Disclaimers:

This story features some bondage kink, but is mostly wholesome.

It contains no narrative spoilers for Final Fantasy XIV but is set in an Endwalker hub area.

All featured characters are OCs.

"Happy Starlight Celebration!" Ehla said with a cheerful smile, as she waved at the administrator behind the front desk of her dorms.

"Mh-hm. Yes, of course," he returned, barely even looking up from his ledgers to make sure she was supposed to be here.

Unbothered by his disinterest, Ehla bounded up the steps, her bushy tail swishing happily behind her in anticipation of her evening plans.

The Starlight Celebration wasn't widely celebrated in Sharlayan, barely at all, really. It was mostly limited to Eorzea, its city states practically drowning in decorations this time of year. When Ehla had spent time abroad in Limsa Lominsa with two of her fellow cultural anthropology students, it happened to coincide with the holiday, and the spirit never left any of them, even once they were back home.

In fact, they had infected their usual study group with enough of the spirit that they got them to agree to celebrate with them this year. Just one evening of tossing as many traditions together as they could. They wouldn't be able to get a Saint, so they agreed to just offer presents to each other, drawn by lottery. And Ehla could not have been happier with the name on the card she had drawn from the hat.

Once she was back in her dorm room, she quickly put down her satchel and began to take off her studium uniform. Classes had run late for her today, so she was probably the last to deliver her gift. But all the better for it, otherwise it wouldn't be much of a surprise.

Humming the approximate melody of a holiday song she seemed to remember, she opened her closet and retrieved the clothes she intended to wear for the party. Some pieces she had managed to get delivered from overseas, but the main piece was one she had purchased in Limsa during her stint there.

She skipped over to her standing mirror in her plain underwear, holding the festive dress in front of her. It was a bright red, warm and thick against the winter cold, with fluffy white trims, yet it only reached to just above her knees. A pair of white pompons hung from the front of the collar and a big hood hung in the back. She giggled excitedly and tossed it on her bed for now.

First, she slipped her legs into the warm, snowflake-pattern tights. They were a snug fit, but likely made for a Hyur instead, since she had to make some amateur alterations to it so she had a hole to slip her tail through. Next, she slipped into a pair of black boots, several inches to the heels and the same fluffy trim and pompons around the top, lacing them up tightly with a neat little bow.

Standing in front of the mirror again, Ehla picked up a red ribbon already waiting on the desk and tied her long, brown hair into a braid, interlacing the ribbon between the strands and finally using it to tie off the end with another bow.

Keepers of the Moon in Eorzea and other parts of the world had a tradition of warpaint, another thing that the Miqo'te of Sharlayan didn't tend to participate in. Ehla wasn't trying to entice power from Nophica today, but she did want to paint her face a little bit regardless.

Leaning in close to the mirror, she used a glittering paint to carefully draw a few tiny stars with a thin make-up brush. On one cheek, she made them fit between and around her natural facial markings, on the other she painted them a little larger, overlapping the markings instead.

Finally, she took a shiny green earclip and attached it to one of her feline ears, to break up the outfit with just a tiny bit of contrast. She flicked both ears a little as she examined herself in the mirror. Quickly, she picked the dress up again and pulled it over her head, doing a quick twirl in front of the mirror with the look complete.

"Perfect!" She clapped her hands and looked at the time-keeper on her wall, before hurriedly picking up the small bag of things she had prepared the day before. Their little party wouldn't be for a while, still, but her gift did require some setup. On the way out of the door, she left her tall thaumaturge staff, picking up a more compact sceptre instead.

She greeted the administrator again on the way out, as well as a few other people she passed. Her getup definitely drew some more attention, from furrowed brows to half-hearted well-wishes. The dress and tights were warm, but she could definitely feel the cold on her face and on her fingers, snow gradually falling but not lasting long once it hit the grass and cobblestone, which made up the Tranquillity Park between the dorms and the studium.

Once inside one of the lecture buildings, she headed up the winding steps to the study halls, the clicking of her heels making her steps echo in the corridor. She finally made it to the room they managed to have set aside for their get-together and quickly stepped inside.

One table was set up in the centre of the room, with half a dozen chairs surrounding it. On top was the best thing they could get in lieu of a Starlight Tree: the tip of a pine, barely taller than thirty ilms, stood up and hung with a few charms, not all of them traditional. Three gift-wrapped packages were huddled around it and a fourth, larger one was sitting on the floor. The walls were sparsely decorated, with what they could afford to find or make themselves.

A petite Hyur girl looked up as the door opened, in the middle of unpacking a few things and setting them out on the table, a few tins and boxes, alongside dishes and cutlery. She was still wearing her uniform, but had replaced the proper necktie with a green ribbon bow.

"Ehla! You're... wow." The girl paused and looked her over. Ehla smiled and did another twirl for her, letting the fluffy edge of the dress rise a bit around her thighs. "Um, you're really early. We're not starting until at least a bell or two from now."

"Oh, I know. I still have to leave my gift and, uh... wanted to make sure it's a surprise!"

The girl hummed in thought, looking at her with that intent look she had when she was putting the pieces of a puzzle together. "Yours is for Beki, then."

The mention of the name alone brightened Ehla's smile and she played with the end of her braid. "Whaaat? No way! What would be the odds?"

"Well, only two gifts are missing. Beki's and yours. And we all made sure we didn't draw ourselves." She finished setting the table and started heading to the door. "It's okay, she won't hear it from me. See you later."

"Hehe, okay, later, Amice." Ehla waved to her until the door closed before letting out a sigh.

Beki. She really was worth sighing about. Ehla wasn't too proud to admit she had been crushing on the Au Ra student since the first time they'd sat next to each other in a lecture. Her sharp eyes, smooth features, raven-like hair and glistening black horns... and yet it all hid how excitable and adorable she could be whenever her stoic mask did fall away.

They'd been dancing around each other for years now. Well, Ehla certainly did. She did suspect very strongly that Beki liked her back, but it was hard to get straight answers from her at the best of times. All the more reason to go all in with her gift tonight.

She walked to the table and opened the bag she brought. Half of it was just filled with coils of smooth, soft ribbons, in red, green, and white. Maybe it was a silly idea, and maybe she had read too many smutty romance novels, but this was what she had decided on:

This year, Ehla herself would be Beki's gift!

Maybe offering herself like that would finally get her to make a move. She didn't even have to unwrap her, she could just take her home as she was and...

Ehla clapped her hands on her cheeks. Focus! She still had time to daydream once she was done setting herself up. She cast a look around the room, wondering where she should sit. In one of the chairs, maybe? Or on the floor, next to the large gift? Sure, everyone else would see her like that, too, but that was already a calculated cost. Her friends knew what she was about, it honestly wasn't going to shock them that much. Probably.

She weighed the options when her eyes fell on a slim set of doors in the corner. She was just going to sit in the open, with the other gifts, but what if Beki actually had to go looking for her? She smirked and bounded up to the doors with her bad, pulling them open.

It was a narrow closet, made even more claustrophobic by the shelves of material. Rolls of paper and parchment, boxes of pens and markers, chalk and sponges, magnets, all kinds of things students might need during study sessions or when preparing presentations.

Ehla retrieved her card from the bag, the little piece of hard cardboard she had drawn from the hat. Beki's name was written on it in her own, swirly handwriting. Ehla had planned to just wear it around her neck, but now she instead hung the card by its ribbon on one of the doorknobs, before slipping inside the closet and nudging the doors closed behind her.

Only some of the room's light got into the closet through the cracks, but her eyes adjusted quickly. She crouched down to unpack her bag, then smoothed out the dress over her butt before sitting down on the floor, nudging herself back from the door a little more.

Wrapping herself up would be a challenge, for sure, if she didn't already work out the theory ahead of time. A simple animating charm on the ribbons with a simple instruction baked in would do the trick. But before that, she still had to prep herself a little bit.

First, she picked up the pine green collar and laid it around her neck. She was going to hang the name card from it, but it would complete the look without it, too. She could have put it on earlier in that case, but she also did have it made under the pretense of a pet, so maybe it wasn't the best thing to be seen wearing in public.

Once the collar was snug, she retrieved a handful of cloths, simple material that she usually used as stuffing for her weaving projects, or for initial test pieces. This time, though, they were going to serve as a different kind of stuffing. Opening her mouth, she started stuffing her cheeks first, then pushed some more into her mouth, lodging it behind her sharp canines, until it was filled out, her cheeks bulging a little, which would hopefully serve to make her round face look just a tad more cute.

Next was a long, silk scarf, the light kind one could wear in the summer for fashion. She had made it for class once, but was so happy with it that she had kept it for herself to wear. But again, she was going to use it for a different purpose this time.

She laid the white scarf over her lips and wound it around her head once, only to feel her braid pressing against her neck. She thought for a moment, then picked up her braid and carefully rested the end on one of the nearby shelves, to keep it out of the way. Careful not to move her head too much, she started again with wrapping the scarf, pulling it tight around her cheeks with each pass, but making sure the end was still poking out on the back of her head. Once she had wrapped the whole length around her head, she found both ends and tied a knot, then let her braid slip down again.

Ehla felt over the improvised gag and led out a testing hum. It muffled her already, but probably wasn't going to keep her quiet if she actually wanted to get somebody to hear her. But that wasn't really the point, either. Still, just feeling it tightly wrap around her and keeping the stuffing trapped inside her mouth felt... good. A little embarrassing, of course, but also comforting in a strange way.

Still, that was the prep work done, now it was time for the main event. She picked up her sceptre and held the head over the rolls of ribbons. She wouldn't words for a charm this simple, but she still needed to focus, to make sure they actually did exactly what she wanted them to do. Not that her command was very detailed. Though she had some idea of how she wanted it to happen, and those thoughts would influence their behaviour, at the centre was one simple instruction:

Restrain!

With startling immediacy, the ribbons rustled and started to unravel, the plastic rolls they were coiled around clattering on the floor as they snaked their way up to and around her. In a quick decision, Ehla tossed her sceptre away, closer to the door, then shifted her position, intending to not put up much of a fight.

She put her legs together and reached her arms behind her back, holding still as the ribbons quickly leapt up and wound themselves around her, some tightening right away on her wrists and her ankles, others winding their way up further, like serpents trying reach a vulnerable spot on their prey. Even through the warm tights, she could feel them circling her legs, some settling above and below her knees, others snaking underneath the skirt of her dress to tighten around her thighs.

She couldn't feel them as easily on her arms, through the padded sleeves of the dress, but certainly did feel it when they tighten around her upper arms, forcing them closely together, the ribbons then practically snapping around her torso, above and below her chest, forcing her arms against her back.

Her heartbeat quickened and she grunted underneath the gag, the force and speed of the ribbons more than she had expected. Despite being the one to animate and command them, a slight panic set in as she very rapidly lost control and movement range.

Just as quickly as they had sprung to life, the ribbons had finished their work. They were wrapped tightly around her arms and legs, and at least on the leg ties, which were the only ones Ehla could see, they had tied themselves off in neat little bows atop the merciless knots.

Ehla took a steadying breath through her nose. The brief bout of panic aside, everything was going to plan. She couldn't see herself right now, but between the cute outfit and the ribbons, she definitely made for a nice gift. Hopefully, Beki would think so too.

She got set up rather quickly, actually. Maybe she overestimated how much time she would need. Then again, she couldn't really have known how fast or well her spell would respond. With her being wrapped up so quickly, she still had at least one bell and a half left before the others would arrive.

Sitting tied up in the dark was kind of exciting, but it wasn't the most mentally stimulating pastime. Maybe she had time for a nap. Ehla tried to nudge herself into the corner a bit more, pushing her heels into the floor to slide her butt back. In response, the ribbons sprung to life again, suddenly, tightening on her, the knots redoing themselves to keep the pressure of the restraints. Ehla grunted and reflexively tried to push against it, resulting in little more then helpless wriggling. Did they assume that this was an escape attempt? She definitely didn't instruct them to do that, though. Maybe it was just an aftereffect of the remaining magick she had poured into them?

Very carefully, she leaned back against the shelves and tucked her legs in. The ribbons didn't respond this time, but she could feel them all tightly pressing into her clothes, her somewhat thick thighs especially. Yet it wasn't too uncomfortable, maybe owing to the padded clothes, and she found it easy to relax once she slumped back a bit and closed her eyes.

Just a little nap until the others arrived. Until Beki would come find her. She let out a muffled giggle and breathed out long and slow, letting herself doze off...