O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

[mustachio69]

It's official. Christmas tree picking is David's favorite day of the  entire year. Sure, Thanksgiving is amazing and comes with its own incredible dining table traditions, and Christmas Day is always special. If waking up on December 25th wrapped up in Elijah's arms is the only gift he ever gets from now on, David will be the happiest boy ever after. Valentine's Day is always sweet, their anniversaries are always noted and birthdays never fail to make him smile. David has made more happy memories in the past three years than the previous twenty three combined.

One of his happiest was trimming and decorating a real tree in Elijah's living room, just a couple of months after their first date. Elijah's first grown up Thanksgiving. David's first real fir tree. At the time it was the nicest thing anyone had ever done for him and he couldn't possibly fathom how anything could beat it. Elijah, of course, found ways. It hadn't even taken him very long. That same day, he'd given David a key to his apartment. Now, that's always the first ornament he hangs, giving it pride of place.

So it's imperative they find a tree that is worthy of such an honour. Among other things...

"Hmm..." He hums from below, squatting in front of a robust-looking tree. "I don't think we'd both fit under here at the same time," he concludes, turning his head up to Elijah. Not unless one of them is happy to get their bare back and butt scratched by thousands of pine needles. "The trunk is too short." 

David loves all their little traditions. 

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[5678ing]

"It's not dumb," Elijah is quick to respond.

"We'll get this home, unwrap it so the branches don't stay bound in this shape for too long and then come back," he promises, taking up his end of the tree again. "Then we can skate and sniff the trees and have a second hot chocolate. Okay?"

[mustachio69]

Sniff the trees. Elijah certainly knows the way to David's heart. The idea makes him smile and he'd bet his bottom dollar it's something Elijah would actually do, even just once, to make David happy.

"Okay," he says, exhaling a soft laugh through his nose. "You're the best."

[5678ing]

Thank god. He probably would have given in if David insisted on staying, but there's no way he could have focused on anything but whether or not their tree was safe. Distracted ice skating is probably even more dangerous than regular old ice skating.

"Great," he says. "Oh. Just a warning. I'm terrible at ice skating."

[mustachio69]

"Ha, right. You're not terrible at anything," David replies, following Elijah past the clusters of people still searching for their trees.

It's actually quite intimidating sometimes just how talented Elijah is at...seemingly everything. But David has been with him long enough to know that he's not always as confident as he seems. He refuses to believe that Elijah's not good on his feet on every surface though. If his dancing is anything to go by, he'll be twirling rings around David out there.

[5678ing]

"Not true. You kick my ass at video games all the time," Elijah reminds him.

"Seriously. It'll be like watching a baby deer taking its first steps. Promise me you won't think any less of me after you've seen it." Maybe they'll have those walker things that they have little kids use to get around on the ice. Hopefully not ones shaped like penguins and polar bears.

[mustachio69]

"You're getting better!" David exclaims in Elijah's defense. "Slowly..." He's always going to look terrible compared to David because he's ace at gaming - in fact, it's probably the thing he's best at in life. Sex included.

"If you think you're terrible now, you should have seen yourself when we met. Your level of terrible is like a regular person's good and I refuse to accept that that doesn't extend to skating too."

[5678ing]

"I appreciate the blind confidence you have in my ability, but you're only saying it because you haven't seen it yet." None of the grace and coordination needed to dance seems to follow him out onto the ice. He doesn't think his background should automatically make him Johnny Weir when he slaps on a pair of skates, but surely he should be able to make a better go at it than Bambi.

"It's good we're going back to the apartment first... I'm going to need a second layer of pants."

[mustachio69]

"You can't bruise your butt," David orders like it's the eleventh Commandment, gaze dropping to admire said body part. It's definitely amongst his top ten favorite parts of Elijah.

"In fact, I forbid any harm coming to it," he continues, adjusting his grip on the tree as he walks. "I have plans for that butt."

[5678ing]

"I'm not worried about bruising it, I'm worried about being cold and wet from falling so much." He slows at at crosswalk, looking both ways before continuing on.

"Actually, no, I am kind of worried now." Hopefully he's not sore for all the wrong reasons tomorrow morning.

[mustachio69]

"I'll warm you up and dry you off," David reassures him, trying not to sound too excited by the prospect. Would anyone blame him if he 'helped' Elijah down once or twice just to make sure he's good and frozen?

"And massage your sore bits," he offers, starting to struggle with the weight of the tree. It's not an entirely selfless act; David actually knows he's pretty good at giving Elijah massages and it's hard to beat the sense of pride he gets when he makes his boyfriend feel good.

[5678ing]

"You oaky?" He asks. "Do you need a minute?"

The tree would probably be fine if David dropped his end and Elijah dragged it the rest of the way by the stump... but he's pretty sure David would see the suggestion as blasphemy so he doesn't even bring it up.

[mustachio69]

"I'm just a bit tired," David replies, lifting a knee to rest the tree on to give an arm a break. He wobbles precariously on one foot. "I'll get my second wind in a moment."

If they didn't have a tree right now, David would be worming his way onto Elijah's back to get a lift home.

[5678ing]

"Put it down for a sec," Elijah says, keeping a grip on his end.

"There's no rush, the ice isn't going anywhere." Unfortunately... "We don't need you to strain something before you even get a chance to get out there."

[mustachio69]

David tries moving out the way of other pedestrians but can't do that and hold the tree at the same time. So he reluctantly does as Elijah suggests but not because he can't handle it or anything.

"I'm fine, I can do it," he insists. "I've had too much sugar and not enough sleep, that's all." As soon as he says it out loud, a big yawn catches him by surprise. Any more of those today and his jaw might just get stuck that way.

[5678ing]

"Too bad there's no snow yet," Elijah says, moving the tree to stand upright while David takes a breather. "We have a giant dog. Hook a plastic sled to him and he would have the tree back at the apartment in no time." He would have enjoyed it, too; it's what the breed was made for.

[mustachio69]

"We could get one with wheels!" David instantly perks up at the thought. "He could pull our groceries. He could pull me!"

Too much excitement too quickly makes David steady himself against the wall. He really hopes it snows this winter; watching Whizzer play around in it would make his heart swell a hundred times, David just knows it would.

"D'you think he's gonna be OK with the tree and the lights and the decorations? Last year he wasn't with us in the run up to Christmas and then when he was, he slept in his crate a lot of the time." And was much easier to move back then. One misplaced lean from Whizzer now and the whole tree could come crashing down.

[5678ing]

"That... might not work out too well for either of you going downhill," Elijah laughs, both at the thought and at David's enthusiasm.

"Maybe if we put things up in stages, not all at once so it's not a full sensory overload for him? We can keep the bare tree up for a few days for him to sniff around and get bored of it, then slowly begin adding the decorations." One day the garland, then the ornaments. The tree skirt and stockings are definitely going to be an issue at first, he's sure of it.

[mustachio69]

"I like that plan," David grins, straightening up and pulling himself back together. "We can collect pine cones from the park and put them around the base, stop him from peeing on the tree."

David has always found Whizzer's aversion to pine cones pretty hilarious. A sizeable portion of his phone's memory is taken up with videos of Whizzer getting spooked by them, pouncing and running away, or whining to be picked up because there's a pine cone in his path.

"It's gonna be so good," he singsongs joyfully, grasping hold of the top of the tree again. "Let's go. I'm good. I don't wanna wait to see you on the ice a second longer than I have to."