Baubles

Akorri stared at the red eyes reflected in the bauble. He’d call the lines surrounding them distinguished, marvel at how they curved down his face to form bags that held wisdom, not sleepless nights.

He’d be lying to himself, of course.

“Akorri, are you done with the tree yet?”

His ears perked up, but the bauble held him fast. He looked at the Fillian boy reflected in it, hair unkempt and brows knitted in a frown. If he looked at the bauble nine years ago, the only difference would be that he’d be missing the extra bit of fur on his chin. Nine years, and what did he have to show for it?

“Akorri?”

He hung the red bauble on one of the branches and turned to face the others. Laerya looked at him quizzically, standing on her tiptoes in an attempt to sling her arm over Fericeus’s shoulder. Dressed in an obnoxiously overdesigned, fluffy green sweater with sleeves much too big, she looked like a child. Akorri chose to ignore that Fericeus was wearing the exact same sweater, but also had qilin antlers on his head.

“Yeah, I’m almost done with the tree, give me a sec,” Akorri said.

“You were staring at that bauble for like a whole minute,” said Lae, removing herself from Fericeus to stand beside Akorri.

“You were watching me?” He smirked to hide his irritation. “Am I that irresistible?”

“No, Jinny told me.”

Akorri froze, heat rising to his cheeks. He dared not turn his head for fear he would see the white Feln in question.

Laerya’s laughter boomed over the festive music playing from the speaker. Akorri couldn’t even think of a quip, his mind as frozen as his body, so he waited until she calmed down enough to speak again. “But seriously, are you okay? Didn’t go too hard on the mulled wine, did ya?”

Akorri glanced over at two… he hesitated to call them ladies, but indeed, there were two of them sat at Fericeus’s smaller dining table, acting anything but ladylike. Every other word out of Elora’s mouth was an obscenity as she engaged in some kind of lively conversation with Jazz, their glasses glistening with what was likely their sixth helping of wine. They alternated between toasting nothing in particular, their glasses clinking clumsily together, and encouraging each other to drink themselves under the table.

“I swear mulled wine has like, no alcohol,” Akorri murmured as he watched Jazz practically throwing her glass in Elora’s face, urging her to drink out of it.

Laerya followed his gaze. “Feri gave them access to his liquor cabinet.”

“Oh Vacerus, why.”

“Wanted to see what they’d do.”

Akorri sighed, rolled his eyes, then smiled. “That sounds like him, alright.”

Laerya chuckled quietly. She looked to the wolf, who had taken a seat on the couch with Kiyake and Jinny. Kiyake, decked out in blinking lights as she was--she was convinced they were a wearable decoration--was somehow still able to hold the game controller in her hands without getting tangled up in everything. She was instructing Jinny on how to play a fighting game, and judging by the wild light in Jinny’s eyes and her unusually wide smile, she was taking to it quite well.

Akorri couldn’t help but smile at her outfit. Though not festive, the oversized bunny hoodie fit her perfectly, much better than it did him, in any case.

“Ah, he smiles!” Laerya clapped his back. “That’s what I wanted to see. You’ve got no time to be gloomy during Winter’s Fest.”

“Mm.” Akorri looked down at his own atrocious sweater, the one Laerya had forced him to wear. At least it was baggy. “You’re right.”

“But…?”

“But what?” Akorri glanced at her, and then blinked. Her ears were lowered, her eyes soft. Where did her smile go?

“Is it hard?” she said, her voice so quiet it was almost lost to the jingling music.

“Is what hard?” he asked, but he didn’t need to.

“Celebrating the fest.”

He looked at the large pine tree, mostly decorated save for a few missing trinkets. Most of the decorations looked handmade; Kiyake’s work, probably. There was a little dragon ornament perched on one of the higher branches, watching the proceedings with beady eyes. Jinny had put that one up there.

When he was a kid, Akorri had been the one in charge of decorating the tree.

“A little,” he admitted.

Laerya fumbled with her sleeve. “I get it.” She winced, knew she’d fumbled, cursed herself aloud. Akorri didn’t see it that way. “I mean, obviously I can’t get it, but, like, I… I knew it couldn’t be easy.”

“Mm.” Akorri picked up another bauble from the box and tossed it in his gloved hand--even with his ugly sweater, he still wore his gloves. “I’ve gotten used to it, though. The fest hasn’t been a holiday for me in years.”

He tossed the bauble again. Nine years. The last time he’d looked at a bauble proper, there’d been roundness to his cheeks, liveliness in his eyes. He looked down at the red ornament in his hands and he could almost see his mother and Aunt Bell squabbling about something or other, standing behind a young Akorri, while his father looked on. A whiff of cinnamon and orange reached his nose. Had they made a cake that day? Or…

He looked up to see Kiyake had at some point stopped playing and was now carrying a large cake tin in her small paws, balancing it perfectly despite its huge size. A joint effort between her and Laerya, apparently. Lae had insisted on the orange, saying it wasn’t a proper fest cake without it.

Arguments, or toasts, or whatever it was Elora and Jazz were doing ceased when Kiyake slammed the tin onto the table. She opened it with a flourish, revealing the massive chocolate cake beneath, decorated with little slices of orange. “It’s cake time!” she yelled with enough fervour to wake the dragon Gods.

“Yeesh, Kiyake… Kiyake, right? What’re you, what are you tryin’a do, call the neighbours over?” Elora slurred, rubbing her ears.

“You heard her, it’s cake time!” Jazz yelled with the same intensity, grinning gleefully at Elora.

“Shut, before I shove some in yer face.” Elora glared at her before matching Jazz’s grin.

Fericeus smiled as though his eardrums had not just been assaulted twice, and cut the cake, distributing it onto plates. Kiyake took a seat next to Elora, then looked expectantly at the only three people who weren’t near the table.

“I wish Shady could fit in here,” Jinny murmured as she got up from the couch, the ears of her hood flapping from the movement. “Do you mind if I bring him a piece?”

“Not at all,” said Fericeus, while Kiyake shook her head vigorously.

“Akorri, do you want to come?” Jinny asked, gratefully accepting one of the plates from Fericeus.

“Uh, sure.” Akorri watched as Laerya hooked her ornament onto the tree. As he made to join Jinny, the Feln girl gestured for Laerya to come as well.

The three of them left the warm living (and makeshift dining) room, putting on thick boots in preparation for the outside. Akorri held Jinny’s plate for her as she got ready. “I didn’t know bringing Shady cake was a three person job,” he said.

“Oh, yes,” said Jinny, opening the door and letting the windchill in. “You need someone to open the door, someone to hold the plate, and someone to keep you company.”

Akorri snickered. He could never get tired of Jinny’s playful side. He didn’t know she had one until travelling with her for a while. “Good point.”

Their boots crunched as they stepped onto the snow outside. The neighbourhood was coated in white, bringing with it a quiet that only snow could provide. Shady sat by one of the windows, where he had a good view of everyone enjoying the cake indoors. It had been his decision, but Akorri wondered if that wasn’t a little cruel, that they could be inside while he could only watch.

“Yo, Shady!” Laerya called. “We got you some cake!”

The black dragon lifted his head from the window, letting out a little grunt. He sniffed the air, his yellow eyes wide with anticipation as Jinny brought the cake close to him. He lowered his head, sniffed, nodded in satisfaction, and lapped the cake up with his tongue, swallowing it in one bite.

“... You ever realise how scary you are, Shady?” Akorri murmured.

The dragon tilted his head left and right in his version of a shrug.

Akorri smirked at him before addressing the others. “So I take it we’re not really all here to feed Shady, are we?”

“Well.” Jinny looked down at her hoodie. “I just wanted a bit of peace for a minute. It’s not that I don’t like everyone, but it got kind of loud in there.”

“Yeah, even I agree,” said Laerya. “Kinda worried Elora and Jazz will make a mess of Feri’s house if we leave them for too long.”

“But, well, he did say they could drink whatever they wanted,” said Jinny with a little smile.

“So it’s his own fault if they break his TV,” Akorri added with a grin of his own.

Laerya giggled. “I think Kiyake will kill him if that happens.”

Akorri’s grin grew wider as Jinny laughed, and it stayed even as a particularly cold gust of wind whipped his face. This right here, joking around with his friends, even in the bitter chill of winter? This was perfect.

“Akorri, can I ask you something?” Laerya said.

Akorri looked at her curiously. “Sure.”

“What you said earlier, about Winter’s Fest not being a holiday for you.” Akorri saw Jinny frown at Laerya’s words. “Is it one now?”

Akorri paused. He hadn’t celebrated the holiday in nine years, and hadn’t enjoyed it with anyone other than his family.

His… family.

He looked at Laerya, who was watching him with curious concern. Jinny had her head tilted slightly, enough for the ears on her hood to lean to one side in the cutest way. Shady gave him a little nudge of encouragement before turning to look through the window.

Akorri followed his gaze, seeing Kiyake bouncing in her seat in the living room as Fericeus cut her another slice of cake. Elora and Jazz’s mouths moved to some tune he thankfully could not hear, since it was probably terribly off-key. After a moment, Kiyake joined in. Fericeus mimed plugging his ears before Kiyake nudged him, and he smiled innocently at her.

Akorri blinked as he felt the bauble in his hand. He hadn’t realised he didn’t hook it on the tree. He brought it up to his face again, seeing a content smile reflected in its red surface.

“Is it one now…” he murmured, rolling the bauble in his hand. Warmth filled him despite the winter chill as he looked at Laerya and Jinny’s expectant faces. He put a hand on Shady’s furred neck, and the dragon grunted quietly in acknowledgement.

His closest friends, all standing together in the cold when they could have gone inside by now to warm up, like a bunch of fools. His other friends singing merrily indoors, waiting for their return.

Nine years ago, he was with his parents and Aunt Bell. One year ago, he lived alone in a hole underground. Today, he was celebrating Winter’s Fest with the people who meant more to him than anything else.

Nine years, and what did he have to show for it?

He smiled, twirling the bauble in his hand.

“Yeah,” he said quietly. “Yeah, it’s a holiday now.” He shuddered as wind blew past them again. “Now c’mon, let’s go back inside before we turn into ice cubes.”