[Fanfic] If the Fates Allow
So over on Facebook I made up a note asking for Christmas carols/songs to inspire me to write fics, fandom of my own choosing. I was gonna go with one of the Hetalia ones first, but it requires a spot of research (don't it always! DX), and with finals coming up I don't have time for that right now. SOON! But not right now. So last night I stayed up and whipped up this little number instead.
Title: If the Fates Allow (Christmas Carol Challenge #5)
Song: “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” (primarily the Frank Sinatra version)
Fandom: Homestuck
Characters/Pairings: John, Dad, Rose, Mom, Dave, Bro, Jade, Grandpa, Bec
Warnings: None
Word count: 5,393
Out the open door, snow fell soft, mushy, and half-melted, from the darkening sky, illuminated with lights flickering red and green and white like cold-weather fireflies, and the chill reached in with sharp fingers to scratch at John’s nose and cheeks, wearing away at the warmth of their house. But he was numb to the cold, numb to the smell of snow and of pine and of fireplaces gathered round by families, and the lights blurred in his vision, mingling with tears he was trying hard to hold back. Within his house there were decorations lining every hallway, presents piled high under a majestic white pine tree topped with a golden angel, and Christmas cookies freshly baked and cooling atop the oven. He had awoken Christmas Eve morning to the smells of pies already being baked, and to his father’s annual Christmas prank (the shaving cream beard was not one of his more inspired jokes, but for that John was grateful), and to the sounds of Sinatra crooning over the radio. It was just like the start of the other eight Christmases before this one, at least that he could remember. Everything should have been perfect.
But there was his father with his coat on, one foot out the door and the other hurrying to follow, soft woolen scarf wrapped uncharacteristically sloppily around his neck.
“Got a call into work, champ,” he explained, the disappointment from his son leaching into his voice. “It’s some big emergency…but don’t worry, your dad’ll take care of it, and I’ll be right back before you know it. Okay?”
“Y-yeah,” John managed to squeak out, his young voice cracking like thin ice. “Yeah, okay Dad. I’ll just…wait here, I guess.” He ran a sleeve quickly over his face and beneath his glasses, smearing off tears and snot, and his dad reached out a white-gloved hand to ruffle his unruly hair.
“That’s the spirit, sport. I’ll see you soon. Go walk to a friend’s house if you get lonely.”
“…Sure, Dad.” Feeling a lump catch in his throat, John watched his father step out into the slush, his pale coat blending into the white flakes. A strong wind hit him, threatening to let loose his scarf, but both the man and the wool hung on tenaciously and battled bravely with the elements until Mr. Egbert disappeared into his car and drove off.
“If I had any friends,” he mumbled out into the cold before shutting the door behind him. He sank against the back of it, rubbing his hands together to relieve them from brief numbness. John suspected his father knew, somehow, about his troubles at school, the classmates’ birthdays he was ridiculed for avoiding the cakes they brought in (seriously, who doesn’t like cake?!), the days he spent alone on the playground at recess because no one would reenact his favorite movie scenes with him (Nicholas who?). He suspected, but his father had never once called him on it, never once suggested he change who he was to suit someone else’s tastes. He just encouraged John’s movie fanaticism as much as he encouraged his perceived obsession with harlequins (seriously where had that even come from?)-though he never stopped baking.
Dad will be home soon anyway, he comforted himself, and with a deep breath he wiped the last of the tears from his face and stood, making his way with the briefest of glances to the urn of his grandmother’s ashes on the mantle to the stairs and up to his room. Maybe he wasn’t the only one alone on Christmas, he thought, hope springing up in his chest. There was only one way to find out.
-- ghostyTrickster [GT] signed onto Pesterchum! --
-- None of ghostyTrickster’s [GTs] chums are online! --
Stupid. Stupid stupid dumb.
----
Somewhere across the vast expanse of chest-deep snow, Rose’s mother was in the laboratory working. On Christmas Eve.
She had made a big show about feeling awful for having to leave. “Dearest, you have no idea how sorry I am, leaving you alone like this! And the day before Christmas! Don’t worry, it won’t be for long, Mommy will fix that awful server problem and then she’ll be right back and we can celebrate Christmas together properly, alright? Don’t you fret! Everything will be just fine!”
Sounded like Mother had been getting into the wine again. She was always this dramatic when she got into the wine. (And she was always this dramatic, so you can see where this is going.)
“Sure, Mother,” Rose had responded, tucking her hands behind her back. “I will see you tomorrow afternoon, then.”
“Oh, Rosie, don’t be like that!” she had exclaimed, caught up in the emotional theatrics of the season, no doubt, pausing with one foot out the door. “When has Mother ever let you down?”
“Oh, never,” Rose had replied coolly to the door as it shut, leaving her in this huge house by herself.
The interior was warm enough. Best heating system money could buy aside, her mother had imported only the finest and most charming Christmas decorations from France, each piece chosen with the utmost care to suit Rose’s tastes. Delicate, dark glass ornaments winked at her with the light of the setting sun through the windows, dotted along the halls and hanging from their tree (only the best, a thirteen-foot tall Douglas fir that had had to be airlifted in-which was completely inane considering the mountains of presents that threatened to drown it in shiny, meticulously-folded wrapping paper). In their hearth was a never-ending fire, fed new wood automatically by some contraption inside whose mechanism Rose couldn’t even begin to guess at.
But the emptiness brought a certain measure of cold to it. Rose snatched up her book from where she had been reading at the kitchen table while her mother had been mixing her special batch of egg nog (which she knew better than to take even a sip of) and curled up by the fireplace, trying to concentrate.
It was stupid, really. Mom left her alone all the time. What made one day out of the year so special so as to make her this upset by it that she couldn’t even focus on one of her favorite novels?
The house seemed so, so quiet. And the quiet was horribly loud.
Rose started suddenly, the sound of scratching catching her attention. It was faint, coming from the direction of the front door, but she could hear it. It kept up, growing louder and louder the more she tried to ignore it, until finally she shut the book with a snap and stood, pulling on a coat merely to keep from freezing the moment she opened the door.
No one was there, but a quiet mew drew her gaze downward. A small kitten blinked bright eyes up at her and mewed again, and she could barely distinguish its white coat from the snow. Something sharp jammed through her heart like an icicle. This was it, she realized, freezing with her hand halfway to involuntarily stroke the cat with two careful fingers between the ears. Her first Christmas without Jaspers (her first Christmas without a friend, who else would waste their time listening to her prattle verbosely on and on about the state of the human psyche, who else would be willing to allow her to attempt to dig into the very depths of their mind and psychoanalyze them to their very core?).
“You look hungry,” she whispered, which was all the volume she could muster. The kitten mewed back at her. “I can’t let you in, but I can bring you some milk. Wait here.”
She closed the door gently and, willing her heart to stop pounding quite so hard, thank you, she hurried to the kitchen and poured a bowl of milk (the bowl she had used for Jaspers, before they had gotten him a proper one, a sturdy, heavy, porcelain thing that kept heat well). Thirty seconds in the microwave seemed to last forever, but finally, she had the warmed bowl in hand and in front of the door.
To her immense relief, the kitten was still there, mewling patiently as if it had understood her, and once the bowl was down it lapped at the warmed liquid with relish. Rose smiled the briefest of sad smiles but quickly closed the door again while the kitten was distracted.
No more reading for the night. Now that she knew what it was that was bothering her, there was no way she could concentrate. She headed upstairs and turned on her computer to find a way to distract herself. Someone else had to be online today, right?
-- tentacleTherapist [TT] signed onto Pesterchum! --
-- None of tentacleTherapist’s [TTs] chums are online! --
…Well honestly. What had she expected?
----
Without fail, Bro was home for his birthday. Every year. Make no mistake, there was no irony lost in the act; more often than not he was late, or only present for a few hours at a time, or, occasionally, stoned off his ass. Sometimes a combination of the three, always to the point when Dave had to question (to himself, of course, it wouldn’t be very cool of him to question the unfathomable irony of the elder Strider) why he even bothered. And without fail, twenty-one days later when Bro failed to show up in their cruddy shithole of an apartment, Dave regretted that question, because whatever compunction his guardian had for showing up with complete accuracy on the day of his birth apparently did not extend to Christmas Eve.
“What, so some guy gets burned at the stake and impaled through the limbs or whatever and suddenly his birthday’s a goddamn miracle?” he had demanded once, when Dave was too little to know better than to ask after it. “Ain’t nobody gonna be raving about the day Strider crash-landed on this fucking planet after I die, so why bother?”
And that was that.
“Just do what all the other kids wish they were awesome enough to do: invite some friends over, have a party, get wasted,” had been his advice. “I won’t stop you. Hell, I’ll leave the beer in the fridge.”
But the irony was not lost on either Strider; Dave was too cool for friends, and besides, no parent with half a wit in their head would let their kid inside that hellish apartment for all the tea in fucking China. Or so some douchebag had yelled at Dave from a school bus window once, just in time for the brief silence between tracks on his walkman. Asshole.
Dave had developed a pattern over the years, with the house to himself. First, an early breakfast of not-getting-his-limbs-sliced-to-shreds by the pile of shitty weapons in the fridge and digging-through-puppet-ass-to-get-to-use-the-microwave. This year, he was lucky and ended up with some cereal, and-score-a bowlful of unspoiled milk to put it in. He ate in near-silence, beat-boxing to himself between spoonfuls, and ignored the view outside the small, grimy windows. He didn’t get the deal with white Christmases. It never snowed here anyway.
Leaving his empty bowl on the one clear spot on the kitchen counter, he headed over to their gaming station, doing his best to ignore the scrubby little bush thing that was supposed to pass for a Christmas tree. Bro had decorated it with what could not by any stretch of the imagination be construed as Christmas ornaments, and while Dave could see the irony in that if he turned his head and squinted real hard at it for a couple hours, it was not worth the amount of brain bleach he would have needed afterwards.
Breakfast was followed by three solid hours of video games, and then over to his turntables for a little practice before turning off his equipment to grace the internet with his presence. Truly, there was little difference between that day and any other day, except that it was just a little bit quieter and just a little less creepy, and as an early Christmas present Lil Cal decided to stop doing that disturbing thing where he would appear in locations in which Dave swore he hadn’t been left. For just one day, at least.
But really, the day was no big deal. Really. Just another one of the 365.25 days of the year. Nothing special.
-- turntechGodhead [TG] signed onto Pesterchum! --
-- None of turntechGodhead’s [TGs] chums are online! --
Man, why did he even bother? Everyone else in the world was gonna be busy today, anyway.
----
-- gardenGnostic [GG] began pestering ghostyTrickster [GT] at 4:13 PM --
GG: hello!! :)
GT: oh, wow. hi there!
GT: i don’t think i’ve talked to you before!
GG: heehee! no you havent!! :D
GG: my names jade
GT: ok hi jade! my name’s john.
GG: its good to finally talk to you john!
GT: “finally?”
GT: what do you mean? have you been internet-stalking me??
GG: :O! oh noooo!!
GT: hehe i was just kidding!
GG: oh ok! :D
GG: john this is a very special day!!
GT: haha well yeah it’s christmas eve.
GG: oh right heehee! i mean aside from that silly!!
GG: john did you know that today you are going to be talking to three very important people?!
GT: whoa what really??
GT: am i gonna be visited by three ghosts or something like in a christmas carol?
GT: which one are you?
GT: you sound too happy to be the ghost of christmas future.
GG: hahaha john what are you talking about? XD
GG: were not ghosts but yes i am one of those people!
GG: but im not from the future!!
GT: oh yeah? then how did you know i would be talking to three people today?
GT: huh????
GG: lol because i am going to introduce you to them john!!
GG: boy arent you mr suspicious! heehee!!
GT: oh wow huh i guess that makes a lot more sense.
GT: for a while there i thought you were psychic or something.
GG: that’s ridiculous john!! :D
GT: haha yeah i guess so.
GT: so when do i get to meet these other important people?
GG: patience john!!! you will soon!
GG: but i get to talk to you first! <3
GT: haha ok! what do you want to talk about?
GG: well why dont you tell me about yourself john!
GG: what sorts of things do you like? :)
GT: …um.
GG: um what!!
GT: um i don’t know it’s just that some people think what i like is pretty weird!
GG: well i dont think so! you like movies dont you john??
GT: well.
GT: yes! how did you know?
GT: are you sure you’re not internet-stalking me?? :P
GG: joooooohn! you were just talking about that movie with the ghosts! D:
GT: i could have been talking about the book!
GG: noooo that would have been rose!
GT: rose?
GG: she is one of the people you are going to meet!
GG: but she likes books and you like movies! thats how it is!!
GG: and i dont think thats weird at all!!! :D
GT: really?
GT: even if i told you
GT: that
GT: i
GT: …
GG: that you what?
GT: that i
GT: …………….
GG: what john spit it out!! :O!
GT: thatilikenickcage
GT: *shifty eyes*
GG: ummmmmm!
GG: whos nick cage???
GT: …
GT: jade.
GT: JADE.
GG: what john!!
GT: this cannot go on any longer.
GT: you need to go out
GT: right now
GT: and rent con air.
GT: trust me you will thank me later!
GG: ummmmm i cant exactly do that right now!!
GG: but i will ask grandpa about it later maybe when he gets back!
GT: ok good!
GT: because it is basically the best movie ever.
GG: ok john! :D
GG: hey john listen i have to go for a bit
GG: there is someone else i need to talk to!
GT: oh ok. you sure are popular jade!
GG: heehee!
GT: ok well i don’t want to take up too much of your time if you’re busy.
GT: but i had fun talking to you! sorry i wont be able to talk to your important friends tonight but maybe later!
GG: no john you will still talk to them tonight!
GG: but right now it is my turn to talk to them!
GT: hmm ok well i doubt it.
GT: about me talking to them tonight, not you talking to those important people!
GG: heehee you’ll see john!
GT: maybe.
GT: anyway you’re pretty cool jade!
GT: thanks for messaging me! can we talk again later?
GG: i think talking again later is something we will most definitely do!! :D
GT: awesome! ok bye jade!
GT: merry christmas!!
GG: merry christmas john!!
GG: bye! <3
-- ghostyTrickster [GT] ceased pestering gardenGnostic [GG] at 4:44 PM --
----
-- gardenGnostic [GG] began pestering tentacleTherapist [TT] at 9:43 PM --
GG: hello rose!!
TT: Oh, hello.
TT: I suppose I am to be baffled as to how you know my name, yet I have not had the pleasure of speaking to you prior to this moment.
GG: oh i think i must have seen it on the internet somewhere!!
TT: A likely story.
GG: well its either that or im a psychic!!
GG: which one is more believable? :)
TT: You make a very convincing point.
TT: Although I admit I would be highly intrigued if you were in fact capable of reading my mind.
GG: really??
TT: You would not be?
GG: i guess i never really thought about it before!!
TT: Imagine the implications. Someone who could read minds would perceive the world in an entirely different manner than anyone else.
GG: o.o oh wow.
GG: i guess so!!
TT: Well then.
TT: As we have established that you are not, in fact, capable of reading my mind, I suppose I must admit I suffer from the same incapacity.
TT: And as I have not had the pleasure of coming across your name at any given point before now, please do enlighten me.
GG: wow rose you really do talk a lot!!
GG: but in a good way! :D
GG: my names jade!
TT: It’s nice to meet you, Jade.
TT: I’m a little surprised you think my verbosity is a positive trait, however.
GG: how come?
GG: i think its really impressive and also kind of relieving!
TT: Relieving?
GG: yes because now i know that if theres a word for something i dont know
GG: you probably will rose!
GG: and i think thats really great!!
TT: Well that certainly is a refreshing way to look at it.
TT: I confess I have never considered that a possibility before.
GG: heehee! i bet there are a lot of things you havent considered possible before that maybe are!
TT: What an utterly comprehensible statement. I suddenly understand everything.
GG: lol!
GG: well for example
GG: did you ever expect to be talking to not one but THREE new friends tonight?
TT: Are you implying that we are already falling victim to that elusive flight of fancy called friendship?
GG: well i enjoy talking to you rose!
GG: and i hope that youre enjoying talking to me too!
GG: and if that isnt the beginning of a friendship then i dont know what is!!
TT: Hm.
GG: hmmmm????
TT: Nothing.
TT: You mentioned three people.
TT: Are you implying you are not alone?
GG: i am not alone but there are other new people for you to talk to!
GG: but that can wait because i am talking to you now! :)
TT: I believe I am more than capable of multitasking.
TT: But fine.
TT: There is a certain measure of comfort in the knowledge that at least one of us has some company.
GG: yes i think it is important to not be alone on christmas
GG: that is why i messaged you!
TT: And how did you know I was alone?
GG: ummmmmmm……
TT: Could it be you are, in fact, a psychic?
GG: nooooooo!
GG: thats not really how it is at all!!
GG: i just kind of
GG: guessed
TT: You guessed.
TT: Color me completely convinced.
GG: hehehehe!
GG: no really i did guess!
GG: based on what i already know about you!
TT: And pray tell what nuggets of wisdom have I shared with you that would have brought you to this conclusion?
GG: hmm well
GG: you mentioned that something that you do a lot is not usually thought of as something good!
GG: so i think that you must be lonely a lot rose :(
GG: but dont worry that wont last very long!!
TT: Ah, but I mentioned that particular fact after you had already messaged me.
GG: …oops.
GG: you caught me rose!
GG: maybe i know things that other people might not yet but……..
GG: i am not a psychic!!
TT: Very well.
TT: I will play along with that delusion for the time being.
GG: heehee!
GG: well rose actually i have to go right now!
GG: there is someone else i need to talk to!!
TT: One of those other friends you mentioned?
GG: yes!
GG: but dont worry you will get to talk to him soon enough, and also another friend!
GG: i have been waiting for this day for a long time!! :)
TT: What a completely logical thing to say.
TT: Very well. I suppose I will be speaking to you again in the near future?
GG: oh yesssss!
GG: yes you will! very soon!!
TT: Goodbye then, Jade. It has been…
TT: Interesting.
GG: i had fun talking to you too rose!
GG: bye! merry christmas!
TT: Merry Christmas.
-- gardenGnostic [GG] ceased pestering tentacleTherapist [TT] at 10:34 PM--
----
-- gardenGnostic [GG] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG] at 20:35 --
GG: hi dave!!
TG: hey
GG: haha! arent you going to ask how i know your name??
TG: no way im a goddamn celebrity on the internet
TG: my names been whoring itself out on the fucking information highway for almost a decade
TG: dave strider queen whore on the technological streets
TG: everyone lining up to get a piece of this shit
GG: heehee! dave you are so silly!
GG: but its true you were the easiest to find!
GG: i was browsing your comics before and they are very good!!
GG: if a little weird!!!! ._.
TG: if you think theyre weird it just means theyre doing their job
GG: and what is that job dave??
TG: being ironic
GG: oooohhhhhhh!!!
GG: …
GG: i dont get it
TG: haha whatever thats fine
TG: if you said you got it right off the bat i wouldnt believe you
TG: this is some deep shit
GG: the deepest!!
GG: dave i think that is very cool and also very mysterious!!!
TG: fuck yes youre talking to the coolest coolkid ever brought to life in this universe
TG: but speaking of mysterious
TG: who are you
GG: oh noooo! lol!
GG: i forgot to introduce myself didnt i???
TG: sure seems that way
TG: if i were any less of a coolkid i might be a little offended with the lack of pleasantries but im sure you just got distracted by my aura of awesome and forgot
GG: yes that is exactly what happened!!
GG: but i remember now so i will tell you! my name is jade!! :D
TG: ok just to be clear
TG: is it jade
TG: or jade!! :D
GG: ._.
TG: that was a joke
TG: youre supposed to laugh
GG: oh heehee sorry!!
GG: it is just that im used to people making fun of the way i type!
GG: but im sure you wouldnt do that dave!
GG: you are just too cool to do mean things like that!! :)
TG: damn right making fun of the way people type is so stupid
TG: and not even in an ironic way
TG: except leetspeak that is just retarded
GG: heehee ok dave i promise i will never use retarded leetspeak!
GG: so you will never have a reason to make fun of the way i type!!
TG: now were getting somewhere
TG: hey jade you arent too bad
TG: most people who come to pester me are just brainless sycophants who want to give me ludicrous amounts of understandably deserved praise
TG: or morons who dont get my irony
GG: i am glad you like me dave!! i like you too <3
TG: ok great
TG: so since you have only been mildly weird so far i gotta ask
TG: what are you doing on pesterchum its fucking christmas eve
GG: the same thing you are doing!!
GG: talking to people silly
TG: well yeah ok but shouldnt you be out celebrating or having quality bonding time with your parents or something
GG: well……………
GG: grandpa left early this morning do to some work so hes not around :(
TG: oh shit so youre alone too
GG: noooo! i have bec with me!! :D
TG: whats a bec
GG: hes my dog!
GG: and my best friend in the whole world!!
GG: actually hes my only friend in the whole world ._.
GG: well until now!
TG: …
GG: what?
TG: nothing
GG: oh heehee that sounded depressing didnt it??
GG: but its ok dave!
GG: this is going to be the best christmas ever because
TG: because
GG: you know why????
TG: not a clue
GG: because this year i get three new friends to celebrate it with!
GG: and so do you!!
TG: you sound pretty confident about that what makes you think i want new friends
TG: or even any friends
GG: :( i know you dont mean that dave!!
GG: youre just being ironic! right?
TG: the girls got it johnny tell her what shes won
TG: its a first class one way ticket to i dont care island
GG: daaaaaaave!! ._.
TG: what
GG: oh wait was that a joke too?? :/
TG: …
TG: yeah
TG: you got me just another joke
GG: heehee ok then!
GG: i think the first one was funnier actually but im starting to get it!!
TG: great congratulations
TG: so you were saying something about three new friends or some shit
TG: do i have to go on a magical quest with you to find the other two or is this not that kind of game
GG: lol! no you will meet them before we go on the magical quest!!
TG: oh ok
TG: when
GG: right now!
GG: the time for you to meet them is right now!!
GG: i am going to introduce you to my friend
TG: uh
TG: ok sure i guess
-- gardenGnostic [GG] suggested that turntechGodhead [TG] pester ghostyTrickster [GT] --
GG: have fun dave!! <3
-- gardenGnostic [GG] ceased pestering turntechGodhead [TG] at 21:12 --
----
Jade leaned back against the headboard of her bed, taking a brief respite from all this pestering. The others seemed to be well into it now, getting to know each other, trading jokes and quips and, slowly, facts about themselves. Just like she had seen in her dream.
Outside her window, there were no Christmas lights, no fake snow, no ringing bells or nosy neighbor carolers. Inside, too, there was very little at all. Neither Jade nor her grandfather had ever bothered to seek out even an evergreen tree to decorate, or the materials with which to do so. But while Christmas failed to reach its materialistic, commercialized tendrils this far out into the Pacific Ocean, there had always been a sense of Christmas cheer about her tower. Red and green blinking lights on her and her grandpa’s various projects served to bring some illumination when the sun went down, and there was Bec curled up nice and warm against her side, seemingly slumbering peacefully as she finally met her three (other) best friends.
Jade had never really had a reason to put too much stock in the Christmas season or its supposed miracles, but perhaps there was something to it, after all, if today was the day that they had all found themselves desperate for company. And now that they had met, neither Christmas nor any other day would be quite so lonely anymore for any of them.
Their conversations went long into the night, and Jade fell asleep several times, but luckily her dreambot was there to pick up the slack. By the time their respective guardians stumbled through the doors of their respective homes, blinking bleary eyes at the bright rising winter sun, her three new friends had fallen asleep at their desks, messages to each other half-typed. In puffy clouds high above a golden city, Jade watched John’s dad lift him from his seat to tuck him into bed, Rose’s mom drape her shoulders in a fluffy warm blanket, and Dave’s bro merely glance into his room and lift his pointy shades from his face to fold them upon his desk before stumbling into bed himself.
She smiled, turning her gaze from the clouds to a distant tower holding a sleeping boy, and then at the sky again, where kilometers away, invisible to the naked eye, two similar towers housed two other young, troubled dreamers.
“Soon,” she said, a wide smile growing on her face. “Soon we’ll get to meet for real. But I think that this is the start of something really excellent!!”
Jade turned from the clouds and drifted back down towards the city. She had learned so much about her new friends tonight, and she dreamed of the day when they, too, would be able to learn about the world she lived in.
GG: i think that this is the start of something really excellent!!
-- ghostyTrickster [GT] is now an idle chum! --
-- tentacleTherapist [TT] is now an idle chum! --
-- turntechGodhead [TG] is now an idle chum! --
----
“Are you there, Ms. Lalonde?”
“Yes, Mr. Egbert.”
“You sound distressed.”
“Shouldn’t I be? I don’t like the thought of leaving Rose alone on Christmas Eve, or any of these kids.”
“I don’t, either, but they won’t be alone.”
“Wasn’t that the big man’s plan? The little brats gotta be alone so they’ll stop being antisocial losers and talk to each other like they’re supposed to.”
“Nice, Strider. Very sensitive. It’s a wonder that poor boy’s managed to grow up with any ounce of sanity the way you-”
“Now now, Ms. Lalonde, Mr. Strider, that’s enough bickerin’.”
“Hass is right. It’s Christmas Eve, and we’re doing this for the kids. It’ll all come out alright in the end.”
“Indeed.”
“Alright, well, we just needed to check in, right? Promise I’ll stay out all evening without the tiniest bit of concern about Dave, no need to worry about me.”
“For once Strider’s irresponsibility is working in our favor. Imagine that.”
“Lalonde…”
“You may go about your business, Mr. Strider. Thanks for your participation.”
“Yeah, sure, no problem. Merry fucking Christmas.”
*click*
“…”
“Ms. Lalonde, while I have you here, is everything progressin’ smoothly?”
“The technology is right on schedule, Mr. Harley. Skaianet should be prepared well in advance.”
“Good. I have some business that needs attendin’, now, so I trust you two have everything well in hand?”
“I believe so.”
“Good, good. Then I’ll be off. Merry Christmas t’ you both.”
“Merry Christmas to you, Mr. Harley.”
“Merry Christmas, Hass.”
*click*
“You’re probably busy, Ms. Lalonde. I don’t want to keep you.”
“It’s no trouble. I suppose I am lucky in that I have the advantage of the sun here. Rose should be asleep before too long.”
“Good luck with her, ma’am. As I hear it, she’s growing up to be quite the pistol.”
“It’s what she’ll need to be, I’m afraid. But this is what we signed on for, Mr. Egbert, and that’s all there is to it.”
“I suppose you’re right.”
“Well…”
“So…”
“Perhaps there is some work I should be doing after all. I will bid you good night, Mr. Egbert. Merry Christmas.”
“Good night, Lily. Merry Christmas.”
Expect #3 ("Christmas Wrapping") at some point after next weekend ♥~
Title: If the Fates Allow (Christmas Carol Challenge #5)
Song: “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” (primarily the Frank Sinatra version)
Fandom: Homestuck
Characters/Pairings: John, Dad, Rose, Mom, Dave, Bro, Jade, Grandpa, Bec
Warnings: None
Word count: 5,393
Out the open door, snow fell soft, mushy, and half-melted, from the darkening sky, illuminated with lights flickering red and green and white like cold-weather fireflies, and the chill reached in with sharp fingers to scratch at John’s nose and cheeks, wearing away at the warmth of their house. But he was numb to the cold, numb to the smell of snow and of pine and of fireplaces gathered round by families, and the lights blurred in his vision, mingling with tears he was trying hard to hold back. Within his house there were decorations lining every hallway, presents piled high under a majestic white pine tree topped with a golden angel, and Christmas cookies freshly baked and cooling atop the oven. He had awoken Christmas Eve morning to the smells of pies already being baked, and to his father’s annual Christmas prank (the shaving cream beard was not one of his more inspired jokes, but for that John was grateful), and to the sounds of Sinatra crooning over the radio. It was just like the start of the other eight Christmases before this one, at least that he could remember. Everything should have been perfect.
But there was his father with his coat on, one foot out the door and the other hurrying to follow, soft woolen scarf wrapped uncharacteristically sloppily around his neck.
“Got a call into work, champ,” he explained, the disappointment from his son leaching into his voice. “It’s some big emergency…but don’t worry, your dad’ll take care of it, and I’ll be right back before you know it. Okay?”
“Y-yeah,” John managed to squeak out, his young voice cracking like thin ice. “Yeah, okay Dad. I’ll just…wait here, I guess.” He ran a sleeve quickly over his face and beneath his glasses, smearing off tears and snot, and his dad reached out a white-gloved hand to ruffle his unruly hair.
“That’s the spirit, sport. I’ll see you soon. Go walk to a friend’s house if you get lonely.”
“…Sure, Dad.” Feeling a lump catch in his throat, John watched his father step out into the slush, his pale coat blending into the white flakes. A strong wind hit him, threatening to let loose his scarf, but both the man and the wool hung on tenaciously and battled bravely with the elements until Mr. Egbert disappeared into his car and drove off.
“If I had any friends,” he mumbled out into the cold before shutting the door behind him. He sank against the back of it, rubbing his hands together to relieve them from brief numbness. John suspected his father knew, somehow, about his troubles at school, the classmates’ birthdays he was ridiculed for avoiding the cakes they brought in (seriously, who doesn’t like cake?!), the days he spent alone on the playground at recess because no one would reenact his favorite movie scenes with him (Nicholas who?). He suspected, but his father had never once called him on it, never once suggested he change who he was to suit someone else’s tastes. He just encouraged John’s movie fanaticism as much as he encouraged his perceived obsession with harlequins (seriously where had that even come from?)-though he never stopped baking.
Dad will be home soon anyway, he comforted himself, and with a deep breath he wiped the last of the tears from his face and stood, making his way with the briefest of glances to the urn of his grandmother’s ashes on the mantle to the stairs and up to his room. Maybe he wasn’t the only one alone on Christmas, he thought, hope springing up in his chest. There was only one way to find out.
-- ghostyTrickster [GT] signed onto Pesterchum! --
-- None of ghostyTrickster’s [GTs] chums are online! --
Stupid. Stupid stupid dumb.
----
Somewhere across the vast expanse of chest-deep snow, Rose’s mother was in the laboratory working. On Christmas Eve.
She had made a big show about feeling awful for having to leave. “Dearest, you have no idea how sorry I am, leaving you alone like this! And the day before Christmas! Don’t worry, it won’t be for long, Mommy will fix that awful server problem and then she’ll be right back and we can celebrate Christmas together properly, alright? Don’t you fret! Everything will be just fine!”
Sounded like Mother had been getting into the wine again. She was always this dramatic when she got into the wine. (And she was always this dramatic, so you can see where this is going.)
“Sure, Mother,” Rose had responded, tucking her hands behind her back. “I will see you tomorrow afternoon, then.”
“Oh, Rosie, don’t be like that!” she had exclaimed, caught up in the emotional theatrics of the season, no doubt, pausing with one foot out the door. “When has Mother ever let you down?”
“Oh, never,” Rose had replied coolly to the door as it shut, leaving her in this huge house by herself.
The interior was warm enough. Best heating system money could buy aside, her mother had imported only the finest and most charming Christmas decorations from France, each piece chosen with the utmost care to suit Rose’s tastes. Delicate, dark glass ornaments winked at her with the light of the setting sun through the windows, dotted along the halls and hanging from their tree (only the best, a thirteen-foot tall Douglas fir that had had to be airlifted in-which was completely inane considering the mountains of presents that threatened to drown it in shiny, meticulously-folded wrapping paper). In their hearth was a never-ending fire, fed new wood automatically by some contraption inside whose mechanism Rose couldn’t even begin to guess at.
But the emptiness brought a certain measure of cold to it. Rose snatched up her book from where she had been reading at the kitchen table while her mother had been mixing her special batch of egg nog (which she knew better than to take even a sip of) and curled up by the fireplace, trying to concentrate.
It was stupid, really. Mom left her alone all the time. What made one day out of the year so special so as to make her this upset by it that she couldn’t even focus on one of her favorite novels?
The house seemed so, so quiet. And the quiet was horribly loud.
Rose started suddenly, the sound of scratching catching her attention. It was faint, coming from the direction of the front door, but she could hear it. It kept up, growing louder and louder the more she tried to ignore it, until finally she shut the book with a snap and stood, pulling on a coat merely to keep from freezing the moment she opened the door.
No one was there, but a quiet mew drew her gaze downward. A small kitten blinked bright eyes up at her and mewed again, and she could barely distinguish its white coat from the snow. Something sharp jammed through her heart like an icicle. This was it, she realized, freezing with her hand halfway to involuntarily stroke the cat with two careful fingers between the ears. Her first Christmas without Jaspers (her first Christmas without a friend, who else would waste their time listening to her prattle verbosely on and on about the state of the human psyche, who else would be willing to allow her to attempt to dig into the very depths of their mind and psychoanalyze them to their very core?).
“You look hungry,” she whispered, which was all the volume she could muster. The kitten mewed back at her. “I can’t let you in, but I can bring you some milk. Wait here.”
She closed the door gently and, willing her heart to stop pounding quite so hard, thank you, she hurried to the kitchen and poured a bowl of milk (the bowl she had used for Jaspers, before they had gotten him a proper one, a sturdy, heavy, porcelain thing that kept heat well). Thirty seconds in the microwave seemed to last forever, but finally, she had the warmed bowl in hand and in front of the door.
To her immense relief, the kitten was still there, mewling patiently as if it had understood her, and once the bowl was down it lapped at the warmed liquid with relish. Rose smiled the briefest of sad smiles but quickly closed the door again while the kitten was distracted.
No more reading for the night. Now that she knew what it was that was bothering her, there was no way she could concentrate. She headed upstairs and turned on her computer to find a way to distract herself. Someone else had to be online today, right?
-- tentacleTherapist [TT] signed onto Pesterchum! --
-- None of tentacleTherapist’s [TTs] chums are online! --
…Well honestly. What had she expected?
----
Without fail, Bro was home for his birthday. Every year. Make no mistake, there was no irony lost in the act; more often than not he was late, or only present for a few hours at a time, or, occasionally, stoned off his ass. Sometimes a combination of the three, always to the point when Dave had to question (to himself, of course, it wouldn’t be very cool of him to question the unfathomable irony of the elder Strider) why he even bothered. And without fail, twenty-one days later when Bro failed to show up in their cruddy shithole of an apartment, Dave regretted that question, because whatever compunction his guardian had for showing up with complete accuracy on the day of his birth apparently did not extend to Christmas Eve.
“What, so some guy gets burned at the stake and impaled through the limbs or whatever and suddenly his birthday’s a goddamn miracle?” he had demanded once, when Dave was too little to know better than to ask after it. “Ain’t nobody gonna be raving about the day Strider crash-landed on this fucking planet after I die, so why bother?”
And that was that.
“Just do what all the other kids wish they were awesome enough to do: invite some friends over, have a party, get wasted,” had been his advice. “I won’t stop you. Hell, I’ll leave the beer in the fridge.”
But the irony was not lost on either Strider; Dave was too cool for friends, and besides, no parent with half a wit in their head would let their kid inside that hellish apartment for all the tea in fucking China. Or so some douchebag had yelled at Dave from a school bus window once, just in time for the brief silence between tracks on his walkman. Asshole.
Dave had developed a pattern over the years, with the house to himself. First, an early breakfast of not-getting-his-limbs-sliced-to-shreds by the pile of shitty weapons in the fridge and digging-through-puppet-ass-to-get-to-use-the-microwave. This year, he was lucky and ended up with some cereal, and-score-a bowlful of unspoiled milk to put it in. He ate in near-silence, beat-boxing to himself between spoonfuls, and ignored the view outside the small, grimy windows. He didn’t get the deal with white Christmases. It never snowed here anyway.
Leaving his empty bowl on the one clear spot on the kitchen counter, he headed over to their gaming station, doing his best to ignore the scrubby little bush thing that was supposed to pass for a Christmas tree. Bro had decorated it with what could not by any stretch of the imagination be construed as Christmas ornaments, and while Dave could see the irony in that if he turned his head and squinted real hard at it for a couple hours, it was not worth the amount of brain bleach he would have needed afterwards.
Breakfast was followed by three solid hours of video games, and then over to his turntables for a little practice before turning off his equipment to grace the internet with his presence. Truly, there was little difference between that day and any other day, except that it was just a little bit quieter and just a little less creepy, and as an early Christmas present Lil Cal decided to stop doing that disturbing thing where he would appear in locations in which Dave swore he hadn’t been left. For just one day, at least.
But really, the day was no big deal. Really. Just another one of the 365.25 days of the year. Nothing special.
-- turntechGodhead [TG] signed onto Pesterchum! --
-- None of turntechGodhead’s [TGs] chums are online! --
Man, why did he even bother? Everyone else in the world was gonna be busy today, anyway.
----
-- gardenGnostic [GG] began pestering ghostyTrickster [GT] at 4:13 PM --
GG: hello!! :)
GT: oh, wow. hi there!
GT: i don’t think i’ve talked to you before!
GG: heehee! no you havent!! :D
GG: my names jade
GT: ok hi jade! my name’s john.
GG: its good to finally talk to you john!
GT: “finally?”
GT: what do you mean? have you been internet-stalking me??
GG: :O! oh noooo!!
GT: hehe i was just kidding!
GG: oh ok! :D
GG: john this is a very special day!!
GT: haha well yeah it’s christmas eve.
GG: oh right heehee! i mean aside from that silly!!
GG: john did you know that today you are going to be talking to three very important people?!
GT: whoa what really??
GT: am i gonna be visited by three ghosts or something like in a christmas carol?
GT: which one are you?
GT: you sound too happy to be the ghost of christmas future.
GG: hahaha john what are you talking about? XD
GG: were not ghosts but yes i am one of those people!
GG: but im not from the future!!
GT: oh yeah? then how did you know i would be talking to three people today?
GT: huh????
GG: lol because i am going to introduce you to them john!!
GG: boy arent you mr suspicious! heehee!!
GT: oh wow huh i guess that makes a lot more sense.
GT: for a while there i thought you were psychic or something.
GG: that’s ridiculous john!! :D
GT: haha yeah i guess so.
GT: so when do i get to meet these other important people?
GG: patience john!!! you will soon!
GG: but i get to talk to you first! <3
GT: haha ok! what do you want to talk about?
GG: well why dont you tell me about yourself john!
GG: what sorts of things do you like? :)
GT: …um.
GG: um what!!
GT: um i don’t know it’s just that some people think what i like is pretty weird!
GG: well i dont think so! you like movies dont you john??
GT: well.
GT: yes! how did you know?
GT: are you sure you’re not internet-stalking me?? :P
GG: joooooohn! you were just talking about that movie with the ghosts! D:
GT: i could have been talking about the book!
GG: noooo that would have been rose!
GT: rose?
GG: she is one of the people you are going to meet!
GG: but she likes books and you like movies! thats how it is!!
GG: and i dont think thats weird at all!!! :D
GT: really?
GT: even if i told you
GT: that
GT: i
GT: …
GG: that you what?
GT: that i
GT: …………….
GG: what john spit it out!! :O!
GT: thatilikenickcage
GT: *shifty eyes*
GG: ummmmmm!
GG: whos nick cage???
GT: …
GT: jade.
GT: JADE.
GG: what john!!
GT: this cannot go on any longer.
GT: you need to go out
GT: right now
GT: and rent con air.
GT: trust me you will thank me later!
GG: ummmmm i cant exactly do that right now!!
GG: but i will ask grandpa about it later maybe when he gets back!
GT: ok good!
GT: because it is basically the best movie ever.
GG: ok john! :D
GG: hey john listen i have to go for a bit
GG: there is someone else i need to talk to!
GT: oh ok. you sure are popular jade!
GG: heehee!
GT: ok well i don’t want to take up too much of your time if you’re busy.
GT: but i had fun talking to you! sorry i wont be able to talk to your important friends tonight but maybe later!
GG: no john you will still talk to them tonight!
GG: but right now it is my turn to talk to them!
GT: hmm ok well i doubt it.
GT: about me talking to them tonight, not you talking to those important people!
GG: heehee you’ll see john!
GT: maybe.
GT: anyway you’re pretty cool jade!
GT: thanks for messaging me! can we talk again later?
GG: i think talking again later is something we will most definitely do!! :D
GT: awesome! ok bye jade!
GT: merry christmas!!
GG: merry christmas john!!
GG: bye! <3
-- ghostyTrickster [GT] ceased pestering gardenGnostic [GG] at 4:44 PM --
----
-- gardenGnostic [GG] began pestering tentacleTherapist [TT] at 9:43 PM --
GG: hello rose!!
TT: Oh, hello.
TT: I suppose I am to be baffled as to how you know my name, yet I have not had the pleasure of speaking to you prior to this moment.
GG: oh i think i must have seen it on the internet somewhere!!
TT: A likely story.
GG: well its either that or im a psychic!!
GG: which one is more believable? :)
TT: You make a very convincing point.
TT: Although I admit I would be highly intrigued if you were in fact capable of reading my mind.
GG: really??
TT: You would not be?
GG: i guess i never really thought about it before!!
TT: Imagine the implications. Someone who could read minds would perceive the world in an entirely different manner than anyone else.
GG: o.o oh wow.
GG: i guess so!!
TT: Well then.
TT: As we have established that you are not, in fact, capable of reading my mind, I suppose I must admit I suffer from the same incapacity.
TT: And as I have not had the pleasure of coming across your name at any given point before now, please do enlighten me.
GG: wow rose you really do talk a lot!!
GG: but in a good way! :D
GG: my names jade!
TT: It’s nice to meet you, Jade.
TT: I’m a little surprised you think my verbosity is a positive trait, however.
GG: how come?
GG: i think its really impressive and also kind of relieving!
TT: Relieving?
GG: yes because now i know that if theres a word for something i dont know
GG: you probably will rose!
GG: and i think thats really great!!
TT: Well that certainly is a refreshing way to look at it.
TT: I confess I have never considered that a possibility before.
GG: heehee! i bet there are a lot of things you havent considered possible before that maybe are!
TT: What an utterly comprehensible statement. I suddenly understand everything.
GG: lol!
GG: well for example
GG: did you ever expect to be talking to not one but THREE new friends tonight?
TT: Are you implying that we are already falling victim to that elusive flight of fancy called friendship?
GG: well i enjoy talking to you rose!
GG: and i hope that youre enjoying talking to me too!
GG: and if that isnt the beginning of a friendship then i dont know what is!!
TT: Hm.
GG: hmmmm????
TT: Nothing.
TT: You mentioned three people.
TT: Are you implying you are not alone?
GG: i am not alone but there are other new people for you to talk to!
GG: but that can wait because i am talking to you now! :)
TT: I believe I am more than capable of multitasking.
TT: But fine.
TT: There is a certain measure of comfort in the knowledge that at least one of us has some company.
GG: yes i think it is important to not be alone on christmas
GG: that is why i messaged you!
TT: And how did you know I was alone?
GG: ummmmmmm……
TT: Could it be you are, in fact, a psychic?
GG: nooooooo!
GG: thats not really how it is at all!!
GG: i just kind of
GG: guessed
TT: You guessed.
TT: Color me completely convinced.
GG: hehehehe!
GG: no really i did guess!
GG: based on what i already know about you!
TT: And pray tell what nuggets of wisdom have I shared with you that would have brought you to this conclusion?
GG: hmm well
GG: you mentioned that something that you do a lot is not usually thought of as something good!
GG: so i think that you must be lonely a lot rose :(
GG: but dont worry that wont last very long!!
TT: Ah, but I mentioned that particular fact after you had already messaged me.
GG: …oops.
GG: you caught me rose!
GG: maybe i know things that other people might not yet but……..
GG: i am not a psychic!!
TT: Very well.
TT: I will play along with that delusion for the time being.
GG: heehee!
GG: well rose actually i have to go right now!
GG: there is someone else i need to talk to!!
TT: One of those other friends you mentioned?
GG: yes!
GG: but dont worry you will get to talk to him soon enough, and also another friend!
GG: i have been waiting for this day for a long time!! :)
TT: What a completely logical thing to say.
TT: Very well. I suppose I will be speaking to you again in the near future?
GG: oh yesssss!
GG: yes you will! very soon!!
TT: Goodbye then, Jade. It has been…
TT: Interesting.
GG: i had fun talking to you too rose!
GG: bye! merry christmas!
TT: Merry Christmas.
-- gardenGnostic [GG] ceased pestering tentacleTherapist [TT] at 10:34 PM--
----
-- gardenGnostic [GG] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG] at 20:35 --
GG: hi dave!!
TG: hey
GG: haha! arent you going to ask how i know your name??
TG: no way im a goddamn celebrity on the internet
TG: my names been whoring itself out on the fucking information highway for almost a decade
TG: dave strider queen whore on the technological streets
TG: everyone lining up to get a piece of this shit
GG: heehee! dave you are so silly!
GG: but its true you were the easiest to find!
GG: i was browsing your comics before and they are very good!!
GG: if a little weird!!!! ._.
TG: if you think theyre weird it just means theyre doing their job
GG: and what is that job dave??
TG: being ironic
GG: oooohhhhhhh!!!
GG: …
GG: i dont get it
TG: haha whatever thats fine
TG: if you said you got it right off the bat i wouldnt believe you
TG: this is some deep shit
GG: the deepest!!
GG: dave i think that is very cool and also very mysterious!!!
TG: fuck yes youre talking to the coolest coolkid ever brought to life in this universe
TG: but speaking of mysterious
TG: who are you
GG: oh noooo! lol!
GG: i forgot to introduce myself didnt i???
TG: sure seems that way
TG: if i were any less of a coolkid i might be a little offended with the lack of pleasantries but im sure you just got distracted by my aura of awesome and forgot
GG: yes that is exactly what happened!!
GG: but i remember now so i will tell you! my name is jade!! :D
TG: ok just to be clear
TG: is it jade
TG: or jade!! :D
GG: ._.
TG: that was a joke
TG: youre supposed to laugh
GG: oh heehee sorry!!
GG: it is just that im used to people making fun of the way i type!
GG: but im sure you wouldnt do that dave!
GG: you are just too cool to do mean things like that!! :)
TG: damn right making fun of the way people type is so stupid
TG: and not even in an ironic way
TG: except leetspeak that is just retarded
GG: heehee ok dave i promise i will never use retarded leetspeak!
GG: so you will never have a reason to make fun of the way i type!!
TG: now were getting somewhere
TG: hey jade you arent too bad
TG: most people who come to pester me are just brainless sycophants who want to give me ludicrous amounts of understandably deserved praise
TG: or morons who dont get my irony
GG: i am glad you like me dave!! i like you too <3
TG: ok great
TG: so since you have only been mildly weird so far i gotta ask
TG: what are you doing on pesterchum its fucking christmas eve
GG: the same thing you are doing!!
GG: talking to people silly
TG: well yeah ok but shouldnt you be out celebrating or having quality bonding time with your parents or something
GG: well……………
GG: grandpa left early this morning do to some work so hes not around :(
TG: oh shit so youre alone too
GG: noooo! i have bec with me!! :D
TG: whats a bec
GG: hes my dog!
GG: and my best friend in the whole world!!
GG: actually hes my only friend in the whole world ._.
GG: well until now!
TG: …
GG: what?
TG: nothing
GG: oh heehee that sounded depressing didnt it??
GG: but its ok dave!
GG: this is going to be the best christmas ever because
TG: because
GG: you know why????
TG: not a clue
GG: because this year i get three new friends to celebrate it with!
GG: and so do you!!
TG: you sound pretty confident about that what makes you think i want new friends
TG: or even any friends
GG: :( i know you dont mean that dave!!
GG: youre just being ironic! right?
TG: the girls got it johnny tell her what shes won
TG: its a first class one way ticket to i dont care island
GG: daaaaaaave!! ._.
TG: what
GG: oh wait was that a joke too?? :/
TG: …
TG: yeah
TG: you got me just another joke
GG: heehee ok then!
GG: i think the first one was funnier actually but im starting to get it!!
TG: great congratulations
TG: so you were saying something about three new friends or some shit
TG: do i have to go on a magical quest with you to find the other two or is this not that kind of game
GG: lol! no you will meet them before we go on the magical quest!!
TG: oh ok
TG: when
GG: right now!
GG: the time for you to meet them is right now!!
GG: i am going to introduce you to my friend
TG: uh
TG: ok sure i guess
-- gardenGnostic [GG] suggested that turntechGodhead [TG] pester ghostyTrickster [GT] --
GG: have fun dave!! <3
-- gardenGnostic [GG] ceased pestering turntechGodhead [TG] at 21:12 --
----
Jade leaned back against the headboard of her bed, taking a brief respite from all this pestering. The others seemed to be well into it now, getting to know each other, trading jokes and quips and, slowly, facts about themselves. Just like she had seen in her dream.
Outside her window, there were no Christmas lights, no fake snow, no ringing bells or nosy neighbor carolers. Inside, too, there was very little at all. Neither Jade nor her grandfather had ever bothered to seek out even an evergreen tree to decorate, or the materials with which to do so. But while Christmas failed to reach its materialistic, commercialized tendrils this far out into the Pacific Ocean, there had always been a sense of Christmas cheer about her tower. Red and green blinking lights on her and her grandpa’s various projects served to bring some illumination when the sun went down, and there was Bec curled up nice and warm against her side, seemingly slumbering peacefully as she finally met her three (other) best friends.
Jade had never really had a reason to put too much stock in the Christmas season or its supposed miracles, but perhaps there was something to it, after all, if today was the day that they had all found themselves desperate for company. And now that they had met, neither Christmas nor any other day would be quite so lonely anymore for any of them.
Their conversations went long into the night, and Jade fell asleep several times, but luckily her dreambot was there to pick up the slack. By the time their respective guardians stumbled through the doors of their respective homes, blinking bleary eyes at the bright rising winter sun, her three new friends had fallen asleep at their desks, messages to each other half-typed. In puffy clouds high above a golden city, Jade watched John’s dad lift him from his seat to tuck him into bed, Rose’s mom drape her shoulders in a fluffy warm blanket, and Dave’s bro merely glance into his room and lift his pointy shades from his face to fold them upon his desk before stumbling into bed himself.
She smiled, turning her gaze from the clouds to a distant tower holding a sleeping boy, and then at the sky again, where kilometers away, invisible to the naked eye, two similar towers housed two other young, troubled dreamers.
“Soon,” she said, a wide smile growing on her face. “Soon we’ll get to meet for real. But I think that this is the start of something really excellent!!”
Jade turned from the clouds and drifted back down towards the city. She had learned so much about her new friends tonight, and she dreamed of the day when they, too, would be able to learn about the world she lived in.
GG: i think that this is the start of something really excellent!!
-- ghostyTrickster [GT] is now an idle chum! --
-- tentacleTherapist [TT] is now an idle chum! --
-- turntechGodhead [TG] is now an idle chum! --
----
“Are you there, Ms. Lalonde?”
“Yes, Mr. Egbert.”
“You sound distressed.”
“Shouldn’t I be? I don’t like the thought of leaving Rose alone on Christmas Eve, or any of these kids.”
“I don’t, either, but they won’t be alone.”
“Wasn’t that the big man’s plan? The little brats gotta be alone so they’ll stop being antisocial losers and talk to each other like they’re supposed to.”
“Nice, Strider. Very sensitive. It’s a wonder that poor boy’s managed to grow up with any ounce of sanity the way you-”
“Now now, Ms. Lalonde, Mr. Strider, that’s enough bickerin’.”
“Hass is right. It’s Christmas Eve, and we’re doing this for the kids. It’ll all come out alright in the end.”
“Indeed.”
“Alright, well, we just needed to check in, right? Promise I’ll stay out all evening without the tiniest bit of concern about Dave, no need to worry about me.”
“For once Strider’s irresponsibility is working in our favor. Imagine that.”
“Lalonde…”
“You may go about your business, Mr. Strider. Thanks for your participation.”
“Yeah, sure, no problem. Merry fucking Christmas.”
*click*
“…”
“Ms. Lalonde, while I have you here, is everything progressin’ smoothly?”
“The technology is right on schedule, Mr. Harley. Skaianet should be prepared well in advance.”
“Good. I have some business that needs attendin’, now, so I trust you two have everything well in hand?”
“I believe so.”
“Good, good. Then I’ll be off. Merry Christmas t’ you both.”
“Merry Christmas to you, Mr. Harley.”
“Merry Christmas, Hass.”
*click*
“You’re probably busy, Ms. Lalonde. I don’t want to keep you.”
“It’s no trouble. I suppose I am lucky in that I have the advantage of the sun here. Rose should be asleep before too long.”
“Good luck with her, ma’am. As I hear it, she’s growing up to be quite the pistol.”
“It’s what she’ll need to be, I’m afraid. But this is what we signed on for, Mr. Egbert, and that’s all there is to it.”
“I suppose you’re right.”
“Well…”
“So…”
“Perhaps there is some work I should be doing after all. I will bid you good night, Mr. Egbert. Merry Christmas.”
“Good night, Lily. Merry Christmas.”
Expect #3 ("Christmas Wrapping") at some point after next weekend ♥~