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burningdarkfireTitle: All I want for Christmas is you
Series: APH
Pairings: America/England
Rating: G
Length: 1500 words; oneshot
Note: Human AU; for the![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
usxuk Secret Santa, for ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cattiechaos's prompt - Due to an unfortunate circumstance (that I leave to your discretion), Alfred is spending Christmas alone in New York while Arthur is alone in London. What are they going to do to have a happy Christmas? I leave it in your capable hands to decide! :D A huge thanks goes to strawberryburst for beta'ing last minute!
“Hang on – just give me a few moments – I’m sure this is -”
Alfred sighed as he listened to Arthur cursing under his breath. He was sprawled on his bed, staring idly up at the ceiling, as he held the phone to his ear. “Isn’t there anyone who can help you?”
“I can do this by myself,” Arthur snapped back right away. Alfred immediately envisioned his boyfriend, hopelessly tangled in wires, and smiled despite himself. “I can hear you snickering over the phone, you know!”
“I’m not snickering!” Alfred protested, trying not to laugh out loud. “I’m sure you can get a webcam set up by yourself.”
“Of course I can,” Arthur huffed. “Just let me find that section in the manual again – I swear, they shouldn’t make these things so complicated -”
“They’re really not,” Alfred replied, trying to stifle his laughter again. “All you have to do is plug the wire into one of the input jacks.”
“One of the what - Oh, for Heaven’s sake,” Arthur grumbled. “This simply won’t fit anywhere on my laptop.”
“Find another one?”
“It’s nearly 11pm here on Christmas Eve! Where do you expect me to run out and get another webcam from?’
“You could try borrowi-?”
“There’s no one left to borrow one from,” Arthur shot back. “Did you not hear me when I said it’s nearly 11? Everyone’s out celebrating.”
A gloomy silence settled over the line. Alfred was a bit stung by Arthur’s harsh tone, but tried not to let it ruin his mood.
“I just really want to see you,” Alfred offered hesitantly, after the silence stretched longer than he would have liked.
Arthur sighed, and Alfred could almost hear him deflating across the Atlantic Ocean. “I know, love, I’m sorry. Just give me a few moments, okay? I’ll figure something out.”
Alfred waited impatiently as Arthur set the phone down and left. From his end, he could sometimes hear rustling and thumps, but had no way to gauge Arthur’s progress until his boyfriend returned to the phone.
“Got it,” Arthur crowed triumphantly.
“You hooked it up to your laptop?” Alfred asked excitedly, pushing himself up from the bed.
“No, I stole the frog’s.” The smirk in Arthur’s voice was audible.
“Don’t you think he’ll be mad?”
“You don’t know him like I do,” Arthur reassured him. “He’ll be pleased, actually, since now he’ll feel justified in hacking into my laptop whenever he wants and saving porn wherever he wants.”
Alfred chuckled. “Francis really does seem like an interesting person.”
“You mean irritating,” Arthur grumbled. “Now come on, you’re not online!”
Alfred scrambled to get to his computer. “I’ll be there in a few seconds!” He pushed the power button, drumming his fingers along the edge of the keyboard in anticipation.
“I’ll talk to you once you’re on,” Arthur said.
Alfred hurriedly clicked on the instant messaging program. “Sure, just give me a few more seconds!” He put the phone down to quickly type in his username and password, ignoring the dial tone that now came from it. “I’m on, I’m on!”
A window from Arthur popped up immediately. this better work, it said.
it will, Alfred replied. send me the invite?
It popped up on his screen with a small ding, and Alfred eagerly clicked accept.
He stared impatiently at the loading symbol for a few seconds, before a blurry image finally came into sight.
“Nice Christmas sweater there.” Alfred grinned. “Can you hear and see me?”
“It is a nice Christmas sweater,” Arthur said defensively. “Much better than that plaid shirt you’re wearing, anyway. Wait, I have to figure out how to angle this thing.”
“Sound, check. Image, mostly check!” Alfred said gleefully. “Finally!”
After a bit of fumbling, the image centered on Arthur’s face. Alfred smiled gently, wishing he could reach out across the ocean and kiss it. “I miss you,” he murmured.
Arthur flushed slightly, tugging at the neckline of his sweater. “I miss you too,” he replied sincerely. “I’m sorry I had to leave so suddenly last Friday.”
“Nah, not your fault,” Alfred said dismissively. “Mattie was calling me to eat dinner, anyway. Besides,” he added, “it’s completely my fault we’re on opposite sides of the Atlantic.”
“Visiting your family is far more important than me during Christmastime,” Arthur reassured him. Alfred only hummed in response.
“Wait here,” he said suddenly, springing up from his chair.
“What are you …?”
Within moments, Alfred had flicked off the ceiling light in his room, letting all the Christmas lights he had strung up weeks ago shine. He grabbed the parcel that was sitting by his bed and placed himself in front of the screen again.
“We should open gifts now!” He shouted, motioning for Arthur to follow his lead.
“I don’t have lights or anything,” Arthur said, a bit uncertainly.
“It’s alright, you can look at mine!”
“Alright.” With a small smile, Arthur disappeared from his view for a few moments, only to reappear with a package in his hands. “Do you want to go first?”
“Wait! One more thing!” While Arthur rolled his eyes good naturedly, Alfred thumbed quickly through his iPod and selected his Christmas playlist.
“I don’t want a lot for Christmas …”
Arthur groaned, but Alfred grinned at him. “C’mon Artie, admit it, you love this song.”
“I don’t!” Arthur protested feebly.
“You’re just a big romantic at heart,” Alfred declared. “All I want for Christmas is youuuu!”
“Just open your present!” Arthur snapped, but Alfred could tell that he was not-so-secretly pleased judging by the tiny smile twitching at his lips.
“If you insist!” Alfred ripped the box open eagerly, pulling the contents out one by one. “Wow, the brand new encyclopedia of the stars? This only came out a few days ago! A new Avengers mug! Which is great, because I lost that other one weeks ago -”
“I knew it,” Arthur muttered. “I knew you lost it and just didn’t want to tell me.”
“You would’ve gotten mad!” Alfred explained, laughing. He pulled out the next thing from the box. “No way -”
“Is that the one you were always going on about?” Arthur asked, sounding a bit anxious.
“You got me Skyrim! You are officially the best boyfriend ever!” Alfred let out a loud whoop and started dancing around the room. “Oooh, I can’t wait to start playing this!”
“There’s one more thing left! Don’t just run off!”
“Sorry, sorry! I’m just so excited – you’re really the best –” Alfred rambled as he made his way back to his desk. He pulled out the last item in the box and shook it out. He gaped at it for a few minutes before bursting out laughing.
“What?” Arthur demanded. “What’s so funny about that?”
“Open your package right now!”
“Not until you tell me what you’re laughing about!”
“Just trust me!” Alfred insisted. “Open your box!”
With a bit more grumbling, Arthur finally consented to cut away the packaging tape from his parcel and open it.
Alfred burst out laughing. “Oh man, the look on your face!”
Arthur held up the first item in the box – a sweater with both an American and a British flag, joined by a heart and the words SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP, which was identical to the one Alfred was clutching in his hands. “Where did you get this?”
“I passed by it in the airport as I was catching my flight home, and thought that it was too good to pass up!” Alfred exclaimed, waving his arms around excitedly. “We have matching sweaters now!”
“What a coincidence,” Arthur murmured, dazed. “I just bought it off of a small souvenir shop on the streets.”
“The best coincidence ever,” Alfred declared. “Quick, quick, put it on! I want to take a screenshot of the two of us wearing them!”
He yanked it over his head immediately, ignoring how it probably messed up his hair. He waited impatiently for Arthur to put his on as well before pressing the screenshot button with a brilliant grin. “Wait ‘til everyone hears about this!”
“Wait! Did you take the picture already? I wasn’t ready!”
“It doesn’t matter, you look fine! Now, look at the rest!” Alfred bounced in his seat impatiently.
Arthur gave a small snort of amusement, but complied. He took out the next gift, a look of wonder on his face. “Is this -”
“A first edition copy of The Picture of Dorian Gray,” Alfred said excitedly. “Yes, yes, yes!”
“How on earth did you manage to find this?” Arthur demanded.
“Mattie helped a lot,” Alfred admittedly. “You two really need to meet one day – he’s really into classic novels, just like you!”
“I look forward to talking to him,” Arthur said definitively.
“Keep on going! There’s more!”
-
They talked late into the night, until light began creeping into Arthur’s room via his window.
“I have to go,” he said regretfully. “My brothers are coming to pick me up in an hour, and I’ve barely started packing.”
Alfred protested, but Arthur promised that they would talk again later that day, and he soon gave up.
“Merry Christmas, Arthur,” Alfred said softly. Arthur looked at him and he beamed. “I don’t think I’ve said that yet!”
Arthur smiled. “Merry Christmas, Alfred.”
Series: APH
Pairings: America/England
Rating: G
Length: 1500 words; oneshot
Note: Human AU; for the
usxuk Secret Santa, for cattiechaos's prompt - Due to an unfortunate circumstance (that I leave to your discretion), Alfred is spending Christmas alone in New York while Arthur is alone in London. What are they going to do to have a happy Christmas? I leave it in your capable hands to decide! :D A huge thanks goes to strawberryburst for beta'ing last minute! “Hang on – just give me a few moments – I’m sure this is -”
Alfred sighed as he listened to Arthur cursing under his breath. He was sprawled on his bed, staring idly up at the ceiling, as he held the phone to his ear. “Isn’t there anyone who can help you?”
“I can do this by myself,” Arthur snapped back right away. Alfred immediately envisioned his boyfriend, hopelessly tangled in wires, and smiled despite himself. “I can hear you snickering over the phone, you know!”
“I’m not snickering!” Alfred protested, trying not to laugh out loud. “I’m sure you can get a webcam set up by yourself.”
“Of course I can,” Arthur huffed. “Just let me find that section in the manual again – I swear, they shouldn’t make these things so complicated -”
“They’re really not,” Alfred replied, trying to stifle his laughter again. “All you have to do is plug the wire into one of the input jacks.”
“One of the what - Oh, for Heaven’s sake,” Arthur grumbled. “This simply won’t fit anywhere on my laptop.”
“Find another one?”
“It’s nearly 11pm here on Christmas Eve! Where do you expect me to run out and get another webcam from?’
“You could try borrowi-?”
“There’s no one left to borrow one from,” Arthur shot back. “Did you not hear me when I said it’s nearly 11? Everyone’s out celebrating.”
A gloomy silence settled over the line. Alfred was a bit stung by Arthur’s harsh tone, but tried not to let it ruin his mood.
“I just really want to see you,” Alfred offered hesitantly, after the silence stretched longer than he would have liked.
Arthur sighed, and Alfred could almost hear him deflating across the Atlantic Ocean. “I know, love, I’m sorry. Just give me a few moments, okay? I’ll figure something out.”
Alfred waited impatiently as Arthur set the phone down and left. From his end, he could sometimes hear rustling and thumps, but had no way to gauge Arthur’s progress until his boyfriend returned to the phone.
“Got it,” Arthur crowed triumphantly.
“You hooked it up to your laptop?” Alfred asked excitedly, pushing himself up from the bed.
“No, I stole the frog’s.” The smirk in Arthur’s voice was audible.
“Don’t you think he’ll be mad?”
“You don’t know him like I do,” Arthur reassured him. “He’ll be pleased, actually, since now he’ll feel justified in hacking into my laptop whenever he wants and saving porn wherever he wants.”
Alfred chuckled. “Francis really does seem like an interesting person.”
“You mean irritating,” Arthur grumbled. “Now come on, you’re not online!”
Alfred scrambled to get to his computer. “I’ll be there in a few seconds!” He pushed the power button, drumming his fingers along the edge of the keyboard in anticipation.
“I’ll talk to you once you’re on,” Arthur said.
Alfred hurriedly clicked on the instant messaging program. “Sure, just give me a few more seconds!” He put the phone down to quickly type in his username and password, ignoring the dial tone that now came from it. “I’m on, I’m on!”
A window from Arthur popped up immediately. this better work, it said.
it will, Alfred replied. send me the invite?
It popped up on his screen with a small ding, and Alfred eagerly clicked accept.
He stared impatiently at the loading symbol for a few seconds, before a blurry image finally came into sight.
“Nice Christmas sweater there.” Alfred grinned. “Can you hear and see me?”
“It is a nice Christmas sweater,” Arthur said defensively. “Much better than that plaid shirt you’re wearing, anyway. Wait, I have to figure out how to angle this thing.”
“Sound, check. Image, mostly check!” Alfred said gleefully. “Finally!”
After a bit of fumbling, the image centered on Arthur’s face. Alfred smiled gently, wishing he could reach out across the ocean and kiss it. “I miss you,” he murmured.
Arthur flushed slightly, tugging at the neckline of his sweater. “I miss you too,” he replied sincerely. “I’m sorry I had to leave so suddenly last Friday.”
“Nah, not your fault,” Alfred said dismissively. “Mattie was calling me to eat dinner, anyway. Besides,” he added, “it’s completely my fault we’re on opposite sides of the Atlantic.”
“Visiting your family is far more important than me during Christmastime,” Arthur reassured him. Alfred only hummed in response.
“Wait here,” he said suddenly, springing up from his chair.
“What are you …?”
Within moments, Alfred had flicked off the ceiling light in his room, letting all the Christmas lights he had strung up weeks ago shine. He grabbed the parcel that was sitting by his bed and placed himself in front of the screen again.
“We should open gifts now!” He shouted, motioning for Arthur to follow his lead.
“I don’t have lights or anything,” Arthur said, a bit uncertainly.
“It’s alright, you can look at mine!”
“Alright.” With a small smile, Arthur disappeared from his view for a few moments, only to reappear with a package in his hands. “Do you want to go first?”
“Wait! One more thing!” While Arthur rolled his eyes good naturedly, Alfred thumbed quickly through his iPod and selected his Christmas playlist.
“I don’t want a lot for Christmas …”
Arthur groaned, but Alfred grinned at him. “C’mon Artie, admit it, you love this song.”
“I don’t!” Arthur protested feebly.
“You’re just a big romantic at heart,” Alfred declared. “All I want for Christmas is youuuu!”
“Just open your present!” Arthur snapped, but Alfred could tell that he was not-so-secretly pleased judging by the tiny smile twitching at his lips.
“If you insist!” Alfred ripped the box open eagerly, pulling the contents out one by one. “Wow, the brand new encyclopedia of the stars? This only came out a few days ago! A new Avengers mug! Which is great, because I lost that other one weeks ago -”
“I knew it,” Arthur muttered. “I knew you lost it and just didn’t want to tell me.”
“You would’ve gotten mad!” Alfred explained, laughing. He pulled out the next thing from the box. “No way -”
“Is that the one you were always going on about?” Arthur asked, sounding a bit anxious.
“You got me Skyrim! You are officially the best boyfriend ever!” Alfred let out a loud whoop and started dancing around the room. “Oooh, I can’t wait to start playing this!”
“There’s one more thing left! Don’t just run off!”
“Sorry, sorry! I’m just so excited – you’re really the best –” Alfred rambled as he made his way back to his desk. He pulled out the last item in the box and shook it out. He gaped at it for a few minutes before bursting out laughing.
“What?” Arthur demanded. “What’s so funny about that?”
“Open your package right now!”
“Not until you tell me what you’re laughing about!”
“Just trust me!” Alfred insisted. “Open your box!”
With a bit more grumbling, Arthur finally consented to cut away the packaging tape from his parcel and open it.
Alfred burst out laughing. “Oh man, the look on your face!”
Arthur held up the first item in the box – a sweater with both an American and a British flag, joined by a heart and the words SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP, which was identical to the one Alfred was clutching in his hands. “Where did you get this?”
“I passed by it in the airport as I was catching my flight home, and thought that it was too good to pass up!” Alfred exclaimed, waving his arms around excitedly. “We have matching sweaters now!”
“What a coincidence,” Arthur murmured, dazed. “I just bought it off of a small souvenir shop on the streets.”
“The best coincidence ever,” Alfred declared. “Quick, quick, put it on! I want to take a screenshot of the two of us wearing them!”
He yanked it over his head immediately, ignoring how it probably messed up his hair. He waited impatiently for Arthur to put his on as well before pressing the screenshot button with a brilliant grin. “Wait ‘til everyone hears about this!”
“Wait! Did you take the picture already? I wasn’t ready!”
“It doesn’t matter, you look fine! Now, look at the rest!” Alfred bounced in his seat impatiently.
Arthur gave a small snort of amusement, but complied. He took out the next gift, a look of wonder on his face. “Is this -”
“A first edition copy of The Picture of Dorian Gray,” Alfred said excitedly. “Yes, yes, yes!”
“How on earth did you manage to find this?” Arthur demanded.
“Mattie helped a lot,” Alfred admittedly. “You two really need to meet one day – he’s really into classic novels, just like you!”
“I look forward to talking to him,” Arthur said definitively.
“Keep on going! There’s more!”
-
They talked late into the night, until light began creeping into Arthur’s room via his window.
“I have to go,” he said regretfully. “My brothers are coming to pick me up in an hour, and I’ve barely started packing.”
Alfred protested, but Arthur promised that they would talk again later that day, and he soon gave up.
“Merry Christmas, Arthur,” Alfred said softly. Arthur looked at him and he beamed. “I don’t think I’ve said that yet!”
Arthur smiled. “Merry Christmas, Alfred.”
