a/n: Sorry for disappearing for so long, school was murdering me but now I'm back from the grave (I hope)
A little disclaimer: I don't rlly know how Christmas markets in other countries work, so I'm gonna do it like in my country.
This is a ¾ year after the original timeline (means original timeline is spring, this is winter)

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~Aether's POV~

"Hey, Lyn?"

"Yeah? What's on your mind, love?"

I smile slightly at the nickname. My head is resting on Lyney's shoulder while we lie on the couch, watching 'A Nightmare before Christmas'. We just finished decorating our dorm with what we could, I mean, we're students. There are not many Christmas decorations just lying around.

"Have you heard about the Christmas market almost right in front of the campus?" I lift my head slightly to look at them.

"Yeah, I have. Do you wanna go there together?" He looks at me too and places a small kiss on my nose.

"Hmm... right now, not really, honestly... I'm a bit exhausted. I wanted to ask you if you wanna go there on Christmas."

"Of course, love. I'll go everywhere with you."

I smile to myself. Why does he have to be so goddamn adorable?? Kissing his cheek, I make myself comfortable again and continue to watch the film.

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~Lyney's POV~

"Aetherrrrrr..."

"Just one second! I swear I'm done soon!"

I've been waiting for my boyfriend to finally come out of the bathroom and leave to the Christmas market for about 10 minutes now, but it felt like a century.

But finally, the door opens, and they step out. My chin almost falls off. How are they so pretty?? Now I know what he's been doing the whole time... his face is covered with small little stars, all yellow and orange, perfectly fitting his outfit.

"What do you think?" They smile nervously. "It's not too much, is it?"

"No, you're just so beautiful!! I'd really like to kiss you right now, but I'm scared to destroy it..."

He lets out a small laugh and places a small kiss on my cheek. "Come on, let's go." They grab my hand and drag me out of the dorm, almost jumping like a little child. Really, how can they be so cute??

We're already halfway at the market when I notice something. "Aeth, did you forget your gloves?" He smiles awkwardly. "Oh, yeah, I did, I noticed just yet but didn't want to bother you..."

I smile a bit. "Give me a second." Under his questioning gaze, I reach into my pockets, deeper and deeper, so deep it's theoretically not even possible. Then, I take out the exact gloves that he always wears. "Magic." I say, trying to look serious.

"Mhm, magic. Thanks!!" He beams at me, taking them and putting them on. I take his hand again, continuing our tracks.

Soon, we arrive at the Christmas market. It's already dark, so the warm yellow lights are even more prominent. On the buildings around are projections of stars. Crowds of people are laughing, chatting, smiling, drinking everywhere.

I glance at Aether's face, seeing just complete amazement in their eyes. This makes me smile.

"Let's go, let's go, I wanna try so much!!" They already started walking, so I just had no choice but to follow them, trying to avoid bumping into people. I didn't let go of their hand for even one moment, scared of losing them in the crowd.

Soon, we stop at a stall with food. All kinds of roasted almonds, glazed fruit, fruit in chocolate, sweets for kids, hearts out of gingerbread with every writing you can imagine, and cotton candy.

I steal a glance at my boyfriend, his eyes darting around, not able to choose what's the best out of here. "Baby, choose what you want, I'll pay."

They look at me, and their eyes light up. I can almost see dog ears on their head. They are radiating so much happiness and sunshine, the stars on their face are almost glowing.

Ugh, my heart, how can they be so cute??

His smile makes me smile, too. He turns back to the sweets, choosing a cotton candy and hot chocolate. I ordered a hot chocolate too. "That'd make 10 euros." I pay, thanking the seller.

We stood at the side, drinking and warming ourselves. "The atmosphere is so... amazing!" I chuckle. "Almost magical."

Suddenly, we hear a loud cry behind us. We turn around and see a small child crying. It dropped her lollipop and was now crying over the tragic loss. The young parents were just standing beside it, not really knowing what to do.

It just so happened that I always kept a spare candy in my pocket in case Aeth would want one. I get on the level of the girl, slipping out the lolly unnoticed.

"Hey..." I softly spoke to the child. "Don't cry, look..." I picked up the dropped lolly and pretended to blow the dirt away. Unnoticed buy the girl, I changed it with the clean one.

Holding it out to her, I wait for her to take it. She was so surprised, she stopped crying. With a glance at her parents, who nodded in approval, she took the candy and examined it carefully.

Deciding it really was good enough to eat it, she placed it into her mouth. The girl didn't even notice it's not the same colour. "Fank yu." Running away giggling, she hid behind her parents, as if she's scared of strangers.

I stand back up. The parents nod in gratitude and leave with the happy child.

As I turn back to Aether, I find his face very close to mine. He kisses me and stays a bit longer than usual.

When he pulls away, I smile. "What was that for?"

"For being so sweet with that child." He takes my hand and drags me back to the stall. "Let's go return the cups."

After that, we stroll around the market for a bit. I end up winning a dark purple cat in the arcades, that kinda looks like my cat.

To see Aether so happy about it is truly adorable.

A while later, we arrive at a giant swing-like attraction. There are 25 seats, 5 on each side. It swings up and falls down, swinging up at the other side.

We share a look and sprint into the line. We both are suckers for the thrill and adrenaline that comes with such activities.

But while I'm just here for the feeling when you fall, Aether is every time a nervous wreck until the adrenaline kicks.

While we wait in the line, we chat a bit. Every second, Aether gets more and more jumpy.

"You nervous?" I tease him while we sit down in our seats. "Hmpf! No, of course not!" He pouts while taking my hand, squeezing it so hard I'm afraid it breaks.

The seat security lowers itself, holding us in place.

"Of course." Suddenly, the machine starts to work.

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~Aether's POV~

Oh shit. Oh my god. Oh fuck.

It's starting.

My whole body tenses while the swing slowly starts to move.

At first, it's just a bit. Not so high. But that changes quickly.

We rise to one side, face down, and start falling. The others are screaming or cheering. My stomach spins, not as if I'm gonna throw up, but dangerously close to that.

On the other side, we look at the clear nightsky with stars for a split second, before rushing back down.

The swing turns, so on the other side, we're facing to the side. I see the city glowing. For a moment, it's like the time stands still. A second later, we're falling down again.

This continues for a while, but it doesn't get boring, every time we rise, the anticipation rises as well and when the swing starts to slow down, it's almost disappointing.

When the security unlocks the seats, I jump down, only to almost faceplant on the ground.

Lyney catches me and I giggle.

We leave the platform, sometimes swaying dangerously.

"This was so fun!!" I exclaim when I can speak again.

"Right??? It's one of the best I've ever tried!!" Lyney joins in.

We slowly make our way back to the dorms, our arms intertwined, sharing our opinions about the market.

When we arrive home, it's already so late that we immediately fall asleep.

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a/n: merry Christmas yall ^^