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Selfless as always, Lee didn’t know how to put a project down for the life of him. Following the Thanksgiving break from both of their students, Gaara would have expected a food-induced coma from Lee. That dinner almost put Gaara to sleep, but instead he cleaned up the abundant spread that Lee had prepared days prior. And in the meantime, Lee sat at the small space cleared from the dinner table where he pulled out a notepad and listed out his next tasks that would line out the last stretch of the year.
Yet, here they were at a department store for another Christmas run. For some reason that Gaara couldn’t fathom, Lee took Christmas a little too seriously. From what he gathered, he wasn’t even that spiritual, nor were his fathers. Yet, the car was already loaded with decorations taken out of a storage unit that Gaara had only heard of that morning between Lee’s peppermint mocha babbling and the Jingle Bell Rock playing from the car stereo. He couldn’t begin to imagine what laid in those totes in the trunk.
“How many of those bags are you getting?” Arms crossed over the handlebar of their shopping cart, already filled with boxes of holiday cards, tubes of wrapping paper, and soon an entire arm span of gift bags.
“Hm? Oh, the more the better. I’m going to need a lot.” Lee’s fingers still held a little tremble of caffeine, one that Gaara kept a watchful eye on to make sure that all of his festivity wouldn’t be the cause of his eventual crash. It shouldn’t be a surprise that Lee knew so many people, and even less of a shock that Lee would get them gifts. “There are the gift drives for the school and for the studio, the food drives for the school and the studio, and then Christmas with Dad, and then Tenten’s holiday party–”
“Lee.” Gaara pushed himself off the cart he was hunched over, walking around the madness that would be coming home with them. Both sleeves of bags were pulled off and tossed into the cart before Gaara’s hands squeezed both of Lee’s twitching ones. “It’s still November.”
“But it’s almost December!”
“ Lee, ” Gaara repeated himself, eyes staring up at his dark ones, wide with worry. “It’s November. Do you even know what today is?”
“Hanukkah started?”
“It’s the 27th. Happy Birthday.”
For a moment, pleasant surprise crossed Lee’s face in a grin. “Can we have curry tonight?” Not having much of a sweet tooth, a birthday dinner would suffice over a birthday cake.
“Of course we can.”
“Great! Now we need to get postage stamps, probably new pens, and tomorrow we can get the tree!”
One full week into December, Lee still jittered and jingled with holiday joy that could have rivaled Gaara’s functioning insomnia. By the looks of the shadows beneath Lee’s eyes, he had been busier than usual rather than sticking to the strict nighttime regimen set for himself. The kitchen table was sprawled with haphazard piles of holiday cards, and a single red pen laid beside the growing piles of cards.
“Perfect timing! I just finished signing the cards, you just need to sign your name and then I’ll put them in the mailbox.” Lee stood to stretch his arms overhead, and Gaara felt no shame watching for the little stretch of skin and trail of hair that lined his navel. “How’s grading going?”
“Mm. Could be better. No plagiarism this year, which is promising.” His morning kiss to Lee’s lips still tasted of chocolate and peppermint. “How long did it take for you to do all of these?”
“Not long! If you’re only signing your name, you should be done with it in maybe ten minutes?” Lee capped his green pen and left Gaara to his single job. The first card in the pile was addressed to Lee’s fathers, and naturally, Gaara would read all of the soft sentiments that Lee wrote for them.
Oh. Wait.
“Lee, you did all of these?” Gaara peered over to where Lee was crouched over to water the tree, once again enjoying the view of how green plaid stretched over his legs.
“Yes! Did I miss anyone?”
“No, you didn’t miss anyone.” Gaara quickly reassured him, casting his gaze back down to the glaring error that he would have hounded his students for if they made such a silly mistake on a paper.
Holy Happidays! Love, Lee and
Gaara signed his name beside Lee’s and sealed the envelope shut to leave the mistake for the recipients to read.
“You know I don’t like surprises.” Gaara took cautious steps while large, mittened hands covered his eyes.
“It’s okay! I promise it isn’t overwhelming.” Lee dropped his hands from Gaara’s face, taking a few steps away. “Okay, now open your eyes!”
The town square wasn’t anything new, though the evening was lit with the soft warm glow of string lights. In front of the old theater, Gaara remembered the many dates that he had taken Lee on, and how Lee had diligently sat through each and every film while fidgeting with Gaara’s hand.
“You said that you’ve never seen the Nutcracker before, so I figured that it would be a nice holiday tradition to start! Or you can see if you like it, and from there we can decide if we would like to have a new tradition or not. Your brother said that this show in particular was really good, so I took his advice!”
Kankuro suggested it? He appreciated theatre, but something didn’t sit right with Kankuro suggesting something to Lee. It would be like the last time they marathoned Kankuro’s collection of camp movies and Lee politely excused himself to vomit in the neighbors hedges.
“Let me see the tickets?” Gaara asked, taking Lee’s phone and examining the fine print of the tickets. His lips pressed together, taking a deep inhale. “Lee, this is a burlesque.”
“Is that a type of ballet?”
“Lee, it’s called the Slutcracker. It’s not the Nutcracker.”
“What?” As if his innocence wasn’t already corrupted, Lee frowned and peeked over his shoulder to reread the show information. “But I thought that it said–”
Typically, Gaara would love to see how lights shone so brightly in Lee’s eyes, but he didn’t appreciate the tears welling up heavily on lower lashes. Gaara tugged off one of his leather gloves, using a thumb to wipe away his tears. “I’m still going to see it with you. I just wanted to make sure you knew what you were getting into.”
“It’s still a holiday show, right?”
There was always intermission for Lee to decide if he would rather go home and recuperate from all of the holiday cheer he was about to see. “...Yes.”
“When are you coming to bed?”
Lee sat in the multicolored glow from the Christmas tree, laid across the couch for the first time this month. “I think I might be sick.”
“What makes you say that?” Lee had the immune system that could withstand anything thrown his way, not that he would allow it to even if it had.
"I've had a headache since last night and I'm just tired."
If that was how Lee defined tiredness, then Gaara would have been on his deathbed. "You haven't had coffee in a few days."
"What does that have to do with anything? I don't drink coffee."
"Peppermint mochas are coffee." The gears clicked and turned ever so slowly in Lee's mind.
"Mocha is chocolate, though."
"Chocolate with coffee."
"Not hot chocolate?"
Gaara shook his head while Lee flopped his head back uselessly on the couch. "You've also been busier than usual. You could just actually be tired on top of that." Gaara pushed Lee's legs off the couch so he could sit down before welcoming that weight back across his lap.
In the soft transitional glow of reds and greens, Lee only stared at the tree and hummed. The thought was heard, but wouldn't land for Lee's perfectionism.
"You do know that you're doing your best, right?" A small hand pat his knee, decorated in polar bears. All Gaara got was another hum from his lover. "Is the headache that bad?"
Lee nodded once, closing his eyes when his leg was rubbed. "Do you want help with it?"
"I already took something for it."
"Orgasms help, too." There was that full blush that he hadn't seen since the night after their show, where gentle teasing in the car turned into a hand shoved into Lee’s pants in the driveway.
"Do they really?" Caught between mortification and fascination, Lee's eyes met his over the knitted blanket.
"Mhm. I'll have to get you warmed up, though." This time, Gaara pat his leg twice to be let up, and took his place on Lee’s lap. He was already thoroughly warm through his clothes, but Gaara knew that his fingers and toes could be treacherous for even well-meaning touches.
"Do you mean you'll have to get your hands warmed up?" Lee pulled himself to sit up, though a hand pushed him back down.
"That's part of the process, yes. Is under your shirt okay?" Gaara could just hold his hips to encourage blood flow to his fingers, and his mouth could do the work of getting Lee ready.
Dark hair shone with a halo of green light, and calloused hands invited Gaara's right up to the subtle dips of his hips to hold. If Lee found himself too cold by his touch, he never let it show. The only indication of discomfort that he could pull from Lee's stubbornness merged too closely with enthusiasm: extra sets of push-ups even when trembling at the arms, sweat collecting at the brush of his creased brow while he breathed out some asinine number as a benchmark of progress. As if Lee couldn't see for himself that his body wasn't going anywhere with the amount of protein he packed in it.
Frankly, Gaara could call it rude. Under the guise of perfection, he wondered what sort of selfish joy laid beneath all of this sacrifice. Gaara himself knew that there was selfishness in his own deeds: that he kept the houseplants as quiet company; that his endless days of consciousness were an escape from his worst nightmares. Perhaps the most selfish part of it all was how he wanted to devour Lee whole, yet called it aid for a headache.
Gaara's lips landed one gentle kiss to his ear, pecking a little beeline down to his pulse. Blood pulsed just underneath that skin against his lips.
"It tickles when you kiss my ears," Lee added, turning his head so his jaw bumped against Gaara’s cheek. Eyes caught one another again, coal and ice, flickering with the glow of their tree. Gaara left one peck on those pouted lips.
"Is that better?" Lee readily nodded, pressing his aching forehead against Gaara’s.
"Being close to you is always nice."
"I can be a whole lot closer." Lee must not have understood, but Gaara allowed himself to be held. Really, that's all he could do. Lee was far too strong to let him escape, though with a mere squirm he could release him.
"This closeness is what I want." A change of plans. Not the rest that Gaara intended on having Lee partake in, but it was rest nonetheless.
That reliable thump of Lee's heart still beat for him, quickly paired with a soft snore. It may be the most serene that he had seen him in a month. Selfless, genuine, and giving giving giving until even the hardest workers had to rest. Perhaps the best gift to give Lee right now was a break.