A layer of hoar frost had settled on the fields overnight as the temperatures had finally begun to drop into the minuses. It was the beautiful sort of chill that caused the cheeks and noses of every villager working outside to tinge pink, and made their eyes shine with just that extra sparkle. Now that the nights were drawing in earlier than ever, the village had begun to set up seasonal activities in their annual spots, hoping to draw in local or visiting crowds for the ice skating competition (that Poet won every year) or the chance to build the largest snow fort on record.
The main attraction this year was the winter market. A stall for each and every villager to show off and trade their wares. There was a food cart with mince pies, chocolate logs and fruitcakes by the dozen, candle stalls that smelt of cinnamon and other strong winter spices, general brick-a-brack for all the little decorations they'd no doubt forget about the next year, and all manner of gifts and goods waiting to be sampled.
At the far end of the market was a little accessory stall run by the village's self-proclaimed beautician, Vanity. His cart was lined with all manner of bright and colourful festive wear and badges, from penguins sledding down silken scarves to hats with rainbow pompoms. Eye-catching attire was Vanity's main goal, but the others knew well enough that these were not garments meant to keep them warm as much as fashionable. No, anyone that wanted to truly stave off the cold this season would have go to a professional. And in this case, that meant going to Tailor.
Tailor was the best well … tailor, for miles around, there could be no doubt about that. There wasn't a suit he couldn't darn, no dress he couldn't hem nor sleeve he couldn't cuff to the highest quality. Naturally, anyone who was anyone would be going to Tailor for their true winter clothes. That was at least, if you knew where to find him. Not one for the hustle and bustle of the busy winter market, Tailor much preferred spending the season in the comfort of his own shop, with the windows locked against bitter chills outside. He had no desire to explore the stalls himself, and even if he had he wasn't entirely sure he'd have time between the mountain of orders that had been piling up on his desk for weeks now. It was bad enough having to tend to the village, but it was somehow even worse now that word had spread to several others. Not that extra work wasn't great for business, of course, there could be no doubt about that. All the same, it sure made his shoulders sore.
On the other hand, one villager who had much less work during the winter was the clothes maker's significant other - Farmer. A hard working agriculturist, the cultivator had already stored away his tools for the year. Until the ground thawed, there would be no more crops that could be harvested or planted, and he would have to wait patiently until the spring to resume his usual field duties. He didn't mind this, it would give him more time to enjoy the festivities he looked forwards to every year. He just rather hoped he would be able to spend some of them with his lover this time, if he could just persuade Tailor to put down the needle for a day.
"Mornin' pumpkin - I brought you a waffle. I uh, wasn't sure if you liked cream or chocolate better so I got you both"
Tailor blinked up at the freckled man standing in his doorway, two paper boxes in hand. It took him a couple of seconds to really register who it was, since he was still seeing stitches swimming in front of his vision. He'd been up sewing since 5am that morning and not even Farmer's usual habit of naming him after some sort of favourite crop had clicked yet.
"Oh! And a couple of strawberries from me stock" Farmer reached into his coat pocket and dug out a small plastic bag with two large red fruits inside "'Fraid they might have been a bit squashed on the walk over here but they'll be tasting just fine-" He placed the treats on the sewing bench next to his partner, and pulled up a chair as he placed a strawberry on either waffle and began tucking into his own enthusiastically.
"Not hungry?" He asked through a mouth full of waffle after a couple of moments, noticing Tailor still hadn't really moved.
The textile worker blinked, finally coming to his senses as he reached across for his snack.
"Hm? Oh, sorry Farmer – I've been real busy today, I was still seeing needles and thread" He waved a hand in the general direction of the day's completed orders.
Farmer's eyebrows almost disappeared underneath his hat and he had to cough to stop himself choking on his mouthful.
"All of them are today's? You musta been workin' on four suits an hour-"
"Ehe, actually no I was um … up at 5"
The field hand's face fell into a concerned look, and Tailor had to look away before he felt guilty for worrying him so.
"Tailor-"
"I know I know- it's not good for me. Doesn't feel good to be honest" He sighed deeply, biting into his waffle at last. The sugary chocolate and soft cream dissolved over his tongue, and Tailor suddenly remembered that he'd forgotten to eat breakfast, now uncomfortably aware of the ravenous feeling in his stomach.
"Easy, easy, the waffle's not going anywhere" Farmer chuckled, relaxing a bit as he watched the other chew appreciatively.
"Mm no, I forgot to eat- yeah yeah don't give me that look" Tailor swallowed and reached over the bench to flick the end of Farmer's nose lightly "you can be just as bad with work yourself in harvest season"
"Guess that's why we need each other to keep us from over-exerting ourselves"
Farmer smiled, and his boyfriend laughed at last. Maybe the cultivator was right, he probably should take a little break. After all, no customer would want a suit back unevenly stitched. Or perhaps bled on when he pricked his finger.
"So uh, do you have any plans for today?" Farmer asked, wanting to finally get to the main reason he had come over in the first place.
"Well, I was going to carry on working but heh, you snapped me out of that. Suppose I could take the afternoon off-" Tailor stared out of the window. It had begun to snow softly, and he could see that the white blanket was beginning to stick to his window frame. "Did you uh, have anything in mind?"
A wide grin spread across the cultivator's face.
"As a matter of fact, I was hoping to take you into town square this afternoon – they've finished setting up the market and the ice rink, I thought we could try it out together"
"Ooh uh" Tailor licked his lips nervously "T-to tell the truth, I've never tried it"
"Me neither! I figured that way it would be less embarrassing, we can just hold on to the sides"
The fabric worker still didn't feel entirely convinced. Besides, he'd never really enjoyed the cold. When he'd intended to take the afternoon off his plans were more along the lines of curling up on the sofa with a hot drink and perhaps a book, not attempting dangerous new activities.
"I'll make it worth your while" Farmer continued, his eyes shining with excitement as he began to list off some of the things he'd seen them setting up "Oh, and Greedy has a fantastic hot chocolate place right next to the ice rink – I was going to bring one of those over but I thought it might be more fun to try one after skating, y'know, to warm up"
"It sounds … cold"
"That's part of the fun of the season! And uh, to be telling the truth I was kind of hoping you'd see it as a date" The field hand rubbed the back of his neck, his cheeks flushing pink for a moment.
Tailor felt his heart flutter a little at that. Farmer was truly a romantic, through and through. He'd known it for a while, but it still felt flattering to know that all of the effort Farmer put in to these things was for him. For that, he supposed, a day in the cold would be worthwhile.
"Heh, well alright, I accept" Tailor smiled as he saw his partner's eyes light up "Just so long as I can come back to a nice fire tonight – and you better not drag me off to start singing any carols"
"Oh no, it's mostly the ice skating I wanted to try – well perhaps the market too but I promise there's good stuff there for everyday use" Farmer's eyes instinctively flicked over towards Tailor's golden menorah standing on the display shelf just behind the counter "I wanna treat you to something"
"More than a waffle?" Tailor teased.
"Plenty – you uh, good to go now? Daylight be a might bit short in December is all-"
"Let me grab my coat"
The breeze outside nipped at Tailor's cheeks and nose, and he pulled up his red scarf a bit to cover them. He noticed that Farmer didn't seem to be wearing his own usual orange scarf, but when questioned the field hand admitted he'd ripped it beyond repair on a tree branch earlier that year. For once, Tailor wasn't too mad that he hadn't at least tried to bring it to him – he'd also noticed the thing was well worn by now, and as it so happened, had already been working on a second, although it was temporarily forgotten about during the late November order rush. Now he knew that his boyfriend was sans scarf, he decided he'd pick it back up tonight as a priority.
He wasn't much of an outdoorsy man, but the haberdasher could see what appealed so much to certain villagers about winter. Not the heavy winters where the doors were blocked by 3ft of snow and it was dark by midday, of course, but a bright and frosty winter morning like this could be seen as beautiful in a certain light. The tops of the branches and leaves that were still hanging on twinkled as they passed by, and several dripping icicles that hung from the underside of people's roofs showed a very topsy turvy imitation of the couple that were walking by. Farmer paused only for a moment to remark on a holly bush, saying it was his second favourite winter plant. Tailor asked him about the first, but Farmer suddenly became embarrassed and tried to change the subject.
As they approached the centre of town, Tailor began to smell all of the seasonal spices and fresh baked goods that were tempting customers over. It was pleasant, he had to admit. Friends and couples were milling about the stalls and chatting amongst themselves as they tucked in to hot meals and fruitcake, or sipped their coffees and cocoa's. As he looked around, he became vaguely aware of a far off voice calling his name.
"Tailor! Oh it IS you – nice to see you out in this weather, I thought you were gonna be stuck in that stuffy little shop all winter"
Ah, typical Vanity. Pleasantries with just dash of condescending.
"Yeah well" Tailor stuck his hands in his pockets "I got asked on a date I couldn't refuse"
"Oh that's wonderful – I would ask if you see anything you like but I assume my wares won't cut it, not with that stunning red scarf"
The clothes maker grinned.
"Not a chance"
"Too bad, oh well, more customers for me that want to look truly fashionable this winter"
The other laughed politely, and tore himself away from his friend to regroup with his date, who was exchanging small talk with the village's woodsman and sailor/astronaut.
"Oh yes, it's a shame the fields are out of service this time of year" Tracker was saying, looking sympathetic to the agriculturalist "Have you considered trying wild plants? I was in the forest this morning and there's still plenty of edible nuts and fruits if you know where to look, my foraging bag practically spilt over!"
"It's a kind offer, Tracker, but I like the break I get in winter! Gives me more time to spend with people, y'know?"
"Oh I understand completely" The brit smiled back, turning to his companion that was hanging on to his arm "Dreamy can't let go for a second once the temperature drops"
"That's cause you go wondering off to find mushrooms and I want to see the light display - so we have to stick together or I get lost" The sailor giggled, looking up at Tracker in a way that suddenly gave Tailor the strangest urge to hold onto Farmer's arm to see his reaction, although he kept his hands in his pockets.
"Ah, well we better be getting on, I promised Chef I'd bring him some of the nuts for his cakes" Tracker chuckled, preparing to set off.
"Sounds delicious!" Farmer beamed, watching as the two began to walk back towards the market stalls "See you later!"
"Cheerio!"
"Bye!"
"Heh, those two always make me chuckle" Farmer shook his head in bemusement, turning back to his date "Anyway, this ice rink is this way, let's see if they have any skates my size"
The rink was a small, outdoor affair with a reinforced glass panelled barrier, which had been specially built by the village's handyman. In the years before the village had skated over the large pond in the west side of the forest, but that had been deemed too unsafe due to an accident the previous year involving a patch of thin ice, Dopey, and a week in the hospital with suspected pneumonia.
"Two please" Farmer smiled, sliding over a couple of notes to the villager behind the counter that asked for their shoe sizes before turning to the large collection on the wall behind.
As he sat down to await his skates, Tailor overheard a familiar pretentious voice drift over the edge of the barriers, and a moment later he saw two of his fellow villagers step through the entrance, waddling uneasily on the carpet. Tailor couldn't help but wonder who had thought it a good idea to supply Clumsy of all men with razor sharp blades on his feet, and secretly hoped the two were coming back to end their skating session for the time being.
"Clumsy, Clumsy, Clumsy, you'll never get the hang of skating if you spend the whole time clinging on to the sides! Why don't you hold onto one of those penguin supports?"
"Gee uh, ah tried that Brainy! But uh, ah fell over it"
The redhead tutted, pushing his glasses back up to the bridge of his nose.
"No, no, that's because you were holding it wrong. You see, the proper way to skate is to position your feet like so-"
He attempted to demonstrate his technique on the flooring, but wobbled uneasily without the smooth ice. He took a precarious tumble to the side, grabbing on to the overalls of Handy who had been standing nearby, and bringing them both down in a heap by the shoe racks. Clumsy watched the whole thing, perplexed.
"But Brainy, that's exactly how ah did it!"
"Ohh, Clumsy-"
Tailor couldn't help but chuckle a little to himself. As klutzy as he was, the textile worker couldn't help but like Clumsy, no-one could. He felt a tall presence next to him, and a moment later two skates were placed in his lap as Farmer sat down to tie his own.
"Hopefully I won't fall down quite as much as that" The field hand chuckled under his breath, double knotting his boots.
"You could always hold on to one of the support penguins" Tailor joked. The penguins were intended for child size, and Farmer was the tallest villager around. The thought of Farmer attempting to use one with any luck was rather comical, but Tailor hid his laugh by turning it into a small cough. Standing up on the skates for the first time was … strange. He had to shift his centre of gravity to the very middle of his feet, and even then it was wobbly. Luckily he managed to catch Farmer's arm before he actually fell over, and the cultivator gave a reassuring smile as they both tried to hobble to the rink entrance.
Stepping on to the ice was strange too, artificial or not. Several other villagers were also out on the rink in varies stages of actually skating, with some holding on to the sides of the barriers as they walked around the edges for a bit, some holding gingerly onto the penguin supports, others being a bit braver and venturing slightly away from the edges, and the most confident right out in the middle of the rink, looking unnervingly natural. For the time being, Tailor was happy to be an edge crawler, at least until he found his footing. He was actually especially grateful for Farmer's height and strength, since whilst the field hand wasn't a confident skater either, he was grounded enough that Tailor knew he wouldn't let him slip. Any time the haberdasher came close to teetering, Farmer was there in a second pulling him back to balance.
Once he felt brave enough to pull away from the sides, and once he'd gotten the hang of left and right sliding, he took a tentative skate away from the wall, gliding on his own for a few seconds before coming to a barrier adjacent. It was a start, and it was fun. He never quite made it to the middle, but for his first ever go he was proud of himself for the progress he'd made, and for being able to balance on his own (holding on to Farmer had just been a bonus after the initial few stumbles)
He didn't know how much time had passed when they finally stepped out of the ice rink, but it felt like a lifetime. Tailor's cheeks were tingling and his curls had begun to frizz at the ends, but it was an exciting feeling. Perhaps being dragged out that day wasn't such a bad thing after all. Farmer followed, looking equally as pleased, and somehow more frazzled. He remarked on his date's smile, petting down some of the loose curls and remarking that it was nice to see that Tailor had enjoyed it. If people had tails, Tailor thought, he imagined his would be wagging a mile a minute.
Greedy's hot chocolate booth was next to the skating rink, and as promised, Farmer brought two of the specials, with whipped cream and marshmallows for himself, and cream and sprinkles for his date.
The clothes maker took a long sip of his hot chocolate, and exhaled contentedly.
"Mm, it's actually a lot more fun than I thought doing the skating part, I just made costumes before"
"You did?" Farmer sounded surprised, and he sensed there was a story behind it.
"Ohh uhhh, well, once, kinda" Tailor fidgeted with a loose curl that was hanging from his fringe "For Julian I mean"
The field hand's green eyes were wide with curiosity.
"Your um, ex?"
"Yeahhh that'd be the one" The other sighed, kind of wishing he'd kept his mouth shut now "He asked me to make several costumes for one of his competitions. Didn't win any in the end but I can't say I was too disappointed" He half laughed, pausing for another sip of his drink.
"Mm, you never told me much about him" Farmer said quietly. He didn't want to pry and it wasn't really much of his business, but he had noticed that his partner seemed to clam up if he brought him up, and wondered if just venting would get it off his mind.
"Mm" There was a small furrow in the textile worker's brow now, but he didn't appear angry with the question as much as something internal, perhaps memories "Not much to say, to be honest. First relationship, he was a selfish prick and I didn't have the self-confidence to leave quickly enough. It was always want, want, want with him, new suits, new hats, new big shiny buttons to match his big inflated ego-" Tailor cursed in a language Farmer didn't speak, taking another sip of his drink.
"Ooh uh, sounds like a piece of work-"
"Yeah he kind of destroyed my perception of relationships for a while after – I kind of assumed it was a give all get nothing deal, cause he sure took a lot – including me; for granted" The fabric worker then looked up at him, his dark eyes wide for a moment "That is uh, if you want to know the truth, he was the one-eighty to you, I mean that in the best way – you proved me wrong about all that stuff - I'm just holding onto a grudge"
Farmer felt a couple of butterflies flutter about under his coat. He leant over and wiped a small smudge of cocoa from his date's lip with his thumb. Tailor's cheeks turned rosy at his touch, but he rested against Farmer's palm slightly.
"I promise I'll never demand ice skating costumes from you" The cultivator grinned, laughing aloud as Tailor's face fell in to a combination of hopeless adoration that somehow also said 'really? That's your best line?' at the same time.
From the ice rink, they made their way to the snow fort building, to watch as Painter added the finishing touches to his 'snowy masterpizza'. It was truly impressive, they had to admit. Standing almost three times as tall as the artist and with finely carved details of windows and a drawbridge resembling an old chateau. It surprised nobody when it was awarded the number 1 prize, and the Frenchman's friends thought it was well deserved.
From there they made their way to where Nat had set up a reindeer pen (well, with the permission of the village elder). Although he was only a child, Nat seemed to have a keen knowledge and understanding of animals, and they'd rarely met one if any he disliked. The deer were large creatures, but quite calm and patient so long as their visitors gave them respect. Farmer had no trouble with this, since he was a pretty big animal lover himself at times, and remarked that the cervids were a lot less temperamental than some of the cows he had dealt with before. Tailor, who was not as used to fauna, large or small, did his best to hide his apprehension. The creature seemed so powerful, he half worried it might take a fancy to the idea of kicking him. As it happened, the deer took a bit of a fancy to his jumper sleeves, which it attempted to chew on before Nat returned to gently ease it off. Luckily, the sleeves remained undamaged, save for being a little damp.
By this time, which was admittedly only mid-afternoon, the sun had started to set. As they walked back to the main streets, Tailor felt something wet land on the tip of his nose. Then another, and another. Glancing up, he could see that it had begun to snow again.
"Oy vey, another wall of sludge for tomorrow"
Farmer chuckled, and sought out his hand.
"Aw, I thought you were enjoying today"
"Mm, I am~" Tailor didn't elaborate, but he squeezed his lover's hand back gratefully.
The two had come to pass by the great oak tree at the edge of the forest, now barren in its winter dormancy. Well almost barren, but a single low branch with what appeared to be a leaf on it was suspended over their heads. Hanging from where the villagers had hung it that morning, and tied with a red bow, as a small clump of festive green leaves with white berries peeking out of the fronds.
"Hm, what's that?" Tailor smirked, although he knew the answer as the villagers had put it up every year.
"Hm?" Farmer felt his chin being tilted gently upwards, until he also saw the sprig. His freckled cheeks became a shade of red that could have rivalled Tailor's scarf, which the textile worker had ironically wrapped around the two of them when the temperature started to drop again, as funny as it looked walking along with their significant height difference.
"O-oh um that" The field hand gulped "That's my favourite winter plant"
Tailor's lip twitched briefly into a smile.
"Go on~"
"Well um" Farmer looked down at him, trying to gauge whether or not his date was teasing him "Y'know … mistletoe. You uh, know what the villagers usually do under it, right?"
"Don't be an idiot" Tailor rolled his eyes playfully "It's hard not to see with you all hanging it in front of your huts every December"
"Oh" Farmer coughed, not wanting to make his lover uncomfortable, but Tailor didn't seem to mind, deciding that perhaps it wouldn't be so bad to try out this village tradition, at least for Farmer.
The haberdasher leant up on his tip toes as he wrapped his arms around Farmer's broad shoulders. Aware now that Tailor was giving him permission, Farmer leant down to meet him, gently brushing some of Tailor's hair back from his face as their lips met.
Maybe being dragged out had been the best idea after all, Tailor thought to himself as he smiled through the kiss.
The walk back to Tailor's shop would have been in darkness if not for the festive lights that were now illuminating the market stalls, which were mostly still open. They noticed their friends Tracker and Dreamy holding small satchels of what Farmer guessed were even more wild fruits or nuts. Dreamy was excitedly pointing out the different patterns in the lights, from holly shapes to snowmen and a line of gingerbread dancers. Tracker was listening enthusiastically, a soft smile on his face as he looked at the sailor. The sight of it made Tailor feel something warm inside, and he found he smiled too. December seemed to be a good month for all regardless.
As they passed by Vanity's stall again, the fabric worker broke away for a moment. Farmer was a little confused, and too far away to hear the interaction but he saw Vanity greet his friend eagerly, and then lean in close as Tailor whispered something. The blonde man then turned and picked something off of his wall, slipped it into a paper bag, and handed it to the clothes maker. Tailor handed him a note, thanked him, and then ran back to catch up with his lover.
"Watcha got in the bag?" Farmer asked, as they resumed their walk back to the tailor shop.
"Ah-ah" Tailor tapped the side of his nose "You'll see"
When they got back to the shop (which actually lead out into Tailor's house through another door) Tailor suggested that they should shake off the cold whilst he found something to eat and asked if Farmer would like to use the shower or bath to wash and warm up. He accepted gratefully and went to fill the tub, examining the bottles on the windowsill whilst he waited. He noted a bottle of coconut shampoo in particular, which he knew Tailor often smelt like and he himself had become quite fond of the scent. The bottle said it was for frizz control, something Farmer's mousey tresses had never had to worry about too much, but it was the only shampoo and besides, he doubted very much he'd mind taking a little part of Tailor around with him for a couple of hours.
After cleaning up, the cultivator dried himself off and went to search through his overnight bag for a set of spare nightwear. He noticed as he passed the living room that Tailor was busy stitching something, but as that was nothing new he didn't pay much mind to the actual object. He found his favourite green sweatpants and dressing gown to keep him cosy, and returned to the room his boyfriend was in. Whatever the other had been working on, he'd hidden it now. What Farmer could see though was a small table of carefully prepared finger food to make a decent dinner out of.
"You're spoiling me" He grinned as he sat cross legged on the carpet and reached for a plate.
"Pst I'd have to do a lot more than raid my fridge to match up to today" Tailor took a sip of his drink and smiled "Thank you, by the way. I know I tend to kvetch when I get overworked, I appreciate the date"
"Anything for you, sweet pea~" Farmer beamed, showing off his infamous ability to refer to anything he loved by the name of some sort of crop or flower.
They finished the rest of the food fairly quickly, only pausing to exchange funny memories from the day before in between second helpings. When the plates had been cleared away, Tailor announced that he had one extra thank you present as he pulled out a small paper bag from behind his sofa.
Farmer took it curiously, and peered between the handles. He could see a wad of light blue fabric inside, which he pulled out. The wad rolled out into a long rectangle as he did so, and the field hand realised it was a new scarf almost instantly. Before he had time to say thank you, he noticed something sewn onto the base of one of the ends. Upon closer examination, he saw that it was a small mistletoe shaped patch, complete with a red bow around the stems.
"I-it's beautiful- just what I needed" Farmer wrapped it around his shoulders, admiring the patch.
"That's what I brought from Vanity earlier" Tailor announced proudly "I figured it was a little something personal. It was the least I could do, especially after you borrowed mine today"
"I think it's perfect" The other grinned, a slightly mischievous glint in his eyes "But do the same rules apply?"
"What do you mean?"
Farmer held the end of the scarf with the patch above his head as he pressed a fond kiss to his lover's cheek. Tailor giggled and pretended to swat him away, but it was clear he was not actually offended by the gesture.
"It only counts as long as you're wearing the scarf – and it's already the seventh of December so you better make the most of it"
Farmer grinned, planting a second kiss to his lips this time, which Tailor returned keenly, cupping Farmer's jaw as he continued to hold the scarf above them.
"Looks like I'll be wearing this one all year round then, pumpkin~"