by Llwyden ferch Gyfrinach

"Christmas Eve," Gabriel announced unnecessarily, his voice drowsy as he watched the fire in the Great Hall.

"Mm," Friedrich agreed. He sat next to Gabriel and held out a glass of advocaat. "Merry Christmas, Gabriel."

"Yeah." Gabriel took the glass and sipped it, smiling a little at the taste of brandy. "You trying to get me drunk?"

"If you get drunk on that, Gabriel, you are a very cheap date." Friedrich waved his own glass at Gabriel's. "I only added a little."

"You seemed to need it," he didn't say, but Gabriel was well aware he couldn't hide his melancholy from Friedrich. Even if he wasn't so damn good at reading me, I probably smell sad or something. "Thanks."

Friedrich just nodded. "How's your leg?"

Gabriel glanced down and shrugged. "Sore. Not too bad." Truth was, that...whatever it had been...probably would've taken it clean off if he hadn't had better-than-human reflexes. And it probably still would've been infected and broken if it weren't for how fast he healed these days. As it was... "Think I've been on it a bit too much. Feels good to be out of all those bandages, though."

Another nod. "It will heal, Gabriel. You must be patient."

"Yeah, it'll heal." Small comfort when it had kept him from standing, let alone walking onto a plane, until the full moon. And there was no way he was chancing his nerves with customs and security then, which meant no travelling till after Christmas, and no seeing his Gran till New Year's.

"Gabriel?" Friedrich prodded, almost gently.

Gabriel sighed. "She may not be around much longer, Friedrich. She's my last family, damn it; I just wanted to see her."

"Call her." He held up a hand, meeting Gabriel's scowl with his own. "I know it won't be the same, but you should at least speak. And we will see her next week."

Gabriel took a deep breath and pushed a hand through his hair, fighting down his frustration. "Yeah."

Friedrich finished the rest of his advocaat and stared into the glass, turning it around, watching the patterns the sticky drink left on the insides. "I have not had any family in a very long time."

Gabriel winced. A long time — by which he meant a couple hundred years. And that could be me in a while, too. "How do you do it?" It sounded more plaintive than he'd intended, but the thought of all those years...

Friedrich's laugh was bitter. "I haven't, remember? I have kept trying to make my own family around me. Unsuccessfully, until you." He looked at Gabriel, his expression more open and haunted than Gabriel had seen it in a long time.

"Friedrich," he started, but Friedrich shook his head, smiling sadly.

"A wolf is a social creature; so is a man. I can't tell you it isn't difficult, not with my history."

"You give great pep talks, Friedrich, thanks," Gabriel said dryly.

Friedrich laughed. "Well, so long as I have been an inspiration." He held out his hand for Gabriel's empty glass and stood. "Maybe I should just bring the brandy here, hm?"

"Why not? We're not driving anywhere." Gabriel laughed and waved at the heavy snow outside the night-darkened windows. If Gerde couldn't even make it back from her parents' house, there was no way they were going anywhere, even if they had anywhere to be.

"True." Friedrich's voice drifted out from behind the bar. He straightened, bringing a bottle and two tumblers back with him.

"That's not the brandy," Gabriel accused, grinning.

"I thought if we were going to get drunk, we might as well do it right," Friedrich retorted. He handed Gabriel a glass and displayed the label of the Scotch.

"Fine with me." Gabriel held his glass while Friedrich poured. "Cheers."

"Prost."

They touched their glasses, and Gabriel went back to staring into the fire as he sipped his Scotch. He could sense Friedrich next to him doing the same, but even if the silence was a bit sad, it wasn't uncomfortable.

"Think there's anything good for the holiday on TV?" Gabriel asked, more for something to say than any real desire to watch. He could feel Friedrich shrug, and realised they'd slid closer together.

"Probably. I'm sure we can watch the BBC if nothing else."

"My German's getting a lot better, you know."

"I know." He could hear the smile in Friedrich's voice, and his own heart lightened a little. "You've been doing remarkably well at a lot of things, Gabriel."

"Yeah, tell what's-his-face at the drug store that."

"Heinrich. And he was only upset because of the blood on his carpeting. He will forgive you."

Gabriel snorted. "Next time I'll watch where I'm bleeding."

"Do." Friedrich refilled their glasses. "Though I would prefer it if you didn't bleed at all, you know."

"You and me both!" Gabriel rolled his eyes. "I wasn't exactly planning on it, you know," he mimicked.

Friedrich snorted, but caught Gabriel's hand as he lifted it to drink. Gabriel looked over questioningly and Friedrich met his eyes, the humour gone. "Please, Gabriel, be more careful with yourself. I would like to have you around for some time to come."

He wanted to shrug it off, say of course he would be careful and who was Friedrich to order him around? But... I'm the only one he has now. "I...I'll try." He shrugged. "I can't promise more; I'd be lying, and you know it."

"I know." Friedrich shook his head and pushed a lock of Gabriel's hair back behind his ear. Gabriel shook his head irritably and it dropped free again. "You are a very stubborn man. But trying is all I can ask, I suppose."

"You know..." Gabriel hesitated, started again, stopped, opened his mouth to finish, took a drink, and blurted it out. "You need to be careful, too." He knocked his Scotch back in one gulp and held his glass out defiantly. Friedrich smiled and took the glass from him; their fingers caught, and Gabriel found himself gripping his hand tightly, unable to let go. "You need to be really careful," he growled.

"I will be as careful as I can, Gabriel." With his free hand, Friedrich tucked that hair back behind Gabriel's ear again, and he sighed but let him. "Besides, I have a Schattenjäger looking out for me now, don't I?"

"And I've got a bossy as hell werewolf looking out for me. I dunno, you think it's a fair trade?"

"I am very happy with it." Friedrich leaned forward, his hand still wrapped in Gabriel's hair, and brushed their lips together. Gabriel followed, deepening the kiss, their lips clinging as he flicked his tongue out to taste Friedrich's. He wrapped his arms around him, feeling the heat of his body, more warming than the fireplace.

Friedrich trailed his mouth over Gabriel's jaw, kissing that spot right under his ear. He sighed, and Gabriel shivered at the breath over his skin. "What about you, Gabriel?"

"Hm?" Gabriel nuzzled Friedrich's hair, losing track of the conversation again.

Friedrich stopped him with a firm but gentle hand on his chest, pushing him just far enough away to meet his eyes. "Is it a fair trade?" He ran his hand up to Gabriel's shoulder, settling it at the base of his neck. His thumb stroked in a way that made Gabriel want to pull him right back down, but there was a warning there, too, a demand for an answer.

Gabriel sighed. "It's a fair trade," he agreed. He swallowed and met Friedrich's eyes. "I don't know if I'd make it again, and I can't say it doesn't still scare me sometimes. But I'm here." He tried a smile, and mostly managed. "You're stuck with me now."

"As I said, a fair trade." Friedrich smiled at him. "More than fair."

Gabriel grinned. "I'm the best trade anyone'd ever have." Friedrich snorted. "So you gonna pour me some more, or what?"

Friedrich picked up the almost forgotten bottle and topped off both their glasses. "Maybe we should wait until after our presents, or we might be too drunk to read the tags."

"Mine are the square ones; yours're the ones that look like a drunk monkey wrapped them up. Hm." Gabriel grimaced. "Except I had one for Gerde, too. Unless you really want a copy of An Encyclopedia of Flower Arrangement."

"No, thank you! And I sincerely doubt you would be interested in a bottle of wine and an assortment of yarn."

"Yeah, no." Gabriel snorted. "So let's pull ours out and set 'em here. Then we can get as drunk as we want."

"If you like." Friedrich pushed up and strode over to the tree; he must have been at least a little buzzed, but it didn't show in the graceful, predatory walk. He leant over to go through the presents, and Gabriel leaned to keep an eye on him, ogling his ass.

He grinned and shrugged when Friedrich turned and caught him at it. "Just looking at what I'll get to unwrap later."

"Only if you're a very good boy," Friedrich drawled, and set the packages down in the chair by the fire.

"I am always good," Gabriel declared, his grin even wider.

"Of course you are." Friedrich sat back down, waving at the small pile of presents. "I thought we would wait until tomorrow to open Gerde's; she should be back once the roads are clear. Anyway, that's your tradition, isn't it? Christmas morning?"

"Yep." Gabriel nodded, the second bob of his head more careful than the first as the room spun just a little. "I always hated waiting, though."

"I have noticed that about you," Friedrich agreed, deadpan, and Gabriel glared at him.

"I can take your present back, you know."

"No, no, that's perfectly all right." Friedrich laughed. "You really are incorrigible, Gabriel."

"Yep," he agreed again, toasting Friedrich.

Friedrich shook his head and toasted back, then watched Gabriel with a smile on his face. Gabriel cocked his head, waiting, and Friedrich stroked his face. "Some things are worth waiting for, though."

Even that little touch did things to Gabriel, and he thought about how long Friedrich had had to wait for someone to share this with. Share his life, have someone who really understood and cared anyway. And he's not the only one. He finished his glass and set it aside, reaching for Friedrich again. "Yeah, I guess they are."