High above the pedestrians, a star twinkled. It shone up high. Up on top of the tree.

Aurum sipped his coffee, and just sort of dealt with that. He sipped his coffee because it was warm. And good. What else was warm and good? The lady on his arm. He was pretty sure she was enjoying the tree, too.

"You ever come to Rockafeller center on Christmas eve before?" Aurum asked.

He had. It was a nice location. Lots of tourists, though. Good thing they didn't have to stay at the tree all night.

”Nope” Riley said in response to Aurum’s question, sipping the coffee that she held in her hand and snuggling up to that arm she was on. The tree was really beautiful, not that it was the first time Riley had seen it...but it was the first time she’d really seen it.

”To be honest...if I can’t find work, I usually hole up in my apartment and read.”

Christmas just wasn't all touchy feeley and special when you were by yourself, even if that was by design.

>>”To be honest...if I can’t find work, I usually hole up in my apartment and read.”

...

He didn't care what anyone else thought. That was incredibly hot. The image of Riley in nerd glasses wasn't bad, either.

Touchy feeley romantic mushy moments, what? Who needed those?

"It's nice." He commented. And after a moment. "I'm done with it. Let's do something else."

So there the stood for a moment, staring at the tree with all its lights and all its splendor.

Was there something else she was supposed to be seeing? Riley didn’t know, but mostly she was enjoying being there with someone, and having something to do on Christmas Eve.

Aurum spoke, and Riley laughed. He had a point. They both knew they weren’t going to do anything ridiculous like ice skate, so besides staring, there wasn’t anything left to do at this particular place.

”It is nice.” she said, then ”What did you have in mind?”

Well, it was night. And it was dark. With the lights on the tree, glistening. And the air in front of their mouths, foggy whenever they exhaled. The world was cold, and the last place he wanted to avoid was a warm room.

"Home, I guess?" Aurum suggested. "Unless you want to see some more lights."

Riley took another sip of coffee, and snuggled that arm just a little bit more for good measure.

”Someplace warm sounds nice.” she said, ”I’ve seen plenty of lights.”

"Some place warm, then." He said. He thought Sveta was out. "And some warm cocoa, too? And maybe a movie." Yeah. That sounded... wonderful.

Just cocoa. And a blanket. And a movie. And a couch with her.

”Only if you make it.” Riley teased when Aurum offered cocoa. By this time they both knew she was no good for things like that. Movies were good as well though, and Riley liked the way their evening was starting to shape up.

So off they went, to the bike, and off to Aurum’s apartment.

The ride wasn’t all that long, despite the heavy traffic from last minute shoppers and Riley simply held on and enjoyed the scenery. The decorations and lights really were nice to see, even from the inside of a motorcycle helmet.

Soon enough, they arrived and Aurum parked the bike. Up they went to the apartment and inside.

”So. Which movie?” Riley said, already shrugging out of her coat.

"Should be a bunch on the rack in the cupboard by the TV," Aurum commented, from the kitchen. "You pick. I'll get started on the cocoa."

Moving around the kitchen, Aurum dug out all the necessities for godlike cocoa-making. Then, he got to work.

Aurum went to make what was sure to be amazing cocoa and Riley slipped out of her shoes and made her way to the cabinet Aurum had indicated. There were a lot of movies, a vast majority of which were not Christmas themed. Riley was kind of in the mood though, so she searched until she found the right one.

Comedy hadn’t seemed entirely appropriate for some reason, but ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ Had jumped out at her from its shelf. It was a classic, and something Riley hadn’t seen all the way through more than once. Yes. That would be perfect.

To be honest, Riley was scared to fiddle with Aurum’s electronics, guys could be so picky about that sort of things, so she took the box with her and made her way to the kitchen to watch Aurum at work. Surely he’d find a way to put more ingredients into hot chocolate than were decent…and it would be delicious.

"Got one." she announced, brandishing the case.

"Ready when you are."

Delicious, it was.

"Great," Aurum said, turning away from a burner that was now off, with two warm mugs of cocoa, one in each hand.

His eyes dropped to the DVD. "I approve."

Working their way back to the living room, he passed her the mug of cocoa, hoping she would, too.

And then there was cocoa. Warm cocoa, that Aurum had made himself. That was going to be delicious. Yeah. This was better than coffee and a giant tree. Much better.

Aurum also approved of her choice in movie. Riley smiled, pleased that they were on the same page and followed as he made his way back towards the living room.

Now that they were there, Riley took the mug Aurum offered and sipped.

”Mmmm…” Riley said, approval evident in her not-exactly-verbal response.

”How am I ever supposed to drink Swiss Miss again?” she asked, sinking down onto the cushions of the couch and waiting for Aurum to get the movie started.

"Stick with me, kid." Aurum said. "And you'll never have to drink Swiss Miss again."

With that bold pronouncement out of the way, Aurum rose and grabbed a blanket from off the back of the couch. He tossed it to Riley. Then, he snagged the DVD and set things up. He settled in under the blanket with Riley as the movie began.

He rested an arm around her, sipped his cocoa, and was warm.

Riley had to chuckle at Aurum’s proclamation. ”That’s reason enough to stick around for a while.” she said. Apparently teasing was the order of the night.

Aurum tossed her a blanket, and Riley caught it with one hand, taking a moment to set down her cup before sitting down and wrapping up.

Once the movie was started, Aurum returned and Riley graciously shared her blanket.

This…was definitely okay, she thought as he draped an arm around her and they prepared for the movie.

”You seen this before?” Riley asked as the opening credits started to play. Yes, the case had been opened, but Aurum’s house did resemble an boarding house at times.

"Mhm," he trailed. He had. Although the movie didn't matter so much as the company.

He sipped his cocoa.

"It's my second-favorite Christmas movie." He wasn't sharing his first. "You?"

The movie continued on in the background as he focused entirely on Riley's face. His free hand idly traced its way up her neck and through her hair.