Happy Holidays to @blasteroftheass! This was apart of a Secret Santa within the @derpcult, and I hope you enjoy some Steven^2 as your gift!
Aphex turned in bed, reaching for something that’s supposed to be on the other side. He groaned, turning his head into his pillow. He called out his boyfriend’s name past the fabric before letting out a stretched yawn. Brushing the hair out of his eyes, he sat up and swung his legs off the bed. Standing, he shuffled out of the bedroom and down the hall, following the smell of sweets in the kitchen.
“Morning, sunshine,” his boyfriend said, a soft laugh following. Ze walked over, kissing Aphex on the cheek as the shorter jumped to sit on the counter. Aphex mumbled in response, rubbing his eyes with another yawn. Ze chuckled and returned to his spot in front of a mess of flour and mixing bowls on the island. “So, you ready for tomorrow?”
“Of course, I am. It’s Christmas, Stevie.”
“Are we gonna meet up for dinner with anyone?”
Aphex shrugged. “We’re meeting with the guys tonight, that’s what I know.”
Ze’s face twisted up as he thought, tapping his fingers on the countertop. “I need to bake something.”
“You don’t need to bake anything.”
“I need to bake something!”
Aphex smiled. His boyfriend was someone who overthought everything he did, feeling like everything needed to be perfect. Also, he felt the need that at least every occasion needed some form of dessert. Desserts were his specialty.
Ze was already mumbling ingredients to himself when Aphex hopped down from the counter and wrapped his arms around the Canadian’s waist.
“Calm down,” he cooed, “we can figure that all out later.”
Ze sighed, reaching for Aphex’s hand to hold. “Alright.”
“Steven?”
“Yeah?”
“We should go ice skating.”
Aphex paused the movie playing on the television to look at Ze, whose head was resting on his chest. “I thought the rink was closed today?”
Ze shifted to sit up and look at him. “Well, the arena is.” Aphex sent him a curious gaze, signaling for him to continue. “I was thinking the natural one. Y’know, just off of the forest trail, the one that kids always play on.”
Aphex ran his fingers through his boyfriend’s brown curls, a smile tugging at his lips. “Sounds like a plan, sweetheart.”
A giddy smile crept up onto Ze’s face as he pressed his cheek to Aphex’s chest. “I’ll try to dig up our skates and we can head out whenever.” Aphex pressed his lips to Ze’s as he sat up, his sight following Ze as he rushed down the hall to the closet.
Aphex stood, following after, meeting Ze on his knees digging through the boots. “Why do you have so many shoes, Aphie? You don’t need this many pairs.”
“I don’t have that many!”
“You have like ten.”
“More like three, calm down.”
“Still a lot.”
Aphex repeated this in a mocking tone, crossing his arms as Ze smirked. Ze pulled out two stacked boxes out from the back of the closet, placing them down in front of him. “Sit down.” Aphex sat on the floor beside him as the first box was flipped open. A pair of dark grey and deep purple skates were picked from the box and placed carefully on Aphex’s lap. “Try ‘em on, see if they still fit.”
As Aphex slipped on his skated and laced them up, Ze took out his pair of black, grey and red skates. He knew they still fit, because he wore them recently to stake at the community arena. “The joys of winter is that you can still go out and be active. Plus, snow, and you won’t be judged for drinking hot chocolate,” he had said once to his boyfriend.
Once they were on, Aphex wiggled his feet to get comfortable. Ze tapped the toe of one of his skates and said, “Snug?”
“Mhm.”
“Good!”
With his skates still on, Ze jumped to his feet, wobbling slightly. Aphex pouted and held out his hand to be helped up. Ze gripped his hand, trying to pull him to his feet. His skates slipped out from under him, slightly scratching at the hardwood floors, and Ze toppled onto Aphex. With a thud, Aphex’s back hit the ground as Ze hovered over him.
“Oh, uh, I-- uhm, shit, sorry,” the younger began stuttering, a heavy blush creeping onto his cheeks. Aphex put a hand on Ze’s waist, a sweet smile on his face.
“I don’t mind.”
With the skates hung over their shoulders, their boots crunched in the freshly fallen snow.
“Path! Path!” Ze called to Aphex, snatching his hand as he spotted the route of footprints patting down the snow. Together they bounced down the winter lane, rushing through the aisles of trees surrounding them. Slowing down, they approached a hill that sloped down to a clearing, the shiny, slick surface of the frozen pond vacant for use. Ze giddily clapped his hands and shuffled down the steep slope. Aphex smiled, breathing out a laugh to accompany the puff of breath waving through the air, and he followed down.
Ze began clearing one of the benches, sitting down and prying off his boots. Soon enough, they both had on their skates, and Aphex stood up from his spot, waddling over to the ice. Stepping on, he slipped and glided around, focusing on maintaining his balance.
“Careful, sweetheart,” he heard Ze say behind him. Turning around, Aphex caught a glance of Ze gracefully skimming across the pond. Ze skated towards him, catching his hands and pulling his clumsy boyfriend along.
“Stevie, I can’t keep up with--”
“You can’t keep up with me a lot of the time.”
“What?”
Ze laughed, his breath puffing in a cloud of fog, battling against the chilling winter air.
“You’ll get it when you’re older.”
“I’m older than you!”
Aphex’s fingers suddenly felt cold, noticing Ze let go of him. His boyfriend skated to the other side of the pond in one swift push, looping around the edge of the ice back towards him. Ze glided past him, brushing a soft hand along Aphex’s cheek as he passed.
“You’re adorable,” Aphex sighed.
“Am I, now?”
“Mhm.”
“I don’t believe you.”
Ze twirled on his toes (damn him for being an ex-figure skater) to face Aphex. He crossed his arms, a daring smirk on his face.
“What do you mean, you don’t believe me?”
“You’ll have to prove it to me.”
Aphex shook his head, glancing away with a faint smile. “Oh, I’ll prove it.” He jolted into action, skating towards his boyfriend, beginning a chase. Ze spun away, glancing over his shoulder at Aphex in pursuit. The shorter man wasn’t as skilled at ice skating as his boyfriend, but he was still able to keep pace.
“Try to catch me, Aphie!” Ze called from halfway down the pond.
“Shut up, Ze!”
Aphex pushed himself ahead, working even harder as he noticed Ze slowing down. Ze looked over his shoulder, an out-of-breath grin on his face, just as he saw Aphex dive for him. The two toppled into the snowbank, Aphex rolling around to get on top of Ze.
“Gotcha!” Aphex shouted in triumph. Once their breath was caught, they both let out a fit of laughter, Aphex dropping to nuzzle his face into Ze’s neck. He sighed, “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” Ze whispered, running a hand through what was left of the green in Aphex’s hair.
“I love you, Steven..” Aphex repeated. “I love you.. your soft hair, your eyes, your laugh..”
The older sat back up, straddling the Canadian, leaning down so they were face to face. “I love your freckles, your red nose, your hat.” Aphex paused to flick the little wool horns of the other’s hat, receiving a giggle.
“You’re just--” Aphex let out a bit of a happy scream. “So adorable!”
Ze snuggled his face into Aphex’s hair.
“Thank you.”
Despite the freezing bite of the snow they were practically buried in, the fact that there was love between them warmed them both enough to last twenty winters. Their hearts swelled, cheeks red from the cold and heat combined. They lay there, huddled together in the snow, sharing a soft, sweet kiss.
