merry & bright (christmas, closed to dodger & cooper)

[stauncherhearted]

Christmas day had gone the way it always did. Nancy had woken up early and gone over to the den with the multitude of Christmas presents she had for the boys. They'd gotten up, played games, opened gifts and ate more than they could recall eating within the last year. Along with all of that, of course, came the drinks, and by the time they'd lit the menorah that night, Nancy was drunk.

Most Christmases, whenever Nancy got too drunk, Bill wasted no time in carrying her off to bed and patiently putting her down. But this Christmas, as with so many others, he wasn't here. So the job of putting Nancy to bed- or at least making sure she got back to Cooper's house- was placed on the next logical choice.

The Artful Dodger.

Somehow, the two of them had managed to trip their way up from Saffron Hill to Cooper's flat, arm in arm. The two of them laughed freely, Nancy occasionally slipping Dodger her flask, from which they both had been drinking liberally.

The laughter continued until they approached the door, at which point, Nancy turned to her brother. "Shh, shh!" She tells him, putting her hand in front of her lips. The result is messy, and she leans against the boy already much taller than her. "We have to be quiet! Shh!"

Naturally, when a drunk woman tries to be quiet, she tends to make more noise than is necessary, and this was true for Nancy as well. She struggles to open the door, and gestures for Dodger to come in. "Come in," she says, even if he's already been in before.

The second she closes the door behind her, however, and she's dissolved into a pile of giggles.

Comments

[knowntohisfriends]

It had been a nice day, all things considered. Christmas generally was a nice day. Even though Fagin didn't actually celebrate the holiday himself, he made sure that the day was good for all his boys. Sikes - before he was thrown inside - use to steal the gifts. The Dodger didn't know who Fagin got to do it now. That wasn't to say he didn't go lifting his own lot of gifts for the lads, and for Nance, and the ol' crook, but he meant the main lot. Eh, wasn't like it bothered him.

Nancy always had good stuff in her flask, and it never seemed to run out, even with the amount they had drunk on the way back to her place. He snorted at her attempts to quieten him, laughing in response to her own giggles.

"You're the one makin' all the noise," he said, between laughs.