Mekaias and Norian - 1. First Christmas

Norian

I grunt and try to open the door. It is a bit tricky with about four giant boxes in my arms.

Maybe to some, this would be considered too much, but this will be my first Christmas with Mekaias. I am going to make it one to remember!

Instantly I hear some music coming from upstairs.

I smile and rush to set all the boxes into a closet by the kitchen.

Thanks to U.U.P.P. we have a new house! This time, it is only shared between me and Mekaias.

Remy and Remelia have their own homes as well, but since it is the holidays, they are busy spending time with their parents.

This year, Mekaias wants to see my parents. However, I really don’t want them to visit. At least not this year.

It has barely been over a year since Mekaias saved everyone in Ember. Visiting new people should be seen as tricky. Sure it is my family, but I want Mekaias to feel safe and not at all in any danger.

The house is two stories tall. It is a bit far from everyone else, but that makes it better in my opinion. In my eyes, this is the perfect place to keep Mekaias. Some may say I am being a bit too protective, but I will just ignore them.

I have lost him before and he almost died. I sure as hell am not going to risk this again.

Setting my keys on the table, I quickly make myself a cup of tea.

Usually Mekaias would have come down here to greet me, but his music is rather loud. It is practically vibrating the walls.

Would he want tea? Nah, he is probably hot from working out or whatever he is doing.

A regular glass of water then!

I carry both cups and make my way up the stairs.

The lyrics to the music become clearer, but they are not at all in english. It must be some song from Utrio.

I had no idea they had girl groups over there. Must be a new thing since it had been liberated.

Pushing open the door, I find Mekaias dancing in his pajama shorts with his eyes closed. His back is to me and he just rolls his hips and spins on his feet.

He has a blue bandana on and it looks pretty cute with his ears.

I smile at the fact he didn’t notice my entrance. That goes to show just how loud the music is. Usually he can hear me open the door downstairs with his ears.

I set the drinks on a table next to the door and walk up behind him.

Finally he notices me. His smiles wide, turns around, and pounces on me.

I laugh and hug him tight.

“Hey, Starshine.” I grin.

He kisses both of my cheeks and then my lips. “Hello, yun Undaegon.”

I reach up and rub an ear between two fingers. One is shorter than the other. Somehow the tip had gotten burned off as he teleported into the cave.

Mekaias says he must have had the portal on the same level as the lava. I just try not to think about that. It is already enough to think of him dying in my arms, let alone dying alone in lava.

“Did you get everything?” He says.

I nod. “Every last thing. We should be all set.”

He beams down at me and leans down to kiss me again. I sigh into the kiss and roll us so that he is laying on his back beneath me.

“Are you sure about this?” I ask, “We could always do this next year. I am more than fine if we just celebrated by ourselves.”

“We already invited them though!” He says, “It would be seen as rude. I can’t have them seeing me as some loner.”

I frown. “What if something happens?”

Mekaias shakes his head but smiles. “Norian, they still don’t know that I exist. Well, they do, but they do not know we are soulmates. They need to know.”

I sigh and roll over to lay next to him.

Yeah, they still don’t know Mekaias is my soulmate. It’s my fault really. I just got so distracted caring for Mekaias. For a good few months, I wouldn’t let him out of my sight. Can you exactly blame me?

Obviously that started to annoy Mekaias. He said I should get a job or something to distract myself. It somewhat worked.

I decided to volunteer at a pet store in town. It doesn’t help that everytime I look at a cat, I just think of Mekaias. By the way, he finds that offensive. He hates cats.

“Alright.” I say, “but promise me that if something makes you uncomfortable, you tell me immediately.”

Mekaias squeezes my hand. “I won’t! I promise I will be fine, Norian.”

Why do I feel like that won’t happen?

~~~
~~~

Mekaias

Today is the day! I am finally going to see Norian’s parents.

While Norian fears for my safety, which is stupid, this is his family, I just know that deep down he is scared.

Everyone has that fear of telling your parents that you just don’t happen to be in line with everyone else. Being different isn’t a bad thing, it is just that most people have things planned out their own way. They just happen to forget that not everyone is the same and not everything will stay in line.

Norian having to tell his family that I am his soulmate will be just like telling my mother that I prefer guys over girls.It is not at all a bad thing.

Since Norian is such a sweet person, I am positive that his parents will be fine with it. They raised him to be kind after all, right?

“Does this look alright?” He asks, placing a strange animal made of lights.

“I think so? What is it?” I ask, tilting my head.

Norian laughs and shakes his head. “It is a reindeer. They carry a big, fat human in the sky.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Then why is it here? Shouldn’t it be helping the big, fat human?”

He laughs again. “No, no. This is just a fake. It is for decoration. It is imitating the real thing.”

This is a strange holiday. Animals with horns carrying a big man who delivers boxes of things for children. It sounds a bit sketchy if you ask me.

Norian has decorated the entire house with pretty lights. They blink and twinkle on the roof, the bushes, around the porch, and there are even a few trees that are covered in pretty white lights.

“Why do you do this? You should keep it like this all the time.” I say.

Norian smiles, “I am not sure why people do this. It is just a thing that happens around this time of the year.”

“Hmm. Strange customs.” I nod to myself.

I must say, I do not like this ‘Christmas’. It is far too cold, all the greenery and plant life is dead, and I get sick easily.

“Just wait till you see it snow. We have a high chance tonight!” He grins.

“Snow?” I frown.

“Oh I can’t wait for tonight!” He says as he kisses my cheek.

This holiday is very confusing.

One thing I can say is nice about it, Norian does not work as much so that means I get more time with him. I am back to the point where I just want to lay all over him and sit by a fire.

We do that quite a lot.

~~~
~~~

Norian

“My baby!” My mother practically screams as she pulls me into her arms. “It has been so long! Look how big you have gotten!”

I laugh and glance back at Mekaias for help. He just smiles and watches me greet my parents.

My father is massive and has to duck down to enter the house. Maybe one day I’ll get that big! However, that might be bad since Mekaias is so small. Wouldn’t want to crush him!

“My boy!” My father’s voice booms, “Look at you. A hero! Who would’ve known you’d get such a thing so early in life.”

I roll my eyes. “Hey, it wasn’t me.” I gesture behind me towards Mekaias.

My mother is already hugging him and asking him a million questions. Perhaps I should save him?

“You brought the Alentian hero here?” My father’s eyebrows disappear into his hair. “Are you both that close? My god! I never thought I would have the chance of meeting him.”

I can only nervously laugh. “Ye-yeah! We are...we are pretty close!”

He nods and pushes past me to makes his way to Mekaias.

Mekaias’ eyes practically bulge out of his head as he sees my father approaching. I can’t exactly blame him. A giant body stomping its way towards you would freak anyone out.

“You must be the famed Alentian!” My father says. “It is an honor to meet you!” He offers his hand, it is pretty much the size of Mekaias’ stomach.

“H-hello.” Mekaias says weakly, placing his hand on top of my father's finger. It is so much smaller. I can’t help but laugh seeing it.

I do try and hide it however.

My father chuckles, “I know I may seem intimidating, but I promise I am just a big old bear!”

Mekaias swallows a lump in his throat, “I-I don’t even know what that is.”

Laughter comes from both of my parents this time.

During my father’s ‘interview’ with Mekaias, my mother takes one look at me and her eyes widen.

“You only have one horn!” She scurries over and reaches to touch where it once was. “You found your soulmate? Why aren’t they here?”

I feel like sandpaper has bundled up in my throat.

“I...they-uh...It’s-” I try to say but my father interrupts me.

He gasps out loud, “Morie look!”

Mekaias is holding my horn piece up in his hands as if it is a trophy.

I blush and cover my face with my hands.

“It’s the Alentian?” My mother asks in shock. I notice she didn’t mention that Mekaias is a man so that should be a bonus right?

I just nod and keep my eyes covered. It is almost like onions are on my fingers. My eyes are just filling up with moisture against my will.

“Aww, honey!” I feel her arms wrap around me. “I’m so proud of you! You found your soulmate. That is something you should be proud of. Now stop covering your face and stand with your soulmate properly!”

I slowly drop my hands and feel tears fall. “Y-you’re not mad that my soulmate is a he?”

“Of course not!” My father says and walks over to pat me on the shoulder. “Why would we ever be mad about that? This is your soulmate for god sakes! No matter who you are destined to be with, we will support and love you no matter what. I am a bit sad that you thought we’d ever be mad about such a thing.”

My mother nods and reaches up to wipe away my tears. “Don’t cry! We love you, baby. We are so proud of you! However, the next time you keep something as big as that away from us again, I will personally come and break down the door myself!”

I just choke on a laugh and wipe at my eyes. “I was so scared.”

They both pull me into a group hug.

Mekaias looks at us with a bright smile.

“You had better join in on this too!” My father says.

Mekaias looks a bit surprised but quickly rushes over to join us.

Well, I think this is so far the best Christmas for me.

~~~
~~~

“This is your first Christmas?” My mother says over dinner.

We have a small feast for the four of us. Nothing too grand but enough for everyone to be comfortable.

I had to call a place to drop off some food. Normally Remy’s Mother would cook everything and I would just visit. This year is pretty much a first for me too.

Mekaias nods to my mother’s question. “Yes and it is very weird.”

She laughs. “Yes I can imagine so. I thought it had been over a year since the incident. Did you not celebrate last year?”

I answer for him. “He had to stay in the hospital for weeks to recover.”

Mekaias gives a shy smile.

“Oh! Well I hope this year will be a great one for you.” She says.

My father coughs into his napkin before speaking. “May I ask why you chose to spend your time with Norian? Surely you would want to spend your time with better company.” He laughs.

Mother swats at his arm. “He’s just playing around,” She says.

“I don’t have anywhere else I’d rather be.” He smiles and glances at me before using his fork to play around with his food. “So far he seems like good company.”

Both my parents laugh and I just roll my eyes.

“How are Remy and Remelia?” My father asks.

I shrug, “They are their same selves. Constantly fighting but always having each others backs.”

He smiles. “Well I am glad they never change. If I went through something like what you both did, I would be absolutely traumatized.”

I just nod in along to that.

There have been a lot of nights where one of us just can’t sleep. Being haunted by nightmares can really pull a number on you.

Mekaias obviously had it worse than me, but it doesn’t help that he will still have episodes where he zones out and forgets where he is. He will just randomly find himself back in Utrio or Ember. Always in the same cage.

So many things trigger them. I think the worst was chocolate. He used to absolutely love it. Now if he so much as smells it, he just finds himself brought back to being…used. That in turn leads to other memories and it just ends up in a mess.

All those things just make me worried about him wanting to go back out into the world.

I know he is strong and it has been a year, but I just get paranoid for him.

~~~
~~~

Mekaias

I kind of wish Norian’s parents stayed for the night, but they wanted to go get special massages from their hotel.

Now, Norian and I are alone for the rest of the day.

I was right about his parents. Like the good person that I am, I am going to use it against Norian when he thinks I am wrong about certain things.

For instance, he thinks I am not ready to go out into the world.

Sure I am a bit hesitant about it myself, but if I don’t try, I will just end up stuck here at home. I want to experience things. Things I never got to try before, like going to a beach! I’ve never been to a big body of water before. Why not try now?

Well, I guess I can’t now since it is too cold, but later on I hope that I can.

“Mekaias!” Norian calls downstairs.

Dammit. I tried watching a video on how to wrap a present, but it is too confusing! What folds where without that fold also ripping the paper into pieces? Why even bother using this paper? Isn’t it bad for the earth? This is a waste of resources.
Why is Christmas so hard?

You know what? I don’t care. If the wrapping wants to look like I just rolled it up into a pouch, so be it.

I tie a messy bow on top and quickly hide it under our bed.

“Coming!” I say and quickly make my way down the stairs.

He isn’t in the living room and the front door is open. I guess he went outside?

I quickly put on my jacket, hat, gloves, scarf, two pairs of socks, and some fancy boots Remelia made me.

Usually I hate covering up but I learned there is something else I hate even more.

The cold.

I close the door behind me and I freeze as a strange white puff of...whiteness?... falls down in front of me. Then another, and then another.

There are so many white puff things falling that I back up to the door to keep it from touching me.

“Mekaias! Come down here into the snow!” Norian’s voice calls.

I see him standing in the yard.

He only has to wear a sweater and pants because Metonians don’t even get that cold. I wish I was made of stone and that I didn’t feel so cold.

“What is that white stuff?” I ask, still not moving from the door. The edge of the roof helps me a bit by keeping me safe.

“It’s snow! It’s harmless I swear!” He grins.

I wrinkle my nose, “What is it made of?”

“Water.”

“It doesn’t look like water. Are you sure?” I say.

He just laughs. “Yes, Mekaias, I am pretty sure.”

Norian steps up to our porch and offers his hand to me. “Come on. I’ll keep you safe from the water.”

I roll my eyes and accept his hand. He pulls me from the safety of the building and I can just tell the snow if touching me.

Thank goodness I am wearing a lot of clothing.

“Stick your tongue out and taste it.” He says before doing that himself. He catches a giant puff but it also falls into his nose. He sneezes and I laugh.

“Do you need me to protect you instead?” I stick my tongue out to him.

He grins, “Just keep your tongue out.”

I roll my eyes but do as I’m told.

It gets to the point where I have to try and chase the snow down. It just won’t get in my mouth!

Soon the ground begins to turn white. Not a whole lot, but enough to show that the snow will be staying.

“Here.” Norian says behind me. He has a ball of snow in his hand. “Lick it.”

I raise an eyebrow and stick my tongue out to try it.

Just as my tongue is about to touch it, Norian shoves the ball of snow into my face and the only thing that runs through my mind is, Cold!

I spit it out and frown at him. Norian apparently thinks this is hilarious and is rolling on the ground laughing and clutching at his stomach.

“That was mean.” I say.

I bend down to pick up some snow and throw at him. The snow just spreads out like powder before it even reaches him.

This time I don’t throw it. I jump on top of him and shove a handful of snow into his face. He just laughs the whole time and tries to roll out and away from me.

I end up laughing and chasing him around the yard.

With a bit of magic, I use energy to scoop up a giant amount of snow. I hold it above me and chase Norian down.

“Hey! That’s not fair!” He yells and tries to run from me.

Silly Norian. I don’t need to chase too hard.

I teleport in front of him and swing my arms down in front of me. The giant ball of snow slams on top of Norian but it only breaks into powder as he uses his battleform to keep himself stable.

“Aww, I wanted to make you go splat!” I fake pout.

Norian just looks at me in shock before his face breaks out into a grin. “Let's do that again!”

See, I would have wanted to do that, but I can’t feel my legs or nose.

Norian, like the beautiful person he is, quickly helps me change into some warmer clothes and we sit together by the fire.

“Is the snow going to be there tomorrow?” I ask with warm tea in my hands. I am mostly using it to bring feeling back into my fingers.

“Yup! It should be here for quite awhile. We have plenty of time to play in it. You should know, it gets old pretty fast.”

Norian kisses my cheek and puts on a movie. It is a very boring movie. Some lady who is rich seems to only love money and then she ends up becoming nice after meeting her childhood friend again. Apparently she needed to see him to remember that money isn’t everything.

From what Norian said, a lot of Christmas movies are like that.

It gets a bit late, but Norian says we should stay awake at least until midnight. Something about our first moment of Christmas should be special.

I guess now would be a good time to give him my present.

Norian pulls out a small box wrapped up perfectly.

“Did you wrap that yourself?” I ask.

“Of course I did. I wasn’t going to let some random person wrap my gift for me.” He kisses my cheek. “It’s for you so it should be specially wrapped by me.”

I smile because it looks really cute imagining how gentle and delicate he had to be with wrapping such a small box with his big hands.

“It’s so cute.” I laugh. “Mine will look like an absolute embarrassment.”

“You got me a present?” He raises an eyebrow. “I didn’t think you would. I don’t remember mentioning that presents were a thing.”

I just give a smug grin. “I looked up ‘Christmas’ online.”

He laughs and shakes his head. “I guess that is one way to do it.”

I reach down on my side of the couch and pull out my mess of a present.

One look at it and I can see he is trying not to laugh.

“I don’t know how to wrap presents.” I say, a bit embarrassed.

“Aww, don’t let those ears flatten down.” He reaches out and rubs on my fucked up ear. “It’s cute!”

I huff and roll my eyes. I toss it into his lap.

“You open mine first!” I say.

He chuckles and pulls the bow off. Instantly the wrapping opens like a flower in bloom. Well, a ugly dying flower that is trying to bloom.

Norian gasps and pulls the gift out of the wrapping paper.

“You got me a new planetarium?” He grins. “When did you ever have the time to find one?”

“Well,” I smile, a bit prideful at his reaction, “I know you lost the old one at our old base, so I thought maybe you would want a new one!”

He grins and leans down to kiss me. “I love it!”

I beam and look down at the small gift balanced on my knee.

“Do I open it now?” I ask.

He nods and bites his lip.

Apparently Norian is a god at gift wrapping because I have to use my claws to get the paper off.

Norian gets down on one knee in front of me. I assumed it was to help me but I could handle it!

A black velvet box sits in my hand. When I open it, a ring is inside. It is on a swirling silver band that holds three gems. Two violet ones on the sides and a clear white one in the middle.

“Oooh, Norian! It’s so pretty!” I grin and look up at him.

“Mekaias,” Norian says and grabs onto one of my hands, “It has been quite awhile since we’ve been together. I can easily say that it has definitely been the happiest days of my life. We have been through a lot. I almost lost you and I swear that felt like the end of the universe for me. You are the most important thing to me. You are my soulmate. The love of my life. I know probably should have asked you a lot soon but well...will you marry me?”

I just look at him in confusion. Why Norian felt the need to confess as if this is the first time we are getting together is beyond me. Have I been too distant from him? I hope he isn’t worried I want to leave him. There is another thing I am confused about however.

“Um...what does marry mean? I thought that was a name.” I ask.

Norian just looks at me as if I slapped his face. He is both confused and maybe a bit disappointed. He then laughs and buries his face into my lap.

It is a laugh that makes him seem like a maniac.

“Norian? What’s happening?” I say, a bit worried.

He just wipes tears from his eyes and smiles up at me, still having a few giggles spill out as he speaks. “Do you not know what marriage is? I just sort of assumed that was also a thing in Utrio.” He asks.

I shake my head slowly. “I don’t think so. Nobody I know has said that word before.”

“Were your parents never married? Did they not have a ceremony where they celebrated their love together?”

I shake my head again. “Nope. They just...got together and had me I guess.”

Norian falls into another fit of laughter.

I frown. “Norian I’m confused.”

He hiccups and look up at me with a smile. “Oh, I love you, Mekaias. I want to marry you. As in, make it official and pretty much let everyone know that you are with me.”

I raise an eyebrow. “But I can just tell them that I belong with you.”

He shakes his head but grins. “You are starting to make me realize how weird marriage actually is.”

“Oh, so no ceremony then?” I ask.

“I could care less about it. I just want you to be with me forever.” He says.

“Can we at least have cake?” I grin. “I liked that strawberry cake we had today!”

He smirks and lifts himself to kiss me. “You can have all the cake you want, Starshine.”

“Oh really?” I wiggle my eyebrows, “I might be in the mood for some of your cake.”

Norian bursts into laughter again. “Oh please never say that again!”

“What? Did that not turn you on?”

“I never said it didn’t.”

“Hey, Norian?”

“Yeah?”

“Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas, Mekaias.”

“I love you, yun Undaegon.”

“I love you more, Hazritzu.”