Whew! 
Sorry for the bit of radio silence, we were... Well, we were having a bit of a Christmas Holiday <3

All in all, it were, and still are, a few good days!
Presents were exchanged, shenanigans enused, and I am happy to report that the present was well received. In fact, my BF might want to help continue the project, adding a proper wooden casing rather than the 3D printed one I am using now. That would fit the aesthetic beautifully <3

For Christmas itself the present wasn't quite done, it was just about able to play back some music, but we had a few free days since then, and... Well:

All we need now is to solder up a second one, polish the server-side and add a little more audio handling, perhaps a way to use these to directly talk with each other like a DIY intercom :>

It'll be fun!