Work Text:
Abolish was in the middle of paperwork when there was a knock on his door. He nearly jumped out of his skin as he stood up and looked towards where the front door was, all the way in the other room. He hadn't been expected anyone, had he? It almost never invited anyone over, so surely it hadn't.
Setting its pen down slowly, it ran a hand through its hair as it left its office, heading to the front door. It opened it to see the last people it'd expected there.
"Hello?" it said slowly, glancing between the two women standing in front of it. Apo looked… nervous to say the least, about as nervous as Abolish felt. Cherri on the other hand was smiling brightly at him, a container of cookies in her hands. "What are you two doing here…?"
"We're here to visit you, obviously," Cherri said as he stepped back to let them inside. "It's Christmas Eve and we haven't stopped by in a while, so…" She trailed off as she glanced around. "Do you not celebrate Christmas?"
"Oh, uh, I mean I do, but-" Abolish shut the door behind them, hating the way his hands were shaking slightly. "I wasn't expecting anyone, I… I usually spend it alone, work and all you know. I don't have much time for holidays."
It watched as Apo and Cherri looked at each other, expressions mostly unreadable. The only thing that was obvious was the very I told you so look on Cherri's face.
"Surely you have a little time to spend with some friends?" Cherri said, walking to the kitchen and setting the cookies on the table. Abolish fidgeted with his sleeve as he stared. He'd never gotten used to how easy everything seemed to come to her, how she managed to talk so effortlessly.
"I mean, yeah, but…" It trailed off as Apo looked over at it. Their dark hair was tied back into a braid, only having a thin streak of white; she'd never been too keen on drinking blood anymore often than she needed to.
"I like your sweater," she said slowly, before looking away again. He glanced down at the black sweater he was wearing, the silver embroidery on the ends of the sleeves.
"Thanks," he mumbled, running a hand through his hair again. It wished it'd known the two of them were coming, then maybe it would've had time to prepare, make food or at least clean up.
"So, Abolish, what've you been up to?" Cherri asked, looking it up and down. It shoved its hands in its pockets as it spoke.
"Not much? Just… work." It was pretty much always working. It didn't have much else to do, after all, not when it hated going to parties and wasn't close enough to many people to give or receive gifts.
"Work, yeah?" Cherri walked over and lightly rested one of xer hands on his shoulders, half guiding him to the living room to sit on the couch. "I hope that hasn't been too bad."
"No, it hasn't been." He slowly sat down next to her, only for Apo to sit on his other side, basically trapping him in between them. "Usually they don't give me that much work during the holidays, Christmas especially."
"That's good, at least," Cherri said, leaning a bit closer to it. "What have you been working on?"
"Paperwork, mostly." It gave a small shrug. "End of the year always means a lot of paperwork. Organizing everything I've done this year, filling out any forms I need to complete again… It's boring, really." It ducked its head to avoid looking at either of the people next to it. "What have you two been doing?"
"Visiting a few friends, decorating, stuff like that," Cherri said, humming as xe leaned back against the couch.
"Baking way too many cookies," Apo added with a smile at their wife, who let out a small laugh.
"Not that many," she huffed, crossing her arms playfully. "Look, we have enough friends to give them to, and we have Abolish. Even if he rarely ever eats."
Abolish glanced up at Cherri's face, his gaze catching on the way xe stared at Apo. Xe stared at her like she was the most perfect, beautiful person in the entire world; although some part of him he refused to acknowledge did feel the same way, it did make his stomach twist a little.
"Do either of you need anything to drink?" it asked suddenly, trying to distract itself. "I have blood if you want some. I always have some just in case."
It was already standing up as Cherri responded, "I think we're both good, but thanks, Abolish."
"Alright," it said with an absent nod, walking to the kitchen. "I'm going to make myself something."
For a few moments, its gaze lingered on the cookies Cherri had brought. There was a small envelope on top of them. It could read that later, once the two of them had left. It was honestly a little too anxious right now to focus on anything.
As he opened the fridge and grabbed the milk, he could faintly overhear Cherri and Apo whispering to each other. He tried not to listen - it was certainly not a good thing to be eavesdropping on his friends - but after all his training, it was impossible not to.
"I really don't think this is going to work," Apo was whispering to Cherri. Glancing back for a split second, Abolish could see them leaning over to whisper in her ear. "There's no way he's going to pick up on anything, I mean it hasn't in the past several decades-"
"I'm sure he will," Cherri murmured back. "We just need to make it a bit more obvious. And if that doesn't work, we can just outright tell him."
"Honestly, I think that's the only way he'll figure anything out." Abolish's hands trembled a bit as he stuck the cup in the microwave. He wished he could stop listening.
"He's not stupid-"
"I'm not saying it is, I'm just saying that it's terrible at figuring out other people's feelings towards him," Apo muttered with a small sigh. "And I mean, yes it's adorable that he still has no idea, but I'd rather not play this game for another hundred years."
"I know, I know." Abolish closed his eyes and sank his teeth into his lower lip. "We're going to do it today, alright? Regardless of how obvious we have to be for him to figure it out."
Apo was quiet for a moment, and Abolish almost looked back at her, before she said, "Alright, but you have to be the one to tell it."
Cherri let out a soft laugh. "I will."
The microwave beeped, and Abolish quickly opened his eyes again. Opening it up, he carefully grabbed the cup, setting it on the counter. Cherri and Apo were silent once again as it made its hot chocolate.
He sipped his drink as he walked over, even though it burned his tongue slightly. Apo and Cherri were both just staring at him, in a way that he couldn't tell what they were thinking whatsoever, only making him feel more nervous about their conversation earlier. Something in him was telling him that they must hate him, even though logically he knew they probably wouldn't be visiting him if they did.
"So, Abolish, I wanted to ask you something," Cherri asked as he sat down, holding his cup in his lap to warm his hands. He tilted his head at xem just barely.
"Yeah?" he hummed, lifting his drink to his lips again to gently blow on it. He watched as Cherri glanced at her wife for a moment.
"Are you… dating anyone, or are you still single?" It was glad it hadn't been in the middle of drinking its hot chocolate or it surely would've choked. It nearly dropped the cup, quickly holding onto its drink tighter and lowering it back down.
"Uh, no," it mumbled, blinking a few times. "I'm not dating anyone, why? That'd really just be… a distraction from work, and after all it's not like there's anyone I've been interested in." That was only a little bit of a lie. It did have some people it maybe liked a little, but realistically those people would never reciprocate its feelings.
Cherri nodded slowly, saying, "I was just wondering. I mean, you're one of the nicest people I know, I'd be surprised if no one had even tried to ask you out."
"No?" He hated how warm his face felt. He leaned forward in an attempt to hide his face, staring at the floor. "I… No one has, yeah. I don't see why anyone would?"
Cherri looked at Apo and made some sort of expression at her, and she shook her head slightly in response. With a slight roll of her eyes, Cherri said, "Well, I'd be happy to be the first."
Abolish's heart nearly stopped. Had it heard her correctly? It slowly looked over at her, searching her expression for any hint of humor or sarcasm. Even after several seconds of trying to find anything that indicated xe was making fun of it, it couldn't.
"We both would," Apo added suddenly, and Abolish nearly passed out right there.
He sat up properly to look between the two of them. Both of them were just staring at him, and for once he truly had no idea what was going on. Surely he must be dreaming. There was absolutely no way the two most gorgeous, perfect, kind women on Earth actually liked him.
His heart pounded as Cherri reached forward and rested a hand on the side of his face, leaning in and kissing his cheek. She smiled at him while his face burned and he could hardly think.
"Really? I-" He took a deep breath, tilting his head away when his face somehow felt even hotter. "That… okay. Sure, I mean I'd be happy to…"
Cherri interrupted it with a soft laugh and another kiss on its cheek. Her voice was warm and sweet as she said, "I can tell. You know, we've been trying to drop hints for a very long time now."
"Ah." Abolish swallowed, chest tightening from embarrassment. So that was what their conversation earlier had been about. "Sorry about that."
"No need to apologize," Apo said, shaking her head slightly. There was a soft smile on her face, one that Abolish cherished anytime he got to see, especially when it was directed at him.
"Yeah, it's adorable how oblivious you are," Cherri added. Xe then tilted his head towards xem, pressing her lips to his. Abolish froze for just a moment before it melted into the kiss. Cherri pulled away after just a few seconds - which didn't feel like nearly long enough - and whispered, "Merry Christmas, Abolish."