Christmas Day, SaDiablo Hall, Dhemlan Kaeleer

[glacial_queen]

Times had lined up well enough that Karla's portal had arrived late in the night for both Fandom and Kaeleer. She'd barely stayed awake long enough to follow a footman up to her suite before flinging herself onto the bed and falling asleep.

The next morning, however, she blearily realized that her suite was decorated for Winsol, even though it wasn't the holiday season. She'd tiredly noted the same thing on her way upstairs, but it hadn't registered then. It took her a few moments to understand that the family and staff had decorated the Hall again for Christmas.

For Warren.

There was a lump in her throat as she sent out a mass text to all of her friends. Merry Christmas!

[NFB for distance, but open for holiday greetings, phone calls, etc! SP warning in effect like whoa, because, y'know, Christmas.]

Comments

[wwiii]

"I would, too, in your place," Warren murmured. "Differently, of course. I'm not you. I just... I know you enough to be afraid that you'll slip and push yourself too hard all over again."

He took a deep breath, held it as he pulled her more tightly into his arms, and squeezed as hard as he dared before he could reach a point where he'd have to worry about hurting her.

"You are an amazing person," he murmured, "and an exceptional friend, and you'll be a Queen that other Queens look to as an example of how it should be done someday. And you don't have anything to prove, Karla. Not to anybody but yourself. The worst you have going for you right now, the one and only thing that people worry about when they try to picture you in charge of a territory, is that you'll run yourself into the ground in an attempt to convince yourself that you're doing enough. And that worries a lot more people than just me."

[glacial_queen]

"I know it does," Karla said, curling into him again, his arms comforting bands of iron wrapping around her and holding her close. "And I really am trying to be better about that. I can't promise that I won't relapse into it, or that I'll be able to remember to take breaks on my own, or even that I'll be gracious about stuff like that...but I am trying. Remember how I didn't go and patrol in Sunnydale? I wanted to, but I didn't."

[wwiii]

"You didn't," Warren agreed, nuzzling his face into her shoulder and closing his eyes. "I did notice, you didn't. That... must have been frustrating."

Considering he had gone out on patrol, though he'd been ready to cut and fly if he thought for an instant that a situation was going to be over his head.

"I'm pretty sure Sunnydale is more bent on killing its residents than Fandom ever was."

[glacial_queen]

"Surrounded by silence, focusing on books that had no answers, while my friends went out into danger and people were actually dying?" Karla asked. "It went beyond frustrating into maddening. But...I stayed."

In no small part so that Warren wouldn't be even angrier at her, yes.

[wwiii]

Warren wasn't going to ask her if that was why. By this point, he was really just happy that she had.

"I'm still not completely sure what made the creepy suit-guys go away," he admitted, wrinkling his nose a little. "I'm just... glad they did. Same with that fear demon thing in the frat house. I'm pretty sure we're not the only ones running around Sunnydale when this stuff happens, wanting to get rid of it."

[glacial_queen]

"We're not spending New Year's in Sunnydale," Karla informed him. "Or Valentine's Day. Or our birthday. In fact, there's a day about presidents or something that we're also going to skip, just to play it safe."

[wwiii]

"I'm thinking we're going to do a lot of traveling around the holidays," Warren agreed, smiling wryly. "I mean, do you really think not wanting to spend Christmas alone was my only reason for coming here?"

... It had been, and he was giving that wry smile that said about as much, but in retrospect? Coming here for Christmas, given Sunnydale's penchant for attempted murder, was probably the smartest move he'd made all holiday season.

[glacial_queen]

His insides would have ended up as a garland for someone's meat tree if he hadn't, most like.

"I do," she said, looking up at him with soft eyes. "And I'm sorry we were fighting enough that you thought you might end up alone."

[wwiii]

"It wouldn't be anything I'm not used to," Warren murmured with a little shrug of his shoulders. "I didn't trust my own temper by that point, yet. But I was hoping that you'd call, and then you did, and now... here we are?"

[glacial_queen]

"It's something you were getting unused to," Karla pointed out. "Two years of Christmas at Sookie's, right?"

Surrounded by friends and baked goods and even snow for the holiday, courtesy of Bobby.

"And now here we are," she echoed. "Not mad anymore?"

[wwiii]

"Not mad anymore," Warren confirmed. "Worried. Still worried. Always worried. But you fell in love with a worrier, and that's just something you're going to have to deal with."

[glacial_queen]

"And you fell in love with...me?" Karla said, giving him an unsure-but-game smile. "However you want to describe me."

Which also meant dealing, Warren. Sorry.

[wwiii]

Dealing, Warren could handle. Just so long as she wasn't endangering her life needlessly, which was something he was going to continue to take issue with over the years. That was kind of how this love thing worked.

"Mine," Warren settled on, after a moment's silence and with a decisive nod. "I'll describe you as mine."

[glacial_queen]

"All of the yours," Karla agreed, pulling his face down for another kiss. They were in the kissy section of the discussion now, right? She thought that they were. If they weren't, Warren had better speak up now.

But they would keep working at it, because that's also how this love thing worked. Trying and failing and trying again and never giving up.

[wwiii]

And that's why this was going to work, damn it. They were going to struggle through, and their ups would be that much brighter for all the downs that they beat into submission together.

And yes, it was absolutely time for the kissy part of the discussion.

Merry Christmas, Karla.

[glacial_queen]

And there was nothing they wouldn't be able to overcome so long as they stuck together and worked through them together.

Merry Christmas, Warren.