Work Text:
The end of December grew closer, and with it, Christmas time. Streets that were usually veiled with darkness now stood illuminated with spots of various colours of light, from red, through yellow, to the brightest of greens. Everywhere one looked, they’d find a reminder of the festive season. That day, it was Christmas Eve.
Olek stepped out into the middle of the hall. Warm golden light, sourced from the open, burning petals of a chandelier above, nestled into the threads of the carpet lying spread out across the floor. Lining the sides of the room, emerald green wreaths hung from the pillars, accenting the pale white.
He could spot two of the invited guests adjusting the decorations - one of them balancing on top of a ladder, the sparrow’s large wings widely spread out so he wouldn’t collapse. The other - one of his housemates - held onto the ladder, while keeping his eye on a box of tangled lights.
The celebration was due to begin in an hour, he figured after quickly checking his phone. Olek didn’t see anybody new arrive, just the designated decorators and the small group talking beside the tables. It was still early, but he hoped the others wouldn’t be late. Not when everything was planned out step by step.
A breeze entered the room, shaking the warmth inside as the ornate doors came open. In the entrance stood a woman, hands clutched onto her coat, her wings folded close to her body. Olek skipped forward at the sight of his close friend. She seemed happy to see him, and slipped off her coat to reveal a red, sparkling dress underneath, and pearls resting around her neck.
“Olek.” She greeted him with a nod.
“Miodowa.” He responded, taking her coat to hang it in the right place.
The pair moved on back to the middle of the hall. Miodowa assessed the environment - Olek could see approval in her expression, although subtle. He adjusted the holly leaf pinned to his vest - he’d picked a dark green one, different to his usual style.
Olek cleared his throat, breaking the silence, “Sage and the kids didn’t arrive with you?”
“No, they stayed behind. Sage had important matters to take care of, Cztery and Siedem are doing… God knows what.” Miodowa replied, accenting the last words with a frown. She took a deep breath, “Though they’re going to be here soon.”
“That’s good to hear.”
They found a small nook with a couch inside, lined with burgundy fleece. It was perfect for them to sit and chat, especially since Olek could keep his eyes on the entrance. Miodowa quickly ran her fingers through her feathers.
“And your roommates?” She asked.
He clicked his tongue, “Hard to tell. Faye drove here with me, but she’s disappeared somewhere. With Ezra, I think. As for Stupki and Maksiu, I haven’t seen them since this morning.”
“Oh.” Miodowa’s expression soured ever so slightly. “Maksiu… he’s not planning anything, is he?”
“I’ll keep him four metres away from Siedem at all times.” Olek smiled. He knew about the two’s previous… escapades, and he wasn’t about to let anything ruin their Christmas celebration.
“Thank you.” She fell back onto the couch, “I don’t want a repeat of the billboard incident.”
“Or the tamagotchi thing!” Olek chirped.
“That too…” Miodowa rolled her eyes. “There better not be any trouble regarding them today.”
Time flew by, faster than Olek could keep track of. Out of the corner of his eye, as he was consumed in his conversation with Miodowa, he could see guests coping in. He beamed up at the thought of everything going according to plan.
Though he still couldn’t see Maksiu or Stupki, or Miodowa’s family. The latter worried the barn owl as she entered her wife’s number into her phone, distressed tapping accompanying the action. He bit his lip, scanning the crowd.
Miodowa stepped away to talk over the phone, though on the way she bumped into someone. Annoyed, she let out a series of clicking noises, startling the one that knocked her over. By the mess of feathers on the floor, he knew exactly who it was.
“Ezra?”
“Olek! We were looking for you!” His brother smiled, pulling Faye in close to him.
“You… you were?” He raised a brow.
Ezra and Faye didn’t seem to hear his question, the former leaned in close to their partner’s ear, whispering something. Now that was confusing. Faye’s eyes widened as her lips shifted into a grin, one of mischief. Olek’s heart sank.
“Y-yeah! We were going to ask you if you’ve seen Stupki or Maksiu around.” Ezra turned back to Olek.
“I was about to ask you the same thing. I have no idea where they went.” Olek shot a glance towards the entrance, making the other two’s heads turn as well.
“Stupki did say she was going to be busy today, didn’t she?” Faye mused. “And Maksiu…”
And as if life were a cartoon, the doors came open. The entire room’s attention was on the three that entered. It was clear it had begun to snow - Olek could tell by the snowdrops stuck in the first person’s pristine white feathers, like a layer of frost on birch bark, and on the two that followed - they all looked like they came from a winter wonderland.
“We’re here!” The dove hybrid sang out, announcing her presence. Out of nowhere, Miodowa appeared from the crowd, picking up her wife and spinning her around. They shared a sweet, simple kiss, without the mistletoe that usually came in pairs with kisses at this time. They didn’t need it to share affection.
And all would be good in life, if it wasn’t for the fourth person that arrived.
“Siedem! I’m sorry, take me back, I didn’t mean to-”
Oh. Oh no.
Olek pushed through all the people to get a better look, and he watched the scene unfold. Siedem covered his face with his hands, tail flicking furiously behind him. Sage stretched out her wing to cover him as the yelling man dropped to his knees. Miodowa’s head whipped around almost a hundred and eighty degrees as she sent him a scowl. She spoke, her tone as cold as the snow outside, “Maksiu.”
Maksiu looked miserable. His clothes were wrinkled, the buttons by the collar of his shirt undone, and his jumper looked nowhere as clean as Olek recalled it looking that morning. Small twigs and leaves stood embedded in the thick fabric, and it didn’t take long to figure out what he was doing. Disappointed, Olek rubbed at the bridge of his nose.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’ll be good, I promise!” Maksiu curled into his position, he could almost lay flat against the ground.
In response, Miodowa simply sighed, and gestured for her family to get as far away from the tv-head as possible. Even if slightly unpleasant, this did mean the party could start. Olek, Faye and Ezra took this as their sign to mix back in with the crowd, now that most of the guests were here.
***
Truth be told, the atmosphere turned much friendlier over time - and when Maksiu was quite loudly told off by Faye. Food lay on the tables, a product of shared effort, and music began to softly sound out in the background.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year - say the lyrics of one of the more known Christmas songs. It might have been true. As people mixed and mingled to talk with each other, finally reuniting after months of being separated from each other, time flew, because time flies when you’re having fun. Somewhere around two hours into the party, a stage suddenly opened up, ready for people to try and sing. This ended with some people more than pleased, rushing over - and not fighting for the microphone, definitely not.
A couple songs in Faye took over, singing some sort of carol. Her voice, sugary sweet, warmed up the mood with its sound. Some listened, and some chose to sing along. All the different sounds danced in the air. Faye spun around, distracted, every image blurred into spots of golden light. Dazed, she almost didn’t notice the person that entered. But her heart dropped when she did. Her hand went limp, the microphone in it nearly slipping out. It turned much quieter.
“Kira?” She muttered, lips parted in disbelief.
At the door stood an angel - she was shaking the remains of the cold from her wings and coat, attempting to walk in unnoticed, despite her being late.
“Yue, turn the music up, please?” Faye turned to the one operating the karaoke set.
The whale shark gave her a puzzled look, but they moved on to messing with the speaker system next to him. Faye stormed off the stage, dropping her microphone. A loud screech pierced through the guests’ ears. Although not for long - the speaker finally turned on, now playing some sort of Christmas hit.
Quartz was hesitant to follow, but he ran behind Faye, into the corner she had disappeared into.
***
Meanwhile, a small crowd gathered beneath one of the pillars. The hot steam of discussion resounded from where they were standing, audible over the sound of music.
“I’m telling you, he has them, he definitely does!” One of the voices barked, her ears pinned.
“Nuh-uh! Kaz, there’s no way.” The other grinned.
Kazarka crossed her arms, throwing her head back in mock offense. A soft chime of bells accompanied the motion. “Tori, you’re on my side, right?”
“Oh, yeah, for sure!” The ginger-haired woman’s attention snapped back to the discussion. She stirred the cup in her hand, filled with a warm drink.
“Were you even listening?” Kazarka raised a brow.
“Of course I was!” Tori yelped, “And I think you’re right! He definitely has massi-”
A phone buzzed in the distance. Tori turned her head towards the sound - joined by flashes of colour on the screen. The nearest person around stepped up to the phone, sliding off his goggles to get a close look. “Tori, your… mum’s calling?” He took the device into his hand, inspecting it like some sort of specimen.
“Wait, what’s the contact name?” She jumped around to fully face him.
“It says… ‘My dearest mommy’ with three hearts.” He replied, mildly uncomfortable.
“Oh, that’s just Stupki. Pass me the phone?”
“Wait!” Olek appeared out of nowhere, “Stupki’s calling?”
Tori accepted the call, waiting for a familiar voice to answer. But there was only silence on the other side.
Until Stupki hung up.
“Hm. That’s weird.” She mumbled.
“Maybe you could try calling again? Her connection might be cut off because of the snow.”
Tori bit her lip, “Maybe, yeah-”
“Klon!” Miodowa yelled out from the distance, “Come here!”
Klon walked over to Miodowa as they worked to set something up. Olek trailed behind him, then looked back at Tori, Charlie and Kazarka returning to their talk.
Where on Earth was Stupki, and what was she doing?
***
The party was in full swing. There was dancing - one of the dances happened around the Christmas tree stationed close to the middle of the room, a pretty funny sight. With all the guests running and spinning around the green-needled cone, it may have been slightly cultish, but nobody really cared.
Some people were seen lurking around the food tables, reviewing the options. tables, reviewing their options. Klon scanned the dishes that had been previously set up. Finally, he caught sight of something he liked - some pierogi, lying in an open container, and there seemed to be a lot of fans of them, since it stood half empty. He grabbed a paper plate and took some for himself.
After taking a bite, he found out they had mushroom filling - simply delicious. They really held a lot of flavour, a special kind he had never tasted before, and he didn’t question why they were almost gone.
“Did you know Cztery made those?” Miodowa asked, having walked away from the lighting system. It was a horrible pain to fix, but finally, the Christmas lights were up and running, glistening in all the various hues under the Sun.
“Really?”
“I don’t know when she had the time to do all of that.” She leaned against a pillar, gazing off into the distance.
There stood Cztery, occupied by a conversation with Siedem and a friend he had invited. Neither Klon nor Miodowa recognised them - their long, glistening purple hair cascaded down their back, and their clothes, elegant and poise, just like their stature, seemed out of place, yet somehow perfectly suitable. Miodowa could also see a fourth person creeping up behind the trio - she squinted her eyes in suspicion. She hoped it wasn’t who she thought it was, slightly relieved when no TV came into view.
Although it was still a worrying sight, with how they looked at Cztery, eyes wide, almost hungry in a way, their mouth watering.. Cztery yelped in surprise when she caught sight of Faye standing right behind her. She nearly tripped over her legs, caught mid-air by her sibling, who looked equally alarmed.
“Sorry, I-“ Faye seemed distracted, distant, “I must have confused you with someone.”
***
Those who were tired decided to station themselves at the couches lining the areas behind the pillars, illuminated by the glow of candles - electric ones, nobody wanted to risk a fire hazard after what happened the previous celebration they had together. Ancia leaned her head back, letting the tension fall from his neck. The celebration was nice, sure, but it felt nice to find one calm moment amongst everything and all the chaos - even if she was the catalyst of most of it.
To her side she could feel Nerin huddle up to her, their weight pressed along Ancia’s side. The warmth spread through them both, for a moment, Ancia closed her eyes. This could last forever.
“Did you try Cztery’s pierogi?” She asked, turning over to his drowsy partner.
“Hm?” Nerin blinked in confusion, before falling back onto Ancia, “No. Don’t like that kind.”
“What’d you mean? They’re amazing!” Ancia grinned, “Though, there might be something funny in them.”
To that, Nerin mumbled something, and closed his eyes.
Ancia stared at the ceiling. Lime green branches of a plant hung from it, decorated by one big red ribbon. A mistletoe, right.
Wait. She shot up. Since when was there a mistletoe?
She looked back at their partner, mouth agape. A shade of red flushed on Nerin’s cheeks. They interlocked shocked glances, but they knew exactly what to do. Nerin pulled Ancia close. Their lips met, and although the touch wasn’t long, it lasted for decades. Ancia ran her hand through the soft blue strands of Nerin’s hair, embracing them once the kiss ended.
“Okay, but that mistletoe wasn’t there before.” Ancia whispered.
“Definitely not.” Nerin replied. “Merry Christmas, though.”
***
Ezra stood in front of the door. His hand, raised up to knock on it, was frozen in the moment, unsure.
They drew in a breath, letting the air spread through them whole. “Faye, are you there?” He called out.
Faint sniffling could be heard inside. Ezra’s heart sank.
“Come in!” Ezra turned the doorknob, slowly pushing the door inside.
The room, veiled in shadow, presented a stark contrast to the illuminated main hall. Only the faint rays of moonlight creeping in through the nearby window kissed the one inside with a silver glow. Faye wiped her eyes, avoiding Ezra’s watchful gaze. They sat next to her, hand travelling over to hers.
“Hey.” He spoke. “Are you alright? I saw you running from the stage some time ago, I’ve been looking for you.”
“I’m okay. It’s just-” She paused, “I thought I saw somebody that was long gone.”
Ezra shifted closer to Faye, letting her rest her head on his shoulders. He turned in a way that her horns wouldn’t accidentally scratch him. With their hands locked in a hold, Ezra tried to channel his support. “But it wasn’t them, right?”
Faye laughed anxiously, “The thing is, I don’t know. It might be her, but it might be me seeing things, and-”
Ezra interrupted her, “Faye. Listen.”
Only now could he see the red swelling around her eyes, and the wet shine of past tears. She stopped in the moment, attention fixed on her partner. “Focus on the moment. You’re here in this room with me. Outside, our friends are having the time of their life. It’s all going to be okay.”
He pressed his forehead against hers. They sat like that for however long it was, the silence nothing but comforting. Music echoed from outside the room, but it was just background noise. All that Ezra could focus on was Faye, and the rhythm of her heartbeat.
“Yeah. I guess it will.” She pulled away, her head falling back, relaxed as she leaned back.
“Wh-” Faye’s expression turned into one of confusion. Slowly, she looked back at Ezra. She glimmered with excitement, and Ezra had no idea what she was trying to say. She pointed upwards. On the ceiling, a mistletoe hung above them, waiting for them to proceed.
Almost immediately Faye threw herself forward, embracing Ezra as they shared a deep kiss.
“Ezra!” She smiled when they parted, “Is this what you were telling me about?”
They stared at the green plant above, puzzled. “No, I- I didn’t do this. I was going to, but… I didn’t hang that there.”
Faye tilted her head, “Then who did?”
***
“Somebody’s going around and hanging up mistletoes!”
“Żelek, weren’t they there before? You were the one decorating the place.” Sage looked at Żelek, not at all moved by his alarm.
He scoffed, “That’s exactly why I think it’s weird. I didn’t see anybody putting them there! I barely managed to avoid the one in the back. I’m taken, thank you very much.”
Miodowa joined the discussion, “I saw Ezra and Faye whispering about something earlier today. Let’s be honest, this looks like something they could do.”
“It must have been somebody that wasn’t seen a whole lot. Technically, everybody here has an alibi. We were all in groups.” Rui, who had heard the discussion from further away, wondered.
“How do we know where everybody was the entire time?” Yue chimed in. “Maybe the culprit is putting another one up right now.”
“We need to figure out who strayed away from a group, or who was alone.” Miodowa clasped her hands together, “Me and Sage were together the whole time, Olek and Klon were with us.”
“Siedem was introducing me to Cztery.” Rui stated.
Yue said, “I was operating the music!”
Suddenly, a voice. “Hey guys, what are you talking about?”
Momentary silence. Żelek’s stare pierced the one that approached the group, the latter’s ears flattening against his head.
“Eliot!” Miodowa asked, “When did you get here?”
“Just… now?” He shot quick glances around the crowd, stepping back to avoid the pressure.
“He’s lying!” Żelek connected the dots, “I saw you talking to Quartz an hour ago.”
“It must have been him!”
“What?” Eliot yelled in surprise, “I don’t even know what you’re talking about, what did I do?”
***
“You need to get out of there.”
“No! You don’t get it, she’s got it out for me!”
“Blue.”
Suzie felt slightly worried when her housemate was nowhere to be seen. Though she had a tendency to sneak off a lot of the time, in social situations, she rarely left the side of whoever she trusted. And this seemed suspicious. She looked almost everywhere, asking people if they saw where Blue may have gone. Suzie expected her to be hiding away in one of the rooms upstairs, perhaps overwhelmed by the noise.
What she did not expect, however, was to find her hiding underneath a table.
Her companion’s golden gaze begged for understanding, “Everywhere I go, I find her staring at me. I know this is all an organised plan, I’m not letting myself get tricked again.”
Suzie sighed, “It’s okay, she’s not going to do anything to you.” She reached out her hand, “Now, you want to get back downstairs?”
The light coming from behind Suzie painted her almost angelic. Blue crawled out from the cramped space, careful so as not to hit her head.
Now back together, they made their way over to the stairs. Down below, a very peculiar scene unfolded - a ring formed around someone in the middle of it, hands thrown up in the air in surrender.
“What’s going on?” Blue asked, walking over to the railing to get a closer look.
“Not sure. I heard some arguing a while back, but I didn’t hear what it was about…” Suzie trailed off, “Something about mistletoes?”
“Oh.” Blue, despite her name, suddenly got strikingly more red.
Suzie felt a smirk come on her face. “What, what’s wrong?” She teased, “Are you scared?”
She did her best to avoid Suzie staring right at her, and their decreasing distance,
“No!” She protested.
The two stepped down the stairs, ready to mix in with the group again. Suzie could already see Żelek and Quartz in the crowd that had been circling around somebody, perhaps they knew what was going on. Though for a moment, Blue paused. She glared at the floor, the floorboards suddenly becoming mighty interesting. Suzie looked behind her shoulder, observing as the flustered girl pointed upwards.
She didn’t even need to see the ceiling to know what hung above them. Suddenly, Blue shot forwards, standing up at the tips of her toes to reach Suzie’s cheek. It was short and sweet, but the world seemed to disappear around them. The people, the music, the lights, they all vanished into the void. All that was left was just the two of them, hands locked together.
“I think I’m in love with you.” She blurted out.
“People usually say ‘Merry Christmas’ after this,” Suzie smiled, “But I know.”
Usually, loud cheering wasn’t what people wanted after a private moment such as a first kiss, but that’s what happened.
“Yes!” Eliot called out, "I told you that it wasn’t me!”
***
“Okay, let’s gather up everything we know.” Olek announced. “We know it’s not anybody in this circle, it’s not Blue or Suzie, and it’s not…” He squinted his eyes, still suspicious, “It’s not Eliot…”
“Why are you still accusing me? We all saw that there was nothing above the entrance, and then all of a sudden, the mistletoe was there.” Eliot crossed his arms.
“We can’t have just missed someone climbing up there and hanging it up.” Olek rubbed his fingers against his chin, deep in thought.
Miodowa snickered, “You definitely wouldn’t have.”
“Hey, I’m not that blind!” He argued. “We need to get to the bottom of this.”
“Maybe it’s someone who says they were going to be absent?” Sage cut in, “Like, Stupki, Miko, Toby… this could be something they did.”
“Miko and Toby are snowed in. They couldn’t get out of their house.” Miodowa replied.
Faye entered the discussion, “And nobody’s even heard from Stupki for the whole day. Me, Olek and Maksiu live with her, it’s strange that she never said anything.”
“It seems that whoever the culprit is, they’re specifically targeting the couples…” Cztery began to wonder.
A laugh could be heard coming from the side. “What is this, a Hallmark Christmas movie?”
Cztery cleared her throat, pushing up her glasses, “Which means that- we could potentially try and bait whoever’s doing all of this. Have someone sit out in the open…”
Kazarka seemed like recognition sparked inside of her, “And then we could unmask who’s hanging up the mistletoes as they’re doing it!”
“I volunteer!” Sage raised up her arm, practically falling over with how vigorous the motion was.
Miodowa glanced at her from the side, “You know you can kiss me without a mistletoe above us, sunshine.”
“I know… I know…” She blushed.
Olek interrupted the romantic atmosphere before it escalated, “Okay, if not Sage and Miodowa, and I’m assuming we need to use someone that hasn’t been.. caught yet, then I think there’s only one other…”
Everyone gathered turned to Siedem, who had just walked in. They looked at everybody, puzzled.
Sage and Miodowa erupted with sounds of protest, and if they hadn’t been restrained by the ones standing nearby, Olek would have left that room in an ambulance, or even a casket.
“Great idea, Olek!” Said Maksiu, who emerged from nowhere, putting his hands on Siedem’s shoulders.
“Oh, no, no, no!” Siedem protested, “I am not getting anywhere near this guy for any reason-“
“But we need you to solve the mistletoe mystery!” Cztery elbowed her sibling. “You’re our only hope!” She teased.
The imp’s face turned into a shade of deep purple, “Czte- We’re talking about the dude that jumped out at me from the bushes! You saw it happen!”
“Correction, I fell from the bush!” Maksiu said proudly. “And gravity led me to Siedem…”
Miodowa whipped her head towards him, “Why were you in the- whatever. Olek, we’re not doing this. Me and Sage can be the bait.”
“It’s fine,” Siedem sighed, hiding his embarrassment with his hands, “I can do it.”
Maksiu nearly leaped up in joy, but he stopped himself seeing the way Miodowa and Sage were eyeing him.
***
Sometimes, Siedem felt like punching someone in the gut for their ideas. And that certain someone was now observing him from behind the pillars, as if he were some sort of animal in the zoo. It was ridiculous.
It didn’t help at all that Maksiu was taking it a bit too seriously. Completely relaxed, he leaned against a pillar parallel to the ones they were being watched from. A shiver ran through Siedem.
“Isn’t this a beautiful night, honey?” Maksiu asked, and if his face would be seen, he’d probably be fluttering his eyelashes.
Siedem said through gritted teeth, “Act natural.”
“Oh, yeah.” Maksiu slowly glanced over at Siedem, “Completely natural.”
Further away, Olek and the others kept careful watch of the situation. He curled his palms into makeshift binoculars, focused so he would catch the tiniest motion.
“Anything?” Sage whispered.
“No, I can’t see anything. It’s too dark up there.” Olek replied.
“Maybe they’ve caught on to what we’re doing. Let’s send out a couple of people to interact with them.” Miodowa suggested.
“Good idea! Everyone, spread out!” Olek ordered. “Me and Ezra will stay behind and watch.”
And so, they did as was said.
“What are they-” Siedem muttered in confusion and disbelief.
It looked like no plan was in motion at all. The celebration returned to normal, almost too normal. Eventually, it was quite easy to forget about the plan - somehow, Siedem managed to get into a conversation with Maksiu. Still, he felt his muscles tense whenever he got too close, but to get to know him without the whole ‘stalker’ ordeal, it comforted Siedem in a way. Maybe he wasn’t as bad as he seemed.
“Maksiu, I-” Siedem began, “I think you’ve got some kind of unhealthy obsession with me.”
“You know I'm not doing all of this to annoy you.”
“Sometimes, and by that I mean often, you are.”
Olek whipped his head around to face his brother, “Stop moving around, I can’t see anything!”
“Oh, I have just the right thing!” Ezra began to shuffle around in his bag.
“Ez- Where did you get binoculars from?”
“I like people-watching.” He grinned, “Ow! You stepped on my wing!”
“Shut up, we need to-”
“Olek!”
“What do you want, the mistletoe’s right there!”
“Siedem, look!” Maksiu gasped.
Siedem looked up, seeing the mistletoe slowly lowering towards the two of them. Maksiu beamed up at the sight, he wished his smile would be visible. Siedem chuckled - alright, he agreed to this himself.
“Fine, c’mere,” He said, tone much more gentle than usual.
It wasn’t anything but an act - Siedem leaned in, quickly pressing a kiss to the side of Maksiu’s… head? TV? A wave of cold kissed him back, the taste of metal remained on his tongue. Siedem wiped his mouth with the edge of his sleeve.
“You know…” Maksiu rubbed the back of his neck, “We could repeat this sometime…”
“No, stop it.” He smacked the man next to him.
They both laughed in response. Maybe they wouldn’t repeat the kiss itself, goodness, no, but simply being in each other’s company without all the pressure, knowing he was talking to a person, not the image of someone who wanted to possess him.
“No!” Olek shrieked. The pair turned towards the source of the piercing noise, confused. Olek lay there on the ground, binoculars in hand. Defeated, he fell limp, whining. Ezra appeared behind him, trying his best to see if Olek hadn’t suddenly given up out of disappointment.
Sage ran up to them, “What, what did you see?”
“They were too quick.” Ezra answered, “Neither of us noticed them.”
“Yeah, we would have, if you didn’t start wrestling me!” Olek snapped.
“I didn’t start it!” They argued.
“Both of you, shut up!” Siedem broke their bickering, “So, do we have to repeat this whole thing?”
“Gladly!” Maksiu called out from the background. Siedem stayed silent, horror washing over him. Maybe not. Not ever.
Miodowa walked in, shaking her head in plain disappointment. “We’re stopping this science and discovery before anybody gets hurt. Let’s just look out for whoever this might be, and enjoy the rest of the evening.”
***
Miko shivered as a cold gale roared outside. The sky, covered in smoke-coloured clouds, stirred in thunder, spewing out shards of snow.
“W-why would she tell us to me- meet her outside?” They spat, still shaking from the freeze. It held themselves close, pulling her hood over their head as she watched the snowflakes fall down.
To her side, its companion shoved his hands into his pockets. The biting cold gnawed on the exposed, pale skin of his cheeks, turning them red. He sniffled, mumbling something under his breath.
“She’s a mad woman, that’s what she is.” He replied.
“Yeah.” Miko chuckled.
Something moved in front of them. Miko’s companion took a step forward to get a closer look, but he could barely make out what it was with the layer of snow.
“Who’s- hey!” He yelled, charging forward.
“Toby, wait!” Miko reached forward to grab him by the collar of his coat. “Be quiet.”
Toby, now having fallen knees-first into the snow, froze in place. Both of them observed the approaching figure, their silhouette becoming clearer once they stepped into the area lit up by street lights.
“Fucking finally!” Toby shot up, “Do you know how long we’ve been waiting for?”
“Did you do what I told you to?” The voice asked.
“We sure did!” Miko smiled, despite the sting it brought, “Everything’s ready.”
“Good. Now, go inside. Blend in with the crowd, and wait for my signal.” They ordered.
Miko began to herd Toby up to the exit - the promise of finally being back inside felt like a warm hug, quite literally.
“This is stupid.” Toby cut in.
Miko leaned in to whisper into Toby’s ear, “You complain one more time, and we’re going to pull out the costume.”
All colour vanished from Toby’s face, he nodded, accepting his fate.
Pleased, Miko led them inside.
***
“Hello everybody!” Miko greeted, waving to the group inside. She paused, seeing the scene. Olek was lying on the ground, surrounded by a circle of people.
“Miko? Toby?” Sage squawked in surprise, “I thought you were snowed in!”
“We came out through our window.” A smile emerged on Toby’s face. Good save, Toby.
“Oh, I see. Well, come on in!” The dove hybrid gestured for them to come closer.
Olek jolted up from the ground, “Miko and Toby are here?”
“They just arrived.” Miodowa replied, “Though… It feels strange that it’s right now…”
Sage threw herself forward, perching on Miodowa’s shoulder, “But since everybody’s here now, we can begin.. you know what!”
Miodowa’s eyes sparked with recognition, “Oh yeah! Let’s gather everyone up, then.”
Sage cleared her throat, making her way towards the middle of the room, right by the Christmas tree. She glanced towards the side - Klon took a glass and tapped a spoon against it, the jingle catching everybody’s attention. Miodowa took her place next to her wife, giving her a warm, reassuring smile. Sage was more than glad to return it.
She took in a breath, “Since we’re all gathered here, I wanted to say a few words. First of all, thank you all for coming, even if some of us,” She looked at Miko and Toby, “came a bit late. It’s a shame Stupki didn’t make it, after all, but she’s with us in spirit.”
“You’re saying it like she died, or something!”
Sage’s eye twitched, “It’s great that we all managed to work together to get this all working, it really was an effort to rent this place and- and just fix everything up. I’d like to thank Żelek and Quartz for taking care of the decorations, and everybody who helped, obviously.”
The speech was interrupted by people beginning to clap for the mentioned ones. Sage took it as a chance to stop for just a second. Once they were done, she resumed with the speech. Meanwhile, Miodowa watched from the side. With how the light fell on Sage as she was speaking, her confident stance and how she could enchant everybody with her charm, Miodowa couldn’t stop looking. There was nobody else in the world, nobody that she could be happy calling her partner for eternity other than Sage.
She saw movement at the corner of her eye. Miko slid away from where she had been standing, quickly making her way up the stairs. Toby seemed to match the action, except from the other side. What on Earth? Keeping their eyes on the door, they raced to the middle of the room. Miodowa knew exactly what they were doing. Sage was still distracted, and they took their chance. Miodowa’s suspicions were only confirmed once she looked up at the ceiling - truth be told, she was both shocked and impressed. Large branches of mistletoe were hung up on the ceiling, slowly lowering down by a system that resembled reeling in a fishing rod. So it was Miko and Toby hanging those up!
“Before we resume, does anybody else have anything to say?” Sage asked. People began to raise their hands, and Sage gave them a nod of approval.
“Sage,” Miodowa interrupted, “Look up.”
The dove stared at her, bewildered, before she turned her gaze towards the ceiling.
Sage gasped softly, then looked back at Miodowa, who was already approaching. She felt as if she was floating, or flying through the skies, she couldn’t tell. Miodowa made the distance between them decrease, the air felt heavy, they were consumed in a haze.
Miodowa wrapped her arms around Sage’s waist, swiftly pulling her in. Fiery, golden light made Sage glow as if she were an ethereal being, Miodowa wanted nothing more than to be close with her. The world melted away, nothing existed but the warmth between them.
In one motion, their lips met. The Earth itself stopped spinning, Sage saw stars behind closed eyes. The touch, the care, the love they shared felt like it came out of this realm. It made something ripple inside of Sage’s chest, the feeling as if this was right. It wasn’t new to her to be kissing her wife, but every time it felt like the first - sweet, blossoming love.
Once the kiss ended, they were still close, not ready to let go. Sage pressed her forehead to Miodowa’s as they lingered in the feeling.
“I love you so much,” She breathed out. It was a truth that both of them knew well.
Suddenly, the door burst open, the storm of the outside world meeting the atmosphere inside.
Between the doors stood someone familiar. Green strands dotted with frost covered her face, yet to be brushed away. Instead of her usual attire, though, she was dressed in a bright red costume - Santa Claus.
“Stupki!?” Everybody yelled.
“Yes, hi, hello!” Stupki called out, flicking some snow off her shoulder. She froze, “Did I pick a bad time?”
The room exploded in cheering and laughter.
At last, everybody was together.
Some time later, after they had opened the gifts, concluding their “Secret Santa” event, it was time for the energy to settle, and everybody was getting ready to go home.
Olek and Stupki watched as the crowd thinned out. Olek set his hand around a paper cup, filled with warm liquid. Steam floated up to his face, curling and twisting.
“So, how did the party go?” Stupki grinned, a certain glimmer in her black eyes.
“Not at all like we planned thanks to… we know who…” Olek took a sip of his drink, “But it was nice.”
“Merry Christmas, Olek.”
“Merry Christmas.”