(The Marsanes/At about the same time…)
Jin lit the candles at the Christmas tree. Lora truly would have had the best view of it, frozen in ice nearly towering over it. She would have loved it.
Jin knew she would however not like much of what he was doing those days. He tried to push this thought off his mind – as he had done so many times before. Too late now for regrets. But at least for one night… they were having Christmas again.
There even was a kind of excitement in the air like last time. For Akhos, Patroka and Malos it was their first Christmas, while Jin, Lora and Mikhail had seen a tree like this before.
And somehow nostalgia had gotten the better of Jin and he had made some gingerbread talismans, too. No cake, to be sure. The image of Mythra's burned to a brick cake with its topping looking like a mixture of spit, glue, and bird droppings, was still very much alive in Jin's head.
In addition to the gingerbread talismans, he had tried to make a Christmas Punch. He had seen the recipe for it in that book, Minoth had been studying for most of the time those 500 years ago. Surprisingly Jin still remembered a lot of this book's contents. Apart from the recipe for the Punch there had also been some instructions on how to do stars from straw and lines and notations for songs.
They had no need for these, however. Jin wouldn't dare singing a Christmas song with Malos, Mikhail and Akhos. The result would certainly rival Mythra's cake. But the Punch turned out to be rather nice, very spicy, and yes, maybe with a bit too much alcohol in it.
He belatedly had remembered what alcohol could do to humans and that one of his friends technically speaking was human. So, Mikhail had – certainly under the influence of Jin's punch – kissed a taken by surprise Patroka under a branch from the Christmas tree, explaining that it was a Christmas tradition to kiss a girl under a mistletoe.
Most certainly he had made this one up. Jin had not read about something like this in the book. But even if it actually would have been a Christmas tradition, it couldn't possibly have helped Mikhail to escape Patroka's instant revenge. She had slapped him in the face pretty hard. You could see a red imprint of her hand on Mikhail's cheek for some time. Despite this he however did look very pleased with himself. Alcohol did do strange things to people.
Jin sipped on his glass, glad that blades did not react to alcohol in such a way. Even though, Akhos was acting very gooey reciting Christmas poems and giggling over funny synonyms he incorporated into them. He had gotten a book with synonyms from… well, maybe Mikhail?
In any case Mikhail was very much enjoying this gift and even laughing. But maybe it was also due to the fact, that Akhos was reciting while wearing an apron (a gift from Patroka, maybe) with the words 'Kiss the Cook' on it. This was a laughable sight – even without side effects of any kind of alcohol.
Even Malos seemed to suppress a chuckle looking at the two of them or possibly rather while looking at Patroka. She had decided that the golden chain looked better on her than on the Christmas tree, and simply had decorated herself with it. The star from the top of the tree she had put on her new lance, a present she had been pleased about very much. But a new hairbrush and some parts of armory shiny as jewelry she had unwrapped with much excitement, too.
Jin had gotten the notorious cookbook, which he considered at least a better present for him than it had been for Mythra back in the old days. A Sword Charm, which had been another present, did delight him at the same time as it did give him a strange ache in the heart. Lora had used to craft those charms. Most likely Mikhail had given him this one.
Less obvious as to who might have given him this present was a set of 'Dueling Kingdoms'. Truth to be told, he had never owned a board game before – at least as far as he could remember – and the thought of playing a board game with Mikhail, Akhos or Malos seemed strange to him.
On second thought though, it might be an interesting challenge, especially playing against Malos. After 500 years together they pretty much knew each other… it might turn out hard to win against him.
Jin looked unobtrusively over to Malos who was leaning with his back to the wall on the upper level of the room, seemingly watching Mikhail, Patroka and Akhos while they were having fun. He nearly looked at them benevolently like a father looking at his children having fun with their Christmas toys. It was a strange sight, strange as this whole Christmas Party in general.
Jin mused, why Mikhail had decided for them to have this celebration and if he was pleased by the way it had turned out. He still wondered how he had gotten the tree and the decorations to the Marsanes without anyone noticing. Yet, it must have been Mikhail's doing, even if he had acted as if he had been surprised by the tree, too.
But he and Jin were the only ones left to remember this evening so long ago. And Mythra, self-evidently. But the thought of Mythra putting up a Christmas tree in her enemy's base was, of course, absurd. Jin took another sip of punch and shook his head at the mere thought.
