[Gift] 2.9 Deadly Chocolates - Alistair and Satin

Once the horses are all tended to, everyone reconvenes behind the manor. The night at long last winds down and a bonfire is put going. Its soft crackling fills the air as everyone finds a comfortable spot around it. Cassandra elbows her friend, smirking back at him. “You totally had an unfair advantage, you knew the land.” She laughs and Alistair joins her.

“Yeah but you guys didn’t have a bright ‘hey I’m right here!’ light on you.” He grinned back at her. “But since Harry said you almost made it out you can have some of my winnings.”

“Now that’s more like it.” Cassandra happily took the carefully wrapped candy from her friend. Peeling away the foil around it she bit down into it and hummed in delight. “I don’t think I’ve had chocolate since I was a child.”

Alistair sighed before biting into his own and shook his head. “No same, it’s far too rare now to waste the money on it.  But we thought it’d be a good prize for the hunt. I feel a bit guilty winning though.” He laughed and broke off a few pieces to hand them out to everyone. “You all should get a chance to enjoy it.” Gruff thank yous filled the assembled as they passed along the chunks of chocolate.

Behind him Satin reached her head over the fence, nosing at his hair and he had to gently push her away. “Satin no, you can’t have this. Chocolate is deadly to you silly girl.” The mare simply snorted and pawed. “Harry, can she have another treat?” The mare’s ears perked up and she gave a soft nicker to her owners.

“Ah I suppose so, otherwise she’ll keep bothering us all night hm?” The older man stood up from his spot, pausing his conversation to fetch one of Alistair’s homemade treats. It had turned out most of the nightmares were in fact disinterested in them but Satin seemed to love them. The doctor had gotten better at cooking over the years and he was quite proud of them. “Here, you feed her since you spoil her enough already.” He dropped the treat into the doctor’s hand.

“Actually, Cass, you wanna try feeding her? She seems a lot more comfortable with you now.” He held the little molasses oat snack out and the darkrider gently took it.

“Sure, I don’t think she’ll really care though who feeds her it.” Cassandra chuckled before offering the treat up. The mare’s ears perked and she sniffed once again against the woman’s hand before brushing her lips over it and finding her prize. It was snapped up in a moment and she shook her head as she chewed away at it. “She’s so adorable, you really did get lucky finding her.”

“Didn’t we? She can be a nuisance but she’s my nuisance.” Alistair laughed and returned to face the bonfire. The conversations flowed easily amongst everyone, shifting from catching up to discussing recent events or professions. Despite not being particularly social Alistair was comfortable amongst his fellow outcasts. He even found himself involved in a rather riveting talk about banned books. It was exciting as he found yet another opportunity to add to his growing collection and protect more endangered knowledge.

Eventually he grew tired and curled up beside Harry, grateful that no one cared about their relationship. He rested his head against Harry’s strong shoulder and an arm wrapped gently around him. It had been a wonderful night, quite thrilling and such an excellent time to catch up with old friends. Not to mention finally getting a chance to celebrate all hollows eve once more. Their ghost decorations blew in the wind, the bonfire crackled and the jack-o-lanterns flickered on the porch.

However, like all good things it would soon come to an end. Alistair and Harry shared their goodbyes with their guests and brought the horses into the stables for the night. Then finally they too retired back indoors after putting all the candles and fires out. At long last Alistair curled up for bed with the biggest smile on his face in a long while. His dreams would soon be filled with the galloping hoofbeats of horses and the sweet taste of chocolate mixed with the laughter and chatter of good friends.