It's starting to feel like Christmas!

I considered not posting a video, but then I came up with that title, and it made me think of this song:




which might be better viewed in comic form here:
http://brawlinthefamily.keenspot.com/2011/12/24/2863/

Anwhoo.

We put up the Christmas Tree yesterday, and I sat down and wrote this scene, only to get stuck towards the end. I came back to it today and finished it off (with a rather sloppy ending, but it was getting kind of long and I've gotten as sick of talking about Colin and Cole's relationship as they have. It's explained better in other break room scenes (that one I mentioned I can't post due to spoilers, for example)).

Despite being finished and posted today, however, it was written as if it was yesterday, so read it and pretend that it was yesterday, kay?

Quick introduction of the OCs/"notafic" charracters brought up

Colin: I've mentioned him. He's based on Shad, originally, but has since formed a personality similar to Riku's (especially regarding Cole)

Cole: Colin's equivalent of Sora, 'cept like Colin (who acts nothing like Shad), Cole acts very little like Sora.

Darian: One of my very first characters. She's been around since like... first grade? (That's like, nearly ten years...) Sheesh. I'll keep quiet about most of her origins, though, because the less I mention them, the further I distance myself from them, and the less likely they are to end up bleeding into the story (this is also the reason why she's just now shown up in one of these settings). Anyway, she's slightly nostalgic about being here because she's such an old character and it has been a year since I've written for her in an out-of-story setting. Yeah.

anywhoo, enjoy!

~

            “Christmas time!!” I sang, flopping down in the middle of the floor. I’d given up on the couch, since it was occupied by Riku and Namine on one end and Colin and Cole on the other. I summoned a cup of hot chocolate for myself, despite the fact that the world outside my brain was still a nice toasty 80 degrees (Fahrenheit). Inside my brain, it was cold enough to warrant drinking hot chocolate not insane.

            “Rar,” Riku said, slowly. “It’s not even December yet…”

            “I know,” I replied, taking a sip of my hot chocolate (which I suddenly had the urge to call hot cocoa).

            “They just put up the tree.” A new voice. I recognized that voice, actually, and had to refrain from making some of the old jokes about it. Those did not apply anymore. I quickly made sure that Edd was absent. He was.

            “A new person!” Joseph exclaimed, running over to said new person. Said new person, Darian, laughed.

            “You are as enthusiastic as I’ve heard,” she said, smiling.

            “How’d you know we put up the tree?” I asked.

            “I can hear the Celtic music,” she replied.

            Celtic music happens to be a favorite of my mom’s, and it wouldn’t be putting up the tree day without it.

            “Uhm,” Namine said. “I’m Namine, and this is Riku.” She shrugged. “I figured I’d introduce us, and be polite.”

            Riku chuckled. “Have you met a notafic character yet who doesn’t know who we are?”

            “She’s allowed to be polite,” Darian said. “My name’s Darian. Nice to actually meet you all, instead of just hearing about you.”

            “I’m Joseph!” Joseph said. “I’d introduce Toby, but he’s still taking a nap, so he’s not here.” He turned and pointed at Colin and Cole. “And they’re Colin, and--”

            “I know them,” Darian interrupted. “We’ve met before. Hey guys!”

            “Nice to see you again!”

            “Hey.”

            Darian waved, then turned to me, eyebrows raised. “Is it such a good idea to let them…” she trailed off, and waved in Colin and Cole’s direction. Per usual, they were sitting so close to each other that Cole was practically on Colin’s lap.

            “I’ve given up on trying to keep them separate,” I replied. “It doesn’t work.”

            “We in flux?” Darian asked.

            “’Course you are!” I laughed. ‘Flux’ was code for there being no limits on characters, because I wasn’t writing them with a particular timeframe in mind. “I haven’t started writing the story yet, have I?” I summoned a cup of hot chocolate and held it out to her. “Hot chocolate?”

            She took it, smiling. “Goodness, how long has it been since I’ve been here?”

            “I think a year, exactly,” I said. “I distinctly remember doing something last Christmas.”

            “Tree?” Darian asked, nodding towards the ‘corner’ of the ‘room’ where I would’ve attempted to put up a tree by now.

            “She just got here,” Joseph said. “But I want to put up a tree!”

            I groaned.

            “Lighten up!” Darian told me. “Maybe this year we won’t break it.”

            “Tradition,” I sighed.

            “But we haven’t even tried putting a tree up yet!!” Joseph protested. “Can we do it now? Can we?”

            Darian nodded over at the ‘corner’ again, where various boxes containing the tree, ornaments, and other such decorations now sat. Joseph grinned and ran over to them, starting to tear everything open.

            I sighed, and put my hot chocolate down on the table that had just appeared next to me. “I’ll go help him,” I said, starting to stand up.

            Darian stopped me. “I’ll go. If we keep you away from the tree, maybe it won’t get broken!” She set her hot chocolate down, and then went to go help Joseph.

            “It was Star’s fault last year!” I called after her.

            “Riddle’s!” she corrected. “He scared you, remember? You fell on the tree and crushed it. Midnight then proceeded to beat him up.”

            Oh. Right. I didn’t actually remember that. Well, I remembered that I fell on the tree. Not any of those other details… I picked up my hot chocolate and took another sip as I contemplated this.

            “Midnight beat someone--” Namine began, and then paused. “No, actually, that doesn’t surprise me.”

            “Can I ask about them?” Riku asked, nodding over in Colin and Cole’s direction.

            “Go ahead,” I told him. It wasn’t a much of a problem, considering the three introductions I had for them I couldn’t post… Well, I hadn’t finished the first one (and doubted I ever would), the second one had spoilers (and wasn’t finished), and the third… I could post the third. Maybe tomorrow.

            “Right, so, why are you two… so…” Riku trailed off, not sure what word to finish the sentence with.

            Cole groaned. “I am getting sick of giving this spiel.”

            “You’re sick of it!?” Colin laughed. “Five times in the past month, have I explained us. I explained it to Darian, I explained it to Maria, I explained it to that Shad guy, and I explained it to… Joseph. Not to mention I did most of the explaining when we were in Hollow Bastion.”

            “You went to Hollow Bastion?” Namine asked.

            I shrugged. “I woke up one morning and they and Aerith were having a conversation.”

            Colin snorted. Cole flushed red. They were both aware as well as I was that said conversation I was talking to wasn’t much of a conversation.

            “I got great character development off of them, too!” I said. “I think I’ll send the rest of my notafic characters over to Hollow Bastion at some point.”

            “I’ll pack my bags!” Darian called, as she finished putting the tree together.

            “Wait not now!” I told her, frantically. “Colin and Cole are still technically over there. I had to stop last night because I had a fever and couldn’t think.”

            “Things would’ve gone faster if Cole hadn’t gotten drunk,” Colin said.

            “You think so?” Cole asked, sounding surprised.

            “She said so,” Colin nodded at me.

            “They would’ve,” I replied.

            “You let Colin--” Cole began.

            “I know! But, technically, now we’re on the mad doctor. So, bleh. I’ll keep writing that later. I really need to finish editing the scene with Vexen freaking--” I paused, turned to Joseph. “Wait a minute, you’re in that scene. Joseph, what are you doing here!?”

            “I left him to mope, remember?” Joseph replied, as he carefully hung a particular ornament on the tree. I think it was of Mickey Mouse. Funny. “You’re only editing the scene! Besides, you aren’t editing it now are you?”

            I couldn’t argue that one. I was obviously not editing it now. I was drinking hot chocolate and talking with my characters.

            “Can we back to my question?” Riku asked.

            “They’re dating!” Darian called, as she took down the ornament Joseph had put on and started stringing the lights around the tree.

            “Are not!!” Colin and Cole yelled, in unison. As if to prove the point, Cole scooted about two inches away from Colin.

            “Then…” Namine began, but trailed off. “I need to think of a polite way to put this. Uhm…”

            “Why are you two sitting so close next to each other?” Riku asked. “You really do imply that you’re… together, when you sit like that.”

            “They aren’t,” I said, taking another sip of hot chocolate.

            “We…” Cole began, but paused, as if thinking of how to put it.

            “Need each other’s touch to survive,” Colin finished. “It’s our equivalent of food.” He turned to Cole, glaring slightly. “And I just explained it again. I could’ve just said we were dating, y’know.”

            “I could’ve explained it!” Cole protested. “I was just thinking about how to put it! And, besides, he’s not correct. We don’t need--”

            “Yes we do,” Colin interrupted. “Don’t argue. We couldn’t last sixteen hours without touching each other.”

            “We’re not used to it!”

           “Fine. Then go sit in that chair.” Colin pointed to one of the armchairs. Cole looked at him like he was crazy. I laughed and took a drink of hot chocolate to cover it up.

            “I’m not moving,” Cole said, scooting closer to Colin. “Besides, it’s not like you honestly want me to…”

            “They always like this?” Riku asked, turning to me.

            “Apparently,” I replied. I started to go into an explanation about the fact that I’ve only written them with the ‘post-notafic’ timeframe in mind, because it’s easier on my brain (and where the two of them would rather be), but was interrupted by a loud crash from Darian and Joseph’s direction.

            We all turned to look at them. Sure enough, the tree was in pieces on the ground. Darian and Joseph frantically pointed at each other.

            “He did it!” Darian said, just as Joseph shouted: “She did it!”

            I sighed and took another drink of my hot chocolate. Yup.