FIC: Kentucky Fried Christmas

[geri_chan]

Title: Kentucky Fried Christmas
Rating: NC-17
Fandom: Haru wo Daiteita (Embracing Love)
Pairing: Katou/Iwaki
Word count: ~5,310
Disclaimer: No money is being made off this story; consider it a little wish fulfillment on my part.
Prompt: Christmas romance, for the Youka Nitta IJ Asylum
Summary: Iwaki and Katou spend their first Christmas together.

Author's note: The Harudaki timeline seems a little vague, or maybe I just have a hard time keeping track of it, but I'm picturing this as their first Christmas living together as a couple, when Iwaki is still feeling a little uncertain about their relationship.

***

Tonight was Christmas Eve--something Iwaki could hardly forget, since he was reminded of it everywhere he looked. All the shops were festooned with wreaths and tinsel and Christmas decorations; one had a life-sized plastic Santa standing beside the door to greet customers. The shop windows advertised Christmas sales, and the signboard outside a restaurant advertised a "romantic Christmas dinner". Passing by him on the streets were many young couples, smiling shyly at each other, or holding hands and laughing giddily, as if drunk on romance and Christmas cheer.

Personally, Iwaki thought it was all rather silly. Only a tiny fraction of the country was Christian, so there was no reason why such a huge fuss should be made over a Christian holiday. And besides, what did toys and jewelry and romantic dinners have to do with the birth of Christ, anyway? Iwaki's father used to say that it was all a marketing ploy by the stores to sell more merchandise during the holidays, much as the candy manufacturers had promoted Valentine's Day to sell more chocolate.

But Katou was the type to buy into all the hype, and was no doubt getting Iwaki something for Christmas, which meant that he'd be hurt if Iwaki didn't get him something in return. "You're so troublesome, Katou," Iwaki sighed to himself, and headed into a crowded department store to do some Christmas shopping.

He paused in front of the jewelry department, then shook his head. No, jewelry was too extravagant and had too much significance to be given as a trivial Christmas present. He really hoped that Katou hadn't gotten him an expensive piece of jewelry, although he had an uneasy feeling that it would be exactly the sort of impulsive and extravagant purchase that Katou would make.

Well, there was nothing Iwaki could do about that now. He'd just have to hope that for once, Katou had decided to be sensible, and he could always make Katou return the hypothetical jewelry, although Katou would make a great show of how hurt he was, with that wide-eyed puppy dog look that he did so well.

Iwaki decided to set a good example and get Katou something practical but still a little romantic, settling on a dark red cashmere scarf that would look good against Katou's fair skin and blondish-brown hair. He stroked the wool with his fingers; it was warm enough to be practical, but soft and smooth enough to be sensual. Feeling very pleased with himself, Iwaki bought the scarf, paying a little extra to have it gift-wrapped.

On his way out, Iwaki passed by the bakery and a display of Christmas cakes: round cakes covered with whipped cream frosting and decorated with a ring of plump red strawberries circling the rim of the cake, and topped with a plastic Santa, sled, and reindeer, just barely leaving enough room for a "Merry Christmas!" message inscribed with red icing.

Iwaki remembered feeling a little wistful as a child, when all his classmates talked about eating Christmas cake on the holidays. They never had Christmas cake in the Iwaki household, as Iwaki's father thought it was a foolish, frivolous holiday. Naturally, there were no visits from "Santa" either, although Iwaki's mother would give the boys little presents on the sly. Many years went by before Iwaki realized that his father had known all along what she was doing, and had pretended not to notice as long as she wasn't obvious about it.

There was always a fine feast on New Year's, of course ("A real Japanese holiday," according to Iwaki's father), and gifts of New Year's money for the children, but Iwaki had secretly felt like he was missing out on the fun that all the other kids enjoyed, though he had never complained about it.

Now that he was an adult, he agreed with his father that Christmas was mostly a marketing ploy. So why was he standing here staring at this silly cake? He was too old for such things now, and if he felt a funny sort of twinge in his chest, it must be the beginnings of a cold, not a wistful pang for an overpriced, over-decorated cake. Or if it was a wistful pang, it was for the memories of his happy childhood, before his long estrangement from his family.

A pretty, perky salesclerk wearing a Santa hat smiled at him and said, "Would you like to buy a cake, sir? They're..." Then her voice trailed off and her eyes widened as she took a closer look at Iwaki. "Oh my god!" she squealed. "You're that actor--Iwaki Kyosuke from 'Embracing Love'!"

"Yes, but please keep your voice down, Miss," Iwaki whispered urgently. Fortunately, the crowd of busy shoppers seemed too wrapped up in their own errands to have noticed Iwaki...for the moment, anyway.

"Oh, of course," the girl agreed, immediately dropping her own voice to a whisper also. "You wouldn't want to be swamped by a crowd of fans in the middle of your Christmas shopping. I'm sorry; I was just so excited to see you. I'm a huge fan--I've seen the movie about ten times, and I watched every episode of the TV series!"

"Thank you very much; I appreciate your support," Iwaki said politely, trying to suppress his impatience. "I'll take one of these cakes," he added, hoping to interrupt her gushing flow of praise before it attracted too much attention. Besides, the cake would probably appeal to Katou's childish tastes, and Iwaki smiled slightly, imagining his lover's reaction.

"Right away, Iwaki-sama!" the girl said, looking thrilled, as if it were an honor to sell a cake to him. She quickly and efficiently boxed the cake and rang up his purchase. "I know that I'm imposing, but...could I please get your autograph?" she asked wistfully as she gave him his change, giving him a soulful puppy-dog-eyes look worthy of Katou.

"Of course," Iwaki replied, and the girl frantically looked around for a piece of paper. There was a stack of flyers advertising the cakes sitting on the counter, so Iwaki flipped one over and signed the back "To Michiko" (the girl's name, shyly given when Iwaki asked for it) and "Thank you for all your support! Best wishes, Iwaki Kyosuke".

"Thank you very much for your business!" Michiko sang out, clutching the flyer happily to her chest as Iwaki hurried out of the store, and just in time, too, because he heard a startled exclamation of "Hey, wasn't that the actor from 'Embracing Love'?!" behind him. Fortunately he made it out the doors and onto the street before that unknown person or anyone else had time to stop him.

***

"I'm home!" Iwaki called out as he stepped into the house.

"Welcome back!" Katou replied, hurrying over to greet him with a hug and a kiss. Iwaki grinned, reminded of the way that his pet dog used to run over to jump on him and lick his face when he returned home from school as a boy, always so happy to see him, as if they'd been apart for weeks instead of just hours.

"Hey, what's this?" Katou asked, spotting the pastry box that Iwaki was holding.

"It's a Christmas cake," Iwaki said casually. "It was on sale, so I picked one up; I thought we could have it for dessert."

As expected, Katou's eyes lit up like a child's, making Iwaki smile again. "Oh, that's perfect!" Katou exclaimed. "It'll go great with our Christmas dinner!"

"Something smells good," Iwaki said, sniffing appreciatively at the aroma wafting out from the dining room. "Did you make chicken for dinner?"

"No, but the Colonel did," Katou said with a grin, motioning towards the table. He had set the table with their good china and silverware, along with two wineglasses and an expensive bottle of wine--and in the center of the table was a large red and white cardboard bucket that had the "Kentucky Fried Chicken" logo and Colonel Sander's familiar face printed on it.

"Fried chicken for dinner?" Iwaki asked, feeling bewildered--why make a big production with the china and silverware over some cheap fast food? And secretly, he felt a little hurt, because he'd expected Katou to make a special Christmas dinner, or at least order some food from a good restaurant if he was too busy--even though it was completely ridiculous for Iwaki to feel hurt, since he didn't even celebrate Christmas.

"Don't you know?" Katou said, still grinning, not seeming to notice Iwaki's hurt feelings. "Kentucky Fried Chicken is a traditional Christmas meal!"

"Since when?" Iwaki asked.

"I don't know," Katou replied with a shrug. "Since always! Maybe it's just easier for busy parents to pick up a ready-made meal on Christmas Eve instead of cooking. Anyway, my family and I have always had Kentucky Fried Chicken for Christmas, at least when my sister and I were kids. Didn't yours?"

Iwaki shook his head. "No, my father didn't like fast food and he always said that there was no reason to celebrate Christmas since we aren't Christian."

Now it was Katou's turn to look confused. "It doesn't matter if you're Christian or not--it's fun to have a holiday where you exchange presents and eat good food! And of course, enjoy a romantic evening with the one you love." Katou wrapped his arms around Iwaki and whispered into his ear, "Poor Iwaki-san! I promise that I will make your first Christmas celebration very special."

Katou's voice turned husky and suggestive when he said "very," causing Iwaki to shiver. Iwaki firmly pushed his lover away from him, since he knew that dinner would be cold by the time they ate if he allowed Katou's hormones to run rampant.

"I don't feel deprived at all, but since you bought this Christmas meal for us, let's enjoy it," Iwaki said. Now that he understood that there was special meaning behind the fast food dinner, he was no longer hurt but instead rather touched that Katou was including him in this special Christmas tradition.

Even if Christmas was a silly holiday.

Katou sighed regretfully, but seemed pleased that Iwaki wanted to celebrate Christmas with him, and they sat down to eat. Besides the chicken, there were also side dishes of mashed potatoes, biscuits, and coleslaw. It was greasy and fattening, unhealthy food for anyone, but especially for an actor, who couldn't afford to put on extra pounds or have a breakout of acne.

Well, a one-time treat couldn't hurt, Iwaki reasoned with himself; tomorrow he'd go back to his normal healthy diet. "Mmm, this is surprisingly good," he said as he bit into a drumstick.

Katou chuckled and asked, "Haven't you ever had Kentucky before?"

"No, not really," Iwaki replied. "As I said, my father didn't approve of fast food. We never went to McDonald's, either, although occasionally I'd stop by there with some of my school friends. We usually had traditional-style Japanese food at home. And when I became an actor, I couldn't indulge too much in fast food, especially in the porn industry where every extra pound will be visible on your body."

Katou eyed Iwaki admiringly. "Iwaki-san isn't at all fat," he said loyally. "In fact, you could stand to gain a few pounds. The more of Iwaki-san there is to love, the better!"

"Oh, so you'd still love me even if I became as big as a sumo wrestler?" Iwaki teased.

"Even then!" Katou insisted earnestly, then giggled. "Although that's really hard to picture. Mmm, but the idea of Iwaki-san in a loincloth is very...stimulating."

"You're such a pervert, Katou," Iwaki laughed. He tore the last bit of meat from the bone and set it down on his plate, then absent-mindedly licked the grease from his fingers.

"Who's the pervert, Iwaki-san?" Katou retorted in a hoarse voice, and Iwaki looked up to see Katou staring across the table at him, face flushed and eyes slightly dilated.

"What are you talking about?" Iwaki asked in confusion.

"You licking your fingers in such a sensual and inviting manner," Katou groaned accusingly. "It's almost like you're asking me to jump across the table and do you!"

"You need to take a cold shower, Katou!" Iwaki scolded, torn between irritation and amusement. Then seized by a sudden mischievous impulse, he added, "If I was really trying to be suggestive, I would have done it like this..." He slowly ran his tongue along one finger, from the base upwards until he lightly swirled his tongue around the tip, then just as slowly drew the finger into his mouth and sucked on it.

Katou jumped out of his chair and lunged at Iwaki, who placed his hands palms-down on Katou's chest and firmly shoved him away.

"But Iwaki-saaaan!" Katou wailed.

"Sit down and behave yourself," Iwaki said sternly, transferring his grip to Katou's shoulders and pushing him back down into his chair.

"But you started it!" Katou protested.

"Nonsense," Iwaki replied briskly. "It was your own dirty mind jumping to false conclusions. Now finish your dinner. It would be a shame to waste this good food that you bought, wouldn't it?"

"You're such a tease, Iwaki-san," Katou said sulkily, but he obediently remained in his seat and picked up his half-eaten piece of chicken. Iwaki looked at his lover and felt a little guilty, not about denying Katou's advances, but because he saw that his hands had left greasy smears on Katou's shirt, which might or might not come out in the wash.

"If you're a good boy and finish all your dinner, including your vegetables, then I'll treat you to a nice dessert tonight," Iwaki said placatingly with a sly little wink.

"You are a tease, Iwaki-san!" Katou groaned, but he hastily began gobbling up his food.

"And slow down before you choke yourself!"

Katou obeyed reluctantly, and he seemed to settle down and relax when he saw how much Iwaki was enjoying the meal, and Iwaki's own enjoyment was enhanced by Katou's reaction to it. He made a show of licking his fingers again when he finished his second piece of chicken, and Katou tossed a piece of biscuit at his head, which Iwaki easily ducked and evaded.

"Now Iwaki-san is the one being naughty!"

"Hey, don't waste food!"

They finished dinner and Iwaki took their dishes to the sink and washed them, along with his greasy hands. Katou came up behind him and slipped his arms around Iwaki's waist, whispering, "So is it time for dessert now?"

"Of course!" Iwaki replied cheerfully. "We have that Christmas cake I bought, remember?"

Katou groaned again. "Iwaki-san, are you trying to kill me?!"

"No one ever died from lack of sex, Katou," Iwaki pointed out as he opened the cake box.

"Well, it sure feels like I'm going to die if I can't touch you," Katou grumbled, but he immediately cheered up when he peeked over Iwaki's shoulder to take a look at the cake. "Hey, that's really cute! I didn't think that Iwaki-san liked such things."

"I like you, don't I?" Iwaki replied with a grin.

"Aw, that's so sweet that I'll forgive you for being mean to me before," Katou said, giving him a peck on the lips.

Iwaki took the plastic decorations off the cake so that he could slice it, and started to throw them into the trash when Katou cried, "No, Iwaki-san, don't throw those away!"

He snatched the little plastic Santa and reindeer away from Iwaki and carefully washed them in the sink, then set them on the dish rack to dry.

"And what on earth are you going to do with those cheap plastic toys?" a puzzled Iwaki wanted to know.

"I'm going to save them as a souvenir of our first Christmas together, of course!" Katou replied indignantly.

Iwaki thought about asking if Katou wanted to save the greasy cardboard chicken bucket, too, then decided that it would be better not to put ideas into Katou's head--for all Iwaki knew, Katou might actually decide to save the greasy bucket for posterity!

"All right, I'll cut the cake," was all Iwaki said, and he sliced two generous pieces for himself and Katou. He carried the plates out to the dining room and set them down on the table, then exclaimed, "Oh, I forgot the forks! I'll go back and get them."

"Never mind, Iwaki-san," Katou said, grinning impishly. "We can just use our hands, like this." He plucked a strawberry off his piece of cake and popped it into his mouth.

"You're such a child, Katou," Iwaki said with a long-suffering sigh, but the truth was that he secretly found Katou's childish habits endearing. He broke a small piece of cake off his own slice with his fingers and ate it, but the confection of sponge cake, whipped cream, and strawberries was a little too sweet for his taste. It was a bit of a letdown that the treat he had craved as a child turned out to be nothing exceptional. Then again, it was probably just that his taste buds had changed over the years; as a child he'd loved candy, but now he could go without it.

There certainly didn't seem to be anything wrong with Katou's taste buds; he was eating the cake with gusto, smearing whipped cream all over his mouth and fingers.

"Are you sure you don't want a fork?" Iwaki asked.

"No, it's more fun this way," Katou replied with a grin. "Mmm, this cake is really good!"

"But you're making such a mess," Iwaki protested.

"So what?" Katou retorted cheerfully. "It comes off easily enough." And to prove it, he began licking the cream off his fingers. He ran his tongue slowly up and down the length of each finger, then sucked on them for good measure, as if to get every last little bit of cream and strawberry juice.

Iwaki swallowed hard as he felt a flush of heat spreading through his face--and also down below in his groin. He wondered if Katou was deliberately trying to be provocative, as revenge or perhaps just to tease Iwaki for the way he had supposedly been licking his own fingers in a suggestive manner earlier. If that was the case, then he should prove that he had more self-control and not rise to Katou's baiting, but he found himself thinking about how it would feel to have Katou's lips and tongue moving that way on him instead of Katou's fingers.

Katou released his fingers from his mouth--now pink and clean--and his tongue darted out to swipe at the cream still smeared on his mouth, and Iwaki couldn't help but think that it made a beautifully obscene picture, imagining that he had just come in Katou's mouth and that it was his semen Katou was licking off his lips instead of the whipped cream.

Oh no, I'm turning into as big a pervert as Katou--it must be contagious! Iwaki thought in consternation, and he groaned out loud.

A startled Katou looked up and asked anxiously, "Iwaki-san, are you all right?"

So it seemed that Katou wasn't deliberately being provocative, which only made Iwaki feel like an even bigger pervert. He felt a little guilty now that he'd given Katou a hard time about being turned on by his own finger-licking.

"Iwaki-san?" Katou repeated, as Iwaki pushed back his chair and rose to his feet. "You're acting kind of strange. Are you all--mmph!" He was cut off mid-sentence as Iwaki took a few quick strides over to Katou's side, bent down, and claimed his lips in a passionate kiss.

"Iwaki-san, what's gotten into you?" Katou gasped, when they finally came up for air. "Not that I'm complaining, mind you!" he added hastily. "I love it when Iwaki-san is aggressive!"

"It's all your fault," Iwaki said huskily. "For licking your fingers and lips in such a provocative manner."

"Oho!" Katou exclaimed gleefully. "Then now you know how I felt!"

"Well, if you want payback, you could tell me to wait until we've finished our cake," Iwaki said reluctantly. "I suppose that would be poetic justice."

"I'd have to be crazy to turn down an invitation from Iwaki-san to have sex!" Katou declared, wrapping his arms around Iwaki and holding him tightly. "Especially since it's rare for you to pursue me rather than the other way around." He kissed Iwaki deeply, and Iwaki could taste strawberries and cream on his lips and tongue. It was funny; the overly-sweet cake was transformed into something intoxicating when it was fed to him secondhand this way by Katou.

Iwaki moaned in protest when Katou broke off their kiss for a moment, but it was only to whisper into his ear, "I'm not giving you a chance to change your mind, Iwaki-san."

They resumed kissing, and by mutual unspoken agreement, stumbled towards the couch, which was closer than the bedroom, shedding pieces of clothing along the way. Iwaki fell back across the couch as Katou kissed his way down Iwaki's body, his lips caressing Iwaki's neck, and then his chest, making a brief detour to flick his tongue against Iwaki's already hardened nipples.

"Ah, Katou!" Iwaki gasped.

Katou looked up for a moment to smile at him smugly, looking as pleased as a cat with a bowl full of cream, then continued his journey along Iwaki's body, planting a trail of kisses down his chest and stomach until finally his mouth closed around Iwaki's cock, as Iwaki had been longing for after watching Katou lick that damned cake off his fingers.

"I think...I could get to like Christmas cake, after all," he muttered, more to himself than Katou, although he heard his lover let out a muffled little chortle of laughter. "Go ahead, laugh it up," Iwaki grumbled, but he really didn't care if Katou laughed at him as long as his lips and tongue continued licking and sucking at him in that deliciously sinful manner.

But then Katou pulled back and released him, and Iwaki moaned, "Katou, don't stop!"

"I'm not going to stop," Katou whispered in a husky voice as he climbed up onto the couch to cover Iwaki's body with his own. "But I can't hold back much longer and I want to come inside you." He pressed his mouth against Iwaki's ear, nipping playfully at the lobe. "Does Iwaki-san want that, too?"

"Yes, yes!" Iwaki groaned eagerly, having lost all sense of shame or modesty. Katou hastily fumbled beneath one of the sofa cushions and came up with a small tube of lube, and Iwaki laughed.

"What, you were prepared for this?"

"I am always prepared to make love to Iwaki-san anytime, anywhere," Katou purred. "It would be a shame to ruin the mood by having to stop and run around looking for this stuff, wouldn't it?"

Iwaki gasped as he felt slick fingers easing their way inside him, caressing and stretching him. "Y-yes...I guess it would," he replied breathlessly.

"I have these scattered all over the house," Katou said with a grin. "The bathroom, the kitchen, the bedroom...I even keep a tube in my bag, in case I can catch Iwaki-san alone on the set during a break, or on location, or in the car, or--"

"I get the picture," Iwaki replied wryly. "I can't believe I never noticed that before!"

Katou's grin grew even wider. "That's because Iwaki-san was so into our lovemaking that you never noticed the mundane little details. I really love it that you get so turned on that you forget about everything but me." His voice dropped to a low, hungry growl, and he nipped and sucked at Iwaki's neck, hard enough that it was probably going to leave a mark. "And that's exactly the way it should be. I want Iwaki-san to think of nothing but me!"

Iwaki was about to scold Katou for making a hickey that would have to be covered up by make-up, and more embarrassingly, would cause the make-up artist to give him a knowing smile and say, "Oh, so your husband was frisky yesterday, wasn't he?"

However, just then, Katou's fingers were replaced by something larger and blunter, and Iwaki cried out, completely losing his train of thought as Katou entered him.

"Katou!"

"That's it, Iwaki-san," Katou murmured as he thrust into Iwaki, setting a slow, steady rhythm. "Forget about everything and everyone except me."

That was easy enough to do; Iwaki felt all of his thoughts melting away except for the increasingly urgent desire to feel Katou deeper inside him. He wrapped his legs around Katou's waist, and he clawed at Katou's back and buttocks, crying out, "Please, Katou--more!"

"Your wish is my command," Katou panted, and he increased the pace, pounding into Iwaki mercilessly.

"Oh yes, just like that!" Iwaki cried out, digging his nails harder into Katou's back. In a small corner of his mind, he knew that he was probably going to be horribly embarrassed later (and probably a little sore), but right now he didn't care about anything but finding release.

"Harder, Katou, harder!" he shouted shamelessly.

"You really are going to kill me, Iwaki-san!" Katou groaned. "But as long as I'm in your arms, I'll die happy!"

"Don't talk about dying, fool!" Iwaki snapped. "Just make love to me--ah yes, like that! Katou, please, I'm going to..."

Katou's hand slipped between their bodies and wrapped around Iwaki's cock, moving in quick, firm strokes that matched his thrusts, and Iwaki's words dissolved into a wail of ecstasy as he came so hard that he literally saw stars before his eyes. He heard Katou cry out a moment later, and was vaguely aware of the sensation of his lover coming inside him.

When his vision cleared and consciousness returned to him, Iwaki saw Katou smiling tenderly down at him, his face flushed and his long hair clinging to his face in messy, sweaty strands. He looked...adorable. Iwaki smiled back at him and reached up to gently brush Katou's hair back from his face.

"Merry Christmas, Katou," he said.

"That was the best Christmas present ever!" Katou said, with such enthusiasm that Iwaki just had to laugh. "I want the same thing next year, too!"

"Greedy boy," Iwaki chuckled. "But actually, I almost forgot--I brought home a real present for you. Hang on, I think I left it in the kitchen."

Katou offered him a box of tissues, and Iwaki cleaned himself off, still chuckling. "Always prepared, eh?"

"That's my motto!" Katou replied cheerfully. "So what did you get me, Iwaki-san?"

"You'll just have to wait and see," Iwaki replied, pulling on his clothes.

"It can't be as good as this," Katou said, making a sweeping gesture that included both them and the couch. "But I'm sure that I'll love it, whatever it is, because you picked it out specially for me."

Iwaki headed to the kitchen to retrieve the forgotten package from the department store, marveling at how Katou could say such unabashedly sentimental things with a straight face. Of course he was a good actor, but Iwaki knew that he meant it sincerely, which made it all the more amazing. Iwaki knew that he could never say such things himself without blushing and feeling self-conscious, and sometimes he envied Katou's uninhibited nature.

Iwaki returned with the present, to find Katou sitting on the couch--still stark naked--holding a small package wrapped in silver paper and green ribbon. "Merry Christmas, Iwaki-san!" he said, holding out the package. "I got something for you, too!"

"Put on some clothes, you idiot," Iwaki chided, accepting the package and handing Katou his own gift.

Katou tore off the wrapping and opened the box, smiling delightedly when he saw the red scarf inside. "Thank you, Iwaki-san; it's beautiful!" he exclaimed. He wrapped it around his neck and grinned. "You see, now that I have this, I don't need anything else to keep me warm!"

"Idiot!" Iwaki laughed, shaking his head, but he had to admit to himself that Katou looked very sexy wearing nothing but the scarf. Maybe Katou's pervertedness really was contagious.

Iwaki carefully removed the paper and ribbon from his own present while Katou squirmed impatiently, waiting eagerly for his reaction. He opened the box that the wrapping had covered and pulled out a watch. It was simple and elegant, with a band made of stainless steel polished to a silver-white sheen. It obviously wasn't cheap, but to Iwaki's relief, it didn't look extravagantly expensive, either.

As if guessing his thoughts, Katou said, "There was a really nice one with diamond chips, but I figured that you'd scold me for spending too much money, even though Iwaki-san is worth every yen. So I bought you this as a symbol of my affection, because I want to spend every minute of every day of the rest of my life with you."

Iwaki felt his eyes sting, but blinked back his tears, resolving not to lose control of his emotions though he was genuinely touched by Katou's words. "You shouldn't say such things, Katou," he said gruffly, slipping the watch onto his wrist; it fit perfectly. "One can never predict what will happen in the future. I wouldn't want to tie you down if you decided that you wanted a wife and a family and a normal life someday."

"Don't you say such things, Iwaki-san!" Katou said angrily. "I would never want anyone but you!"

"I'm just being realistic, Katou," Iwaki replied, although the thought of losing Katou made him feel cold and empty inside. "I'm thinking about your future."

"My future is with you," Katou said fiercely, wrapping his arms tightly around Iwaki, and that feeling of cold numbness ebbed slightly. "You think too much, Iwaki-san--you're always worried about what might happen in the future, instead of enjoying the here and now."

"And you don't think of the future enough," Iwaki retorted, but he returned the embrace, wrapping his arms around Katou.

"Then we balance each other out, don't you think?" Katou asked with a smile, gently kissing Iwaki's lips.

"Yes, I suppose so," Iwaki replied, giving in as usual to Katou's unflagging persistence. He still worried about trapping the younger man in a relationship that he might someday regret, but he was too weak to give Katou up just yet. "And I'm sorry that I was rude--I didn't even thank you for the gift. The watch is lovely, and I'll be pleased to wear it and think of you."

Katou immediately brightened and said, "It looks great on you, Iwaki-san! Though it would look even better if you modeled your present like I did yours!"

"You pervert!" Iwaki laughed, playfully slapping Katou's hands away as they tried to undress him. "Even you can't possibly be ready for another round so soon!"

"I can never get enough of Iwaki-san," Katou purred. "But why don't we finish the cake, so we can build up some strength for round two?"

"Aren't you going to put on some clothes?" Iwaki asked as they headed back to the dining table.

"This will just save me the effort of having to take them off again," Katou replied practically as he took his seat, still nude.

Iwaki laughed again as they fed each other bits of cake, and he dared to hope that he and Katou might spend many more Christmases together in the future.

THE END.

***

Afterword: This was just going to be a short little fic, but I don't think that anyone who knows me well will be surprised that as usual, I got a little carried away. ^_^ It was just going to be a humorous fic about them eating chicken and cake and making love on Christmas Eve, but somehow it turned into something a little more serious and Iwaki's insecurities worked their way into the mix--maybe because I was re-reading Book 3, where Iwaki didn't want to tie Katou down by making him a co-signer on the loan for the house.

The story blossomed out of this post (sorry, I forgot it was friends-locked for the IJ Youka Nitta community) that bronze_ribbons made about Christmas Eve being a romantic holiday in Japan. It made me recall something I'd read before about it being a tradition in Japan to eat "Christmas cake" on the 24th:

"The traditional Japanese christmas food is the christmas cake, usually made of sponge cake, strawberries and whipped cream. In our survey, as many as 73 percent responded to celebrate christmas with a cake." (From this article on Japan-guide.com.)

I also recall reading somewhere, I think it was in the translation notes of a US-published manga (probably a Del Rey title since they do the most extensive notes), that Kentucky Fried Chicken is also a popular meal on Christmas Eve, which is confirmed by this Wikipedia article:

"KFC is often referred to as ケンタッキー (kentakkii, ケンタッキー?) in Japanese...KFC Japan was founded in 1970. A life size statue of the Colonel stands in front of most stores in Japan. Fried chicken is an especially popular dish at Christmas time and on Christmas Eve many families, many of who have made reservations weeks in advance, have their traditional Christmas dinner of Kentucky Fried Chicken at home."

I don't really understand what's so Christmasy about fried chicken, but writing this story really made me crave some KFC and cake! ^_^

And I read a post on metafandom where the OP was fed up with Torchwood fanfic that made a very obvious point of mentioning that the characters use lube when having sex. He or she felt that it should be a given and the too-obvious mentions were an annoying distraction. This made me think about the fact that we see Iwaki and Katou having sex all over the place and we never see any lube--which is fine, but it brought to mind a very amusing image of Katou stashing bottles or tubes of lube all over the house or apartment for easy access, so that worked its way into the fic. ^_^

ETA 12/24/08:  Forgot to mention, special thanks to bronze_ribbons for inspiring the finger-licking scenes by mentioning "the possibilities with Iwaki's greasy fingers and Katou's sweet ones"!