Christmas
Title: Christmas
Author:saturn_necklace/stormy_words
Pairings: Ohmiya, Sakuraiba
Word count: 3,448
Rating: PG
Genre: Pure crack, fluff, AU
Warnings: British English!
Summary: It's Christmas time, and Santa (Ohno), and the team are preparing for the annual present delivery.
AN: Thank you sunrisecandy for looking over it for me :D.
There are some things in here which are probably only British Christmas traditions. If you don't get something, I suggest googling it. For me though, those things are fairly central to Christmas, so I really couldn't leave them out.
Also, this is just total crack. I mean, Jun's a REINDEER. It's clearly not meant to be taken seriously. And on that note, enjoy :D!
This year, Nino thought, he was going to do it. Without fail. For once in his life he was going to force Santa to stop being so damn selfish and let him ride in the sleigh as well - because really, what did Santa do anyway? All year round, all Santa did was go fishing and do art and generally be lazy, yet he still got all the credit for the presents that, as head elf, Nino put so much hard work into designing and making and spending Santa’s money on - or, well, that Nino put so much effort into forcing Sho, his deputy head (Not that there was much need for that title, considering that there were only a total of two elves - Sho liked to sound that little bit more important though), to design and make and spend Santa’s money on.
Really, Santa wasn’t even called Santa most of the time. 364 days a year he was called Ohno Satoshi. Nino honestly couldn’t see why a tiny man with a fake beard - no matter how attractive said man was - should get the credit for his hard work.
So this year he was going to do it. He was going to ride in that sleigh alongside ‘Santa’ and he was going to share some of that credit. And probably tease Jun (everyone’s favourite reindeer) within an inch of his life as he did so.
No matter how bitter Nino was about never having ridden in the sleigh before, he didn’t dislike Ohno. In fact, they got along very well - very well indeed. Nino wasn’t head elf for no reason - and there was only one reason he would ever be allowed to stay in that position whilst doing essentially no work. He had a certain influence over Ohno. It had, however, always irked him that this influence had never been quite enough to convince Ohno to just let him join in with the yearly Christmas run.
But this year Nino had plans. If influence wasn’t going to be enough, he was going to claim his place next to Santa by force. He could hide under the piles of gifts and reveal himself only when they were already airborne, and it was too late for Ohno to do anything about it. He might even consider doing something like chaining himself to the sleigh - although he suspected he would be laughed at by a certain reindeer, were he to do that (then again, he would probably be laughed at if he hid under the gifts as well - really, he was fighting a losing battle in that respect).
Nino had been plotting for a long time - since the previous Christmas, in fact - and this year he was prepared, for once. And so, as he sat in his and Ohno’s living room, on Ohno’s lap, the day before Christmas Eve, he decided it was time to start the plan.
Unfortunately, just as he was about to begin stage one, a certain deputy head elf and his boyfriend - Aiba the stableman - burst into the room to proudly proclaim that every last gift was wrapped and loaded into the sleigh.
Aiba had begun helping Sho with the gifts many years previous, once he had noticed that Sho effectively did absolutely everything by himself (Nino tended to only spend time around the gifts which interested him - he had spent many an hour, when Ohno was out fishing or doing art, ‘borrowing’ gifts to keep himself occupied; video games and packs of cards had always been favourites when it came to that). Truthfully, it gave Aiba the opportunity to stay away from Jun the reindeer, because contrary to popular belief Jun wasn’t the cute fluffy creature all the children believed him to be.
It had to be said that Jun had his moments where he was nice and happy, and fun to talk to, but he wasn’t always the most cheerful person to be around. Aiba said it was because Jun was still bitter about having been turned into a reindeer by that damn Christmas hating witch - Nino said Jun was just self conscious about his huge, shiny red nose (and with good reason, Nino would always say, which never failed to earn him a gentle slap from Aiba and a lecture on why he shouldn’t be so mean to Jun, from Sho).
Once Sho and Aiba had left him and Ohno alone again, Nino finally got the chance to start his plan. Phase one wasn’t too hard really, all he had to do was make sure Ohno didn’t get suspicious - which was easier than one might think. Really, it was just what he did every year; he would simply ask Ohno if he could ride on the sleigh.
“Oh-chan?”
“Yeah?”
“Can I come on the sleigh with you this year?”
Ohno smiled and squeezed Nino’s thigh lovingly - like he did every year, right before he said no.
“Okay.”
Nino paused. That hadn’t been in the plan. And he’d spent all damn year plotting for no reason - after a few moments of careful consideration, and annoyance over his plans being for nothing, he supposed he should be grateful that he wouldn’t have to embarrass himself in front of the others anymore.
“Uh… Great!”
And with that it was official. Nino was going to ride in the sleigh.
News of this development spread quickly - not that it was possible for it to take very long when there was a total of 5 people (because Jun still counted himself as a person, no matter what kind of animal he might look like) in the neighbourhood. Ohno and Nino had announced it at dinner that night, and Sho’s only thoughts on the matter had been that it seemed like the two were announcing their engagement; truthfully, that was actually quite possible, because Nino and Ohno never did seem to communicate normally - everything seemed to be a code for something else when it came to them, so it would’ve been perfectly reasonable to assume that ‘Nino riding in Ohno’s sleigh’ was actually some sort of strange code for engagement.
Fortunately, Sho didn’t have to ponder this for long, because Aiba had quickly piped up and asked whether that was meant to have a double meaning. Nino had replied that it hadn’t been intended that way, but if they wanted it to have one he wouldn’t be averse to the idea; at that point Ohno had gotten down on one knee, and proposed right there and then. And Sho no longer had to worry, because it was ever so clear that Nino would be riding in Ohno’s sleigh and the two were engaged - which made the matter so much more simple, really.
At this point, Aiba had turned to Sho with a mischievous smile, which told Sho that the other was plotting something - somehow, he suspected it wouldn’t take him long to find out what exactly that was.
“Hey, Sho, can I ‘ride in your sleigh’?”
Sho raised an eyebrow, and Aiba looked at him expectantly. “I don’t have a sleigh.”
After that, Jun had snorted rather loudly and announced that Sho was so clueless it was painful. About ten minutes later Sho had caught on and - being as embarrassed as he was - could only nod his agreement to Aiba’s question, his face bright red (as red as Jun’s nose, Nino would say, were he not scared of Jun unleashing his wrath on him - because really, Jun kicked hard, and had hooves which hurt, and was generally more irritable around Christmas time, what with the extra work and high expectations, him being the only reindeer and all).
The next day was Christmas Eve - a very special day for the five of them. Aiba had always felt blessed to have his birthday on such a special day - and Jun always made a special effort to be nicer to the excitable man (Jun didn’t dislike Aiba, but whilst he was sure Aiba was very good at looking after regular reindeer, he was terrible at looking after people turned reindeer. Jun could recall many an occasion where Aiba had attempted to make him do stupid things, like run after a carrot dangling in front of him - he had quickly informed the other that whilst that might work with regular reindeer, there was nothing regular about him).
Since the day was a double celebration, there was always a party; a small party, but a party nonetheless. Everyone was invited - all five of them - and they ate ridiculous amounts of party food (Santa was meant to be fat anyway, Ohno would say as an excuse to eat half the food available), danced and sang together. And then, once Aiba had opened his birthday presents, they would all head over to the runway, and Jun would get harnessed up whilst Ohno changed into his Santa outfit.
This year, Aiba and Sho would be left with free reign over the small village, which was potentially dangerous, really, but honestly it was probably less dangerous than usual - after all, it was Nino who would be missing, and he tended to like more than his fair share of pranks and general trouble causing.
Ohno had climbed onto the sleigh first, fully kitted out in his vibrant red Santa outfit. Nino had been loaned Ohno’s spare hat, and had happily exchanged his elf hat for it as he climbed on after Ohno to perch next to the other on the comfy seat. Truthfully, Nino had always thought that Ohno’s fake beard looked completely ridiculous, but as much as he wanted to mention this fact, he was worried about being kicked off the sleigh, and not getting to go after all - such comments were to be reserved for when they were already in flight, and it was too late for Ohno and Jun to take him back.
After telling Aiba off for giggling at his nose - it had already begun to shine brightly - Jun had begun to move, increasing his pace as he made his way down the runway. Aiba and Sho stood together, looking somewhat like proud parents as they watched the sleigh take off. Neither of them could hold back their laughter, however, as they heard Ohno’s customary shout of “HO HO HO! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!”
Even Nino, up there in the sleigh, couldn’t suppress a giggle, and Ohno turned to grin at him - a clear indication that he was enjoying himself. Nino could already hear Jun grumbling from the front of the sleigh, no doubt about how no one realised just how tough his job really was, and how it was hard work being a reindeer, and how Nino and Ohno blatantly weren’t appreciating his effort.
Being the kind soul that he was, Nino didn’t start his teasing until they were a good distance away from the Christmas village; he had waited a long time to be able to do this - Jun couldn’t kick him if he was busy flying. “Don’t you just love Christmas, Shiny?”
Jun growled loudly - he never took it too well when people commented on his nose.
Ohno swatted Nino’s arm gently as a reprimand. “Don’t tease him. I like his nose, I think it’s rather endearing. And very unique!” Ohno smiled, and Nino smiled back, nodding in agreement,
“Oh, I agree, very unique indeed.”
Jun growled again.
“Unique in a good way!” Nino’s tone was indignant, and he was pleased to hear no more growls from Jun - he had won that one.
It wasn’t long before they were landing at the first house and climbing out of the sleigh. Nino found the right gifts, and Ohno swung a leg over the top of the chimney, ready to drop in.
“How do you get back up?”
Ohno blinked before answering, his tone suggesting that the answer was painstakingly obvious. “I don’t. I use the front door.”
Nino paused, before letting out a disappointed sound and thinking for another few moments. “So why do you bother with the chimney in the first place?”
Ohno shrugged. “Tradition.”
And with that he dropped down the chimney, landing at the bottom with a small thump. “You too, Nino.”
Nino swung a leg over and dropped down as well, gifts in hand. He made sure Ohno hadn’t had a chance to move yet, so he had a soft landing - Ohno didn’t seem to entirely approve of this arrangement and he gave a small pained sound as Nino landed directly on his stomach. Nino stood, dusted himself off and handed the gifts to Ohno.
“Here. Put them wherever they need to go.”
The gifts were soon in place, and Ohno and Nino were heading out the front door, carrying their first snacks of the night, as well as Jun’s.
“You know, I don’t think this chimney thing is well thought through at all. Jun’s still on the roof, so we need to get back up there.”
Ohno blinked before looking up to the roof and shouting. “Jun, we’re done, get down here.”
“…Well, that’s one way to do it.”
Jun came down, and Ohno put his bowl of water on the floor, so he could drink. Soon enough, Nino noticed Jun glaring at him - the art of glaring wasn’t easy for a reindeer, but Jun had perfected it. With a glance down at the carrot in his hand, the reason for Jun’s glaring struck him.
“Oh, right. Sorry.” He held out the carrot for Jun to eat, letting out a strangled cry when he noticed Ohno knocking back the alcohol and polishing off a mince pie. “Oh-chan, you’re meant to share.”
Ohno looked guiltily at Nino and offered a muffled apology, his mouth still full. “You can have the stuff from the next house.”
Five houses later, Nino was cursing the number of chimneys in the neighbourhood, and by the next one he couldn’t resist brightening things up a bit with some chimney innuendo.
“Say, Ohno?”
“Yeah?”
“Will you be coming down my chimney tonight?”
Ohno paused and stared at Nino blankly. “Nino, we don’t have a chimney. Our fire’s electric, remember?”
Nino shook his head dejectedly and handed Ohno a small pile of gifts. “Never mind, Oh-chan, never mind.”
“We can get a real fire if you want?”
“N-No Oh-chan, that’s okay.”
By the twenty seventh house, Jun had begun complaining about his food. “It’s all carrots. Damn carrots. Why on earth would I want carrots from everyone? If they all insist on giving me healthy stuff they could at least have some variety. I wouldn’t mind a cucumber, or a mango, or just something that isn’t a stupid carrot.”
Nino had quickly been informed by Ohno to just ignore it - apparently this happened every year - he couldn’t help but tease Jun, though, when he moved on to being fed up of only being given water. “Why do you two get alcohol and not me? I’m an adult too! Give me some of yours at the next place.
Nino tsked, shaking his head disapprovingly. “Really now, Jun, drunk driving? I thought you were more sensible than that.”
Ohno couldn’t suppress a snort of amusement, and Jun growled again; Nino escaped back into the sleigh before Jun could land a well aimed kick right where it hurt.
Ten streets later Nino had found himself unable to resist commenting on Ohno’s fake beard any longer, and as they made their way through an apartment block (Nino was secretly thanking the gods for the newfound lack of chimneys) he looked pointedly at Ohno and asked the question he had wanted the answer to for years.
“Why do you wear the fake beard anyway? Surely it’s not comfortable, and it looks slightly ridiculous.”
Ohno shrugged and self consciously stroked the beard. “Tradition again. People are used to the thought of Santa having a beard.”
Nino nodded - that explanation had made enough sense. “Would you take it off if I asked you to?”
“That depends. If you’re convincing enough, then yes.”
Nino smirked - if there was one thing he was good at, it was being convincing.
Ten minutes later the fake beard was off, and Nino was happy; so was Ohno, truthfully, the beard did have a tendency to do it’s best to rub his chin raw. When they got back up to the roof where Jun was waiting, the reindeer instantly expressed his approval at the disappearance of the beard.
“Oh thank god. I’ve never had the heart to tell you before, but it really looks kind of ridiculous.”
From that point on, Jun seemed to stop trying to kick Nino quite so much - anyone who got rid of the beard was a saviour, in Jun’s opinion.
The night was a long but fun one, and after a while Nino stopped teasing Jun, instead favouring the humorous conversations that the three of them held as they went from city to city. By the time the were finished, Jun was telling Ohno that he expected Nino to be invited next year as well (that may have had something to do with the fact that Nino had started switching his water for alcohol somewhere along the way, and had fed him mince pies instead of carrots - two things Jun was extremely grateful for).
There was no sign of Sho and Aiba when they landed. Nino said that they were probably still having some sort of ‘birthday celebration’ despite the fact that it was already the morning of the 25th, and so no longer Aiba’s birthday anymore; Ohno and Jun were inclined to agree.
The three of them went back to Ohno and Nino’s place, where Nino cooked a big breakfast for everyone, and Jun supervised. Soon after, Sho and Aiba burst through the door - or rather, Aiba burst through the door with his usual overflowing energy, whilst Sho stumbled in after him, looking worn out.
The five of them settled down to their breakfast, and after a few large cups of coffee everyone was looking considerably more awake (apart from Aiba, who was never allowed coffee on Christmas eve or Christmas day, because on those two days Aiba was so excitable that giving him caffeine was a fairly terrifying prospect).
Once everyone had finished, Aiba dragged them rather forcefully into the living room to open the presents which were piled up under the tree. This, Aiba thought, was always the most fun part of Christmas, particularly with people like him and Nino around to give stupid, amusing, gifts out; not to mention, Aiba got to open twice the amount of presents, having claimed dibs on the right to open Jun’s - because clearly, as a reindeer, Jun couldn’t do it himself.
Every year, they unwrapped one of Jun’s presents first, in reward for having flown so much all night. And as Aiba pulled away wrapping paper to reveal a large carrot, Jun felt as though he was ready to scream - he never wanted to see the stupid vegetable again in his life. Nino was laughing hysterically from his position on Ohno’s lap, and even Sho couldn’t hold back his chuckles as Aiba offered the carrot to Jun, his eyes shining with the joys of Christmas and presents. All Jun could do at that point was munch it with a look of utter disdain on his face, all the while shooting glares at Nino (for he knew all too well who that gift had been from.
And so the present opening continued, and the gifts were, for the most part, slightly more sensible than that first one. (Although what he would ever need fishing lures for, Nino didn’t know - he highly suspected that Ohno had bought them in the hope of using them to convince Nino to come with him on a fishing trip at some point).
By the time they were finished, Jun was wearing a pair of lovingly knitted slippers from Aiba, which were so garish it was impressive, and Sho wore a scarf which looked like it was of much the same home knitted design. Nino had made some excuse about not needing gloves inside, and Ohno’s slightly misshapen knitted tea cosy was proudly on display in the kitchen.
That evening, they all sat around the electric fire as Christmas faded away for that year, drinking and talking and laughing and eating Christmas pudding, and Nino thought that it was probably the best Christmas he’d ever had.
Author:saturn_necklace/stormy_words
Pairings: Ohmiya, Sakuraiba
Word count: 3,448
Rating: PG
Genre: Pure crack, fluff, AU
Warnings: British English!
Summary: It's Christmas time, and Santa (Ohno), and the team are preparing for the annual present delivery.
AN: Thank you sunrisecandy for looking over it for me :D.
There are some things in here which are probably only British Christmas traditions. If you don't get something, I suggest googling it. For me though, those things are fairly central to Christmas, so I really couldn't leave them out.
Also, this is just total crack. I mean, Jun's a REINDEER. It's clearly not meant to be taken seriously. And on that note, enjoy :D!
This year, Nino thought, he was going to do it. Without fail. For once in his life he was going to force Santa to stop being so damn selfish and let him ride in the sleigh as well - because really, what did Santa do anyway? All year round, all Santa did was go fishing and do art and generally be lazy, yet he still got all the credit for the presents that, as head elf, Nino put so much hard work into designing and making and spending Santa’s money on - or, well, that Nino put so much effort into forcing Sho, his deputy head (Not that there was much need for that title, considering that there were only a total of two elves - Sho liked to sound that little bit more important though), to design and make and spend Santa’s money on.
Really, Santa wasn’t even called Santa most of the time. 364 days a year he was called Ohno Satoshi. Nino honestly couldn’t see why a tiny man with a fake beard - no matter how attractive said man was - should get the credit for his hard work.
So this year he was going to do it. He was going to ride in that sleigh alongside ‘Santa’ and he was going to share some of that credit. And probably tease Jun (everyone’s favourite reindeer) within an inch of his life as he did so.
No matter how bitter Nino was about never having ridden in the sleigh before, he didn’t dislike Ohno. In fact, they got along very well - very well indeed. Nino wasn’t head elf for no reason - and there was only one reason he would ever be allowed to stay in that position whilst doing essentially no work. He had a certain influence over Ohno. It had, however, always irked him that this influence had never been quite enough to convince Ohno to just let him join in with the yearly Christmas run.
But this year Nino had plans. If influence wasn’t going to be enough, he was going to claim his place next to Santa by force. He could hide under the piles of gifts and reveal himself only when they were already airborne, and it was too late for Ohno to do anything about it. He might even consider doing something like chaining himself to the sleigh - although he suspected he would be laughed at by a certain reindeer, were he to do that (then again, he would probably be laughed at if he hid under the gifts as well - really, he was fighting a losing battle in that respect).
Nino had been plotting for a long time - since the previous Christmas, in fact - and this year he was prepared, for once. And so, as he sat in his and Ohno’s living room, on Ohno’s lap, the day before Christmas Eve, he decided it was time to start the plan.
Unfortunately, just as he was about to begin stage one, a certain deputy head elf and his boyfriend - Aiba the stableman - burst into the room to proudly proclaim that every last gift was wrapped and loaded into the sleigh.
Aiba had begun helping Sho with the gifts many years previous, once he had noticed that Sho effectively did absolutely everything by himself (Nino tended to only spend time around the gifts which interested him - he had spent many an hour, when Ohno was out fishing or doing art, ‘borrowing’ gifts to keep himself occupied; video games and packs of cards had always been favourites when it came to that). Truthfully, it gave Aiba the opportunity to stay away from Jun the reindeer, because contrary to popular belief Jun wasn’t the cute fluffy creature all the children believed him to be.
It had to be said that Jun had his moments where he was nice and happy, and fun to talk to, but he wasn’t always the most cheerful person to be around. Aiba said it was because Jun was still bitter about having been turned into a reindeer by that damn Christmas hating witch - Nino said Jun was just self conscious about his huge, shiny red nose (and with good reason, Nino would always say, which never failed to earn him a gentle slap from Aiba and a lecture on why he shouldn’t be so mean to Jun, from Sho).
Once Sho and Aiba had left him and Ohno alone again, Nino finally got the chance to start his plan. Phase one wasn’t too hard really, all he had to do was make sure Ohno didn’t get suspicious - which was easier than one might think. Really, it was just what he did every year; he would simply ask Ohno if he could ride on the sleigh.
“Oh-chan?”
“Yeah?”
“Can I come on the sleigh with you this year?”
Ohno smiled and squeezed Nino’s thigh lovingly - like he did every year, right before he said no.
“Okay.”
Nino paused. That hadn’t been in the plan. And he’d spent all damn year plotting for no reason - after a few moments of careful consideration, and annoyance over his plans being for nothing, he supposed he should be grateful that he wouldn’t have to embarrass himself in front of the others anymore.
“Uh… Great!”
And with that it was official. Nino was going to ride in the sleigh.
News of this development spread quickly - not that it was possible for it to take very long when there was a total of 5 people (because Jun still counted himself as a person, no matter what kind of animal he might look like) in the neighbourhood. Ohno and Nino had announced it at dinner that night, and Sho’s only thoughts on the matter had been that it seemed like the two were announcing their engagement; truthfully, that was actually quite possible, because Nino and Ohno never did seem to communicate normally - everything seemed to be a code for something else when it came to them, so it would’ve been perfectly reasonable to assume that ‘Nino riding in Ohno’s sleigh’ was actually some sort of strange code for engagement.
Fortunately, Sho didn’t have to ponder this for long, because Aiba had quickly piped up and asked whether that was meant to have a double meaning. Nino had replied that it hadn’t been intended that way, but if they wanted it to have one he wouldn’t be averse to the idea; at that point Ohno had gotten down on one knee, and proposed right there and then. And Sho no longer had to worry, because it was ever so clear that Nino would be riding in Ohno’s sleigh and the two were engaged - which made the matter so much more simple, really.
At this point, Aiba had turned to Sho with a mischievous smile, which told Sho that the other was plotting something - somehow, he suspected it wouldn’t take him long to find out what exactly that was.
“Hey, Sho, can I ‘ride in your sleigh’?”
Sho raised an eyebrow, and Aiba looked at him expectantly. “I don’t have a sleigh.”
After that, Jun had snorted rather loudly and announced that Sho was so clueless it was painful. About ten minutes later Sho had caught on and - being as embarrassed as he was - could only nod his agreement to Aiba’s question, his face bright red (as red as Jun’s nose, Nino would say, were he not scared of Jun unleashing his wrath on him - because really, Jun kicked hard, and had hooves which hurt, and was generally more irritable around Christmas time, what with the extra work and high expectations, him being the only reindeer and all).
The next day was Christmas Eve - a very special day for the five of them. Aiba had always felt blessed to have his birthday on such a special day - and Jun always made a special effort to be nicer to the excitable man (Jun didn’t dislike Aiba, but whilst he was sure Aiba was very good at looking after regular reindeer, he was terrible at looking after people turned reindeer. Jun could recall many an occasion where Aiba had attempted to make him do stupid things, like run after a carrot dangling in front of him - he had quickly informed the other that whilst that might work with regular reindeer, there was nothing regular about him).
Since the day was a double celebration, there was always a party; a small party, but a party nonetheless. Everyone was invited - all five of them - and they ate ridiculous amounts of party food (Santa was meant to be fat anyway, Ohno would say as an excuse to eat half the food available), danced and sang together. And then, once Aiba had opened his birthday presents, they would all head over to the runway, and Jun would get harnessed up whilst Ohno changed into his Santa outfit.
This year, Aiba and Sho would be left with free reign over the small village, which was potentially dangerous, really, but honestly it was probably less dangerous than usual - after all, it was Nino who would be missing, and he tended to like more than his fair share of pranks and general trouble causing.
Ohno had climbed onto the sleigh first, fully kitted out in his vibrant red Santa outfit. Nino had been loaned Ohno’s spare hat, and had happily exchanged his elf hat for it as he climbed on after Ohno to perch next to the other on the comfy seat. Truthfully, Nino had always thought that Ohno’s fake beard looked completely ridiculous, but as much as he wanted to mention this fact, he was worried about being kicked off the sleigh, and not getting to go after all - such comments were to be reserved for when they were already in flight, and it was too late for Ohno and Jun to take him back.
After telling Aiba off for giggling at his nose - it had already begun to shine brightly - Jun had begun to move, increasing his pace as he made his way down the runway. Aiba and Sho stood together, looking somewhat like proud parents as they watched the sleigh take off. Neither of them could hold back their laughter, however, as they heard Ohno’s customary shout of “HO HO HO! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!”
Even Nino, up there in the sleigh, couldn’t suppress a giggle, and Ohno turned to grin at him - a clear indication that he was enjoying himself. Nino could already hear Jun grumbling from the front of the sleigh, no doubt about how no one realised just how tough his job really was, and how it was hard work being a reindeer, and how Nino and Ohno blatantly weren’t appreciating his effort.
Being the kind soul that he was, Nino didn’t start his teasing until they were a good distance away from the Christmas village; he had waited a long time to be able to do this - Jun couldn’t kick him if he was busy flying. “Don’t you just love Christmas, Shiny?”
Jun growled loudly - he never took it too well when people commented on his nose.
Ohno swatted Nino’s arm gently as a reprimand. “Don’t tease him. I like his nose, I think it’s rather endearing. And very unique!” Ohno smiled, and Nino smiled back, nodding in agreement,
“Oh, I agree, very unique indeed.”
Jun growled again.
“Unique in a good way!” Nino’s tone was indignant, and he was pleased to hear no more growls from Jun - he had won that one.
It wasn’t long before they were landing at the first house and climbing out of the sleigh. Nino found the right gifts, and Ohno swung a leg over the top of the chimney, ready to drop in.
“How do you get back up?”
Ohno blinked before answering, his tone suggesting that the answer was painstakingly obvious. “I don’t. I use the front door.”
Nino paused, before letting out a disappointed sound and thinking for another few moments. “So why do you bother with the chimney in the first place?”
Ohno shrugged. “Tradition.”
And with that he dropped down the chimney, landing at the bottom with a small thump. “You too, Nino.”
Nino swung a leg over and dropped down as well, gifts in hand. He made sure Ohno hadn’t had a chance to move yet, so he had a soft landing - Ohno didn’t seem to entirely approve of this arrangement and he gave a small pained sound as Nino landed directly on his stomach. Nino stood, dusted himself off and handed the gifts to Ohno.
“Here. Put them wherever they need to go.”
The gifts were soon in place, and Ohno and Nino were heading out the front door, carrying their first snacks of the night, as well as Jun’s.
“You know, I don’t think this chimney thing is well thought through at all. Jun’s still on the roof, so we need to get back up there.”
Ohno blinked before looking up to the roof and shouting. “Jun, we’re done, get down here.”
“…Well, that’s one way to do it.”
Jun came down, and Ohno put his bowl of water on the floor, so he could drink. Soon enough, Nino noticed Jun glaring at him - the art of glaring wasn’t easy for a reindeer, but Jun had perfected it. With a glance down at the carrot in his hand, the reason for Jun’s glaring struck him.
“Oh, right. Sorry.” He held out the carrot for Jun to eat, letting out a strangled cry when he noticed Ohno knocking back the alcohol and polishing off a mince pie. “Oh-chan, you’re meant to share.”
Ohno looked guiltily at Nino and offered a muffled apology, his mouth still full. “You can have the stuff from the next house.”
Five houses later, Nino was cursing the number of chimneys in the neighbourhood, and by the next one he couldn’t resist brightening things up a bit with some chimney innuendo.
“Say, Ohno?”
“Yeah?”
“Will you be coming down my chimney tonight?”
Ohno paused and stared at Nino blankly. “Nino, we don’t have a chimney. Our fire’s electric, remember?”
Nino shook his head dejectedly and handed Ohno a small pile of gifts. “Never mind, Oh-chan, never mind.”
“We can get a real fire if you want?”
“N-No Oh-chan, that’s okay.”
By the twenty seventh house, Jun had begun complaining about his food. “It’s all carrots. Damn carrots. Why on earth would I want carrots from everyone? If they all insist on giving me healthy stuff they could at least have some variety. I wouldn’t mind a cucumber, or a mango, or just something that isn’t a stupid carrot.”
Nino had quickly been informed by Ohno to just ignore it - apparently this happened every year - he couldn’t help but tease Jun, though, when he moved on to being fed up of only being given water. “Why do you two get alcohol and not me? I’m an adult too! Give me some of yours at the next place.
Nino tsked, shaking his head disapprovingly. “Really now, Jun, drunk driving? I thought you were more sensible than that.”
Ohno couldn’t suppress a snort of amusement, and Jun growled again; Nino escaped back into the sleigh before Jun could land a well aimed kick right where it hurt.
Ten streets later Nino had found himself unable to resist commenting on Ohno’s fake beard any longer, and as they made their way through an apartment block (Nino was secretly thanking the gods for the newfound lack of chimneys) he looked pointedly at Ohno and asked the question he had wanted the answer to for years.
“Why do you wear the fake beard anyway? Surely it’s not comfortable, and it looks slightly ridiculous.”
Ohno shrugged and self consciously stroked the beard. “Tradition again. People are used to the thought of Santa having a beard.”
Nino nodded - that explanation had made enough sense. “Would you take it off if I asked you to?”
“That depends. If you’re convincing enough, then yes.”
Nino smirked - if there was one thing he was good at, it was being convincing.
Ten minutes later the fake beard was off, and Nino was happy; so was Ohno, truthfully, the beard did have a tendency to do it’s best to rub his chin raw. When they got back up to the roof where Jun was waiting, the reindeer instantly expressed his approval at the disappearance of the beard.
“Oh thank god. I’ve never had the heart to tell you before, but it really looks kind of ridiculous.”
From that point on, Jun seemed to stop trying to kick Nino quite so much - anyone who got rid of the beard was a saviour, in Jun’s opinion.
The night was a long but fun one, and after a while Nino stopped teasing Jun, instead favouring the humorous conversations that the three of them held as they went from city to city. By the time the were finished, Jun was telling Ohno that he expected Nino to be invited next year as well (that may have had something to do with the fact that Nino had started switching his water for alcohol somewhere along the way, and had fed him mince pies instead of carrots - two things Jun was extremely grateful for).
There was no sign of Sho and Aiba when they landed. Nino said that they were probably still having some sort of ‘birthday celebration’ despite the fact that it was already the morning of the 25th, and so no longer Aiba’s birthday anymore; Ohno and Jun were inclined to agree.
The three of them went back to Ohno and Nino’s place, where Nino cooked a big breakfast for everyone, and Jun supervised. Soon after, Sho and Aiba burst through the door - or rather, Aiba burst through the door with his usual overflowing energy, whilst Sho stumbled in after him, looking worn out.
The five of them settled down to their breakfast, and after a few large cups of coffee everyone was looking considerably more awake (apart from Aiba, who was never allowed coffee on Christmas eve or Christmas day, because on those two days Aiba was so excitable that giving him caffeine was a fairly terrifying prospect).
Once everyone had finished, Aiba dragged them rather forcefully into the living room to open the presents which were piled up under the tree. This, Aiba thought, was always the most fun part of Christmas, particularly with people like him and Nino around to give stupid, amusing, gifts out; not to mention, Aiba got to open twice the amount of presents, having claimed dibs on the right to open Jun’s - because clearly, as a reindeer, Jun couldn’t do it himself.
Every year, they unwrapped one of Jun’s presents first, in reward for having flown so much all night. And as Aiba pulled away wrapping paper to reveal a large carrot, Jun felt as though he was ready to scream - he never wanted to see the stupid vegetable again in his life. Nino was laughing hysterically from his position on Ohno’s lap, and even Sho couldn’t hold back his chuckles as Aiba offered the carrot to Jun, his eyes shining with the joys of Christmas and presents. All Jun could do at that point was munch it with a look of utter disdain on his face, all the while shooting glares at Nino (for he knew all too well who that gift had been from.
And so the present opening continued, and the gifts were, for the most part, slightly more sensible than that first one. (Although what he would ever need fishing lures for, Nino didn’t know - he highly suspected that Ohno had bought them in the hope of using them to convince Nino to come with him on a fishing trip at some point).
By the time they were finished, Jun was wearing a pair of lovingly knitted slippers from Aiba, which were so garish it was impressive, and Sho wore a scarf which looked like it was of much the same home knitted design. Nino had made some excuse about not needing gloves inside, and Ohno’s slightly misshapen knitted tea cosy was proudly on display in the kitchen.
That evening, they all sat around the electric fire as Christmas faded away for that year, drinking and talking and laughing and eating Christmas pudding, and Nino thought that it was probably the best Christmas he’d ever had.