Path of the Vampire forum

It was Christmas evening, and it had thus far been wonderful. The moment he’d gotten up, he’d slipped from the blackout room that was he and his lover’s inner sanctum to the living room. There were newspapers which had been carefully taped together over one wall in a way that looked, for the most part, intentional. The reason for the hastily designed paper covering had greeted him with a hug around his legs. Az had absolutely no regrets about the FLYNN WEEK gift he’d offered his partner, but it was not necessarily child friendly, and they were really going to have to think of a long term solution to the problem. The Mystic had been tossing around the idea of a collapsible wall mosaic made from tiles. That or some kind of unfolding art. Either way, he and his boyfriend would figure it out later.

He had been out like a light before Liam had gotten up, and he’d told Flynn the two brothers didn’t need to wait for him to open presents, but he had been sure to reserve, underneath the tree, one gift from him to the boy. When Liam had torn open the present, he had admittedly been less than pleased to find a crown, because. Well. He was a boy, and boys didn’t play with things like that, was what he said. But then Az had given him the rest of the costume, which came complete with a fake sword drawn from a jeweled sheath. That had certainly made up for it. Fast forward about twenty minutes and Az was lying on the sofa with a wooden sword sticking out from between his bicep and his chest, in his death throes.

Shortly after that, the little guy was asleep. Normally when they watched him, Liam’s bedtime got progressively later and later, because he was generally on holiday anyway, and it meant that Az got to see more of Flynn’s younger sibling. But Christmas day had been full of action and excitement, so the vampire did not begrudge how little he actually got to see the Little Prince. Plus. It meant he got to spend a ton of time with his lover for the evening, and he was certainly looking forward to that. Even if they just shared a few quiet hours together in front of the fire, reading and sitting tucked close together. Contrary to popular belief, Az was not always high energy.

But first, he had some social rounds to make. Christmas was the time of year meant to be spent with family, with loved ones. Az had been blessed in this regard, because he got to spend time not only with his partner, but with the sister of his soul, and in restrengthening an old and familiar bond. Had it been up to him, he probably would have flung open the doors to his home and invited everyone close to him there. However, Flynn was not at all a fan of sharing their intimate territory. In fact, it was one of the reasons they had selected a property a little bit out of the way, quiet. Secluded. He still maintained his other properties though, and regularly checked in on those, because people were free to come and go...and that was something he relished. To him, family was all about a place of gathering. A home for the tribe. Open doors and shared meals (or blood), constant discussion and familiarity. Closeness.

So he had to head out for a little bit to meet up with people. “You should get a nap, I’ll be keeping you up the rest of the night.” He threatened Flynn on the way out the door, after pressing a kiss to the man’s jaw in passing. Only for him to scoop up his presents, and then return so he could press even more of those soft affections on the man’s skin. It was at that point he considered sending Eve and Lea a telepathic message saying he would be like. An hour late. But no. No. He totally couldn’t blow off family obligations. So he reluctantly headed towards the door...only to double back and properly yank Flynn right into a lip lock that involved not only the exchange of mortal and immortal flavor, but also promised that the Mystic would return soon. Then he disappeared, because he knew that if he didn’t teleport off, he’d end up making terrible life choices. He knew himself that well.

He arrived at the Lodge almost instantaneously, both arms loaded with presents which had been placed in decorative bags along with tinsel paper. Why? Because he took ages to wrap gifts. He was a bit of a perfectionist, and if things didn’t line up perfectly, he usually had to start over from scratch. This had resulted in him taking shortcuts wherever possible. Like. Never actually wrapping anything. Besides, the gifts themselves weren’t even the important part were they? To Az, the gifts were more like a…’hey, I pay attention to the things you’re interested in’, type of thing. He was bigger on cards. The selection. The careful pouring over of each message. The addition of his own jotted notes. So cards had been tossed into the bags as well.

For both of them, he had purchased a Weasley jumper (sweater), with the first letter of their names in large bold font right on the front. Amalea’s was black with an enormous “A” in canary yellow. Eve’s was a delicate muted mint green with a grey “E” at the very center. Originally, his plan had been to knit the one for Lea himself. It had taken some unfortunate set of circumstances involving getting tangled in yarn to reveal that he had very little natural skill with such things. So he’d found a local vendor who produced them. And after the Holiday Ball, and subsequent territory conflict...and subsequent time spent with Flynn due to reasons, he had immediately darted out to pick one up for Every as well. Hopefully the coloring worked, because there hadn’t been a ton of selection.

BUT. It was the thought that counted right?