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xxx●x"The Christmas Hit List", by welian for Ialo

INSTRUCTIONS:
xxx●xPick one of your MFHS characters to focus on, and write a Christmas-themed poem or small story revolving around them and the above prompt - then post it here!
xxx●xYou can submit as many stories as you would like for each day and for different characters, but the thread gets locked after 24 hours.
xxx●xThe overall most popular story will be decided in a poll attached to the next day's thread.
xxx●xCopy the code below and insert it into the top of your post. It's a label asking for which character you're writing for and the title of your piece, if any.

[align=center][size=18][color=#586827][b]"Untitled [change this if you have a title]"[/b][/color]
[color=#B5EAAA][replace this line with your character's name][/color][/size][/align]

Christmas eve, and most of the kids were already asleep, well everyone other than the three musketeers that was. The rec room had become their own for the night.

Sitting in their nightwear, well Light and Cajus were, Toshi was currently a small back cat sprawled out in front of a radiator, sleeping for the most part. Light was wearing a short gown with a large bow and a rather seductive ribbon around her thigh, to not so seductively hold her laser gun...

Cajus looked a bit more comical, he was wearing a lengthy button up shirt-like gown, with blue and white stripes. The matching night cap that hung down from his head between his horns made him look like some Victorian throwback. It was cute, if not slightly weird.

The two of them sat in the dark looking out of the large windows, watching snow drift lazily towards the ground and the odd gust of wind whip it back into the air once more. Light was also looking out for stars in the odd gap between clouds.

" Snow, why do folk enjoy this stuff? It's wet, cold, it gets into everything... Suppose it does look pretty." The young nymph rambled as some flakes hit the window and promptly melted.
"D'you ever like... miss home?" Light murmured, her voice was quiet, gentle almost, much different from usual.

"Yeah. Quite a lot actually, you?" Cajus answered, immediately thinking back on if he'd ever return to the forest. Of course he missed home, probably more than anyone else at this school!

"I'm not sure. I like it here, I have friends here and people I can joke around with, but. I feel so choked..." Light sighed staring up at a single star twinkling above.
"Gravity, air, weather. It's all so different. Try to imagine a world where plants didn't exist, where the sun's rays were cold instead. Ahh I wanna go home! They'll be celebrating Christmas and stuff, which I might add has customs that NO ONE here does." She continued before flopping onto her back to lie on the floor.

Cajus laughed as Light rambled on a bit, he could see her point. Christmas could change from country to country, so from planet to space? There must be some differences.
"Well, what would you do for Christmas? Maybe we could try to do some of them?" He suggested casually.

"Maybe, Yeah, we could get something going, I think." Light answered, rolling across the floor as she thought.
"Most of them require antigravity and the absence of air'n's**t... I could do them, but you? You'd probably die bro." She laughed imagining Cajus's little hat floating round his face, but it didn't do anything to mask her homesickness.

Scratching the base of one of his horns, Cajus tried to avert his eyes as Light's gown raised a little higher than it should have while she rolled around.
"Well, what if we tried some customs from where I live? There's even a few I don't think I've done, not since I was a kid anyway." The goat boy said blushing slightly. There was one custom he was pretty sure Light wouldn't practice in her home.

Rolling back towards Cajus, Light came to a stop next to him and sat up on her knees, a look of intrigue spread across her face. She was always up for learning something new about other cultures, especially the magical ones.
"Right, I'm interested. What’cha got for me then?" She asked smiling, clearly Cajus's blush went unnoticed, which was probably a good thing, for him anyway.

With Light staring him down, waiting for information, Cajus almost shied away, almost. But gathering some courage the boy pressed on.
"Well it's not exclusively a custom to the forest, but that's where it started, and it's probably where it is still done the most, probably... I'm not sure." He started before memories of his life amongst the trees distracted him. Light stared on, patiently waiting for him to get to the point.

Suddenly a gust of wind lightly rattled one of the looser windows, bouncing some branches into the glass from a nearby tree.

"Well, there's this thing, where if you're under some mistletoe, the person you're under it with... Emm. Well..." There was no hiding it now, The thoughts going trough Cajus's head were spread all over his face. Luckily for him, Light being Light was probably just as naive as Cajus was, and other than more intrigue from her, the blush went unnoticed once more. It could also be because Light's race, the Irritumi, didn't blush. They didn't have blood, nothing to blush with, and therefore it wasn't a part of their body language.

"Weeeelll? Spit it out Hooves! haha!" Light Jostled, as a twig of mistletoe appeared just above her head. It had grown in the loose window, no doubt by Cajus's hand. Plants never grew that fast, well not the nice ones anyway.

Taking a deep breath, the horned boy calmed himself down slight.
"The two underneath it... kiss..." Cajus spoke quietly and quickly, hurriedly trying to get the embarrassing statement into the open.

Light's smile dropped as she deciphered Cajus's words, and although she couldn't blush every other sign of body language was blatantly obvious. The nymph looked towards the floor, her hands fidgeting with the hem of her gown and her thoughts were stopped in their tracks.
"K-kiss? With you? Emm, I.. Ah... But, you're, my friend." She stumbled over her words as she felt a tightening inside her chest. Cajus was Cajus, her friend, probably her closest friend and someone she could rely on to join in her games. But this...

Watching Light change into just another girl only made Cajus feel more courageous, she did feel the same emotions as everyone else, she had a cute side that matched her cute appearance.
"So, I... I'm your friend, and friends c-care for each other, right?" He said quietly, taking off his nightcap and edging close towards the minute girl sitting before him.

Lifting his hand towards her chin, Cajus raised her eyes to his own. His heart jumped, he had never seen Light this way. Her eyes were sparkling with little turquoise droplet like tears collecting at their corners. He moved his hand to her cheek and up to her ear, brushing her shirt silver hair behind it.

"And, I... I care for you." He whispered quietly. Light nodded silently as Cajus leaned forwards, closing her eyes.

“That’s the strangest tradition you’ve told me about so far,” Fumi insisted, making a face at Toshi. “A plant makes two people push their mouths together?” The cat boy was trying not to laugh at the kappa’s confusion. She really didn’t know anything about the holiday, and he’d been giving her something of a crash course. She’d loved the whole idea of Santa Claus, and he didn’t have the heart to break it to her that he was actually just your parents, eating your cookies and putting gifts under the tree while you slept. He’d still helped her write a letter and send it off to the North Pole.

“It’s called a kiss and it’s a perfectly normal thing to do. It’s sort of how you show people you love them,” Toshi said. He was blushing a little, his mind on someone else. Fumi still didn’t seem convinced that this was how things were done. It wasn’t until he showed her examples from tv shows and movies that she started to believe in the magic of mistletoe. She was bouncing up and down with wild excitement. Kissing sort of looked like fun.

“I want to kiss someone!” Fumi shouted, falling back on Toshi’s bed.

“Patience young grasshopper,” Toshi insisted, tickling her sides. “First you’ll need to select the proper candidate for kissing. Now what kind of person do you like?” Fumi sat back up, tapping her chin. She had started doing it to mimic a character in a movie she saw, just like she did with most things. She still thought she needed to invest in a proper thinking cap if she was ever going to think of everything.

“Pretty ones,” Fumi declared. “Especially girls, they tend to be really pretty.”

“Okay, well, let’s see…” Toshi said. “Umm… Petra’s pretty and a girl?” Fumi shook her head. That wasn’t all there was to it. She was learning, slowly, about what liking a person was supposed to mean. Pretty was good, but that wasn’t all there was to it. It had to be someone you would talk to, get along with, someone who treated you special. Only two people came to mind. The first was Toshi, but she knew he had someone else to kiss already. The second person…

“Bo!” she burst, standing up. “I should kiss Bo!” The cat boy had no idea who this person was, but Fumi seemed excited enough about it. He reached under his bed, pulling out the headband he had used before. Handing it to Fumi, he stared at her with a gravely serious face.

“Use this well. And you go kiss that person,” Toshi said. Fumi nodded, saluting as she accepted the responsibility of the headband. Funny, it looked sort of like one that had gone missing from her room a couple of days ago. What a weird coincidence.

She hurried through the halls, looking for the stocking with Bo’s name on it. Fumi was on a mission and would not be discouraged. Still gripping the headband in her hands, she found the right door at last. She knocked loudly and with much enthusiasm as soon as she’d stopped in front of the door. When it opened, she stared into the somewhat sleepy face of her friend. It was later than the kappa realized.

“Merry Christmas!” Fumi said. Leaning forward, she planted a clumsy kiss on Bo’s lips. Though Bo, at the moment, was not quite Bo. Luli had been so sleepy she’d forgotten to change back into her male form to answer the door. Lucky for her, Fumi wasn’t terribly observant. Even when Fumi pulled away, she realized suddenly, not that her friend looked more feminine than usual, but that she’d forgotten to put on the headband before kissing. “Oh no! I messed up the order of things! I think this means I get put on the naughty list now.” She shoved the headband quickly onto her head, saying, “Should I do it again?”

Luli stared, touching her lips in shock. This was not exactly the greeting she’d expected from the person on the other side of the door. Actually, she’d had no clue what she should have expected. However, it certainly hadn’t been Fumi and it certainly had not been a kiss. The kappa was waiting expectantly, hoping she had not spoiled the mistletoe tradition, but all Luli could think about was the goofy thing Fumi had on her head as she slowly processed through what had happened.

“Um, you don’t have to,” Luli said, blushing. She wouldn’t admit she’d been developing a bit of a crush on the wild, blue-haired girl. The smile she had was hidden by her hand, which hovered still in front of her face. “You can come in though, if you’d like.” Fumi bounced into the room at the invitation. Luli closed the door behind her quietly, shifting her body to its more masculine appearance while the kappa was distracted.

“I’m sorry if I messed up the mistletoe thing. I’m new to it,” Fumi said, pouting.

“What mistletoe thing?” Luli asked, just as clueless as Fumi had been.

Pointing at the thing on her head, the kappa explained, “Toshi gave me this mistletoe and told me that it’s tradition to kiss the person you like under it. It’s part of the whole Christmas thing they have going on around here.” Luli, now appearing as Bo, blushed even brighter. Was this the girl’s way of confessing? He felt oddly pathetic, having her be so direct with her intentions and feelings while he was hardly doing anything to woo her. Determined, he came towards her and took Fumi’s hand.

“If that’s so, then I should do this…” Leaning his face in close, he gave her a kiss of his own. Neither were very good at it, but the meaning remained. Bo ducked his head down shyly when it had ended. Fumi’s spirits lifted very quickly, bringing her up onto her toes.

“You like me too?!” she burst with joy. Bo was pulled into a tight hug as Fumi continued to cheer excitedly. “Now we should be boyfriend and girlfriend, and then eventually years later get married unless something dramatically pulls us apart and we have to rediscover our feelings for one another!” Luli stared at the kappa, unsure of what she was going on about. Instead of responding, he/she simply nodded with agreement. If Fumi was ever going to really understand relationships, she’d have to stop watching bad romcoms with Toshi.

Gerwald took another long drag, adjusting to the way the smoke built in his mouth, releasing it slow between his lips. After the time he’d had during the day, Takeru’s offer had not seemed as strange as it might have coming at another time. Or even from another person. His colleague had not bothered to ask what was on Gerwald’s mind. He knew that whatever was on the Necromancer’s mind was his business, and if he felt the need to talk, he would. Sighing, Gerry leaned back in his chair, the calm of the cannabis filling him.

“It’s tradition…” he began. Takeru looked up at him, curious. “…for me to have a winter time séance. Well, it’s not a séance in the sort of way people think of it these days, but I call upon departed loved ones. It’s the one frivolous use of my powers I allow. Most times I will call someone more recently departed, or someone who doesn’t mean quite as much to me. This year I broke my personal rule.” Takeru took back the pipe that he was sharing. He didn’t want to interrupt Gerwald’s thoughts as he spoke them aloud. It was unclear whether he realized he was telling this to another person or not. The admittance felt sort of private, but Takeru wanted to respect his friend as he spoke.

“I brought my mother’s spirit to speak to. I haven’t spoken to her in years. Not since the first time I did this whole… thing. It was funny, she still seemed so interested in hearing everything I had to say to her. I told her about the school, about my training and my studies, about the students, then somehow when I was talking about the other teachers you came up in particular,” Gerwald continued. Takeru now raised an eyebrow, seeing that the man’s eyes were covered. His hand was rested gently over the top of his face. It didn’t seem like Gerwald would cry, but the way his green eyes were covered, Takeru wasn’t sure.

“What was there to talk about regarding myself?” he asked, watching the blonde still curiously. Gerwald’s hair was untied, which was unusual to see. His long hair draped everywhere over the chair, nearly falling to touch the ground. Everything about him seemed looser and more vulnerable.

“When I mentioned how close we’d become she asked if we were in a relationship,” he said. Gerwald was not one for smiles, though Takeru thought he saw the faintest curl of one starting on his lips. Did the idea of being with Takeru amuse him?

“What did you tell her?” the tengu asked, placing the pipe back in his mouth.

“That we are not dating,” Gerwald said plainly. “Though she didn’t seem to believe that. She told me that if it were true, judging by the way I spoke it wouldn’t be for too much longer.” Now he had Takeru smiling a bit. Based on what he’d heard, it seemed that he would like Gerry’s mother. He pulled his chair a bit closer so that their knees bumped together.

Finally, Gerwald peered up through his fingers. The two of them were silent now in the dimly lit classroom. There was a faint memory of the original invitation being for grading papers together. It was usually how they spent their time with each other. That or simply being in the same room while Takeru smoked and Gerwald read. Their closeness was not in conversation most times, but simply in a familiar comfort. Yet, now their closeness was both in the quiet and in the gentle touching, no matter how slight. This moment was in no way insignificant to either of them.

The rest of the night they spent finishing their work. The only sound in the room came from the occasional ruffling of papers and maybe an offhand comment from one of them. “Toshi really needs to practice his writing more.” “Looks like Naomi got another A.” Small, quiet, and mostly meaningless words. Yet, Takeru could tell there was something more to the moment by the small smile on Gerwald’s face.

The two of them waited for one another to finish their work. Once everything was finished, Gerwald insisted on leaving the papers in his office in the choir room. Takeru decided to accompany him, not wishing to leave Gerwald when he was still adjusting to the effects of the drug. It didn’t seem to take him too strongly, which was reassuring, though he still wanted to look out for Gerry. He also rarely got to see the chorus room, which made it something of a curiosity for him.

While Gerwald was stuffing papers away in his office, Takeru got a decent look around. He looked over the piano, touching the keys lightly. He realized he had never actually heard Gerwald play, even though he had spoken about it before. He moved the long stool out, scooting himself to one side. When the Necromancer came back out, he rose an eyebrow. Catching the hint, he walked over and sat next to the tengu. Without a word exchanged he started to play.

Takeru tilted his head back, eyes closed as the music rang through his ears. It was another holiday tune, but Gerwald made it sound so lovely it hardly mattered what it was. Opening his eyes, he squinted up at what he saw on the ceiling. He wondered if perhaps some troublemaking student with a crush put it up there when the blonde man hadn’t been looking. Whoever had done it, he would have to thank them later for this excuse.

Taking a small drag of the pipe, he grabbed Gerwald’s chin, distracting him from playing as his face was turned with some force. Their lips collided, the smoke filling both of their mouths as they kissed. When they separated it seeped back into the air around them. Gerwald’s confusion was answered as Takeru directed his attention to the ceiling.

“Mistletoe?” the blonde said. “I didn’t… When did…?” Takeru was amused to see him so flustered. Pulling him back in for another kiss, this time he let his lips linger against the other man’s. Gerwald did not pull away, rather enjoying himself as Takeru’s long fingers, much like talons curled and tangled in his hair, pulling at it slightly. He nearly moaned.

“We may need to call it a night,” Takeru said. “It is late, after all.”

“Agreed,” Gerwald said, hiding his emerald eyes. Perhaps his mother was right after all. It might not be long the way things were going.

Those who stayed at Mystic Fountain over the holidays, as Petra would learn this year, knew how to party. Since circumstances left them without homes to return to, they had made their own homes there. It was a perfectly good way to spend a holiday, among friends. Some of them had even met because of their need to stay during these shorter breaks from the school year. When Petra and Naomi found themselves stuck for the holidays, they figured they might as well do it in style.

“There’s apparently a big bash tonight in Rubidus. If you’re tired of the Byzantium kids, maybe you should come party with us?” Naomi suggested over lunch. Petra looked up from the thermos of blood she’d been sipping from.

“Sounds like fun,” she said, wiping her bottom lip with one finger. “I mean, aren’t you all party animals?” Petra giggled to herself at her joke while Naomi rolled her eyes, having heard similar statements many times. Still, she couldn’t help but crack a smile at her friend.

“Yeah, yeah, go ahead and laugh. You’re just dying to know what Rubidus parties are like, I know it,” Naomi taunted her. Petra sealed her drink, placing it on the table in front of her.

“I would be if vampires weren’t considered undead,” she retorted. Petra was really on top with the bad jokes today. Naomi had to admit she’d walked right into that one. “Really though, it does sounds like a lot of fun. And with my bat form I might fit in a bit better.”

“Absolutely! People will be batty about you!” Naomi burst. Petra could only laugh.

“Good one,” she said.

They got ready in Naomi’s room later that night. Petra was helping to dress the other girl up. By the time Petra was finished with her, the fox girl was like a whole new person. Her black hair was delicately pinned back, leaving it out of her face but still falling beautifully around her shoulders. She was given only the lightest touches of makeup, giving a gentle dramatization of her already existing features. Naomi’s lips had a pink shine to them as well, using one of Petra’s favorite lip glosses. The party dress she wore was one of Petra’s, which managed to fit Naomi better than it had the original owner. It was a cute little black dress with a small starburst of lavender glitter just above her left thigh.

“You should keep the dress,” Petra insisted. “I think it looks better on you now than it ever looked on me.” The fox girl smirked.

“I find that incredibly hard to believe,” she said. The vampire was dressed in a stunning turquoise dress that hugged her body in all the right places. It showed a little more cleavage than Petra would usually allow and a decent amount of leg. The back also had a cutout, showing even more skin. Naomi hid a tiny blush. No one was really here to dress up for, right? Viktor had actually ended up leaving the school last minute to return to his family. She hadn’t seen Ialo for a few days either. Was all this really just to look nice in front of people she hardly knew? Or was Petra dressed up just for Naomi’s sake?

The fox girl shook her head, feeling foolish for having even thought that. Petra was the kind to dress up nicely no matter what the occasion or company she had. Whether someone she liked was there or not usually didn’t matter. Still, she always looked so lovely. Naomi couldn’t figure out if she was jealous of Petra or what. Some days, it was hard not to get just a little bit annoyed at how she would comment on herself, insisting she wasn’t quite as pretty as everyone seemed to think.

“I don’t know Naomi,” Petra said. “Maybe this dress is a bit much for just a regular party.”

“Oh come on, you look amazing. As usual. Besides, we’re late as it is and we don’t really have time for you to run back and find a change of clothes,” Naomi insisted. Petra reluctantly agreed, noting her friend’s impatience. Something was bothering the dark-haired girl that night that she wasn’t saying. Petra wondered if she ought to ask, or if this was one of those cases where asking would earn her a stubborn and grumpy-faced friend who insisted nothing was wrong.

The party was in full swing when they got there, with the few Rubidus students still lingering at Mystic Fountain all in attendance, as well as a few from other houses. They were almost all on the dance floor, the music being played from someone’s macbook which hooked up to a couple of large speakers. Everyone seemed to be having a blast. Petra nearly shied away, but Naomi grabbed her hand and pulled her in to the center of the partying. Together they danced, laughing and twirling around themselves with glee.

Petra got hit on a couple of times, and even asked to dance. Naomi frowned each time. It was hard to have a best friend who was both incredibly pretty and also one of the cheerleaders. Petra was recognized by many around the school. Around the halls of Rubidus, things were no different. Yet, each time Petra shrugged off the flirtatious guys, insisting she was there with Naomi. It was clear by the looks on their faces as they walked away that they took that to mean something Petra did not intend.

Naomi groaned loudly, saying, “I wish those guys would just leave you alone.” The vampire blushed, face falling to hide behind her bangs.

“I’m sorry, they’re like that all the time. I’ve seen those two hanging around cheerleading practice sometimes. Evanna tells me they’ve been taking bets on which cheerleader is easiest,” Petra said, no longer dancing. Naomi was a bit surprised. What absolute creeps! She felt guilty for being jealous of the attention Petra had been getting, now that she was sure it was unwanted. Worse yet, they had made her best friend uncomfortable. If she had anything to say about it, they would learn the error of their ways.

Naomi and Petra left the dance floor together, hanging out by the punch bowl. Spotting the two creepers from before, Naomi grinned. She sent an almost harmless bit of fox fire their direction, just enough to start a small fire at the bottoms of their pants legs. The two immediately started screaming, hurrying over to the punch bowl and throwing cups of the fruity liquid at their feet. The fires were out rather quickly, but the two were still looking a bit panicked by what seemed to have been spontaneous combustion of their pants.

Leaning up to them, Naomi whispered, “Next time you treat women like they’re your own personal game to bet on, whether they’re cheerleaders or whoever else you choose to degrade, you had better hope I don’t hear about it. Otherwise, the punishment will be much worse than a tiny little fire trick, capiche?” They turned to look at her, angry that it had been someone else (and a girl no less) that had started the fires. Yet when they saw her face, they screamed and ran in terror. Naomi laughed as they left the room, stumbling over one another. The illusion over her face fell as Petra came up behind her.

“What did you do to them?” she asked, only sounding mildly concerned. She was just as glad as most of the other girls in the room seemed to be about getting rid of them. Naomi grinned triumphantly, placing her hands on her hips. All she needed was a cape flowing behind her and a mask.

“I taught them a little lesson about respecting women,” Naomi told her. “I don’t think they’ll be around the cheerleading squad anytime soon.”

Petra leapt forward to hug her friend, thanking her profusely. They giggled together happily, about to return to the dance floor when Naomi noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Glancing up, she saw that they had been standing under mistletoe. She poked Petra and pointed up at it. The vampire smiled and kissed her friend on the cheek.

“Merry Christmas, Naomi,” she said. But the fox girl had something else in mind. She took Petra’s face in her hands and pressed her lips against the other girl’s, just for a moment. They parted with a smacking noise. Both of their faces were colored by blushes. Petra laughed a little, surprised by how nice it had felt to kiss her friend.

“Merry Christmas,” Naomi said. They took hands again and returned to the dance floor. The rest of the night was just the two of them, enjoying themselves until they ended up crashing in Naomi’s room. As they usually did they slept in the same bed, cuddled up in each other’s arms. The only difference this time was, they decided to steal a few more tiny kisses. And no one would ever have to know.