Work Text:
The door shuts with a soft creak, the knob turning to eliminate the noise of the latch. However, Dwight is far from quiet when he enters the house. Leon can tell by the jingling of bells as he drops his bag and wanders into the kitchen, searching for some sort of sustenance after such a long shift.
“How was work?” Leon calls, turning the page of his book. He doesn’t even need to look up to know Dwight’s busy microwaving some macaroni and cheese. It’s his favorite comfort food.
“How do you think?” Dwight calls back with a snap in his voice Leon doesn’t often see. Leon turns his eyes up to the kitchen to see him filling a cup of macaroni with water. He presses it into the microwave and sets the timer to ten minutes before he turns back toward Leon. Once the matter of food is out of the way, he’s wasting no time in approaching Leon. The blond folds the corner of his page and sets the book aside, taking Dwight into his arms. He’s straddling the taller man’s lap, head crooked into the valley of Leon’s neck and shoulder. With a long sigh he finally replies, “I had to deal with some lady who doesn’t understand that expired coupons don’t work. We had a back-and-forth for ten minutes before I finally had to call security to get her out of the store. On top of how busy we’ve been and how hot this stupid elf outfit is… It sucked .”
Leon listens intently, fingers running up Dwight’s hair and pulling his hat from his head. He notes just how greasy his hair is and how tense his shoulders seem. With deft hands, he works through his shoulders while he continues to talk about his day.
“There was this older man… maybe in his sixties who cussed me out for not being able to give him a refund without a receipt…” Bags rest under Dwight’s eyes and Leon knows it even if he can’t see it. “And, of course, Lazar is on my ass every minute of the day telling me to do more and more… there’s only so much I can do, Leon…”
Dwight pulls his head back so he can finally look Leon in the eyes, his features knot intensely and Leon can tell they’ve been like that all day. Wrinkles are already beginning to etch into his soft features. He’s too young for this.
“How about…” Leon presses a kiss to the other man’s nose, causing the brunette to lighten up just the slightest with a solemn smile, “You don’t worry about doing anything the rest of the day, alright? I’ll take care of dinner, I’ll do our laundry and all that… and you can just focus on sitting here and being cute.”
Dwight grows flush with the compliment, but Leon can’t exactly tell from the blush he’s already required to wear. He always thought it was a stupid concept, but there’s not much either of them can do about that until Dwight finds a new job.
“Are you sure? I-I mean I don’t want to–”
Leon presses a finger to Dwight’s lips, followed by his own lips a moment later. The kiss is long and sweet and warm. Dwight’s so cold from the snow outside that Leon can’t blame him for snuggling into him. He’s just glad the outfit did enough to keep him warm.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of it,” Leon brushes a finger over Dwight’s cheek, savoring the chilliness of his skin. “But first, I think someone needs to wind down, hm?”
Dwight’s eyes travel from Leon’s hand to his eyes. Before he can process much, Leon’s pressing him into the couch and attaching their lips once again, pulling at the elastic of Dwight’s pants. The brunette smiles through each kiss. God , he struck gold.
~
“A little to the left, maybe?” Dwight suggests. Leon licks his lips and with a small pull, he drags the table toward himself. He looks to Dwight for further instruction and is met with another small wave of his hand. Leon complies. “Perfect. Right there.”
Leon pulls himself back from the Christmas tree to admire it. It’s not perfect, only standing at about three feet tall. However, it was all they could afford this year. It’s perfect, nonetheless. It’s large enough to get ornaments on and wrap in a small bundle of the lights they bought. It certainly livens up the otherwise bland living room.
“Not bad, huh?” Leon asks, pulling himself away from the tree to gather the lights resting on the couch beside Dwight.
Dwight nods warmly, grabbing his cocoa from the coffee table to sip on. It’s still steamy hot and moisture accumulates into fog upon his glasses. He takes them off to wipe them, “You know… I’ve never really celebrated Christmas like this. We used to get a few gifts as kids but we never put up a tree or lights or anything. Just… wasn’t something we’d do.”
“Really?” Leon replies, working through the tangle of the lights, “Did you ever see Santa at the mall?”
“I think… maybe once?” Dwight scrunches his face, “I used to write letters every year, though.”
“I used to give the mall Santas my letters,” Leon exhales sharply through his nose, “He always scared me too much to talk to.
Leon finally manages to get the lights untangled, to which Dwight tries to grab at the strand. Leon shakes his head, pulling it away, “I’m doing the work remember? You can put up ornaments.”
Dwight shoots him a weak, appreciative smile, “Are you sure? I mean I don’t want you to do all the work.”
“I’ll put up the lights, you do ornaments.” Leon presses a chaste kiss to the other’s lips, savoring the chocolate upon his lips, “You have some chocolate on your upper lip by the way.”
Dwight immediately licks at the mess from his beverage before leaning back into the couch again and watching his boyfriend approach the tree again, starting from the bottom and working the lights up to the top. “Those are the white ones, right?”
“Yep, just as you asked. I picked them up yesterday after work.” Leon deftly threads the line between branches, circling the fir branches. Dwight has to admit, he’s watching Leon’s ass more than the actual tree as he circles around, crouching down to get to the lower branches. “Oh! I almost forgot! In that bag on the table I bought something else, too.”
Dwight cocks an eyebrow and sets down his drink before he snags the plastic bag from the table, curious as to what Leon bought. When he opens it up, he notes a car window scenter, shaped in a Christmas tree. The scent labeled in printed text reads: Christmas Tree.
“I thought… because we couldn’t get an actual tree this year that we could… y’know put up something that smells like a tree. Like, as an ornament?” Leon works the lights up through the mid of the tree.
“No, it’s really cute, Leon,” Dwight replies, a gleam upon his features. God, he hasn’t smiled like this in a while, “I think it’s a good idea.”
“I thought so, too.” Leon finishes the rest of the lights quickly, considering the small size of the tree and threads the last few feet back down. Dwight takes another long sip of his cocoa before he opens the wrapping. Sure enough, it does smell like some sort of pine or fir tree. He takes a long whiff before he’s handing it over to Leon, “You should put this one up. Probably toward the front.”
“Yes, Sir,” Leon replies. It’s meant jokingly. Dwight just smirks in reply, watching as Leon pulls the ornament from his hand and treks back to the tree. Right in the center of the tree, facing the living room. Dwight takes his last long sip of cocoa and sets down his empty cup. Finally, he pulls himself up from the couch and begins rifling through the few ornaments they actually have.
Decorating the rest of the tree doesn’t take long, Dwight only counts maybe 20 different ornaments that actually go up, but it’s enough to fill out such a small tree. When they finish, they find themselves back on the couch, Dwight cuddling up into Leon’s arms while they admire their work.
“Not bad, eh?” Leon eggs, “I think the car ornament really brings it together.”
“It’s certainly cute,” Dwight hums back. He turns his eyes from the glowing white lights to the snow piling outside their door, “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” Leon replies. It’s become habit at this point, and maybe they’ve worn out the words, but they’re still nice to hear. He presses his lips to Dwight’s forehead and takes in the warmth of his body as the night comes to a close.