Written Fluff - first attempt at a post

[madmim]

Hello, cyberspace!

So, I have just become a part of this site, rolling in from the craziness of Tumblr after a few people I love have posted about this site's awesomeness. Needless to say, this place is a little overwhelming and I need to learn a lot. But I think I want to make a "theme" for my blog, and I think I want the theme to be writing - my writing - so posting just little bits of stories, and random brain bloops, and just the words that could create stories but likely won't become stories. Character's that are plaguing my mind (perhaps art along with their profiles), and rough outlines (like the ones I roleplay in my head while on the bus).

I hope that works for this site, and I hope to make friends and find people who like my writing, who like the act of writing, and who I can bond with over creative pursuits.

So, with my little ranting version of the preface complete below is my first post. It is a short story, a sort of holiday one-shot for two LGBTQ+ characters that have taken over my writing. I'd love to hear what you think of it, and of my boys.

Enjoy!

Yuletide Festival

Snow sat in small mountains, pilled up in corners of parking lots and bracketing walkways. On the mounds, children played, like tiny marshmallow people in their puffy winter outfits, shrieking and laughing. Adults walked the pathways, their happiness a silent expression hidden in the backs of their eyes and shown in the uptick of their smiles. The night had fallen, its embrace warmed by the soft glow of thousands of coloured lights. Twinkling strings of holiday blubs, strung up on every poll, winding through every tree branch and framing every window. Steam curled up from cups on tables and settled lazily around the food carts. Each lick of mist left the smell and promise of sweet snacks and bitter ciders.

Jordyn hid behind the baker’s table, the scent of cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla wrapping around him as he pulled desert after desert out of the small mobile oven. The warm gooey centers of caramel and chocolate threatened to escape their soft cake confinement. He sprinkled them with icing sugar, the fine powder falling like snow over the treats, and placed them in front of the growing crowd. The lava cakes had been popular; their warmth perfectly contrasted the bitter cold that filled the winter evening. But Jordyn’s favourite was his yule logs. With its sweet cream cheese icing center, the spiralling vanilla and chocolate cake reminded him of his childhood, of nights spent sitting around a glittering holiday tree with his family. Nights with a fireplace crackling softly as they munched down on some warm milk and yule logs, the last snack before being ushered to bed.

The holiday market was Alex’s favourite thing about winter. The only redeeming feature as far as he was concerned. He loved walking down the spiralling park pathways, seeing all the little shops with their handmade goods. Watching the families camped at tables with excited children and steaming mugs, tasting the holiday-inspired desserts and sipping on a cider filled him with soft happiness. He usually attended these events alone. Walked among the families and couples as a solo agent; his mother was always too busy when he was a child. As he grew older, he never felt comfortable bringing someone with him. The holiday market was his safe place, a place where he could be happy and relaxed, where no one cared who he was or what he was. Taking someone had felt like an intrusion as if it would burst the delicate bubble of happiness surrounding the event and leave it a bitter shell of disappointment. But this year was different. This year Alex had found someone to go with, someone he trusted to spend the event with. And as he approached his lover’s stand, he knew that this year’s festival would be better than any other.

The smell of vanilla and cinnamon wrapped around Alex as he approached, its scent soothing something in him, like a hug for his soul. The smell followed his lover around everywhere. A gentle expression crept across Alex’s face, not quite a smile but something far warmer. He snuck into the back of the stand, watching for a moment as his lover worked. They shuffled back and forth across the small work area, passing baked treats to customers and taking payments. Alex had tried to convince Jordyn to hire help for the festival, someone to handle the money so he could focus on the cooking. But the baker had refused, “I want them to be free to enjoy the festival, not be trapped working on a holiday. I can handle it.” The beeping oven and the frantic movements of his lover told Alex the baker was regretting that decision now. Moving further into the stand, he pulled the stove open, restarting the alarm and swapping the finished tray for the prepared one on the counter. Alex placed the hot tray of cookies on the rack to cool, then moved to the front to share his lover’s workload.

“Wha –” Jordyn jumped, startled at Alex’s sudden appearance at his elbow. The other smiled in response before turning to the next customer. The baker had just been wishing he had someone to help him. His stand wasn’t this busy last year, and he could hear the fruit cake scones about to burn, then came Alex, his knight in soft flannel. A gift from the universe for me, he thought to himself, running a hand over his partner’s arm. Smile bigger than before, Jordyn turned back to the horde.

The two men worked together as the frost of night slowly inched its way through the square. The cold dug its way through people’s gloves and coats; it bit red designs into the cheeks and noses exposed to its frigid touch. Its painful embrace soon drove the people away from the park, sending them home to cuddle with their loved ones and reminisce about all they saw and bought.

With the crowds dispersed, the market began to shut down, the vendors all packing up their wares for the night. The lovers packaged up the remaining treats in the stand, keeping the oven running to stave off the imposing chill. Dancing around each other in a delicate dance, each hesitating to reach out and grab the other. To pull the other into a tight embrace and turn the dance into an intimate waltz. Jordyn fell to the tension first, dropping a bag of sweets into the travel bucket and latching onto Alex. His arms wrapped around his boyfriend as his lips sought out Alex’s. Finding their mark, the two melted into each other. Love warming them far more than the open stove had.

Tomorrow the bakery stand would be closed, and the two would get to wander the snow-dusted pathways hand in hand. They would stop at every store, by things behind each other’s backs to be opened on the 25th, and they would sip on hot chocolate, dance to the music played by bands and sung by carolers. Tomorrow they would indulge in everything the Yuletide Holiday Market had to offer, but, for tonight, they were wrapped in each other. Two people made one in the front of a burning stove, in the back of a small stall, while winter ragged its flurries outside.

The End!
Hope you enjoyed ^_^ And I hope to hear your thoughts!