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A thin layer of snow had already begun to settle in the Vanilla Kingdom- dusting the roofs and the fences and sparkling in the winter sun.
Meanwhile, Pure Vanilla teetered at the top of a ladder, trying for the fifth time now to balance a delicate star on his tree. He’d pulled his hair into a messy ponytail while he was decorating- though he hadn’t pulled it tight enough, and at least half of his hair was just loose around his shoulders. He’d abandoned his usual cone hat for a small red hat with a white pompom on the end. He’d even switched his regular cloak for a red one.
“I told you that tree was going to be too tall.” Black Raisin laughed, holding the ladder steady beneath him. She wasn’t quite as excited for the festivities as he had been, but had at least let him force her into a green and red striped jumper- though mostly because he had made it himself just for her, and she wasn’t that cruel.
“I just need a taller ladder.” He reached a little further, but only knocked the star from the tree- watching it clatter to the ground, he sighed, defeated. “Well… you’re taller than me. Why don’t you do it?”
“Not my problem.”
“Come on, please?” He clutched the star close to his chest, looking saddened. “It won’t be a proper tree without it!”
She raised an eyebrow, watching him stare at her with what could only be described as ‘puppy dog eyes’. She would’ve crossed her arms but still had to hold the ladder. “Fine.”
She climbed up herself once he had gotten down. She placed the star on the tree with relative ease, then smirked down at him. “There.“
He let her climb down before he replied. “It’s not my fault you’re taller than me.”
She put a hand on her hip. “You-“ One of the raisin villagers shoved the door open, interrupting her.
“Someone’s just arrived!” They were breathing heavily, like they had been running.
His eyes lit up. “Already? Who is it?”
The villager hesitated. “Uh… all of them…”
He froze. “All of them? Witches… we’re not ready yet.” He put a hand on either side of his head, his breathing quickening. “What if they hate it and they leave and I ruin the festivities and they never want anything to do with me because of it-“
Black Raisin put a hand on his shoulder, snapping him out of it. “They’re not going to hate you because you didn’t decorate well enough- that's stupid. Plus, you've already decorated just about everything else. Here, you go let them in and I'll finish here, okay?"
He breathed in, calming himself down before nodding. "Okay, thank you." He squeezed her arm affectionately before running off after the villager.
"Ah, there he is!" Hollyberry's voice rang out as he turned the corner to where the four other ancients had presumably been waiting for him to let them in. Hollyberry and Golden Cheese were shivering slightly- neither seemed overly suited to the cold- though Dark Cacao and White Lily both seemed relatively content.
"Sorry I was late, I wasn't finished decorating-"
"What, this isn't everything? Honestly, Blondie, of all times to go all out.." Golden Cheese managed to chuckle through shivers, admiring the twinking lights hung on the walls on the castle like ivy vines.
White Lily looked nervous. "I'm sorry- I didn't know you wanted us to dress up festively!" She had been standing in silence for most of the time they had been waiting while the others chatted light-heartedly. Golden Cheese wore a black and white bodysuit and a red scarf, resembling a penguin- even a delicately crafted cover for her wings making them appear darker too. Hollyberry's usual pink dress had been swapped for a considerably thicker red-toned one with golden accents. Even Dark Cacao sported some reindeer antlers instead of his crown- though he didn't look particularly happy about it. White Lily was the only one who wasn't somewhat dressed up- aside from the thickest coat she could find.
Pure Vanilla smiled, pulling a second hat from his pocket, same as his own. He carefully pulled it over her head. "I've got a spare hat here- it was supposed to be for Black Raisin but I couldn't convince her to wear it."
"Not to sound too rude, but it is freezing out here! Can we go inside please?" Golden Cheese pushed Hollyberry aside, practically begging.
He laughed, stepping inside and gesturing for them to follow. "Alright, alright, come on in then."
Pure Vanilla pushed the heavy doors open to one of the largest rooms in the castle- one previously used for more serious occasions, but had now been renovated into what resembled a large ballroom, Black Raisin still finishing decorating when they entered. The white marble fireplace was crackling, a few plush chairs and couches around it in a circle. The walls were just about covered from floor to ceiling with various decorations, but the biggest thing in the entire place was a tree three times his height, wrapped neatly in spirals of red and green tinsel and glittering lights that flickered with the beat of the slow yet cheerful music. It's branches were adorned with ribbons tied into delicate bows and golden baubles. But nothing seemed to glow brighter than him, watching them admire his efforts- his usual gentle glow amplified to nearly blinding.
Golden Cheese crossed her arms, fluttering carefully above the others. "Hmph- I thought I was supposed to be the radiant one..." She reached into her pocket, and placed a pair of cats-eyes sunglasses over her eyes.
Hollyberry looked up at her with confusion. "Did you seriously bring sunglasses? It's like... the opposite of sunny right now."
"And you didn't? Big mistake." Golden Cheese shrugged. "Plus, he looks like the sun right now. May as well be."
Dark Cacao rolled his eyes- or at least, they were pretty sure he had. It wasn't easy to tell since he was covering his eyes to avoid being blinded. "Everytime you two speak I wonder more and more what goes on in your minds to rationalise acting like this."
White Lily swallowed, gathering the courage to speak. "Vanilla, could you... tone it down a little?"
Her words wiped the smile from his face, the glow fading like he'd been turned off with a lightswitch. "Oh, I- I'm sorry, I thought that you would've liked a bigger celebration since it's been so long but if you don't like it and if I'm going overboard I can just take it down-" He glanced down to the floor, disappointed, holding back a tear. Even the eye of his staff gave her a dissaproving look.
"No, no, that's not what I meant. The decorations are nice, really. We just can't see them because you're glowing too brightly." White Lily apologised quickly.
He blushed red as a pomegranate, embarrassed. "Ah. Yeah. That makes sense. Sorry." He let the elated smile return to his face, but managed to hold back his glowing- even if he felt like he might burst from trying not to start squealing and jumping up and down with pure excitement. His staff rolled it's eye- it knew him well enough to know exactly what he was thinking.
Golden Cheese glided over their heads, perching gracefully onto one of the chairs near the fireplace. "See, this is much better. I had no idea it got so cold over here." She put her legs up on one armrest, laying her body over the other, folding her wings underneath her.
"Remind me not to host next year then." Dark Cacao said evenly- it wasn't clear if he was making a joke or not.
Golden Cheese froze. "Cheeses, don't tell me it's colder over there." She flipped onto her stomach, eyeing Dark Cacao. "Go on, how cold is it really?"
Dark Cacao crossed his arms. "Well it's usually about this temperature in summer."
Her jaw dropped. "You are joking... Hollyberry, you have to host next year, I can't survive in these temperatures." She kept rolling over on the chair like a wheel, returning to laying on her back.
Hollyberry laughed. "Nope, I hosted last time. Either you host, Dark Cacao hosts, or we're all venturing to Beast-Yeast in the middle of winter- which is a death sentence in my opinion."
The four other ancients sat down with Golden Cheese- Pure Vanilla and White Lily snuggled close together and chatting between each other, Golden Cheese on their right on her own chair, and Hollyberry and Dark Cacao sat on a second couch on Golden Cheese's right side, Hollyberry sat closer to her.
Hollyberry nudged Golden Cheese's shoulder, glancing at Pure Vanilla and White Lily, watching him shift ever-so-slightly closer to her. "Goldie, you think you've got any mistletoe with you?"
"Mistletoe? What would-" She followed Hollyberry's eyes, a mischievous grin growing on her face. "Not on me, no, but..." She glanced around the room. "I wouldn't be surprised if Blondie had some stashed somewhere."
Golden Cheese got up quietly, but neither of the two of them seemed to notice, deep in conversation. She quickly moved over to where Pure Vanilla had hung a wreath, a few bunches of mistletoe weaved into it. She was attempting to pull one out when Black Raisin approached.
"Golden Cheese Cookie, do not steal the decorations." She crossed her arms, looking a little suspicious- though that was a little fair considering what she was doing.
"I'm not stealing them. We're trying to-" She paused mid-explanation; admittedly, attempting to set her adoptive father up with White Lily wasn't the most normal thing to be doing. "Okay, fine. We're trying to get those two to finally admit their feelings."
Black Raisin raised an eyebrow. "Dark Cacao Cookie and Hollyberry Cookie?"
Golden Cheese groaned. "Okay, maybe them too. But mostly Blondie and Lily."
Black Raisin was silent for a moment. The nicknames did not make it easy to take her seriously. "Okay then... just put it back later."
Golden Cheese grinned. "Don't say anything to him."
Golden Cheese hovered carefully above White Lily and Pure Vanilla, holding the mistletoe, waiting for an awkwardly long amount of time for them to notice. Hollyberry glanced at her, Dark Cacao giving them both a strange look.
Golden Cheese was about to give up when she accidentally drifted while hovering, nudging Pure Vanilla on the head, distracting the both of them.
Pure Vanilla was first to realise what they were doing, his face turning a deep pink, eyes darting from Golden Cheese to White Lily. Then she noticed, following his eyes. She, too, looked flustered, but looked a little angry at Golden Cheese as well. "Golden Cheese! You can't just-!"
“But I just did!” Golden Cheese smirked. "C'mon, it's the rules! You guys have to kiss now!"
Pure Vanilla covered his face with his hands, unable to disguise both the further reddening of his face and his returning glow from a mixture of embarrassment and out of place excitement.
"Do it! Do it! Do it!" Hollyberry cheered.
Golden Cheese gave her a mischevious glance. "Don't you start, or you'll get it too!" She tossed the mistletoe at her too, landing it squarely on an antler on Dark Cacao's head.
He groaned. "Why did I ever let you all drag me into this..." He seemed to give up trying to fight, letting Hollyberry wrap her arm around his shoulders and put her lips on his- though he seemed to be enjoying himself, as much as he might deny it.
"See, even Coconut played along, you have to!" Golden Cheese giggled, fluttering wildly in excitement. Dark Cacao glared at her, muttering ‘cacao…’
Pure Vanilla, regaining his composure, managed to actually respond. "I- fine. I'll do it."
White Lily's eyes widened. "Vanilla, you can't be serious-" She was swiftly cut off by Pure Vanilla wrapping his arms around her shoulders, kissing her gently on the cheek. She put one hand on the side of his head, the other on his back, and twisted her face to meet his lips. He kept his eyes closed but he raised his eyebrows in pleased shock, squeezing her shoulders tighter.
The other three waited in silence- or at least they were silent until the hand White Lily had placed on his back began to move lower, upon which Golden Cheese shouted "Get a room!" and the other two glanced at each other in shock.
Pure Vanilla finally pulled back, his face red not solely from being unable to breathe because his face was being squashed into hers, though he didn't seem to care all that much- he looked like he might've kept kissing her forever if he could. "Lily-"
Golden Cheese interrupted him. "White Lily, if my eyecings don't deceive me..."
White Lily blushed. "I- um- I didn't mean to- I didn't mean to do that."
"Oh come on White Lily, we can all tell you've wanted to do that for a while!" Hollyberry laughed, looking up at Golden Cheese. "I told you they would get together eventually..."
White Lily crossed her arms indignantly. “We are not together- Vanilla! Don’t look so disappointed! You’re not helping!” She covered her face with her hands.
His shoulders had sank just slightly, though his face stayed a persistent pink, still lovesick off the kiss- not literally sick, though with how he looked he may as well have been, a faraway look in his eyes.
Golden Cheese pouted. “Come on White Lily, you both enjoyed that! Why won’t you admit it?”
“Alright you two, lay off her.” Dark Cacao intervened, watching Golden Cheese make heart shapes with her fingers around White Lily and Pure Vanilla.
Golden Cheese looked disappointed, and perched herself back onto the chair. “You can’t be talking Coconut, you hardly fought Hollyberry off of you!”
“IT’S CACAO FOR OVENS SAKE!”
Golden Cheese giggled, obviously enjoying messing with him. “Okay Coco-“
“I’m going to do violent things to you.”
Hollyberry interjected before things got violent. “Woah woah woah, okay. Calm down. We’re here to have fun, not commit murder.”
Dark Cacao huffed. “Never call me that again.”
“Lily?” Pure Vanilla turned to her, blocking out their arguing and only focusing on her.
She blinked in slight surprise, then turned to him. “Hm? What is it?”
He let his gaze fall to the floor. “You know how you said we weren’t together earlier?” He swallowed, gathering up his courage. “Do you want to change that?”
She hesitated, unsure on what he meant. “Are you… asking if I want to be your girlfriend?”
His eyes widened a fraction, flicking from the ground to her face then down to the ground again. “I mean- that depends. Would you say yes?”
“Vanilla, I…” She put her hand on his, leaned onto his shoulder, and kissed his cheek gently. “I’ve been waiting for you to ask that question for a long time. Of course.”
“I KNEW IT!” Hollyberry jumped up- and the two of them simultaneously realised the other three had gone completely silent, ignoring their argument to see if she would say yes.
“Hollyberry, shhh, they can’t be lovebirds if you keep shouting!” Golden Cheese put a finger on her lips, still watching them intently.
Hollyberry blushed, embarrassed. “Sorry, sorry.”
Dark Cacao rolled his eyes. “You two might’ve won an award for the longest running ‘will they- won’t they’ in existence.”
Pure Vanilla finally looked away from White Lily, crossing his arms. “You all act like you knew the whole time.”
“We all did know.” Golden Cheese stuck her tongue out in a childish manner. “You two made it so obvious I’m surprised you never noticed yourselves. Even a blind, deaf and mute cookie could’ve felt the romantic vibes between you two!”
Pure Vanilla’s face lit up red. “It was not obvious-“
“You two are literally wearing matching hats!” Hollyberry waved her arms animatedly as she spoke. “You never look each other in the eyes because whenever you try you always look away all flustered, you sit next to eachother whenever possible, Sunshine literally lights up when he sees her, I can name at least five times where you wrapped her in your cloak because she was cold, you keep making him flower crowns out of lilies which he wears for weeks on end, and I’m pretty sure you two keep pictures of each other on you at all times!”
White Lily and Pure Vanilla glanced at each other, waiting for the other to react, each going brightly red.
White Lily eventually sighed, and pulled a folded picture from her pocket, putting it on the table in the middle of the circle of chairs. It was a small image, cut out from a picture she and Pure Vanilla had taken when they were younger- and though the picture only showed him, her arm was clearly shown wrapped around his shoulders, her fingers squeezing his arm affectionately. Even when he was younger, he still emanated that same gentle yellow glow, though it hadn’t picked up particularly well in the photo- either because it was too faint, or too bright, though judging by the wide grin on his face and pleased sparkle in his eyes, it was probably the second option. “Okay, fine. I do.”
Pure Vanilla inspected the image, then looked shocked, and pulled a picture from his pocket. It was the other half of the image, cut almost exactly the same, like each half had originated from the same paper. White Lily was smiling in the image, Pure Vanilla’s arm wrapped around her waist, his other arm presumably taking the photo. “So… do I.” He looked back at her, then back at the photos. “And from the same photo too… what a coincidence.”
“That’s not a coincidence, that’s fate bringing you together!” Golden Cheese exclaimed, eyes sparkling. “Oh, that’s so cute…”
Hollyberry looked shocked. “I- um, that was a guess. I didn’t realise you actually did.”
Pure Vanilla giggled light-heartedly. “Hehe, I guess you know us better than I thought.”
Black Raisin moved over hurriedly, looking mildly worried. "Pure Vanilla? Something's beeping in the kitchen and I don't know what it is."
Pure Vanilla sighed, putting his head in his hands- obviously not looking forward to leaving his friends. "Alright then. Sorry, uh- I have to go sort out the food." He stood up and left, following Black Raisin.
The entire kitchen was filled with pleasant smells, a mix of sweet and savoury- and something burning. Pure Vanilla turned to Black Raisin. "Um... how long has it been beeping for?"
Black Raisin shifted. "Like... twenty minutes."
He groaned. "Why didn't you say anything sooner?"
"Golden Cheese Cookie told me not to say anything to you- not that I wanted to, you... looked like you were busy."
He blushed slightly, realising Black Raisin had probably overheard their conversations. He pulled out the tray of what were at one point potatoes, but were now reduced to a charred mess. He was trying to busy himself to avoid having to speak to her about that. "Ah, crumbs. I'll have to see if I've got time to roast new ones..." He tossed the tray out, and began to search for a new bag of potatoes.
"Well? Did you ask her or not?" Black Raisin finally broke the silence, watching him freeze. She didn't know why he seemingly didn't want to tell her.
He looked at her, then back to his search. "I- yeah. I did."
She raised an eyebrow. "And.?"
"She said yes." He smiled awkwardly, skinning potatoes rhymically like a well-oiled machine.
"And you don't want me to know that for what reason exactly?"
He bit his lip, delaying giving an answer. "Well, I just thought you might not approve because if we ever got married she would technically become your mother and I didn't know if you wanted her to be or if you even wanted a mother at all or..." He trailed off, realising she was giving him a strange look.
Black Raisin almost laughed at how worried he had been. "Look at you, overthinking everything again. If you're happy with her, then I'm happy, okay Dad-?" She paused, realising she had instinctively called him 'dad'. "Oh, for ovens sake, don't look at me like that, I didn't mean to say that."
His eyes lit up, glow returning. He leaned closer to her, grinning, quickly cheered up. "I think you meant to say that~ I think you did that on purpose~" He said in a sing-song tone.
She rolled her eyes, pushing him off her shoulder. "I can't believe I put up with you."
"Too bad you don't get a choice~" He leaned back, about to get back to cutting the potatoes when something started beeping again. "Oh, what's it now..." He set down the knife, peering into the oven. He rotated the turkey before returning to the potatoes- but found Black Raisin had already started on them.
Her eyes flickered from the potatoes onto him, though kept cutting without even looking- he was a bit worried she might cut herself but he knew she was responsible. He was probably just overthinking, like she had said. Maybe that was why she kept calling him 'dad'- he'd already started worrying about everything she did like a helicopter parent. "Oh, don't worry. I've got this under control. You can go back to your friends- and her."
"Are you sure? There's still the timers and everything, are you sure you can handle all of them?"
Black Raisin paused- she had forgotten about those. "Okay, tell me about the timers, then I'll have everything under control."
"Well there's one every few minutes that's more just so I don't get distracted and doesn't really mean anything, one every ten minutes that was supposed to be to flip the potatoes but you'll have to set new ones for that, one- did you just get out a notebook?"
She looked up from her furious scribbling on a small notepad. "Hm? Yeah, you have a lot of timers. I figured I wasn't going to remember all of them."
He glanced at the notebook, his eyes narrowing. "You have really bad handwriting."
"Oh, are you serious? You're close enough to a doctor, I bet yours is worse." She handed him the pen and notebook. "Write something."
He finished off her list of timers, and handed her the notebook. She scanned it, looking almost furious. "Of course you have handwriting like a shakespearean poet- I should've known you would."
"Turns out when you're given a few thousand years of free time you start enjoying learning useless little skills like that." He shrugged, laughing light-heartedly.
She put a hand on the side of her head, shaking her head slowly in disbelief. "That might actually be the most 'old man' thing you've ever said." She almost burst out laughing before she even spoke. "-Grandpa."
He groaned. "Don't call me that. Plus, I'm technically younger than you."
She raised her eyebrows. "I'm thirty-six. You're about thirty-thousand." She returned to chopping the potatoes, realising she was getting distracted.
"Hah, I knew it. I got the soul jam when I was thirty-four. Since I technically haven't aged since then... that makes me younger." He crossed his arms, feeling victorious.
"Then maybe I should be the one adopting you then, since you're so much younger than me." She smirked, waving the knife, watching his eyes widen as she did, looking fearful.
"Okay, fine- but I'm not old, just... experienced." He shook his head. "Also, please stop doing dangerous stuff with that knife or I'll make you do it with a plastic one instead so I can stop worrying you'll lose a finger." He put his hands together like he might start praying for her safety.
"Oh, come on, I know what I'm doing. And no, you are old. You literally have the title of 'ancient'." She laughed, watching him get annoyed, though he seemed to give up trying to argue with her.
"If you're sure you've got everything under control, then I'll leave you to it." Pure Vanilla finally decided, and left.
She watched him leave, his gentle glow increasing as he did. It hadn’t not felt strange being adopted, considering she was an adult, but he had seemed happy about it and it hardly affected her anyway so she had no real reason to say no. And… it was kind of nice being fussed over. Even knowing he would absolutely do it anyway. Plus, it had given her a very easy way to cheer him up at any time.
Pure Vanilla re-entered, finding his friends deep in conversation about whether red or blue jellybeans tasted better. They were being suspiciously in-depth with their explanations over some jellybeans, but they’d definitely had stranger conversations.
“Oh, sunshine, you’re back.” Hollyberry grinned widely. “C’mon, pick a side. Red or blue jellybeans?”
Golden Cheese crossed her arms stubbornly. “Those imbeciles think blue tastes like blueberries. Don’t you know blueberries are actually red?”
White Lily laughed lightly-heartedly. “They’re all the same anyway. They just put different colours to make you think they’re different flavours.”
Hollyberry glared at her, though looked playfully angry instead of actually angry. “No they aren’t! They’re clearly different.”
Dark Cacao picked a handful off the table, eating a few. “Doesn’t matter which is better. Just eat them.”
“Um… I like the green ones.” Pure Vanilla admitted, getting a strange look from Golden Cheese.
“Are you serious Blondie? Those taste like… grass or something.” She raised an eyebrow, almost disbelieving he actually ate them. “Eat one right now. Prove you like them. There’s no way you can actually tolerate those.”
He blushed, then took one in his hand and ate it. “Have you actually ever had one of these? They don’t taste like grass.” He sat down next to White Lily, putting a hand around her waist.
“Calling it now- these are disgusting.” Golden Cheese gave the jellybean a sour look, then ate it. She made a face, then shook her head. “Nope, still don’t know how you like those.”
"Seriously Goldie, they're just a different colour- you don't have to act like it's poison." Hollyberry laughed, ruffling Golden Cheese's hair, to her terribly-masked fury.
Golden Cheese nudged Hollyberry's shoulder with one wing, looking irritated. "They taste like poison."
White Lily giggled, pointing at five she'd pulled from the pack. "Look, it's us." She had each in a different colour- an orange one, a green one, a yellow one, a red one and a purple one.
"Why am I purple?" Dark Cacao's eyes narrowed.
Golden Cheese laughed. "What, did you want a black jellybean? That sounds worse than the green ones." She fluttered overhead, nudging the yellow and green jellybeans together. "Now it's us!"
Pure Vanilla leaned onto White Lily's shoulder, making her blush slightly- she was much better at hiding her embarrassment than he was. "Awww... they're kinda cute for jellybeans."
White Lily covered her face with her hands. “Oh, you’re just saying that because Golden Cheese said they were us.”
He grinned like a child with candy, leaning over and kissing her on the cheek. “Well, am I wrong? Are you not cute?”
"Oh, ughhhh, you two are going to make me throw up- stop being so sappy!" Golden Cheese rolled her eyes, mimicking throwing up, watching them both look at her, laughing.
"I guess you're throwing up then!" White Lily turned Pure Vanilla's head with one hand, putting her lips on his. His face lit up in red, but he pushed back, wrapping his arms around her neck and putting his hands on the back of her head.
"Pure Vanilla, what herbs and stuff do you put on the potatoes?-" Black Raisin approached quickly, pausing as she saw the both of them.
Pure Vanilla broke away, looking embarrassed but still smiling. "I use, um... garlic powder and pepper. But honestly, just do whatever you think more people will want." He gave her an apologetic look. "You've caught me at a bad time, aha."
Black Raisin frowned. "Honestly dad, I don't think I've ever caught you at a time that wasn't bad." She crossed her arms, then froze when she realised what she'd said. "...I blame you for this."
He grinned, looking awfully proud of himself. "Stop resisting!" She turned and left, rolling her eyes at him.
Hollyberry gave Pure Vanilla a strange look. "Does she not usually call you her dad?"
He groaned, shaking his head. "No. I think it's got something to do with the whole 'being adopted in your thirties' thing. I thought she might've given up by now, but she still seems to hate calling me it."
"She can't hate it that much if she's saying it by accident." Golden Cheese shrugged. "Just saying- I think she likes calling you it."
"I wish."
Pure Vanilla adjusted the plates- he was still deciding between how to lay them out around the circular table when Black Raisin entered the room.
He turned to her, looking thoughtful. "I need your opinion- do I put the cutlery on the plates or next to the plates? I can't decide."
"Crumbs Pure Vanilla, why does it matter?" She took the plate from his hand, setting it down on the table. “Just lay them out however.”
“It does matter! I want it to look nice.” He pushed the plate aside, stared at it for a moment, adjusted it, and sighed. "I don't know why I care so much. It's just... just plates." He took a sharp breath, shaking his head. He was holding the plate tight enough that his hands were shaking, making Black Raisin mildly worried he might break it.
She took the plate from him, setting it down. “Relax.”
He let the tense feeling leave his shoulders. “I know, I’m trying-“
“Come on, it’s supposed to be festive." She wrapped an arm around his body, squeezing him affectionately. "You even got me in on this- you can't back out over some decorations not looking perfect."
He was about to respond when something started beeping in the kitchen again.
"Crumbs, I've got to check on that..." She nudged his shoulder before she left, flicking her hair over her shoulder as she did, knowing full well it had just swatted him in the face but walking away anyway.
He stood still, finally deciding to just leave the plates how they were.
"Come on, come on, sit down!" Pure Vanilla invited his friends to sit down, looking excited. There were about twelve chairs around an oval table, six on either side. The table was strewn with intricately painted porcelain plates, a few various scented candles- roasted chestnut, cinnamon, orange- and a few small decorations shoved between bowls.
“That's… a lot of chairs for all of us.” Dark Cacao pointed out.
Pure Vanilla paused, looking confused. “Hm? What, you thought this was just for us?” He grinned like Dark Cacao had asked a stupid question. “It’s for the villagers and everyone else too!”
Hollyberry raised an eyebrow. “Your kingdom consists of eight people, including yourself?”
“I mean- that depends on whether you count the ones who evacuated to the Creme Republic- but yeah. Pretty much.” He shrugged. “It’s nice though! I know all of their names, and I actually know all of them really well and I think they know me well- so it’s not so bad.”
Strawberry Crepe pushed the door open, looking both underwhelmed and overwhelmed at the same time. "You decorated. In the warehouse. While I was sleeping. Why.?" They gave him a look of almost disaproval, though didn't look completely opposed to the decorations- more just confused on why he'd decided to decorate overnight.
"Hm? You don't like it?" He smiled, but looked a little worried he might've done a little too much.
Their eyes widened a fraction. "What? No I just-" They groaned. "Just don't come in the warehouses when I'm not around! I don't want you breaking anything!" They crossed their arms, and sat down.
"Oh, I went at night so I didn't disturb your work, sorry!" He turned away from them, silently beating himself up for not asking if they actually even wanted the decorations- though they seemed to have let him off the hook.
"I request you do more next year."
"Hm? What was that?" He turned back to them. They looked a little like they regretted asking- assuming he was asking to make fun of them- but he had been genuinely asking.
"Um- shut up. I didn't say anything." They crossed their arms harder, deciding to ignore him.
He looked at them, confused, until the four villagers entered, and he turned back to them- he was actually starting to get a bit dizzy from spinning so much. "Oh, good, almost everyone's here!"
Strawberry Crepe rolled their eyes. "Espresso's not coming. He's 'too busy'."
Pure Vanilla looked disappointed, though he did think he should've seen that coming. "I see. We... can start without him." He sat down quietly, the others following suit. They sat in a way that placed each ancient separately from each other, a villager or at least an empty chair between them- whether by accident or on purpose, it was unclear- except White Lily and Pure Vanilla, who had decided to sit next to each other anyway.
A few minutes of absent chatter later, Black Raisin stumbled from the kitchen, though looked proud of herself. "Food is ready. Can someone help bring it out?"
Strawberry Crepe looked up, though they had seemed distracted the entire time, not looking up from the projector screen on the wafflebot in their hands, seemingly engrossed in the coding they were writing. "Pure Vanilla, can I test out the waffle bots with this? I managed to get them to grab objects without breaking them, so-"
He nodded, though looked a little confused on why he was being asked. "Oh- sure."
"Perfect!" They stood up, and ran past Black Raisin to enter the kitchen. It wasn't long before everything was out and on the table.
There was barely a spot on the table where a plate or a bowl hadn't been shoved, piles of buttery potatoes and sprouts and pigs in blankets and just about every christmassy food you could think of- he’d cooked some.
“Uh- Pure Vanilla? I think you made too much. There’s no more room.” Black Raisin finally stated, after staring at the table trying to figure out where she was supposed to fit everything.
Hollyberry rolled her eyes. “Wish I had that problem- too much food.”
Pure Vanilla looked in thought for a moment, she shrugged. “We always have leftovers. We’ll just have more leftovers than usual.”
“Can we eat now? I’m starving- Hollyberry told me how good of a cook you are, so I didn’t eat any breakfast so I wouldn’t miss out on anything!” Golden Cheese was leaning over the table at him, and she might’ve actually started drooling if Pure Vanilla didn’t let her eat, so he nodded. He had the slightest feeling she was lying and was just really impatient, but honestly that was very much a 'Golden Cheese' thing of her to do, regardless of whether her story was true or not.
They were just beginning to eat when the door opened again. It was Espresso, who took a quick glance at the food, and crossed his arms- not exactly grumpily like Strawberry Crepe, more... annoyed. "I see you all started without me."
Pure Vanilla looked extremely apologetic. "Strawberry Crepe said you weren't coming because you were busy!" He quickly gestured to a seat next to Dark Cacao- they had reserved him a seat, at least. Dark Cacao looked Espresso up and down as he sat down, eventually deciding he looked serious enough that he would allow him to sit beside him.
Espresso gave Pure Vanilla a mildly concerned look, like he was worried Dark Cacao might assassinate him if he stepped out of line.
"Ah, don't worry about Dark Cacao! He just looks scary. And... is a little scary. But he doesn't bite!" Pure Vanilla remarked, not overly reassuringly, his staff giving him a strange look, though Espresso still leaned ever-so-slightly away from Dark Cacao.
"Oh, Pure Vanilla, don't lie to him." Golden Cheese waved a hand in Espresso's direction, smirk growing across her face. "You should worry about Dark Cacao. He's judging you."
Dark Cacao gave her a stern glare. "You say that like it's taboo. You lot all trust much too fast for your own good." He waved a fork in her direction, looking at her with complete disapproval.
"Dark Cacao, you've met Espresso Cookie before. And he's one of Pure Vanilla's friends. He's not planning on murdering you." Hollyberry raised her eyebrows at him. "Plus, trusting each other was, like, the only reason we ever met up. Would've sucked to spend immortality with people you don't even trust, huh?"
"Pure Vanilla's friends with everyone. That means nothing." He narrowed his eyes. "And you don't count."
Espresso, finding himself stuck between their banter despite not actually saying a word to either of them, sighed in defeat, and started eating. He had a feeling he should've seen this coming after how the last time they'd all met up here had went.
"I'm not friends with everyone! Just... most people." Pure Vanilla argued, attempting to defend himself, but realising quickly that he couldn't exactly argue against something that might actually be true.
"Name one person you actually know who isn't your friend." Golden Cheese rested her head in one hand, giving him a knowing look.
Pure Vanilla froze, thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Okay, maybe I am friends with everyone. But not everyone is friends with me." He crossed his arms like that changed anything, almost looking proud of himself for that comeback.
He, unfortunately, was not as good at rebuttals as he thought he was.
"Okay, but those people are the people we are fighting. Not just random people who don’t like you.” Golden Cheese stated this like it wasn't a well-known fact that you tend to fight people you don't like, not that you did like.
"You lot are insufferable." Dark Cacao put his head in his hands.
Hollyberry tapped her fork on his head lightly. "Don't be so serious! Honestly, you should lighten up sometime, it must be boring being so solemn all the time."
"Hpmf... I'd rather be boring than get betrayed." Dark Cacao stated in a gruff tone.
White Lily laughed light-heartedly, a slight grin growing across her face, leaning ever-so-slightly closer to Pure Vanilla. "She's got a good point about you, Vanilla. You're friendly with, like... everyone." She narrowed her eyes just a little. "How do you do it?"
He thought about that for a moment, then shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I'm just good at seeing things from other people's perspectives." He was still yet to take a bite of anything, pushing a few potatoes and a single sprout around his plate absent-mindedly.
"That and you'll do anything for anyone if they ask because they might like you slightly less if you don't." Black Raisin leaned back in her chair, a smirk on her face.
"Ooh, she's got you there!" Golden Cheese giggled, wings twitching as she laughed. She gave Pure Vanilla a wayward glance, crossing her arms in a victorious manner. "I quite like this Bark Raisin of yours. She knows what she's talking about."
Black Raisin's eyebrows furrowed, giving Golden Cheese the most deathful glare she could muster. "It's Black Raisin. Just because you're saying something nice about me- I think- doesn't mean you can use the wrong name."
Golden Cheese looked only a little offended, which was probably a good sign considering she'd imprisoned cookies over less disrespect- in her eyes, at least. She'd placed a melodramatic hand on her chest, letting out an overexaggerated gasp as she did.
Hollyberry laughed heartily. "I think you've hit a nerve there! I don't think she likes you anymore, Black Raisin."
Black Raisin put her head in her hands, regretting saying anything. "Okay, Pure Vanilla, how long until they leave? I can't take this much longer."
Pure Vanilla sighed, though he didn’t sound so much annoyed as just sounding at ease. “Well, assuming no one has a sudden emergency and has to leave… probably a few days.” He shrugged, a slight smile on his lips. He looked a little worried someone might actually have to leave early- he didn’t get to see the others very often, and he’d quite missed seeing them.
“Kill me now, I can’t deal with you lot for that long.” She groaned, then stuffed a potato into her mouth as if to say ‘do not talk to me’.
“Oh, don’t be like that! She’s not so bad… most of the time!” Hollyberry waved a fork at Golden Cheese, before taking a large bite of turkey.
"Hmpf... most of the time... the disrespect!" Golden Cheese muttered to herself, arms crossed over her chest. She then realised she couldn't eat and have her arms crossed at the same time, so she gave up and got back to inhaling sausages.
Pure Vanilla stood up quietly, a tight grip still on his plate- the plate he hadn't eaten a single bite off of. No one seemed to have noticed until he felt Hollyberry's hands wrap around his wrists.
"You alright? You've not eaten a thing- if you're sick, just say so, okay?" She kept a tight grip on his arms, not letting him move away from her.
He felt the slightest shake start in his hands, which he was almost certain she could feel. "Ah, no, I'm fine. Just making sure everyone else has eaten first. I would hate to leave someone with nothing."
Hollyberry raised an eyebrow. "You know Golden Cheese is taking thirds, right? Plus you said it yourself, you've got plenty of food, you aren't leaving anyone hungry." She had the slightest suspicion he had other reasons not to be eating.
He looked like he might argue with her, then hesitated, sighing. "I know, I just..." He swallowed, trying and failing to stop himself from crying. "I don't want to. Eating makes me feel sick."
"Sick? Like how?"
"I don't know, food makes me want to throw up all of a sudden- I can't tolerate it."
"Just eat a little, okay?" She carefully guided him back to the table, sitting him down and standing next to him instead of sitting back down herself. She kept her eyes trained on him while the others chatted, not paying attention to them.
He bit down on his bottom lip, fork shaking in his hand. He already felt sick thinking about eating- but Hollyberry didn't seem to be giving him a choice. He finally took a few tentative bites, resisting the urge to throw up, waiting for Hollyberry to smile and rejoin the chatter before taking his plate away. It felt better to be rid of it.
"Golden Cheese! Are you cheating?" Hollyberry, along with the other ancients, had finished dinner and had now moved onto playing the most competitive game of uno recorded in cookie history.
"How dare you! I won fair and square!" She crossed her arms over her chest, huffing.
Dark Cacao narrowed his eyes at her. "I just watched you shove three cards up your sleeves."
"Uh- Liar! You saw nothing!" Golden Cheese waved her final card in his face, which coincidentally caused the three cards Dark Cacao had mentioned to fall out of her sleeves.
Pure Vanilla collected the cards from the floor. "Ah, Golden Cheese, play fair. You know these lot, they'll target you if you don't."
"They can't, you and White Lily are either side of me! They can't touch me, and it's not like either of you two can hold a grudge long enough to matter." She looked smug until Dark Cacao stood up like he was planning on moving closer to her. "Ah- hey! No changing the order! Not fair."
"You cheated. This is what you get." Dark Cacao sat in the seat White Lily had previously been sitting in, giving Golden Cheese a downright murderous look. "Pure Vanilla, deal the cards out again. She won't cheat anymore if I'm right next to her."
Pure Vanilla, deciding he'd rather not intervene in their arguments, dealt out the cards quietly.
Hollyberry gave her cards a dirty look, then put her head in her hands. "You lot are why I brought the alcohol. I can't listen to you all argue over the least serious topics-"
Golden Cheese's eyes widened. "You brought alcohol? And you didn't get it out yet? Are you serious?" She put her cards down, unknowingly showing everyone each and every individual card. "Pure Vanilla, you're a great host, but seriously, you're taking too long to get the drinks out. It's Christmas, that's like, a tradition. You don't just not."
Dark Cacao gave Hollyberry a stern glance. "Don't drink too much- we all know what happened last time, and no one wants a repeat."
Hollyberry returned him a smug grin. "Hm... too much alcohol... yeah, I don't know what that means, sorry. I don't think that's a phrase. Plus, I only killed like... four birds. That's not that many." She shrugged, knowing his face was turning a little red- from fury, though, not embarrassment. Or at least, mostly fury.
"Four birds is still four birds..." Pure Vanilla muttered to himself, a little saddened that Hollyberry didn't seem to care about the birds- he loved those things more than he loved himself, and had not been happy upon discovering the bird graveyard outside Hollyberry's windowsill last year. He wouldn't confirm nor deny the accusations that he'd cried over them.
"I think Dark Cacao needs a little alcohol more than any of us- assuming it only takes a little alcohol to get him to loosen up and not three bottles minimum." Golden Cheese ducked to avoid the card Dark Cacao had just tossed at her head, still laughing as she did. "Ah, come on, don't be like that! You know it's true- Hollyberry told me all about the last time she got you properly drunk!"
"Hollyberry! You promised you were keeping that between us!" He actually looked really mad, not even jokingly angry.
She shrugged. "Sorry, sorry. It was too funny not to tell."
White Lily narrowed her eyes. "What did he do? You've not told me about this."
Hollyberry gasped. "I didn't?" She got a devilish smile on her face, giving Dark Cacao a sly glance. "He tried to fight a tree!-"
"That's enough-!" Dark Cacao put a hand over Hollyberry's mouth, quickly shutting her off, though nothing could stop his face from going a little red. "If you continue I'll be forced to destroy you."
"Ah, don't threaten me with a good time!" Hollyberry laughed, leaning back in her chair, watching Dark Cacao struggle to resist the urge to jump her. She finally pulled the bottle from her bag, setting it down on the table in front of her. "Pure Vanilla, do you have glasses?"
"Oh, sorry! Yeah, just a second." He got up quickly, pulled four glasses from a nearby cupboard, and handed them to Hollyberry.
She looked confused, recounting the glasses. "Only four? What, who's missing out?"
Pure Vanilla blushed a little, looking a little embarrassed that Hollyberry seemed to think he might've forgotten how to count to five. "Ah, it's me. You know I don't really drink-"
"Are you serious? You can't not drink, especially if everyone else is. Come on, just have a little. I'll pour you half a glass or something." Hollyberry cut in, her brow furrowed at how he could possibly not want at least a little to drink.
He raised his hands like she'd accused him of a crime against fun. "Ah, okay, okay, fine. Just a little. I can't get too drunk if I'm hosting."
"See, not so hard, was it?" She grinned, poured everyone a glass and handed them out.
Pure Vanilla was the first to start seeming drunk- his alcohol tolerance being by far the worst out of all of them combined with how little he'd eaten meant he was already looking out of it after maybe five minutes at most.
White Lily was next- she, too, didn't drink often, and she would've been drunk faster if she hadn't eaten as much as she had.
Then Dark Cacao- though he had drunk maybe twice in his life, he seemed to have a very high tolerance for the stuff.
Then Golden Cheese- she was the only one who ever dared to face Hollyberry when it came to drinking, though she was yet to out-drink her, to Pure Vanilla's dismay for both of their health.
Finally, Hollyberry- obviously being an obsessive drinker meant she knew what she was doing.
"Pure Vanilla, you've taken two sips! You can't be drunk already!" Golden Cheese narrowed her eyes at him, though he made no effort to reply- if he'd even heard her at all- too busy staring directly at White Lily, barely even blinking, head rested on one hand, looking like he might drop his glass any moment.
"Should've seen that coming. You lot know he has the alcohol tolerance of a small victorian child- which is none at all." Hollyberry laughed, nudging White Lily's shoulder to get her attention. "You know he's staring at you, right?"
White Lily pulled her gaze away from her conversation with Dark Cacao, blushing brightly at how enraptured he seemed to be. She waved a hand in front of his face, breaking the spell placed onto him.
"Ah- White Lily?" He blinked slowly, going red as he realised everyone else was staring at him. He took a careful sip from his glass, then set it down on the table.
“I need a moment-“ He stood up slowly, looking unsure of himself, and walked out in the direction of the balcony.
“Oh, Hollyberry, you scared him off.” Golden Cheese leaned closer to Hollyberry, swirling the remaining liquid in her glass as she did absentmindedly.
“Scared him off? What did I do? If anything, White Lily scared him off by shoving her hand in his face.” Hollyberry shook her head slowly, then gave White Lily a wayward glance.
She raised her arms like she was being accused. “What? You wanted me to just sit there while he stared? Just because I like him doesn’t mean I have to be eye candy for him.” She crossed her arms over her chest like she was slightly worried he’d been looking elsewhere than her face.
“You know… he’s gone to the balcony. That’s an awfully romantic setting, if you ask me.” Golden Cheese gestured towards White Lily with her glass, spilling a few drops onto her hands. “I think he’s waiting for you to follow.”
White Lily looked like she might say something, then hesitated. “Well… he said he needed a moment. I should leave him alone until he comes back.”
“Oh, seriously? What if he is waiting for you and you miss out because you were basically ignoringhim?” Golden Cheese’s wing twitched a little, looking irritated that she might not get to see the two of them kissing again.
White Lily went red. “What? I’m not ‘ignoring’ him, I’m respecting his request for a moment alone!”
“Mhm, whatever you say. Don’t blame me if you find out I’m right later.”
“You’re only saying this because you’re desperate to see us kiss again.” White Lily decided flatly.
“Ah- no, no, of course that’s not-“ White Lily gave Golden Cheese a stern glare. “Okay, well it is, but can you blame me? You two are going to give me a heart attack if you don’t stop being so oblivious!”
“I am not oblivious-!”
“Yes you are- we already established this, didn’t we? You know, the pictures? The flower crowns? The blushing?” Hollyberry narrowed her eyes. “Don’t shoot the messenger- just saying, you two might need eye tests.”
“I’m going to the balcony. Not to check on him, but to get away from you two.” White Lily finally stood up, though she was smiling as she did, which gave the others the feeling that him being on the balcony had at least some impact on her decision.
Pure Vanilla was resting quietly on the balcony railing, gentle snowflakes dusting his hair. His chest rose and fell rhythmically- he must’ve been asleep. Gentle winds nudged at his hair, like cold hands running their fingers through it.
“Pure Vanilla?” White Lily put a hand on his shoulder, though he gave no response. “Are you alright?”
She shook his shoulder, then a little harder when he still didn’t respond. “Uh- Pure Vanilla? Vanilla? Are you alive?”
That finally managed to arouse him enough for him to actually push himself up, blinking slowly as he realised snowflakes had settled on his eyelashes. He noticed her beside him, and brushed the snowflakes from his hair, a little nervous at how disheveled he might’ve looked given he was sleeping where it had just been snowing.
“Oh, Lily! Um- hello. I… didn’t think you were following me out here.” He finally said, gaze drifting away from her and to the snowflakes that speckled the dark sky like shooting stars. He rested his elbows on the icy balcony railing, putting his head in his palms and still looking a little out of it.
“I didn’t- just… everyone else was becoming a bit of a bother.” She shuffled next to him, mirroring how he rested against the railing, glancing down to the frosted kingdom beneath them. “You know how they are with alcohol.”
He’d gone silent, enjoying hearing her voice, though must’ve gotten a little too distracted and had forgotten that upholding a conversation required you to respond to the other person, not just listen to them talk to themselves.
She waited a long moment before he finally realised why she’d gone silent, almost looking a little panicked upon making this realisation.
“Ah- yeah, yeah, bad. That’s why I’m here too.” He went back to silence, realising telling her that sounded a little condescending- like she might not have figured that out on her own given she was there when he’d left. He shifted how he was standing, rubbing his hands together in the cold. “It does feel a little wrong to be out here, don’t you think?”
She thought about that for a moment. “I suppose. Why do you say that?”
“Oh, you do feel the same!” He shook his head slightly, looking relieved. “I was worried I might’ve be imagining things. It’s like I’ve run off and abandoned everyone, which is weird because I hardly ran away and I hardly abandoned anyone.”
She rested her head ever-so-slightly onto his shoulder, making him blush brightly before he managed to stop himself by realising that she could in fact see when he was blushing. “Then what do you think that feeling came from? Feelings hardly come out of nowhere.”
He sighed slowly, looking defeated. “I don’t know. That’s what’s so strange.” He felt quite sick- in a good way, somehow- like the strongest feeling of butterflies in his stomach he’d ever had. Or maybe that was just the alcohol.
“Well, that feeling is wrong. We’re here to have fun, right?” She reached over to him, brushing a single snowflake from where it had settled neatly in his hair, letting out a gentle laugh at the way his face creased as he frowned. “That means everyone.”
He wiped his fingers through the ice on the railing, like he was trying to carve a message in it without actually knowing how to write coherent english words. A look of determination came over him, like he’d silently assured himself of something.
“Um… I wanted to give you something.” He started digging through his cloak pockets, though came up empty handed for whatever he was looking for until he remembered he’d stashed it under his hat.
‘It’ was a small black box, a thin hinge on either side that let the top of the box flip open in two pieces, almost like the pages of a book. The entire box was only about the size of his palm, maybe a little smaller.
He pressed one knee to the ground- inspiring loud gasping from inside- though instantly looked like he regretted it, half-melted ice soaking his skirt and getting mud stained all over the white material where his knee pressed onto the cold stone platform.
He opened the box slowly, holding it out to her.
Inside the box was a small ring, a hexagonal emerald set in silver that wrapped around it like vines, even a few tiny leaves pressed into the metal. The vines around the gemstone formed intertwined patterns along the band, like how tree roots dug through the soil.
“Will you-“
“What on- are you proposing?” She couldn’t even take her eyes off the ring.
His eyes widened a fraction, looking nervous. “Oh! No, no, it’s just a promise ring. We’ve only been dating for like… five hours.” He went silent for a moment, looking like he might be regretting opening his mouth. “Unless you want it to be a proposal.”
“Well… maybe I do.” She finally said after about thirty long awkward seconds of complete shocked silence.
He glanced away from her at the windows that had a view of the balcony, sure he’d seen something- or more someone watching them through it. “If it was, would you say yes?”
She barely even hesitated. “As long as you say yes to mine.”
He frowned, unsure on what she meant until she revealed a box of her own.
It was a similar box, though hers was a little wider than his, more rectangular. It was black too, though with delicate gold trims on the top that looked quite like the stems of flowers.
She decided against putting one knee on the floor, instead getting into more of a lunge, trying not to fall over.
“Vanilla, I… will you marry me?”
She opened her own box, revealing a ring. It was gold, a large aquamarine gemstone in the shape of an oval set in-between two sets of three white gemstones organised into triangles, their bases facing the larger gemstone. The rest of the band was styled like a wreath, looking almost like flowers and leaves were wrapped around it.
He looked like he might start crying- happy tears, thankfully. “Of course, Lily. I would love to.” He practically threw his arms around her shoulders, before immediately retreating upon realising he’d nearly toppled her over in his excitement.
“Make out, make out, make out-!” Someone who sounded suspiciously like Golden Cheese called from inside, before quickly being shushed by someone who sounded an awful lot like Hollyberry.
“Goldie, shush! You’re ruining their moment! They’ll make out eventually. This is just slow burn or something.”
Pure Vanilla finally glanced over at the windows that that now contained the silhouettes of three cookies- two stood next to each other, and another hovering not far above.
“Um… you know we can hear you, right?”
The three went silent.
“Crap.” Someone finally said.
“Goldie, see, I told you to keep quiet! They probably heard when you said-“
“SHUSH! Don’t tell them, they might not have heard!” Golden Cheese sounded awfully nervous. “You didn’t hear what I said earlier, did you?”
They both glanced back at each other, ring boxes still in hand. Neither had heard a thing aside from quiet gasping until now.
“See! It’s fine, neither of them heard a peep!”
“You three can come outside now. We know you’re there.” White Lily finally said.
Golden Cheese almost kicked the door open, wanting immediately to inspect each ring, though said nothing to either of them- clearly not overly impressed. Or just jealous no one had gotten her one.
The other two were a little slower, Hollyberry looking excited and Dark Cacao looking frankly confused.
“It’s not even been a day and you two have already gone from friends to lovers to engaged. You waited all this time to confess just to speed run everything afterwards?”
Pure Vanilla looked at White Lily, then glanced back to Dark Cacao hesitantly. “I mean, it’s not like Lily’s a stranger I met yesterday. And… I’ve known her for my entire life- why wait?”
White Lily nodded. “I hope I get to know you for the rest of my life too.” She put her hands behind his head, pressing her lips onto his cheek, making his face go hot, though he only wrapped his own arms tighter around her chest.
Pure Vanilla suddenly pulled away. “Oh! I almost forgot to actually give you the ring.”
He pushed the box into her hands, and she handed him hers. Each one fit perfectly.
“How did you know my ring size?” White Lily narrowed her eyes, worrying he might’ve somehow measured her fingers while she was asleep or something. “This fits too well for a lucky guess.”
He raised his hands like he was being accused. “No, not a lucky guess. I measured one of your old gloves. How did you know my ring size?”
“I didn’t. It’s enchanted- it’ll always fit whatever finger you put it on. It’ll change size for each finger.” She looked quite proud of herself for that- though wasn’t quite sure how to feel about finding out exactly where her glove had gone.
He put a hand under her chin, lightly pressing his lips onto hers, though still looked shocked when she pressed back- despite everything, there was the slightest part of him that wasn’t complete sure she was genuine. Not because he didn’t want it to- of course he did, he loved her like anything- but because he didn’t quite believe he wasn’t in a perfect dream.
“You don’t have to flinch when I kiss you.” She gave him a slight smile, like she might start laughing at him before she kissed him again.
“I think that’s our cue to get out of here before they start getting too comfortable.” Hollyberry finally said.
“Hollyberry, don’t act like you two won’t be watching through the window and pretending they can’t both see you.” Dark Cacao rolled his eyes.
Golden Cheese fluttered above his head, looking like she was trying to ruffled his hair, which was pretty difficult considering she kept drifting away from him. “Dark Cacao, you were watching with us and you know it!”
Hollyberry finally groaned at the other two, and dragged them inside, leaving only Pure Vanilla and White Lily on the balcony.
“I’ve got a few thousand years worth of loving to catch up on, so-.” He put his hands on the sides of her shoulders, running his fingers along the soft material of her cloak before he gathered up the courage to speak. “I love you. More than I think I could ever express through words alone.”
“I love you more.” She ran a thumb along the side of his face, watching his face twitch as he debated whether or not to object to this, eventually settling on deciding that he liked it.
He let a grin spread across his face. “You know liars go to hell.”
“Are you calling me a liar?”
“If you’re trying to tell me you love me more than I love you, then yes, I am.”
“I’ll see you in hell then.” She’d finally had enough of this, and pressed her lips back onto his to force him to shut up, the only sound being what sounded like ecstatic squeals from inside.
The wind picked up, sweeping snowflakes and their cloaks around their bodies but neither cared as long as the other was close by. As long as they had each other.