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“We don’t really have any traditions … not like the stuff you see on TV. We all just get together and hang out, and eat, and watch the game.” Jared shrugs with the end of his sentence before taking a long pull from the lip of his bottle.“Well, consider yourself lucky. Every year, I’m stuck in the middle of crafting hell.”Misha chuckles as he turns in his seat, looking over to Jensen curiously as he waits for the man to continue.“Oh, is that that thing your mom always puts on?” Jared asks him, and Jensen slowly nods.“Yeah. She goes and buys everything she can find at Hobby Lobby, and then she gets the entire family over to her house so we can each make a personalized Christmas ornament. It’s really lame.”Jared snorts in agreement, but Misha remains still, listening thoughtfully as Jensen gets more and more engaged in his own speech.“I mean, seriously— every year. My brothers somehow get out of it, and so do my uncles; but since I got JJ, I always end up getting roped in. Next thing I know, I’m hot gluing googly eyes to green foam balls, and threading yarn through toilet paper tubes. And God forbid I try to sneak away because Danneel will give me that look, or JJ will ask me where I’m going and then she’ll give me a different look, and then I feel bad and sit my ass back down. It’s a trap. A glitter coated, pine scented trap. Every damn year.”Misha hums softly, nodding as he catalogs each one of Jensen’s movements. The way he licks his lips between sentences, how he pulls his shoulders back to emphasize a point, how he always checks to see if people are still listening.
We are.
But soon, Jensen catches his stare from the corner of his eye, and it instantly turns his cheeks a jolly shade of red. “What about you, Mish? What annoying traditions are you lucking out of because you’re stuck here?”Misha can only shake his head for a moment as he grins, finally breaking his gaze so that he can look down at the wine glass in his hands. “Nothing annoying … I’m actually pretty bummed that I’m not at home right now. Every year, Vicki and I find some new culture to explore. We always try to teach the kids about all the different types of people and beliefs around the world, so we find out what other countries do during the holidays, and then we try it ourselves. We make their traditional food and decorate the house with all sorts of new and interesting things. This year it’s Ethiopia. Vick’s sending me pictures, but it’s just not the same as being there.”“Do they even celebrate Christmas in Ethiopia?” Jared asks curiously, leaning himself back onto the couch as he stretches his long limbs across the floor.“Yeah, but usually not until January. We are going to do something then too— so I suppose I won’t miss out on too much right now, but still …”“You’ll miss it” Jensen finishes for him, with an obvious sadness in his voice.Misha turns back and looks him over, but Jensen isn’t meeting his eyes anymore. He’s just staring at the floor of his trailer, rubbing the condensation off the side of his glass, lost somewhere in his own head, and it’s breaking Misha’s heart. “Yeah. Exactly.”Jensen snaps out of his trance with the sound of Misha’s response, and before anyone else can say another word, he’s standing up and clearing his throat. “Alright, guys … I’m kickin’ ya out. We havta be up at the asscrack of dawn tomorrow and I need my beauty sleep.”“I’ll say” Jared chuckles around a yawn.“You shouldn’t be talkin’. You look like shit” Jensen grunts, not-so-subtly flipping Jared off as he does so.But Jared just smirks while yanking himself free from of the cushions. “Impossible.”“Alright, alright … you’re both very pretty. Now, can you two move so I can get back to my trailer and get some rest?” Misha mumbles, doing his best to push between his two, hulking costars.“Oh, yeah— sorry. You obviously need beauty sleep more than either of us” Jared says with some mock-dismay.“Yeah, that was very insensitive of us—sorry, man.”Misha rolls his eyes at the both of them before finally making his way through and heading towards the door. “Yeah, well— good night, and fuck you both.”With that, Jensen laughs and gives him a wave, but doesn’t say anything else.Jared is soon at Misha’s back so they both can quickly file out of Jensen’s trailer. The night air is chilly and the two of them pick up the pace in order to shorten the amount of time they have to stay outside, but just before the taller man can wind around the corner to the door of his own trailer, Misha stops him— looking back over his shoulder just before he speaks, making sure that Jensen’s door is shut and they’re out of earshot. “Hey, Jared … would you mind helping me with something?”Jared bounces on his toes and huffs against the cold, but his ears perk up with Misha’s request. “Sure— who’re we fuckin’ with?”Misha has to roll his eyes yet again. “No one, you idiot … I actually want to do something nice. I know that’s foreign to you.”Jared’s laugh fills up the lot, and Misha can’t help but join in.“Shh … shut up!” Misha hushes, nudging the other man’s arm. “Now, are you gonna help me or not?”Jared finally quiets, shivering into a grin, shrugging a little before reaching out and clasping Misha on the shoulder. “Of course, I’m not really that tired anyway.”***This day fucking sucks. He somehow kept missing his mark—craft services ran out of the pasta he likes, Danneel has been texting him adorable photos of the twins and JJ all afternoon which is making him even more homesick, and he still has another scene to shoot before they close for the day. If he can just take a nap, everything will be fine— maybe … probably not.
But a nap will help.
Jensen slumps his way back to his trailer and winces with each of the short steps up to the entrance, because he’s sore— and that’s not helping a damn thing right now. The sound his trailer door makes as it opens is like the song of a thousand angels … actual angels, not Supernatural angels. Although, as soon as the thing unlatches—Supernatural angels seem to be much louder than any consort in his head.“Um, hello?” Jensen yells into the dark space, certain that he just heard Misha’s voice coming from inside, but now— there’s not a sound. “Okay … what’s going on?” he grumbles again, beginning to feel nervous and even more annoyed that his friend is potentially getting in the way of his nap-plans. He takes another, cautionary step inside and finally turns on the lights, jumping back when he sees two, familiar, bright smiling faces glaring back at him.“Surprise!” Jared squawks, throwing a bunch of paper confetti into the air.“Okay— what the hell?” Jensen coughs, grinning nervously a moment later because he has no idea what else to do.“Crafting Hell, to be specific” Misha says, and it takes Jensen a second but soon— he notices all the stuff spread out everywhere.There’s an assortment of glitters laid out on his dining table, and there are bags filled with streamers and colored paper just beside that. There’s a painting station next to the couch and more rhinestones and buttons and googly eyes than he thought could ever possibly exist. Various handmade decorations are already hanging from his ceiling, several of which, that look like penises— no doubt, those belong to Jared; and the entire place smells like hot glue and cinnamon.It smells just like his mom’s house.“What … how?” Jensen whispers, taking another step towards his friends, taking a second to look up at a carefully crafted cotton ball snowman that he assumes, Misha had made.“We’re having a craft day” Jared says with a laugh, finally grabbing Jensen by the shoulders and gathering him into a hug.“I can—uh—I can see that, but …”“We figured that one of us should get to have our tradition this year … and we thought that it should be you, considering not everyone wants to eat baked cod and Bobal’ki” Misha says, stepping close to Jensen’s side so that he can lean against his arm.“I take it, that’s an Ethiopian thing?” Jensen asks, trying to distract himself from the heat rising through his neck.“Yes, and it’s delicious— but crafting is easier” Misha says with a laugh."But we are watching the game and we did buy some grub, so ... we are covered in that area" Jared adds on, as if that was a serious concern to everyone.“I … I don’t …” Jensen is at a loss, but before he can even attempt to think of something to say, Jared is letting him go so that he can pull him to one of the kitchen chairs.“Come on, dude … we got these fuzzy colored puff-things, and they make great testicles.”Jensen watches as Jared sits himself down and gets to work crafting yet another, colorful penis. “You have issues, dude” he snorts, turning back around a moment later to look for Misha so that he can back him up in this; but the man has since busied himself in hanging some popcorn garland across Jensen's kitchen cabinets.“You gonna make something, or what?” Jared says, poking Jensen in the side and forcing him to turn back yet again.“Uh— yeah, yeah. You bet” he mutters, taking one last peek over his shoulder, grinning when those blue eyes meet his, content and warm— the prettiest decoration in this place.***“For someone who thinks this shit is lame, you’re certainly taking it seriously” Jared chuckles between the swigs of his beer.Jensen tries to ignore him as he focuses harder on getting the sequins laid out perfectly on the wings of his crate paper dove. He's already burnt his thumbs more times than he can count because the hot glue gun is cheap and drips all over the place.“Seriously, dude … the game's on and you haven’t even looked up at it once.”“This is for the twins— give me a break” Jensen finally grumbles, figuring that his friend can’t fault him for taking his time on something for his brand new babies.Jared grunts but he doesn’t move from where he’s been standing beside the edge of the table. “And what about the fuzzy reindeer?”“That’s for JJ.”“And the glittery angel?”“It’s for Danneel.”“And the clay heart?”Jensen pauses, holding his breath as his thinks for a second. “That— that was just for practice.”“You spent a long time practicing, then.”“I take my art seriously ... piss off.”Jared just laughs as he shakes his shaggy head. “Uh huh— whatever. I’m gonna go watch the game. Grab a pair of those fuzzy testicles if you decide ya want to join me.”Jensen mumbles under his breath before taking one of the shakers of glitter and chucking it at his friend’s head. Jared is apparently expecting it though and quickly ducks, causing the container to sail across the room, hitting the far wall and exploding into a sparkly mess all over Jensen’s carpet. “God damnit” he whines, knowing that he’ll never get rid of it all now that it’s ground in there. “Now I’m gonna have to burn the entire trailer!”Jared is busting up, falling onto the couch—almost spilling his beer in the process; which makes Jensen want to yell some more but then, he hears Misha join in on the humor from somewhere behind him. He’s been so consumed in his crafting that he didn’t notice exactly when Misha had snuck away, just that he hadn’t heard from him in a while. He quickly turns around and finds the man in the kitchen, leaning against the counter while drinking a cup of tea. Jensen smiles, taking a moment to peek back over to the living room— making sure that Jared is finally distracted. The guy didn't take too long to quiet down ... he never does when there's football on the TV. All Jensen can see now is the top of Jared's head and the game, playing out in front of his face.
Good.
Silently, Jensen pulls himself up from his seat behind the table and picks up something from the edge, finally moving around to the kitchen before taking one last look over his shoulder. Jared didn’t seem to notice him move.“Are you enjoying yourself?” Misha asks, taking another long sip of his tea as he waits for Jensen to answer.Jensen turns back and looks him over, relaxing the longer he rests in the man's gaze. “How did you know?” he asks eventually, inching in and forcing Misha to set down his cup.“Know what?”“How did you know I actually love this stuff?”Misha hums a small laugh, swiftly dropping his chin to his chest. “I’ve known you a long time now, Jensen— and you tend to make fun of the things you really care about.”Jensen feels his cheeks heat up with that, so he looks away, off to the side of the room and on to the fridge, where several of JJ’s drawings are taped to the front. “I’m that transparent, huh?”“To the people who know you, yeah” Misha chuckles.Jensen laughs as well, having to shake his head at himself. “Every Christmas, I— I always make a special ornament for JJ … last year it was a sparkly elephant, and the year before that it was this gold star. I was really looking forward to making something for Zep and Arrow, but … I thought I wasn’t going to get the chance.” He finally looks back at the other man, smiling as soon as he sees Misha's smile. “I really appreciate all this.”“I know you do” Misha whispers, reaching out and rubbing his hand down the side of Jensen’s arm. “You act tough, but you’re the biggest softy I know.”Jensen would normally argue, but he has absolutely no defense. “Yeah well … I’m upping my game” he mutters, quickly lifting up his hand so that the clay heart that he had crafted earlier can dangle from his fingers.Misha narrows his eyes at it and then looks around the heart to focus in on Jensen. “What’s this?”Jensen blushes even harder, feeling like his entire body is on fire. He shuffles from foot to foot, having to look away the moment he thrusts the thing into the other man’s hand. “It’s … it’s for you” he grunts, praying to all the gods that Jared is still absorbed in the game and hasn’t witnessed any of this.“For … oh” Misha sighs, finally taking the ornament completely from Jensen’s grasp. “Thank you” he laughs, but it’s not mocking or cold, and that comforts Jensen enough to let him meet his eyes again.Misha is looking over the heart thoughtfully—fingertips brushing the carefully inlayed gems that Jensen had pressed into the clay. “It’s very pretty.”“Thanks” Jensen chuckles, feeling even more embarrassed now, but proud all at once.“And it’s very sparkly.”“Yeah … I guess, sparkles are kinda my thing.”Misha grins just before leaning in and kissing Jensen on the cheek. “And you are very, very corny too.”Jensen playfully shoves the man away, gathering him up in a hug soon after. “Also kind of my thing.”“It suits you” Misha whispers, hugging him back while nuzzling his head into Jensen’s shoulder.“You suit me.” He can feel Misha’s smile against his neck.“Like I said before …” Misha whirrs, letting his hand fall to the small of Jensen’s back, “you’re very, very corny.”“You’re both lame as fuck, now will ya stop making out and come watch the game?”The men quickly pull apart just as Jared appears beside them, bumping them over with his hip so that he can open up the fridge and grab another beer.“We were just … uh…” Jensen starts, giving up the moment he sees Jared’s eyes fall to the heart ornament that Misha is clutching in his hand.“We weren’t making out, at least— not yet” Misha clarifies, and Jensen grimaces, knowing that that won’t help at all.But to his amazement, Jared just rolls his eyes and turns back around, heading once more to the TV. “Okay, well just tell me if y’all are gonna fuck, because— I can always watch this in my trailer.”“Will do!” Misha calls out, grinning proudly as Jensen turns back to gawk at him.“I can’t believe that’s all he said” Jensen admits, mouth gaping the longer he thinks about it.“Well, give him time— he hasn’t seen the scarf I’m knitting for you, yet.”Jensen quickly forgets all about Jared’s possible torture, instead, moving in close yet again to his blue eyed costar. “You’re knitting me a scarf?”Misha nods, but Jensen doesn’t miss the pink now coating his cheeks. “Yes, but don’t expect perfection.”It only takes another second, but soon, their lips connect, causing Jensen to take a long while before he finally responds. “Why would I expect it, since I already have it?” he whispers, grinning just before kissing Misha again, slow and soft— a new tradition that's quickly becoming one of his favorites.Misha is laughing hard by the time he finally pulls away, gasping and wiping happy tears from his eyes. “See, you’re far too corny for your own good.”"Yeah ... yeah I know." But what Jensen doesn't know is, just a couple weeks later, when Vicki sees the clay heart dangling from Misha’s rearview mirror, she’ll accuse her husband of the exact same thing.