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deathnotesecretexchange · 3 years

Text

Christmas Traditions

From: @madmeridian

To: @hhhhhotleafjuice

Prompt: mello and nears first kiss and all of the whammy kids on christmas (combined)

Additional tags: Meronia

Word Count: 1850

Author’s Notes: Okay so I thought it would be a cool idea to combine these two (I guess you’ll see why?) I like Christmas a lot so I was really excited to do that particular prompt! Anyway, I really hope you like it! If not I can try to rewrite it or smth idk let me know :)

Christmas at Wammy’s had always been an extravagant affair. It was rare to find a child or staff member who wasn’t excited for the Christmas season. The halls were lined in garland, lights were everywhere and there was no shortage of Christmas trees anywhere. In fact, it was near impossible to find a room that didn’t have one, whether it was a small one that children kept in their rooms, or large ones where the stars and angels on top were nearly brushing the ceiling.

Gift giving was an important part of these traditions as well. Children rarely tried to sneak out after hours, but during the holiday season, there were far more attempts, each more bold than usual. When they were inevitably caught, they stomped their feet and argued that they were only going out to buy gifts for their friends, even though the caretakers often took them down to stores and whatnot to do so. None of the orphans had been particularly good with socializing like normal people did, but they understood well that giving gifts was a good way to show friends that they cared.

Near was one of the few in the orphanage who neither gave nor received gifts. He’d only ever received one, from Linda the year prior, but only because she’d just found out that he didn’t get any and got teary-eyed about it the way she always did when hearing about some aspect of Near’s loneliness. Near supposed that he’d have to give her one this year in return, as would be expected of him.

He did see the value in giving gifts, but figuring out what to give people was a nightmare. Near had never really cared about anyone enough before to want to give them a gift. Likewise, no one had ever cared enough about him to do so, other than Linda.

Of course, she was easy enough to get a gift for. She constantly complained about the lack of art supplies she was given to by the orphanage, so Near got her a nice set of quality paints. It would make her happy and hopefully show her some appreciation. Near wasn’t necessarily the best with people, but he did hope that she’d at least recognize this was his thank you from her gift last year.

Linda was the only person he bought for, though. It was an advantage, having so little people to shop for. Other kids spent hours in town, blowing all their money on gifts and still not having enough to buy everything. Near had been asked to loan out his allowance more than once, but he wasn’t dumb enough to say yes to that. He’d never get anything back.

Near often got called stingy for doing so, but he didn’t mind at all. He did spend his money on other things, like toys for himself and decorations for his room. Outwardly, he didn’t seem that much in the holiday spirit, but he did rather like Christmas. Simply put, he just didn’t celebrate the way everyone else did.

The weeks leading up to Christmas were often chaotic and Near preferred to stay in his room, to avoid it all. Spirits and energy were high, with no schoolwork to keep them busy. Near often watched from his window as kids played outside, throwing snowballs and making snow angels and snowmen outside.

Unsurprisingly, Mello was terrorizing some of the other kids his age, chucking snowballs hard at them while they screamed and ran away. Mello liked Christmas too, Near had noticed, but not quite for the same reasons the other children did.

Mello took great pride in reminding everyone of the religious significance of the holiday, though the only ones that really listened to him were the little children, who didn’t quite understand it all. Near had listened to him tell the story a few times too and found himself enraptured. Though, he was more enchanted by Mello’s passion for telling it than the story, which Near didn’t really believe in.

Of course, that meant that Mello didn’t give out many gifts, since he was a staunch believer that Christmas should be less about gifts and more about the religious aspects. In all the years Mello had been here, Near only remembered him ever giving Matt a gift and no one else. The staff, at least, was relieved they wouldn’t have to deal with Mello trying to sneak out for Christmas shopping and the like.

Near could see a small group of children gathered further out in the field, whispering amongst themselves. They kept giving shifty looks to the caretakers watching over everyone outside. Near supposed they’d be the next to sneak out and probably the next to fail. Those that made it out were never that obvious about their plans like these younger children were.

Attempting not to get caught by the caretakers, especially Roger, was a time-honored tradition at Wammy’s. It was a high achievement if you were clever enough to be able to sneak out and back in without anyone knowing you’d left at all. Not many students had done it, since most didn’t make it out and those who did were quickly noted as missing. Though the punishment for sneaking out was often harsh, students still dared each other and tried.

Well, the staff at Wammy’s had encouraged them to try to achieve the impossible. It was only to be expected things like this would happen.

Near would’ve thought that those trying it would at least be smart enough not to talk about it outside, in the open. The group of children soon dispersed, but the caretakers had taken notice of their little meeting. Near was sure he would hear all about their failure tomorrow morning in the common room.

Another time-honored tradition at Wammy’s was staying up as late as possible on Christmas Eve. The caretakers knew the younger children would fall asleep fast, and the older children would follow. If anyone was truly able to stay up into the late hours of the night, they’d just be sent to bed and told that Father Christmas wouldn’t deliver their gifts if they didn’t.

Near did join in on this tradition, since he could still sit in the common room, unbothered, watching the others celebrate. It was during this time that the children who’d attempted to sneak out would regale everyone with the stories of their failed escape. Others would tell about their Christmas traditions from before Wammy’s, or lack thereof. Several of the older children told scary Christmas stories, resulting in many of the younger ones screaming and crying to the caretakers.

Overall, the energy was quite chaotic, everyone shouting and jumping everywhere, convinced they could stay up late. The caretakers often tried to set up games, so that they could tire everyone out, but it devolved into others making up their own “games” to play. One of which was another common tradition at Wammy’s.

It wasn’t so much a game as it was a way to bully people into kissing each other. A group of kids would run around with mistletoe, proclaiming the two poor souls they had under it had to kiss. Some told them to bug off, while others did it to avoid being called a coward. Near was only lucky enough no one ever came close to him to get stuck in that situation.

Unfortunately, one of the kids that was new to the orphanage this year wasn’t quite clear on who to pick on and who not to. He had his turn to choose who to stick under the mistletoe and zeroed in on Mello. The child giggled and quietly crept up on him. Near almost thought that Mello was going to deck the child when his chocolate was snatched away, but the boy darted away, triumphantly waving the chocolate in the air. Everyone else had frozen. No one did that to Mello, not without getting their butt kicked by him.

“If you want it back, you have to kiss someone,” the boy sang, ignoring the worried looks everyone was giving him. “I choose…"

The boy’s eyes flitted around the room, searching for the perfect target. Then he settled back on Near with an evil grin.

"You have to kiss Near, Mello.” He rushed over to dangle the mistletoe over Near’s head tauntingly.

Near thought that Mello would just storm over and take his chocolate back, judging by the furious look on his face. Then another kid piped up, trying to support their friend.

“Yeah! Are you chicken, Mello? Not gonna do it?"

Some other kids half-heartedly joined in the jeering in a weak attempt to stop their friend from getting decked. Mello’s scowl turned more into a frown as more kids piped up and Near saw the cogs turning in his head. If he were to just take back the chocolate, he would be seen as a chicken for not taking up the dare. The downside was, he’d have to kiss Near.

Eventually, he came to a decision and stomped over. Near had predicted that Mello would take the fall so that he wouldn’t have to kiss his self-proclaimed rival. Everyone else did too, judging by the way they looked at the new boy with sympathy.

However, everyone was proven wrong when Near was dragged up by his collar and his lips met Mello’s. Confusion briefly overtook him, as to why Mello would possibly agree to kissing him. But the feeling of Mello’s warm lips on his distracted his train of thought and he finally melted into to it-

and then he promptly fell back on the floor when Mello let go of him.

Near noticed that Mello’s face was flushed, that Mello had even whispered a small "sorry” to him. Then, just like that, Mello turned to the kid and took his chocolate bar away. He also pushed the kid to the ground, but that was far more expected than what had just happened.

“Near, are you okay?” Linda asked, rushing up to him. Near realized that his face was equally as red as Mello’s had been and that he’d just been sitting there, dumbfounded. He hid his face a little, picking up another piece of his puzzle.

“Fine, thanks,” he mumbled, hoping she wouldn’t push further.

Linda put her hands on her hips, lips pursed, but didn’t say anything else. Near noticed her giving Mello and Matt a look briefly before going back to her spot on one of the couches.

Near refused to leave the common room early, despite the incident that had occurred. He was one of the few that was sent up hours after everyone else had fallen asleep, since he didn’t mind staying up late. Mello was one of those people too and Near pointedly avoided his gaze as they all stumbled up the stairs to go to bed.

That night, Near had trouble falling asleep, the feeling of Mello’s lips on his still stuck in his mind. He couldn’t shake the thought that it was the best Christmas gift he could’ve gotten.

#submission

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