PRESENTS.
Jaenelle brushed back a strand of hair from her face, leaned back on the double bed, and sighed, closing her book at the knock on the door. She couldn’t really have expected a relaxing, interruptionless afternoon, could she have? Such a thing didn’t really exist in her family. At least, most of the males didn’t think so. And they didn’t seem to bother checking to see if one of them had already checked in on her, so she had them popping in and out every moment of the day. The witches were better, of course.
She swung out of bed and strolled over to the door and tugged it open with an air of tolerant exasperation before she recognized the psychic scent and her eyes lit up. “Karla!” She said, in a voice that was not quite a squeal but was definitely more high-pitched than usual. “I was wondering where you’d gotten off to.”
Karla’s grin soothed Jaenelle’s worry a little - not that she’d ever say so to Karla, but she did worry - especially here, especially now, when she was trying to put together something so precarious and delicate with a crowd of family members who weren’t exactly known for their subtlety. “I’ve been…around,” she said evasively. “May I come in?”
“You still have to ask?” Jaenelle asked, amused. Karla blushed a little, and Jaenelle blinked at her. Karla didn’t blush that much. Something was obviously on her mind.
Jaenelle went over to the bed and set down the book she was still holding. “Come on, come over here and I’ll brush your hair and you can tell me what’s on your mind.”
Karla looked startled. “How did you know I wanted to tell you something?”
Jaenelle couldn’t resist ruffling Karla’s short, spiky hair, despite the growl it earned her. “Because you’re completely transparent, sweetheart, that’s how.”
Karla scowled a little, but she was practically bubbling with excitement and sat down without the usual necessary argument about her hair not needing brushing, practically bouncing on the chair in front of the mirror. Jaenelle called in a comb and began carefully stroking it through her friend’s pale blond hair, not saying anything, wondering how long it would take Karla to explode with trying to keep her secret until Jaenelle asked.
“I kissed Armand.” She blurted out.
That didn’t take long, Jaenelle noted privately to herself. “You did, did you?”
“I did, I really did and it was glorious,” Karla said, her voice almost a giggle. “I can’t believe that’s what I’ve been missing.”
Jaenelle couldn’t help laughing a little. Karla craned her neck around and gave Jaenelle a scathing look that would have set green wood to smoking. “Are you laughing at me?”
Jaenelle shook her head. “No, Karla. I’m not laughing at you. So? What happened?”
“I still think you’re laughing at me.”
Jaenelle had to resist the impulse to roll her eyes. “No, I’m not. I was just laughing at you saying you were missing something. I don’t think you would have liked it very much if you’d tried it before now.”
Karla made a face. “No…probably not. It was just something to say.” Her temper flared again in a moment. “Do you want to hear what happened or not?” she demanded.
“Of course I do!” Jaenelle exclaimed obligingly, knowing that she would hear about it whether she wanted to or not.
“Then stop interrupting me!”
“I wasn’t, you hadn’t even started yet.”
Karla stuck out her tongue and blew a raspberry at Jaenelle, which she promptly returned, causing both of them to dissolve into giggles for a bit. When they had recovered, Jaenelle teased her fingers through Karla’s hair and examined her friend’s reflection. “Well?”
“I wasn’t really doing anything, I just left a note for him because I wanted to ask about Lucivar and he came outside and we talked and then -“ She blushed again, color rising in her pale cheeks. “Well. We talked for a bit and then he leaned over and kissed me.”
“Wait wait wait.” Jaenelle said, holding up a hand. “That’s not good enough. Give me all the juicy details.”
Karla really did blush, this time. “What do you mean?”
“Well? What did he smell like? What did you do? How did you feel - all that.”
Karla ducked her head and mumbled something inaudible.
“What was that?”
“I never asked you about Daemon.”
Jaenelle’s face heated, but she managed to keep her tone light. “We’re not talking about me, dear. We’re talking about you. You came here to tell me, so you get to deal with my questions.”
“All right, fine,” Karla grumped. “What do you want to know?”
“Well…what was it like? What did you say? Did you have those dead flowers in your hair at the time?” She added, picking one up and holding it so Karla could see the pathetic, brown little thing.
Karla’s hand moved self-consciously to her hair. “Armand said they were pretty.”
“Well, if Armand thinks they’re pretty,” Jaenelle said mildly. Karla bristled.
“Don’t do that!”
“Do what?”
“Act like I’m losing my mind or my senses or something about this.”
Jaenelle’s look was all innocence. “You’re not?”
Karla gaped at her, and Jaenelle laughed. “Of course you are,” she informed the Gray-jeweled witch. “But that’s okay. That’s why falling in love is so much fun, right? Because it’s not rational. Enjoy yourself.”
Karla eyed Jaenelle warily for a moment. “Anyway,” she said at last. “About the rest of it - I didn’t really say anything much.”
“Karla!”
“What?” Karla said, half worriedly, half irritably.
“What do you mean you didn’t say anything? You have to say something.”
“There wasn’t anything to say!”
“Sure there was! You could tell him that it was the most magical moment of your life…or that your soul had just been made complete…”
“You’re joking!” Karla said, horrorstruck.
“Of course I am.”
Karla gaped at her again, then they both burst out laughing.
“Most magical moment of my life?” Karla giggled incredulously.
Jaenelle shrugged modestly. “I’ve always had this way with words.”
Karla just gave her a Look, and Jaenelle blinked innocently at her right back. Finally the other witch threw up her hands and sighed. “All right, you win.”
“I usually do,” Jaenelle said mildly.
This time the Look was exasperated but affectionate. “Do you want to hear what it was like or not?”
“All right, I’ll be good,” Jaenelle said demurely, and returned to playing with her friend’s short hair, not bothering to look like she was doing something with it.
“Wellll…” Karla paused, probably a largely spurious one, Jaenelle decided. Karla did have a sense of the dramatic, after all. “What it felt like. Words cannot describe it, but -“ She snorted, abruptly. “Sorry, I couldn’t keep a straight face. I’m not cut out to be a poet.”
“Just try.”
It wasn’t the words that were important to Jaenelle. It was just a way of keeping Karla distracted so she could carefully feel the emotions from her friend, nearly powerful enough to taste but not to identify, having faded a little. She caught a psychic scent she recognized from their encounters and started there.
Entwined around him was a thread so tightly woven - that was the best way to think of it, as a thread - that she could not separate the two, but could only detect a strong sense of protectiveness and fierce loyalty in it, much the same things that a Queen required from her males, she mused oddly. Though which way it ran…that was a curious thing. Was the thread bound to Armand, or was Armand bound to the thread?
The rest was easier. Easiest. Because as suddenly as she brushed against that thread that smelled distinctly like Armand St. Just, she found herself awash in some of the most powerful feelings she’d ever felt from her icy Glacian friend. Love, and a little bit of fear and nervousness, but mostly a deep and overwhelming love.
And as suddenly as that, Jaenelle found herself swimming in emotion.
*Karla! Calm down! You’re making me dizzy!*
Jaenelle untangled herself and stepped back as Karla blinked a few times, disoriented. Jaenelle felt a little guilty, but only for a moment. She had had to know if this was genuine, not some spell or just an infatuation. She had no doubts now.
“Go ahead,” she urged Karla softly, for it was clear that she’d interrupted a story.
“Well, so then he leaned forward and looked at me like he was asking permission or something and all I could do was stare at him and think about how nice he looked and how sweet he is and then all of a sudden we were just - kissing. It just sort of happened, I guess.” She shrugged, looking embarrassed, then looked back at Jaenelle. “I don’t know what to do!” Her voice was on the verge of a wail.
“Do you think he loves you?”
“I don’t know if he likes me! How should I know?”
“I didn’t say like. I said love.”
Karla stopped dead. “That’s a scary word,” she whispered. “I don’t know if I’m ready to use it.”
Jaenelle looked at Karla seriously, not a hint of smile in her eyes. “You need to learn, because I know what you feel and it’s not just liking someone…and I think if anyone here is worthy of you, Armand is. I don’t know Chris yet, but if he’s anything like Armand I can tell you that if you had asked me to pick you a Consort, it would have been one of those two.”
Karla’s eyes were very bright and seemed a little wet. “You think so?”
Jaenelle managed a smile, though she wasn’t exactly dry eyed herself. “I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t mean it.”
“Jaenelle.” Karla infused her name with all the gratitude that Jaenelle herself could have wished for, and got up and embraced her fiercely. Jaenelle hugged her Sister back, feeling strangely as though she were losing her - though she wasn’t, of course. They hugged each other tightly.
Then they promptly dissolved on each other’s shoulders.
Eventually, Jaenelle wiped her nose on her sleeve and sniffled. “Look at us. We’re such girls.”
Karla blew her nose on a handkerchief she’d fished out of a pocket somewhere. “Haven’t we always been?” She said in a wet, but dry as usual voice.
Jaenelle laughed a little and gave Karla a hug and a kiss on the cheek affectionately. “Good luck, Sister.”
Karla’s smile was a little forced, but only a little, and her tone was amused. “I don’t need it, Sister - who could resist this?” She gestured at herself and Jaenelle laughed again, wetly.
“Oh, get out of here.”
Karla smiled and turned to go, then Jaenelle reached out and caught her shoulder.
“Oh, and?” Jaenelle added. Karla looked apprehensive.
“What?”
“Next time you’re going to get that emotional, let me know. We are linked. I thought I was going to fall out of my chair this afternoon.”
Karla stared. “You mean you knew?”
Jaenelle grinned. “You might think about shielding or taking off the ring when you’re planning on having a little fun, Karla. It’ll make things a little less awkward for both of us.”
Karla blushed from the roots of her hair on downwards. “Jaenelle!”
Jaenelle held up both hands, mock defensively. “Just saying,” she said, and couldn’t quite keep a laugh out of her voice.
Karla stared, blinked, and stared a little more. Then she sighed and threw up her hands. “Witches!” She said, in imitation of one of the males favorite epithets. “Sometimes I don’t know what to do with you, Jaenelle.”
Jaenelle grinned. “That’s why I have Daemon, remember?”
Karla blushed again, turned, and fled.
Merry Christmas, everyone! Next to get their present is probably going to be
gabz33. Some of you may be a little late...so sorry! But I will do my best to remain on schedule.
She swung out of bed and strolled over to the door and tugged it open with an air of tolerant exasperation before she recognized the psychic scent and her eyes lit up. “Karla!” She said, in a voice that was not quite a squeal but was definitely more high-pitched than usual. “I was wondering where you’d gotten off to.”
Karla’s grin soothed Jaenelle’s worry a little - not that she’d ever say so to Karla, but she did worry - especially here, especially now, when she was trying to put together something so precarious and delicate with a crowd of family members who weren’t exactly known for their subtlety. “I’ve been…around,” she said evasively. “May I come in?”
“You still have to ask?” Jaenelle asked, amused. Karla blushed a little, and Jaenelle blinked at her. Karla didn’t blush that much. Something was obviously on her mind.
Jaenelle went over to the bed and set down the book she was still holding. “Come on, come over here and I’ll brush your hair and you can tell me what’s on your mind.”
Karla looked startled. “How did you know I wanted to tell you something?”
Jaenelle couldn’t resist ruffling Karla’s short, spiky hair, despite the growl it earned her. “Because you’re completely transparent, sweetheart, that’s how.”
Karla scowled a little, but she was practically bubbling with excitement and sat down without the usual necessary argument about her hair not needing brushing, practically bouncing on the chair in front of the mirror. Jaenelle called in a comb and began carefully stroking it through her friend’s pale blond hair, not saying anything, wondering how long it would take Karla to explode with trying to keep her secret until Jaenelle asked.
“I kissed Armand.” She blurted out.
That didn’t take long, Jaenelle noted privately to herself. “You did, did you?”
“I did, I really did and it was glorious,” Karla said, her voice almost a giggle. “I can’t believe that’s what I’ve been missing.”
Jaenelle couldn’t help laughing a little. Karla craned her neck around and gave Jaenelle a scathing look that would have set green wood to smoking. “Are you laughing at me?”
Jaenelle shook her head. “No, Karla. I’m not laughing at you. So? What happened?”
“I still think you’re laughing at me.”
Jaenelle had to resist the impulse to roll her eyes. “No, I’m not. I was just laughing at you saying you were missing something. I don’t think you would have liked it very much if you’d tried it before now.”
Karla made a face. “No…probably not. It was just something to say.” Her temper flared again in a moment. “Do you want to hear what happened or not?” she demanded.
“Of course I do!” Jaenelle exclaimed obligingly, knowing that she would hear about it whether she wanted to or not.
“Then stop interrupting me!”
“I wasn’t, you hadn’t even started yet.”
Karla stuck out her tongue and blew a raspberry at Jaenelle, which she promptly returned, causing both of them to dissolve into giggles for a bit. When they had recovered, Jaenelle teased her fingers through Karla’s hair and examined her friend’s reflection. “Well?”
“I wasn’t really doing anything, I just left a note for him because I wanted to ask about Lucivar and he came outside and we talked and then -“ She blushed again, color rising in her pale cheeks. “Well. We talked for a bit and then he leaned over and kissed me.”
“Wait wait wait.” Jaenelle said, holding up a hand. “That’s not good enough. Give me all the juicy details.”
Karla really did blush, this time. “What do you mean?”
“Well? What did he smell like? What did you do? How did you feel - all that.”
Karla ducked her head and mumbled something inaudible.
“What was that?”
“I never asked you about Daemon.”
Jaenelle’s face heated, but she managed to keep her tone light. “We’re not talking about me, dear. We’re talking about you. You came here to tell me, so you get to deal with my questions.”
“All right, fine,” Karla grumped. “What do you want to know?”
“Well…what was it like? What did you say? Did you have those dead flowers in your hair at the time?” She added, picking one up and holding it so Karla could see the pathetic, brown little thing.
Karla’s hand moved self-consciously to her hair. “Armand said they were pretty.”
“Well, if Armand thinks they’re pretty,” Jaenelle said mildly. Karla bristled.
“Don’t do that!”
“Do what?”
“Act like I’m losing my mind or my senses or something about this.”
Jaenelle’s look was all innocence. “You’re not?”
Karla gaped at her, and Jaenelle laughed. “Of course you are,” she informed the Gray-jeweled witch. “But that’s okay. That’s why falling in love is so much fun, right? Because it’s not rational. Enjoy yourself.”
Karla eyed Jaenelle warily for a moment. “Anyway,” she said at last. “About the rest of it - I didn’t really say anything much.”
“Karla!”
“What?” Karla said, half worriedly, half irritably.
“What do you mean you didn’t say anything? You have to say something.”
“There wasn’t anything to say!”
“Sure there was! You could tell him that it was the most magical moment of your life…or that your soul had just been made complete…”
“You’re joking!” Karla said, horrorstruck.
“Of course I am.”
Karla gaped at her again, then they both burst out laughing.
“Most magical moment of my life?” Karla giggled incredulously.
Jaenelle shrugged modestly. “I’ve always had this way with words.”
Karla just gave her a Look, and Jaenelle blinked innocently at her right back. Finally the other witch threw up her hands and sighed. “All right, you win.”
“I usually do,” Jaenelle said mildly.
This time the Look was exasperated but affectionate. “Do you want to hear what it was like or not?”
“All right, I’ll be good,” Jaenelle said demurely, and returned to playing with her friend’s short hair, not bothering to look like she was doing something with it.
“Wellll…” Karla paused, probably a largely spurious one, Jaenelle decided. Karla did have a sense of the dramatic, after all. “What it felt like. Words cannot describe it, but -“ She snorted, abruptly. “Sorry, I couldn’t keep a straight face. I’m not cut out to be a poet.”
“Just try.”
It wasn’t the words that were important to Jaenelle. It was just a way of keeping Karla distracted so she could carefully feel the emotions from her friend, nearly powerful enough to taste but not to identify, having faded a little. She caught a psychic scent she recognized from their encounters and started there.
Entwined around him was a thread so tightly woven - that was the best way to think of it, as a thread - that she could not separate the two, but could only detect a strong sense of protectiveness and fierce loyalty in it, much the same things that a Queen required from her males, she mused oddly. Though which way it ran…that was a curious thing. Was the thread bound to Armand, or was Armand bound to the thread?
The rest was easier. Easiest. Because as suddenly as she brushed against that thread that smelled distinctly like Armand St. Just, she found herself awash in some of the most powerful feelings she’d ever felt from her icy Glacian friend. Love, and a little bit of fear and nervousness, but mostly a deep and overwhelming love.
And as suddenly as that, Jaenelle found herself swimming in emotion.
*Karla! Calm down! You’re making me dizzy!*
Jaenelle untangled herself and stepped back as Karla blinked a few times, disoriented. Jaenelle felt a little guilty, but only for a moment. She had had to know if this was genuine, not some spell or just an infatuation. She had no doubts now.
“Go ahead,” she urged Karla softly, for it was clear that she’d interrupted a story.
“Well, so then he leaned forward and looked at me like he was asking permission or something and all I could do was stare at him and think about how nice he looked and how sweet he is and then all of a sudden we were just - kissing. It just sort of happened, I guess.” She shrugged, looking embarrassed, then looked back at Jaenelle. “I don’t know what to do!” Her voice was on the verge of a wail.
“Do you think he loves you?”
“I don’t know if he likes me! How should I know?”
“I didn’t say like. I said love.”
Karla stopped dead. “That’s a scary word,” she whispered. “I don’t know if I’m ready to use it.”
Jaenelle looked at Karla seriously, not a hint of smile in her eyes. “You need to learn, because I know what you feel and it’s not just liking someone…and I think if anyone here is worthy of you, Armand is. I don’t know Chris yet, but if he’s anything like Armand I can tell you that if you had asked me to pick you a Consort, it would have been one of those two.”
Karla’s eyes were very bright and seemed a little wet. “You think so?”
Jaenelle managed a smile, though she wasn’t exactly dry eyed herself. “I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t mean it.”
“Jaenelle.” Karla infused her name with all the gratitude that Jaenelle herself could have wished for, and got up and embraced her fiercely. Jaenelle hugged her Sister back, feeling strangely as though she were losing her - though she wasn’t, of course. They hugged each other tightly.
Then they promptly dissolved on each other’s shoulders.
Eventually, Jaenelle wiped her nose on her sleeve and sniffled. “Look at us. We’re such girls.”
Karla blew her nose on a handkerchief she’d fished out of a pocket somewhere. “Haven’t we always been?” She said in a wet, but dry as usual voice.
Jaenelle laughed a little and gave Karla a hug and a kiss on the cheek affectionately. “Good luck, Sister.”
Karla’s smile was a little forced, but only a little, and her tone was amused. “I don’t need it, Sister - who could resist this?” She gestured at herself and Jaenelle laughed again, wetly.
“Oh, get out of here.”
Karla smiled and turned to go, then Jaenelle reached out and caught her shoulder.
“Oh, and?” Jaenelle added. Karla looked apprehensive.
“What?”
“Next time you’re going to get that emotional, let me know. We are linked. I thought I was going to fall out of my chair this afternoon.”
Karla stared. “You mean you knew?”
Jaenelle grinned. “You might think about shielding or taking off the ring when you’re planning on having a little fun, Karla. It’ll make things a little less awkward for both of us.”
Karla blushed from the roots of her hair on downwards. “Jaenelle!”
Jaenelle held up both hands, mock defensively. “Just saying,” she said, and couldn’t quite keep a laugh out of her voice.
Karla stared, blinked, and stared a little more. Then she sighed and threw up her hands. “Witches!” She said, in imitation of one of the males favorite epithets. “Sometimes I don’t know what to do with you, Jaenelle.”
Jaenelle grinned. “That’s why I have Daemon, remember?”
Karla blushed again, turned, and fled.
Merry Christmas, everyone! Next to get their present is probably going to be
gabz33. Some of you may be a little late...so sorry! But I will do my best to remain on schedule.