Merry Christmas, @paintedpolarbear! This isn't as extravagant as i wanted to make your gift, but technology dictates much of our lives. And every piece of tech i have has an attitude and no sense of Christmas spirit. Still, I hope you like it. And i hope you had a wonderful Christmas!
The aura of relief and relaxation that filled the Hamada’s living room was almost palpable. It was the night after the last day of fall semester finals at SFIT, and the heavy weight shouldered by students during a solid week of exams was now nonexistent. Winter break had officially begun, and everyone was excited for the coming holidays. Honey Lemon, Fred, Wasabi, and GoGo had met up with Tadashi at the Lucky Cat Café earlier that evening. They shared complaints and their relief at the vacation ahead over warm drinks before eventually migrating upstairs and plopping down in various positions in front of the TV. Someone pulled up a B-rated movie, but it only held their attention for a short while. It had become a tradition of sorts for them after every huge exam week. They would eat snacks, only half pay attention to the film, and just talk as they enjoyed the temporary lack of deadlines and commitments, until exhaustion finally caught up to them and they all crashed. The second or third movie of the night was just starting up, and Honey was sure that everyone else was asleep. With good reason too; they were all thoroughly worn out from long nights of studying and even longer nights of panicked cramming. But tests were over, Christmas shopping was done. They could finally relax. She could see Wasabi from her nest of blankets on the floor, sprawled out and lightly snoring on the plush chair. His large frame was somehow managing to stay in the small piece of furniture, though his head was lolled to the side and Honey knew he’d wake up in the morning with a crick in his neck. Fred was next to her, face down in a pile of blankets of his own. Every so often he would mumble something incoherent before twitching and falling silent again. She couldn’t help but think that it was pretty adorable. Tadashi and GoGo she knew were curled up together on the love seat, but her back was to them and she couldn’t be entirely sure. Judging by the silence in the room however –only broken by the low volume of the TV –she figured it was safe to assume that they were also passed out. Without a clock in her immediate view she had no idea what time it was exactly, and the energy it would take to illuminate her phone screen eluded her. But she was sure that ‘late’ worked all the same. Definitely passed the time she should have fallen asleep like the others, in any case. Honey Lemon was just about to follow her friends’ lead when the sound of GoGo’s hushed voice broke through the near silent atmosphere. The blonde reluctantly allowed it to drag her back to bleary awareness. “Hey. Kiss me.” The words were tender, making up a soft request rather than the woman’s typical insistent demands. Honey wasn’t used to hearing such a tone from GoGo, nor could she remember if she had ever heard it before at all. The soft smacking of lips from a chaste kiss was followed by two more, and Honey was torn between felling guilty for practically eavesdropping on the exchange, and melting on the inside with how cute the couple was being. “I missed you.” Tadashi’s whispered words rumbled softly from his chest. “I mean. I know we’ve seen each other every day. But it-” GoGo interrupted him, a rare, genuine smile made obvious in her voice. “I missed you too.” Honey Lemon had to bite down on a giggle that threatened to blow her cover. She had always found Tadashi’s rambling amusing, but she never entertained the thought that GoGo found them as cute as Honey herself found Fred’s sleep talking. The room returned to its almost-quiet state for a while, and Honey Lemon was just about to let herself finally sink into unconsciousness, but it seemed that GoGo had more to say. “Thank you,” she said softly, though the phrase was rushed out with an exhale. “Hmn?” Tadashi hummed, sounding almost asleep himself. GoGo’s bracing breath was audible. “For being there,” she elaborated after a pause. “For not giving up on me. For letting me have my little freak outs and then proving them wrong. For everything.” Honey heard the timidity in her best friend’s voice, and hoped that Tadashi could hear it too. She had never heard GoGo express her fears as openly as this, and worried that it might not ever happen again. Maybe this was just an early Christmas miracle. She didn’t dare move a muscle in case her friend was spooked into calloused silence once more. “Once you’ve been hurt…” GoGo continued, “it’s like you’re scared to get attached again. There’s this… burning fear that every person you start to like is going to break your heart. But you- I don’t know how you managed it, but you were different. I let my walls down for you.” She let out a low, hesitant chuckle. “Even if it was reluctantly at first.” She heard the barely-there sound of someone running their hand over clothed skin, and wondered idly which party was responsible for the affectionate gesture. “And when you said ‘us’ for the first time…” GoGo murmured, “I really, really liked the sound of that.” GoGo let out a soft chuckle, and Honey thought that it meant Tadashi had indeed fallen asleep and hadn’t heard her words. That notion was squashed when he spoke up. “You don’t have to thank me for loving you.” Honey Lemon was sure her grin would split her face any moment now. And Tadashi wasn’t even finished. “I should be thanking you for giving me the chance to.” There was another short lull in the conversation, then, “And I was serious about you spending Christmas here.” This offer was news to Honey. GoGo hadn’t told her anything about it. “If things with your family are getting that bad, you shouldn’t have to be around them. But you shouldn’t be alone for the holidays either.” GoGo’s sounds of protest were cut off with a hushed laugh and a kiss, after which Tadashi added, “I already asked Aunt Cass. She’d love to have you over.” Silence once again fell, broken only by the sounds from the TV. A while passed, and Honey was ready to go to sleep whether her friends’ conversation was over or not. She thought that she heard GoGo whisper out one last thank you, but she was out before her brain registered it fully.