Angelic Gift
Merry Christmas @hollowshadowwolf / @oneandahalfwolf!!! I hope you, and your family have an amazing day with lots of laughter, lovely presents, and great food. I hope you enjoy this drabble.
***
Orianna had heard her Guardian Angel land on the cabin’s roof. She’d known them for a few months now, and every morning they’d find the highest perch they could, and sit there. Ori had no idea what Benkai’l was doing, and didn’t want to intrude on what she assumed was some sort of prayer ritual. She’d never really been the praying sort, but she knew some people preferred to keep their chats with the gods private. She could respect that.
It had been about ten minutes since she’d first heard Ben land on the cabin’s roof. A lot of snow had fallen last night, and she supposed she should get the fire started for the morning. Orianna got out of bed, and slipped her shirt over her head. She got up, walking into the main room of the cabin, and glanced at Ben’s room. She noticed their shirt was still on their bed, and huffed. This celestial idiot had walked out of the cabin, shirtless. Orianna knew Ben didn’t feel the cold in the way she did, but still!
She walked back into her room, and put on her boots, and her coat. She gathered two blankets, slinging them over her shoulders. Ori then grabbed her bag that held Ben’s Yule gift in it, and pulled it over her shoulder. She made her way out of the cabin, foregoing the chore of lighting the fire for now. Ori shivered when the cold hit her as she stepped outside. Using her fire magic, she increased her temperature, and walked to the railing of the porch. She jumped onto the railing, and then scaled the pole connecting the floor to the roof.
Orianna has had many years of running across the roofs of Neverwinter to thank for not losing her footing as she climbed. On the roof, she saw Ben holding something, but they hid it when they noticed her.
“Morning,” they mumbled.
“Morning...how’s that frostbite treating you?” Orianna teased.
Ben poked their tongue out at her as a reply, and Orianna laughed in response. She carefully made her way over to them, and took one of the blankets from around her shoulders, and draped it over them.
“I know you don’t feel the weather like I do, but let’s not risk you getting an angelic cold, yeah. I don’t know how to deal with a sick angel.”
Ben chuckled at her. They probably didn’t even get colds, but Ori still wasn’t risking it. She took the other blanket from her shoulders, shook it out, and draped it around her own shoulders. She sat down, and looked out across the clearing to the snow covered trees.
“It’s beautiful up here.”
Ben hummed thoughtfully, and Ori playfully bumped their shoulder with her own. She then went about opening her bag, and pulled out a smaller, black leather bag. She handed it to Ben with a smile.
“Happy Yule, buddy!”
They gave her an odd look, and she bumped their shoulder again. She could never quite grasp every meaning behind the look Ben gave her occasionally. She knew something bad had happened before their death, but they hadn’t told her much beyond it being bad. Orianna supposed they weren’t quite there in their friendship yet. That was alright, though. She could be patient for them. They’d been patient with her for all of her life.
“Go on! Open it! I hope you like it.”
Ben shrugged, and pushed the pull string opening, open. Their eyes widened as they pulled out a large double-bladed, celestial steel dagger. The hilt was golden, and gleamed in the pale morning light. The blade’s pommel was a detachable, angelic amulet. They looked back up at Ori, staring at her in shock.
“W-wh...how...where...”
Orianna giggled as words failed her Guardian Angel, and she leaned over to hug them.
“I put my best dwarf on the case. It took some time, but we found a proper celestial blade for you. I know you have your sword, but I wanted to give you something special from me.”
Ben put the dagger back in its bag, and pulled the strings to close it. They then hugged Orianna, rubbing her back.
“Thank you. You, and Rangrim must have gone to great lengths for this. I don’t know that I-“
Ori lightly smacked them in the ribs.
“You deserve it, stop that. Enjoy the gift, buddy.”
They hummed, and hugged Orianna close, before perking up. They put their gift back in Ori’s bag, and took the blanket from around their shoulders to place it around Orianna’s. Ben picked her up, bridal style with a smile, as Orianna yelped in shock.
“Happy Yule! Hold on tight!”
Orianna didn’t second guess them, and wrapped her arms around their neck. They leapt into the sky, quickly levelling out, and taking a slow pace around the woods, and the surrounding mountains. The winter wonderland landscape opened up for the pair. The deer were already prancing through the forest, and the light of fairies were slowly disappearing. Smoke could be seen drifting upwards, as those living, and camping in the forest began to light their fires. Orianna snuggled into Ben as they leisurely flew over their holiday stomping grounds. Ben grinned at being able to show their charge her homeworld from the air. Despite missing Ileyra, being able to actually do things like this for Ori was definitely a positive of their exile.
