A Christmas Accident

A Festive Foxtrot

Pulling to a stop by the front door, Sang turned and waited for Kota to open it – but he just chuckled and knocked, confusing her.

"Don't you live here?" She asked.

"We do." He stated simply and she eyed him, but when he said nothing further to explain why he was knocking on his own door, she shrugged it off and waited.

Just as she was starting to wonder if Kota was messing with her, the door swung open to reveal an older woman, probably in her late forties or early fifties. Sang noted straight away that she had Kota's green eyes, wrinkles born from smiling softy framing them. Her brown hair was tied at the nape of her neck, and she was also wearing a Christmas pudding jumper.

Nerves filled her at the sight of the woman, and she tried not to flinch away when she raised her arms and stepped towards her. "You must be Sang." She said, startling her when she realised the older woman was talking to her. "It's lovely to meet you."

Sang froze when the woman stepped up to her and wrapped her in a hug. The only thing that stopped her from panicking at the unexpected touch was that the woman was slightly smaller than her – which was a feat in itself – and she smelled sweet, like mixed berries.

"Oh... erm. Hi. It's nice to meet you too." Sang managed to squeeze out, as she patted her awkwardly on the back.

Almost stumbling when she was suddenly released as quickly as she had been embraced, she gave the bubbly woman in front of her a strained smile hoping it would appease her. "Oh my, you must be freezing – come in, come in!" She cried, waving them all in. Sang followed the woman's soft demand and stepped inside. Gawking as she saw the foyer for the first time, Sang looked around the cosy space – something she hadn't expected after seeing the opulence of outside.

The foyer was tiny with the ten of them filling the space– but she liked the unassuming room, with dark wood floors and grey walls. A wall-to-wall cupboard was built into the wall on her right with one of the bottom draws open. Peeking inside, she saw a pair of women's boots and realised the bottom draws must be for where they kept their shoes.

Above them were large doors, which she had a feeling was where they hung their coats and winter wear.

Turning around, she smiled when she saw Kota being squeezed by the older woman who she realised had to be his mother. Seeing his loving expression as he hugged her back, Sang melted on the inside.

A man who loved his mother so openly had to be a good person.

It was clear the relationship between the pair was strong, and that helped settle Sang's irrational fear of this unknown woman. It wasn't that Sang didn't like women, it's just Kota's mother was close in age to her stepmothers. However, she could see the differences now Sang wasn't in her line of sight, and this helped her release the final remnants of tension holding her shoulders stiff.

Jumping when an arm landed on her shoulders, she looked up to see Silas smiling down at her, clearly having noticed her distress.

Offering him a kind smile back, she watched silently as Erica – she believed her name was – shuffled around the room, giving each man a hug and kiss on the cheek. Even the ice king accepted the brief affection with a tiny smile curving his lips.

Seeing that smile had her breath catching, and she was quick to look away before he caught her staring.

"What are you all doing standing around – hurry up and get those coats off so we can get your guest something warm to drink." Erica demanded. Chuckling as the small woman had everyone rushing to follow her commands, Sang slipped her coat off and gave it to Silas when he held his hand out. Slipping off her boots, she placed them beside the woman's and stood back up.