BreadCrumble used revive! It's super effective.
[EDIT 1: Due to an anonymous person's request, I will continue to make Ara x Elesis oneshots. Each oneshot is not related to each other, storywise. Prepare for sporadic updates every month or so.]
Hi everyone, I'm back. As a treat, I decided to make a Christmas oneshot for the Elsword fandom. There is a great lack of stories for one of my favorite ships (Ara x Elesis). Yes I know, it's yuri/girl's love or whatever you want to call it.
Read on if you are okay with yuri. Warning: Some fluff ahead.
Title: Christmas Punishment
Summary: Christmas-themed one-shot!
The yearly Winter Eltide ball is just around the corner. But who does a certain Sakra Devanam decide to spend her time with?
Character info: Everyone's in their first path (LK, EM, GM, SD etc)
"A-Aisha… will you g-go to the…" Elsword stammered and hurriedly brought out a bouquet of daisies from behind him. Seeing that the mage accepted the flowers and continued staring at him, his ears began turning as red as his hair. The whole clearing, also known as Rena's personal garden, was completely still and quiet. However, the knight felt as if he were in the middle of a storm due to his own heart's erratic beating.
Elsword would have preferred fighting a horde of demons than asking Aisha out. He believed that the former was the lesser evil. It wasn't that he didn't like Aisha. The Lord Knight just didn't appreciate the suspense of hearing the Elemental Master's answer.
"Go to the what?" Aisha questioned, raising an eyebrow. This snapped the boy out of his thoughts. She already knew that Elsword was going to ask her to the yearly Winter Eltide Ball in Elder. Smirk growing wider, she just wanted to see how he would fare in the ordeal of asking her out. "Erm, to the ball," He muttered, barely audible. It took him a second to shout next: "I meant the Christmas Ball! Ballroom! Dance… thing-"
The red head was cut mid-sentence when he felt a pair of warm lips on his left cheek. It only lasted a second, but to him, it felt like an eternity. He heard a muffled giggle from the girl when she had backed away. Elsword blankly stared at the purple-haired mage and could have sworn that he saw a tinge of pink on her face. "Of course I'd go!" she said, "if it's with you," she added as she replaced her smirk with her signature cheerful smile, the same smile that made Elsword's heart flutter. He felt his head going light.
"Kudos, Els!" Was all that was needed to break Elsword from his reverie. Raven and Chung had been hiding in the bushes of the massive garden. "So this is why you told me to stay away from the garden today," Rena dropped down from one of the trees and landed perfectly on the grass below. "Boring. Should've added more dynamics in your moves, Elboy." Add yawned as he levitated away from his hiding place. The spies crowded around the duo, chattering away and congratulating Elsword and Aisha. A fifth observer simply smiled and turned her back at the scene.
"You've really grown, Elsword," Elesis closed her eyes as she said this. She had been watching the whole thing from the entryway of the garden. No one had noticed the crimsonette there. She stifled a chuckle, hearing Elsword's gasps from being bear-hugged by Rena. As she turned and paced away from the garden, the Grand Master nearly fell backwards when she bumped into someone. Elesis recoiled a bit at the sudden contact. "You have been staring for quite a while, why do you not join them?" Eve had asked her, brushing away the imaginary dirt on her clothes. Elesis let out a sigh, realizing that it was just the Nasod queen. "Ah, I only came here to check on Elsword," Elesis explained, rubbing the back of her head. "Gotta run, still have a lot of papers to work on." The silent nasod nodded and flipped a stray lock of silver hair from her face. The knight sighed once more before biding the Code: Nemesis farewell.
As she climbed to the second floor of the Elrios Team's mansion, Elesis let out a groan. "Bumping into Eve really does feel like getting hit by a train. Didn't know nasods were this heavy-" Her grumbles were interrupted by a certain ebonette. She caught sight of the 20-year old girl at the end of the corridor. Ara seemed lost.
"This is bad! I think I'm late for Elsword's proposal," she scratched her head and closed her eyes, trying to think. "Now which way was the garden again," Ara asked herself, forcing her brain cells to function. She was so lost in her thoughts to the point that she didn't notice the red knight behind her.
"I'm surprised at how you don't trip on your coattails, considering your clumsiness is far worse than Elsword's," Elesis chuckled. Ara jumped a foot high and faced the other girl. Elesis didn't bother concealing her amusement. "Oh, Elesis! Did you need something? Your meals perhaps?" Ara inquired, recovering from the initial surprise. "My meals? What," Elesis thought. "Oh right."
For the past few days, even though the El Search Party was granted a temporary hiatus for the winter season, Velder headquarters has not been very merciful to their Red Knight leader. The Elrios Team was on a break, but demon invasions weren't. Elesis, as the leader of the Red Knights, was tasked to deploy soldiers, give commands to her troops and formulate plans of action in the battlefield. The good news was that she didn't need to stay in the frontlines of the war itself. But the paperwork and strategizing was enough to keep the Grand Master holed up in her room for almost the whole week.
This consequently led to Ara – being concerned for her team mate – in making sure that Elesis doesn't forget to look after her well-being. Eating on time was number one on the list of "looking after yourself", according to said girl. Although no one dictated her to do such, the Sakra Devanam took it upon herself to bring the Grand Master's food to her room during meal times. Elesis, at first surprised by this kind action, didn't object. She would thank the concerned girl, bade Ara to go back to her business, and eat in peace.
Unknown to her is that Ara would linger behind and watch over the girl, making sure that the Red Knight would finish her meal.
Shaking her head slightly at the fond recollection, Elesis gestured that she didn't need anything from the Sakra Devanam at the moment. "So why are you outside your room?" Ara tilted her head like a curious child.
A silence ensued.
Elesis averted her gaze from the older girl, realizing that she was caught staring. "Looks like Chung's pawprint eyes have a rival in the cuteness division," Elesis mused. "I just checked if Elsword was doing his proposal right," the red head said as she stared at anywhere that wasn't Ara's face. "W-What?! So it's over?" Ara deflated and facepalmed. "Hey, don't feel that bad. Elsword was awesome back there," Elesis continued. The spear-wielder let her arms drop down, only for Elesis to behold a pouting Ara. The red head smirked, trying to contain herself from doing anything to the ebonette that she would regret. "Something wrong? Why do you seem so crushed? It's just my brother's proposal to his date," Elesis steadied her voice, trying to hide any hints of what she truly feels.
"Well, I wasn't able to see how Raven asked Rena out," Ara countered, making eye contact with the red-head. "So I was hoping that I'd be able to get some first-hand experience and tips if I saw Elsword's proposal to Aisha."
Elesis didn't know how to process this information. It wasn't that she didn't comprehend or mishear. The red head girl felt a sickening feeling on her stomach, an unknown feeling to her. She thought of delving deeper into the topic, in order to verify her hypothesis.
"So basically, you're going to ask someone out?"
Elesis eyed Ara from head to toe when she asked such. Trying to keep her face stoic, she noted every movement and change in the Sakra Devanam. Ara's cheeks instantly pinked and her eyes grew wider after Elesis had said the last word in her question. "A-ah… I do have someone in mind… that I w-would-" Ara quivered and started to shiver in uneasiness from the interrogation. Her mind went blank. As much as Elesis enjoyed teasing the taller girl, she followed up with a different question - in the hopes to save the girl in front of her from embarrassment.
"You do know that it's the guy who asks the girl out?"
"Eh?"
"Don't tell me you've never seen a real-life pro-" Elesis caught herself, realizing that Ara barely had any contact with the outside world thanks to her duty as guardian of the Haan family. Why else was Ara so persistent on seeing Elsword's proposal? "Right, right," she waved it off.
Elesis was still unsatisfied with their current conversation. Another follow up came.
"So who's the lucky bastard getting asked out?"
"By who?"
Her voice dripping with slight irritation, she continued, "By you."
"E-eeh?!" Ara's eyes seemed to have turned into two giant white circles. A second awkward silence prevailed. "H-He's not a l-lucky guy at all!" She finally said with great difficulty. The spear-wielder trembled evidently from both embarrassment and nervousness – a habit that she never got rid since her Little Xia days.
"Hey, relax Ara," Elesis calmly said, gently ruffling the older girl's hair. It didn't help how Ara was an inch taller than Elesis, so reaching the taller girl's head was harder than expected for the red head. "Sorry for the sudden interrogation. I didn't think it would scare you that badly." Ara stopped her fidgeting and stared down at the Grand Master. A warm and fuzzy feeling swelled on her chest. Her initial worries were forgotten. Gathering up the courage, she managed to utter a feeble "Elesis…"
"Eitherways, I have to get back to work. Demons don't celebrate winter breaks or night curfews, apparently," Elesis joked; she obviously didn't hear Ara's mumble. "Didn't know you enjoyed rubs like this," She gave another pat on Ara's head, chuckling in the process. The Sakra Devanam pouted; trying to shove the claymore-bearer's gloved hand away. "I'm not a little child!" Ara grumbled, much to Elesis' surprise. "Eh? But you act the part, despite you being the older one," Elesis smiled playfully while Ara pried away from Elesis. "Y-you don't get it," and with her back turned, Ara bolted off with her inhuman speed.
Elesis' hand was left hanging mid-air as the older girl's back became smaller and smaller in the distance. "What's up with that," she shrugged and continued pacing back to her room, dismissing any other thoughts.
Once she was sure that Elesis was out of earshot, Ara let out a loud sigh.
"You're just as dense as your claymore."
A week has passed since the whole Elsword-Aisha affair. To say that not much has changed in the El Search Party is an understatement.
On the day before the dance, the girls were frantic about what make-up to wear or what dress to buy. Eve, after being asked out by Chung, even held last minute lessons for the girls on how to act like a proper lady. Raven trained Chung and Elsword to become gentlemen to their dates.
The three newest members of the Elrios team opted not to attend these.
And the three of them had a good reason why.
On that day, Elesis was returning from a meeting with Lowe at the Ruben Grand Hall. "Ugh… at this rate they're bound to throw me into the middle of the war itself," she grumbled. "Goddamit, Vanessa." She cursed inwardly as she paced through the corridors.
As she was passing through the hallways, she heard faint voices of people.
"Add and Ara, huh." Elesis checked the time of the day through the open window. "There's still time before sunset. I have time for this."
"Ara, you're making a big mistake here." A hoarse voice, obviously Add's
"Add, I'm sure of my decision."
"Are you sure? No taking it back. Going once."
"Yes, Add. You don't need to count up to a million."
Elesis' eyes widened when she saw Add wrap his arms around Ara. She felt her insides were turning into QPL jelly. Her chest felt constricted. What was this feeling? It felt both unknown but at the same time familiar. This sickening vibe has resurfaced for a second time. The knight couldn't bear the sensation and decided to retreat from the scene. She felt as if her legs moved on its own and brought her back to her to her quarters as quickly as possible.
Once Elesis realized that she was in the solace of her room, she allowed something that she promised never to do in front of anybody.
A single tear found its way down her cheek.
"Alright! Elder ball, here we come!" Elsword shouted with glee as he exited the mansion with Aisha's arm clung to his. "That's what he said," snickered Add. "You're so noisy, Elsword! You phrase your words badly too," complained Aisha.
"If you two lovebirds are done complaining, let's go already," Raven called for them from the driver's seat in the carriage. Rena smirked mischievously at the knight and mage. Elsword pinked at Raven's comment and grabbed Aisha by the hand; dragging his date from the doorway to the road. A taller red-head stopped him on his tracks.
"Elsword!"
"W-wah… noona?"
"Elsword, you better treat her like a true princess, got that?" Elesis approached the two, blocking the couple's path to the carriage.
"Yeah, noona. I got it, I got it," Elsword groaned at his sister's last minute sermon. He did a double take. "Noona, your eyes are red. Not enough sleep?"
"Thanks for stating the obvious, we both have crimson eyes," Elesis replied sarcastically.
"I'm serious! Don't stress yourself too much, noona. You can hurdle these stressful times through!"
Elesis released a mirthless laugh. "Yeah, don't worry about me. It'll come to pass," she grimaced and glared at Add who was about to board the carriage.
"Oh? And where's your date?" Elesis dryly asked.
"What?"
"I meant… Ara. You know, about as tall as me, black hair, golden eyes-"
"Huh? I got busted by her the other day," he casually shrugged.
"Eh?"
Elesis stared at Add bemusedly. She sought for an answer from someone and looked at Raven. Raven simply nodded, signaling that Add was telling the truth.
"Reddie, I'm going stag, if you haven't noticed."
"O-oh," Elesis sheepishly said, her pride feeling wounded. "I must've been mistaken." Fearing that the El Search Party might think that something was up, she changed the topic.
"Raven! Keep an eye on Elsword, okay?" Elesis signaled to Raven. "Make sure he doesn't impregnate Aisha or something!" As if on cue, the duo, red to the ears tackled Elesis who side-stepped away from the couple. The Blade Master silently chuckled and gave a thumbs up while Chung called out from the window seat. "Els! Aisha! We're going to be late. Get your faces here!"
"Stop shouting, your cacophony is a bane to my hearing," Eve massaged her temples while mumbling something about how Chung was able to persuade her to be dates.
"Ah," Chung reclined back on his seat, and gently caressed the queen's hand. "Sorry about that, Eve," he smiled cheekily at the nasod. This earned him a rare sight of a blushing Eve.
Elesis laughed while brushing the nonexistent dirt off her clothes. "Those two can really pack a punch." She mused at the thought of Elsword and Aisha being a real wed-couple. "Wouldn't be against it, if ever."
"Noona, take care of yourself."
The Red Knight was brought back into reality at hearing her younger brother's voice.
"No need to tell me that."
"And make sure that the mansion doesn't catch fire while we're gone!" Aisha called out, making a reference at the time when Elesis could conjure firebolts before becoming an official Velder knight.
"That was a long time ago! Hey, don't laugh, Rena… Eve!" Elesis complained, seeing the two girls giggling at Aisha's statement.
"If ever, Ara could tame her fire," Add interjected.
Elesis, dumbfound at Add's joke, felt a rush of blood up her face. Everyone continued to laugh but the long-haired knight tried to keep herself from screaming. She wanted the spotlight to be diverted from her already. She gestured to Raven to start going already, but to no avail. She sighed silently before saying: "I'll set this carriage on fire if you aren't out of the driveway in three seconds!"
Never has Elesis seen a carriage carrying seven people move that fast. Letting out a sigh of relief, she reentered the mansion. Strangely, Elesis felt a giant weight lifted off from her back.
Nighttime had come and the moon shone brightly in contrast to the pitch black sky. Even though it was winter season, it rarely snowed in Ruben. Although there was a lack of snow, it didn't mean that there would be an absence in chilly winds. However, Elesis ignored these frigid breezes. She had become fully engrossed with the battle strategy that she was formulating. There were so many letters and written orders littered on her desk that she had to use her bed as her spot for strategizing. The red head was really absorbed in drafting out plans that she failed to hear a tray of food being placed on the bedside table.
It was her turn to be surprised by a certain Sakra Devanam.
"Very elaborate plans, as expected!"
Elesis jerked her head swiftly, effectively head-butting Ara squarely on the forehead. "O-oww," Ara reeled backwards and landed flat on her back. The Red Knight, quick on her feet, extended her hand to the fallen girl. "I apologize. I didn't see you enter," Elesis bashfully said, helping the girl up to the side of the bed. Taking the girl's hand, Ara was about to apologize as well but upon contact with Elesis' bare hand, she froze – both in a figurative and slightly literal manner.
"Your hand is cold."
"Oh, I don't wear my gloves while writing. It gets in the way."
"No, really, it feels like it'll frostbite!"
"Nonsense, we aren't in Avalanche's hell-hole. I'll be fine." Elesis steadied her voice, trying not to hyperventilate from this prolonged contact with Ara.
Ara ignored Elesis' protests and reached for the tray that she brought in. It contained Elesis' dinner and another plate and set of utensils.
"Why are there two? Hey, I don't eat that much."
"The other dinner is for me," smiled Ara. "I thought it was lonely of you to eat dinner by yourself for the past few weeks." Ara looked her in the eye before continuing, "Mind if I join, just this once?"
"Ah. N-not at all. One rule, just don't get anything wet or messy on the papers."
"No problem. As Add would say, 'that's what she said'!"
The red head stammered incoherent lines at the ebonette's retort. To ease the other girl, Ara brought a warm mug to one of Elesis' hands. "It's hot cocoa. Rena seems to always come up with something new and tasty." The ebonette let out a giggle.
"What was that for?" Elesis questioned, taking note of the other girl's sudden laugh.
"I just realized, we've been holding hands the whole time."
Elesis instantly blushed at Ara's innocent comment. She didn't let go but only held tighter, much to Ara's surprise.
To get her mind off the girl sitting next to her, Elesis continued to write out her battle plans with her free hand. The Grand Master busied herself with work, and failed to notice that the Sakra Devanam had positioned herself in such a close proximity to the red head. Ara brushed away a stray red strand of hair from Elesis' ear and whispered: "Your cocoa's going to get cold."
If Elesis were a pyro knight, she would have set her room on fire.
"D-D-Don't do that!" Elesis half-screamed and half-pleaded. Ara could've sworn that the knight was turning even redder than the latter's hair. "S-seriously… that was uncalled for," she added. "I don't want you to starve and go cold," Ara reasoned. "Just one sip," she smiled.
Elesis recovered from her outburst. She eyed the brown mixture in the mug. She didn't trust the color.
"Please?"
That settled it.
The Velder knight eyed Ara, who was just nodding in approval. She took a deep breath, shut her eyes and tipped the mug over until she felt the liquid wet her lips. It hadn't been a second when Elesis pulled the mug away and started coughing her lungs out. Incoherently, she started shouting about how her throat is burning.
Figures, the cocoa was heated from Rena's brewer that was set to be as hot as Sander's deserts.
Ara panicked and grasped Elesis' hands to keep the squirming girl in place. The spear-wielder scanned the tray and mentally facepalmed. She had forgotten to bring a glass of water. She glanced at Elesis, who was pained and sweating, and made up her mind.
Without a second thought Ara held the back of Elesis' head and quickly pressed her lips against hers.
The whole world was pitch dark to the red head, but her eyes flew open at the foreign substance on her tongue. It wasn't just the excruciatingly hot cocoa there but something else invaded her mouth. "Someone's lips?" Her eyes grew even wider when she realized to whom those belonged to. Elesis tried to open her mouth to protest, leading to some hot chocolate to leak out of her mouth, causing her to shut it again and go with the flow. It only lasted for about half a minute, but it seemed as if time stopped for the two.
Ara was the first to break away, catching her breath. Her mouth was dripping with the cocoa that was once in Elesis' mouth. With a tinge of guilt, she looked away. Elesis, hardly recovered from Ara's actions that whole night, seemed to be in a daze. Both girls dared not to move or speak for a good minute.
Being the person to always take the iniative, Elesis broke the ice.
"You got my papers wet," she rasped.
"I'm… sorry. T-That was rash of me," Ara silently voiced. She stole a glance at the red-headed knight, only to see her as flustered as she is.
"Heh, that's what I said," Elesis grinned and tackled Ara onto the bed. Ara was caught off-guard and tried to struggle away from the younger girl's grip. "I specifically told you not to dirty those battle notes, right?" It was Ara's turn to shut her eyes and she nodded like a guilty child. "It's only befitting that a violator gets punished, right?" Elesis playfully added.
Ara prepared for the worst but nothing painful came. All she heard was the sound of Elesis kicking off the soiled papers from the bed and the younger girl flopping onto the bed, next to her. "Add was right, you really could tame my flame... or at least cool off my tongue," Elesis glanced at Ara and slowly said the girl's 'punishment'.
"Your punishment is to keep me company for the night," Elesis smirked and pulled Ara closer to her.
The spear-wielder felt her heart beat faster than ever. "Are you serious?" Ara quietly asked, burying her blushing face on Elesis' shirt. "Hmm, you sound hungry for another… 'punishment'?" Elesis teased. The ebony-haired girl suddenly looked up until her pleading golden orbs met with fiery crimson ones. "Fine, fine one more," Elesis conceded. Before Ara could position their lips together again, the sword-bearer followed up a question.
"Did you ask Add out?"
"Huh?" Ara's expression changed from mellow to questioning.
"I saw you guys talk the other day… You asked him out, didn't you?" Elesis continued.
"N-no, it's not like that!"
Elesis, even though it was against her will, forcefully created an arm's length distance between them. With her free hand, Elesis grasped the older girl's shoulder. "Be honest, I won't get angry, Ara. What was that hug about?"
"I… It was a friendly hug," Ara truthfully answered. "It was a sign that Add and I would remain friends… despite the fact that I rejected him."
"Wait… you weren't the one who asked?"
"Ever since you told me that girls shouldn't be the one asking, I took your advice," she sweetly smiled. Her smile made the Grand Master's heart blaze with emotion. "So who did you really plan on asking out?" Elesis half-expected the answer to come.
"Need you ask? Who else but this muscle-head next to me?" Ara giggled lightheartedly. "Add really tried to talk me out of it. He only wanted it to become a friendly date but I knew you'd probably get…" she stopped momentarily to chuckle lightly again.
"You'd get jealous."
"I-" Elesis stared at the girl next to her. "Am I that obvious?! Are my emotions that easy to read?" Thinking that there was no way out of Ara's deduction, she rewarded the Sakra Devanam with her extra 'punishment'. Elesis closed the distance and lightly grazed her lips against Ara's forehead. The ebonette no longer felt embarrassed with their situation and wrapped her arms around the younger one's waist.
"Ara," Elesis muttered as she rested her head on the older girl's chest.
"Hmm? Is something wrong?"
"I just realized, we're still holding hands."
"Want to keep it like that for the rest of my 'punishment'?"
"That would be nice."
((A/N: Well there you have it folks, my comeback fan fic after almost a year. Some parts were crammed since I wanted to make the Dec 25 mark, so I apologize. I hope this one shot did not disappoint~
Please rate and review! Happy Holidays!
~BreadCrumble out!))
