★osc oneshots★

hfjone ★ tray x contact lens ★ discovering a christmas market

Summary:
Liam managed to send everyone home. At Tray's request, he also brought back Contact Lens before that. Some of the Batch Two contestants decided to return to their world, but Tray and Contact Lens wanted to be sent to Earth. Liam and Amelia ended up taking them under their wings - and now all four live together in Yakima.

As part of introducing them to the real world, the Earthlings take the young pair to a Christmas market, where the latter are free to explore, have fun... and reinforce their love for each other.

Notes:
This is my late Christmas gift for losnua! Please check him out, and I hope you enjoy the fic :]

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December had come to Yakima. The evening fell on the streets like a black coat, long and heavy, shrouding them from the sun... and to compensate for the lack of daylight, the whole city shone with a million stars.

Stars buzzed high up on the poles, changed from green to red above the streets, decorated the shopping malls, hung from the outdoor stalls, blinked joyfully from the ropes between buildings.

Tray had never seen so much light. She had only got to see the canteen lamps in her world, a singular sun on the Plane, and then the real stars scattered on the night sky... but none shone as brightly and confidently as the city lights.

And while she had been getting accustomed to the regular, everyday lamps - like streetlights or traffic lights - today the city got brighter by a billion gazillion joules, judging by how many Christmas decorations were put up everywhere. It was awe-inducing, and kind of intimidating.

On the market, it wasn't only light that marked the city's prosperity. Sounds filled her ears: chattering, jingles, cheerful music from a Christmas train, deep humming of furry mascots narrating stories through a microphone. A smell of mulled wine and baked buns lingered in the air, promising a delicious meal to townsfolk and tourists alike.

In front of Tray walked Contact Lens... or, 'walked' wouldn't be the right word - he was pulling her after him through a crowd of people as they tried to keep up with Liam and Amelia. Tray felt disorientated, both by the lights and by the immense amount of people in this place. She and Contact Lens sometimes still felt nervous around large groups of humane objects.

But she focused on the touch of his hand. She loved how their hands linked together, how his skin pressed against hers so tightly, just in the right way. They were together, reunited on Earth, given a chance to live like people - and nothing could tear them apart again.

And even though Earth was foreign to them, it was unimaginably exciting. There were so many places to go, so many people to meet, so many traditions to learn. One of them was Christmas - Tray had known about it before, but she never got to celebrate it. Now she could spend it with Contact Lens, on an exciting new planet, able to breathe and run and laugh and do things together. What more could they want?

Her boyfriend eyed her briefly and saw a look of admiration and joy as she observed all the colourful decorations around them. Contact Lens smiled brightly and continued to speedwalk after Liam, thinking how much he loved seeing Tray happy.

"We're here!" Amelia suddenly declared from the front.

The group caught up and gathered in a circle. The two hidden objects tilted their heads up and both were struck with awe.

A few jumps from them stood the biggest tree either had ever seen. A tree that hit their eyes with even more lights, long fancy chains and baubles of such size they could probably fit a person inside.