#log fires

“Wha…?” Yamato asked, rubbing at his eyes and glancing at the clock on the wall. “Taichi, it’s four thirty in the morning. Stop being so loud and come back to sleep.”

“But we have snow!”

“It’ll be there in a few more hours’ time.”

Taichi pouted. “Doubt it.”

Heaving a huge sigh at his stiff neck and back, as well as his boyfriend’s antics, Yamato got up from the sofa and walked over to the brunet at the window. He looked out.

“Yay, we have snow. Now let’s go to bed.”

With a roll of his eyes, Taichi latched on to Yamato’s arm before the blond could walk off.

“Let’s go play in it before it melts away.”

“Taichi, there’s barely enough to cover the ground.”

“Let’s go out whilst it’s still coming down.”

“It’s not even five.”

“It’ll melt before six.”

Yamato eyed Taichi wearily. To be honest, he didn’t have that many good reasons not to go out; it’s just that he didn’t really want to.

“Come on.”

Taichi, still holding on to Yamato’s arm, started pulling the reluctant blond towards the front door. He grabbed a scarf, wrapping it one-handedly around the blond’s neck, then took a coat off its hook and held it open for Yamato to don. With a defeated sigh, Yamato turned around and threaded his arms through the exposed sleeves, shrugging it onto his shoulders and out of Taichi’s hands. Grinning, the brunet pulled on his own coat and opened the door.

“Snow, here we come!”

Yamato trudged out after him.

Taichi took off running as soon as the two had reached the bottom floor and apartment complex exit. He was waving his arms around as he ran with his mouth open, trying to catch a flake on his tongue.

Yamato stood by the door, watching his childish boyfriend run around the empty streets. He cast his gaze skyward, observing the gently falling white specks. The snow wasn’t heavy, and Taichi had been right in his earlier assessment: it wouldn’t stay around for long.

Yamato’s gaze fell back to street-level and met with a pair of amused brown eyes. The two males smiled at each other.

Taichi sighed, tightening his arms around Yamato, before: “I wish we had a real fireplace…”

“Shh.”

“And real snow…”

“Shush.”

“And I wish it were cold, so that we could cuddle under a thick quilt and not die from overheating…”

“Could you not ruin the mood?”

“Huh. Didn’t think you were such a romantic.”

“It is Christmas.”

“Oh yes, but it would be nice to have a white and cold Christmas—like in the movies.”

“Well sorry we live in Odaiba, where it doesn’t get that cold, or snow that often. And where fireplaces aren’t a standard in houses.”

“Even if they were a standard, the DVD doesn’t give off heat. We’d burn to death with a real fireplace.”

“Are you complaining about the log-fire DVD or…?”

“No, no, no. In the current situation it’s good, but I was just saying that I would prefer the real thing. The whole real thing. Not fake snow falling on the inside of the window. Not a fake fire on TV. Not turning the thermostat lower, just so that we won’t die whilst snuggling.”

“Ok, I get the picture.” Yamato cut in. “But there’s nothing we can do about all that right now, so just shut up and stop ruining the mood.”

The two young men descended into silence for a few minutes, returning their gazes to the fire.

“But next year we’re going to Hokkaido.”

Yamato pulled away from Taichi, blinking at him owlishly. “What?”

“Let’s go to Hokkaido next year, so that we can get the whole real experience of a romantic Christmas.”

A few minutes of mute staring followed the statement.

“…are you being serious?”

“Of course!” Taichi’s eyes shown with excitement, and he adjusted his position so that he was kneeling on the sofa, facing his boyfriend. “They always have snow up there in the winter. And they have cosy little cabins. With real fireplaces!”

Yamato smiled at his boyfriend's excitement, feeling a bit giddy at the idea himself. "Okay."

Taichi grinned, pumping a fist into the air. "Yes! It's decided, then. We have to start planning everything early."

"Sure, but for now..." Yamato launched himself at Taichi, knocking him onto his back. "We cuddle in a pretend-Christmas setting."