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The day had arrived but Sabine still didn't have anything to give her girl. She'd been thinking what to buy as a Valentine's Day gift, but since she herself had never been a romantic type of person, she had no idea what to get.
And when Sabine had no idea about something, she was really mad.
She kept walking around in Jorvik City, trying to find something what she could find fitting but nah, nothing. Everything was filled with sparkling eye-burning pink stuff (were those exported from Pandoria?!), red hearts and kisses and all that disgusting things.
What the heck she could give then?
She started to get a headache so she decided to head to a local café. The one in the shopping mall sold a pretty good type of espresso what she liked. As she entered and dropped herself on one of the chairs by a hidden table she noticed the pink colored, heart shaped cover. She groaned and covered her eyes with her hand.
"You fed up with Valentine's?" she heard a chuckle. As she looked up she noticed the waitress was looking at her. "I get you, I don't know either what to get for my love" she added.
"Don't tell me. Everything is just too... Slimy? And pink" Sabine groaned.
"Yeah, I agree. It's just too much. But maybe something not actually related to Valentine's would make it? I've just thought, maybe I should get something what my lover actually likes. A type of food, some quality time spending together... Something like that" the waitress smiled.
"That... Actually not bad" Sabine mumbled.
"Right? Then your retinas would be safe from all the pink too" she laughed. Sabine found herself smiling. She quickly ordered her coffee and picked her phone to check a few things. Soon she was sipping the hot black liquid and her brain was storming, trying to figure out the perfect idea.
What did her girl love?
Aside from her, of course.
She checked the cinemas but they screened perfectly romantic Valentine's love story movies. Definitely not the type they liked. Then she checked other events in the city - nothing again, just aww-filled options for couples to spend time together. As she scrolled through everything and slowly sipped the strong, hot drink she came to realize that these kind of things weren't for them either.
She put down the cup with a sigh.
What the heck she could get then?
After paying for the coffee she headed to the city again. She felt like her brain would explode when she noticed a little shop in a hidden alley. It was a poor looking but still lovely art shop. She stopped and tilted her head. Why not checking it out? Her girl liked to draw and paint anyway.
She stepped in the shop - faint darkness welcomed her, the air was slightly dusty. As she looked around she heard footsteps coming.
"Ah, welcome" an elderly man came from a hidden room. His grey hair and elegant beard gleamed as he smiled. "Is there anything I could help you with?"
"I want something for my girl. Something that's not disgustingly pink and-
"And not too Valentine's?" the man chuckled.
"Yeah" Sabine nodded.
"Well, what about something self-made then? If that fits you."
"Hmm" Sabine hummed and looked around again. She noticed a few mugs on a shelf. "Do you have paints for those?"
"Yes. I can offer my artist room as well, if you wish to paint it already."
"That's great" she said and chose a mug. It was plain, white-based and still kind of fancy.
"Hmm" the man rubbed his chin. "Great choice. Please come and have a seat here in the room. You can use any paints you wish" he said.
"Thank you" Sabine mumbled and chose a slightly hidden chair. As she sat down she noticed the carpet still felt warm, as if someone had just used it. She looked toward the door to ask the man but he was gone. 'Weird' she thought frowning. Then she just shook her head and turned her attention to the paints.
Not knowing yet what to paint, she closed her eyes and let her mind drift. As she relaxed slowly faint images and colors started to come to her imagination. Without much attention, she picked a brush and started to get it out on the mug.
She sat there for a while and when she finished, she was actually satisfied with the painting.
It was a beautiful sunrise by the shore with vibrant purple, blue, pink and yellow colors. Two riders' silhouette could be seen as well.
She stood up and left the room, looking for the man to pay. But the only thing she found was a piece of paper which said "I am sorry, I got something important to do. Do not mind the payment, you can do that anytime later when you come by.".
Sabine frowned again. She didn't like to be in debt so she put some money by the paper and took her pen from her pocket. She wrote "Thank you, but I would pay you right away. I might come again soon, though.". Then she stepped out to the sunshine feeling relieved that she had some gift to give. The light made it kind of hard to see after the dullness of the shop. She put a hand over her eyes and looked back - but the shop was gone.
"What the" she gasped. She pressed the mug to her chest.
"Oh, you look for that artist shop? Its owner died years ago, sadly. Since then the shop had been gone too" an elderly woman said as she noticed Sabine.
"U-uh... I see... Thanks for telling me" she mumbled. Then she quickly turned around and decided to go back to the stables. She wanted to see her girl already.
As she arrived she decided to make some more fun. Instead of inviting the girl to the club room she left a little note on the door of her horse's stall. She wrote she'd be waiting for her in the meadows. She grinned knowing there were a few nearby but she didn't say anything specific about the place. That meant, her girl had to look for her, and following clues wasn't her strong side.
She grabbed some food and tacked up Khaan, then she rode away from the stables.
When she arrived it was already afternoon. The sun was shining, giving some warmth with the promise of the coming spring. Sabine laid down a blanket and put the food there, then she sat down, closed her eyes and waited. She relaxed, enjoying the sunshine after the cold winter. She probably drifted away to a snooze as well.
She opened her eyes only when she felt someone leaning right into her face. As she looked up her eyes met an angry face what belonged to her girl.
"Hope you having fun? I looked for you literally through all of the nearby meadows, I spent hours with it" she pouted. Sabine grinned.
"I knew you'd spend so much time with searching."
"Yeah because a certain miss didn't give any clues on-" she said but got cut off by Sabine's lips on hers.
"Just sit down and have some food" the woman said after pulling away. The girl huffed and snuggled up to Sabine who noticed how disheveled her hair was. She couldn't resist but to ruffle the girl's hair even more.
After they devoured everything Sabine took the mug from her saddle bag.
"I got this for you" she said. "Happy Valentine's Day. I guess" she added hesitantly as she still wasn't comfortable with all this. The girl's eyes went wide as she looked at the painting.
"Sabine, that's beautiful!" she gasped as she carefully took the mug in her hands. "If you weren't a Dark Rider you could become a painter" she said. Sabine just chuckled and shook her head.
"Just a simple thing I learned through the years on this planet."
"Not so simple, it's really breathtaking. Are those us?" she asked, pointing at the silhouettes.
"Yeah, I suppose" Sabine shrugged.
"Thank you" said the girl and gave her a kiss. Then she reached for her saddle bag and picked up something.
"It's funny how similar gifts we thought about" she giggled as she handed a jar to Sabine.
"A jar of... Chili?" she said, raising an eyebrow.
"Look closer."
Sabine tilted her head and looked at the jar closer. As she turned she noticed a painting on the glass - now it was her time to gasp.
It was a scenery painted with black and silver. A scenery of her home place, the Dark Star where she came from. There were flowers, beautiful but warning of deadly poison. A lake with dark, slightly sparkling water. Trees, almost looking like the ones on the Earth and yet, keeping danger in them. And the rocks, the so sharp rocks what could kill anyone easily.
Anyone, but not Sabine. Nor Jessica or Katja.
She remembered how they used to race through those rocks. Despite being edgy, they could run on them easily. Usually it was her who won, with Jessica close on her heels. The path of the rocks led high up to a highland. Every time they arrived there, they just laid down on the silver grass and watched the landscape.
Sabine sighed and hushed away the memories. She looked at the girl with strangely sparkling eyes.
"Thank you" she said. Her voice was silent but the emotions she wanted to hide were clearly there. The girl put her hand on Sabine's, showing her a loving smile.
"It's really interesting though, how we gave similar gifts" Sabine said, clearing her throat. "I painted that in the city in a weird artist shop. When I left it was gone and an old lady told me the owner died earlier."
"What the" the girl's jaw dropped. "I painted this jar there too. There was that old man, he let me use his room. I sat there in the chair..."
"That was still warm when I sat down to paint" added Sabine. "You were there not long before me?"
"It seems so, I guess. It's really interesting."
"What's more interesting is that I didn't sense the man was dead." said Sabine rubbing her chin. "I can always feel if there is a ghost, thanks to me not being a human either. But this time I didn't. It's just really weird" Sabine frowned.
"It is. Maybe someone can tell us more about this, let's investigate!" the girl clapped her hand.
"Actually I have a better idea what to investigate" Sabine said with a mischievous smile, throwing a glance at the girl's chest.
"Ah khm oh well uhm. Okay let's do it" she said blushing hard. Sabine just grinned and picked up the girl.
"Let's head home. I want to devour my dessert" she winked and put the girl on her horse.
"Take me to your room. Quickly. This is getting dangerous" the girl bit on her lip.
"Ohoh, I will" Sabine chuckled.
And so she did.