[For Bobby] Christmas Morning

[prodigalflame]

John had woken early in his own bed, alone, and found that this whole 'sleeping together once or twice in the past week' thing was getting to be annoyingly habit-forming. Alone was starting to feel...odd.

Still, he made them a pot of coffee, leaving a mug out on the counter for Bobby, and took his own to settle on the couch with his thoughts and look out at the wintry landscape, little more than some paving and a few dreary shrubs and bushes, windows edged with frost.

The fire was warm, so he let his robe fall open, and simply cradled the mug in his hands. Underneath the tree he'd left a present in matte silver wrapping paper with a snowflake design and a small gift card with Bobby's name on it. Inside was a copy of Math Jokes 4 Mathy Folks, although that wasn't the real gift. The real gift was the Sinatra app John had bought and sneakily installed on Bobby's phone after his boyfriend - god, boyfriend - had gone to bed that evening.

Tucked up inside the book was another present, although John wasn't entirely sure of the impulse that led him to place it in the front cover. It was an old photo, taken on the grounds of the Xavier Institute, with two teenage boys sitting on one of those benches they had dotted around. Bobby was leaning forward, smiling at the camera, either looking happy or clever enough to fake it; and John was sitting next to him, but at a distance, leaning back with arms stretched out along the back of the bench, one leg crossed over the other at the ankle, and looking anywhere but the camera, a picture in studied, deliberate angry-cool. It had been taken a couple of months after Rogue had arrived at the Mansion and everything had changed, but to John it was still a worthy memory, at least some of the time.

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[cold_blueeyes]

Bobby woke to the faint smell of coffee and the realization that it was Christmas morning. He laid in bed for a few minutes, wondering what the day would be like. He'd always gone to his folks' house for Christmas, even when things were strained and uncomfortable. This would be the first year he wasn't surrounded by his family on Christmas, and the thought was weird...but not necessarily in a bad way.

He sighed and stretched, grabbing his robe and slipping the small red-foil wrapped box with the gold ribbons (clearly a professional wrapping job) out of his drawer and into the pocket. Then he headed downstairs, poured himself a cup of coffee, and went to find John. When he did, he smiled and went to join him on the couch, nestling against him and taking a sip of coffee. "Morning. Merry Christmas," he murmured, leaning in to press a soft kiss to John's lips.

[prodigalflame]

"Merry Christmas," John grinned back, setting his coffee down on the coffee table so he could lean forward a little and reach to run his fingers through Bobby's hair. God damn it, but he liked touching the guy. It was a combination of affirming that Bobby was indubitably real and just getting used to him, getting used to Bobby at only a hand's reach away. "Are you my present? Mind, I have already unwrapped you..." They might have only mostly made out and fooled around a little more since that first night, but John was totally A-OK content with that. Learning Bobby's scent was more than enough reward, and frankly, he wanted to be a gentleman about this.

Although if Drake kept looking so darn edible that was going to be very hard.

[cold_blueeyes]

Bobby chuckled and shook his head. "Nope. I mean, if that's all you want..." he said, smiling as he pulled the box from his pocket and set it on the table next to John's coffee. "I guess I can always return this."

[prodigalflame]

John's eyes fell heavily on the small wrapped box. It looked like - jewellery, possibly? Naw. Well, maybe Drake thought he was the type who could have a man-band or what the hell ever. God, he might have a beard but he wasn't a fucking hipster. "Well, I'd say you shouldn't have, except you totally should." He didn't open it yet, though - one gift deserved another.

Dragging his eyes away from that present, John stood up and pushed his chair back to go and retrieve the (clumsily wrapped) present that lay under the tree for Bobby, and placed it on the table. "There you go, handsome." The app on Bobby's phone - well, if he hadn't found it yet, John was happy to drag that secret on a little longer, if only to emphasise the eventual reveal.

[cold_blueeyes]

Bobby hadn't even looked at his phone yet, so that reveal would have to wait. "Thanks," he said, picking up the present and carefully unwrapping it. He grinned when he saw the cover. "Wow. I'm almost afraid to read them," he said, chuckling. "Thanks." He set the book on his lap and waited for John to open his gift.

[prodigalflame]

"I promise to groan properly at your jokes this time around," John told him, leaning in to press his lips lightly against Bobby's temple, because boyfriend, duh, there, duh, holy fuck gorgeous, duh. And the morning was just too cosy not to. "Maybe even laugh. No stony face tough guy bullshit, I swear." The chuckle had eased his mind - he knew it was a cheap gift, and while he could afford something more expensive, in a sense he didn't know Bobby that much at all. For all the talk and laughing of the last few days, it had been mostly banter and making out. Not exactly the time to deviously dig for information regarding Christmas presents. Not that John was especially good at being devious.

Setting the gift on his lap, he unwrapped the paper, and - the world stopped. It was a Zippo box, an actual bona fide, copyrighted, branded, marked, what the fuck ever, official, Zippo lighter box. Glancing up at Bobby, he managed a croaky "I don't know what to say." He already had a lighter though, so he was a little puzzled as well, after the first wave of emotion swept over him, giving Bobby a raised eyebrow and a bit of a shrug. Opening up the box, he just inhaled softly when he saw the decoration on the front of the lighter, knowing his mouth had fallen open. "It's beautiful," he admitted, picking it out of the case with fingers that somehow felt a bit thick and inadequate to the task.

"Thank you." John was John, though, so: "Next year you can get me a flame thrower." Not that he technically needed one - but it would save time if they came up against anything big.

[cold_blueeyes]

Bobby chuckled softly and shrugged. "I just figured...that way it'd kind of be like you have me with you wherever you go." Not to mention it was a way of telling John that he trusted him. After all that had come before, after what he knew John was capable with his power, what he'd seen him do--he trusted him now, trusted that he had changed.

He'd still been nervous about it, though, and he relaxed against the couch with relief as he added, "I'm glad you like it." The flamethrower comment did not dignify a response, especially not just then. He had a feeling he'd get used to just ignoring John's little comments, his way of deflecting, of trying to mask certain emotions.

[prodigalflame]

"I really do like it," John told him, soft and honest and eager, leaning over to press his lips to Bobby's in a brief kiss, as if the touch could anchor Bobby, affirm the truth of what John had said. God knew John had freaked out enough about Christmas gifts. I mean, what do you get for the best friend turned crush turned person you tried to kill? There simply isn't a Hallmark card for the occassion.

He turned the lighter around in his hands, tossed it with his right hand, and caught it in his palm before flicking it open, a smooth, practiced movement. Didn't feel any heavier than his existing lighter: and this was definitely more than just for Sunday best. "I'll carry it wherever I go," he promised, and found a pocket in his robe to pop it into. "Speaking of mementos," John murmured, before sipping on his coffee, "check your phone."

[cold_blueeyes]

"Good." Bobby smiled, pleased that he'd done well. He arched an eyebrow at the mention of his phone and stood up, eyeing John with vague, playful suspicion. "It's upstairs." He headed for the staircase, grabbing his phone but coming back down to rejoin John on the couch before unlocking the screen.

"What am I looking for?" he asked, scooting over to lean against John as he first checked to see if there was a text message waiting before starting to flip through the screens--and stopping as soon as he went to the next screen. "Whoa, what's this?" He looked up at John and flashed a grin before turning his attention back to the new app on his phone. "How did you know about this? How did I not know about this?" he asked, grinning wider as he started to explore the Sinatra app.

[prodigalflame]

John tried his best innocent face at the vaguely suspicious look Bobby gave him, and no, it probably hadn't improved that much since he'd singed that hall carpet in school and Ms Munroe had spent ten minutes trying to get him to admit it.

Fortunately his boyfriend scarpered off, and then came back and snuggled up against him - John didn't even have to provide any commentary or clues because Bobby had found the other gift (as opposed to the other other gift, secreted away in the book). "And I know about this because someone introduced me to old fogey music and I have a certain appreciation for it, so I keep my eye out for things. You did not know about it because you've been too busy giving me hickies, I'm sure." John mused, hand reaching behind to absently toy with the hair on the nape of Bobby's neck, pleased just to see him enjoy the gift.

[cold_blueeyes]

"Sinatra isn't old fogey music, he's classic," Bobby protested loftily, opening the menu on the app to see what it could do, half-ignoring John's comment about the hickies and half not really registering it, his focus on his phone. "Wow, this is really cool." He twisted around to grin at John and kiss him, soft and lingering. "Thank you."

[prodigalflame]

That grin was practically enough to make John's year. The kiss was a definite bonus, John catching himself just looking at Bobby when it was done. "Well, a cool, classic kind of guy deserves a cool, classic kind of present," John shrugged. trying to play things a little cool himself. Still, he settled back against the couch and after a moment to process the comment, wiped his face down with a hand. "That sounded a lot smoother in my head. But I am damn happy you like it."

[cold_blueeyes]

"And I'm happy you like yours." Bobby shifted, making himself comfortable against John's side as he locked his phone with some reluctance. He could explore the app more in-depth later, when he didn't have a boyfriend to properly thank. "I mean, I know you already have one that works just fine, so...I wasn't entirely sure."

[prodigalflame]

John leaned away a little, so he could look at him, eyes wide and something like shock on his mouth, before he let out a half-amused, half-disbelieving wheeze that made his shoulders rise and fall. "Yes, I had a lighter, and it worked, sure. But the way one've given me means more."

It still seemed odd to him, that he had to explain things, that Bobby couldn't take one look at him and just know and be entirely sure. "'Works just fine' isn't sufficient when there's you involved," he murmured, his voice low, a soft rumble, as he nuzzled into Bobby's hair.

[cold_blueeyes]

"Well, good." Bobby sighed and relaxed against him, closing his eyes in contentment. Things had changed so fast, but he was happier than he ever could have believed he would be when he'd gotten on that plane in Boston two weeks ago. "Merry Christmas, John-boy," he murmured, smiling to himself as he set his phone on the couch next to him so he could rest his hand on John's chest.