CHRISTMAS AT THE CABIN: CHAPTER 1
Rating: M just to be safe.
Disclaimer: all characters belong to their respective owners.
This is the second chapter of my Christmas story, but only chapter 1 by title (the other was a preview). I know this is later than anticipated, but I promise, I plan to work on the next two chapters by tonight and have them posted as soon as I can. :D Spent the day a friend's house yesterday and went to The Hobbit midnight premiere before that, so I have finally gotten home and caught up on enough to sleep to be sane enough to write. lol hope you enjoy!
Soon, the group was sitting around the table, with Slade at his spot, Slashera to his left, Trikk to his right, Lilac beside Slashera, and a Goblin King directly across from a very disgruntled mercenary. Slade would on occasion glance up and narrow his eye at the Fae King as he ate, cutting into his Canadian bacon just a little bit harsher than was required, and Trikk would have to cough to get his attention before he broke through the plate. Slade would glance at her, then lean back and eat the piece of bacon, before turning back to face his plate after he was done, not looking at the Fae any longer. Jareth, apparently, seemed unaware of Slade’s obvious irritation, as he dipped his biscuit into a pool of honey he’d put on his plate and ate a huge bite out of it, getting honey all over his fingers, with some dripping onto his exposed neck.
Frowning, the Fae tilted his head down, whisked up the honey with his pointer finger, and began to suck and lick at his fingers, eyes closed, moaning a little, and pulled away, smacking his lips, “Now that is some good honey. . .”. Such a mild sexual gesture followed by that remark only made the white haired man across from the Fae that much angrier at the Goblin King. He began to snarl a little in anger, but Trikk once again coughed softly, and lifted her glass suggestively. Slade caught the message, and decided to drown his anger in black coffee with chervil. As he gulped it down, tilting his head back as he did so, Slashera smiled and popped a piece of grape into her mouth using her fork, “Wow this is good!” Slade lowered his mug, gripping it tightly, but forced a firm smile across his face, turning to the girl, “Why thank you, little one. I’m glad you enjoy it. Now, if you all would excuse me, I need more coffee.” He got up to move to the kitchen to pour a fresh cup. Lilac nodded, turning to him, “Yes, Slade, this meal is fantastic. My compliments to the chef.” He turned and smiled at her, tilting the mug to his lips and taking a sip before walking back over to the table, “Thank you.”
He sat down in the chair, extremely happier than when he’d left it, and Trikk smiled at him, “I guess we all know whose house to go to for a great meal, huh?” Slade smirked at her, his eye twinkling a bit at the praise, “Well, I know it’s better than that stuff you make out of the box. . .” She rolled her eyes and smirked at him, “Hey, not everything I make is out of boxes.” “Not including biscuits or sweets?” he said, arching an eyebrow, smirking at her. She smirked even more right back, and leaned towards him, biting hard into her regular bacon, “Of course not. Some of it’s in bags too.” She winked at him. He chuckled, closing his eye and shaking his head at the small joke as Slashera laughed as well, with Lilac just smiling at her author politely. Trikk grinned, happy the tension had lifted from the room, at least by a little bit. At that moment, the tension was back however, when Jareth remarked, “Yes Slade. This meal is quite delightful. You must be so proud to succeed at such a domestic chore.”
A silence immediately fell over the room. Slade snarled, glaring at him, “What did you just say to me?” Trikk knew that despite the man not yelling, he was turning dangerous. For he was speaking to Jareth in a low voice that only promised pain. Jareth chuckled, “What? I was merely complimenting your cooking skills. Perhaps I should hire you to work in my castle?” Slade snarled, and slammed his hands into the table, standing up so fast that his chair clattered to the floor behind him, fury rising in his blue eye as he glared murderously at the Fae, “I’M NO ONE’S SERVANT! AND I WILL CERTAINLY NEVER BE ONE FOR YOU, YOU POOFY HAIRED ROYAL TIGHT WEARING PAIN IN THE ASS!” he roared, so loud the entire room shook. Slashera jumped, staring at Slade. Lilac quickly whispered that she and Slashera may need to go out for a moment, and the girl nodded quickly. With that the two bustled outside, with Lilac whispering that perhaps they could make a snow man. Jareth snarled, standing up quickly, “FOR YOUR INFORMATION, YOU SHOULD BE PROUD IF I SHOULD EVER OFFER YOU A JOB, YOU PAUPER!” Trikk groaned . . . here it went. . . “‘PAUPER’?! ‘PAUPER’?! HOW DARE YOU CALL ME THAT! YOU SPOILED, WRETCHED, LITTLE KING!” Slade roared, his vein throbbing in his neck, glaring at Jareth. “I AM NOT SPOILED!” Jareth snarled right back, “YOU DAMAGED, CONTROLLING, PSYCHOPATH!” Slade glared at him, “WELL AT LEAST I WASN’T MONOLOGUED TO DEATH!” “NO! YOU WERE JUST SHOT IN THE FACE BY YOUR WIFE! AND QUITE FRANKLY, I DON’T’ BLAME HER!” Jareth snapped back. “THAT’S NOT CANON TO THIS UNIVERSE, AND YOU KNOW IT!” Slade snarled, blushing nonetheless, “AND AT LEAST I GOT A WIFE! YOU COULDN’T EVEN GET A MORTAL GIRL TO DATE YOU!” “WHAT?!” Jareth shouted, and gripping the edge of the table, flung it over with his Fae strength, snarling at the other man, the food going flying, the plates and other breakable bowls and objects shattering.
Slade roared back, “YOU HEARD ME, YOU LITTLE PAMPERED RICH BOY!” he marched forward, snarling, “TELL ME, WHAT’S GO GOOD ABOUT BEING ‘BLESSED’ DOWN SOUTH AND NOT BEING ABLE TO DO ANYTHING WITH THAT BLESSING?” “WELL AT LEAST I HAVE ONE!” Jareth snarled, walking up to the man as well. Trikk just stared at the two males, sweat dropping, eyes wide. Oh dear . . . “I BET YOU HAVE TO USE A MAGNIFYING GLASS TO FIND YOURS! HEY! I HAVE ONE RIGHT HERE!” the Fae continued to roar, whipping out a magnifying glass. “FUNNY! I HAVE SOMETHING FOR YOU TOO!” Slade roared right back, and Trikk gasped as he whipped out a pistol and pointed it at the Fae’s head. Jareth sneered, and flicked his wrist, forming a crystal out of the magnifying glass, “READY WHEN YOU ARE, YOU EXAGERRATED MUSCLE BUILDER!” “AT LEAST I HAVE MUSCLE! WHAT DO YOU HAVE?! OTHER THAN EMO SINGING AND DANCING?!” “AT LEAST I HAVE FEELINGS THAT I SHOW!” “YEAH, MAYBE HOMOSEXUAL FEELINGS! YOU HONESTLY PUT ON MORE EYESHADOW THAN ANY WOMAN I’VE EVER SEEN!” “TAKE THAT BACK YOU JERK!” “NO, I DON’T’ THINK I WILL. TO TAKE IT BACK WOULD BE TO REGRET IT. AND I NEVER REGRET THE TRUTH.” “SMART ASS!” “MAN WHORE!” The two posed to attack with their weapons, fury brewing in their eyes, their bodies shaking in rage.
“I’m going to ENJOY shooting that small blonde, pea brain of yours out,” Slade snarled, a slow smirk crossing his face, eye lighting up at the aspect of killing the Fae, at the aspect of permanently removing the thorn from his side. Jareth smirked, “And I can’t wait to blow you sky high, you pompous, arrogant fool. I’m going to teach you once and for all why no one disrespects the Goblin King. . .” his eyes lit up in anticipation. The two were about to release their weapons, when Trikk had had enough. “STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!” she gasped, rushing forward, forcing herself between the two guys and putting a hand to each of their chests. The two men continued to snarl at one another, then Slade began to push a little against Trikk, not enough to actually injure her, but enough to get his point across, not taking his eye off of the Fae, “Get out of the way Trikk. . .”
She frowned up at him, glaring at him, “I won’t. . .” “He’s right. This is of no concern of yours. This is between me and him,” Jareth muttered, glaring at him, clutching the crystal firmly, pressing against Trikk’s hand more himself. “You don’t order her around, Goblin King,” Slade snarled, narrowing his eye. “And you weren’t?!” Jareth snarled right back. “You don’t know her like I do, you arrogant brat,” Slade snarled, “You have no idea about how I relate to her . . . and have no right to judge how I speak to her.” “Oh and you suddenly have the right to judge how I am to speak to her? Need I remind you I have my own way of relating to her? If I can’t judge you, you can’t judge me,” Jareth snarled right back, eyes clouding over in anger. Slade snarled and opened his mouth to respond to the Fae. . . “Hush you two,” Trikk said, glaring at Slade warningly. The man glanced down at her and slowly relieved the pressure his chest had been putting on her hand. But he remained just as tense, and glared just as murderously at the Fae with a look that promised pain and agony. She turned and narrowed her eyes at Jareth, “When it’s dealing with two mental characters of mine, it’s my concern, I assure you. Now if the two of you do not want to get kicked out of my mind for this stunt, I suggest you hand over your weapons. . .” she held her hands up to be palm facing up, glaring at Jareth, who reluctantly put his crystal in her hand, which she shattered instantly, the thing only going out with a fizzle.
Turning, she blinked at Slade, who had his eye shut tight, his hand still clenched on the gun, his arms shaking, his jaw set firmly in place. She smiled weakly, “I know you’re mad. But trust me. You need to calm down, not act out like this. I know you’re strong enough to fight your rage . . . now please, give me the gun,” she murmured gently, knowing that the only way he was going to calm down was if she calmed down first, if she was gentle with him. She had to exert calm control over the situation, in order for him to take it back over himself. Right now he was a wild, raging stallion that needed to look to her for guidance in order to calm himself down. Slade opened his eye and blinked at her, and she could see him take a deep swallow, shifting his weight slightly as he gazed at her. She smiled weakly, and leaning up a little, ran the palm of her hand against his cheek, “Come on, just give up the gun. . .” at that moment, Slade’s finger moved, and the safety was locked again on the pistol. She smiled weakly, “That’s right, Slade . . . come on now, just lower it down . . .” she stroked his cheek a bit more, and he breathed hard in through his nose and out through his mouth, relaxing a little more, his shoulders sagging, his eye focused on her face. And slowly, he lowered the gun, though still gripping it firmly in his hand. “Good, now please. . .” she ran a hand down to his hand, and cupped it, “Hand me the gun.”
He took another deep breath, let it out, and hung his head, closing his eye, letting go of the rage, and put the gun gently in her hand. She beamed. The man took a step away from her, head still tilted down, eye closed. “Okay, now you two, just stand here,” she whispered, glancing at both. Jareth frowned, and still with head held high, sat back in his chair, crossing his arms. Slade remained right where he was, but ran a hand through his hair a little and sighed as she said, “Don’t . . . just don’t talk to each other, okay?” Turning, she walked down the hall to her room. Slade frowned, and lifting his head, blinked after the girl. Curious as to what she was up to. Turning around, he blinked at Jareth, who was doing the same, a dumbfounded look on the Fae’s face. Jareth caught the man staring, and looked at Slade, who glared and quickly looked away. At that moment, they heard wheels rolling on hardwood, moments before Trikk was back, pulling her black rolling suitcase down the hall and into the kitchen.
Grabbing her old chair, the girl sat the suitcase on it, and then walked around to stand almost right between the guys. “Okay, guys, time to have a group hug and make up.” she held out both of her arms, sighing. Slade curled his lip a bit, as did Jareth, and the two males hesitated. “HUG AND MAKE UP!” she snapped suddenly, glaring ahead of herself. Slade sighed and rolled his eye, as Jareth let his arms fall slack at his sides. The two men moved to her, and leaning down, wrapped hands awkwardly around one another and their author. She hugged them tightly, wrapping her arms around their necks, rubbing their backs, sighing deeply, “My boys. . .” it was then that each received a harsh slap in the back of the head. Jareth cried out in the sudden onslaught, while Slade merely grunted, by that point used to the form of punishment. He just couldn’t believe he hadn’t anticipated it this time. . .
Pulling back, she released them, and the two men straightened, frowning down at her, Jareth with frustration, his arms folded, Slade with resignation, a frown on his face, his eye half lidded. Despite being stronger than Trikk and liking to get on her nerves a little, even the villain knew that when a woman was angry, it was usually best to not offend her more. She put her hands on her hips, glaring at the two, “I AM VERY DISAPPOINTED WITH THE TWO OF YOU! HOW COULD YOU ATTACK AND RUIN A PERFECTLY GOOD BREAKFAST MEAL, HUH?! OUR FIRST ONE TOGETHER FOR THE HOLIDAYS AND YOU JUST RUINED IT! I TOLD YOU. . .” she pointed to Jareth, who frowned and tilted his head, “THAT YOU HAD TO AT LEAST TRY TO BE ON YOUR BEST BEHAVIOR, BEFORE YOU EVEN CAME HERE! AND I TOLD YOU. . .” she turned and glared at Slade, pointing her finger at him as Jareth snickered a little. Slade just frowned down at her, his arms at his sides, shifting his weight to one foot and leaning to the side. “I TOLD YOU BEFORE WE EVEN ATE TODAY, RIGHT BEFORE, NOT TO USE YOUR WEAPONS EXCEPT IN SELF DEFENSE! SO WHAT DO YOU DO? YOU GET ANGRY ENOUGH TO POINT A PISTOL AT JARETH’S HEAD! HIS HEAD! AND YOU WANTED TO PULL THAT TRIGGER TOO!” Jareth continued to snicker, and she wheeled around on him, snarling, glaring hard at him, “DON’T YOU DARE THINK THAT EXCUSES YOUR TIGHT WEARING BUTT. . .” she shouted. He fell silent, and stared at her. Slade couldn’t help but let the edges of his lips curl a bit in a small smile. “YOU MIGHT NOT HAVE WHIPPED OUT YOUR CRYSTAL BEFORE HE WHIPPED OUT HIS PISTOL, BUT YOU INCITED HIM TO START YELLING TO BEGIN WITH! WITH YOUR COMMENT, AND THEN WITH YOUR ARGUING! AND WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT WITH FLIPPING THE TABLE?! IF THAT DIDN’T MAKE HIS ANGER RISE, I DON’T KNOW WHAT DID!” “But I only complimented him. . .” Jareth began, trying to look innocent.
“YEAH, A COMPLIMENT HIDING A DEROGATORY STATEMENT! YOU KNEW HOW HE WOULD TAKE IT!” she snapped, seething. Then jerked her head down, glaring at the floor, and began to slap the back of her right hand against the palm of her left, “I JUST WANT THIS TO BE A HAPPY CHRISTMAS WITH CHARACTERS I CHERISH! BUT THAT’S NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN IF YOU TWO HAVE A DAMN FIGHT EVERY MEAL!” “I’m sorry, Trikk . . .” Slade offered, leaning forward a little, blinking at her, “I know how much this means to you. . . I shouldn’t have reacted like that. I’m sorry.” “Well I’m sorry you’re a sensitive pain in the ass,” Jareth remarked in a bored voice at Slade. Who turned and glowered at him, as did Trikk. “Now’s not the time, Jareth,” she muttered darkly, “I just had to get Slade calmed down from wanting to shoot you. If you get him worked up this time, you’re on your own . . .” Jareth smiled weakly, “Sorry Trikk. . . sorry. . . Slade . . .” Slade frowned, and set his jaw tight, “And I’m . . . sorry for almost shooting you in the head . . .” the mercenary bit out. “Well, close enough,” Trikk whispered.
For a moment, the three stood in silence, and then Trikk sighed, “Okay guys, I think that a punishment is in order. To help prevent this from happening again. Slade, I know you will claim that you were defending ‘yourself’ against Jareth’s remarks, but that is not a good enough reason to have pulled the gun. Jareth, you knew better than to make him angry. Therefore, you are both entitled to punishment . . . no buts,” she added the last part, as Jareth had opened his mouth to object. Slade crossed his arms now, turning to Trikk and frowning hard as she turned to her suitcase and unzipped an outside zipper pocket, and pulled out something in a long, relatively wide and high box. Turning to Jareth, she frowned, “Jareth, for the day, you are not allowed access to your magical energy. I had Lilac make a special collar for this exact purpose. Only I can put it on, and it will only come off after 24 hours. . .” she opened the box and held the metal collar in her hand. Jareth tensed, and reached up, subconsciously stroking his neck, “2-2-24 hours?” “I could ask Lilac to turn it to 72. . .” “NO! NO! 24’S FINE!” he gasped. “Good,” she muttered, and leaning up, slid the collar around his neck, it closing with a click as she did so. A bright blue light shone, and Jareth leaned back, frowning down at the thing, gingerly touching it, “I feel them going dormant . . . my magical energy streams. . .” “Don’t worry. It won’t permanently harm them or you,” Trikk murmured. Turning, she frowned up at Slade, “Slade, the deal was for you to keep weapons to use in self-defense. According to me you broke the second part of that rule. . . so for today, you must turn over your weapons. ALL of them.”
For a moment Slade just stared at her, then, “You have to be kidding me.” She shook her head firmly, frowning, and turned to her bag’s outside pocket again and pulled out what appeared to be a PDA, “No, I’m not. You can get them back at the end of 24 hours, when Jareth gets his magic back. And this is something that Lilac combined her magic with modern day technology to make. It’s a weapons scanner. When you’re done, I’ll use it to find any weapons you might have ‘accidentally missed’. Understand?” Slade set his jaw firmly, giving her a dark look. “I said there would be consequences, did I not? Punishment?” she arched an eyebrow, “So get to it.” Slade rolled his eye, as she moved the suitcase to the floor before him and opened it, revealing his pistol already inside. And so it all began. . .
Slade grunted, and pulled off his shirt to begin with. And Trikk stared at the well chiseled six pack and pectorals of the man . . . and the knives strapped to his sides and under his arms. The man frowned and quickly took them off, tossing them into the suitcase with a snarl. Then, reaching up over his shoulder, where a small slender black strap was, he grunted, and after some fumbling, pulled out two holsters with two pistols in them connected to the strap. He dropped that into the box as well. Then, he ran his thumbs along the waistband of his pants, and pulled out three curved knives that had been hidden there and a pistol from his back. He tossed those into the suitcase as well, frowning hard at her. And stood there, his hands on his hips, studying her for a moment, as if debating his next move.
She just arched an eyebrow. He sighed, rolled his eye, pulled out two switchblades from the pockets of his jeans, and tossed them into the suitcase, before undoing his belt buckle, pants button, and zipper, and gripping the waistband of the jeans, pulled them down to his ankles. Trikk blinked at the black long johns he had on over his legs and then at the small belt of bombs around the man’s waist. Undoing the buckle of that belt, Slade pulled the bombs off of himself, and laid those in the box, muttering that only after flipping a switch on each of them and pressing on them could they be turned on, so the suitcase was safe. Then he leaned down, and fumbled with the upper edges of his boots before pulling out two pistols, which he then tossed into the suitcase as well. Then stood up, frowning at Trikk, “Done.”
Trikk blinked and held up the PDA, and a blue scanning beam shot out of it and ran up and down Slade. Then she smiled, “Yeah, you’re clean.” Slade nodded curtly at her, before moving down, gripping his pants, and pulling them up. Once he had done the belt up on those, he grabbed his shirt from the floor and quickly pulled that on, as Trikk zipped up the suitcase, sliding the PDA device back into its outside zipper pocket, “Alright boys, I’m going to put this back in my room. You two will clean up the mess,” she motioned to the table, “We’ll have Lilac magically repair the dishes later.” Turning, she left.
Somehow, Jareth and Slade both managed to clean up the broken dishes and food and turn the table right side up again without fighting, and after Slade had put on an orange scarf and black jacket, the group headed outside to check on Slashera and Lilac. What they saw made them all stop and stare. It was a massive “snow cabin”, complete with windows and a door, and a chimney. And out in front were five snowmen, one being a little girl, two being taller girls, one being rather skinny and male, and one being large, broad, and male. Slashera suddenly ran out of the house, squealing, “LOOK WHAT WE DID!” she flung herself into Trikk’s ready arms, and Trikk picked her up, gently settling the girl on her hip, smiling at her, “I see! It’s amazing!” Lilac chuckled and walked out of the cabin. Trikk grinned at her, and mouthed a quick thank you to the witch. Lilac was truly helping her keep Slashera out of Jareth and Slade’s fighting. And she was grateful for that.
“COME SEE INSIDE!” Slashera grinned at her “brain mom”. Trikk grinned at the girl, “SOUNDS LIKE FUN!” turning, she moved slowly into the house, moving through a bit of snow to get to the house, and moved into the snowy structure. And chuckled. White orbs of light floated on the air, illuminating the place that had a snow table and chairs on one side, and a “snow kitchen” on the other. She turned, and grinned at Slashera, “It looks absolutely amazing, Slashera.” Slashera beamed, “Thanks!” Then the child turned, and grinned as Slade walked into the house, looking around, “FATHER SLADE!” Trikk chuckled, as the girl reached out for him, and turning, handed her over. Slade chuckled, as the girl’s tiny arms wrapped around his neck, and looked around, “Impressive, Little Slash. . .” She grinned, “THANK YOU!” Slade turned and moved over the kitchen, the cabinets of which were carefully etched into, running his fingertips lightly over everything, “Very nice,” he murmured. Trikk smiled weakly watching the two, then turned and headed outside and walked up to Lilac, smiling at the witch, “Thank you again. It looks awesome.” Lilac smiled at her, “Don’t mention it. I had tons of fun.” Trikk grinned at the witch, just as Slade and Slashera exited the snow structure, and with Jareth moving a little closer to the group, having run to his mobile home to get a silver scarf to match his tights and a black coat and gloves, the five let out a calm sigh.
“So, what are we going to do about a tree?” Lilac remarked, blinking, “I mean, we need a Christmas tree to decorate, don’t we?” Trikk nodded, blinking at the witch, “Absolutely.” Slade frowned, Slashera placed on one of his hips, one of his long arms wrapped around the child, “I still don’t see much point in it. . .” “Well then, where would the presents go otherwise?” Jareth remarked calmly, fixing him with a cool look, crossing his arms. Slade smirked, “All the more reason for us to not have a tree. . .” Jareth rolled his multi-colored eyes, “Come on now, it’s not Christmas without presents. . .” “Sorry, but I fail to see the point. Because those of us who aren’t rulers of our own kingdoms who can just demand objects of their people have to actually go out into the holiday rush and buy overpriced stuff to give to others, if we do presents that is,” Slade remarked, blinking at the King. “Look, regardless of if we do or don’t have presents, we still need a tree. Christmas isn’t Christmas without a Christmas tree to decorate, if you ask me,” Lilac murmured, blinking calmly at the two males, who stood on either side of Trikk, with Lilac standing directly across from the author. “Right,” Trikk said, nodding at Lilac, smiling weakly at the witch, then turned to Slade, “So that just leaves one thing to decide on. How are we going to get it? Is there a place that sells Christmas trees in the town nearby?” Slade gave her an incredulous look, clearly saying that he was NOT going to that town just to get a Christmas tree. Certainly not one that would only die in his house and get needles everywhere. . .
“Alright, well, let’s get an axe and head on out,” Trikk remarked calmly. Slade frowned, “What?” “Well, I am not getting an artificial one, and we are not conjuring one, and you are not going to the town nearby to get one. So the only thing to do now is go out into your forest and chop one down. To do that, we need an axe,” Trikk said matter of factly. He sighed, “Fine. I have an axe in my work shed,” he muttered, setting Slashera down to stand in the snow before walking away with Trikk following. Upon entering the tool shed, he quickly found the axe, with a strip of thick cloth around its sharp edge, to provide safety to the carrier, and a long belt with a loop on it through which the axe was put for easy carrying. The man was about to slide the belt on, when Trikk frowned, “What are you doing?” he frowned and turned to her, blinking, “I’m putting on the axe. . .”
“And is an axe not a weapon?” she muttered, arching an eyebrow. He frowned at her, “We’re using it to chop down the tree, Trikk . . .” “And I shall wear it until then. Like I said, you are not to have a weapon on your person. And Jareth may say something that would get you worked up. I won’t have you two fighting again. . .” “Well, with his magic gone, it won’t be much of a fight, will it?” Slade grinned a little at the thought. “That settles it, I’m wearing the axe,” she muttered bluntly, frowning at the man. “Come on Trikk, I’m just kidding,” he rolled his eye, “Come on, I won’t use it. Just let me wear it. Trust me. . .” Minutes later, Trikk walked behind Slade down a forest trail, snow lightly falling on the group, with Slashera holding Trikk’s hand and walking beside the author and Lilac and Jareth bringing up the rear, with the axe strapped to Trikk’s waist. As it turned out, Trikk only trusted Slade in this case as far as she could throw him. And that was nowhere near enough for her to trust him with the axe.
About an hour later, after walking down various winding forest paths and seeing about two deer walking through the woods, Slade veered right, and the group followed him up to a relatively tall Douglas fir laden with snow. “It definitely is tall enough for the living room. . .” Lilac murmured, moments before Slade rushed the tree and leaping high into the air, landed a firm kick straight into the middle of the tree’s tall trunk before landing gracefully on the ground with a thump! And walking out from beneath the tree as most of its snow was shaken off upon impact, “It’s sturdy too. Let’s chop it down and take it back,” the man muttered, and turning to Trikk, held out his hand expectantly for the axe as the girl blinked up at the tree. “I don’t think so. It’s got a bunch of holes,” Jareth muttered, hands on his hips, frowning at the tree, his breathing coming out in warm puffs of air before his face. “ ‘Holes’,” Slade muttered, frowning at him, “What the hell does that mean?” “It means gaps in the tree, where branches are missing,” Lilac remarked, “I count about 45 holes in this one. . .” Slade rolled his eye and turned to Trikk, “It’s a Christmas tree. Who cares about how many holes it has?” Trikk frowned and turned to him, “Sorry Slade, but I . . . kind of prefer my trees just a bit more . . . full?” he frowned and tilted his head, not fully understanding what that meant. “You know, with fewer holes?” she said, blinking at him. “So that means we have to keep going,” Slade muttered. She smiled weakly at him, “I’m afraid so.” He rolled his eye and marched off, glaring dead ahead, mumbling something about how stupid holes were on a tree that was about to die anyway.
About thirty minutes later, Slade veered off the path again, and sighed as he came up to a tree, the others following behind him. Twisting around quickly, remaining on the ground, he slammed the bottom of his boot through some branches and into the trunk of the tree, the snow on it falling to reveal a Fraser Fir that was a bit shorter than the first, but with no more than 2 holes, one of which his foot had just made. He took a step back, frowning up at the tree, and then turned to the others with a sigh, “Alright, I know it has two holes, but no tree out here is going to be perfect. Can we chop this one down?” “Well, you’re right . . . no tree’s going to be perfect. . .” Lilac remarked slowly, tilting her head a little, as did Trikk, Slashera, and Jareth. “. . . and this one doesn’t have very noticeable holes, that much is true . . . very easy to cover up,” Jareth remarked slowly as well. “But it . . . really kind of leans to the left,” Trikk whispered, frowning. Slashera nodded in agreement. Slade gave them an exasperated look, and then turned around. Sure enough, the tree was markedly leaning to the left. “So let me guess, we can’t have it?” Slade remarked with a roll of his eye, his shoulders sagging. “I’m afraid not,” Trikk whispered. Slade gave another sigh and turning, stomped back to the path they’d been on.
Forty five minutes later, Slade walked up to a nice tall tree. From what he could tell, it had minimal holes, and wasn’t leaning in the slightest. Grinning, he walked up, moved his hands into the tree, grasped its trunk, and shook it, snow falling down from it. Then he stepped back, grinning up at the Canaan Fir, hands held up with palms facing it, “Alright! I KNOW this one’s great! It only has one big hole, two small holes, and doesn’t lean! We’re done right? We can chop it down?” he turned and grinned at Trikk, then frowned upon seeing the frown on her face. He groaned in exasperation, “OH COME ON! WHAT’S WRONG WITH THIS ONE?” “Nothing, if your living room was about eight feet taller,” Jareth remarked. Lilac nodded in sad agreement, “Sorry Slade, but it really is too tall.” Trikk nodded, and turned a sad gaze to Slade, “But it really is pretty,” she offered. Slade just rolled his eye and marched on past, “Now I know why you didn’t let me have the axe . . . this is maddening!”
Two hours later, Slade was growling and snarling and glaring dead ahead. They’d already gone to five other trees. One had been declared too short. One had been declared too skinny. One had been declared too fat. One had been declared to be leaning too far to the right. And one had been declared to have 50 holes. And he was about to be declared to have a psychotic episode. He was so sick of finding trees that were messed up. What was the point?! It was just going to die anyway! He was almost tempted to go to town to get the tree . . . He just wanted to get a tree, and be done with this. Suddenly, one caught his eye to the right. Growling, he stomped off of the path and up to the tree. Grabbing its trunk, he gave it a firm shake, “OH, WHAT’S WRONG WITH THIS ONE?! TOO MANY HOLES?! LEANING?! SHORT?! TALL?! FAT?! SKINNY?! WHAT?!” he roared. At that moment, an old bird’s nest fell on his head in a mess of feathers, twigs, and egg shells.
The man reared his head back, roaring in anger, and grabbing the stuff on his hair, he threw it to the snow and sent his boot crashing down on it, “THAT DOES IT! I’M DONE! YOU LOT CAN FIND YOUR OWN DAMN TREE!” he kicked the destroyed nest away, so hard that it flew through the air and slammed into a tree trunk nearby. “Slade, come on. We’ll find one!” Trikk said, gazing at him worriedly, Slashera hiding behind her “brain-mother”, worried about her Father. “OH YEAH?!” Slade turned to her, snarling, two feathers in his hair, an egg shell sitting primly on top of his head, “AND HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE US?! ONE DAY?! TWO?!” “It won’t take that long,” Trikk muttered with a frown, crossing her arms, “Stop acting immature about it.” “ME?! IF I HAD HAD MY WAY, WE WOULD HAVE GOTTEN THE FIRST TREE WE FOUND OUT HERE! BUT NOOOO! IT HAS TO BE ABSOLUTELY PERFECT! WELL, NEWS FLASH! EVERY TREE IS GOING TO HAVE SOMETHING WRONG WITH IT! GET OVER IT!” “WE’RE NOT LOOKING FOR A PERFECT TREE!” Trikk objected, glaring at him, “WE JUST WANT SOMETHING NICE TO PUT UP! IN YOUR LIVING ROOM! DOESN’T THAT MEAN ANYTHING TO YOU?!” she shouted back at him. Slade glared, “IF I HAD EVERYTHING MY WAY WE WOULDN’T EVEN BE LOOKING FOR A TREE TO GO IN THERE TO BEGIN WITH!” “WELL NEWS FLASH SLADE! YOU’RE NOT ALONE THIS CHRISTMAS! AND THE REST OF US WOULD ALL LIKE A TREE TO DECORATE! I GUESS I JUST THINK YOU COULD BE A LITTLE LESS SELF-CENTERED THIS HOLIDAY! BUT APPARENTLY I WAS WRONG!” Trikk roared back, fists at her sides. “SO WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?! ABANDON ALL THAT I BELIEVE IN FOR YOUR SAKE?!” Slade snarled right back, glaring at her. “NO! I GUESS NOT! WE’LL ALL JUST GO TO SOMEWHERE ELSE FOR THE HOLIDAYS!” Trikk roared back, glaring at him, “I JUST THOUGHT IT’D BE NICE TO INCLUDE YOU! BUT APPARENTLY, THAT’S NOT WHAT YOU WANT! ANYTHING WE WANT TO DO IS IMMEDIATELY SHOT DOWN!” “I AM NOT AGAINST EVERYTHING YOU SAY YOU WANT TO DO!” Slade retorted. “WELL YOU CERTAINLY ACT LIKE IT!” Trikk roared.
“WELL THEN I’M SORRY!” Slade roared, glaring at her, seething. Trikk stared, “What did you just say?” “I’M SORRY! SORRY ABOUT GETTING MAD AT BREAKFAST, SORRY ABOUT BEING AGAINST PRESENTS AND A TREE, AND SORRY THAT I CAN’T FIND A PERFECT TREE! AND I’M SORRY FOR YELLING AT YOU! I GUESS IT’S JUST HARD WHEN I CAN’T DO SOMETHING PERFECT! IT’S JUST SOMETHING I’VE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO DO TO NOT DO SOMETHING PERFECT! I’M PERFECT AT COOKING. I’M PERFECT AT HUNTING. I’M PERFECT AT MISSIONS! BUT THIS! I CAN’T DO IT! SO WHY DON’T YOU LOT JUST STAY OUT HERE IN THE FREEZING COLD LOOKING FOR A TREE, AND I’LL GO BACK TO MY CABIN AND THINK OF HOW MUCH I JUST CAN’T DO THIS!” he roared. Then sighed, and closed his eye. For a moment, the area was silent. Then Trikk frowned and moved forward, holding up a hand, “Let me get the egg shells and feathers off of your hair.” He sighed and knelt in the snow, his knees hitting the white powdery material, and he tilted his head down, as her fingers moved through his hair, knocking stuff off. “We’ll leave you two alone, come on Slashera. Let’s go back to the trail,” Lilac whispered, and the other three headed back to the trail.
Finally, Trikk leaned back, “Alright, Slade look at me.” Slade’s crystal blue eye opened, and she saw how truly hurt he was that he couldn’t find a Christmas tree. “I just don’t understand why I can’t do it. It’s supposed to be so simple, and I can’t,” he muttered, sighing deeply, a few tears forming in his eye in his frustration and streaking down his cheeks. She blinked and wiped them away slowly using his scarf. “I know. I feel the same way sometimes. It can really feel unfair, and can really get you worked up, and I know that it’s even more aggravating for you, but Slade, you will be able to find one!” she whispered, cupping his chin, blinking at him intently. Slade frowned, “You really think so?” “Of course. I mean, you do missions all the time. Surely you can. . .” Trikk suddenly stared at him. Slade frowned, “What?” “THAT’S IT! I NEVER THOUGHT OF THAT BEFORE BUT THAT’S IT! A MISSION!” Trikk said, grinning at him.
Slade frowned and tilted his head, his tears dried up, confusion in his blue eye, “You want me to go kill someone? Well, okay. . .” “NO!” she laughed, and smiled, “This is the mission! Finding a good Christmas tree!” Slade frowned, and then smiled, “I never thought of it that way before. . . I like it!” She grinned right back. Knowing that he was now intent on success. And knowing that he would be able to accomplish that goal.
20 minutes later, Trikk, Lilac, Slashera, and Jareth all frowned as they gazed up the trunk of the tall pine tree. And at the top of the tree, gripping the trunk in one hand and standing on a branch with some high tech binoculars in his other hand, was Slade. The man frowned, turning his head, gazing through the binoculars out over the trees of his forest. He’d asked Lilac to go back to his house via Apparating to get the binoculars and a small homing strap with a chip in it to put on his wrist and a GPS tracking device so that if he ran off to get a tree, the group would be able to wait until he arrived at his destination and had stopped moving. Then they would be able to Apparate as a group to him and the tree. He had to admit: he liked thinking of this as a mission. It made him more confident of himself. He just knew he could handle this now. And that eased his stress. Finally, he grinned. He’d found the perfect tree. He leapt out far from the tree, landing about 20 feet away from the group, and took off running, winding around trees and down paths, plunging through the forest.
Trikk grinned and held up the GPS device, watching the man’s course, “He’s found one.” “I have to say, this was a great idea of yours, Trikk,” Jareth said, nodding with a grin, crossing his arms. Slashera nodded enthusiastically, “And Father Slade’s happy again, right?” Trikk smiled, turned to the girl, and nodded, “Absolutely.” At that moment, the GPS beeped as Slade stopped moving. Trikk frowned at the screen, “He’s about 10 miles away from us . . .” she turned to Lilac and handed the GPS to her. The witch nodded, took it, and ordered the others to bunch up close to her, grab her, and hold on tight.
A second later, Trikk gazed up at the perfectly sized tree that didn’t lean very much at all. Slade had already shaken the snow off, and so far, it appeared to not have holes, and appeared to not be too fat or too skinny. It was a Douglas fir, and as she walked around the tree, she found no holes on any of the sides. Upon reaching the group again, she smiled, “Slade, it’s just perfect!” she lunged forward and wrapped her arms around the man’s neck, and he chuckled in her ear, his hand moving slowly to the axe at her belt, and he began to slide the tool out, “Of course it is. I was on a mission, after all. And as you know, ever mission. . .” she slid off, as he whipped the axe out of her belt, and wrenched off the covering on its blade, before smiling at her, tightening his grip on the handle of the object, “Needs a good tool.” She smiled, “Chop away, then.” He smirked, “With only the utmost pleasure, madam.” Turning to the tree, he knelt down, and swung the axe around as hard as he could, sinking it deep into the wood of the tree’s stump. The group cheered.
Hours later, night had befallen the forest, and the group stood in the living room of the cabin, the overhead lights off, the tree before them illuminating the room, with multi-colored lights wrapped around it, various Christmas ornaments of varying colors and sizes and shapes littering it, and a beautiful star on top glowing with various colors. Some tinsel and garland was wrapped around the tree. Candy canes and plastic icicles hung on branches. A lovely red velvet tree skirt was wrapped around the base of the tree. The tree stand had been bewitched by Lilac to magically stay full of water, so that the group would never have to crawl under it to water the tree, and the area at the bottom of the limbs at the base of the tree was bewitched so that if any stray needles fell to that point of the large plant, they’d be incinerated in colorful flames, and zero needles would litter the ground. The group grinned, all of them happy at what they’d accomplished, their bellies full of biscuits, mashed potatoes, green beans, lima beans, gravy, and roast beef so tender that no one even needed knives to separate it to eat it. They’d finished off the evening with a lovely cheesecake with either chocolate, caramel, or strawberry sauce drizzled over it. All the food had been prepared by Slade, of course, once Lilac had fixed all of the previously shattered dishes, and all of it had been good. Now the group sipped on mugs of creamy chocolate cocoa, gazing at the tree with pride.
“Well, it was hard, but we did it,” Lilac murmured. “Yes! This will be the best Christmas ever!” Slashera squealed, grinning, and took a gulp of her cocoa, which was of course at a safe temperature for the child. She stood between Slade and Trikk, with Lilac and Jareth standing behind the other three. The adults darted their eyes around to one another at that, then Slade smirked, “Well, the best one we can ever have.” “I second that,” Trikk said with a grin, and tilted her mug against her lips, taking a sip. “I agree,” Jareth nodded firmly. “Motion carried,” Lilac said with a smile, eliciting a laugh from everyone in the group. “Then how about a toast? To the best Christmas we can ever have?” Slade said, grinning, and held out his mug a little lower than his arm level to accommodate Slashera’s height. The group grinned, and all clanked their mugs against the man’s, “HERE, HERE!”
A/N: Poor Slade. he can't handle failure really well, can he? But then, does any man handle failure well? ;) I kind of like how Lilac and Slashera interact in this story. Believe me, I did not plan it that way (seriously, at least half of the time, the story just forms on its own in my mind). But I do like how they interact. I like the idea of Lilac kind of being like a big sister to Slashera and watching over her a little and playing with her. :D anyway, what did you think?! Please comment! Comments are what feed my inner imagination half the time! :D
Disclaimer: all characters belong to their respective owners.
This is the second chapter of my Christmas story, but only chapter 1 by title (the other was a preview). I know this is later than anticipated, but I promise, I plan to work on the next two chapters by tonight and have them posted as soon as I can. :D Spent the day a friend's house yesterday and went to The Hobbit midnight premiere before that, so I have finally gotten home and caught up on enough to sleep to be sane enough to write. lol hope you enjoy!
Soon, the group was sitting around the table, with Slade at his spot, Slashera to his left, Trikk to his right, Lilac beside Slashera, and a Goblin King directly across from a very disgruntled mercenary. Slade would on occasion glance up and narrow his eye at the Fae King as he ate, cutting into his Canadian bacon just a little bit harsher than was required, and Trikk would have to cough to get his attention before he broke through the plate. Slade would glance at her, then lean back and eat the piece of bacon, before turning back to face his plate after he was done, not looking at the Fae any longer. Jareth, apparently, seemed unaware of Slade’s obvious irritation, as he dipped his biscuit into a pool of honey he’d put on his plate and ate a huge bite out of it, getting honey all over his fingers, with some dripping onto his exposed neck.
Frowning, the Fae tilted his head down, whisked up the honey with his pointer finger, and began to suck and lick at his fingers, eyes closed, moaning a little, and pulled away, smacking his lips, “Now that is some good honey. . .”. Such a mild sexual gesture followed by that remark only made the white haired man across from the Fae that much angrier at the Goblin King. He began to snarl a little in anger, but Trikk once again coughed softly, and lifted her glass suggestively. Slade caught the message, and decided to drown his anger in black coffee with chervil. As he gulped it down, tilting his head back as he did so, Slashera smiled and popped a piece of grape into her mouth using her fork, “Wow this is good!” Slade lowered his mug, gripping it tightly, but forced a firm smile across his face, turning to the girl, “Why thank you, little one. I’m glad you enjoy it. Now, if you all would excuse me, I need more coffee.” He got up to move to the kitchen to pour a fresh cup. Lilac nodded, turning to him, “Yes, Slade, this meal is fantastic. My compliments to the chef.” He turned and smiled at her, tilting the mug to his lips and taking a sip before walking back over to the table, “Thank you.”
He sat down in the chair, extremely happier than when he’d left it, and Trikk smiled at him, “I guess we all know whose house to go to for a great meal, huh?” Slade smirked at her, his eye twinkling a bit at the praise, “Well, I know it’s better than that stuff you make out of the box. . .” She rolled her eyes and smirked at him, “Hey, not everything I make is out of boxes.” “Not including biscuits or sweets?” he said, arching an eyebrow, smirking at her. She smirked even more right back, and leaned towards him, biting hard into her regular bacon, “Of course not. Some of it’s in bags too.” She winked at him. He chuckled, closing his eye and shaking his head at the small joke as Slashera laughed as well, with Lilac just smiling at her author politely. Trikk grinned, happy the tension had lifted from the room, at least by a little bit. At that moment, the tension was back however, when Jareth remarked, “Yes Slade. This meal is quite delightful. You must be so proud to succeed at such a domestic chore.”
A silence immediately fell over the room. Slade snarled, glaring at him, “What did you just say to me?” Trikk knew that despite the man not yelling, he was turning dangerous. For he was speaking to Jareth in a low voice that only promised pain. Jareth chuckled, “What? I was merely complimenting your cooking skills. Perhaps I should hire you to work in my castle?” Slade snarled, and slammed his hands into the table, standing up so fast that his chair clattered to the floor behind him, fury rising in his blue eye as he glared murderously at the Fae, “I’M NO ONE’S SERVANT! AND I WILL CERTAINLY NEVER BE ONE FOR YOU, YOU POOFY HAIRED ROYAL TIGHT WEARING PAIN IN THE ASS!” he roared, so loud the entire room shook. Slashera jumped, staring at Slade. Lilac quickly whispered that she and Slashera may need to go out for a moment, and the girl nodded quickly. With that the two bustled outside, with Lilac whispering that perhaps they could make a snow man. Jareth snarled, standing up quickly, “FOR YOUR INFORMATION, YOU SHOULD BE PROUD IF I SHOULD EVER OFFER YOU A JOB, YOU PAUPER!” Trikk groaned . . . here it went. . . “‘PAUPER’?! ‘PAUPER’?! HOW DARE YOU CALL ME THAT! YOU SPOILED, WRETCHED, LITTLE KING!” Slade roared, his vein throbbing in his neck, glaring at Jareth. “I AM NOT SPOILED!” Jareth snarled right back, “YOU DAMAGED, CONTROLLING, PSYCHOPATH!” Slade glared at him, “WELL AT LEAST I WASN’T MONOLOGUED TO DEATH!” “NO! YOU WERE JUST SHOT IN THE FACE BY YOUR WIFE! AND QUITE FRANKLY, I DON’T’ BLAME HER!” Jareth snapped back. “THAT’S NOT CANON TO THIS UNIVERSE, AND YOU KNOW IT!” Slade snarled, blushing nonetheless, “AND AT LEAST I GOT A WIFE! YOU COULDN’T EVEN GET A MORTAL GIRL TO DATE YOU!” “WHAT?!” Jareth shouted, and gripping the edge of the table, flung it over with his Fae strength, snarling at the other man, the food going flying, the plates and other breakable bowls and objects shattering.
Slade roared back, “YOU HEARD ME, YOU LITTLE PAMPERED RICH BOY!” he marched forward, snarling, “TELL ME, WHAT’S GO GOOD ABOUT BEING ‘BLESSED’ DOWN SOUTH AND NOT BEING ABLE TO DO ANYTHING WITH THAT BLESSING?” “WELL AT LEAST I HAVE ONE!” Jareth snarled, walking up to the man as well. Trikk just stared at the two males, sweat dropping, eyes wide. Oh dear . . . “I BET YOU HAVE TO USE A MAGNIFYING GLASS TO FIND YOURS! HEY! I HAVE ONE RIGHT HERE!” the Fae continued to roar, whipping out a magnifying glass. “FUNNY! I HAVE SOMETHING FOR YOU TOO!” Slade roared right back, and Trikk gasped as he whipped out a pistol and pointed it at the Fae’s head. Jareth sneered, and flicked his wrist, forming a crystal out of the magnifying glass, “READY WHEN YOU ARE, YOU EXAGERRATED MUSCLE BUILDER!” “AT LEAST I HAVE MUSCLE! WHAT DO YOU HAVE?! OTHER THAN EMO SINGING AND DANCING?!” “AT LEAST I HAVE FEELINGS THAT I SHOW!” “YEAH, MAYBE HOMOSEXUAL FEELINGS! YOU HONESTLY PUT ON MORE EYESHADOW THAN ANY WOMAN I’VE EVER SEEN!” “TAKE THAT BACK YOU JERK!” “NO, I DON’T’ THINK I WILL. TO TAKE IT BACK WOULD BE TO REGRET IT. AND I NEVER REGRET THE TRUTH.” “SMART ASS!” “MAN WHORE!” The two posed to attack with their weapons, fury brewing in their eyes, their bodies shaking in rage.
“I’m going to ENJOY shooting that small blonde, pea brain of yours out,” Slade snarled, a slow smirk crossing his face, eye lighting up at the aspect of killing the Fae, at the aspect of permanently removing the thorn from his side. Jareth smirked, “And I can’t wait to blow you sky high, you pompous, arrogant fool. I’m going to teach you once and for all why no one disrespects the Goblin King. . .” his eyes lit up in anticipation. The two were about to release their weapons, when Trikk had had enough. “STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!” she gasped, rushing forward, forcing herself between the two guys and putting a hand to each of their chests. The two men continued to snarl at one another, then Slade began to push a little against Trikk, not enough to actually injure her, but enough to get his point across, not taking his eye off of the Fae, “Get out of the way Trikk. . .”
She frowned up at him, glaring at him, “I won’t. . .” “He’s right. This is of no concern of yours. This is between me and him,” Jareth muttered, glaring at him, clutching the crystal firmly, pressing against Trikk’s hand more himself. “You don’t order her around, Goblin King,” Slade snarled, narrowing his eye. “And you weren’t?!” Jareth snarled right back. “You don’t know her like I do, you arrogant brat,” Slade snarled, “You have no idea about how I relate to her . . . and have no right to judge how I speak to her.” “Oh and you suddenly have the right to judge how I am to speak to her? Need I remind you I have my own way of relating to her? If I can’t judge you, you can’t judge me,” Jareth snarled right back, eyes clouding over in anger. Slade snarled and opened his mouth to respond to the Fae. . . “Hush you two,” Trikk said, glaring at Slade warningly. The man glanced down at her and slowly relieved the pressure his chest had been putting on her hand. But he remained just as tense, and glared just as murderously at the Fae with a look that promised pain and agony. She turned and narrowed her eyes at Jareth, “When it’s dealing with two mental characters of mine, it’s my concern, I assure you. Now if the two of you do not want to get kicked out of my mind for this stunt, I suggest you hand over your weapons. . .” she held her hands up to be palm facing up, glaring at Jareth, who reluctantly put his crystal in her hand, which she shattered instantly, the thing only going out with a fizzle.
Turning, she blinked at Slade, who had his eye shut tight, his hand still clenched on the gun, his arms shaking, his jaw set firmly in place. She smiled weakly, “I know you’re mad. But trust me. You need to calm down, not act out like this. I know you’re strong enough to fight your rage . . . now please, give me the gun,” she murmured gently, knowing that the only way he was going to calm down was if she calmed down first, if she was gentle with him. She had to exert calm control over the situation, in order for him to take it back over himself. Right now he was a wild, raging stallion that needed to look to her for guidance in order to calm himself down. Slade opened his eye and blinked at her, and she could see him take a deep swallow, shifting his weight slightly as he gazed at her. She smiled weakly, and leaning up a little, ran the palm of her hand against his cheek, “Come on, just give up the gun. . .” at that moment, Slade’s finger moved, and the safety was locked again on the pistol. She smiled weakly, “That’s right, Slade . . . come on now, just lower it down . . .” she stroked his cheek a bit more, and he breathed hard in through his nose and out through his mouth, relaxing a little more, his shoulders sagging, his eye focused on her face. And slowly, he lowered the gun, though still gripping it firmly in his hand. “Good, now please. . .” she ran a hand down to his hand, and cupped it, “Hand me the gun.”
He took another deep breath, let it out, and hung his head, closing his eye, letting go of the rage, and put the gun gently in her hand. She beamed. The man took a step away from her, head still tilted down, eye closed. “Okay, now you two, just stand here,” she whispered, glancing at both. Jareth frowned, and still with head held high, sat back in his chair, crossing his arms. Slade remained right where he was, but ran a hand through his hair a little and sighed as she said, “Don’t . . . just don’t talk to each other, okay?” Turning, she walked down the hall to her room. Slade frowned, and lifting his head, blinked after the girl. Curious as to what she was up to. Turning around, he blinked at Jareth, who was doing the same, a dumbfounded look on the Fae’s face. Jareth caught the man staring, and looked at Slade, who glared and quickly looked away. At that moment, they heard wheels rolling on hardwood, moments before Trikk was back, pulling her black rolling suitcase down the hall and into the kitchen.
Grabbing her old chair, the girl sat the suitcase on it, and then walked around to stand almost right between the guys. “Okay, guys, time to have a group hug and make up.” she held out both of her arms, sighing. Slade curled his lip a bit, as did Jareth, and the two males hesitated. “HUG AND MAKE UP!” she snapped suddenly, glaring ahead of herself. Slade sighed and rolled his eye, as Jareth let his arms fall slack at his sides. The two men moved to her, and leaning down, wrapped hands awkwardly around one another and their author. She hugged them tightly, wrapping her arms around their necks, rubbing their backs, sighing deeply, “My boys. . .” it was then that each received a harsh slap in the back of the head. Jareth cried out in the sudden onslaught, while Slade merely grunted, by that point used to the form of punishment. He just couldn’t believe he hadn’t anticipated it this time. . .
Pulling back, she released them, and the two men straightened, frowning down at her, Jareth with frustration, his arms folded, Slade with resignation, a frown on his face, his eye half lidded. Despite being stronger than Trikk and liking to get on her nerves a little, even the villain knew that when a woman was angry, it was usually best to not offend her more. She put her hands on her hips, glaring at the two, “I AM VERY DISAPPOINTED WITH THE TWO OF YOU! HOW COULD YOU ATTACK AND RUIN A PERFECTLY GOOD BREAKFAST MEAL, HUH?! OUR FIRST ONE TOGETHER FOR THE HOLIDAYS AND YOU JUST RUINED IT! I TOLD YOU. . .” she pointed to Jareth, who frowned and tilted his head, “THAT YOU HAD TO AT LEAST TRY TO BE ON YOUR BEST BEHAVIOR, BEFORE YOU EVEN CAME HERE! AND I TOLD YOU. . .” she turned and glared at Slade, pointing her finger at him as Jareth snickered a little. Slade just frowned down at her, his arms at his sides, shifting his weight to one foot and leaning to the side. “I TOLD YOU BEFORE WE EVEN ATE TODAY, RIGHT BEFORE, NOT TO USE YOUR WEAPONS EXCEPT IN SELF DEFENSE! SO WHAT DO YOU DO? YOU GET ANGRY ENOUGH TO POINT A PISTOL AT JARETH’S HEAD! HIS HEAD! AND YOU WANTED TO PULL THAT TRIGGER TOO!” Jareth continued to snicker, and she wheeled around on him, snarling, glaring hard at him, “DON’T YOU DARE THINK THAT EXCUSES YOUR TIGHT WEARING BUTT. . .” she shouted. He fell silent, and stared at her. Slade couldn’t help but let the edges of his lips curl a bit in a small smile. “YOU MIGHT NOT HAVE WHIPPED OUT YOUR CRYSTAL BEFORE HE WHIPPED OUT HIS PISTOL, BUT YOU INCITED HIM TO START YELLING TO BEGIN WITH! WITH YOUR COMMENT, AND THEN WITH YOUR ARGUING! AND WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT WITH FLIPPING THE TABLE?! IF THAT DIDN’T MAKE HIS ANGER RISE, I DON’T KNOW WHAT DID!” “But I only complimented him. . .” Jareth began, trying to look innocent.
“YEAH, A COMPLIMENT HIDING A DEROGATORY STATEMENT! YOU KNEW HOW HE WOULD TAKE IT!” she snapped, seething. Then jerked her head down, glaring at the floor, and began to slap the back of her right hand against the palm of her left, “I JUST WANT THIS TO BE A HAPPY CHRISTMAS WITH CHARACTERS I CHERISH! BUT THAT’S NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN IF YOU TWO HAVE A DAMN FIGHT EVERY MEAL!” “I’m sorry, Trikk . . .” Slade offered, leaning forward a little, blinking at her, “I know how much this means to you. . . I shouldn’t have reacted like that. I’m sorry.” “Well I’m sorry you’re a sensitive pain in the ass,” Jareth remarked in a bored voice at Slade. Who turned and glowered at him, as did Trikk. “Now’s not the time, Jareth,” she muttered darkly, “I just had to get Slade calmed down from wanting to shoot you. If you get him worked up this time, you’re on your own . . .” Jareth smiled weakly, “Sorry Trikk. . . sorry. . . Slade . . .” Slade frowned, and set his jaw tight, “And I’m . . . sorry for almost shooting you in the head . . .” the mercenary bit out. “Well, close enough,” Trikk whispered.
For a moment, the three stood in silence, and then Trikk sighed, “Okay guys, I think that a punishment is in order. To help prevent this from happening again. Slade, I know you will claim that you were defending ‘yourself’ against Jareth’s remarks, but that is not a good enough reason to have pulled the gun. Jareth, you knew better than to make him angry. Therefore, you are both entitled to punishment . . . no buts,” she added the last part, as Jareth had opened his mouth to object. Slade crossed his arms now, turning to Trikk and frowning hard as she turned to her suitcase and unzipped an outside zipper pocket, and pulled out something in a long, relatively wide and high box. Turning to Jareth, she frowned, “Jareth, for the day, you are not allowed access to your magical energy. I had Lilac make a special collar for this exact purpose. Only I can put it on, and it will only come off after 24 hours. . .” she opened the box and held the metal collar in her hand. Jareth tensed, and reached up, subconsciously stroking his neck, “2-2-24 hours?” “I could ask Lilac to turn it to 72. . .” “NO! NO! 24’S FINE!” he gasped. “Good,” she muttered, and leaning up, slid the collar around his neck, it closing with a click as she did so. A bright blue light shone, and Jareth leaned back, frowning down at the thing, gingerly touching it, “I feel them going dormant . . . my magical energy streams. . .” “Don’t worry. It won’t permanently harm them or you,” Trikk murmured. Turning, she frowned up at Slade, “Slade, the deal was for you to keep weapons to use in self-defense. According to me you broke the second part of that rule. . . so for today, you must turn over your weapons. ALL of them.”
For a moment Slade just stared at her, then, “You have to be kidding me.” She shook her head firmly, frowning, and turned to her bag’s outside pocket again and pulled out what appeared to be a PDA, “No, I’m not. You can get them back at the end of 24 hours, when Jareth gets his magic back. And this is something that Lilac combined her magic with modern day technology to make. It’s a weapons scanner. When you’re done, I’ll use it to find any weapons you might have ‘accidentally missed’. Understand?” Slade set his jaw firmly, giving her a dark look. “I said there would be consequences, did I not? Punishment?” she arched an eyebrow, “So get to it.” Slade rolled his eye, as she moved the suitcase to the floor before him and opened it, revealing his pistol already inside. And so it all began. . .
Slade grunted, and pulled off his shirt to begin with. And Trikk stared at the well chiseled six pack and pectorals of the man . . . and the knives strapped to his sides and under his arms. The man frowned and quickly took them off, tossing them into the suitcase with a snarl. Then, reaching up over his shoulder, where a small slender black strap was, he grunted, and after some fumbling, pulled out two holsters with two pistols in them connected to the strap. He dropped that into the box as well. Then, he ran his thumbs along the waistband of his pants, and pulled out three curved knives that had been hidden there and a pistol from his back. He tossed those into the suitcase as well, frowning hard at her. And stood there, his hands on his hips, studying her for a moment, as if debating his next move.
She just arched an eyebrow. He sighed, rolled his eye, pulled out two switchblades from the pockets of his jeans, and tossed them into the suitcase, before undoing his belt buckle, pants button, and zipper, and gripping the waistband of the jeans, pulled them down to his ankles. Trikk blinked at the black long johns he had on over his legs and then at the small belt of bombs around the man’s waist. Undoing the buckle of that belt, Slade pulled the bombs off of himself, and laid those in the box, muttering that only after flipping a switch on each of them and pressing on them could they be turned on, so the suitcase was safe. Then he leaned down, and fumbled with the upper edges of his boots before pulling out two pistols, which he then tossed into the suitcase as well. Then stood up, frowning at Trikk, “Done.”
Trikk blinked and held up the PDA, and a blue scanning beam shot out of it and ran up and down Slade. Then she smiled, “Yeah, you’re clean.” Slade nodded curtly at her, before moving down, gripping his pants, and pulling them up. Once he had done the belt up on those, he grabbed his shirt from the floor and quickly pulled that on, as Trikk zipped up the suitcase, sliding the PDA device back into its outside zipper pocket, “Alright boys, I’m going to put this back in my room. You two will clean up the mess,” she motioned to the table, “We’ll have Lilac magically repair the dishes later.” Turning, she left.
Somehow, Jareth and Slade both managed to clean up the broken dishes and food and turn the table right side up again without fighting, and after Slade had put on an orange scarf and black jacket, the group headed outside to check on Slashera and Lilac. What they saw made them all stop and stare. It was a massive “snow cabin”, complete with windows and a door, and a chimney. And out in front were five snowmen, one being a little girl, two being taller girls, one being rather skinny and male, and one being large, broad, and male. Slashera suddenly ran out of the house, squealing, “LOOK WHAT WE DID!” she flung herself into Trikk’s ready arms, and Trikk picked her up, gently settling the girl on her hip, smiling at her, “I see! It’s amazing!” Lilac chuckled and walked out of the cabin. Trikk grinned at her, and mouthed a quick thank you to the witch. Lilac was truly helping her keep Slashera out of Jareth and Slade’s fighting. And she was grateful for that.
“COME SEE INSIDE!” Slashera grinned at her “brain mom”. Trikk grinned at the girl, “SOUNDS LIKE FUN!” turning, she moved slowly into the house, moving through a bit of snow to get to the house, and moved into the snowy structure. And chuckled. White orbs of light floated on the air, illuminating the place that had a snow table and chairs on one side, and a “snow kitchen” on the other. She turned, and grinned at Slashera, “It looks absolutely amazing, Slashera.” Slashera beamed, “Thanks!” Then the child turned, and grinned as Slade walked into the house, looking around, “FATHER SLADE!” Trikk chuckled, as the girl reached out for him, and turning, handed her over. Slade chuckled, as the girl’s tiny arms wrapped around his neck, and looked around, “Impressive, Little Slash. . .” She grinned, “THANK YOU!” Slade turned and moved over the kitchen, the cabinets of which were carefully etched into, running his fingertips lightly over everything, “Very nice,” he murmured. Trikk smiled weakly watching the two, then turned and headed outside and walked up to Lilac, smiling at the witch, “Thank you again. It looks awesome.” Lilac smiled at her, “Don’t mention it. I had tons of fun.” Trikk grinned at the witch, just as Slade and Slashera exited the snow structure, and with Jareth moving a little closer to the group, having run to his mobile home to get a silver scarf to match his tights and a black coat and gloves, the five let out a calm sigh.
“So, what are we going to do about a tree?” Lilac remarked, blinking, “I mean, we need a Christmas tree to decorate, don’t we?” Trikk nodded, blinking at the witch, “Absolutely.” Slade frowned, Slashera placed on one of his hips, one of his long arms wrapped around the child, “I still don’t see much point in it. . .” “Well then, where would the presents go otherwise?” Jareth remarked calmly, fixing him with a cool look, crossing his arms. Slade smirked, “All the more reason for us to not have a tree. . .” Jareth rolled his multi-colored eyes, “Come on now, it’s not Christmas without presents. . .” “Sorry, but I fail to see the point. Because those of us who aren’t rulers of our own kingdoms who can just demand objects of their people have to actually go out into the holiday rush and buy overpriced stuff to give to others, if we do presents that is,” Slade remarked, blinking at the King. “Look, regardless of if we do or don’t have presents, we still need a tree. Christmas isn’t Christmas without a Christmas tree to decorate, if you ask me,” Lilac murmured, blinking calmly at the two males, who stood on either side of Trikk, with Lilac standing directly across from the author. “Right,” Trikk said, nodding at Lilac, smiling weakly at the witch, then turned to Slade, “So that just leaves one thing to decide on. How are we going to get it? Is there a place that sells Christmas trees in the town nearby?” Slade gave her an incredulous look, clearly saying that he was NOT going to that town just to get a Christmas tree. Certainly not one that would only die in his house and get needles everywhere. . .
“Alright, well, let’s get an axe and head on out,” Trikk remarked calmly. Slade frowned, “What?” “Well, I am not getting an artificial one, and we are not conjuring one, and you are not going to the town nearby to get one. So the only thing to do now is go out into your forest and chop one down. To do that, we need an axe,” Trikk said matter of factly. He sighed, “Fine. I have an axe in my work shed,” he muttered, setting Slashera down to stand in the snow before walking away with Trikk following. Upon entering the tool shed, he quickly found the axe, with a strip of thick cloth around its sharp edge, to provide safety to the carrier, and a long belt with a loop on it through which the axe was put for easy carrying. The man was about to slide the belt on, when Trikk frowned, “What are you doing?” he frowned and turned to her, blinking, “I’m putting on the axe. . .”
“And is an axe not a weapon?” she muttered, arching an eyebrow. He frowned at her, “We’re using it to chop down the tree, Trikk . . .” “And I shall wear it until then. Like I said, you are not to have a weapon on your person. And Jareth may say something that would get you worked up. I won’t have you two fighting again. . .” “Well, with his magic gone, it won’t be much of a fight, will it?” Slade grinned a little at the thought. “That settles it, I’m wearing the axe,” she muttered bluntly, frowning at the man. “Come on Trikk, I’m just kidding,” he rolled his eye, “Come on, I won’t use it. Just let me wear it. Trust me. . .” Minutes later, Trikk walked behind Slade down a forest trail, snow lightly falling on the group, with Slashera holding Trikk’s hand and walking beside the author and Lilac and Jareth bringing up the rear, with the axe strapped to Trikk’s waist. As it turned out, Trikk only trusted Slade in this case as far as she could throw him. And that was nowhere near enough for her to trust him with the axe.
About an hour later, after walking down various winding forest paths and seeing about two deer walking through the woods, Slade veered right, and the group followed him up to a relatively tall Douglas fir laden with snow. “It definitely is tall enough for the living room. . .” Lilac murmured, moments before Slade rushed the tree and leaping high into the air, landed a firm kick straight into the middle of the tree’s tall trunk before landing gracefully on the ground with a thump! And walking out from beneath the tree as most of its snow was shaken off upon impact, “It’s sturdy too. Let’s chop it down and take it back,” the man muttered, and turning to Trikk, held out his hand expectantly for the axe as the girl blinked up at the tree. “I don’t think so. It’s got a bunch of holes,” Jareth muttered, hands on his hips, frowning at the tree, his breathing coming out in warm puffs of air before his face. “ ‘Holes’,” Slade muttered, frowning at him, “What the hell does that mean?” “It means gaps in the tree, where branches are missing,” Lilac remarked, “I count about 45 holes in this one. . .” Slade rolled his eye and turned to Trikk, “It’s a Christmas tree. Who cares about how many holes it has?” Trikk frowned and turned to him, “Sorry Slade, but I . . . kind of prefer my trees just a bit more . . . full?” he frowned and tilted his head, not fully understanding what that meant. “You know, with fewer holes?” she said, blinking at him. “So that means we have to keep going,” Slade muttered. She smiled weakly at him, “I’m afraid so.” He rolled his eye and marched off, glaring dead ahead, mumbling something about how stupid holes were on a tree that was about to die anyway.
About thirty minutes later, Slade veered off the path again, and sighed as he came up to a tree, the others following behind him. Twisting around quickly, remaining on the ground, he slammed the bottom of his boot through some branches and into the trunk of the tree, the snow on it falling to reveal a Fraser Fir that was a bit shorter than the first, but with no more than 2 holes, one of which his foot had just made. He took a step back, frowning up at the tree, and then turned to the others with a sigh, “Alright, I know it has two holes, but no tree out here is going to be perfect. Can we chop this one down?” “Well, you’re right . . . no tree’s going to be perfect. . .” Lilac remarked slowly, tilting her head a little, as did Trikk, Slashera, and Jareth. “. . . and this one doesn’t have very noticeable holes, that much is true . . . very easy to cover up,” Jareth remarked slowly as well. “But it . . . really kind of leans to the left,” Trikk whispered, frowning. Slashera nodded in agreement. Slade gave them an exasperated look, and then turned around. Sure enough, the tree was markedly leaning to the left. “So let me guess, we can’t have it?” Slade remarked with a roll of his eye, his shoulders sagging. “I’m afraid not,” Trikk whispered. Slade gave another sigh and turning, stomped back to the path they’d been on.
Forty five minutes later, Slade walked up to a nice tall tree. From what he could tell, it had minimal holes, and wasn’t leaning in the slightest. Grinning, he walked up, moved his hands into the tree, grasped its trunk, and shook it, snow falling down from it. Then he stepped back, grinning up at the Canaan Fir, hands held up with palms facing it, “Alright! I KNOW this one’s great! It only has one big hole, two small holes, and doesn’t lean! We’re done right? We can chop it down?” he turned and grinned at Trikk, then frowned upon seeing the frown on her face. He groaned in exasperation, “OH COME ON! WHAT’S WRONG WITH THIS ONE?” “Nothing, if your living room was about eight feet taller,” Jareth remarked. Lilac nodded in sad agreement, “Sorry Slade, but it really is too tall.” Trikk nodded, and turned a sad gaze to Slade, “But it really is pretty,” she offered. Slade just rolled his eye and marched on past, “Now I know why you didn’t let me have the axe . . . this is maddening!”
Two hours later, Slade was growling and snarling and glaring dead ahead. They’d already gone to five other trees. One had been declared too short. One had been declared too skinny. One had been declared too fat. One had been declared to be leaning too far to the right. And one had been declared to have 50 holes. And he was about to be declared to have a psychotic episode. He was so sick of finding trees that were messed up. What was the point?! It was just going to die anyway! He was almost tempted to go to town to get the tree . . . He just wanted to get a tree, and be done with this. Suddenly, one caught his eye to the right. Growling, he stomped off of the path and up to the tree. Grabbing its trunk, he gave it a firm shake, “OH, WHAT’S WRONG WITH THIS ONE?! TOO MANY HOLES?! LEANING?! SHORT?! TALL?! FAT?! SKINNY?! WHAT?!” he roared. At that moment, an old bird’s nest fell on his head in a mess of feathers, twigs, and egg shells.
The man reared his head back, roaring in anger, and grabbing the stuff on his hair, he threw it to the snow and sent his boot crashing down on it, “THAT DOES IT! I’M DONE! YOU LOT CAN FIND YOUR OWN DAMN TREE!” he kicked the destroyed nest away, so hard that it flew through the air and slammed into a tree trunk nearby. “Slade, come on. We’ll find one!” Trikk said, gazing at him worriedly, Slashera hiding behind her “brain-mother”, worried about her Father. “OH YEAH?!” Slade turned to her, snarling, two feathers in his hair, an egg shell sitting primly on top of his head, “AND HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE US?! ONE DAY?! TWO?!” “It won’t take that long,” Trikk muttered with a frown, crossing her arms, “Stop acting immature about it.” “ME?! IF I HAD HAD MY WAY, WE WOULD HAVE GOTTEN THE FIRST TREE WE FOUND OUT HERE! BUT NOOOO! IT HAS TO BE ABSOLUTELY PERFECT! WELL, NEWS FLASH! EVERY TREE IS GOING TO HAVE SOMETHING WRONG WITH IT! GET OVER IT!” “WE’RE NOT LOOKING FOR A PERFECT TREE!” Trikk objected, glaring at him, “WE JUST WANT SOMETHING NICE TO PUT UP! IN YOUR LIVING ROOM! DOESN’T THAT MEAN ANYTHING TO YOU?!” she shouted back at him. Slade glared, “IF I HAD EVERYTHING MY WAY WE WOULDN’T EVEN BE LOOKING FOR A TREE TO GO IN THERE TO BEGIN WITH!” “WELL NEWS FLASH SLADE! YOU’RE NOT ALONE THIS CHRISTMAS! AND THE REST OF US WOULD ALL LIKE A TREE TO DECORATE! I GUESS I JUST THINK YOU COULD BE A LITTLE LESS SELF-CENTERED THIS HOLIDAY! BUT APPARENTLY I WAS WRONG!” Trikk roared back, fists at her sides. “SO WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?! ABANDON ALL THAT I BELIEVE IN FOR YOUR SAKE?!” Slade snarled right back, glaring at her. “NO! I GUESS NOT! WE’LL ALL JUST GO TO SOMEWHERE ELSE FOR THE HOLIDAYS!” Trikk roared back, glaring at him, “I JUST THOUGHT IT’D BE NICE TO INCLUDE YOU! BUT APPARENTLY, THAT’S NOT WHAT YOU WANT! ANYTHING WE WANT TO DO IS IMMEDIATELY SHOT DOWN!” “I AM NOT AGAINST EVERYTHING YOU SAY YOU WANT TO DO!” Slade retorted. “WELL YOU CERTAINLY ACT LIKE IT!” Trikk roared.
“WELL THEN I’M SORRY!” Slade roared, glaring at her, seething. Trikk stared, “What did you just say?” “I’M SORRY! SORRY ABOUT GETTING MAD AT BREAKFAST, SORRY ABOUT BEING AGAINST PRESENTS AND A TREE, AND SORRY THAT I CAN’T FIND A PERFECT TREE! AND I’M SORRY FOR YELLING AT YOU! I GUESS IT’S JUST HARD WHEN I CAN’T DO SOMETHING PERFECT! IT’S JUST SOMETHING I’VE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO DO TO NOT DO SOMETHING PERFECT! I’M PERFECT AT COOKING. I’M PERFECT AT HUNTING. I’M PERFECT AT MISSIONS! BUT THIS! I CAN’T DO IT! SO WHY DON’T YOU LOT JUST STAY OUT HERE IN THE FREEZING COLD LOOKING FOR A TREE, AND I’LL GO BACK TO MY CABIN AND THINK OF HOW MUCH I JUST CAN’T DO THIS!” he roared. Then sighed, and closed his eye. For a moment, the area was silent. Then Trikk frowned and moved forward, holding up a hand, “Let me get the egg shells and feathers off of your hair.” He sighed and knelt in the snow, his knees hitting the white powdery material, and he tilted his head down, as her fingers moved through his hair, knocking stuff off. “We’ll leave you two alone, come on Slashera. Let’s go back to the trail,” Lilac whispered, and the other three headed back to the trail.
Finally, Trikk leaned back, “Alright, Slade look at me.” Slade’s crystal blue eye opened, and she saw how truly hurt he was that he couldn’t find a Christmas tree. “I just don’t understand why I can’t do it. It’s supposed to be so simple, and I can’t,” he muttered, sighing deeply, a few tears forming in his eye in his frustration and streaking down his cheeks. She blinked and wiped them away slowly using his scarf. “I know. I feel the same way sometimes. It can really feel unfair, and can really get you worked up, and I know that it’s even more aggravating for you, but Slade, you will be able to find one!” she whispered, cupping his chin, blinking at him intently. Slade frowned, “You really think so?” “Of course. I mean, you do missions all the time. Surely you can. . .” Trikk suddenly stared at him. Slade frowned, “What?” “THAT’S IT! I NEVER THOUGHT OF THAT BEFORE BUT THAT’S IT! A MISSION!” Trikk said, grinning at him.
Slade frowned and tilted his head, his tears dried up, confusion in his blue eye, “You want me to go kill someone? Well, okay. . .” “NO!” she laughed, and smiled, “This is the mission! Finding a good Christmas tree!” Slade frowned, and then smiled, “I never thought of it that way before. . . I like it!” She grinned right back. Knowing that he was now intent on success. And knowing that he would be able to accomplish that goal.
20 minutes later, Trikk, Lilac, Slashera, and Jareth all frowned as they gazed up the trunk of the tall pine tree. And at the top of the tree, gripping the trunk in one hand and standing on a branch with some high tech binoculars in his other hand, was Slade. The man frowned, turning his head, gazing through the binoculars out over the trees of his forest. He’d asked Lilac to go back to his house via Apparating to get the binoculars and a small homing strap with a chip in it to put on his wrist and a GPS tracking device so that if he ran off to get a tree, the group would be able to wait until he arrived at his destination and had stopped moving. Then they would be able to Apparate as a group to him and the tree. He had to admit: he liked thinking of this as a mission. It made him more confident of himself. He just knew he could handle this now. And that eased his stress. Finally, he grinned. He’d found the perfect tree. He leapt out far from the tree, landing about 20 feet away from the group, and took off running, winding around trees and down paths, plunging through the forest.
Trikk grinned and held up the GPS device, watching the man’s course, “He’s found one.” “I have to say, this was a great idea of yours, Trikk,” Jareth said, nodding with a grin, crossing his arms. Slashera nodded enthusiastically, “And Father Slade’s happy again, right?” Trikk smiled, turned to the girl, and nodded, “Absolutely.” At that moment, the GPS beeped as Slade stopped moving. Trikk frowned at the screen, “He’s about 10 miles away from us . . .” she turned to Lilac and handed the GPS to her. The witch nodded, took it, and ordered the others to bunch up close to her, grab her, and hold on tight.
A second later, Trikk gazed up at the perfectly sized tree that didn’t lean very much at all. Slade had already shaken the snow off, and so far, it appeared to not have holes, and appeared to not be too fat or too skinny. It was a Douglas fir, and as she walked around the tree, she found no holes on any of the sides. Upon reaching the group again, she smiled, “Slade, it’s just perfect!” she lunged forward and wrapped her arms around the man’s neck, and he chuckled in her ear, his hand moving slowly to the axe at her belt, and he began to slide the tool out, “Of course it is. I was on a mission, after all. And as you know, ever mission. . .” she slid off, as he whipped the axe out of her belt, and wrenched off the covering on its blade, before smiling at her, tightening his grip on the handle of the object, “Needs a good tool.” She smiled, “Chop away, then.” He smirked, “With only the utmost pleasure, madam.” Turning to the tree, he knelt down, and swung the axe around as hard as he could, sinking it deep into the wood of the tree’s stump. The group cheered.
Hours later, night had befallen the forest, and the group stood in the living room of the cabin, the overhead lights off, the tree before them illuminating the room, with multi-colored lights wrapped around it, various Christmas ornaments of varying colors and sizes and shapes littering it, and a beautiful star on top glowing with various colors. Some tinsel and garland was wrapped around the tree. Candy canes and plastic icicles hung on branches. A lovely red velvet tree skirt was wrapped around the base of the tree. The tree stand had been bewitched by Lilac to magically stay full of water, so that the group would never have to crawl under it to water the tree, and the area at the bottom of the limbs at the base of the tree was bewitched so that if any stray needles fell to that point of the large plant, they’d be incinerated in colorful flames, and zero needles would litter the ground. The group grinned, all of them happy at what they’d accomplished, their bellies full of biscuits, mashed potatoes, green beans, lima beans, gravy, and roast beef so tender that no one even needed knives to separate it to eat it. They’d finished off the evening with a lovely cheesecake with either chocolate, caramel, or strawberry sauce drizzled over it. All the food had been prepared by Slade, of course, once Lilac had fixed all of the previously shattered dishes, and all of it had been good. Now the group sipped on mugs of creamy chocolate cocoa, gazing at the tree with pride.
“Well, it was hard, but we did it,” Lilac murmured. “Yes! This will be the best Christmas ever!” Slashera squealed, grinning, and took a gulp of her cocoa, which was of course at a safe temperature for the child. She stood between Slade and Trikk, with Lilac and Jareth standing behind the other three. The adults darted their eyes around to one another at that, then Slade smirked, “Well, the best one we can ever have.” “I second that,” Trikk said with a grin, and tilted her mug against her lips, taking a sip. “I agree,” Jareth nodded firmly. “Motion carried,” Lilac said with a smile, eliciting a laugh from everyone in the group. “Then how about a toast? To the best Christmas we can ever have?” Slade said, grinning, and held out his mug a little lower than his arm level to accommodate Slashera’s height. The group grinned, and all clanked their mugs against the man’s, “HERE, HERE!”
A/N: Poor Slade. he can't handle failure really well, can he? But then, does any man handle failure well? ;) I kind of like how Lilac and Slashera interact in this story. Believe me, I did not plan it that way (seriously, at least half of the time, the story just forms on its own in my mind). But I do like how they interact. I like the idea of Lilac kind of being like a big sister to Slashera and watching over her a little and playing with her. :D anyway, what did you think?! Please comment! Comments are what feed my inner imagination half the time! :D