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Santa had to bite back another giggle as he stood in Perth's dressing room, watching him struggle with the tie he was supposed to be wearing. After the third try, Perth let out an exasperated groan and looked up. Finally speaking up, Santa's tone was heavy with amusement as he asked, "Does Phi need help?" Perth nods, thanking him as he comes closer.
Santa smiles at him, sending Perth's stomach tumbling, having the tie tied in less than thirty seconds. "Good?" He asks, wrapping the tie around his hand and tugging Perth closer so they're almost nose to nose. Perth nods, swallowing hard. His voice isn't working.
A staff member knocks on the door and Santa lets go off Perth's tie with a grin as the staff member calls through the door that it's almost time for Perth to go on stage.
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The event is over and Perth is still struggling with his tie. Santa was nowhere to be found after Perth had gotten off of the stage. Phuwin watched in amusement as Perth got mad at his tie; at this point, Perth was about to just rip the thing off of his neck. "I'm sensing some of your anger isn't just at the tie." Phuwin says, jumping back when Perth's eyes raise to glare at him. "What happened?" Phuwin continues with a laugh. Perth fumbles more with the tie before dropping his hands. "I'll help with the tie, you tell me what happened." Perth sighs, Phuwin successfully getting the tie to slip from around his collar. "I don't know what happened." Perth mumbles. "Just... Santa." Perth explains what happened, then at the end, adds, "And now he's not even here." "Who's not here?" A new voice. Perth glances over Phuwin's shoulder, looking at the doorway where Santa stands. Santa has a small grin on his face, Perth looks like he could explode, and Phuwin has an amused expression on his face. Excusing himself, Phuwin leaves the two alone, closing the door behind him as he leaves.
"What's happening?" Santa asks. Perth swivels his gaze to him, glaring and Santa, again, has to fight not to laugh. He walks towards Perth, grabbing the front of his shirt and starting to unbutton it. "Does Phi need help with buttons now?" Perth glares once more at Santa. "Are you having fun?" He snaps, grabbing Santa's hands and moving them off of his shirt. Santa smiles. "I'm not sure I know what you mean." "Sure you don't." Perth quips, something inside of him snapping as he grabs Santa by the waist, spinning them around and lifting Santa onto the table. When he realizes what he's done, Perth pauses. Whichever part of his brain made him do this hadn't fully thought out the next steps. Santa turns his head to the side to hide a smile before he speaks again. "What next, Perth?" Santa urges, looking into Perth's eyes, this time not trying to hide the smile on his lips. Santa raises his hand, touching the front of Perth's shoulder, keeping their eyes locked together, as if he's daring Perth to make the next move. Perth feels like he's frozen. He doesn't know what to do next.
It feels like it's in slow motion: Santa grabs Perth's face, lifting his head to meet his eyes. "What's next, Phi?" Santa murmurs, asking the question again. Perth's stomach flips again.
Perth leans forward and closes the gap between them. Santa raises his hand, holding the back of Perth's head. Santa smirks against Perth's lips, finally getting what he wanted. When Perth feels the smirk, he kisses Santa harder, pulling him closer to the edge of the table.
The way that Perth kisses him makes Santa whimper softly against his lips, his arms moving to wrap around Perth's neck.
And, as if reality crashes into Perth, he pulls back, leaning into Santa's arms and kissing the front of his neck, as if he's either trying to distract himself or digest the fact that he and Santa just kissed. But with a smile, Santa holds Perth against him, rubbing the back of Perth's head gently. Softly, Santa mumbles Perth's name; As his name is said, Perth pulls back and looks at Santa.
Santa meets his eyes, moving his hands to hold Perth's face in his hands. "It's okay." he tells Perth, reassuring him. "I promise it's okay that you kissed me. Don't run away." Santa holds Perth tighter as if by saying the words out loud, he's planted the words into Perth's brain. It scares Santa, thinking of Perth running away from him. He just broke down his walls and if Perth runs away, he'll build them up higher than before. Perth sees the change in Santa's face and stands straighter, touching his face lightly. He shakes his head, a soft smile on his lips. "I'm not going to run away." He says, looking into Santa's eyes. "I just... I needed to process it. I won't run. Promise." A tension Santa didn't realize he was holding onto eases inside of him and he nods. "I know I'm kind of new at this but I'll do my best, Phi." Santa murmurs, looking not at Perth, but at the hand he has on Perth's face. Moving his head, he kisses the inside of Santa's wrist. "Santa." He says softly. "You're doing so good." Santa nods and before he can say anything, Perth kisses him again. Soft and tender.
They're going to be just fine, Perth decides when they pull apart and Santa looks at him. He pulls Santa close, helping him off of the counter. "Let's go home, okay?" Santa nods, kissing his cheek before he leans into Perth's arms, hugging him tightly.
