"Carla, please – count it."

“By the Twelve, Kojirou, do you have to look this good in everything?”

@cherrigraphy from x.

   “Yeah, almost as if I know how to package things up.  I can do more than just cook and skate, you know.”  He probably could have put the gifts in a bag, but he knew Kaoru enjoyed his careful, methodical unwrapping process.  Sure enough, the paper was meticulously pried apart before the contents were revealed.  The robe elicits the expected response.  He’d gone and felt several different ones before deciding this particular one was the softest.

The watch… It went beyond sleek or modern to be simply, utterly featureless.  He knew how much Kaoru would hate it, as deeply as he would love the robe.  It was all a matter of balance.  Give him something he can’t resist, and then toss in something he could only hate with every fiber of his being.  “My board is perfect as is.  You’ve got to admit, the watch has the whole minimalist thing going for it.”

He accepts the box that Kaoru offers in return.  It’s got a bit of weight to it, which piques his interest.  The lures are elegant looking things, though he doesn’t know why they need any AI enhancements, lures have worked just fine throughout history without microchips.  Still, he’s eager to see what they can do, and Kaoru won’t complain about being dragged along on his next excursion if it means observing them.  The second item gives him pause.  It doesn’t look like it’s meant for fishing...  He arches a brow.  “Am I going to regret asking what this is?”

     “You do?” Kaoru questioned teasingly, feigning surprise. 

     His eyes held a sparkle spurred both by amusement and how secretly thrilled he was with his presents. Kaoru did very much love both of them, but he couldn’t very well let Kojirou know, could he? The calligrapher had a box of all the precious mementos they’d gathered since they were children. It had a myriad of items; from a small rock from the playground Ko had given him when they were children, to a polaroid of them in front of Sia the day Kojirou opened his restaurant. 

     To Kaoru, twas not quite balance as it was symmetry. “This watch is as minimalist as the contents of your head, Dumb Gorilla.” Perhaps the AI lures had been an excuse for Kaoru to follow Kojirou out on one of his fishing trips. Perhaps.

Kaoru takes the box curiously. "It is... impeccably wrapped." How long had this taken him? Carefully, he unwraps the present, taking care to make the most minimal of tears so he can unsheathe the paper whole and fold it to put it by his side. The process is slow and unnerving. "Ah..." He says the moment his hand touches the soft pink fluff that is the bathrobe. Kaoru draws the present out, unable to stop himself from burying his face in it for a moment. "I love it." His fingers are already kneading the fabric like a cat. That is, until the watch draws his attention.

   “When hasn’t the Christmas baking been massive?  Even without the new kids you know it’s always been a big deal.”  He covered the bowl of lemon zest and set it aside.  “You remember years ago when you came over to the house and my grandmother put you to work.  You were trying to make all the cookies perfect spheres and she eventually had to shoo you away because you would have been working until Christmas Day.”

    “Here, you can either roll out the next batch of dough, or chop these walnuts for the chocolate cookies.”  He could see the way Kaoru eyed the dough, he was clearly thinking about something. Well, as long as the shapes were family-friendly he could probably work with whatever artistic creation his boyfriend decided on.

     “Well, it does seem like it’s a lot more this year.” Kaoru knew it had a lot to do with how well Sia was doing, along with the addition of their new family who Kojirou couldn’t help but feed. He smiled fondly at the memories of their childhood. Kaoru would never stop being fortunate about how they grew up together. “Might I remind you that your grandmother adored me for how meticulous I was? She liked having me over to keep her beloved grandson company.”

Oh... Wow, had everyone known since they were that young?

   “Already the right size?  Out of the two of us, which one is the chef-owner of a high-end restaurant and knows his stuff?”  They were all the right size to work and both of them knew it, but the jabs came naturally.  Actually, he could probably put the sakura petals on top of each of the tins once they were filled.  He went back to the lemons.   “We have an army.  Two teenagers, one florist, one stray cat, and… someone else.  Who am I missing?” 

     “Oh yeah, this pink-haired Four-Eyes that keeps showing up to harass me.”

     “Oh yeah? Well you’re probably gonna need glasses, Blind Gorilla!” If the struffoli could hear them it would be terrified. He narrowed his eyes at the list his boyfriend presented him. “Sounds about ri- YOU WOULDN’T! Might I remind you that it was you who mentioned that Christmas baking was a massive undertaking.” He had. Kojirou had just never said he needed any help, but Kaoru decided to waltz in anyway.

  “Of course I’ve been admiring them.  How could I not when they’re usually all over me?”  He attempted to focus solely on the bright yellow lemons, a sunny, citrusy scent released as he began to grate the zest.  After a period of rather industrious sounds from his boyfriend’s direction, he finally looked up.  “Iced lemon, cherry, chocolate spice, fig rolls, and almond paste.”    

    “So you’re a sculptor now?  You know they’re meant to be chopped up and fried, right?”  Well, most of the dough had been properly rolled.  Kaoru could have his little works of art too.  “Though as long as those dry properly I suppose you can fry them up too.”  He shook his head, grinning.  “Now lay the ropes over the rack there so it can dry out.  I’ve got more dough.”  So much more.

     “True, and most of the time they don’t want to leave you,” Kaoru grinned. The list of cookies pulled his attention away from the strips and his mouth watering could be seen in his eyes. Kojirou’s cooking was amazing and his baking was heavenly. That he had so many different types of cookies to look forward to only made him yearn harder.

He rolled his eyes as Carla spoke, thankfully cutting off Kaoru’s words.  “Make them a little thinner than those delicate little fingers of yours, Precious.”  He hefted the sugar bag to move it out of the way.  The glaze would be the last thing to be made, the cookies themselves came first.

Once it appeared that Kaoru was at least attempting to do something even remotely helpful, he returned to what he’d been working on before his boyfriend barged in.  There was a large bag of bright yellow lemons that needed zesting.

     “Delicate? So you’ve been admiring them now, haven’t you?” Kaoru teased, but his laser focus did not let go of the fact that the bag of icing sugar was being moved out of the way. It needed to be front and centre, imbued in the cookies themselves, layer after layer! Imagine, cookies with molten icing oozing out with every bite like...

Ooh, were those lemons? 

   “Supervise, huh?”  Kaoru certainly looked pleased with himself.  “Well, if you’d like to actually do something helpful so that you can shove sweets into your face quicker, instead of just being a mildly pleasant-looking obstacle in my kitchen, you can take that struffoli dough and roll it into little ropes for me.  Once you’ve done that you can set them over those racks over there to dry out.”

     The blossom-haired man smirked at the mention of getting to shove the sweet baked goods into his face faster. His boyfriend certainly knew what he was about.

     “Define ‘little’,” Kaoru said as he rolled up his sleeves and went to wash his hands, “’Spagetti’ little, ‘penne’ little, or as thick as your d-” 

     Kaoru’s phone buzzed on the table and Carla’s voice emerged from it. 

“You have one new email from Mr. Tanaka. He’d like to schedule a meeting this Friday at 1100hrs, to go over the designs for his new building.”

     “Friday? That works for me. Please lock it in.”

He arched a brow at the bag.  “You know I’ve already got plenty, right?  Or did you already forget I run a restaurant?  I hope you’re not getting senile, Four-Eyes.”  It was always good to have extra, of course.  The holidays meant dozens upon dozens of baked treats.

    “We?  Are you saying you’re here to help?”

     Kaoru looked like unbelievably triumphant about his giant bag of icing sugar. “Whatever you have, it’s not enough, Thick-skulled Gorilla.” There were two reasons to bake even more this year; this is the first year they’d get to do it as a couple, and this was also the first year they had a gaggle of mouths to feed. 

Christmas-cookie-making time!

   With absolutely no warning whatsoever, Kaoru walked around the side of the counter and dumped a massive bag of icing sugar on the surface before looking up at Kojirou.

  “…”

Maybe it’s time to take his key and change all the locks on his doors.  Not that something like that would ever stop Kaoru.

     “If you technologize anything on or in me you’re not getting carbonara or anything else ever.  Turn yourself into a science project.”

     “And you’re certain I haven’t done so already?” Kaoru looked up and flashed his boyfriend an innocent smile. 

   “Yes, for those unsuspecting gourds.  They’ve done nothing to deserve your mad science experiments, you AI Freak.”

     “Some of these are heirloom varieties.  Technology is the last thing they need.”

     “I’m making their lives better by enriching their purpose. They will reach their elevated selves.” Spoken like a true madman.

He gazed across the aisle at Kaoru.  Even here, in the confines of the plane’s interior, he was mesmerizing.  Out of place, in a way, because he still managed to look ethereal.  Like he belonged to some other realm.  Kojirou could barely managed to tear his gaze away, the spell only broken by the stewardess.  

Once the obligatory flight safety segment ended, the lights dimmed.  He always enjoyed this part, the sudden rush as the plane sped forward, the land falling away swiftly beyond the tiny windows.  He almost missed the cramped economy seats, because he could hold Kaoru’s hand, or lean over to squish him against the window as he tried to get a glimpse of their liftoff.  Oh well, he’d have to settle for this spacy yet separate seat.

At least he could spend the flight staring at his boyfriend.

     When the plane started moving and there was no one around, Kaoru reached across the space between them for Kojirou’s hand, smiling with that glint in his eyes. They weren’t sitting together, but they had plenty of time to make up for it. He’d planned for a month’s worth of things to do, and was rather intent on seeing it through.