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Hadrian’s head tilted to the side as he heard soft footsteps on the carpet in the hallway. He held in a small sigh as he sent a few shadows off to investigate.
His Bonded were supposed to be asleep, especially after the day they’d had. They were all exhausted, having spent the day with their various families, delivering their greetings and gifts for the holiday season—whatever the holiday they celebrated was—all in an attempt to coordinate at least twenty-four hours together as a complete Circle with no outside obligations. Over the years, they’d tried a couple of things, such as attending each and every event together (that had been a disaster, there was just too many families and friends hosting parties and gatherings for them to attend all of them as one unit) or picking one event per day to attend (impossible, if they didn’t want to offend anyone), but the divide and conquer approach was the only one that seemed to work.
Coordinating it all was exhausting, but it was worth it, especially when they could ensure that they would be spending Christmas together, with no other obligations.
Celebrating Christmas was still something new to some, a holiday that several of them hadn’t celebrated until Harry. But it was the one holiday that they always made an effort for, because of just how happy it made Harry.
When his shadows came back with a name, this time Hadrian did sigh.
Harry.
Really, where did he get all of his energy from? It seemed to grow in leaps and bounds with each passing day until it was Christmas morning, even though he had a resting period due to start the day after.
Shaking his head, the Gheyo ACE made his way to the living area, where he found Harry balancing precariously on a chair in front of their Christmas tree.
“What are you doing?” he asked, releasing his shadows momentarily to allow them to catch his Submissive as Harry squeaked in surprise and started to fall off the chair as he turned to face Hadrian.
“Um, hi?” Harry said as the shadows settled him softly on his feet, turning him so he was facing Hadrian.
Hadrian’s lips curved into a small smile. “Hi,” he echoed, before repeating his earlier question. “What are you doing?”
“Replacing the star on the Christmas tree,” Harry explained, as if it should be obvious. “I made a better one.”
Hadrian blinked at the answer. “You made a better one?”
“I’ve been working on it for several weeks,” Harry said with a nod, holding the star out for Hadrian to look at.
The ACE turned it over in his hands a few times, fingers trailing over scales and feathers that had been delicately woven together with hands much smaller than his own. His brow furrowed slightly. The scales and feathers were familiar as if… “Are these ours?” he asked softly. “Everyone’s?”
Harry beamed and nodded, glad that the other dragel had made the realization so quickly. “Quinn, Bran, and Ethan helped me gather all the materials together, though even they don’t know exactly what I was making—well, Bran probably knows.” He made a face before shrugging it off, now well used to the fact that it was impossible to keep secrets from his youngest Bonded.
“And here I just thought that they were being overly fussy about appearances as we went into the holiday season,” Hadrian remarked. He looked over the star again. “Even Devrim?”
Harry pointed to a pair of black scales tinged with red and violet. “Some of the first that he shed,” he said proudly. “Well aside from the one that—” He fingered the haircord around his neck and the beaded scales that hung from it, as well as the pendant in the middle. “It’s what gave me the idea in the first place. I know most Submissives would use the extra scales for jewelry, but you know I’m not that type.”
Hadrian held back a laugh. Harry was definitely not the type of Submissive to wear jewelry or fancy clothes. It was a struggle some days to get him to wear clothes at all. If Harry did wear any jewelry, it was the haircord around his neck, the cuff that Alec had gifted him in the aftermath of his soulscream, and the ring that all of them normally wore.
“So a star?” Hadrian asked.
Harry shrugged. “Christmas is pretty much the one day a year that I’m guaranteed that everyone will be around at the same time,” he explained. “I wanted that reflected on our tree—the one constant. Even the ornaments change.” He shrugged again.
“It’s a lovely idea,” Hadrian murmured. “You should have asked for help putting it up, though.” Their tree was large enough that the only way someone as short as Harry would be able to reach the top was if someone else gave him a boost. Not even using a chair made Harry tall enough.
“I wanted it to be a surprise,” Harry said with a small pout. “And there’s really only two I could ask—you and Minh. Even the others aren’t tall enough.”
Hadrian considered the tree for a heartbeat. It was a bit larger than it had been in the past, he agreed. He tried to remember how the original star had gotten up there.
Right. He’d balanced Bran on his shoulders because Harry had gotten distracted by Theo with the promise of hot chocolate. And a few other things, given the—pleasurable—feedback from their bonds a little while later.
“We’ll have to keep it in the vault, away from the rest of the decorations, during the rest of the year because of the feathers,” Harry continued. “But that’ll make it even more special, don’t you think?”
“In a way,” Hadrian agreed, glad that Harry had already anticipated that particular issue. Their Circle vault was probably one of the most well-protected vaults in Nevarah, if only because that was where Brishen kept his molted feathers. They had saved up a nice stash over the years and they—specifically Harry—had to dip into it less and less thankfully. He rolled his shoulders as he handed the new star back to Harry. “Well, since I know about the surprise, let’s get it up there.”
Harry grinned at the offer and his smile widened a heartbeat later as he was lifted up and perched on Hadrian’s shoulders, the top of the tree now in easy reach. He fastened the star to the tree quickly and added a simple sticking charm to make sure it wouldn’t fall off.
“Pretty,” Hadrian complimented once Harry was back down on the ground, wrapping an arm around the Submissive’s waist. “And now I think it’s time for bed, unless you want the others to come looking for you and spoil the surprise. I’m surprised they haven’t already.”
“Everyone’s tired,” Harry said. “This year was more draining than most, I think.”
“For obvious reasons,” Hadrian agreed, mostly to himself, before he picked up Harry and started making their way to the resting room.
“I can walk,” Harry protested half-heartedly, though he curled into Hadrian’s lightly-armored chest as he did so. “Obvious reasons?”
Hadrian merely raised an eyebrow.
After a few seconds, Harry’s attention was distracted by another question that had been weighing on his mind since a few days earlier, when Brishen had finally arrived back home—the last of the Gheyos to arrive. “How long do I have you all for?” he asked quietly, not looking forward to the eventual parting that would come when Theo approved another mission for their Gheyos. It had gotten easier over the years, but he never enjoyed it.
“Through the new year,” Hadrian answered, voice just as quiet. “At least. We’ll try to make our stay as long as we can though. Like always.”
Harry brightened at the words. “Really?” he asked.
“Of course,” Hadrian murmured. He paused as something occurred to him. “You do remember that your resting period is due to start the day after Christmas, correct?”
By the look on Harry’s face, the answer was clear—Harry had forgotten that particular detail. Hadrian sighed to himself and shook his head slightly. Of course he had. “What am I going to do with you?” he asked lightly as they stopped in front of the door to the resting room.
“Love me forever?” Harry said, an impish grin appearing on his face.
“Without question,” Hadrian agreed.
A heartbeat later, the clock in the corridor struck midnight. As the chimes sounded, Harry reached up to press his forehead against Hadrian’s. “Happy Christmas,” he murmured.
“Happy Christmas, Harry.”