My Own Private Santa Claus
by Akuma
It was barely the beginning of December but the whole town had already been
decked in Christmas decorations. Heero looked down at the street from his
small apartment on the second floor of a rather old building. He didn't have
anything against Christmas. He didn't hate it; didn't like it much either.
He enjoyed watching the children running around the white, snow covered
pavement followed by their parents whose hands were full of wrapped
presents. It was a beautiful scene but it often reminded him how lonely his
life was. Growing up alone as an orphan, and being antisocial didn't help it
a lot in the friend department.
He leant against the window's bar and looked up to the sky. It was a clear
night, nary a cloud. The stars twinkled here and there as if they were
rejoicing in the Christmas spirit. His blue eyes glanced at the clock on his
wooden desk. One minute past midnight. Now it was the fifth and Heero
recalled that today was the day he started his new job where a certain big
bellied and long, white bearded guy in red suit came and gave presents to
children who had behaved well.
Again, being an orphan had him at a disadvantage. He'd never had a present
given to him. No smiling parents to give him colorfully wrapped gifts, or
laughing siblings to share the gifts with. The orphanage where he'd grown up
was very strict and on a very tight budget. Nevertheless, it had been a
shelter for his young self. At least until he'd been too old to be adopted
and had to leave the orphanage so younger children could take his place in
there.
"I have been good for years, " Heero muttered to no one as his eyes fixated
on one particular bright shining star. "If you really exist, Santa, I would
like a present, at least once in my life."
The star he was looking at suddenly blinked once and disappeared. Heero
blinked in surprise and scrunched his eyes to find it again. But the bright
shining star wasn't anywhere in the night sky.
"Even the long lasting star left me, " Heero snorted and turned around,
heading toward his bed. He had indulged in his melancholy mood enough for
today. Tomorrow he had had work to do.
Heero settled into his single bed and pulled the comforter over his slim
wiry body. It was too bad that he slept with his back facing on the window.
For if Heero had slept facing the window, he would have seen with his sleepy
eyes, a bright star falling to the earth.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
So warm and comfortable. Heero sighed happily and snuggled deeper into his
pillow. There was a soft sound which made him frown. He shifted slightly and
felt his pillow hug him tighter. There was another noise which sounded
suspiciously like a snore.
That certainly surprised Heero into opening his eyes.
Pillows couldn't hug back. Neither could they snore. His eyes fell on to a
bare chest which was enough to make Heero squeak and jump out of his bed.
It took him a couple of seconds to calm his frantically beating heart while
his eyes never left the big lump in his bed. There was also a cascade of
light brown hair covering the comforter. Before Heero could determine where
the hair was coming from, the lump moved. Heero jerked in surprise and took
a step back. A hand came out from beneath the comforter and patted the space
where Heero had slept in as if searching for something.
Not finding what it was searching for, the lump moved again, and this time
the comforter was set aside, revealing what the lump really was.
Heero swallowed.
The lump was a long haired boy with violet eyes.
Without a stitch of clothing on his porcelain skinned body.
The said naked boy was now sitting on the bed and smiling at him.
"Morning."
Heero blinked at the sleep rough voice. "Who the hell are you?"
"I'm Duo." The boy smiled and jumped out of the bed. Heero was still too
surprised by the boy's appearance that he hadn't had time to move when the
boy hugged him. "Nice to meet you!"
Heero's brain was threatening to short circuit. First, there was a stranger
on his bed. HIS BED. Then the said stranger had hugged him. HUGGED HIM!
Half of his mind took note that this was how it felt to be hugged while the
other half was trying to find an explanation for how a stranger could enter
his apartment and SLEEP WITH him without him knowing.
Unfortunately, no answer came out so Heero had to ask the culprit himself.
He struggled out of the hug and took another step back from the still naked
boy. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to be with you," said Duo and gave Heero a big, blinding smile.
The smile and the words held Heero captive for a few seconds. He'd once seen
a movie where the male character had said a line similar to the boy's answer
and it had felt so cheesy at the time. Now that the words were addressed to
him, Heero felt something warm flutter in his chest. But of course then the
naked boy had to ruin it by opening his mouth.
"What's your name?" asked the boy.
Heero felt a nerve twitch somewhere in his head. "You don't know my name and
you dare throw those cheesy words at me?"
The long haired boy DARED to look blank. "What is cheesy?"
Another nerve twitched in Heero's head. "Don't joke with me, bastard."
Now that got a reaction out of the boy. "You shouldn't say such bad word."
Heero looked at the strange boy in bewilderment. Of all the things to react
to, the boy chose to react over him saying a bad word?
"So, what's your name?" the long haired boy asked before Heero had a chance
to formulate a response.
"Heero," Heero poked at the bare chest in front of him. They were about the
same height and Heero was sure the boy was around the same age as him. "How
the hell did you get into my apartment?"
Again, the boy frowned. "Don't say bad words, Heero."
Heero had to sneer at that. "What are you? My Santa?"
Heero should have known that the boy wouldn't answer like common people did.
The boy grinned and hugged him tightly. "Yup, I'm your Santa!"
This had to be a weird dream, Heero decided. His mind refused to process any
more of this bizarre boy and suggested to him one course of sensible action.
Heero struggled out of the boy's embrace and made a beeline toward his bed.
"Heero, what are you doing?"
Heero ignored the question and climbed back into his bed. He pulled the
comforter over his head and closed his eyes. Surely once he fell asleep and
opened his eyes again, the boy would be gone.
As he tried falling asleep, Heero felt the bed shift and the very naked body
of the boy settle behind him. Soon arms and legs hooked around his body and
drew him into a warm embrace. A dream, this was nothing but a weird dream,
Heero kept telling himself and ignored the nice feeling of being warmed
outside and in.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The next time Heero opened his eyes was because of the shrill tone of his
alarm. He quickly sat up on the bed and grabbed for the alarm. Half past
seven! Damnit, he only had half an hour to reach his work place or he would
be late.
He'd never had to use the alarm to wake up since he could usually wake at
any time he told himself to. He had set the alarm just as a safety
precaution and now it had certainly paid off. Why the hell hadn't he woken
up like he usually did? Heero wondered, still staring at the noisy alarm.
"What's the noise?" came a question from Heero's side.
His memory returned in full at the questioning voice and with dread, Heero
turned to look at the other occupant in his bed. Sure enough, the strange,
naked boy was slowly sitting up. He stretched in abandon and yawned widely.
The boy then regarded Heero with a smile. "Shouldn't you turn off your
alarm?"
"You are still here," Heero said haltingly as he turned off his alarm.
"Of course." The boy grinned. "I'm your Santa after all."
Heero groaned in distress. Somehow this addled brained boy had invaded his
apartment and made his life a misery. "I don't have time for this."
The boy tilted his head to the side slightly. "Don't have time for what?"
"I have to go to work." Heero left his bed and hurriedly headed into the
bathroom. Maybe when he came out of the shower the strange boy would be
gone. He was in denial, Heero realized as he took his shower, but he could
hope, couldn't he?
His denial only lasted until he stepped out of the bathroom. The boy was
waiting for him in the kitchen. Breakfast ready on the table was not the
first thing Heero noticed. What caught his attention was that the boy was
not naked anymore. He had bound his hair in braid and was wearing a red,
sleeveless turtleneck and white pants. "Where were your clothes before?"
Heero looked down at the table, "And where did you get eggs for breakfast? I
remember I ran out of them two days ago."
"My clothes and the eggs were from here, of course, " the boy answered as he
lifted a plain, brown sack. "Do sit down and have a breakfast."
Heero stared at the sack which was no bigger than his kettle pot. "What else
is in there?"
The grin on the boy's face was so not to Heero's liking. "Everything I need,
Heero."
Heero decided he didn't want further clarification about that statement. He
felt slight thankful though that he didn't have to waste time preparing
breakfast. Though come to think of it, it was because of this crazy boy that
he hadn't woken up on time.
He demolished the breakfast rather quickly and still had ten minutes to
spare before he had to catch the bus to work. He eyed the smiling boy
sitting in front of him and decided he could use the time to question the
intruder.
"Why are you here?"
"To be with you," the boy answered with absolute certainty
"Why do you want to be with me?"
"I'm your Santa, Heero," the boy said as if Heero should have known better
than to ask him.
Heero felt his headache starting again. "Whoever you are, one thing you are
not, is Santa."
The boy scowled. "I am Santa."
"Right and I'm your reindeer, " Heero said sarcastically.
Heero reaaaaaaallllly should have known better. Not only was the sarcasm
lost on Duo, the strange boy took him seriously.
The boy sent him a thousand megawatt smile and said, "Of course you are."
While Heero was stunned speechless at the answer, Duo started to clean the
table.
It took Heero a minute to snap out of his shock. He stood up. "I AM NOT.."
The phone ringing cut his outburst. Heero had a good mind to continue his
words and to hell with the phone but changed his mind when he saw the crazy
boy heading toward the phone.
"I'll get it!" Heero said and snatched the phone roughly. "Yuy here."
"Ah Yuy, it's me, Mr. Smith."
The manager! Heero grabbed the phone tighter and hoped he hadn't sounded too
unpleasant with his greeting. It was all that crazy boy's fault! Heero shot
daggers at the innocent looking Duo.
"Manager, I'm not late for work, am I?"
"No, no, " The manager quickly reassured but Heero noticed he still sounded
upset.
"So why have you called me?"
"Victor suddenly quit his job. I wonder if you might have a friend who could
take his place?"
He didn't have any friends was the first thing Heero wanted to say but then
his eyes fell on Duo who was busy cleaning the kitchen. The gears in his
mind quickly turned and Heero couldn't help how ironic the situation had
turned out to be. "Anybody will do, right?"
"Yes, as long as he is the right height. I don't care whether he is fat or
thin, we can work that out. Hell, I will even accept a female if worse comes
to worst."
"I think I have just the right man," Heero said, "Let me ask him first. Can
you call me back in five minutes, Sir?"
"I'll call. Thanks, Yuy."
"No problem," Heero disconnected the call and stared at his bed's intruder.
Duo noticed his stare and stopped his cleaning. "Yes?"
"Do you have a job somewhere?" Heero asked
"Of course, I'm Santa after all."
Heero decided to translate Duo's answer as 'No, I don't have any job' and
asked again, "Do you have plans for today?"
"Nope, " Duo said quickly but then looked thoughtful. "Maybe we can use the
time to train you as my reindeer."
"No! I have work to do." Heero glared at the boy. "And I'm not your
reindeer!"
Duo frowned at him. "You are."
"Am not!" Heero spread his arms wide. "I'm human, baka!"
"You are human with reindeer blood in him, Heero."
Heero stared at the crazy boy and decided not to argue further with him. It
was stupid to argue with a crazy person after all. The boy was quite normal,
as long as Heero ignored any Santa related sentences he popped up with here
and there.
"Whatever. Since you are free, you can take Victor's job."
"I already have a job, Heero."
"This is the same job." Heero grinned at Duo's look of confusion. He was
saved from explaining further as the phone rang. Yes, this was the perfect
arrangement. He would get rid of the crazy boy and at the same time, Duo
would get to be what he thought he was. And if the children noticed their
Santa was sprouting nonsense, they would surely chalk it up to him being
Santa, wouldn't they?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Heero Yuy. Sixteen years old and an orphan.
Currently, he was working as one of Santa's elves in a famous entertainment
park. The park had built a special area where children could spend some time
with Santa, be it to get their gift (pre ordered by their parents of course)
or taking pictures together with Santa. The spot was quite beautiful, the
park's crew had put white pine trees around and built half of a giant igloo.
Inside the half igloo, sat Santa on his throne, surrounded by his elves.
Usually Santa's elves were kind to children and always smiling, but Heero,
with his antisocial attitude and grumpy looking face, got to be the black
elf. Black elves were different from the usual elves. As their name
indicated, black elves had black skin, really black as in black paint. They
wore black from head to toe, except for one red pompom on their black cap.
Each brought a broom and a sack. Though their lips were painted red, they
always looked dour.
Heero was of the opinion that they had black skin and a broom because they
had to clean the chimney so Santa could pass through without getting dirty.
He enjoyed his role as the black elf. Children were usually afraid of black
elves and often they cried at the mere sight of him swinging his broom.
Granted that most of the crying children were usually the children who had
done something bad. They thought he was going to spank them with the broom
and put them into his sack.
Children did have a powerful imagination and adults used it to keep them
under control. Black elves were effective in keeping children in line after
all.
"You are supposed to be my reindeer not a black elf," was said in upset
tone.
Heero sighed and turned to his left where an obviously fake, fat Santa was
sitting on the throne. "Duo, shut up. The children will arrive any minute."
"This is preposterous. The clothes are rough and too thick. I'm hot in
here." Duo pulled the collar of his Santa outfit and tried to send some air
inside by waving his hand.
"Well, children like to have their Santa big and fat, with a white beard and
hair, so you have to endure your discomfort for the sake of children, Santa
Duo."
Santa Duo was clearly unhappy with the information judging by his sulking
expression. "Humans are very strange. Why do they think Santa would want to
live in an igloo? It's a dull place to live."
Heero watched him in amusement. Mr. Smith 's crew had done quite a good job
though. Duo's young face was hidden beneath a mustache, beard, hair, and
thick eyebrows. All white. None of Duo's light brown hair showed at all.
Heero was curious as to how they'd hidden Duo's long braid. He made a note
to ask Duo later.
"In position, everybody," Mr. Smith shouted as he clapped his hands. "The
children are coming."
"Smile," Heero said and his devious side couldn't resist adding, "don't
forget to say 'ho ho ho'."
Duo narrowed his eyes at the amused black elf. "You are being a bad
reindeer. I'll punish you later."
Heero rolled his eyes but didn't have a chance to retort back. Happy squeals
and frightened cries told him that the children were here.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Everything went well. Once the children arrived, Duo had turned into the
perfect Santa with a perfect 'Ho ho ho'. He put each child on his lap and
chatted with them, asking what they wanted. He didn't hesitate to coax shy
or frightened children to approach him. Heero, meanwhile, was enjoying
keeping the children in their place in the queue. He only needed to approach
them or swing his broom slightly and the children would not dare to wander
around. They even didn't dare to make any sound or movement if he passed
them.
Of course everything has an exception. Heero watched as a boy around nine
years old separated from the queue and made a beeline toward Santa. He was a
little fat and had blond hair.
Heero quickly intercepted the boy and asked in a menacing voice, "What do
you want, little boy?"
The boy put his hands on his hips and glared at Heero. "I'm not little and I
want to talk to Santa."
"Well, as you can see, Santa is very busy right now." Heero gestured toward
where Duo was receiving a girl on his lap while out of the corner of his
eye, he saw the boy's mother approaching them. "You will have to stand in
line to be able to talk to him."
"I don't want to wait!" The boy stomped his foot. Heero noticed he was
wearing fine quality clothes and the latest in designer sport shoes.
"Dennis, you shouldn't have left without telling me." The boy's mother
arrived next to the boy.
"Mama, I want to see Santa now but this stupid servant stopped me!"
Heero scowled, making his black face look even more menacing. "I'm not a
servant, kid."
"Actually, you are a servant." The boy's mother looked down at him. "Elves
are Santa's little helpers and helper is equivalent to servant."
"Mamaaaa! I want to meet Santa!"
"Of course, honey bear." The woman patted her son and then turned to Heero.
"Surely you can make an allowance for my Dennis. He's been very patient in
waiting."
Heero was staring at the woman in disbelief. No wonder the kid acted like a
brat. The woman obviously spoiled the boy to the extreme! Heero schooled his
features into indifference. "I'm sorry, Ma'am. But a rule is a rule. Your
son will have to wait in line for his turn. Now will you please..."
"Don't be silly, boy. " The woman laughed at him, "Rules are made to be
broken. My Dennis has been a good boy."
"I want to eat the giant chocolate candy and use the newest model snowboard
now!" The brat Dennis cried out.
Heero would eat his red pompom if the boy had been a good boy just for one
day. "Sorry, but every child here has been good too. They are so good that
they don't mind waiting in line for their turn."
The woman scowled at Heero, "I get it." She opened her bag and took out a
fifty dollar note. "Here, you just look to the side and let us be."
God, he hated rich people. Yes, fifty dollars meant a lot to him but he
wouldn't swallow his pride just for money.
Heero shook his head. "Ma'am, I don't want the money. Please wait in line
for your son's turn."
"Stupid servant! I hate you!" Dennis cried out and tried to run pass Heero.
He caught the boy easily and turned to the boy's mother.
"Please, take your boy and stay in - SHIT!" Heero cursed in pain.
Dennis had kicked him in the shin.
"Let me through, stupid black elf!" the boy shouted and kicked Heero's other
shin.
Heero gasped in pain and felt his legs wobble. He had to release his broom
to balance himself. It felt like the damn kid was wearing some sort of steel
capped boots. He was damned if he'd fall because of an attack from a kid.
Gritting his teeth, Heero straightened up and saw that the other children
were either crying or looked horrified while their parents were scowling at
someone behind his back.
Heero turned around and cursed when he saw the woman had taken her son's
hand and made a beeline towards Santa. Damn woman wasn't fit to be a parent.
Heero picked his broom up and went after them, limping slightly from the
brat's attack.
"Spank them with your broom, elf," came a mutter from one of the parents.
"Serve them right for jumping the queue."
Heero intended to do just that.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
As it turned out, Heero was too late to stop them. The woman had already cut
into another child's turn and shoved her son onto Santa's lap.
"I want my chocolate and snowboard!" Dennis shouted before he was firmly
seated on Duo's lap.
"Oh, have you been a good boy?" Duo asked pleasantly. Heero was torn between
getting onto the throne and pulling the boy off or strangling Santa for
letting the boy have his way.
"Of course." Dennis puffed up with pride, "I'm a very good and clever boy."
"Really?" Duo raised one white eyebrow.
"Oh yes, Santa, " Dennis' mother cut in. "He's a perfect example for other
boys."
"Well, I think I will give you what you deserve then," Duo spoke jovially.
The brat squealed in delight while the bitchy woman looked adoringly at her
son. Heero blamed himself for choosing a crazy boy to pose as Santa but that
didn't stop him from vowing to strangle the crazy boy once all of this was
over.
He forgot about his vow when, without warning, Duo turned the boy upside
down so his face was facing the ground and proceeded to smack the boy's ass.
Cries of surprise and pain came from Dennis and his mother.
"What are you doing?!! Stop it!" Dennis' mother shouted in horror.
"I'm giving your son what he deserves," Duo said nonchalantly as he kept
spanking the boy. Heero could hear snickers coming from the queue line. No
doubt the other parents and children were satisfied with the turn of events.
Amidst Dennis' cries and screams, Dennis' mother tried to stop Duo.
"Stop it! You are hurting my son!"
"He hurt my reindeer," Duo replied. Heero groaned and wished he could turn
back time and stop himself from making that reindeer sarcasm.
"What reindeer? There is only the black elf, you barbarian!" The woman
shouted in distress, "Stop hitting my son!"
"That black elf is my reindeer in disguise. You didn't stop your son from
hurting him so I won't stop hurting your son either."
"You can't do this. I'll report this abuse to police."
Duo snorted and kept spanking the now crying boy. "I'll sue you for trying
to bribe my reindeer then."
"I'll be your witness, Santa!" one parent shouted from the line, followed by
the others.
The woman turned bright red.
Duo delivered the final smack and straightened the boy. "You have been a bad
boy this year so you won't get your present. But, if you behave well during
next year then I'll deliver the one thing you most want to your chimney."
The boy just sobbed on his lap. Duo let the woman snatch her son and pull
him into her embrace.
"Don't cry my darling baby, this Santa is a bad Santa. We will go to another
Santa and he will give you your present two fold!"
"Dennis will not receive his present this year." Duo told the woman firmly.
Dennis' mother just glared at him and took her son away. Heero scowled at
the retreating pair. No doubt, once they left the park, the woman would
spoil the boy tremendously with presents. His eyes then caught the sight of
Mr. Smith at the line side.
Heero groaned at the furious expression his manager wore. They were soooo
fired.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Four hours later after a lecture, a paycheck, and a final dismissal, it was
evening when Heero found himself back in his apartment. The culprit who'd
made him lose his job was trailing behind him.
Heero sat on the couch and glared at Duo. "This is all your fault."
His accusation flew onto deaf ears. Duo knelt in front of him and touched
his legs.
"What are you doing?!" Heero squeaked.
Duo looked up, still holding Heero's legs. "Are your legs okay?"
"They are fine." Actually, his legs were still smarting from Dennis' kick.
"Why are you still here? Don't you have a home to go to?"
"Of course I have a home." Duo ran a hand along Heero's calf. Heero couldn't
help but hiss when he touched his newly formed bruise. Duo looked at him in
disapproval. "You lied to me."
Heero bristled at the accusation. "My legs will be fine soon." He made to
pull his legs away but Duo held fast to them. Heero hissed again as Duo
accidentally pressed on his bruise.
"Stubborn reindeer." Duo scolded gently and to Heero's surprise, bent down
to kiss Heero's shin.
"What are you doing?" Heero squeaked as he felt a warm tingling in places
where Duo's lips had landed.
"Healing your legs, of course." The long haired boy switched his attention,
or his lips in this case, to Heero's other leg.
"Kissing to make it better is just a saying, baka," Heero said, though he
wasn't sure if that was the truth. This was the first time that someone had
wanted to kiss him. Heero wondered whether this meant he had gotten his
first kiss, even though it wasn't a kiss on his lips. He had to admit that
Duo's kiss felt pleasant and made him relax. He tensed again however, when
Duo kissed his knee and his hands caressed his thighs up and down.
"Relax Heero, I'll take care of you," Duo said soothingly and kissed the
side of his thigh.
The sensation was pleasant and sent shivers of pleasure through his body.
Heero closed his eyes and enjoyed the other, human touch. So this was how it
felt to be taken care of? He could feel Duo's hands run along his body and
the kisses followed after.
So good. It felt so good.
Heero felt like he was floating slowly into heaven. He sighed happily and
relaxed further. However, he realized a few minutes later that Duo had
stopped touching and kissing him. Frowning, but still keeping his eyes
closed, Heero asked. "Why did you stop?"
"Because I can't reach you."
Duo's voice came from somewhere below him. It surprised Heero into opening
his eyes. The white paint of the ceiling greeted his vision. What shocked
him though was that the ceiling was very close to him. Only a meter or so.
Now that he was aware of his surroundings, Heero realized that he couldn't
feel the sofa on his back. His mind supplied a theory as to why couldn't he
feel it but Heero refused to accept such an impossible thing. With a feeling
of dread and keeping his eyes on the white ceiling, he asked Duo. "Why can't
you reach me?"
"Because you are way too high."
Heero gulped and slowly looked below him. Duo was looking up at him, smiling
benignly. "I must make you feel really good if you are floating that high."
Heero's body chose that point in time to realize that a human couldn't
float. He fell back onto his couch with a groan.
"Heero! Are you okay?" Duo hurriedly fussed over him.
"I was flying...." Heero said dazedly.
"Of course you were. You are a Christmas reindeer after all."
Heero decided it was time to faint. And faint successfully he did, leaving a
frantic Duo behind.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Heero was awakened by phone ringing. He sleepily reached for his night stand
and located the phone. "Hello?"
"Yuy! I've been thinking. I was too harsh yesterday. I hope you and your
friend can come back to work for me again." Mr. Smith's voice rang out.
Heero furrowed his eyebrows. Yesterday? What happened yesterday? And who was
his friend? "Yesterday, my friend...."
"Your friend was a bit hard on a boy but he was very good with other
children or so their parents told me. The park's director told me he got a
lot of good feedback and complimented us all for our work. He plans to bring
his grandchildren to meet the delightful kind Santa and his reindeer in
disguise today "
"So...?" Heero's brain was still fifty percent off-line.
"So I want you two to come back."
"Uhm...."
"I'll double your pay," Mr. Smith said quickly.
The talk about money swiftly brought his brain on-line. "Double? Right, we
will be there." Heero didn't know who the 'we' included but he would figure
that out later after he sealed the deal.
"Excellent, I'll be waiting for you two then."
"Right, see you.." Heero was cut off when a hand grabbed the phone he was
holding.
"Mr. Smith?"
"Ah, Duo, you are staying with Yuy then? Did you hear our conversation just
now?" Mr. Smith's voice was rather loud and Heero still could hear him.
"Yes, I got one request though.."
Heero stared at the phone snatcher. Tousled long hair, vibrant violet eyes,
and a very naked body. With his brain awake, all his memories of yesterday
came rushing back at him. Duo, the intruder, the crazy boy who thought he
was Santa. Spoiled Dennis and his bitchy mother. Then the evening event.
Heero felt his mind whirling at the memories. He certainly didn't fly. No
human could fly. It must have been in his dream. Heero replayed the evening
events. He had been relaxing on the couch and Duo was kissing his legs. He
must have fallen asleep at that time and dreamt that he was flying. Yes,
that was it.
Satisfied with his theory, Heero shook his head and dismissed his bizarre
dream.
"I'm happy you understand about it. We'll see you soon. " Duo finished his
talk and put the phone back in its place.
"What did you talk about with Mr. Smith?" Heero asked.
"Nothing important, " Duo smiled, "Just making him put you in your right
position."
"Oh?" Heero was about to ask what his right position was when he realized
another thing. He was naked!
"Duo?!"
"What?" Duo looked bewildered.
"Why am I naked?"
"You passed out on the couch and didn't want to wake up. So I picked you up
and put you in the bed."
"NAKED?"
Duo tilted his head slightly. "It's comfortable to sleep, no?."
Well, he did sleep comfortably judging from how well rested he felt, but
still.... "I usually wear my shorts and tank top to bed."
"That would be uncomfortable." Duo gestured toward himself, "Naked is the
best way to sleep."
That was when Heero realized both of them were naked.
And sleeping in the same bed.
Duo was looking at him interestedly. "Why is your face is as red as my
suit?"
Not wanting to explain anything, Heero just threw his pillow straight at
Duo's face and escaped into the bathroom.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Heero?"
"......"
"Heero, talk to me."
Heero just glared as he finished his breakfast.
"You are one weird reindeer," Duo commented as he ate his own breakfast.
"I am not weird and I am not a reindeer!"
"Only reindeer can fly. So you are a reindeer."
Heero would so not touch that 'fly' thingie not even with ten foot pole. It
was just a dream after all. Heero cleaned up his plate and stood up. "Let's
go, we have to work now."
"Huh? But we still haven't cleaned the dishes."
Heero put his jacket on and headed toward the door. "You are the Santa. Use
your magic to clean them." He then opened the door and went out.
Duo followed him out several seconds later and looked at him disapprovingly.
"You are a lazy reindeer."
Heero rolled his eyes and locked the door to his apartment. "No more talk
about reindeer, Duo."
"Why not?"
They started bickering along the way to work. If Heero had spared a second
to glance at his kitchen, he would have seen that all the dishes had been
cleaned and put back in their places.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"You two look just perfect together," Mr. Smith declared. "Duo was right to
suggest this part for you, Heero."
I will not kill Duo, I will not kill Duo, Heero chanted inwardly as Mr.
Smith continued praising them. He threw a deadly glare at Duo whose obvious
satisfaction couldn't be hidden beneath the white beard and mustache.
"I will kill you later for this," Heero vowed after Mr. Smith left them to
their tasks.
Duo frowned at him. "Don't say something you don't really mean, Heero."
"Oh, don't worry, I really mean to kill you," Heero growled. "How dare you
ask Mr. Smith to put me in a reindeer costume!" He pointed at the reindeer's
horns he wore. The bells on the horns rang at his movement. He was wearing a
brown furred costume which supposedly symbolized the reindeer and since
today there was a reindeer, Mr. Smith had replaced the throne with the
sleigh. Heero was stationed in front of the sleigh and would help Santa in
giving the children their presents.
"You look great in that costume." Duo looked at him with pride. "I'm sure
you'll be a great reindeer, Heero."
The look tugged at Heero's heart in a strange way. No one had ever looked at
him proudly. No one had ever been proud of him. However, Heero was still
irritated at Duo's underhanded tactic. "A Santa shouldn't force people to do
something they don't like."
Duo frowned then. "Do you really enjoy being a black elf instead of a
reindeer?"
Well, now that Duo had said it. Heero had to admit that being a reindeer was
much more comfortable than being the black elf. He didn't have to paint his
face and body black and put thick lipstick on his lips. He was in a nice
warm costume instead of tight leggings. He didn't have to keep the children
in line since all the reindeer had to do was hold the presents before Santa
gave them to the children. He couldn't make children cry in this costume
though.
"See, it's good to be a reindeer, " Duo declared, obviously taking Heero's
silence as agreement over the reindeer issue.
Heero didn't have a chance to retort back since the children were upon them.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The director's grandchildren came around four in the afternoon. There were
two of them, called Lena and Larry. All the other children had gone home so
they had Santa and the reindeer all to themselves. Noticing how happy the
children were around Santa and his reindeer, the director asked them to
accompany the children around the park while he had a private discussion
with Mr. Smith.
Compared to Dennis, they were angels. Heero could see they were a little
spoiled but it wasn't irritating. He even envied them for having a doting
grandfather.
"I want to ride the reindeer," Lena told Santa while eyeing Heero eagerly.
Feeling uncomfortable, Heero shifted slightly, causing his bells to ring.
The sound only increased Lena's adoring stare at him.
"Only Santa can ride the reindeer, Lena," Duo told the little girl
patiently. "You can ride with me in the sleigh instead."
"I want to ride in the sleigh too!" Larry exclaimed and climbed into the
sleigh next to Duo. "Let's go around the park in it!"
"Well, we do have a reindeer," Duo look at Heero in amusement.
Heero glared back at the fake Santa.
"Let's see if the reindeer can pull all three of us, shall we?" Duo's words
made the children squeal in delight.
Heero groaned and smacked himself for daring to hope that Duo would make a
rational decision. Duo was absolutely bonkers. The sleigh, as far as Heero
knew, was for decoration only and even if the sleigh was functional and the
street covered in snow, they would need a horse, a REAL horse to pull the
sleigh. He would never be able to pull the sleigh by himself.
"If the reindeer can pull us, we will go around the park in the sleigh," Duo
told the children, "but if he can not, then we will have to walk together."
Now that was more sensible. Heero only needed to show it was impossible to
pull the sleigh by himself and the children would relent.
"Come on, good reindeer," Duo addressed his reindeer, "could you try pulling
the sleigh for us?"
"Don't you need a whip to make him move, Santa?"
I'll whip you black and blue and force you to eat it after that if you dare
try doing that, Heero swore. Duo chuckled as if he could hear Heero's silent
vow and patted Larry's head affectionately. "No whip necessary to get your
reindeer or horse to move, Larry. All you need is to ask them to do it
instead of ordering them."
"Really? I'll try that on my new puppy later then," Larry said.
"Your puppy will be happy with you," Duo said. "Now, let's ask the reindeer
to help us."
"Please reindeer, would you try pulling the sleigh?" asked Lena sweetly.
"Yes, reindeer, could you please try it? I'll give you some sweets if you
can," said Larry.
"Now, Larry, no bribery please. This reindeer belongs to Santa so only Santa
can give him sweets," Duo chuckled. "You hear the children's pleas,
reindeer. Could you please try to pull us?"
After listening to the sweet pleas from the children, Heero couldn't help
but be moved at the sincere words. He knew he would never be able to pull
the sleigh. If he could, he wouldn't mind taking the children around, though
he would certainly kick Duo out of the sleigh first.
Actually pulling the sleigh wasn't the correct word. The bars which stuck
out from each side of a sleigh were usually connected to a horse, but on
this sleigh, it was connected with another thick bar. Heero only needed to
stand behind the connecting bar and push it to get the sleigh moving.
Heero pushed the bar with half his strength and was surprised when the
sleigh moved forward easily and bumped into his back.
"It moves!" Larry and Lena squealed in delight.
"Of course it moves, my reindeer is a strong one."
Heero stared at the bar in front of him in disbelief. There was no way, no
way in world he could push the sleigh filled with two children and one fat
Santa as easy as he pushed a door open! Right, it must have been his
imagination. Heero tried to push the bar again and again the sleigh moved.
The children squealed happily. Duo laughed. Heero was.... confused as hell.
"Let's go around, my good reindeer." Duo decreed.
Too confused to sort out this strange phenomena, Heero threw his logic to
the wind and pushed the sleigh. As strange as it sounded, he encountered
none of the park's other visitors. The happy squeals of the children, the
bells on his horns ringing and Duo's booming laughter became music to his
ears as he pushed the sleigh around the park. It was as if the four of them
were all alone in the park.
Heero was happy.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Goodbye Santa! Goodbye Reindeer!" Lena and Larry waved their hands then
followed their grandfather home.
Heero and Duo waved to them until they disappeared from his vision.
"That was a really great performance," Mr. Smith said in glee. The three of
them were standing in front of the fake igloo. "But it must have been hard
for you to pull the sleigh around for that long."
Heero shrugged. "Not really" He was honest this time. He had pulled the
sleigh for almost an hour but he barely felt tired. It was as if he had the
power of a horse when he was pushing the sleigh.
"Well, nevertheless you just take a rest in the sleigh for a while. Duo, you
can follow me to pick up both of your paychecks for today. The director has
given both of you a bonus."
"Take a bit of a rest, Heero." Duo smiled at him and patted his cheek gently
before following Mr. Smith into his office. The gentle touch made Heero weak
at the knees. He sat on the sleigh and looked to the sky. The snow was
slowly falling and it was getting darker as the night set in.
Peace on earth.
Heero smiled softly as the words flashed at his mind. Peace indeed. He had
never been this happy with his life before. Granted he was confused with how
bizarre some things were that had happened, but he was happy nevertheless.
He never noticed the blue eyes watching him from afar and nor did he notice
that the watcher did something to him.
Feeling suddenly sleepy, Heero pulled his feet up onto the sleigh and curled
up. Within seconds, he was sound asleep.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The blue eyed watcher crowed in delight when he saw the reindeer falling
into a deep slumber. He hurriedly approached the sleeping reindeer and
stared at its beauty.
"A Christmas reindeer, as pure as the snow!" The watcher said in excitement
and gathered the sleeping reindeer into his arms. They were gone within
seconds, leaving an empty sleigh behind.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~'
Someone. Anyone. Please wake him up from this nightmare, Heero pleaded
inwardly. While Duo had been a weird dream. The man babbling before him was
a nightmare.
Since he'd regained consciousness, the man had asked him to be his reindeer.
This time the man had the correct appearance of a Santa. Blue eyes, white
hair, beard, and mustache. Add to that a big stomach and appropriate Santa
costume and the man was Santa Claus incarnate.
His attitude, however, was far from Santa. Hell, Duo was more similar to
Santa instead of this man. He had been awakened, tied to the bed. The house,
as far as the ceiling goes (it was all Heero could see from his tied
position), was made from wood. The man had squealed at him, praised him in
nonsense words, then proceeded to touch him everywhere. He even pried open
Heero's teeth as if checking a horse.
Heero bit the man's fingers at this last violation of his person.
"How many times have I told you that I am not a reindeer?" Heero spat the
words while the man shrieked in pain.
The man cradled his fingers and scowled, "You are going to be my reindeer!
You'll see. Here, I have the best quality grass for you." He promptly
stuffed Heero's mouth with a bundle of yellowy grass.
Heero spluttered as he spat the grass out of his mouth. "Release me or I'll
kill you, old man! I'm not a reindeer, damn it! This is just a costume I put
on!"
"Bad reindeer, " The man clucked. "How come a reindeer denies being a
reindeer? I'll just have to show you then."
"Show me what?!" Heero shouted, alarmed when the man went out of his vision
range.
"Where did I put my mirror...." The man mumbled. "Aha!"
The man returned to the line of Heero's vision. His hands danced in front of
him as he murmured something that sounded like 'hocus pocus abracadabra'. To
Heero's horror, he could feel himself changing. He became larger and wider.
His legs and hands became longer and fur started covering his body.
"What the hell are you doing to me?!" Heero shouted. The sound of torn
fabric was heard as his costume couldn't accommodate Heero's growing size.
It was a full minute before Heero felt himself stop changing.
"Marvelous, marvelous." The man clapped his hands happily. "You're a
splendid reindeer! Look! Look in the mirror!"
Heero looked at the mirror and was horrified when he saw a big, brown
reindeer with blue eyes looking back at him. He looked down at himself and
noticed he was standing on four legs instead of two and all four legs
resembled reindeer legs.
"Now you can't deny you're a reindeer." The man cackled in satisfaction. "I
have got myself a magnificent reindeer!" He approached Heero reindeer and
tried to climb on him.
Heero cried out his protest and shifted, throwing the man off.
"What are you doing?" The man glared at Heero. "Stay still, I want to ride
you!"
Heero narrowed his eyes and set aside his panic about being a reindeer.
Okay, he might be a reindeer, but he would not be ridden by this pathetic
Santa Claus. Heero turned so he was face to face with the man and bent his
head down, horns at the ready.
"What are you doing?!" The man's eyes widened as he watched the reindeer
advance on him. "Stop, I order you to stop!"
Heero, of course, increased his speed instead of stopping. The man was
forced to run if he didn't want to be impaled by the horns. Heero kept
advancing, not caring about the house's pillars or doors or even walls. Soon
they were outside, snow covered the ground and the sky was pure blue,
decorated with seven colored famous aurora Borealis. The fraud Santa had
taken Heero to the North Pole or was it South Pole?
Well, Heero didn't care. He was to keen on trying to stab the fraud Santa
with his horns. For a fat man, the fraud Santa was pretty fast at running.
Heero was still slow since he had to accustom himself with his new body, but
he was slowly gaining on the man.
When his horns stabbed the fraud Santa's ass, it was of great satisfaction
for Heero to hear the man's squeal of pain.
It turned out that he couldn't impale the man though. He could make him
bounce on his horns but that was the extent of it. It was enough for Heero
though. He derived great satisfaction from chasing the man around and poking
him with his horns, making the man bounce around.
It was to this scene, Duo appeared. His face showed how worried he was but
it was quickly turned into amusement as he took in what he was seeing.
"Having fun with Dobby, Heero?"
Heero just snorted and kept after his prey.
"Duo, save me!" Dobby, the fraud Santa shouted. "He is a crazy reindeer!"
The nerve of the man! Heero growled and renewed his chase. The crazy one was
the man himself.
"He is not crazy but you should have known better than to try and steal
other's reindeer. You should be example to children, shame on you, Dobby."
"He was a nice quality reindeer. OWWW." Heero grunted in satisfaction,
watching Dobby bounce three meters off the ground this time.
"He IS the best quality reindeer," Duo said and stepped between Heero and
Dobby, "but only for me."
"I agree with you. Just keep him away from me." Dobby rubbed his poor
posterior.
Duo turned to Heero and caressed his nose. "That's enough, Heero."
Heero grunted and leaned into Duo's hand.
Duo smiled. "Let's go home, shall we?"
Heero nodded in agreement. Duo patted his head before climbing onto Heero's
back.
"Good riddance," Dobby mumbled.
"I'll report your action to the council, Dobby."
Dobby groaned in dismay. "Can we just forget the whole thing? I have learned
my lesson."
Duo looked thoughtful. "Okay, I will only tell Nora then about this."
"But she will demand a divorce!"
"Serve you right for wanting another reindeer while you have Nora," Duo said
as he urged Heero forward, leaving Dobby contemplating his fate.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When Duo said they were going home, Heero had thought they would go back to
his apartment. But it turned out they were heading toward Duo's home. The
house was located in the middle of a white nowhere. It was a roomy house,
made from wood. A dark spot among the whiteness. A beautiful sleigh was
parked beside the house while mistletoe hung here and there around the
house.
Duo climbed off Heero's back and opened the front door. He went inside and
Heero followed, thankful that the door was big enough for him.
It was a one room house. The fireplace was on the right while a queen sized
bed sat on the left. Dinner table and stove were near the fireplace. There
was a small door on his left which Heero suspected led toward the bathroom.
The house was warm and welcoming, just like its owner.
Duo stood in front of Heero and smiled. "I think I should turn you back."
Yes, please! Heero made an agreeable sound.
Duo laughed and waved his right hand. Heero instantly turned back into his
human self. His NAKED human self.
Heero squeaked and dove into the bed, pulling the furry quilt over his naked
body.
"My shy reindeer," Duo chuckled as he followed Heero at a more leisurely
pace. He sat on the bed and caressed the top of Heero's head. "How are you
feeling?"
Now that it was all over and he was back to himself, Heero's mind started
processing what had happened to him. "I was a reindeer."
"You are still a reindeer."
Heero scowled at Duo. "How does that make sense?"
"You don't need to be in a reindeer form to fly or pull the sleigh. Thus,
you are a reindeer whether you look like it or not."
"I can pull that heavy sleigh because I am a reindeer?"
Duo nodded.
"I really can fly?"
Duo nodded.
"I can turn into a reindeer?"
Duo nodded again.
Heero decided to faint.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When he came back to consciousness, Duo was still patiently waiting beside
him. This time he had shed his clothes and lay next to Heero beneath the
quilt.
"Don't faint again, please."
Heero sighed and decided his life had taken a turn into a really bizarre
one. He stayed silent for a few minutes, storing and processing all
information he had learned. At last, he looked at Duo.
"You really are Santa?"
"You don't believe me?"
"You are too thin to be Santa."
Duo scowled. "Santa doesn't have to be fat like Dobby."
"Speaking of that fat man, why did he kidnap me?"
"He wanted a new reindeer."
"Why?"
"He does it every year, says Nora, his reindeer, is too demanding."
"Wait, I recall him saying something about Nora divorcing him. Nora is his
wife?"
"That and his reindeer as well."
"Oh." Heero closed Dobby's case on him and stored it away. He wouldn't try
to comprehend marital problems. It was only making everyone's head ache.
"Why did you suddenly appear and declare I'm your reindeer?"
"You asked Santa for a present for being a good boy."
"Oh." Heero remembered the night before Duo came into his life and turned it
upside down. "So what is my present?"
Duo smiled tenderly and leant forward, bestowing a kiss to Heero's lips.
"I'm your present, Heero. I will be your Santa and will take care of you.
You will never be alone again."
Warmth seeped into Heero's lonely heart as Duo's lips touched his. A present
for him. To last as long as he lived. Being a reindeer was quite cool now
that he thought about it.
Heero smiled at his Santa."I'm happy with my present."
Duo smiled back. "Good, then I believe it's time to ride you."
Heero frowned in confusion. "But you've ridden on my back already."
"That was while you were in reindeer form. I want to ride you while you are
in human form."
"Whaaaaaaaaat?"
Duo grinned wickedly. "It will be a pleasant ride, Heero."
Heero gulped. "A real Santa never rides his reindeer like that."
"This Santa does." Duo pounced.
"Pervert Santaaaaa!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Epilogue
One year later
The knock on his window woke Dennis up. He rubbed his eyes and looked at
where the noise came from. His heart stopped beating for a second when he
noticed last year's Santa outside his window. His four storey window!
He quickly ran toward the window and opened it. Santa was riding a flying
reindeer! He looked at Santa in awe.
"You have been a good boy this year, Dennis," Santa said with a smile.
Dennis nodded eagerly. He had been good. He had been really good.
"Your present will arrive an hour later on your doorstep," Santa said. "I'm
really pleased that you have turned out to be a very good boy."
Dennis puffed out with pride, oblivious to Santa's reindeer's snort.
"Merry Christmas, dear boy," Santa said as he departed
"Merry Christmas, Santa!!" Dennis waved enthusiastically and waited until
Santa disappeared before going downstairs. His father was coming home!
"Such a nice kid, isn't he?"
Heero snorted.
"He has changed a lot from last year."
Heero snorted again.
Duo grinned and patted his reindeer. "Don't pout, Heero. Just two more stops
then you will have the ride of your life. I promise you won't be able to
walk unless I kiss it better"
If the next child they visited noticed how red the reindeer's cheeks were,
they didn't tell Santa. They were too delighted with their own present after
all.
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