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Tsukki entered the apartment and hung his keys on the hook where they belonged. He slid his shoes off, before stepping into the ridiculous house slippers that Kuroo had insisted on buying for him when they were out shopping. He hated to admit it, but the dinosaur faces were rather adorable.
Shrugging off his jacket, Tsukki sniffed the air, realizing that there seemed to be something baking in the oven. But glancing into the small kitchen, there was no sign of his boyfriend.
Stepping forward, Tsukki checked the oven, realizing the cutesy gudetama egg timer that Kuroo had picked out was going off. He quickly grabbed a hand towel and pulled the cookies out, glad to find that they were only slightly browned on the edges; salvageable, at least.
“Kuroo?” He called out, looking around, before glancing into their bedroom where he could see Kuroo out on the balcony, rummaging through the extra storage chest they kept out there.
Tsukki turned the oven off and set the cookies on a rack to cool, before he made his way to the bedroom to see what his boyfriend was doing. He stopped by the edge of the bed to gently scratch the top of their cat Sumi’s head, before poking his own head out onto the balcony.
“Kuroo. What are you doing?” He asked, unable to stop himself from laughing as Kuroo popped up from his squatting position to look up at Tsukki quickly.
The brightest smile crossed his lips the moment he saw his boyfriend of three years. “Tsukki~” He said enthusiastically, elongating the last syllable as if it had been weeks since he had last seen the blond, rather than the 9 hours allotted for their work and school schedules.
Kuroo immediately moved to enter the apartment, sliding his own cat slippers on, before wrapping Tsukki in a tight hug. The blond scoffed as he tended do at the huge shows of affection from Kuroo, but he also wrapped his arms around the other man and pressed a kiss to his cheek.
“You know you almost burned some cookies?” Tsukki said, affection filling his voice as Kuroo assumed his usual clingy position, arms around Tsukki’s neck.
“Oops,” he replied, absolutely unapologetic. “But they’re your favorite. Chocolate chunks. Not chips. Perfect for dunking.”
Tsukki hummed appreciatively, lightly running a hand through the slightly shorter, but still unkempt hair that was attached to Kuroo’s head. The older man happily leaned into the touch, eyes closing in a perfect imitation of Sumi receiving affection. “Just milk?”
Kuroo opened one eye and gave a mischievous smirk. “Maybe. But what’s the fun of the Christmas season without a few fun options, Moonshine?”
With a roll of his eyes, Tsukki playfully pushed Kuroo away, hoping he’d go back to whatever he had been doing before Tsukki had come home. As expected, Kuroo laughed and took his slippers back off so he could begin looking through the storage again. Without additional prompting, Kuroo pulled out a small, plastic christmas tree.
Raising his brow, Tsukki stepped out of his own slippers and moved outside, making sure to close the balcony door behind him so that Sumi wouldn’t run out. “And just where did you get that old thing?”
It was their first official christmas living together, but Tsukki knew he hadn’t seen the small tree, barely a metre tall, in the months they’d lived together. As he leaned over to gaze into the storage, he began to notice all the different Christmas decorations.
Kuroo glanced over at him and smirked a little. “We all have our little secrets,” he teased, pulling the rest of the decorations out so that Tsukki could look at them better.
“It’s our first Christmas in our very own apartment. And I knew you weren’t going home to see your mother and brother. So… I just wanted this to be special,” he explained in earnest, ears turning a little red at the edges.
Tsukki’s mouth parted into a little ‘o’ as he realized that Kuroo had been secretly stockpiling the decorations so that he would have a good Christmas that could remind him of home. “Tetsurou… that’s really sweet.” With that comment, he leaned in to press his lips against the apple of Kuroo’s cheek, before reaching out to grab some of the decorations.
Chuckling, Kuroo shook his head as Tsukki turned, slightly embarrassed and made his way back into the apartment. He gathered the rest of the things and quickly followed suit, closing the balcony door behind him so the chilly air wouldn’t draft into the apartment.
The two silently made their way to the living area where Kuroo had cleared off one of their end tables to make room for the tiny tree. They worked in unison, a comfortable habit they had formed from the years of dating and the months of living together.
Tsukki plugged the lights in, checking that each bulb worked, before diligently wrapping the strands around the small tree. He would stop occasionally, making sure the strands were evenly placed along the tree so that it would be aesthetically pleasing to the eye.
As he focused on the lights, Kuroo smiled softly to himself before quietly grabbing his phone and taking a few candid shots of Tsukki working. Used to the random photo ops, Tsukki simply rolled his eyes, before continuing to work.
“Moonshine. At least smile a little,” Kuroo pouted, lip sticking out more than it normally would for a regular pout.
“But then they wouldn’t be candid shots where you could brag to your coworkers about how photogenic your boyfriend is,” he pointed out, throwing back the age old argument that Kuroo had been using since they first got together.
He remembered when they had been on just a second official date after months of ‘would they or wouldn’t they’? They had been at a local cat cafe and Tsukki had knelt down to pet an orange tabby when he’d heard the shutter of the camera go off. Kuroo had sheepishly smiled, realizing he was caught, but explained that he just wanted proof of how photogenic Tsukishima was. It hadn’t hurt when, later, Tsukki realized that Kuroo had set the photo as his lock screen.
Smiling softly at the memory, Tsukki heard the click of the camera one more time, causing him to break out into a quiet laugh. “You little sneak. Trying to get new wallpapers for your phone?” Tsukki asked, turning around, hands on his hips, to face Kuroo who smiled innocently.
“Maybe. But you’ll never be able to prove it,” he teased, locking his phone and setting it aside.
He grabbed a string of garland and threw it over Tsukki’s head so that it would land over his shoulders like a scarf. Leaning in, Kuroo pressed the gentlest kiss to the blond’s lips, taking satisfaction in the way that he immediately melted against Kuroo.
They stayed that way for a moment, before Kuroo pulled back just enough so that he could wrap the garland around Tsukki’s neck once more, causing another soft laugh from the younger man.
“You know. That’s supposed to go around the tree, Tetsu.”
“Oh, is it? I must have gotten confused.”
“Don’t.”
“You know… because you’re so tall after all.”
“Ugh!” With that, Tsukki reached up to put his hand on Kuroo’s cheek before pushing him away, even as the older man laughed so hard he began to turn red.
“Careful. You’ll be sleeping out here all alone. Sumi and I will be cuddled up in the bed without you.” It was an empty threat, they both knew it, but it still caused Kuroo to pout.
“Tsukki. Don’t be mean,” Kuroo whined, watching as Tsukki smirked to himself, unwinding the garland from around his neck.
Ignoring any further whines from Kuroo, Tsukki set himself to work, carefully wrapping the garland around the tree in the empty spaces that he had left between the light strands.
“Fine. Be that way, Kei. I’m going to make my hot cocoa with kahlua and I’m not leaving any for you.” He petulantly pouted before turning to step into the kitchen, reaching into the cabinet where they kept the alcohol.
Tsukishima simply hummed to himself in thought, knowing that it was just as empty a threat as anything else the two would say. “I highly doubt that. It’s a whole bottle and I haven’t opened it yet. Because it’s for Christmas.”
Sticking his head out so Tsukki could see it, Kuroo pretended to mimic him.
“Oh, real mature.”
Kuroo barked out a laugh, before showing off the full bottle and wiggling his eyebrows. “Come on, Moonshine. It’s still for Christmas. We’re decorating, after all.”
Sighing, Tsukki shrugged his shoulder. “Fine. Make me one, too.”
Kuroo stuck his tongue out and winked at Tsukki. “I specifically said that I wasn’t leaving you any.”
“Hm. Sure.”
Tsukki knew better than to believe that Kuroo would actually deny him anything in the world. To that very day, Tsukishima couldn’t think of a single time that Kuroo had denied him anything. And of course, he was always careful to return the favor. They worked together to make sure that their relationship had a proper balance.
Without another word exchanged between the two, Tsukki could hear as Kuroo worked in the kitchen. There was a distinctive sound of two mugs being set on the counter and Tsukki smirked triumphantly to himself.
Once the garland was settled in place on the tree and the lights twinkled, Tsukki took a step back to admire his work. Before he knew it, Kuroo came to stand beside him, offering him the cat mug that he usually preferred to use for himself. Raising an eyebrow, Tsukki smiled and accepted the mug, taking a sip as the warm cocoa and rich flavor of kahlua began to warm him up from the inside.
Kuroo sipped from the simple mug that Tsukki had brought to the apartment when they moved in together and admired the handy work. “Not bad. It’s very symmetrical and pleasing to the eye.”
With a snort, Tsukki sat on the couch and sipped more of the cocoa. “Which I’m sure you’re about to absolutely ruin with your different ornaments that have no theme what-so-ever.”
Smirking, Kuroo set his cocoa down and began opening the different ornaments of various colors and shapes. “What can I say? I’m a man of varying tastes. You fell in love with me.”
“Yeah. I did.” It came out so softly, his heart filling with fondness as he watched Kuroo work. As predicted, the ornaments went wherever Kuroo decided to hang them, no rhyme or reason to the placements.
As he looked at the tree, really watched it take shape, another feeling came over him.
“You know. The tree is a little bit like us.”
It was an off hand comment, he didn’t really expect it to grab Kuroo’s attention, but it did. He stopped after placing one more ornament on the tree and turned to face his boyfriend.
“How do you mean?”
Red began to flush his cheeks and Tsukki liked to think it was the little bit of alcohol in his cocoa, but he knew that it was due to the way that Kuroo looked at him with undivided attention, waiting for him to explain his thoughts.
“Just that… As a pair, we don’t make much sense when you look at us individually.”
Kuroo cocked his head to the side, waiting for a clearer explanation. “Oh?” He prompted after another minute passed by.
“Yeah… It’s something Akiteru mentioned once,” he said, licking his lips subconsciously, trying to gather his thoughts. “He said that he hadn’t thought I would end up with someone like you. Not because you’re a guy, or anything,” he clarified, at the way Kuroo’s brow raised.
“He just said that it was interesting meeting you, seeing how loud and, let’s be honest, chaotic, you can be. It caught him off guard.”
It was Kuroo’s turn to snort this time. There wasn’t any offense or derision behind it, just amusement. “Yeah. Okay. I can see that.”
“Yeah. But the more he watched us together, he said that it just kind of started to click.” He paused, taking another sip of his cocoa. “We balance each other out.”
Kuroo smiled softly to himself, feeling a warmth spread through his chest. “Well. I think that’s something that your brother and I can definitely agree on, Kei.”
He took another sip of his own cocoa, before taking a deep breath. “It’s actually something that I’ve been thinking about myself.”
“Oh?”
Nodding, Kuroo sat on the couch next to Tsukki, turning to face him properly.
“Tsukki… Moonshine,” he added with a soft smile on his lips. “You are the light throughout my life,” he started, nerves running through his veins as he geared up for something that he had only really vaguely thought through.
“My nights are lonely without you, but so rich and beautiful when you’re here and in my arms. I can’t imagine the rest of my life without you.” He trails off, pulling a small, velvet box from his pocket and opening it as he knelt down to balance on one knee. The simple, golden ring twinkled inside the box that he had been carrying around for a couple of months, waiting for the right opportunity.
Tsukishima sucked in a breath as he finally put the pieces together, finally realized what Kuroo’s speech had been leading up to. “Yes,” he whispered, voice barely audible.
Kuroo smiled at the ring, eyes shining as he looked up to Tsukishima, having not heard the acceptance before the question.
“I know you want to finish school first. And get a good start on your career. And I want you to know that I support that and I’m fully, 100% supportive of potentially having a long engagement,” he explained, wanting to make sure that Tsukki was aware that Kuroo had at least given some amount of thought to what came after. “But it’s Christmas time and right now, I can’t stop myself from imagining all of our future christmases together.”
Golden eyes shined behind dark rimmed glasses as he tried to compose himself, his head swimming. Everything that Kuroo had said was true, of course, he knew Tsukki like the back of his hand. But now that the option was laid out before him, he knew there was no way that he could deny this man, could reject this proposal.
“Yes,” the blond tried to croak out, despite his throat clogging with unshed tears and making the word sound unrecognizable. He cleared his throat and tried to swallow back the tears, unused to the large display of emotion.
“Tsukki. Moonshine,” Kuroo stopped, smiling up at the man that had him wrapped around his finger. “Will you marry me?”
Tsukki had tried to respond verbally before the question had even been asked, but his words continued to fail him. Finally, accepting that he was truly speechless, Tsukishima settled for a soft nod of his head.
“Yeah?” Kuroo asked, staring up at his boyfriend, no, his fiance, in awe. While he had only vaguely planned out enough of a proposal in his head to get a ring, he hadn’t quite reached the conclusion where Tsukki would accept him for a lifetime.
Nodding his head, Tsukki leaned down to wrap his arms around Kuroo’s neck, hugging him tightly as he nuzzled his face into the other man’s neck and shoulder. Kuroo gently closed the velvet box, keeping the ring safe as he closed his own arms around Tsukki’s middle, holding him firmly in place. His own unshed tears slowly made their way down his face as he realized that they were truly going to be together for the rest of their lives.
The two stayed in that position for a few minutes, before Tsukki pulled back just enough so that he could move his right hand to gently cup Kuroo’s cheek. He gave a soft smile that was only ever meant for his boyfriend, before leaning in to gently kiss his lips. They softly pressed their lips together, tasting the barest traces of their salty tears and the bitter aftertaste of kahlua.
Kuroo pulled back first this time, reaching up to take Tsukki’s glasses off and set them aside so that he could gently wipe the tears from the blond’s face. “You big sap,” he teased, leaning forward to pepper gentle kisses to the red cheeks.
“I’m allowed to be a little sappy,” Tsukki mumbled, pretending to pout even as he was bombarded with soft kisses. “I just got engaged.” His voice was still creaky with emotion, but Kuroo could understand every word.
“Yeah. You did,” he replied, gently setting the glasses back on Tsukishima’s face, knowing that he was near blind without them. “Now, watch me put this ring on your pretty finger.”
Kuroo opened the velvet box again and gingerly took the ring from its holding. He lightly took Tsukki’s left hand in his and slid the glistening, gold ring onto his left ring finger, before leaning down to place a soft kiss over the ring.
“Now you’re Tsukishima Kei, my fiance,” Kuroo proudly announced, the brightest smile taking its place on his face.
Tsukki gave a wet laugh, reaching up with his free hand to wipe at his eyes again, clearing his vision. “Did you have this whole thing planned?” He asked, looking from the decorated tree, down to the cocoa, and finally to the ring on his finger.
Red rushed to his cheeks and Kuroo breathed out a slightly awkward laugh. “Ah. No,” he said, scratching the back of his head. “I mean. Obviously, I had the ring, so I wanted to propose at some point this Christmas. But this really just seemed like the perfect opportunity.”
Tsukki laughed loudly, one of the few laughs that they gave where they didn’t think about who might hear or how loud they might be; a laugh mostly meant just for Kuroo. “Oh, I can’t wait to tell my brother that he was part of our engagement story. And that you felt compelled to propose to me because of a Christmas tree,” he managed to get out between full belly laughs, having put the pieces together to figure out exactly why Kuroo would decide that moment was perfect.
Puffing out his cheeks, Kuroo teasingly reached out to poke Tsukki’s side, causing another round of laughter to burst out of him.
“Hey! This was a very romantic proposal and you know it! It’s much better than anything I could actually come up with!”
Tsukki shook his head and tried to catch his breath. “You’re right, in a way. This was really romantic,” he said, before moving to wrap his arms around Kuroo’s neck, nearly crawling into his lap. “But, Tetsu, I would have said yes no matter how you proposed to me.”
The shift between a fully belly laugh and pure, unadulterated sincerity caught Kuroo off guard, his arms tightening in a grip around Tsukki’s frame. “Yeah?” He asked, small edges of doubt that hadn’t crept in since the first time he asked Tsukishima to be his boyfriend began to gnaw at his insides.
“Kuroo. You know I don’t do things spontaneously. I think and I consider all of the options,” he said, noting the short nod from his boyfriend. “I’ve known I wanted to spend my life with you from the moment that I agreed to live with you. There was never any other option for me, Tetsurou.” His voice was impossibly soft, but Kuroo could hear every word.
Kuroo smiled gently, before leaning in to press another kiss to Tsukki’s lips. All edges of worry and doubt melted away as their lips softly moved together in a practiced caress.