Casual Christmas party

The steering wheel's handle felt warm under Katsuki’s grasp, still heated from where he’d been gripping it on his drive up. He slid his hands off the wheel, a barely visible wet mark left behind from his hands that’d been sweating nervously since he’d answered his boyfriend's call earlier that morning. Katsuki made quick work of wiping his hands on the soft material of his pants before shifting his car into park and shutting it off.

The falling December snow had already begun to cover the windshield of Katsuki’s car. It had already made quick work of covering the ground with a thick layer of its chilly powder throughout the evening. Almost too much snow had begun to accumulate in the duration of the blizzard, but he hardly seemed to notice, let alone care.

Katsuki let out a shaky breath as he looked through the cracks of snow on his windshield, observing the house he’d dreaded pulling up to.

Merely a few hours ago he’d received a call from his boyfriend, which he wished he hadn’t answered, just like he’d normally do to anyone else. Unfortunately, his boyfriend managed to call him at just the right time that day. Katsuki had just stepped out of the shower after a particularly long workout. Given barely any reason to ignore the call that was causing his phone to vibrate viciously on the marble counter surrounding the bathroom sink, he begrudgingly decided to answer. He slid his finger across the display name Zane that plastered his screen, along with a ridiculous image of the taller, black-haired boy making an odd face at an angle that was far from flattering. 

An easy “What?” Slipped through his lips as he put the call on speaker, going back to combing through his wet hair as he listened to what the other had to say. It better be fucking good if he felt like he needed to fucking call me about it.

That was the fateful moment he learned that Zane’s parents, his boyfriend’s fucking parents, had invited him to their annual Christmas party, the party the VanDusens hosted each year. Supposedly it’s a huge tradition in many people’s lives, notably the people close to the family. It usually sported a turnout of roughly fifty people each year. 

There’s Christmas music, a room with treats and a TV for the kids to watch Christmas movies on, a designated time to decorate the Christmas tree, and a bonfire outside that seems to be ongoing throughout the entirety of the party. 

It sounds harrowing. The loud music and the large number of people gathered in one house, paired with all the traditions he knows he’ll be forced to take part in. Katsuki could feel his face contort in a disgruntled way before even uttering a single word. 

It took Katsuki but a few moments to realise that Zane’s parents had been the ones to invite him. Not even Zane himself. 

He hadn’t yet met the two, had yet to even set foot anywhere near their property. The realization alone had him contemplating how much shit he’d get in if he simply hung up on his boyfriend, right now. The knowledge that this party surely meant a lot to Zane had him resisting every urge in his body to leave and pretend the call never happened. Not to mention the salty taste that would leave in the VanDusen's mouths about their own child’s boyfriend, knowing that he openly ignored their request. 

He couldn’t have that, no way.

This party will be the VanDusen's first impression of him, and he hoped to every fucking god there is that he’d somehow manage to not completely screw it up.

That’s how Katsuki found himself standing on the front steps at the VanDusen household, six O’clock on a Saturday night, mid-blizzard for a party he wanted nothing to do with. 

The blond found that he didn’t even have to knock to make his presence known. All it took was for him to step foot near the front door before their family dog began barking, alerting everyone of his arrival.

It took but a few seconds for the front door to fly open, revealing Zane on the other side. 

His boyfriend looked utterly ridiculous, and he wondered for a brief second if this night was even worth the hassle anymore. He was sporting, what Katsuki would most definitely define as, an ugly Christmas sweater. Paired with a Santa hat and a handful of what Katsuki can only imagine are tree ornaments of some form.

It was adorable.

The massive smile the taller boy was trying to fight (Clearly to no eval, Katsuki noted) made Zane’s following remark hardly as rude as it was surely intended.

“I was starting to think your slow ass wasn’t going to turn up at all!” He pulled on Katsuki’s arm and led him inside “Either that or you’d gotten lost on your way. Both credible options!”

Katsuki merely let out a disgruntled “Fuck you.” In response, which earned him a painless swat on the shoulder.

Katsuki followed Zane up the couple of stairs that led to the entranceway of the home. There was certainly Christmas music playing, but it could barely be heard over the overwhelming sound of chatter that filled the entirety of the massive house.

He quickly took note of the house’s sheer size. Katsuki has grown up and continues to live, in a relatively large house. But he had certainly not expected Zane’s house to be quite as large as his own. It was furnished with worn-out furniture made to look new, all of it frazzled up with Christmas dazzle.

It was, admittedly, a very cozy house (If it weren’t for the large amount of people, and the pressure he was feeling to make a good first impression) even with the numerous amounts of decorations that Katsuki believed could be toned down, it was still enjoyable. 

A lean woman in her late 50s, notably on the shorter side, made her way toward Zane and Katsuki. Her long, grey hair was barely being held up in a bun, and her hands were occupied drying themselves on a rag. The wide smile on her face matched that of Zane’s, cheerful and seemingly excited to greet all who walked in the door.

This must be Miss VanDusen.

She introduced herself as Rory, Zane’s mother.

Katsuki could feel his palms begin to sweat again. The great Katsuki Bakugo shouldn’t be so nervous over something this unimportant, but he couldn’t help it. He couldn’t stop the feeling of his heart beating in his throat. Katsuki truly felt like he was the only one taking this meaningless moment so seriously.

An irritating squeal of a sound interrupted Katsuki before he’d even opened his mouth, shattering his train of thought. As of that moment, it was far too early to tell if that had been a curse out of spite or a blessing out of pity. 

The source of that sound made herself known as she excitedly bounced toward them, the pink streaks in her hair making her almost impossible to miss when paired with the black hair colour she shared with Zane.

Katsuki recognized her as Zane’s younger sister, Neiri, notably from pictures he’d seen of the obnoxious tween on his boyfriend's phone. 

“You’re way shorter than I thought you’d be-!” That was the only comment Neiri managed to get out before being shushed by Zane as he ushered Bakugo away from the crowd of people.

The taller boy blabbered on about things Katsuki barely took notice of, only barely taking note of mention about a movie Zane had watched lately.

The next thing he tuned into was unexpected. He hadn’t even realized that he’d been getting led up to Zane’s room, the creaking, carpeted stairs hadn’t even registered in his mind until he was at the top.

Zane’s room wasn’t much smaller than his, but it was decorated much differently than his own. 

Katsuki found himself as a man happy with the simplest things when it came to decorating. Plain coloured bedsheets, a poster or two, a few books on his bedside table placed next to his lamp, and maybe even a plant if he was feeling adventurous. 

The blond found that Zane was rather different in the way he decorated his room. It looked more lived in than his own bedroom, but thankfully it didn’t seem filthy or unorganized. He had a loft bed with a decently sized couch underneath, draped with several blankets and pillows. A top of his dresser was a small, plastic Christmas tree surrounded by miscellaneous items he took no mind to. Posters, most of which he made out to be Mirko, littered the walls and ceilings, along with different LED lights and pictures. 

The sound of the rest of the party was muffled due to their distance, but that was fairly short-lived. Zane left his room as quickly as he entered, this time holding a bag of something Katsuki barely made out to be some sort of decoration. 

The taller boy swiftly placed it atop his head before he even had the chance to argue about it.

“Now you’re festive?” Zane tried, giving a halfhearted smile as Katsuki ripped the odd object off of his head, revealing cheap, decorative antlers. “Worth a shot” Zane muttered with a dismissive shrug, clearly not caring enough to try again. 

With a smile, Zane turned on leaned back on one of the hallways walls “Thanks for coming though, this means a lot to me and my family. They’ve been wanting to meet you for a while now,” he absentmindedly rubbed the back of his neck as he spoke “Especially my mom.”

Katsuki let out a huffed laugh, reassured by the slightest bit of confirmation that he’d done the right thing coming to this godforsaken Christmas party “It’s not like I had anywhere else to be!”

“Whatever you say Kats” Zane replied, grinning to himself as he slipped the cheap, felt antlers from Katsuki's hands back onto his blond head of hair 

With a teasing “Beautiful” from Zane, paired with a tap on the cheek and an annoyed huff from Bakugo, the taller boy was on the move again.

They were stopped a few times by relatives Katsuki found himself trying to place somewhere on his boyfriend's family tree until they finally arrived at wherever it was they were headed to. 

Katsuki retrieved his coat and begrudgingly slid on, as he’d been suggested to do, all, while his boyfriend grabbed two mugs from the counter that were filled with something he could tell was warm.

Katsuki followed his boyfriend outside to where the campfire was blazing. To say it was quieter was an understatement. It was perfectly peaceful compared to the hell that was happening inside the VanDusen household. His boyfriend clearly knew him well to know he’d want to get away from the crowd of people as soon as possible.

As he sat down on a log next to Zane, one that he’d disposed of any snow residue just seconds before, he was handed a mug with what he can only assume was filled with hot chocolate. Though the whole was being covered by whipped cream that Katsuki made quick work of eating.

The silence was nice but their conversation was calming. He listened as his boyfriend went on about his day, watching as the light of the campfire danced across the lack of exposed skin. The two hadn’t been out for longer than a few minutes, but the heavy snow had already begun to cover any bit of red from Zane’s Christmas hat.

Katsuki found him to be especially beautiful at that moment, and he briefly wondered if Zane thought the same of him. Though much like before, his train of thought was cut off by the same irritating voice as before.

Katsuki groaned and could physically feel his face contort into an exasperated expression that he made sure to direct to the walking Monster Energy Drink.

Neiri seemed more than unbothered by Katsuki’s cold acknowledgment and seemed happy to squeeze herself between the two of them on the log. Zane shot Katsuki an apologetic smile that was met with an irritated stare.

Neiri sighed and threw an arm over Zane’s shoulders “Dad ordered me to come out here and bother you, so I’m just doing my job right now” She jabbed his chest a few times and blinked up at him with the fakest saddened pout known to man “So don’t hate me forever, Zee!”

Neiri let out a surprised yelp when she felt a snowball hit the back of her head. She whipped her head around to find Katsuki in the act of making another snowball. “That’s not fair! You workout! This is child abuse!”

She barely got the chance to leap forward from her seat before the snowball was pelted toward where she had been just mere seconds ago. The ball of snow missed her and instead hit Zane square in the face.

There was a brief moment of silence before Zane had any reaction outside of getting the snow off of his face. That was the moment before all hell broke loose between the three of them.

Snowballs began to be chucked everywhere, but before long both Zane and Neiri had paired together to go up against Katsuki.

Their snowball fight lasted for a good half an hour, all of them getting good hits in. The one that had brought an end to their snowball fight had been the one Zane threw directly at Bakugo’s face, to which Neiri burst out laughing.

Zane had let out an apologetic chuckle, but he couldn’t stop the victorious smile that threatened itself as he approached the other. He placed a hand on Katsuki’s cheek but couldn’t help but laugh at the snow that continued to cling to his eyebrows.

“You’re an asshole” Katsuki grumbled, giving Zane a playful shove. With a light shrug Zane gave Katsuki a quick “We should head in, it’s getting cold.”

Katsuki couldn’t help but think that maybe things at this party weren’t so bad after all.