The Christmas party was held at Wylan's manor, as to not cram everybody into the Slat. The mansion was pleasantly decorated, with lights strewn over the bushes and wrapped around the support beams. Even Kaz had to admit that the house was beautiful.

Wylan opened the door for him, dressed in his finest suit (which Kaz had picked out for him because Wylan has no fashion sense what so ever). Jesper appeared behind him, wearing a red and green shirt and the ugliest pants to exist.

"Kaz!" Wylan said happily. "Inej! It's so good to see you guys!"

Inej agreed quietly, releasing Kaz's hand to envelop Wylan in a tight hug. Kaz offered Jesper his hand, and Jesper gripped it, only to pull Kaz into an embrace. "Merry Christmas!"

Kaz rolled his eyes, yet he tightened his arms around his chosen brother and let out a quiet laugh.

When Jesper released him, Kaz hugged Wylan and then shut the door, hanging his coat on the rack.

"I brought some food for the party," Inej said, fishing around in her bag before pulling out a box of freshly baked cookies.

Wylan complained about her generosity until Nina and Matthias arrived.

Matthias handed Wylan a pan of baked corn. "Nina was going to bring waffles but..."

Nina grinned. "I ate them first."

Jesper rolled his eyes, but hugged her anyway, leading everyone into the dining room.

Kaz shouldered Wylan as they sat down at a beautiful oak table. "I see you replaced the table. And repaired the roof."

Wylan snorted. "It was the first thing I did. Second, actually, after I removed all of those hideous family portraits."

Kaz laughed again, oblivious to the surprised looks of the rest of the Crows.

"Did he just-"

"Yeah, I think the demjin was laughing."

"Inej! Did you give him drugs?"

"What? No! I don't know what's going on!"

"Maybe the candles are infecting his brain?"

"Shut up!" Kaz snapped, glaring at the four giggling oafs. "Wylan and I are trying to have a polite conversation. Imbeciles."

Wylan was hiding a grin behind his hand, failing miserably at smothering his giggles.

"What?" Kaz asked.

Wylan laughed and shook his head. "Let's eat."

*****

When everybody was ready for seconds, the first fight broke out. Nina and Jesper were having an all-out brawl over the last cookie.

Inej covered her eyes with her hand. "I would've brought more if I would have known this would happen."

Kaz tugged her closer, one of his arms wrapped around her waist. "Let them fight. It's kinda entertaining."

Jesper was squished beneath Nina, flailing as she pressed his head to the ground. "The cookie is mine!" She shouted.

Jesper squirmed, trying and failing to push her off. "No! It's mine!"

Matthias, a bored scowl on his face, picked up the cookie and broke it in half.

Nina sighed. "Smart tulip."

Matthias grinned and hate both halves of the cookie at the same time.

Wylan couldn't hide his laughter as he fell from the chair, watching as Jesper and Nina team-tackled Matthias. Eventually, the tussling evolved into a food fight and an array of different foods were splattered on the walls.

Wylan ducked as Matthias threw a handful of cake at him and went to reach for the macaroni, but everybody suddenly went silent.

Wylan turned around cautiously and tried very hard to contain his laughter as he saw Kaz with chocolate cake splattered all over his face.

Matthias looked horrified, his eyes wide, face pale. But instead of yelling, Kaz wiped the cake off and reached for a loaf of bread, then proceeded to throw it into Matthias's face.

"Not the bread, Kaz," Jesper groaned. "That looked good."

After a tiring hour of fighting, everybody settled down in the living room, wrapping up in blankets and sitting in a circle. Wylan was squished between Kaz and Jesper.

They started opening presents, each of them receiving ugly Christmas sweaters from Jesper, chocolate from Nina, charm necklaces from Inej, and Fjerdan wool socks from Matthias. Wylan's gift would come later; he had decided to have them all get matching crow tattoos after agreeing on it with everybody.

Wylan stifled a laugh as he opened Kaz's gift, which was a diamond-encrusted bomb replica made out of gold. "What is this, Kaz?"

He shrugged. "A gift."

"I didn't know you had such expensive taste."

Kaz shouldered him. "Quit your complaining. It took me a long time to get that."

Each of the Crows had similar items, Matthias with a wolf, Nina with a heart, Jesper with a gun, and Inej with... a ring.

She shot Kaz a confused look. "What symbolism does this have? Why not a knife or something?"

Kaz took a deep breath and turned towards her. "I would rather you wear my ring than wield a blade."

"I don't understand."

"Inej...

Will you marry me?"

Inej slid the ring onto her finger and examined it in the light. A smile dusted her features, making her look younger, happier.

"Yes."

Nina burst into tears, Matthias quietly told her to calm down, Jesper laughed and teased Kaz relentlessly, while Wylan sat there awkwardly.

Kaz was hugging Inej tight, both of their faces streaked with tears.

"I love you, Kaz."

"I love you, too."

Wylan extended his hand to Kaz. "Congratulations."

Kaz glanced at his hand and ignored it as he yanked Wylan into a hug. "I'm getting married," he whispered.

"It's not that difficult," Wylan replied, hugging his friend.

Kaz released him and smiled widely. "We'll see."

******