nikossfwfics - Tumblr blog

nikossfwfics · 5 months

Text

Tis the MFing Season

Total word count: 3490

Background

46 words

Set in 1994. Duff is 30 and Izzy is 32. I changed Duff’s family dynamic to where Duff has an older brother: Bruce, 43, and two older sisters: Tina,35, and Christine,40. his mom’s name is Alice and there is no father figure in the picture

Part 1 - Holidate

789 words

Duff couldn't believe he had stooped this low, but here he was sitting next to Izzy on the beat-up couch in their beat-up apartment. “Please Iz,” Duff pleaded, “I already told my mom I was bringing someone to Christmas this year, I can't go back on that now.” Izzy rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, “get Axl to do it,” Izzy shooed away the blonde.

Duff cringed at the thought, “You don't understand, man-” Izzy cut him off mid-sentence, “I do understand; you are desperate and begging me to accompany you to Seattle for your family’s Christmas party. Well, guess what? It's not happening”

Duff knew it was stooping low but if this were what it had come to he would just have to pull out the puppy dog eyes. “Don't look at me like that,” Izzy said plainly, “you look stupid.” despite his friend's words he continued to press, “Please. Please! PLEASE!”

Izzy stood up from the couch and sighed. “Fine,” he said, giving up, “I'll go with you, but I'm not going to enjoy it!” he accused. Duff jumped up in excitement, “Trust me, there's never a dull moment with my family.” he joked before walking away to pack his bags.

Izzy felt a single moth flutter in his stomach. He cursed himself for letting his stupid feelings get in the way of his morals. He was 32 years old, damnit. He shouldn't let his childish crush get in the way of his rational decision-making. Izzy had no idea how this was going to go.

I mean, fake dating? Really? What was he, a middle schooler? He retorted in his mind. He must be half out of his mind to have agreed to this. nonetheless, he did… and he had to go pack his bags as well. This will go swell!

The plane ride to Seattle was less than terrible. First, he forgot his walkmen, secondly, he had to sit behind a guy who obviously did not care about his legroom, finally, Duff slept on his shoulder the entire time. ‘Why would that be such a problem,’ you ask. Well for one, Izzy sat completely still for a 3-hour flight, going absolutely insane. That wasn't even the least of it when they got to Seattle, it was 40 degrees outside.

As they stepped off the plane into the piercing cold air, Duff sighed happily and Izzy groaned. “How are you so happy?” Izzy grumbled. “It's colder than a polar bear's toenail.”

“Im home,” Duff replied with a warm grin that brought a tinge of heat to Izzy’s cheeks.

When they stepped off the airport grounds, they saw a group of people with signs saying their names. Duff chuckled at the signs and ran up to hug the older lady of the group, who Izzy assumed was Duff’s mother.

After a couple of exchanges of “Welcome home,” and “I'm glad to be here,” they caught a glimpse of Izzy standing nervously a few feet away. They all shared a look of equally perplexed as they were excited. Duff got wind of their confusion and decided to properly introduce Izzy to his family.

“Guys, this is Izzy,” he said to his family members, “Izzy, this is Bruce, Tina, Christine, and my mother Alice.”

Izzy nodded in acknowledgment and extended his hand out to Alice, “It is very nice to meet you, Mrs. McKagan,” he smiled kindly and genuinely, “You’ve raised up a very lovely person.”

Alice accepted the compliment and shook Izzy's hand, “it's wonderful to meet you as well, Mr Stradlin”

“Please, ma'am, call me Izzy” Izzy requested. now it was Duff's turn to swoon over his best friend. He shifted his weight from side to side wondering if anyone noticed the slight blush that crept upon his face.

Bruce looked at Izzy, then to Duff, then back at Izzy, completely addled “Hold up,” he interjected, “Izzy is a dude?”

Both Duff and Izzy were taken aback by this question, “Of course, Izzy’s a dude. Why wouldn't he be?” There was an uncomfortable pause and the air was thick for a second. Then it dawned on him. Duff chuckled and scratched the back of his neck, “I guess I didn't specify if Izzy was a girl or a boy. Sorry,”

“Duff I didn't know you were gay,” Tina spoke up. Duff laid his head in the palm of his hand. “Tina,” he sighed, “I came out when I was 16.”

this wasn't news to Izzy because, duh, Duff was gay. Why else would he ask Izzy of all people to be his “date”? But at the same time, why not slash? They're pretty buddy-buddy. Could it be, maybe, Duff actually likes Izzy? No, that would be absurd.

Part 2 - Sleepy Drive Home

533 words

The steady beat of last Christmas by wham! Flooded the ears of the passengers. The car ride to Duff's childhood home wasn't the worst, but Izzy was exhausted. So exhausted, in fact, he was falling asleep while sitting up.

“Iz,” Duff whispered, calling the attention of the crow-haired male; there was no reply, “Izzy! Wake up, we’re here,”

Izzy hummed and popped back to life “What?” His voice was groggy and filled with sleep. Duff couldn't help but chuckle at Izzy's sleepy nature; Needless to say, it was adorable. He was so sound and peaceful that Duff dreaded waking him up.

“Let’s get you to bed, sweetheart,” Duff spoke softly as he propped Izzy up, slinging one of his arms around his shoulder. “God, you're heavy!” he exclaimed, knowing Izzy wasn’t in the mind to snap back.

Once in the house, Duff struggled to help Izzy take his coat off and get him into bed. Duff turned around to his family who were all watching the scene unravel, “im gonna get this one to bed he’s had a long day.” they all mumbled quick okays as the two boys retreated to the guest room.

At this point Duff was also extremely tired; too tired to give a hoot about how there was only one bed for them to stay in for the next week. Duff threw Izzy down on the bed, soon following suit.

The room was silent, the only noise being Izzy’s soft snores. But Duff couldn't seem to fall asleep there was so much on his mind. “Izzy?” Duff turned to the side to face him, “Izzy, are you awake?”

Izzy also turned to his side so that they were face to face, “I am now,” he grumbled. Duff let out a sigh of relief, he wasn't alone.

“It's Christmas Eve tomorrow…” the blonde stated. Izzy nodded in acknowledgment, “I know…”

“You don't seem excited. what's wrong?” Duff pressed.

“I dunno…” Izzy breathed, “I guess I just never really liked Christmas time.”

duff looked taken aback, how could someone not like Christmas?! He said in his mind. He placed a reassuring hand on top of Izzy's.

“You see, I didn't have the best childhood,” he went on to explain, “when I was born I was a crack baby, but her own son coming out an addict didn't stop my mom from quitting. Not at all. When I was 13 she overdosed, leaving my dad to take care of me and my two younger brothers, Kevin and Joe. My dad worked three jobs just to provide for me and my brothers. I remember scrounging up as much money as I could to buy them at least one gift on Christmas because as far as toys went that's all they had. So when I think of Christmas I think of absent parents and loneliness.” When he spoke Izzy's voice was barely above a whisper, full of sadness and regrets.

“Iz…” Duff felt apologetic for bringing up the subject, “Iz, that's terrible, I'm so sorry.”

“Don't be,” Izzy gave Duff's hand a squeeze, “it's not your fault. Now go to sleep.” And so they slept, hand in hand, Feelings bubbling about in their hearts.

Part 3 - Christmas Eve morning

548 words

The next morning Duff woke up like, well, a kid on Christmas Eve. He was quick to notice his and Izzy’s sleeping arrangements; with Izzy spooning Duff in his sleep- You'd think with how tall Duff is he'd be the big spoon, but I guess not- A familiar heat spread to Duff’s ears as he rolled over to be face to face with the crow haired male.

He shook Izzy awake, “Izzy!” he exclaimed softly, “Izzy, you've got to wake up. It's Christmas Eve!”

Izzy grabbed onto Duff's waist, unconsciously searching for warmth, “No, it’s not.” He grumbled. Duff couldn't help but chuckle, lovingly. Abruptly came Duff’s entire kinship, along with his mother holding the camcorder.

Great, duff thought, this was somehow getting back to Axl, so that he could torment them for the rest of their lives.

“Awe!” his mother cooed, as Duff stood up trying to find clothes. He'd have to talk to her about personal space later. A mass of messy black hair shot up off the pristine pillows, “what the hell is going on?” he queried. “Merry Christmas Eve, sleepy heads!” Christine honed in.

Now that Duff was fully dressed he strung the blind open, letting the sun stream through. Izzy groaned, sitting up in bed and glaring up at Duff. The family members started getting bored of watching the two “lovers” scramble to get themselves together and started leaving one by one.

“What time is it?” Izzy asked, rubbing the sleep out of his eye. “It's early enough for my whole family to catch us cuddling,” Duff teased, a small smirk playing on his lips.

“We were not cuddling,” said Izzy,

“You were literally spooning me!” Duff snapped back playfully.

“Shut it, Mckagan!” Izzy stepped closer, all in good nature.

“Make me, Stradlin.” Duff also took a step closer, their warm breath mingling. It was an unspoken challenge to see who would back away first. It was Izzy. He couldn't take the tension anymore, not when real feelings were behind it.

“Ha!” Duff said, victoriously, “I gotchu!”

Izzy just smiled, rolled his eyes, and walked out into the living room, where the family sat in a circle on the couch. “What did we miss?” Duff raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, boys!” Alice spoke gleefully, “Perfect timing, I've got a job for you two.”

Duff looked at her intrigued, while Izzy… not so much. “Of course! what is it, ma?”

“You two boys will be in charge of my last-minute Christmas shopping!” she said as if it were the greatest gift to be given this holiday season.

“I love Christmas shopping!” Duff squealed with delight

“I hate Christmas shopping,” Izzy muttered under his breath so that only Duff could hear.

“It's settled then,” Alice clapped her hands together, handing Duff the list, “you boys go out to town and get all these things from the market,”

“Will do!” Duff gave a quick sweet smile to Izzy as they slipped on their heavy coats. He loved causing izzy agony, but this time that wasn't the case. This time he had a mission; a mission to make Izzy love Christmas- along with other things along the way. Hearing about why Izzy didn't like Christmas shattered Duff's heart to pieces and he was determined to change that fact.

Part 4 - Holiday Market

234 words

By the time they got to the market, it was already dark. if you ask Duff, it was the perfect time because they got to see the lights. If you asked Izzy he would probably say that it was loud and he wanted to go home. He could barely hear the soft piano playing over the hundreds of people talking, shouting, and yelling.

Duff took notice of Izzy's nervous behavior and looked at him concerned, “Are you okay?” He spoke quietly and softly. Izzy shook his head ‘no’ and sighed.

The blonde looked at Izzy with uncertainty, showing brief hesitation, before grabbing ahold of his hand. Izzy snapped his head up, “is this better?” Duff asked, looking concerned. Izzy nodded and smiled coyly. And just like that everything was fine, they could enjoy the holiday market together.

About halfway through the list, Duff stopped in his tracks, “you good?” Izzy looked at him puzzled

“Yeah…” Duff said shyly, “Listen, how about we split up for a bit, yeah?”

Izzy gave him a knowing look, “no,” he said bluntly, “you're not getting me a gift, duff.”

“Whaaaaat?” Duff said, his tone giving away his lies, “I’m not- I just- uh- I-”

Izzy snorted, “I guess I should get your gift too…”

Duff's whole demeanor changed, “great! So we’ll meet back here in an hour?”

“Yeah,” Izzy sighed and they went their separate ways.

Part 5 - Gift Exchange

[im screaming at this part, it's so cute ^_^]

373 words

They made it back to Duff’s mom’s house after going way over budget- it was all Duff’s fault, I swear. People chattered happily and announced it was time for a Christmas Eve tradition where you open 1 gift from someone else. Duff was ecstatic; he liked receiving gifts but he loved giving them. They all settled down in the living room, in a circle. went down the line opening gifts and Duff made sure he and Izzy were last.

It finally came to their turn and Duff smiled warmly handing Izzy a very neatly wrapped box, izzy smiled even wider and accepted the gift only to hand one back to Duff. It was extremely messy, so messy that im pretty sure it had more tape than wrapping paper. Duff’s eyes went wide and socked Izzy's shoulder.

“Ow!” Izzy interjected.

“I told you not to get me anything!”

“Well I did,” Izzy said, turning up his nose, “so open it. “

“Not until you open yours!”

“No, you first!”

they went back and forth until Bruce rolled his eyes “God, you are children! Open them at the same time.” He suggested. The two boys looked at each other and just like that an agreement was made. Once they tore into the gifts they both paused in shock. They had just essentially bought each other the same thing.

“How much did you pay for this?!” Izzy inquired, looking down at the shiny ring.

“How much did you pay for this?” Duff replied, a small smirk playing on his lips.

Cristine peered over to the boxes and shouted out, “OH. MY. GOD. DUFF IS PROPOSING!” The entire room gasped in unison and Izzy's face suddenly felt hot. He looked at Duff with an ‘Are you serious right now?!’ look.

“No, no, no, no!” Duff tried to explain, but his mom had already pulled out the Polaroid camera, “it is not a proposal! See, he doesn't even have it on his right finger!” Duff lifted Izzy’s hand to show his family. He did have it on the wedding ring finger. Whoops!

“Why would you put it on that finger, iz?”

“I dunno which finger it's supposed to go on, I've never been proposed to before!”

^ These are the rings ^

Part 6 - Missile Toad

“This eggnog is great,” Duff slurred his words, “Iz, you should try it.” he held up the glass to Izzy’s lips.

“Thanks, but no thanks,” Izzy said, denying the glass “I’d like to keep my sobriety around your family.”

“Awe,” Tina cooed, “The lovebirds are under the missile toad!”

“Pardon?” Izzy gave her a puzzled look as if she were speaking another language, “the what now?”

Duff gasped dramatically and looked above their heads, “The missile toad!”

“Don't you mean the mistletoe?” Izzy questioned, starting to think they all drank the spiked eggnog.

“No, silly,” Christine piped up, “it's our family tradition, when two people stand under the missile toad they’re gonna fall in love… look like that's already happened,” she chuckled, gesturing to Duff who was bent over clinging to Izzy's arm.

“Yeah…” Izzy looked at Duff wistfully, placing a soft kiss on his forehead, “he sure is something, isn't he?”

Duff looked surprised by Izzy action, “you missed,” Duff whispered. Izzy looked at the blonde, slightly confused but when he puffed out his lips and stared down at Izzy’s, he got the idea.

Izzy scanned the room to see if anyone was watching, and when he saw they weren't he leaned over placing a sweet kiss on Duff's forehead. After a couple of seconds, Izzy pulled back, “Duff, you're not in the right mind.”

Duff gave him a small pout “Yes I am!” he attested.

“No, love,” Izzy sighed, “let's get you to bed it's late.”

“But-” Duff tried to object, but Izzy interrupted him with an offer he couldn't turn down, “I'll let you watch Die Hard,” said Izzy.

Duff’s smile widened, “okay!”

As they retreated into the guest room alice, Duff’s mom, followed after them, “Hey, izzy?”

Izzy turned around at the sound of his name “Yes ma’am?”

The older lady sighed and smiled, “please be careful with his heart,” she requested with sorrow painting her voice, “it's just… he’s had it rough.”

Izzy smiled completely understanding what she was talking about, “Of course, I could never do anything to hurt him,” he said knowing every word was the truth, “ever.”

And with that note izzy and Duff went to their room to watch the world's most action-packed Christmas movie.

Part 7- Big Brother

The moment Duff’s head hit the pillow he was out, but for some odd reason, izzy couldn't seem to settle the thoughts in his head. He walked out of the guest room and into the kitchen where he found druce, sipping on a hot cup of tea.

“You couldn't sleep either?” izzy asked trying to create small talk.

“Yeah…” Bruce’s mouth opened and his brow furrowed slightly as if he were going to say something important, “listen,” Izzy looked up, preparing himself for the ‘big brother’ talk.

Bruce shifted his weight from side to side “You know I know you and Micheal… I mean duff arent really together, right?”

“No…” izzy said wide-eyed, “I thought we were doing pretty good at keeping up the act”

“No, yeah, You are. I can just see past it all,” izzy nodded, “but i can tell how much you care about him and how much he cares about you.”

Izzy wasn't quite following, “What are you trying to get at?”

“I just want to say thank you.” izzy looked at him confused

thank you? His thoughts buzzed, why is he thanking me?

“You see,” Bruce continued, “Mikey is my younger brother; my only brother. And, well, he hasn't had the easiest life. When he is with you I can see all the love and excitement in his eyes that I haven't seen in a long time.” Brue patted Izzy's shoulder, “Keep it up… and uh… he’ll keep you around.”

Izzy nodded in agreement “You want some coffee?” Bruce offered.

“Yeah, thanks,” Izzy said.

Part 8 - Santa Baby (I ran out of names)

Duff woke up on Christmas morning with his head pounding, but the worst thing was that he was alone and cold. duff stumbled into the living room where he saw izzy sitting by the fireplace wearing the single most ugly Santa sweater he had ever seen. Izzy didn't seem to mind though. The usual scowl on his face was replaced by a genuine smile and, boy, was it contagious. Izzy noticed Duff standing by the doorway and made his way over to the blonde.

“G’morning, sleepyhead!” izzy said softly, placing a small kiss on Duff’s cheek.

“Morning.” Duff groaned.

“You ready for Christmas, dear?” izzy asked.

Duff grumbled a tiny “my head hurts…” and izzy was already handing him a pain pill and a glass of water.

“You're an angel,” Duff chuckled as he glanced down at Izzy’s lips. Izzy raised a brow, smirked, and then held a missile toad above Duff’s head. A small heat crept on Duff's face as izzy leaned in. Duff leaned in slightly, his eyes flickering from Izzy's lips to his eyes.

“Is this okay?” izzy asked in a whisper.

They were so close to each other that their breaths mingled. duff nodded as izzy closed the gap between them, placing a comforting hand on Duff’s cheek. Duff felt his eyes flutter shut as he melted into the surprisingly passionate kiss. izzy smiled against Duff’s lips as the room roared with cheers.

#guns n roses #band fic #duff gnr #duff mckagan #fanfic #fluff #gay #duzzy #izzy gnr #izzy stradlin

9 notes · View notes