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How does a fire god celebrate Christmas?
He can’t put up a tree, that’s for sure; any tree he touches just gets burned down. And any paper he comes in contact with also burns. Most gifts aren’t fireproof anyway. Not like he cared. The fire god never cared.
Well… until he fell for a mortal.
You see, a while ago, Fire Spirit Cookie, the self-proclaimed fire itself and the main Guardian of the Dragon’s Valley, was captured by a mystical seller encasing him in his bead state and then got sold off to some mortal. But that mortal apparently wasn’t doing well mentally and the moment Fire Spirit Cookie had rid himself of whatever caused him to be stuck in his bead state, he didn’t run off and let the guy die. No, the mortal was overdosing and had placed a gun pointed at his temple. By the time he saved the guy, the mortal had passed out and Fire Spirit Cookie quickly set up a magical disguise before rushing him to the hospital.
He should’ve left after, but no. Something told him to stay. Something told him to live in this mortal's impossibly cozy home that was somehow mostly fireproof. Something told him to show his true colors once that mortal was discharged and returned home. And one thing led to another.
So yeah. Fire Spirit Cookie loves a mortal now. Damn the mortal for being so handsome, even when almost succeeding in inflicting his own death. And it didn’t help when not only was he the kindest mortal he’s ever met, but is also VERY popular in the mortal world. That very mortal was another cocky man… but he was also sweet, always liked rising stars. He also had a self-proclaimed title: “the living legend of rock.” Why was he the legend of the igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic? The fire god didn’t know.
Welcome to the month of December. A time of gift-sharing, snow, and Christmas cheer. But Fire Spirit Cookie, stuck to roam this mortal’s home because the entire globe would freak out if they realize a fire god lives here, didn’t understand much of it. Most because many of the things associated with the festivities are flammable and other things melt. But he’s been learning a new ability since he first escaped his orb state. It was simple, but very useful; being able to control the temperature of his flames. While he can’t extinguish them (it’d kill him), he can lower the temperature so that instead of a scald occurring on Cookie dough or flammable items being burnt to ashes, it’ll just be a soothing warmth. Or as soothing as it gets; being a fire god can still freak someone out.
Right now, that mortal was out doing something. “Chopping wood,” he had said. He’s seen it before, mortals splitting planks of wood smaller and smaller until they have enough for kindling… or burning. Despite this mortal somehow being more electricity focused, he still had a hearth, a fireplace. Quaint, yet it fits his humble lifestyle. Fire Spirit Cookie was sitting in the fireplace, trying to control his warmth in his hands, the door soon swung open as his housemate entered with a wagon full of split wood and logs, trailing snow onto the welcome mat. His pale dough was turning red on the edges from the cold and his white hair had faint flakes of snow dappled onto him. He was wearing quite a few layers, but his stormy gray-blue eyes were still recognizable.
Damn the mortal for looking so beautiful. He shouldn’t be mortal; he should be the god and Fire Spirit Cookie the mortal worshipper doing his every wish. It isn’t fair. It’s not fair to either of them, this obsession, this affection… Why is he acting so different around this one mortal? He should be flaunting his fiery wrath, burning everything and everyone to the ground… but not around him. It almost reminded him… No. Those are way in the past now.
The mortal throws his scarf onto a nearby chair and pulls the wagon forward before shutting the door with a quick hand. He looks up at Fire Spirit Cookie and grins cheekily.
“The fire goes where it belongs,” he taunted. Normally the god wouldn’t be amused to joke about him casually sitting in a fireplace. But he smirked. Damn the mortal for being so charming.
“What? Doubting I know how a fireplace works? Please.” He arose from sitting and floated over to the mortal. “I have heard that joke many times.”
“I’m sure you have.”
“So, you got the wood? You ain’t gonna be cold anymore?” Fire Spirit Cookie taunted, tilting his head. This caused the mortal to smirk cockily.
“I was always warm since you got here,” he flirted. Fire Spirit Cookie went still, yet his flames still licked the air around them. The mortal sighed and walked past him, tired from the gathering of wood. Dragging the wagon beside the fireplace, he then proceeded to flop into the couch, the cushions being weighted against him. As he breathed gently, his eyes were closed. Fire Spirit Cookie just stared over his shoulder with… concern. His flames grew smaller, more quiet, a sign of his real emotions surfacing.
A fire god. Showing concern. Nobody would believe it, but the fire god didn’t stop it, he didn’t fight it. In fact, he felt like he could be… himself again. His mortal self. Behind all the arrogance, all the playfulness he held, there was always… regret. A wish that he could go back to just being a mortal like the one he lived with now. Capable of simply contributing to the valley rather than being its sole guardian. Capable of leaving this world whenever he wished rather than always being needed for something. And yet… he was reminded of the fact that this mortal tried to do the same. He tried to take his own life and yet that triggered something in the fire god at that moment. He should’ve let it happen, hell, maybe even contributed to it by burning him to a crisp, just like how he wanted to extinguish himself. But instead he saved the mortal. He caught him and let the gun drop from the side of his head and onto the floor when the mortal was too weak to hold onto it. He took him to a hospital, disguised not to scare everyone, and yet he didn’t even know his name. Just a simple title.
The living legend of rock. Being saved by the fire itself from his own doing. It felt like Fire Spirit Cookie was given that moment just to remind him that there is life still worth protecting, a life worth living for. Fire Spirit Cookie descended until his feet touched the ground and he walked – not floated, walked – over to the couch where the mortal sat. He then did something he never thought he would do. He gently controlled his flames to a lower temperature, a gentle heat, before he wrapped himself around the mortal, laying beside him, making room for the two of them. His face was buried in his fluffy white hair, the flakes clouding it having melted in the passing moments of silence.
The mortal opened his eyes, confused on the rush of heat overwhelming his body and the weight added until he glanced behind him. Fire Spirit Cookie opened one of his eyes, meeting his gaze, and he noticed that the mortal’s stormy gray-blue eyes… They were glistening. Unshed tears. How it reminds him. It took him back to the first time he caught a glimpse of the fire god before passing out from the overdose. Glassy, clouded, yet full of confusion and an odd sense of comfort. But Fire Spirit Cookie felt grateful they weren’t as clouded as a dead man’s, as these eyes were full of life. Life he swore to protect. And he’s not letting him go.
“... Why…” The mortal muttered. Fire Spirit Cookie blinked out of his stare and it shifted to confusion.
“Why what…?” He asked gently.
“Why did you save me?” the mortal asked. “Why did you care enough to stop me from killing myself? You’re-”
“A fire god,” he finished for him before continuing. “I know I am. But I was mortal once, just like you. And sometimes when I’m alone, I wish I was extinguished, that I’d rather die by my own hand then live forever, sworn to protect my Dragon’s Valley.”
“But you’re going to live forever.”
“I know. I know I will; not even the tidal waves of the sea can kill me. And yet… watching someone else try to do the very thing I wished to do… it scared me. Matter of fact, it hurted! It hurt when you almost killed yourself! A legend shouldn’t end that way; it should end gloriously, like everything they’ve worked for was worth it, like a sigh of relief, a reminder of all they’ve contributed! You looked so helpless that I couldn’t handle killing you myself, so I helped you.” His voice got so passionate and loud, like it always is to others, in that moment. But it was derived from pain and suffering, of tears shedded on the fact that this mortal – the one he dares to care for now – almost took his own life while proclaiming himself to be a legend. He took a breath before continuing, lowering his voice to a more soothing scold but obviously choked up.
“What’s even worse is that one day, you’re not going to be here because time itself would’ve taken you and I can’t stop it. It’s lonely being immortal, but it’s better to have someone who knows your pain, to want to die by your own hand yet something is telling you to keep living. So god damn it, if you scare me again with it, I won’t hesitate to get a bead from one of the other Dragon Cookies and force you to be just like me because I don’t want to lose you!”
The mortal stared at him in disbelief. This god that lived with him… he wanted him to live. To keep pursuing his dream. And yet… through the tears… he just smiled.
“I was hoping someone would say that.” That was all he’d mutter before curling up in Fire Spirit Cookie’s embrace, hiding his face as he let out a sob. The fire god just held him close, letting him curl closer to him, letting his warmth soothe the burns in the mortal’s soul he never left. After a while, the mortal’s breathing slowed and his body relaxed. Fire Spirit Cookie initially panicked when he noticed, thinking that he was dying again. But then he noticed that his heart rate had slowed and calmed himself when he realized the mortal just fell asleep in his embrace.
Fire Spirit Cookie looked up at the clock, mounted on the wall. 5:03 PM. The sun was setting outside, the sky turning vibrant shades of purple, red, orange, and yellow over the snowy pasture and white patches covering the trees outside. The fire in the hearth hadn’t even been started yet, the wood collected by the mortal sitting in that cold wagon. Tomorrow was Christmas. The tree was still illuminated, some presents under the tree most likely from the mortal’s closest friends or biggest fans. And yet the fire god felt like he should do something to show how much he really cared, how much he… Loved.
So he floated away from the mortal, making sure he was still asleep, before beginning to look around the house. The second floor, the closet, even his room. Fire Spirit Cookie even checked where he usually slept – the drawer where he can enter his bead form and sleep – before deciding to head to the garage where, lo and behold, a bag of sand was located in a corner of the room. Perfect. The fire god zoomed over before cupping a handful of the stuff and slowly began maneuvering his hands. He had an innate ability to melt grains of sand into glass and make beautiful sculptures of it, but he’s never really used it outside of a bit of practice with depicting various animals down to the detail. Never once for a gift, however. But he started weaving the still-hot glass into a little figure with a big, flat, rounded base to stabilize it. It was just a figure of the mortal, but he caught every detail – the way his hair flowed wildly alongside his simplistic outfit, the shape of his guitar as well as the lines and hole engraved into its design, his eyes shining ferociously…
He kept turning it in his hands, holding it fragilely. Not because it was glass, but because it was glass shaped in him. Every intricate detail, down to the finest and the hidden, it was sculpted with grains of sand and his heat. After making sure everything was perfect, he set it on the coffee table in front of him for him to find. As he looked over at the mortal, he gently brushed a hand against a strand of hair that had fallen in front of his face and gently joined it into his hair once more. This actually caused the mortal to stir, and as he awoke Fire Spirit Cookie opened his mouth to apologize only to notice the growing smirk on the fellow Cookie's face.
"Merry Christmas," he taunted with that raspy morning voice as he sat up and ran a hand through his hair. The fire god only watched, still floating there, and when he was finished, the mortal glanced back at him before noticing the small glass structure on the table. His eyes widened.
"... Hey, where'd you get that?" He asked as he leaned past the fire god, picking it up gently and observing it by tilting it in his hands occasionally. He noticed every fine detail, quickly realizing it was a glass figurine of himself. He looked back at the fire god occasionally, a look of disbelief on his face.
Fire Spirit Cookie just smirked back as both of his hands held up his own face, kicking his legs behind him like a girl learning the latest gossip. "I made it. Found a bag of sand in your garage. It's one way to give a gift, huh?" The mortal was even more surprised when he told him that, glancing between the glass figure and the fire god once more before that smile of his grew softer.
"I love it," the mortal admitted. This brightened Fire Spirit Cookie more.
"Knew ya would."
"No, scratch that," he suddenly said. The fire god was confused until the mortal set the glass figure back down and placed both of his hands against the fire god's face. After another few heartbeats, the mortal smirked.
"... Is it bad to admit that I love a fuckin' god who saved my life?"
"... No. I don't think it is."
And he kissed him. Who cares if his tongue got burned? The mortal had no care in the world at this moment. Just him and his fire god on a lovely Christmas morning. Before long, they pulled away as the white-haired Cookie moved towards the tree and grabbed a small present. It was a small box, fitted into the palm of his hand, wrapped in metallic red wrapping, a yellow glittering bow adorning the top. Fire Spirit Cookie gently reached out to it before taking the box, his hands having been cooled to a warmth, before tearing through the paper. Once he was done, he flipped open the box to notice a band. It was made from pure tungsten, the metal with the highest boiling point, and had an intricate design of flames within the band.
“... Are you appeasing a god with jewelry?” Fire Spirit Cookie joked. The mortal smirked.
“Not just appeasing. And it ain’t just jewelry.” The white-haired Cookie then took the box back from the fire god and went down on one knee, holding it up to him.
“I wasn’t fucking kidding when I asked that question just now,” he began. “Ever since I realized that you saved my life, I was shocked at first. A fire god, caring for me? But now that I’ve been alcohol-free and cutting-free for over a year, I realized how much fun you are around. I love that ego of yours and how you can match my cockiness. But I think my favorite part about you is how vulnerable you can be around me. It’s like I’ve been an outlet to you ever since that day… Regardless, you may call this appeasing a god, but I say that I just really think it’d be cool and lovely if you were my husband one day, especially because of how we get along.” He held the ring closer to the fire god as Fire Spirit Cookie stared in shock. A mortal, gaining the courage to marry a god? So many have tried. So many have failed. So many have ended in tragedy. He was reminded of the lecture he gave the mortal last night, about how even if he was going to live forever after the mortal passed away, Fire Spirit Cookie just didn’t want him to go out by his own hand. He just… forgot that this was a mortal entirely. Maybe one day, he’ll be able to make him immortal just like him.
Fire Spirit Cookie laughed a little before taking the ring and sliding it on his left ring finger. The mortal was surprised but the fire god spoke before he could express it. “I accept your offer to be wed to you. But you forgot one thing.”
He was confused. “What did I forget?”
“You forgot to tell me your real name and if you’re associated with rocks.”
The mortal grew baffled before he bursted out laughing. He got back up on his legs and set the small box down before grabbing Fire Spirit Cookie’s hand – the one with the ring – and kissing that ring.
“You’re kidding!”
“I’m not!” Fire Spirit Cookie exclaimed. The mortal looked back up and met his gaze with the fire god. That cocky smirk was shared between them as the white-haired Cookie finally revealed his name.
“It’s Rockstar Cookie. And no, I’m not associated with rocks. I’m associated with rock’n’roll, a music genre.”