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” Shhhhh !” Iris hissed between giggles, eyes bright from a night of eating, drinking, and being merry. Her voice was not at all hushed when she said, “You’ll wake the neighbors!”
Julian’s was even less hushed when he replied. “Darling, my dear, my sweetest and most beautiful flower, I hate to be the bearer of ill tidings but if this tiiiiiiny bit of racket wakes our neighbors, then the other—ah— rackets we've made at home over the years have certainly and absolutely woken them.” He punctuated his slightly slurred statement with a flush, a lecherous grin, and a waggle of his brows.
Rolling her eyes at her husband’s words, Iris sighed in relief as she finally fit key in lock and opened their door, trying not to think about what their neighbors may or may not have overheard in the past. It was well after midnight, and they were just returning home, still a little tipsy and a lot raucous, from Imalia’s party, and at this point all Iris wanted was to get them inside without incident.
Julian wrapped his arms around her from behind and snuffled into her hair while she pushed open the door. “Mmmm...y’smell like winter-time.”
“That’s because I’ve been out in the winter-time for ten minutes trying to open our door.” She laughed again, breath clouding in the chill night air before she leaned back into Julian. “Which I’ve now done quite successfully. Can we please go inside now?”
“But of course, my fair and frosty Snow Queen!” Arms still around her waist, Julian lifted Iris off the ground and carried her over their threshold, knocking the door shut behind them with a nudge of his lean hip. He favored Iris with another dirty grin. “And whatever shall we do now that we’re home all safe and sound?”
“Hm…..” Iris tapped her chin in mock-thought. “Why don’t you go stoke the fire in the sitting-room, and I’ll make us something lovely to drink. Then we can exchange books and have our chocolates and enjoy the fire.”
“Ah, of course! How could I forget!” Stricken, Julian adopted a melodramatic pose to convey his utmost--though entirely faux--grief. “Forgive your forgetful, drunken sailor, my dearest heart,” he cried, gripping her hands as he fell to his knees on the foyer.
“You’re forgiven, my darlingest,” Iris said, kissing the tip of his nose. “But only if you go stoke the fire.”
Frantic, reverent kisses were pressed to still-chilled fingers. “Thank you, O My Queen! Thank you, thank you!” Julian cried before moving off to tend to the hearth.
Following suit, Iris went to the kitchen and returned with a box of chocolate under her arm and a mug of steaming wassail in each hand, the cups redolent of fruit and tea, spices and rhum ; she set everything on the table, Julian’s mug next to the book she’d wrapped and left on the table in front of their sofa, and her cup next to the one he’d wrapped for her.
“You’ve done a marvellous job with the fire,” she said, flopping down onto the sofa. Julian joined her a moment later as she toed off her shoes, which fell to the carpet with gentle thuds .
“Why, thank you, flower!” He kicked up his feet and rested them on the table, careful not to knock over their mugs. “Now that things are all warm and cozy, shall we open our books?”
Iris plucked both packages off the table; she clutched hers to her chest and handed Julian his. “Yes, please! On three?”
Julian nodded. “One.”
“Two.”
“Three!” they said in unison, tearing open the wrappings on their gifted books: a book of folktales from Hessia for Iris, and a collection of rubá’íyah poems by a famous Prakran author.
“Oh, jewel! This is perfect--thank you!” Iris fell into the cradle of Julian’s chest, craning her neck so she could kiss his jaw.
“As is your selection, my flower,” he replied, kissing her temple in return. “Nazali used to recite some of these to me--the author was a scientist as well as a gifted poet--and I’ve always wanted to read them.”
“I know.” From where she rested on his chest, she flashed him a coy smile. “They mentioned it the last time they visited.”
“Sneaky, sneaky, Ms. Bergeron!”
“I learned from the best, Dr. Devorak,” Iris replied with a wink. She set down her book for a moment and picked up their mugs. “Now, can I interest you in some wassail and chocolates while we read our new books?”
“That sounds divine, darling!” His long fingers trailed over her hand as he took a mug from her and raised it to his lips for a sip. “Ohhh, but that’s good!”
“If you think the wassail is good, wait til you taste these!” After taking a piece for herself, Iris passed him the box of chocolates, pointing out the different kinds for him. “These are dark chocolate with rose and raspberry, and the square ones have black pepper and cardamom.The discs are pure black chocolate. Oh! And the ones dusted with gold are filled with poire brandy!”
Julian plucked one of the discs from the box and popped it into his mouth. “I must say, you have excellent taste, my darling.”
“Of course I do--I picked you, after all.” Iris kissed his cheek, feeling it warm under her lips as Julian blushed. Taking a small bite of her own candy, Iris snuggled more deeply against Julian’s chest and opened her book.