User blog:MockingJester/Merry naughty Christmas

It was...minutes ago. Austin was setting up. A cold cup of chocolate milk on a hand, a remote on the other. On the first day of the week, Christmas, he was given a break. A typical time for a break.

'Now, Austin, as ever, you have completely withheld on any vacation, days off or sick days. So, I'm giving you a mandatory break through all of your yearly right to any absence. Paid, of course'. His boss is a kind man, if somewhat strict. Austin learned not to let his rougher ide plant any resentment on his shoulder, giving him ample leisure for the rare times he needed them.

And, today like many, he hadn't needed any. So, his superior played them in one go. One month of paid vacation even before his real vacation right.

"And I've got quite the little carnival to occupy my time with". The light was dim, illuminated by his fireplace. The little lights that aided the idle embers were broadcasting at their minimum. He was ready to enjoy--

"Huh?" Voices on the rooftops. All feminine, a few, close to ten. Austin can hear heavy footsteps walking about.

His instincts compel him to slowly disembark from his sofa, the sight of his iron piece left close to the chimney enticing. The one he pushes logs to their burning pyres.

His steps were too slow, too careful, as one of them, the only one, drops. Her feet snuff out the fickle flames with little efforts. The cold outside had much to be credited for.

"Ahh, Mister Austin?" The intruder speaks, stepping forth from the winter fog dispelling.

"Hum...yes--" Austin was bewildered. A red coat. Black boots. A jolly tone. A crimson cap surrounded by white the same way the coat had traces at its middle. Only...

"Santa?" Looking with much more clarity, Austin couldn't help but notice the black horns piercing the cap and the white of her wings. "What--

"Yes. It is I, Santi Claus. I have come here to strip you of this loneliness you live in. Too far to visit relatives, so you stay by yourself. And all of the times you spoke to them through a live camera? Not enough, is it? Especially when they have their spouses and children". A sad expression grabs her face.

"Hum..." Austin had, by now, recovered from the odd sight, all-too curious about her. Well, mostly in disbelief "No, no, no, Santa is a man, not a lilim. What is this I'm seeing?"

"Silly little meanie, Santa is my husband. I'm Miss Claus, here on his behalf. My big ol' teddy bear had caught a case of sickness, so I'm here in his stead. Now, if can withhold your questions, I have something for you". A smile beads her lips, accompanied by the wince of her visible eye.

The act of seeing Santi Claus move her pocket bag front and center passed through Austin, too compelled to entertain this absurdity. Santa? Married?! To a lilim!?! Since when? How? Why? What does of life does he have? Does he have children? How many--

"Go on, give me your hand". Her voice saps his focus, or rather, re-aligns it to her presence in the middle of an effort. A hand in her bag, she strains her arm somewhat while pulling upward. A present, so to say.

"Austin~. It calls to him, a chime of bells in the air "You have been such a good boy for all those years. So, I give you a present you never thought about but always wanted. A special someone has been waiting to meet again, fufu~.

A bright flash blinds him to her disposition, calling his arm to shelter his eyes from the shimmering. Though it lasts no more than seconds, speaking through the rapid return to the dim lights.

~Merry Christmas!~ Once more, jingle bells chime the air, this time, with a little extra.

A cold and soft sensation welcoming him as he lowers his arm. Chilly arms taking his neck space in a hug amid his opening eyes. They look at themselves through the reflection of round glasses.

He recognizes their shape and the wearer. The face that boasts a wide smile. The eyes sporting an exotic pink, timidity overwhelmed by joy. The voice calling his name out "Austin!"

Its tone is as intrinsic as the foreign breath carrying it to his side, all while she pushes her body against his in a heartfelt hug. So much to feel, so much to say, so much to...forget, like his knees on the floor with hers.

"Yuan Na? What the--" His only word towards the bespectacled woman far from the Mist Continent, dressed in a hooded oriental, weaved in her country's accents. Trims of gild and deep red, the top she bears lets little imagination to the fine shape of her body despite the shy disposition of her gleeful demeanor.

"Yuan Na over here has received the blessing of her parents to be spirited away to this humble piece of home, with a visit once in a while. Speaking of which..." Santi pulls out yet another item, meaning another flash. This time, Yuan Na's ecstatic presence blotted much of the blink before a mirror shined his way. "A little something so that pesty little excuse becomes just that, an excuse".

She walks close, looking on at Austin. The mix of confusion and glee from his expression makes it a difficulty which of which was the more prominent. She leans close, a blissful smile on her face "Sweet one, really. All she asked for this Christmas was to be with the lonely man who obfuscates visits by the excuse of distance. Now Austin...~

"Y-yes--" Confusion continues, assailing him with no break, no halt.

"A want you two to do many, many naughty things together. Yuan Na has been a good girl, and I expect you to make her a very naughty woman~.

"Naughty? What?" His whisper does nothing to persuade her to any explanation, instead, showering him in a sultry smile. Crimson cheeks, lecherous eyes, soft breathing. That smile, a womanly smile, before climbing up the chimney, her bag over her shoulder.

Austin was left in the dim lighting of his ceiling light, still entombed in Yuan Na's hug. A hug slowly moving from his shoulders to an innocent smile beaming from the mist zombie. He looks to her magnificent eyes, luscious and idle. They follow his every expression, seemingly awaiting his movement.

He couldn't, not yet, now without recovering from his heartthrob. All this time, he felt it snuffing his throat the moment her arms coiled around him, beating profusely to the rhythm of sweat pouring down in increased excess. The touch of an old close friend had lightened his body to a jubilee of glee. He ignored them, focused on climbing down the high of a mamono's joy toward him. Her innocent smile held him in hesitation.

Taking one gulp of air, Austin subtly shakes his head from the faintest of blemishing thoughts before re-directing his attention to Yuan Nu, the Jiangshi perking up at his look, hands on his chest and ears working "So, is she right? You asked to come here?"

"I did!" Her smile is unending, again, testing his resolve. His memories of teenage years had already biased her appearance as cute to his standards, if somewhat aloof. Easy to lead due to her fresh days in their school and mannerism, now blossomed to his taste, it had become much harder to withhold this nonsensical demand from the self-appointed wife of Santa.

"For the Christmas days?" Austin was well-intended on savoring every day he could with company, let alone hers. There also was a mirror for her to return, should she wish.

But...should she wish "Well, that and, many more?" Her mind was already making itself home, looking the subtle place over.

"Well, I don't mind, but it is a pretty small place".

"Ohh, I don't mind. We can simply squeeze a bit if need be". Again, her smile, pure to his eyes, her voice as well "Santi told me you were spending another Christmas alone".

"Well..." No longer on his chest, Yuan Nu's palms now stroke the surface of her ornate leggings, besieged by the equally decorated as her hoodie. He faced down a pouting Jiangshi, apparently not approving of his solitary lifestyle.

"And the new year".

"Actually--

"And everything else. Valentine. Easter. Summer, everything! Considering I spend the majority of these alone as well, well, why not give company to a good friend of mine?"

A fierce beat drums his heart. She wished to be here, only to give another lonely man her company. Austin shakes his head, cleaning his mind off whatever ludicrous demand this lilim gave him. He nods towards her "Well then, I think we can deal with an additional room later. Right now, I was second away booting up a movie".

"Alright! I shall join you in this viewing!" Yuan Nu's fist rises in glee, so soon picking up his wrist in the sofa's direction. Before anything, Austin finds himself sitting with her firmly comfortable on his lap. Viewing of an action movie was in his near future.

Countless action scenes brought from her love of martial arts along with her arrival from their teenage years. Austin finds himself enticed as ever watching the choreography of supernatural martial artists grinding their favorite technique. A feeling nurtured via their many sleepless nights watching films from the Mist Continents.

Only, now, Austin's instincts called to a different sense of comfort. Yuan Nu had wasted no time drawing his hands along her waist in the comfort of his lap. Just like before, it also called to later times, her ease and confidence seating close to him as they bonded knots of friendship.

Unlike before, the delicate lady seemed willing to cross over the side-to-side hurdle, an implicit trust thrust on his hands. Her eyes glimmer in amazement, the latest case of 'Tae Kwon Doe', the mesmerizing foot-working Hinezumi going against the 'Blind Monk', currently on screen.

"I didn't know you had the latest one", she whispers, cracking down on a few bite-size sweets.

"Well, you know, with Christmas break on the way and my irregular regular monthly break, I have time to look around, give myself a little something..." Unaware, or perhaps, without any worry for the hands that freely reign on her stomach. Or would, if not for Austin reluctance to any movement, spending the overwhelming majority of the movie petrified like a statue.

The twilight knocked on his door, a bundle of sand to put them to sleep. "Yea, you sleep on my bed", Austin packs a sheet from his room, one of the many rolls clogged in his wardrobe.

"Ohh!? But, isn't the bed yours? I can't..."

"Yes, you can. Don't worry about it, I'll just sleep on the sofa". Austin dismisses her worry as he sets it in the living room.

"Actually, the lady, she said..." Yuan Nu approaches him, somewhat timidly. Her eyes drift to the side "She said that..."

"Hmm?" The man already was dismissing what was to spill out from the Jiangshi's lips. Something he expected to hear.

"...that to be a naughty girl, we should probably..." Her words fumbled, uncertain of what she was saying, unsure of how to carry it over. Her mannerism still persisted all this time, which was an alluring prospect for Austin. One he could...could...

"Don't worry about that. It's probably just some weird quirk from that self-proclaimed 'wife of Santa Claus'. You go to rest, we'll figure out moving things for your stay, alright?"

"Ohh...alright". Yuan Nu turned from him, looking to go for a trip to the bathroom before dozing, unaware of his blush as he plunges to the cover of his sheets. His eyes caught her simper. It outlived in its innocence, like a treasure that had yet to be pilfered. A bright glee he was going to be welcomed to every day.

The logistics of moving her things from afar, adjusting his second room, space for her furniture, everything took a backspace to the reality of her presence, unchanged, ever sweet, ever aloof.

--- A haunting to his dreams, drawing from the memories of the past. Anyone moving from a country to another would feel ostracized to a degree, so aware of their difference to the local students. Another wall from the barrier of language. And a third from her reserved nature.

Alone, watching as other students came and went, no regard for the transfer student, save for her foreign clothing. No outstanding girl, framed with large round glasses and a timid stance from the overwhelming awareness she carries on her shoulders.

How she managed to catch his interest, Austin still wasn't sure, as transfer students weren't a rarity. Still, with none of her current standing as a pale woman of the mist, he found himself wandering towards her, his attempts at communication, fruitless, for a time.

It was not long before the language discord became of little concern. Yuan Nu had brought clips from her land, looking to watch a few while searching for the equivalent in her new home. Austin remembers the widening eyes she gave him as he showed her clips of the 'blind monk', an armored individual that discards the weapons of a crusader for the unarmed combat.

And they met ever since. Everyday. In the same spot. Simply to share clips spanning the distance of continents... --- Austin was shrouded inside his cover, sleeping soundly to those memories. A little too soundly, for how vivid they are to his mind, almost from yesterday. The atmosphere returned with a pungent scent, calling to his embrace.

"Eh?" That is was so immersive served to the irony of shattering his sleep. Immediately, Austin feels a docile weight on his chest. Nowhere enough to choke his lungs in a struggle for air, but enough to coerce effort out of him to wake from the sofa bed.

"What the--" Two soft spots particularly make their presence known to his chest. Lifting the covers gives him the startle of his life.

Yuan Nu, sleeping underneath. Her stance was curled, broadcasting her weight alongside as to offset any discomfort to the man. Her pale lips part in regularity, indicating a deep sleep, unlikely to wake unless he quaked her in stern movements.

Austin wasn't sure what to make of this. He had given her his bed for the night, intended on re-arranging a room as to make way. By the looks of her visage, however, the only use she saw fitting his bedroom was to leave her glasses before returning...

"Ok...maybe she prefers sleeping on the sofa..." Slowly, by inches, Austin begins the long prospect of moving away from his dozing roommate. A task made surprisingly through his first movement, her face twisting in a sleepy frown and rigid muscles.

He does, with much slowness, manage to move apart from her. "Hmm, looks like I disturbed her sleep somewhat", he comments, a witness to her closed frown "Ehh, I'm sorry. Anyone would be, being so close to a ruined sleep".

He sets his cover over her body, having not bothered taking a glance at her current apparel. His walk carries him past a window. The darkness still resides outside, beset by the falling white around.

"Thought so". He opens the room to his bed and lays on it, quick to pull the wraps over his body, soon finding his sleep...

...a sleep so prompting ended. Not under the lull of the day's advent, perking its head with the song of birds. Not with the modest glimpses of the sun poking outward through the dwindling clouds. No...

"Huh?" Austin was once again caught in a vivid dream of remembrance Yuan Nu at his side. Their sleepless nights spent watching and exchanging movies of their favorite characters. So vivid, in fact, it shattered his immersion for the second time.

"Wha--" He wakes up with a soon-to-become a familiar weight on his chest, breathing softly. Yuan Nu. Laying over him. Again, softly parting her lips in exhalation.

"What--

"Uhh?" The pink luster adorning her irises open in a tiny glow, closing and re-opening in blinks. Seeing his confounded expression draws faster blinks from her and a sleepy, sheepish smile "G-good morning, Austin".

"Huh...yea..." His eye drifts to the side, having veered within the cover he thought he was alone in. She had changed midway in the dark of twilight. A pajama in the same deep crimson as her casual attire. Modestly decorated, formal and...possessing a cleavage large enough for the man to judge her 'size'. Austin did not want to do that.

He instead points to a subject he sees as the larger issue "I thought you would have preferred the sofa".

"A-actually..." The docile smirk greeting the man is replaced by a more bashful stutter "W-well, I kind of wanted to...maybe...since you offered me your bed so earnestly, I thought to..."

Her gaze is a guilty one, looming the weight of responsibility. in this exchange of glares, he could see her thoughts. She still was his guest, and yet he gave her his bed until morning.

Austin lowers a hand to her cheek, causing the hopping zombie to perk up slightly on his form "Nu, you don't need to feel guilty about this. That was my pleasure".

"I know! But...I wanted to...she told me that..."

"Ohh, that's her talk, then. It's fine. But, forget what this weirdo said, alright?" He shakes his head, again, dismissing yesterday's welcomed and unwelcomed intruder bestowed in red.

"A-alright". Her eyes lower, a bit of...discontent? Austin ponders the sight for the smallest frame of a second. Then forgets it, a potential slug in his still awakening brain.

"Good. Now, let's actually get up. I do not feel like spending my break in bed".

She perks up "R-right! Right. Yes. Let's".

"..."

"..."

Yuan Nu stands laid on his stomach, looking at him in yet another fit of timidity, prompting the renewed caseation of silence in sly fun "No rush, Nu".

"Actually...I can't rightly move". Her voice throws out in flamboyant red cheeks.

"...what? You can't? Move..."

"I wasn't expecting to watch the special edition with you and kind of skipped a pretty important step with my new physiology".

"Physiology?" Austin takes a moment to think about her words. It hits him rather instantly. Yuan Nu is a Jiangshi, according to the tag laid on the top of her hoodie, exchanged for a smaller one in sleeping hours.

"Well, do you have something for that? I mean you moved pretty seamlessly yesterday".

"Ohh! I actually have something for that, but..." Yuan Nu moves rigidly, struggling to move apart from the man. Awakenings are a bit complicated for her, it seems.

"Guess you need help". His hands take shelter on her back, the intent of lifting her clear as strength pours to his fingers. His own back, lifting upward, prompts her body close to his with unintentional momentum. His mind is enveloped in the sensation of her voluptuous chest squeezed against his rugged torso.

Yuan Nu's voice squeals a bit, immediately snuffed out by her volition. A squeak fuming his cheeks in-between the proximity of her face and chest still washed over his "Sorry, sorry!"

"It's alright". Her eyes are closed, breathing softly at the unintentional embrace, feeling his hands gently holding her by the waist. The proximity of their bodies, her cold rigidity, and his warmth. It spreads enough for her to reach out to his chest, somewhat with little control, exerting a little more force than wanted.

"Ohh, right, sorry". Austin rises with the two on their feet, moving apart from the rigid still woman, the second of flexibility gone. Turning to the bag on his counter, Austin had no opportunity to spot the miffed expression on Yuan Nu, one receding as he looks back, a draft of blue tone in hand "Is that it?"

"Yes!" Opening the capsule, he hands the now exposed vial to the new inhabitant of his house, watching her drink the strange sustenance. The label had the words 'diluted mana supplement' written on them along with the expression of an apologetic horned woman. Curious.

Yuan Nu makes a few stretches spanning minutes, chipping away the grime of rigor mortis afflicting her body to more sensual aerobics. The curve smoothing her sides. The perfect roundness to her chest. The sleek of her legs, all permeated by her elegant undead form, ornated in oriental decorations.

All of it, it attracted Austin's gaze, looking from behind. She wasn't aware of his eyes unwillingly devouring her supple shape. Nor the words teeming in his mind 'I expect you to make her a very nau--

He turns away, his mind fixed on the bathroom. Those words, prone to return to him so often. Her sweet and innocent tenure persisting at his side and far from him. From the time where the rift to her homeland allowed access to her furniture, looking at him, locked in an unintentional embrace with a chair in between. He shook his head at this.

Past the day of Christmas, she so often joined him in a usually quiet screening session, binge-watching all of his movies made theirs via her additions. The 'Blind monk'. 'Tae Kwon Doe'.

Movies trailing in the dozen, each scoring popularity in their own continents before the eventual collaboration, leading to Streak Industries and Jade Empire to dip in a 'what-if'. A monk going against a Hinazumi, borders away in a bridge, in the search of opponents to challenge.

To see Yuan Nu's love of martial arts translate to magnificent dances of pink hues and aerobics was a spectacle he wasn't expecting to receive "So this is why she freed up the attic".

Filled to the brim with derelict items of his past years, her mist magic had an easy time staking them in a corner to set up her equipment. Gymnastic equipment.

A ballet he sees, a mix of fighting choreographies and ethereal dances of magical flames. Her hands flare in azure presses, following the enthusiasm of her feet.

Catching his eye in the interlude of her ethereal flight, Yuan Nu was quick to adjust, more than happy to turn her solitary display of arcane and arts to a showing. A smile on her lips, she continues, catching his fervency evermore, turning this mundane viewing of moving to a real-life spectacle of her fervor through mimicry.

A spectacle making it harder for him to convey the nascent emotions clouding his mind. Emotions... --- Emotions taking a greater grasp over him, long left in embers with her depart. His recollection of their continual meetings through classes, without and without, all of it fanned a strong affection toward the slowly understanding exchange student...

...only to see it wither with her departure. Her tutelage finished in their last year. A promise to keep contacts through the last gap of their countries, their continents. The very day he was to confess to her, having spent much of his time attempting to grasp the basics of her language... --- And there she was, invariably lunging at him for hugs and an opinion of what he saw. What he witnessed. The accuracy of her movements.

"I always have been enamored by her flawless choreographies! Do you think I am making progress? You've always been a sound critique of these!"

"You dance beautifully. It...it was..." Austin spills his words in earnest honesty, and with a hidden tone behind. One that caught his mind only after spelling it out. A tone charged with emotion.

That he refused to further exert, even with Yuan Nu looking deeply in his eyes, a fascinated glint from her glasses. They focus on his excited breathing, his hands withholding her less-than-composed body still spurning in the aftermath of mighty exertion.

Yuan Nu's expression turns to a start. A rising sense of anticipation following his hands adjacent to his short-lived breaths. Hands approaching her in this moment of furious enamoring. Open palms reaching for her cheeks...

"Shame you couldn't sprout deep red flames like hers, but otherwise, a very vivid alignment to her dance. The 'aligned five'. Fiery blows dedicated to concentrate on one opponent or five separate adversaries".

"Quite so! It is one of my favorite techniques that she uses due to its shape as an opening lotus". Her voice breathes admiration, thinking of any clip where Doe would indulge in this powerfully concentrated move, designated to compress any true collateral damage to an opponent, so often incapacitating them with little defense to shelter them from its ire.

Although between breaths, her tone had de-escalated, a note Austin paid no heed to. The night was nigh, the notion of time distorted in her elegant dance "Huh, looks like it's night. I'll leave you be".

He turns away, blind to her perked expression, a look never diminishing. Waiting evermore... --- "Come on, Austin, they're already shooting the fireworks!~ Yuan Nu pulls in, her cold fingers gasping the polo sleeve of the very reluctant man of a few years in solitude. A mirror stands before them, swirling in images of a distant land populating the cerulean in fire and powder. Colors and vibrancy. Loud explosions and a dark background.

Her homeland, yearning to join in as well as bring him along. The man had a minimum grasp of preparation before the overtly excited Jiangshi came running with a flavor for fireworks and longing for home.

"Yes, yes, hold on!" The poor man had little hope contesting the strength of a monster, particularly one so versed in martial arts. The perfume he had hoped to put on in this nightly even would remain unopened from its package as he slowly dissolves from the comfort of his home.

His very being is re-arranged to particles, information of his essence transported over the vast distance of his continent. A strange experience his body is to repeat over several notable events.

Soon enough, both he and Yuan Nu shaped back over one of the many designed spaces for portal transportations. His eyes set on the countless people who seemingly came in the same way as he and in the same mindset of discovery.

Yuan Nu became overtly eager, knowing the roles to be reversed. As he was lost in the sea of foreign skies, she clutches his hand, an ever bright smile on her lips. The drink she partook in shortly before going meant lasting mobility with diluted mana offering her warmth.

They run, albeit clumsily. Well, Austin's run is, the two making way through the crowd of increasing festival onlookers. The path they take offsets them from hundreds of food courts. Hundreds of trinkets, fireworks, shows, spectacles and anything in between.

"Wait, isn't this why we're here for?" Austin remarks, seeing the exotic snacks passing by in various shapes and tastes. Spicy or mild. Sweet or sour. Bitter, but only just. Salty, but modestly.

"Later! I have people I want you to meet!" Their run sees them through many more before a set of dwindling numbers. Those that sought a bit of time away from the noise and the smell, and those who simply wished for a time between them, this is where they idled, enjoying the dancing stars and lighting boreal.

Among them, two dressed in formal celebration robes stood out. One in a clear blue, a river of gilded etches wolven on his apparel. A short cut besets his head, the typical jet black often perfuming the faces of men in this Continent.

His visage is modestly happy, seeing his daughter run in stride, leaving Austin's hand to itself as she comes toward him, hands spread out in their foreign tongue.

And the mother, sporting a talisman, not unlike Yuan Nu with a slightly larger piece. A gild-ringed hat, as ornate as her own apparel, just a bit less in the way of silk as to allow her feminine figure to breathe through. Unlike her daughter, the glint in her eyes, as pink, carry the confident walk of a woman. An elevated reflection of her offspring, the same one she is embracing following her husband's accolade.

The former man, now beret of his child, busy speaking words Austin could not understand, looked at the man she dragged in seconds ago. His happy demeanor devolved to a stern gaze locked to the newcomer.

Then, a smile once more...toward his family. Words in their foreign tongue see his wife retort, passing a simple glance to Austin, who was looking increasingly nervous. Did he offend them?

Yuan Nu's mother departs with her daughter nearby, waving at Austin, unaware of his less-than-composed facial expression. Something about a new year sweet to try.

Silence befalls the men. A stern glare against a queasy one. The latter cannot help his faltering gaze, leering to the side where the women were skipping--

"Mister Austin". His voice calls in eerily familiar discourse, catching the man back to an unwanted staring. A stranger's accent, as coarse as his eyes "If I may..."

His steps are uncontested, devoid of any backing response from Austin, all-too uncertain of Yuan Nu's father. His pace, his glare, all hidden. Hostile and non-hostile. Wary and not.

The man moves to the rail Austin didn't know was present, setting his palms over it, a sight filled with illuminating fireworks of colors, all through his wisened eyes "...I could tell you so many things, mister Austin".

"Hum, yes sir?" Austin straightens himself, his instincts flaring up in flight, the hidden aura of the father denying any fight. A fearful manifestation of a father. A flight that never came, bound by his words.

"I suppose my young Nu has given you a demonstration of her aptitude for self-defense? All steeming from this love of martial arts".

"Well, yes. She was--

"This is but a by-product, mister Austin". The man cuts away "I've made sure that she learns. Just like her mother".

The deepening of his tone is not gone unnoticed by Austin. His wariness wanes somewhat, thinking to have found similar grounds to speak "Well, that figures..."

"Excuse me?"

"I said that I figured this would be the case. But, to be honest, I was surprised when Yuan Nu had seemingly decided to learn how to do all of it by the admiration she had for her idol".

"That was a mere coincidence. Nothing more. But, considering how calmly you seem to remain, I surmise that you must understand".

"I do. Perhaps that is why I've found myself drawn to her, back then, through years before--

"Excuse me??" Surely his hidden characteristic would have set Austin's instincts of flight ablaze. A foul note on his end. The ever calm but glaring brown of his irises, humming with radiative green. The dull charge coursing from his boot all the way to this very hair, applying an ïoda of arcane through every inch.

"Yes". Austin dares not turn away from the father's glare. Unlike him, he possessed no true manner of talent in the martial district. No genius in the combat of mana. Nothing in between, nothing to prepare him should the man decide to pounce at him. But "An innocent woman somewhat reserved by the barrier of language, alone in a school full of strangers...frankly, I'd be grateful if someone decided to do me a favor as I did to her. So, I obliged".

But, he wasn't the most unreasonable of people to be around. That he so quickly lowers his nascent hostility is a testament to that "I see. You are not wrong, mister Austin. To have someone willing to spend time with an exchange student in the lieu of our temporary juxtaposition of housing is a grace we have not forgotten".

"You're welcome". Austin nods "I'm just lucky we happened to have struck a common interest, honestly. I wasn't sure how to take it otherwise".

"I do not blame you for that. My little Yuan Nu isn't the most talkative of girls. Well, in a displaced Continent, at least. It did not help that a supernatural child developing to a woman is prone to attract unwanted attention".

"So you went for staunch discipline".

"Indeed". The man looks back to Austin before their eyes set back to the vast sky of light "Perhaps...a little too staunch..."

"Hmm?" The young man returns his sight from the upward to, this time, meet the look of an embarrassed man. Slight red on his cheeks.

"Surely you have noticed that my Nu has...a practically inexistent concept of her feminity. Mostly about...romance".

"Well..." All Austin's mind could play was the ongoing visage of innocence, permeating from her every pore "...let's just say that she's not the...most aware of her actions".

"I thought so. Well then". Austin looked back now to the unrelenting festivities. How long had it been since they started speaking and exchanging? He was getting hungry for the flavor they had in the Mist Continent. Longer, as his ears hear the roughing of paper.

Turning to the father of his co-inhabiter, the now foreign is met with a folded piece of parchment gestured in his way. The older individual's eyes no longer are visible, replaced by the sight of his head in a deep bow.

"Hum..."

"My daughter, she has told me many, many admirable traits from you. All this time, from her younger years to your co-joined inhabitation. She has written many letters describing her experience, and..."

Slowly plucking the letter from hands, Austing began reading, nodding all the while. The man's voice continued on, a warm trust imposed on his hopefully soon-to-be son-in-law's shoulders "Please, accept our blessings in the act of taking her hand--

"Wait, wait, wait..." Austin just happened to have stopped reading, interpellated by his words. That, or a sentence of Yuan's latest letter, a day before their arrival to this vast land, had coerced his widened eyes. He sighs ins disbelief, his tone  "I told her she didn't need to heed that nutjob's words..."

"What?"

"When your daughter came around intending to live alongside me, she came via some self-proclaimed 'wife of Santa Claus'. Some Santi Claus".

"Oh, yes! The venerable Santi Claus, the mamono's very own 'Santa'".

"...what?"

The man perks up "You haven't heard of her? She is the dear spouse to the man who monitors them as he monitors us, to then deliver her presents to them accordingly. Of course, it has been said that those who live alone usually don't see her much since they have no spouse for her to come to".

"...what--

"In fact, that is why we are here at this moment, mister Austin. She simply is fulfilling our daughter's most desired wish..."

"No..." Austin looks back to the letter. A wish for Santi Claus, to be joined with the man she loved...

"No, no, no, this--you're telling me--" A wish for Santi Claus, to be loved by the man she loved.

"Seriously, you're telling me that...that wacko--" A wish for Santi Claus, for the man she loved to approach her, softly. To teach her what her parents had omitted, never losing hope, despite what increasingly sounded like misguided attempts at 'stoking' him.

"This indeed is a subject she hoped you could introduce her in. In a...' personal touch', as she could call it. Due to this stringent disciple, Yuan Nu has been ever reluctant to let many approaching her, most of all, men. All the way to this very moment, asking for but the same thing every year. And it seems Santa's significant other has decided to answer this humble call".

"Oh my god--" Austin slaps his hands over his forehead. Every subtle touch made by the young Jiangshi, from the repeated intrusion to his sleep to the overly close contacts. Hugs, adhering clasps, all of them "--you--you cannot be serious! That weirdo was right!? Really?! She told me to 'make her naughty'! Is this really something you would approve of?!"

"Our young Yuan Nu is a full-fledged adult. She is liable for her own decisions. But, I am not worried. That you are still stringent to doubt is a potent proof that she has chosen right...and perhaps, a little excess in my first impression".

"Wha--

"I sincerely apologize for this less-than-agreeable greeting. I am certain you understand that, as a father, I must ascertain the validity of a potential groom. And many a time, I have come upon pretenders whose interests were intrinsically on the shallow end".

"Yea...see, during our last year in high school, there was an uncomfortable amount of that running in danger close. I'm in no place to blame you for that".

"That is a relief to hear. Know that Luo Long gives you his blessing to the hand of his daughter. Please, do take good care of her".

"Yea, that...that goes without saying. Of course". Austin nods to another deep bow, his mind, already playing with the implication. A thought he prefers stowing away...

"I do recall you coming to this celebration of the new year to greet yourself to the flavors of the mist".

"Huh--" Austin's stomach growls in this instance. He had forgotten to eat before stepping in, dragged away by Yuan Nu in her volatile impatience. "Ohh..." He turns away, a face fuming in embarrassment.

The old Luo Kong laughs a bit, setting a hand in his new year apparel, a pair of glasses on his nose "My daughter couldn't quite wait to have us meet, did she? No matters, seeing as I have yet to eat as well in our own dishes. Come, I have much to share with you. Hopefully, we'll bump into our Jiangshi counterparts, likely indulging themselves in the sweetened district".

"Ohh, sure. Nu is sure fond of sweets". Austin follows as the local man now wanders straight at the festival.

"She takes that from her mother. Always found her sneaking around in the pantry looking for one more cookie. Not that Wuhan Nu helped in that matter". He laughs it off in his walk, subtly guiding the visitor among his favorite dishes and snacks, bringing a much-needed filling to their stomachs... --- The apex of night welcomed the couple back, long after their indulgence in the many assortments the Mist Continent had to offer them.

"Man, I'm surprised you wish to stick around with all the goodies you have at home". Austin is bound by dozen of bags filled to the bring with ingredients and dishes wrapped in a myriad of manners, putting them one by one on the counter of his kitchen.

"I do occasionally miss the flavors to my country. But..." Yuan Nu steps from the mirror portal, her own brand of bags attached to her fingers. All of them dangle effortlessly in the trapping of her palms.

Seeing him free of his cargo, the Jiangshi quickly hurls hers in a perfect toss on another corner. They lop off each other, setting idly without so much as a scratch, giving her ample time to approach him.

"...the few days I have been living along you are as plentiful, if not more~. A bright smile, again, meets the once solitary master of his house alongside a pair of arms meeting his shoulders. They are a contrast to the sunny expression broadcast from her visage with how rigid they feel.

"Ohh, sorry, my...my arms no longer have their flexibility...? Austin?" Her smile turns to confusion, noting the change to his eyes. As if he had reached the end of a short pondering.

He did, playing the words of her mother minutes ago. 'Alas, my daughter is not unlike me as her cartilages get rigid with time. Hence, the odd supplement you might have seen laying around once in a while...'

The close-up of her whisper, calling to an alternative 'Fortunately, there is a more intimate alternative. I'm sure Santi already told you, hmm?'

Three out of three told him the same thing. The Santa look-alike, the father, the mother. All of them...

"Austin?" Her eyes, ever the precious pair, looking on as her rigidity feels the warmth of his arms swirling and coiling, drawing her hips close to him. A slow and meticulous advance, a bridge to their respective chests.

Her breathing slowed to a crawl, emphasized the parting lips, unprepared for his approach, to snuff them out. A rub soon turned to a kiss.

~!!~ They widen in surprise, the quiet of the night drawing all of her attention to the overwhelming senses pouring from their locked exchange. They bring an insight she never knew she yearned for, judging by how her irises close behind as to allow her a greater sensation.

The rigid Mortis no longer held true power over her arms, allowing her an honest opinion of this impromptu steal. Her first kiss, robbed in the darkness. She was overjoyed, letting her body reach up to the top of his shoulders as to lock him in place.

Yuan Nu's father was right. The young Jiangshi carried a taste for sweets, her lips, her tongue, her breath, all conveying a chilling preview of sugary softness. Already so addicting to the man, who, for a brief moment, snapped out of it.

~Austin...~ Yuan Nu felt confident in her undead lungs, somewhat peeved at his early stop, breathing in excess. A faint smile coats her succulent lips, shortly before--

"!?" It was his turn to feel the surprise of an impromptu smooch, quick to accept it, however. A mischevious thought blinks at the forefront of his mind, calling to the innocent Jiangshi's bold plunge.

Yuan Nu's talisman shimmers in dull lights, having shifted to idle words. 'Waiting'. His eyes wince, rather confounded about his sudden ability to decipher it. All the while Yuan Nu looked back, their kiss shortly ended, observing his movement, his expression with a much redder faint smile.

He never really had the linguistic knowledge to read it, something about the way they select those the Jiangshi wish to entrust themselves to.

He looks beyond the spiritual paper flashing words he could understand in earnest, a gleeful simper on his face. Even as the momentum lost in their idleness made her cartridges rigid anew, his hands swirl and clad under her thighs. A surprising strength comes to the fore of his arms, considering the firm sinews anchored to her body.

"Austin?~ Her voice peers, a chilly voice returned from having fed on but the faintest donation of his warmth.

"Ohh, don't worry about it". The man briefly peeks behind her, finding a streak of luck keeping the door to his room open "I'm just fulfilling your Christmas wish. An overdue one, if I am to believe your parents".

"My wish?~ A brief passage of warmth pours in her cheeks amidst their way inside. Time would see Austin bring a glimmering loop to her cold finger, embedded with a singular minuscule piece adjacent to her eyes.

Time would see them celebrate a strong Christmas in the advent of the next year. Pictures and direct feed to his family and friends, all-too teeming to see the wife now living by his side. Along with surprise visits, made available by the return of Santi Claus, looking to give the couple ample space for humble boast to his distant relatives.

But for now, all of these were to happen at a much later time. For now, Austin had yet to fulfill his beloved's Christmas wish...