Work Text:
Trisha would admit to being more than a little bit giddy about the prospect of spending her first Christmas and New Year’s Eve with Van. She was always a little bit giddy about the holidays anyway; they had been her favourite time of the year ever since she was a little girl. Of course, the presents were a large part of that, as was all of the excellent food that always seemed to taste better during the holidays, but as time had gone on, the sheer magic of it all had never waned. She always felt like a kid again whenever Christmastime rolled around, and she hoped that her enthusiasm would rub off on Van rather than scaring him off. Christmas was not a holiday that he had really celebrated in his home country or in Xing, and even though he had settled in a place where it was celebrated more widely, he had still never really attached all that much importance to it.
Naturally, Trisha was determined that their first Christmas together would be a resounding success in every way possible, and it was only her holiday-induced cheerfulness that was stopping her from becoming a ball of nerves at the prospect of things not being absolutely perfect. Truth be told, she had never really ‘done’ Christmas on her own like this before. She’d always decorated whatever place she was living in beautifully, but when it came to the day itself and all of its trappings, she had always spent that with Sarah and her family, or with the Rockbells. This was the first time that she would be cooking a Christmas dinner with all the trimmings.
It shouldn’t be too difficult. Trisha was a good cook even if she did say so herself, but she was very aware that all of Van’s previous experiences of Christmas, however intermittent they might have been, were at Pinako’s, and Pinako definitely knew how to make an excellent Christmas spread.
On the other hand, the times that Van had been around in Resembool for the Christmas period prior to settling down here with her were few and far between. It wasn’t as if coming to see Pinako for Christmas dinner was anything like an institution for him and she wouldn’t be ruining precious childhood memories.
Trisha shook herself as she continued to hang red ribbon garlands around all the door frames in the house. Everything was going to be wonderful, for the simple reason that they were together and they were in love, and even if this Christmas could not emulate the picture perfect memories from her younger years, they would be making their own traditions, creating something new in their lives together. She was looking forward to seeing what the season might bring.
Van opened his study door as she was still draping fabric around the lintel, trying to tie a neat bow whilst balancing precariously on the top of a stepladder. He just watched her for a moment.
“Do you need a hand, there?”
Although Trisha did not want to admit that the ribbons were getting the better of her, she also could not deny that Van was tall enough to reach the lintel without the need for a stepladder and would therefore be invaluable in this stage of the decorating process. With any luck, she could second him for the rest of the house
“Yes. Hold this here.” She grabbed his hand and guided it to where she wanted the ribbon to go, and Van was quite happy to stay where he was put whilst she fiddled about with thread and thumb tacks.
“You know, I never really realised just how enthusiastic about the holidays you were,” he said presently. Trisha just raised an eyebrow at him.
“Are you regretting letting me decorate your house for Christmas?”
“Oh no. It’s a little overwhelming, but it’s not off-putting in any way.” He paused. “Well, not yet, at least. If it gets to the stage where we can’t move for ribbons and baubles and bits of evergreen, then I might reconsider.”
“I’ve never been that bad,” Trisha protested as she finished up with this swag of ribbon. “You can move your hand now. And it might be a little bit over the top, but what is Christmas if not a time for indulging all your pleasures and doing things to excess.”
Van raised an eyebrow, holding the stepladder steady as she made her way down it, and dutifully folding it up and carrying it through the house after her as she moved onto the next doorway, still with her arms full of decorations.
“I see.” There was a pause whilst she set up again and told him where to hold the ribbon. “Does the excess extend to your holiday baking?”
“Maybe.” Trisha grinned down at him. “Did you have something special in mind that you wanted in excess?”
“Well… I do like those spiced biscuits that you made for Pinako last year.”
“Yes. If I recall correctly, you ended up eating more of them than Pinako did.”
“I still don’t think that she’s forgiven me for that.”
Van looked a little pained at the memory, and Trisha just reached down and patted his cheek. “It's ok. I’ll make an entire batch just for you. And extra gingerbread muffins?”
“Mmm.” Van was silent for a while, off in mental raptures of gingerbread muffins as Trisha kept decorating. “Yes,” he said eventually, finally coming back to himself as Trisha got down from the stepladder again. “Extra gingerbread muffins sound like a good idea. So, what have you got left to decorate?” He was following her through the house again, taking in all of the now-festooned doorframes, and the holly sprigs in vases dotted around everywhere.
“There’s just one finishing touch.” They made their way through to the hall, stopping just short of the front door, and Trisha produced her piece de resistance, a large sprig of mistletoe.
Van looked at it, then looked at her. “That’s the one you kiss under, right?”
Trisha rolled her eyes. “Of all the plants I’ve taught you about over the last few months, of course that’s the one you remember.”
“I remember other ones!”
“Oh yes?”
“Eh…” Van was lost in thought for a moment and Trisha had to wonder how much help he was getting from the botanists and florists among the souls. Not much, if previous experience was anything to go by. They tended to find these situations highly amusing and kept quiet for their own entertainment while watching him flounder. “Arnica goes on bruises? And tea-tree is antiseptic.”
“That’s correct. I’ll let you off. This once.” She winked at him to show she didn’t mean it. “Now, let’s get this mistletoe up.”
Van dutifully held the stepladder steady whilst she went up to hang the generous sprig from the lampshade.
“That’s a very large twig,” he pointed out. “How many people were you planning to have under it at any one time?”
“Shush, you, and let me concentrate.” She gritted her teeth as she tied off the twine in a double knot and admired her work, hands on hips. “There, I think that looks good from up here.”
“It looks good from down here, too.” Van grabbed her by the waist before she could come down from the ladder, pulling her down into his arms and going in for a kiss. As surprised as she was by the swift and sudden action, Trisha couldn’t say that she minded at all, keeping her arms locked around his neck even after he set her back on her feet.
“Well, that was unexpected.”
“We’ve got to test it out, haven’t we?” Van indicated the mistletoe above them.
“Indeed we have. You know, I think that it could stand a little more testing. You know. Just to be absolutely sure.”
Van nodded his agreement, and Trisha slanted her mouth over his again. It was shaping up to be an excellent holiday season.