The kiss was rewarded with the expected result.
His nose glowed as bright as his cheeks did. Even then, after they had been dating for as long as they had, the red-nosed buck still was as blushy as ever whenever he received affection. He couldn’t just let Zoey do all the affectionate gestures, though. When she pulled away, and after she’d asked her question, Rudolph followed through with kissing the side of her own muzzle. There; now they were even.
“The flight went over smoothly, thankfully,” Rudolph said. “We did run into some rain and snow in a few places, but we all worked together to get through it.” Typical Rudolph. He wasn’t one to brag or take all the credit. Even after his most famous flight, he’d still given his father, uncles, and the rest of the team the credit they deserved. The same had occurred just then.
Now seemed like as good a time as any to give her her gift, too. Rudolph knew that most would have opened presents way before then, but that hardly mattered. He wanted to give her his gift.
“I know I didn’t have to, but I have something for you,” he said. He turned to where he’d hidden the gift, and after a moment of rummaging with his muzzle he successfully retrieved a small, neatly wrapped box. He had the elves to thank for that. Rudolph had personally requested that they wrap this, and when he’d mentioned it was a gift meant for Zoey? They were more than willing to aid him.
“Merry Christmas, Zoey,” he said. He nudged the box forward with his muzzle shortly after that. Inside was a necklace made from a shimmering crystal he had found while helping Slyly find a new home at the beginning of the year. The arctic fox just hadn’t had luck with caves. With Slyly and Leonard’s help, they’d made it into a beautiful gift. Slyly had found the silverish metal chain length, and honestly? It was a labor of love.
“The ribbon’s just for decoration, I’m told. The top should come off easily enough.”
She smiled widely at the touch of his lips on her muzzle, eyes closing as she enjoyed the sensation. Zoey, in contrast, wasn’t a blushy doe; in fact, she was a kisser through and through, and about as liberal as could be with such affection. She’d often kissed others, even apart from any relationship--
Though the action did take on special significance when it was with her buckfriend.
“That’s good. And I bet your nose helped those times, in particular.”
She knew Rudolph was modest, too; but all the same, Zoey wouldn’t let him give all the credit away if she could help it. Of course it had been a team effort, she wasn’t denying that - but Rudolph was at the head of that team for a reason, after all.
At the mention of a gift, Zoey turned to look as Rudolph brought out a brightly-wrapped box. Of course he was right, he hadn’t needed to get anything, but it was nice that he had - and she had something for him, too. Just, not with her right then; she’d been saving it to give him at the Christmas party later on.
Nudging the lid off, the doe gave a gasp of delight as her eyes fell on the shining crystal.
“It’s beautiful, Rudolph!”
She hadn’t worn a necklace since she’d given her pendant to Rudolph for luck in the reindeer games; and as such, Zoey wasted no time in slipping this one over her head. It settled nicely into place around her neck, and she beamed down at it for a moment, before turning her attention back to the one who’d given it.
“Wherever did you get it?”