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more_magicIt’s strange to think of where he was a year ago, exactly. Waking up in Alex’s bed, hung over from the shame of the night before and the lingering effects of whatever Manuscript had given him, preparing for his first full day in a city outside of the world he knew and realizing in the process that he’d lost nearly two months in the space of a breath. There were more shocks to come, more alterations in what he thought to be true, but very little had managed to surpass the disorientation of that initial beginning to his tenure in Darrow.
Back then, Darlington had wondered what they might have done at home, if Alex would’ve been on a plane to California at the start of break--or if he might have managed to convince her to stay, to spend Christmas at Black Elm with him. What they got instead was better, that makeshift celebration with hastily-bought gifts and the smell of a half-remembered recipe wafting from Alex’s kitchen; the start of something new, even if neither of them had known the depths of that newness at the time. And now, a year on, through hard work and some kind of miracle, he gets what he’d wondered about after all.
Christmas Day will be just for them, presents and breakfast and relaxing by the fire, but tonight is a chance to celebrate. They decorate the main floor of Black Elm, filling the rooms they’ve already managed to furnish with light and warmth, the tree they’d bought earlier in the month standing by one of the large picture windows in the great room. Alex cooks all of Estrea Stern’s recipes she can think of, adds a few of Bernadette’s that Darlington remembers from his childhood. There’s music low on the stereo, a fire lit in the vast fireplace, the new table and chairs they’d bought for the formal dining room arranged just so beneath the chandelier at the center of the room. Even Kirby gets into the spirit in a new, festive collar, bright red against his black fur.
Above all, they’ve invited the people that matter, the few who have come to mean something--to one or both of them--in the year that’s just passed. It’s the first real party Black Elm has seen in many years, not since Darlington’s grandfather was alive. It feels, once again, like starting something new.
[[tag in, tag around, enjoy the party!]]
Back then, Darlington had wondered what they might have done at home, if Alex would’ve been on a plane to California at the start of break--or if he might have managed to convince her to stay, to spend Christmas at Black Elm with him. What they got instead was better, that makeshift celebration with hastily-bought gifts and the smell of a half-remembered recipe wafting from Alex’s kitchen; the start of something new, even if neither of them had known the depths of that newness at the time. And now, a year on, through hard work and some kind of miracle, he gets what he’d wondered about after all.
Christmas Day will be just for them, presents and breakfast and relaxing by the fire, but tonight is a chance to celebrate. They decorate the main floor of Black Elm, filling the rooms they’ve already managed to furnish with light and warmth, the tree they’d bought earlier in the month standing by one of the large picture windows in the great room. Alex cooks all of Estrea Stern’s recipes she can think of, adds a few of Bernadette’s that Darlington remembers from his childhood. There’s music low on the stereo, a fire lit in the vast fireplace, the new table and chairs they’d bought for the formal dining room arranged just so beneath the chandelier at the center of the room. Even Kirby gets into the spirit in a new, festive collar, bright red against his black fur.
Above all, they’ve invited the people that matter, the few who have come to mean something--to one or both of them--in the year that’s just passed. It’s the first real party Black Elm has seen in many years, not since Darlington’s grandfather was alive. It feels, once again, like starting something new.
[[tag in, tag around, enjoy the party!]]
no subject
Date: 2020-12-23 07:00 pm (UTC)Plus, a timer was going off, and it was easy enough to open the oven and check what was in.
"Never took you for a domestic," he said, shuffling roasted beets on their pan before popping them back in for a last bit, and then turning his attention to things on top of the stove that are bubbling and simmering away happily. He's as familiar at the stove top as Alex seems to be, and he looks at her with that quiet understanding: food is comfort for creatures that don't see a lot of that.
"Your boy's pissed I've invaded, but I've placated him with my husband."
no subject
Date: 2020-12-23 08:37 pm (UTC)"He likes Newt a lot," says Alex, knowing that there's no point in pretending that things aren't the way they are between Darlington and Kavinsky.
"I know how to cook things my grandma used to make," she says. "It's all kind of..." She makes a vague gesture. "More suited to Hannukah."
no subject
Date: 2020-12-26 03:24 am (UTC)He smiled, though. "And Newt is, like, deeply likeable. Definitely more likeable than me. So I'm just glad that he doesn't hold me against him."
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Date: 2020-12-27 08:03 pm (UTC)"We're Spanish," she says, smirking a little as she starts to stir something on the stove. "Well...Sepphardic. Turns out that Granny's Ladino didn't help me a tonne with Spanish 101."
no subject
Date: 2020-12-28 11:46 pm (UTC)He laughed a little bit, grinning. "Congrats on that, Bulgarian wasn't very helpful either. I mean, being multilingual was great because I could just automatically get out of second language courses unless I wanted to take them--which I didn't."
Kavinsky bumped Alex a little bit as they stood at the stove together.
"Your man's been watching you whenever he's not schmoozing, so congrats on being hot shit."
no subject
Date: 2020-12-29 07:03 pm (UTC)"Dude, you've seen me nearly naked more than anyone here except Danny," she says, grinning at him when he bumps against her. "I know you're all about dick, but you've got eyes, don't you?"
no subject
Date: 2020-12-31 02:49 am (UTC)"Anyway, I wasn't talking about him staring at your ass," he said. "Has he proposed yet? You think he's planning to? Are you two planning on living in sin?"
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Date: 2021-01-01 12:20 am (UTC)"Huh," says Alex, because she wouldn't necessarily have expected that, seeing him with Newt, seeing him dance. Still, it's not like it's any of her business. The word propose makes her eyebrows shoot up; it honestly hasn't occured to her. "I...Guess? I definitely don't think he's going to propose. Nice boys like him don't marry pieces of shit like me."
no subject
Date: 2021-01-03 11:19 pm (UTC)"Maybe not now," he said with a shrug. "But sometimes nice boys do. I managed a nice boy, somehow. Fuck if I know how. I just mean, he's looking at you awfully seriously and if you don't want him, I'm sure Newt won't turn him down."
no subject
Date: 2021-01-06 10:34 am (UTC)"I didn't say I didn't want him," she says, quietly, her focus on what she's cooking for a moment. "I know Newt's a nice by, but it's not the same thing as Daniel Tabor Arlington III. Have you seen this fucking house?"
no subject
Date: 2021-01-07 09:09 pm (UTC)"Please tell me that you're not planning on carrying on that naming tradition if you two ever have kids." He nudged her gently. "Nobody's anybody around here. As long as he treats you right and you're happy, stop worrying about if you're good enough or what the fuck ever. Roll with it."