deercountry | ( CLOSED ) I JUST WANT YOU FOR MY OWN.

And how did you expect to start your Christmas morning?

( smiling, stefan reaches up to squeeze her arms and holds up his coffee so she can take a sip. )

I thought this was a nice start to the morning.

[ she bows her head and sniffs his mug and takes the most precarious sip of a five-hundred-year-old vampire. ]

I was hoping I'd wake up in someone's arms, not paws.

[ she wrinkles her nose at him and digs her fingers into his shoulders. she's not upset, of course. waking up in bed with just aleksander is a treat. either the dog has finally suffocated stefan or stefan's up doing god knows what. ]

Why are you up so early?

I don't know, I thought it'd be nice to come down here and just get everything going.

( he takes the coffee back down and sips it slowly before he glances up at her. )

So, you could wake up and come down here and see it all when it's quiet and lit up.

The tree?

[ she cocks her brow and glances towards it. it's pretty, but the christmas tree is more for stefan than anything else. she's gone through so many christmases without one. she supposes that's the point. ]

Or is there another surprise?

[ like him wrapped up in lights? ]

No, just...the everything. Christmas.

( he shrugs, feeling a little bashful about it now. )

I just thought it'd be nice but I get that you've been through a lot of them. Do you want some coffee? Or something to eat?

( he starts to sit up so he can go into the kitchen. )

[ she pushes down hard against his shoulders, digging her fingers into the bone. leaning over the back of the couch, she rests her chin on the top of his head and sighs wistfully. ]

My very first Christmas was spent with this very handsome man. He had a square head and very big hands...

[ you, idiot.

she kisses the top of his head. ]

I may have been around for a lot of Christmases, but I never had one before.

We had a few back in Deerington. Those were nice. I just thought it might be nice to continue the tradition here. This place is...I don't know what it is yet but we shouldn't let it change us.

( he sits back when she pushes him down, knowing he'll have some momentary bruises from how hard she'd just shoved. )

Plus, there's presents and I know you like those.

Oooo.

[ she digs her fingers into his shoulders as she pushes against him to try and spy those presents. hopefully, they're shoes! or journals... or maybe just little gifts of things they can put up around the house. ]

What did you get me? Shoes?

You realize the point of wrapping the gifts is so that you can unwrap them and find what's inside, right?

( so, he ain't going to tell you what he got you. where would be the fun in that? )

If you wanted shoes, you should have bought yourself shoes because I didn't get you shoes.

[ so, no shoes. she's surprised he didn't, in all honesty. considering a building fell on her while shoe shopping and he's been overly protective... ]

What did you get me?

[ she leans over his shoulder, brushing her nose against his cheek. ]

Don't I get a hint?

No, you don't get a hint. You're going to have to wait until we open presents.

( you are not good at presents, katherine. )

And no, we're not doing that right now.

[ she pouts, slumping against him. that's not great news! she had been hoping this was the christmas that he'd be bursting at the seams and so desperate to give her her gift.

resting her chin against his head, she blows out a heavy, disappointed breath. ]

Why not?

Because there's other things to do. We can have breakfast and wake up. It doesn't all have to happen immediately.

( your presents would still be there after they ate. )

We have the whole day.

But!

[ she taps her fingers against his shoulders before sliding them ever so slowly down his chest. she rests her chin properly against his head, patting her hands against his chest as she does so. ]

Wouldn't it be nice to change it up a little? We can have breakfast later...

No.

( it's a nice try, katherine, but he's not giving in on this one. he turns his head to kiss her elbow but then gives her a little tug. )

The more you pester me about the gifts, the longer I'm going to hold out on doing them.

On doing them. Hm.

[ she laughs and bows her head to kiss the top of his head. that's interesting. what could he possibly do? read her a journal? cook for her? carry her around so her feet don't touch the ground? no, the latter's more suited for her birthday. ]

You know, you're not a fun Santa.

That's because I'm not Santa.

( santa lived in the north pole, katherine. he wasn't here. stefan was just his helper. )

But if you're that unhappy with the way I want to do things, we can just go back to sleep.

[ it's the bait that she happily takes, digging her fingers into his shoulders and massaging them to try and get him to not consider that at all. ]

No, no, no. [ she laughs, shaking her head. she purposefully plays into it. ] I wouldn't want that at all. We can stay here... I'm in nothing but your shirt, so that works for me.

[ if he can dangle bait, she can dangle bait, too. merry christmas. ]

My shirt?

( doesn't she mean her shirt? he's surprised she hasn't claimed it for her own. he twists to see which shirt she's wearing and then laughs. )

I like that shirt too!

( he likes it on her a lot more. )

[ his red and white plaid shirt looks good on her, she thinks—especially with a few buttons undone and her very much enjoying the feel of the fabric against her bare skin. it's a nice shirt. she likes that it smells like him.

furrowing her brows, she feigns confusion. peering down at herself, she tugs at the collar. ]

This shirt? Are you sure?

Yes, I am sure. I think I wore that the other day even.

( and now it was on her and he was never going to get it back. he laughs and gives it a tug. )

I'm going to run out of shirts.

( but — )

No, we're not going shopping.

[ she smiles, feigning being affronted. with a hand against her collarbone, she peers down at him in mock surprise. ]

And give you more shirts to wear? If you don't have any shirts, then I guess that means you have to walk around naked.

[ and her evil plain will finally be complete.

dropping her hand to his shoulders, she rubs them happily. smiling, she chuckles low. ] That doesn't sound so bad.

I'm not going to walk around naked permanently. That wish is one that will never come completely true.

( around the house, sure, he could probably do that. but outside in public? no, he couldn't do that. )

Getting the idea that you might be a little obsessed with me being naked.

And?

[ she cocks her brow, smiling down at him. leaning forward, she presses her cheek to his and chuckles lightly. ]

Is that a problem?

[ it doesn't sound like one to her, in all honesty. that'd be a christmas come early. ]

It is. I do have to wear clothes sometimes, Katherine. To be warm, to go outside, to answer the door.

( so, unfortunately, you were not going to get this christmas wish. he hopes the other gifts make up for it, though. )

I admire you for reaching for the stars, though.

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