undergrounds | HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS... (DEC CATCH-ALL)

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HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS... (DEC CATCH-ALL)

I. THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR

Faolan draws his coat tighter around him, not so much cold as uncomfortable where he stands, peering into the window display of the store in front of him. He's not been Christmas shopping in... Nearly a decade, if he's being honest with himself. This year is the first he's had reason to in a long while, and while grateful for that fact, he'd spent so much time avoiding the rush he'd forgotten it all. Forgotten how many people there were out in the shops at this time of year. Forgotten about the music.

He glances up at the speaker above him, frowning at it as it starts to pipe up its next Holiday song. The most wonderful time of the year indeed, Faolan thinks to himself. He's got one person to shop for, and he hasn't the faintest idea of what to be getting for him. Save for that he should be. Lancelot's asked him over for the holiday, and he'd have to be a pretty shit friend not to get him something in return for his hospitality. The only question is what. Being on a budget and having very little idea what the other man would like, Faolan is rather at a loss.

If he has to listen to much more of his holiday music he's going to go mad, though. Grumbling low to himself, Faolan fishes his headphones out of the pocket of his jacket and shoves one into one of his ears. At least he's half spared now, he thinks to himself as he turns and, peripheral hearing now gone, walks into the next shopper over--

II. DASHING THROUGH THE SNOW

Faolan slouches behind the line, waiting to switch lines on the way over to Hillingdon. He's been waiting there for god knows how long, and he's half expecting that he'll be waiting there forever. God only knows how late he's going to be in, at least no one's going to be expecting him right away. He wonders (rather dramatically, but then he's been waiting there for a while already, and his normal hour-long commute is dragging on ever longer) if anyone will notice his absence in time or whether he will perish here out of starvation or boredom or whether he'll wind up going mad and getting himself arrested just to have something to do.

His one saving grace perhaps is that he has thought to bring coffee. It's only from his coffee maker at home, nothing fancy, but it's caffeinated and since he's got it in the travel mug that Lancelot had given him for his birthday, it's still warm now too. Though it's going fast.

He pulls his phone out of his pocket to flick through it, thinking about possibly calling someone to complain, but who would he call that isn't already at work or probably still sleeping. So with a sigh he slips it back in his pocket and raises his coffee for another sip...

III. O TANNENBAUM, O TANNENBAUM [CLOSED TO HILLINGDON MEMBERS]

Faolan certainly isn't one for this season. Nor is he a particularly social person at all. But he has been saying to all the other members about how there needs to be more of a sense of community to Hillingdon, and while he has no intention of forcing any sort of holiday party on them, well. He did threaten free food to Sirius, and he figures that may not be a bad idea after all. Nothing fancy, but he makes certain that there's a fire going in the fireplace, and he's brought in some donuts and made some coffee and hot chocolate and set it out.

It's by no means a formal party, and it's by no means a required get-together. But Faolan makes it a point to sit out at a table in the sitting room himself, in front of the fire as he works on a bit of the records-keeping that no one but the man in charge would have ever expected there to be for a place like this. And anyone who passes through is welcome to join him, or to talk to anyone else who passes through for that matter. To sit with him in front of the fire and speak to him or quietly on their own as he does his work, it doesn't matter to him. If you build it, they will come, or so the saying goes. Faolan's certainly counting hoping so, at least...

*** ooc note: Hillingdon members, feel free to use this as something of an open post if you like -- just note if the thread is intended to be Open To All (OTA) if you do! :)

IV. FROM NOW ON OUR TROUBLES WILL BE MILES AWAY [CLOSED TO LANCELOT]

Faolan chews on his lip as he makes his way up the walk to the front door of Lancelot's flat. He doesn't quite know why he's nervous about this. Maybe it's because he hasn't been asked to join anyone for a holiday in so long, he can barely remember the last time he's spent one with anyone. Maybe it's because he knows himself and he knows that he's probably making something out of nothing. That he's probably worrying about what he's brought with him more than he should be, and that Lancelot could care less, as long as he's there himself. But he can't help who he is or the fact that he finds himself standing on the other man's front step, fretting over a gift, not for the first time.

At least this one is better than a Monkey's paw, he thinks to himself, as he adjusts his overnight bag over one shoulder and the bag of gifts in his hand, before he steps forward and, hesitating, rings the bell. The muffled sound of music creeps out at him through the cracks in the door, and Faolan shifts slightly in place, struggling to make it out as he does.

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She fusses a moment, sniffing at Faolan and pacing about -- Lancelot gently steering her (so her paws don't step anywhere delicate) and eventually persuading her to settle. Lily drapes across Lancelot's lap, head on her paws as she soaks up attention from both of them. He smooths her forehead and ears as they settle in for the film, Lancelot leaning over every so often to whisper commentary and laugh at particularly ludicrous parts -- cringing as the T-Rex begins its San Diego rampage.

He refills their drinks absently once they get low, sinking down on the futon and as the credits roll and whispering to Lily that she has to get up -- vanishes away to the bathroom to relieve himself then comes to flop back down.

"Fifteen minutes to midnight," he points out, and wrestles Lily into his lap -- grins at Faolan a little as she excitedly attempts to lily at his chin. "Think we'll see Santa Claus?"

Faolan pets Lily through the film as well, ruffling her ears and combing his fingers through her ruff and trying not to think about how close he has to come to petting Lancelot's lap in order to do so. He eventually withdraws his hand and thinks about sitting on it for a time, but settles for cradling his drink two-handed (and possibly indulging in it more than he might otherwise have done).

As Lancelot settles himself back down on the futon beside him after the film is through Faolan is almost sure that he's regained his composure again. And he's almost sure that he might have had a little too much to drink as well. "Santa Claus?" he asks, raising his eyebrows slightly as he does. "Don't go putting thoughts in her head like that, everyone knows you have to be sleeping for him to appear." He leans forward and peers at Lily. "Have you been a good girl this year?" he asks. "Will he be bringing you lots of presents? I have the funny feeling that he will, you know."

Her tail swishes faster as Faolan leans to peer at her, excitement ramping up, and she turns to begin licking at Faolan instead.

"She's been a very good girl!" Lancelot protests, "Lily is always a perfect lady, aren't you Lily? Yes you are!"

His arms come around her to gently tug her back an inch, saving Faolan from her affectionate assault with a huff of laughter.

"And of course, such a good lady is always given plenty of presents. Good behaviour is always well rewarded."

Faolan does his best in the face of such doggy affections, but he's grateful when the other man reels her in and rescues him from her.

"Always a perfect lady, huh?" he asks, with a wry twist to his lips as he does. Still, she is a good dog, and aside from some over-excitement every now and then, she really is well-behaved. He sits back in the futon and swirls his drink that he's been nursing, taking another swig of it. He's already had perhaps more than he otherwise might have done, but it is Christmas Eve, and he's got nowhere to be tomorrow but here.

He looks down at his watch himself and then over at the other man. "Not long now," he says. "Think you can make it?"

"Absolutely!" Lancelot says brightly, and grins at him. "The alcohol did have coffee in it, after all."

He tickles at Lily, holding her against his chest and blowing at her fur so she wriggles and fusses until she finally jumps clean and starts bouncing about in front of them.

"Lily is excited for Christmas! Aren't you Lilydog?" She's certainly excited about Lancelot playing with her, it seems. "All the good dogs should be in bed, Lily! Why aren't you in bed, hmmm? Are we a bad influence on you, Lilydog? Are we?" She bounces again, jumps back up onto the futon and invades Lancelot's space once more.

"Ah," Faolan says, watching the other man's antics with the dog. "I suppose that does explain some things then, yes." Like why Lancelot isn't falling asleep on him like he might otherwise have done, especially after drinking as much as he had with him. And also the wrestling with the dog besides. Alright, less so on the second point. He's pretty sure that he'd be doing all of that entirely sober, 'Lilydog' and the likes included.

He flashes the other man something of a grin. "I think she'll be fine, having stayed up with us. You said that it was a tradition of yours, didn't you? And besides. When have you ever been a bad influence on anyone?" he asks, mischievously. Lancelot just doesn't quite seem the type, though.

"Oh, plenty enough. Give me time."

He grins again, ruffling Lily's fluffy mane as she rolls herself and wriggles against him contently. It's hard to say if his enthusiasm is fuelling her or vice versa, but they're certainly winding each other up.

The church is not far from Lancelot's flat, and he's in the middle of rubbing her stomach while she squirms about when the bell begins to toll midnight. Lancelot looks up, listens to it count the hour then smiles brightly at Faolan.

"Merry Christmas!" he announces, then leans over Lily again. "And Merry Christmas to you too of course!"

He leans in to kiss her snout, then over to kiss Faolan quickly on the cheek before nudging at Lily to move.

"Up, up!"

Faolan's enjoying watching Lancelot messing about with the dog, watching Lily squirm around happily in the face of the other man's attentions. Sitting back on the futon himself, he's had enough to drink that his reaction time is slow, as are most of his thought processes for that matter. And as such, he doesn't anticipate Lancelot leaning over to kiss him.

It's just the quick press of lips against his cheek, but it's enough for a blush to light up on Faolan's face. He can blame it on the alcohol of course, but Lancelot's smarter than that. So he does his best to hide his face in his glass and do anything but give himself away in that moment. Luckily, with Lily to fuss over, Lancelot seems to be pretty otherwise preoccupied himself.

"Merry Christmas to you too," he responds, after a long moment. "I, ehm." He fidgets slightly, knowing he's being awkward but also unable to contain himself in that moment. "Thank you. For having me over. For the holiday."

"Thank you for coming!" Lancelot counters, "these things are always better with company, after all."

He grins, slides from the futon and barely dodges Lily as she excitedly tries to follow.

"Shall we see what Santa might have snuck in for you, then?"

Lancelot winks playfully, slides around the enthusiastic dog and vanishes off into the bedroom -- re-appearing a moment later with a large box that he sets down beside the small optic tree. He vanishes away again to pick up a few smaller packages too, Lily excitedly running after him on each lap back and forth -- a few of them likely from other people by the way he frowns at the labels (and the difference in the wrapping paper).

Faolan watches Lancelot stand and disappear into his bedroom curiously, re-appearing with what are obviously gifts. He wonders as Lancelot addresses Lily whether now is the time for him to give his gifts that he had brought as well and so he reaches for his bag that he had tucked underneath the futon and pulls it out as casually as he can.

"I, uh. I have some things for you too," he says, with something of a sheepish smile as he sits forward, pulling the bag of gifts out from where it had been hiding most of the time he'd been there so far. "For both of you," he amends, sitting forward off the couch and sliding the bag of wrapped gifts hesitantly along with.

"Of course! Add them under the tree!" Lancelot gently tugs Lily back from where she is nosing at the pile herself and wrestles her away, her tail swishing excitedly at all the movement. Yes! They are playing! She loves to play! Playing is good! "She has a gift for you too, of course!"

Although it may be doubtful how much input she had into selecting it, whatever Lancelot may claim. He lets Lily 'battle' him onto his back, pretending at defeat as she stands over him and ruffling at her mane until she backs up. Good girl, he assures her, and finally sits back up even as she crowds him again.

Faolan sits forward and does as he's told, unloading his gifts under the tree and hoping that the amount he's brought doesn't seem excessive. Lancelot's been good to him, he's invited him over for the holiday, and as such he'd made it a point to try his best to show his thanks, in holiday gift form.

"Oh she does, does she?" he asks, as he watches the other man rolling around on the floor with the dog, quirking a smile at their antics as he does. "I've never received a gift from a lady such as Lily before, you know." Meaning a dog, of course.

"She's very good at choosing! Has a nose for taste."

He winks playfully, shifting to sit up a little more and ruffling at her mane as she paws at and climbs on him.

"She spent a long time choosing, too. She was picky. Had to get exactly the right thing for her new friend, didn't you Lily?"

Her tail swishes faster at the sound of her name and she goes for Lancelot's face, making him wince and turn away.

"Come on now, sit there's a good girl."

Faolan can't help but flicking a smile at the other man, knowing exactly who it is that truly chose this gift, despite whatever insistence he might be making otherwise. Lancelot's the one paying the bill after all. Even if she does have him wrapped around her little finger. Er... Or however one might phrase that about a dog.

"Well," he says, "let's hope that she won't fault me for my taste, then."

"She would never!" Lancelot assures him, and gives Lily one last kiss to the top of her head before releasing her and pushing to his feet. He leans forward and latches onto the large box he just brought in, neatly wrapped in paper decorated with festive robins and a carefully curled bow, and slides it across the floor in front of Faolan.

"Happy Christmas!" he adds, and leans back onto the futon with one arm around Lily to stop her helping.

Faolan has to wonder what could be in such a box as this as the other man slides it towards him. Perhaps Lancelot has repackaged whatever it is? He certainly doesn't anticipate whatever's inside to require such a large box itself. He gives the thing an experimental push on the floor in front of himself just because, then glances up at the other man quizzically.

"Nothing's going to pop out at me when I open this, is it?" he asks, warily, reaching for the bow and slowly beginning to tug it off. Lancelot's certainly done a fine job wrapping it, unless he'd had it professionally handled. Though he hardly thinks it will be the reality of the situation, visions of opening the box to find a miniature Lily waiting for him inside dance through his head unbidden, and he fights himself to speak up and say that he really isn't home enough to take care of a pet, you know. He can barely handle plants for that matter.

"Nothing will pop out, I promise!"

He grins at Faolan, watching him carefully pick the ribbon undone as Lily tries to nose under his chin.

"I'm mostly hoping you have a good spot to put it. I picked a compact one, but if it doesn't work I can still exchange it for something different."

Lancelot's expression turns a touch more hesitant at that and he frowns slightly, watching Faolan as he works it open with a mixture of curiosity and caution.

He has to admit, after a comment like that, Faolan is certainly curious to find out what could possibly be in the box. So he starts tearing the paper apart with a little less trepidation than he had before. 'A compact one'? 'Hoping you have a good spot to put it'? There are any number of things that whatever this is might be, but Faolan hasn't got a clue what direction to think.

Not at least until he gets the box unwrapped and gets a good look at what the other man has set before him. And his eyes widen slightly as he takes it in, before glancing at Lancelot. It hadn't seemed as heavy as it should have been when he'd carried it in, but then again Lancelot has been known to vault clear over fences and up to the second floor of a building with no problem, of course he'd be able to juggle around a coffee machine like it didn't weigh anything at all.

"I..." he stutters at the other man, trying to figure out what to say. Wasn't this expensive? No, probably shouldn't say that, even if he is wondering. "You really shouldn't have gone through all that, for me..."

"All what?" Lancelot prompts, "the ribbon curling? It isn't hard if you know how."

He grins in pleasure, rubbing Lily's chest as she settles to sit leaning back against him, and shakes his head finally.

"It's no trouble, I promise. I saw you eyeing mine. You'll need to work out what sort of beans you like, of course, how strong you like it, but I'm sure you'll work it out. Here --" and he releases Lily a moment shifts to snag a smaller parcel labelled as being from Lily. "This is to help get you started. Lily's choice."

Lily's choice, of course, being two different types of coffee bean for Faolan to test and a packet of chocolate coated coffee beans to get himself unintentionally wired on.

Faolan's going to save the opportunity to get wired for a time when it's not midnight -- he does want to sleep at some point tonight, really he does. But he appreciates the gift of them. He appreciates all of the gifts, really. Even if he's not quite sure how to handle them just yet.

He glances at Lily at the mention of her name and the suggestion that she was the one to have chosen the coffee. "I, ehm." He glances down at the coffee maker before him, and the coffee that he's just opened as well. "Thank you. Honestly, it'll probably be the nicest thing at my flat." He chances a smile at the other man in turn. "Maybe I'll actually spend some time there this way. Though I hope that wasn't your motivation in this."

He glances back under the little tree where he's set his own gifts to give. "I'm definitely second-guessing my own gifts in turn here now, though..."

"Not at all. If anything the motivation is to get you up and moving more efficiently so I can see you more often, and more awake when I do see you."

His grin stays put, entirely pleased with this result, and he shrugs a little after a moment.

"Don't second-guess anything. I got you this because I knew you were coveting mine. Honestly, it's no trouble at all. Gift giving shouldn't be a competition and I'm not expecting it to become one. I'm just glad you like it, and so is Lily for that matter!"

Faolan nods, flushing slightly. He's right of course, it's not a competition. Although it's hard to feel like he hasn't done enough himself, by comparison. It's hard to feel like he doesn't owe the other man in some way, considering how much he's been putting him up and cooking for him and now buying him a gift like this. Faolan's honestly not sure whether he deserves it all, or well. Any of it, really. But that doesn't mean that he doesn't want it, or that he isn't grateful for the lot.

"Still," he says, despite himself. "I really do owe you that dinner sometime. I mean it. Anywhere you'd like. It's the least I can do, considering everything for me. For now though..." He sits forward and grabs his packages from underneath the tree and slides them cautiously towards Lancelot. "This will have to do until then."

There are several packages, one a bag that looks suspiciously wine-like (thank you Coward for the advice there) that's for Lancelot, and another few that will be a little bit more obviously for Lily upon discovering their contents. Faolan basically sits and holds his breath and wonders whether he's made any wrong decisions, if Lancelot will appreciate his sense of humor, or if he's completely misfired on this...

Lancelot reaches out to take one, holding Lily still as she snuffles at the packaging critically -- slightly more at one bag than the other.

"Hmmm? You want to see what's in this one?" he prompts, and examines it curiously before beginning to undo it. Lumps of coal. He laughs brightly at that, Lily thrashing her tail faster (why are we happy? Doesn't matter, we're happy!) and snuffling more intensely at the bag now. "Look what Mr Faolan has brought you! Ohh, that's right. Have you been a good girl then?"

Her tail swishes faster and he grins happily, encouraging her to sit as he examines the packaging.

"I think she approves!" he says, and sets aside the bag to gently ruffle her again before casting his eyes about the rest of the things. They land on the suspiciously wine-like package and he slides it forward, peers into the bag before sliding out and examining it.

"Ah! We can have some of this -- tonight? Tomorrow?" He wrinkles his nose a little, "I suppose technically it's tonight now, since it's past midnight. Thank you!"

Faolan nods slightly, smiling slightly, finding himself a little embarrassed at how much he is hanging on to the other man's reactions. "Tonight," he agrees. "It's supposed to go with just about anything. Even a good dessert." He'd made sure to pick a good white. Not too dry, not too sweet that it couldn't go with a dinner, and not too strong that the flavor would overpower whatever it was paired with. He'd had excellent advice to work from, after all.

"Lily can have some of the biscuits then too," he offers, before glancing at Lancelot. "If they meet your approval, that is. A treat for us all."

"I think she can be allowed some, can't you? You've been a good girl, haven't you? A very good girl!"

Said good girl listens intently to the assessment, tail swishing and ears perked forward. She's been very good! Does that mean she can have a biscuit now? Lily yawns slightly, eyes flicking down as Lancelot reaches for and opens another package. Her attention is focused as he unwraps it, studies it a second -- then laughs suddenly.

"That's terrible!" he says of the pun, but he's grinning regardless -- offering it to Lily who begins an intense snuffling inspection of the toy.

HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS... (DEC CATCH-ALL)

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