Thank you for your kind reviews! I already have the next chapter and a half written.
"Did I tell you how beautiful you look, babe?" Kouha asked as you both walked into Sinbad's home. It was the evening of his party to kick off the holidays, and you had to say that your boss did a wonderful job decorating. There were Christmas string lights everywhere, candy cane decorations, tinsel, garland, etc. Furniture was pushed aside to make way for dancing, and it looked as if Sinbad even hired a bartender, who was wearing a Santa hat for the occasion. The place was brightly lit, and you noticed some of your professors both past and present among the attendees. There were also several other people among the crowd that you didn't recognize. Kouha wrapped an arm around your waist as you walked deeper into Sinbad's house. You both had been greeted by Sinbad upon entering, and you were now just looking around and taking in the atmosphere.
"You did," you giggled softly, "Like five times." The dress code had been cocktail attire, and you decided to wear the jewelry that Kouha had bought for you. You still hadn't discussed your uneasiness about his spending habits, yet, but you figured that now was not the best time to do it. "So, do you want to hit up the bar first?" You thought it would be nice to slightly let loose.
"Of course, babe," Kouha smirked, "Look it's over there." He motioned to where the bartender was currently mixing up a martini. You, however, had your eyes land a few feet in front of the bar where Alibaba and Morgiana were speaking with Kassim. You immediately wanted to greet them, wondering about the other branch of Little Shop of Whores and wondering about Alibaba and Morgiana's relationship. Looking at your face, Kouha could tell what you had been thinking. "Go talk to them," he said, "I'll get the drinks. A cosmo, right?" You smiled softly and kissed him on the cheek.
"Thanks, baby~." And with that you walked over to where the trio were all conversing and such. Morgiana looked a bit uncomfortable with her surroundings and was holding on tight to Alibaba, while he and Kassim were in conversation. "Hey you three," you greeted, "Long time no see, Morgiana, Kassim."
"[Name]! How have you been?" Kassim asked in a hearty voice. Morgiana gave a soft and very polite 'hello' of her own. You smiled kindly at them all.
"I've been good. I can't wait for time off from work, though," you mused with a sigh. It would be nice to see your family and then hang out with your fiance.
"No kidding," Alibaba nodded in agreement, while Kassim gave a chuckle. He seemed to be in agreement as well, "It's just...working in a porn shop isn't exactly a way to enact the holiday spirit, you know?"
"Yeah...it's not the most Christmas-like thing to do," Kassim added. Morgiana stayed rather quiet, prompting you to turn your attention onto her.
"What about you, Morgiana?" you asked her, "Can you not wait for the holidays?"
"I want to be able to see my family and spend time with them, so 'yes'," she nodded, rather factually. At the word 'family' she gave Alibaba a curt side-eye. He replied with a nervous smile. This made your interest peak, but you were sure that you would find out later.
"[Name], here's your drink, hon." You looked over to see Kouha walking over with two drinks in hand. He handed yours to you before standing beside you. You thanked him before turning your attention back to the trio before you.
"Hey, Kouha. Nice to see you," Kassim greeted, deciding to continue on conversing, "How's the engagement?"
"Nice to see you all as well," Kouha greeted Alibaba and Morgiana as well, "And it's been really great, actually! I feel much more connected to, [Name]." He smiled happily. No kidding, though. He was truly showing himself in the form of trying to get you to conform to his lifestyle. You'd really have to discuss your wealth differences with him soon.
"What about, you?" Kassim turned his attention towards you, making all the others look at you as well.
"Well...I do feel more connected to Kouha," you mused, "And I also feel as if this will surely be a journey." You'd have to get used to each other in a whole different way in other words. You didn't want to directly say that though, but you were sure Kouha might understand.
"You're right, hon. We need to start that now by wedding planning!" Kouha pointed out. You gave a little nervous laugh as that hadn't been what you meant. It was true, though...that certainly would be a journey as well. You weren't sure if it was going to be good or bad. The bride's family usually pays for the wedding, but the Rens were insanely rich. Before you could figure out what to say, a familiar purplette walked over.
"How's it going? Is the party to you liking?" Sinbad asked. You were shocked that he didn't have some random woman on his arm like he usually does. "I see Kouha and [Name] have already found their way to the bar." He chuckled lightly.
"It's a nice party, Sinbad," Alibaba decided to say, "Although...it is a bit weird to be at a party like this with some of my professors...like usual.." They were normally at Sinbad's parties after all being as they were his close friends.
"The perfect chance to get some embarrassing pictures of them if they get drunk and do stupid shit," Kouha said, matter-of-factually. Kassim laughed and nodded at that while you just shook your head.
"Hahaha, well that does sound rather interesting~," Sinbad replied, "In any case, enjoy the party." And with that he was off again, soon joined by some random short-haired woman making you sigh.
"So, are Sasha, Toto, and Leila all here?" you asked the others once Sinbad left. You hadn't seen any sign of them, but then again Sinbad's place was pretty big and spacious. They could be anywhere at the moment and you and Kouha hadn't ventured off very deep.
"Yeah, we all carpooled together so that none of us would get lost on the way here," Kassim explained, "Also, Sasha is going to be our designated driver." That made you realize that either you or Kouha had to stay sober enough to drive home. Kouha did drive you both there after all, but between you and him, you drunk more responsibly. With that in mind, you decided to just take light sips of your drink every now and then.
"I'm sure they're out back by the fire Sinbad has going outside," Alibaba mused, "Sinbad used fire-glass for it, and Toto said something about wanting to see what that looked like." Morgiana simply nodded.
"Do you want to go out and see them, sweetie?" Kouha asked you, being as you did ask about them.
"It's too cold to hang out outside," you answered, "If they come inside, then we'll greet them." Kouha put an arm around you as you spoke.
"Okay, babe," he agreed, "Anything you want to do now or...?"
"Nothing in particular," you told him before turning your attention back on the trio in front of you, "Do you know if Sinbad put his Christmas tree up yet?" Sinbad was the type to go all out on his decorations, and one thing you looked forward to was seeing his Christmas tree. It was bound to be spectacular just like it was last year. Last year the tree had been white with golden and green ornaments. You wondered what he had planned for it this year.
"Oh, he did, and it's really cool!" Alibaba explained, "I'll show you." He motioned for everyone to follow him, and they did to the next room where a stair case and a nice sofa set was located. Near the staircase in the middle of the room was a big purple Christmas tree with several different colored decorations, however, most of the them were white and silver.
"Wow, he really went with his desired color scheme this year, didn't he," Kouha couldn't help but to say, finding it to look rather gaudy. You on the other hand, thought it actually looked rather nice.
"I like the purple color," Morgiana mused, watching as some of the lights blinked on and off. "My family has went with a traditional green tree this year." She gave Alibaba a slight look as she said the word 'family'.
"So has mine," Kouha spoke, "But we use real trees every year." He gave a shrug before turning to look at the others.
"A real tree?" Kassim asked, "Isn't that a bit of a hassle?"
"...Not to insanely rich people...," your muttered underneath your breath, not being able to help it. Morgiana, who had excellent hearing, heard exactly what you said, and she gave a slight snort in amusement before quickly covering her mouth.
"Did you say something, babe?" Kouha asked, raising an eyebrow. You just shook your head, "In any case," Kouha continued, "It isn't, we have people clean them and then get rid of it after the holidays." Kassim merely nodded at that explanation, eyes going from Kouha back to Sinbad's big purple tree.
"You know his office back at our branch of 'Little Shop of Whores' is really purple, too," Alibaba couldn't help but to mention.
"Well, Sin definitely loves purple." You all perked up at this new voice. It was one that you could easily recognize being as this person used to be your professor and was now your academic advisor. He was also the one who took the phone away from Sinbad whenever he would try to drunk call you.
"Professor Ja'far, hey!" you couldn't help but to happily say. Kouha slightly tensed up when he looked around and noticed Ja'far. It was probably because he had found his class to be rather hard compared to the others that he had taken. Plus, Ja'far was highly no nonsense.
"Good evening, everyone," he greeted, "Weird seeing you all here, but not unexpected." He was well aware of the fact that you, Alibaba, and Kassim worked for Sinbad. Seeing Kouha and Morgiana, however, slightly confused him.
"So, professor...what did I make on the final?" Alibaba couldn't help but to ask earning a look of 'really?' from Kassim.
"Oh, now's not the time or place for that, Alibaba," Ja'far let out a sigh, before turning to look at the rest of you, "Pardon me but, Morgiana, Kouha...it is rather unexpected to see you both here." He was thinking that perhaps Sinbad was trying to get it in with Morgiana, and Kouha was in someway spying for his older brother for some reason. Kouen and Sinbad weren't the best of friends after all.
"Morgiana is here with Alibaba and Kouha is here with me," you decided to explain to him, making Ja'far look much less confused, "Alibaba and Morgiana are dating and Kouha and I-"
"Are engaged," Kouha cut you off and wrapped an arm around your waist pulling you extremely close to him as he kissed your cheek. You flushed up slightly at the unexpectedness of it.
"Well, congratulations," Ja'far told you, "When did this happen?" In all honesty, he felt that the last person that you would end up marrying would be Kouha based on the rumors that had been said about him. But Ja'far wasn't stupid and knew that gossip was in fact not truth. So he concluded that there had to be something about the pinkette that drew you to him.
"A little while ago," Kouha answered, "It's been great."
"I'm glad for you then, and you too Morgiana and Alibaba," Ja'far smiled slightly. A crash was soon heard followed by the sounds of giggling and someone groaning. You all looked over to see a small blonde girl that looked rather familiar to you standing over a broken glass giggling and who you knew to be another old professor of yours, professor Spartos, pinching the bridge of his nose, "I should probably handle that," Ja'far sighed, "It was nice seeing you all." You waved him off before turning to look at the others.
"You can't expect any less from Sinbad's holiday kick-off party," you mused.