[Nicolay]

“I don't know,” Nicolay said with a slight shaking of his head. “I only drink on occasion -- say there's a party or a gathering or my dad just wants to have a shot or two, but not all the time. Maybe I just...built it up.” He shrugged. “I used to think I got my dad's liver.”

But that's just a ticket to an unhappy topic, isn't it?

“Either way, I'm still standing on my two feet,” Nicolay said and laughed, tossing his head back a little so that he felt the top of it throbbing a little.

Xanth's Grotto became the center of his attention soon after -- and while Lazuli had expectations, he didn't. He knew it would be magnificent as it should only be but that was all that was in his mind as he stopped a few steps from the guarded entrance, a glow of white and its shifting colors dressing his face as it illuminated from the spectacular walls. “This is pretty cool,” he muttered mostly to himself as he strayed his gaze left to right.

And when he saw the pair of anyeli enjoying each other's company, his face twitched a little. Seriously, does no one have any sense of privacy here?

There was a kind of loneliness that poked him at his heart but Lazuli's warm touch was enough to chase it away a million miles and he smiled in reminder that he was out with a lovely lady tonight.

“Do you want to look for Xanth's statue?”

“You know where it is?” Nicolay asked with a small befuddlement as he retrieved his arm from the smaller nyad just so he could slip his checkered top off, leaving him with a sleeved, white tee that revealed his scar a little more. “You lead the way, I'll follow, then.” And then to himself, “Goddess, I keep forgetting to bring an umbrella whenever I come to this place...” Nicolay turned instantly to Lazuli as he offered her one side of his checkered top, now to be transformed into an anti-air raid blanket to preserve their hairs and faces from the snowballs. “Hold on, are we allowed inside here without a present?”

[Lazuli]

Lazuli might have said something about Nicolay's earlier words regarding his dad, but when it seemed like he did not want to pursue the topic, she decidedly remained silent on the matter.

Instead, she responded to his inquiry about the statue. “I've found Her before,” Lazuli stated warmly.

She graciously accepted her half of Nicolay's checkered top and held it above her head, keeping a careful watch on the army of snowmen. Since it was night, the troops had sneakily concealed themselves among the crystalline branches and puffs of snow, waiting for some overfed/possibly-drunk and unsuspecting people to come up and meet their icy doom.

Making sure her bag would not slip off her shoulder, Lazuli was set to go when Nic asked about a present. A pang of guilt hit her as she realized that due to them coming here on a whim, she hadn't prepared a gift for their Goddess. She thought in peace for a moment and offered, “We could bring our New Year resolutions. For example... to be better Elysians. I believe that has the quality of a gift.” Their Lady would appreciate it, wouldn't she? Lazuli hoped so.

“Are you ready, Nicolay?”

She looked forward.

A snowball was thrown.

[Nicolay]

Resolutions? Really? If Nicolay were Xanth, he imagined, he would be sitting in his ginormous throne, legs and arms crossed and a big fat frown on his face. Then again, with the entire world in the palm of your hands, who needs more presents?

Nicolay had been ready when Lazuli asked him about his status but the flight of the snowball was still something that shook him out of his concentration. See, it wouldn't be so bad if he was on his own, he was a fast runner, after all! Won a few races here and there. But the nyad wasn't as fast as he was and she became foremost thought in his mind. So without even thinking about it, as he held his breath and his muscles tensed (and for a while there, he thought he might shift), he held a steady hand to the side of Lazuli's waist and pressed her slightly closer to his side as he made a run for it, checkered top waving like a flag as two more snowballs joined the first projectile.

They made a weak encounter with the tacky shield but by the time they were through the Gates of Hell (oh irony), Nicolay retrieved his top and sighed a little, chuckled a little as he waved it once and turned to look over his shoulder. “Idiots,” he said to Lazuli in English and smirked at her. “Well, let's go!” Hand on her back, damp checkered top over his shoulder (it was wet, why would he wear it?), he began to lead her into the first hallway.

With how many times Nicolay had come here to pay and repay the goddess for her generosity, he had somehow already found his way through the labyrinth but all it ever led him to was the throne and he was happy with that. This time, though, he and Lazuli wanted to see Xanth herself and as he didn't know where in the maze she was, he let the nymph take the role of the captain and spent the rest of the trek talking to her about snowman violence, riots against snowmen, people dying from the snowballs, cases of pneumonia (among other depressing winter topics, even a corpse mummified by ice!) and suggesting they take this or that direction, 60% of which was totally unhelpful.

But for some reason, none of these negative vibes ever got to the Therian as his smile only grew wider and wider the way his laughter grew louder and bolder. One look at him was enough to see it, though: no matter what they talked about or where they were, if it was with Lazuli, there was no doubt that it was going to be a fun experience for him.

[Lazuli]

Never once did Lazuli doubt Nicolay as he helped maneuver them past the barrage of snowballs. It was exciting, to run across the battleground with the checkered top streaming over their heads. It could have been a sail. A sail fluttering over the snowy seas.

“Oh, that was fun,” Lazuli remarked when they were finally in the safety of the palace's ice walls, a fresh flush on her face from the sprint. She gave a nod to Nic's encouraging remark and obligingly let him guide her into the first hall before taking the lead. She never once, however, left his side as they trekked through the many corridors and glittering narrow paths, like two adventurers in search of treasure or maybe a secret door to a secret garden.

Along the way, Lazuli listened to all of Nic's tales with great interest like she always did, because he was such a terrific talker and she an eager listener. At regular intervals when she was not on the watch for a hidden turn or a decisive fork in their path, she looked up to give Nic a beaming smile when he said something funny, or, at the topics of death and pneumonia, a slightly dazed sideways glance of bewilderment. Her happiness at being with Nic however, did not fail this night to chase away all of the darker little vibes.

Between her reponses to Nic, Lazuli regularly looked in the direction of Xanth's looming statue to check the status of their course. Occasionally Xanth's likeness would get hidden by the twirling and twisting design eccentricities of the icy walls, and more often than not the explorers arrived at a dead end when it seemed the statue only stood yards away.

Finally, the hallways of the foretress became larger, somewhat more open, and as they walked down one last straight path Lazuli exclaimed, “Look! I see it!”

Xanth's statue was of course, magnificent as always. Her pretty lilac image seemed more of a deeper, silvery violet in the atmosphere of current conditions. The stars sparkled behind the statue's head like a twinkling halo. Lazuli, with their collective glow reaching her heart, looked on in tranquil satisfaction. “Ah! We got here, Nic...”

[Nicolay]

Nicolay whistled as he slipped his left hand into his pants pocket. “Well, what do you know! You can find her...” By then, his sweat had dried and he felt refreshed from the breath of the icy walls.

He left his over-top to hang on his shoulder while he stroked his bangs clean off his forehead and pried his COM out of his right pocket, eyes watching the rare shade of color as it deceived him and fooled him into seeing it as two hues in one. It was a pretty sight, however -- the reflection was amazing, he was surprised he and Lazuli were the only ones within that space. Wouldn't a tourist want to see this wonder up close and personal?

Anyway, he was there, and he had his COM's camera ready as he held it up, crystal glowing and all, and when he had a relatively good shot of the statue (in spite of his awkward angle), saved her image in his COM. Why he would want a picture of a goddess he only barely believes in, he didn't know. But it was still something he and Lazuli sought for -- a reward of sorts -- and it happened in a memorable night like tonight.

“Hey, stand close to the statue!” he said to Lazuli, grin on his face as he directed the camera to her direction. “I wanna take a picture of you.”

[Lazuli]

As she was taking in the beauty of the whole scene, Lazuli did not readily respond to Nicolay's request. But when she saw the flash of the camera lens, she quickly took a spot at the foot of the statue and gave nothing less than a memorable smile.

“And now, shall I take a picture of you?” She came back to Nicolay, holding out her hand for his camera so that they may switch places.

After the photoshoot was done and finished, Lazuli simply stood by Nic and let the time pass by. They could not have been taking pleasure of their surroundings for too long, but something about the myriad of lights and beauty all but drowned out the mechanical nature of the clock. I'm truly lucky, Lazuli thought, that I got to spent such a night with Nic.

And there would be a few photo remembrances, too, for she took the chance to ask Nic to send some pictures to her. “...I will make an album with pictures of special places and special people. Besides, scrapbooking seems like a fun thing to do!”

It was only when the voices of some other Grotto visitors began drifting near that she realized there was one more thing she had to do before leaving. Reaching into her bag, the one she had carried with her all evening, Lazuli picked out a neat package wrapped in blue paper with a nice yellow ribbon. Inside, Nic would find two things -- one, a drawing of him that Lazuli had done in colored pencil sometime in the past two weeks, and two, a nice hat of a deep blue color that slightly resembled a beret.

This Lazuli handed to him with cheer. “For you,” she said. “I really hope you like it. You can open it at home, okay? Because it's getting quite late, and we should really find our way back!”

[Nicolay]

There was something in the way Lazuli spoke about taking his picture that made him laugh cheerfully as he nodded to her request and handed her his COM. It had a rather strange effect on him, too. Normally, when other people asked for a picture of him, he made sure he looked suave and prepared. An ample smile, a handsome smirk, a cocky look on his face that portrayed him as a man who "knew everything" and could not be caught off-guard.

But none of those options seem appropriate for this situation and right now, Nicolay didn't really want to "prepare". He just...he just wanted to be. Especially for this night. It was that thought in his head that dictated his "style" for this shot, however. Hands on the sides, he beamed at the camera. No poses, no angles, a simple look and a big smile -- that was all he wanted to do.

“Come over here! I want a picture of the two of us,” he said after and invited the nymph beside him and when they were ready, he held her close, posed this time, and held the camera high so that it caught both of them together. It was going to be his new wallpaper. Or maybe this one, he often thought to himself as he insisted on more pictures of the nyad with him but eventually, he settled for that shot of them together and delighted upon it. With that done, he finally stowed his COM away, and made a breath as he almost began to ask her his question but her silence had, too, kept him and he traced her gaze and placed his own right there, too. It was getting colder, the longer they stood -- but the sensation simply became a fact of life that was easily ignored as he breathed out and slipped his hands inside his pockets. Many a times, his right arm moved, motioned to slip his hand out of its confines but always it would stay the indecisive hand before it gained a mind of its own. It would have been such a nice opportunity, though. It was cold, it was late evening, and Lazuli was just beside him. Had she been anyone else...or had they been anything else, he would have pulled her close to his side.

(And pressed his lips against her scalp.)

But all he did was to look at her. Passing thoughts made him feel like the nyad understood the gaze that he was giving to her and he would just look away or pretend that the space around her was more interesting than she was but other chances, he just didn't care. The effect of the light on her fair skin was like light on water, and the shape of her nose and her lips, he thought Xanth must have spent a century or so chiseling them to perfection, spending all that time to prepare her for just this one moment, this one evening.

For me, he suddenly thought, but he shoved that thought to the depths of his mind as he dipped his head to sigh a little, then lifted his eyes back up to the goddess' face as he finally thought of that one message he wanted to tell her this visit: Xanth, thank you for this. This night, this time, this woman beside him...it didn't matter, it was a collective "this". And whatever was in that collective "this", Nicolay was only sure that he couldn't have asked her for something better.

Lazuli broke the silence by asking for the pictures in his COM, and he happily shared them to her, often interjecting with comments like, “This is one of my favorites.” or laughing at the shot. “Wow, there's too many, I won't even know what to do with all of this!” he said as he finished sending her copies of the pictures she wanted.

“...I will make an album with pictures of special places and special people,” she said to him. “Besides, scrapbooking seems like a fun thing to do!”

“Scrapbooking, huh?” he repeated with a small smirk as the last picture was sent. “I guess that's a good hobby to start. Show it to me after, all right? I'd love to see it,” he said, looking to her with a smile on his face.

But their sanctuary had to be broken -- after all, Xanth was a very busy woman. A goddess like her should only expect more visitors than the two of them. A small frown creased itself on Nicolay's face as he turned to the direction from where the voices were coming from. He knew they were headed to their direction and was coming in closer. How sad. He would have wanted a little more time alone with Lazuli in this place...

When Lazuli moved, he began to ask her if she wanted to go -- but instead, she brought something out of her bag and handed it to him and insisted that it was his. A breath of laughter escaped the Therian as the nymph gave her instructions on when to open it, and a most sparkling smile appeared on his face as he turned the package around and he laughed better. “Wow, you got me a present! My first present, really,”how odd. “Thank you!” he said to her, glowing at her thoughtfulness. “This is really very sweet of you, Laz. Thank you, I really appreciate it.” He wanted to give her a hug.

The new visitors had arrived, though -- and suddenly, Nicolay just didn't feel like staying anymore. Holding his present by his left, he invited Lazuli to hold his right hand. “So let's go? Anywhere else you wanna go before the night ends?” he asked as he began to lead them out of the the statue's space, surrounded by a chorus of gasps, praises and appreciation from he band of middle-aged women who Xanth received next.

[Lazuli]

Lazuli paid attention to Nicolay's every comment, storing them for future reference when she would start making the album. “I'll let you know as soon as I'm done,” she promised. “And I will probably ask you for suggestions, too!”

Her companion wasn't the only one who noticed the approaching voices, and Lazuli would have been happy if the night went on a bit longer, too. But it would be selfish to take up so much of Xanth's time when others might like to revel in the lights, too.

“You're welcome,” she said, soundly pleased that Nicolay liked her gift. A pause, and she continued, “I know it's a little early for the present, but I'm leaving in a couple of days to spend the holidays in the Fae, to see relatives and old friends. I'm embarassed about the short notice... I hope you have a great Xanthmas, Nic.”

When Nicolay offered his hand, Lazuli glanced at it and proceeded to give him a great hug. She hung on to him for a few seconds before taking his hand. “Thank you for today!”

As they headed for the exit, Lazuli was too filled with happiness to want any more. “Well, it's getting quite late, don't you think so? Let's call it a night!” she replied to his question, giving him a glowing smile that conveyed all her feelings that day.

[Nicolay]

Oh, she was going away for the holidays? “Oh that's nice,” Nicolay said, the words and the smile slipping out of his mouth before he knew it. How sad. And he'd wanted to spend a part of it with her. Well, no matter, it was only for a few days, right? It's not like she'll be gone for a few months or so. “I'm going to miss you,” he said honestly, “But I hope you have a really good time with everyone.” He couldn't have the heart to ask her to text him, though. It seemed like she really wanted to be with them in a most intimate way, he thought.

The hug that followed it, however, was something that stunned Nicolay and for a second there, he found himself staring at Lazuli's head while he forced himself to become aware of the tightness around his sides -- Lazuli's arms were wrapped around him and she was pressed close to him. The feeling was so warm and tender. How long has it been since he received a hug like that?

His arms fell slowly to surround Lazuli, as well, and hold her to him with his own embrace. He'd never felt so content in his entire life...since having arrived in Elysia, that is! He could feel his heart thumping against his chest as the seconds stretched longer and his friend persisted to stay in that position. "Thank you," he wanted to whisper to her, but the moment soon ended and all he had was the softest touch on his right hand and he wrapped his fingers around it to keep it from moving away. “Thank you for today!” she'd said.

Nicolay beamed at her. “You made it awesome.” She seriously did. As they'd started to walk, though, the nyad had mentioned that it was late, and as he gazed at his wristwatch, his brows made a vague movement. It was only a little into midnight and Nicolay thought that there was still plenty of time left! The pubs should only start getting busier at this time, and there were other places to go, sights to see--

--until he remembered that Elysia was not so much on that side of the party.

Nicolay felt happy and filled, but he couldn't help the little tinge of sadness in him at the thought of ending this night. Nevertheless, it wasn't like him to not do anything about it. Since she was going away, he thought it'd be all right if he could spend just a little more time with Lazuli. “I'll walk you home,” he said to her.

And then after that, he promised to be contented.