"Are you sure this is right?" Venus said squinting her eyes at the string in her hands.
"You may have the secrets of the universe in your little bottle, but when it comes to holidays I am sorry to say, you're lacking." Kent enjoyed the way she rolled her eyes at him.
"I think you're making this up."
"This coming from the one who swore dragons lived in volcanoes?"
"Are you still harping on that? How was I supposed to know they moved volcanoes?"
"You almost fell in!"
"You caught me. That's good enough for me."
"Hm."
"Are you blushing?"
"No. Keep stringing your popcorn."
"What's this for anyway?"
"To decorate the tree."
"But there's already balls on it, how much decoration do you need?"
"You'd be surprised. Most people put lights on it."
"On the tree?!"
"Mm-hmm. Here, help me wrap the popcorn around the branches."
"Isn't having electricity on a tree a fire hazard?"
"Yeah, but it's not as bad as when people used to put candles on the branches."
"This is a weird tradition. Why are you smiling like that?"
"I just never thought about how strange some of the aspects of Christmas are."
"It gets weirder?"
"There's a lot of stories that come with the holiday. One of them is about a snowman who comes alive when you put a hat on him."
"What's so crazy about that? Oof!" Venus smacked into Kent's back as she was following him around the tree while he put the popcorn string around the branches. "Why'd you stop?"
"Don't bring snowmen to life," he warned, raising a finger.
She lightly smacked his finger away. "I can't give life to things!"
"Good." Kent turned back to decorating the tree.
"Besides, I've heard snowmen are flesheaters. If you ever come across one," Venus grabbed his arm and turned him back around, "you run and you call me quick, okay?!"
The intensity in her eyes made him never want to build a snowman again. "Y-yeah, alright."
They circled the tree twice more before they ran out of popcorn string.
"Is that it?" She asked.
"Just missing the topper. People put lots of different things, but I like the traditional star." Kent cut the tag off the shiny star they bought at the store and slid it unto the top branch. It was a little lopsided, he admitted, but it still looked nice.
"Hmm. It does look kind of pretty."
"It'd be better with lights. I should have gotten some."
"How about something like this?" Venus crossed her arms and bopped her head.
"Oh, no. It's, uh, not like regular light bulbs." Kent tried not to laugh, but a Christmas tree covered in incandescent light bulbs made it hard to keep a straight face. He covered his mouth and tried to explain. "It's more like a lot of really small lights all over the branches."
"Oh! Like this?"
Kent's laughter ceased immediately. He'd never seen such a tree, covered in glowing, floating lights. Almost as if a thousand fireflies were dancing all around it.
"...Wow." He could think of nothing else to say.
"Hey, Captain?"
"Yeah?" He answered distractedly, still admiring the tree.
"You were right. This is beautiful."
Kent tore his eyes away from the tree and saw the total wonder in Venus's eyes. It warmed his heart that she was starting to understand the indescribable joys of Christmas.
"You did a great job." He touched her back and received a smile brighter than the tree for it.
"So, what's next?"
The question snapped him out of the trance her smile had created and Kent almost actually shook his head to focus.
"Right. Um, we make hot chocolate and watch a holiday movie."
"Ooh! I love movies! What are we watching?"
"My favorite Christmas movie, Die Hard"
"There's a Christmas movie called Die Hard?"
"Yes, and don't let anyone tell you different." He threw her a smirk so she knew he was mostly joking.
Kent went into the kitchen to prepare their drinks while Venus found her spot on the couch.
"Hah, okay. From what I've seen," she said as he was coming out of the kitchen, "isn't Christmas supposed to have snow?"
"Yes, but we live in LA. Not a lot of snow around here. I can turn down the thermostat so it feels more authentic. Here," he said, handing her a mug. "I added extra marshmallows for yours."
"Thanks." She took a tentative sip, followed by a larger one. "Oh, wow! This is delicious!"
"Mmm." Kent sat next to her and took a large sip of his own mug. He felt the chocolate warm his chest and remind him of days long gone.
"This is my favorite part of the season. It reminds me of my childhood in Queens. The winters there were brutal, but my mother always had a cup of cocoa waiting for me. We'd sit cuddled under a blanket and watch the snow fall."
"That sounds lovely."
"It was. Actually, I haven't spent the holidays with anyone since she passed. I'm glad I get to share it with you." Kent looked at her and found Venus watching him, wide eyed and a little flushed. Were her eyes a little teary? "You okay?"
"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah." She hid her face back into her mug. "Just a little warm in here."
"I'll turn the thermostat down some more." He started to move but was stopped by Venus's hand on his forearm.
"No, don't! How's this instead." She put her mug down on the coffee table, crossed her arms and bopped her head. The red smoke covered the entire room, but after a couple of swats at it, Kent noticed what she had done.
"It's snowing!" Kent blinked a few times, to make sure he wasn't seeing things that weren't actually there.
"Isn't it pretty?" She gushed.
"It's snowing inside."
"Don't worry, nothing's getting wet. This is magical snow."
"Huh."
"You don't like it."
"It's not that."
"What is it, then?"
"We're just missing something."
Kent went into the hallway closet and retrieved a large, red, woven blanket. He sat next to Venus, covered their legs in the blanket and hit play. They fell asleep on the couch as Hans Gruber fell off Nakatomi Plaza, her head on his shoulder and his head on hers.
AN: AMAZING art by Lyrhia over on AO3 !