Time of Togetherness

Andi hurried through the crowded streets, eager to get home as she clutched her bag of takeout to her chest. She didn't want to be late to getting home today. Well, she never really wanted to be late getting home - there were always things to do at home, with ten imps and a girlfriend who spent most of her time asleep. Andi never minded any of it, though, happy to take care of all of them.

Her hurry today was mostly inspired by one of her new clients, a cherubun, who had told her about something they were calling cherubmas. Some kind of new holiday, and parts of it involved different things like wreaths (whatever those were), singing, and spending time with loved ones expressing appreciation to them. The idea of it had gotten into Andi's head, though.

Their place was dark when she got back - as was common. Andi flicked on the small lights in the living room and kitchen, and soon a swarm of imps seemed to appear, following her intently to the kitchen to watch. She pulled out some pieces of sea salt mochi from where she stored them, tossing them to the crowd, and laughed to herself as her impup, Wave dove for a piece and began fighting with Brill, Kaili's sceil, for it. "Wave, catch!"

The little impup looked around, startled, and then rushed to catch the new piece soaring her way, letting Brill have the piece they had both originally wanted, and the sceil curled protectively around their piece as they nibbled on it.

With the imps taken care of, Andi pulled out a sheet pan and turned the oven on. Carefully, she spread the takeout onto the sheet pan, and then, once the oven beeped, she put it in, and then set a timer on her smartwatch before sitting at the counter, humming quietly while she waited.

The takeout had cooled down a lot when she had been outside, but in the oven, it warmed, wafting delicious smells through the house. It wasn't long before Kaili came stumbling out of their room, yawning and blinking back sleepiness. "Mmm, food..." She clambered into Andi's lap, moving to rest her head on the counter. "'m so sleepy..."

Andi rubbed a comforting hand on her girlfriend's back. "That's alright. Takeout got cold coming home, so I'm just warming it up for us."

"The Dark Savior appreciates your dedication to keeping her well fed," Kaili proclaimed as dramatically as she could. Which, admittedly, it wasn't particularly dramatic, given her sleepiness.

It still made Andi's heart flutter. "Thank you," she said. "I appreciate my Dark Savior a lot too."

It wasn't an unusual sentiment, but it still made Kaili curious if something was up, just by how it was expressed.  Andi didn't often use big words like 'appreciate', after all. "What was work like?"

"Oh, it was good. One of my clients was telling me about some new holiday," Andi said. She'd already forgotten the name, however. "Dunno what it's called, but it's all about telling your loved ones you appreciate them. And also singing?"

Kaili considered the concept, before smiling. "I like the sound of it," she said. Praise, in her mind, was always a good thing - and a holiday dedicated to praising her (with a dash of praising her girlfriend, to be generous)? That sounded like the best holiday to ever exist - maybe even better than All Sinner's Day, even.

"Me too!" Andi agreed, beaming. She lifted Kaili to put her on the counter facing her, grinning at her. "You're the most wonderful Dark Savior to ever exist, and every day spent in your service is a delight."

Kaili preened. "Your service is truly the most faithful the Dark Savior has ever had the pleasure of receiving," she declared magnanimously.

The timer on Andi's smartwatch began to beep before any further praise could be given, and Andi jumped up to take the takeout out of the oven.

It smelled so good to Kaili, particularly since she had slept straight through lunchtime. (Breakfast was a distant memory - she might have eaten a tube of yogurt while in bed because Andi gave it to her, she really wasn't sure). She watched on hungrily as Andi got their portions onto plates, and waited for Andi to put her down onto their other stool at the counter.

Her girlfriend truly never disappointed, as Andi picked her up and placed her on the other stool, where she had set Kaili's plate. Then, she went and grabbed her own plate from off the stove, belatedly remembering to actually turn the oven off and shut it. That done, she returned to her own stool to eat.

"You know, I think we should tell the people making this holiday a thing that they should add good food to the list of things you do for it," Kaili declared. "Maybe even free food. That would be a good way for businesses to show their appreciation to their customers."

Andi nodded enthusiastically. "Oh, you're right! That's such a smart idea!" It truly seemed that way to her, at least.

It didn't take them long to finish their food, and before too long, Kaili was drooping sleepily again, prompting Andi to pick her up and carry her back to bed. She kissed Kaili's forehead as she placed the covers over her. "Goodnight, Dark Savior."

Well, with Kaili asleep again, she could keep showing her appreciation by cleaning the kitchen and living room up, Andi decided. Whenever Kaili felt like being awake again, she would be happy to have a nice and clean living room to game in, after all. So the night wore on as she cleaned, until she joined her girlfriend in bed, shifting into her bun form for maximum coziness in bed. There was no better way to spend a day, in her opinion - maybe the people in charge of the holiday should make the holiday every day.  Or she could just celebrate it every day anyways.