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Christmas across the Glenwood Continent was a joyous day that meant people spent time with their loved ones. While Rolance emphasized the commercial side of the holidays, Hyland was more traditional. And it just so happened that Sorey and his friends had decided to stop here in Marlind. The verdant village was decorated with lights of all colors, and the usual oak trees around the buildings were decorate with wondrous glass ornaments that were red and gold. Elysia didn’t have trees to decorate or the freedom to put up lights. Watching the village glow with cheer and warmth made Sorey want to do something special to celebrate the occasion.
The Shepherd asked that everyone took some time to relax and enjoy their time in Marlind. They questioned why he wanted them to go off on their own, and he simply grinned. It was a secret, much to especially Edna’s dismay. She didn’t mind surprises, but she did like to know more than anyone else. Lailah sighed. Sorey wasn’t going to tell them anything.
While Rose and Dezel made their way to the great tree and Lailah and Edna went to the museum to ogle the statue that they had seen on their first trip to the museum in the village, Sorey held Mikleo back in the cozy inn.
“S-Sorey, what are you doing?” Mikleo asked him.
“I need your help,” Sorey replied. “Come with me.”
He dragged him up to their rooms. Sorey shut the door behind Mikleo and locked it, which caused the water seraph some sort of curious unease. Was it just a ploy to get alone time? Before Mikleo could ask, Sorey beckoned him on the other side of the bed. Dropping down behind it, there was some rustling and a light thud.
“Really, what are you doing?” Mikleo scoffed now.
“I got everyone a little present for Christmas, and since we’re in Marlind—where there are the most trees—I thought it would be fun to hang them up like ornaments for them to get!”
Mikleo looked at him dubiously. Who was to say that the villagers wouldn’t steal the presents? Why make it so difficult to get them in the first place? He appreciated the effort, but to anyone else, it was completely pointless, especially since Edna hated to exert more energy than she needed to.
“I thought it would be fun…considering that this journey has some not so fun events…and with the war going on and all, well, I thought it was a nice distraction.”
“Sorey, you sweet soul,” Mikleo couldn’t help but compliment.
“Check it out—I got stuff that I think would make them all really happy.” Sorey pulled the box holding all of the gifts onto the bed. “Chocolate coins for Rose, a bunch of that really pretty paper for Lailah…Edna’s going to get some palmiers from the bakery here. I know it’s not what Eizen used to make for her, but maybe it’ll make her happy. Dezel was a little hard, but I settled on this dog plush. Do you think he’d like it?”
The eagerness that Sorey displayed just thinking about giving gifts to his friends made a smile stretch on Mikleo’s face. Part of him wanted to ask if he had gotten anything for him, but knowing Sorey, he would avoid the question. After all, why would he have something for Mikleo if he asked for his help? Besides that, Mikleo realized, their relationship wasn’t one beholden by gifts as much as it was by the sheer enjoyment of being in each other’s comforting company.
After packing the gifts back into the box, Sorey turned to Mikleo with shining expectant eyes. “Hey, Mikleo,” he started. A tinge of pink came to his cheeks. “Could you do me a favor?”
“Depending on what it is—I don’t like that look.”
Sorey pulled out yet another item from under the bed. It was a sack filled with a reindeer costume. There was a luscious red coat which was normal enough, but then there was a large caroling bell with a green ribbon meant to be a necktie and a pair of reindeer antlers fastened to a hairband. Upon seeing these things, Mikleo’s heart stopped.
“You want me to wear that, don’t you…” he muttered.
“Well, if I’m going to be Santa Sorey, I need a reindeer, don’t I?” Sorey innocently laughed.
“I don’t think you really understand how demeaning this is.”
“Mikleo,” Sorey whined. “If you put it on, it brings together the feel!”
It was a matter of humiliation, but Mikleo couldn’t say no to the one he loved so deeply. Reluctantly, he took the costume from Sorey. Another unfortunate thing—the costume was thick and made for the cold, and trying to wear the coat over his shirt wouldn’t work in the slightest. So, once again unable to decline the request and steeling himself for the inevitable embarrassment, Mikleo change his shirt and capes for the red coat.
“Ah, you look so cu—uh, you look good!” Sorey said adoringly.
“I feel like I can’t show my face to anyone anymore…”
“Nonsense! Here, let me put the bow on and the antlers.”
Sorey finished putting on the costume for Mikleo, and now with the complete ensemble, he had to stop and stare. Then he caught himself. “Okay, let’s deliver Lailah’s present first. She and Edna will be together.”
“Do you have a plan for delivering it? Making sure they don’t see you?”
Truthfully, there was no real plan other than to string up the presents for them to see. But Mikleo would come in handy here as well. No one but Sorey’s entourage could see the seraphim, so he was the perfect guard reindeer for the presents. If someone tried to steal them, he could just scare them away by brushing past them or even conjuring up snow to throw at them. The people of Marlind would certainly believe the ghosts haunting the museum escaped, but it was necessary to make sure the presents got delivered.
By nightfall, Sorey had climbed up one of the trees near where Lailah and Edna talked about this and that after leaving the museum. Mikleo kept watch, and as a precaution, cast Spectral Cloak just in case to hide him. Thankfully, it made the presents invisible as well, but the presents would get wet if Sorey moved from them with the cloak still up. The only thing that messed up that plan was the dip in temperature outside which froze the Spectral Cloak like bubbles in cold air. Because of that, Mikleo was usually forced to cast the cloak then tear it down within a few second, creating almost a strobe projection of his Santa Sorey.
Once the presents were tied to the branches just low enough for the girls to get them, Sorey gave Mikleo the signal to call them over. The signal was little more than just yelling at him to get their attention, and Mikleo didn’t know what else to do other than to throw a stone at Edna and then run with Sorey as fast as he could. The excitement of running before getting caught for their antics made their hearts race, and as they rounded the corner, Sorey couldn’t help but let out a laugh.
“This is too much fun!” he giggled after trying to calm down and catch his breath. He peeked around to see Lailah and Edna get their presents from the tree. “I hope they like them.”
“I’m sure they will,” Mikleo replied, amused with Sorey’s childlike abandon. “Shall we see Rose and Dezel next?”
“Yeah, but…” Sorey paused. “Dezel’s going to know it’s us.”
Mikleo put a finger to his temple to think. He touched the reindeer antlers. “I think I know how to distract him.”
“W-What? No, then your costume—and you wouldn’t look as cu—ah, cool!” Sorey whined.
“Are you saying I’m only cool with my costume on?”
“A-Ah, no, just…oh, never mind! Promise me you’ll get the antlers back.”
Mikleo let out a sigh while shaking his head. He didn’t understand why Sorey was hellbent on this costume. But the plan was a go after the water reindeer seraph promised him. He sought out the prickly couple just outside of the museum perimeter. They had been recommended to go to the museum by Lailah. Sorey wanted to plant the gifts near the gate behind them, but because Dezel could read the wind and didn’t like to be surprised, it was imperative to drag them just far enough and distract them that they wouldn’t sense Sorey. Mikleo threw his antlers and coat into bushes before going round the shops of the village and over the bridge to them. Sorey waited behind another tree.
When Mikleo approached Dezel and Rose with a request for their help to look for his costume—which they almost questioned until he handwaved it as one of Edna’s nasty little bets. Rose agreed to help just as Dezel was starting to pick up on Sorey’s trail. Mikleo, loudly, called them to the other end of the village.
“Nice work, Mikleo,” Sorey whispered.
He listened to their crunching footsteps grow quiet before stumbling out of the brush to the bridge. Quickly, he had to work. He sprinted over to the gate and leaned the presents there. When he stood up to make sure they were noticeable enough from a few paces, he glanced up at the old building. He gazed at it wistfully.
“I hope we can travel to all kinds of new places together,” he quietly prayed. He turned to his remaining items. “Just one more present.”
Mikleo led Dezel and Rose back to where they were after they found his now dirtied and pulled costume, but he had no idea where Sorey had gone. He wandered around the village until he came to their large Christmas tree decorated with all sorts of ornaments imported from Lastonbell.
The lights and music made by people in the village felt like a different world, and he wished that he knew where Sorey had gone. He sighed.
“Sorey is trying too hard to make everyone happy, but that’s just his nature,” he said. “If I could take even more of his burden, then he would be…” Mikleo felt someone tap his shoulder. He turned to see who it was, but he didn’t see anyone. “Maybe I’m just tired from our fooling around today…”
“I hope not,” Sorey said.
Mikleo turned back around to find Sorey standing in front of the Christmas tree. The lights from the tree created a halo around him, breathtaking and warm. In his hands was a relatively small green-plaid box. The red bow was decorated with golden bells, and it by far looked more delicately prepared than the other gifts.
“S-Sorey…?” Mikleo stammered.
“I held onto your gift last,” Sorey admitted. “I’m actually surprised you never saw it.”
“You didn’t have to get me anything!”
“I had to. Because…”
Sorey held it out to him. He flashed him a smile that had the brightness and cheer to stop Mikleo’s heart and delightfully paralyzed him. Someone so innocent and precious—that’s who that smile belonged to. He had to hold himself back.
“Mikleo, you’re my most precious person,” Sorey said. His eyes grew softer. Holding out the present to him, he said, “The moon that illuminates my night, the bow that offers me your might; Shining brighter than any star, I’m always thinking of where you are; So, accept my gift with all your grace, for next to you is my eternal place. Merry Christmas, Mikleo.”
Mikleo slowly took the box, but his eyes never left Sorey’s smile. Then, carefully, he pulled the ribbon off and opened it to find an expertly bound leather book. There were 100 pages of delicate parchment, and each page had Sorey’s handwriting. The very first page had said the short poem he had just recited to him.
“S-Sor-rey…this is…” Mikleo cracked. “How long did this take you do make?”
“I wrote one poem every night after you went to sleep—well, I know you don’t sleep, but you pretend to be asleep. Then I left it with a bookmaker in Lastonbell to bind it for me. Someone from the Sparrowfeathers had delivered it not too long ago—just in time, actually. D-Do you like it…?”
Mikleo was leafing through the book as gingerly as possible until he found that some of the poems were written in the ancient tongue. He closed the book and held it tightly and closely to his chest. “Sorey…Sorey…!” Mikleo sniffled. “Why…am I…?”
“A-Ah, I made you cry!”
Sorey scrambled to embrace him only to feel that he was trembling from the flood of emotion swirling in his heart. Even in their ridiculous outfits, the two of them stood so close together that any worries of anyone seeing them—or not, in Mikleo’s case—dissipated into the light snow around their feet. To the people of Marlind, it looked like Sorey was simply hugging or attempting to hug a floating book. But Mikleo was tucked in his arms so snug and warm that when any passerby saw the Shepherd’s face, they assumed he was remembering something sweet and dear.
“Wait a second,” Mikleo suddenly said. He broke out of his embrace. “I-I didn’t get you anything or make you anything!”
“That’s okay!” Sorey smiled again.
“I-It’s not okay! Sorey, I want to show you that you’re precious to me as well!”
“You already do, though.”
Sorey placed his hands on Mikleo’s shoulders. With gleaming emerald eyes, he stared at him with all the innocence and joy that his heart could contain and more. “You share my dream with me, and you’re always by my side even…even when things get hard,” he said. He nuzzled his forehead to his. Mikleo’s circlet poked into his skin just a little, the cushion of the rim of Sorey’s hat making for a decent pillow. “Your standing by my side no matter what is all I need of a gift.”
“S-Sorey, I…Are you…you’re really playing up…the drama…” Mikleo stammered.
“Am I? But that’s really how I feel.” Sorey let go of him, lightly jogging to the Christmas tree where the warm lights came over him like a blanket and made him appear as a small god. “Never leave my side, Mikleo. Let’s travel the world together and see all the things that are in the Celestial Record! From the icy mountains all the way north to the places where the land and sea meet. With you with me, for Christmas and forever, I’ll always be happy.”
Mikleo felt his face get hot. Perhaps he was unfamiliar with such an honest declaration, or at the very least he had expected these deep feelings from someone that seemed so oblivious to them. Oblivious? No, Sorey always had these feelings for him. He only kept them secret until now. He had to let out a chuckle. He had wanted to be the one that confessed, but he never found the courage to do it. Here Sorey was, however, with a book full of only a fraction of them on papers.
“I…I feel that same, Sorey, but just for tonight, let me do you a kindness,” he requested. “You’ve given me your words, let me give you your favorite soft serve.”
“Well, if you’re offering to make soft serve for me, I won’t complain!” Sorey laughed. “Maybe we should let everyone try it!”
“No, because this is my gift to you!”
“Aw, don’t be so stingy! Your soft serve is the best in the world!”
Mikleo let out a guttural sigh. But still, even if Sorey made him share with everyone, both of them knew the true meaning in it. Something that only a select few could enjoy, something that Sorey could have whenever he wanted within reason, and something that was unique to Mikleo.
Staring with the utmost adoration and devotion to his best friend and the Shepherd, Mikleo made a silent wish as Sorey walked with him:
One day, Sorey—
One day I will find the words, as beautiful as yours or even more so, to tell you just how much you mean to me. Until then, I won’t let anything happen to you.