Work Text:
The market is truly the embodiment of the Christmas spirit, Pangi thinks as he and Lukey step through the huge, brightly lit archway marking the entrance. Festive music is playing through a speaker somewhere, and the smell of sugar and cinnamon is wafting through the air. He keeps his grip on Lukey’s hand tight as they weave through the crowd. There are a lot of people here, even though it’s a Tuesday. He can only imagine how many more there must be on the weekends. Then again, Christmas is only a few days away now, so that could also explain the crowd.
“Aw, look!” Lukey says, pointing to the ice rink that has just come into view. “We totally should’ve booked a slot.”
The rink looks like it came straight from a Christmas-themed rom-com, complete with rustic wooden walls and fairy lights. It is also completely filled with people, all clumsily circling along the edges. Pangi gives Lukey a look. “Do you even know how to skate?”
“Excuse me?” Lukey asks, dramatically raising his free hand to his chest in offence. “Fuck you, I—” He pauses for a moment. “I’ve skated before.”
Pangi makes a face at him. “That didn’t sound like a ‘yes’.”
From the glint in Lukey’s eyes and the familiar, playful smile on his face, Pangi can already tell exactly how skating together would go. Lukey would definitely exaggerate how bad he is just to ragebait him, until Pangi would give in and take his hand to pull him along, at which point Lukey would magically be able to stay on his feet. His boyfriend is so predictable.
“You’ll have to see for yourself, mister,” Lukey says. “If not now, then some other time. At next year’s Christmas market, perhaps.”
Next year. Shit, Pangi hasn’t even thought about it before now, but Lukey’s right. Anything they don’t have time for this Christmas, they can do next year. Or the year after. That’s…
His heart does a happy little flip in his chest. He just… gets to have this from now on. If you’d told him last Christmas that a year from now he would be in Brighton with his boyfriend who is probably the love of his life, well. He probably would have needed some time to process the ‘boyfriend’ part. But something like this felt so distant at the time. He can’t believe how much has changed over such a short time.
Lukey must notice his thoughts drifting, because his face turns more serious and he squeezes Pangi’s hand. “You okay?”
Pangi meets his gaze. The lights around them are reflected in Lukey’s dark eyes, like the sparks from a firework against the night sky. “Yeah. Better than okay, actually.”
The smile returns to Lukey’s face and Pangi’s heart leaps again. “Good. Me too.” They pass the rink, the sound of blades scraping against ice fading into the background. “Want to get some mulled wine?” Lukey asks, gesturing towards one of the stalls with his head.
Pangi nods. While he may not be a wine guy, he can’t deny the festive charm of mulled wine. “Sure."
There’s a sizable line, but thankfully they only have to wait around ten minutes before they’re at the front of the queue and are handed paper cups filled with dark red, steaming liquid. Afterwards, they navigate through the crowd to find a spot to stand still without being in the way.
Before Pangi can take a sip, Lukey holds out his cup. “To our first Christmas together,” he says, grinning.
Pangi feels almost breathless at the sight. Lukey just looks so… fuck, Pangi can’t even find the right words to describe it.
He bumps his cup against Lukey’s, the dull thud of paper cups colliding drowned out by the crowd and the music. “First of many, right?” he asks, beaming.
Lukey laughs. “You bet. I am taking you to see my parents, aren’t I?”
Pangi immediately feels his nerves spike upon the reminder. He’s more determined to impress the Osborn clan than he is anxious, but he can’t help but feel a little intimidated by the thought of meeting Lukey’s parents and siblings for the first time. “I guess you are, yeah.” He takes a sip of his wine, the warmth of the drink melding into the warmth in his chest as the taste of orange and cinnamon and some other spices he can’t quite identify spreads across his tongue. “This is actually pretty good, I can’t lie.”
Lukey follows his example, taking a drink as well. He hums, sounding impressed. “You’re right. I think there’s a little bit of liqueur in there. Rum, maybe.”
Pangi can’t resist the urge to roll his eyes fondly. Of course Lukey would notice something like that. “So when are we leaving tomorrow again?”
“I was thinking around nine. It’ll take some time to get there, and my parents would probably be grateful to have some extra help with last-minute baking and stuff like that.”
Nodding, Pangi takes another sip. That makes sense. He’s kind of looking forward to it, actually. Christmas has never been a big deal for his family, but he thinks it’ll be fun to spend time with people for whom it is.
As he takes a look around at the market again, he notices the tiny, white flecks fluttering in the air. “Oh shit, I think it’s snowing.”
Lukey glances around as well. “No way, it really is,” he says, wonder audible in his voice. “Impeccable timing, I must say.”
“I know, right?” Pangi says with a giddy laugh.
Lukey giggles as well, and he looks so ethereal with the glow of the Christmas lights around him and the snowflakes slowly gathering in his hair that Pangi can’t help but capture his lips in a kiss. Lukey expectedly tastes like orange and cinnamon, and Pangi decides he likes these flavors on Lukey’s lips even more than he does in the mulled wine.
“What was that for?” Lukey asks once they part, his smile brighter than any of the lights around them.
Pangi shrugs. “I just wanted to.”
Lukey sips on his wine, hiding his grin behind the rim of his cup. “Fair enough. I mean, I’m definitely not complaining.” He tugs on Pangi’s arm. “Let’s keep moving, I’m really starting to feel the cold. Besides, we’ve been here for like twenty minutes already and I haven’t even shown you the stalls I’ve wanted to.”
Right, that had actually been their main motivation for coming out here. Pangi kind of forgot. But in his defence, his boyfriend is pretty distracting. “Alright. Lead the way.”
As Pangi is pulled into the crowd again, he can’t help but think that even though it hasn’t even really started, this is already the best Christmas of his life.