First and foremost, I would like to apologize for any bad English usage and if there's any misuse/misspell of words, do inform me. (No beta-reader as usual)
I do not own Elsword or any of it related product and this fic is to be treated as a fanon.
Elmas day, the name of an annual festival celebrating the birth of the first El lady. Eve pondered on how the exact date of the birth could be remembered until now. Even the Nasod database did not contain any of such information. Perhaps the reason to the inefficiency was due to the war years ago?
A sneeze broke her out of her stupor and her hand, with a clean and dry tissue, moved automatically to the nose of a red haired boy who was laid comfortably on a bed. Well, comfortably was really over-exaggerating as the boy was strapped down on his bed. Mechanically yet gentle, she pressed the tissue and the boy blew his nose into it.
The identity of the boy was none other than Elsword Sieghart, the self appointed leader of the El Search party. The cause for his current state of restrain was due to the incident the day before.
The members of the party including him were scouting the Forest of El. In a fit of idiocy and recklessness, the red haired boy decided to trounce about on the frozen lake. The outcome was obvious from the start and the layer of ice gave way, thus he fell into the icy cold water. He came out of it, wet but unscathed and have the pride to proclaim to not feeling the cold.
"Idiot don't get cold, it seems" Aisha, the purple mage stated in a haughty voice, enraging the boy, as usual.
"I was under the impression that what Miss Aisha had stated was true. But now, I believed that even Idiots can contract the cold" back to the present, Eve affirmed and Elsword groaned in response.
"I'm fine so let me go!" the boy simply declared and the silver haired Nasod shook her head.
Another reason to his current predicament was due to his elder sister's, Elesis Sieghart, extreme care for her little brother well-being. However the care was not as much as the responsibility ended up pushed onto the former Nasod Queen in order to embark to Elder for the Elmas Day event. Before she left, Elesis placed another task which was to make sure the boy would stay in bed during his recovery.
Eve did not join the part as she deemed the celebration to be unimportant and a waste of time. And now she's simply sitting beside the boy and prepared to attend to his needs.
"Come on Eve. If we go now, we won't miss ou-achoo!" Elsword beg but let out another sneeze.
Eve sighed and again repeated the process after disposing the previous stained tissue. He groaned again in an attempt to persuade her and she had to control herself from slapping him, as per norm.
"I do not see the need for any urgency just for a simple festival, compare to one's health!"
The boy gasped at her proclamation and stared at her as if she was some strange creature which she for some reason felt a stab in her chest. Elsword then proceed to laugh out loud much to her confusion.
"You never celebrate Elmas before, had you?" he asked.
"As a matter of fact, no, I had not and I see no importance for the celebration" she answered quick and truthfully, seeing no shame to it.
"You should. You'll see, I'll show you~!"
Eve's amber eyes blinked twice as she tried to divert them away from the ever effective vermilion eyes. It felt like an eternal battle but in actual, it took just 5 second for her mind to relent. She reached out her hand to feel his forehead and after determined the temperature was at a stable parameter said, "In that case, judging that your condition had improved, I shall allow this once but only for awhile. If I come to a conclusion that the celebration is not worth your health, I'll drag you back immediately. Agree?"
Elsword trembled slightly at her authority tone but happily nodded at the prospect of finally able to partake in the year's Elmas celebration.
To Elsword's surprise, the trip only took a few minutes due to the ever fast and mobile Moby Chariot RT they had ridden. However the ride was not a pleasant one as the moment he planted his boots on the snowy ground, they wobbled and would have gave in if not for Eve's timely support.
Currently Elsword and Eve were wearing red and grey winter coat respectively with fur like hood. The red haired boy's seem to be thicker due to the fact that he wore an extra coat within. They both had equipped shades as a mean of disguise while he alone had a mouth cover. Eve's two drone nestled themselves inside the large warm hood.
Wasting no time, they entered the gate of Elder and were greeted with a marvelous sight that left even Eve in awe. Decorations, mixture colour of red, green and gold, littered the walls and streets. Ribbons and banners hung from houses to houses.
The statue of Wally that once stood menacingly at the centre had been replaced by a glorious and serene tree. It was decorated with an assortment of ornaments from garlands or ribbons to white stripped red candy cane to orbs of multiple colours to decoration in the shape of stars, hearts and flowers.
"Amazing isn't it?" when Elsword saw her bewildered expression, he said with a smirk.
Eve lazily nodded, still fixated at the beautiful scenery. Suddenly she shook her head, dispersing her dazed state and glared at the smirking boy.
"It is impressive. However I will withhold the making of my judgment for now."
"Yes yes. Then I shall lead the way your majesty."
Eve clenched her fist at his sarcasm, as usual but refrained from causing a commotion for she had violated the requirement for the task given by the red haired sister. There was no telling the probability of them and the party to crossed path and it unnerved her.
"Are you coming or not?"
Alerted, she looked straight ahead and saw that the boy was waving from a distance. Eve sighed and quickened her pace to walk beside of him on the documentary adventure of the Elmas day.
First thing they do was to simply walk around, checking out the new facilities that had been set up just for the festive occasion. Surprising for what seems to be needless and time consuming stroll ended up being quite a pleasant one. There were many people around all having a warm and joyful expression that seems to even affect the poker faced Nasod.
There were a group of singers, composed of a human, a treant, a phoru and strangely a nasod miner that attracted their attention. This group sang a delightful music that had gave off a sense of bliss and wonder.
"Ah, it's the Elmas carol" as if knowing of her curiosity, the red haired boy said to her.
"Oh" was her only answer as her attention was still focused to the tune. Suddenly the boy's back appeared in front of her and bended down to toss some coins into a hanged black cauldron or pot.
"It's for donation for those that are in need" again he answered her without her asking.
She nodded and decided to place a bountiful of coins as well, earning a chuckle from the boy and a sound of gratitude from the choir.
As they continued their strolling, Eve finally noticed the abundance of strategic hanged ornament of red orbs and green plantation. Another thing was that there was a 95% chance of a couple of male and female giving each other a kiss underneath while 5% ended up being of the same gender. Puzzled, she tugged the sleeve of the boy's coat and pointed to those hanged objects.
"Oh, those are Elstletoes. There's some strange custom that if a couple were to end up under one of them, they are to ki-kiss…" Elsword stuttered and blushingly look away but the silver haired Nasod paid it no heed.
It was then they heard a familiar group of voices. They turned to identify the source and both of them froze.
"Come on Raven, kiss her~" Elesis ushered with a sly smile.
"…" the black haired men simply stare silently at the red tinted elf.
"Chung and Aisha already did it so be a man and do it!" as Elesis mentioned the two names, the blonde haired boy and purple haired girl looked away, clearly embarrassed. "Even I have already done it with Ara~" she added and the blacked haired girl simply covered her face in shame.
"Tsk, fine. Sorry about this Rena…" Raven finally relented and gave the elf a kiss albeit a peck on the lips, sending the elf blushing madly and Elesis cackling happily.
Once the commotion had ended, the group slowly turned around, toward the direction where the two 'elopers' were, sending a sense of panic to both of them.
Eve simply stood there, unmoving as if calmly accepting the turn of event but inside of her mind was countless data crisscrossing one another in torrent to find a solution to escape from this predicament. Elsword, however displayed the skill of a fast thinker, most probably trained from the time he did to avoid being punished by his elder sister years ago, immediately grabbed the Nasod's delicate hand and reeled her into the dark spacing between a building.
Due to the small spacing, both of them were pressed among each other and also that Elsword, being a head shorter, ended up having his face planted onto her, almost, flat chest. Eve could feel heat creeping into her core but she concluded that it was from the thermal conduction from the human boy's. But she could not find the answer for the thumping of her core.
On the other hand, Elsword's face was bright red and as if steams were coming out. His head felt woozy and he believed that his health might not be as 'okay' as he had boasted.
"You know, I have a feeling that you had all this planned out just to mess with us, Elesis" the voice have a motherly yet ferocious tone, most probably belonging to the elf.
Laughter ringed and apologized made," Sorry sorry~"
The sound of them slowly getting louder as they began to close in to the two's position.
Elsword's started to pant heavily. As he did so, the bodily scent of the former Nasod queen entered his senses. His eyes started to whirl like a whirlpool and a thought popped up which he tried to dispel.
'Smells nice….oh no no what am I thinking?! Must be the cold…'
Eve too found herself breathing erratically at the prospect of being found out. She in turn whiffed in the faint smell from his hair, causing her core to beat harder and unbeknownst of her, her cheeks were tinted red.
The red haired boy noticed the beating sound but assumed that she was simply panicking. His big sister, when angry, was really terrifying.
"Hey, let's go check what they are selling at Add's pizza shop~" a higher pitched voice, belonging to Aisha, sounded.
"I want to go there as well" this time from another female voice, probably belonging to Ara, filled with enthusiasm.
"Sure!" the rest said in unison.
Minutes passed and the sound of their footsteps finally disappeared. Elsword and Eve mentally breathed a sigh of relief and immediately parted after getting out of the tight space. Their face was flushed as they looked away.
"Erm…let's…go the opposite direction…" Elsword suggested in a timid voice while scratching his cheek.
"Ye-yes, do lead the way" Eve agreed in the tone and action similar to him.
After walking aimlessly, they stumbled upon a shop, filled with sweet pastries and icy delicacies while for some reason avoid any eye contact. The huge sign display the name of the shop, "Echo's Pastry". The sweet aroma that escaped through the ever opening and closing door triggered a reaction from the boy. Before long, his stomach grumbled a rumbling sound.
"Erm…want to have lunch here?" as if cleared from whatever status effect inflicted before, he finally turned to face her and asked.
Inside, they were welcomed by the sight of delicious looking pastries, displayed behind glass framing and rows of table which were occupied by many customers. Elsword's stomach grumbled again and they immediately find a vacant table.
The table they chose was was located at the farthest corner, away from the window due to fear of being spotted being the main reason. Elsword removed the annoying mouth cover. Taking the time, Eve was simply looked around, taking down the various people and food around.
"I can't do it! This thing, this cute thing! I can eat it!" an elderly man cried out from one of the table.
"Oh come one. Just eat it!" another voice cried out, this time of a little girl.
"We may be demon but this is crossing the limi-uakk!" the man tried to protest but it seemed that the girl had forced the phoru shaped cookies into his mouth.
"Welcome, what can I get fo- Elsword?!" a figure gasped and Eve's attaention shifted. She indentified the figure that had approached their table as a little girl with brown coloured skin.
"Oh hey Echo. Seems that your business is doing fine~" the red haired boy greeted.
"Of course, with the power of alchemy nothing is impossible even though we had competition from a new shop across the block, Add's pizza shop…" she said finishing with subtle venom laced name but continued, "So what can I get you and your…"
Echo trailed as she turned her sight on the silver haired Nasod and a smirk formed, "… girlfriend~" Her statement immediate had an effect on the boy as his face lighten up in red.
"No no no, it's not like that…" "Indeed I am" Elsword stammering answer was intercepted by the once silent Nasod.
"Oh~" Echo's smirk grew, "Then I'll order for you the couple special. Don't worry, there's a 5% discount~"
As she finished, she had already disappeared before he could stop her.
Elsword palmed his face in embarrassment and when he peeked out, he saw Eve simply tilting her head in confusion.
"Are we not friends?" she asked, her monotonous tone had a broken sound to it.
Feeling curious, he decided to asked, "Eve, you do know the meaning of a girlfriend right?"
"Yes, a girlfriend is just a friend that is of the female gender."
Elsword immediately crashed his head on the table and let out a chuckle.
"Is there something wrong?" she asked and the boy waved his hand.
"Nothing, so just friends huh?" he muttered softly.
His soft statement stung her deeply for some reason and without thinking she decided to clarify a fact," You are not just a friend. You are a friend of upmost important."
Elsword was dumbfounded at first but soon melted into a warming smile while his cheek tinted red.
"Thanks."
Before long their 'forced' order arrived. There was a plate filled with a mountain of cookies shaped in various design, stars, phorus and mostly hearts. Another plate contained cupcakes and brownies that had heart pattern and pink markings.
'That's a lot of hearts'
She thought and observed the boy's blushing face while waiting for his initiation. Just as quick the mountain crumbled, not by the hand of the hungry boy but surprisingly the former Nasod Queen. Like a black hole, the cookies and cupcakes disappeared into the abyss and never been heard again.
"She's eating them, oh the horror!" the same man cried out in despair.
"Another!" the queen decreed and another set arrived much to Elsword's dismay. After 3 plates, the queen was finally satisfied and only then she realized of her uncivilized conduct. Her blue marking turned red and she stared at the chuckling boy.
"Do not speak of this incident ever" Eve sternly said.
"Yeah yeah "Elsword replied, restraining himself from laughing out loud.
Suddenly, a large hourglass shaped glass was place in front of them. Held within was an ice cream drink with a straw that intertwined to form a heart shape.
"With the earning I'm going to get, this is on the house~" Echo chimed and left the scene.
Eve and Elsword stared at the drink for a long 5 minutes before one of them speak out
"Erm…let's?" the red haired boy suggested while mentally beating himself.
Seeing nothing peculiar that would warrant the boy being in a fidgeting state, she nodded. However, the moment when their lips touched the straw she finally came to an understanding of the reason.
Their face reddened as they began to sip in the cold drink, feeling trembling motion made by one another. They can feel each other's breathing and the heat that was being emitted. They do not know how long have passed and only until the sound of empty suction was made that they realized that they have finished their watery delicacy.
They deliberately parted from the straw, panting with their eyes still fixated at each other bypassing the shades.
"I'll….I'll go pay. Wait for me outside okay?" Elsword poked out first.
"O-okay."
While Elsword was trying to bargain for a lower price, Eve stayed outside and sat on one of the available benches. This moment alone gave her the time to think on what just happened. She grasped her chest as the beating her core made had not resided. Her system scan showed neither anomalies nor any status effect.
Unable to determine the problem, she watched the falling snow in order to divert her attention away and she was amazed at the beautiful sight the world displayed. Everyone was expressing the feeling of joy and helpfulness. There was no discrimination among the many races.
'Perhaps this is the solution for coexistence…'
"Hey" a voice all so familiar to her and she craned her head to meet the source.
"Sorry for making you wait" Elsword apologized while rubbing the back of his head ad was answered with a shake of a head.
"Now, where will be our next destination?" she asked and the boy brighten up in excitement.
They strolled around the city and participated in the Elmas event that was held by the COBO corp. Though they lost to the same a furious man and playful girl from Echo's shop, they enjoyed it.
"I have avenged you!" the man shouted and was then knocked unconscious by the little girl.
Leaving the strange event, Elsword and Eve went into Luichel's Accessory shop with a plan to buy presents for the rest but most importantly and secretly to each other. The sky darkened and they know it's time to head back. Unconsciously, they held hands as they made their way to the gates.
"Elsword" Eve suddenly said while releasing her hand when they reached the gate.
"Hmm?" Elsword stopped in his track and turned back to face her.
"I would like to appreciate my gratitude for showing me the wonder of Elmas Day"
"Told you its great~ I'm glad that I can show it to you and also that it was fun being with you along the way"
It was like a switch inside of her was turned on and Eve suddenly walked toward him, surprising him. Then in quick succession, she leaned down and planted her lips onto his.
They separated quickly but it felt almost like a long time. There was a moment of pause as they continued to gaze into each other's eyes, their shocked expression reflected by the sahdes. Their foggy breathe and red tinted cheeks were visible.
"Ev-eve….wha-what is tha-that for?" Elsword squeaked out.
"…" Eve was silent as she tried to find an excuse for her sudden action which she too had no control of. It was then she was alerted by her two drones and she looked up.
"Elstletoes"
Elsword raised an eyebrow and looked up. "There really is an Elstletoes. Sheesh Eve. You don't really need to follow the rules if you don't want to you know…" he laughed it out.
'But I want to…'
She wanted to say it but in the end something held her tongue and she simply nodded with a warm smile.
When they returned, they were greeted by an angry and restrained red haired lady. Elesis was tapped to the chair with Freiturnier being put on her lap though it seemed that the added weight proved to be inefficient.
"I hope both of you have a good excuse for this" she growled and both of them shivered.
The next day, a mechanical groan can be heard. It belonged to none other than the former Nasod Queen. She is currently bedridden as she had caught a cold.
Eve was baffled as it was clearly impossible for Nasod to get sick. Perhaps it was the kiss as Ara once said, "Another cure for the cold is to transfer to another person via a kiss."
Incomprehensible and illogical but that could be applied to what she felt and done during the time with the red haired boy.
"How are you feeling?"
She looked to the side and saw a guilt-ridden red haired boy.
When she had failed to be the first to awaken and had shown the symptom of the cold, Elsword deliberately opted himself to take care of her while the rest went on with their mission to apprehend Banthus for stealing the Elmas leftover presents.
Eve tried to voice her answer but her weaken state only allowed her to groan and on that day, Eve understood the horror of the cold and vowed to first research a more suitable cure for it.
Omake
That night, Elsword and Eve were in a seiza position while being lectured by Elesis. After a long 3 hours of lecture, she finally sighed.
"So, how was the 'date'?" out of the blue Elesis asked with a smirk.
"Date? There is no date, right Eve?" Elsword stammered and turned to the silver haired girl.
"There is, for me. It is configured correctly and I had it recorded in my system."
Elsword jaw dropped and blushed heavily while the rest simply made the 'Ooooohhhh~' sound.
"Show it show it!" Rena pestered.
"Wait Eve! Don't!" he tried to reach Eve but was held down by none other than his best friend, Chung.
Eve's 'third eye' flashed and an image displayed on the wall.
From expression excitement, everyone's expression turned to confusion.
What was displayed on the wall was the number 25/11/xxx.
A date.
Merry Elmas~ Ended up changing the name as there's no Christ in Elsword except for El or the El lady...cough
For your information, they are all in their base class~
Going to write for other festive season and New Year is coming so soon...only ElsEve!~