Stress seemed to be a constant in Kleo’s life lately. It wasn’t like he hadn’t expected stress to come with starting college, but school life wasn’t even the main reason behind his sleepless nights. His nightmares had returned with the sickening fear that he would never be able to fully control his powers. He could only take from the surface of the deafening magic that tried to consume him whenever he pressed too deep. The images of flames cursed his mind and the beast that chased him throughout his dreams, he feared was turning out to be no one but himself. He hated it. He hated his magic and his lack of control and the fact that even with Alexei and Nox and Flora, he still felt so alone. He didn’t know how to explain to them how it felt like any second, he could be trapped within himself, becoming a prisoner of his mind. He saw it in their eyes, the worry they felt for him, and even still he tried to make it seem like he was alright. Like he didn’t feel like he was living on borrowed time.

Kleo stepped out of the science building feeling a little less stressed now that he’d finish his last final for the semester. The December air was crisp and he readjusted the scarf around his neck to try and block out the chilly breeze. It was the start of winter break and he hoped that at least the lack of schoolwork would bring him a bit of peace. Flora would be going home to New Orleans as well, which meant there would be a pause in their little magic lessons and Kleo crossed his fingers that no magical creature would knock on his door anytime soon. He really just needed a break from it all and felt that maybe winter vacation could give him just that. He hopped onto the stone half-wall that separated the building from the sidewalk and waited for Alexei to get out of his own exam.

A gentle warmth spread through him and he felt Nox’s familiar purr in the back of his mind as the black cat stepped out of his shadow to join him on his perch. Kleo smiled softly and scratched at a spot behind Nox’s ear. His familiar had been, if possible, even more clingy than usual ever since he recovered. Before, he could occasionally get him to stay home while Kleo went to class, but nowadays the cat followed him everywhere by hiding away in Kleo’s shadow. Nox had explained how he used shadows and dark patches to travel or hide in, describing them as some sort of pocket space that he could access. It made Kleo wonder what else could be done with those pocket spaces and whether or not he himself could access them.

His eyes swept along the quad, taking in the reefs and ornaments and lights that lined the trees and sides of buildings. The entire campus was decked out in Christmas decorations and had soft holiday medleys playing throughout. The festive buzz didn’t stop with the University whatsoever. As soon as Thanksgiving day was over, the people of Safehaven worked to making their town into that of what Christmas postcards were made of. Tinsel and lights and various ornaments and toys decorated the shops lining the streets. Of course, a lot of the decorations and festivities still took place on the University campus. A pavilion was transformed into an area where kids could meet Santa on the weekends. A giant tree stood in the middle of the circular space with Santa’s chair positioned directly in front. It was cute, and something the town had been doing for as long as Kleo could remember. There were probably pictures of him and his mom at that very spot form when he was younger, tucked away somewhere in one of her photo albums.

His mom loved Christmas. She really liked holidays in general (except for maybe Thanksgiving. She never really seemed to put too much effort on that day aside from decorating the Apothecary to fit the fall theme.) But, out of all the holidays, Christmas stole the show for her. Kleo could remember the giant, twinkling tree she would set out every year and how he would help her decorate it after school. He and Alexei would walk home to find boxes of decorations out and ready for the three of them to put up.

It was the start of winter break and Kleo still hadn’t put up any decorations at home or at the Apothecary. Kleo sighed to himself, rubbing his eyes as he leaned against one of the pillars jutting out of the stone wall. He should decorate later that night. It shouldn’t be too hard, especially if he tried to magic something up. Maybe his mom had some silly decoration spell scribbled out in their grimoire that he could use. Maybe Alexei would help him put up the tree upstairs?

His watch buzzed with an incoming notification and he pulled out his phone to see a message from the purple-haired boy himself.

A: I didn’t see that my message didn’t go through;; I got out crazy early and had an errand to run. Meet me at home?

Kleo hopped off of the stone wall and quickly replied before heading out.

K: Sure thing, be there soon.

***

Kleo spent the walk home caught up in his mind as he thought of what Christmas would be like this year. Sean suggested them having it at Kleo’s this year and Alexei’s family was thinking of coming over as well. It was so strange to think that he had a place of his own like this for the holidays. It felt so grown-up when Kleo still felt like a child at times. Of course, he knew Sean and the Crows would take the lead on a lot of it all but it still felt so strange. He hadn’t had a Christmas in his own home in so long, he couldn’t help but think back on those years spent with his mom and the wonderful host she had always been. How could he live up to that? He knew no one probably expected him to be like her, but, he still felt like he owed it to them somehow.

He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts as he walked up to the Apothecary’s glass doors only to have his eyebrows furrow in confusion when he noticed the close sign displayed on its front. He took out his keys to unlock the door and walked inside, looking around for Alexei, Flora, or anyone for that matter.

“Hello?” He called out, locking up behind himself as he heard the sound of feet running down the stairs.

“Kleo! You’re home!” Flora said with a type of excitement in her voice that only made Kleo nervous for whatever mischievous plan swam around her head. She grinned at him from behind the counter as he took off his coat and looked her over, trying to figure out what it was she was up to.

“Hey,” he said cautiously as he made his way towards her. “Thought you’d be headed home by now. Do you know why the shop’s closed for the day?”

“Well,” her smile widened as she placed her hands on her hips. “I’m not leaving for another few days and besides, I heard you guys needed some help around here.” She waved her hand around and Kleo just raised an eyebrow.

“Help with?” He asked and before she could answer, Alexei entered the room holding a rather large container. He set it down on the floor with a slight thud and wiped his hands on his pants leg.

“Decorating, of course.”

***

The look on Kleo’s face was priceless when Alexei told him they would be decorating. Those golden eyes first widened in surprise before softening with a gentle smile pulling at his lips. He could only smile back before ushering him up the stairs to help him carry down the rest of the decorations he had found.

“Where did you even get all of this?” Kleo had asked after the three of them had brought down quite the collection of containers and bags filled with Christmas stuff to sort through. Kleo opened a container and stopped short as he looked at its contents. “Wait, these aren’t…” His voice seemed to trail off and Alexei knew he had recognized them.

“We found them while cleaning out the workroom,” he explained to him and watched as Kleo picked up one of the stockings from his container.

“I thought they were gone in the fire,” Kleo said quietly and Alexei felt Flora nudge his shoulder, sending him a knowing smile.

“We thought it would be fun to surprise you with them,” she told Kleo and Alexei could see the way his eyes began to gloss over from where he stood.

“Thank you, both of you.”

***

Sorting through everything took quite a bit of time, but fortunately, actually setting things up seemed like it was going to be a breeze. A wide grin formed on Kleo’s lips and with a flick of his wrist, garlands, and reefs floated around the room, finding and securing homes of their own on the walls. Lights twirled and worked their way throughout and around the space, creating a canopy beneath the ceiling. Alexei’s eyes moved to Flora as he watched her help, opening doors to the patio outside and using her magic to string the lights and outdoor decorations there. He didn’t know how they did it without the worry of anyone coming across to witness the obvious display of magic. Part of Alexei wondered if it was reckless of them to do it this way, but his worry was swiftly quelled. They had finished just as quickly as it started and Alexei couldn’t ignore the look of pure joy that graced Kleo’s features.

There was always a glimmer in his eye, a type of innocent happiness that came when he used his magic like this. It felt so worth the risk to see him this happy, especially when he knew there were times that his magic brought him the exact opposite of this joy. Kleo hadn’t mentioned anything since the night his nightmares came back, but Alexei could see it in his eyes at times. It seemed that it had only gotten worse and he couldn’t ignore the way Kleo seemed to fear his magic at times. He knew he wasn’t ready to open up about it yet, but he’d be there for him when he was.

He moved closer, slipping his arms around Kleo’s waist, small smile widening as their eyes met. Kleo’s voice was soft when he spoke.

“Thank you for this,” he told him, leaning in to press his lips to his hair.

“Anytime,” Alexei said, letting a breath escape through his nose as he propped his chin up on Kleo’s shoulder.

“Alright you two,” Flora said, locking up the doors and condensing the containers and bags with a swish of her hand. “We still have upstairs and a tree to decorate. You can be all lovey when we’re done,” she smirked at them before motioning for them to follow her up.

“Where did you find a tree?” Kleo asked as they climbed the stairs.

“It’s a gift from my parents,” Alexei explained. “Speaking of whom, will be here Christmas morning and expect us to come over sometime Christmas Eve to grab some stuff to bring over for the dinner.”

“Awe, you guys are going to spend Christmas together?” Flora asked as they began work on picking through the old and new ornaments.

“Yeah, we’ve done it pretty much every year since, what?” Kleo turned to Alexei, trying to remember the year.

“Middle school?”

“Yeah, that’s right! We became friends super quick, so my mom was like, ‘Why don’t you invite your friend’s family over?’”

“That was the year she made my stocking,” Alexei smiled. “Which is here somewhere! I made sure I found those when we got the Christmas stuff.” He began to rummage through the last bin of stuff, pulling them out to show Flora while causing some of the other contents of the bin to spill out.

“Those are adorable!” She said with a smile.

“I’m glad you guys found them,” Kleo said, his eyes suddenly caught onto a small elf that fell out of the bin. He knelt, picking up the stuffed toy and giving it a once over as Alexei and Flora worked to hang the stockings up over the fireplace. Kleo couldn't explain what about the toy that caught his eye or why he was suddenly so focused on it. He got some sort of strange feeling from it, but it wasn’t anything bad. He looked it over again, finding a hole on its side with some of it’s stuffing sticking out. Gently, he prodded the stuffing back inside and felt the need to fix it.

He wandered to the kitchen and opened the designated junk drawer, fingers carding through spare batteries, and random useful things that didn’t have a home until he found a little emergency sewing kit. It had been a while since he sewed anything, and even then he’d never done more than quick patch jobs to small items or clothing. With a threaded needle in his hand, he worked to close up the hole on the elf’s side. He knotted it, cutting away the excess string and putting the kit away before looking the elf over once more. Its eyes looked back at him and for a second, he could have sworn he felt something like gratitude wash over him, but before he could explain it, it was gone and left a shiver running down his spine.

Kleo shook his head, setting the elf down on the counter. The stress must have been really getting to him.