Jacinth was one of the top results on my festive oc poll, so here's a holiday story about him and Y/N!
Note- Y/N is from the real, modern-day world. There's a line in here that may cause confusion, but I promise it'll make sense later on in Frederick and the Fae Promise.
Y/N stared pensively out of her bedroom window while the snowflakes swirled and fluttered along the crisp chill of wind. The winter solstice festival had come and gone, and by the sound of things, it was already December in the human world.
Seasons came and went like passing clouds in the fae realm, so there was no cause for alarm when Y/N had already spent two winters here. However, in the human world, it had been mid-autumn when she was taken. If her calculations were correct, she had been trapped here for a few months now.
Months. A lot could happen in a few months. Her apartment could have been repossessed for one thing. Her family might have begun speculating the worst for another. Had they already had a funeral, or were they looking for her at this very moment? Even if they were searching, how could they possibly hope to find her when Y/N was on another plane entirely?
December… it would be about time for the holidays then. Tears brimmed in her eyes at the thought of Christmas trees, of twinkling lights, of cookie baking, of presents and stockings, of grand meals, and spending all of that time with the people she loved… and how she wouldn’t get to partake in any of it.
Jacinth came fluttering in. He gasped at the sight of her watery eyes.
“Oh, Y/N, don’t cry!” he said, rushing over.
Immediately her tears dried and the lump in her throat subsided. Jacinth seemed to realize his mistake.
“Oh, I’m sorry- I didn’t mean to command you to- you of course can cry if you need to, Y/N.”
The lump bobbed right back up and a few choked sobs escaped her lips. Jacinth shushed her, careful not to use her name, and held her close.
“What’s the matter?” he asked softly.
“I miss home,” she sobbed, “Jacinth, I wanna go home!”
Jacinth seemed puzzled, but not any less concerned.
“But you are home, my starlight,” he said.
“The human realm!” Y/N wailed, “I want my family! I want to spend Christmas with them! I don’t want to be trapped here forever!”
Jacinth gazed at her with a pitying expression.
“My dear human,” he said, tilting her chin up to meet his eyes, “I would love to let you visit your fellow humans, but… it just isn’t possible.”
“Why not!?” Y/N blubbered.
Jacinth hugged her, shushing her some more.
“The human realm is always shifting, always changing. A portal in the fae realm will always remain the same, but the portals in the human realm can move within as little as three moon rises. If I took you to your home, it would take time to find a way back. And it’s dangerous for fae to be around flocks of humans. You’re all very cute on your own, but when you’re in a group, you tend to get… well…”
He let some star magic from his palm materialize into a glittering shape of a pitchfork, which he grabbed and shook in a rather violent manner.
“Please?” Y/N asked, “just one day?”
“If you saw your humans again, it would be all the more painful when it came time to bring you back home,” Jacinth said, “I don’t want to do that to you.”
“But-”
“That’s all we’re going to say about it,” Jacinth said, “your life here will be long and happy, I will make sure of it. No more arguing, Y/N.”
Y/N’s mouth clamped shut. Every point she was about to bring up faded from her mind like mist, instead replaced with a sickeningly-agreeable fog.
“Okay,” she said quietly.
…
After spending some time with his human, Jacinth left the house with the beginnings of an idea sparkling in his eyes. After going a small distance, he flitted over to Sapphire, a rain fae. She was kneeling by a stream, making bubbles swirl around her and crafting music out of the stream’s babbling.
“Sapphire,” Jacinth greeted, “you have been to the human realm many times at many parts of the human year.”
“Yes, indeed I have,” Sapphire smiled, “I have chosen a human to take back with me, actually. But the years pass so slowly there, it will be ages before he’s big enough to bring home.”
Jacinth nodded politely.
“Could you tell me everything you know about… human Christmas?”
Sapphire looked up, the bubbles around her dropping back into the water with a splash. She grinned from ear to pointy ear.
I'm gonna cry I had just finished the draft and then it decided to disappear on me. But anyways, I'm finally done! Hope you like this!!
Had a bit of trouble trying to get myself to colour cause man I can't see the right colour to this. But the days are getting closer and closer so I kinda panicked and speed ran this <3
But seriously though, this was fun! Could have been better ngl but nevertheless, I'm pretty happy with how it turns out ( ꈍᴗꈍ)
