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Something soft and short collided with Zarya’s back, and if she hadn’t been so used to the particular feel of her girlfriend’s surprise hugs she might have thrown them over her shoulder and slammed the attacker to the ground.
But this was a familiar feeling, and so she just looked over her shoulder at a mass of black hair and fur, and said, “Hello, Mei.”
“Merry Christmas!” Mei was bouncing up on her toes as she said it, looking up so that she could almost, almost get her chin up on Zarya’s shoulder. Zarya turned to save her the effort, and Mei contentedly leaned against her.
“Not yet,” Zarya said. She glanced around the halls of the base, but they were empty at this time of the afternoon. “Were you losing track of time in your lab again? I haven’t seen you in a couple days.”
“I know what day it is, silly,” Mei said, which was not precisely a denial. “No, I’m saying it because I - “ and she produced a present from behind her, a sizable box with silver ribbon wrapped around it and a faint frost pattern all over - “ got you something!” She sing-songed, and pushed the present into Zarya’s hands.
The frost pattern, she discovered, wasn’t a printed pattern at all but instead real frost, so Mei had been in her lab, whatever she said. She turned the box over, but there was no rustling - and Mei made an unhappy hum when she went to shake it - so she reached down and pulled at the lid of the box.
It came off with only a little ripping, and Zarya looked inside with no little excitement to find -
Another box?
Well, maybe it had come packaged in this one. She discarded the first box on the ground and pried at the cover to this new one. In front of her, the watching Mei pressed her hand to her face. The lid came loose, and the first glance at the inside revealed that, yes, another box.
“This game?” Zarya asked, discarding the second box on the ground to join the first. Mei broke down entirely in giggles, pressing both hands to her face as though she was going to be able to hide it.
Another box opened to reveal a red one this time, with gold bows. And then a silver one with blue bows, this one small enough that it might have contained an ornament, or some jewelry (Mei didn’t get her jewelry, did she?). And then a pink one, with a simple silver bow, large enough that it might contain a candy bar.
“My winter fox, there is a present in these, correct?” Zarya finally asked, exasperated. They had littered the entire hallway with the wreckage of the prank, and Mei was red-faced and glancing at the end of the hallways to see if anyone was coming.
“Yes! I promise, yes, you’re nearly there.”
Zarya sighed, and pulled open the edge of the candy-sized box. Nestled inside was a white envelope on a bed of fake snow, thin enough that it could only contain paper.
She discarded the final box and ignored the fake snow raining down on her shoes to take the envelope in hand and turn it over, trying to see through the paper. With a glance down, she saw that Mei had puffed out her cheeks and was watching Zarya with anxious anticipation.
What was in the envelope that had the girl so flustered?
Mei’s eyes met Zarya’s and narrowed at her hesitation. She didn’t speak, but Zarya still heard in her mind, clear as day, “ Come on!”
With deliberate slowness, Zarya opened the envelope, reached in, and drew out three pieces of paper. Two were long and thin - tickets. Plane tickets.
DEC 23 7:20 AM Gibraltar GIB -> DEC 23 10:40 AM St. Petersburg LED
DEC 28 3:00 PM St. Petersburg LED -> DEC 28 6:30 PM Gibraltar GIB
“Mei,” Zarya said, softly. St. Petersburg. She hadn’t been back there since -
“Read the note,” Mei cut in.
The third piece of paper was handwritten, in a rough, large scrawl that she recognized after a second as Reinhardt’s.
She already got my permission. Take the time off.
Happy Holidays.
“I know you don’t really celebrate Christmas,” Mei said softly, “so I thought it might be awkward - around the base, you know. And -” she looked to the side, quickly, not meeting Zarya’s eyes as she said, “I wanted to see Russia.”
“Mei,” Zarya said.
“With you,” Mei continued, speaking faster. “And I know you haven’t had a chance to go back in a while, and I’ve seen some of Russia, but, you know, Siberia, not the best representation of the whole place - although I did see a bear once, did I show you the pictures of that?” She had. “And I’ve always wanted to see St. Petersburg, so I guess this is a present for me too, although the tickets are yours and you don’t have to bring me - “
“Mei,” Zarya cut in. She put the ticket and letter back in the envelope (and made a mental note to thank Reinhardt later) and then pulled her girlfriend into a firm embrace, the kind that made her squeak a little with the force of it. “Мишка. I would love to show you my home.”
After a moment of silence, Mei raised her arms and, with a rustle of wrapping paper and discarded cardboard, stepped forward to return the embrace.