VOX

Ch 12

Davina enjoyed Christmas. Never before did she know holidays to be fun occasions. Normally holidays at the shrine were all dedicated to Soldeus, days of reflection that involved prayer, fasting, and (you guessed it) silence. Her first Christmas in Redwell was anything but.

She woke up to Robert singing loudly and off-key to songs he claimed were traditional, and her favorite breakfast foods, pancakes. Assuming Finn was still asleep, she asked what the schedule for the day looked like, and what to expect, so she didn't look too confused.

"Welp, nothing too crazy. Figured you'd get a kick out of buildin' a gingerbread house, so we can do that if you want. There's exchangin' gifts, drinkin' eggnog, but that shits gross, so you can have mine."

"Now don't strain yourself tryin' to oversell it to her, old man," yawned Finn as he rubbed a hand down his face and grabbed the plate of food on the counter they had set aside for him.

Robert shot him a dirty look, then winked at Davina before saying "and there's the parade of Finn's ugly sweaters, of course." They both grinned as he objected with a muffled hey with a mouthful of pancakes.

Making a gingerbread house turned out to be a more complex task than she had anticipated. Had she known math was involved she would have run in the opposite direction, but Robert made it fun. The task of cutting out windows, doors, and walls so they all matched was quickly given up. When all of their pieces came out of the oven and cooled off, they were left with a mishmash of crooked windows, some too-high walls, and one patch of roof that was burnt at the corner. Davina ate more icing than she'd ever had in her whole life as they started construction. One good gust of wind would surely knock over the house...if you could even call something that was slowly crumbling apart, and whose roof was longer than its walls, a house. She was oddly...proud of their little creation as it sagged sadly at the center of the dining room table.

To her delight, and Finn's annoyance, small groups of people would knock on the door to sing more songs. She recognized most of the carolers as either clients of Roberts or sellers from the square. They shielded the flames of their candles with cupped hands from the biting winds, and sang in harmony. Their songs were nothing like choir with the locals in the prayer hall, these songs were happy, repetitive, and almost childish. She wished she knew the words.

After dinner, it was time for the gift exchange. They had sat in front of the fireplace sipping on eggnog, which turned out to be a creamy, and sickly sweet drink that she didn't mind.

"Alright old man," Finn said as he clapped his hands together, "prepare to have your socks knocked off. Come on Raine." Finn had helped her cover up their gift for Robert and lug it downstairs the day before. The bulky bed sheet covered lump looked out of place next to the colorfully decorated tree, and the neatly wrapped, smaller packages underneath it. She stood anxiously beside their gift, hoping he would like it.

"Ah, come on you two, I thought I said not to waste your money." Even under the playful tone in his voice there was no missing the bashful tinge that his posture held. That telltale hand rubbing the back of his neck, and the bit of color in his cheeks giving him away.

Finn waved him away, "aw hush, we didn't spend that much, now come ope-er, come unveil our masterpiece." He was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet with excitement as Robert stood and walked over to them.

Tugging back the sheet she enjoyed the mix of timid happiness as he stared at the chest. "It's a cabinet with pull out drawers, so you can organize all of the jars you have in the house." Her mind chanted pleaselikeitpleaselikeitpleaselikeit during the moment of silence that followed as he stared at it.

Robert barked out a laugh that trailed off into a chuckle as he opened and closed the drawers, "well I'll be damned," he mumbled under his breath. He shuffled towards the kitchen to grab a handful of jars which he gleefully slid into the drawers.