#yule lad folktale

[greyeisacreativecolor]

The yule lads are very interesting to me, being called out specifically as regional santa claus figures despite their primary story being about causing mischief. Apparently they put little gifts in good kids shoes, and rotten potatoes in bad kids shoes, but this doesn't seek connected to their original characterization, or how much more brutal their mother is.

[furashuban]

Visitations

Happy New Year, everyone! I wrote one last fic before we enter 2021, which is just the first chapter of a three-part story so far. Hope ya’ll like it!

Like most of my fics, it’s based on off-screen moments that I imagined would happen [during + after the episode “The Yule Lads” from Hilda.]

Pairing: Johanna / Kaisa (I don’t know what their ship name is)

Words: 1907

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28469292/chapters/69761052

Summary: Johanna's old book of winter tales is misplaced on the night she promised to give it to Hilda. On her way to the library in hopes of acquiring a new, temporary copy, she is introduced to the keeper of the books, Kaisa, and slowly grows fond of her.

The Trolberg Winter Festival was nearing its end, as the night of the Sonstansil Tree to bloom came under way. The sun cascaded over the city, embellishing the land in a subdued gradient of red and white. Back in Hilda’s home, Johanna had spent much of her afternoon searching for a book of folktales that she promised to give Hilda the night before. She looked through the cabinets and wardrobe in her bedroom, then in the depositories abounding the living room. Everywhere she checked, the book was nowhere to be seen, and Johanna would sigh out of frustration. Perhaps Tontu may have mistaken it as an offering at some point. Eventually, she called for the woolly Nisse as she entered her daughter’s room. Right of her to think that he was there all along.

“You wouldn’t have happened to see my old book of Winter Tales, have you?” she asked. “I’m supposed to give it to Hilda, you see.”

“Hm, I don’t think I’ve read or taken any books in a while.” Tontu replied, sitting comfortably on Hilda’s bed. “But I’ll try and give it a look.”

He then got on his feet and dived into the gaps of the bed, travelling into a portal to Nowhere Space. Johanna tapped her feet and folded her arms. With all the things Tontu had collected over the past couple of months, who knows how long it would take for him to seek the book before complete and utter sundown? But to her luck, he came back out after a minute had barely passed.

“Nope,” Tontu said. “couldn’t find it in Nowhere Space.”

“Never mind then…” Johanna sighed. “Great, I might as well check the library now and hope they have a copy somewhere.”

Grabbing her purse and yellow jacket by the doorstep, she left the building pronto and began a quick journey to find a new, temporary storybook about the ogress Gryla. Even if this was all for a pithy, seasonal legend meant to be told for children, Hilda’s blithesome curiosity was difficult to turn back on.  Johanna hoped that the library, the only place she could think of to find a new book in Trolberg, was still open.

After steering through a few intersections, she noticed a prodigious structure up ahead and parked her car just around the corner. A large sign reading “Library” was engraved on top of the building’s doors, and Johanna quickly made her way up the staircase before stepping through the entrance. For a moment, it was as if the building had a voice and convinced Johanna to slow down, not another step should be taken inside. The behemoth expanse of the library, displaying rows of equally immeasurable heaps of books was a spectacle that upraised her skin. The shelves looked like they pierced right through the ceiling as she noticed the second floor, and adjacent to her was the librarian’s desk with a stack of various novels on the counter. Not only was she just realizing how long it had been since her last visit to the library, but also the absence of whoever the librarian was. In fact, it was too vacated and quiet, even for a library. It was hard to tell if she was the only visitor of the hour or if she was one out of a trifling number of people scouring through books. In case it had been the latter, she held back calling for help and proceeded to look for either the book or the librarian on her own.

There were slabs imprinted on the side of every bookshelf that grouped their books into certain genres, and Johanna glanced through each of them as promptly as she could. Classical Non-Fiction. Encyclopedias. Spirituality. Whatever seemed to fit the type of stories her Winter Tales book was, it was too hard to discern right away.

Suddenly, she spots a young woman kneeling below a section of the Coming-Of-Age shelf while rearranging the contents. Beside her was a cart with even more books towering over her.  When she stood up, Johanna beheld the women’s grey fashion and short black hair that was purple towards tips, including the headphones lying around her neck that still blasted music. The expression on her face was quite peaceful, and something about it inferred a sense of contentment.

Johanna cleared her throat; her cheeks began to shine a faint tint of red. “Excuse me,” she spoke. “are you the librarian?”

“That is correct,” answered the purple-haired woman. “The library is about to close soon, so is there anything I can help with?”

“Oh, um, I was wondering if you——”

“Ah, say no more,” the librarian suddenly raises her hand up. “Come, follow me.” She simply walks pass Johanna, leaving her feeling quite perplexed. Suppose all she had to do now was listen walk behind her.

They found themselves ambling up the staircase where more books awaited them from atop. Among further rows of shelves, the two finally approached one with a label reading “Folklores”. They stopped walking, and the librarian was face-to-face with a vibrant row of end labels as she hovered her index finger over them. Beside her, Johanna could not help but perceive the music ever so playing on the librarian’s Walkman.

“So, um, what kind of music are you listening to?” she asked.

“Nothing much,” the librarian replied. “just some indie rock.”

“I see.”

“Do you also enjoy listening to it?”

“Well, no. Not often.”

The librarian glanced at Johanna. “I can pause it if it’s too distracting,” she offered.

“Oh, you don’t have to. It’s fine.” The brunette insisted.

Johanna’s heart was pounding strongly. She never had much time to engage in small talk with anyone by her own accord. It was hard for her not to overthink everything she was saying or wanted to say next, and if whether her interaction towards the librarian was even remotely troublesome or necessary. She just stood in silence, waiting and watching the goth woman do her work instead.

“Aha,” the librarian expressed, pulling out a book placed slightly above her. Looking down and reading the cover, she wipes off a spec of dust and turns to Johanna, carrying it over the distance between them.

“How did you know that what I was looking for?” Johanna asked, her eyebrows raised as she took the book from the librarian’s hands.

“Just a tendency that librarians have, I suppose.” she replied nonchalantly. She gawked at the book’s title once again, and a smile formed on her complexion. All of a sudden, the next song on her Walkman blared a slower, mellower tune from a piano and guitar.

“You know, that was one of my favorite books to read when I was younger,” she continued. “the story about Gryla was one I enjoyed especially.”

“Huh, me too.” Johanna chuckled. “I told my daughter the same story before she went to bed, and I promised I would tell her more about it with the book. I lost my old copy, though, which is why I came here.”

“One thing’s for certain, she is going to enjoy the book quite a lot when you give it to her.” The librarian said, despite the Winter Tales book being filled with gruesome imagery.

“Well, if I hadn’t known better, I would say you know who my daughter is as well.” Kidded Johanna.

The librarian flinched and chuckled stiffly. She halted reading Johanna’s thoughts for now, wanting to dodge anything beyond what she required.

“So, I assume that’s the only thing you need,” the librarian then said, finally pressing the pause button on her Walkman. “I’ll check the book out with a library receipt, and you will be good to go…”

_____________________________________________________________

The two made it downstairs with a large desk separating them. The librarian wrote down the contents for Johanna’s receipt and finalized them with a loud, red stamp.

“Okay, you have at least a month to return the book.” She spoke.

“Thank you, Miss…” Johanna paused, trying to read the nametag on the librarian’s cloak.

“You can call me “Kaisa”,” asserted the librarian quickly.

“Right,” Johanna grinned. “Thanks again, Kaisa. You have been a real help to me.”

“It’s no problem,” Kaisa nodded. “I can tell it was urgent, like with most people who come up to me first before finding a book themselves.”

“Right.” Johanna retorted lightheartedly. Looking out the windows above them, she noticed the first spill of snowfall over the now dimming sky. “It’s the last night of the Trolberg Winter Festival,” she continued. “will you be watching the Sonstansil Tree bloom this evening?”  

“No, I don’t plan on going.” Kaisa answered. “It’s…not really my thing. I’m just going to spend the night here.”

“Ah, I understand.” Johanna nodded. She could have left by that point; her personal quest to find a replacement for her Winter Tales book had basically succeeded. Yet she remained frozen once again, looking down on the book and then simply on the floor. The brunette never made too much of a personal effort to get out and converse with others since she moved to Trolberg. But after meeting Kaisa tonight, she was sure that neither did the city’s keeper of books.

“I was actually wondering, Kaisa, if you would like to come over to my place and respite when you’re not busy in the library,” she continued. “thought we could talk a little more and I’ll whip up some cucumber sandwiches and tea maybe?”

Kaisa’s heart skipped a beat, as did Johanna’s when she made her proposal. The purple-haired librarian did not know what to say without stammering from her elation. She knew she enjoyed being in the presence of the brunette so far, the patience and warmth in her voice was as inviting as any moonrise she could lay her eyes on. Spending time beyond a mere library transaction did not sound too bad, she thought.

“Are you sure about that?” Kaisa asked.

“Why, yes, of course…!” Johanna rejoined almost cheerfully.

The two women stared at each other, then looking away as they smiled awkwardly.

“I’ll tell you what,” Kaisa said. “when the return policy expires, that’s when I’ll come over, and I can pick up and return the book myself after I hang out with you.”

“Allow me to write down the address, then.” Said Johanna, pulling out a pen and small piece of paper out of her purse. She scribbled the name of her street and apartment number as fast as she could, then sliding it over to Kaisa’s direction. The librarian picks it up; the first thing she reads on the paper was “Johanna’s Apt.”.

“Hm. well, thanks for this, Johanna,” She glanced at the brunette one last time.

“Take care of yourself,” Johanna grinned, slowly walking away from the desk and carrying a new book of Winter Tales. “Don’t get too cold.”

Kaisa kept her eyes on her now-departing visitor. Before she could even reach the doorhandle, she began to stutter. “Oh, a-also,” Kaisa spoke, catching Johanna’s attention. “I know I said I won’t be seeing the tree tonight but…consider that book a present from me,” she smiled the brightest she has ever smiled tonight, realizing how silly she must sound just to cheer up Johanna. “Happy Sonstansil.”

The quickness of her heartbeat made her face glow the most intense shade of pink. Johanna chuckled; she could not wait to see her librarian again one day.