[ She makes it easy to rib her when she goes along with it! Eyes off the road only for a brief moment, she glances for those stolen moments of a rare smile on Nico's face. Karolina was not experienced in this whole stuff – dating, girls even – so she goes along with it as best as she can without overthinking. Without wondering if she was going to mess this up.

Part of her knows how much Nico has been through, more than what weighs on her. There's pity there, but also a warmth that wants to blanket the mage in comfort and hide her from the rest of the world. A light that Karolina feels harder and harder to dim. ]

I know, but department stores started Christmas sales since July. Can't really blame her – [ And swerve, their car turns up a road away from the main traffic. If they filter through enough streets, they'll find themselves on the road up to the mountains. ] No vacation out of state for the holidays, but it'd be cute to decorate the HQ, right? Just to make it feel more...

[ Like a home, unspoken. ]