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.”