Nora (thisishappening) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2017-12-23 23:30:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, lie ren, nora valkyrie |
Who: Ren and Nora
What: Christmas!!
Where: Their place
When: Christmasish
Ratings/Warnings: Low/None
Status: Complete!
Perhaps for a couple of young adults without parents, Christmas might be a sad time. And maybe it was, back when Ren had been newly bereaved. But he’d spent all of his Christmases since he’d lost his parents with Nora, and, well, it was hard to be sad around Nora.
The old Christmas tree they’d been using for the last few years looked a little scraggly, but it was theirs. He’d pulled it from the old box it lived in for eleven months of the year while Nora got the Christmas decorations.
The Christmas Decorations were in a giant, plastic bin. They consisted of cheap bangles, hand-made pieces, and lots and lots of plastic garlands and Christmas Lights. Of course, the Christmas Lights got tangled every year, and Nora spent a good portion of an afternoon bouncing around, cursing, and trying to untangle the whole mess. It was tradition.
This year, though, Nora was organizing the plastic, tree ornaments by size, shape, and color. She had a little zip-top baggie filled with metal ornament hangers, and was attaching them to each of the ornaments in turn.
“Oh!” She said, after looking up for the first time in several minutes. “It looks beautiful!” To say that Nora was fond of Christmas would be a vast understatement.
Ren took a moment to look pridefully at the tree. It did look pretty beautiful. Maybe it wasn’t the fanciest or the most glamourous tree there was, but it was their tree and they worked hard every year to make it look nice.
The organization was new, but Ren wasn’t going to complain. He sat down next to Nora and began to help her attach the hooks to the ornaments.
Some people said that the holidays were all about family. And Nora wasn’t sure about that--see, she had wonderful holidays, and she didn’t have a big family. She didn’t have a little family, either, she only had Ren. And maybe the two of them were a family.
“I’m really glad we got the one with the lights built in. Because this mess? Isn’t gonna cut it this year.” She motioned to the tangle of lights she was so frustrated with she could scream. Then she started to pick up ornaments.
“Now, it’s important to put the different colors together. Don’t want to have too many of the same color all together.” Nora said, motioning to the tree.
Ren looked at what Nora had done so far and began to organize the baubles in a like manner. He reached for another bauble from the box next to Nora, when he saw motion from the corner of his eye. He would have turned toward it, but instead he was drawn toward Nora. Before he could quite realize what had happened, his lips touched hers.
It was a good thing that they worked so well together. Nora felt like half the time she couldn’t stop talking, and half the time the silence she shared with Ren was so comfortable she was completely at peace. But then Ren was leaning in. Nora turned with a curious expression just in time to be kissed. Kissed. And, oh. Oh, that was the most amazing thing ever. Confusing, yes. But amazing.
She let her lips linger against his in a chaste, calm, warm way for a moment then pulled back to blink at him. Her face was bright red--matching the Santa Hat on her head.
For the first time in Nora’s whole life, she was completely speechless.
When Nora pulled away, he quickly looked for whatever it was he had seen before he kissed her, and managed to catch sight of something that looked suspiciously like flying mistletoe before it flew out of their apartment.
Ren wasn't as red as Nora, though there was still some pink that rose to his cheeks. He didn’t often get flustered, but then, he didn't often kiss his best friend since childhood. He had never really thought of Nora like that before. Truth be told, he'd never really thought romantically about anyone. He and Nora had a relationship that transcended romance. The kind of relationship where he knew that the two of them would always, no matter what, be by each other's side.
She wasn't saying anything, which was unlike her. He must have really messed things up. What had come over him? “Sorry,” he muttered after the silence dragged for an uncomfortable amount of time. He busied himself with the decorations again.
Nora’s eyes followed Ren’s to where something was flying… out the window? Had they left the window open? It was cold outside, normally they were better about making sure that they kept the windows closed when it was wintertime. She looked back at Ren’s face again and cleared her throat. It was easier to be happy, to pretend like it hadn’t affected her. To go back to normal and bury those thoughts, so she could think about it another time.
“It’s okay! You don’t have to be sorry. No big deal, right?” She smiled, though her face was still red. And then she picked up a handful of ornaments and moved to the tree to hang them up. She was humming The Twelve Days of Christmas, and her heart was thundering in her throat.
Ren felt both a rush of relief and a bit of disappointment. He was glad that Nora didn’t seem upset with him. She was, after all, the one who always insisted that they weren’t together together. He couldn’t exactly explain why he was feeling disappointed, but he’d make a point to examine it later. Right now, there was Christmas decorating to do.
“Right, no big deal,” he confirmed, gathering some of his own decorations. He took his place next to Nora to hang them on the branches.
Only, it was a big deal. Nora’s heart was racing, her hands were shaking, she couldn’t stop sneaking glances over at him. Ren. This was Ren. They were together, but they’d never been together together. She hadn’t thought of him that way. Not really. Not romantically. She’d just assumed they’d be together (not together together) forever.
“Should we have… um… some Christmas music playing?” She asked, finishing hanging her last ornament. She turned to look at him, a hopeful smile on her face, eyes bright and… well, almost pleading.
Ren could see the slight tremor in Nora’s hands and it concerned him a little. He wondered if she was actually angry at him, or if it was something else. Ren had never found silence particularly awkward, though he didn’t usually get much of it living with Nora. It seemed strange to decorate the tree without her talking about anything or everything, or, at least, not forcing him to sing Jingle Bells with her as they worked. “Yes, perhaps some Christmas music would be nice. Nora…” He wasn’t really sure what to say.
Music would be good. It would be a distraction. Get Nora out of her head, out of her thoughts. Because what Ren had done just a few minutes ago? It was pretty much the best thing ever. And then he apologized. Like he hadn’t meant to do it. Like their lips touching was some big accident, something he regretted. And that part stung.
“Okay!” She bounced to the coffee table and opened her laptop to put on Spotify, but her hands faltered just slightly when she heard the way he said her name. Her heart picked up speed again as she looked to him. “Yes, Ren?”
Ren didn’t really know what he was going to ask Nora. He didn’t very often speak without thinking about what he was going to say, but it had to happen every once in a while. He spent another moment before he spoke. “We’re still okay, aren’t we?”
Nora turned back to look at her computer screen, ignoring the shaking of her fingers. She wasn’t sure how she was supposed to be reacting to this. What was she supposed to say? What did he expect her to say? So she tried hiding her confusion and disappointment (because, let’s be real: that’s what this was.) with a laugh that came out almost like a purr. “Of course we are. We’re always okay. We’re Ren and Nora.” But she wasn’t looking at him. And her ears were pink.
The music came on the computer. Baby, it’s Cold Outside. Nora changed it to the next song on the Christmas mix.
Ren didn't believe her at all, but he wasn't entirely sure what he should do or say about it. In fact, he got the idea that if he continued trying to say something about it he'd only make things worse. At least until he could take time to sit and examine what exactly it was that was happening with his own emotions.
“Perhaps we can frame the windows with the Christmas lights this year,” he suggested. He took a seat next to the tangled bundle of wire and lights, and began to methodically detangle them.
It was insane that Ren could get the lights untangled with his long, nimble fingers, and Nora’s short, fat ones couldn’t make any headway. It just plain wasn’t fair. But hey, his stupid fingers benefitted them both, so she couldn’t complain too much. “That sounds good!” She was doing her best to be chipper, to be herself. Fake it ‘til you make it, right?
“I’m gonna get the star for the top of the tree!” She added brightly, a moment of divine inspiration. That was a brilliant distraction! “It’s still in the closet, right?” She bounced from the computer (which was now playing an acapella version of Carol of the Bells) and dashed to the closet.