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Kaveh looked up with wide, glittering eyes as he placed the star at the top of the tree, letting a childlike smile paint his lips.
“I’m finally done, Haitham!” he sang, taking in the living room with a proud glance. Colourful lights blinked all over the bookshelves from where two stockings hung, one green and one red. The ornaments decorating the tree had all been handpainted by Kaveh the year before, exhibiting a carefully thought-out colour scheme matching the wrapping paper on the presents below. He couldn’t contain a giggle as his roommate looked up from his book, wearing an awkwardly-placed Santa hat (Kaveh had forced him).
”Can you turn off the horrible music, now?”
Ah. Joy does not last, Kaveh thought, sighing. “It’s not horrible, it’s fun and cheerful and about Christmas and all the things your blockhead won’t ever understand, like happiness.”
”It’s about a reindeer being bullied,” Alhaitham stated, raising a brow.
”The song has a happy ending, which you would know if you were paying attention. It very clearly says that all the reindeer became friends with Rudolph after Santa asked him to guide the sleigh.”
”I don’t believe that for one second,” Alhaitham muttered, finally closing the book. “They seem egotistical to me. They are simply being nice to Rudolph out of their own self-interest, because they want Santa’s favour.”
”Oh my God, it’s a children’s song, you don’t have to psychoanalyse fictional reindeer and ruin the fun,” Kaveh scoffed. “Let’s change the subject. As you can see, my presents are already under the tree. You can put yours there as soon as you have them, and use the wrapping paper I bought, please, so it all matches.”
”It’s the first of December.”
”I am perfectly aware.”
”I haven’t even thought of what I’ll buy,” Alhaitham grunted, poking the pom-pom at the end of his hat. Kaveh was wearing a matching one, which was the only reason why Alhaitham had accepted the awful accessory in the first place.
”Then start thinking, although I know you don’t do that too often,” Kaveh teased. He turned to leave, then changed his mind, blinking sweetly at Alhaitham. “Or, I could help you pick the presents…”
Alhaitham sent him an unimpressed look.
”Come on, you don’t even like going Christmas shopping! Let me be happy! I want to go with you,” Kaveh whined, pouting.
”I didn’t even say no. In fact, why don’t you just take my credit card and go on your own? I can stay at home in peace, with no awful Christmas songs playing, and you can shop without me bothering you.”
Kaveh scowled, holding up an accusatory finger. “You—! What, am I your personal shopper now? I’m not running errands for your lazy ass!”
”It would be convenient for the both of us,” Alhaitham replied, unfazed. “You were the one who volunteered to help.”
”You can’t gift people things that I bought.”
”Why not?”
”Because then it’s not a gift from you!”
”Couples give joint presents all the time.”
Kaveh blinked. “Need I remind you that we are not a couple?”
”No, but we live together.”
”And?”
”And. We could give people joint presents.”
”No, we can’t!” Kaveh exclaimed, exasperated. “You’re not getting credit for the awesome gifts I picked. Now get up, let’s go to the mall.”
Alhaitham frowned. “I’m not getting the presents now. It’s too early, we have over twenty days left.”
”It’s never too early.”
”It’s Monday. I don’t want to go shopping.”
”You never want to go shopping, the day of the week doesn’t matter. Let’s go.”
”I’m not going.”
”Yes, you are.”
”I am not.”
They went. Kaveh made a point of stopping by the mall Christmas tree to take a total of seven pictures (“Come on, Haitham, smiling’s not that hard!”) and to stop by every single shop window exhibiting seasonal trinkets.
”We should get these matching sweaters,” he noted.
”We live in Sumeru, a tropical nation with a rainforest and a desert. December is summer,” Alhaitham remarked, immune to the red puppy eyes his roommate was putting on show. “You should stop watching so many Snezhnayan movies.”
”You should stop being a killjoy,” Kaveh muttered. “Anyway. I think this shop could be good for Cyno’s present, they sell a lot of products with terrible puns on them.”
They went through the gift list much too slowly for Alhaitham, who was not content to wait half an hour while Kaveh tried an absurd number of different fragrances at the perfume shop to pinpoint the perfect present for Collei. For a man who had insisted on Alhaitham’s presence, he was much too dismissive of any insight that didn’t come from his blonde little head.
”We’re only missing your gift,” Alhaitham remarked, looking through his list. “What would you like?”
”You have to be joking,” Kaveh scoffed, crossing his arms. “Gifts are meant to be a surprise, Alhaitham. I can’t choose that one.”
Excellent. How helpful. The interaction quickly led to bickering over the nature of gift-giving, forcing them to stop in the middle of the mall corridors so Kaveh could devote one hundred percent of his energy into making aggressive gestures.
”Excuse me,” a middle-aged man interrupted, curiously eyeing Alhaitham. “I’m sorry to be rude. But, would you be interested in a quick holiday job, young man? I’m a manager here at the mall, and we’re looking for someone to dress up as Santa Claus and talk to the children during the weekends.”
The pair simply blinked.
”Isn’t he a little… young, for a Santa?” Kaveh asked, cocking his head.
”It’s a new marketing strategy,” the man explained. “We’re looking for a young man, to attract a larger target audience.”
”Ah,” Kaveh mumbled. “You want a hot guy so it’s not just the children who will want to talk to him.”
”Well,” the man coughed, looking away. “Kind of. Since it’s a college town, we thought it would be easier to get a student on the job, you know. And when I saw a guy with grey hair, I thought: he would make the perfect Santa!”
”I’m not interested,” Alhaitham deadpanned.
”I mean, I know you approached him and not me, but I’m totally looking for a holiday job,” Kaveh said, smiling sweetly. With the semester at its end and very little money in his bank account, some extra income would be more than welcome.
The man observed his face carefully, clearing his throat. “Well, we are also hiring elves.”
Alhaitham burst out laughing, avoiding Kaveh’s death glare and elegantly dodging a kick to his knee.
”It would be fun for you to do it together, no?” the man insisted, plastering on an artificial smile. “You could be Santa to make your elf friend company.”
”My elf friend…” Alhaitham wheezed, wiping a tear.
”Shut the fuck up,” Kaveh growled, then turned to the manager. “We’ll both take the job, thank you for the opportunity.”
”What? I never said—“
”Excellent!” the manager exclaimed, interrupting Alhaitham. “You start this weekend.”
”You owe me a massive favour for this,” Alhaitham sneered, putting on the impossibly warm red coat.
”Quit your whining, I’m worse off than you,” Kaveh replied, poking at his pointed shoes. “You look good in glasses.”
”And you look ridiculous in that costume.”
A pointed shoe hit Alhaitham’s shoulder like a ballistic missile.
”You are technically an employee at my toy factory. I could have you fired for physical assault.”
”You’re the one who’s gonna be fired for making children cry,” Kaveh seethed.
Yet Kaveh was left with a gaping mouth as he watched “Santa” smile gently at a seven-year-old, hiding every bit of the sadistic roommate he was used to.
”The North Pole was too cold for me, so I thought I’d come by and see what all of you would like for Christmas,” Alhaitham said warmly.
”I already sent you a letter,” the girl mumbled, evidently grief-stricken. “Did it get lost? Do I have to send another one?”
”Don’t worry,” Alhaitham shushed. “Since I get many letters, I give many of them to my elves to read. We’re probably already working on your toy.”
The girl sighed in relief. “Can I take a picture, then? With your elf too, since he read my letter.”
The three of them posed for a smiling mother, and Kaveh handed the little girl a lollipop as she walked off.
”I would have died not knowing that your rude ass is good with kids,” the elf muttered.
”There are many things you don’t know about me.”
The manager’s marketing decision was evidently successful, because by the second weekend, the short queue of excited kids had doubled in size to accommodate for college students eager to sit on the hottie Linguistics major’s lap.
”Sure,” Alhaitham shrugged, posing for the photograph as if it were perfectly normal to have a twenty-year-old woman seated on his thighs.
”You know you’re not required to do this, right? You can say no,” Kaveh whispered.
”I don’t really care. I’m getting paid.”
”To talk to children, not to flirt with students!”
”Wasn’t that exactly why I was hired?”
The blonde elf watched with an irritated grimace as student after student tried for Alhaitham’s number, only uncrossing his arms when they asked for “Santa’s lollipop.”
”This is getting ridiculous,” he muttered, ripping his own stupid hat off.
”Jealous?” Alhaitham asked, the corners of his lips quirking. “You can sit on Santa’s lap too, Kaveh. What would you like this Christmas?”
”A new roommate!” he growled, throwing the hat on the floor.
It did not take long for some students in the queue to take interest in the elf standing awkwardly to the side too, which led to nervous laughs and a deep sense of regret at having accepted the job in the first place.
”Couldn’t it just be kids?” Kaveh mumbled. “Some of these people are my classmates. This is embarrassing.”
”Perhaps it’s time for you to tell me that I was right from the start, and we should have refused that manager,” Alhaitham stated, getting up for a bathroom break.
”I’m perfectly content with the job, thank you very much,” Kaveh muttered. “I am simply looking out for your comfort.”
Alhaitham snorted, leaving him to deal with a long queue of anxious faces calling for Santa. By the end of the day, however, the movement had died down, and Kaveh reasoned that they both deserved a complimentary lollipop for their patience.
“Did you ever believe in Santa Claus?” Kaveh asked.
“Yes, for a few years.”
Kaveh gasped. “I thought you’d just been born all boring and annoying like this. You used to be a proper kid?”
Alhaitham did not grace that with a response, focusing on his lollipop instead.
“I believed until I was seven. Then, well,” Kaveh started. Alhaitham knew well what had happened when he was seven, and didn’t prod. “Since my dad wasn’t there anymore and my mom barely managed to cook for us, I obviously didn’t get a present that year. That’s when I realised.”
Alhaitham nodded.
“I guess it’s been fifteen years since I last got a present from Santa,” he noted, punching his roommate’s shoulder. “That was shitty of you. Would’ve been nice to get a present that year.”
They sat around for a few more minutes, loitering until the mall was near closing time, at which point they went home. Kaveh turned on the Christmas lights.
The third weekend was even busier, which was unsurprising as Christmas Day was around the corner. Kaveh made sure to bug Alhaitham about how he had been right to drag him shopping before the place got too crowded for his liking, earning him an unimpressed glare.
“You don’t even look like Santa. What a dumb costume,” a boy grunted, crossing his arms. He was around ten years old and had walked in with a couple of friends, evidently considering themselves too old for this kind of thing.
“I had plastic surgery done,” Alhaitham deadpanned.
”You can’t just—!” Kaveh exclaimed.
”It’s not like we’re stupid enough to still believe in Santa,” another boy pitched in, scrutinising Kaveh with his gaze. “He doesn’t have to pretend.”
”Why did you wait all that time in the queue, then?” Alhaitham asked, raising a brow.
”We want lollipops.”
Kaveh snorted. “If you’re too old for Santa, you’re too old for lollipops. Go do grown-up things instead of licking candy.”
”You’ve been giving adults lollipops, but you won’t give them to us?” the third kid burst out, devastated. “This is so unfair!”
”If you apologise for being rude to Santa, you can get them,” Kaveh said.
The boys nearly growled, brows furrowing with pure humiliation and fury. One by one, they grunted an apology through gritted teeth as Kaveh sweetly handed the lollipops over.
”Make sure to stay off the naughty list, boys!” he called out, ruffling one of their heads. He turned to Alhaitham snickering. “I guess this job can be kind of fun, sometimes.”
His roommate did not quite share the sentiment, being on the verge of sweating to death in the thick costume that made his neck itch. “It’s too hot…” he murmured.
”Okay, it’s not that bad, the AC is on.”
”I’m kind of dizzy.”
Kaveh helped him get the red coat off, exposing Alhaitham’s frame in a simple black tank top. He heard a few students squeak from the line as he handed over a water bottle.
The stunt managed to attract even more excitable students, to the point that the manager himself passed by to congratulate the two of them on their genius marketing idea and to encourage Alhaitham to remove the coat whenever he felt like it.
”What an asshole,” Kaveh mumbled.
”Agreed,” Alhaitham whispered.
Thankfully, the ordeal was over by Sunday evening, at which point Kaveh got his hands on the precious paycheck and they made their way home through the cheerful chatter of the streets.
”I think I’ll work on the gingerbread house today,” Kaveh murmured. “I’ll work on my assignments tomorrow, then we can get started on the desserts on Tuesday.”
Alhaitham nodded, ignoring the puppy eyes being once again thrown in his direction.
”Are you gonna help with the gingerbread house, Haitham?”
”No,” he replied, granting him a light kick to the ankle. “I already lost three whole weekends because of your antics, and I already know we’ll spend the whole of Tuesday baking. I don’t even like the taste of gingerbread.”
”Me neither, but it’s fun!” Kaveh insisted. “Whatever. I don’t need your help, anyway. I’m a top architecture student, I’m gonna make the most incredible gingerbread house known to man.”
Alhaitham was forced to admit, the following day, that Kaveh’s gingerbread masterpiece was, indeed, impressive. It was a near-perfect replica (to scale) of their own house, Sumeru’s arched architecture having been skillfully translated onto the sweet. The garden outside was created by Kaveh’s fertile imagination, and on it were two gingerbread men whose hair colour made their identities quite clear. The blonde one had a wide smile, while the other seemed to be frowning.
”Glad to see you’re using your degree for something useful,” Alhaitham mused.
Kaveh scoffed. “A simple wow, Kaveh, congrats, it looks so good! would have done. Or even, wow, Kaveh, thanks for including me in your gingerbread magnum opus, I’m honoured, the little annoying-looking guy looks exactly like me!”
“It does not look exactly like me.”
”Wow, it looks exactly like you,” Cyno exclaimed when he walked in on Christmas Eve.
”Thank you. Finally, someone who appreciates my artistic vision,” Kaveh shouted, which was completely unnecessary as Alhaitham was standing right next to him. “Here, Cyno, I’ll set that on the table.”
Since their house was unusually large for college students (courtesy of Alhaitham’s financial freedom), they had been chosen as the hosts for the feast. Tighnari was spending Christmas with his family, but Cyno, Collei, Sethos, Professor Cyrus and Hat Guy (an odd nickname given to a moody young man by the Dean of the Akademiya herself) were all filing into the living room, bringing in platters of aromatic dishes.
”What a beautiful tree,” the professor commented, granting Kaveh a genuine smile. “The ornaments match wonderfully.”
They sat to eat, complimenting Cyrus’ tomato salad, cheering as Collei revealed that her latest medical tests were looking promising, and politely nodding while Hat Guy ranted about a research project he was working on. Kaveh brought out dessert excitedly, smiling sheepishly as everyone remarked on how beautiful it looked.
”Time for presents!” Sethos exclaimed through munches.
Kaveh was ecstatic watching Cyno nearly cry from laughter after looking at his gift, a green-and-red shirt which read “Just be your elf.” He put it on immediately.
”Don’t complain if you don’t like it. You refused to tell me what you wanted,” Alhaitham sighed, delightful as ever, handing Kaveh a small, wrapped box.
”Oh my God, it’s so pretty!” Kaveh murmured, gently nudging the dangly earrings in the box. It was made of several red jewels resembling water drops, the colour matching Kaveh’s eyes. “Thank you, Haitham.”
”It looks expensive,” Sethos observed, poking his head in between them and eyeing the store name.
”How much did it cost?” Hat Guy called out.
An awkward silence made its way into the living room.
“Oh wow, look!” Sethos yelled suddenly, calling their attention. “What’s this! Some mistletoe over the two of you. You know what that means, right?”
“You quite literally just hung that there,” Alhaitham uttered.
“So what? Rules are rules. You guys have to kiss.”
Kaveh scratched the nape of his neck, turning his eyes towards the floor. “Ah… Well. That would be awkward. Let’s not make Alhaitham uncomfortable. How about a kiss on the cheek instead?”
“Why me uncomfortable specifically, senior? Is this your way of saying you want to kiss me?”
Kaveh scowled, turning the colour of Cyrus’ tomatoes. “It’s called being considerate, you jerk. You never told me anything about your love life, so I’m assuming you’ve never been kissed.”
“What a perfect opportunity to get rid of the curiosity, right, Alhaitham?” Sethos smiled, patting him on the back. “How about showing your dear roommate some affection?”
“You’re weirdly invested in this,” Collei commented.
“I wouldn’t want to make my senior uncomfortable,” Alhaitham muttered, crossing his arms.
“How am I the villain here?” Kaveh scoffed. “If you want a kiss so bad, just say it. It’s not embarrassing, everyone hits on me since I’m fucking gorgeous.”
“I am going to excuse myself,” Cyrus whispered, entering the kitchen.
“Everyone?” Alhaitham asked, raising a brow. “Getting a little too humble, no, Kaveh?”
Kaveh properly growled, and, without thinking, grabbed a wide-eyed Alhaitham by the back of the neck, pulling him into a stiff kiss. He realised what he was doing when he met a pair of slacken, surprised lips, and pulled back instinctively, avoiding everyone’s eyes.
“Ah… I’m sorry. I’m gonna…” he stuttered, hands trembling. “I’ll go take a walk.”
He rushed towards the door, biting his lip as he slammed it behind him. He sat on the porch and looked up at the night sky, holding his knees against his chest.
“Why do you always fuck up?” he asked himself.
Before the dinner, while Alhaitham was in the shower, he had knelt in front of the tree and made his Christmas wish: to have his roommate like he wanted him. As someone who not only shared his secrets, but loved them and cared for them. As someone who he would kiss under the mistletoe. Kaveh was well-aware that wishes had to be made as unambiguous as possible, so he had made sure to specify that he wanted for Alhaitham to reciprocate his feelings. It seemed like fate was playing a cruel joke on him by distorting his desires into a mock kiss that meant nothing and had served only to humiliate him. He did not want this, he had wished for—
“Kaveh.”
He did not turn, squeezing his eyes and willing for Alhaitham’s steps to stop approaching him, but it was in vain.
“You’re overreacting,” Alhaitham noted gently, sitting next to him.
“I’m not. I’m just embarrassed.”
“Why?”
Because it wasn’t a joke. Because I wanted to kiss you. Because I’m in love with you. Because I want to go out with you. He said none of those, and silence stretched out.
“Sorry I kissed you,” he mumbled. “I shouldn’t have stolen your first kiss.”
Alhaitham scoffed. “I did somewhat encourage you.”
“Well, it was a joke,” Kaveh replied, desperately trying to blink tears away.
“Then why are you this affected?” Alhaitham asked.
Kaveh finally turned to him then, glassy eyes clouded with hurt. “You’re such an asshole. Did you come here just to make me feel worse?”
“I’m sorry,” Alhaitham murmured. “That was not my intention, it was a genuine question.” He paused, dissecting Kaveh’s expression with a characteristic piercing gaze. “What I wanted to ask was, did you want to kiss me?”
Kaveh’s mind went blank at the realisation that the emotions that had been plaguing his easily excitable heart could no longer be kept a secret. Alhaitham deserved the truth, regardless if it wrung their friendship into a lifetime of awkward interactions. He had not meant to confess, too desperate to cling onto the giddiness his roommate brought him, but a vain part of his mind held a small hope that his wish would come true.
”I did,” he admitted, inhaling deeply. “I have feelings for you.”
Alhaitham blinked.
”—and I’m sorry I didn’t say anything. I really shouldn’t have kissed you, I’m so sorry, that was shitty, touching you like that when you didn’t know I feel actually attracted to you, I really do regret it. I understand if you want us to distance ourselves, I never meant to make you uncomfortable, but of course you would find it—“
A gentle touch to the crown of his head interrupted the spurt of apologies, and he turned to see that Alhaitham was smiling. “You’re overreacting,” he repeated, thumb tracing a soft caress. “I’m in love with you.”
Relief and shock threw Kaveh’s heart into an erratic pace, and he let out a breath he didn’t realise he had been holding. His lips widened into a smile as he allowed himself to look into Alhaitham’s eyes.
”Say it again.”
”I’m in love with you.”
Kaveh laughed, a jingly sound that always made Alhaitham hold back a smile. Those teal eyes, normally hardened by will, now exhibited something relaxed, genuine, and gentle: something Kaveh now had a name for.
”Love…” the blonde whispered, tasting the word through his lips. It made him laugh again, although out of pure joy rather than amusement. “When were you planning to tell me?”
”Whenever I thought I stood a chance,” Alhaitham shrugged, moving his hand from blonde locks to a flushed cheek.
”You’re the only one I’d say yes to,” Kaveh confessed, leaning into the touch. “You should have told me earlier.”
”Why me? You should have told me earlier.”
Kaveh rolled his eyes, but couldn’t bite back a smile at the excitement of Alhaitham’s hand on his face. “You’re not very good at expressing your affection. I was completely convinced you didn’t like me back.”
”As often, senior, you were wrong,” Alhaitham murmured smugly, but before Kaveh could retort, their lips were joined once more, and Alhaitham’s were unbelievably gentle and soft and timid and the opposite of what they had been under the mistletoe. Their arms moved to a slow embrace, tangling their limbs until their skin was pressed at every possible point. Kaveh trailed Alhaitham’s features with a featherlight touch, aching to draw the dilated pupils in those breathtaking eyes.
”You should start believing in Christmas magic,” Kaveh whispered, smoothing down the rebellious grey strands on Alhaitham’s hair. “Because this was my wish, and it came true.”
Alhaitham chuckled, drinking in the face in front of him with an adoring gaze. “Can I still make my wish, or do I have to wait for next year?”
”Well, it’s not midnight yet.”
”Then my wish is to spend my whole life with you,” Alhaitham murmured, pressing a tender kiss to the mole near Kaveh’s ear and nearly causing the man in his arms to faint.
When, after a suspiciously long few minutes, they returned to the house, everyone clapped at their joined hands and Sethos threw out confetti which he had somehow thought to bring.
”Finally,” Hat Guy grunted, still frowning. “Even I had noticed.”
”I’m really happy for you,” Collei smiled.
”I guess you two are having a merry kissmas,” Cyno added, earning him a pat on the shoulder from Cyrus.
After everyone had left and the colourful lights had been turned off, giving way to pure silence, Alhaitham and Kaveh climbed onto the same bed and slept in each other’s arms. Kaveh could not remember a more comfortable night in years, snuggled against the baggy warmth of pyjamas worn by the man he loved. Alhaitham, for his part, had trouble falling asleep with a wash of blonde hair weighing heavily on his chest, but the sight brought him such immeasurable joy that he was content to stay awake, simply taking in the soft, measured breathing of an angel.
”Good morning,” Kaveh mumbled, yawning and squinting at the intruding morning light.
Alhaitham grunted, still half-asleep with his face buried in the pillow.
”It’s Christmas Day, sleepyhead,” Kaveh whispered, poking his cheek. “I need a good morning kiss.”
That managed to cut through Alhaitham’s daze, and he applied herculean strength to turn his head, facing Kaveh with half-lidded eyes.
It took another half hour to coax Alhaitham out of bed, but the appeal of freshly brewed coffee and leftover dessert for breakfast led them towards the kitchen, still wrapped in each other’s arms.
”I think there’s something under the tree,” Alhaitham noted, pulling lightly on Kaveh’s hand.
”Did we forget one of the presents?” he replied, frowning as he walked into the living room.
”I don’t think so, it’s not the wrapping paper you bought,” Alhaitham remarked, hiding a smile. “Maybe Santa passed by.”
Kaveh threw his head back into a snicker, opening the present. “It’s been a while since I got a present from him.”
Inside, he found two matching sweaters, one green and one red. They were far from aesthetically pleasing and the thick material was completely inadequate for Sumeru weather, but they made Kaveh’s eyes glitter.
Alhaitham pressed a delicate kiss to his cheek. “Merry Christmas, my love.”