(no subject)
25 Drabbles of Christmas: Part 3/3
Verse: SPN
Pairing: William/Twins
After the incident with the creepy angel, the Christmas season had been going pretty well. William had gotten some incense that smelled like pine trees, which Adam had been gleefully burning over the past few days, and now the room spelled strongly of northern forests, which was very okay with William. The tree had a bunch of presents nestled under it, including Walter's, since getting another tree seemed silly and they looked better with more gifts under them than less. The atmosphere was warm, and while work was busy with animals who desperately needed shelter during the cold months, it was also a busy time for adopting, so more and more were getting suitable homes.
In short, things were good, so of course something had to shatter the peace.
That something was Santa.
At first it seemed innocent enough. It was the statue of the strange, fat Scandinavian man in the red suit on a little black stand, posed with his sack of toys. William was confused why an intruder in the household was supposed to be a good thing, or what the twins got out of it, but he accepted that humans were crazy, and that starting off as humans had ruined the parts of their brains that made sense.
It was odd, but it wasn't as creepy as the angel that looked like it wanted to pounce on him and scratch out his eyes, so fine. William could have a truce with it.
Then Evan, grinning like a maniac and with a gleam in his eyes that was not at all nice, pressed a little red button on the black base, and it started to move.
As the discordant, music box style version of 'Santa Clause is Coming to Town' started to play, and it moved in jerky, choppy movements that screamed un-fucking-natural, William let out a low growl grabbed Adam's arm, pulling him back and away from the clearly possessed device. His ears went flat to help muffle the terrible noise, and his tail bristled so hard it nearly doubled in size. “What the fuck?”
Evan, who had apparently abandoned being the older, calmer twin for the duration of the evening, burst into laughter. “I'm sorry, but holy fuck your face is so funny right now. This was worth every damn penny.”
When he tried to yell at him, all that came out was a rough noise akin to a bark, so instead he just bared his teeth. Neither did anything but make Evan laugh harder.
“It's not natural! It's moving! Why is it moving, it's an object it's not allowed to move. Turn it off. Turn it off!” Scooting forward inch by inch, and flinching back a step every time it shook it's little sack at him, William swiped forward and knocked it over. That didn't deter it in the least. In fact, the movements made the Santa twist and turn on the table, until it was facing William and awkwardly jerking toward him. Yelping, William turned tail and ran back to Adam, who had decided to be a traitor and was snickering as well. “Press the fucking button!”
Giving him a toothy grin, Evan shrugged and did. The Santa stilled for a moment, and William started to relax, but then it just started over from the top.
Yelping, William did the only thing he could do. He abandoned the two of them to their fate of pure evil - they'd brought it on themselves, after all - by scrambling backward into Evan's room and slamming the door behind him. Then he locked it, because maybe possessed Santa toys were like raptors and could turn doorknobs and William was not going to die in a kitchen!
Okay, coherency wasn't his strong suit at the moment. Sue him.
Panting, William stared at the door for a long second. Slowly calming.
Then the fucked up song got louder and louder. Then there was a knock on the door. The knob jiggled a few times, then there was a quiet click.
Then it opened.
It took two hours of coaxing, a promise from Adam to never use his lock-picking skills for evil again and for the Singing Santa to be removed from the apartment before William would come out from under the bed, and another one before he calmed enough to change back from a wolf.
Singing Santa did not get removed from the apartment until it mysteriously disappeared one morning, and William never revealed where he'd buried it.
Verse: Post 3 AM Issues
Pairing: Dave/Chris
Later, Dave would stand by the fact that starting and lashing out with his foot was a perfectly reasonable reaction to having something shoved in his face. Chris disagreed vehemently, but Chris tended to disagree with him on principle, so it was hard to take that seriously. In his defense, he didn't expect to have something large and black shoved in his face while he was watching TV.
“Ow, you fuck. What was that for?” Chris scowled at him, dropping the sled he'd been waving around to rub his side.
Since he hadn't kicked that hard, Dave just shrugged. “Where'd you get the sled from?”
Still scowling, Chris bent over to pick it up. “Upstairs. Kinda surprised they had one, considering that Big Daddy seems to think fun is for other kids. Maybe it was part of some stupid elaborate escape plan. Either way, sled. We have a hill. Two plus two equals four.”
Oh, hey. Cool. Taking it from Chris, and ignoring his immediate protest, Dave nodded. “Yeah, okay. Lemme get dressed first.”
A thick coat and a pair of gloves later, they were ready to face the snow. The hill probably barely counted as such, but compared to the city streets they were used to it felt pretty damn big, and with the nearly foot deep snow getting up it was a pain. Setting down the sled, Dave pointed it toward the side that looked the steepest, and then climbed on and patted the spot behind him. “Ready?”
“You want to go at the same time?” Chris put a foot on the back of the sled but didn't climb on fully. “I thought we'd take turns.”
Unable to help it, Dave chuckled. “How hard was it for you to say those words?”
Even if he couldn't see it, Dave could picture Chris twisted expression. “Don't make me do it again.”
Shrugging, he patted the spot again. “It's better when there's more mass, right? Momentum and stuff. All that physics. I think. You know how much I hate Chemistry.”
Chris muttered something about them not being the same thing, but he did climb on and wrap his arms around Dave's shoulders. He was gripping tight enough that Dave felt a little uncomfortable, but it was more than tolerable, and in the cold it actually felt pretty nice. “What are you waiting for, an invitation? Go.”
“A little help pushing off would be nice.” Chris grumbled like that was too much to ask, but it only took a moment for them to get coordinated enough to kick off together.
They made it half way down before veering off course and tumbling into the snow.
Shaking flakes out of his hair, Dave frowned. “That looks way easier on TV.”
Once he'd brushed all the flakes he could off, Chris nodded. “Yes, it does. But well figure it out. I'm not going to get beaten by some fucking hill.” Grabbing the sled, he stamped his way back up to the top, leaving Dave to scramble up behind him.
It took a few more tries to get all the way to the bottom, and eventually they figured out that if they followed an already made path that it packed down the snow and made the ride faster and smoother, so they worked on flattening out the most fun route. By the time they were finished, it was getting dark and they were exhausted but pleased.
Running his fingers through Chris' hair, which was wet and tangled into an uncharacteristic mess, Dave shot him a smile. “I think you need a shower, dude.”
Chris paused, then slowly licked his lips. “Possibly. I don't trust this place to have enough hot water for two decent showers. Wanna conserve water with me?”
For a second Dave paused, a little surprised. They'd been distant since the thing with Chris' dad, which was understandable. But if he wanted to, Dave was totally on board with that. Offering him a grin, he laced their fingers together and started back toward the house. They could get the sled later.
Verse: Belfry
Pairing: William/Lucas
William had just finished rolling the base when he heard the sound of crunching snow behind him and turned. In the thick snow, Lucas looked utterly out of place with his stolen jeans, simple shirt and no coat. Even if he couldn't feel the cold, William at least put on a hoodie so that he wouldn't feel quite so strange. It made him want to bundle him up in something warm, which was ridiculous so he pushed it away. “Hey, sup.”
“Good evening,” Lucas replied, patting the huge ball of snow. “Are you making a snowman?”
Nodding, he bent down to snag a handful of snow and pat it into the start of the middle piece. “Yup. Making it a tradition. Last year there was Dr. Sweets, so I'm thinking this year it'll be Milo Thatch.”
That earned him one of those 'you are not amusing' faces, and William hid his smirk behind his snowball. “I'll assume that's a reference to one of your movies.”
Bending over to start to roll the ball, William nodded. “Yup. Actually, I think you'd like that one. Louis would too. Artist boner. And it takes place in my time, which is pretty cool. Plus, the main character is played by Michael J. Fox. Everyone loves Michael J. Fox.”
“You had me until you started to list names,” Lucas replied dryly, sitting down on the base to watch him move in slow circles around him. “I'm surprised you like this pass time, considering your disdain for the season.”
William just shrugged. “It's not winter I hate. It's Christmas.”
For a long moment there was just silence, and then Lucas sighed. “I do understand why, but I wish you wouldn't go out of your way to make yourself miserable in a time that's supposed to be happy.”
Pausing what he was doing, William frowned at him. “I'm not going out of my way. I just don't like it, and I'm not bothering to hide it.”
Lucas shot him a look like he didn't believe him at all. “I suppose I just mean that Christmas can mean what you want it to. And right now, Christmas for you means missing your family, or whatever other reason you have to dislike it. For people like Louis and myself, it means enjoying the family we've made.”
Standing up, William rolled the snowball in circles with his foot, watching it grow a little lopsided. “I don't know how it's supposed to mean anything else. Well, maybe. I mean...” Sighing, he abandoned the ball to sit in the snow, leaning back against Lucas' legs. “Okay, it's not like Evan's thing. Evan's thing is a hundred times worse. He has every reason to physically revile the entire holiday. So, in comparison, my complaint isn't that big a deal. I'm just... I'm not very good at getting passed things, I guess.”
“That's a lie,” Lucas replied, voice blunt, and William started and tilted his head up, blinking in confusion. “You are adaptive, William. You've taken to an utterly foreign time period with ease. That's not the problem. I suspect that you don't want to get passed it, or that you suspect you don't deserve to.”
William opened his mouth to argue and deny, but something in Lucas' eyes - a glint of simply knowing - made him stop. “Louis' creepy mind reading is rubbing off on you.”
Rolling his eyes, Lucas snorted. “No, you are simply predictable.” William stuck out his tongue at him, and he chuckled. “I've learned several interesting things from speaking to Dr. Strider, actually. Did you know that self hatred and blame is a symptom of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?”
Everything in William went suddenly cold, and he stilled. “Don't go there.”
“Alright, not today, then.” Ignoring William's narrowed eyes, Lucas ran his fingers quickly through his hair, like an apology. “I'm curious what other association you have with the holiday. It seems more complex then what you've told me.”
Letting out a sigh, William leaned back into the snow, not bothered by the way it clumped in his hair. “It used to be my calender. You can always tell when it's Christmas from the roof. All the lights come on and the Church bells go off and sometimes I could hear caroling, and... I guess that's part of it. It meant another whole year I'd spent there alone.”
Sliding down off of the base, Lucas pressed a soft kiss to William's temple. “Occasionally, I regret not showing myself to you sooner. The company would have done you well.”
William snorted. “Nah. You weren't ready, and I wasn't exactly pleasant back then, was I? I think I used to flip over as many chess boards as you did for a while.” Closing his eyes, he let his lips curl up. “'Sides, you were the first other ghost I met. The first proof I wasn't going to be alone for eternity. That was a lot. I don't think you know how much.”
Humming softly, Lucas leaned into him for a long moment. Then he pulled away and offered William his hand. “Come on, then. I'll help you finish... Milo, was it? And then we can go inside and have tea.”
“You and your leaf juice,” William rolled his eyes, but he could keep from grinning. “I'll drink it properly if you watch Atlantis with me after.”
Snorting, Lucas rolled his eyes. “We've been having tea for years and you've never been able to drink it correctly. I highly doubt you will... now... William, why are you giving me that look?”
Grin slowly melting into something much more impish, William snorted. “Dude, Nanna and Poppop were from England. Literally off-the-boat. I used to spend afternoons over there on the weekends. Do you really think I don't know how to have a proper cuppa? And even if I didn't then, it's been years.”
Lucas made an affronted noise, and then huffed. Then did it again, more aggressively. “I... years. Years of wasted effort. I... Excuse me.” With that he started to stalk off back toward Belfry.
Unable to help himself any longer, William burst into laughter. “Oh, fuck, I thought you'd figured me out ages ago. It's was just so funny, so I... Lucas? Wait, come back. Are you actually pissed? I... oh... hey, Lucas! Lucas!”
Verse: Bakery!AU
Pairing: William/Twins, William + Walter
“I really shouldn't be surprised, but Santa suits overheat really quickly.” William waved around the stick-thing with the sleigh bells on it, making them clank merrily. It earned him yet another glare from his brother, who had been enthusiastic about the idea at 8 AM this morning and was now significantly less so 12 hours later. “Like, jeez, can we turn down the thermostat?”
Rolling his eyes, Walter shifted to kick William's side. The impact was dampened from the thick material, and he just grinned back, not at all bothered. “You could take the damn thing off.”
Shaking the bells in his face, William pouted at him. “Shh now. No words. Only Christmas cheer.” Another, harder kick made him laugh. “What? You don't like Santa anymore? It broke your little heart when I let you in on the secret.”
Walter glared, lips pulling back a little in an expression that would have suited William better. He didn't do aggressive as well. Ha ha. “Atheist, remember? And I was eight.”
Flapping an unconcerned hand at him, and then jingling the bells some more, William shrugged. “I don't see what that has to do with anything. Who put a bee up your ass?”
“Twelve hours of that godawful noise. But the damn bells away.” Walter glared hard enough that William raised his hands in an automatically placating gesture, which made them shake more. The look got deeper, and William gave a slow, nasty smirk, and then gave the bells a sharp, deliberate jingle.
Letting out a noise not unlike a shriek, Walter launched himself at William, sending them tumbling off the couch. They tussled for a long moment, with Walter trying to steal the bells away and William swacking him on the head with them, until Evan came up from behind and yanked Walter up and away from his brother.
William sprawled out, stick cackling gleefully, and waved the bells around like a maniac. “Oh, I'm sorry, am I bothering you?”
Snarling again, Walter lunged forward, but Evan kept a firm grip. “Oh, cut it out. The angrier you get the funnier he finds it.” Recognizing the truth of that, Walter sagged, grumbling dark nonsense under his breath, because both of the Davis brothers were under the mistaken impression that they were cartoon characters. “It's better revenge if you go to your condo and leave him lying there, to be honest.”
Nodding once, and then again, Walter slowly stood up. “Yeah, okay. You two get to deal with him.” He shot a sarcastic thumbs up to Adam, who returned it blandly from his perch on the love seat, and then stalked off out the door, closing it with a final sounding snap.
William waggled the bells after him for a long moment, before drooping. “Aww, he left. He's not allowed to leave. Someone tell him that so he'll come back.”
“Are you on crack today? Jesus.” Rolling his eyes, Evan flopped down over William, pinning his arms above his head, because yeah that noise was annoying. Leaning forward, he pressed his lips to William's and gave a pleased noise when his mouth immediately opened to him. “Ah. Tipsy. How did you even manage that.”
Giving a laugh that was less cackle and more giggle, William squirmed under him, grinning widely. “I snuck it! Well, okay, Louis stuck it into the kitchen and and shared. It was spiced rum. I like spiced rum.”
Snickering, Adam propped his chin on his palm. “Oh, we know. We are all acquainted with your love of the stuff.”
Eyes bright, William twisted to aim his beaming expression at Adam. “He who controls the spiced rum controls the universe! And by universe I mean me. But not, like, me. Drunk me. Who is another person entirely, if Texts From Last Night is to be believed.”
Evan rolled his eyes. “I'm not sure if I should thank Louis or tattle on him to Lucas.”
“I think that counts as thanking him,” Adam replied, voice dry, and Evan inclined his head in agreement.
Apparently bored of just laying there, William leaned up enough to trail kisses along Evan's neck and jaw. “Hey. What if I snuck into your room on Christmas morning. And I was only wearing ribbon. Would that be a good present?”
Taking a moment to try and decide if that mental image was more ridiculous or hot, and mostly deciding that it was textbook drunken William, and therefore both, Evan snorted. “I think you better have gotten me an actual present.”
“Oh, I did,” William assured, pulling back to give him a look of shining earnestness. “It's good. I'm bad at presents usually, but this year I got super good ones and you guys are totally gunna like it. Especially if... wait, no. I'm not talking now, because if I do I'll ruin the surprise. Make me shut up.”
Well, if he insisted. Offering him a slow smile, Evan paused to shoot Adam a significant look, and the pulled back enough to yank William up off the floor and into his lap. After a moment of settling in, he draped easily against Evan's chest, nibbling contentedly on his ear. “Hm. This is like that song.”
Slipping his hands up the front of William's suit, Evan arched a brow. “Which one?”
William flapped a hand at him, which Evan could only tell because he could feel his arm work. “The one with the girl, you know? Who's totally into Santa except that she only wants him for his gifts. All sultry and shit. That one.”
It took a minute, and then Evan snorted. “You mean Santa, Baby?”
Nodding his agreement, William took in a breath to keep talk, and then lost it when Adam's hands joined Evan's, playing with his alcohol warmed skin. “Ah, yeah. You should sing it.”
“No way. Stupid pop songs are a waste of my talent.” William did the same Daffy Duck style angry grumbling Walter had, and Evan rolled his eyes. “You're a pain in my ass, you know that?”
Jerking back, William offered him a sunny smile. “I could be. Or you could be a pain in my ass. Either way.”
Huffing out a laugh, Adam hooked his chin over William's shoulder. “You are such a slutty drunk.” Humming his agreement, William twisted to catch Adam's lips, turning the kiss wet and dirty from the start.
Distracted as he was by the lovely image, Evan missed William's hand sneaking away from him and a little farther away down the carpet until the mood was shattered by the sound of bells.
“Put it down, William!”
The thump to the head and the resulting cackles thoroughly murdered the remaining shards of the mood.
Verse: Belfry
Pairing: William/Evan
The roof was quiet when William slipped out onto it, and he almost missed Evan. To be fair to him, he wasn't used to him looking so small and being so quiet. At least, not for almost a year now. He'd come up here to be alone and think, but something about Evan's expression made him sit down instead, just barely brushing his side. Now was not the time for extended contact, probably.
Except that he really seemed to suck at telling what Evan was thinking, because he leaned into William, resting his head on his shoulder. Leaning back, William let out a slow huff of air. “You okay?”
“Define okay,” Evan replied, voice rough, and William just shrugged. Hell if he knew anymore. “Not really, but I'll pretend. What about you? You've been quiet the past couple of days.”
William snorted. “I had a chat with Lucas. You know how that is.”
Shrugging, Evan huffed. “Not really.” When William shot him an odd look, he shrugged again. “Me and Lucas don't chat the way you and Lucas do. He's not my best friend.” Oh. That was kind of sad. Lucas was an awesome best friend, and it was kind of depressing that Evan didn't get that. So William squirmed a little closer and wished he had body heat to help warm him. “So, explain for the rest of us. What does that mean?”
“That my ass got verbally handed to me, and that I hate Christmas because of my PTSD.” Snorting viciously, William glanced at Evan.
Watching him right back, Evan frowned. “Why did he say that?”
A frown crossed William's face as well, and he looked away at the edge of the roof. “Something about self-sabotaging my happiness because I hate myself, I think. Or that I'm doing Christmas wrong.” Evan's expression darkened, and he sighed. “It was reasonable when he said it. I dunno, there was a sensible point in there with the stuff that sounds bad. And I'm thinking maybe I should get a list of symptoms or something from one of the doctors, because in hindsight I don't actually know what PTSD means these days.”
Closing his eyes, Evan huffed. “Well, maybe it makes me an asshole, but I'm glad you're not into Christmas cheer or whatever. It'd be completely fucking terrible if I was the only one.”
William shrugged. “The thing that really got me is that... he said he thinks of it as celebrating the family he has now, and... well, I guess I just feel like shit for being angry at him for that when I'm just lashing out for stupid reasons.”
Pulling back, Evan shot him a cutting look. “Wow, William, how dare you be unhappy that your family is dead. Why don't you just get over it already?” Rolling his eyes, he jabbed him hard in the side. “Don't you dare give into this shit on me.”
“I'm not. Well, maybe I am. I guess I'm just tired of trying to ruin everyone else's fun along with mine. Used to not care, but... fuck, I'm going soft.” Closing his eyes and hiding his face in Evan's shoulder, he sighed. “Can we just rename this stupid holiday and get rid of all the religious bullshit and just... I dunno, make it so it's not miserable?”
Letting out a choked, vicious laugh, Evan scowled up at the drifting flurries. “I fucking wish. Or just remove this week from the calender. We'll jump straight from Louis' birthday to his death day. Do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars.”
Smiling into Evan's shoulder, William snorted. “Or celebrate Festivus.” That earned him a flick to the ear, probably for referencing a sitcom, and he snickered for a moment before it faded. “That would be nice, though. Just another holiday. Would you want that? If you could just... erase that fucker from the day and just enjoy it.”
Evan's shoulder went tense, and William braced himself to be yelled at, but then he went slack. “It'd save me a lot of useless emotion, at least.”
They went silent, and on the wind William could just barely catch the sound of voices. The individual words were lost, but it sounded like someone was singing Christmas carols somewhere on property. It was a little eerie to hear comfortably, and William closed his eyes and wished it would stop.
After a moment, Evan spoke, voice just barely louder than the singing. “I think that's the thing I hate him most for taking away. Not my innocence, not my ability to fucking function right. My voice. Going caroling was one of my favorite things, because everyone liked to hear it and-” His voice broke, and he took a deep breath. “It was what I was best at, and he ruined it.”
William shook his head, pulling back to meet Evan's eyes. “No, he didn't.” At first his eyes narrowed dangerously, but William barreled on before he could interrupt. “Maybe he paralyzed it and paused it, but he didn't kill it.”
“Oh, yeah? What do you fucking know.”
Offering a thin smile, William shrugged. “I know you're stronger than him. Than he could ever be. And he's dead and you're... well, your sort of alive. And that maybe now you can't, but you will someday. Because you loved it and that's more important than the fucker could ever be. And, if nothing else, I know you'll do it someday just to spite him in whatever circle of hell he's burning in.”
For one long second, Evan just stared at him, looking completely stumped. “You honestly believe that.”
It hadn't been a question, but William nodded anyway. “Believe, my ass. I know. You survived, and you'll recover. Easy as that.”
“That's not really easy,” Evan replied slowly, watching William's face like he was expecting a punchline.
William shrugged. “Yeah, well, you're better at it than most. Better than me. You still pray with that rosary, after all. Starting is the hardest bit. Well, I think that, but starting is the part I've never been able to get through, so take it with a grain of salt.”
Licking his lips, Evan slowly gave a nod. “I'm not sure I agree, but... I like that you think it. Thank you.”
“Don't thank me for telling the truth,” William smiled, and then stilled as Evan pressed a gentle, chaste kiss to the corner of his lips. “For the record, that wasn't pressure or anything. Don't think you're on a time line here. You'll get better when you do.”
Running his fingers through William's hair, which made his eyes slide shut for a moment, Evan sighed. “You're a good man, William Davis.” When he opened his mouth to argue that, Evan flicked his ear. “Shut up and let me be happy.”
Alright, fair enough. Nodding, he went back to pressing against Evan and holding him up in return, watching the moon slowly rise over the tree line.
And a couple of times William thought he head Evan humming along with the songs, but that might have been the wind.
Verse: Actor!Verse
Pairing: Louis + Evan
Shaking the bag of chestnuts he'd gotten from the store, Louis gestured toward the kitchen. Evan arched a brow at him and then followed him to the table. Dumping the rest of the groceries onto it, he ignored them in favor of ripping open the bag and rolling one of the nuts between his fingers. “Have you ever had roasted chestnuts?”
“Eaten them? Sure. They're alright.” Evan watched Louis play with it for a moment, and then winced when he brought it to his mouth. “Wait, don't eat that.”
A pout crossed Louis' lips as he froze. “Why? You just said they're good.”
Evan sighed. “Yeah, when they're already roasted. I don't think you're supposed to eat uncooked chestnuts.”
Frowning, Louis paused and then picked the bag back up, narrowing his eyes as he read the label. “Oh. Oops. Um, do you know how to roast them?”
Giving a soft chuckle, Evan took the bag and slapped Louis gently over the head. “Idiot.” Louis stuck out his tongue and crossed his eyes, but didn't take any offense. “Not specifically, but how hard can it be? You just stick 'em in there and roast. Go get a pan.”
Snapping off a salute, Louis retrieved the pan and sprayed it with Pam, and then set it down on the kitchen table. Taking the bag back with a snap, he started to set them apart evenly. “How hot do you think the oven should be? We can look it up.”
Evan let of a disdainful gust of air. “Nah, I'm a good cook. Between the two of us we should be able to figure it out. Roasting gets hot, but they're small so it'll probably be... hm, 350? Something around there should be fine.”
Eying him, Louis pursed his lips as he tried to figure out if that was reasonable or not. But he didn't know anything at all about cooking or roasting or anything like that, and Evan certainly looked sure, so he just nodded. “Okay. And they're little, like cookies. So, fifteen minutes?” That was cookie time, right? Louis couldn't exactly remember, since he tended to only bake around the holidays. Like, well, now, but he wasn't going home this year so his mom hadn't forced him to help her.
“They're thicker, so... uh, 20 minutes, I think. But, yeah, they are small. We'll check at fifteen.” When the oven beeped to inform them that it was hot enough, Evan grabbed the pan from Louis and stuck it into the oven, and set the timer. “Wanna go watch TV?”
Nodding, Louis shot him a grin. “Something really good or something really bad this time?”
Lips curling up, Evan tilted his head. “Uh, bad. That way we won't mind pausing it, and you get super bitchy which is funny.”
Louis crinkled his nose and glared at him. “I do not. But alright. Let's try the Lifetime channel, then.”
Fifteen minutes into a melodrama about a saint of a woman in a heinously cruel world, the timer went off, and Louis jumped out of his seat and scrambled over, while Evan rolled his eyes and followed at a much more sedate pace. “Are they supposed to be getting darker?”
“Yeah, why?”
Frowning, Louis eyed the timer. “Cause they're not. Like, at all.”
An annoyed sound escaped Evan, and he pushed at Louis' shoulder until he got out of the way enough for him to see. “Okay, we'll go a little higher then. Try 375 and we'll check when the movie ends. It's only 10 more minutes or so anyway.”
That seemed like so little, since this had done basically nothing, and Louis frowned at him but nodded. Evan changed the temperature and then slipped out to restart the movie. Watching him go for a long moment, Louis quickly turned and twisted the temperature control up to 425. There, that'd be better. And it wasn't for long anyway. Smiling a little to himself, Louis scrambled back out after Evan.
In hindsight, the movie was more like 20 minutes longer, thanks to a disgustingly long falling action and an entirely gratuitous wedding scene. Right as the credits started to roll, Louis froze. “Um, does something smell off to you?”
Evan paused, and then jumped up from the couch. “Shit. Shit. The chestnuts!”
Oh, right, those. Oh! Following after, Louis hovered from the doorway as Evan opened the oven door and let out a cloud of dark smoke, and then waved it out of the way to look at the temperature. Flipping it off, he slowly turned to look at Louis. “Um. Oops?”
Sighing, Evan grabbed the oven mitts off the counter and pulled out the blackened chestnuts. He dropped the trey onto the stove top and took a slow, methodical step back, still coughing from the smoke. “Well done.”
“I didn't mean to,” Louis replied, and then bit his tongue when he realized how childish that sounded. “Um, if you keep giving me that look you know I'm going to start babbling.”
Snorting, Evan inclined his head. “Yeah, I'll spare us. Hey, they were your chestnuts. Next time let's not burn down my kitchen, please.”
Louis bit his bottom lip. “Sorry. I just thought 'cause, you know, Christmas... Maybe I'll just buy them pre-roasted next time. I owe you lunch, okay?”
“Fuck yes, you do.” Waving his hands over the chestnuts one more time to help fan out the smoke before it set off the detector, Evan made his way back over to Louis and ruffled his hair. “It was a nice thought, until you ruined it.”
Flatting back out his hair, Louis eyed him. “I'm going to be hearing about this forever, aren't I?”
“Yup.”
Verse: SPN
Pairing: William/Twins
Splayed out over the twins' laps, William curled his bare feet into the armrest of the couch. Christmas morning and come and gone, and he'd spent the first part of it with Walter, exchanging gifts and stories and covering him with as many leftover bows as he could manage before his brother pushed him off. Then once the sun had gone down they'd come over to the twins' apartment for dinner, and now Walter had vacated the premise under the impression that there was sex to be had. Which there was, obviously, but William may have given him a false sense of urgency. After all, if Walter knew they were going to curl up together and watch goofy Christmas movies there would have been teasing to deal with.
“Are you sure this is a kids movie? These puppet things are freaky as hell.” Maybe it was the 1980s animations, but William couldn't see how Gremlins ended in anything but nightmares. Terrible, horrible nightmares.
Chuckling, Evan eyed him. “We could switch it to something else instead. Maybe A Christmas Story.”
William groaned and hid his face in Adam's lap, which earned him some nice ear scratching. “Ugh, no. I miss the jokes in that movie. They're all about human childhood. It's confusing and a bit alarming and I don't like it.”
“Poor puppy,” Adam cooed, which turned into a yelp when William bit him in sulky response. “Fine, what would you suggest?”
Tail twitching, William picked his head back up. “Um, I think there's a terrible Schwarenegger Christmas movie, right? Or Elf. I like Elf.” Pausing, he rested his cheek on Adam's knee. “You ever think it's weird that there's like, fae and werewolves and all that stuff that humans used to not think was real, but the Santa Clause stuff isn't?”
Going back to scratching his ears, Adam arched a brow. “What, you expected the humans to be right about every idea they got in their heads?”
Snorting, William rolled his eyes. “No, of course not. Humans are dumb. But, it's like... Okay, they used to not think we're real, but we are. But what if there's like, another level to it. We think Santa and the Tooth Fairy and all that Rise of the Guardians stuff isn't real, but we're just not in the know.”
There was silence for a long moment, and then Evan reached over to put a hand on William's forehead. “Are you feverish or something? Or did you find an alcohol that actually works on you.”
“Shut up,” William replied, eying them peevishly. “It's perfectly reasonable.”
“Except the part where you're trying to figure out if Santa is real but just hiding from everyone and not giving out presents, since parents and relatives are the ones doing that,” Adam shot back, voice dry.
Shrugging, William squirmed forward to shove his head under Adam's shirt, hiding his face from their view. “Fine, fine. Jeez, it was just an idea.” He let out a huff of breath, and then felt Adam shift from the sensation. A slow smile crossed his face, and he let his sharp canines score lines down his stomach. “Maybe I don't want to watch any more movies. Me and Walter had dinner, so now maybe you two should get your feast.”
Adam yanked his shirt off, exposing William to the cooler open air, and then guided his head up for a slow, sensual kiss. “Oh, you think so, hm? Are you offering to be our buffet?”
“Yes. Though buffets are not at all sexy. Feast is way sexier. Shouldn't you be good at dirty talk, Mr. Incubus?” William's voice faltered as Evan's mouth came from behind, his own fangs scraping along the delicate veins of his neck before sinking in.
Eyes flashing with an eerie glow, Adam let out a chuckle that was more purr than laugh. “Try saying that in a minute.” His hand slipped down and undid William's fly, diving below the fabric to palm over him. “If it even takes that long.”
William just moaned, which made Adam laugh at him, but it was so completely worth it, because Christmas sex was good even if he didn't believe in the Christianity nonsense. Happy fucking holidays. Literally.
His slightly heated chuckle was cut off by a blood-flavored kiss from Evan, and then William forgot all about puns and religions and focused entirely on his Mates.
Verse: SPN
Pairing: William/Twins
After the incident with the creepy angel, the Christmas season had been going pretty well. William had gotten some incense that smelled like pine trees, which Adam had been gleefully burning over the past few days, and now the room spelled strongly of northern forests, which was very okay with William. The tree had a bunch of presents nestled under it, including Walter's, since getting another tree seemed silly and they looked better with more gifts under them than less. The atmosphere was warm, and while work was busy with animals who desperately needed shelter during the cold months, it was also a busy time for adopting, so more and more were getting suitable homes.
In short, things were good, so of course something had to shatter the peace.
That something was Santa.
At first it seemed innocent enough. It was the statue of the strange, fat Scandinavian man in the red suit on a little black stand, posed with his sack of toys. William was confused why an intruder in the household was supposed to be a good thing, or what the twins got out of it, but he accepted that humans were crazy, and that starting off as humans had ruined the parts of their brains that made sense.
It was odd, but it wasn't as creepy as the angel that looked like it wanted to pounce on him and scratch out his eyes, so fine. William could have a truce with it.
Then Evan, grinning like a maniac and with a gleam in his eyes that was not at all nice, pressed a little red button on the black base, and it started to move.
As the discordant, music box style version of 'Santa Clause is Coming to Town' started to play, and it moved in jerky, choppy movements that screamed un-fucking-natural, William let out a low growl grabbed Adam's arm, pulling him back and away from the clearly possessed device. His ears went flat to help muffle the terrible noise, and his tail bristled so hard it nearly doubled in size. “What the fuck?”
Evan, who had apparently abandoned being the older, calmer twin for the duration of the evening, burst into laughter. “I'm sorry, but holy fuck your face is so funny right now. This was worth every damn penny.”
When he tried to yell at him, all that came out was a rough noise akin to a bark, so instead he just bared his teeth. Neither did anything but make Evan laugh harder.
“It's not natural! It's moving! Why is it moving, it's an object it's not allowed to move. Turn it off. Turn it off!” Scooting forward inch by inch, and flinching back a step every time it shook it's little sack at him, William swiped forward and knocked it over. That didn't deter it in the least. In fact, the movements made the Santa twist and turn on the table, until it was facing William and awkwardly jerking toward him. Yelping, William turned tail and ran back to Adam, who had decided to be a traitor and was snickering as well. “Press the fucking button!”
Giving him a toothy grin, Evan shrugged and did. The Santa stilled for a moment, and William started to relax, but then it just started over from the top.
Yelping, William did the only thing he could do. He abandoned the two of them to their fate of pure evil - they'd brought it on themselves, after all - by scrambling backward into Evan's room and slamming the door behind him. Then he locked it, because maybe possessed Santa toys were like raptors and could turn doorknobs and William was not going to die in a kitchen!
Okay, coherency wasn't his strong suit at the moment. Sue him.
Panting, William stared at the door for a long second. Slowly calming.
Then the fucked up song got louder and louder. Then there was a knock on the door. The knob jiggled a few times, then there was a quiet click.
Then it opened.
It took two hours of coaxing, a promise from Adam to never use his lock-picking skills for evil again and for the Singing Santa to be removed from the apartment before William would come out from under the bed, and another one before he calmed enough to change back from a wolf.
Singing Santa did not get removed from the apartment until it mysteriously disappeared one morning, and William never revealed where he'd buried it.
Verse: Post 3 AM Issues
Pairing: Dave/Chris
Later, Dave would stand by the fact that starting and lashing out with his foot was a perfectly reasonable reaction to having something shoved in his face. Chris disagreed vehemently, but Chris tended to disagree with him on principle, so it was hard to take that seriously. In his defense, he didn't expect to have something large and black shoved in his face while he was watching TV.
“Ow, you fuck. What was that for?” Chris scowled at him, dropping the sled he'd been waving around to rub his side.
Since he hadn't kicked that hard, Dave just shrugged. “Where'd you get the sled from?”
Still scowling, Chris bent over to pick it up. “Upstairs. Kinda surprised they had one, considering that Big Daddy seems to think fun is for other kids. Maybe it was part of some stupid elaborate escape plan. Either way, sled. We have a hill. Two plus two equals four.”
Oh, hey. Cool. Taking it from Chris, and ignoring his immediate protest, Dave nodded. “Yeah, okay. Lemme get dressed first.”
A thick coat and a pair of gloves later, they were ready to face the snow. The hill probably barely counted as such, but compared to the city streets they were used to it felt pretty damn big, and with the nearly foot deep snow getting up it was a pain. Setting down the sled, Dave pointed it toward the side that looked the steepest, and then climbed on and patted the spot behind him. “Ready?”
“You want to go at the same time?” Chris put a foot on the back of the sled but didn't climb on fully. “I thought we'd take turns.”
Unable to help it, Dave chuckled. “How hard was it for you to say those words?”
Even if he couldn't see it, Dave could picture Chris twisted expression. “Don't make me do it again.”
Shrugging, he patted the spot again. “It's better when there's more mass, right? Momentum and stuff. All that physics. I think. You know how much I hate Chemistry.”
Chris muttered something about them not being the same thing, but he did climb on and wrap his arms around Dave's shoulders. He was gripping tight enough that Dave felt a little uncomfortable, but it was more than tolerable, and in the cold it actually felt pretty nice. “What are you waiting for, an invitation? Go.”
“A little help pushing off would be nice.” Chris grumbled like that was too much to ask, but it only took a moment for them to get coordinated enough to kick off together.
They made it half way down before veering off course and tumbling into the snow.
Shaking flakes out of his hair, Dave frowned. “That looks way easier on TV.”
Once he'd brushed all the flakes he could off, Chris nodded. “Yes, it does. But well figure it out. I'm not going to get beaten by some fucking hill.” Grabbing the sled, he stamped his way back up to the top, leaving Dave to scramble up behind him.
It took a few more tries to get all the way to the bottom, and eventually they figured out that if they followed an already made path that it packed down the snow and made the ride faster and smoother, so they worked on flattening out the most fun route. By the time they were finished, it was getting dark and they were exhausted but pleased.
Running his fingers through Chris' hair, which was wet and tangled into an uncharacteristic mess, Dave shot him a smile. “I think you need a shower, dude.”
Chris paused, then slowly licked his lips. “Possibly. I don't trust this place to have enough hot water for two decent showers. Wanna conserve water with me?”
For a second Dave paused, a little surprised. They'd been distant since the thing with Chris' dad, which was understandable. But if he wanted to, Dave was totally on board with that. Offering him a grin, he laced their fingers together and started back toward the house. They could get the sled later.
Verse: Belfry
Pairing: William/Lucas
William had just finished rolling the base when he heard the sound of crunching snow behind him and turned. In the thick snow, Lucas looked utterly out of place with his stolen jeans, simple shirt and no coat. Even if he couldn't feel the cold, William at least put on a hoodie so that he wouldn't feel quite so strange. It made him want to bundle him up in something warm, which was ridiculous so he pushed it away. “Hey, sup.”
“Good evening,” Lucas replied, patting the huge ball of snow. “Are you making a snowman?”
Nodding, he bent down to snag a handful of snow and pat it into the start of the middle piece. “Yup. Making it a tradition. Last year there was Dr. Sweets, so I'm thinking this year it'll be Milo Thatch.”
That earned him one of those 'you are not amusing' faces, and William hid his smirk behind his snowball. “I'll assume that's a reference to one of your movies.”
Bending over to start to roll the ball, William nodded. “Yup. Actually, I think you'd like that one. Louis would too. Artist boner. And it takes place in my time, which is pretty cool. Plus, the main character is played by Michael J. Fox. Everyone loves Michael J. Fox.”
“You had me until you started to list names,” Lucas replied dryly, sitting down on the base to watch him move in slow circles around him. “I'm surprised you like this pass time, considering your disdain for the season.”
William just shrugged. “It's not winter I hate. It's Christmas.”
For a long moment there was just silence, and then Lucas sighed. “I do understand why, but I wish you wouldn't go out of your way to make yourself miserable in a time that's supposed to be happy.”
Pausing what he was doing, William frowned at him. “I'm not going out of my way. I just don't like it, and I'm not bothering to hide it.”
Lucas shot him a look like he didn't believe him at all. “I suppose I just mean that Christmas can mean what you want it to. And right now, Christmas for you means missing your family, or whatever other reason you have to dislike it. For people like Louis and myself, it means enjoying the family we've made.”
Standing up, William rolled the snowball in circles with his foot, watching it grow a little lopsided. “I don't know how it's supposed to mean anything else. Well, maybe. I mean...” Sighing, he abandoned the ball to sit in the snow, leaning back against Lucas' legs. “Okay, it's not like Evan's thing. Evan's thing is a hundred times worse. He has every reason to physically revile the entire holiday. So, in comparison, my complaint isn't that big a deal. I'm just... I'm not very good at getting passed things, I guess.”
“That's a lie,” Lucas replied, voice blunt, and William started and tilted his head up, blinking in confusion. “You are adaptive, William. You've taken to an utterly foreign time period with ease. That's not the problem. I suspect that you don't want to get passed it, or that you suspect you don't deserve to.”
William opened his mouth to argue and deny, but something in Lucas' eyes - a glint of simply knowing - made him stop. “Louis' creepy mind reading is rubbing off on you.”
Rolling his eyes, Lucas snorted. “No, you are simply predictable.” William stuck out his tongue at him, and he chuckled. “I've learned several interesting things from speaking to Dr. Strider, actually. Did you know that self hatred and blame is a symptom of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?”
Everything in William went suddenly cold, and he stilled. “Don't go there.”
“Alright, not today, then.” Ignoring William's narrowed eyes, Lucas ran his fingers quickly through his hair, like an apology. “I'm curious what other association you have with the holiday. It seems more complex then what you've told me.”
Letting out a sigh, William leaned back into the snow, not bothered by the way it clumped in his hair. “It used to be my calender. You can always tell when it's Christmas from the roof. All the lights come on and the Church bells go off and sometimes I could hear caroling, and... I guess that's part of it. It meant another whole year I'd spent there alone.”
Sliding down off of the base, Lucas pressed a soft kiss to William's temple. “Occasionally, I regret not showing myself to you sooner. The company would have done you well.”
William snorted. “Nah. You weren't ready, and I wasn't exactly pleasant back then, was I? I think I used to flip over as many chess boards as you did for a while.” Closing his eyes, he let his lips curl up. “'Sides, you were the first other ghost I met. The first proof I wasn't going to be alone for eternity. That was a lot. I don't think you know how much.”
Humming softly, Lucas leaned into him for a long moment. Then he pulled away and offered William his hand. “Come on, then. I'll help you finish... Milo, was it? And then we can go inside and have tea.”
“You and your leaf juice,” William rolled his eyes, but he could keep from grinning. “I'll drink it properly if you watch Atlantis with me after.”
Snorting, Lucas rolled his eyes. “We've been having tea for years and you've never been able to drink it correctly. I highly doubt you will... now... William, why are you giving me that look?”
Grin slowly melting into something much more impish, William snorted. “Dude, Nanna and Poppop were from England. Literally off-the-boat. I used to spend afternoons over there on the weekends. Do you really think I don't know how to have a proper cuppa? And even if I didn't then, it's been years.”
Lucas made an affronted noise, and then huffed. Then did it again, more aggressively. “I... years. Years of wasted effort. I... Excuse me.” With that he started to stalk off back toward Belfry.
Unable to help himself any longer, William burst into laughter. “Oh, fuck, I thought you'd figured me out ages ago. It's was just so funny, so I... Lucas? Wait, come back. Are you actually pissed? I... oh... hey, Lucas! Lucas!”
Verse: Bakery!AU
Pairing: William/Twins, William + Walter
“I really shouldn't be surprised, but Santa suits overheat really quickly.” William waved around the stick-thing with the sleigh bells on it, making them clank merrily. It earned him yet another glare from his brother, who had been enthusiastic about the idea at 8 AM this morning and was now significantly less so 12 hours later. “Like, jeez, can we turn down the thermostat?”
Rolling his eyes, Walter shifted to kick William's side. The impact was dampened from the thick material, and he just grinned back, not at all bothered. “You could take the damn thing off.”
Shaking the bells in his face, William pouted at him. “Shh now. No words. Only Christmas cheer.” Another, harder kick made him laugh. “What? You don't like Santa anymore? It broke your little heart when I let you in on the secret.”
Walter glared, lips pulling back a little in an expression that would have suited William better. He didn't do aggressive as well. Ha ha. “Atheist, remember? And I was eight.”
Flapping an unconcerned hand at him, and then jingling the bells some more, William shrugged. “I don't see what that has to do with anything. Who put a bee up your ass?”
“Twelve hours of that godawful noise. But the damn bells away.” Walter glared hard enough that William raised his hands in an automatically placating gesture, which made them shake more. The look got deeper, and William gave a slow, nasty smirk, and then gave the bells a sharp, deliberate jingle.
Letting out a noise not unlike a shriek, Walter launched himself at William, sending them tumbling off the couch. They tussled for a long moment, with Walter trying to steal the bells away and William swacking him on the head with them, until Evan came up from behind and yanked Walter up and away from his brother.
William sprawled out, stick cackling gleefully, and waved the bells around like a maniac. “Oh, I'm sorry, am I bothering you?”
Snarling again, Walter lunged forward, but Evan kept a firm grip. “Oh, cut it out. The angrier you get the funnier he finds it.” Recognizing the truth of that, Walter sagged, grumbling dark nonsense under his breath, because both of the Davis brothers were under the mistaken impression that they were cartoon characters. “It's better revenge if you go to your condo and leave him lying there, to be honest.”
Nodding once, and then again, Walter slowly stood up. “Yeah, okay. You two get to deal with him.” He shot a sarcastic thumbs up to Adam, who returned it blandly from his perch on the love seat, and then stalked off out the door, closing it with a final sounding snap.
William waggled the bells after him for a long moment, before drooping. “Aww, he left. He's not allowed to leave. Someone tell him that so he'll come back.”
“Are you on crack today? Jesus.” Rolling his eyes, Evan flopped down over William, pinning his arms above his head, because yeah that noise was annoying. Leaning forward, he pressed his lips to William's and gave a pleased noise when his mouth immediately opened to him. “Ah. Tipsy. How did you even manage that.”
Giving a laugh that was less cackle and more giggle, William squirmed under him, grinning widely. “I snuck it! Well, okay, Louis stuck it into the kitchen and and shared. It was spiced rum. I like spiced rum.”
Snickering, Adam propped his chin on his palm. “Oh, we know. We are all acquainted with your love of the stuff.”
Eyes bright, William twisted to aim his beaming expression at Adam. “He who controls the spiced rum controls the universe! And by universe I mean me. But not, like, me. Drunk me. Who is another person entirely, if Texts From Last Night is to be believed.”
Evan rolled his eyes. “I'm not sure if I should thank Louis or tattle on him to Lucas.”
“I think that counts as thanking him,” Adam replied, voice dry, and Evan inclined his head in agreement.
Apparently bored of just laying there, William leaned up enough to trail kisses along Evan's neck and jaw. “Hey. What if I snuck into your room on Christmas morning. And I was only wearing ribbon. Would that be a good present?”
Taking a moment to try and decide if that mental image was more ridiculous or hot, and mostly deciding that it was textbook drunken William, and therefore both, Evan snorted. “I think you better have gotten me an actual present.”
“Oh, I did,” William assured, pulling back to give him a look of shining earnestness. “It's good. I'm bad at presents usually, but this year I got super good ones and you guys are totally gunna like it. Especially if... wait, no. I'm not talking now, because if I do I'll ruin the surprise. Make me shut up.”
Well, if he insisted. Offering him a slow smile, Evan paused to shoot Adam a significant look, and the pulled back enough to yank William up off the floor and into his lap. After a moment of settling in, he draped easily against Evan's chest, nibbling contentedly on his ear. “Hm. This is like that song.”
Slipping his hands up the front of William's suit, Evan arched a brow. “Which one?”
William flapped a hand at him, which Evan could only tell because he could feel his arm work. “The one with the girl, you know? Who's totally into Santa except that she only wants him for his gifts. All sultry and shit. That one.”
It took a minute, and then Evan snorted. “You mean Santa, Baby?”
Nodding his agreement, William took in a breath to keep talk, and then lost it when Adam's hands joined Evan's, playing with his alcohol warmed skin. “Ah, yeah. You should sing it.”
“No way. Stupid pop songs are a waste of my talent.” William did the same Daffy Duck style angry grumbling Walter had, and Evan rolled his eyes. “You're a pain in my ass, you know that?”
Jerking back, William offered him a sunny smile. “I could be. Or you could be a pain in my ass. Either way.”
Huffing out a laugh, Adam hooked his chin over William's shoulder. “You are such a slutty drunk.” Humming his agreement, William twisted to catch Adam's lips, turning the kiss wet and dirty from the start.
Distracted as he was by the lovely image, Evan missed William's hand sneaking away from him and a little farther away down the carpet until the mood was shattered by the sound of bells.
“Put it down, William!”
The thump to the head and the resulting cackles thoroughly murdered the remaining shards of the mood.
Verse: Belfry
Pairing: William/Evan
The roof was quiet when William slipped out onto it, and he almost missed Evan. To be fair to him, he wasn't used to him looking so small and being so quiet. At least, not for almost a year now. He'd come up here to be alone and think, but something about Evan's expression made him sit down instead, just barely brushing his side. Now was not the time for extended contact, probably.
Except that he really seemed to suck at telling what Evan was thinking, because he leaned into William, resting his head on his shoulder. Leaning back, William let out a slow huff of air. “You okay?”
“Define okay,” Evan replied, voice rough, and William just shrugged. Hell if he knew anymore. “Not really, but I'll pretend. What about you? You've been quiet the past couple of days.”
William snorted. “I had a chat with Lucas. You know how that is.”
Shrugging, Evan huffed. “Not really.” When William shot him an odd look, he shrugged again. “Me and Lucas don't chat the way you and Lucas do. He's not my best friend.” Oh. That was kind of sad. Lucas was an awesome best friend, and it was kind of depressing that Evan didn't get that. So William squirmed a little closer and wished he had body heat to help warm him. “So, explain for the rest of us. What does that mean?”
“That my ass got verbally handed to me, and that I hate Christmas because of my PTSD.” Snorting viciously, William glanced at Evan.
Watching him right back, Evan frowned. “Why did he say that?”
A frown crossed William's face as well, and he looked away at the edge of the roof. “Something about self-sabotaging my happiness because I hate myself, I think. Or that I'm doing Christmas wrong.” Evan's expression darkened, and he sighed. “It was reasonable when he said it. I dunno, there was a sensible point in there with the stuff that sounds bad. And I'm thinking maybe I should get a list of symptoms or something from one of the doctors, because in hindsight I don't actually know what PTSD means these days.”
Closing his eyes, Evan huffed. “Well, maybe it makes me an asshole, but I'm glad you're not into Christmas cheer or whatever. It'd be completely fucking terrible if I was the only one.”
William shrugged. “The thing that really got me is that... he said he thinks of it as celebrating the family he has now, and... well, I guess I just feel like shit for being angry at him for that when I'm just lashing out for stupid reasons.”
Pulling back, Evan shot him a cutting look. “Wow, William, how dare you be unhappy that your family is dead. Why don't you just get over it already?” Rolling his eyes, he jabbed him hard in the side. “Don't you dare give into this shit on me.”
“I'm not. Well, maybe I am. I guess I'm just tired of trying to ruin everyone else's fun along with mine. Used to not care, but... fuck, I'm going soft.” Closing his eyes and hiding his face in Evan's shoulder, he sighed. “Can we just rename this stupid holiday and get rid of all the religious bullshit and just... I dunno, make it so it's not miserable?”
Letting out a choked, vicious laugh, Evan scowled up at the drifting flurries. “I fucking wish. Or just remove this week from the calender. We'll jump straight from Louis' birthday to his death day. Do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars.”
Smiling into Evan's shoulder, William snorted. “Or celebrate Festivus.” That earned him a flick to the ear, probably for referencing a sitcom, and he snickered for a moment before it faded. “That would be nice, though. Just another holiday. Would you want that? If you could just... erase that fucker from the day and just enjoy it.”
Evan's shoulder went tense, and William braced himself to be yelled at, but then he went slack. “It'd save me a lot of useless emotion, at least.”
They went silent, and on the wind William could just barely catch the sound of voices. The individual words were lost, but it sounded like someone was singing Christmas carols somewhere on property. It was a little eerie to hear comfortably, and William closed his eyes and wished it would stop.
After a moment, Evan spoke, voice just barely louder than the singing. “I think that's the thing I hate him most for taking away. Not my innocence, not my ability to fucking function right. My voice. Going caroling was one of my favorite things, because everyone liked to hear it and-” His voice broke, and he took a deep breath. “It was what I was best at, and he ruined it.”
William shook his head, pulling back to meet Evan's eyes. “No, he didn't.” At first his eyes narrowed dangerously, but William barreled on before he could interrupt. “Maybe he paralyzed it and paused it, but he didn't kill it.”
“Oh, yeah? What do you fucking know.”
Offering a thin smile, William shrugged. “I know you're stronger than him. Than he could ever be. And he's dead and you're... well, your sort of alive. And that maybe now you can't, but you will someday. Because you loved it and that's more important than the fucker could ever be. And, if nothing else, I know you'll do it someday just to spite him in whatever circle of hell he's burning in.”
For one long second, Evan just stared at him, looking completely stumped. “You honestly believe that.”
It hadn't been a question, but William nodded anyway. “Believe, my ass. I know. You survived, and you'll recover. Easy as that.”
“That's not really easy,” Evan replied slowly, watching William's face like he was expecting a punchline.
William shrugged. “Yeah, well, you're better at it than most. Better than me. You still pray with that rosary, after all. Starting is the hardest bit. Well, I think that, but starting is the part I've never been able to get through, so take it with a grain of salt.”
Licking his lips, Evan slowly gave a nod. “I'm not sure I agree, but... I like that you think it. Thank you.”
“Don't thank me for telling the truth,” William smiled, and then stilled as Evan pressed a gentle, chaste kiss to the corner of his lips. “For the record, that wasn't pressure or anything. Don't think you're on a time line here. You'll get better when you do.”
Running his fingers through William's hair, which made his eyes slide shut for a moment, Evan sighed. “You're a good man, William Davis.” When he opened his mouth to argue that, Evan flicked his ear. “Shut up and let me be happy.”
Alright, fair enough. Nodding, he went back to pressing against Evan and holding him up in return, watching the moon slowly rise over the tree line.
And a couple of times William thought he head Evan humming along with the songs, but that might have been the wind.
Verse: Actor!Verse
Pairing: Louis + Evan
Shaking the bag of chestnuts he'd gotten from the store, Louis gestured toward the kitchen. Evan arched a brow at him and then followed him to the table. Dumping the rest of the groceries onto it, he ignored them in favor of ripping open the bag and rolling one of the nuts between his fingers. “Have you ever had roasted chestnuts?”
“Eaten them? Sure. They're alright.” Evan watched Louis play with it for a moment, and then winced when he brought it to his mouth. “Wait, don't eat that.”
A pout crossed Louis' lips as he froze. “Why? You just said they're good.”
Evan sighed. “Yeah, when they're already roasted. I don't think you're supposed to eat uncooked chestnuts.”
Frowning, Louis paused and then picked the bag back up, narrowing his eyes as he read the label. “Oh. Oops. Um, do you know how to roast them?”
Giving a soft chuckle, Evan took the bag and slapped Louis gently over the head. “Idiot.” Louis stuck out his tongue and crossed his eyes, but didn't take any offense. “Not specifically, but how hard can it be? You just stick 'em in there and roast. Go get a pan.”
Snapping off a salute, Louis retrieved the pan and sprayed it with Pam, and then set it down on the kitchen table. Taking the bag back with a snap, he started to set them apart evenly. “How hot do you think the oven should be? We can look it up.”
Evan let of a disdainful gust of air. “Nah, I'm a good cook. Between the two of us we should be able to figure it out. Roasting gets hot, but they're small so it'll probably be... hm, 350? Something around there should be fine.”
Eying him, Louis pursed his lips as he tried to figure out if that was reasonable or not. But he didn't know anything at all about cooking or roasting or anything like that, and Evan certainly looked sure, so he just nodded. “Okay. And they're little, like cookies. So, fifteen minutes?” That was cookie time, right? Louis couldn't exactly remember, since he tended to only bake around the holidays. Like, well, now, but he wasn't going home this year so his mom hadn't forced him to help her.
“They're thicker, so... uh, 20 minutes, I think. But, yeah, they are small. We'll check at fifteen.” When the oven beeped to inform them that it was hot enough, Evan grabbed the pan from Louis and stuck it into the oven, and set the timer. “Wanna go watch TV?”
Nodding, Louis shot him a grin. “Something really good or something really bad this time?”
Lips curling up, Evan tilted his head. “Uh, bad. That way we won't mind pausing it, and you get super bitchy which is funny.”
Louis crinkled his nose and glared at him. “I do not. But alright. Let's try the Lifetime channel, then.”
Fifteen minutes into a melodrama about a saint of a woman in a heinously cruel world, the timer went off, and Louis jumped out of his seat and scrambled over, while Evan rolled his eyes and followed at a much more sedate pace. “Are they supposed to be getting darker?”
“Yeah, why?”
Frowning, Louis eyed the timer. “Cause they're not. Like, at all.”
An annoyed sound escaped Evan, and he pushed at Louis' shoulder until he got out of the way enough for him to see. “Okay, we'll go a little higher then. Try 375 and we'll check when the movie ends. It's only 10 more minutes or so anyway.”
That seemed like so little, since this had done basically nothing, and Louis frowned at him but nodded. Evan changed the temperature and then slipped out to restart the movie. Watching him go for a long moment, Louis quickly turned and twisted the temperature control up to 425. There, that'd be better. And it wasn't for long anyway. Smiling a little to himself, Louis scrambled back out after Evan.
In hindsight, the movie was more like 20 minutes longer, thanks to a disgustingly long falling action and an entirely gratuitous wedding scene. Right as the credits started to roll, Louis froze. “Um, does something smell off to you?”
Evan paused, and then jumped up from the couch. “Shit. Shit. The chestnuts!”
Oh, right, those. Oh! Following after, Louis hovered from the doorway as Evan opened the oven door and let out a cloud of dark smoke, and then waved it out of the way to look at the temperature. Flipping it off, he slowly turned to look at Louis. “Um. Oops?”
Sighing, Evan grabbed the oven mitts off the counter and pulled out the blackened chestnuts. He dropped the trey onto the stove top and took a slow, methodical step back, still coughing from the smoke. “Well done.”
“I didn't mean to,” Louis replied, and then bit his tongue when he realized how childish that sounded. “Um, if you keep giving me that look you know I'm going to start babbling.”
Snorting, Evan inclined his head. “Yeah, I'll spare us. Hey, they were your chestnuts. Next time let's not burn down my kitchen, please.”
Louis bit his bottom lip. “Sorry. I just thought 'cause, you know, Christmas... Maybe I'll just buy them pre-roasted next time. I owe you lunch, okay?”
“Fuck yes, you do.” Waving his hands over the chestnuts one more time to help fan out the smoke before it set off the detector, Evan made his way back over to Louis and ruffled his hair. “It was a nice thought, until you ruined it.”
Flatting back out his hair, Louis eyed him. “I'm going to be hearing about this forever, aren't I?”
“Yup.”
Verse: SPN
Pairing: William/Twins
Splayed out over the twins' laps, William curled his bare feet into the armrest of the couch. Christmas morning and come and gone, and he'd spent the first part of it with Walter, exchanging gifts and stories and covering him with as many leftover bows as he could manage before his brother pushed him off. Then once the sun had gone down they'd come over to the twins' apartment for dinner, and now Walter had vacated the premise under the impression that there was sex to be had. Which there was, obviously, but William may have given him a false sense of urgency. After all, if Walter knew they were going to curl up together and watch goofy Christmas movies there would have been teasing to deal with.
“Are you sure this is a kids movie? These puppet things are freaky as hell.” Maybe it was the 1980s animations, but William couldn't see how Gremlins ended in anything but nightmares. Terrible, horrible nightmares.
Chuckling, Evan eyed him. “We could switch it to something else instead. Maybe A Christmas Story.”
William groaned and hid his face in Adam's lap, which earned him some nice ear scratching. “Ugh, no. I miss the jokes in that movie. They're all about human childhood. It's confusing and a bit alarming and I don't like it.”
“Poor puppy,” Adam cooed, which turned into a yelp when William bit him in sulky response. “Fine, what would you suggest?”
Tail twitching, William picked his head back up. “Um, I think there's a terrible Schwarenegger Christmas movie, right? Or Elf. I like Elf.” Pausing, he rested his cheek on Adam's knee. “You ever think it's weird that there's like, fae and werewolves and all that stuff that humans used to not think was real, but the Santa Clause stuff isn't?”
Going back to scratching his ears, Adam arched a brow. “What, you expected the humans to be right about every idea they got in their heads?”
Snorting, William rolled his eyes. “No, of course not. Humans are dumb. But, it's like... Okay, they used to not think we're real, but we are. But what if there's like, another level to it. We think Santa and the Tooth Fairy and all that Rise of the Guardians stuff isn't real, but we're just not in the know.”
There was silence for a long moment, and then Evan reached over to put a hand on William's forehead. “Are you feverish or something? Or did you find an alcohol that actually works on you.”
“Shut up,” William replied, eying them peevishly. “It's perfectly reasonable.”
“Except the part where you're trying to figure out if Santa is real but just hiding from everyone and not giving out presents, since parents and relatives are the ones doing that,” Adam shot back, voice dry.
Shrugging, William squirmed forward to shove his head under Adam's shirt, hiding his face from their view. “Fine, fine. Jeez, it was just an idea.” He let out a huff of breath, and then felt Adam shift from the sensation. A slow smile crossed his face, and he let his sharp canines score lines down his stomach. “Maybe I don't want to watch any more movies. Me and Walter had dinner, so now maybe you two should get your feast.”
Adam yanked his shirt off, exposing William to the cooler open air, and then guided his head up for a slow, sensual kiss. “Oh, you think so, hm? Are you offering to be our buffet?”
“Yes. Though buffets are not at all sexy. Feast is way sexier. Shouldn't you be good at dirty talk, Mr. Incubus?” William's voice faltered as Evan's mouth came from behind, his own fangs scraping along the delicate veins of his neck before sinking in.
Eyes flashing with an eerie glow, Adam let out a chuckle that was more purr than laugh. “Try saying that in a minute.” His hand slipped down and undid William's fly, diving below the fabric to palm over him. “If it even takes that long.”
William just moaned, which made Adam laugh at him, but it was so completely worth it, because Christmas sex was good even if he didn't believe in the Christianity nonsense. Happy fucking holidays. Literally.
His slightly heated chuckle was cut off by a blood-flavored kiss from Evan, and then William forgot all about puns and religions and focused entirely on his Mates.