Solstice in the Desert

Absinthe took a step back and admired her the way she had wrapped the fairy lights around the cacti in their camp area, beaming with pride. She turned back to stoke the campfire they'd started just as her sister seemed to finish decorating the taller ones. 

"I tell ya, Gin. This is the way to celebrate the Solstice! Take a week off and get away from all that dreadful snow." She took a deep breath of the refreshing night air, looking up at the moon and stars.

The pied fae nodded in agreement and flicked her ear as she sat down near the fire. 

"I agree! I think we should do this every year. Something about the snow and ice back home makes the sand feel softer." She remarked, earning a nod from her sister. 

Absinthe suddenly fluttered her wings in excitement, and padded to the side carrier of the cart nearby, pulling out a small green package with a red ribbon. 

"We should do gifts now that we have all the decorations up!" She suggested, thumping her tail in the sand as she laid back down with her gift between her paws. 

Gin pinned her large ears and pretended to be caught off guard. 

"Oh... I dont know if I have anything for you yet..." she said, averting her gaze with a guilty expression.

Absinthe shrugged and shoved her gift forward in the sand, shaking out her pelt. 

"Oh, who cares! I dont wanna wait anymore to see your face when you open it!" She yapped, folding her wings away again neatly.

Gin looked down at the little box and pulled it in between her paws, fiddling with the pretty ribbon for a moment and admiring the way her sister wrote her name with such personality, before she popped the lid off and nosed through the tissue paper. 

She soon pulled out a sparkling beaded bracelet that was the spitting image of one shed had as a cub. 

A small gasp escaped her as she used a claw to gently pull it onto her wrist, holding out a paw to admire it in the light of the fire. 

"Its beautiful, Absinthe! Its just like the one I got at the museum when we were kids!" 

Her sister chuckled and nodded, flattening her ears thoughtfully. 

"I know! You wore that thing for YEARS after we found it! I knew as soon as it broke that I needed to find you another." She said with a happy smile. 

Gin put her paw down, leaning down to nuzzle her sister's head, their horns clinking together gently. 

"Thank you, I love it." She purred happily.

She then stood up, flicking her tail as she padded around the fire toward the cart. 

"Ookayy! You know I wouldn't forget about you~" 

Her sister giggled at that, and sat up excitedly. 

"I knew you were messing with me!" She chuckled, then blinked in suprise as her sister leaned down to drag a large blue and red package from under the cart, pushing it with her snout to her sisters paws. 

Perplexed as to what it could be, Absinthe couldn't contain her excitement to admire the packaging, and nosed the lid off to stick her head inside.

Pushing the tissue paper out of the way, she stepped back again to tilt her head, before her eyes sparkled with recognition. 

"Where in this broken world did you get bear traps?!" She asked leaning down to grab the device by its chain and pull it from the box, placing it on the ground carefully.

"I traded for it with a blacksmith in Coastline. But he said he just found it and cant make more, so be careful with it." Gin explained, smiling bashfully. 

"Will it be helpful?"

"Ha! Helpful?! This will be more than helpful, with trade and with our everyday needs." Absinthe assured, leaning forward to pull her sister into a hug with her forepaws. 

"Thank you, sis. I appreciate it! It definitely makes my job a lot easier." Gin smiled and hugged her sister back, thumping her tail in the dand behind her. 

"Im glad! You wanna roast some marshmallows and look for shooting stars?"

"You read my mind..."