Chapter Text
Yuletide. A day of merriment and togetherness celebrated by many in many different ways. And in Waterdeep the effects of the holiday season could be felt everywhere as the countdown to Yuletide began. Crime around the city seemed to decrease and the taverns were never wanting for customers looking for a warm bed and good company. The Fanciful Phantom wasn’t exempt from the effects of the season either, the crowds seemingly growing with each passing day, but Jhison, Kesta, Lif and the people under their employ had long gotten used to large crowds and were able to keep spirits high regardless.
“Starlight,” Kesta called out, “I’m going to need a few more tankards of ale over at the table by the alcove.”
Jhison nodded, “On it. Anything else while I’m back there?”
“Tell Isgrigg and Dupree to make another batch of stew and that when they’re done they can take a break, no need for them to burn out.”
“Sure thing.” With that Jhison disappeared into the back room to do as his wife asked him to.
Kesta returned to organizing orders that had already come out from the back, passing them off to Jhison when he returned from the back. Lif was right beside her, the phantom the tavern was named after cleaning out mugs and wiping off dishes that had been returned to the counter, placing them on a cart to be wheeled to the back once it was filled.
They all kept the rhythm going until Kesta heard a knock on the back door. Asking Lif to cover for her while she answered, she made her way to the back and opened it.
Standing there was a messenger from the post office across the street, “Hello ma’am. Sorry to bother you, but I was given express orders to deliver these to you personally.” The messenger dug into his bag and produced a stack of letters tied together with a bit of twine.
Kesta accepted the stack, “Thank you, I have a feeling I know exactly what these are. Well I won’t keep you, have a nice day sir and happy holidays.”
The messenger bowed his head slightly, “You as well ma’am.” he then turned on his heel and began walking out of the alleyway.
Kesta closed the door and stuffed the stack under the bar, ‘Hopefully most of those say yes.’ Putting the stack out of her mind, Kesta began working, and anyone who looked at her saw the grin that she usually wore was just a bit wider.
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The night passed quickly and Kesta was smiling as she helped the last customer out the door. Once they had exited, she locked the door and began to help Lif clean up the main floor, Jhison cleaning behind the bar. The kitchen had already been cleaned by Isgrigg and Dupree who’d left an hour earlier and thankfully the other areas didn’t require too much work. As they were wrapping up, Jhison called out to Kesta.
“My Silver Bullet, are these what I think they are?” Kesta turned to see Jhison holding the stack of letters from earlier with a smile on his face.
“Indeed they are Starlight.”
“Wonderful. How about you go upstairs and open them and I’ll see to clean up?”
While normally Kesta would argue, not wanting to let others work while she did something else, the anticipation of opening the letters made her a bit selfish, “Thank you Starlight.” She ran up to him and grabbed the stack, kissing him on the cheek as she went past him to the back door. She quickly dashed to the door that led to the upper floors of the tavern, taking the steps two at a time once she reached them.
She opened the door at the top of the stairs with a flourish and was rewarded with a couple of wooden blocks thrown at her in response. Quickly summoning her Mage Hand, Kesta caught the blocks before they hit her and shot a quick look at the one who threw them, a young male Kalashtar with dark hair and golden eyes.
“Rumble, would you care to tell me why I’m being assaulted by blocks?”
“Can you blame me Ma? You came up here like a mad-woman, I thought we were under attack.”
Kesta blushed, and used the Mage Hand to float the blocks back to her son, “You make a fair argument son. Where are your sisters, weren’t they playing with you?”
Rumble shrugged, “Pretty sure Kath’s asleep. She went upstairs a while ago. Luna too.”
“You should probably join them, it’s getting late. Come on, I’ll tuck you in.”
Rumble pouted, “Aw c’mon Ma, I’m not even tired. Especially after the heart attack you almost gave me.”
Kesta smirked, “Don’t care. Bed.”
Rumble groaned, but started to move towards the stairs. “When are we getting that moving box Aunt Ari promised us? Going all the way to the attic is so annoying on foot.”
Kesta chuckled, “Maybe you’ll get the chance to ask her on Yuletide.”
Rumble perked up at that, “She’s coming?”
Ketsa showed him the stack of letters, “Maaayyybeee. I just got her and everyone else’s responses to the invitations I sent out. I was just about to go through them.”
Rumble started jumping in place, “Oh come on Ma, let me at least read Aunt Ari’s and Uncle Gruff’s with you.”
Kesta shook her head, “I’m afraid not Mr. Now let’s get to bed.”
Rumble pouted again, but continued to climb the stairs, “You’re so mean.”
“That may have worked when you were three, but I’m afraid at eight you’ve used up all your cute points.”
“Then why does it feel like Kath and Luna never run out?”
“The inherent charm of the female species. Something you might understand better when you’re older.”
Rumble muttered a bit under his breath, but decided he wasn’t winning the argument and stayed quiet as they finished their accent up the stairs. The attic had changed a bit once the others had moved away and the larger room at the top had been split into two, one for Rumble and one for his sisters. Kesta and Rumble entered his room and since Rumble was already in his sleeping clothes, Kesta quickly tucked him into bed. Giving him a quick kiss on the cheek and a promise to read the letters with him tomorrow she left the room, closing the door behind her. She then peeked into the adjacent room and saw her two daughters sleeping quietly. Kath was in the left bed, the white haired human with emerald eyes and olive skin snuggling the stuffed dragon her Uncle Daeceran gave her, and Luna was in the right, the pale skinned Hexblood having no need for a sleeping aid, or so she liked to insist.
Kesta smiled and started closing the door leaving it open just an inch (though she’d never admit it, Luna didn’t care for the dark) and made her way back downstairs. Stepping back onto the first floor she saw Jhison sitting at the table in the center of the room nursing a cup of tea with another cup sitting at the head of the table for Kesta. She walked over to the chair and before she could move it the chair moved seemingly on its own.
“Thank you Lif.” Kesta said as she sat down and adjusted the chair. She then undid the twine holding the letters together, and spread them out on the table. The letters were in various envelopes and a few had a bit of wear and tear to them, but she could tell they would all be legible.
Jhison leaned over to examine them all, “So, who's first?”
Kesta looked over all the letters again, then set one aside, “Doesn't matter who’s first, but this one is last.”
Jhison smiled, “Gruff’s?”
“Who else’s? How about we start with the kids’ first?”
Jhison nodded, “Sure, it’ll be nice to hear how they’re doing.”
Kesta picked up the letter that the children the group had adopted so many years ago had sent. Opening it, she quickly scanned through it, looking for a specific sentence before smiling.
“They’ll be joining us and they’ll be in town the week before.”
Jhison pulled out a piece of parchment and started to write out a list, “Wonderful, anything on their latest adventure?”
Kesta looked over it again, this time giving it a more thorough reading, “Seems like they’re making quite a name for themselves around the Sword Coast. They said they stopped a crime ring in one of the nearby cities. Pretty impressive if I do say so myself. Nat says she’s got some new tricks to show you, Squid’s adamant he’ll be able to sneak up on us this year and Jenks is excited to show us the new spells he’s learned.”
Jhison smirked, “I look forward to it. Alright, who's next?”
“How about Ari? Bet you ten gold the first sentence is, ‘Do you know how hard it is to send letters through planar rifts?’”
Jhison waved her off, “I’m not taking a losing bet, how about a kiss instead?”
Kesta giggled, “A fair compromise.” she leaned over and the two shared a quick kiss before Kesta sat back and opened the letter. Scanning it she smirked, “You sure you don’t want to just hand over ten gold anyways?”
Jhison chuckled, “I spent most of my time in the Undermountain in debt, think I’ll pass.”
Kesta stuck her tongue out at him, “Spoilsport.” Looking at the letter again she read through it, chuckling all the while, until she found what she was looking for, “Despite the mountain of complaints, she’ll be coming.”
Jhison laughed, “Oh good, I was hoping to hear an hour long lecture about how dangerous and stupid we were for tinkering with planar travel. I’ll add her to the list. Anything else of note in there?”
Kesta looked over the letter again, “The research facility is doing well. And it wouldn’t be an Ari letter if she didn’t mention Niv-Mizzet at least ten times.” Kesta laughed, “She also told us to piss off about when she’s finally going to marry Lucas. She said, ‘I’m not taking marriage advice from the couple that got hitched while one of them was dead.’”
Jhison laughed as well, “Never let it be said Ari doesn’t speak her mind. Alright, who’s next?”
Kesta set the letter down and caught a glimpse of her wedding ring, altered slightly since she’d first gotten it. What once was a single silver band with an Amber gemstone in the center, was now a fused band with the Amber in the center on the back and an Amethyst front and center. She looked over to Jhison’s ring, Amethyst also on the front with an Opal gemstone on the back. “What about Lily's?”
Jhison smiled softly, “It has been a while since we’d heard from her hasn’t it? I know Luna’s been waiting for her to return from her trip.”
Kesta chuckled, “That girl is so much like her mother isn’t she?” she picked up the letter from Illusandra taking care to not tear it as she opened it.
“I’d argue she takes after both of her mother’s, but I digress.”
Kesta chuckled again as she began reading over the letter, “Well unfortunately there isn’t much here, but she’ll be coming home in time for Yuletide. She says she misses us and Luna and can’t wait to tell us about her trip. She’s not sure exactly when she’ll be back, but she expects to be home at least two days before.”
Jhison smiled, “Lovely. Any ideas on a present?”
Kesta shook her head, “Unfortunately no, with the tavern being as busy as it has been recently and my work for the temple taking up my mornings I haven’t really had time to think about it.”
“I’m sure we’ll think of something, I’ve got more time on my hands in the mornings so I can start brainstorming a bit more. Though I’m sure she won’t mind whatever we come up with.”
Kesta smirked, “I don’t care, I want to spoil our wife who we haven’t seen in a while.”
Jhison chuckled, “Of course my Silver Bullet. Alright then, who’s next?”
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It took them almost an hour to get through all of the letters, between reading them and reminiscing over the sender, and they were happy to see most of them would be coming. Lon and Grey said they would stop by briefly, but they still had work and wouldn’t be able to stay for the whole evening. Beetle thanked them for the invitation, but he said he was going to spend the holiday with his own family and Raenar said much the same to Kesta and Jhison’s chagrin. However Daeceran, Zarra, Macy, and Valora all had written saying they were coming and the couple were excited at the prospect of getting to spend the evening together with all of them. All that was left was the letter Kesta had set aside at the beginning.
Kesta picked up the letter and stared at it for a moment. Jhison was confused, “What’s wrong? You know he’s going to come, right?”
Kesta shrugged, “Part of me does, but since Zarra didn't mention anything about her father joining us I’m…a bit nervous.”
Jhison chuckled, “Well he is married to Gruff, if he was going to be coming with anyone, it would be Gruff.”
Kesta sighed, “You’re right Starlight, I’m being silly.”
Jhison put the hand wearing his wedding ring on top of hers, “It’s not silly to want your best friend to show up to a gathering meant to celebrate togetherness. But give Gruff some credit, yes?” he smirked, “Besides there’s no way he’s going to miss out on a chance to play with Rumble, Istus knows those two get along like fire and oil.”
Kesta smirked, “The real question there is who’s who?”
Jhison chuckled, “Indeed.”
Kesta took a breath, then began to open the letter. She took her time reading it and Jhison let her, knowing she’d want to savor every word in there. It was quiet for a few minutes, but eventually Kesta put the letter down and covered her mouth with her hands, making it so Jhison was unable to tell if she was happy or about to cry.
He decided to bite the bullet, “So what did it say?”
Kesta seemed to take a minute to compose herself, then brought her hands down as she began to speak, “It says…that he and Jarlaxle will be in port in two days time and he can’t wait to see us.”
The grin on Jhison’s face couldn’t begin to match Kesta’s after she’d finished speaking. The two of them got up from their chairs and embraced, Kesta nuzzling into Jhison’s chest, “He’s coming Starlight. Istus help me I’m so glad he’ll be here.”
“We’ve got a lot of planning ahead of us, don't we my Silver Bullet?”
Kesta nodded, “But once it’s done it will have been more than worth it.” she looked up at Jhison and he leaned down to share a kiss with her, breaking apart after a minute.
Jhison smiled as he looked down at her, “Indeed, now I think it’s time we retired for the evening. We got a long couple of weeks ahead of us and we’ll need to be in top shape to make this the best Yuletide we can.”
Kesta nodded again before, regretfully, leaving Jhison’s arms heading towards the stairs, Jhison trailing behind her. As they made the climb up to their shared bedroom, Kesta had one final thought, ‘This Yuletide is going to be magical.’