#armiin

—— "W-what is it...?"

Armiin had barely begun to rise when Leandro jumped at the chance to help rouse him, the hunter's shoulder annoyingly nudged until he sat up bleary-eyed and with the worst case of bedhead yet witnessed. It was adorable. The blond would have definitely teased the poor guy for such a hairdo were he not far more adamant on seeing his husband's reaction to what sat snug inside a box of velvet. The material was scarlet in color, wrapped in gold, sparkling ribbon, and not much bigger than a cantaloupe. A bit weighty, too. It was set in Armiin's lap as Lean settled in beside him with fingers fidgeting about the bedding's hem.

"A gift. For Winter Veil. Go ahead."

The box is curiously tilted by sha-stained hands only to be set back down when the san'layn inhaled, "Careful...!" That made Armiin frown with heightened fear over the possibility of messing this up--which was a very strange thing to have anxiety about, but there he sat, stunned stiff over receiving a holiday present so early and now because of its weak make . "I-it's fragile, is all. Slowly..."

This time the hunter touched only the ribbon so that it could be untied, first, the lid unveiled from there and hesitantly lifted. Nothing jumping at him and no more gasps from Lean... so that gave him just enough bravery to set the top aside and actually peer at the contents. Inside lay more velvet that encased something wrapped in protective tissue. No wonder there had been a tiny scare over damaging it; why on Azeroth would the shorter male have gotten someone so clumsy a breakable, though?

Another questioning glance of silence is aimed at Leandro before being urged to continue with a shy gesture. At this point Armiin had woken up enough to bat wide eyes at the withdrawn keepsake, paper daintily peeled away to reveal a piano-shaped music box translucent in its ebony dye. The tiny keys were detailed with their appropriate shades and the top was see-through so the gears inside could be seen, etched writing of gold seen glimmering thereupon in the lower left corner reading: "With Love" by Leandro In Dedication to Armiin The dedicated party immediately looks to the song's writer, mouth agape in wait for the right words. That was a personal, private piece the Darkfallen had within the year written because of and for Armiin--both men brimming with tears any time Lean played it or was requested to like the saps they were. Lean in particular was always bashful about it so Armiin would never have dreamed the tune would be implemented into a music box. "Wh--how...?" The pianist is burning red from neck to ears. "I wanted you to be able to hear it if we're ever apart, so... I considered a few options and went with this because of my own love for the music box my mom left me. Remember...?" He doesn't give time for Armiin to answer simply because he had to ramble off the rest of his explanation without breath before the sobs of adoration peaked. "I hunted down an artisan that made clocks and commissioned this with both him and a jewelcrafter for the personalization. It's, um--the dial is here..." He's already sniffling as the key part in question is pointed out. Armiin, similarly biting back the saltwater ebbing at his lower lashes, turns it bit by bit with shaking fingers. Every note that tinkered out like a humming fairy once released was exactly as penned, exactly as he remembered, and twice as heart-wrenching for its new permanence. He never did find words beyond a myriad of thank yous to properly convey just how much the gift meant to him before melting in shared cries and messy kisses that ended with the two of them back in bed, warmer than they ever could be in front of the fireplace.