unknownballad | ❝ Snowflakes swirl down gently ❞

❝ Snowflakes swirl down gently ❞

{ in the deep blue haze beyond the window }
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November/December/January holiday post. Here are some ideas:

snow: first snow of the season/ever, making snowpeople, forts, or snow angels, snowball fights, snowed in
warm: hot drinks, warm blankets, crackling fires, busting out the winter coats and socks, baking in a cozy kitchen
holidays: decorating, picking out a tree, preparing the big holiday meal, exchanging gifts
activities: shopping, cooking, sledding, ice skating, cuddling with someone special
new year: par-tay!, toast, countdown, midnight kiss

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It probably isn't the first time for either of them in Paris. It might not even be their first time in Paris together. But whatever came before was just a spot of fun. A whirlwind weekend because they had the time and inclination (and time off from school). This time has the weight of all their history and Seung's efforts to do and be better.

Sure, whisking Jay away to Paris to stay in a high-end hotel with gorgeous views of the city from the Seine is easy. Either of them could do it on a whim. That's just the kind of life they lead. But Seung is determined to make this romantic, not just another fuck-fest in an exotic location. There are no exclusive parties to ring in the new year. No, Seung treated Jay out for dinner, held his hand on a boat ride down the Seine.

Now they're walking back to their hotel, past a late-night cafe with live music pouring out onto the street. Seung pauses, thinking back to the night they met. Holding a hand out to Jay, he smiles fondly. "Dance with me."

Edited 2024-11-22 02:18 (UTC)

The house is brilliantly decorated. Of course it caught Felix's attention. And, of course, the little cat snuck in with ease. Some sort of party's going on so the door opened and closed frequently. And cats are good at slipping in and out of open doors. People tend not to look down, so as long as he stays out from underfoot, he goes unnoticed.

Unnoticed, perhaps, until he pauses under a delightful Christmas tree, loaded with shining, sparkling temptation! Felix pauses. Watches the stillness of the tree with wide, focused eyes. And then, oh-so-gently, begins to paw at a low-hanging ornament.

Edited 2024-11-23 21:28 (UTC)

It’s been several years since Myca’s lived on land among humans (and other creatures) and he still doesn’t know exactly what people decorate for this time of year. But it’s pretty and he likes that. He has a feeling Aqua will like it, too. So, of course he sends his friend a text to find for the next time he comes ashore, inviting him to come visit and help Myca decorate his apartment.

Myca’s plan is to take Aqua shopping and let him pick out the decorations, then go back and begin decorating. He’s pretty sure it’s not something Aqua’s done before, at least not in this contact. He even makes a list of the basics they’ll need for when he gets a message from Aqua saying he’s on land again.

Edited 2024-11-24 18:25 (UTC)

Hayun said he wanted to go to Santorini for his winter break, so that’s where they’re going. Yohan sends Jun to the US to meet Hayun while he heads to the house he’s let in Greece to get things set up for them. Hayun & Co. will be taking Yohan’s private jet (important since one of Hayun’s guards is on a no-fly list). Yohan and his entourage (including a bulk of the household staff) will already be In Santorini when Hayun arrives.

The house is decorated for Christmas, barely a room left untouched with the holiday spirit. Garlands, lights, baubles, gnomes. It looks like something out of some perfect home décor magazine. When he gets a text saying they’re on their way from the airport with Hayun, Yohan’s there to greet his boy by the door… along with Baba and Siwoo and a few other fixtures of their household in Seoul.

“Welcome to Santorini, darling.”

Edited 2024-11-24 17:43 (UTC)

Iseul's home is dark and sprawling, positively goth in decor and style. Those guests who know or know of Iseul won't be a surprised. There's a running joke in the community that the Fae is truly meant to be a vampire. He certainly seems to spend enough time with some of them (perhaps one in particular).

As the host, Iseul does his duty: greeting guests, showing them to the parlor (with its pockets doors open making it somewhat of a small ballroom with musicians sitting in one corner), inviting them to dance, dine, and mingle. The whole of the ground floor and his extensive grounds outside are open to them.

The dining room boasts a long table with a veritable banquet. Though, one must be careful about eating Faerie food! Never fear, dear guests, for none of this food was prepared or even harvested by Fae hands. Outside, the grounds are covered with sprawling flower gardens, topiaries, and even a small maze of hedges. Lanterns light the paths since it’s night. Both in and out, the house has many dark nooks and crannies and unoccupied to rooms to disappear into. All guests are welcome to stay if, for any reason, they are unable to leave at first light.

In spite of his desire to devote his time to one person, Iseul is the consummate host. He mingles with everyone for a time, however great or small, pouring tea and wine to keep every guests cup full, ensuring that the food on his table is always just right — hot for the meats, chilled for the fruits —, making introductions, and encouraging this guests toward entertainment.

Making his way over to the one person he'd much prefer to pass his time with, Iseul peers out at the sea of guests and sighs. "A thought occurs to me: are you not a co-host now that you reside here?"

Edited 2024-11-24 15:40 (UTC)

He had celebrated holidays with Yohan and the others in the past. But for some reason they hadn't done anything truly magical just yet. At least not until now. Now it seemed they were going to go out as a family to go do this. A large house where it was snowing to have a Christmas celebration. Even just driving up to it, Bae was amazed by the sight of the mansion and the beautiful snow that was falling around it.

Leaning over Yohan to look out the window, he rested partially on his lap as he gave a little gasp. A smile lit up his face as he looked over at the man.

"That's where we're spending Christmas? It's so beautiful."

Most bars and food service places liked to decorate for the holidays. His place was no exception. However, he found most of the generic holidays to be pointless. They were just a means to argue over something that really had no impact on anything and honestly got to be so tedious. Darin had actually cursed people to terrible fates whenever they tried to demand something stupid like he or Wolf having to say Merry Christmas or whatever.

No, he and his pup preferred to do things that were more interesting. More entertaining. Holidays that were made up in media. Nothing nationally or internationally celebrated. Just ridiculous things that actually made people want to visit the bar more often because it was a unique choice.

And this particular holiday happened to be his favorite. Well, second favorite. The wolf one was actually his favorite but that was a private one between him and Wolf. No this one was Festivus and he loved the way it was celebrated. Especially the airing of grievances. That was just...delicious.

Leaning on the bar next to Wolf, he chuckled as an engaged couple did the activity at a nearby table. "I have a feeling they're not getting married after all."

Christmas, New Year, neither were holidays Dal's celebrated since he came to the US. His neighborhood didn't do a lot collectively either: a few lights in windows, a dinner served by volunteers at the shelter nearby, some garland in his favorite all-night diner. There was no one to exchanges gifts with, no one to kiss at the stroke of midnight.

No one until now.

Dal never expected his life to change so much the night he met Gabriel. Everything changed even more the night Gabriel took him out of the city. Who could have predicted that someone so put-together in life would want to share that life with him? Maybe, once upon a time, somewhere in the back of his mind long forgotten, Dal hoped for a life like this (he totally did!).

There was a tree for Christmas, dinner with Gabriel and his mama. Dal wasn't much help in the cooking, but he observed from a place where he's out of the way. And he was the first to help with the cleanup. Washing dishes is something he can do in spades. Putting dishes away is easier now that he knows where everything belongs. The language barrier between Dal and Gabriel's mom is wide, but they somehow manage without any awkwardness and more than their fair share of laughter.

And after she leaves for the night, Dal's content to curl up on the couch to snuggle with Gabriel for a while. He really hasn't even imagined he'd be so happy for a very long time. Years. Even years before he ran away. His chest feel so full and he hardly notices the water pooling in his eyes.

"I haven't done this in a real long time," he murmurs quietly.

Normally, Matthias is good at surprises. Keeping secrets from others doesn't give him any pause. Yet... Somehow, he almost blurts out his New Year surprise for Seong multiple times in the span of the month leading up to it. All he did was surreptitiously ensure Seong didn't have any plans for the night before setting to work. Reservations at a nice restaurant where Seong would have quite a few menu options that wouldn't kill him. A nice, designer outfit to dress him up in (oh, he's 100% certain it'll fit his boyfriend perfectly). And a simple text too early in the morning on New Year's Eve.

Come up and see me at 4:30. Not a minute before or after.

Edited (omitted a word) 2024-12-16 20:08 (UTC)

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