#dmitrii agrees--half for the sake of the chyerti and half for the sake of giving his people joy in the dark months

[words-writ-in-starlight]

33, 23 and 24 for Vasya/Morozko- Thanks!

Hey, I bet you thought I forgot about this ask meme!  I did not!

23) How do they hug? Kiss? Tease? Flirt? Comfort?

I actually wrote, like, a whole plotless 4K ramble about this if you want the extended version, but the TL;DR of it all goes like this.

Morozko always loves to pick Vasya up–he loves the way it makes her laugh and cling to him.  When he does, Vasya likes to lean up and kiss his jaw, so that he looks down at her and she can steal a kiss from his lips.  Morozko never really masters flirting as a concept–he’s too direct, too serious–so his thing is gifts.  He brings Vasya jewelry and blankets, fine tack for Solovey and cloaks worth their weight in gold, and Vasya lets him because his satisfaction at seeing her in his gifts is so obvious.  Also, she can admit that the house at the bend of the lake was a little bare before Morozko began bringing things for her to add, so she’s willing to kill two birds with one stone.

24) Any doubts about the relationship?

Tons, but they generally don’t line up between them.  Morozko worries all summer, about Vasya’s safety as she expands her domain as witch of the woods, about her ties to Medved, about anything that occurs to him.  It’s blunted, when he’s away from her, but it’s still there.  Once she begins serving as an advisor to Dmitrii, Morozko worries about that too–whether she might be betrayed by the Grand prince, or if Dmitrii might try to push Vasya into a marriage suited to the sister of a prince’s brother.  He tries not to wonder if Vasya will be charmed by the riches of Moscow, the nearness of her sister and the presence of her people.  If she asked him to come to the city, Morozko would do it–he already does sometimes–but he doesn’t remotely know what he would do if she stayed for good.

Vasya worries that Morozko might grow bored with her, and she tries not to–winter is not known for loyalty, but death is honest and reliable, and Vasya thinks that if she were likely to cross a line so dire that Karachun would fall out of love with her, stealing a soul right out of his hands would have done it.  She worries about Medved, whether her deal with the Bear might someday grate so badly on Morozko that he can no longer tolerate it.  (Morozko worries about Medved too, that the jealousy that has always crawled in Medved’s heart might drive him again to take his brother’s most cherished treasure, deal or no.)

Fortunately, their worries about each other are generally received with blank bemusement, or, occasionally, outright laughter.  Morozko is older than Rus’, and Vasya is the most fascinating creature he has ever met–grow bored?  He can’t imagine it.  Vasya, leave her freedom for the heavy smoke and beautiful walls of Moscow?  She would kill someone.

It doesn’t make the doubts melt away, but it does make them lighter to carry.

34) What kind of presents do they get each other? Do they only do it on special occasions?

I sort of already covered this, but: Morozko can and will give Vasya anything he even idly thinks that she might enjoy at any time, for any reason, including “he saw it.”  She had to put her foot down about fine clothing and jewelry, or else he would have her dressed as a prince at all times, and a queen whenever he could manage it.  Vasya’s favorite gifts from him are the ones he had a hand in making, whether by hand or magically–a delicately engraved wooden comb cared with his own hands, the green stone necklace, a tiny statue of a horse made of unmelting ice, half covered in feathers and about to leap into the air.

Vasya’s gifts are different–there’s no point in riches and finery with Morozko, and even if there was, she doesn’t have a fraction of his wealth.  Vasya brings fresh flowers through Midnight for the house in the pines, she makes him crowns of snowdrops and weaves crocuses into his hair.  She travels with Morozko during the cold months, to see distant cities and other kingdoms and the sea.  She talks Dmitrii into a Midwinter feast the likes of which hasn’t been thrown in years, and she dances with Morozko in the light of Moscow’s bonfires, laughing as his wild king-self spins her through the snow and kisses her before all the city.

#the winternight trilogy #vasya petrovna #vasilisa petrovna #morozko #otp: as i could #ask meme #headcanon meme #starlight writes stuff #i'm. so invested in the idea of vasya convincing dmitrii to throw a midwinter revel #she tells him that the chyerti would take it as a sign of good faith to have midwinter remembered #that they would be glad to see the winter-king honored #dmitrii agrees--half for the sake of the chyerti and half for the sake of giving his people joy in the dark months #and half for the sake of sasha and of sasha's strange witch sister and of the boy vasilii who never existed #there is some overlap between these halves #most of the muscovites don't know the details and wouldn't know the winter king if he raised the dead in front of them #but dmitrii does and he thinks quietly that vasya looks much like sasha when she smiles #a queue we will keep and our honor someday avenge #aelinarcheron7 #asked and answered #winternight