Work Text:
His teeth were gritted with pins between them as he focused on the leather he stitched together. Siggy mumbled something through his teeth as he continued to work.
“What?” Saedie asked confused. She sat next to him embroidering a garment. Siggy repeated himself, but the words came out just as muffled as the first time. She reached over and took the pins out of his mouth. “Try that one more time,” she said.
“Do you remember the last time we were down here?” Siggy asked.
Saedie paused and set her work in her lap. She glanced around the room. “This time is very different than back then,” Saedie said quietly. “That’s for sure.”
“I couldn’t even be myself back then,” Siggy said. His tone turned solemn for moment before going back to its natural upbeat timbre. “Now look at us. Back down here hiding out again, but this time to make gifts in secret.” He held up what he was making. “Do you think Nakani is going to like these?” They were a pair of leather bracers he’d been sewing them together with jade and gold thread.
Saedie smiled sweetly. “I think she’s going to love them!” She inspected them a little closer. “You may want to fix this here though.” She pointed to a spot where he’d skipped a stitch.
“What?” Siggy held the fabric close to his face. “Aw, man!”
“I can help you fix it.” Saedie held up the sweater she was embroidering. “What do you think of this?”
An expression came across Siggy’s face where he didn’t want to say anything potentially negative but didn’t know how to put a positive spin on it. “Well…” Siggy said as he scratched the back of his head.
“Tell me the truth, Olafsson.”
“It’s too pretty to be an ugly Solstice sweater.” He shrugged.
Saedie’s face dropped. She looked from the sweater to Siggy then back again. “But…it’s…I used thread that…”
“Matches perfectly,” Siggy cut her off. “The colors compliment each other. The stitching is even…It’s basically the opposite of ugly.”
Saedie turned the sweater back to her and examined it. Then she let it fall back to her lap. “Fuck.” Her shoulders slumped. “What am I gonna do? Toni’s never done an ugly sweater party and doesn’t have one to wear.”
Siggy scrunched his face. The wheels could be seen turning in his mind. Then his eyes went wide as the light bulb went off. “We should switch!”
“Huh?”
Siggy held up the bracers he was making. “These are supposed to look good.” Then he pointed to the sweater. “That’s not.” He moved his hands to show them switching projects. “You can’t sew bad, and I can’t sew good.”
Saedie contemplated his words. Her expression went from uncertain to intrigued. “That might work,” she said after a few minutes.
Siggy held out the leather pieces to her. “Let’s try?”
“Alright.” She took them from him and handed him the sweater. Then they went back to work. Siggy’s occasional yelps of pain when he poked himself with the needle.
After another few hours, they could hear people beginning to gather upstairs. They quickly finished their last few stitches and checked over their work. Saedie handed the bracers to Siggy. “What do you think?” she asked.
He placed the sweater in his lap after cutting off the last piece of thread. Then he took the bracers from Saedie. “These are amazing!”
“Shhh!” Saedie motioned to the footsteps above them.
He switched to a whisper. “These are amazing.” He put them on the table then held up the sweater. “How’s this?” The sweater had some of Saedie’s lovely stitching of snow, stars, and moons. Then there were jagged lines of attempted trees, reindeer, members of the Dawntakers, and some outlines that she couldn’t determine what they were meant to be.
“Oh my gods, Siggy.” Saedie’s eyes began to water. “It’s perfect.” She wrapped her arms around him. “Thank you.”
He squeezed back. “You’re welcome,” he said. After a few seconds, he released the hug. “Well, let’s get going. We’ve got to get ready, or the party is going to start without us.”
The two picked up the presents and headed out the back door of the basement into the alleyway. Then they made their way to the Dancing Trout to change and get ready for the evening’s festivities.