Archive of Our Own

One more Christmas
That's all I'm asking for
One more Christmas
I've said this all before
One more Christmas
And he'll be mine eternally ♪

Winter was here, and Sun was very much a summer person, everyone knew this. He functioned better and felt better when it was warm and sunny out, but when it started to snow Sun might as well say goodbye to any redeeming qualities he had. When it was cold he was prissy and impatient, when it rained he was pessimistic and grouchy, when it snowed Sun got depressed.

In other words, Sun hated December. Breakup season was in the air, snow was on the ground, and if you weren't in the Christmas spirit, you had no spirit at all. Only recently had he come to enjoy the winter season, ever since Moon came to town.

They were still in that awkward mushy talking phase at the time, and he recalls Moon had shared his appreciation for the season in great detail. He liked the chill, the quiet, the dark and the snow. It had crossed his mind that perhaps they could spend it together, but when Christmas came along they went with the status quo. Sun spent the holiday with family and Moon spent it alone. (Sun and his family had invited him to a Holiday party, but Moon didn't want to intrude.) They began dating the summer that followed, meaning this will be their first Christmas together as a couple. Sun was elated, mostly, but also a little nervous.

“Sun?”

He was peeled from his thoughts and brought back to the present moment upon Moon calling his name.

“Huh?”

“You're sittin’ on it.” He mumbled, nodding his chin toward the blunt between Sun's chilled fingers.

“Oh! I'm sorry, I spaced out for a moment there.” He mutters, passing it back. His boyfriend dismisses it with a shrug and a smile.

They were on a small hiking trail that circled around the creek some kilometers away from town, sharing a spliff. The wind chilled the both of them, settling into their bones. By the time they both get back to Moon's house they'd want a hot shower. It was already dark outside.

Moon took a long, silent drag of smoke into his lungs, Sun stood there, trying to read the expression on his face. It was a familiar one, but at the time Sun couldn't place a finger on it. He'll blame it on the cannabis in his bloodstream. He watched (see also: stared with an unprecedented intensity) as his lover exhaled, with appreciation for the way the gray smoke seeped out of his lips and curled around his sharp features, obscuring his scarlet, blood-shot eyes. Ruby catches blue opal, and they very openly eye-fuck each other for lack of better term.

A sly smirk tugged the corner of Moon's lips, and he flickers his gaze down towards Sun's feet. His eyes trailed slowly up the slopes of his boyfriend's legs, over the arch of his back, up the curves of his chest to finally meet the unwavering, far-away look in Sun's eyes. The man in question seemed to shiver under Moon's scrutiny.

“What's up?” Moon asks, popping the p.

“Er… Nothing.” Sun mumbles, unthinking. Or he was thinking, only suddenly with an entirely different head. He wasn't sure how Moon could make him feel such things without saying a single word.

“Very convincing.” Moon sneered playfully, handing the joint back to his boyfriend, despite the fact that Sun more than likely had his fair share of it.

“I was just… looking.”

“Mm, like what you see, baby?”

God did he ever.

“That's a dumb question, I think.” Sun bites back. “Anyway, if I told you the answer your ego would only get more obese than it already is.” Sun mumbles around the blunt between his lips.

“It's not obese! It's moderately sized.” Moon argues. They both knew Moon could be conceited, but when he looked that hot it was safe to say he had a reason to be. In reality, he never cared much for his looks, nor had he ever tediously groomed himself, at least not before meeting Sun. Being wanted and adored gave wind to those sails, Moon had cared a considerable amount more what Sun thought in contrast to literally anyone else. He wanted to smell good, to be clean shaven, to have white teeth, if only for his lover.

Sun thought he looked handsome either way.

“It's getting cold, we should go home.” Sun says, his breath fogging in front of him as if to drive his point forward.

“Your place or mine?” Moon asks, stepping away from the creek and back onto the trail. Sun follows.

“Yours. Much cozier!”

“Want to stop for a pizza?”

“Oh yes, please!”

—

The pizza was almost too greasy, even by Moon's standards, and that was saying a lot. Sun had pat down his slices with a napkin, lifting off the oil. Moon made fun of him for it, but in Sun's very humble opinion one of them was wiping a disturbingly copious amount of grease from their lips, and the other was enjoying a superior slice of non-slippery pepperoni and cheese. Who was the real winner?

There was no longer a chill to their skin, both men now comfortably warm in Moon's living room, perched on the sofa and nestled together like a pair of… well, whatever perched and nestled and mated for life, maybe geese, or barn owls.

“Holy fuck I'm actually regretting this.” Moon groans, grounding himself to the sofa and trying to surf a wave of nausea. Maybe he shouldn’t have eaten so many slices. Sun whines, and for just a second Moon thought his boyfriend was sympathizing with him. Of course, that was too good to be true. What Sun had actually whined about was the sudden downpour of snow that caught his eye from out of the window. In his peripherals the Christmas tree he helped his lover decorate gleamed back at him mockingly.

“I'll have to go to work in this shit on Monday…” he pouted.

“Uh, yeah dude. It's December.”

“Empathize with me, asshole!”

Moon chuckles. “You love me.”

Sun rolled his eyes. “Yeah. Unfortunately.”

“And I bet you want to kiss me so bad right now.”

Sun scoffs, but only a moment later he's obliging and leaning over the pizza box wedged between the two to plant a smooch right on Moon's lips. Moon grins and Sun can feel the way his mouth morphs against his own. His shirt collar smells faintly of cannabis and campfire smoke.

“You're annoying.” Sun mumbles between them, and Moon exhales a laugh through his nose.

“And you're beautiful. Did you know that?”

“Of course I do.” Sun lies easily. He usually forgot until Moon reminded him again.

They stare silently at one another for a few moments, then Moon stands from the couch and stretches his limbs. Sun watches his shirt ride up just enough to expose a sliver of skin. Nice.

“Let's take a shower.” Moon suggested, and Sun didn't have a reason to refuse. Matter of fact, he saw this coming. Sun scrambled off the sofa and Moon cleaned up their clutter before they tripped over one another down the hallway. The bathroom door clicks shut. Sun felt Moon's eyes burrow holes into his back the entire time he undressed, but he’d be lying if he said he didn't enjoy the attention.

Sun is the first to step in the shower, therefore he had first dibs on the water temperature. Moon shrugs off the rest of his own clothing before stepping in after his lover. He squealed and jumped away from the spray as soon as it hit his skin.

“It's fucking hot!”

“Of course it is, I don't want to have a cold shower.” Sun pouted.

“Kay well… turn it down just a smidge?” Moon asks. His boyfriend reluctantly does as he's told, turning the temperature down just a touch. It was hardly a compromise, but it worked for Moon. He steps under the water with his lover, purring and wrapping his arms around Sun's warm naked body. They wash away the smell of weed and their soreness together, Sun scrubs Moon's back and Moon massages each one of his rays with suds of soap.

After they're all clean and the water starts to do them more bad than good (“Seriously Sun, the water is so hot I'm starting to sweat,”) they hop out. Sun's teeth clatter until Moon wraps him in a towel. His hair smells sweet like the conditioner he keeps at Moon's house, and Moon can't get enough. He kisses him along his shoulders and his collarbone and all the spaces in between all the way to the bedroom, taking deep inhales of coconut and shea butter.

“Are you smelling me?” Sun sputtered.

“That's what the scents are for. Buy unscented soap next time.” Moon quips back.

“No.”

“Then let me enjoy this.”

Moon's hands travel downward to Sun's hips and he pulls him closer, pressing his chest to their naked back. He kisses their nape right along their hairline, wet coconut curls tickling his nose. Their skin was still damp and warm from the water. The snowfall seemed to pick up while they were off in their own homemade sauna, and there was at least a couple more inches of fresh snow blanketing the roads just outside of Moon's window.

Sun wriggled out of his reach to cross the room and close the blinds, tip-toeing over the dirty laundry piles and miscellaneous items scattered on the floorboards. He didn't want to look outside at the horror, and he absolutely did not want anyone looking in. Moon didn't bother to avoid any of the clutter at all, and lazily kicked it out of the way instead.

“Did you just kick your Playstation controller? That looked expensive, why would you do that?” Sun gawked. When Moon only shrugged in reply he clicked his tongue and scowled. “You are ridiculous. Now I know what not to get you for Christmas.”

“Seriously, I told you not to get me anything.” Moon insists.

“I have to get you something!” Sun pushed. His boyfriend had a whole list of reasons as to why Sun shouldn't get him a gift, and Sun didn't care to remember a single one of them. He would get Moon a gift and he would be grateful and that was final. Moon sighed, then he smiled.

“Just come over. That's all I want.” He says, meeting Sun's eyes with all the same intensity as earlier that day on the trail, bright red on a backdrop of white. Blazing. Scalding. Sun stares back, a twinkle in his own eyes. He tiptoes back across the floor, into Moon's personal space and under his chin, and around his ribs, and against the soft pudge of his tummy that he always gained during the winter months. Moon embraces him back, and they both stand there bare naked with wet hair for a while.

“You know, you're still invited to Christmas dinner at my mom's place.” Sun mumbles into the slope of his lover's collarbone.

“With your family? Shouldn’t that stay between you guys?”

“You're family, dummy.”

“Hardly. I'm just the guy that rails you sometim-”

“Moon.” Sun scolds, pulling away to deliver a stern look. Moon chuckles.

“I'll show, but I'm only going for the food. I don't do well with all that family bonding stuff or whatever.”

“I know. That's okay.” Sun sighs, holding Moon's face in his palms like something precious. Perhaps a glass ornament. The kind that's handpainted and glittery and is probably a family heirloom. The kind you just need to put front-and-center on the tree, the kind you're scared to shatter. So precious that Sun wanted to keep it this way forever. For many Christmases to come.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Moon scoffs, grinning back at him.

“Next year too. And the year after that. Please spend Christmas with me.” He pleaded softly. His voice was hushed, like they were sharing a secret. Moon feels like he's been punched in the gut.

“I'm not going anywhere, angel.”

“Good.” Sun smiles so wide it hurts his cheeks. And even though he was certainly not getting any warmer standing completely exposed in the middle of Moon's bedroom, warmth bloomed in his chest anyway, traveling to the tips of each ray, finger, and toe. He had no idea that the holidays could be so cozy. Sun was a summer person, and everybody knew this, but maybe he liked winter too so long as Moon was with him.

—

Sun had been pacing back and forth in Moon's living room for about ten minutes now. Initially, the plan was that Moon would leave to pick Sun up and they'd drive to his mom's together, but about an hour before Moon was supposed to get ready, Sun came knocking at his door and pushing his way inside. He rambled senselessly about how volunteering to decorate and go grocery shopping with his mom had been a nightmare, and how his uncle Ramón was supposedly invited this year and how that was a problem. And the kids, oh god the house would be flooded with kids. Moon was anxious just hearing about it. It feels like it's been forever since he celebrated Christmas with any family.

“Hey, look. Everything will be fine.” Moon tried to convince him, but even he sounded unsure of himself.

“No, Moon! You don't understand. This isn't going to be like last year, the whole family is coming. And my mom takes this entire Christmas thing way too seriously. You have to listen carefully.” Sun says, grabbing Moon by the shoulders and narrowing his eyes.

“Okay.” Moon's voice cracks.

“When we show up there she's gonna introduce you to everyone! I told her not to introduce you to Ramón. I warned her that he wouldn't like you but she won't listen!”

“Okay, ouch. Who says he won't instantly fall in love with me? I'm very charming.”

“Moon, he's homophobic.”

“Oh. But you're… I thought everyone knew? ...Do they?”

“No, they don't. That's not the point! They'll give you a hard time, and I haven't even mentioned my little cousins. They are going to swarm you, I'd be lucky if I can even get a moment alone with you! And my auntie Mari is loud. I'm not saying that to be mean. I don't think she can physically lower her voice beneath a certain decimal. My older cousin Carmen is bringing her baby she had like 6 months ago and I already know she's not going to stop talking about how-”

“Okay, woah. Slow down.” Moon pleads, taking Sun's face in his hands and smoothing the pads of his thumbs over his temples. Sun's eyelids flutter shut and he drops his shoulders. “Breathe. Everything is going to be just fine, and ya'know what? If it's not and you need to leave we can come back here and have our own little celebration together. Deal?” Moon reassures him. Sun nods, sighing out of his nose.

“Okay. Just… don't say I didn't warn you.” The man grins, equal parts hopeful and dreading everything already. Moon smiles.

—

Sun hesitates to ring the doorbell. Moon snakes a hand around his forearm, clasping their fingers together, grounding him. Silently reminding him that it'd be just fine. His lover crumbles, and buzzes the bell. Hardly a second goes by before the front door is swinging open and Sun's ma greets them with open arms. Sun is immediately engulfed in a warm hug.

"¡Ay, mi nene! I'm so glad you could make it! Moon, it's so good to see you again!” Sun's mamá exclaims, letting Sun go and reaching for him this time. She squeezes him tight, then pulls back to get a better look at him. She analyzes him closely from head to toe. Moon laughs nervously. “Ahh, qué guapo.”

"¡Mamá, deja!” Sun pouted and hunched over dramatically, “Me estás avergonzando."

It dawns on Moon that very moment that he's never once heard Sun speak a word of Spanish. Sun has mentioned he's Puerto Rican in passing, but Moon never stopped to consider the implications or connect the dots. Of course he was bilingual, it explained a lot. Like why Sun seemed to forget words or swap them around. He once called a pair of tongs ‘the clippy spoon thing’ and Moon had always assumed it was because they were both a little fried at the time. Or when he'd say ‘especially’ instead of ‘essentially’.

Yeah, in hindsight he should have seen this coming. He swallows hard and prays that everybody inside would figure his face was red from the cold, and nothing else.

"Oh, cállate, mijo. Come! Inside, both of you!"

Moon is being ushered in alongside his boyfriend before they can even say anything. The house is wonderfully warm and homey and something smells delicious. They both kick off their boots and shrug off their coats, leaving everything behind in the entryway. Moon is about to ask Sun about the bilingual thing but Sun's mother is already excitedly announcing their arrival to everyone else, calling them to dinner.

This was going to be a long night.

—

“Moon! Have you ever had coquito before!?” Sun's auntie Mari asks, waltzing over with two glasses in her hands and a mischievous smirk.

“¡Eh, no! Tía, lo digo en serio.” Sun scolds, glaring at the two of them. He gestures wildly at Moon. “¡No aguanta el alcohol!” Moon stares back at him for a beat or two trying to decipher his words. No amount of high school Spanish classes could aid him here, mainly because he never paid them any attention. He twists around to face his aunt Mari.

“What'd he say?”

“You can handle a little bit of rum, can't you boy?” Mari asks.

Moon confidently said ‘yes ma'am’ the exact same time Sun said ‘absolutely not’. Moon shakes his head, completely disregarding Sun even if he was technically correct. Moon loved rum in theory, but it was an awful idea in practice. That wouldn't stop him, though, and anyone who thought it would is a fool.

“I would absolutely love to try some.” Moon deadpans. The bastard.

At least it got a good laugh out of aunt Mari, who happily handed him a glass. If Sun had to guess, she was already a few glasses in herself. He sighs and shakes his head, fighting back the small smile tugging at his lips. Moon takes a long, slow sip of the drink beside him, humming into his glass. He pulls the drink back with stars in his eyes and some residual milk on his lip.

“Sun, you have to try some.” He says, tipping the glass in Sun's direction. Sun takes it, swirls it around a bit, then places it down on the table next to Moon's plate.

“I've had coquito before, cariño.” Sun purred, mockingly so. He bites his tongue to stifle a laugh when Moon's face turns beet red.

“Oh. I mean… obviously.” Moon mumbles, bringing the glass up to his face again, more so to hide behind than to drink from.

Suddenly, the chatter and laughter is being sliced through by a shrieking wail. Moon nearly dropped his cup out of surprise. Everyone at the table is turning their heads toward the source. Little baby Sofia, Sun's aforementioned youngest cousin, was wriggling in her mother's arms and screaming like a banshee.

“She's just hungry.” Carmen sighs, quickly pushing back from the table. Everyone gives her polite, sympathetic smiles, and Sun's ma says something Moon doesn't quite understand. (Again, seriously, if he had any idea Sun spoke Spanish this would not be such a slap in the face.) Carmen nods her head and Sun's mamá is slipping away without another word. The baby's fussing draws his attention away from dinner entirely, captivating him.

Carmen paces across the kitchen in a futile attempt to soothe the infant, who had suddenly decided she was very much finished with socializing this evening and needed milk now. Her mother, who looked just fine a few minutes ago, suddenly appeared exhausted and stretched thin, like the baby's cries flipped a switch. She mumbles quietly to her child, and Sofia hiccups between her sobs.

He squeezes Sun's hand underneath the table, then quietly excuses himself.

“Hey.” he says, coming to stand next to Carmen. She glances up at him with a weary smile, muttering an apology. Moon ignores it, he doesn't need one. “If you need a hand, I can take her.”

It's not like this is anything new, he's taken care of his siblings when they were babies. Sure, that was several years ago when he was a pre-teen, but he's still got it. Carmen goes wide eyed and hesitates for a moment, like she's surprised anyone would offer, then her tired smile stretches and she gives in, handing baby Sofia over.

“Really? Thank you, honestly. You're a sweetheart.” she replies. Moon automatically adjusts his arms to cradle the baby, bringing her to his chest and cooing at her like it was second nature. She sniffles, blinking up at him with large, wet eyes.

Moon hushes her and rocks her back and forth anxiously. A few moments tick by and both he and Carmen watch closely, waiting for Sofia’s unspoken approval. She squirms, uncertain in his embrace, gurgling and smacking her lips like any hungry baby would. Her little brows are still furrowed, and she's kicking her legs in retaliation. Moon hums to her quietly. Another long, tense moment of contemplation passes. And… she settles down, smiling up at Moon with all four of her teeth. Moon is triumphant!

From across the room Sun watches him tap her nose playfully, her little hand reaching up to curl around his finger. Moon's expression melts into soft baby-fever bliss, repeating back whatever babbling nonsense left the baby's mouth. He made it look easy. Natural, even. Sun feels something bubble in his chest. Right then, his mom comes back into the room with a tub of baby formula, stopping dead in her tracks when she sees it. Picture perfect husband material right in the middle of her kitchen.

While Moon is still distracted (enamored), she scurries over to where Sun was sitting at the table and leans down to whisper in his ear.

"Ése vale la pena.” His ma murmured between the two of them, pointing her chin toward Moon. “Cuídense mucho el uno al otro.”

Sun feels like his face is on fire and his heart could explode. Sofia giggles and Moon beams down at her. He's never looked so domestic before. It was a sight to behold.

“Sí, mami. Lo sé.” Sun smiles at the ground, flushing pink from the bridge of his nose to the tips of his rays. He was glad she seemed to adore Moon as much as he did.

—

The rest of dinner goes by without a hitch. Everyone was full and satisfied and slowly piling their dirty dishes up in the sink. Sun offered to help his ma clean them up. Moon has since returned baby Sofia to her mother after she'd finished preparing her bottle. Mari had several more coquitos.

Uncle Ramón is the last to finish his food, standing up from his chair and slowly stalking across the room. Moon watches as he zeros in on Sun, landing a hand on his shoulder and squeezing, dropping his plate into the dishwater. Sun seems to go rigid and his smile is noticeably forced. He never meets Ramón's eyes, laser focused on scrubbing the dishes instead. Moon overhears Sun grit out a tense ‘Feliz Navidad’ and he understood that much, but everything that followed was lost on him.

Something is said between the two and Moon doesn't need to be fluent to pick up on the way Sun's heart plummeted to hell. His rays droop immediately, and he looks like he's two seconds away from hurling. He snaps his head up from the soap suds to gape at his uncle, visibly mortified. Moon's own stomach churns with anxiety. He has half the mind to break them up, but Sun is dropping the dishcloth back into the sink and walking away before he gets the chance. Suddenly, Moon is being yanked by the wrist, Sun dragging him away from the kitchen and down the hall without a single word. His fingernails bite into the flesh on Moon's forearm and his posture is stiff. Something really bad just happened.

“Sun? What did he say? Hey, where are we going?”

“Out.” Sun snaps back.

They make a quick detour to grab their coats and boots, then Moon is dragged out the back door and onto the porch. Sun slams the door, the bustling and the warmth from inside quickly shut out. Moon gives Sun a sideways glance. Sun doesn't meet his eyes at all.

“Please tell me you have a cigarette?” Sun asks, slouching over the railing with a heavy sigh. He rubs his hands into his eyes to alleviate the pressure behind his skull. He knew something like this would happen, he felt like an idiot for thinking otherwise.

“Sure do, baby.” Moon fishes a packet of cigarettes out of his coat pocket, taking one between his lips and igniting it. He takes a deep inhale, then passes it off to his lover. Sun still won't look at him.

“Can I know what he said?” Moon asks.

“...Said I'm-” Sun chokes on his words. He rolls the cigarette between his fingers for a couple stretched out seconds, then takes a long drag. The end of the stick glows an angry red, illuminating his sour expression. He wanted to leave without telling anybody, drive on back to Moon's house and cuddle up with a couple Christmas movies there instead. Anything but here.

“Said you're what?” Moon pried. Sun exhales a large cloud of smoke, shaking his head and clicking his tongue.

“Said I was always a freak. Told my mamá she raised me wrong. I- I should have never brought you here.” He confesses. His voice sounded small and uncertain and his words jab Moon right in the chest.

Oh.

“Okay, first of all… I mean. C'mon. You don't really believe that.” Moon sneers. Sun shrugs his shoulders like he wants to pretend he doesn't, but they can both tell he's bluffing. The two of them take turns puffing on tobacco. “Second of all, whatever the hell is that supposed to mean? Did you really think it was such a bad idea to invite me…?”

Moon wasn't usually one to get insecure. Matter of fact, he wouldn't call this insecurity or anxiety. Hell, he wasn't even offended. But he needed his boyfriend to know he couldn't just say things like that and get away with it. He was invited fair and square, no takesies backsies. Yes, he was very adamant on not coming, and yes he's had a change of heart. Sue him. Sun blinks up at him (finally) clearly confused. He replays the conversation in his head, then goes wide eyed.

“Huh? Oh, gosh, no! I'm so sorry. I just meant… you looked like you were having so much fun until-”

“I still am. This has been the best Christmas I've had in a long, long time.” Moon confessed. He flicks the ash off of the cigarette. It was his turn to avoid eye contact, staring out into the backyard at the picket fence half submerged in snow.

“Really?" Sun squeaks out.

“I used to have these over-the-top Christmases with my family until things, er.. changed. If I didn't plan Christmas we didn't get Christmas at all. My mom sort of just… stopped trying.” Moon rambles, lost in thought. Dozens of memories come back to him, good and bad. They drift through his consciousness like snowflakes out of the sky, melting before he can draw any definitive conclusions on how they made him feel. He loves Christmas. Hates it. Adores his siblings. Would do it all again. Hates his mother. Would rather not.

Sun silently rests his head on Moon's shoulder, breaking him out of his train of thought. For a second he's still, then he's leaning back. When did this even become about him?

“I can tell the holiday has a place in your heart, y’know. You're not subtle.” Sun teased.

“Wasn't trying to be. Anyway, I really appreciate the effort your mom put into dinner.”

“She likes you.”

“Because I'm so nice.” Moon grins wickedly. Sun snorts and rolls his eyes.

“No you're not! You're a dork.” He shouts back. They both snicker, taking their final respective hits off the cigarette before Moon buries it under the snow.

It falls quiet again, and the two of them lean on each other a little longer. Sun shivers despite wearing a jacket. Moon winds his arms around him and pulls him a little closer to keep him warm. It didn't seem like the snowfall was stopping any time soon.

"For the record, you're not a freak. You just happened to like dudes, which is very fortunate for me." Moon says, squeezing Sun playfully. Sun smiles.

"Thanks." He says sincerely.

“Oh, hey, you mean to tell me you spoke Spanish this entire time?” Moon asks, changing the topic.

“Ah, yeah. I just didn't think it was worth mentioning if we exclusively spoke to each other in English.” Sun shrugs.

“You speak a whole other language I didn't know about!? We've been dating for months! Do you have any idea how that sounds? Oh man, I feel like an asshole!” Moon exclaims, slapping his cold hands over his equally cold face.

“Cálmate, cariño.”

“Don't.” Moon deadpans, dropping his hands so that Sun could very clearly see the glare on his face.

“¿No? Pero eres lindo cuando te pones tímido.”

“Sun, I'm being so serious. Fuck off.”

“Ah, mira cómo te estás poniendo rojo.”

“Stop it!”

Moon might not do great with family gatherings, and this evening definitely didn't go the way Sun envisioned, but they both silently decided they'd do this again next year. Moon would come back as many times as Sun would let him. Eternally.

—

“Here! Open it!” Sun smiled from ear to ear, shoving a masterfully wrapped present into Moon's lap. He chews excitedly on his bottom lip.

They were finally back at Moon's place after family dinner had wrapped up. Sun’s mom tried to convince them to stay for a movie marathon, but Moon quickly came up with some lame excuse about the two of them being far too tired to stick around. It wasn't entirely untrue, in his defense. The two of them relaxed in Moon's living room and watched their own Christmas movie, sitting across from each other on the floor next to the tree. Moon had only bought it because Sun told him he needed to have one if they were spending the holiday together, and if he was honest it was a really nice touch.

He was especially enamored by the way Sun's soft features looked under the multicolored lights, and the sparkle in his big blue eyes. So yeah, the tree was definitely a worthwhile purchase.

“Alright. Fine. I seriously can't believe you got me something after I explicitly told you not to.” He mutters, lifting the box to his ear and giving it an experimental shake. Sun gasps.

“Don't shake it!” he exclaims, whipping his arms out to steady Moon's hands.

“Okay, okay.” Moon apologizes, immediately dropping the gift back into his lap.

He rips the wrapping paper away from the box, albeit a little remorsefully. It was really skillfully done and here he was destroying it like some fucked up little gremlin. Going off the look on his lover's face though, he wasn't tearing into it enthusiastically enough. The paper falls away and his eyes catch bold black letters printed onto the side of the package.

“It's a-”

“I got you a coffee maker!” Sun beams. “You always complain about the instant stuff, and I honestly can't tell you how much you've spent at the diner on coffee alone.” He mutters, picking at a loose thread on his sweater.

“It's like two dollars a cup?”

“Yeah, and you've bought like five hundred dollars worth these past two years alone!”

“Worth it.” Moon smirks. What Sun didn't know was that going to the diner every day for a coffee was only half of it. At first, he only frequented the place because it was down the street from his work, but after finding out Sun worked there most mornings he quickly became a regular. Seeing Sun in a cute tangerine apron every day became a far better ‘pick-me-up’ than the coffee ever was.

Still, maybe Sun had a point. Spending hundreds of dollars on coffee was absurd, no matter the reason. A part of him felt all warm and fuzzy knowing Sun even paid attention to things as trivial as his coffee drinking habits. He thanks Sun with a peck on the cheek, then pulls his own present out from under the tree.

“Your turn.”

“Gimme!” Sun giggles, taking his gift from his lover and examining it. The contrast in gift wrapping ability was stark to say the least… and curiously enough Sun could physically squish the gift.

“You didn't even bother with a box?” He deadpans.

“I couldn't find one, now just open it.” Moon pouts.

Sun carefully undoes Moon's… special wrapping job. The paper crinkles under the slightest pressure, giving way to whatever soft material was hiding underneath. Inch by inch, a deep red wool fabric pokes out from beneath the wrap. He lifts it high into the air, and it unfurls into a long, buttoned coat. It felt incredibly high quality. It was heavy, dense, and so, so soft.

“A coat?”

“Yeah, a quality one. I figured you could use an actual coat, instead of that sad puffer one you've got.” Moon jabs.

“What's this?” Sun asks, bringing it back down to get a better look at the embroidery he just noticed on the collar, right over the breast on the left hand side. A little sun and crescent moon were stitched in a golden yellow thread. It looked expertly done. “Oh, Moon…”

“Yeah, I know. I’m very thoughtful and romantic and the best boyfriend ever.”

“Oh, shut up.” Sun scoffs, biting back a small smile.

“Try it on.” Moon says.

Sun gets up off the floor and Moon is quickly following suit, taking the coat from Sun's hands and going round to stand behind him. He opens the coat and Sun slips his arms into the sleeves. Moon wraps his arms around him to do up a couple of the buttons.

“Whaddya think?”

“It's so warm.”

Sun reflexively sticks his hands into the pockets so that he could fully appreciate the cosy material in all its glory. As he does so, his fingers brush against something cold and foreign. He hums curiously and fishes the object out of his coat pocket.

It was a house key.

“Is this for…?”

“Yeah. So you can come over whenever. You don't have to knock, or text me or-”

Suddenly, Sun is wrapping his arms around Moon's shoulders and planting a kiss on the corner of his mouth, cutting him off mid sentence. Moon smiles and returns the hug, nuzzling his nose into the crook of Sun's neck. Neither of them let go for a long, long while, swaying gently in a silent embrace.

“Careful. Before you know it I might just move in with you.” Sun forewarned. Realistically, they weren't too far off from living together anyway. Sun kept shampoo and a toothbrush here, he had his own special mug in the kitchen cupboard, and spent like 70% of his free time at Moon's place rather than his own, he could go on.

“Fine by me.” Moon murmured back, unmoving. Truthfully he wanted that more than he would ever dare to admit out loud. Sun already inhabited his heart and mind every waking moment of his life anyway, he might as well clear out some room in his closet too. Hell, he wouldn't even charge rent.

“I love it. Thank you.” Sun sighs, pulling away to gaze lovingly in Moon's eyes. Then and there he decided he couldn't charge Sun rent even if he wanted to.

“Merry Christmas, beautiful.”

“Merry Christmas, Moon.”