Christmas Traditions, Old and New [Maddie/Les/Open]

[Kyrie Blaze]

So much had been happening in recent weeks--the War, their victory over Barker, her promotion to Field Marshal, Barker brought back to life, her emergence into the Gods with a seat on their Council, the tournament... And just within the past week, Olesya's apology, and the emotions that were stirred up from that. She was rapidly acclimating to juggling all her duties, and frequently worked from before dawn to well after dusk...though she tried as often as she could to return home to have lunch with her sister on the days she would be around--because after three years of having no blood relations, having Arianna back was not something she would ever squander.

The blonde enjoyed the new challenges of her positions, though. She enjoyed keeping busy and finding ways to more efficiently manage her time. Her ribs were healing much more nicely than before, and aside from some sharp twinges when she did something unintelligent, she was essentially pain-free. That meant two things: parkour training for the Dragon Core...and that David would need to rough her up again.

Both she looked forward to, though the latter was just spending time with him, not being injured.

The blonde swept down a familiar street - a promise given, taken back almost immediately after; a night of adventure, now months ago from one of the places on it - as she came back from running patrols and checking on the mini-camps the Core had set up. Ten more minutes at this pace...and she would be home for lunch.

[Your Mom~]

Olesya had elected to take the day off. It was the first time in a long time, and the Dragons knew where to find her if it were an emergency. Earlier that morning, Les had climbed up into the attic and found an artificial tree and some decorations left by the previous owners of the house, and had brought them downstairs to the living room. She then took Maddie to the market after breakfast to shop for cookie making supplies and other decoration ideas.

A couple hours later, they were heading back toward the house, Olesya's arms full of goods, when Maddie spotted someone walking by.

"Mom! It's the lady from the market! Kiwi!"

Maddie exclaimed, her slight speech impediment worsening with her excitement. Olesya looked up, spotting the blonde approaching on her way to her destination. She smiled warmly.

"Hey Kiyr."

"We're having Christmas!!"

[Kyrie Blaze]

The excited squeak caused the blonde's blue gaze to zip around, curiously. When they landed on Olesya and little Maddie, Kyrie felt the keen sensation of suddenly becoming a deer in the headlights. Her eyes widened in surprise; though she was well-aware that Olesya lived on this street, she hadn't exactly expected to run into them. After that moment, she hedged a slight smile and relaxed with her next breath.

"Greetings, Olesya." She nodded, her eyes quickly softening as she focused on the child. She slowed from her jog and would stop once reaching them, stooping down a little so she was at eye-level with the young girl, "Are you, Maddie~? And I can see you are excited for Christmas--but hooow excited are you?"

She still felt awkward, but she couldn't deny the little girl...helped as a focal point. Kyrie was extremely fond of children, and some day...she would have a family of her own. But she had strayed away from interacting with children--not necessarily because she wanted to, but...some part of her was afraid. It seemed ridiculous, in a way, but she was fearful of forming attachments. It had lessened so much over he past year, but there was still a flicker of it even now.

But there was no denying that they had an exemplary ability to wriggle past any wall she tried to put up...and their simple joy was so infectious. Gods knew that she had fallen hard for Mathew and Bastille's tiny girls and she would protect them at great cost--and the greatest to herself.

[Your Mom~]

"I'm SUPER excited!"

Maddie exclaimed, throwing her arms wide and hopping to show just how excited she was. Olesya smiled at this, their interaction. She shifted the bags in her arms as she watched them.

"We're gonna put up the tree and hang decorations and bake cookies and do all the fun stuff that Mom and I did once when I was really young but I havent gotten to do Christmas cuz Madame Butterfly didnt like it and I even get to have a stocking!"

She said all of this very fast...

"Maddie and I met on Christmas, didn't we? Back in high school we did an extra curricular assignment for the kids at the orphanage, and you were a tiny little thing."

She said, turning between Maddie to Kiyr back to Maddie, semi-explaining the little girl's rant.

"Yeah it was my first Christmas ever and it was so much fun! You should come with us, Miss Kiwi! We're gonna bake cookies and put up the lights and the stockings and sing carols and-"

Olesya lifted her eyebrow, looking from her daughter to Kiyr curiously, stepping into interrupt her ecstatic daughter mid-ramble.

"Miss Kyrie might be busy, but is more than welcome to join us if she would like. Ask nicely."

"Will you do Christmas with us Miss Kiwi?"

[Kyrie Blaze]

Kyrie watched, indulging the small girl with attention and smiles, her eyes dancing a little as her enthusiasm rubbed off. The small woman gave a soft chuckle at the rush of words, though...though the 'Kiwi' gave her pause.

That feeling of being a deer in the headlights was back, complete with wide-eyed look this time. Her gaze quickly flicked up to Olesya before she spoke, and then stayed, stricken for so many reasons. She paled.

"I...prefer Kiyr, please..?" She mentioned with quiet politeness. Her gaze fell back to Maddie. Her heart tightened in a vice-like clamp in her chest. Christmas. Cookies. Lights. Stockings. Presents. Sing carols. It was funny how some of the simplest things from a young and innocent source could tear her up so easily.

The use of her name rocked her, deeply, on top of that. She felt a sense of panic at its use, not quite so alarming as Levi constantly using it, but much along the same lines.

And Maddie, questioning with hope, broke her resolve to let Olesya and her adopted daughter be. Children were definitely...a weakness of hers. Evelyn and Aryanna had her wrapped around their tiny fingers the moment she had laid eyes on them.

"O-okay." She gave a small smile, eyes stinging but bright with tears that went unshed as she quickly blinked them back.

[Your Mom~]

"I'm sorry, I get caught adding "-ee" to the end of everything. Kids."

She laughed lightly, though there was a bit of concern in her eyes as she noted Kiyr's dear-in-the-headlights look. She looked like she was facing down a mac truck and not a woman and her child.

"E drehg cra ec dnoehk du cyo [Kyrie,] cra seqac ran [R] cuihtc yht [W] cuihtc yd desa. Cra ryt y syzun cbaalr esbatesahd frah E vuiht ran."

She didn't know how much Dragon Kiyr knew, but she didn't want to talk about Maddie's impediment in front of the girl. She didn't mean to call Kiyr the name of a fruit, just kind of happened.

"Ran didun yht E yna fungehk fedr ran, cra'c syta y jycd esbnujasahd cu vyn. Ed zicd dygac bydeahla."

She squeezed Maddie's hand, her maternal smile back in place.

"Great, Miss Kiyr is going to have lots of fun with us, isn't she, Maddie?"

The girl's eyes lit up, and she beamed.

"Yes yes yes! Miss Kiyr we're gonna have so much fun! You can even ice the cookies, Mom said I could do that but I'll share!"

She held her hand out to Kiyr, wanting to take the pretty blonde lady's hand. If she accepted, she'd gently tug her toward the house in an excited child fashion. If not, she'd get over it quickly and just take off running to the house, that was within line of sight, about a hundred or so feet away.

Les grinned, setting off toward the house herself, she'd be happy to set these flippin' bags down once they got inside.

[Kyrie Blaze]

Kyrie seemed to focus on Olesya at the Dragonspeech, then shook her head slightly. When she spoke, it was quiet, gently serious. She had no issues with the language, using it frequently enough even on her own. It was a language, and languages she adored. She only wished she had time to learn more.

"E ys hud luhlanhat fedr ran cbaalr esbatesahd. Cra ec ouihk yht maynhehk... Ed ec lida du pa lymmat yvdan y vnied frah cra tuac hud ghuf paddan. Dra naycuh vun so tecxiead ec dryd E bnavan du pa yttnaccat yc "Kiyr", hud "Kyrie". E ycg, bmayca, yttnacc sa po dryd, hud so kejah hysa."

With a slow swallow and pained blink, the blonde worked on veiling her feelings on the subject, mustering the full extent of her composure as Olesya addressed Maddie and the girl squeaked in joy.

"That is most kind of you, Maddie. How about we see after we bake them..?"

It was a careful venture. The child thrust her hand out and Kyrie's eyes momentarily widened before...they softened. She wasn't entirely sure of this, still, but who was she to dampen a child's joy, even temporarily? She set her hand in Maddie's and allowed the girl to pull her along, feeling sore in more ways than one...but still carrying and concealing it with quiet grace. She would be okay.

The petite blonde would help them bake, maybe sing and decorate a little, and then she would slip quietly away. Or such was the plan, at least.

[Your Mom~]

"Ur E caa, E secehdanbnadat. So ybumukeac."

She said, smiling sheepishly. Her attention turned to Maddie as she took the woman's hand to practically skip up the steps to the house. Les juggled her bags, unlocking the door and letting them in. She set the bags on the kitchen counter, shaking out her arms to get the blood flowing again.

"Okay Mads, go get your apron!"

At this reminder, the little girl shrieked and ran off to her room. She had a plastic kitchen set with a matching apron and chefs hat that she loved playing with, and she returned with both items on her teeny person.

"Okay I'm ready!"

Olesya laughed.

"Alright, let's get started Chef Maddie. Get the mixing bowls and big spoons, let Miss Kiyr help you, and I'll get the ingredients set up."

[Kyrie Blaze]

The shriek caused the blonde to wince, ears ringing, but she was smiling all the same. She didn't really mind, after all. Maddie was young and excitable. It was good to see and feel such simple joy.

For a moment as the child disappeared, the tiny blonde was immobilized by awkwardness. But with a sensible shake of her head, she moved to the bags on the counter and started unpacking. She didn't put anything away, but stacked and organized neatly, tucking the bags into one.

By the time Maddie came out, she had made her way through the bags, and then looked at the young girl.

"Well, Maddie, I do not know where aaaanything is. And I am sure you do~ Will you show me where to find all the bowls and spoons we need?"

[Your Mom~]

"Yeah! The big bowls are in this cupboard here,"

She indicated a lower cupboard where a bunch of bowls and baking pans are nestled neatly.

"And the spoons are up here!"

She boosted herself up with her arms to grab the tall cyllinder container that had all sorts of wooden spoons, turners, spatulas, and other large cooking utensils in it from next to the stove.

Olesya grabbed the measuring cups and spoons from the utensil drawer, setting them on the counter next to the sugar and flour. She pulled the baking cookbook from its place on the shelf and started rifling through it.

"What cookies do you ladies want to make first? We've got the makings for chocolate chip, peanut butter, and sugar cookies"

[Kyrie Blaze]

Stooping into a crouch after following Maddie to the cupboard, Kyrie carefully dislodged the bowls and baking sheets to select a couple of each, carefully stacking them so she could more easily carry both. Pans in her hands, and on top of those, the bowls. Her gaze lifted and brightened a little with Maddie's enthusiasm, though as she put the pans and bowls on the counter she watched the small girl with a careful eye as she clambered up onto the counter.

"Well done, little Maddie."

With a small smile, she turned as Olesya spoke. She blinked and tilted her head. She had a secret...and it was that she wasn't really a baker. She could cook just fine and follow instructions to mix the batter...but for some reason couldn't bake. Not even before the bombs dropped.

But, with Olesya here, they would turn out just fine.

"Perhaps with part of the peanut butter cookies you could add some chocolate chips?"

It seemed a sound idea to her.

"But I think the first choice should go to Maddie."

After all, sugar cookies were definitely a holiday tradition. Chocolate chip and peanut butter were good no matter when they were baked.

But that was true for any cookie.

[Your Mom~]

Maddie gasped, as if Kiyr were the biggest genius in the entire world. Peanut butter...WITH chocolate chips!? Was that even POSSIBLE?!

"Can we do that!? Please please please!"

Olesya laughed at the girl's excitement, she probably hadn't heard of such a thing before, and Olesya was reminded that she was glad she could introduce her daughter to these things. A seemingly normal childhood.

"Of course! Peanut butter chocolate chip cookies it is!"

She put out the container of fresh natural ground peanut butter and freshly ground flour and sugar. Making their own food supplies meant there were no more chemicals in things. It was the one positive thing about the world ending, everything was much healthier.

Les took out the cookie cookbook and turned to the peanut butter cookie page, setting it down in front of Maddie.

"Alright Chef Maddie, what do we need?"

Maddie took a moment to read the ingredients list.

"One half cup of sugar, one and...a fourth cup of flour, and one half of a cup of packed brown sugar."