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January had come to a close to a close, and with it, winter. Not the end of solar winter, that wouldn’t come for nearly another two months. Imbolc was the older, traditional end of winter. Fey-lit fires, candles, and early season flowers and garlands decorated the weeks leading up to the holiday. Golden Lion Bakery was easily the best decorated storefront in the lane, all three prominently featured in the large front windows. Heatless polychrome faery-fire took on the shape of the bonfires that would be lit that night, and garlands of early season flowers – pure white snowdrops, a rainbow of crocus, purple phlox, and richly pink quince – framed the flames, faery-fire candles floating in the corners. Hunk had always kept the bakery well decorated for the seasons, but Shay’s strong earth magic combined with Lance and Keith’s fey ancestry pushed the illusions just a bit farther this time.
Lance had his own job at his family’s enchantment shop, but Hunk needed an extra hand at the bakery, and Lance could never say no to him. He loved working at the coffeeshop half of the business anyway, and then there was the added perk of seeing Keith every day he was there. They hadn’t worked up to making their relationship official, but they didn’t have to; they were practically inseparable in their off time. Sometimes, when it wasn’t busy and Hunk didn’t need him that day, Lance would curl up in one of the plush armchairs with one of Shay’s unique coffee creations and just watch Keith work. That was not the case that day.
That particular day, the bakery was a last-minute rush of customers, some picking up orders of pastries and sugar cookies expertly decorated by Keith’s enchantments, most coming in for a late afternoon caffeine hit to have the energy for the lighting of the bonfire on the town square that night at midnight. Keith may have been able to continue working at his usual steady pace, finishing the pastel rainbow-shaded cake he’d spent hours the day before hand painting with spun sugar flowers. He’d had a constant crowd as usual, watching him use his magic to heat, pull, twist, and sculpt sugar into realistic flowers. When it was finished, tiny balls of lavender faery-fire would be nestled between the blooms, the four-foot-tall creation going to the festivities that night.
Keith may have been able to work as his usual pace, sure, but Lance could not. Hunk took care of retrieving orders, ringing people up, and getting them their treats. That was busy enough, especially alone, but Lance and Shay were absolutely slammed. Every new order floated dutifully to the ceiling, teleporting itself to the counter to be made when a spot was cleared. There were still a number of drinks to be made by closing, and Hunk closed the bakery, only allowing anyone who was still waiting to stay. It took another half hour after the Golden Lion’s early close time to finish, Lance and Shay collapsing against the back counter when it was finally over.
Lance melted into the touch when he found Keith’s arms wrapped around his waist. It was grounding after the last few hours, something already warm and familiar even after so short a time. He started when warm hands shifted to his hips, gently shaking him from his reverie.
“Hunk and Shay already went upstairs. I’m making dinner for all of us tonight. Take a nap until then,” Keith said.
Lance buried his face in Keith’s neck. “Nap sounds great.”
Keith laughed. “Not on me.”
“Oh. Well, you weren’t specific.”
“Come on, upstairs.”
Upstairs from Golden Lion Bakery was Hunk and Shay’s apartment. Lance dragged himself away from Keith as soon as they made it up the back stairs and inside to drop onto the sofa. Keith, however, had to make Hunk and Shay sit down to rest. He took his time with it, letting the other three rest, and an hour later, found them all asleep, Hunk squished between Shay and Lance. He almost didn’t want to wake them, but the bonfire lighting was in only a few hours and dinner was waiting.
But wake them he did, starting with a soft kiss to Lance’s temple. “Hey, you. Dinner’s ready and we still need to get the cake over to the square after.”
Lance grumbled something that sounded like an affirmative and pulled Keith down onto his lap. It took a few extra minutes to extract himself from a sleepy, snuggly Lance. Snuggly Lance was always worth the extra few minutes, and it also gave Keith time to think. They’d been very much not talking about their relationship status, and Keith always operated better with actions over words. The Imbolc bonfire was always lit by couples, a practice going back to the holiday being a fertility festival for the natural world. Any number of Altea’s couples could add to the sparks to start the flame, and maybe it was time to do it. Make their relationship official with a visual statement. But dinner and moving the cake first.
Dinner was the easy part. Once Keith finally got Lance up, Hunk and Shay quickly followed. Coran, the head of the council that oversaw tiny Altea, had asked that the cake not be seen after it was finished until that night. Which, despite working on it in plain view of everyone passing by, Keith had done, not actually adding the spun sugar flowers or faery-fire until after the bakery had closed for the day. The four of them walked with it hovering between them down the lane to the town square under an opaque, iridescent shield.
They ended up being a little early, and stayed to watch the base for the bonfire set. Volunteer witches were scattered around the square, conjuring strings of faery-fire between lampposts, setting up tables for pre-bonfire events and activities, and clearing space for what was usually most of the small town. Soon enough, people began to filter in, finding the best spots to watch the bonfire. Lance, Keith, Hunk, and Shay all stayed near where the bonfire would actually be lit. Hunk and Shay stood snuggled together in the crisp early February chill, and only a few feet away, Keith wrapped an arm around Lance’s waist.
“I was thinking,” he started, still watching the other witches continuing to set up for the night.
“Hmm?” Lance hummed, distracted by the same thing.
“We should join in lighting the bonfire tonight.”
“Wha-really?”
His tone was so full of hope Keith couldn’t help but smile against Lance’s shoulder as he pulled himself in. “Yeah, really.”
One of the activities was flower crowns. Lance didn’t care that it was really intended for the children, he made one anyway of deep pink quince dotted with tiny purple phlox, setting it on Keith’s head like an ancient fey prince. That got him a single eyebrow raise.
“Really, Lance?”
“What? With our ancestry, who knows? You could totally be descended from some forgotten prince.”
“Somehow I doubt it, but ok.” He still kept it on the entire night.
The square’s usual lamplight and multiple strings of faery-fire kept the dark of night at bay, but it was soon time for the bonfire to be lit. Several of the town’s couples took spots around the base, Hunk and Shay included. Shay noticed first when Lance and Keith stepped up not far from them. A moment of surprise melted into excited delight for them both. She said something to Hunk they couldn’t hear, but a second later he was looking over, his happily surprised expression looking for confirmation. They both nodded with small smiles of their own.
At a few minutes to midnight, Coran came through the crowd and up to the small platform that let him see over the crowd and the soon-to-be lit bonfire. Like he did every year, he walked the assembled couples through the ritual to light the flame. It was thirteen couples that night, and sparks of all colors were brought forth by 26 pairs of hands. The cacophony of color floated to the waiting wood pile like sparkling polychrome snowflakes, igniting in a rainbow flare, colors shifting and flowing. Once the ritual was declared finished, Hunk and Shay made their way over to where Lance and Keith were wrapped around each other watching the fire. Both couples stayed for the next two hours until fatigue set in, separating in front of the Golden Lion bakery. Lance walked Keith to his apartment not far from the bakery, teleporting home to his parents’ house when Keith was safely inside.
Upstairs in his apartment, Keith finally took the flower crown off, finally getting to see it properly for the first time all night. The pink of the quince was deep enough to nearly be red, complementing his burgundy coat, and the purple phlox was only a few shades lighter than his violet fey eyes. He’d been to distracted by how adorable Lance looked making it to begin with, he hadn’t really noticed the color choice until then. It was just like him to make something so silly so personal. The last thing Keith did before settling into bed that night after inhaling the flowers’ scent, committing it to memory, was clear off a space on his dresser. Setting the flower crown down, he took the time to cast a preservation spell over it, freezing the memory of that night in time forever.
Elsewhere in Altea, Lance lay in bed, twisting a small sprig of quince and phlox in his fingers, casting a preservation spell of his own on it before leaving it on his nightstand. It would be the last thing he saw that night and the first thing he saw in the morning. Hopefully in the not-too-distant future, it would be the witch those flowers represented beside him to be held close and loved without even a moment’s hesitation for the rest of their lives. But there was more than enough time for that.