Holiday Nights

     Lyreska didn’t expect anyone but the family to attend, but she was fairly confident that the entire family would attend. Iridesce had gotten home last night; Jefferon had promised he would be there; and overall, the entire family had come home for this holiday weekend. They did for every holiday, but it didn’t keep her from counting each head and hoping they were safe. Some members of her family took more risks than others.

     She was currently sitting in the kitchen, looking at the snow falling outside the window as she sipped on her tea. The fireplace crackled merrily, casting shadows in the darkness. It was late–the rest of the house was asleep.

     “Hey, Lyr.” Lytesa hopped up next to her twin, pulling Lyreska from her reverie. So it seemed that not everyone in the house was asleep. The Darigan Kougra leaned her head against Lyreska’s shoulder, rubbing her back. “Nervous about tomorrow?”

     Lyreska rolled that question around in her mind, considering. “... No. I don’t think so. I think it’s mostly that something feels... strange, this year.”

     “I can feel it too, in the air,” Lytesa agreed. “Lionel has been fussy lately. Yesterday, he wasn’t willing to go into Grave Danger. It’s not like he was scared, just sort of clingy. He eventually went, but he really wanted to stick with me.”

     “Maybe it’s the weather. This time of year can make all kinds of people feel weird,” Lyreska said. “It’s dark, and the nights are so long... Zabuzaf did her solstice ritual on the 21st. I think it helps her feel better; she gets so sad this time of year. Sunbeam had a lot of fun during the ritual, too.”

     “I have to catch her ritual next year. Everyone always says such good things about it. I also hope Sunbeam loves all his gifts,” Lytesa said. “It’s so weird, having a baby in the house this year.”

     “That special plushie from Shenkuu that you got him is going to really make him happy,” Lyreska told her.

     “Did you finish all the meal prep you could do today?” Lytesa asked. “For the party tomorrow, I mean.”

     “Don’t worry–everything is made up that can be made up. Iridesce promised to help me tomorrow, too, so I won’t be alone in the kitchen.”

     “You work too hard,” Lytesa said. “You won’t even be able to enjoy your hard work tomorrow; you’ll probably fall right asleep.”

     “I won’t,” Lyreska protested. “I’m fine! I’m not working too hard.”

     Lytesa snorted, giving her a sceptical look. “Sure, sure. You say you’re not worried, but... you seem like it to me.”

     “I’m not. Really.”

     “If you say so.”

     The two Kougra twins lapsed into silence, Lyreska slowly drinking her tea while Lytesa just leaned against her. The fire cast long shadows across them, a sort of peace settling in the room that only came during late nights spent with good company.

     ***

     For the entire day before the party, Lyreska was so focused on making food that she didn’t notice much. She knew Iridesce spent the entire time with her, helping chop, boil, and bake; she also knew several other members popped in for an hour or two to help out. Many more jumped in to grab some food to eat themselves, since the party wasn’t until the evening and nobody would be eating anything Lyreska made until then.

     However, the spread of food on the table in the dining hall was impressive, and Lyreska knew the hard work was completely worth it. If nobody showed up, there’d be plenty of leftovers; if guests did come, they could probably feed a small army.

     There were several types of turkey, from potato-stuffed to flotato-stuffed, soups ranging from pumpkin spice to vegetable, salads of eggs and mushrooms and herbs, and all kinds of holiday themed-deserts like Illusen’s Holiday Cream Cookies (made with a recipe Illusen herself had shared with Lyreska on a visit) and Holiday Yule Logs. From vegetables to soups to meats, from faerie food and Maraqua cuisine to things from the local Brightvale market, there was any type of food you could imagine.

     Which is why it was no surprise that Lyreska collapsed into a chair in the corner of the main entrance, sprawling out all her limbs just before the party was due to start.

     Lytesa tucked a pillow under her head, and threw a blanket over her. Then, she and Iridesce ushered everyone into the dining hall so that Lyreska could rest peacefully.

     “I think she was anxious and didn’t realize it,” Lytesa told Iridesce as she stood in a corner, eating a bowl of Altadorian Lentil Soup. Although the manor wasn’t cold inside, with every fireplace lit, the soup still sent warmth through Lytesa’s body. It was such a comforting food, and if she didn’t know better she’d swear she could taste the love that Lyreska had cooked into it. “She gets like this sometimes, you know? Where she just... worries about everything but doesn’t realize she’s worried. I tried to get her to notice, but...”

     Iridesce nodded knowingly. “There’s been a lot of changes this year,” she said. “The discovery of new friends. The re-emergence of old. Saying goodbye to many more. It never happened all at once, but it happened, and that leaves a sort of... strangeness in the air. An uneasiness that doesn’t make sense and can’t be explained. But it will sort itself out; the new year will be a fresh slate. The air will clear. We will all adjust to the newcomers in our house, and the people who have left.”

     “Is that what it is?” Lytesa looked around the room. In the end, nobody outside of the Bee Family had shown up. It made sense, since it was the day before the Day of Giving. The only one not in the dining hall was Lyreska, and she’d be woken up soon enough so that she could enjoy the food she’d worked so hard on. “Hey, Iridesce. You were helping Lyreska all day today–aren’t you tired, too?”

     “A little.” Iridesce shrugged, spinning her staff slowly in one wing. The Christmas Vandagyre looked at it, watching the grain of the wood as it appeared to change. “I don’t know. I find myself often energized by helping others. But home... home is the place where I can rest. Where I’m not... the mysterious traveller, new in town, here to help. I’m just Iridesce, part of your family.”

     Lytesa smiled. “Yeah. Merry Christmas, Iridesce. Happy to have you home with us.”

     ***

     The Day of Giving was always a relatively quiet affair. Everyone gathered in the living room, where the tree towered above them. The vaulted ceiling there helped, because it seemed every year they needed a bigger tree than the year before to hold all of their ornaments.

     Presents were passed out. From the younger pets–Kaal, Sunbeam, StarryMist, QuietTides, and Kasshim–their presents were homemade. But every present had been done carefully and with love. They were all family, after all.

     Leftovers from yesterday’s party had been collected, and now everyone had food and hot chocolate and all of their presents. Wrapping paper was scattered everywhere. It would be a mighty job for clean up, but when everyone helped it wasn’t so bad.

     Fallen_Angel_Mouse was curled up in the big easy chair with Sunbeam next to her, reading the book she had given him. She stumbled over the words sometimes, but Sunbeam didn’t seem to mind. QuietTides had pulled Saharan_Lee into a chess match with his new set.

     Lyreska and Lytesa lay together, tails and wings overlapping as they rested, heads pressed to the other’s so that their ears sort of squished. Their Angelpuss and Noil curled up in between them, sheltered by the wings they held over them.

     “You think this was a good Day of Giving?” Lyreska asked, looking around the room as everyone quietly enjoyed their gifts.

     “A great one,” Lytesa said. “I mean–we always get together for the holidays. No matter how far someone travels, they come back home. As long as everyone’s here... I think it’s a great day.”

     “Yeah.” Lyreska sighed contentedly. “We always have each other, right?”

     “Always.”

     The End.