Christmas Eve Dinner

[lulu8889]

Who: Lulu, Moira, Clarice, Troy, Neil, Bod, Castiel Ianto (and if Ianto feels like inviting him, Jack), and Richie
What: Christmas Eve dinner + celebrations
When: Christmas eve, seven or eight PM ish
Where: The Lulu/Moira/Clarice abode
Rating: C for Christmas

Comments

[owingnobody]

Bod had spent most of the afternoon in a state of quiet agitation. He'd paced around his room for most of the morning, occasionally venturing out into the hall and pacing there. He'd gotten tired of being inside and had walked up and down every street of the town, but it hadn't taken him very long, so he'd done it again, until he was rather cold. Then he took himself over and let Neil scold him for doing ridiculous things, and paced up and down his halls for an hour or two until Neil kindly suggested that a change of scenery might do him some good. So they went to church, which was a little strange, but he sat quietly and listened; the story was slightly more familiar to him now, even if he DID have the odd inclination to laugh at the mention of Mary and Joseph. It had helped, a little; the sermon was about uncertainty, and what could possibly be more uncertain than-- than what, Owens? Dinner at Lulu's house?

And then they came back, and all seemed fine, until about fifteen minutes before they were supposed to leave, when a whole onslaught of pent-up anxiety came rushing back to him. And really, what was he worried about? He'd been in plenty of situations before where he didn't know the traditions, or the people, or anything at all. But usually, he could pass it off as a victim of his own upbringing, being the ignorant foreigner who simply didn't have the lay of the land. And while he knew that these people were friends-- he knew everyone who would be there, didn't he?-- it was different because now, they knew him too, and he'd be damned if it didn't matter more to him that people might think him foolish.

There were a lot of other things that were causing him anxiety, too. Like gift-giving, for instance. Where in God's name had people come up with this strange and archaic principle? And why was it so very hard to do? It made Bod wish he had a talent, or an ability, like Lulu's knack for baking. Something he could share with people. And what if he chose a gift for someone, and they simply didn't like it? How uncomfortable would that be?

Sometimes, he wished he could still Fade. But he wanted to go, even as he was terrified to, and if he went, there was no one he could really hide from. So he was sitting out on Neil's front porch, on the top step, staring across the street at Lulu's house... simply waiting for Neil, and trying not to think too hard.

[notdead_poet]

Clutching a shopping bag full of wrapped gifts in his right hand, Neil managed to maneuver the front door open. He shivered slightly as the freezing air shot through the heated room, but adjusted quickly. Neil locked the door and tugged it shut with one hand before turning his attention to Bod. "Long time no see," he grinned, leaning in to peck his cheek. Bod was all bundled up, which pleased Neil, and his cheeks were flushed and pink, which made him look twice as adorable. However, he also looked just as horrified as he had when Neil had seen him earlier that day.

"Calm down, alright? It's just a meal with a friend." He took Bod's hand with the one not holding the shopping bag, and started to lead him toward Lulu's. It was an amusingly poetic bit of irony. Bod had lived in a graveyard, had stood alongside ghosts and ghouls and all manners of terrors, both dead and alive. But he was petrified of Christmas dinner.

[owingnobody]

"Calm? I am calm," Bod said, climbing to his feet. "Look at how calm I am!" Giving Neil a big, bright smile, he picked up his own bag in his off hand and took Neil's, firmly and with confidence. "Let's go!" he said.

I can do this, he thought to himself. I'm just going to pretend that I'm totally fine, and no one is going to know that I am a ROILING MASS OF FEAR on the inside. And everything will be okay. ...Right?

[notdead_poet]

Neil laughed and shook his head, wondering if Bod honestly thought he was fooling him. "It's going to be great, okay? I promise. It's going to be a nice dinner with good friends, and probably some presents. There's nothing to feel nervous or uncomfortable about."

At this point, they were at Lulu's door. Neil squeezed Bod's hand for a little addition of reassurance before ringing the doorbell.

[owingnobody]

Bod wasn't sure if there was any way to explain to Neil that it didn't matter how much he told himself that he was being ridiculous and irrational, that this, for some reason, was still borderline terrifying to him, and he didn't know what it was that made him put so much pressure on himself to have this night be special or something, but he had and he did and it was not fun in the slightest. So he was just going to stand there and pretend like it wasn't happening and hope that once he got inside he would, in fact, calm down.

And in the meantime, he was going to continue pretending. It was not easy, though, when Neil reached for the doorbell and his insides screamed-- screamed-- in terror and protest. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath... and waited.

[lulu8889]

Lulu ran to the door, wondering whether her next arrival would be her best friend and his boyfriend who was also her friend, her angel friend, her Welsh friend, or Richie. To be honest, Lulu would've been happy with any of their arrivals. Opening the door it was Bod and Neil. A very terrified looking Bod, for that matter. "Merry Christmas!" Lulu exclaimed, giving her friends each a hug. "Come on in out of the cold. Candy cane?" she asked, holding out two. "You okay there, Bod?" Lulu gave Neil a questioning look.

[notdead_poet]

Neil dropped his bag of presents just in time to catch Lulu in a tight embrace. "Merry Christmas, dear," he gave her a kiss on the cheek and took the candy cane. "Thanks. Oh! Here," he handed her two gold-paper-wrapped packages, one large and one somewhat tiny.

Then he met the look with a small smile and a shrug as if to say 'don't worry about it.' He slid an arm around Bod's shoulders and rubbed playfully. "He just needs some of your amazing food. If I know this boy, he hasn't eaten a thing all day."

[owingnobody]

Bod opened his mouth to protest, then closed it again when he realized that Neil was pretty much right. To his credit, he had tried to eat earlier, but he'd pretty much only had a few mouthfuls of toast and some tea. So, instead, he offered her an unsure-but-game smile. "Merry Christmas," he said, his voice coming out just a little on the weak side. Clearing his throat, he said, "...I have something for you, too, but I'd have to dig to find it... can I put this down in the kitchen?"

[lulu8889]

She grinned, accepting her presents happily. "Yours are under the tree, I'll get them out after dinner." She looked at Bod. She didn't want to make him feel awkward but he looked terribly nervous. "Yeah, eat the candy cane so you don't pass out though, please. Troy's already here. Moira's around somewhere and Clarice should be, too. We're still waiting for Castiel, Ianto, and Richie. And possibly Jack."

[notdead_poet]

"They're good, they're peppermint flavored," Neil explained to Bod, because he realized Bod probably hadn't had access to such things back home. Lulu listed the other guests, and at one in particular, Neil could practically feel Bod freeze under his arm. He turned to him quickly and this time, the circles he made on Bod's shoulder with his thumb were (hopefully)soothing, not so playful. "Hey. She means Jack Harkness, alright? He's a good guy, I promise." Lulu would possibly be a little confused, but he'd explain later.

[owingnobody]

Even on a good day, Bod would still flinch at the mention of the name 'Jack'. And then he'd scold himself for it, and move on with his day. The Jacks of All Trades were all gone now, and couldn't hurt him anymore.

On this day, at the mention of 'Jack', his knee-jerk reaction was to create a distraction, Fade, and get away from there before Neil or Lulu could see through it. This probably meant going back outside, and once there, he'd stand on the porch and feel like an idiot for several minutes, and then come back inside. The only thing keeping him from doing exactly that was Neil's grip on his shoulders-- and his quick grasp of the situation.

He took a deep breath, and forced a modicum of common sense into his brain. Then he nodded. "The Doctor," he said, "mentioned him, the first time I met him. He said I had to watch out for him." The stars were slowly clearing from his vision, and he quirked a bit of a shaky grin. "'Course, he said to watch out for him because he'd... try to hit on me or something, I don't know."

Oh, he didn't have any common sense at all. If he did, he would have eaten something today, and probably been calmer, and not overreacted at silly things... and he wouldn't feel so desperately like he needed to sit somewhere and wait for his legs to stop shaking. "I'll be right back, I'm... just going to go set this down." Reassuring them both that he was fine, he turned and escaped into the kitchen.

[notdead_poet]

Neil wanted to go with him and make sure he would truly be alright, but Bod seemed only too eager to assure them that he was. And as much as Neil liked to make Bod feel better about things, he also didn't want to be condescending or crowd Bod's space when he needed a minute alone. So he gave his shoulder a last squeeze and let him go.

Then he turned to Lulu, smiled sheepishly. "He'll be fine."

[lulu8889]

"You sure?" she asked, taking her friend's arm and leading him further into the house as she slipped her presents under the tree on her side of presents. "Is he really that nervous? I swear, it's not going to a super scary dinner. It's even small-ish this year."

[notdead_poet]

Neil nodded, wishing he could tell her the whole truth so she wouldn't worry, but knowing it wasn't his place. Anyway, tonight was supposed to be happy and fun, and there was no need to taint it with past shadows and fears. "Yeah, don't worry about it. I'll go check on him in a minute, but I think he just needs a breather."

He grinned, deciding it was high time for a topic change, and one he was particularly interested in. "So," he nudged her, "our friend Riche's back in town, huh?"

[lulu8889]

"Okay," Lulu replied, not fully believing that there wasn't something going on, but she'd get that out of Bod later. When he wasn't freaking out so badly.

Lulu tried very hard not to blush at her friend's very obvious question. "Yeah, Richie's back in town. And coming tonight. Have you seen him since he's been back?"

[notdead_poet]

"I have not," Neil answered, eyes twinkling because Lulu's valiant attempt at not blushing had very much not worked. "It'll be nice to, though. It was great, having someone around from the same time as me. And I have a feeling we'll have even more to talk about now." He grinned innocently.