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Post by Cedar on Dec 15, 2014 2:24:04 GMT -4
Oryn pulled the car into the garage and shut off the engine, turning to grin at his brother. Taru shook his head, hiding a smile. "Calm down, Oryn--you're acting like I've come back from the wars. You haven't seen me for... what? A week and a half?" "But now you're home," Oryn insisted. "And it's Christmas!" "Christmas isn't for a week," Taru reminded him, laughing and opening the car door. "The whole month is Christmas, Taru," Oryn said, stepping out of the car and moving to open the trunk. "What do you want me to carry in?" "Whatever you want," Taru replied, coming around to the back of the car and reaching for his backpack. "So, how'd it go?" he asked, a sly smile spreading across his face. "Come on, I want details, after all the advice I gave you when you came by last week." Oryn reddened, hastily lifting the suitcase and shutting the trunk. "Come on, let's go in. Mom's making chicken korma and I'm pretty sure she'll be offended if you don't stuff your face with it." "Shouldn't be hard," Taru remarked. He followed his brother into the house and carried his bag to his bedroom, where he dropped it onto the bed with an audible thud. Oryn raised an eyebrow. "What do you have in there?" "Textbooks. They're heavy." They were interrupted by Hana's exclamation--she flew into the room a moment later and embraced her younger son. "Why didn't you announce your arrival? I've been waiting all day! Come, come, dinner's almost ready. How were your exams?" "Good. They were good," Taru replied, smiling and disentangling himself from the hug. "I'm glad they're over, though. Oryn, how's work?" "I sit in front of a computer all day and stare at numbers." "That sounds like your version of heaven." "It is." Oryn put a hand on his brother's shoulder as they walked towards the kitchen. "I'm proud of you, asavi," he murmured. Taru looked embarrassed and edged away, his eyes searching the walls as if they would give him a change of topic. "You still haven't said anything about it yet," he said finally. "Come on. At least tell me if she said yes." Oryn flushed again and stammered, trying to come up with a coherent response, but Hana didn't give him the chance. "Yes, she did. Oryn will tell you about it while I finish cooking." Taru turned expectantly to his older brother, who had only become more self-conscious. "Well..." Oryn fished for something to say, and relief flooded through him when the doorbell rang. "I'll get it." It was Ellia, bundled in a scarf and hat to keep off the lightly falling snow, and she smiled when Oryn answered. "Hi there." "Hey... did my mother invite you to dinner?" He stepped aside to let her in, taking her coat and hanging it on the rack. She hugged him with one arm, and he shivered a little as he felt the cold from her clothing against him. "Yes. I couldn't miss Taru coming home, could I?" She looked past Oryn and grinned at Taru, who mirrored her expression. "Let me see it," he urged her. She held out her left hand, and he took it in his hands, inspecting the ring on her finger. "Hmm... so my brother does have good taste." "In rings or in women?" she teased. "...yes." Ellia and Oryn laughed, and Oryn took Ellia's other hand. "I wasn't sure about the ring, but I do know that I have fantastic taste in women. Although I think her taste in men is a bit dubious." Hana's voice floated from the kitchen, announcing that dinner would be ready in five minutes, and Oryn flinched. Ellia tilted her head at him, concern crossing her face. "What's up?" "I meant to call the Almarases as soon as Taru and I got home... I think I have time. Taru, do you want to check with Ciaran?" "I'll email him after dinner." "Sounds good. Excuse me for a moment." Oryn pulled out his phone and walked into his bedroom, sitting down on the semi-made bed and going through his contacts until he found the number. He stared at his bedside lamp while the phone rang, and was almost startled when someone answered. "Hi... it's Oryn. Do you guys want to come over for Christmas?"
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Post by Cuppy/Wonders on Dec 15, 2014 17:44:55 GMT -4
Snow was falling lightly outside, and a fire was burning in the corner of the room opposite where Silas and Luci were curled on the couch. Their gaze was fixed on the television screen hanging on the wall, just above the pile of open DVD cases that they had been slowly making their way through throughout the day. Beside the television screen was a small artificial tree, decorated with a few lines of tinsel and many baubles, the majority of them red. Snowglobes covered most surfaces and fairy lights were strewn around the ceiling and curtains, while there were a few stains on the carpet where Silas had broken a few by mistake. They were up to the sixth Christmas film of the day, and Luci had moved from simply lying next to Silas to lying on top of him, her head resting on his chest and his arm carefully coiled around her. They were both dressed in hooded sweatshirts, with Luci wearing one of Silas's bigger ones that had been lying around. The phone began to ring during the middle of a musical number, and both turned to glare at it in unison before they shared a glance. "You're lying on me, I can't get up." "You're closer to it, mister," Luci argued. "And I'm pretty sure it's Ollie asking about Christmas again." She began to disentangle herself from Silas's embrace nevertheless, seeing the reluctance in his gaze, but before she made it to her feet Silas grumbled and stood instead, passing her the cushion he was leaning on and moving over to the phone. "When was the Chinese going to arrive?" Silas called over his shoulder. "I've starving." "You've been stuffing your face with popcorn for the last three hours!" Luci laughed, turning on the couch to watch him leave and resting her chin on the cushions. "I had to hide the tears somehow," he said, turning to give her a melodramatic flourish that Luci laughed at more. "You never told me that Tiny Tim died." "He doesn't!" "Tell that to his family in the bad future," Silas said, but he grinned at her nevertheless before he scooped up the phone. "Hey." His eyes widened at the voice, and a genuine smile lit up his face. "Hey, Oryn! Long time no see." He paused, and he glanced back toward Luci. "Wait a sec." He placed his hand over the speaker gently. "Oryn's asking if we want to spend Christmas with him." Luci looked pleased at the prospect, but she tilted her head to the side curiously. "Weren't we going to spend Christmas at your parents' house?" "I don't think they have any food for Christmas yet," Silas reminded her. "Ellen lost that fight over the last turkey, remember? And their house is tiny." "If we're cancelling on them you need to tell them," she said. "You can't just not turn up." "It's not cancelling if they hadn't made any definite plans yet," Silas told her. Luci shrugged, moving to twirl a lock of her hair even though she had cut most of it off around a month ago, and Silas just watched her for a moment before he remembered that he was on the phone. "Um..." he scratched at the back of his head, and he sighed. "If you can spare a few chairs for my mum and dad - and Ceil and his damn dog if they're coming too-" "Damn dog," Luci repeated with a scoff. "Oh please. You love Jasper more than you love me." "Impossible," Silas said quickly, glancing over his shoulder at her and smirking when a surprised smile made it's way onto her suddenly red face. He raised his voice again when he continued addressing Oryn. "Then I think we might be able to make it. Just bear in mind that my mum will probably bring about twenty cakes with her and an extra turkey just in case." He began to move back to the couch with the phone, and he sat back down beside Luci, wrapping one arm around her shoulders again. "Anyway, how're you doing?" "Ask about Taru," Luci reminded him, pausing the DVD. "He was coming back from uni today, I think." "Luci wants to know if Taru's back, and how he's doing if he is." He paused. "We're still living together, by the way," he added cheerfully, "and no one's died yet."
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Post by Cedar on Dec 17, 2014 3:04:45 GMT -4
Oryn chuckled and waved at Ellia, who was standing in the doorway and motioning for him to hurry up and come to dinner. "Just a moment," he mouthed at her, before turning his attention back to the phone. "We're doing well--actually really well," he amended, smiling at his fiancée. "Taru's home, as of ten minutes ago, and he's alright except for not being nearly excited enough about Christmas. We'll decorate the tree tonight, though, so hopefully that will fix that. As for Christmas, my mother will make room for as many people as humanly possible. You know she loves hosting people. And between us, I think we can handle twenty cakes." He paused. "Um... I don't know what your plans are around Christmas generally, but I know it's a bit of a drive between our houses and traffic can be awful around this season, so if you guys want to stay here for a couple nights I'm sure we can make room. Only if you want--I mean, the option's there. Oh, and um... those cakes can celebrate more than just Christmas, since..." His tone brightened, and a smile spread across his face even though he had intended to remain serious. "Ellia and I..." The phone was plucked from his grasp before he finished the sentence. "I thought we were going to announce it at Christmas and make it a surprise," Ellia protested, grinning. She danced away from him, hiding the phone behind her back. "But it can be a surprise now!" he replied, lunging for the phone. His laughter forced him to double over mid-stride, and he ended up kneeling on the rug and feebly reaching for his phone. Giving up after a minute, he flopped down, head supported on one hand, and blinked at her repeatedly. Ellia shook her head and handed it back, sitting down next to him and poking him in the ribs. "You idiot, what are you on?" "The floor." He looked at his phone. "Can I say it? Please?" "Oh, go ahead." She leaned over and straightened his glasses, which had been knocked askew in their battle for the phone. He raised the phone to his ear again and cleared his throat. "Anyway, I proposed to Ellia the day before yesterday, and..." She took the phone away before he had a chance to finish and spoke into it. "I said yes."
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Post by Cuppy/Wonders on Dec 17, 2014 13:28:26 GMT -4
Luci gave a happy squeak of surprise, while Silas's eyebrows knitted together in confusion before he realised. "You're getting married?" he asked, his voice filled with shocked surprise. "Seriously?" "Congratulations!" Luci called, taking the phone from him and holding it to her own ear. "That's wonderful news! I'm so happy for you - you'll have to tell me all about it and show me the ring-" "Your ring'll be better," Silas muttered, and Luci glanced at him and raised an eyebrow. Silas caught the look, confused for a moment before he realised what he had said and panic quickly settled on his face. "The ring I got you before," he said quickly. "The promise ring. Not an engagement ring. You're not getting one of them anytime soon." Luci glanced toward her own hand, at the small band with a diamond, a ruby and an onyx stone that Silas had gotten her while they were still fugitives from the empire, and she rolled her eyes at him. "It's not a competition, and I'm sure that Ellia's ring will be absolutely lovely," she said to him before addressing Oryn and Ellia again. "Seriously, congratulations! This is amazing." "Are we invited to the wedding?" Silas asked, and Luci frowned at him. "Of course we'll be invited to the wedding!" Sudden worry settled on her face. "We are, right? And I'm sure that if you're in dire need of a cake Ellen would be more than happy to make you one-" "And I'll be more than happy to help you eat it," Silas added. "And, seeing as we're friends, I'll even do it for free." "And I can help you go dress shopping, Ellia, unless you have someone else who you'd rather go with, and Silas can help Oryn pick out a suit-" Silas choked on air, and he sent Luci an incredulous look. "I don't think that would benefit anyone, Luci." "Even so," she replied. "Oh, this is wonderful! We can talk all about it over Christmas-" Silas took the phone back, and held it to his ear. "I think the news has broken Luci," he said, ignoring Luci as she tried to elbow him. "We might take you up on your offer of a couple nights staying over, but I'll have to tell the parents and Ceil about it. They might want to join in."
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Post by Cedar on Dec 22, 2014 2:56:24 GMT -4
"I'm sure we can make room for more," Oryn answered. "And of course you're invited to the wedding, although it'll be a while before you get the formal invitation. We haven't done any planning yet." "At all," Ellia added. "I am not planning anything until after Christmas." Sudden confusion crossed Oryn's face, and Ellia looked up at him. "What is it?" "Will we be filing tax returns jointly? I mean, after we're--" A choked laugh sounded from the doorway, interrupting him, and he looked over to see Taru leaning against the doorframe, covering his mouth with the back of one hand. Tears of merriment pooled in his eyes. "That is what you're thinking about?" Taru wheezed. "You just got engaged to the most amazing woman in the world and you are thinking about taxes?" "I think we will," Ellia replied. "I think you generally save money... Oryn, I'm not supposed to plan anything yet!" "I'm sorry, I don't know how being married works," he protested. "I've never been married before." "I should hope not, or I'd have heard about it by now." Taru plucked the phone from them and held it to his ear, shaking his head at his brother and future sister-in-law. "I apologize on their behalf, but I really need to drag them to dinner now, or the chicken korma will get cold and my mother will be disappointed. Anyway, I'm pretty sure we can cram about a dozen people in this house if we need to, although sleeping bags might be necessary. We can talk about details later, though... I have to go. Say hi to Luci for me." He hung up and handed the phone back to his brother. "Come on, Oryn." "I'm coming." Oryn clambered to his feet and turned to offer a hand to Ellia, looking awkward when he discovered she was already standing. "Hey, Oryn?" "Yeah?" Oryn glanced at his brother as they walked towards the dining room. "What's up?" "Can I borrow your car after dinner so I can go buy some Christmas presents?" Oryn reached into his pocket for his car keys, which he tossed to Taru. "Be careful." He offered his brother a wink and slid into a chair at the table, inhaling deeply. "Mom, this smells wonderful."
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Post by Cuppy/Wonders on Dec 22, 2014 13:32:50 GMT -4
Silas put the phone down, and he jumped as Luci suddenly wrapped her arms around him. He raised an eyebrow at her. "What are you doing?" he asked, confused but amused. "Oryn and Ellia are getting married!" Luci said, her voice filled with delight. "Isn't it wonderful? Honestly, I thought they'd never get around to it." "Oh come on, you knew they'd ask one another eventually. They're weird like that." Luci rolled her eyes at him. "How is wanting to get married weird?" "How isn't it weird? They want to stand in front of a bunch of people they kinda know and talk about their feelings. It's weird." "It's sweet," she defended. "It shows they love each other, not like we didn't already know that they do. And they get a bunch of legal bonuses by getting married, as well as not as much to pay in taxes... it's practical as well as sweet." "You're beginning to sound like you want to get married," he said jokingly, but when Luci didn't deny it he cleared his throat awkwardly and scooped up the phone, edging away from her. "A-anyway, I need to call my parents and let them know about Christmas. Don't want Ellen making plans that she'll have to change." "Fair enough," Luci said. "Don't take too long, the film won't wait forever." "Yeah, yeah," he replied dismissively, and he carried the phone into another room. "I won't be too long." He dialed his parents' number, and he sat on one of the chairs in the kitchen as he waited for them to pick up. "Hello?" "Hey, Ollie." "Silas!" His tone immediately brightened at the sound of his son's voice, and Silas couldn't help the small smile that sprang to his lips at his enthusiasm. "I feel like we haven't spoken in ages. How are you doing? Are you and Luci all sorted for Christmas?" "You call me all the time," Silas reminded him with a roll of his eyes. "And I think we have everything. We've put a tree and decorated it, we have presents... Better than last year, eh?" "Oh, definitely. But at least you got your presents eventually last year, even if it was a little late. So... do you think you and Luci are coming around here for Christmas, or do you have other plans?" "Oryn invited us to come over to his for Christmas," Silas told him. "We were going to take him up on his offer." At Ollie's abrupt silence, Silas quickly spoke up. "He invited you and Ellen too. And Ceil. It'll be just like before, except without all of the shootings and torture and all of that stuff." "Well hopefully it's not quite like it was before," Ollie replied. "Are... are you sure that he wouldn't mind if we came along? We could bring food, and gifts - I mean, we bought presents for them all already but I forgot to post them-" "I think it's pretty much a given that mum's going to bring about twenty cakes with her," Silas said. "I'm sure that they won't mind. Oryn told me it was fine, anyway. We were going to stay a few nights over at Hana's, but I think you can stay over too. I don't think they'll mind, but you can always ask them yourself." "Well, if it's alright for all of them, I'm sure we'd be honoured. I haven't seen the Gyvres family in far too long - it would be wonderful to see them again. I hope they got our Christmas card." "You sent it with enough time," Silas replied. He hesitated. "Do... do you think that getting married is a good idea?" There was a brief, surprised silence. "Well I'd like to think I do, seeing as I married your mother at the first chance I got," Ollie said lightly. "Can I ask what brought this up?" "It's nothing," he said quickly, remembering hearing Oryn and Ellia insist their engagement was a surprise. "Don't worry about it - forget I said anything." "Alright - this never happened. Ellen's calling me, so I've got to go, but I'll ask her about our Christmas plans. I'll call you back later, okay?" "Okay, talk to you later." He hung up, and he glanced back toward the doorway that Luci was behind. He sighed and walked back into the room, placing the phone down and climbing onto the couch next to her. He pulled her close to him, and she smiled. I do love her... maybe it wouldn't be too bad... He smiled back and reached for the remote control. "Right. Where were we?"
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Post by Cedar on Dec 22, 2014 16:17:20 GMT -4
"Taru, can you come help me with this?" Taru grimaced and closed the door to the garage with his foot. "Just a moment!" he called. "My hands are full." He stashed the shopping bags full of presents on top of the bookcase in his room and hurried into the living room to see what his brother wanted. He found Oryn balanced on a stepladder, attempting to untangle a string of colorful lights and drape them around the fir tree in the corner. Oryn nodded to the bundle of Christmas lights in his hands. "Are you good at untangling things?" "Maybe." Taru took the string of lights from his brother and peered at it. After several minutes of attempting to feed the end of the string through the complicated knots, he shook his head and handed the bundle back. "I don't think I made it any better. What did you do to the poor things?" "I don't know! The ones for the house weren't this bad." "Give them to me," Hana interrupted, reaching to take the lights from her eldest son. He gave them to her and got down from the stepladder, standing aside to give her plenty of space. "Can you fix them?" "Of course I can fix them, Oryn," she replied, her calloused hands moving with confidence as she disentangled the lights. "It just takes a little patience. Here you go." With some embarrassment, he took the lights and began to wrap them round the tree. His mother watched him. "So Silas and Luci are coming for Christmas?" "I think that is the plan," Ellia answered, entering the room from the kitchen. She still had a towel in her hands from washing the dishes. "And they are going to see if Ollie, Ellen, and Ceil can come too." A smile lit up Hana's face. "Oh, that's excellent! Let's see, that makes... nine people, and is Ciaran coming too?" "I need to check," Taru replied. "But I think he is. He better be. I got a present for him." "What'd you get him?" Oryn asked, reaching over to plug in the lights for the tree. "You'll see when he opens it." "But what if we got him the same thing?" "I don't think we did," Taru laughed. "But I got him some sheet music and fuzzy socks, if you must know." "What did you get me?" "That," Taru replied, shoving his brother's shoulder playfully, "you will not find out until Christmas. The tree looks nice." Oryn grinned and stood back, putting one arm around Taru's shoulders and the other around his mother and Ellia. "It does, doesn't it?"
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Post by Cuppy/Wonders on Dec 22, 2014 18:30:01 GMT -4
Once the film ended Silas made his way over to the table behind the couch, and he began to gather all of the presents that were hidden in bags around the house. Luci watched him and raised an eyebrow. "Are you wrapping their presents now?" she asked incredulously, staring at him as he moved over to the table with arms filled with rolls of paper and a circle of tape dangling from one wrist. Silas shrugged and dumped everything on the table. "Well if we're staying at Oryn's then I need to get them wrapped before we leave," he said. "Honestly, Luci, I would have thought you'd have planned ahead." "I did plan ahead! I was going to have them wrapped last week, but you said you were going to do it!" "I am going to do it," Silas replied. He waved the tape and the scissors. "This is me doing it. Watch and be amazed." "I thought you'd already done it!" "I was saving it for Christmas Eve," Silas told her. "I was hoping that the fact it was Christmas the next day would make this whole thing less painful. Honestly, how can anyone find this enjoyable?" "I don't mind doing it," Luci pointed out, beginning to get up off of the couch, "but you offered..." "The things I do for you," he teased with a shake of his head, but his eyes widened when he spotted her approaching. "Hold on, what do you think you're doing? Go back to the couch. You're not allowed over here." "If you're going to complain about wrapping presents then I can do it for you," Luci pointed out, but she stopped a few feet away. She stared at him as realisation dawned. "You haven't wrapped my present either, have you? Seriously, Silas?" "You're assuming that I got you something," Silas said, turning back to the wrapping paper and nudging some of the bags closer to him. "Back to the couch with you." "I'm amazed that you got me something, really," Luci replied, making a point of staying where she stood and giving a small half-smile at the sight of his exasperated look. "After last Christmas-" "Will you all just shut up about last Christmas?" Silas said, waving the scissors at her. "So I didn't know what I was doing. Big deal - I never know what I'm doing." "It's more the fact that you were running around like crazy trying to get everything for everyone on Christmas Eve, of all days." "I got it sorted." "Eventually." "Go watch TV, woman - I have presents to wrap. And when is that food arriving?" "It'll be here soon, I'm sure," Luci said, walking back over to the couch. "And after that I'll call Ceil and ask him about going over to Oryn's house. But I still think you should have cooked-" "I was busy, and I cooked yesterday. You just want me to cook for you every day." "Guilty," she admitted, and she glanced over her shoulder to grin at him. "You're good at it, though." "Of course I am. But it takes time. Today was Christmas movie day." Luci hummed in acknowledgment, and she hopped back onto the couch and began searching for the music channels as Silas slowly peeled all of the price labels from the presents and wondered how on earth he was going to wrap them all.
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Post by Cedar on Dec 25, 2014 4:49:44 GMT -4
[I'm time-skipping to whenever everyone arrives at the Gyvres house, since I can't think of anything that happens in between now and then except for calling people and wrapping presents.]
Taru stepped out of the kitchen, mostly covered in flour and rubbing his aching shoulders. He'd been assisting his mother with her cooking nearly all morning, and now that pretty much everything was in the oven he was eager to take a break. Grabbing a handful of cashews from the bowl on the table, he sauntered over to his brother, who was hunched over his laptop in the living room. Oryn stopped typing and looked up when he approached. "Having fun?" "There's so much food." Taru flopped down on the sofa next to Oryn and peered at the computer screen. "You're working," he observed, popping several cashews in his mouth. "Yeah, networks don't stay secure just because it's Christmastime. You are welcome, online shoppers." Taru chuckled. "Do you have it?" "Hm?" "The thing for Mom?" "Oh. Yeah, I do." Oryn set aside his computer and leaned back against the couch. "I wrapped it earlier. It's under the tree, next to my present for you." "In the shiny snowflake wrapping paper?" "It's the only kind I use." He was interrupted by the doorbell, and his face lit up. "That'll be Ellia." Taru stood to follow his brother to the door as Oryn hastily moved to open it. "I suppose she was working too, right? It's almost like you two are deliberately avoiding helping in the kitchen." He offered a lopsided grin. "No such thing," Ellia protested as she stepped in, removing her scarf. "I can help with anything that's left. Was Oryn not helping?" Oryn held up his hands in surrender. "The kitchen was crowded and I had work to do." "So that's a no," she laughed, linking her arm with his. Taru shook his head, grinning at them. "You weren't helping either, Ellia." "But I was planning to before I got called in to work. People don't die on a schedule. Believe me, I'd love it if they did." She hesitated, embarrassment covering her face. "That came out wrong. I didn't mean that I wish people died, I just... well, you know, it would be nice if it..." She trailed off, her face flushing. Oryn patted her shoulder. "It's okay, it's the nature of your job. Can I take something for you?" "If you want." Oryn took the packages she was holding and carried them over to the tree, glancing at the names on them. "Ooh, this one's for me..." "You don't get to open it till Christmas morning, Oryn," Ellia called. "How's it going, Taru?" "Good. I think I've spent the day making every recipe that my mother has," he said with a smile. "She's the most enthusiastic hostess I've ever met. I'm sure no one will mind, though." "I certainly don't," Ellia replied, turning to look at the door as the doorbell rang again. "Is that carolers or are people arriving?" Taru reached for the door. "Let's see."
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Post by Cuppy/Wonders on Dec 25, 2014 17:13:13 GMT -4
"Merry Christmas!" Luci called cheerfully as soon as the door opened, grinning at Taru and glancing at Silas with vague irritation when he didn't join in. Both her and Silas were slightly flushed from the cold, and the short walk from their car to the house had left snowflakes shining their hair and their coats. Only one of Luci's hands were free, the other clutching a bright gold bag, while Silas was laden with gifts to the extent that only his face was visible. He smiled awkwardly at everyone and began to shuffle inside, trying to avoid knocking anything over as he did so. "I apologise in advance for Silas's jumper," Luci added, walking at Silas's side, and he gave her a look of mild indignation. "Excuse me? My jumper is amazing, thank you very much. You said it was stunning." "Shocking," Luci corrected, smirking at him. "I said it was shocking." "Eh, close enough." He moved further into the living room, and he placed the presents down beside the couch. "I'll move them in a minute," he said, straightening and revealing the jumper half-hidden beneath his coat. It was a bright, garish red with white letters across it, spelling 'Merry Christmas Ya Filthy Animal'. He grinned, and Luci placed down the bag and smiled apologetically. "Y'know, sometimes I don't think you should buy clothes by yourself," she said. "Yeah, yeah," he said dismissively. "Been doing it for about twenty years, I think I can treat myself to such amazing knitwear." He looked toward Oryn, Ellia and Taru. "Speaking of knitwear, my parents should be here in a little while. So that's something to look forward to." Luci gave him a meaningful look, and realisation dawned on his face. "Oh yeah! Congratulations on the whole wedding thing. Really, congratulations." He glanced around. "And I can smell something really good. When are we all eating?"
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Post by Cedar on Dec 26, 2014 16:44:00 GMT -4
"Soon," Hana told him, stepping into the living room. She was beaming, and moved to grasp her guests' hands in welcome. "Dinner almost ready." Stepping back, she caught sight of Silas's jumper and tilted her head in confusion. "Filthy animal," she read, pronouncing the word 'filthy' as 'felty'. She turned to Taru. "What is meaning filthy?" "Um... really dirty," Taru defined. "Really dirty animal," Hana said, brow furrowing. "Not making sense. Because... one minute." She hurried out of the room, much to the bewilderment of her sons, and returned moments later carrying her cat in her arms. "Not making sense. Because he very clean." Taru buried his face in his hands, trying to suppress the laughter that was rising in his chest. "No, Mom... no, that's not what it means," he told her. "It's calling... well..." He was saved from further explanation by the sound of the timer going off in the kitchen. Hana left off her questioning, dumping the cat into Silas's arms, and hurried to take the food out of the oven. "Five minutes to eating," she called. "Oryn, come. Help with finishing." "Coming," Oryn called back. He turned to smile at Silas. "Thank you. Um, Ellia can fill you in on the details if you want to know how..." Ellia interrupted him, laying a hand on his shoulder. "We can tell them together, over dinner. When everyone else is here." "Oryn!" "Coming, Mom! Okay, we'll tell the story over dinner." Oryn leaned over and kissed her cheek. "But I'm going to make you do the talking." "Go serve the food," she told him, feigning a stern tone. "It won't wait all night." "Yes, ma'am."
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Post by Cuppy/Wonders on Dec 26, 2014 17:34:40 GMT -4
The cat began to snuggle into Silas's shirt, and he raised an eyebrow at the cat while trying his hardest not to move and hurt it. Luci laughed at the look on his face stroked the cat's fur, watching as it leaned into the movement and Silas stiffened further. "Relax, you aren't going to hurt him." Silas hummed, not quite believing her, and held the cat at arm's length, eyeing it distrustfully. It purred, and Silas smirked before carefully lowering it onto the ground. "Stay," he said, and he ignored Luci's laugh. He glanced toward Taru and Ellia, smiling at them. "Please say this cat is okay with dogs. Because if there's a fight, I'm afraid I've got to side with Jasper. He can do tricks." "Jasper will be good," Luci said dismissively. "Ceil will make sure he does." She glanced toward the kitchen. "I'll go help serve the food." "Okay." He squeezed her hand, and Luci gave a small, gentle smile before moving into the kitchen after Oryn and Hana. Silas's watched her go before turning back to Taru and Ellia. "So," he said, shrugging off his coat and dumping it on one of the chairs, "I have a job, Luci still has a job, and we were thinking of trying for a puppy some time soon. A brown one, probably." He looked at them with genuine interest in his gaze. "So, how have you two been? Been up to anything interesting apart from-" There was a knock on the door, and Silas glanced toward it. "I bet that's Ceil. He wanted to make his own way here with the dog, even if it meant he had to get a train and a taxi to do it. Weird kid."
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Post by Cedar on Dec 27, 2014 3:57:11 GMT -4
Ellia moved to open the door, smiling when she saw Ceil. "Hi, Ceil! Come on in, it's freezing. We're just serving dinner... you can leave your coat on the rack here. Hi, Jasper." Taru called a greeting to Ceil before turning back to Silas. "We've been doing well. I've pretty much been swamped in biochemistry for the last few months, and Ellia's been hanging out with dead people a lot." "You make it sound terrible when you say it like that," Ellia complained, moving over to the group. "This is what I get for going into forensic pathology." Taru nodded. "Yep, it is. Although I have to say it sounds way more fun than waiting tables at a crappy barbecue joint." He arranged his face in an expression of mock horror. "I don't know why I took that job." "To pay for university?" Ellia offered. "Well, yeah, that." He grinned. "But anyway, that's about all I've been up to, unless you want details about things like my physics professor's nose hair or my roommate's odd sleeping habits. As for Ellia and my brother, I really don't know what they've been up to, other than getting engaged... I've only been back for a couple days. Haven't gotten caught up with all the news." "Your physics professor's nose hair?" Ellia raised an eyebrow at him. "It's actually quite impressive. Though... mostly irrelevant, I suppose." Ellia shook her head, hiding a smile, and turned in the direction of the dining room. "Oryn's waving at us--I think dinner's ready. We can talk about work and Christmas and... romance... over food. I'm starving."
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Post by Cuppy/Wonders on Dec 27, 2014 19:55:55 GMT -4
Ceil smiled and stepped inside, placing his coat on the rack. He placed his pile of presents by the door and allowed Jasper to lead him further into the room. Silas was chuckling at the mention of the professor's nose hair, and he was tempted to follow them into the dining room when he heard the telltale patter of the golden retriever's paws on the floor. "Jasper!" he called, immediately approaching the dog and kneeling in front of him. He ruffled his ears and grinned at him, and Jasper's tail began waving from side to side rapidly. He licked at Silas's face and Silas let him, still grinning. Ceil placed the hand that wasn't holding onto Jasper on his hip and raised an eyebrow at his antics. "You just can't leave my dog alone, can you?" he teased. "That's because he is amazing. And he's always happy to see me, as well as being smart. He is the best dog ever." He glanced up at Ceil. "How've you been, kid?" "Good - but I'm not a kid anymore, Silas. Another university has asked me to talk about powers and the old empire... it's really cool. I don't mind talking in front of people, either - I used to be terrified, but I'm not anymore. I can't tell if they're listening or not, but I can't see if someone's just fallen asleep in the middle of my speech either. It's good... and half of the time the unis provide transport too. I don't have to worry about people complaining about Jasper on public transport." "Well Jasper can just bite their legs off if they complain about him," Silas replied, turning back to the dog and scratching the side of his face. "Can't you?" "Jasper's a guide dog, Silas," Ceil reminded him for what had to be the hundredth time, "not an attack dog..." "He can be whatever he wants to be. Don't crush his dreams." "Silas, Ceil?" Luci called from the kitchen. "Don't you want the food...?" "See ya, Jasper," Silas said, scrambling to his feet and practically running toward the food. He heard Ceil laughing behind him before urging Jasper to follow after him, and Silas quickly slid into one of the chairs near the centre of the table and reached for the first pot that he could find. He began to pile his plate high even before everything was placed down, and he glanced up at the Gyvres family. "So, I know that we have really important life things to discuss, but- what food are you planning on making for Christmas day? Because I need a turkey. A big turkey. I'll hunt one if I have to." "I don't think it'll come to that," Luci said, plucking the dish from his hands before he took it all for himself. "Though I don't doubt that you will."
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Post by Cedar on Dec 29, 2014 3:46:56 GMT -4
"Not necessary," Hana assured him. "I hunt turkey already." She turned to Silas and gave him a dead-serious look. "Took Oryn gun and went in forest. Shoot big turkey. Enough for whole army. Or one Silas." She blinked at him a few times, then a smile broke over her face and she shook her head. "No. I find in store. But is very big turkey. We have also... Oryn, where is list?" "One moment." Oryn finished piling food onto his plate and scrambled to get a small piece of paper from the kitchen counter. He winked at Silas as he slid back into his seat. "She has so many things that she can't remember them all. I don't think you have to worry." "I remember most," Hana insisted. "Must not forget, though. Let's see... turkey, potatoes, yams, broccoli, green beans, eggplant, rice, curry, salad, all different breads..." She continued to list the various dishes she was planning for dinner, and Oryn listened with bemusement as she spoke. Mostly he was amused by Taru, whose facial expressions became increasingly excited as Hana revealed her plans for Christmas dinner. "...and then dessert. But is for later." She folded the list and smiled at Silas again. "Is plenty. Eat now." Oryn felt something jab into his ribs, and looked over to see his brother giving him an expectant look. "You need to tell the story at some point, Oryn." "Okay, okay, soon. First, though," he said, turning to Luci and Silas and Ceil, "you guys all need to tell me what you've been up to, and when Ollie and Ellen are arriving. Then Ellia and I will talk about my very awkward proposal." "It wasn't that awkward," Ellia insisted. He gave her a sidelong look and a grin. "It was pretty awkward. I was so nervous..." He turned back to the others. "Anyway, tell us the news on your end first."
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Post by Cuppy/Wonders on Dec 29, 2014 18:31:15 GMT -4
Silas and Luci shared a glance and a small smile while Ceil's expression simply grew confused. "Hold on, awkward proposal? What did I miss?" He turned his head in Silas's direction indignantly. "You didn't tell me! How could you not tell me?" "I don't appreciate your tone," Silas told him. "It wasn't my secret to tell, kid. Oryn only told me because he was practically bouncing off the walls." He grinned at Oryn, and Luci rolled her eyes. "It was nothing personal, Ceil," she told him, and she glanced back toward Silas. "So, your news first or mine?" "You can go if you want," Silas said, beginning to pile his fork with as much food as he could get on it. "Your news is probably more interesting, anyway. Start off on a high." He glanced toward the Gyvreses. "Oh, and Ollie and Ellen should turn up sometime later tonight - they wanted to eat first so that they didn't inconvenience anyone. Weird people." Silas fell silent and gestured at Luci to talk with his fork, watching her with his complete attention and smiling at her before he shoved the food into his mouth. Luci smirked at him and turned back to the others, folding her hands in front of her to avoid playing with the hair that she had mostly cut off. "You know how I made my way out of the Accident and Emergency ward and managed to get a proper place in Surgery a while ago, right? Well... not long after my birthday I got a promotion." She grinned. "Guess who's the new head of surgery in my hospital - with a pretty big pay rise!" "Really?" Ceil gasped. "Oh wow - well done, Luci!" "I always knew you were good at cutting up people, Doctor Bloom," Silas added proudly. "We could've been such good partners in crime - you stab them, I crush them. We'd be invincible." "Well now we're just partners, sadly," she said. "Maybe another time." Silas hummed in mock disappointment, and he reached for the food again. "Aren't you going to tell them about your attempts to find a new vocation?" she asked him, causing to stop in his tracks. "Yeah!" Ceil put in. "How's 'Silas's quest to find a world outside murder' going?" Silas rolled his eyes at him and placed down his fork. "Not entirely away from murder, I'm afraid." Ceil's face fell, and Luci shook her head in disbelief. Silas laughed at his expression. "Nah, I'm not killing everyone in work - but I do have a job." He rubbed at the back of his head, suddenly self-conscious. "I uh... I work in a restaurant," he said reluctantly. "Not waiting tables, I'm guessing?" Ceil said, trying to speak lightly as he sensed his nervousness. "Nah. Behind the scenes, where no one can see my eyes." His eyes flickered over to the Gyvreses, who were all watching him intently, and his gaze dropped to his plate. "I cook stuff," he said simply. "You're good at it, though," Luci added, smiling at him encouragingly when he looked up at her. "Being a chef. You can remember the orders, and you've got a reputation for adding stuff that's not in the recipe but that makes it better. Plus you can bring the recipes home, which is always lovely." "Almost lost the job the first time I did that, though," he added, but he straightened in the chair slightly. "But come on - who the hell doesn't add bay leaves to lasagna? That's just wrong." Luci barely stifled a laugh, while Ceil didn't even bother to try to hide it. Silas gave him a glare. "Alright, kid - what have you been doing with your life? Do you have a job?" "I'm still giving speeches about the empowered and the old empire in universities whenever they ask," Ceil said, reclining in his chair and bringing his plate over to him. "And I've started a degree in social work. I think I'm going to carry on giving speeches and helping people who are struggling with their powers now - you know, the ones who were hiding their powers for years and haven't quite realised they don't have to anymore. I know a lot about hiding powers, after all." "Yep," Silas agreed, but he didn't say anything else. Ceil turned in the general direction of Oryn and Ellia. "Anyway, I want to hear about an awkward proposal! Tell me everything."
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Post by Cedar on Dec 30, 2014 5:22:55 GMT -4
Oryn broke into nervous laughter, hiding his face behind his napkin and muttering something about social ineptitude and general awkwardness. Ellia smiled and patted his shoulder. "It wasn't that bad, Oryn. I did say yes." "It was pretty bad," he answered, blushing. "It wasn't! You were just nervous," Ellia insisted. "And it was classy, really." He raised an eyebrow. "Dropping the ring is classy?" "Well, no, not that part. But we should start from the beginning." "Well... you should tell it." Ellia gave him a look, and he returned her stare for several long seconds before sighing. "Okay, fine. I'll start. I'll talk about the... part leading up to it." He leaned back in his chair and cleared his throat. "So... I don't remember exactly when I decided I wanted to marry Ellia, but I've been thinking about for quite a while. And so I managed, over the last few months, to learn her ring size and jewelry preferences and such. I hadn't done more than that, until a couple weeks ago. It was about... two in the morning, I think? I was trying to sleep, but I couldn't, and I kept thinking about, well... marriage. I knew I wanted to marry her, and I had the ring size, but I had no idea what to do with that or when to propose or... anything, really. I've never proposed to anyone before." Ellia hid her laughter behind her water glass. "That's a relief, Oryn," she remarked. "I know. So... it's the middle of the night, and I cannot sleep until I figure out what I'm doing with regards to asking for Ellia's hand in marriage. So I call Taru." "At two in the morning," Taru interjected. "I'm asleep, and my phone starts going off next to my pillow and I sort of half-awaken and see that it's Oryn, and my roommate's giving me this odd look so I answer the phone. And because it's two in the morning, my mostly-asleep brain quite logically decides that something must be terribly wrong if Oryn's calling me. I pick up the phone and immediately ask him who died. And of course, he doesn't tell me. He starts going on about how to conduct a marriage proposal. About this point I realize that no one has died. But I'm not awake enough to give sound advice, so I tell him that food needs to be involved and I hang up on him and go back to sleep." "Which was quite rude," Oryn said. "I had an exam the next morning," Taru defended, shoving a bite of food into his mouth. "I'd just gotten out of it when you came round the next day." "Yes. Since I hadn't gotten much advice from my brother when I called, I had to drive all the way out to his university to talk with him in person," Oryn continued. "And we had lunch and created a plan of action." Taru nodded. "We did. I chose the restaurant," he informed Ellia. "I knew it! It was a good choice, though." She turned to Hana. "You owe me brownies." "I make tonight," Hana replied. "Go on, Oryn." "Well, we decided on a ring, and all the logistics, and we decided on the date. So... said day was two days before Taru got home. And I had bought the ring and made reservations at this really upscale Mediterranean restaurant--which, yes, Taru picked out--and I showed up at Ellia's apartment at seven in the evening. Ellia, you can tell this part." She put down the cookie she'd been eating. "Yes, I can. You've done a good job so far." She handed him a cookie. "Ooh, thanks. Wait... Mom, does this have macadamia nuts in it?" "Yes, it does." "Have I told you today that I love you and that you are the most amazing woman in the world? You and Ellia," he corrected quickly, and Ellia hid behind her water glass again. "No. But you tell me now." Hana smiled. "Eat all you like." "With pleasure. Oh, continue, Ellia." Ellia took a deep breath and set her water glass back on the table, shaking her head slightly in an effort to keep herself collected. "Okay, Oryn arrives at my apartment. Dressed really nicely. Probably the best-dressed I've ever seen him, and shifting from foot to foot like he's nervous. So I begin to suspect that this isn't a normal date, but I keep my suspicions to myself and we go to the restaurant. I order a... I don't remember what it was called, it had scallops, it was quite good. Oryn got... what did you get?" "I don't remember. I think I opened the menu and put my finger down on it at random and ordered whatever that was. I was too nervous to eat much, anyway." "You were very nervous. Anyway, we have a nice dinner--or rather I have a nice dinner and Oryn keeps glancing at his watch and looking nervous, and afterwards we go outside and walk down the street to this little dessert place. And Oryn takes me upstairs, and there's just one table up there and no other people. And on this table is a chocolate macadamia nut cheesecake and a bottle of wine. And there's music playing. At this point... I know what's going on, but I keep pretending that I don't and we sit down at the table. Well, I sit down at the table. Oryn gets down on one knee." Oryn blushed furiously and focused all his attention on the small stack of cookies in front of him, inspecting them as if they held the secret to life and he could unlock it by staring at them hard enough. After a moment he realized that Ellia had stopped talking, and he looked up. She was staring at him intently, and he realized that he was supposed to continue. He sighed. "I had a speech prepared," he said. "Had it written down and everything. Except I forgot the paper and I couldn't remember what I was going to say. So I just knelt there for... a while... and tried to come up with some emotional, romantic prelude like people do. Or at least they do in movies. I came up with nothing, so I decided to skip that part and I got out the ring. But... I was nervous, and my hands were shaking quite a bit, and... the ring escaped." He turned rather crimson and took a bite of his cookie, hoping that would release him from the responsibility of telling the rest of the story. "It rolled down the stairs," Ellia elaborated. "So of course both of us dive after it, and we end up falling most of the way down this flight of stairs and landing on the thankfully carpeted floor at the bottom. And I see the ring on the floor and pick it up, and Oryn's staring at me looking like he's about to say something but he's not actually saying anything. So of course, I ask him if he's proposing to me, and he gets all red and embarrassed like he is right now, and he says yes, he is. And I stare at the ring for about a minute and don't say anything. And finally Oryn gets his act together and gets back onto one knee and takes the ring from me and holds it up and asks me if I would do the honor of marrying him. And, as I'm sure you probably figured out, I agreed to do him said honor, and I put the ring on, and we went back upstairs and ate an entire cheesecake." Taru tilted his head, eyes growing wide. "You ate the entire cheesecake? You didn't save any for us?" "We ate the whole thing," Oryn answered, still blushing but trying to pretend he wasn't. "And it was amazing, and that is the story of how Ellia and I got engaged."
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Post by Cuppy/Wonders on Dec 30, 2014 15:44:35 GMT -4
Silas and Ceil were laughing to themselves at the tale, grinning at Oryn and Ellia, while Luci was simply watching them with wide, happy eyes. "That's adorable," Luci said with a grin. "And so romantic! Dinner, a private dessert with music... oh, it just sounds wonderful!" "Hopeless romantic," Silas teased, smirking at her, but Luci didn't seem to have heard him. "Tell me you danced," Luci pleaded, her eyes still wide and bright. "After the proposal, I mean. The music was there, the timing would have been absolutely perfect - and what was the song?" Luci continued to gush about the proposal, her food practically forgotten, and as Silas shook his head and shifted his attention back to his plate Ceil nudged him. He glanced toward him, and Ceil nudged him again. "What?" he said quietly, trying not to interrupt Luci. "Are you taking notes?" Ceil whispered. "Huh?" "Oh my god. I can see what she's doing and I'm blind." "She's happy for Oryn and Ellia," Silas muttered in response. "She's always like this when good things happen to people - she gets really excited and won't shut up." He glanced up at her, trying to see if she had noticed, but she still seemed engrossed in whatever it was she was saying to Oryn and Ellia. "It's cute," he added. "Leave her alone." "Sure she's happy for them, but don't you think there's another reason?" He paused for emphasis. "She wants to get married too. She's telling you what she wants you to do when you propose!" Silas immediately tensed at the mention of his own marriage, but he relaxed to avoid accidentally snapping the fork in two. "We're not getting married," he whispered back. "Sure, you say that now..." Silas rolled his eyes, not bothering to point out the fact that he didn't particularly want to stand in front of a bunch of people he didn't really know in an uncomfortable suit while talking about his feelings. If he was honest he didn't know why Oryn was putting himself through it - but then again Oryn had never exactly struck him as the most rational of men. "Lovely story," Silas said, raising his voice to be heard and effectively stopping Ceil from saying anything else, "but I'm with Taru here. You definitely should've saved me a piece of cheesecake."
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Post by Cedar on Jan 10, 2015 18:45:40 GMT -4
"It wouldn't have been as good later," Ellia insisted, trying to keep a serious face. "We were obligated to eat it all." Oryn nodded solemnly in agreement, fending off Taru's attempts to steal his cookies with one hand. "Get your own cookies, asavi." "You took all the ones with the macadamia nuts," Taru replied, managing to snatch one and shove it in his mouth before his brother could reclaim it. "Besides," he continued, through a mouthful of cookie, "you couldn't eat that many." "You underestimate me. And I didn't take all of them. There's more over there." Taru shrugged and licked crumbs off his fingers. "I can't reach those ones." "Insolent child," Oryn replied, shoving his brother's shoulder. Taru laughed and reached for another cookie. "Legally I'm an adult," he pointed out. "You can vote, but I can still claim you as a dependent on my tax return," Oryn answered with a crooked grin. Taru shook his head in exasperation and shifted his attention to his cookie. "Have you had any of these, Ellia?" "I stole some from my fiancé while you had him distracted," she answered, waving a cookie in the air to demonstrate. Oryn raised his hands in mock despair. "No one will leave my cookies alone, will they? And you can even reach the other plate, Ellia." "Yes, I can, but I thought I'd leave those for Silas since the poor man didn't get any cheesecake." She seemed about to say something else, but was interrupted by the doorbell. "That must be Ollie and Ellen. Or Ciaran. When's Ciaran coming, Taru?" "He told me he'd be here Christmas morning. He has a concert tonight." "I need to go to one of his performances sometime," she mused, standing and moving to answer the door. "We can get him to play Christmas music when he gets here," Taru replied. "Only if you sing along to it," Oryn said. A look of embarrassment and dread crossed Taru's face. "Why would I agree to that?" "Well, you were singing yesterday while you were adding decorations to the tree." "I have no idea what you're talking about. And you're the one who's been humming Christmas music all month." Taru offered his brother an impish grin. "I have not!" Oryn insisted. Taru held up his phone. "I have recorded proof." Oryn, still slightly flushed from telling his engagement story, turned an even deeper shade of red and buried his face in his hands. "No..." "You weren't even humming in the video. It was full on singing. And you'd put reindeer antlers on the cat." "I thought no one was home..." "I figured," Taru replied, holding back laughter. "Silas, you want to see the video?"
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Post by Cuppy/Wonders on Jan 11, 2015 10:03:19 GMT -4
"Do you even have to ask?" Silas said with a grin, moving to lean on the back of Taru's chair and get a closer look at the phone. He heard the front door open and his parents' voices drift in, and he glanced up toward the doorway. "Hello, Ellia," Ollie said cheerfully. "Merry Christmas! Sorry we're a little early - the traffic was much better than we thought it would be, so it didn't take nearly as long as we thought it would-" "It was wonderful," Ellen added. "And we brought gifts! I'll just put them down by the couch - are they Silas's presents? I thought I saw Luci's car..." "We're in here," Silas called, and he looked mournfully toward the phone. "Show me in a minute, okay?" he said to Taru. "I want to see Oryn embarrass himself." He pushed away from the chair and moved toward the doorway, smiling when he saw his parents standing in the other room. "Hey," he said in greeting, and his parents looked up at his voice. Their eyes lit up at the sight of him, and Silas's eyes flickered over to the cake box in Ellen's hands. She pursed her lips and placed the box down on the couch before moving over to her son. Silas rolled his eyes and allowed his mother to pull him into a hug, smiling back gently when she beamed at him. "Merry Christmas!" she said. "Was your drive here okay? Have you got all of your presents sorted this year?" "Yes, and yes," Silas said, smirking at her enthusiasm. "Luci drove so I could just relax, and I got them all sorted early this year." "Well done," she said cheerfully. "I knew you'd do better than last year." "Yeah, yeah." He glanced toward the cake box. "What's in the box?" "That's for Christmas," she told him. "No peeking, and no eating it all before anyone else gets a chance." "I'm offended. What do you take me for? I've got a plate of cookies in there, I don't need to eat all the cake too." Ellen hummed, not quite believing him, and she began to move past him into the dining room where the others were. Ollie moved over to Silas and smiled at him, clapping him on the shoulder. He glanced down and noticed his jumper, and Ollie chuckled and shook his head. "What are you wearing?" he teased. "An amazing jumper," Silas said in response. He gestured to the reindeer on Ollie's own blue jumper. "Anyway, you can't judge it when you're wearing that." "Hold on, watch this." He stepped back and pressed a button on the hem of the jumper, and the reindeer on his jumper's nose lit up red. Silas's eyes widened, and he grinned. "Where did you get it?" he demanded. "That's amazing, I want one." "Maybe you'll get one of your own for Christmas," Ollie answered cheerfully, and he began to walk toward the dining room. He lowered his voice. "So... are you going to tell me why you were asking me about marriage...?" "No." Ollie hummed disapprovingly, and Silas rolled his eyes at him before he darted back over to Taru, picking up the plate of cookies as he moved. He pushed a whole cookie into his mouth and leaned over Taru's shoulder, gesturing for him to show the video with his free hand while Ollie and Ellen greeted the others.
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Post by Cedar on Jan 11, 2015 17:19:35 GMT -4
Taru waved to Ollie and Ellen, offering them a welcoming smile, before turning his attention back to the phone. "Okay, let's see... here it is. Video of Oryn." "Wait!" Ellia hurried over to Taru's chair and leaned over the back next to Silas. "I'm engaged to this man. I need to see this." She winked at Oryn--he groaned and buried his face in his hands again. "Taru, why?" Taru laughed and started the video, which had clearly been recorded from a hiding spot behind a door. Oryn had already placed the reindeer antlers on the rather grumpy-looking cat, and was in the middle of an off-key but very enthusiastic rendition of All I Want For Christmas Is You. As he reached the chorus, he swept the cat up in his arms and raised it above his head, stepping in circles and swinging the cat back and forth. His eyes were closed, and at a particularly expressive point in the music he stumbled into the Christmas tree, barely managing to keep ahold of the cat as he regained his balance. The collision had obviously interrupted his memory of the lyrics, and after a moment he shrugged, struck a dramatic pose in front of the tree, and ended with a final "all I want for Christmas is yooouuuu!" while pretending to play a guitar solo on the cat. In the background of the video, Taru's stifled giggles could be heard before the image shifted down to the floor and the video cut out. Taru glanced up at the people leaning against the back of his chair and raised an eyebrow. "My brother, everyone," he announced dryly. Ellia's mouth was open in sheer delight, and she clapped her hands weakly as she shook in silent laughter. "Oryn..." she managed to gasp after a moment. "Oh goodness... Taru, whatever you actually got me for Christmas... is now irrelevant because... you cannot top this video." "Do you want me to send it to you?" Taru asked. She nodded, grasping the back of Taru's chair for support, and looked in her fiance's direction. Oryn had turned an even deeper shade of crimson, if that was even possible, and was making soft moaning noises and he rocked back and forth with his head completely buried in his arms. "I'm going to watch it on repeat all day tomorrow," she decided.
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Post by Cuppy/Wonders on Jan 12, 2015 16:22:13 GMT -4
Silas had started cackling almost as soon as the video had started, and Luci started giggling herself as she watched him. Silas looked away from the video and looked up at Oryn once it was over, grinning from ear to ear as he saw the look of pure embarrassment on his face. "Careful, Oryn," he said. "Go any redder and I think your head will explode." He turned back to Taru and nudged him. "Send it to me too - I need blackmail material, and that's just perfect." "Why would you need blackmail material for Oryn?" Ollie asked, trying not to seem too amused by Oryn's singing for the man's sake. "In case he doesn't like his present," Silas answered immediately, pulling his phone out of his pocket. "I'll have to convince him that it's amazing somehow." "You could always sing for him instead," Ceil piped up, scratching behind Jasper's ears and grinning in Silas's direction. "I'm sure Oryn would tell you it was the best present ever if it would make you stop." "That's a good idea, actually," Luci said, smirking at him. "Why don't you sing for us, Silas?" "I don't sing." "Really?" Luci said, her brow furrowing in false confusion. "Huh. It must be someone else who sings cartoon theme songs and Bing Crosby in the shower. Maybe we should start making them pay rent, seeing as this mysterious singer seems to be using the shower, and cooking, washing dishes..." Ceil started laughing, and Silas's face began to turn red. "Hold on," he argued. "We were laughing at Oryn, not at me." "I don't see why we can't do both," Luci said, but she turned toward Ollie and Ellen nevertheless. "Anyway, how have you two been?" "Good, good," Ollie answered. "Looking forward to Christmas. We managed to get the roofs on the houses we were building before the snow came, which was a relief, and we should be getting them all finished not long after new year." "And business has been good for the whole of December," Ellen said cheerfully. "I've made a few birthday cakes, a few wedding ones, and enough Christmas cake to fill the whole shop. They've practically been flying off the shelves!" Ollie wrapped an arm around his wife's waist, and he smiled at everyone. "She even managed to make Christmas cupcakes and cookies too," Ollie added. "Everyone loves them." "Sounds wonderful," Luci said, smiling. "Sounds strange," Silas corrected. "I might have to try a few, make sure that they aren't so weird..." "Something told me that you'd say something like that," Ellen said. "But you're going to have to wait until Christmas." "Oh, come on!" Silas groaned. "It's Christmas Eve! We need Christmas films, and Christmas cakes. That's how it works." Ellen looked toward Ollie, and Ollie sighed. "I suppose that we could get out the mince pies..." he said reluctantly. Silas's eyes lit up, and as Ellen moved out of the room to fetch the pastries Ollie chuckled. "There's more than enough for all of you," he said. "Even if Silas decides to have a lot more than he should."
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Post by Cedar on Jan 18, 2015 2:18:29 GMT -4
"Excellent!" Taru beamed, hitting the button to send the video to Silas and Ellia before darting over to take one of the pies. "These are really good, Ellen," he said appreciatively, between bites. He felt his brother nudge his shoulder as he reached for a second one. "You might have to worry more about Taru than about Silas," Oryn jested. "Mom, would you like one?" "Yes, one moment. I start water for tea first." Hana darted back into the kitchen to put the kettle on before she returned and selected one of the pies. After complimenting Ellen profusely on the excellency of the pastries, she turned to Taru with a little smile and spoke to him briefly in Astaraian. "Do you want to fetch the thing we were going to give to Oryn tonight?" Comical concern passed over Oryn's face. "What are you going to give me? Are you trying to embarrass me more?" "Yes," Hana replied, returning to the lingua franca. "I am your mother. Is my job." "I'll go get it," Ellia offered, disappearing briefly and returning with a box. Oryn took it from her, raising an eyebrow and pretending not to look too worried about its contents. "I open this?" "Yep," Ellia replied. "Early present. Mostly because we want you to be able to enjoy it this evening." "I'm not sure I want to open it..." His mother and Ellia insisted, however, and Taru threatened to restrict him from the mince pies if he didn't open it, so at last Oryn tentatively removed the bow from the box and cracked it open. Upon seeing its contents, he blinked several times and opened his mouth as if to say something before closing it again and shaking his head. "Really?" "Show," Hana ordered him, taking the lid off the box so that the others could see. Hanging his head in defeat, Oryn removed the tie from the box and held it up so everyone could admire the gaudy Christmas tree on it. "Ellia, did you and Taru and my mother conspire to get this for me?" "Yep, we did," she replied, grinning. She reached for the tie and pressed a button on it, and the Christmas tree lit up while a tinny, faint rendition of "O Tannenbaum" emanated from the tie. Oryn dropped his head into one hand and groaned. "You are putting this on," Taru informed him, a delighted smile spreading across his face as Oryn reluctantly complied. "It looks fabulous, asani." "It looks ridiculous," Oryn corrected, taking another mince pie and trying to hide behind the pastry. "Come on, you like it," Ellia insisted. "You pull it off." "No one could possibly pull this off," Oryn replied, with an amused smile. "...but I kind of do like it," he admitted quietly, after a long moment, and he pressed the button to make it sing again. "Mom, the water's boiling." "Yes. I make tea, you choose Christmas movie," she replied, heading towards the kitchen again. Oryn turned to the others. "Well, seeing as Silas has informed us that we need Christmas films and my mother has given us the green light, what do we want to watch?"
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Post by Cuppy/Wonders on Jan 18, 2015 16:49:31 GMT -4
"The Grinch!" Silas said immediately, speaking through a mouth filled with mince pie. Luci rolled her eyes at him affectionately, moving over to the chair beside him and resting against him. "Of course you'd choose that movie," she teased. "Well what's wrong with choosing it? It's the best." He paused, swallowing the pie and grimacing. "Actually, he should have just killed the mayor when he had the chance and enslaved the town instead of hiding up in the mountains, but if you overlook that then it's the best." He waved a hand airily. "Plus he has a dog." "Is there another film that someone else would want to see?" Ollie asked, settling down on another chair beside Ellen. He spotted her trying to sneak a look at the bags full of presents that Silas and Luci had brought with them, and he nudged her. Once she realised she'd been caught she stopped, suddenly fascinated with one of the walls. "Not that I have anything against the Grinch," he added when Silas sent him a betrayed look. "But seeing as we are guests..." "We can see a different film after the Grinch," Silas argued. "But we should see that first." His eyes widened, shining with an almost childish light. "We could just watch Christmas films until it is Christmas!" he suggested. "Maybe you can, but we've had a long drive," Ellen reminded him. "We'll need to sleep if we're going to stay awake on Christmas day." Silas hummed in disappointment, and Ollie smiled apologetically at him. "Well we can at least get through two films before you old people collapse," Silas said, making his tone light. "And we'll have tea as well as mince pies by then." "Yep," Luci said in agreement. She lifted the plate of mince pies and offered it to Silas when she noticed him looking for another one, and she sighed contently. "I cant believe tomorrow is Christmas. It's come so quickly this year..." "Not quickly enough," Silas replied. "It should be Christmas now - Oryn got an early present, I want all of my presents." "You can wait a few hours," Luci reminded him. When he gave her an expectant look, she rolled her eyes at him. "You're not having an early present too." "So cruel." He turned away from her and looked toward the Gyvres family. "Right, where's your copy of the Grinch? If you don't have one you're dead to me."
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Post by Cedar on Jan 19, 2015 0:24:40 GMT -4
Taru turned slowly to his brother, his head tilted to one side. "Please tell me we have a copy," he mouthed. Oryn shrugged and sidled over to the cabinet by the TV, starting to slowly go through all the DVDs they owned. He beckoned Ellia over as he continued to pretend to search for the film he knew he didn't have. "Do you have a copy of the Grinch?" he whispered to her as she came up next to him. "I might, but I'd have to get it from my apartment and come back here and that would take time." "You live three blocks away." She gave him a withering look, and he sighed before glancing at the TV. "I wonder if we can stream it. Taru..." "On it." Taru turned on the television and found the instant streaming, offering Silas a reassuring smile as he searched for the desired film. "Okay, found it. Oryn, you're absurdly geeky when it comes to technology, and yet it took you several minutes to remember that streaming videos was a thing?" "Shut up," Oryn muttered, grinning at Taru as he returned to the couch and settled down next to his brother. "Shall we start it?" Taru nodded absently, turning to see if their mother was coming back with the tea. She appeared just as he turned, balancing several steaming mugs of tea and moving smoothly over to place them in front of her guests and family. "Is always more," she assured them, finding a seat. "Just tell me if you want." Seeing Taru fiddling uncertainly with the remote, she motioned for him to start the film. As the opening credits began, Taru set the remote aside and leaned back on the sofa, only to be startled by his brother's arm wrapping around his shoulders. "What?" "Hi." "Oh. Hi. I thought you'd be snuggling with your girlfriend, not me. Fiance," he corrected. "You're getting married. It's so weird." Oryn chuckled. "Yeah, I'm getting married. She's on my other side, examining the tie you guys all forced on me." "I was straightening it," Ellia whispered from Oryn's other side. "It was crooked." "It was fine!" Oryn protested. Taru leaned forward to look at it. "No, it's definitely crooked. I think he tied it wrong, Ellia." "I think so too." Oryn tried to squirm away from their combined efforts to fix his tie, protesting violently but quietly. "I know how to tie a tie! You guys just made me put it on too quickly..." "Children!" Hana's voice hissed at them. "Watch movie!" "Yes, ma'am," Ellia replied sheepishly, before her face froze and she looked at Oryn with wide eyes. "I'm one of her children now. She's going to be my mother-in-law. This is weird." "Yes, and your parents are going to be my in-laws," Oryn said. "That's how it works... okay, that is weird." Their revelations were cut off by the combined shushing of Hana and Taru, and they shared a final bemused glance before turning to focus on the film.
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Post by Cuppy/Wonders on Jan 19, 2015 17:36:57 GMT -4
Silas pretended not to notice the fact that they didn't have the DVD, and as the film began to play Luci slowly began to gravitate toward him until her head was resting on his shoulder and his arm was wrapped around her waist. Silas began to grin as soon as the film began to properly play, ignoring Taru and Ellia fussing over Oryn's tie. Ceil began to scratch behind Jasper's ears, and he listened to the film even though the one Taru had managed to find didn't have an audio commentary. As the film progressed and the Grinch approached the car driven by the two tiny, knee-high Whos, Ceil began to cackle. "Hey Silas, look - it's you!" he said, pointing at the screen. Luci immediately started laughing, and Silas turned to glare at him. "Oh, hilarious. You're blind - how do you even know-?" "Are you assuming that I didn't watch the Grinch pretty much every Christmas before I went blind?" Ceil asked. "Because you'd be very mistaken. I know the Grinch. And I know that there are two exact replicas of you in this film. One, the Grinch himself. Two, that really tiny guy driving the car." "You're lucky that Luci's between me and you, otherwise you might have just lost the use of your arms for the rest of Christmas." Ceil just laughed, knowing that the threat was empty, and Silas began to mutter something under his breath about disrespectful children. He fell quiet as he began to get more and more engrossed in the film, but as the film went on he began to notice Luci leaning on him more and more. Eventually Silas thought he could hear light snoring, and he glanced over toward her. Her eyes were closed and she was breathing evenly, sleeping lightly on his shoulder, and Silas felt a twinge of tenderness in his heart. A soft smile fluttered onto his face, and he turned his head toward her and pressed a kiss against the crown of her head. She smiled lightly in her sleep, and Silas smiled back until he heard the telltale 'click' of a camera. His head turned toward the sound, and his eyes narrowed marginally at his father as he lowered the device. "What are you doing?" he whispered. "Needed a Christmas photo," Ollie mouthed, and smiled widely at him. Silas rolled his eyes and turned back to the film, but he rested his head against Luci's lightly and didn't move his arm away from her, turning most of his attention to the film and reaching for another mince pie.
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