Leo sat in his apartment the next day after work, browsing through the pattern books that KK had given him. There were a few books that were meant specifically for babies (understandable, given KK’s fawning over her children) but one book was marked with pink sticky note saying “This one is perfect!”. It was a book of patterns for “the boyfriend”, and KK had scrawled some hastily drawn hearts (on small sticky notes of course) next to a few items in the table of contents.
Leo smiled at her thoughtfulness. He was definitely going to make her something in return for the help.
He looked at the items that she’d marked down, but honestly some of them looked kind of… dorky. Like something a grandma would make for their adult grandson. Or a wife for a husband when they were already fifty years old. And that was definitely not the kind of sentiment Leo was trying to get across right now. (Maybe…. Someday….)
He sighed and put the book down, and then sorted through the other items in the paper bag that KK had handed him. There was an assortment of colorful yarn, most of them in pastel colors. He tried imagining Klaus wearing any of the colors as a hat, scarf, or mittens, and started cackling at the image. Klaus in pink mittens while he’s trying to take down a blood breed. Or a lavender infinity scarf while discussing something with a client. Or a mint green hat while coming in to work.
All of it seemed silly, but he had no doubt in his mind that if he earnestly made Klaus those presents, he would wear them no matter how bad they looked. Leo wanted to do his best to make something really nice that complimented Klaus.
He dug through all the different yarn skeins until he came upon a big skein of maroon. He instantly knew that it had to be this color. Klaus wore a lot of red so this would match perfectly!
He grabbed the pattern books again. He started flipping through the pages quickly, looking for a nice design. He happened upon a design for a sweater in the same book that KK hadn’t marked. It actually looked like something Klaus might wear, so Leo decided he was going to try it! He envisioned Klaus wearing it, and blushed a little.
+++
A few days later, Leo came in to work that day feeling peppier than usual. He felt motivated with his plan, and he was busy researching how to knit in the downtime between the crises that usually happened on a daily basis. He had brought some needles and a different color of yarn (a beautiful green/blue mix) in order to practice the stitches and make what was called a “swatch”.
It was earlier in the morning, and it seemed Klaus was busy that day on assignment. Steven was engrossed in his office work. Chain was nowhere to be found (as usual). Zed was in the backroom sleeping in his tank. Zapp was probably hungover. And Leo didn’t know where K.K. was, though he wished he did.
He plugged in his earbuds into his phone, with a video called “How to start knitting” pulled up. Timidly, he grabbed the needles and skein out of his backpack, making sure nobody was around to make fun of him.
Leo played the video, following the instructions and the beginning “swatch” as best he could. His hands slipped and dropped the yarn multiple times, but eventually he began to get a feel for the rhythm, zoning out while casting on stitches. He then continued onto the second row, feeling confident at how well it was going, as well as how easy it was. An hour passed, with Leo quietly knitting while listening to music.
At this point, he had completely forgotten how secretive he was supposed to be. Steven sighed at his remaining work and decided that it was just the perfect time for a coffee break. Gilbert was out too, so Steven made a pot and poured himself and Leo a cup. He was nothing if not a considerate boss… some of the time at least.
Steven grabbed both cups and made his way towards the couches in the center of the room. He saw Leo sitting on the couch, hands moving slowly but steadily, building up inches on his project with a smile on his face. “Hey kiddo, what’re you up to?”
Leo noticed Steven approaching out of the corner of his eye, and took out one of his earbuds. “I’m practicing knitting! You know, for the Secret Santa!” He grinned back at his boss.
“Oh? For who?” Steven slyly asked. He placed the cup in front of Leo on the table, and Leo carefully put away his work before picking it up.
“You know I can’t tell you that haha.” He sipped at the coffee. Not as delicious as Gilbert’s, but still a decent strong brew. Perfect for the impromptu all-nighter that they sometimes had to pull for Libra work.
“Well, you can’t say I didn’t try to figure out who got me! I’m scared if it’s K.K. though” Steven said, imagining the worst possible present the sniper could get him. Leo smiled fondly.
“I don’t think K.K. would give you a bad present though, she’s really nice! She even gave me the idea and supplies for my present.”
Steven raised his brow at that. “Leo, that’s because K.K. practically thinks of you as her own child. That woman would kill me where I stand without a second thought if she thought she had a passable reason for it.”
Leo struggled to hold down his snort while he was drinking his coffee, failing spectacularly and spilling a little on his jacket. He reached into his backpack for some stray napkins.
“Anyways, I got Klaus for my secret santa giftee and-“
“Wait, that’s not possible! I got-“ Leo realized his mistake and shut up, but it was too late.
“Bingo!” Steven smirked like the cat that ate the canary. “Hmnn…I see, you got Klaus huh? Must have been K.K. and Gilbert’s doing.” The older man left the conversation at that, having finished his coffee, and returned back to his work.
Leo could see a knowing smile on Steven’s face, but couldn’t figure out what the expression meant. After finishing his break, Leo went back to working on his swatch, only to be interrupted by Zapp barging into the office like he woke up on the wrong side of the bed.
“Hey pube-head! You’re coming with me, we got shit that needs doing.”

Leo stared at the work in his hands with worry. He had initially planned on making a sweater, and had even gone to the trouble of getting Klaus’s measurements from Gilbert secretly after explaining the situation to him.
There were only a couple days left till Christmas though, and he had messed up a few times and needed to undo and redo project at least twice. So far, he only had about 6 inches of the bottom of the sweater done, and hadn’t even started on the sleeves. Leo thought back on the past month; there just wasn’t enough time between Libra and his part-time job, especially when he couldn’t use the downtime at the office because Klaus was there.
It was clear to Leo that it was too late to try and finish it with the time he had left. He thought about scrapping the idea all-together and using what little money he had left to try and buy Klaus a present, but once he deducted Michella’s allowance, and his food and living costs, he only had about twenty dollars.
But he didn’t want to go that route. He really wanted this present to be special, and to maybe try confessing his feelings at the party. Even if he went Christmas shopping now, Leo didn’t have any good ideas about what he could get Klaus that would be special and within budget.
Also, what did you get a man that was so rich he had a private butler?
He groaned, rolling over in bed with the knitting supplies strewn about. The pattern book fell out of the supply bag, right next to Leo’s head.
Leo grabbed the book with one hand, and leafed through again, looking for ideas. Maybe he could turn it into something else?
+++
Leo stayed up late right before the day of the party, putting the finishing touches on his present. He wrapped it carefully with a goofy wrapping paper design that had cartoon reindeer and tiny santas all over it. He then sharpied on “To Klaus” on the little card attached to a red ribbon with the nicest handwriting he could muster, before setting it aside with his suit and passing out for the night.
Christmas day had arrived, and Libra’s hard work securing the city had paid off. There was little chance of a catastrophe big enough to interrupt the party happening, Steven made sure of that. Leo wasn’t needed at the office today, so he spent the rest of the day in a mild panic, going over what he would say to Klaus over and over again.
About an hour before the party started, Leo was mostly dressed and ready, but he was seriously debating just not showing up when he heard a firm knock at the door. Leo used his all-seeing-eyes and saw Zed, standing there patiently in custom formal wear, holding a discreet gold paper bag with tissue. He quickly opened the door.
“Zed? What are you doing here?” Leo asked. Zed gave a small smile before entering Leo’s tiny apartment.
“K.K told me to come get you for some reason. She didn’t say why, but I figured we could share the taxi to the party hall.”
Leo groaned but closed the door behind his friend. Zed walked in, and calmly sat on Leo’s only sitting area in his apartment, his bed. He motioned for Leo to come join him. Leo knew that Zed wasn’t stupid, and that the rest of the office had an idea of what his problem was. He sat next to his friend and buried his head in his hands. Zed patted him on the back.
“Today is going to be an important day for you right?”
Leo nodded.
“I don’t know how it’ll turn out, but as Huma say, ‘Sometimes you just have to man up and go for it’” Zed said with humor.
Leo smiled a little at that. “That’s something you definitely heard from Zapp!”
“Right, and sometimes that idiot has a point.” Zed sighed. Leo looked up at Zed and saw his face soften as he kept speaking. “Between the two of us, I thought I was going to be the one to make the first move. But that idiot knows just how to mess up my plans. He told me while we were walking to lunch one day, like he was talking about the weather! No preamble, no indication of any feelings beforehand, just the most ridiculous confession in Huma existence.”
Leo grinned. “That does sound like Zapp. What did he say?”
“He said, and I quote,” Zed put on his best Zapp impression. “Hey Zed, wanna date? I’ve got a movie and wine at my place, let’s hang out tonight.”
Leo laughed. “That’s literally the worst thing I’ve ever heard. But I guess it’s tame for him”
“Yeah, I know. But it was fun.” Zed readjusted his tie. “And I got my revenge later anyways.” Zed checked the time and then stood up. “Leo-kun, we really must get moving if we don’t want to be late. I know telling you not to worry won’t mean much, but it’ll be fine. The rest of Libra will have your back if you feel like drinking to forget later.”
Leo brightened at Zed’s words. “That’s right, the drinks are free tonight!”
Zed rolled his eyes and gathered both his and Leo’s presents. Leo stood up and put on his jacket, finally fully dressed and ready to tackle the ordeal ahead of him. They locked up his apartment and headed downstairs.

Leo and Zed arrived at the party just a little earlier than everyone else, which worked out to their advantage. A few of the other Klaus family butlers were there, along with other trusted catering staff, helping set up the venue for the influx of guests.
They both dropped off their presents at the table designated for the Secret Santa, before wandering about the hall. It was decorated tastefully with gold and red decorations, and with flourishes of green holly and colorful wreaths on the walls. Gilbert and K.K. honestly did a great job this year, Leo thought. Zed and Leo sat down at one of the open tables, waiting for the others to finally arrive.
Patrick and Neyka arrived just a little while afterwards, chattering about a new technology for the weapons. They had clearly just come from work, dressed to the nines but carrying bags containing their regular clothes. Leo waved them both over, and the two joined them at their table after depositing their own presents.
“Hey Leo! How are the weapons I gave you? Did you get a chance to use them on the way here? There was a mugging a couple blocks down.” said Patrick.
Leo shook his head vigorously. “Not at all!! I took a taxi with Zed today. Plus, I’m glad I didn’t need to use them!”
A huge belly laugh burst out from Patrick, with Neyka grinning behind him. “Oh that K.K., messing with our plans. Oh well, I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
Leo’s eyebrows furrowed at that last sentence, but he chose to just ignore it and let the conversation move on. Neyka started chatting with Zed about book reviews for a book she had just read.
Not long after the two had arrived, a large influx of Libra members started arriving at the party. Chain arrived (but nobody had seen her walk in or drop off her present) and just appeared, sitting at the same table as Leo and Zed. She was wearing a cute red dress with heels, and already had a bottle of wine and a glass in her hands.
K.K. arrived with her husband, talking to other members along the way, and taking compliments for her party planning. The last members to arrive were Klaus and Gilbert, Steven, and Zapp in that order.
Leo heard Klaus’ unmistakable voice talking to another Libra member further away, but he felt his heart start to race. Instead of turning and saying hello, he wormed his way into a conversation with Chain and Zed in order to appear busy.
The drink bar and buffet table opened up, and with it, a large line formed for the booze. Zapp went straight to the drink bar, grabbed his drink, then plopped down in the open seat next to Zed. He was wearing an all-white tuxedo that matched Zed’s own, which was in black. Leo waved at him as he sat down, beaming at their fashion coordination. It was almost certainly Zed’s idea, but it was nice to see that Zapp had played along.
“What the heck fishface, you left for the party without me!” Zapp drank a swig of champagne. Zed rolled his eyes.
“I already told you that I was picking up Leo-kun for his safety. This is what you get for not listening.” Zed snarked back.
Zapp pouted and looked over at Leo. He gave him a once-over. “Yo Leo, nice tux! I’m surprised your broke ass could afford it!” He said, cackling. Chain stepped on Zapp’s foot with as much casual force she could muster. “That hurt you bitch!”
+++
Everyone enjoyed themselves with the food and booze selection, and after a good hour and a half, K.K. appeared next to the dance floor, with a microphone in hand.
“Alright everyone, gather around! We’re going to be handing out everyone’s presents! Let’s all open them at the same time~” She announced in a sing-song voice. Everyone cheered and clapped.
The staff helped hand out presents to everyone, and soon everyone had one in hand, including K.K; She picked up the microphone again.
“You guys better have gotten me something good this year okay! Let’s open them on 3~, 2~, 1~, GO!”
As is Libra yearly tradition, every member ripped open their presents with aggressive flair. Notably, Chain reached into her fairly large gift-wrapped present and pulled out the present in question, which was wrapped in several more layers of gift wrap. She grinned and performed the trick several more times, leaving a matryoshka procession of empty wrapped packages.
Leo was a little surprised at first, but then began tearing into his. Inside, he found an x-station elite controller, a voucher for the console, and a copy of Hard Dive 4 to replace the one he had lost. Leo’s jaw dropped, and he started glancing around, wondering who would drop so much money on a present, and who would even know this was the game he had wanted to play most?
He noticed everyone also admiring and/or showing their disgust at the presents they had received. In the meanwhile, K.K. announced “Go ahead and look for your secret santas!” over the commotion. Zed was holding a DVD copy of “The Little Mermaid”, and immediately went to smack Zapp.
“Hey hey hey it wasn’t me!” Zapp exclaimed.
“I really don’t believe you” Zed said, sighing but inspecting the summary on the back.
Leo looked at all the Libra members, trying to guess who would give him such an extravagant gift. It probably wasn’t Steven or K.K., since they didn’t know about his love for the game series. It couldn’t be Zapp, because it was actually a thoughtful gift. He didn’t think Zed or Chain would spend so much on a Christmas present. He thought it could be Klaus or Gilbert, so he chanced a look at Klaus’ reaction to Leo’s gift.
Klaus was standing next to the gift table, with his gift in hand. It was clear that it was hand-knit, with a few looser areas that Leo had really tried to pull together. Leo had made Klaus an infinity scarf out of the failed sweater with small gauge maroon yarn, and did his best to keep the ribbed pattern even though it was unusually horizontal rather than vertical.
Klaus had on a soft smile as he admired the handiwork, and Leo’s face ignited into red. He didn’t think he could deal with that right now, so he walked over to Gilbert instead.
“Mr. Gilbert, were you my secret santa?”
Gilbert gave a small knowing smile for before shaking his head. “It’s not me, of course you know that Mr. Leonardo?”
Their conversation was interrupted by Chain who was enthusiastically waving a jewelry box. “Thank you for the earrings Gilbert!”
“You’re quite welcome Ms. Chain”.
Chain pumped her arm in a victory pose. “I figured it out first!”
Leo giggled at Chain’s buzzed behavior, and turned around to search for Klaus.
He found him chatting with Steven, and approached their group.
“Klaus, you’re definitely not the one who got me this right?” Steven was frowning, holding a tie with a very cute dark green Christmas design with tiny reindeer.
“No, it wasn’t me” Klaus said, with beginnings of a laugh that he was clearly trying to tamp down. Steven grumbled as Leo joined them.
“Young man, it wasn’t you either right?”
“Nope.” Leo grinned. Whoever it was had excellent taste though, he was looking forward to Steven wearing that particular tie.
Steven gave the both of them a very pointed look, before shoving them towards a less populated alcove in the hall. He then walked off, cursing that it was probably K.K.
+++
Klaus had a sheepish look on his face, clutching his scarf. Leo tried really hard not to run away.
“Leonardo, I don’t think we’ve had much of a chance to talk recently, have we?”
Leo nodded.
“You’re my secret santa right?”
Leo nodded even harder, about as red as a tomato.
“Um… and you’re the one who got me the game right? How did you know?”
“I saw it in the official report about your lost items in your previous apartment. I hope that wasn’t too forward of me to presume you didn’t replace those yet…” said Klaus.
Leo shook his head.
A short silence fell over them until Leo slapped the both of his cheeks with his hand.
“Klaus, I’m so sorry about my present! I really meant to knit you a sweater but it took a lot longer than I thought! Your present is super amazing, I love it!!” Leo said really quickly. “I promise I’ll make it up to you!”
Klaus shook his head. “I don’t know what you’re apologizing for, it’s quite wonderful! I’m really happy to receive this.” He put it on, on top of his probably expensive suit. Leonardo was worried about the size, but it draped over Klaus’ neck perfectly, keeping him warm.
Klaus had on a goofy smile, like he was incapable of turning it off right now. Leonardo couldn’t help but feel proud of his creation, and a comfortable warm feeling spread through his chest. All of the sudden, he didn’t know what he was so scared about. This was the man he loved. There was nothing to be worried about.
Even if Klaus didn’t like him back.
“Mr. Klaus, I actually have something I’ve been meaning to ask you. Could you lean down a bit so I could tell you quietly?”
Klaus, instead of leaning over, got down on one knee. Leo blushed even harder before going to whisper in his ear.
“I’ve been meaning to tell you this for a while, but… I really admire you. I can’t say when it started exactly… but I think have feelings for you. More than as a boss or a friend. Would you consider going out with me?”
Leo backed up, putting distance between them again. “I’ll give you time to think about, you don’t have to answer me right away!” He said in his normal voice. He turned around to try and escape again, but he only made it 5 feet before Klaus stood up and grabbed his arm.
“Leonardo, wait!”
There’s no way Leo would be able to muscle his way out of Klaus’ grip, but he knew that if he really tried, Klaus would let go. He felt his heart drop, but he turned around anyways. He put on a brave smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes.
Leo was used to seeing kindness in Klaus’ eyes, but he didn’t think he had ever seen this other expression in addition to it. He could almost see Klaus’ pupils dilate, filled with desire.
“I don’t think I’ll need any time to think about my answer. I feel the same way too. I have, for a long time.”
Leo is almost certain his brain just shut off; he couldn’t believe what Klaus just said. But his body acted on its own, reaching for the other man’s lapels and dragging him down for a kiss. Klaus relaxed and responded in kind.
In the background, lots of people started noticing the two lovebirds and cheered. Patrick whistled.
K.K. walked up to Steven with a smug look on her face. “I believe I’ve won; I’ll be taking that extra two weeks of paid vacation starting tomorrow.”
Steven sighed.
On the other side of the room, Zapp started cursing. “Dammit Leo!! You couldn’t have waited one week! My 100%-foolproof plan would have worked you idiot!”
Klaus and Leo finished their kiss only to notice the commotion and attention of everyone around them. The bigger man had the decency to look a little embarrassed, but Leo was downright confused.
“You guys were betting on us??!” Leo shouted.
Zed, K.K., Chain, Steven, and Patrick all broke eye contact suspiciously.
Zapp approached the two and messed up Leo’s hair, putting him in a headlock. “Yeah, because you two are super annoying when you’re beating around the bush!!”
Chain intervened with a dropkick against Zapp, standing on top of his head. Leo almost fell back along with Zapp due to the force of the kick, but Klaus quickly scooped him up before his tuxedo got ruined.
“Yeah, as if you and Zed weren’t 10x as annoying due to your stupid tsundere personality!”
Leo burst into laughter, certain that everything was going to be just fine.