Aster gets an invite.
Characters: Zinnia/Aster, Emmy
Warnings: None
Wordcount: 1,154
Vibe: Lighthearted holiday special
Original AN:
takes place when aster and zinnia are like. umm i wanna say 15?
theres a timeskip at tha end. pearl is maybe like 5 there
for lore related purposes: i imagine there’s a universal generic winter gifting holiday inspired by delibird
ya i just got off work and thought about this while stocking shelves so its kinda short but its the thought that counts <3
also unrevised bc im tired and cant be bothered as usual
The Lorekeeper household never went too extravagant for the winter holidays – most Draconid holidays were in spring. Still, It was hard not to get at least a bit involved with the constant festive music and decorations. So, the family went out to do their shopping – but this year was a bit different.
Looking over the sea of shelves as the same winter song played over the grocery store radio, Zinnia nudged Emmy a bit.
“Hey, I wanted to get something for Aster.”
“Hm, yea? We can pick it up after we’re done with everything else on the list – hope it isn’t too expensive, because I’m already cutting things a bit close.” Emmy responded.
“Hey! I brought my own money!”
Emmy paused for a second.
“Since when were you making any money?” She said, half teasing and half genuinely curious.
“Since I started running errands for those Aqua Inc. people I told you about! Shelly likes my help so she gave me some extra for the holidays.”
“…Right. Well, let’s go.”
Zinnia and Emmy picked up some decorations, as well as Emmy’s usual groceries and a present for Zinnia’s grandma. Once they had grabbed anything, tugged Emmy along to the electronics section to browse, where she picked out the cheapest CD player she could find, along with some assorted jazz CDs.
“I thought Aster mostly listened to like… vintage Sinnohan music? And doesn’t she have a CD player?” Emmy asked.
“Nope, she only has a record player. I think she’d like it! She asked me a bit ago if there was anything I thought she’d like, anyways.” was Zinnia’s reply.
“Alright, makes sense. Just didn’t want you spending all your money like that without making sure.”
After that, the two went through the checkout and headed home.
At home, Zinnia joined Emmy in the living room to wrap presents. When they decided to take a break and watch TV, Zinnia slumped to the side.
“I don’t know how I’m gonna get this to her though… it’s a bit too big to bring into school and I’m not sure if she’s going to see her parents in Sinnoh for the holidays…” she sighed.
“I… don’t think she’s gonna see her parents?” Emmy replied whilst scrolling through channels on the TV.
“What makes you say that?”
“Just a hunch. Why don’t you call her? I wouldn’t mind if she came over and joined us for dinner that day.”
Zinnia perked up.
“I’ll try that!” she said, scampering over to the landline phone and dialing Aster’s number.
After a few tones, Aster’s voice gave an elegant greeting – becoming lighter when she heard Zinnia on the other end.
“Hey, uh, I’m not sure if you were gonna go back to Sinnoh for the holidays, are you?” Zinnia asked.
There was a brief pause on Aster’s end.
“…No. I’m not. I guess this’ll be my first holiday on my own.”
“It doesn’t have to be!” Zinnia said enthusiastically. “Em and I were wondering if you wanted to come over and spend that day with us!” Zinnia said, twirling the phone cord in her finger.
There was another short pause as Aster considered.
“Of course! Around what time?”
“Probably… at like 4-ish? So like, later.”
“Then it’s a plan! I’ll be over then.”
As promised, Aster came over just as the sun began its early winter descent a week later. She had brought her own small present, and placed it among the others the Lorekeeper family had out. As usual, Aster was a bit quiet, but it was evident she was genuinely enjoying herself, and Zinnia’s energy managed to rub off on her a bit. When it came time for dinner, Emmy called in some Kantonian food to take out.
“You don’t prepare your own holiday dinner?” Aster asked.
“Pfft, nahh, we’ve done this for years because Em’s a bad cook.” Zinnia replied, before promptly being lightly bonked on the head with the TV remote by Emmy.
“I see… I suppose it’s different than what I’m used to. But that’s alright!”
“What do you usually do at home?”
“Well…” Aster paused. “My mother would usually bring in a lot of her business associates and we’d have a grand dinner prepared. But… I like it more this way. It was always too hectic and crowded how my mom did it.”
“Sounds fancy… I guess it’s because winter holidays are a bigger deal up in Sinnoh? Because it like, actually gets cold and all.”
Aster let out a short laugh and smiled.
“I suppose so! Though I like it more down here, you don’t have to bundle up beyond belief to do anything outside.”
The two talked and watched TV while Emmy went out to grab food, and when she got back, Aster sat next to Zinnia at the dinner table. Aster talked a lot about her family ‘back’ in Sinnoh, actually. She revealed she indeed missed them quite a bit, but was reassured by Zinnia that they missed her too – which caused Aster to grow a bit quieter. Still, she perked back up rather quickly as the conversation turned to events of daily life since school was on break.
After an impressive amount of Kantonian food was consumed, the family and Aster moved to the living room to unwrap presents. Zinnia insisted Aster unwrap hers before she did, so Aster went ahead. Aster took the gift very well, and actually went to plug the CD player in to listen to the music as the night went on.
Aster’s gift to Zinnia was also received well – she had gotten her a drawing journal and some Pokemon League cards.
Once presents were unwrapped, Emmy ran up to her room to grab an old instant camera and positioned Aster, Zinnia, and Zinnia’s grandmother together on the couch.
“Don’t you want to be in the photo, Emmy?” Aster asked as Emmy positioned herself behind the camera.
“Nah, I hate getting pictures of myself.”
Aster shrugged it off and put her arm around Zinnia, and everyone gave a big smile.
The photo printed, and Emmy shook it in the air a bit as she waited for it to develop. Once it did, she looked at it and smiled, before showing it to those waiting on the couch – showing Aster first.
“Welcome to the family, Aster.”
–
This winter was colder than usual – against all odds, there was snow in Hoenn for the first time in a century. So, instead of popping in through the closet like she normally did, Aster decided to walk the medium-length trek to the Markov family house – though Zinnia had opted for the usual route. She knocked on the door, and it took a while before it was opened. Aster wasn’t met eye-to-eye with anyone – instead, she looked down, and Emmy’s young daughter’s big eyes staring at her.
“Mooooooom!! Auntie Aster is here!”
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