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Sapphire shifted her shoulders uncomfortably in her insulated jacket, adjusting to the bizarre air conditioning her low-rent accommodation provided. While the complex was never warm enough in winter to make her shed her outerwear, she would quite often find herself shrugging it from her shoulders for a minute or so, letting it hang from her forearms before slipping it back on. This wasn’t as viable an option with hands full of last-minute groceries that she feared would tear through their plastic bags before she reached her apartment, resulting in her stewing in a mild yet lingering discomfort as she carried herself to the apartment door. Her shoulderblades stung from the burdens they carried, drowning out the acoustic strumming that grew louder with each step that brought her to her door.
Her arm flexed as she raised at least 4 bags, rapping her knuckle against the door. No answer. She knocked again, this time with a calm yet demanding “Ruby!,” that she hoped would summon her girlfriend to the door. Her plump, coral-painted lips pursed, burying her frustration before she set the bags down. She was greeted with no traditional light in the room when she opened the door, instead met with the small colored spots that the christmas tree lights scattered across the floor. She had to squint to see inside, shocked to find the silhouette of her girlfriend sitting in front of their tree. This shock didn’t come out in a shriek or a noticeable physical reaction, but for a moment every hair on her body seemed to stand on end, her jaw hardening as her teeth clenched.
In their years together, Ruby had trained herself to see these small hints to her lover's emotions, extending an arm and holding out her hand, releasing a sheepish laugh along a nervous “uh, sorry. Didn’t mean to fright you. Uh… W-Welcome home, Sapphy.”
Sapphire’s hairs settled back down. She released a sigh as she pulled the key from the door, picked up her bags and carried them in. Her finger reached for the light, only to hear a loud, “Wait!” She turned back to Ruby, blinking as her single functioning eye fixed on her. Even in the dark Ruby’s abashedness was easy to spot, always having to force out a laugh or scratch into her massive afro.
“What?,” Sapphire asked, her cold tone making her sound frustrated.
“Uh, can you come sit here?” Ruby patted the floor in front of her.
Sapphire raised one of the bags in her hands. “I have milk.”
Ruby patted more vigorously. “C’mon, it won’t take more than a minute!”
Sapphire sighed, setting her bags down next to the door and shutting it behind her. After taking her place in front of her girlfriend, she blinked, eye growing accustomed to the darkness that surrounded her and Ruby’s silhouette starting to fill out, along with a large acoustic guitar resting in her lap. Her eyes widened. “Why do you have that?”
“Oh.” Ruby’s mouth hung open, head turning down and hands turning the instrument up to face her. “Uh. Well. The guitar dude next door let me borrow it.”
“Mr Universe?”
“Yeah, that guy.”
“Did he… Teach you?”
“Oh. No.” Ruby’s face flushed, hand once again scratching into her hair. “Couldn’t afford his lessons. I just looked up tutorials on my phone.”
Sapphire quirked an eyebrow, giving a small smile. Something about Ruby’s lack of foresight, while a slight annoyance in some cases, was endearing more often than not. “So,” she asked, “why did you borrow it?”
Ruby’s hand gripped the neck of the guitar, lips pursing as she looked over the instrument. “Uh… Well, I’m broke-”
“I’m aware,” Sapphire interjected.
Ruby’s face burned even harder at the comment. “And uh, I still wanted to do something for Christmas. So…” She could feel her girlfriend’s eye on her as she pulled the pick from between the frets, awkwardly strumming it against the strings. Her confidence picked up as she fell into the tune she had devised, ‘ooo~oo’s in place of lyrics following.
‘What’s that smell I smell on you? Is it magic pe~erfume?’
Not even 2 lines in, and Sapphire was already laughing. Ruby’s fingers stopped at their places on the fret, head turning away. It did little to hide how red her face was, even in this light. She was guided back to the guitar by a small hand taking her wrist, turning her back to face her lover. “I’m sorry,” Sapphire apologized. “Keep going.”
Ruby cleared her throat and started strumming again, slowly building back up to the lyrics.
‘Cause I swear to god, you smell just like Christmas, to meeee~eee~ee.’
There was another pause, though this one wasn’t driven by embarrassment. Ruby let out yet another ‘uh,’ fingers working up and down the fret as she tried to remember where the next verse started.
‘Yeah, well… You, are my, Christmas Tree.’
Ruby seemed to be fully pulled out of her embarrassment, eyes lifting from the guitar’s frets to her girlfriend, smiling at her and seeing an even bigger smile in return, singing even louder.
‘You mean everything to me. You mean everything to meeee.’
Something in her heart leapt as she saw Sapphire’s expression. A blush, small but unmistakably there, and her lips quivering, constantly trying to break into a smile had made her months of practice worth it.
‘And you, are my, shooting star. If you shoot me in my heart, then I’ll fall apaaaa~haaaart.’
Sapphire’s blush now matched Ruby’s, the two sharing awkward and admittedly silly looks, Ruby now unable to stop smiling as she sung.
‘You pick me up when I’m down, oooo~ooo~oo.’
Her song was interrupted again by Sapphire’s hand, though this time it rested on her knee. It wasn’t a hug or a kiss, but it was the most physical intimacy she could provide without obstructing Ruby’s playing.
‘You pick me up off the ground, aaaa-aaa-aa.’
Sapphire lips pursed, allowing Ruby to admire their softness as she let out a giggle.
‘And I don’t know if it’s such a good idea, ‘cause you’re way down there, and I’m, way up here, yeah.’
There was another pause as Ruby tried to find the next note. Sapphire didn’t seem to notice this though, interpreting the pause as the end of the song. She pulled back her hands, clapping and quietly cheering. Ruby laughed and reached out with her other hand, pushing her hands back down and leaving Sapphire with a rather quizzical expression. “Hold on, there’s one more verse.”
Ruby’s attention then returned to the instrument, tongue sticking out to one side as she tested the different notes. “Hold on, you’re gonna love it,” she assured, eventually letting out an ‘aha!’ when she found it.
‘You have really small hands, so why don’t you use them to hold me tiiiiiiight…’
The outro dragged on for a while after that line, but Sapphire was already giggling, snorting, cheering and crying from one eye. The second Ruby set down the guitar, Sapphire’s arms were around her, driving a kiss right onto her lips. Ruby laughed against her lips, securing her arms around her waist in return and kissing her with all her might. “Merry Christmas, Sapphy,” she whispered as she pulled away.
Sapphire gave another quick kiss to Ruby’s cheek, along with a small “thank you,” before burying her face into the crook of her lover’s neck. “Merry Christmas, Ruby.”