A wonderful commission I got from  ariadog for the holidays! Check out their posting here!

I love how this turned out :3 The winter holidays are Sieg’s favorite time of the year. I think it’s because his mane is thick so it’s the only time he isn’t at risk of overheating!

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“Gryn, when you get a chance can you grab the rest of the decorations? I’m still working on these lights,” Sieg called out to his partner. The lion sat in the middle of the living room tugging and picking at the mass of wires and multi-colored lights. Every year he tries to put them away in a neat coil, and every year he has to spend at least an hour untangling the many, many knots.

“Sure thing, hun. We’re missing what exactly?” Gryn replied, leaning his head out of the storage closet. A barricade of red storage bins lay through their hallway in various states of open.

“We need the stockings and mantlepiece next.”

“Got it. Stockings… Mantlepiece… Stockings… Mantlepiece…” Gryn muttered as he picked his way through boxes. After the first couple of boxes yielded no luck, Gryn started to believe that Sieg had too many Christmas decorations. Of the nearly-dozen boxes, only one of them belonged to Gryn. Another was Yorick’s. The rest were all Sieg’s.

In the fifth box, he found three neatly folded stockings and a long strip of fake pine needles that already had lights woven through it. Grabbing his prize, Gryn took them over to the fireplace and hung the stockings with care. Sieg—as the biggest holiday fan of the three—had his stocking in the middle. Yorick was placed on the left, and Gryn was on the right. With the stockings hung, he lifted the mantlepiece up and rested it across the fireplace.

Gryn took a step back and brushed off his hands. Something about the fake tree needles always prickled his pads, and he couldn’t wait to be done with the decorating. Of course, it would go a lot faster if Yorick and Sieg were helping… But Yorick was proctoring exams all day, and Sieg… Sieg was playing kitten with a big ball of tree lights. Still.

Gryn watched his boyfriend work on the lights as he waited for the next instruction. He was adorable when he focused like this. Sieg’s tongue stuck out the side of his maw just a little. His ears flicked in focus. Even after five minutes, Sieg still hadn’t noticed Gryn’s task was done.

The sabercat’s eyes glinted in the firelight. His lion was right there, vulnerable and distracted in the middle of the floor. Gryn padded softly up behind the lion. Sieg fixated on the string lights heavily enough that Gryn could have walked right up. Gryn’s smile widened and his claws flexed, curious if Sieg’s instincts could detect the incoming danger.

Sieg let out a small “woo” under his breath as one of the more difficult knots came loose. Gryn suppressed a chuckle before he reached down and snatched up the ball of wires and cheap plastic light bulbs.

Sieg balked in shock. “Hey! I was almost done with those,” Sieg protested. His muzzle turned down in a slight pout as he looked up at Gryn.

“C’mon, give ‘em a rest. You’ve been poking at this one for hours.”

“Well… I need to string the tree! I want to have it done before Yorick gets here so it looks perfect.”

Gryn rolled his eyes, bouncing the loose end of the lights on his claw tip. “Sure, yeah. But like… you need a break.”

Sieg grumbled. “No, I just need to finish the lights. Then I can do the rest of the decorating while you start on dinner.” Sieg pulled himself up off the ground and stared across at Gryn. His own hand flexed and a smiled crawled up his face. “Now give me the lights back.”

Gryn twirled the cable. “No.”

Sieg shrugged. “You asked for it.” He charged forward, attempting to tackle Gryn. Unfortunately for the chubby lion, Gryn was quick on his feet and good at adapting. Instead of ending up on the floor with his arms wrapped around Gryn, he ended up on the floor with the lights wrapped around him. Gryn stood above and planted a paw on his back in victory.

Sieg groaned before his body was pulled up by Gryn tugging on the string lights. Once the lion was sitting upright, Gryn planted his butt on the lion’s lap. We wrapped one arm around Sieg and then used his free hand to wrap themselves in lights. He licked Sieg’s noise eliciting a blush and quiet mewl.

Sieg tried his best to stop Gryn from undoing all of his precious detangling. At this rate they were slowly becoming a mass of tangled big cat and holiday lights. He chuckled as pushed futilely against Gryn’s hands. “C’mon, let’s get up and get this sorted out.” Sieg knew he was much weaker than Gryn when it came to raw strength, so he just had to ask and hope for the best.

Gryn shook his head and tightened his pull on the cabled binding them. “Am I going to have to tie you up and leave you here to force you to take a break?” He emphasized his threat by pulling the lion closer. “Don’t think I won’t. You’re going to put down the lights and we’re going to sit here and enjoy the fireplace for just a little bit. There’s plenty of time to fix the lights.”

Sieg attempted to escape for a couple of seconds before deciding it was futile. Besides, a nice nap by the fire did sound nice. “Okay, okay… I’ll take a break. You win, Gryn.”

Gryn chuckled, nipping at Sieg’s ear. “I always do, don’t I?”

Sieg smiled as he nestled into Gryn. “Shut up, you do not.”

Gryn growled into Sieg’s mane and squeeze the lion closer. His claws came out, pricking small holes into Sieg’s sweater. “Oh really?”

Sieg let out a squeak of surprise as the claws poked into his skin. “Fine, you do! I give, I give!” He leaned back. Or at least he tried to. Sieg found himself unable to separate himself from Gryn. Sieg tried to tug on the cables but found they’d somehow knotted past the worst of what he’d been dealing with today. “Uh… Gryn? Do you know when Yorick gets home?”

“I think in a couple of hours. Five or so?”

“Do you know if he’s any good at untangling lights?”

“Not that I know of.”

Sieg chuckled nervously. “Let’s hope he is.”

Gryn smiled at Sieg, looking the lion in the eyes. “Or… We could get him tangled up here too.”