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The gym was crowded, copper lights swinging wildly above the boxers’ heads as rubber mats and punching bags squeaked and thumped around them. Thaniel was dimly aware of the cracking of his knees as he continued to bounce on his toes, slowly circling around his sparring partner. James was a twitchy, jumpy sort of a boy, as if his joints were connected with frayed wire and sporadic electrical jolts. Normally, James slinked around the gym, asking the first unfortunate person he saw to prove himself in the ring. After pestering Thaniel for days on end, he half heartedly obliged, if only to stop the constant badgering.
“Alright there, mate?” James said, smirking. Thaniel couldn’t help but smile in return. He twitched his right fist, clipping James on the jaw followed by a left hook to his ribcage. James stumbled back, righting his stance before eyeing Thaniel suspiciously. Thaniel murmured, “Better than ever, I’d say.” Still got it.
They continued to dance around each other, but it was slow going. James’ offense was sudden and choppy, his defense nonexistent. Thaniel licked his lips and glanced at the clock. “Come on, old man,” James said, shifting his shoulders back. “Tired? Or am I just wearing you out?” His voice was a shocking green, tinged with grayish yellow. Thaniel said nothing, but the color nauseated him, and only continued to deliver quick jabs that James found more and more infuriating.
Two minutes into the match, James’ punches had become lethargic, and Thaniel started to go a little easier on him. Eventually, his jeers had gone from tolerable to irritating, and Thaniel called it a day. They shook hands, James gripping a little too tight for Thaniel’s comfort, before thankfully parting ways.
Thaniel was at the door when an uncomfortably bright green voice shouted, “Hold it, Thaniel!” With one hand clinging to the rope of the ring, James leaned forward with a crooked grin on his face. “I’m heading out to the Bear and the Staff tonight on Charing Cross. If you could spare your sweetheart one night to come and drink with the boys, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind.”
Thaniel chuckled, taking his coat off the rack while fitting his scarf snugly around his neck. He stepped forward and pushed open the door. “Sounds fun, but I’ve got other plans.” James raised an eyebrow, probably about to say something very unfitting.
“Just taxes and rent and things,” Thaniel quickly interjected, “my landlord’s very punctual, you know. I have to stay in tonight to do em’ or he’d make me sleep outside.”
Thaniel hoped James would think his red cheeks were a product of the cold December wind whipping around his face. He was suddenly thankful that James had no idea of the real reason he was suddenly flushed. Imagining the sly smirk belonging to a certain watchmaker who, days ago, had probably seen this future and chuckled to himself, was enough to make Thaniel want to either punch Mori lightly on the arm or kiss him senseless.
James gestured to the other boys around the gym, already bored. “Yeah, yeah, have a jolly good time filling out your taxes on Christmas, old man.” Thaniel gingerly stepped over the threshold and began the long walk home, snow falling gently around him.
...
Thaniel stomped the powder off his boots in front of the fogged up window, ivy and holly flowers curling around the frame. The bell dinged pleasantly as the door creaked open, revealing an indiscernible bundled-up figure. He held two steaming mugs of hot chocolate and had a pair of glasses balanced haphazardly on his hat. A mauve scarf covered the lower part of his face and the hat drooped over his hair, making the man buried beneath the layers look decades younger. The wrinkles around his eyes deepened for a second as Thaniel’s eyes drifted to the mugs, before he retreated backwards into the warm shop.
“Evening, Keita,” Thaniel said, beginning to take off his coat.
“No drinking with the boys tonight, I see.” Thaniel followed him into the shop, already feeling warmer as Mori’s sleek golden voice washed over him. “If I were James, I would have thrown in that little run-in with the London police, occuring at a ripe two in the morning after a lively bar fight. Just to pique your interest.”
Thaniel crouched near the worktable and laid his damp mittens near the welding grate, wondering if it was worth the risk of letting them dry quickly or catch on fire.
A deep burgundy hum came from the bundle of coats and blankets standing next to him. “They’d dry off properly in about an hour, but I’d hate to lose a good pair of mittens when you forget.” A pause. “You hadn’t asked that yet, had you?” Mori set down the mugs and shifted below his layers as Thaniel stood up.
“How are you so sure I’d forget?” Thaniel said, a faint smile tugging at his lips. It was impossible not to, for the lump of knitted layers facing him was as close to resembling a human being as Katsu was. Thaniel tentatively brushed a hand across Mori’s cheek, gently pulling down the scarf to reveal his mouth.
“Well,” Mori said, tilting up his head to meet Thaniel’s eyes with his. His lips puckered slightly at the corners, like they always did when Mori was remembering the future. “From what I can remember, you get a little...distracted.”
“Distracted.”
“Mm hm.”
Thaniel once again felt his face heat up, without quite remembering how his hands had ended up on Mori’s waist. He took a shaky breath. “You seem quite sure.”
A coy smile darted across Mori’s face as he draped his arms over Thaniel’s shoulders. “Do you really want to know?”
“Honestly, no.”
“Good.” Mori leaned in and briefly pressed his lips to Thaniel’s. His mind went blank, thinking of only Mori’s warmth against him before the kiss ended much too soon. Mori’s voice suddenly whispered in his ear, “We run out of cocoa powder and I throw you outside to the market to get some more. By the time you’re back, the mittens didn’t even stand a chance.”
Thaniel felt as though sparks were shooting through his mind, still caught up in the kiss. Mori smiled again and ran his fingers over the back of Thaniel’s neck and slowly into his hair.
“You should go check on Six.”
Thaniel cleared his throat, remembering she was upstairs. “Er, why is that?”
“She and Katsu are busy eating hot chocolate powder out of the can.”
The room was silent for a moment, before both men broke into quiet laughter. Mori pulled his hat off, murmuring, “I didn’t think I would heat up this much with that heinous chill outside.”
The sound of Mori’s contemptuous voice, shining with amber, made Thaniel quickly clasp Mori’s forearms and pull him in for one more kiss, a little fiercer than before. He felt Mori sigh in a satisfied manner against him, tipping his shoulders into Thaniel’s hands. Time melted away as Thaniel forgot that the world outside Filigree Street existed, his own being reduced to only the unsaid words and small smiles of the beautiful man in front of him.
The grandfather clock merrily chimed eight, startling Thaniel into embarrassed grins and muttered excuses. Mori only straightened his scarf and gave Thaniel a sly wink. “Merry Christmas, Kei,” Thaniel said softly, leaning down to press a kiss to Mori’s forehead.
“To you as well, Thaniel.” Mori picked up his mug of hot cocoa and sipped, as if nothing had happened at all, a small flush still across his cheeks.
Thaniel craned his head up to the stairs. He could already hear Six tearing around upstairs on a sugar buzz, giggling manically (which was rather concerning), her joyous stomps and hops passing through the ceiling and shaking the Christmas tree. The ornaments swung and jingled a soft light pink, their own little orchestra. Mori squeezed his hand and wished him good luck.
It was going to be a lovely Christmas Eve.