Pairing: Freya/Amarant

Rating: PG 13 for language

Notes: I felt like writing a pointless Christmas fluff fic... ta da

Freya frowned slightly as she sliced into yet another stalk of celery, "You would think," she said to no one in particular, "that since I spend all day, every day with a great bloody sharp thing in hand, people wouldn't ask me to wield one in my down time," she sighed, "But then again, I did volunteer, so it's really my own fault." She finished mowing through the vegetable, and picked up the next one, moving it onto her cutting board, "Of all the people to be alone during the Solstice," she muttered, and shot a slightly saddened look at the weapons' rack that had once held a glaive in addition to her spears. It was odd... she was not sad that she was no longer with Fratley per se, she was sad that the face of the man she had loved with all her heart was on a person she just could not know. It did not soften the sting that he seemed to have been incapable of knowing her as well.

She shook her head and turned her attention back to the task at hand. No use moping about it, it would not change anything... But if she was not moping, then why had she not gone to the Solstice celebration in Alexandria? She had been invited after all, like she had the last two years since Zidane's return. She had gone both times as well, it was just that this year... She knew the group. They would all be trying to give her pep talks, each in their own little way, and she just did not want to sit through that, nor did she want to bring anyone else down. So rather than suffer the pity of her friends, she had volunteered to help with making the feast for the children's celebration. It was a long-standing Burmecian tradition to have a feast for all of the children in the city on the eve of the Solstice... that way they would be too full of heavy, rich food to stay awake, and parents could work on wrapping and placing gifts while they slept. Normally it would have been the castle chefs that prepared the feast, but after the city had been destroyed... Well the castle was intact once more, so the feast could be held there, but it was still drastically understaffed, so people volunteered their time to help make the feast possible.

Her ears lifted at the sound of a knock at the door, "Pestering me won't make it cook any faster," she muttered as she added the celery into the pan with the sweating onions, "in fact, it will make it take longer." She set her utensils down and grabbed the dish towel so she could wipe her hands, "Or perhaps one of the children lost something on a roof." Burmecia was the city of eternal rain, but at about the middle of winter that rain turned to snow, and the city was currently covered in a nice layer of lovely white flakes... which meant it was bleeding cold! As an old warrior, or at least as a warrior that had seen a lot of combat, that meant there was no way she was opening the door before she pulled on a jacket so when the knock, really it was more of a pounding, sounded again she simply snorted and muttered, "I'm coming," as she continued putting on her coat. The kids could have all the damn snow, she wanted a nice hot fire and a warm drink, thanks.

She was almost at the door when the pounding came again. "Oh bloody hell," she said in exasperation, grasping the doorknob and yanking it open, "What do you bleeding want?" she snapped at... a broad, green-covered chest. Her head quickly snapped up to look her visitor in the face, "Amarant?" she half-squeaked in surprise, "What are you doing here?"

"Freezing," he replied as he took a step forward, making her move back, "Move you damn rat. It's fucking cold!"

Freya backed up so he could enter, though his name calling brought a scowl to her face, "I know it's cold," she snapped as she closed the door behind him, "and you freezing is your own damn fault, if you're going to run around in a vest, and no coat or cape," she added tartly, "Now go sit by the fire and thaw out before you turn even bluer."

"Ha, ha," the monk replied sarcastically, already making a beeline for the roaring heat source, "Did I interrupt your trash can raiding, or did someone drop a house on your tail? Stop being a bitch."

She put her hands on her hips, watching the redhead huddle as close to the fire as he could, "You know, you're the one that just barged in unannounced and uninvited. I think it's perfectly reasonable for me to be a bit put out... especially when the first thing you do is start insulting me."

He simply shrugged, holding his huge hands out to the fire, nearly blocking out its light entirely, "I see Pratley's finally broken you into the little woman role," he said with a snort, "Figured it'd happen eventually."

The Dragon Knight felt scalding anger well up inside her, and she glared blackly at her guest, "And what, pray tell, makes you think that?" she demanded.

The fact that she had not corrected him on Fratley's name did not escape him, but he said nothing about it, "You're wearing an apron."

Her ears went back in annoyance, "I am cooking, Coral."

He could tell that she was getting mad, because she was starting to go formal, "That's the other thing, yeah." It amused him the way she scowled angrily, but it was more than a little surreal to see her without her helm. If it were not for the bangs still covering one eye, she would have been completely alien. "You're not in your armor either."

Freya reached up and rubbed her face, before pushing her bangs back out of her eyes, almost as though she had heard his thoughts, "I am not wearing my armor, because I am cooking, in my own home, where there are no monsters," she wrinkled her long nose, "Present company excluded, of course, and I am cooking, because it is the night before the Children's Feast, and I offered to help."

"'s what I mean," the older man said, "You're all domestic, Flapjack finally bore the fighting spirit out of you?" he turned his head slightly to look pointedly at the weapons' rack, "Looks like he's the one out bein' the Dragon Knight, while you're here bein' the happy homemaker."

She could kill him... she could kill him, and no one would convict her, because he was a horrible wanted criminal, and she was a respected Royal Dragon Knight. "Sir Fratley," she did not stress the name like she would have if she were correcting him, "has not effected my fighting spirit in any way shape or form," she said primly, "I feel sorry for him and the recruits with him that will miss the Solstice celebrations, but that is the extent of my feelings on the matter. I am helping with the Children's Feast because they need extra hands, and King Puck has snuck off to attend the Solstice festival in Alexandria, so I have no duties to perform, and wished to make myself useful."

"'s another thing. Why aren't you celebrating with everyone else?"

"Why aren't you?"

"'Cause I'm an asshole," he shrugged.

His blase reply knocked the wind from Freya's sails, leaving her nonplussed. "Well... no argument here..." she managed to mumble in reply, clueless as to how she should respond to that.

"You knocked up?" the blunt question shocked her, making her ears stand straight up in surprise, "Too delicate to travel?" he snorted.

"I most certainly am not!" she sputtered, her ears laying back in anger now, "I did not go to Alexandria because I did not wish to," she snapped, her posture growing straighter, and more perfect with every second, "I wanted to spend the Solstice quietly, and last time I checked, that was not a crime. Furthermore, Master Coral, what I do and do not do are none of your concern, and I will thank you to keep your speculation to yourself," she performed a textbook about face, and marched back into the kitchen, "I would not wish to keep you from whatever errand you are about, so feel free to take your leave once you have warmed yourself. Happy Solstice."

Amarant tilted his head slightly, recognizing that he had perhaps gone too far... though he was more willing to think that she was being oversensitive. "Guess I was right," he said offhandedly, "No fighting spirit at all."

Freya had managed to reach the kitchen, and had even started to stir the sauteing vegetables when the redhead made his comment. Already so angry she could barely see straight, she reacted without thinking. The cleaver she had used to cut the vegetables was suddenly in her hand, and she threw it as hard as she could at the monk before she even realized what she was doing. Her eyes widened in shock, and her heart stopped beating for a second as the knife made a silver arc in the air, turning end over end as it raced to its target, its trajectory set to imbed it in the older man's head...

He caught it. Without looking, he simply held up one giant hand, and caught the damn thing by the handle, as though it were child's play. Relief warred with annoyance at the threat's easy, offhanded nullification. "Gonna have to try harder if you wanna change my opinion," he said simply as he set the cleaver on the mantle, "any housewife could react like that."

The Burmecian's ears went back in anger, "If you are trying to get me to fight you, I will not oblige," she snapped, "I am busy, and do not have time for your stupid games..." she gave the pot a vicious stir, "Furthermore, as I am sure you had noticed, it is freezing outside, and I have no intention of going out into the cold simply to humor you!"

"Wimp."

"Says the ugly behemoth cuddling up to the fire!"

The monk smiled... or rather he smirked ever so slightly, "I've been travelin' through the bitch ass cold to get here, and you've been makin' house in a warm kitchen..."

"And you're old!"

He snorted, "So don't bitch to me about it bein' freezin' out."

The Dragon Knight huffed, and resolved to simply ignore her guest. He liked silence anyway, so it would likely suit him just fine. She finished sauteing the vegetables and spices, and then added it into the giant bowl of crumbled cornbread before adding the broth and the eggs. It was not until she transferred the mixture into the huge pan that something the older man had said finally penetrated the fog of her anger. "Wait... you were traveling here?" she asked in surprise, "I thought you were just passing through!"

He turned his head to look at her, "To where? The ocean?" he snorted again, "This rat hole is so far out of th'way it's a wonder anyone comes here."

She frowned, "Who are you here to kill?" Alright, that might not have been fair, since he had switched over to capturing his bounty heads alive, but she was not feeling particularly happy with him at the moment.

The redhead ignored her completely as he pulled a flask out of his vest, and took a long pull from it. It was only after he tucked it away that he flatly said, "You."

Her ears went up again, and she nearly dropped the pan she had been putting into the oven during the long silence. "What?"

He shrugged, the movement like the rise and fall of mountains, "I assumed 'kill' was bitch for 'visit'."

She scowled as she shoved the pan into the oven, hissing slightly when her hand hit one of the hot racks, "Why are you here Amarant?" she snapped, "You know I always go to Alexandria for the Solstice, so why are you here in Burmecia?"

The older man moved away from the fireplace finally, making his way across the room, and into the kitchen. "You're not in Alexandria," he pointed out, "You're in Burmecian, so I'm here to see you." He leaned against a counter, crossing his arms, his bulk dominating the room, "So, why are you here, and not there?"

"Do you really care?"

He raised a brow, his dreadlocks shifting, "I don't ask if I don't wanna know."

She sighed angrily, her temper too frayed to keep up the bickering, "Fratley left, and I don't want to be everyone's pity case, alright?" she snapped, "I wanted some peace and quiet, and planned to keep myself busy this Solstice, so I wouldn't mope around like some... soppy rat princess in a fairy story!"

"You are a soppy rat princess," Amarant pointed out unhelpfully, "'s why you spent so long pining for him."

Freya could not stand it anymore. Rather than say anything, she slugged him as hard as she could, hoping that she could knock the jerk out of him, though she doubted that was actually possible... Of course the punch did nothing to him, and merely left her hand hurting.

He tilted his head sightly, no change in his posture or expression despite being punched in the jaw, "Feel better?" he asked dryly.

"No," she growled, cradling her hand to her chest. It had been like hitting a damn boulder!

He shrugged, "Then you're a lost cause, and too soppy to be helped..." she hit him again, and once more he simply took it without giving any sign that it bothered him. "And now?"

She scowled, both hands hurting now, "I do not want to be your pity case either!" she snapped at him, "If you are here just because you feel sorry for me, then you can take your surly ass out of my house right now!"

He snorted, "'Cause I'm known for my pity," he said with a sneer, "The Kindly Amarant, they call me."

"Then why are you here?" she shouted in exasperation.

"'Cause you weren't in Alexandria."

"Did the others put you up to this?"

"Nope. If they had, don't y'think they woulda told me about Sir Flibbertygibbet?"

Freya opened her mouth to yell again, and then stopped and frowned, "If the others did not send you here, then how did you know I was not in Alexandria?"

"'Cause I looked."

Her brows drew together, "Why were you looking for me?"

"Wanted someone to drink with," he shrugged, "but if you're gonna be all bitchy and mopey, I don't wanna put alcohol in you."

The Burmecian stared up at the older man, trying to read his face... or rather the half of his face she could actually see, "You went all the way to Alexandria, and then came out here just so you could have a drink with me?" she asked, her skepticism clear in her voice.

"Which was why I was bitchin' about this place bein' the ass end of nowhere."

As a seasoned warrior, she knew when she had been beaten... and as much as she would love to kick the big blue bastard, she was pretty sure this was his very backhanded way of saying that he wanted to spend the Solstice with a friend... and to be honest, she needed a friend around that would distract her as much as Amarant would. She sighed softly, "Well if you've come this far just to have a drink, then I suppose I can oblige you," she said, "and if you stop being an asshole, I'll even feed you, and let you stay here through the Solstice."

He raised a brow, snorting quietly in amusement, "Wasn't plannin' on goin' anywhere anyway."

Freya smiled slightly, "And most people whine about their homes being infested by rats... mine's infested by a behemoth!"

Amarant tilted his head, "Doesn't there have to be more than one for it to be an infestation?"

"A big bloody bastard like you can infest a place all by yourself," she informed him with a smile.

"Fair enough," he conceded, smirking every so slightly.