasn't to talk, but to skate. And for now, he was mostly just standing at the railing talking to his boyfriend, and therefore completely static.
“Ah—sorry, you know how much I like it when we talk but—”
“No, don't apologize!” Basil insisted, waving his hands in front of him to emphasize his words. “If you're here, it's to enjoy the ice rink, so go ahead! I'm not moving from here, if you ever look for me.”
Then, with a knowing smile, Hero began to walk away—before he frowned, and his lips finally stretched into a smirk. Basil didn't even have time to say anything, as he was quickly kissed—a kiss so fast, so light that barely lasted a second.
When their lips parted, his cheeks were pink—both from the cold and from what had just happened.
“H—Hero!” He blurted out, watching Hero skate just as majestically toward the center of the ice rink while laughing. God, his boyfriend could be so... urgh...
Basil finished his mulled wine in one go to think about something else, not without still admiring Hero from where he was.