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“What’s all this?”
Vlita’s lover, the indomitable Scout Lace Harding, was quite a sight. The second she heard Lace was back in Skyhold, V dropped everything to run back to her rooms, but even she couldn’t anticipate what she’d find.
Lace Harding, flaming hair unbound, balancing precariously on a chest of drawers to string brightly colored loops of paper from one corner to another. She was also, adorably, pantless. Her girlfriend wore nothing but a long tunic hanging almost to her knees, creamy pale calves on full display.
“V!” Lace chirped, twisting quickly. For a moment, V worried she’d fall, but Lace had always been sure and steady.
“You didn’t have any decorations!” Lace accused, planting her fists on her hips.
“Decorations?” V echoed.
Lace jumped from the chest of drawers and threw her warm, curvy form into V’s waiting arms. She rubbed their noses together in a way that honestly caused V’s entire being to melt into putty in her hands.
“For Satinalia!” Lace scolded, wrapping her arms around V’s neck. “The whole reason I’m back.”
V’s stomach dropped.
Satinalia. She hadn’t forgotten about it, but he also had barely noticed it. Skyhold bustled with preparations for the holiday, but V’s only concern was that Lace would be returning. She never considered that Lace may be excited about the celebrations awaiting her.
“I… I’ve never celebrated it, love.”
Lace laughed, and Maker V loved that laugh. It made her smile on instinct, just before Lace slanted her warm, wind-chapped lips against hers. V’s concerns dropped away, along with every last thought in her head.
V pulled Lace flush to her chest, fingers digging into the thin cotton at her waist as she tipped the angle of their kiss. Lace’s lips opened beneath hers on a delighted gasp, welcoming the slide of V’s tongue while her own finger tangled in V’s loose waves.
V could have stayed like that forever, wrapped up in the embrace of the love of her life, but eventually Lace broke away. Her eyes sparkled and her face flushed pink beneath the freckles splattering her skin.
“We’ll celebrate together,” Lace declared.
V always admired that decisiveness. She reached up to tuck a loose lock of hair behind the delicate curve of Lace’s ear before she confessed. “I don’t know where to begin.”
Lace’s smile softened. “Do you want to? Cause if you don’t, I’ll take it all down. My parents and I always celebrated but you’re more important.”
“No,” V rushed, pressing her forehead to Lace’s. “No. I want to celebrate with you.”
Her heart fluttered, and it wasn’t just due to Lace’s wide, mischievous grin. This was their first Satinalia together. Her first Satinalia with a real lover.
Lace leaned in and pressed a quick kiss against V’s lips before spinning away. “In that case, I’ve got some very important traditions to teach you.”
“Always decorate pantless?” V guessed.
Lace shot a wicked, daring smirk over her shoulder and shook her head, retreating to the bed. Spread out over the sheets was Lace’s traveling pack, clothing and supplies spilling out in all directions.
She didn’t expect Lace to snatch up two thick, woolen socks and spin to present them to V with the same level of pomp she’d use to present the queen of Antiva. “First things first. We hang up stockings.”
“Stockings,” V repeated.
“Usually you hang them by the fire,” Lace explained. “But, since we don’t have a fireplace we’ll hang them on the end of the bed. Maybe if you’re good, you’ll wake up on Satinalia to a little gift inside.”
What did V need gifts for? She had Lace and that was the best gift of all.
“Once, my mother filled a whole sock with arrows. I didn’t even bother to put them in the quiver. Grabbed the whole sock and ran outside in my shift and-”
Lace was talking, but V lost track of the words. Instead, all she could focus on was the little dwarf in all her curvy, freckled glory, standing in the center of their room with a sock in each hand and her long hair loose in a way nobody but V ever saw.
“V?” Lace questioned, frowning.
V blinked. “Sorry. Yes, love, stockings. You can put them wherever you want.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.” More sure than she’d ever been about anything. “I’ve never done anything but little gifts. The Valo-Kas didn’t do more than that, but this year I want the whole experience. With you.”
“You may regret that,” Lace warned. “Especially when you have to help me string popcorn on a thread.”
Somehow, V doubted it.
In fact, the more she thought about it, the more she knew a ring would be the perfect gift for Lace to find in her stocking.