DECEMBER 24TH

~

Large grey eyes set wide into a furry white face, a single dark spot encircling one. Its pink nose kept pushing against his ankle, sniffing and snuffling. Not one tooth shone back at him as it opened its tiny muzzle and let out what had to be the most adorable yawn ever in existence.

Yunho jerked his head up quickly, frowning. “But…but what does it do?”

Changmin stared at him disbelievingly. “It’s a puppy. It does what puppies do. And by the way, he does what puppies do.”

“Ah, a brave little he-warrior! I can’t wait to teach him how to hunt for piskies and goblins!”

“Erm…wait…”

Gingerly lifting him by the little black color, Yunho set the puppy in his lap, engrossed in his tiny movements. He swatted at the sleeve of Yunho’s shirt, tried to bite it, and then gave up. He yipped once, curled up on Yunho’s thigh, and gazed up at Changmin with his little tail thumping away. “I have hellhounds and graveyard dogs. This is a more domestic breed, yes?”

“Uh…yes. Jack Russell terrior, to be more exact. But…please don’t let him play with the other dogs here. That wouldn’t be the wisest decision.”

“I’m not a wise king. Besides, if he bites them, they might ice over and he’ll use them as territorial markers.”

Changmin blinked several times. “The world continues to spin, and I continue to get lost in some of the things you say.”

Yunho poked the puppy in the side, and it grumbled at him before going back to staring down the prince who brought him over. “Well, one thing’s for sure. He’s quite like you when I try to wake you up in the mornings. I like his color, though. White as a bone, but soft like snow.” his new friend’s head, he shot a glance at the steel hands ticking away on his parlor wall. “Almost eight. You should leave, lest the king of Halloweentown be responsible for ruining Christmas. Again,” he amended with a roll of his eyes when Changmin snorted. “Look, last time was…it was…”

“An exploration of your varying degrees of interest in the workings of the other realms,” Changmin quoted, leaning back into the sofa. “And I can’t think of a time where I wanted to strangle you more than then. Gotta admit, you looked y in that tight Santa suit. Peeling it off that night completely made up for the storm you created during the day. But talk about ugly fashion. It’s why I detest all the depictions of me wearing the stupid thing. So glad we burned it.”

Yunho chuckled. “I’ll remember to ix-nay on the fur ts next time and go with a plain suit.” He eyed Changmin’s red oxford shirt and black distressed jeans. “I don’t think looking like some rock band vocalist is any better, though. You should stick with the red and black suits. Sweet lord, yes. I’d be all over that version of Sandy Claws.” He his lips theatrically, and the prince closed his eyes in second-hand embarrassment. “Oh, come off it. You like when I tease and fool around.”

“I do, but not when I’m on a tight schedule.” He rose to his knees, giving the little puppy one more chance to and nip at his fingers. “Think of a good name, and not something unimaginative. I thought I was going to kill Yi Xiang when he suggested Spot. Oh, and don’t do anything to him. He’s a puppy. You can wait until he’s older. General Kwon wanted to dunk him into something that would ‘make him glow like a star’ but after that last concoction where I couldn’t even drag myself off you for nights on end…”

“Bless her original aphrodisiacs, for they are the greatest gift. However, I already picked a name. The minute I laid my eyes on him, I knew what I would call the little yipper. That mark around his eye made the decision for me.”

“,” Changmin whispered. Here it was. Dread and certainty filled him, and he just knew—

“Isn’t that right, Zero?”

When the puppy wriggled back onto his paws and barked up at him, Changmin breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m off. Be a good little king, and you might see presents under your scary bone tree.”

Yunho s his fingers around his lover’s wrist and drew him down for a long kiss that threatened to make the Christmastown leader late. “Don’t get stuck in a chimney, you know I hate playing savior,” he whispered huskily, humming when Changmin’s own hand kept a firm grip in his hair and pulled their mouths together again. Minutes later, he forced himself to say against those lips, “Go, or I’m going to have to frog-march you out.”

“Keep him grounded, Zero,” Changmin ordered sternly, and Zero the Puppy simpered up towards him. A snap of his fingers, and a swirling whirlwind of sleet and ice shrouded him from Yunho’s parlor. Seconds later, the Winter Prince had gone, and the Nightmare King got up moments later with his new companion. He murmured sweetly to the puppy dozing in the crook of his arm as he headed towards his kitchen. Wine and a novel before bed would keep him comfortable until he woke next to an exhausted but content boyfriend in the morning.

He stopped at a window in the hall, staring dumbfounded at the grounds below. His servants and chefs scurried around the courtyard, making delighted sounds as the first flurries touched the earth. It came steadier and steadier, until a fine sheet covered his property. Beyond the fence line, he saw the citizens begin to file out of their homes, ready to play in their temporary winter wonderland. Zero stirred against his chest, squirming for a better look.

His shock grew when actual snow began to fall from his ceiling. It did not chill his skin, but rather it felt warm like the breath of its creator. The snow avoided the bed, which he was thankful for; waking up buried in a foot of the stuff wasn’t on his bucket list. He watched as a beautiful ice vase slowly formed on his nightstand, frozen sculpted roses appearing on delicate ice stems. At his hesitant touch, they bloomed into real petals, soft and bright, and silver like moonlight. “See?” he told Zero, who nearly toppled from his hold trying to gnaw at the flower. “And he tells me I have to have the last word.”