Work Text:
Amber had been anticipating the Knights of Favonius Christmas party for the past month now. The poor girl had almost planned the entire thing after Jean had said that she might not have time for it. So, Amber took the job for herself, her outrider duties getting harder to carry out as the snow started to fall.
Eula wasn’t particularly involved in the ins and outs of the outriders plans and decided it was best not to pry. Especially when the woman had run past her at one point carrying stacks of mysterious boxes -She could have asked for help at least. She didn’t attend parties often, nor did she particularly enjoy them, but when Amber visited her last night to deliver her a sleek black box for Christmas, she couldn’t stay no.
“Eula! Are you ready?” a soft knock at the door drew her eyes away from the mirror and she could hear the excited smile that had graced Amber’s lips.
The dress wasn’t anything too fancy and the cut wasn’t something she wasn’t used to, but it felt tight. Too tight, even with the long slit that cascaded blue velvet from just below her hip and the long plunge neckline the dipped just above her navel. It was beautiful. It had gorgeous silver detailing that flowed down one shoulder and twisted around to meet the slit at her thigh.
It just felt too tight at her hips. There wasn’t enough movement.
Eula took a breath in, and another knock came. She had taken too long to respond and had started to pick at the threads of velvet that had started to fray on the inside hem.
“Go down and greet the guests, Amber. I’ll be down in a few minutes,” she replied, eyeing her choice of shoes, and deciding to switch to something with a smaller heal. “I promise,” She was hit with a slightly disappointed ‘ok’ before the other Knights’ footsteps faded down the hallway.
Eula took another moment, sitting on her bed and testing her range of movement.
It still wasn’t enough.
She walked and paced and even tried to run, repeating the same actions with different pairs of shoes. It was, of course, a futile attempt at trying to achieve a larger range of motion. So, she sat down again. This time choosing the large plush chair that stood in her corner of her room. It was rough and scratchy, and the perfect texture to pick at. Her nails dug under each thread as she plucked and plucked, building up the momentum to make it out the door.
And the next push she felt to get up out the chair, she took, storming towards the door and turning the handle. She slammed the door behind her and paused.
She was nervous. Eula had never felt ‘nervous’ in her life. Not even while fighting Mitachurls. So why now. Why now did she have to be able to hear her own footsteps echo through the hallway. Heel, toe, heel, toe, heel, toe. She needed to remember how to walk, how to breath; to make sure her heart didn’t stop suddenly in her chest and start beating again at the sight of Amber.
Oh.
Oh.
So that’s what it was. The freezing, the weird breathing, the warm pains in her chest. The ache that strangled her stomach as she approached the landing. She paced slowly towards the top of the stairs and when the sharp cracks of her heels against the stone tile echoed through the bustling main hall of the Knight’s HQ, heads turned.
Eula descended the stairs as gracefully as possible, ignoring the beady eyes of aristocrats and judging stares of the Mondstadters. The entire city was in attendance, and she was hobbling down the steps like a new-born kitten.
“I’m so glad you’re late,” Amber blurted when Eula reached the base of the staircase, blush creeping up the brunette’s cheeks as she covered her mouth.
“Excuse me?”
“I’m glad you didn’t decide to chicken out,” She coughed and held out a champagne flute towards her fellow knight. “You look gorgeous,” Eula took the drink gladly and sipped from the glass as Amber dragged her around the hall, speaking to guests.
Eula took the time to assess Amber’s dress, her eyes scanning over the expanse of the outrider’s exposed shoulders and admiring the way that the red silk wrapped around her arms. The fabric continued to cling to Amber’s body until it started to flow from her waist and hit the floor smoothly. Gold detailing and appliqué twirled around her waist to meet a slit in the skirt -she had noticed as they walked- revealing the toned supple skin of her legs.
Before Eula could ogle anymore a hand pulled her into a far corner of the hall.
“Might I suggest you stop checking out your girlfriend,” Eula was met with a wry smile as Lisa gave her a light hug. “You look lovely, by the way. Did she pick that out for you?”
The knight pulled back slightly, pushing against Lisa’s shoulders, and she could feel the heat creep up her cheeks and across the back of her neck. The librarian only laughed, letting go of Eula as she looked at the wall like it was the most fascinating thing in Teyvat.
“You know, she couldn’t take her eyes off you either,” Lisa tried. “Oh, come on I’m only teasing,”
“You’re not helping my situation Lisa,” Eula sighed, finally looking back at her.
“If it’s any consolation, she’s been checking you out since you got to the top of those steps,”
Lisa seemed particularly persistent on that fact.
“No, it is not,”
“Oh fine, but tell me what’s wrong, you seem troubled,” Lisa chuckled, perching on one of the chairs that were conveniently placed. And they sat. Eula began to tap her nails against the hard wood while she talked, the anxieties of not being good enough getting to her head again. And when Lisa told her to stop the tapping, she would pick at the inner seam of her dress. And when they finished their short chat, Eula would make her way back up the steps, deciding that she was better company out of everyone’s way.
The view of the hall was better along the balcony on the upper floor. She was able to get a good visual of all the guests and what they were doing. But her eyes trained to Amber again, scanning the length of her body, over and over again, admiring how the dress fit her. ‘She’s gorgeous.’
“So that’s what you think of our outrider, huh,” Kaeya said, appearing from the shadows of the first floor. “you’re not the only one who likes the solitude.”
So, she’d said that aloud.
Eula sighed, leaning further into the railing, “Are you trying to hide from the winery staff or something,” Diluc hadn’t been willing to serve at the party -it seemed- so a percentage of the dawn winery staff had attended on his behalf, serving drinks and the like.
“Both,” he stated simply, and she followed his gaze towards a pale blond man in the centre of the room, talking with Jean. She let out a light laugh, letting her chin rest on the wooden rail.
“You’re not subtle you know,”
“You’re not either, but at least I don’t try to be,” Kaeya fired back, flashing Eula a smug smile before pushing himself off the banister and walking away.
“I’m not trying to do anything-” Eula perked but was shushed when Kaeya lifted a hand, loosely extending his forefinger, as if to say he wasn’t buying it. She huffed and lent her back against the railing, this time craning her neck backwards to stare at the ceiling.
She started to trace the harsh grain if the wooden panels with her eyes, stopping at each separating plank and carrying on to the next panel. Until she noticed a branch of mistletoe delicately tied around one of the slats with gold ribbon. The sprig had been hung next to a knot in the wood, directly above where Eula was currently stood; and there were more dotted around the parts of the ceiling that shadowed the balcony.
A short clearing of a throat broke the gaze she had on the pearly white berries of the mistletoe that could only be procured in winter. “How’s your evening been?” asked Amber, sheepishly swaying on her feet. “I think I saw you for five minutes before you were pulled away from me,”
Eula turned to smile at Amber and took a very deep breath in when she finally caught sight of her. Even in the low light of the balconette, she was gorgeous. The gold that dangled from her ears twinkled with the sparse light of the chandelier and framed her face with a glow that Eula could only begin to describe as ethereal.
“It’s been alright,” Eula squeaked, carefully letting out the breath she had been holding. She couldn’t take her eyes off Amber and was frantically searching for somewhere to settle on her features.
“Good. I’m glad it’s not unbearable for you,” Amber said. She was holding something behind her back and had seemed to grip it tighter when she spoke.
A blanket of silence surrounded them, sending shocks down their spines, and raising goose bumps on their forearms. Eula looked back up at the ceiling after a beat, spotted the mistletoe again and made the decision to stare at one of the landscape paintings mounted on the wall in front of her.
It took a moment for Amber to speak again, her eyes cast out among the see of people below them. “I know Christmas day was yesterday, but I wanted to give you something,” she held out a small box wrapped in red paper and tied with gold ribbon.
“I thought-”
“Oh, the dress was for today,” Amber clarified, watching Eula’s hands as they fumbled around the blue velvet that sat tight at her hips. “I picked out all the knights’ outfits for today -Lisa helped- it was a planned ordeal.” Amber began to twirl the ribbon on the box between her fingertips. “But I wanted to give you this, and I was going to give it to you before the party started but you- “
“Amber, bunny, you’re rambling,” Eula pointed out, her entire body facing her this time.
“I feel so stupid,” Amber laughed. “I was busy last night doing last minute planning and forgot. Here,”
Eula took the gift and ran her fingertips along the edge of the box, a small mark of discolouration where the glue had been applied. She was fixed on the box. Entranced by it. She had never received a gift for Christmas -not officially, at least. Most years, the Lawrence family would have a large party and at the end of it ring her out for how improper she was the entire evening. They nit-picked and tore apart her self-worth, until they were satisfied at how much they made the poor girl cry.
“Open it,” Amber urged, and Eula felt the blood rise in her cheeks. Her heart was already threatening to leap out her ribcage and the touch of Ambers soft palms against Eula’s bruised knuckles made her breath hitch.
She carefully tugged at the ribbon, the smooth golden silk fluttering loose in her palm. A simple rip at the side of the box let the paper fall and Eula crumpled up the pieces in her hand. It revealed a sleek black box; not unlike the one her dress came in, but smaller. The lid glided of the body of the box perfectly to unveil a necklace.
The thin band of blue velvet was delicately positioned around a raised cushion, flaunting a small blue sapphire, attached with a detailed silver clasp in the middle. It took her a moment to recognize the shape that the stone had been cut into. A heart.
And Eula, again, stared. The necklace was gorgeous. She wondered if it was to match the dress.
“Do you like it?” Asked Amber meekly, her brow pulled taught as she retracted her hands.
“It’s lovely Amber. Thank you.” Eula pulled the outrider into a tight hug, the fingertips of her free hand brushing the soft skin on Amber’s shoulders. Amber giggled, her reciprocated embrace a lot tighter than expected, and Eula panicked when she felt the warmth of her ear against her own heavily beating chest.
When Eula pulled away, she had mirrored Amber’s worry from before. “I didn’t get you anything, though,” she said, closing the box.
She had never given someone a gift before, either. She was under the impression that there had to be some sort of reciprocation. And exchange of sorts. The only times Eula had witnessed presents being exchanged was when the other knights would gather in Jeans room on Christmas eve and make a fuss over whether they would open one present each or wait until the morning. Of course, Jean usually caved, and Lisa was the one to use tradition as an excuse to betray self-control.
Eula couldn’t understand why she didn’t just ‘make it a thing’.
She had ultimately been invited to these small gatherings but often thought better of it, preferring being out of people’s way or on a mission somewhere else around Mondstadt. Crime waited for no-one after-all.
And, more often than not, she’d think about buying Christmas presents for certain people and then not know what to get them. It was difficult to gauge one’s reaction.
Amber smiled and shook her head before plucking the necklace out of the box and gesturing for the Spindrift Knight to turn around. “You didn’t need to,” she unhooked the necklace and placed it around Eula’s neck from behind, securing it at her nape. “Your presence is gift enough.” Before she could turn to face her again, Amber wrapped her arms around Eula’s waist, and pressed her lips to the base of her neck, breathing in the clean scent of Eula’s hair. And amber held them both there for a while, out of selfishness but also embarrassed as to how Eula would react.
“Let me turn around,” Eula whispered.
Amber wouldn’t let go, stubbornly pressing her face further into the back of Eula’s neck.
“Amber. Let me turn around” This time she was desperate, attempting to pry Amber’s hands from around her waist. After a few seconds of struggling, she gently lowered Amber’s hands and held them in her own.
“Can I kiss you?”
“I’m sorry, What?”
“Can I kiss you?” Eula repeated.
Amber stared blankly at her, shocked at how direct she was being.
“Y-yes. Absolutely, yes,” she blinked.
Eula let go of her hands, choosing instead to rest her own at either side of Amber’s face, just below her jaw. Her thumbs smoothed over her cheeks as Eula brought Amber closer, leaning down to press her lips to hers; and she froze. A hairs breadth away from Ambers lips and she stopped. The anticipation heavy in her beating chest. Was Amber sure about this?
It was Amber who closed the gap, confirming her certainty as she laced her fingers together over Eula’s shoulders.
The soft press of ambers lips against her own sent tingles, sparks down her back. Her heart raced faster, outrunning her mind as it tripped over itself and numbed the feeling in her knees. It took every ounce of self-control not to fall; every ounce of self-control not to swipe her tongue over Amber’s bottom lip and make it heavy.
But Amber couldn’t help herself either and made the move to deepen the kiss, brushing her tongue against Eula’s bottom lip and tilting her head. And they melted, forgetting how to breathe as each inhale became heavier, each heartbeat quicker than the last, skipping.
It was the Acting-Grand Master’s announcement that interrupted their moment, “Everyone, please make your way through the library and into the food hall,” She exclaimed as they gradually broke away from each other.
“The buffet’s ready,” Amber whispered, resting their foreheads together.
Eula laughed, her breathing laboured and rough, “I think so,”
They remained there, savouring their high as the mistletoe glistened above them.