#sac2021

Taryn picks up another tablet and shrugs, walking away. “Are your sex lives that boring that he has to resort to knitting?”

He hears some laughter from the interns and shoots them a vicious glare. And Levi thinks seriously about demoting Taryn’s status as his best friend in the whole entire world and to the wench who has an unhealthy obsession with their boss. But that thought is quickly replaced by the image of Nico Kim — his taekwondo practicing, orthopaedic surgeon, six foot tall boyfriend — knitting.

*

Levi’s still thinking about it. Even after a very un-boring, very exciting, very hot night of sex life activities, thank you very much.

He’s thinking about Nico knitting and why. But most importantly, why he hasn’t told Levi about it.

A million and twelve reasons flash through Levi’s mind. Maybe Nico’s knitting because he really is bored. Or maybe he’s secretly a crafter that goes to their local yarn shop on his days off and hangs out with old ladies and fabulous men with great fashion sense. Oh god, he hopes it’s really not because of their boring sex life.

Nico’s fast asleep, his head tucked into the crook of Levi’s neck and an arm draped over his chest. He’s warm and heavy and keeps Levi anchored and out of the tangled mess of yarn thoughts he’s made for himself.

“Or maybe he just likes it, you dummy,” Levi whispers to himself in the dark. Nico makes a noise (That’s cute, Levi thinks) and rolls over on his other side.

Good. Now he can get up to use the bathroom without waking Nico up. And maybe he’ll walk by Nico’s bag and maybe he’ll accidentally trip on it and maybe it’ll accidentally open and everything inside comes out. And maybe, maybe, maybe, Levi, ever the good samaritan, will put everything back inside and happen, by chance, to see what Nico’s knitting.

Before he knows it, Levi’s crouched over Nico’s bag and pulling out, not one, but several balls of yarn and needles. What’s attached to the needles puzzles Levi though: it’s not more than a foot long and wide. It could be a scarf but the edges are all crooked and wonky. And the yarn is as stiff as a board. Just what the hell is Nico —

“What are you doing?”

Yarn and needles catch air and meet the wall, much to Levi’s embarrassment. He curses to himself and avoiding eye contact with Nico, sheepishly walks over to pick back up the poor knitted thing.

“Sorry,” Levi says, quietly. He cradles everything in his arms in shame, shoulders drooping.

A sigh then Nico says, “Come here.”

Levi immediately looks up and goes to Nico, who doesn’t look that disappointed at his boyfriend, but Levi’s determined not to dwell on it as he collapses into Nico’s open arms.

“Oof, watch where you point those things.”

“Sorry, again!” Levi almost cries and pushes the knitting off of them and just buries himself deeper into Nico’s bare chest. God, why is he the way he is? Now Nico’s really never going to tell him why he’s knitting and maybe he’ll run off with one of those well-dressed knitting grandpas.

“I’m not going to run off with a well-dressed knitting grandpa, Levi.”

What? Fuck.

“I said that out loud, didn’t I?” Levi says and he feels Nico nod and chuckle. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be looking in your bag—“

“Yea, you’re right. You shouldn’t be.”

“—But Taryn saw you knitting and said our sex life must be boring and—

“Boring? Sex life?”

“What if you are and that’s why you didn’t tell me you’re secretly knitting? Why are you knitting anyway? What are you knitting? It looks —

Two hands grab a hold of his head and Levi’s forced to face Nico. He looks so serious but also so calm.

“Shut up.”

Levi blinks and blurts out, “W-what?”

“Levi.”

“Okay, I’ll shut up.”

“Levi.”

It takes every neuron in his brain working hand in hand with no breaks and overtime to not open his mouth and say something.

Nico waits a beat and then smiles. He’s still got Levi’s face in his hands, his cheeks squished up and lips puckered out in defeat.

“My halmoni taught me and Nadia how to knit when we were kids. And I heard knitting can help with improving dexterity so I thought I’d pick it back up again. I didn’t tell you because it’s almost Christmas and the scarf is for you.”

“It’s a sca—?” He’s shushed immediately.

“Yes, it’s a scarf. And yes, I know it looks like shit. Knitting is hard. And no, our sex life is far from boring. Don’t listen to Taryn. Or Link, if you see him.”

Nico releases his head, finally, and kisses him. Levi forgets where and who he is for a moment, completely engulfed by Nico’s kiss.

“Satisfied?” Nico asks when he pulls away.

Levi nods, feeling his body turn to mush and mould into the shape of Nico.

“Wait. What did Link say?”

*

It’s Saturday night and two grown men are wrapped in blankets on the couch, needles in their hands and balls of yarn between them. A hockey game is playing on the TV but it’s mostly being ignored. Levi and Taryn are by the stove, heating up a kettle for hot chocolate. Seattle just needs to grace them with some rare snowfall along with the biting chill that’s passing through and it would almost be the perfect holiday evening.

“Just how many stitches did you drop, Nico? Are you making a scarf for the summer or the winter? These holes aren’t going to help with the cold at all.”

“Give it back. I can fix it myself.”

“As if. Your boyfriend's gonna get frostbite and it’ll be all your fault.”

“I should’ve just googled how to knit instead of asking you.”

“You’re welcome, Kim.”

“Never said thank you, Atticus.”  

Levi can hear Nico grumbling under his breath and he has to cover his laughter as he watches Nico fake jab Link behind his back with knitting needles.

“I heard Dr. Grey knows how to knit too. Do you think all the great surgeons know how? You think we need to learn too?” Taryn asks as she pours some marshmallows in her cup.

Levi’s smile instantly disappears. “Shit. I think we do.”

The night before they were about to head back out to San Francisco, to attend family dinner at the Kim residence, it had started to snow so severely, that the next morning, Nico couldn’t even open the door. And he tried. His ankle still hurt a little from him karate kicking the door. He has to stop doing these as they seem to never actually open anything.

If he was being honest, Nico didn't mind being stuck here. They’d see their friends and co-workers year-round. No amount of tinsel or mistletoe could change that. As long as they’d get to snag some of Casey’s special gingerbread cookies, everything was going to be just fine. And about their families, well.

Myrna had slowly adjusted to Nico being around. It’s been a process, but now they even shared inside jokes and could have normal non-awkward conversations. He enjoyed the stories about Levi’s childhood most, much to Levi’s dismay. But funny stories and delicious latkes were nothing against having Levi in his arms, his warm back pressed against Nico’s stomach, knowing there was nobody going to be around for the rest of the day.

Not to even think about his own family, either. The plan was to visit Nico’s parents three days ago. Wanted was a stretch here, Nico wanted nothing less than visit his family over the holidays with his boyfriend. He had only recently told his parents about Levi’s existence and the reaction could have been better, but it hadn’t been the worst. Awkward silence and change of topic were better than immediately being disowned.  

It was actually his Appa who reached out to him first and told him to bring along Levi so they could properly meet him. He hadn’t heard a word from his Eomma for over a week after until she called to ask about what Levi can eat, since Yunjae had told her he’s Jewish, which then was followed by a semi-passionate tirade about how he didn’t tell her, his Eomma, about this man that he seemed to be so disgusting in love with, as Yunjae has put it. Nico had made a mental note to chew her out about it in person.

But the snow had intervened and in person didn’t come. Yet. He won’t forget about his little snitch of a sister.

Feeling movement in his arms, Nico was pulled back to the very pleasant present that didn’t involve anyone but his boyfriend.  

Levi turned around and bumped his nose into Nico’s chest. “Morning,” he mumbled against Nico’s skin, beard tickling a bit.

At first, his mom was hesitant. A Christmas tree in their home? Their neighbors surely would see them bring in a tree. Or visiting family members. What would they think? That her son rejected her, rejected their faith? How could she be a good mother if she allowed a Christmas tree into their home?

And yet, as always, Myrna couldn’t say no to those big brown eyes. The next day, the two of them went the nearby tree farm to pick the prettiest small tree they had to offer. And after making a stop at Home Depot to pick up some red and golden ornaments, they set up the tree in their corridor.  

It was a pretty little tree and Levi adored it.

It never changed anything about his faith. After all, it was just a pretty little tree.  

“Suck it! Red and gold it is, bitches!” Taryn yelled excited, pointing at Levi. In their ongoing debate, Taryn had been team red and gold. Casey wanted red and silver while Dahlia was for blue and silver.

Nico didn’t care about any of this.

He did care about the cookies that Taryn brought in this morning, though. They were delicious and he had an iron grip around the tin. Only to make sure they don’t just disappear in the whole decoration chaos.

Just to make sure.

-

The tin was half-empty by the time they finished the tree.  

Almost finished. There was only the star left to be put on top and neither of them could reach it. Their eyes landed on the cookie-eater.

“Wha?” He asked, a crumb clinging onto the corner of his mouth. Man, those cookies were really amazing. He could eat them all day. In fact, that was what he did all-day.

His glance darted over to the tree. In between the fake green, there were red and golden ornaments hanging from the branches with fairy lights in between, cozying up the whole room.

When he looked back at his friends and boyfriend, he still wasn’t any wiser.  

At least not until he noticed the big gold star in Casey’s hands. Ah, his duties were needed.

“Alright,” he sighed as he got up from the couch. The things he’d do for them.

So while Nico grabbed the star, the four gathered around, excitedly watching him place it onto the top of the tree.

“How’s that?” Nico asked, feeling a familiar arm wrap around his waist. He turned his head and grinned, placing a kiss against his boyfriend’s temple.

When Hugo, as Levi called the 350-pound being, bit into the carrot, Nico pulled away and checked whether he still had all of his fingers left or if he would have to call Bailey to break the news of his ending career at the hospital. Fortunately, no such call was needed as he still got all of them.

“What a good boy,” Levi cooed as he patted Hugo’s head, giving him another carrot. How he could be so careless with the instruments that were the reason he had a bright future and career ahead of him that he would just thrust them towards a reindeer's mouth, Nico didn’t understand. But maybe he didn’t need to, as long as he could watch Levi being happy.

He didn’t hate being here either. The farm was an hour drive away from Seattle. Nico almost missed the exist as it was kind of hidden from anyone who didn’t know about it. But that’s what made the farm so peaceful. With barely anyone around, it was just them and nature. A very needed break from all the buzz in the city.

Nico felt Levi’s arm wrap around his shoulders and smiled as he turned to look at him.

“It’s beautiful here,” Levi said, his eyes still captured by the green of the field in front of them. Hugo already had moved on from them, chasing something neither of them could see.

Before Levi could even tell him to shut up or he’s on rectals for the next week, the doors burst open to let in the icy rain and biting winds. The screams of a frantic man ushering his very pregnant wife who was screaming just as loud follow it all.

The phones ring all at once too and the clerks start to hand out incoming traumas like how Bubbe used to hand out gelt like she was made of it.

“Ugh, I miss Bubbe,” Levi says to himself as he rushes forward into one of the trauma rooms just as the paramedics wheel in a patient that had fallen down a flight of stairs.

He takes a deep, almost forlorn breath and gets to work.

Levi really hates being the surgical resident on call in the ER. He curses it when he’s scheduled for it. Taryn loves it because it means she gets first dibs on cool surgeries, but Levi’s sick of being grossed out by everyone that bursts in through the ER doors.

Nico always reminds him that he’s a doctor and that humans, in general, are gross. Levi usually groans about it and laments on the dream that maybe he should’ve been a veterinarian. At least the patients are always cute, even if they try to bite you.

“But then we would’ve never met,” Nico would say and that’s when Levi tells him to stop being cheesy.

“Page ortho. Looks like we’ve got a bilateral ankle fracture,” Levi says, as he investigates the rads that were just taken. At least, In the ER, it also means he gets to see Nico a lot more. People come in all the time with broken bones.

It takes Nico six minutes to come down which meant six minutes of hell in the ER. His patient is screaming his head off and no amount of morphine seems to be stopping the hysterics. Levi almost wants to Ativan him but then Nico finally arrives.

“What do we got?”

Dr. Nico Kim the orthopaedic surgeon is very different from Nico Kim, his boyfriend. But both are very hot. Even the way he snaps his gloves on has Levi picking up his jaw from the floor. It takes Levi a great amount of restraint not to jump his boyfriend in the middle of trauma 2 and calmly and professionally give his report to Nico.

Nico whips through his assessment and decides the patient needs surgery. And what do you know? He has some time right now so it’s off to the surgical floor to repair two broken ankles.

It’s just unfortunate that in the room across, someone needs a chest tube placed and Levi’s pulled out.

Levi sighs as he passes by Nico, who somehow finds a chance to whisper right into Levi’s ear, all quiet and breathy and hot, “You look so good, babe.”

It’s like a thousand candles have been lit right under Levi and Levi has to imagine Carter doing rectal exams in a tutu quickly and urgently before he can cross the hall into the next room.

It’s a miracle he even gets through the day.

It’s four long hours before Levi finally gets to end his shift. He’s been bled on, vomited on, and almost pooped on, but hey, he survived another ER shift. He can’t wait to get home.

“Hi.”

It’s Nico, just outside near their favourite bench, with one hand behind his back and the other reaching out towards Levi. Sometime during their shifts, the rain turned to snow. The world seems quieter now, covered in blankets of soft white.

“Hey,” Levi says and collides into Nico’s chest, greedily breathing in his boyfriend’s familiar warm scent.

“That bad today, huh?” Nico asks. He wraps an arm around Levi’s waist.

“I hate the ER.”

Nico laughs. “But you’re so good at it.”

“No, I’m not,” Levi says and smooshes his face right into Nico’s collar bone. “You weren’t there when Kepner made me cry.”

“Well, you looked good doing it.”

Levi grumbles in disagreement and just hugs Nico tighter.

“I found something on my way out,” Nico says. “Maybe it’ll cheer you up.”

Levi’s full on expecting a snowball to the face but when he looks up, Nico’s holding a small bundle of leaves tied together with a red ribbon.

“Did you steal mistletoe from the hospital?”

“I didn’t steal it. I borrowed it.”

“Did someone give it to you?”

“No.”

“Did you ask someone if you could take it?”

There’s some hesitation in his boyfriend’s voice when he answers, “No.”

“Then are you going to hang it back where you found it?”

Nico looks like he’s thinking hard. “Erm, probably not. I don’t even remember which doorway it was attached to.”

“Oh my god. Then you stole it, Nico.”

Nico wiggles his stolen goods right in Levi’s face and says, “Are you going to kiss me or not? Maybe I should just find someone else to kiss me under the mistle—”

Levi practically shouts before he catches Nico’s lips with his.

Ugh, he hates the ER, but he loves that Nico always tries to make him feel better afterwards. The kiss feels like a much needed break. A reward for a day of dealing with hysterical, broken people and forcing his brain to calm but still make quick, correct, life or death decisions.

He hates the ER, but the adrenaline that comes with it makes him shake with exhilaration. It’s the same feeling he gets as Nico kisses him, holds him close and whispers sweet things in his mouth.

“I hate you,” Levi says to Nico when they pull apart. “And I hate the ER.” But Nico’s smiling wide and brilliant, his hair sprinkled with fluffy tuffs of snow. And his eyes sparkling with warmth. It fills Levi up and makes him feel drunk.

“I know you don’t really,” Nico replies and kisses him once more.

And Levi really doesn’t. Even if the ER makes him want to cry and laugh all at the same time. And even when Nico drives him insane with his whispering and kisses.