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Amidst the frost covered Moniyan Empire, the citizens who hadn't fully prepared for the holiday season could be seen moving around the shopping district. Buying, haggling, sometimes even stealing. People scrambled to finish their last minute shopping; kids begged their parents to get them the newest gadgets only to be refused, elders sighing at the rising costs of inflation. At first glance, it looked like something from a Christmas movie, utter chaos as people milled about, trying to get everything on their list before the shops close, but to a certain blonde-haired teen and a petite girl with rosy hair, it was a special night: their first date.
The pair walked aimlessly through the shops, Guinevere occasionally stopped to look at items that caught her eye while Granger mentally took note of what things she seemed to like.
Heading out of a store, a gust of wind blew towards the pair earning a shiver from the under-dressed girl, her sky blue dress and topper not being as warm as it looked. Without hesitation, Granger took one of his black leather gloves off and grabbed Guinevere's left wrist, gently pulling the glove on her hand, then zipping open his left pocket. He intertwined their ungloved hands together and shoved their bare hands into his pocket, leaving the pink-haired girl to blush slightly.
"If you wanted to hold my hand so badly, you could've just asked." She smugly looked up at him. Granger shook his head softly. "I'm killing two birds with one stone."
He was always the quiet type, and never one to reveal she didn't know what exactly he was going on about, Guinevere kept quiet and looked up to see her newly proclaimed boyfriend.
'Boyfriend'. Guinevere was still trying to process what he is to her now, and what she is to him. She can't even think about him without being like Oh! He's my boyfriend now! then panicking Oh! He's my boyfriend now. She recalled herself being up all night just thinking about the current evening. A bunch of 'what-ifs' were circling around her head about all the things that could go wrong. Luckily, nothing of that sort has happened. Guinevere frowned, perhaps it was her own nerves talking, but it seemed like Granger had no doubts about the two of them. Guinevere looked away from him, her attention going to a window display showing a miniature Land of Dawn map sculpted from ice.
Little did Guinevere know, Granger had his own insecurities.
—
He was being dragged along to view the ice sculpture. He looked at Guinevere, then looked at the weight in this pocket, the only thing that was proof of their intertwined hands. He silently hoped she wouldn't feel how sweaty his palms were due to his nervousness.
A week ago, Granger could only dream about holding this princess's hand. He'd be fighting demons with the rest of his squad, and she would just be another fantasy of his, occasionally getting glimpses of her during their arena matches in the Moonton base way up in the sky. If Alucard and Gusion hadn't dared him to ask Guinevere out before the start of the winter holidays, one of the few times they wouldn't have to fight in the arena, then he wouldn't be standing here with her in the first place. As if the Lord of Light himself thought one of his faithful subjects had deserved a miracle during the holiday season, Guinevere had the unforeseen response of 'Yes' to Granger's question of 'Would you like to go out with me?' ultimately leading to the pair to end up at the Moniyan shopping district for their first date.
—
Green eyes met red. Guinevere blushed and looked down at her boots. Granger gripped her hand in his pocket tighter, as if willing her to stay by his side.
"H-how are you so confident?" She stuttered out, trying to sound like it irritated her to say it out loud.
"You think so?" Granger asked.
"It's just, I've never been on a date before, have you?" Guinevere pursed her lips, she hated revealing that she didn't know things.
"Nope."
"So this is both our first date, huh."
"I'm hoping it's the first of many." Granger said.
A few steps in the slurry of muddy snow later, they both reached the entrance of the nearly empty store, the shopkeeper and a few people among the only ones inside. The bell rings, signalling their arrival. Guinevere led them to a deserted aisle stocked up with wrapping paper and other materials one might need to package a gift.
Unwrapping her feelings, she starts, “At first, I didn’t even know I was your type.”
“You weren't.” He said bluntly. “It was a gradual sort of attraction.”
Granger takes their intertwined hands out of his pocket, opting to loosely hold her hand instead.
“What made you attracted to me then?” Sure, this was probably also a ploy to feed her already big ego, but Guinevere also had doubts.
“Hm,” He pretended to think. “Your face, legs, cute hands maybe.”
A blur of blue was all he got as a warning for the slap to his shoulder.
“Really? I guess I’d have to break up with-”
“No, of course not.” His expression deepened, his collar concealing his face even more. “You’re indescribable, Guinevere. Even a bard like me can’t fully capture what makes me attracted to you.”
Granger’s gruff voice juxtaposed his soft words. “Everything about you, and I’m not saying this because you’re a princess that could execute me for a wrongful glance. I’ve faced countless hordes of demons, but nothing gets my heart beating as much than when I look at you. And everytime I seem to think I know all about you, you make me think otherwise.”
“I feel the same way.” Guinevere said simply before clearing her throat from the scratchiness she felt upon hearing his confession. Even though he wasn’t her first love, she didn’t feel burdened unlike her past lovers. “You make all my worries die out, and listen up, this is one of the few times I’ll tell you this!” She acts haughty, lightening up the overly cheesy mood, her wide smile giving her away.
“I love you, Death Chanter!”
Perhaps it was the reflective glow of the wrapping paper making her sight a bit brighter, or the hazy smoke from the lit candles of the store, but Guinevere felt an overwhelming flush. Cheeks turning red and mind feeling like it wasn’t part of her body; instead, flying up in the clouds, past the falling snowflakes. Maybe this was the feeling of truly falling in love, feeling the weight being lifted off her shoulders, that weight now supported by another hand.
A hand that was making her feel warm, first before all else.