Humans were so delicate to Carmilla, so fragile they might as well be useless to her. Normally, this caused a great deal of frustration for the beautiful vampire. However, as she stared down at Laura, head in her lap, curled up on the seat of a red booth, arm dangling over the side, breathing in and out slowly, her mind filled with dreams of ridiculously optimistic notions, Carmilla knew that she had never seen anyone so perfect.
She had never seen anyone so delicate.
With one wrong word, with one flick of the wrist, Carmilla could break her in half. Normally, this type of thing excited her, turned into an interesting game. But not with Laura. Laura was different.
Her innocence bordered on lunacy, and naivety practically ran through her veins. Was that really what she wanted? Someone who seemed to be her exact opposite? Someone so fragile?
Carmilla liked to think so. Who could be more perfect for a dangerous vampire than someone who had a child-like faith in good, who always, sometimes even foolishly, believed in her? Carmilla liked to think she might love Laura, and she hoped that she never had to stop.
Cautiously, so very cautiously, Carmilla brushed streaks of hair from Laura's eyes, idly fidgeting with them as she thought.
Try as she had to fight it, she felt horrible that Laura wasn't completely happy. Sure, things had been better after Carmilla had viciously slaughtered the gingerbread cannibal, who, by the way, tasted a little too much like sugary treats; but Carmilla wasn't stupid. Laura was homesick.
Every ounce of her instincts were fighting her as Carmilla realized what she had to do. She was a broody badass vampire, not a romantic sap.
Almost as if on cue, her eyes wandered down to where Laura had nestled further against her stomach, and her insides twisted with butterflies she tried to stifle. With a roll of her eyes and a sigh, Carmilla slowly but surely worked her way to a standing position, gently lying Laura's head against the seat.
"Carm..." came out of her lips so quietly anyone else would have missed it.
"Go back to sleep, cutie," she whispered, leaning over to place a kiss on her temple.
"Carm, I don't want to ride the horse..." Laura readjusted herself slightly, somehow still lingering in her dreams. Of course, Carmilla thought, unable to hide her smile.
It took a surprising amount of strength for her to pull away from her sleeping dork, but Carmilla finally did, her mind set on finding the two carrot tops.
After all the cupcake had put up with for her, she owed her an unforgettable Christmas.
With a stretch and a moan, Laura sat up. Her back was killing her, but it was her fault for sleeping on a restaurant booth. Memories flooded back into her, and she suddenly remembered that she had fallen asleep on Carmilla. So where was she?
Laura turned her head, and the breath rushed from her lungs.
There was a Christmas tree, snowflakes still resting on green branches. The trunk looked like it had been ripped from the ground, and Laura followed it up to the top of the tree, brushing against the ceiling.
It was covered in ornaments and twinkling lights, though she had no idea where those had come from.
Laura stood up, her hand falling to her side as she stepped forward towards the tree, eyes lingering to the spatula that dangled towards the bottom, and a laugh slipped out of her mouth.
"Guys?" she called. "What's up with the tree?" For a moment, she thought she was still dreaming, but when Perry and LaFontaine stepped out of the kitchen, each carrying a tray, she started to think this might be real.
"Do you want some cider, Laura?" Perry asked, holding out a mug filled with the smell of apples and cinnamon. Laura reached out and wrapped her hands around it, feeling the warmth seep from her fingertips into the tips of her toes.
She followed them to the counter and sat on the stool. LaFontaine shoved their tray, which was filled with gingerbread men and Christmas cookies towards Laura with a raised eyebrow.
"Did you guys make all these?" Laura asked, the smiling growing on her face as she grabbed a tiny snowman.
"Of course," LaF replied. "You wanted cider and gingerbread, so..." they took a bite of a candy cane shaped cookie, "ta da." Crumbs landed on the counter, but LaF didn't seem to mind as they continued to shove the rest of the cookie in their mouth.
Perry wrinkled her nose with a small smile and brushed the crumbs into the garbage can. "Technically, I made all the cookies, but LaFontaine did a lot of taste tests, so I should think they're the best you've ever had."
Laura could not stop herself from laughing, but there was still something on her mind. "So where's Carmilla?"
"Outside," LaF said before taking a sip of cider.
"Outside?"
"Yeah..." she replied, looking a little too content. "You better get out there before she decides to take everything back."
Befuddled and extremely curious, Laura stood up and moved to the door, tugging it open and stepping out into the cold. Her shoes crunched against the snow as she took steps toward where Carmilla was standing, her back to Laura.
"Hey," the vampire smiled softly as she turned around.
"Hey..." Laura replied. "Did eating Mrs. Klaus do something to your head?"
Eyebrows raised as Carmilla reached out and took Laura's hands. "What does that mean?"
"Well..." the smaller girl inched further towards her girlfriend, their fingers still linked below their waists. "The restaurant now features a Christmas tree that appears to have been yanked out of the ground. And I would never have thought you would use your brute vampire strength to do something so festive."
With a small shake of her head and the tiniest smirk, Carmilla tugged Laura even closer. "Yeah, I think she is making me sick. I guess you better enjoy it while it lasts."
"Did you decorate the tree?"
"Oh no, I just did the spatula. That was all the long lost Weasleys. But I did steal all the ornaments and lights." Laura was about to start on a speech about how they had to be taken back, but Carmilla silenced her, pressing their foreheads together and holding her eyes in a gaze that all but stopped her heart.
"Why?" she barely managed to whisper. "You hate Christmas."
"Yes, I do." Laura could not breathe. Not with the way Carmilla was looking at her. "But you were miserable. So I took care of everything. Or ... almost everything. I didn't think kidnapping your dad would be the best idea."
A breath escaped with her laughter. "You didn't have to do all of this for me."
"Of course I did." Carmilla bit her lip, her eyes staring up at the sky for a moment before falling back into Laura's. "I love you, cupcake."
Her rosy cheeks flushed, and for a second, she felt almost lightheaded until Carmilla's hand slid into her hair and steadied her. Lips pressed to her forehead, and helplessly, Laura closed her eyes as her beautifully useless vampire whispered, "You don't have to say it back if you're not ready. I just wanted you to know." Carmilla was pulling away, and Laura found herself moving with her, not wanting to let her go just yet, probably not ever. "So, while we're out here, do you want to - you know - make snow angels or whatever? Is that another weird human tradition you take part in - "
But Laura stopped her, pressing their lips together and holding onto Carmilla like her life depended on it. Almost effortlessly, arms wrapped around her and lifted her up, and as Carmilla gently placed her girlfriend back on the ground, Laura added with a grin, "The only thing missing is the mistletoe, Carm."
Then, with an unabashed, charming smile, the vampire reached into her pocket and pulled out a familiar looking arrangement of leaves and berries, still clinging to a small stem. Carmilla tucked it above Laura's ear and kissed her again, taking extra care to breathe in everything about this moment. And against Laura's trembling lips, she mumbled, "Merry Christmas, creampuff."