Hanukkah alone (Erik x Jewish!reader)

    You looked at the menorah in front of you with a forced and bitter smile. The first Hanukkah away from your family, the first Hanukkah with nothing.

    You had not even had a menorah until you had bought this flimsy thing with the last money you had had… the last thing that had connected you to your family as they had kicked you out as soon as they had seen your mutant powers. You would never have endangered them, but they cast you out regardless, cursed you as a vile thing God had never even looked at, not even in spite.

    It brought a tear to your eye and you quickly wiped it away, thinking of the good that had come of it. It was not much, but at least you had not been alone for long. Erik had found you, had promised you to help you, keep you safe if you could pull your own weight. So far, you tried as did the few others he had gathered around him.

    But none of the others shared your religion, only Erik did. Although he did not, at the same time, not really.

    On the first day of Hanukkah, you had asked him to light the candle with you, but he had refused. Every day you had asked him anew, to no avail. His responses had only become shorter, gruffer and yesterday, the seventh day, you had only had to knock on his door before he had sent you away.

    So today at nightfall, on the last day of Hanukkah, you had not even bothered. True, you had stopped in front of his door, but in the end you had not knocked. It would not have changed a thing, you would have still been alone in front of the menorah. With a sigh, you placed the last candle in its hold and then reached for the matches to light the shamash.

    The single flame flickered in a draft that should not be there and alarmed you turned around, the candle in hand.

    “Erik…”, you mumbled, taken by surprise as you saw him standing in the door to your room. His eyes were fixed on the candle in your hand and with a smile, you decided to try one last time: “Would you care to join me?”

    He did not say a word, but he stepped into the room and closed the door, which was all the answer you needed.

    You waited for him to stand next to you, and then you handed the candle to him. At his surprised gaze you explained with a smile: “It falls to you to light the first candle.”

    Erik stared at you, then at the flame and finally he whispered: “I have not lit the flames in… ever since…”

    “I know.”, you answered quietly and when he looked at you, you explained, “Or I figured. Go on.”

    Erik shook his head as if to gather his thoughts, his face contorted in an inner fight. You waited and finally the words spilled from him: “Why? How can you still do this? Your family rejected you, my family was killed. Why honour a God that abandoned us? How?!”

    You smiled bitterly, tears forming in your eyes as you heard the anguish, the desperation in his voice.

    “It is not about God.”, you then said and Erik looked at you, frowning, “It is about believing.”

    He scoffed and turned away, but you continued: “It’s about our belief in family, in…”

    “We have no family!”, Erik growled at you, but you softly answered back, “We have us. That’s all we need.”

    Again he frowned, but signalled you with a court nod to speak, so you explained: “It isn’t about God, but instead about our belief in the family we have chosen, our belief in unity. In hope. And as there will always be a light out there, somewhere, at least up in the sky, there will always be hope. That flame will never die, it will burn for far more than eight days. Unless we snuff it out willingly.”

    By now wax was dripping down on your fingers, but you kept your eyes bored into Erik’s. He stared at you, still frowning, thinking, but then he gingerly accepted the candle from your hand and lit the last candle on the left, the one untouched so far. He then handed the shamash back to you and you proceeded with the next candle, then handed it back and together you lit all the eight candles in turn. While doing so, you started to recite the blessings and it filled your heart with joy to hear Erik join in. There was no sound but the quiet mumbling of your two voices, reciting the blessings.

    You placed the candle in your hand in it respective place and then turned to Erik, happily telling him: “Thank you. I was afraid of having to celebrate Hanukkah all alone.”

    “You shall not be alone.”, he whispered and as tears suddenly filled your eyes, Erik pulled you in a hug, unexpected und unexpectedly gentle.

    You sniffled, dried your tears and then took a step back, looking up at Erik as you jested: “Unfortunately, I don’t have a dreidel on me. And no raisins to play with, either.”

    He smiled at this, held you at arm’s length and then suggested: “How about a game of chess then?”

    “Gladly.”, you nodded and as Erik went to get the chessboard, you quietly wiped away another tear. This was nothing like Hanukkah with your family, but it was… something, something beautiful, just like the flames lighting the room.