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Long after her friends had gone to bed, Laudna continued to sit in front of the fire at the Krook House, her back comfortably leaning against the sofa. The open-knit shawl Deanna had gifted her was wrapped snuggly around her shoulders, while she was reading the old Winter’s Crest story book Imogen had gifted her.
It wasn’t really cold enough to actually need a fire, but not having one would have felt wrong to Laudna, not when it was still Winter’s Crest. Sure, it was closer to sunrise than not, but she hadn’t gone to bed yet, so it still counted as Winter’s Crest.
Laudna knew she should probably go to bed, it had been incredibly long day spent either cooking or playing hostess to all her friends, but she wasn’t ready for the day to be over quite yet. Winter’s Crest at the Krook House had been everything Laudna had hoped it would be; full of cheer and joy, with plenty of delicious food and drink with all of her friends, interspersed with everyone sharing stories or singing Winter’s Crest songs.
The day truly couldn’t have gone any better even if Laudna had tried, and she certainly had. She had spent weeks decorating and preparing the house for the holiday, first by covering the living room in paper snowflakes (made with the help of Ashton, Milo, and Anni) to simulate snow, then making ornaments out of various trinkets and whatever else she could find, and finally, making her own Winter’s Crest tree to hang the ornaments on. To do that, Laudna had gathered a bunch of old canes and walking sticks, cut them to size, wrapped them in dyed green twine, and hung them together in a triangle formation. She had been so pleased with the result, and even more pleased when everyone had complimented her ingenuity.
The reason for all her effort was simple really, it had been decades since she had been able to properly celebrate Winter’s Crest, what with either being run out of towns, living alone in the woods, or living under the Briarwoods thumb. Not only had this been her first proper Winter’s Crest since she was a young girl, it was also her first one with Ashton, which had made her even more determined to make it special.
While Winter’s Crest hadn’t been a solely Tal’dorei holiday for a long time, growing up in Bassuras at the Greymoore House meant Ashton had never really cared much for the holiday. They’d even flat out told Laudna that they’d be more than happy enough doing a pub crawl with their friends for the holiday, but Laudna had wanted him to experience the same feeling of joy and celebration that she had grown up with. So, after a little bit of convincing on her part, he had agreed to help her go all out, and have as traditional of a Tal’dorei Winter’s Crest as they could in Jrusar. His only stipulation had been that instead a gift exchange, Ashton had wanted everyone to bring alcohol, which Laudna had (albeit, reluctantly) agreed to.
Though of course, all of their friends had ignored that and brought gifts anyway. Besides the shawl from Deanna, and the book from Imogen, Laudna had gotten a poinsettia from Fearne, a portrait of her and Ashton by Braius, a death’s-head moth encased in glass from Prism, and a horseshoe with “Krook House” stamped into from Imogen’s father, Relvin, who said it was meant to be hung above the front door for good luck. Dorian and Orym had brought Winter’s Crest Crackers from Whitestone, which Laudna had been thrilled to have, and FRIDA had made ginger maple cookies for everyone.
Then there had been the gifts from Chetney, which had truly stolen the show. For Ashton, instead of alcohol, he had made a wooden replica of a crawler from the Hellcatch Valley, much to Ashton’s amazement. And for Laudna, he had made her a Winter’s Crest Pyramid; a multi-tier carousel decoration depicting the end of the Icelost Years. The gift had initially caught Laudna so off guard that she had burst into tears, before she had nearly smothered Chetney in a hug. It was just like the one that had belonged to her family, and Laudna had been touched beyond words that Chetney had made one for her. She’d even spent the rest of the night checking and replenishing its candles to keep it turning.
“Should’ve known you’d still want to be up,” said Ashton as he sat down next to Laudna in front of the fire. “I was waiting for you to come to bed, but I finally fucking realized you weren’t coming.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were waiting for me. I can come to bed now—”
“No, no,” he said, they wrapped an arm around her. “This is nice,” he said, stretching out their feet towards the fire. Laudna noted they were wearing the socks Deanna had made for them. Ashton peered down at the book Laudna had open on her lap. “How is that?”
“It’s beautiful,” replied Laudna, her voice wistful. “I had a similar one as a child, though this one has much prettier illustrations,” she said, holding the book to better show Ashton.
“Maybe you can read parts of it to me tonight. But first...” said Ashton, gently taking the book from Laudna and placing it on the sofa. He reached down beside him and pulled out a small wrapped gift. “I know, I know, I said no gifts, but, seeing how everyone else broke that fucking rule, I’d definitely be feeling like an asshole if I hadn’t actually gotten you something,” they said, holding out the present to Laudna. “Besides, I only said that because you had enough on your plate already. I didn’t want you worrying about getting everyone gifts on top of everything.”
“Oh, Ashton!” Laudna said, looking at it, she couldn’t help but smile, noting that Ashton had clearly struggled a fair bit in trying to wrap it. “Really, you didn’t have to! This day was more than enough for me,” she said.
He shrugged in response as he handed it to her. “I mean, sure I didn’t fucking have to, but you deserve it. Especially after all the effort you put in,” he said, giving her a small smile.
Carefully, Laudna unwrapped the gift to find a plain box underneath. Removing the lid, Laudna couldn’t help but gasp when she saw what it was; a beautiful set of connected gemstones, one amethyst and the other some sort of black gem, both hanging on a delicate gold chain.
“Oh, Ashton,” she softly touched the stones, “It’s beautiful!” she said, and pulled him in for a tight hug.
“Uh, yeah. The amethyst is from me, and the jewelry guy had recommended black sapphire,” they said as they returned her hug.
“From you?” Laudna asked as she pulled back from him, not entirely sure of his meaning.
Ashton gestured to their crystal hair.
Laudna pulled him back in for another hug, this one even tighter. “That is too sweet, Ashton!” she exclaimed, burying her face into their neck. She felt her eyes start to well with tears.
He rubbed her back as he returned her hug. “Yeah, I, uh, thought you’d like that, I mean, it’s no handmade Winter’s Crest Pyramid,” he said, sounding slightly embarrassed. “But I thought you’d like it.”
“Of course I do, Ashton, it’s a gift from you after all,” she said, giving them a kiss on the cheek, her voice heavy with affection.
“Here, let me put it on for you,” he said, reaching for the box.
He struggled a moment with the latch, swearing under his breath as he did so, before finally announcing, “There, you’re all set.”
Laudna looked down at the pendant as it hung against her collar bone, admiring how it reflected the light from the fire. “Well now I feel bad. I didn’t get you anything,” she said, frowning slightly.
“Don’t be ridiculous, you don’t have to get me anything. You’ve done more than enough for me,” he said, fiddling with the chain of the necklace.
Laudna pulled his hand away and kissed the palm of it, before wrapping his arm back around her, nestling in close. She had a feeling he wasn’t just talking about today.
“Still. Next year, I don’t care what you say, I’m getting you something, and you’re going to like it,” she declared, leaving no room for Ashton to argue.
“I have no doubt about that,” he replied. “I just have one more thing for you...” he reached into their back pocket.
“Ashton, really, what more could you possibly—” Laudna cut herself off when she saw what he was holding above their heads.
It was the mistletoe Braius had pulled out when he’d first arrived, looking a little worse for wear, but still definitely a mistletoe.
“I swiped this when Braius wasn’t looking,” said Ashton, a sly grin spreading across their face. “Figured I’d get better use out of it than him.” They moved their head towards hers, “Merry Winter’s Crest, Laudna,” he whispered.
“Merry Winter’s Crest, Ashton,” she whispered back, right before her lips met his.