TW: Alcohol Mention

I wake up with the aftertaste of moonshine in my mouth and mistletoe tangled in my hair. My back has small pains and feels sore. A shiver runs through it, so uncomfortable... I pause, what am I doing outside in the courtyard? ... I've fallen asleep on a stone walkway in the castle courtyard, apparently. I crane my neck up, it pops loudly in protest. The sun is hiding behind clouds, which to my stinging eyes are just blurs of grey. A large red figure closer to me takes my attention from the sky. "What the heck, Santa?" A blowup of the fat man is hanging upside down from the drawbridge; it gives me a jolly grin, as if this was some kind of funny thing. Well, I think waking up in my courtyard with snow landing on my nose is a LAUGH TOO, FUCK YOU SANTA CLAUS.

I sneeze, the brisk winter is getting to me. More shivers crawl down my arms and back as I stand and examine the yard. My back makes a cracking sound. Wonderful. Broken glass and streamers are shattered and shredded everywhere. The door to Nano's tower is wide open, it looks as if broken down by brute force. I take a few steps closer, my pounding head stopping me. I swear loudly in frustration, though it only succeeds in making me feel worse. My voice cracks, my throat parched, and the feeling of someone whacking my head with a plank makes me want to cry.

Stumbling through the doorway to Nano's tower, I find a few abandoned coats. Were other people here? I have no memory to answer that. What I am interested in now though is if whoever was here is still lurking about, and if they're knocked out unconscious. I would have no hesitations kicking whoever trashed my castle in the head and out the fucking window. If only moving didn't make my head shatter and explode and my voice not as tired and strained. Though I admit, a man yelling incoherently at me as he kicked my head in and tossed me out a castle window sounds rather terrifying.

I drag myself back outside and head to my own room. The elevator aggregates my head. I mutter curses under my breath as I walk into my bedroom, flopping onto my bed and releasing a loud and agitated sigh. I urge myself to go back to sleep, and wrap myself in the thick black blankets on the bed. The air in the blanket quickly grows warm, so I kick it back off and flip onto my back. My breath is tired and deep. As much as I'd like to brush my teeth to get rid of that awful alcoholic scent, my mind is in no mood to bother.

The bed is comfy, but also feels like cardboard. The pillows feel stiff. After shifting sides and positions for another while, how long it is I don't know cause I don't care. The only thought on my mind is just wanting to not feel sick. I struggle to sit up and stand, careful disturb my headache as little as possible. Downstairs I rummage through a chest to find water bottles. There's a few sitting in the bottom of one of the diamond chests. "Oh thank god." I sigh as I rip the cap off one and waterfall the liquid into my mouth. The water is cold and cleansing, though I nearly drown my lungs as I empty the bottle. Water spews out of my mouth as I straighten my head and attempt to swallow the literal mouthful of beverage. As it slowly swirls down my throat, I begin to cough, dripping more water onto my chin and shirt.

I toss the now empty bottle aside and pat at my purple t-shirt, the neckline is now drenched. I grip another bottle and some ibuprofen and return to the comfort of my bed. I bury myself in blankets, my head poking out at the end as if I am a turtle. The sun sets outside my window. I watch it and quickly fall asleep after downing some water and a couple ibuprofen tablets.

The next time I wake up, my headache has gone. I sit up with a small groan and stretch, letting my back and shoulders crack. Satisfied I rub my eyes and wrestle with my blankets so I can stand. I come back downstairs to the mess from a couple nights previously. A sigh escapes my lips as I look upon the shattered glass and stained floors. Where was Nano in all this madness?

"Nano!" I shuffle outside and call for my apprentice. "Nanooooo."

No answer. The door to her tower is still swaying on its hinges. Great, hopefully the heater hasn't been running. The hanging Santa Claus ho-ho-hos me as I tiptoe around glass and rainbow streamers. I flip the bird at him as I step into Nano's tower. "NANO?"

Has she left? Where would she be for two days without checking up on me? Should I be worried? Just as I think this, footsteps trample in behind me.

"Lalna! I'm home! Why is this place a pigsty still!?" Nano shouts as she runs to the broken door.

"Nano! Where've you been?" I spin to meet the wild look in her eyes.

"N-Nevermind where I've been! The whole courtyard's a disaster!"

"You think I don't know that? I just got over a hangover, Nano! And I'm still thirsty as all hell!" I snap, I'm irritated for no reason. One of the signs of excess drinking for me. Maybe I'm not as over it as I said I was.

"Ewww, Lalna, your breath smells like a bar dumpster!" Nano covers her nose and gags.

"Don't be so dramatic." I tell her. Nano continues to exaggerate and chokes and slides to the ground. I fold my arms and watch in amusement, inevitably giggling at her performance.

She stands back up and brushes herself off. "Lalna, I was with Sjin, and-"

"With Sjin? Why the fuck were you with Sjin?" I interrupt.

"Let me continue and I'll tell you." She growls. "We weren't doing anything, just hanging out, we had to help Xephos bring Honeydew home after he crashed at the party... Anyway, Sjin's coming back to help clean, which was unexpectedly nice of him to offer..."

"Well thank god really, I can't clean this by myself. I haven't even been through the whole place yet!"

The two of us, while we wait for the farmer, throw darts at the inflated Santa Claus and giggle as he slowly and noisily farts air. Sjin comes soon after with a few cleaning supplies in tow.

"We ready to get cleaning?" He asks us in an excited tone. He is waaay too hyped for this. Nano and I both cheer unenthusiastically as we grab brooms and mops and start a cleaning sequence montage.

By the time the sun is directly above the castle and glaring down at us, we manage to sweep all the glass and toss the streamers in the trash, Sjin mops inside as well. I worked on repairing Nano's door while she looms over me telling me exactly how to fix it. Sjin and I after that stand below the deflated Santa while Nano cuts him down from the top of the drawbridge. I am not prepared for the weight and enormity of the flat man. Both of us flail underneath it as we crumple the balloon up enough for Sjin to carry it off to the trash. See ya later, shitlord Santa, as Honeydew would have said.

All three of us collapse on a couch in Nano's tower with glasses of non alcoholic beverages. Nano blows on her tea while Sjin and I down soda. We sit in silence and admire our work. The castle has been cleaned top to bottom. What a relief. I want to thank Sjin, but am too busy swishing Dr. Pepper in my glass. Sjin is the first to pipe up.
"Well, our work is done now, eh?" Nano and I make sounds of agreement in unison.

"Yeah, and I am just really done with everything now soooo, get out." Nano says irritably. She verbally kicks me and Sjin out the newly hinged door. We stand in the courtyard, unsure of what to say to each other.
"Hey Sjin, I woke up with mistletoe in my hair after the party." I blurt, desperate for conversation. Sjin's surprised look tells me I might've said the wrong thing.

"R-Really? How odd!" Sjin replies. I can tell he's thinking of something. As I am a nosy bastard, I pry.

"I don't remember giving away kisses, do you remember if I did?" I ask. Sjin clears his throat and laughs.

"I don't know why you would ask me." He says, now clearly trying to skirt around the topic.

"Because you obviously remember more about that night than I do, which is zip. None."

"You don't remember any of it?"

"Nada, no memory at all." For a moment I see a flicker of disappointment in his eyes.

"Oh... Well uh, that's a shame, I bet you want to know what went on?" He scratches the back of his head, suddenly averting his gaze.

"Uh, yeah... You wanna... You wanna fill me in on what went down?" I ask, tilting my head to try and find his eyes again. He glances at me before looking away again. I see a hint of red on his tanned skin. What the heck?

"I- I can... if you want..."

"Well yeah, I want, tell me!" 'Just get to the fucking point, Sjin.'

I am not ready for what Sjin does next. With a swift, fluid movement, Sjin cups my face and pulls me in close and presses his lips against mine. My face immediately flushes. I want to pull back and demand an explanation, but this feel surprisingly nice. Sjin's natural scent of hand soap and fresh cut grass becomes noticeable as we're so close, it makes me feel so relaxed. Thank god I brushed my teeth beforehand, I would have felt awful if I had still reeked of alcohol.

After a long moment, Sjin backs away a couple steps, dropping his hands hesitantly to my shoulders. "Sji-...Sjin?"
"I- I'm sorry..." The architect mutters an apology. I can only stare at him, my eyes wide, frozen in surprise. His taste still lingers on my lips. It's a faint spicy taste. Delicious. Sjin refuses to look back up at me, I can tell his face is red though.

"Sjin... " I blink and snap out of my trance-like frozen state. "I- uh- well-" I struggle to find words. I'm desperate not to offend him. "Sjin, where did that come from?" I ask quickly. He continues to avoid my eyes. "Sjin."

"I was just- just telling you what happened... that night." Sjin finally said with a matter-of-fact tone.

"Hang on. So that mistletoe- and this-"

"It was just a kiss!" Sjin interrupts, "Or maybe it was two- they were just kisses!"

"Uhuh, yeah, and you're getting all flustered because?"

"Wh- I'm not flustered! You're flustered!" Sjin protests, snapping his head to face me. His face a an adorable, soft red. With a smirk I reply,

"I'm not the one with that intense blushing going on." I point out to him. Sjin makes a few cute sounds of embarrassment and sputters his retort.

"I re-really like you, Lalna, is that okay?!"

I can't hold back my laughter. What a cutie. "Sure, Sjin, that's okay." I grab the collar of his shirt and pull him back into another kiss. He must be satisfied with that answer, as he melts and we share the touching moment with our lips locked.

Credit to inuysha97 on A03