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It's Ness' responsibility to drag Kaiser away from practice and into the outside world whenever he starts to get stir crazy. Of course, Kaiser often doesn't notice this himself; it's Ness who sees the stuttering twitches under his skin at odd hours, how he starts pulling at the ends of his hair instead of twirling it, or how he switches from cruel dramatics to pointed bluntness. If anyone where to ask him, he'd deny it. But Ness knows.
It wasn't always like that at first. Kaiser has a good way of reading Ness' body language, and would usually call out his nervous ticks long before Ness would realize it. He's not unaware of his propensity for extremes, but they're both made up of them.
He used to think Kaiser was made of something entirely different, something better than the unremarkable people around them with passion as slow as molasses. Kaiser was so self-motivated, so determined in his one-track mind for victory through malice, that Ness had the wrong idea for a long time. He clued in eventually, though. Even if it took a Japanese soccer prison to see Kaiser for who he was, and who he could be.
What he means by this, is that Ness has gotten a whole lot better at predicting Kaiser.
His first prediction in December is that Kaiser is going to want to stay inside. He hates the cold, and he despises the snow. He once told him he had never made a snow angel or a snowman (not that he had any secret yearning to do so), and even when it only gets frosty enough to see your breath when you exhale, Kaiser's wearing an extra large coat and thick mittens. He'd swear at the clouds and sun itself if he could, damn it to Hell for inconveniencing him.
If you were to ask him though, he'd say it's his favorite season, and damn you for not understanding his existence as a bundle of contradictions. Nevertheless, Kaiser uses it all as an excuse to stay inside and away from people.
Kaiser hates the cold. And the thing is; so does Ness. And Kaiser has always known that Ness hates the cold. Early in their friendship, he used to remind him when he forgot his coat before Ness even realized he was going to forget it.
His second prediction is that Kaiser has absolutely zero plans for Christmas. Which is perfect really, because Ness gets to swoop in and make the day something brighter.
Ness doesn't usually have plans either though (his parents had ignored the holiday more often than not, and if it was acknowledged, then it was disparaged), so that's made it tricky trying to put something together.
So really, it's what Ness says; goes. And that's complicated, because he's not the decision maker between the two of them. He's always willfully handed Kaiser the reigns, so he's still getting used to standing on his own two feet. He's an adult though. He doesn't need Kaiser to schedule him a doctor's appointment, thank you very much! And if he doesn't need him for that, then he can surely find something the both of them can enjoy for the Holiday season.
His final prediction, and the most important one, is that Kaiser has no idea that Ness knows Christmas is also his birthday.
Kaiser keeps much about himself close to his chest, he doesn't even like to smile where other people can see him. It's saved for simple moments, the everyday magic that Ness cherishes so much.
Ness thinks Kaiser believes in magic too, if only in his own odd way.
It's the way joy dances in his eyes when he sees a cat chase it's tail, the twitch of a smile whenever the weather forecast is wrong and the day is sunny and bright, the gentle slope of relaxed shoulders when practice gets cancelled when he's been overworking himself. It's so much more than the vines coiling around his arms, or the pressure of the roses against his neck.
So Ness shows up at Kaiser's apartment uninvited on December 25th with nothing on his person but a clutch of bread rusks and two packets of hot cocoa in his carry on bag.
Kaiser opens the door, hair askew from a late sleep. He looks like a mess, but he always looks like that after just waking up.
"Huh?" Kaiser blinks at him. Ness laughs at his unexpected face. "… I didn't know you were coming over."
"Didn't text." Ness shrugs. He holds out the bread rusks and shoves them into Kaiser's chest. "You haven't eaten today, have you?"
"No," he squints. "How'd you know?"
"Intuition," he says. "Now let me in, it's freezing out here."
Kaiser steps aside to let him in. "I didn't clean up, so don't expect much." Ness shuffles his shoes off, and unwraps his coat and scarf to hang on the coat rack. It's second nature to him at this point.
"It's fine!" Ness calls back as he settles on his couch. "I came over uninvited, after all. What movie do you wanna watch?"
"Is that what we're doing?"
"Until I decide it's an appropriate time to make hot chocolate, yes."
Kaiser sits down next to him, a warm weight at his side. Ness likes Kaiser's apartment. Unlike most things in his life, Kaiser keeps it simple and practical. Dark wooden floors and a cozy living room. He's got decent taste in furniture, values comfort over appearance in this regard, but it still looks like something from a classy movie set. He wonders what gave him the inspiration.
Kaiser hands him the remote, and Ness leans his head on his shoulder. Kaiser curls an arm around him, adjusting to the weight against his side. It's worn and practiced by now, enough so as to not scare Kaiser away. He can get easily frightened by the most mundane things, and Ness takes care to prevent that.
Ness puts on a cheesy action movie, something that makes Kaiser scoff, but not enough for him to snatch the remote and turn the television off.
Besides, Ness knows he likes action movies anyhow. He hates corny romcoms and sad movies, can't sit still during classic movies and outright refuses to watch anything with an emotional depth deeper than a petri dish. No, Kaiser likes bad movies, action flicks and documentaries exclusively.
It's doesn't create very many kissable moments. It's also not a part of any fantasy Ness has ever had for his romantic life, but Kaiser gets invested so it's worth it.
Part way through the movie, Ness averts his eyes to stare at Kaiser instead. He drinks him in, messy clothes and relaxed expression, everything. Something about being in love with this man is addicting, easy as breathing the air around him. He adores being mesmerized this way, loves the unexplainable magic that comes from being so enraptured that he'd skip holiday parties, fly across the globe, ignore all calls and texts, just to be with him.
Once upon a time, he dreamed he was a prince locked away in a tower, who needed to be saved by some prince charming who could sweep him off his feet and take him out to see Christmas lights for the first time. But with regularity, he finds that he enjoys playing the other role. Taking care of and being taken care of, the exchange of affection he willingly ties himself to.
Ness lifts a hand to play with the pretty blue ends of Kaiser's hair. Kaiser has long since finished the bread rusks Ness grabbed for him.
Kaiser laughs at something on screen, though Ness isn't sure what. It's a short thing, but Ness leans up to peck him on the cheek anyway.
"Oh," Kaiser says like he's remembered something. "… Happy Christmas?"
"Are you asking me, or telling me?" He giggles. Kaiser rolls his eyes.
"It's why you came over, right?"
"Sure." Ness shrugs. "I wanted to spend it with you."
"I'm sure there's something you'd rather be doing."
Kaiser looks at him, uncertain, and Ness wants to kiss him silly. This stupid, ridiculous man has so many insecurities and Ness can't count them all. But this, he knows.
"Probably," he says. "But here I am."