Nightshade

astrid - the gift of giving

Astrid smiled at shavronne as she shut the door and gave him a big kiss, hugging him tightly. "Merry Christmas! And slash or happy yule!" She giggled and went to the closet, pulling out a warm fur lined knit poncho with a cute blue and white reindeer motif. Shavronne tugged on a simple cream colored turtleneck and jeans, then they headed out into the living room, greeting everyone. Everest smiled at her warmly "happy yule, Astrid. You should open my gift first." He offered a heavy looking box, which he set in front of her, the thing was nearly the size of her. She laughed and began to unwrap it, it unwrapped to reveal an expertly made suit of armor, glistening with runes and intricate artwork of flowers and dragonflys. She grinned "that's awesome! Thank you ev!" He smiled, looking proud of himself "I'd like to see anyone top that! Hera bit her lip, then smiled, laughing a bit "I think I have one better..." she retrieved a stack of little square boxes from under the tree. She handed them all out, and Astrid unwrapped hers first. It was... she looked at the book in shock. A book... by Kelli. "It was his last work... he never got to publish it... it's a collection of tales from his travels around the world... I found out when I went through our stuff from the vacation... and I had it published and printed for us all." Astrid teared up and hugged hera, who began crying. They soon resumed their merry little party, exchanging gifts and bittersweet hugs. It was a hard time of year for everyone,  but it was made better,  easier to handle,  by the fact they gathered and partied despite the bad. Later that night,  the coven got on snowmobiles with astrid and shav,  and they raced around the woods, laughing. It was nice,  Astrid thought to herself,  to just let loose again. They finally came in an hour or two later,  the moon and stars long since having been the only light outside.  They shook off snow and headed back inside,  where the others were watching national lampoons Christmas vacation,  a comedy holiday movie.  Astrid stretched and yawned, grabbing the bottle of wine she was offered,  taking a drink and smiling up at shavronne,  who loosely wrapped his hands around her waist.  He watched her closely,  brushing some of her long hair from her face,  her silky sandy blonde locks ticklish against her cheek. She grinned up at him and offered the wine, which Shavronne took and drank some of. "Wanna head back to the bedroom?" She giggled "you're too eager mister.  After the movie,  kay?" He blushed and smiled back "Alright,  alright.  Let's sit down to watch." They settled into a couch,  her taking her usual place atop his strong chest,  just laying there and basking in the glow of the fire as she pet her husband's hair and watched the funny movie.  The movie eventually wrapped up,  and she was having trouble keeping her eyes open,  the alcohol from the night working its magic on her. She held onto Shavronne as he gently lifted her and carried her to the room,  laying her in bed and lovingly helping her get dressed for bed. She looked up at him,  rubbing his cheek gently. He smiled a bit and tugged off his shirt,  going to change in the corner of the room.  Astrid felt herself drift off to sleep.

The next morning,  Astrid awoke to the sounds of breakfast being cooked and belongings being packed. She stretched with a big yawn before getting up,  heading to the kitchen. She patted uriel on the shoulder as she passed him,  and they exchanged a look of tiredness, he'd drank a bit much too last night. She made herself coffee, mostly by muskie memory,  and headed out to shavronne,  who was sitting on the couch, talking on the phone.  He seemed upset,  so Astrid listened in,  and what she heard made her heart run cold. "I know what they're saying,  and I'm saying there's no proof of any such claims. If they wish to take me to court they can. verdammt, you know me. You know my past, you know I've changed! .... not in my best interest to keep talking without a lawyer present?" The muscles in his jaw feathered angrily and he hung up. He let out a breath and rubbed his face "I have really bad news..." Astrid looked at him,  waiting patiently for him to continue "they know what I did.  Nathan's stupid little cult found out and leaked the names of everyone I ever killed..." Astrid felt her heart gripped by panic "we need to get you away from here then!" He shook his head. "I need to face this... hell, if I didn't know that this is going to turn into an andermin rights issue I wouldn't even be upset,  I know I deserve much worse than I've gotten... but these people are going to use it as an excuse to hunt innocent andermin all the harder..." He looked down at the ground. Astrid held his hand. "Don't get into thinking like that shav... you've changed,  you help people and have saved many more than you ever hurt.  This isn't about justice. They want you because we're a symbol.  That andermin can help others.  They don't like that."  Astrid hugged him and they sighed,  looking out the window till the others noticed their distress and came to talk about it.  They all agreed to be character witnesses if called up,  and Astrid left with him,  feeling upset but determined to see him through this.