Stonathan ❤️

67

NOT MINE!!

all credits go to NeroAnne on ao3

"Ouch!"

Jonathan rolled his eyes, snatching the scissors from his whining boyfriend, "This is why I told you to go to bed. You've been patrolling every night this week and you're so sleep-deprived that you can't even cut wrapping paper without injuring yourself." He set the scissors beside his crossed knees, taping up another corner of the present.

Their little tree was surrounded by presents. Large boxes, small boxes, tall ones, short ones. Some of red, some of green, some of colors that had no business being sold for the Christmas seasons but Jonathan was weird enough to buy and use them anyway.

He'd chosen the gold wrapping paper for Steve's presents (because Steve was his royal King, thank you very much), and had done away with them long before Steve came home. He was working on one of Eleven's presents now, the bright red wrapping paper with dancing penguins glinting in the lights of the little bulbs on their Christmas tree.

Pancakes wandered over, sniffing curiously at the wrapping paper. Jonathan cooed to the cat, stroking the little black ear for a few seconds before returning his attention to the present on his lap.

"I just wanted to help," Steve pouted, grabbing a couch cushion off of the couch and slapping it onto the floor. He settled down, gazing at Jonathan sleepily as he perfectly folded another corner, "You're going to leave me some wrapping paper, right? I haven't wrapped yours yet."

"Which color?" Jonathan asked, a bit distracted as he fought with Pancakes over the bag of bows. He gently pried the cat's claws off of the bag and grabbed a white bow, tugging off the back end of the sticky film and then popping it on top of the box.

"Steve?" when his boyfriend failed to answer him, Jonathan glanced over at him. He smiled fondly, resting his chin on his palm.

Steve had dozed off, one arm underneath the cushion and a leg still propped up. He wasn't snoring yet, a sign that he hadn't fallen into a deep sleep, but he was definitely not awake enough to answer to Jonathan.

Pancakes stepped over to Steve, nuzzling into the propped leg. He draped himself over Steve's hip, flexing his claws and kneading into the soft material of Steve's sweatpants. Jonathan smiled again, shaking his head.

He grabbed another bow, a brilliant red color, and pulled off the end again. He placed the sticky bow just below Steve's chest and then stood up as quietly as he could, gently setting Eleven's present under the tree and pushing the wrapping paper and tape off the side.

He crept over to the kitchen, moving to grab his camera. He snatched it, grinning to himself as he quickly tip-toed to Steve's side. Jonathan sat on his knees, angling the camera against his eye. He steadied his focus and took the shot.

The soft noise caused Pancake's ears to flicker and Jonathan chuckled, putting down the camera. He crawled over to Steve, leaning down to peck the older man's lips. "Hey," he murmured against the pliant mouth, "Go to bed, I'll join you in a few."

Steve sighed sleepily, his arm coming around to circle Jonathan's hip. He furrowed his brows at the sound of something crunching and he blinked his eyes open, staring down at the bow perched on his solar plexus. He raised a brow at Jonathan, "What did you do?"

"Nothing," Jonathan shrugged and then he smiled again, pecking those lips again, "Just making sure to put the red bows on all of the presents for me."

Steve smiled lazily, his hand creeping up behind Jonathan's shirt to play with the warm skin of his back. Steve's eyes were brighter in the light of the glowing Christmas tree. Warmer, so soft and sweet and tired.