"Yeah so it turns out human and animal digestive systems really do not function well together so a percentage of our student body have a few very... specific dietary requirements."
"Yeah so it turns out human and animal digestive systems really do not function well together so a percentage of our student body have a few very... specific dietary requirements."
@dianakko-week Day 6: Myths & Monsters
A collaboration with my friend @kayr0ss on a story featuring a dragon Akko and some myths related to her and her kind. This is a bit of a preview, as the full story and its accompanying illustrations are not finished yet. But here's the design work we did, and some snippets of the story!
Here's a preview of the story @homagetoerrata and I have made for @dianakko-week! We're sooo excited to share the full story with you later! It's a whole thing and I love her designs they are amazing! Big shoutout to @saltypyrotato for beta-reading all several k words of it!
Preview 1:
Once upon a time, before the first stone of the castle was laid, was a forest far towards the East. It was riddled with treacherous roots and venomous mist, but it made nary a sigh, or scream, or sound—eerie in its silence, shameful of its secrets. Hidden in its depths, swaddled in despair, are the jagged spires of Rastavan.
Ominously it stood—a beacon of greed, where its serpentine master coiled around its peaks. With slitted garnet eyes that could see into man's soul. With deadly, sharp teeth for devouring whole. With claws that could flay, and tear, and break. With terrifying wings that spanned across cities and nations. The Dragon—the foe of mankind—clutched within its talons the treasures of our people: bounty, progress, life.
And so our people toiled as the sky grew dark under its wings—heads bowed in servitude, eyes cast down in fear. Soon, man had grown weary and taken up arms. But the price was too high—there was death, upon death, upon death, until the time came when a young healer, from a small village that grew into the Castle of Wedinburgh, had stained her healing hands with blood to take up the weight of a sword.
Moved by her anger and the despair of her sacrifice, the gods laid a blessing on her blade: the Dragon's Grief, the Serpent-Slayer—the only point that can pierce the scales of a Dragon. And so the monster fell, flightless and limp, the blade made of sorrow so sharp that it cut the threads of its soul until it shriveled, feeble and mortal.
And so the Spire fell down with its Dragon, sinking into ruin, forever lost to time—and as long as the blood of Beatrix carries the burden of her anguish, the golden fields of Wedinburgh will prevail when Rastavan opens its maw once again.
Preview 2:
Akko takes another swig of ale from her tankard and looks about ready to fall ill from either annoyance or exasperation.
"So, in summary, you're here for the time being to hunt down the local dragon in behalf of your aunt, the ruler—the ruler with the questionable trade policies, mind you—not for fame, or glory, or some strange quest for immortality, but because you'd like your village to eat better."
Diana nods solemnly. "Yes."
Akko rubs at her temples, then mutters under her breath: "Well, you not being a detestable cur certainly makes things more complicated for me."
Diana frowns and leans forward. "What?"
"What?" Akko blinks and waves her away dismissively. "I didn't say anything. So, why don't you tell me about this dragon you're hunting down?"
"Same as every dragon the books have documented, I suppose." Diana gestures vaguely with her free hand. "Wings, fangs, impenetrable scales, raining fire and hellish torment from the skies?"
Akko shakes her head and crosses her arms. “Stereotypes are so dull.”
Diana raises an eyebrow.
"I mean, what if this dragon was different! What if they had wonderful skin and perfectly curled lashes! You never know, they might even enjoy, I don't know, knitting?"
Diana laughs at that. "A dragon? Knitting? Now there's something I'd pay a hundred gold pieces to see."
Akko grins at her—blinding and radiant. "Do you swear on it? No turning back on your word?"
"I believe I can promise this with some level of confidence, yes," Diana smiles in a challenge, leaning forward on the table. "I'd like to see you try and convince a dragon to knit."
Akko smiles at her sweetly. "I can be very, very convincing."
---
She's right.
She was, indeed, very very convincing.
At some point during the night before, Diana had been lured into an enrapturing explanation of Akko's job in the village: she's a basket weaver. She learned about every which way Akko liked to create her baskets: the different bases, the different fibers or reeds—and soon she was saying yes to helping Akko out in the forest first thing in the morning the next day. She needed to get better at navigating the forest anyway, and what better way?
At the time it made sense, but now…
Diana tries to hold her tongue. They've probably been doing this—side errand—for hours, and she really needs to get back to reconnaissance and picking up any dragon tracks. She looks down at the armful of willow reeds she's been given the 'mission' of carrying.
"My lady," she squints towards the canopy that covers them, trying to make sense of how the sun scatters through the leaves. It’s nearly impossible to tell the time inside this forest. "Don't you think the hour's beginning to grow late?"
"It's hardly midday," Akko waves her off lightly. "Oh!"
Diana sees her bundle up her dress and try to climb over the mossy bark of a fallen tree. It almost looks scenic: the rocks near the tree are covered by the same blanket of moss, like living dust, but right by the roots there are flowers: blue, red, purple, and white. There's birdsong overhead, and it’s the first time she's heard it ever since entering the forest. Akko begins to lift herself over a gnarled root, and Diana's immediately close by, offering her hand for the woman to hold herself steady on, still clutching onto the reeds with the other. Akko gratefully takes her hand and holds onto Diana until she's over to the other side. Just beyond the fallen tree, she can see the pointed tops of more willow bushes, reaching up and outwards with their spindly leaves. Akko looks back towards her, and then smiles. "Look!"
The wind rustles her hair, the sun caressing her skin. She looks so pleased, so happy and at ease.
It's disarming.
"I—" Diana swallows. She looks back towards the bundle in her arms, a little flustered. "Surely this should be enough?"
Akko huffs, almost childishly, and looks at Diana and then the willow bushes. She deliberates for a moment, but soon after her shoulders sag.
"Fine. Help me back over?" Akko starts to climb across the tree again, but Diana's already holding out her hand before she even finishes asking. "We can stop for now. I'm sure you have a full day's worth of knightly activity ahead of you."
Diana flushes as she helps the woman down, especially with the way she's smiling coyly at her. "It's very important. Everyone isn't safe until—"
"Right, right." As soon as Akko makes it back to Diana's side of the tree, she crouches down towards the flowers then plucks a white one from its stem—a lily? "Everyone isn't safe until you've slain your dragon."
"Yes," Diana slowly lets go of her hand. It's strange how she regrets it.
"Well, it's been here a hundred years," Akko steps forward and tucks the flower behind Diana's ear. She's too surprised to swat her away. Akko smiles. "She can wait another day yet."
---
Hours later, laying awake in the soft cot within her room at the inn, Diana lies awake.
She brushes her fingertips along her ear, and she can still see it: her smile, the speckles of sunlight, the wind in her hair.
@dianakko-week Day 6: Myths & Monsters
A collaboration with my friend @kayr0ss on a story featuring a dragon Akko and some myths related to her and her kind. This is a bit of a preview, as the full story and its accompanying illustrations are not finished yet. But here's the design work we did, and some snippets of the story!
Here's a preview of the story @homagetoerrata and I have made for @dianakko-week! We're sooo excited to share the full story with you later! It's a whole thing and I love her designs they are amazing! Big shoutout to @saltypyrotato for beta-reading all several k words of it!
Preview 1:
Once upon a time, before the first stone of the castle was laid, was a forest far towards the East. It was riddled with treacherous roots and venomous mist, but it made nary a sigh, or scream, or sound—eerie in its silence, shameful of its secrets. Hidden in its depths, swaddled in despair, are the jagged spires of Rastavan.
Ominously it stood—a beacon of greed, where its serpentine master coiled around its peaks. With slitted garnet eyes that could see into man's soul. With deadly, sharp teeth for devouring whole. With claws that could flay, and tear, and break. With terrifying wings that spanned across cities and nations. The Dragon—the foe of mankind—clutched within its talons the treasures of our people: bounty, progress, life.
And so our people toiled as the sky grew dark under its wings—heads bowed in servitude, eyes cast down in fear. Soon, man had grown weary and taken up arms. But the price was too high—there was death, upon death, upon death, until the time came when a young healer, from a small village that grew into the Castle of Wedinburgh, had stained her healing hands with blood to take up the weight of a sword.
Moved by her anger and the despair of her sacrifice, the gods laid a blessing on her blade: the Dragon's Grief, the Serpent-Slayer—the only point that can pierce the scales of a Dragon. And so the monster fell, flightless and limp, the blade made of sorrow so sharp that it cut the threads of its soul until it shriveled, feeble and mortal.
And so the Spire fell down with its Dragon, sinking into ruin, forever lost to time—and as long as the blood of Beatrix carries the burden of her anguish, the golden fields of Wedinburgh will prevail when Rastavan opens its maw once again.
Preview 2:
Akko takes another swig of ale from her tankard and looks about ready to fall ill from either annoyance or exasperation.
"So, in summary, you're here for the time being to hunt down the local dragon in behalf of your aunt, the ruler—the ruler with the questionable trade policies, mind you—not for fame, or glory, or some strange quest for immortality, but because you'd like your village to eat better."
Diana nods solemnly. "Yes."
Akko rubs at her temples, then mutters under her breath: "Well, you not being a detestable cur certainly makes things more complicated for me."
Diana frowns and leans forward. "What?"
"What?" Akko blinks and waves her away dismissively. "I didn't say anything. So, why don't you tell me about this dragon you're hunting down?"
"Same as every dragon the books have documented, I suppose." Diana gestures vaguely with her free hand. "Wings, fangs, impenetrable scales, raining fire and hellish torment from the skies?"
Akko shakes her head and crosses her arms. “Stereotypes are so dull.”
Diana raises an eyebrow.
"I mean, what if this dragon was different! What if they had wonderful skin and perfectly curled lashes! You never know, they might even enjoy, I don't know, knitting?"
Diana laughs at that. "A dragon? Knitting? Now there's something I'd pay a hundred gold pieces to see."
Akko grins at her—blinding and radiant. "Do you swear on it? No turning back on your word?"
"I believe I can promise this with some level of confidence, yes," Diana smiles in a challenge, leaning forward on the table. "I'd like to see you try and convince a dragon to knit."
Akko smiles at her sweetly. "I can be very, very convincing."
---
She's right.
She was, indeed, very very convincing.
At some point during the night before, Diana had been lured into an enrapturing explanation of Akko's job in the village: she's a basket weaver. She learned about every which way Akko liked to create her baskets: the different bases, the different fibers or reeds—and soon she was saying yes to helping Akko out in the forest first thing in the morning the next day. She needed to get better at navigating the forest anyway, and what better way?
At the time it made sense, but now…
Diana tries to hold her tongue. They've probably been doing this—side errand—for hours, and she really needs to get back to reconnaissance and picking up any dragon tracks. She looks down at the armful of willow reeds she's been given the 'mission' of carrying.
"My lady," she squints towards the canopy that covers them, trying to make sense of how the sun scatters through the leaves. It’s nearly impossible to tell the time inside this forest. "Don't you think the hour's beginning to grow late?"
"It's hardly midday," Akko waves her off lightly. "Oh!"
Diana sees her bundle up her dress and try to climb over the mossy bark of a fallen tree. It almost looks scenic: the rocks near the tree are covered by the same blanket of moss, like living dust, but right by the roots there are flowers: blue, red, purple, and white. There's birdsong overhead, and it’s the first time she's heard it ever since entering the forest. Akko begins to lift herself over a gnarled root, and Diana's immediately close by, offering her hand for the woman to hold herself steady on, still clutching onto the reeds with the other. Akko gratefully takes her hand and holds onto Diana until she's over to the other side. Just beyond the fallen tree, she can see the pointed tops of more willow bushes, reaching up and outwards with their spindly leaves. Akko looks back towards her, and then smiles. "Look!"
The wind rustles her hair, the sun caressing her skin. She looks so pleased, so happy and at ease.
It's disarming.
"I—" Diana swallows. She looks back towards the bundle in her arms, a little flustered. "Surely this should be enough?"
Akko huffs, almost childishly, and looks at Diana and then the willow bushes. She deliberates for a moment, but soon after her shoulders sag.
"Fine. Help me back over?" Akko starts to climb across the tree again, but Diana's already holding out her hand before she even finishes asking. "We can stop for now. I'm sure you have a full day's worth of knightly activity ahead of you."
Diana flushes as she helps the woman down, especially with the way she's smiling coyly at her. "It's very important. Everyone isn't safe until—"
"Right, right." As soon as Akko makes it back to Diana's side of the tree, she crouches down towards the flowers then plucks a white one from its stem—a lily? "Everyone isn't safe until you've slain your dragon."
"Yes," Diana slowly lets go of her hand. It's strange how she regrets it.
"Well, it's been here a hundred years," Akko steps forward and tucks the flower behind Diana's ear. She's too surprised to swat her away. Akko smiles. "She can wait another day yet."
---
Hours later, laying awake in the soft cot within her room at the inn, Diana lies awake.
She brushes her fingertips along her ear, and she can still see it: her smile, the speckles of sunlight, the wind in her hair.
What are your fav polytrix fics and/ or Celine fics?
in no particular order, here are fifteen of them:
everything and you by treescape (500 words) - zoey is incapacitated; rumi and mira, bereft of her list-making capabilities, overshoot at the pharmacy. very short, but the idea of rumira being a little helpless w/o their idea girl is sweet and refreshing.
quarter, half, love: notes by tahthetrickster (2346 words) - the girls pvp w love notes. very cute, very funny, might be the fic that introduced me to lovergirl mira?
a half demon's terrible guide to managing late presentation in humans by cleaver (onthechoppingblock) (4554 words) - only demons have a/b/o dynamics. the power of gay love causes zoemira to make like clownfish to fix that. really truly super funny. i like how this author does a/b/otrix in particular.
a swing and miss doesn't mean it's game over by tzushi (3155 words) - the girls can't agree on when their anniversary is. one million bonus points for the revstar title alone but the fic itself is very cute and does the girls arguing very well.
Who are you wearing? by iwillwalk500miles (8428 words) and Ask a stupid question by elacular (4036 words)- double feature on rumi learning the intricate rituals of best friendship through 1) sharing clothes and 2) asking stupid questions. bonus points celine and rumi strained relationship where the love persists even as the soil nourishing it fucking dries and cracks. double bonus for the former for mentions of mira being into fashion.
to listen to your messages, press - by jtl07 (521 words) - a collection of voicemails celine leaves rumi. i love a fic that plays within a limited format but let's be honest. this one don't play (positive). very well-written, i could hear every line w a grainy over-the-phone filter. jtl07 also posts short fics on tumblr, including this, which i still think abt regularly.
the road to her heart is paved with chicken by kayr0ss (3302 words) - zoey gets a craving; rumi and mira move heaven and earth. or. close enough. baby you know i love zoey getting doted on and spoiled and this delivers.
the unchanging polaris by arsonide (116618 words) - a huntrix shipping war manifests #polytrix into reality, despite huntrix's densest efforts. candyfloss is the name on everybody's lips rn but polaris is still my favourite arsonide fic. they're fantastic at writing the girls as best friends who are in love but also, equally significantly, best friends. forever thinking of mira showing off (really, she takes pride in it) how well she listens to zoey by marking her place in her infodumping for her.
Spare Change by gveret (1150 words) - rumi has the spectacular idea of thanking zoemira for sparing her life. great concept, great characterization, great showcase of personality in the pov--which always, always elevates a fic for me.
how (not) to solve a scandal by JacksonCalico (52720 words) - huntrix social media shenanigans. quite possibly the greatest kpdh socmed fic, even just for that workskin alone. it's a retelling of the previous fics in the series entirely through twitter posts this time and it is pure gold.
the birds, the bees, and the demons by yeahnoyeah (13577 words) - celine experiences the horrors of needing to give three horny teens The Talk. so fucking funny. forever thinking of zoemira getting hosed down like misbehaving dogs. infinite bonus for rumi and celine mother-daughterisms.
touch (thought about you way too much) by jadetea (10393 words, incomplete) - following the events of the idol awards, zoemira decide to take it slow; rumi wants them to kick it into sixth gear. okay listen so far i've only been reccing completed works but this one is so funny and i need a new update so bad so it goes on the list. author if you're listening. i'm seated.
you'll be beggin' and cryin' by poly_propylene (22754 words, incomplete, E) - rumi's heat is her biggest opp and it decides to jump her the moment her alphas leave the city. sucking and fucking w whimsy in their hearts, which is the best way to do it. extremely hot and extremely funny and extremely full of palpable love. forever thinking of "what am i? a coupang eats driver?"
she kpop on my demon til i hunt her by Anonymous (23267 words, incomplete) - the funniest kpdh chatfic i've read. genuinely one of the chapters had my ribs creaking. pvp is permanently enabled in the girls' groupchat and they're on a mission to prove that the love of your life can also be your greatest enemy. i particularly like that this rumi draws on her "yes. vacation 😏🙏" and "i'm everybody's type!" moments, which tend to be underrepresented. also zoey relentlessly flirts w celine, much to her chagrin and my benefit.
admittedly i don't read a lot of fic that's solely celine-focused, since i get a lot of my celine fix from tumblr and my frands. might have to change that sometime, but i'm currently checking the polytrix tag on ao3 daily like it's my full-time job. according to my own record-keeping, i've read over 300 of them since july. the only reason the number's not higher is because i am very, very picky, and i'm taking full advantage of being in a fandom where i can actually pick. it's awesome
please lmk if you read any of these and what u thought!
[LWA, Diakko, LWA Secret Santa 2025, Fluff, Holiday Things, Mistletoe]
Happy holidays to @danisxbmchy!
Summary: Diana and Akko are stuck in Luna Nova over the holidays. Akko's sad about it - but not on Diana's watch!
--
"You must be quite upset," Diana says in a voice that might have been cold to anyone else—but Akko knows better, knows enough to sniff out the little traces of warmth and worry. "Those potatoes should have been gone and done by now."
Akko pushes around her food on her plate, sullen and moping as she leans on the dining table with her elbow. As much as she appreciates Diana's concerns, she hates being so easy to read. So she does something even more worrying: she says nothing.
That makes Diana pause, her food half-eaten, before she turns to Akko and tries her hand at a joke. "I can't be that terrible of company to have over the holidays, can I?"
Akko turns sharply towards Diana because, what the hell, of course not! "Diana," Akko whines, "don't say that! It's just," Akko looks back down towards her food. She hopes she doesn't look as pitiful as she feels. "It's my first time spending the holidays away from them."
In all honesty, Diana wasn't expecting Akko to be so glum about it. She figured having the entirety of Luna Nova's grounds—and the neighboring towns—at Akko's disposal through a snowy holiday break would excite her. Most students and a significant amount of the staff would be away for vacation after all; it would practically be a free-for-all. She'd probably manage to round up all the remaining students and find a way to make something spectacular out of a lazy break.
Instead, Akko just plays with her food, her ever-expressive face curled into a pitiful pout.
"I won't get to make snow creatures with my dad," she mumbles.
Diana blinks. "Do you mean snowmen?"
"No," Akko shakes her head—and finally, there's a little bit of a smile coming through. "Creatures. Every sort of creature. Sometimes we'd make them up!"
"What else did you do?"
"Oh, oh!" Akko finally stabs one of the baked potato bits with her fork, the small trickle of excitement finally distracting her enough to make her feel hungry again. "Dad has his own hot chocolate recipe that we always have, and my mom makes us watch a murder mystery every single year. Can you believe that?"
Diana tries to pull together everything she remembers about Akko's mother and blinks. "Yes, actually, I can."
"And of course we do the usual stuff. Mom would cover our house with tinsel and garland," Akko gestures lazily with her fork, potato still impaled. "My dad would always—"
Akko's voice wavers, quickly losing the momentum she had just started building again. Her brows pinch together, her eyes dropping down to her plate.
"—he'd always make us weird ugly sweaters. Very stereotypical, and normally I hated it, but now… I'll miss it, I guess."
Diana looks down at her own plate, thoughtful and quiet.
Then, underneath the dining table, she slowly moves to grab Akko's free hand. It startles Akko enough that she looks over towards her—and Diana feels herself flush up her neck and ears—but Diana feels resolute and doesn't let go. She squeezes her hand gently as she says: "Okay."
Akko tilts her head at Diana in confusion. "Huh?"
Diana just resumes eating her food.
(And holding Akko's hand.)
"Okay what?" Akko whines. "Did you just okay-zone me after my heartfelt monologue about the Christmas spirit of my home? Hold on—are you laughing—Di-ana!"
--
Diana spends the next few weeks slowly, but surely, driving Akko crazy.
Like today, with how Diana's piling one warm thing after another onto her, an uncharacteristic edge of excitement in her blue eyes as she makes sure that they're both decked out in proper winter wear.
Akko narrows her eyes beneath several pounds of wool. "Where are you taking me?"
Diana's cheeks are a rosy pink as she says: "It's a surprise." She turns on the spot once she sees Akko finish setting her hat, and starts walking briskly through the dormitory hallways, already expecting Akko to follow.
Akko jogs up to her, turning sideways to raise an eyebrow at Diana. "See, now I'm really suspicious because there's no way that Diana Cavendish just said she planned a surprise—"
"I did," is all Diana says. They made it to a little doorway that led outside to one of Luna Nova's courtyards. They could both see through the windows that the open space is covered in a thick blanket of snow.
Diana beckons her closer before they make it out the door, and Akko loses half of her vocabulary when Diana steps into her space, leaning down a little as she reaches up to redo her scarf until it's tighter and warmer than it was a moment ago. When Diana steps back, Akko is flustered and pouting about it.
"It's cold out," is all the explanation she offers.
—
"'It's cold out.'"
Akko mutters to herself, her footfalls crunching and her hands shoved into her coat pockets as she follows behind Diana. "Like I didn't know that already."
She's warm, but for all the wrong reasons. Red in the face for something other than the cold air around her. It's infuriating as much as it's exciting—this carefully blooming whatever-it-is developing between them—and every time Diana holds her hand or looks at her too closely, she doesn't know whether to close her eyes or to never look away, and it's just so, so, so—
"Ugh," Akko huffs, the breath coming out as puffs of steam in the winter cold.
—so pretty.
Akko bites her lip.
She's so stupidly pretty—just a few feet ahead of her, leading her out to the center of the yard where there are mounds upon mounds of perfect, fluffy snow.
Diana comes to an abrupt stop, leaning over to look at something—or to cover something with her body?
"Whad'ya got there?" Akko leans sideways to look over at Diana's shoulder.
It's a—
"Oh my word, is that a horse?!" Akko gasps, her big, red eyes moving between the object and an aggrieved-looking Diana.
It's a horse. A little snow horse. It has buttons for eyes. What it lacks in anatomical faithfulness it makes up for in its wonderfully flowing mane—almost as if Diana spent all her time trying to give it amazing hair instead of a believable body—and that's a fact that Akko will treasure forever.
Diana moves aside so Akko can see it in full. "This is my creature," she says bashfully.
Akko feels her chest swell with affection, doubly so when Diana then says:
"Would you care to make a few more with me?"
Oh, she's really in it now.
A few days later, it happens again.
"If I didn't know better I'd say you're sneaking me into the kitchens," Akko can't help her smug little grin, especially when she sees Diana roll her eyes.
"Well I wouldn't use the word 'sneak'," Diana sends her a look.
"Oh, got it," Akko giggles. "Do you prefer 'smuggle'?"
"Don't be ridiculous," Diana huffs, "what are you, contraband?"
Akko shrugs and gestures smugly to herself. "Just saying. Precious cargo over here."
See, what's supposed to happen is for Diana to huff and puff and roll her eyes a third time in the span of two minutes—but she doesn't.
She just looks at Akko all tenderly and says: "Yes. You are."
The butterflies hit her stomach like a punch to the gut. Akko pouts about it. That wasn't very fair now, was it?
Akko, unable to look Diana in the eyes, lags behind a little—and she realizes it's a pleasant change of pace. It's always her impulsively dragging Diana around by the wrist, pulling her from one shenanigan to another. This is… nice. Diana seems excited. One might even say giddy—but Akko's not about to point that out and burst that bubble.
"We're almost there," Diana whispers, holding a hand out on instinct. Their fingers catch into a loose tangle.
Akko looks at their hands—barely threaded together—and feels an all-consuming need to hold her until they're snug, until she can feel Diana's warmth and have it gently in her hand. But her palm is probably a little sweaty, and they're already so close to the kitchens, and—
Diana does it anyway.
Akko feels her cheeks burn as their hands adjust until they're comfortably slotted together. She looks away and out towards the hallway windows, trying not to think about how flushed she feels. It's dark outside, but in the glow of the lamplights scattered outdoors, she can see a mild flurry of white falling all around them. A quick glance to the side shows Diana very intently inspecting the wreaths hanging from every other pillar along the walls.
Akko dares to brush her thumb above Diana's before she looks away again. "You can't be doing this to me," she huffs under her breath.
Diana actually chuckles, defeated. "Likewise."
—
Her mysterious surprise is hot chocolate freshly made in the kitchen, like her dad would do.
Diana is so bad at it.
"Did they not teach you knife skills at rich people middle school?" Akko laughs unabashedly, watching with no small amount of amusement as Diana tries to chop the chocolate into small cubes and shavings.
"You mean boarding school," Diana corrects, flustered at the teasing. "And, no. They apparently couldn't find the time to teach us anything practical while we learned how to use four different forks in one dinner."
She's got her sleeves rolled up to the elbows, her hair in a ponytail flowing out behind her shoulders. Akko leans forward onto her arms at a nearby counter—useless and unhelpful, because apparently part of the surprise was that Diana would make it for her.
She's beautiful like this—with the errant strands of blonde hair falling out from her hair tie. The way her brows knit together in focus is endearing. Almost as endearing as how she squints at the little piece of paper holding the recipe. Akko hums and holds that thought for later. Does Diana need glasses?
She sits. And waits. And watches.
(And falls a little further with every careful chop, tentative stir, and watchful look into the boiling pot of milk.)
—
Later into the evening, after the stove is turned off and the utensils are rinsed away, Diana hangs the apron she borrowed and asks:
"Do you like it?"
She walks over and sits next to Akko, shoulder-to-shoulder, on one of the benches inside the kitchen area. Akko holds the mug carefully with both of her hands, cradling it close like a little treasure—because it is—and takes a sip.
It's warm. Rich, and thick, and sweet enough that she misses home a little less.
"It's perfect," Akko says softly. Then lets her head tilt sideways until she's leaning on Diana's shoulder. "Thank you."
"Good," she feels a hand on her back. "I'm glad."
The final straw comes the day before Christmas.
The first thing she does when she wakes up that morning is open the little box Diana had given her a few nights prior, with the explicit request not to open it until the day of Christmas eve. Inside the box, under an impressive amount of thin gift paper, is a red and white wool sweater embroidered with geometric snowflakes.
Akko laughs as soon as she sees it because of course Diana would do something like this. She never does anything in half-measures—whatever she finds worth doing, she does so with unerring perfectionism.
But even then, when Akko shows up at Diana's dormitory later that afternoon, she finds herself surprised yet again when the door swings open.
"Hi," Diana says around a smile.
Akko is speechless.
Diana's room had gone from tidy to festive seemingly overnight.
There is tinsel and garland along her shelves, and her windows have been lined with multi-colored lights that blink and turn into every color in slow and rhythmic cycles. It's messy, an almost random spattering of decoration everywhere around her, and it looks like home, so much so that Akko's heart begins aching, but this time the longing has been tempered with tenderness—with something sweet and warm and distinctly Diana.
"You even have the red flowers and ornaments on the garland," Akko steps forward until she's standing in the doorway, her hand on the threshold as she looks around inside.
"I called your mom," Diana admits.
Akko whips around to gape at her. "You called my mom?!"
Diana puts her hands up defensively. "I wanted to make sure I did it right! She even gave me a murder mystery that we can watch later tonight, right before we count down to Christmas day."
Akko looks at her for a minute—and then she giggles, leaning forward until she can hold onto the sleeves of Diana's silly, stupid sweater that has trucks embroidered onto it.
"Diana," Akko feels her eyes sting as she smiles up at her. "There is no way you could have done this wrong."
"Oh," Diana swallows, smiling back at her a little unsurely. "Okay. Okay, I'm—that's good." She looks away, red in the ears. "Doing all of this is first for me, so I figured it'd be a bit of trial and error." She shrugs. "But I didn't want you to miss home too much."
'Doing all this is a first for me.'
Akko hadn't even considered that before.
Diana had done all of this with no example to follow, no fond memories to pull from.
For the first time since the break began, Akko is glad she had to stay behind this year. Especially if it meant Diana finally got to play in the snow, or make hot chocolate, or stay indoors for a whole evening watching bad movies and debating who the killer is in whatever movie they were watching next.
"Diana," Akko says resolutely, looking up at her with determination. "You are so coming home with me next year."
"I—" Diana sputters. "I am?"
"Yes!" Akko nods enthusiastically, the affection in her heart practically overflowing.
Does Diana even know? How much this all means to her? She’s been so sweet that Akko barely had the time to mope like she thought she would, spending entire days doing everything and nothing with Diana, and her nights excited just to see her again in the morning.
She wants to pull her into her arms and wrap her up like the gift that she is.
She wants to tell her that she can't imagine another holiday where she isn't there to keep her warm as they walk through the snow.
She wants to see her father teach her how to chop up chocolate, and help her mother put the tinsel up the shelves she couldn't usually reach.
She wants to hug her, or maybe even—
Akko's train of thought stops when she finally notices the bundle of green and red above them.
It's just hanging there, quiet and harmless.
It's mistletoe.
They're still standing toe-to-toe under the cramped doorway when she notices it, and Akko lifts an eyebrow at Diana despite her growing blush. Diana's eyes glue themselves to the corner of the room.
But no one steps away.
"I'm going to guess the mistletoe didn't grow itself there overnight," Akko laughs nervously, playing with the hem of her sweater, looking back up at the plant hanging overhead. "I know for a fact that my mom didn't have that on her list of standard Kagari household decor."
Diana chuckles despite herself, "That would be an improvisation on my part, yes."
The confession makes Akko laugh in pleasant disbelief, her hands settling softly onto Diana's shoulders, smoothing out the errant fibers of her objectively ugly Christmas sweater.
Akko knows that Diana will never really push her for anything—would never impose or have any sort of expectation.
But Akko wants it anyway.
She wants it so, so bad.
She wants to bundle up Diana's wool sweater and pull her closer towards her, to brush her fingers through her beautiful hair, to tell her about the butterflies that have made a home in her chest and how they're all her fault.
To show her how happy she makes her.
"Diana," Akko swallows. "Can I—?"
"Yes," Diana whispers. Her jaw's set like she's about to commit, like she's egging herself forward on a cliffdive. Her hands tentatively come up to Akko's waist. "Please?"
"Come closer?" Akko pleads, pulling her downwards.
Diana manages to smile just as their noses brush together. "I'm guessing I'm not too bad of company over the holidays after all?"
"Nope."
Akko curls her fingers behind Diana's neck, threading into the hair along her nape. She's already pulling.
"Not at all."
-
fin
-
A/N:
Hello again Dani! I hope that you enjoy this little fic where we have Akko pining after Diana while they're stuck in Luna Nova over the holidays! Thank you for all the wonderful art for Diakko you've made throughout the years - it's awesome to be able to write a little something for you this time around! ^_^
Big thank you to @lwasanta and @cherriechar for putting this wonderful event together!
@homagetoerrata and I worked together a little on the premise (and she also beta-read for me!), and a lovely illustration of the ending kiss can be found here!
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