night's bringer of war (bringerofwar) wrote in newalliance, @ 2012-12-28 20:49:00 |
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There might be a lot of things that Midnighter and Apollo couldn’t stand, but Christmas was definitely not one of them. If anything, Apollo lived for Christmas. The bright lights. The decorations. The food. The general atmosphere of good tidings and cheer and hope. He loved all the things. So much so, he was certain that Midnighter dreaded the season. Midnighter was a good man, though, and let Apollo go as crazy as he wanted. Apollo wasn’t sure why he loved the season. Maybe it was because he had missed so much of it he was trying to recapture what he’d lost--what they’d both lost. The apartment had been decorated well before the shops had run out of Christmas items. Eventually, though, Apollo had realized he’d gone mad with power and when it looked like the Easter Bunny had taken over Christmas in their living room. So, much to Midnighter’s relief, he was sure, he scaled back to something far less eyesorey. Christmas for the duo was about as normal as they could get. Lucky for them, they weren’t needed for some kind of extraterrestrial threat, so they sat bundled up together in bed eating Christmas cookies and watching Die Hard on TV. Well, at least they had started with a quiet evening watching Die Hard... Apollo took a deep breath and stretched just a bit before he reached out for Midnighter, missing the familiar warmth but when he felt nothing beside him, he turned over and ran his fingers through his hair as he groggily propped himself up, rubbing his eyes. “You’re not opening presents without me, are you, love?” he called out in a slightly raspy tone. Midnighter had put a box under the tree for Apollo a long time ago. It was a really big box. Inside it, the blond would find another box and then another, and then another. They'd progressively get smaller and smaller. Someone might say Midnighter was kind of a dick for doing that, but once he got the middle, it'd be the moment of truth. Inside that box that was inside all the other boxes was their future. He couldn't picture living without him, but he didn't know if Apollo would even want to get married. "No, not opening presents," he said from the kitchen. It wasn't hard to hear Apollo shifting around in the room. He'd managed to put some sweats and a shirt. It was the proper clothes for the winter season. Just as the other man called out from the room, he cracked some eggs into the skillet and let them simmer. A moment later, he poured some pancake batter into the griddle he set on the other burner. "Just making breakfast." The other pan had some sausages frying in them. It was supposed to be breakfast in bed, but it looked like it was going to be breakfast in the kitchen if Apollo had already gotten up. He knew how excited he got about the present thing. No, not opening presents. That was enough for him. He grinned to himself before he flopped back down onto the bed, clutching a pillow for a little bit of a cuddle. He closed his eyes and dozed for a few more moments before the smell of frying sausage wrestled him back awake. Apollo could never turn down a tasty meaty sausage. With a slight groan, Apollo slipped his legs over the edge of the bed and reached for the discarded pair of boxer briefs on the floor and slipped them on. With a yawn, he ventured to the kitchen, paused, went to the bathroom and brushed his teeth, combed his hair, and then went to the kitchen. It wouldn’t do to have morning breath and look unpresentable. Once in the kitchen, he slipped behind Midnighter and wrapped his arms around the man’s waist then kissed the side of his neck. “Morning,” he said. “Cooking breakfast?” Apollo grinned. “I think I might keep you.” He kissed the man’s neck once more before pulling away to let him work and grabbed the orange juice from the refrigerator so he could feel at least the tiniest bit useful. Midnighter relaxed against the warmth of the other man's presence behind him. He didn't miss a beat as he turned the sausage and discarded the eggs onto the plate. The pancakes had been flipped so that the other side could finish as he lightly leaned back against the other man. "Might keep me?" He asked while making a face that showed his distaste of the statement. He almost said something to follow it up, but let it go. It was mostly because the waiting was killing him. He was not good at waiting. He listened to Apollo open the fridge and pour them drinks, just as he finished the plates of food. Everything was warm, and the heat wafted off of the food in smokey white trails. "You should go work on opening your present," he suggested. "I'll take care of everything." With that, he took the orange juice from Apollo's hand and snagged two glasses out of the cabinet. He set them down on the counter. Then tossed the pancakes on both plates. “Might,” he repeated with a teasing grin which only seemed to widen as Midnighter came close, pulling the juice from his hand. Sometimes his breath hitched when he was reminded of just how handsome he was underneath all the black and the leather. “Ooh,” he began, “presents.” He shuffled toward the tree, grabbing the big box (which was relatively light for such a big box only adding to the intrigue that he been killing him since Midnighter had placed it there when he wasn’t looking) and random gift of Midnighter’s and brought them to the kitchen. “Opening gifts alone is not the same,” he said as he handed Midnighter his gift. Unlike Midnighter, Apollo wasn’t nearly as cruel. Midnighter’s gift was in a shiny black and silver bag with white paper sticking out from within. Inside he’d find a velvety box that contained a silver cuff bracelet with a black and a black ring with a silver band around it. In the box was a note that red, “Figured maybe you should have some manly bling. -xoxo, Apollo.” Once the gift had been handed over, he got to tearing through his gift only...to find another box inside. He quirked a brow then glanced at Midnighter. Each time he found another box, he let out a sigh and a mildly irritated groan--each box growing smaller than the next. “This is a waste of perfectly good g-” He reached the center and in it was a small box. His brow furrowed in deep contemplation, though, as he opened it with the small creak echoing through their apartment. Midnighter set the table and proceeded to pour the drinks as Apollo got brought the presents over. He looked at his a moment, pulling out his with what looked like interest? It wasn't that he didn't appreciate what he got, but he was more focused on Apollo's reaction to his gift. He watched the lines of his brows crease more and more as he moved from one box to another. He'd already managed to slip on his bracelet and the ring, which fit perfectly. When did Apollo figure out his size? He'd employed Tora to get Apollo's, which made him wonder if he'd told anyone anything about his hands lately. Moving closer, he watched as Apollo finally got to the last box. As the box creaked open, he was greeted with the sight of a ring. The center of it held a diamond. Once he looked away, he'd see Midnighter bent on one knee in front of him. He didn't really say anything just yet, he wanted to let what was happening sink in. Well, Apollo was certainly at a loss for words. The ring was certainly beautiful. What he’d gotten Midnighter was nothing compared to this, which was about as fancy as a pair of Chucks at a red carpet affair. His thumb gently brushed against the surface of the ring. This, though. This was different. If they were any other couple, he’d think that this gift was something more than what it was -- just a gift -- but he wouldn’t lie and say the idea of what it might mean wasn’t appealing or hadn’t been something he thought about on those nights they could not be together and he thought about what his life would be like with the man who made him feel whole. “It’s wonderful,” he said quietly with a soft smile and as he turned to look at Midnighter, he half-wondered what it would be like if they were like any other couple th- Everything short circuited as he noticed the man was bent on one knee and his eyes widened. “What’re you doing?” he found himself asking in disbelief (though it sounded more like a surprised gasp). Midnighter had a speech prepared. Actually, he had prepared several speeches, because it was kind of a speech thing. There was all the time they spent together and all the experiences and things, but as he looked up at Apollo, the speech really didn't matter. None of them did. Why? Because Apollo knew all that stuff and he didn't need it to be recounted. He'd already suffered through digging through four or five boxes. Midnighter could get to the point. He didn't even bother to answer the question that Apollo had asked him. Instead, he just said it. "Will you marry me?" There was that moment where Apollo’s head swam and he couldn’t form words. If he were the type to cry, he’d be doing it right now. He certainly felt the welling up, but instead he got to his knees, joining him on the ground, and wrapped his arms around Midnighter. “I guess I can keep you,” he whispered before pulling back a bit and offered the man a smile before he kissed him. It felt like forever. If Midnighter thought he wasn't good at waiting before, the minute it took for Apollo to process to the moment he did. He watched as his expression changed and stayed unmoving. That's when the other man joined him on the floor and wrapped his arms around him. He leaned into the other man's hold and returned his embrace. It tightened at hearing the words being whispered to him, and he let out the breath he didn't know he had been holding. "Good," he said as the other man pulled back. He returned his kiss, sliding his hand up to the back of his neck, letting his fingers slip into the long blonde strands. He wasn't thinking about the breakfast getting cold on the table or the one person who would really love to hear about this. He was just thinking about the man in his arms and how he would soon be his husband. |