Original: "Christmas Is The Time To Say 'I Love You'" (slash)
Notes: Hatcher, Hope, Mi'kael, Theo and Lohi are characters based on my BJDs, currently living within pockypuck's original universe. The first paragraph will make more sense if you know that Lohi is a seven-year-old who has recently begun expressing empathic powers. It's also worth noting that Mi'kael is Hatcher's ex, and he really didn't mean to break Hatcher's heart, but Theo is his bonded mate. All other characters mentioned (with the exception of Kasia and half of Isaac) are pockypuck's intellectual property and are borrowed with enthusiastic permission :)
The song mentioned at the end shares its title with this fic :)
Hatcher’s mood had significantly improved since he’d met Hope. This was easy for anyone to measure, since not only had he stopped moping and started smiling, again, but Lohi hadn’t burst into tears for no apparent reason for at least a month (which was good, since whenever Hatcher discovered Lohi crying, he would blame himself and his guilt just made Lohi cry more and it made a big, depressing mess). Mi’kael hadn’t shown up in a few weeks, which was actually a good sign, too, since it meant that he, too, could sense that, yes, Hatcher was going to be okay after all.
All in all, the situation had become much less painful when Mr. Tall Blond and Deaf showed up. And Kasia was much more comfortable inviting them all over to The House for the annual Christmas/Yule/Winter/Orgies/Cookies celebration that weekend (even if it technically wasn’t her house; it was partially Odhrán’s house, and she was married to him, so she figured it counted).
So that Friday evening, everyone was at the house. “Everyone” being, of course, the Lady, To’nakhu, Aüre, Sesen, Rinzen, Ilori, Dayo, Uzi and Yanick; Bahari and Trev; Kasia, Odhrán, Lohi and baby Isaac; Hatcher and Hope, and even Mi’kael and Theo had shown up. It was nice. Crowded, but nice. There were sinful amounts of cookies, and everyone was gathered in or around the living room, stuffing themselves and playing games (Phase 10 occupied one corner, Scrabble another, and Apples to Apples was sprawling across the floor). Hope had run off with Yanick temporarily, gesturing something about music to the room in general and pretending not to notice Hatcher’s eyes following him out of the room.
It was Ilori who started-Isaac’s eyes bugging at the sudden jolt of his lap-when Christmas music began playing upstairs. Very loudly.
Yanick slipped back into the living room as though nothing was amiss, slotting himself seamlessly back into the Phase 10 game.
Kasia almost giggled at how obviously Hatcher was trying not to seem like he cared when he asked, “Where’s Hope?”
Yanick shrugged. “Dancing, I suppose.”
Hatcher was either quite oblivious or the ten-plus eyes on him were being very subtle (or a combination of the two), because he didn’t seem to mind that everyone was watching as he stood. “I’ll go find him.”
Sesen snickered. “Yeah, wouldn’t want him getting lost.”
Hatcher blinked down at the half-dragon, frowning slightly, but otherwise seemingly not bothered by the suppressed giggles around the room (it wasn’t as though all other conversation had ceased), and headed for the hallway.
--
Hope was nervous. It was silly, but it was true. He’d never dated a hearing boy before, but Hatcher had been particularly eager to learn sign, and never made fun of his voice (not even once, not a giggle or a blink. Maybe his mother had been right). He was just too sweet. Hope was afraid he didn’t deserve someone so... good.
But he’d baited the trap. Kasia had assured him over and over that Hatcher liked him, that there was no way he wouldn’t notice if Hope was absent from the party for more than five minutes. But he was still a little worried. And definitely nervous.
When Yanick left, Hope had blasted the music to the point where he could actually make out some of the words. It was always a little weird, hearing words again after spending most of his life in ringing silence, but it was oddly comforting today. Christmas Eve. A night to spend time with family and friends, and to be happy for all the blessings you’ve been given. Hope counted the fact that he could still make out the words with the volume cranked to eleven to be a blessing. He also counted his new family as a blessing; sure beat the foster parents. He was just about to count a third when it walked in the door, its hands pressed over its ears.
Hope ran to turn the knob down (leaving it loud enough that he could feel the beat, but not so loud as to cause damage to Hatcher’s still-functioning hearing) and grinned at Hatcher. He received a soft smile in return (God, that smile was a blessing of its own), and the younger man entered the ballroom tentatively, pulling his hands away from his head experimentally.
“I TURNED IT DOWN,” Hope signed, much more slowly than he usually did.
He grinned when Hatcher rolled his eyes.
“It’s still loud.”
“I WANT TO HEAR IT SO I CAN DANCE.”
Hatcher frowned. “So you can what?”
As opposed to bothering with fingerspelling (the nice thing about the music being so loud was that Hatcher wouldn’t have been able to hear him even if he’d wanted to talk), Hope swept the smaller man into his arms and started dancing exaggeratedly to the plunking bass and warbling voice of Billy Squier. He felt Hatcher laugh against him, and couldn’t stop his grin from spreading. Hatcher’s laughter was without a doubt Hope’s favorite feeling in all the worlds.
He pulled back when the song ended, and hesitated. This was the crucial moment; he could leave this as yet another harmless flirtation and try again later, or he could follow through as he intended. He opened his mouth and spoke as soon as the next song started, Hatcher’s hands flying back to his ears.
“What?”
Screw it. Hope covered Hatcher’s hands with his own, leaned down and kissed him on the mouth. When he pulled back, the brunette was blinking rapidly, but didn’t look particularly displeased. Hope drew his right hand back and held it up, middle and ring fingers curled down:
“I LOVE YOU.”
Hatcher blinked for a moment longer (long enough for Hope to start thinking this might all have been a mistake), then broke into a grin, throwing his arms around Hope’s neck.
The rumbling he felt against his shoulder could have been anything, but Hope had a feeling it was, “I love you, too.”
The song mentioned at the end shares its title with this fic :)
Hatcher’s mood had significantly improved since he’d met Hope. This was easy for anyone to measure, since not only had he stopped moping and started smiling, again, but Lohi hadn’t burst into tears for no apparent reason for at least a month (which was good, since whenever Hatcher discovered Lohi crying, he would blame himself and his guilt just made Lohi cry more and it made a big, depressing mess). Mi’kael hadn’t shown up in a few weeks, which was actually a good sign, too, since it meant that he, too, could sense that, yes, Hatcher was going to be okay after all.
All in all, the situation had become much less painful when Mr. Tall Blond and Deaf showed up. And Kasia was much more comfortable inviting them all over to The House for the annual Christmas/Yule/Winter/Orgies/Cookies celebration that weekend (even if it technically wasn’t her house; it was partially Odhrán’s house, and she was married to him, so she figured it counted).
So that Friday evening, everyone was at the house. “Everyone” being, of course, the Lady, To’nakhu, Aüre, Sesen, Rinzen, Ilori, Dayo, Uzi and Yanick; Bahari and Trev; Kasia, Odhrán, Lohi and baby Isaac; Hatcher and Hope, and even Mi’kael and Theo had shown up. It was nice. Crowded, but nice. There were sinful amounts of cookies, and everyone was gathered in or around the living room, stuffing themselves and playing games (Phase 10 occupied one corner, Scrabble another, and Apples to Apples was sprawling across the floor). Hope had run off with Yanick temporarily, gesturing something about music to the room in general and pretending not to notice Hatcher’s eyes following him out of the room.
It was Ilori who started-Isaac’s eyes bugging at the sudden jolt of his lap-when Christmas music began playing upstairs. Very loudly.
Yanick slipped back into the living room as though nothing was amiss, slotting himself seamlessly back into the Phase 10 game.
Kasia almost giggled at how obviously Hatcher was trying not to seem like he cared when he asked, “Where’s Hope?”
Yanick shrugged. “Dancing, I suppose.”
Hatcher was either quite oblivious or the ten-plus eyes on him were being very subtle (or a combination of the two), because he didn’t seem to mind that everyone was watching as he stood. “I’ll go find him.”
Sesen snickered. “Yeah, wouldn’t want him getting lost.”
Hatcher blinked down at the half-dragon, frowning slightly, but otherwise seemingly not bothered by the suppressed giggles around the room (it wasn’t as though all other conversation had ceased), and headed for the hallway.
--
Hope was nervous. It was silly, but it was true. He’d never dated a hearing boy before, but Hatcher had been particularly eager to learn sign, and never made fun of his voice (not even once, not a giggle or a blink. Maybe his mother had been right). He was just too sweet. Hope was afraid he didn’t deserve someone so... good.
But he’d baited the trap. Kasia had assured him over and over that Hatcher liked him, that there was no way he wouldn’t notice if Hope was absent from the party for more than five minutes. But he was still a little worried. And definitely nervous.
When Yanick left, Hope had blasted the music to the point where he could actually make out some of the words. It was always a little weird, hearing words again after spending most of his life in ringing silence, but it was oddly comforting today. Christmas Eve. A night to spend time with family and friends, and to be happy for all the blessings you’ve been given. Hope counted the fact that he could still make out the words with the volume cranked to eleven to be a blessing. He also counted his new family as a blessing; sure beat the foster parents. He was just about to count a third when it walked in the door, its hands pressed over its ears.
Hope ran to turn the knob down (leaving it loud enough that he could feel the beat, but not so loud as to cause damage to Hatcher’s still-functioning hearing) and grinned at Hatcher. He received a soft smile in return (God, that smile was a blessing of its own), and the younger man entered the ballroom tentatively, pulling his hands away from his head experimentally.
“I TURNED IT DOWN,” Hope signed, much more slowly than he usually did.
He grinned when Hatcher rolled his eyes.
“It’s still loud.”
“I WANT TO HEAR IT SO I CAN DANCE.”
Hatcher frowned. “So you can what?”
As opposed to bothering with fingerspelling (the nice thing about the music being so loud was that Hatcher wouldn’t have been able to hear him even if he’d wanted to talk), Hope swept the smaller man into his arms and started dancing exaggeratedly to the plunking bass and warbling voice of Billy Squier. He felt Hatcher laugh against him, and couldn’t stop his grin from spreading. Hatcher’s laughter was without a doubt Hope’s favorite feeling in all the worlds.
He pulled back when the song ended, and hesitated. This was the crucial moment; he could leave this as yet another harmless flirtation and try again later, or he could follow through as he intended. He opened his mouth and spoke as soon as the next song started, Hatcher’s hands flying back to his ears.
“What?”
Screw it. Hope covered Hatcher’s hands with his own, leaned down and kissed him on the mouth. When he pulled back, the brunette was blinking rapidly, but didn’t look particularly displeased. Hope drew his right hand back and held it up, middle and ring fingers curled down:
“I LOVE YOU.”
Hatcher blinked for a moment longer (long enough for Hope to start thinking this might all have been a mistake), then broke into a grin, throwing his arms around Hope’s neck.
The rumbling he felt against his shoulder could have been anything, but Hope had a feeling it was, “I love you, too.”